Welcome My Son, To the Machine: “Boogie Nights” (1997) as Critique of the Modern Hollywood System

February 21, 2015

By: Curtis M. Parvin (check me out on IMDB!)

Image courtesy Wikipedia

Paul Thomas Anderson is a 1990’s savior of cinema! Let the Christians await the arrival of Jesus Christ; film fans have actually seen the second coming of Orson Welles.

You may be asking: “Does P.T. Anderson deserve this veneration?” I mean, he is rumored to have grown up watching pornographic videos at a young age and dropping out of film school in his first week. According to the rumor mill, Anderson passed off some sample script pages written by Pulitzer Prize-winner David Mamet and received an unsatisfactory grade. After that, he closed the books and “hit the bricks” — as Mamet would say.

No professor was going to tell him what he was worth by putting a letter or number on his project. P.T.A. was going to make films his way because of a gut feeling; isn’t that all an artist has, their own instinct about their creative endeavors? Lucky for us, Anderson not only has a rebel heart, but the soul of a profound storyteller.

Now, after that brief introduction — or digression if you feel that way — about the filmmaker, let me share with you the reason I felt compelled to write this review.

Other than this being the final installment in my “Burt Reynolds Trilogy”:

http://stamfordavocado.blogspot.com/2015/01/5-reasons-why-smokey-and-bandit.html

http://stamfordavocado.blogspot.com/2015/02/watching-delieverance-1972-with-henry.html

I returned to Boogie Nights because I saw Anderson’s new picture, Inherent Vice (2014), and was rendered speechless. Vice is a fascinating exercise in experimental filmmaking! What stunned me even more though, were murmurs of walkouts. Many casual moviegoers were saying it was “boring” and “had no plot” etc. These audience reactions caused me to examine, more closely, what the casual moviegoer wants at the multiplex nowadays.

The awful truth is that most people today are lining up around the block to see Michael Bay’s recycling center filmmaking. These movie theater Tweeters want loud noises, mangled robots or women bending over muscle cars. Or, they yearn to see on-screen adaptations of trashy books shooting up the bestseller list — I will never understand the 50 Shades of Grey craze. Fast action, quick cuts, and sex seems to be the formula for success in mainstream cinema.

You see, dear reader, it is possible to write/direct a film about a sexual topic, but there has to be a larger artistic statement being made. Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1997 film,  Boogie Nights is a remarkable achievement! A film school drop-out was able to satirize Hollywood from behind enemy lines. Mr. Anderson took money from the suits and showed them Hollywood is the real pornography, a heartless machine designed to exploit and cash-in on desire.

Mark Wahlberg plays a teenager named Eddie Adams who is seduced into the 1970’s X-rated movie business by director Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds). Adams is not getting much love from his family at home — mother is an abusive alcoholic — so he seeks acceptance from anyone who believes in him. With the support of this surrogate father and the encouragement of Amber Waves (Juilanne Moore), Eddie takes the name “Dirk Diggler” and begins down the road to fame. His star begins to rise, and then…

….1980s home video technology threatens to destroy everything. Jack’s movies get cheaper and edgier. Emotional storytelling is sacrificed for rougher and more exploitative subject matter. The content becomes more misogynistic. The revenue from video sales yields mounds and mounds of blow. Cocaine brings out the beast in everyone using the stuff…”Oh, hi, Hollywood, I didn’t see you there.”

Dirk Diggler becomes the personification of what excess and selling-out has done to the industry. When he falls, he fall hard. He hits rock bottom, shattering the ground that was holding everyone up. Some characters manage to break away from the chaos, like Buck Swope (Don Cheadle), who sets up his own stereo store; for the most part, however, everyone will come face to face with their demons before the credits roll. 

Amber’s choices prevent her from seeing her son. Her drug use and seedy profession have caused her ex-husband to take legal action. Julianne Moore’s performance as the mother looking for a lost child is heartbreaking. I really hope she wins the Oscar this year for Still Alice. She deserves it.

