Day two @ SIFF

I hadn't scheduled a film for early in the day so decided to head down to the Egyptian Theatre (a couple of lobby photos are included) and see a documentary called We Live In Public. I'm glad I went as it was a very interesting doc about a lot of things--the loss of our shared privacy as we willingly give away information and chunks of our lives on social networks such as Facebook, Myspace or Twitter; a profile of the .com millionaire/performance artist Josh Harris who created some ahead of its time ultra-reality experiments on the web in the late 1990s/early 2000s. The craziest was the Quiet project that saw him sink 20+ million into the construction of a bunker in NYC right as 2000 hit. Dozens of people who signed up had to stay for a month, were furnished all the food, drink, drugs they wanted, everyone slept in pods with complete lack of privacy--TVs were everywhere, in your pod, in the shower, in the bathrooms. There was an on site gun range and interrogation room meant to break people down. Everyone was urged to wear uniforms (when they weren't cavorting around naked) and have cult like meetings in a appropriately designed room. At first everyone is into it--then it turns into chaos and madness. Riveting. Harris' next online project was to show every waking hour of him and his girlfriend's living experience--so detailed cameras were installed in the toilet. Not as interesting as the bunker but that was wild. Directed by the same woman who made the documentary Dig! which I really loved, We Live In Public is a fascinating look at our culture, our attention craved mindsets and one man's extreme measures to vault himself into the public consciousness. 

Later at night I went back to the Egyptian to see a dark comedy from Denmark called Terribly Happy. I have mentioned in earlier posts about how I'm on a Danish kick and just really love their sense of humor and will add this quirky film to the list. It's full of lots of dry, deadpan moments that seem to populate their comedic style as a Copenhagen cop moves out to the boonies and discovers a town populated with eccentrics and their own way of doing things. If you go against the grain here--you run the risk of ending up in the bog outside of town. I think I'm going to like any film that makes repeated references to "the bog". I just love that word: bog. I did have to ask a couple in front of me who were blabbing away non-stop (a rarity here as usually audiences are stone silent) if they were going to keep talking to each other the entire film (only my second confrontation of the year Guy if you are reading this, ha). 

Day two--both films were worth seeing and enjoyable. Day three has another Danish film scheduled and a new one I'm watching because Jeff Daniels is in it and that's usually reason enough to check it out. 

Day one @ SIFF

My 2009 Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is officially up and running--although it got off to a slow start. First up was a screening of Departures, an acclaimed Japanese drama that was pretty popular, hence long lines down the block. Nancy (aka Hidden Staircase) hadn't pre-bought a ticket so it was unlikely she'd get in...so I hawked mine to a woman and we chose to spend the afternoon walking around downtown/Belltown in Seattle. That meant record a  shop (Easy Street, where I got seven used CDs ranging from two Midnight Oil to Stevie Nicks' Bella Donna to a couple of Pet Shop Boys--their new one + an old one); various design shops (I got a great blue Lamy fountain pen at Paperhaus!); bought a new tie; hung out at a cafe on the street. Fun, but no movies.

I finally made it to my first film of the festival at 6.30 at the Harvard Exit (photo is of me standing in the long ticket holder line) with the South Korean film My Dear Enemy. This was a sweet, charming, subtle comedy that grew on me by the end. The story has two exes spending the day together after accidentally running into one another. He owes her money, she wants it, they spend the day calling and driving over Seoul meeting a variety of friends of his who might loan him money to pay back the loan he owes her. It's a simple story but done with a lot of restraint--some films might have taken the zany approach, but this doesn't try to make the characters anything other than what they are. There's a level of sadness undercutting the film that I enjoyed too.

After My Dear Enemy ended I hightailed it to my rental car and headed up to the U-District and the Neptune Theatre (search the CineRobot archives to see my post on this theatre) to see the Spanish film The Anarchist's Wife. This film, set during the Spanish Civil War, WW2 and post-WW2 was okay but I was expecting better. It unfortunately gets a little TVish melodramatic at times and the ending, which attempts to make a statement on the "healing" the Spanish have done as a people since their civil war was way too heavy handed for me. Sometimes the most effective message is one that doesn't browbeat you as you watch it. 

