HARVARD BEATS YALE, 29-29 (2008)

DATE:  4/3/2009   FIRST VIEWING

WHERE:  Wisconsin Union Theater, at the Wisconsin Film Festival…with Bryan

After hearing a filmmaker interview on NPR’s Fresh Air, I was pretty excited to see that this film was going to be showing at the film festival.  My son and I were in a nearly packed union theater, which was really hot…the audience consisted of Mayor Dave Cieslewicz…and a number of Harvard or Yale alums, some of whom were at the football game depicted in the movie.  It was a lot of fun.

THE GOOD:  filmmaker allows the story to tell itself

THE BAD:

THE WONKY: “Mister 75″; telephone Dixie

November 23, 1968…Yale was ranked in the top 20, both teams were undeafeated as they met to continue their heated rivalry on the final game of the season.  That is the backdrop as we watch one of “the greatest games ever played” unfold.

The film is essentially a “talking head” documentary with a good amount of game footage.  We are allowed to watch a good portion of the game as it happened, and then get to hear players’ perspectives on other players, coaches, the game, certain plays, the time in history.   Many of the interviewees offer up stories and explanations without a lot of hindsight coloring the events 40 years later.  A lot of these guys are characters anyway, so they are just entertaining to listen to [including Mike Bouscaren, who seems like a "villain"-the crowd really loved to howl when he would talk- ubt he had one of the most grounded comments of the game]

Besides the game, 1968 hangs over the film…there is the Vietnam war, protests, assassinations…but none of these things dominate.  In fact, they are brought up, to acknowledge them, and there is some talk, but it’s never the focus, which I think is a great decision for the story.  One of the Harvard players was in the game after a 3 year tour of duty…that he talks about, which is pretty powerful, but that becomes part of the story, and we move on.  Some players talk about police marching on Harvard to quell riots…

Besides the rivalry, there is an interesting class difference between the schools.  Yale players have many generations of family at the school, they talk about dating Meryl Streep and rooming with George W Bush.  They go on vacation to Maine summer homes.  Many of the Harvard guys talk about their parents not finishing high school, about how hard it was to even get in…very white collar vs blue collar.  It really adds some stakes to the game, but is never really beat over your head.

The movie is exciting and compelling, even though the title gives away the outcome.  Really well done.  Oh, and apparently Al Gore is a whiz at playing songs on a touchtone phone…

8 out of 10

GOODBYE SOLO (2008)

DATE:  4/2/2009   FIRST VIEWING

WHERE:  Orpheum theater, stage door…at the Wisconsin Film Festival

After seeing CHOP SHOP last year at the WI film festival, this was one of the films on the schedule that I was most excited about…that I knew I had to see.  CHOP SHOP was simple storytelling with a not so simple glimpse into its character’s complex emotional lives, one of the best movies I saw all of last year.  Ramin Bahrani has me hooked…

THE GOOD: simple storytelling;  Solo;  “Hey, Big Dog!!”

THE BAD:  hmmmmm??

THE WONKY: Solo takes a pee break

Ramin Bahrani does it again with a seemingly simple story that really carries a lot of emotional weight.   Solo is a Senegalese cab driver who befriends an old white man named William.  William asks Solo to drive him out to Blowing Rock in a couple weeks, leave him there, and he will pay him $1000.  Solo is afraid that William is going to try and kill himself – he decides that he needs to become William’s guardian angel.

This is set up in the first 5 minutes, after which we simply watch the lives of the 2 characters as the date of the drive approaches.  There is very little exposition filling in details…things are gradually revealed, like a real relationship where you don’t learn EVERYTHING about a person all at once.  It allows for surprises in the story, but feels real.  And maybe what really works is that these aren’t characters, but people.

Souleymane Sy Savane gives an unbelievable performance as Solo.  He is larger than life, full of life…a man with a huge heart who will stop at nothing to hlep friends and family.  What could be a caricature becomes a rich character, who has to weather adversity and pain…and figure out how that fits into his world and affects his optimistic outlook.  By constrast, Red West as William [another good performance], is almost completely devoid of emotion – the 2 end up revealing things to each other, and teaching each other (which sounds trite – it’s not).  That we care for both these characters is a strength of the film…and was evident in a scene where William suddenly punches Solo in the face.  It is quick and somewhat unexpected…and the audience I saw this with gasped out loud!

The cinematography here, like CHOP SHOP, is unassuming, but great.  Much of the movie is shot very close…many close ups of faces letting us see the emotions play out across their features…locales are kept close too, as we feel a part of the surroundings rather than an outside observer.  There aren’t a lot of wide shots in the city (Winston-Salem, NC) either which adds to the feel that the characters and locales are just a small part of a big city.  In contrast, once Solo begins driving across the state towards Blowing Rock, the camera opens up…showing us beautiful vistas and landscapes.  You’ve also got the contrast of the characters’ lives…in the city, they are constricted with nowhere to go, and at this point, things are opening up…they are moving forward.

The ending of the movie, uses similar imagery to that in CHOP SHOP – nature, flight, open air – lending an undercurrent of hope.  So much that happens before is colored with sadness…and although, you aren’t sure what will happen, it feels as if anything is possible.

This is a great movie, that is funny, uplifting, heartbreaking and heavy.  It is about the people in our lives and what the simple act of knowing them does to us, and to them.   Seemingly about so little, but ends up being about so much.

8.5 out of 10

ROCK-AFIRE EXPLOSION (2008)

DATE: 4/2/2009 FIRST VIEWING
WHERE: Bartell Theater, at the Wisconsin Film Festival, with Bryan

I race walked from the screening that I had prior to this one, as it got done when this starting.  6 blocks later I was about 5 minutes late…

THE GOOD: lots of archival footage; story of Creative Dynamics

THE BAD: uneven tone

THE WONKY:  dancing robots; Billy Bob tattoo

This was a movie that Bryan and I were really looking forward to.  It had promise of being interesting and completely ridiculous at the same time.  I had been to Show Biz Pizza growing up, so the idea of a documentary about the animatronic band from the restaurant, and people still obsessed with it today, seemed very entertaining.

It was…sort of.  It could have been my arriving late, or heightened expectations (about singing robots?) but this was probably my biggest disappointment of the festival.

The movie was made well enough, and for a while, I was enjoying it, and laughing/reminiscing.  But soon, I was a little uncomfortable, and I began to realize that a lot of it was sad, and kind of creepy.  The people who can’t let go of their childhoods…the woman who hooks up with the inventor of the robots (Aaron Fechter) because she has a “thing” for the band…

The story of Creative Dynamics was really interesting, the rise of the restaurants, the inventiveness of the company.  And then how quickly that spiralled into nothing, to where Aaron was firing his friends because the restaurants were tanking.  Very bittersweet.  He is a great character, who has tremendous optimism in the face of whatever comes his way.

But I just couldn’t decide throughout the film, whether I should be laughing or feeling bad.  The filmmakers throw a lot of stuff which, I thought, made it hard to navigate.  Chris Thrash – a super fan who has a Rock-afire show in his basement – is obviously obsessed, but he is very creative and smart, reprogramming the robots to sing contemporary songs and creating music videos.  But I couldn’t shake the feeling that the filmmakers wanted us to laugh at him.  Including a story about his wedding at the local skating rink…non-traditional…kinda silly…but it completely fit with he and his wife and their lives, so it was kinda sweet…but I don’t know, maybe it was me, but it felt like I was supposed to laugh at him.

A movie that I had hoped would bring me some childhood memories and a few laughs ended up making me kind of uncomfortable.  Too bad.

One of my favorite quotes of the weekend came from this movie though:

“Kids of today…don’t really relate to moving robots”   Hahaha…well, maybe that’s a good thing…

5 out of 10

RR (2007)

DATE: 4/3/2009   FIRST VIEWING

WHERE: UW Cinematheque, at the Wisconsin Film Festival, with Aaron.

My 5 year old likes trains.  There was a time when he would sit for hours and watch train videos and then play with trains…he’s not that into them anymore, but he still enjoys them.  I thought that a film that only features trains driving across landscapes might appeal to him.  I brought him along so that he and I could share a little part of the festival this year, since I was going to be gone for much of the weekend.

THE GOOD:  trains

THE BAD:  trains

THE WONKY:  trains

James Benning’s movie consists of 43 shots of trains.  The camera is set up, and we watch a section of rail as a train goes by, comes at us, etc.  That’s it…pretty simple.

The variations don’t come in the subject matter, but in the aesthetics.  The distance of viewing is different…far away, extremely close…landscapes are featured from all over the country, and there are beaches, deserts, plains, snow, swamps, salt lakes.  The durations of the shots vary….occasionally there is audio…the film is both hypnotic and rhythmic.

The shot composition is pretty impeccable…here is a website with a description of each of the shots used:

http://newfilmkritik.de/archiv/2008-02/rr-location-list/

Some of my favorites are:

#3 – a river bridge, the shot has nothing but the bridge (and boaters)

#4 – I swear that this is by my brother’s house in DePere…but looks like it is in Minnesota

#12 – a train going through snowy terrain past a river

#15 – one of my favorites, as a long train goes by and through a tunnel, another train starts to move above it on a bridge…as I watched I realized…that’s the same train doing a big loop…it was pretty cool

#17 – another river bridge with a single train car crossing, that as it approaches you realize, is a truck

#30 – a train seems to materialize out of nowhere coming across the Great Salt Lake

#42 -train moving past Wagner Mills…the camera is set up in such a way that the perspective line created by the roofs of the buildings completely line up with the train cars as they go past…wow

#43 – the last shot…a train moving past wind generators with old tires in the foreground…it looks cool, and I thought it set up a cool image, sort of a part (old tires) present (train) and future (wind generators) composite

This isn’t a movie for everybody…you have to be somewhat into it to enjoy it.  There was a woman sitting next to me who started counting when people were leaving…she got into the 30’s…and I heard more get up after she was long gone…so at least 40.  And my 5 year old fell asleep for at least half of it.  On artistic merit this film has a lot to hold your attention.  If  you are looking for some sort of a narrative flow…view at your own risk.  I find myself thinking of some of the shots days later…but this isn’t for everyone.

6.5 out of 10

SILENT LIGHT (2007)

DATE: 4/4/2009   FIRST VIEWING

WHERE:  Chazen art museum…during the Wisconsin Film Festival…with my wife.

