Handful of Hallowe'en Horror

Handful of Hallowe'en Horror

Fun:
Tucker and  Dale vs. Evil
Frat kids travel to West Virginia only to meet crazy hillbillies. OR, perfectly harmless country folk are harassed by suicidal college kids. Only you can decide the truth. I wanted to catch this at SXSW but missed it.

Fun:
Dead Snow
Norway. Dead. Nazi. Zombies. Snow. Lots and lots of snow.
This horror film follows some typical genre tropes, in fact reveling in some of them, but some of the scenes are very fun and impressive, especially all that costume and makeup in the snow. I can't imagine how long it took to  do some of those scenes. May have to see the how did they do that behind the scenes at some point.

Blue:
Melancholia
Earth. Sister Planet. Armageddon.
Lars von Trier delivers an utter embrace of despair starting an impressive Kirsten Dunst who takes home an acting award from Cannes after the director is excommunicated due to his big mouth.. It is unfortunate that some of the bet ten minutes of cinema I have seen in a long time are split by 2 hours of rather pedestrian cinema. Watch back to back with the Tree of Life for true trip.

 Gets under my skin:
The Skin I live In
Almovodar directs a horror/thriller that is unfortunately weak. This thing is full of poor decisions. Revenge? Sadism? Infatuation? Megalomaniacal?  A lot of it makes little sense. The great thing is it stars one of the most beautiful actresses in a long time in Elena Anaya. Unfortunately....

Oldie but goodie:
Bruce Campbell vs. Army of Darkness 
Some additional scenes that were cut from the US distribution and great commentary from Rami and Campbell. And hey, that Henry the Red guy kicks ass.

If You Watch Both

The Tree of Life by Terrence Malick, and Dogtooth by Giorgos Lanthimos, in the same week, you will cover the entire gamut of family life, from the way of grace, the way of nature, and the way of the psychopath.

It is a strange juxtaposition.

Malick's fifth film in 38 years has already generated a great deal of press and opinions about what it is, what it means, and whether it is even worth seeing. Comparisons to Kubrick's 2001 have been made. Some theaters post notices that anyone leaving the cinema will not receive refunds. I suspect that many years from now a more definitive examination in retrospect will seal this film as either the work of a genius or an overreaching flop. The path to release has been long, and the film was supposed to have been released two years ago. Rumors of much footage cut have circulated. What is left is almost pure cinema, very little dialog, emotional images with whispering narrators who do not so much preach as opine. The beginnings of the universe, a family growing up in Texas, the death of a brother. A more serious A Serious Man? Perhaps.

It has already won the Palme d'Or at Cannes.

I can't wait to see it agin.

Dogtooth was nominated for best foreign language film and is a much more straightforward examination of the extremes of family life with a patriach who lives in a gated estate. His three children are never allowed to leave the house and have grown up only under the twisted guidance of their parents who assert that they are protecting them from the outside world. Their world, a microcosm of the outside, has been altered in order to prevent outside influences from creeping in, but of course, creep in they must, to both horrific, comic, and liberating effect.

It is a fascinating look at family life at the extremes, but I do not think I shall see it again.

Silverdocs 2011

Only managed to catch 4 docs this year.

BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST

This is fan doc made by Michael Rapaport that starts with the band playing in LA in 2008, then traces their foundation with Q-Tip, Phyfe Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and sometimes Jarobi in Queens and tracks the band as they release innovative album after album only to have the band disintegrate in 1998. The tension between certain band members and the creative force that produces such innovative hip hop elevates this above most fan docs.

NPR mediator, director Michael Rapaport, and ATCQ member Phyfe Dawg at Q&A

DRAGONSLAYER

A year in the life documentary of skateboarder Screech. This won the grand jury prize at SXSW, but I was less than impressed. It uses imagery captured with a Flip camera given to the skater, and follows his breakup with the mother of his child, his journey of discovery, and eventual growth into something better.

