Shadows in the Cave Digest #01 - January 2010

I decided to end each month with a sort of "digest" or table of contents for the reviews and essays written over the previous weeks. Hope you like it and you find some things you might have missed the first time through.


Features
- My Top 10 Favorite Films of 2009/The Long List
- Sundance Film Festival: The History, 2010 Line Up
- A Decade in Love With Movies: Part One, Part Two, Part Three
- The James Dean Trilogy: East of Eden, Rebel Without A Cause, Giant
- Director in Focus - John Sayles: Lone Star

Reviews
- A Serious Man (Movie of the Month)
- Up in the Air
- Sherlock Holmes
- The Road
- Gommorah
- The Lovely Bones
- Youth in Revolt

- Legion
- My Winnipeg
- Goodbye Solo
- Cold Souls
- The Book of Eli

- Broken Embraces

Hypothetical Film Festivals
- No Capes Film Festival

- Deconstructing Darko

Next Month
- Spotlight on Robert Altman
- The Alien Quadrilogy: The Evolution of Ellen Ripley
- The Spider-Man Reboot

The James Dean Trilogy - Giant

Giant (dir. George Stevens)
Starring James Dean, Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, Mercedes McCambridge, Dennis Hopper, Sal Mineo

James Dean's final, and in my opinion, greatest performance casts him as the antagonist Jett Rink to Rock Hudson's Jordan Benedict. Giant sought to redefine the Texas landscape and in terms of subject matter was a very forward thinking film. Not only does it address the wealth and power associated with the oil industry, it also deals with interracial relationships and interracial children in an extremely positive way.

Told over the course of over two decades, Giant follows Jordan Benedict as he marries Leslie (Taylor) and slowly loses his oil empire to family ranch hand Jett Rink. When the patriarch of the Benedict family dies, Rink only asks for one small patch of land as repayment for his years of loyal service. For years he works to drill it, with Jordan and his family finding his efforts humorous but ultimately pathetic. Finally, Jordan finds what he's been looking for and puts all his effort into usurping the Benedict's place in the upper crust in Texas.

Dean's role role is very much a supporting one in this film, his first real secondary role. Hudson and Taylor's relationship and the growth of their family is the primary plot concern. Once Jett discovers the oil he comes into much greater focus in the overall story. Dean's portrayal of Jett is masterful; he's an inarticulate man who understands working the ranch and being an oil rig worker best. This earthier character type plays foil to Jordan Benedict's refined Texas aristocrat. Both men fit the Western archetype, with Jett being the rougher around the edges type.

James Dean's finest moments occur in the scene where he zooms up the Benedict house to gloat about his discovery of oil and his grand finale, a drunken fifty-something man who wealth has done nothing to heal his anger and hatred. The first sequence showcases the bombastic skills of Dean; while his motivations are extremely petty you can't help but feel ebullient with him. The latter scene is my favorite piece of acting by Dean and Daniel Day-Lewis' final moments in There Will Be Blood owe everything to this performance. Having struck up a relationship with Benedict's barely legal daughter, Jett has revealed himself a lecherous old man trying to numb the hollowness inside him by consuming disgusting amounts of whiskey. In the conference room at an oilmen's convention, he stumbles about mumbling things under his breath, knocking over tables and has a final, violent confrontation with Jordan Benedict.

James Dean was never to act again. Before his final two films were released, Dean was taking a drive in his Porsche Spyder with a friend, received a speeding ticket, and two hours later collided with another car while speeding again. Dean was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. I remember being angry after I saw Giant that there were no more films with this actor. That couldn't be right, he was so good and there were so many things he could have done.

I like this commercial produced by a life insurance company that theorizes what it would have been like if he had lived, and think its a good way to cap this essay series:

Sundance Film Festival - 2010 Highlights

Cyrus (dir. Duplass Brothers) - Indie film directors switch to more mainstream fare with John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill in a nice looking comedy-drama.

Buried (dir.Rodrigo Cortés) - Ryan Reynolds stars as a contractor in Iraq who wakes up buried in a wooden coffin with only a candle, knife, and cell phone. Very interesting circumstances could make for a real test of Reynolds' talents.

Jack Goes Boating (dir. Philip Seymour Hoffman) - Hoffman's directorial debut of a stage play he starred in. A romantic comedy set in NYC, starring Hoffman and Amy Smart.