Had heard lots of good things about this movie…from some of the people at rowthree.com, and on some best of lists…After sleeping through JCVD the night before, I was pretty well rested for the 11am screening.  I was not prepared, however, to drop my wife off near the door, spend 10 minutes looking for free parking, only to swallow my pride, climb a parking ramp…to the TOP…run down, and then have to navigate what seemed like 500 yards through fenced off construction to reach the museum, about 100 FEET in front of me.   I made it, albeit walking down the steps like a stork being blinded in the dark, looking for my wife and our seats.

THE GOOD:  cinematography; bright contrasting color scheme

THE BAD:  Johan’s “crying face”

THE WONKY:  “musical number” in the pickup truck

My first thoughts as this film unfolded…after a spectacular 5 minute (?) opening shot…was that it felt like a fusion between a Bergman film and a  Terence Malick film.  The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous and majestic, while the story is very deliberate and languidly paced, drawing you into the world and creates a meditative atmosphere.  It at once gives you a feeling for what the Mennonite way of life might be like, all while playing with how the passage of time is felt.

The story is simple – a family man with a loving wife and kids is having an affair with another woman.  He struggles with what he should do…follow his heart or follow his oaths, and the ramifications that his actions might have…he seeks guidance from his father, who tells him he is being deceived by the evil one (Johan feels God is showing him his true path) and that he needs to decide what to do soon, or lose both women.  And that plays out over the course of 2 hours…as we watch what seem to be scenes from a painting unfold.

Dialogue is sparse, background noises are amplified to fill the otherwise silent goings-on…crunching snow, slurping cereal…emotions throughout are completely understated…not so much held back, as turned down…often times you will see a character’s face for a minute as they react to something, and a single tear will fall down their cheek.

The camera work is wonderful…the framing of each shot is stunning.  The camera moves very little, so when it does it is really seems to speak.  The director also plays with holding a shot while continuing the scene with offscreen noise, and at times with focus of entire scenes, allowing the character to walk into focus rather than follow them.

A character stops a clock from ticking (very loudly) early on in the film, and from then on, time is not necessarily played out linearly.  Event s move forward, but one scene to the next can be completely different seasons, suddenly children are older, but the action that seems to be happening could just as well have been continuing from the night before.  It really is effective…and a character at one point mentions that they would like to be able to turn time back, to which another responds “that is the one thing that we humans can’t do”…

This speaks to the spiritual nature of the film too…all throughout the family is praying, there is talk of God’s will, and people being outside of events that have been written out long ago.  God’s presence seems to be hanging in the air throughout everything that happens…or at least it could be…

The ending is nicely open to interpretation…the image of the clock is brought back…and while I won’t spoil it…it would be a great discussion…it makes you think about all the events throughout the film…just what has gone on…what is really going to happen now that the clock is ticking again…and the film bookends with a reverse shot of the opener.

This really is a stunning film…to look at, to experience…I really enjoyed it and found myself lost in the world on screen.  Someone afterw the screening was telling his wife that the editor was the problem with the film, and that they EASILY could have chopped 45 minutes off of the movie.  I suppose that is true, but what we got was so much more rich than MTV’s version of a day in the life of a Mennonite family.

8 out of 10

Final 2 days of the Wisconsin Film Festival

Just a few thoughts on my last 2 days of the fest, and I hope to get more thoughts on the films out soon…too little free time with 14 films and too tired to type and stay awake…

Saturday…saw SILENT LIGHT at the Chazen with my wife…great film and I liked the screening room a lot, although the seemingly endless maze of fences around the construction weren’t helping anyone

Hung out at Barrique’s waiting for my son to finish watching BLIND LOVES and we headed down to find something to eat. We settled on getting burgers at Five Guys, where our order number ended up being 69, which gave my teenage son and I plenty of fodder for giggles. I know…

Saw the triple bill of SECRET SUNSHINE, SPARROW and GHAJINI at the Orpheum, pounding coffee between each to hope for survival, and to avoid a repeat of my JCVD nap.
SECRET SPARROW was kinda sparsely attended, but the audience seemed to really respond to it. It is a great film with a lot of tough question discussion points.
SPARROW had quite a few people, and it was a fun light hearted crime movie starring the smoking Kelly Lin and cool as hell Simon Yam, with lots of laughs from the crowd.
Got some popcorn for dinner, then settled in for GHAJINI. So over the top and ridiculous. So much fun. The audience was totally into it laughing and cheering along…total blast. And of course everything became hilarious after 1:30 am. It also contains quite possibly one of the craziest sounding lyric translations I’ve heard…

After only about 4 hours of sleep I was off into my Sunday, and a belly full of granite city helped prep me for STROSZEK (oh and more coffee). This was a thoroughly enjoyable, totally bizarre Werner Herzog film, that again the audience really responded to. There was a sing a long with the Film Fest trailer at the screening, but we sat by some of the most vocal movie watchers…reacting out LOUD or discussing things…from film locations to why someone would still have plastic on a mattress while sleeping on it, to discussing a friend’s plumbing problem. ??? Fit with the oddness of the film.
Son and I high tailed it to the Union for FEAR ME NOT…pretty packed…audience was very responsive. They were along with the characters and laughing, and when tension started to mount people were squirming all over the place. Well constructed thriller.

Then it was back down to the Orpheum to end the festival with SITA SINGS THE BLUES. Excited for this one after hearing a lot about it, and we weren’t disappointed. Completely charming and inventive storytelling combining Indian folklore, blues music and animation. Funny, thoughtful and beautiful.
I was on my last legs on the drive home, and am ready to collapse, and collect my final thoughts soon.

A BIG THANKS to all that made the festival happen…it really has become a great event for the city and the state. That’s why we like it here.

2nd day of the Wisconsin Film Festival

My second day down at the fest was pretty low key. I hope to write more detailed thoughts on the films themselves, but here are my general impressions:

I met my 5 year old down on campus and we trudged across the bridge to the Cinematheque to watch RR…an experimental film consisting of 43(?) shots of trains. That’s it. They were from all over the country, from differing perspectives, lengths, etc. I enjoyed it, though the 2 hour run time felt every bit of 120 minutes. My son fell asleep, and a woman in the front kept counting OUT LOUD when people left. There were at least 40 before it was done.
After dinner at State St Brats, by teenage son and I headed off to the Union to see HARVARD BEATS YALE, 29-29. The place was packed, and it was really hot. Mayor Dave was there, so there was a pretty good vibe in the air. A lot of Yale and Harvard alums were there, many of whom were at the game chronicled in the movie. It was a really well done, exciting documentary giving a lot of perspective to this major event in college football, and how it fit into American history.
Did I mention it was HOT in the union??? The screening of PACHAMAMA before hand looked like it was a lot of fun…

We headed down to the orpheum for the midnite show…JCVD. At this point, we were pumped…and thirsty. I decided on a soda rather than coffee because I was parched from the Union (it was hot in there) which was turned out to be a mistake. About 10 minutes in…I passed out, and would occassionally wake up. I saw a few parts, laughed with the crowd, but I was pissed that I missed what seemed like a fun experience.
We DID however get to meet one of our favorite volunteers from last year waiting in line…don’t remember his name, but he is always very chatty, and last year had his own personal microphone system. Awesome.

Today on the docket is SILENT LIGHT, and then a triple feature at the orpheum: SECRET SUNSHINE, SPARROW, and GHAJINI. I am loading up on the coffee as I type…

WIN OR LOSE – A SUMMER CAMP STORY (2008)

DATE:  4/2/2009  FIRST VIEWING

WHERE:  Monona Terrace at the Wisconsin Film Festival, with Robyn

Another “fill in” from the 500 DAYS OF SUMMER vacancy.  Excited to see a Wisconsin made film, and the summer camp angle seemed too incredible to miss.

THE GOOD: portrayal of the summer camp experience

THE BAD: length of the animated segments

THE WONKY: lots of shirtless tans;  box hockey!!!

This brief documentary about the uber-competitive “collegiate week” at Camp Ojibwa really captures the culture of summer camp, and oh yeah, the competitive nature of boys/men.  We get to met some of the boys, many of whom have been coming to this camp for a long time.  We hear their perspective on the events, and what the camp means to them.  And as the stage is being set, the stage becomes set for a sort of KING OF KONG like battle for the top.

See, Collegiate week is a 10 day experience where 12 teams of boys are chosen, and they compete against each other throughout the week in a variety of sports, earning them points and the highest point getter “wins the week”.  Which is something that means the world to many of these boys (and men at the camp).  One coach of the 12 teams, the larger than life A-Rob, wants to win so bad it hurts [Billy Mitchell?], and has had the worst draft pick the last 2 years.  He draws it again.  Another coach, Adam Korn,  is a former camper who didn’t fit in well, is more the everyman who is ok at sports, who just wants a shot [Steve Weibe?].  He ends up drawing the 2nd draft pick…and the stage is set.  Nobody with the 12 pick (the worst) has ever won…so A-rob is on a mission…and Adam wants to prove that he can win…and soon they find themselves battling for the top spot….

For anyone who has been to any type of camp, this will bring back memories.  I was having flashbacks of boy scout camp and competing…for those who haven’t, there is a gap of not quite understanding the fascination (just look at Adam Korn’s girlfriend when they talk about camp) but this movie is still enjoyable.

What I really liked was the window into these boys’ camp.  Their comraderie, their passion, and how much a part of their lives this is.  And the competitions are a blast.  There are a lot of hilarious moments.  The competition and coping with winning and losing, and taking what life gives you…really comes out as these kids don’t have time to think, just react as they are in the middle of heated competition…really teaches them a lot about themselves.  The whole experience is portrayed in a very engaging way, and the battle for first is edited together to create narrative tension. 

What I didn’t like, well, the animation bits that were thrown in…I appreciated the director needing to get his voice in there, to relay his summer camp experiences and how they fit in with the collegiate week madness…it just seemed like a big chunk of a movie that already wasn’t very long, and disrupted the flow for me a bit.  [and no it isn't confusing, as some audience members seemed to think...]  I am not sure how else he would have gotten that info in there without being intrusive on some level…we found out in the Q&A afterwards that he shot about 120 hours of footage to whittle it down to 1…but 5-10 minutes of that was the animation. 

I would have loved to spend more time with the kids outside the competition.  What made the games so compelling was putting faces and lives behind these kids.  Charlie (?) a team member who lost his last chance at 1st, completely blows up…and we find out that he cares so much because his dad has been out of the picture since his parents divorced…this is his male bonding/role modeling…he needed that affirmation…and he could take feeling like a loser.  You know this…it hurts.  And he comes back…and he has worked through it…and he is now modeling positive behavior for younger kids…awesome.  I would have loved to see more of that…more kids, more of their friendships, backgrounds, whatever.

