Ferris Bueller's Day Off

The story of Ferris Bueller's Day Off is very similar to that of The Princess Bride. I don't mean the actual  story of the movie itself, (although if I was feeling particularly academic and argumentative and pretentious I could write some sort of parallel between the two), I mean my experience of the two films was rather similar. I saw the beginning of Ferris Bueller's Day Off in my PE class in 7th grade (I think seeing this movie in school was highly ironic... especially a PE class... I hope it had been raining that day). But, of course, middle school class periods were only 45 minutes long which really wasn't much time to do anything, and it certainly wasn't enough time to watch a movie. So, we watched half a movie and I never came back to it... until now.

Well, sort of. The movie was on MTV, so I recorded it using my handy DVR (product placement?). I then sat down to watch it relatively late at night, when I was home alone and missing my boyfriend. I fell asleep in the middle of the movie... and ironically at approximately the same place I had stopped watching in my middle school PE class! 

It ended up the third time was the charm when watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The next day I woke up, and (drumroll please) finished the movie! Really, it was a good movie, and I don't know why it had taken me so long to get around to finally watching  the whole darned thing (and I would like to apologize to John Hughes up there for falling asleep during his movie, I truly am ashamed), especially since I am also a huge fan of 1980s teenager movies. 

But let's get down to talking about pop culture. Like The Princess Bride, Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a movie that gets referenced in everyday conversation relatively frequently, and it is one that people are always shocked, SHOCKED I haven't seen before. Whether it's "Save Ferris" or "Bueller" repeated in that dull, monotone voice of the teacher (I think it was TBS that had an ad that for their station or the fact they were playing the movie that literally just consisted of that scene of the teacher saying "Bueller"), it's a movie that's engrained into our popular culture.

Why? Well, it's because Ferris Bueller's character is basically who we all want to be. I don't know how the following bit of information got into my head, but it's a bit of information I like so I'll write it here: movies we like to revisit and watch over and over are movies about worlds we want to be in. This especially applies to movies about bad (but likeable) characters because we all secretly want to be Ferris Bueller, even though we know society would just collapse if we all had the ability to sneak into a parade and create a party on the streets of Chicago. I know I want to be Ferris Bueller!

But this movie isn't perfect. I have to say, I wasn't a huge fan of Matthew Broderick in this movie. I liked what his character did and what his character said, but Matthew Broderick struck me a little bit too sheep like to completely pull off being the wild and crazy Ferris Bueller. You know who would have been awesome as Ferris Bueller? John Cusack. But that's really because I'm a huge John Cusack fan [especially in Better Off Dead, which if you haven't seen it, you need to go to your local video store, or put it on your queue on Netflix, or watch it for free on YouTube (you criminals, you!)]. And I am not as big of a Matthew Broderick fan because he made a movie about Richard Feynman which I didn't realize until I was halfway through writing a screenplay about Richard Feynman. How many movies can there be about Richard Feynman? Exactly.

Well, kiddies I should go watch some more movies now (or write another blog post on one of the movies on my list I've already seen...), but before I go I would like to give you this fun Ferris Bueller link. Now go entertain yourselves for hours.

COMING SOON: Mr. Smith goes where? Oh. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

The Princess Bride

So, I watched The Princess Bride probably about a month ago now.... so it's high time I write about it (before I completely forget about what I was going to say about it).

I had seen the movie before... well, part of it. I watched it with my Mom years ago when I was very little, and I distinctly remember we never finished watching it. I'm not sure why we never watched the end. It wasn't a Bambi or Old Yeller sort of thing where she was protecting me from seeing a terribly sad ending or scene. I think it was time for bed and we shut it off and never came back to it... until now.

My friends and I got together because I hadn't seen anyone since after my trip to Atlanta (yes, that's when I saw Alien... so that's how long it's been since I've written on this blog). The plan was to watch an episode or two of my friend's favorite show Father Ted and maybe watch a movie. Well, suggest the possible chance to watch a movie to a film student and ask to bring a couple along and you'll get a bagful of about ten movies to pick from. I forget what other movies I brought with me, but in the bag happened to be The Princess Bride (yes, I own this movie, which is why it's even more of a puzzle that I never had watched the end) and after much deliberation, we all determined that that was the movie we could all agree to watch.

