Celluloid #8

In Theatres

I almost saw a movie this week.

In Home ... all pretty good movies...

4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (2007) Mungiu - "The Romanian abortion movie." While that is basically the story (well mainly about a girl who needs an abortion, and her friend/roommate that helps her), the film is also about the oppressive communist government in Romania in the 1980s and how that affects the people who live there. The visual style is really cool, and while the premise is pretty heavy, still recommended viewing. 4.5/5

Drugstore Cowboy (1989) Van Sant - Early Gus Van Sant about four people living in Portland and feeding their drug addictions by robbing pharmacies. Nadine (Heather Graham) ODs and causes Bob (Matt Dillon) to reevaluate his life. Aesthetically beautiful and also features an old William Burroughs as an aging ex-priest junkie and Portland before the condos crept in. 4/5

Fanny and Alexander (1982) Bergman - Ingrid Bergman's mainly autobiographical film about his childhood. After Alexander's father dies, his mother remarries an austere priest who forces her to leave behind her family and all her possessions. This new joyless existence causes problems between the pre-teen Alexander and his stepfather that also touches on religious rejection. 4.5/5

Fat City (1972) Huston - An extremely unglamorous film about a couple boxers in Stockton, CA. Billy Tully is a has-been boxer trying to get back into the game while making ends meet by working as an agricultural day laborer. Ernie (played by an extremely young Jeff Bridges) is 18 and just starting out as a boxer after Tully's encouragement. Tully sometimes acts as a mentor and other times as an example of what not to become to Ernie. All of the boxing matches seem realistic and tiring. 4/5

Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) Roeg - David Bowie plays an alien who has coming looking for water for his home planet and invents, patents, and distributes a photographic product that makes him rich. I wanted to love this movie. It's really cool looking, David Bowie is actually a decent actor, and it's totally campy and weird. However, after already suspending plenty of disbelief, sometime towards the end (probably around the 2 hour mark) things really don't make any sense anymore. Also Candy Clark as the female lead, Mary Lou (?), has got to be on of the most annoying characters ever. Oh yeah...and some of the most awkward sex scenes you will ever see (I haven't decided if that's a positive or negative characteristic). Definitely worth checking out if you are remotely interested in Bowie, campy sci-fi, or cult classics. 4/5

Straight Time (1978) Grosbard - Dustin Hoffman plays Max Dembo, a recently released convict who quickly gets caught up in his old lifestyle after a short attempt to live honestly. The robbery scene is good, and you may end up yelling at the TV for Dembo to "hurry up."Harry Dean Stanton, Gary Busey, and a younger, thinner Kathy Bates all play characters. Based on a novel by an actual convict. A total anti-hero film. 4/5

In News

* Quentin Tarantino will soon be making another movie. Currently titled Inglorious Bastards, Tarantino reportedly would like Brad Pitt to star. It will probably be another 2 part film (like Kill Bill) and involves Nazi-occupied France.

* Gus Van Sant's latest film is in post-production. The film, Milk, stars Sean Penn as Harvey Milk the famous gay elected supervisor of San Francisco. Josh Brolin plays Dan White, the disguntled blue-collar cop who kills Milk and then uses the famous "Twinkie Defense" to avoid his sentence.

* In anticipation of The Pineapple Express, New York Magazine posted an early David Gordon Green short from his days as student at North Carolina School of the Arts. You can watch it here. Along the same lines as George Washington...

Celluloid #7

In Theatres

you tell me...

In Home

Bubble (2006) Soderbergh - Low-budget film about three people who work at a doll factory in a dead-end, thoroughly depressed/depressing, poor town. Martha is middle-aged and takes care of her aging father. Kyle is in his early 20s, never graduated high school, and smokes a lot of weed. Rose is also in her early 20s, never graduated high school, has a two year-old daughter, and is the newest employee at the factory. Martha considers Kyle her best friend and is a little hurt when Rose and Kyle start becoming close. Drama ensues. 4/5

Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976) Kopple - Documentary about coal miners in eastern Kentucky in the mid-1970s. Mainly centers around the union workers' strike that lasts 13 months. Some pretty epic southern-style, gun-toting feuds between the strikers and the scabs happen. You may not think that a labor union documentary would be all that engrossing, but in this case you would be wrong. Especially in regards to the union presidental elections, which are handled in a very mafia-like manner. 4.5/5