I still enjoyed the heck out of this film.  A great look at the lives of (shirtless) boys jacked up on testosterone…where it is ok to be jacked up and let that out…one of the counsellors makes the comment that there are no real heroes today, and that here they can feel like heroes.  And as silly as it might sound…these boys are allowed to be heroes in many ways besides just sports at the camp…can’t wait to watch again with my boys

Nice work, Mr Lapat.

7 out of 10

THE BEETLE (2008)

DATE: 4/2/2009  FIRST VIEWING

WHERE: Memorial Union, Play Circle at the Wisconsin Film Festival

Once 500 DAYS OF SUMMER sold out, I suddenly had some time to fit in a movie or 2, and I picked this one.  It was a toss up between this and TOKYO SONATA…I picked this because I knew little about it…glad that I did.

THE GOOD: small, unassuming storytelling;  well placed humor and emotion

THE BAD: apparent messing with timeline/continuity for dramatic effect; some of the scenes felt “staged” for a documentary

THE WONKY: camel towing a Volkswagon

This film is a documentary about Yishai, a husband expecting his first child, who is hesitant to give up the things from his past as he enters into this new and frightening chapter of his life…most notably his run down Volswagon Beetle.  Instead of following his wife’s advice to get rid of it and get a safer car for the family, he instead goes on a quest to first, learn the history of the car by talking to the former owners, and then on a quest to do what he can to fix the car so that it is “brand new” when the baby arrives.

This film is very charming and engaging…Yishai and his wife really draw you in.  A lot of humor stems from their quarrels and situations (the pregnant wife helping to push the car home as it stalls at their ultrasound appointment).  Their relationship rings true as you watch with frustration Yishai clinging onto what seems to be the last piece of his “life before adulthood”.   It seems silly to everyone around him, but it eventually becomes filled with a lot of emotion, and it starts him on the road to maturing and prepping him for his role as a father.

There is an interesting dichotomy between German/Israeli history and the history of the car.  As Yishai learns the stories of the previous owners, it becomes clear that this is more than just an object, but it carries around with it history and stories.  Much like the Jewish  people, this sense of place and history is important to their identity.  We learn that the car has had a child born in the front seat, and in an emotional scene, a family who kept the car for their daughter who eventually died of cancer so that she had some joy in her life while she was sick….Yishua can’t let go of what the car carries with it.

there are a lot of great scenes here, the Goldstein’s interview, Yishua playing with Salam and the kites that they make together…and lots of humorous scenes…

In fact, scenes work so well, that the movie feels very cinematic in its style.  So much so, I had forgotten that this was a documentary for about 15 minutes.  Some of the shots and scenes do feel like they may have been staged, or enhanced to effect.  And the powerhouse scene where he interviews the Goldsteins happened before the chronology of the events being depicted in the story-they are looking at the car and it doesn’t yet have the “collectible” sticker in the window that we had already watched him get.  But, hey, I know that you need to create narrative flow in documentaries, and manipulate things (ahem, Michael Moore) sometimes…I’m just saying.  It is still very effective and engaging.  I was caught up in it so much that I was feeling good driving around looking for a parking spot afterwards, and laughed a little out loud when I happened to see a Volkswagon beetle parked on the street.

There is a pretty great payoff at the end, which I won’t spoil, but it really works after you have invested so much in this guy and his journey.  It really caps off a well told and heart felt story.

7.5 out of 10

First Night at the Wisconsin Film Festival

It was a great kickoff to the festival I must say. Racing downtown from work to get to my first screening on time, it was great to see that THE BEETLE, in the Play Circle at the Memorial Union was PACKED! There was a nice Q&A session with the filmmaker of WIN OR LOSE after the screening…where he did apparently need to explain the point of his film, not once but twice…and people seemed strangely confused by the animation bits that he put into the film.
Stopped at Michaelangelo’s for a coffee and a breather before truding out in the freezing rain to see GOODBYE SOLO at the Orpheum…where there was a drive by ticket seller…yup, dude hanging out his window asking those of us on the sidewalk if anyone wanted 2 free tickets to the movie. “Anyone? Anyone?!? Going once, going twice!!!”
Sat next to a guy who really wanted to talk about the film and the ending, but I had to race to my next film, so I felt bad about that. I speed walked from the Orpheum to Bartell, and passed my wife on her way home at a stop light…got to ROCKAFIRE EXPLOSION late a wet…and watched with a true fan wearing a Showbiz Pizza hat, Chuck E Cheese shirt….truth IS stranger than fiction, boy
Got to see a film with my wife, she saw another she really enjoyed…saw one with my son…and he got to see 500 DAYS OF SUMMER which he really liked, and stayed for the Q&A from fellow West High alum Marc Webb…all in all a pretty great night. Crowds were big, and buzzing…the atmosphere was pretty electric, I anticipate it to be bigger as the weekend rolls on…Round 2 starts tomorrow at

2009 WISCONSIN FILM FESTIVAL

So it is that time of year again…

The Wisconsin Film Festival starts tomorrow…and I have gone off the deep end this year.  Last year I saw a personal record 8 films, and remembered thinking while listening to people talk about the 10 or 12 they were going to see…how can they fit all of that in!??!

Well, the stars have aligned this year, and my son is in a high school film class…and our excitement going over the schedule got the better of me…and I have tickets for 14 films this year…with the possibility of getting to a 15th!!!

As always, the trick is finding the films that I will feel OK about missing, rather than trying to find those that I want to see…and there are so many that I just can’t because they are double booked with others I want to see.  So many choices…well, I am going to tweet and blog all throughout the fest, in hopes that I can get back into the writing game more consistently…but, in the meantime, here is the list of films I will be seeing (if my endurance can stay strong!)

Thursday, April 2

THE BEETLE–an Israeli documentary about a man’s quest to get rid of his Volkswagon Beetle, and what he learns on that quest

WIN OR LOSE–documentary about a summer camp competition in Eagle River, WI that sounded like way too much fun to pass up

GOODBYE SOLO–Ramin Bahrani’s latest…after seeing CHOP SHOP last year, this is one of the films I am most excited about seeing

THE ROCK-AFIRE EXPLOSION–documentary about the animatronic animal band of the same name that headlines at Showbiz Pizza, and the fans that still follow them.  Wow.

Friday, April 3

RR–experimental film by Milwaukee native James Benning, which consists of 43 shots of trains crossing the American landscape.  Sounds oddly compelling, and I am taking my 5 year old train lover

HARVARD BEATS YALE, 29-29–documentary about a famous football game in 1968 between these 2 schools.  Heard the filmmaker on Fresh Air, and knew I needed to see it.

JCVD–Jean Claude Van Damme…midnight showing…Orpheum…kick ass.  Plus I missed this when it played at Sundance.

FOOTBALL UNDER COVER (possibly)–German documentary about a German women’s soccer club playing the Iranian National women’s soccer team

Saturday, April 4

SILENT LIGHT–Carlos Reygadas’ film about a love triangle in a Mennonite community…have heard nothing but great things about this film, including lots of praise from the guys on Cinecast at rowthree.com on their end of the year show.

SECRET SUNSHINE–South Korean film about a woman moving into a community who endures tragedy…sounds complex and haunting, and stars the great Song Kang-ho

SPARROW–Johnnie To, Simon Yam, pickpockets…I am there

GHAJINI–Bollywood meets MEMENTO…the description in the film guide had me after the first couple sentences.  Sounds epic, awesome and ridiculous all at once.  Stars Aamir Khan from the also epic LAGAAN…

Sunday, April 5

STROSZEK–Werner Herzog directs a story of German immigrants coming to Wisconsin

FEAR ME NOT–Danish psychological thriller about a man taking an experimental drug that may or may not be responsible for his changing personality

SITA SINGS THE BLUES–filmmaker Nina Paley’s animated musical juxtaposing the classic “Ramayana” with her own breakup…also had lots of high marks from a number of the contributors at rowthree.com

Whew!  By Sunday, it may be more about survival than cinematic enjoyment…but I am up for the challenge.

My teenage son is also going to see:

ANVIL, THE STORY OF ANVIL (doc. about Canadian rock band Anvil)  BLIND LOVES (doc about blind people finding love in their lives)

JERICHOW (German update of THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE by writer/director of YELLA)

he is hoping to get into a screening of 500 DAYS OF SUMMER, romantic hit at Sundance, directed by Marc Webb, graduate of his own Madison West High…Marc has vouchers for West kids, so he is going to stand in line in hopes of getting one tomorrow night…and MR Webb is going to be at West High on Friday for a 2 hour Q&A, so he would really like to have seen the film.

My wife is also going to check out

BALLERINA (doc about Russian ballet dancers)

ELEVEN MINUTES (doc about Jay McCarroll from Project Runway)

So many films, so little time…I CAN’T WAIT!!!

[REC] (2007)

DATE: 12/28/2008   FIRST VIEWING
WHERE: in the youth room on projector, DVD from Four Star Video Heaven…with Bryan and friends

This had been on my radar for a while…I remember hearing about it from some festival circuits, and then talked about on Twitch…but being released only on Region2 DVD, and then withheld on Region 1 due to the remake QUARANTINE released in October of 08, there wasn’t much chance to see it.  I could have bought a copy, but lo and behold, our great video store Four Star had it in the new release section.  Man was I stoked!!!  Got it, watched it in our church’s youth room on a big projector, in a dark room with a small crowd for more immersion than I would have gotten watching this at home in the living room.

THE GOOD:   effective cinema verite style;  good unsettling scares;  claustrophobic atmosphere; last 15 minutes

THE BAD:  not much springs to mind

THE WONKY:  little kid zombies….sheesh!

OK, so I am going to say this right off…this is hands down one of the scariest movies that I have seen in a long time.  The quick setup to get the premise and the characters introduced, lightheartedly lets the viewer into the story, and from there on in, it basically twists the tension constantly until it is at a nearly unbearable level.  A TV crew is following a couple of fireman to a call for help in an apartment building, when suddenly they are trapped, not allowed out for some unknown reason…come to find out, the building may be the source of a biological outbreak turning animals and people into very violent…creatures…zombies…?!?!?

