May Blind Spot: Safety Last

When I got to see Mark Harris’ epic documentary The Story of Film: An Odyssey(2011) last year, like everyone else who has seen it I am sure, it opened a lot of new doors for me. I always knew a lot of areas that I lacked exposure, like silent films for example, but what this doc did brilliantly was gave me starting points to eradicate those anomalies in my film knowledge. I am still working on many of those areas but it is always good to know where to start than just grapple with all the options. One such area was classic comedians and it introduced me to Harold Lloyd, probably the last of classic comedians that I was introduced to. I checked off lot of names from my watch-list over the last year and inclusion of Safety Last(1923) in this year’s blind spot line-up was to get rid of that last dark spot around the corner as well.

It is convenient for us viewers too but it's rather convenient of director to name characters in this film as 'The Boy', 'The Girl' or 'The Pal' and 'The Law'. So 'The Boy' and 'The Girl' are in love with each other and want to get married but he wants to become responsible first. So he leaves his small town, goes to a big city to get a job and make sure he can provide for his girl. After being in the city, 'reality' strikes and he has to share a room with his 'pal' and can only get a job in De Vore Department store as a salesman. Off course, he can not tell this to his girl as this would mean he can not hold his part of bargain. So he lies that he has a great job that pays sumptuously and will be able to get married and bring her to the city pretty soon.

Keeping this illusion alive takes lot of work. And Money. And if they had that, it wouldn't be an illusion. So he has to pawn almost everything they own to buy gifts a manager of his fabricated stature could afford like lavaliere and almost his entire paycheck for a chain to wear it. Though such gifts convince his girl of his well-being, they also convince her mother that a young man should not be left alone in big city with so much money. And 'The Girl' decides to surprise him by visiting. This puts our boy in a rather precarious situation and presents us with a long but well done sequence even though we must have seen similar scene played out many times before. And during this sequence, his real manager declares that he will give $1000 to anyone who will come up with an original idea to promote their store. This culminates into that iconic scene which most of us watch Safety Last for(see picture above).

It is actually a very simple story of boy and girl. Nothing specifically wrong with that especially since it is rather enjoyable. It's just that it is too straight forward and set up in a way that the whole thing is leading towards one big gig at the end. It largely depends for all the laughs on talents and physical humour of Harold Lloyd and his roommate, Bill Strother. Again, nothing specifically wrong with it either since lot of comic films did that in the day and considering how well choreographed and performed that one last, big stunt is, it's also worth it but it's just too old school. 90 year old, to be precise. And we being The Dark Knight(2008) generation and all, might have been a bit too used to a fight or an explosion or to at least whip smart one liners every second of every minute. If you can curb that instinct of yours, you can lean back and certainly enjoy this one. I did!

If you thought that I was making fun of its simplicity, let me remind you again - I enjoyed this film! As for its simplicity, it was a reminder to watch films with their time frames in mind. I am sure many things it does, like that iconic climb of Tower in the end or sequence in which he juggles multiple roles during impromptu visit of his wife-to-be, were rather difficult to film and to stage in 1923. They may not be today with technology so far advanced but that's why you need to keep in mind that it was made in 1923 and it is still quite enjoyable, if not exactly novel. Standing the test of time for almost a century, that in itself is quite notable achievement. I fail to imagine how many of today's films would pass that test in 2100.

The other day, someone shared a quote from Man of Steel(2013). In the middle of General Zod giving a pounding to whole New York and Superman trying to save it from that, he finds time to get Lois Lane somewhere alone and kiss her. Now how he was able to do that in the middle of shitstorm is matter for another post but he IS Superman so... Anyways, I digress. After their kiss Lois i.e. Amy Adams says "You know, they say it's all downhill after the first kiss". I can apply that analogy to all classic comedians and my affairs so far with their films.

In all reality, that makes Chaplin nothing short of Superman. His reply to Lois above is something on the lines of 'I am pretty sure that only counts when you are talking about Human' and Chaplin has proved his super-human abilities with every film. I don't even remember the first time I saw a Chaplin film; I must have been single-digit old. We have had our ups and downs, mostly ups though, but it hasn't hit a rough patch yet and after all these years, there is still something to look forward to i.e. Limelight(1952). Buster Keaton, based on analogy above, turns out to be very human. The first kiss was The General(1926) and it has been by far the best one. I have taken it forward from that and I genuinely enjoy the company but it has certainly been downhill since that first kiss. 