Director Tristan Patterson

RESURRECT DEAD: THE MYSTERY OF THE TOYNBEE TILES

This one is really quite fascinating. A series of embedded tiles are found in the asphalts and streets on the east coast of the U.S. and few South American cities. The tiles typically say:

TOYNBEE IDEA

IN Kubrick's 2001

RESURRECT DEAD

ON PLANET JUPITER.

The strange message and link to a famous movie had me hooked. What does the message mean, who places the tiles, and why? The doc follows a trio of obsessive fans who are determined to solve the mystery. The surprising discoveries they make and the deeper meaning are satisfying beyond just the resolution of an unsolved puzzle.

Some of the mystery solvers and director.

LIFE IN A DAY

Producers Tony and Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin McDonald, the true star is the editor. The idea was that people all over the world would film themselves for one day, July 24, 2010, answer a few simple questions, and then submit the films. Screening 3500 hours of footage to find 90 minutes that can be put into a cohesive hole is why the editor and his team deserve some sort of superhuman award. There are surprising revelations, and the whole movie reminds me of Post Secret, the famous internet web site. But what really tweaks the imagination is what was left on the cutting room floor (the joke was that the DVD would have 3499 hours of 'extras'). A fascinating if not entirely random look at humanity.

Two contributors, editor Joe Walker, and Silverdocs personnel.

Minimalist Meek

Sparse.

Barren.

Quiet.

Hushed sounds.

Strained listening.

Did they say what I think they said?

Kelly Reichardt's Meek's Cutoff is not for everyone, judging by comments on the web. This western is based on the true story of a wagon train to Oregon that is led by a guide, Stephen Meek, who attempts to bypass the route through the Blue Mountains where an attack by Indians is rumored to await, leading the train into a harsh desert.

Things become desperate. Meek's leadership is question.

An Indian is captured who now becomes an enigmatic guide through the harsh terrain.

Michelle Williams plays a strong-willed woman, Bill Patton as her husband, and Bruce Greenwood as Meek in a small cast that reduces the true story's large group of hundreds of wagons to just three.

This reduction serves the story well and the cast does a great job with a sparse script.

As alluded to above, the sound design is purposefully designed so that dialog is difficult to understand in some cases. Meaning is what is made of words misheard. Or missaid.

The framing is 4:3, designed to mimic the women's bonnets and the wagons themselves, where a narrow field of vision is only available to the viewer.

This does not prevent some amazing cinematography being put on display of the barren Oregon landscape.

Much has been said of this allegorical tale on politics, untrustworthy leadership, and current events.

Everyone should see this movie.

Alternate Takes
imdb
official

Found this Atist in an Issue Of Super 8 Today

I have no idea why I'm reading (on paper) a magazine about a dying technology, but this article on Martha Colburn had some striking images exemplifying her artistic style.

She has a video channel, and some excerpts are below:





Very political.

Some of her work has been shown at The Museum of the Moving Image among others.

International Documentary Challenge

Congrats to the 12 finalists.

My film did not make it, unfortunately, so I may try to put it online at some point.

Or, I may actually edit it some more.

Certified Copy

Sometimes when watching a movie, it's obvious when a scene is the focus of plot, or character development, or setting. However, in the hands of a master, all of those technical details recede and you realize that the brush strokes, real or fake, disappear, and you only see the whole masterpiece before you.

Kiarostami's Certified Copy is exactly such a movie. A pleasure to watch, especially after the last several movies that I had seen that were so laden with obvious intent as to seem the feverish workings of used car salesmen desperately trying to unload a carlot full of lemons.

Enigmatic, the twists that are revealed are never certified to be true. Certainties bring questions. Questions never bring answers. Statements made earlier are true, then false, then true again.

Juliete Binoche wins best actress at Cannes. At least that much appears to be true.

This is my first taste of Kiarostami and I need to see more.

Certified Copy at Indiewire.
imdb

Rango

Is a damn fine animated movie (isn't it interesting that some of the best movies of recent years are animated?).

Surprisingly it's not Pixar nor Dreamworks, but Gore Verbinski and ILM (Pirates of the Caribbean director) and a great performance by Johnny Depp (how long before an acting award goes to an animated character?) that bring this movie to the stage.

