Thursday, December 15, 2016

National Film Registry Announces Latest Inductees


In 1988, the National Film Preservation Act was established, which has resulted in the National Film Preservation Board selecting up to 25 films each year for preservation.  The movies selected, which include not only feature-length theatrical-released classics but also newsreels, silent films, experimental films, short films, movies that have lost copyright protection, film serials, home movies, documentaries, and independent films, are considered to be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

The only real criterion for inclusion into the National Film Registry is that the film is at least 10 years old.  There are six movies that were accepted upon their first ballot eligibility.  Those include Raging Bull, Do the Right Thing, Goodfellas, Toy Story, Fargo, and 13 Lakes.  That last one is an interesting selection since all it is really is more than two hours of 13 long, uncut takes of different lakes in America.  There is no dialogue or story to follow.  I haven’t seen the film, so am unable to give my take on it, not that you would really care what I think of a movie showcasing American lakes, but apparently the NFPB considered it a significant enough piece of work to include for preservation.

This year’s films to be preserved range from silent and black-and-white classics to more recent hit films that have stood the test of time.  Below is the list of films, arranged in alphabetical order.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916)
The Atomic Café (1982)
Ball of Fire (1941)
The Beau Brummels (1928)
The Birds (1963)
Blackboard Jungle (1955)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
East of Eden (1955)
Funny Girl (1968)
Life of an American Fireman (1903)
The Lion King (1994)
Lost Horizon (1937)
Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912)
Paris is Burning (1990)
Point Blank (1967)
The Princess Bride (1987)
Putney Swope (1969)
Rushmore (1998)
Solomon Sir Jones films (1924-28)
Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
Suzanne, Suzanne (1982)
Thelma & Louise (1991)
A Walk in the Sun (1945)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

The most shocking revelation from this list is that The Birds and The Lion King weren’t already in the National Film Registry.  Also, it is great to see Who Framed Roger Rabbit make it in for preservation.  That movie is the one I have seen the most times in the theater.  13.  That’s the number, in case you were wonder how many times it was.  And that does not include home theaters.  That is actually paying for a ticket, getting popcorn, and sitting in a dark theater with strangers for one hour and 44 minutes (22 1/2 hours if you combined all of my sittings).  If you take into account that I was 7 years old at the time, that is pretty impressive that I found enough liberal adults to take me to the theater 13 different times to see a film noir loaded with sexuality and vulgarity about a wise-cracking rabbit and sourpuss detective solving a whodunit mystery set in 1947 Los Angeles.  I must have been one cute, persuasive kid.  What happened?

While we are on the subject of the National Film Registry, I decided to do a quick look over the list and see what the most heinous omissions are.  They include:

The Defiant Ones (1958)
True Grit (1969)
The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Carrie (1976)
Aliens (1986)
Die Hard (1988)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Clueless (1995)
Titanic (1997)
American Beauty (1999)
Fight Club (1999)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Monday, November 28, 2016

Marvel Cinematic Universe Rankings

With 14 films already in the bag and another eight in development, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is ripe for the ranking.  I recently made it to a new theater that opened near my house to view Marvel's latest installment, Doctor Strange.  As you will be able to tell from my list below, it was a very good entry in the series and opens the door to allow Marvel access to a lot of mystical elements of the comics that previously had only been dabbled with in the sci-fi films of Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy.  Alternate realities and astral planes hadn't been something the people of Earth were aware existed.

Other than a strong antagonist, which is a constant complaint with Marvel's movies but Mads Mikkelsen does a better job than most of his fellow Marvel villains at presenting a little more meat to the role of Kaecilius, my only real beef with the movie was Rachel McAdams.  I feel she is highly overrated as an actress and could easily be replaced by someone with actual talent.

Here is my list of Marvel's cinematic universe movies from worst to best.

14. Iron Man 2
13. Thor: The Dark World
12. Captain America: The First Avenger
11. The Avengers
10. The Incredible Hulk
9. Iron Man 3
8. Avengers: Age of Ultron
7. Ant-man
6. Thor
5. Doctor Strange
4. Captain America: Civil War
3. Iron Man
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
1. Guardians of the Galaxy

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

A Trip Down The Rabbit Hole Of My Mind

Another title for this post could have been, "How Christopher Nolan/Hans Zimmer Incepted Bond's Music In Our Earholes."

Stick with me for a minute because this is going to get a little convoluted.  So I recently went to see the latest Marvel movie, Doctor Strange, and the visual effects got me wanting to watch Inception again.  Although I cannot watch movies at work I do listen to music on YouTube a lot.  Instead of watching Inception I decided to listen to the soundtrack.  That led to hearing music similar to a previous James Bond movie.  Now, it is well documented that the music during the climactic snow scenes in Inception was inspired by the soundtrack of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, a Bond movie from 1969, and Christopher Nolan is a big fan of the 007 film series.  But what I didn't realize is Nolan's 2010 movie also borrowed from the David Arnold-scored Bond entry, Quantum of Solace.