The Marx Brothers, on the other hand, have been extremely unlucky. They haven't gone much further than second date and even that second date was to ensure I didn't brush them off with one false step. There are certain things you just can't do in affairs like these, you know! Jacques Tati, though not contemporary of others in these ranks and it is too soon yet to seal his fate but, is another one that might end up with fate similar to Marx Brothers. Second date I will soon arrange might do the trick for him. I don't know much about Harold Lloyd but based on all these encounters is it wrong if I expect him to be at least Captain Freaking America? I mean he is sort of lame but he is still a super hero. Or... am I having just too many affairs?

City Lights or How Chaplin made me Cry!

The first time ever I put a Top 100 list on this blog was sometime in March 2012, little less than a month after I got into LAMB. Since the start of this year, I have been meaning to update that list and I finally found an opportune time for it on the second anniversary of this blog in June 2013. A lot changed over the year. Countless many films jumped up or down in the list, many I saw last year made into it for the first time and as a result, some of the earlier entries had to make way for them. However the one that made the biggest lip was Chaplin’s City Lights(1931) which I only saw for the first time last year. It found its way straight into my Top 10 films of all time. I had not added an entry to my ‘Favourites’ feature since I updated the list and so when I thought about doing so, it only felt right talking about one that the biggest splash in that update.

Like all his other films, City Lights is about Chaplin’s tramp and two more people in his life – a wealthy man who tries to kill himself in his drunken stupor but tramp somehow manages to save him and a sweet but blind flower selling girl that mistakenly takes him as a wealthy man. After getting to know her a bit, he comes to know that an operation can save bring her eyesight back. The catch is if she gets her eyes back, she would know that he is not a wealthy man she thinks he is and that may change her feelings for him but on the other hand, she will remain blind. But off course, he sets out to get that money she will need for it and in a typical Chaplin fashion, his path is filled with many gigs. On the other hand, wealthy man he saves feels quite indebted to him for saving his life but seems to forget everything as he gets sober. His butler also seems very suspicious of tramp and his motives and keeps on trying to get him out of the house. This on-and-off nature of their relationship makes for some hilarious moments.

Starting from the very first scene of tramp sleeping on the statue to be publicly inaugurated in the city square to one of the most well-known endings in the history of cinema, City Lights is full of iconic moments that even those who haven’t seen the film might know about. I am sure we all also remember the boxing fight he gets himself into to get the money for girl’s operation or the restaurant scene during one of the drunken spells of his wealthy friend. Scenes like these are filled with many small gigs that he does to perfection and almost certainly, to hilarious results.

I have grown up watching Chaplin; though most of them were shorts or I only saw parts of them, so it felt like shorts. I only got to his feature length films in 2011 but unlike many other of his contemporary comedians, I was at least introduced to him and his work very early in my life. Laurel-Hardy are the only others I can say the same about. I still haven’t seen anything of Harold Lloyd’s or Jacques Tati’s work though films like Safety Last(1923) or Playtime(1967) and Mr. Hulot’s Holiday(1953) are pretty high up on my watch-list. And although I inducted myself to Keaton and Marx Brothers right around the time I got into Chaplin films, I didn’t even know about them until I started this blog. So as much as I love Keaton and others, Chaplin will always hold a dear place in my heart and the more of his films I watch, the more he cements that position.

Chaplin, even though relies heavily on the physical comedy aspect of his films, transcends further than that. There is always something more, something deeper in his films than the obvious comedy we see on the screen. In Modern Times(1936), he comments on the human life getting more and more dependent on machines which is even more relevant now than it was then. In The Great Dictator(1940), while making fun of Hitler and Nazism, he also gives a message about humanity. In The Kid(1921), there is this beautiful father-son relationship at its center. In City Lights, it is unadulterated and undemanding Love.