St. Louis/on a jet

I left Tulsa yesterday afternoon on a 4.15 flight to St. Louis. The layover was a few hours long so I was able to recharge my DVD battery while grabbing a bite to eat in the airport (the choices were slim at the St. Louis airport: Chili's Too or Wolfgang Puck Bistro; I went with Chili's due to a table near a plug in).  With recharged battery I got to finish the movie I'd started on the plane, a Norwegian drama called Clorox, Ammonia and Coffee. It's not very good. I usually watch foreign films when flying because of the subtitles make it easier to follow the dialogue due to the noise level on the plane. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

On the flight from St. Louis to Seattle I watched Japanese film Branded. This one was better as it involved two main subjects in a mostly incoherent plot: random assassins trying to kill each other and the main hit man's dalliances with various women. When I watch something on a jet I usually try to choose something that might not have offensive material--you know, lots of nudity, sex and violence. I thought I'd be safe with a Japanese film from 1967 but it had wall to wall naked girls! Oh well, there's no way it was more bothersome to those around me than the screaming baby that squealed its head off for 2+ hours in a four hour flight. Now, that was offensive. 

Seattle Film Festival schedule

I'm heading up to Seattle for a week. Lots of movies on tap. My schedule--which might grow a few more times before the week is done--is on the left. As you can see, lots of foreign films--I like to watch those because I doubt they come to Tulsa.

I'll try to check in throughout the week with updates, reviews, photos and stories. Posts will come every day or every other day (at least that's the plan).

The Soloist

There are some topics that are notoriously difficult to portray in movies. Showing writers, painters or musicians at work for example--hard to do. Realistically portraying what it's like to suffer from paranoid schizophrenia is another tough one. The Soloist tries to tackle a couple of these subjects on varied levels but kind of falls flat by attempting to do too much with the story rather than just depend on its strengths.

Robert Downey, Jr. plays Steve Lopez, a Los Angeles Times columnist who writes about regular people, quirky people, only in L.A. kind of stories. His interest is piqued by Nathanial Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a rambling, not quite coherent street musician/homeless man he accidentally encounters one sunny afternoon. It seems Ayers might have gone to Julliard at one time so Lopez begins to write essays about this musician who went from the privilege auditoriums of Julliard, to playing in tunnels while covered in aluminum foil.

The Soloist is one of these over earnest types of films that pop up from time to time. These films are usually well crafted (Joe Wright directs), sentimental and attempt to impact a message to the audience. The idea is usually applied with the subtlety of a ball peen hammer to the skull--such is the case here. The Soloist has two big issues: mental disease and the homeless and the ways an urban metropolis like L.A. treats both of those things. Films like these, with such blunt, overt lessons running throughout them, drain me more than they move me.

Downey and Foxx are actually pretty good in the lead roles. Can't fault their performances. A major mistake though is the useless, manipulative scenes of Ayers as a youngster, as a promising student at Julliard and when he was losing his grip on reality. Schizoprenia manifests itself in Ayers head as a lot of voices talking to him at once. The more voices, the more powerful the hold of his schizophrenia on his actions. The film should have just stayed with the present story of writer + homeless man and their forming bond and relied on their chemistry and good performances. The flashbacks are distracting at the very least and do a lot of damage to the flow of the film.

While The Soloist attempts to portray tough to film topics such as schizophrenia, writing and being a musician--it dooms itself by being overly complicated, earnest, preachy and sentimental. A little restraint and directness in storytelling would have done wonders for it. Instead, we get the same kinds of overwrought excess that seems to always screw up these kinds of pictures.

I Heart Virginie Ledoyen

Let's add another French actress to the "I Heart..." series. Virginie Ledoyen won't be the last. I love French cinema (after American films, I always watch more French films than any other country) and there are always lots of fetching women in their films. I admit, I like French girls--maybe I should just move to France and be done with it?

