Celluloid #27

In Theatres

A Christmas Tale (2008) Desplechin - In a basic summation, this film feels like a cross between The Royal Tenenbaums and the Swedish film, The Celebration. Dysfunctional family drama abounds. Junon is dying from blood cancer and can only prolong her life with a bone marrow transfusion. Her son Henri (estranged, kinda a bastard, and played by the main character in Diving Bell and the Butterfly) and Paul, her bitchy daughter's crazy son are the only two who are eligible to donate. That's the main drama, but side stories involving affairs and fistfights also pop up. Abel, the old man/dad/grandpa is awesome, wearing his pants well above his waist and listening to free jazz. The movie is in French and I would guess that some aspects didn't translate completely, especially Elizabeth's monologues, but overall an enjoyable, if somewhat disturbing film. 4/5

In Home

Black Snake Moan (2006) Brewer - I'm really not sure how you are supposed to view this film, or what you are supposed to take away from it. On one hand I want to treat it like an exploitation film, but there are too many moments that I think are meant to be sincere. Anyway, Rae is a nymphomaniac, supposedly as a result of being molested as a child. Lazarus is a blues guitarist and singer whose wife has left him for his younger brother. He takes Rae in when he finds her beat up and left for dead on the side of the road. Many times she seems almost possessed and has fever visions, so Lazurus chains her to his radiator. Religion plays some unclear role, and Justin Timberlake plays the other half of the fucked up couple. 3/5

Blood In, Blood Out (1993) Hackford - I figured it was time to see this apparently oft-quoted dramatization of Latino life in East Los Angeles. This movie is about as melodramatic as things get and the dialogue is so ridiculous (saying something in Spanish, then directly saying the same exact thing in English) plus it clocks in at 3 hours! Two brothers and their half white cousin grow up together in East L.A. as a part of the Vatos Locos gang. One is an artist, but wastes his talent with heroin; one joins the marines to avoid jail time and later becomes an undercover cop. Miklo, the cousin, goes to San Quentin twice and gets in deep with race wars while incarcerated. 2.5/5

Chungking Express (1994) Wong - A brokenhearted young man, given to excess and obsession meets a woman involved in drug smuggling. He is a cop and unaware of her livelihood, decides to fall in love with her. In the second story, also involving a cop who has been recently dumped, a young deli counter girl who likes to listen to loud music develops a crush on him. The film is simple, but energetic and pretty. The two love stories avoid cliches and the pop music is used well (all though I probably never need to hear "California Dreamin' ever again). 4/5

the Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) Jones - A modern day western directed by Tommy Lee Jones. A crooked border patrol agent accidentally kills Melquiades, an illegal immigrant. His young wife is bored and spends her free time hanging out with Mexicans. Pete is Melquiades (the deceased) friend, and in a streak of vigilante justice, captures the border patrol agent and takes him on a journey to Melquiades hometown to bury him. 3/5

Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995) Solondz - I love this perfectly awkward film. It has to be a cult classic...Dawn Wiener and her outfits, lines that you should feel a little bad for laughing at like "I'm gonna rape you at 3 o'clock" and the "dignity speech." Steve Rodgers is such a tool, middle school sucks, and suburbia is absurd and painful. 5/5

In News

*I think John and I might be the only two people interested in this, but Bruno Heller has been in talks about bringing HBO's Rome to movie theatres in the form of a film to pick up where season two left off

*Scorsese is directing a new film called Falcon's Tale having to do with cops, drugs, the FBI..typical Scorsese fare (especially since the screenwriter of The Departed is also on board for this project)

*Guillermo del Toro is apparently working on a stop-motion animation adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches

Celluloid #26

In Theatres

Milk (2008) van Sant - It's extremely difficult to review this film considering the circumstances under which I saw it. Last night, at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, surrounded by 600 bears and plenty of the rest of the gay community, in the aftermath of Prop. 8, watching Milk felt like a community event in solidarity rather than just a film. Needless to say, I felt a bit like a brat when not only did I not cry, but I found myself finding some faults with the movie (which I kept to myself until my roommate and I were a safe distance from the heart of the Castro). I'll start by saying that I do recommend this film about one of the key heroes in the Gay Movement, Harvey Milk, the first openly gay city politician. This is obviously a subject close to Gus van Sant's heart, which maybe explains why it also feels like van Sant's most mainstream offering (and I'm including Good Will Hunting in that assessment). My main complaint lies in the emotionally manipulative aspects of the film: melodramatic music, voice-over narration, and some gratuitous small character in a wheelchair. I just feel like this story is completely tragic on its own merit, and adding in the things mentioned above just makes the film feel less genuine, and out of step with the way van Sant usually handles his material. Anyway, Sean Penn puts in a great performance, and I encourage people to see this film if they get a chance despite my minor qualms. 4/5

Synecdoche, New York (2008) Kaufman - Caden Cotard is a theater director obsessed with dying. He has various medical ailments (some of which are probably induced by stress and hypochondria). His wife leaves him and a cycle of failed relationships occur. Cotard is awarded a genius grant which he uses to create an incredibly involved and self-reflexive play including characters to play himself, the people in his life, and characters to play those characters playing people in his real life. This feels like a Kaufman film with all of its interconnectedness, complexity, and plain bizarre factor. I enjoyed that as the audience we really can't be sure how much time was supposed to have passed or why that house is on fire. I cannot effectively articulate plot or my feelings watching this film other than the fact that I found myself loving the spectacle, the ambition, and wishing I would have seen it with another person if only to get a fuller perspective on what had just happened. 4.5/5

In Home

American Blackout (2006) Inaba - A documentary centered around Georgia Congresswoman, Cynthia McKinney (who was also the Green Party candidate for president this year). First the film tackles the disenfranchisement of black voters in Florida in 2000 by the state incorrectly identifying 90,000 people as felons. Then again cheating blacks out of the vote in Ohio in 2004. Next we learn about McKinney's questioning of the actions of the Bush administration in the aftermath of 9/11. McKinney is painted as anti-American and as a troublemaker, or derisively as a conspiracy theorist (all though she is somewhat vindicated later). In her own Congressional elections, she appears to be the victim of Republican manipulation of the open primary system in Georgia. 4/5

the Browning Version (1951) Asquith - The British seem really obsessed with their tradition of boarding schools. In this film, the most uptight of teachers has a seductive wife who is having an affair with a more well-liked teacher. She is a plain bitch and he seems to long for his earlier years; together they are a venomous couple. The old teacher is about to be transferred to another school, and is actually totally aware of his wife's affair, but this knowledge paired with the students' general dislike of him has seemed to crush his soul. Michael Redgrave puts in an amazing performance. 4/5

Oedipus Rex (1967) Pasolini - "You will kill your father and make love to your mother." Pasolini follows that summary, but places the characters in the desert where Oedipus becomes king, and his mother really doesn't seem to mind that she's sleeping with her son. At times I was reminded of Jodorowsky's films, although this is less outrageous. 3.5/5

Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) Bergman - Bergman's first film was essentially a lighthearted romantic comedy. A man has a young wife whom he has been married to for two years and has yet to have sex with her. Before marrying his bride, he had been involved with a famous actress who now wants him back and sets up an elaborate plan for a dinner party where everyone is supposed to end up with the person they are really best suited for. 4/5

A Zed & Two Noughts (1985) Greenaway - A relatively experimental film about sex, animals, and death. A woman is part of an accident that kills the wives of twin zoologists, has her leg amputated, and then seduces both twins. The main plot is often interspersed with Discovery Channel-like footage of decomposing animals. Hilariously, the narration is done by Attenborough, famous for his nature documentaries. Super weird. 3.5/5

