Celluloid #93

In Home

Bright Star (2009) Campion - A romance springs up between the poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne. Their love is an inspiration to get Keats writing again, but he just can't make any real money, and his poor financial state prevents him from being able to marry Fanny. He's also really sick and his friends believe the best course of action is to send him to live in a warmer climate. I love the butterfly farm that Fanny assembles. 4/5

Happiness (1998) Solondz - A series of stories about miserable people. Bill is a pedophile that has raped at least two boys. Alan crank calls women to get off. Meanwhile, his fat neighbor Christina comes by to flirt, but she feels guilt for killing the maintenance man. Joy is the failure in the family and very unlucky in love. She falls for one of her refugee ESL students, who in turn steals her stuff. When I saw this film in college, I remember hating it, probably for the copious amounts of jizz. This time around, that didn't really bother me, but the film does seem more cartoonish and way more of a parody than I expected. 3.5/5

Life During Wartime (2009) Solondz - A sequel of sorts to Happiness. The characters are the same, but played by different actors. Bill is out of jail, Billy is off at college, Joy married Alan, and Trish is dating fat but normal losers. Not a terrible film, but definitely cannot stand alone. I watched these films back to back, and I'm glad or else I wouldn't have been able to pick up on a lot of the gags. Joy's new character was almost enough to ruin the film for my co-watcher. Best I can tell, this is a film about forgiveness, but it doesn't really do anything with that. 2.5/5

Quick Change (1990) Franklin - Bill Murray, dressed as a clown, robs a bank with his girlfriend and childhood friend. Randy Quaid is there for comic relief and to almost always ruin the plan. The trio is trying to make their way to the airport and ends up getting stranded in various New York neighborhoods, running from the cops and the mob. All the while, Phylis keeps trying to tell Grimm (Murray) that she's pregnant. Enjoyably silly. 4/5

Re-Animator (1985) Gordon - A scientist has discovered a serum to bring the dead back to life. However, all the kinks haven't been worked out and those re-animated tend to be more aggressive than their alive selves. Body horror along the lines of Cronenberg, but laughably unrealistic effects. More gross-out than scary. 3.5/5

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008) Zenovich - Documentary about Polanski's sex scandal with a 13 year old. The incident is portrayed as part of the grief and fall out from Sharon Tate's murder. Also, the film focuses on the corruption of the legal proceedings surrounding the case. If anything this documentary is biased in Polanski's favor, and I can easily see why. Undoubtedly, Polanski is a great filmmaker, and while it's not ever excusable to sleep with a girl that young, this particular girl was already experimenting with drugs, alcohol, and sex, and more importantly, she's even publicly forgiven him. 4/5

the Running Man (1987) Glaser - In the future, convicts are sometimes recruited to a gladiator-like game show called "the Running Man" where their survival can lead to a reduced or pardoned sentence. Ben Richards is wrongfully accused of massacring a bunch of innocent people during a military mission. He is forced onto the show and many battles ensue, all while he's trying to prove his innocence through an underground media network. Some things don't really add up, but a totally entertaining film. 3.5/5

Celluloid #92

In Home

Abouna (2004) Harom - The father of two boys goes missing. They are approximately 11 and 15 and their mother decides the best thing is to send them off to Koran school. It's boring there and other boys pick on them (especially the younger brother Amine), but there is a nice, pretty deaf girl. They attempt to escape, get caught, and more drama happens. Very pretty to watch, and well shot, but very slow in pacing and quite arbitrary in story. 3/5

the Blue Angel (1930) von Sternberg - A college professor falls for a local nightclub singer, against his better judgment. They get married and go on the road together, but it's only a matter of time before Lola gets restless and essentially ruins the professor's life. 4/5 

the Machinist (2004) Anderson - Christian Bale looks terrible! His character, Trevor, hasn't slept in a year and then he accidentally takes someone's arm off in a machine. Several people people make comments about "if he was any skinnier, he wouldn't exist"...lots of weird shit happens, and at times it seems like the film might be highly influenced by Fight Club, however the style or something about the story just seems off...3/5

the Messenger (2009) Moverman - Sgt. Montgomery gets assigned to "Casualty Notification" duty, basically making him responsible for telling families that their spouses or children haved been killed in action. Strangely, Montgomery starts essentially stalking one of the wives that he had to notify, but that plot line doesn't dominate the film. Mainly, there's a very clear anti-wat sentiment, showing how soldiers carry a lot of guilt about being "war heroes", or not seeing enough action, or just can't grieve properly. 3.5/5  

le Million (1931) Clair - An artist is in a lot of debt, when by chance he buys a winning lottery ticket. However, the ticket is in his jacket in his girlfriend's house. It's pretty shabby looking, so she gives it away to an old man without thinking. Silliness ensues while Michel tries to track down his ticket. All in all, too silly and too much singing for my taste. 3/5