The movie wasn't my favorite, I have to say. It's terribly cheesy and ridiculous, but it was the perfect movie to watch with a roomful of my best girlfriends all squeezed on to one couch. I wouldn't have wanted to watch it any other way. If I had watched it by myself, I'm not sure I would have made it past the Fire Swamp scene where my mother had stopped the tape the first time I saw the film.

And I think it was certainly important for me to see it. Why? Because this film is frickin' everywhere! They used parts of the fight choreography between Inigo Montoya and Westley in my high school's production of The Three Musketeers! It starred Andre the Giant, a strange pop culture phenomenon himself (what with his image all over the world with the word "Obey" plastered by graffiti artist and designer of Obama's famous Hope poster Shepard Fairy). And do you know how many times I have heard the line "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."? Far more than you think would be possible in everyday conversations! And now I finally know! Now I too can quote and reference The Princess Bride!

Really, this movie hasn't lasted as long as it has for furthering the cinematic art, but because it has become a pop culture icon with its hilarious quotes, and vignette-like situations perfect for recounting with friends "remember when...". And that is where it gets interesting folks. There are pop culture movies and classic movies. Classic movies may be referenced in pop culture, but can stand alone. Without pop culture, movies like The Princess Bride would disappear. (I just made these terms up right now. Makes me seem smart, don't it?).

This post could be interpreted as dissing or hating on The Princess Bride and wonderfully quotable movies (Superbad comes to mind as another example of a pop culture movie). I don't mean it that way. It's fun to watch movies with friends that you can talk during and share moments with later. The same can't be said as well about The Bicycle Thief (Remember that scene when the guy's bike was stolen? That was like, so emotional). Not quite the same.

And the pop culture movie vs. classic movie divide SHOULD NOT be confused with a divide between genres! I would say Ninotchka is a classic movie even though it's funny because honestly, it isn't really referenced in pop culture ever and it has great cinematography, great acting, and has a little bit to say politically. Can dramatic movies be pop culture movies? The only example I can think of is The Other Boleyn Girl... although I'm sure there are others, and that that isn't the best example.

AND that brings up another point! There are good pop culture movies and bad pop culture movies (I would say The Princess Bride and Superbad are good and The Other Boleyn Girl would be categorized as bad... guilty pleasure at best). Good pop culture movies stand in the pop culture spotlight for a longer time (and are parodied, not made fun of), and may even represent pop culture itself.

But now I'm starting to question my definitions... can a pop culture movie become a classic movie by standing the test of time? What really is the definition.

Enough with the essay-like writing and defining of terms!

I'm moving on.

COMING SOON: Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Because John Hughes is awesome.

Alien

Okay... so I skipped about thirty movies in my list. Sue me. I was visiting my boyfriend across the country and wanted to snuggle during a scary movie. And from what I hear, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington isn't very scary (although who knows! The last two movies were completely different than I expected).

But, before I talk about Ridley Scott's Alien, let's jump back a couple months and talk about Saturday Night Live. This past season, Sigourney Weaver hosted an episode and during that episode, Laser Cats 5 aired. Let me put it this way... I AM A HUGE FAN OF LASER CATS/ SNL DIGITAL SHORTS/ THE LONELY ISLAND!!! There. I said it. I think they're absolutely hilarious. However, Laser Cats 5 was not quite as funny. Why was this? Because it was a parody of Alien (and James Cameron movies in general) and I'm not dissing parodies, but I hadn't seen Alien, so I just didn't get it.

So, I had to see Alien.

And I did.

And then I watched Laser Cats 5 again. And not only did I laugh hysterically at newly understood jokes, but I also realized how much Laser Cats 5 spoils of the movie! I'll just put a SPOILER ALERT here so I can talk about how Ash is a robot. This exciting twist in the movie was completely "spoiled" in Laser Cats 5 when they make Fred Armisen's character, The Captain, a robot too. END SPOILER ALERT. Now, I put quotations around "spoiled" because I didn't realize that it was spoiled until I watched Laser Cats 5 again after watching Alien. This intrigued me. Either I have a terrible memory and should go to the doctor or because I hadn't seen Alien and didn't get the joke, it went over my head and I just didn't remember it because there wasn't anything to remember. Now, how much am I walking around in life, running into pop culture references to movies I haven't seen, books I haven't read, songs I haven't heard and just not remembering? This may account for the seemingly strange phenomenon that after seeing a particular movie or learning about a particular thing, it seems to suddenly be everywhere. Maybe it's because it was everywhere, but it just went over your head so you didn't remember it and didn't really think about it. It's like learning how babies are really born when you're little and suddenly an entirely other world you were completely oblivious to comes into your consciousness. Perhaps these are all old realizations for everyone else on this planet, but it has finally come to me in actual writeable words, and made me realize why this blog has been so difficult to write.

