by Sam Juliano
As home energy bills take their annual spike, some of us continue to take advantage of vacation time by treking to our summer hideaways or seeking refuge in movie theatres or other cultural venues. It’s a time we’re certainly grateful for, but one that requires some acute planning.
Here at Wonders in the Dark the itinerary has pretty much been staying the course, with Jim Clark’s exceptional essay on Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life a major highlight for this past week. Jamie Uhler’s astounding thirty-first installment in his seminal ‘Getting Over the Beatles’, Allan Fish’s ongoing ‘Fish Obscuro’ series of cinema treasures, and Bob Clark’s weekend excusrsion into science fiction and anime all made impressive appearances at the site during the six days since the last diary published on Tuesday.
Congratulations are in order for our friend Greg Ferrara at Cinema Styles, who recently was appointed as a writer for TCM. Ferrara’s a gifted movie veteran who is sure to bring a new dimension over there! Greg is one of the seven voters who will be determining the results of WitD’s musical countdown scheduled to commence next month. And speaking of the countdown it’s been great seeing some of the enthusiasm from Pat, Judy, Marilyn and Dennis, all of whom are busy re-viewing favorites, looking at a few new ones, and spreading around excitement! I spent some of my own week re-watching a number of the older classics, including the Lubitsch quartet. With as wide open a scope as we could possibly have settled on, I’m also taking further looks at some vital opera films and operettas, as well as the more contemporary rock films.
This was an extraordinarily busy week on the movie scene, especially when you consider that the period covered by this diary is only six days, and that I spent some time watching stuff at home on the plasma, Despite these obstacles, Lucille and I managed to see five films in theatres. Actually, Lucille and some of the kids saw four, while the mid-week Italian film ‘The Double Hour’ was seen with my new friend Alan Hardy at the Quad Cinema.
The Double Hour (La Doppia Ora) *** (Tuesday night) Quad Cinemas
Ocean Heaven **** (Friday night) NY Asian Festival at Walter Reade
Ninja Kids ** (Saturday afternoon) NY Asian Festival at Japan Society
Project Nim **** 1/2 (Saturday night) Angelika Film Center
Planet of the Apes (1968) **** 1/2 (Sunday afternoon) Film Forum
Documentarian James Marsh, who scored mightily a few years ago with MAN ON WIRE has again earned every bit of the expansive praise he’s been winning for his new film PROJECT NIM, which subtly builds up some extraordinary emotional connection between viewer and the wrenching true story of a chimpanzee who is reared by humans as part of a scientific project. After being taken from his mother he is raised like a human baby with human companions, and then moved to a new family after some complications. After exhibiting the physical strength and wild nature of his species he is then heartlessly abandoned and used for scientific experiments and finally placed in a lonely horse ranch, dying at the age of 26 of a heart attack. March superbly incorporates interviews with all those connected to the project, interspercing the film with photos, home footage and the words that showcase the progress Nim makes in sign language and ingratiating himself with his new families. The telling interviews are ultimately, though, what makes the case for injustice so compelling and so heart wrenching. Incredibly, Marsh has made a documentary as excellent as his MAN ON WIRE, and for 2011 it’s the best in that department.
Two films seen at the New York Asian Film Festival were a study in contrasts. The Chinese film, OCEAN HEAVEN, that featured veteran actor Jet Li as the father of an autistic boy yielded some powerful drama, even with some some obvious manipulation. It’s one of the best films we’ve seen on that subject, and strikes most of the right chords, including magnificent cinematography by the great Christopher Doyle and a moving score by famed composer Joe Hisaishi. I am expecting a NYC release and some excellent reviews before the year is out.
On the other hand the uneven “children’s film” NINJA KIDS was a major disappointment, considering it was directed by TAKASHI MIIKE, who just earlier this year impressed many of us with 13 ASSASSINS. But Miike is a hit and miss kind of guy, and this latest film (which received its “World Premiere” at this Festival) is a cornball, slapstick take on the Harry Potter story with all sorts of vile ‘human excrement’ jokes and actions, some dumb slapstick, and redundant gags that make you want to stand up and scream.
The Italian thriller THE DOUBLE HOUR makes some interesting detours, and its director has some obvious talent with actors, but it’s a narratively uneven affair that in the end is only partially satisfying. It did receive some amazing reviews though. Finally it was a special thrill to see the classic science-fiction film PLANET OF THE APES (1968) at the Film Forum and confirm all the reasons why we liked this film in the first place: Rod Serling’s great screenplay from Pierre Boulle’s novel, Leon Shamroy’s beautiful widescreen cinematography, the cast of distinguished Hoolywood actors playing apes, and one of Jerry Goldsmith’s most piercing scores.
As always there is some great stuff out there from our very good friends:
Pat Perry has gloriously ushered in the upcoming Musical Countdown at WitD (“My Love Affair With the Musical”) with some delicious remembrances of how the form took hold of her at a very young age. It’s a true labor of love up at Doodad Kind of Town: http://doodadkindoftown.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-love-affair-with-musicals.html
At Movie Classics Judy Geater has a brand new essay up on Frank Capra’s pre-coder “The Miracle Woman” with Barbara Stanwyck, and it’s another gem: http://movieclassics.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/the-miracle-woman-frank-capra-1931/
Laurie Buchanan has again infused her popular blogsite Speaking From The Heart with some telling and gleeful food for thought in her post “Anticipation – It’s Half the Fun”: http://holessence.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/anticipation-its-half-the-fun/
John Greco has authored a stupendous review on William Wellman’s “Nothing Sacred” at Twenty Four Frames: http://twentyfourframes.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/nothing-sacred-1937-william-wellman-2/
Meanwhile, John’s beautiful new ‘photography’ website is up and running: http://johngrecophotography.com/
Greg Ferrara of Cinema Styles, just appointed to his new writing position at TCM, has penned a real doozer of a piece at his place on Sir Laurence Olivier that defends his status as a screen actor: http://cinemastyles.blogspot.com/2011/07/laurence-olivier-fine-film-actor-so.html
At FilmsNoir.net Tony d’Ambra has one of his most fascinating posts up this week in consideration of Rouben Mamoulian’s 1931 expressionistic gangster flick “City Lights” and its indeptedness to Hammett: http://filmsnoir.net/film_noir/time-magazine-identified-film-noir-15-years-ahead-of–the-french.html
Jon at Films Worth Watching has penned a magnificent and passionate account of Nicholas Ray’s “Bigger Than Life”: http://filmsworthwatching.blogspot.com/2011/07/bigger-than-life-1956-directed-by.html
As eclectic as ever, the incomparably versatile Samuel Wilson has an intriguing essay up at Mondo 70 on Amakusa Tokisado Shiro’s “The Christian Revolt” (1962): http://mondo70.blogspot.com/2011/07/christian-revolt-amakusa-tokisada-shiro.html
Jaime Grijalba has penned a wonderful essay at Exodus 8:2: on “The Adjustment Bureau”: http://exodus8-2.blogspot.com/2011/07/adjustement-bureau-2011.html
Longman Oz at Smiled YawnedNodded has again shown why he’s such a well-rounded purveyor of the cultural scene, by reviewing two important stage works in Dublin, the latest a Project Arts Centre production of “Toxic”: http://smiledyawnednodded.com/2011/07/02/toxic_projectartscentre/
In Tokyo, our very good friend “Murderous Ink” has penned another exceptional essay in his Kurosawa series on “The Idiot” at Vermilion and One Nights: http://vermillionandonenights.blogspot.com/2011/07/postwar-kurosawa-idiot.html
Ed Howard has authored a marvelous account of Martin Scorsese’s documentary “Italianamerica” at Only the Cinema: http://seul-le-cinema.blogspot.com/2011/07/italianamerican.html
Roderick Heath has written a splendid takedown essay on the re-make of the classic “Brighton Rock” at Ferdy-on-Films: http://www.ferdyonfilms.com/?p=10567
