Sidney Lumet 1924 - 2011

Sidney Lumet passed away at the age of 86 today. I feel the need to bring this up and comment on it as I found him to be one of the better filmmakers the cinema world had ever seen. I always found myself enjoying most of his movies, and sometimes I'd watch a new movie out of the blue, and I'd be surprised to see his name pop up at the end to start the credits.
He had quite a career that spanned over 5 decades, I don't know of many directors who can stake that claim, directing movies in the 50's all the way to 2007's critically acclaimed Before The Devil Knows You're Dead. He directed that movie at the age of 81, amazingly enough. Sadly it would be the last work of his career and life as he battled with lymphoma until the end.

I'd like to point out my absolute favorite Lumet films in no particular order, just films that stuck with me, and stood out among others. He had a very unique visual style ahead of its time really, I find David Cronenberg has a similar shooting style. I and many others would agree Lumet's prime is definately his 70's movies, he dished out absolute gems during that decade.

Network (1976) is probably my most favorite from him, When you watch a Lumet film, you notice the performances more then anything. Now of course that's a testament to the actors and their dialogues but Lumet captured great performances better then anybody. Infamous for letting long monologues be done in single takes, this is no more apparant then in Network, beautifully written and beautifully shot. Definitely my favourite.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975) Maybe the first Lumet film I had ever seen, and I watched it with my father who practically forced me to watch what he thought was a masterpiece. He didn't disappoint. Loved everything about this movie, and Pacino really stood out to me for the first time I had ever watched him, instead of the crazed shouting old man he became in the 90's. This movie was the first time I saw Pacino's talent, and like i said, Lumet captured it better then anyone.

Serpico (1973) Another stand out performance from Pacino. Another true story, another masterful display of filmmaking.

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), Lumet's last but goes out with a bang. Good story that Sidney turns into a great intense ride. Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke and even Albert Finney stand out with, again, great performances.

Equus (1977)  Now, I know.. It's an odd movie, a strange concept and I realized only now how many movies I HAVEN'T seen from Sidney (he had quite a lot). But I honestly enjoyed watching this one. I loved the way it was shot and told, the way Richard Burton keeps talking to us, the viewer, throughout the movie with such passion and intensity. Again odd movie but I loved the oddness!

Unfortunately, I haven't had the pleasure to see his first real big break into directing: his 1957 hit, 12 Angry Men with Henry Fonda (hey, he started off with a bang AND went out with a bang!), IMDB seems to rank it pretty high on the top 250, but I've just never got around to seeing it. But I'll definately make it a priority!

Rest in Peace, Sidney. We lost a great talent today, and I am glad I can say that I've watched some of your brilliant work and that I thoroughly enjoyed what I saw. I also plan to read your acclaimed book Making Movies. I hear its one of the best insights to filmmaking 101.

-The Silver Screen Junkie

Top 10 Personal Favorites

As much as I'd love to debate and discuss all films, I have to at least start with personal reviews and more specifically : My own top 10 favorites of all time. Give you guys kind of an idea of what I personally consider my all-time favorite movies, and I'd like to take a Top 10 approach to these things, to all things really!

As always, it's just a mere opinion, some of my selections may be popular choice, and others may be way off the board. But I hope my selections at least compare to bigtime movie fans, serious movie fans, and the random viewers alike, I also hope the ones I've picked  (not out of a hat mind you, this took years of work! I swear!) can either coincide with what you've already known and loved about such film, or at the very least open you to a film that may be foreign and unfamiliar to you, to maybe give you a new or different insight on what I think to be a gem of a movie.

What I'd really love is to get comments with your own personal favorite top 10's, and with reasons as to why which one would be your number 8 and why your number 2 is second to your number 1.
Let's get different perspectives on why we love the movies that we do for reasons we can discuss and debate. I'll go first (I don't have a choice!) without further ado :

THE SILVER SCREEN JUNKIE'S PERSONAL TOP 10 FAVORITES
( I paused for applause. What? You never clapped at a monitor before?!)
I'll be writing extensive reviews on each selection in the near future but for now, a couple words will suffice.

1 - The Deer Hunter (1978)

Looks like an odd choice for number 1 all time, I know, but I happen to be a strong believer in friendship and loyalty, and the friendship displayed here by Michael and Nick, portrayed respectively by Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken (best supporting actor Oscar winner) affected me in a way no other film had ever before, especially with what they go through throughout the whole movie. Powerful stuff.

2 - Platoon (1986)

I know, I know... another "Vietnam" movie and I do admit I happen to be fascinated by the subject, and yes, war movies happen to be one of my favorite subjects but this film is about much more then that. The raw reality of it, the way the violence is displayed accurately, the way the soldiers feel about one another, the way Oliver Stone captures the jungle (especially the first night ambush scene, my God). One of the most intense moments I've ever seen on film in my life. And there are very few...

3 - American History X (1998)

I'm a sucker for mind blowing performances. I happen to think Edward Norton was absolutely robbed of an Oscar for his portrayal of Derek Vinyard, and if you've seen most performances from Norton, this one stands out in a way that makes you shiver. But also, the story is brilliantly fascinating on an issue very few directors/filmmakers like to tackle. But it's the performances that stand out the most in this film.

