fleshballoon Blog

Movie Roundup #13

fleshballoon — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 18:06:00 GMT

Long story short, I stopped watching movies. Also I originally planned to post this three months ago but the site decided to eat my entire post. Hope it works this time, I'm not re-writing a five-pager like this.

Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (William Greaves, 1971)

Perhaps the most striking thing about this 1968 avant-garde documentary is how modern it seems. Reality television and the internet age have desensitized us into this kind of postmodern entertainment, but the way Greaves deconstructs and pulls the curtain on the very process of film-making is still surprisingly startling and fresh. The film crew, who are part of this experiment, goes into great detail picking this entire experience apart, and it's all fascinating, groundbreaking, intelligent stuff.

Still, Symbio goes into lengthy boring dry spells even for a 75 minute feature. It centers around a screen test (a breakup scene in Central Park) you will have to repeatedly watch with different actors. The writing is intentionally *** to get some sort of response out of the test subjects. A pretty nice docu, if you can take it. 6.75

The Night Of The Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)

Harry Powell only rivals the likes of the Westboro Baptist Church as the embodiment of pure, chilling evil. Appropriately enough, The Night Of The Hunter is like a nightmare that gets progressively more and more disorienting and menacing, with simple but astonishing visuals that puts most film noir to shame and characters that are striking in their resiliency (the children), purity (Rachel), and viciousness (Powell). See it. 8.5

Buster Keaton Double Feature!

The General (Clyde Bruckman/Buster Keaton, 1927)

Buster Keaton is unable to enlist as a soldier because he's too important as a train engineer, so he takes matters into his own hands, saving his beloved train and Annabelle Lee in the process. It's definitely funny, but what's more is exactly how dangerous a lot of Keaton's stunts are. Nobody without a death wish could possibly be willing to subject themselves to any of the stunts Keaton pulls in this feature. With that aside, the slapstick is virtually flawless and the story flows pretty well, with a bunch of great train chase scenes. It looks like I have a natural aversion for Silent Films, but it seems like these snappy Buster features are proving to be a rare exception. 8.5

Steamboat Bill, Jr (Charles Reisner/Buster Keaton, 1928)

Buster Keaton's dad is a steamboat captain and they reunite after years apart, and falls in love with the daughter of his dad's rival. Hilarity ensues! I liked this more than The General. This has one of my favorite scenes ever: Buster (sexily) trying on many many hats, peering into the camera with that deadpan stare. Plus, the famed tornado finale is as batshit insane as it was in 1928, and it pretty much turns the final act into a full-on lunatic stunt showcase that you have to see to believe. Buster cheats death about 8940346 times. 9.0

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Waco: The Rules Of Engagement (William Gazecki, 1997)

Cool-headed but vitriolic expose on what exactly happened during the Mount Carmel siege. It's horrific, tragic, and the loss of life and lack of justice is infuriating and this film provides a mountain of evidence, grisly footage, haunting interviews and audio recordings, and some crazy CSPAN video from the congressional hearings surrounding the fiasco. An incredibly thorough dissection into a dark chapter of 1990's American history that we should all look into and learn a lesson or two from.

For comic relief, gaffer extraordinaire Joe "Bite Me" Biden is featured. 8.75

2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

Seriously the most frightening G-rated feature film of all time. At certain times it's a plodding chore to watch, but much more often it's a brilliantly constructed, unabashedly abstract audiovisual hypnosis that, at its best moments, demonstrate the transportive capabilities of cinema. 9.25

Abadah (James Cameron, 2009)

Honestly, I wish I was 10 when this movie came out so I can appreciate it for what it is. Not that I was paying careful attention to the chiaroscuro or anything, but I think its fluffy narrative works in this visually lush, larger-than-life context. Unfortunately, I couldn't get over it.

Also, maybe Jim Kamran should have waited 10 more years for the necessary storytelling technology to be available in order to achieve his true vision for Abadah. 3.5

Océans (Jacques Perrin, 2010)

I really liked Perrin's Microcosmos, but just like that movie, Océans (erroneously titled as Oceans by silly Americans) it's stuff you could see on Discovery Channel on an hourly basis. Really fascinating, seemingly disparate clips stitched together by some overblown narration courtesy of Pierce Brosnan, actor and noted Marine Poet. You are also treated by the vocal stylings of Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas during the credits. That *** was unseemly. 6.0

Zombieland (Ruben Fleischer, 2009)

Dead Rising: The Movie. 6.25

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Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson, 2009)

I watched this with a room full of kids and they all wanted to watch Shaun Of The Dead within 15 minutes. Go figure.

Anderson treading uncharted territory this time around, and finally screws around with an all-new palette that might be a good fit for him, as it kinda channels the infectious spirit of his previous movies into a claymation format that's 348932 times more eye-catching. Charmingly whimsical, funny, creative, see it. 7.5

Naked Blood (Hisayasu Sato, 1996)

Yeah yeah, this is notorious for having one of the greatest, most grotesque scenes in Horror. Everybody probably knows about the self-mutilation and eye-gouging, and it's why it's in everyone Netflix queue at some point. But I think the whole "being one with the cactus and have awkward virtual reality cactus sex with your test subject" *** is just as delusionally mind-expanding as the gore. It follows the Japanese Horror wtfishappening standard but brings it to a new level of insanity. I love it. 8.25

Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)

The stream-of-consciousness narrative, the insanely cute lead, and the film's no-holds-barred visual style is wildly entertaining actually works really well...up to a point. Eventually, it settles into a funk that seems to last forever. Loaded stuff like this is advised to be an hour and a half maximum, talk about overstaying your welcome.

Amelie, yr cute, whatevs, but can I stand you and yr version of Paris composed of 100% white people again for 122 minutes, I do not know. 7.0

Pink Flamingos (John Waters, 1972)

John Waters rationalizes the use of the chicken literally in the middle of a sex scene by arguing that he himself is a carnivore and it's no more cruel than getting slaughtered and eaten. Plus, she gets to be *** and immortalized on camera before being turned into lunch.

The theme here is realism and outright depravity, Waters and a bunch of his hippie friends having fun and making the filthiest movie imaginable. That chicken scene comes at around a half hour into the film, and it still manages to outgross itself over and over until the dog-poop finale. This is guaranteed to churn up even the most iron-clad of gag reflexes. Fantastic. 8.5

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The Decline Of Western Civilization (Penelope Spheeris, 1981)

white people being bored and violent

A profile of the late 70's-early 80's Los Angeles Punk movement, a scene that's been considered way too superficial for its own good. It focuses on the top bands in the scene, fans, fanzine writers, club owners, bouncers, and promoters to get a comprehensive overview of the scene.

The concert footage is totally awesome and well-shot and even the lesser ones are highly entertaining. X in particular sounds exactly like they do on record and are easily the best band on here. The Circle Jerks looked like they were playing in an empty garage for a public access show. Darby Crash's drugged out performance in the Germs is completely incoherent and hilarious. Black Flag pre-Rollins rocked really hard and also seemed to be the most level-headed band in the city at the time. Catholic Discipline was okay but I like Claude Bessy. The Bags are soooo underrated and terrific, they play a couple of songs and almost steal the show for me. Fear's set was humorously antagonizing, I didn't even care about the songs. One of the best music documentaries ever. 8.75

Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (Penelope Spheeris, 1988)

In its core, a hilarious, vicious attack on the 80's Metal scene, particularly scanning the Sunset Strip. It's always on IFC for some reason.

The film portrays the scene as a nonstop sideshow of delusion ("I will make it!") and excess, filled with fevered overstroked egos who are seriously all in bands competing as to who most closely resembles Spinal Tap. I would have loved to party with these guys but Jesus Christ these people have NOTHING to say. The dude from WASP is the funniest guy ever though, and so are the douchebags from Faster Pussycat and Odin. The "sexy dancer contest" Bill Gazzarri chick is seriously one of the most shallow people I've ever seen. I won't be surprised if over half of these *** are dead by now. Lemmy is lost in the mix, being interviewed in the distance and seen as a "pioneer", because he legit rules.

It's no wonder the rest of the world hates Los Angeles. 7.0

Everyone Says I Love You (Woody Allen, 1996)

Musicals are advised to star people who can sing.

Everything about it is ho-hum and pales in comparison to Woody films past, which is kind of the running theme of his 90's output. He keeps things interesting with an all-new format by doing a Musical, which in 1996 is admirable at least. Sometimes it's outright clumsy, and at its best is filled with the offbeat on/off relationships and the awkward neuroticism you've come to expect out of a Woody Allen film. A partially successful foray into uncharted territory, but this should really be like #17 on your Woody Viewing List. 5.5

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The Cove (Louie Psihoyos, 2009)

Way better than Food Inc, and I have no idea why I made that connection between the two movies, but I just wanted to mention that.

This was a shocking eye-opener, and has a great, go-get-em muckraker feel to it with a level of passionate anger that suits the outrageous *** happening in Taiji. It gives you a fairly firm grasp of the situation in an accessible way, and also does a good job of bridging the cultural gap between Japan and the rest of the world. Some of their laws are surprisingly pretty crude to say the least. It's also worth noting that this film manages to capture footage none of us would be able to see otherwise, and for that The Cove deserves all the credit in the world.

One thing I didn't like about it though was its attempt to construct an overly dramatic narrative out of the raw footage. People seemed to really dig the "spy-thriller" portion of the movie and while I'm sure it was perilous and whatnot, the way that stuff was edited made the final product seem like a thrilling work of artifice than a Documentary.

Extremely Important Programming Notice: Hayden Pannatiere or whatever the hell her name is makes a 3-second appearance. She's a Hero .7.75

Dario Argento Double Feature!

Deep Red (Dario Argento, 1975)

Goblin's soundtrack manages to distract this time around, the KILLS are some of the best in giallo, and it's shockingly hilarious (intentionally). One of the better crafted whodunnits in the genre. I desperately need to re-watch this. 8.0

Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977)

The most beautiful Horror film ever made.

Argento blows his load with insane contrasts and such eye-popping color and great attention to detail and some of the most gorgeous setpieces and sequences ever conceived. I've seen this twice now and it got a lot better the second time when I wasn't pre-occupied with plot points that didn't matter and just soaked in the film's aesthetics. Oh, and GOBLIN's amazing score makes the entire experience all the more off-kilter but never fails to excite and surprise. It's a sensory-overloading experience that will make you feel like an enthused little kid again. 8.9

Movie Roundup #12

fleshballoon — Mon, 10 May 2010 19:59:00 GMT

This is inadvertently the Movies You All Know And Love edition. Getting a Blu-Ray player makes you revisit movies you haven't seen in 10 years, I suppose.

Black Dynamite (Scott Sanders, 2009)

I'd like to think of this as a spot-on homage to Blaxploitation films, since the genre is so rooted towards parody in the first place. Anyway, a movie like Black Dynamite lives and dies by its own sword. Its self-consciousness gives way to lots of neat referential humor and it toys with a lot of genre conventions to great comedic effect, and it perfectly captures the Blaxploitation feel, down to the signature visual tone. Sometimes though the comedy will fall flat, and I'm talking cringe-inducingly flat as a consequence of its style. A perfect example of this would be the boom mic gag, seriously come on dude.

