Genre Series Part II:
Adventure:
Genre Defined:
Unlike action films, Adventure films often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way. The sub-genres of adventure films include, swashbuckler film, disaster films, and historical dramas – which is similar to the epic film genre. Main plot elements include quests for lost continents, a jungle and/or desert settings, characters going on a treasure hunts and heroic journeys for the unknown. Adventure films are mostly set in a period background and may include adapted stories of historical or fictional adventure heroes within the historical context. Kings, battles,rebellion or piracy are commonly seen in adventure films. Adventure films may also be combined with other movie genres such as, science fiction, fantasy and sometimes war films.
Honorable Mention: Apocalypto (2006) & Italian Job (2003)
Both of these films are great examples of adventure films but haven’t reached the level of its senior predecessors.
Apocalypto: This film was one of the greatest cinematic surprises of my film life. I thought Mel Gibson was washed up and the production delays made me skeptical. The true joy of this film lies in the hour long adventurous chase of the protagonist, to climax of the film. This true adventure ride is a rush of blood to the head that will leave you asking for another.
The Italian Job: Rarely am I able to get behind a remake of a classic, this is one of those few exceptions. This is not an overly deep or complex film but that doesn’t seem to affect how damn fun it is. At its basic form the adventure film genre is supposed to be about the experience of the journey and this film and the ensemble cast gives you one for the ages.
5.) North By Northwest (1959): IMDB – 8.5 (#59) Rotten Tomatoes – 100 %
Leo G. Carroll, Cary Grant, and Eva Marie Saint
Synopsis:
An advertising man is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.
Why it is a great Film:
Hitchcock’s 1959 classic was ahead of its time in many ways, but the tense few moments in which suave ad executive Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is terrorized by a murderous crop-dusting pilot is the film’s biggest triumph. It is also one of the most emulated action sequences in Hollywood history. Director Alfred Hitchcock captures the suspense perfectly, utilizing continuity editing techniques including establishing shots, reverse shots, and match editing, as well as discontinuity techniques. This film’s legacy has stood the test of time as it considered as the finest and most complete Hitchcock film to date.
Effect on Cinema:
North by Northwest is one of those rare films that expertly encapsulates all the favorite plot devices and themes that have marked not only Hitchcock’s film career but the adventure genre as a whole. Of all of Hitchcock’s films, it is North by Northwest that embarks on a supreme yet seamless journey of suspense and adventure that Hitchcock was never able to recreate. I give it 8.9 Crop-dusters out of 10.
Where you can find it:
Amazon VOD, Vudu, Netflix – Mail, Redbox – Instant, iTunes, DVD/Blu-ray
4.) The Fugitive (1993): IMDB – 7.8 Rotten Tomatoes – 94%
Harrison Ford as Dr. Richard Kimble
SYNOPSIS:
Wrongly convicted of murdering his wife, Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) escapes from custody after a ferocious train accident. But as he tries to find the real killer — a mysterious one-armed man — gung-ho U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones) is hot on Kimble’s trail. Based on the 1963 television series of the same name.
WHY IT IS A GREAT FILM:
This film is a prime example of a how a “summer-blockbuster” can achieve and supersede all expectations. Despite casting aging stars on the decline, with a director in Andrew Davis (a rather obscure and unknown action-director) this film overcomes the pitfalls set before it, as it trumps the stereo-types of what a summer-film can be. What makes the film so special is that Ford and Tommy Lee Jones (as his chief pursuer, US Marshal Samuel Gerard) are such beautifully matched adversaries. Without such, the chase itself would not be as enthralling as it truly becomes. For all the visceral impact, it’s the nuances of characterization that raise The Fugitive above the herd.
EFFECT ON Cinema:
The Fugitive is a genre movie that earns that kind of resonance without letting it spoil the game. It’s escapism of a high order. The chase and pursuit of exoneration is something of a cliche in Hollywood today, yet this film allows and embarks on a sense of realism and emotion that is often attempted, but never as successful as this film was, I give it 8.5 prosthetic arms out of 10.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT:
Amazon VOD, Vudu, Netflix – Mail, Redbox – Instant, iTunes, DVD/Blu-ray
3.) Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989): IMDB – 8.3(#102) Rotten Tomatoes – 89%
Harrison Ford & Sean Connery
SYNOPSIS:
When Dr. Henry Jones Sr. (Connery) suddenly goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, eminent archaeologist Indiana Jones (Ford) must team up with Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliot), Sallah (John Rhys-Davies), and Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody) to follow in his father’s footsteps and stop the Nazis from recovering the power of eternal life.
