Greta Gerwig gives an irresistible performance in the endearing comic fable “Frances Ha” while co-writing the humanist script with director Noah Baumbach, who finest film this is.
by Sam Juliano
Summer has crashed the springtime party with a promise to hang around for an extended stay. As a result there is an acute need for indoor air conditioning, and some mosquito repellent for back yard barbecues. The school season is winding down, and some die hards -like Yours Truly- are scanning the summer school lists. This is the month for graduations, proms and retirement dinners, and a favorite time for the vacation season to launch. It’s also a reminder that before you know it, autumn will be vying for some attention.
Manhattan’s Film Forum will be staging a 37 film strong Ozu Festival beginning Friday June 7th, and running through the 27th. There a few double features for the price of one, and a few piano accompaniments for the silent features. All films will be shown on 35 mm prints. The Film Forum will also be featuring one week runs of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Rosemary’s Baby, The Servant and 12 Angry Men over the coming months.
Six voters have submitted western countdown ballots, as per information e mailed to me by Voting Tabulator Extraordinaire Angelo A. D’Arminio Jr. Ballots of 60 films listed in order of preference will be accepted all the way up till August 1st.
Lucille and I saw three films this past week in theaters, all over the weekend, and all recent openings. Melanie and Broadway Bob also attended the Saturday night feature. We saw:
Frances Ha **** (Saturday afternoon) Montclair Claridge
The Kings of Summer ** (Saturday night) Landmark Cinemas
Love is All You Need *** (Sunday evening) Montclair Claridge
The anger in Noah Baumbach’s previous writing has yielded to a softer and more endearing if melancholic tone in his newest film FRANCES HA, which features daily life vignettes, lovingly chronicled by Sam Levy’s aching monochrome in a clear homage to the director’s kinship to the French New Wave., though there is a hip modernity to the proceedings. Frances is wonderfully played by Greta Gerwig, who co-writes the sensitive comic fable that examines friendship, ambition and redemption. Mickey Sumner and Adam Driver are also memorable in this stylish bohemian story that is framed by appealing time and place chapter stops. THE KINGS OF SUMMER apes Wes Anderson in style and philosophical slant, but some of the dialogue and character interactions are contrived and bordering on insipid, and after a while the humor becomes strained. It’s advertised as a coming-of-age story, but the underlining hard-edged cynicism is aimed at raunchy laughs. The actors are fine, but the films goes nowhere. It was a big hit and Sundance for no reason I can understand. Susanne Bier’s LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED is a reasonably engaging and sophisticated romantic drama that tuns no new pages and isn’t among this distinguished Scandinavian director’s best films, but modesty works if one isn’t looking for anything especially creative.
Three leads in problematic coming-of-age film, the Sundance hit “The Kids of Summer”
Links:
John Greco has posted a fabulous review of Ford’s celebrated western “My Darling Clementine” at Twenty Four Frames: http://twentyfourframes.wordpress.com/2013/05/29/my-darling-clementine-1946-john-ford/
Tony d’Ambra has penned a terrific review of the ‘last of the B movies’ “The Burglar” at FilmsNoir.net: http://filmsnoir.net/film_noir/the-burglar-1957-the-last-b-movie.html
Shubhajit Lahiri has posted a superlative review on Anthony Mann’s western “The Far Country” at Cinemascope: http://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-far-country-1954.html
Dee Dee’s ‘Ning’ is currently featuring a lead post on the 1947 noir classic “Nightmare Alley”: http://filmnoire.ning.com/video/nightmare-alley-1947-parte-1
Laurie Buchanan leads up with a fabulous post titled “The Cat That Ate the Canary” at Speaking From The Heart: http://tuesdayswithlaurie.com/2013/05/28/the-cat-that-ate-the-canary/
Samuel Wilson has posted a terrific review of the Japanese “Castle of Sand” at Mondo 70: http://mondo70.blogspot.com/2013/06/castle-of-sand-1974.html
Judy Geater leads up at Movie Classics with a terrific review of Frank Capra’s “It Happened One Night”: http://movieclassics.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/it-happened-one-night-1934/
Jon Warner has posted another excellent essay at Films Worth Watching on Rossellini’s “Stromboli”: http://filmsworthwatching.blogspot.com/2013/05/stromboli-1950-directed-by-roberto.html
Craig Kennedy is at Cannes, and his last review to this point is on the Palme d’Or winner “La Vie d’Adele”: http://livingincinema.com/2013/05/23/cannes-2013-la-vie-dadele-blue-is-the-warmest-color/
At the ever-ravishing Creativepotager’s blog Terrill Welch treats her readers to another hidden talent of hers in a must-have recipe to an intoxicating meal: http://creativepotager.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/oven-baked-mild-chicken-curry-and-rice/
Marilyn Ferdinand has penned a fabulous review on Raymond Bernard’s 1934 masterpiece “Les Miserables” at Ferdy on Films: http://www.ferdyonfilms.com/2013/les-miserables-1934/18492/
