Strelnikov here, wishing everybody a very happy new year.

You may have noticed that the site has been a little stagnant since Christmas. That’s because it is undergoing a few changes. In 2011 CINEddiction.com will be moving away from date sensitive content (such as the TCM recommendations) and putting a larger focus on movie reviews. But you’ll still be able to look forward to our video content, such as Trailer Mix and weekly episodes of Film Junkies. In fact we just finished recording several new episodes that should start going up in a week or two (starting with a look back at the films of 2010).

Stay tuned and everybody have fun ringing in the new year.

Recently, my wife and I finished watching the first season of “Justified”, a very entertaining cop drama on FX.  Based on a story by Elmore Leonard, it’s about a modern-day U.S. Marshall with a gun-slinging attitude who is transferred from Miami to Harlan County, Kentucky, the place where he grew up.  When I heard the words “Harlan County”, I remembered that there was an acclaimed documentary called Harlan County, USA.  Since it’s considered one of the best American documentaries ever made, I decided to check it out.  I was pleased to discover that it definitely lives up to the hype.

The film documents the Brookside Mine coal strike that began in 1972.  The director (Barbara Kopple) and her cameramen spent several years with the local families, documenting their poor living and working conditions, their group meetings, and their time on the picket lines.  We learn about the history of the coal mines, the beginnings of unionization, and the terrors of black lung disease.  It’s not an easy subject to learn about or understand, but Kopple and her crew do a marvelous job of giving it clarity and making it a fascinating viewing experience.  (Her hard work was subsequently rewarded with an Academy Award.  Later, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.)

As the film unfolds, we come to know many of the people involved and care about their plight.  Though the film is about the miners, their wives are equally important.  We spend a great deal of time with them at meetings as they discuss their constitutional rights and goals for the future.  They have a lot of guts and are as determined as the men to win a new contract with the coal companies.  We even meet the coal company executives and their “gun thugs”, the miners’ nickname for the armed men brought in to intimidate them.

Harlan County, USA is a riveting, heartbreaking experience.  It is unsparing it what it depicts.  Protesters are beaten and shot at, some of which is captured on camera. At least one union supporter is murdered, leaving behind a 16 year-old wife and child.  The miners become more and more agitated over time and begin to carry firearms and clubs themselves.  What begins as a protest for better pay and working conditions ends up as a fight for survival (literally).

The filmmakers are clearly on the side of the miners, but that doesn’t hurt the film.  Even viewers with ambivalent attitudes toward unionization will sympathize.  In fact, when one of the camera operators is attacked while filming, it’s hard to see it any other way.  We care about these folks as real people, not as movie characters.  They only seek a better life for themselves and their families, and they are willing to fight for what they believe in.

Harlan County, USA is an amazing film filled with memorable scenes.  In one instance, Lois Scott (possibly the most colorful and likable person in the movie) smiles and pulls a revolver out of her bra and shows it to the other ladies.  In another scene, we watch miners protest the coal company on Wall Street in New York City, urging stockholders to sell their coal stock.  One of the protesters strikes up a conversation with a New York City cop and explains why they are striking.  These two men have very little in common, but they have a kind of camaraderie and mutual understanding.  It’s a small moment, but it underlines the whole point of the film: that I, in 21st century America, can relate to those from different backgrounds and situations, even coal miners who protested almost 40 years ago.  It’s a thought-provoking statement from a powerful film, one that is definitely a must-see for all film lovers.

Harlan County, USA (Trailer)

This time of year, many people love to watch Christmas movies.  While I’ll admit that I too love a good Christmas movie, I have a tendency to get burned out on them really quickly.  At that point, what I need is a little holiday movie “counter-programming”.  So it’s in that spirit that I recommend that you watch this:

Starship Troopers is not a Christmas movie.  In fact, the only similarity it has with many Christmas movies is in its wooden dialogue, bland performances, and cheesy romance.  And yet, that is exactly what makes it so much fun.  Underneath its slick, action-packed, gory exterior, Starship Troopers is a sharp, eerily-prescient satire about fascism.  It’s directly modeled on World War II propaganda films, both made by the Allied and the Axis powers.  (Indeed, even some of the costumes have a distinctly “SS” feeling to them).  It presents the world as an equal-opportunity utopia ruled by a strict-but-benign militaristic government.  When the earth is attacked by giant bugs and millions of people are killed, it’s up to the young Marine recruits to travel to the bug planet and wipe them out.  Cue the pumped-up,  ridiculously bloody battle scenes.

