Friday, November 16, 2012

My Movie Alphabet Blogathon


Mettel Ray has a great idea for a blogathon, tasking bloggers with creating their specific movie alphabet. The one rule in effect is to simply match every letter of the alphabet with something relating to film. And the only rule I’ve set for myself is that I will list the very first thing that pops into my mind for each corresponding letter. Challenge accepted!


# – 12 Angry Men
Because everyone should see this movie. Even you. (Again.)

A – Arbogast
Because he’s the voice of reason we believe in. If only he hadn’t been so curious.

B – Biutiful
Because I have yet to meet someone who loves this film as much as I do. Are you out there?

C – Carey Mulligan
Because she’s perfect.

D – Dreama Walker
Because her star making performance in Compliance deserves to do just that: make her a star.      

E – Elephant
Because I watched it again recently and was once again floored by its power. A remarkable achievement.

F – “Fuck.”
Because Nicole Kidman makes this one of the best closing lines in film history.

G – Gordon Willis
Because no one shot and used shadows more effectively.

H – He Got Game
Because it is Spike Lee at his most flawlessly ghetto.

I – I’m Not Scared
Because it’s a fantastic Spanish thriller that more people need to see.

J – Jackie Brown
Because I can’t stop thinking if its proposed prequel will actually work.

K – Killing Them Softly
Because I still cannot wait to see it. Feels like I’ve been waiting forever for this one.

L – Leos Carax
Because I’d kill to know what goes on in that man’s head.

M – Michael Fassbender
Because he’s a man whose talent I am consistently in awe of. Can’t wait to see what he does next.

N – Nick Nolte
Because his performance in Warrior is acting. Period.

O – O
Because this movie had power back in the day. I should give it another go.

P – Persona
Because I can never talk about it enough.

Q – Quiz Show
Because it’s a damn fine film, with a solid Scorsese cameo to boot.

R – Rust and Bone
Because it’s just that good.

S – Steven Soderbergh
Because I wish I could convince him to not retire. Please, dude. Please.

T – Travis Bickle
Because he is, and shall forever remain, my favorite movie character of all time.

U – Undertow
Because it was one of the last great films David Gordon Green made.

V – V
Because: “Voila! In view humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the ‘vox populi’ now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin, van guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition.

The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.


Verily this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it’s my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.”


W – “With or Without You”
Because I just rewatched Tell No One, and was stunned by how flawlessly this song is used in it.

X – Xander Berkeley
Because he’s a fine character actor whose never been given his fair due.

Y – “You know, we are sitting here, you and I, like a couple of regular fellas.”
Because this scene will be forever iconic.

Z – Z
Because: “Concurrently, the military banned long hair on males; mini-skirts; Sophocles; Tolstoy; Euripedes; smashing glasses after drinking toasts; labor strikes; Aristophanes; Ionesco; Sartre; Albee; Pinter; freedom of the press; sociology; Beckett; Dostoyevsky; modern music; popular music; the new mathematics; and the letter ‘Z,’ which in ancient Greek means ‘He is alive!’”

27 comments:

  1. Dude O! I watched it so many times during my Josh Hartnett phase, it's scary.

    We have one in common, but it's 12 Angry Men so it's all right. Love F.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, another O fan! Having 12 Angry Men in common is quite all right indeed. Glad you like F :)

      Delete
  2. O - These are O.R. Scrubs. O, R, they?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great to see Quiz Show on your lists too! Love F too. That's a mighty fine picture of Bardem in Biutiful I need to show it to my mom :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just noticed Quiz Show on yours as well - such a good flick. Have you seen Biutiful? Bardem is remarkable in it. Scary good.

      Delete
    2. I did, I wasn't a big fan of the movie but Javier was terrific in it.

      Delete
  4. Great list. F is awesome. I think I'll do mine soon though I have other projects in the work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks dude. Glad you like it. Would love to see yours when you wrap up your other projects.

      Delete
  5. Biutiful! Tell No One! Nice choices. I really need to rewatch them, but they're at least an A- for me right now.

    Ha! Couldn't love F and V more. :) Glad to see Z on here as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Another Biutiful fan?! Knew I could count on you.

      Glad you dig the choices man. You should do this!

      Delete
    2. I did. ;) http://classicblanca.blogspot.com/2012/11/my-movie-alphabet.html

      Yours is much more creative than mine though.

      Delete
    3. Oh shit, I missed it! Reading now...

      Delete
  6. Excellent choices. Heard good stories about Elephant, but still have not been able to check it out. I am planning to see Biutiful soon and I'll make sure I'll see it. Planning to make write one too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! Both Elephant and Biutiful are fantastic (to me), but tough watches indeed. Can't wait to read what you think!

      Delete
  7. Carey fucking Mulligan! Might be my favorite actress working today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She's so good, right? I thought I had seen her best work... then I watched Shame. I mean, god...damn.

      Delete
  8. This is a pretty cool idea and I like all your picks! This would be cool to do...but I probably won't. Meh.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Soderbergh is retiring??? That can't happen. We won't allow it.

    Lots of great stuff here. Don't throw something at me, but I've never seen 12 Angry Men, either the film or on stage. I read the play in high school -- very powerful. This was over 30 years ago, and I still think of it often.

    Carey Mulligan is completely awesome. I first saw her in a single episode of Doctor Who, and she was unforgettable even there. That was closely followed by An Education, Drive, Shame, and Never Let Me Go. Of those 4 roles, I definitely enjoyed An Education the most, but Shame is the hardest to forget. So gorgeous and unnervingly damaged.

    Adding O and Biutiful to my list, because they sound intriguing. If I don't stop reading your blog, I'll never catch up on my watchlist.

    "Fuck" is a nice choice, even though I haven't seen that particular movie yet. (I'm making a guess ... Eyes Wide Shut?) But ... damn, even though I have no idea how it would fit ... no "B for Bangarang?"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, after Side Effects and his Liberace movie for HBO, Soderbergh is apparently throwin' in his spurs. Goddamn shame.

      HA, I wouldn't dare get mad because you haven't seen a film. Just put 12 Angry Men at the top of your list. Trust me.

      I've loved Mulligan in everything I've seen her in. Had the chance to see her in a revival of Bergman's Through a Glass Darkly Off-Broadway a year and a half ago... she was incredible. It was so stirring.

      Eyes Wide Shut, you got it! Bangarang should've made the cut. How dare I.

      I hope you get some free days ahead to just pound out movie after movie!

      Delete
  10. I'm trying to assuage my grief by telling myself he's inspired a new generation of film-makers. Who knows?

    I am SO jealous that you got to see that play. I just might throw something at you instead. :-P Seriously, that is awesome!

    Just saw Eyes Wide Shut last night ... kept me up 'til after 2 a.m. (it's a long movie!) and left me with a doozie of a surreal cinema hangover. :-P Because of you, I was waiting with bated breath for Nicole Kidman to deliver her closing line. Though it wasn't said in the context I expected. (I thought it would be "Fuck!" as in "I am so screwed!")

    Maybe I'll blog about Eyes Wide Shut, if I can figure out exactly what it was about. Or understand that I'm not really supposed to figure it out. :-) Whichever.

    Well, "bangarang" didn't really fit. I just acted on the urge to throw it out there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad Eyes Wide Shut was able to cast its unique surreal spell on you. That movie is so mystifying and gorgeous of brilliant, I just love everything about it. REALLY glad that final word wasn't a let down!

      Delete