WCBE: It's Movie Time - "Another Year at the Movies: The Culture Wars of 2004" (SEGMENT TWO)

WCBE’s “It’s Movie Time”
"Another Year at the Movies:
The Culture Wars of 2004"

SEGMENT TWO-FINAL (WITH MUSIC)

The Script:

SEGMENT TWO

MUSIC #12 (CD)
HEADLINE MUSIC”
“THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE”
(CUT 3: “JOHN BIRCH LURCH”)
THEN TAKE WAY UNDER FOR:

John

All hell broke loose in Spring last year, when CBS broadcast the photographs of prison abuse at Abu Grhaib . . .

Clay

And thousands more watched on in horror when the Internet carried the video tape of a U.S. contractor being beheaded in Iraq . . .

John

But, on the upbeat side, the United States declared, in June, that Iraq was a fully sovereign nation, which caused President Bush to proudly proclaim, “Let freedom reign” . . .

Clay

In July, the Democratic Convention declared John F. Kerry was their favorite wartime hero, but there was no bounce for Kerry in the post-convention polls . . .

John

In August, the Republican Convention declared George W. Bush was their favorite wartime president and his ratings went up 11 per cent.

Go figure.

MUSIC UP FULL THEN CROSS FADE TO:
MUSIC #13 (DVD TO MINI DISC),
“VAN HELSING”
(CUT 1: CLOSING CREDITS)
THEN UNDER FOR:

Clay (“Van Helsing”)

In Hollywood’s world of good versus evil, Hugh Jackman, in the movie “Van Helsing,” was just as hell bent on destroying evil doers, as was our President Bush. The evil empire Van Helsing challenged, however, was ruled by Count Dracula, werwolves, and, of course, the most evil demon of them all, Dr. Frankenstein’s blasphemous monster.

Terrorizing the farmers and villagers of Transylvania, the Prince of Darkness, wrecked havoc and fear in the hearts of the people. But even worse than the fears they had for their lives, were the fears they had for their souls. For if men could create life, why would they ever again need God?

So there you have it, folks, a Grade “B” CGI monster movie becomes one of the year’s first films to raise the question that would divide America last year, in the modern world of today, what is the role of faith and what is the role of reason?

HIT MUSIC #14 (CD).
“THE VILLAGE”
(CUT 9: “RACE TO RESTING ROCK”)
THEN UNDER FOR:

Clay (Intros “Dogville”)

Equally caught up in the aftereffects of change were the people of “Dogville.” Set in 1930s America, Dogville was buried in the mountains of Colorado and sheletered a populace that had been defeated by circumstance and greed. Abandoned by the mine owners, after the mines had gone dry, Lars von Trier’s “Dogville” is the story of those people who had been left behind with only their passions, pride and fears to sustain them. Fertile ground, indeed, for paranoia.

MUSIC UP, THEN UNDER AGAIN FOR

John ("Dogville")

Clay, the paranoia from "9/11" evidenced in creating the Homeland Security agency and accelerated defense projects has influenced recent films in controversial ways. The tepid critical responses to "The Village" and "Dogville" are unfortunate: The two films have been viewed as period pieces tied to the eccentric spirit of Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone" and Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" rather than as modern allegories underpinned by classic staging and dialogue.

We have been fascinated with the idea of conservatively isolating ourselves into perfect societies to escape malign outside forces, only to find such withdrawal unrealistic.

"Dogville" shows the influence of the change-agent. The 19th century village of "The Village," isolated by putative forest monsters, crosses over the woods to get medicine for a mortally wounded young man. The concession to travel is part of a larger liberal theme of the need for exploration that offers discovery of love and life itself. For "The Village" and "Dogville" the enemy has always been within anyway.

MUSIC UP, THEN CROSS FADE TO
MUSIC #15 (CD)
"HARRY POTTER”
(CUT 5: DOUBLE TROUBLE”)
THEN UNDER FOR

Clay (""Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban") (June)

John, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” is also a text book lesson about learning how to face up to the fears we see in a mirror. Using the magic of words, we are able to watch as the young students at HogWart.... are taught to subdue their fears by using the language of reason.

The movie's impressive visual settings also remain faithful to what it is that makes fantasy, fantasy. A surreal landscape of twisted trees, towering castles, and dark groves that sequester fearsome werewolves, all combine to help us escape into a world far different from our own.

Solid once-upon-a-time storytelling, believable characters, and clever plot twists, that excite rather than confuse, turned the most recent "Harry Potter" movie into a superior entertainment that was capable of charming both young and old.

MUSIC UP, THEN CROSS FADE TO
MUSIC #16 (CD).
"TROY"
(CUT 3: "ACHILLES LEADS THE MYRMIDONS" - BEGIN CUT AT 04:35 IN)
THEN UNDER FOR

John ("Troy")

You might have been charmed by "Troy" with popular actor hero Brad Pitt playing classical warrior Achilles well enough that it will henceforth be shown by classics departments as the definitive tale of The Trojan War. When Pitt as Achilles says he did not engage Hector in the first meeting because it's “too early to kill princes,” I was won over by the humanity and superiority of the hero AND the actor.

