Scenes of the Crime: The Big Easy

One of my fellow bloggers, the awesome Brent Allard over at Criminal Movies is participating in a series called Scenes of the Crime by Furious Cinema. For my piece, I've chosen the best Dennis Quaid movie ever, in my opinion, 1986's The Big Easy.

Dennis is Remy McSwain, a New Orleans police detective who is investigating the murder of a local mobster. As he unravels the mystery, he suspects that some fellow officers may be behind the killing. His work has him crossing paths with Anne Osborne, played by Ellen Barkin, a district attorney who is charged with rooting out police corruption. As they work the case together, she witnesses Remy participate in some rather unorthodox behavior like free meals and coffee, small things that lead her to accuse him of being on the take.

Remy is all smooth Cajun charm, laughing off her suspicions, telling her that "...this is way things work down in the Big Easy, cher." To him, the son of a cop, free meals, a gift every now and again, is all part of business as usual for the NOPD. He sees nothing wrong with a little gratuity here and there. After all the boys in blue put their lives on the line for the citizens every day. It's just the way the people of New Orleans show their gratitude.

Remy keeps trying to charm Anne into coming around to his way of thinking even as he finds damning evidence of bigger, more insidious corruption. Anne grows more suspicious of Remy and his fellow cops, though, and when Remy is caught accepting a bribe during an Internal Affairs sting, she is forced to prosecute him. Her tentative trust in him is now shattered.

The blue line stands and evidence disappears, clearing Remy and humiliating Anne. After his sudden acquittal, Remy becomes disillusioned, realizing that his fellow officers, his own father included, really are committing crimes. He knows he has to stop them if he is ever going to live with himself and remain a cop.

The script by Daniel Petrie, Jr. is amazing and astute. He sets up an intriguing, thriller-type mystery, that draws the audience in and holds them hostage. Remy and Anne are strong protagonists whose visions are absolute. Remy grew up in the system, this is his world and he sees nothing wrong. He is a cop and for him being a cop is not just about the justice, it's about the respect of the people. Anne is unswerving in her vision of black and white, right and wrong. The chemistry between Quaid and Barkin is so volatile, they sizzle in their scenes together, incinerating the screen. The supporting cast is beyond magnificent and includes John Goodman, Ned Beatty, Grace Zabriskie, and the late great R&B singer Solomon Burke as mobster Daddy Mention.

This movie is ripe with atmosphere, the city of New Orleans a supporting character herself. Director Jim McBride takes us into the Big Easy from the colorful streets to Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi Delta and the bayou. The scenes are steeped in Nawlins style. The score by composer Brad Fiedel is pure delta jazz and blues with lots of horns and zydeco beats. Big Easy's soundtrack features gospel, zydeco, cajun and R&B music. Performers include Professor Longhair, Aaron Neville and the Neville Brothers, Beausoleil, The Dixie Cups and a piece by Dennis Quaid. He wrote and performed the song "Closer to You" in the film.

I cannot say enough about this picture. It gets me every time I watch it and I highly recommend seeing it if you get the chance. Or pulling it out if you haven't watched in a very long time.

Movies, W4WS, Zombies And A Weekend Round Up

Today is Captain Ninja Alex's Top Ten Movie Blogfest and wow, what a daunting task. I mean really, just ten? Come on, this is me we're talking, I couldn't pick ten favorites to save my life so I'm going with my ten favorite comfort movies. movies that I watch when I need a pick up, a laugh or even just to forget my problems for an hour or three. So here they are in no particular order...

The Lord of the Rings trilogy Three films, but one story so this counts as one and I watch one of these whenever I need an escape.

The Princess Bride This is always a guaranteed smile for me.

Goodfellas I work out a lot of aggression watching Henry and crew.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape? This is my fave Johnny Depp movie it's cathartic to watch for me.

Aliens Ellen Ripley is my first badass bitch and I still get a kick out of watching her battle those acid bleeding face huggers.