4 - Forrest Gump (1994)

I HAVE to do it, again, sucker for performances (what can you say about Hanks in this film) but this is the first movie I can remember watching as a kid that made me feel emotionally involved. What a ride!  For this film, it's not just the performances that carry the movie. You can really see the directing and writing outdo itself throughout the picture. The story is so original yet it incorperates crucial moments of our real history to set the stage.

5 - Back To the Future (1985)

Few films have such an unbelievable story/ adventure/ ride; you name it. The concept! The creativity! The car! What makes it a personal favorite for me though is that it's also one of the very first movies I can ever remember seeing as a kid (born 1986), I've felt connected with "Doc" and "Marty" for as long as I can remember as well as the DeLorian (it's just as much a character as the other two). Any time this film comes on the tube, I make time for it, no matter what.

6 - Fight Club (1999)

A movie that when I watched for the first time, I couldn't get enough of. The story is good but the twist completely caught me off guard. I always hear about how some people saw it coming (good for them I guess) but I enjoy not seeing those types of things coming. I didn't start liking Brad Pitt until I saw this and Edward Norton was only cementing his spot as one of my favorite actors. But the key here is the director who is definitely one of my personal favourites. David Fincher has a beautiful style to his films and I've never seen one I haven't liked from him.

7 - Léon (The Professional) (1994)

I won't lie, it should probably be higher on my list. I love every single thing about this movie, from the direction to Gary Oldman's portrayal of Stansfield, easily one of my most favorite villains of all time. The movie feels short, but you don't get bored once. Not even for half a second.

8 - City of God (Cidade de Deus) (2002)

I had heard over and over again about this movie but I had never got around to watching it until years later and when I did, I was blown away. But I mean BLOWN away. Very few movies can shock me like that. I love the cinematography more then anything: the way it's shot, the fact that it's foreign and subtitled takes NOTHING away from the film. Beautifully violent movie.

9 - Falling Down (1993)

That's right! I put it in there! I love the story and I love what Micheal Douglas does for this movie. One of his most underated performances ever and the ending gets me every time ( a gem from Joel Schumacher no less).

10 - Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995) or Raging Bull (1980)

I'm cheating! I can't decide! All three brilliant works by Martin Scorsese with Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci headlining the casts. So I'm putting all three of them as my number 10! Raging Bull got De Niro his much deserved best actor Oscar and Goodfellas got Pesci its much deserved best supporting actor Oscar. Love them all.

Honorable Mentions :
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
JFK (1991)
Born on the 4th of July (1989)
Pulp Fiction (1994)

Remember, there'll be full reviews on each of these movies in the near future, so keep an eye out for those. So if by some chance actual movie fans come across this, please pitch in your own top 10's!

Take care,

The Silverscreen Junkie

Introduction.

Welcome to the TRUE silver screen junkie!
First timer doing this so I hope everyone can bear with me for the time being!

First off, I just want to say, I'm NO expert, no specialist, just a fan like the rest of you: up for healthy debate, up for healthy criticism, and open minded to EACH and EVERY single movie I have seen, or haven't seen but want to/or have a vested interest in.

Movies are my life, and I plan to be a part of them someday, somehow, but for now, all I can do is watch, and observe, just like the rest of you. I plan to give my utmost honest opinion on what I find to be true works of art, great adventures, great rides and hell, plain ol' simple cinematic achievements by everyone who's had the great oppurtunity to do so: good or bad!

Anytime I come across a film that's been viewed by the majority as "bad, terrible, unwatchable", well, I still think the production was lucky enough to even have a camera to capture moments, to even have an idea written on paper to be expressed visually, and to even have a director's chair at all! Just sitting on one at all would make me feel like hot shit anyway! And same goes for the GOOD movies we will mostly cover.

I must warn you though, I am quite sympathetic to all forms of art, particularly when it comes to motion pictures. Anything with creative value should be held with high praise, good or bad, it's the only way we can move forward as people creatively : someone sets the standard, and it's up to everyone else to match, or top it, this can lead to NO wrong. That's how I view movies. Every single director, no matter what movie you've seen throughout your entire lifetime. Every director sets out to make the greatest movie of all time; nobody settles for 2nd place, nobody settles for "well... at least people will see it somehow". Everyone in the industry sets out to make the best possible product they can: if it works out, great, and if it doesn't, at least they've tried. But it's the passion that drives us all : director, writer, actor, editor....even the guy who holds up the microphone! More importantly, the fan, the watcher, the person who PAYS to see scripted entertainment.

A reason I love to watch sports so much, it's that it is unscripted entertainment. The stage is set but whatever happens is determined by uncontrollable forces. When it comes to cinema, it IS controllable: by the writer, director, what have you, it's up to them to CREATE what they think is the extraordinary. They have the power to do so and it's up to us, the people, to determine whether they did a good job or not. It is an amazingly powerful feeling to determine if something is at the top of its industry or if it has failed miserably to accomplish what it was set out to do.

I will try my best to dish out my views on what I think should be mulled over as genius or eccentric; success or failure; and flat out enjoyable or missed the mark. I hope my views coincide with the majority of you and we can elaborate on them, and if they don't, let's discuss it! That's the beauty of it all!

Cheers!

The Silver Screen Junkie