Pretty Good Movie

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2011-11-19T01:07:00.004-05:00

Evening Primrose: Anothony Perkins sings in this odd musical about a poet finding love & refuge in a department store after hours.

Crimes of Passion: Kathleen Turner is a high-powered garment district professional by day and kiny hooker by night.

El Camino: Martin Sheen walks the ancient 500-mile pilgrimage in northern Spain after his son dies during his pilgrimage hike.

Shotgun Freeway: The history of Los Angeles and the creatives who thrive there, including clips of interviews frm David Hockney, Joan Didion.

Up In The Air: George Clooney is a "termination enginer" who treasures his life in the air--constantly traveling. He meets kindred spirit, Vera Fermiga, another professional business traveler. Their relationship explores a role reversal situation.

Poetry: This Korean language film explores one woman's struggles to raise her grandson and discovers relief when she takes a poetry class and begins to write.

The Music Never Stopped: This fantastic story about a father and son who begin to understand one another through music (especially the Gratefu Dead)...based on an Oliver Sacks story called "The Last Hippie."

Painters Painting (1972)

2011-09-03T15:32:00.000-04:00

Emile de Antonio made this documentary about his friends in New York City who happened to be the abstract expressionist painters who changed the history of art during the post-world war II years. The artists who reacted against the modern art world of Picasso's cubism were a small group who seemed to own the New York art world. Many were immigrants. Many came from poor families. Many earned a lot of money.

"You have to have time to feel sorry for yourself if you're going to be a good abstract expressionist painter," said Robert Rauschenberg.

Helen Frankenthaler explained "I did not want to create a small gesture standing at an easel with a sable brush." She wanted her paintings to appear as if they were created all at once with one stroke. The interviewer asked her if it was a problem being a female painter. She set him straight. "The first issue is a being a painter."

"My paintings are an invitation to look somewhere else," said Jasper Johns. He revealed that his motivation for becoming a artist was simply a way to get out of "this." He added that if he could tell that he was doing what another painter was doing, he would stop doing that.

Andy Warhol remarked "everybody is influenced by everybody." That remains a truism for the post-modern world.

Pop was a reaction against the action painters. A small group of artists began working in a more classical, controlled way. It was less romantic and not at all improvisational.

Frank Stella is interviewed extensively about this shift. He felt that the expressionists original impulse to make a big gesture became compromised when the wildness was worked over too much. His approach was less an invitation and more a presentation. The emphasis was not on "reading" a painting. Rather than make a record of an event, the goal was to present something that left the viewer unable to know how it was made.

The film includes interviews with many more of the era's artists, dealers, and collectors. They look at the reality that painting has always been for the rich. Other artform, such as writing an film, can be enjoyed by the masses. Traditionally painters are able to survive and continue working due to the support of wealthy patrons. The DVD also includes an interview with de Antonio.

The film shows the art world of forty years ago to be fresh in ways no longer possible.

Quid Pro Quo (2008)

2011-09-02T16:18:00.003-04:00

Carlos Brooks wrote and directed this offbeat film that takes semi-paralyzed radio reporter, Isaac (Nick Stahl). We learn that Isaac is wheelchair bound after a car accident as a boy, but he works at staying strong and maintains hope that one day he will walk again. He is disheartened after the woman he loves has turned down his marriage proposal because she believes one person in a marriage should be able to walk.

The radio station receives a tip from a hospital employee that a man had recently tried to bribe a doctor to amputate his leg. Isaac is sent out to investigate the odd subculture of people obsessed with the need to remove limbs in order to feel whole.

Isaac reluctantly meets with Fiona (Vera Farmiga), who has learned of his investigation and offers to share her knowledge the identity disorder. The attractive woman's fascination with him is both troubling and flattering. As Isaac becomes more deeply involved with Fiona, he begins to suspect that they share some important history. As truths are revealed, both are transformed--something is given for something received (quid pro quo).

Never Forever (2007)

2011-09-01T11:02:00.000-04:00

During a lull in my Netflix viewing schedule, I have delved into the films of Vera Farmiga, an intriguing actress who seems to be on the rise. I enjoyed her performance with George Clooney in Up in the Air a couple years ago.

Gina Kim's film shows us a successful American urban couple trying to conceive a child. Sophie (Vera Farmiga) and Andrew (David McInnis) are under pressure from his devout Korean catholic family. After her husband's disturbing suicide attempt, Sophie becomes more desperate to become pregnant. She seeks the help of a handsome Korean immigrant she sees turned away at her fertility clinic and offers him a "job" that will change both their lives.

Farmiga is wonderful to watch as this story unfolds slowly. I look forward to watching several of her more recent films.

Cable Network Series on DVD

2011-08-31T12:17:00.000-04:00

I do not have HBO or Showtime. I am one of those people who does not watch much tv. Although I did enjoy the occasional episode of The Practice on network television this past year.

I like movies, but finding good movies is not always easy. Inbetween, I watch cable television series as they become available on DVD. I think of this viewing experience as other than television because the actors are known from movies and there are no commercials. Watching one episode after the other is more like a big movie.

Actually, these DVDs are more like super-tv. Every aspect of these shows is calculated to entice.The music alone is intoxicating and lures me into a unique world that is hugely addictive. How about a soundtrack of the theme songs from some of the better shows? MadMen, Damages, Breaking Bad, Californication, The L Word. Who comes up with this stuff? It's like heroin.

I don't know how many times I have pressed the pause button to walk away from the screen and spoken these words out loud... "This is soooooo good!"

Did you know that Netflix subscribers can access their entire rental history? I see that I signed on in April 2003. There is a novel of viewing that anchors the last 8 years of my life onto the culture of media.

The first series I became hooked on was Sex in the City. I truly mourned the conclusion of that one, but I'm not sure how all these older seasons play out now. They are not exactly timeless. Around that time I also fell hard for Six Feet Under. Sooner or later, all good series come to an end and watching that final episode is bittersweet.

One series that keeps on going is Rescue Me. I have two seasons coming up in a couple weeks.
This may the end for the long-running show. There is such a long gap between new season releases that I care for less for this story as time passes, but then again, Dennis Leary is great. I may get sucked in once again.

I see on my history that there were a number of series that I gave up on after one or two seasons. No need to dwell on those, but the ones I watched until the end are worth mentioning--Nip Tuck, The L Word, Damages In Treatment, Lie to Me, Californication.

Some may have more seasons coming up--The Big C, Weeds, Bored to Death, Nurse Jackie, The Good Wife, Curb Your Enthusiasm, MadMen, Breaking Bad (can't wait for the next release).

One short run featured Jane Alexander as a marriage counselor. Tell Me You Love Me is worth checking out. I have noticed some of the actors from that one turn up in other films and shows.

On the other hand, it is curious to me that other actors who shine in some of these series seem bound for bigger and better things, but then I continue to see them in B movies. Justin Kirk comes to mind--he plays Andy Botwin in Weeds.

Before we had this more interesting level of television in the 2000s, there was the mini-series, Tales of the City, based on Armistead Maupin's serialized stories printed in The SanFrancisco Chronicle back in the 1970s. Laura Linney as MaryAnn Singleton, the young woman from the midwest who lands in 1970s SanFrancsco. It's a bit dated, but still enjoyable because of Linney who currently stars in The Big C, another promising new series.

A couple other good documentary series originally broadcast on PBS...7-Up and Art21.

Yes, I watch television.

Starting Out in the Evening (2007)

2011-07-24T16:59:00.003-04:00

Andrew Wagner’s film features Professor Leonard Schiller (Frank Langella), an aging novelist with failing health who encounters Heather (Lauren Ambrose) a young, attractive and ambitious grad student who has her heart set on writing her thesis about Leonard’s work.

Set before the backdrop of the New York City world of literature and publishing, he is focused upon completing what is to be his last novel. He tells Heather that her thesis project would simply be an unnecessary distraction. She is peristant, though--eventually proves herself to be a worthy candidate for the task, as she is an excellent student of his work. He begins to be flattered by her attention and she soon convinces him that this could revive his fading career and perhaps add some much-needed sparkle to his quiet life. He agrees to grant her a few interviews.

Meanwhile, his only daughter, Ariel (lily Taylor), a former dancer who is now a pilates and yoga instructor, is approaching 40 and desperately wishes to have a child before it is too late. Leonard wonders if her upbringing has anything to do with her ongoing distress on this front. The man she loves wants no part of it and the man who loves her leaves her cold.

Leonard’s publisher tells him that the only books they are accepting these days are celebrity confessionals and self-help books. He views himself more and more as a dying breed of writer. There is a sadness about him that intrigues Heather. We learn that his wife had been a psychotherapist who had died when Ariel was quite young. He reveals…”I would not be a writer if I had been blinded by optimism.”

Heather continuously digs to find out more about the connection between the wife and several of the author’s female characters. She wonders how much is autobiographical. Leonard finds this inquiry exhausting. It shakes the safety of his small world. She claims that his early work saved her life during a troubling time several years ago. The strength of his female characters and the freedom in his relationships left an impression.”You gave me the courage to live my own life.”

Leonard tells her that “freedom is not the choice that the world encourages—you have to wear a suit of armor to defend it.”

Heather refers to Hemingway’s premise that writers have threads of gold that run through their work—it makes up a solid gold bar. She is in search of Leonard’s “gold bar."

Heather confides some of her doubts about Leonard's later work to a well-regarded editor at the Village Voice who encourages Heather to speak the truth even if people get hurt and advises “When you speak with conviction, people notice.”

The relationship between Heather and Leonard becomes complex…he seems to enjoy his role as mentor for Heather as she is formulating her perspective on his work. There is a touch of the romantic, but she completes the project and his health problems escalate.

Leonard tells his daughter that the thesis is "half-baked," but he truthfully respects what Heather has to say. Ariel arrives in a much happier place in her life. Leonard continues to struggle with comletion of his last novel.

This is a quiet and touching story about modern life, aging, love, and art—worth watching.

Miral (2010)

2011-07-22T13:09:00.000-04:00

Julian Schnabel was a rising art star in the 1980s. His paintings often reference history, culture, and literature. In the 1990s he added films to his art repertoire. During the last fifteen years he made Basquiat, Before Night Falls, Diving Bell and Butterfly leading up to this latest journey. Each film shows a person struggling through adversity.

This time, he visits the wartorn border areas joining Palestine and Israel, a controversial film about a conflict that continues today.

The story begins in 1947 when Hind al-Husseini uses her wealth to feed and educate orphaned children. The film takes us to the aftermath of the Six-Day War in 1967 when Israeli military occupied areas of Palestine--the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, and East Jerusalem.

We learn about a young teen named Nadia who runs away from a home where she has been repeatedly raped by a caretaker. She lands into a life as an exotic dancer and heavy drinking. She eventually lands in jail for an assault charge. She meets a nurse named Fatima, who was serving 2 life sentences after becoming involved with terrorists. She entered a movie theater showing the Roman Polanski film, Repulsion--leaves a bag with a bomb in a bag on the floor.

Fatima arranges a marriage for Nadia with her brother upon her release from jail. He provides a good life and truly loves her. In 1973 Nadia gives birth to daughter, Miral. This is her story.

Nadia remains troubled. She goes out at night, leaving Miral under the care of her father, a kid a loving man. Nadia ends her life by walking out into the sea. Miral is taken to Hind's orphanage school to live during the week while he is at work.

In 1987 when Miral (Frieda Pinto) is a teen during the "infitada," when poor Palestinian workers were run over by a convoy. Several of Hind's girls, including Miral, are sent to teach the orphaned children in a refugee camp. She becomes politicized there when she encounters a radical group and her first boyfriend. This leads her to be captured and tortured for information at age 17.

Her father fears for her, desperate to save her from the troubled lives of his sister and her mother. He manages to have her released. Soon after this time, he reveals to Miral that she is not his biological child.

Miral befriends an Israeli girl named Lisa (Stella Scnabel) and is exposed to new ideas. She suffers the loss of her boyfriend and father. Grieving and uncertain about the future, she visits Hind once more. An old woman by this time, Hind is proud of Miral's convictions--encourages her to pursue further education. Miral wishes to become a journalist.

The film ends with mention of The Oslo Agreement in 1993, a plan for two independent states that has never been honored. Miral does go on to become a journalist and writer of her own story.

This is a complex political biopic that has been received with mixed reviews. I do not have strong views about the Israeli-Palestine conflict so I could watch it as a beautiful story. The cinematography is very good. The screenply was written by Rulla Jebreal, based her novel of true events in her life. Julian Schnabel apparently had a close relationship with her so there is an authenticity to the entire experience that is hard to deny. The soundtrack includes several pieces by composer, Laurie Anderson.

Another gorgeous art film.

DVD extras show Schnabel in his studio with the many paintings he has made of Miral, who he refers to as his muse. Schnabel speaks about how his process of doing painting and film informs what he gets in the end. I appreciate this way of working. In another extra about making the movie, he tells his camerman "follow your bliss."

He claims that Jebreal's book changed his life. When critics accused him of being anti-semetic, he nearly bought back the movie, but he explains that a shift in public opinion occurred. Still, the film opened in just 10 markets. Schnabel adds that is important to make a movie about what is happening now. That moment in 1993 when an agreement was made offered enormous hope to many people, but the hope is now stopped due to not enough progress.

Shadows and Lies (2010)

2011-07-20T19:11:00.000-04:00

Director Jay Anania happens to have been one of James Franko’s teachers. This art film about a quiet and mysterious petty criminal named William (James Franko) is a compelling story that views like a book. Many questions surround events as they unfold and it demands a bit of pondering.

We learn that William, previously named Joseph, had been a young man with a love for Japan who experienced a life-changing event when he missed an airline flight to Japan. He later discovers that the flight he would have been on crashed with no survivors.

He gets off a bus in Manhattan, changes his identity to this William character and lives his life as if he actually been lost. He attends trade school to learn film editing, takes residence in a Chinatown storefront, and lives his eccentric life as an editor of educational nature films. In his spare time, he walks the streets, frequents cafes, and picks people’s pockets.

When a hardcore gangster observes him in action on the street one day, William's life takes a turn to a much darker side. Boss (Josh Lucas) is a dark, controlling drug runner looking for just the right delivery man. Victor (Martin Donovan) is the “muscle” guy who is ordered to get William for the job.

Victor tells him there is a woman he wants William to meet. “She’s a gift.” William turns down the offer, but Ann (Julianne Nicholson) shows up one afternoon anyway. She is quiet and respectful, but wastes no time asking “So who are you?” William offers her a glass of water. She admires the kimono hanging on his closet door. He shows her the film he is working on. They sit and watch a long segment about a jelly fish stirring in the sea. Wonderful music with organ or harmonium sounds add to a moody soundtrack.

The meeting with Ann seals the deal. William agrees to try the delivery work, but Victor warns him to stay away from Ann, as she belongs to Boss. Julianne Nicholson is an intriguing actress who appears in another film reviewed here (see Archive for April 2011). She has a removed quality that is somewhat like the quality of Tilda Swinton, one of my favorites.

William finds the delivery work a bit tougher than expected. He was told to give Victor the envelope with money, but Ann shows up for it. She notices the kimono is not hanging in the same spot. He offers her the folded silk. “Can I try it on” She slips into the bathroom and comes out with nothing on but the kimono and lies down on his monk-size futon. He lays down on the floor next to her.

This is a film of suggestion. The connection between them is a danger to both. Boss eventually forbids them to ever see one another.

William’s behavior takes on a violent edge. Boss rewards him with $75,000 and forbids him to ever see Ann again. He leaves for a few years, but sends Ann a letter explaining things--then he returns to stalk her a bit, hoping to capture her from her prison with Boss.

This film is made for James Franco fans. I imagine many will not care for it. This is not passionate and hot film--it is disinterested, cool, and perplexing. I like it.

Buddhafest 2011

2011-07-19T15:30:00.002-04:00

Tricycle magazine offered online participation in Buddhafest, a film festival held near Washington DC this summer. In addition to Crazy Wisdom (mentioned in the precious post), I watched three other ispiring documentaries to watch for...

With One Voice
Interviews with spiritual leaders investigate the nature of experiencing the "reality that the mind cannot grasp--peace." Some of the speakers include Joseph Goldstein, Joan Halifax Roshi, John Daido Loori, Thomas Keating.

Cave in the Snow
English woman, Diana Perry, was the daughter of a fishmonger in London' East End until she left home for the east on a spiritual journey. She became Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, the first woman to take monk vows. She spent 12 years secluded in a cave and was quite happy there, but explains that "life ha a way of serving up what you need rather than what you think you want." She now oversees a nunnery in northern India to offer other women an opportunity for spiritual development.

Colors of Compassion
Thich Nhat Hanh offered a 4-day mindfulness training retreat to heal the divisions of color (Deer Park, California). Participants were interviewed throughout the retreat and spoke openly about their experiences as non-white Americans. There seemed to be a great sense of release and exhileration to be secluded in that accepting environment among others sharing similar experiences. Much of the film is quiet and simply observes and listens to Thich Nhat Hanh.

This also includes a wonderful bonus interview with Sister Dang Nghiem called Healing: A Woman's Journey from Doctor to Nun.

Crazy Wisdom (2010)

2011-07-19T15:11:00.003-04:00

Johanna Demetrakas' feature-length documentary film tells a long detailed story of Chogyam Trungpa, the 11th descendant of Trungpa tulkus. Often referred to as the "bad boy of buddhism," he came of age during the last generation of Tibetan monks to be assigned highly-regarded Kagyu lamas. Khenpo Ghanshar Wangpo was Trungpa's primary teacher for about five years until the monks were told to flee Tibet when the Chinese invaded during the late 1950s.

Trungpa set out with other monks for India, a journey that took 6 months. This challenge became the metaphor for his message to students going forward. "Do not be afraid. Do not be a coward." He studied at Oxford during the early 1960s to learn about how people in the west suffer and develope his approach to teaching the Dharma (teachings used to open a student's mind to reality of things as they are).

Trungpa Rinpoche and one of the monks he traveled from Tibet with, Akon Rinpoche, formed a teaching center in Scotland called Samye Ling. A pivotal moment for Trungpa was a journey to Bhutan, where he retreated in the location where Padmasambhava meditated in 800BC. There he wrote the Sadhana Mahamudra in 5 hours. This text describes a dark age when spirital values have been lost. "The river of materialism has burst its banks."

Although, Akong and Trungpa had a large following of students at Samye Ling, Akong wanted to develop the center as a place for Tibetan refugees. Trungpa had a different vision. He removed his robes and went to London to live as an ordinary man. He met a young girl named Diana. He was also involved in an accident when the car he was driving crashed through a jokeshop window. His throat was slashed and he became paralyzed on the left side.

His struggle escalated as he recovered from the accident. He became increasingly troubled by the notion of the golden buddha on the pedestal and monks in robes. "People do not see a person--they see only the robe and their pet guru." He wore a mirror on a chain around his neck as a way to professize. Many rejected him for his unconventional ways--others adored him.

The film footage includes interviews with Trungpa's wife, Diana Mukpo. She tells about this time when he told her that he was on the verge of something...either he was going crazy or becoming enlightened. In 1968 they immigrated to North America so that that he could begin offering his teachings to Americans.

He established Karme Choling in Vermont before relocating to Colorado, where another group of students assembled. A large land center was established in the mountains of Red Feather Lakes, just northwest of Boulder. In 1974 he orchestrated the first buddhist-inspired university. Naropa Institute was a gathering place from pure vision. Spiritual leaders of all kinds were invited to converge and allow sparks to fly...Gregory Bateson, Allen Ginsberg, Ram Dass, Anne Waldren...and so many others.

The film includes footage and interviews with many who contributed to those early programs. Ram Dass spoke about the days when they worked closely together. He was the heart. Trungpa was the head. "You can survive by doing nothing."

During this time when hippie culture prevailed, Trungpa met the students exactly where they were and gradually introduced new ways of being. Many left the fold when he began asking more of them. Some could not accept the idea of dressing up--wearing a suit and tie.

He was relentless in his emphasis on dismantling the ways we cling to ego. The message over and over was about the elimination of self-deception. He knew he had to enter American mindset through language. "In order to meet majesty within, one must meet majesty outside."

His Kagyu Budhhist teachings later emphasized the Shambhala teachings, a non-secular approach to meditation practice that now includes over 200 centers worldwide.

He coined the phrase, "taming the mind" and taught how to attain equilibrium. Famous for unmasking people, some feared him for that, but he kept on presenting the idea that there is no certainty and you can have a sense of humor about that. He made everything personal and emphasized that the path is under us when we continually open to what is being encountered. The Bodhissattva way makes being a benefit to others our guiding principle in life.

He introduced the notion of Dharma Art. Instead of paint a river--be a river. Receive images without struggle--allow natural dignity to emerge. He called his group of Dharma Art helpers Explorers of the Richness of the Phenomenal World. This is a practice in appreciation of the world of senses. His frequent public drunkenness is well known, but some claim that his apparent awareness of his enviroment seemed unaffected by the intoxication.

He spoke at the funeral of his good friend, Suzuki Roshi. When he stood there and cried, the entire community were given permission to grieve more fully.

The film is full of interviews with several of his students who later became teachers, including Pema Chodron. Trungpa's son, Mipham, now Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, continues the lineage as spiritual director of Shambhala International.

3000 gathered for his cremation at Karme Choling after his early death in 1987 at age 47. A rainbow formed in the sky as the funeral pyre was burning.

The film is a moving look at an important teacher of the 20th century whose legacy and influence continue to thrive.

Le Divorce (2003)

2011-07-19T13:36:00.001-04:00

This James Ivory film is a fun story about American sisters in Paris as a background. Roxeanne (Naomi Watts) is a pregnant young mother and poet married to frenchman, Charles-Henri. When sister, Isabel (Kate Hudson) arrives to help, she finds Roxeanne shaken by the news that her husband, Charles-Henri, has left her for another woman and wants a divorce.

Isabel alerts their parents in Santa Barbera and they travel to Paris to find out what is going on. Stockard Channing is wonderful as mother. French social customs are played out by Charles-Henri's large family, headed by matriarch, Suzanne (Leslie Caron). Isabel seduces Charles-Henri's father, Edgar. He sends her a Hermes crocodile Kelly Bag. This signals to others that an affair has begun. So French.

Matthew Modine is a distressed husband of Charles-Henri's new girlfriend who refuses to grant her a divorce. He finds his own way to resolve the conflict.

My favorite character in all of this is the American poet professor, Olivia (Glenn Close). She seems to have been a bit of a mentor to Roxeanne and hires Isabel as an assistant. Close is the epitome of the successful, confident professional...over fifty and attractive with just a few streaks of grey in her long lush hair...wonderfully sculpted face. She has lived in Paris a long time and is full of news about the customs...talks about writing a book about french mothers and their scarves. Scarves are featured on heads, around necks, as gifts. We learn that the scarf gift signals the end of an affair.

Central to the the drama between the two families is an heirloom that Roxeanne has possession of in the Paris home...a highly-valued painting of Saint Ursula has been on loan to her by her family. Charles-Henri's family believed it to be part of her "dowry." Roxeanne's family had only allowed her to "borrow" it for awhile. BeBe Neuwirth is the museum curator with interests in retrieving the valued art. Saint Ursula was the patron sait of all young girls. This metaphor becoes key to Roxeanne's future.

