TRANSFORMERS was one of my favorite movies last year. A great film

THE EXPRESS (2008) - ***

While he hasn't held the NFL All-Time Rushing title the 1980s, Jim Brown is still arguably the greatest football running back ever, if not at least still the most iconic. While other Pro Football Hall of Famers like Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, and future enshrinees like current-champion Emmitt Smith have passed Brown by in the record books, Brown is still the legendary high-water mark for that position. To quote Ric Flair, "to be the man, you gotta beat the man!" In that case, unless I'm mistaken, Curtis Martin said that his greatest career moment was surpassing Brown...not Eric Dickerson or Tony Dorsett or Franco Harris. To be quite fair, they were great and all, but none of them kicked ass in THE DIRTY DOZEN.

Anyway, THE EXPRESS reminds us that Brown didn't win the Heisman Trophy, believe it or not. In 1956, the prize went to "The Golden Boy" Paul Hornung of Notre Dame. Hell, Brown of Syracuse University was 5th in the voting! Mind you, Hornung was a terrific Hall of Fame versatile player in college and for the Green Bay Packers, but to say that he was better than Brown is like saying that Sarah Palin is a better candidate than Hillary Clinton. So if the great Jim Brown couldn't win the Heisman at such a racist time within American sports, what black athlete had a chance?

I've had a problem with most recent sports dramas produced about the American Civil Rights struggles from REMEMBER THE TITANS to GLORY ROAD in how simplistic and naively cartoonish they portray the overt racism of those times, as if it only happened down in the South and we quit afterwards. Then I see this recent flier from a Republican Party-affiliated group, and well...



I won't say that THE EXPRESS is a great example, or even a good one I guess, but as a drama I give it props for trying to express (pun!) how racism wasn't simply some ignorant opinions held by dumb hicks back in the woods, but simply based off widely-held racial assumptions about held by white people at that epoch. You know such nonsense that Blacks, err I mean Negroes, lacked the mental capacity compared to whites, are rather lazy and lack discipline without Caucasian supervision, want to steal and ravish everything, etc. Syracuse University football head coach Ben Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid) as seen in the film isn't necessarily a bad man or a Nazi racist, but still berates young recruit Ernie Davis (Rob Brown) for supposedly having an "eye" for the white women on campus.

I mean some of you may remember my infamous review of William Friedkin's CRUISING, where in my original draft, I thought I was being progressive and fair, until the gay users of the AD Forums (rightly) berated me for my goddamn ignorance. I still hold the opinion that CRUISING has some artistic merit to it, but yeah I do realize now that the sexual politics in it are rather insultingly stupid. Like Quaid in THE EXPRESS, I learned that I was wrong by talking to that demographic, and hopefully matured with my attitudes. Perhaps also in a few decades (hopefully), Hollywood will show our descendents how that around the turn of the millennium, some rational and logical folks seriously thought that homosexual teachers and scoutmaster were an inherent danger around children, and not priests. (Sorry, I couldn't resist that one.)

Anyway, Davis was the first black to win the Heisman Trophy, helped lead the Syracuse Orangemen to it's sole National Championship in 1959, picked #1 in the NFL Draft, but died of Leukemia at the age of 23 before ever playing a down. His #45 jersey was subsequently retired by the Cleveland Browns. As a film, THE EXPRESS has more than anything else a good true story to work with but packages a very conventional and uninspired narrative around it. Then again, what would you expect from a bland director like Gary Fleder (RUNAWAY JURY)?

That said, there was some touches I liked, enough to muster this material into watchable territory. I enjoyed how Davis as a boy being inspired by Jackie Robinson, and then being recruited by Brown, who as a mentor gives advice using lacrosse as a analogy (Fun Fact: Brown is in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame), and would return at a key scene. This nice cyclical script device bookends when a dying Davis himself passes off his knowledge to Denver Broncos star Floyd Little, and die as a hero for eternity not just for breaking racial barriers, but also for his struggle against cancer.

If anything, I think my main criticism against THE EXPRESS is that it spends most of its emotional muster on the racism, and gives skimp time to his illness. As a bird, flying so high, more than what anyone else expected or hoped for, it's like he had to die as a result. If one wants to be pretentious enough to see it, there is a Jesus Christ analogy to this tale, what with the throwaround shots of Davis bleeding profusely. Then again, maybe the filmmakers simply didn't want BRIAN'S SONG 2. I guess I could also slack the movie for it's flat linear structure, but that's a problem with most biopics in general.

I do though must make a point of how apparently the whole sequence where Davis is acousted by a violent prejudist crowd in West Virginia did happen, but at a Syracuse home game in New York. Look, as a white southerner I won't lie or accuse away that we were awful (and none of that "Heritage, Not Hate" bullshit), but damn I hate when Hollywood won't admit that such racism wasn't relegated to the South. I mean give me a break, be honest about it.

