The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) Review

“He was growing into middle age, and was living then in a bungalow on Woodland Avenue. He installed himself in a rocking chair and smoked a cigar down in the evenings as his wife wiped her pink hands on an apron and reported happily on their two children. His children knew his legs, the sting of his mustache against their cheeks. They didn’t know how their father made his living, or why they so often moved. They didn’t even know their father’s name. He was listed in the city directory as Thomas Howard. And he went everywhere unrecognized and lunched with Kansas City shopkeepers and merchants, calling himself a cattleman or a commodities investor, someone rich and leisured who had the common touch. He had two incompletely healed bullet holes in his chest and another in his thigh. He was missing the nub of his left middle finger and was cautious, lest that mutilation be seen. He also had a condition that was referred to as “granulated eyelids” and it caused him to blink more than usual as if he found creation slightly more than he could accept. Rooms seemed hotter when he was in them. Rains fell straighter. Clocks slowed. Sounds were amplified. He considered himself a Southern loyalist and guerrilla in a Civil War that never ended. He regretted neither his robberies, nor the seventeen murders that he laid claim to. He had seen another summer under in Kansas City, Missouri and on September 5th in the year 1881, he was thirty-four-years-old.”

   I’ve often thought about ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’. The film is about the infamous outlaw and the man who took his life. It’s the best examination of Jesse James ever committed on film and not only that, but one of the best character studies as well. Director Andrew Dominik examines every fine detail about who the man was. The title ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’ doesn’t focus on Jesse James, but instead on the man who would become his killer. This is because the film isn’t told from the perspective of Jesse James, but by Robert Ford’s perspective.

   

   We first meet Robert outside of Jesse’s camp out in the woods. They’re preparing for what is meant to be the James gang’s last robbery before they break up. Robert Ford is a hired gun of minor importance tries to get in the favor of Jesse James himself. Robert grew up idolizing Jesse and always put him up on a pedestal. He believed all the stories and myths he heard about Jesse. He collected books and memorabilia that dealt with Jesse James. Robert is ultimately accepted into the gang and strikes up a relationship with Jesse. Robert lives to please Jesse and Jesse seems satisfied to obtain such dedication and respect. After getting to know Jesse James, Robert comes to understand that the famous outlaw is simply just a man. He’s not a god. He is not exceptionally clever or special. Over time, the two become locked into a love hate relationship. Robert needs Jesse’s approval and it’s hard to see why Jesse needs Ford, but the need is there nonetheless. That’s what makes Robert’s ultimate betrayal so powerful. After a series of mishaps, misunderstandings, and decline of trust Robert expects that Jesse James will eventually kill him.

    “Can’t figure it out. Do you want to be like me or do you want to be me?” Jesse asks Ford. Throughout the rest of the film, Robert starts to dress more like Jesse. When he kills for the first time, he leans up against the wall grinning. He wants to become the new Jesse James almost. He wants Robert Ford to become a household name. As the film progresses, Ford’s love and obsession for Jesse slowly turns into bitterness. He realizes that he’s nothing and will never be an equal to the famous Jesse James. He just has anger built up against Jesse. First he had a desire to be Jesse, but then he wants to replace him and Jesse James is the only obstacle in his way of fame.

   Before Robert Ford’s betrayal, he walks around Jesse’s home. He sits in his bed, drinks his water, envisioning him missing a fingertip. Ford seems almost possessed that he’ll be the next Jesse James. Then it happens… the betrayal. 

   This scene is the perfect example of all the elements giving the film a somber, autumnal, and melancholic feel. James deliberately removes his gun holster and places it out of reach, while he stands staring out his window with his back to Charlie and Robert Ford. These actions suggest that Jesse knows what is about to happen. He’s ready for it. Jesse looking out the window has an almost spiritual sense to it.  The cross-shaped grille he stands behind. Even his black vest gives him the appearance of a minister. 

    The room they are in is lightly furnished with dark brown furniture and the beige walls. There’s a dark brown wall shelf and a portrait on one side. Then there’s a simple drawing of a brown horse on the other side of the room. Jesse turns around and comments, “Don’t that picture look dusty,” in regards to that drawing, which is strangely located high up near the ceiling. Seems unlikely that anyone can see dust that far away. Jesse sets a chair in front of the wall so he can properly reach the drawing. His back is once again to Charlie and Robert. Robert aims his gun at Jesse, who can see it happening through the reflection of the glass pane. He knows he’s about to die, but does nothing to avoid it. Ford at long last pulls the trigger ending Jesse James’ life. It’s a suitably dramatic and stylized end to a figure whose immorality and mercilessness did nothing to stop Robert Ford from worshiping him nor murdering him.

