The Watercooler: 5/19/08
The beauty of cinema is that it allowed me to travel from my home in 21st century Los Angeles, to the home of a reclusive rock star in the Notting Hill area of 1970s London, to the surreal wasteland of a salesman’s life in Northern England, to a Chinese city soon to be flooded in the name of progress, to a pool in the Parisian suburb of Cergy-Pontoise, to a kind of murder-mystery brewing on the French Riviera and finally to Oslo, Norway where two young writers struggle with success and failure - all of this in the course of a single weekend.
I love the movies.
Friday night brought the ’70s double feature Performance and O Lucky Man! at the New Beverly Cinema. I hadn’t seen either of them since high school or college. Performance is still hard to fathom, being largely concerned with the disintegration/merging of the personalities of a gangster (James Fox) and a rock star (Mick Jagger at his most androgynous), the film is unconcerned with concrete notions of narrative or even temporal structure. James Fox is fantastic though as the increasingly disorganized gangster. Though he’ll never be confused for a great actor, Jagger also makes a very strong impression here playing a variation on his public persona as it was during the Stones’ late ’60s/early ’70s peak. Also featuring some terrific blues guitar from the great Ry Cooder, the highlight of Performance is Mick singing Memo From Turner (penned by Jagger) during a critical juncture in the film.
O Lucky Man! is Lindsay Anderson’s surreal, episodic, 3-hour satire of capitalism and the British class system starring Malcolm McDowell as a coffee salesman on an odyssey through a kind of hell that looks suspiciously like Northern England. Strange and bitterly funny, Man has to be seen to be appreciated. Unfortunately, technical difficulties part way through forced a pause between every reel of the long film. Given the option of refunds or plowing through the film, the small, dedicated New Beverly audience chose the latter. We’d come to see O Lucky Man!, damnit and we weren’t going home until we’d seen it. The film’s episodic structure lent itself to the occasional pause anyway so it was worth sticking around.
On Saturday I finally caught up with Yung Chang’s terrific documentary Up the Yangtze. No relation to the phrase “Up the Wazoo,” Yangtze is about the impact the world’s largest hydroelectric project has on some of the 2 million residents it will displace. More generally, it’s about a group of people who are in danger of slipping through the cracks as China lurches from Communism to Capitalism. On a more hopeful note, it’s also about the innate human capacity to exist and thrive even in the most trying of circumstances.
Next up was the French film Water Lilies (Naissance des pieuvres) from Céline Sciamma. It tells the story of three very different 15-year-old girls: Floriane, the pretty one who is disliked by the other girls but loved by all the boys; Anne, the chubby one who yearns for a little male attention, and, in the middle, Marie the awkward tomboy who is friends with Anne, but drawn to the beauty, grace and seeming confidence of Floriane. Water Lilies does a nice job of capturing the awkwardness, uncertainty and insecurity of an age where a person’s physical and emotional maturity don’t usually match and where each person’s development is different from the next.
Switching movie theatres but staying in France, the next film was Claude Lelouche’s unconventional mystery Roman de Gare. The story concerns Fanny Ardent as a famous author of trashy pulp novels who may or may not have a ghostwriter who may or may not be a serial killer. Funny, creepy and altogether entertaining, Roman travels from Paris to Cannes and back again, along the way covering thriller, mystery, comedy, road movie and character study territory all the while keeping you in doubt just exactly what the mystery really is. You never really know where you stand until the end, but you’ll leave satisfied. Best of all is the performance by Dominique Pinon (the malleable-faced actor recognizable from so many Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet movies) as the maybe-ghostwriter maybe-serial-killer.
The last movie of a busy weekend and the best of the bunch was Norwegian Joachim Trier’s Reprise. Contemplative, philosophical and dryly funny, it tells the story of two boyhood friends and aspiring writers. They worship the same authors and even submit their first manuscripts for publication on the same day. One of them is accepted and the other is rejected. The balance of their relationship is tipped, though never in ways that you expect. At times very serious and others almost Swingers-like in its bantering humor, Reprise is hard to categorize, but it features great performances all around and it’s highly recommended.
I feel like I saw a million trailers this weekend, but I don’t have the energy to enumerate them. Perhaps they’ll come up in the comments section.
Filed under: Miscellaneous
Related Posts: - The Watercooler: 7/7/08
- The Watercooler: 6/30/08
- On Tap at The New Beverly
- The Watercooler: 10/20/08
- The Watercooler: 9/29/08
“Reprise” is one of the year’s great debut films, and one of the all around best I have seen so far. Joachim Trier seems to have absorbed a lifetime’s worth of watching and loving films and channeled it into one breathtaking work with more emotional weight that Tarantino has ever dreamed of. It recalls past works without ever being derivative, which is one of its most amazing achievements. He is most definitely a talent to watch, and I really love the film.
“Up the Yangtze” is also very good, probably the best documentary I have seen this year. It didn’t affect me as deeply as “Young @ Heart,” but I think overall it is a better film. It’s a close call though.
