The Hunt for the Best Movie of All Time: Fight Club

Posted by Lion

In this ongoing segment, Lion will make a case for a certain film being "the best movie of all time." This is a direct rip-off of Videogum's "The Hunt for the Worst Movie of All Time," which features both better/funnier writing and more readers. Each movie will be given a fair shot at glory. There WILL be spoilers. If you have any recommendations, please post in the comments. Most movies will be what are generally considered "critically-acclaimed."

People over-generalize Fight Club as being too "macho," basically a film for men to satisfy their primitive dream of beating every other man's ass. But it is truly jam-packed with social commentary that will boggle your mind if you take the time to sit down and think about it.


We are a society driven by consumerism. Every day, our minds are packed with advertising ploys and our eyes are glued to televisions and computers. Very rarely do we stop and think about what it means to be truly alive. Fight Club uses this idea as a central theme.


Due to pure laziness on my part, I will copy and paste the pivotal plot points from Wikipedia (if you have seen Fight Club, then skip right over this part):


"After a flight home from a business trip, the narrator finds his apartment destroyed by an explosion. He calls Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt)a soap salesman whom he befriended on the flight, and they meet at a bar. A conversation about consumerism leads to Tyler inviting the narrator to stay at his place; afterward, he requests the narrator to hit him. The two engage in a fistfight outside the bar, with the narrator subsequently moving into Tyler's dilapidated house. They have further fights outside the bar, and these attract a crowd of men. The fighting moves to the bar's basement, where the men form a fight club."

"Marla overdoses on pills and telephones the narrator for help; he ignores her, but Tyler answers the call and saves her. Tyler and Marla become sexually involved, and Tyler warns the narrator never to talk to Marla about him. More fight clubs form across the country, and they become the anti-materialist and anti-corporate organization called "Project Mayhem", under Tyler's leadership. The narrator complains to Tyler that he wants to be more involved in the organization, but Tyler suddenly disappears. When a member of Project Mayhem dies, the narrator tries to shut down the project, and follows evidence of Tyler's national travels to track him down. In one city, a project member greets the narrator as Tyler Durden. The narrator calls Marla from his hotel room and discovers that Marla also believes him to be Tyler. He suddenly sees Tyler Durden in his room, and Tyler explains that they are dissociated personalities in the same body. Tyler controls the narrator's body when the narrator is asleep."

"The narrator blacks out after the conversation. When he wakes, he discovers from his telephone log that Tyler made calls during his blackout. He uncovers Tyler's plans to erase debt by destroying buildings that contain credit card companies' records. The narrator tries to contact the police but finds that the officers are members of the project. He attempts to disarm explosives in a building, but Tyler subdues him and moves to a safe building to watch the destruction. The narrator, held by Tyler at gunpoint, realizes that in sharing the same body with Tyler, he himself is actually holding the gun. He fires it into his mouth, shooting through the cheek without killing himself. Tyler collapses with an exit wound to the back of his head, and the narrator stops mentally projecting him. Afterward, Project Mayhem members bring a kidnapped Marla to him, believing him to be Tyler, and leave them alone. The explosives detonate, collapsing the buildings, and the narrator and Marla watch the scene, holding hands."

One thing that strikes me about this film is its ability to appeal to such a variety of people:

• Your typical "bro"
• Fight Club appeals to "bros" for the obvious reason of violence. If there is anything "bros" like most, its seeing Brad Pitt getting beat to a pulp by a mobster and laughing his ass off in the process. It's straight up bad-ass, and "bros" love their asses bad. (?) I am grateful that the film directors decided to abstain from putting Brad Pitt in Affliction gear (this may have caused soiled underpants to plague the douche bag population of Mayfield High School.)
• Your typical "film lover"
• Notice I said FILM, and not movie. People in this category are cinema elitists. I would put myself, and most of my friends, in this category. We love to pretend we know everything about the film industry. In fact, we just read IMDB too much and brag about knowing that Christian Bale was just over 100 lbs. in The Machinist. I classify film lovers as seeing the movie industry for what it truly is: a superbly effective communication medium for themes and art. Fight Club fits in this category as well. Its jam packed with themes (coming of age, anti-consumerism, mundane everyday life), a plot twist to end all plot twists, and of course: Edward Norton! Everybody loves Edward Norton!

