Saturday, July 26, 2014
"Winter's Bone" and "Spring Breakers"
"It's been a while" - Stained (band) a.k.a. the voice of my generation.
Sorry for the delay (as if anyone cares) but I've been quite busy and not feeling so hot all week so this weeks post comes at the very tail end. I don't consider that late. I consider it being lazy and uninspired.
But then, two nights ago, while lying in bed sleepless. I had two great movies come to mind that you guys might enjoy. Let's rock and roll.
Winter's Bone - Directed by Debra Granik (2010 / USA / 100m / Post-Noir (Modern Noir), Drama)
Sometimes in a great while a movie gets inside your head and heart, rubbing your emotions raw. The remarkable Winter's Bone is just such a movie.
Director Debra Granik has adapted the 2006 novel by Daniel Woodrell into a brutally honest movie about secrets that fester among families in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. The setting in the film really helps sets the mood and tone in profound ways.
Jennifer Lawrence plays a 17 year old woman named Ree in her first film role. Long before
"Hunger games" and the wonderful "Silver Linings Playbook" Miss Lawrence hit her first home run. She is absolutely excellent and gives my favorite performance by her to date. I think thats saying a lot. The young woman has some serious acting chops.
Teardrop (the always excellent John Hawkes) plays Ree's Uncle. This may be the scariest character on screen to also look emaciated. In his first scene he says to his wife "I already told you to be quiet with my mouth." (implying of course the next time might not be so non-violent)
The driving force of the plot is that Ree must find her father so he shows up to court. He put up the house and property as collateral for his bail so if he doesnt show, Ree, her 2 younger siblings, and her incapacitated Mother will be homeless.
Ree goes on a search looking for everyone she knows asking about the man. Everyone essentially tells her to fuck off and if she doesn't, she'll end up in a world of hurt.
Half of me really want to tell you how everything turns out but in the interest of "NO SPOILERS BRO!!" I simply wont.
I will say however that it is gritty, gruesome, real, and unflinching.
The social detail of a 21st-century mountain community is completely persuasive, heightening the drama immeasurably.
Granik handles this volatile, borderline horrific material with unblinking ferocity and feeling. Winter's Bone is unforgettable. It means to shake you, and does.
trailer (it's a quite good trailer and shows you what you're in for)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O8F8JtSVmI
My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Spring Breakers - Directed by Harmony Korine (2013 / USA / 94m / Crime, Drama)
"Spring Breakers" is a movie about four "hot young co-eds" (Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine) who are trying to gather the money necessary to make it down to St. Petersburg, Florida for the time of the lives. The do eventually the money. I won't say how because it's quite shocking and sets the tune for the rest of the film.
So our breakers make it down to Florida and are generally having (all be it illegal and questionable) fun until the inevitable run in with Johnny Law. At this point they are out of money and given the option to pay a fine (which they cant do) or serve 2 days in county jail.
Enter Alien (James Franco) to the rescue. He sees these 4 from the back of the court room and decides to bail them out. His motives seem pretty clear. Would he be doing this for four arrested frat bros? I think not.
What happens next is Franco introduces them into his life of crime. "I'm from right here in St Pete's and I'm a strait G Ya'll, I hustle!" I must say Franco is absolutely excellent in this part.
3 of 4 of them are down to party with Alien and his shadiest of shady crews. ! takes the bus back home.
It's campy and comic at times, but Korine also gives the film a downbeat, melancholic edge, with voiceovers, pointed repetition of dialogue and images, and hallucinatory camera work, sound and editing.
The movie is highly stylized. It mixes gritty realism with slow-motion beach scenes of half nude college kids fuled by alcohol to a dub-step backing track. Sounds like that is a receipe for disaster but this one actually works, for me at least.
One scene I'd like to include is pretty great (even though the screen is dark at the edges, unlike in the real film, you'll get the idea. The song they sing is Britney Spears' "Everytime"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7n3gF7j2V4
This movie confirmed many beliefs I already had: Spring Break was never for me and I was right to stay away (too much pale skin and anxiety.) Florida is a scary, scary place and I plan to avoid it the rest of my life.
Is this a cautionary tail? I don't really think so but you can be the judge of that. I just believed it's a highly stylized film that can easily turn people off who don't have the openness of mind to just relax and enjoy without projecting their own standards of how life should be lived onto the on-screen characters.
I must say that this film was not widely acclaimed. It sits at a mere 65% amongst critics and a lowly 39% from audiences. But keep and open mind and this movie is great. In my humble opinion, of course.
"Spring Break forever, bitches."
