I came across this in an article in The New Yorker about procrastination:
...people were asked to pick one movie to watch that night and one to watch
at a later date. Not surprisingly, for the movie they wanted to watch
immediately, people tended to pick lowbrow comedies and blockbusters,
but when asked what movie they wanted to watch later they were more
likely to pick serious, important films. The problem, of course, is that
when the time comes to watch the serious movie, another frothy one will
often seem more appealing. This is why Netflix queues are filled with
movies that never get watched: our responsible selves put “Hotel Rwanda”
and “The Seventh Seal” in our queue, but when the time comes we end up
in front of a rerun of “The Hangover.
I have to admit this is sort of true for me as well - although I wouldn't choose The Hangover or a movie I had seen recently. I think the issue with Netflix is that there are too many choices at your fingertips and so rather than procrastination it is a frustration in having to choose from so many more serious films. It becomes easier to just give in and watch something that isn't filling in a serious art-house movie gap. Or more accurately it is instead filling in a lighter movie gap. So rather than watch a serious drama I might prefer a 1970's comedy that I missed along the way.
But I have seen enough movies to know that it doesn't necessarily take more effort to watch a Bergman or a Godard film than it does to watch a blockbuster comedy. The brain doesn't turn off when a movie is on.
Still interesting....
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Zion National Park Paintings
I've just been to Zion National Park and it's a beautiful place. Rather than provide a journal or photos I will present some paintings that others have done of Zion. It's an inspirational place and has plenty of scenery to offer painters. [I have placed the link underneath the artist name. For some reason blogger is not letting me change the color of the link].
Shaddy Safadi
Link
Audra Ziegel
Link
Nina Hagen
Link
Link
Link
Nina Hagen
Link
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
They Might Be Giants
Scene from They Might Be Giants
If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes, or Don Quixote dreamers or mental patient movies or romantic comedies or early 70's cinema this is the movie for you. See it. It's good fun. It's tough to find on DVD for under $100.00 but it is available streaming on Netflix.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Fathers and Sons
Just coincidentally three recent new movies I saw deal with fathers and sons.
Footnote - This Israeli film, by Joseph Cedar, is about a father and son who both are professors of Talmudic research. The film opens with a long close-up shot of the father smoldering with what appears resentment or jealousy while he sits listening to his son give a speech after having won an award. But, alas, the father gets his turn in the spotlight when he is told he will be awarded 'the Israeli Prize'. Finally, after all the hard work in an obscure corner of an obscure field - which has yielded him no more than a footnote in someone else's work - he is getting recognized. Or is he? It's fun to watch the father try and undermine the son while the son tries to bolster his father's reputation. The film use of mordant humor rather than slapstick helps give the film a realistic tone. Because of that it also stops short of being the crowd pleasing film some may want it to be. I'm fine with that. Good film.
Jiro Dreams of Sushi - This documentary by David Gelb is more about 85 year-old sushi master Jiro Ono than about his son. But given that his son is in line to replace his father some day it becomes a film in some ways about obligation and tradition. The film has very little tension or conflict. Instead it comes to praise and to make us hungry. It's mainly about $300 a night sushi served in a inauspicious small restaurant under an office building in Tokyo. What keeps the film interesting is the daily process we see as they try to get the best fish and then prepare and serve the best sushi in the world. Jiro Ono smiles a lot, gives sage advice and creates sushi with a skill that only a master could.
The Kid with a Bike - The father's absence is actually the key to this film. A lowlife dad leaves his 11 year-old son to the orphanage because he claims he can't take care of him. The boy is drawn to a woman who becomes a mother to him on the weekends. Like most of the Dardenne Brother's films this one has a central character that is driven by a focused primal instinct that keeps him alive but makes him dangerous to himself. The film, if anything, presents us with the Dardenne's absolute mastery of the medium. At times subtle and often brutal and realistic the film achieves the kind of grace that very few filmmakers have.