Homer would be happy with this version: The spirit is for the ages,
thousands of years later, when conservative men still go to war for reasons other than love, occupy other countries at great peril, and die inexplicably happy to have their names emblazoned on memorials while families cope with profound loss.

"Troy" was a blockbuster to complement a summer of the neocons’ real war and a conflicted citizenry.

MUSIC BRIEFLY UP, THEN UNDER AGAIN FOR

Clay ("Troy")

"Troy" was no Baghdad, folks, but its desert setting was strikingly similar, as were the movie’s central themes: the ruling gods will have their way, and mere mortals are the ones who have end up fighting their battles.

Aging Priam (Peter O'Toole) with his watery blue eyes, the bearded and angry Agamemnon (Brian Cox), and the bulked-up Brad Pitt, plays Achilles as a surfer dude that has an attitude that just won't die.

Honor, pride, arrogance and greed, John, you've got to love the honesty of those self-reflecting Greeks. And you've got to love "Troy," because underneath all of its Hollywood pizaaz, its message is solid, moving, compassionate, and wise.

Not bad for a movie about a hero with an Achilles heel.

MUSIC UP, THEN CROSS FADE TO
MUSIC #17 (CD)
"DELOVELY"
(CUT 4: “LET’S MISBEHAVE”-ELVIS COSTELLO) ESTABLISH, THEN TAKE UNDER AFTER HE SINGS PHRASE: “LET’S MISBEHAVE” (AT 00:37 IN)
THEN UNDER FOR

John ("Delovely")

Clay, I am pleased to report the biopic with pizaaz, as you said, remains whole, ascending to a new level with Irwin Winkler's "De-Lovely," the life in song about Cole Porter and his wife, Linda.

I say "In song" because barely a moment is not accompanied by Porter's music so recognizable I can cite "Night and Day," "In the Still of the Night," "Anything Goes," "Let's Misbehave," and "True Love" without research help or the least provocation. Talented Kevin Kline plays Porter with 1920's tuxedoed charm embracing the true love of his life, Linda (Ashley Judd), and the many men who helped him fulfill his need to love everything.

The emergence this year of conservative fundamentalists who cringe at the mere thought of “gay” makes this biopic timely as it emphasizes Porter’s genius and loving heart. It’s hard to vote any amendment that would restrict the spirit of such a genius.

MUSIC UP FOR ABOUT TEN OR SO SECONDS, THEN CROSS FADE TO:
MUSIC #18 (ONLINE TO MINI DISC).
"AMERICA'S HEART & SOUL"
(“THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND”)
http://www.usafband.com/recording.cfm?start=30
Or without lyrics:
http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/thislandisyourland.html
THEN UNDER FOR

Clay (Lead into: "America's Heart & Soul")

Well John, if you were looking for a movie that unknowingly paid tribute to non-conformist outsiders, then Walt Disney's "America's Heart & Soul" was the film for you. Full of stock images of breath-taking landscapes (minus scenes of freeways, massive malls, and urban clutter), “America’s Heart & Soul” also featured a steady stream of interviews with the common folk of America. Common folk, who we can see are free, because they like Janis Joplin have nothing left to lose.

Do you think the producers knew that was what they were saying?

John

Karl Rove would approve of your interpretation, but probably not publicly. “America’s Heart and Soul” caught me in its heart warmth about American freedom but mostly about eccentric Americans, of whom you are a distinguished member.

Clay

I consider us both among that number.

MUSIC UP AND CROSS FADE TO:
MUSIC #19 (CD)
“FAHRENHEIT 911”
(CUT 9: “FORTUNATE SON” - JOHN FOGERTY VOCALS)
THEN UNDER FOR:

Clay (“Fahrenheit 911”)

If American eccentricity and sheer determination have become your inspiration then you're going to love Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911" which was a nasty, give-em-back-tit-for-tat attack on George W. Bush and those rowdy boys over at the Pentagon.

Ironic juxtapositions ruled the day. When America goes under attack, Moore cut his camera to that now famous shot of President Bush stunned into dumbness. When Donald Rumsfeld told us our weapons were humane and precise, Moore cut to gruesome shots of the mangled bodies of those who had just been destroyed by them.

Nothing, and no one, this past year riled up Bill Riley, and his colleagues at Fox TV more than the mere mention of the name of Michael Moore.

But the real theme of “Fahrenheit 991”, however, was lost in the fogs of the cultural wars, because its real conclusion was that it's the rich and the powerful who send us off to war, but it's the sons and daughters of the working class and poor, who more often than not, are the ones who come home in a coffin.

MUSIC UP/CROSSFADE TO:
MUSIC #20 (CD).
“THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE”
(CUT 9: “FORTUNATE SON” - Wyclef Jean)
THEN UNDER FOR:

John ("The Manchurian Candidate")

Here’s a scary picture for real.

