I'm Still Here (4 Stars)

In 2008 Joaquin Phoenix announced that he was retiring as an actor and would pursue a new career as a rapper. He hired a documentary crew to film him every day. A big screen version of the Osbournes. As we later found out, it was all a hoax. After 12 months he returned to acting. But what's remarkable is that almost nobody knew. His feeble attempts at rapping were ridiculed by the media, and he didn't care. He was even mocked by Ben Stiller at the 2009 Oscars.

What other actor would have done something like this? Only someone as insane as Joaquin Phoenix.

Here's the film's title song, which Joaquin performed live in Miami.

---

I'm still here,
I don’t scare,
I don't fear,
Don't even fear fucking fear.
I never cracked, never,
I don’t give, never,
I'll live forever, I'm the one that God chose.

I'm still real,
I won't kneel,
Unless it's God, my team know how I feel,
I never sold out, never, my good soul, never,
I'll live forever, I'm that one that God chose.

I heard the call, alarms sounding off,
Feeling guilty cause my night was spent fucking off,
History’s perverted me,
Words can never harm me,
Saying I’m the epitome of a motherfucking self-parody,
A charity being formed for this deformity,
Cause man can't conform for nobody.
I made it here despite the efforts of a few.
What can I say to a punk but "Fuck you"?
You might suggest I’m conscious at best,
A pretentious mess that can't get himself even dressed.
In response I don't get mad,
I shake you off,
Waving goodbye like I was last year's fad.
Trendsetting on you, I won’t be betting,
I let it go so long as you know I'm stormy weather,
And whether or not you're better or not,
Couldn't make a lick of difference from where I'm sitting at the top.

I'm still here
Through these years,
I don't scare
Don't even fear fucking fear.
I never cracked, never,
I don't give, never,
I'll throw it down,
You can bet on that, fella.

I'm still real,
I won't kneel,
Unless it's God, my team know how I feel.
I never sold out, never, my good soul, never,
I'll live forever, I'm that one that God chose,
Bitch!

Long-winded letters that I've written,
Once a snake has bitten I'll forgive but won't forget it,
Not taking revenge, I don't have the time to do to you
All the fucked up things, fantasies of ruining you.
Ain't got a crew, but I'll take on you,
Gotta wrap this shit up with you cause I'm so fucking bored.
Just this one thing I gotta say to let you know,
To get off my chest before this long rest,
I never betrayed you, I never did what you thought I did,
But still you came at me swinging, kid.
Nevertheless, I wish you the best, I pray you get to Heaven,
But more than likely you'll be burning with the Devil.

Here,
Through these years,
I don't scare,
Don't even fear fucking fear.
I never cracked, never,
I don't give, never,
I'll grow in value, you can bet on that.

I'm still real,
I won't kneel,
Unless it's God, my team know how I feel.
I never sold out, never, my good soul, never,
I'll live forever, I'm that one that God chose,
Bitch!

Tommy (5 Stars)

"Tommy" has a Christmas scene, but that's not why I watched it today. Every year my son Benjamin visits me for two weeks over the holiday period. Usually he says he wants to watch horror films, but this year I want to do something different. I want to watch films that are in my top 100 film list. I'll give priority to films that he says he hasn't seen before. There might be a few horror films, but I can't guarantee it.

"Tommy" is a good place to start. It's different to anything Benjamin has seen before. He enjoyed it this evening, but I don't think he fully understood it. The contrast between the first half and the rest of the film makes it difficult to understand. It's a film that needs to be watched a few times.

As I've mentioned before, the film isn't simply the Who's rock opera with pictures added. Ian Townshend gave the director Ken Russell permission to change the story to make it a better film. For instance, the rock opera takes place after the First World War, but the film takes place after the Second World War. That makes the film more relevant, especially to those who watched it in 1975, when the horrors of WW2 were still fresh in everyone's memories. The biggest difference is that Tommy's father dies in the film, whereas it was his step-father in the rock opera. I don't know what Ian Townshend was thinking. Ken Russell's change makes the film more emotional. It's more logical in the context of the story.

What will the next film be that we watch together? I already know, but I'm not telling you. Come back and read my blog tomorrow.

Success Rate:  + 4.9

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The Flash (3 Stars)

"The film is considered one of the biggest box-office bombs of all-time, with expected losses for Warner Bros to be as much as $200 million".