Footnote - This Israeli film, by Joseph Cedar, is about a father and son who both are professors of Talmudic research. The film opens with a long close-up shot of the father smoldering with what appears resentment or jealousy while he sits listening to his son give a speech after having won an award. But, alas, the father gets his turn in the spotlight when he is told he will be awarded 'the Israeli Prize'. Finally, after all the hard work in an obscure corner of an obscure field - which has yielded him no more than a footnote in someone else's work - he is getting recognized. Or is he? It's fun to watch the father try and undermine the son while the son tries to bolster his father's reputation. The film use of mordant humor rather than slapstick helps give the film a realistic tone. Because of that it also stops short of being the crowd pleasing film some may want it to be. I'm fine with that. Good film.Jiro Dreams of Sushi - This documentary by David Gelb is more about 85 year-old sushi master Jiro Ono than about his son. But given that his son is in line to replace his father some day it becomes a film in some ways about obligation and tradition. The film has very little tension or conflict. Instead it comes to praise and to make us hungry. It's mainly about $300 a night sushi served in a inauspicious small restaurant under an office building in Tokyo. What keeps the film interesting is the daily process we see as they try to get the best fish and then prepare and serve the best sushi in the world. Jiro Ono smiles a lot, gives sage advice and creates sushi with a skill that only a master could.
The Kid with a Bike - The father's absence is actually the key to this film. A lowlife dad leaves his 11 year-old son to the orphanage because he claims he can't take care of him. The boy is drawn to a woman who becomes a mother to him on the weekends. Like most of the Dardenne Brother's films this one has a central character that is driven by a focused primal instinct that keeps him alive but makes him dangerous to himself. The film, if anything, presents us with the Dardenne's absolute mastery of the medium. At times subtle and often brutal and realistic the film achieves the kind of grace that very few filmmakers have.
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
The Turin Horse poem
The wind won't stop blowing.
That noise goes right through you!
Dressing dad once more.
Wish he would stop leering at me.
Take a shot of plum brandy
to ease the boredom.
Sit by the window and watch
the leaves and dust blow in the storm.
Time to get some water from the well.
Hard to walk in this wind with two full pales.
We’re eating potatoes again,
No need for a fork though.
Hhhhhott! Hot! Hot!
These days are long and slow
Think I'll clean the horse barn... again.
Too bad the horse won’t eat,
He’s stubborn after dad beat him.
Here comes the nutty neighbor
with all his conspiracy theories.
Wish he would just take the brandy and leave.
Later, some gypsies come and unsettle us.
Crazy gypsies want to take me away.
They steal our water and give me a religious book.
More wind, more potatoes, more brandy,
but no more water!
We need to leave this place. Right now.
Time to go. Pack our trunks.
I pull the carriage, and the horse!
Wait... there is nothing for us over the hill.
Dumb idea. Let’s return to our stone hut
The wind won’t stop,
the horse won’t eat,
we have no water,
the fire won’t start.
It’s dark....
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Pina
Primal.Instinctual.Intellectual.Rigorous.Sexual.Balanced.Original.Wild.
Beautiful.Feral.Electrifying.Creative.Athletic.Transformational.
Inventive.Progressive.Revolutionary.Eloquent.Exhilarating.
Magnificent.Fearless.Frank.Intense.Moving.Radical.
Mathematical.Harrowing.Rhythmic.Graceful.
Surreal.Emotional.Beguiling.Truthful.
Life.Love.Endings.Beginnings.
Mathematical.Harrowing.Rhythmic.Graceful.
Surreal.Emotional.Beguiling.Truthful.
Life.Love.Endings.Beginnings.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Frampton Criterion
Criterion has announced that they will release a two disc Blu-ray and DVD of some of the works of Hollis Frampton. Very cool. Some of his work can be seen over at Ubu-Web.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
The Promise
The Promise
This Channel 4 mini-series, directed by Peter Kosminsky, is a compelling work but with regards to the creation of Israel and the present day situations it is a tad one-sided. Or at least questionable in the sense that it is probably a bit too Pro-British and pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli [though not anti-Semitic] without giving us an even-handed treatment of the history or the issues.
I'll admit I know very little about the history of the birth of Israel and the settlement of the Jews after World War II by the British in Israel. I too know little about the 1948 Palestinian exodus. And only until recently did I learn about the King David Hotel bombing or the Irgun or the Haganah. So I can't speak for the film's historical accuracy or the politics of the era.
