Flipside Movie Emporium

[beltmann]

7/19 ? 7/25/04

A good week. In preferential order:

A Man Escaped (Bresson, France 1957)

Broken Wings (Bergman, Israel 2002)

Close-Up (Kiarostami, Iran 1990)

Detained (Even and Ushpiz, Israel 2001)

Live From Shiva's Dance Floor (Linklater, USA 2003)

Little Otik (Svankmajer, Czech Republic 2000)

Buffalo Soldiers (Jordan, USA 2003)

De-Lovely (Winkler, USA 2004)

I, Robot (Proyas, USA 2004)

A Farewell to Arms (Borzage, USA 1932)

The Barbarian Invasions (Arcand, Canada 2003)

Starsky & Hutch (Phillips, USA 2004)

Fast Company (Cronenberg, Canada 1979)

The Big Bounce (Armitage, USA 2004)

The Flat (Svankmajer, Czechoslovakia 1968)

Monsieur Ibrahim (Dupeyron, France 2003)

In a Year of 13 Moons (Fassbinder, Germany 1978)

A Computeristic Fairy Tale (Hemmerling, USA 2003)

The first six are all fascinating. The spare, suffocating A Man Escaped recounts the real-life story of a French Resistance officer trying to bust out of a Gestapo prison. What?s most gripping, though, is the way Bresson equates the inmate?s quest for freedom with his internal spiritual quest. The very moving Broken Wings follows the traditional damaged-family-in-mourning emotional arc, but is engineered with an uncommon intelligence and subtlety. Eschewing narration, the documentary Detained simply show us snippets of life inside a tenement literally caught in the crosshairs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The West Bank building is situated right on the border, the front patrolled by Jewish troops, the back by Palestinians. Inside, three widows try to raise a total of 11 kids, stopping occasionally to speak to the camera of their sorrows, their anger, their desire to be treated as men. Most memorable is an impromptu, surreal snowball battle between Muslim kids and Israeli troops.

For the short documentary Live From Shiva?s Dance Floor, Richard Linklater follows New York performance artist Timothy "Speed" Levitch on a tour of the city. The movie's most delirious bit consists of Levitch sitting on top of a giant bull, explaining how "BS" is the universal language?and certainly the fuel of this hilarious movie?which transitions into his idea for a Twin Towers memorial: An open park populated by actual, grazing, symbolic bison. Moody, evocative, and horrifying Little Otik?like Levitch?has an unusual comic rhythm. Jan Svankmajer updates an old Czech fable about the dark side of parental instinct: A childless couple carves a play infant out of a tree stump, but soon the ?mother? is suckling the creature for real and trying to satisfy its ever-growing appetite. Before long, neighbors are vanishing?

Finally, Abbas Kiarostami?s Close-Up is one of the most bewildering meta-movies of the Nineties. Kiarostami tells the real-life story of a man who posed as famous director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, telling a family of fans that they could star in his next movie. What's fascinating is that Kiarostami not only cast the actual individuals to play themselves?including the fraud himself?but also allows actual documentary interviews and actual courtroom footage to seamlessly mingle with his staged recreations. This ontological experiment raises questions about the link between cinema and reality, identity, fame, and power. Best of all, it offers the imposter a chance to explain himself on grounds that are nearly purely asethetic rather than legal. I was mesmerized.

Oil for blood

I?d like to also add that, despite its reputation as one of Cronenberg?s worst pictures, I think Fast Company has many virtues?especially the greasy details of drag strip life, and the way motors stand in for how the human body functions and needs repair.

