Tuesday Night

A deadline for Instant Netflix viewing was approaching for one 2009 WIFF selection... and that was the movie I saw this past week.

LION'S DEN (2008)

This film sets up an very compelling situation which is almost, in and of itself, fascinating enough to watch exist regardless of the whatever kind of narrative or plot exists. There's a special block of a women's prison for pregnant women, who are then allowed to raise their children in their cells until the kids turn 4 years old. These cells are decorated like children's rooms and the kids run around playing like there is nothing different from their play area as any other. The bonds between the inmates are explored and the main character goes through some struggles. Over time this movie drags with a lack of a narrative with gravitas, as the oddness of the situation subsides and the mother-offspring instincts are expressed a little too obviously. As an expression of something I've never seen on film before (and isn't that what makes up for even the weakest of film festival fare?) it succeeded.

I always want to watch more, especially on a cold weekend where I stayed away from day trips to Chicago, but that's it.

Irregularly Scheduled Tuesday report

Hey there:

With a vacation schedule, available movie watching chunks go by the wayside (as well as access to my nice TV, one of the few things I miss while on vacation).

So here's a Wednesday movie report...

THREE MONKEYS (2008)

A Turkish film whose deadline for availability on Netflix Instant fast approached, I watched this the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. And like Lake Tahoe it awards patience and the appreciation of a steady pace, although there are definitely more cinematic vistas that are highlighted in this movie, that seem to replace most dialogue in suggesting the tension between the three main characters. I still did find this compelling enough to recommend as a gateway into artsy foreign films.

BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOUR DEAD (2007)

Available via Comcast On Demand at my parent's house, this is one bleak film. It's pretty much an incredibly downward spiral from the botched heist that begins the movie, and I am a little tired of movies that inflict dire consequences on people for deciding to go morally astray through criminal activity. But this is fairly invigorating to watch because of the performances (although I'm sick of Philip Seymour Hoffman always mumbling) that include a non-irritating Ethan Hawke! Additionally the mixed up chronology is incredibly exciting, as scenes are repeated and revisited again to both offer deeper context and a reminder of the horrible situation this characters have put themselves in. This movie dares to double punch you in the gut with devastation, but in a tastefully directed way.

CLOCKERS (1995)

Watched this in fragments via Comcast OnDemand, as different things were going on around my parent's house. Very stylized movie at the peak of Spike Lee's powers (let's see, I've seen Do the Right Thing, Crooklyn, Summer of Sam, and this one), I know for sure this movie was inventive for its time, but between all the expressions of drug dealer amorality and ghetto life that I've seen since this movie was made (most recently the miniseries The Corner) I don't see much new here. Of course, the kind of free flowing directing improvisation and style mix-ups that I remember in the other Spike Lee movies make this stand out despite the subject matter, and the ending offers as ambiguous sense of hope as the best of them.

Tuesday, 3 weeks later

It's been a while... here we go... 5 new movies watched since last time.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)

A Halloween weekend, option, available for free with Cable On-Demand. I was hoping that I would be truly frightened by this... scared in the type of way films let you imagine the horror rather than rub your face in blood and guts. But maybe the violence I've seen has been so sensationalized and common that the low-budget and drawn out scenes didn't do a whole lot for me, although I can respect the ambition. I think I read somewhere that there were some parallels between this movie and the late 1960s Vietnam-era anxiety that I missed. But it is a classic that I'm glad I saw.

DUE DATE (2010)

Well, I was in Chicago the weekend I saw this, and even my tasteful friends, in a City with great culture and many cinematic options, want to see crowd-pleasers like this. I was fine with me, even though nothing turns me away in general that a road movie plot... just because road movies have a pattern I have grown bored with. However, this was fairly entertaining, and I give a lot of credit to the acting of the two main characters. First of all, Robert Downer Jr. has made every mainstream movie I've seen better with the ticks and twitches of his performances, and he adds depth to a character that, played by anyone else, would be extremely one-note... because in addition to this being a road movie, it's also part of an overlapping genre of movies that are basically guy-runs-into-complete-lunatic-who-ruins-life-and-said-guy-gets-very-angry-before-realizing-that-lunatic-has-redeemable-qualities. Downey doesn't just scream at Zach Galafanakis the whole time, but sometimes tolerates him, abuses him, consoles him, etc. Anyway, I went along with my buddies to see this (and gave them a ride since I was the only one with a car) and it was all right.

THE WAY WE GET BY (2009)

A 2008 WIFF selection, this was available only through last Friday via Netflix Instant, so it went to the top of my list. Appropriately I was enjoying my day off on this Veteran's Day holiday, and this is just about the best non-partisan film tribute to veteran's imaginable. These elderly New Englanders, despite varied opinions on the wisdom of Bush's war decisions, get up at all hours to greet returning troops flying into the Bangor, Maine airport. So powerful, yet it was too bad that I felt the movie drag along. There was usually a pattern of hearing these people and the soldiers talk about the sacrifices of service, then some powerful backstories of these greeters and then it started back up again without much narrative driving the thing. Just my impression... this was a story worth telling regardless.

