Goodbye Solo [Bahrani] / Cheri [Frears] / The Brothers Bloom [Johnson]

All '09 theatrical releases.

Goodbye Solo

directed by Ramin Bahrani

[The Immigration Experience Pt. III. I kid, as Bahrani's third feature concerning both poverty and a male, non-white protagonist is actually the most different of these, for better or for worse. More clearly influenced by the brothers Dardenne than his first two, Goodbye Solo starts after the beginning of the story, and we're left to figure out all the pieces of the plot on the run. Bahrani's mix of close-ups and medium shots work well while this is his least narratively experimental picture, it's also his best script--including two layered characters with equally layered performances from Red West & Souleymane Sy Savane. My only major complaint about the picture is its ending, as I still think Bahrani has yet to figure out how to really nail it home. The earned suspense leasing up to its closing seems bound to disappoint, but Bahrani disappoints in an entirely different way, using a lofty flight attendant metaphor that isn't really satisfying. Still, the 75 minutes preceding it are entirely impressive and enjoyable, as Bahrani continues to prove he's one of the five or so (less, maybe?) most important voices in independent cinema.]

7.5

Cheri

directed by Stephen Frears

[Frears, what the fuck? I'm no expert on your oeuvre--I haven't even seen Dangerous Liaisons, embarrassing as it is to admit--but your last film, The Queen, was incredibly controlled and smart...two qualities Cheri does not possess. From its oppressively over-the-top score to the uncommitted accents to its occasionally amateurish editing (it was recut? no way!) to your awkward, practically spontaneous narration, its hard to believe this was directed by the same fellow as The Queen, or even High Fidelity. This is not to mention the sometimes ridiculous situational comedy, which I'd already seen and shrugged off in Dirty Pretty Things (though it worked better there because of Tautou and Ejiofor). Sure, there are some great one liners via Colette, and its both pretty and brisk enough that it's never quite boring, but I can't imagine anyone being moved by its unconvincing coup de theatre. Pfeiffer's really giving her all, which is probably the saddest part. And in the end, its exploration of the psychological effects of aging pales in comparison to that of Synecdoche, NY, despite essentially talking about for 96 minutes. This fall can't be weak enough that this nabs one of the ten Best Pic nods, can it?]

4

The Brothers Bloom

directed by Rian Johnson

[Can't believe I almost let the naysayers who wrote this off as a disappointing quirkfest nearly steer me away from catching it in theaters. Year for year (as opposed to pound for pound, get it?), Rian Johnson is perhaps the most talented young American filmmaker, and The Brothers Bloom lets all of his ambition run rampant. It's hard to say whether he's a greater writer or director, as the shamelessly clever direction (including a great coital visual metaphor, among many others including some I probably missed) are only out-clevered by its metafictional, unabashedly derivative screenplay. This is a mess of a review as the film is a mess of cleverness and raw talent, although only too messy for its own good in the admittedly disappointing final act (although by then I was so hooked that it's climax could have been that it was all a dream and I'd still be happy with the final product). The actors all give fine performances--especially the women (Rachel Weisz and Rinko Kikuchi)--and they seem to be having genuine fun, while not in a way that makes it feel for the audience like being the only sober one in the room. It's nowhere near perfect, but watching such a prodigious filmmaker operate with a large budget and freedom is truly something to behold.]

8.5

Lorna's Silence [Dardennes, '09] / Timecrimes [Vigalondo, '08]

Lorna's Silence

directed by Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne

[The kind of filmmaking you'd expect from the Dardennes, except perhaps the removal of a hand-held camera from the mix, though the camera's still always moving. As in their other movies, the plot trickles to the surface and becomes apparent about halfway-in, though some of the best scenes come early between Dobroshi and Renier. Mislabeled as a thriller because of, say, ten minutes of suspense, the film ends on a surprisingly quiet note and is ultimately a little bit disappointing in its lack of poignancy that came at the end of both Rosetta and L'enfant.] 7.5

Timecrimes

directed by Nacho Vigalondo

[Fun, rather stupid low-budget time-traveling story almost overstays its welcome at 88 minutes but luckily the last act picks up the slack from the second, which is largely just about thirty minutes spent showing us how the first part was done, most of which we've already figured out by then. Cheesy score and plot devices (the "pink" bandage) appear unintentionally funny, but even so this isn't exactly Primer, so what the hell. Can't wait to see the shot-for-shot remake starring Jordana Brewster!] 5

The Cannes Report

I've been keeping up with the goings-on at Cannes for the last week and a half pretty fervently, so I figured I'd list the 20 Competition films in the order in which I'm anticipating them off of their initial reviews and word-of-mouth, as well as the films I'm most looking forward to in the sidebars and out of competition screenings.

