Easy Rider

"They'll talk to ya and talk to ya and talk to ya about individual freedom. But they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em."

Easy Rider follows two hippie type 'dudes' as they go across America to New Orleans for Mardi Gras.

Though I enjoyed this film, I can't help feeling it swung and missed. It goes quite nicely for probably the first hour, maybe a little more, but after that it begins it's decline to a relatively weak ending that doesn't pack the punch it intended. I feel this film will improve upon multiple viewings, it's an easy film to watch, it's short, so I think that's relatively imminent. But I can't help feeling disappointed about what came out. Maybe it's just not what I expected, or wanted?

The main problem this film had from the beginning is the amateur editing. I think it's fair to say it was terrible. I'm not just talking about the annoying 'flash transition' it had several times where instead of cutting to the next scene, it would flicker and flash between the end of the current scene and the beginning of the next. It just seemed like they were trying to being stylistic, but it just felt to me, pointless, annoying and quite amateur. Not only that, just sometimes the cutting was just plain bad, in one particularly scene that is a crucial turning point, it sort is disorientating. I didn't know if it was a dream, or not. It wasn't intended that way, it was just jumping around and not making sense. Another problem I had with the particular scene is just how it doesn't add up, it's sort of just forces itself onto you. The same kind of goes with the ending - weak. There is one cut that also bothered me, which isn't too big, but it's just an example of some of the poor cutting, where it cut to the top of a bridge as well as changing song in the middle of a song. The cut was done poorly, mainly because of how the music transitions.

The film seems to build towards Mardi Gras & freedom of sorts. Once it gets to Mardi Gras it practically does nothing, they're at the Mardi Gras 'celebration' for about a minute, that is all you get of it. The whole American Dream/Freedom aspect is also gone about in a weak way, I don't know how to explain it other than to say, it talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk.

The first hour is great, no doubt, it's enjoyable and fun, very relaxing and mellow. This is also supposedly one of the first films to use popular music from the time as the soundtrack, all the songs are great 60's music. The characters are all great, the acting is all great. Dennis Hopper & Peter Fonda certainly do a fine job holding their own and whatnot, but I think Jack Nicholson was probably the best in the film, even though he wasn't in the film too long, he was certainly great, had a sort of enigmatic feeling to his presence.

Though I have panned this film, I did enjoy the film, the first hour keeps this film standing tall, and elements of the last half hour, among other things. I've heard this was intended to be double the length at around three hours? If so, I'd be interested in seeing that version as it might bring to the table exactly what I feel it needed. A well worth while film nonetheless.

My opinion on some of Daniel Day-Lewis' films

Daniel Day-Lewis seems to fly under the radar, sure with his latest release, There Will Be Blood he garnered a lot of wide acclaim, but he is easily forgotten, I guess that's because he's an actor, not a star. Since the mid-to-late eighties he has consistently performed extraordinarily. I watched There Will Be Blood in the cinema when it came out, and after being so excited, I felt quite disappointed, it was good, but not the masterpiece I was expecting. Nonetheless, Daniel Day-Lewis' phenomenal performance really stood out. Before then, I had only seen him in Martin Scorsese's, Gangs of New York, like usual, a great performance. Since There Will Be Blood came out on dvd I've really been meaning to check it out again with lower expectations and a better knowledge of what to expect. But I've also decided to check out some of his other films, well, at least most of them seeing as he seems to have an incredible track-record. I wanted to talk solely on his performance in each of the films, but I'll just talk about the films themselves.

For those who don't know Daniel Day-Lewis is a method actor, and method acting has a long history of creating some extremely good performances, (basically any early DeNiro film), but sometimes actors can take it very extremely and it can leave quite an emotional impact on them (RIP Heath Ledger). Daniel Day-Lewis has described finishing up a film as a terrible sadness because he doesn't just 'act' or pretend to be someone, he transforms and really falls into the characters he portrays, so saying goodbye to a part of him is obviously quite difficult.