My rating 5/5 Stars
A New feature I'd like to add is movies I'm really looking forward to seeing. First would be "Boyhood" which is Richard Linklater's new movie which was filmed over the course of 12 years, using the same actors. This seems to give to meaning to the idea of a "coming of age" movie. It opens August 8th in my town of Albany and Ill be sure to review it the following week.
Another is "A Most Wanted Man." This was Philip Seymour Hoffman's final completed film before his untimely death this past winter.
Thanks for reading, Back next week. Also, please let me know if you have ideas for films you'd like to see talked about. I am at your service.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
"Lost in Translation" & "Summer Hours"
Hi everyone. I'm doing 2 posts this week. You must be absolutely ecstatic over that news. The reason is I'm leaving for the great lake of Ontario with a stop in the finger lakes to see a band called Phish. This will be my 46th time seeing them. They're alright, I guess.
I'm not looking for a theme for these but one happened to pop up purely by coincidence: both of these films are 102 minutes long.
"Lost in Translation"(2003, USA-Japan, 102 minutes, Comedy Drama)
If I were making a "best of the decade" list like Mr. Ebert, this one would certainly be on it. "Lost in Translation" is the dreamy, melancholy masterpiece by director Sofia Coppola, who happens to be the daughter of Frances Ford Coppola.
It features a pitch-perfect performance from Bill Murray who was robbed of an Academy award for Best Actor here. Your guess why is as good as mine.
Scarlett Johansson (Charlotte), in one of her earlier roles, was 18 when it was shot, playing a 23 year old character.
This is a story about two lost souls in Tokyo, Japan. Both on a short stay: Murray's character (Bob Harris) is being paid millions of dollars to shoot a whiskey commercial in Japan while Johansson's is tagging along with her new husband of 2 years while he photographs a Japanese band. How hip.
The two have chance encounters as they are staying in the same hotel and develop a friendship. They spend nearly all their free time together due to Charlotte's husband traveling for his work around Japan. They obviously have great chemistry and they are obviously very lonely people.
The reasons couldn't be more different though: Bob has a difficult relationship with his wife and she seems very distant and passive aggressive during phone calls. Charlotte is worried she married the wrong man. She confides to her friend "I mean John is wearing all these hair products now and it's like, who did I marry?" Even though Charlotte is in tears confessing this, her friend on the other line in America is too busy to listen because she has her own life swirling around her in the background (mainly kids.)
So. the two go on wonderful adventures together and this is the part of the story where most movies would have them romantically kiss and likely have sex. This movie is far more adult than that. The intimacy the two spend talking on their hotel bed one of the last evenings together is a meeting and communicating of their minds that their body's couldn't come close to matching.
Every aspect of this film is near-perfect. The cinematography is amazing; I've never seen a film do with light what this one did. The sound designer nails mood perfectly. Bill Murray in particular gives a performance that I would put close to Joaquin Phoenix in "The Master"
I'd image you've already seen this one. But go get "Lost" again. This movie soothes the very core of one's being. Or, at least mine.
My Rating: 5/5 Stars
"Summer Hours" (2008, France, 102 Minutes, Drama)
In a literal, almost banal sense, Olivier Assayas’s “Summer Hours” is a movie about an inheritance.
Hélène Berthier (Edith Scob), a silver-haired matriarch enthroned among her children and grandchildren at the beginning of the film, leaves behind a charming country house and a cherished art collection, and her heirs, must figure out what to do with it all after her death. Hélène’s eldest son, Frédéric (Charles Berling), wants to keep everything as it is, so that the next generation can gather at the old place and appreciate Grandma’s stuff.
But Frédéric’s sister, Adrienne (Juliette Binoche), and their younger brother, Jérémie (Jérémie Renier), who live abroad (she in the United States, he in China with his wife and three children), would rather sell the house and most of what is in it, donating the best of the paintings, pieces of furniture and sundry knickknacks to the Musée d’Orsay.
That, in a nutshell, is the dramatic arc of this extraordinary film, which, in spite of its modest scale, tactful manner and potentially dowdy subject matter, is packed with rich meaning and deep implication.
To quote the rotten tommatoes consensus (I'm a lazy man.) This movie "handles lofty ideas about art and culture with elegance and lightness."
The acting is superb. Between the way the camera moves and the way the lines are delivered you often feel you may be watching a documentary. I would use the term Docu-drama here but that term is already used for another genre. This is in fact all scripted even when the acting seems so natural.
In a scene near the end of the film, the children throw a party at the old house one last time before it is sold. This 5 minute, 50 actor scene is lively and unbelievably organic.
The film ends with a whimper and we are left in our seats pondering the loss of culture, places, memories, and people.
My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
In most good libraries, and, of course, on the internet.