The Richard Robbins soundtrack has an old Paris feel an adds a light mood to the complex and funny story.

A Few Quick Movie Suggestions

2011-07-01T08:39:00.001-04:00

Our Own Love Story (2010)...A bit odd, but still enjoyed seeing Renee Zellweger as a wheelchair-bound singer traveling with her unlikely friend (Forest Whitaker). Great Dylan soundtrack.

Singles (1992)...Bridget Fonda, Matt Dylan, Kyra Sedgwick, Campbell Scott as 20-somethings learning to live in the world of relationships.

Snowcake (2006)...Alan Rickman is just out of prison when his life becomes crossed with Sigourney Weaver is a high-functioning autistic woman and an unusua friendship evolves. Rickman is wonderful!

Thumbsucker (2005)...Family drama/comedy with Tilda Swinton and Vincent D'Onofrio as parents of teen with oral obsession with his thumb. Great comic relief from Keanu Reeves, the boy's deep thinking orthodontist and Vince Vaughn as the well-meaning school counselor. Enjoyed this one a lot.

Shape of Things (2003)...College campus romantic comedy with Paul Rudd as a geek who is transformed into a better version of himself when he falls for a conceptual artist who is full of artiface. This is kind of silly and twisted, but entertaining.

Chelsea on the Rocks (2008)

2011-07-01T08:04:00.000-04:00

Abel Ferrara's documentary tells about the NYC landmark hotel and all the colorful characters who resided there through the years as developers were planning to change the game. There was money to be made off the tattered building and longtime tenants faced the possibility of losing their affordable home.

Stanley Bard managed the building during the days when artists bartered paintings for rent. The film is dedicated to poet Dylan Thomas, who is one of the many writers to live and work at The Chelsea. Old and new interviews with tenants and former residents include Vito Acconti, Jerry Garcia, Janice Joplin, Donald Baechler, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and many others. Ethan Hawke directed Chelsea Walls, a film of stories shot in the hotel. He tells about Stanley inviting him to move in for a few months after his marriage broke up--rentfree. He says living at The Chelsea had been a right of passage for young actors.

Good stories and reflections about another fading chapter of the art world.

Somewhere (2010)

2011-06-03T16:56:00.000-04:00

Sophia Coppola wrote and directed the film. Her brother, Roman Coppola, produced it. Shot on location at Chateau Marmont, the lengendary L.A. hotel that is almost a rite-of-passage residence for young actors.

This story features Cleo (Elle Fanning), a lovely eleven year old who is sent to live with her actor dad while mom takes a break from her role as mother. Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) is a well-known actor, a good-looking guy who drives a Ferrari, drinks, parties, chases women and lives at Chateau Marmont.

Described as a "poetic drama," the story begins when Marco breaks his hand in a drunken fall. Just as his life seems to be empty of meaning, his daughter arrives full of new energy.

The DVD bonus features are worth watching. Sophia explains that her early life involved a lot of travel with her famous moviemaker father, Franicis Ford Coppola. Hotels now seem to play a role in many of her movies. She mentions having her 13th birthday party at the Chateau. Stephen Dorff claims to have spent $85,000 on his 21st birthday at the hotel.

Johnny Marco attempts to manage the sudden responsibility with the demands of his Hollywood life, including a trip to Milan for an awards show, where they stay at another luxurious hotel. Cleo leads him into a more meaningful life beyond the car and party world.

So Many Movies--so little time

2011-05-21T16:36:00.003-04:00

I have watched several films in the last couple months that I never posted. There will be no catching up so here is a condensed version...

Nickel City Smiler (2010)

2011-04-13T20:46:00.015-04:00

Scott Murchie and Brett Williams bring attention to the growing population of Burmese refugees who were forced out of their homeland and into jungle refugee camps on the border of Burma and Thailand by a brutal military dictatorship. The story is told by Smiler Greely, who spent 23 years at a camp before arriving on the west side of Buffalo, New York.

During the last ten years, the US has brought 600,000 refugees into the country through various resettlement programs. Most of the people who have relocated to Buffalo in the last few years are refugees.

Smiler is a thoughtful and well-spoken family man (with a great name). A former rebel fighter, he has learned the ropes a bit and shares what he knows by looking after the interests of his people who have little education and arrive with nothing, but hope. He asks "Why did they put us where they put us?" The west side is often threatening and unfriendly. He feels let down by the organizations who receive grants to help refugees get started in an apartment with minimal donated furnishings and not a lot else. Local organizations offer as much assistance as they can, but the process is slow.

Smiler offers encouragement to a woman who is emotionally broken since the death of her husband just a few months after her family arrived. She now has five children to care for and speaks little English. He assures her that he and his wife care about her. "Your children are my children," he tells her, but she comments that it was better in the jungle refugee camp back home. Here there are many more worries.

Donna Pepero is a local school teacher who offers Smiler endless support in his effort to build a strong community of his people. They struggle with the neighborhood gangs and are constantly targets of violence. "We must stick together like grains of rice," he tells the Karen people at a special church gathering.

Smiler explains that they all came here for the benefit of their children. His son, Moe Joe, is developing street smarts and learning from his father. He understands that his task in Buffalo is to get an education so that he can help the people back in Thailand. The kids run about the yard with little to play with. Smiler, Moe Joe, and a few others manage to have some fun singing and making music. They are shown practicing guitar and drums singing their pop rock song about their love for the Karen people.

I hope this film finds an audience beyond the screening at Buffalo Niagara Film Festival. It is especially enlightening for anyone not directly involved in the refugee activities on the west side. Heart-breaking, though...not a feel-good story about how well they are all doing. The film highlights their struggles and how far they have to go before more of the Burmese community are thriving. They are lucky to have someone like Smiler on their side.

More information is available at http://www.nickelcitysmiler.com

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (2009)

2011-04-08T20:43:00.005-04:00

John Krasinski (The Office), directed and wrote this screenplay adaption of a David Foster Wallace story of the same name. A quote from Wallace sets the tone..."The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you. "

Set on a college campus, Sara (Julianne Nicholson) is a quiet young graduate student who is teaching and working on research about the effects of the feminist movement. The story is comprised of various interviews with men about their relationships with women as they open up to the tape recorder in surprising ways while she sits silently listening to their reflections.

Sara is personally invested in understanding why women find so much disappointment in relationships with men and a challenging central idea asks if painful experiences are the only path to true knowing? She carries an aura of sadness that is better understood as former boyfriend, Ryan (John Krasinski) reveals his story. As the subjects of her research reveal the depths of their desires and the dynamics of how they interact with women, Sara becomes more and more puzzled about the direction of study.

Professor Adams (Timothy Hutton) is her kindly teacher and guide who shares some of his own views about women. The cast are all familiar faces that are often difficult to place.This is a serious film, but enjoyable and thought-provoking with good acting--Julianne Nicholson is understated and appealing to watch.

Going Shopping (2005)

2011-03-20T17:06:00.000-04:00

I am working my way through the Henry Jaglom collection of films--many are written with his actress wife, Victoria Foyt. This is one of their collaborations about modern women and the men who love them. Jaglom's directing style is improvisational with many of the same actors turning up again and again in these explorations of the life of feeling, dream, love, meaning, fear, and alienation.

This movie centers on Holly Gilmore (Victoria Foyt), a designer of upscale women's dresses and owner of Holly G, a popular shop/cafe hub in Beverly Hills. She appears to be quite successful in her lovely clothing and stylish life until she learns that her boyfriend/manager failed to pay the rent for several months. Holly must raise $40,000 over one weekend to avoid losing the shop. She and her staff pull together to sell off all her stock during a Mother's Day sale. The film is full of interactions with her staff and shoppers--woven with intimate testimonial interviews with several of these women speaking about the emotional psychology of shopping.

Holly's mother, Winnie (Lee Grant) has a no-good boyfriend and a dark secret. Holly's teenage daughter, Coco, adds a third generation to the family trio as each struggle with challenges of their place in life. Holly discovers a new friend when she helps Miles (Rob Morrow) pick out a gift for his girlfriend. Holly's life is all about appearance. Miles is a guy wearing a Free Tibet t-shirt and admits to being a little lost in his life...a designer of ottomans and compulsive shopper with a girlfriend who he can never please.

Watching each character attempt to resolve their issues is a pleasure.

Festival at Cannes (2001)

2011-03-19T20:12:00.000-04:00

This Henry Jaglom film happens in Cannes during the annual film festival. Alice is a middle age actress (Greta Scacchi) who is transitioning to writer/director. She is at the festival with her two co-writers, working on their story about a sixtyish Gena Rowlands-type character who is trying to get her own life back after taking care of a family most of her adult years.

Blue (Jenny Gabrielle) is there for the debut of Fire, her well-received first starring film role. She is stunned and awkward with the sudden attention and label as the new "It" girl. The town is swarming with wheeling and dealing--money guys and other sweet-talkers preying upon the hopeful artists in their bid to become a manager or producer.

Ron Silver (now deceased) is wonderful as Rick, the smooth producer in shades and black clothing. He negotiates in a most effortless manner. His mission at the festival is to coax an aging film legend, Millie (Anouk Aimee), into taking a small role in a project that Tom Hanks agrees to do only if Millie is cast. Millie feels the role is humiliating--she is aiming for a more defining role to bring back her career. Alice also wants Millie for her for her small film.

Viktor is Millie's ex who is a director of cult art films who is tired of the whole game. He sums up his feelings......"Sometimes I think it is enough to dream the movies--it's just too much work." His young actress girlfriend dumps him for somebody who appears more promising. Now he wants Millie back.

The display of ego-stroking and power plays are carefully orchestrated. Vulnerabilities are uncovered. Alice and Rick get together, but it is never clear if true romance is blossoming or if Rick is manipulating Alice to get the deal he needs. It's like being a fly on the wall at a really good party. Jaglom's films have the romance and air of a 1930s movie with music from Charles Trenet, Fred Astair, Edith Piaf, Mel Torme. This one captures the ordinariness of glamour. People are surrounded by wealth, appearances, and beauty on the Mediterranean and still they are struggling with loneliness, relationship, identity--trying to find a bit of happiness.

Deja Vu (1997)

2011-03-18T17:49:00.000-04:00

I first watched this film about ten years ago and every so often I must watch it again. This is a "Romance" that raises questions about destiny, fate and synchronicity. Henry Jaglom directed and co-wrote the story with Victoria Foyt, who also stars as Dana, an L.A. shopkeeper on vacation in Europe. The movie opens in Jerulsalem, where Dana is buying clothing to ship back to sell in her store. An attractive forty-something woman with poise and style, she plans to meet fiancee, Alex (Michael Brandon), at the home of friends in London.

While relaxing at a countryside cafe, she has a curious encounter with a friendly older woman who tells her a story about a lovely ruby pin given to her by the love of her life many years ago. When the woman leaves Dana with the pin and never returns from the powder room, she delays meeting Alex to attempt to find the woman in Tel Aviv and Paris. Sidetracked on the train to London, she gets off at Dover, the site of the well-known World War II song about the white cliffs. References to the location and song crop up again and again throughout the film, adding to the 1940s romantic flavor of the story.

At the white cliffs she meets an oddly familiar painter named Sean (Stephen Dillane). He mentions "saudade," the Portugese word that describes the love that remains after someone is gone...a nostalgia for a time or place or thing that may never have been or may never be. They visit a cafe for hot chocolate and once again she delays her arrival at the home of Claire and John in London, where Alex awaits her. An eclectic group join together for food, drink, and introspective conversation. We learn that Alex and Dana have purchased an old mansion that once belonged to a Hollywood legend to convert it to a hotel/spa. Skelly (Vanessa Redgrave), John's free-spirited, sixty-something, bohemian sister is full of stories and charm.

Complex relationships unravel and unexpected forces cause Dana to doubt her life choices. Skelly is orchestrating a way to move her elderly mother to live with Claire and John in order to maintain her self-involved livestyle, free from the burden of caring for Mother. Practiced in the art of an unencumbered life, she offers Dana wonderful pearls of wisdom in her moment of confusion.

"The world conspires to prevent us from taking what we have found."

"Illusion is a scent of something real coming close."

The trip is cut short when Dana's father back home is hospitalized. He reveals a long-hidden secret on her wedding day. This is a fun and thought-provoking romantic tale that explores the more troubling aspects of following the heart.

Who Is Henry Jaglom (1997)

2011-03-17T17:01:00.000-04:00

This documentary by Alex Rubin and Jeremy Workman investigates the eccentric film maker, Henry Jaglom. After appearing in the Gidget television series and in several B movies, including Psyche Out/The Trip, a 1960s classic.

Jaglom began making his own independent films that are much like a garage sale of various personal items out on a lawn--some junk, some precious. His motto is "there is no such thing as too personal." He views movie making as a process of extracting and shaping what actors give him. He uses a stable of actors that become frequent visitors in his films. His brother, Michael Emil (Jaglom), is one such actor. Melissa Leo, who just won an Oscar for The Fighter, is another regular. Andre Gregory, from the 1970s film, My Dinner with Andre, is also included.

Jaglom's films are described as being somewhere between documentary and fiction. He was a great admirer and friend of Orson Welles. Welles comments "Henry and I are girlfriends." He uses Welles' face in his production company International Rainbow Pictures. He also gave his son, Simon, Orson as a middle name.

His films tend to feature women and he strikes me as a feminist, aware of women's issues. Still, some women find him to be a woman-hater. The film includes commentary from Candace Bergman, Dennis Hopper, and many of his core actors.

The creators of this documentary point out many of Jaglom's flaws and feature shots of him yelling and not being a nice guy. A Extra Feature included with the DVD called "Who Isn't Henry Jaglom?" This attempts to balance out this out. For anyone who becomes taken with his films, this documentary adds a lot to understanding why Jaglom does what he does.

He's an artist. Of course, some people will want to tear him apart...others will adore him.

Baby Fever (1994)

2011-03-16T17:55:00.001-04:00

I believe this is the first Henry Jaglom film starring Victoria Foyt, his future wife and collaborator. The movie explores motherhood at a time when women had finally learned to be independent and there is much confusion surrounding how to do this differently from their mothers.

Gena (Foyt) questions her tendency to always have an escape plan with men and wonders why she is forever evolving. She is dating Gary, a co-worker who is nice man and a talented architect with romantic ideas about settling down in the right house. He is ready to take the next step together and tries to convince her that making a baby could be a really good idea. He uses a metalurgy metaphor about two substances being greater when combined. Still, Gena is not sure that he is "the one."

Meanwhile, she is visited by a former beau, Anthony Thomas (Eric Roberts), a handsome actor with financial problems. She is a finance professional so he arrives asking for help straightening out his problems. He also makes a play to reunite with her. She was once quite in love with him so this unexpected interaction sends her into unknown emotional territory.

Gena attends a baby shower where various women speak to the camera about their feelings about marriage and motherhood. Jaglom's women are typically confused--overwhelmed with mixed feelings that border on annoyingly whiney, but somehow, it's never enough to turn me away. Gena's friends call her "our queen spinster," but she secretly buys baby girl clothing and saves them in a box underneath her bed. Gena is torn between whether to settle or hold out for "Mr. Right."

There is a surprise ending that is kind of fun. This movie is an in-depth exploration of a topic rarely addressed in movies beyond cliche storylines.

Someone to Love (1988)

2011-03-15T18:35:00.002-04:00

This is Henry Jaglom's attempt to get to the bottom of why so many people fail to find the kind of marital happiness and longevity as the previous generation. This was the late 1980s--he was still single. Danny (Jaglom) is a 40-something bachelor dating a woman who prefers to sleep the night alone so he always unhappy about walking out the door late at night. "Not everyone wants a white picket fence," she tells him.

His brother (Michael Emil Jaglom) is visiting L.A. to finalize a real estate deal to tear down an old theater to make a shopping plaza. He feels no shred of sadness about this, but Danny decides host a party at the old theater in hopes of connecting his brother with one of his single friends and shoot film at the theater on Valentine's Day.

Danny mailed invitations to all the singles her knew. They showed up not sure what was in store for them. His film features one-on-one interviews with a varied group of 30 and 40-somethings about why they have failed to sustain intimacy in their lives. He creates a believable series of in-depth question and answers that shed light on a generation of men and women who rejected the expectations of the previous generation while having no clear map for how to find their own meaningful lives.

Sally Kellerman appears as the big time actress who had left her husband. Danny's brother is quite taken with her. Other romantic interests evolve during this party that offers more that food and drink. Jaglom thoroughly explores the topic of why a generation was left unattached at mid-life at this moment of 1988...a unique moment in history.

Leaving (2009)

2011-03-14T18:16:00.003-04:00

Catherina Corsini has made a lovely film set in the south of France. The plot is classic. Suzanne (Kristin Scott Thomas) is a beautiful forty-something housewife who is returning to work as a physiotherapist. Her life with children and husband, Samuel (Yvan Attal) is comfortable and uneventful until Ivan (Sergi Lopez) is hired to renovate a small building in the backyard into a proper consulting room for her practice.

An immediate attraction is sparked between Suzanne and Ivan. Suzanne realizes how unhappy she has been with Samuel. It does not take long for Samuel to notice the disruption in their life. When she attempts to flee, he wages a fight keep her at all costs. The son and daughter are caught in the middle and the lovers are conflicted until the drama is finally resolved. The story is nothing new, but the acting is believable and I did not want to stop watching it.

I've Loved You So Long (2008)

2011-03-14T17:53:00.004-04:00

Philippe Claudel's French language film explores a woman's struggle to find her place in society after fifteen years in prison. The story opens as Lea (Elsa Zylberstein) greets her older sister, Juliette (Kristin Scott Thomas) at the prison to take her home. Near strangers now, Lea was a young child when Juliette mysteriously disappeared and her parents stopped talking about her.

When a social worker contacted her about offering Juliette a home upon release, Lea was eager to help. Now married with two young daughters, she generously invites Juliette to share her warm and cheerful home life, a choice her husband is not happy about. Juliette is quietly appreciative, but distant until she is coaxed to open up and tell the truth about that tragic event that changed her life. Once a doctor and mother, she is without an identity. She cooks, cleans, swims, learns to relate to her young nieces. The love of her new family allows her wounds to heal in order to to find work and build a new life.

Kristin Scott Thomas expresses so much by doing so little. This is a beautiful film about loss and second chances.

! Women Art Revolution (2010)

2011-02-20T17:21:00.004-05:00

I feel fortunate to have just seen a screening of Lynn Hershman Leeson's new film at Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center. It may be awhile until it rounds all the film festivals and is available for wide release.

She has been working on this for forty years. In the meantime, Hershman made the intriguing, Strange Culture, just a few years ago. This retrospective of feminist art explains the invisibility of women in art throughout history and sheds light on the evolution of contemporary women artists in America. She begins by showing the emergence of women in performance art of the late 1960s and beyond and weaves historical film footage and photos with later interviews.

Judy Chicago, Miriam Shapiro, Carol Scheneeman, Hannah Wilke, Anna Mendieta, Marcia Tucker--and so many more are featured, including in-depth interviews and actions by Guerilla Girls. The art activist group formed in the mid-1980s to point the finger at the art world's role in keeping women out. Their efforts sparked changes...The Whitney Museum featured more women than men in their last Biennale exhibition. Marcia Tucker, a curator who got her starts at The Whitney, later created The New Museum, an art space that has always shown a great number of women artists.

This film holds the story of late 20th century women in art that is lacking in the libraries. The art world that has become so much more accessible to women of the last couple decades need to know that this was achieved like the right to vote or reproductive choice--after persistent effort.

Crazy Sexy Cancer (2007)

2011-02-19T19:10:00.005-05:00

Kris Carr has created a beautiful film of her cancer experience from diagnosis to surviorship. She was diagnosed with stage IV of a rare cancer of the vascular system in 2003. Due to the rareness of this condition, there was no known protocol for treatment. A thirty-one year old actress living in NYC, she set out to investigate all the possible treatments. Her movie tagline is "looking for a cure and finding your life."

Cancer became her full-time job. She became a healing junkie. Along the way, she met Jackie Farry, an alternative rock show promoter who had been diagnosed that year with multiple myeloma. She tells about her struggle as a single woman to manage being ill--too old to move in her parents, but without great resources to cope with the dilemma. "Having cancer is awkward," she says. Kris also profiles Erin Zamett, a young writer with cancer and her sister, a 28-year old married pregnant woman who is diagnosed with lymphoma.

Kris refers to "B.C." as before cancer and asks "How can I move forward until I go backward first?" She seeks out every new age therapy and spiritual path. She concludes that "cancer is a metaphor for fear." She seeks out Bhagavan Das, who tell her that an ailment is an assignment to heal the body." Another specialist tells Kris that all sickness is due to improper PH balance of acids and states "a fish is only as healthy as the fluids it swims in."

Kris talks to others. She falls in love. She even gets married. Four years after the diagnosis, she calls herself a survivor and says "Life is messy and brilliant, gorgeous and staggering, crazy and sexy--just like cancer."

We heal our bodies eight times faster with exercise. There is plenty of practical advice about exercise juicing, diet, and other health issues. Kris went on to create an holistic social network of "wellness warriors" at...
http://crazysexylife.com

I first saw this film four years ago, but I enjoyed seeing it again. This movie really nails the experience of living with a terminal illness--it is a wonderful film for anyone touched by cancer or anyone seeking health. Kris Carr's illness became her new career as an advocate for cancer prevention. She has a new book, Crazy Sexy Diet.

Catfish (2010)

2011-02-10T10:07:00.015-05:00

I have a feeling there are many interesting films to come by the handsome Schulman Brothers. Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman directed this one. Filmmaker and photographer, Yaniv Schulman, is the central character of this docudrama.

This story begins during late 2007 when Nev (Yaniv Schulman) receives a request on myspace from a 8-year-old girl named Abby who saw one of his dance photos in the newspaper and wants to make a painting of it. He soon receives the small charming painting in the mail from his young friend in Michigan. He is oddly amused by all this and so he begins sending her more photos to paint from. The talented young artist strikes up a rapport with Nev on facebook, where he soon connects with her family. Much of this film is told through the facebook or touchphone screen. Part ducumentary and part reality thriller--full of love, deception and grace.

Henry and Ariel begin documenting the unfolding of online intrigue as Nev begins a friendship with Abby's mom, Angela (Angela Wesselman-Pierce), followed by Abby's sister, Megan (Amy Gonzalez). Angela reports on Abby's prolific outpouring of art featuring dancers and horses and girls that have sold for as much as $7,000. They have even purchased an abandoned JC Penny store to make into a gallery all for her. Abby sends a portrait of Angela to Nev and he is surprised to learn how attractive she is. Abby tells Nev that she puts a strand of her own hair into each painting and even spits into the paint so that her DNA will be part of it. Really? An 8-year-old girl thinks like this?

19-year-old Megan turns out to be another artistic dynamo. She composes, sings plays instruments--has a band with her brother called The Casualities (sends Nev the t-shirt). Megan also paints and dances. Plus, she is gorgeous. Nev is curiously drawn into this seemingly creative world far from New York City. Phonecalls and texts with Megan heighten the connection. He begins falling in love. She tells him that she purchased a horse farm and this sparks Nev's fantasy even further at a time in his life when he is sick of making bar mitzvah videos. He indulges in the fantasy of country life with a gorgeous woman. You know.