His tramp, even though almost always at the lowest pedestal of the food chain, is always about hope, about giving, about being more humane. I don’t think it is more apparent anywhere else than it is in City Lights where he gives pretty much everything he can; he gets into the boxing ring, he gets a job in garage, he even goes to jail; just to help out this blind, flower-seller that he loves but who doesn’t even recognize him when he stands in front of her after all this. And this is the prefect segway for me to break into something I love the most about this film.

I rarely cry at the movies. I don’t even remember the last time I did. I don’t mean to brag or flaunt my 'Man' Card but it assures that when I do, the film leaves its impression on me. Bicycle Thieves(1948) did and so did Grave of the Fireflies(1988). Result? Both are very high up in my Top 100. City Lights did too and it also makes the list but there is something even more beautiful about it which makes it even more special. I have always been sucker for the moments that can make you laugh and cry at the same time and this film offers one such moment.

There are moments that warm your heart but what makes some of them extra special is when one sneaky tear slips from the corner of your eye and rolls onto your chick. There is danger in them either being too cheesy or falling flat but when someone gets it right, it works wonders like that last scene when the dejected tramp slowly walks away from the girl. It gets everything Just right. But then she finally recognizes her benefactor and that tear manages to break off the boundaries and roll down. I have seen this film 3 times and it happened every. single. time. Even writing about this right now makes me go “Awwww”. That scene is everything good, nice, pure and innocent about this world personified in one moment. It could very well be my favourite onscreen moment ever. It will never, ever get old for me.

Until Vertigo(1958) took the top seed in the last year's Sight and Sound list displacing Citizen Kane(1941), City Lights was the only movie ever to top that list besides Kane. Over the years, it has gone down up to #50 but is till one of the best films made ever. Personally, with so many iconic scenes and favourite moments, it is not only my favourite Chaplin but also favourite silent film of all time.

Rating(out of 5):

Past Favorites:

Notorious(1946)

Rashomon(1950) 

City of God(2002)

12 Angry Men(1957)

Bicycle Thieves(1948)
Wall-E(2008)

Wrapping It Up: August

Another month, another wrap-up post full of this month's viewings. My very first from Wrap-Up post from India, from home. This is the 20th Wrap Up post I am doing and for the first time I was in real danger of missing the deadline; not because I had too much on my plate but because India got me sick. I probably shouldn't blame it on her though because every time I move to new city, I always fall sick early on. But it looks like I am going to make it despite. Yay Me!! and here we go!

August

Junebug(2005): I haven't seen Man of Steel(2013) yet but except that, I have seen every film Amy Adams did since Enchanted(2007). Variety of the roles she plays contributes heavily in making her my favourite working actress today. Junebug was a vital blind spot from her repertoire and I chose to watch it to end my movie drought of 10 days. Believe me, it was every second worth it and much more. I love Adams in everything she does but this is got to be her best performance and by far. She was just amazing in that role.

Darling(1965): I haven't seen Julia Christie in many roles but from whatever I know of her, I never would have imagined her in such a role. But that's an indicative of her potential that she fit right into that role. This Diana Scott was a very well written character as well. She's a seductress, she is very materialistic but she is always very subtle and always validates herself for her own sake. This was completely her vehicle and she did an amazing job off course; she had to, to beat Julie Andrews for that Oscar.

Mud(2013): First of my in-flight trio and definitely the best one I saw. I haven't seen many 2013 movies yet but it is very well possible that this is the best one I have seen so far. It was a beautifully woven story. I love the way it shows Ellis' struggle to understand the meaning of love, commitment through multiple relationships around him. He seems to be grasping for the last straw as everything around him goes on crumbling. Kudos to Tye Sheridan for bringing all those emotions out.

Blancanieves(2013): Another in-flight movie I saw. If we are strictly talking about a movie, I think Mud will linger with me a while longer but this was definitely the movie that surprised me the most. I had certain expectation from Mud and it delivered to it. I had no idea what to expect from this one and this Snow White story with a spin, set in a Spanish Bullfighting world, presented in style of 1920's silent film turned out to be a beautiful, beautiful film.

The Lion King(1994): This month's Blind Spot which was second animated movie from the Disney's canon in the line-up this year. It proved once again that the warmth, the beauty, the relatability of hand drawn animation enamours me very easily. My four year old niece saw me watching this and she kept saying I shouldn't be watching it because it's a kids movie and I am not a kid. One day I'll tell her there is so much to like in this one for anyone, any age. That's what makes it great. More here.