-See everyone a week from Monday, thanks again for reading.
I'm not looking for a theme for these but one happened to pop up purely by coincidence: both of these films are 102 minutes long.
"Lost in Translation"(2003, USA-Japan, 102 minutes, Comedy Drama)
If I were making a "best of the decade" list like Mr. Ebert, this one would certainly be on it. "Lost in Translation" is the dreamy, melancholy masterpiece by director Sofia Coppola, who happens to be the daughter of Frances Ford Coppola.
It features a pitch-perfect performance from Bill Murray who was robbed of an Academy award for Best Actor here. Your guess why is as good as mine.
Scarlett Johansson (Charlotte), in one of her earlier roles, was 18 when it was shot, playing a 23 year old character.
This is a story about two lost souls in Tokyo, Japan. Both on a short stay: Murray's character (Bob Harris) is being paid millions of dollars to shoot a whiskey commercial in Japan while Johansson's is tagging along with her new husband of 2 years while he photographs a Japanese band. How hip.
The two have chance encounters as they are staying in the same hotel and develop a friendship. They spend nearly all their free time together due to Charlotte's husband traveling for his work around Japan. They obviously have great chemistry and they are obviously very lonely people.
The reasons couldn't be more different though: Bob has a difficult relationship with his wife and she seems very distant and passive aggressive during phone calls. Charlotte is worried she married the wrong man. She confides to her friend "I mean John is wearing all these hair products now and it's like, who did I marry?" Even though Charlotte is in tears confessing this, her friend on the other line in America is too busy to listen because she has her own life swirling around her in the background (mainly kids.)
So. the two go on wonderful adventures together and this is the part of the story where most movies would have them romantically kiss and likely have sex. This movie is far more adult than that. The intimacy the two spend talking on their hotel bed one of the last evenings together is a meeting and communicating of their minds that their body's couldn't come close to matching.
Every aspect of this film is near-perfect. The cinematography is amazing; I've never seen a film do with light what this one did. The sound designer nails mood perfectly. Bill Murray in particular gives a performance that I would put close to Joaquin Phoenix in "The Master"
I'd image you've already seen this one. But go get "Lost" again. This movie soothes the very core of one's being. Or, at least mine.
My Rating: 5/5 Stars
"Summer Hours" (2008, France, 102 Minutes, Drama)
In a literal, almost banal sense, Olivier Assayas’s “Summer Hours” is a movie about an inheritance.
Hélène Berthier (Edith Scob), a silver-haired matriarch enthroned among her children and grandchildren at the beginning of the film, leaves behind a charming country house and a cherished art collection, and her heirs, must figure out what to do with it all after her death. Hélène’s eldest son, Frédéric (Charles Berling), wants to keep everything as it is, so that the next generation can gather at the old place and appreciate Grandma’s stuff.
But Frédéric’s sister, Adrienne (Juliette Binoche), and their younger brother, Jérémie (Jérémie Renier), who live abroad (she in the United States, he in China with his wife and three children), would rather sell the house and most of what is in it, donating the best of the paintings, pieces of furniture and sundry knickknacks to the Musée d’Orsay.
That, in a nutshell, is the dramatic arc of this extraordinary film, which, in spite of its modest scale, tactful manner and potentially dowdy subject matter, is packed with rich meaning and deep implication.
To quote the rotten tommatoes consensus (I'm a lazy man.) This movie "handles lofty ideas about art and culture with elegance and lightness."
The acting is superb. Between the way the camera moves and the way the lines are delivered you often feel you may be watching a documentary. I would use the term Docu-drama here but that term is already used for another genre. This is in fact all scripted even when the acting seems so natural.
In a scene near the end of the film, the children throw a party at the old house one last time before it is sold. This 5 minute, 50 actor scene is lively and unbelievably organic.
The film ends with a whimper and we are left in our seats pondering the loss of culture, places, memories, and people.
My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
In most good libraries, and, of course, on the internet.
-See everyone a week from Monday, thanks again for reading.
Monday, July 7, 2014
'Life Itself' & 'Synecdoche, New York'
I decided to pair these two in my original post because there is a (small) connection between the two.
The first, "Life Itself" (2014) is a brand-spanking-new documentary about the life of the most famous film reviewer who ever lived, Roger Ebert.
The second, "Synecdoche, New York" (2008) is, in this writers opinion, the most ambitionus fictional narrative ever made. It was written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, the Oscar winner for 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' for best original screenplay in 2004. His other credits include writing 'Being John Malcovich'(1999) and 'Adaptation.'(2002) Kaufman was also nominated for best original screenplay again for the latter. Nicholas Cage stared in that film and gave performances worth two Nick Cages.
