"Mud"; When you can't find Paradise, there is only Crawfish and Unrest

"You can't trust love; it will up and run out on you". That is what the main character Ellis is told in this film by his father, who is getting ready to go through a divorce. It takes a lot for me to say a movie is perfect, and I swear that someday soon some flick will get one or two stars from me. But this is where my readers and film connoisseurs get their dinner and dessert to boot.

Director Jeff Nichols said that he wanted to bottle the excitement and pain of being a teenager and as far back as the 1990's; had envisioned Matthew McCaunoghey as an actor in it. Paying homage to the lifestyle; river culture, and scenery of Arkansas, this is the biggest production ever shot in the state.

Tye Sheridan as Ellis and Jacob Lofland as his adolescent sidekick Neckbone are making their way down the Mississippi when they find a boat that is high up in the tree from floods of the past. They poke around inside and find that a fugitive (McConaughey's character Mud) is hiding inside. Both are coming of age early because of the roughneck culture of the area; yet still hanging on to their childhood in different ways. The parallels to classics like "Stand by Me" are abundant; but not overused or earmarked too much. We are shown a man who has killed someone out of his love for a woman, and is marooned until some form of help arrives.

As any teenager would have to ponder, the two boys make a decision to trust Mud. They know that he is inherently dangerous, but they immediately think that he is not a threat to them. So many good things happen here; the usual throwback to Mark Twain doesn't even scratch the surface. You can almost smell the river catch and hear the old Ford trucks try to start up in the morning.

These characters are something concocted even deeper than the first layer of Americana; deep in the creekbanks and Piggly Wiggly stores of the south. This America is not as concerned with texting and Iphones (yet), and family roots are so troubled and encompassing that they could shift a home's foundation. The fixation with the river, old motors, salvaged parts, and first pangs of teenage love even bring to mind the way the first "Karate Kid" movie spins its plot.

Seeing Joe Don Baker cast as the leader of the ring that wants Mud dead is perfect, as is Sam Shephard in the role of a neighbor across the river who may or may not do something for Mud. About 45 minutes into the film we are shown more sunrises, more tension, small dirty hotel rooms, and Reese Witherspoon's character of Juniper is amazingly taut and fitting for the storyline.

As more and more happens, you are not lost in the script, or production values. Yes, the end is a bit different and feels like it had a different director's touch. It seems that pictures like "No Country For Old Men" are inspiration here for themes like desolation and loner issues. When a movie closely examines not only the plot at hand, but the whole landscape it takes place in with painstaking effort, it has to be selected by me as a triumph.

The vision of a class that could never find paradise but can only find unrest and crawfish; is impeccable. I went in preparing to be engrossed and went far beyond. If you have experienced teenage love, divorce, or being on the lamb, this film will speak to you. All I can say is "Bravo" and let the sentiment wash over you; we all have abandoned boats or salvaged motors dancing around in our subconscious somewhere.

Manhattan Portrayed as Purgatory: "Jacob's Ladder"

Billed as both quaint and devastating, "Jacob's Ladder" is truly in a category on a bit of an island; it is one hard movie to figure out the first time you see it. Tim Robbins plays Jacob, a Vietnam era veteran who starts on the ground in the war, with some deafeningly slow and loud chopper blades, a hell of a lot of confusion, and enemy fire. Many of his comrades start convulsing and having lethal problems, and shaking like epileptics. Jacob runs into the jungle and is stabbed by an enemy, abruptly and spookily.

Then we bounce to a shot from the floor of a New York City subway, where he is now a postman. He is unable to get out of the turnstile area and while another train passes, it looks like there are some sort of morbid ghosts on board. We see the woman he is now living with (Elizabeth Pena), who also works with him. They seem to have a claustrophobic yet normal Big Apple relationship, both working as much as they can. Jacob gets an incredibly high fever one night, and is thrown in a bath of ice. He sees some of the most hellish visions yet, a morgue, a mental hospital, and even places resembling the gore of the first "Saw" movie.