Celluloid #25

In Home

In the Blood (2007) Petersen - It is John's fault that I have now seen one of the dumbest movies in existence. John was hoping that this would be a silly erotic gay thriller...which I guess it is to a point. Basically a college jock has visions of the future in the midst of sexual experiences. He has to have homosexual sex to save his sister's life...1/5

Mamma Roma (1962) Pasolini - An aging prostitute wants to make life better for herself and her son. He never had a father growing up and didn't go to school or learn a trade, so she has to pull strings to get things for him. Once the son finds out that his mom is a hooker, he quits his job and starts stealing. 3.5/5

Panic in Needle Park (1971) Schatzberg - Everybody looks like a hipster in 1970s New York. Starring a very young Al Pacino, our protagonist starts using heroin with increasing regularity and becomes very co-dependent with his user girlfriend. The doomed couple becomes so desperate for money/drugs that Helen has to work as a prostitute. Pretty average 70s fare. 3.5/5

Stalker (1979) Tarkovsky - Casual viewers should know that Tarkovsky's films get less accessible with each release, meaning that this film and Mirror are not the easiest things to watch (I fell asleep during two different attempts). However, that's not to say this film isn't worth watching, but very slow. The story takes place in a pretty incredible, apocalyptic setting. The premise is that in the future, a mystical "Zone" exists, where "stalkers" act as guides to take hopeless people to a mysterious and difficult-to-find room where those who enter will have their deepest longing fulfilled. 4/5

Celluloid #24

In Theatres

Let the Right One In is a Swedish vampire movie, and although there's plenty of blood, it's not scary. An artsy horror film, if one considers it a horror film at all. Primarily, this is a story about loneliness centering around two 12 year-olds. Oskar gets bullied at school and Eli is a vampire whose father has to kill people to refill her blood supply. The two kids become friends and stay friends even after Eli's secret is revealed as they try to protect one another. Stark, cold, and beautiful. 4/5

In Home

Lars and the Real Girl (2007) Gillespie - Lars parents died when he was fairly young and now he's painfully awkward. He orders a sex doll online, and when it arrives he treats it as a real person (although he doesn't actually have sex with it, claiming that "Bianca" is really religious). Lars lives in a really snowy small town. His brother and sister-in-law convince him to take Bianca to the doctor, where he is really getting help from the psychologist to treat his delusions. Contrary to what one would expect from the plot synopsis or the DVD artwork, this film is not especially quirky or silly, but instead actually was quite moving for me. Ultimately I found it to be a really bizarre but great depiction of how compassionate a good church and community can be. 4/5

Short Cuts (1993) Altman - Based on a sampling of Raymond Carver stories, this film features a huge ensemble cast including Frances McDormand, Alex Trebek, Tom Waits, Lily Tomlin, Robert Downey Jr, and many more. The film is a bit scattered but connects by the intersections of a bunch of lives in Southern California. There's a medfly quarantine, a boy gets hit by a car, some fisherman discover a dead body, and an estranged husband destroys his wife's house. Easily compares to P.T. Anderson's Magnolia without as much symbolism. 4/5

We Own the Night (2007) Gray - Slim pickings at the library...A story about two brothers. One is a cop and the other manages a bar and runs with a more wild crowd. After Joe (the cop) gets shot, Bobby decides to become a police informant for drug deals. That also doesn't go so well, and causes Bobby to join the force for real . Many tough guy heart-to-hearts follow. A good looking film, but with a fairly fluffy plot. 3/5

In News

*Will Smith is set to star in an American remake of Oldboy...no chance that will be good...