Well, let's get to it.
Life Itself. What a fucking title. And the title certainly fits the films subject, Roger Ebert. The film tells the amazing story of an amazing man's life. I was simply... amazed. His young life was filled with boozing and womanizing. One day, he simply decided to get sober. He says "If it weren't for hangovers, I would still be drinking, and unemployed... actually I would be dead."
He held week-long film classes where he'd show the film on a Monday and then spend Tuesday through Friday breaking down every scene and nuance in the film.
He was very outspoken with his opposition to the Motion Picture Association of America Film Rating System.
I really don't want to say much more because there is so much good stuff I'd rather not spoil. I will say that his work ethic and spirits are quite astounding for a man at the end of his life. You can tell he really loves his work and his family. This film is loving and poignant. Ebert has a great sense of humor as well. It's a very engaging doc and the 2 hours absolutely fly by.
It's not a spoiler that Ebert lost his battle with cancer. In june of 2006 he had surgery to remove tissue inflicted with cancer in his right jaw. A week later he had a life-threatening complication when his carotid artery burst near the surgery site. He lost his ability to eat, drink and speak. He died on April 4, 2013.
Critics and audiences alike love this movie. It sits at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and 8.6/10
Don't Miss it. I believe it is on demand now but if you can't afford it you could watch it online here:
http://nosvideo.com/?v=cu1jx8wbaaxk
My Score: 4.5/5 Stars
OK, Synecdoche, New York.... ugh, this is going to be difficult. Let's start with the title again, why don't we? Well, you probably have never heard of the word Synecdoche. It is a literary term where a part of a whole is used to describe a whole. An example of this is someone eating a slice of pizza and saying "this is a good pie" This difficult title should warn you that this film is a BEAST and not for your average filmgoer. Think about a cheesy, feel-good rom-com. Yeah, this is exactly the opposite. This film takes the truth and rings it out till all the pain drips out of the dirty rag, staining your smelly hands with all the dirt that can fit under those nails. It might make you cringe (maybe once,) cry (probably a few times,) and might leave you terribly depressed. Just a warning.
With all that said, here is the great Roger Ebert connection. He apparently loves the movie almost as much as I do. He named it the best film of the 00's. THE BEST.
Of the 5,000+ movies plus that came out that decade, he name it the best.
So, what is this movie about, you ask? That's a toughie. It's far more abstract and the plot is less important than most films. that isn't to say nothing happens: it is chalked full of odd bodily functions, "dating, relationships, death..... all of that"
Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Caden Cotard. (side note: Cotard's syndrome is a disease where you think you're already dead.) Health certainly rules Caden's life. Health and love. A lot more love than health actually.
His life is filled with pain, as all of our's are. He goes through tremendous heartbreak over his life. The driving force of the plot is he receives a MacArthur Genius Grant. With this virtually unlimited money, he start's work on a massive theatre project (the film takes place from when he's 40 to where he finally dies around age 90). The project gets bigger and bigger and actors are playing characters from Caden's real life and then there are actors playing those first actors. As you can see, this movie is difficult to describe.
But in the end, this movie is EXTREMELY rewarding. This is a movie you can watch 100 times and realize more about it each time. I have seen this one probably more than 100 times and it's only been out for 6 years. If that math holds up that means I'll see it around 1,000 times, But, don't listen to me listen to Roger Ebert:
http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/the-best-films-of-the-decade
The simple fact is Charlie Kaufman is a kind of mad genius who's brain needs to be studied after his passing. If you haven't seen his work, see ALL of it.
This film is at all major libraries and it's online. You should really buy the DVD so Kaufman can continue more. He's "About 70% complete" with a stop motion feature film he's wrote and is making with Dino Stamatopoulos (Creator of Morel Orel). He's currently in pre-production on a 10 episode TV Show staring John Hawks, Sally Hawkins, and Michael Cera.
www.beingcharliekaufman.com is the go to source for Kaufman news.
My Score: 5/5 Stars
Well, I guess that's it for my first post. I never claim to be a writer, just a guy who loves movies. I don't really know how this site works: if there are comments or you can send me messages, but I would love to hear from people about what they think about these movies I will be hitting each week.
I will do my best to have a post every Monday, but no promises. I am going away this Saturday through Wednesday so it may be late unless I feel inspired.
Thanks for reading, I appreciate it!!
Aren't movies the best?
The first, "Life Itself" (2014) is a brand-spanking-new documentary about the life of the most famous film reviewer who ever lived, Roger Ebert.
