HANCOCK; DIVORCE, ITALIAN STYLE; BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT; CHARLIE BARTLETT;THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE; HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY; MES PETITES AMOUREUSES; FUTURAMA: BENDER'S BIG SCORE & THE BEAST WITH A BILLION BACKS; THE DARK KNIGHT; FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS; MAMMA MIA; SUPERMAN: DOOMSDAY; RESERVOIR DOGS; STEP BROTHERS; X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE; INTENTIONS OF MURDER; LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD; AMERICAN TEEN; TEKKON KINKRIIT; THE LAST MISTRESS; PINEAPPLE EXPRESS; TROPIC THUNDER; STAVISKY...; NIGHT AND FOG; VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA; CIRQUE DE SOLEIL'S DELIRIUM; THE ROCKER; THE HOUSE BUNNY; SON OF RAMBOW; LA VIE EN ROSE; ELEGY; ACNÉ; C'EST PAS MOI, JE LE JURE; DERRIÈRE MOI; DETROIT METAL CITY; FAUBOURG 36; TREELESS MOUNTAIN; ASHES OF TIME REDUX; STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS; WINDS OF SEPTEMBER; MAMAN EST CHEZ LE COIFFEUR; ONLY; ACHILLES AND THE TORTOISE; MIA ET LE MIGOU; BURN AFTER READING; IDIOTS AND ANGELS; IGOR; GHOST TOWN

HANCOCK

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008

Last Tuesday (and last night) i saw Hancock. Hancock is a different kind of superhero, one who doesn't really think things through before he does them, doesn't seem to care what people think, and, is in fact, an asshole. Hancock, as becomes pretty clear, is lonely and a little lost. By chance, he meets Ray, an optimistic P.R. person who believes Hancock can be better. Then he meets Ray's wife. Ray is in fact the prototype of the boyscoutish superhero personality. Despite the humour and extreme action, it's actually a pretty thoughtful movie about belonging (in the same way Wall-E isn't about space and robots, it's really about love).

Person in Crowd: "Your breath smells like alcohol!"
Hancock: "That's cause I've been drinking, bitch!"

DIVORCE, ITALIAN STYLE

Friday, July 4th, 2008

The movie i saw was the many-award winning Divorce, Italian Style (Divorzio all'italiana), from 1961, starring Marcello Mastroianni as a 37 year old man (part of a family of minor aristocrats down on their luck) who falls in love with his 16 year old cousin, and decides the only way to get rid of his needy wife (since divorce was illegal) is to kill her as a matter of 'honour' in a burst of jealous passion, figuring the law would go easy on him - in fact, society would demand he would do something for his family's honour. So he goes about trying to arrange his wife's infidelity (it would be much easier to find his sister and her suitor in a compromising position). It was pretty funny - on of the funniest bits was that the village was distracted and scandalized by a screening of the La Dolce Vita, which also starred Mastroianni.

Okay, she has a unibrow and moustache, but is she all that bad?

"Today it finally happened. We were surrounded by flowers. We met and, oh, it was too beautiful for words! Now, I am his . . . .his forever."

BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

Wednesday, i saw a couple of videos with friends.

The first one was Batman: Gotham Knight, a straight-to-DVD anime version of Batman, in the style of Animatrix, set around the same time as the last movie. It was kind of mixed. Actually, the stories were fine, and the writers understand Batman better than movie studios - i don't even remember any high-tech vehicle. It's all just Batman, his training, wit and guts, and the ability to seem like a shadow. There were odd touches, like the appearance of Crispus Allen, a relatively new character (who in the comics has been killed and made the latest human host of the Spectre, which is a whole other story), but he's teamed up with Anna Ramirez, a substitute for Renee Montoya. While it was interesting to see Batman done anime-style, the animation was pretty weak, obviously cheaply done. The best piece was the first one, with the kids each describing a different version of the Batman.

At least in this shot, he doesn't look 14.

CHARLIE BARTLETT

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

The second movie we saw was Charlie Bartlett, a movie i'd wanted to see, but missed it in the theatres (must've been a lot of other things going on when it was out). A smart, rich, socially awkward rich kid is kicked out of his final private school and sent to public school. How to deal with it? Hook up with the principal's daughter, and become the school's Dr. Phil and drug supplier. It was pretty enjoyable, even if sometimes it, and the characters, were trying too hard to be 'quirky'.

Charlie and 'patient'. Why is he grinning? Because it must be nice to get the hottest girl in school without even trying.

THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE

Friday, July 11th, 2008

The Maximum

Friday i went into the city for the Cinematheque, again. The movie i saw was La Maman Et La Putain (The Mother and the Whore). Wish i'd known it was over 3 hours long. It reminded me very much of Masculin, féminin - not surprising, since it starred the same male actor, still trying to get into girl's pants. It was odd it was in black and white, though it was filmed in 1973.

The movie starts out with Alexandre, who has a flair for dramatic monologues, and living with no visible means of support, trying to get back Gilberte, who is sympathetic, but not buying it. He vows to fall in love with the next girl he sees, who turns out to be Veronika, a morose Polish imigrant who works as a nurse to support her drinking and dancing (luckily for her, sex costs nothing, so she gives it away freely - she should just remember to remove her tampon first). Marie, who owns a clothes shop, is the third part of the triangle, and we're never quite sure of her relationship with Alexandre, except she loves him, they have sex, and he stays at her place.

