R.I.P. Philip Seymour Hoffman

1967-2014

I still haven't come to grips with the fact that Philip Seymour Hoffman has died. Last Sunday, February 2, 2014, his body was discovered in his New York apartment. He died of an apparent heroin overdose. I say apparent because the coroner hasn't released an official cause of death yet, but police claim he was found with a fucking needle in his arm so, I'm just going go with heroin here. Hoffman was regarded as the greatest character actor of his generation and ranked amongst a handful of others as the most talented working actor today. To say his untimely death is a tragedy would be a understatement. This whole ordeal has left me and anyone with a more than passing interest in cinema and the creative arts, absolutely devastated.

Hoffman began his acting career on the stage. I've read a flood of tributes and interviews with the man that state his only real aspiration in life was to be a Broadway actor, capable of performing his craft then riding his bike home in complete anonymity. He had no desire for international stardom. Hoffman's talent was too great however and a string of small film roles in the early 90's would catapult him into the limelight for the next two decades. Hoffman, with his bulky frame and disheveled looks was not the typical Hollywood leading man and he knew it. Instead, Hoffman seeped into the heart and soul of cinema through his incredible laundry list of supporting characters. He rarely hogged the spotlight, but onscreen, Hoffman always stole the show. His performances were rife with emotion and felt less like an actor than a literal exposed nerve. The vulnerability in his performances was undoubtedly tied to deep psychological turmoil. Whatever dark inner forces led this talented man to seek refuge in drugs also served as the conduit for some of the greatest acting ever captured on film. It's a damming double edged sword that I wish cut less deep.

Philip Seymour Hoff was one of my favorite actors. I've basically grown up watching the man. He was the douche-y kid in Scent of a Woman, crazy Dusty in Twister, and had two iconic roles in films that changed my life: Scotty J in Boogie Nights and Brandt in The Big Lebowski. Those two movies changed the way I looked at film, forever. I'm not going to list all his great roles because that would take forever. The man's filmography is damn near untouchable. Even when Hoffman was slumming in shitty films for a paycheck, he always delivered onscreen. I was fortunate enough to watch Hoffman in glorious 70mm in his now iconic performance in The Master. I sat in the theater mesmerized, as Hoffman's face was projected on the Arc Light's massive Cinerama Dome. Finally, I thought, a screen capable of sustaining this man's gargantuan talents. I felt lucky and privileged to live in a time when actors like Phoenix, Bale, Fassbender and the most consistent of the bunch, Philip Seymour Hoffman, delivered such captivating and inspirational performances. I had grown up watching Hoffman as merely a side character, only within the past few years did I become aware of/fully appreciate the scope of his talent. I thought there would be more films to enjoy. It pains me at how wrong I was.

Hoffman's death is disgusting, infuriating and utterly heartbreaking. At a time when modern culture revolves around vapid reality stars and teen pop drivel, Philip Seymour Hoffman was a national treasure to anyone with a working brain. I'm saddened for his family's loss, I'm outraged by his selfishness and weep for such wasted potential and the future greatness we have all been collectively robbed of by his passing. From the grizzly details surrounding his death, we all know he wasn't a perfect human being, but there is no doubt that Philip Seymour Hoffman was the perfect actor. He will be greatly missed.

Happy Birthday Paul Thomas Anderson!

Paul Thomas Anderson is my favorite director. I view his films like stone tablets from Mount Sinai. I've ranted about PTA ad nauseum on this blog, but guess what? Even more PTA love to celebrate the man's 43rd birthday.

This is a short edit that highlights all of PTA's films (excluding 2012's The Master).


Here is a special in depth video that explores PTA's technical genius behind the camera:

The Career of Paul Thomas Anderson in Five Shots from Kevin B. Lee on Vimeo.

And I'll leave you with an example a shinning example of PTA's twisted humor:



Happy Birthday sir. I can't wait to see what the next 20 years of your career will bring.

Oscar Shutout

damn

The 85th Academy Awards aired last night. I had to work and missed the entire broadcast. Looks like I didn't miss much however, since all my favorites lost in every category. That's right folks, I know how pick em'.