I still haven’t caught up with “Water Lilies,” it’s taking its own sweet time coming around here. Hopefully I will soon.
I missed Reprise when it was in cinemas here, alas. That’s the drawback in the rare cases when films are released here before they are in the US: I simply don’t hear about them, and they’re not on my “to-see” radar. It’s still playing in Amersfoort…but I don’t want to go there ;-)
I’m glad you finally saw Water Lilies…but somehow, from the paragraph, it sounds like you were just a little underwhelmed?
My movie weekend: I finally saw Love, Actually, and afterwards the Dutch movie inspired by it, Alles is Liefde. A weekend double feature post should be up soon. I also saw the first half of Last Crusade (up until the “No ticket” moment).
It’s strange though. I’m not so much eager to see Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (I’d be at the press screening taking place right about now if I were), but I’m eager to experience watching it in a crowded theater on Thursday.
I also watched a lot of Dexter. I’m almost done with the first season. It really is an exquisitely filmed show, with a mostly voice-over that’s hardly ever annoying, fully fleshed out stories for the secondary characters, and a great protagonist. I’ve learned not to watch it just before going to sleep, but I love it.
I must issue an awe-inspiring congratulations to Craig for a weekend of the ages with that half-dozen or so movie blitz. I am quite excited to see the Norwegian REPRISE, and will do so over the next few days–the reviews have been superlative–and now we can add Craig and Matthew.
PERFORMANCE and O LUCKY MAN are vintage gems, even if the latter is second-fiddle to IF. To see them again on the big screen is of course an offer few would be wise to refuse.
Much good has also been said about WATER LILLIES—I remember Alison especially tauting it.
Family obligations doomed me to the multiplex over the weekend where I saw a David Mamet dud, REDBELT, but rebounded with an accomplished THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN, which boasted the customary gorgeous visuals and a magnificent score by Harry Gregson-Williams, one that ups the ante for this genre. All the kids adored it, but this time I must agree with them for the most part–I didn’t care much for IRON MAN—CASPIAN’s battle scenes go on too long, and the film itself at 137 minutes seems endless, but at least it has an emotional center in the service of a compelling (and dark) narrative. Similarly I was a modest fan of the first film as well.
I caught up to SON OF RAMBOW and I can surely relate to Craig’s enthusiasm, as this film (as he mentioned in his review) is devoid of cynicism and irony. To be sure, a few passages are tedious, but on balance it is a fresh and imaginative film, with wonderful lead performances and a host of sequences noted for their cinematic and stylistic flourishes.
Saw My Blueberry Nights and [REC] over the weekend. Alas, I was not able to generate the enthusiasm for Nights that I had hoped for. I tried, Craig, I really tried. Gave it every chance possible. Forgave it for a good 40 minutes. But then, the melodrama just drowned out everything good about it and I began to check my watch and groan inwardly.
[REC] is a competent little Spanish horror film in the found-footage vein of Blairwitch, and although it doesn’t do anything new, it gets all the old stuff right. Nothing ever feels contrived - it really is as if you’re watching the raw feed. There are some decent scares, but after a while blurry, unfocused footage with creepy gruntings offscreen can only do so much. Apparently they’ve already remade it stateside and it comes out later this year. Hollywood is nothing if not unoriginal.
And NONE of those have opened in a cinema near me…sadly, because I want to see them all.
I saw Brick Lane which was okay, but after reading the book a while back, it was a disappointment. City of Men was also a disappointment, and What Happens in Vegas really should have stayed there.
I was obviously really into Indians this weekend, no offence to Indians, so I caught up with The Namesake, which was on TV - I thought it was boring, but I cannot say it was really bad.
My weekend sucked llama balls. And I bet this trend will continue until Feb 2009 or something.
This whole Africa thing is really starting to take its toll. Anyone want to adopt me? I’ll pay.
Loved PERFORMANCE. Fox is a revelation. Working on a piece, but it’s tuff to find words.
Splurged at Amoeba on tapes i don’t need on dvd: BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD DO AMERICA; THE LOST CONTINENT; HELL NIGHT (widescreen!)…
Too hot to do much else.
Evan, MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS works much better on a second viewing. I am not advocating that every film that we initially dislike can be ultimately saved by another viewing (in fact this rarely happens) but this film grows on you. Craig had this called right from teh start.
Escaping the heat this weekend in between much family obligation (out of town no less) lead to some unexpected movie choices. First off, we saw Leatherheads Friday night which wasn’t much of a movie, especially considering the two trailers I saw spoiled nearly every single gag in the film, but Leatherheads sufficed in offering simple entertainment at the bargain price of $2.75 a ticket and I can’t complain about that. If anything, the Clooney clearly had a ball making the film and he and cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel did a nice job of capturing a modern take on the screwball films of the 40’s.
