April 2015

4/1- Rome Open City (1945, Roberto Rossellini) (A)
       It Follows (2014, David Robert Mitchell) (A-)

4/2- Paisan (1946, Roberto Rossellini) (A-)
       Wild Strawberries (1957, Ingmar Bergman) (A+)*
        All About Eve (1950, Joseph L. Mankiewicz) (A+)*

4/3-  Laurence Anyways (2012, Xavier Dolan) (B)
        Louie (2 episodes)

4/4- Louie (8 episodes)
       The Last Temptation of Christ (1988, Martin Scorsese) (A)*

4/5- World of Tomorrow (2015, Don Hertzfeldt) (A+)

        Rejected (2000, Don Hertzfeldt) (A+)

        Lily and Jim (1997, Don Hertzfeldt) (C)

        The Meaning of Life (2005, Don Hertzfeldt) (A)

        Billy's Balloon (1998, Don Hertzfeldt) (B+)

4/6- Faust (1928, F.W. Murnau) (A-)
       Mad Men (3 episodes)

4/7- Bay of Blood (1970, Mario Bava) (C+)
       Mad Men (5 episodes)
       Germany Year Zero (1948, Roberto Rosselini) (A-)
       Umberto D (1952, Vittorio De Sica) (A)

4/8- Mad Men (4 episodes)
       Amarcord (1973, Federico Fellini) (A)

4/9- Mad Men (3 episodes)
       Blood of the Beasts (1949, Georges Franju) (A)

4/10- The Last Laugh (1924, F.W. Murnau) (B+) (Note: an A until the final 15 minutes which the studio put upon Murnau because they wanted a happy ending)
         Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015, Alex Gibney) (B+)
         Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
         Three Colors: Blue (1993, Krzysztof Kieslowski) (A+)*

4/11- The Great Beauty (2013, Paolo Sorrentino) (B)
          Mad Men (4 episodes)

4/12- Juliet of the Spirits (1965, Federico Fellini) (B-)

4/13- Barry Lyndon (1975, Stanley Kubrick) (A+)*
          Paris, Texas (1984, Wim Wenders) (A+)

4/14- The Cameraman (1928, Buster Keaton) (B-)

4/15- Steamboat Willie (1928, Walt Disney) (B)
         Salesman (1968, Albert and David Maysles) (A-)

4/17- Il Sorpasso (1965, Dino Risi) (B+)

4/18- Burn After Reading (2008, Joel and Ethan Coen) (B+)*

4/19- Russian Ark (2002, Alexander Sokuruv) (A-)

4/20- The Americanization of Emily (1964, Blade Edwards) (B-)
         Beetlejuice (1988, Tim Burton) (A+)*

4/24- The Battle of Algiers (1966, Gillo Pontecervo) (A+)
          I Vitelloni (1952, Federico Fellini) (A)

4/25- The Leopard (1963, Luchino Visconti) (A)

4/26- Mean Girls (2004, Mark Waters) (B+)

4/27- Enron: The Smartest Guys In the Room (2005, Alex Gibney) (B+)

4/28- Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson (2998, Alex Gibney) (A-)
          Winnebago Man (2010, Ben Steinbauer) (B-)

4/29- All That Jazz (1979, Bob Fosse) (A+)*

4/30- Lessons In Darkness (1992, Werner Herzog) (A)
         Mommy (2014, Xavier Dolan) (A)

       

The Xavier Effect

Dancing with Mommy to Eifel 65

I'm a good kid ya know?

You win some, you lose some

That's life.

Surprise!

The Stevie Effect

Xavier Dolan was only 25 when

he made this film. What is more

incredible is that he was around

21 when he made his debut film

I Killed My Mother. Young 

directors are always a wake up

call for me because at 28, I still

haven't made a movie. Orson 

Welles was 26 when he made 

Citizen Kane. PT Anderson was

26 when he made Hard Eight. 

By that rate, they seem lazy 

compared to Dolan's output 

at his age. 

The first film of Dolan I had

decided to watch was 

Laurence Anyways.

It was a 3 hour opus that had

a fantastic ballroom sequence.

Yet, I felt something was 

missing. I felt the length of

that 3 hour opus. He could

have trimmed it down a 

bit. 

Upon seeing Mommy,

something clicked for me.

This film felt so honest.

The first thing was the 

performances. I had liked

the performances of 

Laurence Anyways,

but his actors reach 

a new level here.