    Robert Ford is so blinded by his mission for fame that eventually his desires two-timed him. He’s famous for murdering Jesse, but he’s famously hated. Robert is neither loved, respected, nor feared… just hated. He’s called a coward, receives death threats, and is driven to alcoholism. It seems bizarre that so many people would jump to the defense of one of the most important criminals in the West, but legend had taken hold. He deals with public hate and regret. Then the cruelest blow is dealt to Robert Ford.

“Edward O’Kelly came up from Bachelor at one P.M. on the 8th. He had no grand scheme. No strategy. No agreement with higher authorities. Nothing but a vague longing for glory, and a generalized wish for revenge against Robert Ford. Edward O’Kelly would be ordered to serve a life sentence in the Colorado Penitentiary for second degree murder. Over seven thousand signatures would eventually be gathered in a petition asking for O’Kelly’s release, and in 1902, Governor James B. Ullman would pardon the man. There would be no eulogies for Bob, no photographs of his body would be sold in sundries stores, no people would crowd the streets in the rain to see his funeral cortege, no biographies would be written about him, no children named after him, no one would ever pay twenty-five cents to stand in the rooms he grew up in. The shotgun would ignite, and Ella Mae would scream, but Robert Ford would only lay on the floor and look at the ceiling, the light going out of his eyes before he could find the right words.”

  In other words, Robert Ford dies hated and is forgotten. Jesse James dies a hero of the people. A symbol. His longing of fame is unproductive and destructive.

   ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’ is melancholic, slow, atmospheric, and haunting. It’s possibly one of the saddest westerns I’ve ever seen. It’s not your typical western film, if anything, it’s an anti-Western, which is rare. The film clocks in at about two and a half hours. I found it to be thoroughly appealing and unbelievably striking. It’s as if Terence Malik directed a western.

  The score to the film is amazing. Nick Cave and his pianist Warren Ellis composed it. Nick Cave, of course, is one of my favorite artists. ‘Into my Arms’ and ‘Where the Wild Roses Grow’ are some of my favorite songs. The score adds a lot to the atmosphere to the film. Nick Cave also has a nice little cameo as a minstrel. 

   Then there’s the cinematography done by the one and only Roger Deakins (Blade Runner 2049). Deakins brings the most noble contribution to the film. His cinematography in this film is so astonishing, evocative, and magnificent. The visual style adds remarkably to the feel of sadness over its characters. The film is a must see for the cinematography alone. The film as a whole feels like old photographs come to life.

    Last but not least, there are the performances. It feels like Brad Pitt’s entire career lead him to this role. Most of Brad Pitt’s performances are good, but his depiction of Jesse James is truly his best. Pitt perfectly encapsulates the character’s simmering anger, paranoia, and charisma. He plays a great disturbed, unstable, unpredictable, sad, and troubled figure. It seems like he was born to lay the role. Then there’s Casey Affleck as the complexly disturbed Robert Ford. He’s socially awkward and whimpering brownnoser at times. He’s constantly shifting, fidgeting, avoiding eye contacts, and having nervous ticks. He’s a better actor than his brother in my opinion. The rest of the cast includes Sam Rockwell, Jeremy Renner, Garret Dillahunt, Ted Levine, Mary Louise Parker, and Sam Shepard.

     Lots of people haven’t heard of this film, but why is that? Well it was released the same year as ‘There Will Be Blood’ and ‘No Country for Old Men’. Poor distribution from Warner Bros. and little to no advertising probably killed the film at the box office. I’m glad that among my fellow cinephiles that it’s gaining popularity.

5 out of 5

Meet Joe Black (1998) Review

“Love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without. I say, fall head over heels. Find someone you can love like crazy and who will love you the same way back. How do you find him? Well, you forget your head, and you listen to your heart. And I'm not hearing any heart. Cause the truth is, honey, there's no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love, well, you haven't lived a life at all. But you have to try, cause if you haven't tried, you haven't lived.”

