Celluloid #143

In Home


the Arbor (2011) Barnard - Experimental documentary about the playwright Andrea Dunbar. She grew up in England's version of the projects and had her first play published at the age of 15. All of her plays were based on autobiography and observations from the neighborhood. Her life was sad and full of poverty. She struggled with alcoholism and mothered three children, each with a different father, none of which she took particularly good care of. This movie is unique for the interview style where actors lip synch the actual recorded interviews of friends and family. Sounds like it could be gimmicky, but actually works quite well in this story. 4.5/5

Dirty Harry (1971) Siegel - Harry Callahan is a San Francisco cop trying to stop the Scorpio Killer. This movie is stylish and totally effective as an over-the-top action flicks where we get to see crazy criminals get what's coming to them . There's also a laughable conservative undercurrent, especially obvious when Harry manages to catch Scorpio, only to have him released because he did not follow proper protocol. I think we are supposed to be outraged by liberal concern for due process and civil rights...in any case, while my politics weren't swayed, I was completely into this. 4/5

Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Ray - Classic teenage derelict film, but surprisingly tame. (It's possible that I'm just not calibrating correctly for 1955). Jim is new in town and doesn't have any friends. He drinks some and gets into fights primarily as a form of rebellion against his wealthy parents. He has a crush on the neighbor girl, but her boyfriend is a douchebag and Jim gets into a knife fight with him. Unable to finish their fight, they decide to meet up later for a game of chicken, which ends disastrously for the douche. The girl seems to get over things remarkably fast, and the next thing you know, she's telling Jim she loves him. Pretty silly, but important in the history of "teen" films. 3.5/5

Celluloid #142

In Theaters


the Grey (2012) Carnahan - Liam Neeson vs. wolves. This could have been a fun man vs. nature story, but there were numerous problems: 1) Really bad dialogue. 2) Not nearly enough wolves. 3) Too much serious God-talk. All of the above could have been remedied if the film didn't take itself so seriously. Up the camp, and I would have been in. 2/5

A Separation (2011) Farhadi - The film opens with an Iranian couple filing for divorce. She wants to move to the West to give her daughter a more free life, while he wants to stay to take care of his elderly father. The clerk will not grant the divorce, so she moves into her parents' house. He is forced to hire an in-home care person to look after his father while he's at work. A series of events happen to trigger even more courthouse drama. This film is great primarily for the way each character seems like a real person, and it is easy to sympathize with just about everyone involved. A taut legal and family drama that also manages to shed a lot of light on class differences in Iran. 4/5

In Home


Miral (2010) Schnabel - Pretty forgettable film that traces Palestinian presence in current-day Israel from before and after the influx of Jews. Initially, we see a lady start a school for orphans and I guess we are supposed to see the inherent good in this culture. (PS - what is Willem Dafoe doing in this movie?) Decades pass and we see one student, Miral, grow up and become involved with a revolutionary movement. A big disappointment from a director who made one of my favorite films of 2007 - the Diving Bell and the Butterfly. 2/5

the Wave (2008) Gansel - A teacher with anarchist leanings gets assigned to teach Autocracy. Through class discussions, the students complain about discussing the Third Reich yet again, because Germany is "way beyond that." Mr. Wenger decides to conduct his own social experiment, with the Autocracy class as his guinea pigs. Unfortunately, the outcome is way too obvious, and predictable, and worst of all, preachy. 2/5

Celluloid #141

In Theaters

Haywire (2011) Soderbergh - Steven Soderbergh was impressed watching a MMA match featuring former American Gladiator, Gina Carano, to the point that he decided to make a film around her. She plays Mallory, a government agent whose boss tries to kill her, so in return she tries to kill him and anyone who gets in her way. You watch this film to see her be a badass and to rough up a bunch of dudes. Those scenes are totally delightful. The acting may not always be the best, but who cares! (There are also plenty of feminist messages to take away if interested, but the film never shoves that in your face.) This and Warrior would be a quality MMA-centered double feature. 4/5

In Home


Bellflower (2011) Glodell - This may be the bro-iest film that I have ever watched. Two dudes build flame throwers, get drunk, get in fights, and hang out with blonde girls. Woodrow and Milly meet at a bar while participating in a Fear Factor type activity and the two hit it off. We see their blossoming romance and the eventual dissolution of their relationship, which then touches off an epic downward spiral for every character in the film. This film succeeds at representing an accurate depiction of a certain SoCal subculture of gearheads, however, I don't think it succeeds much as an actual film. It often feels like an amateurish student film, and I feel like so many critics are giving it a pass because the budget was extremely low and the cars and flamethrowers are pretty cool and took forever for the two main guys to build in real-life. The director seems like a sweet guy, but this film does present a pretty low opinion of ladies that is had to shake. No recommended double feature...you should probably just watch Mad Max instead, because that's the film these guys are obviously obsessed with. 2/5

