Sometimes, when someone dies young, the general public over-emphasizes their greatness.  It is a natural human reaction born out of some semblance of respect for the dead.  However, the reality is often far more unglamorous than the memory.

I mention this specifically in the case of Ayrton Senna because of the huge marketing campaign for the documentary that was recently released about the life and times of the Brazilian Formula 1 driver.  The film is called “Senna”… and it is an intriguing one with many recommendable qualities.  I would tell anyone with an interest in competitive sports to watch it.

However!!!  The documentary makes the same mistake that many in the media over the years have made — It deifies Ayrton Senna to such an extent that it proclaims him as the undisputed greatest driver of all time.  Something which is far from the truth.  In reality, he wasn’t even the best driver of his era.  That honor belongs to the unglamorous and still very much alive Frenchman, Alain Prost.

The facts are irrefutable… When faced with the below statistics, even Senna’s mother would have to put her hands up and say, “Yeah, that’s hard to argue with.”

They raced together, head to head, 141 times.  In order to be fair to both drivers, we will only consider head to head races (which benefits Senna, because Prost was great before anyone had even heard of Senna).

Generally, Senna was faster in qualifying (where he gained his legendary status), winning 60 pole positions to Prost’s 23.  This, of course, is due to two reasons — Senna was a reckless risk taker… and more often than not, he had the better car.

However, as soon as the race began… everything changed.

Despite Senna’s qualifying speed, Prost devoured him in terms of fastest race laps — 33 to 19.

Of the 141  races, Prost finished 111 times and Senna 101.  This again was primarily due to Senna’s proclivity to crash into walls and other drivers with reckless actions behind the wheel.

Prost finished in the points 102 times.  Senna 88.

Prost had 88 podium finishes.  Senna 73.

Prost had 41 wins.  Senna 37.

World Championships… Prost 4.  Senna 3.  Although, Prost should have won the 1988 season over Senna, but Formula 1 was fiddling around with that ludicrous points system where only certain races counted.  If all races counted, Prost would have won easily, making the actual World Championship count 5-2 to Prost.  Oh, and Prost came within half a point of winning in 1984, when the F1 committee ludicrously only awarded half points at the Monaco Grand Prix.  This cost Prost his 6th title.  So the actual count is Prost 6 and Senna 2.

When the lights went out and the chequered flag waved, Prost dominated Senna in every category that mattered.  Even the edge that Senna had in Poles gives more credence to the idea that Prost was actually better at racing the greatest cars around the greatest circuits.

Listen, Senna was a fabulous driver… He probably ranks behind only Prost, Fangio and Schumacher on the All Time Greatest Driver List.

He was never the best… only the most obsessed… only the most charismatic… only the most reckless… only the most exciting… only the most dirty… only the most jealous… only the most paranoid… only the most over-praised.

Now he is the most nostalgic.  And that is why people confuse him for the best of all time.

The facts prove otherwise.

Alain Prost, “The Professor”, was superior in every way that mattered on the track.  His only flaw is that he isn’t charismatic enough or dead enough to have a gushing documentary made about him.  I would still love to see one made though.

Prost was a winner.
Senna was a celebrity.

Let’s be honest, no one really cares about the new “Batman”, “Spider-Man” “Men in Black, “Hobbit” and “Avengers” movies that will be hitting screens in 2012.  They are simply filler entertainment that will plop comfortably alongside the plethora of meaningless turds that populate the cinematic toilet bowl each year.  Even those who squeal with excitement are merely doing so because they think they should.  The chances are that these so called blockbusters with inevitably disappoint even the most ardent fan-boys.  They will fade into obscurity by the time the next batch of blockbusters get mass produced in 2013.

No… The real gems of 2012 are the ones that most people aren’t aware of yet.  The Oscar caliber films that will grace movie theaters this year are far more likely to be directed by legends like Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Terrence Malick and Baz Luhrmann.  The McG’s and the Michael Bay’s of this world need not apply.