   Life and death are two of the universal constants that all of the world is aware of. Children are born every day and people die every day. What if people on earth didn’t die today? Or tomorrow? Maybe even for seven days. Earth’s death rate is at a complete halt. This is the idea of what Martin Brest brings to his 1998 film Meet Joe Black.

   The film is a thought-provoking romantic drama with a supernatural twist. You can tell that the 1934 film ‘Death Takes a Holiday’ inspired this film. This was Martin Brest’s follow up after ‘Scent of a Woman’. 

   ‘Meet Joe Black’ is about Bill Parrish who is almost 65 years old. He’s an intelligent capitalist and also a loving father who wants the best for his family. However, his health is declining and his company is under attack from its competitors. By his side are his two loving daughters, Susan and Allison. Susan is engaged to his business associate that Bill doesn’t want as a son-in-law. Instead, he encourages Susan to, “find someone you can love like crazy, and who’ll love you the same way back.” He wants her to have the best love she can have. 

   Prophetic words indeed for Susan meets a stranger in a café and they almost instantaneously connect. They part ways without exchanging names (this is before cell phones and being attached to our screens). The two of them infatuated and enthusiastic for the future. Unbeknownst to Susan, the young man is soon killed after their meeting and his body is taken by Death. Death visits Bill and tells him that his time is up. Bill just isn’t ready to go yet. So Death strikes up a bargain with Bill, Death will delay Bill’s death if he teaches him what life is all about. Death is then named Joe Black. In the process of learning about life, he falls in love with Susan. So when Susan final finds someone she wants to be with, unintentionally Death, Bill is conflicted.

    The performances in the film are great. Anthony Hopkins effortlessly runs circles around his fellow actors. He is on fine form here with his portrayal of a business tycoon coming to terms with his mortality. Claire Forlani has a special kind of gentleness in her performance, which makes it believable that if Death walked the earth that he would fall in love with her. It’s a shame that most of her films now are straight to DVD releases. Then there’s Brad Pitt who plays both the charismatic guy in the café and Death. Pitt has one of his finest performances as Death in his mostly impressive career. He grounds the film and is a delight to watch.

   Meet Joe Black is a magnificent mixture of comedy, drama, and romance. Although, it’s romantic at its core. It’s poignant and succeeds to tug quite effectively at the heartstrings with those moments of real tender beauty. Thomas Newman’s truly stunningly beautiful score truly adds to the film. My only complaint about the film is that is sometimes has some uneven pacing that could have been cut out to help the film with its runtime.

  Life is a gift. Many of us tend to forget that. We are so obsessed with things that seem vital at the time, but looking back seems so trivial.  It’s the little things in our life that brings us joy such as eating peanut butter or sitting outside soaking in the sun while petting your cat or dog. Death sees what we take from granted as pure and magical. He’s innocent in a way. When he tastes peanut butter for the first time he says that it’s the most amazing food he’s ever had. When he’s with Bill’s family for an extravagant dinner he rather just eat peanut butter. The point is that life can be difficult enough, but it isn’t until others are no longer with us that we fully comprehend it. Another takeaway from the film is that you don’t need to be rich to leave your mark on the world because you’ll leave your mark on the hearts of the people you love.

5 out of 5

BODY BAGS (1993) Review

    When someone brings up John Carpenter the first film someone usually thinks of is either 'Halloween', 'The Thing', the Escape films, 'They Live', 'The Fog', or 'Big Trouble in Little China'. I usually think of one of my favorite horror films 'In the Mouth of Madness'. Hardly anyone brings up his film ‘Body Bags’. Many people haven’t even seen the film, which is a shame since it’s a fun film to watch. Body Bags is a TV horror anthology film directed by both John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre).

    It was Showtime’s answer to HBO’s anthology series 'Tales from the Crypt'. Instead of the Crypt Keeper we get John Carpenter as the creepy coroner. Much like the Crypt Keeper he introduces each segment with one-liners and has a very cornball sense of macabre. Actually after the commercial and critical flop of Carpenter’s ‘Memoirs of an Invisible Man’ in 1992 he signed on with Showtime to produce a horror anthology series. During shooting Showtime got cold feet in making a commitment to a series. So what did they do? They recovered it and edited it into a TV movie called ‘Body Bags’.