The film was made in an unusual style with the actors performing ensemble-wise in a 'theater of the absurd' as opposed to the typical one person at a time in front of a microphone and served to capture great reactions. It blends the film together very well and I wouldn't be surprised if more animated films use this style.

Throw in a ton of movie references, one of the most unique beginnings to an animated film I've ever seen, some truly hallucinogenic scenes, fantastically detailed character design, and a great cast, and this could be the animated film to beat this year with Pixar releasing a cash cow in Cars 2. The king can be unseated.



IMDB
Official
Indiewire
Q&A With Verbinski
NYTimes

International Documentary Challenge

I signed up for the Doc Challenge.

It is like the 48 Hour Film Project except that:

1) it's a documentary
2) it's 5 days

Depending on the genre I get and the theme, I may be doing this virtually. There, I may be knocking on some pixelated doors this weekend.

Academy Award Nominees - Short Form - Animation/Live

Weak year for the short fiction categories (what happens if there's a short animated documentary - what category is it in?). Usually it's the shorts that show the most imagination, but this year it might actually be the full length documentary category. Unfortunately, I have not had a chance to see any of the short docs.

• The Confession - very heavy handed and I felt cheated by this one.
  
• The Crush - somewhat funny, but could have been better.
  
• God of Love - I predict/hope this one wins. It at least showed some originality.
  
• Na Wewe - OK. Sure.
  
• Wish 143 - Almost had me.
  

Really, I only liked two of them, God of Love, and Wish 143, and GoL is the clear winner IMO. A lot of fun, a decent story, acting, great composition, etc.

• Day & Night - Pixar - 2D characters who's outlines reveal the background - interesting idea, but I get the feeling I've seen the idea before.
  
• The Gruffalo - somewhat dry tale of a mouse in the forest chasing away predators by telling them of The Gruffalo (ie. The Jabberwocky).
  
• Let's Pollute - ironic message, pollution is fun.
  
• The Lost Thing - I liked this one, great style, story just ok.
  
• Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary) - great tale of a trip to Madagascar with great flipbook style.
  

Pixar doesn't need anymore Oscars, so I hope Madagascar wins.

David O'Reilly's The External World

Is 17 minutes of brilliantly demented animation oddness all packed full of irony (literally), pop culture, and moments of brilliant insight. I was laughing so hard I almost fell out of my chair but I am quite sure that this will offend many viewers.

The External World from David OReilly on Vimeo.

I've mentioned Please Say Something before, another very odd animation from the same creative mind.

David O'Reilly site.

The Illusionist

Another fantastic animated film from Sylvain Chomet (whose last feature was The Triplets of Belleville ). The film is based on a story by Jacques Tati and is now nominated for an academy award (best animated feature). It is too bad that it is up against Pixar as this is a film worth seeing. The fantastic backgrounds and completely restrained animation coupled with the very sly humor lends itself to an appreciation of animation that is not all CG and bombastic over the top style.

The Illusionist
Uploaded by ThePlaylist. - Check out other Film & TV videos.

Go see this movie so more films like this get made.

Wikipedia

Official Site

IMDB

Fascinating Series On Machinima, Video Games, and Art

Jenkins has three recent posts that come from curator Matteo Bittanti from the DIY Video 2010 event that was shown at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles LA consisting of selections of video game art, transformed video game art, and machinima. He is a research associate in humanities at Stanford and makes some fascinating remarks.

Did anyone within the machinima community attend this event? I do not recall any discussions on it.

Part One.

Part Two.

Part Three.

It is especially interesting as I had just watched this hour long performance art piece/stand-up comedy bit from the master of futurism, Bruce Sterling, at the Vimeo Festival, where his hour long diatribe on the future of video/internet/video asks and answers the question of what is coming next.