So it wasn't just me who didn't like "The Flash"? DC Studios are obviously jumping on the multiverse bandwagon. If Marvel can do it, so can they. The comparisons weren't lost on the others in the audience. When I was walking out I was following two DC fans in their thirties. One of them said, "It's a better multiverse film than Spider-Man", and he pointed to a poster of "Across the Spider-Verse", which is also showing at the moment. That's a bad comparison, putting two average quality films side by side. They should have compared it with "Spider-Man: No Way Home", which is a much better film.

Even as far as the subject matter is concerned, "The Flash" is more similar to "No Way Home". Barry Allen (the Flash) meets three different versions of Batman, played by Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton and George Clooney". If DC insists on changes in their version of the multiverse, they should have changed the actor playing Barry Allen. In the TV series the Flash is played by Grant Gustin, who's a terrific actor. In the film Ezra Miller is awful. But let's be fair to him. Maybe he's okay as an actor, it's just the way he was told to play the role. He's an idiot, making one clumsy mistake after another. That's not the Flash that we know in the comics.

The only part of the film that I liked was the two minutes when Wonder Woman appeared. Gal Gadot is a beautiful actress. We should have seen more of her and less of Batman. And less of the Flash.

I haven't written anything about the plot. Go and see the film yourself. Or don't bother. If you're a big DC fan, like the two men in my cinema, you might like it. The other 95% of the world can give it a miss.

Tommy (5 Stars)

"Tommy" (the film) overwhelms me. I can't get used to it, however many times I watch it. It always makes me cry, but today I cried more than usual. I was sobbing for the first 25 minutes non-stop. Then I pulled myself back together for five minutes, before I started again. It's in my top 50 favourite films, of course. Sometimes when I watch it I feel like it should be at the top of my list, but not every film can be number one.

I forget exactly when I first saw the film. Probably in the 1980's on television. I didn't listen to the Who's original rock opera until the late 1990's. I'm pretty certain it was 1997. I listened once, and that was it. For me the Who have a typical sixties sound, and I prefer seventies music. "Tommy" was first recorded in 1969, and that's what it sounds like. Today I listened to the album immediately after watching the film. It was disappointing in comparison with the film's music. The film was made in 1976, and it has a harder seventies sound. It also disturbed me that on the album Roger Daltrey sings all the vocals. In the film he only sings the words of Tommy himself.

The film tells a story. The album "Tommy" also tells a story, but it's not as easy to understand. Maybe there were detailed liner notes when the LP was first released. I don't know. But from the music itself it's not obvious what's happening, especially in the first few songs. I only understood it because I'm well acquainted with the film. And then the album and the film go in different directions in the final songs, so I'm not sure what the album is saying.

That's one of the problems with the film itself. It's not possible to state the film's message in a single sentence. There are different themes, especially in the last 45 minutes, and each song is a short vignette presenting a different theme. Ken Russell says that his main idea behind the film was false religion, and he used the Who's music to tell his story. Knowing that, it's possible to decipher the final scenes in part, but some questions are still left open. Tommy goes from being deaf, dumb and blind to becoming a Messiah, and then he gives up his Messiahship. Is it true enlightenment when you stop trying to teach others?

Tommy's "church" was all-inclusive. He allowed his family and friends to run his church, but they proved themselves unworthy. Being a relative of the Messiah isn't enough to make a person holy. The death of Tommy's parents led to his enlightenment. They no longer held him back.

This is a film I'd like to discuss with others. More than ever before, please leave comments below this post. And don't forget to tick the "Notify Me" box.

Success Rate:  + 4.9

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The Shining (5 Stars)

Some of my friends watch a horror film every day in October. I did it as well in previous years, but not this year. I have too many other films I have to watch, not to mention my various television series. It's not just "Masha and the Bear" and "Smallville". I delayed "Game of Thrones" for two months while I had a lengthy visit from my family in England, but now I'm continuing. I also discovered the mini-series "Safe" on Netflix, which fascinated me so much that I watched it twice. Only eight episodes, but it's worth watching more than once. That leaves me little time for horror films, but "The Shining" is a masterpiece that I shouldn't forget to watch again this year.

When "The Shining" is mentioned, people's first thoughts are of Jack Nicholson. Rightly so. I consider this to be his signature role. But we shouldn't forget the others who make up the film. Jack Nicholson plays a deranged character, but there are varying levels of madness in the other characters. Just look at his wife. Her face alone shows that she's not mentally stable.

Philip Stone plays Delbert Grady, a man who's been dead for years but is still as mad as ever.

