Welcome to Pottersville

Confession time: Robin Williams has always been one of my favorite actors. As a kid I could watch and rewatch his quick wit and crude manner in Popeye, Hook, Mrs. Doubtfire, Flubber, and, my favorite, Aladdin. As I’ve grown up, his serious films have continued to impressed me, such as Good Morning Vietnam, The Fisher King, Insomnia, Death to Smoochy, One Hour Photo, Good Will Hunting, and his smaller roles in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen or Deconstructing Harry. Williams largely avoids the hit or miss factor that plague so many other actors – if he’s in it, the films probably good, and probably because he is in it. So here is my homage to one of the best actors of all time. Robin Williams’ big acting debut was the character of Mork in Happy Days, and its spin off Mork and Mindy. His show ran for four seasons, and Williams earned a Golden Globe for his performance – his first of four. While Mork and Mindy was on the air, Williams starred as the titular character in Robert Altman’...

About a month ago I was watching Arsenic and Old Lace with a few friends when one of them had asked me if I had seen the Alfred Hitchcock film Rope. At the time I hadn’t seen much Hitchcock at all, but the film sounded intriguing – like Arsenic and Old Lace, it was a story about a dead man hidden in a box in the living room. A few days ago I found out that Jimmy Stewart starred in the movie and I was sold. There’s something about Jimmy Stewart that’s very approachable and familiar, kind of like an uncle or a neighbor, and I, as mentioned in a previous entry, am a huge fan of his work with Frank Capra. Hitchcock is, of course, legendary, so the combination of these two in the 1940’s film Rope makes it extremely appealing. What surprised me most was how experimental this film was. As I lay in bed watching the film this morning I noticed that although the camera was moving, the box containing the dead man was almost always in view, and the camera was focusing on pretty much one shot f...

Last year, despite only seeing two or three of the films nominated, I stayed up late to watch the celebratory masturbation known as “The Academy Awards”, with an undying hope that any film –I didn’t care which, just any film – would take Best Picture away from Avatar. I have to say that I went to bed happy with the result, albeit I did feel like my time had been wasted. It is widely accepted, at least in my circles, that the Oscars are a joke, but each year we all follow along - at least peripherally - who will win best picture, actor, and director. But these awards don’t really mean anything, as history keeps showing how the Oscars get it wrong. When you ask the typical movie-goer who the top five English speaking filmmakers are almost every list will include Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick despite the fact that all three of these directors never were recognized by the Academy. The films that define decades never win Oscars, and lose out to some of the most ridi...

I am aware that my first few posts have been quite long winded, but there is an easy explanation for that – the first two were copy and pasted essays I wrote for my film class and the last was me geeking out about Stanley Kubrick. From these entries on I promise more concise and readable essays, starting today with (drumroll)… Taxi Driver! I was in a taxi last night when Frank Sinatra came on the radio, which prompted a conversation about Frankie, which inevitably led to his films. While talking about films I asked the cabbie if he had ever seen Taxi Driver and, while laughing, he said that he has not since before he got into the profession. I then asked the cabbie if he has ever hit another car while on duty and that changed the subject completely. Anyway, the film. Taxi Driver is sort of an adaptation of Catcher and the Rye, in the sense that it is the story of an extremely lonely individual walking around the New York City judging people. Unlike Holden Caulfield, who my new adopt...

“The attack yesterday morning was no stain on the honor of France, and certainly no disgrace to the fighting men of this nation. But this court martial is such a stain, and such a disgrace. The case made against these men is a mockery of all human justice. Gentlemen of the court, to find these men guilty would be a crime, to haunt each of you till the day you die. I can't believe that the noblest impulse of man-- his compassion for another-- can be completely dead here. Therefore I humbly beg you...show mercy to these men.” - Colonel Dax, Paths of Glory            Stanley Kubrick was the greatest auteur to ever stand behind a camera. He is certainly considered by many critics and other filmmakers to be the definitive director, mastering each genre with a single film before moving on to the next. Kubrick was notorious for his perfectionist approach to filmmaking, spending years on a single film, and was equally notorious for his supposed curt and...

“When I have the Map, I will be free, and the world will be different, because I have understanding...of digital watches. And soon I shall have understanding of videocassette recorders and car telephones. And when I have understanding of them, I shall have understanding of computers. And when I have understanding of computers, I shall be the Supreme Being! God isn't interested in technology. He knows nothing of the potential of the microchip or the silicon revolution. Look how he spends his time! Forty-three species of parrot! Nipples for men! Slugs!! He created slugs. They can't hear! They can't speak! They can't operate machinery! I mean, are we not in the hands of a lunatic? If I were creating a world, I wouldn't mess about with butterflies and daffodils. I would have started with lasers, eight o'clock, day one!” -The personification of evil in Time Bandits Terrence Vance Gilliam was born in Medicine Lake, Minnesota, on November 22 1940. As a child, Gilli...