However, I know movies and character development and I know when a movie works to present one side of the story at the expense of the other. The Promise does that and, therefore, is nowhere near as powerful as it could be.
The mini-series deals with a young British woman named Erin (Claire Foy) who goes to Israel in the present day to see off her Jewish friend who has joined the military. While there she stays with her friend's family [who live in a wealthy area of Tel Aviv] and each day reads her grandfather's diary, which he wrote while he was a British Sergeant in the the post-war phase [1948] of the British Mandate of Palestine. Each day we see, as the film effortlessly flashes back in time, that he was right in the thick of things as the British soldiers attempted to aid the Jewish settlment and create Israel.
As Erin continues to read the diary she becomes more and more emotionally involved in her grandfather's history, which becomes fraught with daily dangers. Then she finds a key that her grandfather has stashed in the diary. Once she realizes the key belongs to a Palestinian family she becomes determined to find the family and return the key. But doing so is close to impossible and most certainly unwise when it becomes evident she will need to travel into places tourists don't travel; including Hebron and Gaza.
The story of her grandfather, named Leonard or Len (Christian Cooke), parallels her own adventure albeit with more bloodshed and intrigue with regards to the battles [both militarily and emotionally] that he fights with the Zionist groups that want the British and the Palestinians out of Israel. Both sections of the film deal with betrayals, violence and death.
I became interested in the series after I heard an interview on a Chicago radio station in which Tom Luddy said this series would never get play in the United States. So, curious as to why the heck not, I ordered it from Amazon UK. He's right. The reason is because most of the Jewish characters are presented as racist, suspect and superficial. Even the one Jewish character we are supposed to associate with seems a bit off; at one point he picks up a gun and shoots back at some Palestinians much to the chagrin of the main character. On the other hand, the Palestianian characters are all presented as a friendly people who are victims of the Zionist machinations. No doubt, many were victims - no one deserves to be run out of their homes. But at a point the Arab's own military push back should have been acknowledged.
There are two scenes in particular that really stand out and may not be credible. One is a scene in which Len's buddies get shot point blank by Zionist nationalists while a bunch of other Jews sit around a cafe completely ignoring the violence and sipping their coffee. Really? Another scene in present day Hebron presents us with young Jewish children throwing rocks at Palestinian girls while soldiers stand around impartial to the whole thing. Both these scenes feel heavy-handed.
The mini-series is undoubtedly effective at eliciting emotion. It is well acted and directed and at almost 6 hours it accumulates its dramatic effect and becomes a very engaging experience. But - besides the character portrayals - the other film's weaknesses include push-button conflicts that are telegraphed and obvious. Only rarely does the film achieve the kind of balance needed to make for a more heartfelt [and real] experience.
The Promise is recommended and anyone with an open mind should be able to look past the narrative actions and portrayals to see the larger picture - which is mainly about a young woman trying to fulfill 'the promise' of her grandfather toward a family he felt close to. But, if anything, the series is primarily an entry point to a larger conversation about Israeli's history, the role of the British in 1948 and the present day Israeli / Palestinian conflict.
This Channel 4 mini-series, directed by Peter Kosminsky, is a compelling work but with regards to the creation of Israel and the present day situations it is a tad one-sided. Or at least questionable in the sense that it is probably a bit too Pro-British and pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli [though not anti-Semitic] without giving us an even-handed treatment of the history or the issues.
I'll admit I know very little about the history of the birth of Israel and the settlement of the Jews after World War II by the British in Israel. I too know little about the 1948 Palestinian exodus. And only until recently did I learn about the King David Hotel bombing or the Irgun or the Haganah. So I can't speak for the film's historical accuracy or the politics of the era.
However, I know movies and character development and I know when a movie works to present one side of the story at the expense of the other. The Promise does that and, therefore, is nowhere near as powerful as it could be.
