It seems you have quite a fondness for movies.

Paprika (Kon, 2007)
Admittedly, it took me three tries to make it all the way through Satoshi Kon’s animated film. I kept watching it just before bed and found myself drifting off to sleep. Not because the film is boring: the premise is interesting, and the animation is gorgeous. In fact, my tendency to fall asleep is rather indicative of how well the film succeeds at creating a dreamlike state. By way of explanation, some plot summary might be useful: a company has created a device (the DC mini) that enables psychiatric researchers to record their patients’ dreams. When the device is stolen, the thief is able to enter people’s dreams and terrorize them. As dreams and reality merge, the vivid animation makes it hard to distinguish between them, which helps you feel completely enveloped in the world of the film—an immersion that ties into the film’s commentary on the danger of denying people the freedom to dream and the parallels it establishes between dreams and film.
Rating: 3.5/5

I am Shiva the destroyer, your harbinger of doom this evening.

Rachel Getting Married (Demme, 2008)
Although it’s fairly limited in its scope—presenting the days leading up to and including the wedding of Rachel, a Ph.D. student, and Sidney—Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married establishes its small universe of dysfunction quite well. Anne Hathaway is surprisingly good (I’ve never much cared for her) as Kym—Rachel’s sister who has just gotten out of rehab to attend the wedding. The rest of the ensemble cast is decent, if fairly unremarkable. The film’s universe is littered with musicians, wedding guests, and extended family members who make a nice backdrop to the intense family drama that unfolds and nicely give us a sense of Rachel and Sidney as a couple—something that the script and acting don’t set out to do.

I’ve read a lot of reviews that lambast the film for its shaky, handheld camera work, but I thought the visual style worked well with the film’s premise. The fact that it looks like a home movie only re-inscribes our presence within the domestic sphere, making us feel like guests at the wedding who witness the awkward family fights that occur. The home movie aesthetics are even more justified by the presence of a Sidney’s cousin, a soldier home on leave who is virtually always shown wielding a handheld camera. The fact that we see him filming so often seems to suggest a link between his footage and the film itself—as if Demme’s film is actually a compilation of home movie footage shot by the characters within the film’s diegesis.

Though the visual style didn’t bother me in and of itself, the film’s flaws, for me, were in fact a product of its ability to recreate so faithfully the feeling of home movies. The footage of the wedding itself drags on a bit too long. Once again, I actually felt like a guest at the wedding: this is a testament to how well the film establishes its diegetic universe and characters, but at the same time, attending the wedding of two people you don’t know very well is quite tedious. I understand why the wedding and reception scenes are necessary: something needs to happen in between the dramatic moments, after all. But I don’t think the film would have suffered had more of these scenes ended up on the cutting room floor.

Overall, I certainly felt like I was inhabiting the world Demme created for Rachel Getting Married. At times, it’s a world I didn’t necessarily want to be a part of, but that too suggests something of its power.

Rating: 3.5/5

Can't films be therapeutic?

Waltz with Bashir (Folman, 2008)

Initially I wasn’t sure if I liked the animation style because it seemed a bit choppy. There was something disturbing and awkward about the way the images moved. (Perhaps it’s just because the opening sequence damn near terrified me.) It didn’t take long for me to change my mind about that, though. The animation brings the story to life in a way that seems appropriate to its thematic issues: just as Ari Folman’s memory of his involvement in the war in Lebanon is sporadic and incomplete, the characters move in fits and starts, stumbling through the background Folman has created for his subconscious. I love documentaries, and I’ve seen quite a few particularly interesting and personal ones already this year (Dear Zachary and My Winnipeg come to mind); perhaps this makes me more invested in the notion that film can be powerfully cathartic for those dealing with traumatic memories than most viewers. Regardless of my personal investment in the form, though, I think Waltz with Bashir stands out as a disturbing, frustrating, and gripping account of the effects of war, the fallibility of memory, and the power of film.
Rating: 4/5