Right under Heath’s essay at Ferdy-on-Films is another brilliant piece of writing from Marilyn Ferdinand on the Carol Reed masterpiece “Odd Man Out”: http://www.ferdyonfilms.com/?p=10523
Stephen Russell-Gebbett has again offered up a post of astounding cinematic revelence at Checking On My Sausages with “Letting Objects Tell the Story: Robert Bresson” that takes apart a vital facet of cinematic language: http://checkingonmysausages.blogspot.com/2011/07/letting-objects-tell-story-robert.html
Shubhajit has penned an awesome capsule of the Romanian New Wave feature “Tuesday After Christmas” at Cinemascope: http://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2011/07/tuesday-after-christmas-2010.html
Jason Marshall is working his way through 1941, and he’s up to #3 with “The Little Foxes” at Movies Over Matter: http://moviesovermatter.com/2011/07/10/%e2%80%9cwe%e2%80%99ll-own-this-country-some-day-%e2%80%9d-the-little-foxes-%e2%80%93-best-pictures-of-1941-3/
Jason Bellamy has taken a fascinating look at Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” at The Cooler: http://coolercinema.blogspot.com/2011/07/looking-closer-at-rear-window.html
At Darkness Into Light Dee Dee has posted a most welcome announcement about the upcoming release of two seminal film noir volumes, one of which appears to be an utterly fascinating study on “Film Noir and Screwball Comedy” by Thomas C. Renzi: http://noirishcity.blogspot.com/2011/06/two-books-about-film-noir-to-be.html
Srikanth Scrivason (Just Another Film Buff) mourns Indian filmmaker Mani Kaul, who passed on this week, leaving a void that’s impossible to fill. It’s a loving tribute at The Seventh Art: http://theseventhart.info/2011/07/06/mani-kaul-writings-and-interviews/
Meanwhile, at Scribbles and Ramblings, our great Canadian friend Sachin Gandhi has posted his own lovely and eloquent remembrance of Kaul: http://likhna.blogspot.com/2011/07/in-remembrance-mani-kaul.html
Effervescent filmmaker Jeffrey Goodman beautifully sizes up Robert Altman’s “Thieves Like Us,” the musical “West Side Story” and “Bridesmaids” at The Last Lullaby: http://cahierspositif.blogspot.com/2011/06/favorite-four-part-twelve.html
David Schleicher has a terrific post leading up at The Schleicher Spin on his favorite film of the 60’s, “2002: A Space Odyssey”: http://theschleicherspin.com/2011/07/04/revisiting-2001-a-space-odyssey-the-best-film-of-the-1960s/
It’s our good friend Craig Kennedy’s birthday this weekend as he explains on the lead-in to his always-cherished “Watercooler” at Linving in Cinema: http://livingincinema.com/2011/07/10/the-watercooler-a-quick-one-while-hes-away/
At This Island Rod Aussie wunderkind Roderick Heath has written a wholly brilliant essay on Derek Gianfrance’s “Blue Valentine”: http://thisislandrod.blogspot.com/2011/07/blue-valentine-2010.html
And Heath has resurrected his long dormant English One-O-Worst site with a seminal essay on William Goldman’s novel “The Princess Bride”: http://www.ferdyonfilms.com/?p=10336
Kevin Olson has authored an extraordinary review on Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” at Hugo Stiglitz Makes Movies that is frankly an essential read for all serious cineastes: http://kolson-kevinsblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/wonder-hope-and-love-further-thoughts.html
Troy Olson talks about his future plans and a resumption of director projects already-initiated at Elusive as Robert Denby: The Life and Times of Troy: http://troyolson.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-troys-been-up-to.html
Hokahey at Little Worlds has issued a surprising but most welcome favorable verdict in an excellent essay in consideration of “Monte Carlo”: http://hokahey-littleworlds.blogspot.com/2011/07/monte-carlo-is-delight.html
At the always-sensory Creativepotager’s blogsite, Terrill Welch is interviewed by Bill Maylone. It’s a must-read!: http://creativepotager.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/interview-with-terrill-welch-by-bill-maylone/
At Patricia’s Wisdom Pat takes an interesting look at a new volume titled “The Art of Racing in the Rain-Garth Stein”: http://patriciaswisdom.com/2011/07/the-art-of-racing-in-the-rain-garth-stein/
R. D. Finch, the longtime writer extraordinaire of The Movie Projector has penned a magnificent essay on the 1971 John Schlesinger film, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”: http://themovieprojector.blogspot.com/2011/06/sunday-bloody-sunday-1971.html
Andrew Wyatt at Gateway Cinephiles has penned a terrific and reasonably appreciative essay on “Super 8”: http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2011/06/27/super-8/
Stephen Morton has penned a great essay on the new “X Men” and “Super 8” at Petrified Fountain of Thought: http://petrifiedfountainofthought.blogspot.com/2011/07/review-x-men-first-class-and-super-8.html
At The Man From Porlock Craig poses this question: “What would H.L. Mencken Have Thought of Michael Bay?”: http://themanfromporlock.blogspot.com/2011/07/what-would-h-l-mencken-have-thought-of.html
Film Doctor leads up at his film altar with some “Underground Links”: http://filmdr.blogspot.com/2011/07/underground-links.html
Paul J. Marasa considers Robert Zemekis’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit? in a stellar essay at TheConstant Viewer: http://theconstantviewer.blogspot.com/2011/06/june-26-1988-who-framed-roger-rabbit.html
J. D. has penned a wonderful account of “Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared Syn” at Radiator Heaven: http://rheaven.blogspot.com/2011/07/metalstorm-destruction-of-jared-syn.html
In his new post “A Psuedo Self-Portrait” Michael Harford offers up some lovely abstracts and a video tour of Descartes coffeehouse in Chicago. It’s there at the Coffee Messiah’s blogsite: http://coffeemessiah.blogspot.com/2011/06/pseudo-self-portrait.html
Peter Lenihan leads with a lovely pictorial remembrance of the late actor Peter Palk at The Long Voyage Home: http://thelongvoyagehome.blogspot.com/
Adam Zanzie has penned an excellent essay on 1986′s “The Great Mouse Detective” at Icebox Movies: http://iceboxmovies.blogspot.com/2011/07/great-mouse-detective-1986.html
Dave Van Poppel has penned a wonderful capsule of the documentary hit “Buck” at Visions of Non-Fiction: http://visionsofnonfiction.blogspot.com/2011/05/hot-docs-2011-buck.html
At The Reluctant Bloger Jeff Stroud talks about the slow development of the creative process in finding attention among the art lovers and asks an appropriate question that applies to all: http://jeffstroud.wordpress.com/2011/07/02/grounded-in/
Ric Burke has penned a marvelous review of “The Maid” at By Kubrick’s Beard: http://bykubricksbeard.blogspot.com/2011/06/maid.html
Drew McIntosh has posted an arresting lot of screencaps including three by Godard and one by Ferrara at The Blue Vial: http://thebluevial.blogspot.com/2011/06/godard-says-24-frames-minute-or-is-it.html
Indian culture mavens take note! At Kaleem Hasan’s spectacularly popular home from Indian film, music and politics, the lead post, featuring a you tube of the song “Bduddah Hoga Terra Baap” has attracted almost 300 comments! But the site performed as well on many occasions. Congrats Kaleem!: http://satyamshot.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/bbuddah-hoga-terra-baap-trailers/
And Hasan himself has penned a superlative review of the Indian film Dum Maaro Dum: http://satyamshot.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/specters-of-dum-maaro-du
Jake Cole has penned a terrific review of Buster Keaton’s “Sherlock Jr.” at Not Just Movies that’s a must for all cineastes and Keaton fans: http://armchairc.blogspot.com/2011/07/sherlock-jr-buster-keaton-1924.html
“Weeping Sam” at The Listening Ear offers up a stupendous ’2011 Halftime Report,’ citing so many great films, deserving of such a designation: http://listeningear.blogspot.com/2011/07/2011-halftime-report.html
Jean has penned a perceptive essay on Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven at Velvety Blackness: http://velvetyblackness.blogspot.com/2011/06/days-of-heaven.html
Slant writer extraordinaire John Lanthier likens A Serbian Film to a “transgressive” experience, awarding it 3 out of 4 stars at Aspiring Sellout: http://livingincinema.com/2011/05/14/review-a-serbian-film-2011/
At The Long Voyage Home Peter Lenihan has posted a capsule/screen cap presentation of the work of French visionary Claire Denis: http://thelongvoyagehome.blogspot.com/
Jeopardy Girl talks about turning 40 at her place: http://jeopardygirl.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/big40/
I saw the trailer for Project Nim back when I last saw Tree of Life. Surprised at how cruel they treated Chimp Nim — the trailer makes it look like he was part of one big happy family.