Tetro (2009) Coppola - Two brothers reunite in Buenos Aires after a long period of estrangement. Tetro is much older and curmudgeonly and Bennie is not quite 18 and has a lot of questions for the brother he grew up idolizing. Tetro took off when Bennie was a kid, promising to come back for him, but ends up cutting off contact with his entire family. Tetro has a lot of resentment towards his famous conductor father, resulting in a battle of genius. Bennie wants to encourage Tetro to write again, and hopes that success will validate his brother's existence. 4/5 

the Warriors (1979) Hill - All the gangs in New York meet up to pledge a truce when the organizer of the meet-up gets shot. His death is wrongfully place on the Warriors, causing a new wave of violence to erupt. The Warriors have to fend off various rival gangs just to make it home. 4/5

Celluloid #91

In Home

Big Fan (2009) Siegel - Dark comedy about a pathetic man who obsesses about football, namely the New York Giants, and in particular, the quarterback. He spends his days working as a parking attendant, listening to games or sports radio and often calling into these programs. One night he has the chance to meet his idol and through a drunken misunderstanding, gets assaulted into critical condition. He won't press charges for fear of how it will affect the team. 3.5/5

Black White + Gray (2007) Crump - Documentary about Sam Wagstaff, most famously known as the artist Robert Mapplethorpe's lover. This documentary seeks to give Wagstaff his due after being overshadowed by Mapplethorpe's fame. Wagstaff was a curator and art collector, who most notably amassed a huge collection of photographs, often photos of a nonacademic or nonprofessional nature. He was also largely responsible for championing the minimalism movement and of course, jump-starting Mapplethorpe's notoriety. This documentary was of particular interest to me because I just recently finished reading Patti Smith's new book Just Kids about her and Robert Mapplethorpe, and Sam to some extent. 3.5/5 

Boys Don't Cry (1999) Peirce - Brandon lives in small town Nebraska in the early 1990s. He's trans-gendered, but has to keep it a secret or he will get killed. Everyone is bored and just drinks and fights a lot. Brandon falls in love with Lana who sorta has a past with John, and that makes John furious. Eventually the others find out. Lana doesn't care, but John and Tom take the worst kind of revenge. 4/5

Dear Zachary (2008) Kuenne - A total cryfest that starts out as a tribute to the filmmaker's murdered friend. Andrew was killed by his ex-girlfriend in a fit of rage. In a surprise to everyone else, she was pregnant with Andrew's son. The film then follows the fucked up Canadian justice system that managed to let her out on bail twice, and the custody battle between her and the grandparents. It's incredible how much you get swept up in this story about strangers. 4/5 

the Man From London (2007) Tarr - A man finds a suitcase of money that was flung into the sea. He has problems with his family, especially with his daughter and her shitty employer. This is a Tarr film, so viewers should be aware of a few things: 1.) There is no dialogue for the first 30 minutes. 2.) The film is in black and white and incredibly beautiful, but also very slow and often difficult to pay attention due to the quiet nature of the film. 3.) There's a great scene involving dancing in a bar (something that has happened in at least one other of his films). 3.5/5 

Seduced and Abandoned (1964) Germi - Peppino impregnates Agnese, his fiancé's 16 year-old sister. Their father decides the best course of action is for Peppino to marry Agnese instead of Matilde. However, Peppino doesn't want to marry Agnese because he believes that he deserves a virgin for a bride. A comedy of trying to maintain honor on all sides. 3.5/5 

A Single Man (2009) Ford - It's the 1960s and George Falconer has to deal with the death of his lover practically in secret. George is suicidal, but things keep stopping him. This film is more about the visuals and the mood rather than the storyline. The coloring is very vivid, especially in scenes of beautiful people or of the pink California skies. 4/5

Some Like It Hot (1959) Wilder - Prohibition is in full swing. Joe and Jerry accidentally witness some Chicago mob justice and decide to get out of town by posing as female  musicians. Also, Joe and Jerry are both pursuing Sugar (Marilyn Monroe) while trying to keep up their ruse. Granted, the girls are all portrayed as silly and stupid, but the film does seem a little transgressive for the time. 4/5

