Boston's "Big Three"

When watching the Red Sox game the other day I couldn't help but notice that the Boston "big three" when it comes to movie making were in attendance. Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Mark Wahlberg were all in the stands during opening day at Fenway Park. Those three hold a special place in Boston's heart. They have always made movies about Massachusetts (Good Will Hunting, The Town, The Fighter), and they never forget that they were all originally from different suburbs of Boston.

I have to admit that my personal favorite out of the three would have to be Affleck. That really has nothing to do with him as a person, because I like all three, but more because I think that it's amazing that Affleck writes, produces, and acts in his movies. Movies such as "Argo" and "The Town", Affleck  did all three of those and those movies are known as some of the best to come out in recent years. I watched "Argo" for the first time last weekend and wasn't disappointed. The story itself is remarkable, but the movie is also well made and Affleck is great as usual.

Wahlberg and Damon are no slouches either. "Ted" is a comedy phenomenon, and the fact that Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane (from Connecticut which is basically Massachusetts), decided to shoot the film in downtown Boston just adds to the humor for people from the city. Damon hasn't done as many films in Boston as Affleck and Wahlberg, but he still will always have "Good Will Hunting" to fall back on.

Maybe people in Boston care too much about the fact that Mark and Donny Wahlberg can be found court side at a Celtics game once a month, but people enjoy seeing these huge stars back home. I hope that Damon, Affleck, and Wahlberg continue to make movies in the Boston area. I think they realize that people from Boston do appreciate the fact that they return home to make these blockbusters. Hopefully 2013 leads to big things for Boston's "big three".

Good Will Hunting

 The other night I took the liberty of watching the classic "Good Will Hunting". As most of you probably know, the film follows Will Hunting, a 20 year old janitor who lives in Boston and acts like a thug, but consequently happens to be a genius. The film was written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, launching them into stardom. The film won the Academy Award that year for Best Original Screenplay, which was quite an achievement for young Ben (25) and Matt (27) and a testament to their natural talent, being that this was the first real piece they had ever written.

 The story itself is absolutely impeccable. It's one of those movies that I can watch over and over again without ever getting sick of. Damon and Affleck did such an incredible job creating a story with characters that were so multidimensional, they really help bring you in and keeps you invested in what's happening. It's astounding to me that these guys were able to write such an incredible piece at such an early age, given the stories complexity and overall genius. Good Will Hunting is a movie that will remain a classic for generations to come.

How many F**ks Do You Give?

Profanity seems to be increasingly more acceptable in the media as time goes on. The question is, does this help or hurt the final product? South Park released an episode in its fifth season that literally had a "shit-couter" that went up every time the uncensored word 'shit' was used. In total, there were 162 spoken shits, and 38 written shits, making an even 200 occurrences throughout the half hour time slot. This became one of the top ten South Park episodes that changed the world, according to a 2006 exclusive documentary. This pushed the boundaries of uncensored profanity in television, and set a new standard for producers in comedy. Now, in movies, 'shit' is a common word in any movie from PG-13 and up. 'Fuck,' however, is the more controversial word. According to a chart I found on Wikipedia, there is one movie that uses the word 824 times in its 93 minutes. This, however is a documentary about the word itself, so I don't think it should count. Second on the list, though, is a movie called Gutterballs, that uses it 625 times. Now, this is not a widely popular movie, however, if you continue down the list, you'll find some very well-known, and in some cases, award-winning movies.

For example:
Casino (398)
Goodfellas (300)
Jarhead (278)
Reservoir Dogs (269)
Pulp Fiction (265)
The Big Lebowski (260)
Boondock Saints (239)
The Departed (237)
American History X (214)
Scarface (207)
8 Mile (200)
and even Good Will Hunting (154)

The rest can be seen here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_that_most_frequently_use_the_word_%22fuck%22

As you can see, these are some very famous and successful movies that gave a lot of fucks (mostly gangster movies). But, in contrast to this, I skipped over quite a few movies that were far less successful, and that you've probably never even heard of. So, the moral of the story is that if you're going to fuck a movie, make sure you fuck it well. Back to my question - how many fucks do you give?

Paranoid Park

One of my favorite director’s is Gus Van Sant. Many people know him for his films like Good Will Hunting and Milk, but the one that I can watch over and over again is Paranoid Park. The movie is based off of the novel written by Blake Nelson. 

The film takes place in Portland, Oregon and the soundtrack stays authentic to it’s location. A lot of the soundtrack is Elliott Smith who is one of my favorite musicians of all time. He gained most of his popularity from Portland and played a big role in the music scene there. Since the movie doesn’t have a lot of dialogue, the soundtrack was crucial in the movie. Gus Van Sant has used Elliott Smith’s music in his past films as well, where his song Miss Misery was nominated for an oscar for Good Will Hunting.

Along with Elliott Smith’s music, Van Sant used a varitey of French composers and other artists to make complicated music for the scenes of skateboarding. The music made the skateboarding seem almost dreamlike and put it in another light. This movie is an example of how important sound can be. 

I also enjoyed his cinematography style. As seen in his his past films, Gus Van Sant used very long shots and uses different speeds through out the movie. He slows down the scene at major points in the plot. He also uses very soft lighting which gives the film a very eerie feeling which goes along well with the plot.

The movie is about a young skateboarder who accidentally kills a security guard while goofing off on a train one night. The film is about his guilt and how he deals with the horrible mistake. Paranoid Park is more focused on the cinematography and skateboarding rather then the plot itself. I love this movie and it will always be one of my favorites.