100 Movies That Make Me Love Film: 23. Ed Wood

23. Ed Wood

I remember the first time I watched Ed Wood was with my dad. We both thought it was the worst movie ever made. I don’t remember the circumstances of why I ever saw this movie for a second time but suddenly I was in love with it. 

The film is a beautiful depiction of a struggling director, not just any director though, Ed Wood the worst director ever. It’s up for debate how accurate the film actually is but regardless it makes me want to believe that Wood was always smiley and upbeat.

The film follows Ed Wood throughout the making of his 3 most infamous movies. We start with his sex-change drama Glen or Glenda. Shortly after this he attempts to make his friend Bela Legusi into a star again with Bride of the Monster. It concludes on Wood’s masterpiece of terrible Plan 9 From Outer Space (arguably the worst movie ever made).

Johnny Depp’s performance of the tortured director is one of his finest (and most understated) roles. Every line of dialogue shines with charm and love, simple lines like “no he’s very much alive” become hilarious by the sincerity of his smile and tone. Of all of the Depp/Burton collaborations (of which there are MANY) this is their best effort.

If only they made more of this and a little less Sweeney Todd.

My Latest Obsession: The First Time

My co-writer and friend Jeff brought this DVD over when we were working on our script. All he told me about it was "It's from the writer of In The Land of Women" which doesn't mean much to anyone except us as we love the shit out of that movie.

I loved this movie. But it was a weird movie for me to love. It's not a comedy, it's not a drama if it's anything it's a straight up romance story but it's so dialogue heavy that I couldn't help to not fall in love with both characters. More so the movie has inspired another script idea for Jeff and I.

There's no much to say about the movie however. I wanted to do this "Latest Obsession" to get people to actually know it exists. Go rent it!

100 Albums That Make Me Love Music: 23. MC Chris Goes To Hell

23. mc chris: MC Chris Goes to Hell

Back in 2010 I wrote a blog about this album where I called it the best hip-hop album of the year. I still stand by that statement. mc chris is one of only two rappers I can think of who have had a perfect track record never releasing a subpar album (the other rapper is Atmosphere who appeared at both 63 and 27 on this list). While I’d like to say this could have been any mc chris album, it’d be a lie. While I love every record the man has ever put out, 2010’s MC Chris Goes to Hell is his undisputed masterpiece.

MC Chris Goes to Hell is the final part of a trilogy of albums. Sometimes you can listen to such trilogies out of order (like the Kanye West trilogy of College Dropout, Late Registration and Graduation) but you’re missing out if you listen to MC Chris Goes to Hell before Dungeon Master of Ceremonies and MC Chris is Dead. So before I can break this album down, I have to start with those previous records.

Dungeon Master of Ceremonies begins the trilogy. It’s important to note the fact that this marks the first record after mc decided to start touring full time. In doing so he returned to the mc chris character from his debut release Life’s a Bitch and I’m her Pimp (The follow-up record Knowing is Half the Hassle he played a kid being bullied and Eatings not Cheating contained no skits). In Life’s a Bitch and I’m her Pimp mc chris was a struggling rapper easily pushed around by his mentor and agent Mr. Chanlen. However by Dungeon Master of Ceremonies he's a big celebrity, party animal and asshole. Mr. Chanlen keeps suggesting that mc goes back to the basics and write more songs about star wars bounty hunters, when mc chris refuses mr. chanlen hires and assassin who kills mc chris at the end of the record.

In MC Chris is Dead, our favorite rapper returns from the grave as a zombie and seeks vengence (as well as a more commercial sound). A group of nerds however summon mc back to hell. At the end of the album he begins going through the various circles of hell. Three EPs were released before MC Chris Goes to Hell featuring the original versions of many of the songs (including a ska-influenced version of Neville). In hell mc chris is forced to write the songs that Mr. Chanlen requested back on Dungeon Master of Ceremonies. This is where MC Chris Goes to Hell begins.

The opening track is a skit called Sam-E. MC Chris meets with Mr. Chanlen and is disappointed to find out that despite doing everything that was requested of him Chanlen still hates his new album. MC Chris has always had hilarious skits on his album (which is rare in hip-hop) but this skit strikes extra funny chords as well as emotional ones. You can tell that mc is poking fun at negative criticisms in the comments he makes towards Mr. Chanlen. The biggest key however to mc chris’ skits is his past experiences voice acting for adult swim. He’s familiar with the final art of comedic delivery which most rappers don’t have. You could close your eyes and imagine two animated characters having a conversation, I’d love to one day see someone create animations for all of mc’s sketchs (specifically the closing skit on MC Chris Goes to Hell Race Wars).