The Killer Inside Me (dir. Michael Winterbottom) - Winterbottom is one of the most dynamic British directors working today and this film looks to be just as mind-blowing as previous work. Casey Affleck stars as a small town sheriff who is secretly a serial killer, finding it harder and harder to hide his crimes.

Holy Rollers (dir. Kevin Asch) -Jesse Eisenberg takes on his first purely dramatic starring role as a Hasidic Jew lured into the drug trafficking business.

High School (dir. John Stalberg) - In what is being billed as a stoner EPIC, the valedictorian of his high school realizes he has to get drug tested and this will reveal he's a pothead. His plan to remedy this is to fix the drug tests of the entire graduating class to test positive for marijuana. Stars Adrien Brody as Psycho Ed, check out the pic above :D

Hesher (dir. Spencer Susser) - Joseph Gordon Levitt plays the total opposite of his character in last year's 500 Days of Summer. He's a burnout, locked up in his trailer with nothing but hate for the world around him, and eventually becomes the mentor of a 13 year old boy. Natalie Portman co-stars.

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (dir. Eli Craig) - I love the premise: Two rednecks, who are actually kind men, are believed to be psycho killers by a group of teenagers from the city who try to kill the pair. This could either be a big letdown or a genius film. Stars Alan Tudyk.

Weekend Trailer Roundup

The Eclipse (dir. Conor McPherson) - a very non-exploitative looking ghost story from Ireland

Mother (dir. Joon Ho-Bong) - South Korean psychological thriller from the brilliant mind behind The Host.

Mystery Team (dir. Dan Eckman) - From the brilliant comedic minds behind Derrick Comedy, one of whom is Donald Glover, former writer of 30 Rock and current star of NBC's Community. This one look damn good.

Afterschool (dir. Antonio Campos) - A disturbing murder mystery at a prep school. Something about the cinematography and ambient noise is incredibly eerie.

Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps (dir. Oliver Stone) - Stone's stock has fallen in the last decade, W. was a huge disappointment. Here's hoping he recaptures some of what made him great in the late 80s.

Film 2010 #18 - Broken Embraces

Broken Embraces (2009, dir. Pedro Almodovar)

Starring Penelope Cruz, Lluis Homar, Blanca Portillo, Jose Luis Gomez, Ruben Ochandiano, Tamar Novas

Director Pedro Almodovar has never disappointed me and continues that successful streak with his latest picture. There is something captivating about how he calmly lays out the strands of a plot. He does it so masterfully that before you know it, you're completely absorbed in the story he is telling. With Broken Embraces, Almodovar weaves together his dramatic tones as seen in films like All About My Mother and Talk To Her with noir elements he began using in Bad Education. The result is a masterpiece.

The story begins with blind screenwriter Mateo Blanco, who signs his scripts under the pseudonym Harry Caine. His day to day affairs are looked over by his long time production assistant Judit Garcia and her son, Diego. Into their life comes Ray X, a mysterious director who appears to know something of Mateo's past. Diego wants to know more and Mateo begins to tell the tale of he and an actress named Lena's relationship.

Everything about the structure and pace of the film is spot on. Almodovar takes his time before getting to the core story, which is told mostly in an extended flashback, framed by the present day story. I've begun to look at the director's films as having a lot of similarities with Shakespeare's work from a structural standpoint. The plots are fairly straightforward with a cluster of key characters and flashbacks and framing devices are used frequently. I think by refraining from attempting to over complicate his scripts with too many characters or sub-plots and twists, Almodovar creates very classic films that are going to last for decades to come.

Hypothetical Film Festival #4 - Deconstructing Darko

One of my favorite indie flicks of the early 00s is Donnie Darko. Though it has been inflated beyond any acclaim in deserves in the years that followed I still believe its an interesting puzzle of a film, made by a director who truly does love movies. That said, Richard Kelly hasn't directed anything worth a flip since (Southland Tales, The Box). Kelly infuses lots of film references into the flick, and they are worthy of a film festival:

It's a Wonderful Life (1939, dir. Frank Capra)

This one is probably throwing you for a loop, right? Well Darko owes a lot to this film. Its concept of a man being allowed to experience a world without his presence is flipped as Donnie is allowed to be pulled from the moment of his death and experience how life would have continued if he had lived. In the same way things go downhill for the people in George Bailey's life without him, Donnie's survival seems to be a keystone in the downfall of many of the people around him. Yes, a depressing sentiment, but it makes the film that much more poignant.