The Way Back

Peter Weir's new movie, The Way Back is based on a novel of a group of prisoners who escape a Siberian prison and then trek all the way to India. An ensemble of actors, including Colin Farrel and Ed Harris, it's a classic tale of men against nature, men against themselves, men against men. Familiar territory, as the last movie Weir directed was Master and Commander.

Too bad they didn't have a communicator and a starship to beam up to.










The director had a Q&A after the movie and answered some questions. Apparently the novel's accuracy has been called into question, which is why it is presented as a fictionalized account and leaves a few narrative threads open ended. The fact that the events may not have transpired exactly as depicted does not impact the movie, which is filled with impressive images of harsh landscapes, and some decent acting, even by Farrel, who plays a Russian criminal.

A decent movie and the first fictional movie to be produced or co-produced by National Geographic, which is an interesting tidbit of information.

Filmmaker magazine interview.

2010 Movies

Instead of a top 10 list of best movies for 2010, I thought I would simply rank all the movies that I saw (or remember seeing). This turned out to be a difficult but worthwhile endeavor with the top and the bottom easy to define, but all the stuff in the middle sort of sits there like a giant bolus. The movies include theatrical releases (film festivals, box office) even though some were released in 2009, and any 2010 releases I saw on DVD or Netflix.

Exit Through The Gift Shop (covered here)
Marwencol (covered in SXSW - see below)
Wasteland (covered in SilverDocs - see below)

Yes I am putting three documentaries (in some cases presumed doc) at the top of my best movies list. Yes, they all have to do with art and the power of the creative force. Yes, they are all better than anything that was created in Hollywood this year.

White Ribbon (covered here)
Black Swan (covered here)
Stone (covered here)

The next three movies are darkly psychological and disturbing movies, some with fantastic performances. I wish Stone was getting more award buzz because it deserves it.

The Social Network

Cracking good tale by Fincher and Sorkin.

True Grit
Winter's Bone

Compare and contrast the two young female protagonists in these two movies. True Grit remake by The Coen Brothers Inc. of the original book, not so much the John Wayne flick - a classic western, and Winter's Bone - a look at life in the Ozarks.

How to Train Your Dragon (covered here)
Despicable Me

Two best animated features I saw this year. Dragon is better than Avatar, fantastic animation and 3D, and a great story. Me is creative look at bad guys who are not really bad (this and Megamind reminded me of the video games Evil Genius and Dungeonkeeper).

Inside Job

This doc is about the real bad guys, aka Wall Street, and the corrupt financial system.

Mother

Joon-ho Bong plays with maternal instinct.

Toy Story 3

Pixar puts the toys to bed.

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

Very topical with the WikiLeaks saga ongoing.

Winnebago Man

Internet fame, fall, redemption.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Have not managed to see the next two installments in this trilogy, but a great thriller from Sweden. If Fincher remakes this, I might have to see it.

RIP: A Remix Manifesto
Barbershop Punk

Copyright and creativity. Internet and rights.

35 Shots of Rum

Claire Denis, Paris, the ups and downs of a small intimate group of people.

All About Evil (covered here)

Hilarious horror movie. Some of the best one-liners since Schwarzenegger.

Into Eternity (covered in SilverDocs -see below)

What. Are. We. Doing?

Tangled
Megamind

Animated features that did not hit all the high marks.

The Road

Great book, ok movie.

MacGruber

Fun SNL character in a surprisingly fun movie.

Get Low

Robert Duvall.

Circo (covered in SilverDocs - see below)

Great intimate doc of a small circus in Mexico)

127 Hours

Bye bye arm.

Life 2.0 (virtuality)
Camp Victory, Afghanistan (it is not working - get out)
The People vs. George Lucas (this is a fan fic - the three part Red Letter Media deconstruction of the prequels is superior in every respect)
Richard Garriot - Man on a Mission (space tourists)
Saturday Night (behind the scenes of SNL)
Beijing Taxi (China)
Budrus (how peaceful protests in the occupied territories changed the Israeli's wall)

These docs were at SXSW (see below). I saw all of them there except Budrus which I saw later along with a discussion with the director).