*Andrew Dominik, the New Zealand director of Assassination of Jesse James...is (slowly?) working on a new film called Cities of the Plain which will be an adaptation of a Cormac McCarthy novel

Alphabet Meme

So, for whatever reason, a bunch of film blogs have been recently posting their "Alphabet Meme"s. Basically you pick a film (that you at least like) for every letter of the alphabet...pretty simple (except for the letters q, x, y, & z). Anyway, here's my contribution:

After the Wedding
Badlands
Closely Watched Trains
Down By Law
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Fargo
George Washington
Harder They Come, the
Ivan's Childhood
Jackie Brown
Killer of Sheep
Lost in Translation
Matador (Almodovar)
No Country for Old Men
Oldboy
Proposition, the
Quiz Show
Rushmore
Seven Beauties
Taxi Driver
Underground
Vanishing Point
Woman in the Dunes
X-Men (seriously, can someone come up with something better?)
Young Adam
Zodiac

-In other news, stoked that Obama trounced McCain in the election. However, as far as Prop. 8 goes, I found myself participating in a protest march in San Francisco last night. What a shameful election result...

Celluloid #23

In Theatres

Tell No One was playing at my local cheapie-theater, and as an after-Halloween respite, I have to say that this film hit the spot. Essentially a French murder mystery about a man who gets wrongly accused of his wife's death. Eight years after her demise he also begins receiving emails that seem that they are from his wife. In typical thriller style, the story takes many twists and turns before its resolution. My roommate appreciated that the pedophile character in the film was a "regular" child molester rather than the usual strictly gay portrayal. In addition, a lesbian relationship in the film is interestingly not even mentioned, much less harped upon...it's amazing (and somewhat embarrassing) that in this present era that this film's handling of homosexual characters and relationships seems positively progressive. I would also like to mention that the wife, played by Marie-Josee Croze is quite lovely once again and basically all of the acting performances were well done. My only minor complaint was the use of popular songs. The regular instrumental score fits well, but the Jeff Buckley song accompanied by a sappy photo montage was nearly cringe-worthy, and the later U2 song just seemed awkward...not usually worth mentioning, but the film did win awards for its music. 4/5

In Home

Alien (1979) Scott - Classic sci-fi film about a crew that lands on a hostile planet with aliens that use humans as hosts for reproduction. I had never seen this film before, but I have to say that 30 years since its release, the story and the special effects hold up very well. It seemed very similar in tone and style to Scott's other classic, Blade Runner. 4.5/5

Belle de Jour (1967) Bunuel - Severine has graphic dream of abuse and sexual transgression, but in real life she is demure and rarely has sex with her attractive husband. That is...until she starts working at a whorehouse out of curiosity. 3.5/5

House if Games (1987) Mamet - A psychologists tries to help one of her patients with a gambling problem by visiting the men he owes money to. They are professional con-men and she almost gets conned, but realizes before it's too late. There is also an obvious chemistry between her and one of the men and the connection that they are both interested in human nature; one studies it in order to help people deal with their issues while the other studies it in order to take advantage. Downward spirals ensue. Acting seems weird and off. 3.5/5

Le Cercle Rouge (1970) Melville - I have the biggest crush on Alain Delon, and even with the weird moustache in this film, the guy is still undeniably attractive. He's a recently released convict who pairs up with an escaped felon and a cracked-out former cop to perform a jewelry heist. Similar to Le Samourai in that both films are of the crime genre and have many scenes in a night club, but this feels much more like a gritty 1970s film with a cool jazzy soundtrack. The only drawback is that the actual heist scene is so dark that it's really hard to tell what is going on. 4/5

In News

Film happenings take a backseat...It's Election Day! Probably the most important election of our generation...and I'm really hoping that I don't cry tonight (or that Oakland begins rioting). Here's hoping that Obama becomes our chief executive and that California doesn't embarrass itself by passing the bigoted, discriminatory Prop. 8

