So far, anyway.

My vote goes to Hedwig and The Angry Inch. I think the ending is drawn out a wee bit too long, but other than that minor quibble, it's fantastic.

Warning: if you didn't like Rushmore, you're not likely to enjoy this film, either. Like Rushmore, it sits in a sort of hyperreal no-man's land. I don't know why some folks on this board had such a problem with Rushmore on this front. Heck, isn't Babe the same way? And it didn't diminish the impact of the movie one damn bit.

I know this isn't quite kosher but for all my movie viewing this year I haven't seen a better one than Apocalypse Now Redux....

I thought Brotherhood of the Wolf was pretty good as well.

"Apocalypse Now Redux"

I hate Latin in book and movie titles. It's like a dive bar trying to upgrade its image by putting tiny umbrellas in fruity drinks. Better titles:

Apocalypse Then and Now

Apocalypse Whenever

Apocalypse Now with new footage previously thought to have been eaten by Marlon Brando

Redux is a pretty ridiculous add on name. There "above" putting Directors Cut or somesuch stuff. If it were a game it could have been Apocalypse Now : MoTM (movie of the millenium).

I saw it last week, btw, the combat scenes are very good still (had never seen it on a big screen)... and the air cav scenes were powerful as well, though the french plantation scenes are totally unneccesary and the playboy scenes ... useless. DVD film floor fluffcut stuff really. Though the surfing bits were the best part to put back in the movie. Funny as hell to see Robert Duvalls character pleading with Martin Sheen and company to return his Surfboard (from a Huey's loudspeakers!). Very cool and it does fit the movies tone, that of anarchy and meaninglessness, and humor too!

etc

I finally got around to watching The Thin Red Line on video the other day. I have to say the film surprised me. Would I be correct in saying this film did not get the attention it deserved ?

It was a surprisingly deep well acted film. I'd describe it as a modern day Apocalypse Now.

Sean,

I agree about TRL. I've seen it a few times and it still fascinates. After my first viewing I kept thinking that (as a war film) only Apocalypse Now came close to its impact.

>Would I be correct in saying [Thin Red Line] did not get the attention it deserved?

From commercial audiences, perhaps, but it was certainly a critical success. Even the crazy Academy nominated it for best picture. I'd really like to see the 4 hours of footage Malick edited out, heh.

Hey, Geryk -- did you know that Malick teamed up earlier this year with your buddy Bodrov?

Stefan

"Hey, Geryk -- did you know that Malick teamed up earlier this year with your buddy Bodrov?"

You mean in a three-legged race or something? No, what?

Although Wumpus is way off base with his Rushmore comparison, he's partly right about Hedwig and the Angry Inch. I wouldn't call it Best Movie of 2001, but it's definitely up there. I've seen it twice and I'm willing to go a third time. I'll do it, too. And I'm not even into musicals about crossdressing (e.g. I never got the whole Rocky Horror thing).

As for favorite movie of 2001, at this point, I'd have to go with Momento. Also in the list: O. Made.

What am I forgetting? Jesus, it's too early in the morning to do these lists...

Sean's right about Thin Red Line not getting the attention it deserved, but I'm hardly surprised. It's not very 'accessible'. It's easily in my list of top war movies. Here, let's do this:

Top Five War Movies (in no particular order)
Thin Red Line
A Midnight Clear
Platoon
Deer Hunter
For shock value, the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan

Umm, I'm sure I'm missing some. As I said, too early in the morning...

I'd have to go with Memento for best movie of the year (thus far). It kept me entertained and thinking the entire time, which is quite a feat considering the sheer amount of crap that Hollywood is pumping out these days.

While we're on the subject of great movies, The Butcher Boy is one of my all-time favorites. If you haven't seen it, rent it tonight. (And the book it's based on, written by Patrick McCabe, is a fantastic read.)

Damn, butcher boy isn't out on DVD. I tried to add it to the NetFlix queue, like the other cool kids, but I was denied. While I'm on the topic: NetFlix BADLY needs to get an east coast distribution center. I hate waiting 4 days for my movies to go all the way across the friggin' country. Also, more copies of the damn movies! Waiting is not acceptable, and I get it too much on my queue.

Anyway. Memento was indeed an excellent movie. I'd put it near the top as well, but it can't have the top spot. It was too... well, gimmicky. It's a great conceit, but the movie draws too much of its strength from that instead of the performances and script.

