My Life With Star Wars: A Personal Retrospective

Today is the day the new Star Wars comes out. Star Wars: Episode VII -The Force Awakens, the first Star Wars film in ten years. The original cast is back, and some fresh faces will emerge to continue the saga, courtesy of the master of lens flare, J.J. Abrams. It’s a pretty exciting time to be alive.

I have a close relationship with Star Wars. The first movie I ever remember seeing from beginning to end was 1983’s Return of the Jedi. It was recorded onto a VHS tape. On that tape was another film, a post-apocalyptic B-movie entitled City Limits, and I watched those movies all the time when I was four years old. But Return of the Jedi was the special flick on that tape. I watched it everyday. It jump started my imagination. It planted the seed of what my love of movies was to become over the next three decades.

And at that time, I had no idea that there were two other films in the “Return of the Jedi” series.

What can I say? I was a toddler.

Eventually, I got a little older, and when I was six years old, I learned how to navigate a VCR pretty good. I learned the differences between SP, LP, and SLP. I knew when it was set to SP, you could only record one movie on a tape. Set to LP, two movies. On SLP, you could record three movies. Well, why wouldn’t I want to take advantage of the SLP option? My Return of the Jedi tape was recorded on LP mode. Then I must’ve thought, “That’s stupid, you can put three movies on there.”

So I recorded over my Return of the Jedi tape with Problem Child, The ‘burbs, Parenthood and two episodes of The Simpsons. What a smart decision, right?

I had instant regret. I had to figure out a way to get Return of the Jedi back.

Then one day, about a year later, NBC had an airing of The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. I made it TOP PRIORITY to watch Empire and tape Jedi, and cut the commercials out while doing so. That worked out pretty good. I missed a few seconds here and there, but at least I had Jedi back on tape.

A couple months later, a big announcement on The Movie Channel proclaimed that they were showing Empire and Jedi back to back. The was a premium channel, which means no commercials. I got right on top of that. I taped them both. And for the next couple years, HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and The Movie Channel played The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi nonstop. Shortly after that started happening, I asked myself, “There’s three of these movies, why don’t they ever show the first one?” I hadn’t seen Star Wars listed once since they started airing Empire and Jedi. I guess the premium channels could only afford the rights to two thirds of the trilogy.

And so the hunt began. I had to see the first Star Wars. Somehow. Even if my mom had to buy me the tape from the store.

Shortly thereafter, the VCR broke. But I still wanted to get Star Wars on tape. I was even painfully teased one day when I was in Sears with my mom, and they were playing it in the electronics section. It was at the part where Darth Vader took Obi-Wan down, and his body disappeared. And I was like, “That’s why he’s a ghost in the other movies!” Keep in mind, I haven’t seen one moment of this film, not even random scenes on TV. The original Star Wars was an elusive beast for me at that age. A movie that existed for years that I had no access to. So I wanted to stay standing in Sears to watch the rest of the movie. I didn’t care that it wasn’t at the beginning. But my mom was in a hurry, she let me watch it up until the point before the Millennium Falcon landed on Yavin, right after Han and Luke blasted the TIE fighters. My mother turns to me, and says, “I’m sure it’s over.” Then I was dragged away. I don’t remember if I cried, or just whined, but I was upset. Shortly thereafter, my mother caved and bought the tape for me, which was a relief.

One problem, VCR was still busted. I had no way to watch it. Now this movie that I’ve been waiting desperately for is in my hands, and I can’t do anything except look at the cover art and feel the weight of the tape. I was finally able to watch it a week or so later when I had a sleepover at my cousin’s house. And it was a cathartic experience. Totally worth the wait.

However, I wasn’t able to watch it again until we got a new VCR, which wasn’t until Christmas of that year. It was 1992, and I had also got a VHS of Batman Returns. It was a good Christmas.

So now I had the full Star Wars Trilogy on tape, which was perhaps the first real accomplishment of my young life. And I enjoyed those movies off and on for the next four years...

Then comes 1997. The year of the Special Editions. Twenty years after the release of the first Star Wars, director George Lucas revamped his beloved trilogy to make way for a Prequel Trilogy with updated effects. Most people bitch about all the shit that was added in the Special Editions, but I didn’t care. This was my first chance to see Star Wars on the big screen. In a theater, the way it was meant to be seen.

And see it, I did. And it was fucking sweet.

I even bought the Special Edition Trilogy when it was released on VHS that September. There was an option of two different colored boxes. The gold box, and the silver box. I got the gold box. I should have got the silver box. The silver box was the WIDESCREEN edition. But I didn’t become an aspect ratio snob until a little over a year later. So I was cool with the gold box. I rarely watched the original versions after that. However, I did miss some of the original material they cut out of Return of the Jedi. Like the musical number in Jabba’s Palace being replaced by a different song and a bunch of CGI muppets, and of course the Ewok tribal song at the end being replaced by whatever the hell that music was. But at least THAT version of the Special Edition didn’t replace Anakin Skywalker’s ghost with Hayden Christensen.