To recap, Doctor Strange visual effects led to Inception visual effects, which led to Inception soundtrack, which led to Quantum of Solace soundtrack.  Doctor StrangeInceptionQuantum of Solace.  Bears.  Beets.  Battlestar Galactica.

There is a fine line between homage and outright theft.  It probably depends on your overall liking of the person attempting to honor the source material that determines whether you consider it a tribute or a blatant copy.  Since I respect Zimmer's musical style and Nolan's directorial craft, I give them a pass.

If you've never noticed the similarities between the Bond soundtracks and the Inception score, check out the final battle on Piz Gloria in On Her Majesty's Secret Service compared to the snow sequence from Inception, as well as the opera sequence from Quantum of Solace alongside "Old Souls" and "Waiting for a Train" from Inception.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Closing Time For 102.1 The Edge

It was announced yesterday that Dallas/Fort Worth's alternative rock station KDGE 102.1 The Edge would be ceasing operations and moving to 97.1 The Eagle.  During the FM station's transition, Semisonic's 1998 hit "Closing Time" has been put on a continuous loop with a brief message from Radio Voiceover Guy explaining the move.  The choice in music, which is a little too on the nose in my opinion, got my friends and I wondering about the royalties for the song being played so much.

I put in the minimal work effort to find out how much an artist gets paid for their song being played on the radio, and it turns out that it isn't that much.  Keep in mind that I have no idea how accurate the following calculations will be because I don't really care enough to put forth the effort to research the true amount a person gets from having their song played on the radio.  With that caveat, let's proceed.

Apparently when a song is played on the radio, and I'm not counting Pandora or other streaming services as being in that group, the writer of the song and the publisher receive approximately 12 cents from a major market station, which KDGE would fall under.  College stations get away with only paying half that amount.  So of that 12 cents, the writer and publisher have to split it.

Dan Wilson, lead singer for Semisonic, composed "Closing Time," therefore he would be eligible for the six cents per play that The Edge is shilling for its transition.  I'm not entirely sure when the station decided to put "Closing Time" on a loop, but it will end today at 5:30 p.m.  Assuming it started at 5:30 p.m. yesterday, that is a full 24 hours of "Closing Time."

The album version, which is the rendition being heard today, lasts 4:33.  Including the quick explanation that The Edge is moving to The Eagle, the entire time it takes for "Closing Time" to play and the next rendition of "Closing Time" to begin is approximately five minutes flat.  If you multiply that out by 24 hours you get 480 times of hearing "Closing Time," which in my estimation is more than enough for one lifetime.

Having to play "Closing Time" 480 times at 12 cents a pop would cost the station $57.60.  Half of that goes to Semisonic for writing the song.  So either Dan Wilson gets $28.80 alone for writing the song or the three band members each get $9.60, depending on the agreement the band had when it came to song writing.

I guess if you are a "glass is half empty" kind of person you would say, "Wow, only 30 bucks for an entire day's worth of song playing.  Really?"  But if you are a "glass half full" person, then it would be, "That's $30 I didn't have before and I didn't do anything at this moment to earn it."  Sure, they took the time in 1998 to write out the song and polish it up for radio play, but nearly 20 years later you aren't doing anything at all to earn that money.

On a side note, did anyone know that the lead singer of Semisonic was the Grammy-award winning guy behind Adele's 21?  I certainly didn't.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

25 Favorite U2 Songs

Since meeting my friend James in the Stephen F. Austin State University dorms, my naïve musical sensibilities were enhanced with the introduction of the glorious Irish band U2.  Like so many other dummies going about their normal lives, I had heard plenty of U2 songs and enjoyed most of them, but it didn't dawn on me that so many of these songs I had been tapping my toe along with and belting out choruses, sometimes substituting the wrong words like we do with many tunes we aren't quite familiar enough with (yeah, I'm looking at you Joanna and your Twenty One Pilots "Stressed Out" remix), were all from the same group.

After nearly two decades of buying up their CDs, chasing after them on world tours (going to Canada to see a show counts as world travel in my eyes), shaking hands with The Edge outside Reunion Arena, and even holding the lyrics (along with about six other super-fans) for Bono one evening due to having not rehearsed the old song enough to re-memorize the lines, I figured it was time to try and narrow down what my favorite songs actually were for my favorite band.  Normally I would have made a top 10 list, as that is what I love to do.  However, with 13 studio albums, five compilation albums, one live album, and approximately 60 singles from said records, trying to narrow it down to only 10 songs wasn't fair to one of the greatest rock and roll groups of all time.

Therefore, below are my top 25 songs from U2's collection of music.  The top four are probably in line with most people's favorites, probably mixed around a bit though, but after that it gets a little more personalized.  Take for instance number 14 (spoiler alert, it is "When Love Comes to Town").  Prior to my trip to Vancouver for the opening of the Innocence + Experience Tour last year, that song might have only been in the bottom 25 of this list.  However, after the passing of B.B. King, coincidentally, on the night of the opening show, the following day the group added the song to their set and fans (with James and me among them) were treated to a live version of the song, which was the first time that had happened in 23 years.  That personal experience has elevated the song a lot and now, instead of just hearing a blues collaboration between U2 and B.B. King, it has become a cerebral memorial of the trip in general.

