"The Epinions Film Dictionary W/O”: "O" Is the Loneliest Letter
Apr 12 '03 (Updated Apr 26 '03)
The Bottom Line "O" No? "O" Yeah!
O?
What's up with O?
O works best in the middle of words. Or as an exclamation of frustration as in, "Oh, My Head!"
Basically, I got stuck with a bad letter. But I made the most of it. As I often do. And I paid Crispy back for randomly giving me a bad letter by waiting an extra day to turn in my write-off entry. My apologies to anybody inconvenienced by my lateness. Without further ado, here's at least some of what you've always wanted to know about the letter O.
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Octopussy: The first James Bond movie I ever saw and one of my favorites to this day. The opening sequence with the clowns and the jeweled eggs still cracks me up. I don't care what anybody says, Roger Moore is at least the third or fourth best Bond ever, though by 1983, he was getting a bit long in the tooth for the part. Directed by John Glen either before or after he was shot into orbit [It's a different person, folks].
Oeuvre: When I want to be pretentious and describe a filmmaker's body of work, I refer to it as his oeuvre. My apologies.
Office Space: Mike Judge (King of the Hill) made his live-action debut with this film. Perhaps the least cinematic mini-masterpiece ever made. This is just about the ugliest movie ever shot on film. Judge has no concept of how to pace scenes or how to frame comedy. On the other hand, the movie is totally hilarious as, as anybody who has ever worked in a cubicle knows, it's beyond true. This film is something of an Ugly Gospel of the Working Man. A good reason to like star Ron Livingston.
Of Mice and Men: Can I pet the Bunnies, George?
Oh, Sadaharu: The all-time Japanese home run leader with 868. No idea why he's in a film dictionary, but when I do the writing, I make the rules.
Oklahoma!: Directed by the always under-appreciated Fred Zinnemann, this is one of the great musicals ever. The first film ever shot in the Todd-AO widescreen format (motto: "You're in the show with Todd-AO). Marked the screen debut of Shirley Jones, who would go on to greater fame, winning an Oscar for Elmer Gantry and winning hearts while driving The Partridge Family bus. Earned one of 16 Oscar nominations for legendary cinematographer Robert Surtees. But I'd better stop now, or else people will say we're in love.
Oliver!: Everything you need to know about cinema in 1968 is that Oliver! won the Oscar for Best Picture, beating 2001: A Space Odyssey. Now, me? I actually hate 2001, but lots of people seem to think that this is something of an abomination. Films from that year that I prefer include Planet of the Apes, Rosemary's Baby, Lion in the Winter, Romeo and Juliet, The Producers, Barbarella, and, of course, Ice Station Zebra.
Olivier, Laurence: Granted that Olivier won his Oscar back in his younger days where he was basically just bringing stage performances to the big screen, but I like him much more in his later years. You know, in the 1970s and 1980s where he was alternating between playing Nazis and old Jews. Look at him in Boys From Brazil or Marathon Man or The Jazz Singer. He's barely in any of those movies and yet he's the most vivid part of all of them. As his career progressed, he figured out how to act on screen and how to make the most of minimal gestures and that's when he became truly great. For me. You can like Hamlet and Rebecca all you want. That's just fine.
Olmi, Ermanno: Tree of the Wooden Clogs is one of the most boring movies ever made. Sure, I understand it's social gravity and moments of tragic realism, but the film is 15 hours long or something. The story of peasants struggling and struggling and struggling also won the Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978. Those crazy French!
On the Waterfront: Fantastic acting, conflicted message, brilliant cinematography. Special points to Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, and Boris Kaufman. I'll stop here before I start ranting on Elia Kazan.
Once Upon a Time in America: Not quite as good as the next Leone film on this list, but Jennifer Connelly was really beautiful and really underage and James Woods and Robert DeNiro are really great. If you're gonna see this one, make sure you get the version that's over three hours, because the 140 minute version doesn't make any sense. Also, if you're not going to watch this one letterboxed, don't bother. I've seen the pan-and-scan version and it's EVIL!!!
Once Upon a Time in the West: When you're dealing with the best of Fonda, Bronson, Leone, Morricone, and several other really great people, you're dealing with a heck of a movie. One of my favorite scores ever written. Another film that lost to Oliver! at the Academy Awards (or would have, had it been nominated).
On Deadly Ground: Steven Seagal's highly acclaimed 1994 directorial debut. In a career of awful movies he did for the money, this may be Michael Caine's lowest moment. The film also features Billy Bob Thornton and John C. McGinley and still stinks. Go figure.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: Swept all the major Oscars in 1975, though I'm not at all convinced it's a better movie than Jaws, Dog Day Afternoon, or Nashville. Still a ton of fun to watch thanks to a certain Mr. Nicholson.
One Million Years B.C.: Based on a true story of when dinosaurs and man fought for world supremacy... Oh, nevermind. It's all about Raquel Welch in a fur bikini. You got a problem with that?
Oldman, Gary: Chronically overacting character actor who, if nothing else, is always entertaining to watch. When he's good, he's very good. Look at Sid and Nancy or
JFK or even The Contender. My favorite Oldman performance is in True Romance as Drexel, but that's just me. When he's bad, he causes me physical pain. He's so far over the top in The Professional (Leon) that when he looks down, he can't even see a speck of the top. Oldman is especially funny as Fire Marshall Bill in Hannibal and Boris Badenov in Air Force One. Oldman also directed the painfully murky Nil By Mouth.
