Various Films, part 3 & This Week's Statistics

Hello again, my friends! I'm still in a film-watching mood, so today, we will be talking about two more films, one gay-themed and one not. Today we'll start with the former.

The Fall of Sparta

La Chute de Sparte (The Fall of Sparta) (2018) is the film in question. It is a Canadian production, more specifically it's from Quebec, therefore it's French-speaking. One would call it a high-school movie but a witty and sensitive one. The first 5/6 of the movie have no gay theme at all, yet there is a last-minute twist that brings a gay theme front-and-center, so much so, that it is this gay scene that drives the film to its conclusion.

The film's director, Tristan Dubois, keeps a crisp pace and elicits good performances from the film's young actors.

This is the film's trailer (in French):

This is the film's trailer (in English):

Another film that I enjoyed, even more, is Denmark's submission to this year's Oscars, Den Skyldige (The Guilty) (2018). Not only it's a great film but it also has a great twist that really takes you by surprise and changes the meaning of what you have seen until then. In fact, I would place the film in my top 10 films with the biggest twists. (List to follow.)

The Guilty

When you read the film's description, it doesn't sound very appetizing. It's a day in the life of a police officer assigned alarm dispatch duty. There's practically only one actor, the amazing Jakob Cedergren, who acts against voices on the telephone. I won't say anything more so as not to spoil your enjoyment. Kudos to director Gustav Möller, who also wrote the brilliant screenplay along with Emil Nygaard Albertsen, to lead-actor Jakob Cedergren but also to the pitch-perfect voice actors for making this an unforgettable viewing experience.

This is the film's trailer:

We mentioned a lot of twists, haven't we? Well, here are my top ten films that contain the biggest twists. When we're talking about twists, we don't mean jump scares or wtf moments, we mean rug-pulls that recast everything that came before it. I have made this list from memory, as I was taking a shower so there may be omissions. Hopefully not. Here are the films, starting from #10:

10. Chinatown (1974) by Roman Polanski. The film's big twist demonstrates how deeply rooted is the corruption in the heart of this. The ending only verifies that the deck was stacked from the start.

9. Den Skyldige (The Guilty) (2018) by Gustav Möller. It's the movie we have just talked about.

8. The Others (2001) by Alejandro Amenabar. The film's great twist comes near the end. Such a delicious rug-pull!

7. The Usual Suspects (1995) by Bryan Singer. The coffee mug drops and the fog is lifted, while somebody walks out a free man.

6. Se7en (1995) by David Fincher. That ride to the desert! Morgan Freeman's face when he figures out what's happening!

5. The Crying Game (1992) by Neil Jordan. The big twist comes in the middle of the film - and it's a shocker! Then there's Boy George with his version of the title song:

4. The Sixth Sense (1999) by M. Night Shyamalan. This would probably be the most popular choice for the greatest twist in a movie. M. Night Shyamalan built his career on that twist and it was almost his downfall because he kept trying - and failing - to deliver better twists in his following movies.

3. Psycho (1960) by Alfred Hitchcock. It may feel dated now because it has been copied to death since - but it was still absolutely potent at the late-70s when I first saw the film as a teenager. The mother of all twists (pun intended).

2. Incendies (2010) by Denis Villeneuve. The most emotional of all twists, it brings into painfully sharp focus the devasting effects of a civil war.

1. Mulholland Dr. (2001) by David Lynch. The whole second part of the film is one giant twist, one that forces you to re-evaluate the nature of reality itself. In my humble opinion, the best film of the 21st century so far. This is one of my favorite scenes. It includes Llorando (Roy Orbison's Crying) as sung by Rebekah Del Rio:

Speaking of music, a few weeks ago I played songs that told interesting stories. Today, I will focus on melodies and harmonies. These were definitely not invented in our times, in fact, the best melodies were written centuries ago. Like Johann Sebastian Bach's delectable Air on G String:

... Or Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Op. 20: Scene from Act I from his ballet suite Swan Lake:

We've listened to one great German composer and then to one great Russian one. Italy, however, probably had the best opera. One of the best arias is Puccini's Un Bel Di Vedremo from the opera Madama Butterfly. In this version, Renata Tebaldi is performing:

Puccini's opera premiered in 1904. Hoagy Carmichael's Stardust was composed in 1927. Nat King Cole's version was recorded in 1956 and it's my favorite one:

Here's a great melody from Brazil. Manhã De Carnaval from the 1959 Oscar-winning movie, Orfeu Negro, performed by Elizete Cardoso:

Les Feuilles Mortes, Vladimir Cosma's melody tenderly enveloping the poem by Jacques Prévert, first appeared in 1945 and has been recorded by dozens of artists since then. Yves Montand recorded a great version in 1952 but he also recorded this version, live at the Olympia music hall in 1981:

Possibly the greatest pop melodies in the 1960s were written by The Beatles. One of the best was McCartney's Here There and Everywhere. McCartney recently revealed that John Lennon complimented his songwriting only once and it was for this song:

The Mamas & Papas' California Dreaming has both a beautiful melody and immaculate harmonies:

Buffalo Springfield was an excellent group in the 60s. Neil Young and Stephen Stills were among its members. Young's Expecting To Fly is the group at their best:

When the group disbanded, Young and Stills joined David Crosby (ex-Byrds) and Graham Nash (ex-Hollies) and formed the first vocal super-group, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Teach Your Children was one of Nash's best contributions to the band:

... While Suite: Judy Blue Eyes was written by Stills for his then-girlfriend, Judy Collins:

... Speaking of Judy Collins her version of Amazing Grace (a hymn that originated in the slave-ships that drove captured African people to America) was quite justly a big hit:

Joni Mitchell wrote the song Woodstock, which was also performed by her friends, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Both Sides Now, recorded by many, including Frank Sinatra, is one of her best songs. This is the original version from 1969:

She re-recorded Both Sides Now in 2000. It's a more mature, jazzier version:

Simon and Garfunkel's classic Bridge Over Troubled Water is the definition of a timeless song:

... And so is Carole King's You Got A Friend, especially James Taylor's perfect version:

Bread where one of the most successful groups in the early 1970s. If is one of their most sublime songs:

We couldn't leave out The Carpenters, could we? Yesterday Once More is one of the best samples of their output:

Now, let's continue with our statistics; the number of visits this week fell by 17.5%. The last story did OK, as well as the same older stories that do well lately.

As far as countries are concerned, Russia, Australia, Brazil, and Japan see their all-time rates rise, while France, Greece, Italy, and Cyprus experience minor losses. The rest of the major players keep their percentages stable.

Here are this week's Top 10 countries:

1. the United States

2. Russia

3. the United Kingdom

4. Australia

5. Canada

6. Germany

7. Greece

8. Brazil

9. France

10. Japan

Here are the other countries that graced us with their presence since our last statistics (alphabetically): Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar (Burma), the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Sint Maarten, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Happy to have you all!

And here's the all-time Top 10:

1. the United States = 32.6%

2. France = 17.3%

3. the United Kingdom = 11.4%

4. Greece = 8.1%

5. Russia = 2.7%

6. Germany = 1.9%

7. Canada = 1.9%

8. Italy = 0.92%

9. Australia = 0.86%

10. Cyprus = 0.83%

That's all for today, folks. Till the next one!