So without further ado, here are my personal favorite 25 U2 songs:

1. "With or Without You"
2. "One"
3. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
4. "Where the Streets Have No Name"
5. "Love is Blindness"
6. "All I Want is You"
7. "City of Blinding Lights"
8. "Beautiful Day"
9. "Mysterious Ways"
10. "Numb"
11. "Walk On"
12. "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
13. "Pride (In the Name of Love)"
14. "When Love Comes to Town"
15. "Please"
16. "Every Breaking Wave"
17. "The Wanderer"
18. "Hawkmoon 269"
19. "The Troubles"
20. "Window in the Skies"
21. "God Part II"
22. "The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)"
23. "No Line on the Horizon"
24. "Elevation"
25. "Magnificent"

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

It's Been Too Long

I don't really have much to add today.  I've been really busy with work and stressed by some other things going on that I haven't had much time to do any writing.  There was an article on MSN.com today that ranked all the Alfred Hitchcock movies, which made me realize that I haven't ever done that.  I've seen all of his films, so I'm not quite sure why I've never tasked myself with ranking them all.  So I guess I could put that on my plate as well.

As far as personal stuff going on, I'm watching Game of Thrones and only have a few episodes left before being completely caught up.  Westworld is my new obsession.  I've been put in charge of the Halloween decorations at work (which is a big mistake), but they decided I was best qualified because it is a baseball theme and I am the most knowledgeable of the sport.

We've settled into our new house and are trying to wrap up all the projects, but as soon as we finish one, it seems a new problem arises.  Yet, that is pretty much what owning a home is.

Hopefully I have something of more substance next time and it doesn't take as long to post.  Until then.

Monday, September 12, 2016

'Alien' Franchise Directors & Writers

In a recent interview as part of the marketing campaign for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, actress Felicity Jones, who is the lead of the picture and will be portraying a hard-to-control rebellion member, spoke about her inspiration for the character.  It will likely come as no surprise that she credited Sigourney Weaver’s role in 1979’s Alien as a major influence.

For nearly four decades now the quintessential female action star has either been heavily influenced by or compared to Weaver’s character Ellen Ripley.  The most common adjective when speaking about Ripley is “badass,” but over the course of four films in the Alien franchise Ripley wasn’t simply a one-note character of action and “badassary.”  Ripley also had an emotional side (although that was slowly eroded away over four films), and it is that balance between action and drama that has made Ripley such an impactful character for so many years.

It was the quote from Jones about the Alien movies that got me thinking about the overall franchise and what the four films have in common.  That commonality is that they are so different and the main ingredient for their differences is that no film has the same director and few have the same writers.

You may not realize this, but three of the four Alien movies have been directed by some of the greatest legends of the film industry.  That group includes Ridley Scott (who is continuing the Alien story with prequels in the form of 2012’s Prometheus, next year’s Alien: Covenant and follow-up films that will lead into the first film of the franchise), James Cameron, and David Fincher.  Even the last film with a relatively unknown director to American audiences had Joss Whedon, of Marvel Avengers fame, as its writer.

Let’s take a look at the filmmakers of each movie in the Alien franchise and see the credentials that were showcased in each production.

Alien (1979)
Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: Ronald Shusett (Story) and Dan O’Bannon (Story and Screenplay)

If you don’t know who Ridley Scott is, I’m not really sure what your even doing reading this post.  His films have garnered a total of 39 Oscar nominations, winning a total of nine.  Alien, which is among the annals of greatest horror/sci-fi films of all time, was only his second directorial effort.  He also helmed Blade Runner, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, and The Martian.  Another footnote of Ridley’s directorial career is that he was behind the Apple Macintosh commercial titled “1984.”

Ronald Shusett is probably best known for writing the screenplay from the Philip K. Dick short story, “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” which ultimately became the Arnold Schwarzenegger action film Total Recall.  His other credits include executive producer of Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report and screen story for Alien vs. Predator, a crossover film combining the xenomorph alien and hunter alien from the Predator franchise.

Shusett worked with Dan O’Bannon to help flesh out the original story that would become the working script of Alien.  However, it was originally O’Bannon’s idea of a horror movie set in space.  O’Bannon’s other work includes special computer effects on Star Wars and a co-writer credit for Total Recall.

I don’t think I’m stepping out of line in regard to Shusett and O’Bannon’s careers when I say that the true reason for success with the first film in the series was Scott’s direction, the practical effects used to heighten tension, and the fact that audiences hadn’t seen anything like Alien before.  Audiences and critics both have heaped an endless amount of praise on Alien, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 97%, Metacritic score of 88, and IMDb rating of 8.5.