The mini-series deals with a young British woman named Erin (Claire Foy) who goes to Israel in the present day to see off her Jewish friend who has joined the military. While there she stays with her friend's family [who live in a wealthy area of Tel Aviv] and each day reads her grandfather's diary, which he wrote while he was a British Sergeant in the the post-war phase [1948] of the British Mandate of Palestine. Each day we see, as the film effortlessly flashes back in time, that he was right in the thick of things as the British soldiers attempted to aid the Jewish settlment and create Israel.
As Erin continues to read the diary she becomes more and more emotionally involved in her grandfather's history, which becomes fraught with daily dangers. Then she finds a key that her grandfather has stashed in the diary. Once she realizes the key belongs to a Palestinian family she becomes determined to find the family and return the key. But doing so is close to impossible and most certainly unwise when it becomes evident she will need to travel into places tourists don't travel; including Hebron and Gaza.
The story of her grandfather, named Leonard or Len (Christian Cooke), parallels her own adventure albeit with more bloodshed and intrigue with regards to the battles [both militarily and emotionally] that he fights with the Zionist groups that want the British and the Palestinians out of Israel. Both sections of the film deal with betrayals, violence and death.
I became interested in the series after I heard an interview on a Chicago radio station in which Tom Luddy said this series would never get play in the United States. So, curious as to why the heck not, I ordered it from Amazon UK. He's right. The reason is because most of the Jewish characters are presented as racist, suspect and superficial. Even the one Jewish character we are supposed to associate with seems a bit off; at one point he picks up a gun and shoots back at some Palestinians much to the chagrin of the main character. On the other hand, the Palestianian characters are all presented as a friendly people who are victims of the Zionist machinations. No doubt, many were victims - no one deserves to be run out of their homes. But at a point the Arab's own military push back should have been acknowledged.
There are two scenes in particular that really stand out and may not be credible. One is a scene in which Len's buddies get shot point blank by Zionist nationalists while a bunch of other Jews sit around a cafe completely ignoring the violence and sipping their coffee. Really? Another scene in present day Hebron presents us with young Jewish children throwing rocks at Palestinian girls while soldiers stand around impartial to the whole thing. Both these scenes feel heavy-handed.
The mini-series is undoubtedly effective at eliciting emotion. It is well acted and directed and at almost 6 hours it accumulates its dramatic effect and becomes a very engaging experience. But - besides the character portrayals - the other film's weaknesses include push-button conflicts that are telegraphed and obvious. Only rarely does the film achieve the kind of balance needed to make for a more heartfelt [and real] experience.
The Promise is recommended and anyone with an open mind should be able to look past the narrative actions and portrayals to see the larger picture - which is mainly about a young woman trying to fulfill 'the promise' of her grandfather toward a family he felt close to. But, if anything, the series is primarily an entry point to a larger conversation about Israeli's history, the role of the British in 1948 and the present day Israeli / Palestinian conflict.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Best Movies 2011
1. Poetry - devastating
2. A Separation - heartbreaking
3. Melancholia - exhilarating
4. A Dangerous Method - intellectual
5. Win Win - nuanced
6. The Princess of Montpensier - impressive
7. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall... - theological
8. Seena - dynamic
9. Le quattro volte - authentic
10. Sucker Punch - audacious
The next eleven.
Beginners
The Descendents
Drive
Hanna
Le Havre
Margaret
Meek's Cutoff
Midnight in Paris
Pina
Source Code
Tree of Life
A few of others I liked:
Bill Cunningham: New York
Buck
The Conspirators
Martha Marcy Mae Marlene
Mysteries of Lisbon
Nostalgia For The Light
Of Gods and Men
Point Blank
Project Nim
Sarah's Key
Source Code
The Strange Case of Angelica
X-Men First Class
A bunch of movies I have yet to see from 2011...
Updated: 9/21/12
Friday, December 23, 2011
Older Film Discoveries 2011
Here are 10 great films I finally caught up with or discovered in 2011.
Pandora and The Flying Dutchman [Albert Lewin, 1951] - I'd always avoided this film because of the title and because it seemed to have that psychological drama soap thing I dislike about a lot of 50's cinema. But when I realized is was shot by Jack Cardiff I realized it was time to see it. On Blu-ray it looks delicious.