Above everything else though, this is just a snappy, flat-out fun time in the movies. Fun action, fun plot development, fun pacing, fun characters, fun music, fun breasts, fun acting, fun everything. A worthy rental. 7.6

South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut (Trey Parker, 1999)

This is actually a really good, hilarious animated Musical, although South Park isn't exactly breaking new ground here, even by their own standards. They've done episodes about obscenity and censorship prior to the release of this movie, like the one where all the parents had explosive diarrhea and were launching themselves into the network buildings. So this kinda feels like a beefier, funnier, unrestrained, more musically-inclined version of something you can catch on the TV literally 4 times a day, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Come to think of it, this might be one of the best movie adaptations of a TV show ever. 7.0

So did anyone else watch this on illegal cable when they were 10 home alone eating Chef Boyardee Mini Bites and thought they were badass for watching something so outrageous?

Perfect Blue (Satoshi Kon, 1998)

This early Satoshi Kon effort is part-entertaining Anime, part-watchable mess. Generally in movies I don't like a.) big plot twists that makes the rest of the movie seem like a huge setup for the aforementioned twist and b.) rape being used as a plot device, and Perfect Blue has both.

It's also the first animated movie that I've seen that tackled this type of non-fantasy subject matter leaving the experience thinking that it could have been better as a live-action film. Sometimes the psychological terror translates pretty well, but a lot of times it's not exactly Hitchcockian. A lot of it too is head-scratching, and ended up being way too uninteresting for me to want to dig deeper and see what it's all about. 6.25

American Pie 2 (James B. Rogers, 2001)

Boring, crude, wonky slab of testosterone-fueled Bro trash that I saw coming from a mile away and kept watching anyway for no good reason. Exclusively for horny teenagers who hate themselves. Alyson Hannigan is cute, though.

Also, how distinctively 2001 is this? Most of the cast were hot stuff at the time and have largely fizzled ever since, there is not a single Beer Pong scene, and good God, the soundtrack! Not one, but TWO Sum-41 songs, Blink-182, Michelle Branch, and Alien Ant Farm. What were we thinking. 2.0

The Godfather/The Godfather Part 2 (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972/1974)

A brilliant crime epic that everyone has seen and can attest to its greatness. You know, this is out on Blu-Ray as "The Coppola Restoration", and it's now the definitive way to watch this film at home, at least until The Godfather 3D Deluxe Uncut Collector's Limited Edition Super HD Platinum Box Set comes along (with Moe Green 3D glasses!). Hopefully not.

It obviously doesn't have the clarity and color that more recent Blu-Ray releases have, and it doesn't need them. Instead we get a down and dirty spit shine, cleaning up the print and instead of trying too hard to conform to the new format, this presents the movies the way everybody enjoyed it in the theaters.

Part 2 is a worthy successor, but there's no way is it better than the first. I'm not a fan of the dual storylines. I think they kinda ruin each other's momentum, and Michael Corleone's reign of terror obviously took up most of its outrageous 3 and a half hour (!!!) running time. Part of what I loved so much about the first Godfather is its focused, brisk pacing, and I just don't see that in the sequel. Maybe I should see this again? 9.5/8.0

Cop Out (Kevin Smith, 2010)

Most of the truly bad Kevin Smith films are terrible in retrospect. In the heat of the moment, you can forgive the aimlessness of Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back or even the self-pleasuring dialogue of Clerks 2, because they're ultimately mere light escapism that's nothing too morally poisonous or offensively stupid. But Cop Out goes beyond the call of duty, asserting its unstoppable shittiness right here, right now, and within the first 10 minutes you'll be begging for mercy.

To be fair, Smith is not responsible for the writing, but he is still the morbidly obese man behind the camera. The execution is just as bad as the script, and from the slipshod editing to the music to one reallyreally unfunny gag after another, the whole thing felt like a barely conscious High School project starring perfectly competent actors who look like they could not care any less but were ordered to try too hard. An insult to humanity. 1.0

Michael Jackson's This Is It (Kenny Ortega, 2009)

Rightfully so, everyone expected this to be a sloppy cash-in scrap-heap of boring, tedious footage from a series of concerts that never happened from a once-infallible talent who reached his expiration date about a generation ago. Well, unexpect what you are expecting!

Despite a relaxed atmosphere all throughout the rehearsals, Jackson is absolutely electric onstage, a singing and dancing machine looking a lot more spry and loose than anyone could ever expect. The shows themselves look pretty cool too, and besides some pretty lame-looking big budget sequences, it has all the elements of a bona-fide comeback, which kinda makes this a bittersweet experience. You'll come to find out that This Is It, in Jackson's mind, was not a desperate final attempt for a moment in the spotlight, but a shot at redemption, silencing his detractors and taking back what's rightfully his. 8.25

Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, 1975)

A really exclusive category, I know, but this is my favorite movie where the entire story takes place in a single day. In terms of building tension and driving the plot along in a rollercoaster pace, the concept of time ticking away is as crucial as, say, Al Pacino's manic performance.

It's a pretty angry film, with unlikely anti-heroes and a clear disdain for the establishment that drives otherwise decent people to commit crime. And even though you know that the ending is inevitable, you keep rooting for the sympathetic robbers and keep jeering at the authority figures, because anyone can relate to the desperation of the naive characters being pushed to their limit by the man. The conflict is as universal as anything you will ever see in a movie. 9.3

Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs The New York Knicks (Dan Klores, 2010)

The only 30 For 30 doc I've seen so far (the only one out of the first batch that interested me, I'm not a big sports guy), and really liked it. It's pretty by-the-books TV stuff, but in terms of putting you in the moment, it does a wonderful job of pulling the curtain on these big iconic moments. From dissecting the potential Patrick Ewing layup of the century and Reggie Miller's ridiculous back-to-back three pointers within five seconds, to examining the interesting dichotomy between Indiana and New York, Winning Time is well worth watching if you're even mildly interested in the subject. 6.25

Movie Roundup #11

fleshballoon — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 03:52:00 GMT

For most of you, this is going to be the most boring one yet! Way too much Art House even for me.

Fallen Angels (Wong Kar-Wai, 1995)

Less of a conventional sequel and more of a thematic expansion of Chungking Express, or as Kar-wai says, the films are like two sides of the same coin. Fallen Angels maintains the zaniness of its predecessor, but this time it seems to be more, I dunno, buoyant, as far as the absurdity of the storyline goes. It also might even do a better job at capturing the central theme of big-city isolation and the small little threads that tie everyone together.

The visuals are equally stunning, and most of the film bombards you with interesting contrasts, skewed camera angles, repetitive motifs, and the like. There is literally no relief to the occasionally-taxing visual style (seriously, by the end it felt like I've been staring at the screen for three hours), but I think it's what makes the whole movie work. It's like a freewheeling, bombastic quilt of radically changing styles and tones that's oozing with so much creative energy and spirit that the overall sensual impact is undeniable. It's the kind of experience you want to relive again and again. 8.8

Last Year At Marienbad (Alain Resnais, 1961)

An inexplicable classic, this was just one incredibly pretentious, unsolvable puzzle. Lots of dialogue and reality-bending nonsense that doesn't really go anywhere and are equally difficult to follow. Above all else, this is just boring. As it goes on and the more the viewer attempts to escape the narrative quicksand, the faster they sink, and eventually you realize: who cares? I don't get where people are getting the "hypnotic" effect of this movie at all. It's more "infuriating" than anything.

The photography here is still pretty gorgeous and the Blu-Ray transfer is worth seeing if you're a fan, though. Still, this is the longest 94 minutes of your life. Only recommended for clueless cinephiles and film school students looking to get the soul sucked out of them. 3.75

Aileen: Life & Death Of A Serial Killer (Nick Broomfield, 2003)

I'm sure most of you guys know who Aileen Wuornos is by now. Out of all the Broomfield documentaries I have seen, this one is the least "controversial" and also makes the most convincing case, claiming (or rather, showing) that Aileen's mental health has deteriorated to the point where executing her would be even more of an ethical crime than it already is.

Aileen's final interview, which makes up the last 20 or so minutes, provides the strongest evidence, where she rambles incoherently blaming everything on law enforcement. It's absolutely chilling and depressing to watch someone so unstable being so hopelessly defiant hours before her death. Besides the signature Broomfield prying and the nagging feeling that he's also a part of the same system that caused Aileen's story to be such a national sensation in the first place, this is worth checking out. 6.25

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Werner Herzog Double Feature! Note: These are available on Netflix Instant until the 1st of April. Hurry, get to it!

Aguirre: The Wrath Of God (Werner Herzog, 1972)

It's incredibly difficult to separate the title character from the real Klaus Kinski, notorious for his terrorizing demeanor off-screen and his constant creative (but ultimately fruitful) differences with Herzog. This, combined with the film's low-budget grittiness, makes Aguirre seem like a documentary.

The thick jungles of the Amazon provides a stunning backdrop to what is essentially a futile march toward defeat, and more prominently, a close look into utter madness. This film also showcases Herzog's terrific eye for memorable imagery, from the grand opening scene to the countless shots of the characters, emotive and motionless, the objective camera seeming to peer right into their very souls. The soundtrack from Popol Vuh contributes greatly to the experience as well, providing a sort of ominousness that compliments the subtly intense visuals. A must-see. 9.1

Fitzcarraldo (Werner Herzog, 1982)

It's worth noting at the very start that this film is free of special effects, which means that you really ARE watching an enormous ship get hauled over a mountain. And it takes a special kind of lunatic to even conjure up, much less execute, Fitzcarraldo's audacious concept. And it takes an even bigger lunatic to play the title role of a rubber baron who will stop at nothing to create an opera house in the middle of a jungle.

Thankfully, Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski, for some insane reason I'm infinitely thankful for, demonstrate the kind of dedication it takes to make something like this work, and it totally does. For a lengthy, ambitious movie, it draws you in real quick with an immediately interesting script that's fairly minimalist in its core and sends you to the edge of modern civilization, exploring unknown corners of the world with a curious eye and anxious excitement. See it. 8.5

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Sex Drive (Sean Anders, 2008)

Diligently runs through a laundry list of teen sex comedy conventions and does nothing else. Fortunately, it doesn't try to do much of anything else, and everything was kept reasonably entertaining. Predictability and formula are underrated, the same might go for this movie.

NOTE: Unless for some inexplicable reason you are a die-hard fan do NOT watch the unrated cut, ever. It's so long and badly edited it makes Funny People look like a Woody Allen film. Just sayin'. 4.75

The Last Laugh (F. W. Murnau, 1925)

Yeah, screw the title cards. One of the most innovative of the early silent films, and one of the most critically lauded and well-known in the realm of German Expressionism. And for good reason!