Yep, the trailer gave the impression that all was peaches and cream. But of course they wanted to hold back the darker turn for the real things. Thanks Adam!
Sam,
Thanks so much for the shout out and the continuing support. Congratulations to Greg of his new writer’s position at TCM, well deserved. Sam, you had one hell of a movie going week between home viewing and your excursions to theaters, just amazing. The PROJECT NIM doc. sounds like an extremely cruel and sad story. I keep thinking of that woman who has been in the news and was mauled by a friend’s “pet” chimp, her face ripped apart. Maybe arrogant human beings should just leave chimps, and other wild animals in their natural habitat and not attempt to domesticate them.
On the movie front I watched the following…
Horrible Bosses (***1/2) Raunchy, offensive though generally funny comedy that incorporates Hitchcock and today’s job market, or lack of one, into a comic revenge fest when three friends decide to do in each other’s evil bosses. The film makes no apologies for its offensiveness, nor for its off-color and frequently funny humor (the coke scene when they break into one of the bosses homes is hilarious). The cast is competent with Kevin Spacey playing another version of his SWIMMING WITH THE SHARKS abusive evilness. Jennifer Aniston, who everyone likes to rip apart, mostly for being in so many bad films, is quite good as a sex hungry dentist constantly harassing wimpy Charlie Day.
It! The Terror Beyond Space (*1/2) 50’s Sci-fi takes place in the “future” (1973). A second mission to Mars rescues the sole surviving astronaut from a failed first expedition and is heading back to earth with an unexpected “guest” on board, a Martian alien that resembles an alternate version of The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Bullets, grenades, poison gas and a bazooka cannot stop this comic book terror. In a final attempt, the astronauts don their space suits; open a hatch door sucking all the oxygen out of the ship and into space successfully killing the alien. Marshall Thompson gives us one the most wooden performances ever on film. The rest of the cast is not much better. There are two women aboard but their only functions seem to be to serve coffee and bandage up some wounds while the men do all the “thinking” and fighting. Twenty years or so later with the feminist revolution intact, a similar scenario yielded us gun-toting Commander Ripley fighting off a “slightly” more sophisticated and terrifying “Alien,” a film that must have been influenced by this 50’s schlock.
Fours a Crowd (***) Uneven comedy focusing on Errol Flynn and Rosalind Russell’s attempt to stop the newspaper they work for from being shut down. Directed by Michael Curtiz with Flynn, who surprisingly handles the comedy well (he’s no Cary Grant but who is), and Russell, who is the main reason to watch this film. Then there is Patric Knowles and a wasted Olivia De Havilland rounding out the foursome.
The Adjustment Bureau (***1/2) Do we really have free will? Do we really control our own destiny …those are the questions put to the test in this fate vs. free will parable. There are men in fedoras and dark suits who are among us to make sure we live “according to the plan.” Any deviation is met with a needed “adjustment.”The film is a pleasant mix of Sci-fi and romance. Based on a short story by Philip K. Dick.
How Do You Know (***1/2) Under rated romantic comedy that has received a lot of bad press. Not in the same class as some of James L. Books other works, and it could have been shorten by about 15 minutes which would have made it a bit tighter, still there are some pleasant performances by Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon and others.
John: My apologies for the late response to your always-terrific submission on this thread, but I never want to rush through your response. It’s always a thorough one with all kind of weekly goodies. My 81 year-old father was hospitalized late last night, and I didn’t find out until I got home from the Keaton Festival. Lucille and I spent the entire afternoon out there today, and will do so every day while he’s there. My father is very resilient (his father lived till 96) but he does have a touch of pneumonia (the reason for the hospitalization). This is the second time in the last four months he has had this, so it’s a matter of some concern. I’m told it’s unusual to have pneumonia back-to-back like that. I am confident he will be home by the end of the week, but I am still on edge today.
Thanks for the nice words about the hectic week. As far as PROJECT NIM, that story you relate there of the woman who had her face ripped apart parallels one of the women in the film, who also was scarred from a face rip inflicted by Nim. What you say about man not interfering in animal affairs is so true. In this instance man showed the worst kind of disloyalty and abandonment.
For the first time in a very long time, you and I have a drastically different opinion on a film, or at least to the tune of * 1/2 vs. *** 1/2. IT THE TERROR BEYOND SPACE did indeed influence alien, and it’s brooding claustrophobic atmosphere, and layer by layer invasion left one breathless back in the TV days, where this film was a favorite. It’s pure camp, but it holds you in its thrall with some remarkable tension and sense of dread.
Lucille wanted to see HORRIBLE BOSSES over the weekend, but as you can see we were booked solid. I appreciate this reasonably favorable assessment and will try to see it this coming weekend.
I am pretty much with you on FOUR’S A CROWD and the James L. Brooks feature, but like ADJUSTMENT BUREAU less. Splendid capsules all the way through, this should be published at one of your sites John!
I appreciate your weekly contribution here as much as I appreciate anything in blogging. You are a cherished friend!
Sam,
I am sorry to hear about your Dad and do hope he has a speedy recovery. I have sometimes published some of these capsule reviews in the past and will probalby do again with some of these. IT THE TERROR BEYOND SPACE almost turned into a full review before I cut it down (LOL)
Thanks John! Today was a good day, and I am hoping he’ll be out by the weekend!