They drink a lot (alcohol or coffee), smoke a lot, have sex a lot (though not as much as you'd think), and talk a lot. A lot. Despite this, and despite the length, it was pretty enjoyable. Sometimes the talk is interesting, like when Alexandre tries to explain 'women's lib' to Veronika (remembering tha chauvinist is a French word), and she doesn't seem impressed by it, but she comes up with some of the strongest points of view, angrily demanding to know why women shouldn't want to have sex, and lots of it, and to know why they shouldn't state it: "I like the feel of a prick against my ass, even if it's soft. One sugar or two?". Sometimes it's just goofy, like when a friend of Alexandre killed her lover and is on the run, Alexandre and his pal discuss it: "I don't think she should have done it." Alexandre makes a joke that he played Santa once, the real joke being that the actor himself did, for the same director. I don't know if it's just this movie, or maybe the French slang of the time, but Veronika used the words 'super' and 'maximum' a lot (eg. "I've screwed the maximum of Jews and Arabs").

"In May 1968 a whole cafe was crying. It was beautiful. A tear gas bomb had exploded... a crack in reality had opened up."

"I never leave anyone, it's why they leave me. I don't do anything, I let time do it."

HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY

Saturday, July 12th, 2008

Shouldn't it be Hellman now?

Saturday night, after we came back from our first day of the Art Exhibition, we saw a late showing of Hellboy II: The Golden Army. It was enjoyable, but a let down after the first one. Myers was noticeable by his absence (and so was David Hyde Pierce's voice). Everything else felt kind of uneven - pretty things to look at, but in some ways, 'just an episode'. A lot of stuff happening, a lot of fantastical things to look at, but no real tension. I'm assuming Nuada and Nuala were elves, but there wasn't reason for 'why now?'.

"Yeah, i know, i'm ugly."

MES PETITES AMOUREUSES

Monday, July 14th, 2008

The movie i saw was Mes Petites Amoureuses (My Little Loves [amorous ones]), by Jean Eustache, same director as The Mother And The Whore. He's kind of a brutal story teller - apparently the woman he based the 'whore' on killed herself soon after the movie was released, and actually the director committed suicide around 1980. Anyway, this movie is supposed to be the kindler, gentler Eustache, ha ha. Parts of it remind me of Lola. It starts off with a boy in his small village, hanging around with friends, going to school, just being a kid. He's being well taken care of by his grandmother. His mother arrives for a visit, bringing some man in tow. He finishes basic schooling (the minimum required at the time, it seems), and moves to be with his mother. Despite his wish to continue school, his mother decides they can't afford it (school is free, clothing and books aren't), and her boyfriend gets him a crappy little job in his brother's repair shop.

He also begins noticing girls, starts smoking, and hanging out with other teenage boys, and starts to mimick their behaviour. He sees a boy kissing a girl in a movie theatre (he sitting behind her), so he leans forward, and begins to kiss the girl in front of him. To my surprise she kisses back, though neither have met. There are a number of moments like that. I wonder if in 1950s France the girls were just easy like that - maybe there was nothing else to do. Although, apparently, it's difficult to get them to go all the way.

The movie was slow - there are no great events or traumas, just growing up. But it was funny, and sweet.

Okay, he starts a little early, pressing himself against a girl at his first communion...

There's something off about mom (and no mention of his father).

The train trip to his mother was odd, when three teenagers got into the compartment, and shut the curtains.

His first shot at cruising was a little ambitious.

FUTURAMA: BENDER'S BIG SCORE & THE BEAST WITH A BILLION BACKS

Saturday, July 16th, 2008

I rented a handful of DVDs, including the Futurama DVDs Bender's Big Score and The Beast With A Billion Backs, a sequel of sorts (one does lead into the next). They were the usual Futurama fun, especially the second one. I also rented the new edition of Sword In The Stone, the last one i rented being all scratchy and skippy.

"You've got no code, no porn, and you're ugly. Let's dance!"

"These aren't tentacles, they're gentacles!"

I love Hypnotoad! Everybody loves Hypnotoad. ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD!

THE DARK KNIGHT

Friday, July 10th, 2008

Why So Serious?

Thursday night some friends and i went to a midnight showing of a little art film created by some guy named Chris Nolan (anyone remember The Prestige?). It was called The Dark Knight.

There were a lot of interesting contrasts, lightness vs darkness (the rule of law vs vigilantism) between the new district attorney Harvey Dent (called by many Gotham's White Knight) and the Batman, chaos vs order (rules vs no rules) between the Joker and the Batman (you could see one as the medieval court jester, the other the medieval knight), and obsession vs normalcy between the Batman and Bruce Wayne. Anyone who knows the comics knows Dent's fate, but it was interesting seeing Batman/Bruce Wayne bouncing between the different sides, wanting to give up the darkness, and when pushed, wanting to surrender to it. And that provides another contrast, with the Batman who has to balance himself between these contrasts, and Two-Face who is torn in half by them. There are also some interesting dynamics among Batman, Bruce Wayne, Dent and Jim Gordon. A great movie, if darker and less fun, than say, Iron Man.

I found the plot a bit frustrating, with everyone simply reacting to the Joker's chaos, which i suppose is the point. My only real negative is that i wish the car chase scene was a little shorter, and i'd REALLY like the next movie to have NO car chase scenes. A note to people being held hostage by the Joker: if he says your device will kill someone else and not you, why would you believe him (i mean, that is a great gag). Heath Ledger was amazing, and actually so was Aaron Eckhart (Two-Face's face was revolting!). My favourite bits of the Joker were when i was being funny (as a nurse, after blowing up a building, the world's most brutal pencil disappearing gag) - the Joker isn't just some brooding psychopath, he's the psychopath who laughs at everything (one of my favourite lines from Batman The Animated Series was when the Joker accidentally ignited a chemical dump, and just before he was caught in the blast, he said, "Whoopsie!")

Notice you never really get to see Barbara Gordon Jr? She's referenced a couple of times, you see her head, and if you pay close attention, you get a quick glance at part of her face. They did the same thing in the last movie. Still, she's much too young to even consider becoming Batgirl. Also, a question is answered about Anna Ramirez, no mere substitute for Montoya.

"Some men just want to watch the world burn."

"I'm a dog chasing cars. I don't have plans. I just do things. I'm not a schemer. I wouldn't know what to do if i caught one."