Ann Dorval, an actress he 

has used in multiple films,

gives a performance that 

is flamboyant yet tender.

It is matched by Antione

Olivier Pilon's 

hyperactive, ADHD

riddled Steve. This 

kid's face goes through 

a multitude of emotions

as battle scars from cabbies,

a neighbor and his own 

beloved mother are 

inflicted upon it. 

Tantrums are thrown. 

Fists are clenched.

Bottles are broken.

Feelings are put through

the ringer with liberal 

doses of hard earned truth. 

What this film brought out in me was a realization, or more accurately, a confirmation, that in a time when so many films depicting ever evolving mother/son relationships or just family relationships, few are able to be as intimate as Dolan's work here. Through the pulsing beats of Eifel 65, Lana Del Ray, Oasis and the rest of the soundtrack, to the rawness of Dolan's camerawork. A simple pan down to a pant leg brings such revelations about a character. Films at their best represent the purest of artistic expression. Mommy is able to break free of the constraints of cinema and transcend to dark corners of the experience of a mother and her son that rarely have light shown upon. 

I wish I could write more.

But the light is green.

It's time to go.

Feet don't fail me now.

Lake shoot 1: A simple shade of blue

Blind Spot: The Leopard

A 3 hour costume drama set in Italy? Nah. At least that is what I thought three years ago. The Leopard never really commanded my attention until I say a clip of it on the documentary Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession. I was already a big fan of Age of Innocence and after hearing Scorsese adored this film and how its dance sequences influenced his picture, I considered it a must see. Please note that this is the uncut 3 hour version.

Luchino Visconti's The Leopard is based on Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel of the same name. European actors Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale would make their appearances in later classics or were already in classics but seeing them appear together here made me happy. Burt Lancaster plays an aristocratic Prince. One whose ageing presence is felt as he watches the social class he once knew become more and more obsolete. It's a passing the torch of sorts to a new generation.

Historically, this film takes plays in the 1860s during Italy's Risorgimento. A political and social movement that consolidated several states in the Italian peninsula into the Kingdom of Italy. As this was going on, the aristocracy at the time saw a rise of the middle classes to form a democratic nation.

We see the various uprisings in expertly staged scenes in the beginning. But the heart of the film lay in its lavish interiors of opulent Italian palaces. All culminating in a beautiful 5 minute dance sequence. Visconti's camera is transportive in its attempt to recreate a crucial time in Italian history.

A few thoughts on trailers

Trailers and perhaps more importantly, teasers are able to produce a great amount of anticipation towards a movie. They are geared to appeal to the largest demographic possible so studios send footage to various trailerhouses to appeal to women, children, the male demographic, etc. Let's say the average age for executives in these houses are 25 to 35. Let's look at their point of reference: the last 15 years of movie marketing. Which is to say, not very strong. This is why we are getting bombarded with the same stuff.

There are some more of the creative people out there though. Just watch what one youtuber did to the terrifying film The Shining:


With the change of music, the voiceover and the clever cutting, what was once terrifying is now turned into an upbeat family drama.

Hitchcock and Welles would even introduce their movies Citizen Kane and Psycho when they cut trailers for those respective films. But then again, they had enough creative control to get away with that.

Trailers from the 70's and the 80's knew that if you show all of your money shots in a trailer, what would be the point for a person to pay money to actually see the movie. That philosophy is out the window nowadays. The advent of MTV and all the fast cutting has trailers packing as many shots as possible.

Perfecting the art of the trailer depends on how much information you want to unveil to the audience member. For example, watch the difference between the teaser and the full length trailer for Terminator 2:






Now imagine if you just saw the teaser for Terminator 2. You would have no knowledge of which terminator is bad. We already know Arnold played the villain in the first one. This would make the scene where each terminator turns the corner in the mall hallway all the more suspenseful. To just go with this teaser, something that shows nothing from the film, would be a big chance. Within the full length trailer though, we are given the information that Arnold is the good guy.

You can also have the flipside where you cut a trailer for Drive to make it look like an action movie when it really is a slow, methodical existential thriller.

The whole "give away everything in trailer" deal hurts genre flicks the most. Namely comedies. The substandard "cramming in all the funny jokes" in the trailer. Once you see a joke, it's not really as funny as the first time you see it. When you actually sit down and watch the "hot new comedy", you realize that the jokes that actually were funny were ones you saw already in the advertising for it.