Speaking of the Academy Awards, Boogie Nights was Burt Reynolds’ only Oscar-nominated performance. I’ve always felt he was an underrated actor who could be funny as well as dramatic. He plays Jack Horner as a conflicted man. In order to continue making movies, you have to continue to make that bread. At one point in his life, he probably wanted to be a great artist, but you get more butts in the seats with money shots than crane shots.

For inexplicable reasons, Reynolds didn’t win the statue back in the late ’90s. If you want to know my own conspiracy theory, I’ll let you in on a little secret…

….the Oscars do not like movies that are subversive. Actually, I’m sure The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences didn’t appreciate Paul Thomas Anderson calling Hollywood a money machine that will “let you watch” for a price.

Pornography isn’t always as it appears.

Dick Poop Finally Has His Day

January 15, 2015

By Dan D.

https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/h8PwzBGpEbY&source=uds

“It’s about time I get some respect after all these years!”, exclaimed a tall, dark man as he loaded a tray of sweet rolls into the giant convection oven in the back of Cacca Grasso, the small Italian bakery in Glenbrook he has run since 1985.

“Usually, I think awards stink, and I’m not one to brown-nose. That being said, it was nice to get some recognition”, he continued, wiping some sweat from his brow.

Yes, Richard “Dick” Poop, a self-styled “cinnamontographer” well regarded in the community for his cinnamon-flavored pastries (which have barely changed in price since their introduction thirty years ago), has won Best Pastry in the Fairfood Awards, the annual honors handed out by the New Canaan Recyclable for its favorite culinary choices in and around Fairfield County.

Martin Penis (yes, that’s his name, but it’s pronounced “Pennys” for those of you who didn’t click the above link), the magazine’s editor, wrote, “Cacca Grasso has the sweetest buns this side of Westover. While writing this, I wanted so badly to put them in my mouth I nearly Dick Pooped myself”.

Poop plans to use the money he received from the award towards developing a new confection. When asked what he was considering making, he noted, “I don’t know for sure, but I’ve always wanted to try making a Turdtle cake”.

At the mention of this, I put down the bun I had in my hand, thanked Dick for his time, and left Cacca Grasso, practically immersing my hands in Purex as I walked out to my car.

The Ties that Bind: "The Ref" and Family Togetherness

December 28, 2014

By: Curtis M. Parvin

A jewel thief is on the loose in suburban Connecticut.

He is holding a family hostage, waiting to escape with the loot from a heist gone wrong.

The relatives should be dropping by any minute.

Boy, are they in for a surprise…

Dennis Leary, Kevin Spacey, and Judy Davis star in The Ref, one of my favorite naughty Christmas movies from the early 1990s. At the time, an R-rating and a terrible title didn’t help the film’s box office returns, but that doesn’t mean you should dismiss it at all.

The title may be a bit too clever for its own good, but makes a lot of sense once all the plot points are wrapped up in the finale. I’m getting ahead of myself.

The first act centers around Gus (Denis Leary) who is left to fend for himself when a mansion robbery leaves him temporarily without his partner. In an act of desperation, Gus carjacks Lloyd and Caroline Chasseur (Spacey and Davis) at gunpoint and makes them drive to their home in the “‘burbs”. For Gus, regrouping and coming up with a new plan seems like the best course of action. Little does he know, however, that the couple’s marriage is shaky — Gus may just blow his own brains out before the night is over.

He will have to contend with the Chasseurs’ son returning home from military school and Lloyd’s mother, played by Glynis Johns. This time, she is not the lovable matriarch from Mary Poppins. In The Ref, she is a manipulative, controlling mother who gives Doris Roberts’ Marie Barone a run for her money. The tension between Glynis Johns and Judy Davis is typical holiday mother-in-law fare, but their chemistry is so good that it always feels fresh and lively.

The acting and dialogue are the two best parts of The Ref. Most of the film takes place in the Chasseur house, so it feels similar to a play. How appropriate – Denis Leary is best-known (before the TV series Rescue Me) for his stand-up routines. You could argue that he is just playing his macho on-stage persona, but that doesn’t make it any less funny. All the elements of his stand-up (smoking, ranting and zany inflections of certain words) are given more of a structure and balanced by his co-stars.