"You complete me."

FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS

Saturday, July 19th, 2008

In the evening, i saw Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which despite the director being Terry Gilliam and Hunter S Thompson being Johnny Depp, and Benicio del Toro being Dr Gonzo, was close to unwatchable, although it was funny in places (gee, it was kinda like watching some pathetic druggies stumble around). So, i read the newspapers while it was on in the background.

"You can turn your back on a person, but, never turn your back on a drug. Especially when it's waving a razor-sharp hunting knife in your eye."

"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

"With a bit of luck, his life was ruined forever. Always thinking that just behind some narrow door in all of his favorite bars, men in red woolen shirts are getting incredible kicks from things he'll never know."

"Few people understand the psychology of dealing with a highway traffic cop. A normal speeder will panic and immediately pull over to the side. This is wrong. It arouses contempt in the cop heart. Make the bastard chase you. He will follow. But he won't know what to make of your blinker signal that says you are about to turn right."

"As your attorney, I advise you to drive at top speed, it'll be a god damn miracle if we can get there before you turn into a wild animal."

MAMMA MIA

Sunday, July 19th, 2008

The movie theatre was crazy-crowded (concession line took forever), which happens on rainy Sundays in the summer. The Dark Knight, i'm not surprised, but Mamma Mia turned out to be crowded too. Smart counter-programming, as it turns out - largest opening for a musical ever (although perhaps not if adjusted for inflation). Anyway, it was okay - it's one of those musicals that exists to sling some songs together in a flimsy plot. The premise was funny - girl is getting married, doesn't know who her dad is, so invites the three possible candidates to the wedding (nicely, she and her mom live on a beautiful Greek island). It was fun.

"Typical... you wait 20 years for a father and then three show up at once."

"I used to have fun..."
"Oh, we know!"

"I've invited my dad to my wedding."
"You found him!?"
"Well, not exactly..."

SUPERMAN: DOOMSDAY

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

Last night i watched the direct-to-DVD movie Superman: Doomsday, which is Bruce Timm's adaptation of the comic storyline from 15 years ago. Much had to be cut out, including the Justice League's role, and the fact that there were actually 4 claimants to be Superman (not counting Superman himself), and Superman revealed his identity to Lois after she fell in love with Clark, not Superman.

Anyway, it was a little disappointing. I generally enjoy the Bruce Timm animated series, but the movies seem kind of flat. The character moments are too subtle to be caught by the limited animation style.

RESERVOIR DOGS

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

This evening, i watched Reservoir Dogs, finally. It was pretty good, although i prefer Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill.

"I already told you I don't know anything about any fucking setup; you can torture me all you want."
"Torture you? That's a good idea. I like that."

"Stuck In The Middle With You..."

STEP BROTHERS

Monday, July 28th, 2008

Cringe

I went to see Step Brothers. Ouch.

"Martha Stewart, Oprah, your wife. You gotta fuck one, kill one, and marry one, who do you pick?"

X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE

Tuesday, July 29th, 2008

Yesterday i had lunch with a mix of 3 grads/soon-to-be-grads. Then we went to see a movie. We saw The X Files: I Want to Believe. It was not bad - if they trimmed out the 'come on, you know ya wanna' bits, and the repetitive weepiness, you'd have a pretty solid episode. Nothing to do with aliens or government conspiracies though - all about faith, it seems.

CYLON!

Mulder: "This is not an exact science. If it were me I'd be on the guy 24/7. I'd be in bed with him kissing his holy ass.
Agent Whitney: "Father Joe is a convicted pedophile."
Mulder: "Maybe I'd stay out of bed with him."

INTENTIONS OF MURDER

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008

The movie i saw was Shohei Imamura's Intentions of Murder, also called Unholy Desire, neither of which seem appropriate - the Japanese name is Akai Satsui, but i have no idea what that means (actually, i used Google to translate a Japanese page, so it appears to mean 'red traces'). It's a fascinating story, about Sadako, a young woman who is poorly treated by everyone. She's the granddaughter of the old head of the family, by his mistress, so she is treated like a servant rather than part of the family. Supposedly this mistress cursed the family not to have a new heir - Sadako has had son who could be heir, except, because of her lowly status her marriage and motherhood of the child has not been recognized. She tries hard, but she's not sharp, though she is well-meaning. She is raped by a burglar one night when alone, and teeters between suicide and pretending it never happened - except, her attacker becomes obsessed with her, and keeps returning. Thing is, he's scarcely worse than her husband (who is more tender with his mistress than with her), and she doesn't have the ability to muster anger at anyone. And she is pursued by her husband's mistress, who is determined to prove that an affair exists between Sadako and the man, so that she might become the new wife.

It's not as awful as it sounds - there are some pretty funny bits, and Sadako does have some strength (she's been making money knitting on the side for years, without her husband knowing). The fact her life gets transformed with changing her essential character is enthralling.

LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD

Thursday, July 31st, 2008

The movie i saw was Last Year at Marienbad (L'Année Dernière À Marienbad), directed by Alain Resnais. Less funny and less biting than the others i've seen, but more bizarre. It's about three people, a woman (A), her suitor (X), and her husband[?] (M), in this large mansion and its gardens, somewhere. Most of it revolves around the idea that X tells A they arranged last year to meet this year and run away. She says she can't remember, so he narrates what happened. Except, we often can tell when things are happening - is he narrating what's happening now too? Or is this happening again and again? The clothes change, the time of day changes, but the story continues.

It's a puzzle, and it reminded a bit of Pulp Fiction, in that, if the chronology doesn't tell a story, you change the chronology to fit - X says time doesn't matter to him, days, minutes, years, it's all the same. Sometimes there are other guests at this hotel/party, sometimes there aren't. Sometimes they are loud, sometimes they are quiet. Sometimes they behave like real people, sometimes they stand still like props. I think the director is having fun with movie conventions, because sometimes directors do treat secondary characters or extras as just props to the lives of the main characters. It's also a play on memories - we may experience the same events, but remember them differently, or not at all, or get them mixed up. And how could X narrate things he wasn't witness to?