The first track on the album is IG-88’s 57 Chevy, the first of 3 bounty hunter automobile songs, it’s also the best of the three. mc’s ear for a hook is pretty evident on this track, but it’s even more evident on the following track Drinking Blunts. 

Drinking Blunts is possibly the best song of mc chris’ career. While Hoodie Ninja has become his biggest hit (or second biggest according to some die-hard Fette’s Vette fans), Drinking Blunts is an upbeat party song that should be on the soundtrack to every teen flick. The horns parts and catchy chorus will get stuck in your brain for days on end but you won’t complain, it’s just that good.

Next on the record is Awesome Fucker. The song is about exactly what you think it’s about, how amazing mc chris is at fucking. What would normally be an obnoxious braggadocious rap song is made hilarious but a super vulgar chorus and purposefully over the top abuse of auto-tune.

However, my love for Drinking Blunts and Awesome Fucker have nothing on the amount of joy I get whenever I listen to 006. mc chris’ take on James Bond involves fighting a Hitler head. mc chris’ narration and characters sound like a child on the playground making up a story as he tells it. If you doubt that it’s intentional then I recommend you check out mc chris’ follow up album Marshmellow Playground. Chris knows how kids on a playground think and act, the child-like dialogue inbetween verses is 100% intentional.

Harry Potter fans will love Neville, a song praising one of the most underrated but beloved characters in the Potter universe. mc chris is the Neville Longbottom of Underground Hip-Hop. MC Chris Goes to Hell is a perfect album, but sadly the first 6 tracks are so superior that the rest of the album feels underwhelming after Neville. That being said chris still hits the right notes til the very end, whether it’s the sexist vulgarism of Japanese Maid, the heart-breaking teenage love song Potato Cakes or the mock-dance single Smackababy. MC Chris Goes To Hell is one of the best rap albums no one has ever heard and the highest ranked rap album on my list (although people might argue that when I post #3 in a few months).

The first time I heard this album was in late November. I had just purchased the album and was driving to work while listening to it. I instantly loved the record, so much so that I did three things that I rarely do when I hear a new album. 

First, I listened to it three more times in a row. I played it for everyone that entered my car. I become completely obesessed with the record. I memorized every lyric and every line of dialogue in the skits. I always was a fan of mc chris, but now I was  a super fan.

Second, I outwardly searched out for the next time I could see mc chris live. By the time I was 23 I was done with going to concerts. I liked going to a local show for $7 or $8 but I was done with dropping $20+ to see 2 or 3 groups playing in a real venue. mc chris became the only exception, I couldn’t wait to see him live. If you’ve never seen mc chris live before, you’re getting more than just a rap show, you get a stand up routine aimed specifically at geeks.

Finally, I wrote a blog entry praising the record. I went as far as to call out Eminem and Kanye West for making lazy and lackluster albums (despite them being two of the best selling records of 2010). I even contacted mc on facebook and twitter just to tell him how life changing the record is.

I should be embarrassed for calling this record life changing. The next 22 records that are coming up on the list are albums about heartbreak, life, growing up. Their well produced, well loved and critically praised albums. MC Chris Goes to Hell would be a novelty hip-hop to most people. To me, it’s the best rap has ever sounded.

100 Movies That Make Me Love Film: 24. 500 Days of Summer

24. (500) Days of Summer

I remember the first time I saw (500) Days of Summer it touched my heart in places that needed it the most. Almost a year after my bad break-up, this was the film I needed to calm any feelings of rejection or hurt I may have still been feeling.

500 Days of Summer tell the story of Tom Hansen, a wanna be archetict turned greeting cards writer. One day he meets the new secretary Summer and immediately falls in love. The two bond over their music tastes and begin hanging out frequently outside of work.

From the beginning of their ‘relationship’ Summer is very upfront with Tom about her desire to not be in a relationship. Regardless Tom falls in love. 