Eric
_________________
"When I was in Barcelona they showed pornography on regular television. I'm assuming it's the same way in Mexico since they also speak Spanish." - IMDb user comment

[HoRRoRFaN]

[matt header]

[HoRRoRFaN]

I need to see LITTLE OTIK asap, it seems like sumthin I'd really dig and it's been interesting me to check out for a while now...
_________________
"A film is - or should be - more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later." -Stanley Kubrick

[beltmann]

[beltmann]

[HoRRoRFaN]

[HoRRoRFaN]

[Danny Baldwin]

Because all of you were so interested, and I'm severely bored, I've decided to announce that I will no longer be listening repeat viewings here. Oh, so hearthreaking, eh? Well, I will continue to catalog them in my screening log for others who have no lives, as well. (In other words, I really never want to list a repeat viewing of The Lizzie McGuire Movie ).
_________________
Danny Baldwin

View My Reviews

[HoRRoRFaN]

[beltmann]

[HoRRoRFaN]

Forgot to post this yesterday:

Boy Meets Girl (Ray Brady, 1994) 58

Reminiscent of a film that Peter Greenaway would direct in the way that it was shot and like Takashi Miike's AUDITION, Ray Brady's controversial BOY MEETS GIRL is is a bold, dark, and thought-provoking depiction of a man's pysche breaking down bit by bit, damaged beyond recognition. Just when you thought you were going to watch a romantic comedy, the movie is anything but. We realize this soon into it, where we open to see a man named Devin (played with riveting conviction by Tim Poole) meets a beatiful "French" woman, Anne Marie (Margot Steinberg) in a bar. After their conversation, Anne Marie proposes that they go back to her apartment for a drink. When they arrive, she tells him to relax, as she puts on a porno, giving him a drink soon after. He gets the feeling, as many would, that he got lucky for the night, but all of his thoughts change up when he starts feeling sick all of a sudden, falling to the ground in swift unconsciousness. He wakes up to find himself in the woman's dark basement, very tightly strapped to a dentist's chair. There are scary instruments of torture that decorate the room, as well as a video camera. As anyone would, he screams and screams, tries as hard as he can to break free of his bonds, and desperately tries to reason with his captor. However, the room is soundproof, no one can hear him screaming and pleading, the straps to the chair are apparently as tight as possible, and his captor doesn't plan on letting him go. His captor, Anne Marie has no accent anymore, and her accomplice (Danielle Sanderson) plan to interrogate him with their torture, planning to capture the dehumanizing on tape, just like they have done before. Devin learns of this when they show him videos of previous victims, and it's obvious from this point on that there is no way that he is going to be set free.

Other than the filming of torturing the lead character, I don't see how this is the "English MAN BITES DOG" in any way because the film ventures into territory that is rarely explored by a filmmaker, which is what I give credit to Brady for. We almost never see a woman depicted as a serial killer, especially in 1994 when the film was shot. Even moreso, we rarely see women to be the serial killers, that have intricate plots involving the people that they torture and kill. Now, with many shocking releases in this day and age, we see more of it (such films as BAISE MOI, etc.) but it is effective in this film, for its presentation, and how we are tempted to ask questions, as the women interrogate their male captive, breaking him down more and more with every bit of mental, pyschological and psychical torture. Some may be disappointed with the lack of gore that is included. I was not sure what to expect going in, to be honest. Don't get me wrong, the film wastes none of its time in its torture, some of it is weird, ridiculous, some tame, and disturbing. Psychical torture is nowhere near as shocking as the mental and pyschological breakdown of the lead character. I don't understand why this film was banned 8 years by the BBFC -- the banning was unnecessary since BOY MEETS GIRL is simply about ideas and thoughts, not exploitation and depravity.