Here's the rundown:

Argo is a damn fine movie, I even said so HERE, but I don't think it was Best Picture worthy. Same deal with Jennifer Lawrence. She's great in Silver Linings Playbook...but Jessica Chastain and Naomi Watts are friggin phenomenal in Zero Dark Thirty and The Impossible. Daniel Day Lewis will always be my homeboy, but Joaquin Phoenix's performance in The Master is, well it's just as uncanny and fearless as Daniel Day Lewis was in There Will Be Blood. Phoenix out DDL's DDL in this case.

Speaking of The Master, Philip Seymour Hoffman was ROBBED. Flat out robbed. Christoph Waltz is Tarantino's new go to guy, and he was great as Hans Landa 2.0 in Django Unchained but he doesn't come close to Hoffman's firebrand performance. Since we're on the subject of Tarantino, he needs to be stopped. I love the bastard and really enjoyed his latest film, but he's just getting out of hand. Winning Best Original Screenplay will only reinforce his bad habits, meaning we'll be stuck with more of his overtly long, bloated and campy films for the foreseeable future.

I wish Helen Hunt, or Amy Adams would have walked away with the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, but Anne Hathaway really stole the show with her five minute performance (or so I'm told).  Notice I didn't pick anyone for Best Director. Since Paul Thomas Anderson and Kathryn Bigelow were snubbed in the category I really didn't have a favorite. I'm cool with Ang Lee (he gave me Jennifer Connelly in Hulk, I'm forever thankful), so I can't hate on him.

TLDR:None of my horses came in. Bummer.

*NOTE*
Here's a list of great films that either lost or were snubbed for Best Picture altogether:

King Kong
Modern Times
Citizen Kane
The Wizard of Oz
Rebel Without a Cause
Psycho
To Kill a Mockingbird
Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
The Good The Bad and The Ugly
Bonnie and Clyde
2001: A Space Odyssey
Easy Rider
Taxi Driver
Network
Star Wars
Apocalypse Now
Raging Bull
E.T.
Glory
Full Metal Jacket
Goodfellas
Pulp Fiction
The Shawshank Redemption
LA Confidential
The Truman Show
American History X
The Thin Red Line
Saving Private Ryan
Requiem For a Dream
City of God
Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind
Brokeback Mountain
Zodiac
There Will Be Blood
The Social Network

Fear not Zero Dark Thirty, you're in great company.

Top 5 Films of 2012.

So here it is...my top 5 favorite films of 2012.


The Master- Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
I was fortunate enough to see The Master in all it's epic, 70mm glory. PTA's follow up to There Will Be Blood doesn't offer the same instant gratification fix as it's predecessor, but it's still a marvelous film in it's own right. Every shot is breathtaking, the cast (Phoenix, Hoffman, Adams) delivers the best acting performances of the year, and the soundtrack is untouchable. The Master's plot might be foggy, but the overall experience of the film is anything but.



Silver Linings Playbook- Directed by David O. Russell
A lighthearted take on the serious and often somber topic of mental health issues in America, Silver Linings Playbook was my pleasant surprise of the year. I laughed and was generally more entertained during David O. Russel's quirky romantic dramedy then I had been in ages.  I'm also now sold on both Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence's acting chops.



Zero Dark Thirty- Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
The hunt for Osama Bin Laden could have easily been depicted as a "glorious" pile of pro-Western propaganda. I'm glad Kathryn Bigelow took a different approach with Zero Dark Thirty. The film is cold and clinical, like it's Type A personality protagonist Maya (Jessica Chastain). The tedious and often  horrific nature of the espionage/political world take center stage. The film may be dark and exhausting, but it's almost cathartic as well.



Prometheus- Directed by Ridley Scott
I don't understand the anger over Prometheus. Aside from looking absolutely gorgeous on the big screen (and I usually loathe 3D), Ridley Scott's latest film is easily the most ambitious sci-fi film in years. Was the film perfect? No. Was it entertaining and leave you craving more? For me, the answer is a definite yes! Introducing "The Engineers" and expanding the Alien mythos into a separate but equally enthralling cinematic universe was right decision. The sub-par Alien VS Predator franchise sort of killed the whole chestburster thing anyways.   



