It’s an odd thing but even though Los Angeles is the ‘Entertainment Capital of the World’ there’s relatively few movies actually set here. Here’s the 10 that I think help define this mad city-with-no-centre. Dude.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit – The first ‘live-action-slash-animated-kiddies-film-but-really-made-for-adults-murder-mystery-noir’ (I think that’s a genre in and of itself). Its main plot is from the true story of city corruption which took place when dismantling the LA cable car system and the subsequent building of freeways – the route Judge Doom describes in the film that will go through Toon Town is the 10 Freeway from Santa Monica to Pasadena. The screenwriters took the plot from a proposed ‘Chinatown’ sequel they had been writing and slotted it into this Depression-era flick. High-caliber for a supposed ‘children’s movie’. There’s no question mark on the end because of the Hollywood superstition that films with a ‘?’ in the title don’t do well at the box office. *Interesting cameo alert – that’s infamous producer Joel Silver as the cartoon director, Raoul.

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Robert Musgrave, Owen and Luke Wilson in Bottle Rocket

When I was studying film I remember Bottle Rocket was the first movie that made filmmaking seem tangible.  I could tell these guys were just like me from the story they told and the way they told it.  Wes Anderson and the Wilsons not only brought their chatty slacker melo-drama to life but it looked beautiful too. This was one I had to have letterboxed on laser disc before the dvd revolution came along.

The music in Bottle Rocket was just as memorable as the jumpsuits, plucky and upbeat like the sun rising over the Texas farms in the background.  Mark Mothersbaugh layed down the Spanish sounding and jazzy pieces while the Stones cap off the final “action” scene with 2000 Man; but my favorite cue is the non-diegetic to diegetic trick with the Promclaimers “It’s Over and Done With” after Dignan and Anthony fall out cutting to Inez upset and killing the music by powering down the boom box.

Here’s a gem I found on youtube that I want to share with Mark Mothersbaugh breaking down his scoring career from the beginning and why he took to Wes Anderson’s love of filmmaking; from Bottle Rocket through the Life Aquatic.  He discusses in detail that Wes didn’t like any low bass tones in the score which becomes a running theme through the first 3 movies.  Lots of acoustic guitars, sleigh bells, shakers and flutes but you won’t hear a trombone until Royal Tenenbaum’s family hit the screen.

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The Movie Bitch – we love to hate them but is there anything that we can derive more pleasure from than watching a particularly gifted Bitch wreak havoc? From a safe distance, of course, you don’t want to get caught up in their wake. Or, maybe you do cos you like that sort of thing. These characters know they’re going to hell, so they’re going to enjoy the ride on the way down and they’ll take as many with them as possible. Some are sly, some are loud and proud about it but all of them know better. It wouldn’t be as much fun otherwise. As someone wrote on a birthday card to me – ‘Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere’ – and I am a tame, mousey goody-goody that helps old ladies across the road compared to these chicks – these women would eat me alive. These babes go to 11 on the Bitch-o-Meter. (However, there are actually only 10, so I just made that one bitchier and made that the last one.)

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After a fun conversation with my buddy Sam, here’s my list of Movie and TV Boyfriends that I have loved (So it’s technically a Top 20; I have too many boyfriends to squash them into one list). It’s at random, boys, so don’t fight. I love you all equally!

MOVIES:

1.Han Solo – ‘Star Wars Trilogy’ – It was a tough choice between Han and Indy but since ‘Star Wars’ was my first introduction to the male phenomenon that is Harrison Ford, I’ll go Solo (Haha! My, aren’t we having fun already?) There’s a difference between a ‘Bad Boy’ and a ‘Rascal’ and Solo is the latter. A rascal that I used to dream would call ME ‘Your Worship’ and ‘Your Highness’ in a deliciously sarcastic way. He helps defend the rebellion, keeps that hunk of junk in the sky and always has time for a good old flirt. Like so–
Han Solo: You like me because I’m a scoundrel. There aren’t enough scoundrels in your life.
Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I’m a nice man.
Princess Leia: No, you’re not.

Cue big smooch and a jealous sigh from me.

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(I wrote a few of these while in the throes of being a Vick’s Vapo-Rub Vixen so I’m posting this now before ‘Oscar Fever’ becomes a plague and everyone’s sick of it)

I have a love/hate relationship with most award shows but none so much as the Oscars. It’s an arbitrary thing to reward one performance and not another, it’s not like each actor or actress did the same role so there could be a sense of symmetry. Then people talk about ‘snubs’ and ‘disses’ which makes me a little sick, because in my opinion, these people are blessed just to be able to make films. To me, they’re lucky already. It’s also hard to take it seriously when you think about the fact that people like Alfred Hitchcock, Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne and Stanley Kubrick, among many other huge talents, never received one. I guess it’s like watching a beauty pageant – all the contestants are beautiful in some way but which one carried themselves off the best and campaigned the most convincingly? Still, it’s enjoyable to have friends over, do a pool, make your choices and hope to God somebody does a fun or outrageous stunt or wears a bin-bag so it livens up all the nepotism. And sometimes, your ‘guy’ gets their award, an underdog triumphs and someone says something cool. And ya don’t want to be the pleb that missed it. Here’s my picks from the past:

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I’ve been informed that some people just really do not like Christmas and hate most of the holiday films. Fair enough, I won’t call you ‘Grinch’ or ‘Scrooge’ (besides, these characters change their minds and embrace the holiday). Instead, I will defend your right to hate Dec. 25th and I’ve created a list for you too because you’re not alone!

1. Black Christmas (1974) – Santa goes mental. Everyone on the naughty list gets an axe in the head.

2. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) – Murder mystery, black comedy, shoot-outs and capers galore in front of a Christmas backdrop. Great performances from Downey Jr and Kilmer. Interesting fact, the title comes from what Italians call James Bond films.

3. The Ref (1994) – Ever feel like you’re trapped with your family on Christmas Day? So does Denis Leary and they’re not even HIS family. When his botched attempt to rob a wealthy but miserable family goes askew on Christmas Eve, he has to mediate. The fact that he has a gun seems to help, so take note. (Just kidding!)

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