E.T. (1982, dir. Steven Spielberg)

Kelly confesses that the bicycle chase scene in the finale of E.T. inspired the bicycle ride on Halloween night in his film. And the director is an admitted fan of directors like Spielberg and Zemeckis, who defined 1980s sci-fi and fantasy on the big screen. An understanding of Donnie Darko would be incomplete without an understanding of the kid-targeted fantasy cinema of the 80s.

Rebel Without A Cause (1955, dir. Nicholas Ray)

This was the picture that created a solidly defined picture of teen angst in a post-War America. In effect, all films to follow that focused on troubled adolescent protagonists owe a debt to this James Dean flick. Both Darko and Rebel use a decrepit old house as a key set piece for tragedy. I'd even say Donnie is an updated variation on Plato, the moody disturbed kid who is headed down a hopeless track.

Watership Down (1978, dir. Martin Rosen)

Donnie's English teacher is reading this novel to him and there are some important themes in it that tie to what is going on in the indie film. An animated adaptation was made of Richard Adam's novel in the late 70s and is definitely not kiddie fare. The story follows a group of rabbits in the English countryside whose land is being torn up for new developments. They escape and go on a harrowing journey that leads them to a land that appears to be unpopulated. However, a group of rabbits are already there and they don't flinch at killing their new neighbors to keep their home.

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988, dir. Martin Scorsese)

This adaptation of the classic novel of Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis, is referenced twice overtly in Kelly's film and once in a sub-textual manner. Donnie waking up in the woods is paralleled by Christ waking up in the wilderness, hearing the voice of God. The second reference is when Donnie and Gretchen go to see the Evil Dead and this film is also playing. The more subtle reference is Donnie living out a life where he does not, which is the temptation in the title of Scorsese's film. Christ is tempted by Satan while he hangs on the cross with a vision of living to old age, having a wife and children, but he also sees a world devoid of his message. In the end both Donnie and Christ chose to sacrifice themselves to save the world around them.

A Decade in Love With Movies - 2007-2009 - Opinions

I got into quite a strong flow of watching film during this time. My roommate Eddy would watch many of them with me, and because of his background an English major, we could discuss them like the nerd we truly were. I watched many documentaries during the first half of 2007, while I was still in Bellingham. Simultaneously, I was finishing up my year with AmeriCorps and starting to realize that working in schools at the elementary level was the job I was meant to do. Many of the documentaries I watched corresponded to this as they focused on the social welfare of children internationally (Born into Brothels, The Children Underground).

I found myself missing Tennessee, despite the beauty of the land around me. I made arrangements to return home in July and once my term with AmeriCorps finished in June, I had about a month of nothing to do. I discovered Spanish director Pedro Almodovar during this time and fell in love with his films. I started with Bad Education and quickly found All About My Mother, Talk To Her, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. What I loved about Almodovar was how visually alive his films looked. They're full of color and bombastic characters, but on the flip side they have very deeply emotional moments that never feel dishonest.

I also picked up my own copy of the Scarecrow Movie Guide, a book put out by Scarecrow Video in Seattle, that catalogues a massive amount of films, some well known but most very obscure to the casual filmgoer. This book was crucial in helping me develop into a true appreciator of cinema and I feel that I have reached the point where I can put it aside and guide myself independently through film history. The Scarecrow Movie Guide encouraged me to pick a director and fully devour their work completely, helping me finish up viewing Kubrick's work.

Back in Tennessee, I discovered the beauty of BitTorrent and it ability to open the door to an almost infinite number of film experiences. So many films, not available at the library or even in the country on DVD, were waiting there and I found my consumption increase a hundredfold. It was also in this time that I solidified my decision to go into teaching and began a relationship with the most amazing person I have ever met in my life, Ariana. There are few experiences greater that being curled up with her and watching movies. I find myself impressed with how much she is growing in her film knowledge now. She even admits I've helped her appreciate the role a director plays in shaping a film.

I know that for the rest of my life, I will be in love with film. I look forward to sharing cinematic experiences with Ariana, with friends, with future children. I can't wait to sit down with my own kids and show them The Wizard of Oz or Star Wars for the first time, and get to see their amazement as they discover these worlds.