• Women
• Women may get slightly aroused watching Fight Club. There should be two descriptions on the back of a Fight Club DVD case: one for men, one for women. The women's would read: "Brad Pitt kicks ass with his shirt off. Penises are also subliminally flashed on the screen: twice!" The men's would read: "Hey fatty! Watch Fight Club and experience two forms of inner dialogue, both of which point to feelings of despair and worthlessness: 'Man, I am a consumerist pig.' and 'Damn, I need to do some sit ups or something.' "

So where does Fight Club stand in the "best movie of all time" race? It has to rank fairly high. If I asked someone to name the best movie of all time, and someone said "Fight Club", I wouldn't react the same way as I would if they had said "Ernest Goes to Camp." It's an understandable and supportable choice. It's primitive in its appearance but deep in its themes. It appeals to our need for violence (us Americans LOVE our violence) and our need to look in the mirror and examine our lives. Maybe I won't watch as much TV. Maybe I should enjoy life in its simplest forms. Maybe I should do some sit ups. (Nah.)

Not to mention: Fight Club has one of the single greatest quotes in the history of filmmaking/writing:

"Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off." -Tyler Durden

Next time on The Hunt for the Best Movie of All Time: Pulp Fiction.

As always, feel free to argue or recommend other films in the comments below.

Best Movie of 2010

Gorilla: It's only the end of January and I can already tell you what the best movie of 2010 is. You may be thinking that I have seen an incredible movie that I doubt will not be topped for the next eleven months. However, this best movie of the year has not even been released to theatres yet and may very well still be in final steps of post production. The movie that will be sure to gather much praise and respect is the Christopher Nolan project "Inception".

I know that the movie is set to open in July and I am hyping a movie way too early, but what else is a blog for? The first sign that this will be a tremendous achievement is the man who is at the head of the production, Christopher Nolan. Fresh off one of the greatest directorial decades ever (Memento, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight), Nolan is at it again with an original screenplay to once again bend the mind and make you leave in a state of awe. Nolan has an impeccable way of creating amazing film noir and looks set to twist another enthralling tale this summer. The tagline is another sign that this picture will be something great. "Your mind is the scene of the crime." The tagline itself gives the movie instant credibility. The receipe for success is complete with what appears to be a strong cast, including some members from Nolan's 'Batman' series.

Once again, I understand that it is way too early to start getting excited about this film. I hope the studio does not begin showing TV spots for it too early as well, but I have a feeling you may see something about the movie during the commercials of the Super Bowl in ten days. Because I couldn't embed the trailer here for some reason, I will leave you with a poster and a link.

The Very Best

Gorilla:  Forgive me as I try my hand at praising a little known music group.  This area is usually trespassed by Lion and Wolf, but even though I am not a tall glass of water with white jeans doesn't mean I don't enjoy listening to new things. 
Now I am not even sure if this group is popular here in the states or not (probably not considering most of the music is in what I believe is Chichewa) but I am going to give praise anyway.  The Very Best is a collaborative effort of Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit which released a mixtape in 2008 and the fruitful album, Warm Heart of Africa, in 2009.  I am just becoming familiar with the music group, but already I am enjoying the blurr of new sounds and beats with lyrics I can't understand.  Even though I don't know what is being sung in most of their songs, The Very Best are able to create energetic, engaging, and fun music that can be enjoyed by all.  Their attributes are colorfully on demonstration in the songs "Kamphopo" and "Warm Heart of Africa". 
I highly encourage you all to give The Very Best a try.  Its always good to take a step outside your circle and see what the world has to offer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MDYTkdVT8M



Also, I must give credit to Mr. Daniel J. Corrigan for first introducing me to The Very Best.

You Should Get to Know: Dexter

Lion

You Should Get to Know is an ongoing segment which suggests something you should really freaking get to know.

Disclosure: If you watch Dexter, please be aware you WILL be rooting for a serial killer. You will be smiling as he cuts up screaming people into tiny pieces. Don't consider me liable for sinister thoughts that may arise from this television program.

Within the past two months, I have become obsessively hooked to the Showtime series Dexter. As late as I may be, I have made up for my tardiness by feverishly watching two seasons worth of episodes in a matter of 2 weeks (about 24 episodes, 1 hour each). (Wow. One day's worth. I didn't realize how pathetic that is until it was typed.)

As I prepare to start season 3, I strongly recommend renting the DVDs or watching it online. Michael C. Hall plays his character perfectly. Dexter is a blood splatter analyst for Miami homicide. Haunted by a traumatic past and his urges to kill, Dexter secretly kills "bad guys" only. This can lead to Dexter having to deal with his own crime scenes on the job (which leads to some awesome manipulations on his part) and Dexter having to lie to those "loved" ones around him. Even though Dexter is self-proclaimed to have no feeling, he puts on an amazing facade to those around him.

