Blade Runner (1982)

Blade Runner (1982)

Directed by: Ridley Scott

Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young

I watched two really great movies back-to-back yesterday, this and Nineteen Eighty-Four. I’m gonna have to watch so many Italian horror movies to make up for this…

In the future, a company has made a bunch of humaniform robots, but they’re too good and also kinda murder-ey, so it’s illegal for them to be on Earth. When a group of them return to try and figure out a way to expand their four-year lifespan, a specialist is sent out to capture or kill them: a Blade Runner.

This is the most beautiful movie I’ve ever seen. Ridley Scott applies a film noir style that works perfectly with the futuristic cityscapes and creepy robot parlors… I obviously can’t explain it very well. As a human monster with only blackness in my heart, I just lack the faculties to describe true beauty. Instead, why don’t you just go ahead and watch Blade Runner yourself. You can consider it pre-gaming for Prometheus when it comes out, if you want, since the ads seem to be close to this than Alien.

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)

Directed by: Michael Radford

Starring: John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton

Nineteen Eighty-Four is a really great movie based on one of the most culturally relevant books of the 20th century. As such, I really don’t feel qualified to say anything about this movie. I mean, thirty minutes ago I was describing Hercules: A Sex Adventure, what could I possibly say here? Just warning you, so you can go read something else.

In a desolate future controlled by the state and a figure named Big Brother, John Hurt falls in love with a woman, which is entirely forbidden. The two of them explore all the emotions and thoughts that the state considers “thoughtcrimes”. Of course, they get caught, and are sent to “rehabilitation”, where they’re tortured and manipulated into accusing each other, confessing to crimes they didn’t commit, and eventually they even love Big Brother.

If you’ve never read the book this is based on, you’re missing out on a lot. If you’re not the reading type (c’mon, you know you want to be the reading type), this movie is a pretty good substitute. John Hurt and Richard Burton are both amazing, and the set design is beautiful. It’s all so dingy and run-down, it builds up this distinctive style that seems so… possible. I think Nineteen Eighty-Four is a perfect example of how powerful science fiction can be, it’s really one of my favorite movies.

Fight Club (1999)

Fight Club (1999)

Directed by: David Fincher

Starring: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter

I actually didn’t expect to like this movie as much as I did the last time I saw it, because I was in high school then and this is very much a movie that appeals to the philosophical leanings of a high school kid. Like The Matrix, you know? Where it’s just this rebellious idea wrapped in a pseudo-philosophical package to make it seem more legit? Well, even though I’ve outgrown the philosophy, I still really liked this movie.

A white collar office worker who hates his job meets a stranger on a plane and moves in with him after his apartment and all his nice things explode. The two start fighting for fun, to rebel against the concept that they’ve been taught that fighting is bad and something to be avoided. This idea draws in more and more people, so they start a “fight club”. As the numbers grow, the fight club turns into Project Mayhem, and the members infiltrate every aspect of society, culminating in chaotic acts of terror meant to free the average joe from the corporate world he’s trapped himself in.

Everybody in the world knows the twist to Fight Club by now, so I’m not even going to pretend like you don’t. Still, it’s one of the better twists in a movie, and it works so well that even on multiple viewings it stays entertaining, just then you feel like it was a secret you and the filmmaker had all along. I’m not really sure how Fincher did it so well, to be honest with you, but damn, that’s the way to do it.

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Directed by: Guillermo del Toro

Starring: Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López

Really the only word that adequately describes Pan’s Labyrinth is “fantastic,” in every sense of the word. It’s a brilliant combination of old-world fantasy and bone-chilling war drama, and the amazing special effects are just a delicious frosting on the cake. Fantastic.

A little girl and her mom move to live with the mother’s new husband, a captain in the fascist Spanish army post WWII. The girl meets a faun in a nearby labyrinth, who asks her to do several tasks so she may take her rightful place as a cosmic princess. Meanwhile, the captain keeps getting in her way as part of his attempts to defeat the rebellion forces that are pestering his area.

The fantasy aspects of this movie are great, and that’s not really surprising, given that it’s Guillermo del Toro and he’s really good at bringing crazy worlds to stark life. What’s amazing is how the dramatic, realistic war movie side of this film shine through, perfectly intertwining with the fantastic elements. It’s a lot like del Toro’s earlier film, The Devil’s Backbone, only a little better polished, and with a much higher budget. Also, the villain in Pan’s Labyrinth is one of my personal favorites in any movie I’ve seen, because he’s just SO EVIL and he manages to outshine these other creepy, weird monster things even though he’s just a guy. A guy who is pure evil. Anyway, I heartily recommend this movie, and if you don’t have the ability to watch a movie with subtitles, I’m sure there’s a dubbed version out there somewhere. So long as you don’t mind missing out on, you know, acting.

Inherit the Wind (1960)

Inherit the Wind (1960)

Directed by: Stanley Kramer

Starring: Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly

This movie was pretty amazing. It’s a courtroom drama, so basically the whole thing rests on the two lawyers (especially since one of the lawyers calls the other as a witness for the most emotionally-charged sequence of the film). But you could do way damn worse than Spencer Tracy and Fredric March.

Inherit the Wind is a dramatization of the Scopes Monkey Trial, where a teacher (played here by Dick York) is arrested for teaching evolution in his class, which is against the law in this southern state. The ensuing trial turns out to be a simulacrum for the argument of Darwinian evolution against Christian creationism, which means that when the verdict finally comes through and it’s really just a fine for breaking a minor law, the lynch mob gets up in arms for not being able to set fire to Dick York. Which I can understand.

Just like how the trial wasn’t really about whether the teacher broke this law, the movie wasn’t really about the teacher’s innocence or guilt. The whole thing hinges on the two lawyers arguing either side of their philosophy, and we get some glimpses into how each of these affect their lifestyles. Now, this movie clearly portrays March and the creationists (have you heard my new band?) as the villains, and even in some cases as violent idiot psychopaths. It’s a little too bad, because this heavy bias makes the actual arguments between the characters seem less valid, but it’s still a fantastic film. Also because of this bias, I’m not really sure if I could recommend this movie to non-Atheists, because I’d imagine it would be a little insulting. But hey, maybe not. I’m sure you could just cast these people as zealots and enjoy the film for its merits regardless of your religious preference,  but I wouldn’t really know.

As an atheist, I just want to mention that I found a lot of this film to be very powerful and moving. Just imagining that people could get that violent and angry about teaching science in a school sends shivers up my spine. Sure, it’s obviously an exaggeration, but it’s definitely based in fact, and this was something that happened less than a hundred years ago. We’ve gotten a lot more tolerant as a society about a lot of things since the 20′s, but it just seems strange to me that freedom of religion is one that’s still such a big issue in the 21st century. Personally, the one and only time I’ve ever been in a fight (well, I didn’t really fight, I just got my ass kicked) was because of my atheism, and I didn’t even grow up in the south.

Personal anecdotes notwithstanding, Inherit the Wind is a fantastic film with some spellbinding performances, complexly flawed and human characters, and Dick York. I heartily recommend it to everyone who doesn’t think they’d be offended by their religion being presented as a pack of crazy people.