The story, not entirely original I suppose, the technique of “found footage” done before, and quite a bit in recent years, with CLOVERFIELD, DIARY OF THE DEAD, BLAIR WITCH PROJECT…but what makes this movie so effective is just that…it is a simple story, that doesn’t try to be too big or important, just a scary story.  It knows the genre it is living in, and the conventions of the genre, and it uses them almost perfectly.

Really, this movie is an exercise in technique.  It is going to live and die by the effectiveness of the hand held cam, and how “believable” it is, and how effective it is in creating what is meant to be a realistic feeling of real time events unfolding.  The believability is handled nicely – the crew of a reality show is filming events, first formally for the show, and then to capture events as shit hits the fan for the account of what is happening.  At some point, the camera needs to be used to see…reminiscent of scenes in BLAIR WITCH, and the night vision scene in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS…so that also makes sense.  And at all times, this is handled in a realistic way…shots are not always in focus, the framing is not always perfect (although quite good when it needs to be) which also adds…you can’t see everything even when you desperately want to…things move along so fast that you don’t really have time to stop and think…”wait…would he REALLY still be filming??!?!”

The filmmakers (Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza) know exactly what they are doing, and play the audience like a violin.  The pacing is great, as things build and build as things escalate more and more out of control, and the dangers mount with each passing minute.  As the outbreak of the infection spreads, there are less and less places to go…and the tension mounts….add to that a very believable “reaction” by the tenants…it felt quite real the way that the people in the building reacted to what was happening…how they reacted in different ways, tried to keep calm all the while all hell is breaking loose.  The decisions that need to be made are split second, which is next to impossible with a sizeable group…again, adding a sense of real suspense as bickering starts and indecisions create even more problems.

All of this simply creates a fast paced film that really delivers a lot of creepiness, good jump scares that aren’t cheap…and still scary even when you know that they are coming.  All of this is really, really good…and then you get to the end 15 minutes.  Let me just say that this was some of the scariest stuff I have seen…it propelled the movie from a good tense scare fest into disturbing as hell.  What is great is that…throughout the film, you really get very little explanation as to what might be the cause of the infection, which really works…it is impossible to know exactly how to fight something you don’t know how to stop.  BUT…some information is added in the final scenes shedding some light, and possible explanations…but not enough so that you know a whole lot more…but the information given…and the possible implications of what it could mean adds a whole new level to everything.  And the imagery at the end is so damned creepy…and once the night vision is on…well, I still can’t get those images out of my head…

A movie that dares you to keep watching…one that I want to watch again so badly, but at the same time…part of me is afraid to relive it…so good…so effective…I am getting chills again just typing this.  Damn.

I am interested to see how QUARANTINE is…but I am definitely glad that I held out for this one to see it first.

9 out of 10

THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX (2008)

DATE: 12/30/2008 FIRST VIEWING
WHERE: Star Cinema…with Aaron, Bryan, Robyn and Nana

Aaron was very excited to see this movie with EVERYONE…very cute…so we all met after work…in a small snow storm to watch the mice. We had just heard a report from my sister in law, who took her class to go see it last week, after they had read the book…or something like that. Basically, she said that it was really good, very different from the book, but good nonetheless.

THE GOOD: cat stadium fight; fantasy daydreams
THE BAD: voice acting; pace throughout is plodding
THE WONKY: magical vegetable man; festival of SOUP!!!

I can’t necessarily say that there is anything terrible about this movie, or even really that “bad”…but I was almost completely underwhelmed.
For a fantasy about a mouse who has to use his courage to prevail many trials and to save the kingdom, this thing really feels sluggish. I don’t know how many times I thought to myself while sitting there how un-exciting the movie was. I am not sure exactly how to put my finger on it…
Perhaps the voice acting plays a role. Almost across the board the voices and characterizations are milquetoast. They just sit there, not filling the character, not adding much inflection or excitement. Matthew Broderick is his usual quiet self, and Dustin Hoffman, as decent as he was in KUNG FU PANDA really falls flat here. Emma Watson is pretty good, but she has very little screen time. The other characters are pretty blah…so maybe, when something isn’t moving, they screech the film to a halt.
The look of the film is pretty, nicely detailed, and I really liked the design of Ratworld…but the people looked almost freakish. Not sure why in animated movies starring animals, people need to look like…other than people. At times they looked like Whos, just….weird.
There seemed to be a lot of plot lines that needed to be included to create a cohesive story, and did, but were still somewhat stuck together, not meshing…so perhaps that pulls at the pace…I don’t know.
The other kind of odd thing…so, the film has a number of themes…being true to yourself, having a brave and noble heart towards everyone, forgiveness. Forgiveness becomes a key component throughout the story, and in fact, much of the resolution concerns forgiveness and the capacity to forgive. Good stuff, I liked how it was handled, how characters saw what resulted as a cause of their inability to let go…however, with such a concern for showing the power of forgiveness, the characters sure are quick to let the head rat get eaten up by the rats crazy cat…as retribution for being “the bad guy”. No one thinks twice about forgiving him for…being a rat. In fact, it is played to make you cheer for his demise…in fact my 5 year old yelled out at the screen “Don’t save him!!!” Funny…but also…a little disconcerting. I mean…isn’t that the one character that NEEDS the forgiveness the most?
Sure…a nitpick maybe…but that kinda stuck out to me, in the face of the one thing that the movie was doing really nicely (as opposed to so many other bland things).
There was a really good line in it…the mice are trying to educate Despereaux to their ways…to cower and be frightened of things like a good mouse…and a school teacher says “they’re not born scared…they have to be taught…” indeed….

So…this is a fine movie…nothing offensive, nothing overly exciting…a couple of really odd things that are NEVER explained…my son liked it a lot…I wouldn’t lose any sleep if I never got to see this again. Maybe I am jaded in a year with KUNG FU PANDA and WALL-E…but…eh….
And Dustin Hoffman…making a “new” career in voice acting?? Not sure if that’s the best idea…

5.5 out of 10

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 (1981)

DATE:  12/27/2008

WHERE: at home, on DVD from Madison Public Library…with Bryan

Part 2…I think that I have only seen this one once before…probably in high school when, one summer, I was on a mission to prepare for part 8, and watched all of the movies, counting how many deaths there were in each movie.   It was my own personal badge of honor – however, most of my friends thought it weird, and a bit creepy…

THE GOOD: canvas masked Jason;  pace once the mayhem starts

THE BAD: a couple of the actors…and a bunch of the dialogue…;  low body count for the number of people at camp

THE WONKY: geeky guy telling terrible jokes;  huge hand held video games;  Scott looked just like Jonathan Schaech; Mama Voorhees not only has her sweater in her shrine…but her pants are laid out too

Solid follow up to part 1…and the first installment featuring Jason.  The set up is quick here, aided in part by some flashbacks via a dream by Alice who survived part 1…and we get to see what happens to her as a result of surviving.  Man…that’s a bad break…

Not much time is spent introducing characters, save a couple of sexpots, a jerk, a geek…the usual suspects.  Then you’ve got the great campfire scene relaying the message to all of the campers there for counselor training.  Now, supposedly this is taking place on the same lake, but not the same camp.  But it is close enough for the couselors to be doomed…thanks Crazy Ralph.  And crazy Ralph biting it in this one…too bad, but I think helped in part to usher in a new direction…cutting ties with the old, so to speak.  It is funny that his body is discovered in a pantry…as he was hiding out in a pantry in part 1, waiting to come out and tell everyone that they need to leave the camp.

There is a lot of good buildup to the character of Jason, stalking the campers with his POV cam, watching his boots appear and disappear.  Nice teases while ratcheting up tension because you know that it is only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose.  And it does…

My big complaint here, is that we’ve got a HUGE cast of counselors at the camp…which, I assumed meant there was going to be a high body count, but it wasn’t at all!!!  There were 9, with a possible 10th.  The original had 10 total…so there wasn’t a drop off, but seriously.  A number of them just disappear and don’t come back until the killing is done.  And the nerd with the horrible jokes never gets it…like I wanted him to get it.  Although, he actually had a CHARACTER while most of the others didn’t.  However, there were a couple of notable deaths…the machete to the face of Mark, after which he tumbles backward down a flight of stairs in his wheelchair…but ends in a freeze frame half way down…too bad….and then the famous double impaling on the bed of the 2 dopes having sex.  Mostly suggested, but creative.

The final showdown between Jason and Ginny is great.  Jason is finally done hiding, not afraid to show his canvas sack mask [which I can't help thinking of THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN every time I see it] and he is all over the place.  He is pretty relentless after an hour of sneaking around, and quite often will do the unexpected – grab through the unexpected window, ram a pitchfork through a door.  There is one shot in particular that is great where you can see through a window off in the distance as he is running closer to his shack as Ginny is trying to figure out what to do.   There are a couple goofy parts mixed in, but not so much that they take away from the fun.  It is also interesting to see the final girl sympathetic to Jason, and use her brain to work some psychology on him.

The film looks good and the directing is pretty tight.  There are what I thought were meant to be references to a couple prior horror films – THE SHINING when Jason is chopping a hole in the door to the room Ginny is hiding in – HALLOWEEN when Jason approaches Vicki to stab her, his knife looks like Michael Myers’, and he is holding it in his hand in front of the camera POV style like young Michael does in the beginning.  This also reminds me of the pillow fight in part 1 where pillows break and feathers fly everywhere…flying/floating feathers inside of rooms always remind me of the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE….

Fun, classic stuff…can’t wait to march on into Part 3!!!

7 out of 10

Blu-ray…what is up??

So…I have had my first taste of watching movies on Blu Ray…and I have to say…I am not sure that I like it.  At all…?? 

Staying at my brother in law’s, we watched parts of WALL-E which looked incredibly detailed and was pretty sweet.  It’s just that, the movements seemed kind of odd, but with the animation, I figured that was kind of how it was going to be.

Later on, I watched parts from his new LIVE AND LET DIE and FOR YOUR EYES ONLY Blu Ray DVDs, and I was having a hard time watching them.  It seeemed TOO clear…some of the scenes looked unrealistic because of the detail.  People moving look almost detached from the environments, and a couple car chases looked fake.  The clarity in some scenes does not match that in others, and so makes things look superimposed.  Backgrounds from car windows looked like blue screen when it was real.  A gun protruding from the camera to track Bond looked like it was coming straight from a video game.  Water looks fake.  Could this be artifacts seen from “upgrading” image on an older movie we are used to seeing as slightly grainy??  I don’t mind the picture, but all together something seems too overproduced, or fake-y.