Competition

1. Antichrist (Lars von Trier)--hated by many, but without a doubt the talk of the festival, with enough shock and shlock that it's an absolute must-see.

2. Wild Grass (Alain Resnais)--probably the most praised among the critics I read most, and apparently fucking bizarre. I can't wait.

3. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke)--pre-WWII study of a small town with Twilight Zone events happening to it. I love Haneke, and as it won the FIPRESCI prize, so did a lot of critics.

4. Enter the Void (Gaspar Noe)--probably the second most divisive film sans Antichrist, not surprisingly as Noe's Irreversible is one of the most infamous premieres in recent Cannes memory. Apparently unfinished, it's been called visually audacious and overlong.

5. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)--also divisive, also reportedly overlong, also hotly anticipated by me.

This is where things kind of tank. These five are all absolute must-sees in my mind, from here on out it's a bit more limited anticipation.

6-11 (Interest Based on Director Moreso Than Reception): Thirst, Broken Embraces, Bright Star, Face, Looking For Eric, Taking Woodstock

12-18 (Range from Very Well Received to "Meh," All From Directors I've Yet to Familiarize Myself With): A Prophet, Fish Tank, Vengeance, The Time That Remains, A L'Origine, Vincere, Kinatay

19-20 (Count Me Out):

Spring Fever, Map of the Sounds of Tokyo--both pretty much collectively rejected and not from directors I'm familiar with or all that interested in. 

This year, though, seems to have been somewhat dominated by non-competition films. Among them:

Up--the new Pixar, receiving a wide release on Friday, is getting Wall-E type buzz. Very excited.

Police, Adjective--sophomore effort from the director of 12:08 East of Bucharest is a critical favorite and apparently a must-see.

Dogtooth --Un Certain Regard winner and the highest rating from Mike D'Angelo means this is probably quite good.

I Killed My Mother--Director's Fortnight winner and critical favorite. Written, directed by and starring a 20-year old...impressive.

Tetro--the new F.F. Coppola which apparently doesn't suck too hard and has a breakthrough performance.

Mother--new Bong, nuff said.

The Imaginarium of...--new Terry Gilliam, Ledger's last performance. Mixed reviews but something I have to see just based off the names involved.

Air Doll--pretty divisive Koreeda, but very interesting nonetheless.

Agora--historical epic from Amenabar that could have been very boring and apparently is possibly pretty good. 

A few other films I've heard decent things about but not enough to mention at this point. Overall it seems a rather disappointing festival at least from the big name auteurs but it seems the fresh talent and older players managed to deliver, which is just swell. Please release Antichrist asap!

Monsoon Wedding [Nair, '01] / Star Trek [Abrams, '09]

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The Celebration [Vinterberg, '98] / Bowling For Columbine [Moore, '02]

The Celebration

directed by Thomas Vinterberg

[Dogme 1 perhaps confirmed that this new school of filmmaking could produce great films (though Trier's earlier Breaking the Waves was an early indicator of such), but the jarring editing is matched by the dread-inducing screenplay that makes you want to cover your eyes while watching more than most horror films. Which is what it is, essentially, although it's never quite clear whose the victim and whose the monster. The Danes obviously have a knack for keeping the tone precisely in between farce and seriousness, not tipping the scale until the final act.] 9

Bowling For Columbine

directed by Michael Moore

[An unsurprisingly biased argument (although less so than Sicko, perhaps) that puts Moore's mastering of the popcorn-doc on full display. It's doubtful any other director could pace the film so perfectly for two hours, including an animated 'History of America' that is at the same time ridiculous and forthright. Moore docs always result in guessing games of what's vanity and what's sincerity, but either way, it's a rather convincing investigation underneath all the garishness.] 7.5