Barfi!(2012)(Hindi)(Re-watch): It is still a fun film to watch second time around. It has its heart in the right place, there are lot of moments that work just well and has all the three lead performances that I still like. If it wasn't for all the bits copied blatantly from all over the place, I would have loved to praise it unequivocally. And the bigger problem is whatever he took from Chaplin and Keaton and others is so easily recognizable, it is not even possible to turn a blind eye towards it.

Side By Side(2012): Looking at the speed with which the whole industry is changing towards digital, this was the most opportune time for this documentary. Personally, I still lean a bit towards actual film but mine is not an informed opinion and the most convincing argument I can make for it is nostalgia. But it was nice to see so many greats of the industry weighing on this issue. I find it hard to take Keanu Reeves much seriously but to his credit, he did a great job especially giving the viewer all the facts without taking any sides.

Magic Mike(2012): I don't remember exactly when was the first time I saw Step Up(2006) but I definitely know that I never thought the guy doing that would ever go ahead and do this or anything else he has done in last year or two. It really is amazing to see how far Channing Tatum has come since then. I also remember Cody Horn made lot of headlines, good and bad, for her performance. I didn't find anything wrong with her performance.

Ride with the Devil(1999): I have been going through Ang Lee's filmography one by one over the past few months. We all know about his more flashy films but the films that have surprised me the most are his little known films like The Wedding Banquet(1993). Like some of his lesser known films, this civil war drama is not the flashiest of the movies but actually quite a good human story. He got Tobey Maguire to change emotions on his face - that's about the biggest compliment I can give to any film.

Jumanji(1995)(Re-watch): This is a childhood favourite ever since I saw it first. I remember watching it on VHS when I was 12. I also remember that I saw it with few other school friends in the house of one of them. I have seen it many times since then but this was after a long, long time. Almost 15 years and it is still so much fun. I know it isn't a particularly great film one can say and even I see the flaws in it now. But I still love it as much as I did as a kid and most probably will continue to.

The Kid(1921): This might be the only movie in which someone runs away from Tramp scared. It is usually the other way around, right? It's Chaplin's first feature length and it's short and sweet but says what it has to very clearly. Now after so many years, Chaplin's direction of Jackie Coogan is a stuff of legends and you can definitely see that on the screen. Loved the kid and the way he is completely in with the tramp in all of his schemes though it could have been as good as Chaplin's best works if it didn't loose a little in half an hour or so.

Ishaqzaade(2012)(Hindi):I have been strangely attracted to this film ever since last year for no reason other than it made it to TIFF. I finally saw it this month on Television and I am still strangely fascinated. It's not that we have never had films with the Ishaqzaade's ending but it's just that I never, for a moment, expected this one to go where it did. I was absolutely sure that somehow they will make it to be a typical 'And they lived happily ever after' saga but it kept on surprising me. And so did Parineeti Chopra. Hopefully she will fulfill the promise she has shown.

Raanjhanaa(2013)(Hindi): Second Hindi movie of the month(actually, this is the first one I saw) that surprised me. But more than that, this movie confused me. What happens to Abhay Deol surprised me and got me excited to see where they will take it from there but everything after that just confused. For the whole second half, I don't see any explanation of why everyone is doing what they are doing and it was frustrating after a while. If and when I watch it again, it might bet better but right now, second half is all over the place in my opinion.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag(2013)(Hindi): To tell you the truth, I had only one problem with the film - it's length. It is a descent film that has it's heart in the right place and does good justice to one of the legendary athletes of India - Milkha Singh. Farhan Akhtar in the titular role does great job, especially given his commitment for his role. But there is no reason for this film to be more than 3 hours long. Even sitting in the theater watching it, I must have counted 30 minutes worth of film that easily could have been cut.

Oblivion(2013): It was actually pretty good film. Definitely better than I expected but I doubt if I expected anything at all from this one. Probably that helped the most, having next to nothing expectations from it. It started slowly and took me some time to get into this one(I can also blame this on our speakers who decided not to work properly on their own that day) but once it did, it kept on getting more and more interesting and fortunately didn't disappoint in the end.