ELFF Redux

I Love Trash (Brown, 2008)
I had intended to see this one at the film festival, but decided that I’d avoided work quite enough for one weekend, so I bought the DVD (which cost the same as what my roommate and I would have paid for tickets) instead. I’m still not sure what to make of it. The filmmakers—-David Brown and Greg Mann—-embark on a three-month experiment in which they attempt to live solely off of what they find dumpster diving. They move into an empty apartment with nothing but the clothes on their backs and their camera, and the space is soon filled with furniture, clothes, food, and luxuries all collected from various dumpsters. Their efforts to convince me that my fear of germs and diseases are nothing but bourgeois illusions would have gone over much better had David and Greg been a bit more likable. I realize that’s a terrible thing to say and shouldn’t be the basis of how I judge the film itself, but I found them irritating for much of the film. I wanted to hear about the practical aspects of dumpster diving (Did they talk to store owners to find out when they dump their unsellable food? What criteria did they use to determine what they’d take and what might not be safe?), and I wanted to see more of what they’d done with it (Greg was so excited to find paint that I wanted to know what he painted!). Alas, much of their footage consisted of repetitive shots of them taking food out of the dumpster or lying on the floor of the apartment. This repetition made a fairly short film feel like it dragged on far too long, despite its interesting premise.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Film Characters

A film meme, lifted from Antagony & Ecstasy. Check his list out there at: http://antagonie.blogspot.com/

1) Name 10 film characters that are your favorite and explain why. We aren't talking about the actor who played them. Hamlet, Sherlock Holmes or Bond may be your favorite filmic sight on screen but you may hate the Mel Gibsons, Basil Rathbones or George Lazenbys who've played them. Of course no one's stopping you from mentioning your favorite players if you like.

2) Tag 5 more film bloggers when you're done, e-mail them, let 'em in on it, link back.

3) Read their posts and enjoy!

I've listed mine in chronological order:

1. Little Caesar (Rico),Little Caesar (1931): I had a tough time choosing a representative of the gangster genre for this list. I could just as easily slot Scarface’s (1932) Tony Camonte or Tommy Powers from The Public Enemy (1931) in here. But I love Edward G. Robinson’s naked ambition as Rico, and his death scene is one of the most memorable moments of any gangster film I’ve seen.

2. Peggy Sawyer, 42nd Street (1933): I’m cheating a bit here: truthfully, I just wanted a Ruby Keeler character on the list because she’s both memorable and typical of the chorus girl figure in early musicals. And what better Keeler chorine to pick than Peggy Sawyer? After all, she went out there a youngster, but she came back a star!

3. Joel Cairo, The Maltese Falcon (1941): You may say that Sam Spade is the more memorable character from Huston’s classic film, and you’re probably right. But I find Peter Lorre freakishly captivating (or captivatingly freakish) in every scene he’s in here. He is simply outstanding as the evil gay!

4. Phyllis Dietrichson, Double Indemnity (1944): The blogger that I stole this meme from beat me to this one, but Phyllis Dietrichson bears repeating. Double Indemnity is one of my all-time favorite films, and Phyllis defines femme fatale in it. She captivates with the simple allure of an anklet and constantly draws you in even though you know she’s deadly. “Suppose I let you off with a warning this time…”

5. Norman Bates, Psycho (1960): I tried to narrow myself to one Hitchcock character, which was quite a struggle. Ultimately, I went with Norman Bates primarily for his influence on later films and his deep psychological issues. But a few other characters from Hitchcock’s universe will always draw a powerful response from me. Lars Thorwald from Rear Window (1954) is one of them. In fact, I considered both L.B. Jeffries and Lisa Fremont, from the same film, for the list. But my own intense voyeuristic desire to see what was going on in Thorwald’s apartment elevates him above the other two. I also contemplated the merry widow murderer himself—Uncle Charlie from Shadow of a Doubt (1943): when he looks directly into the camera during the dinner scene, I still jump in my seat a bit.

6. Ellen Ripley: Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992),Alien: Resurrection (1997): Ripley is probably the most badass female character of all time, whether she’s facing down giant alien queens (“get away from her, you bitch!”) or sacrificing herself (and the alien inside her) to a pit of molten lava in a gesture both maternal and Christlike.

7.Carl Spackler, Caddyshack (1980): I love Caddyshack, and it’s filled with hilarious characters that stick with you and really come alive. Carl Spackler stands out among them. He has some of the funniest lines in this (or any comedy) film, and Bill Murray delivers them with impeccable timing and physicality.