Film 2010 #17 - Legion

Legion (2010, dir. Scott Stewart)
Starring Paul Bettany, Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Adrienne Palicki, Charles Dutton, Lucas Black

Interesting concepts, poor execution. Par for the course with a lot of sci-fi and fantasy on film these days, and Legion is no exception. The film has a few little twists but at the end of the day fails on pretty much all fronts.

Michael the Archangel (Bettany) learns of God's plan to finally wipe out humanity and cannot go along with this plan. He rejects his angelic nature, falls to Earth, and gets a bunch of machine guns to fight with. Michael makes his way to a diner in the middle of New Mexico where a young woman lives who is pregnant with a child that is somehow the last hope for mankind, though what exactly this kid can do is never explained in the film. Michael even goes so far as to say if the child lives or dies it doesn't matter near the end of the film. Okay...then why all the hubbub?

There is a lot in this film that is never explained and that is incredibly frustrating. In an arthouse film like Eternal Sunshine, the tone of the film never takes itself too seriously, hence we never wonder how the memory removal process works. In a film like Legion, which can't laugh at itself once, the tone dictates that when action is taken there is a concise rhyme and reason. The biggest example is of how exactly does a machine gun hurt a being like an angel. Not a single effort to justify that one.

The biggest concept I like from the film was the idea of angelic possession. The movie is basically a zombie film with angel-possessed human hordes attacking the diner and trying to kill the pregnant woman. While the execution of the idea is downright yawn-inducing, the concept itself is incredibly originally. I've read a hell of a lot of comics and seen a lot of films but have never encountered the idea of angelic possession. Pretty cool idea, would like to see it implemented in a different film.

A Decade in Love With Movies - 2003 -2006 - An Education

Throughout this period of time, I became a frequent theater hopper at the Green Hills 16. About one or two Saturdays a month, I would walk over to the mall and take advantage of the basement like setup of the 16, where a person could easily move from screen to screen and never be seen. I was able to devour so much cinema during this period, helped in part because the 16 is a Regal Arts Cinema, meaning it focused on artsy fare mixed in with the blockbuster junk. I saw such films as Secretary, Late Marriage, Spirited Away, Adaptation, and more.

It was also in this time, that I switched from being a communications major to English, and never regretted the decision once. I was immediately with peers with whom I clicked, who saw the world in a similar way to me. I was in classes that motivated me with great discussions and analyses. I also became part of the English Major Movie Night, suggesting titles such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and I (Heart) Huckabees.I became more and more interested in reading about the ideas behind and interpretations of cinema at this point.

I began to think about tracing footsteps back in film. I was very aware of contemporary cinema but wanted to know more about the films of the past that influenced today's pictures. During summers on campus I got my library card for the Metro library and was able to consume massive amounts of cinema, going back every other day at some points to pick up new holds. It was in 2004, that I became enthralled by a filmmaker who would influence me in my writing and thinking even today, Robert Altman. In the matter of a few weeks I saw MASH, The Long Goodbye, Brewster McCloud, The Player, and Short Cuts. The fractured and cacophonous nature of Altman's filmmaking appealed to the same part of me that ate up the more post-modern literature I was consuming at the time.

I also graduated from college in this time and suffered an intense post-collegiate depression.
One of the things I began doing at the time was cataloging the films I saw over 2005, a practice I still maintain today. I began to fight my way through the depression and film played a major part. The apartment I lived in had cable with every premium channel plus a DVR unit. I began checking the schedule a week in advance and planning out what to record and was able to see volumes and volumes of excellent film that continued my education. In 2006, I worked for a brief time at the Edmonson Pike branch library and was able to have daily access to great works of film, having 20 or more DVDs out at a time. I was able to continue keeping up with contemporary works as well as back tracking and seeing more historical films.

I came to a conclusion in early 2006, that I wanted to live somewhere else and made plans to move to Washington state. The last film I saw, the night before my flight to WA, was the opening night of Superman Returns. While the film hasn't aged well, the experience remains as one of the most significant in my life. I saw it with my father and brother, both of whom since my relationships with have become very damaged and we haven't spoken for over a year. We got to the theater only to see a long line coming out. I remembered my former roommate Seth Hatfield was a manager there so we stepped inside. I found him and he let us in for free and into the theater before every one else. Seats were found in the very middle of the theater and I remember being taking back to my childhood by things as simple as that iconic theme by John Williams.