The Grandmaster(2013):Third and least favourite of my in-flight trio on my way home. Interestingly in the last couple of weeks, I have read couple of articles about how Weinstein company dumbed this movie down by cutting few scenes in it for the feat of average American finding it obscure. Now I don't know which print I saw. Visually, it was every bit gorgeous as you can expect from Wong Kar Wai. But narratively, I am still confounded by it. I am still not sure who played Tony Leung's wife(For half the film, I was under impression Zhang Ziyi is), who was that Razor fella? Where did he come from and where did he go?

Despicable Me(2010): I know, I know the second one is already out but I can't watch it unless I watch the first one, can I? It is a typical animated film that I don't really care for. It's not a bad film per say, it is sweet and cute and all that but it's a film probably anyone little older will be able to see through and I hate that. The usual defense is it is an animated film. It is intended for kids and I agree but it doesn't have to be Just For Kids. If you put a little more effort into it, something good can come even out of this. 

Premium Rush(2012): As an action movie, I am ready to give it good marks. There was actually a lot in it that got my adrenalin pumping. But other than that, it was very average popcorn flick that I can forget quicker than the taste of popcorn I was eating while watching it. Michael Shannon did a decent job with his role but to tell you the truth, it felt like a wasted talent than anything else. There wasn't much in the story to glue me to my seat or to take it seriously and feel threatened by it.

The Croods(2013): I saw this for Emma Stone because she is amazing and I can pretty much watch anything with her in it. It turns out, not Anything! Despite it being an animated movie, I thought she was still good in it as her voice is her most distinguished trait but story sucked big time. I was kind of amused early on, which is why I continued on but I started rolling my eyes pretty soon and by the end, my right eyeball was in the leftmost corner of my left eye and left one in the rightmost corner of right eye. Hey, it's an animated movie! Anything can happen. 

Total Count: 19. 17 First Time Watches and 2 Re-watches .

2013 YTD Count

Total Count: 177. 163 First Time Watches and 14 Re-watches.

19 movies is not much but not too bad a month either, especially considering Junebug was my first movie in almost 10 days. I haven't counted the movies I saw in bits and pieces throughout the month on TV but I have seen so many partially that if I could count two half movies as one, I would probably go beyond 30(I know that's cheating) and most of them were re-watches. So that number would also be little more respectable than paltry 14 in 8 months(Yup, that's me! Last tear that number was 22. So considering that, I am almost well up to speed).

As per me getting back to blogging, I am still not so sure. I am a kind of person who NEEDS to plan ahead and haven't done that for the past two months. Only thing I can assure you right now is, once again, there will be a Blind Spot post and Wrap Up post(That, I have planned well in advance!) and hopefully, I will pop up in between a couple of times just enough to keep you people interested in this place. Let us see how that goes!

So, how was your month? Did you see anything interesting? What do you think of the movies I saw? Any favorites?

WALL-E or Pixar's most 'Studio Ghibli'-esque film

I am so not a Pixar person. I was and always will be Studio Ghibli guy. I probably don’t know what I am talking about because I have more Pixar movies in my Top 100(3) than Ghibli(just 1) but I am still Ghibli person because I love their traditional style of animation than Pixar’s computer generated ones and also because when I update my top 100, which should be very soon, that Ghibli film will be head and shoulders above every other animated film. In case you don’t know, the film I am talking about is Isao Takahata’s Grave of the Fireflies(1988). There is only Pixar film that had any chance of putting up a fight for that top spot – Wall-E(2008). Off course, it is my favourite Pixar film and one of my favourite animated films but to tell you the truth, I had not seen it since I first saw it in 2008. I really needed to correct that and also see if it does put up any fight to Grave. My ‘favourites’ series also needed a little animated favour, so I decided to take all these opportunities and here we are!

