The Director's Chair - Part II - Denis Villeneuve

It's time I got back to talking a bit about some notable movie directors whose work I admire. One of my favourites is Denis Villeneuve, who despite small beginnings in the province of Quebec in Canada, has become exceptional at his craft.  He is one of the few modern directors who really knocks my socks off with his unique style.

Villeneuve has been meticulous and careful in choosing his projects, only knocking out nine feature films in twenty years. But wow... what knock-outs! I haven't seen all of his films, having viewed five of his nine pictures, though I've watched most of those at least a second time. Depth of story and fascinating characters make these very easy to re-enjoy, with plenty of details and layers to discover on repeat viewings. And he doesn't skimp on visual flair or in the music department... often moody and tense tales are heightened by every aspect of his directorial skills.

Emily Blunt is an FBI agent on the hunt in Sicario

The Villeneuve movies I've seen are: Prisoners, Enemy, Sicario, Arrival, and Blade Runner 2049, all released between 2013 and 2017. These are his best known films, backed by big studios that provided wider distribution than his earlier work. I'd like to eventually check out those remaining movies, and Incendies will likely be the next one up, since it's on Netflix right now. 

The director's first four films were smaller-scale productions, and all were French Canadian. But I believe that as Villeneuve's reputation grows and grows (he's already a "name" director in the industry), interest in those fledgling pictures will increase. 

Prisoners, first screened in 2013, is a gripping thriller that examines the lengths a parent will go to when his child is abducted. Starring heavyweights Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, the movie was a success in every respect, including nailing a spot on the National Board of Review's "Best of 2013" list and also earning an Oscar nomination. Even on my second viewing, half-remembering the plot, I was captivated.

Enemy hit cinemas in spring of 2014, and though I didn't get to it until it was available online, I was floored. The eerie atmosphere and bizarre storyline were right up my alley. A man (played by Jake Gyllenhall) sees his identical twin acting in a movie, and, obsessed with this fact, he locates the doppelgänger and meets him. Things quickly spiral out of control and... well, you really should just see Enemy to understand - it's quite the experience.

Amy Adams is a linguist trying to talk to the animals... er, aliens in Arrival

In 2015, the major hit Sicario secured Villeneuve's place among his industry peers. I loved this crime thriller, its many riveting scenes so memorable and unusual. Emily Blunt stars as an FBI agent, supported by her very able cast-mates Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin. Blunt is charged with taking down the leader of a powerful and ruthless Mexican drug cartel. It's a superb nail-biter of a film, earning itself a load of praise and both Oscar and BAFTA nominations in several categories. 

Arrival, released in 2016, was a sci-fi triumph. Subdued and intelligent, the movie gave us a modern-day look at how we puny humans might address a third-kind encounter with alien life. After seeing Arrival, I tracked down the original short story it was based on... and I have to say that Villeneuve and company improved dramatically on the source material. Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner lead the small cast in this fascinating tale of the unknown. Adams is exceptional as a linguist enlisted by the U.S. Army to discover how to communicate with otherworldly visitors before tensions lead to war. Nothing hackneyed about this "bug-eyed monster" movie... everything here is fresh and intriguing. Love it.

Blade Runner 2049 was the long-overdue (well, unexpected, really) sequel to the original Blade Runner of 1982. This slick 2017 neo-noir sci-fi picture actually held my interest more than the original, which I've always respected but never really loved the way everyone else did. This second instalment grabbed a bunch of Oscar and British Film Award nominations for its dark futuristic vision. Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford (he's baa-aack) head up the impressive cast as they investigate a secret threat to society and even civilization. I need to give this another look; my one viewing was late-night and sleepy, so though I enjoyed what I saw of it between nods, I feel I ought to see it properly, start to finish.

I really like Villeneuve's visual style and manner of storytelling. His approach to direction is unlike that of others in the field. There is a quiet economy to the man's technique and final product. And I must admit I'm excited for his upcoming film, Dune. The 1984 version of Dune never impressed me much, though it's been decades since I've seen it... so who knows, maybe I'd appreciate it more now. Not long ago, I re-read the novel Dune (did it once before back in the 80's), upon which these movies were based, and enjoyed it far more than I expected. So I'm interested in seeing what this director, currently at the top of his game, can do with this science-fiction literary classic. I don't see how it could be any worse than the '84 interpretation. I believe that between Villeneuve's expertise and the state of film special effects technology, this will be amazing. Fingers crossed.

Disappointing 007 News!

Well, you may have already heard the buzz in entertainment news about the female actor (allegedly) chosen to assume the 007 role in the next James Bond film. When I first heard this, I viewed countless Youtube videos of reactions to the announcement. Nearly all the reactions I saw were negative. Was this for real?

Last year, the film franchise's producer Barbara Broccoli told the UK news source The Guardian that there would never be a female Bond. Has she changed (or lost) her mind? Or is this just a rumour that's spreading like wildfire?

