Missed Movies Link Roundup

The following websites discuss some very good movies you might have missed:

(1) Captain Obvious discusses David Lynch’s The Straight Story (1999), about an old guy who drives a tractor from Iowa to Wisconsin to see his brother. The movie, based on a true story, is unlike most of David Lynch’s movies, although there are some nice small Lynch touches.  Richard Farnsworth was a great actor, and this may be his best role.

(2) Concrete Hunter talks about Please Give (2010), one of the best movies from last year that received good reviews but was more overlooked than it should have been. The movie follows two families living in New York and how their lives intersect, and the characters seem very real.

(3) You likely have seen this one, but if not, run out and get The Night of the Hunter (1955). The Onion has a review of the new Criterion DVD release.

(4) Salon has a good slideshow discussion of 10 Brilliant Comic Book Movies, featuring several interesting surprises and reappraisals of flawed but compelling movies.

Finally, in the category of “Movies You Wish You Would Have Missed,” Popdose has a fun article about movie sequels that killed the good will of the originals, thus called “Killogies.” Star Wars anyone?

Missed Movies is our series on very good movies that many people did not see when first released.

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    Top 10 Coen Brothers Movies

    The Writing-Producing-Directing team of Joel and Ethan Coen have had another success with True Grit. It is difficult to think of another team that has produced so many high quality movies. Many of their movies are made from various combinations of of humor, action (often involving murders), and witty dialogue. In honor of their most recent release, Chimesfreedom ranks the top ten Coen Brothers movies so far.

    (1) Fargo (1996)
    Fargo is the best representative movie of the Coen canon. It is a perfect balance of the three Coen factors of humor, action, and witty dialogue. At the center of the movie is perhaps the biggest heart of any of the Coen films: Frances McDormand as Marge Olmstead Gunderson, the pregnant chief of police in Brainerd, Minnesota. Fargo’s final scene of the couple in bed discussing stamps is one of the most touching scenes filmed by the Coens.
    Famous Quote: “You Betcha!”

    (2) O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
    O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which is loosely based on Homer’s Odyssey, is one of the Coen films that is heavier on the humor and witty dialogue than on the action and violence. But the pitch-perfect soundtrack boosts this movie into the number two spot, along with George Clooney’s funniest role.
    Famous Quote: “We thought you was a toad.”

    Raising Arizona(3) Raising Arizona (1987)
    One could easily argue for any of these top three movies to be in the number one spot. All of the Coen movies have memorable great dialogue, but Raising Arizona probably tops them all. The long opening sequence that sets the story before the title appears is one of the funniest and best openings of any movie.
    Famous Quote: “Give me that baby, you warthog from hell!”

    (4) No Country for Old Men (2007)
    No Country for Old Men won the Best Picture Academy Award for the Coens, and contains excellent scenery and acting. It has some similarities to Fargo in that the Coens perfectly capture the Texas landscape here as they did with the Minnesota winter landscape in Fargo. Also, Tommy Lee Jones as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell evokes the heart-in-the-middle-of-chaos as Marge Gunderson did in Fargo. But we are ranking this one in fourth place for not featuring as much of the humor as Fargo, but it is still a great movie illustrating the randomness and unfairness of life, a theme the Coens would revisit two years later in A Serious Man.
    Famous Quote: “What’s the most you ever lost on a coin toss?”

    Miller's Crossing, Coen Brothers(5) Miller’s Crossing (1990)
    Miller’s Crossing is a beautiful movie about the battle between two Prohibition-era crime bosses with underling Gabrielle Byrne as Tom Reagan providing the heart and soul throughout a complicated double-double-cross. Although today the film is well-regarded, it was a box office dud when released. And what is the meaning of the hats? Is the hat some sort of MacGuffin? Worth repeated viewings.
    Famous Quote: “What is this, the high hat?”

    (6) The Big Lebowski (1998)
    Many might place The Big Lebowski higher on the list, and if you are talking about the movie with the most rabid fan base, then it would have to be this one. While it is full of clever dialogue and a great performance by Jeff Bridges, the above movies have more elements making them greater movies. The Big Lebowski, though, is still wonderful.
    Famous Quote: “The Dude abides.”

    (7) True Grit (2010)
    Chimesfreedom recently wrote about True Grit, comparing it to the original version of the movie. The Coen’s version is excellent, but the movie here is ranked lower than it might otherwise be because we already had the John Wayne original.
    Famous Quote: “I thought you gonna say the sun was in your eyes. That is to say, your Eye.”