Later in the weekend we caught Young@Heart, and I’d have to concur 100% with Craig’s review. I really enjoyed it, especially since the folks in this doc reminded me of my paternal grandparents, who continue to rebel against the concept of getting old and giving up on living (they’re 91 and 92 and still pretty independent, so there you go). Plus the movie offered some interesting, new perspectives on a number of songs I’ve loved over the years.
It worked out pretty well, I think.
So Craig, I’d have to concur with Hedwig that it isn’t completely clear what you thought of Water Lilies, or for that mattter Up the Yangtze. I’m afraid you’ll have to clarify those capsule reviews, my friend.
Yeah the news out of your neighborhood is disconcerting, Nick, to say the least. Hope it’s resolved ASAP.
I’m disappointed that you were disappointed by City of Men (and The Namesake), but I’ve accepted that I’m in the minority “would be amazing if there was no City of God” group.
Like you, Craig, I live for getting my passport virtually stamped at the box office. It’s the heart and soul of my moviegoing experience, and as such I was left out of breath from the int’l film festival. Of course I would love to actually travel, but people don’t really have the time or money to do that, right? Please…right? Not fair.
Anyway, I didn’t take a “trip” at a movie theater on Thu, Fri, or Sat, perhaps the first time in almost a month and a half that I’ve gone three successive days without doing so. A little insane, but healthy for the old wallet. I only saw the Indian film Let the Wind Blow (…interesting) and Prince Caspian, which was not nearly as enjoyable for me as the first in the series. Sam, I don’t know the age of your kids but I have to say I was a little shocked to find out afterwards that it was PG. I don’t have kids but I still pay marginal attention to these things, and I found it incredibly violent, well worthy of PG-13 and just a couple of scenes away from an R rating. OK maybe that’s a little much. In any case, it was way too long, as you point out.
(Watch me use my time machine…)
Jennybee, I’m glad War Dance found another fan. I’m so glad it wasn’t completely overlooked last year, even if it didn’t end up winning Best Doc. I have to assume that Young @ Heart will take it this year. We need a feel good story, not war or climate change. Of course, China will be in the news like never before this year, especially during the Olympics, and the timing for Up the Yangtze could help it carry through to February.
Wow, that sounds like a great movie weekend, Craig. Interesting picks on your behalf, too.
Sickness kept me from making it to My Blueberry Nights, unfortunately, and I’m sure by the time I get back to town (I’m out of town for the week), it’ll be gone. Rats.
I did see War Dance, which I thought was quite powerful and restrained. Gorgeous, vivid cinematography, too. I think it’s one of the best testaments I’ve seen to the transformative power of the arts.
Also revisited Stranger than Fiction last night with the parental units, and enjoyed it even more than the first time. My parents also loved it.
The pressure gauge on my desire to see “Reprise” is officially shivering up into the red. Unfortunately it probably won’t reach me till, say, July.
I finally watched “Wristcutters,” which had a great premise and some genuinely inspired moments but fell apart like post-vintage Alex Cox, complete with Tom Waits cameo. That might be the longest 88-minute movie I’ve ever seen. If a movie about Jeff Tweedy is ever made, Patrick Fugit must play him.
I also — in my post-”Prestige,” pre-”Vicky Cristina Barcelona” infatuation with Rebecca Hall — watched “Starter For 10.” Harmless and had some good laughs.
And I caught up on my “Deadwood” re-runs. I saw ‘em all the first time around, but HBO-Zone has been showing them in order every weeknight and I’ve gotten sucked back into it. Not only do they really hold up but I think they I’m enjoying them more the second time around.
jennybee, I’m sorry that you’re ill. MBN comes out on DVD at the beginning of July. Unless, of course, the date gets pushed back. So you don’t have long to wait.
But I do WISH you could get out to a theatre to see this. It’s gorgeous brilliance.
Nicky, you can come and live at my house. I got room. We’ll bake chocolate chip cookies, hang out at the mall and go see arthouse movies. If you don’t mind all the silly men that tend to hang around my rose covered cottage…
“…in my post-”Prestige,” pre-”Vicky Cristina Barcelona” infatuation with Rebecca Hall…”
Heh heh, I like that you’re already anticipating the crush, Harvey. Obviously the Presitge got the ball rolling.
As for Deadwood, I’d concur that a second viewing is in some ways more entertaining than the first. You lose a little of the thrill of seeing it all for the first time, but the ornate clockwork of the storytelling and character development becomes more fully realized on a second viewing. I could say the same about The Wire, methinks, but I’ve only gotten through a repeat viewing of seasons 1 and 2.
HBO has a tendency to feature series that reward repeat viewings, especially in quick order.
That sounds like a mighty fine weekend for films, Craig.
This weekend, I saw The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Speed Racer and Roman de Gare. My thoughts on Caspian are largely and echoing of Sam’s, although I do think this film carried its considerable length better than the first film, which I distinctly remember finding intermittently disengaging and boring. I do agree with Daniel that most films this dark and violent would probably receive a PG-13, but the lack of blood was a decisive factor in its PG rating. Anyway, it seems lik this is a film series that just may be becoming better as it goes along.