Joel Bocko’s marathon re-post on Citizen Kane at The Dancing Image is one of the all-time greats from any blogger, and well-deserved in view of the subject: http://thedancingimage.blogspot.com/2013/05/citizen-kane-ambitious-artworks.html
Jeffrey Goodman glowingly features R.E.M.’s “Reckoning” at The Last Lullaby: http://filmsnoir.net/film_noir/the-burglar-1957-the-last-b-movie.html
Weeping Sam has a post-Memorial Day song list up at The Listening Ear that incldes two CCR gems: http://listeningear.blogspot.com/2013/05/friday-five-post-holiday-edition.html
Patricia Hamilton’s latest post at Patricia’s Wisdom is a fabulous review of Jennifer Cody Epstein’s “The Gods of Heavenly Punishment”: http://patriciaswisdom.com/2013/05/the-gods-of-heavenly-punishment-a-novel-jennifer-cody-epstein/
Dean Treadway has a fantastic display of 70 double-feature movie posters up at Filmicability: http://filmicability.blogspot.com/2013/05/i-love-double-feature-movie-posters.html
David Schleicher examines J.J. Abrams’s latest “Star Trek” film at The Schleicher Spin, and the verdict in an excellently-penned review isn’t bad at all: http://theschleicherspin.com/2013/05/20/do-ya-do-ya-want-my-khan-the-shiny-happy-people-of-j-j-abrams-star-trek/#comment-27317
Sachin Gandhi features a stupendous post on the Cinema of Neveldine/Taylor at Scribbles and Ramblings: http://likhna.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-cinema-of-neveldinetaylor.html
J.D. LaFrance at Radiator Heaven has started up a fascinating new series on film critics who inspired him, with the celebrated Harlan Ellison as his first subhject: http://rheaven.blogspot.com/2013/05/film-critic-hall-of-fame-harlan-ellison.html
The exceptional writer Andrew Katsis has a terrific essay on “Casablanca””’ up at Dee Dee’s place Darkness Into Light: http://noirishcity.blogspot.com/2013/04/heres-looking-at-you-kidas-my-writer.html
Jaimie Grijalba has penned an excellent review of the Argentinian “Mujer Lobo” at Overlook’s Corridor: http://overlookhotelfilm.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/argentinian-cinema-2013-4-mujer-lobo-2013/
Murderous Ink at Vermillion and One Nights has written another extraordinary essay, this time on Yosujiro Shimazu’s 1931 “Love, Be With Humanity””: http://vermillionandonenights.blogspot.com/2013/05/love-be-with-humanity-1931.html
One of the best writers out there, the incomparable Ed Howard is still working at an impressive pace at Only The Cinema, with his latest post on the silent classic “Golem”: http://seul-le-cinema.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-golem-1920.html
Jason Bellamy tackles Malick’s To the Wonder in typically spectacular form at The Cooler: http://coolercinema.blogspot.com/2013/04/penrose-stairs-to-wonder.html
Paddy Mullholland has penned another excellent “Hidden Treasures” installment at Screen on Screen: http://screenonscreen.blogspot.com/2013/05/hidden-treasures-all-about-lily-chou.html
Click on names for archives
Writers/Founders
Sam, I figured The Kids of Summer was hot air.
Thanks Peter. Well, all things considered I am surprised, when you consider the very strong reviews, and my history of touting a number of other “coming of age” films.
Sam, I feel like I need to start concentrating on westerns but I still have queues to clear. Nearest thing to one I saw last week was Alan Dwan’s The River’s Edge which is part neo-western, part noir, and perhaps too committed to a happy ending for its own good. Some great location work juxtaposed with utterly fake studio sets that nearly take you right out of the film. Good overall, though. For future reference, I finally saw Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry. I understand that the ending has divided audiences and critics, and I must line up on the “WTF?” side, though I don’t think it kills the film. I’ll write the last few minutes off as a wry acknowledgment of the censorious power of the state. My latest review is of Roy Boulting’s Run for the Sun, an in-name-only remake of The Most Dangerous Game that seems to have started with imagining the hero as Ernest Hemingway, only to depart further from the original as it went along. An OK adventure film on its own merits, though. A more faithful remake, I’m sad to say, was Robert D. Webb’s The Jackals, which proves an almost word-for-word transcription of Yellow Sky in a South African setting and inferior to the Wellman original on every level. Older films included Sam Taylor’s Coquette, the Mary Pickford Oscar winner with a preposterous courtroom climax; it goes to show that Pre-Code cinema really couldn’t get going until talkies brought a new cohort of actors to Hollywood. Proof of that might be Roy Del Ruth’s Life of the Party, a 1930 gold-diggers comedy that’s one of the earliest Warner Bros. pictures to really feel like a characteristic studio product — though that may only be because almost all the musical numbers originally filmed for it have been cut out and lost. Still, Winnie Lightner really brings the film to life, as does Charles Judels with his penchant for destroying stores, apartments, etc. I should have some westerns to report on next week.