Still, I liked THE EXPRESS. It's nothing more than decent, a TV picture that somehow escaped into theatres, and for better or for worse was exactly what I expected. Brown is good, and Quaid continues my belief that he's a tremendously underused acting tool at the movies. But during that screening, it came to mind that to our national mythology, the black pioneers were not intellectuals like W.E.B. Du Bois but iron men of physicality like Jesse Owens, Robinson, Brown, and Davis who had to unfortunately earn grudging respect from their white overlords before that ethnicity could even begin to gain traction in the cerebral field of society.

Then a few decades later, we as a nation be possibly a few weeks away from electing our first African-American Commander-in-Chief.

I just finished watching Hannibal Rising the unrated version which explains why Hannibal became the monster we see.

I just finished watching The Killer Elite for the second time. Sam Peckinpah directed this movie but is best known for The Wild Bunch. Godfather actors Robert Duvall and James Caan star as friends who work for the C.I.A. However the friendship doesn't last and Caan finds himself at odds with Duvall's character. Burt Young and Bo Hopkins costar.

W.


Was not a negative movie like I was expecting.

I agree, LN. I have to say, for a psycho, paranoid left-winger, Oliver Stone has treated both Nixon and GW Bush with kid gloves.

I agree. Not a bad film, but not great either. Brolin was very good as Bush

I agree but the other characters were more like caricatures of themselves.

So, how would you guys rate it? From what I've seen of Brolin he does seem good. I


Btw, can you guess what movie I am watching now? Hint:

1. Kind of creepy
2. "Tiiiiiiiime is on my side...yes it is."


TIS

Oh, TIS, Fallen?? I do love Denzel, but that movie just freaks me out.

Ha ha ha...A gold star by your name SB.

Yea, it is creepy. I like these kinds of movies though. I had only seen it once and its been a while, so I am enjoying it second time. I forgot that James Gandolfini was in it.



TIS

He looks young, doesn't he? He probably was. He's only 47 now.

That scene where the demon passes from person to person as the people walk down the street and bump into one another just totally freaks me out.

I can't believe this movie is 10 years old already. Yea, everyone looks a little younger. Denzel not as much as Ganolini and even John Goodman.

They just had the part you referred to above, with the demon going from person to person. It is creepy.


TIS

Hey SB, Salems Lot is on the Chiller channel. Just thought I'd let ya know.

I'm really surprised with Halloween coming up, there aren't more thriller/chiller flicks on.

I do get the SciFi Channel, but a lot of there movies are crappy IMHO. Anyone else get SciFi? Some are not bad but most of them are either theater flops or made for cable flops.


TIS

I get Scifi channel to TIS. I watched a couple of the Halloween movies this evening on the AMC Channel.

I'm such a wimp. When I watch a scary movie I have to have the lights on and all the doors locked.

AMC is currently showing Stephen King's "Pet Sematary", one of my favorites. It is followed by King's "Christine" and then by another one of my personal favorites, "An American Werewolf in London" and then "Constatine", which I never saw all the way thru. At least one station is showing decent scary movies this time of year.


TIS

As I noted above, I've been watching AMC. Right now, one of my favorites, American Werewolf In London. This is one fun movie that I never get tired of watching. I never did see it in the theater, but recorded (VHS)from tv years and years ago. Of course I had to edit tv commericals out of it. They shortened it for tv version so there are some scenes that are not on my VHS version. I am enjoying this movie.

TIS

My Son is watching Beetlejuice right now on ABC Family.

Last night I watched The Hudsucker Proxy. Man I enjoyed it. I don't remember seeing anything from the Coen brothers that I didn't really enjoy! A great and witty comedy.

I thought The Hudsucker Proxy was one of the Coens more predictable movies, but that's compared to other Coen movies, not compared to all movies . Tim Robbins was great in that role wasn't he?

afsaneh, what are some of your other favorite Coen bros. movies? I have seen most of them and I think, aside from the obvious ones like Fargo and No Country For Old Men, I would have to say Barton Fink was the biggest surprise for me. I loved the awkward relationship between John Turturo and John Goodman.

Well, I've not seen many pictures of them. Those I've seen besides the above mentioned are No Country for Old Men, Fargo, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and Intolerable Cruelty. My most favorite thus far is definitely O Brother, Where Art Thou? and I didn't care much for Intolerable Cruelty.

I agree that The Hudsucker Proxy was predictable, but I enjoyed every minute of it. There is something about their movies... And yes, Tim was great. lol

Those words are exactly how I've described their movies. It seems to be impossible to pinpoint what is different about them. O Brother, Where Art Thou? is up there as one of my favorites as well.

I'm curious as to how you would enjoy Barton Fink. It is a little slower-paced and dark, but has that subtle Coen humor. Another one that fits well with the theme of this BB is Miller's Crossing. Both are very well done with that "something" that makes the Coen Brothers movies unique.