Kevin Spacey plays the part of a husband caught in a tug of war between his wife and his mother perfectly. Christine Baranski plays Lloyd’s sister-in-law, Connie, who has one of the best lines in the movie: “The spirit of Christmas is either you’re good or you’re punished and you burn in hell.” Raymond J. Barry is a serious cop at odds with those who run the town. Some of his scenes are even funnier than the main story happening with the family.

My only complaints about The Ref are just that. Certain side characters could have had more screen time. J.K. Simmons is involved in some kind of blackmail subplot which could have been funnier had it been more fleshed out. You probably know him from the Farmers Insurance commericals or as Peter Parker’s boss in the Spider-Man series. The Ref is his first feature film, though, so I suppose his diminished role is excusable.

If you like Christmas comedies with strong four-letter words or have ever fantasized about tying relatives to a f-n chair during the holidays, The Ref may just be the movie for you this December.

Happy-Winter-Whatever-You-Celebrate-Day! from @DollarStoreFilm

Following the Herd: A Commentary On "Bronies" (2012)

November 14, 2014

By Curtis M. Parvin

The Avocado Opinion Dept. Waiver and Pledge

Please READ Before Continuing

By continuing to read this article (words on a page), I understand that any and all content contained below (see “words on a page”) has been fabricated (made up) by our writers (people who make things up) for the purpose of entertainment (satire, comedy, or the author’s need as a human to kvetch). I agree (see “say yes”) not to take anything the Avocado Opinion Dept. (Dan D.’s staff of people who “make stuff up”) has written (again, “made up”) as fact and admit (again, say “yes”) that as a consumer (person who takes things in) of news media (people wearing makeup on TV or the Internet who tell events to you in a generally biased manner) I (you) ought to cross check stories ( the words on a page thing) before accepting them and/or erupting invective (“writing mean things about people”) on a comments section (hell on earth).

What if I were to tell you that children get some of their values from a cartoon show? You probably would not bat an eye. In the 1980’s, G.I. Joe had public service announcements to warn kids about drugs. Captain Planet had similar PSA’s for pollution and environmental awareness. Even the Sonic the Hedgehog TV series had a segment called “Sonic Sez”, where SEGA’s spiky blue mascot tries to teach kid viewers some life lessons with his animated pals.

So far, pretty “normal”, right? 

What if I were to tell you that adults are learning values of generosity, selflessness, teamwork and tolerance from a cartoon show? A bit out of the ordinary, but not too strange. Pixar movies are made for all ages. Children are drawn in by colorful characters and amusing stories; adults pick up on the more mature jokes and pop culture references.

Still with me? Because here’s where things get bizarre.

What if I were to tell you that there a full-grown adult males — around the entire world — who are fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (2010)?

Did I lose you?

If that threw you for a loop, you are not alone. Even I had a hard time believing that one — even as a self-appointed aficionado of strange pop culture phenomena. 

At first you might think this is a joke. How could mostly grown-up guys like a show made for girls in grammar school? More importantly, how can these dudes be legitimate fans in a purely un-ironic way? This is precisely the question that the movie, Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony (2012) tries to answer. In this documentary, a handful of “Bronies” — the moniker these men have taken — are interviewed about the significance of the cartoon program and how there lives have been shaped by it.

In the United States, a teenage male – approaching adult age, and from the sticks – is hazed and threatened by the rednecks in his town for embracing the show. His segment is more a look at intolerance and gender norms. A slightly younger boy from a conservative family “comes out” as a Brony to his parents. This boy attempts to win over his traditional father who has a hard time expressing his feelings, like any other macho patriarch. 

Overseas, a young chap from the UK with Aspergers Syndrome is also a big fan of the program. He takes the show’s lessons and applies them to make sense of the complex real world. Just as he uses My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (2010) to connect to other human beings, an adult couple in Germany uses the show to bond with one another. She watches the show with her boyfriend, sings the songs with him and even makes her own small horses to sell at “BronyCon“.