Samuel—
I’m sure you’ll be beating that western drum quite regularly over the next two months as a warm-up for the final list in your area of specialty. (not that the epic, the pre-code, the silent clowns and films in general are not your area of specialty either! Ha!) I have yet to read any essay on the great masterpiece A TASTE OF CHERRY that has taken up a mitigating position on the film based on the ending, though I’ll ponder what you say. That Boulting RUN OF THE SUN certainly has me intrigued, as I have high regard for other films he has worked on, but this one has a rather off-beat premise to say the least. THE RIVER’S EDGE is a good one to prep for the western countdown, though the only film with that title was directed by Tim Hunter, and starred Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves and Dennis Hopper. And I am definitely a fan of it! Agreed that COQUETTE is hopelessly dated and often laughable, but it still features the incomparable Pickford in a memorable performance, if not one to be compared with her very best work. I did not yet see Del Ruth”s LIFE OF THE PARTY, and very much appreciate the capsule analysis. Great round-up my friend, I do of course look forward to your continuing reports on the western genre! Have a great week!
‘Frances Ha’ has been on my must-see list since Brody wrote about it a couple of weeks back (the film just opened here on Friday).
A couple of revisitations:
‘Pierrot le fou’ — At first I couldn’t believe that this squirrely little babysitter was involved in gun-running or that Belmondo would leave his plush life for her (THIS seemingly uninformed, dim girl?!), but Karina grows more bewitching with each passing frame and it turns out that Belmondo is more interested in books than in sex anyway (after the undraping of Bardot in ‘Le Mepris’ viewers were mildly disappointed in the chasteness of ‘Pierrot’), and then the whole film turns into “Appointment in Toulon,” though I doubt if Somerset Maugham or O’Hara would have been sympathetic to the fractured narrative. A maddening, irritating and nakedly autobiographical work by one of our modern masters. Along with Antonioni’s ‘Red Desert’ one of the zeniths of color cinematography.
Favorite dialogue: Belmondo: ‘Put a tiger in my tank.”
Gas Attendant: “We don’t sell tigers here.”
(the Esso tiger also figures prominently in ‘La Chinoise.’ ) A+
‘Le Samourai’ — Maybe unique in the noir genre – a caper that, in its minimalist way, dispenses with the hard-boiled dialogue considered de rigueur in Hollywood. In fact, ‘Le Samourai’ dispenses with dialogue, hard-boiled or otherwise, almost entirely, making it the most laconic of all the great crime dramas I know. The peerless Henri Decae muted the film’s color plalette so much, you’d swear upon reflection that the film was shot in black-and-white. A beautiful actress named Cathy Rosier plays a nightclub pianist, and, of course, ‘Le Samourai’ is unimaginable without Alain Delon. A
Actually spent most of the week reading film books: ‘The Dark Side of Genius: the Life of Alfred Hitchcock’ and ‘Fritz Lang: the Nature of the Beast.’ (German emigres Lang and Dietrich ended up loathing each other after filming ‘Rancho Notorious.’ “She’s a rotten actress,” Lang declares. “And I would gladly slit her throat.”
Mark—-
I strongly urge you to get out to see FRANCES HA, though by the sound of it you’ll be doing just that soon enough! I must check out Brody’s review. Yes that was one of the great dialogue exchanged from PIERROT LE FOU, and the color cinematography is certainly worthy of comparison with Antonioni’s RED DESERT. Yes I do well remember the Esso tiger in LA CHINOISE. I may not be the world’s biggest Godard fan (I know that Maurizio and Dennis are not either) but these two particular films would stand among the half dozen or so I do like. Your analysis is fascinating. Yes Delon is electrifying in the masterful LE SAMOURAI, another you have framed quite superbly here if I might say so. Decae is one of the great lensmen. I own a copy of “Alfred Hitchcock: The Dark Side of Genius” and read it years back while on a Hitch binge. Brilliant volume. Wow, I knew Lang and Dietrich had their battles, but never knew he volunteered to slit her throat! Ha! Thanks as always my friend for the stupendous, much-appreciated submission, and have a great week!
Sam it is almost cruel to remind us of fall just as we are warming up to the summer season 🙂 Over at Creative Potager I have posted a youtube studio visit record yesterday for your viewing pleasure as well as announce the sale of two more paintings. It was a good day for this artist! On the movie end of things I have two to mention.
RETURN TO ME (2000) directed by Bonnie Hunt. I must say we had no preconceived notions of this film because we had no idea who Bonnie Hunt was or her talk show host history. After watching the movie we looked her up and were glad we had never seen on of her shows before watching the movie which was way better. We loved the old school styling romance of the movie and the humour. Several times we had to stop the film so we could complete our full belly laughs with tears running down our faces. It is a film we will watch again so we can start laughing before the punch lines. Warning – the beginning of the film is NOT funny at all but very serious and I think it is the relief from this heartbreak that makes the last 2/3 of the movie so enjoyable.
BURNING MAN (2011) directed by Jonathan Teplitzky. A chef with an attitude in the middle of a grieving process is not always pretty picture. Yet, we warmed to him and the film with all its twists of disclosing the story behind the story. For me the film was about with-holding judgement in favour of compassion.
Well that is it from sunny summery Mayne Island off the southwest coast of Canada. All the best Sam to you and yours and everyone at Wonders in the Dark.
hahaha Terrill!!! It’s true we have a long time before the autumn, and summer has not officially commenced even with the high temperatures we’ve been getting. I will definitely check out the studio tube!! And congrats on the sale of the new painting my friend!!! There is a very lucky buyer out there! You have me off to investigate both of the films you astutely assess here, as I have seen neither. I certainly respect David Duchovny and Minnie Driver, and I hear ya on the comedy/tearfest hybrid. I will add both to me netflix queue this evening. I applaud you for always finding some of those off-the-radar films that deserved a better fate. Have a great week, and thanks so much as always my friend!