Olvidados, Los: If you've seen the recent City of God and loved it, you really should check out Luis Bunuel's Los Olvidados, just to see where the best parts came from. A study of juvenile delinquents in a Mexico City slums is about as harrowing as it gets. Also called The Young and the Damned, this is pretty devastating stuff, relying on a cast of amateurs. Shot by the legendary Gabriel Figueroa
O'Neal, Tatum: Sure, she was good in Paper Moon, but Oscar good? If I had to give an award to a young actress from that year, Linda Blair from The Exorcist would totally get my vote. But there you are. O'Neal was the youngest Oscar winner until Anna Paquin. Then she married John McEnroe. Then she went totally bonkers. Go figure. Also the same name as a decent 1952 film directed by Nicholas Ray. Nicholas Ray, though, was no Steven Seagal.
On Golden Pond: Lots of old people. Henry Fonda won his only Oscar for *this*?
Open City: One of the earliest works of Italian Neorealism, Open City (or Roma, Citta Aperta) is political, shocking, depressing, and unfailingly human. The performances by Anna Magnani and Aldo Fabrizi are a tribute to the work of director Roberto Rossellini. One of the greatest cinematic portraits of the effects of war on a nation.
Operation Dumbo Drop: Either the second finest movie to ever focus on a live-action elephant in the 1990s (after the Bill Murray masterpiece Larger than Life) or else the second best movie ever to feature the word "Dumbo" in its title. Either way, it must be tough always being second best, while also scooping up elephant poop.
Ophuls, Max: German-born director of Letter From an Unknown Woman, La Ronde and lots of other classic foreign films that you should have seen if you were a better filmgoer. Began as a theatre director in Germany, but fled in 1933, because it wasn't a good place to be Jewish. Known largely for love stories, Ophuls' films are characterized by the kind of smooth camera moves many of today's finest directors wish they could execute. The smart ones at least admit they're trying to be Ophuls. When people want to insult Ophuls, they say his films are overstylized, placing art direction over character or plot. Those people are wrong.
Optical Printer: An elaborate machine used to create special effects in movies. My understanding is that computers have rendered the optical printer unnecessary, but I could be wrong.
Ordinary People: Some tools are all, "Blah Blah, Ordinary People beat Raging Bull for the Oscar, Blah Blah." Get over it, y'all. Ordinary People is a better movie. Robert Redford's directorial debut features heartbreaking performances from Timothy Hutton, Donald Sutherland, and Mary Tyler Moore as well as Judd Hirsch's best performance this side of Dear John. So stop hatin' on Ordinary People this instant!
Orientalism: Either the theory, or the foundational article by Edward Said from 1978. Orientalism is a central level of discourse within the field of postcolonial theory and "relies on Foucauldian notions of discourse and the power-knowledge nexus to examine the ways that western imperial power and discourse constructed a stereotypical 'Orient.'" Or at least that's what Robert Stam says. Y'all wanna get into this? Didn't think so. The essence of Orientalism as a theory explains that Western thinkers have had to construct a monolithic notion of the "East" in order to define Western culture as everything Eastern culture is not. Stuart Hall and Homi Bhabha have written extensively on the subject, as has Said. On Epinions, though? I suspect nobody cares.
Oscar: Either one of the few Sylvester Stallone movies I haven't reviewed on Epinions, or the annual awards given by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Strangely, the latter Oscar gave no love to the former.
O'Toole, Peter: Just received an honorary Oscar, but previously was the best actor never to receive the trophy. Seven nominations and no wins and that includes miraculous performances in films like Lawrence of Arabia, The Stunt Man and King Ralph. Peter O'Toole is also a legendary British theatre performer and a drinker and storyteller of near-equal renown.
Outbreak: Aren't you a cute little monkey? Yes you are! Ouch! You bit me. Now I'm bleeding out. Lousy ebola.
Overboard: The funniest movie ever made about a blue-collar schlub beating a rich socialite into a better woman. Therapeutic spousal abuse has never been more hilarious. [I'm kidding. I saw this movie on a plane when I was 12 and even then I knew it was repulsive.]
Over the Top: Sylvester Stallone is all, "Oye, I can't beat this beefy arm-wrestler and my brains are going to pop out through my skull." And his son is all, "Go over the top!" And Stallone's all, "Yo!" Not director Menahem Golan's finest moment.
Ozu, Yasujiro: Accepted as one of Japan's finest directors, but frankly his work tends to be a little too slow for my tastes. Darn you, MTV! In his earlier films, his style was characterized by extensive camera movement, but he stopped that as his career progressed and actually became known for a certain static formalism. His films rely on humor and subtle character observation, often examining families and communities. Among his best known works are I Was Born But... and Tokyo Story.
Those are my "O" thoughts for now. If I'm missing anything, please let me know. After all, any good dictionary is an evolving process. This one is sortta no exception. I'll happily take requests.
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This is one of 26 submissions in Simply_Crispy's Epinions Film Dictionary Write/Off. I'm only one day late which is a minor miracle.
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