BronyCon is a convention where all the fans of the show meet and share the love for all things Pony. Voice actors Tara Strong (who plays the lead character, “Twilight Sparkle”) and John de Lancie (a prominent villain, “Discord”) showed up to meet the fans and bring a few new people into the herd. The show’s creative developer, Lauren Faust, surprised everyone by shedding some tears after receiving a standing ovation from the fans.

The most interesting part of the documentary occurs during an interview with a psychologist about why adults would watch a children’s television series. She said something I found very intriguing (I’m paraphrasing, of course): in a post-9/11 world, these adult men are finding comfort in a pink world of magic, rainbows and sparkles. It’s a retreat to a more innocent time of childhood, perhaps. Society seems to frown upon the Brony movement because it may make men out to be weak and feminine when men are supposed to be “hunters” and “providers”.

Before watching this film, my attitude was one of mockery and superiority; after viewing it, I learned to have more tolerance for a subculture that is misunderstood. Who am I to judge? I like to attend Comic-Con’s and cosplay as superheroes. Hell, just a few weeks ago I bought a season of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on DVD. We never stop being kids at heart. What society has a problem with is the age and gender that fit a certain norm for media consumption.  

My personal view on the Brony phenomenon is two-fold. I am all for anything that: 

1) Encourages people to be creative, 

and 

2) Doesn’t harm anyone, in any way. 

For many graphic artists and musicians, the Brony movement is a muse that inspires them to make colorful fan art. DJ’s, songwriters, cartoonists and painters have been able to share what they love with others who will appreciate their skills and talents.

The positive values the show promotes are necessary in a world full of cut-throat capitalism and violence. Who cares why grown men have decided to be more caring and feminine? I’ll tell you who: the patriarchy. If the greed and aggression men are supposed to have dissipates, what does that mean for a (American, in this instance) society where competition is placed above coexistence? What if we should ALL become more caring individuals?

I will point out that there is a dark side to the Brony movement when the show is viewed from a more perverse and sexual frame of mind. However, if someone uses this as a reason to bash the whole Brony fanbase, I would bring up the internet’s “Rule 34”. If it exists, there is porn of it. Don’t let the actions of a few perverts ruin something that is mostly a force for positivity.

Curtis M. Parvin is a Rhode Island-based writer and filmmaker. His Twitter link is in his byline above; here is his IMDB page.

Infectious Metaphor: "28 Days Later…" and the Zombie Film

October 17, 2014

By Curtis M. Parvin, Avocado Movie Team

Ebola seems to be the flavor of the month now — for lack of a better and less disgusting turn of phrase — on many news channels in the United States. It seems it is all we are hearing about. But instead of turning to biased news sources, I suggest you take a second look at the horror film in order to process the media you consume every day. When you give the subgenre known as the zombie film another chance, I think you’ll be surprised what you find out about humanity. A movie like 28 Days Later… contains all the tension/desperation of a world in turmoil, if you can look past the gore and see the allegory at its moral center.

Now, you might be asking why I’m not analyzing the popular television series, The Walking Dead, which premiered its fifth season the other night. Personally, I believe that Danny Boyle’s self-contained 28 Days Later… is a much better subject for analysis than a TV show with too many characters and convoluted plot lines. TWD frankly has too much filler. Boyle keeps it simple with only a few characters and their basic need for survival.

28 Days Later..’s main character is Jim (Cillian Murphy from Batman Begins) who wakes up alone in a British hospital room. Confused, Jim walks out to explore the corridors, only to find that the entire building is trashed and completely vacant. He is gobsmacked and leaves the hospital to find a answer, except the streets of London are completely devoid of human life – save for a few desperate people he soon connects with.

Selena (Naomie Harris from Skyfall) quickly tells Jim about the devastation of the past month. A virus has escaped and spread throughout the U.K., wiping out most of the population and turning the rest into the “Infected” — snarling, blood-shot cannibals. She believes that staying alive is the ONLY thing that matters in this postapocalyptic world. As they find other survivors, our heroes realize that remaining human is more important than Selena originally thought.  

