Celluloid #161

In Theaters

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (2012) Condon - Well, I'm glad it's over. The first scene immediately reminded me how cringey this series has been, but that also there's a lot of unintentional humor. Renesmee looks like a creep for the first part of the movie. Apparently her existence is a problem in the world of vampires because they fear vampire babies ("immortal children") for their lack of self-control. However, Resnesmee is only half vampire and wasn't bit. Whatever. At least this movie features a battle scene that is really satisfying until it is totally undermined. ??/10

In Home

Being Elmo (2011) Marks - So unfortunate how Kevin Clash has been disgraced in the news lately, because this documentary paints him as a pretty nice guy. Clash started making puppets an putting on local shows when he was 10. By the time he was finishing up high school, he was working for a local television show, and then shortly after, started working on the Captain Kangaroo show. Clash became the first black puppeteer to work for Jim Henson, and until recently, still ran the puppet workshop for Sesame Street and touring around the world with his character, Elmo. 7/10

Body Double (1984) De Palma - An actor catches his wife cheating and gets fired from his job all in the same day. He finally thinks he catches a break when another actor offers to let him apartment-sit. In addition to free rent, there's an impromptu nightly striptease show courtesy of a neighbor woman that's visible through a telescope. One night, the actor sees the neighbor get into some trouble with an intruder, and he tries to follow her the next day to warn her. This all spirals into a bigger conspiracy involving the porn industry - typically good De Palma. 8/10

Bonsai (2012) Jimenez - Adaptation of a pretty great novella intertwining the course of a romantic relationship with the process of writing. The movie is not nearly as successful as the book, but for reasons I cannot pinpoint. 6/10

God Bless America (2012) Goldthwait - Dark satire about America's obsession with reality television. One man gets fed up with how stupid people have become. In particular, he's upset about how people cannot have real conversations or interactions, but can only relate through inane pop culture. To top it off, his own young daughter is turning into a spoiled monster. After contemplating suicide, he teams up with a similarly jaded teen and goes on a killing spree. 5/10

Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2012) Duplass - So yeah, Jeff is 30, a stoner, and lives with his mom. His older seemingly more successful brother is having his own problems with his marriage; namely being worried that his wife is cheating. Jeff keeps following these "signs" about a person named Kevin all ver town while trying to help his brother. Pretty enjoyable to watch, even if the plot sounds like a ridiculous mess. 7/10

the Lady (2012) Besson - So sad! A story is recent history that I had no knowledge about. Since the 1970s (probably earlier), Burma has been under military rule. Movements developed to pursue democracy, but early on one leader was executed and essentially turned into a martyr for that cause. The martyr's daughter is the focus of this biopic. Aung San Suu Kyi moves to England after her father's death. There she grows up, marries, and has children. When her mother has a stroke, she returns to Burma where professors convince her to pick up her father's legacy. Despite her election success, she undergoes 15 years of house arrest. An unusual film for Luc Besson's typically action-packed filmography. 7/10

Celluloid #135

In Theaters


Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 (2011) Condon - Bella and Edward finally get married, and big surprise, she gets pregnant instantly. The rest of the film could have been 45 minutes, but we are privy to at least three tame sex scenes and the length of the pregnancy. The tension is that this human-vampire hybrid could kill Bella in childbirth, and if it is born, the wolves will want to kill it. Jacob takes his shirt off within the first minute of the film and proceeds to get angsty and breaks away from his pack. It's still weird that everyone likes Bella, the music is still bad, and the dialogue still clunky as ever, but I really do think this is the weakest of the franchise so far. ??/5

In Home


Another Year (2010) Leigh - Tom and Geri are a nice old couple who seem to have carved out a nice simple life for themselves. They love each other and their adult son, have satisfying but unglamorous jobs, like to garden, cook for each other, and have friends over sometimes. Each season is a chapter in the film and centers on a visitor drinking too much and lamenting about aging in one form or another. These visitors may be grating, but they are relatable in ways that one would probably want to avoid (desperate, sad, lonely). 4/5

Ginger Snaps (2000) Fawcett - The quality of this film is too shitty. It turns out that the story isn't much better. Two sisters are really close and into doing creepy things together, and maybe have a death pact. Their relationship begins to fall apart when Ginger gets her first period, but Bridget believes that she was really bitten by a werewolf, causing to Ginger to act crazed and grow a tail. I would have been into a genre exploration of female adolescence, but I guess we already get that in Carrie and this film is just too embarrassingly bad. 2/5

To Die Like a Man (2009) Rodrigues - Our protagonist is Tonia, a pre-op MTF. She works as a dancer and has a spoiled young junkie for a boyfriend. Basically what ensues is a lot of cliched melodrama, but this film is unique in that we never hear any character speak. They appear to talk to each other sometimes, but while we can hear the diegetic noise, no dialogue. However, we see subtitles, so what is communicated isn't a mystery. 3.5/5