A remedy for this problem is simple but rarely happens: be creative and work with what you have. Case in point: A Serious Man. This trailer could have been a black screen with the words "The next Coen Brothers film" and I would have seen it. But it went so much further. Looping sound effects and pieces of editing give this trailer this gleefully subversive vibe. I remember people getting mad at this trailer and call it awful marketing. It's the exact opposite. We've just been conditioned to so many conventionally cut, by the numbers trailers that anything creative causes awkward gawking.



Editing is about manipulation. Once you edit a frame, you are manipulating an image. This ties into marketing and advertising because you want someone to buy your product. So why not use it to its full effect. Kubrick knew this. Just watch the trailer for A Clockwork Orange and study the rapid cutting and quick words like Witty, Metaphorical, Sardonic, Comic, Bizarre and Musical flash across the screen. Coming back to The Shining, you can make it as simple as possible and have nothing be shown. Just an elevator with blood coming out of it. That's it. All we need to know about the movie rolls across the screen is supplied in three forms: the music (giving the foreboding tone), the visual (this pegs it as horror) and the words coming across the screen that say "A Film By Stanley Kubrick."

Since we are on the topic of trailers for horror movies, I might as well discuss another tiresome trend. Every horror trailer of the past 6 or 7 years could seamlessly bleed together. Here is the structure:

Introduce audience to protagonist
Show them how conflict is introduced
Use the soundtrack to create moody atmosphere
Title card saying "From the Producers of (most likely Paranormal Activity and Insidious) or Directors of "So and so"
Montage of several scenes that either lead to fuller "scares" in the movie or random insert shots meant to provoke warning and a foreboding tone
Ratchet that intensity up throughout the montage while soundtrack crescendos
Title card
Then, that one extra scene. The one where the soundtrack and dialogue cut out and everything is silent. The final jump scare which is most likely the biggest jump scare of the movie, tagged at the end.
Cut to Written By and Directed By

We've all seen it. Even the trailer for The Babadook attempts to make it look like a milk toast, generic horror movie. Nobody really knew who Jennifer Kent was before that. So if I were to share the trailer with someone and urge them to see it, they would say it looks generic. How does one correct this? Well, for one, knowing that trailers are cut to appeal to the widest demographic. Now Kent is first time director. She doesn't have enough clout as more established directors.

Spielberg, Abrams and Nolan on the other hand are directors who do have enough clout to get this kind of control on their projects.

The latest example this is Star Wars Episode VII. I knew I was going to see this movie in the theater. But after the second trailer, I was blown away by just how perfectly edited the trailer was. It gives fans everything they want (Instant nostalgia when Han and Chewbacca are revealed) while at the same time saving a ton of footage until it hits theatrically.

The Decade So Far Pt. 2: The New Blood + other ramblings

This decade has already brought out tremendous new talent. Last year alone gave us Chazelle (Whiplash), Saulnier (Blue Ruin), Simien (Dear White People) and Kent (The Babadook). These guys were the biggest surprises. Here's a roundup of the directors who released films that came out of left field and surprised me due to the fact I was not aware of their careers beforehand. 

DAMIEN CHAZELLE

Films: Whiplash

Upcoming Projects: La La Land

DEREK CIANFRANCE

Films: Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond the Pines

Upcoming Projects: The Light Between the Oceans

RYAN COOGLER

Films: Fruitvale Station

Upcoming Projects: Creed

SEAN DURKIN

Films: Martha Marcy May Marlene

Upcoming Projects: Janis

JENNIFER KENT

Films: The Babadook

JEREMY SAULNIER

Films: Blue Ruin

Upcoming Projects: The Green Room

JUSTIN SIMIEN

Films: Dear White People

DENIS VILLENEUVE

Films: Polytechnique, Incendies, Prisoners, Enemy

Upcoming Projects: Sicario

Since we're talking new, I decided to update my list of Anticipated films of 2015. New list: 