    (8) A Serious Man (2009)
    A Serious Man grows on one upon repeated viewings. While the action element is nonexistent, there is great humor and dialogue in this movie, which raises important themes in its retelling of the Biblical story of Job with Larry Gopnik in 1967 Minnesota.
    Famous Quote: “When the truth is found. To be lies. And all the hope. Within you dies. Then what?” (Rabbi Marshak quoting Jefferson Airplane)

    (9) Blood Simple (1984)
    Many people love this neo-noir, perhaps because it was the Coens directorial debut, so we are including it in the top ten. Blood Simple features many of the elements that would appear in better form in later movies, but it was an excellent start.
    Famous Quote: “If you point a gun at someone, you’d better make sure you shoot him, and if you shoot him you’d better make sure he’s dead, because if he isn’t then he’s gonna get up and try to kill you.”

    (10) The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
    The Coen Brothers’ attempt at a classic screwball comedy with The Hudsucker Proxy bombed at the box office. It may have failed partly due to the fact that the movie was not what many expected. But it is an excellent homage to classic movies, and Tim Robbins as the unlikely rising business star is pretty funny.
    Famous Quote: “You know, for kids.”

    Hon. Mention: Barton Fink (1991), The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001), Burn After Reading (2008).

    Better Left Unmentioned: Intolerable Cruelty (2003), and The Ladykillers (2004).

    Which Coen Brothers movie is your favorite? Leave a comment.

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    Bonus Coen Brothers Ranking from the Washington Post: Is here.

    Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert

    Rock Concert

    Don Kirshner, rock promoter, producer, and host of Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, passed away this week.  He was 76.

    Time Magazine once called him “The Man with the Golden Ear,” and the many bands that he helped included the Police, Billy Joel, Tony Orlando, Neil Diamond, Carol King, Prince, Ozzy Osbourne, The Eagles, and The Monkees.  But I remember him as host of Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert.

    Rock Concert was on ABC every other week late at night beginning in 1973 and ran through 1981, starting well before I had access to cable and before MTV.  For much of that time, along with NBC’s Midnight Special during most of the same years, Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert was one of the few places to see many great bands on television.  Kirshner gave national TV exposure to bands like The Ramones and Bruce Springsteen before most people had heard of them. As someone who was still a kid listening to AM radio, I found my first exposure to many bands I later would grow to love on Don Kirshner’s show.

    When Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert would come on, past my normal bedtime, through my sleepy eyes I saw this balding middle aged man with a monotone voice introducing various bands.  He seemed so different from the bands he introduced that one wondered what he was doing on the show.  I cannot help thinking of Kirshner without remembering Paul Shafer imitating him on Saturday Night Live.  But, like John Hammond (discoverer of Dylan, Aretha Franklin and many others) and Ahmat Ertegan (founder and president of Atlantic Records), Kirshner was one of those people who were important to rock and roll who looked like he should be working in an accounting office. I doubt they would put someone as modest in demeanor and appearance as Kirshner on television today, but it is a tribute to his importance that he hosted and had the show named after him even then.

    We rightfully focus on the art and the artists, and we cheer when bands like Wilco find a way to avoid getting handcuffed by record company suits. But it is worth thanking the many people who make it possible for us to enjoy the music. Don Kirshner was one of the few behind-the-scenes people we got to see because of his television show. Still, today most of the clips on YouTube from his show are edited to just show the music without Kirshner’s introduction. I understand, because the music is what is important. But it is worth taking a second to acknowledge the passing of someone who helped bring us such fun and great music who is now introducing many of the same bands in heaven. Thanks Mr. Kirshner.

    Image via YouTube. Do you remember Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert? Leave a comment.

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    Do You Miss CD Stores?

    CD Store Going Out of Business SaleI recently drove to the only remaining CD store within reasonable driving distance of where I live. It is an FYE chain CD and video store. The selection was never great, and most items were overpriced. But it was the last remaining CD store for me after the Tower Records stores closed down a few years ago.

    I would go to the FYE store occasionally to browse.  And over the years there were a few CDs I wanted to get on the first day out, so I would take the drive to this store.

    Today, when I stopped at the store, it was adorned by a large “Going Out of Business” sign. I was so heartbroken I could not even take advantage of the 50% off sale.

    It is odd to despair about the demise of a commercial enterprise.  I am sad even though the cause of the demise, the Internet, has played an important role in helping me discover new music that I might never have found on my own in the record stores. But I cannot help feeling the loss from the closing of the CD/Record stores.

    Today, I purchased Two Men with the Blues by Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis. I still remember the first three CDs I bought when the format was new. They were Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run.

    Before that, I remember as a child saving my money to buy 45 rpm records at a small-town GC Murphy five-and-dime store to play on my portable record player. In college, I haunted the record stores on Coventry Road in Cleveland, discovering European recordings and bootleg LPs. As I moved around as an adult, there were always record and CD stores that were often open late at night where one could find new discoveries, old friends, or comfort from sadness, heartbreak, or loneliness.