8. Jeff Spicoli, Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982): “Mr. Hand, will I make the list… Gee, Mr. Spicoli, I don’t know!” There were a lot of great characters in the 80s, but Spicoli remains one of my favorites, even if his type is now my nemesis in the classroom.

9. Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Silence of the Lambs (1991), Hannibal (2001), Red Dragon (2002): I’m not even sure how to begin explaining this choice, as it seems impossible to leave Dr. Lecter off of such a list. Granted, I was 10 whenSilence of the Lambs came out, and saw the film at a fairly young age, making Hannibal the Cannibal one of the most terrifying—and appealing—serial killers I’ve ever encountered. I’ve always been fascinated by him and longed to meet him—though I would probably run screaming from the room should such an event have occurred.

10. Rob Gordon,High Fidelity (2000): Let’s not kid ourselves, Rob makes the list because he hits just a little too close to home—obsessive, neurotic, snobby, geeky… I’ll stop there. Though I love John Cusack in almost everything he’s done, this will always be my favorite character of his. All too often I’ve wished Rob Gordon were real and would make me a mix tape…

Honorable Mention: Though he hasn’t been able to stand the test of time yet, one recent character that I believe will stick with me for quite a while is Randy “The Ram” Robinson, The Wrestler (2008). As the heart and soul of a moving and memorable film, The Ram has potential staying power, and will likely be tugging at my heartstrings for a few years at least.

Appetizers

Very brief synopses of the short films I saw at ELFF. Each of these played before one of the main features.

Even in My Dreams (Alves, 2008)
(played with The Edge of Heaven)
This short elicits your sympathy for an old widower who, after seeing (and purchasing) an erotic doll, struggles to regain the pleasure it initially brought him in a dream. Rating: 5/5

For A Few Marbles More(Hufen, 2006)
(played with My Winnipeg)
When a group of children are kicked out of their playground by two drunken adults, they recruit a local bully to help them get revenge. This short was funny and memorable, and I’d love to see more by Dutch director Jelmar Hufen. Rating: 5/5

Hungry God (Gokhale, 2008)
(played with The Pool)
A young Indian boy goes begging for food dressed as the god Shiva; he is dismayed to find that a statue of the god gets more offerings than he does. Simple and effective, with some beautifully composed shots. Rating: 4/5

Compact Only (Green, 2008)
(played with Trouble the Water)
The premise, which will sound familiar to Seinfeld fans, is that a man can’t get food delivered to his address, so he waits in his car in the parking lot of a shopping center across the street. While he eats, he witnesses a series of bizarre occurrences that seem both blatantly ridiculous and quite likely to occur in your average mall parking lot on any given day. Rating: 3.5/5

La Tuerca (Martinez, 2007)
(played with Treeless Mountain)
A bit reminiscent of Pan’s Labyrinth, but only because it’s a Spanish film about a little girl who, in the face of overwhelming discouragement from an adult, retreats into a world of magic. Rating: 3/5

ELFF, Day 2

Treeless Mountain (Kim, 2008)
So Yong Kim’s Treeless Mountain takes the problems of children quite seriously. Granted, they are fairly unusual problems: when their mother leaves town, sisters Jin and Bin are sent to live with their aunt—a woman who lacks the motherly affection and ability to provide for them. As Jin and Bin cope with the bleakness of their situation, they rapidly mature, doing all they can to bring their mother home. With a fairly minimalist style, the film beautifully captures both the loss of childhood innocence and the simplicity of childhood fantasy. I was especially struck by the claustrophobia of the extreme close-up shots of people’s faces as contrasted with the very open landscape shots. The story and style are simple yet powerful. An amazing and beautiful film.
Rating: 5/5


