Big Willy's Top Fourteen Movie Spectacular!!

Apologies folks for the delay in getting back to the presses recently. Had a helluva lot of work getting ready for a potential closing on a big deal and haven't had a chance to get any thoughts written down.

But I am here to rectify that immediately with a listing of my 14 favorite movies of all time along with a few notes that may help you enjoy the film a little more. So without further adieu (in no particular order):

1. American History X - this is probably one of the most underrated movies of all time and definitely the best performance from Ed Norton in my opinion. It's such a disturbing look at how easy it is to get sucked into horrifying ideologies (especially when they're spawned in your childhood home). One of the neat things is to watch the progression of the black and white memory sequences. They begin by treating Derek as the proto-typical nazi wunderkind: strong, intelligent, charismatic and able to rally those around him to his cause with an almost supernatural ease (culminating in the basketball scene where Derek is hoisted up on his "brothers" shoulders as the triumphant winner - truly the ubermensch). But as the movie progresses we start to see these cutaways devolve into the darker side of these evil ways until the prison shower scene which marks the nadir of Derek's life. The dichotomy is striking and really drives home the point that nothing is quite so complex as the relationships within a family and how they affect and mold children.
2. American Psycho - those of you who read my Bret Easton Ellis treatise will find it no surprise to see one of his works on this list. As much as Less Than Zero turned a razor sharp satirical eye on Los Angeles in the 1980s, the same can be said for American Psycho and New York at the same time period. It is entirely too cursory an analysis to say that this movie is only about Patrick Bateman's insatiable bloodlust. If you look deeper into the dialogue it becomes clearer what brilliant satire this movie is. Notice how each of the investment bankers and lawyers appear completely interchangeable as the main characters struggle to recognize one from the other. How many times was Patrick Bateman mistaken for someone else in the movie? Also, tying back to my previous discussion of Ellis' novels, notice how Bateman only focuses on his appearance (both physical and social). This is central to Ellis' view of the nihilism so prevalent in the 80s when wealthy people could have everything and didn't believe in anything. What to fill the void in your psyche with then? Clothes, houses, business cards, the right reservations?
3. Shawshank Redemption - not much analysis needed here. Just a wonderful study in the power of hope and the indestructibility of the human spirit.
4. Godfather Part 1&2 - If you haven't done it already, do yourself a favor and take a rainy Saturday afternoon and watch these two back to back. Unbelievable! There are volumes written on the symbolism present throughout both movies but the most important aspect as far as I am concerned is, similar to American History X, the power of family and its ability to induce bad decisions but also bind you more tightly than anything else.
5. Grandma's Boy - I wish I could say something insightful here but sometimes you just need to see a movie where a stoned monkey drives a jeep to help the protagonist get to his office so he can watch his grandmother beat the antagonist at a video game that's set in a meth lab.
6. Kill Bill Volumes 1&2 - I'm a fan of all of Quentin Tarantino's films but this is by far his most ambitious work and I think he pulls it off remarkably. I would love to see this movie released how he had originally intended it, as one continuous production lasting nearly 5 hours. The movie is a mash-up of several of Quentin's most influential genres including the spaghetti western, kung-fu films and the revenge flick and that diversity is what ultimately led the short-sighted movie executives in charge to release it in two parts. Nevertheless, both movies are a lot of fun with all the gore, one-liners, and unexpected emotion we've come to expect from a Tarantino movie. Quick side note, Quentin plotted to release rats during the premiere screening to simulate the effect of watching a movie in a seedy theatre just like he remembered growing up. I guess it really is a fine line between lunacy and genius!
7. Rushmore - the only reason I chose Rushmore out of all of Wes Anderson's oeuvre is because this is the most well known and most likely to be in stock at your local Blockbuster. Anderson is definitely an acquired comedic taste (I watched this particular movie over 30 times when I was living in Geneva in college because we only had about 5 American movies - I also watched a lot of Ghostbusters and Strange Brew) and besides now being able to quote the movie from memory, I realized how brilliant Anderson's minor turns of phrase could be. Watch that movie closely one day and tell me the scene where Bill Murray confides in Jason Schwartzman that, after stashing a mini-bottle of Jim Beam in a pile of hospital bed linens and lighting up a cigarette in a hospital elevator, he's, "a little lonely these days," doesn't leave you rolling on the floor.
8. Braveheart - no real science to this one either. One of only two or three movies where, no matter what the location I'm watching it in, the room always seems a little dusty...
9. The Incredibles - I like the increasing popularity of these Pixar and Disney Animation movies not just because it's a bit of mindless entertainment that has content for every generation watching, but because they constantly seem to one-up each other with every new film. I wonder what the technology will develop into in the next ten years?
10. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - In one of my previous posts I talked about my feelings for Guy Ritchie so I won't expound any further except to say that, as this was the movie that really put him on the map, its definitely worth a view.
11. Gladiator - "Are you not entertained?!?!"
12. Dumb and Dumber - "I got worms"
13. The Devil's Rejects - I never understood why people derided Rob Zombie for trying to direct a horror movie. I'm no horror-phile but that dude is one of the scariest people alive (he makes damn good music - but still scary) so why wouldn't it stand to reason that he'd make good scary movies? That was certainly the case with the gratuitously violent House of 1000 Corpses, but what was unexpected was the anti-hero undertones that came out in The Devils Rejects. You begin to realize that, despite the terrifying depths of their insanity and depravity, the Fireflys are still a family that face a lot of the same struggles we all do. Watch the scene where Baby and Captain Spaulding make fun of Otis and tell me it doesn't remind you of any quintessential American family roadtrip.
14. Sin City - I have become a huge fan of Frank Miller since movie versions of all the popular graphic novels became fashionable (Watchmen, Dark Knight, etc.). The term "gritty reboot" is thrown about a lot today but Sin City was gritty from the very start and, the satirical view of the whole genre seen through the stilted and often cheesy dialogue is pretty cool. Plus I like that the entire thing was filmed in front of green screens. I also like Jennifer Alba in riding chaps.