WHY IT IS A GREAT FILM:
This film is the crown jewel of arguably the greatest adventure trilogy of all time. Notice I did not include the underwhelming fourth installment of Indiana Jones! Some might argue that this film falls short to Raiders of the Lost Ark, but despite the lack of “mind-blowing” firsts, that Raiders of the Lost Ark provided , The Last Crusade provides a more complete and complex look at the man Indiana Jones. This film is immense in nature as it takes us on a journey, past, present, and future and yet it is able to incorporate more emotion then the previous two installments. With towering expectations, it is always a demanding task to create a sequel, let alone a trilogy, that continue to improve while still captivating audiences. Spielberg was able to complete the daunting task, as he must have seen the potential for the swash-buckling archaeologist, as this remains the only attempt at a sequel that he has directed.
EFFECT ON Cinema:
The Indiana Jones films have been ground-breaking in many aspects from the special effects, to the use of faction storytelling ( the use of historical events in a fictional way) , to the way they made the viewer fall in love with science and archaeology. Despite those, possibly the truest test of this film/s were the unique locales that Spielberg and his team transported us to throughout the trilogy. The way the offered the stop-by-stop map shots, made the viewer feel like you were traveling with Indy on his adventures. I give it 8.7 “Doctor Jones(s)” out of 10.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT:
Amazon VOD, iTunes, Vudu, Netflix – Mail, DVD/Blu-ray
2.) Lawrence of Arabia (1962): IMDB – 8.4(#80) Rotten Tomatoes – 98%
Anthony Quinn as Auda Abu Tayi and Peter O’Toole as T.E. Lawrence
SYNOPSIS:
Lawrence of Arabia is the classic film from David Lean starring Peter O’Toole and based on the autobiography from Thomas Edward Lawrence who during the first World War was on assignment by the British Empire in Arabia.
WHY IT IS A GREAT FILM:
Like the desert in which most of the film was shot, Lawrence of Arabia is vast, awe-inspiring, beautiful with ever-changing hues, exhausting and barren of humanity. While many detractors still argue the accuracy of the film, they can not take away form the spectacle that is Lawrence of Arabia. The greatest form of flattery is imitation and over the years so many films (Cleopatra, Troy, Sahara, 13th Warrior, Alexander, The Alamo, Ishtar, John Carter, Pirates of the Caribbean) have set out to be the next “Lawrence of Arabia”. But like the desert many have been swallowed up in the immense shadow that it has cast on both adventure and epic films.
EFFECT ON Cinema:
This film not only defined the genre is smashed through the constraints of film and how films were made at this time in history. This might be the most epic movie ever made from a production side, as all special effects were done without models (i.e. if they blow up a train on screen, they really blew up a train), and the amount of extras were in the thousands. This epic of all epics changed the landscape of film and influenced many of the biggest directors of today (Speilberg, Lucus, and Scorcesse). I give it 9.6 homosexual undertones out of 10.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT:
Amazon VOD, Vudu, Redbox – Instant, iTunes, Netflix – Mail, DVD/Blu-ray
1.) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre: IMDB – 8.4(#93) Rotten Tomatoes 100%
Tim Holt, Walter Huston, and Humphrey Bogart
SYNOPSIS:
Fred C. Dobbs (Bogart) and Bob Curtin (Holt), both down on their luck in Tampico, Mexico in 1925, meet up with a grizzled prospector named Howard (Huston) and decide to join with him in search of gold in the wilds of central Mexico. Through enormous difficulties, they eventually succeed in finding gold, but bandits, the elements, and most especially greed threaten to turn their success into disaster.
WHY IT IS A GREAT FILM:
Greed, a despicable passion out of which other base ferments may spawn, is seldom treated in the movies with the frank and ironic contempt that is vividly manifested toward it in Treasure of Sierra Madre. It tells this story with gusto and Huston’s love of male camaraderie, and it occasionally breaks into laughter, some funny, some bitterly ironic. The film has never really been about gold but about character, and Bogart fearlessly makes Fred C. Dobbs into a pathetic, frightened, selfish man — so sick we would be tempted to pity him, if he were not so undeserving of pity.
