Work · Of · My · Hands

Being unable to celebrate tomorrow as St. Pat's falls on a Monday, I would suggest that we all take some time today to immerse ourselves in Irish culture. And what better way to do that than have a film festival! OK- we'll pretend to have a film festival. But if you all were here, I would be serving you coddle and buttered bread and tea and this is what we would watch.

1. First, we would get the mood rolling with one of the greatest shoot-em-ups of all time
"Boondock Saints". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boondock_Saints
Shocking in its violence, creative in its approach to FBI investigation, and unintentionally funny yet inspiring, this film has it all. It is about 2 Boston brothers who decide to do community service. And also a little bit of ESOL training. With guns.
Here's a NSFW link to a fantastic scene where the brothers present their mission statement to the public. With guns.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81SOh0vVWhk

2. Next, we would move on to what is unquestionable my favorite of all of the Cohen Brother's films "Miller's Crossing". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller's_Crossing
Set in some city in the 1930's, it is about 2 rival mob factions and the Irishman who plays them both out. This was actually filmed in New Orleans as that city still had all of the architecture needed to fill out the sets. And still had the corrupt cops who collected "installments" for filming permits each week.
The Cohens are at their best here with scenes like this, the famed "Whattsamatta? Somebody hit you?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYxaBvmToI0
Extra points here for the film having the devastatingly handsome and swoon worthy Gabriel Byrne.

3. Next, we move on to some serious dramz. I'm talking about Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Lyndon
Redmund Barry, AKA Barry Lyndon, is an Irish rogue who works his way up the 18th century English society social ladder. He has ups and downs, and rocks and rolls, and ends up close to where he started. This film rates extra fine not just for the entertaining and morally educational story, but for the astonishing sets, costumes, music, etc, that created the entire athmosphere. Kubrick takes his time with things in this film. He wants us to remember that western society used to have its rituals and rules- much like the ones we tend to only associate with Japanese culture idioms such as tea ceremonies. A lot of people now-a-days don't know about this movie, but it won multiple academy awards and was the impetus for the development of specialized lenses that allowed filmmakers to use actual candle and twilight light. Period detail is no better shown than in this scene with authentic style candles, clothes, music on period instruments, and everybody in the makeup of the day. It is also one of the most hypnotic but understated love/capitulation scenes of all time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fWiOinTzOs&feature=related

This kind of work is on a grand scale- every actor is fully kitted out, even the extras have hand made corsetry, etc. Here's a wonderful battle scene where the dry narration, detailed clothes and equipment, and lovely scenery make a beautiful counterpoint to the ridiculous nature of 18th century warfare tactics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfvCjLgbpy0&feature=related.

Here is the famed duel scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDupoFh5Op0 The pace is agonizingly slow and it is perhaps not best that I show this scene in isolation. But within the context of the film, this is a pivital moment where societal dictations create a climate of abject insanity within a framework of gentlemanly pursuits. It should be noted that this film is about the cultural structures that the Founding Fathers used(or rejected) in order to create the US. One cannot but think if the Hamilton/Burr incident here.

3. Finally, we end with an uplifting, albeit frustrating classic "The Commitments" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Commitments_(film) A quintessential soul music film with multicultural appeal, this stands the test of time as one of the best rock and roll movies ever. It reads like a manual on how not to run a band and have the time of your life while ruining everything. A unique crew of pop, rock, and jazz musicians came together for this piece. Their awkward youthful sexy angst is really genuine. And their music is as good as it gets. If instinctual memory is real, then it manifests in the 50 years worth of whiskey and cigarettes that Andrew Strong's voice reflects in his role as the obnoxious lead. It is still so hard to accept that he was only 16 when they made the movie.