#90: Polyester – The tragedy of camp
Honestly, first time watching this, I didn’t see what was so
funny about seeing a disaffected housewife deal with the kitsch version of the
Book of Job. You know, having every bizarre bad thing happen to her at once. Of
course, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t engaged; I was just engaged under the
impression that this was a tragedy, and between Divine’s solid performance in
the lead and the rather over-the-top forces working against her, I was not
displeased with the result. Sure, upon rewatching it, some of the more farcical
elements made themselves more noticeable, not to mention the origins of the
nuanced title, but part of me will always remember this as the tragic tale of
Francine Fishpaw, her complete dick of a husband and the extent to which he
inflicted his dickery on that poor woman.
#89: Much Ado About Nothing (1993) – Shakespeare by way of
Married With Children
For a months-long stint of my adolescence, I remember
watching nothing else but Married With Children DVD box sets. It did a lot to
paint my sense of humour and some of my social mannerisms, but it also gave me
an appreciation for a really good
insult. An appreciation that extends to this romantic comedy where thespian
Kenneth Branagh basically turned the bickering Benedick and Beatrice into the upper
class Al and Peggy Bundy. Around that amazingly-performed core, we have some of
my favourite Shakespeare quotes (“Forgive me, for I was born to speak all mirth
and no matter” is one I often apply to myself), some of my favourite
Shakespearean characters (Michael Keaton as Dogberry marks a high point in a
career full of outstanding character performances), and the kind of comedy that
I can appreciate both on a subconscious level as well-written but also on a
visceral level as just plain funny. First time watching this, I was howling
through the entire thing, and that remained the same for every time I’ve seen
it since.
#88: Crows Zero – A successful live-action anime
Director Takeshi Miike is so monstrously prolific, with over
100 films to his name, that there was a high probability of him showing up on
this list at least once. This is probably not the first film most people would
have picked, admittedly, but it’s the one that stuck with me the most. Out of
all the films I’ve seen that tried to take the aesthetics of Japanese animation
and convert them to a live-action setting, this one does the best. The fight
scenes are awesome, bringing out a lot of bombastic grit from the ultraviolent
high school setting. The characters are solid with the main rivalry between
freshman Takiya Genji and senior Serizawa Tamao being one of the few ships I’ve
let sail. (And, of course, the badass ginger Rindaman.) It even has the all
editing tricks of a traditional anime series, from the numerous flash-backs to
a live band performing the film’s theme song, intercut with said flash-backs.
Considering most films are a product of converting one medium to another, I
like how this film shows as one of the more successful works of
adaptation/translation out there.
#87: Coraline – A personal dystopia
The popular conception of what counts as a ‘utopia’ or
‘dystopia’ has always been very broad, a expansive regime that crushes many
people at once. This film’s version of it is far simpler: A utopia built just
for one little girl, that itself turns out to be an unnervingly personal
dystopia. That is what pulls me into this particular film: The idea that an
entire fabrication can be made, not to lure in the masses, but to lure in just
one person. A mirage that looks even more vibrant than the real world, all made
for one special child. And then another. And another. One by one, to feed the
hunger of the Beldam, to bring attention that she so dearly craves. Claymation
legend Henry Selick brings his usual Burtonesque imagery to the production,
establishing the first of several winners from animation studio Laika, and the
source material from writing legend Neil Gaiman creates a gently chilling
foundation for him to work from. It got me to start taking note of what
Claymation is capable of, and it’s the first time I heard about the brilliance
that is Neil Gaiman; an amazing things that only led me to find even more
amazing things.
#86: 28 Days Later – A shot-on-video zombie flick worth
watching
Danny Boyle is the kind of director who could take a story
of a man pouring himself a glass of milk and still manage to find a way to stylize the hell out of it. For this film, written by now-burgeoning filmmaker
Alex Garland, he managed to take one of the most populated cities in the world
and effectively depict it as a barren wasteland, one ravaged by a zombie plague
unlike any the cinematic world had seen yet. Sure, there’s some arguments to be
made about how much this changed how zombie films are made, going from the
Romero-era stumbling dead to this film’s Rage zombies, but honestly, that
discussion feels irrelevant to me. I mean, the way that Garland’s immensely
humanistic writing managed to wring a lot of genuine emotion and even sympathy
out of its characters, from Cillian Murphy as the man unfortunate enough to
come out of a coma in the middle of all this to Christopher Eccleston as who
should be a vile military leader but instead reads as just making the best out
of a horrific situation. It’s the perfect synergy between an incredibly sharp script
and a director who was more than capable of delivering it… even if the third
act tends to lose me after a while.
#85: The Fly – The best better-than-the-original remake in
an era of better-than-the-original remakes
I’ll admit, I’m not that big into the works of David
Cronenberg. Most of the time, his work is either too low-key or just too slow
for me to really get into. This film, however, is a major exception to that.