Danny might look like a sweet little boy, but he's possessed by a boy called Tony who lives in his mouth.

The hotel's owner, Stuart Ullman, seems like a pleasant enough character, but the deleted scenes expose him as the manipulator behind the hotel's madness.

The hotel's cook, Dick Holorann, is possibly the only truly sane person in the film. I just have one question about him:

Why does he have that picture above his television? Isn't it too much of a distraction?

This is a close-up of the picture. It's something I'd put on my wall as well, but not above my television. And not above my computer, or I'd never be able to keep my mind on my blogging.

I'll probably watch a few more horror films this month, but not many. No promises. I'll decide as I go along.

Success Rate:  + 0.3

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Mars Attacks (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #31

I just sat staring at the screen for the last half hour, and I can't think of a thing to write. It happens. I've saved 26 screenshots from the film to be used in my review, but I shan't use them now. I'll save them for use the next time I watch the film.

Here's an even better idea: I challenge my readers to write a review for this film. Write as short or as long a review as you want, and send it to me in the comments box. I'll publish your review using a selection of my screenshots.

Today I'll just use this one screenshot with Pam Grier. Maybe this beautiful picture is enough to make up for my attack of writer's block.

Tomorrow I'm finally going to get my first Coronavirus injection. Maybe that's what's put me off writing. I'll see how I feel tomorrow evening.

Success Rate:  - 0.6

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Tommy (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #47

Tommy! A baby born like any other. Nobody suspected his destiny. He was to become the Messiah of a new religion. His religion would spread all over the world, only to implode and collapse like a house of cards.

I've written a lot about this film in my last four reviews. You can find them in my alphabetical list of posts. It's difficult to write something new, but I would like to pose a question. In my past reviews I said that Tommy was the Messiah, but his religion failed because of the greed of the ones who appointed themselves leaders. Was I wrong in calling Tommy the Messiah? Was he a false Messiah all along, meaning his religion would have failed whatever happened?

The first person that Tommy baptised was his mother. The subsequent events show that she was unworthy of becoming his follower. If he'd been a true Messiah he would have known. I'm not saying that Tommy was false as a person. After finding enlightenment he wanted to do good and help people. There was no shred of hypocrisy in him. He was a good, honest person. What I'm asking is, was his goodness enough to entitle him to be a leader?

I don't know the answer to that question. It's something I'd like to discuss with others who know and love this film. I don't want to discuss the Who's rock opera called "Tommy". I want to discuss the film, because the original album and the film obviously have different meanings. "Tommy" the film isn't an adaptation of the rock opera; it's a film written by Ken Russell that uses the Who's music to tell the story.

The question of false religion is asked throughout the second half of the film, but it also crops up in the first half as Tommy becomes an adult. His mother takes him to the Church of Marilyn to be healed.

Those who kiss the naked toes of the Marilyn Monroe statue are healed of whatever ails them. But not Tommy. Tommy can't find salvation in the arms (or the feet) of a false church.

It's possible that Tommy was a real Messiah, in the context of the film, but the power that he found in his new church corrupted him. I don't mean wealth. He rejected the riches that his church leaders craved. His mistake was that he deprived his followers of his teaching. He covered their eyes and ears to stop them listening to him. His followers were promised salvation merely by becoming members of his church. This reminds me of the Catholic Church keeping the Bible in Latin for centuries, preventing the common people from being able to read it.

In the end Tommy finds peace by himself. He becomes one with nature. Is that a hint of Buddhism in a film that otherwise parallels the development of Christianity?

It's possible that I'm reading my own interpretation into the film. As I said above, I'd like to discuss the film with others, preferably with people who take religion seriously. I don't necessarily mean believers. It can also be people who don't follow an organised religion, as long as they don't mock others who believe. Maybe people like that can point out things I've missed in the film.

Success Rate:  + 4.9

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The Shining (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #88

Most people would agree that "The Shining" is one of the greatest films ever made. Maybe I've put the film too low in my list. I'll be able to decide after watching the next 87 films. All I can say at the moment is that it gives me an eerie, chilling feeling whenever I watch it. The film fascinates me in a way that's difficult to describe.

Today I watched the theatrical version, even though the director's cut is probably better. Fans of the film often get the two versions mixed up. The theatrical version is 144 minutes long, and the director's cut is 119 minutes. In most cases a director's cut is longer than the theatrical version, but not where this film is concerned. Stanley Kubrick was unhappy with the film as it was shown in the cinemas, so he cut 25 minutes to improve the pacing.