The second day I was in Bellingham, WA I got a library card and began using their system for its film potential. Ups and downs were had those first six months in Washington and I found film to be a way of helping me get through the tougher times.

Sundance Film Festival - The History

Right now the 2010 Sundance Film Festival is in full swing in Park City, Utah. American films of all sorts are being rolled out every day till January 31st. For the blog, I'll be looking at the general history of Sundance here in part one, and then in part two I'll look at some of this year's films that I'm most excited to see.

The Sundance Film Festival began in 1978 as the Utah Film Festival. At the time there was no prominent American filmmaker-only festival in the existence and the hope was that this small gathering in Utah would provide a focal point for the iconoclastic film being made at the time. The festival was originally held in Salt Lake City and its biggest event was the awarding of the Frank Capra Award, given to filmmakers who worked outside the mainstream Hollywood system. The first year it was awarded appropriately to Jimmy Stewart, who worked with Capra on It's A Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

In conjunction with the festival, the Sundance Institute was formed, named for Robert Redford's iconic character and chaired by the actor. The Institute provided young filmmakers with funding for their projects. It was Redford's involvement in the program that raised the prominence of the film festival. In 1981, the festival moved to its current location of Park City, suggested by director Sydney Pollack due to the resort and tourist nature of the area.

Originally, the festival only dealt in incredibly obscure films but in the late 80s and early 90s, a few young directors gained a large amount of attention. Steven Soderbergh's sex, lies, and videotapes hit the festival in 1989, followed by a huge year in 1992 with the debut films of Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs), Kevin Smith (Clerks), and Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi). Even Wes Anderson's short film, Bottle Rocket (the basis of the later feature) debuted in the 90s at Sundance.

As Sundance grew in prominence, many argue that its dedication to burgeoning filmmakers waned. Big money is to be made from distribution sales at the festival now, especially in 2001 when Mariah Carey's Glitter debuted. Many independent filmmakers saw Sundance as becoming more interested in the business and paparazzi side of things. In response, the rival Slamdance festival started in 1995. Slamdance has discovered its own fair share of talent, including Marc Forster (Monster's Ball), Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), and Christopher Nolan (Memento).

Up Next: A Look at 2010's Sundance line up

Film 2010 #16 - Goodbye Solo

Goodbye Solo (2008, dir. Ramin Bahrani)

It begins in the middle of a conversation between two men, Solo and William. William wants a ride to national park in Eastern North Carolina two weeks from now and is offering Solo, the cab driver, a $200 down payment to ensure this. At first, Solo can't quite understand why William wants a one way ride to the middle of nowhere, but soon he begins to figure out William's motives and decides to do whatever he can to stop him.

I first became of aware of Ramin Bahrani with his 2007 film Chop Shop. Bahrani has found his niche in taking unfamiliar faces and non-actors and placing them in very human and very compelling stories. Goodbye Solo is no exception, and it owes the majority of its grounding in honest humanity to the acting of Souleymane Sy Savane who plays Solo. Solo is so incredibly genuine in his caring for William, that you cannot help but be pulled into this deceptively simple story.

Director Bahrani presents a very complex view of suicide in this film. We are never given explicit reasons as to why William wants to end his life, but there are hints dropped and Solo does some investigating of his own and learns some things about the elderly man's past. The two characters are excellent foils for each other: both very connected to their role as fathers and both determined in their own ways. Solo is just as bullheaded as William, except Solo has the charisma and smile to get people on his side.

The film's resolution will probably frustrate people more accustomed with mainstream cinema. There is a lot of ambiguity and Solo reveals the complexity he hides to most people. Bahrani is one of the most powerful new voices in American cinema. His landscape encompasses both the urban and rural masterfully and the faces in his films are a true representation of the diversity present in our nation. Bahrani also chooses to focus on the working class in all his films and really taps into the zeitgeist of daily life and the state of the economy today. His films are in no one overtly political and seem only to yearn to find commonalities between diverse groups in America today. Goodbye Solo is a film that, if you allow it, will stay with you for a long time to come.