Ledoyen, who has been in mostly French films but has crossed over to American releases (The Beach in 2000--my one word review: ugh. This review is kind of tempered when you factor in that Ledoyen spends most of the film in a bikini!) and was even in a film from Taiwan from the wonderful Edward Yang (Mahjong). Her career has been all over the map--from French farce and romance (The Valet or Jeanne and the Perfect Guy) to crappy horror and suspense (Saint Ange or The Backwoods).

My favorite Ledoyen film is one she did in 1995 called A Single Female. This is a captivating, direct, simple tale with Ledoyen as a hotel employee with work and real life problems. The film follows her through her daily activities--not a lot of action but I was mesmerized by her rawness in this as a young woman worn down by life and job. A Single Female is a must see that might convert you to Ledoyen fandom when it ends.

Tonight I'll get to feed my Ledoyen fix at Circle Cinema, as she has a role in the new romantic comedy Shall We Kiss? (pictured). I can't wait.

Star Trek

I had my reservations but I tried my best to enter the theatre with an open mind. The original Star Trek fan in me--the one who owns a Spock action figure, has a Bones magnet on the refrigerator and keeps a working phaser in my sci-fi book section--was highly dubious of a bunch of 20/30 somethings taking over the iconic roles and mythos that is Star Trek. My fear--it would just be a vapid, glossy, Bay-esque insult to the Star Trek that I embraced as a kid and have loved ever since.

Star Trek, as a franchise, was desperate for some new blood to inject new life into its moribund body. I was obsessed with the original episodes when young, loved the Next Generation cast and crew, most of the movies (Star Trek I and V are not watchable!) but kind of lost contact in the middle of Deep Space Nine. The last couple of TV shows were as much an insult to the Star Trek world as this movie could be as they were unoriginal, rigid and minus all the adventure the original show possessed. Star Trek was long since worn out. So, I was open minded and hopeful but a little worried as the lights dimmed.

Cue giant sigh of relief and exhilaration as I loved Star Trek! It is better than I thought it would be in virtually every way. There are lots of nods to the past--in both humorous and dramatic ways. The story is complex, interesting and intense while bringing in Romulans (Eric Bana as the main bad guy), black holes and time travel (yes! One element of the time travel story made me very, very happy). And director JJ Abrams absolutely nails the various action sequences from start to finish. This is easily the best form of Star Trek to come along since TV's Next Generation. Hands down.

This Star Trek is basically a story of beginnings or origin (check out that cute baby Spock!). We see Kirk and Spock as kids, one in Iowa raising hell, the other on Vulcan sort of raising hell too (as much as a 1/2 Vulcan can). We see them at Starfleet Academy. We see how all the principle characters meet (Bones, Sulu, Scotty, Uhura and Chekov) and how they end up on the Enterprise. I'm pretty happy with the cast although some are better than others--Simon Pegg as Scotty and Karl Urban as Bones are good as they chew up their dialogue ready for more; Zoe Saldana as Uhura is hot as all get out; John Cho as Sulu, not so good. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as Kirk/Spock, while no Shatner/Nimoy, they were fine.

Early on it is evident that a lot of money was spent on effects and the attention to detail is spot on. The film's space sequences are amazing and kick serious ass. I could quibble here and there about stuff like the over abundance of white/glass on the bridge, the meshy uniforms or the look of the Romulans--but I don't want to come off like a fanatic killjoy. The film is great--why get lost in the Trekkie obsessed world of over nitpicking it to death?

Star Trek exceeded all my expectations. It's perfectly paced, it's got action, humor and tension. It's got all the great characters I love who are starting to form the bonds of loyalty and friendship that they never lose. It's fun. It's got Vulcan pinches and phasers set to stun. It's even got a large dose of swaggering cool. When is the last time Star Trek and cool went together? Well, this is. I can hardly wait for more.

Twister, Seattle, 1996

Tornado season is upon us in Oklahoma. The region will have a few months of severe weather (something I love) and interrupted TV by overzealous meteorologists who compete in their expensive radar battles (something I loathe). What better to write about in tornado season than that Oklahoma set film epic of thrills, romance and F5s--Twister.