Karl Freund's cinematography is amazing, pretty much telling the entire story through his excellent camera work. The way he plays around with distortion and other primitive techniques work really well, too. But Murnau and Fruend wouldn't have done it without Emil Jannings' expressive, subtle performance, his character progressively getting more and more disillusioned and helpless. It's truly one of the more tragic and heartbreaking character studies in film....but then that ending! It's over-the-top and ridiculous, but consciously so, and it's almost parodical in a pretty bitter, tragic way. See it. 8.4

Au Hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson, 1966)

Paraphrasing something Godard once said, Au Hasard Balthazar is your life in 95 minutes. The carefree days of youth, the loss of innocence, heartbreak and triumph, and everything in between, all beautifully told in such a sharply devastating way, but also with a level of unparalleled tenderness and honesty that makes every step of the journey as inevitable as death itself.

Slow and abstract, it's very minimalist and calculated in its approach. Most of the time it forces the viewer to fill in the missing details and leaves a lot of things up to the viewer's interpretation. Perhaps you might have to tune right into Bresson's frequency to even enjoy this film, and some might call it an impenetrable religious allegory. But I still think there's a certain universality to it, something within the fable that everyone could relate to. Well worth watching. 8.7

Movie Roundup #10

fleshballoon — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:05:00 GMT

Trill talk: I tried watching one movie for every single day of March. Unfortunately, it turns out that doing well in school takes a little bit of off-campus time so I failed by the 9th. So here are eight movies I DID end up seeing.

La Jetee (Chris Marker, 1962)

One of the more substantive short films from any era, its brevity alone is impressive. The gorgeous array of still photography is a work of wonder. It's experimental without really trying to be, opting for a much more linear Sci-Fi narrative with an effective visual twist. The ending is awesome. See it. This movie's so strong it has actually made me pretty excited for Sans Soleil! 8.9

Tekkon Kinkreet (Michael Arias, 2007)

This is yet another flashy anime feature that's all style and not much of anything else. The animation is absolutely beautiful, reminiscent of other anime visual masterpieces but also gloriously idiosyncratic. Every nook and cranny of Treasure Town is drawn to the finest detail, loaded with color and focus, and the end result is a fully loaded attack on the senses that is eye-popping to say the least. Get this on Blu-Ray if you can!

Unfortunately, there's not much else I liked about it. Usually when I have trouble following a movie's plot I blame myself, but I really do think the narrative is told in such an inexplicably clumsy way that it completely lost my interest in anything that went on. Even the surreal, dream-like sequences felt tacked-on and the two main characters (Black & White) weren't all that intriguing to me. By the end of the movie their kinda-sorta-neat, explicitly symbiotic relationship is the focal point, but by then I just wanted to go outside and feed my dog. I just left the experience thinking that if it was done a little differently, Tekkon Kinkreet would have been something special. Which might be the most heartbreaking kind of movie. 6.0

REC 2 (Jaime Balaguero/Paco Plaza, 2009)

Overall, in typical cash-in sequel spirit, everything just felt bigger and badder compared its predecessor. REC 2 takes the no-frills aesthetics of its prequel and muddies it up with dull, uninspired storytelling. Although there were signs from REC that the narrative was heading in this direction, it's still worth mentioning that the plot has changed significantly, going from biological to hokey spiritual nonsense that took it way too far. Much like the first movie, it seems to rush through the details, but this time the story is awfully scattered and incoherent beyond repair. The initial wow factor of the original is gone. The scares are super weak and predictable this time around. The acting is hysterical. There were no real characters to speak of.

Sure, there were some great moments, even the kind of Horror moments that would lift a mediocre movie to a fairly memorable one, but they're so few and far between and in general, an 80 minute movie should never test your patience. 5.25

Heavy Metal Parking Lot (John Heyn/Jeff Krulik, 1986)

Captured at a very special period of time that's destined to never happen again, there's nothing else like it. 15 minutes of drunk white people mugging at the camera, completely uninhibited and incoherent and loud and obnoxious and having the time of their lives. It's a swift, charmingly gonzo testosterone-fueled off-balance kick right in the balls. One of the greatest things ever. 8.5

Kids (Larry Clark, 1995)

To be honest, the jury is out on this one. The profound truths revealed by Kids are truly a wake-up call to an entire generation of complacent adolescents. Namely, they smoke weed and have sex! They give in to peer pressure! They don't care! Whoooooa! With that said, even though it digs itself into a deep hole of overbearingness, its sheer gall and unapologetic realism makes the entire 90 minutes compulsively watchable. It's an uncompromising call for help. 7.7

EDIT: I just checked and it looks like I pretty much said the same thing for Harmony Korine's Gummo, nearly word for word. I'm plagiarizing myself. It has come to this.

Ponyo (Hayao Miyazaki, 2009)

Miyazaki's fluffiest (in a good way) picture since probably the equally "perfect-world"-y Totoro. No real heavy themes or anything truly terrifying here. As a result, while it's one of the most universally entertaining Ghibli movies to date, the level of excitement and conflict is also pretty lacking compared to even Spirited Away. It's a beautifully crafted animated picture, per usual, and Miyazaki's wildly ambitious yet grounded and heartfelt vision and characters never disappoint. Recommended. 8.25

Up In The Air (Jason Reitman, 2009)

Despite falling into all too familiar sentimental trappings by its end, I really liked this. Some of the dialogue is too sharp for its own good but it actually makes the more intimate, heavy scenes (mostly involving the firings, which makes up a considerable chunk of the movie) particularly bracing. It's definitely a step up from the suffocating tone of Reitman's Juno, and it's fairly subdued in comparison, communicating an ironically alienating theme of isolation, commitment and connection. 7.3

Antichrist (Lars Von Trier, 2009)

For a movie that's being praised as a perfect marriage of horror and beauty, it's not nearly as controversial or beautiful as I was led to believe. In fact, it's really really boring. After the pretty-ish artsy-fartsy Prologue where the kid commits suicide (probably so he doesn't have to see the rest of this movie), the plot moves at a leisurely pace, to put it in the nicest way possible.

Once it actually decides to move forward, we're treated with lots of misogyny, lots of graphic violence, and the kind of heavy-handed symbolism so eyeroll-inducing it puts Mo'Nique's Oscar speech to shame. It seems like a highly personal film, and you know what, I can dig that, but honestly once the visceral moments arrive it doesn't seem like Von Trier knows exactly what to do with them. If you're planning to watch this just for the shock factor, I suggest you dig around 4chan for 108 minutes instead. 4.0

Movie Roundup #9

fleshballoon — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:45:00 GMT

So this is pretty much every movie I watched in February. There's quite a bit, so I don't think I'll get very in-depth on any of these.

Star Trek (JJ Abrams, 2009)

Does a really great job at balancing two things: comfortably luring newcomers into the seemingly convoluted Star Trek universe (me) and providing juicy, unobtrusive fan service to the longtimers (apparently, everyone else). After the opener, following the roots of Kirk and Spock was pretty lame and oddly obligatory, after that though things gets way more interesting and above all else, this is just a fun movie. 7.1

Beyond The Mat (Barry Blaustein, 1999)

Hilariously outdated (the wrestling scene has changed quite a bit over the last 10 years), but the power of foresight actually kind of makes it more interesting and we might not get this kind of unprecedented access to the WWF locker rooms ever again. From Indy hopefuls to bona fide superstars to, uh, a cracked-out Jake The Snake, Blaustein explores wrestlers at different junctures in their careers, and it's effective in providing lots of perspective into this sport. My favorite scene might be the fabled Paul Heyman speech during the very first ECW Pay-Per-View. 6.25

The Descent (Neil Marshall, 2006)

Forget what you've heard: THIS is the best Horror movie of the decade. It thrives primarily on tension and isolation, and the cave scenes are so well-shot that you feel like you're trapped underground with these women. By the way, the all-female cast of characters, instead of playing damsels in distress, are crafty, intelligent, resourceful, and face-breaking badasses. Women acting like this in a Horror movie, you woulda thunk it?

To me, the anticipation is more crucial and exciting than the payoff. The first 3/4 trumps the last section (as admittedly awesome as it is) just because the intensity gradually ratchets up to an uncomfortable level. When all the women get separated because of the crawlers (evolved human/bats) is when the downward spiral begins, and the characters are in their most primal. It's not just a descent into the Appalachian caverns, but also a descent into the darkest recesses of the human psyche. Amazing movie. 9.5

Day Of The Dead (George Romero, 1985)

To get the obvious out of the way, Tom Savini's special effects are still incredible. Out of the other entries in Romero's original trilogy, this one seems to be the most thoughtfully put together and most concerned with the interpersonal relationships between the survivors, something I kind of have a boner for in Horror movies (though I haven't seen Night & Dawn in years). There's still something a bit off about it though and I can't quite put my finger on it. Something about the pacing? The abrasiveness of the characters? The script? Whatever it is, it kept me emotionally distant, which is definitely not what Romero had intended. Despite these gripes I still think this movie doesn't nearly get the kind of attention it deserves. 7.3

Un Chien Andalou (Luis Bunuel, 1929)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYx7YG0RsFY. 7.8

~~~

Maya Deren's Experimental Films:

Meshes Of The Afternoon (1945) Probably my favorite Experimental film ever? Among other things, it's preciously shot, visually engaging, and masterfully utilizes one of my favorite things in movies: visual looping, with variations on each scene. It's also amazingly bizarre, mysterious (sometimes terrifyingly so), and confusing, and it's one of the best artistic representations of a dream I have ever seen, not to mention accurate. 9.5

The Very Eye Of Night (1958) This was an interesting one. A background representing the constellation superimposed by photo negatives of ballet dancers. To me, it wore thin after a while, but the vision and the creativity is definitely there. As long as you're not expecting anything much to happen beyond what you see in the first 2 minutes, this might have a sort of trance effect, it just didn't work for me. 6.0

Meditation On Violence (1948) A Chinese martial artist demonstrates his various moves, and halfway through, the film runs backwards, which I didn't even notice. It achieves a meditative effect from the constant motion of the actor, and despite some moments of aggressiveness, the sheer grace of what is being captured is more beautiful than violent. 7.5

At Land (1944) Maya Deren wakes up laying on a beach and follows a surreal, but relatively linear narrative that's more welcoming and less sinister than Meshes. It also seems to be more fragmented, as one setpiece leads to another and dissolves into another and into another, not unlike David Lynch's symbolic rabbit holes. And much like her best work, the way she plays around with all these visuals left me utterly transfixed. 8.5

A Study In Choreography For Cinema (1945) As someone who was quite enamored with the art of the dance, she's really talented at beautifully capturing humans in motion. This was nice while it lasted, but I just think 4 minutes is way too short. 6.5

Ritual In Transfigured Time (1946) Might be her weirdest, at points negatively so. Not exactly sure how everything ties together (who cares anyway), but besides the party scene which I thought was a bit dull on a visual standpoint, this is, again, cryptically brilliant. 8.3

~~~

In The Realm Of The Senses (Nagisa Oshima, 1976)

Gets progressively more outlandish and shocking as it goes on, probably the most sexually explicit film in any sort of Art House canon (how the hell did this get an NC-17???), and all the boning and egg insertions make this quite an experience as exhausting as what the main actor has to put up with, who honestly gets busy like 11,000 times. But the art direction is also really nice and the ending was surprisingly moving in a bizarre surreal psychotic kind of way. The perfect date movie*. 8.4

oh hay. yr quirky, i'm quirky. let's make out

Paper Heart (Jason Jasenovec, 2009)

Attractive people seem way less attractive when they're obviously aware of the fact that they're attractive.