High and Low (1963) Kurosawa - While Kurosawa may always be associated with his samurai epics, High and Low plays more like a noir crime story. Gondo is trying to save his position as a corporate big wig of a shoe factory by buying out shares from investors. Meanwhile, a kidnapper attempts to nab Gondo's son for ransom, but the boy turns out to be the son of Gondo's chauffeur. Gondo is forced to choose between saving his livelihood or the life of a child that is not his own due to the large size of the ransom asked. I think this film is even better than some of the "epics." 5/5

Mon Oncle (1958) Tati - So, we get to bumble around with M. Hulot again as he gets confused about modern gadgets in a France that is quickly becoming very alien to the one he grew up in. He hangs out at his sister's very modern house and manages to mess a lot of things, but entertains his nephew who also doesn't function very well in such a sterile, strict, and rigid environment. I liked this film better than Playtime even though both essentially tackle the same themes. 4/5

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Cameron - This was actually my first time ever seeing the "Terminator" in any form. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a modified terminator from the future sent back in time to protect John Connor, who in the future, is an important military person for the humans in the fight against the terminators. However, another evil terminator who can morph into anything he touches, has also been sent back in time, but his mission is to kill John Connor. A pretty ridiculous action film, but as far as action films go, I liked the themes and the cheesy interaction between John and his father-figure robot, and overall had a good time with this film. 4/5

Young Torless (1968) Schlondorff - The film is about a group of adolescent boys that attend boarding school. One boy, Basini, ends up stealing money from another boy in this group, but instead of being reported, the boy whose money is stolen decides that he would like to have Basini as his personal slave. Earlier this year, I happened to read the novel by Robert Musil, that this film is based on, but I think if you just watched the movie, a lot of things would not make any sense. One of the main themes in the book was an undercurrent of sexuality being manifested in homosexual actions (it's an all-boys' school). Sometimes the sexual acts were linked with torture and cruelty, but for Torless they were more genuine if not rooted in confusion. Nearly that entire aspect is missing from the film, making the overall story far less interesting. 3/5

In News (the South Korea edition)

* Park Chan-wook, probably best known for Oldboy or Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (I've only seen Oldboy which I thought was really good), is filming a new movie titled Thirst. Not a big surprise that it's going to be a horror film, but this one is going to involve vampires!

* Bong Joon-ho, who made the likable The Host, is currently working on a couple projects. One project is called Transperceneige; an action film dealing with apocalyptic themes in the form of a socially-stratified train trying to escape from an impending Ice Age. The other is a film being called Mother and all I know is that it's a murder thriller. Also, a sequel to The Host is in the works, however, Bong Joon-ho is not directing it.

Celluloid #6

In Theatre

Once again, I barely left my apartment

In Home

Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987) Malle - A story about students at an all-boys Catholic school in France during WW2/Holocaust action. The head of the school is "hiding" a number of young Jewish boys amongst the students to protect them from French collaborators and Nazis. The film is also just a story about adolescent friendship as a French boy befriends a Jewish boy, even after he discovers the Jewish boy's secret. 4/5

the Double Life of Veronique (1991) Kieslowski - A lushly gorgeous movie of reds, greens, and golds that tells the story of Weronika and Veronique. Weronika is a singer and Veronique is a music teacher, but both are played by the same actress and essentially represent two paths that could have been taken by the protagonist (like a more artsy Sliding Doors or something). However, each character seems to "feel" the presence of the other or the loss of that presence. 5/5

Freeway (1996) Bright - On one hand, this film is a trashy modern update of "Little Red Riding Hood" where the wolf is a serial killer and Little Red Riding Hood is a white trash teenager. On the other hand, it's an extremely snarky take on the criminal justice system, social services, and Southern California. All of which sounds like a decent premise for a film, but I just could not get over the style and sense of humor...basically I thought it was irritating. 2/5