We watched FRIDAY THE 13TH on it and some of the scenes with campers in cabins looked crazy…real, but at the same time not real.  Like video on a PC game maybe.  Jason floundering the water looked like the logo for Castle Rock pictures…very fake looking.  This I could probably explain away as an up-converted regular DVD, I suppose…not a Blu Ray DVD, just watched on HDTV…but the “artifacts” were similar to the Blu Ray Bonds.

I keep hearing people say “isn’t the picture amazing?!?!” and yeah, some times…but am I the ONLY ONE who notices things that don’t match, that look TOO digitized?  It is just me??

I don’t know if I am just trying to adjust to seeing super clarity, but I am not sure that I like watching Blu Ray movies.  I haven’t watched new movies, probably more conducive to the technology, or movies shot on DV, so that could be it…I don’t know…probably just an adjustment….on my part, but for now, I am not running out to convert my library to Blu Ray.

Which could save me some money…at least in the near term…

FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)

DATE: 12/27/2008
WHERE: at brother in law’s on DVD from Madison Public Library, watched on HD TV with Blu Ray player…with Bryan

Hadn’t seen this for a long time, and thought about watching these again in order after starting our Nightmare on Elm Street series this summer/fall. What got me more excited was listening to the 4 part extravaganza covering the Friday the 13th series on the Horroretc podcast, which is quite good. Finally got the DVD from the library, and we decided to pop it in

THE GOOD: camera work; special effects; music
THE BAD: acting; goofy “cat fight” at the end
THE WONKY: the short tight denim shorts AND suspenders with no shirt holding up white pants; “kill her mommy!!”; strip monopoly!!

I hadn’t seen this in a while…and it was really great to see it again.  This really is a classic of the slasher genre…one that ushered in the phenomenon and created many of the rules and conventions.

The set up is simple…camp opening after many years of being closed…due to tragedy…and the young counselors frolic and do things they shouldn’t be doing…drugs, premarital sex…and get killed in bloody, creative ways.  By now, the mystery of what is going on, and why someone is killing the kids is pretty well known, even to people who are not necessarily horror fans…but that really doesn’t take away from any of the fun.

I am always kind of partial to poor Annie…the cute cook who arrives, trying to walk to the camp, and gets killed right away, never even making it to the camp.  Not only is she very cute, and spunky…she seems to be able to act!  Over all, the cast is not terrible, as slasher movies go, but they are cheesy.  Kevin Bacon spreading on the cheese with the rest of them.

The prologue…with 2 amorous counselors who get what is coming to them, really sets up a good mood…with the screaming, slow motion and stalking POV killer cam…oh, and the music…the Madnfredini music is so good…not only becoming a classic, but really putting you in the movie and delivering chills.  You’ve also got the ominous warning from the townspeople…good stuff.

The other star here are the effects…Tom Savini does great work, and most of the kills do not disappoint.  A number are off screen, and a few are cut off fast (begging the question what WOULD an uncut print look like?!?!  Which I believe is supposedly coming out to coincide with the remake/reboot in February).  The standouts are the arrow throught the throat and the axe to the face….oh yeah, and the decapitation. 

Bryan seemed to enjoy it…after hearing bits and pieces of what was going on, he was still able to get into it.  It was fun going over the vices that got the people killed…and it was amusing that Adrienne King, the final girl, picks up a guitar at one point and plays it…well, 2 other cast members tried and were obviously faking…and they were both killed.  And the guy who was doing the ridiculous rain dance with the Indian headdress and acting like a freak, well, he couldn’t get bumped off quickly enough.

Fun coda…which is a little bit of a cheap scare shock, but the aftermath in the hospital includes a great final line…”…then he’s still…out there!!!”   Nice…

Next up is part 2, hopefully tonight, I would really like to go through these again hopefully before the remake.  Not a stellar movie, but for a slasher film, you could do a LOT worse. (and I have…)

7 out of 10 

Merry Christmas

Wishing any readers a Merry Christmas!!

…and a Christmas confession…in this time of Holiday themed movies….I must confess….that I have still….never seen…A CHRISTMAS STORY….

No excuse I know…but there it is…and my brother for one, would absolutely kill me if he knew…don’t tell him please.

Merry Christmas

If I had to Run a Marathon – COLD/ARCTIC MOVIES

Sooo…I am cold. Really cold. Snow and winter were fun for a while, but the shoveling hasn’t stopped for a good week and a half now, and I am sort of starting to feel like the cleared sidewalks and driveways ATTRACT new snow…so I might try not shoveling ever and become the hero of winter by keeping all the snow away. And now…it is below zero…too cold to go outside…can’t have any fun…unless frostbite it fun…

I am listening to the audio book of “The Terror” by Dan Simmons about an arctic expedition in the 1840’s that gets stuck in the ice and what they are dealing with…and driving around in my car in subzero temps listening to this really puts me right there…..It that got me in the mood for movies about cold…and not just movies that feature snow, but where the snow is a character…it’s oppressive…it…IS.  Movies that almost transport you to that place where your toes are still a bit numb after watching them…

I brainstormed and came up with -

monster/horror themed

THE THING/THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD;  THE LAST WINTER;  THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN (Hammer studios);  ICE SPIDERS; 30 DAYS OF NIGHT;  THE SHINING;  DEAD BIRDS;  JACK FROST

ski/mountain themed

CLIFFHANGER;  VERTICAL LIMIT;  ASPEN EXTREME

train themed

RUNAWAY TRAIN;  TRANSSIBERIAN;  HORROR EXPRESS

animal themed

SNOW DOGS;  EIGHT BELOW;  MARCH OF THE PENGUINS;  HAPPY FEET;  ICE AGE;  NEVER CRY WOLF

war themed

A MIDNIGHT CLEAR;  JOYEAUX NOEL;  WHERE EAGLES DARE;  ICE STATION ZEBRA

“fantasy” themed

BATMAN-SUBZERO;   THE GOLDEN COMPASS;  THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW

Russel Banks/holy crap am I depressed themed

AFFLICTION;  THE SWEET HEREAFTER

Canadian themed

CAREFUL

reality themed

SHACKLETON/THE ENDURANCE

crime themed

FARGO; A SIMPLE PLAN; THE ICE HARVEST

 

OK, so if I had to run a marathon…a one day COLD/ARCTIC movie marathon…let’s pick 10…holing up in the winter, a 2 day 10 movie marathon sounds nice…

Day 1

WHERE EAGLES DARE

not "Arctic", but Clint and Richard Burton storming a Nazi castle high in the snowy mts., a fun way to kick things off without being too oppressive

CAREFUL

the strangeness of Guy Maddin, with a town living below so much snow that the people need to be careful not to make enough noise to cause an avalanche...now you've got your snow as a character...

AFFLICTION

hard hitting personal drama with great performances...lots of despair to be found...heightened by the wintery setting...

NEVER CRY WOLF

a favorite from my childhood, based on true events (if I remember right) as a naturalist living in Alaska to study wolves, understanding on a personal level what it is like to survive and live in the environment...and a nice story to pull you out of the despair from the last film

FARGO

 classic...one of the best Coen brothers films and nothing plays out WITHOUT the snow...humor, drama, blood and Arby's...send you to bed with a smile, and a bit of uneasiness...hopefully wanting more the next day

Day 2

ICE STATION ZEBRA

another fun war film to kick off the day, rebooting from the heaviness of day one (I haven't seen this one...)...Rock Hudson and Ernie Borgnine??? Come on!!!

RUNAWAY TRAIN

great ride on a train with no brakes through Siberia with Eric Roberts and Jon Voight...makes me cold just thinking about it...

EIGHT BELOW

from what I understand...both heart warming and heart breaking...and it has dogs!

THE THING

no Arctic marathon would be complete without this must see update of the 1951 classic...isolation...cold....paranoia....crazy monster FX....soooo good....

SHACKLETON/THE ENDURANCE

Finishing with the story of the expedition that got stuck in the ice (what started me thinking about this topic in the first place...), where you have survival in an unhospitable place...with a feel good story, happy ending that isn't scripted and cheesy. 

 

So there is it…a 2 day arctic marathon…and many of the movies I brainstormed could be plugged in…and I know I have forgotten many…

Comments?!?!  Love to hear from ya….

Also…check out a similar list at Kindertrauma about “Snowbound Horror”…Good Stuff…

THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (2006)

DATE: 12/14/2008  FIRST VIEWING

WHERE: at home, on DVD from Four Star Video Heaven…with Aaron…off and on…

THE GOOD: nostalgia/adolescent angst; realistic charcters

THE BAD: time travel to see a…painting…??

THE WONKY: time travel device = walnut; fire extinguisher fight

This Japanese anime concerns a young girl who suddenly finds herself with the ability to go back in time…and on one of her most rotten days…this seems like a gift…

This movie really captures the feel of what it is/was like to be in school…when nothing and everything seemed of utmost you are importance…when figuring out who you are and being with your friends is all you want to do.  You want to grow up, but don’t want anything to change…that is almost perfectly displayed here.

What is also somewhat refreshing, the main character isn’t necessarily completely sympathetic.  She is very self serving, and wants to make things better for her…and who wouldn’t as a teenager who could suddenly go back in time and “fix” those most embarrassing times???…not paying attention to those around her.  It is the process of her learning to think outside of herself…and learning to live with her mistakes and regrets instead of trying to erase them or pretend like they didn’t happen.

The time travel device is not used in an over bearing way…you understand what is going on, and you can see the ramifications of Makoto’s actions and how she might be getting out of embarrasment, but the universe is correcting itself by using others instead…but the movie is about learning responsibility more than it is about GOING BACK IN TIME!!!  Nicely done.

It is also supposedly a sequel to a movie of the same name from 1983…with Makoto’s aunt (auntie witch) in this movie as the protagonist of that one.  Pretty cool…and even more cool…as I learned in some of the special features on the DVd…the voice actor who played Auntie witch here, was the woman who played the girl in the ‘83 film.  Neat.

I did watch the film with the English dub (!!!) since Aaron was watching with me…mostly…and I have to say that it was really pretty good.  I went back and watched a couple of scenes in Japanese to get at least a taste for the real deal…but the English was decent.  Amusingly…the English actor who did the voice for Chiaki is none other than Vert Wheeler’s voice in the Hot Wheels World Race movies that are really popular here at our house.