People always connect the film with Jack Nicholson as the writer Jack Torrance. One thing that should be noted is that most of Stephen King's books contain a writer. Is he trying to portray different sides of himself from book to book? In this case he's revealing his madness.

Shelley Duvall is given too little credit for her role as Wendy Torrance. There's a aura of madness in her wide-eyed gaze and toothy smile. Could any other actress have played the role?

Danny Lloyd plays their son Danny. He was six years old at the time, and he only made one other film when he was eight. I'm curious why he didn't go on to have a successful acting career.

Scatman Crothers plays the hotel's cook, Dick Hollorann. I've never read the book, but in the film his appearance seems rushed, especially when he arrives in the hotel. More could have been made of him.

The hotel owner seems innocent in both versions of the film. Only the censored epilogue suggests that he plays a part in leading Jack into madness. The full text of the epilogue can be found in this review.

Success Rate:  + 0.3

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The Shining (5 Stars)

All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy.

All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy.

All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy.

All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy.

All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy.

All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy.

All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy.

All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy. All work and no play makes Dancer a dull boy.

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Tommy (5 Stars)

I overwhelm as I approach you,
Make your lungs hold breath inside.
Grounded angels, your wings are broken,
Time to mend and learn to fly.

They worship me and all I touch,
Hazy eyed they catch my glance,
Pleasant shudders shake their senses,
My warm momentum throws their stance.

I leave a trail of rooted people,
Mesmerised by just the sight,
The few I touched now are disciples,
Love as one, I am the Light!

I am the Light!

My three reviews of this film so far have been very different. They all pick out different aspects of the film. It's a film that says a lot. It's not easy to reconcile the different parts of the film with one another because different messages are told from one scene to the next. I didn't say that it's impossible to reconcile, just difficult. The problem with "Tommy", the film, is that it has unfathomable depths that have been breathed into it by Ken Russell. These are depths that are missing from the Who's original rock opera. Ken Russell took the Who's music and used it to tell his own story, with Pete Townsend's full approval. The result is a film of epic proportions.

Maybe one day I'll write a complete review of "Tommy". Maybe, maybe not. To do it justice I'd have to write something the length of a doctoral thesis. I'd have to pick out the film's individual themes one by one and follow their development.

The film is about false religion. It shows that all paths to salvation are doomed to fail. Religious systems attract evil men who fill the upper positions to make money. The religion's leader, the Messiah, is so involved with his teachings that he's unaware of the corruption in the organisational structure. When the followers turn against the religion they reject not only the corrupt officials but the Messiah himself, the very one who could help them.

That's one major theme. Another is the question whether the Messiah is right to apply his own personal path to salvation to his followers. Tommy began his life as a man who couldn't be saved. Then he found salvation, and rather than selfishly enjoying it he created a religion to offer others the same blessings by leading them along the same path that he trod. Is that correct? Maybe everyone needs to find his own path.

The film uses literally hundreds of extras, most of them unpaid. In the commentary track Ken Russell talks about where he found different groups of people. It would be interesting to see them get back together to talk about their reminiscences in making the film, or just to have a big party.

Barry Winch, the actor who plays Tommy as a six-year-old, didn't continue with an acting career. This was his only film. I've read some disturbing things about him. On Facebook he says that he's feeling suicidal after being homeless for two months. I don't know him, I've only seen him as a child, but this makes me sad.

Success Rate:  + 4.9

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Batman (1989 version) (4 Stars)

I just realised that I've reviewed this film three times already, and each review was only a few sentences, saying almost nothing. Maybe it's a film that I don't have much to say about. I like it, obviously, or I wouldn't be watching it today for the fourth time in six years. I don't know exactly how often I watched it before I started writing my blog in 2010. Maybe another four times.

This film is very good in itself, even though it stands in the shadow of the sequel, "Batman Returns". Once more I shan't say much about the film, because I watched it today in memory of Prince, who died yesterday at the age of 57. Prince's music makes this film special. It dominates two of the scenes with the Joker, the songs "Party Man" and "Trust" blasting out in the foreground. It was an inspiration of genius that Tim Burton picked Prince to compose music for the film. Prince's chaotic music style perfectly underlines the Joker's madness. Prince released a CD called "Batman" which is usually considered to be a film soundtrack CD, but it actually includes several songs not used in the film. It's a shame that these songs weren't used as well.