37 Ozu films. Incredible. Being a cinephile & living in NY can be dangerous for one’s wallet & time management. Always a tempting retrospective to spend a month in.
Proceed with caution Sam. Too many films at the forum in June will land you in July in 37 blinks 🙂
Sachin—-
That is definitely the most Ozu films ever offered in a single retrospective of his work in this area, and as you say it is tempting to the extreme! Like so many others I own DVDs and Region 2 blu-rays of all his major works, and quite a few of his less-familar ones. I also attended the Ozy Festival at the IFC two years ago, though less than half the films were offered. But your general observations about New York City are quite right, and what with the college parade starting up in September of 2014 with my daughter Melanie (to be immediately followed by Sammy) Lucille and I have our work cut out for us. The two-week trip to the U.K. in August with the eight plane tickets at around $1,200 each after all the fees is another wake up call for excess. Ha! Thanks as always my friend!!! Have a great week.
Hello Sam and everyone!
It’s nice to hear some details about your upcoming trip to the UK in the comments! For me, life goes on!
My week at the movies:
– American Mary (2012, Soska Sisters) *** It starts really strong and it has a main performance that is strong enough, as we are interested in her evolution and how she develops her own crazyness as she dwelves deeeper into her obsessions and tabues that she keeps breaking. It’s also an interesting film about this sexual fetish of manipulating one’s body to get sexual pleasure, something that has been documented only on the depths of the internet and as a curiosity on some run-of-the-mill afternoon shows. Nevertheless, the film doesn’t know what to do with its premise as it comes around to the point where something must happen for it to advance… I don’t really have an alternative to what was done here, but it wasn’t interesting nor organic towards the rest of the film, the throwback/flashback towards the end was a copout in terms of how poorly built was this “conflict”, and I guess that’s the problem, when you have a main character that is so badass and no one dares close to her, I guess you get no conflict progression. Deus Ex Mortis.
– Carne de perro (2012, Fernando Guzzoni) ***1/2 Chilean film that I’m writing up for Twitch! (Oh, right, that happened)
– The Cat and the Canary (1927, Paul Leni) ***1/2 Written up for the Masters of Horror.
– Jack the Giant Slayer (2013, Bryan Singer) *** Just… uninspired. I guess you can say that it keeps a momentum and something interesting is always happening on the screen, but at the end it has many moments that are just ‘why did they do this?’, like the opening with computer animation, just to have more computer animation as the giants when they finally appear, it just made me think that I had picked up the wrong movie and that I was watching the Asylum version of the film. When the giants appear the CGI is decent, I guess, it moves ok, but maybe it’s a tad bit too cartoony, and I know it’s a kid’s flick but still it’s kinda annoying at times. Then it turns into a rescue film but then the character that needs to say that is strong (the princess) is turned into a victim the second she tries to do something different than what the norm dictates. And that ending was as necessary as the cholera. What I’m trying to say here is that maybe there’s a lot to like here, the actors are good, but the sorroundings are maybe too annoying to be obviated.
– Death by Hanging (1968, Nagisa Oshima) ****1/2 Life as a play, as imagination, as a dream, as an absurd collection of facts and happenings that must be repeated, represented, tried, tweaked and repeated again to convince ourselves who we are or what you’ve done in your life. We always do that, we see this film as some kind of absurdist black comedy where the policemen try to convince a hanged korean man who survived that he is the one who commited the crimes that were bestowed upon him, so they repeat them and they reveal themselves as human beings who have the same pulses and desires as any other, but in the end, isn’t that what we always do in life? In parties we re-enact situations from our common life, in jail prisoners tell each other stories about how they succeded at making one of the biggest crimes of their life, and we usually do representation, voices, we don’t go to the surreal extreme of representing the places, but sometimes we do feel transported, and in that sense I feel this is more than anything a realist film, no matter how many strange things happen. It’s a great film too, of course.
– Garden of Words (2013, Makoto Shinkai) ****1/2 A short incredible work by a good anime director. I wasn’t a fanatic of ‘The Children Who Chase Lost Voices” though I did like it a bit, and while this doesn’t have the emotional power and visual craft of his earlier shorts, this has the same spirit and tone as those films. I think Shinkai works much much better with shorter lengths. The romantic plot here works very very well, and Shinkai knows how to pull the emotion strings just at the right moment. One of the best things of 2013.
– The Last Warning (1929, Paul Leni) **** Written for my Masters of Horror.
– Opening Night (1977, John Cassavetes) ***** Maybe this was the movie that I needed today, but maybe the rush is really good but the effects have already passed, I’ve been looking (not exactly but) at this screen for the past two hours trying to come up with something to say, but at the end I was so envolved in the experience and the pure joy in which this movie leaves me, that I was incapable of doing so. Now, some time has passed, I’m two hours older and two hours sadder, two hours more alone in this world after she left me, two more hours that I don’t know if I’ve lived or survived, that I don’t even know if I should be living, does it really have a purpose? Getting old is something we all fear, and here I am, getting older, watching how certain friends can enjoy life while I’m here struggling to get a job in my area, and at the end what can you do when you’re down in that pit? Well, I guess that laughing, disorganizing life, getting drunk with happyness and go on, BE HAPPY is not the worst idea that has ever been said Mr. Cassavetes, and I know you denied it to have us actually agreeing with it, but I like how I interact with dead people through film. I wish I can live up for the experience that I want to have in my life, I hope that the stage is bright and the audience applauding, I hope that I can break the mold, and finally endure.