Whenever he goes awry he is back on the tweaking table with his chiropractor Louis, who is akin to a supernatural figure, the only one who can steer him on track. Jacob also lost a son before the war, and is haunted by visions of him in his Saturday morning pajamas and other tender family times. This has the ability to mess with him letting go or dealing with any of these wild things happening to him, and he meets with some old war buddies. Now the government says they were never in Vietnam, and his other buddies are seeing intense and otherworldly things as well.

Through some hard to follow happenings, we see that Jacob was killed by a fellow troop, and that they were given a drug called "The Ladder" to make them more aggressive. It is evident that now the whole time in New York has been a journey while dying, and it is horrifying. This movie can really get under your skin and can be a bit anguishing but is a true B movie hit. The story is told very trickily, and many viewers wouldn't have it any other way. When Louis is repairing Jacob on the table, he tells him a memorable thing, "If you are frightened and you are holding on, You will see devils. But if you have made your peace, the devils are really angels, freeing you from the Earth".

Flashback for Sci-Fi followers: "The Day the Earth Stood Still"

An excellent 1951 classic., "The Day The Earth Stood Still" is a story of an alien that comes to our planet with the aide of a robot to give a profound message to our human race. The great images, stealth silver outline of the crafts, and depiction of a landing in Washington, DC are all killer elements of this wonderful sci fi blast from the past. The fear of the alien beings, premonition to Cold War themes, and an aim to promote a strong United Nations were elements of the film. Many true Sci-Fi devotees claim it as one of their favorite black and white films ever, and Arthur C. Clarke himself ranked it very high. At a time when curiosity of the unknown was peaking, and an economic boom was festering the probability of exploration in later years, there is many ways in which this film came along at the perfect time.

Its safe to go in the water and watch: "Jaws 2"

Everyone around knows that "Jaws" was a masterpiece, and many were very obviously worried that when the sequel "Jaws 2" was released it would not even come close to measuring up. Some people argue that it does not, and while in some ways that could be true; it is a highly watchable sequel. The barrage of merchandising was much more elaborate; trading cards, towels, and models were made. I was able to get the full set of trading cards online two years ago and one of them has a great still of the shark coming up behind the waterskiing woman! It is generally viewed in the film world as the best Jaws sequel.

Another high point is that at least of course Roy Scheider is still chief Brody; that would have been a little different to swallow another actor taking over those reins. In the beginning some divers are shown taking pictures of Quinn's boat from the first movie, and are attacked by what appears to be the ominous great white breed of shark. Then the shark moves closer to the town, who have already endured this dread before. One of my favorite scenes is that of the waterskier; close to shore a woman is devoured by the shark, and these sequences provide as fun a watch as some of the ones in the original film. Some of the shots are right at water level and really instill the fear of being hunted in the water.

The driver of the boat mistakenly uses a flare gun and kills herself when gasoline spills on her. The way in which it all goes down is pretty high on the "chomp-a-rific" gore scale, and the movie really fought for a PG rating in 1978. When the mayor gets angry again at Brody for the shark warnings, it is not stale, the pacing is good and its fun to watch the town under siege and panic once again. There is a great scene where the chief mistakenly fires at bluefish while watching over the beach; and he forbids his son to go sailing; making him get a job for the summer to keep him safe. Brody is then fired, and since we flirt with this a little in the first movie it's nice and heavy to watch it be brought to light in the sequel.

Brody ends up going after the teenagers who take sailboats out, and there is a great chomp scene of a helicopter pilot. The shark then goes and terrorizes the teenagers on some modified sail and pontoon boats. Having one of the girls be so scared she goes into shock and unable to speak is also a good horror based touch. These different boats make for a nice change of dinner plate for the shark to eat off of, and the ending where Brody comes to the rescue is suitable. The success of "The Godfather II" was churning behind this one to make sequels a big thing, and "Rocky II" was a big one opening shortly after this. Some say it is predictable and we don't get all the sheer horror of the first; but it can be watched again and again; and it is actually somewhat of a blueprint on how to not completely ruin a sequel. It is great to revisit; and captures a fairly revolutionary time in film making.