Sam, thanks so much for your wonderful mention.
First, I wanted to join you in congratulating Greg Ferrara. What a much-deserved and fantastic honor.
I am jealous of your Lubitsch viewings and very intrigued, reading about James Marsh’s latest documentary. I will definitely put it on my radar. This week a little slower for me. I saw CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS, CEDAR RAPIDS, Kiarostami’s TEN, THE KING OF COMEDY, and NEW YORK, NEW YORK. I was very happy to see them all but can’t say any was a clear frontrunner for me.
Thanks so much, Sam, for all that you do. Here’s to another awesome week!
As always Jeffrey, your loyalty to this site is deeply cherished.
Yes, Greg Ferrara’s appointment was certainly a huge honor for him, and a sure boon to TCM. Positions like those are as rare as gold dust, and we all wish him great success.
The Lubitsch films were watched on DVD of course, but heck, those are fantastic in any form. Mr. Marsh is on his way to becoming a master documentarian.
You still managed a nice film watching week there! I’ll admit I was indifferent myself to CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS, but though the Kiarostami exceptional, and both NEW YORK NEW YORK and THE KING OF COMEDY delightful. CEDAR RAPIDS was a big surprise, and for me it contends for the year’s ten-best list. I just recently acquired the blu-ray too.
Hope it’s not too hot in your next of the woods. Many thanks as always my very good friend! Have a great week!
Sam,
Thanks so much for the very high praise. I am in fact getting very enthused about the upcoming Musicals countdown and am taking stock of my own list and also realizing there are many I need to catch up on. So I will be embarking on my own musical watching marathon and catching some that I’ve never seen before: The Band Wagon, The King and I, Rocky Horror Picture Show etc. There’s too many to count.
Jon: I’d love to have your input on the musicals countdown, and hope you will enter a list on the thread. But it will be a long 10 week unveiling, as the essays will be published only from Monday to Friday of each week. THE BAND WAGON is surely a masterpiece, and I have a soft spot for THE KING AND I, whick features a score most musicologists rightly consider one of the treasures of the musical theatre. For camp qualities ROCKY HORROR has no peers, and as a musical it still stands tall.
Thanks so much my very good friend!
I have an announcement to make.
I saw Hobo with a Shotgun this weekend.
That is all.
I like that David! Short and sweat! Ha! Well, I have not yet seen that film, but have noticed reasonably strong reviews.
Thank you Sir!
Good morning, Sam –
Once again, I stand in awe of the sheer volume of moviegoing you and your friends and family are able to pack into a single week. Here “Tree of Life” has gotten no closer to my corner of the ‘burbs, even after the wide release on Friday, and I still haven’t been able to set aside the time to make it to an outlying arthouse theatre to see it. Shame on me, I know, but musicals are preoccupying me. This week, I saw “The Love Parade” – throughoughly delightful, but I know I’m going to run out of time to see the remaining Lubitsch pictures, with a business trip looming tomorrow and the Green Lake Festival of Music in Wisconsin late next week. At least my hotel room on the business trip has a DVD player, so I’m bringing along discs of “Tales of Hoffman” and “The Court Jester” to keep me company.
Also re-watched “Duck Soup” – I think we have differeing opinions of whether this one is a musical, but I believe it is, and I fully expect it to make my Top 60.
Finally, Marlon and I made it to the multiplex last night to finally see “Super 8” which we both greatly enjoyed.
Have a good week!
Pat – sadly there was no wide release for “The Tree of Life”. Fox Searchlight scrapped the plans. They did such an execrable job promoting the film (no adds after the initial teaser trailers, no buzz-building online, no new adds with “testimonials” or courting the controversy of the walk-outs) that they shot themselves in the foot and realized a nationwide release would potentially lose them money, while an prolonged “elitist” limited run would help the film “save face” and turn it into more of a cult hit rather than the cultural phenomenon it deserves to be. It really ticks me off how poorly they have handled the release of the film. They should be ashamed of themselves for not maximizing the film’s potential to reach a larger audience.
So get yourself out to that art house and see the film already 🙂
Thanks so much as always Pat!
Have a great trip, and glad to see you are bringing along a few items to pass the time! Ha! I know you’ve been on overdrive with the musical countdown, and you’ve been re-examing some gems the past weeks. Actually, I’d say that probably more than half of the musical fans out consider DUCK SOUP a musical. I’m still pondering it myself, and haven’t yet decided. I’m sure you know the Lubitsch films well, so it’s only a matter of refreshing.
I echo David’s follow-up incredua;ity on THE TREE OF LIFE, which was apparently poorly marketed. Shame. It will be seen on the big screen by less people as a result, and as a consequence it’s b.o. will be seriously compromised. I quite agree with you and Marlon on SUPER 8!!
And have a great time at the Green Lake Music Festival in Wisconsin!
Sam, sorry I missed the diary last week, but I think you know I was out of town. Now it’s back to the grind of the summer program.
I can’t wait to see Project Nim. I loved Man on Wire and the subject this time around is irresistible. That’s bizaare that Ninja Kids was such a bust. You got me brushing up on some musical DVDs. It’s not a category I have too much exposure to -at least not with the early eentries, but it’s a time for discovery.
Seeing Planet of the Apes on the big screen must have been a gas for you and the kids. Stay cool.
Aye Frank, no problem. I quite understand. Yep, the summer problem is dragging a bit, but we’re almost half way through it.
I’m sure PROJECT NIM will be in Jersey in a few weeks. I am certain you will love it.
As you know I have an extensive DVD collection of musical films, all or any of which you are welcome to look at.
The kids have seen APES a number of times, but never on the big screen. It was awesome for sure.
Many thanks my very good friend!
Tonight is the Keaton Festival of course.
Thanks for the notice, Sam, though credit is due to Nagisa Oshima as the director of Christian Revolt; Shiro Amakusa is the protagonist of the film. Beside writing that review, I made it out to the Spectrum Theater, which has installed 3D for the purpose of presenting Werner Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dream, which pretty well justifies the gimmick’s existence.At home, I watched John Ford’s Lost Patrol, which is just a little heavy on the barracks humor, but then again the obnoxious characters mostly die; Cheng Kang’s The Sword of Swords, a 1968 wuxia saga with Jimmy Wang Yu trying blindness as an alternate gimmick; Gordon Douglas’s The Black Arrow, a largely lifeless adaptation of R.L. Stevenson; Humberto Solas’s Cecilia, which might best be described as the Cuban Mandingo with a star-crossed romance thrown in; and William Wellman’s Yellow Sky, which I’ve seen before but seem always able to watch again. It has a hokey coda but every time I see it it moves up on my list of favorite Westerns.
I saw a poster for Double Tour at the Spectrum yesterday. I’d seen good notices for it, as you had, but I’ll take your reservations under consideration before spending my money. Meanwhile, should I assume that in Ocean Heaven Jet Li does not fight? If so, it should be interesting for that reason alone.
hahahahahaha Samuel! That IS funny, but the joke is on me of course! There was something that told me that Shiro Amakusa wasn’t exactly a household name in Japan among the directing ranks!!! Hahaha! But that kind of mistake is not new for me! Allan will no doubt jump on this instance and claim encroaching senility.