Have a good week Sam!
Jaimie—
The “details” you refer to are not the ones that bring a smile to my face!! Ha! In fact they have me seriously questioning my sanity, what with some very urgent home repairs and college tuitions closing in. The trip is two weeks keep in mind, and well, I’ll say no more at this time, only that it’s admittedly been a long time coming, and considering the entire family is going it will always be fondly cherished I’m sure for all sorts of reasons. AMERICAN MARY sounds most intriguing – it’s one I haven’t seen yet – I am less fond than you of OPENING NIGHT, but then Cassevettes as whole has never been to me what he is for so many others. Oshima’s DEATH BY HANGING is every bit as great as you make claim here in your terrific capsule, and your Leni reports are dead-on. JACK THE GIANT SLAYER? I did not like it all, but you made a fair enough, though mixed case for it. I am not familiar with GARDEN OF WORDS, nor with the Chilean film, but as always appreciate your stupendous passion and commanding capsules. Have a great week my friend!
Sam –
All of the neighborhood kids were home playing in their front yards today so I think it’s a pretty safe bet to say that our schools are out for the summer. The ice cream truck must have made the rounds on our street at least three times today — the guy’s got to be a zillionaire!
Your review of FRANCES HA made me curious … sort of like tangling a carrot. So I watched the trailer online and by jove, I think I just may go see it!
I hope you and yours get out of school soon and enjoy the bajeebers out of the summer!
Laurie—
Your schools go out on summer session earlier than ours. Our district concludes on June 24, though there is then a six-week summer school program that follows, running till August 7th. Oh that ice cream truck is a serious danger for our wallets, but we have the same in these parts! Ha! I would love to hear your reaction to FRANCIS HA, and I’d wager it will be positive. The writing is sharp and engaging, the black and white luminous, and Great Gerwig is wonderful form. Yep the upcoming summer will be one to remember, and I wish you well with your move and the same for the coming months. Have a great week my friend!
Sam, so glad you liked FRANCES HA! What a superb film. Just in case you’re interested (and in case anyone else is, too)…here’s a link to my recent interview with Greta Gerwig, done as part of our podcast MOVIE GEEKS UNITED (the interview starts about 19 minutes into the show)…http://www.blogtalkradio.com/moviegeeksunited/2013/06/03/actress-greta-gerwig
Wow Dean!!!! I’ll be over there today!!! How timely and as always you are to be exceedingly commended for your hands-on attention to opportunities and the fabulous enthusiasm to make it fly! Fantastic work my friend!!!! And great that we both agree on FRANCES HA!!!
Hey Sam. Many thanks for the prominent link and more importantly your continuing loyalty to my modest efforts in film noir.
I have been AWOL for quite a while. Sorry. Many things have kept me away.
Filmwise, I have been playing catch-up, and apart from dusty old noirs I recently took in The Master, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, Silver Linings Playbook, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Moonrise Kingdom, and an old charmer, Simone Simon’s first Hollywood feature, Girls’ Dormitory (1936).
I found The Master empty. Great period setting and cinematography, with strong performances, but the scenario is indulgent and meandering. All those long takes and mobile camera movements are elegant but have surface only. I get that Freddy Quell is a mumbler, autistic perhaps, but being able to follow only snatches of what he is saying, makes you painfully aware that you are watching a movie. Like observing someone else’s dream and on the cusp of totally boring. The last hour goes literally nowhere. Deeply flawed.
I can’t understand the hype surrounding Argo. A middling thriller where the politics is superficial and the triumphant Americanism predictable. More mumbling for dialog and the picture is half-over by the time you figure out who’s who. Fancy camera work, and taught editing make for a gripping climax, but nothing more. No real intelligence and the bathos of the superhero figurines coda is risible.
Stripping Zero Dark Thirty of its wider dimensions I found it overlong and disjointed. Politically it is propaganda and seems to have no sense of how fine is the line separating terrorism from the barbarism of torture, which is taken as a given and never held up to scrutiny. I found I had a lot of sympathy with the views expressed here Enlightened Barbarism: On Zero Dark Thirty and the Torture Debate. Technically, the attack on the compound is impressive, but again the slaughter of unarmed people woken from their sleep does not seem to warrant Bigelow’s interest.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Silver Linings Playbook are both forgettable, the same old rehash of familiar themes, and far from any semblance of reality. Any poor bastard with a mental illness or any kid being an outsider would be plunged even further into despair when returning to the reality of their own lives after seeing this pap.
Moonrise Kingdom was surprisingly charming, and its nostalgic quirkiness embraces your heart. Great cameos. The girl Suzzy was a brilliant deadpan, nicely capturing the 60s vibe perfectly. Brilliant idea to have Francoise Hardy as her favorite singer. Great camera work and melding of Britten’s music.
