Horror at Mushnik’s
Shasta Gragg
Unexpected total eclipses, alien life invading Earth with world domination planned, feasts of human blood! Sounds like a terrifying plot for a horror movie but it isn’t. Instead of hiding your eyes, you’ll be laughing out loud as you watch the great musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Frank Oz. Starring Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene, Little Shop of Horrors, with its dark humor and retro feel, has achieved the status of a cult classic.
Rick Moranis plays discomfited, blundering Seymour Krelborn, an inept worker at Mushnik’s floral shop. Mr. Mushnik, played by Vincent Gardenia, took Seymour in as a young man from an orphanage to work in his shop and berates Seymour every time an opportunity presents himself. Also working in the shop is Audrey, played by Ellen Greene. Audrey is a blonde bimbo with low self esteem, a dentist boyfriend (Steve Martin) who happens to be a semi-sadist, and a secret crush on Seymour.
During an unexpected total eclipse of the sun, Seymour finds a strange and interesting plant in a Chinese floral shop in the wholesale floral district. He takes the plant to Mushnik’s basement but it isn’t thriving. After Mushnik threatens to close the shop because of no business, Audrey, always Seymour’s champion, talks Mushnik into putting the strange and interesting plant in the front window to bring in business. The idea proves an instant success and business begins booming.
As Seymour tries to nurse the plant, who he names Audrey II, he pricks his finger on a rose thorn and discovers that the plant craves human blood. Seymour begins feeding Audrey II from his cut fingers and the plant begins to thrive, growing bigger and bigger every day. Audrey II becomes something of a sensation, appearing in news stories and on the radio, earning Seymour some fame. Things turn ominous as Audrey II’s appetite grows bigger and people begin disappearing.
Rick Moranis does a wonderful job as endearing, clumsy Seymour. Most already know that he’s a talented actor and a great comedian but they’ll be surprised at his singing ability in this film. He has a strong, clear voice, perfectly suited for musicals. In my opinion, this is one of the best roles I’ve seen him perform.
Ellen Greene brings so much to the role of Audrey. She was the actress that played the role in the Off-Broadway production. She’s so perfect for this part that it seems as if the role were written with her in mind. Her ditzy intellect only brings charm to her kindness and gentleness as she constantly defends and tries to protect those around her. Her singing parts are amazing. Her voice is so powerful, particularly for such a small girl. Everyone that sees this film will walk away with affection and care for Audrey.
Steve Martin, though his role is small, is perfect for the devilishly funny sadistic dentist that happens to be dating Audrey. He beats up on her and demeans her but by the end of the film, he gets what he deserves. The funniest scene in the movie is when Bill Murray comes in as a patient to his office to get off on the pain from dental work. The more extreme Martin works to hurt him, the more he enjoys what is happening.
Levi Stubbs, the lead singer from the Four Tops, is incredible as the voice of Audrey II. Other talent that appears in the film includes a Greek Chorus with Tisha Campbell, and bit parts by John Candy and John Belushi. The film is directed by the renowned Frank Oz.
I recommend this film for anyone that enjoys comedies as well as musicals. While not for young children, all other ages will immensely enjoy this film. It’s broad appeal will keep viewers coming back to see this film again and again.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
The Bicycle Thief (film journal)
The Bicycle Thief (De Sica, 1949)
The Bicycle Thief is an Italian Neorealism film about Post WWII Italy. It tells the story of Antonio Ricci, played by Lamberto Maggiorani, and his struggle to pull himself and his family out of poverty (IMBD). Ricci, like thousands of others in Rome in the late 40's, needs work and finds a job hanging posters. Having a bicycle is crucial to keeping this job. Because he pawnded his bicycle to feed his family, his wife, Maria, must hock the sheets to get the money to retrieve the bicycle. Tragically, on his very first day, the bicycle is stolen, delivering a brutal blow to his family's already precarious position. The film tells the story of Ricci's hunt for the bicycle, the desperation of what it represents to his family's well-being, and the hard tests one is faced with while trying to beat poverty when life seems more an obstacle than anything else. Though this isn't a typical Hollywood film with an entertaining plot, contrived set, and professional actors, The Bicycle Thief is a heart-breaking tale of survival that applies to our current society, earning a spot as a masterpiece in cinematic history.