28 Days Later… is more successful than most copycat zombie films because it is superior from a technical standpoint (Danny Boyle would go on to win an Academy Award for Slumdog Millionaire). He is aware of the power of the image and his choice of camera angles hooks us from the get-go. Extreme long shots of desolated streets make Jim seem cut off from his surroundings. In contrast, tight close ups of our heroes increase intimacy between them. There is also a sense of being trapped when the “Infected” attacks occur. These angles are captured by the low-buget, hand-held DV cameras, which make the action feel more like a documentary and therefore more realistic.

The technical aspects not only make 28 Days Later… feel very exciting, they also allow Boyle to communicate key themes to his audience. Zombie stories are worth telling because they are metaphors for the survival of the human race during times of great social imbalance. People who dismiss the horror genre should know that a zombie film like 28 Days Later… can be more sophisticated than the “torture porn” market of the Saw franchise, for example. Boyle’s film has risen to the level of social commentary. In the brief action prologue of 28 Days Later…, the virus called “Rage” accidentally gets out of a test lab and spreads like a forest fire. And we’re back to the recent media coverage of the Ebola virus.

If Ebola did become widespread, you wouldn’t have to fend off creatures with a machete or baseball bat, but citizens would be put in a fairly desperate situation.  Zombie movies, at their highest level, question our morality and put our values on disturbing sliding scale. They ask tough questions about the greater good and our attachment to loved ones. In a hypothetical situation, could we kill our best friend or parent if that meant preventing the spread of the infection? In another situation, would we have the courage to prevent the violation of someone in the crosshairs of lustful, heavily armed men? We have to ask these questions in a world that continues to become more and more unstable. These scenarios are no doubt uncomfortable, but it is in this discomfort that we find real truth.

Fantasy stories like Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later… are in many ways a more truthful examination of human character than real news stories, which also include their own brand of fiction (see advertising and sponsorship of said programs/newspapers). Allegorical storytelling is often more popular than news broadcasts because of the message(s) we are receiving. News/politics divide us in order to make a prophet; filmmakers/artists create dreams and nightmares as a way to help us cope with the chaos of the rapidly-changing world. 

We all dream.

We all learn from nightmares as a survival mechanism.  

And we all want to — in the words of Gene Rodenberry’s Star Trek — “live long and prosper”. 

You can find a link to Curtis’ Twitter above. Here’s his IMDB page. 

Unemployment Transformed into Indie Comedy: "The Full Monty" Film Review

September 26, 2014

By: Curtis M. Parvin, Avocado Dept. Of Celluloid Affairs

Movies!

Our friends across the pond possess a rich comedic tradition. Monty Python, Are You Being Served?, Fawlty Towers and other brilliant satires have emerged from England during times of great social change.

In 1997, an independent comedy called The Full Monty was released theatrically and became one of the highest grossing films in the history of the UK. It continues to find an audience more than fifteen years later because the issues of unemployment, sexual repression, censorship and body image are still being dealt with today in many cultures around the globe.

The Full Monty is about a depressed factory town called Sheffield and its unemployed steel workers. When two of these blokes stumble into a Chippendales male strip show for women, one of them gets a idea to make some easy quid: they will put on their own novelty strip show. The premise is already funny, but you must be asking one obvious question: How can these “average” Joes compete with the chiseled looks of the Chippendales dancers?

Here’s where the title of the film comes in. The Full Monty is a British-ism for “going all the way”. Gaz (Robert Carlyle), his mate Dave (Mark Addy), and his crew are going to bring the ladies in by mere exploitation and marketing. Where the Chippendales leave on the g-strings, the steel workers intend to strip down to their birthday gear. The rest of the film becomes a countdown to showtime. Will the fear of embarrassment outweigh the need to make some money to support their families?