Cold Fish (2010) Sono - The Japanese do not disappoint in bringing together ultraviolence and fetishistic sex as an antidote (or signifier) of repression. Humorously, the two main male characters (Mr. Murata and Syamoto) are both fish store owners. Mr. Murata's store is much fancier and has rarer fish, but we soon find out that his wealth does not originate with the fish, but rather with his yakuza-like lifestyle. He and his wife have made many people disappear and force the timid Syamoto to become an accomplice for fear of retaliation against his bratty teenage daughter or his slutty new young wife. Ironic double feature with Finding Nemo. 3.5/5

Possession (1981) Zulawski - Super crazy film that would have you believe that Anna is demon-possessed, but based on the actions of her husband Mark, you could also make a case for his possession. There's also a gross monster involved. The last third spirals out of control (which is amazing considering how little sanity there was to begin with) into almost sheer incomprehensibility. This totally belongs in the New Cult Canon and would pair nicely with Splice for a double feature. 4/5

Celluloid #140

In Theaters


Pariah (2011) Rees - Alike is a teenager who gets straight As and wants her parents to be proud of her, but she's also a lesbian - something they are in denial about. Alike feels out of place everywhere. At home she is supposed to be a good Christian girly-girl. At the lesbian club, she isn't hard enough. She befriends a girl from church and the two strike up a connection. At every turn, we see someone hurting Alike emotionally, and sometimes physically. My only complaint is that the music and poetry are too cheesy. 4/5

In Home


Fay Grim (2006) Hartley - This is a sequel of sorts to Henry Fool. I hate that this movie is shot at a diagonal. In order to get her brother out of jail, Fay strikes up a deal with the FBI to go on a spy mission. Along the way she also finds out that her husband isn't really dead. This is a slow thriller, artsy beyond belief, and includes Hartley's signature stilted dialogue. I have loved some of his other movies, but this one didn't do it for me. 3/5

the Good Son (1993) Ruben - Mark's mom dies and his father sends him to live with an uncle and cousins for a while. Henry is basically Mark's age and initially the two seem to have a good time roughhousing and breaking windows, but over time, Henry's hijinks seem increasingly sinister. The worst part is that no one believes Mark. Henry skillfully turn the adults against Mark under the guise that he is grieving. Except for the very last two minutes of the movie, this had the best ending ever! 4/5

HappyThankYouMorePlease (2011) Radnor - This is essentially a hipster ensemble romantic comedy. Sam is cute but immature. On the way to talk to his publisher, he gets tangled up with a young black boy escaping his foster home. His friend Annie is bald, falls for the wrong guys, and has a fan in Buster Bluth.   Mary Catherine is Sam's childhood friend and she doesn't want her boyfriend Charlie to move to LA. In between Sam's adventures in babysitting, he also pursues a relationship with a local girl at a bar. He cute-schemes to get her to stay over for three days. Overall, he seems pretty annoying for dating purposes. The movie often comments on the cliches, but I can't decide if the self-reflexivity makes things better or worse. 2.5/5

the Red Shoes (1948) Powell & Pressburger - Victoria Page wants to become a famous ballet dancer. She gets picked up by a famous director, as does a young composer. Victoria gets notice for her role in the ballet called "The Red Shoes." That dance sequence is really interesting - beautiful and cool old-school special effects. Victoria also falls in love with the composer, much to the distaste of the director. He manages to separate them, but she chooses love over fame, at least initially. Tragedy ensues. 4/5

Celluloid #139

In Home


Another Earth (2011) Cahill - When Rhoda is 17, she gets accepted to MIT (for something space-related), but kills two people in a family of three in a car accident caused by her looking out the window of her car at Earth 2. After four years in jail, she works as a cleaner and seeks out the remaining man from the accident. Meanwhile, it is discovered that there is "another you" on Earth 2. Rhoda and John develop a relationship while she keeps her mistake a secret. Rhoda also wins an essay contest to go to Earth 2. 4.5/5

Our Idiot Brother (2011) Peretz - Ned might be kinda stupid, as evidenced by his getting locked up for selling weed to an officer in uniform, but his actions come from a place of kindness. He just believes in honesty and in helping people out without exploiting them. After getting out of jail, he stays with each of his three sisters - Liz, an overprotective mother of two whose jerk husband is having an affair, Miranda - a career girl trying to break into journalism, and Natalie - Brooklyn hipster living in a space with too many roommates including her lesbian girlfriend. When Ned enters their lives,his naivete initially seems to ruin things, but really just gets everything out in the open. Sounds like it could be too indie cutesy, but actually works well except for the ending. 4/5

