Tag Archives: Friday Films

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Film Fridays: Field of Dreams

Today’s Film:

Some of the films I offer up for these Film Fridays are a bit obscure – they haven’t been seen by everybody. Others are quite well-known, if not as appreciated as I wish they were. And still others, like today’s selection, are usually considered classics. So it goes for Field of Dreams. There is plenty to say about this simple little baseball film. It’s been quoted, it’s been mocked, it’s been praised for being one of the only 90s Costner films without the obligatory butt shot. The truth is, somewhere around the turn of the century (that is, 1999 – 2001), sports movies underwent a slight change. The straight inspirational stories morphed into melodramatic accounts of underdogs proving their mettle, and so we got tales like Remember the Titans, The Rookie and Miracle among many others. Now, most of these films remain worthwhile, but they often seem cut from a Disney-fied archetypal mold. Sports became about winning and proving something, not about personal growth. Compare the sports movies of recent years to some of the classics like today’s pick or another classic like Hoosiers. Were these predecessors about winning and showing up the bigger, badder team and/or colliding against some societal stereotype? Or, on the contrary, were they about drawing together as a community, learning about each other, and having faith that what mattered was how one transcends his own circumstances rather than how he sticks it to the other side? Some recent films have kept this idea, but they are few; most are just about winning and losing. This is why I cherish a movie like Field of Dreams – because it is hardly “just a movie about baseball.” Rather, baseball is “just a metaphor for something bigger.”

One of the first films I like to show whenever I lead a Theology and Film night is this simple little story of a man who hears voices and decides to build a baseball field in the middle of his cornfield. I tell those who gather to watch that if this film is about anything, it is about the journey of faith. Ray Kinsella hears a whisper coming from the corn, and though it does not explain or clarify, the words nag him until he acts in faith and sets to work obeying what he can best figure the voice is asking him to do. Later, when his work does not yield the immediate results, he holds fast to the validity of what he has done, despite critics all around him (some in his own family) who believe he’s forgetting about his responsibilities to properly provide for his wife and daughter. And in the midst of the struggle, the voice whispers again, and Ray, acting in blind faith, takes to the road to follow its promptings, though he has no idea what the ultimate goal is. Sure, he questions, he complains, and he struggles to maintain obedience to the voice, but, in the end, after the hard, tangible work of believing in an unseen purpose, Ray encounters… well, those of you who have seen the film will recognize the significance of those final moments.

If the blind faith aspect is not plenty reason to go back and watch this film, here are five others:

 

#1

#2 – James Earl Jones and Burt Lancaster. Just try to tell me these two weren’t some of the most subtle yet inspirational characters in sports film history.

#3 – The wonderful history of baseball woven into the film and accented with references to the 60s. This film is a kind of time capsule.

#4 – The banter of the baseball players who come out of the corn. So much fun to watch.

#5 – The fact that, given the ending (with the line of cars), the story is saying something about how even one man’s journey of faith can affect a multitude.

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Friday Films: The Village

Today’s film:

Say what you want about M. Night Shyamalan (and almost every well-rounded moviegoer has his or her opinion), but I reject any critical reviews that pan this film. I truly believe that some of Shyamalan’s best work is found in The Village, as well as in the subsequent Lady in the Water. The reason for Shyamalan’s shrinking audience (which began around the time of his third major film, Signs) is that after Best Picture-nominee The Sixth Sense, he tried to take his storytelling in one direction despite having unwittingly defined himself on the basis of suspense and twist endings. That’s what the majority of moviegoers wanted, and to hell with substance. Sadly, it seems he has bowed to such outcry in recent years, sending up terrible specimens such as The Happening (which marked the death of his attempt at merging substance and brainless thrill), The Last Airbender and Devil. But I hold on to the beauty and depth of The Village; it is not for the crowd-pleasing twist or creep-out that I cherish this film, but for its creative examination of themes such as conformity, isolation, blind faith, fear and sacrificial love. What I appreciate most about this film is Shyamalan’s exploration of living in fear vs. embracing the world’s brokenness. The village patriarchs and matriarchs in the film have fled “the towns” because of the violence and evil that caused them pain. However, they find themselves unable to maintain a place free of this darkness, despite even the most drastic efforts. In the end, it takes a blind girl – who, at times, very literally walks by faith rather than by sight – to show them that hiding from the world’s darkness is impossible. The capacity for evil exists within all of us… but so does the capacity for love.

This is one of three films I believe everyone who participates in a community of faith – that is, the Church – should watch and study closely. There are too many churches today that are pulling back from society, building picket fences around their property and their image, frightened about what might happen if they openly associate with the secular world in all its infidelity and unpredictability. The world is a beautiful place, in need of a love that knows no boundaries. As the leader of the community, Edward Walker, tries to explain to the rest of the elders, “The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.”

