My Top 5: Michel Gondry

I've had an Excel spreadsheet ranking the Michel Gondry (Dir: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep) music videos in my documents folder for awhile now (there are over 70 of them). I've been re-watching the top 20 a lot lately trying to reach a final decision, but it's just so hard. However, I think most people are sympathetic when it comes to lists like this. We all are aware that these lists have certain flexibilities and are prone to moods of the lister. Thusly, I give you my Top 5 Michel Gondry music videos.

5. "Around the World" - Daft Punk
What am I watching!? I think I like it, but my mind is all confuzzled. It seems Daft Punk and Michel Gondry go together like Spacemen and Skeletons. I wonder what Busby Berkeley would have to say about this.

4. "The Denial Twist" - The White Stripes
Crazy lens action here. Pretty fun to watch especially when they do that final reveal of everything. Plus, Conan O'Brien.

3. "Come Into My World" - Kylie Minogue
At first, my reaction was "So what?" Then, at about 1:10 into the video, I saw where he was going with this. More fun imaginings by Michel Gondry with the Green Fairy from Moulin Rouge!

2. "Fell in Love with a Girl" - The White Stripes
If you don't feel the urge to air drum along to the Lego girl, I fear for your soul.

1. "Star Guitar" - The Chemical Brothers
Another one of those "So what?" moments until I realized what was going on. This is now one of my favorite music videos period.

Summer of Firefly: Random IMDB Quote

Summer of Firefly: "Bushwacked"

Oh, my god! What can it be? We're all doomed! Who's flying this thing!? Oh, right. That would be me. Back to work.

Episode 03: "Bushwacked"

Directed by: Tim Minear

Written by: Tim Minear

Original Air Date: 9/27/02

Plot Summary:

*If you've seen the episode recently or have a pretty good memory of what happens, skip this Plot Summary*

At the edge of space, the crew of Serenity stumble upon a seemingly abandoned vessel. Captain Malcolm Reynolds quickly notes that it's a ship used to transport several families to a new settlement. There's some debate as to what to do amongst the crew. Jayne would like to just move it along and forget the ship entirely while Book is interested in giving any help to possible survivors, citing the story of the good Samaritan. Eventually, Malcolm Reynolds decides to check it out. If there are survivors, they can help them out, and if not, well they can take a look around and see if they might have left behind something of value. The afterthought suits Jayne just fine.

As they explore the ship, they discover that it was attacked by Reavers when they find the mutilated bodies of the former passengers. Fortunately for the crew of Serenity, the Reavers that did the slaying don't seem to be around. In fact, it would seem they've run into quite a bit of fortune as they find some very valuable supplies aboard the attacked ship. They also stumble upon a survivor that they quickly bring back to Serenity so that Simon can provide medical aid to the poor soul. After getting a better look at the 'survivor,' Mal quickly learns more about why the guy was able to 'escape' with his life. The Reavers made him watch as they raped and mutilated the people aboard the spacecraft. Psychologically, the 'survivor' has no choice but to become like a Reaver himself.

Mal allows Book and other members of the crew to put the bodies to rest properly and load the cargo while he, Kaylee, and Wash deal with a booby trap that would prevent Serenity from taking off without...well, exploding. Fortunately, Kaylee saves the day when she disables the trap just as Jayne and folk return with the fortune that they could all use so desperately. Just as Serenity prepares to leave the ghost ship behind, an Alliance cruiser arrives. In addition to getting them on an illegal salvage charge, a post claiming fugitives Simon and River Tam are aboard a Firefly class vessel puts Malcolm Reynolds and crew in a very tight spot. As the Alliance soldiers board Serenity, Captain Reynolds plays it innocent. He puts all the salvage front and center, notes how they rescued a passenger from the derelict, and hides River and Simon outside the ship with the aid of a couple space suits.

Unfortunately, the rescued passenger, in a fit of insanity, has started cutting on himself, so the commanding officer quickly decides to arrest the crew. As he questions each member, looking for more information about Simon and River, he suspects that Malcolm Reynolds killed everybody on board the derelict and tortured the last remaining survivor as a twisted form of revenge for losing the war. Just as he's about to close the case, he learns that the rescued passenger has escaped by way of a murderous rampage back to Serenity. Captain Reynolds offers his services to help track down the man since he's the best expert on how Reavers work. As they explore Serenity, Mal manages to save the life of the officer in charge by killing the rescued passenger attacking him. Having his life saved by Mr. Reynolds, the officer is willing to let Serenity and crew go free, although not with the derelict's cargo. In the episode's final moments, the Alliance cruiser destroys the ghost ship and puts the whole incident behind them.