I doubt if there is anyone who doesn’t know what this film is about, because it is one of the best animated films made. But just in case, there is someone leaving under the rock and reading this blog from there – It is a love story of two robots. In the distant future, where Earth is nothing more than a big, glorious dump incapable of sustaining growth of any leaving organism and with everyone worth leaving already gone, Wall-E is a small garbage collecting robot left behind to clean up the place while everyone is gone. He spends his days making the cubes of garbage that is lying everywhere and making some artistic structures with them. His favourite part of the whole process is collecting the trinkets that catch his eyes from the trash. His trailer is full of such junk but that’s his treasure. One fine day while going about his own business, he witnesses a big, fancy spaceship dropping off a small, cute robot. The instant his eyes fall on that robot, he is absolutely swept of his feet. In his own clumsy way, he tries every trick in his book to impress her. Her name is Eve and she has been dropped on earth as a part of routine to check if there is a chance of any life form sustaining on earth. Incidentally, last addition Wall-E made to his treasure is a plant and an instant he presents that plant to Eve, she stores it inside her in secret compartment, sends a signal to the mother ship and becomes completely unresponsive. Wall-E tries hard to get her to talk, he even takes care of her through everything until one day, same spaceship comes back to take Eve away.

Thinking that she is in trouble, Wall-E somehow even gets onto the ship and reaches Axiom, a ship that he always watches on the big screen on his way to work. On reaching Axiom, Eve is supposed to deposit the proof on possibility of sustaining life on earth, the plant she is carrying, which will start the process of bringing humans back to earth. On reaching Axiom, Wall-E sees humans for the first time and they have all gotten so fat due to lack of any movement at all, thanks to all the technology. Eve is presented in front of the captain of the ship who initiates ‘Operation Recolonize’ but ship’s auto pilot system - aptly name Auto - which pretty much has all the control of ship, has some other directives and tries to hinder them. Wall-E and Eve have to put up a fight to do the right thing. Best thing about Wall-E is even though it is portrayed as a distant future, leaving in a current world it is not that hard to imagine us getting there. It’s not impossible to imagine that we humans will turn this earth into a glorified garbage can and neither is us getting turned into big, fat slobs unable to carry their own weight on their own legs due to the over-dependence on all the technology. Another aspect that Wall-E scores handsomely in is personification of the robots. Making the two robots fall in love itself is the most commendable thing about it but that’s not it. The way Wall-E falls head over heels at first look of Eve, his complete absent minded behaviour trying to impress her with his stupidities and most of all, his tendency to hold on to something as insignificant as his trinkets is something that draws out Wall-E as almost human and I really love that about this movie.

When I first heard about a movie featuring love story of two robots, I wasn’t into it at all. I remember passing on watching it in a theatre for that reason. I only saw it later because of the effusive praise I heard from many of my friends. Given this background, it gets a lot of credit for not only drawing me into this world but making me love it. I have seen people calling it an inferior film because it borrows from other films and I don’t get it. It obviously borrows from many movies, probably most importantly from 2001: A Space Odyssey(1968) with similarities between Hal and Auto. I am sure there are many movies that borrowed something from 2001, almost every movie based in space made since 1968 does. But somehow I deny calling it a strike against these films as long as they aren’t outright copying it; I would rather call it greatness of 2001 to inspire so many. Chaplin’s Tramp is another obvious influence on developing Wall-E’s character and Writer-Director Andrew Stanton even agrees to have watched lot of Chaplin to learn displaying emotions without dialogue. I don’t understand how any of it makes it any inferior. For the first half of the film till Wall-E and Eve reach Axiom, there are no talking characters. It is almost like a silent movie except for the electronic voices in which Wall-E and Eve say each other’s names. However, body language of the two characters, background landscapes and music used is so rich, so detailed that they easily set the right mood.

One of the important reasons I say I prefer Ghibli movies to Pixar is besides being entertaining and adorable; they always have some bigger, universal message behind them, usually related to the environment. To me, a good animated film is something that doesn’t come with age-limit. With this warning to the mankind about possible course of future, Wall-E serves the purpose of giving the message(that's why the title!) and even gives something to big kids to think about. To answer the first question I posed while choosing to focus on Wall-E; No, it is no way better than Grave of the Fireflies or at least I don’t think it is. So, the Grave still remains to be my favourite animated movie and I even see Wall-E falling down a bit in my imminent Top 100 update. But it will still remain to be my favourite Pixar as an incredibly adorable and very well executed story with no age-bar.