Scott Pilgrim
Kick-Ass

Comic book tales (or video games, take your pick). A poor year for comic books. I saw Kick-Ass at SXSW.

Predators

Needed a real director.

Fair Game (the real story is more interesting than the adaptation - covered here)
Blue Valentine (I found this an incredibly boring tale of mediocre people (Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams) in a mediocre relationship - if you want to see passive aggressives get depressed -have fun)
All Good Things (really not liking Ryan Gosling who stars in another tale of another bad marriage, this one ending in the tragic disappearance of his wife - this one based on a real life story of real estate moguls in New York)
South of the Border (not very well told doc aboutSouth American leaders, especially Chavez, by Oliver Stone - covered in SilverDocs - see below))
Futurestates (made for TV - covered in SXSW - see below)
Cargo (low budget sci-fi - covered in SXSW - see below)
Freakonomics (a fun book becomes a not very well made doc by a mix of directors with only one standout part - the one on abortion - covered here)

Tron: Legacy in Wasted 3D
Ironman2
Inception

These last three were the worst movies I saw this year. Give me back my 6+ hours please.

Movies I Wanted To See:

The Last Station (China's far flung empire cracks at the seams)
The Secret of Kells (animated Academy Award nominee)
Hubble 3D (missed the start at SXSW due to traffic)
The Secret in Their Eyes (winner of Best Foreign Oscar last year)
Best Worst Movie (a look at Troll by one of the actors who made it)
Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo (bugs, and Japan)
The Trotsky (reincarnated Red Army hero)
Micmacs (also missed at SXSW)
I am Love (Tilda Swinton)
Cyrus (the mumblecore guys go big)
Dogtooth (sequestration)
Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno (self destruction)
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child (the candle that burns so bright...)
The Tillman Story (about the manipulation of media by Dept. of Defense)
Machete (the fake trailers in Grindhouse come to life)
Waiting for Superman (from the director of An Inconvenient Truth - a look at the broken education system)
Four Lions (a slapstick look at a terrorist cell?)
Restrepo (a doc about one lone post in Afghanistan)
Carlos (the Jackal, the terrorist, the mercenary, the celebrity)
Buried (to see how it compares to 127 hours, plus the poster is brilliant)
Trash Humpers (because WTF is this?)
Enter the Void (surreal death)

Some of these films were shown at SXSW, and some at SilverDocs, which I covered:
SXSW
SilverDocs

There are lots of other lists out there:

Roger Ebert covers:
Best animated
Best foreign
Best features

Just do not ask him about best video games. Ask The Escapist instead for a year in review:
Escapist covers video games in 2010

Best Movie Posters:
Firstshowing covers best official
MUBI.

Lists:
Best Canadian
Best viral videos
NWN has best SL machinima (I have not seen other best of machinima lists)
DocBlogs top docs
NYT films worth another look
Filmoculus has lists of lists, including many for film and DVD
A.O. Scott from NYT discusses 2010 cinema
Tarantino's favorites

MUBI.com has pages and pages of links to other lists:
Dec 17
Dec. 18
Dec 30
Dec 30
Jan 1
Jan 4

Aronofsky's Black Swan

Continues the director's exploration of the sacrifices made in the pursuit of the artifice of illusion and the toll those sacrifices take.

His last movie, The Wrestler, won great critical acclaim, especially for Mickey Rourke, and was a gritty portrayal of the abuse the body takes (here's my post on The Wrestler).

Black Swan continues this exploration of mind over matter, but incorporates some of the more surreal aspects that Aronofsky uses in some of his previous films like Pi, and Requiem for a Dream.

Natalie Portman gives a fantastic portrayal of the physical constraints that must be broken in order to dance ballet in the role of Nina, a young zealous ballet dancer who is given the lead role in Swan Lake, but is asked to convince the company's artistic director that she can play the Black Swan by letting go of herself during the dance. I suspect nominations are being prepared.

However, the psychological toll, and the presentation of that toll on the main character is not as convincing as in Aronofsky's other movies. I do not know if that is due to the actor, or to the director, but by the ending I was not entirely convinced. This may need another viewing before I fully decide.