As the perfect example of Italian Neorealism, The Bicycle Thief has many jarring differences to the average Hollywood narrative. One glaring difference is the lack of glamour seen in Hollywood films. This film is set in the poorest tenements in Rome. This isn't the tourist Italy filled with fashion and art and food. This is poverty - dirty, gritty, and real. Another thing that sets this film apart from Hollywood is that there are no professional actors in it (Ebert). The stunning roles we see on the screen are remarkable in that they're played by real people that were cast off the street. This creates an amazing sense of real emotion because the people in this film have lived this poverty and desperation. A great example is the scene where Ricci watches a game with his son, Bruno, near the end of the film. Ricci breaks down in tears because he doesn't know what he can do to save his family. This scene is so powerfully felt that I can't imagine many dry eyes have seen it.
Another theme of American classical films is that if you work hard and live a moral life, then good things will happen to you. You'll achieve your dreams. However, if you break the law, or live an immoral life, bad things will result. This isn't seen in The Bicycle Thief. There isn't a sense of justice for the people in this film. When Ricci does catch the thief that took his bicycle, the police come but don't believe him. The force him to leave. Justice is not carried out, and the immoral thief is rewarded by getting to keep the bicycle.
Finally, we come to closure. In Hollywood films, the plot nicely wraps itself up by the end of the film, leaving us with a sense of closure and few, if any, loose ends. The Bicycle Thief doesn't give us a sense of closure at all. Rather, it leaves us with questions and a sense of discomfort. The film makes a powerful political statement about the haves and the have-nots and the unequal distribution of wealth in that time. This resonates today in our current decline of socio-economic position.
This film is nothing less than a masterpiece. I will surely recommend it to any film lover I know, and I feel lucky to have had the chance to see it. The simple, powerful plot, the incredible acting, and the timeless statements about our world that if makes have earned it the honor of being voted as the most loved film of all time and I completely agree (Ebert).
References
Ebert, Roger. "The Bicycle Thief". Retrieved from
Internet Movie Data Base - IMBD. "Bicycle Thieves". Retrieved from
The Hurt Locker (film journal)
The Hurt Locker (Bigelow, 2009)
The Hurt Locker, an award winning Iraqi war film from Kathrine Bigelow, follows the story of Bravo company's explosive detonation unit. Led by Sergeant James, Sanborn and Eldridge fear for their lives under the Sergeant's seemingly reckless disregard for rules and protocol in the scary world of disarming bombs in violence-strewn Iraq. While many viewers see this film as an accurate portrayal of life as a soldier in a time of war, others have blasted the film as war propaganda and a testament to racism against the Arab world.
Racial Ideology is a set of fixed ideas or beliefs about a particular race. In The Hurt Locker, the Iraqi people are shown time and again with stereotypes encouraged to belittle them into something less than an intelligent, thinking society. From the first scene of the film, the Iraqi people come of as menacing and evil. Of course the U.S. is there fighting the rebels, but there isn't a distinction in the film separating the rebels from regular Iraqi civilians. Even the kids are not to be trusted. In one heartbreaking shot, James finds a kid the thinks to be one he earlier befriended turned into a body bomb. Sanborn dismisses any sympathy saying, "they all look the same". The very few appearances by Iraqi women in the film show them to be irrational and hysterical. In my opinion, anyone that comes away from the film isn't doing so with a good, or even fair, picture of who the Iraqi people are. This film encourages fear and ignorance and it pushes the idea of the war machine even further in our society.
Film Review: The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath
Shasta Gragg
Action, loss, heart-break, tragedy, and hope are common themes in films throughout history. When you combine all of these powerful emotions into one film, you can be sure that it will be noticed. Audiences and critics alike took notice when John Ford released The Grapes of Wrath in 1940. The book the film is based on was at the height of popularity and controversy, setting the stage for the film to capture attention across the world. Ford didn't disappoint. The Grapes of Wrath quickly became one of the most critically acclaimed films in cinematic history.
Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book by John Steinbeck, the film version of The Grapes of Wrath tells the heart-breaking odyssey of the Joad family. After being forced away from their sharecrop land that they'd farmed for over 50 years, they head west to California to look for work and a better life. Their migration is filled with uncertainty and loss. At one point they stop to fill up with gas, and the gas station attendant says to his co-worker, “Them Okies got no sense and no feeling. They ain't human. Human being wouldn't live the way they do. Human being couldn't stand to be so miserable.” Unfortunately, this is a common sentiment towards the Okies and other farmers displaced by the giant dust bowl of the plains.
Once they reach their destination, the promise land of California's fertile fruit fields, the Joad family soon realize that it may not be the land of plenty. They see absolute poverty and hunger in the working camps. They find hard-working families being harassed by authorities. In short, they find that the American Dream is a sham. That there is no promise that working hard will enable anyone to live a nice life.
The Grapes of Wrath is a political testament to the deplorable way the migrant workers in California were received and treated. It was a humanitarian crisis within our country that was mostly ignored. This film makes some very liberal points, unobtrusively encouraging audiences to question whether or not they enjoy good wages and working conditions and to think of striking and questioning their employers if they aren't being treated fairly. The film also makes references to the “Reds” and the brutal way they're stepped upon by authorities and farm owners. If you look closely throughout the film, you'll find that it showcases how unfair capitalism is to the common man. It's never explicitly spoken but the audience would have no problem finding this underneath the plight of the Joad family.
The main spoken theme of this film is the importance of family. In the beginning of the film, Tom Joad has just been released from the penitentiary. When he finds his family, he is welcomed heartily and fully. You can tell from the beginning scenes that the Joad family loves and cares for one another. They stick together to go to California, and once there, they all work together. Several times throughout the film, Ma Joad talks of the importance of keeping the family together, of getting the family through. It paints a suggestion that if a family works and fights together, then nothing can break them apart.
The Grapes of Wrath is more than the story of the Joad family. It is the story of an entire country struggling to survive and pull itself out of the Great Depression. Facing nearly insurmountable odds with unemployment, severe poverty, and hunger, many people didn't have it in them to keep fighting. The Joad family did. All in all, it's a film about hope. A hope that if a family keeps going, keeps fighting, and keeps working hard, that they will make it through.
Shasta Gragg
Action, loss, heart-break, tragedy, and hope are common themes in films throughout history. When you combine all of these powerful emotions into one film, you can be sure that it will be noticed. Audiences and critics alike took notice when John Ford released The Grapes of Wrath in 1940. The book the film is based on was at the height of popularity and controversy, setting the stage for the film to capture attention across the world. Ford didn't disappoint. The Grapes of Wrath quickly became one of the most critically acclaimed films in cinematic history.
Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book by John Steinbeck, the film version of The Grapes of Wrath tells the heart-breaking odyssey of the Joad family. After being forced away from their sharecrop land that they'd farmed for over 50 years, they head west to California to look for work and a better life. Their migration is filled with uncertainty and loss. At one point they stop to fill up with gas, and the gas station attendant says to his co-worker, “Them Okies got no sense and no feeling. They ain't human. Human being wouldn't live the way they do. Human being couldn't stand to be so miserable.” Unfortunately, this is a common sentiment towards the Okies and other farmers displaced by the giant dust bowl of the plains.
Once they reach their destination, the promise land of California's fertile fruit fields, the Joad family soon realize that it may not be the land of plenty. They see absolute poverty and hunger in the working camps. They find hard-working families being harassed by authorities. In short, they find that the American Dream is a sham. That there is no promise that working hard will enable anyone to live a nice life.
The Grapes of Wrath is a political testament to the deplorable way the migrant workers in California were received and treated. It was a humanitarian crisis within our country that was mostly ignored. This film makes some very liberal points, unobtrusively encouraging audiences to question whether or not they enjoy good wages and working conditions and to think of striking and questioning their employers if they aren't being treated fairly. The film also makes references to the “Reds” and the brutal way they're stepped upon by authorities and farm owners. If you look closely throughout the film, you'll find that it showcases how unfair capitalism is to the common man. It's never explicitly spoken but the audience would have no problem finding this underneath the plight of the Joad family.