You gotta draw the line somewhere.

That brings us to 1999, and I think we ALL know what happened that year. This was the year that broke most Star Wars “purists” with the release of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. I was a freshman in high school, and was educating myself on cinema, one classic at a time. The first AFI: 100 Years, 100 Movies list came out a year or two prior, and I was determined to see every movie on that list at that time. I went movie crazy as a teenager, absorbing every flick I could get my hands on. And in the middle of that constant movie marathon, The Phantom Menace was unleashed upon my world in a wave of hype and celebration. Star Wars was back! And fans couldn’t be happier.

Then the movie came out.

Let’s just say opinion was divided.
But I was not aware of the divisiveness before I saw it. And I went into that theater ready to experience a fresh Star Wars movie for the first time in my life on its opening weekend. I got my seat, the lights went down. The movie began...

I was blown away!

I was absolutely AMAZED by the film. It was one of the most incredible movies I’ve ever seen in my life. I felt changed after seeing that thing. The reason why is not easily explained. But the fact that the dialogue was stilted,  and the performances were wooden did nothing to taint my feelings for the picture. I was completely immersed in the splendor of the images, the music, the action. It took me to a place I’ve never been before which is all I ask of a Star Wars film. That’s all I ask of any movie. Take me to a place, and make me feel like I’m there. The Phantom Menace did that for me.

So I obsessed over that movie during the summer of ‘99. I collected trading cards, got action figures. I even collected the Pepsi cans with all the characters on them. Things got really weird that summer. I wrote out possible storylines for Episodes II and III. I started twirling a stick around like I was Darth Maul. And perhaps most embarrassing of all, I developed a ridiculous crush on Natalie Portman. It was a crazy time.

I didn’t even mention the stop motion animation me and my friend, Mike did with the action figures. That was my first attempt at filmmaking. We edited in camera, and some of our shorts came out pretty good. Especially the one where Qui Gon Jinn shoves his lightsaber up Obi-Wan’s ass.

What? You think we were going to recreate scenes from the actual movie? How boring would that have been?

But I also did more mature things like edit together montages of the original trilogy. I had to use two VCRs and layer the video of the movies over the music in the end credits. I didn’t have the soundtracks at that time. So that was my first experience with editing. Totally analogue. It was hard back in those days. Maybe it was more authentic, I don’t know. But it’s cleaner with the technology we have now.

So that summer was dominated by The Phantom Menace. However, I had only seen the movie once. There wasn’t enough in the budget to see it again at a first run theater. So I was looking forward to the day when it hit the dollar cinema. Unfortunately, it was months before it hit there, but on the day it did, I was first in line to see it again.

So I saw it again... and again.

And again and again and again and again.

Those were my weekends near the end of 1999. I even saw it twice a day on some occasions. All told, I probably saw The Phantom Menace twelve times in theaters.  More than any other film in my lifetime. And I doubt no movie will ever match that number, no matter how good it is.

Because I’ll be honest, The Phantom Menace isn’t that good.

As an adult male in his early thirties, I can comfortably admit that the storytelling aesthetic of The Phantom Menace-- or really any film in the Prequel Trilogy, is subpar and convoluted, with no characters who are identifiable on a human level. The plight of Anakin Skywalker is a journey that we observe, we don’t identify with Anakin for a second. Unlike Luke Skywalker, where we discover things as HE discovers them, thereby making his character more relatable, and the story more engaging.

But try explaining that to my fifteen year old self. The Phantom Menace was a benchmark film for me in more ways than one. Not only did it mark a grand return to the Star Wars franchise, it was also the last time I had a childlike fascination with a movie. It bridged the gap between the kind of movies I loved as a child, and the kind of movies I love as an adult. It’s a symbolic picture, and Jar Jar Binks doesn’t do anything to ruin that for me.

2002 brought us Episode II - Attack of the Clones. This came out a few weeks before I graduated high school. I played hooky to go see it. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one because I saw a bunch of kids from my school going to see the same showing I was. So I saw it, loved it. Then I took the hour long bus ride back home satisfied.

I come home, and my mom tells me my friend Cesar called about going to see the movie. And I was like, “I just saw the movie.” I call him back. I guess we made arrangements to see the movie today, but I must have forgot. So I was like, “Sure, I’ll see it again.”

So he picks me up, and we go back to the theater I just left to see Attack of the Clones a second time. Still loved it.
But I wasn’t as obsessed with Attack of the Clones this time around. I saw it two more times that summer, but I had other things going on. I had just started writing screenplays, I wrote two features that summer, another four throughout the fall, all of which remain unproduced. But it was good practice. And I have to admit, Minority Report came out that summer too, and I liked it more. Attack of the Clones, while full of visual excitement, is probably the weakest of the Star Wars films. But I still love it.

Just not as much as Minority Report.