The Hateful Eight (By the guy pictured above)
The Look of Silence (Joshua Oppenheimer)
Sicario (Denis Villeneuve)
Our Little Sister (Hirokazu Koreeda)
Midnight Special (Jeff Nichols)
Silence (Martin Scorsese)
31 (Rob Zombie)
The Revenant (Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu)
Bridge of Spies (Steven Spielberg)
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (JJ Abrams)
Carol (Todd Haynes)
The Green Room (Jeremy Saulnier)
Sea of Trees (Gus Van Sant)
Knight of Cups (Terrence Malick)
Light Between Oceans (Derek Cianfrance)
The Walk (Robert Zemeckis)
The End of the Tour (James Ponsoldt)
Spectre (Sam Mendes)
Yoga Hosers (Kevin Smith)
Louder Than Bombs (Joachim Trier)
Dheepan (Jacques Audiard)
Beasts of No Nation (Cary Fukunaga)
Mad Max Fury Road (George Miller)
The Early Years (Paolo Sorrentino)
The Tale of Tales (Matteo Garrone)

Wish They Were: The Secret History & a couple of other movies I would like to see

This is a series where I will make up dream projects that I either

a.) wish to come to fruition, or
b.) stay in the dream world because certain actors or directors perfect for the project are no longer living

It was all spawned one day by reading Silver Screen Fiend by Patton Oswalt. In it, he has a section called Whistling In the Dark where he imagines double features that would make any film geek's mouth water. So in the spirit of that, I decided to do my own imaginings and most wanted movies.

This is a project that I would like to see come to fruition.

The novel that made well dressed scholarly psychopaths cool. This is a book I would love to see get the adaptation treatment. It's 500 pages, broken into 2 parts. With the end of Part 1 harking back to the Prologue of the book. The book I believe has been optioned by Maggie

DIRECTOR: David Fincher
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Gone Girl were well established books which were adapted into successful films. Even Social Network's source material was The Accidental Billionaires. This would be a perfect project for him because it explore a side that is not as intensely dark as Se7en, Zodiac, or Dragon Tattoo but it still has considerably dark characters and story.

SCREENWRITER: Donna Tartt


Richard Papen
Character description: Has a need to feel loneliness because his parents don't like him and he has no siblings. Has an obsession with fitting in and craves attention. Also dependent, prideful and accepts the fact that things can't always be.
Who should play him: Andrew Garfield

Julian Morrow
Character description: the Classics professor that teaches a limited-enrollment course of Ancient Greek. Richard wishes to impress him to gain admittance.
Who should play him: Ian McKellen

Henry Winter
Character description: linguistics expert. Intelligent and very laid back.
Who should play him: Ben Whishaw

Frances Abernathy
Character description: a Greek scholar who is thin and has bright red hair. Has classy taste and is always dressed in fancy suits no matter what the occasion.
Who should play him: Xavier Dolan

Charles Macauley
Character description: One half of the fraternal Macauley twins. Dark blonde hair like Camilla. Spontaneous and doesn't really care what people say. Does unexpected, wild things.
Who should play him: Jamie Bell

Camilla Macauley
Character description: One half of the fraternal Macauley twins. Dark blonde hair like Charles. Confident but this trait is sometimes confused with her selfishness.
Who should play her: Mia Wasikowska

Bunny Corcoran
Character description: Very cheesy and easy going. Always cracking jokes.
Who should play him: Jesse Plemons


AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE


JONESTOWN

Year of Release: 1982
Director: Robert Altman

After the failure of Popeye, Altman takes on his most ambitious project yet with an astounding cast that includes Altman regulars Lily Tomlin, Elliot Gould, Ned Beatty, as well as Jack Lemmon, Brad Dourif, Allen Garfield, Roy Scheider, Karen Allen, Deborah Kerr, Sidney Poitier, a film debut from a young Emily Watson

The film becomes the go to reference guide for movies about cults. It also secures Best Picture and Altman a Best Director Oscar.

Powers Boothe gives a career defining performance as Jim Jones.

A FILM THAT COULD STILL AND SHOULD HAPPEN


GHOST RIDER

Director: Wim Wenders

Rush is one of my top 5 favorite bands. If anyone needs a primer on the band I urge them to watch the wonderful documentary Beyond The Lighted Stage. Of all three members, the one that I find the most interesting is the drumer, Neil Peart.

This film will be an intimate look into the life of the drummer from Rush. After the death of his wife and his only daughter with the span of a year, Peart hits the road on his motorcycle. The spine of the film will be Peart's own book Ghost Rider. It will also incorporate the feeling of being in a band for almost 40 years with the same two members. Who could almost be looked at as extended family members at this point.

Tom Hanks will play Neil Peart.