Judging by the momentum this story has achieved, in both print and online, I'm afraid this may be a real thing. And I fear for the end of the most famous film spy of all time... and the demise of one of the most durable and profitable franchises in cinematic history.

So if this announcement holds water, then there is cause for all the uproar. Die-hard fans like me will boycott the film and anything like it that comes after. There are cries of victory from certain camps who claim the Bond character must change to suit the times. Don't overhaul the Bond franchise just to satisfy a sensitive few militants.

Hey, good ol' 007 has been criticized repeatedly over the decades, even in the Bond films... one time as a "sexist, misogynist dinosaur" and a "relic of the Cold War", spoken by Bond's superior M in the Goldeneye movie of 1995. But that is the point of Bond - he shows us undesirable qualities alongside those that are admirable - loyalty, courage, humour, intelligence, responsibility, resourcefulness, and calm, among others. Despite his weaknesses, he serves his country, risking life and limb to save the world over and over again. Bond is human, he is fallible, and he's a hell of an exciting dude to see in action.

After all, author Ian Fleming fleshed out a character with certain traits, personality, and behaviour that absolutely made him Bond... the Bond that we fans (and more casual folks) have known and loved for nearly sixty years in print and over fifty years in film.

Yes, Bond was created in the early 50's by Fleming, and those times were reflected in the character... not exactly appropriate even then, but certainly more in line with pulp-type fiction of the era. It was standard stuff and didn't raise eyebrows the way it does with today's social justice warriors. And the films of the 60's showed a man, an MI6 agent, who was of that time. Bond shed some of his poorer qualities as the movie actors changed and the times changed throughout the 80's and 90's. 

The film version of the character has been toned down and massaged (not physical massage, like in Thunderball) a bit as the decades passed. Bond eventually gave up smoking, his sexual liaisons became fewer and fewer in each movie, and he even developed strong feelings for some of the ladies who tolerated him. The guy even dared to show his soft side (he has one!) on occasion.

I don't want to get into a full-blown rant about this (too late!), but this is very disconcerting news. Are we to believe that this 24-film franchise, one of the longest-running and most successful in history, is going to make such a drastic change as this... and risk losing its existing massive fan-base? Do the producers believe that Bond fans want to see their beloved character phased out and replaced (in number only - 007; the character name will change) by a person who will be almost completely unlike Bond? 

The actress named for the role is Lashana Lynch. I am not familiar with her work, but she may very well be a fine actor. I'm not at all against women in strong lead roles in film (hey, I really liked the recent Wonder Woman movie, and Michelle Yeoh's talent has earned my respect via Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and the more recent Star Trek Discovery... oh, and she rocked in Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies). Just a couple of examples, but there are many more.

But the role of Bond was designed for a man; that's what makes 007 who he is. Why mess with that after all these years? Is making this lead character a woman going to keep this franchise on track, and will it retain the loyalty of its legion of fans? I highly doubt it. If the idea is to have a female lead as a spy, then simply make a movie about that. Leave Bond alone. Make something new instead of hijacking a beloved character, quite possibly killing the whole 007 franchise completely. I am not over-reacting. And this sort of thing can only lead to more similar unnecessary face-lifts in the industry.

Who is the target audience for this upcoming "Bond25"? Long-time fans? I don't see how many, if any, of them will want this. Casual viewers won't even see this (and any subsequent sequel?) as a Bond film. So don't call it a Bond/007 movie.

James Bond is about epic action adventure, pure escapist fun, and yes, it's sexy. I guess it's not for everyone. But if someone is offended by the idea of Bond and/or the over-the-top stories, well, fine. Different strokes. Just don't watch, and don't tamper with the formula that has won over millions of 007 fans since the early 60's. Why do that? To appease the call-out culture vultures who are so happy with the female actor announcement? Substitute Bond with a bland and inoffensive - "safe" - character and you've lost the essence of the stories and the 007 character.

Whether this change comes from within the Bond franchise (Eon Productions) or without, there is obviously (perceived?) pressure on the film-makers to make drastic alterations to the world of 007. It's sad enough that modern cinema (mostly, if not entirely) is so bland, boring, and derivative. Just about everything that hits the silver screen (and small screen) these days is a re-hash or re-boot of something else. It's pretty mind-numbing. I have a hard time finding something fresh and exciting to watch, but at least the many Bond movies in my home video collection provide endless entertainment value for my buck.

I have zero interest in this new 007. My fandom for the Bond movies will end here - at the last entry, Spectre. With so many big and long-running franchises going through the motions (Terminator, Rambo, Alien, and so on), barely keeping anyone interested, and fizzling out, it's nice to have something as reliable as the Bond films to satisfy that need for escapism. The movies are still classy, big-budget productions that feature a strong leading man in exotic locations and perilous situations. Please don't mess with tradition here - or anywhere. There would certainly be outcry if a beloved female character in film were re-written for a man. Gender swapping won't please the people who matter... the hard-core fans who want to keep the Bond series going. Hey, I'd love to continue watching new 007 releases until my final days. 