That doesn’t mean that Attack of the Clones wasn’t another benchmark film to me. It preceded a big transition in my life. During the few months after I saw Episode II, I had to get used to being a high school graduate, and figure out what to do with my life.  I decided to spend the next few years writing screenplays, and making movies with my friends. From  2002 to 2005, I wrote about seventeen screenplays, filmed one short film, and one no-budget feature.

In 2004, the original trilogy came out on DVD. I made sure to get my hands on it, but I was more preoccupied with editing Inside Tito’s Trunk. But that didn’t stop me from taking some time off from that and absorbing the holy trilogy in all its WIDESCREEN glory. It was a simpler time.

Then came 2005. This was the year I got my first REAL taste of reality. The edit of Inside Tito’s Trunk was finalized, but nothing became of it. A few friends and I were going to spend most of that summer doing crew work on an independent Vegas production that led to some new professional relationships. The dream was still alive. However, it was struggling from the threat of disillusionment.

But who cares about that? None of that shit matters because a new Star Wars movie was coming out. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith was the film that was going to redeem the Prequel Trilogy from utter ridicule, and I was excited. I’ve been waiting for this closure since 1999. And when the day came for that cathartic moment, it was a bittersweet end.

I remember standing at a bus stop, waiting to be taken to the theater. I remember thinking to myself, “I’m turning 21 this year. I’m going to be a total adult. I need to start doing adult shit.” Then I considered the idea that Revenge of the Sith is going to be the last reflection of my innocence. I’ve been following these movies for as long as I can remember. When Revenge of the Sith is over, I’ll need to put away childish things, and be an adult for the first time in my life. It was a scary thought, but I knew I was right.

That didn’t keep me from loving the movie though. I thought it was a fitting end to the Prequel Trilogy. Could they have done it better? Who knows? All I know is that I had no problem with the Prequel Trilogy other than the flaws I sometimes find in retrospect. And even then, it doesn’t change my feelings for the films themselves.

You may say I’m looking at the Prequels through rose tinted glasses. That my nostalgia filter is stopping me from seeing these films as they actually are. And you may be right, but that’s the subjective nature of movies in action.

Since the release of Revenge of the Sith, I did grow up. I REALLY grew up. I began working for a living near the end of 2005. I didn’t write as much. There was a three year gap between screenplays. But I picked it up again, and took another shot at filmmaking in 2008, it was a failed endeavor, but I still did shorts from time to time, and I never did stop screenwriting. That determination has worked out very well. I started getting paid to work on scripts in 2010, and I’m still getting work today.

In 2012, I left everything behind in Vegas to be with my girlfriend, Lindsey in Arkansas. She is now my wife, and we have a beautiful two year old daughter. For the last three years, I’ve reinvented myself as a writer. But at this point, it’s still a side gig. I’m still working for a living, paycheck to paycheck, experiencing a true middle American struggle. It’s been humbling and transformative. It’s the greatest time of my life. I wouldn’t have it any other way. But there’s always room for progress.

And now the week has come for the release of a new Star Wars movie. Will this mark another in a long line of personal benchmarks symbolized by the previous films of this franchise? I don’t see any reason why not.

However, due to timing and budgeting, I won’t be seeing the new Star Wars movie this weekend. Maybe next week. Or maybe not until it’s on video. The jury’s still out on that one. I haven’t seen a movie at a cineplex since Monsters University in 2013. Parenthood changes things, especially when you tape it over Return of the Jedi.

But this won’t be the first time I’ve been kept from watching a Star Wars movie. All I have to do is remind myself of the time in 1992, when I was pulled out of Sears while the final act of A New Hope was just beginning. If I can harness that patience and attribute it to The Force Awakens, I’ll likely have the same cathartic experience I had way back in my childhood when the time came to finally watch Star Wars for the first time.

NICK MURPHY'S OBLIGATORY TOP TEN LIST: 2013

This puppy has nothing to do with what you're about to read!

Oh, 2013, what a strange year you've been.  My life has undergone some vast changes throughout the course of the last 365 days, and with those changes, it's only natural for my interests and priorities to transform as well.  So I am breaking tradition!  This is not a list of my Top Ten favorite movies of the year, but a list of my Top Ten favorite pieces of entertainment.  Because as time goes on, I've noticed that I've responded more to alternate forms of media outside of movies.  And while I still love movies, my passion for films of the present pales in comparison to my passion for films of the past.  I believe it's a generational thing.  The kids may love the shit that's out nowadays, but I'm virtually indifferent to it.  The spectacle that movies offer has peaked in the last decade, and you can only up the ante so much until there's no more ante to up.  The bar has been set impossibly high for future filmmakers by the likes of James Cameron.  Peter Jackson, and most recently, Alfonso Cuaron.  So until the masses stop feeding money to overblown epics that fail to match what came before it, then maybe storytelling and rich characterization will reign supreme after all is said and done.

