Chasing Amy is a 1997 romantic drama with comedy laced in-between. It was written and directed by Kevin Smith, most famous for his View Askew films. (Chasing Amy is included in the View Askewniverse, by the way.) The film stars two now-famous actors, Ben Affleck (Who would go on to win two Academy Awards for Good Will Hunting and Argo.) and Jason Lee (Famous for My Name is Earl and Alvin and the Chipmunks 1, 2 & 3) before they hit their respective status as A-list actors. In addition, it stars Joey Lauren Adams (Of Big Daddy, Dazed and Confused and Bio-Dome fame) as the love interest for Ben Affleck. (Coincidentally, Joey Lauren Adams was the real-life girlfriend of Kevin Smith at the time.)
This isn't any regular romantic film, you see. This one set itself apart for a variety of reasons (Ignoring the fact that it has openly homosexual characters.):
1. It was made independently. Originally to cost 1-2 million dollars with a cast consisting of Jon Stewart, David Schwimmer and Drew Barrymore. However, Kevin wanted to keep his cast of Ben, Jason and Joey and so with a budget of only $250,000; he made this flick with complete control.
2. It was only two votes away from an Academy Award nomination. The details aren't specific, but I assume it's safe to say that it would have been for either Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay or Best Supporting Actor for Jason Lee. Mostly because those are the nominations it received from the Spirit Awards. (Winning both Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Jason Lee, respectively.)
3. The titular "Amy" is not a character in the film; it's an expression coined by Silent Bob in his climatic speech near the end of the picture. This is rare for films to use a title that only comes into play at the tail-end of it.
Amy is not your average romantic-drama-comedy; it's far beyond it. It's a serious, interesting and truthful story about love, emotions and dealing with a lover's past. The comedy mainly in the beginning and from there it's scattered in-between the intense scenes to make it not such a morose, dumpy film. Because of the comedy, as well as Kevin Smith's status as a comedic director; this film was unfairly labelled as nothing more than another typical romantic comedy. Which is very, very unfortunate as it truly one of the greatest romances ever committed to cinema. ((500) Days of Summer and The Graduate are very close, though.)
Please go view this film; it's available for instant watch on Netflix and I'm certain you could find it online for free too. This is the most impacting film I have ever watched, and maybe it will be for you too.
Showing posts with label favourite. Show all posts
Showing posts with label favourite. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Saturday, June 22, 2013
A Collection of 5 Books I Enjoy
That's right, these aren't necessarily my favourite books of all-time; just the ones I enjoy quite a bit at this particular moment in time, you see? I hope you enjoy my list and if you don't agree with my favourites, why not leave yours in the comments?
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962)
Yeah, yeah, yeah; you all saw this coming. I love the shit out of both the novella by Anthony Burgess and the film adaptation by Stanley Kubrick. Granted, I love the film a lot more than the novella because of the changes made to it, the soundtrack and the way Stanley Kubrick incorporated his views on society into an already great piece of literature. Hell, I consider A Clockwork Orange to be Kubrick's magnum opus! However, the way Mr. Burgess wrote this novella was brilliant, to say the absolute least. Not to mention how goddamned wonderful Nadsat is! I speak in Nadsat all the time in my daily life and no one understands me! I'm not ranking these in any particular order, or anything, but I actually consider A Clockwork Orange to be my favourite piece of literature of all-time.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954)
Now, I can already feel the hate that'll be given to me for this choice. Yeah, we all had to read this in high school, I get it. You don't associate the book with good times. However, even though I first completed the book while in high school; I started reading it about a year earlier, but never had the motivation to finish it. When I did, though, I was blown away by how deep and allegorical the novel is! I love how much it uses allusions and how, like A Clockwork Orange, it's a study on human nature and the concept of morality. Not only one of my favourites of the moment, one of my favourite of all-time.
The Dark Half by Stephen King (1989)
Now, a lot of people don't think of Stephen King as a truly great author. I mean, let's play a game:
Quick! Where are does this book take place? That's right, Maine.
Quick! Who's the main character? That's right, an alcoholic writer.
Quick! Is this alcoholic writer from Maine crazy? That's right, he is.