By The Bluest of Seas [Boris Barnet, 1936] & The House of Trubnaya Square [Boris Barnet, 1928 - Soviet films are always so darn serious but Barnet's films are a real treat for film lovers; he makes high art delightful and fun while still maintaining the social themes that were required by the USSR.
Revenge of a Kabuki Actor - aka An Actor's Revenge [Kon Ichikawa, 1963] - Ichikawa is one of the great Japanese filmmakers yet his films remain a tad out of reach [read cold] because his themes and his filmic structures don't try to entertain us. This film is self reflexsive and deep - can I use that word?
The African Queen [John Huston, 1951] - Yes, I know this falls under the 'I can't believe you had never seen' this category. Years ago I was busy cutting my teeth on Fassbinder and Fellini and I passed Huston by. Glad I am finally catching up with his work.
Il momento della verità - aka The Moment of Truth [Francesco Rosi, 1965] - I reviewed this a couple months back. It's one of Rosi's rawest yet truest films. Brutal, beautiful and full of life and death. It is not easily forgotten.
The Man Who Could Work Miracles [Lothar Mendes, 1936] - This [sort of] falls into the quota quickly category for which the Brits excelled in the 1930's. It's solid fun from start to finish as a man finds he has enough power to run the world - until he tries.
The Phantom of Liberty [Luis Buñuel,1974] - Yes, this terrific and crazy Buñuel film still remained on my 'to see' list. I'm like the cat who leaves a little food in the bowl because I don't want there to be a last bite. I can't bear to have no more new Buñuel films to discover.
The Spy in Black [Michael Powell, 1939] - The first of the Powell / Pressburger films is a wonderful picture that had me guessing all the way to the end. Most remarkable, perhaps, is that the lead character is German. This during a time of war.
Love and Pain and The Whole Damn Thing [Alan J Pakula, 1973] - How do you make awkward endearing? This film is full of cringe-worthy scenes and performances but by the end you realize how refreshing it is to see a movie that is a lot closer to who we are rather than who we think we are when we see perfect movie stars in relationships.
The African Queen [John Huston, 1951] - Yes, I know this falls under the 'I can't believe you had never seen' this category. Years ago I was busy cutting my teeth on Fassbinder and Fellini and I passed Huston by. Glad I am finally catching up with his work.
The Phantom of Liberty [Luis Buñuel,1974] - Yes, this terrific and crazy Buñuel film still remained on my 'to see' list. I'm like the cat who leaves a little food in the bowl because I don't want there to be a last bite. I can't bear to have no more new Buñuel films to discover.
The Spy in Black [Michael Powell, 1939] - The first of the Powell / Pressburger films is a wonderful picture that had me guessing all the way to the end. Most remarkable, perhaps, is that the lead character is German. This during a time of war.
Love and Pain and The Whole Damn Thing [Alan J Pakula, 1973] - How do you make awkward endearing? This film is full of cringe-worthy scenes and performances but by the end you realize how refreshing it is to see a movie that is a lot closer to who we are rather than who we think we are when we see perfect movie stars in relationships.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Man Deer and Drinking
This news item caught my eye:
But the comments were especially humorous:
He tried to buck the system. Instead, he'll have to cough up some doe.
He's gonna have to hoof it for awhile with that DUI sentence.
That's going to cost him a few bucks
It's nothing to fawn over.
Oh deer
Cops: Drunk tried driving hurt deer to NY hospital
But the comments were especially humorous:
He tried to buck the system. Instead, he'll have to cough up some doe.
He's gonna have to hoof it for awhile with that DUI sentence.
That's going to cost him a few bucks
It's nothing to fawn over.
Oh deer
Monday, December 19, 2011
IndieWire vs Film Comment polls
It's year-end, which means movie polls!
Here's the Film Comment list of 50 best films of the year. The poll included 120 film journalists and critics.
Here's the IndieWire list of 150 [or so] best films of the year. The poll included 162 film critics.
Here's the Village Voice List polls 95 critics.
