Now that SIFF is over, I spend many of my non-working hours in bed watching them moovies, idly dreaming of a summer where the sun makes an appearance.
The Cook, The Thief, his Wife, and her Lover (1989)
Disgusting beyond belief; even I came close to gagging a couple--nay--several times. It's beautifully done with a streak of surrealistic paranoia. If you've previously heard about this film and written it off as pornographic savagery for the sake of simply that, please reconsider. It's carefully and artfully crafted, full of rage and exquisitely shot.
Love and Death (1975)
One of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Woody at his slapstickiest. A fellow Russian Jew recommended this film to me, and all I can say is if you have any Russian Jew in you, this is the movie for jew.
Window to Paris (1994)
'Window' is a satire from Russia. The gist is that a down-and-out music school teacher finds that he can crawl through the window in his apartment in St. Petersburg straight into Paris. It's about the greed of the easily-seduced Russians and the generally uncivilized mess of the times, but the director hits us over the head with one too many metaphors. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it.
Midnight in Paris (2011)
Ohh, it's just adorable. I was super turned off by the trailer, but after a fellow ex-IES Parisian recommended it to me (and I trust her taste), I decided to go for it. It was a fully enjoyable romp through Paris in the 1920's, which is a very seductive era for me. I had some issues with the film, like McAdams' character and her utter one-dimensionality, but in the face of all the cuteness and cleverness, it's no big deal. So it's a bit fluffy, but if you have any sentimental feelings at all about the City of Love, go see it. (Best part: Dali.)
Super 8 (2011)
Was anyone else super bored watching this movie? I feel like it was exactly the same as that other alien one... War of the Worlds, was it? Except with the older Fanning girl. Meh.
In other news, I was on my way to see Tree of Life today when it turns out I went to the wrong movie theater. So we'll save that one for later.
I have been told that I am picky when it comes to film, that I hardly enjoy anything, and that I should not be so dramatic and critical. At least I can totally contest the second statement. If you know me at all, you know that I will refer to at least 20 different movies as "the best thing I've ever seen" and that one of my favorite past times, if not my favorite, is watching the flicks. If you're looking for a review or encouragement to see "Incendies," stop reading. This will be dramatic and critical, because when it comes to reviewing something like this, it's the only way I know how.
Let me begin by saying this: an atrocity against the world of cinema has been committed (told you I won't stray from drama). "Incendies," the "awe-inspring" "film," is the story of a brother and sister on a journey to unearth a family secret. It has been nominated for Best Foreign Film by the Academy, it has accrued 91% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and garnered an unbelievable 8.2 rating on IMDb. I will attempt to explain why all of these reviews, ratings, and nominations are total bullshit, and how this film, in seeking to create a powerful and disturbing work about familial love, ends in cheapening every theme it crosses. If, against all solemn urging, you still want to see this film, stop reading immediately, as I will now proceed to give away the plot.
The trick with the plot is to imagine the very worst thing that could ever happen to anybody, and you have the plot of the film. No, really. Think about it for a minute. Chances are you'll concoct some nightmare about you and your family being deeply harmed as the groundwork. This is not surprising as our lives and the lives of those we love is exactly what we treasure most. Director Villeneuve seems to have also arrived at this simple conclusion, and proceeded to play off of a person's most basic protective instincts to receive a reaction (any sort of reaction). (This film is based off of a play written in 2005.)
So let's think of what could really suck for someone: your mom dies. Yep, that sucks. What could be worse? Well, your mom could have left you convoluted instructions to find a brother you never knew you had and a father who was supposedly dead. Yep, that sucks too. So then you go and find out that your mother had a child she had to give up and then spent 15 years in prison for assassinating some political leader. Yep, that would be difficult news to digest. Then you learn that your mother was tortured by the region's expert. She was raped over and over again by this very man until she became pregnant, gave birth in prison, and was forced to give up the babies until a later reunion. Pretty horrible. Then you learn that YOU are the children to which she gave birth in prison, the product of rape. You'd think that'd be enough for two poor children who had just lost their mothers. You'd think the melodrama was on the verge of ending.