Discussion:

You've heard me go on and on about Joss Whedon, but you haven't heard me say much about Tim Minear. When Joss needed somebody who could captain Firefly while he was busy making sure his other two shows (Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel) were still flyin', he considered quite a few people. Eventually, he landed on Tim Minear, one of his frequent writers on Angel. He's an absolutely essential crew member for the show. I believe last post I said Tim was the Zoe to Joss' Malcolm Reynolds. I still stand by that claim. We've seen him work with Joss to get a 'second pilot' with very little time, and now we see him write and direct and episode all by his lonesome. Tim Minear will be back as writer for two more episodes of Firefly, so it's best not to forget about him.

When Tim Minear set about to write "Bushwacked," he had a few goals in mind. First, since "The Train Job" was mostly about being funny, he sought to create something a little darker. Second, since the Fox network had already expressed their distaste for the western elements in Firefly, Mr. Minear set the entire episode in space. Third, since the pilot "Serenity" had not been aired first, as it should have been, he needed to reinforce some of the major elements in the universe. Namely, Tim Minear gave us a reintroduction of the Reavers as well as the Alliance. In the Firefly Official Companion, Tim Minear explains that the first half "is about homesteaders and regular people trying to get by. It's about the savagery of being too far away from civilization. The second half was about civilization being so civilized that it becomes this collectivist, bureaucratic behemoth that can't get anything done, and it's trying to control too much." He uses these extremes to emphasize how the crew of Serenity finds itself somewhere in the middle.

There are a lot of great River moments in this episode (it's why I've made a point to include two screenshots of her for this update). At the very beginning we can see her watching as the crew plays some sort of basketball-ish sport. She watches attentively, enthusiastically, and studiously. We get another similar moment (screenshot at the very top) when she's hiding outside of Serenity with her brother. Her look of fascination with the emptyness of space is precious. As smart as she is, she still can take great pleasure in the world around her. Her fascination with space is contrasted nicely with Simon's terror of it. When River says "let's go again" to her brother, I smile everytime. There's also an interesting connection developed in this episode between River and the Reavers. She seems to share some kind of supernatural bond with the survivor. Perhaps will learn more about this in the episodes to come.

There are two interactions between Mal and Shepard Book that I think are worth looking into. The first is when Book encourages Mal to check the derilect for survivors, and the second is when Book encourages Mal to let him put the bodies to rest. In each instance, Mal agrees, but we learn it's out of some self-interest, i.e. salvaging cargo and creating a distraction while they take care of the booby trap. Here's a question I pose to you. Does Mal agree because Book convinces him, and only then coming up with some form of profit from the agreement, or does Mal have an idea of profiting before hand and only agrees with Book coincidentally?

I've been leaving favorite moments up to my readers, and I think I'll continue to do that, but this time I will include a couple of my own as well. The whole interrogation of the crew segment is one of my favorite parts of the whole episode. I love the way the questions and answered are juxtaposed from different members of the crew. I'm also a particularly big fan of Mal's line "may have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one." I'm always moved by the last shot of "Bushwacked" when the Alliance cruiser destroys the derelict. I've always been a fan of the Firefly score for it's western elements, and I think it really sells that last shot. There's a sadness to it.

Well that's all for this week. Sorry for the delay. The next episode on the list, "Shindig," is one of my favorites, so I look forward to getting it posted on time.

Minority Report (2002)

*See the original post at Film for the Soul.*
"The Minority Report" is a short story written by Philip Dick and in 1956 was published in the January issue of the science-fiction magazine Fantastic Universe. A film adaptation was produced in 2002 with the screenwriting talents of Scott Frank and Jon Cohen as well as the directorial vision of Mr. Steven Spielberg. Taking its name from the source material, Minority Report is a neo-noir science-fiction thriller. While there are some significant changes made from the original short story, including making the main character much younger and more athletic, most of the underlying ideas are carried over into the film. That is, while the filmmakers did inject much more action into the story, we are not deprived of a film that whets our more cerebral appetites. Upon its initial release, Minority Report met with financial and critical success. The movie received a theatrical gross profit of roughly $30 million in the U.S. alone, and film critics such as Roger Ebert saw fit to name Minority Report one of the best films of 2002.