Sunshine Cleaning [Jeffs, 2009]

Sunshine Cleaning

directed by Christine Jeffs

starring Amy Adams, Emily Blunt & Alan Arkin

Sundance '08 U.S. Theatrical '09

Not as bad as its detractors infer, nor good enough to be considered a success, Sunshine Cleaning works (somewhat) as a drama about two sisters' search for their identities, but is hindered by poorly written subplots including Alan Arkin phoning in a delusional grandpa (is that really acting..?) and an emotional climax using a set piece that would possibly work in a cute children's film...but this movie opens with a suicide and deals with far too mature subject matter to deserve such a stale a culmination.

Focusing on the good, Amy Adams is quite superb in a role that allows her to break free from the quixotic goodie-two-shoe that she's played in Enchanted and Doubt--she even gets nekkid (sort of)! It's as good a performance she's given since Junebug, and it's essential to the film's engagement of viewers. Clifton Collins Jr. adds a solid performance as a one-armed clerk who is probably the most believable character of all. Emily Blunt gets dealth a considerably weaker hand, and her storyline and climax are less momentous. She's at her best when on screen with Adams, which isn't often enough. The film is a relief in some sense because it's not as quirky as I was expecting, though the child character is by far the most irritating part of the picture, and I don't see any good reason he was given so much plot besides to arrive at the contrived emotional climax I mentioned earlier. 

Jeffs' direction isn't exactly daring, and she seems to aestheticize certain shots as if she's been studying Wes Anderson films. It's not as manipulative of color or as memorable as Little Miss Sunshine, but it's not completely forgettable either. That the film rises above other indie dramedy fare is owed mostly to Adams' fine performance and the script's refusal to shy away from darker subject matter (such as adultery and suicide).

6.0

Observe & Report [Jody Hill, 2009]

Observe & Report

directed by Jody Hill

starring Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Ray Liotta & Michael Pena

2009

How this film gained the supportive backing of a number of reputable critics, I'll never understand. Maybe it's because this is just about the most awkward, fucking strange film to get a wide release that I can think of? I described the direction of I Love You, Man to be awkward, containing plenty of dialogue that neither moves the plot forward nor garners laughter, but is kind of just there...as the camera lingers awkwardly. Observe & Report takes this kind of direction to the max, except it's rarely funny and seems to be dark for no better reason than to push the limits of mainstream dark comedy.

Glenn Kenny pretty much stole my review of the film (save for the fact that his is more insightful and better written than anything I'd have done), but I'll reiterate that this is a comedy that turns into a character study that turns into an aimless observation of a truly psychotic human being doing a lot of really stupid things. It rips a number of basic plot elements from Taxi Driver (one of my ten favorite films, ever, I might add), e.g. obsessive longing for a girl, a  disillusioned self-important protagonist, but doesn't have anything to say. Anna Faris isn't used to her potential as usual, and the wonderful man behind the camera, Tim Orr, is reduced to making (on-location) shots of the mall look as claustrophobic as possible. 

There's something going around along the lines of "just wait til the last 10 minutes!," but even the moderately shocking/well-shot ending is merely a minor highlight. This is audacious mainstream cinema, too bad its risks are for risks' sake.

4.0

Lovely & Amazing [Holofcener, 2001]

Lovely & Amazing

directed by Nicole Holofcener

starring Catherine Keener, Emily Mortimer and Brenda Blethyn

2001

Going into it with considerable optimism considering my general enjoyment of Holofcener's Friends With Money, I came out entirely disappointed. While the screenplay offers plenty of good moments for its strong female cast, it is as a whole contrived and confused about what it's attempting to portray. The picture follows three daughters (two grown white women and an adopted black pre-adolescent) as they cope with different insecurities, a trait apparently inherited from their mother, who spends most of the film in a hospital due to plastic surgery.