My list of most anticipated films include…

The Master
Haywire
The Grey
The Hunger Games
The Gangster Squad
Skyfall
The Great Gatsby
170 Hz
Cloud Atlas
Django Unchained
Untitled Terrence Malick 2012

The next batch of movies that also look particularly interesting to me…

Norwegian Wood
Man on a Ledge
The Raven
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Playing the Field
Silent House
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Butter
Casa de mi Padre
The Raid
The Deep Blue Sea
Bullet to the Head
Movie 43
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Lock-Out
The Dictator
Hysteria
Moonrise Kingdom
Snow White and the Huntsman
The Woman in the Fifth
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
The Bourne Legacy
Total Recall
Dog Fight
7500
Savages
Untitled “Taken” Sequel
Gravity
47 Ronin
Les Misérables
Hunter Killer
Simon Killer
The Grandmasters
Cogan’s Trade
Inside Llewyn Davis

Take the time to search for some of those films.  You might find something to get truly excited about!  Not all of them will be great.  Heck a few of them might end up being complete duds.  However, the chances are that all of them will be far more intriguing than the same old schlock you will usually be bombarded with.

Stop being misled by $50 million advertising campaigns and start digging beneath the surface for originality!

Just as there isn’t anyone more dull than a fan-boy who only watches films with roman numerals behind the title… There is also nothing more rewarding than championing a film that most people wouldn’t have heard of were it not for your recommendation.

In movies… Size Does Not Matter!

Just published today!!! The new 2011 list is available in the menu at the top of the page (or click here). Find out who is included and who tops this years list. Is your favorite there? Did you find someone new? Did your suggestions from last year make it? Who did we miss? Enjoy and PLEASE SHARE!!!

One of the most electric action-adventure films of the past decade, “Source Code” unites the rare combination of intelligence, originality and excitement to form one of the must-see movies of 2011.  It is riveting from the opening few seconds until the haunting and perfectly pitched conclusion.  It becomes an instant classic of its genre and will, without a shadow of doubt, end up in my 2011 Top Ten List.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays a soldier who wakes up on a train inside another man’s body.  He sits opposite a beautiful woman, played by Michelle Monaghan, and surrounded by seemingly typical Chicago-bound morning commuters.  8 minutes later, the train explodes and he re-awakens inside a capsule of some sort.  He suspects a military training simulation of some kind.

It turns out that he is part of a new program called “Source Code” — a method that allows the military to occupy the final few minutes of a deceased individual’s life.  It is compared in the film to the afterglow of a dimmed bulb.  Inside that afterglow, he is able to experience and investigate the timeline — which allows a full analysis of what, in this case, is a terrorist attack.  He gets to re-live the 8 minutes as many times as necessary.  His job is to find the bomb and identify the bomber before a larger scale attack occurs on downtown Chicago.

The flare and originality of the screenplay is the key to the film’s success.  It never feels repetitive.  It doesn’t ever feel implausible, despite the fantastical scientific element.  “Source Code” delves into the complex nature of fate versus free will.  It somehow finds time for a romantic thread and it rises above the level of mindless thriller with ease as it reaches for something loftier than mere entertainment.  I cannot recommend a film of this kind any more.  It ranks up there with the greats like,  “Die Hard”, “Bourne Identity” & “Run Lola Run”.

Lyrics

I’ve been up three days.
Adderall and Red Bull. This call is a mistake.
There’s something strong in this water bottle.
He got a new chick, but that’s a little barbie doll.
I feel so pathetic, but you still haven’t heard it all.

Fuck that new girl that you like so bad.
She’s not crazy like me, I bet you like that.
I said fuck that new girl that’s been in your bed.
And when you’re in her I know I’m in your head.

I’m just saying you could do better.
Always turned you out every time we were together.
Once you had the best, boy you came to better.
Baby I’m the best boy you can’t do better.