One member of this crew who is especially skeptical is Gerald, played by Tom Wilkinson. He is a more refined man who lives with his wife in a picturesque suburban home…until Gaz and Dave come knocking. Some will recognize Wilkinson from his role in Batman Begins as the mob boss Falcone or from a handful of other more dramatic roles. However, The Full Monty allows him to perform as a believable comedic straight man trying to keep up appearances.

The British trope of a sexually repressed middle-class male is not lost on the filmmakers; it is employed very effectively here. Robert Carlyle is also playing a 180 from the usual tough character he is known for. Everyone will remember him as the volatile mustached Begbie from Trainspotting. In The Full Monty, he is a loving father and the glue that holds a very ludicrous movie together. He doesn’t want to put on a blue-collar strip show to exploit his friends for monetary gain, he needs the child support money to salvage a relationship with his young son.

Mark Addy, from A Knight’s Tale and the cult favorite American sitcom Still Standing – plays Gaz’s overweight friend, Dave. His reservations about performing in a live strip show stem from his size. While this is a bit of a cliche, the dramatic scenes with his wife make up for it: he wants nothing more than to be a good provider and a loving husband.

Every one of these blokes have self-consciousness issues to overcome. It is their spirit and dedication to a group cause that makes them very likeable characters. Even though this Full Monty is about England, the indie hit continues to have a long shelf life because the issue of mass unemployment is relevant to any social structure in the world. Whether it is the struggles of a hardscrabble Dickens character or the Financial Meltdown of 2007- 2008, most people can relate to the desperation that comes from being out of work. Leave it to the UK to make a very poignant satire about a very universal theme.

Filmmakers and artists have a way of taking a social ill and reminding us that if we look at it from another angle, there is always a way to make things better. Sometimes, we just need to strip away the status quo in order to move forward.

Curtis M. Parvin is an independent filmmaker from Rhode Island. This is his Twitter. This is his IMDB page.

A Sharknado in Connecticut?

July 31, 2014

By Karl Weatherzz, Avocado chief meteorologist

The always-reliable Shutterstock, saving us from hiring a photographer.

After watching last night’s Sharknado 2: The Second One on the Syfy network, I presume (albeit with absolutely no polling or questioning of the public) that most of you are asking what the likelihood of a “sharknado” is in Fairfield County.

All jokes and “Karl, what in the hell are you talking about, you caricature of a sensationalist weatherman?” aside, the answer, it turns out, is that it maybe, possibly could happen, if – and this is a big if – Ian Ziering ever decides to move to southwestern Connecticut.

You see, Ian Ziering’s center of gravitas – that is to say, the earnestness with which he speaks each line in the terrible productions he stars in – aligns well with the great Fairfield County-nental Drift, in which blowhards like myself proclaim ridiculous statements that sound scientific but are in actuality at best a perfect storm of folklore, fearmongering, and good old fashioned BS.

If these two systems were to at some point merge, they would create an upper-level disturbance the likes of which Fairfield County has not seen aside from Superstorm Sandy or the Vince McMahon Hurricane of 1998.

Now I know what most of you are saying, “but Karl! there aren’t any sharks in Long Island Sound!” Think again.

The last time you were at Cove Island, Calf Pasture, or Compo, did you happen to notice the edge of something poking out of the water ever so slightly? If your vision is impaired, or you just weren’t paying attention at all, perhaps you missed the swarms of Landshark beer bottles bobbing up and down in the Sound. (actually, if there is actually one non-nonsense thing in this article we can all agree on, it’s that Long Island Sound has a trash problem; I digress).

If the upper-level pomposity disturbance, or ULPD, started swirling at just the right time, churning the waters up just so, it could suck these Landshark bottles up into a furious waterspout and seriously ruin your next beachside barbeque with bits of glass strewn everywhere. You might even get a nasty cut.

So, fellow Connecticutians, I leave you with this thought – next time you see an E! News report that Ian Ziering is considering moving to our neck of the woods, get worried – it might just spell doom for us.

Karl Weatherzz used to work at the Weather Channel. Can you tell?