LAKE TAHOE (2008)

A 2009 WIFF selection available via Netflix Instant. I purchased an iPhone in August, and I'm questioning my true ability to focus my attention on 90-120 minute motion pictures when I am constantly tempted to play with my phone, and even look up the movie I'm watching on IMDB. Unfortunately, this film encouraged fidgeting with my gadget, the ADD-addled temptation being encouraged by a very minimalist film, even by independent cinema standards. Sadly, the one dramatic force that might have made this film more substantial was spoiled for me as a glanced at the IMDB summary too much, during one of the many early slow scenes. It was still pretty good, but maybe hypersensory film experiences aren't always shallow and bad.

THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGOISIE (1972)

A movie (selected because of it's status as a Criterion selection) that probably has satirical elements very much of its time, but still entertaining visually, especially if you know it's supposed to be a surreal film. I probably need to read a whole volume of film criticism to understand this, but I think the element I could pick up was that there were scenes that turned out to be dreams, and others that were supposed to be kind of absurd exaggerations of upper-class behavior, and one couldn't really tell the different until one of the characters "wakes up" from one scene. It's supposed to be a real film classic, but I really couldn't understand it.

Quite a handful of movies, huh?

TUESDAY

LA VIE EN ROSE (2007)

So I provided the only follower of this blog with a list of 5 movies, selected randomly from my 266+ films available from Netflix Instant, and asked him to choose one for me to watch, but he must have thought that was stupid. No bother, I decided to go for the Oscar-winning performance of Marion Cotilard, even though bio-pics make me weary, especially with the running time of over 2 hours. Biopics, understandably, are focused on the life of a single person, and if you're not completely interested in that person (Frank Zappa biopic NOW please) it can be disengaging. From a single Youtube someone through on a blog somewhere of Edith Pfiaf performing, I was intrigued by finding out more to this person. Reviewing a wikipedia bio, it seems like her life was indeed so complex and fascinating that it couldn't all be filmed. Nonetheless, the story is non-linear and there's some very creative direction to represent fuzzy memories and fantasy and grief. Couldn't say those elements held my attention alone, but the performance was indeed incredible.

With spooky season coming up, I might dial up some horror movies.

Weekly Update (Tuesday/Wednesday) whatever

JAWS (1975)

The legendary film which I never saw all the way through, and for free (ignoring cable fees) on HD On Demand!

As good as I expected. If every blockbuster was like this I wouldn't be a film snob. Some refreshing surprises... the naturalistic dialogue more appropriate for a Robert Altman film... the fleshed out characters that you want to spend time with and make up for the very rare appearances of the actual shark... and the drawn out final act with a monologue from Quint that puts all monster movies that go for cheap thrills into perspective.

Thinking about what this movie would be like with CGI sickens me.

Steve Speilberg... I should check this director out (sorry).

THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY (2006)

This was not on any special must-see list of mine... it only has sat on my Netflix Instant list for a long time (#30 out of #245 or so). It did win the Cannes Palme d'Or and covered an interesting subject area...

Very realistic depiction of a brutality I wasn't that familiar with, as far as the way British soldiers treated the Irish post World War I. What was devastating about this particular movie was how it matter-of-factly presents the differences and debate that led to the bloody religious political divisions that plagued Ireland for the next 60+ years. It reminded me of a less artsy expression of the seeds of conflict than The White Ribbon cryptically presented upon my viewing of it a few months ago. Very good, very sad, but very real.

Let's see what other Palme d'Or (the top award at Cannes) have I seen...

The White Ribbon (2009)
Farenheit 9-11 (2004)
The Pianist (2002)
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Secrets & Lies (1996)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
The Mission (1986)
Taxi Driver (1976)

Movie report

THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010)


Yeah, this was a good one. The performances, the pace, and the music (co-composed by Trent Reznor) all came together perfectly, and the direction by David Fincher made a legal deliberation across a conference table seem as the most riveting thing possible to watch.

What makes this movie ALMOST legendary is that I was surprised about how little the movie focused on the impact on implications Facebook has for how we socialize. There were some very good and powerful references to this impact, included the chilling ending that is one of the most perfect thematic conclusions to a film I’ve seen in a long while. Nonetheless, the film basically examines the characters that helped create this ubiquitous application and the protracted legal battles over revenues as facebook exploded, where amounts of 50 million dollars or more are tossed around back and forth casually as if they didn’t matter. Add in a few more subtle references to how difficult it was for this main character to traditionally socialize, and how facebook became a type of solution to his issues, and subsequently all people’s modern social hangups, and this film would have struck a perfect harmony between a straightforward drama and an incisive social commentary. But what was delivered was far from a disappointment, and perhaps I’ve got my own issues with online communication that I was hoping to see addressed by this movie.