The great thing about Daniel Day-Lewis is that from the beginning of his career he did the films he wanted to do, not just the ones that would benefit him the most and make him a star. When watching a Day-Lewis film you are guaranteed to see him give a great performance, even if the film itself isn't great or 'not your type'. Despite that, that high quality track record of his probably won't last, a lot of the best actors that stay infront of the screen slowly worsen, not so much their acting ability just acting seems to just become a job, obviously not always, but a lot of the time (e.g. DeNiro & Pacino).




In the Name of the Father

"You're very good at the English, aren't you? You see, I don't understand your language. "Justice." "Mercy." "Clemency." I literally don't understand what those words mean"

The film opens with a building being exploded, then cuts to Northern Ireland, narrated by the main character, in a way that he is actually talking to someone. Gerry isn't too popular where he is from, because he steals from people which obviously causes problems. The IRA are really getting fed up with him. In one of the first scenes, Gerry is on top of a building pretending to play the guitar with a stick, paranoid British soldiers below mistake the stick for a sniper rifle, they shoot at him, Gerry & his friends flee, being chased down by several soldiers and even people in military vehincles, all the action & commotion stirs up a problem, and a riot breaks out. The IRA take Gerry and his mate aside to try and scare them to their senses by threatening them. Gerry's father arrives and pleads they be set free. Not long after Gerry gets a ferry to London , his father hoping he will do something with his life. On the ferry Gerry meets a mate (whos name I've forgotten) of his, once they're in London they go to a mate of Gerry's to live. Gerry isn't interested in an honest living, he went to London for "free sex & dope", the people he moves in with are a bunch of Hippies, obviously the perfect place for him to get "free sex & dope". Gerry & his friend from the ferry have a problem at the place they live at and leave, they meet a homeless man, steal from a prostitute and Gerry goes home to Northern Ireland with some money. Little does he know that he is the prime suspect in the bombing of a pub which caused several people to die.

Daniel Day-Lewis plays Gerry, a naive and young man, who's got a poor attitude, and is far from being the perfect person. There are several scenes that really stand out in my mind that showcases Day-Lewis' unbelievable talent, my favourite is the one where he is talking to his father after he is sentenced, a very emotional scene, very unforgettable. The first half of the film is definitely the strongest as a whole, but also performance-wise. Because it seems to become more of a typical film rather than an honest realistic portrayal of what happened once he's in prison. There is not a weak scene with Daniel Day-Lewis, the dude is fantastic. For this film, he stayed in solitary confinement at an empty prison where he got crew members to verbally abuse him for a few days, doing such extreme preparation makes it seem almost impossible to not give a high quality performance.



My Left Foot

"All is nothing, therefore nothing must end."

Daniel Day-Lewis plays as Christy Brown, a man who has cerebral palsy, his left foot is his only fully functional limb. From a young age it was obvious Christy wasn't the "useless cripple" people thought he was. Christy wrote the book in which this film is an adaption of (but also includes the book being released), the film chronicles his life, from a boy to a man. Day-Lewis did an absolute outstanding and perfect performance. Very realistic and you really can see the frustration no doubt the real Christy had to go through in trying to communicated with people as speaking was quite difficult for him. As usual Daniel Day-Lewis completely transforms himself, he no longer really is Daniel Day-Lewis, he is almost unrecognizable. Day-Lewis has everything from subtle facial ticks and twitches to the difficult speech impediment perfected. If any lesser actor played Christy, this film probably would of sunk or at least have been ineffective and weak, as the film itself has its fair share of flaws, nothing that will really hinder any enjoyment, it may just prevent it from being more than "pretty good".



The Last of the Mohicans

"My father's people say that at the birth of the sun and of his brother the moon, their mother died. So the sun gave to the earth her body, from which was to spring all life. And he drew forth from her breast the stars, and the stars he threw into the night sky to remind him of her soul."