My Winnipeg (Maddin, 2007)
Surrealism tends to distance viewers rather than draw them into the film. I’m not against such distancing, and it can certainly be enjoyable, but it’s not usually so much fun. Guy Maddin’s surrealist documentary My Winnipeg, however, is just that—sheer fun. Maddin endeavors to explain what makes it so difficult for people to escape from his hometown of Winnipeg. In order to explore the lasting effects the city has had on him personally, Maddin hires actors (and his mother) to re-create memorable scenes from his childhood so that he can study them in the hopes of understanding why they stand out in his memory. The film is intensely personal and yet entirely universal in its treatment of childhood and nostalgia. This was the first of Maddin’s films that I’ve seen, and it’s a testament to how much I enjoyed it that I immediately went home and added the rest of his films to my Netflix queue.
Rating: 5/5

The Edge of Heaven (Akin, 2007)
The situations and plot are obviously quite contrived, but the characters are interesting enough that the film doesn’t feel overly forced. In fact, the first two of its three main sections begin by announcing the death of a character, yet these deaths are still startling and saddening. The characters feel utterly real, and the film succeeds at making viewers understand them and to some degree sympathize with them, even when we don’t want to. I felt completely drawn in if only because I wanted to know what each character would do next and how he/she would handle the latest devastating obstacle. Though the pacing is a bit slow, for the most part this works to showcase the characters and give us more time to get to know them. The Edge of Heaven is a solid and alluring film, and a good way to close out an incredible day of film-viewing.
Rating: 4/5

East Lansing Film Festival (ELFF), Day 1

Trouble the Water (Deal and Lessin, 2008)
If you’ve been avoiding this one because it’s a documentary about Katrina and therefore serious and depressing, I feel sorry for you. Of course, I feel sorry for anyone who doesn’t think documentaries can be entertaining and fun, but that’s neither here nor there. Trouble the Water is both serious and entertaining. Most of the footage is shot by aspiring rap artist Kimberly Rivers Roberts and her husband Scott, who survived Katrina by hunkering down in their attic with their extended family members. Kim introduces us to her neighborhood in the 9th Ward with a humorous and confident outlook tinged with uncertainty: she assures us that they’ll all come out of the hurricane okay because they have no choice—no transportation out of the city. Laughing and filming in the face of the disaster, Kim’s attitude won me over early in the film and (to employ an empty and over-used phrase) gave the tragedy a human face. The courage and compassion shown by Kim, Scott, and their family throughout the film provided a moving account of true heroism. As much as the film critiques the government and military for their failure to act both before and after the hurricane, it also left me with the feeling that we’re looking in the wrong places for help. Trouble the Water is a powerful example of the strength of community organizers and the resilience of communities. This film was a great way to kick off my film festival experience.

Rating: 4/5


The Pool (Smith, 2007)
I have the sense that I might have enjoyed this film more if I hadn’t been exhausted from a long day of teaching and emotionally drained from seeing Trouble the Water. It didn’t help that the seats in Wells Hall are anything but comfortable. So I think it’ll take a second viewing before I can really give this an accurate rating. That said, I did rather enjoy the film. Although I felt that it lagged in places, I suspect this was due to the circumstances in which I was seeing it, rather than the film’s pacing and flow, which work to introduce us to its characters and their world. The friendship between Venkatesh, a boy working in a hotel in Goa, India, and Jhangir, who works in a restaurant, is allowed to unfold quite naturally. While the slow pace initially built up my suspense as to why Venkatesh was so obsessed with the pool of a nearby house, eventually I no longer cared why the titular object was so important because I was so drawn into the relationships surrounding it. Though The Pool offers a relatively simple story, these relationships seem quite deep and moving.

Rating: 3.5/5

It doesn't take a genius to see the world has problems

Watchmen (Snyder, 2009)

To get right to the point, I thought the film was over-stylized, and the acting was uneven. Zack Snyder is overly obsessed with speed ramping, which works in several instances, but quickly becomes tedious and distracting. Instead of using the technique to add emphasis in particular places, to shift our attention to something, or to heighten intensity, Snyder changes the pace frequently and seemingly without purpose. I seem to be one of the few people who was put off by this as early as the opening scene with The Comedian. Snyder’s insistence on constantly speeding the action up and slowing it down also has the effect of making every action sequence look the same, so that midway through the film they became rather uninteresting, and I simply wanted to get on with the story.