I’m afraid I’m going to have to be the resident Speed Racer atheist at LiC, or at least one of them. It’s not that I didn’t appreciate what the Wachowskis did–they honestly do create quite the spellbinding world with some legitimately tremendous effects. Yet I did find it almost anchored down by an excessive layering of “story,” which I didn’t think was going to be a problem at all. But I should have expected it in some ways because 135 minutes cannot be filled up with just a lot of cool racing and psychedelic colors. I think ultimately it needed a breezier pace, but I certainly didn’t hate it or anything. It has been unfairly maligned and trashed, and the Wachowskis’ heart is more or less in the right place with this one.
Roman de Gare, I’m still sort of processing but I like what you’ve written up there, Craig, so I’ll let your take stand without saying much. I do concur, though: this film is a lot of fun, and satisfying as you note. Lelouch is a fascinating filmmaker and I thought this was a film with which he both stretched himself and took it easy at the same time. Pinon is especially superb.
At home I saw The Pride and the Passion with Cary Grant, Sophia Loren and Frank Sinatra–is it as bad as its reputation? No. But it’s still a mess of sorts. Loren gives a pretty good performance in the middle of it all (her character is ridiculously, poorly defined in the beginning but they give her a ton of motivation towards the end, unlike the guys). And she’s… beautiful… Grant’s all right. He only seems to really turn it on when he’s with Loren, which makes sense for a few reasons, chief among them being they were actually falling in love when this was made, evidently. Sinatra is way too hard to buy as a Spanish guerilla fighting off the French in 1810–his wig and accent are unbearably distracting. Stanley Kramer’s attempts to direct action all fall flat. Then again, he never was much of a director altogether, but at least he’d do well the next year with The Defiant Ones.
Also saw Seven Men From Now again. The first Budd Boetticher-Randolph Scott teaming is a winner. Lee Marvin steals the show as the film’s realistically cool and calculating villain. Gail Russell, who was going through hard times with alcoholism, is solid as the woman who learns what drives the Scott character as he helps her and her husband. Anyway, it’s quite good, very breezy at 78 minutes and you should see it. (John Wayne wanted the lead part of Scott’s, but he was tied up with The Searchers at the time; Batjac still produced the film.)
Sam, perhaps a second viewing will redeem it, and I’m saving Craig’s comments until after I write my review, but its looking at a big uphill battle. I’ve never seen a Wong Kar Wai film before (I know, I know), so I carried in zero baggage or expectations. In fact, due to its critical lambasting (apart from here), my expectations were significantly low. I was expecting a series of vignettes shown through the hazy prism of lush cinematography, which is what I got, but I could not leap the hurdle of the melodrama. At first Jones put me off (apart from her dark brown peepers, she is not much of an asset - not necessarily a liability, but not an asset either), but I worked through that. Jude Law and the gorgeous landscape were enough for me (although the strobe slow-mo, ala Walker Texas Ranger, that Kar Wai used constantly became tedious). I kept going, relatively positive, until Weisz had her screaming breakdown in the bar, and that was all she wrote. I can kind of see how this might grow on you over time, but I just couldn’t take the melodrama. It felt like watching a soap opera with better production values, and apart from Jude Law, I didn’t buy any of the performances.
If I ever do revisit, it won’t be for a few years at least.
I went to Son of Rambow, which was pretty wonderful. Speed again (still amazing) and dvds of Tokyo Olympiad and The Saddest Music in the World (brilliant little experimental film). I’m seeng The Fall tonight.
I think I am going to kick myself now.
Water Lilies screened last year November in SA, as a part of some gay and lesbo film fest, and of course I never gave it a second thought. Dammit.
Now I will wait forever.
I didn’t mean to be vague in my little capsules Hedwig. I was just saving some juice for the official reviews. I liked Water Lilies more than I thought I would. I went into it wondering what a movie about 15-year-old girls would have to offer me, but I was able to identify. I imagine it speaks more to a girl’s experience growing up, but there’s a universality to it as well. I haven’t read Dargis’ review yet, but she must’ve had a bug up her butt.
Evan. You tried damnit, and you’re a good man for it. I apologize if I’m culpable in having steered you in the wrong direction. With some movies, I’m totally mystified why certain people don’t like them, but with others I totally get it. MBN is one of those movies I think I completely understand why people are turned off…and I can’t exactly say they’re wrong. All I can say is that for me, I was so intoxicated by the mood it set that the things about it that would’ve irritated me in another movie, didn’t bother me at all. Does that make any sense?
Ari. I struggled with Saddest Music, but I aim to revisit it. I saw the trailer for Guy Maddin’s latest My Winnepeg whch looks….interesting. Look forward to hearing your thoughts on The Fall, one of a handful of recent movies I haven’t gotten around to a full on review. Call me a slacker.
Really glad to see you and Sam enjoyed Rambow.