Of note:
Drive
#4 on IW
#22 on FC
#9 on VV
Shame
#11 on IW
#21 on FC
#19 on VV
The Artist
#13 on IW
#27 on FC
#17 on VV
Martha Marcy Mae Marlene
#15 on IW
#35 on FC
#13 on VV
A Dangerous Method
#16 on IW
# 5 on FC
#12 on VV
We Need To Talk About Kevin
#18 on IW
NOT ON FC top 50
#32 on VV
Poetry
#21on IW
#10 on FC
#18 on VV
Le Havre
#30 on IW
#12 on FC
#34 on VV
Why the differences?
Here's the Film Comment list of 50 best films of the year. The poll included 120 film journalists and critics.
Here's the IndieWire list of 150 [or so] best films of the year. The poll included 162 film critics.
Here's the Village Voice List polls 95 critics.
Of note:
Drive
#4 on IW
#22 on FC
#9 on VV
Shame
#11 on IW
#21 on FC
#19 on VV
The Artist
#13 on IW
#27 on FC
#17 on VV
Martha Marcy Mae Marlene
#15 on IW
#35 on FC
#13 on VV
A Dangerous Method
#16 on IW
# 5 on FC
#12 on VV
We Need To Talk About Kevin
#18 on IW
NOT ON FC top 50
#32 on VV
Poetry
#21on IW
#10 on FC
#18 on VV
Le Havre
#30 on IW
#12 on FC
#34 on VV
Why the differences?
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Hugo Okay...
However, when Scorsese gets out of his element his films tend to be rather flat and very safe. Much like Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Age of Innocence and Kundun Hugo hits all the narrative points it needs to to be a successful film but it doesn't soar when it should.
That is not to say it is an usuccessful film. I love that it highlights the career of Georges Méliès. And it's cool that the two kids sneak into Safety Last*, and that it has an melancholic automaton that holds the secret that spurs the narrative forward. But despite all of this - as well as the fine 3D quality - the film really feels like it is by-the-numbers filmmaking. It is also a tad slow for the type of film that it is. The film's pace is slack when it should be charging forward. Much like The Artist too - the other homage to film - the story is fairly simplistic. And, yes, it is based on a kids book but watching it, it didn't feel like a kids film. It instead felt like a kids film made for adults.
Look, it's not like my opinion matters much anyway; Hugo has a whopping 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is definitely worth seeing. But I wish Scorsese could have tweaked it a bit to make it more exciting and more memorable.
* Note that Safety Last came out in 1923 yet Hugo takes place in 1930. I can only guess they were sneaking into a revival screening of a silent film.
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
Denby vs Rudin
I'm on the side of common sense with regards to the David Denby, Scott Rudin ,The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo farce. Which is to say I mainly side with Denby.
If a producer / distributor screens a movie for critics with the hope of winning a critic's award then they are, essentially, asking for a review from all the critics who will then write on their ballot their list of the year's best films. So you should not then be upset when a critic writes an actual review of the film.
Sure, Denby should keep his word however the 'embargo' for expressing an opinion ended the very minute the film was screened for the critics.
Rudin has to know this. But he wants to control the media because he knows that some day he may release a lousy movie that could get killed at the box office if it receives early negative reviews. I am guessing, too, he is upset that the film did not win the New York Critics Circle Award for best film and his only recourse is to call Denby 'immoral' for writing what is, in fact, a positive review.
Puleeze....
If a producer / distributor screens a movie for critics with the hope of winning a critic's award then they are, essentially, asking for a review from all the critics who will then write on their ballot their list of the year's best films. So you should not then be upset when a critic writes an actual review of the film.
Sure, Denby should keep his word however the 'embargo' for expressing an opinion ended the very minute the film was screened for the critics.
Rudin has to know this. But he wants to control the media because he knows that some day he may release a lousy movie that could get killed at the box office if it receives early negative reviews. I am guessing, too, he is upset that the film did not win the New York Critics Circle Award for best film and his only recourse is to call Denby 'immoral' for writing what is, in fact, a positive review.
Puleeze....