Aliens (1986)
Director: James Cameron
Writers: Walter Hill (Story), David Giler (Story), and James Cameron (Story and Screenplay)

James Cameron’s career is summed up with two words: perfectionism and dictatorship.  Those who admire and appreciate Cameron use the term perfectionism.  Those who don’t respect Cameron and have no wish to collaborate with him again tend to throw around the term dictatorship and synonymous adjectives.  Regardless of his method’s Cameron has contributed some of the biggest grossing and most-entertaining movies in cinema history.  His filmography includes directing, writing, and/or producing The Terminator, The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies, Titanic, and Avatar.

Getting his start as a second assistant director on The Thomas Crown Affair, Bullitt, and Woody Allen’s Take the Money and Run, Walter Hill went on to work as a director or screenwriter for such films as The Warriors, 48 Hrs., Brewster’s Millions, Aliens, Another 48 Hrs., and Alien 3.  He was also a producer on all films in the Alien franchise (including the crossover events with the Predator).

David Giler started in television, but his film credits include production credits for all Alien movies, penning the Tom Hanks comedy The Money Pit, and uncredited work on Beverly Hills Cop II.

Again it is safe to say that this is another case of the director’s talents and vision having more influence than the screenwriters’ work.  Ultimately, Aliens was just as acclaimed as the first film, garnering a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, 87 at Metacritic, and 8.4 on IMDb. It even mirrored Alien in box office success.

Alien 3 (1992)
Director: David Fincher
Writers: Walter Hill (Screenplay), David Giler (Screenplay), Larry Ferguson (Screenplay), and Vincent Ward (Story)

David Fincher’s first directorial effort was the third entry in the Alien series, and it is arguably his worst.  Since that time, he has gone on to direct Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Gone Girl.  He is also an executive producer, and director of two episodes, of the Netflix series House of Cards.  Fincher has also directed music videos for artists including The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Billy Idol, Aerosmith, Paula Abdul, Rick Springfield, Nine Inch Nails, Justin Timberlake, and Jay Z.

The works of Hill and Giler have already been covered, so let’s move on to the third screenplay writer of the film, Larry Ferguson.  In addition to Alien 3, Ferguson wrote Highlander, Beverly Hills Cop II, and The Hunt for Red October.  In addition to writing The Hunt for Red October, he also had a small role as Chief of the Boat on the USS Dallas.

Vincent Ward was responsible for the original story of Alien 3.  His only other major film credit is an executive producer for the Tom Cruise-starring The Last Samurai.

Having an incredible talent making his directorial debut alongside two veterans of the Alien franchise and a credible writer in Ferguson with some legitimate hits under his belt wasn’t enough to save this installment of the series.  Alien 3 is by all accounts a flop, both critically and financially, despite taking in five million more than its budget at the domestic box office.  The movie stands at 44% on Rotten Tomatoes, 59 at Metacritic and IMDb users have put it at 6.4.

Alien: Resurrection (1997)
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Writer: Joss Whedon

Fans of French cinema will know the title Amélie, however it is likely that most outside of France haven’t the foggiest notion what I am referencing.  Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet gained acclaim following his debut Delicatessen and sophomore effort, The City of Lost Children.  He was then given the reigns of the fourth Alien film, Alien: Resurrection.  Following a disappointing release, Jeunet returned to France to make Amélie, which is widely regarded as his greatest achievement, and A Very Long Engagement.

To say Joss Whedon is a geek-boy God would be an understatement, and a little ironic considering Whedon is an atheist.  His contributions to television and film include writing, producing, and directing Buffy the Vampire Slayer (both film and television versions), Roseanne, Toy Story, The Office, Dollhouse, Glee, The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Firefly, and Serenity.  He also went uncredited with work on Speed, Waterworld, Twister, and X-Men.

Alien: Resurrection has its defenders out there, but mostly it is derided as a failure.  Rotten Tomatoes has it rated at 54%, Metacritic scored it at 63, and it sits at 6.3 on IMDb.  It also tanked at the domestic box office, making only $47 million on a $70 million budget.

I should likely include Scott’s Prometheus in this post, considering it also has a strong female lead that must battle alien creatures, but I like that the first four movies in the Alien franchise were directed by different men with varying careers and influences.  Incorporating Prometheus and giving Scott two films in the post would alter how each movie is perceived, especially since he plans on continuing with the Prometheus story in another three films, giving his first feature a little more authority.

In this day and age where movie universes are connecting all the threads of a film series and having a single director or a production overseer making sure it all works seamlessly, it is a little refreshing to get an uncommon take and different atmosphere with each entry in the series.

Friday, September 09, 2016

Hardcore History Podcast

With the annoyance of my co-workers smacking on gum and incessantly gabbing about the most inane things you could ever dream up, I'm constantly on the lookout for ways to ignore them.  For the longest time I have been listening to the top 500 rock and roll albums from a list published by Rolling Stone magazine.