Sleeping Beauty (2010) Breillat - Modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty, but this time the spells cause Anastasia to live as normal until the age of 6, then to sleep for 100 years and wake up as a 16 year-old. During those 100 years, she dreams about traveling around and living with a family with a boy a little older than her. Once awake she searches for the boy from her dreams and has some sexual experiences of both a hetero and homosexual persuasion. Kinda boring and pretentious in an unenjoyable way. 2/5

Strictly Ballroom (1992) Luhrmann - Super campy Australian film about ballroom dancing championships. Scott gets dumped by his partner because she doesn't appreciate his new steps, which could get them disqualified. Fran, a beginner, approaches Scott and eventually the two begin practicing in secret and incorporating moves from Fran's Spanish background. Ultimate ugly duckling story with outrageous colors. 4/5

Westworld (1973) Crichton - In the future, the general public has the opportunity to visit virtual-reality type resorts where they can act out their fantasies. The resorts are Westworld, Medieval World, and Roman World. Once in the resorts, you can sleep with whoever and shoot at people without consequence because they are really robots. However, the robots seem to be malfunctioning and turning against the humans. Totally campy. 3.5/5

Celluloid #138

In Theaters


A Dangerous Method (2011) Cronenberg - Cronenberg has moved on from the horrors of the body to the mysteries of the mind. Sabina S. comes to Dr. Jung as a patient suffering from hysteria. The root of her problem seems to be primarily sexual tied with feelings of shame and humiliation. Over the course of treating her with the "talking method" the two begin an affair. Additionally, Jung admires Freud and the two become friends, but their relationship deteriorates over time. The pacing of this film is really strange and overall it was just fine. 3/5

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011) Alfredson - The director of Let the Right One In is still exploring the theme of loyalty - this time with regards to the British Secret Service. We discover early on that there is a mole in the organization. We follow George Smiley around while he tries to figure out who defected. He's technically retired in retirement, but still has access to a lot of contacts. The film seems to to be deliberately confusing to the point that I couldn't keep the character straight. The pacing is slow and not nearly as thrillery as I would have thought, but still exciting in a smoldering way. 3.5/5

In Home


Source Code (2011) Jones - This film is essentially Groundhog's Day, but with a military element. A soldier essentially jumps time to a period 8 minutes before a train is bombed to death to try and figure out who is responsible. There is the thinnest love story and the ending is pretty bad. A disappointing follow-up to Moon. 2.5/5

2011 Round-Up!

Favorite Films Released in 2011
10. Melancholia (Von Trier)
9. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Herzog)
8. the Skin I Live In (Almodovar)
7. Take Shelter (Nichols)
6. Incendies (Villeneuve)
5. Tree of Life (Malick)
4. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Weerasethkakul)
3. Heartbeats (Dolan)
2. Drive (Refn)
1. Meek's Cutoff (Reichardt)

HMs: Weekend, Somewhere, Blue Valentine, Tabloid


5-Star Books Read in 2011 alphabetical order
Bonsai - Zambra
Ghostwritten - Mitchell
Log of the S.S. the Mrs. Unguentine - Crawford
Negative Space - Farber
the Shell Collector - Doerr
Sixty Stories - Barthelme
St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves - Russell
Stories of Breece DJ Pancake - Pancake
Subculture: the Meaning of Style - Hebidge
We're in Trouble - Coake

Best Albums
Unfortunately I think 2011 was a pretty meh year for music. I legitimately really liked Kurt Vile's Smoke Ring For My Halo and the Weeknd's mixtapes, in particular House of Balloons. Besides that, the chillwave albums by Toro y Moi (Underneath the Pines) and Washed Out (Within and Without) made the rotation from time to time. Here's hoping that next year is better, or I'll just continue my bingeing on 80s indie rock.

Singles
"Future Crimes" - Wild Flag
"Till the World Ends" - Britney Spears
"How Deep is Your Love?" - the Rapture
"212" - Azealia Banks
"Midnight City" - M83

Misc. TOP TEN
10. Grizzly Island sunset hike
9. Acoustic chillwave/Kate Bush car sing-alongs
8. Canoes/not rowboats
7. Eating Meat (feeling awake)
6. summertime DEBASER
5. Dance Central
4. Strawberry Canyon Pool
3. Roman & Corinne's Wedding
2. Family Bath
1. New Job
HM: Dominos: the game, the Whistle Stop


HAPPY NEW YEAR!