Twister is just awful. It's a terrible movie with highly unrealistic weather depictions, absurd villains (yes, even a film about tornadoes has bad guys!), a hokey as all get out love story and the always annoying Helen Hunt. I know, that sure sounds like a recipe for disaster but despite all those negative traits, I just love this movie.

My love for Twister stems from when I saw it in the summer of 1996 at the Neptune Theatre (see September '08 archives). When I live away from Oklahoma I tend to suffer extreme bouts of homesickness. I have a love/hate relationship with Oklahoma but it's a place that gets in your blood and its hard to get rid of it even during the hating stages. This particular summer, I happened to be in the throes of a strong homesick melancholy and thought--what is more home than tornadoes? Nothing. Let's go watch Twister!

Lola, who had her own share of tornado memories having spent part of her childhood in Missouri, and I made our way to the Neptune on a Saturday afternoon. The film began and I knew this was going to be a real mess when I saw the first cow flying over a field. It's a baffling kind of science when every tornado seemed to always veer in whatever direction would make it easier on the storm chasers. Ain't that friendly of the tornado?

Regarding the cast, on the plus side is Bill Paxton (who does some serious overacting but I still love the guy) and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (he's the OU cap wearing "Dusty"). Nullifying those two is the aforementioned Hunt (whose heavily made up face never gets a fleck of mud or dirt on it without magically disappearing soon after) and the always atrocious Jamie Gertz. Gertz is so lacking in talent in every movie she has ever been in I am curious what kind of sexual favors she performed to get a role. For high profile films like Twister, she must have had bruised knees for months.

Despite all the levels of shite-ness Twister has--I sat in the Neptune that afternoon and just let its make believe sweep over me. For a couple of hours I was riding along country roads as fake CGI storms raged or found myself sitting in a dank "fraidy hole" waiting out the danger. I was home even though I've never seen a tornado in my life. Not once.

Gomorrah

If you write a non-fiction book and it is embraced with passion, attention and tons of publicity--then your book is likely to be a success. If you write a book about the mafia and have to go into armed protection for years--your book is likely to be a success. It just might not be the same kind of success you may have dreamed of.

Such is the case for Roberto Saviano's recent book Gomorrah, an in depth look into the Naples crime syndicate (also known as Gomorrah). The book was a sensation in Italy when published, Saviano has been in hiding ever since. Before watching Gomorrah, check your expectations and preconceived notions at the door. Don't expect a Godfather styled mob movie--Gomorrah rejects that idea on every level as it tells its gritty story about the all reaching power of crime.

The film version of the book, directed by Matteo Garrone, is as unsentimental and labyrinthine a look at the criminal world you are likely to see. There are few protagonists and people to root for in Gomorrah. This is a film of predators, of varying ages and influence, who either want in or out of the life they've chosen (or become entangled in). There is little hope for the characters. There is no romanticism. There is just the daily grind of living in Naples and the complicated connection to crime its citizens face.

The film is broken into multiple segments and bounces from character to character. They range from a young kid drawn into the organization, wannabe hoodlums who have watched Scarface too many times, an accountant who doles out weekly pay to soldiers in the family, a tailor in the black market who gets greedy, a young guy who has a new job working to secure sites for illegal dumping of hazardous waste and an assortment of tough guys on various rungs of the criminal ladder. Some characters appear more often and some disappear from the screen for long periods of time.

At first, as the stories jump from one point to another, Gomorrah is kind of hard to follow. It's complex. It's violent--the gunshots sound like cannons going off in your face. It's full of quiet despair. It's also very powerful and seeing these people wallow in the inescapable prison that is their lives is a sad thing to witness. The bare bones style of the film has a gritty, hyper-realism to it that makes the film even more haunting.

Let's be honest, Gomorrah won't make you feel good about life. You have to work for what it offers but if you are into serious, intelligent, realistic, multifaceted stories of crime or the mafia then this is for you. It's an intense, somber look at just how far reaching and destructive this particular crime syndicate in Naples is. Enter at your own peril.