So those are the top 14 cinematic masterpieces according to Big Willy. I hope you enjoy them all either for the first time if you haven't had the pleasure and, if it's the second (or third time around for some of you), I hope some of my thoughts helped you appreciate these movies on a deeper level (especially Dumb and Dumber - that movie works on so many levels!)

Is college football imploding?

Alright, I've managed to keep my cool and not get too worried about what the future of college football is once all the hullabaloo of this off-season shakes out. That is, up until Lane Kiffin lost his damn mind and may very well have ruined college football.

Let's look at the facts so far:

1. Mark Mangino allegedly abused his players and has been run out of Kansas after bringing them to some prominence. My guess is he tried to eat one of his players because, let's be honest here, when you weigh just shy of a metric ton, it's not a difficult leap to imagine one of his players spilling some barbecue sauce on himself in the cafeteria and Marky Mark just couldn't control himself.
2. Jim Leavitt went all Bobby Knight on one of his players and tried to choke him out. That should help with recruiting.
3. Mike Leach is probably the only one who got a raw deal amongst the three coaches vying for the Jigsaw Coach of the Year award. By all accounts Craig James' son is a crybaby and his father thinks having a microphone means people care what his $200 haircut has to say. I've had a migraine before (and not one caused by a damn concussion) and, to be honest, sitting in a dark room by myself was the only thing I wanted to do. Props to the Pirate Lord Leach for realizing he was getting shafted and taking a chance to loud everyone else out on national television when he had the shot.
4. Pete Carroll gave up one of the sweetest coaching gigs in the country to coach the SEATTLE SEAHAWKS!! He traded in Southern California sunshine and bleach blond coeds for 400 days a year of rain and chicks in flannel who don't shave. To quote Beanie from Old School, "Way to think that one through." Add to that, I believe Pete has severely overestimated his capabilities. Recruiting for the University of Southern California is a very different thing than wading through the garbage that sits in the middle of the NFL draft. You're telling me Pete Carroll can navigate a draft intelligently when all he's had to do for the past 8 years is draft 5 running backs who ran 4.3 40s and were built like mack trucks? And as much as I actually like Pete (I think he's a helluva COLLEGE coach) this is going to be fun to watch as he flames out quickly.
5. Charlie Weis was pushed out at Notre Dame. The whole Charlie Weis/Notre Dame relationship was a lot like my college girlfriend. We were really great together for that 3 months after we graduated from high school and then, when we went to separate colleges we proceeded to embark on a 6 month relationship that lasted for 3 and 1/2 years. This should have happened a loooooong time ago.
   