Considering my huge huge love for Charlyne Yi, I tried incredibly hard to like this movie. However, this is only just a step above Dick & Dorah's Hipster Playset in the Indie Romantic Comedy totem pole. Michael Cera, keep it up! Charlyne retains her awkward raggedy charm, but it just doesn't translate very well on this oddly structured faux-documentary format and the whole thing is so insincere and self-servingly juvenile that its intended aww-shucks cutesyness kinda ends up biting itself in its adorable little butt. Charlyne's Yi's seemingly endless search for the meaning of true love quickly wears thin and becomes an aimless, annoying travelogue. It's like being repeatedly hit in the head with a toy hammer. Disappointing :( 3.75

Still Life (Zhang Ke Jia, 2006)

I've seen my fair share of great movies from the last decade that dealt with the Three Gorges Dam project and the rapid modernization of China ( the documentariesUp The Yangtze & Manufactured Landscapes come to mind) and this one is up there with the best of the best. It's a hybrid between a documentary and a drama, and by casting nonactors and using the destruction of soon-to-be underwater villages and the displacement of countless people from their homes, it's so subtly done that you don't even notice it.

The two parallel stories aren't really plotlines as much as they are a catalyst of sorts, insignificant threads that bring to attention the bigger picture. And wtf, this movie is gorgeous! Zhang-Ke uses huge wide pans and long takes to create a beautiful backdrop that's both jarring in its scope and utterly depressing, accurately reflecting the times. See it. 8.3

Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985)

I don't even care anymore that Netflix gave me the Studio Canal edition of this movie. I hate long epic period pieces more than anything else in the world, but this is so lovingly crafted, loaded with so many amazing visuals, so well-acted and so well-written that my reservations disappeared instantaneously. And no disrespect to Kagemusha, which was a great trial-run of sorts for Ran, but nothing could have prepared anyone for a devastating 1980's Kurosawa film in color that is this eloquent and flat-out astonishing. See it. 9.0

*No.

Movie Roundup #8

fleshballoon — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:46:00 GMT

The Blu-Ray Edition! I just got a Blu-Ray Player (and then a PS3) and I pretty much watched nothing but Blu-Rays over the last month or so. UFC looks amazing on HD! Okay, so I got 2 blockbusters and 2 Criterion reissues. Let's get crazy.

District 9 (Neill Blomkamp, 2009)

Offensively, amazingly, jawdroppingly terrible. Get ready for some equally terrible stream-of-consciousness rambling.

Okay, so it begins as a really bland, lethargic attempt at a Mockumentary, and then it gets mashed up by some incredibly ridiculous Sci-Fi nonsense. And then Blomkamp decides to rip off Cronenberg's version of The Fly and adds in a man-on-the-lam element that kinda just goes through the motions. All the while, we get a couple of Movie Bad Guys we all know and love and don't mind if we never see them again: the evil mercenary who plays by his own rules and looooves to killkillkill and the Nigerian cannibal voodoo guy. Apparently because this movie is set in some post-racial society, perpetuating these stereotypes is perfectly okay. What in the f*%k.

What I hate most though is its painfully serious tone. There were many times when I just laughed out loud but didn't feel like I was supposed to, because really, this is a movie about spaceships and humans mutating and I realize that coming up with a serious movie about this subject matter is difficult, but man, this is so clumsy. It's also a blatant allegory of events in the apartheid era. Except with space aliens, and they were called derogatory names and they're being evicted out their land and blahblahblah. R U 4 real? SERIOUSLY, how stupid is this movie? This is over. Do not see it. 2.75

Blu-Ray Review: It's a shame this is one of the worst movies I've seen in a while too, because this is far and away the best looking Blu-Ray film I've seen. Terrific detail, the CGI comes off as near-realistic, and the sound is top-notch. If you have to watch this movie for some horrible reason, at least get the Blu-Ray edition.

The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2009)

My memory is horrible.

This is the first film about the Iraq War that I've seen, mostly because I don't like war films very much and also stuff like Jarhead and Stop-Loss look very uninteresting to me. While it's not really the life-affirming tour-de-force everyone's saying it is, The Hurt Locker is staggeringly effective in its use of tried-and-true no-nonsense formulas that's been missing in a lot of movies as of late.

A story set in the early days of the Iraq war, the personalities that make up the bomb disposal unit were a bit overbearing for my tastes, but at least Jeremy Renner's main character (a shoe-in for the Oscars, no?) is thoroughly engaging, and he himself delivers a subtly complex performance, balancing his "civilized" self in the end with the fearless persona he has developed in the field. And we only get a limited glimpse of how these people cope with the constant sense of danger that surrounds them every minute of the day, but that might be for the better.

The Hurt Locker is built on one thing: tension. Most of the movie deals with separate goals that need to be accomplished within a short amount of time or people will be dead. There's the constant paranoia that comes from enemies you cannot identify. There's tension within the disposal unit. The lengthy scenes sort of build on top of one another, each situation more dangerous and emotionally draining than the last. There's almost an old school thriller vibe to these scenes that I totally dug in that it pulls no tricks up its sleeve and the suspense becomes uncomfortably dreadful. These deadly scenarios naturally brings the viewer closer into how Jeremy Renner really is, when he knows that he could blow up in one false move. The suspense and tension becomes the driving force behind the narrative, and it's done in a way that's very realistic while also adding emphasis on character. 7.3

Blu-Ray Review: a must see if you have an HD rig. It's gritty and occasionally grainy, and for a movie with big explosions and action, just leaves a more jarring effect overall visually. The shot of the bullet shell dropping on the sand is seriously one of the best things I've ever seen on my new TV.

8 1/2 (Federico Fellini, 1963)

I'll try my best not to write about stuff you know and have read about a million times. I believe that this, along with something like Un Chien Andalou, is one of the most scrutinized films of the 20th century, and I'm pretty sure 1 in 4 people who go through post-secondary education must have had to at least watch this film regardless of what they're in school for. So let's do this. Note: I saw this movie 1 1/2 times.

Taking a piece of what I wrote about Ratatouille and regurgitating it here: Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 is one of the best movies about memory and the creation of art. The great irony to me is that this is a film about a director who's fishing for ideas, but the entire film is filled with great ideas with even greater execution. We dive headfirst into Guido's (Fellini's) unconscious, his lovers, the myriad people who work under him and the ones he answers to, and his own personal reservations with an effortless rhythm that's never convoluted or boring (I'm sure I've made reference to my short attention span before). The internal struggle is captured wonderfully, from the opening traffic jam scene (which Terry Gilliam refers to during the introduction as a scene he has spent his entire career attempting to replicate) to the classic dream sequence involving the many women in Guido's life. The movie gets much more interesting when Guido's wife arrives, leading to the brewing tension between them and it eventually comes to a critical breaking point, which then leads to a bizarrely satisfying ending. Seriously see it. 8.9

Blu-Ray Review: OK, so I haven't seen any other version of 8 1/2 but the recent Criterion issue, but it's safe to say that the Blu-Ray remaster is the best looking version of this movie available. In true Criterion fashion, you get what you pay for. It's incredibly polished (though there's some apparently irremovable dirt in the final product, but nothing too distracting) and does the poetic cinematography justice. The close-ups and details (particularly faces) are mindblowingly sharp, it looks like it was filmed yesterday. The sound, a crucial element of the film, is perfect. The supplementary features are great, though noticeably lacking compared to other Criterion videos.

Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wai, 1994)

Well, first of all, there's a scene where Faye Wong's character plays around with a model airplane to the tune of The Mamas & The Papas' "California Dreamin'", and it's seriously one of the most ethereally sexy scenes I've ever seen, and it's worth the rental/purchase alone. So anyway.

Over the course of 3 films (this, along with In The Mood For Love and 2046) I learned that watching a Wong Kar-wai film is all about the absorption of tone and enjoying the journey scene by scene as opposed to dissecting the narrative and trying to follow along like you would on any other piece of contemporary cinema. Chungking Express is two separate (but very common) love stories, with some light interaction between characters from both parts. The stories themselves are pretty dry alone, but they're told with such great energy and skill from the director that it achieves a sort of intoxicating effect. The hazy step-printing chase scenes, the liberal use of music as motif, the deliberate eye for color, the heavy symbolism, the emotional ambiguity of the characters...they're all Kar-wai staples employed in this movie to stunning effect, and shows a director in total control of every aspect of his creation. The best thing about it too is that nothing feels like it's getting shoved in your face, as most Art films tend to do. The quirkiness of the characters don't feel forced (because stuff like eating 30 cans of pineapples in one night is meaningful in the film's context), nothing about it feels at all pretentious, and its mood is wholly light-hearted but wise as opposed to being ham-fisted and hollow. Definitely see it. 9.25

Blu-Ray Review: Spongeworthy Criterion release. This was apparently filmed in cheap film stock, so that might have something to do with the Blu-Ray transfer being relatively unspectacular. The thing though is that it doesn't need to be: details are clearer, movement is more fluid, what the hell more do you need? Oh, um, extras? An informative commentary/audio essay (already in the DVD I believe) and a trailer pretty much. Buy it anyway :)

Movie Roundup #7

fleshballoon — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:30:00 GMT

...The Heavily Truncated Edition! It's been a month since I've done one of these. I've been holding off on movies for the last month, but still caught a few good ones along the way!

Friday Night (Claire Denis, 2003)

Helloooo, Claire Denis. Word on the street is that her great body of work over the last decade are only rivaled by the best of the best, so I chose 2002's Friday Night to pop my Denis cherry.

There's a story going on, but it's almost secondary: a French woman is in the process of moving out, and on the way to dinner with friends she encounters a man looking for a ride and they get stuck in a traffic jam, and the romance begins. I also heard that Denis typically casts really hot leading ladies in her films and she's not messing around with this Valerie Lemercier, who is quite stunning in a totally appealing, earthy way.

It's unconventional in that unlike most movies, it doesn't go through peaks and troughs or the buildup-climax-resolution formula, but in the insignificant and typical Denis finds the poetic and dream-like. The erotic scenes are inevitable, and it's not quite the climax of the movie, so to speak, as it just...happens in an oddly ordinary way. She embraces intimacy, shooting the scenes with extreme close-ups, follows along movement, and lets the scenes linger for longer than most may hope. Example, for the first five minutes Lemercier marks boxes, takes a bath, and other seemingly uninteresting things, with no semblance of a narrative going on. But Friday Night is more about finding beauty in the daily grind of life, even things we take for granted, than actually telling a story. It's an empowering, optimistic message, and most will find this style grating and unbearable, but I was so immersed into this impossibly blissful atmosphere that I felt effortlessly carried along with the ride. I look forward to more. 8.25

The New York Ripper (Lucio Fulci, 1982)

I think this watershed in giallo works wonderfully for one main reason: Lucio Fulci does NOT care.