Ran into your homeboys.
There all fuckin’ idiots.
You’re not even my boyfriend.
But they’re trippin’ cuz I’m in the club.
Yeah that’s right I’m dancin’.
And something cool is in my cup.
I’ma send a sexy picture.
To remind you what your givin’ up.

Fuck that new girl that you like so bad.
She’s not crazy like me I bet you like that.
A said fuck that new girl that’s been in your bed.
And when your in her I know I’m in your head.

I mean I’m just sayin’ you could do better.
Always turned you out every time we were together.
Once you had the best boy you can’t do better.
Baby I’m the best, so you can’t do better.

The first single is “Beat of My Drum”.  The album, entitled “Cinderella’s Eyes”, is out very soon.

The global financial crisis of past few years is far beyond most people’s comprehension.  It is so endlessly complex and so vast in scope that wrapping your brain around it takes more time and research than the average Joe can muster.  Unless you dedicate yourself to studying the subject, you are left with snippets on CNN, NBC, BBC, SKY and other “entertainment channels” to give you a very vague picture of what, why, when, where and how this all took place.

Along comes a documentary like “Inside Job” — a simply brilliant piece of cinematic journalism that manages to compress the information into a tight package that comes in at under two hours.  The film doesn’t dumb down the situation for viewers — it merely clarifies the major players and the moves that those players made which led to the collapse of the economy.  It holds to account the people who are responsible for the recession and points out the glaring fact that they are still in charge today despite pocketing hundreds of billions for their illegal activities.

I loved the precision and clarity of “Inside Job”.  It is one of the finest documentaries I have ever seen — superbly quantifying the problem for those of us who are not as clued in as we would like to be.  Matt Damon narrates as the film bounces from interview to interview and chart to chart.  As the closing credits hit the screen, for the first time since the September 2008 debacle, I felt like I had formed a healthy understanding of the astonishing mess that Wall Street got us all into.

“Inside Job” is a must watch for anyone who lives in the modern world.  It is an important film that will leave you simultaneously baffled and angry.  It will also leave you depressed that even the Obama administration seems unable or unwilling to enforce the financial reform that will prevent this crisis from ever occurring again.  Deregulation got us into this mess.  Billions are spent every year by the wealthiest lobbyists in America to ensure that deregulation is not tampered with.  Why do you think that is?

A well educated Harvard employee is asked a question late in the film — He knows what he wants to say, but cannot because he understands that the answer is ludicrous.  He knows what he cannot say, because it would violate his entire argument.  So he is left with only one response… “Ummmm”.

Sometimes, people just hope the questions go away before they get a chance to cash out.

Martin Scorsese is rightly considered one of the elite filmmakers of all time.  The vast majority of his films are, even by the strictest standards, great ones.  So it comes as a slight shock to say that “Shutter Island” falls far short of that mark.  It is beautifully shot and brilliantly acted — but it doesn’t have the soul or originality of a Scorsese classic.

Leonardo DiCaprio teams up with the director for the umpteenth time in recent years – this time playing a detective sent to investigate the disappearance of an inmate at a large mental institution.  Ben Kingsley plays the warden / head psychiatrist who is oddly mysterious and unhelpful.  Mark Ruffalo and Michelle Williams round out a nice cast in supporting roles.

The sets, the cinematography, the style and tone… all sublime.  It is a visual treat.  Technically, this foray into genre filmmaking is a flawless effort.  I don’t really fault Scorsese’s skill here.  How could anyone ever fault him for that?  Rather, “Shutter Island” misses the mark because the story is simply not that original or interesting.  I feel as though I have seen this story before.  I saw the twists coming very early in the movie.

It is a cold and damp film that will not lend itself to repeat viewings.  The morose tone and dreary characters can’t possibly generate much empathy in an audience.  “Shutter Island” is a skillful exercise and nothing more.  It is depressing and far too long — a bad combination.  Were it any other director, I may not be as forgiving with my rating… but Scorsese has earned the benefit of the doubt.