The year is 2054, and a police agency known as Precrime resides in Washington D.C. The agency proudly boasts that it has helped to create a murder-free Washington D.C. for the last six years. How does Precrime achieve such a feat? By relying on the gifts of three seemingly divine individuals known as the Precognitives (Precogs for short): Agatha, Arthur, and Dashiell [whose names are chosen after famous crime authors Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Dashiell Hammett]. Their ability to see into the future, allows Precrime to stop murders before they happen. Detective John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is Precrime's Chief of Police. Motivated by the loss of his son years ago, Anderton is committed to enforcing the system that, had it been around, may have prevented his own tragedy. Precrime's Director Lamar Burgess (Max Von Sydow) is working toward getting Precrime nationalized. Before that can happen, the agency will have to be approved by the Department of Justice who has sent Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell) to investigate on their behalf. During this investigation, the Precogs reveal that John Anderton is to murder a man named Leo Crow, whom he's never met, within a day and a half. Rather than submit himself to the agency, John Anderton runs, hoping to find some answers. The most important answer for John is whether there's a chance the Precogs could be wrong. Anderton learns that there are instances where Agatha sees a vision differently from the other two. This disagreement is referred to as a minority report, and Anderton quickly realizes that this would be his only chance to prove his innocence. Just how John is going to obtain his minority report and where Leo Crow falls into all of this...well, I think it's best if I just let Steven Spielberg tell that story.

At the heart of Minority Report is the notion of free will versus determinism. Not in any way a new thought, philosophers have been trying to ascertain whether we actually are free to make our choices or if our own future is already determined by a chain of causes and effects. René Descartes declared that our will is clearly free while Baruch Spinoza believes it absurd that human beings have free will when the choices we make are simply a result of our lives up to the point that we make them. John Locke also chips in when he claims that we don't have freedom to choose our wills. We can't manipulate our desires or appetites, according to Locke, but we can choose to act on them or not. That is, we don't have free will, but we are free.

So, where does Minority Report stand in this debate? Is there a definitive answer? Surely, if we are to accept that it is morally right to arrest people for crimes they haven't yet committed, we would have to be talking about a pre-determined universe. By becoming aware of an individual's future, you can alter the cause and effect chain that would lead to them murdering another. Then again, just because you can glimpse into the future to see how things would happen on this current course doesn't mean that they happen that way because life is devoid of actual choice. The John Anderton case brings the most out of this topic. John Anderton is actually able to witness his future crime first hand. One of the Precogs tells John that this allows him the freedom to choose his fate. Knowing how the murder happens frees him from having to commit it. Surely, this is a case for the free will people! But it's not that clear. Seeing the vision is also what leads John Anderton to the exact setup as predicted. It's not free will, but rather a series of cause and effects (with the vision just being a new cause). Because John was seeing his own future, the future itself was altered. He's no longer an external force in somebody else's destiny, but he doesn't exactly seem to be the commander of his own fate either. However, when it comes down to the actual murder act, I'll let you decide whether this is when the movie is taking a stand on either side of the argument.

A recurring element within Minority Report is the notion of sight. The Precogs see the future, and the detectives are in charge of monitoring their visions. When Agatha tries to demonstrate the Anne Lively murder to John, she whispers "Can you see?" John Anderton meets with a blind drug dealer on the street who mentions "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." So, what does all this mean? Well, I think the drug dealer sums it up perfectly. The Precogs are given a gift. We look to them because we are blind, but they can see. Furthermore, when Anderton views his own future, it diminishes the power of those who are in charge of tracking him. The rules of capture for the previous murderers do not apply. As the Department of Justice agent notes at one point, he can't be stopped. Anyway, enough of my pseudo-philosophy. Let's talk cinematic.

Minority Report is neo-noir. There are quite a few noir elements going on in this movie from the obvious to the not so obvious. First, our protagonist is a detective who quickly finds himself on the opposite side of the law. He's not a clear cut hero. We learn quickly of his drug addiction, and when he finally confronts the man he's supposed to kill, Anderton doesn't hesitate as much as a more 'moral' man would. Let us not forget that we have a femme fatale in Agatha (ok, may be reaching, but bear with me). She's the one who sends Anderton on a mission that eventually leads to his 'downfall.' Aside from the plot elements, Spielberg also worked to create a film that retained the look of the classic film noir movies. Heavy shadows can be found throughout the movie. Moreover, the color palette chosen for Minority Report is almost monochromatic, a nod to the black, white, and gray that classic noir is oh-so-comfortable in.