It reminds me of 1983's "New York, New York", by Bill Lanphier. He took the Frank Sinatra tune, played it backwards, make a new recording singing and playing along with that backwards tape, then he turned the new recording around backwards and that's what came out: a forwards-tune that sounds backwards! You need a reel-to-reel machine to do that.

"Although Wumpus is way off base with his Rushmore comparison"

Disagree. Hedwig reminded me very strongly of Rushmore in overall visual tone and presentation.

"Hedwig reminded me very strongly of Rushmore in overall visual tone and presentation."

You, sir, are a loon.

Rushmore: flights of fancy; youth; innocence on the verge of experience; first love, first heartbreak; Anderson's soft pop cool musical taste; privileged prep school setting with the muted colors of wood panelling, ivied walls, and school uniforms

Hedwig: the world-weary musings of an embittered transsexual transplant to US culture and prosperity; told through flashbacks and brash elaborate musical numbers and costume changes; Iggy Pop's sensibility with the vocal stylings of David Bowie and the Sex Pistols; a message about how love is both our fall from grace and our salvation; painted in almost impossibly bright colors, sometimes downright dayglo

Your turn.

-Tom

Butcher Boy? That weird Neil Jordan movie about the incorrigible Irish boy?

I recall being intrigued by it, but I certainly wouldn't give it a blanket recommendation. I think of Butcher Boy is one of those movies that would appeal to a fairly narrow range of tastes.

-Tom

>I recall being intrigued by it, but I certainly wouldn't give it a blanket recommendation.

You, sir, are a loon. :-)

The Butcher Boy is an amazing movie, and I would rank it as one of the best movies of the 90's. It's got everything--suicide, murder, drunk fathers, a lost friend, hysteria over nuclear war, and Sinead O'Connor as the Virgin Mary.

'For shock value, the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan.'

Shock value movies don't have too long of a shelf life. In ten years kids will be yawning at the flying body parts.

"For shock value, the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan."

Or the last 2 minutes, for schlock value.

-Ron

"Shock value movies don't have too long of a shelf life. In ten years kids will be yawning at the flying body parts."

25 years later and they're not yawning at Salo, however.

>Or the last 2 minutes, for schlock value.

Heh, I've posted my dislike of Spielberg-isms at length here before, and I named those minutes specifically, but even those sentiments don't detract from my admiration of the battle scenes in SPR (and not just the Omaha beach landing, although that was obviously special).

Nothing could please me more than for similar depictions of warfare to become "standard" -- it may be the only realistic depiction of warfare, in any movie ever (uh, to the extent I can judge without firsthand knowledge). Other movies show blood, and horror, but none make it all seem so shockingly casual, and yet chaotic. Or depict fear as well.

War is horrific - heroic and not-so-heroic people are turned into goo - after SPR, I find it hard not to view less violent depictions of warfare as, intentional or otherwise, glamorizations. Even Thin Red Line, a far, far superior movie, is guilty of doing so, by not displaying, visually, the horror of seeing people blown to pieces (although I love other aspects of combat in TRL, such as the Japanese prisoner shots, command/moral conflicts). You almost shouldn't be allowed to make a non-R or X rated movie.

Stefan

I thought the "bunker battle" towards the end of TTRL was quite realistic.

'25 years later and they're not yawning at Salo, however.'

Eh? What's that?

Not a big Pasolini fan? Remember, he's "important."

http://www.netflix.com/MovieDisplay?movieid=14563058&trkid=73

Pasolini was gay. Salo was a gay movie. Just kidding, i never saw it but i heard about it. I dont know if I want to see a movie where people are fed shit, literally. I dont need an art flick movie to tell me that humanity can be shitty and depraved.

and the Marquis de Sade was a weirdo!

etc

I'm confused as to why so many of you put Total Request Live on your list of favorite war films. Is it because Carson Daly is such a hottie?

But seriously folks, how do we determine what a "war film" is? What is the threshold? I mean, some films are definitely in that category (SPR for instance) while other films might only be films set during a war (say, I dunno, The English Patient). Is Schindler's List a war film? Dr. Strangelove? Henry V?