Glad to hear that your 3D screening of Herzog’s exceptional CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS validated a rather questionable cinematic “gimmick.” But of course with CAVE, it really couldn’t miss. I love the way you frame LOST PATROL by saying the obnoxious characters die off anyway! How true. I only saw YELLOW SKY recently and found it entertaining (of course Judy wrote a nice essay on it) and pretty much agree with you on THE BLACK ARROW. I haven’t seen THE SWORD OF SWORDS to this point, but appreciate the terrific work in discussing it and the others with remarkable word economy.
Yep, Jet Li does not fight in OCEAN HEAVEN. He plays a purely dramatic role and is quite good (as is the young actor who plays his autistic son) and I agree it’s one to be seen. It deserves a NYC release in fact!
As always my friend, many thanks for the magnificent wrap!
Re-read ‘The Human Stain’ over the weekend and decided to have a look at Hollywood’s version of Philip Roth’s novel. Before I could check out the DVD I almost dropped it in stunned disbelief. Anthony Hopkins as Coleman Silk, the lithe, athletic classics professor? Nicole Kidman as Faunia Farley, the battered, illiterate farmhand? Who was cast as Coleman’s mother, Helen Martin of ‘Sanford and Son’??? I can’t remember any more egregious miscasting and needless to say, I passed on the film. Hollywood is the nonpareil mangler of good fiction from ‘Gatsby’ and ‘Catch-22’ to ‘Daisy Miller’ and Mishima’s ‘The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea.’ Maybe only Welles has managed to pull it off when he beautifully captured the elegiac tone of Tarkington’s ‘The Magnificent Ambersons.’ Roth’s novel is a beauty and a stunner, and probably unfilmable anyway.
I finally screwed up the courage to watch Bresson’s ‘Au hasard Balthazar,’ (I knew Balthazar was viciously mistreated throughout, hence my hesitation) after Dreyer’s ‘Jeannne d’Arc’ the most deeply religious film I’ve seen.
As humans we all suffer, so therefore we must make the donkey suffer, too — that is ‘Balthazar’ in a nutshell I think. Balthazar, the docile beast of burden, the carrier of relics, mute witness to the Nativity, laden with religious symbolism. This is a great film, alternately unbearable and exquisite, about which I’d like to say more next week.
I’ve been browsing through Richard Brody’s ‘Everything Is Cinema. The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard,’ which I picked up over the weekend for the astonishingly reduced price of $4.98 (MSR $40)! Which makes me wonder how many Americans outside of New York, Chicago or Los Angeles, even literate, cultured Americans, know who Godard is anymore? What he’s meant to the movies? How his innovations and ideas have influenced even big, box-office triumphs like, say, ‘Pulp Fiction’? How his writings in ‘Cahiers du Cinema’ helped rediscover the work of American cinema gods like Hawks or Fuller or Ray? Love him or hate him, the momentous legacy of this hugely gifted man, every bit as influential as Griffith, Welles or Renoir?
Half the book is devoted to Godard’s post-‘Weekend’ film and videography and it’s the best defense of the director’s increasing solipsism and abstruse methods since Sontag eloquently championed the radical aesthetics of Godard’s great films of the sixties. I’d recommend the book to anyone at WiTD who is an acolyte of Godard’s late works, the films that came after ‘Every Man for Himself’ a.k.a. ‘Save Your Ass.’
Dusan Makavejev’s ‘Love Affair or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator’ (1967) is an odd mix of the clinical and the sexual and it’s surprisingly funny, a late New Wave tragicomedy, only this time we’re in Belgrade instead of the more familiar arrondissements of Paris (the influence of Godard and Truffaut is everywhere and despite a few gruesome effects the film is lovely). The ‘Love Affair’ part of the title is redolent of much earlier, lush Hollywood romance, but with the musk of sex hanging heavy in the air and with Makavejev’s ample displays of pubic hair, breasts and buttocks we’re a long way from the perfumed worlds of Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne or Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Of course, in the New Wave manner of hyper-film-consciousness it’s meant to be funny, the referencing of cinema history, and the film’s very first shot after the titles made me smile. We see two young blondes working a switchboard as diligently as Isabell Jewell or any other big-city hopeful in an early 1930s Capra or Wyler wisecracking melodrama. These working girls from a non-aligned Eastern European Communist nation aren’t all that different from their ‘modern’ counterparts in New York or Tokyo.
Computer problems – to be continued
Izabela (Eva Ras), a switchboard operator from Hungary, and Ahmed (Slobodan Aligrudie), a rat exterminator and Muslim Marxist meet, have a casual affair (though he’s older and much more serious than she is). Izabela becomes pregnant by another man though she remains silent about her infidelity. When she refuses to have the baby, which Ahmed believes is his, they argue (a brilliant scene in which they shout and tussle through the streets of Belgrade followed by Makavejev’s hand-held camera) ending with Izabela falling to her death in an underground well. Certainly a pedestrian story, but in the nimble hands of Makavejev the film becomes a magical crazy quilt interspersed with brief pedagogic lectures by a sexologist, a criminologist and a chicken farmer (I told you the film was funny), an autopsy, exhortations to Slavic nationalism, erotic art, an ode to a dying rat and lots of (non-explicit) sex, sex, sex.
Which brings me to a point. Izabela’s happy lubricity, her pleasure in small things like strudel-making and blowing bubbles while doing laundry, her very unself-consciousness — she is not driven by a neurotic impulse to fornicate ceaselessly — reminded me that Makavejev’s next film ‘WR: Mysteries of the Organism’ (which I have not seen) was about the theories of the radical, controversial and tragically misunderstood psychotherapist Wilhelm Reich (who died in an American prison), author of psychoanalytic texts like ‘The Function of the Orgasm’ (I have read his study ‘Character Analysis’). Crudely put, Reich believed that all neuroses have a biological root cause and that the freeing of blocked libidinal energy is the key to mental health and happiness.
I thought of Reich and Makavejev’s ‘Mysteries of the Organism’ watching Izabela frisk about in the nude, proud of her breasts and her body, happily nuzzling her lover, clearly not a candidate for Reichian therapy.
Another spectacular comment at this site Mark, and thread that usually leaves one (me, anyway) at a practical loss for words. You make some very sound points there methinks, about Hollywood, and novel adapatations (and of course about THE HUMAN STAIN) I will say that the film wasn’t all that bad, at l;east not in terms of the cast that has you terrified. I guess Hopkins is the kind of versatile thespian who can overcome miscasting. He’s that good. Kidman was also quite impressive. But what you say about a number of others here (love the example of Mishima’s “Sailor” especially) deserves serious contemplation. I’d say there were some relatively rare instances where Hollywood did triumph apart from the excellent Welles example you give: Nunnally Johnson’s screenplay from Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” is one such instance, and one always thinks of “To Kill A Mockingbird,” “The Godfather” (it doesn’t matter if the book stinks, that isn’t the point) “Greed” from “McTeague” and others like “Watership Down,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Ordinary People” and “Fight Club” might be worth noting at least in a minor key.