    FYE Going Out of Business SaleIn the late 1990s, I remember the thrill of discovering I could make my own CDs from selected songs off my other CDs. And then of course came the iPod and other music players, and everything changed.

    I have a 160GB iPod that lets me carry around my entire music collection.  In my youth, I dreamed of being able to do that when I used to take long drives to visit my family in college and later. Instead, during those drives I would have to select the tapes or CDs that would fit in a case to take with me.

    One loss from the iPod and computerized music, besides sound quality, is that I rarely listen to a single album repeatedly any more. There’s too much convenience to go to the next album, the next song, or shuffle play.

    There are so many CDs where I listened to them repeatedly before falling in love with them.  So I wonder how much music I have lost as the CDs got buried in my digital collection.

    For example, last month I read about a CD that sounded good.  I downloaded it from Amazon, put it on my iPod, and then forgot the name of the band and album. So, this potential new discovery sits buried somewhere on my iPod, waiting to be found again when I hear one of the songs on shuffle play. Perhaps I’ll never hear the album in its entirety once. That would never have happened in the old days of physical CDs.

    One remaining remnant of the past is that my car stereo does not connect directly to my iPod.  So I do listen to CDs in my car.

    But this summer, due to decreasing space in my small New York apartment, I moved my CDs to vinyl sleeves and little suitcases where they no longer sit out where I can grab them easily. My home stereo CD player died a few years ago and I have not replaced it, instead opting to play my iPod through the stereo.

    So today’s purchase will be played in my car and through my iPod.  But the CD will probably never be played on a CD player in my home.

    Willie Nelson Wynton Marsalis: Two Men with the Blues
    My last CD store purchase ever?

    So what is my point? Things change and there are good and bad things about the new world order. It is also okay to be glad one had the chance to spend those days and nights in the record stores, and to be sad those days are gone.

    I wonder if today’s generation knows what they are missing. At least we still have the music. And book stores. For now.

    Do you miss CD/Record stores? Leave a comment.

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    Stevie Wonder’s Happy Birthday to MLK

    Martin Luther King Jr.On January 15 in 1929, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia.  Today we celebrate that birth.

    A generation has grown up with the third Monday in January being Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Thus, it may be difficult for some to understand why there was a debate about whether or not to have a day of celebration for the great man.

    The Work for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day

    A campaign for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day started not long after King’s assassination in 1968.  But the day did not become a federal holiday until 1983 when Pres. Ronald Reagan signed it into law.   Even then, some were opposed to the holiday.  Pres. Reagan initially was opposed to it, citing cost concerns.

    But the matter did not end in 1983, and it took time for some states to get on board to make it a state holiday. In the early 1990s, Arizona received much criticism for its failure to have an official paid holiday after Gov. Evan Mechan rescinded an order from the previous governor, Bruce Babbit, who had made the day a holiday.

    Eventually, Arizona recognized the day through a popular referendum (after an earlier one lost in 1990). New Hampshire was the last state to have a day named after MLK, adopting it in 1999 (the state had adopted the day as “Civil Rights Day” in 1991).  South Carolina was the last state to adopt the holiday as a paid holiday for state employees, and that occurred in 2000.

    Time marches on. Just as kids today may not understand how MLK Day was even an issue in the 1980s and 1990s, it is hard for me, born in the 1960s, to comprehend the violent discrimination that went on in the 1950s and 1960s. And I’m sure most of the kids who were alive in 1911 did not understand how people kept a race of people in slavery just fifty years earlier.

    Humans can be pretty stupid, but fortunately, a lot of times we start to figure things out, even if it takes a long time. And we still have a lot to figure out when it comes to discrimination against others.

    Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday”

    One person who does have great perception of human beings is Stevie Wonder. In 1980, when people were debating whether MLK Day should be a federal holiday, Stevie Wonder recorded a song asking why something so logical was taking so long.  He released “Happy Birthday” in 1981.

    In “Happy Birthday,” Wonder reminded people why Martin Luther King Jr. deserved a special holiday.

    The time is overdue,
    For people like me and you,
    Who know the way to truth,
    Is love and unity to all God’s children.


    It should be a great event,
    And the whole day should be spent,
    In full remembrance
    Of those who lived and died for the oneness of all people.


    So let us all begin
    We know that love can win
    Let it out don’t hold it in
    Sing it loud as you can,
    Happy birthday to you.

    So, crank it up and take some time to celebrate the birth of a great human being. Sing it loud as you can. Happy Birthday to You! And thanks.

    Bonus MLK Songs: See a discussion of 15 songs inspired by MLK.

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