EFFECT ON Cinema:
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’s legacy lives on in such films as Sam Raimi’s A Simple Plan and most notably Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood. Even before his name was Indiana Jones, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg knew what Indy would look like. He’d resemble Bogart in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. As an ironic epilogue, Huston released movie gold into the world, but did not see a fortune in returns. Too bleak, and with an A-lister (Bogart) who audiences this time could not root for, it took time for the film’s status to grow. Thankfully the legacy continues to grow. I give it 9.6 “Stinking Badges” out of 10.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT:
iTunes, Amazon VOD, Vudu, Netflix-Mail, DVD/Blu-ray
Crime:
Genre Defined:
Crime films are films that focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.
Honorable Mention: The Untouchables (1987) & L.A. Confidential (1997)
As you will see below this is arguably the the most competitive genre. Either of these two films would be “shoe-ins” for other genres but amongst these film giants they couldn’t quite break into the top five.
The Untouchables: Most wouldn’t have predicted that the Brian De Palma film that I included as apart of this list would be The Untoucables and not the cult favorite Scarface (1983). The true story of Federal Agent Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner) and his group of agents that eventually lead to the demise of Al Capone (Robert De Niro ) is one that deserves its place in history.
L.A. Confidential: This prime example of Neo-noir, is a film I desperately wanted to find a place on the top five list, but unfortunately it couldn’t. If the complex and mysterious story wasn’t enough to allure you, the star studded cast of Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger, Kevin Spacey, Danny Devito, James Cromwell, and David Strathairn are enough to keep your eyes fixated for a cool 138 minutes.
5.) The Departed (2006) : IMDB – 8.5(#45) – Rotten Tomatoes – 92%
Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson
SYNOPSIS:
To take down South Boston’s Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise in Martin Scorsese’s multiple Oscar-winning crime thriller. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there’s a mole among them.
WHY IT IS A GREAT FILM:
Unlike most of Scorsese’s films, The Departed is about two men trying to live public lives that are the radical opposites of their inner realities. Their attempts threaten to destroy them, either by implosion or fatal betrayal. The telling of their stories involves a moral labyrinth, in which good and evil wear each other’s masks. It doesn’t hurt that this might be the best cast he has ever assembled (Dicaprio, Nicholson, Sheen, Damon, Wahlberg, Farminga, and Baldwin).
EFFECT ON Cinema:
This film brought the aged cask smells of vintage Coppola and Scorsese and wafted them in with a new era and style of filming the crime drama. The grit and power of this drama brought the gangster film into the 21st century. I give it 9 “f@#k ya motha(s)” out of 10.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT:
Amazon VOD, Vudu, iTunes, Redbox – Instant, Netflix – Mail, DVD/Blu-ray
4.) Goodfellas (1990): IMDB – 8.8(#16) Rotten Tomatoes – 96%
Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta, and Robert De Niro
SYNOPSIS:
Goodfellas is about guilt more than anything else. But it is not a straightforward morality play, in which good is established and guilt is the appropriate reaction toward evil. No, the hero of this film feels guilty for not upholding the Mafia code – guilty of the sin of betrayal. And his punishment is banishment, into the witness protection program, where nobody has a name and the headwaiter certainly doesn’t know it.
WHY IT IS A GREAT FILM:
Scorsese is the right director, the only director for this material. He knows it inside out. Scorsese has never done a more compelling job of getting inside someone’s head as he does in one of the concluding passages of Goodfellas, in which he follows one day in the life of Henry Hill, as he tries to do a cocaine deal, cook dinner for his family, placate his mistress and deal with the suspicion that he’s being followed. What sets the film apart is the willingness for Scorsese to get the viewer into the head of the mafia as we try to understand their fears, dreams, and feelings.