“Switchboard Operator” is indeed a seminal tragicomedy, it’s director’s best film, and one that holds up to scrutiny. You’ve done a fascinating job framing it here, and just recently out friend Jon at FILMS WORTH WATCHING penned a trrific review of it:
http://filmsworthwatching.blogspot.com/2011/06/love-affair-or-case-of-missing.html
I own Brody’s “Everything Is Cinema” and completely agree that it’s an essential volume! I won’t get into Godard again, but there’s no doubt that he’s the central focus for the lion’s share of the reasons you provide here. Excellent point that it’s the best defense of his the director since Sontag! I am no fan of Jean-Luc for the most part but appreciate this kind of scholarly validation.
Thanks as always for the terrific discourse my friend!
Thanks too for the fantastic commentary on SWITCHBOARD OPERATOR. It was recently released on a Criterion Eclipse set, and I got to see it a second time.
Hello Sam and everyone! Thanks again and again and double again for featuring my site at your essential blog spotlight, it makes me happy everytime you post something written for me, as you’ve practically fed my blog for the last months. Thanks a lot! And check your email, I sent you something.
Your week was just splendid, being at the asian film festival must’ve been quite a pleasure, and I would love to attend some day a good asian film festival, they’re playing quite a few interesting films there. I want to see Project Nim, I’m curious about it, and I’m curious about Ninja Kids, just because when I was younger I used to see the anime (that goes on until this day) that it’s based on, I just wanna see that baddie laugh and fall just because his head is too big. Planet of the Apes is one of those classics I still have to see, and I feel I may be a fan when I end up doing it.
This past week was stresfull. I basically spent all the time writing, editing, filming, recording and receiving insults. But now nothing matters as I’m on my winter break now and I’ll have more time to do a lot of things. My viewing, obviously, was damaged due to this, but I managed to see my girlfriend on saturday, and that day at night we held a premiere of my TV Pilot with my school friends (who helped me) and we laughed through the entire night.
So, my week movie wise:
– The Blob (1958, Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. , Russell S. Doughten Jr.) **** Classic 50’s scifi monster alien movie. It has a spectacular start and a spectacular ending, but some scenes in the middle are downright awful (including the worst actor in the history of films, the kid brother of the main girl) and slow down the plot quite a bit, if those were excised and made it lean, this would be a masterpiece about an alien mass that eats people. I wrote some words about this film on my blog last week.
– Drag Me to Hell (2009, Sam Raimi) ***** This is among my favorite films of 2009 and also one of my favorite horror films. This movie was made for fanatics of Raimi’s ouvre, and little else, and I just love the Evil Dead series. This manages to have terror, fun and entertainment, as well as disgust and horal horror. It’s one of the few good pg-13 horror movies, and I love it entirely.
– Paprika (2006, Satoshi Kon) ****1/2 We saw this on a group, and we talked through it and it pretty much is a perfect film that fails in its ending. We talked about Inception as well, and I defended my position on liking the Nolan movie more than this anime mindbendingweird movie. It’s animation is beautiful and the science behind it improbable, but that’s no matter.
– Cold Fish (2010, Sion Sono) ****1/2 I want to watch this again to consolidate it as the probable masterpiece this is. It’s not as good as “Love Exposure”, that’d be impossible, but it manages to be a bleak view on life, including blood and murders and lots of sexuality. The psychological is primordial in this film, and it shows the mind state of Sono, somewhat. The best Sushi Typhoon up to now.
That’s all. Be good people, see you around!
Oh, of course, I also saw:
– Little Shop of Horrors (1986, Frank Oz) ****1/2 It’s funny how my natural dislike towards musicals dissapear as the theme it plays around becomes one I like before, hence the reason I like Sweeney Todd… and this.
Jaimie: It would be nearly impossible to match your lead in there, so I won’t even try. What I will do is to thank you for all those kind and flattering words. I will say that your work at WitD has also been deeply appreciated, and the site has moved in some interesting directions as a result. There is no doubt you will be a big fan of THE PLANET OF THE APES, and that you will be moved deeply by PROJECT NIM. I really was excited to get the chance to attend the Asian Film Festival, and I say one out of two isn’t bad at all. The Chinese film OCEAN HEAVEN had everybody leaving the Walter Reade Theatre teary eyed. I can understand the reasons why you’d want to see NINJA KIDS though. You may in fact come to a completely different conclusion.
I did indeed receive your e mail with your latest film, and will respond very soon. Talk about creative bursts and tireless energy. You have both in spades! I am assuming this is the pilot you speak of in the next paragraph of your submission here. Great that you spent time with your girlfriend and you got so many laughs! I’m sure the ones issuing the insults are the n’oer do wells! Ha! When you say ‘winter break’ at a time when all of us are roasting up here, I find that funny. But there you have it, and when we get back to freeze mode, you’ll be taking in the sun!
Jaime I did see that you wrote on THE BLOB, but had difficulty reading without translation at that point. I agree it’s a camp classic, and there are some great moments. Yeah some of the acting is cardboard, and the dialogue sometimes laughable, but this is all part of the essence of this kind of film, and the fun one has watching it. Aa a kid I can’t even remember the number of times I watch this, and was entertained over and over!
PAPRIKA was praised by both Stephen (who wrote a piece on it for the animation countdown) and Bob Clark, and I see you have pretty much agreed here aside from the ending. I am with this estimation. I haven’t seen COLD FISH, but appreciate the great capsule on it and the others, and as far as DRAG ME TO HELL I thought it was a great horror film too!!! Yeah it borrows, but does so in class. Definitely one of the bets films of its kind.
Thanks as always my great friend for the spectacular wrap!
not exactly the pilot, but take a look at it
And I love LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS too Jaimie! Saw a kids group do it on stage just five months ago, and they followed the film to a tee and did a damn good job!
Sam, thank you for the congratulations (and Jeffrey, thank you, too!) and the mention of the Olivier post. I was glad to see so much support for him on the big screen.
Greg, I was also a bit surprised, but very happy to see that kind of support for Lord Larry’s screen work. Ha! We didn’t have anyone looking down their nose on this issue! John Greco also mentioned your appointment at TCM with much applause. WitD has a large contingent of TCM fans (which has been confirmed on this weekly thread for a long time) and a number will be reading your future writings there!
Thanks very much my friend!
Thanks again for the mention and your recent comments. I am glad to see Ocean Heaven was worth viewing and glad to hear such positive words about Project Nim. I was curious about it and will surely keep an eye out for it. I am not surprised to read your comments about Ninja Kids. There was a time I used to look forward to any Miike film but after enduring some misses, I try to be a bit more careful now.
Sachin: As always thanks so much for the high-quality comment! That’s an honest appraisal there of Miike’s work. Seems he goes over the top a good deal of the time, and beats a particular gag or stylistic flourish to death. I found that much of the Japan Society audience seemed to be engaging in forced laughing. My own boys thought the film extremely silly. But I did like 13 ASSASSINS quite a bit so go figure. The Chinese film will be a major find I believe. I am thinking that you and your wife will love PROJECT NIM.
I thank you again my excellent friend!
Thank you so much for the plug, Sam! And your list of links is longer than ever, as is the list of activities you have managed to cram into your week!
I’ve been watching a lot of musicals ready for the poll, which has been great fun … I won’t list them all, but just say that ‘Top Hat’ is fantastic and I can hardly believe it was made under the code, given all its suggestive dialogue. Unfortunately something went wrong with my recording of ‘The Young Girls of Rochefort’ from TV, but it is being shown again this week so I will get a second shot at it.