However, the other day I heard an interview on the radio with Dan Carlin, who hosts the Hardcore History Podcast and the amount of praise being delivered to Carlin's show was worth checking out.  Well, after listening to only a handful of episodes I can safely say that I will be devouring anything Carlin releases in regard to the Hardcore History podcast.  It is an incredible, in-depth look at all sorts of topics from history.

The few podcasts I've heard have been interviews with historians and authors James Burke, Gwynne Dyer, and Victor Davis Hanson, so I haven't even really listened to a typical Hardcore History podcast that features only Carlin speaking about a topic.  Yet, the depth of his Q&A with the featured guests is proof of the passion he has for history and I can't wait to hear more of his insight on specific topics, which range from ancient emperors and kings who ruled in Biblical times to the 20th century World Wars.

A specific example of an intellectual nugget from the Q&A episodes was when Burke stated that "history doesn't repeat itself, people do."  We've all heard the old adage that history repeats itself.  It is a pretty common quote that is used when wanting to make a point of trying to show the parallels between two historical moments several years apart or as a warning of not repeating a catastrophic event again.  However, we hardly think about the quote itself and Burke is absolutely correct.  It isn't history repeating itself.  History can't repeat itself.  History isn't a living organism with thoughts and actions.  It is the people who make history and it is the people who repeat their mistakes that results in history repeating itself.

This isn't earth-shattering insight from Carlin or Burke, but it certainly is a way of looking at history that I hadn't done before.  And that is what I like about this podcast.  It makes me re-examine the events I learned about so long ago and consider them in context and delve a little deeper in what was going on rather than just memorize the names, dates, and places of history.

Another example from the Burke interview was that he claims the Dark Ages is a misnomer.  That is a pretty bold statement considering everyone knows the term Dark Ages and has a rough idea of the time period it is referring.  However, Burke believes that the Dark Ages weren't necessarily as terrible as they have been made out to be and that there are perfectly acceptable reasons for why things were the way they were.

A specific case in point Burke used was the disuse of roadways.  It is conventional wisdom that the roads of Europe became plagued with bandits and thieves, resulting in less travel and the roadways went into disrepair (as much as a pathway in a grass field can fall into disrepair).  However, it is Burke's belief that the real reason roadways went by the wayside was due to the fact that once the Roman marketplace was no longer a desired destination point there was no need to travel there, resulting in the roads being less and less traveled.  That makes a lot of sense and I haven't really considered that to be a proper reason for the roadways of Europe to go unused.  I just assumed it was the bandit theory that held the most weight.

The next episode of Hardcore History I intend to listen to will be the first that is simply Carlin speaking about a specific topic.  It is titled "Prophets of Doom" and it takes a look at the millennial preachers and prophets who cropped up following Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation movement.  I'm really looking forward to it and hopefully it stirs the same level of interest in history that these past episodes have done.

Friday, August 05, 2016

Stop It. Just Stop It Right Now

The common occurrence of adults chewing and popping gum in public (especially in a work environment where cubicles are used to a great extent) needs to be put to an end immediately.

I understand that I'm in the minority of thinking the idea that chewing gum is a disgusting act of social behavior in the first place, especially for grown men and women, but even when chewing it you can have some manners and not piss off the people around you.  Don't chew loudly and smack it like a cow chewing on cud.  Don't make bubbles and pop them.  Don't do either of these things repeatedly and excessively (you know, like every day, multiple times a day).

I'm going nuts at my office because the women around me chew their gum and pop bubbles endlessly all day long.  It has taken every ounce of civility for me not to go postal and scream at them for their obliviously rude manners.

So I am going to scream here and let it all out.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Movies That Changed Hollywood

I’ve been a fan of movies for as long as I can remember.  Even as a kid I enjoyed other aspects of cinema than just the story or the Disney songs.  I researched great directors and writers and sought out their filmographies, probably stumbling into genres and movies I shouldn’t have discovered for a couple of years until my pre-pubescent mind could understand the themes and symbolism.

However, I’ve also been a proponent of keeping the history of film at the forefront of moviegoer’s minds.  When I watch a movie with my wife or friends, I try to make sure that any homages to earlier movies or references in general to the industry are known so that they too can understand what the filmmakers are attempting to convey to the audience.

So that is the general purpose of this post.  It is one man’s opinion of the moments in American film history that bookmarks the progression of cinema.  If you have a working knowledge of Hollywood history, you will probably be able to quickly figure out seven or eight of the movies I am going to include and the reasons behind said films.  Yet, for those of you who don’t care as much as I do about movies and really only go to the theater to be entertained, hopefully this will enlighten you a bit.

It should be noted, not all of the films below invented or were the first to do whatever in their field.  What makes these films special is that they were the first to bring their techniques to an American audience or improve upon what was already established.