Megan's dad, Vince, is a hip guy with an earring. Who are these people? A few discrepancies begin turning up. The boys hash over the minute details of these folks as Nev carries on his his growing romance with Megan.

During the summer of 2008, Ariel and Henry follow Nev to a dance fesitval in Colorado. On the drive back, they stop in Michigan for a surprise visit to these "friends." The second half of the film takes place in Michigan as truths are revealed.

This is very well done. The films raises so many questions about the nature of illusion and the virtual world. The internet is a place where "truth remains in limbo." We all become a character in this realm. The idea of "living novel" is explored. The choices we make in life add up.

There is an enlightening bonus Q & A with the Schulmans and Joost where they talk openly about their experience of making his film. It has a feel of faux documentary, but they report that the events did occur and there was a lot of editing. I think it reflects a core aspect of 21st century life. This would be a great film to watch with a group for discussion later.

I will run to see their next film.

20/20 did an in-depth review on the film and interview with the cast of characters that tells all (spoiler alert--as they say)......
http://www.abcnews.go.com/2020/catfish-woman-angela-wesselman-twisted-cyber-romance-abc/story?id=11831583&page=1

Blue Valentine (2010)

2011-02-06T10:08:00.004-05:00

Another film to see before the Oscars at the end of the month. Michelle Williams is nominated for best actress in Derek Cianfrance's low-budget ($1million) film shot in super 16mm. The tagline calls this "A Love Story." It is very much a 21st century romance about a typical sort of American couple. The story weaves flashbacks with the current life Cindy (Michelle Williams) and Dean (Ryan Gosling) to tell how they happened to become a married couple with an adorable young daughter named Meg. Events unfold around Brooklyn during a six or seven year timeframe.

The pair begin as fresh-faced young adults in their late teens. We see Cindy with high school boyfriend, Bobby (Mike Vogel) and caring tenderly for her elderly grandmother. Dean and Cindy are likely only in their mid-twenties or so by the end of the film, but physical aging is evident. This is very ordinary story that highlights how mismatched individuals often fall in love and face difficulties down the road. The qualities that attract two people at the beginning are often the very qualities that can tear them apart later on. This film does a wonderful job of showing us snapshots of how this works.

Dean is a good man who considers himself lucky to have a job (house painter) that allows him to drink throughout the day. Cindy is a nurse with unmet ambitions. They attempt to rekindle their romance during a night in a spaceship-themed motel room (seems to be Atlantic City). She asks Dean..."Isn't there something you want to do?" I heard an interview with Williams and Gosling. They spent a month together living in the house on the movie set, where they celebrated together an entire year of special occasions together and got to know each other in order to convey a convincing married couple--they do appear quite natural together.

Gosling has a perpetual teenage boy quality that was featured in an earlier film, Lars and the Real Girl. Williams has a quality of depth from her actual lived life of caring for a young daughter and the loss of the child's father, Heath Ledger. They create a film that is a beautiful, sad, heartfelt story that reflects contemporary life in the most real way. This may not be her year to win an Oscar, but she will one day.

Milk (2008)

2011-02-05T13:55:00.006-05:00

I enjoyed seeing this when it was first released. Like many who lived in San Francisco during the Harvey Milk years, there was a lot of nostalgia in watching it. I lived just blocks away from Castro and had my film developed at Milk's camera shop, a place I recall as nothing special--just a small, casual business. I especially went in to use the the color Xerox photocopier that was not found many places.

Gus Van Sant's film tells the story of Harvey Milk's rise to notoriety during the 1970s, using flashbacks as Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) narrates his own story by talking into a tape recorder days before he was murdered. The tale begins on the eve of his 40th birthday in the New York subway when he meets Scott Smith (James Franco), a younger, shaggier, pot-smoking man of the early 1970s. Milk sheds his closeted conservative insurance company life to flee with Smith to the more open-minded Castro neighborhood of San Francisco. This is 1973--a bearded and pony-tailed Milk wears a uniform of denim. They open a small photography shop and settle into the charming neighborhood of local Irish catholic residents who not happy with the growing population of gay men.

Harvey becomes an activist and works with teamsters to head a boycott of Coors Beer, leading Coors to hire gay delivery truck drivers. Next, he runs for city Supervisor to promote affordable housing, youth programs, services for senior citizens, rent control and human rights for all. He began all his speeches "My fellow degenerates..." He lost, but tried again the following year--this time sporting a short haircut and suit. Scott eventually left Milk and the world of politics. Initially distraught, Milk quickly picked up with Jack Lira (Diego Luna). Milk had gained the help of Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch) who was his activist-in-training. He also hired a lesbian woman, Ann Kronenberg (Allison Pill) to run his next campaign.

Anita Bryant had begun her campaign in Forida against homosexuals. Milk fought even harder against her influence of bigotry that was spreading. He aimed to send a message of hope to all the young gays to not believe any of her fear tactics and remained devoted to fighting this as long as it took to protect the gay rights ordinance, Proposition 6, that he had won in SF. Right-wing Senator, John Briggs joined forces with Anita Bryant to repeal all the Proposition 6 wins across the nation. Milk finally won his seat as Supervisor and began making alliances at City Hall with Mayor Moscone (Victor Garber) and Dan White (Josh Brolin).

White became increasingly agitated by Milk's popularity and success. He resigned and tried to regain his position as he had a mental breakdown that ended in his shooting both Moscone and Milk at City Hall in 1978. Van Sant re-created the moving historic candlelit march of 30,000 from Castro to City Hall after the shootings. Milk left behind an entire community of gay rights activists who would carry on the fight. Penn is thoroughly convincing as Harvey Milk and brings him to life for the duration of this film.

White was found guilty of manslaughter and served just five years in prison. Two years after his release, he commit suicide. Cleve Jones went on to become an Aids activist and founder of the Names Project, responsible for the famous Aids Memorial Quilt in the late 1980s. Scott Smith was clearly the man behind the man at the start of Milk's rise to fame. He passed away in 2000. About James Franco...he is entirely convincing playing the the role of a gay man, but it turns out he has a longtime girlfriend who is thin, blond--all Hollywood. Of course.

Sonny (2002)

2011-02-05T13:27:00.002-05:00

Catching up on a few James Franco films prior to Oscar night. This one was directed by Nicholas Cage. Set in 1981 New Orleans, Sonny (James Franco) returns in full uniform from the service to begin again. Jewel (Brenda Blethyn) is his "madame" Mother. Henry (Harry Dean Stanton) is Sonny's stepfather. When Sonny's plans to start a new job fell through, he is faced with the world of prostitution that he grew up around.

Yes, he is once a male prostitute. Carol (Mena Suvari) is Jewel's young protege. Kindred souls in this seedy world, the two strike up a friendship when they are asked to share a bedroom at Jewel's home. The movie tagline is "His life was the morning after, until he decided to change the night before." I would have not have watched it through to the end without the younger, slimmer Franco in the role--he's a good actor. It is a glamorless version of American Gigolo, a film that would have been nothing without Richard Gere.

Sonny falls back into his old ways when he runs into Meg (Brenda Vacarro), a former client. We watch him work his way through the pain of finding his way back out again.

The Deerhunter (1978)

2011-01-26T17:36:00.010-05:00

When I saw the clips from Robert DeNiro's films at The Golden Globes as he received the lifetime achievement award, I was curious to see this one again.

The story took place about ten years before the film opened as three buddies in a small Pennsylvania steel town were preparing to head off to Vietnam--Mike (DeNiro), Steven (John Savage), Nick (Christopher Walken). The film opens with Steven and Angela's wedding. Linda (Meryl Streep) is the maid of honor who Nick proposes to by the end of the night. The men go off on one last deer hunting expedition before they say their goodbyes.

The three friends arrive fully into the grimness of that war. Somehow they all end up prisoners at the same riverside camp where they are forced to play Russian Roulette. This experience begins to drive Steven mad, but Nick and Mike endure to outsmart the prison guards long enough to shoot them and escape.

They are floating dowstream when a helicopter is able to rescue Nick only. Mike and Steven run into trouble when Steven falls and breaks both legs. Mike manages to rescue him through the jungle to safety. Nick is psychologically damaged and lost in the Saigon red light district where he gambles at Russian Roulette. Mike spotted him one night, but was unable to track him down before his flight back to Pennsylvania.

Mike returns a decorated war hero in full uniform, eager to see Linda, who he pined for--even through he is Nick's girl. Both Nick and Mike were each shown during the war pulling out the same small high school photo of Linda to get them through the hard times. She is waiting for Nick, but seems equally wanting something more with Mike. Mike is unsettled back home without his buddies. He learns that Steven has been sent home a double amputee and remains hidden away in the veteran's hospital, ashamed to see his friends. Mike seeks him out and Steven has been receiving mysterious envelopes of money from Viet Nam. This moves Mike to return to Saigon to find Nick.

Mike arrives in Saigon as it has become occupied by the Viet Cong--people were being shipped out, fires from bombs burned in the streets. Mike found Nick an empty shell of his former self, but he managed to face him in a match at the Roulette table, hoping to wake him up from the nightmare. Mike failed to stop Nick from the suicidal game. Instead, he brought Nick's body home for a funeral. The friends mourn together at a cemetary next to the steel mill and go off deer hunting once again after the funeral--for Nick. I like the bookend effect, but I kept thinking that the landscape appears much more spectacular than my vision of Pennsylvania.

Michael Camino's film is mostly colorless except for intentional bright spots--the red bandannas worn by the men at the Russian Roulette table, red blood, the flowers on Nick's coffin. The cinematography is dark and under-lit and many of the scenes take place at night. The movie is clearly anti-gun, despite the guns of the hunt, war and roulette table. Over and over, they are proven to be evil. Mike is unable to kill a deer during the final deer hunt.

The community assemble for a gathering at the local bar to complete the mourning. As the cook is preparing eggs for the group, he begins singing "God Bless America." Linda joins him and eventually all the others join in the singing. Sounds corny, but it is quite moving-- real. A lot was broken during that time and the movie nails it. Seeing DeNiro, Streep and Walken in their younger days is like seeing old friends. They have become such fixtures of Amerian film. Although he is not an "A-list" celebrity, John Savage continues to act in many movies. He is amazing in this one. John Cazale was cast as Stanley, one of the local friends. He was romantically involved with Meryl Streep at the time of shooting, but sadly, he died of lung cancer soon after this film. Only forty-two, he had already been featured in The Godfather and Dog Day Afternoon.

The Rabbit Hole (2010)

2011-01-24T11:45:00.004-05:00

John Cameron Mitchell's film was a good choice for a cold snowy Buffalo sunday afternoon. Beware--this is not a light-hearted fun film, but if you have an appetite for difficult stories about real life situations, this one is thoroughly engaging. Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie (Aaron Eckhard) are an attractive fortyish couple who appear to have a beautiful life in a large victorian home by a body of water. This perfect world is a wonderful contrast to the dark stillness in their life--a huge loss has hit them.

We discover that they are stuck in grief after the sudden death of their only child. Well-meaning family and friends are caught in the middle of the couple's drama. Becca, once an art professional for Sotheby's auction house, has been a stay-at-home mom who is now searching for a way to reconnect to her life beyond gardening and baking. Her mother, Nat (Diane Wiest), shares her nurturing between one daughter who is unmarried and pregnant--and Becca, who is pleased by nothing. Nat carries her own grief after losing an adult son to drug addiction. Gaby (Sandra Oh) is a caring support group friend who helps Howie through the growing marital difficulties between he and Becca. Becca finds some relief from her pain as she befriends Jason, a neighborhood high school boy who has created a comic book called Rabbit Hole.

The movie tagline is "The only way out is through." The comic book art adds a curious visual to the landscape of this story through the pain of these characters.

Seraphine (2009)

2011-01-15T20:22:00.002-05:00

I saw this film when it was first released, but found myself watching it again and immersing myself in a simpler time and place. The Martin Provost film shows the life of a simple peasant woman during the early 20th century--living alone with no family or friends in the countryside of Senlis, France.

Seraphine (Yolande Moreau) spends her days working as a simple cleaning woman. She leaves her daily job to wander and sit among trees and flowers. We learn that she is a deeply spiritual person who has spent time with nuns and was called by a spiritual force to paint. She knows nothing of the modern art world of Picasso and Braque that was exploding just miles away in Paris, but Seraphine spends the little money she has on wood and pigments from a local merchant. While journeying through the countryside, she collects cooking oils, melted candlewax, blood, flowers and mud to concoct her paints. Seraphine lives on food offerings from her employer, crumbs of bread and "energy wine" she brews while working. She returns to her tiny room to paint all evening by candlelight.

The film takes us on a vivid journey with her as the gentleman she cleans for turns out to be Wilhelm Uhde, a Paris art collector. He eventually discovers her secret life as a painter and her vibrant pictures of foliage and flowers. Uhde is moved by her exceptional talent, as he had recently discovered the Primitive Moderne style of the painter, Rousseau and his good friend, Kahnweiler, was introducing the paintings of Picasso.

Uhde's attention and encouragement sparked Seraphine to work ossessively--even as the war breaks out and many flee, including Uhde. All the people of means leave town, but she remains and continues to paint as bombs sound in the distance. Udhe returns several years later and resumes his support of her career by offering a monthly stipend. The big show he promises is delayed due to the sinking economy of the late 1920s and Seraphine's fragile mental state deteriorates.

The encounter with Uhde saved her work from obscurity and Seraphine de Senlis has often been grouped with the naive primitive painters referred to as Sacred Heart Painters. The best part of this story is not her discovery by a powerful collector. More fascinating--her ability to express human creative nature, despite lack of education, money, class.

Paris Je T'aime (2006)

2011-01-15T10:46:00.004-05:00

This is the film that inspired New York, I Love You (reviewed below).

Various neighborhoods of Paris are featured in short films directed by a dozen filmmakers, including Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven, Ethan and Joel Cohen. Again, the cast is huge, but several actors from theNew York film were in this original--Natalie Portman, Nick Nolte, Willem Dafoe. Some of the others are Bob Hoskins, Fanny Ardant, Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazara, Juliette Binoche, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Elija Wood.

The Cohen Brothers' segment is especially good. Steve Buscemi is an American tourist interacting with a pair of lovers in The Metro. Any film shot in Paris is off to a good start. I would say the same of any film shot in New York. This collage style of stories with a huge cast of top actors has become more common for a good reason. Maybe we have all become accustomed to short bytes of input. However, this format offers more than just small digestible pieces. This style has a more intimate quality. Anyone watching closely will find patterns and threads woven throughout the entire film. Both movies are quite enjoyable.

New York, I Love You (2009)

2011-01-05T14:10:00.004-05:00

Twelve directors and seventeen writers created a web of stories that follow the format of Paris Je T'aime, as each story takes place in a different area of the city. It is a valentine to New York.

I found this film in my quest for more Natalie Portman. She is listed here as director, writer and star of one segment about a Hasidic diamond trader about to be married and her dealings with a Jain Indian associate as the two discover their commonality.

Eli Wallach and Cloris Leachman portray a married couple in Brighton Beach on their 63rd wedding anniversary.

Chris Cooper and Robin Wright Penn are a flirtatious couple smoking outside a restaurant.

Julie Christie is a former opera singer visiting a New York Hotel.

Another scenario involves a downtown artist who paints asian women on napkins using soy sauce in Chinatown restaurants.

A dancer who is mistaken for a "Manny" by a couple of women who observe him playing with his white daughter in Central Park.

Gus (Bradley Cooper) shows up in several scenes throughout and portrays a guy thinking through a one-night stand with a woman he may actually be falling for.

Ethan Hawk, Orlando Bloom, Eva Amuri, Andy Garcia are also featured along with many others in wonderfully unique tales.

The DVD extra features include two short films that are both lovely.

Vagabond Shoes is written and directed by Scarlett Johansson and stars Kevin Bacon as a man as he dresses and goes out to eat his bag lunch on a bench by the water. The five-minute gem has a very long list of credits attached.

Apocrypha, written and directed by Andrey Zuyagintsev, is about a boy who observes two lovers from afar.

Leon: The Professional (1994)

2011-01-05T13:09:00.004-05:00

After seeing Natalie Portman's startling performance in Black Swan, I was eager to watch some of her previous films. I had enjoyed seeing her as the pregnant teen living in Walmart in Where the Heart Is (2000) and her more grown-up role in the love triangle romance, Closer (2004). Someone suggested I check out this one, her first role at age twelve.

Luc Bresson's film tells the story of Mathilda (Natalie Portman) who lives in a chaotic world of sex, violence and family drug dealers. She and her little brother create their own safe haven together until all are shot one day while she is out at the grocery store.

Mathilda begs her neighbor to take her in after the incident that leaves her alone in the world and a prime witness. The solitary immigrant, Leon (Jean Reno) lives a life when he is not out doing a job as "cleaner" (hitman). Mathilda finds her way into his heart and life as she impresses him with her toughness and determination to learn his trade so she can seek justice with her brother's killer.

Stansfield (Gary Oldman), is a wayward member of the police force searching for Mathilda. Tony (Danny Aiello) is Leon's Mafia-like boss. I found the first twenty minutes a bit difficult, as the film begins with a stretch of rough violence, but once it shifts to the relationship between Mathilda and Leon, Portman's talent shines and the film takes on a more quirky tone.

The two drink a lot of milk and teach each other things. There is once precious scene where she attempts to insert some playfulness and fun into their dreary existence by dressing up as celebrities and spoofing Madonna and Marilyn Monroe. and making him guess who, but his knowledge of American culture is so limited that he gets none of it. He takes a turn at stumping Mathilda when he does his impression of John Wayne.

The film requires some dispending of reality for a moment to accept that an adult would hide a child sought after by the police. After that, the film becomes a charming love story unlike anything else. She was already an amazing actress back then.

Howl (2010)

2011-01-04T16:28:00.000-05:00

The film opens with a statement explaining that every word spoken in the film was once spoken by the actual people portrayed--it is both like a documentary and quite different. The story focuses on beat poet, Allen Ginsberg and his famous poem, HOWL, that he first read it in 1955 at San Francisco's Six Gallery when he was 29 and later referred to the poem as a bomb, given the impact it had on our culture.

Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman partnered with Gus Van Sant to create a film that is part conventional biopic/documentary and a psychedelic Fantasia. The film raises questions...Who has the right to free expression? What is art?

Ginsberg (James Franco) is shown in New York during while attending Columbia. He admits that he naively imitated his fathers style of rhyming poetry until his meeting with Jack Kerouac, He fell in love and his muse was awakened. After that, he wrote for Jack. It was all about the imagination--influenced by William Carlos Williams. The two moved to San Francisco, where Ginsberg worked as a copywriter for an advertising agency. He developed a philosophy of writing that was focused on speaking frankly as he did with his friends.

The dramatizations are intersersed with fantasy animations o reflect the imagery of the Howl poem. visionary indian angels, chinamen of Oklahoma, Angel-headed hipsters. The film was surprisingly good--not quite what I was expecting. There are scenes from the infamous obscenity trial after Lawrence Ferlinghetti was accused of publishing and selling obcsene materials at his City Lights bookstore. Jon Hamm portrays the defense attorney and Mary-Louise Parker is a witness.

Key moments of Ginsberg's life are woven together with a reading of HOWL, various comments about the poem, the texture of life in mid-1950s America--a transitional time between the cold war and growing counter-culture years. The DVD includes extra features that add background to the making of HOWL and Ginsberg's life as a poet.

New York in the Fifties (2001)

2010-12-30T19:18:00.005-05:00

Steve Allen, interviewed Jack Kerouac during the 1950 and asked him he meaning of "Beat." Kerouac replied..."sympathetic. The beat movement began in New York during that romantic moment in time when non-conformity meant something.

Betsey Blankenbaker's film is based on a 1999 book by Dan Wakefield, a nice older man I met while attending a yoga retreat in the Bahamas in 1992. I sat with him over several vegetarian meals that week. We were both New Yorkers traveling alone. He mentioned that he was a writer and working on a book about New York in the 1950s. I was not overly impressed at the time since I was sure that my 1980s New York topped that. We re-lived the 1950s during that era.
Now, I truly appreciate knowing the real details of the time and events. It was all so fresh--a time of jazz music, jazz writers and jazzz painters. It was a time before JFK was shot and before The Beatles--a time of innocence with a deep questioning of the status quo.

Feminism had not quite happened yet so women were left out a bit, but literature, journalism and poetry were on fire. Dan Wakefield was a young writer from the midwest who was in the middle of the whole thing. The film is full of interviews with him and other central figures of the day--Joan Didion, Norman Mailer, Ted Steeg, Gay Talese. Wakefield dedicates the film "For James." Author James Baldwin advised him that a writer should aim to write and publish a shelf of books. Wakefield has done that, along with many of the other writers interviewed for the film.

Wakefield wrote a less-than-complimentary article about Jack Kerouac for The Commentator and Kerouac was quick to make the connection when the two met at Allen Ginsberg's apartment for an evening of drug exerperimentation with Harvard professor Timothy Leary (Wakefield had opted to remain the sober observer of it all).

This film is a historical must-see for anyone who loves New York.

Pull My Daisy (1959)

2010-12-30T09:40:00.009-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEMHM-DgtZI

“Early morning in the universe” begins the this rare film I found on YouTube in three parts. It's fun to watch when you have a little background info on the cast of characters. Shot in his Manhattan loft at 4th Avenue and 12th Street, painter Alfred Leslie directed and the footage was filmed by documentary photographer, Robert Frank. His book of photographs, The Americans was already famous and included an introduction by Jack Kerouac...To Robert Frank I now give this message: You got eyes.

The film is based on the third act of Jack Kerouac’s unpublished play The Beat Generation, based on true events of 1955 when he and Allen Ginsberg were invited to Neal Cassady's home in Los Gatos, California for a meeting with Bishop Romano. Cassady greatly admired the man for his openness of thought. Cassady peppered the Bishop with questions about Zen, but the gathering deteriorated, eventually driving away the Bishop and his entourage.

The Neal Cassady character, Milo, is played by the painter Larry Rivers. Actress Delphine Seyrig plays his wife. Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, and Gregory Corso were signed on to play versions of themselves. Art dealer Richard Bellamy plays the Bishop. Painter Alice Neel is the Bishop’s mother.

Allen, Peter, and Gregory thought it was wonderful to be paid eighteen dollars a day to clown around. While Kerouac was banned from the set for fear he would stir up chaos, Leslie later took the film to him and played it three times. Each time, Kerouac improvised a narration. In the late forties Ginsberg and Kerouac had composed a poem together and called it “Pull My Daisy," a slang term for the act of removing a stripper’s g-string.

The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg (1994)

2010-12-29T11:49:00.011-05:00

I recently heard a live reading of Ginsberg's famous poem, Howl. Then I watched a movie called Heartbeat, a dramatization based on a story by Carolyn Cassady (Neal's 2nd wife), about Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady, the two wild and crazy writers loved by Ginsberg. That led me to Carolyn Cassady's other book, Off The Road. Each piece adds a bit more to the large story of an artist among a family of artists who left a big mark.

This film by Jerry Aaronson documents the life of Allen Ginsberg who was born just before the Great Depression in Patterson, New Jersey. He pioneered the rebel poets of the 1940s and 50s that inspired the label "beaknik." The Beat Generation were non-conformist, anarchist youth who favored jazz and led the way for the larger youth culture movement of the 1960s. Commentator of the day, William F. Buckley is featured in the film calling Ginsberg "the hippie's hippie." Leader of peaceful activism during the anti-war protests of the 1960s, he was always in the vanguard, someone who wore his hair long until everyone else did--then cut his off.

