- Joined
- Jul 3, 1997
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- 66,971
- Real Name
- Ronald Epstein
Week Ending February 27, 2004
This week I had a pleasure of discovering two new
films that I can affectionately call an old and new
favorite. Put them both at the top of your "must see"
list.
Matchstick Men
Pygmies!
Meet Roy Waller (Nicholas Cage), who next to
Nicholson's character in As Good As It Gets
may be one of the most obsessive/compulsive persons
you have yet to see on screen. Despite his flaws,
Waller happens to be one of the best operating grifters
around. By day he and his protégé Frank Mercer
(Sam Rockwell) con money from the rich, the old,
and the lonely. They are the best at what they do,
and they are about to make a big score with a
shady businessman (Bruce McGill).
But a wrench suddenly gets thrown into their plan
with the sudden appearance of Angela (Alison Lohman),
Roy's 14-year-old daughter out of his broken marriage
that he has never met. Out of frustration of her
rocky relationship with her mother, Angela is intent
on staying in her father's apartment. It's not long,
however, before she becomes a third wheel in Roy
and Frank's money-laundering scheme.
I don't want to say too much about this film because
it is vital that you know very little about it going
in. I will say that though I wasn't particularly
"conned" into this story, I found it to be highly
entertaining based on the performance by Nicholas
Cage and the stylish storytelling by the film's
director, Ridley Scott.
Ridley Scott is one of my all-time favorite
directors. The reason why I enjoy him so much is
because he is a visual director. The man
has total grasp upon his cinematography and with
every Ridley Scott release I find myself less
involved with what is going on in the story as
opposed to how the director is showing it. In
Matchstick Men, Ridley Scott once again
sets a particular mood to his film with some
terrific visuals enhanced with old Sinatra tunes
and a jazzy score by Hans Zimmer. I wish I had
ordered the CD set instead of just the DVD, as I
really loved the music.
The transfer on this film is gorgeous, particularly
in the outdoor shots of Waller's backyard and pool.
There's so much clarity within this transfer that it
almost sometimes pushes the boundaries of High-Def.
Since the film is mostly dialogue-driven, there
wasn't much activity from the surround channels.
Audio quality is excellent, particularly with the
presentation of dialogue in the center channel that
came across quite crisp.
Matchstick Men is just plain fun. It's
one of those cool, hip movies that is the perfect
vehicle for its star, Nicholas Cage. In fact, I
would rate this as his best effort to date (with
Adaptation as a close second).
Do what you can to rent this film. Worthy of a
blind purchase in my opinion.
The Man who shot Liberty Valance
So, I'm a little late reviewing this film. Okay, to
be more precise, I'm three years late -- but this is
a film I finally had an opportunity to watch for the
very first time, and I feel so strongly about it that
I wanted to make certain it ended up in everyone's
collection.
It was actually a co-worker who knew I was
discovering great westerns that urged me to take
a look at perhaps the greatest western of them all.
And how would it not be when you combine the talents
of John Wayne, James Stewart and Lee Marvin all under
the direction of the legendary John Ford. I mean,
Ford practically invented the western.
Told mostly through flashback, this is the story
of Ransom Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart) a city lawyer
who arrives in the small town of Shinbone as a beaten
and defeated man after being whipped at gunpoint by
outlaw Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin) and his gang.
Ransom vows revenge citing the laws of the land, but
it's a local cowboy, Tom Doniphon (John Wayne), who
advises him to put a gun in his hand instead of a
law book.
Though Ransom is not a fighting man by nature
(he certainly has never shot a gun before) he
realizes that a showdown with the notorious outlaw
Liberty Valance is inevitable.
Transfer quality is mixed. Most of the first
quarter of the film looks a bit dirty, with
blemishes throughout the print. The film's
appearance quickly improved to the point where
I was able to appreciate the nice B&W contrast
levels and underlying detail. There is a
noticeable amount of surface grain, but I had
expected such.
For years I heard numerous impressionists like
Frank Gorshin and Rich Little doing their best
John Wayne imitations. One of the biggest surprises
that came out of watching this film was finally
learning where that word "Pilgrim" came from. It
seems to be the one word that gets thrown into
just about every John Wayne impersonation I have
ever known.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance sits amongst
the three greatest westerns I have ever seen. I place
it behind Once Upon A Time In The West and in
front of The Searchers. Sometimes I wonder how
it took me so long to discover a movie like this.
Just buy it if you don't already own it.