  It’s always hard to review an anthology film because you’re almost always going to get fluctuating quality between all the segments. Even one of the best anthology films like Creepshow has its weak parts. It’s not in the favor of ‘Body Bags’ that it falls in between being a TV series and a film. If it was a television series it would be slightly above average, but as a film it would be fairly cheap looking and slightly under average. 

   There are three segments in the film. Carpenter directed the first two segments: ‘The Gas Station’ and ‘Hair’. Tobe Hooper directed the final segment “The Eye”. The first segment is probably the most suspenseful. It’s about Anne on her first night of the job looking over an isolated 24-7 gas station in a rural area just outside of Haddonfield, Illinois (horror fans without a doubt will identify that Haddonfield is the home of Michael Myers from the Halloween series). Her departing co-worker warns her that there’s an escaped murderous satanic serial killer out on the loose in the area. This makes her even more distrustful as the night continues on. She encounters a lot of late night patrons, but she feels moderately safe until she unintentionally locks herself out of the booth. There’s a lot of intriguing cameos in this segment including Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Sam Raimi (Evil Dead). Wes Craven played a pretty good stalker. Once the killer is discovered the tension is escalated. Carpenter really makes this simple story work with the unnervingly abandoned backdrop, the red herrings, and misdirection to keep the viewers attention. 

   The second segment is the quirkiest out of the three. It’s about an aging businessman who is fanatically self conscious about his receding hairline. He tries everything to find a cure for getting his hair back. He tries everything from those late night television advertisements promising that your hair will grow back to those ridiculous spray on hair items. Then he stumbles across an advertisement for a miracle cure for hair. So he goes to the specialist who promises him hair with his new experimental treatment. And just like that his hair grows overnight… a ridiculous amount of hair. What first seems like a success soon becomes deadly. It’s a very light-hearted and goofy segment.

    The third and final segments is directed by Tobe Hooper and features Luke Skywalker himself. It’s about a Major League Baseball player who gets into a horrific car accident who loses his eye because of it. Once he awakens from a coma he realizes that he’s lost his eye. With his career being threatened he is offered a chance to get his sight back with a revolutionary new eye transplant, but with no promises that’ll work. However, it does work, but soon he’s overwhelmed with headaches and disturbing visions of assaulting and murdering young women. He’s forced to look into who the eye originally belonged to. It’s a pretty gruesome yet highly predictable segment. Some ghastly shock moments. There’s a nice little Roger Corman (Attack of the Crab Monsters/ House of Usher) cameo. I’m surprised that Mark Hamill agreed to do this segment since in 1977 Hamill crashed his car and had to have seven hours of reconstructive surgery to his face. Leaving his appearance distinctively altered in Episode V. 

   As much as I love the first segment it felt out of place since the other two dealt with the medical side of things. Body Bags isn’t the best Television movie, but it is a fun way of wasting an hour and a half. It seems like it’s too focused on the twists and turns that it actually forgets to be scary. Carpenter as the coroner is the best part about this film. He kind of reminded me of Beetlejuice. There’s plenty of macabre, tons of cameos, and overall a very entertaining watch.

3.4 OUT OF 5

Drive (2011) Film Analysis

    There were so many great films that came out in 2011, but Drive was the one that blew me away. I remember when it came out both critics and most cinephiles fell in love with the film, but the average audience hated it. Why did they hate it? Well it was marketed as an action packed film. The trailer gave them the wrong idea. So they thought that it was boring and lacked action since there were only two car chases and Ryan Gosling’s character became extremely violent. I even remember there was a lawsuit against the film that the trailer was misleading and it was no Fast and Furious. Granted now Fast and Furious is no longer Fast and Furious. I wonder when that lawsuit will happen.

   The opening shot explains so much about our protagonist. The driver is particular, serious, has a set of rules, and quick to the point. His boss Shannon provides his getaway car. The camera never leaves Driver when he’s driving the car. He’s timed everything out perfectly and the criminals he drove get away. Soon he meets Irene. She starts changing him and he begins questioning whether or not to quit driving for criminals. We soon hear the film’s theme, a Real Hero, when Driver is starting to show emotions while driving Irene and her son Benicio. This is where we see that Driver wants to change.

   Soon we meet Bernie Rose, the film’s main antagonist, Shannon wants Bernie to give Driver a look by having him drive a car for him. They exchange words, which are the best lines in the film, and sums up both characters.

Shannon: Kid I want you to meet Bernie Rose.

Driver: My hands are a little dirty.