Matthew, one of the great things about Reprise was how it managed to skip around from one tone to another without skipping a beat and it actually really worked. Plus, the performances (as near as I can tell in a foreign language) were pretty great. I look forward to more from Trier.
Sam, the negative reviews from sources I trust on Redbelt keep coming in and I’m adding yours to the pile. I was planning on catching it eventually, but the odds grow slimmer and slimmer. Glad to hear the relatively good news about Caspian though. I read somewhere that they’re cutting the series short after the third or fourth book. It makes sense because it’s the last one with the Pevensies as children, so there’s nothing to stop them from coming back and doing the other books later.
Nick, I caught the trailer for Brick Lane and it looked interesting. Sorry to hear it was a little disappointing. hahahah…Llama balls. If I could afford to pay you Nick, I’d hire you as my personal assistant. I need someone to organize my life, but it sounds like you’ve got a pretty sweet offer from Ms. Wilding.
Joel, I’m with you on Leatherheads. There was nothing really wrong with it. It didnt’ make me want to gouge my eyes out or anything, but it never quite came to life. Too bad really because it otherwise seemed to have much going for it.
Relieved you liked Young@Heart. It’s a tough sell, but it’s pretty irresistable once you give it a chance.
Jennybee, you’re kind of my hero for loving Stranger than Fiction. We’re a sad, lonely minority. When he brings her ‘flours’? COME ON! How do you resist that? People are dead inside, I tell you. Killed by cynicism, irony and an overdose of hipsterism. That’s a pretty awesome movie to watch when you’re sick though and I hope you’re feeling better.
Harvey. “fell apart like post-vintage Alex Cox, complete with Tom Waits cameo.” ouch. I caught Cox’s Searchers 2.0 at AFI last November. Hardly a return to form (and I say this as a guy who always had a soft spot for Straight to Hell), but there was some fun to be had with it for fans. Call it a goofy charm. That’s not exactly a recommendation, I’m just saying.
I’m with Joel on viewing Deadwood a 2nd time. I often found myself rewatching them right away and picking up on new nuances. Damnit that was a great show. For all the talk about Sopranos…no nevermind, I’m not going there.
Alexander. As you know, even around here you’re hardly alone on Speed Racer, though the ratio of fans to haters at LiC is way out of balance to the outside world. I was so dispirited by the critical and public reaction to the movie, I never even got my review of it off the ground. I get people not finding it to be their cup of tea, and I don’t deny it was flawed, but the volume of hate heaped upon it is a little odd to me, especially for a movie that, at its heart, is so innocent. Ah well, they can’t all be winners.
Also, dude, you’re like movie Rain Man. How many movies do you watch in a given year? And we’re not talking about easy cheesy stuff either. So far this year, I’ve noticed that my viewing is down from previous years, but that my viewing of new releases is way up. I feel like I’m seeing tons of movies, but it’s all been in theaters where it takes more effort. My last pile of DVDs I returned to Netflix unwatched and the replacement pile has been sitting there for a month.
Don’t worry Nick, it’ll turn up on DVD soon I’m sure. That reminds me though, as much as it was played up in the trailer, the ‘lesbian’ component was actually pretty vague and subtle if you ask me. Maybe Hedwig or Alison or Paul will disagree. Or perhaps it’s a discussion we can have when I write the review.
Oh yeah, I forgot I saw “Prince Caspian” over the weekend, haha. I guess that shows how much of an impression it left on me. I loved the first film, but I found this one to be weaker in every way. That’s mostly the story’s fault, but they filled in the holes with battles and after a while I just found it tiresome. I Thought the dialogue was very week as well, and Aslan a very unlikable hero. How are we supposed to pull for a hero who left and allowed his people to be conquered and slaughtered for 1,300 years when he had the power to stop it. Because he was waiting on someone to believe in him when no one else would? “Nothing happens the same way twice” he said. That’s BS. I left the movie pissed off.
Don’t worry Craig, I’m with you on “Stranger than Fiction” too.
Evan, I agree that the melodrama of MBN is a bit oft-putting and Weisz’ breakdown scene is a showstopper in the worst way possible, but she redeemed herself somewhat for me in her requiem moment a little later. I think all the performances had an odd, non-realistic quality to them which fit (for me) into the gauzy prism through which the movie is shot. OK, it’s not gauzy but I don’t know how to describe the movie’s penchant for odd framing devices, my favorite being the pie case window that is first sprayed down in window cleaner before being wiped clear.
This film reminded me a lot of Wim Wender’s Don’t Come Knocking, not for content or technical style so much as the loose romanticized atmosphere and breezy storytelling the directors employ. I’m not sure Wong Kar Wai is really invested all that deeply in the characters or the narrative elements so much as the mood of it all. I kinda ended up liking that about it.
Anyway, I see everything you’re getting at and honestly, I can’t fault any of your commentary. This movie either works or it fails miserably and I think that’s up to the individual. Not necessarily one of Wong Kar Wai’s strongest efforts but then again, I don’t think it falls all that far from his previous works.