Silkwood This is my fave Meryl Streep film and one I get sucked into each time I see it on.

The Howling I watch this one whenever I can. I love my werewolves and it's my favorite of all time.

The Quiet Man I'm a sucker for the Duke and this one gets me every time.

Joan of Paris I love a good war story and this one is tops. A young woman risks her life to save downed British airmen.

The Mummy I can't help it. Brendan Fraser rocks this movie and it makes me laugh every time.

So these are my movies, go on and check out the other incredible participants here. 

Writers 4 Writers

It's W4WS today and we are spotlighting Kyra Lennon and Angela Brown. Go to their sites and spread the word by Tweeting, posting on FB or just getting the word out about their awesome work on your site if you can. 

SPOILERS AHOY

Oh. My. God. I can't believe I just did a 180 on Andrea, but man was I rooting for her, hoping she would outwit Governor Psycho Pants. Loved when she opened the door and let the walkers have at him. Too bad he survived. And now, NOW she's at his ghoulish mercies in that Dungeon of Torture. Yikes!

And Milton!! He's stepping up and taking a a stand. I sadly misjudged him as a twitchy weirdo with nefarious purposes. Speaking of twitchy weirdos, we have Alan, Tyrese's one-time companion. Man, what a little bitch. Tyrese apparently saved Alan's wife once upon a time and he can't handle that. He couldn't be The Man. Well boo hoo, asshole. Too bad so sad you lost your balls somewhere and couldn't man up. Dude's been getting on my last nerve since he first appeared. Someone should shoot him in the knee in front of an oncoming horde of walkers.

It is going down real soon and I can't wait for the big battle. Team Prison all the way.

SPOILERS OVER

This weekend was pretty awesome. I went to the Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade with my sister and nephew. We saw a whole host of strange and wonderful sights including six foot leprechauns, green tutus on men, shamrock glasses and green hair. We get wild here in Chitown on St. Paddy's Day. Even me... ;D

Genre Favorites Blogfest

I know, I'm late to the party, but I'm here at last so let's get this post a rollin' shall we? The awesome Alex J. Cavanaugh, Captain Ninja extraordinaire is having his Genre Favorites Blogfest today. We get to share our favorite type of Movie, Music, Books and a Guilty Pleasure from one category..Yay! There's nothing I love more than to talk about my fave subjects: Movies, Music and Books.

To see all the other incredibly cool peeps participating click right here.

My favorite genre for film is a toss up between sci fi and fantasy, but for rules' sake I'm going with fantasy and my all time is the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Especially The Two Towers. I want to fight at Helms Deep and I would so kick Ork ass.

Favorite genre of Music...Hard Rock. I am an Aerosmith chick all the way, 27 years and counting. They are my longest relationship, LOL. I still dream about marrying Steven Tyler. I love that mind of his and so what if he looks like a dessicated chicken. I think Joe Perry is one of the best ax men ever. Here's a taste from one of my all time fave tunes from my boys. Hole in My Soul is one of the best misery love songs ever and appears here thanks to the work of Aerosmith fan layonlima at You Tube.



For Books is hands down, it's romance. Yes, ROMANCE. And all kinds too, from the erotic to the sweet. I read it and write it because well, the fictional stuff is so much more exciting than my own real one. And it gives me hope. Why I have no idea because I'm far too old for romance. One of my all time favorite is Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Oh how I love me that giant Scot, Jamie Frasier.

And now for a Guilty Pleasure. I love those, don't you? My Guilty Pleasure genre is Country Music. Yes, you read that right. I have a recessive red neck gene that makes an appearance every now and again. Bet you didn't know I could Texas Two Step and line dance, did you? Well I can and I'm pretty good. Here's one of my faves to get my boots scootin', California Girls by Gretchen Wilson from her You Tube Vevo.