So let's keep social politics out of the arts, in particular my dear James Bond movie series. Please! Let's just hope this is just a cruel joke and that 007 will carry on as usual.

My Crime Drama/Thriller Movie Collection... In A Nutshell

When I was entering adolescence back in the 70's, I began to develop a taste for unsavory films, ones that delved into the darker part of the human psyche. By this I mean the cinematic examination of the criminal mind. There are the darker, moodier movies that can be downright disturbing, like the Hannibal Lecter pictures. And there are the more exciting, perhaps action-based but definitely more thrilling ones like the French Connection. As I scanned titles in my collection, I noted that spy films could cross into this genre, but for now I'll separate them out. Spy stuff is often set during wartime, so why not save that for another post?

I should point out that mysteries are generally lumped in with crime stories, and vice versa, even though a mystery need not necessarily involve a crime, and not all crimes have a mystery to be solved. But for the sake of simplicity, I'll include both here.

As a youngster, I was enamored with the stories of Sherlock Holmes, master detective. I read all the original tales by author Conan Doyle, and the next logical step was to see the film adaptations from the 1930's and 40's... the ones starring Basil Rathbone as the famed sleuth of 221B Baker Street. There were over a dozen of those movies, and I'm sure I saw almost all, if not all, of them on TV as a lad and teen. I have a smattering of those on my video shelf today.

The films of director Alfred Hitchcock also caught my eye back in my youthful years. Hitch was known for his fascination with the criminal element, and I found his style of movie-making captivating. His pictures were shown often on network television during the 1970's, so I enjoyed classic oldies like Saboteur and The Man Who Knew Too Much (his 1934 version) repeatedly. A bit older in the early 80's, I got a taste of Hitchcock's later gems like Rear Window and Dial M For Murder. There is pretty good representation of his work in my collection.

And as a teenager, it was finally appropriate for me to enjoy the violent Dirty Harry movies. Good old Clint Eastwood immortalized that role, and few have ever come close to his portrayal of an "off the books" cop who takes care of business (the scum of the streets, that is) according to his own code of ethics. I'm still a fan.

From there, I didn't follow the genre so strictly but did enjoy a lot of great movies of the genre over the decades, things such as To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) and then the more modern Zodiac (2007).

Building my home video collection, I didn't consciously seek out crime films; they often just happened to fall in my lap at opportune moments. You know, great deals in a store or online, or a friend passing on some of his unwanted DVDs. So my crime collection isn't vast, but it's decent and fairly representative of the genre. I know there are blind spots... for example, I know I have very few film noir titles, but like I said, I'm not trying to be a completist here. 

So here are the crime dramas/thrillers in my movie collection:

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (I'm bending the rules a bit with this comedy... well, alrighty then!)
Alfred Hitchcock movies (I have about fifteen, including North By Northwest, Vertigo, & Psycho)
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Chinatown
*The Dead Pool
Dirty Harry (I've assigned an * on the other Harry movies on the list)
Drive
Edge of Darkness

Elite Squad

*The Enforcer
The Eyes of Laura Mars
The French Connection
The Ghost Writer
Hannibal Rising
Hound of the Baskervilles (the Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing horror/mystery version)
Jesse Stone series of TV movies, nine of them in total (look 'em up here, if you're interested)
*Magnum Force
Manhunter
More Than Murder (this, and the following title, are detective Mike Hammer TV flicks)
Murder Me, Murder You
Mud
Mulholland Drive
The Naked Gun (another silly entry here... crime-comedy with Leslie Nielsen)
Only God Forgives
Out of Sight
Rear Window
Red Dragon
Rififi (a 1955 nail-biter from France)
Sherlock Holmes movies starring Basil Rathbone - I have seven, including that Baskerville hound one... fun!
*Sudden Impact
To Live and Die in L.A.
Zodiak

The Listening Booth and Addition to the Record Shelf

Let's start today's post with a quick update about a new record I found at a flea market. I half-planned to, weather permitting (serious thunderstorms predicted), attend the local monthly flea market this morning. I've been to this event a few times before and have always come away happily clutching some great finds.

The weather cooperated, so I set out with my record bag and a modest budget in mind. I immediately set aside the first record that caught my eye (after a quick visual quality check of LP and sleeve condition), then hemmed and hawed over a couple of others. In the end, I put back the Van Halen II (which I now kinda wish I'd grabbed) and paid for my original pressing - in very, very good condition - of Breakfast in America by Supertramp. Oh, and along with that, I picked up a super-cheap upgrade of the 1978 self-titled Journey album. My current copy plays nicely but the cover is heavily worn, so this "upgrade", though still worn, will be a fine replacement when I swap it out with the old one. The vinyl of this newly-acquired Journey LP is rather scratched, but I don't care... I have my original clean one, and the damaged copy was only three bucks, so I can chuck it if I want to, with no regrets. 