So I'm not doing my top ten movies this year.  However, a list must be made to sum up how I've grown creatively, and quite possibly how I've grown personally as well.  Because entertainment is simply life enhancement.  It's one of the seasonings that gives life its flavor.  We can learn from it, be inspired by it.  It helps people cope with difficult times in life.  It's also an experience we can share, that brings us together.  Even something silly, or poorly made can make a profound impact on our daily routines based on the conversations it generates among our peers.  And it comes from numerous sources: the screen, the radio, the internet, the page.  So it's just plain wrong to simply focus on movies when there is so much more out there to absorb.

In other words; I didn't see enough movies this year to warrant a Top Ten list, and I'm much too busy being a father and an obsessive screenwriter to ever catch up.  So here it is:



NICK MURPHY'S TOP TEN PIECES OF ENTERTAINMENT: 2013

10) Arcade Fire - Reflektor (music album)

If you haven't noticed by now, I am enamored with pop culture.  It sinks into my pores like a moisturizing face wash.  And I do not give enough credit to music for intensifying my fascination.  Arcade Fire is one of the major influences when it comes to my creative identity.  I can visualize an entire movie scenario in my head just by opening my ears to an Arcade Fire tune.  Their music is transportive to me in a way most other bands are not.  Their sound is epic on a grand scale.  I can do the most menial task with no effort.  However, with Arcade Fire in the background, the task takes on a completely different, and more important meaning.  Arcade Fire's latest album continues their creative mission to break out of musical norms and achieve something greater.  While not their best effort (that distinction goes to Neon Bible), Reflektor still maintains the group's legendary command of hypnotic melodies, and ominous lyrics.  That talent reaches an atmospheric level with one of their most entrancing songs, Afterlife.  Every track on this album is good, but Afterlife is the crown jewel.  Definitely the finest song on Reflektor, and quite possibly the best song I've heard in 2013.

9) Louis C.K. - Oh My God (stand up special)

Whenever I watch a Louis C.K. comedy performance, I'm always disappointed when it's over because I never want it to end.  What can be said about Louie that hasn't been said already?  Clearly, he's picking up where George Carlin left off, and clearly, has changed the way stand up is presented to the masses.  Many people have called him the poor man's Dane Cook-- which is not true.  At this point in the game, Louis C.K. has become more popular than Dane Cook ever was simply because of his contributions to the craft.  And he seems to get better every year because he's constantly coming up with new material, always trying to improve on what he's done.  A lot of comedians try this approach and fail miserably, but Louis C.K. has yet to falter with any of his recent endeavors.  'Oh My God' works because it sustains the Louis C.K.  brand, and Louis C.K. is never afraid to say what we're all thinking on a litany of subjects including: Facebook videos of other people's kids, peanut allergies, slavery, and getting old.  But the crowning achievement of this special is the most insightful and tasteful rape joke ever told.  Proving that anything can be funny with the right context, and the correct combination of words.

8) Beach House - Wishes (music video)

During a year when Robin Thicke, Justin Timberlake, Macklemore, and Katy Perry terrorized the radio with an endless, repetitive stream of seemingly automated hits, I somehow discovered indie outfit, Beach House with their song, Myth.  It was a haunting tune that nearly left tears in my eyes upon hearing it-- much like Arcade Fire's Afterlife.  In a YouTube fit of curiousity, I searched for any music videos Beach House may have had.  This was the first result-- and the best.  Directed by one of my personal idols, Eric Wareheim, Wishes is a beautifully bizarre and surreal visual experience.  I cannot accurately describe what is going on here.  The whole thing looks as if it takes place on another planet during half time of an important sporting event.  Some kind of jousting/lacrosse/football hybrid.  The crowd goes from blank stared zombies to overly enthusiastic animals almost without provocation.  The whole thing is pure concentrated strangeness, shot through a glossy lens flared filter-- almost as if David Lynch collaborated with JJ Abrams on it.  Rest assured, Eric Warehiem has a distinct vision as a director, and the music of Beach House punctuates that odd vision with unparalleled majesty.  This man needs to make feature movies imbued with this style-- at least that's one my hopes for the future of cinema.

7) The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made (book by Greg Sestero & Tom Bissel)

I have never been as obsessed with a movie as much as I was with The Room.  Since 2009, my fascination with this legendarily bad movie reached some incredible heights.  I even went as far as to dub over Batman's dialogue in The Dark Knight with Tommy Wiseau's lines from The Room on more than one occasion.  Yes, I am a fan, and as a fan, I was morbidly curious as to how some of The Room's nonsensical narrative turns came to be.  Now I shall wonder no more.  All the mysteries of The Room are revealed in Greg Sestero's tell all memoir about his experiences working on The Room as Mark, the main character's best friend.  However, if this was just a mere recounting of what it was like on the set of this inconsistent and insane movie, that would be good enough.  But the book goes WAY deeper than that by exploring Sestero's unlikely friendship with Tommy Wiseau, and analyzing just why Wiseau is so mysterious and secretive about his history while at the same time chronicling how Wiseau conceived of his six million dollar vanity project.  It's more layered than anything I expected to read from the guy who played Mark.  There is so much subtext, such rich characterization!  The book is so well put together that I can wholly imagine Hollywood adapting it for the screen in the next couple years with someone like Bradley Cooper as Greg Sestero and Christoph Waltz as Tommy Wiseau.  The Disaster Artist is an incredible read, that's always playing psychologist with us as the pages attempt to figure out Tommy's motivations behind his grand ambition.  Above all, this book is full of inspiration to go after your dreams, even if you're horrible at what you want to accomplish.