The main spoken theme of this film is the importance of family. In the beginning of the film, Tom Joad has just been released from the penitentiary. When he finds his family, he is welcomed heartily and fully. You can tell from the beginning scenes that the Joad family loves and cares for one another. They stick together to go to California, and once there, they all work together. Several times throughout the film, Ma Joad talks of the importance of keeping the family together, of getting the family through. It paints a suggestion that if a family works and fights together, then nothing can break them apart.
The Grapes of Wrath is more than the story of the Joad family. It is the story of an entire country struggling to survive and pull itself out of the Great Depression. Facing nearly insurmountable odds with unemployment, severe poverty, and hunger, many people didn't have it in them to keep fighting. The Joad family did. All in all, it's a film about hope. A hope that if a family keeps going, keeps fighting, and keeps working hard, that they will make it through.
Blue Notes
Blue Notes
by Shasta Gragg
Thick, obscuring haze
A 1950’s jazz club
Spot lights in blue wrap a shimmer around me
Smoke wafts from a hundred cigarettes
In my hair and clothes
Blue notes.
Dangerous, delicious scent
I was a little girl
held tight in Daddy’s arms
A blue flannel shirt comforts me, still
Blue notes.
Crazy chaotic notes flow from the tenor sax- Coltrane’s refrain
I grow dizzy, intoxicated from the lack of melody
Stars burst behind my eyes
Blue notes.
In college jazz band
Open the case and lift the tenor from the velvet lining
Smoke pours out, feathers out, like cirrus clouds
I don’t feel bad for staying up late to play all those
Blue notes.
by Shasta Gragg
Thick, obscuring haze
A 1950’s jazz club
Spot lights in blue wrap a shimmer around me
Smoke wafts from a hundred cigarettes
In my hair and clothes
Blue notes.
Dangerous, delicious scent
I was a little girl
held tight in Daddy’s arms
A blue flannel shirt comforts me, still
Blue notes.
Crazy chaotic notes flow from the tenor sax- Coltrane’s refrain
I grow dizzy, intoxicated from the lack of melody
Stars burst behind my eyes
Blue notes.
In college jazz band
Open the case and lift the tenor from the velvet lining
Smoke pours out, feathers out, like cirrus clouds
I don’t feel bad for staying up late to play all those
Blue notes.
Frozen Nights
Frozen Nights
by Shasta Gragg
Walking in the night, with snow falling softly. An early snow - yellow leaves on mostly barren trees. Holding the hand of my friend, sometime lover. In my other hand, pages of sheet music. The snow - it’s so bright. It turns the pages blue. A shade light enough to see the eighth notes and treble clefs. Wind pulls my hair over my eyes. I stare through the strands at his face., our hands. I feel free. Alive. I’m eighteen.
***
Oh, it’s so cold. Just now old enough to walk the distance of four houses - from my Grandma’s to mine. It’s very dark. Wind scares me screaming through the mountains. I’m afraid of the dark but it feels grown up to be alone in this place. I’ve stepped through that wardrobe to Narnia. A wild cat, patches of fur missing, darts across the road in my path. I pretend she is a beaver, inviting me into her cozy nook for tea and cake. I feel like a fairy tale princess. I’m eight.
***
I slam the door shut behind me. Shouts are ringing in my ears. Every time it happens exactly the same way. I crunch through frozen snow, slipping when I reach the pavement. In my anger I tromp hazardously forward. The stars are bright but I can’t see them clearly. Cold wind makes my eyes water and the tears freeze on my burning cheeks. I’m hot with fury. I feel indignant, incensed. I’m thirty-one.
***
He shakes me awake. It’s 2:00 a.m. I swim up through a dream. He grins above me. “Come out,” he says. I fumble for clothes but he tosses me a robe and tells me to hurry. The witching hour, no one about. My slippers fill with slush as he drags me through the snow. The streetlight’s glare illuminates our hushed world. In the middle of the street he has written in giant letters: I LOVE YOU. My heart skips a beat. I feel unworthy. I’m twenty.
by Shasta Gragg
Walking in the night, with snow falling softly. An early snow - yellow leaves on mostly barren trees. Holding the hand of my friend, sometime lover. In my other hand, pages of sheet music. The snow - it’s so bright. It turns the pages blue. A shade light enough to see the eighth notes and treble clefs. Wind pulls my hair over my eyes. I stare through the strands at his face., our hands. I feel free. Alive. I’m eighteen.