Well, not much in the way of movies for me this weekend, though I did catch up on all available episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender which made me very, very happy. If you have not checked out this little animated series from Nickelodeon, I highly, highly recommend it. It’s got excellent characters, storyline, top quality animation and gorgeous music, and it combines drama (some of it quite heavy) and action with comic relief and some much needed lightheartedness. The series is now available through Book Three, Chapter Fifteen. :-)
I also caught a showing of Portrait of Jennie which is part of a Jennifer Jones and Charles Boyer retrospective going on at the Walter Reade Theater. Not a great movie but it’s always worth watching Joseph Cotten. And the great Ethel Barrymore was worth every penny. :-)
I had a pretty fulfilling movie weekend. First, I watched Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead — I’m finally nearing the completion of my 2007 “must watch list.” I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It’s okay for a crime melodrama, with emphasis on the melo-. The world Lumet created didn’t feel lived in. The sets looked like sets, the actors projected as actors, the dialogue felt scripted. It didn’t feel cinematic and it didn’t feel realistic; too much like a play and too little like a film. One could argue that 12 Angry Men had a staged feel, but he made it work and had the benefit of a more plausible plot and powerful acting. I didn’t hate Dead, but it failed to engage me. On a side (spoiler) note, I didn’t buy the father killing his son at all, especially after he tried to apologize to him. It’d seem more logical that the father would cut off all ties and retreat into himself.
I thoroughly enjoyed Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless and it’s hard to put my finger on why. Not a whole lot happens, but its characters felt alive. In a Lonely Place isn’t one of Bogie’s best films on the whole, but I think it’s his deepest performance.
Finally, I watched Jackie Brown again on cable. It’s probably my favorite Tarantino film. Elmore Leonard’s novel was good, but Tarantino’s one major change — the race and stronger personality of the title character — made a world of difference. The sustained shot of Grier driving away from Forster to Bobby Womack’s “Across 110th Street” is much more affecting and powerful than that shot of Clooney in the taxi at the end of Michael Clayton.
Craig, I’m with you on Stranger than Fiction as well.
Portrait of Jennie feeds on the hopeless romantic inside me. Every time I see that film I get chills and the lighthouse scene tears at my heart.
W.J.- I don’t mean this as condecension but I would almost advise to watch IN A LONELY PLACE again. I felt as you did intially (great Bogie, ok everything else) but the picture gets better in memory and on repeat viewing, its haunting and powerful. Or it could be we just disagree.
I do agree with W.J. on BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD. I flipped for it in the theatre, but I felt a major come down when i watched it again on DVD a few weeks ago. Its lifeless and overwrought, and not very well directed, I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.
Out and about over the weekend, the highlight being the exuberant San Francisco Bay to Breakers procession featuring every imaginable costume, hand carts made into mini floats (usually incorporating a beer keg), and various stages of undress. Part spring break beach hi-jinx and part carnivale.
The only film we watched was The Squid and the Whale. It makes such an interesting contrast with Margot. Squid gets everything right – well rounded characters and dynamics that arc truthfully during the course of the story, a perfectly capture sense of place through locations and art direction, smart dialogue, artfully structured with pleasing naturalistic rhythms, and darkly funny yet ultimately hopeful tone. Margot, for me at least, seemed to strive for a similar style and standard and despite having some memorable moments fell disappointedly short.
There are many reasons for this but a couple stood out for me. Both films featured a severely inflexible and difficult central personality in a family/attachments system. Each is ego-centric, judgmental, inappropriately relate to their children as if they were adults and personal supports, undermine others self-confidence and their relationships, and are the cause of complicated dynamics between themselves and those who both seek their approval and to avoid their more poisonous qualities.
Jeff Daniels’ character seemed plausibly a once successful writer and despite his difficult nature a charismatic intellectual. But the personality of Kidman’s character was so much more rigid, self-involved, and bluntly toxic that it was implausible to me that she’d have the insight about others to successfully write literary fiction. And that even her family or husband could find sustaining a relationship with such an extreme personality tenable.
The second thing that stood out for me related to the fact that severely rigid characters can have no arc. They have the crises their lack of adaptability produces, but nothing can and does fundamentally change within them. This by itself makes for a less interesting character journey. What such stories need are the arcs others display in response to them. The wife/mother and sons in Squid had discernible, plausible, and satisfying arcs in response to the husband/father. But the sister in Margot didn’t. What we got was her making an effort to ignore the challenges of Margot’s personality, to naively believe she could be different, becoming angry and temporarily rejecting Margot, and then forgiving her again. But the central dynamic between them and the sister in her own right seemed essentially unchanged. That wasn’t as satisfying for me from a story telling perspective.
Sorry for talking about Margot again. I promise never to mention it again.
I LOVE Jackie Brown. It’s definitely better than the book, and the book was already pretty good. It has such a great, langourous atmosphere. And add me to the Stranger than Fiction fan club.