Friday, December 02, 2011
The Artist
There are many things I found lacking about the film... suffice it to say if it were 60 minutes long it might work better. I'll also add that there is one sequence that is brilliant to the point that if the film followed that particular narrative twist it would have put the film into a fun gonzo orbit somewhere in the realm of Being John Malkovich. But, alas, what we have is a fairly entertaining and unique film with some nice - albeit predictable - moments. But nothing more.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Combined Movie Titles
Just for fun...
A Room With a View to a Kill - While staying in a nice hotel in Florence James Bond learns that he has been given the wrong room. He trades his room with a repressed Englishwoman who's father, it turns out, is at the center of a crime ring that is rigging horse races.
Blow Out of Africa - A movie sound effects technician working on a movie in Kenya unwittingly captures audio evidence of a famous woman author from Denmark who may or may not have something to do with a cocaine related murder.
Man Bites Dogma - A serial killer and his friend turn the camera on themselves and try to philosophize on how they can get into heaven after committing a bunch of atrocious murders.
Swing Time Bandits - A boy dancer enters a historical, fantasy, dream world where he encounters dwarfs and a fleet-footed dance teacher who helps him escape once he is pursued by evil characters.
A Room With a View to a Kill - While staying in a nice hotel in Florence James Bond learns that he has been given the wrong room. He trades his room with a repressed Englishwoman who's father, it turns out, is at the center of a crime ring that is rigging horse races.
Blow Out of Africa - A movie sound effects technician working on a movie in Kenya unwittingly captures audio evidence of a famous woman author from Denmark who may or may not have something to do with a cocaine related murder.
Man Bites Dogma - A serial killer and his friend turn the camera on themselves and try to philosophize on how they can get into heaven after committing a bunch of atrocious murders.
Swing Time Bandits - A boy dancer enters a historical, fantasy, dream world where he encounters dwarfs and a fleet-footed dance teacher who helps him escape once he is pursued by evil characters.
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Displaced Desire
Two posters forty years apart that have other things on their mind other than doorbells and safe cracking.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Martha Marcy May...
It's tough to say 'Martha Marcy May Marlene' quickly. It is also difficult to remember the title if you are hard pressed at a cocktail party. But the appeal of the movie resides in a bit of confusion - so the title is apt.
Elizabeth Olsen gives a terrific performance as a young women who gets swept into a Charlie Manson-like cult [lead by a wiry, appealing and at times scary John Hawkes] but manages to escape and spend a few days trying to find her bearings with her uptight sister - who is the only family she has.
Besides the performances and quality direction [by first time director Sean Durkin], the film's form and editing is what makes it all work. It skips effortlessly back and forth in time from the first day Martha [Marcy May] enters the cult in the Catskill mountains of New York to her paranoid days living with her sister and [even more uptight] husband who are on vacation at a lake in Connecticut.
The film continually presents us psychological conflicts and interestingly tense situations that seem as though they will boil over but which, actually, smoothly role along giving the film an effectively slow creep.
Oh, yeah, and Elizabeth Olsen is really rather darn attractive. [At least to this reviewer]. She is in every scene and we often see many close-ups of her expressive eyes. She has a natural beauty that - in some ways - manages to distract from the plot; Especially when the tastefully done but obligatory indie-film nude scenes come along.
Nonetheless, all for authenticity!
If there is one weakness in the film it is the cult that Martha belongs to. The film asks us to believe in the character yet it wants us to believe she would belong to a cult that seems to have no reason for being other than to please the cult leader's sexual desires. If the audience is asked to believe in a full-fledged character you have to also make that which they believe in believable. I other words, the screenwriter should show us why Martha and the other women would want to belong to the cult. Especially because each of them have to endure the pain and humiliation of rape soon after they join. If the only reward is gardening and occasionally sneaking into rich people's homes then the motivation invites incredulity.
*SPOILER OF SORTS*
Some are confused or annoyed at the film's ending. But, if you think about it, it would be completely unsatisfactory for the film to end any other way. They would have had to tack on another 30 minutes at the end of the film and [most likely] find a way to kill the cult leader - which would make the movie a completely different one and, to my mind, an unrealistic one.
To those who don't get the movie's ending; It's called form following content; Martha is confused and paranoid and her own state-of-mind is precarious. Therefore, the movie puts us in that place as well. By the end, we don't what the heck is going to happen - and neither does she.
