A Film to Transcend All Expectations

When I watch a film (when I engross myself in any story for that matter), I am first and foremost looking for Aristotle’s catharsis, that emotional feast that fills my soul with wonder and reminds me of the magical connection we have to this world and the next. But that isn’t the only reason I delve into stories; if it were, I’d be mostly disappointed.

I also love a good chuckle, I enjoy intellectual stimulation, I have fun trying to figure out whodunit, and, I must admit, I get a kick out of unapologetic, special effects eye candy.

Most movies (my crystal ball tells me approximately 90%) focuses on one of those major components (the heart, the mind, the eyes, etc.) and fails to develop the others: Not intentionally so, as any good story will attempt to connect to the audience on an emotional level, but fail nonetheless. The film that immediately comes to my mind is Inception by Christopher Nolan. Inception tried so hard to get me to think, I forgot to feel. The emotional component was there and it was in the forefront of the story, it’s just that the intellectual component was too distracting, at least for me.

It is rare, then, to find a film these days that satisfies me on multiple levels. Which is why I am ecstatic to share with you a film that a friend of mine introduced me to this week.

Ink.

The plot revolves around the title character, a spirit who kidnaps the soul of an 8 year old girl and tries to deliver her to a council of demons in order to become a demon himself.

I hate to go into too much detail because I want all of you to rush out and see this movie and discover it for yourselves. You will not be disappointed.

One caveat, however, is that Ink is an independent film and was made for a reported $250,000, so the visuals are less than stunning. Half an hour into it, though, and you will be so engrossed in the experience that you will stop noticing the poor quality of the film it was shot on.

You can watch the full film for free on Hulu, but if you are a true connoisseur of film like me, please support the filmmakers and buy this gem. Here’s the link to Amazon.

How The Eagle Measures Up

Went to see The Eagle last night. The film stars Channing Tatum as a Roman commander who requests to be stationed at the farthest north outpost of the Roman Empire in Britain. The plot revolves around Marcus Aquila (Tatum) trying to retrieve a golden emblem that his father lost to the native Britons years earlier.

The film is marketed as a heroic quest by a young man trying to restore his family's honor. I like this premise. For whatever reason, appealing to a person's sense of loyalty and honor has a way of touching him or her at a very deep level.

Unfortunately, the film failed to spring that reservoir of emotion--at least for me.

The acting wasn't foul; Tatum and Jamie Bell did a decent job of portraying their characters and I was able to hold my willing suspension of disbelief and buy into their characters as a young Roman-trained military man and a wild, crafty Briton, respectively.

Equally, the cinematography accomplished its goal of showing me what 2nd century Britain could have looked like. I most enjoyed the contrast of light and darkness that the D.P. used throughout the overextended 114 minutes.

In the end, though, I had two major cattle with this movie (having two beefs couldn't encapsulate my frustration). First, the writing made me want to shave my head the old fashioned way: by pulling my hair out. I couldn't even get a sense of the writers TRYING to make the story an emotional one, and in this type of film, if my heart isn't in it, I'd rather be at home washing the dishes. I lost count of the number of times I got ready to tear up because I knew the relationship between master and slave was going to be strengthened or taken to a new level, and just when I was ready to feel my heart strings pull ... nothing. Worse than nothing. They didn't even try to make the scenes touching, they merely wrote a "thank you" line of dialogue and moved to the next scene.

There was one scene toward the end that did actually attempt to elicit an emotion by killing off a character, but said character was so underdeveloped that I felt no attachment to him whatsoever.

My other cattle is with the directing. I have not seen any of Kevin Macdonald's other works, so I hate to broadly stroke him here, but it didn't seem as if he asked anything of his crew. The director, really, is responsible for it all, so perhaps I shouldn't have been so hard on the writers (actually, as a writer, yes, I should have been; they knew better). As I said earlier, the acting wasn't bad, but it also didn't sparkle. Macdonald should have been pushing the actors to new heights, but instead, it appeared that the actors were just having fun and going at their own pace, especially Donald Sutherland who has worked with some of the most talent directors in the industry and has certainly given magnificent performances in the past.

I walked away with the sense that Macdonald simply couldn't keep a tight ship and propel his crew to perform over and beyond the status quo.

All that being said, this is far from the worst film I've seen this year and I am quite positive it will not be the worst going forward. I think the problem is that in a historical, epic film in the vein of Gladiator and Braveheart one MUST be able to stir the audience's emotions. Do not settle for having a good looking film; if it doesn't bring me to tears, pursue a different genre.

Movies That Will Bring Any Man To Tears

Here we are, the day after Valentine’s Day. Ladies, did you “encourage” your man to watch a tear jerker with you last night? Or gents, perhaps it was you who volunteered? Either way, the real question is, were those salty, little droplets of water pouring out of every eye?

I remember Valentine’s Days where I would be watching some historical love story or some romcom, and every time those highly emotional scenes would come up, my lady would dart her watery eyes over to me to see if I my senses had been as deeply touched as hers.

Truth of the matter is that men and women are often (but, of course, not always) moved by different sentiments. I honestly do not care that Heath Ledger’s character and Shannyn Sossamon’s character from A Knight’s Tale end up together. I very much care that Ledger’s character finds his father after so many years of separation. As a general rule, I’d say that men are not easily touched by romance, as are many women. From my extensive research as a dude, I’ve found that the moments that most move me are those that make me either proud or ashamed of being a human.

Below I have pieced together a list of 10 films that I would wager money no man can sit through without crying his masculine, stoic head off. Ladies, here’s your chance to watch your guy weep.

