Any Given Sunday - Modern Gladiators and Awful DVD Menu Screens

There are a few go-to movies for me when it comes to sports. When baseball season starts, I’ll re-watch Bull Durham or Major League or Cobb. With golf, I go with Tin Cup. With football, it’s Any Given Sunday, Oliver Stone’s frenetic film that both celebrates and condemns the sport. It’s a film that’s messy and unsure of itself, which is perfect for football. 

Any Given Sunday makes it quite clear that pro football players are modern day gladiators. And while gladiators are typically given glorious treatment in history and pop culture, they were basically slaves putting their life on the line to distract the masses. In that way, it’s an apt comparison, though obviously there’s a lot more money and fame involved for modern athletes, and the deaths are far slower. I don’t think it’s an unfair comparison, especially cinematically-speaking. 

Stone, of course, isn’t subtle about any of this; just watch the dinner scene between Pacino and Foxx with the chariot race from Ben-Hur playing in the background and intercut into the scene. That doesn’t make it wrong, but the bluntness of it is distracting at times. Then again, is there a more blunt sport than football?

This is why it actually feels natural for there to be so many scenes of men discussing their legacy and whatnot in relation to a game. It’s silly, but it’s real. These broken men abuse drugs, women, their families, etc. They might be gladiators, but they live like they’re in Caligula. It makes all the talk of the importance of leaving behind a legacy of greatness seem pretty fucking stupid. Sanctioned excess will do that to people, and what organization is more hypocritically perfect for this than the NFL?

The NFL, which unsurprisingly did not participate in the film (the Dolphins are referenced at one point, implying that the fictional league of this film co-exists with the NFL somehow), presents the sport with the same reverence Any Given Sunday does. But they try to bury any negative side effects of the sport like drug abuse and CTE and abhorrent off-field behavior. At least Any Given Sunday presents both sides of the game.

This is all getting appropriately sloppy, and it’s not necessarily by design. And I don’t think Stone was going for some meta-commentary with his sloppy film, either. But when you address both this film and the sport it portrays, it’s impossible to be simple about it. The viewers of both are complicit. I’m okay with Stone’s head-spinning approach because I find it enjoyable, much the same way I’ll still cheer for the horrible Miami Dolphins while also condemning the NFL from time to time. That’s America, and Oliver Stone, for better or worse (especially in the ‘90s) was great at capturing that dichotomy.

One of the worst DVD menu screens of all time.

My basement was the go-to weekend hangout spot in high school and beyond, and I always had a movie on when everyone would fall asleep. This was no big deal until the movie ended and the DVD menu screen came up. Auto-play wasn’t a feature back then (or my DVD player simply didn’t have it), and interactive menu screens were the norm. Any Given Sunday is one my friends and I talk about to this day.

First off, when I watched this on my new 4K player, it only played through twice, and then the movie started. Not sure if this is more modern technology taking over or what, but I could have used it twenty-five years ago. Anyway, as you can hear, that bland ass hard rock music is terrible, but imagine that blaring on a loop at three in the morning.

Some others that came to mind were Fight Club and Super Troopers:

There are plenty of others I’m just not remembering now, but even though these were annoying years ago, they take me back now. Even though I still watch plenty of physical media, the technology has still made this mostly obsolete. First off, I almost always go to sleep with something streaming playing, so the worst case scenario now is an annoying show or movie auto-playing or a series of previews constantly cycling. As for blu-rays and whatnot, even without auto-play, the vast majority of menu screens these days are still images or maybe a little music from the film. They are much more subdued whereas the early 2000s DVDs wanted you to wake the fuck up and watch a movie. 

The modern situation is undoubtedly better. But popping in an old DVD like this and seeing that awful menu screen takes me back to a simpler time. And it also reminds me that this movie needs a 4K upgrade. What the fuck is going on here? 

Random Thoughts / Favorite Quotes 

I tried to watch the streaming option on Fandango, but it’s the theatrical cut, which I've never seen, and there were so many little differences it annoyed me. Not to mention the three minutes of commercials every five minutes. 

It's not that the director’s cut is better, it's just what I'm used to. For instance, the DC has Beamen getting yelled at for not being ready whereas in the theatrical cut he just appears next to Pacino, ready to go. I wasn’t committed enough to stick it out the whole movie and look for differences.

The editing of Stone's films of the 90s should be studied in film school. How coherent films, much less good or arguably great ones, are cobbled together from all that footage and different film stock is a miracle to me.

“Cherubini? What'd he fall off the bench? What's next? Stigmata?”

Love that triple take Pacino gives Foxx.

Can't believe I just found out Jim Brown's name in this is Montezuma Monroe. Still not sure if the full name is said on screen, but that's what he's credited as in the credits.

That caricature of Oliver Stone at the bar is fucking diabolical.

“I don't get strokes, motherfucker, I give ‘em!”

I bet Dick Butkus calling Pacino a f****t was a Butkus adlib.

Met-Rx went all in fast on Willie Beamen.

Pacino says he's glad he's old then pays a prostitute with a check. Consistent.

“Fuck you, coach! I ain't buyin' yo brand!”

I see the DP went to the Last Boy Scout school of cinematography for that rainy night game.

Dennis Quaid wearing a chef's hat while grilling hot dogs is fucking hilarious. 