X: "Empty salons. Corridors. Salons. Doors. Doors. Salons. Empty chairs, deep armchairs, thick carpets. Heavy hangings. Stairs, steps. Steps, one after the other. Glass objects, objects still intact, empty glasses. A glass that falls, three, two, one, zero. Glass partition, letters."

Speaking of puzzles, M spends little time with his wife(?), and more time getting other characters to play a pyramid game he always wins.

I love the abstraction of the whole thing, and the photography was gorgeous.

X: "I must have you alive. Alive, as you have already been every evening, for weeks, for months.
A: "I have never stayed so long anywhere."
X: "Yes, I know. I don't care. For days and days. Why don't you still want to remember anything?"

AMERICAN TEEN

Friday, August 1st, 2008

"All we have to do is figure out who we are and where we're heading in life. Holy shit!"

The movie i saw was the new documentary American Teens, which follows a group of 'typical' American kids from a small Indiana town - self-described as mainly white, Christian, well-off and 'red state all the way', none of which is actually 'typical' - the US is about 80% white, 13% black, 15% Latino (of various kinds), and the remainder Native, Asian, etc, has a mix of incomes, and is about 50/50 'red' and 'blue' (how is it Americans manage to get the colour terms reversed from the rest of the world?).

The movie follows 4 main teens, easily pigeonholed into types: the Jock, the Nerd, the Queen Bee and the Weird Girl. Too easily, i think, and the movie i think is too constructed. I read one complaint about the filmmakers yelling at kids in the school to get out of the way of the view of one of the main characters. That being said, it was enjoyable and interesting to watch.

The Queen Bee really was a selfish, mean-spirited bitch. I felt bad for the Jock, because of the pressure put on him to succeed, since a basketball athletic scholarship was the only way he was going to get to go to college (his Dad, a failed basketball player, pushing him, of course). The Nerd at least tried to get dates. The Weird Girl was very likeable, artistic, musical, and despite some crappy boyfriends (one broke up with her through a text message), barely present parents, was able to get her head on straight, and made it into film school (she'd fit into our program).

What was missing was the other kids - i really wanted to know about them, or at least hear from them. The Weird Girl had a male best friend, we saw him comforting her and being her prom date, but we didn't know anything about him (is he gay? is he interested in her?). We spoke to one of her boyfriends while they were dating, but not after, so we don't know why he broke up with her. One girl sent a topless pic of herself to a guy she liked, and it ended up being spread around the school - we spoke to her only the once (without actually asking why she did it). The nerd went to San Diego to visit his brother, who took him out, got him drunk, and there were drunken girls all over him (i think this was in Mexico) - now that would be an interesting story, to know what those girls were thinking.

Megan and associates.

Colin.

Hannah, her date Clarke, her grandmother, and.. i never learned who the other woman is.

Jake.

Mitch and Hannah.

TEKKON KINKRIIT

Saturday, August 2nd, 2008

"Be happy! Be happy!"

I spent the evening finally watching Tekkon Kinkuriito (supposedly a play on the Japanese for 'reinforced concrete', but i'm not sure what the play is - maybe it just means that, also written as Tekkonkinkreet), an odd anime feature about a couple of street gherkins (White, and Black) who call themselves 'the Cats', who fight the yakuza invasion of their neighbourhood (less savoury than the current local hoods, i suppose). It was okay.

"When the sky turns black why do I feel so blue?"

THE LAST MISTRESS

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

The movie i saw was The Last Mistress (Une Vieille Maîtresse in French, which actually means An Old Mistress, although more passée than anciennne). A 30ish penniless, aristocratic libertine is about to marry the young, virginal, wealthy and madly-in-love granddaughter of the elderly Marquise de Flers - the Marquise tells him to tell her everything about his 10 year obsession with the illegitimate, bold, cigar-smoking, Spanish 36 year old Vellini (herself brought into society by a marriage to an elderley English aristocrat). Ostensibly she wants to be reassured the affair is over (despite his having had his last kick at the can the day before), but we suspect she's enjoying the story, noting that the 1800s are more prudish than when she grew up ("I've remained ferociously 18th-century,"), and possibly she's an entranced as her granddaughter. He may love the girl, but will Vellini let him go? The gossips don't think so...

I enjoyed the movie, but didn't really get the attraction to Vellini (i suppose Asia Argento isn't my cup of tea). I suppose you might be attracted to what you can't get (at first!). I was surprised Roxane Mesquida played Hermangarde - she's already 27. I haven't seen her since Fat Girl and Sex Is Comedy (the bigger surprise is that that was 6 years ago!).

"Go to bed dear, your betrothed must tell me ALL about his sexual conquests."

He really is a very bad shot.

"Oh yeah... these are mine..."

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

" 'Cause I'm in the dumpster already."

I saw Pineapple Express. Seth Rogen plays a 25 year old process server (i did that briefly, it sucks), who's dating a high school girl (she's 18, at least) who witnesses a murder, and James Franco plays his dopey drug dealer, and they go on the run from the murderers, with all the thinking and effort a couple of potheads can muster.

It was pretty funny, although i missed the emotional content from SuperBad. I couldn't help but think it would have been even funnier if i had... prepared myself... before the movie. Not MY thing, but maybe a cider would've done the trick, lol. The biggest disappointment was the music - instead of M.I.A.'s Paper Airplanes (which virtually made the trailer), we get get Huey Lewis And The News. Huey Lewis!?! Are they high?!

"I just got a shipment of Pineapple Express, the dopest dope I've ever smoked. Smell it. It's like... God's..."

"How could he find us?"
"Umm, heat-seeking missiles, bloodhounds, foxes, barracudas."