The film opens with the famous line: "The weight of the world is love." His immigrant parents instilled values of justice, freedom and equality. Father Louis was a poet and teacher. Mother Naomi was in and out of mental institutions. He was often left to care for her, a task that bred deep empathy and the soul of a poet according to interviews with his brother, Eugene, and stepmother, Edith. He inherited her poetic paranoia and he too went on to spend some time inside a mental hospital.

Ginsberg met William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady while attending Columbia University during the mid 1940s. Still in the grips of corformity, his association with Burroughs soon loosened that knot. Burroughs took on the role as analyst for both Ginsberg and Kerouac by offering them daily sessions on the couch unraveling their personal problems. This growing group of supplementary family would heal Ginsberg's feeling of benig unloved. A group of poets and artists met nightly at Foster's Cafeteria in Times Square.

Poet Michael McClure describes the Eisenhower years as the beginning of the industrial corporate state and missile consciousess as the threat of nuclear weapons was front and center as a polarization of two groups emerged. Most people bought into the hope of an American Dream. A smaller group of artists and dreamers felt a growing alienation and pain.

Ginsberg came out as a gay man and met his life partner, Peter Orlovsky. They left New York for California and Ginsberg read his now-famous poem, Howl (for Carl Solomon) at the SanFrancisco Six Gallery in 1955 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVGoY9gom50). Ginsberg later defined this moment as "a united front of pure angelic poetry." Michael McClure, Gary Snyder and several others also read that night. Carl Solomon was another psychiatric patient Ginsberg met while hospitalized. The reading caused a stir that resulted in his arrest for obscene language. The court trial is the subject of a 2010 film called Howl.

Timothy Leary claims that a visit by Ginsberg and Orlovsky at Harvard during his 1960s LSD experiments changed his life. Up until that time, he was an "uptight" professor. After experiencing the liberation of Ginsberg's being, Leary changed his ways to become the psychadelic hipster he was later known as. Interviews with Dick Cavett, Ed Sanders, Ken Kesey, Abby Hoffman and many others add to telling of Ginsberg's story.

Cassady died in 1968. Kerouac died in 1969. Ginsberg mourns his passing: "While I'm here I'll do the work--and what is the work? Drunken Dumbshow."

The 1970s began a chapter of increased spiritual development and buddhist meditation after a chance encounter on a New York street corner when he met Chogyam Trungpa who told him that in order for his buddhist meditators to be able to speak about liberation of mind to America, they would need to develop the golden mouth of a poet--thought patterns become elegant as spontaneous mind is cultivated. Trungpa invited Ginsberg to teach poetry. The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa Insitute was founded.

Ginsberg's home was always New York. He maintained his east village apartment (down the street from where I lived 1979-1992) until his death. During 1985 he was given a show of his photographs at the Holly Solomon Gallery. He had begun his hobby during 1952 when he purchased a Kodak Retina camera for $13 and began snapping shots of his friends and had them developed at the drug store across from Tompkins Square Park. During the next thirty years, his snapshots of friends had become a collection of famous people.

There are other documentaries about the Beats, but this one is a lovely tribute to an artist who was also a significant force of history. Ginsberg lived until 1997. Peter Orlovsky just died in 2010.

The Lodger (2009)

2010-12-26T16:36:00.005-05:00

This David Ondaatje film follows closely the 1913 book of the same name. Alfred Hitchcock also made a 1927 silent film called The Lodger. Those stories were set in London. This one takes place in West Hollywood after prostitutes on The Sunset Strip are being killed in a Jack The Ripper style. "Everyone is suspect," reads he movie tag line.

Detective Chandler Manning (Alfred Molina) is unraveling the case as housewife Ellen Bunting (Hope Davis) rents her guesthouse to handsome writer Malcolm (Simon Baker). He tells her "I'm looking for something new--something to inspire me." He captures the imagination of Ellen, who is home alone raising her young child while her unpleasant husband is off working and drinking.

I found this film while researching Hope Davis, who is featured as Mia in Season Two of the HBO series, In Treatment. She is wonderful to watch. Molina has appeared on Law & Order and Baker stars in the successful show, The Mentalist. The thriller is full of mystery. The extra features include an in-depth interview with Ondaatje about his influences. The dark and unusually told tale is a thriller that is suspenseful rather than horrifying. He explains the difference between seeing terrible things happening versus fearing what terrible things may happen.There is plenty of implied violence, but not a lot of blood.

The colors are muted and interesting cinematic elements tell an internal story. This movie is an homage to Hitchcock and this is a lot of fun to watch as it all the pieces unfold. Manning has a troubled wife (Mel Harris from Thirty-Something and Brothers and Sisters). Ellen Bunting becomes more and more strange in her ways. This is not a movie to watch while you wash the dishes. This is as much about what you do not see as what is shown. The big old house is a wonderful eclectic place that mirrors the landscape of Ellen's mental deterioration.

The John Frizzell musical score carries the mood of the story. I don't want to give anything away. The clues lead us in many directions until the satisfying final conclusion.

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child (2010)

2010-12-19T20:42:00.024-05:00

Tamra Davis was a friend of JMB and filmmaker in downtown New York City during the 1980s. She and Becky Johnson interviewed him at L'Hermitage Hotel in Hollywood durng 1985. He was just 25 and at the top of his career as a painter. Two years later he died. Tamra put away all the film footage for twenty years.

Her "racialiscious" film (says the webpage) is full significant interviews with artworld folks, friend and lovers. It paints a picture of late 1970s and early 1980s Manhattan when it was still affordable for young art students, runaways and lost personalities to assemble. Part Puerto Rican, part Haitian, Jean-Michel arrived in the city with no money and a lot of creative spirit to mark the artworld. The film implies that there were about 500 people in the downtown art scene of the time. Jean-Michel was a grafitti artist who tagged walls around SoHo with content-laden/poetic messages signed by SAMO (same old shit--clearly directed to the art world).

"He was one of the people I was truly envious of, but he was too fragile for this world," says Madonna. He had a band called GRAY, including one Vincent Gallo, now an actor/film director (Buffalo 66). Jean Michel made collage cards and paint splattered t-shirts that he sold on the street. One commentator mentioned a characteristic of a good artist is a sure strong hand, something that JMB had plenty of.

Glenn O'Brien was involved with the making of the film Downtown 81, about the scene below Canal Street...starring JMB as the ambitious young artist. It was during that time that he was encouraged to take his grafitti off the streets onto a canvas. Debbie Harry of Blondie was his first big sale. She bought one of the canvases for $200.

JMB participted in The Times Square Show, the first radical show of the 1980s, with more than a hundred artists showing their work. Jean-Michel's good pals, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf also showed in the TSS. Following that was the No-Wave Show at PS1 in 1981. Diego Cortez curated it, tired of seeing white walls, white people and white wine.

Annina Nosei discovered Jean-Michel's work at this exhibition and was taken by it's sophistication, despite the primitive appearance. She offered him the use of her Prince Street Gallery's basement as a studio and encouraged him to make large canvases for a show. He listened to Ravel's "Bolero" over and over, though his music tastes were eclectic and he also had a passion for Jazz. It drove Annina a little crazy, but JM was prolific and productive. Her gallery show made him an instant art star.

Fame came fast and JM found refuge with Andy Warhol, who bacame a paternal influence and mentor. JM kept working in unexpected ways. He created his own versions of famous paintings and had an ongoing desire to compete with living legends such as Julian Schnabel. Andy Warhol befriended him, leading to a close paternal/mentor relationship relationship. When Andy died unexpectedly after gall baldder surgery, Jean Michel was distraught and began a downward spiral of drug use.

Annina Nosei considered his last works to be masterpieces...spacious and loose. His sudden death at age 27 was a great loss to the art world, but he had already produced 1000 paintings and 1000 drawings. His work was selling for 14.5 million. This film tell a wonderful story of artistic genius during a special time in the history of New York art.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005)

2010-11-28T12:51:00.006-05:00

Somehow I missed the phenomena of Daniel Johnston, who gained fame in the Austin alternative music scene during the mid-1980s and beyond. I stumbled upon a preview of this film and immediately requested the DVD. As an artist, art therapist and lover of outsider art, I became quickly became consumed by this story of madness, creativity and love.

Jeff Feurzeig’s documentary weaves film footage collected by Johnston and his family—with interviews and commentary by the many people who were touched by him. He was forty-five at the time of the film's release. We see footage of him a few years earlier performing at the 2001 Austin Music Awards Show, when he won Best Songwriter of the Year. He had become quite heavy and aged by the mental illness that fueled his creativity. Wildly popular in Austin, the attention he received was also quite controversial. The bipolar genius singer/songwriter/artist expressed his talent in ways that were often more spectacle than art.

Johnston’s elderly parents, Bill and Mabel, are featured extensively as they demonstrate unending care and support for their son, the youngest of five children who was always different. They lived an ordinary family life in West Virginia during the 60s and 70s. An expressive and confident child--by junior high school, his illness began to come out in ways that made him more difficult to live with. He rarely slept durih ng his constant occupation with drawing, recording and filming in his basement "art factory." He shunned the fundamentalist Christian views of his family, but as his illness worsened, religious delusions increased (ie: the devil). During high school he began drawing eyeballs—the image became his trademark. Daniel fell in love with a girl named Laurie who broke his heart when she took up with a new boy and got married. Many of his songs were about how he pined for her.

He tried college for awhile, but the parents took him out when it was apparent that he was not succeeding there. A couple of his siblings invited him into their homes at various times to attempt to provide a stable environment and “normal” life. He thrived while living with his sister and working at the local amusement park—until the day he bought a moped and went on the road with a carnival for several months. The family was sick with worry until they found him in Austin, working at MacDonald’s while making his way into the growing music scene.

Hi How Are You? Is Johnston’s first album in the genre of Meet The Beatles. He adored them and believed he would one day be just as famous. He discovered a local band called Glass Eye and felt some kind of cosmic connection with them because of his eyeball fascination and was invited to open for the band. Lead singer, Katy McCarty took a liking to him and soon Johnston considered her his new girlfriend. She went along for awhile until he began referring to her as his fiancée. She had to put an end it, another heart-breaking event that Johnston would pine over for years to come, adding material to his heartfelt songwriting.

He was featured on MTV, the realization of one of his dreams. Jeff Tartakov was a fan turned advocate who formed Stress Records to help Johnston market the licensing of his songs to other musicians. He also began using LSD and experiencing further mental breakdown leading to a violent attack to his manager. By this time, Johnston had been in and out of psychiatric facilities and on and off various medications. After recovering from one of his low points, Johnston was invited by Steve Shelly of Sonic Youth to record at Noise Studio in the late 1980s. While in New York, he got arrested for drawing hundreds of christian fish symbols at the Statue of Liberty.

The film is full of dramatic stories about Johnston’s out-of-control life, including an incident told about by Johnston senior--while piloting a small aircraft to take Dan home after The Austin Music Awards, Dan pulled the key from the ignition and tossed it out the window of the plane and wrestled the controls away from Bill. The two were heading for a crash when Bill was able to regain control for a safe landing into a group of trees.

The Johnstons moved to Walley, Texas during the early 90s. Dan was championed by Curt Cobain of Nirvana during that decade. He religiously wore the t-shirt design for Dan's first album. This attention brought Johnston unprecedented notoriety. He actually sparked a bidding war as a $100,000 contract was negotiated from the visitors area of the state mental hospital. Atlantic Records actually constructed the most beneficial plan for Johnston, fully incorporating the demands of his illness with clauses for the special provisions. By this time in Johnston’s career, Jeff Tartakov had stepped in as manager. He lived for the good of Dan Johnston. Sadly, Johnston turned on him just as his Atlantic Records contract was signed when he fired Tartakov and hired a new manager.

Johnston’s “FUN” was released in 1994 an the label dropped him soon after. Bill and Mabel never give up on their son. At the end of the film, he was living in their basement as he had as a teenager with another version of his art factory. They manage a bit of peace and quiet during the morning hours, but once Dan arises, he demands to be cooked for and taken places. He played with a band living down the street—Nightmare House.

More than 150 bands have recorded his songs. This is a fascinating story and tribute to the creative life.

Sketches of Frank Gehry (2005)

2010-11-21T13:40:00.008-05:00

Sydney Pollack began working on this documentary about his friend, Frank Gehry, after visiting the 1997 opening of the spectacular Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain (http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao) that left him stunned and amazed..."like Don Quixote got stoned and made a building."

Ed Ruscha describes him..."Gehry mixes the freewheelingness of art with something concrete and unforgiving--the laws of physics." He takes enormous risks to create structures that do not blend into the landscape as does much of architecture.

"That is so stupid-looking that it's great," Gehry comments while he creates a model with one of his design partners. The collaborative process begins with Gehry talks suggesting forms as the partner cuts pieces from sheets of heavy metallic paper and use tape to position the pieces to match Gehry's ideas--they jut out, fold and curve. These early models are reworked in various scales and materials and digitized to allow the engineering plans to evolve.

Gehry has been aligned with artists since the 1960s. Other architects laughed at him. He began some of his early experiments by building around his own small bungalow to create an amazing array of levels, textures, light and shadow. Early on, he created more traditional designs to earn a living until a friend coaxed him into giving all that up to create only the artistic work he was best at. When Gehry was a kid, a rabbai told his mother that he had golden hands, as his drawings were so special. Another hand-writing analyst said he would one day be a famous architect. Most of his work begins with pen and ink sketches. He began with art classes in college and eventually found his way into the architecture department. He received an A, but the professor tried to desuade him from the path.

The film is full of interviews with people he had worked with, including Milton Wexler, his therapist for 35 years and Dennis Hopper to commissioned a home design from Gehry. Pollack is behind the camera, but occasionally comes out to share something relevant to the discussion. Pollack mentions one of his favorite lines heard from one of his teachers..."Talent is liquified trouble." Personal frustration often leads to great art. Gehry quotes his favorite line heard once from Pollack and has made it his motto..."There is a sliver of space in the commercial world where you can make a difference."

The Bilbao project is gasp-worthy. "It's foreign to the other buildings around it--has a scale of ancient Egypt," says Julian Schnabel. The shimmering surface lends an otherworldly quality to the experience of witnessing this structure from the humble surrounding town. Locals have experienced a new sense of community self-esteem since the museum's opening--as if they take credit for creating it themselves. Art and Archeology professor, Hal Foster, is a naysayer who feels Gehry gives his clients too much of what they want. Foster says the structures function too much as a spectacle. Schnabel defends Bilbao critics who claim the building competes too much with the art and asks "Maybe the art isn't good enough?" Gehry admits to a lot of mixed feelings about all the controversy and says he was somewhat embarrassed by the completed project at Bilbao. There are certain elments that can only be seen in the final project so there are always areas he wished were different.

Gehry's work is actually that of a contemporary cubist sculptor focused on materials as a way to make beauty with junk...always keeping in mind the mantra of modernism. "Decoration is a sin." In the 1980s when designers were re-doing history, Gehry went way back to the anthromorphic fish form. He created fish lamps and an amazing hotel in Barcelona, Spain. His work is very much a team effort and talks about accepting projects based on whether he likes the people involved.

He is not a painter, but he holds reverence for the artform and his buildings come across as painterly. He says "I'm fascinated with the moment of truth--there's the canvas and the brush and the palette of colors. What do you do? What's that first move? I love that dangerous place."

Pieces of April (2003)

2010-11-20T19:18:00.004-05:00

Peter Hedges' film is the perfect alternative to the traditional Thanksgiving stories. Before Tom and Surie, Katie Holmes was a young starlett who is cast as April, a kind of girl who flocks to the big city from conventional suburban America. She has invited her family to drive a couple hours to visit her for Thanksgiving dinner.

Part of the film is Dad (Oliver Platt), Mom (Patricia Clarkson) and the two other children on the road to New York City. We learn that Mom has cancer and the family gathering was instigated by Dad as a last-ditch effort to reunite the estranged daughter with her mother since this may be her last Thanksgiving. The other part of the film is April at home in her small sparsely-furnished apartment doing her best to put together this affair. The pressure is on as she faces one obstacle after another, starting with an oven that does not work. We learn more about the family's view of her and her view of herself. "I'm the first pancake," she tells one of her neighbors, "the one you're supposed to throw out"

She learns a little more about cooking from each neighbor she approaches as she tries to find an oven for the bird. Mom has the attitude of a person facing imminent danger and has no faith that April will come through. Dad has complete optimism and faith--he needs to see her succeed. April decorates the hallway of the tenament with crepe paper and balloons. The boyfriend is extremely supportive and encourages her to make the day go well. He shows up in a suit with vintage turkey salt and pepper shakers--the kind that any baby boomer would recognize from Thanksgivings past. I know my grandmother had the very same shakers in her collection.

While this film is somewhat a comedy of errors, it is also a serious look at a fairly typical non-perfect family trying to carry on while dealing with loss. The soundtrack is mostly songs by The Magnetic Fields that add a lot to the entertaining and touching story.

Into The Wild (2007)

2010-11-18T17:57:00.010-05:00

This film begins with a Lord Byron poem...
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods:
There is a rapture on the lonely shore:
There is socity where none intrudes.
By the deep sea and muic in its roar,
I love the man not less, but Nature more.

Sean Penn's film is about a young man's search for adventure. Based on the novel, Into the Wild, by John Krakauer--the true story of Christopher McCannliss is told from the point of view of his sister's diaries during the two years after he disappeared without telling the family.

Chris had been a top student who graduated from college and planned to attend law school. His parents (William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden) are portrayed as a tightly-wound pair with high expectations for their son's future. Sister Carin is the family observer. We see the family gathered for a celebratory dinner when they announce to Chris that they were giving him a brand new car. He dismissed this gesture. "Why would I want a new car?" They mean well, but we see a pattern of conflict between parents and son. He returns to the college town where he planned to to remain throughout the summer.

The parents faithfully mail letters to him for several months. When they hear nothing back from him they contact the landlord who reports that Chris left at the start of the summer and mentions a stack of unopened letters he has kept in a drawer. Chris had headed west and abandoned his car in the Arizona desert--gave away his $24,000 savings to charity. He takes on the name Alexander Supertramp as he sheds his privileged life to work and travel. He meets a cast of interesting characters along the way. Hippies, Jan (Catherine Keener) and Rainey (Brian Dierkler) live in a trailer and are the complete opposite of his own parents. Underhanded farmer, Wayne (Vince Vaughn), shows him the rancher's life. Lonely widower, Ron (Hal Holbrook), takes him under his wing, but fails to desuade him from making the dangerous trip into the Alaskan wilderness.

Alexander reaches his destination where he finds a deserted bus for shelter. He kills animals and forages for plants. We see him living in harmony with the forces of nature for four months while he discovers the limits of resources and knowledge. Meanwhile, the family hires a private investigator to find him. Carin was closer to her brother than anyone else in life. In her diaries she is able to go along with him on the journey as she tells a universal story of misguided youth and the individual's need to seek and find truth.

Objectified (2009)

2010-11-15T14:26:00.003-05:00

Gary Hustwit's documentary about the role of objects in our lives begins with a tale dating back the first century when the Emperor of China standardized arrows so that warrior archers could exchange arrows between one another. He goes on to talk about the stories embedded in various objects as told by designers who search for new forms for mass-produced goods.

The issue of sustainability is a major focus since the shelf life of a hi-tech object is less than eleven months, as items have become increasingly disposable. Style plays on human emotions...form and function are just a part of design. There are more than a hundred definitions of design, but one designer narrowed her favorite to be: "Good design takes innovation and brings it into making useful things." Nobody needs a new phone every six months, but they may want it enough to toss away the old one to spend money on a new one. There is talk of human-centered design and integrated design. In the end, it is about what people want and need, aesthetic appeal and willingness to buy.

Art & Copy (2009)

2010-11-07T10:07:00.013-05:00

Doug Pray's film highlights the evolution of the advertising industry in the last fifty years. Since the MadMen series has brought the early world of ads to our collective attention in the last couple years, it's hard to deny the impact of these these words and pictures on the culture. When I was a college art major in the early 1970s, "commercial art" was viewed as low art...a world apart from fine arts and crafts. Art for the purpose of selling was suspect. I enjoyed learning more about this a few ago by watching the documenary about graphic artist, Milton Glaser (http://prettygoodmovie.blogspot.com/2010/02/milton-glaser-art-is-work-2009.html).

Our 21st century world is filtered through a web of marketing that we have come to accept as the air we breathe. The average America child is exposed to about 20,000 television commercials each year. This film opens as a young man named Chad, goes to work for his family business of "Rotators." The work entails rotating and installing new billboard ads. He claims that three generations of his family have thrived doing this work and there is never a shortage of work to be done with 450,000 billboards in the US.

During the 1960s ad agency Doyle, Dane, Bernbach began allowing the art director and copy writer to join forces to create the ads that were previously conceived by the less creative business types. The film features all the memorable commercials through the decades. Phyllis Robinson was DDB's copywriter responsible for recognizing the "Me Generation" and creating Clairol's tagline "It lets me be me." A gray-haired woman at the time of the film interview, she admits that she never once colored her own hair.

George Lois, a tough-talking guy from the Bronx is all sales and known for his in-your-face celebrity campaigns, such as "I want my Maypo," spoken by Mickey Mantle and other sports figures. Lois claims that "advertising should be subversive." He later converted the Maypo formula to "I want my MTV" using Mick Jagger and other rock stars. He was also responsible for numerous engaging Esquire Magazine covers, such as a face with parts of Malcolm X, John Kennedy, Bob Dylan and Fidel Castro. A visionary who convinced unknown clothing designer, Tommy Hilfiger that he could make him famous overnight with a billboard that listed the top four desgners for men--Ralph Lauren, Pierre Cardin, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger. Despite Hilfiger's embarrassment and worry that it could kill the future fo his business, agreed and he did become wildly successful almost overnight.

Mary Wells, of Wells, Rich, Greene is interviewed in her envionment of tasteful rows of flower vases and pottery. We notice a note on the desk that reads "Why not have a bigger life?" She explains how her theatrical bent gave her just the right attitude to create memorable ad campaigns, such as the one for Braniff International Airlines, featuring planes painted all different colors and stewardess uniforms designed by Pucci to match the color-scheme of each plane.

Hal Riney claims to have been a quiet kid who longed for a different kind of family. He is known for a series of television ads during the 80s that relied on heartfelt scenes of family life and the american dream with authoritative narrative. He launched Perrier and created the Presidential campaign ad for Ronald Reagan "It's morning again in America."

Goodby, Silverstein & Partner aim for "brutal simplicity" with a motto "art serving capitalism." With Haiku-like slogans such as the "Got Milk" campaign, they often created a kind of mass happening appeal, an inclusive approach to the audience. "We're trying to entertain society using client's products," says Goodby.

Lee Clow is a surfer with a rebel spirit who believes the creative people should be in charge. At TBWA/ChiatDay he helped create the "Think Different" 1984 superbowl commercial that introduced the Apple Macintosh computer and later introduced the dancing black sillouette iPod ads that remains one of my personal favorites. "When done well, an ad can be part of culture instead of pollution," Clow says. "All brands will become media--everyone can become their own network."