If so, I'd have
Henry V
Dr. Strangelove
All Quiet on the Western Front
Paths of Glory
Glory

on my list in no particular order, and probably because they are freshest in my memory. I haven't seen SPR since it came out (and the bookends turned me off so much) and haven't seen Apolcalypse Now in years. Also have got to see A Midnight Clear again (another introduction I'm thankful to the Lurking Cain for).

As for this year...honestly, isn't it a little early for this? I guess I'd go with Memento so far.

-Amanpour

'A loose adaptation of the Marquis de Sade's The 120 Days of Sodom, Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salo is perhaps the most disturbing and disgusting film ever made. It is also one of the most important, offering a blistering critique of fascism and idealism that suggests moral redemption may be nothing more than a myth.'

Hmm, sounds ok. Then I read this user review:

'This movie first of all, will be discarded by most as a disgusting portrayal of sodomy by a perverted director. This is not the case. It brilliantly, and brutally depicts the state of facism that was once real. It's very valuable as an art film. Definitely not for the average, closed-minded viewer with the usual preconceived notions.'

Goddamn fruits.

Well, so far I think Memento has been the best movie this year.

I do think that Gangs of New York will be the best movie all year when it comes out. I have very high hopes for Scorcese to pull off another classic like Goodfellas.

Yeah, Memento was the best movie experience (not neccesarily best movie) i saw this year. And Scorcese doing another gangster pic? no way!

Also on Salo, gimme a break, I dont want a movie to show me some guys "artsy" version of kiddie porn with kids literally being fed shit and tortured. Thats not art. Thats not a statement. That terrible taste imo. Though the intention is to shock im sure... still i havent seen it so i cant be too critical of it.

Pasolini has made some good movies, his Book of Matthew was a good Jesus movie.

etc

>Memento has been the best movie this year

Easily. Nothing else is even close.

What other movies were even "good"? Not many -- Sexy Beast, Ghost World, Amores Perros, Snatch (a 00 release in the UK), Shrek. Maybe Moulin Rouge and Bridget Jone's diary as well. But it's been a pretty sad year to date, although the fall line up (particularly December), looks really promising.

Gangs of New York is looking more like Age of Innocence than Goodfellas (style/setting) and may be a similar misstep for Scorsese.

>I thought the "bunker battle" towards the end of TTRL was quite realistic.

Agreed. [SPOILER ALERT FOR THIN RED LINE] I was really disappointed that Mallick cut the scene in the subsequent battle where John Cusak's character is killed -- it added additional depth to the great conversations between Nolte's (who gives his best performance ever) and Cusak's characters. Instead the fate of John Cusak's character is left ambiguous.

>Gangs of New York is looking more like Age of Innocence than Goodfellas (style/setting) and may be a similar misstep for Scorsese.

Just the thought of watching Leonardi DiCaprio for two hours fills me with a murderous rage.

Well, other than Gangs of New York, The Lord of the Rings looks very promising. New Line has shown some critics and fans pieces of the movie, and not one of them has been disapointed with what they have seen.

I pray that Peter Jackson can pull this movie off. It is going to be huge if he does (even if he doesn't, the movie will still make hundreds of millions of dollars). But I think that he will, given that he is a die hard fan of the books and early buzz on the movie has been very good.

"Rushmore: flights of fancy; youth; innocence on the verge of experience; first love, first heartbreak; Anderson's soft pop cool musical taste; privileged prep school setting with the muted colors of wood panelling, ivied walls, and school uniforms

Hedwig: the world-weary musings of an embittered transsexual transplant to US culture and prosperity; told through flashbacks and brash elaborate musical numbers and costume changes; Iggy Pop's sensibility with the vocal stylings of David Bowie and the Sex Pistols; a message about how love is both our fall from grace and our salvation; painted in almost impossibly bright colors, sometimes downright dayglo"

First: the line between glam rock, T-Rex/sweet (Hedwig) and the progressive british rock of the late 1960's such as Creation (Rushmore) is thin indeed. T-Rex released their THIRD album in 1969. It's a very logical progression, actually. So musically, they are linked-- glam is exactly one branch of the evolutionary tree from the music you hear in Rushmore.

Music features very prominently in both movies. Granted that Rushmore isn't a musical per se, but consider the scene where max is being dragged down the school hallway by two police officers to the tune of the Who's "A Quick One While He's Away"? We'll call that Exhibit A. Music is every bit as essential to Rushmore.