I'll echo previous sentiments and say that this movie is one of the most grotesque and unabashedly misogynistic of not only Fulci's notorious filmography, but in all of Horror in general. While it's not rampant throughout the film, when it does occur, the violence and gore is at such a high, torturous level that it makes Inside look like Bananas in Pyjamas by comparison. In most scenes, the women are being preyed upon, being used as objects, are hunting for sleazy sex around the city, or they're getting their nipples slowly sliced open with a razorblade. It's difficult to watch, people are getting raped and murdered for no apparent reason, and Lucio Fulci does NOT care.

At the same time, the signature giallo standard of nothing making any sense at all is also at play, so it's impossible to take all this depravity very seriously. The serial killer quacks like a duck, but why? Why are we watching a woman getting foot sex under the table in a bar? The New York Ripper is Fulci at his most ludicrous and absurd, and perhaps most viscerally entertaining. In this film, strange, sleazy, awesome, and strangely awesome sleazy things happen and Fulci just kind of lets all the nastiness hang in there while moving on to the next scene with little explanation. It throws you off for a bit, but the fact that the director doesn't even take the time to let the dust settle and comprehend the magnitude of what the hell transpired is really delightful, in a way. Because Lucio Fulci does NOT care. I mean, look at that screenshot, it's SO STUPID.

I can't believe this is available on Blu-Ray. I would have rather seen a BR transfer of something more visually rich, like The Beyond, but this film has never looked better. Misogynistic nipple slicing and random public foot sex in full 1080i. What a great time to be alive. 8.6

Crumb (Terry Zwigoff, 1995)

I love documentaries. While a lot of what I have seen are definitely interesting, they also tend to have characteristics I hate in all movies in general. They're one-sided, they're condescending to the subject and the viewer, they're on a soapbox, they're sentimental, they're manipulative and cloying, they're intrusive, and they're dishonest, which kind of defeats the purpose of making a documentary. Zwigoff's Crumb is something completely different and ought to be an archetype for all other documentaries: a film that brings attention to corners of the human experience you might have never knew existed, capturing the characters in the most gray, honest light possible.

You could probably make me watch a 20-hour Robert Crumb documentary. A comic artist who is synonymous with the Underground Comix counterculture that began in the 1960's, his distinctly skewed perspective of the world is something that's endlessly fascinating. His works are stunning and bizarre, running the gamut from satirizing capitalism and racism to misogyny fueled by his own sexual frustrations. On a related note, the minutes-long scene where he narrates his awfully screwed up Mr. Natural comic panel-by-panel is one of my favorite scenes of all time (I mean it). In this film, there's not a dishonest bone in his body, offering full disclosure on even the darkest aspects of his own life, Zwigoff (a friend of Crumb) revealing nearly everything that would even be worth noting about Robert's life in a way that's almost unspectacularly matter-of-fact.

We get to see exactly what inspires and causes him to create such strange and (most of the time) hostile artwork. The people who are in Robert's inner circle; his two brothers (Charles & Maxon, the two most important people in this movie), his mother, his ex-lovers, and others, are just as troubled and fascinating as Robert himself. What Zwigoff doesn't leave out is the disturbed sense of humor that surrounds Crumb, which would make this one of the darkest comedies ever.

Robert Crumb and his brothers are artistically talented social recluses, deeply troubled individuals who seem to be content living in their own isolated universe, with their artwork providing a figurative canvas to harness their collective aggression and frustration into something productive and beautiful. For a brief moment in time, this film opens the doors to these tragically quirky human beings' minds, capturing them in their most uninhibited and brutally honest. Unfortunately, those doors are probably long closed. Fortunately, this movie will last forever. 9.25

OH WAIT, this time I could give a fairly accurate rundown of the next few movies I am going to watch:
--8 1/2 (Criterion Blu-ray)
--District 9 (dreading it)
--3 Wong Kar Wai movies (ooooh, suspense!)
--The Hurt Locker
--In The Realm Of The Senses (Another Criterion Blu Ray)

Movie Roundup #6

fleshballoon — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 05:45:00 GMT

Hey, what the heck, I wasn't planning to do anything this week but let's do another one of these.

Linda Linda Linda (Nobuhiro Yamashita, 2005)

A lighthearted coming of age Comedy that's as charmingly simple and emotionally resonant as a three-chord Punk classic.

It's all about this High School all-girl band in Japan. They're short one member and they pick the first girl they stumble across, and she's a Korean foreign-exchange student. With the talent show only three days away, they spend sleepless nights practicing for the show. They play the same two songs over and over. All four of them have unique personalities, from assertive to fun-loving to awkwardly shy, and the first 15 minutes or so is all kinds of confusing (I had to watch the first part twice) but you'll get to know these complex characters throughout their journey.

First off, Linda Linda Linda is distinctly Japanese. If you ever grab a hold of the DVD (and you should), take a peep at the Culture Notes on the extras before watching the movie and get familiar with concepts like the Gakuen-sai and kokuhaku. The movie is firmly rooted into Japanese pop culture, and you really get a glimpse of what it's like to live in Japan as a teenager, similar to the accuracy of the equally twee and musical Whisper Of The Heart.

An unfortunate consequence of the vacant, deadpan tone of the movie is the relatively long running time, but the style works really, really well. The director does a great job of jumping over the common trappings of movies like this, creating something that's much more charming and honest in the way it deals with universal teenage issues. It's very matter-of-fact, with no major build-up or a rah-rah climax or a dreadful boy-gets-the-girl moment, but the delightful ending is even more rewarding this way. Most teen Hollywood movies run like a man-made rollercoaster that feels obligatory and fabricated, but Linda Linda Linda is more like a meaningful road trip to somewhere unfamiliar, with absurdly cute girls who can bring the Rock. See it. 8.25

The Taste Of Tea (Katsuhito Ishii, 2004)

There's a scene in this movie that's probably one of the funniest ever: a crazy musical sequence about mountains or something, with cheesy green screen effects and the whole nine. Now, it's funny by itself, but it mostly works because it comes so out of left field that you're caught off guard by what the hell just happened. And that's what the entire experience of The Taste Of Tea is, pretty much: a wonderful series of visual and thematic curve balls that doesn't seem to mean anything, except everything.

It follows an extremely loose narrative, that's more like five separate storylines following the members of a seemingly normal Japanese family. The father is hypnotherapist. The mother is working on an animated sequence throughout the film. The son is in love with a new girl in school, and learns to play Go to win her heart. The little daughter thinks that a giant version of her is following her everywhere she does. The uncle is a record producer. The grandfather does all sorts of odd stuff around town.

Ishii melds together elements of the more conventional family drama (that actually reminds me of something like Yi-Yi, which I saw recently and also enjoyed) but smothers it with these whimsically surreal moments that are unexpected, but are ridiculously awesome. The giant version of the daughter is indeed huge and follows her everywhere (and the scene in the end with an expanding flower, a common motif in the film, is astounding), the musical sequence with the grandfather is acid-powered madness, the manga-thingy the mother comes up with is done in a strangely affecting way...all these things are extensions of the characters' (Ishii's) imaginations and they not only show impressive range and creativity, but a great sense of character development. I won't spoil the final scene, but it's a really extraordinary payoff that ties all these separate threads together with something that's uncharacteristically grounded.

Other stuff: really good cinematography and soundtrack and great acting from everyone involved. See it. 8.1

The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008)

(this was i thought about it after seeing it in the theaters almost exactly a year ago)

Despite some technical issues, this was very good. Not to downplay Evan Rachel Wood's and Marisa Tomei's strong performances, but this film was all about Mickey Rourke's title character.

It's the best single performance of the year by any actor, playing a perfect balance between tragically flawed and heartwrenchingly sympathetic, a good hearted, broken down piece of meat who, after looking for love and acceptance from a stripper and his own daughter, finds that his only shelter for solace is in the squared circle.

The movie also does a great job portraying the world of wrestling behind the scenes. Yesteryear's superstars are now has-beens doing poorly attended "Legends" signings, backstage politicking is placed above actual ring talent. When a lot of these wrestling superstars go past their prime, they suddenly revert to an uncomfortably merciless reality, after the industry has sucked all the life out of them. This ugly aspect of the industry is portrayed to great effect in The Wrestler, actually much better than documentaries like Beyond The Mat.

With all that said, Darren Aronofsky should have really invested on a tripod. The camera actually goes overkill on the shakes. Also, the wrestling scenes feel very cluttered and claustrophobic, and had rapid editing that made my eyes hurt. Christopher Nolan would blush.

Wrestling fans, especially Indy wrestling fans should all see The Wrestler, but that goes without saying. Everyone else should see it for the deceivingly simple storytelling, spectacular performances, and a genuine, humanistic approach to an industry dubbed as "fake".

~!~!SPOILER ALERT~!~! UUUPPPDDDAAATTTEEE: It holds up, sorta. The problems I had before seem a little more glaring upon the second viewing. Namely, how unrealistic it is that Randy picked wrestling over Marisa Tomei. WTF man 7.25

Syndromes & A Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2007)

I feel kinda bad giving this a rating since I really think I should see it again. Not only did I watch it over the course of one week in small intervals, but I wasn't quite ready for a film with a style that was so out of the ordinary, and it totally caught me off guard.

Essentially, Syndromes & A Century is a Thai avant-garde film with a tiny speck of what resembles a narrative. It recalls the director's, we'll call him Joe from here on out, parents who were both doctors and it's two love stories told with similar dialogue and characters occurring in completely separate universes, from the lush rural countryside to the elegant plainness of what looks like a medical center.

In this film, Joe enjoys calm and distance, a mode rarely portrayed well in film particularly in cultures such as ours. Like watching a moving painting, the camera stays static and stays at a respectful distance, letting the natural dialogue flow and, in a way, keeping the audience emotionally distant from these "characters". The shots of the grassy plains of the rural area and the sterilized feel of the hospitals in the urban area are both equally stunning. An amazing consistency, beauty, and commitment to this specific tone is what made this movie worth watching to me despite being so confused. I was glad that there was no explanation to what is happening, because it doesn't really matter. 7.75

Cavite (Ian Gamazon, 2006)

I believe this movie is from a Filipino-American but well, it's worth mentioning that it's a good thing to even have a true Independent movie like this circling around. 99% of cinema that comes from the Philippines are either watered down saccharine 3rd rate ripoffs of Hollywood movies that sucked in the first place OR soft porn, and it's cool to have a movie that takes some sort of risk. Getting in touch with my roots via film without wanting to shoot myself is also a plus. With that said, Cavite falls on its own no-budget sword, resorting to tired old cliches and nauseating visuals.