The first time I saw this film I didn't fully pay attention, it was in a class, a class that liked to talk and commentate while watching films... So I thought I'd watch it again. Now for what this is it's quite general, it covers enough, it has great action scenes but general characters. The main character, Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis) is your typical hero, he's strong, brave, intelligent, and has a very good moral. Though Day-Lewis' performance wasn't weak, the character was. Daniel Day-Lewis managed to salvage quality and depth from this rather general character. One of the 'baddies', Major Duncan Heyward is very typical beginning to end which I found quite disappointing. The best performance though was by Wes Studi who played the main 'baddie' Magua, his character was very fascinating.

Though I've mostly panned the film, it is actually pretty good, the plot is decent (could be improved, but it is an adaption), the performances are great, the action is intense and the music is perfect. The music in the film was probably the best aspect of the film, alongside it's fantastic cinematography. The last 30 minutes or so of the film certainly won't disappoint also, they were by far the best moments in the entire film, as you are practically on the edge of your seat, and thats when these general characters have a little more colour added and become more interested, though it happens in mostly typical ways..



There Will Be Blood

"One night I'm gonna come to you, inside of your house, wherever you're sleeping, and I'm gonna cut your throat."

Back when this first came out I was extremely excited to see it, having heard all the praise I saw it the weekend it came out. Though I enjoyed it, it didn't hit me as much of a 'masterpiece' as everyone had dubbed it as, I acknowledged Day-Lewis' performance as pretty good (not near the amount of praise he deserves). I also misinterpreted certain things. So, having finally seen it again, I must say it is indeed a masterpiece. Daniel Day-Lewis gives undoubtedly his best performance as Daniel Plainview, 'an oil man'. Plainview is very complicated, certainly not as 2D as other characters Day-Lewis has played, though 2D isn't really a bad thing, it's just that after There Will Be Blood, you won't have exactly worked everything out about Daniel Plainview, though with My Left Foot or In the Name of the Father, you know each of the characters pretty well.

It's not too often the main character in a drama will essentially be the 'baddie'. It doesn't take long for you to know Daniel is a cruel, and heartless man with some very serious problems which probably root back to his father, as they apparently don't get on. With the problems Daniel has and his mental descent into a far darker zone can only be of some early childhood experience, or maybe he was just born the way he is. Despite his macabre and cruel persona, Daniel is also desperate to relate with someone. To have someone in his image or something of the like, and that's why he loves his son wholeheartedly, but also how he gets along with Henry.

Paul-Thomas Anderson is one of the best modern directors having made Punch-Drunk Love, Boogie Nights & Magnolia, three great films. In my eyes he is shaping up to be the 'next' Scorsese, or Coppola, or even Kubrick, that high caliber of talent. In Punch-Drunk he managed to salvage out a good performance from Sandler, who is usually quite a dry actor playing the same role in every film, though there is a level of that going on in Punch-Drunk, he is more deep and interesting. In Boogie Nights he made a film on the 70/80's porn industry, something that is almost always portrayed in a joke of a way. Boogie Nights is quite a serious film, though PTA can't help but put in some humor. In Magnolia he managed to get some high quality performances from some of the actors, particularly Tom Cruise, who has never really hit me as much of a high quality drama actor (though I don't think he is necessarily bad either). Now, obviously he did a lot more in those films, but those are just what I liked about them (among a lot more things). Now finally, with There Will Be Blood, he has managed to make his best film, a modern masterpiece, having an almost flawless film with few faults, most of which weren't his, and can be easily be forgotten in the abyss that is this great film. Daniel Day-Lewis gave his undoubtedly best performance in this film, not only was it the best of his career, or of the year, but it is one of the best performances in film history.

In the Name of the Father: 3.5/5
My Left Foot: 3/5
Last of the Mohicans: 3/5
There Will be Blood: 4.5/5

I planned on also watching and writing something up about Gangs of New York but because I actually watched and wrote these up a couple of weeks ago and I never got round to doing it.