Rating(out of 5):

Past Favorites:

Notorious(1946)

Rashomon(1950) 

City of God(2002)

12 Angry Men(1957)

Bicycle Thieves(1948)

Top 5: Actors directing themselves

With the Oscar season picking up since last month, we are getting ready for many movies that are sure to play some role in the award season. We have seen some of the big players release already. With the release of Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master(2012) last month, which is almost sure to get nominated in all the three acting categories as well as it seems to have a good chance for Best Picture, Director as well as Screenplay. Another movie that we have already seen and is sure to play big role is Ben Affleck's Argo(2012). Based on real event in 1980 where CIA and Canadian Intelligence worked together to extract six Americans working in American Embassy in Tehran, Iran as things get crazy after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. It is almost guaranteed a nomination for Best Picture and Best Director and it also looks good to get through Screenplay nomination as well as Alan Arkin getting into Supporting category. When I saw it couple of weeks ago, it immediately jumped very high in my this year's list as well. Probably even the Best. It asserted the fact that Ben Affleck is turning out to be a fine director. I loved his first movie, Gone Baby Gone(2007) and is one of my favorites, Amy Ryan is the force to be reckoned with in it. Even The Town(2009), his sophomore effort, albeit not as good as first one it was still decent. However with the success of Argo, it should be safe to assume that he has made his transition from in front of camera to behind it and looking at his acting career, it's probably for better. However, this got me thinking about actors directing themselves on screen. I kept on thinking about the pros and cons of it and the fact there probably aren't too many to judge from wasn't helping either. I still don't know if it's for better or for worse but I knew one thing for sure. I have an idea for another post.

So, this is a list of 5 actors that have directed themselves and in my opinion are the best examples of it. I have tried to think of as many as I can and have come to finalize this list. If I have missed someone noteworthy, please remind me in the comments. What I have also done is to try and bring it to one performance rather than their whole careers which would make it easy for me and made sure they play significant part in the movie, playing at least supporting role in it(so none of the Hitchcock appearances qualify).

Honourable Mentions: 

Jackie Chan in Project A(1983) - Some of you probably know that I have an immense respect for this man for his dedication and effort that he usually puts into his movies considering the fact that he does all his stunts by himself and then he also directs stuff.

Aamir Khan in Taare Jameen Par(2008) - Aamir Khan is kind of a rarity in Indian Industry since he is one of the very very few acting superstars. It does not lack either superstars or actors but being both seems to be off the table. He certainly isn't as good director as any one on the list and has done only one feature but being an Indian myself, I never loose an opportunity to gloat.

Getting into the final five, in alphabetical order -

Woody Allen in Manhattan(1979) - I don't think anyone making such list will not have Allen on it. He is just that good. To tell you the truth, I have him in very high regards as a director but not so much as an actor. To me all his characters look just the same and more often than not very good in getting under my skin. Take Crimes and Misdemeanour(1989) for example. For the record, I like this film and will probably rank it in 10 Best movies he did in his career but if there is one problem in it, that's Allen's character and his storyline. I swear you can edit whole of his story out and show it to someone, he wouldn't even notice something is missing. But in Manhattan, which not so incidentally is also my favorite Allen movie, everything works so wonderfully starting from that unforgettable opening monologue. It's not just that the story of multiple love triangles which otherwise easily might have failed works here because of the interwoven characters but it actually fascinates me here. 42 year old middle aged man who was married to a lesbian previously, now dating a 17 year old high-school-er and falling for his best friend's mistress - definitely something I will have problem with but I LOVE it when he goes running back to Tracy in the end. Oh and I haven't even mentioned probably the most fascinating thing - crisp, clear and Black and White Cinematography. That thing alone is enough to make you fall in love with New York City.