Really nice story about growing up…complete with nostalgia, regret, time travel…but lyrical and gentle…not flashy…very well done

7 out of 10

ZATHURA (2005)

DATE: 12/18/2008  FIRST VIEWING
WHERE: at home, on DVD from Madison Public Library…with Bryan and Aaron

Aaron had recently seen this at day care, and was pretty excited about it…the cool robot, the space ships…and really wanted us to watch it. We checked it out from the library and he couldn’t wait…we had to watch it right away.

THE GOOD: special effects; sense of wonder
THE BAD: most annoying kids ever…they never stop screaming; kids act kinda dumb; frozen sister gags
THE WONKY: “get me a juice box…bee-otch!!”; goat with 4 eyes

Not as bad as I had sort of anticipated it to be…but not quite as good as the setup promises.  Continuing the “board games come to life” idea started in JUMANJI, ZATHURA focuses on 2 brothers from a recently split family who are home alone, begin playing a space adventure board game, and need to learn to move past their differences and hang ups to finish the game and get back home.

It starts off as cute, kind of fun…and kind of spirals out of control just enough to lose some enjoyment and cohesion.  We first encounter meteor showers and a robot chasing the boys around the house, which are kinda scary but fun.  And then the actions and the gags lose their fun, and become kind of annoying and overblown.  The kids are playing the game…and the problem there is that, you have to continue spending time with these kids.  They are so annoying and scream constantly, but not fighting scream so much as just yell and YELL about everything.  And, as things go along, they just get dumber and dumber.  They begin to suddenly just say or do things that are completely opposite to what they have done before, or what they know they need to do…just to set up “dramatic tension!” most of which never feels real at all…just an excuse to yell some more until the next loud explosion.

The overall message is nice…and there are some decent moments and fun set pieces…but nothing that couldn’t have been tightened up…a little bit shorter here, less talking/yelling there…and a lot of the images and scenes of peril (according to the rating) are pretty intense for young kids…some of which is ok…but once the fun starts to seep out…you are just left with intense…which isn’t always that fun for kids…

Overall, not terrible…fun in spots…looks great…but there are better kids movies out there…

5.5 out of 10

THE NINES (2007)

DATE: 12/17/2008 FIRST VIEWING
WHERE: at home, on DVD from Madison Public Library

THE GOOD: interesting twisting self referential premise; Melissa McCarthy

THE BAD: a few odd tonal shifts

THE WONKY: video game 9’s over people’s heads; Roy from The Office!!

The premise : 3 short vignettes starring the same actors in 3 different settings as different characters.  They seem unrelated, but are they?  Who are the characters, and what does the nature of the story have to do with what is going on???  And how does everything fit together?

And intriguing premise…sounds interesting…I wanted to find out…and I was glad I did…mostly…

1st portion has an actor (Ryan Reynolds) who in under house arrest for a number of PR nightmares and crimes…kept under watch by a PR expert (Melissa McCarthy)…during which he does crazy things to relieve his stir craziness…but then starts experiencing weird phenomena…which make him question his sanity or what he thinks is real…and there is more going on than the characters are letting on…

2nd portion has RR playing a screenwriter, MM playing herself as an actress in hollywood, and Hope Davis (also in 1st segment) as a studio exec.  RR is trying to get a show picked up for the fall schedule of TV broadcast, and is banking on the strength of the pilot starring MM.  There are overlaps to the 1st story…his house is the house that the actor is in under house arrest…the name of the show is on a bus stop wall in the 1st segment…and things start to fall apart, and certain things repeat themselves…

3rd portion has the 3 in different roles again…RR as a famous video game designer…MM as his wife…and this time they may or may not be in the pilot for the show from segment 2….

And then things are sort of explained and you start to say “ahhhh…I see…”

And for the most part…I was with this movie.  The set up is interesting, and as things start to unfold, and get weird, there really is a great sense of wtf is going on here?   And it is kinda creepy and fun to watch.  There are some weird overlaps and shift in tone, and some weird humor interspersed that kind of feel out of place.  The 3rd segment is almost throw away…used mainly to explain what is going on instead of following the interesting set up that it had…the 1st 2 had these different stories and characters that felt real and each reflected the characters…and what they are creating…the actor with his roles, the screenwriter with his show/characters…and the 3rd on has a video game designer, but unfortunately nothing is done with that, save for “oh you are famous” and “by the way…here is what has been going on in the past hour”.  So that was a little disappointing…

The movie takes a spiritual turn at one point, and there is a really nice conversation between Ryan Reynolds and Melissa McCarthy…some resonating questions and statements that kind of pulled me back from my initial disappointment from segment 3.  I won’t mention the twist/reveal…but it raises questions, and sets some explanations for what has been going on that are interesting to consider.  I won’t say it is uber-profound or anything once the interwoven threads have a purpose…but I would say….kinda neat.  Worth checking out at least.

6.5 out of 10

DRUNKEN ANGEL (1948)

DATE: 12/19/2008 FIRST VIEWING
WHERE: at home, on DVD from Madison Public Library

THE GOOD: Toshiro Mifune; climax of the story

THE BAD: Okada’s guitar playing…?

THE WONKY: doctor constantly throwing things at people

I have seen very few non samurai Kurasawa movies…and I have to say…this one is pretty damned good.  The story of 2 flawed people who come together to form a dysfunctional relationship amongst the backdrop of post WWII Japan – one a yakuza who needs help, the other a doctor who is compelled to help people more than he needs to, without necessarily caring for his own well being – is really compelling to watch.

Mifune is absolutely great here as a yakuza boss who is very head strong and not particularly smart, but very loyal who needs the doctors help, but doesn’t want to admit that.  He really is a gangster who probably shouldn’t be a gangster…he has too much of a conscience, and spends a lot of the movie trying to convince himself that he is a “bad guy”.   But he is also afraid, and unsure of what he should do.  He is also boxed in by his duty.

The doctor, also excellently played by Takashi Shimura, has contempt for Mifune’s character, but is driven to help him no matter what.  He himself is an alcoholic, but that never gets in the way…mainly to show his coping mechanism to all of the apathy and dirtiness around him.  He can’t not follow a patient to whatever ends to make sure that they are following his orders, and getting better.  He goes above and beyond…wanting not only to cure Mifune’s TB, but get him out of the gangster life that he sees killing him.

There are other subplots, which flesh out the story and the era…but the crux of the story is the 2 protagonists…how they interact, and take or leave what the other is giving to them.   And if nothing else, the strange turns that their relationship takes illiustrates the insanity of the time period…nothing is as it seems – nothing can be counted on to behave the way that it should.  Life can’t seem to get to normal…there is a recurring metaphor of a bubble cess pool in the center of town that helps remind us of this too…

The knife fight near the end of the film is slow and deliberate…and very captivating…and there is a moment where the participants become covered in white paint and wrestle on the floor that is really striking…

A glimpse into post war Japan, how people struggled to retain human contact amidst confusion and chaos…and the importance of having some one to stick up for you…no matter what.

7.5 out of 10

THE FACE OF ANOTHER (1966)

DATE: 12/19/2008   FIRST VIEWING
WHERE: at home, on IFC

Funny how this works…but I happened to see a copy of the Criterion DVD at preplayed last Sunday.  I had never heard of this movie, and thought that it sounded pretty interesting.  I checked out if our library had a copy, put it on my list of movies to see…and lo and behold!  What is playing on IFC tonight?  Less than a week later???  Almost creepy…

THE GOOD: wild premise/exploration of identity, etc; unsettling mood

THE BAD: oddly talky at times;

THE WONKY: girl with the yo-yo; sea of faceless people;

This film is a visually striking meditation on identity, morality, personal connection, reality, existentialism…and on and on.  There are a lot of ideas floating around here in this incredibly dense film..and I KNOW that I missed a lot of it, just trying to take it all in and wrap my brain around it.

The main plot concerns a man whose face is disfigured and is forced to wear bandages to conceal his wounds.  This creates a sense of isolation and despair in him…which drives him to accept an offer from a psychiatrist (?) to perform a revolutionary technology on him to create a mask from a stranger that is life like enough for him to re-enter society.  But will he re-enter it, or escape from it…or escape from himself?!?!

This is one of the avenues for exploring the many themes here…will the man be comfortable just being “normal” again, or will he become drawn in by the allure of being dis-connected from society, having no true identity?  It struck me as interesting that, early on, the man is talking and describing how others are shunning him, treating him poorly, not wanting to associate with him, when many interaction he has show quite the opposite.  It is as if he is creating his own reality from what HE perceives…not how things are.  Which adds another level to things…an existential flavor right away.  Other cues surface belying the notion that putting on the anonymous face creates a wholly new persona…

There is a secondary story exploring another identity crisis, the man’s wife has some great insights into love and personal connection…she’s got a great reveal near the end that throws a lot of the assumptions into question up to that point which is pretty great.

There is so much to chew on here, to just keep listing would become tedious…so I’ll quit…

While it seems to be very dense and too heady…the performances and the direction really add to the narrative, creating a compelling and creepy atmosphere throughout.  Some of the images are unsettling, some surreal, and overall the film’s look draws you in without being “too” showy. They fit with the subject matter and really weave together to fill in the gaps left out by the story telling.

One thing that was a bit of a drawback, at times, were some of the philosophical discussions the characters had.  The type of movie that it is, those are inevitable, but a couple times, they seemed to go on a bit much at least in the context of what was going on.  Although, that could entirely be because I was trying to catch up…

Lots of fun philosophical brain exercises, great tone and style…can’t wait to see this again.

7.5 out of 10

WONKILATION #1 — LIST OF TERRIBLE CGI

So I am going to start trying something a bit different…

Every once in a while when I start thinking about a topic, I might try to throw together a list of sorts, or more aptly, a compilation, of films, etc. that relate to the topic.

I am NOWHERE near authority on any subject, and haven’t seen enough to make a complete list, or to feel like I can rank a BEST OF….

So…the thinking is…I am going to start, make a list…and hopefully anyone who is reading who has a thought, opinion, rebuttal, whatever, can chime in, add to the list…and I will probably revise as I think more about it…but here goes…#1…the inaugural attempt!