Girl’s Dormitory has the old Hollywood magic. So elegantly made, and Simone Simon is lovely and utterly beguiling as a schoolgirl in a finishing school in the Austrian alps on the cusp of womanhood and with a crush on her teacher, Herbert Marshall, who fits his role like a glove. Director Cumming & DP Gerstad do a great job, and deliver a brave ending for the period with on an screen kiss – but after graduation…
On TV. Mad Men continues and the episode of two weeks back, The Crash, was brilliant. The first time the whole affair is not taken seriously and it is a riot after the males literally get a psychedelic jab in the arse. Otherwise it meanders. What is particularly annoying is how interesting new characters are thrown in and then never developed. Like Draper’s black secretary, the Jewish copy artist Ginzburg, and Peggy’s leftist boyfriend who is written out just before this week’s episode, where the ’68 Chicago riots are the backdrop, but little else with characters all somber and despairing watching TV footage of Daley’s thuggery, then in the next scene back to the same old indulgences and self-obsession.
This rant should make up for my absence 🙂
Tony—-
The blogging scene needs to be tempered for sure, and overindulgence invariably results in frustration (I can voch for that!) and the realization that time management is far more urgent than time mismanagement. Ha! I can’t count the times I ask myself “why?” but then I try and focus on the positive aspects. I am thrilled to read all your capsule assessments of the recent films! While I will admit I liked and was charmed by WALLFLOWER more, I am completely in agreement with you on SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. I have defended MOONRISE KINGDOM to this hilt, and find it most interesting that you liked it more than any of the lot you assess here. Agreed on everything you say including the sprite, creative camerwork and the wonderful blending of Britten’s music. I also have had some issues with THE MASTER, and do see exactly where you are coming from. Some others here of course have found quite a bit to praise, but even with a recent re-viewing on blu-ray I have been unable to find the magic, even while praising the performances. I liked ARGO to a point, but much like you remain perplexed at the endless accolades. It did NOT make my own Top 10 list. I will definitely read that intriguing torture link for ZERO DARK THIRTY. I still need to discover MAD MEN and GIRL’S DORMITORY, and much appreciate your deft and all-encompassing analysis! You never have to worry about making up for anything my great friend, as what you’ve done for me and this place for over four years is incomparable! Have a great week!
Hi Sam,
I’ve been hearing good things about Frances Ha for weeks now and this is another endorsement. Looking forward to seeing it. The weather here has been remarkably pleasant for the last week with lots of time spent outside in the garden. I usually put the girls to work weeding, so that’s a big help. Ha! I’ve also been in town for about a month now so have been able to get caught up on things with the family and at home. The next 2 weeks however I’ll be on the road starting Sunday! Yikes.
Well onto the usual topic at hand, which is the Western tabulation. I continue to revise the films I am considering due to viewings and reviewings. It’s been many years since I’ve seen several films, and it’s hard to go just on memory. Recently re-watched River of No Return, and liked it a bit less than I remembered. It was fine, but not top grade for me. Same goes for The Indian Fighter, which was also a bit middle of the road for me, even though I had thought I liked it more previously. This is why I’m not going on memory!
As far as new viewings goes, I found I enjoyed Requiescant quite a great deal. Enough such that I would probably have to see it again at some point to fully appreciate it. But there’s some great setpieces and the themes brought forward were fascinating. Gotta love that Pasolini cameo as well!
A couple oddball spaghettis, Any Gun Can Play and Boot Hill weren’t much to write home about for me.
Up this week is They Died with Their Boots On, Broken Arrow, Hombre, Rio Lobo etc. etc. etc. Have a great week!
Jon—-
The only person I have come across so far who has been less enthusiastic with FRANCIS HA to this point is my friend Jason Giampietro. The film has received superlative reviews, but then again so has THE KIDS OF SUMMER, a film I found consciously hip and tiring. I tend to connect with Baumbach, and was impressed with the style in employed in this wholly endearing work. Nice to hear you had some quality outdoors time with the girls, and that the weather was so pleasant. We’ve had much of the same in these parts too, though yesterday included a some torrential rain showers. So you’ll be heading out again soon, and I hope you bring the good weather with you. I haven’t seen THE INDIAN FIGHTER in a very long time, but would like to take another look. I completely agree with you on REQUIESCANT, and also much appreciated that Pasolini cameo! I would certainly applaud any placement of the film on your upcoming list too! The three you have lined up this week are quite fine, though I didn’t support any on the polling myself. Have a great week my friend!
Alright I’ll throw another film in the western discussion this week….and that is Malick’s Days of Heaven. Now, I am not claiming that the film is or isn’t a Western….on certain days I could go either way. I DO find it fascinating that we can have a film that is basically within the range of the proper timeframe (1916….and keep in mind that The Wild Bunch, considered a classic of the genre is set in 1913….not really that different), and also occur in the proper setting….Texas, but is a film that many might probably claim is not a western in the least. Why is this? I’m honestly not sure.