Possibly the most interesting aspect of BOY MEETS GIRL is the challenges in the screenplay, written by Jim Crosbie and the director. For instance, in the progression of the film, we learn that Devin isn't the most innocent person, and because of these revelations, we care less about him. This is the reason why this is different than our expectations of what a film such as this would be. In a much lesser work, the director would have wanted the viewer to sympathize with the main character from beginning to end. But the difficult film refuses that to us, as we are taught that Devin is accused and guilty of homophobia, murder, constantly being unfaithful, etc. Devin's captors are no less deranged, however. They are pyschotic, showing no emotion at all aside from the dark humor that is thrown into the dialogue from time to time, and these are almost flawless performaces when capturing the attitudes rightfully. Because it is set exclusively in one room throughout the duration (except for the beginning, of course), Brady's direction is sharp in its eye for detail. There is a moment involving one of the woman's blood, and it may be possible that she is HIV positive. On the other hand, Brady's debut feature is not without its problems. For every positive, there is a negative aspect unfortunately, holding the film back from the real visceral impact it could have had on me. Questions brought up are amusing for a while, but that does not accuse the movie itself from being very simplistic, somewhat repetitive in its 90 minutes, and I would have loved more dimension into the women, but as I understood, this was not the point and not the intention of the direction. Above all, the movie has no real suspense from the start because we have a very good feeling on how it is going to end. Based on the video that's shown to Devin and the severed head that the accomplice reveals, we know that he is going to be killed also. He's teased, freedom is dangled in front of his face, but that is part of the mind games. Apart from at least one scene, there's disappointingly no authentic suspense whatsoever. Still, thanks to superb performances, concentrated direction and the sheer terror in moral debates -- not out of the torture scenes but out of the breakdown of a corrupted, flawed character -- are worth checking BOY MEETS GIRL out for.
_________________
"A film is - or should be - more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later." -Stanley Kubrick

[Danny Baldwin]

[the night watchman]

[Danny Baldwin]

7/20 - 7/26

Only five this week, and only one really good movie. From best to worst:

M (Lang, 1931) - Absolutely haunting, and not even Peter Lorre's dynamite work at the end is the best part. Fritz Lang's extensive use of shadows, noises, and wordplay accounts for an exteme amount of tension, and the picture is still rather scary, even though it was made an entire seventy-three years ago. Take the embraced insanity to be found in Lorre's whistling and the song the children are singing in the beginning; the tone almost seems creepier before the major eruption.

A Cinderella Story (Rosman, 2004) - The fact that it's my second favorite picture of the week is extemely sad. If you look at the other thread, all the praise I will give it is found there. Awful direction and writing, but I think Hilary Duff has the ambition, at least, to be great. How she made this become entertaining, worthy of a rental, amazes me.

The Four Feathers (Kapur, 2002) - The first half is truly spectacular in its own right, and when the disc from Netflix stopped fifty minutes in, I was bummed. Of course, I went through the trouble to watch the rest, and I must say, I shouldn't have. The conventional depiction of desparity in the end is so dull and unengaging, there's really nothing to be said for the film, by the end. Terrific work from Kate Hudson in a serious role, though.

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (Sugarman, 2004) - I was so bored, and this was the only thing I had in front of me, at the moment. I think Lindsay Lohan is a pretty good actress, but this movie screams "made for TV!" more than any other I can think of. It's dull and overly stupid the entire way through, using the average contrivances and actually embarrassing them. I guess the set design is colorful, though. Heh.

Catwoman (Pitof, 2004) - It's fun for oh, about a half an hour, when no Catwoman is involved. I'm not sure there's anyone to root for after Patience Phillips turns into the half-feline (I don't think I could even sympathize for the human side of her personality). For awhile, its corniness works, but as it plays, it becomes increasingly indifferent and cold towards viewers. In fact, by the end, it gets to be pretty painful (to the extent in which, if I were a standard moviegoer, I may have walked out). Another showy showcase of special effects with nothing to show.

I'll be watching a greater amount in the following week, but I need to allow the film-devoted area of my immune system to recover from this week. Take the greatness of M out of the equation and I think I might've considered suicide. Had A Cinderella Story not been as pleasant as it was, I can assure you, I'd be dead. Heck, you know there is something wrong with you when you don't even want to watch Psycho for the eighth time tonight, rather than "Joe Schmo" and "Who Wants to Marry My Dad?" Oh well. Next week will be better, in movies. Or at least I hope. My dad will be back from vacation, so I'll be able to see The Bourne Supremacy. That should be fun.
_________________
Danny Baldwin

View My Reviews