6. Speaking of Notre Dame, they traded in the only guy I know with a FUPA for the head coach at Cincinnati. I actually feel sorry for this guy. I don't know why nobody bothered to tell Brian Kelly that Notre Dame is irrelevant now. Seriously, does anyone remember the last time they actually tuned in to NBC on a Saturday afternoon in the fall over the last 10 years? Me either. And you bring in a guy who was successful in the Big Least to turn things around? Did anybody at Notre Dame even watch the Cincy/Florida bowl game?
7. Urban Meyer got weird. I'm not sure I really have anything else to say about it actually. That whole two day span was just weird.
8. And that brings us to the coup de grace with the Loudmouth, Lane Kiffin. WHAT. THE. F@!K?!?!?! This guys comes barreling into the SEC and in a short 14 month period proceeds: 1) to call half of his fellow coaches cheaters; 2) immediately become the focus of a NCAA recruiting violation investigation himself (what color does that make the pot then Lane?); 3) go 7-6 yet somehow bring in a monster 2010 recruiting class (see point 2 above); and then 4) bolt from the school as soon as something better comes along. The only problem is, I don't know that the USC job is better! The Trojans are under investigation themselves and they're bringing in a guy who can't wipe his ass without breaking a rule? He's assembling the "Dream Team" of assistant coaches but hasn't the thought crossed his mind that he's setting himself up to get cannibalized as soon as a second tier head coaching job opens up? And what happens when old Pete gets tired of losing in the NFL? You don't think he'll be back in Los Angeles pointing out how available he is? And finally, let's not overlook how much of a dick move this is to the kids he coached and/or recruited. These guys, unlike NFL players who are grown men who get paid a lot of money to perform no matter who their boss is, are KIDS! They're 18 year old boys who, even though they may be big tough boys, are still leaving their homes for probably the first time and the one person who was supposed to be their father figure, just dipped out right when they're starting classes. What a colossal, unmitigated asshole.

So, the landscape is littered with mercenary coaches, kids who are afraid of a little rough treatment (c'mon - you play football, act like it), and fan/booster bases who force out coaches because of their mind-bogglingly unrealistic expectations. All of this spells trouble ahead, but I guess we'll have a spectacle to watch until then. I'll get the popcorn...

Who'd have thought Goerge Michael and Limp Bizkit would be right?

As you know, I attended a wedding this past weekend down in Jamaica that was absolutely beautiful. Brad and Amanda looked fantastic, and I don't mind telling you that I was pretty stylin' in my linen pants and shirt as a groomsman. But I have to admit my lasting memory from the trip wasn't the ceremony on the beach with the wide open expanse of beautiful Caribbean ocean as a backdrop nor was it the multiple late nights catching up with my very best friends. No, the thought that will stick with me from this very special occasion is that the concept of faith finally makes sense to me.

And it is my understanding of that very important concept that I would like to share with you today. Now before I come to my great epiphany on the beach in Jamaica let me back up a bit. My entire life I have tried to find a spiritual connection to the world around me. I have studied nearly all of the major religions in the world (most of that studying came during a bit of an existential crisis I felt I was having during my time in New York) and while I departed from my birth religion of Episcopalianism to follow the teachings of the Buddha for about 2 years, I have since returned and feel very at home and happy at my current church, St. Andrews in the Old Village, Mt Pleasant.

Now before you write me off as another Bible-thumping religious wacko from the South, let me assure you that I have no intention of turning this particular piece into an evangelical work that is designed solely to convert you to my way of thinking. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I have nothing but the utmost contempt for people who foist their beliefs on others, be they religious, political, economic or what to have for dinner tonight. There are very few people who come equipped with the necessary intellectual tools to guide others to believing as they do and most times, the ones who are capable, use those tools for less than gentlemanly (or womanly) reasons.