Bernie: So are mine.

    Driver may partake in criminal activities, but he doesn’t view that those actions characterize him. His hands are only a “little dirty”. Simply put, he thinks that he’s a good person. Bernie to the contrary knows he’s a criminal and embraces it.

   There’s a conversation between Driver and Benicio takes place when they watch a cartoon together that can easily be dismissed as random conversation, but that’s never the case with director Nicolas Winding Refn.

Driver: Is he a bad guy?

Benicio: Yeah.

Driver: How can you tell?

Benicio: Cause he’s a shark.

Driver: There are no good sharks?

Benicio: No I mean just look at him. Does he look like a good guy to you?

     Driver wants out of the shark life, but something is building up inside of him. He wants to be the good guy, sharks can be good guys too right? When Benicio thinks otherwise this is where Driver gets the look like reality just hit him. Driver is a shark, a bad guy. Then there’s the news that Standard, Irene’s husband, is returning home from prison.  This is where hope starts to fade from Driver.

   Standard returns home in hope to rebuild his family. Simultaneously, Driver is rebuilding something that is critical for his car. Both Driver and Standard are working to rebuild something that is significant to them. Since Driver and Irene first met, their whole focus and the motives change. Also, what drives them changes. All they can do is think of one another. During Standard’s welcome home party the song ‘Under your Spell’ is playing in the background. Irene’s thoughts are elsewhere during the party. “I don’t eat. I don’t sleep. I do nothing, but think of you. You got me under your spell.” Driver doesn’t view driving the same way, just as Irene doesn’t view the completion of her family the same way. Once Driver is finished with his repairs, he walks out of his apartment to see Irene sitting in the hall.

Irene: Sorry about the noise.

Driver: I was going to call the cops.

Irene: I wish you would.

  This is the moment where Driver realizes he has nothing. He’s a long way from becoming a good guy and that one bright spot in life is fading. His anger is brewing and we see what he is capable of doing. Standard then confronts Driver about being threatened into robbing a pawn shop and Benicio is given a bullet by a thug named Cook. Driver is getting increasingly unstable thinking about Irene and Benicio getting harmed. Driver tells Standard that he’ll help him on one condition. That he’ll leave Irene and Benicio. Of course the heist goes wrong, Standard is killed in the process, and Driver escapes to a motel with Blanche who is one of the people involved in the robbery. He discovers that the money stolen wasn’t even reported and then there’s a bloody shootout at the motel. He has a discovery that he’ll always be the shark, no matter what. Just look at that expression.

    Now we move onto the infamous elevator sequence. He wanted one last moment with Irene. It was a moment that will be forever imprinted on his heart because he knew what he had to do next. After that blissful moment of letting out all his built up love for Irene to say goodbye.

      One of the major themes in Drive is the fable of the Scorpion and the Frog. For the majority of the film Driver wears a jacket with a scorpion on the back of it. In one the final moments of the film, Driver calls up Bernie. Driver asks him, “you know the story about the scorpion and the frog?” and proceeds to tell him, “Your friend Nino didn’t make it across the river.” If you don’t know the fable of the Scorpion and the Frog I’ll let Wikipedia summarize it for you:

v “The Scorpion and the Frog is an animal fable about a scorpion asking a frog to carry him across a river. The frog is afraid of being stung during the trip, but the scorpion argues that if it stung the frog, the frog would sink and the scorpion would drown. The frog agrees and begins carrying the scorpion, but midway across the river the scorpion does indeed sting the frog, dooming them both. When asked why, the scorpion points out that this is its nature.” 

   Most people say that Driver is the scorpion. Since he does carry the scorpion symbol on his jacket. Some point out that during the infamous elevator scene it represents the moment where the scorpion stings himself. He’s trying to change and build a life with Irene, but turns back to violence because it’s his nature. I believe that Driver actually represents the frog. He is someone who is fundamentally good, but drowns by association of those who are not. He’s always carrying the criminals (or in a way driving them) and continuously getting dragged back into crime. Crime is the scorpion and Driver is literally carrying the scorpion on his jacket. If the scorpion had to be someone it wouldn’t be Nino, but rather Bernie. The final scene between the two of them could in fact be the retelling of the Scorpion and the Frog. Bernie asks for the money and that they will both get what they want. Driver agrees even though he knows Bernie is a shark and gets stung in the process. Bernie did what was in his nature.