The second, "Synecdoche, New York" (2008) is, in this writers opinion, the most ambitionus fictional narrative ever made. It was written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, the Oscar winner for 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' for best original screenplay in 2004. His other credits include writing 'Being John Malcovich'(1999) and 'Adaptation.'(2002) Kaufman was also nominated for best original screenplay again for the latter. Nicholas Cage stared in that film and gave performances worth two Nick Cages.
Well, let's get to it.
Life Itself. What a fucking title. And the title certainly fits the films subject, Roger Ebert. The film tells the amazing story of an amazing man's life. I was simply... amazed. His young life was filled with boozing and womanizing. One day, he simply decided to get sober. He says "If it weren't for hangovers, I would still be drinking, and unemployed... actually I would be dead."
He held week-long film classes where he'd show the film on a Monday and then spend Tuesday through Friday breaking down every scene and nuance in the film.
He was very outspoken with his opposition to the Motion Picture Association of America Film Rating System.
I really don't want to say much more because there is so much good stuff I'd rather not spoil. I will say that his work ethic and spirits are quite astounding for a man at the end of his life. You can tell he really loves his work and his family. This film is loving and poignant. Ebert has a great sense of humor as well. It's a very engaging doc and the 2 hours absolutely fly by.
It's not a spoiler that Ebert lost his battle with cancer. In june of 2006 he had surgery to remove tissue inflicted with cancer in his right jaw. A week later he had a life-threatening complication when his carotid artery burst near the surgery site. He lost his ability to eat, drink and speak. He died on April 4, 2013.
Critics and audiences alike love this movie. It sits at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and 8.6/10
Don't Miss it. I believe it is on demand now but if you can't afford it you could watch it online here:
http://nosvideo.com/?v=cu1jx8wbaaxk
My Score: 4.5/5 Stars
OK, Synecdoche, New York.... ugh, this is going to be difficult. Let's start with the title again, why don't we? Well, you probably have never heard of the word Synecdoche. It is a literary term where a part of a whole is used to describe a whole. An example of this is someone eating a slice of pizza and saying "this is a good pie" This difficult title should warn you that this film is a BEAST and not for your average filmgoer. Think about a cheesy, feel-good rom-com. Yeah, this is exactly the opposite. This film takes the truth and rings it out till all the pain drips out of the dirty rag, staining your smelly hands with all the dirt that can fit under those nails. It might make you cringe (maybe once,) cry (probably a few times,) and might leave you terribly depressed. Just a warning.
With all that said, here is the great Roger Ebert connection. He apparently loves the movie almost as much as I do. He named it the best film of the 00's. THE BEST.
Of the 5,000+ movies plus that came out that decade, he name it the best.
So, what is this movie about, you ask? That's a toughie. It's far more abstract and the plot is less important than most films. that isn't to say nothing happens: it is chalked full of odd bodily functions, "dating, relationships, death..... all of that"
Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Caden Cotard. (side note: Cotard's syndrome is a disease where you think you're already dead.) Health certainly rules Caden's life. Health and love. A lot more love than health actually.
His life is filled with pain, as all of our's are. He goes through tremendous heartbreak over his life. The driving force of the plot is he receives a MacArthur Genius Grant. With this virtually unlimited money, he start's work on a massive theatre project (the film takes place from when he's 40 to where he finally dies around age 90). The project gets bigger and bigger and actors are playing characters from Caden's real life and then there are actors playing those first actors. As you can see, this movie is difficult to describe.
But in the end, this movie is EXTREMELY rewarding. This is a movie you can watch 100 times and realize more about it each time. I have seen this one probably more than 100 times and it's only been out for 6 years. If that math holds up that means I'll see it around 1,000 times, But, don't listen to me listen to Roger Ebert:
http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/the-best-films-of-the-decade
The simple fact is Charlie Kaufman is a kind of mad genius who's brain needs to be studied after his passing. If you haven't seen his work, see ALL of it.
This film is at all major libraries and it's online. You should really buy the DVD so Kaufman can continue more. He's "About 70% complete" with a stop motion feature film he's wrote and is making with Dino Stamatopoulos (Creator of Morel Orel). He's currently in pre-production on a 10 episode TV Show staring John Hawks, Sally Hawkins, and Michael Cera.
www.beingcharliekaufman.com is the go to source for Kaufman news.
My Score: 5/5 Stars
Well, I guess that's it for my first post. I never claim to be a writer, just a guy who loves movies. I don't really know how this site works: if there are comments or you can send me messages, but I would love to hear from people about what they think about these movies I will be hitting each week.
I will do my best to have a post every Monday, but no promises. I am going away this Saturday through Wednesday so it may be late unless I feel inspired.
Thanks for reading, I appreciate it!!
Aren't movies the best?
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