speaking of unimportant, non-events

Don't believe everything that you read.

I was told that a long time ago, long before I actually started reading much of substance.

I am having a hard time fathoming why such a furor is being made over James Frey's book, A Million Little Pieces, and more specifically why Oprah Winfrey's reactions to the book (pre- and post- reactions, that is) are deemed newsworthy. Let me clarify: they are not.

What this boils down to is: Oprah Winfrey likes books, and thought she liked Frey's but changed her mind. That's it. There is nothing else to this story.

If Winfrey thought the lessons to be learned from Frey's book were valuable, then they were, whether they were true or not, embellished or factual to a T. The valuable lesson frequently does not come from facts but from thought, supposition and consideration. I think what really went down here is: Oprah Winfrey supported a writer, then discovered everything wasn't 100% true in his book, and decided she'd been made to look foolish in her support of him. And we all know how well celebrities appreciate being made to look like they backed the wrong horse. Oprah has the ability to say "this or that book is very good, I liked it" and her millions of fans take her word to heart, and read said book. In this case, she said something positive about something flawed, and assumed her fans would not accept the lesson in their hearts but would instead rebel against her. So she flayed the author on a recent televised show, and frankly, I wonder why Frey even sat still for the relentless beating he took. If he was approached that the show would be a basic interview and had no idea of the lynching to follow, I'm shocked he didn't have the guts to walk out on the whole affair.

Oprah's opinions on anything are just that. They are not news; they are not special. Hers are no more important than your own, so don't be mislead by the flash and glitter of celebrity suggestion.

As for James Frey, the only issue there is that he should have said up front that his work was kinda-sorta-true, used some of those fun phrases like "composite" and "based on". More importantly, his publishers should have at least anticipated that some basic questions would be in order before printing a million little copies.

But I lay a greater blame on Oprah's head than James Frey's. He just wrote a book. She over-reacted and gave the book all the attention it kinda-sorta-maybe did or didn't deserve.

After the Hermes debacle (and specifically her handling of it), this does not surprise me but it does make me feel bad for those who blindly follow her as never wrong, untarnished, and beyond reproach.

post-script: worst films of 2005

I am always interested in what films people say are the worst of a given year and the reasons why. Personally, I try to steer clear of "easy" or "obvious" bad films. Son of the Mask, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo and (insert name of 60' s-era television sitcom re-make here) are all easily bad films, and all you have to do is see their trailers to realize what's coming.

What I like is when people bring up films that should have been great, films that would have been stunning cinematic opuses had some small element been slightly different, whether in the creative process or in the ideology or psychology behind the content. Granted, The Amityville Horror re-make doesn't fit in this category, but my other three worst films do (they were Ma Mere, Manderlay and Palindromes).

So imagine my surprise when top critic showmen like Ebert and Roeper each pick their ten worst films of 2005...and they are all comedies and action films that, in many cases, could not have been expected to be very good in the first place. Ebert especially surpises, as he made quite vehement statements against two graphic, cruelty-charged horror films, Chaos and Wolf Creek, yet they don't show up in his list. More importantly, their lists feel very easy...where are the challenging films that failed? Isn't a horribly failed effort that was intended to be something grand and meaningful or artistic and daring far worse than just another cookie-cutter action film or unfunny, try-too-hard comedy? In this humble movie-lovin' blogger's opinion, yes.

Oh, well. Another post on something that isn't that important in the scheme of things.




this post was released in theaters, on cable and DVD and transferred via a Dr. Strange-like ethereal plane on the same day. okay, so the DVD release is actually next tuesday...

2005 movies, part 4: the best

Well, you made it this far. Here are the very best, more very best, and a few you may not have seen (all listed in alphabetical order):


FIVE FILMS YOU SHOULD FIND (the hard part) AND WATCH (the easy part)

The Beat That My Heart Skipped, Cavite, Domino (yes, that one), Inside Deep Throat and Izo (04). All five are films of unique visual and narrative intensity that, in all but one case (yes, that one) will probably be hard to find in your average, mainstream rental shop.


TEN SECOND BEST

3-Iron, The Aristocrats, The Devil's Rejects, Downfall, Kontroll, Mad Hot Ballroom, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Syriana, War of the Worlds, The Weather Man.

A lovingly precise throwback to 70s-era exploitation/grindhouse movies. A kick in the gut by the master of high drama and crackling good fun. A sweetly bizarre debut about wounded, distant souls. A surprisingly deft tale of a man who finally grasps something of meaning in his life. A perversely profane documentary about a single, ever-changing joke. A humanizing portrait of a real-life villain. A documentary on life as seen through dancing children. A uniquely quiet and haunting love affair. An eastern bloc film combining elements of Fight Club, Subway, Taxi Driver and Amelie. And a film everyone kept calling "complex", for reasons I cannot fathom.

..and, finally...


THE TEN BEST FILMS OF 2005

A History of Violence - David Cronenberg's giddy paean to American Gothic, gangster films and publicity as social nightmare.

Good Night, and Good Luck - George Clooney's rendition of the verbal prizefight between Edward R. Murrow and Joseph McCarthy.

Grizzly Man - Werner Herzog's fascinating documentary about a man who studied bears for 13 years before being killed by one.

Hustle & Flow - Terrence Howard's performance as a pimp who wants to rap drives this surprisingly good-natured film.

Layer Cake - Already forgotten, this brilliant slice of crime is immediately one of the best of its genre.

Lord of War - How does Nicolas Cage out-do The Weather Man? He inhabits the role of a black-market arms dealer.

Nobody Knows - A crushingly hard film to watch, but richly rewarding. As unique as they come.

The President's Last Bang - Piercing, satirical, subversive and funnier than any other political drama, this Korean import is a hard-to-find prize.

Sin City - Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller have created a one-of-a-kind graphic novel film... that is, until the sequel. Brilliant, beautiful and hardcore.

Tony Takitani - Possibly one of the single-most beautifully crafted, poetic and haunting films of the year (in a good way!), this deceptively simple tale is sure to be remembered as one of the decade's finest works of cinematic art.



Well...that's it.

scn

2005 movies, part 3: solid stuff

Try these on for size:

The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Assault on Precinct 13 (remake), Aeon Flux, Assisted Living, Batman Begins, Capote, The Cave, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Chicken Little, The Comedians of Comedy (film), The Constant Gardener, Constantine, Crash, Doom, Dust to Glory, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Fantastic Four, Flightplan, Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, Heights, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Hostage, Howl's Moving Castle, Jarhead, King Kong, Kung Fu Hustle, Lords of Dogtown, Madagascar, March of the Penguins, Millions, Murderball, Off The Map, Rize, Sahara, Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic, Schultze Gets the Blues, Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus, Serenity, Sky High, Steamboy (04), Transporter 2, Unleashed, Walk the Line, Wedding Crashers, and Yes.

Good, solid flicks of varying degrees. Surely you can find something that fits your sensibilities.



Next: Movies, Part 4 (will it ever end?...yes)