Now, chances are, you've never read this book. So, how did you know the answers? Because it's Stephen King's basics. Granted, it's not a ground-breaking piece of literature that offers something new to the table; but goddammit, it's an underrated novel that deserves much more credit than it gets! It's not a great book, I concur, but it's a very good book that is far better than most of King's novels. What I really like about it is how he alludes the events in the story to the real-life event of him being outed as Richard Bachman, his pen-name. That's pretty cool, y'know?
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (1951)
Another example of a book that is widely-introduced through English classes around the country. Yeah, it's kind of overrated, I agree. But you don't become overrated by being a shitty book! This is an excellent piece of literature for those in my age group, teenagers on the verge of adulthood. Everything from the anti-hero Holden Caulfield and his identity crisis, as well as his swearing tendencies, and need for belonging make him a relatable protagonist and central character for a superior book.
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck (1972)
Well, lookey-lookey; another fucking book from English class. I must admit, I wasn't too thrilled to read a book entitled: A Day No Pigs Would Die, but the story was pretty emotional and very heartbreaking. But also very heartwarming in the way that we watched Rob develop from a immature adolescent to a responsible young man whom his father can trust after he passes on. Then when you realise it was an autobiographical novel, it's like, holy shit, this actually happened?! I enjoy the book a lot, but I wouldn't call it an all-time favourite, yet. Granted, I am premature to it.
Thanks for the read and I have a lot more in store.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962)
Yeah, yeah, yeah; you all saw this coming. I love the shit out of both the novella by Anthony Burgess and the film adaptation by Stanley Kubrick. Granted, I love the film a lot more than the novella because of the changes made to it, the soundtrack and the way Stanley Kubrick incorporated his views on society into an already great piece of literature. Hell, I consider A Clockwork Orange to be Kubrick's magnum opus! However, the way Mr. Burgess wrote this novella was brilliant, to say the absolute least. Not to mention how goddamned wonderful Nadsat is! I speak in Nadsat all the time in my daily life and no one understands me! I'm not ranking these in any particular order, or anything, but I actually consider A Clockwork Orange to be my favourite piece of literature of all-time.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954)
Now, I can already feel the hate that'll be given to me for this choice. Yeah, we all had to read this in high school, I get it. You don't associate the book with good times. However, even though I first completed the book while in high school; I started reading it about a year earlier, but never had the motivation to finish it. When I did, though, I was blown away by how deep and allegorical the novel is! I love how much it uses allusions and how, like A Clockwork Orange, it's a study on human nature and the concept of morality. Not only one of my favourites of the moment, one of my favourite of all-time.
The Dark Half by Stephen King (1989)
Now, a lot of people don't think of Stephen King as a truly great author. I mean, let's play a game:
Quick! Where are does this book take place? That's right, Maine.
Quick! Who's the main character? That's right, an alcoholic writer.
Quick! Is this alcoholic writer from Maine crazy? That's right, he is.
Now, chances are, you've never read this book. So, how did you know the answers? Because it's Stephen King's basics. Granted, it's not a ground-breaking piece of literature that offers something new to the table; but goddammit, it's an underrated novel that deserves much more credit than it gets! It's not a great book, I concur, but it's a very good book that is far better than most of King's novels. What I really like about it is how he alludes the events in the story to the real-life event of him being outed as Richard Bachman, his pen-name. That's pretty cool, y'know?
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (1951)
Another example of a book that is widely-introduced through English classes around the country. Yeah, it's kind of overrated, I agree. But you don't become overrated by being a shitty book! This is an excellent piece of literature for those in my age group, teenagers on the verge of adulthood. Everything from the anti-hero Holden Caulfield and his identity crisis, as well as his swearing tendencies, and need for belonging make him a relatable protagonist and central character for a superior book.
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck (1972)
Well, lookey-lookey; another fucking book from English class. I must admit, I wasn't too thrilled to read a book entitled: A Day No Pigs Would Die, but the story was pretty emotional and very heartbreaking. But also very heartwarming in the way that we watched Rob develop from a immature adolescent to a responsible young man whom his father can trust after he passes on. Then when you realise it was an autobiographical novel, it's like, holy shit, this actually happened?! I enjoy the book a lot, but I wouldn't call it an all-time favourite, yet. Granted, I am premature to it.
Thanks for the read and I have a lot more in store.
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