Seattle International Film Festival 2004

In a few weeks I'm heading to Seattle for a week. I'll be there during the 2009 Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) that lasts about three weeks every spring. Yes, I will be watching some films--probably ones I don't think will come to Tulsa or out on video soon.

In 2004 I had a media pass to SIFF as did The Hidden Staircase. I didn't remember her making a list of what we were watching with our matching scores but a few weeks ago she sent this to me. This is the order we watched the films and our scores--I am on the left; Hidden Staircase is on the right.

April movies

Adventureland---2009---usa ***1/2
Sugar---2009---usa ****
Duplicity---2008---usa ***1/2
Frostbitten---200?---sweden **1/2
Semi-Pro---2008---usa **1/2
Observe and Report---2009---usa ***
Two Lovers---2008---usa ****
Nollywood Babylon---2008---canada ***
Fulltime Killer---2001---hong kong ****
Dead Snow---2008---norway ***1/2
Leatherheads---2008---usa ***
House---1977---japan ***1/2
Marie Antoinette---2006---usa ***
Everlasting Moments---2008---sweden ****

Recent films

A few short reviews of films I've watched in the past month.

Observe and Report. While it has a few nice moments, by the end, this mall set dark comedy becomes a little too "one-note" and loses steam. I'm such a fan of Jody Hill's The Foot Fist Way and East Bound & Down that it's kind of a disappointment. Not bad, just expected more. Hill's style is not for everyone though. He likes to push the boundaries some with comedy.

Dead Snow. All I need to say about this new film from Norway is: Nazi zombies! What else do you want to know? Lots of horror in jokes and references as a group of friends go to a remote cabin (not in the woods, this being Norway, it's on a snow covered mountain range) and have to fight off the Nazi undead. Fun as you can see by the poster (I heart the poster!) and will be coming to the Circle Cinema in August for a couple of midnight movie screenings.

Nollywood Babylon. Evidently Nigeria has a booming film industry. Granted, it won't challenge Hollywood since most films are shot on the cheap for under 10K and released DIY on DVD in markets and shops. The movies look terrible but the locals seem to enjoy them despite the low budget and amateurish quality they have. I was fascinated by the city of Lagos. What a crazy, frantic, packed with people, economically strapped, non-stop place.

Fulltime Killer. This is a typical Johnny To Hong Kong action film from 2001. That means a few things--it is good, bullets will fly, it is stylish, it is tense, it is tautly edited, it will have lots of slow motion. I love a good Johnny To action film and this is another that didn't disappoint me at all.

Adventureland. What a pleasant surprise this was! I basically saw it to see Martin Starr in a fairly large role for him and was completely captivated by this story set in a Pittsburgh amusement park in 1987. It's smart, appropriately nostalgic, has a great score, lots of likeable characters and just a well done youth comedy. Wish more people would have gone to see it but it should still be in theatres so you can still catch it.

I Heart Wes Studi

I'm not a fan of Wes Studi just because he is from Oklahoma (although that surely doesn't hurt!). No, I like Studi because he's an interesting character actor who has been criminally underemployed in quality films for far too long. What a shame. Studi is one of those distinct, unique actors that always makes an impression.

Studi, a full blood Cherokee born in Nofire Hollow, Oklahoma (is that a great town name or what?), has carved a career out of playing Native Americans. Ethnic actors often get pigeonholed for a particular kind of role and that is all they seem to get despite the fact they can do more but the prison of typecasting is a hard confinement to escape from. Actors have to make a living so they take what they can. For some, it's straight to DVD genre pictures, for someone like Studi, it's playing Indians from every tribe under the sun.

Some of Studi's more well known roles (some of these are TV) are in Last of the Mohicans, Geronimo, Into the West, The New World, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and Comanche Moon. He had a nice role in Heat that I wish would have led to more cop roles--he makes a great detective!--but that didn't happen. It looks like Studi has some sort of role in James Cameron's highly anticipated science fiction 3D epic Avatar later in 2009 so that's something to be excited about.