The James Dean Trilogy - Rebel Without a Cause

Rebel Without a Cause (1955, dir. Nicholas Ray)
Starring James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus, Dennis Hopper

Where in East of Eden, we have the contorting and convulsing Dean, here we have a more muted and subtle performance, and the one that made Dean the icon that he is today. The film was helmed by director Nicholas Ray, who would not find much more cinematic prominence in his career after this picture. It's also notable that James Dean was only alive for the release of one of his films, the aforementioned East of Eden. Both this film and Giant were released posthumously and caused many fans to read into bits of dialogue here and there in hopes of gaining some insight into the actor's psyche.

Dean plays Jim Stark, a young man who has frustrated his parents and forced them to move multiple times because of his anti-social behavior. Jim is not a "bad boy", as the iconography of Dean has informed pop culture, but more of a quiet, troubled young man. And Jim doesn't have an issue with figures of authority as long as they show him respect. One of the most remarkable characters in the film is Officer Ray Fremick, who genuinely wants to help Jim and offers him an ear any time he needs to talk. In turn, Jim's parents are an utter mess attempting to hide this to public.

A scene early on sets of the thesis of the film: Jim and his classmates are attending a planetarium show at Griffith Observatory where the presenter tells them of the sun's eventual implosion and the earth's destruction, utter the phrase "Through the infinite reaches of space, the problems of man seem trivial and naive indeed, and man existing alone seems himself an episode of little consequence.". This is why Jim is a rebel without a cause, he fights against a system for no reason other than to fight. At one point in the film, Jim is challenged to a game of chicken by school bad boy Buzz. As they prepare to race, Buzz tells Jim he likes him, Jim asks why they are doing this then, and Buzz replies "Well, what else are we gonna do?"

Another interesting aspect of the film is Plato (Sal Mineo), a fellow student of Jim's whose father has left and whose mother is little involved in her child's life. The family's housekeeper is the most concerned person about Plato, as the boy tortures small animals and grows increasingly aggressive and upset. Plato immediately clings to Jim and, as it wouldn't have been apparent to audiences in the 1950s, has homosexual feelings for the new boy in school. There are scenes where Plato reaches out simply to touch Jim's shoulder, and when Jim heads home for the night, Plato informs him that there's no one at his house and that he and Jim could hang out there if he'd like. I found it to be tremendously progressive for a film of this period to feature a character to so blatantly gay and not make him a villainous figure.

The film shows major growth in Dean's acting ability, as this character chooses to simmer instead of explode. It's definitely not his best performance, which I believe is in Giant.

Film 2010 #14 - The Book of Eli

The Book of Eli (2010, dir. The Hughes Brothers)
Starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Jennifer Beals, Malcolm McDowell

The post-apocalyptic world has been the setting for many films, the most obvious that comes to people's minds would be the Mad Max trilogy. In the last few years we've seen I Am Legend, Terminator: Salvation, and The Road. So how does this latest entry into the sub-genre stack up? Not exactly a masterpiece, but not without its merits either.

The story follows the enegmatic Eli (Washington), a traveler across the devastated landscape who lives by a stoic system of conduct. He has the reflexes of superhero and a stony resolve. There isn't much depth given to the character, and he is definitely in the category of Clint Eastwood's The Man With No Name. We have no back story ever given for Eli and in fact it probably doesn't matter too much anyway. There are some interesting twists that provide a different context for the film if you were to go back and rewatch it, however, the film never provides any real reason to want to.

The post-apocalyptic world the Hughes Brothers have designed feels incredibly bland. They add some new details: a world so sun bleached everyone must wear sunglasses when going outside. But other than a few details here and there, there is nothing that sets this world apart from richer futurist visions. The one thing that elevates the picture is the acting, particularly of Washington and Oldman. These two actors are much better than the material they are working with and its only due to their acting prowess that they make it enjoyable.

In the end, its a case of great concepts but poor delivery, very much like last year's Pandorum. The film feels way too rushed (it's about an hour and half), and the action doesn't really kick in until an hour in. This imbalance of the plot can definitely be felt and ends up showcasing some of the sloppiness in the screenplay. It's a film with a look once its on DVD or you come across it on HBO, but definitely not one to rush out to the theaters and see.

Weekend Trailer Roundup

Here are some of the best trailers I saw this week, hope you see something you like.

Cyrus (dir. The Duplass Brothers) - Premiering at Sundance, this comedy stars John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, and Jonah Hill. The Duplass Brothers are known primarily for their work in the mumblecore genre (improvised indie pics). Very interested in what they do with this film.