6) Bo Burnham - what.  (Stand up special)

As I grow older, I'm constantly coping with the fact that I'm an unsuccessful entertainer.  That all my dreams of being a revered filmmaker, a celebrated actor, and a widely influential screenwriter are not going to come true.  A tough truth to face, for sure.  So the anger that stems from that fact always rears its ugly head when I discover someone my age or younger who has attained the success I so greatly desire.  It's a negative characteristic that I desperately want to absolve, but it's going to take a lot of time to keep that cynicism at bay.  Now many folks have demonized Bo Burnham because he is young and successful and got that notoriety through his YouTube videos.  However, the thing about Bo Burnham is that he's a fucking genius!  The proof lies within this one man show, which is almost impossibly brilliant.  At 22 (seven years younger than I) Burnham has jammed packed his comedic style with pantomime, songs, poems, satirical metaphors, and flights of whimsy.  The mixture of which makes this show a mesmerizing experience.  It's been a big year for Bo.  Apart from this, he also had 'Zach Stone is Gonna Be Famous' on MTV (which was canceled before I even knew it existed).  Then he was one of the lucky screenwriters whose script 'Gay Kid and Fat Chick' ended up on this year's prestigious Black List.  I may be a cynical asshole who's envious of the success of others, but I know talent when I see it, and Bo Burnham has oodles of it.  Also, being the artist he is, Bo bypassed the whole "Pay to download my show" attitude and released the special for free on YouTube and Netflix.  Perhaps as a thank you to his fans for viewing his videos and making him the success he is today.  I'm expecting to hear a lot more about Bo in the coming years.  So keep your eyes peeled.

5) The World's End (film)

The only movie on this list, and the best movie I saw in 2013.  Edgar Wright is quite possibly the most skilled comedy director of this, or any generation.  Here, he wraps up his "Cornetto Trilogy" of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost comedies with literally apocolyptic fervor.  And in the midst of this body snatching action packed epic, there's a more personal story of facing life head on and coming to terms with events of the past that have greatly affected the present.  This is a well thought out spectacle with not one wasted moment.  All the humor is set up beautifully with perfectly timed payoffs, the characters are dense with a complete history behind them, and the performances are pristine with Pegg and Frost delivering some of the best work of their careers.  It's sad that a flick which establishes an ideal example of filmmaking craft will undoubtedly go unnoticed by Academy voters during awards season.  However, the fact remains that The World's End, while maybe not my favorite of Wright's thematic trilogy, still serves up a level of talent most aspiring directors can only dream to attain.

4) Smodcast #259: The Walrus and the Carpenter/Tusk (podcast/screenplay by Kevin Smith)

As I walked home from work earlier this summer, I listened passively to one of many S.I.R. podcasts featuring writer/director Kevin Smith.  With each step I took, this particular episode of Smodcast transformed into a real time example of the creative process.  It was surreal how this back and forth between Smith and co-host Scott Mosier went from chuckle inducing yammering to a serious brainstorming for what has become Smith's latest movie, Tusk.  No one tells the story better than Smith himself, but this podcast and the screenplay that resulted is a true example of how inspiration breeds creativity.  There was just something about this weird concept about a man being surgically altered to become a walrus that aroused Smith's sense of wonder.  I'm not sure what we're in store for with the actual movie of this idea, but if the screenplay is any indicator, it's going to be one hell of a twisted ride that could quite possibly make it onto my Top Ten list next year.

3) The Wolf of Wall Street (shooting script by Terence Winter)

It's the last day of 2013, and I must sadly admit that I have yet to see Martin Scorsese's latest opus due to financial and scheduling conflicts.  Instead, I did the next best thing, I read the screenplay!  And I must say, what a tremendous piece of writing!  Probably the best script I've read in a decade.  I don't often read a screenplay before seeing the movie, but as a screenwriter myself, it's something I'm going to do with as many flicks possible from here on in.  At this point, I can only speculate as to how Winter's 137 page script turned into a 179 minute movie, but it's almost certainly due to the comedic building on what are already fantastic dialogue exchanges.  This script has everything I look for in a movie: interesting characters, sharp dialogue, and a layered story that feels like so much more than it actually is.  Because after all, movies are just movies, but when they are written THIS well, a simple movie has the power to change lives.