Wieden & Kennedy used the words of a man about to die on death row--"Let's do it"--and transformed the words to Nike's famous slogan of the late 1980s. "Just do it" is attributed to offering people a life-changing message that may have sparked divorces, weight-loss, better fitness, career change and other acts of self-improvement. Another Nike campaign--"if you let me play sports"--suggests a host of better life outcomes for girls who play sports.

Many more campaigns are featured in this film that delves into the hearts and minds of the people who create them. Advertising is here to stay. It has become an artform of our culture worth appreciating.

Winter Passing (2005)

2010-11-05T19:11:00.007-04:00

Adam Rapp's film tells the story of Reese (Zooey Deshanel), a 20-something actress living in New York. She has broken off ties to her eccentric bohemian parents. Dad, Don Holder (Ed harris), is an author somewhat like a J.D. Salinger, who has dropped out of sight and has not published lately--has become reclusive and retired from his teaching post. Mom, also an author, recently commit suicide.

Reese did not return for the funeral, but while working as a bartender is approached by a book editor (AmyMadigan) who tells her that her mother has left her a bundle of love letters exchanged between the parents while they were courting. She offers $100,000 to publish the letters. This offer is too appealing to pass up so Reese heads to Michigan on a bus. She finds Dad depressed and quite alcoholic--has moved into the garage and all the bedroom furniture out into the back yard. Don uses the former bedroom as an indoor golf course and has made a habit of hittinga few balls before dinner with Corbet. Former students, Corbet (Will Farrell) and Shelly (Amelia Warner) reside in the main house to care for and manage the life of Don.

Reese arrives unexpected and finds a chaotic situation to navigate as she tries to reconnect with her father and find the letters. Reese holds on to her belief that Mom and Dad were not good parents to her. Don knows this to be true. Still, there was a lot of love in the family of artists, along with a lot of moodiness and complication. I always enjoy seeing films featuring Ed Harris and his real-life wife, Amy Madigan. Her role is minor, but Ed is wonderful as the elderly burntout heartsick author. Quirky Zooey Deshanel is perfect as the daughter of bohemian outsiders.

Please Give (2010)

2010-10-19T20:35:00.008-04:00

The film opens with a mammogram technician at work--breasts flopping about on glass plates as Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) conducts business--then goes home to her mundane life. She lives with Mary (Amanda Peet), her esthetician sister, and Grandma Andra (Ann Guilbert). They live on the upper west side of Manhattan next door to Kate (Catherine Keener), Alex (Oliver Platt) and their daughter, Abby (Sarah Steele). Director Nicole Holfleurer previously made Friends With Money and Lovely and Amazing, both featuring Catherine Keener, who happens to be one of my favorite actors.

Kate and Alex operate a mid-20th Century furniture store. "We buy furniture from dead people's children," says Kate, a bleeding-heart liberal who feels slightly guilty about her business and is constantly handing money out to homeless people. They have purchased the apartment of their elderly neighbor in advance of her passing. They wait for the moment when their dream to renovate and enlarge their modest New York apartment is realized. Meanwhile, they befriend Andra, a tough and feisty New Yorker, and the granddaughters who live with and care for her.

Their daughter, Abby is full of wise-cracks and plagued with a skin condition. Alex has an affair with Mary. Abby bonds with Mary. Kate bonds with Rebecca. A patient at the clinic fixes up Rebecca with her cute, short son. The unfolding of all these dynamics is fun and real in a very down-to-earth way. Catherine Keener chooses small stories with lots of heart and realism. I loved this movie!

James Dean (2001)

2010-10-18T16:19:00.008-04:00

I have been eager to see some of James Franco's early movies since I saw him in 127 Hours at Telluride and look forward to Howl arriving in Buffalo. This made-for-television film by Mark Rydell tells the story actor, James Dean (James Franco). The movie opens with a song written in 1954 by beat poet, Allen Ginsberg...
Yes yes
that's what
I wanted.
I always wanted.
I always wanted.
to return
to the body
where I was born.

Dean lived a fairly normal early childhood in Santa Monica until his mother, Mildred, died in 1939 when he was 8 and his father put him on a train to live with his aunt on a farm in Indiana and Winton (Michael Moriarty) ignored him. He suffered quite a bit during these years and spent his teen years alone brooding and riding a motorcycle through the cornfields. He returned to California after high school to attend business college and live with Winton and his new wife. When Dean begins talking about dropping school to get into acting, Winton lets him know he is on his own if he chooses that path. Dean is soon out the door with a ratty old suitcase tied with string heading for New York to follow in the footsteps of Marlon Brando and Montgomery Cliff.

Dean finds other actors auditions and method acting classes. He soon lands a paid job in a made-for-tv play, The Immoralist. The directors and casting agents recognize something special in him and put up with his quirky ways. He continually tries to get the attention of his father with his accomplishments, but Winton just pushes him away. His restlessness takes him out to Hollywood where a big shot tells him" You're never gonna get rich until you look rich." Warner Brothers Studio also tells him to get rid of the motorcycle that they view as a liability. He trades the bike for a flashy red sports car and falls in love with Italian actress, Pier Angeli. They have a brief time of happiness until she left him broken-hearted.

We see Dean on the sets of East of Eden and Giant as his ego grew and personal difficulties spilled out all over. After years of trying to reach his father, he finally does have a moment to better understand the problem. Winton tells him that he learned from Mildred on her deathbed that James was not his biological son. They make peace and there is some settling of Dean's angst.

On the set of his last film, Rebel Without a Cause, with Natalie Wood, he trades in the red hotrod for an even sexier silver Porsch Spyder with "Little Bastard" painted on the back. We all know how it ends...a careless moment on a dirt road. Just one other car turning in front of him, but he would not slow down. Dean was killed...not even 25 yet. Rebel was released in 1955.

Franco does an amazing job of capturing the special qualities of the actor who was not around long enough to lose favor in the public eye. He'll always be a big star. Franco seems to be modeling himself along the same lines. He has a couple other interesting projects. A book of his short stories will be soon available and he talks about the writing with one of his teachers, Michael Cunningham...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZsNwlh7UIo

Franco also took a role on daytime soap, General Hospital as an artist/serial killer named Franco...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zQQ6qWQc3g

Grizzly Man (2005)

2010-10-06T10:09:00.014-04:00

Werner Herzog's documentary weaves interviews with family and friends and film footage taken by Timothy Treadwell during his summers observing and befriending the grizzly bears of Alaska. Herzog narrates a fascinating look at a young man's evolution from a typical American youth during the 1960s Long Island through his bright start in college on a swimming scholarship. When he loses the scholarship after a back injury, Treadwell flees to California for surfing and acting. He developed a drug and alcohol problem along the way, but struggles to straighten himself out in rehab. Afterwards, he carries on a new life by reinventing his identity and dedicating himself to environmentalism. He began traveling to Alaska each summer to spend time with grizzly bears as he filmed hours of footage of himself and the bears. A self-proclaimed protector of the grizzlies, Treadwell returned to visit for thirteen summers.

Each summer a pilot delivered Treadwell and his supplies for the solitary months with the bears and returned a few months later to retrieve him. The pilot arrived in late summer of 2003 to discover the remains of Treadwell's campsite. His critics predicted such an end and Treadwell himself frequently commented on his challenge in such a dangerous place. He seemed to know that sooner or later the bears would seize him, but he seemed at peace with that. As we watch the film footage, we see the zany and unstoppable qualities that drove him to push the limits of safety. He characterized the creatures with human qualities, naming them Freckles, Quincy, Tabatha, Melissa, Rowdy--his pets--children. He showed a great deal of emotion for them and his ongoing saga seemed to be one long therapy session.

As winter snows melt, the Grizzlies populate the "Grizzly Maze" in the national forest area where Treadwell visits. The silvertip brown grizzly is 300 to 1200 pounds. They are solitary creatures who prefer coastal regions with streams, lakes, rivers where salmon flourish. They are omnivores who consume 80% of their diet from live vegetation, but also prey on deer, moose, sheep, elk and bison. Grizzly bears consume dead animals that they find along the way and are known to kill humans. Treadwell thrived on the notion that he had special abilities to tame the wild beast. Herzog, the realist, continues to point out the harsh indifference of nature, as Treadwell carries on his often misguided mission. As the summer wears on and the food supplies diminish, the Grizzly will often eat her own cubs to survive. The bear seeks food, not companionship.

Treadwell brought along a girlfriend for the last two summers of this journey. Amy is rarely seen in the film footage and diary entries reveal her deep fear of the bears. We learn that she had grown frustrated with Treadwell's thrill-seeking and she planned to leave him after that last summer to begin a new job in another town. We see them happily goofing around as they wrap up before heading back home.

Sadly, Amy died along with Timothy Treadwell. I was thoroughly engaged watching this compelling true tale unfold. Herzog is a masterful storyteller and observer of the natural world. This tribute to Timothy Treadwell is full of the drama of human ambition, passion and survival.

Buffalo International Film Festival (2010)

2010-09-25T17:11:00.006-04:00

October 1-10, 2010

The 4th annual festival begins at Market Arcade Film & Arts Center with a 7:00pm benefit screening of Temple Grandin for the Western New York Autism Community.

Films will also be shown at...
The Screening Room
HD Video Cafe
North Park Theater

See complete listings at http://www.buffalofilmfest.com

Skin Stories (2010)

2010-09-25T15:34:00.007-04:00

Pacific Islanders in Communications produced this documentary directed by Emiko Omori. Shown on PBS, the anthology of stories exploring the transformative power of tattoo art to honor the past, explore the inner self and preserve culture. The film opens in 1999 with the first tattoo convention in Apia, Samoa where people gathered to celebrate the Polynesian art of tatau. As recent as the late 19th century only chiefs and their sons had tatau.

The skills have been passed down for two thousand years with the wisdom to "observe and ponder." The boar's tooth tool that was used since the beginning is still used today. The person receiving the tatau requires physical and spiritual assistance. The skin is bathed with cleansing sea water to begin the healing process. Imagery of nature, sea creatures, plants and daily life are incorporated into the art and becomes proof of one's worthiness to serve the community. An individual who is given tatau is able to conduct ceremonies, prepare food, give a speech. The tatau honors healthful living. The traditional tatau is considered the "regal cloth of Samoan spirit."

The art form moved throughout the islands to Aotearoa (New Zealand) with their version called Maori moku. Characterized by covering the entire face with design. Heads of Maori killed in war during the early 1800s were collected, a trend that caused the moku tradition for men to fade out by the 1960s. Women continued for another decade or so receiving the dark blue moku on their lips and patterns on the chin area of the face, a characteristic that was viewed quite desirable. The Maori mastery of carving stories into stone and wood is strongly connected to the moku patterning. Moku on hips and legs is tied to the art of movement with weaponry. Men frequently display a spiral pattern on the buttock. A trend to rekindle the lost artforms of moku has grown in New Zealand as women have found personal spiritual rebirth that ties them to their ancient culture and allows them to pass along to their grandchildren lost values about people and living together in community.

The culture of kakau was awakened during the 1970s Hawaii in the 1970s as young people renewed their connection to the culture that their grandparents broke away from. The kakau are not given without a person learning about their family heritage and native language. These patterns are placed over the entire body, asymmetrically. The patterning is larger and bolder than the tatau and moku, often inspired by feathers, weaves, growth, tool markings.

The first U.S. tattoo shop was opened in New York City in 1840 by a German immigrant. Tattoos flourished on the fringes of society, especially during wartimes. Sailors and soldiers commonly chose sailor girls, eagles, devils, hearts and names. A tattoo was often thought of as an identifying marker in case of death.

Today "the regal cloth of Polynesia has become a patchwork quilt." The ancient art of Samoa has entered the mainstream as dream symbols, family symbols and transformative imagery of all kinds become tattoo art. These guiding images give purpose and meaning on the life journey. I gained a new appreciation that almost makes me want one of my own.

Johnny Bull (1986)

2010-09-22T23:05:00.013-04:00

Local playwright Kathleen Betsko Yale (http://www.filmreference.com/film/99/Kathleen-Betsko-Yale.html) presented a screening of the film version of her play at The CG Jung Center in Buffalo. It was directed by Claudia Weill, who made my favorite late-1970s movie, Girlfriends.

Johnny Bull is based on the writer's experience as a young woman immigrating to America in 1959 to join her American husband who she had met in Great Britain while he served the military during the Suez Crisis.

The story opens as fresh-faced eighteen-year-old Iris (Susanne Hamilton) arrives all dressed up to meet good-looking Joe (Peter MacNicol), hopeful to find the America of Elvis Presley and Doris Day movies. Fans of a twenty-first television show might refer to this era as the Madmen years. Civil rights and women's rights are heating up in urban areas across the nation, but smalltown America is still a place of sexism and racism. This is where Iris lands to live at Joe's family home in coal mining country of western Pennsylvania.

They reside with Stephen Kovacs (Jason Robards) and his wife Marie (Colleen Dewhurst), a weathered pair of hard-working proud hungarian immigrants. Younger sister, Kathy (Kathy Bates), is a simple-minded young woman who unhappily gives up her bedroom to the young couple. Stephen does not hide his disdain for the "Johnny Bull" (British) dressed in Doris Day clothing. He has just lost his mining job and the burden of more mouths to feed is disheartening.

Iris faces a rude awakening when the America of her fantasies is nowhere near the dismal place she has landed. Carefree and artistic, she obsessively draws shoe designs after a stint working at a shoe factory back home sparked a new ambition. Her aspirations to greet modern life have her dreaming of California, but her new home is a place where the women spend their days baking bread and washing away coal soot. The newlywed romance turns to simple dependence on a husband who does not share her dreams. He becomes more and more like his angry abusive father as her pregnancy grows and daily pressures mount.

Marie has no time for disappointment or whimsey, but we see her softening up around Iris's cheery ways. "You bring the juice back into life" she exclaims. We glimpse a hidden corner of Marie when she tells about a touch of excitement she found briefly during a coal mine strike that sent her to New York City for a housekeeper job where her employee rewarded her with lovely dresses and cash that she hoarded away for the future. The story is laced with enough humor and lightness to balance the intensity of this family struggle through a rough existence and a dark family secret.

Iris toughens under Marie's guidance. She gives birth to her baby and begins to take charge of her own life. This is a beautiful story of two women doing the best they can with difficult circumstances. The film was made for television broadcast, but the viewing experience is like seeing a play unfold. I enjoyed getting to know these characters and the themes remain relevant today.

The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)

2010-09-20T21:10:00.011-04:00

Another Peter Weir film from the last century. This one is set in Jakarta during the mid-1960s when President Sukarno was the voice of the third world. Linda Hunt is cast as Billy, a diminutive male photographer who befriends newcomer Guy Hamilton (Mel Gibson). Their band of journalists wait and watch for breaking news as heartbreaking poverty has brought the country to the verge of civil war.

Hamilton encounters competition in Pete (Michael Murphy) and intrigue with Jill (Sigourney Weaver). This group of well-meaning foreigners embrace the culture of Java, drink gin and tonics, and position themselves for the next best story. Billy streams wise words throughout. "If you want to understand the Java, you have to understand the puppet shadow play--the right is in constant struggle with the left--there are no final conclusions."

Billy orchestrates a romance between Guy, who she affectionately calls Old Man, and Jill who he refers to as My Jilly. They are "special friends" and Billy claims to have proposed marriage to her (unsuccessfully). Guy faces a moral decision as the atmosphere heats up. Crisis follows. The Peter Weir soundtracks have a mystical quality. This one by Maurice Jarr drew me into a story I may have had difficulty watching otherwise.

The Last Wave (1977)

2010-09-19T21:09:00.009-04:00

I was curious to see this early film by Peter Weir after attending the Tribute to him at the Telluride Film Festival. The supernatural thriller opens with with torrential rains and the first ever incidence of hail crashing down on Sydney, Australia. The theme of downpouring water continues throughout the story as lawyer, David Burton (Richard Chamberlain), begins a new case to uncover the truth about the murder of an aborigine man named Billy during a bar fight.

The tribal mysteries of the aborigine people of Australia date back 50,000 years, but Burton attempts to find some understanding. Apocalyptic visions of water and haunting dreams plague him, including one about Billy holding a symbolic stone. Burton becomes involved with aborigine witness, Chris (David Gulpilil) and his associate, Charlie (Nandjiwarru Amagula). He asks them why Billy died and is told "He sees things." Whites in Sydney commonly believe that the aborigines in the city are not tribal, but Burton begins to suspect Billy may have been killed for violating a tribal taboo.

Chris explains the importance of dreamtime, the infinite spiritual cycle that determines law. "A dream is a shadow of something real." Premonitory dreams occur at the end of a cycle prior to apocolypse and lead to rebirth. Charlie asserts that law is more important than the man. Burton's investigation leads him to discover his own connection to Mokural, a race of spirits from the rising suns that act through human beings by offering sacred objects.

His stepfather reminds him that as a child he had premonitory dreams leading up to the death of his mother and he begins to see how his recent dreams are linked to the murder. The mood of the film is grim, soggy and dark. The sounds are primal and slightly terrifying. At one point, Burton is face-to-face with Charlie asking "Who are you?" Charlie turns the question back on him over and over, humming as the energy builds. We learn that Charlie is a shape-shifter who becomes an owl. Burton becomes quite lost in a sea of secrets that reveal the world to be quite different than he once believed it to be.

127 Hours (2010)

2010-09-07T17:25:00.003-04:00

Seeing this on the last night of Telluride Film Festival was a spectacular end to being in that beautiful place. I had listened to Danny Boyle James Franco and Aron Ralston speak on a panel discussion about the role of nature in film. Director Boyle does not consider this movie to be a nature film, even though it all takes place in the Blue John Canyon of Utah, not too many miles away from Telluride.

Based on Aron Ralston's book Between a Rock and a Hard Place, this is a tale about survival after a hiking accident. Ralston is portrayed by James Franco, who carries the film with monologue and action--full of drama, silence, loud sound, comedy, self-reflection. While the book goes into detail about people back home trying to locate Ralston, Boyle chose to make the film entirely about Ralson's experience in the canyon during those 127 hours back in 2003. He was a pleasure-seeking young man who worked as an engineer. An adrenaline junkie and outdoorsman, he may have been a bit arrogant and careless, but he was no novice in the wild. He took off on his bike one sunny day equipped with loud music through his headphones, a movie camera strapped to his handlebars, snacks and water. We see him speed through the dry terrain of the west, doing what he loved until a mishap with a large boulder leaves him pinned under rocks. Caught in the menacing, ominous, threatening, indifference of nature, he finds a bit of poetry as he records himself on camera, often sober in an attempt to leave a dignified impression for those who may discover it later on. He embraces mortality, knowing his predicament appears to be unsolvable, but his psyche and soul unravel--leading him to a way out.

The film is essentially about one man's destiny with a rock and the existential transformation that occurs as he resorts to desperate measures to survive...eventually liberates himself by sawing off his arm with a dull pocket knife. The film takes the viewer on a sensory and emotional roller coaster with Ralston via James Franco's ability to convey the hero's journey. Ralson is the first to admit that the big mistake this event was his failure to tell anyone where he was going. The film is careful to not let the audience leave without making a statement about the important issues of outdoor safety.

Fifteen Venues--Fifty Films (2010)

2010-09-06T09:31:00.010-04:00

Most of the films have been shown within few short blocks in the historic town of Telluride. The local schools have high-end screening auditoriums. The center of town features an outdoor screening area One large theater is up the mountain by gondola. During the hours of 8am and 12am the film schedule rolls onward for an endless possibility of viewing.

Despite the beauty and fun of it all, walking about the hilly streets in the dry high altitudes is not for the weary. There are plenty of generic gearless bicycles around for those who prefer riding...no locks required. Some people around town have artfully painted versions with color and pattern. I did notice locks on some of those.

The daily schedule is key. Multiple films of interest have overlapping times. Arriving early to line up for seating is the pesky part of the scheduling process, but people are friendly and chatting in line is part of the experience. After waiting nearly an hour to get into the tribute show last night in an auditorium big eough for 650 people, we just made it and ended up high in the balcony. Other theaters seat only fifty so those show fill up quickly.

This is a celebration of the dark theater of memory (Dennis Jakob). There will be plenty of time later for the peaceful home-viewing or the ease of my local hometown theaters--never a line--just walk into any top independent film on a wednesday evening and find just a few other people.

The beauty of this experience is having the director and many of the actors present, Q & A sessions, chance encounters. The two tribute shows reminded me of so many films that I would like to see again. The director of Cameraman sat next to Kerry and I at a cafe and we learned about his study of a cameraman who worked in the industry for more than seventy years. I listened to Mark Cousins explain how his early childhood in Belfast during the war "tenderized" him to become a filmmaker delivering imagination and art to children in a small village in Iraq.
Aron Ralston was an ordinary young man whose hiking adventure several years ago became the subject of Danny Boyle's recent film, 127 Hours, starring James Franco. All three were present for an outdoor panel to speak about how the tragic story was transformed into a film about survival and hope. I plan to see it this evening. During the first three days, I have seen...
Inside Job (Charles Ferguson)
A Tribute to Peter Weir
The Way Back (Peter Weir)
The Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff (Craig McCall)
Bieutiful (Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu with Javier Bardem)
Seminar: Human/Nature with Danny Boyle, James Franco, Peter Weir, Werner Herzog
Dennis Jakob Unplugged (Errol Morris)
The First Movie (Mark Cousins)
Tribute to Colin Firth
The King's Speech (Tom Hooper with Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush)

Last day here...more movies and more details to follow.

Mountains, Millionaires, Movies (2010)

2010-09-03T09:14:00.009-04:00

I have arrived.

Telluride is cozily nestled in the lap of the surrounding peaks...welcoming. I am ready for this smalltown celebration of art and cinema...eager to discover what will unfold. Today the flood of people arriving. Kerry and I arrived yesterday as things began percolating.

Seventy-five percent of the movies I see are DVDs on a twenty-five inch television screen...rarely on a laptop, an experience that is severely lacking in aesthetic. What a treat it can be to share the viewing experience on the big screen in an audience of enthusiastic watchers. I volunteered to work at the Denver Film Festival in 2002. I assembled guest gift bags, wrote Kevin Bacon's name on a label, and recall none of the wonderful films I saw there. Also attended one screening at the less-than-glamorous Buffalo-Niagara Film Festival last spring. The Telluride Film Festival promises to be the ultimate candy store experience. How many movies can a person watch in a day and how will we choose what to see? We have not even seen the schedule yet...suspense.

Traveling yesterday was smooth...on-time flights...made both transfers. There was just one glitch...my suitcase did not arrive. Hope to see it in a few hours, but right now it is a crisp and chilly morning...all I have to wear are the clothes chosen on a ninety degree Buffalo morning. Curiously, before the airline began charging the price of a small dinner for one checked bag, I flew here and there for thirty years without one lost bag incident.

37th Annual Event (2010)

2010-08-31T16:01:00.008-04:00

Soon reporting LIVE from Telluride Film Festival...

http://www.telluridefilmfestival.com

"There are two kinds of film festival: there are the mega-hyped, hoopla-infested selling circuses, and there is Telluride. It is extraordinarily exciting, in this age of the triumph of capitalism, to discover an event dedicated not to commerce, but to love. And if that sounds old fashioned and starry-eyed, so be it. The cinema was always in the business of gazing at stars."