I discovered Prince's music quite late. In the 1980's I rarely listened to the radio, and television music channels were in their early days. Actually, I listen to the radio even less now, and I almost never watch television music channels. The first Prince song I heard was "Kiss". I was on a business trip to the Robert Bosch factory in Homburg, Germany. There were three English contract workers staying in the same hotel as me. Usually we sat and had a drink in the hotel bar, but one evening we went to a discotheque in the town centre. "Kiss" was played several times during the evening. I remember asking the English guys what the song was.

That must have been in the middle of 1986. 1986 was also the year in which I bought my first CD player. I bought "Parade", the 1986 album that included "Kiss", as one of my first CD's. After that I bought the rest of Prince's albums on CD, although I soon decided that I didn't like his first two albums, "For You" (1978) and "Prince" (1979). These two albums were typical soul music, which I've never liked. It wasn't until "Dirty Mind" (1980) that he started to develop the eccentric musical style that he became known for. If anything, "Dirty Mind" and "Controversy" (1981) were transitional albums in which his style was still evolving. In 1982 he released "1999", which I consider to be his best album, although his best selling album was "Purple Rain" (1984).

I carried on buying his albums as they were released, but "Batman" (1989) was the last album of his that I really enjoyed. His later albums were okay, but I realised that I wasn't listening to them. I'm sure my readers have similar experiences with their favourite musicians. You buy all of their albums, but when you have a dozen albums on your shelf you notice that you don't listen to them all, just your favourites.

I know very little about Prince himself. He kept his personal life secret. He claimed to be a Christian, but he was also sexually promiscuous. Some people mocked him because of his height – he was only 5'2" tall – but they had to respect him for his musical skills. On stage he played guitar, but he was a multi-instrumentalist who played most of the instruments on his albums. He lived for music. In the late 1980's stories emerged that he was recording one or two songs a day and storing them in a vault to be released posthumously. This is an exciting prospect, the promise of new music after his death, but people who have seen his vault are less optimistic. They say that the recordings made in his most prolific era weren't stored digitally, they were on tapes, and there's a danger that they will have deteriorated over the last 30 years. Nevertheless, it will be good to hear what's been hidden all this time.

Prince
June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016

Tommy (5 Stars)

I'm always very cautious about buying Blu-ray versions of films that I already own on DVD. It's something I only do with films that I consider to be my favourites. Even then it's not always worth it. For instance, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" looks identical on DVD and Blu-ray, due to the (deliberately) grainy film picture. Other films, like the original version of "Planet of the Apes", have new life breathed into them. "Tommy" falls into the latter category. When I'm deciding whether to re-buy a film that I already have I use the web site Blu-ray.com for advice. Of course, if I'm buying a film for the first time it has to be on Blu-ray. Why would anyone possibly prefer DVDs in today's day and age?

Due in part to the wonderful Blu-ray quality, I now think that "Tommy" is one of the best films ever made. Yes, it was already included in my list of 30 films to watch before you die, but now I'll push it up into my top 10. I'm not claiming that I understand everything. I've searched online for interpretations of the film, and none of them are satisfying. On the contrary, most of the reviewers seem to understand it less than me, because they see it as an adaptation of the Who's rock opera, rather than accepting that it's Ken Russell's own film using the Who's music.

Ken Russell's "Tommy" is the story of a man who became a Messiah who abandoned his religion when it spun out of control. It's impossible to interpret the film at all without seeing to parallels to Christianity, but I have the feeling that Ken Russell is trying to say something that goes further. Baptism doesn't save people. Tommy baptises his mother, and her life changes outwardly, but inside she's still the same person. This is even more the case with Tommy's step-father Frank. He becomes the leader of the new religion, but he's still a cruel, evil man.

Today was the first time that I became aware that the film ends with Tommy becoming one with his father, Captain Walker. I don't know how to interpret this. The obvious connection would be Jesus' relationship to God as his father when he walked the Earth, but I don't think that Captain Walker is godly enough to allow this comparison. Apart from this, it wouldn't fit in at this late stage of the film. It would have been more appropriate earlier in the film when Tommy was teaching his disciples, but at that time Tommy was just telling them to copy his own life. Maybe it's just Tommy embarking on a new path of spirituality, wanting to learn instead of teach. Does even the Messiah know everything?

This is a wonderful film. I'd like to watch it in a group and discuss it afterwards.