So this dude Adam comes back home to the Philippines for his dad's funeral and finds out his mom and sister are being held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf. The first 15 minutes or so were okay and I expected a sobering look into contemporary urban life in the Philippines, but instead it becomes an episode of Ghetto 24, a fast-paced point A to point B type Thriller that's as disorienting as it is uninteresting and unbelievably hokey in its execution. Along Adam's journey into whereeverthehell to save his family, various facets of Philippine life are conveniently presented, like a travelogue wrapped in the ludicrous plot. Have you ever wondered why we drink soda in plastic bags? What does Balut taste like (answer: contrary to what the movie says, it's delicious)? How do people live in these riverside squatter camps? What do they think of cockfighting? This movie could not have answered these questions in a more painfully obvious way. I actually liked the ending a bit, though.

Other things I did not like: some of the worst acting this side of Gran Torino, even worse dialogue, really bad camera tricks that obscure the action more than giving a documentary feel, a braindead portrayal of the (inexplicably omnipresent) terrorists. There was so much to potentially love about Cavite that it genuinely hurts me to say that this was one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time. 3.0

A History Of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)

A personal re-examination of Cronenberg's work is in order. I believe the last thing I've seen from him was Scanners, which was awesome, about a year ago, and I've had a copy of Shivers on my shelves sitting here for about 3 years. I love the way he treats violence on screen, and this film has exactly that as its main theme.

Seems like I can't mention A History Of Violence without also referring to Haneke's Funny Games, which I've seen fairly recently. Though Haneke straight-up confronts its audience as opposed to a relatively subtle approach Cronenberg takes, both films turn the tables on the viewer, asking some questions that break the fourth wall. Why is violence the answer to all our problems? Should people who resort to murder be painted as heroes? Why do we support violence on film? Cronenberg's brand of violence is distinctly brutal, and although this might be his most mainstream film, he pulls no punches, as it is indeed as graphic as anything he's done. But it's also oddly pretty without being overstylized and too Cronenberg-y as weird as that sounds. It also has a tinge of dark humor in it, and the shock comes more from the fact that the violence is completely unexpected, like a punch in the gut. The first 20 or so minutes lulls you into a sudden barrage of violence that comes quick and hits hard, and has a lasting effect on the characters. It's violence that's beautiful and meaningfully primal, in its essence.

The great casting also brings the characters to life. Viggo is awesome as always, and Maria Bello portrays her character's down-to-earth uncertainty and paranoia perfectly. FYI: Check out that staircase scene and get a glimpse of Viggo's TAIL. Yes, he is a proud owner of one. Definitely see it. The rest of the movie is great, too I guess but seriously though. 8.3

Movie Roundup #5

fleshballoon — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:10:00 GMT

Coming Attractions! I'm currently compiling two lists: my top 100 songs of the decade (all done, will post a link soon) and my top 100 movie moments of the decade (way tougher than i thought). Excellent bunch of moviefilms ahead.

Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009) ~!~!SPOILER ALERT~!~!

"You know somethin', Utivich? I think this might just be my masterpiece."

Eli Roth's performance as The Bear Jew is almost comically terrible. With that out of the way, Inglourious Bastards is far and away Quentin Tarantino's greatest achievement. Not to suggest that I wasn't a fan of his previous films, but it captures all of the standard quirks you could expect out of a Tarantino picture without the callous, video-store-clerk artifice of his past work. It's unabashedly original, genuinely thrilling, constantly engaging, surprisingly challenging, and one of the best movies of the decade. I really never thought I would ever say that.

I hate to say that this is a much more mature effort than QT's previous films since a lot of the stuff that bugs people about him are still here. There's the constant mashing together of disparate genres and themes that's exactly what you would expect from a cinephile like Tarantino, who seems to flaunt his geekdom in any way he could, which ruins his work sometimes. There's the drawn-out dialogue between characters you shouldn't really feel too comfortable being with. There's even some of that signature foot fetish nonsense to add to his auteur checklist. I guess what I'm saying is that if none of his movies did it for you in the past, you probably won't like this one, either.

But then also, this is the first movie I've seen from Tarantino (and I've seen them all) where it doesn't seem like the characters are doing the talking for him, that the characters are more than just Tarantino in costume just getting his usual BS in. At worst, his dialogue is punishingly aimless, and at best, it builds an incredible deal of tension through lots of subtext and subtle confrontation that's teetering off the edge of a cliff. Two examples from this film come to mind quickly. The opening scene between officer Landa (played by Christoph Watlz, who is as good as everyone is saying he is) and the dairy farmer is easily one of the greatest movie-within-a-movies of the decade. And then there's the bar scene with, again, Landa and the German Basterds.

Both scenes end with the signature Tarantino violence, but it's incredibly fast and brutal, and not at all crowd-pleasing. Inglourious Basterds is interesting compared to other movies (even war films I actually enjoy like Saving Private Ryan) in that it gives the Nazis intelligence and depth, a sense of humanity out of what could have easily been caricatures. Hans Landa is conniving and confrontational, in the end setting up a brilliant plan to be granted immunity (almost) scot-free. Conversely, the Basterds are portrayed as psychopaths who crave killing. As a result, the big crescendo of the film, the movie theater scene, is even more unnerving and brutal than the previous acts of violence; Shosanna laughing with glee from the beyond the grave, while the Basterds sadistically shoot up the movie theater with demented looks on their faces. Even if they're killing people who deserve it and they're doing it for all the right reasons, there's nothing to be lauded or celebrated here. QT probably knows the fist-pumping instinctual delight the audience will experience with this scene, but then the rest of the movie pulls them back to the reality that, yes, these people are human. That's a level of morality that's conveyed so incredibly well that I don't think I've seen in any other Tarantino film.

So yeah, Inglourious Basterds is the best movie I've seen this year, and clearly Tarantino's best in terms of range, pacing, dialogue....pretty much every category imaginable. His passion for the art of cinema is downright infectious and it shows in this movie, the way he picks a Godard trick here, combines genres there, sticks an homage there, plucks a reference of two there; it doesn't feel like he's replicating as much as he's recontexualizing all of these cinematic elements he has soaked up over the years. The result is a visionary work that feels familiar, but also fresh, new, vital, and exciting. Definitely see it. 9.5

Kairo (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2002)

One of the most effectively creepy, brilliantly-paced, most beautiful Horror movies of the decade. J-Horror leaves a lingering bad impression on me like you wouldn't believe but this is truly great and it's just as good as everyone thinks it is.

It's a Horror film about ghosts and the internet, and it sounds pretty ridiculous at first, but K. Kurosawa uses the medium to communicate themes of alienation and disconnection from society and how the impersonal nature of the internet creates an non-existent community of, well, people who might as well be apparitions.

American Horror fans will disappointed to find that Kairo doesn't have the kind of jump-out-your-seat shock factor more familiar Horror films have, and to be honest that kind of crap is cheap and rarely ever found in the greatest of creepy flicks anyway. Kurosawa however is masterful in crafting a dreadful atmosphere, utilizing creative use of light, shadows, pacing, and audio, eventually establishing an incredibly horrifying mood that might even be unwatchable for some. Ghostly figures subtly float across static cameras, slowly shuffle toward points of visibility, and even those little white spots on the computer monitor are creepy as hell.

Like most other J-Horror films the plot is pretty convoluted and rely on the viewer's perception of fantasy and reality sometimes, but not enough that you'll get bored by what you're watching. Haunting and gorgeous, Kairo is one of THE Horror films to watch from this decade. See it. And please don't watch the American remake. 8.8

Movie Roundup #4

fleshballoon — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:31:00 GMT

This may be the last one in a while before my friends bug me into playing Modern Warfare 2 for the rest of the year, which of course will put a grinding halt on my viewing habits. An interesting mix this time around.

Visitor Q (Takashi Miike, 2002)

Yeah, this is pretty tough to watch, even by Takashi Miike ~CINEMA X-TREME!~ standards. I think it fancies itself as much more than an exercise in bad taste, and while it at least partially gets its message across (with some pretty obvious symbolism and an almost heartwarming conclusion) I actually dug it as an incredibly surreal, dark comedy more than anything, satirizing family structure/values and perhaps a jab or two at popular culture.

Plot synopsis: an anonymous visitor gets involved in the lives of a dysfunctional Japanese family. The estranged daughter is now a prostitute. The mother is a closeted heroin addict. The son physically abuses his mother and is bullied by his peers in school. The father is filming a documentary on the youth of today and will apparently stop at nothing in providing the juiciest of entertainment.

The very first scene involves the daughter seducing his father. It's really long and I almost forgot about it. This is the kind of movie it is. A vast majority of the film is shot on digital video held by the cast, providing a sense of realism that seems to work with how the movie is structured. From that first scene onward, it's a game of "how on Earth could this movie get any more insane?", and Miike indeed rises to the occasion with each scene topping the last in terms of the shock factor. A number of them are near unwatchable for even someone like me who watches trash cinema all the time (there is one scene involving milk that I can never get out my head) but some are genuinely hilarious.

Miike makes way too many movies for me to follow but it's safe to say that Visitor Q captures him at his most audacious and nauseating, depending on you perspective. You can pretty much know whether or not you will like this before you even see it, and like I said despite the overall message being a bit distorted by the end ("okay, so the family is back together thanks to the visitor and OMG WTF ARE THEY DOING"), it's a must for fans of such movies. 7.5

Yi-Yi (Edward Yang, 2000)

To me, like most others, the ideal length for a feature film is 90 minutes. Honestly, I think I've only seen a handful of films that go past the two and a half hour mark and I probably have undiagnosed ADD or something. Anyway, I guess the point is that I was more than a little hesitant on watching this movie as it's 3 hours long but I'm glad I invested the time (and the coveted Netflix top spot) for a wonderful epic like Yi-Yi.

It's a sweeping family drama told through three main perspectives of a middle-class family in Taiwan: a white-collar father, his teenage daughter and his young son (I think he's 10). The father comes face to face with his high school sweetheart, the daughter is thrust in the middle of a love triangle, and the son deals with the cruelty of his peers. All the while, their grandmother suffers from a coma and their mother suffers a nervous breakdown.

The film starts off pretty chaotically as the numerous characters are introduced, but as the film goes on, the more simple and the more investing it gets. Complemented with some terrific performances, the characters are lovingly and delicately painted as they stand at significant junctures in their lives, along with the ebbs and flows and the minutiae of daily life in Taiwan (which is both good and kind of dull). They deal with these problems in a realistic, emotionally complex way that connects to every viewer. The result is a movie that's devastating, honest, joyful, profound, gentle, exciting, funny, lucid, and most of all, human. See it. 8.0

Ten (Abbas Kiarostami, 2003)

In a word: enlightening. the movie consists of, you guessed it, ten separate conversations between a female Iranian cab driver and various people, including her own son, a friend, and a prostitute. The whole film is shot digitally, essentially covering two static camera angles (driver and passenger) and little else. There's a lot of hustle and bustle out in urban Tehran, but there's an immediate sense of intimacy between the characters and the viewer in the cramped space of a taxicab.

Of course, the focal point of the story is the cab driver herself. She's as strong as she is beautiful, and appropriately the movie deals mostly with women's rights in Iran. Ten is brilliant in that it doesn't deal with an issue that is seemingly political in a Hollywood-y soapbox kind of way. Instead, it deals with the issue in a emotionally rich, personal manner.

