The Magnificent Andersons

The Magnificent Andersons




Paul Thomas Anderson and Wes Anderson are not related, yet they seem to occupy the ying-yang auteurship in the current state of the cinema. Wes’ films are understated and unassuming. Paul Thomas’ are in-your-face evocation of Martin Scorsese/David Mamet’s style. Last year marked the first time I actually looked forward to plucking down $11 for a matinee at the local infinity-plex to watch “The Darjeeling Limited” and “There Will Be Blood.” If anyone was interested, I placed those 2 movies in my top 2 of the year. Sure “No Country for Old Men” was good, deep, polished, but as much as I enjoy the Coen Brothers’ cleverness, emotionally I’m left with a void. Nothing wrong with that I suppose. I mean I laughed, thought…I guess that’s all I felt with NCFOM. But with the Andersons’ work, an emotional residue has always existed.

The first time I watched “The Royal Tenenbaums” by Wes Anderson was in an art house theater in Pasadena. A friend had previously loaned a DVD of “Rushmore” to me and I loved it. I was curious to see if perhaps there was a sophomore slump. I didn’t realize “Bottle Rocket” was his first full-length release. Anyway, I watched “Royal” with some expectations. I liked it. I didn’t love it. After the movie my friend and I dined at a sandwich place next door. She said she really loved Ben Stiller’s character. “He was trying to grieve for his wife, but he didn’t know how.” To me this family of geniuses were detached, distant. I couldn’t relate. I love my family but we weren’t as accomplished at the Tenenbaums. However my friend’s comments made me rent the dvd once it was released. I re-watched it. Strange, the 2nd viewing tugged my emotional wires and pulled tightly. Ben Stiller’s character was trying to grieve for his wife, freaking out when he sons went missing and harboring resentment toward his free-spirited, irresponsible father. When he reaches his boiling point he comes down hard, literally and figuratively in of all places, a zen garden in the Japanese Consulate next door. Comically brilliant. But when Hackman’s Royal replaces the deceased dog with another, Stiller finally breaks down and says “I’ve have a rough year.” That was pretty emotional and I felt tears welling up. But I swear it was the chili I was eating. (Coughs)

Like Wes, Paul Thomas Anderson’s stories revolve around relationships. Like “Tenenbaums,” films like “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia” interweaves characters, though not as subtlely and thankfully so. With “Magnolia” I had the same initial apathetic reaction. I thought it was too long, and somewhat indulgent. By chance I was the video store a year after it was released on home video. I rented it. Too long? What was I thinking? The movie moves swiftly and deftly. I got into each character’s personal story and like a good novel, once you’re involved you’re lost in their world. When the movie ended I started to see Anderson’s style. The hardened façade gave way to tenderness and a sense of humanity that a lot of filmmakers of his generation scoff for the sake of making a violent gangster noir movie. Not that there is nothing wrong with that. But as a viewer, if I don’t care about the characters I’m not going to care about the movie. It’s just refreshing to see a movie that is about something and not some pompous homage to “Pulp Fiction” or works by Martin Scorsese. I ended up buying “Magnolia,” “Boogie Nights” and “Punch Drunk Love,” the latter being a film that I could really relate to especially since I’m the youngest of 3 boys. I felt Sandler’s rage in the same way I commiserated with Stiller’s character. So therein lies the difference between the two, the ying and yang. Wes Anderson…a quiet epiphany, Paul Thomas Anderson…rage slowly simmering.

Their latest works shows a lot of growth in their own way. Critics complained that “Darjeeling Limited” follows a line of Wes’ films that look and feel the same. Again, the changes are subtle. Beginning in his home state of Texas, Wes’ stories have carried him across the states and now to international waters. It’s not the change in scenery either. “Rushmore” dealt with a school boy crush on a teacher with a father figure intercepting the plans, “Royal Tenenbaums” dealt with a dysfunctional family, “Life Aquatic” dealt with the reconnection between a father and son and “Darjeeling Limited” tells of loss and gain between brothers. “There Will Be Blood” however showed a growth unlike PT’s previous work. Gone were the long passages of dialogue peppered with playful expletives, dolly shots into action, and frogs raining down. However that intensity worked through Daniel Day Lewis as Daniel Plainview, a driven mean son-of-a-bitch hell bent to win at every deal. The film was reminiscent of Kubrick at the beginning of his iconic stage with shots reminding me of “2001: A Space Odyssey” with a little wicked sense of humor found in “The Shining.” I have always had a fondness for film openings that don’t require words, with the sole exception being narration read by an unseen person. So imagine my thrill at the beginning of TWBB.

Anyway, this is not to single out these two as the most influential and important filmmakers of this generation. We still have the masters like Scorsese around, and of course people like Tarantino are still around. But for me I can look at the Magnificent Andersons as part of the few auteurs around who call their own shots in medium and even society leaning more and more toward the corporate side. I can’t wait for their next movies.

The Kinks: They Really Got Me!

This usually happens with me. I listen to a track off an album. Not a single played ad nauseum on classic rock stations. I mean if I listen to "Light My Fire" on KRTH (K-Earth 101 FM) again I'm going to lasso my chiuhuahua and dangle him over the 7th floor balcony. Great song, but the Doors did record other great tunes you know.

Which leads me to my topic: The Kinks. We all heard their famous singles; "You Really Got Me," "All Day and All The Night," "Lola," "Come Dancing," just to name a few. Anyway, I owned a couple of Kinks CD's. Namely their greatest hits. An awesome collection, but not quite the Kink experience. A co-worker overhead "Mindless Child of Motherhood" off their Kronikles collection blaring from my computer. "You a Kink fan?" he asks. "Well, I know the surface of the Kinks," I reply, not sure of what I mean. "I've got the whole collection," he says. "Do you want to borrow the cd's?" "Sure," I reply.