(Editor’s Note: the act of crying in a man has been scientifically proven to increase masculinity and badassness. So, check out the films below if you want to become a powerful beast.)

10. Star Trek (2009)



When the Tears Begin: Let’s see, at about 0:00:05. The opening scene is so powerful that I actually considered walking out of the cinema to calm down. Not many movies can yank emotions out of you without a fair amount of buildup, but this one nails it.

Why the Tears Begin: It is hard enough to watch a father say goodbye to his wife and newborn son. But watching a father stay so calm as he names his child and saves his crew, all as he knows he is going to die … there’s that pride.

Where’s my Kleenex…

9. The Abyss




When the Tears Begin: When Bud (Ed Harris) lands on the ledge deep within the abyss and his wife tells him to start heading back up and he types on his keyboard, We both knew this was a one way trip.

Why the Tears Begin: What could possibly make a man more proud to be a human than when one of our own sacrifices his life to save others? Makes you proud? You bet. Makes you bawl uncontrollably? You bet.

8. Of Mice and Men




When the Tears Begin: Hmm, it’s hard to pin point a single moment. I think I am on the verge of tears almost throughout the entire film, but the last 15 minutes, do not look at me!

Why the Tears Begin: It is one thing to sympathize with someone who is down on their luck and is just trying to make a living. It is a whole other thing when that person (or in this case, one of the two) is mentally challenged. The strength, the courage, the perseverance it takes to face every day anew with such a disability, it’s enough to make me want to be like Lenny. He is a true man.

7. Rudy



When the Tears Begin: I don’t think this one needs any introduction. Perhaps a man can make it through most of this movie without dropping a tear, but there is no chance when Rudy’s (Sean Astin) teammates shoulder him at the end. No chance at all.

Why the Tears Begin: Triumph of the human will. We all want to know that our dreams, no matter how outlandish, have the possibility of coming true. When someone like Rudy comes along and achieves something so unlikely, hope balloons for us all.

6. Grave of the Fireflies



When the Tears Begin: Well, with the opening line, “September 21, 1945 … that was the night I died,” you know you’re in for a emotional ride. At least they warn you early.

Why the Tears Begin: It is a classic struggle for survival story. A brother and his young sister are trying to stay alive after the bombs dropped in Japan. How heart-wrenching it is to watch a child go hungry, or to watch innocence in the aftermath of such destruction!

5. Mr. Holland’s Opus



When the Tears Begin: About half way through the movie, Holland’s deaf son chastises him for being more interested in teaching his students than his son. All right, bring out the Kleenex again…

Why the Tears Begin: There is a fundamental bond between a man and his father. Every man wants his father to be a hero and then to emulate that hero. Every man also knows what it is like when their father makes a mistake, because no one is perfect. This scene perfectly encapsulates those feelings, and makes one appreciate that imperfect but beautiful father/son relationship.

4. Braveheart



When the Tears Begin: There are many emotional scenes in Braveheart, but we all know which one I’m going to reference. When William Wallace (Mel Gibson) is being drawn and quartered and he refuses to give up his ideal, every man wants to be Wallace (albeit not in his immediate position).

Why the Tears Begin: Wallace stood for something. He stood for something grand and noble and honorable and magnanimous, and deep down, we all want to be that. We are drawn to leaders of principle and those who would give their lives so that other don’t have to. Wallace made us better. He made us proud.

3. Gladiator



When the Tears Begin: This movie is similar in structure to Braveheart, though it is, in my mind, even more powerful, which may only be because of the score. Emotional moments persist throughout, but at the end, when Maximus (Russell Crowe) achieves his victory, overthrows the tyrant Emperor and regains his family’s honor, and is then carried out of the coliseum as a hero, no man can suture his tear ducts.

Why the Tears Begin: As with Braveheart, men want to stand for ideals and noble ambitions. We want justice. In order for our hope of justice to remain alive, we need to know that someone who has been as destroyed as Maximus can still obtain their justice. Gladiator gives us hope and an example of a strong, honorable leader than we can emulate.

2. My Life



When the Tears Begin: When you read the premise of the film. Bob Jones (Michael Keaton) is about to have a baby when he finds out that he has a terminal illness and that he is going to die before his baby is born. He decides to video tape his life for his unborn child.

Why the Tears Begin: This film plays off the notion that what is happening isn’t fair. It’s that sense of justice that we want so badly in Braveheart or Gladiator, only here, all the nobility in the world isn’t going to change to outcome. What causes the tears in My Life is that dreaded sense of inevitable tragedy that all life will end prematurely.

1. What Dreams May Come



When the Tears Begin: About 15 minutes into this movie, Chris Nielson’s (Robin Williams) children are killed in a car accident. Shortly after, Nielson is killed, and a little bit further into the film, his wife commits suicide. It is easier to list the parts that don’t cause us to cry than the other way around.

Why the Tears Begin: Unlike so many other films, the deaths of the characters in What Dreams May Come are not the primary cause of weepage. Rather, it is how the relationship between Nielson and his family is distorted and ultimately restored that cause our emotions to swell. When Nielson finds his wife in the afterlife, he begins perhaps the most emotional soliloquy of all time:

“Thank you for every kindness. Thank you for our children. For the first time I saw them. Thank you for being someone I was always proud to be with. For your guts, for your sweetness. For how you always looked, for how I always wanted to touch you. God, you were my life. I apologize for every time I ever failed you. Especially this one...”