Although Michael C. Hall was recently diagnosed with cancer, the disease is in remission and he is looking to make a full recovery. Thank God, because how am I supposed to spend my pathetic life if I can't watch Dexter?

P.S. Conan may have some sinister thoughts of his own after Jay Leno took his life away:

Become a Fan!

Lion

With our creative juices flowing, it's an exciting time in the Three Conchords world. Please join our facebook fan page to stay updated on everything involved with the blog.

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Funny People Playing Funny Games

Lion

Funny People:

Simon Pegg
Kristen Wiig
Bill Hader
Dude from Superbad

Funny Games:
Sounds you make at the end of a sentence

The Trumpet Game (my favorite)

Observe:

The Hunt for the Best Movie of All Time: The Shawshank Redemption

Lion

In this ongoing segment, Lion will make a case for a certain film being "the best movie of all time." This is a direct rip-off of Videogum's "The Hunt for the Worst Movie of All Time," which features both better/funnier writing and more readers. Each movie will be given a fair shot at glory. There WILL be spoilers. If you have any recommendations, please post in the comments. Most movies will be what are generally considered "critically-acclaimed."


I know I know. Shawshank is number one on the IMDB top 250, which is basically textual pornography for film-lovers. But it's a good kickoff film to feature in this segment. It's a recognizable movie that has managed to cross over its success into my generation. (the Call of Duty-playing generation where everything's amazing and nobody's happy )

The Shawshank Redemption follows the story of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a man who is arrested for murdering his wife and her lover based on circumstantial evidence. Andy is sent to Shawshank prison, which is basically a haven for sodomizers who like to shank people (ironically). Andy befriends a wise black man (probably the best of all stereotypical movie characters) named "Red" (Morgan Freeman). Andy learns of Red's ability to smuggle items into Shawshank, and requests a rock hammer. (That should have no significance later, right??) Eventually, the guards at Shawshank realize Andy's one smart cookie. Andy ends up giving financial advice to most of the guards and workers at Shawshank, and is given responsibility of keeping Shawshank's financial accounts in balance. Along the way, he makes friends with many of his inmates and enemies with others (particularly those who butt rape him frequently.)

Red and Andy end up becoming good friends, having some deep discussions about life inside and outside of prison. Andy is revealed to be innocent (via the confession of some crazy dude), but the warden refuses to grant Andy his chance at being released. After a series of crazy events (which are sort of irrelevant in this case), Andy is one day absent at roll call and is found to have escaped from prison (using the rock hammer to create a long ass tunnel in his cell.) Fast forward: Andy goes to paradise, the warden of Shawshank blows his head off (due to Andy exposing financial scams in Shawshank), Red is released on parole, and Andy and Red meet again on a beautiful beach in paradise.

(I promise the film is better than my summary.)

The case for Shawshank really doesn't lie in its plot. There are some excellent plot twists and "holy shit" parts, but the strength of Shawshank lies in its themes. In particular, the theme of hope. This theme led to quite possibly the best "bromance" in the history of filmmaking.

The term "bromance" is used a lot these days, mostly mockingly, but it actually has meaning. Participating in a bromance is a completely heterosexual experience. Why can't two dudes have love for each other with out broke-backing shit up? The scene where Red and Andy reunite on the beach is one of the most emotional scenes captured on screen in the history of film. I cried the first time I saw it. I cried like my dog was ran over by the ice cream truck.

To be without hope is a scary experience. Andy and Red were close to hopelessness, but they relied on each other to maintain strength and perseverance through tough times.

Which leads me to my favorite part of this movie: How fudging awesome is Morgan Freeman? He has the whole "I'm an old black man that is full of wisdom and knowledge" shit down PERFECTLY. Not to mention the dude doesn't age. He looks exactly the same in The Dark Knight as he does in Shawshank. He's one of the most underrated actors of our generation, and if I was a single black woman I would have a crush on Morgan Freeman over Denzel Washington (yeah I said it girrrrl.) And I am not particularly fond of Tim Robbins in other films, but he knocked it out of the ballpark in this one. He has a quiet confidence about him as Andy and he never makes you dislike him even though he is convicted of murdering his wife.

So is Shawshank deserving of its numero uno on the IMDB list? Maybe, maybe not. It's certainly one of the best films of all time. I highly recommend this film, but maybe watch it alone. (watching it with a good friend may lead to some awkward bromance like conversations afterward, and I don't want anyone contacting me claiming to have a homosexual experience from the emotions brought about by Andy and Red's bromantic displays of awesomeness.)

Next time on The Hunt for the Best Movie of All Time: Fight Club.

Feel free to post your opinions in the comments as well as recommendations for other movies to include in the hunt.