Watch It: Raising Arizona

The end of our Queue de Grâce saga is in sight! We spent most of our week abroad, so it felt like coming home today to watch Raising Arizona (1982), starring Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter and directed by the brilliant Coen brothers. This loud explosive comedy is an ode to family. Meet the McDunnoughs and their baby, Junior. Don't they look normal?

Well, they are, in that each of these spouses, while devoted to family, is dealing with his and her own restless instincts. Herbert, also known as "Hi",  struggles with life as a stable head of the household after leaving behind the reliable chaotic rhythm of life as an outlaw. Edwina, also known as "Ed", has always been a model citizen, an officer of the law in fact, but is betrayed by her own body in realizing her dream to become a mother. And Junior? Well, he'd probably like to be home, but unfortunately for Ed, his home is not with her.

Today's Laszlo Line-up was the two oldest boys, who are too big to cuddle, and my little lap monster, Mae who cuddles like it's a competitive sport.

Perfect storyline. I liked it. It's about a guy, he keeps going back to jail because he keeps robbing convenience stores. It's so funny because when he's getting his mugshot taken, he falls in love with the cop who tells him to turn. She is not capable of bearing babies, so they steal one from a rich guy. And all this crazy stuff happens, like people keep trying to steal it and get the bounty. And in the end: happy fuzzy dreams. Watching it makes me feel like talking in a Texas accent.

 
 Because the baby fall down and the guy is taking the baby.

Joel and Ethan Coen have created a canon of films, all of which touched a spot in my head that I didn't even know was there. Raising Arizona was my first look at a Coen brothers film, way back when it first came out. I was thirteen and had never watched anything so weird, and wonderful. The dense poetic dialogue is at once eloquent and colloquial. Every word is lovingly chosen. This is the kind of movie you quote with your favorite friends and family members.

 This movie is called Raisin in the Soda. The ghost was running to the neck.


 

The Raising Soda is going to sleep on the bed. The baby is lie down to the bed. The baby holding the phone shaker. I like the movie.

So far, in this Queue de Grâce, I have loved all of the movies that Cole has chosen, and this one was no exception. Some of the jokes, I didn't get. I guess I would have had to grow up in my mom's generation to understand some of those things. Nevertheless, there were some jokes that made sense to me and were funny.


 

I saw it as a funny adult comedy movie about this reformed criminal (slightly reformed, I mean, he does go breaking into convenience stores again) and his wife who is a resigned cop.What I liked about this movie is that it's funny, but there are other genres that come through, towards the end. For example, I especially liked how he sees the tattoo on the bounty hunter,, and that's never explained. Also, Hi's dream at the end was sad and sentimental. 


 Quirky, it is, indeed; but these themes are universal. Domesticity is an odd prison, because it is one of our own making. A guy can think he's an outlaw all he wants. When he's in love and there's a baby to think of, things get real and, for some, it can feel like the wrong place to be. Even for those of us who cherish the sacrifices of settling down, there are still moments. This is the ultimate family movie for that reason. Here we all are! Now what?*

*Start a blog, that's what.
  
I'm giving you all the old head's up again on mature content. Guns are ablazing and fists are flying. Mae watched this with us, and we discussed how that was unacceptable behavior for her at this stage in her life. If she wants to go all Leonard Smalls on us as a grown-up someday, I suppose it might be my fault.
 

Watch It: Go West

Four days into our fantastic Queue de Grâce voyage, and we're tagging along with Buster Keaton and Brown Eyes, in the grand frontier adventure, Go West.

This silent film, directed by and starring Buster Keaton in 1925, tells the tale of a young man named Friendless, who is practically penniless and must go out into the world to seek his fortune. While working on a ranch, he finds a friend in a dried-up, yet plucky, milk cow. I'm going to gush about Mr. Keaton in a few inches, but holy cow, this bovine is a scene-stealer! Her acting talent greatly surpasses that of Gwyneth Paltrow, an Academy Award Winning Actress.

Unfortunately, Geza's work schedule prevented him from being able to enjoy this one with us. He has seen many other Buster Keaton films and is a long-standing fan. So, he's cool, but he's not going to be able to offer anything here today.

Let's give the kids a turn:

This movie! Man, it's amazing how much Buster Keaton puts in just for a perfect shot. And it's wild to think that this is what he did for a living! Buster Keaton is extremely awesome. I love all of his movies. He risked his life to put a smile on your face.

They were falling on the train. They were barrels. A guy fell down on the train.

There was a grown-up, named Buster Keaton. On the train, the barrels fell out. There were potatoes in them. One barrel had Buster Keaton, it fell. It rolled out of the train and it broke. There were a million bulls. They chased him. He rode on the cow.

The film was very funny. I loved it a lot. To think that back then, when making the stampede scene, they didn't have computers to generate bull images. Nowadays, they'd just cut and paste over and over and over to make animated bulls. I'm thinking of how hard it must have been to make these movies, with such limited effects; it's impressive. 

The cows is running inside. These cows are running to the neck.






It is rare that I will get all up in a reader's face and say, "Look, this thing, you need it in your life." But, this is one of those special moments. Buster Keaton, anything with Buster Keaton: watch it.

The Great Stone Face is unlike any performer from his era. The effervescence of his clever gags and plot twists is complemented perfectly by his serious demeanor and dry delivery. If you watch any Buster Keaton film and aren't completely in love with the guy by the end of it, I will eat Thomas' least favorite fedora.