Check out Studi this Monday on PBS as he has a significant role in American Experience's Native American five part series We Shall Remain. It's the first time Studi has gotten to speak Cherokee in a project after his dozens of roles as other Indian tribes.

The Paris

In the age of the multiplex, there is something comforting about going to see a movie at a single screen theatre. They are becoming more rare with auditoriums being chopped into sections or having their balconies walled off for that precious extra screen. That's if the theatre is lucky--the unfortunate theatres are just razed or turned into a restaurant. Survival is a never ending struggle for the single screen theatre in the 21st century.

My favorite theatre in New York, the Paris, is just the sort of old school, single screen throwback that makes me think of long-gone eras whenever I step into its lobby and head down into the spacious room built into the ground. Other theatres in NY have more interesting programming but the act of watching a film doesn't get any better than this jewel located on a picturesque square underneath the Plaza Hotel and near a corner of Central Park. Go in the spring or the fall and your heart will skip a beat.

Everything about the Paris charms me. The lobby is tiny so you have to queue up on the street despite whatever the weather might be in New York. If it is raining or snowing--too bad, line up on the street and wait until the movie starts. This is how it should be for every theatre in a city. The theatre is draped in velvet, the 586 seats are soft and comfy and the view from the front/middle of the balcony is absolutely perfect. If I could, I'd watch every single movie in this theatre, such is my love for the place. There's something magical about walking off a busy Manhattan street and then becoming lost in the story on screen.

The Art Moderne styled Paris opened for business on September 13, 1948. Specializing in foreign and independent films--the Paris is known for French cinema. With a name like "Paris" that shouldn't be a surprise. The theatre was run by France's Pathe for 42 years before Loew's took over in 1990.

A few of my favorite experiences at the Paris: watching Amelie with a packed house during its American premiere weekend in 2001 has to be at the top of the list. French TV was on the street and interviewing people as they stood in line. Two weeks later I went and saw Amelie a second time at the Paris. That same year I saw The Widow of Saint-Pierre and then went and ate at a creperie on a cold, autumn night. How French is that?

Two Lovers

The sad thing about Two Lovers is that the film has been overshadowed by the recent antics of Joaquin Phoenix. I don't know if he is putting us on or is serious about this whole rap career change. It's a shame if it's true because he's such a soulful, interesting actor. For selfish reasons, I'd prefer he stick to acting. Hip hop for Joaquin? No thanks.

Two Lovers. Director James Gray sets all his films in the boroughs of New York City (this is #4) and he loves to ratchet up the tone and nuance in full 1970s mode. That's good. If a film hints of the '70s, I'm all for it. Gray's films are so washed in that era he might want to try and break away from that in the future just to do something different. Then again, why should he? Making films that feel as if they dropped out of that decade is a compliment and more directors should do the same so I hope he just keeps on making these sorts of films.

Phoenix plays Leonard, a mumbling, slightly damaged young man living with his parents, working in the family dry cleaning store and pining for a lost love. He goes from no romance to two women in the span of a couple of days--the safe choice (Vinessa Shaw) or the unhinged choice (Gwyneth Paltrow). What is good for Leonard might not be the direction he chooses to go as he's torn between the two women--it's hard to resist the dangerous path of the heart sometimes.

The two women represent a life change too. One wil make him a predictable wife and life connected to his family; one offers the complete unknown and escape from the world around him. Leonard is torn. Gray let's us see both sides of the romantic coin and we see and feel what Leonard has to dicipher between--the security or the passion.

Phoenix delivers a riveting, warm, tender, raw and oddly comical performance. It's hard to not watch him on screen. If this is his last role--and as I said, I'm hoping it's not--then he's ending it on a high note. I wish Paltrow was not in this though. Granted, I'm not a fan but I found her distracting in such a small, intimate story. I loved watching Isabella Rossellini and Moni Moshona as Leonard's parents as they solidify a great ensemble cast.