2) Bob's Burgers (episodes 32-53)

My history with Bob's Burgers is an interesting one.  I began watching the show back in early 2011 when it premiered, then for some reason, in the middle of the second season, I stopped.  I didn't watch it again for almost a year and a half.  Not until I renewed my Netfilx subscription a couple months ago.  I always thought it was an entertaining show, and I only watched it on Netfilx because I wanted to run something for atmosphere while doing other things around the house.  My wife watched a bit of an episode and thought it was very "meh".  Nothing special about it at all.  Then over the next couple weeks, something magical happened.  The show cast a spell in our household in a way no other piece of media ever had before.  My wife became entranced by the antics of the Belcher kids and the random things they would spout out in numerous throwaway gags.  Needless to say, my interest in the program was reignited with a powerful vengeance.  We proceeded to watch every episode of Bob's Burgers repeatedly to the point where we have almost memorized the entire series word for word.  And the crop of episodes that have aired this year is a prime example of a great television show at the peak of its prowess.  Upon subsequent viewings of any episode, I discover new things, hidden jokes, and impressive character development which catapults the series to a level most live action sitcoms will never reach.  In the midst of this strange obsession, I found myself asking, "Why is this show so fantastic?  What sets it apart from virtually anything you can find on TV now?" The answer is simple.  Apart from the fact that the show is balls to the wall hilarious, the truth is that the entire concept is totally relatable.  Bob's Burgers is about an average family on the struggle who stick together no matter what the circumstances.  The goal of the series is refreshingly direct; keep the restaurant running.  And the obstacles Bob and his family face to keep their doors open are uproarious and somewhat suspenseful.  It helps that the characters are brilliantly written, so when the show departs from its initial goal, we're still on board because we like these people.  For a show that revolves around toilet humor, it's incomprehensibly deep, and that depth makes every episode uplifting and inspiring.  So if you haven't watched it, do so immediately.  It may take a few episodes to adjust to its endearing style, but once it grabs hold, it will never let go.  That's what makes Bob's Burgers the best animated series since South Park.

1) Breaking Bad (season five - part two)

I'll tell you the truth, I wanted Walt to get away with it.  I wanted Jesse to forgive Walt and team up with him for one last cook before going off in the sunset.  These are just romanticized fantasies of how I imagined it would play out.  But no matter how it went down, the final episodes of Breaking Bad felt like a landmark moment in American pop culture, akin to the finale of something like the Harry Potter series.  This show started with subdued acclaim and a small fanbase.  Then after a few years, Breaking Bad became heralded as the greatest televised drama of all time and gained legions of loyal followers.  You can parallel that with the rise of Walter White himself.  He started out as a dying chemistry teacher, who cooks meth out of both curiosity and desperation.  Cooking then becomes his all encompassing obsession as Walt transforms into a powerful drug lord who takes out all of his competition and earns more money than 100 families could ever need to survive... Then it all comes crashing down in the final eight episodes.  And what a way to wrap everything up!  Over the course of these episodes, all is revealed to everyone in the dark, and Walter must face every bad deed he's committed throughout the series.  It's equal parts crowd pleasing, and true to the story it tells.  There is NOTHING I've seen in the past few years that matches the unbearable tension Breaking Bad delivers in every single episode.  How the hell did the writers pull this off!?  There is no easy explanation.  All I know is that the lasting impact of this show has changed the way I look at storytelling, and televised drama in general.  Breaking Bad is SO good that it's ruined other shows for me.  Imagine a TV show so amazing that you almost wish you never watched it because you'll never watch anything better.  That's an accurate description of my relationship with Breaking Bad.  Watching the final flourishes unfold was the televised highlight of the year!  And when all is said and done, Walter got the recognition he deserved, and he left this world with all his work completed.  It's the type of cathartic closure that's rare in television and even more rare in real life.  Breaking Bad is a true dramatic treasure in a class by itself, and I'm glad the world has realized it.


And that's it! Happy 2014, everybody! See ya next year!

Nick Murphy's Obligatory Top 10 Movie List: 2012

"What's this!?" You may ask. "A 2012 Top Ten List posted at the end of August 2013!?"

Well... I've had a busy year. It's been forever since I've been able to actually sit online and whip up any kind of a blog. I'm currently working about 50-60 hours a week while at the same time balancing a blissful married life, and a baby girl on the way. So I've been swamped! And once my wife gives birth, I'll be booked solid for the next two decades. What a transitional time!.. Now, to conduct my yearly tradition. Of course, I'm usually more prompt with these end of year Top 10 lists. I can't promise I'll be prompt with my 2013 post in the next few months-- especially since I've hardly seen any movies from 2013 so far. In any case, I do enjoy posting them when I get a chance.

The 2012 crop of movies wasn't the best. Although, I might be saying that because I'm getting old and cynical. However, if I'm being honest, I feel that 2012 was not a banner year for film. I say that because it was hard to find ten movies to put on this list. So few of them stood out above the rest. I didn't see too many BAD movies, but still, most of them were average, or below.

