Celluloid #112

In Theaters

Heartbeats (2011) Dolan - Super stylish and hipstery take on love and obsession. Two friends - Marie in her 50s-style vintage and Audrey Hepburn updo and gay Francis with his James Dean-inspired haircut and loud pants both lust after the same guy. Nicolas flirts equally with both of them in a way that can be easily construed as being friends. Francis and Marie compete with and undermine each other until a physical fight actually breaks out. I loved the attitude of this film - mean-spirited, neurotic, and totally exaggerated. My only complaint is that the boom mics kept getting in the shot and were quite distracting. 4.5/5

the Taqwacores (2011) Zahra - An interesting premise: a scene of Muslim punks, all dealing with feeling like outcasts from both communities and balancing seemingly contradictory ideologies. Based on a fictional novel presenting punk as a unifying force, but this novel has managed to inspire a real-life scene. Despite the promising subject, the movie is awkward and clumsy due to bad acting and preachy or forced dialogue. Rule #1 in movies: Show Don't Tell. Plus, our protagonist is a hopeless outsider that never makes any real strides in development. 2.5/5

In Home

Carnival of Souls (1962) Harvey - A strange cult movie where a girl somehow survives a crazy car accident then proceeds to become the church organist for a local town. Her neighbor pursues her relentlessly, and even though he's a creep, she hangs with him sometimes because she is scared of the dead-looking dude that randomly pops up. The highlight is the abandoned pavilion where dead couples waltz, and when the girl goes into a "devilish" trance and starts playing crazy music on the organ. 3.5/5

Destiny (1921) Lang - A woman makes a deal with the Grim Reaper that if she can save a life, he will bring her fiance back to life. Three times she tries and either fails or cannot bring herself to sacrifice the life of a baby. Bizarri, bleak, gothic, romantic ending redeems an admittedly confusing story. 3/5

Frenzy (1972) Hitchcock - Hitchcock is known for creepy and stylish thrillers - this film doesn't particularly deliver on either of those qualities. Instead, this is a pretty typical serial killer story where the main character is innocent but his buddy goes around strangling ladies. Few gaggy parts and overall very easy and entertaining to watch. However, I don't see this as very original or memorable. 3.5/5

One-Eyed Jacks (1961) Brando - Rio and Dad used to be bank-robbing buddies until Dad betrays Rio, leaving him stranded in a job gone wrong. After Rio serves five torturous years in prison, he goes looking for revenge on Dad. Dad is now the sheriff of a coastal California town. Married and with a lovely stepdaughter that Rio promptly seduces. For a western, pretty typical, but Rio plays such an extreme antihero (he's so despicable! why does Luisa or anyone ever do anything nice for him?) that it's hard to root for anyone. 3/5

Single White Female (1992) Schroeder - Well done entertaining thriller. Allie and her boyfriend break up because he's a cheater. In order to not give up her rent-controlled apartment, she searches for a female roommate. Hedy moves in and almost immediately becomes possessive and a little off. Her craziness soon gets out of control and at least one person dies as a result. There are some lesbian moments and so many shots of Jennifer Jason Leigh's boobs! (and none of Bridget Fonda's!) Sleazy and over-the-top, but still creepy and engrossing. 4/5

Celluloid #111

In Theaters

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2011) Weerasethakul - In a Thai film, you come to expect a very slow pace and very lush beautiful scenery. Uncle Boonmee doesn't fail to deliver on those expectations, but also goes somewhere very strange...This film not only includes ghosts (that don't seem to be a big deal), but black Chewbacca-like creatures with red glowing eyes, bestiality, and general permeation of the supernatural. What is initially comically shocking eventually becomes commonplace, and while this essentially plays like a series of dreams, I really ended up enjoying it. 4/5

In Home

Performance (1970) Roeg - Roeg always does an interesting job at incorporating rock stars into his films (Bad Timing with Art Garfunkel, Man Who Fell to Earth - with David Bowie), and this time Mick Jagger gets a fair amount of screen time. A British gangster gets himself into a position where he needs to hide out - and what better place to hide than an apartment full of bohemians. He's freaked out by their free love and drugs, and initially the hippies don't really like him either. That is until they feed him some special mushrooms. Fun and one step above a B-movie. 3.5/5