1903
The Great Train Robbery
I’m pretty confident that if you haven’t enrolled in a history of cinema course you’re likely not to have heard of this film.  It is an 11-minute one-reel Western that is among the first to tell a narrative story.  Written, produced, and directed by Edwin S. Porter, what makes The Great Train Robbery such a milestone film is the number of unconventional technics it used, including composite editing, on-location shooting, frequent camera movement, cross cutting, and, in some prints, the use of color.

As well as the above mentioned notes that make The Great Train Robbery the classic it is, it should also be noted that the final shot of the picture is an iconic moment.  The leader of the bandits, played by Justus D. Barnes, is shown in a close up, emptying his pistol at the audience.  As the legend goes, moviegoers who saw this for the first time ducked in their seats to avoid being “shot.”

The Great Train Robbery was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1990 as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

1915
The Birth of a Nation
Not to be confused with an upcoming period drama that will most definitely be an Academy Award nominee for Best Picture (and possibly a strong contender to win due to the recent diversity backlash the Oscars went through this past year), this silent epic drama was directed by D. W. Griffith and starred Lillian Gish, who was dubbed the First Lady of American Cinema.  By today’s standards this film would never see a public release and is pretty much considered to be a Ku Klux Klan propaganda film, but at the time of its release it was the first 12-reel picture in America.  The film is more than two hours long and included an intermission.  It also spawned the first ever sequel, The Fall of a Nation, believed to now be a lost film.


Although a commercial success, grossing the highest box office return in film history until 1939’s Gone with the Wind, The Birth of a Nation was highly controversial and the NAACP unsuccessfully attempted to have the film banned.  The widespread protests of African-Americans who were upset at the portrayal of black men, with some played by white men in blackface, as unintelligent and sexually aggressive toward white women led Griffith to film another landmark film, Intolerance.

The advanced techniques and groundbreaking storytelling have kept The Birth of a Nation an influential and significant piece of American cinema history.  In 1992, the movie was selected to the National Film Registry for preservation.

1927
The Jazz Singer
It has been revealed that approximately 70-75 percent of all silent films are considered to be lost.  Since the advent of “talkies,” the number of films to have disappeared has dropped substantially.  Yet, that really doesn’t have anything to do with the technological breakthrough The Jazz Singer provided.

Since the release of the Al Jolson-starring musical, the first to include a handful of synchronized dialogue sequences, the decline of the silent film era began and production studios slowly scrambled to keep up with the advent of “talking” pictures.  While it may sound absurd to audience members today and despite its tremendous profits at the box office, studio heads didn’t believe in the fad of sound.

Directed by Alan Crosland, The Jazz Singer featured six audible songs performed by Jolson, a rebellious Jewish man who defies his family’s traditions on the road to success as a jazz singer.  The film won a special Academy Award for its technological breakthrough and received additional nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, from Samson Raphaelson’s short story “The Day of Atonement,” and Best Engineering Effects.  It was ineligible for the two Best Picture categories at the time, titled Outstanding Picture, Production and the Unique and Artistic Production, as Academy members felt it would have been unfair competition for the nominated silent pictures.

Like Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation, today’s audiences would balk at the social tone-deafness of Jolson donning blackface.  However, at the time of its release audiences were hysterical with the arrival of sound and dialogue.  The film has been selected for preservation in the U.S. Library of Congress’s National Film Registry and in 1998.

On a side note, the reason “talkies” have fared better than silent films in being protected is the creation of a more enduring film stock beginning in 1950 and an increase in awareness of film preservation.

1939
Wizard of Oz
It’s not the first in Hollywood history to utilize color.  It isn’t even the first to use Technicolor, a major color process invented in 1916.  Despite this, most people think 1939’s The Wizard of Oz is known for being one of the earliest hit films to use Technicolor, but even that is misleading because the now-classic musical was a financial failure upon its initial release.  It wasn’t until subsequent re-releases a decade later and the continual television broadcasting that led to its wide-spread popularity.

Prior to the release of The Wizard of Oz in 1939, MGM had switched to a three-strip color process in 1935, with only approximately 25 pictures having been completed using this new method of filming.

The most logical reason for the connection between the Judy Garland-starring fantasy film and Technicolor is the story-telling technique of using black-and-white photography to bookend the film with the color sequences found when Dorothy is in the land of Oz.  Even an element of L. Frank Baum’s original story was changed in order to exploit the technical capabilities of shooting in color.  Baum’s silver shoes are altered to ruby red for the film.  It also helps that the film is chock-full of sing-along songs and quotable lines found in hundreds of other films, television programs, songs, and books.

Although a box office flop at the time, The Wizard of Oz did garner two Oscar statuettes (Best Song for “Over the Rainbow” and Best Original Score) and four other nominations, including Best Picture.  Judy Garland also won a special Academy Juvenile Award for “Best Performances by a Juvenile” due to her work in this film and Babes in Arms.

The movie was a first-year selection to the National Film Registry in 1989 for preservation.