A bulk of the film consists of conversations between the woman and her son, and both deliver incredible, uncomfortably intense performances. The son is still bitter that her mother split up with his dad, and in Iran, divorce is considered forbidden unless abuse plays a role. It makes him act out and treats his mother with disrespect, yelling and disobeying her orders. The way the kid handles himself in the film shows sort of a foolish wisdom, an obvious product of a female-oppressive society.

The conversations build on each other, eventually touching on issues like sex and religion. For every scene, it feels like another facet of this particular culture is uncoiled and revealed, which is a pretty brilliant way of presenting these ideas. Most casual movie-goers will probably find Ten mind-numbing and hard to watch (particularly the mother-son exchanges), but much like a lot of great movies, those willing to stick through will be handsomely rewarded. One of the best of the decade. 9.3

Up The Yangtze (Yung Chang 2007)

Wonderful documentary. This is very similar to the equally stunning Manufactured Landscapes in that it captures the rapid industrialization of China, a truly depressing sight to behold, in an incredibly emotional, matter-of-fact and visually gorgeous way.

A corrupt, government-initiated hydroelectric project will force rural farming families out of the banks of the Yangtze River. Two young people in different socioeconomic backgrounds take a job at a cruise ship serving mostly wealthy tourists. Most of the focus is on the poor girl, Yu Shui. Leaving her parents behind to deal with the imminent flooding, she tries to blend in and serve the affluent crowd, and it's a pretty perfect way to explore the overall transition from the rural tradition of the past to the "progress" of urban consumerism.

The film is also technically well-crafted, favoring simplicity over bombardment. The more intimate scenes between the families kind of resembles well-shot dramas, and the numerous footage they capture, from the police-civilian conflicts in the streets to the incredible time-lapse video of the flooding in the end (heads-up: there's more of these at the DVD extras as well) add a lot of depth and insight into what's really going on.

Up The Yangtze is everything a good documentary should be: it's fascinating, it introduces you to new people, ideas, and perspectives, and it's emotionally engaging without being manipulative. Definitely see it. 8.9

Assault In The Ring (Eric Drath, 2008)

The notorious 1983 boxing match between Luis Resto and Billy Collins, particularly among the mainstream, is a forgotten incident. This film sheds some light into what happened that night to great detail. Drath presents the facts during the recollection of the incident, providing first-hand accounts and an overall historical perspective. What happened to all the people involved in the fight (except for the ultra-sleazy Panama Lewis) is really sad. It's a fascinating story that deserves more attention.

The film starts going downhill once the director starts intervening, making himself some sort of malevolent mediator, confronting Resto and making him do things he probably doesn't have the heart to do. He arranges these meetings and confrontations and follows Resto along the Apology Tour, and filming the entire ordeal, a task that's emotionally draining enough as it is, is not the way to go about it. In addition, Drath does not hide his true feelings, portraying Resto as a subject of pity throughout the film. It's exploitative and shameful on Drath's part, and it really left a bad taste in my mouth. 3.0

Movie Roundup #3

fleshballoon — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:42:26 GMT

(almost) Halloween edition!

Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2009)

I don't really pay that much attention to what the kids are watching these days, so the pre-show hype is pretty much lost in me. Personally, I wasn't expecting much out of it considering how sick I am of the handheld camera gimmick and exactly how much I don't trust any of my friends' tastes in movies. This wasn't that bad, though!

The first half hour or so was very good at setting everything up and giving us a first taste of what's to come. It's most definitely creepy and kind of awesome in delivering the A-quality heebie-jeebies just by using some well-implemented sound cues. The characters get more and more desperate and the scares get progressively creepier. You actually start looking forward to what happens during the night.

Ultimately though, predictability might be Paranormal Activity's downfall. It eventually settles into a monotonous rhythm of the "nothing interesting happening" part and the "oh-stop-your-texting-it's-THE SCARY PART~!" that quickly turns obligatory. And I don't mean the character-developing, tense kind of "nothing happening" that builds anticipation, but the kind that completely bores and polarizes. Not only that, but these two characters are so unbelievably stupid that it's pretty distracting (that's as much as I want to say in keeping this spoiler free) and the cringe-worthy improvised dialogue does not help, either. Also, the ending I've seen (I saw the screener copy) was straight out of a third-rate High School film project.

Realtalk for a moment, that chick is hot.

But as I said earlier, I can't deny how effective the scares are, and as cheap as they could be, they're still terrifying, with plausibility in mind. Much like (the superior) Blair Witch, it approaches the situations with the idea that less is more and it leaves what's around the corner to your imagination. And as much as I love the over-the-top violence as much as the next gore-phile, it's still an approach I wished more Horror movies would take nowadays. 6.0

Trick 'r Treat (Michael Dougherty, 2009)

What a great seasonal flick. I really think it will gain quite a following in revival theaters over the years, as it captures the spirit of the Halloween season in a wonderfully universal way.

The thing that strikes you immediately are its production values. The picture and cinematography are polished and most importantly, it creates a very effective atmosphere. It's a shame it never got a proper theater release. The setpieces are also pretty elaborate and nice to look at, and even the little things like visual cues that wink at genre conventions enhances the experience in so many ways.

I wasn't a fan of the narrative style at first, but in the end I thought it worked pretty well. The four main storylines are all somehow interrelated to each other, occasionally crossing each other's paths to decent effect along the way, and finally in the end where all four dovetail and neatly tie up together. Also, this disjointed style lets Dougherty fool around with a lot of disparate Horror styles, from gruesome Gore to sexy werewolves to...sackboy? On the other hand, the time constraints force the stories to drop out sooner than you might hope, in fact some of them end right before it gets interesting, in true Horror fashion. As a result, some of these threads totally seem half-baked and unresolved toward the end, leaving you hanging with no payoff.

Anyway, those flaws hamper the experience only slightly. What makes Trick 'r Treat really stand out in the pack is its originality and universal appeal. The stories are familiar but not derivative, humorous but not corny. And it strikes the perfect balance between genuine thrills and the light, fun, popcorn-entertainment factor of the more traditional Horror movies. A future Halloween staple. 7.75

Quarantine (John Dowdle, 2008)

With the original still super-fresh in my mind, I saw this on Netflix Watch Instantly™. There might be some pointless comparisons ahead. Because 85% of this film is a shot-for-shot remake, the wow factor of the original [REC] is completely gone. The major characters and scares are the essentially the same and besides a handful of pretty clever sequences that were not in the movie, what's the point?

Well, it's a lot more polished in terms of the cinematography and production values. The lighting seems to be way too good and you always seem to forget that you're watching through someone's handheld lens, as the signature camera jerks (something I really didn't mind) are kept at a bare minimum. I think the purpose of the cinema-verite style is destroyed with the camera-work seeming so professional, though. Despite all this, by the time they enter the final act, the scares were decent, the eerie atmosphere is surprisingly well-done and the acting is okay.

And then the last 15 minutes. The story gets completely butchered towards the end. I remember watching the original with my cousins one time and they really didn't care what caused the outbreak or what was in that room upstairs and generally ignored that entire part. And I think that's what happened to whoever decided to write Quarantine, because you kinda get the feeling that they were obligated to give some sort of explanation and we get about a couple of minutes of half-assed plot development that would make even the most brainless Hollywood directors beg for an explanation. For shame. 4.5

Inside Deep Throat (Fenton Bailey/Randy Barbato, 2005)

Here's a documentary that goes into a.) the making of Deep Throat, b.) its subsequent popularity and immediate backlash, c.) the legal court battles (involving Harry Reems in particular) that came with Deep Throat's notoriety and d.) what happened to the people involved and the film's legacy, which leads to quite a bittersweet ending.

It's appropriately far-reaching and comprehensive, and I wish more of these seemingly "lighthearted" documentaries were as exhaustively assembled as this one. It mixes footage from the movie (including explicit ones), old interviews, old TV footage with new ones, and likewise perspectives from the people who were there and the ones who lived through the 1970's to be inspired by Deep Throat. It's always good to see John Waters on anything.

Some of the colorful cast of characters are more interesting than others and a number of incredibly dry segments didn't quite gel with me though. Still, overall it's a terrific story about what was destined to be this obscure little blip in the history of cinema that left such an overwhelming dent on American popular culture that its importance today is pretty much incalculable. See it.

PS: I've noticed that a lot of these "Golden Age" films have an interesting backstory attached to them, whether it's this or Behind The Green Door or Debbie Does Dallas. Quick, someone make a trilogy! 7.5

A Sure Sign Of Heaven Above

fleshballoon — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:32:06 GMT

There are very few things I am willing to skip class for, but seeing Rose Melberg do a quick in-store at a new record shop is definitely one of them. That's her on the guitar.

If you're into simple, adorable Twee Pop you will feel quite at home with her. She has an amazingly soothing, breathy voice that's pretty much perfect for the music she plays, and over the years she's dipped her toes into quite a number of different styles. Her resume is mighty impressive even in the incestuous Twee scene, and her credits (which include Tiger Trap, Go Sailor, The Softies, Gaze, and solo work) rival only the likes of, I dunno, Amelia Fletcher.

Rose pretty much sounds the same live. She played in front of about 10 people at a brand new record shop at the edge of Hollywood (Vacation Vinyl, which I highly recommend if like me you're into buying sealed vinyl that costs embarrassing amounts of money and "Unholy Metal"). Played a couple from her new record, did some covers, kind of an in-and-out thing, it was pretty awesome.

Anyway, if you have the time to browse through some of her YouTube videos, you can quickly download a micro-comp I set up, yeah? It's 4 songs.

1. Tiger Trap--Puzzle Pieces
2. The Softies--It's Love
3. Go Sailor--I Just Do
4. Rose Melberg--Each New Day

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?kmzooinjmdy

yay! :)

Movie Roundup #2

fleshballoon — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:30:36 GMT

I rewatched a bunch yesterday. Super High Me (4.4) is pretty bad, [REC] (8.25) is still great, Word Wars (6.2) is decent fun, and Inside (8.1) is way way way better than I remembered.

Fat Girl (Catherine Breillat, 2001)

Two siblings, a slender, attractive 16 year old and her physically undesirable younger sister, go on vacation, and the older sister falls in love with a charming guy in law school. I thought this movie was a lot more tender than I was led to believe. The two sisters' impulses and differing views on sex and virginity, and the way these characters vow to explore the unknown in their own terms unravel in a pretty thoughtful and delicate way, attacking the issue more psychologically and what the characters themselves believe what is true and what is not. It's painstakingly realistic and meticulous (which I guess makes this an entry in the New French Extremity movement), and it may be a challenge to watch sometimes based on the subject matter, but I love the way Breillat addresses the theme, as unconventional as it is.

Fat Girl has two pivotal scenes. One is the older, more attractive sister being seduced by the young man while the younger title character pretends to sleep in the same room. It's a very slow scene that occurs in real time and there's a very interesting shift in power between the couple that happens here. And the second time it happens, the younger sister's jealousy and disdain manifests itself. The second is a very lengthy scene in the end of the movie, a very long and laborious ride home with the mother and the two sisters. The exhausted mother woozily changes lanes in between enormous trucks, the younger sister feeling sick, it's somewhat of a prophetic scene for the final three minutes that's jawdropping at the very least. The pure shock is saved up for these last few scenes, and it's swift and blunt, sort of the opposite of the rest of the film.