So there I was, listening to 1966's "Face to Face" album. Amazing stuff. Then came "Village Green Preservation Society." Oh my God, incredible. Then it was followed by "Lola Versus the Powerman and the Moneygoround," "Arthur" and finally "Muswell Hillbillies." For the next several weeks I played those cds over and over again. It was reminiscent of when I first discovered the Beatles. Sure the singles are fine, but man, the album tracks hold such amazing music. It's unbelieveable but every track from Please Please Me to Let It Be could be singles. But I digress. This is not about the lads from LIverpool. This is the freakin' Kinks. Every track could be a single. From 1966 - 1972 they created some of the most amazing music in just a short time. 6 albums filled with majestic, beautiful portraits impacted by an aggressive guitars, not overly so that it loses the flavor of the music, but just the right punch to slap you around a bit.

You have to respect a band who didn't give in to the mainstream pop charts like other bands did of that era. At a time when musicians were tripping on acid in the studio and churning out experiments in sound, the Kinks always kept it real, as the kids say. While other British bands tried or perhaps unconsciously tried to sound like American blues singers, Ray Davies' vocals remained true to his background, the Muswell middle-class. He didn't pen songs about growing up in Mississippi, or riding spaceships into the vortex of his mind. He wrote about "simple people" of the Village Green. He wrote about London folks, but the sentiment was quite universal. "Terry" and "Julie" from the 1967 album "Something Else from The Kinks" (which I don't own...yet) could be anyone. And in even in a vast brushstroke of images, it's punctuated either lovingly in this case, or harshly by Dave Davies' guitarwork. It's not subtle playing. It's saying "hey, don't forget who is also responsible for the creation of these songs." Dave was no slouch as a songwriter as well. "Susannah's Still Alive" was so good that if you look up youtube you'd find him performing the song solo. His influence could be felt at a recent Ray Davies show on television. He dug into the vault and announced a song he'd written for his brother. "A Long Way From Home" resonated beautifullly, but definitely lacking Dave's harmonizing and poignant guitars. Here's hoping they reunite as soon as Dave heals.



Here is a list of notable songs off their incredible span of albums:

"Too much on my mind"- FACE TO FACE (1966)

"This Time Tomorrow" - LOLA VERSUS THE POWERMAN AND THE MONEYGOROUND (1970)

"Animal Farm" - VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY (1968)

"Young and Innocent Days"- ARTHUR (1969)

"A Long Way From Home" - LOLA...(1970)

"Oklahoma USA" - MUSWELL HILLBILLIES (1971)

"Death of a Clown"- SOMETHING ELSE...(1967)

There's a new Sheriff in Town

So Barack Obama has secured his party’s nomination. And now John McCain wants to challenge him to a series of townhome debates. Sweet Merciful Jesus, let the young Senator rest! Was McCain not watching the Democrat race? Did he not watch Obama needlessly clarify the untruths from the mouth of another Democrat competitor? Did he not watch Obama answer the eruptions of an angry, opinionated minister day after day after day? Apparently not. It seems the young Senator from Illinois’ road to the White House has had some surreal bumps along the way. Granted, the world of politics is crazy to begin with. Add to that Senator Obama’s unconventional approach and observations to the atmosphere surrounding and you get a mixture of a farce unlike anything on TV or in the cinema now. Unless you look at your old movie collection, as I did, and pull out a dvd of “Blazing Saddles.” To relieve my stress of watching venerable anchors like Charles Gibson purge the Senator with Reverend Wright questions, I put the Western spoof on. It was during the scene in which the hero, Bart, was asked to sing a “slave” song that I began to think about the relation between Mr. Obama’s campaign and the film. Bart croons a sophisticated A capella version of “I Get A Kick Out of You.” It struck me that the gesture reminded me of Senator Obama telling viewers to stop thinking about the “distractions” and question the issues that plague this country. It was a glaring illustration that both men display an unconventional approach to the ridiculousness of the world surrounding them.

The movie also draws many parallels to the state of politics today. The villain is a shifty, power-hungry Lt. Governor (Dick Cheney?) who acts as commander under the cock-eyed watch of an incompetent, ineffectual Governor (Bush?). And like the town of Rockridge, today’s America asked itself “are we ready for an African-American leader?” Only the good, simple town folk didn’t question themselves nor did they use the politically correct terminology. But eventually Sheriff Bart, the cool protagonist in the movie, wins the people’s respect and defeats the bad guy. Drawing further on the comparison, I’ve discovered that the movie is actually a good blueprint for Obama’s pursuit for the Presidency. Here are the steps Obama needs to take to achieve his goal in accordance to the comedy.

- Defeat a muscle-bound nemesis. In the film, Sheriff Bart defeats Mongo. Senator Obama has Hillary Clinton. Beating her for the nomination is step one. “Obama only one who defeat Hillary. Hillary impressed.”

- Seduce the seductress. Lili Von Shtupp was brought in when Mongo failed. Sheriff promptly seduces her and wins her over. What will be Mr. Obama’s temptation? Money? Power? Interns? Whatever that will be he will have to tame it with a “wed wose.”


- And finally, he must defeat the head villain. Unlike the movie there will be no final gun-drawn showdown with the bad guy, unfortunately. Although such a spectacle would make for great reality TV on Fox. And in all likelihood, Cheney would miss and hit a member of his posse in the face.

If Mr. Obama follows these guidelines, he will find his place in American history. He’s already taken on the persona of the flawed but casual observer at times. All that Mr. Obama needs now is a loyal sidekick. “My name is John, but most people call me…John.” As in Edwards perhaps? Who knows? No need to think way ahead into the future. But it was written in 1974. So sayeth Mel Brooks.