Alexander, sounds like I should see Seven Men From now. It’s funny you mention Lee Marvin: after reading the great piece about Gloria Grahame in the Bright Lights Film Journal (read it if you haven’t, it’s great, and so is the rest of the journal, with two good pieces about TWBB amongst other things), I’ve been meaning to revisit the Big Heat, and he’s a great villain there also.
I caught a Stranger than Fiction T-shirt at a preview screening giveaway/promo. It was like a child’s x-small size. The couple sitting next to me thought it was a diaper. Yeah, they’re giving away Stranger than Fiction diapers…
Great pick with the Jackie Brown scene, W.J. I also like when Samuel L. Jackson drives from the motel to the deserted junkyard across the street while bumping “Strawberry Letter 23.” Ice cold.
In my rush to comment on the comments, I overlooked Daniel. Read the comment, but left it out of my response. What I was GOING to say was thanks for steering me towards Yangtze. I still haven’t read your full review yet, but seeing the rating you gave it definitely put it higher on my list. If it wasn’t for you, this would’ve been another doc to elude my grasp.
Craig, I fear to even hazard a guess regarding how many films I see a year. Since 2002, I do keep a calendar log, however, so it would be fairly easy to count them all up. Perhaps one lazy weekend afternoon… Anyway, yes, I do see a lot of films, no lying.
Hedwig, thanks for telling me about the Gloria Grahame piece. She was something else, on and off the screen, and, yes, Marvin is quite terrific in The Big Heat with her.
W.J. and Daniel, good scene recollections from Jackie Brown. That film, I think, is still the summit of Tarantino’s art. Those scenes you mention are wonderful. Another little bit I love is towards the end when Samuel L. Jackson gives his speech to Robert Forster with a note of sad but firm melancholy, beginning with, “My money’s in that office, right?” The way he dejectedly, spiritlessly looks at him and talks to him, telling him that he’ll be forced to kill him if the situation isn’t wholly agreeable, really hits me hard every time. I love that film.
I just realized that I should have chimed in on Portrait of Jennie, which I just saw last Tuesday evening as part of a three-part Joseph Cotten marathon (Walk Softly, Stranger and Journey into Fear were the other two parts of said three-part marathon). Portrait of Jennie is indeed a lush, romantic film; Walk Softly, Stranger is a fascinating noir with Cotten playing a smooth-talking gambler who ought to see the many errors of his ways; Journey into Fear’s screenplay was actually written by Cotten (at least he gets credit) and starred he with Dolores del Rio, Rush Warrick and Orson Welles. Journey into Fear was a Mercury production with Agnes Moorehead and Everett Sloane and many other Mercury players showing up… kind of minor but a lot of fun and brisk at 69 minutes.
W.J., I can only second Chuck’s recommendation to see In a Lonely Place again. Maybe wait a little while, and then revisit it. The film possesses a hypnotizing kind of power as it actually gains a great deal with second and third viewings. Arguably Bogart’s best ever, as you say. The backstory of the ending is one of my favorites, as Nicholas Ray decided on instinct to go against the happy ending that was planned for the much darker, sadder and ambiguous one the film concludes with as made.
I didn’t think the ending was all that ambiguous, Alexander. The thought that Dix and Laurel weren’t right for each other, regardless of his possible involvement in murder, was always there. That scene in which Dix spins out of control after the dinner on the beach cemented an inevitability that was already looming overhead. There’s nothing wrong with that and I think it was the right ending for the film.
I thought the weak link in the film was Gloria Grahame. She’s not given much to do and seems content to play cool blond, stand-by-your-man, and hysterical dame stereotypes as needed. It seemed like a cavalcade of noir types that have worked before, but didn’t do much for me here. Some of the dialogue was also clunky, but I’m usually willing to forgive that. The dramatic tension is based primarily on miscommunication between Dix, Laurel, and the police. Again, I can forgive that in a lot of films, but it nagged at me here. (Finally, a minor quibble… were police really so backward in 1950 as to allow a witness give her statement with the suspect standing over her shoulder?)
I’m sure I’ll see this film again and, maybe with some more time, it’ll grow on me. If not, it could just be a matter of taste.
No worries, Craig. How you’re able to respond to as many comments as are on here is quite the feat. I’m glad you had another shot at Yangtze, and that others are finding it as important as I did.
Incidentally, did you find it as impossible as I did to find a poster shot for it? Maybe it was just me. I don’t even remember now how I found the one I used. Took me a little while.
Yahoo Movies had poster art for “Yangtze.” That’s where I find most of the art for my reviews.
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809968074/photo/stills
Sorry, W.J., I guess my usage of the word ambiguous was too ambiguous. I agree that the relationship between the Bogart and Grahame characters was completely defined. I was writing more about the miscommunication you’re writing of.
With regards to the Grahame character herself, I thought Ray’s direction fairly well captured her paradoxical role in the film. She’s almost part enabler, part moral judge, all in one, and it’s a difficult conceit to completely accept at first but it’s one aspect of the film I grew to actually like a good deal. I admittedly haven’t seen In a Lonely Place in a while, so perhaps I should look at it again with a long separation of time between the last time I viewed it and now.