I really liked it, but these are just random thoughts I had after an initial viewing, so excuse the incoherence. I forgot to mention other stuff like how this movie is really nice to look at and the performances of the main actors are unreal. It's out on Criterion and I might have to pick this one up soon. Seriously see it. 9.25.

The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, 2001)

Fantastic and unsettling, done so in a way that doesn't bludgeon the viewer into an orgy of disturbing imagery. Another winner from Haneke, but this to me this is all about Isabelle Huppert's towering performance.

Huppert plays a brilliant, renowned middle-aged piano teacher. She's highly abusive and authoritarian to her students, placing unrealistic expectations and being constantly disappointed at their lack of skill and dedication. She lives with her abusive mother, and they still sleep in the same bed. Sexually repressed, she satisfies her carnal urges in ways that are unorthodox to say the least.

Huppert's performance is amazing in not only balancing the stern intelligence and the insecure deviant of her character, but also the way she gradually unravels like a ball of yarn for two hours (credit also goes to the excellent pacing). It keeps pulling ever so often, until finally all of her vulnerabilities are tragically exposed. The sex scenes (between her and the great Benoit Magimel) aren't erotic as much as they capture Huppert's internal battling between her true feelings versus her sick fantasies. By the end of the movie, you will come to know this woman inside and out. A wonder to watch. Bring the kids. 8.7

The Trials Of Henry Kissinger (Eugene Jarecki, 2002)

Like all good muckraker documentaries, it's infuriating, not only in Kissinger's actions but the way this country's foreign policy in general has needlessly killed civilians, assassinated leaders, and set up puppet governments due to some perceived moral superiority all around the world.

The film's based on a book Christopher Hitchens (pictured, not even sure if that's a still from the movie) wrote a year before, and I hope to read it soon. It does a really thorough job of building up an argument against Kissinger, accusing him of war crimes and other atrocities. Alex Gibney and Eugene Jarecki give it to you straight, pulling no punches and delivering an uninterrupted stream of accusations, shocking revelations, and interesting factoids.

Their ruthless attack results in a documentary that I wished was a bit longer than it is (80 minutes) but it's amazingly concise and razor sharp in its execution. See it. 7.8

Pootie Tang (Louis CK, 2001)

This was pretty fun. It's incredibly stupid and deliciously absurd, but I can't deny the fact that it's downright hilarious. Of course, this movie will not appeal to everyone. So do you find any of these funny?

1. A woman eating homemade pie out of someone's chest
2. Wanda Sykes awkwardly dancing for what seems like 5 minutes total
3. A villain who will stop at nothing to be covered in dirt
4. Another woman licking milk out of a doggie bowl
5. Chris Rock playing a corn

Yes? Then you and Pootie Tang were made for each other. 6.9

Movie Roundup #1

fleshballoon — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:56:08 GMT

I don't think this will be a "weekly" thing as my movie watching habits are extremely erratic because of motivational and school reasons. I have nothing to do today really so I may watch another couple of films tonight, but after that it might be two days or two weeks before I see another one. I'm also trying to get into the habit of making screens for DVD's I have/rent, because I usually don't like movie posters. These will be exactly like those things I write for the "Last Movie You Watched" thread. Yeah, who cares.

Cache (Michael Haneke, 2005)

After a few days delving into Michael Haneke's work, this is the movie I'm looking for. I'm strangely excited for The Piano Teacher showing up in my mailbox. I went into this film knowing nothing about the plot and being taken back at how well it was executed, so I won't mention much of it here.

A lot of the credit must go to the sharp editing, fine-tuned to keep the audience interested and guessing through a powerful 2-hour mystery. It's very clean and quaint, with zero musical accompaniment that I think adds to the dark tension of the film and the feeling of emptiness that comes with what the characters are dealing with in the film.

This is my favorite Haneke so far probably because it's the least conceptual that I have seen. Both Benny's Video and Funny Games dealt with a similar theme and tackled it in such different, highly specialized and idiosyncratic ways that it ran the risk of seeming too gimmicky and condescending to the viewer. Haneke always films with an almost objective eye, observing and absorbing all the details with long takes and surveillance-like cinematography. But also, Cache adheres to the conventions of both an artsy fartsy film and the classic whodunnit with non-hokey twists and turns that deal with issues of guilt, paranoia, and trust. There's also apparently some political allegory in here, but the non-Euro in me missed that entire thing. If you're in the mood for something disturbing, something different, something with the lovely Juliet Binoche, something great, definitely see it.

I've read some pretty interesting discussions regarding the (ambiguous) ending, and while I'm totally all for dissecting a film within an inch of its life, I side with the "it really doesn't matter" camp in Cache's ending. I didn't notice anything going on in that final shot, myself. What do you think? 8.8

Road House (Rowdy Herrington, 1989)

"...the single finest American film" --Mike Nelson

Well, I wouldn't go that far, but Road House is a stupidly fun time that out-roundhouses and transcends other movies of its ilk. It's last call....for action!

The key here is that the delusion never ends. The worst thing a movie can ever do to its viewer is make them lose interest, and unlike similar movies that have long, rough patches of nothing, Road House just keeps the gratuitous insanity coming from all directions. Explosions and monster trucks? Check. One of the most unintentionally hilarious screenplays ever writ? Check. Numerous bar fights with a seemingly unconcerned house band? Check. The absurdly tanned Kelly Lynch in the nude? Check. You can say all you want about Road House, except that it's not entertaining.

Oh, and Patrick Swayze. Patrick Effing Swayze. He's terrific playing the the cooler/martial artist/NYU graduate Dalton. He plays the cool, tough guy role extremely well, charisma, confidence, and just a hint of sensitivity dripping out of his numerous stab wounds. Manly movie deserves manly lead, and Swayze fits the bill.

So yeah, this movie rules. I haven't even mentioned the fact that greatest-wrestler-ever Terry Funk is in it, in addition to Sam Elliott's tremendous performance, and thank Christ I haven't started quoting the movie yet. Definitely see it. 8.1

Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic (Liam Lynch, 2005)

I can't think of another movie I've seen in recent memory where I tried really, really hard to like more than this one. And most of it lies behind the fact that I know what Sarah Silverman is capable of and I enjoy her brand of comedy. But between you and me, this movie sucked.

I went through all five stages of grief from denial (no, that unfunny musical number did not just happen) to acceptance (yup, this blows) in a matter of 70 minutes. The musical numbers themselves bring this movie down not only in terms of its quality but it ruins the flow of her stand-up routine, and the material itself is very good. The numbers just feel long, awkward, and inappropriately prissy, and the way it's structured it feels like the stand-up is a short respite for the big musical payoff, which stinks. A stand-up special on HBO or something would have been much better.

The highlights for me were the two scenes that bookend the movie (featuring her sister Laura and \m/ Brian Posehn \m/) , mostly because it reminds me of Silverman's TV program, which is a brilliant show, and not even by comparison. Avoid it. 4.1

Lollilove (Jenna Fischer, 2004)

Imagine my shock when I found out a few years ago that Jenna Fischer directed and starred (!) in a mockumentary (!!) for Troma (!!!) about a wealthy couple (played by Fischer and her husband at the time James Gunn) who plans to provide aid for the homeless by giving them lollipops wrapped with motivational artwork (OMG). Great premise, pretty decent movie.

The mockumentary aesthetic works really well, and constantly blurs the line between fantasy and reality in a shockingly effective way (such as adding actual footage from their wedding) along with improvised dialogue, adding to the no-frills realism. It's much less tasteless than expected, but the absurdity you have come to expect from Troma is intact. During a scene where Fischer and Gunn present their ridiculous plan to a potential sponsor, they start out with an equally ridiculous, cheesy, almost-cleverly so skit that it reminded me a lot of Steve Carrell and Amy Ryan in The Office.

But is Lollilove funny? Kind of. Even for a movie that runs a little bit over an hour the concept begins to wear thin. But it's tightly wound (creating their desired effect of watching a news special) and the humor stays fairly consistent, though much like a lot of mockumentaries the comedy is unobtrusive. Plus, you get the feeling that you're watching people having fun with the material, which never hurts for a movie like this. As long as you're not expecting some sort of obscure Independent gem, you should probably find a copy of this. Lloyd Kaufman has a cameo playing some marriage counselor/priest dude, and also Linda Cardellini and Jason Segel are in a pretty funny scene. 5.6

Not Not Fun

fleshballoon — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:09:53 GMT

I went to the Eagle Rock Music Festival yesterday right after school. Despite being dog tired by 8PM, this was an exceptionally fun time. It was free, had awesome food and vendors everywhere, tons of bands to see, some of which were in a relatively intimate setting. There must have been 30,000 people out there this year covering 6 blocks, it was a Disney-friendly affair. Anyway, I took pictures.

A shot I took around 6:30. By then I've seen a little of Linus Of Hollywood, Wonderground, and Faraway Places. Linus was ehhh, Wonderground was fine Indie Pop, but I was really bummed out to miss most of Faraway Places' set (I had to go back home because my dad locked himself out of the house, which also made me miss a cute band called Alaskan Summer). Faraway Places had a rad Big-Star-meets-Moogy-Krautrock thing going on, and I was pretty into it.

This is Ovideo. At first glance they sound like a second-rate Interpol, who are a weak sauce third-rate Joy Division, but whatever. They were kinda good and had the goths dancing.

Check out the sold out crowd for Wounded Lion! Local boys, I believe, they were really the first band I've seen who completely bought the ROCK. Simplistic two-chord songs, chaotic atmosphere (they change their lineup after every single song), a cover of Lou Reed's "Berlin", a ramshacklin' fun time. Also in the picture one of the guys in the crowd is one of the band members playing tambourine.

Robedoor are all about lengthy buildup and release. When it comes to live music I prefer a band ripping my *** throat out, but they were dope. Their noisy climaxes sound like Thurston Moore fronting a Metal band.

Here are some shots of Pocahaunted, the best act I saw that night, and I hope the pictures captured just how fun and quirky they are. The floor really filled up which made for a better than usual show. Anyway they played some super groovy Droned-out Funk that had me falling over on the speakers a few times. Every band I saw on the fest were at least decent, but for a guy who hates going to shows, Pocahaunted may be the only band I'll be willing to go out of my way to see headline a show.

Caught a little bit of No Age's set. They seemed to have some audio problems in the beginning so I hope they had everything cleared up. I've already seen them live before, so I quickly went off to see....

The Happy Hollows were great. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs meet the White Stripes, but siding more with the latter in terms of quality. Catchy songs, badass riffs, raw energy, and quite the striking, charizmatic frontwoman.

Definitely going again next year. This is also the first time I blogged in this site (hi!) and the first time I used ImageShack to put thumbnails in, so this will not turn out well for anybody.