End of Watch- Directed by David Ayer
David Ayer has officially come into his own as a filmmaker. He may have written the script for Training Day, but his subsequent directorial work (Harsh Times and Street Kings), although entertaining, were less than stellar. End of Watch crushes any remaining doubts I had about his directing. Ayer's latest cop drama is, gritty, fast paced, even hilarious at times, but most of all, it's one of the most heart wrenching films of the year. Jake Gyllenhaal and Micheal Pena's chemistry as gang busting LAPD officers is uncanny and is the heart of the entire film.


*HONORABLE MENTIONS*
Some pretty rad movies I dug from 2012 that were just shy of the final cut:

The Avengers
NERDGASM OF A LIFETIME. The most fun I've had at the movies. EVER.

The Sessions
John Hawkes performance as a sexually and spiritually frustrated polio victim/quadriplegic is awe inspiring.

Dredd.
Absolute carnage. I haven't enjoyed such awesomely relentless violence on the big screen since the lobby shoot out in The Matrix.

Female Obsession: Amy Adams

Amy Adams is amazing. She's beautiful, is a talented actress and has an amazing singing voice. None of this is news though. What is news is that Adams, a petite woman with hypnotic green eyes, is also, absolutely terrifying. I'll get to that later.

Amy Adams first came to my attention in Spielberg's 2002 film, Catch Me If You Can. She played the sweet love interest duped by Leonardo Dicaprio's conman character. I really liked this movie (probably the last Spielberg flick I've raved about) and even though this was Adams big break into the industry (she did some musical theater, worked at Hooters, and starred in b-movie classics like Psycho Beach Party before hand) I still wasn't too wowed with her and she kind of drifted off my radar.

Then came Enchanted. Words cannot describe how much I love this movie. It took the awesomeness of all the Disney Renaissance flicks I enjoyed as a kid and merged them into a live action film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit style. Amy Adams nailed the naive Disney princess thing to a friggin' tee. I was already a grown ass dude but I couldn't help but fall in love with the songs, and more specifically, Amy Adam's  voice.


She may have stolen my heart as a saccharine princess, but Amy Adams earned my respect for her work in 2010's The Fighter. She played Mark Wahlberg's ultra tough/supportive working class girlfriend, who battles drunks and bitchy females alike, and proved she truly was a gifted actress and not just a pretty face (and voice!). Adams did more cutesy song and dance stuff in The Muppets (which I also loved).

MASTER! MASTER!

Well, the Amy Adams Enchanted high has come and gone. She's still gorgeous and unquestionably a great actress, but after seeing her performance in PTA's latest film, The Master, I am in absolute awe of her. The way an ant trembles at the sight of human shoes, that was my reaction to Amy Adam's commanding performance in The Master. She plays Philip Seymour Hoffman's wife, the woman who pulls the strings, through domineering stares and twisted sexual manipulation, behind the film's enigmatic and seemingly all knowing & powerful cult leader. This performance makes her gritty character in The Fighter seem like, well, a Disney princess. 

Gorgeous. Talented...and now: Terrifying. HA. No, we can't go out with that. Just because Amy Adams is capable of scaring the bejeezus out of us doesn't mean she's frightening. In fact, she actually seems really down to Earth and funny. *Swoons*

Clip of Amy being adorable:


...and now, pics of Amy looking gorgeous:

Movie Review: The Master

Finally. Finally, the latest film from Paul Thomas Anderson is upon us. For those of you who don't know, I've been counting the days til this film was released for months now. PTA is arguably, the best director of his generation and after the masterpiece that was There Will Be Blood, expectations for his newest film were high to say the least.

Well The Master is an amazing film but I can't say that it doesn't disappoint. It does. But I think it does so on purpose. You'll see...