Second: both movies are patently absurd if taken at face value. Which as I understand it, was your big objection to Rushmore. C'mon-- a transsexual glam band playing for disinterested audiences of 10 at midwestern fish and chips restaurants? With a lead singer dancing in a frilly skirt and rubbing his skirt in the face of one of the elderly patrons? I dunno, maybe this happens to you every day in LA, but it's pretty rare here in NASCAR country.

Third: both movies are painted in rather garish colors, and both movies are about innocence. A prep school play based on "serpico"-- complete with smoking and cursing-- is merely a hop, skip, and a jump away from Hedwig playing on an army base cafe with a bunch of korean wives as backup musicians. Who else but the terminally naive could pull things like that off? Offhand I can think of at least a half dozen examples in both movies.

Fourth: both movies are EXTREMELY optimistic. This is unusual. Even brave. Compare to your typical arthouse films like Requiem-- essentially rubbernecking as the world fucks someone in the ass, literally or figuratively.

Just to add some more fuel to the fire WRT the relationship between Hedwig and Rushmore, musically and otherwise.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005JGA7

Nuggets II box set, CD 2, track 13:
You've Got A Habit Of Leaving - Davy Jones

Later in his career, Davy changed his last name to Bowie.

http://crystaltjapan.tripod.com/Bowie-The60s.html

Granted I wouldn't expect the average moviegoer to be able to connect these dots, but as someone who loved both movies, and the music in them.. it seemed fairly obvious.

So then I can connect Rushmore to Russ Meyer's Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (co-written by Roger Ebert) because Incense and Peppermints is performed in Dolls (if I recall), was recorded in the '60s, and is on the first Nuggets compilation, thereby tying it to Rushmore. Who knew that Rushmore was a surreal movie about enormously breasted starlets in Hollywood. Wow.

Hey, High Fidelity used "You're Gonna Miss Me" by the 13th Floor Elevators, which also directly ties it to the Dolls, Rushmore and this Hedwig movie that hasn't played in the sticks here. More coolness.

And are these also tied to The Hunger, because David Bowie is in that? Maybe Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence too? The Man Who Fell to Earth?

All tied to Rushmore. Cool. Rushmore is the center of the movie universe when it comes to using music in films.

"Rushmore is the center of the movie universe when it comes to using music in films."

And Counter-Strike is Game of the Year for 1997, 2000, *and* 2001. And Sacrifice is a Quake clone. And the internet will run exclusively on micropayments by this time next year.

Jeff's right that Hedwig and Rushmore are great movies, but beyond that, there isn't much of a connection.

And FWIW, I have no problems with the absurdity in Rushmore. It's just one of the reason's I prefer Bottle Rocket.

-Tom

I hope you guys are having fun with those straw men you've so painstakingly constructed.

Like I said in the first post: Hedwig and Rushmore both sit in the same hyperreal no-man's land. And they both rely heavily on music.

So sue me.

>>Hedwig and Rushmore both sit in the same hyperreal no-man's land. And they both rely heavily on music.

And so does Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, hence it's just like Rushmore and Hedwig. (What little I know about the latter may actually be true, but if someone can connect Rushmore of and a Russ Meyer movie, go for it.)

"this Hedwig movie that hasn't played in the sticks here"

Steve, I admire the way you don't let mere ignorance keep you from having an opinion on this topic. If you actually *see* both movies and still feel that Rushmore and Hedwig have NOTHING in common sylistically, then I'll be happy to revisit this topic with you.

And your momma.

>>Steve, I admire the way you don't let mere ignorance keep you from having an opinion on this topic.

If mere ignorance kept people from having opinions, there'd be no need for message boards, would there?

>>If you actually *see* both movies and still feel that Rushmore and Hedwig have NOTHING in common sylistically, then I'll be happy to revisit this topic with you.

Ever seen Beyond the Valley of the Dolls? I've seen it and Rushmore, and based on your comparison of Hedwig and Rushmore, it falls into the exact same camp. Hence, BVD should also have a similar connection. Which, unless Bill Murray has enormous breasts in some director's cut I haven't seen, isn't quite true.

"Ever seen Beyond the Valley of the Dolls? I've seen it and Rushmore,"

Congratulations. When you've seen Hedwig, get back to me. buh-bye.