– Salman Rushdie

Blow Up (1966)

2010-08-31T14:08:00.002-04:00

Michelangelo Antonioni captures the energy of swinging 1960s London through the life of photographer, David Bailey (David Hemings). The film opens with a car overflowing with anarchic youth racing through the streets...they stream out of the auto to greet hipster Bailey in his black convertible. He resides in the mod world of models, pop music, marijuana and easy sex with a jazzy pop soundtrack scored by Herbie Hancock and Yardbirds.

"Smoke slowly against the beat," he tells his young models as he hands them a joint. Always the cool artiste, dressed in white jeans and dark jacket--camera hanging from his neck--he shoots fashion models wearing graphic print shifts and colorful tights...refers to the girls as "birds." Model, Veruschka (Veruschka von Lehndorff) performs one of the sexiest film moments as she twists and turns for his lens. The film shows us blatant masculinity, sexism, and the possibility that females control much of male power.

Bailey is working on a book of art photos. He heads to the park to find some final shots to complete his work. He stands behind a fence to take shots of a couple of playful lovers until they disappear from sight. The woman walks out from behind bushes and spots Bailey with his camera. Jane (Vanessa Redgrave) approaches him to demand the film. This intrigues Bailey...he flirts and promises her the photos later.

Before photoshop and the 24/7 presence of the camera lens of post-modern life, a photo was actually a glimpse into reality. When Bailey blows up the shots of Jane and her lover, he begins to suspect a murder may have occurred. We watch him puzzle over this. The young brunette Vanessa Redgrave is a joy to see. Not much is resolved, but curious happenings unfold and there is much to look at and wonder about the world as it was forty-four years ago.

William Eggleston in the Real World (2005)

2010-08-30T21:38:00.001-04:00

Documentary filmmaker, Michael Almereyda, captured the photographer who gained notoriety in 1976 when he was just thirty-seven and his photographs were included in MOMAs first show of color photography.

He had already completed his ambitious 1974 Los Alamos Project, a collection of more than two thousand photos--ordinary shots of cars, women and objects in brilliant color infused with his dye transfer process. Influenced by Walker Evans, Lee Friedlander, Robert Frank, Eggleston's images at first glance are not too different from those in family photo albums. At second glance, they are spectacular, given the era and equipment that he used. He approached the work as if a fragment can reflect the greater whole. He was inspired by the writings of Cartier-Bresson in The Decisive Moment. Some say his stills resemble those of filmmaker David Lynch. He was finally able to showcase more of those shots in a show at The J. Paul Getty Museum during 2000.

John Szarkowski's essay of Eggleston's work remains one of the more definative commentaries on the photographer. The essay points out that "the world now contains more photographs than bricks." Eggleston made photos featuring the richness of the visible world where everything is worth looking at and photographing. Haunting and hopeful, this society is decaying and becoming, a democracy of objects showing the nature of perception. This was all before digital imagery flooded our world.

His grandfather, a judge, was an amatuer photographer who invited Eggleston to play in his darkroom and gave him a Brownie camera for his tenth birthday. The film suggests that the sudden death of this paternal figure sparked young Eggleston's compulsion to create throughout his life in and around Memphis. He began filming his family as a teen and made some videos during the early 1970s featuring his bohemian crowd--intense, dismal, wreckless--socializing, discussing, drunk and drugged. Though, these films were engaging, Eggleston dropped the video camera and focused on his still photography.

We see Bill drawing his mistress, Lucia Birch, as she made odd drunken comments throughout. A heavy drinker and constant smoker who had bouts of depression, he also had the support of his wife and children to fulfill a career of work that won him Getty Images' Lifetime Achievement Award. He said little upon receiving this, but commented about art...

"You love and appreciate it, but you cannot really talk about it."

After this film was released, the artist was given a retrospective show at The Whitney Museum in 2008.

Summer Lovers (1982)

2010-08-18T22:55:00.006-04:00

Eighteen years ago...

I rented this one because I noticed a facebook post by Teresa saying that she had enjoyed the innocence of this nearly-vintage film. Fun and innocent...different from what we see now. It's all whitewashed and brilliant light during a summer in Greece. Cathy (Darryl Hannah) and Michael (Peter Gallagher) arrive in Oia, Santorini for a summer of hedonistic pleasures. They rent a villa by the sea for a mere $100 and week and set off on their adventure.

I should start by mentioning that I have always liked seeing Darryl Hannah in films and I miss her with Jackson Brown. And ever since Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989), I have taken notice of Peter Gallagher (and James Spader) with those extremely bushy eyebrows. He turns up in all kinds of television shows and movies, often playing the extremely handsome father figure these days. This 1982 film shows a very slender version of himself dressed in designer jeans, little shorts, and tiny speedo bathing trunks...until he gets with the program on the beaches of Greece and goes naked.

The story is simple. Young and in love, they travel to this exotic place to play house in a foreign land. Cathy is a budding photographer. Michael is just beginning to realize the appeal of beautiful women. He becomes attracted to an earthy slightly older woman, an archeologist named Lina (Valerie Quennessen). The promise of an all-out threesome is in the air. Once Cathy deals with her jealousy, the three become fast friends and she moves in with them.

The movie tagline us "They spent a summer of love--to the sounds of Chicago." Not so much Chicago, but I did hear a lot of Donna Summer and other disco beats. The scene in Greece was free and open with lots of socializing, beach nudity, alcohol, and disco dancing. One scene shows them in a club dancing on mashed grapes! The atmosphere is thick with passion and possibility. At one point Michael explains to Cathy that heat plus fuel plus oxygen yields fire. If one of the elements is missing, the fire goes out. That is about the depth of this movie, but still...we watch them struggle with jealousy, love and freedom as people of a certain age continue to do.

This movie would not be entertaining if the actors were not known to me. Part of the fun of movies is seeing favorite actors growing older along with us. We are all in this together. But in this movie, the characters are new to the world, wide-eyed and dewy. There are moments of dramatic dives and jumps off high cliffs into the sea, running up and down the monumental stucco hillside structures, cartwheels in The Acropolis. It makes one nostalgic for what was and what was not...a perfect summer movie!

Eat Pray Love (2010)

2010-08-15T09:07:00.005-04:00

Whenever a book is a bestseller and made into a highly-promoted film with months of advanced promotion and numerous television and radio interviews with the book's author and starring celebrity actress, I want to not like the movie. I resisted this book initially because of it's book club popularity, but my sister gave it to me for Christmas a few years ago and I completely enjoyed reading it.

One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia states the cover page inside Eat Pray Love. This book is not the "chick lit" I expected. I went on to read Elizabeth Gilbert's earlier book The Last American Man. I later picked up and the one that came after the success of EPL--a deep look into relationship and marriage--Committed. She is a researcher who tells the truth of a story with many interesting side stories, quotes, and facts. I find her writing to be quite engaging.

Ryan Murphy (Glee, Nip Tuck, Running With Scissors) wrote the screenplay adaptation and directed the film. Brad Pitt is listed as a producer. The opening day audience at the North Park Theater was largely groups of women. This may be the "chick flick" of the summer season, but a few men will also enjoy Gilbert's world of discovery through picturesque travel through three countries. The story opens with a quote from the book that ponders Virginia Woolf...

"Across the broad continent of a women's life falls the shadow of a sword. On one side there lies convention and tradition and order where all is correct. But on the other side of that sword, if you're crazy enough to cross it and choose a life that does not follow conventions all is confusion. Nothing follows a regular course."

The story takes us along with Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) as she crosses that shadow. Plagued with the feeling that she no longer wishes to have children. She no longer wishes to be married to nice guy husband, Stephen (Billy Crudup). She wants to travel--he does not. She no longer wants to live in the big, lonely dream house. This is her painful truth. Despite commitments and vows, Liz walks away to find herself, but first she crosses paths with a new man, David (James Franco). The actor/yogi becomes the catalyst for her spiritual awakening.

Liz Gilbert loves men of all kinds and the film is full of them--many are young and handsome with lovely accents. Richard from Texas (Richard Jenkins) is the annoying, but generous man who befriends Liz at an ashram in India. Felipe (Javier Bardem) nearly kills Liz with his truck in Bali--then captures her heart. Ketut (Hadi Subiyanto) is the medicine man who grounds her when confusion intervenes.

Italy serves to awaken in her the romance of pleasure. India offers a taste of devotion, stillness, compassion. Wisdom and love await her in Bali.

Liz attends an Italian language school while in Rome so her chapters there are full of the rhythm and romance of those words. The story is woven together with the thread of a conversation among friends in Italy--the notion that each each place and person has a word. Rome's word is sex. Giovanni's word is half-assed. Luca Spaghetti's word is surrender. She does not know what her word is, but by the end of the film, Liz finally names a word. Attraversiamo--Let's cross over. The story celebrates living on the border between the stability of tradition and the promise and peril of the unknown and making choices to go one way or another.

Southern Comfort (2001)

2010-08-13T07:50:00.005-04:00

Kate Davis created this HBO documentary that won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2001 Sundance Festival. The film tells the story of Robert Eads, a female-to-male transexual dying from ovarian cancer. Pipe-smoking, leather-lined and bearded with a wirey body, he refers to himself as "a hillbilly and proud of it." Robert tells about his life and how he found peace living his trailer on the land in the back hills of Georgia.

We meet various transexual friends, who he considers his "chosen family." As we learn about Robert's journey to become a man, we also hear the stories of people in his community. Much of the filming took place leading up to the transexual community's big convention in Atlanta--Southern Comfort.

Robert was born a woman, gave birth to two sons, and lived the life of a lesbian until beginning gender transition at age thirty-five. The cancer was quite advanced when he began seeking medical help and after being turned away by two dozen doctors, he finally found some treatment, but it was too late. Medical care is difficult to obtain for people in the transgender community...sometimes worse for female-to-males. This story of being stigmatized in numerous ways is a common theme here.

We meet Lola, Robert's tall stylish male-to-female girlfriend who still presents himself as male at work. We also meet Max, a younger female-to-male who Robert had taken under his wing and calls his son. During the filming, Robert's parents visit and we learn how they have grown to accept his situation over time. We also meet one of Robert's sons and his little boy. Robert is especially touched to have this grandson who knows him only as Grandpa. The son admits that he continues to relate to Robert as his mother, despite the transformed appearance.

These complex relationships are fascinating to learn about. Generally, people who feel the need to pursue the gender reassignment are working people who struggle to save money for the surgery and tend to end up in undesirable medical situations, often with no medical follow-up care. Robert mentions one person who lived in a tent and saved all his money for years in order to pursue gender reassignment. Robert speaks candidly about his own surgeries, hormones and psychological aspects of this experience.

While this issue may be difficult for many to grasp and take seriously, the film offers so much compassion and wisdom. People often have enough difficulties finding kindred spirits in life--even in busy urban areas--it is a wonder that in the back woods of the south an entire community has been found by Robert Eads. They care of one another. They have love and friendship. It's a beautiful story. I have been drawn to other such stories...Middlesex, Trans-Sister Radio, TransAmerica, Prodigal Sons.

We watch him in his weakened state thrilled to be dressed up for the convention dinner dance with his lovely Lola. He calls it "the prom that never was." Robert passed away soon after that evening.

I Am Love (2009)

2010-07-26T08:51:00.011-04:00

lo sono l'amore...this film is an Italian language film with subtitles.

I was not sure about seeing this Luca Guadagnino film, but the operatic family drama about turn of the millennium Milan and a dynasty of industrial wealth is not boring or predictable. I would see anything with Tilda Swinton, who is cast as Emma, the Russian immigrant to Italy who is married to Tancredi, the son of the Recchi Clothing tycoon. Now the mother of three grown children (Edo, Gianluca, Betta), she is planning a party for the Recchi patriarch as he prepares to name an heir to the family business.

Life in the haute bourgeoisie is full of beauty, lavish foods, fabrics, art. Lovely at middle age in her sheath dresses and mile-high pumps, Emma is the lithe maternal goddess who binds the family together. Self-contained and enigmatic, she seems to enjoy little marital intimacy, despite the stately bedroom she shares with Tancredi. Who is she really? As the young people party outside by the pool, she sits alone high above all the action stitching her needlepoint, content to close herself away with drawn drapes. We do begin to learn more about her as the story unfolds and a younger man captures her attention.

Everyone in this film is attractive. Marisa Berenson is the glistening and glamorous wife of the patriarch, mother to Tancredi. We begin to see that the loveliness and sparkle of this world is not as solid as it seems. What happens to tradition and stability when sweeping changes blow through the Recchi family?

Edo has partnered with a progressive young chef to open a restaurant. Betta has broken up with her boyfriend and moved to London, where she is finding herself in new ways. Gianluca and his wife are expecting their first child. The Recchi clothing business faces a new chapter as we watch that drama unfold in the corporate boardroom. A turbaned businessman speaks eloquently about the necessity of business to change in response to a rapidly growing world population.

Each member of the Recchi family face their own personal transformation as the container shatters. The pace of this film builds slowly as the stage is set for the unexpected events to unfold and by the end, one walks out of the theater feeling the effect of an emotional roller coaster. The story lingers with me.

See archives on sidebar for reviews of other Tilda Swinton films (Julia--Oct. 2009, Limits of Control--Dec. 2009, Broken Flowers--Jan. 2010).

I had recently seen two other films that share common themes of infidelity and inevitability of personal change that comes along with that. I liked both films very much...

The Kids Are Alright features an American middle-class family featuring lesbian mothers with two teenage children.

Cloud 9 is a German language film with subtitles featuring a lower middle-class married couple with a grown daughter and young grandchildren.

Please Exit Through The Gift Shop (2010)

2010-07-10T09:37:00.027-04:00

Coming soon to a theater near you...

This Bansky film premiered at Sundance in March. It may be awhile before it makes it to Buffalo so while visiting Manhattan I walked through the buzzy streets of East Houston to see it at the Sunshine Cinema.

I became interested in the elusive artist, Bansky, after hearing that an art object made by him was mentioned in Dennis Hopper's messy divorce that was in the news a couple months ago. The film explores the street art scene that actually began in the 1980s and later evolved into the image-based graphic style of the last ten-twenty years.

Through the lens of videographer, Thierry Guetta, we see an emerging scene that he observes and films while visiting France. His cousin, Space Invader, subversively installs lo-tech images of the video game character using small colored tiles in random public places. As he learns more about the scene, Guetta becomes curious to find out more about notorious counter-cultural prankster, Bansky. The British artist is known for graphic figures that appear in public places...such as an image of a police officer with a pink balloon dog or homeless man holding a sign that reads Keep Your Coins I WANT CHANGE.

In the United States, Shepard Fairey's experiment in phenomenology began appearing in the 1990s when he distributed stickers to the skater community with an image of 7'4", 500 pound wrestler, Andre the Giant. His OBEY giant logo is plastered on walls all over the world. He later created the HOPE poster of Barack Obama that was used as the 2008 campaign poster. The scene is not all male...Swoon's large-scale images of everyday people doing everyday things began appearing on walls in New York during this past decade.

While telling a story about the street art scene, Guetta interviews Bansky in the style of a 20/20 profile of someone in witness protection...with voice alteration and blurred face. We learn that Thierry Guetta is a frenchman living in L.A. with a family and clothing business. Through Bansky's participation in this film project, Guetta becomes inspired to take on the name Mr. Brainwash and begin making his own brand of street art. Much of this work features alterations of popular iconic cultural imagery, such as the one above, titled Jackson (Pollock). Success follows him as thousands attend his 2008 L.A. show, Life Is Beautiful, and Madonna commissions him to design the album cover for Celebration. Prior to the Sundance screening of this film, Mr. Brainwash had his first NYC show.

Anyone who has attended a large museum show lately knows that these events strategically exit everyone through an enticing gift shop display devoted entirely to items related that particular show. The art souvenir has become equivalent to the art experience. The film raises many questions. What is art? Can a commodity be art? Is the film entirely self-promotion? Is Mr. Brainwash simply another way for Bansky to express his own art? No matter what, the film is entertaining and provocative.

One Fast Move And I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur (2009)

2010-06-01T15:50:00.003-04:00

Curt Worden documentary about Jack Kerouac's 1960 retreat to Lawrence Ferlinghetti's cabin in Big Sur Woods in an effort to escape the fame and celebrity that fell upon him after hi 1957 publishing success of On The Road. His plan to quit drinking and calm down was foiled by inner demons and alcohol delirium tremens that he wrote about in a free-flowing diary during his time at the cabin. Later published as Big Sur, often described as Kerouac's grittiest book, the first page begins...

THE CHURCH IS BLOWING a sad windblown "Kathleen" on the bells in the skid row slums as I wake up all woebegone and goopy, groaning from another drinking bout and groaning most of all because I'd ruined my "secret return" to San Francisco by getting silly drunk while hiding in the alleys with bums and then marching forth into North Beach to see everybody although Lorenz Monsanto and I'd exchanged huge letters outlining how I would sneak in quietly, call him on the phone using a code name like Adam Yulch or Lalagy Pulvertaft (also writers) and then he would secretly drive me to his cabin in the Big Sur woods where I would be alone and undisturbed for six weeks just chopping wood, drawing water, writing, sleeping, hiking, etc. etc.

The film reflects upon passages from the book and shows the beat haunt of San Francisco and New York frequented by the artists who knew him. Featured interviews with people such as Carolyn and John Cassady, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, Sam Shepard, Joyce Johnson, Robert Hunter, and others add depth to this exploration of Jack Kerouac's brilliance and deterioriation.

Georgia O'Keefe (2009)

2010-05-30T13:38:00.000-04:00

Familiar character actor, Bob Balaban, directed this HBO biopic about the relationship between twentieth century artist, Georgia O'Keefe, and photographer and New York art dealer, Alfred Stieglitz. Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons are entirely convincing as the pair who marked the era of modern American art.

O'Keefe was a quiet artist/teacher living in Texas when she sent Stieglitz a few of her spare nature drawings during the early 192os. Recognizing her remarkable talent, he immediately hung them without her permission, thrilled to have found the first modern woman artist to show alongside Picasso, Matisse and Cezanne at his 291 Gallery in New York.

Their first meeting at the gallery began when she demanded he remove the art from the wall. Soon his charm began to engage her in a life-changing relationship that would shape her professional success. She disapproves of his attempt to attach words and description to her work.

"A painter using words is like a baby trying to talk--it's better to let the picture speak on its own rather to put a word to it."

They seem to have ongoing vital dialogues full of quotable lines. A complicated romance bloomed even though Stieglitz was married with a family. They found their way into a modern emotional situation that brought joy and pain as he divorced and eventually married Georgia. Although she was a model independent woman, she still felt the desire to procreate. This infuriated Alfred.

"You are here to paint, NOT to breed."

"Emma Goldman can preach feminism till she's blue in the face but YOU embody it! Work doesn't become art until some rich person comes along and buys it."

His famous nude photographs of Georgia reconnected him with his own artistic talents, but also contained a specific business motive...to make Georgia the first celebrity woman artist.

Problems arise in their relationship. She is befriended by the infamous Mabel Dodge Luhan (Tyne Daly), who invites her to her place in the arts community in the southwest. Georgia finds her spiritual home in Taos and spends the final years of her life working in the spaciousness and hills of the desert. Scenes of the film were shot at the historical Georgia O'Keefe House and Mabel Dodge Luhan House in Taos.

She comments about the state of their relationship..."He lost interest in me because I grew out of his shadow." Though she learned to drive and journeyed back and forth between Taos and New York for a period of time, eventually she stopped.

"I am moving more and more to a kind of aloneness. I must be apart now."

She maintained a love for Stieglitz and tells him "I never assumed you were anything but a great shining star I was hitching a ride on." After he passed away, she took on the task of restoring his legacy for the future. This is a beautiful portrayal of the life of a unique artist and her influences.

Ultimate Hipster

2010-05-29T14:37:00.013-04:00

Dennis Hopper
(May 17, 1936 - May 29, 2910)

Actor, writer, filmmaker, photographer, painter, republican...and more.

I like this photo by Robert Altman that I saw at The Woodstock Museum.

Coming soon to MOCA...
7/11/10 (http://www.moca.org/) Double Standard, a retrospective of Dennis Hopper's art.

Giant
Rebel Without A Cause
The Trip
Easy Rider (see January 2010 posts)
Cool Hand Luke
Apocalyse Now
Rumblefish
Blue Velvet
Speed
Hoosiers
Elegy Blindness
...and many more

Dennis Hopper is featured in an interesting documentary about the California modern art movement. See post about The Cool School in the archive for February 2010.

I enjoyed these episodes of Fishing With John, starring DH...
#1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YATio2CCBY
#2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR0J3wRh-oY
#3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-MzXAM1KMA

Our City Dreams (2008)

2010-05-18T17:02:00.006-04:00

Chiara Clemente grew up in the arts community of 1980s Manhattan, the daughter of painter Francesco Clemente. She left for awhile to attend college and travel, but then she found herself living back in New York crafting her own artistic life. This film features the city of New York as a creative muse in the lives of artists who move there to pursue their artistic aspirations. She weaves her own story throughout her profiles of five women artists.

Kiki Smith arrived in 1970s after the death of her father, sculptor Tony Smith. She claims that it sparked her need to make art and much of her process has grown around the idea of death in imagery of figures and nature.

Swoon, a generation later, arrived to attend Pratt Institute in the late 1990s and took her drawing and printmaking skills to the street as she created large figurative images on the floor of her small apartment and pasted them on walls all over the city. By 2005 she premiered an installation in the spacious Deitch Projects and was invited the Venice Biennale, where she and a team crafted her wildly assembled floating cities project.

Ghada Amer was born in Cairo, but began working in the city during the 1990s. Gagosian Gallery gave her a 2006 exhibition called Breathe Into Me, featuring drawings and prints of cliche imagery featuring women and exploring themes of pain, desire, torment, absence, romance.

Printmaker, Nancy Spero, and mother of performance art, Marina Abramovic, are also featured in this film that describes the passion behind the artist who chooses to live and work in New York, a place that adds extra difficulty to life and adds essential inspiration and energy.

The Man Who Cried (2000)

2010-05-18T13:05:00.004-04:00

I want to include a bit about this film because it was part of my Sally Potter exploration. I struggled through it because I liked the cast, but this one failed to engage me. The story of Suzie (Christina Ricci) begins in the late 1920s as a young girl in Russia whose father goes to America in search of opportunity. When her mother dies she is shipped off to England to be raised by foster parents until she is of an age to go off on her own. She has a talent for singing and lands in Paris to pursue a performing career.

She has little idea of her heritage except for a worn photo of her father that she carries with her. Her job with an opera company introduces her to Lola (Cate Blanchett), an older worldly woman who takes Suzie under her wing and helps her to discover herself. Blanchett is always a pleasure to watch. Lola's advice to Suzie on how to get your man as a romance brews with Dante (John Turturro), another singer in the company...

"First you must play hard to get. He must feel he is a hunter and you are a beautiful wild animal--it's a primitive instinct. If you want to make a man want you and only you, you must smile and always listen--he needs attention."