James Gray's Two Lovers is another trip for him into "1970s" storytelling. It's honest, deceptively simple in its construction and very direct. I admire Gray for his stubborn adherence to this style--he will not give up! It makes for bleak downers but for films this well crafted and acted, those are not negative traits at all. Gray's next film is The Lost City of Z, an adventure drama set around the search for lost explorers so we'll get to see if he can step out of the NYC box.

Movie tickets #6

Street cred

Recently Vern Snackwell and I spent an afternoon upping our street cred points for how nerdy we can be for film watching. Vern, who is on a 2009 quest for five hundred movies (!), came over to my house about 5.30 with a pizza and Dr. Pepper. The weather outside was sunny, springlike and high 70s. It was a gorgeous day, one of the first days like that of spring. We didn't really get to enjoy that though as we promptly turned on the TV and watched three episodes of Eastbound and Down and then the Japanese film Tokyo! for the next three and a half hours.

If it's one thing film geeks worry about it is their rep among other dedicated film geeks. What is more embarrassing in life than to get attitude from a video store clerk at a good video store (if you have a good video store in your town--and I'm not talking about the awful Blockbuster and Hollywood chains--then you know how these people can get up on the cinema high horse)? This afternoon should give us a few points on that front. Forget good weather, Vern and I will take pizza, a raunchy TV show and a so-so Japanese film any day over walking outside, doing yard work, sitting on a park bench, taking the dog down by the water for exorcise, riding a bike or any of that active stuff.

A letter to america, part two

Dear America,

Let me go curmudgeon for a bit: something is seriously wrong with the youth of America. I haven't read a poll that lambastes their intelligence--although it's impossible to ignore the stories about how ignorant they are at history, science, literature. I have a feeling if these subjects were properly dispelled via social network site, mp3 player, download or cell phone--our American youth would do us all proud. But they aren't. Yet.

No, my worry stems from a recent conversation that left me slack jawed with worry and disbelief. Maybe I just ran into an anomaly but I kind of doubt it. I've read enough about the interests of the today's youth (for the sake of this essay we'll classify youth as being from the ages of 13-19) and have had, or overheard, enough conversations to realize they might just be a clueless mob. There, more curmudgeonly opinions!

I've been having trouble with my computer the past couple of weeks and was at a local Geek Squad getting it looked at. The computer is an iMac from 2002 and as I was describing its issues I made a couple of comments about "2001"--obviously a reference to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey from the legendary Stanley Kubrick. Come on, that's about as much of a no-brainer as humanly possible when snuck into a few sentences about a quasi retro-futuristic piece of technology that is the iMac.

Maybe not. The guy helping me seemed about nineteen years old and got all glassy eyed when I said the phrase "2001" a second time.

"What do you mean, 2001?"
"You know, 2001. The movie. By Kubrick, this computer reminds me of that."
"Never heard of him. What else did he do?"

I was immediately struck by just how empty this poor kid's soul was. Maybe he was just messing with me? I began to list some films to jog his memory: Lolita, Full Metal Jacket, The Shining, Dr. Strangelove...I kept listing them, hoping something would slap him out of his stupor. Nothing. The unlucky sap! To be in your late teens or early twenties and to not know Kubrick is the worst sort of self-abuse and self-loathing.

You'd think in this day of instant accessibility via DVD or other technology that a kid who works ON computers would know about one of the greatest science fiction films ever. There is a strong relation in the two worlds. This example is a symptom of a larger ignorance I'm afraid. We are living in a world where youth only know of pathetic remakes and overblown CGI epics forged from computer screens and comic books. Idiosyncratic auteur directors whose heyday was the 1960s and 1970s are lost and off the radar--unless that much needed remake of A Clockwork Orange comes soon.

I'm concerned, very concerned.

Sincerely,

Replicant

Aliens, Tulsa, 1986

{every so often i want to write about memories of particular films--these posts might be more about who i was with, where i saw the film and my memories rather than the movie itself. this is the first of the film memory series of posts.}

In 1986 my best friend Scott lived with my family for the summer before he moved to Memphis. There were conversations between his family and mine about him staying with us in Pryor Creek throughout our senior year of high school. That did not happen so near the tail end of summer, before Scott left Oklahoma, a small group of us went on a movie binge at the Eton Square Theatre in Tulsa.