Besides the performances and quality direction [by first time director Sean Durkin], the film's form and editing is what makes it all work. It skips effortlessly back and forth in time from the first day Martha [Marcy May] enters the cult in the Catskill mountains of New York to her paranoid days living with her sister and [even more uptight] husband who are on vacation at a lake in Connecticut.
The film continually presents us psychological conflicts and interestingly tense situations that seem as though they will boil over but which, actually, smoothly role along giving the film an effectively slow creep.
Oh, yeah, and Elizabeth Olsen is really rather darn attractive. [At least to this reviewer]. She is in every scene and we often see many close-ups of her expressive eyes. She has a natural beauty that - in some ways - manages to distract from the plot; Especially when the tastefully done but obligatory indie-film nude scenes come along.
Nonetheless, all for authenticity!
If there is one weakness in the film it is the cult that Martha belongs to. The film asks us to believe in the character yet it wants us to believe she would belong to a cult that seems to have no reason for being other than to please the cult leader's sexual desires. If the audience is asked to believe in a full-fledged character you have to also make that which they believe in believable. I other words, the screenwriter should show us why Martha and the other women would want to belong to the cult. Especially because each of them have to endure the pain and humiliation of rape soon after they join. If the only reward is gardening and occasionally sneaking into rich people's homes then the motivation invites incredulity.
*SPOILER OF SORTS*
Some are confused or annoyed at the film's ending. But, if you think about it, it would be completely unsatisfactory for the film to end any other way. They would have had to tack on another 30 minutes at the end of the film and [most likely] find a way to kill the cult leader - which would make the movie a completely different one and, to my mind, an unrealistic one.
To those who don't get the movie's ending; It's called form following content; Martha is confused and paranoid and her own state-of-mind is precarious. Therefore, the movie puts us in that place as well. By the end, we don't what the heck is going to happen - and neither does she.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Netflix still pretty good
I know there were a lot of people who were upset when NetFlix switched up their model, splitting between streaming and DVD units thus raising the monthy subscription around 60%. [They lost 800,000 customers last quarter] However, I notice a lot of comments about how Netflix streaming content sucks. Let me just say if someone cannot find good movies to stream on NetFlix then they are either completely ignorant of what is actually offered or they only want brand new mainstream crap.
If they want the crap then let them toss their money over to Blockbuster and RedBox. Or let them pay $3.99 per movie at Amazon or iTunes rather than the still pretty inexpensive $7.99 a month offer.
But, seriously, people need to expand their horizon's beyond the latest Hollywood hits. Viewers willing to do that will find it very easy to build an extremely long queue from what NetFlix has to offer. I find great old movies, foreign language films and hidden gems all the time. True, they will lose some of the Criterion titles to Hulu-Plus soon but it's not like the average viewer cares about Criterion titles anyway so it is no loss for the mainstream Mike's and Mary's out there. For the rest of us - who appreciate non-mainstream films - it will be a loss - but then Hulu Plus offers the titles at $7.99 a month, which ain't bad.
Get out there and look for streaming titles. I see no reason for me to list the great films I have streamed on NetFlix. If you can't find them you probably don't care anyway.
Happy viewing.
If they want the crap then let them toss their money over to Blockbuster and RedBox. Or let them pay $3.99 per movie at Amazon or iTunes rather than the still pretty inexpensive $7.99 a month offer.
But, seriously, people need to expand their horizon's beyond the latest Hollywood hits. Viewers willing to do that will find it very easy to build an extremely long queue from what NetFlix has to offer. I find great old movies, foreign language films and hidden gems all the time. True, they will lose some of the Criterion titles to Hulu-Plus soon but it's not like the average viewer cares about Criterion titles anyway so it is no loss for the mainstream Mike's and Mary's out there. For the rest of us - who appreciate non-mainstream films - it will be a loss - but then Hulu Plus offers the titles at $7.99 a month, which ain't bad.
Get out there and look for streaming titles. I see no reason for me to list the great films I have streamed on NetFlix. If you can't find them you probably don't care anyway.
Happy viewing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)