Not so. Because next you find that the man who tortured and raped your mother repeatedly was actually her long-lost son, and so if you can even begin to think about it, you realize, simply, that your father and brother is the very same person. Perfect. herein lies the plot of this tortuous melodrama. A bit Oedipal, n'est-ce pas?
After the emotional bludgeoning, I had little energy to note the other weak points of the film, but they were certainly there. I did not understand that the film was set in the time of the Lebanese civil war until I researched it online after my viewing. That's a huge freaking failure on the director's behalf. The inter-titles were confusing and crude in appearance, and the efforts of poor Villeneuve to create an artful moment in the introductory scene depicting a young child having his head shaved to the wails of Radiohead was as wtf as wtf gets.
I wish that more people saw the soap operatic sides of this film and realize how easy it is to be taken advantage of instead of just subscribing to the notion that if it's cringeworthy and tragic, it's art.
This 2011 Argentinian er, film, was hands down the most abysmally dull thing I have ever had the misfortune of witnessing. Despite its short running time, I managed to doze off on my neighbor's (stranger's) shoulder. Advertised as a sexy thriller, "Absent" was neither sexy nor thrilling. But that is not why the film was a massive failure. The reasons for its painful unwatchability stem from the writing and direction. I won't spend any time on an analysis of exactly what renders this piece of crap so artless because it will just upset me, but I will say that certain people simply should not be allowed to project their "art" onto others. (Ok, it was partially my fault. It is a two-way process. And I did pay $11.) Marco Berger, you know you're failing when you have two characters in forever darkened, enclosed spaces, and the sexual chemistry which you are so desperately aching to create does not come. Do not watch.
Um, what? Yeah, I don't know either. Though it's difficult to pinpoint a genre, if I were forced to choose, I would have to say Satanism/Comedy/Surrealist/mumblecore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumblecore). I'll try to give you a synopsis, just so you know what you're in for: a bordering-on-mentally-challenged priest experiences a nightmarish canoe trip following an accident in which he drops his bible into his own excrement. To be fair, I laughed. I laughed a LOT. Some of the laughter, however, was due to either confusion, discomfort, disgust, or just because there was simply no other way to react. It was odd, it was surrealistic, it was controversial. It was funny. At a mere 81 minutes, it was a bit too long. At times I found myself totally disengaged, but eventually I'd get drawn back in.
(Also, a weird and hilarious tidbit: on IMDb, there exists such a category as "Three Word Title" through which you can search for films exclusively with... a three word title. What???)
The French seem to be rather fond of the upstairs-downstairs dynamic. As Jean Renoir showed us in 1939 with his classic "La Regle du jeu," one of the many rules of The Game is that the upstairs and downstairs don't mix. Director Phillippe Le Guay decides to revisit and challenge this idea with his 2010 comedy "Service Entrance."
The film revolves around Jean-Louis Joubert, a conservative stockbroker, and his growing and confusing infatuation with newly hired Spanish maid, Maria Gonzalez. What follows is a formulaic yet pleasant romp involving a few gags, some awkward moments of sexual tension, pretty sharp dialogue, and plenty of paella. Ultimately Maria transforms Jean-Louis, showing him the man he was born to be, liberating him from his uptight wife and career. I was quite unhappy with the film's end. If only Jean-Louis had refrained from hunting down Maria after those three years, I would have been able to accept "Service Entrance" as a serious film that parallels real life. Instead, Le Guay brought us a selfish, generic ending, thereby leaving a bitter taste in my mouth as I left the Egyptian Theater.
This 2010 French film was as cute as a button, just like its leading lady, Gisele Casadesus. This NINETY-SIX year-old lady was by far the best part of this picture, and I must say I was a bit peeved to not have met my own Marguerite during my four-month stint in Paris. (Ok, I did have Saujot, my cat man. I should really send him a postcard).
Anyway, this tale tells the story of a middle aged oaf played by the one and only Gerard Depardieu who meets a sweet old lady who shares her love of literature and storytelling with the village idiot. It's funny, it's sweet, it's a bit corny at times. It's a touch formulaic. Really, it all depends on how much corn you're willing to put up with. If you think you can handle it (and I really think you can), you'll leave this optimistic story about a beautiful and unlikely friendship with your very own goofy idiot grin.
