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Written & directed by Neil LaBute. 1997.

Neil LaBute fascinates me, if for no other reasons than we share alma mater and spent time in the same programs (several years apart of course, and uh, he graduated, I didn’t) at Brigham Young University. I don’t know if sharing that kind of background makes me predisposed to like his work (God knows it doesn’t for Jon Heder or Jared Hess), but I’m sure it informs my understanding of his work to a degree.

I’m trying not to include a lot of films that I’ve only seen once on this list, but my sole viewing of this film several months back was harrowing and stomach-churning. Watching the anonymous corridors of a bland office building reveal a grotesque field of sexual bloodsport left a distinct and potent impression on me.

Aaron Eckhart looms large in this movie as the perfectly-named Chad, an almost impossibly good-looking figure whose duplicity, sleaze, and malice are all readily apparent, but like Matt Malloy’s pathetic, simpering Howard, orienting your alliances against him is practically counter-intuitive. Stacy Edwards gives a complementary, heartbreaking performance. Her naked vulnerability stands in stark contrast to the machinations of both Chad and Howard.

LaBute’s background is in theater. That background is evident in each of his films that I’ve seen, including this, his first. His largely objective camera unflinchingly observes people in their ugliest behaviors, a well-executed technique that he has carried through to the present in his most recent film, this year’s unfortunately written-off Lakeview Terrace.

The film presents a vulgar and horrific exploration of the unfairness of natural and calculated advantage. In this world, the only ones left unbroken are those naturally strong beings whose self-interest surpasses all.

Directed by Kevin Lima. Written by Jymn Magon, Chris Matheson, Brian Pimental. 1995.

A Goofy Movie has terribly inauspicious roots. Goof Troop was one of the more frivolous, slightly embarrassing products of the “Disney Afternoon” block of cartoons in the early nineties. It mashed up Goofy slapstick with wacky sitcom plot rehashes borrowed from The Flintstones and contemporary family prime time shtick, with heavy reliance on groan-inducing, easy stereotypical jokes (Pegleg Pete as a grimy used car salesman… get it?). Admittedly, the sexual tension between Goofy and Pete’s wife, Peg was pretty eyebrow-raising.

That’s beside the point, though, because even if Goof Troop wasn’t much to write home about, it spawned this wonderful film. Courtesy of a binge I went on while detained at home for a month with illness in high school, it will probably always be the film I’ve seen the most. Still today, I can pop it in for its smooth 78 minute runtime, like a smart, ten-track pop album that moves swiftly, sweetly, and doesn’t wear out its welcome.

The film excels as a teenage movie and easily one of the most enjoyable musicals–animated or otherwise–in the last twenty years. Its broad depictions of the teenage experience are much easier to buy in the naturally hyperbolic style of the film’s animation. Seriously, who better to illustrate the classic well-meaning-but-thoroughly-embarrassing-stuck-in-the-past dad than Goofy? A Goofy Movie takes all its basic, tried-and-true formula elements and makes them sing.

Directed by Andrew Lau & Alan Mak. Written by Alan Mak & Felix Chong. 2002.

This film is slick. If features slick commercial stars that have ruled the Hong Kong box office for about two decades, ageless Andy Lau and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai. It features a slick directing team that has brought us such slick films as the Young & Dangerous series. It’s got Chris Doyle’s slick and beautiful cinematography. It’s got a slick, tightly written script. And it’s got a slick, misleading American DVD cover. Damn, this film’s slick.

It’s very likely you’ve seen Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, which was a pretty faithful remake of this film. However, I’d happily contend that what that film does, this film does pithier, with more resonance (compare the emotional weight of Sheen’s disposition to that of Wong’s), and, yes, slicker. It’s interesting to watch both films deal with the same plot elements and introduce a lot of similar themes, but to read entirely different in its view on those themes. Strangely, the Hong Kong incarnation comes off as much bleaker, not indulging in such luxuries as moral justice. That this is the territory of a wildly successful (speaking financially, now) motion picture is a nice thematic callback to the heroic bloodshed films of John Woo (a scene atop a roof is even quoted directly from Hard Boiled, giving Little Tony much the same role) of old, with high tension and mistrust taking the place of the high octane gun battles.

The individual elements of filmmaking really all come together for this one to sing. Doyle’s cinematography is claustrophobic and desolate at once. I’ve never seen the Lau and Mak team so on their game. There are several action pieces (particularly the warehouse scene) that rank with the best ever shot.

Taking inspiration from the zeal of my friend William, I have decided to make this a daily content blog. I kind of began the test to see if such quantity was within my reach back on September 18th, and I haven’t missed a day yet (and even made–gasp!–two posts on the same day). The blog will continue its format as a melange menage of comics, short essays, stories, and whatever else pops into my head. You’ll probably see some more content that smells of “filler,” but this is in part an exercise that is intended to keep my mind working in new and inventive ways.

One other thing I’ll be doing is blogging about my top 100 films list. A little less than a year ago, I began chronicling this list over at Match Cut, the film discussion forum I frequent. The project was inadvertently put on an indefinite hiatus approximately seven months ago, halting at entry number 98. At the rate I go, I don’t expect I’ll finish the list in the next year. However, hopefully with this new self-prescribed pressure of producing something new every day, I’ll be encouraged to renew the list. Each entry will include a brief write-up, in varying formats and perspectives.

First one coming up…