I was stirred into thinking about terrible CGI in movies after watching AUSTRALIA last week, which had a number of scenes that really stuck out for me, taking me out of the moment…so I’ve been searching my brain for other examples of effects that didn’t work…or were so glaringly bad they are seared in my memory…

So, here is what I have come up with to start….in no particular order…

TERRIBLE CGI MOMENTS

1) AUSTRALIA – cattle stampede, bad matte shots
2) HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCEROR’S STONE – Firenze the centaur…man is he cheesy

3)V FOR VENDETTA – CGI blood during the big knife fight near the end…huh?
4)  DIE ANOTHER DAY – Halle Berry dives into the ocean

5) KING KONG – Peter Jackson’s version, pretty much the entire dinosaur stampede

6) THE MUMMY RETURNS – the look of the Scorpion King; and the running mummies that chase the bus

7) SPIDERMAN – Peter Parker leaps across buildings after discovering his powers

8.) I AM LEGEND – come on, those ridiculous vampires were so awful looking that they almost completely ruined a pretty decent movie single-handedly

9) BLADE 2 – fun movie, but I seem to remember Wesley Snipes looking strikingly like a video game character a few times

OK…that’s a start…I will rack my brain for more…please chime in with thoughts…

KZ

THE LEGEND OF GOD’S GUN (2007)

DATE: 12/4/2008 FIRST VIEWING
WHERE: at home, on DVD from Netflix

Hadn’t heard of this until browsing around Netflix one day looking at spaghetti westerns, thought that I would give it a try.

THE GOOD: some well staged shots; music
THE BAD: most acting; effects that made it feel like a cable access show
THE WONKY: bounty hunter pees his pants; random cowboy eating plate of spaghetti [it IS a spaghetti western...:)  ]

I have to say…I appreciate the effort with this film…I really do.  The filmmaker’s obviously have a passion for the spaghetti western genre, and have a good knowledge and amount of skill…and have done their homework.  It’s just that…for me…there were a lot of things to admire, but when put together into feature length…the sum of the parts really didn’t do it for me.

The entire cast was made up of rock musicians…from the bands Spindrift and Gram Rabbit to name a couple.  One of the best things about the movie is the music…both the songs written for, and the original score.  Very nice.  And knowing this, you wouldn’t expect stellar acting…and you don’t get it.  A couple of the people are really bad, most are serviceable, and a couple, including the woman who plays the sherrif’s wife, and Krikpatrick Thomas…playing El Sabaro….is good…he seems to understand how to play a character from a spaghetti western the best out of the cast.

I like the idea…the dirty villain who can’t be stopped, the past that is told in flashbacks which set up the events…good stuff.  A lot is done with a small budget…some of the shots and mise-en-scene are really stunning…the look of the film…making the DV footage look like old work film stock really worked well.

It’s just that…the movie is very uneven…and hard to get behind.  When something works, it seems like any mood or set up is often ruined by childish humor, weird cut-aways, or some sort of iMovie effect.  Dumb humor is fine, weird-ness, surreal imagery…fine.  Just, here it feels like all of those attempts are just thrown in for art’s sake, or to “add” something to make the film more arty than the low budget movie it looks like.  And all of these switches and additions nearly halt the flow of the film…making the 70 minute movie feel closer to 120…

You can tell that the filmmakers had a blast…and this is evident in some of the special features on the dvd…and that they do have talent and a passion for the material.  Some of the film works REALLY well.  And I imagine that my limited spaghetti western exposure limits some of the references that are probably thrown in, adding another level of film-making.  I admire the work…and don’t want to knock it too hard for what it is…it just didn’t quite work for me.

4.5 out of 10

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2008)

DATE: 12/5/2008  FIRST VIEWING
WHERE: Sundance Cinemas…with Bryan and Mike Gold
I heard about this movie quite a while back when it started the festival circuits, and was immediately excited. Part of me had hoped that it would make an appearance at the Wisconsin Film Festival this year, but no dice. I had been keeping my eye on it, and checking the official site’s list of theaters scheduled to run the film. Besides Chicago and Minneapolis, I didn’t see anything in Wisconsin through next March, and was tentatively planning a jaunt to Dubuque to see it in January. Imagine my surprise, when I checked the upcoming movie listings for this weekend the other day, and there it was…at Sundance!!! Oh yes. We went to the latest show, at the very beginning of a small snow storm here….which turned out to be quite fitting…

THE GOOD: acting by the leads; pace of the film; gorgeous cinematography
THE BAD: cat CGI
THE WONKY: inept vampire’s helper; clicking sounds of everyone’s mouths; victim frozen into ice block

I will say up front that the wait was well worth it.  This really is a wonderful movie.  A vampire movie that is filled with dread and blood, but also a coming of age story by way of Ingmar Bergman.

The story revolves around Oskar, a 12 year old boy who is a little odd, very timid, who is constantly picked on at school.  He befriends a 12 year old girl who moves in next door, and their relationship becomes the focal point of the film.  Through their relationship, they both find what they need.  It turns out that the girl is a vampire…and she tells Oskar that they can’t be friends, but she is drawn to him, and she finds companionship that she is longing for.  Oskar finds that too, but also confidence, self worth and peace.  He evolves throughout the film, and the boy who plays him really does a wonderful job of conveying this without going over the top…he really is excellent.

The film also does isolation and despair very well, like many other Swedish films before it.  There is a real palpable sense of existential dread here too.  The snow filled landscape whitewashes everything, and the only other colors seem to be grays and very muted colors.  The cinematography is great, making the film gorgeous to look at, and the effect of blurring out most of the frame in a lot of the movie really adds a striking look, and helps to add to the sense of isolation.  The characters both isolated in their lives too…the vampire, Eli, due to her nature, and the fact that she can’t relate to the man who lives with her.  Oskar isn’t only alone at school, but lives in a split home, and doesn’t seem to have much identity at either parent’s house.  There is also the possibility that Oskar’s father is gay, creating another rift, and the suggestion that Eli might also have been a boy at one time, a gender crisis of sorts.    So, both characters are “stuck” in this world filled with nothing palpable, and with complete confusion and lack of staisfaction, until they find each other (with the help of a Rubik’s cube!!).  This really makes their relationship quite powerful…and driven home with a shot near the end of an empty table that really is heart breaking and speaks volumes about what has happened prior.

The violence in the film is never too graphic, although it is unsettling at times.  Nothing is gratuitous to the point that it takes you out of the story…the vampire myth is handled very well, and in a believable way.  There is a very cool take on what happens when a vampire enters somewhere that is ISN’T invited…It is interesting that there is a complete lack of Christian iconography that is typically associated with vampires.  I did think that it was a nice touch…adding to the existential backdrop of the film…God is dead…..or at the very least….not interested at all in what is happening.

There is a nice undercurrent of dark, and slightly goofy humor…both involving Eli’s helper, and a discovery of one of the bodies in the ice.  There is one instance where a character is attacked by a large number of cats…while creepy and kind of comic…it does sort of pull you out a little bit as the CGI used on them…well, it isn’t terrible…but it is obviously CGI…feels a little like cheating with the rest of the film (although there is CGI in other parts, just not “quite” as obvious….and I am NOT a CGI hater…)

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN really is a terrific movie that really is a moving drama that is also a creepy vampire movie.  You really care for and connect with the characters in the film, even amidst the disturbing things that happen.  Very well done…highly recommended.

8 out of 10

AUSTRALIA (2008)

DATE: 11/29/2008   FIRST VIEWING

WHERE: Mariner Theater in Marinette. WI…with Bryan

I had a small interest in this movie…which started to build as I started seeing previews for it.  Epic historical tale forming the backdrop to a love story.  Baz Luhrmann…could be really interesting.  My wife and mother in law weren’t really interested…and my son was…so we went off to see it on our last day of vacation out of town.

THE GOOD: panoramic cinematography; Hugh Jackman; cattle stampede toward the cliff

THE BAD: Nicole Kidman’s comedic attempts; cgi backgrounds

THE WONKY: Nicole Kidman’s cross-eyed screaming; Elton John’s Drover song

I had hopes of being swept away to Australia and drawn into an epic story taking me out of my wintery reality and wowing me with it’s grandeur.  And to some degree, that happened, but unfortunately only in fits and spurts.  This movie is fairly uneven in tone and momentum.  It at times can’t decide if it is going to be cheeky, or serious, or touching or…well, I understand, you’ve got a large canvas telling a sweeping story with many facets to it, so that is bound to happen, but they just didn’t seem to mesh well, and flow into one story, but more like a collection of short stories.  With many bridge points told in newspaper headlines or even one off conversations to give a relevant detail.  This really hurts the momentum of the story too…I think that it is a bit too long, and with the stop and go nature, it really doesn’t have that “epic” feel from start to finish.

That being said, there are a lot of parts that really work, and I did end up enjoying this movie, just maybe not as much as I had hoped.  First off, many of the visuals are bery striking, and the panoramic shots of the country and breathtaking vistas really are gorgeous.  The cinematogrpahy and camera movement put you in the movie, with the feeling of being swept along for the ride…there are some pretty amazing overhead camera shots and tracking shots that are pretty impressive.  So with that, there is a lot of unfortunately cheesy CGI effects that really stick out and both look pretty dumb, and pull you out of the story.  I wasn’t quite sure if they were on purpose, to lend a “fantasy” look to some of the shots (a la MOULIN ROUGE), but,
they were often used just as backgrounds with characters talking, and it looked like a matte shot.  Which would be ok, if it was consistent, I suppose, but when you contrast these shots with the wonderful REAL cinematography, it just stuck out in a bad way for me.

The movie starts out with an odd Indiana Jones feel, and really goes for a lot of goofy comedy, most of which fell flat for me.  Some of that, again, was feeling forced, stuck inside a big serious movie.  Some of it was Nicole Kidman mugging to no end, channeling MEg Ryan from YOU’VE GOT MAIL, and really irritating me.  It just wasn’t working for me.  Although, once she settles into the role, and things become more dramatic, she really pulls it out and does some really good work.  Hugh Jackman is really great, hitting the right notes at the right time, being sexy and boyish and caring…big when he needs to and subtle when he needs to.  He really is the emotional anchor of the film.  With so many plot lines, it felt like the movie could have ended a few different times, and kept going.  The villain Fletcher was nicely menacing early on, but once he gains more power, becomes a bit silly, and not really all that threatening.

I did like, the most unexpected part, that the film more than anything, was the Aboriginal boy’s story.  It was unexpected to see so much Aboriginal history, lifestyle and social issues.  It was an interesting slant, making the love story somewhat second nature, which was nice…too bad that it couldn’t have been in a movie serving a strong story…but I did enjoy that much untalked about aspect of the history of Australia.  My son mentioned that a lot of the issues raised reminded him of RABBIT PROOF FENCE.