Minority Report is a very fulfilling movie experience. Learning that critics have called it one of the best films of 2002 fits nicely. If such a movie existed that only used the elements I've discussed above, I would be satisfied. Minority Report goes beyond that by creating an enthralling world of mystery and two back-to-back action scenes whose ultimate conclusion leave me with a smile every time (seriously, that was one of the niftiest escapes I've ever seen). Minority Report is one of those great films that entertain the viewer while giving them something to talk about at the local coffee shop. It's certainly deserving of any recognition we can bestow upon it for the year of 2002 in films. Well, I've gotta run, but then, you knew that. For if there's anything we come away with here, it's that "everybody runs."

Anticipating the next Switchfoot Album...Wait! Albums!

The last time I was able to experience a brand new Switchfoot album was December of 2006. Shortly after, I would hear reports of a new album in development. Always rooted in mystery, and always being delayed. During that time, Switchfoot went independent, no longer having to deal with the artistic constriction of the studio system. Fortunately, for fans such as myself, Jon Foreman, the band's frontman, released four solo EP's with an eventual best-of album including two new tracks. When the band reemerged with "This is Home" for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, I was thrilled because I crave their music so vehemently. All the while, however, I kept tabs on the progression of the new album.

Now, it seems Switchfoot is committed to getting this new album no later than September of this year. The title of this new album? Hello Hurricane. To my knowledge two tracks from this album can be found in some form or another on the internet. The title track was previewed at one of Switchfoot's concerts where somebody proceeded to record it on their iPhone. While the recording is obviously lacking in quality, I couldn't help but get excited as I listened to it. As the chorus starts up, it sounds like a woman shouts "I want it." My sentiments exactly. The other track that I'm aware of is "Yet" which is clearly a member of the more intimate Switchfoot tracks.

Here's where the news gets fun for Switchfoot fans. In their time since Oh! Gravity, Switchfoot has produced enough music tracks for not just one, but four albums. The next album title has also been announced already. The title track is even available to listen to in it's bootleggy format if you look for it: "Vice Verses." We're looking at a 2010 release date for Vice Verses.

It's such an incredible time to be a Switchfoot fan. With "everyone hopeless and hoping for something to hope for," I'm ecstatic that there's still so much more to hope for.

Counting Down the Zeroes: Minority Report

Check out my submission for Ibetolis' Counting Down the Zeroes series at Film for the Soul. I'll post the same thing, more or less, on Friday, but for now I'm giving him an exclusive. While, you're there, be sure to check out some of the other entries. In fact, I would just subscribe to the site. You'll thank me later.

A DVD Rant from James Rolfe (Caution: Contains Offensive Language)

Looks like embedding has been disabled, so here's a link to the video.

Adding to the Noise: Peter Pan

There are times I feel like I'm the only one who really gets this movie. The 2003 film is my favorite adaptation of the J.M. Barrie story. When I made my top 100 list awhile back, I put the movie at number 77. Anyway, this is all stuff that could go into an eventual review, so let me just give you the quote that I can't seem to get out of my head.

Mrs. Darling:
There are many different kinds of bravery. There's the bravery of thinking of others before one's self. Now, your father has never brandished a sword nor fired a pistol, thank heavens. But he has made many sacrifices for his family, and put away many dreams...He put them in a drawer. And sometimes, late at night, we take them out and admire them. But it gets harder and harder to close the drawer... He does. And that is why he is brave.

Summer of Firefly: "The Train Job"

Welcome back to another edition of the Summer of Firefly! Time for some thrilling heroics.

Episode 02: "The Train Job"

Directed by: Joss Whedon

Written by: Joss Whedon & Tim Minear

Original Air Date: 9/20/02

Plot Summary:

*If you've seen the episode recently or have a pretty good memory of what happens, skip this Plot Summary*

Before Malcolm Reynolds manages to get into a bar brawl, he obtains a contact for a job. After meeting with the man responsible for posting the job, Adelei Niska (a man of reputation), Malcolm agrees to a job involving the theft of Alliance goods aboard a moving train. The heist doesn't go as well as planned. The cargo they were responsibile for stealing is successfully taken from the train, but Mal and Zoe find themselves without an escape.

On Serenity, Jayne is adamant on delivering the goods to Niska as planned, but the rest of the crew thinks they should wait for Mal and Zoe before meeting with the man. Shepherd Book, in particular, gives the most convincing argument, stating that Niska would likely have Mal and Zoe killed if he thought they had been captured and hence in a position to rat him out.