Hi! My Name Is ____

The film centers around a drunken WWII vet named Freddie Quell, (played marvelously by Joaquin Phoenix) who drifts through misadventure after misadventure until he stumbles across an enigmatic con-man/cult leader named Lancaster Dodd (played by the brilliant, Philip Seymour Hoffman). Dodd's religion, The Cause, is a dead ringer for Scientology, with it's grueling physical and mental exercises that purportedly, help alleviate the stings of past traumas. The promise of equilibrium, and the apparent familial bonds of Dodd's organization appeal to Freddie. The only problem is, he's bat shit crazy. Mental illness runs in his family, even before he became a PTSD candidate from his stint in the Navy and a violent drunk after returning to civilian life. Freddie is a slave to his primal urges, an impulsive bull in the hyper regimented China shop that Dodd has created with The Cause. Freddie longs to be loved and accepted, The Cause offers him these things but only after changing who he fundamentally is.

That's pretty much the plot of the movie. Freddie is basically an out of control maniac and Dodd is the ultimate manipulator. Watching the sparks fly in their scenes together is electrifying. What happens when the unstoppable force meets an immovable object? You get the jail cell scene. It's amazing to watch, especially on a giant screen. The Master was filmed in 70mm, the same as the old period epics from the 1960's, but instead of sweeping battle scenes and panoramic views, Anderson's film predominantly features people talking in rooms and intense closeups of it's actor's faces. This helps make the extremely powerful characters appear truly, larger than life.

Facebook timeline photo: fo sho'!

The film is beautiful to look at. It seems like Paul Thomas Anderson can do no wrong regarding the technical aspects of film making.  Every shot is gorgeous and engaging. Most of the film consists of just people talking indoors and never once did I feel bored. The way he places the camera, even in a living room, is almost always captivating. That being said, there are still TONS of visual treats for you cinematography fiends. Nearly all the Navy sequences at sea are breathtaking, along with Dodd's ship sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge at dawn, or Freddie racing motorcycles in the desert. These shots are more awe inspiring than all the 3D/CGI effects in the world.

Then there's the music. Holy fuck Johnny Greenwood's score is amazing. The sounds (some might call it music) he created in There Will Be Blood were not only menacing and foreboding (like John Williams work on Jaws, intense), they were so overpowering at times his score felt like another character itself. Well his work here in The Master is equally pleasing. This time his score has the opposite effect. Instead of knocking down your door and shoving the horrors of the American frontier in your face, his subtle, dreamlike compositions in The Master creep into your psyche and place the viewer into a foggy haze, much like Freddie Quell's character. It's amazing and truly haunting.

That's also how I felt after leaving the theater. I felt just as lost and haunted as poor Freddie. Anderson's film is intentionally vague. There are no great character archs or traditional climax of any sort. The characters interact on screen, and when they do it's amazing to behold, but then they just float away. The first shot of the film are waves breaking in the ocean. That's exactly what The Master is structured like. All in all it's a marvelous cluster fuck, just like Freddie Quell himself.

As the film's director, Anderson is Dodd, playing the role of master to his guinea pig Freddie/ the audience. I saw the The Master in 70mm projection at the Arclight Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, my senses were so overwhelmed by the ginormous visuals and sounds I was like Freddie during the "processing" scene, completely at the master's mercy. I can't wait to delve into this film again and build up my defenses. Maybe then I can piece together all the thing's PTA was hinting at, about id and ego, acceptance and dependency, fucking yin and yang. Til then, I say go see The Master on the biggest screen you can and marvel at top tier film making and Oscar worthy performances.

Countdown to...The Master

It's officially September. You know what that means? It means there's only two weeks until The Master hits theaters (limited screenings...boo-yah living in LA)!!!

Look at this tracking shot. It's so beautiful I'm literally salivating right now:

Again, I am beyond stoked for this release. Pretty sure it's going to be my film of the year in December.

I've watched the trailer so many times this past month I've fallen head over heels for this Joan Stafford song from the film's soundtrack. Enjoy:

The Master trailer

With all the hoopla surrounding The Dark Knight Rises and the subsequent tragedy in Colorado this past week, some people might not be aware that the first full theatrical trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson's new film, The Master, was released last Thursday as well.

Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood...it's safe to say Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA) is my favorite director. This new trailer makes me feel all tingly. I'm beyond stoked. Even if this movie is horrible, it will still be technically amazing, it's win win!