It would be a bit pointless to list the names and traits of the lead characters.  Individualism would be missing the whole point of the movie.  They’re not really characters at all, but idealized, impossibly attractive blank canvases for the propaganda to be projected onto.  They’re not really similar to you and me, but are instead closer to how we would idealize ourselves in such a situation.  Though the characters are painted in such broad strokes, it’s not hard to like and even admire them.  Their lack of depth doesn’t detract from the whole picture, it adds to it. 

Starship Troopers is the second collaboration between director Paul Verhoeven and screenwriter Ed Neumeier.  They had previously worked on Robocop together, another violent and hilarious satire in pretty much the same vein.  Neumeier’s deadpan script is based on the novel by Robert A. Heinlein, an author who considered the idea of a one-world government as a means of avoiding nuclear war.  Having never read the novel, I’m not totally sure of its political implications, but Neumeier uses this adaptation to poke fun at jingoism.  His approach to the material is smart.  Instead of beating the audience over the head with political sermons, the humor is deadpan and subtle enough to be noticed by only the thoughtful viewer.  While teenage boys will be entertained by the guns, bugs, and babes, more astute viewers will be laughing at the propagandistic newsreels and underlying implications. 

I suppose that watching Starship Troopers would be a healthy dose of cynicism in the midst of the holidays, but don’t let it make you cynical in the process.  Satire is meant for constructive criticism, not hopelessness.  It’s up to you to make this world a better place, which is something we should all be thinking about this time of year.  Don’t get discouraged by the world around you.  Laugh at your (and the world’s) mistakes, be hopeful, and do your best to try to make it better.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Watch on YouTube:

Starship Troopers Newsreel

Recorded during a Christmas party and featuring a lineup of alternate panelists, episode 10 of Film Junkies is a light discussion of Christmas movies.

Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore is a great movie that is directed by Martin Scorsese.  Honestly, that first sentence alone is all the recommendation you really need, but being the film lover that I am, I need to gush over it a bit. Scorsese is one of my favorite directors, and Alice is one of his most interesting experiments. Though it doesn’t get the accolades that Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, and Goodfellas get, it’s still one of the director’s great achievements.

I suppose it’s an achievement largely because, like The Age of Innocence, it’s so radically different from the rest of the Scorsese canon.  He’s probably one of the most masculine filmmakers of the last forty years, and yet he took on the challenge of crafting a slick, Hollywood-ized female empowerment fantasy so early in his career.  In fact, this one came right between Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, two of the manliest films of all time.  But when I use the term “female empowerment”, I’m not talking about the kind of hand-wringing political screed that Hollywood is often guilty of making.

Instead, Alice is a surprisingly humorous, moving, and romantic picture that leaves a good feeling in your heart long after it is over.  It’s like some kind of Lifetime Original Movie that’s filtered through the raw emotional realism of a Cassavetes film.  (And trust me, it is much better than that bad metaphor makes it sound.)  It explores the frustrations, complexities, and broken dreams of single motherhood, a subject that had been barely breached at that point in movie history.  The movie begins with Alice (Ellen Burstyn) as a New Mexico housewife who lives a quiet life in the suburbs.  When her boorish husband dies in a traffic accident, she is forced to cope with the sudden loss and move forward with her life.  She sells as many of her possessions as she can, packs up her preteen son Tommy and heads toward Monterrey, California in search of a fresh start.  She has very little in the way of professional skills, but dreams of being a nightclub singer.  Along the way, she deals with heartbreak and sadness, the constant yakking of her annoying son, and a new romance in the form of the rugged, handsome, awesomely-bearded rancher played by Kris Kristofferson.

Burstyn’s Oscar-winning portrayal of the title character is a wonderfully multi-layered performance.  Burstyn is one of the finest actors of her generation, giving great performances in films such as The Last Picture Show, The Exorcist, Requiem for a Dream, as well as this one.  She brought her own motherhood experience to the role, alternately revealing the character’s vulnerability, sexiness, strength, playfulness, and caustic wit.  Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the cast also includes Harvey Keitel, Diane Ladd, and Alfred Lutter.  You can also spot a very young Jodie Foster, who would end up playing the child prosititute Iris in Taxi Driver a mere two years later.    All of these wonderful actors provide the necessary support to make the film work as a whole.

Burstyn was at a high point in her career in the early seventies.  She read many scripts during this time, looking for a meaty role that she could fully commit to.  Predictably, it was difficult to find good material, and she had to turn down many stereotypical “doting-wife” and “sexy whore” roles.  When she finally came upon Robert Getchell’s script for Alice, she wanted to do it but couldn’t find the right director.  She ultimately took a chance on the young Scorsese, who allegedly won her over by saying something to the effect of “I don’t know much about women, but I’d like to learn“.