  It’s not right to talk about Drive without talking about the music. It mixes Cliff Martinez’s score with a retro 1980s synthwave. The soundtrack blends both old and new. It transports you into the world of the film. Definitely one of my favorite film soundtracks. The soundtrack is so memorable that it stays in your head for years.

   Drive is a marvelous film. Nicolas Winding Refn really did an outstanding job with this film. Ryan Gosling provides us with a splendid performance, a role where he barely speaks and has a wide range of emotions. I was surprised how he was able to communicate by saying so little. Drive is a truly a perfect film. 

5 out of 5

Shame (2011) Review

   In the 1945 film ‘The Lost Weekend’ Billy Wilder portrayed alcoholism as a serious illness rather than a charming and amusing peculiarity. Then in the 1956 film ‘Bigger than Life’ Nicholas Ray portrayed the abuse of prescription drugs and it’s affect on everyone. Then in the film Shame, director Steve McQueen focuses on sex addiction. Michael Fassbender’s character Brandon is not a comical sex maniac, but a seemingly stable and satisfied man whose life is privately dictated by the need to continually orgasm whether its by sex with prostitutes, watching porn, having sex with strangers, or masturbation. His high is the chase, the catch, and the release.

   From the very opening scene we see Brandon lying awake in bed surrounded by blue sheets. The color of blue here could very well mean isolation. Brandon is lying unaccompanied in bed isolated starring at his ceiling. He gets up from his bed once the alarm clock goes off and the title of the film appears. The viewer is shown a series of flash-forward and flashback sequences to convey Brandon’s ritualistic lifestyle. He get’s up, opens his blinds, walks naked to his bathroom, waits at the subway, works, has sex with either with someone willing or paying a prostitute, and then wakes up starting the whole loop over again. His apartment design is very industrial suggesting Brandon’s mechanical and compulsive sexuality. Every morning he systematically walks around naked around his apartment and always his head is out of the frame, yet his sexual organ displayed, indicating how much it has defined his life. One thing seems to drive Brandon and that’s lust.

   While he’s waiting at the subway half of his face is lit while the other is dark. One side is open to all while the other side is seen by a select few. The people in the background are blurred showing that he’s alone even though he lives in New York City. Next we cut to the scene labeled as “Subway Attraction”. We see a blurred face and before we are shown that it is Brandon we see a woman smiling at him. It’s almost like it’s a face of a predator and in a way it resembles the Michael Meyers mask from Halloween. The eyes aren’t visible and the face is vague. This is the mask he wears to prevent anyone from discovering what he really is. Even though at times his mask comes off and when it does he’s troubled by it, but back to this scene. Harry Escott’s score features a repetitive percussion to suggest that this woman looking at Brandon will be his next chase, catch, and release. The tension in this scene is pretty real. No more than a stare and she’s already aroused by him. She looks him up and down. His gaze follows her and doesn’t move his body. She wants him bad and for a moment it seems like he’s about to have her way with her. She crosses her legs she’s trying to remove her wedding ring, but in the process the ring gets stuck. She realizes her lapse in judgment. Her arousal turns to shame. She instantly goes from want to regret. She stands up to show the ring on her finger to visibly tell him “I can’t”, but then Brandon gets behind her. He places his hand under hers almost telling her that he could free her. When she runs off, Brandon doesn’t understand why. He just needed the satisfaction of reaching his release with her. He wants her even though she may not want him. It’s a phenomenal scene, one I’ll come back to later in the review.

      With less than ten minutes of the film we already know so much about Brandon. He is driven by sex/lust and is very private with the exception of sex. He’s stuck in a pattern, which he’s content with. His sister has been leaving voicemails for Brandon, before she even appears in the film she’s already said more than him. He knows what he does is considered dirty to others. It’s something to fill his emptiness. When he’s in a meeting at work, his mind drifts off, until he hears “I find you disgusting”, which immediately catches his attention. When he realizes it had nothing to do with him, his mind drifts off again, until he notices his computer being taken off. It’s obviously full of pornography and he gets nervous about this and what he does when he’s nervous is masturbate. Later on his boss confronts him about his computer. It’s immediately written off, expecting someone else of using his computer for pornography like an intern or his assistant. Since Brandon is so successful and high up in society no one assumes that it is him watching porn on his own work computer.