I like what they do with the playoff game having an announcer from each team calling the game, bickering the whole time.

Heston understood the assignment. Show up, bear those bottom teeth, and deliver the hell out of this line: “I honestly believe that woman would eat her young.”

Try Not To Be Offended and Just Enjoy "Django Unchained"

Django Unchained - Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, and Leonardo DiCaprio - Rated R

 

 

Quentin Tarantino has become a somewhat controversial figure in cinema. There are the Tarantino devotees, who have been on board since they first saw Reservoir Dogs and enjoy every single thing he does (I can nearly be classified as part of this group). Then there are the people that have been less than impressed with everything he has done since Pulp Fiction. I feel that he has become an internet target in that it’s cool to hate him since so many film nerds love everything he does. To be fair, he set himself up for this as his films have turned into a series of references to other, much more obscure films. What is the difference between copying and paying homage? I believe it comes down to opinion: if you enjoy his films, then Tarantino is paying homage; if you dislike the films, he’s stealing. This has been the issue with Tarantino for some time, but he opened up a new debate with his last film, Inglourious Basterds: is it okay to alter history and find humor within very serious situations? Once again, if you’re with the film, then yes, it’s totally okay. Now with Django Unchained, a cartoonishly violent, surprisingly funny film about slavery, Tarantino asks this question of the audience again, and my answer is an emphatic “yes.”

I love most of Tarantino’s work (Death Proof just didn’t work for me), but I rarely take it seriously. I think the filmmaker sets out to simply entertain people, which means he must do whatever he thinks is best to accomplish that. If that’s constantly using cheesy zooms taken from old kung fu movies, or spraying goofy amounts of blood from bullet wounds, or having the precursor to the Klan have a complaint session about holes in bags, then so be it. If it works, it works. This is why there can be laughter during a movie about slavery. Tarantino isn’t pretending to give a history lesson (this is the guy who decided to kill off Hitler in a movie theater, after all). He is trying to get you to enjoy yourself, and I enjoyed myself immensely throughout Django.

Entertainment as a goal doesn’t excuse a film from controversy, however. Some will be, and are, angry about the film. Complaints range from taking the slavery issue lightly at all to the many uses of the “N-word” throughout the film. I understand how all of this can be offensive, but I suppose I’m not easily offended. But be forewarned: this is certainly not a film for everyone. And even if some of the violence is portrayed as humorous, there are still very gruesome and brutal moments that will sicken people.

If you can get past all of the possibly offensive material, though, you will witness one of the best films of the year. The story of the lengthy film is relatively simple. Bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) frees Django (Jamie Foxx) because he needs his help tracking down some slavers. After they’re done, Schultz agrees to help Django find and rescue his wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) from the clutches of the delightfully evil Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his faithful servant, Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson).

The film ends up being quite lengthy because Tarantino has finally made his spaghetti western, and he couldn’t help but fill it with references. I won’t pretend to share Tarantino’s encyclopedic knowledge of film, but I did enjoy all of the little touches that I picked up here and there. It just feels good to watch the movie with a crowd and notice Franco Nero (the original Django from the 1966 film) and know that I am one of the only people that caught it.

That’s not to say that references alone make this film enjoyable. It’s loaded with Tarantino weirdness. From the hilarious and at times self-aware dialogue to the fact that Schultz drives around a carriage with a giant tooth on top of it; there is plenty here for the uninitiated viewer. Tarantino has struck a great balance of honest storytelling and his trademark weirdness. I like watching his films because I know that anything might happen, even if the story takes place in a historical setting.

Tarantino doesn’t get too crazy with anachronisms, except perhaps with the music. Modern day music, along with some classic songs, is used throughout the film. It might take some people out of the film, but I found the songs perfectly suitable for each scene. Tarantino seems to always find the ideal music for each of his films.

Django is not simply a stylishly violent film with a good soundtrack, though. Tarantino’s scripts have long been ripe material for actors. Jamie Foxx is great as Django, and his transition from frightened slave to empowered bounty hunter is a realistic one. Unfortunately for him, the supporting roles of the film are much more interesting than the title character. Christoph Waltz is gaining attention yet again for his supporting role (he won an Oscar for Basterds) as Schultz. It’s a fun performance, and he makes every line of dialogue lively. Samuel L. Jackson gives his best performance in years as the absolutely evil slave Stephen. His performance is impressive, and hilarious, because he gets to play up the stereotype of the helpful slave, but also gets to show the true ruthlessness of his character. Then there is Leonardo DiCaprio. There’s something inherently interesting about a character that you’re supposed to hate, and DiCaprio fully embraces that. People were up in arms when he wasn’t nominated for the Academy Award, but it’s a packed category this year. Waltz getting the nomination makes sense, but I’m surprised more people are not singing Jackson’s praises. I felt that his lack of a nomination was a bigger snub than DiCaprio. DiCaprio winning an Oscar is a question of when. Who knows when Jackson will take on another prestige role like this?

Django Unchained is the total package for me. It has great action, fitting music, a historical setting, spaghetti western influences, comedy, Tarantino’s style, and fun performances. Honestly, the only thing keeping this movie from being my favorite of the year is Daniel Day-Lewis’s portrayal of Lincoln. If not for that great performance, Django Unchained would be the best film of the year, in my opinion. Try not to be offended and enjoy Quentin Tarantino’s latest piece of entertainment.