This is probably the film's most bizarre scene. A guitar-playing Frankenstein's monster marries a little girl in a traditional Christian church while the police hold back the crowds. What was Ken Russell thinking? The girl is played by Ken's daughter Victoria, who was 12 years old at the time.

I'm Still Here (4 Stars)

In 2009 Joaquin Phoenix, 34 years old at the time, announced that he was giving up acting to follow a career as a hip hop singer. This was to be the subject of a documentary, so cameras followed him day and night for the next 12 months. During this time his health and his physical appearance deteriorated, and he received setbacks from music insiders telling him he didn't have the talent to make it as a singer.

Some of the events were staged, others happened spontaneously, and they are all mixed up together. This is similar to the way that modern reality shows are made. Be honest: does anyone really believe that the Osbournes, Anna Nicole Smith or even Honey Boo Boo behave naturally when a camera is pointing at them?

Joaquin didn't really intend to quit acting, but this wasn't evident at the time. He remained in character throughout the filming, which meant that many people, even news reporters, believed he was really quitting. Very few people were in on the secret that it was just a film. Even David Letterman was fooled when he invited Joaquin Phoenix onto his show.

What was Joaquin Phoenix trying to say with the film? He was making fun of himself, he was mocking reality shows, and he was showing how shallow the music and film industries are. More than anything else, he was making fun of the audiences who watched him live (during that year). He was ridiculing them because they were gullible enough to believe anything.

Mars Attacks (5 Stars)

30 films to watch before you die, #17

This must be the only film ever made that's based on a set of trading cards. Only a director as eccentric as Tim Burton would tackle such a task. The end result is at the same time ridiculous and astounding. It's a big budget B-Movie. The cast looks like a list of all of Hollywood's biggest stars in 1996, when it was made.

On paper the film looks overly complex. There are so many different characters competing for screen time – the American president and his family, an ex-boxer and his family, a Las Vegas casino owner and his wife, an American soldier and his family, to name but a few – but somehow the film doesn't seem cluttered. Everything fits together so well. I'm sure that if there's a beginner's class for film makers Tim Burton broke all the rules when he made this film. It's difficult to say what makes the film so good, it just is.

The flying saucers from Mars even invaded the Warner Bros. logo!

Other examples of Tim Burton's cinematic madness – though not quite as mad as "Mars Attacks" – are

• Batman Returns (1992)
• Ed Wood (1994)
• Sweeney Todd (2007)

The Shining (5 Stars)

30 films to watch before you die, #9

When I sat down to compile my list of 30 films to watch before you die this was one of the first films I named. It's so obvious that it needs to be on the list. I don't think many of my readers would argue with me that "The Shining" is essential viewing. Anyone who hasn't seen it is missing out.

Rather than make a close adaptation of Stephen King's novel, Stanley Kubrick made drastic changes. Evidently he had ideas for a film in his head even before he acquired the rights to film the book. The topiaries in front of the Overlook Hotel were removed and replaced by a maze. In fact, there are mazes throughout the film. The corridors of the hotel are a maze, more confusing than the layout of any real hotel. In fact, Rob Ager postulates that the layout of the hotel is impossible, built by Kubrick in deliberately contradictory sets. Click here to read his thorough paper on "The Shining".

An example of the contradictions is seen when Jack Torrance looks at the model of the maze in the hotel. This model matches the map which hangs at the entrance to the maze. See the photo at the beginning of this post. However, when the camera shows the maze from above it's changed to the form below. The camera doesn't show the edges of the maze, suggesting that it's an infinite maze, from which nobody can ever escape.

Rather than give a full review of this film (which most of my readers probably know anyway) I'll just post a few screenshots of the film to give an impression of what awaits the viewer.

When people talk about "The Shining" they always talk about Jack Torrance going mad. However, does his wife Wendy look fully sane?

One of the scariest images in the film is the twin daughters of Delbert Grady, the hotel's former caretaker. They might be dead, but they still wander around the hotel to invite Jack's son Danny to play with them forever.

Danny has a question for Dick Hallorann, the hotel's cook. Dick's answer is wrong, totally wrong.

If Dick didn't know the answer he should have kept his opinion to himself. Poor Danny believes him.

The hotel itself is beautiful, It looks like somewhere I would want to stay.

But the road to the hotel through the mountains is yet another maze.

Jack gets his wish. He can stay in the hotel and party with his friends forever.

If you like this film you will might want to see other films directed by Stanley Kubrick. I can recommend

• Dr. Strangelove (1964)
• 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
• Eyes Wide Shut (1999)