No, my goal here today is simply to put into words something that had a very profound effect on me and hope that it provides you with some insight into who I am. Please take nothing more from it.

So back to the task at hand. As I said, I am currently a member of an Anglican/Episcopalian church that many would consider pretty progressive. We have a rock band who plays music every Sunday and the congregation is very enthusiastic, but most importantly to me, we have a rector who is not afraid to be challenged in his belief. That is why, when attending a service about 2 weeks ago, I got very excited when I saw we had a guest speaker who was going to give a sermon entitled, "Is belief in God rational?" Finally someone was going to try and take an analytical run at deciding if there was good reason to believe in something greater than ourselves. The hard-nosed, "the numbers either make sense or they don't" private equity professional in me had been waiting on this for a long time.

Well I'll spare you the details but the sermon lacked anything approaching true analysis and relied mostly on very suspect logic to arrive at the predictable conclusion that, yes, it is indeed logical that there is a supreme being of some sort. I was pretty let down about the whole thing because the ultimate cause of my spiritual search is that I have never met anyone who could explain to me in terms I felt comfortable with, what religion is and what it does. There is always a gap in the traverse from Point A (I am a reasonably intelligent and rational human being) to Point B (therefore God must exist). It's like the episode of South Park with the underpants gnomes. Their business plan was: Step 1 - steal underpants; Step 2 - blank; Step 3 - profit! I needed that Step 2.

Well it was at this wedding that I have discovered what, for me, Step 2 is and that is faith. Why did it take the wedding of a good friend to enlighten me to this concept? Well I began to think as I dug my toes in the sand and polished off yet another Red Stripe (quick side note - is there anything better than drinking at the beach? How is it I can drink about 20 beers on the beach and not be comatose? Another meditation for another day I suppose...) when I began to ask myself why anyone would ever decide to get hitched with the state of marriage as it is today.

With half of all marriages ending in divorce and many of those divorces turning people into horrible caricatures of themselves as the marital assets are divided and hearts are broken, what would posses a sane person to enter into that covenant? The answer I realized was this concept of faith. It is because you believe that, even with all that potential pain down the road, the love you feel for this person right now in this perfect moment, makes everything else worthwhile. You don't know that you won't end up in a bitter separation that tears your household apart, but you're willing to risk it on the faith that your love will weather all storms. That's a pretty kick-ass thing if you really think about it.

Let me put it in other terms for those who are not familiar with that particular brand of vodka. What about your pet? Have you ever had to put down a family dog or cat? Have you ever had to pet their soft heads as they (hopefully quietly) slip away? It is truly a devastating experience. But when you're sitting there bawling your eyes out, would you have traded all the wonderful times you had with that companion for the years leading up to that moment just to take away that pain? Of course not! And for me, the reason you don't trade those great memories is because you had faith that, even though you may someday lose your pet, all those great memories will assuage and someday cover up that pain.

I'll close today's addition with the hope and wish that in reading this you begin to think about what faith means to you and hopefully you gain your own spiritual awakening to whatever belief system you choose because, for me, knowing that I now have an understandable and tangible concept of what faith is, the sun is shining just a little bit brighter and I have a new perspective on the world that will hopefully make me a better businessman, a better husband, and, ultimately, a better person.

Nobody Cares About the Nonsensical Ravings of a Lunatic Mind

Alright folks, I'm back from the holidays rejuvenated, reinvigorated and ready to start the new year off right with some random thoughts and observations!

