Not really a review of this movie but RIP Jonathan Demme all the same. 

There is a wonderful moment in Something Wild, Jonathan Demme’s freewheeling screwball road movie and just about my favourite movie of all time, in which our newly cut-loose yuppie hero, Charles Driggs (Jeff Daniels), in covert hot pursuit of the girl he loves (Melanie Griffith) and the ex-con tough (Ray Liotta) who stole her from him, installs himself in the parking lot of an all-black church in Virginia with a snack and a pair of binoculars, training a tired eye on his marks as they lounge about the pool at a motel across the road. Exhausted, Charlie takes a nap — only to be stirred from…

Yes, the soundtrack is great.

The scene where Charlie shows up at the diner and confronts Ray, though, made me so fucking angry. He shows up, and instead of saying, "hey Lulu, let's go, ditch this guy," he speaks to Ray. He says he's taking her back; he spars with Ray over Lulu as if Lulu isn't even there, as if she is literally an object he has to acquire. It's tiresome. Lulu tries hard to redeem the film a few minutes later, throwing Charlie out of the car by the railroad tracks, but of course it doesn't end there. It lets him off the hook. That act of independence is swallowed.

And there's a fight scene with the death…

Criterion Collection Spine #563

Even Manic Pixie Dream Girls can come with baggage.

"What are you doing? ... I'm setting you free ... Maybe I don't want to be free...."

Director Jonathan Demme's Something Wild proves we should not judge a book by its cover, because even the most well defined roles may not be what they appear on the surface. I had always heard this was one of the more easy breezy Criterion titles and to an extent it is, but it does have plenty to say on its themes of perceptions of who people are, contrasting relationships, and rebellion.

The story does not waste any time pairing Jeff Daniels' character Charles with Audrey played by Melanie Griffith. Charles…

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Criterion Collection - #563

It frustrates me when a film establishes itself with a strong premise; one that doesn’t necessarily allow itself to be obviously driven by the Hollywood standards, where things are happening but its pure essence is what remains rewarding. Jonathan Demme’s Something Wild began in such a way where we are introduced to a man with a flaw, which becomes the driving motivation and attraction of a peering stranger, and would fuels them to an adventure that slowly penetrates without plain deconstruction by external forces or inner obligation.

Charlie (Jeff Daniels) belongs in the world of business, one who is recently in a near-pinnacle place, with a recent promotion and a comfortable family. He…

Besides Kate Bush's ascension to higher ground and negotiations with supreme beings, this was the most exhilarating moment of the Eighties. 

There are only a handful of films in our lives which actually change us. Movies with a distinct line between before and after. Pictures which awaken something; make us feel as if we're different people the next day.

I'm not just talking about your favourite movies though...

I'm talking about that first cut where you needed stitches; I'm talking about the first time you saw a dead body; I'm talking about the first time a girl stuck her tongue in your mouth; I'm talking about the first time you listened to The Velvet Underground & Nico; I'm talking about your…

Gets off to a shaky start but feels like it improves more and more every minute, until by the end it's just about a masterpiece. The script brings out Jonathan Demme's best qualities, zeroing in on his lead performances with the focus and nuance they need to make this story work, while populating the film's world with an abundance of side characters, cameos and extras who all feel like the main characters of their own stories, some of them from less than a minute of screentime.

It's a movie about three characters that still has the vibrant feel of a huge ensemble piece. Demme incorporates a thesis statement about the basic goodness of humanity in practically every scene this way,…

I get the concept of this – exploring the dark undercurrent found in the stock quirky endlessly available girl who cracks a repressed guy out of his shell (and in turn the dark undercurrent of the yuppie mentality), I think this cares too little for Melanie Griffith's character. I suppose this could charitably be read as none of the characters truly caring about her (save for her mother), but there's no real follow-through on that.

She is defined entirely in relation to men. First in comparison Jeff Daniels and then with her violent and abusive husband, which gives her "baggage." When Daniels goes to "win her back" it is notable that he does not speak with her and only her…

Criterion Collection Spine #563

Even Manic Pixie Dream Girls can come with baggage.

"What are you doing? ... I'm setting you free ... Maybe I don't want to be free...."

Director Jonathan Demme's Something Wild proves we should not judge a book by its cover, because even the most well defined roles may not be what they appear on the surface. I had always heard this was one of the more easy breezy Criterion titles and to an extent it is, but it does have plenty to say on its themes of perceptions of who people are, contrasting relationships, and rebellion.

The story does not waste any time pairing Jeff Daniels' character Charles with Audrey played by Melanie Griffith. Charles…