The story does unfold well, and Snyder manages to work in quite a bit from the graphic novel in a way that, I think, would make sense to viewers who hadn’t read it. The opening credit sequence, which quickly brings viewers up to speed on the alternate universe that the characters inhabit, is excellent. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the best moments in the film.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan was so good as The Comedian that I rather wished the graphic novel hadn’t opened with his death. Jackie Earle Haley was outstanding as Rorschach, and he’s probably the reason that I did (mostly) enjoy the film. I was worried about how well Rorschach’s stilted speech patterns would hold up on screen, and Snyder’s faithfulness to the original writing could have been disastrous here; fortunately, Haley brought the writing to life and was utterly convincing in the role. The same cannot be said for Malin Akerman, who was exceedingly awkward in the role of Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II. Unfortunately, quite a bit of the story involves scenes between Laurie and Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl II (played by Patrick Wilson), and those scenes were awful. They were so bad that they took me entirely out of the story and its diegesis; it was all I could do not to laugh out loud during some of their particularly forced scenes. While Akerman’s later scenes with Dr. Manhattan (played by Billy Crudup) were significantly better, at that point I no longer cared about (or for) Laurie: a complex, if somewhat minor, character from the graphic novel was rendered flat and unremarkable on film.

On the whole, Watchmen had entertaining and striking moments, but there were too many stiff and uninteresting moments in between them. Though the fanboys may have protested, I think the film would have been improved quite a bit had Snyder opted to leave out some of the events from the graphic novel and focus on a select few plotlines.

Rating: 3/5

Spring Break Movie Binge

What I watched on my spring break...
Monday:

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (Smith, 2008): I liked the earlier film The Amateurs (Traeger, 2003), which has the same basic premise but an older cast, much better than this one. Somehow the story seemed more believable, and the side storylines were better developed throughout. Once the romance plotline of Zack and Miri comes to a conclusion at the end, the plotline involving the porno and the other characters pretty much drops out. We don’t get detailed characterizations of the supporting characters, leaving the whole plot feeling like a rather awkward vehicle for a typical romcom plot. This is a shame because Rogen and Banks just aren’t that funny in the title roles. In fact, I was left wishing that Justin Long’s character had a more sustained role to play, as he was the funniest one. Rating: 2.5/5


Lars and the Real Girl (Gillespie, 2007): I can’t really describe what I felt was missing from this film, but I was left with the feeling that it had great potential and didn’t quite live up to it. There were some solid performances, the premise is fairly interesting, it didn’t devolve into absurdity, but it didn’t stand out much either. Solidly acted and constructed, but not all that compelling. Rating: 3.5/5


Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son about His Father (Kuenne, 2008): The filmmaker sets out to make a documentary about his friend Andrew, who was murdered by his ex-girlfriend Shirley. While Kurt is in the process of filming, Shirley flees to Canada, avoiding arrest for the murder. As the extradition process drags on, Shirley announces that she is pregnant with Andrew’s child. At this point, Kurt decides to make the film a letter to the unborn Zachary so that he will have something to know his father by when he grows up. That’s as much as I knew about the plot going into it, having refused to read more detailed reviews: Kurt keeps aspects of the story hidden until the end, and I suggest you don’t read about them. The way information is revealed is part of the power of this film, which makes you work through the stages of grief with Andrew’s family and friends. With no pretense of objectivity, this is the most emotionally intense movie I’ve seen in quite a while. You should see it, but only if you're willing to surrender a few hours to raw emotions. Emotions aside, I thought it was fairly well done. I liked Kuenne’s style of editing and use of home movie footage. The style is over-the-top, but so is the situation, and thus I thought it worked well. Rating: 4/5


Man on Wire
(Marsh, 2008): After 15 minutes or so, I considered turning the film off. The black and white re-enactments seemed heavy-handed and distracting, and I scoffed at the film’s attempt to turn its key event—a man walking a wire strung between the towers of the WTC—into a thriller. But it did work as a bit of a thriller by the end. The suspense that captured my attention, though, didn’t come from wondering whether or not Philippe Petit and his crew would succeed (for they clearly did) or whether or not he would fall (he obviously didn’t), but from wondering just how Petit (who comes across as a bit of a playful yet arrogant bastard) convinced so many people to help with the endeavor. Why were so many people willing to help Petit achieve his bizarre goal? Where did they get the time and money required for the equipment and the several trips across the Atlantic? The film doesn’t fully answer these questions, but it did leave me with one more: Where do any of us get the drive, motivation, time and nerve to pursue our goals? Rating: 4/5