If Lars von Trier has to hear a lot of shit for the humiliations he puts his heroines through, it'd be unfair not to put Holofcener under the same examination. Whereas von Trier creates his female characters as sympathetic, if only out of naivety , Holofcener's characters are hard to connect with because they are either obnoxious, ignorant, or contrived. I liked all of the women in Friends With Money, despite their flaws, but even the best actress here don't come out unscathed. When an actress as witty as Catherine Keener becomes (unintentionally) downright detestable, something's wrong. She's a brat in a woman's body, and offers no connective entrance to the viewer. While Emily Mortimer's improved in recent years (Lars and the Real Girl especially), her performance here is cold. Brenda Blethyn is sporadically excellent but disappears in the second half. No doubt it could be said that we are not meant to like all imperfect characters (see: Buffalo '66), but the film hinges on it, as there are many emotional cues throughout.

While this indie women's drama is better than similar standard fare, it's full of clever moments and short on direction, both narratively and visually. I laughed more than a couple times, especially because of some of Keener's one liners, but by the last half hour, I'd lost both interest and any emotional link to the characters.

5.5

Beijing Bicycle [Xiaoshuai, 2001]

Beijing Bicycle

directed by Wang Xiaoshuai

starring Lin Cui and Bin Li

Obviously created with great awareness of Vittorio de Sica's The Bicycle Thieves, Wang Xiaoshuai's Beijing Bicycle attempts to tell a near identical story, but from two thieves' perspectives. It's something like a Ramin Bahrani film (especially Chop Shop), but with less nuance and more drama. In doing so he juxtaposes country and city life, and considers stealing out of necessity v. stealing out of want. 

Unfortunately, neither is entirely well represented, as its protagonists (both 17) , a migrant worker from the country and a city boy from a working class Step family, are written as blunt extremes. Guo, moving from the country to become a delivery boy, is reserved, honest, and incredibly naive. Jian, on the other hand, is wholly unlikeable, as he almost always seems to make the stupidest decision possible, no matter the situation. That being said, the time spent with Guo is a lot more engaging than that with Jian, as we can at least feel for his mini-struggles and triumphs in the first 30 or 40 minutes (the best section of the film, not by coincidence). It's when Jian gets involved that the film becomes muddled and undeservedly cruel to its characters, an only partly believable excuse to comment on the bleakness of Guo's situation.

Despite these major scripting failures, the story is actually quite engaging, and Xiaoshuai's quietly observing camera captures the Beijing streets with great familiarity. de Sica's film is especially powerful because of its morally neutral illustration of its protagonist, and our emotional involvement with his situation through his relationship with his son--something Beijing might've been the better to consider.

4.5

I Love You, Man [Hamburg, 2009]

I Love You, Man

directed by John Hamburg

starring Paul Rudd, Jason Segel and Rashida Jones

Colloquialisms like "bromance" and "mancrush" have become increasingly popular in the last year or two, as America slowly breaks down taboos of what's considered "gay" between male friends and what's simply heterosexually intimate. I Now Pronounced You Chuck & Larry explored  the line between homosexual and heterosexual male behavior, albeit offensively (or so they say), whereas John Hamburg's film simply skirts the line without really  attempting to comment on the underlying subject (Andy Samberg has a small role as Rudd's gay brother, but really only exists to show him how easy it is to meet men). 

Working off a script co-written by Larry Levin (Dr. Dolittle 1 & 2) and Hamburg (Zoolander, Meet the Parents), Rudd and Segel are both at their best. While the script is expectedly average (Judd Apatow is not involved), what's surprising is how quiet much of the humor is. It's fascinatingly awkward for a bit, and then just odd after an hour. It's difficult to tell whether Hamburg is simply confused in his direction of these scenes or not, but some "jokes" are presented as a strange comic realism (when the film begins to betray this relative realism, though, as in a ridiculous vomit projectile scene, its disappointing). 

The funny jokes are funny, though, and the film is unmistakably at its best when Rudd and Segel are together. Rudd is endless watchable as an awkward real estate agent (like James McAvoy's character in Wanted, consciously spewing Diablo Cody dialogue), and Jason Segel plays the confident alpha male with ease, shedding the desperation of his character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Although the two have much better exchanged in this film than Sarah Marshall, the weak scripting and Hamburg's bland direction (the most ambitious thing he does with the mise-en-scene is associate Jones' character with the color yellow rather incessantly) make it much less rewarding. It's a film that's certainly worth seeing (if you are generally a fan of Rudd/Segel), but won't lose much when its shown on cable in a few years. 

