Essential 5: Wong Kar-Wai

Wong Kar-Wai is often cited as the world's most romantic director. His films are known for characters who go through life as if there is nothing else but romance and they are shot so lovingly as to make even the most stone-hearted viewer agree. If that was all there was to him, he would still be a director worth watching -- genuine romance is almost impossible to find at the movies. His films are also filled with subtext. For instance, Wong always shows clocks and highlights the movement of time in every shot. On one level this merely hightens the sense that all relationships are finite, and so is heartbreak. On a second level though, he is referencing the ticking clock that Hong Kong (where many of his films take place) was under during British rule. Many of those who live in Hong Kong had fled mainland China after the rise of communism there and lived in Hong Kong to escape what they saw as an oppressive system. Wong Kar-Wai shows metaphorically the fear many in Hong Kong must have felt about the hand-over of power that happened in 1997.

"I'll see you in my dreams" Essential 5: David Lynch

  "My movies are film-paintings - moving portraits captured on celluloid. I'll layer that with sound to create a unique mood -- like if the Mona Lisa opened her mouth, and there would be a wind, and she'd turn back and smile. It would be strange and beautiful." - David Lynch

David Lynch is the rare artist capable of making the non-rational… digestible… maybe even understandable, and even if we can’t articulate that understanding, we can approximate it. Discussion inevitably turns to the darkness inside us all or the hidden face of seemingly idyllic communities. He often visualizes the fractured psyche, perhaps as a metaphor for society, or individuals, or even himself. Machines are a common motif, often juxtaposed with less ordered, organic imagery like physical deformities, fire, and waterfalls. All of this is true of Lynch, but beside the point. Few film authors are so visual, and none are quite so focused on evoking instead of explaining. Critics love to over-analyze Lynch, and I’m no exception.

For me at least, watching Lynch is like being under a spell. I’m mesmerized by the images, the story, and most of all by what it’s doing to me. Intellectual exercise is generally strenuous, and requires a great deal of conscious thought. With Lynch, though, you feel as if it is your subconscious getting the work-out. After I am done I feel as if I understand myself better or perhaps that I am more comfortable with myself in a way that is impossible to describe. Is intellectualism possible if it eludes your consciousness?

           

I’m going to resist the urge to delve deeper into the state Lynch puts me in. Nothing is more boring than someone else psychoanalyzing themselves. So, here are the essential films of David Lynch. His films taken together create a rich interconnected body of work that is best considered together. But you have to start somewhere and inevitably some make easier entrance points than others. If you are interested in this (very) important filmmaker I recommend starting here:

The Death of Cuteness (and a Bonus!) Essential 5: Pushing Daisies

Cuteness is perhaps most commonly seen, in the world of film and television, as something to be grown out of. The sickly sweet ending is akin to picking your nose and overtly sentimental dialogue to using a sippy cup. There seemed to be a brief moment, though, when all this was starting to change. The early years of this decade saw Wes Anderson at the height of his powers, Amelie at near Pulp Fiction levels in college dorm rooms, not to mention the near rabid fanbase of "Gilmore Girls." So what happened? Amelie's reputation has never been lower, Wes Anderson's films (while still well-respected) have been making less and less money at the box office, and shows like "Wonderfalls" and "Pushing Daisies" can't bring in any viewers.

Essential 5: Angel

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was so successful that Joss Whedon was able to expand the universe with a spin-off show. That show, Angel, replaced much of the campy teenage vibe with dark fantasy. He killed off main characters, added moral ambiguity, and in the process created a show which added to the so-called "Buffyverse," yet is also capable of standing on it's own merits. I would actually argue that season 5 of Angel is as good as any single season of Buffy.

Essential 5: The Office

Michael Scott:	There could be others. I need to know. I don't want to offend anybody else.
Dwight Schrute:	You could assume everyone is, and not say anything offensive.
Michael Scott:	Yeah. I'm sure everyone would appreciate me treating them like they were gay.

The Office started out as a remake of the British cult hit of the same name. From that (cough) auspicious start the show grew into a uniquely American pop culture phenomenon. Although it's currently doing its best sinking Titanic impression, the show was certainly, at one time, the funniest show on TV. Many try to defend the show's merit by referring to the way it attempts to subvert the American corporate culture or the mockumentary format but the truth is that both of those things have been done better elsewhere. What makes it a great show is the witty writing and even better delivery by a talented cast. It's easy to try to rationalize liking this show, when the truth is that it's simply well executed. The well made comedy is something that's been missing from Hollywood for a long time and it seems like, for the time being, it has rematerialized mostly on TV with this show, 30 Rock, and Arrested Development among others.