TROPIC THUNDER

Wednesday, August 13th, 2008

I saw Tropic Thunder. It was very funny - a bit uneven in places, but the gags were enough to keep it going. The story is about an 'all-star cast' of actors, including an action star (Ben Stiller) trying to prove he can do more (in the wake of his distastrous 'retard' movie Simple Jack), an Australian 'ACTOR' (Robert Downey Jr) who is so into his role he got face-changing surgery (from white to black!), a comedy actor (Jack Black) known for fart joke movies and drug abuse, and an over-commercialized rapper (he sells a drink called Booty-Sweat), making the ultimate war movie.

It also has Nick Nolte as the man who wrote the book (supposedly from his experiences) the movie is based on, Steve Coogan as the wimpy director (and his performance was shockingly hilarious, ha ha), Danny McBride (unkillable Red from Pineapple Express) as the demolitions expert, Matthew McConaughey as the action star's agent (very funny - and his hair!), Tom Cruise as the asshole producer (also very good), and Bill Hader (cop from Super Bad, soldier in Pineapple Express) as a studio executive, plus a ton of cameos (Tobey Maguire's bit with Robert Downey Jr was priceless).

I love that Kirk Lazarus's eyes have contacts to make him look more like Mel Gibson.

"What he doesn't have in his head, he makes up for in his heart."

STAVISKY...

Thursday, August 14th, 2008

The movie i saw was Alain Resnais' Stavisky..., a 1974 dramatization of the true story of a charming swindler, perfectly represented by Jean-Paul Belmondo, whose criminal activities were abetted by many powerful people, caused riots and death and the fall of many powerful people, including the prime minister, in 1930s France. Beautifully art decoish and funny (except at the end).

NIGHT AND FOG

Thursday, August 14th, 2008

Stavisky... was paired with Night and Fog, Alain Resnais' half-hour 1955 documentary of the Nazi concentration camps. Though only 10 years after the war, the movie starts off at the camps now overgrown with weeds and wildlife. Then it uses contemporary photos and film to show us what the camps were actually like. It's very matter of fact, almost like a travelogue. But very powerful. I already knew about the horrors of the camps, but Resnais does a good job at getting the point across. We see things taken from the inmates, from piles of combs, to hair to be turned into wigs and knitwear, acres of hair, knowing what so much hair meant. I kept it together until the scene when liberated, the thousands of corpses left lying around which the Allies plowed into mass graves to try to halt the epidemics of disease ravaging the survivors. It was horrific seeing the the bodies flopping around from the plows. The movie ends with brief shots of the trial, as the camp's 'capos', and officers, and camp commander in turn each claim, "I am not responsible." Resnais doesn't refer to the victims by their identity (Jew, Gypsy, homosexual, etc), because he wanted it to be a universal message - in particular, disgusted with the French actions in Algeria, and sadly, these events have been repeated many times since (though fortunately not on the same scale).

"Those of us who pretend to believe that all this happened at a certain time and in a certain place, and those who refuse to see, who do not hear the cry to the end of time."

Today, i had planned to see Woody Allen's latest, but something in me felt like seeing Tropic Thunder again.

VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

Saturday, August 16th, 2008

I didn't want to waste my Saturday night, so i went to see Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Woody Allen's latest movie, about two young women who are living in Barcelona for the summer. While Vicky (Rebcca Hall) likes stability and hates pain, is happily engaged and 'doing her Master's in Catalan identity', Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) is impulsive, who flits from interest to interest and man to man, having just made a short film she hates, but is willing to risk hurt to find what she really wants, though she doesn't know what that is, except it's different.

Some Gaudi architecture.
"Catalan studies? What will you ... do with that?"
"Oh ... Maybe teach, or work for a museum?"

The two of them are propositioned by an artist (at the same time!), and while Vicky is appalled, Cristina is interested (very interested), so Vicky comes along to keep watch on Cristina. But Vicky and Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) end up spending a lot of time together when Cristina gets sick. Just as Vicky begins to question her choices, her fiance decides to join her in Barcelona for a romantic wedding, and as Cristina and Juan Antonio start getting close, his crazy but beautiful ex-wife (Penélope Cruz) comes back into his life.

It's full of cliched set-ups - no one seems to worry about money, Spain is nothing but beautiful (it's got it's share of run-down areas and crappy malls), everyone is attractive and/or artistic. But the main characters are imperfect and interesting, and nothing is really tied up neatly - life is confusion. It's a smart, funny and charming fantasy.

CIRQUE DE SOLEIL'S DELIRIUM

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

Wednesday i decided i'd take a shot at (ha, ha, ironically, considering i'd just seen Saltimbanco) Delirium, the movie of the Cirque arena show, hoping maybe the camera would make up for the lack of intimacy. No, it turns out i didn't much enjoy the show itself, which had little acrobatics and a lot of music (the music is fine background for the performances, but definitely not why i go to the shows). So, when i was still bored about a half hour in, i went to see Tropic Thunder again, instead.

THE ROCKER

Friday, August 22nd, 2008

"A lot of elevators play Celine Dion - that doesn't make it right."

Friday, i went to see The Rocker. It was okay, not great, but not awful. It's the story of a guy kicked out of a metal band that goes on to make it big, and he gets a second chance at fame and fortume when he's asked to join his nephew's band. He's supposed to be immature for his age (40s), reliving his youth, but he's not acting like he's in his 20s, he's actually less mature than the kids in their teens.

Seriously, what decade is he from?

"1991 called, they want their teenage angst back."
"No, they just called again they want that joke back."

THE HOUSE BUNNY

Sunday, August 24th, 2008

Sunday i saw the early, early show - boy are tickets cheap! The movie i saw was The House Bunny. It was okay - not on the level of Tropic Thunder, about the same as The Rocker. Some funny moments, and you can't help but love the performances of Anna Faris and Emma Stone (also in The Rocker), who just give it all, but the plot has been pulled from the recycle bin.