Overall, the acting, not only Portman's but Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, and even Winona Ryder, are all excellent. The cinematography, especially during the ballet practices and performances really brings home what it takes to make it appear effortless (it would be interesting to compare them with The Wrestler, or even Raging Bull), and the story all come together to make a damn fine movie.

Are You Sad About The End Of All Things Pottery

The first of the two part finale, Deathly Hollows is out in theaters now.

Are you looking forward to the American remake starring Jesse Eisenberg, Rooney Mara, and Jonah Hill?

Me neither.

In all seriousness, I've seen two of these things.

Pass.

Fair Game

Caught "Fair Game", about the Valerie Plame affair where her role as an undercover CIA operative is leaked to the press by the White House after her husband, ambassador Joe Wilson, exposed the lies surrounding the supposed purchase of uranium yellow cake from Niger by Iraq.

Considering this is a pretty big David vs. Goliath story, I felt the movie was a little pedestrian. There are some decent performances by Naomi Watts (Plame) and Sean Penn (Joe Wilson) but no real risk taking and some very cliche moments. Still, this is an important movie (watch it back to back with "The Most Dangerous Man in America" about Daniel Ellsberg and The Pentagon Papers during the Nixon administration).










The cool part is both Plame and Wilson were in the audience and gave a heated Q&A afterwards, including attempts by some audience members to do a character assassination (which clearly failed miserably).

Funny how the two most heated discussions I've seen this year after movies were about politics.

Fair Game (imdb).

Permanent Death

While reading a post about Minecraft (isn't that the media whore de jour), I found this mention of a machinima novel, 'Permanent Death'.

Thinking it strange that I had not heard of it before, I downloaded the pdf and started to read it. I am only a few pages into the document, but it is a fascinating read so far.

The author plays through Far Cry 2 with only a single life (hence the title) and captures the entire 20 hours or so of gameplay with a great pictorial (read screenshot) book of a whopping 391 pages!

I am instantly reminded of Freeman's Mind, the tongue in cheek playthrough that Ross Scott has been presenting for Half Life.

I am also reminded of Synechdoche New York.

Documentary? Fiction?
What are these constructs?
First person existential narrative?

Original post about Minecraft narratives that led me to this.
SLRC - Permanent Death.
Briefly mentioned here.

I walked into the new movie Stone

UPDATE*

by director John Curran at a pre-release screening not knowing a thing about it and left feeling profoundly disturbed and enthralled.

If you want to experience it the same way, stop reading now and go and see it when it is released in October.

The movie stars Robert De Niro and Edward Norton and appears to chart a typical psychological thriller. However, this is not a neatly packaged Hollywood movie and a strange thematic incohesion begins to sort of solidify out of a messy fuzzy unsatisfying thread. Norton plays 'Stone', the aptly named prisoner who is trying to become paroled by appealing to De Niro's character, Jack Mabry, a prison counselor nearing retirement, and even enlists his wife's help, Lucetta, played by Milla Jovovich, in what on the surface appears to be a film noir set up.

But this extremely unsettling film aided by an incredibly well designed soundscape of noise and music that serves to make the audience uncomfortable, posits some fundamental questions about religion and human nature that are likely to upset some, infuriate others, and I suspect lead to extensive discussion such as what occurred after the screening today. The comments and questions led one audience member to say that they had completely reversed their opinion of the movie after an hour of discussion.

It reminded me very much of a Terrance Mallick film. Confounding expectations and not wrapped up with a bow.

I cannot wait to go back and visit it for a second time.

*
I went back a second time and Ed Norton was present and did a Q&A afterwords!

Interesting genesis to the project. Originally written for the stage by Angus MacLachlan, adapted to the cinematic form with the aid of the director and Ed Norton who worked on this for quite some time.

The characterization that Norton does for the role only came to him less than a week before shooting started based on his observations of an inmate.










Stone - imdb.
Stone - official.
Stone - opposing views.
Stone - TIFF review.