If this year’s movies broadcast the fears of liberals and conservatives over each other’s dirty deeds, then Jonathan Demme's "The Manchurian Candidate" (Remade from the 1962 version) is one of the reasons. First is the story itself of some soldiers around the time of Desert Storm brainwashed to perform deeds that ultimately aim at the president of the U.S.

The film also addresses the hypnotic rhetoric of war that makes a nation of slaves to their parties' political agendas and to corporate corruption symbolized by Manchurian Global, a copy of the politically tied Halliburton.

This version of “Manchurian Candidate” needs no comparison with its ancestor to be one of the best American films this year to reveal the paranoia that divides the country even after a decisive election.

MUSIC UP/CROSSFADE AT TO:
MUSIC #21 (CD)
“THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD”
(CUT: 12 “SAD MUSIC CONTEST MONTAGE” - HIT CD AT ABOUT 01:19 IN AFTER THE SOUND OF THE BUZZER), ESTABLISH THEN UNDER FOR

John ("The Saddest Music in the World")

Clay, I am uncertain how “The Saddest Music in the World” fits our culture wars theme, so you can help me.

Clay

Let me just say for now, if you were a Canadian, you’d understand. But I’ll get back to you on this.

John

Canadian writer/director Guy Maddin has created a film like no other this year except possibly "Triplets of Belleville." "The Saddest Music in the World" is set in 1933 Winnipeg, where Lady Port-Huntly (Isabella Rossellini) is holding a contest to award $25,000 to the performer of the saddest music.

What happens in the film can be categorized as surrealism of the wackiest sort: For instance, Indian singers in short-skirted Eskimo costumes dance to ''California Here I Come'' with sitars and banjos commemorating a 19th-century kayaking accident.

I know I'm not making much sense here-Trust me, this film is bizarre enough to satisfy the geekiest cultist in our audience. For the rest of us, just trying to appreciate all the signposts Maddin constructs to further his absurd and funny vision is exhausting.

MUSIC UP, HOLD, THEN UNDER WHEN THE THEME ESTABLISHES ITSELF AGAIN

Clay ("The Saddest Music in the World")

Folks, Guy Maddin's "The Saddest Music in the World" was as surreal as "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," as brooding as "Citizen Kane," and as wickedly clever as David Lynch's "Blue Velvet."

And the questions it raised were equally complex. How do people who live on the fringes of a dominate culture, in this case, Canadians, learn how to survive? Do they have to give in to the cultural values of their American neighbors, or can they learn how to play the middle against both sides?

Brilliantly told, “The Saddest Music in the World” is the story of a drunken Canadian father, who has lost his self respect; a stay-at-home-son, who had been warped into weirdness by his own insecurities; and a go-away-son, who returns home, a smashing success, because he’s learned to out brash the Americans.

Such brashness, such a hero, and such a movie.

MUSIC UP/CROSS FADE TO:
MUSIC #22 (CD)
HERO (CUT 9: “SPIRIT FIGHT”)
THEN UNDER FOR:

John ("Hero")

Clay, Now and then it's good for both Eastern and Western cultures to redefine the concept of "hero." Brad Pitt's recent success as Achilles reconfirmed the heroic warrior's physical excellence and foolhardy courage as a hallmark of Hollywood's version. From the East, in the time before China's first emperor, Jet Li's "Nameless" in "Hero" takes a different turn: Although physical like Pitt's Achilles, he is even more the cunning Ulysses, the liberal hero with brains and a heart with an insightful vision of his country's future and a humble realization about his place.

Conservatives like Achilles’ single-minded devotion to supremacy; liberals like Nameless’s thoughtful humanism.

The definition of hero changes depending on the culture and the times. The dynamic heroes of "Hero" do not fit Emerson's prediction that "every hero becomes a bore at last." Perhaps in the sequel.

Clay ("Hero")

John, there's nothing boring about the movie's sullen young "Hero," who according to his version of the story, masterfully disposed of the three assassins who had set out to murder the king.

Our hero lunged like a tiger, soared like an eagle, and was able to leap tall mountains in a single bound, but was he really the best swordsman? In these days of digital enhancement only his visual designer knew for sure.

But the movie’s best line, "The ideal of a true warrior is to lay down his sword," was the ideal that was to haunt the election of 2004. Why would a true warrior, who had known the evils of war, ever again pick up a sword? And that was the question John Kerry raised when he returned home, a reluctant hero, from the Vietnam war.

CROSSFADE TO:
MUSIC #23 (CD)
“VANITY FAIR”
(CUT 3: “BECKY AND AMELIA LEAVE SCHOOL”)

John (Tease Segment Three)

Clay, we have seen evil doers destroyed by conservative warriors both ancient and modern and by fog-inducing rhethoric.

But we also saw the other side of the house make gay music, live free with nothing to lose, fight our wars obediently, and offer heroes of the most human kind.

Stay with us as we explore the old culture wars between the classes in
"Vanity Fair" and the modern clashes between warlike neocons and peacenik liberals in "Team America," and so much more.

MUSIC UP THEN DOWN AND OUT OR PLAY THROUGH BREAK (PRODUCER’S CHOICE)

BREAK TWO