"I didn't stay in college for nine years just to go back to my trailer in Idaho!"

"My heart is racing like a nail!"

"A little bird told me..."
"I gotta meet this freakin' bird!"

SON OF RAMBOW

Friday, August 29th, 2008

The movie we saw was Son of Rambow . It's a British comedy-drama about two kids. One is a mostly family-less boy (an occasionally present and hostile brother) who gets in trouble at school a lot, but is fascinated by First Blood (the first Rambo movie - this is set in the early 80s), and is trying to work on a film himself for a student competition. The other is shy boy from a strict religious family (no music, TV, etc), who lives in a fantasy world he draws. When they meet, they begin producing their own version of a Rambo movie. Into the movie is thrown Didier and his followers - Didier is a French exchange student, dressed in the latest Depeche Mode style, who becomes the mid-80s equivalent of Fonzi at the school. It reminded me a lot of Bill Forsythe movies (see Gregory's Girl), a lot of whimsical humour (especially with Didier), and the kids' version of stunt action was pretty fun, but the serious bits about growing up (the adults as much as the boys) was good too.

"This has been my best day ever."

LA VIE EN ROSE

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

This time it was La Vie En Rose (in French La Môme, which means kid or brat, but i knew it as a word related to mumming), the biography of Edith Piaf. There were some odd things about it - not much about her teenage years, and one event in particular (also, she later refers to her kiss being important, but we never saw it), and they often showed dates as it jumped around in time, but it wasn't consistent, and we were confused about her age. But it was very well-done, and it's no surprise Marion Cotillard one the best actress Oscar. Talk about a crappy life, literally growing up on the streets, abandoned by her parents, living with prostitutes... she was lucky she could sing. She was funny though - pretty sharp tongue.

"Americans want beauties, not me. I'm not the Parisian bombshell they expected. Can you see me as a chorus girl? Where's my feather up the ass? They think I'm sad, they're dumb. I don't connect to them."

The real Marion Cotillard - the make up (also an Oscar winner) was quite amazing, especially when she was near death.

ELEGY

Monday, September 1st, 2008

The movie i saw was Elegy, the story of a professor (Ben Kingsley) of literature, long-divorced (with a married son angry at being abandoned), who ends up seeing one of his (just graduated) students (Penelope Cruz). He's had sex with a lot of (ex-)students, but this is the first time he falls for one - it even interrupts his friends-with-benefits relationship with a woman closer to his age (Patricia Clarkson). He doesn't expect it to last (and it doesn't), although he becomes possessive, and is rather cowardly. It's an interesting take on someone who is realizing he's growing old. It has its funny, romantic, and sad moments. Amazingly, for someone 30 years older than the woman he's dating, he grows up a little. Still, i'm not sure taking romantic advice from Dennis Hopper is a wise thing.

"Beautiful women are invisible; we're so dazzled by the outside that we never make it inside."

ACNÉ

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Today was the first day of the Toronto International Film Festival. The movie i saw was called Acné. It's a 'coming-of-age' story, set in Uruguay, among a Jewish community. Rafa is a 14 yr old boy, with much on his mind, mainly girls, friends, and his acne problem (though i think the specialists he sees are causing as much as they are fixing). His older brother takes him to see a prostitute for sex, but what he's really looking for is a kiss (though that doesn't stop him from asking for money from his divorcing parents on a regular basis, lol). The raunch is pretty mild though, and it's a sweet, funny movie, low on the melodrama. It reminded me in some ways of Gregory's Girl, which was also in the end about getting what you need instead of what you want.

A photo from his Bar Mitzvah.

The object of his desire (looking much older in this shot than normal) being hit on by an older boy at a school dance.

C'EST PAS MOI, JE LE JURE

Friday, September 5th, 2008

I went to see C'est Pas Moi, Je Le Jure! (It's Not Me, I Swear!). Set in the late 60s in Quebec, it's the adaptation of a story of a hell-raising 10-year old boy who's into egging people's homes, suicide and break and enter. His father is a lawyer/social activist and his mother is a free-spirited painter (shades of Pierre and Margaret Trudeau) who abandons her family for Greece. His brother just wants to be normal. He's very upset by his mother's departure, until he becomes friends with another lonely kid, a girls whose father has left for another family and whose 'uncle' beats her. They have great times planning their escape to Greece until his crimes catch up with him.

It sounds depressing, and there are sad parts, but it was mostly a lot of fun, and he's a likeable kid despite his issues, because we get to understand some of his motivation.

"I love you... well, that's it."
"... I love myself too. Now shut up and pay attention."

"Maybe we can start a new life.
"We're only 10."
"Exactly - it's not too late."

DERRIÈRE MOI

Friday, September 5th, 2008

I saw Derrière Moi (Behind Me), another French Canadian movie, about a beautiful woman who moves to a small town in the middle of nowhere for the summer, and befriends a 14-year old girl, but starts pushing her into things she's not ready for (including boys, drinking and drugs). Is she trying to relive her youth, just lonely, or does she have some other agenda? For her part, the girl is being raised by her grandmother (whom she used to think was her mother), while her mother (formerly 'big sister') lives in some other crappy small town, drinking and playing bingo with a creepy boyfriend ("my own dirty uncle"). She has no idea who her father is. I'm not sure what to make of the ending, as it was rather unsettling, but the performances of the two leads was amazing.

DETROIT METAL CITY

Saturday, September 6th, 2008

"No Music, No Dream!"