‘The Tree of Life’ hasn’t made it to my neck of the woods yet either, as apparently it is getting a very limited release in the UK too. The local arthouse cinema does hope to show it eventually, but may face a long wait to get hold of one of the very few prints around – however, I will look forward to it, whenever it arrives. Thanks again, Sam.
Judy: it has indeed been hectic for sure. Seems like all the bigger film events are converging on a few weeks here.
And perhaps the biggest film event in your eyes (and the eyes of many to be sure) commences this coming Friday night with a double feature of the uncensored BABY FACE with Barbara Stanwyck and the gangster thriller TWO SECONDS in the four-week “Essential Pre-Code Festival” at the Film Forum. I have tentative plans to attend that night, depending on the situation with my father, who I do think may be home by then.
I am thrilled and delighted to hear that you are viewing all those musicals! What you say about TOP HAT is very true, methinks, and like you I think it’s a treasure (as is SWING TIME) Yes, I know ROCHEFORT is worth a second effort. I know this venture does become a glorious obsession, as a few others here have attested! Ha!
What’s happening with THE TREE OF LIFE is disheartening. It’s incredible how poorly the film has been marketed, and now you confirm much of the same in the U.K. I am crossing my fingers that you won’t have to wait till it comes to DVD.
Thanks as always my great friend for the cherished report!
I’m so sorry to hear about your father’s illness and do hope he is better soon, Sam.
That double feature sounds great, as does the whole essential pre-Code festival – and yes, it is very easy to get obsessed with musicals! I find myself dancing round the house, even though I have two left feet.
Thanks a lot Sam for the mention.
I saw a couple of movies in the meantime, viz. A Tale of Two Sisters (the good Korean psychological horror), 12 Monkeys (Terry Gilliam’s interesting sci-fi), MASH (the brilliant anti-war satire), and Altered States (Ken Russell’s psychedelic ride).
Thanks very much Shubhajit.
I look forward to reviews of that quartet, especially Altman’s classic. But I’m certainly intrigued by the Korean film.
Sam – I’m fairly confident that the documentary “Project Nim” would have broken my heart, and for a world of completelydifferent reasons that you pointed out so clearly here, I won’t be seeing “Ninja Kids.”
I was 11-years-old the first time I saw PLANET OF THE APES at the BijouTheater in Escondido, California. I absolutely loved that film (and Charlton Heston). Oh, what great memories you brought back!
Thank you for pointing to Speaking from the Heart.
Laurie: There is little question that PROJECT NIM will break your heart. You would love and connect to this film though for all sorts of reasons that I have surmised since meeting you. It’s a universal story that reflects the truth about human nature for good and for bad. And yes, NINJA KIDS was sadly rather torturous to sit through; even the kids got bored, and they were the reason I had opted to see it.
Ah, Escondido again! You recently were back there to visit I know, and it’s a former home. The Bijou must have been some place to see movies! And I share your affection for that great science-fiction landmark!
I have been thinking about you Laurie, after reading about the Chicago power outage that effected 200,000 homes. That is ghastly. For readers here is what Laurie wrote at SPEAKING FROM THE HEART:
http://holessence.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/the-aftermath/
I hope you and Len have had your power restored.
Many thanks my great friend!
Sam, ever so inspired by your stamina! After a brief hiatus, I’m glad to see nothing has waned out here. Rather, it’s constantly growing & becoming expansive.
Sadly I haven’t been much into movies for last few months. Save for sports documentaries & few local releases. Kept myself busy with F1, playoffs (esp. with Mavs winning), Stanley cup finals (don’t particularly care for Bruins or Canucks, but an all-round spectacle nevertheless), UCL finals (Barca thumping Manyoo, sweet), & Wimbledon (Djoker’s run of 50-1 from last year’s Davis cup finals & overall quality of play has won me over, though can’t stand the smugness). Now in a week long vacation with handful of DVDs to watch. Getting back in to the groove again I think. And naturally WitD is the first go-to place I could think of. 🙂 And whoa, a LOT had happened. I’m all over the archives. Can’t believe how much I’ve missed.
While I’m at it, how about we do the screen-cap contest I promised. That sealed blu-ray disc (or DVD depending on the winner’s choice) of Tati’s Playtime awaits…
Ah Dualist, you have been missed my friend!!! Thanks for those very flattering adn kind words. Yes the site’s staff has increased, and there always seems to be a new project on the horizon. The musical countdown is up next, and then months later the science-fiction and Greatest Music Albums countdown (the latter two are tentatively being chaired by Bob Clark and Jaime Grijalba). I used to be a hockey nut years back and held season tickets for the New York Islanders for almost eight years during their four consecutive Stanley Cup run. But I can see why the Bruins and Canucks wouldn’t float your boat. they don’t float mine either! Ha! I agree with you on the ‘smugness’ of Wimebleton, but can’t deny it was quite the event.
Yes quite a bit has happened over the past months, not the least of which is Maurizio Roca’s superlative Film Noir Countdown (that boy wrote all the essays all by his lonesome!!!!) and some continuing seminal work from Jim Clark, Bob Clark, Jamie Uhler (his Beatles series is remarkable) and Allan of course.
The resumption of the screen-cap contest is a fantastic idea! I can’t say that I know how to post it (my technological prowess is the least matured aspect of this site! Ha!) but I do know that Jamie does. So you can send it to my e mail address (TheFountain26@aol.com) and I’ll forward it to Jamie and Allan. That’s quite a generous gesture there Duallist!
Thanks for all those kind words too!
I do know why you were missed my friend! Many thanks!
Salut Sam!
Well up for Project Nim when it arrives. I think that you saw Nénette earlier this year, right?
So, missed out on the cinema again. However, battle plans have been drawn for a full frontal assault this week as Film Socialisme, Tree of Life, A Seperation, and a re-release of Cria Cuervos all have hit town!
Did see a theatrical adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece The Master and Margarita though. Unfortunately, it was not terribly good, especially having seen some fantastic adaptations of Flann O’Brien’s equally surreal and comic novels in recent years. Ah well!
Cheers for da link!
Hello Longman!
I never got around to seeing NENETTE, though I remember I nearly did at one point. But the very lukewarm reviews caused to be make it less of a priority, and as a result I never caught up with it. But PROJECT NIM is apparently something else entirely, and I can see it ending up as the most revered documentary feature of 2011.
That is quite the full-frontal assault you have planned there! Wow! I am of course particularly interested in how you’ll react to THE TREE OF LIFE and FILM SOCIALISM and will be loooking over to SMILEDYAWNEDNODDED for the scoop. But heck, you’ve been busier on the theatre scene, and often I think that is even more rewarding, that Bulgakov notwithstanding. But perhaps you’ll opt to post a review.
As always your presence is deeply appreciated my very good friend!
Thanks a lot for the shout-out, Sam! The original Planet of the Apes is one of my favorites as well. I think it’s really underrated–it creates such great tension and excitement.
I saw a bunch of good movies this week. First up was Wedding Crashers, a movie a bunch of friends insisted I had to see. It was a little uneven, and the ending was way too long, but I still thought it was hilarious.
Then I saw Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher, which was excellent, a cross between the lyricism of Terrence Malick and the British tradition of working class realism. I wasn’t sure about the ending–it didn’t seem entirely warranted by what had gone before–but the rest of the film was near-masterpiece status in my mind, so I was very satisfied and eager to see Ramsay’s other films.