But I think Raising Arizona is another one that you might like since you seem to enjoy the more lighthearted movies they have done. It's about a couple, one is a con (Nicholas Cage) who, while arrested, meets a cop (Holly Hunter) and they fall in love. They are unable to conceive a child so they decide to steal a baby from a family who has quintuplets. As you can imagine, it's as strange and funny as anything the Coens have done

Please let me know if you watch any more of their movies as they are my favorite.

Bibble, I surely will look for their other movies, thankfully with a slightly faster internet and torrents, I finally can find and watch whatever I want out here.

A couple of months ago, while revisiting "O Brother... ," I was so impressed how I enjoyed this viewing even more than before. I was about to go look for their other movies, but then somehow it slipped my mind as I'm constantly on the look for new episodes of my current favorite shows, such as Dexter, The Office, House MD, etc.

A few days ago I found something I've always wanted to watch: "Monty Python Flying Circus." It was 14GB, and my connection will be busy downloading that for a while, but Coens' movies are next on my list. I'll start with "Barton Fink" and will let you know what I thought about it.

Don't get me wrong, I immensely enjoyed their serious plots like "No Country for Old Men," and "Fargo," but the script for their comedies are so rich, I give the nod to "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" over those. All the cultural references, rich witty dialogues, and their view of things that come across in their pictures, well, these are my attempts to put my finger at what I like about their movies, but certainly I fail to name them all.

I've never seen O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? but I'm surprised no one's mentioned THE BIG LEBOWSKI (one of my 2 favorite comedies of all-time along with Guy Ritchie's SNATCH)

Snatch is marvelous as well. lol But not to worry, I'll check them all out. By the way, O Brother... is great, you should watch that. A great comedy.

That's what I hear. I did try to watch it months ago and turned it off after 10-20 minutes. I just wasn't in the mood to watch it but I'll get around to it one of these days.

I spent the last 2 weeks at home because of the same condition that made George Brett remove himself from a World Series game in 1980. believe me, if I had a gun, I wouldn't be talking to you anymore...

anyway, I watched about 20 soccer games and a lot of movies. last night I rented "Taxi Driver" again and only this morning I realized "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" was on TV at the same time. I really wanted to watch it. but I'm still able to join the Coen Brothers conversation. for instance, one of the 2 DVD's in my collection (hello irish!) is "The Big Lebowski" - the other one is "GoodFellas" - such a fun movie, it makes the world shine brighter everytime I watch it. but one of the movies that I re-watched these days and that it seems none of you watched is their masterpiece of a debut, "Blood Simple".

first, it's got genious written all over it. the opening scene is exactly the same from "no country..." and there is that dark car scene in a dark road, just as in "fargo" - what I'm saying is, it's got everything we're used to love, except it's about the regular Joe dealing with a crime scene, instead of Anton Chigurh. you can watch it 25 years after its realease and feel that those young guys would become the Gods of cinema. it's so simple and well done, and so good, it drives me Coen simple!

"Raising Arizona" is amazing too. I've seen bad reviews everywhere but I love it.

in case someone doesn't have anything to do like me, let's talk about these films. for a few hours, they made me forget that I wanted to kill myself.

[off-topic] - I'm still waiting for opinions on Tropa de Elite/Elite Squad even though I suspect the international version sucks!

GoodFellas - I won't even say anything. it's so good it inspires people to watch good reviews .

then I rented Taxi Driver and Blood Simple, both that I had already watched but really needed a rewatch. both masterpieces.

then I caught a little movie called "The Godfather" on TV and rewatched the whole thing for the 100th time. then I caught the final sequence of Apocalypse Now, that lasts longer than Blood Simple altogether. I'm not going to say anything about these movies.

then I caught two good surprises on TV - Amores Perros , which I fell asleep in the end because it was almost 6 AM, but that doesn't mean I didn't love it. for a start, it's waaaaaaaaay better than "21 Grams", and I will definitely watch it again. - and Drugstore Cowboy, which also I couldn't watch fully because there was a sunday full of soccer on TV. but I watched almost the whole thing and I really enjoyed.

well that's it! I really don't have anything to do.

"twenty twenty twenty four hours to go... I wanna be sedated"

Tony, Elite Squad is on YouTube, in 11 parts. I'm watching it soon. Maybe tomorrow.

Also, have you seen Linha de passe, the Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas film? You should see it.

Totally disagree that Amores perros is better than 21 Grams. If the latter is, taken linearly, a soap-opera on steroids, it at least makes the non-linear format integral to the meaning of its philosophy. Little everyday moments are given the utmost significance, because they're taken out of their causal context.

I re-watched Amores perros recently and was underwhelmed. It's not awful, though; certainly better than Babel, which is a load of bullshit.