What makes (500) Days of Summer such an interesting film is that it jumps around in the relationship. The titular 500 days are from the day they met to the day Tom is ready to move on with his life. The film will show you day 75 where they are both happy and then immediately jump to day 305 with Tom miserable and Summer no longer working at the office.

There are many moments that are up for debate on if they’re real or Tom’s imagination. Not since Forgetting Sarah Marshall & Annie Hall has a break-up been depicted so honestly. All of the emotions are there. The confidence you’ll get back together, the loneliness, the point where you go mute, the point where you never shut up about it. It’s all there.

The film is also interesting in that it’s written in a way where you don’t completely hate Summer. The writers of the film Scott Neustadter and Michael H Weber both discuss how divided men and women are about the relationship. Men see Summer as a bitch who used Tom while women see Tom as someone who ignored the fact that Summer repeatedly stated she didn’t want to be in a relationship.

It’s easily one of the most interesting deconstructions of a break-up ever to grace the silver screen.

My Latest Obsession: Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me

The first time I ever heard Brand New was when I saw the music video for The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows. I immediately liked what I heard but for whatever reason I didn't immediately run out and purchase Deja Entendu like everyone else. In fact I didn't buy anything by Brand New until my freshmen year of college when I found a used copy of Your Favorite Weapon for $3. I didn't know any tracks on it but I heard lots of great things about it. I fell head over heels with it.

I still didn't pick up Deja Entendu until about two years ago. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it quite like YFW. However one night at a bar with my friend Sarah she told me I absolutely HAVE to check out The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me. I finally took her advice and immediately loved everything about this record.

Not only did I listen to it in one siting... about two days later Sarah went for a drive with me and we listened to it again. In that second listen I found even more to love about the record. It truly is one of the finest albums I've ever heard. It doesn't seem to get the same praise as their previous records and that's quite unfair because I genuinely prefer it over Deja Entendu

100 Albums That Make Me Love Music: 24. Thursday - Full Collapse

24. Thursday: Full Collapse

When I first heard Thursday on MTV2 I wasn’t a huge fan of it. Something about the vocals really bothered me. So I immediately wrote the band off the first time I heard them. Then a year later I had a girlfriend.

Thursday started to get big when I was in 10th grade, in 11th grade I started dating a girl who was a college freshmen. Once a month I’d spend a weekend at her dorm in Drexel. It was on one of these visits that we were playing Mario Kart and listening to her iTunes. Understanding in a Car Crash came on and suddenly I didn’t hate it, in fact... I fucking loved it.

When I walked back to the train station to head back home I stopped by the small record shop and picked up Full Collapse and listened to it on the train ride home. Lead singer Geoff RIckley can only really described as ‘nasily and off-key’ yet the lyrics and music was so powerful that you looked past it. 

It’s almost mind blowing that a band with a vocalist who can hardly sing would become as popular as Thursday was for a brief moment. Now Obviously they weren’t at a Blink 182 level and not even at a Dashboard level of popularity but in the Fall of 2001 people knew who Thursday was when you mentioned the band.

The band became even more popular with their follow-up album War All The Time which I loved equally to Full Collapse (although I know lots of people who saw it as the beginning of the end of Thursday).

100 Movies That Make Me Love Film: 25. Labyrinth

25. Labyrinth

When I was a kid I loved this movie. I would watch it constantly. I never owned it but my uncle did, so whenever I’d visit him I’d put it on. What’s ironic is I really didn’t remember much of the movie by the time I was in Junior High. 

I didn’t rewatch Labyrinth until I was a freshmen in college. My friend Nate came over with a copy of it and we watched it. It was an eye opening moment. I mean obviously the first thing you notice is David Bowie’s obscene crotch bulge, but what impressed me the most was how innovative the film was in both story and visually.

Labyrinth is a story about responsiblity and growing up. Our main character Sarah hates her little brother and is jealous of all the attention he gets from her parents. She wants to just go out and play, instead she has to stay in a babysit.

She wishes the Goblin king comes and takes her brother away. Then Sarah’s wish comes true, she has a few hours to save her brother or he will be turned into a goblin and gone forever, in order to save him she must work her way through tricky and deceitful Labyrinth. 

The puppetry is beyond impressive. Henson really went all out on this film and created a unique atmosphere (that Gene Siskel hated so fuck him). Sadly the film did poorly in the box office but before he died Henson said he recognized and appreciated that the film had found a fanbase.