Here are five more reasons to take a look (or a second look) at The Village:

#1

#2 – The entire cast. Shyamalan assembled a wonderful ensemble (including William Hurt, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, Brendan Gleeson, Judy Greer, Sigourney Weaver) and each actor does his or her part to add authenticity to the setting, the overall morose atmosphere, and the story itself.

#3 – The atmosphere. The twist might have left some feeling betrayed, but separatism never looked so beautiful.

#4 – The music. James Newton Howard was nominated for his score which featured the most memorable arrangement of stringed instruments since Psycho (but with a completely different feel, of course).

#5 – The suspense. Shyamalan knows how to build tension, and he also knows that the less you see the monster, the scarier it becomes. I’ve watched this film almost a dozen times now, and the creatures still give me the creeps.

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Friday Films: Wonder Boys

Today’s Film:

It was only a matter of time before I mentioned this one – Wonder Boys is one of my all-time favorite films, and one of the few films I’ve ever appreciated equally to its book predecessor. Sure, there’s a lot more going on in Michael Chabon’s novel, but director Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile) keeps in all the best parts – the quirkiness of the characters, the off-kilter literary references, and the ridiculous plot that comically stumbles along unsure of where it’s going but going anyway. I enjoy the rare movies that focus on writers – not the Secret Window‘s, Ask the Dust‘s, and Alex and Emma‘s, but the ones that pull back the curtains of mystery to reveal all the humor that is connected to such angst-ridden creativity. Wonder Boys does this deftly, almost poignantly, and as I write those completely unnecessary adverbs, I can see Professor Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas) and Terry Crabtree (Robert Downey Jr.) roll their eyes. This is one of Douglas’s most unappreciated characters; he plays the “blocked” writing professor with a curmudgeonly grace, and he is flanked by a beautiful mess of supporting characters, including Downey Jr.’s bi-sexual editor, Tobey Maguire’s compulsive liar/young genius, Frances McDormand’s wearied, not-getting-any-younger “girlfriend,” and the hilarious Alan Tudyk’s stoner custodian. Between these weirdos, Poe the blind dog, Vernon the hood-jumper, Q the best-selling prick, and Katie Holmes in what may have been her last sweet role before she went over to the dark side, I never get tired of this film or its treasure trove of high-brow gems. I could go on and on, but here are five more reasons to watch this film:

#1

#2 – James Lear’s (Tobey Maguire) alphabetical articulation of the famous Hollywood suicides. Great stuff for parties.

#3 – The Academy-Award winning song, “Things Have Changed,” by Bob Dylan, not to mention the rest of a pitch-perfect soundtrack.

#4 – Vernon and his pregnant “cupcake.”

#5 – A movie that, in its own strange way, perfectly captures the irresistible drudgery of the writing craft. “I don’t believe in writer’s block.” … “No kidding.”

p.s. – What are your favorite films about writers?

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Friday Films: True Grit

Sometimes, the easiest way to catch sight of the wonder in life is to immerse yourself in a great story. Given a choice of how to be served one, I’d pick a good novel over anything else. But as much as I enjoy reading, I am also a fan of the cinema, and if a quality novel isn’t within reach, a movie will do just fine. Whether I’m planting myself in the center of the center row of a theater or settling down to a DVD on the laptop, a good film thrills me as much as a good book. I’m not one of those readers who spurns film – in my opinion, they’re family. The film is the scrappy nephew to Uncle Novel.

Thus, each Friday, Wonderstuff will celebrate a film. Unlike today, most of these will be movies you can snag for yourself on Netflix or the Redbox (my theater-going is limited in Germany). Nevertheless, I highly recommend each film. If you have yet to experience it, I’ll give you five good reasons why you should delay no longer.

Today’s Film:

Visiting the States for Christmas meant that I could catch a couple of Best Picture Academy Award contenders (’tis the season, you know). The first one I caught was the Coen Brothers’ remake of True Grit. The purists and traditionalists alike will cry foul on the Coens for tampering with the classic western that nabbed John Wayne his only Oscar, but Joel and Ethan compose the two-man genius machine behind such new classics as Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and No Country For Old Men, not to mention the brilliant A Serious Man. I’m not a fan of this trend of remakes either, but I was willing to give the Coens the benefit of the doubt. I’m glad I did.

Five good reasons to go see True Grit:

#2 – A phenomenal supporting cast, including compelling turns by Matt Damon and Barry Pepper.

#3 – The music. Old-timey variations on “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” and other traditional hymns provides a gorgeous background to a rough-and-tumble story.

#4 – The old-timer in the bear fur. This is what makes westerns so fun.

#5 – A deftly drawn Old West narrative in the capable hands of the Coens – a oddysey that lightly and fearlessly explores issues of vengeance, purpose and belonging. This is what makes westerns so beautiful.