Hope you had fun reading my faves here. Have a great day and see you around the blogfest. :)

The Best Movies I Have Ever Seen: Kill Bill Vols. I & II

I recently listed 50 (well more like twice that) of my favorite movies. I could not include all of them as they would fill the volumes of the Encyclopedia Brittannica from  A to L. Besides, a list doesn't convey passion or feeling. So every now and then, I'm going to share with you all some of my  faves through the occasional review here. First up, two films that are really one continuous tale, Quentin Tarantino's masterpiece vision, Kill Bill Vols. 1 & 2. This review is also part of my friend M's QT Blogathon in celebration of Tarantino's upcoming December release Django Unchained. 

There are not enough words in the English language to adequately describe my love for Tarantino and his strong female characters. Like the god himself, Joss Whedon, Q's ladies are unique. They are in-your-face, intelligent and more often than not, deadly. Especially in the Kill Bill flicks. For those not familiar, the Kill Bill movies center on The Bride, a former member of the Deadly Vipers assassination squad. She seeks revenge on her former boss and teammates after they tried to kill her and slaughtered members of her wedding party. The attempt cost The Bride  not only years of her life, but her child as well. Then to add to her pain, while she has been in a coma, one of the orderlies has been raping her and letting others pay for the same sick action.

This is one of the finest revenge films ever crafted in my opinion. The character of The Bride is a warrior woman who seeks her own vengeance. In complete contrast to the nauseating soft, passive aggressive females and damsels in distress Hollywood is forever cramming down our throats, The Bride is that rare breath of pure, dizzying oxygen. Uma Thurman owns this role to her pinkie toes. Favorite scene is when she takes down O-Ren's Crazy 88 gang samurai style, slashing, hacking and stabbing, getting coated with blood.

And  it's not just The Bride who stands out here, oh no. Check the coterie of female villains. You have the sociopath Elle Driver, the sadistic O-Ren Ishii and the badass Vernita Green. They don't rely on poison to kill. (Can I get an Amen?) They are combat trained, weapons experts with a passion for the kill, just like any male assassin. They don't mind blood on their hands or their clothes. Darryl Hannah, Lucy Liu and Vivica Fox are outstanding, delivering career performances. These are four of the best roles ever written for women.

Now, lest you think I have forgotten the men in here, let me tell you David Carradine and Michael Madsen turn in two of their finest performances, ever. There could be no other actors in these roles as far as I'm concerned. David Carradine is absolutely perfect as the sadistic Deadly Viper leader, Bill. He brings the exploitation film sensibility along with that spaghetti western cool. Michael Madsen is pure deadly bastard while Sonny Chiba is epic as Hattori Hanzo, swordmaster extraordinaire, who agrees to create a sword especially for The Bride when she tells him who she is hunting.

The f/x and story are simply outstanding. I love the wire work, the fight scenes and the anime. The story is a kaleidoscopic mix of current action and flashback, a potpourri of film genres that include chanbara, girls with guns, martial arts, action, spaghetti westerns as well as rape and revenge. Q literally created a love letter to his favorite kinds of films and he takes us along for the mad ride. His passion shines through every frame of stylized violence, every bar of strange, trippy music and every syllable of brilliant dialogue.

One final compliment has to go to the soundtrack. Tarantino scores will never, ever be mistaken for another. They are as unique to his films as fingerprints to human beings. You get Motown, Johnny Cash, Japanese rockabilly and a whistled ditty that will burn itself into your brain and leave a scar. The RZA reins in this symphonic rodeo and makes it work.

Kill Bill is a sheer, unadulterated cinematic orgy. It is also a sucker punch to Hollywood, who has labored under the misapprehension that women can only survive childbirth and bad relationships. That we draw strength only by bonding with our sisters over handbags, shoes and martinis. You want a 50,000 kilowatt charge of female empowerment? A bloody, high octane good time? See these movies.

A brief note: If you want the full effect of Kill Bill, check out  Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair. It's very hard to find, but should be well worth it as it is supposedly the entire Cannes screening plus extended anime not released in the States.