I also watched Shotgun Stories, which I thought was pretty good, though a bit more low-key than I was expecting. It had some nice, subtle character work, but I think it could have used a little more excitement to maintain interest.
Then I saw The Tree of Life again, this time with my brother, who also loved it, which made me happy.
Finally, I watched How Do You Know, which was a bland romantic comedy but not completely unlikeable, and Casablanca, which I’ve seen several times and, of course, loved every time.
Thanks so much for stopping in Stephen! You hit it on the head with gthe original PLANET OF THE APES as far as I’m concerned. It’s a deliriously entertaining film that holds up to repeated viewing and always captures the imagination. I guess it could be argued that the segment on the ship was slow, and that it took a lot of time to reach the point where the ape assault is staged, but I don’t really see that as a serious problem.
I never sat down to watch WEDDING CRASHERS but appreciate both the excellent capsule and the favorable response. I did see BRIDESMAIDS two months ago and (surprisingly) liked it quite a bit. I have seen RATCATCHER and own the Criterion DVD. I like that assertion that it’s a hybrid of Malick and British working class realism. I have also seen MOVERN CALLER, and am eager to see the director’s new WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, which stars Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly.
I thought SHOTGUN STORIES was pretty decent, and agree with your assessment of HOW DO YOU KNOW. As far as THE TREE OF LIFE, it’s a stone-cold masterpiece, and am glad to hear what you and your brother feel of it. And CASABLANCA? You need no comment from me there! Ha!
Thanks so much my very good friend for this fabulous wrap! have a great week!
Sam, thank you for the mention.
Yes, Miike is a bit of a showman, I guess, and his output varies in quality, I am sure. I hope this experience will not deter your kids from experiencing more Japanese films!
As the year 2011 hitting the half-year mark, I looked back the moving image related experience over this six months.
Two video clips I find most “unforgettable” in the first half of this year.
These were not professional films nor documentaries. These were shot by a government official visiting Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in April, using a off-the-shelf digital video camera. Actually, the whole thing is four-part hour-long footage. These are first and fourth segments.
First video begins with the segment of J-village, a sort of a base camp for the failed nuclear site. Then, we are taken to the nuclear power plant. The first video ends when the camera enters the main building of the plant.
Second video is a trip to the actual sites of failed reactors.
The reason I want to share these videos with you is, not just because what is captured is extremely devastating, but the way it is captured made me think, or re-think the power of image.
As you can see, the whole thing is one-long take, with few cut. The viewers are with this camera throughout. Though this is an armature footage, you will experience something few of the professional filmmakers ever achieved. We know many films in cinema veriete style to achieve the effect of “being there”. But professional filmmaking is about “communicating it”, a sort of broadcast of ideas, even when they use those approach. This footage, though eventually edited to prime time news, is a raw material, devoid of injection of idea. And that makes this footage more powerful and direct in “being there” than any other.
Another aspect is details. The images are hazy because the camera was wrapped in vinyl bag to avoid contamination. People wore the protective suits with their names written on their backs with black marking pens. The man in the front sheet of the car uses a bullhorn in the car, since the voice is not quite audible through the filter mask he was wearing. Cherry trees were in bloom. Waiting for the longest time (You have to wait until 14:00 mark in the first video to get inside). The road down to nuclear reactors were not paved since they were hardly used. These little details add the extra weight to gravity of the situation.
And images of nuclear reactors. These will be the images I would definitely remember. Apocalyptic landscapes, which human probably will not be able to reclaim his own without exposing himself to heavy doses of nuclear radiation. In my view, from now on, any film which claims to be apocalyptic, will be judged against the power of these images.
You hear Japanese audio track throughout, but it’s not as important. These are the commentary by nuclear power plant supporters. (They keep saying how everything is orderly).
First segment:
Fourth segment
They are depressing to look at, but I wanted to share this experience with you.
MI
“In my view, from now on, any film which claims to be apocalyptic, will be judged against the power of these images.”
My friend Murderous Ink, you have left me speechless with this harrowing presentation. The video footage and images you speak of here are far more profound and haunting than any feature length documentary we’ve seen this year (or for that matter any feature length film). But yes the bar has been set, and no images can match these simply because these envision the horrifying catastrophe that result in this inescap[able contamination. Yes these films are both depressing and frightening, but they go a long way at unveiling the scope of the devastation. Try as they will I don’t think this nuclear plant supporters could find films like this as validating an ‘ordering transition.’ They are chillingly apocalyptic, and you are quite right in noting detailed documentation. That second you tube shows a good part of the extent of the damage, and it’s painful. It’s a sure panacea for anyone with a dogged conviction in support of nuclear reactors. I am deeply grateful to you for sharing these vital if disheartening footagle.
I will never stop trying to enlist my kids in seeing Japanese films because of one less than wonderful effort (by Miike) I have liked other Miikes, and generally find so much to be kept attuned of.
Again I can’t thank you enough for this overwhelming, eye-opening submission my friend!
Hi! Sam Juliano, Allan and WitD readers…
The TCM link [Arabs and Hollywood] have been fixed on the sidebar…Sometimes TCM change the link causing it to break and then they claim Zombies ate the link. lol
deedee 😉
Thanks as always Dee Dee! I know TCM is quick on the draw with the link changes.
Needless to say, your work on the sidebar has been vital to the site’s existence over the past year.
Hi! Sam Juliano, Allan, Murderous Ink…and WITD readers…
The images and the occurrence in Japan is very devastating…If readers Of WitD subscribe to cable…try to check-out RT [Russian Television] because their news program keep the devastating [aftermath or effect] Of the earthquake/tsunami in the public eye.
[You can also watch RT news over there on you-tube too!]
By the way, here goes a link to a story that I discovered on Word-press…According to the Red Cross
Select a Drink and Donate…I think that this machine is available only in Asia and Europe. I think that it should be available here in America too!
I really can’t say thanks, for sharing, but I had to look…deedee 😦
Thanks so much Dee Dee for that link to the Red Cross, and for the close monotoring of the continuing worldwide response to the calamity in Japan. As you note the harrowing images do speak for themselves and full recovery is still a long ways off. Thanks again for all your concern my excellent friend!
Sam a big Mayne island thank you for your mention of Creative Potager even while I took a wee break after putting up the STUDY of BLUE solo exhibition. This week I was able to post about the opening and add another mixed-media painting to my blog. Not much on the movie side of things though. Your comments about energy bill spikes reminded me that after four years, David and I discovered that our in-floor hot water heating system can also operate as a cooling system. Not that we need it but it could. It is 52 degrees with heavy rain this morning. I am not sure if we have see it over 80 for two days in a row yet this year. Best of the summer to you!
Thanks so much for stopping by Terrill. I know this has certainly been a hectic time for you, with your exhibitions, and the need to re-charge your batteries after months of creativityand tireless survailence of your island paradise. (not to mention a long string of important family events). Great that you were able to add another blog (the mixed meeting painting) and that you used this for a late-breaking post! I will be over there very soon! Wow, 52. Needless to say we have been basting, though we were treated to a lovely low-humidity day today in the NYC area. You and David have a great summer, and I’ll be checking in regularly at your place. The movies will come when there’s time.