Persepolis (2007) Paronnaud - Marjane grows up in Iran while the country undergoes huge changes towards a more religious and repressive society. Her family is firmly against this new direction for the country, and for her safety, sends Marjane away to Austria at age 13. It's a coming-of-age story, and one of feeling like a misfit (her passion for punk rock, Iron Maiden, and secularness alienates her in Iran, her "Iranness" prevents her from ever fully fitting in while in Austria). The felt-pen animation is pretty incredible to watch and I really enjoyed a scene that involves "The Eye of the Tiger." 4.5/5

the Signal (2006) Gentry - The first installment of "movie club" happening at my work. This movie seems to take place in the near future when, for some reason, TVs, cell phones, and radios all start emitting a signal that drives people to kill other people for little to no reason. It's like a culty zombie film in some ways, but can't decide whether to be completely outrageous or not. 3/5

the Vanishing (1988) Sluizer - A youngish couple go on a roadtrip vacation and while at a rest stop, the woman goes missing. For three years the boyfriend searches for her, puts up posters, goes on television, all in an effort to try and figure out what happened to her. His obsession to know the truth overwhelms anything else that may be going on with him, and then her kidnapper offers to reveal that truth. 4/5

In News

* Saxon pointed out, and it's worth mentioning that David Gordon Green (George Washington, All the Real Girls) has directed the new Apatow (Knocked Up, Superbad, "Freaks and Geeks) extravaganza called Pineapple Express. Mostly all I've heard about it is that it's a stoner-related film (some dude has to go on a run with his dealer...) but I am curious to see how the Green/Apatow pairing works out, especially since Green seems to usually deal in more serious fare. Should be released in theatres very soon this summer.

Art Garfunkel Memorial Reading List (January - June 2008)

So to be clear, Garfunkel isn't dead...but the list that I put out every six months of the books that I have read is somewhat of a tribute to him. Art's been keeping track of every book that he's read since the late 1960s. I started at the beginning of 2007...

1. Confusions of Young Torless - Robert Musil (Jan 12)
2. Desire and Delusion - Arthur Schnitzler (Jan 15)
3. Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon (Jan 20)
4. No Man is an Island - Thomas Merton (Jan 20)
5. Gang Leader for a Day - Sudhir Venkatesh (Feb 3)
6. Obscene Bird of Night - Jose Donoso (Feb 8)
7. Confessions of Nat Turner - William Styron (Feb 19)
8. Executioner's Song - Norman Mailer (Mar 22)
9. Death of Artemio Cruz - Carlos Fuentes (Mar 23)
10. The Fierce and Beautiful World - Andrei Platonov (Apr 2)
11. Lady With the Dog and Other Stories - Anton Chekhov (Apr 4)
12. the Giver - Lois Lowry (Apr 7)
13. Atonement - Ian McEwan (Apr 8)
14. If on a winter's night a traveler - Italo Calvino (Apr 16)
15. Why We Watch: The Attractions of Violent Entertainment - Jeffrey Goldstein (Apr 17)
16. Dream Life of Sukhanov - Olga Grushin (Apr 26)
17. Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind? - Michael Eric Dyson (Apr 28)
18. Reeling - Pauline Kael (May 2)
19. the Dutchman and the Slave - Leroi Jones (May 5)
20. Oil! - Upton Sinclair (May 11)
21. Against Interpretation - Susan Sontag (May 12)
22. Coldest Winter Ever - Sister Souljah (May 16)
23. Heartsnatcher - Boris Vian (May 16)
24. Death of Adam - Marilynne Robinson (May 24)
25. Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles (May 25)
26. Women, Race, and Class - Angela Davis (June 3)
27. Aura - Carlos Fuentes (June 4)
28. Journey to the End of Night - Louis-Ferdinand Celine (June 5)
29. the Disappointment Artist - Jonathan Lethem (June 7)
30. Play It as It Lays - Joan Didion (June 7)
31. Box Man - Kobo Abe (June 11)
32. Blood and Grits - Harry Crews (June 15)
33. Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston (June 20)
34. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides (June 22)
35. Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole (June 28)

Celluloid #5

In Theatre

No outings this week

In Home

Crazed Fruit (1956) Nakahira - A cool movie about two brothers who fall for the same woman. Beautiful, sexy, and quite tense at times, this Japanese film also features a strong anti-Western vibe while simultaneously incorporating western/capitalistic elements (water skis, cocktail bars, etc.) Has a lot of youthful energy and rebelliousness. 5/5

Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) Pabst - Louise Brooks stars as Thymian, a young woman who is sent away to a girl's reformatory school by an evil stepmother figure after being raped by a family friend. She eventually gets to leave the school and gets tangled up with a different set of people who focus more on the vices in life. There's always something providing a struggle in her life. Brooks is charming to watch as usual. 4/5

For Y'ur Height Only (1979) Nicart - A Filipino James Bond spoof, where Agent 007 is replaced by Agent 00, played by Weng Weng, a midget with a really bad haircut. Agent 00 still kicks a lot of ass (mainly by aiming his kicks at his enemy's genitals) and still does well with the ladies, including the leading "Bond girl" in this film, "the Sex Pot." Extremely low budget with a plot that really doesn't make much sense, nevertheless adding to the charm. 4/5

Gimme Shelter (1970) Maysles - Documentary juxtaposing the New York and Altamont shows of the Rolling Stones 1969 American tour. In New York, one can see how Mick Jagger may have once held sex appeal and Keith Richards actually doesn't look like a corpse just yet. All in all New York seemed like a pretty great show. In comparison the Altamont show in the Bay Area seems like a complete nightmare; mainly for the notorious shankings wielded out by the Hell's Angels. 4.5/5

Masculin Feminin (1966) Godard - The boy from The 400 Blows is mostly grown up and pursuing a young woman who works at a magazine, but is also recording a pop album. Randomly, throughout the film between scenes, Godard posts screens of text that seem vaguely revolutionary or at least some sort of social commentary. Also, Paul (400 blows kid) gets a job surveying "the typical French woman" and asks them all sorts of questions ranging from "what type of birth control methods do you use?" to "where in the world are you aware of wars happening right now?" Basically, coming-of-age in France amidst counterculture and attempts to define gender and sexuality. 4/5

Sanjuro (1962) Kurosawa - I liked this film, but was also kinda bored. It's the sequel to Yojimbo, but practically the same story over again. The two sides warring each other in a village are completely idiotic, and an eccentric samurai (who also enjoys the bottle) is the only one who seems to possess an intelligence. While there's nothing wrong with this film, I really think people should just choose to watch this or Yojimbo...not both. 3.5/5

In News

* The "Up Series" is a documentary started in England which filmed fourteen 7 year-olds, and proceeding to return to film them every seven years. That series is currently up to 49 Up. The concept proved so popular that documentary series were started in several other countries including Russia, Japan, and...South Africa. Next month 21 Up South Africa: Mandela's Children will be available for rent, dealing with post-apartheid race relations, crime, and AIDS.

* Jean-Pierre Jeunet, director who brought us Delicatessen, City of Lost Children, and Amelie has a new film in production, Micmacs a tire-larigot...which roughly translates to "this endless mess."

Celluloid #4

In Theatres

Randomly this past weekend I saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I think I keep giving these Judd Apatow related projects a viewing strictly based on my affinity for the short-lived television show, "Freaks and Geeks." I pretty much had the same reaction to this film as my reactions to Knocked Up and Superbad, which is that parts made me laugh, but overall I didn't think it was that funny...enjoyable, but just not really my thing. Once again, our protagonist is adult dude who is sweet, but is totally a dude who plays video games all day and eats a lot of cereal. The story is also pretty familiar (a break-up, coping with the end of a relationship, meeting someone else, having to decide between the old girlfriend and the new love interest, etc.) I liked it, I just think people pee their pants a little too much over all of these films...3.5/5

In Home

-It was a slow movie-watching week for me. Partially a good thing because it implies that I actually had a bit of a social life this past week, but I also blame "Six Feet Under", as I am finishing up the last season of the series...

Batman Begins (2005) Nolan - I saw the trailer for The Dark Knight a couple weeks ago, which prompted me to catch up with the previous installment of the new Batman franchise. I actually enjoyed this movie quite a bit...dark, Christian Bale is good (Michael Caine is better!), just the right amount of action and character development. As the title implies, the movie is about Bruce Wayne's transformation and creation of the Batman persona, but he also has to save Gotham from the Scarecrow's mind-altering/mind-killing chemical terrorism. 4/5

Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) Cassavetes - While many Cassavetes films focus on relationships and the differences between men and women, in this film we see the 1970s "indie" version of film noir. Cosmo owns a strip club in Los Angeles, and one night a guy who owns a gambling joint across town, comes to Cosmo's club and convinces him to stop by his establishment sometime. Cosmo ends up losing $23,000 there and has some difficulties paying his debt off. 4/5

In News

* To my disappointment/relief, Werner Herzog is not remaking Bad Lieutenant. He is filming a movie by that name, but it isn't the same story, and Herzog apparently just discovered that the Harvey Keitel movie even existed.