EFFECT ON Cinema:
It’s hard to say that such a vulgar and hard-hitting film like Goodfellas can be considered such a important part of film history, but it truly is. It is debatable whether this is the best film Scorsese ever made but one can not debate this it the best directing performance he ever gave the the world. From this infamous tracking shots, the rapid cutting and discontinuity techniques, he allows this fast-paced gangster drama to be not only one of the best crime films of all time but one of the greatest films of all time as well. I give is 9.3 “funny how(s)?” out of 10.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT:
Amazon VOD, iTunes, Vudu, Netflix – Mail, DVD/Blu-ray
3.) Pulp Fiction (1994): IMDB – 9.0(#5) – Rotten Tomatoes – 94%
John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson
SYNOPSIS:
Amazon VOD, Vudu, iTunes, Netflix, DVD/Blu-ray
WHY IT IS A GREAT FILM:
It is hard to believe that Tarantino, a mostly self-taught, mostly untested talent who spent his formative creative years working in a video store, has come up with a work of such depth, wit and blazing originality that it places him in the front ranks of American film makers. This films is a triumphant, cleverly disorienting journey through a underworld that springs entirely from Mr. Tarantino’s ripe imagination, a landscape of danger, shock, hilarity and vibrant local color. Nothing is predictable or familiar within this irresistibly bizarre world. You don’t merely watch Pulp Fiction, you go down a rabbit hole.
EFFECT ON Cinema:
Tarantino’s unbelievable command of the screenwriting craft that inspires as it is toted as one of the most original and entertaining movies ever produced. Pulp Fiction literally changed the way people structured their movies. Since it was released, countless writers have stated their new scripts have a “Pulp Fiction Style”. Broken time lines became common place once Tarantino made it cool. Everything he does is cool. Pulp Fiction is cool. It’s impossible not to be impressed by the simple nature of the story and the complex way it’s presented. I give it 9.5 “Royale with Cheese” out of 10.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT:
Amazon VOD, VUDU, iTunes, Netflix, DVD/Blu-ray
2.) Heat (1995): IMDB – 8.3(#123) Rotten Tomatoes – 86%
Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer
SYNOPSIS:
Obsessive master thief Neil McCauley(Robert De Niro) leads a top-notch crew on various daring heists throughout Los Angeles while determined detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) pursues him without rest. Each man recognizes and respects the ability and the dedication of the other even though they are aware their cat-and-mouse game may end in violence.
WHY IT IS A GREAT FILM:
Micheal Mann brings his visceral and gritty flavor together with two of the greatest actors to ever grace film (De Niro & Pacino) and pits them against each other, to create a true American crime drama without the gangster overtones that flood the genre. The unique genius of this film is how at the end of the cat-and-mouse chase, good and bad blur together into a hue of grey that is utterly delightful and gripping in only a way that Mann can deliver.
EFFECT ON Cinema:
Michael Mann’s writing and direction elevate this material, as it is not defined simply as a action or crime film. Above all, the dialogue is complex enough to allow the characters to say what they’re thinking. They are eloquent, insightful, fanciful, poetic when necessary. They’re not trapped with cliches. Of the many imprisonments possible in our world, one of the worst must be to be inarticulate. These characters can do that, not that it saves them. Moreover the defining aspect of the film goes beyond the dialogue and the characters and lives in the visceral energy of the action scenes and how it is shot among the canvas, that is downtown Los Angeles. The climatic bank scene might be the most extensive and supreme action scene ever shot. I give it 9.3 Natalie Portman(s) in a bathtub out of 10.
WhERE YOU CAN FIND IT:
Hbo Go, Amazon VOD, Redbox – Instant, iTunes, Vudu, Netflix-Mail, DVD/Blu-ray
1.) The Godfather (1972): IMDB – 9.2(#2) Rotten Tomatoes – 100%
James Caan, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and John Cazale
SYNOPSIS:
The story spans the years from 1945 to 1955 and chronicles the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael (Al Pacino), steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.
WHY IT IS A GREAT FILM:
Is there really anything I can add? This film speaks for itself as it might be the most complete and perfect film ever created!
EFFECT ON Cinema:
As Coppola created the “first family” of crime and brought them to life, he not only shaped how we view films but how they are produced, written, and filmed. No one can argue that this film is one of the best crime films ever made if not the greatest film of all time. I give it 10 cannolis out of 10.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT:
Amazon VOD, iTunes, Vudu, Redbox – Instant, Netflix – Mail, DVD/Blu-ray
Trailer for the Road: Unbroken (Inside Look Trailer)
Wait is that Tom Brokaw narrating… you know it! The incredible and miraculous story of Louis Zamperini finally makes its way to the big screen, via Angelina Jolie, this Christmas. Enjoy!
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