***
Oh, it’s so cold. Just now old enough to walk the distance of four houses - from my Grandma’s to mine. It’s very dark. Wind scares me screaming through the mountains. I’m afraid of the dark but it feels grown up to be alone in this place. I’ve stepped through that wardrobe to Narnia. A wild cat, patches of fur missing, darts across the road in my path. I pretend she is a beaver, inviting me into her cozy nook for tea and cake. I feel like a fairy tale princess. I’m eight.
***
I slam the door shut behind me. Shouts are ringing in my ears. Every time it happens exactly the same way. I crunch through frozen snow, slipping when I reach the pavement. In my anger I tromp hazardously forward. The stars are bright but I can’t see them clearly. Cold wind makes my eyes water and the tears freeze on my burning cheeks. I’m hot with fury. I feel indignant, incensed. I’m thirty-one.
***
He shakes me awake. It’s 2:00 a.m. I swim up through a dream. He grins above me. “Come out,” he says. I fumble for clothes but he tosses me a robe and tells me to hurry. The witching hour, no one about. My slippers fill with slush as he drags me through the snow. The streetlight’s glare illuminates our hushed world. In the middle of the street he has written in giant letters: I LOVE YOU. My heart skips a beat. I feel unworthy. I’m twenty.
The Weddington
The Weddington Theatre
by Shasta Gragg
Established 1910
Gone With The Wind and Love Story and ET. Blue and green greek key shag carpets floors and walls. King Kong - human sized - guards the room for ladies. Lobby will forever smell of buttered popcorn.
Empty for decades. A flash flood drowns a little boy under the stage.
Opens later for Freaky Fridays, a weekly concert series. A reason for bored small town teens to gather, attempt to be cool. The concerts, local groups going nowhere, slowly earn the labels boring, lame. Freaky Fridays fades away.
An ambitious pastor, filled with spirit fire, sees the stage, aisles of seats, projector and storage rooms. Spirit guy plants a church. Popular in downtown poverty. Speaking in tongues, falling on the floor. A girl is covered by the blood in full water submersion. A brother and sister’s miracle becomes a devastation when their father’s imminent death comes to fruition. Crushed faith leads to church splitting fights and controversies are all that appears abundant.
Another pastor, not so fire filled. A people pleaser in polo shirts and khakis. Tame music and dry sermons pull a different congregation. Outreach to the poor that called this home. A guy and a girl kiss, say I do in front of sixty of their friends and family. Baby dedication.
City grows bigger, wider. Only so much room in the narrow valley. A letter to the board of trustees, apologetic. We need the space, government buildings will be here. Find somewhere, anywhere, within two weeks.
Established 1910. Demolished 2010.
by Shasta Gragg
Established 1910
Gone With The Wind and Love Story and ET. Blue and green greek key shag carpets floors and walls. King Kong - human sized - guards the room for ladies. Lobby will forever smell of buttered popcorn.
Empty for decades. A flash flood drowns a little boy under the stage.
Opens later for Freaky Fridays, a weekly concert series. A reason for bored small town teens to gather, attempt to be cool. The concerts, local groups going nowhere, slowly earn the labels boring, lame. Freaky Fridays fades away.
An ambitious pastor, filled with spirit fire, sees the stage, aisles of seats, projector and storage rooms. Spirit guy plants a church. Popular in downtown poverty. Speaking in tongues, falling on the floor. A girl is covered by the blood in full water submersion. A brother and sister’s miracle becomes a devastation when their father’s imminent death comes to fruition. Crushed faith leads to church splitting fights and controversies are all that appears abundant.
Another pastor, not so fire filled. A people pleaser in polo shirts and khakis. Tame music and dry sermons pull a different congregation. Outreach to the poor that called this home. A guy and a girl kiss, say I do in front of sixty of their friends and family. Baby dedication.
City grows bigger, wider. Only so much room in the narrow valley. A letter to the board of trustees, apologetic. We need the space, government buildings will be here. Find somewhere, anywhere, within two weeks.
Established 1910. Demolished 2010.
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