Malcolm Reynolds and Zoe find themselves in Paradiso, the town which was supposed to receive the shipment they managed to lift from the train. Mal quickly learns that the shipment was actually medical supplies which the people in Paradiso so desperately needed. The Alliance is not too concerned with tracking down the thieves and moves on, leaving Paradiso's under-equipped local law enforcement to find the medicine.

Back on Serenity, Jayne loses his patience and attempts to commandeer the ship to the rendezvous point to meet with Niska's men. Fortunately for the crew, Simon drugs Jayne, keeping him from making any more trouble. Inara decides to use her respectability as a Companion to get Mal and Zoe out of whatever trouble they've found themselves in Paradiso.

Inara's plan is successful. Mal and Zoe find themselves back on Serenity where they both immediately proceed to return the medical supplies to the people of Paradiso, but not before they run into Niska's men. The crew manages to subdue Niska's men and return the supplies to the townspeople. Mal then returns the money he accepted for the train job to one of Niska's men, hoping that this settles whatever trouble Niska might have with their not coming through on the job.

As the episode concludes, we get a better look at the Alliance men in search of River Tam. "Two by two. Hands of blue."

Discussion:

Something I forgot to mention last time. The universe of Firefly has a fairly important element that I completely overlooked. Part of this vision for the future involves an eventual merging of two superpowers, namely American and China, whose merging will be known as The Alliance. As a result, Chinese culture can be found all over the place in the Firefly world. Not just Chinese clothing, housing, and food, but the language as well. It's not uncommon for somebody to use speak Chinese in the middle of an English sentence. The merging of Spanish and English is called Spanglish. I suppose that means people in Firefly speak Chinglish. There are other new words in the Firefly 'verse that you can hear from time to time. The first two that come to mind are "Rutting" and "Gorram," which are curse words. Another word commonly used by characters in the 'verse is "shiny," which is generally a good thing. Now that we've cleared that up, let's head back to "The Train Job."

When Fox refused to air the pilot episode "Serenity" Joss Whedon and Tim Minear (the Zoe to Joss' Malcolm Reynolds) had to write an episode that could work as a sort of pilot without repeating what had already happened. So, during the course of what must have been a very stressful weekend, they churned out "The Train Job." With a shorter runtime and an episode that had a very clear advertisable premise, Fox let this be the first episode of Firefly to make it on the air September 20, 2002. It wouldn't be the last time Joss Whedon had to write a script that could serve as being introductory to the Firefly ignorant without doing disservice to that which had come before (hint hint: The feature film Serenity).

Despite it's rushed origins, "The Train Job" is a worthy member of the Firefly episode family. The pre-titles opening serves as a way to convey information to those who were, through no fault of their own, unable to watch the pilot, but the information is told through us in completely different ways. In "Serenity" we learned of Mal's involvement in the war because we see him fight in it. In "The Train Job" we learn that same information through a discussion between himself and a man who's not burdened by an overabundance of schoolin'. If you see the pilot first, it just reinforces what you already know. If not, you have a chance to do some clever detectivin' as you figure out where everybody comes from.

In the pilot episode, we watched as Mal did whatever he had to do to keep Serenity flying, even dealing with a woman who had shot him on a previous occasion. In "The Train Job" we watch as Mal once again accepts a job rooted in seediness from a man who bears no remorse at killing his nephew and hanging him in a room adjacent to his office to make a point. Only, when Mr. Reynolds learns more about the details of this particular job, he makes the decision to reverse his dealings with Niska. As Malcolm Reynolds returns the supplies, he's stopped by the head law enforcement official in Paradiso who had been grilling him earlier when he had suspicions of Mal and Zoe. The man sympathizes with Mal noting that in times as bad as these a man can take a job without looking too closely at what that job is, but when he learns of a situation such as the people in Paradiso, then that man has a choice to do the right thing. Captain Malcolm Reynolds quickly replies, "I don't believe he does." If you asked me to point out the exact moment that I fell in love with this show, it would be those five words. If you asked me to point out another such moment, it would be when Mal kicks Crow into the engine.

There's also some seeding going on in this episode. Particularly with the River and Simon storyline. We learn that Jayne would love nothing more than to turn River and Simon in for some kind of reward money. He claims that it's also Mal's plan, but we don't see any evidence to that, except maybe River's line "Mal means bad in Latin." We also learn more about what was going on with River before Simon helped her escape as we get a glimpse into one of her nightmares. There's a lot more story to tell here.

Once more, instead of reciting a list of some of my favorite moments, I'll leave that to my readers to do.

That's it for this week (although I may post something later today). See you next time.

Tom Hanks is a Satisfied In-N-Out Burger Customer