Thursday, October 30, 2014

Paul Thomas Anderson Season: Revisiting the Master in 2014: Is the Master Lynchian?

This is more of an abstract than an essay so be prepared to be annoyed by the end of the sentences.

Also, noticeable in this film, is the theme of love and sex with both the characters' being dependent upon their love, which is fulfilled in the trilogy's Punch-Drunk Love.

They both end with a loved one singing to them.

Freddie's quest is essentially for love much like the rest of Paul Thomas Anderson's films. He is seeking from Dodd a possibility to go back and find his long lost love who has moved on from him a la The Tale of Princess Kaguya.

Dreams: He meets woman remind him of his long lost love after becoming drunk after getting fired after a fight with a man who looks a lot like Dodd.

He gets on a boat to get away from her. And even further with Dodd.

It's a bit Lynchian in approach with its dream-like logic. It even has the blonde from Blue Velvet.

I still feel the role of Mrs. Dodd was done a bit too obviously. Then again, it could be a sort of red herring for what her role really is as I discuss a little later on.

Paul Thomas Anderson Season: Revisiting the Master in 2014: The Quill-Dodd Relationship

Famed internet critic, Darren Foley notes the doppelgangers and psychological aspects of the film.
Despite my previous encounter with cults in Fight Club and Martha Marcy May Marlene in 2011, I hadn't noticed the dark side of the religion in the film. The sort of brainwashing in this film that people seem to agree with that many right wingers may not have picked upon in There Will Be Blood.
The acting, the directing, the script, the research and the performances are really tested.

I gave Robert De Niro the Best Supporting Actor award in 2012, because he played a very over the top and dark character with some humor and even some empathy in Silver Linings Playbook. He's always a great actor, and I felt that would be an underrated role for him so I gave him the award.
However, with my sudden revelation of how dark and more complex yet sympathetic Lancaster Dodd's character in the Master is

Freddie Quill doesn't have much going for him and there doesn't need to be. He's a violent stupid militaristic backward fist full of cuffs fighter that we can't but feel empathy for, no matter how selfish he is. I don't feel the impact of his character like with Nagisa Oshima's Cruel Story of Youth, because he's so much more relatable, not to mention it being an American story and I, being an American.

Noticeable is the contrast between these two characters in a time when Napoleonic division between poor and wealthy is present in our world.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Nightmare on Elm Street: Freddy's Revenge: The homosexual references

You can debate whether the film was exploiting people's fears, but Freddy’s Revenge is a classic in subtext, much like that of Stanley Kubrick's Lolita.
The first notable example is the hot woman he ignores on the bus that dies in the first flashback. 
Jesse’s very concerned with his body and water, heat and fire are the main focus of the episode.
Baseball could be associated with homosexuality, especially with peni and balls. No chicks. 
He owns a woman’s diary. A ghost story. Seeing everything but his nipples covered when he's wrapped by the blanket. There's a torn picture of a woman in the basement. Gardening tools, and long nails signifying the feminine side of Freddy. Maybe ho. 
He’s not having sex with the girl. 
The other guy, Grady looks like a homosexual militaristic right wing rapist how he just takes off his pants in the middle of a baseball game. 
Her friend ignores him as a cute guy. 
His shirt’s like a skirt in one scene. 
The issues that the parents want him to see a psychiatrist. Methodone clinic.
And of course, naked coach in a shower, before receiving a whupping.. Teacher S&M Prison Sports Analysis of the One of my favorite kill so far in the first two films is when Jesse murdering Grady scene: It’s really awesome. Freddie and Jesse become one. It’s a scene where there was a lot of sex, implying that’s the reason why he killed Grady. Skeletons, etc.. To me that's like one of the scenes where Daniel Plainview and Eli Sunday yell at each other. It's just great!

Friday, October 24, 2014

Films for my brother: The Horrors of War


  1. Grave of the Fireflies
  2. Dr. Strangelove
  3. Battleship Potemkin
  4. The Thin Red Line
  5. Apocalypse Now
  6. Schindler's List
  7. In the Name of the Father (Daniel Day-Lewis)
  8. Full Metal Jacket
  9. Paths of Glory
  10. Heaven and Earth
  11. Europa Europa
  12. The Deer Hunter
  13. Barry Lyndon
  14. La Grande Illusion
  15. The Battle of Algiers
  16. Red Sorghum
  17. Das Boot
  18. Red Cherry
  19. Boat People
  20. The Killing Fields
  21. The Seventh Seal
  22. MASH
  23. Born on the Fourth of July
  24. Platoon
  25. Dead Presidents
  26. Pan's Labyrinth
  27. Casablanca
  28. Jarhead
  29. Blood Diamond
  30. Edge of Tomorrow
  31. The Pianist
  32. Masters of the Universe
  33. The Empire Strikes Back
  34. Casualties of War
  35. War Horse

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

A list of Paul Thomas Anderson films I think I understand

5 There Will Be Blood: Daniel Day-Lewis, Religion, the technical aspects of getting oil and greed
4 Boogie Nights: It's a Citizen Kane but with the Golden Age of Pornography
3 Hard Eight: It's a combination of There Will Be Blood's Americana mixed with some dark Eastern influence.
2 Magnolia: It's a pre-Cloud Atlas ingenuity in editing
1 Punch-Drunk Love The film that won him Camera D'or at Cannes

The Top 5 Average Media of David Fincher

  1. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
  2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  3. House of Cards
  4. Panic Room
  5. The Social Network

The Top 5 Films by David Fincher

Top 5
5. Seven
4. The Game
3. Zodiac
2. Gone Girl
1. Fight Club

Top 5 Media (TV Show/Movies) I would love to see the Simpsons tackle


In the golden age of comedy, sitcoms would make current day references to either real life current events, topics that worried parents who may have been concerned with their children watching the Simpsons in addition to television shows or movies that were popular at the time.
I feel that the last decade of Simpsons, this wasn't as relevant outside of Treehouse of Horror, so I decided to come up with a list.
  1. Big Bang Theory
  2. Breaking Bad
  3. Star Wars Original Trilogy
  4. Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
  5. The Thing (1982)

Top 5 video games I'm most looking forward to Oct

Project Spark
Bayonetta 2
Sunset Overdrive
Civ: Beyond Earth
Smash Bros Wii U

Friday, October 17, 2014

What I enjoyed about the Godzilla 2014 protagonist: Part 1

He's not an anti government military man or 70s Vietnam ripoff
He's not right wing war mongerer or politician.
He's a human being.
He does what's best for humanity in a tough situation where he would probably prefer revenge.
Maybe he'd be a little boring in another setting, but he's just the type of hero America needs now. Someone apolitical, while trying to do what's best, while not using propaganda.