Obsession

Obsessives are great subjects for movies. They provide a single minded focus that cuts through all the nonsense and helps to provide a powerful driving force to the storyline. Today the wheel and I briefly discuss three films exploring the worlds of the compulsive, the obsessive and the slightly touched. First up, Fantastic Mr. Fox, an amazing film that's silly and exciting enough for both kids and adults. A Wes Anderson film in every aspect, full of insane detail and subtle brilliance, I was surprised by how much I liked it. It's at once faithful to the story and a wonderful jumping off point to a personal and totally original take on a beloved story. Mr. Fox is as obsessive as they come, pushing forward in the face of danger and going against all reason to satisfy the itch that can't be scratched. It's hilarious and touching and a kick to watch.

After the fluid masterpieces from Pixar, the stilted, herky jerky animation in this one made me wince. There's a place for nostalgia but there is no need to go old school when it comes to animation techniques. Why bother with stop motion silliness when you can have eye popping digital grandeur? Also, the dry humour was out of place and combined with the amateurish subpar Rankin-Bass puppets, I couldn't warm up to this one. I give it a 4.
When it comes to feats of derring-do, I much preferred Le Trou, an amazing prison escape movie in a world littered with them. The film follows a cell full of prisoners as they plan, plot and execute a painstakingly brilliant jailbreak. I give it a 7 for its slow burn suspense and all around Frenchiness.

I really enjoyed this one too. Who knew how much fun it could be to watch guys dig and dig and dig. Le Trou spares no expense in showing you the full detail of chiseling through concrete. If you like long, single shots of digging this movie is for you as there are several scenes where the camera fixes on guys digging and doesn't cut away. Just when you think they couldn't possibly show anymore digging they go and blow your mind with more digging. It's pretty insane. Aside from all that digging it is an awesome movie about trust, justice and ingenuity. And of course, digging.

Lastly, I want to recommend Z Channel - A Magnificent Obsession to anyone reading this. It's a documentary about the early days of cable movie channels and an L.A. based station called Z Channel run by a mad man named Jerry Harvey who briefly escaped his crippling depression by obsessing over movies. At first it seems like an overly reverent film filled with talking heads going on and on about how amazing Z Channel was. After a few minutes I felt I had made the wrong choice and shut it off. Bored one day, I decided to pick up where I had left off, 10 minutes in, to see if it got any better. Not seconds after starting it back up the narrator says "And that's when Jerry killed his wife and then turned the gun on himself." Now, I'm not a huge fan of suicide but I must say that my interest was piqued.

Unfortunately, it stalled again right there by tracing the history of the channel by interspersing hyperbolic hosannas from the likes of Jim Jarmusch and Robert Altman with the most boring movie clips ever dug out of the vaults. Italian movies, French movies, Romanian movies, all making no sense and far too arty for their own good. And say what you want about Quentin Tarantino's films but in conversation he is the most annoying man on the face of the planet. His whole manic way of talking with flailing arms and cool daddy-o hipster speak grates instantly and obscures anything he has to say. Shave your soul patch and shut up. I give the movie a 1 and if I could, I'd give Mr. Tarantino a punch in the face.

I have to disagree completely. This documentary celebrates the incredible and endless variety of movies in the world and the overwhelming wealth and breadth of cinema. For anyone touched by even the mildest bout of art obsession or fans of the hard to find and obscure, this movie will make you want to cancel your plans for a year and just sit watching films, basking in the glory and sitting slack jawed in awe at the beauty of it all. This is a movie that champions not those who create but those who share the creations of others and as someone who loves the mixtape and the best of list, I tip my hat to Jerry Harvey and his ilk for sharing their obsessions with the world.