Charlie Chaplin in City Lights(1931) - Another contender that has to make this list, no exception. I have been watching Chaplin run around and do his thing even before I was old enough to know who he was. Only real problem for me here was narrowing it down to one single performance since there are SO MANY. There is Modern Times(1936) with some of the most memorable gigs, then there is The Great Dictator(1940) and that last speech. There is also The Gold Rush(1925) and The Kid(1921) and The Circus(1928) and plenty more that I don't even know. Only reason that always tips the scale a little towards City Lights whenever I think about Chaplin is that amazing last scene. If ever there was so earnest, so sublime scene anywhere else, I do not have any knowledge of it. There is a reason why this movie took the top spot in inaugural Sight and Sound poll, right? What's more is it expertly balances some of the most humurous gigs that Chaplin was most famous for - boxing match in City Lights is just as hilarious as Lunch feeding machine in Modern Times or Chaplin eating his own shoe in The Gold Rush(1925) or any other routine he did in any of his other movies that made you laugh out loud - with some of the most heartfelt, emotional scenes. It is this mixture with just the right proportions that probably has kept this wonderful movie just as fresh even 80 years after its release. It's an absolute bliss !!
 

George Clooney in Ides of March(2011) - He is the youngest in the list and I hope there isn't any second guessing about his acting prowess but if you look at his directorial record, probably even the least experienced. But then again, look at his track award and tell me if he doesn't deserve his place on this list. I haven't seen the Leatherheads(2008) yet but based on just the other three, I am pretty assured that he will turn out just fine. Look at the line-up he has assembled for his next. With his strong political inclinations which are pretty evident even in his real life as well, he also has equally strong sense of morality full-on display in many of his projects. As for the performance in question, let me tell you first that I consider Good Night, and Good Luck(2005) to be a better film based on David Strathairn's singular, central performance alone (I even have a proof here) but George Clooney has a considerably minor role in it. Ides of March(2011) probably isn't as solid as the former but it has one of the best ensemble cast of Ryan Goslin, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood and Marisa Tomei and even more importantly, particularly strong performances from every single one of them. Since I am pointing out single performance for each director with more focus on acting(Title of the post is 'Actors directing themselves' and not the other way around), Ides takes precedence over Good Night, and Good Luck.

Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby(2004) - Will you be surprised if I say that my introduction to Clint Eastwood wasn't with his classic days with Sergio Leone and his cowboy stuff? It actually started with his much more modern work, more precisely his directorial work like Letters From Iwo Jima(2006), Unforgiven(1992) and most importantly, above mentioned Million Dollar Baby(2004). I now have seen a lot more movies he did either as a director as well as an actor but still except for the Dollar trilogy and Dirty Harry(1971), I still haven't seen much in his filmography before Unforgiven, more specifically Mystic River(2003). However even with this limited view, he was the first person I thought of while thinking about this post and once again, only real problem was to narrow it down to the single performance to highlight here. It finally came down to either Unforgiven or Million Dollar Baby, two movies he promised will be last where he will direct themselves and ended up breaking his own promise both the times. But as much as I like slow burn of Unforgiven and it's feat as modern western, Million Dollar Baby should have to take the cake, once again if nothing else for the last 20 minuets or so. I do not understand much about boxing but even then, this movie goes into so many technicalities of it that I have to agree there has to be some authenticity to it. It can well be a coincidence that both these movies have Morgan Freeman in them. But I think Not.

Buster Keaton in The General(1926) - Ever since I was a little kid, I have been watching Chaplin and his movies and have always loved him. You can say that I have been brought up on them in every sense of the word. Up until a year ago, I didn't even know who Buster Keaton was. Imagine my surprise when all of a sudden, I see people comparing this unknown personality with someone as great as Chaplin. Some even went ahead to say he was even better than Chaplin. I was infuriated. I thought have they even seen Chaplin's work? Well, the real fact was I had not seen any of Buster's work. Even right now when I am writing this I have only seen 2 of his movies, one of which i.e. Sherlock Jr.(1924) I didn't even care about and two more, Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928) and Our Hospitality(1923), sitting pretty in my Netflix queue. But just from the first Buster Keaton that I saw was enough to convince me that this man has a real talent. The General convinced me that people who compare him with Chaplin, who say Buster was even better than Chaplin have a strong case; even though personally I still hold Chaplin in higher regard. The best part of The General is it has a story from start to end, it has a direction and it has superb flow. Even though there are a bunch of gigs in it, some of them 'laugh out loud' funny, they come while story progresses. So the story wasn't written to make room for the them, his antics were designed to suit the story. Add to the fact that Buster Keaton did them all by himself and with real locomotive.

P.S.: A Little over week ago, Leith Aitken at Ramble Film put his own spin on the same list. Go, Look.