Unaware that she is Jewish, Suzie begins to understand her heritage as dangers unfold around her when Hitler invades Poland and World War II heats up. Cesar (Johnny Depp) is the intriguing gypsy lead singer who she has immediate rapport with, not knowing that she too had gypsy heritage. The theme of identity gets a bit lost, but Lola finds a way to leave Europe with Suzie. Once in America, Suzie begins her journey to find her father. Eventually she does...and he cries (of course).

Rage (2009)

2010-05-10T09:31:00.008-04:00

I had seen Sally Potter's 1992, Orlando, with my favorite Tilda Swinton, but I am just now catching up with her later films. She manages to attract amazing actors to her films and this recent one is distinguished as the first film ever to debut on mobile phones. A wonderful low-budget prodction, the director set out to "think big on a small canvas."

Each scene is a monologue by a fabulous actor who is supposedly being interviewed and filmed by an unseen character, Michelangelo, outside a much-anticipated fashion event. The camera is the primary character in this story, along with this mystery person/blogger behind it. The characters curiously open up and bare their souls to this Michelangelo. Each one is made up in sharply defined style (almost cartoonish) against an opaque colored background. I watched the DVD version, but I can imagine how good this must look on a small phone screen.

Simon Abkarian from the 2004 film, Yes (commented on in the post below) is featured again here...this time as an artistic fashion designer. The most intriguing character is Minx, a highly made up transvestite model. I will not give away which actor plays her...took me the first twenty minutes of watching to get it. Steve Buscemi is wonderful as the craggy bug-eyed photographer. Judi Dench, Diane Wiest, John Leguizamo also star along with several others. Unexpected events unfold that disturb the highly-crafted identities of this crew of characters who live the world of appearance and make comments such as...

"We are all product--everything is product, everything is belief."

"Appearance and essence are two sides of the same thing."

"Is an idea a thing or is a thing an idea?"

"Taste, refinement, beauty--without beauty there is nothing and I can't stand nothing--that's why I can't stand buddhism."

The DVD has many extra scenes worth watching, along with a revealing interview with Sally Potter.

Yes (2004)

2010-05-10T08:56:00.004-04:00

I'm not sure how I stumbled upon this unusual film, but I am now discovering the world of director Sally Potter. This story about a man and woman whose paths cross in London, sparking a love affair that unfolds more like a stage play than film. Featuring Joan Allen as an Irish American woman scientist, unhappily married to politician husband Sam Neill, and Lebanese doctor Simon Abkarian in exile working as a cook. The characters speak beautiful poetic and philosophical lines such as "each cell knows its destiny." Their liaison appears to be rooted in another century. Joan Allen, one of the founding members of the famed Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago is lovely as the statuesque, brilliant professional who seems to be living the wrong kind of life until she follows her passion with this exhuberant middle eastern lover through London, Belefast, Beirut and Havana.

Written In The Wind (1956)

2010-04-07T17:20:00.006-04:00

This is a melodrama...music plus drama. Douglas Sirk, creator of Imitation of Life, was known for melodrama. He says "You can't make films about things. You can only make films with things, with people, with light, with flowers, with mirrors, with blood. In fact, with all the fantastic things that make life worth living."

I watched this only because Kathryn Bigelow mentioned it as an inspiration. Melodrama is fairly foreign in our age of self-deprecating sarcasm, violence, outrageousness.

This movie is enjoyable to watch. It opens with a yellow sportscar speeding down the highway. The driver bites off the bottlecap of a beer and abruptly pulls up to some grand mansion in the small town of Hadley...all to the sound of a very cheesey song with the lyric "What's written in the wind is written on my heart." Lauren Bacall's face is all worry as she watches the page-a-day calendar fly backwards in time to Ocotober 24, 1955.

The story unfolds...

Kyle Hadley (Robert Stack) is an wealthy alcoholic playboy who falls for Lucy Moore (Lauren Bacall). Best friend, Mitch Wayne (Rock Hudson) is a geologist for his rich friend's dad's company, Hadley Oil. Old Man Hadley speaks highly of Mitch..."He has the kind of assets you can't buy with money." Handsome and sensible. Mitch falls for advertising executive assistant, Lucy. So does his buddy, Kyle. Kyle's sister, Marylee (Dorothy Malone) is a nymphomaniac in love with Mitch, but he regards her like a sister since they grew up together...plus, she is the town slut.

This is classic 1950s glamour all the way. Lauren Bacall leans out the window wearing and apple green sweater and skirt. Her blond hair is tinged with a touch of red. Pale pink chiffon curtains blow in the breeze. Dorothy Malone wears a wide brimmed black straw hat that casts an amazing shadow...when tilted down it sparkles in a perfect black circle.

There is punching. There is a gun. People die. People live happily ever after.

It has been said before, but...they really do not make movies like this anymore.

The Loveless (1982)

2010-04-04T00:51:00.003-04:00

After she was the first woman to win the academy award this year for best director, I became curious about Kathryn Bigelow. She started out as a painter studying at The San Francisco Institute of Art and went to New York for the Whitney Musuem Independent Study Program before studying film at Columbia. Influenced by existentialism, Jacques Lacan and Derrida, she also worked on contruction jobs with Phillip Glass.

The Loveless is her first feature film. Curious that her source of inspiration in the early 1980s was classic biker films, such as The Wild One (1953) and Scorpio Rising (1964). She also mentions another inspiration as Written in the Wind (1956) starring Rock Hudson. I plan to watch that one soon. Originally titled US 17, the distributors made her change it.

Starring a very young Willem Defoe as Vance, part of a biker gang on route to Datona Beach, Florida. They stop in small southern towns along the way finding all kinds of trouble. The film tagline is "Sworn to fun loyal to none." Vance says things like "Go bark at the moon" and "We're going nowhere fast." There is blinking neon and Coca Cola machines. The aesthetic and look of the film is late 1950s America, around the time of Jack Kerouac's On The Road. ten years before Easy Rider.

I know she has been known for her action films, a genre that is not usually what I like to watch so I will not be checking out the others. I can't say I liked this film. I was examining it more than enjoying it. Although, having just seen Willem Defoe in an intense role with Charlotte Gainsbourg in the 2009 film Antichrist, it was interesting to watch him nearly thirty years ago, as his style has been consistant.

Greenberg (2010)

2010-03-31T21:08:00.007-04:00

Directed by Noah Baumbach, who also created The Squid and the Whale (2005). He wrote the story along with Jennifer Jason Leigh. She is one of my favorites. This film had some quality that reminded me of an earlier JJL film, The Anniversary Party (2001). This story features Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) as he visits L.A. to housesit his brother's home while he and his family are out of the country. Roger is recovering after a nervous breakdown that landed him in a psychiatric hospital. Returning to L.A. is also a return to see old bandmates after many years away. They have each arrived at forty already. Roger remains single and works as a carpenter, while the others have found work and family.

The film refers back to a moment when their rock band was offered a record deal, an event that could have changed the course of their lives. Roger walked away from the deal, leaving the others to make sense of the lost opportunity. He has remained somewhat stuck in the self-identity of that former version of himself and tells people he encounters in L.A. that he is presently focused on doing nothing.

The film seems to ask what is a life without career and family? A bit lost now and coming to terms with the choices he has made, Roger's main housesitting duty is the care of the family dog and a project to build a doghouse, but when the dog become ill, more is required of him and pressures begin to mount. A non-driver in the large spread out city, he relies on the kindness of his brother's assistant, Florence (Greta Gerwig), a young aspiring singer. They seem to like each other, but continually give one another mixed signals. He remains a bit hung up on Beth (Jennifer Jason Leigh), the girlfriend from back in the day. She is married with children and going through a divorce. Roger wonders if he is meant to reconnect with her now. She clearly does not share this fantasy.

He spends a lot of time re-visiting with his old buddy, Ivan, who has a troubled marriage and young son. Ivan works as a computer technician after giving his rock star dreams when Roger turned down the record deal. A web of complex relationships evolve as Roger holds onto the past. "Hurt people hurt people," is a theme that comes up again and again, as Roger acts out his demons. He is forced to explore himself more deeply than ever before as we see him stuggle to embrace the life he never expected. This is a very genuine kind of film. Not a fantasy romance where all the loose ends get tied up. Instead, the difficult moments are laid out for for us to contemplate and personal growth is inevitable.

Chloe (2009)

2010-03-28T16:51:00.004-04:00

Set in Toronto, Catherine (Julianne Moore) is a successful doctor with a handsome professor husband, David ( Liam Neesan) and sexually curious teenage son, Michael (Max Thieriot). The Film opens as she entertains a house full of guests about to surprise her husband with a birthday party. When he calls to say he missed his flight home and will not arrive until late, Catherine begins to wonder.

The next day she notices a picture text on his phone showing him with a female student. As her suspicion rises, Catherine feels the need to test him. She hires an alluring young escort to present herself to him in order to report back on his response. Chloe (Amanda Segfried) is a fresh blend of youthful wide-eyed beauty and skillful seductress.

We learn more about the path of Catherine's marriage, a scenario common to many. Once inseparable passionate lovers, Catherine and David have grown apart. Even this appealing woman who seems to have it all feels unable to capture the attention of her husband, who has a tendency to flirt boldly with a variety of women he encounters right in front of Catherine. The experiment to catch her husband cheating becomes an obsession that involves her with Chloe more than she ever intended. Along the way Chloe proves to be less than professional as she attaches herself to Catherine and hits on her son, Michael, whose girlfriend just dumped him.

The foursome become intertwined in a very different kind of family drama...a thriller that leads us to some surprise unfoldings. Like turning the pages of a glossy magazine, the characters inhabit a metropolitan life of stylish surroundings and attractiveness as they discover their passions and desires.

Night Of The Iguana (1964)

2010-03-24T10:00:00.000-04:00

There is too much to say about this John Huston film, based on the Tennessee Williams play, a meditation on human need. The first part of the story is not entirely engaging, but it does come to life after awhile. Richard Burton's Shannon character is a defrocked alcoholic minister working as a tour guide in Mexico with a busload of tightly-wound church women from Texas visiting historic religious sites. Charlotte is an attractive teen who has been sent on the trip by her wealthy father in an attempt to separate her from the attentions of boy back home. Chaperoning her is Miss Fellowes, who has her hands full as Charlotte takes a liking to the handsome Reverend Shannon. He calls her emotionally precocious as he tries to defend himself when accused of seducing her.

Shannon is man on the edge of collapse, trying to stay on the wagon and keep his job after a lifetime of setbacks. Miss Fellows is determined to get him fired, but he hi-jacks the bus to a remote location in Puerta Vallerta where his friend, Maxine (Ava Gardner), runs a funky hotel on a hilltop high above the sea. She is closed for business after losing her husband, but Shannon convinces her to open up to accommodate his group of women. This is where the film gained my interest. Maxine feisty and alive, managing alone in the desolate place with a little help from her native beach boys, who appear at her command...tan and bare-chested, wearing nothing but thin white cotton pants...wiggling their hips to marachas. This film is full of stereotypes.

The party of women is joined by painter, Hannah (Deborah Kerr) and her elderly wheelchairbound grandfather who she claims is the oldest living poet. Are they artistic mytics or cons? Nobody is quite sure. She makes watercolor paintings and caricature sketches as the pair travel about and offering art to the tourists in exchange for whatever donations and sales they can muster. At present, they are flat broke and she must plead with Maxine to allow them to stay on. About her economic status, she calmly explains..."I am neither proud nor ashamed--it is just what happpened to us." Prim and proper, she wears a cliche white-collared "artist" smock with just a touch of smeared paint as she talks about her paintings to the raised eyebrows of the ladies. Grandfather calls the sea the "cradle of life" so he was eager to perch himself in this high spot to find that final bit of inspiration he had been seeking...a leathery, lined and bent-over gentleman with a mop of white hair who perks up now and then to recite his poetic words.

Meanwhile, Maxine tries to be a good host, offering drinks that the teetotalers refuse. The story's location is a dense rain forest populated with iguana that the locals catch with their bare hands. Maxine orders the beach boys to grab one..."tie it up, fatten it up, cook it up." Chinese cook appears stoned in the kitchen with the meal burning on the stove, but he offers his usual words of wisdom...Mei yoo guanchi, loosely translated to mean "no sweat," his typical response. Frustrated and wanting to offer a nice meal, Hannah helps by offering to cook up some fish, claiming her years on Nantucket taught her to prepare a nice meal with any fish.

Miss Fellowes files a statuatory rape complaint against Shannon and discovers his long history of similar accusations. The stress of this delivers him back to the bottle and we see him desparately snapping on his white collar, insisting that he has not been defrocked. Hannah describes herself as a spinster pushing forty as Shannon chips away at to learn more about her odd chaste lifestyle and she continues to reveal a deep nature and wisdom that stir his attention. She explains her lifestyle to him..."I don't regard a home as a place, but something two people have between them--a place to rest and nest. When one builds a nest in the heart of another the question of permanence and propagation are not so imporatant. What's important is that one is never alone."

Charlotte turns her interest from Shannon to Hank, the driver of the bus. They end up driving off with the church ladies, leaving Shannon to sort out his troubles with Maxine and Hannah. His dark demons drive him to crack up, something Maxine claims he does a couple times a year. The beach boys rescue him from a drunken dive into the sea after telling everyone he would swim to China. They tie him up restrained in a hammock while Hannah suggests poppy tea to calm him. The tonic seems to work as more of their souls are bared. He explains his problem..."When you live on the fantastic level as I have more and more lately but have to operate on the realistic level you get spooked." Hannah reveals her demons and claims..."Some take a drink--others take a pill. I just take a few deep breaths." Her gentle insights seem to heal Shannons troubles, as Maxine becomes a little jealous to observe this happening under her roof.

The iguana never does end up on the kitchen stove. Hannah instructs Shannon to liberate it. Lots of symbolism here and loose ends tied up nicely. Grandfather completes his final poem and solemnly offers the words to his companions at the hotel, a beautiful moment to watch, as he dies moments later. Hannah has anticipated this moment, free at last to move on in her life. Maxine, Hannah, and Shannon are left to unwind a complex emotional entanglement. The film is wonderful and the extra features tell how the film was made during a time when this location choice presented John Huston with a huge challenge. Richard Burton has Elizabeth Taylor with him on the set, a major distraction for the all, as she was still married to Eddie Fisher. John F. Kennedy was shot just before concluding the shoot.

Adam (2009)

2010-03-23T11:43:00.000-04:00

After my trip to Damages, I became interested in actress, Rose Byrne, who is so compelling in that drama. I found this indie film (made after the television series) about Adam (Hugh Dancy), a man with aspergers as he meets up with New York City apartment neighbor, Beth (Rose Byrne). She is teaches kids and writes children's books. He is an electrical engineer with a job arranged by his over-protective father. Brilliant in many ways, Adam is a good-looking young man with a passion for astronomy and nature, but he manages in life by staying close to a rigid lifestyle. Rose helps to have a bit more fun in life and teaches him how to do better in his life, such as improve his diet. "You can't eat macaroni and cheese every night--it lacks stimulation."

Adam was adapting to life after his father died, on his own for the first time. He seems to have one friend, an older man named Harlan who talks with him and gives him some pointers on how to live in the world, but the loss of his father leaves him adrift. Rose growns quite fond of Adam's uniqueness. Harlan encourages him to make an effort to be with her. Early on, he calls her outside late at night to show her racoons living in Central Park. They began to share a quirky world together and love blossoms. She helps him to thrive despite his condition and seems enjoy the caretaking role.

Rose's parents, Marty (handsome Peter Gallagher) and Rebecca (sweet Amy Irving) Buckman are perplexed about their promising and lovely only child's choice of boyfriend. He is fired from his job for poor performance and learns that his father had been the one to arrange it in the first place, something that was kept a secret from him. This sends him on a downward spiral. Although Rose's parents are intially tolerant of the relationship, they intervene when Adam has a meltdown in front of their home that scares them all. Dad tells Rose "He's not for you."

Adam suffers without Rose and this inspires him to rise to the occasion...find a way to gain her attention. He lands a high-tech job in Silicon Valley and invites Rose to move out there with him. She is still in love with him and considers this. Dad warns her that she will always have to look after him. Meanwhile, Beth's Dad has been charged with a white collar crime that sends him to prison for two years. He bargains with Beth to return home with the mother, assuring her that they have been well-provided for financially. Mom is more sensitive to the dilemma of the heart and tells her "Feeling loved is very important, but loving is the necessity."

Beth struggles to make a decision and asks Adam straight out why he wants her to go with him. His answer is revealing. "You are like a part of me--I could not go without you--I need you to help me get to work and understand the people around me." He finally did say he loved her, but she knew this was not the future she wanted for herself. Adam takes a leap and goes anyway. We see him months at his new job with new friends appearing to be happy. The experience with Rose launched him to this next level. He receives a package in the mail from her one year after his move, a children's book titled Adam, about a family of racoons living in Central Park. Of course, he is pleased and all is well. This is more like a movie on the Lifetime channel, but the cast is quite good. It's kind of a relief to see Rose out of the hardcore world of Damages.

Damages Season 2 (2007)

2010-03-22T11:43:00.014-04:00

I am a season behind on this, but I watch it like a movie...one episode after the next withing a few days. First, I love the soundtrack...especially the opening song "When I am Through With You," written by Jason Rabe and Ravi Subramanian, performed by VLA. Why do I enjoy a show with a tagline such as "Win at all costs"????? Despite the abundance of plot, I'm in this for the characters, of course.

Created by Daniel Zelman, brothers Glenn and Todd Kessler, the writing production trio had some involvement previously with The Sopranos. No wonder. Here hiigh-power attorney Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) and her protege Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) are central to this story of good against evil, corporate corruption, relationship, power and money....greed. Patty tells Ellen early on "You're a lawyer--get used to lying." Patty is married to investment king, Phil Gray...played by Michael Nouri, who just have been in dozens of made for tv movies on the Lifetime channel as the handsome love interest. Industry pollution, mergers, contrived stock trades, revenge and scandel...it's all so real and unreal.

Arthur Frobischer (Ted Danson) is the likable bad guy with company trouble and a wife out to divorce him. He recovers from being shot and wants to change his ways. He once said things like "Take her out," but transforms through the help of his Deepak Chopra-like personal healer who tells Frobischer "Every gesture has two sides--one faces the sun and one faces the darkness." The two join forces to build a healing arts center on the site where he buries the bullet that nearly did him in.was shot. Charges against him mount. There are hits, makes, FBI and investigators at every turn.

Ellen escapes a murder attempt, but her fiancee does not. Patty is watching Ellen and Ellen is watching Patty. Their partner, family man Tom Shayes is played by Tate Donovan who is known previously on Seinfeld. He finds himself in for more than he ever bargained for. Daniel Purcell (William Hurt), world-weary scientist gone bad, is Patty's former love interest and father of her teenage son. My favorite this season is Claire Maddox (Marcia Gay Harden), attorney for Patty's opposition. The only child of hopeful parents, by mid-life she is the top of her game...one of the boys, but outwardly sexy in her low-cut suits and mile-high heels. She wears stockings and garters, drinks vodka martinis (dirty)....won't let her lover light her post-sex cigarette. "I smoke one at the end of the day and I smoke it alone." She sums up the state of the economy and contemporary life..."There is no one more endangered than the american caucasian male." Independent and childfree, she answers her elderly father's lament about no grandchildren with "If you wanted grandchildren, Dad, you should have had a lot more kids." There are so many more interesting characters, but one really has to start at the beginning of this saga and watch it all unfold.

August Rush (2007)

2010-03-03T19:00:00.012-05:00

I noticed this listed as somebody's favorite film. Another story about musical genius...part fairytale, part reality. Lyla (Keri Russell) is serious-minded cellist living in New York. She falls for Louis (Jonathan Rhy Meyers), a charming Irish rock musician. Their brief romance ends in pregnancy, but Lyla's overprotective father makes sure that the man and baby do not sidetrack her from the promising career. Lyla is told the baby died in birth. She settles into life as a music teacher in Chicago. Louis moves on to a more ordinary life and puts aside his music.

Meanwhile, we learn about Evan (Freddie Highmore), a sensitive boy growing up at a home for boys. Kindly social worker, Richard (Terrance Howard) takes a special interest in him as he tries to understand Evan's refusal to be adopted, convinced that his real family will find him someday. Evan runs away from the home, where he meets up with band of children living in an abandon building with Maxwell, "The Wizard" (Robin Williams) who uses the kids to earn money. He is full of philosophy, music, and street. Evan picks up a guitar and uncovers a surprising talent. Maxwell gives him the stage name August Rush and enforces in him the belief that "the music is all around...you just need to listen."

On his deathbed, Lyla's father confesses that he had forged her name on adoption papers twelve years ago...for her own good. This news sends her on a mission to New York to find her son. Richard, from Child Services begins to help her. Meanwhile, Louis faces his own demons and begins dwelling on thoughts of Lyla. He quits his job and takes out his guitar. August Rush breaks free of Maxwell long enough for others to notice his talents and the stars align for him. The course of their journies becomes predictable, but the road to the conclusion is so much fun.

Lyla returns to her cello for a symphony concert in Central Park. Louis is in town reconnecting with his rock band. You can guess the rest, but it doesn't matter. This film is touching and thought-provoking. Is our path in life unavoidable?

Heartbreakers (1984)

2010-03-01T16:19:00.004-05:00

I was looking for an old Peter Coyote movie called Paint It Black. Did I imagine that one? Never did find it, but I came upon this one that is full of 1980s sound and style. Peter Coyote is in his prime of handsomeness as (Arthur) Blue, a thirty-five year old struggling artist who makes large paintings of fetish model, Candy Cane (Carole Wayne), reminiscent Betty Page. He lives in a stark white L.A. loft (complete with mattress on the floor and Laurie Anderson poster in the kitchen) with Cyd (Kathryn Harrold), who supports them with her steady job in commercial art until she begins wanting more...such as a bed. She pleads with him "you have to live in the world in order to be an artist" and soon takes up with a successful painter, Chuck (Max Gail), who actually "lives like a grown-up." In Blue's opinion, the man is a whore who sells pretty decorative art.

Losing Cyd sparks Blue to look more seriously at his work. He quits his job working the graveyard shift at a porn printshop where he runs the press, determined to find success as a painter. His persistance lands him a show at the T. Ray Gallery, with just six weeks to produce twelve large paintings. The movie centers around his life as a painter and his friendship with Eli, who runs the family garment business. We learn that it was Eli who was first to date Cyd...it seems that sooner or later the women end up with Blue. Eli falls in love with the gallery assistant, Liliane (Carole Laure), who is never quite available for the kind of romance Eli hopes for. Blue tries to win back Cyd with his new gallery success. There is a lot to this story beside the L.A. attractiveness. There are a lot of nightclub scenes...men on the prowl, sexy dancing to 1980s techno pop...jeaousy and fierce competion. In the end, though, it is the men in this film who truly support one another.

Antichrist (2009)

2010-03-01T10:00:00.005-05:00

This Lars Von Trier film is categorized as "Horror." Full of symbolism and primal material, this is a wild movie...quite shocking in many ways. I wrote about Lemming back in January, where I first discovered Charlotte Gainsbourg. Like the character in that film, we see her again as another disturbed woman. CG was born into a family of performers and has some kind of cult-status a singer/songwriter of "dream pop."

