A List of Favorite Movies from Cliché Hell

In no order, here it is.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS.
What else can be said about such an monumental film project in addition to what everyone already knows. If you haven't seen all three, you're an embarassment. Seriously. This shit practically changed the world. The universe invented by Tolkien and adapted flawlessly by Peter Jackson is a place of the deepest imaginary recesses. The best story is the one that never ends, and while LOTR does indeed have a conclusion...well goddamn it's ten hours long without the extended versions! I count all three movies as one here.



THE GODFATHER.
A movie trilogy (or, if you ask some, two iron-fisted masterpieces and a mediocre third chapter) that is an example of all the stars aligning. Francis Ford Coppola was at his peak, in an adaptation of a Mario Puzo epic. Within an ensemble cast delivered by the gods, three people stand out. They are Marlon Brando, as the emperor of a modern Roman hierarchy; Robert DeNiro, as his younger manifestation, rising to power in the Depression era; and, to unite the two movies into one, Al Pacino, who goes from the son that wanted nothing to do with crime to the twisted crime lord devoid of any remorse or compassion. Stunning.



STAR WARS.
Yes I know. I KNOW. They may not look as brilliant today as they once were, but Star Wars is still, in my book, a classic. Part of the reason why is the fact that I grew up with these movies, and to reject them is to reject an inner portion of my soul. Without them, our world would be a little worse. Back before any despicable prequels, there was a galactic horizon brimming with wondrous planets and organisms. The Empire Strikes Back is the best of course.



FIGHT CLUB.
Overrated? Hell no! Misunderstood? Certainly. While not for everyone, it IS for me. Fight Club is something that makes people stronger and improves their lives by removing their fear. The bizarre techno score mixed with the strong acting mixed with the social satire is just too much greatness for me to handle in a single movie. Tyler Durden is deservedly an icon.



THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION.
The original "bromance". Heaving a sigh about the expansiveness of wasted time and unfulfilled potential, as well as the perseverance of hope, this movie is like a slightly more contemporary Godfather. That is, it is what The Godfather would have been like taking place inside a prison. My favorite scene of the movie is when the opera music plays over the intercom and "every man in Shawshank felt free".

OLDBOY.
A South Korean art film. Or is it a thriller? It's tough to say. All I know is that this movie needs no American rendering; it is perfect as it is. It's a movie that shocks and amazes with its depiction of conflicting souls. There's little else to say about it; just see it if you haven't and you can handle some weirdness mixed in with your entertainment.

The Avatar Phenomenon

AVATAR. Such a suiting name for such a curious social experiment, if you will.

Let me preface this article by saying that I saw AVATAR on its opening day, in glorious standard format. Since then, I've seen it twice more (in 3D), so I am permanently entrenched in the phenom at this point. I think it's an arresting piece of pop culture, and good cinema. From the same vein as Star Wars, where it is loved by many and accused of plagiarism by some (remember how Star Wars was once called *Dune-meets-Kurosawa*?), it is so reflective of our times, despite the majority not reaizing why. Strangely, James Cameron spent $300 million to make a tree-hugger film about the unchecked consumption of the corporation and a consumptive society very much like one live in (and obviously one in which people pay $15 to get sucked into a crowd-pleaser for three hours). AVATAR is a technical marvel, and everyone knows it.

It is funny to me how a movie in which a paraplegic funnels his mind into that of a blue alien would ultimately echo the same experience for the typical moviegoer. We all become Na'vi, gasp at the amazing wildlife, strip our clothes, and leap onto the backs of otherworldly dragons. By the end, I'm thinking "Yes, let's save the planet!" I see the parallel to our world and the origin of our species among nature. But does everyone? Last I heard, there is curious psychology at work among the people that see the movie. Audiences are becoming depressed, dissatisfied with their lives and their environments. Reality becomes boring for those that get too engulfed in the fantasy of Pandora. All I can say is (!).

But I can see why this is happening. When people have been deprioritizing the value of internal, spiritual knowledge and passion about anything for so long, and when they have been caught up in the fabricated world of men and an insecure position in the world for just as long, a punch in the face is probably quite overwhelming. James Cameron said something to the effect of "[Take a walk. Reconnect with your planet here.]", and I think that's what a meme-obsessed techno-culture like America and other parts of the world have today will need to take away with them as the credits roll.