Jon— As I have stated in the past, the guidelines for this polling is that every voter will come to the project with their own definitions of what a western is or what a western should be. On that count I have been with you from the start. What I summarily reject is anyone posing their own definition, and then following it up with a disqualification of anyone who just happens to disagree with them. I voted THE LAST PICTURE SHOW as my top western, and am prepared to defend that decision to the hilt should the film make the final cut. Fair disagreement is part of the process, but rhetorical bullying is NOT. I stated my case early on and will not go there anymore. My ballot was already handed it and it reflects my own perceptions of how I would like to frame a western. I have moved on from the mindset of “If you disagree with me, you are wrong.” I left that sphere of reason when I was a teenager. I show complete respect for someone else’s views and perception and I fully expect the same. I would speculate that few would support you on DAYS OF HEAVEN as a western, but you certainly could make a reasonable case for it. I say give it a shot!
Yeah and I don’t even know if I’d go far enough myself to label it a western, but it does beg the question for sure. Part of the intrigue is figuring out what to do with films that defy conventions. In one case, someone could make an argument that defying conventions is what spurs directors and writers on to do great things, perhaps.
Jon, while I have enjoyed the effort that everyone is putting into list compilations (and we’ve had a few that are fantastic) I am just as excited at reading the defenses for westerns falling into that category.
Everything I’ve read about Francis Ha has been extremely favorable. I did like the director’s previous The Squid and the Whale. That’s too bad with The Kids of Summer.
Get ready for Field Day!
Frank, I strongly urge you to see FRANCIS HA. It is presently playing in Montclair, and may well be held over. I am also a fan of THE SQUID AND THE WHALE. You may think differently about THE KIDS OF SUMMER, though knowing your taste fairly well I would say you’ll have some issues. But we’ll see. Have a great week my friend. Luckily I am not assigned any involvement with Field Day. But what a lovely day for it.
Thanks a lot Sam for the mention.
You’re take on Baumbach’s Frances Ha has me interested. I’d liked The Squid & the Whale, the one film of his that I’ve watched so far. So I’ll keep an eye for this one.
Saw few more Westerns in the meantime:-
– Corbucci’s bleak Spaghetti Western with a rapturous score & a lead cast to die for, The Great Silence
– Mann’s penultimate collaboration with Stewart (if I’m not wrong), The Far Country
– Wellman’s devastating morality play & anti-Western, The Ox-Bow Incident
– The psychologically gripping B-Western starring a young Jack Nicholson, The Shooting
Leone’s underrated but excellent final Western, Duck You Sucker (aka Fistful of Dynamites)
Shubhajit—
As I have stated to others FRANCIS HA seems to hit the right notes throughout, and is irresistible. I’d love to know what you think. As you liked SQUID, I’d say there’s a very good chance you will enjoy this one. Yes SILENCE does have a rapturous score and it’s a spaghetti par excellence. One of the darkest in the genre. Yes, THE FAR COUNTRY was the next-to last collaboration between Mann and Stewart, and while not great is reasonably entertaining. THE OX-BOW INCIDENT is a stone cold masterpiece, and I agree that DUCK YOU SUCKA (what a great Morricone score!) is underrated. I wasn’t the biggest fan of THE SHOOTING, but haven’t seen that in a very long time. Thanks as always my friend for keeping that western flame burning, and for the excellent capsules! Have a terrific week!
Sam,
Thanks for the mention.
Ozu film festival seems to encompass everything you need to know about Ozu. And all films in 35 mm print! That alone makes the festival outstanding in film presentation these days.
Yesterday, I saw THE STORY OF LATE CHRYSANTHEMUM (1939) and THE WATER MAGICIAN (1933), two exceptional films directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It was a part of Mizoguchi Retrospective at Cinemavera (Shibuya, Tokyo). Though the print of THE WATER MAGICIAN is in battered state, it is one of the earliest surviving Mizoguchi masterpieces. The fate of the LATE CHRYSANTHEMUM print is an interesting history itself, which I will write up someday. It is extremely important among Mizoguchi’s works, and one of the most heart-breaking stories of prewar Japanese cinema.
And a couple of film noir on DVDs (CORNERED, THE PHENIX CITY STORY, DIAL 1119). I love THE PHENIX CITY STORY, intensely violent, gritty film.
NFC in Tokyo kicked off Hiroshi Shimizu retrospective today and I will spend many hours watching his lesser-known works in coming weeks.
MI
MI—-
The fact that 35 mm prints will be employed for the Ozu Festival is definitely why it is such an allure for so many. I am hoping that many of these prints will be in great shape, though I know some of the films are in rough shape. I am already plotting and scheming to see which films I will be seeing, though I’ve seen the vast majority of the line-up. THE STORY OF THE LATE CHRYSANTHEMUMS in my opinion is a masterpiece and one of Mizoguchi’s greatest works. I’m afraid to say I have not yet seen THE WATER MAGICIAN, but am greatly heartened to hear it’s one of the earliest surviving Mizoguchis. Getting back to CHRYSANTHEMUMS (one of the greatest films from the 30’s) I have to say I completely agree it’s a heartbreaking work to the extreme, but sadly it has long begged for restoration. All prints are in very rough shape. I must say I would really be interested in piece about that print, and hope you’ll find time to put it together! I also like THE PHOENIX CITY STORY, and CORNERED! Haven’t seen DIAL 1119. Wow, that Tokyo Shimizu retrospective is heaven!!! Enjoy it my friend!! Thanks as always for the splendid submission!