Detroit Metal City: Adapted from a manga, a naive and wimpy young man goes to Tokyo to live his dream: attend university, get a trendy apartment, wear trendy clothes, get a trendy girlfriend, and sing in a trendy love-pop band. Five years later, he pretty much has everything except the last, but he's deeply unhappy, because he's becomes the lead singer in an up and coming satanic death metal band (hidden in shame from his friends and family) - instead of singing syrupy songs about being in love with girls who make pastries, he's screaming about raping his parents and killing everyone. Japanese comedies are often very silly, but this one was also very fun. It had a cameo by Gene Simmons as the 'death metal king' Jack, but he couldn't compare to the actor who played sappy Soichi Negishi (and hard core Johannes Krauser II, a.k.a. Sir Krauser). Apparently the opening 'midnight madness' showing at TIFF had the actor pursued by a gang of Japanese girls after the screening.

The same actor/character.

His sadistic manager.

Uhhh... singing and dancing in a men's room.

FAUBOURG 36

Sunday, September 7th, 2008

The great thing about seeing a movie at 9 am on a Sunday is free parking. The movie i saw was Faubourg 36, a classic 'let's save the theatre from the evil property owner' story, in charming French style, similar to Moulin Rouge, but with 1930s cabaret music, rather than can-can versions of 70s-90s pop songs (and actually in French, so the men are also wildly olded than their women), with a bit of father-son love and fascism vs socialism politics thrown in for good measure. Beautiful to look at it, and lots of fun.

There was no Q&A, or even an announcement, but the two male leads were present at the end (which made trying to exit the cinema a bit more tedious). They're here at centre, and lower right (he has a beard now).

TREELESS MOUNTAIN

Sunday, September 7th, 2008

The other movie of the day was Treeless Mountain, the apparently semi-autobiographical story set in Korea about two little girls (one around 6, another around 3) whose mother is unable to care for them in the city, despite loving them tenderly, and leaves them with her sister-in-law in another town while she looks for the father. While their aunt isn't a brute, she's not tender and is often stonecold drunk. The girls don't go to school, and largely fend for themselves, though the neighbour with the Down's syndrome boy is very kind and welcoming. The girls are promised when their piggy bank is full of coins, mom will return, so they try to earn money to full it. They're also threatened with being sent far away to their grandparents' farm away from other children if they don't behave, which is exactly where they end up anyway.

The movie is slow, and quiet, and told from the girls' point-of-view (one reviewer compared it to My Neighbour Totoro in that aspect). There are many funny moments, but mostly it's a pretty sad movie, with the older girl just old enough to begin understanding the heartlessness of their situation.

ASHES OF TIME REDUX

Monday, September 8th, 2008

Another day, another movie at the Festival.

The movie i saw was the North American debut of Wong Kar Wai's Ashes of Time Redux, a re-edited version of Dung Che Sai Duk (Ashes of Time), one of his earlier features, his only martial arts movie, starring a who's who of Hong Kong cinema. Apparently the original negatives were lost, with various cuts were around, so it was restored, remastered and streamlined, and with a new score, by Yo-Yo Ma. Like any of his films, it's absolutely gorgeous - oceans of orange, desserts of canary yellow. It's not a traditional martial arts movie, very dream-like and abstract in movement (the closest i've seen in live action to matching manga style sword-fights), and more a meditation about love, loss and fear than good vs evil. I need to see it again.

"When I am seeing them off, my heart aches in jealousy. Once I had a chance to do the same. But somehow I passed it up. "

"Was it worth it to lose a finger for a basket of eggs?"

"Why didn't you let him know I live here?"
"You didn't ask me to."
"[sobbing] You are too honest!"

As an unannounced treat, Wong Kar Wai himself showed up, and did a Q&A. If he had to do again? He'd do it as four features, but thought it might be his only shot at a martial arts movie.

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

I and a couple of other teachers were finished classes by 2, so we decided to see a movie for sheer voyeurism, like stopping for a gruesome accident. We'd done it for the most recent Rambo movie, and had a lot of fun making fun of it.

Despite having a pint before, we were not prepared for how awful Star Wars: The Clone Wars would be. Seriously, a sexually ambiguous Hutt with Truman Capote's voice - or was it Droopy's?, a simpering stereotype to match JarJarBinks...

The animation was incredibly stiff (probably used the same crap walk cycles in every environment). We were groaning, though we had to keep it down because there was a father there with his little boy. Although, i think it's a terrible movie for a little boy, 90% of it is just shooting, again and again and again... It was padded with scenes like 2 minutes of a ship passing over us. It's an insult to hackneyed cliches and corny dialogue. Check out the summary of reviews on the Wikipedia article, pretty accurate - even the positive comments are damning with faint praise:

"Kenny Lengel of The Arizona Republic said the lack of hype... allowed him to enjoy the film due to lower expectations."

Possibly the least redeeming movie i have ever seen - and i saw Hollow Man. Two of us left early, i and another stayed for the bitter end.

WINDS OF SEPTEMBER

Thursday, September 11th, 2008

The first movie of Thursday was Taiwanese, Winds of September (Jiu Jiang Feng), about a group of high school boys, the trouble makers (though by American standards pretty mild trouble). They're a tight knit group, led by a womanizing senir named Yen. Tang is the quiet shy senior, who tutors and has crush on, and would be a better boyfriend for, Yen's girlfriend Yun. Things are fine until Tang takes a punch meant for Yen's womanizing (mistaken identity), and and there's trouble in the form of a stolen scoter and a traffic accident.

Only in his mind...

I really enjoyed it, the scenes with the boys having fun were hilarious, but their recklessness get the better of them, making the movie a lot more serious.

MAMAN EST CHEZ LE COIFFEUR

Thursday, September 11th, 2008

The second was another French Canadian movie, Maman Est Chez Le Coiffeur (Mommy Is At The Hairdresser's). It was introduced by Léa Pool, the director (i've also seen her Lost and Delirious (2001, lesbian boarding school love story) and Emporte-moi (1999, half-Jewish half-Catholic girl growing up in poverty who becomes obsessed with Anna Karenina). Set in small town Quebec in the 60s, on the face of it everything is fine: they're a happy loving family. Dad is a doctor, Mom is both a housewife and a journalist, the youngest child is sweet but slow (as we we learn), the older boy is obsessed with building a go-kart, the oldest, the girl, is just becoming interested in boys and kissing. When a secret is discovered, Mom is so broken up, she leaves for a job in London, and Dad is left to keep things together. The girl strikes up an interesting friendship with 'Mr. Fly', the deaf-mute all the kids are afraid of who makes fishing lures for sale from his trailer. Another beautifully done sad-funny film on growing up.