To Have and Have Not (1944) Hawks - Totally forgettable plot, but one watches this film to see the chemistry between Lauren Bacall and Bogart. She is incredibly hot (all though I could do without her singing) and features the famous line that starts "You know how to whistle don't you?" I just question for myself whether celebrity adoration is enough to make a film. 3/5

Vernon, Florida (1981) Morris - Errol Morris presents a picture of a backwoods town full of characters. Everyone is pretty strange, but not to the point that you want to laugh at them. There's the old men with their odd pets. Hunters obsessed with wild turkeys. Then town historian and his funny laugh. A preacher who gives the most boring sermons and a man who raises worms and doesn't trust books. All in all, lots of dudes that remind me of my grandpa. 4/5

Celluloid #90

In Theaters

Inception (2010) Nolan - So all though the hype is waning and the backlash perhaps starting, I found this film entertaining, visually appealing, and overall a summer blockbuster well above average caliber. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Cobb, a type of thief who steals people's ideas while in their dreams. One client approaches him to instead implant an idea into a competitor's mind, a particularly risky assignment. As the audience, we are cleverly taught the rules of dreamworld and end up traveling four or five layers deep into someone's sub-conscience. Even at 2 and 1/2 hours, I never found myself wanting to check the time, and it doesn't hurt that Joseph Gordon Levitt is especially handsome in the film. 4.5/5

the Kids Are All Right (2010) Cholodenko - So while Inception lives up to the hype, I really think critics are peeing their pants too much over this film. I think it's good, but nothing particularly special. A dysfunctional family dramedy where two lesbians, Nic and Jules, are raising two teenagers. When the older teenager turns 18, she and her brother seek out their sperm donor/biological father. The storyline gets a little predictable, but thankfully avoids many clichéd paths that it could have gone down. All around the acting is really good, and even features a small part played by Yaya from cycle 3 of ANTM. 3.5/5

In Home

Cries and Whispers (1972) Bergman - I loved all the red and white in this film, but maybe I just wasn't in the mood to watch Bergman, because I got really bored with the story. Three sisters are all under the same roof because one of them is dying. Another sister is carrying on an affair with the doctor. Besides that, lots of talking and pointing out the faults in one another. 3/5

Detour (1945) Ulmer - Al is trying to make his way out to California to meet up with his singer-girlfriend. He doesn't have much money, so he resorts to hitchhiking across the country. Everything is going fine until one of his drivers accidentally dies. In a series of bad decisions, Al decides to keep the car and take the guy's clothes. Unfortunately, his luck gets so much worse when he picks up a hitchhiker of his own. 3.5/5

the Fly (1986) Cronenberg - Seth is a scientist who has created a teleportation device. Unfortunately, when he tests the machine on himself, a fly is also present causing a really disgusting genetic fusion. Of course, with Cronenberg at the helm, you know the body/flesh horror is going to be really good, and this one gets pretty grotesque. I had a lot of fun squeaming on the couch. 4/5

Heavenly Creatures (1994) Jackson - Juliet is the new girl at school. She and Pauline become fast friends in part due to their leg and lung illnesses. The girls become obsessed with the idea of "the 4th World" and find much escapism in the form of a story about a royal family. One can see their need for escapism because adolescence is full of family and sexual drama, but this female friendship begins to go awry. Outsiders worry about homosexuality, but really everyone should be on alert for their plan of MURDER! Kate Winslet's debut film. 4/5

Lady Vengeance (2005) Park - Chan-wook Park makes the most visually interesting and beautiful films out of anyone working today. I love the pairing of the vivid aesthetics with strange often bloody stories. A woman gets out of jail after serving a 13-year sentence for kidnapping and killing a child. After she gets out, she arranges for the parents whose children were killed to take revenge on the actual killer. 4/5

Vanilla Sky (2001) Crowe - After watching Inception, my sister made comparisons with this film. I hadn't seen this since it was originally in theaters and was aware that it has generally been increasingly maligned as the years pass. Watching this again, I didn't hate it. In fact, I was pretty willing to go along until the last third or fourth of the film when the IT guy comes around, and so much explaining happens. Also, I cannot stand Cameron Diaz. As an idea, I think the dream/death realm is interesting, but it just makes me feel like I should probably watch the Spanish film that this was based off. 3/5