6.5

Must Read After My Death (Dews, 2009)

Must Read After My Death

directed by Morgan Dews

2009 U.S. theatrical release [2007 festival debut]

Playing like something of a devilish mash-up between Capturing the Friedmans and Revolutionary Road, Morgan Dews' feature debut strips itself of any talking heads or excessive text because, thanks to his grandmother, he doesn't need any of it. Leaving behind hundreds of hours of recordings and home video, Allis clearly wanted someone to know her family's troubled story.

What could have made for a cathartic self-exploration of the director's identity is instead presented as a detached string of Dictaphone recordings against home video that is at times symbolic (several key shots of puppies feeding off their mother) and narrative. Dews also adds a musical score that sometimes irritatingly drowns out the recordings. While the trouble revealed within is intriguing, if not shocking, Dews perhaps fails in one respect at providing context for the family, giving very little exposition about any of its subjects. It seems when doc directors place themselves in their works, critics are quick to call them vain, but what's missing here is the individualization--precisely what made Kurt Kuenne's Dear Zachary the triumph that it was. It's like watching a Douglas Sirk film stripped of the close-ups, the Technicolor and, by effect, the emotional wallop. 

Dews restricts the film to a very modest 70 minutes and reveals (obvious by that point) that he's the son of Allis' only daughter Anne, and gives a brief description of where each of the children are now.

5.5

The Class [Laurent Cantet, 2008]

• Laurent Cantet is a smart fellow. Taking cues from the brothers who've won two Palme d'Ors in the last decade alone, he translated their hand-held, cinema verite style to an uncompromising observation of a French class at a middle school in Paris. This is not to say he "stole" their style by any means--the Dardennes certainly were not the first to keep their camera obsessively close to their characters' faces, or attempt objective realism. In fact, Cantet beat out the Dardennes' The Silence of Lorna for the Palme d'Or, so there's obviously no mimicry going on.
• If The Class seems curiously real, even for those familiar with naturalism, it's probably because it is, somewhat. Like Abbas Kiarostami, another Palme d'Or winner, Cantet blurs the line between fiction and documentary with his casting of Francois Begaudeau, who essentially adapted his own semi-autobiographical novel for the screen, and stars as his semi-self in it. Meanwhile, the students are all obviously real students, and almost all go by their real names. 
• If Ryan Fleck's Half Nelson and Mike Akel's Chalk proved that there was still nuanced or painfully comic narratives to be had from the classroom drama subgenre, Cantet's movie is out to deconstruct the narrative and instead observe the failure of a school system to its students, and remind us that the teachers are often as frustrated and confused as their pupils. The film takes place neatly over the course of exactly one school year, following Francois only while at work, and never resorting to any scenes of students outside of school to achieve sympathy for their conditions or "explain" why they act how they do. There's probably never been such a good cast of students in a film of this subgenre, likely because the actors "workshopped" their characters in Mike Leigh fashion, giving them a lot of time to get a feel for their characters and ultimately become them (if I were told every character was told simply to act as themselves, I would have believed that). The film resonates so well because these characters are so memorable, and portrayed so objectively that it's hard not to embrace them if only for their imperfectly human nature.
• While Cantet can't, and henceforth doesn't try to characterize every student in the classroom, he does a damn good job of presenting the ten or eleven of those who are the most involved, and thus the most important (in this film of course). Although it doesn't take two seconds to notice that the class is almost completely made up of low-income emigres, the movie never makes the mistake of stereotyping its characters, nor portraying the white Francois as a stereotype-giver (except in a subtle connection of Chinese with mathematics, only noticeable for the comically deadpan look given by the boy's mother). 
• It's original title, Entre les murs, translates as Between the Walls, and is indeed the motif of the film. When the last shots of the film are shown, it becomes increasingly apparent what(/who) the title is referring to.

9/wonderfully objective observation of a middle school class, furnished with memorable characters and performances

2008 Cannes Film Festival -- Review Update

The 22 films that played at Cannes last year are opening to the public rapidly--be it through theaters or the internet--so I'm just going to quickly rank those I've seen so far and touch on those I still haven't seen.