ONLY

Friday, September 12th, 2008

Friday, the first movie i saw was Only, appropriately, the only English-language Canadian movie i saw. Set in Parry Sound (i recognized some of the sights, from visiting friends there), it's about a boy, Daniel, 12, son of a couple of hotel-motel owners, and a girl, Vera, 13, the daughter of a fractious couple in the middle of a move from Vancouver to Brampton. A day in their lives, they explore the area and getting to know each other (they don't even exchange names until the day is almost done), before the inevitable split. It's almost like a classic romantic movie (with even the requisite mid-movie argument), except they're still just a couple kids. It actually reminded me a lot of Lost In Translation, actually. A gentle, sweet comedy. It's based on the director growing up in a similar motel environment, and the boy was played by her son (and the girl by a classmate), and she actually played the mom.

"If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?" Vera has an attack of narcolepsy.

The movie was preceded by an animated musical Canadian short called Running (Heart, Body, Mind, Spirit).

ACHILLES AND THE TORTOISE

Friday, September 12th, 2008

The second movie of the night was (Beat) Takeshi Kitano's dark comedy on the relationship between art and artist Achilles and the Tortoise (Achilles To Kame, which comes Zeno’s Paradox - a famous mathematical proof that it is impossible to catch anything you may pursue, regardless of how much faster than it you may be). A young boy is inspired to become an artist, and nothing stops him in his quest, not a lack of talent, the suicides of his parents, his descent into poverty, the accidental deaths of his art mentors and friends (lots of dark humour). He follows whatever trends his art dealer suggests (though the art world is ready to sell virtually anything under any guise) - the humour reaches a maximum of disturbed and gruesome when he paints his dead daughter's face with lipstick for art effect.

"(The message of the film) is that even people without talent should live for all they're worth, facing reality -- it's a story about the harshness of the artistic life. My paintings [used in the movie] are not appreciated by the public or critics, so I tried... to show that it is not necessary to be successful as a painter. Whether you are a hit or a miss is just like buying a lottery ticket."

MIA ET LE MIGOU

Saturday, September 13th, 2008

The last movie of the Festival was, appropriately, the animated Mia Et Le Migou. The dialogue was French, but it was set somewhere in South America (i'm guessing). It was something of a cross in theme between My Neighbour Totoro and Princess Mononoke, combining a fantasy story about nature spirits and greed and environmental destruction. The characters were well-done, especially Mia, who was very charming. The Migous were fun too. More than anything, however, it was just gorgeous to look at - it looked like a blend of pastels and water colour painting, yet flowed very naturally (i could see 3D elements however). It's a shame there were a few empty seats, and that it will probably be unavailable in North America in any form.

Mia talking to her Mom.

Mia looking for her Dad.

Dad's employer, and his son Aldrin.

Mia (after she lost her hair) meets a/the Migou.

It feels so much like a graphic novel.

BURN AFTER READING

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008

Burn After Reading... makes sense only with paper...

The work week seems to fly by these days. Last Wednesday i left work as soon as possible, picked up my comics, and went to a movie. I saw Burn After Reading, the Coen Brothers' latest movie. I wouldn't say it was always funny - it was less like Raising Arizona or O Brother Where Art Thou, and more like Fargo, more of a thriller in places - though Brad Pitt was hilarious. I thought it was quite good.

"Report back to me when it makes sense."

"...I'm not set up to mold hard rubbers."

"Does he look like he would have a sense of humor?"
"Looks like his optometrist has a sense of humor."

IDIOTS AND ANGELS

Saturday, September 20th, 2008

The show we saw was a feature, called Idiots And Angels, by Bill Plympton. His own summary: "Angel is a selfish, abusive, morally bankrupt man who hangs out as his local bar, berating the other patrons. One day, Angel mysteriously wakes up with a pair of wings on his back. The wings make him do good deeds, contrary to his nature. He desperately tries to rid himself of the good wings, but eventually finds himself fighting those who view the wings as their ticket to fame and fortune."

Some trademark Bill Plympton weird/exaggerrated perspective.

Fantasies from the point of view of a bug on her surface?

It was pretty funny, even without Plymptons usual head-eating-itself weirdness.

IGOR

Thursday, September 25th, 2008

The movie we saw was Igor, which was kind of a mess. First, i'm not sure why i was supposed to care about Igor being unhappy with being an assistant, and wanting to be an evil genius himself. On the one hand, why evil, on the other they don't seem particularly evil. The story was something like the lead female character, a monster made of bits and pieces that don't really fit together (some of the gags were downright adult). Some bits are actually pretty good: i like the suicidal rabbit (Steve Buscemi), the main villain Dr. Schadenfreude (Eddie Izzard - great voice, and great name). The character design tried to out-Tim Burton Tim Burton, but without his style - the characters looked disjointed. Overall, the idea was interesting but a poor execution.

The importance of pre-production, kids.

GHOST TOWN

Friday, September 26th, 2008

The movie i saw was Ghost Town, starring Greg Kinnear, Ricky Gervais, Téa Leoni (as a nerdy archeologist!). Okay, you know where the story is going, withn the surly loner who can suddenly see ghosts, but it's done very well. Ricky Gerrvais is always funny, and the surgeon-hospital lawyer tag team were hilarious: they fired the anesthesiologist, because they have a strict three strikes policy.

"Come back soon."
"What a terrible thing to say in a hospital."