One kind of funny note – there is a campfire during the cattle drive where the characters are sitting around, and the cook is humming a tune while playing on the ukelele(?).  I kept listening, thinking “I’ve heard that song before…” and I’ll be damned if it didn’t sound just like “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz…no kidding.  Maybe it isn’t, but I know Baz has creatively used songs in his films in the past.

All in all, an enjoyable film that is far from great, but has a lot to like.

6.5 out of 10

PORCO ROSSO (1992)

DATE:  11/21/2008

WHERE:  at home, on DVD from Four Star Video Heaven

Bryan and I picked this out, thinking that this would be a movie that Aaron, my 5 year old, would enjoy.  We had tried to get this from the library once, and the disc was so scratched that we couldn’t get past the menu.  Aaron and I sat down to watch this, and had to leave for work before the last half hour, so we unfortunately broke this up, but I was excited to see this again, after having seen it a number of years ago with Bryan…and remembered very little about it.

THE GOOD: animation; Michael Keaton’s voice in the American dub; fighter plane action scenes

THE BAD: Porco’s pirate enemies are complete dorks

THE WONKY: Porco and Curtis’ swelled up faces after their fist fight

This is one of the films in Hayao Miyazaki’s filmography that doesn’t really seem to get a lot of attention.  It certainly isn’t as flashy or complex as films like SPIRITED AWAY  and PRINCESS MONONOKE, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a lot here to like.

The film really captures the nostalgia of a by gone era, the movie takes place in 1927, but doesn’t fail to include melancholy from post war hardships and death.  There is also a wonderful sense of the characters and technology being part of the world, but increasingly not fitting with how the world is changing.  But, this doesn’t mean the film is too heady or preachy.  First off, this is a great period adventure film with biplane sky pirates and bounty hunters…Porco, the noble ex-war fighter pilot protecting the Mediterranean from pirates, is a noble but distant hero…and oh, yes, a pig.  Or a man who has been turned into a pig, or man-pig (not man-BEAR-pig…)  which is only partly explained…but that’s ok.  He is fleshed out to make a character that you, maybe don’t identify with, but is interesting to watch and feels like a real person.  And he is a nice contrast to the brash American, Curtis, who is trying to force his way into this way of life, bringing change…The flying scenes are magical, and the fight scenes are exciting.

There are a couple of other topics that you rarely see in a “typical” animated feature today.  One is the undercurrent of feminism.  The women at Piccolo’s mechanic shop in Milan are very strong and motivated.  They have their jobs because of the climate after the war, but are portrayed as strong and smart as the men, much like the women in Iron Town in PRINCESS MONONOKE.  Porco’s plane is designed by an 18 year old girl, Fio, who Porco says he doesn’t trust because she is young AND a woman…but he comes around when it turns out that she is the best qualified for the job.  Gina, who owns the restaurant…is probably the strongest and most respectable character in the film.

Religion or at least spirituality factors in highly to the story also.  The scene where Porco witnesses his fellow fighter pilots above the clouds, flying off to what is presumably heaven, is really a stunning scene…he is offered a glimpse of this, and then allowed to return to earth for unfinished business…and now as a pig (his true heart on the outside?)…in what seems to be a redemptive role…not just for himself, but for others.  I also really enjoyed the scene where Piccolo says grace before he and the workers eat…”Heavenly father…thank you for all that you have given us…and please forgive us for making a fighter plane with the hands of women” 

This really is a wonderful movie, with a lot to offer: great animation, deep story, action, humor.  And my five year old did enjoy it…so bonus all around!

7 out of 10

THE FIFTH CORD (1971)

DATE: 11/20/2008   FIRST VIEWING

WHERE:  at home, on DVD from Netflix

I am pretty severely lacking in giallo films outside of Argento…something that I would love to rectify.  Slowly but surely, I suppose…but here is a movie that I first heard of a while back while listening to the Mondo Movie podcast when they did a giallo marathon.

THE GOOD: ridiculously amazing cinematography; France Nero’s charisma

THE BAD: the secret sex club story line…?; some of the shifts in time/logic and character motivations

THE WONKY: “Dr. Beany”;Franco Nero looks strikingly like Viggo Mortensen

I really enjoyed this movie quite a bit.  I am kind of a sucker for this type of movie, but I really found a lot to like here.  The story/mystery as it is, isn’t really anything that special or compelling.  Pretty standard murderer knocking off victims and a character has to solve the case before it is too late and someone he knows gets hurts.  You’ve got the killer POV cam and the whispery voice of the killer on the phone creeping the viewer out.

What the film might not have for originality in that area, it makes up for with its style.  The look of the film is absolutely gorgeous.  The director of photography is Vittorio Storaro, who made many great movies and won an Oscar for APOCALYPSE NOW.  He really goes to town here.  Nearly every shot in the movie is stunning to look at…but not necessarily in a showy way.  He uses a variety of shots from wide shots with action going on in the foreground and background, the camera positioned from a high angle looking down, camera on the floor tracking towards a character as they crawl, tracking shots [including a great high speed tracking shot following the killer trying to find an open window to leap through], closeups, characters are framed against huge backgrounds like a “wall” of steps, they are shot through windows, through stairs…it’s hard to quite describe but the camera is really doing the storytelling.

Apart from the shots engaging the viewer, there are a number of visual motifs that are occurring: blue lighting which is typically used here at night, but most often seems to signify something bad is going to happen.  There is also a large number of shots which feature stairs, and often spiral staircases or ramps.  At first it seemed to be something to showcase the architecture of the locales, but many of the occarrances seem very intentional.  Especially some scenes shot at a hospital, which has a parking ramp with spiral ramps for cars outside…a couple of scenes they can be seen through windows behind characters, and one in particular is framed in a window of an office, and that is the ONLY window that has the blinds up.  In any event, the staircases seem to suggest a spiral into madness, or possibly the nature of the cat and mouse game of killer to reporter.  Some of the other great stair shots feature a wide shot of characters descending the stairs, often into darkness, like they are descending into “hell”.

The style adds to the murders as well.  There are not any operatic Argento like killings here, they are pretty tame.  But the way that the scenes are shot really pulls the viewer in, and adds a lot of suspense.  In particular, the scenes involving the woman who can’t use her legs as she tries to escape the intruder in her house, crawling across the floor as the camera slowly creeps towards her across the floor…and the end sequence involving a boy home alone being stalked, has so much tension, and wonderful lighting effects to heighten the tension.  Director Luigi Bazzoni really crafts the murder scenes well.

There are a lot of shady characters, a couple red herrings, and a lot of nudity…all of which add to the feel and charm of the movie.  Franco Nero’s alcoholic reporter is fun to watch, even if he is over the top and, well, crazy.  Oh, and a radical reporter with “non-conformist ideas” which keep him at odds with the people in the office.  Not him being loud, drunk and NEVER on time…

I was pleasantly surprised with how good this movie is.  It really is a lot of fun, start to finish.

7 out of 10

THE STRANGERS (2008)

DATE: 11/15/2008   FIRST VIEWING

WHERE: at home, on DVD, from Netflix

THE GOOD: suspense pretty consistent; most jumps/scares not cheap; creepy masks

THE BAD: the ending with the boys on the bikes

THE WONKY: some of the requisite (?) brain dead choices made by characters; Merle Haggard singin’ in the background; pre-movie announcement telegraphing how things are going to end

I had heard pretty good reviews for this film, but hadn’t gotten around to seeing it…and had wanted to see ILS before watching this, seeing as how this was supposedly at least inspired by that film…a straight up unknown home intruder film…THERE WILL BE SPOILERS AS I TALK ABOUT THE FILM BELOW…

All in all, this is a solid horror movie with suspense that is maintained throughout most of the movie.  The unease set up with the characters having had a fight makes just about everything uncomfortable from the start.  The setting isn’t well known to either character either, so once the un-named threat starts, that increases the feeling of helplessness.  The sense of fear slowly cranks up as the group of masked intruders start showing up and messing with the couple…which is fun and creepy…all enhanced by some nice use of sound and lack of sound to keep you on the edge of your seat.  The jump scares don’t feel cheap, and the noises like the broken record or the smoke alarm are very effective.

I will have to say that, I was a bit disappointed with some of the plot twists, or turns…

The main character’s friend, Mike, shows up to pick him up, and right in the middle of the assault.  OK, you’ve got someone who might be able to help, giving the audience a sense of hope.  But, for one, the guy is shot at almost right away, then, walks TOWARD the house.  He proceeds to see smashed cars and signs of struggle, and what does he do?  Goes into the house without calling the cops on his cell.  Sure, you’ve got to live with that kind of behavior with characters in a hororr movie, so I suppose I shouldn’t gripe too loudly…but then, he is stalking into the house, checking out the situation, and suddenly the masked man is creeping up behind him…gripping his ax, getting closer….and he WHOOPS gets mistaken as an intruder and shot by his friend James.  Surprising?  Sure…although I thought that might be where it was going…BUT…for me, it really sucked some of the wind out of the film.  Up until this point, the intruders have COMPLETE control, which really makes it terrifying, especially when you don’t know where they are or what they are going to do.  To me, having Mike accidentally killed takes away some of the terror surrounding the house…killing him before he has the chance to help…showing the characters that they are screwed…would have been more effective, and playing by more of the “rules” set up early on.  It seemed cheap and undermined what was going on.  Then later, Liv Tyler’s character is running and trips in a ditch or something, and hurts her leg to the point of having to crawl and hop around.  Again…dumb luck, which just seemed to go against a lot of what the film had going for it.  I was reminded of FUNNY GAMES, where the father is incapacitated with a leg injury inflicted by the intruders and has his power taken away…

I really did like a lot of what the movie did…simple story, effective and scary.  I was tense for a good portion of the film.  I did think that the end with the Christian boys, and the truck stopping to talk to them was unnecessary and seemed there to set up the stupid line “It will be easier next time…”  Whatever.  Apart from that…I liked this movie for what it was, and hey…I was on the edge of my seat.

Comparison to ILS??  Well, I would have to see ILS again to be fair…from what I remember, I liked the characters in ILS more, and I was unsure as to how it would end, which kept me vested in the characters a little more than THE STRANGERS.  I think that a couple of their prolonged set pieces were probably a bit more tense, and the tension and the assault were more constant once things got going.  Again, I would have to watch them back to back, or at least watch ILS again, but I would probably give ILS a bit of an edge, with THE STRANGERS not too far behind.

7 out of 10