   Brandon’s boss David convinces Brandon to come with him to a club to find some women. Brandon reluctantly agrees. David has a similar lust for sex, just like Brandon, but can’t act on it even though he tries. He tries to hard to catch the interest of the girls. It came across as desperate and that’s why the ladies weren’t that interested in David. Brandon was more subtle, which was how he picked one of them up. It goes on to show that Brandon will get his release. Whether he’s home alone or out with co-workers.

   Brandon’s ritualized life is put on pause when his sister Sissy intrudes on his life by showing up at his apartment and moving in with him. Brandon has a pattern to his life and his days are often the same. So when something new enters his life he tries to deal with it. Brandon wants nothing to do with his sister and yet she still clings to him. Sissy is chaotic and disruptive. She causes problems with both Brandon’s private and professional life. He is forced out of his pattern. Instead of watching pornography next to his window in the kitchen he watches it in his bedroom. Whether she means to or not she is forcing him out of his comfort zone. Brandon is emotionally detached while Sissy is overly emotional. His life is clean, immaculate, and well organized while hers is simply a mess. Both of them are unable to forge real relationships. He overhears her conversation on the phone. She can’t get the love she wants from other men so she looks for the love and support from her brother. He starts to almost act paternal around her while still looking down on her. She asks him to see her sing, which he agrees to. When Brandon watches his sister sing he realizes that he cares for her and that Sissy is just as broken as he is. It’s speculated that both were abused as kids and that because of this they are the way they are. They’re trying to find themselves, but still alone. The real Brandon comes out, not the sex addict, but someone who sincerely cares for his sister. This takes him by surprise almost. The close-ups on their faces in the scene shows that they are damaged people who are more than their compulsions. He ends up crying when she sings. He may be crying because of his hurt, the way she sings to escape.

    David was with Brandon at the club Sissy sang at. David takes advantage of Sissy knowing that she’s looking for someone to love her. Brandon tries to protect her, but is in a problematic position since David is his boss. David knows this and uses it to his advantage. Next thing we know David and Sissy are in the Brandon’s apartment having sex. He does not confront them instead he waits at the elevator for a bit before going into his apartment, but it’s too much for him so he goes outside to run to try and clear his head. He’s trying to escape. Once he’s done running he goes back to his apartment to try and sleep it off. Brandon feels betrayed by Sissy and sends her packing. The next day he sees two people in an apartment complex having sex with the blinds open. He wishes he could be open like this with his addiction, but knows it can’t happen.

   Brandon decides to go on a date with a colleague. He actually makes a real connection with her. They have a conversation about if they could choose a time period to live in, which would they choose. Brandon wishes he could be a musician in the sixties, while she says she’s content with being in the now. This could mean he’s uncomfortable in his own body. When he’s about to have sex with her it’s more of a tender interaction compared to all the soullessness sexual acts he does throughout the rest of the film, but he can’t perform for her. This means he can only perform if it means nothing. This is why he is so ashamed and upset after she leaves. He knows what he is. After she leaves he has sex with a prostitute and this time he does it like the two people he saw in the apartment for the world to see.

   Once again Sissy comes back into the picture. He tried to clean up his act after Sissy found her pornography on his computer. He threw away his laptop and magazines, but his addiction beat him. Sissy asks for a hug, but all his compassion for her is gone. All he feels is disdain for her now. He leaves, hits on a woman, and gets beat up by her boyfriend. Sex for him is a means to an end. He then ends up going to gay brothel to suggest Brandon’s hunt for sex is based on the release rather than satisfying any actual desires. After he finishes at the brothel he gets a voicemail from sissy saying they both come from a bad place, but it doesn’t make them bad people. He then goes on to have a threesome. This scene focuses so intensely on his face and the viewer can see he’s strained and depressed. He just needs to fill that void in his life and he thinks sex can fill it if only for a moment.

  When something happened to Sissy he blamed himself. His addiction overpowered his affection for his sister and tries to clean up because of it. The film could have ended there and it still would have been a masterpiece, but that final scene took it to another level. He goes on the subway and meets the same woman from the beginning of the film again. Brandon is trying to kick his habit, but this time she’s flirting with him trying to lead him back to temptation.  We want Brandon to clean up so he can have the life he deserves. Does he pass or fail the test? Before he can make a decision the film ends.