1. Haley and I went to see Sherlock Holmes over the weekend and I am not exaggerating when I tell you it is one of the best movies I saw all year. First of all, Guy Ritchie is a genius. I've always loved his "real" movies (and I say real because I don't count "Swept Away" when he had obviously slipped over that thin line between genius and madness by marrying Madonna and deciding to make a movie for her) because they were just cool enough to make you want to be a London gangster and just gritty enough to make you realize you'd never last a day as a London gangster. Add to that that this movie is set in Victorian England which holds particular fascination for me because I always thought the Victorian Age was such a turning point in the intellectual progress of the world. At what other time was there such enthusiasm for understanding the world around you in a rational and tangible fashion set against such equal enthusiasm for supernatural pursuits like the occult (check out Aleister Crowley if you need an example)? And this dichotomy is the perfect backdrop for this movie (I won't spoil any of the plot points but the story revolves around a Masonic-like group that uses what appears to be magic to try and influence the world order). Very cool stuff in my humble opinion.
2. Haley bought me an Amazon Kindle for Christmas this year which is hands down one of the coolest pieces of technology I've ever owned. For those who don't know, a Kindle is basically an IPod for books and magazines. You can purchase an item on the Kindle itself or buy it on Amazon.com and it's wirelessly sent to your device. If you choose to subscribe to a magazine or newspaper then the latest edition is sent to your device every night. As for the actual operation of the device, from what my technologically feeble mind can discern, it works a lot like an Etch-A-Sketch with some kind of magnetism electronically shaping ink stored under the display into the words for that particular page you're reading. More very cool stuff in my continuing humble opinion.
3. I've had a subscription to GQ for almost 2 years and have a been a fairly religious reader of the magazine for almost 10 years now. I've always enjoyed (and certainly valued) the lifestyle advice that the magazine had to offer but lately I've noticed that far too often it devolves into a mouthpiece for the left. The editor's section rarely points out anything other than how terrible the country is because of Republicans which seems an odd thing for him to do since his focus is fashion journalism and his educational background doesn't really lend itself towards trying to influence people politically, and when they actually stuck to their milieu and did an analysis of the fashion trends amongst Washington, D.C. power players, nearly every stylish entry was for a Democrat and every slovenly example was a Republican. Seemed almost petty to me. I hope the magazine figures out that this is pretty off-putting and gets back to focusing on helping gentleman to lead a gentlemanly lifestyle.
4. I've been pretty lukewarm to this year's bowl season so far. No super intriguing match-ups and the ones that did hold some interest have so far turned into non-events. Couple of points of note:
   

• What's the over/under on how many times Les Miles is going to absolutely butcher LSU's chances in close games with his miserable clock management before someone in Death Valley picks him off from a clock tower?
• What a terrible ending to a great Auburn/Northwestern game. Back and forth the whole game with a Big 10 team actually showing some heart against a (probably overrated) SEC representative only to have your kicker blow two kicks (one of which was a chip shot) and then your coach (gunslinger though he may be) call a fake field goal that looked more like a monkey trying to f*&k a doorknob (excuse the language folks) than a football play! How do you not give your backup kicker a chance at a 28 yard field goal? Why would you even recruit the kid if you didn't think he was capable of making basically an extra point?
• I may be the only person outside of Gator nation (and the big UGA fan in me hates me for what I'm about to say) that's actually kind of sad to see Tim Tebow leaving college football. He had a terrible delivery and when he ran he didn't look all that fast (even though he was usually pulling away from DBs like they were standing still) but damn if he didn't have the heart of a champion. Two things you could count on with him was that he would always have a haircut you could set your watch to (seriously - who still sports that much of a flat top outside of the military) and if there was a way for him to will his team to victory, he'd find it.
• And that brings me to Tim's final opponent, Cincinnati. Given the Bearcats performance I think we can all now feel comfortable in taking away the automatic BCS bid for the Big East right? Who's with me?
• Since I basically betrayed my all Bulldawg brethren (and for those of you wondering why I'm a UGA football fan when I went to Duke just check out the Blue Devil's record over my college career and you'll understand why I spent my fall weekends watching Georgia games with my good buddy Justin) in lauding Tim Tebow I feel obligated to point out that we looked REALLY good against the Aggies and, now that Joe Cox is gone, there is reason to be hopeful for next year.
• Of the games left I'm excited to see Orrin Hatch's wet dream tonight in TCU/Boise St.
  
• As for the national championship I'm taking Bama - hopefully they'll have the game down in Jamaica!

Well that does it for the first addition of the new year. Hope everyone had a blessed holiday season and best wishes for a prosperous and healthy 2010!