1941
Citizen Kane
If you have even a fleeting interest in filmmaking, you’ve likely heard that Citizen Kane is the greatest film of all time.  While that is probably a worthwhile debate to have as to the merits of whether Orson Welles’ masterpiece is truly the greatest piece of cinematic offering ever to be shown in theaters, a more accurate, and less controversial, stance would be to say Citizen Kane is the most influential film of all time.


In a nutshell, there is a substantial difference in the way a movie looks prior to this 1941 classic and after.  While Welles didn’t necessarily invent any of the techniques utilized in his directorial debut, he was the first to bring them all together in one movie and perfect the medium.

We will begin with something most modern audience members wouldn’t even ponder could have been a real option in the early stages of cinema: the end credits.  Before Citizen Kane hit theaters, the cast members and moviemakers were listed at the beginning of the film, prior to any action or dialogue.  The credits would be listed in a special font and artwork was provided to give an idea of what the tone of the movie was about, but moviegoers had to sit through the credits right after the previews.  While film crews were much smaller back then and it didn’t take near as long as it does now to list all those involved in the making of the movie, imagine sitting through the entire credits, not to see some sneak peek minute-long vignette teasing an upcoming sequel or cinematic universe companion scene, but just to start the feature you paid to see.

Other techniques perfected by Welles include storytelling (telling Kane’s story in flashback as opposed to the traditional linear, chronological narrative; multiple narrators recounting Kane’s life, sometimes inaccurately), cinematography (use of deep focus; low-angle shots; ceilings being built on set), sound (overlapping dialogue; sound perspectives to create the illusion of distance; lightning-mix, which linked complex montage sequences together with a series of related sounds or phrases), lighting, and long takes.

All that is a long winded way to say that Citizen Kane provided a new tradition of making films that has been upheld for the past 55 years.  The National Film Registry included the movie in its inaugural class of 1989.

1993
Jurassic Park
It might seem like jumping more than 50 years without any kind of advancement in technology, storytelling, or another cinematic element seems disingenuous to the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s filmmakers, but that truly is not the case.  There were some seminal moments in film history during that period, including the threat of television prompting studios to use visual gimmicks like widescreen methods and 3D films to get audiences back in theaters, the abolition of the Hays Code, the influence of French New Wave cinema, and a new era of filmmakers who had been taught their craft in a classroom as opposed to on-the-job training like their predecessors.  However, the scientific advancements that have been made from computers have had an enormous impact on Hollywood and that is what will be focused on in the final four cinematic moments of medium development.

Possibly the greatest innovation in filmmaking is the use of computer graphics, or CGI, for improving visual effects.  Prior to Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, cinematic monsters, make-believe creatures, and long-dead species had to be created with stop-motion videos, animation, miniature models, and blue screen technology (the precursor to the green screen).  Another “special effects” technique prior to computers was editing, which included double exposure, split screens, dissolves, and fades, but after Spielberg achieved a believable-looking dinosaur with computer technology it was no longer necessary to fool audiences with dubious film cuts or Claymation trickery.

The use (or over-use in some cases) of computer-enhanced visual effects has improved by such leaps and bounds over the past two decades that most audience members cannot even tell when a special effects shot has been enhanced with CGI.  We’ve come so far with computers that filmmakers who refuse to rely solely on CGI and instead “do it for real” are garnering more and more support from cinephiles.

CGI effects is a continually improving tool for filmmakers and it is something that has allowed directors and special effects teams to believably take audiences places that wasn’t possible prior to Jurassic Park.

1995
Toy Story
If you cannot legally drink alcohol, then it stands to reason you might not know that prior to your birth, animated movies were drawn by hand.  Yet, that all changed with the critical and box office darling that started an empire at PIXAR.  Toy Story was the first feature-length film to utilize computer animation technology to create all of its characters.

From 2010 to 2015, there have been approximately 150 animated films to be produced by an American studio.  Of those, 91 were made using CG animation and 41 were drawn traditionally.  While hand-drawn animation certainly isn’t a dead art, it has become second-fiddle to the abundance of CG animation making its way into mainstream media.

The impact Toy Story has had is not limited to just film and television either.  It also influenced graphic designers in the way they computed imagery for personal computers, game developers desired to replicate its animation for video games, and robotic researchers were interested in building artificial intelligence that was comparable to the film’s lifelike characters.

In 2005, the Library of Congress included Toy Story in the National Film Registry for preservation.

1999
The Blair Witch Project
You might think I will be going the route of the found footage film by listing The Blair Witch Project, which certainly is a craze that has lasted longer than anyone wanted.  Instead, the legacy this film has had on Hollywood and American filmmaking in general is the way movies are marketed today.

The Blair Witch Project is considered to be the first widely released movie to use the Internet as a marketing tool.  According to Wikipedia, the film’s official website featured fake police reports and “newsreel-style” interviews that amplified the movie’s found footage device and sparked debate as to whether the film was a real-life documentary or a fictional work.  It also contained footage of actors posing as police and investigators giving testimony about their casework, and shared photos of the actors to add a sense of realism.  Even IMDb listed the actors as “missing, presumed dead” for the first year of the film’s release.