Celluloid #22

In Theatre

On Saturday, I had some free time during the day and had previously discovered that the Parkway Theater has $3 matinees on the weekends. Sukiyaki Western Django was playing and I had seen a preview for it before some other movie. It looked like it would be dumb fun. Miike is pretty great at providing gory, silly entertainment, however, I've either seen too many of his films by now or he really is dialing it in this time around. There are a lot of fight scenes, but nothing very shocking or laughable happens. Basically, this film is lacking in "fun" almost all together. Quentin Tarantino is super obnoxious and every time he was on screen it just made me really angry (not that he is in the film very much). If you are interested, the plot is a retelling of "The War of the Roses" and as the theme of feuding clans comes up very often in Japanese samurai films, so it doesn't seem completely out of left field. 2/5

In Home

All Things Fair (1995) Widerberg - A teacher and her high school student begin an intimate affair. WW2 is raging in other parts of Europe, but this is Sweden and things are relatively calm. The students eventually becomes bored with having sex with his teacher and starts to pursue one of his peers. She reacts very badly...4/5

Away From Her (2007) Polley - A woman has Alzheimer's and forces her husband to place her in a nursing home. While institutionalized, she strikes up an affectionate relationship with another patient, causing deep distress to her husband. A depressing but beautifully shot portrait of enduring suffering. 4/5

the Band's Visit (2007) Kolirin - A simple story of an Egyptian police band getting lost on the way to a show in Israel and being taken in by the kind locals. The film is also a slice of life type of story about small towns, incorporating the universal aspect of music and dying traditions. I found the scenes in the rollerskating rink really enjoyable. 4.5/5

Blood Brothers (2007) Tan - Jon and I wandered around Blockbuster looking for a film to kill some time and saw John Woo's name all over the case of this DVD. However, we were tricked. This is not a Woo film! Instead we were presented with a Disney-feeling, sappy, sentimental story about three friends who leave their small town for Shanghai, where they get mixed up in less than savory business. Everything is super polished and the music is out of control emotionally manipulative, all though I couldn't get over my frustration to even muster up any emotional connection and instead fell asleep. 1/5

Magnum Force (1973) Eastwood - As the part 3 installment of "Retarded Movie Night", I think Magnum Force was the least "retarded" film so far. I haven't seen Dirty Harry but this sequel has its moments. A group of rebel cops are taking justice into their own hands by murdering people who have escaped conviction. It watches a lot like a blaxploitation film with hardly any black people, even if it is presenting a conservative agenda. Harry Callahan is a badass, and everything was fine and entertaining until the very last scenes when a lackluster motorcycle chase seemingly derails the film. 3.5/5

Night Porter (1974) Cavani - A former Nazi and a former concentration camp victim meet again after 12 years. The former Nazi works at a hotel and is in the process of having his name cleared at a trial. The woman had previously suffered sexual abuse and torture at his hands, yet she embarks upon a sexually transgressive relationship with her tormentor. While there may be a fine line between terror and eroticism, and this film is purposely ridiculous, I just couldn't go along with it. A portrayal of S & M under different circumstances would have been fine with me, but in this case seems so unbelievable and therefore difficult to find anything to connect with in the film. 3/5

the Ossuary (1964 -1989) Svankmajer - A really cool collection of shorts, mostly of the stop-motion animation variety and some experimental documentaries. The title film, "Darkness Light Darkness", and the first film which has "Trick" in the title were among my favorites. Not everything is great on here (I wasn't too into the "Don Juan" half hour), but the style is still so bizarre and interesting to watch. I love the Czech! 4/5

Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) Hellman - This film has a lot of potential: released on Criterion, 1970s road exploitation film, starring both musicians James Taylor and one of the Beach Boys. I was pretty disappointed and honestly found the film on the boring side...it's supposed to be a race across country and it's really not, but it's not much of anything else either. 3/5

In News

*A little while back it had been announced that Tim Burton will be working on an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. If Burton wasn't guarantee enough that the film would be pretty weird, he's casted Crispin Glover to play the Mad Hatter...

* Saxon sent me a email today that I don't completely understand, but apparently a musical version of Fellini's 8 1/2 called Nine is being adapted to film...and Daniel Day Lewis will be playing some part in it