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (Gordon, 2007): Deceit, treachery, injustice—the world of competitive video gaming is filled with outrageous scandal. Or so The King of Kong would have us believe. Indeed, the film succeeds so well in exaggerating the drama of rivalry that I absolutely hate Billy Mitchell—the world Donkey Kong champion and “villain” of Gordon’s documentary. This is not to say that I unconditionally rooted for Steve Wiebe, the film’s “hero,” as he challenged Mitchell for the world record either. In fact, some of the most poignant moments of the film, I thought, were critiques leveled at the competitive gaming culture by Wiebe’s own children. Wiebe’s daughter remarks that she didn’t realize the Guinness Book of World Records was such a big deal, and he tells her that “a lot of people read that book.” Her response critiques the seriousness with which the film has us treat its subjects: “A lot of people ruin their lives trying to get into it too.” Even as the film critiques its subjects, though, we can’t seem to shake our investment in the dramas of gaming culture. When it comes down to it, it’s fun to submerge ourselves in that drama. So much so that after the film, I checked the Donkey Kong records on Twin Galaxies and was quite dismayed to see the title back under Mitchell’s name. Damn you, Kong! Rating: 3.5/5

Thursday/Friday – Foreign Films:

Withnail & I (Robinson, 1987)
Country: UK
Convinced by his roommate that they need to escape from their apartment—and the drug-induced ennui that goes with it—Withnail asks his Uncle Monty if they can stay in his cabin in the country for a while, but doesn’t realize that Monty will be dropping by unexpectedly. Will Marwood escape the clutches of Monty—a “raving homosexual”? Or will the Jake the poacher murder them all as they sleep? Watch as hilarity ensues. Thanks for the recommendation, Julia! Rating: 4/5

Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)
Country: Hong Kong
I finally got around to seeing this, and it’s simply beautiful. I’m not sure how to explain the beauty of this movie, but if you enjoy the visual and kinetic aspects of film (and aren’t too turned off by somewhat incoherent narratives), you should see it. My three favorite shots are: the pager clipped to the fence, the model airplane resting on the woman’s shoulder, and the flip-flop floating in the water. Out of context these probably don’t sound very enticing, and I’m likely not doing a good job of convincing you to see the film. But the film moves at such a rapid pace that when it slows down for a bit and lingers on a shot, it nearly takes your breath away. Rating: 4.5/5



4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (Mungiu, 2007):
Country: Romania
The story is simple, and the style minimalist, leaving viewers trapped in the dark mise-en-scene and unrelenting long takes to experience the horrors of life in Communist Romania along with the film’s two central characters—Gabita, a college student trying to procure an illegal and quite dangerous abortion, and her roommate Otilia, who takes care of all the gory details. If this sounds stark and depressing, it is, but in a very powerful and moving way. I wanted to be trapped in the world Mungiu creates longer and was disappointed when it ended. Rating: 4.5/5

I'm Harvey Milk, and I'm here to recruit you

Milk (Van Sant, 2008)
I walked into this one with trepidation: I tend to loathe bio-pics and am usually disappointed by movies marketed with a GLBT label. What could be more painfully trite and formulaic than a gay bio-pic? I’d like to say that Milk exceeded my expectations on both accounts; alas, it did not. While Sean Penn was pretty magnificent in the role of Harvey Milk, the film seemed to conspire at every turn to minimize the effects of his performance. The dialogue was often awkward and unwieldy, and I thought the strongest moments were when Penn wasn’t speaking, but reacting to something while framed in a close-up shot. I also rather like Emile Hirsch as Cleve and would’ve liked more of his story. One fault of the bio-pic formula, in my opinion, is that the world surrounding the main character is too limited in scope: we’re really only able to care for many of the characters as they affect the story of Harvey Milk (or whoever the subject of the biography is), which makes the whole endeavor feel rather false. On the whole, though, the film was slightly better than I expected: it was a rather good bio-pic, but didn’t break out of that formula enough for me to consider it a rather good film.

Rating: 3/5