The two talents combined make the film so great.  Scorsese set the tone with a creatively open environment, using handheld cameras to capture the emotional intensity.  His unfamiliarity with the film’s desert setting adds a sense of old-west romanticism.  The cast stepped up to plate and delivered the knockout performances.  It’s almost certainly Scorsese’s most “feel-good” movie, but it never rings false.  It all adds up to a smart,  enjoyable film that’s one of the hidden gems in a great director’s canon, as well as the crowning achievement in a great actress’ career.

Alice trailer:

Here’s the conclussion of the Film Junkies 3 part retrospective conversation on the films of Kevin Smith. In this episode they cover Clerks II (2006), Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008), Cop Out (2010) and more.

Once again, sorry for having to split this up but it can’t be helped until we’re a “Youtube Partner”. You can help make that happen by subscribing to our Youtube Channel.

Strelnikov here. Set your DVRs because I’ve got three great movies to recommend that are airing on Turner Classic Movies this week. 

DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES (1962) – Tuesday, Dec 14 @ 10:15AM Central
While the risqué subject matter of alcoholism was dealt with decades earlier in Billie Wilder’s groundbreaking film The Lost Weekend, the issue of addiction was not realistically tackled until Days of Wine and Roses. In it funny-man Jack Lemmon and tasty strumpet Lee Remick play a married couple whose relationship is built upon their mutual dependence on alcohol. Can they give up booze without losing each other? To this day the film is shown by Alcoholics Anonymous for its dramatic portrayal of the havok that addiction can create.

BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967) – Wednesday, Dec 15 @ 10:15PM Central
It turned both the gangster movie and traditional love story genres on their heads by portraying murderous robbers as sexy, sympathetic anti-heroes. It helped to change the way violence is seen on screen with graphic shootouts. And, perhaps a fact that gets forgotten amid the movie’s historical significance, it’s also an excellent film that you’ll have a lot of fun watching.

GANDHI (1982) – Saturday, Dec 18 @ 3:30PM Central
This Best Picture of 1982 stars Sir Ben Kingsley in his signature role and was directed by Lord Richard Attenborough. It manages to not only be one of the greatest biopics of all time, but also an unsurpassed spectacle film. One scene alone used 300,000 extras and still holds a Guinness World Record.

Most people probably consider Charlie Chaplin the king of silent films.  His trademark hat, mustache, baggy pants, and cane have become such a huge part of film iconography that they’re instantly recognizable.  Since I’ve never seen a Chaplin film (yes, I know I suck, but I’ll watch one soon) I really can’t say if he’s the best, but having seen Buster Keaton’s The General, the competition will sure be hard to beat.

Keaton was never as quite as popular as Chaplin.  Whereas Chaplin tended to be more sentimental, Keaton was the more deadpan comedian, and his nickname was “The Great Stone Face.”   Brought up as a vaudevillian, Keaton never tried to overplay his characters, which gives him a subtlety and grace that make his performances timeless.

Though it was a box office disaster when it was released, The General is considered by many to be his best film, and is routinely listed as one of the ten best films of all time.  Apparently based (loosely) on a real train chase, it’s the story of a young, resourceful train engineer named Johnnie Gray (Keaton) who tries to rescue his lovely Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack) from Union soldiers during the Civil War.  Annabelle believes wrongly believes Johnnie is a coward, and it’s up to him to prove himself to her by saving her when her train is hijacked by the soldiers.  He is a somewhat broken-hearted character who takes himself very seriously, but it is this stoic demeanor that leads to many comics set pieces, the most famous of which involves Keaton being carried off by a train while sitting sadly on the train’s coupling rod.

Buster Keaton in \"The General\"

Though the film is very funny, it works equally as a thrilling action picture. The film is must-see viewing for the stunt work alone. The stunts that Keaton and others perform in this film are pretty amazing, and I don’t use that word lightly. He was a very strong, physical guy and a very talented stuntman, but he was injured a lot over the years. There were no body doubles and few special effects in those days, so the actors had to do everything themselves, in this case on a REAL TRAIN! Count the sheer number of possible mishaps in this scene:

The skill level involved in the making of this film was incredible. The film works well despite mostly being confined to the railroad tracks. The limitations of such a setting forced Keaton and his crew to be more creative and clever with their gags and stunts. Plus, the fact that they are really performing the stunts gives it an extra sense of scary realism.

The General is a great first silent film for those who have never seen one. Its cynical, not-too-sweet humor gives it an ageless quality that modern moviegoers can identify with. Buster Keaton is simultaneously funny and thrilling. It is definitely worth a “Netflix”, but is also available on YouTube as well. Its crafty, subtle humor and death-defying stunts make it a must for any lover of early cinema.