Essential 5: The X-Files

The X-Files is many things: a treatise on belief, a government conspiracy fable, a sci-fi monster of the week show, and a relationship drama. All of these elements make up one of the most important, and influential, shows of the nineties. When the show works its nothing short of compelling, yet it does sometimes feel dated and more than a bit hokey. The X-Files is strongest when the audience can most strongly identify with Agent Scully, the character that we, the audience, are most expected to identify with (not to mention Gillian Anderson's show stealing performance). Agent Mulder's beliefs are often based on evidence the audience never becomes privy to and thus, his role is put to best use as a sort of guide.

“Your future is all used up.” Essential 5: Film Noir

"I say a murder is abstract. You pull the trigger and after that you do not understand anything that happens." -Jean-Paul Sartre, 1948




Film noir is one of those things which will never be truly defined. Film scholars will be squabbling over it until there are no more film scholars. That doesn't mean that the question isn't important and doesn't shed light on the films themselves. I feel almost as if giving my two cents is a right of passage. After reading many who have attempted what I myself am attempting here, I think its possible to break down most thinkers into three distinct camps, those who try to define noir in terms of: pure aesthetics; character traits, setting, and plot elements (the things, or semantic elements); and the themes and context (the syntactic elements). It seems to me that none of these is exactly right in and of itself but rather the answer lies in some combination.

Essential 5: Pedro Almodóvar

Pedro Almodóvar is arguably the most important Spanish film director since Luis Buñuel. He is well known for his melodramatic plots, use of Hitchcockian suspense techniques, and gay themes. His films are most often compared to those of Douglas Sirk, the under-appreciated creator of many melodramas in the United States in the 1950s. Much like Sirk, his films are deceptively complex and are most notable for their use of eye-popping color. Also like Sirk, his films are often disregarded and misunderstood.

Essential 5: How I Met Your Mother

I do not enjoy Friends. I find most of its situations completely implausible and boring. When it ended in 2004, I was not alone in wishing it a bon voyage. Since then many shows have tried to recreate its success but most failed. The problem was that the simplistic core idea required some sort of vision to really make it worthwhile. Seinfeld was the result of a very definite worldview, Friends, though, just seemed to lead to empty plots and storylines. If Cosmopolitan Magazine were turned into a TV show, it would be Friends. That is why I was so pleasantly surprised by How I Met Your Mother.

Essential 5: Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock is, quite simply, my favorite director. Vertigo was a revelatory experience for me, and after seeing it I recognized movies for the first time as an art form. I began what has been a strange and wonderful journey into an unknown, beautiful world. Since that initial experience I've seen many worthwhile films, and all of them seen through the filter that is Hitchcock. It isn't that I don't think that other directors have matched any one of his films but no director can claim the sheer number of masterpieces that Hitchcock produced. The breadth and depth of his work is awe inspiring. So, in case my word orgasm didn't give it away, take this with a grain of salt, I am extremely biased and not going to pretend otherwise.

Essential 5: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Essential 5 will be a semi-frequent feature here on The Crooked Frame. The idea is that there are best of lists for pretty much everything, but very little in the way of a guide for what are the most important films/episodes in any given genre, TV show, movement, etc. I want to create a starting point for people who are interested in watching something, but don't know where to start. For example, as of a few years ago I had never seen a western, so when I decided to tackle the genre I looked all over for some sort of starting point. This didn't work out so well because some of the films which are most important to understanding the genre aren't among the greatest films. Consequently, I skipped over essential viewing like Stagecoach (1939) and The Great Train Robbery (1903) and missed a lot of what later westerns were responding to. I will present the films/episodes in the order I think they should be watched (usually chronologically) and give a little commentary (no spoilers). 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is often derided for its cheesy dialogue, melodramatic plots, and ridiculous bad guys but that's missing the point. Buffy embraces everything inherent in being a genre, horror, vampire, teen, romance, gothic, feminist show. It explores so many different serious things in such lighthearted yet truthful ways that it's impossible to dismiss it once you give it a chance. The show is, on one level, incredibly satisfying with its simple monster of the week plots and harlequin romance arcs, but underneath has a lot to say about modern feminism and genre among other things.