Pauline Kael's last essay was a critical study of the similarities between 'Beyond the Valley and the Dolls' and 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch'. She was struck by the similarity between the two movies because they both had music.

For a micropayment of $.06, I will gladly provide an URL to her essay.

-Tom

"For a micropayment of $.06, I will gladly provide an URL to her essay."

That's an expensive micropayment. I think it's actually a macromicropayment. A true Wumpus micropayment is supposed to be less than a penny. Once those are in place, a new golden age of the Internet will be ushered in.

>>Congratulations. When you've seen Hedwig, get back to me. buh-bye.

I'm sorry, did you answer the question? And I'd love to see the movie but it ain't playing Burlington, Vermont. Sorry.

But I can still make fun of your asinine generalities, like how two otherwise dissimilar movies, at least according to someone's judgment I actually trust, are similar because they have a lot of music or something. Oh, and they're both shot on film. And I think they may involve musicians.

See, isn't this fun?

But I tellya, based on your insight, I've made a great connection between Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and Rushmore. Now if only Max Fischer had enormous breasts, it would really be a perfect comparison.

Hey, come to think of it, almost every Freddie Prinze, Jr. movie has had a soundtrack that explained the emotions of the characters, using numerous pop hits from awesome bands, some of which were remakes of '60s hits! I sense a whole Rushmore-influenced wave of movies... this has been going on for years now! Bitchen!

"I'm sorry, did you answer the question?"

I didn't answer the question because I haven't seen Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

Spare me the banal attempts at humor and see the movie, Bauman. It's good.

"Hedwig reminded me very strongly of Rushmore in overall visual tone and presentation"

I still stand by this statement, WWF smackdown style.

News flash: Wumpus is being an ass again! Film at eleven!

>>I didn't answer the question because I haven't seen Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

Oh, well then get back to me when you've seen it. Buh bye.

(It's actually a great awful movie. Yer pal Roger Ebert wrote it, y'know?)

>>Spare me the banal attempts at humor and see the movie, Bauman. It's good.

Which part of IT'S NOT PLAYING IN BURLINGTON, VERMONT didn't you understand?

Again? When did I ever stop being an ass? That's news to me.

"(It's actually a great awful movie. Yer pal Roger Ebert wrote it, y'know?)"

I would like to see BVD. I've heard a little about it, and I am intrigued by the user reviews at imdb. Unfortunately it's not out on DVD per my netflix search, so I'll sit tight until it is. I want to see it, but there's a point of diminishing returns for the effort.

"Which part of IT'S NOT PLAYING IN BURLINGTON, VERMONT didn't you understand?"

I dunno, which part of AT LEAST SEE THE MOVIE UNDER DISCUSSION BEFORE PARTICIPATING IN SAID DISCUSSION didn't you understand? I don't mind if you want to make fun of me. It's something I enjoy myself. But is it too much to ask that you do so from a position of actual knowledge and/or experience?

This just in: Wumpus is still an ass. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Hey, at least he never tried to deny it. Gets points in my book for that.

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens and Up! are all cowritten by Roger Ebert. Based on that you'd never expect him to be the reviewer he is. He likes that T n A i bet... im sure he loves it.

One time on some Chicago radio talk show they called Ebert in Cannes and they forgot that it was morning in France... a french chick answers the phone... it ends up sounding like Ebert just woke up from a night of debauchery and sex! Eberts cool! The guy used his fame well.

etc

Just to look at him...you have to know Ebert wouldn't be getting the chicks without his "fame". After all, even his deceased partner, may he rest in peace, constantly told fat jokes about him. ;)

--Dave

>>I dunno, which part of AT LEAST SEE THE MOVIE UNDER DISCUSSION BEFORE PARTICIPATING IN SAID DISCUSSION didn't you understand?

I was merely reacting to a general statement you made about what linked Rushmore to Hedwig, not any specifics. Using that criteria, I found another movie that matched, and hence, it would link to Rushmore as well.

>>But is it too much to ask that you do so from a position of actual knowledge and/or experience?

Rumor has it I was mostly commenting on how much alike Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is to Rushmore, both of which I do have knowledge and experience of. But don't let what I've actually said get in the way of your whining.

"haven't seen Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.
"Oh, well then get back to me when you've seen it. Buh bye."

You are so mean!! You should feel sorry for Sharon Tate. She was good in that.