See, I try to think I’m above a marketing campaign but I was a sucker for the acclaimed trailer and the collaboration between atmospheric director David Fincher and nine inch nails guy Trent Reznor. What it implied to me was that this movie would going to hit the alienation of the online age head-on. I’ve had trouble dealing with my predilection for interacting with people online ever since I discovered AOL chat rooms circa 1995-1996. And everytime I think I’ve beaten the temptation to deal with shyness and insecurity by leaning towards my typing keys as my social instrument, a new feature comes along that tweaks the model a little bit. Unlike younger people I actually know of a world where you couldn’t communicate in YouTube clips and if you wanted to tell someone what you were reading, listening, or watching, you had to go through a few basic social interactions before you could share that knowledge. So perhaps knowing the music of Reznor and the films of Fincher from their work in the 1990s, the same time I was going through adolescence and social maturity, that their styles would be particular modern and in tune with some of the larger themes inherent in the expansion of facebook and new forms of online connectivity.

I graduated from college in the summer of 2003 and Facebook first spread through campuses that following fall. My online vices were mostly AIM and relying too much on e-mail to communicate with people I was shy around, yet fortunately the small college campus environment kept you social away from your computer. So perhaps I had a unique perspective and expectations for The Social Network. Overall it’s a story about a cutthroat business battle among kids my age, and it was very entertaining.

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Also

IN THE LOOP (2009)

Tuesday

A bonus movie update in the next day or two, since this was a longish summary.

THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED (2006)

I had heard about this documentary for a while and despite it being ancient history for a documentary (four years ago) it was available on Netflix Instant. It was rather disturbing. I remember not having a TV available to me for the first time in my life as I was subletting an apartment in Washington D.C. for a summer internship in 2002. It was also my first urban living experience, and my first experience having access to several movie theaters showcasing only independent films that, if you were lucky, might screen at a single theater in Des Moines or Oklahoma City and that’s only if a film with more mainstream buzz or a less regarded blockbuster filled up that theater slot. At that time, being in that City was the only way for me to see the rare art films that cover a realm of creative expression that has been proven over subsequent years to be SO beyond what even the most critically regarded mainstream movies can do for me. Living in Chicago began the phase II of complete immersion in cool substantial creative culture, with the added bonus of theater and oh so many indie rock shows at your doorstep. Now I’m in a continuous Phase III, as I have the resources and technology (via Netflix, Rhapsody, YouTube, and proximity to Madison, Chicago, AND Milwaukee) to see and hear so many things. Despite the efforts of the awesome video/DVD rental place that opened near the Drake campus when I was wrapping up my time there, I simply did not have access to everything I could possibly want to view. In short, I can never watch in a lifetime what is available to me now, but I can access it. That access is what really bothered me about this movie’s subject, but also gave me a more enhanced appreciation of what new forms of access mean for the future of films. This documentary covers the operations of a secretive ratings boards that, in private arbitration, determines the ratings for all motion pictures distributed in commercial theaters in the United States. The filmmaker goes about to explain why this board is so frustrating for filmmakers, because their standards for what determines PG-13, R, or NC-17 have no rhyme or reason for the most part. The few insights into their deliberations do reveal a more lenient attitude towards violence compared to depictions of sex, a higher tolerance for heterosexual behavior than homosexual activities, and a very conciliatory attitude towards larger studio films then independent films. Then to remove the veil of secrecy over this board, the director hires a private investigator to try and put some names on these faces, and also reveal the identities of the appeals board, an ever more secretive body that hears appeals from the ratings board decisions.

An NC-17 rating passed down by this board is pretty much a commercial death sentence, as many theater chains have a policy of not screening these movies whatsoever. With such high stakes on this mysterious board’s determination, you think there would be some form of accountability, some type of process or handbook where filmmakers can at least be aware of the risks of putting their complete vision on screen, regardless of vulgarity. But there isn’t and these people just do what they want and get a full-time job watching movies all day to boot.

If your passion about films, this is extremely upsetting, but if you follow politics more broadly, there is also that nagging feeling from viewing firsthand that a small group of people, unaccountable to the public, voters, elected officials, are decided what’s appropriate for you. It almost makes you completely unsympathetic to criticisms of video piracy. Of course, 99% of people sharing videos of new movies online just don’t feel like paying for a ticket to watch a movie in a theater. But if the complete body of cinematic work released in American has to be funneled through this board that has substantial indirect powers of how this movie would be distributed, then I would champion any way that imposing force can be taken out of the equation. Fortunately, I have my own patterns of film intake and access channels to the point where this ratings board can really only keep me waiting a few months before I can watch what I’m interested in. But if it’s still operating the same way as it did 5 years ago, then the new revolution of online filmmaking and non-traditional distribution of new movies can’t come sooner.