Theatre hopping, as we called going to watch two or three films in a row after only paying for one, was a frequent weekend treat for me and a few friends. We'd drive the forty-five minutes from Pryor Creek to Tulsa and see multiple films for the price of one--thank you multiplexes! This Saturday night we saw more than one film but the only one I remember seeing was the last, and best, of the night--Aliens.

Aliens is the high octane, science fiction/action film from director James Cameron (the original Alien by director Ridley Scott in 1979 relied less on bullets and more on terror and suspense. For the record, I love both films.) that has Sigourney Weaver reprising her role as Ripley. She escorts a motley crew of Marines to a planet that might have a killer alien species on it. Well, let's be honest, there will be carnage and mayhem thanks to the aliens that exist on this planet, that should be no surprise to anyone.

We talked about going to see Aliens for weeks before it came out so we were watching it opening weekend. Despite being a late night screening, we sat in the middle, closer to the front, surrounded by others in a packed house--the perfect environment for a film like this. Aliens is an adrenaline rush of a film and all the way home we were buzzing about it and our favorite scenes ("We're history man!") and whether or not it was better than the original.

By the time we got back to Pryor Creek and home, around 2am, the night was full of bittersweet emotions. I'm still good friends with Scott, yet in 1986, when he packed to leave a few days later, our future friendship was more uncertain. Teenage friendships don't often survive cross country moves. We were happy that we got to have that last going away theatre hopping event where we saw one of our favorites from the 1980s--Aliens.

Wendy and Lucy

Kelly Reichardt is quickly emerging as a young filmmaker to watch and admire. Her films are low budget, filled with natural light, simple, honest and direct--qualities that I love to see an American reveling in (most want the flash and dash of Hollywood unfortunately). Based on Wendy and Lucy and 2006's Old Joy, Reichardt has tapped into a portion of the usually unseen American population, and has unleashed a couple of heart wrenching tales of the lost and found.

Wendy (Michelle Williams) is a young woman travelling to Alaska with her dog Lucy. With dwindling funds, Wendy's car breaks down in Oregon and this begins a rough span of hours for Wendy. When Lucy disappears sometime after the car trouble, Wendy becomes desperate to find her and to restore some sense of normalcy and friendship in her solitary existence. Wendy may have other people in her life but we don't get to see them. We only get to see her with the dog and engage in awkward conversations with strangers. So, Lucy is important, she may be the only real relationship in Wendy's life.

Wendy and Lucy seems simple on the surface but has a lot going on in it if you look. It's a powerful meditation on a variety of themes--the desperation and frustration of being poor, the isolation of travel and not fitting in with the world around you, the optimistic wanderlust of youth, forming unexpected connections with strangers and the universal love between dog and owner. The story unfolds with little dialogue, utilizes long takes and is raw without the doses of sentimentality a lesser director may have injected. A film with a major plot point of a missing pet could go syrupy very fast but it's to Reichardt's credit that Wendy and Lucy never comes close to veering in that direction.

Williams, who I'm more impressed with each time I see her act, gives a stellar performance as Wendy. She absolutely nails it. She's equally numb and emotionally fragile with the way she has to live and with what happens to her in Oregon. Will Patton plays a mechanic and while I like him, it was a distraction to see someone recognizable in the context of such a small story and setting.The rest of the film is full of non-pros or obscure character actors and this adds to the film's texture of reality.

Wendy and Lucy stays with you long after it ends. The slowness lulls you into its sadness and when it is over, the story and performances are haunting as they stick to you. We need more American filmmakers like Reichardt crafting real stories and real films but unfortunately her style doesn't translate to the masses. It's too slow, it's too sad, it's too low budget but it's really too bad because the void that has become American filmmaking is only growing larger and we could use more people as interesting and talented as Kelly Reichardt.