Who's That Knocking On My Door? (1967) Scorsese - Early movie by Scorsese starring a very young and handsome Harvey Keitel. Mostly a love story between J.R. and a girl he meets on the ferry. However, things go sour when she reveals that she was a rape victim. The movie draws great attention to the gender double standard (he doesn't want to believe her and certainly doesn't want to date her, despite the fact that he has slept around plenty). J.R. wants to make an unfair classification of "broads" vs. "girls you marry." If gender issues doesn't make you interested, there are also a lot of really sexy make-out scenes. 4/5

Celluloid #110

In Home

Badlands (1973) Malick - One of my all-time favorite movies. The landscapes are beautiful and ominous - so much flat and dry and moody sunsets. Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen are great as Kit and Holly, a young couple who goes on a killing spree through South Dakota and Montana. Kit is totally charming in this cool, indifferent way that it's easy to see his appeal to fifteen year-old girls as well as to the cops that eventually catch him. Normally, I do not like voiceovers in movies, but Holly's gives her a character a numb and innocent quality that I find so fascinating. 5/5

the Gold Rush (1925) Chaplin - Another charming Chaplin film where the Little Tramp gets in on the gold rush in Alaska. He doesn't actually look for gold, but frequents the town where everyone is lodged and lives with a couple mountain men. He of course falls for a local girl, who initially makes fun of him. The scene with the fork and rolls dance is great, as is the comedy of the house on the cliff. 4/5

How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It) (2007) Angio - I had no idea what a Renaissance Man Melvin van Peebles is! This documentary covers his life so far (he's 78) and all of its turns. He is most famous for directing, writing, and starring in Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song which jumpstarted the blaxploitation genre. He also wrote four novels in french, directed a film in the 1960s, made several Gil Scott-Heron - styled albums (in fact, influencing Gil), producing a couple Broadway plays, and writing a book about Wall Street. A total ladies' man and throughly entertaining to watch. 4/5

Old Joy (2006) Reichardt - Two old friends go camping and talk about old times, their current lives, and basically nothing. They both seem melancholy and like a wall has built up between them over time. The story itself is pretty boring, and the idea of dissatisfaction in your 30s is nothing new. However, this film is gorgeous if mostly for the recognizably lush Oregon landscapes - enough to make me feel a little nostalgic for the Northwest. 3/5

Celluloid #109

In Home

Carlos (2010) Assayas - If you can imagine watching a five hour plus film (technically broken up into a miniseries now), you really should consider watching this. Carlos Martinez was a terrorist who primarily in the 1970s and 80s committed attacks on Europe in an effort to protest Israeli occupation of Palestine. He also claims to be a part of the "Internationalist Revolution" pertaining to support for Third World countries. This movie is really fascinating because Carlos is such an interesting and complicated character; totally charismatic and quite handsome. Assayas is a director that I often enjoy and that tackles such a variety of topics. This film is great to look at with a pacing that helps this film seem much shorter than its runtime. As a bonus, I also loved the soundtrack, even though the songs often seemed like strange choices other than their ability to tap into some nervous tension (artists featured include: the Feelies, Devo, and Wire). 4.5/5

the Counterfeiters (2007) Ruzowitzky - During the Holocaust, a "professional" counterfeiter is captured after he fucks up in his attempts to copy the dollar. Once taken to the concentration camp, he is separated to be part of a special unit dedicated to forgery. Unfortunately, creating perfect fakes of the British pound may save himself and his fellow jewish prisoners in the short term, but could ultimately tip the balance of the war towards the Nazis favor. Something seemed lacking in this film, and rarely is there a Holocaust-based film that doesn't evoke some emotional response. Also, it just seems a little too "Hollywood-approved foreign film." 3/5

I Fidanzati (1962) Olmi - A man and his longtime girlfriend seem to have reached some sort of lull in their relationship. He decides to take a job in Sicily for a year and a half. While there, he has a little fling, but ultimately realizes that he really wants to be with his girlfriend. Lots of charming scenes, including a really great party. Small town life looks pleasing, but not totally satisfying. 3.5/5

In the Year of the Pig (1968) de Antonio - Documentary about American involvement in the Vietnam War. Incorporates footage (memorably of the burning monk) with interviews of various government officials. All together, it adds up to a harsh, but not undeserved critique of the United States. 3.5/5