CLOUD ATLAS 10/28/12

My Cloud Atlas review is still being mulled over. Just got home and NO I was not blown away either by the upcoming storm or the film.I did not read the book by David Mitchell so I came to the movie with no expectations except the fact that it was directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski (Matrix) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run.)

This just under 3 hour film speaks to how actions we do radiate through time from the past into the far future, and our personal interactions have an effect sometime and someplace in the Universe. Not my personal philosophy, but the film and the interlocking 6 stories held my interest as did seeing actors playing many many different roles in different time periods. Tom Hanks often is totally unrecognizable, as are Halle Berry and Jim Broadbent - made up as characters in various guises. Some are rapacious, corrupt, some are evil, some are innocents who develop the courage to "change" their surroundings and environment. Exploitation is evident in every epoch. My favorite and the most emotionally resonant story was the love affair between a young composer and his male lover- the heartbeat of their affair beams over the years.

I liked the fast-paced inter-cutting from one story to another - making you feel as if time were all of a piece and events from the far past are similar to future occurrences. This is an ambitious undertaking which was smoothly done, but still much of the film was cliched and too "new-agey" for my taste. I did respond to the strange language of the characters from a post -apocalyptic future There was a beautiful patois and rhythm to their speech - tho my friend who came with me did not understand what they were talking about.

SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN 10/22/12

Searching for Sugar Man" is a documentary in search of a subject - Sixto Rodriguez - a young Mexican American singer in the 1970's who lived in Detroit Michigan and sang in local bars with his back to the audience. That alone would be the beginning of a legend. Detroit is beautifully filmed - the sounds of crunching snow underfoot and the light of the city are as mysterious as the subject of this film.

Why search for Rodriguez? His two albums which were enthusiastically reviewed in USA bombed. Very few people knew or know of him. BUT ironically he became a large hit and influence in South Africa to the point (according to the filmaker) where his songs were a catalyst among the youth in the fight against Apartheid. Since there were only the two albums available, and no tabloid documentation on Rodriguez, myths sprung up about the artist including suicide by immolation or a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head during a concert.

Rodriguez was a total unknown - no mass publicity, no articles in magazines, etc - just an artist making his art in isolation. AND that is the crux of this film. It speaks to all of us who work and work with an occasional wave that breaks our way - but mainly living our lives doing what we need to do unknown with little or no support commercially. Even though personally after years of making art, I felt saddened, I also felt vindicated by seeing this film.
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20120808%2FREVIEWS%2F120809984

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ARGO 10/13/12

Saw a wildly entertaining film entitled ARGO directed by Ben Affleck. It is based on the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979-1980 during the Jimmy Carter Administration and some of the scenes will feel very contemporary. A fast-paced, heart stopper - constant cuts between historical documentary footage, Iranians protesting against America, and a bizarre but true plot - hand in hand with the Hollywood film industry to get out 6 of the Hostages who had escaped the Embassy and were holed up in the Canadian Ambassador's home.
Very well directed and filmed without being confusing - my heart was beating so quickly at the end - with an old-fashioned, exaggerated Hollywood beat the clock touch - that I swallowed an aspirin in case I would get a heart attack..I am big on preventative medicine.

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THE MASTER 9/23/12

Saw movie "The Master" today. Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman were terrific. So was Amy Adams. I love to watch excellent actors perform. The way they can evoke emotional change through the slightest nuance in their facial expression - the use of the hands and the way Joaquin hunched over when he walked - never out of character. And Amy Adams was cool and collected, subtly manipulating the "Master" (Hoffman) himself.

This film was about the Id vs.the Super-ego; the rational "perfect" vs.the irrational/volatile "animal" in man. Controlled vs. Controller. The two main characters complement each other but also are very much alike. An undercurrent of need and attachment between Phoenix and Hoffman is there from the beginning which is left at just that - an undercurrent.

There are some visually beautiful shots - the clarity of light is played up against darkness; sand vs. water, family man vs. ruler - cult leader, etc.
I felt that this film definitely referred to Ron Hubbard and Scientology though as this reviewer said - not enough to be legally actionable.
Its a film I have to see again and think about some more. I loved Boogie Nights and Magnolia - this one did not affect me as wildly as those films did.

TO ROME WITH LOVE 9/17/12

• Saw Woody Allen's film To Rome With Love which was a reflection/ meditation on FAME and the fickleness of celebrity, and those who are enamored of the "famous" in the gorgeous setting of Rome- still romantic and beautiful but always an awareness of its past glory and ruins. Entertaining but absolutely a slight film dealing with surface issues and one-liners."

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BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD 7/30/12

The press photos for Beasts of the Southern Wild shows a young girl running and I am reminded of the 1972 Pulitzer winning photo by Nick Ut of 9 year old Phan Thị Kim Phúc fleeing with severe burns (and who ultimately survived) caused by napalm during the Vietnam War.

This film has nothing to do with Viet Nam but has to do with fire and survival under harsh conditions. It also features an extraordinary young actress, Quvenzhané Wallis playing 6 year old "Hush Puppy" being brought up by her father played by Dwight Henry - who is fiercely independent of the "civilized/industrial" society" that the group of people who live in a section of Southern Louisiana cut off from the mainland by levees-called the "Bathtub" eschew. He knows he is dying and is determined that his daughter will be "da man." Her mother left them after birth, and Hush Puppy in her imagination has a running dialogue with her abandoned parent and occasionally utters a shrill cry which pierces your being. The little girl is fearless - and very much in touch with the animals and life that surround her. She literally puts her ear to objects to speak and hear "the universe" which gives her comfort and wisdom.

Living off the detritus of "civilization", filmed in dark browns and blacks with the light of a fire, and the constant threat of impending storms creates an environment that is not "romantic" but rather harshly primal and elemental.
When the film has a scene where the residents of the "bathtub" interact with Mainland society in a Hospital, Hush Puppy's confusion and embrace of that world is wrenching. We hear her thoughts which express the innocence of discovery.
Throughout the film there are references to Mythical creatures and global warming and a there is a moral code among the inhabitants of this world that evince the values of a true community.

See Roger Ebert's beautiful review:
http://tinyurl.com/bu375tc

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BERNIE 6/9/12

Finally left the house and saw a surprisingly wonderful performance by Jack Black in the film BERNIE directed by Richard Linklater - really good director of Slacker and Dazed and Confused. This film is set in Linklater's home state of Texas and his familiarity with the hometown characters are therefore beautifully individuated - but yet so familiar. Based on the true story of Bernie Tiede, Assistant Funeral Director who genuinely loved his job - opened my eyes to the rituals of funeral services and their importance for family and friends who mourn the death of a loved one.

Bernie, a good "Christian" community man who is driven to compromise his deepest moral values in a relationship with someone (Shirley McLaine) who is very different from him. This is a comedy but a dark one of good/generosity of spirit vs. a meanness of spirit but there are many gray areas to ponder.

Jack Black uses his body to flush out this character and i love when actors do that. The way they walk, move their arms, and with the slightest turn of the head can give the audience insight into a character.