  This will always be director Steve McQueen’s best film along with Michael Fassbender. This is the film I immediately think about when someone mentions the actor’s name. The acting was phenomenal, every bit of dialogue actually has meaning, the cinematography was lovely, and just about everything about the film is perfect. I remember seeing this film with a group of colleagues and they were all disgusted by it. I sat in my seat amazed by this film. How it dealt with

    The film is truly honest. It’s very rare. The viewer can feel Brandon’s self loathing and desperate need for redemption. He’s truly broken. Throughout the film he searches for someone or something to fill this void. Shame depicts the lonely life of a person suffering from an addiction. I really felt Brandon’s narcissism and rage from his addiction. It shows some of the struggles an addict can succumb to. There aren’t many films I can call perfect. There are thousands upon thousands of films out there and a select few of them I would call perfect and Shame is one of those films.

5 out of 5

Interview with Mac Arnold (2020)

I had the pleasure of meeting one of my favorite musicians the one and only Mac Arnold at a blues club. I sat down with him and asked him if I may interview him. He smiled and said of course.

What made you love music?

I grew up in the church doing gospel music and I started listening to the radio. I found WLAC in Nashville. They were playing blues. So that’s how I fell in love with the blues.

Did you learn anything from working with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Otis Redding, and Otis Spann?

Did I learn anything? I learned all I know from Muddy Waters and I’m so happy to be representing him in a big way. Next year, no, this year before the year is out we’ll have something big celebrating the life of Muddy Waters.

Oh that’s fantastic.

Oh yeah.

How did you get involved with Sanford and Son?

Well I was working for Quincy Jones and Quincy Jones did a lot of music through the 70s and 80s. I happened to be there and I got to play bass for Sanford and Son.

What was it like producing Soul Train?

Fantastic man. I got to meet all the people I didn’t get to meet when I was in Chicago. I was working with Don Cornelius and I was doing backup music for Don’s entertainers that he had in Chicago. He was one of the guys that did the fundraisers from WBON, which was a radio station in Chicago. When he got the Soul Train going he wanted to take it over to California. So I asked him if I could be a part of it and he said yes. So I met him in California and we started doing Soul Train in 1971 and I did Soul Train until 1975.

I’ve always wanted to go back in time and dance with the Soul Train audience.

Yeah that was rad.

What kind of person was Don Cornelius?

Don was really quiet. He was in his own little world. Good guy though. Good attitude, but very quiet.

Why did you retire from music?

I wanted to do everything so I started doing video instead of playing music all the time. At that particular time I played music in studios and you need backup music here and there for Lancer records, Eldorado Studios, and Hollywood. I never stopped playing, but I didn’t play in the clubs anymore. I did videos instead.

Someone told me you were a trucker, were you actually one?

Well that’s how I met Max Hightower my Harmonica and bass guitar player. He was working for a company that leased the truck to the company that I was working for, which was Belk. We got together that way. I met Max and we got playing music. I was reluctant because how people usually are about their attitude towards rehearsing and not being at the job on time. So it took Max about ten years to get me to say yeah. It took me another three to four years to get the musicians together and we’ve been together for the 17^th year.

What made you come back to music? It wasn’t just Max’s persistence was it?

Haha no. Well it’s my love for music. I love music so much. You just can’t get away from it if you love it the way I do.

What advice would you give young musicians?

Practice, practice, practice, and get good. And I definitely want to see you out there and if I could do anything to help you get out there in music. Contact me. That’s what I’m all about. We do blues in the schools all the time. I collect instruments, if the instruments don’t play we fix them, and then we donate them to the schools. The schools donate them to the students. And I have a foundation called I Can Do Anything Foundation its for the preservation for the music and arts in public schools. And that’s where my instrument and will to give back to young musicians.

That’s wonderful, I know schools need the music and arts.

Yes they do. My foundation is registered in South Carolina, but I’m free to go all over the United States. We’ve even did blues in the schools in Europe.

I definitely know Florida public schools need that.

Yeah, well you know I’d like to work it up and do some blues in the schools in Florida. In fact I’d love to do blues in the schools all over the United States if we could get it set up. Well you know me I’d love to anything

Well speaking of doing anything. Do you think you’ll ever do a gospel album?

Uhh, it’s possible. Very possible, but I have a very special thing coming up like I said with Muddy Waters

Thank-you so much for your time.
No, thank-you.