The films I've seen, from relative best to worst:

Waltz With Bashir / The Class [reviewed]

Synecdoche, New York*

Three Monkeys [reviewed]

Changeling

The Headless Woman [reviewed]

Those I haven't seen, but plan to in the near future:

Two Lovers -- should be seeing it Friday, it will be my first James Gray feature lest I see something in the next few days

Che -- should see this theatrically around the end of March. 

Gomorra -- I've refrained from watching the DVDrip for so long, but it's playing in Rochester in early April.

A Christmas Tale -- perhaps the one I'm looking forward to most; I'm patiently waiting for the DVD.

The Silence of Lorna -- Rip recently became available online, hopefully catching it soon. I like the Dardennes quite a bit.

Regular Lovers -- see The Silence of Lorna

Il Divo -- hope to catch it at the Philadelphia fest, otherwise there's a rip online.

24 City -- waiting.

Adoration -- waiting. It's been a long time, but I have mixed feelings about Egoyan.

Serbis -- waiting.

Linha de Passe -- I have a copy, I just haven't mustered the excitement to see it.

Others

Blindness -- the flop of the festival. I have a copy but don't know if I'll ever get around to watching it. I hope Meirelles can comeback from such a critical/commercial downfall.

Palermo Shooting -- largely considered the worst film @ Cannes, I'm intrigued, but don't know that I'll ever see it.

The rest -- no significant interest, but if they become available and I read more about them I might see them too.

Of course, 2009 Cannes is coming May 13th, I'm looking forward to living vicariously through the privileged viewers of those films, and hope that I someday gather half as dedicated following as that bastard Mike D'Angelo. 

/envy

*considering I was completely bemused on first viewing and my impression of it has fluctuated in the months since, I'm attempting to reserve any concrete judgment before I see it again--which should be quite soon.

Three Monkeys (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2009)

• Nuri Bilge Ceylan followed in prestigious footsteps when he won the Best Director prize at Cannes last year, an award won by Haneke, Schnabel, and Inarritu in the previous three years. 
• Indeed, Three Monkeys' direction is discernibly present, most noticeably in his manipulation of light and color, both inside the clammy flat, and out. As is obvious in the above pic, Ceylan captures the atmosphere above Turkey with such vividness that it becomes as melodramatic a character as any of the foursome that the film centers on.
• Opening with a trio of stunning nighttime shots, Ceylan's picture then moves at a leisurely pace, lenser Gokhan Tiryaki soaking up the tension between mother and son, and later, husband and wife, with an evenness of long shots and extreme close-ups. Captured on Sony HD (the same camera used for the one shot Russian Ark), Ceylan and Tiryaki let dark greens, blues and grays dominate the screen at all times, a spectacle that's admittedly more pleasurable than Fincher's digital Benjamin Button.
• The film's plot is quite simple (though I dare not spoil the opening segment), and allows for the mentioned visual meditations, though Ceylan's storytelling is not flawless. While he subtly touches on themes of guilty and infidelity, he fails to paint a complete picture of the film's most important character; although well-played by Hatice Aslan, Hacer is something of an empty slot. If we are to completely believe the totality of her actions, Ceylan must give us some hint of motivation--at the risk of coming off misogynistic. Also, the film's circularity is, at least to me, too neat, lacking the power to really hit 
• title refers to the japanese maxim: "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil," but probably refers to the three central characters, reduced by guilt and incommunicability to primitive behavior.

8/beautifully shot study of alienation and guilt within a (three-person) Turkish family

The Edge of Heaven [Fatih Akin, 2008]

• I've had a copy of this since February, but have put it off for no good reason, until now.
• Built on consciously coincidental contrivances, Fatih Akin's latest is similar to the Dardennes' films in the way it presents conventions and then gracefully goes in a completely direction than you're trained to expect. while it is a film about extreme coincidences, it's loose enough that it's believable because, in the words of Stanley Spector, this happens sometimes.
• Comparisons can also be drawn to Babel, in that the film connects many different people and a key set piece is a gun. The Edge of Heaven is much less heavy-handed about this than Inarritu's film, and so it's fitting that this film ends not with a bang but with a sigh.
• I don't think this was a very good collection of my thoughts, so I'll keep going a bit. The acting across the board is very fine, the only actor of note being former Fassbinder leading lady Hanna Schygulla, who is especially affecting in her limited screen time. The film's cinematography is very humble, showing what needs to be shown and focusing on its content moreso than style. The locations are what makes the atmosphere so brilliant, effectively painting a picture of both Germany and Turkey.