Anyway, back to the Supertramp. Breakfast in America is an album that I owned on vinyl as a teenager (bought it upon its '79 release), and I loved it and played it endlessly. Even though I re-bought that on cassette tape and then CD back in the 80's and 90's, respectively, I almost never revisited it. So I sort of forgot just how good the album was. Therefore, I knew this would be a wise purchase on LP.... it would almost be like a new discovery all over again. Except I found I still knew all the lyrics and hooks on this supreme example of classic pop/rock. More pop than rock, I'd say. From opener Gone Hollywood to closer Child of Vision, this is a fantastic set of catchy, melodic tunes - all buoyed by terrific vocal harmonies and lots of sax and piano. Not a bad song in the bunch. I know I'll spin Breakfast in America a lot in coming days and weeks.

So, that was the extent of my purchases today... even though I waded through many more bins of records. The odd one grabbed my attention momentarily, but once I examined the Kiss - Destroyer and the Who - Tommy LPs, I was disappointed in the condition of both. I deliberated heavy over getting a really nice copy of an original issue of Ozzy's second solo album, Diary of a Madman. But in the end, the $25 price tag scared me off. And I sort of wondered just how much I'd even play such a thing. Great music, yes, but Ozzy's music hasn't exactly been an interest for a long, long time. I went through that "phase" back in the 80's and early 90's. Oh, well, I'm happy with my one excellent choice today.

--

Now on to stuff I've listened to lately. I tried out a modern metal-ish band called Earthless recently and was sort of interested. Not enough to buy any of it, but kind of cool to hear the early Sabbath meets Hendrix psychedelic sound. An often entirely instrumental, jam vibe. Black Heaven was one of the tracks that stood out. Thanks, Youtube.

I plunked on Megadeth's Dystopia CD after a very long break from it. Great to hear how the album stands up so well, with some amazing songs and several more strong, if not stellar, tracks. Some faves are The Threat is Real, Fatal Illusion, Post American World, Poisonous Shadows, Lying in State... okay, this is far better than I'd remembered. Can't wait for the forthcoming Megadeth album (in 2020?), which promises to be even heavier than Dystopia, which did lean more toward bright, technical thrash. Button up your battle jackets for this one!

I also watched, on Youtube, a concert video of Megadeth at the 2017 Bloodstock festival in the UK. The show opened with the killer Hangar 18, and sped through Mega-numbers like Wake Up Dead, In My Darkest Hour, Mechanix, and Symphony of Destruction. A very cool performance that demonstrates just how tight this new line-up is, especially with guitarist Kiko Loureiro tearing up the fretboard on both oldies and new material.

Oversense just popped up in my Youtube recommendations, and though there are some unique ideas here and there, they are too light and almost poppy (sort of hard-ish rock) for me... at least at this point in time.

Oh, and I also stumbled upon some 80's metal band called Femme Fatale, who I vaguely recalled from that decade of decadence. The lead singer did her best to emulate Pat Benatar or Lee Aaron (or Lita Ford?), but just came across as cheesy, as did her backup band of big-hair mooks. Benatar's music still holds up, but this? Nope... just weak and silly.

That's it for this week, kids.... catcha on the flip-side!

Songs About Songs

When I'm at work, carrying out my mindless little tasks all day, my thoughts wander all over the place, often to creating music lists and quizzes for my co-workers. The Logical Song by Supertramp came to mind. Then the Immigrant Song, by Led Zeppelin. Then Your Song, by Elton John. And so on. Then I got to wondering if there were many other song titles that contained the word "song". It's not a common thing. I could only come up with a handful on first try, some friends offered up just a couple more, then I needed a jog of the brain with an internet search. By the time this list - not at all comprehensive - was done, I realized I knew all but a couple of the tunes. See if you can add some more....

The Logical Song, Supertramp
Immigrant Song, by Led Zeppelin
The Song Remains the Same, Led Zeppelin
Only a Northern Song, The Beatles
Song Sung Blue, Neil Diamond
Your Song, Elton John
Silly Love Songs, Paul McCartney & Wings
The Lemon Song, Led Zeppelin
Same Old Song and Dance, Aerosmith
The Song is Over, The Who
Alabama Song, The Doors
I Write the Songs, Barry Manilow
The Wanton Song, Led Zeppelin
The Prophet Song, Queen
Our Song, Yes
Border Song, Elton John
Superman Song, Crash Test Dummies
The First Song, Band of Horses
Love Song, Adele
Lovesong, The Cure
Plainsong, The Cure

Happy Canada Day, Eh!