However, I did manage to find ten movies that impressed me to the point of greatness. And even though we're two thirds of the way through 2013, it's better late than never to talk about...

NICK MURPHY'S TOP TEN FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2012

10) Looper

The first half of Looper is pretty much a perfect movie. It has a fresh, innovative take on the concept of time travel. And thanks to an awesome makeup job, Joseph Gordon-Levitt channels a young Bruce Willis flawlessly. Now I'll admit, the movie loses a fair amount of momentum during the whole farmhouse subplot involving the telekinetic little kid, and that's the only reason it's not higher on the list. Other than that, this flick just exudes coolness. As long as you turn your brain off to some of those time travel paradoxes, you're guaranteed to have a good time.

9) The Master

Paul Thomas Anderson has an excellent track record. To prove my point, I'll confess that The Master is his weakest film, and it still cracked my top ten! This film is all mood, and cinematic artistry. While PT Anderson is a great storyteller, The Master seems to have made the choice to NOT have a story-- at least not in the traditional sense of the word. But my god, is it beautiful! And the performances are truly something to behold. Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman play off each other like the seasoned pros that they are. And while this film isn't the kick in the ass to Scientology people wanted it to be, it's still a highly interesting, and polarizing movie experience. I loved it, I hated it, I was completely fascinated by it.

8) The Avengers

 Initially, I thought The Avengers was doomed to fail. Mainly because it was built up SO much. I mean, there were FIVE Marvel movies released prior to The Avengers, four of which only exist to build anticipation to The Avengers. Honestly, watch Thor again, and tell me that it isn't just a two hour Avengers teaser . So the hype has been getting bigger for almost five years, and miraculously, The Avengers lived up to its hype. In fact, it's probably the best example of the modern Hollywood popcorn move. It's very much a MOVIE movie, meaning that The Avengers isn't a life changing experience, but it definitely ups the ante when it comes to summer action blockbusters. It's inventive, visually masterful, and at times very funny.

7) Killer Joe

Here's a refreshing film. A film about family. A touching film involving murder, blackmail, prostitution, and chicken leg fellatio. What a gloriously fucked up movie this was! And it completely changed my opinion of Matthew McConaughey as an actor. As a cool and collected killer/cop/pederast, he displays a degree of menace and intensity that you would never find in a lame rom-com like Fool's Gold. It is a throughly enjoyable performance. After Killer Joe, you'll never look at KFC, or a can of pumpkin pie filling the same way again.

6) Cloud Atlas

Tired of the same bullshit hitting the cineplex week in and week out? Want to find something different? Look no further than Cloud Atlas. For almost three hours, the viewer is presented with a challenging multi-character, multi-storyline saga that spans over thousands of years. It offers A-list actors like Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, and Hugh Grant the chance to take on a bunch of different roles, and are completely unrecognizable at times. The Wachowski siblings are back in top form here after the cinematic atrocity that was Speed Racer, thanks in no small part to their collaboration with director Tom Twyker. These three filmmakers joined together to give David Mitchell's nearly unfilmmable novel to life. And while it's sometimes a mess trying to juggle multiple plotlines and characters, the fact remains that Cloud Atlas is a one of a kind experience that carries with it a wave of power that few films can obtain.

5) Life of Pi

Here's a confession; I had pretty much given up on this movie after the first hour. But in the end, I decided to stick with it due to its multiple Oscar nominations, and to at least say I saw it. Then I reach the film's final half hour, and my ambivalent opinion completely turned around. The resolution was such an emotional roller coaster, that I had tears streaming down my face as the credits rolled. For a concept that's essentially Cast Away meets Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi is a visually stunning, tearjerking tale of hope, loss, and survival that could quite possibly make you "believe in God."

4) The Dark Knight Rises

How do you follow a rip roaring masterpiece like The Dark Knight? That film set the bar so high, that it cannot be surpassed. So I can respect Christopher Nolan for not even attempting to match the greatness of The Dark Knight, and instead opted for an entirely different approach to the final chapter of his Batman trilogy. While the realism that made The Dark Knight so powerful was compromised in favor of spectacle this time around, The Dark Knight Rises is still a wonderfully complex epic. And of course Bane is a fine villain, but had Heath Leger lived, who knows what kind of final installment we would've gotten. However, what we DID get was a memorable and action packed send off for The Dark Knight. Maybe not the one we deserved, but it was certainly the one we needed.

3) Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie

Now I know quite a few people, but there is only one person I know that shares my appreciation for the comedic stylings of Tim Hiedecker and Eric Wareheim. And when I heard about Billion Dollar Movie, I was consumed with an anticipation very few others had. And the finished product is every bit as ridiculous as I could have imagined. Perhaps I could have gone without that whole "shrim" bath sequence. But the fact that Tim and Eric are willing to go that far with their humor shows a fearlessness that few comedy minds can muster. And it is flourishes like that that makes Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie my favorite comedy of 2012.