* Chris Marker, the director most known for his beautiful short film La Jetee, has finally had some of his other films released on DVD. Titles include The Last Bolshevik, The Case of the Grinning Cat, The Embassy, The Sixth Side of the Pentagon, and seven more short films. They are supposed to have been available for the past couple months, but probably still not easy to come across.

*Criterion is actually going to release the highly controversial (and still usually banned film) Salo (120 Days of Sodom) by Pasolini. The film is based on the pornography of the Marquis de Sade, and has been known to cause some viewers to vomit upon watching it..others call it a masterpiece. It was Pasolini's last film before he was murdered. Available in August.

Celluloid #3

No "In Theatre" happenings this week...

In Home

Benny's Video (1992) Haneke - Part of the trilogy that includes Seventh Continent and Funny Games, this film focuses on a 14 year-old-boy who is fascinated with violent and disturbing videos. He commits a violent act himself when his parents are out of town, and his parents try to help him deal with the aftermath. Like Funny Games, Haneke seems to be making an explicit comment on media and violence, and specifically the audience's complicity in such acts. Fascinating and disturbing as usual...5/5

Clean, Shaven (1997) Kerrigan - Sound plays a huge role in this film that portrays a schizophrenic man in small town New England. There's very little dialogue, but lots of random noises, static, and voices. Peter Winter just wants to visit his daughter that had been given up for adoption at a very young age. Meanwhile, another young girl in town had been violently murdered and an investigator is snooping around for evidence and suspects Peter in the case. 3.5/5

Opera (1987) Argento - What I think people like about Argento films (if you like them at all, or maybe just what I like about Argento films) is a certain amount of campiness...awesome soundtracks, over-the-top killings that invoke laughter, vivid colors, and even some amount of charm in the obviously bad acting. However, of the 4 films that I have seen now, Opera is my least favorite. The plotline surrounds a young opera singer who makes her debut in "MacBeth" which is regarded as a cursed opera. Basically, having seen Argento films made 5-10 years earlier, it just seems like he has run out of ridiculous devices, plus instead of prog-rock or synthy/danceyness...this film's music is essentially 80s metal..not my personal favorite. 3/5

Playtime (1967) Tati - This film is full of grey imagery...concrete, chrome, grey suits. For the bulk of the film, M. Hulot bumbles around Paris. He's an old man facing a new, modern, sterile Paris. Nothing much happens and there is barely any dialogue, but rather a constant mumbling from American tourists and other crowds. Overall, the film is shot and feels like it's supposed to be a comedy, and I don't know if it's just because it's a French film made in the 1960s, but it's really not funny...the gags are pretty cheesy. However, the scene of the brand new restaurant is pretty fun (although not funny) but that's probably just because I like the dancing. It's a beautiful film, and I get the point, but it's just too long and in reality a little boring to watch. 3.5/5

Vagabond (1985) Varda - A film about a twenty-something French girl, Mona, who has "dropped out" and is travelling around, hitchhiking, camping, and working on the occasion in the French countryside. It's mostly linear with flashbacks to documentary-style interviews with people who had interacted with Mona. An interesting film about being intentionally homeless. 4/5

In the News

*Alejandro Jodorowsky, director responsible for El Topo and Holy Mountain, is coming out with a new film called King Shot. David Lynch is producing and the cast may include Asia Argento (Dario's daughter), Nick Nolte, and Marilyn Manson. I have no idea what it's about, but purportedly is somewhat of a gangster film...2009

*Limits of Control (new Jarmusch mentioned a few weeks ago) sounding better and better: Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, and Gael Garcia Bernal all expected to be a part of the cast.

*Vincent Gallo may not be directing any more films ever, but he is acting...in an upcoming Francis Ford Coppola film, Tetro.