CRASH
When I was younger, my wife and I made it a point to see all movies nominated for Best Picture of the Year prior to the Academy Award's television show. As I got older, I switched to seeing selective winners. After paying to see American Beauty, an Academy Award winner which in my humble opinion was one of the worst movies ever made, I simply stopped going to the movies on a regular basis opting instead to buy the DVD’s of movies on the level of Porky’s 1, 2 (my favorite), and 3, and Clueless.
This year’s nominees for the Academy Award for Best Picture looked particularly bleak, making me think that Hollywood needed a good dose of Prozac. Brokeback Mountain got the headlines. It isn’t that I am homophobic, but I can see that sort of thing for free at home on Will and Grace, Six Feet Under, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: and going really hard core, Queer as Folk on Showtime. Oh my!!!!!!!! I was also familiar with the topics of Munich, Good Night and Good Luck, and Capote. Didn’t rush to the theater to see any of those.
Then there was Crash, the movie about which I knew nothing except it starred Matt Dillon, who is one of my favorite actors. (The Flamingo Kid, 1984; outstanding). On television, I learned that it dealt with issues of racism. Given the types of movies nominated this year, why wasn’t I surprised? I would have ignored it all together but for a secretary in my office telling me she saw it when it briefly blew into our local theaters, and it was terrific. So, I bought the DVD.
Crash is probably the most intense movie I have seen in years. The taut, well written script leaves you breathless and wondering how a writer could piece something like this together. It is beautifully filmed and extremely well acted. The music is outstanding in helping to create a mood piece something akin to Collateral or Mystic River.
More importantly was the topic. Yes, the movie deals with racism, but it is not about racism. Rather it approaches the topic in a matter of fact manner that allows the story line to proceed without being preachy. The racial overtone is simply the framework in which a complicated and stunning storyline proceeds. You almost have to watch it a second time to appreciate the writers’ artistry in weaving the intricate plot together.
I have to be the only person on earth that didn’t like Broadway's The Phantom of the Opera. Why? Could it be it needed a story line? It was lame at best. Hey, if you are going down into a storm sewer to search for a killer, wait for the cops. Not a good idea to go solo in a boat with a lantern. The movie bombed at the box office. If I wanted to hear pretty music, I would go to a concert. Books, movies and plays need a good story first. Everything else is window dressing. Crash tells a good story, and may bring me back to the movies. Be forwarned. This one is not for the little darlings. Grown ups only, please. Of course, the same goes for Porky's 2, which, on a Friday night, would be the better choice. And consider the locally financed Lust in the Dust (starring Divine in drag with a tatoo on her, I mean his, butt) for a boffo double feature. Hurrah for Hollywood!
This year’s nominees for the Academy Award for Best Picture looked particularly bleak, making me think that Hollywood needed a good dose of Prozac. Brokeback Mountain got the headlines. It isn’t that I am homophobic, but I can see that sort of thing for free at home on Will and Grace, Six Feet Under, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: and going really hard core, Queer as Folk on Showtime. Oh my!!!!!!!! I was also familiar with the topics of Munich, Good Night and Good Luck, and Capote. Didn’t rush to the theater to see any of those.
Then there was Crash, the movie about which I knew nothing except it starred Matt Dillon, who is one of my favorite actors. (The Flamingo Kid, 1984; outstanding). On television, I learned that it dealt with issues of racism. Given the types of movies nominated this year, why wasn’t I surprised? I would have ignored it all together but for a secretary in my office telling me she saw it when it briefly blew into our local theaters, and it was terrific. So, I bought the DVD.
Crash is probably the most intense movie I have seen in years. The taut, well written script leaves you breathless and wondering how a writer could piece something like this together. It is beautifully filmed and extremely well acted. The music is outstanding in helping to create a mood piece something akin to Collateral or Mystic River.
More importantly was the topic. Yes, the movie deals with racism, but it is not about racism. Rather it approaches the topic in a matter of fact manner that allows the story line to proceed without being preachy. The racial overtone is simply the framework in which a complicated and stunning storyline proceeds. You almost have to watch it a second time to appreciate the writers’ artistry in weaving the intricate plot together.
I have to be the only person on earth that didn’t like Broadway's The Phantom of the Opera. Why? Could it be it needed a story line? It was lame at best. Hey, if you are going down into a storm sewer to search for a killer, wait for the cops. Not a good idea to go solo in a boat with a lantern. The movie bombed at the box office. If I wanted to hear pretty music, I would go to a concert. Books, movies and plays need a good story first. Everything else is window dressing. Crash tells a good story, and may bring me back to the movies. Be forwarned. This one is not for the little darlings. Grown ups only, please. Of course, the same goes for Porky's 2, which, on a Friday night, would be the better choice. And consider the locally financed Lust in the Dust (starring Divine in drag with a tatoo on her, I mean his, butt) for a boffo double feature. Hurrah for Hollywood!
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