2) Shame

Okay, this is technically a cheat. Shame is a 2011 release. However, I wasn't able to see it until late January 2012, and I didn't update my 2011 list to include it. Though, if I had, Shame would still be in the number 2 spot. This uncompromising examination of one man's sex addiction is a simple story with complex characters. Michael Fassbender proves to be one of the finest actors working today with a performance of such depth and intensity that you don't have to be told what he's thinking, you can read it in his face. Shame is the first film I've encountered that treats sex addiction the same way Requiem For A Dream treated heroin abuse. Some moments are hard to take in, but the effects stay with you forever.

And the best film of 2012 is...

1) Django Unchained

Whenever Quentin Tarantino releases a picture, it always shoots to the top of my lists. Maybe I'm biased in my loyalty, but Tarantino knows how to put on a show. And he never disappoints! Django Unchained is a prime example of a filmmaking master at the top of his game. Tarantino takes slavery, one of the darkest chapters in American history, and paints a gloriously violent revenge fantasy that transcends the average movie going experience into something magical. Now I'm going to make an announcement that I may regret in the future. However, right now, I believe it's true, and I've felt this way for quite a few months. I believe that Django Unchained is the last TRULY GREAT movie I will ever see in my lifetime. I'm sure I'll see plenty of flicks in the future that will achieve some levels of greatness. Though I highly doubt there will ever be another film that fills me with the childlike giddiness that Django Unchained offers. Every element at play here: the memorable characters, the fantastic dialogue, the batshit crazy final act all add up to a full blooded American classic unlike anything released since... well, Inglourious Basterds. And I think a lot of that has to do with Christoph Waltz. Tarantino's discovery of this multi-lingual thespian reinvigorated QT's career, and has resulted in two Oscars for the gifted actor. And the way he carries the film for its first two hours, guiding Jamie Foxx's Django through his transformation from victimized slave to vengeful bounty hunter, is simply Tarantino cinema at its finest. Sometimes when I'm bored, or need a mood boost, I take a few minutes to watch the film's best moments. Like Leonardo DiCaprio's "Old Ben" monologue, or the Candie Land shootout. Scenes like that remind me of why I love movies in the first place. So there you have it; Django Unchained: my favorite film of 2012-- and more than likely, the movie of the decade as well.


That's it for today, gang! Check back in October 2014 for my Top Ten Movies of 2013!

A Word On Screenwriting

I just spent the last three hours working on a pivotal scene in my latest screenplay, 'The Humorous Ones' about four small town, amateur comedians. Within the scene in question, I explored the science behind creating comedy and did so in an educational and insightful way, using the history of stand up comedy as a backdrop. It was in this scene that I expressed every feeling I had about writing this project and professed a powerful commentary on the lives of the average person and the daily struggle most people live with. It was a thoughtful and rather strong stretch of dialogue between two characters that worked to propel the story forward.

This scene is almost seven pages long and I love it. However, it's all long winded speeches about life and the world and a talky exploration of the Genesis of comedy.

So I cut five pages out of it.

Now it's a lean, mean almost two page scene that doesn't meander with pretentious babble and instead moves the script forward with a semblance of an actual story.

The lesson here is, even if you love what you've written on a single page, you must take into account the big picture. How does each scene serve your story? If it doesn't pay off for something that happens later, then it's probably best to cut it. While there are exceptions to the rule (screenplays by Tarantino and the Coen Brothers come to mind) that is usually done by accomplished writers. I don't consider myself accomplished yet. So when that time comes, maybe I'll play with a little pretension...

Here is the original scene:

And here it is in its current version:

Inside Tito's Memes!

As I embark on the doomed journey to make 'Inside Tito's Trunk' a sleeper viral hit, I decided to hit meme generators and take some of the most popular ones and put references to 'Inside Tito's Trunk' in the captions. A pointless exercise to be sure since I've posted a few to some meme forums like Reddit and MemeCrunch and managed to get the views of 'Inside Tito's Trunk' up from 245 to a whopping 256. Yeah, it's hard out there for a 95 minute internet video. Most people barely have the attention span for a 30 second video let alone a video that's 190 times the size of that length. But admittedly, these were fun to make and if you've actually seen the movie, they might be chuckle worthy to you.

INSIDE TITO'S MEMES!

Annoying Facebook Girl

 Bill O'Reilly

Chubby Bubbles Girl

 Dwight Schrute Knows Best

Successful Black Man

Futurama Fry

First World Problems

 Jimmy McMillan

Boromir

 Butthurt Dweller

 Rebecca Black

 Stoner Dog

 The Most Interesting Man In The World

Philosoraptor

Hipster Cat

 "Y U NO" guy

Success Kid 

PTSD Clarinet Kid

 Lousy Pun Coon

 Xizbit Yo Dawg

 Condescending Wonka

Then I also tried my hand at creating my own meme for Tito himself.

Enraged Tito

That's all for now. Happy weekend!