8/affectingly unconventional sketch of the way humans connect with each other, if not through life than through death

The Day the Earth Stood Still [Robert Wise, 1951]

• beautiful screen cap, I know. i'm simply way too lazy to make any myself. anyway, in celebration of a (undoubtedly) shitty Hollywood remake, I watched the '50s sci-fi classic for the first time.
• the film's first 15 or so minutes are interesting because its driven solely by news reports and crowd shots surrounding the arrival of a spaceship. its not until Michael Rennie's Klaatu is shot are we introduced to any characters.
• I discovered that Robert Wise's film isn't so much a sci-fi film as an anti-war global commentary. Edmund North's script is written with the best intentions, and our protagonists' struggle to simply be heard by all the nations provides a great opportunity for satire and commentary--though it singles out any one nation.
• the ending is admirably ambiguous, quite clearly saying "so Earth...what are you gonna do?" unfortunately, the film is obviously still relevant in 2008 so.
• Bernard Hermann provides one of his best scores, helping to raise the tension and leave people remembering a lot more action than there actually was.

9/well-intentioned, engaging social commentary masquerading as a science fiction film

In the City of Sylvia [Jose Luis Guerin, 2008]

• Guerin's latest has ended up on many critics' top ten lists this year, almost out of nowhere, and is clearly loved for its exercise in pure cinematic techniques, pushed to the limits
• the first 25 minutes have received the most buzz, as it features an incredibly long sequence in which the protag stares at different women outside a cafe. Guerin makes such a thing interesting by framing his POV shots in a way that clearly seems to be influenced by Edouard Manet cafe paintings. Guerin focuses on the layers of women (all beautiful, naturally), at times blocking the line of view with other people. if this kind of dedication to technique excites you, you'll likely enjoy this film. if not, run for the hills.
• as i mentioned, the first 25 minutes are what most critics are drooling about, but the greatest part of the film in my opinion comes in the later half of the film, specifically in scenes in and around a tram (to describe more would ruin the little plot that there is). Guerin here uses shadows and reflections to scape a ridiculously beautiful setting for the long awaited sequence of actual dialogue. it allows Sylvia to morph from a person to a symbol (or ghost?).
• In the City of Sylvia sounds comparable to the recently reviewed The Headless Woman in some ways (no background detail, following a single person throughout), but Guerin's is far from boring and only a tad bit frustrating in its remoteness.

7/a laudable technical achievement wrapped in a slight, whimsical search for someone from the past

The Headless Woman [Lucrecia Martel, 2009]

• debuting at Cannes in 2008 to mostly glum reviews, Lucrecia Martel's The Headless Woman has been picking up critical steam since, topping indiewire's "Undistributed 2008 Films" list.
  
• Martel's film is extremely disorienting--it mostly follows bourgeoisie MILF Vero in the aftermath of her running over something(/someone?) while reaching for her cellphone
• one could admire for Martel's dedication to plot dictating form--the viewer is certainly as disconnected with the story as Vero is with reality--but Martel forgot to give us a reason to give a shit about the woman we're constantly following. I spent most of the film wondering how people relate to Vero and why people kept telling her to wash her hair than worrying about Vero--or its apparent class commentary, which shows the stratification but doesn't have much to say.
• thank goodness Martel and D.P. Barabra Alvarez can compose interesting shots, edited very cleanly and rarely overstaying their welcome. in fact, the first few minutes are probably the most interesting as the camera follows three lower class boys and a dog in a friendly chase.
• at only 87 minutes, The Headless Woman isn't so much difficult for a lack of drama, but rather because it refuses to fill us in on its point

4/finely framed, but lacking in any apparent message to justify its form or your time

Let the Right One In [Tomas Alfredson, 2008]