This film begins quite dreamily as we see a couple making love while their toddler child awakens in the night and climbs up to the ledge of a window that has blown open in a winter storm. He falls to his death and the man and woman are left to deal with enormous grief. She collapses into a dysfunctional state and is hospitalized for a month. He therapist husband finally takes matters into his own hands. Back home, he begins practicing therapy on her himself and discovers an underlying fear for a place called "Eden," where they have a cabin in the woods. Though unconventional for a therapist to treat his own wife, he feels nobody else is capable of the task. He makes her flush the medications, and they take off to spend time at the cabin in the woods where he begins exercises in exposure therapy. There is lots of nudity and in your face sexual moments.

The film is sectioned into chapters titled, Grief, Pain, Despair. The primal forces of nature begin to reveal themselves. The cabin is pelleted with falling acorns. As he assists his wife to unravel her inner life, he also discovers her unfinished thesis on Gynocide that the wife was supposed to have completed the previous summer she spent the cabin with the young child. He also begins to see that her growing fear the woods not only compromised her ability to do her work, but she may have neglected the child during that time. She comments at one point that "nature is Satan's church." We begin to believe his therapy is working when the wife admits she is feeling happy again, but deeper darker events unfold. In some ways, this film is like a long unrelenting nightmare, yet thought-provoking...and yes, horrifying.

Milton Glaser: Art Is Work (2009)

2010-02-28T10:02:00.003-05:00

Curtis Hillman made an interesting series of short films about artists. This one on Milton Glaser is especially good.

After a long career as a graphic artist, he reports being grateful to have maintained his "capacity for astonishment" and concludes that "none of us have an ability to understand our path until it's all over."

He refers to Lewis Hyde's book, The Gift, an investigation into how gift exchange throughout history provides people a common bond that prevents us from killing one another. Milton Glaser sees the role of artist as offering this gift of commonality.

Watch this wonderful film here...
http://www.hillmancurtis.com/index.php?/film/watch/milton_glaser/

500 Days of Summer (2009)

2010-02-23T12:59:00.004-05:00

Twenty-somethings in love. Summer (Zooey Deschanel) and Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) meet at work. Although he studied architecture in college, he is now writing greeting cards. She is the boss's new assistant who Tom immediately falls for. After days of quietly pining for her, he finally has a chance to connect with her at a karaoke bar office party where a lot of alcohol is consumed.

Although there is a spark between them, she mentions right away that she is not looking for anything serious. We watch the 500-day romance flourish and flounder as they frolic and play. She is one of those girls that simply perplexes a guy. She kisses him in the copier room at work then turns away just as unexpectedly to leave him wondering what it all means. This new romance makes Tom very happy and a little crazy. Isn't that always the downside of love? The uncertainty of it all is maddening.

We watch them at the movies watching the final scene of The Graduate, where Ben (Dustin Hoffman) has rescued Elaine (Katherine Ross) from the wrong marriage. They run out of the church, giddy and carefree. While sitting in the back of a bus their expressions of laughter flatten to worried introspection. What have they just done?

Summer is tearful as she watches this. Outside with Tom afterwards, she says she is tired and wants to go home. She is obviously pulling away from Tom. He does not really get this and convinces her to go with him for pancakes. She goes, but breaks up with him without eating a bite. He has not seen this coming and leaves in total desparation...returns home to binge-drink his way through heartbreak. Summer leaves her job at the greeting card company and Tom does not adjust well.

Months later, he runs into Summer at a wedding. They hang out together throughout the evening and she dances with him. The fun they have together implies to Tom a reunion of sorts. Summer invites him to a party she is hosting. He goes there with hope for a renewed romance. The film shows his time at the party in split screen with his expectations on one side and reality on the other. On one side she greets him with a kiss on the lips...the reality side shows a friendly hug. The expectation side shows her unwrapping the small gift with obvious heartfelt appreciation for the copy of the book called The Architecture of Happiness...the other side of the screen shows Summer awkwardly opening the gift with little fanfare and quickly moving on to other guests.

When someone asks him what he does, Summer chimes in with "He could be a great architect if he wanted to." Tom has no choice but address the humiliating moment with irony. "Why make something disposable like a building when you can make something everlasting like a greeting card." The party is one disappointing moment after the next until he observes her showing a girlfriend the diamond ring on her left hand. He nearly faints with the shock of that and quickly exits the party. Days later he impulsively walks out of a meeting at the job and quit on the spot.

Tom begins to move himself in a new direction as he pulls out the architecture books he once loved. On the 500th day after meeting Summer, he sits on his favorite park bench. She speaks to him from nearby where she seems to have been waiting for him to appear. They have both grown a lot in the time since their break-up. Both are subdued as they talk, but he speaks up to let her know that he still does not understand how a girl who claimed to not want anything serious, ended up married to somebody else.

He now claims to have renounced any belief in true love, soulmates, or other romantic foolishness that he once thrived on. She was the practical one who had brushed aside all of that by the time they had first met. She tells him that she was wrong. "I just woke up one day and I knew with him what I was never sure of with you." While sitting in a deli one day reading Dorian Grey, a guy started talking to her about the book. It just happened and it was meant to be.

These encounters between former lovers are common. It's most difficult for the one who has not moved on to a new relationship. Tom does go on to find his own destiny. The movie leaves us rooting for him anyway. It's all a little too neat, but the story is universal. Zooey Deschanel's cuteness is a bit much for me, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt has classic movie star presence that we will be seeing a lot more of in future movies.

Joni Mitchell--Woman of Heart & Mind (2003)

2010-02-16T16:44:00.005-05:00

This is a beautiful story of a talented small-town Canadian girl who was a born painter, poet, singer, and restless soul. A teen mom who gave up her infant for adoption, she carried the pain of that choice for years to come. She married for a brief time to Chuck Mitchell, who she partnered with in early performances, although his controlling ways did not agree with free-spirited Joni. Her creative spirit was unstoppable. She wrote songs that reflected the struggles of a young woman searching for love, but needing independence.

Joni would soon become the golden girl of the blossoming Laurel Canyon folk rock music scene of the late 1960s. She was revered by her male peers, such as David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, James Taylor, Bob Dylan. Not only was she gorgeous, but her talent as a singer/songwriter was admired by all. While Woodstock was happening in 1969, she was back in New York writing the infamous song, Woodstock, that she performed the day after the concert on The Dick Cavett Show. Crosby, Stills, and Nash also turned up on the stage with her for the historical interview.

Joni and Graham Nash were in love, but she turned down his marriage proposal, determined to follow her muse and took off for Greece, where she sent him this note. with a note...

"If you hold sand too tightly in your hand it will run through your fingers."

She speaks of her "chords of inquiry" and describes how she rotates her art process between writing, recording, painting to balance her creative needs. She never set out to make popular music so she is able to brush off any criticism she receives for some of her more experimental projects. During the 1980s her themes have shifted from struggles with love to social commentary. She eventually reconnected with her daughter, Kilauren, and now enjoys knowing her grandchildren.

The Cool School (2008)

2010-02-15T14:32:00.000-05:00

This documentary is narrated by Jeff Bridges and includes commentary by Dennis Hopper and Dean Stockwell who were on the periphery of the beat artist scene of the late 1950s when Venice was the backwater of bohemia that drew the artists to the edge of the world. They were a small group and medical school dropout, Walter Hopps, got to know them all when he opened a tiny Los Angeles art gallery called Ferus and gave California artists a serious venue for exhibitions...artists such as Jay DeFeo, Ed Ruscha, Craig Kaufman, Wallace Berman, John Baldessari, Peter Voulkos, Ed Moses, Robert Irwin, Ed Kienholz.

L.A. never embraced the "New American Art." They viewed the abstract expressionism that had a grip on the New York artworld as communist. Hopps opened another small avante gard gallery with Irving Blum called Syndell Studio, but the partnership failed and Blum stole his wife. Hopps went on to curate shows at The Pasadena Museum where he hosted Andy Warhol's first show and charged just $100 for the Warhol soup can prints. He later gave Marcel Duchamp his first retrospective in 1963.

Hopps helped cultivate an interest in art by offering an adult ed class to wanna-be collectors and began to take some of artworld attention away from New York as he brought the California aesthetic to the art magazines and collectors. The subject of the modernist world was not external...it came from the artist. Wallace Berman did for assemblage what Ed Ruscha did for language (as visual experience). Robert Irwin did for the Light & Space Movement what Peter Voulkos did for the ceramic art sculpture.

This may not appeal to many, but I appreciate seeing evidence of a simpler time in history, a time when so much fresh excitement about contemporary visual art was happening for the first time.

Ninotchka (1939)

2010-02-14T09:33:00.000-05:00

Michael and Trudy recommended this classic and now I am suggesting it to anyone who reads this. It's funny and full of quotable lines.

The film opens with these words...In Paris during the wonderful days when a siren was a brunette not an alarm and if a frenchman turns out the light it was not on account of an air raid.

Greta Garbo is a stern comrade who does everything by the book...soviet-style. She is sent to Paris to arrange the sale of some of the Grand Duchess's jewels for the government. Three of her comrades are there as well, meeting the sophisticated world of Paris like children.

During the visit she meets Count Leon (Melvyn Douglas) who is the Duchess's lawyer. He greets her at the airport and tries to help with her bags. "Don't make an issue of my womanhood," she says. He is smitten and slowly-but-surely melts her heart just a bit as she meets materialistic Paris with disdain. She rejects paying for the pricey hotel that was arranged for her, as the amount is equivalent to the cost of seven cows for the Russian people.

Greta Garbo's Ninotchka is a complete feminist before the word had been imagined. She appears braless throughout the movie, an unusual sight in hollywood, except for a few offbeat films during the 1970s. Early in the film she remarks on a strange stovepipe-shaped hat on display. "How can a civilization survive that allows women to put things like that on their head?"

She approaches siteseeing with full seriousness. "I'm interested in the Eiffel Tower from a technical standpoint." As Leon pushes forward in his effort to woo her, she says "Must you flirt? Suppress it!" and adds "Love is a romantic designation for an ordinary biological impulse."

When he asks "What kind of girl are you, anyway?" She replies solemnly "A tiny cog in the wheel of evolution." Leon is the consummate romantic who says things like. "Look at the clock...one hand meets the other hand and they kiss...it's midnight and one half of Paris is making love with the other half." Ninotchka easily brushes aside such a remark with "You merely feel that you must put yourself into a romantic mood to add to your exhileration."

At an ordinary restaurant she orders raw beets and carrots. The waiter is apalled and says "Let me bring you a nice little lunch." Leon does eventually crack her open in laughter when he falls off his chair. She begins to warm up and love life a little more with Leon's help. "I always felt a little hurt when the swallows left in winter for the capitalistic countries and now I know why...we have the high ideals and they have the warm climate."

Another Leon come-on..."It's nine o'clock and one half of Paris is saying to the other half...Do you have plans?" He opens a bottle of champagne, more indulgence than she could ever imagine. "I was brought up on goatsmilk and ration of vodka in the army."

As the melting of icy Ninotchka progresses we see her share with a girlfriend a souvenir from Paris. Smiling, she takes out of a box the once-silly stovepipe hat that make her glow for the moment she allows herself to place it on her head. She learns to be happy.

Back home in Russia, she sets the table for a small dinner party for the three comrades and tells a roomate she is preparing an omelette, an obvious challenge when one is rationed just one egg. She explains that she has saved two eggs...and we watch the men arrive with their own egg packed in a tiny box. Ninotchka sums up the Soviet moral of this tale. "If you stand alone you eat a boiled egg. If you stand with your comrades you eat an omelette."

She also wear home a silk and lace slip from Paris that she washes and nearly undermines the entire soviet cause as the comrades see it hanging on the clothesline to dry. She explains to the friend with a bit of excitement that people change their clothes rather frequently in Paris...women typically go from negligee to home frock to evening dress in the course of a day. The friend asks to borrow the lovely silk negligee for her upcoming honeymoon. Ninotchka gives it to her with new happiness.

Leon is back home missing her with Karl Marx on his nightstand and comments that he feels good...like he's making a contribution...when he makes his bed each morning. Ninotchka eagerly greets the mail, but sadly discovers his letters are entirely censored and unreadable. Her friend tries to comfort her and says "They can't censor our memories , can they?" The three comrades open a restaurant that serves borscht and beef stroganoff with the help of financial backing from Count Leon.

All ends well.

Weeds - Season 5

2010-02-13T19:56:00.005-05:00

This is not a movie. It's actually a soap opera of the best kind. As a DVD watcher, I am a season behind the live broadcasts.

Nancy Botwin (Mary Louise Parker) is a modern heroine who survived widowhood and began supporting her two boys with a career in the marijuana growing and distribution industry. Her deceased husband, Judah, remains a constant point of reference throughout the story as her sons grow up and she moves on into relationships with other men. Judah's brother, Andy (Justin Kirk) lives with Nancy and the boys. Nancy life has moved through many sagas and involvements with drug world characters, but this season she is pregnant with the lovechild of Esteban. Also the Mayor of Tijuana, he is a dangerous, controlling man who also has a lot a charm. Andy loves Nancy, but he is unable to capture her heart. Fortunately, he becomes smitten with Audra, a doctor played by Alanis Morrisette. They happen to be one of the best matched couples ever. Nancy's sons, Silas and Shane do not escape the dark influences in their impressionable lives. Kevin Nealon and Elizabeth Perkins and a few others add new levels of craziness to the storyline. These people are all terribly flawed. This makes the show a slice of life that feels very real in its outrageousness.

The DVDs include entertaining extra features, such as University of Andy. I am a huge Andy fan and guess that many of the other female viewers would be less interested in the show without him. He loves women and means well, but has pretty poor follow-through. "If you give her all of you, she won't want more of you" is a typical Andy truism.

There is also another feature, Crazy Love Guide to Dysfunctional Relationships in Weeds. The wisdom about Nancy is that she wants to be taken care of and yet she doesn't need to be taken care of. Her youngest son, Shane, calls her the teflon warrior.

Another feature is a History of Weed, beginning with the year 2727 BC when cannabis was used as medicine in China. By 500 AD it turned up in Europe. Supposedly, Columbus brought it to the new world in 1492 and Jamestown colony law stated that all settlers in the year 1619 were required to grow cannabis. George Washington's primary crop in 1797 at Mount Vernon was cannabis. By 1880, Turkish smoking parlors opened all over the US northeast. Henry Ford's first Model T vehicle in 1908 was made with hemp plastic and ran on hemp ethanol. Federal law banned marijuana in 1937, but the US military used it as a truth serum in 1942. By 1965 one million Americans had tried marijuana and by 1972 that figure was up to 24 million. In the 1980s, supposedly someone was arrested for a cannabis violation every 38 seconds. Proposition 215 in California legalized medical marijuana in 1996. Marijuana is now America's top cash crop, earning 36 billion yearly.

I am not sure about the accuracy of all these statistics, but for anyone who questions why an entire television series is devoted to the substance, these facts add a lot of weight to the argument.

Hurt Locker (2008)

2010-02-13T19:09:00.005-05:00

In an effort to catch up with a few oscar nominees, I sat through this intensely graphic psychological action film that succeeded in providing the viewer with an up-close intimate two hours of living in a war zone. The main characters were actors I was not familiar with, though other smaller roles were played by David Morse and Ralph Fiennes. The story revolves around a small unit dedicated to high-stress task of uncovering and disengaging IEDs. The men manage their emotions by storing away their pain (hurt locker), as there is no time for it. They cope by drinking and fighting with one another. James (Jeremy Renner) joins the team as an expert technician who is also a renegade type who seems to continually puts his peers at risk, an adrenaline junkie who never stops.

Director Kathryn Biegelow is married to James Cameron who was a writer on her last big picture, Strange Days. Curiously, his blockbuster, Avatar, is also waiting for a slew of oscars. I made my way into that one too. The 3D tropical lushness is engaging, but all that military testosterone on the pretty planet of Pandora is exhausting. I can say the same of this film. Both pictures will likely clean up on award night, though. While each film seems to be pointing out the wrongs of military operations, the chance of moving beyond that force appears to be hopeless. I left both feeling bad.

Ladies and Gentlemen--Mr. Leonard Cohen (1965)

2010-02-10T16:36:00.002-05:00

This is a fun documentary for anyone who appreciates the evolution of Leonard Cohen's career. Before he was a man with a guitar...before his gravely voice and hat, he was a cleancut stand-up poet wearing suit and tie. Although, it was the early 1960s, he was already a notable writer with records of his readings on the market. He was also documenting his career for posterity. Funny thing is that he does not even look all that young. I guess he was in his late twenties at the time.

Leonard had been blessed with an idyllic childhood in Montreal, where his parents began shooting movies and photos of him as a young child. He is shown on bike, sled, skate, and ski. He talks about the first rebellious act as the refusal to sleep and we see shots of the late-night coffee houses and nightclubs where young people listened to the poets, who were the rock stars of the day. He began to view himself as a social critic. Always a poet. The film simply watches Cohen throughout the course of his day during a simpler time in history.

Soon after that I happened to watch Isle of Wight, made just five years later. The post-Woodstock mega music festival on a tiny island off the south of Great Britain attracted 600,000 young people who had come to see Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, and others. We see a more laidback Leonard Cohen perform Suzanne, his hair shaggy and wearing a scruffy fatigue jacket.

The Tenant (1976)

2010-02-08T16:57:00.001-05:00

I recently saw previews for a new film, the Ghost Writer, by Roman Polanski. It looks good and despite all his bad press in recent months, I wanted to see one of his older films. Of course, we all know about the creepy 1968 film, Rosemary's Baby. The Tenant is another psychological thriller, starring Polansky as Trelkowski, a quiet young man who rents an apartment somewhere in France and soon discovers that the previous occupant was a woman named Simone, who had flung herself out the window and was dying in the hospital. He actually goes to visit her and some kind of exchange of energy occurs that kills her and begins to unsettle his calm world. Complaints from neighbors and strange occurances begin to mount up. He becomes involved with a girlfriend (Isabelle Adjani) as he begins having a mental breakdown. That leads him to dressing up as the deceased Simone and lots of other crazy behaviors follow. I had to laugh when I received an email from my landlord the day after watching this bizarre film listing me along with a slew of other people. Beside my name was the word "tenant." Yes, anyone who has lived alone in old buildings knows how these places can rattle one's wellbeing at times. The occasional psycho thriller is enjoyable in a weird way.

The Single Man (2009)

2010-02-04T12:55:00.000-05:00

I just heard that this movie is up for an Oscar and it's no wonder because I stopped in to see this on a quiet Monday night with just a few others watchers and thoroughly enjoyed the beautifully sad story. Fashion designer, Tom Ford, wrote the screenplay of the Christopher Isherwood novel and directed the stylish film with the help of the production design team who created the look of MadMen.

Colin Firth is an actor I have seen over and over in ensemble productions with more notable stars. Here he portrays George Falconer, a trim British English professor at a small southern California college 1962. Flashbacks show us his younger self during the 1940s meeting a handsome sailor (Matthew Goode). Sixteen years later, Jim and George share a cozy home by the beach until a car crash leaves George alone to grieve quietly at a time when there was no open gay life. He struggles to find meaning through his encounters with others until his own fate is revealed. His performance is completely engaging. Julianne Moore is the glamorous loving woman friend next door. I especially loved the scene where they dance together to the 1962 hit song by Booker T & The MGs, Green Onions. For what it's worth...Rolling Stone ranked this #181 of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Dream of Life (2008)

2010-02-03T14:19:00.009-05:00

I saw this documentary last year, an indepth look at the artist, Patti Smith, through the eyes of photographer/filmmaker, Steven Sebring. The filming took place over twelve years after her husband, Fred Sonic Smith, passed away in 1994 and Patti began to re-start her career after living quietly in Detroit raising her children, Jackson and Jesse. The film tells the story of her life as a developing poet/singer/songwriter/painter growing up in the midwest and moving to New York in the early 1970s. A truly artful film, it shows a lot of daily life, as well as important interviews with family and friends.

This wonderful PBS interview with Patti and Steven that explores the making of the film...http://video.pbs.org/video/1372960914/

Patti Smith's memoir, Just Kids, also just came out...recollections of the early years in New York when she and best friend, Robert Maplethorpe, were beginning their artistic lives.

Bleu (1993)

2010-01-30T10:13:00.004-05:00

First film in trilogy by Krzysztof Kieslowski devoted to exploring France's national motto, Liberty Equality, Fraternity. He followed this with Blanc and Rouge during the next year and died soon after.

Blue, the color of grief, looks at Julie (Juliette Binoche), who loses her composer husband and daughter in a car accident that she survives and lives on with her shattered life and attempts a kind of spiritual suicide. Julie proclaims "I want no belonging, no memories, no friends, no love....those are all traps." She lives on a physical level of smoking and swimming, resisting the emotional world as she journies into the possibility of true liberty. Can a person live without connection? She is lovely to watch as she engages with people and arrives at her answer to this question. I hope to see White and Red in the near future.

Easy Rider (1969)

2010-01-29T13:19:00.002-05:00

During a recent snowy day I drove a few blocks to the library to find a movie, knowing I could be homebound for awhile. The selection there is not great, but I picked up the 35th anniversary edition of the film, including a 1999 documentary, Making Easy Rider: Shaking The Cage. I was mostly interested in watching this, but ended up watching both.

Peter Fonda wrote the film with Dennis Hopper and Terry Southern...Hopper directed. I understand Dennis Hopper is terminally ill with cancer so this seems to be a good time to re-visit the era through the eyes of this film. The music alone is fantastic, but it's amusing to hear the language that marked the time...groovy, freak, dude, get it together...all commonplace now.

Peter Fonda was inspired by a speech by Jack Valenti on behalf of The Motion Picture Association of America. "We have to stop making movies about motorcycles, sex and drugs...and make more movies like Dr. Doolittle." Fonda, Nicholson, and Hopper had each already starred in motorcycle films. The last thing he wanted to create was another one, but Fonda took the speech as a challenge and began imagining Easy Rider as a modern western. By the way, an "easy rider" lives off a whore, though he is not actually a pimp. I guess he is simply charming.

The 1960s had already happened, but box office movie hits were the squeaky clean Pillow Talk and Beach Blanket Bingo. These films had nothing to do with what had happened in the country during the 1960s so he created two counterculture biker characters, Captain America and Billy, on a roadtrip from LA to New Orleans. The film's tagline is "A man went looking for America and . And couldn't find it anywhere." The story is about what happened after the 60s were over.

The financing was largely Fonda's Diner's Club credit card. They used their own record collections to put together the soundtrack, but still brought in Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to improve upon it. They all recognized how perfect it already was and left it alone. I wonder what Captain America and Billy would say about the America of today?

Enlighten Up (2008)

2010-01-26T23:23:00.009-05:00

Westerners often practice yoga for fitness and health. Others seek spiritual oneness. Filmmaker Kate Churchill set out to investigate the world of yoga through the help of journalist and skeptic, Nick Rosen, who immersed himself in the practice of yoga while visiting various yoga teachers from different traditions in the east and west to compare practices and explore whether yoga could transform his life.

Some truisms that were spoken during the film...

The best guide is your heart.
You can be happy only if you make other people happy.
Yoga is different things to different people.
Are you ready?
Being religious is the same as being yourself.

I always enjoy watching the laughter yoga people who chant "hohohahaha." Extra Features include extended interviews with Norman Allen and BKS Iyengar. You will enjoy this if you would like to know more about the complex yoga tradition that has become surprisingly popular in recent years.