Because, it seems to be that for most of these classic films I have seen thus far, despite their constant appearance in parodies, etc. my experiences of the films haven't been spoiled yet. Which is kind of what this entire blog was based on...

Let's just wait until I get to Psycho though, which I accidentally read the ending of in a magazine. Maybe then my opinion of the success and level of interestingness of this blog will change... if you give a damn.

COMING SOON: "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." ... It's Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride.

The Bicycle Thief

Long time no see, dedicated readers! It's been a while since I've posted, but I've still been watching movies (well, some of them off of my list... some of them not). Now it's time to play a little game of catch up in the blog posting arena.

I watched The Bicycle Thief about two weeks ago now I think, but it was so fantastic and memorable I think I can pull off writing a post about it so much later. 

Why is The Bicycle Thief on my list you may ask? Well, it appears on most lists listing movie greats! How does it fit in with the whole attempted pop culture theme of this blog post, you may ask? Well, let me tell you, dear reader, but according to an NPR interview, The Bicycle Thief happens to be Mr. Woody Allen's favorite flick. So, since Woody Allen is one of my favorite filmmakers, I had to see his favorite film, in hopes of discovering the inspiration to his unique comedy films.

Note: the fact that The Bicycle Thief is Woody Allen's favorite movie is the ONLY piece of information I went in with when I popped in the DVD. So, I expected something similar to Woody Allen, or at least something funny.

Note to future viewers of The Bicycle Thief: this movie is NOT a funny movie. It is a GREAT movie, but it is not a FUNNY movie. 

Now that I think about it, my expectations of the film and what the actual movie turned out to be was the opposite of my expectations and the actual film Ninotchka. Ninotchka I expected a dramatic spy movie and got a hilarious comedy and with The Bicycle Thief I expected a hilarious comedy and got a tale of crushed hope in the middle of the Italian depression. I would say that maybe I should do more research before I start watching a movie, but it really just adds to the wonderfulness sometimes. [Like, when I saw Napoleon Dynamite, I thought it was going to be an epic war movie because all I knew about it was the title (which sounds pretty violent to me) and a screenshot I saw when they're hiding in the grass to give Summer her cake (obviously the rifles I could've sworn I saw in their hands as they faced death in this World War I/II epic was purely imagined). This grossly inaccurate misconception made the awkward comedy and foodie opening credits so much better.]

But, for those of you who like to know a little bit about a movie before they go through the trouble of watching it, I shall give a bit of background. The Bicycle Thief made in 1948 depicts the struggle for Italians to get back on their feet after losing the second world war. This neorealistic film certainly isn't made as an escape from the times, but rather a snapshot of the worst. The inciting incident happens right away in the film, when Antonio gets a highly sought after job (not that the particular job is highly sought after but that any job is highly sought after), and it is made clear to him that he needs his bicycle in order to take the job. This requires a bit of sacrifice. He has a bike, but it needs to be repaired, and in order to do so, his wife sells the family's sheets. However, he doesn't get it for long. As anyone could guess from the title, his bicycle gets stolen on the first day on the job. Unemployment and hunger hanging over his head, he and his son search for the bike in the enormous city of Rome.

A seemingly simple plot, the film is full of layers. It's not just about a bicycle; it's a comment on survival in society, on morals and on human nature. Therein lies its brilliance: the films ability to take the simple idea of someone stealing a bicycle and making it complex, emotional and intense. 

Of the movies on my list I have seen thus far... The Bicycle Thief is my favorite. In fact, I may watch it again before the summer is out, I liked it so much. The depth of the characters, the realism, the composition of the shots, Vittorio de Sica's brilliance... all are reasons why They Bicycle Thief is climbing towards the top of my favorite movies list.

And I'm not just saying that because I want to be like Woody Allen.

COMING SOON: ... Alien. Okay, I skipped a couple on my list...