I will add Frances Ha to my list of movies, it sounds very good and as though it would be something I would like.
I am testing a new medication, which I believe I will stop soon – the constant headache and fatigue side effects are making it even hard to read, and I feel like it has robbed me a week of my life without settling down.
I did watch Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill a Masterpiece theater production from 1974. What a positive person she was! and the series was so slow moving, it was at my speed.
Thank you for the shout out about THE GODS OF HEAVENLY PUNISHMENT…I have posted THE LEMON TREE today – the history of the founding of Israel and the conflict which continues today as told by a Jewish woman and an Arab fellow who have experienced it first hand – and lived in the same house. Well done history. I think it tells us a great deal about terrorism of today too and shines a light on how “no good” can come from our polarized polities in the USA..
Thanks for you good reviews Happy end of term and hope summer school finds you 🙂
Patricia—
I am certain you would like FRANCES HA, and hope you get a chance to see it! Ah I am sorry to hear you’ve had headaches and fatigue while reading. That’s a telling metaphor of it’s negative impact. I hope you are able to get this resolved very soon. I know JENNIE: LADY RANDOLPH CHURCHILL quite well and was sent the DVRRs of it from Allan two years ago. She was indeed an amazing person! I will definitely check out your new book review on THE LEMON TREE. That’s an epic story for sure! And great point about polarized politics! Summer school is right around the corner. Thanks as always my friend. Have a great weekend!
Sam,
Looking forward to seeing FRANCES HA which is playing here at the Tampa Theater but things have been pretty hectic lately so it is iffy if we will get there. Anyway, glad to hear you liked it. Working on a lot of my photography lately. Both group exhibits that I have been involved in have been extended till late in the summer, and it looks like I will be involved in another group exhibit which is scheduled to begin in August some time and will run through November or December.
On the movie front I caught five films this past week…
Everlasting Moments (****1/2) Finally, after having this in my collection forever, I got around to watching it thanks to your mentioning of it in your comments on my “Photographers in Movies” post from a couple of weeks ago. A wonderful, atmospheric film with in-depth characterizations and some finely filmed sepia like cinematography. The color brown dominates the film giving it a wonderful sense of time and period.
Sons if Katie Elder (***) Re-watched this and my original opinion has not changed much. Decent enough film but there is nothing special. One thing to note, after reading Peter Winkler’s biography on Dennis Hopper, is that it was director Henry Hathaway who had Hopper blacklisted in Hollywood back in 1958 after filming FROM HELL TO TEXAS. It was also Hathaway who ended the blacklist when he hired Hopper for this film.
Mayor of Hell (***1/2) and Crime School (***1/2) Lumped these two together because one is a remake of the other. TCM had them both on, one after the other, recently and it was interesting watching the similarities and the differences.
Safety Last (*****) Harold Lloyd comedy masterpiece which I watched for the first time. A real joy!
have a great week!!!
John—-
I hope you do get a chance at FRANCES HA, though I quite understand what you are saying about being tied up. I think you’d really like the film and it’s lovely black and white cinematography. Nice to hear you have some group exhibits coming up, and I must take a look at your Facebook page for any displays you have upcoming. Although in a general sense you are pretty much on the mark with THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER, I’d put in a very good work from Elmer Bernstein’s magnificent score. That’s a very interesting story about Hathaway and Hopper, and it ends unexpectedly well. Disn’t see CRIME SCHOOL, but MAYOR OF HELL is definitely 3 to 3.5, so again I would have to agree with you there! I am absolutely thrilled that you saw EVERLASTING MOMENTS, and well remember that suggestions from that great post at TWENTY FOUR FRAMES! You size it all up beautifully. It’s really a favorite of mine. And SAFETY LAST is every bit the masterpiece you declare it as. The upcoming Criterion blu-ray is a must! I hope you and Dorothy have a great weekend my friend. Many thanks as always!
Sam, thanks very much for the kind mention. I haven’t had time to watch many films over the last week or so, but have seen two, ‘Gideon’s Day’ (1958), a British police procedural directed by John Ford, starring Jack Hawkins, and the Joan Crawford gangster film ‘The Damned Don’t Cry’ (1950), directed by Vincent Sherman. I enjoyed both of these. Hope everyone is having a good week.
Judy, many thanks as always! I have not seen that particular Ford, But I have seen Vincent Sherman’s John Crawford starrer and found it enjoyable. School is winding down with only two full weeks left, then six weeks of summer school until August 7th, which will be the very day we embark on our two week trip to London and Kendal in the U.K. This will certainly be one of the most memorable summers ever. Have a great weekend my friend!
Sam, thanks so much for the fantastic mention.
You definitely make me want to see FRANCES HA. I’m hoping to catch it soon.
It has been pretty quiet for me these last couple of weeks. I only have seen MUD and TO THE WONDER. I was very happy to see both and see what Nichols and Malick are up to, two directors I admire a great deal.
Here’s to another awesome week, Sam. Thanks so much for all that you do.
Thanks very much for that Jeffrey, and as always I can never than you enough for your remarkable support and endless reserves of positive energy! There is no doubt that FRANCES HA is your kind of movie! I must say I loved the two films you saw this week and am happy you got to take them in! Have a great week my friend and thanks again!