EPISODE 1

Scorenotes has decided to branch out and start posting new columns on the site. After checking with Pauline Kael and Gene Siskel and realizing both were dead, they decided to go with me. I’m most definitely not a professional critic and doubt I could beat Martin Scorsese at Scene It, but I am an avid fan of film, watch as many as I can, and I like to think I know a thing or two about movies.

Here are my likes and dislikes so you’ll get a sense of where I’m coming from. I loved The Matrix, but I hate kung fu movies. I think Quentin Tarantino is a great screenwriter but someone needs to tell him as a director to shave fifteen minutes from each of his films. Every time I think Woody Allen has lost his brilliance, he surprises me with another fantastic film, most recently with Match Point. I like watching Michael Bay movies, but I always leave the theater feeling nauseous. Daniel Day-Lewis is probably the finest actor working today, while Russell Crowe comes in at a close second. Both stumbled in their last efforts, Nine and The Next Three Days, but watch any of their films back to back and you’ll be convinced that it was not the same actor in both movies.

I don’t like to put films down simply because the subject matter might be silly. Not every film is a Schindler’s List, but that doesn’t mean the director didn’t try to create something entertaining. My criteria for liking or disliking a film is based on did the filmmakers achieve what they set out to do? We all realize The Hangover is not high art, but did it tell a complete story and was I laughing from start to finish? Then to me that is a well made film. Same with Unstoppable, as I was watching it I was never bored, the characters engaged me and I thought the story created some decent tension and thrills. While I thought both movies were well made, you can be sure neither will ever win an Academy Award nor are they trying to.

When it comes to music in movies I’m a huge John Williams fan. I grew up humming the music from both Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark and crying my way through the end of E.T. But I also like Hans Zimmer, who I first discovered while watching Rain Man. I thought he produced a more stripped down, less orchestral sound which was the opposite direction of the larger than life, lush anthems we were used to hearing in the eighties. Right now I am really digging the music from The Social Network by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

When it comes to movies about music, I feel like there have been many stories told but not many told in an original fashion. The Doors was a surreal mess and I never felt like I cared about Val Kilmer’s Jim Morrison because I never understood what he was doing. Ray had a fantastic performance but otherwise it was a by the numbers look at Ray Charles’ life. I could have read a biography and walked away with the same information. Walk the Line seemed like Ray part 2, right down to the horrible sibling experience they both went through when they were kids. Immortal Beloved made Beethoven music feel flat which I thought was impossible. I usually love watching Gary Oldman on the screen but the movie didn’t develop and present a complete narrative. Amadeus was engaging because of the great performances but the film (or play) worked so well because they did not beat you over the head with facts of their lives.

If you’re looking for great music movies, try Backbeat. It’s a great tale about the Beatles before they become huge, but at its core is a great relationship between John Lennon and Stu Sutcliffe, who was known as the fifth Beatle. Another of my favorites is Almost Famous. The reason it works so well is because you see the music through the eyes of William Miller who is just a fan like the rest of us, and not through the lens of someone who is famous or about to be famous.

So that’s my quick take on movies (and music). Hopefully you’ll read this column as I turn out pieces and please feel free to comment.