• the best films get under your skin, and Let the Right One In certainly does a good job in that department. i'm glad i slept on it before writing this, as I like it more in retrospect--it truly warrants the phrase "hauntingly beautiful"
• Alfredson captures a cinematic world that I've never seen before. a small, middle class town in Sweden flips between the bright reflections of snow and the eerily dark woods and playground outside the leads' apartment complex. 
• both the leads (Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson) are wonderfully interesting, neither looking nor acting like the other children shown. the romance that ensues is handled gracefully as their "love" is never taken too seriously and yet its still enough to draw the audience in.
• horror scenes are mostly very creepy without extreme gore. the first kill is first shot from a distance, and then the subsequent gore is blocked from view. the kills do become more graphic, but Alfredson clearly is not trying to merely please bloodthirsty viewers.
• all in all the story is touching and strikingly slight, ultimately about a friendship between two children who aren't like everyone else. with some revenge thrown in there as well.

8.5/nimbly balances its coming-of-age story with horror elements to create a not soon forgotten product

Shotgun Stories [Jeff Nichols, 2008]

• unjustly snubbed by Sundance, probably because of its slow, lethargic pace, Jeff Nichols' directorial debut is nonetheless one of the most mature debuts of the year.
• Michael Shannon stars as Son in a story about two sets of half-brothers whose hostilities are brought to surface when their father dies. the film plays as a sort of double-edged In the Bedroom, focusing on the apparent necessity of revenge and the lack of satisfaction that comes with it.
• while far from perfect or as well-made as Todd Field's picture, Shotgun Stories has a sensible pace and makes its statement in only about 84 minutes. Nichols (who also scripted) would've been better to make the film solely from Son's family's point of view as the brief scenes of their half-brothers fail to characterize any of them beyond archetypes. Nichols is however properly subtle in his economic contrast of the two sets; the superiority can be felt when Son's half-brother shows up to his house, parking his new Ford in front of Son's beat up Mazda.
• landscape is well captured which is to be expected when David Gordon Green is producing, and one gets a fair idea of Arkansas as that's all the camera or the characters seem to know.

7.5/genuine directorial debut with enough nuance to successfully recapitulate its themes

Hunger [Steve McQueen, 2008]

• Steve McQueen surely earned his Camera d'Or for Hunger, a film whose visual audacity is bested only by its content. the picture is carefully divided into three acts: the brutality against the prisoners, Bobby Sands' unthinkably long conversation with an IRA-affiliated priest, and Sands' hunger strike and death.
• first act begins with the morning routine of Ray Lohan, who we are lead to believe is our protagonist until we see him put on prison guard uniform. isn't this a Bobby Sands biopic? McQueen's camera (d.p. Sean Bobbitt) focuses on the nuances of Lohan's routine -- the crumbs he brushes off his lap during breakfast are obviously a juxtaposition of what's to come; we see him washing his hands in the morning and then again at work, except the second time, his knuckles are bloodied.
• then we are introduced to a skinny new inmate who we find is not Bobby Sands? we follow him for a bit before finally getting to Bobby (played admirably by Michael Fassbender). I believe McQueen (with Enda Walsh) designed the film this way so not to glorify Sands as the lone martyr in what was indeed a community suffering. one of the film's few missteps is in this transition, though, as the viewer is left wondering who's Bobby, when's he going to show up, was Bobby the roommate who had his hair cut?
• McQueen makes up for this lack of focus quickly in an unthinkably long static shot (pictured above) of Sands conversing with a priest. Fassbender's chops really show here, as he displays selflessness, doubt and charisma all within the same shot.
• last act is dedicated to Hunger, and Fassbender's grotesque body transformation rivals Bale's infamous weight loss for The Machinist and Rescue Dawn. McQueen pulls quite a few visual and aural tricks to communicate the symptoms of your body slowly shutting down.
• all in all, Hunger is certainly unflinching in its portrayal of IRA prisoners of war in 1987. it's an extremely subjective film, and assumes you know quite a bit of the civil war (I didn't), and is clearly sympathizes with its portrayed side. nonetheless, McQueen's direction is magnificent, and had the world any justice, both he and Fassbender would be receiving Oscar buzz. European Film Awards noms will have to do.
• i suppose that was too much plot for a review, but hey, it's my first since October. give me a break.

9/unflinching, beautifully observant examination of Bobby Sands' last six weeks