I do admit freely and immediately, though, that I’ve always had a problem with the way in which the police are portrayed in that film. It suffers a little from a lack of comprehensive empathy with the unfortunate stereotypes of cops prevailing. The scene with the witness speaking with them with the suspect hovering above her is a common one of that era; I can’t really speak to its accuracy, but it always strikes me as totally afield.
Ah, thanks a lot, Matthew! I think there were some stills on the official website, too, but I couldn’t find anything else when I was writing it a few weeks ago. Great tip for the future, though. Looks like impawards.com just posted that one as well. Must have just come out.
Matthew I rarely disagree with you, but I must do so with PRINCE CASPIAN, which slighly edges the most fine first installment in the series. Gorgeous set design and magnificent Harry Gregson Williams score trump any narrative shortcomings you note.
In response to a previous query from Daniel, my kids are 12, 11, 9, 6 and 5, and every one of them were mesmerized and ravished by the film.
“The Fall” was interesting, I enjoyed pieces of it. And the performances were very good. But it barely looks like an actual movie. There’s nothing cinematic about the imagery. It’s like an ad for Lexus. It’s really slick and shiny, but there’s nothing rich or atmospheric about it. And almost every other shot is in slow-motion. It also seems like the director watched “Baraka” and wanted to use half of the images from that film in his movie. It’s a huge improvement over his first movie, though. I’ll give it that.
So you saw THE FALL, Ari? Interesting. I’m still waiting with bated breath for that in my home town.
Actually, something that joel said leads me to a point that I forgot to make - at my site or elsewhere. Some people have made favourable comparisons between MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS and Wim Wenders’ PARIS, TEXAS in terms of the general tone and the free flowing relationships between the characters.
I think there is something to be said for that. I loved PT when I saw it on television LONG AGO. I would’ve given it four stars at the time but I don’t know if it would have any staying power with me. I have yet to revisit it.
But I think MBN has more qualities to it that make it a potential classic/masterpiece. PT is, of course, rather stripped down and minimalistic while MBN is a gloriously luscious work of art.
Thanks to joel for reminding me of that. I have so many balls in the air I have to be careful I don’t drop them all…
Finally got around to seeing “Water Lilies” yesterday, and I loved it. It reminded me a lot of “XXY,” but not quite as good. “XXY” is still one of my 3 favorite films of 2008. But “Water Lilies” comes very close. It’s very haunting and lyrical, and I could definitely identify with the central character. Very reminiscent in tone of the films of Sofia Coppola.
You’re welcome, Miranda. Any way I can help to elevate the conversation on MBN, the better…
Craig, I think Brick Lane was good, just not what I wanted.
Everyone just see it when you can, I just wanted too much.
The trailer is amazing though, wish the film lived up to it, and for some people, maybe it will.
Ari, I found myself admiring The Fall more than actually enjoying it. Your Lexus ad comment really hits the mark.
Nick, expectations are a bitch, no?
Did anybody catch this last week? I realize I’m a week behind it.
Lotsa fun:
http://coolercinema.blogspot.com/2008/05/searching-for-chigurh.html
That’s awesome, Daniel.
They could make an animated series a la “Where’s Waldo?” about this. Every week he’s in a different collage and the viewer has to find him. Or maybe a “Where in the World is Anton Chigurh” series.
@ Matthew: it’s interesting that you say that… since director Sciamma has said Water Lilies is kind of a reaction to The Virgin Suicides: she thought the girls were too romanticized in that, too unreal, and she didn’t like that they were only seen through boys’ eyes, so she set out to tell a story from the perspective of girls.
Right, Alison?
I saw something about Juno on TV yesterday and shuddered at how close it came to winning BP. For me, the Chigurh post is just the tip of iceberg of evidence that NCFOM was most deserving. What a great film.
Hedwig, don’t know if you’ve read the Virgin Suicides, which I think might be a fairly unfilmable book but the author, Jeffrey Eugenides, wrote it as sort of a group journal where everything is seen through the eyes of adolescent boys. The movie gets at this, but loses a lot in the interpretation. The book has a lot more to do with male adolescent obsession with women than it necessarily does with the women themselves. The women depicted are the mystery the book ponders, hence they are romanticized to an extreme.
So it’s curious that Water Lilies was filmed as a counter to that, considering that was the entire point of The Virgin Suicides.
I have read the book, and loved it. I liked Middlesex a lot too, and I can’t wait for Eugenides to come out with a new book. I think he edited a short story collection recently, but it was insanely expensive.
I thought the unusual perspective in The Virgin Suicides (how many books do you know written entirely in the we-form?) was amazing. I realize the fact that the sisters are such idealized cyphers is on purpose, and I don’t think it’s a bad thing.. but at the same time I can understand why it frustrates Céline Sciamma, and why she felt like getting inside the GIRL’s heads for a change.