The movie is considered the first to go “Viral” despite its premiering before the existence of several technologies that help the spread of such phenomena today.

1999
The Matrix
Like The Blair Witch Project, including The Matrix might be a little misleading as to what impact the film had on the movie industry.  You might think I will be discussing the visual effect known as “bullet time,” which certainly had its heyday in movies and video games during the 2000s, or the overuse of wire fu techniques, which is the combination of wire work and kung fu to create over-the-top fight sequences that defy the laws of gravity and physics.  Yet, the truly lasting influence The Matrix has had on Hollywood action movies is the move toward Eastern approaches to fight sequences.

That may sound similar to wire fu, or even its counterpart gun fu, but it is more than just that.  The success of The Matrix created a high demand for choreographers from Hong Kong cinema to simulate fight sequences of similar complexity.  It is rare today to find an action movie that involves a fight sequence that only involves two men going toe to toe and trading punches.  Instead, an action sequence must include weapons, both traditional and unconventional, intricate dance-like movement from the characters, and quick-cut editing (which was popularized by the Bourne action franchise more than The Matrix).

A little more than a decade after its release, The Matrix was included in the National Film Registry in 2012.

2009
Avatar
The golden era of 3D movies began in 1952, and it wasn’t even James Cameron who reintroduced audiences to the gimmick, but what Cameron did do was tell a story and shoot a movie that complimented the use of 3D instead of prostrating to it in order to make a few dollars more at the box office.


Beginning in 2003 a resurgence of 3D has been making its way back into mainstream films, so much so that it’s believed by many that the market has been oversaturated.  And that oversaturation includes films that have been forced to film in 3D by production companies in order to charge more to audiences.  Yet, Cameron felt so passionate about his alien action love story that he waited a decade for cinema technology to advance to the point that it would look as believable as possible.

Prior to Avatar, audiences didn’t question the necessity of 3D in a movie.  If the film was shown in 3D then you simply enjoyed the spectacle.  However, after Cameron’s film was released, it is now commonplace for people to debate the validity of whether the 3D gimmick was required and some audience members base screening reviews on whether they see the 2D or 3D version of a movie.

While James Cameron’s Avatar hasn’t been very influential in regard to the amount of films being released in 3D, it certainly has been the catalyst for the significance of using the visual device as a complement to improving the spectacle of a movie.

Honorable Mention:

1975
Jaws
The Avengers, Indiana Jones, E.T., Batman, Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock.  What do all of these characters have in common?  They owe a big thank you to Steven Spielberg.  On June 20, 1975, a movie was unleashed on audiences that would revolutionize Hollywood’s business model.  With the release of Spielberg’s Jaws, the summer blockbuster was born.

Since 2007, the summer blockbuster season has grossed an average of $4.321 billion.  This is compared to $1.429 billion for the spring, $1.028 billion in the fall, and $1.045 billion in the winter.  Summer blockbusters gross more than the three other seasons combined.  This does exclude the holiday box office season, which is defined as the first week of November to the first week of January.  That time period since 2007 has grossed an average of $2.159 billion.  Big-budgeted action/adventure movies are normally slated for the summer because that is when most of the dollars are spent on movies.  It wasn’t like that until Jaws.

It has had such an impact on the business of Hollywood, Jaws was included in the National Film Registry for preservation in 2001.

1977
Star Wars
The legacy of George Lucas has been tarnished over the years, but the one thing he can hold on to is he changed science fiction filmmaking.  Prior to Star Wars, sci fi was made up of either slow-moving operatic think pieces like 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Day the Earth Stood Still or it was low-budgeted, cheap-looking space adventures in the vein of Buck Rogers, Forbidden Planet, and Planet of the Apes.

Roger Ebert wrote of the film, “Like The Birth of a Nation and Citizen Kane, Star Wars was a technical watershed that influenced many of the movies that came after.”  The influence it had was beginning a new generation of special effects and high-energy motion pictures.  It also piggy-backed with Jaws to refocus the industry on big-budget blockbusters films for younger audiences.

Star Wars was among the first films inducted to the National Film Registry in 1989.

2008
Iron Man
One of the more recent big changes in Hollywood, like PIXAR’s Toy Story, has jumpstarted a production company, which actually began as a lowly comic book publisher.  Iron Man was the initial wading into new waters by creating a connected universe of films that didn’t simply tie in from sequel to sequel but laid out an entire phase (multiple phases now) of movies that build upon one another and tell an overarching story with multiple heroes.

Marvel’s strategy has been such a success, both critically and financially, it has spawned other studios and franchises to attempt the same thing.  DC comics has initiated their cinematic universe.  The Universal monsters, made up of Frankenstein, Dracula, the Invisible Man, the Wolf Man, the Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the Bride of Frankenstein, are getting their own universe to interact with one another.  Godzilla and King Kong will be meeting up in a shared universe.  Even the Men in Black and 21 Jump Street franchises have teased a team-up.