FilmJerk Favorites

A group of unique directors and the essential works that you've got to see.

||| John Ford |||
John Ford

One of the art form's grand masters of all time, Ford is responsible for influencing the seminal directors of generation after generation. Strongly associated with the impressive body of work created over a lifetime with collaborator John Wayne, it is nearly impossible to choose just three… but here it goes.

This powerful winner of the Best Picture Academy Award is set in Wales at the turn of the 19th century, and tells the story of a family of miners, whose lives are filled with danger and repression. The film is beautifully crafted, lovingly depicting the gut wrenching sacrifices and light-hearted moments that are elemental to family life, making this film a true representation of the craft that is unmistakably John Ford.

This film is told in flashback as James Stewart, after a long absence, returns home for the funeral of a friend who saved his life from a sadistic outlaw. This classic covers every essential element required to qualify as a western epic from unlikely friends to the girl who comes between them, to the enemy they both despise, but handle with extremely different approaches, to Fords signature cast of supporting characters, all combine to make this a staple for every fan of this uniquely American genre.

This romantic comedy seen through the eyes of John Ford has John Wayne ( an American-raised boxer) go to Ireland to the village of his birth, fall for feisty Maureen O'Hara, and fight with town ruffian Victor McLaglen in one of the all time classic screen brawls. This is an exceptionally fine romantic movie that with Ford’s capable bravado manages to be a film that any man’s man can openly enjoy.

Recommended by CarrieSpecht

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Management

By EdwardHavens

May 14th, 2009

To be completely honest, I was ready to walk out of the new Jennifer Aniston movie "Management" after ten minutes. I am glad I stuck with it through the end.

Management

What's amazing about playwright Stephen Belber's debut as a film director is how rare a film it truly is. Modern movie stars like Jennifer Aniston rarely allow themselves to play... well, let's face it, a loser... as she find salvation in... well, let's face it, another loser... no matter how much the odds were stacked against them ever finding each other in the first place. It helps that Aniston's co-star here is Steve Zahn, without exception the best sad sack actor working today.

Okay, maybe loser is too harsh a word to describe Aniston's character, Sue Claussen. A thirtysomething who is far too settled in to her comfort zone, Sue travels the country selling mass-produced works of art to places where the masses might finds themselves, like an office or a motel. It is on one of these trips, to Kingman Arizona, where Sue meets Mike Cranshaw (Zahn), when she checks in to the motel his parents own. Mike, who works as the night manager and lives at the motel in one of the rooms, set up exactly like what one would expect from an aimless thirtysomething guy living in a motel in the middle of nowhere. But in the pretty Sue, Mike has finally found a purpose, something to strive for. Not that he knows exactly what to do. Even when he gets himself invited in to her room, first with a lousy bottle of wine and then with a less lousy bottle of champagne, "compliments of management," Mike's no sure what he wants from Sue, even when she prompts him. Does he want to have sex? No, not really. How about touch her butt? He accepts the offer, and lays his palm on he backside, before she hustles him out of the room.

Is Sue embarrassed by this? She doesn't seem to be, although she does shun Mike the next morning when she encounters him at the breakfast buffet just before she checks out. Yet, in the first of a series of inexplicable circumstances that seem to only exist because we have no story if it doesn't happen, Sue returns to the motel after leaving, boinking Mike in the motel laundry room before taking off again. Mike, now fully in love, tracks Sue down to her workplace in Maryland, and purchases a one-way plane ticket to woo her off her feet.

Being a romantic comedy, it's just not that easy, especially considering we're barely a third into the movie at this point. So round and round we go. She spends a night and a day with Mike before sending him back to Arizona on the bus, only to confuse him more when she returns to the motel a few months later and spending more time with him, only to shun him again when he tracks her down to Aberdeen, Washington after she quits her job and moves in with her ex-boyfriend Jango (Woody Harrelson), an ex-punker who has become a successful yogurt mogul, a pas de deux that continues until the otherwise predictable ending.

Now, I know reading up to this point sounds like I really hated the film. An unsure filmmaker, Belber's constant tonal shifts and dubious story points can make for a jarring experience. So why am I so high on the film? It all comes down to the performers. Zahn, whose character seems to be living life on autopilot at first, plays Mike exactly as you would expect from him, only to slowly find subtle changes that work for the character while remaining true to the core values that make Mike himself. Margo Martindale and Fred Ward, as Mike's parents, bring much more to their characters than their screen time might normally allow. And James Liao, as Mike's new friend in Aberdeen, brings a controlled manic energy that strangely brightens up every scene he's in.

But it is Ms. Aniston (who is also one of the producers) who owns the film. More Justine from "The Good Girl" than Rachel Green or any of the Green-like clones during the late 1990s "I Wanna Be the Next Meg Ryan" phase of her career, Sue is a real person, one unsure of what the future is and doing everything to make sure whatever comes down the pike doesn't upset her balance. While the situations Sue might find herself in sometimes ring false, Aniston's measured performance keeps the film from spinning too far out of control.

Let's just hope filmmakers continue to find compelling work for her, now that she's finally becoming less of a celebrity and more of a good actress.

My rating: B+