For a start, it is straight-up brilliant as a horror film, showing a scientist
on the verge of a massive breakthrough who ends up falling victim to his own
findings. For another, the components here are impeccable, from the great
acting courtesy of Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis to the incredible effects work
from Chris Walas and Stephan Dupuis, showing off the continuing stages of
Goldblum’s Seth Brundle becoming Brundlefly, easily one of the most unnerving
creature designs I’ve seen. And to top all this off, this also serves as one of
the single greatest remakes of all time, coming to theatres during a major boom
of solid sci-fi remakes like John Carpenter’s The Thing and Chuck Russell’s The
Blob. This managed to take what had already become something of a kitschy
story, strip it of all but the barest essentials, and completely reinvented it;
this is what remakes should always strive for.
#84: Wag The Dog – The science of spin
I first watched this film as part of a media studies course,
and ever since that day, I feel like I have developed a better understanding of
media spin. The film itself shows a great proficiency in showing said spin,
with Robert De Niro’s spin doctor and Dustin Hoffman’s film producer inventing
a war to distract from a presidential sex scandal, all aided by Hilary Henkin
and master scribe David Mamet’s delicious scripting. But what makes it work as
well it does for me is that it is able to break down how specific phrases,
images and sounds can alter a person’s understanding of what goes on around
them, excellently shown through De Niro’s dialogue that is often soaked in
planting ideas in people’s heads through suggestion and even outright denial of
things happening. Of course, in retrospect, this film’s understanding of
political misdirection actually gets kind of scary, since one month after this
film came out, the infamous Monica Lewinsky scandal became public. It’s satire
so good that it actively predicted reality, rather than just being a benchmark
for reality itself to reach; all the more reason for me to love this thing.
#83: Demolition Man – A centrist action film
Just mentioning the word “centrist” is likely going to land
me in hot water, but hear me out on this one. This is a gloriously awesome 90’s
action film, showing off Stallone and Wesley Snipes in prime form, and it even
managed to make Rob Schneider seem like someone worth casting in something.
However, beyond the great action scenes, the increasingly-poignant depiction of
the sanitized utopia of San Angeles and the solid sense of humour it carries
throughout, there’s something about this that I find immensely fascinating.
This is basically an example of the recursive nature of
political history, starting out with a scene of Los Angeles on fire and in the
midst of utter anarchy… and then going to the future of San Angeles, where
everything is so saccharine that it’s enough to make you miss the chaos. What
makes this film sit well with me is that it presents both of these scenarios
are the extremes to be avoided, presenting the future for this society as being
ambiguous but also one that would benefit from remembering all of what came before it. It advocates for a middle ground
between absolute control and absolute freedom, something that also feels rather
relevant today in the age of the alt-right and ANTIFA, and even shows how those
two ideas can be altered to suit the whims of the ruling class. It’s a cheesy
90’s action movie that has only gotten more
relevant since the 90’s ended; now that is a rarity.
#82: A Dirty Shame – Sex is the road to enlightenment
While my heart is rather heavy at the thought of this being
kitsch-master John Waters’ last film to date, it still rests easy knowing that
he went out with this big of a bang. I’d say no pun intended, but one of the
best things about this audacious sex comedy is how in-tune it is with rather
antiquated puns and jokes (e.g. “Are you going to the movies? Because you’re
already picking your seat.” in response to someone scratching their rear). As
much fun as this film is as a look at rather passé views on sexuality,
spear-headed by Tracey “Yes, the woman who helped give us The Simpsons” Ullman
and Johnny Knoxville with two amazing
performances, it actually serves a more spiritual purpose for me.
First time I watched this was only a few months back, while
Australia was still going through the same-sex marriage debate, and the film
gave me a real sense that things would be a lot easier if people stopped being
so creepily interested in the sexual habits of complete strangers. In fact,
connecting with one’s personal kinks can be a very empowering thing, one that
can help give someone peace with their own existence. So long as everybody
consents and nobody gets hurt, it’s all kosher. Yeah, this is shown in a rather
blunt way with Knoxville basically playing Sex Jesus, but it’s poignant
nonetheless and still has a lot of heart under all the kitsch.
#81: The Brady Bunch Movie – Some things deserve a remake
On the surface, this film sounds like a bad idea: Take an
extremely ghastly 70’s sitcom family and put them into mid-90’s U.S. suburbia.
Why would anyone bother? The original show has an astoundingly quaint sense of
humour to it, the kind of thing that also gets a mixed reaction out of shows
like Full House. I’m not a fan of either, and yet, this film definitely got my
attention. Partly because I like how it warps the archetypal Brady family,
wringing out some pretty dark comedy and a willingness to meet the 90’s
halfway. This film's incredibly messed-up version of Jan Brady is the kind of morbidly hilarious shit I can vibe with, and it being attached to something with the name "Brady Bunch" will never not make me laugh. But mainly, it’s because it jettisons all of the faux-comforting tripe
of the show and distills it down to the essentials, bringing back elements of
the past that are worth bringing back. It takes the optimism of the Flower
Power era and the blunt reality of the Grunge era and fused them together,
perfectly encapsulated in this one scene. (And yes, the YouTube upload title is a bit how-ya-goin', but ignore that for the time being)
Combine the cheesiness of 70’s pop and the heaviness of 90’s rock and you get 80’s hair metal. Sounds pretty good to me.
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