Terribly Happy (dir. Henrik Ruben Genz)- a very crazy looking Danish film, in the vein of Twin Peaks. I am there!



Babies (dir. Thomas Balmes) - a documentary following four babies (Mongolia, Namibia, Japan, and the Western US) through their first year. Yes, it is a very simple premise, but within this premise I think you could have a remarkable film.




Diary of a Wimpy Kid (dir. Thor Freudenthal) - This book series is insanely popular with kids, I see them eat up constantly. And the film adaptation doesn't look half bad.




I Love You Phillip Morris (dir. Glen Ficarra) - Based on a true story, Jim Carrey plays a con man who falls in love with Ewan MacGregor's title character. Looks like a very interesting comedy-drama.




Nick Nolte: No Exit (dir.Tom Thurman) - A documentary analyzing the human freight train that is Nick Nolte. How can this not be good?!

Director in Focus: John Sayles - Lone Star

For the next six months or so, I have decided to take a look at a director whose entire filmography will be new for me. The first director up will be John Sayles. Sayles' name has come across my radar many times but I've never sought out his pictures until now. What I know about him is that he typically prefers large casts and very complex narratives, sort of like Robert Altman but with less improvisation. Sayles has done a tremendous amount of screenwriting work on films as diverse as The Howling, Apollo 13, and The Fugitive. It was an unproduced screenplay, titled Night Skies, that Sayles wrote which inspired Spielberg's E.T. I hope that you learn as much as I do about a new major director in the American cinema with me as we go.



Lone Star (1996, dir. John Sayles)
Starring Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Pena, Kris Kristofferson, Matthew McConaughey

My feelings after seeing Lone Star was that Sayles made a perfect concept for the first season a television drama. There are so many characters and so many myriad plot strands that the two hours the film takes does not feel like enough to do them justice. Don't get me wrong, this is a very good film, it just feels like so much for such a small portion of time.

The film is set in Rio County, Texas where two off-duty soldiers discover a partially buried skeleton wearing a sheriff's badge. Current sheriff, Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) is called in and an investigation begins revealing the skeleton to be that of Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson), who mysteriously disappeared forty years earlier. Sam starts asking questions of the older members of Rio County and is met with many warnings to leave the past alone. Simultaneously, we follow Pilar Cruz (Elizabeth Pena), Sam's high school sweetheart and current social studies teacher. The circumstances of how their relationship ended becomes entangled in some of the same events that brought about the death of Sheriff Wade.

Much like Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg, Lone Star is very much about things that happen below the surface level. There is the core mystery of the film, but there is just as much time devoted to the racial history of Texas. One scene involves a meeting of parents upset about the way Pilar teaches the history of Texas, giving a sympathetic view of the Mexicans' role. A new courthouse is being dedicated during the film and an ongoing argument in the film revolves around whether to name it after Sam's father, Buddy (also a sheriff) or to name it after a notable Mexican-American in the community. Pilar's mother clings to her Spanish heritage over her Mexican roots and yells at her cantina's staff if they do not speak in English.

The only flaw with the film is as I said before, so much for such a small amount of time. There are so many subplots, and they weave and connect together flawlessly, but I think they would have grown and matured better if allowed 12 to 13 hour long episodes to develop. As a series this would have combined the smalltown politics of Friday Night Lights with an investigation concept. The picture left me thinking that in the current climate of series like Mad Men and Breaking Bad, there would definitely be a home for Sayles if he ever wished to developed a series.

Film 2010 #12 - My Winnipeg

My Winnipeg (2007, dir. Guy Maddin)

If you aren't familiar with Guy Maddin's style of film making, then viewing one of his pictures can be a very jolting experience. Narrative is secondary to a more stream of consciousness style of storytelling. I've been very familiar with Maddin's work, starting with Twilight of the Ice Nymphs, and this oddity of cinema lead me to watch Tales of the Gimli Hospital, Careful, Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary, and The Saddest Music in the World.

Maddin has an affinity for German expressionist and Soviet propaganda films from the early days of cinema. As a result, he typically makes black and white pictures that utilize the actual technology of the time period he attempts to recreate. In My Winnipeg, Maddin uses rear-projection and obvious sound stages to create a film that will be unlike anything you see in the theaters. The premise is that Maddin is attempting to psychologically break free from his frigid hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The best way he decides upon doing this is to recreate moments from his childhood, focused around his cold and controlling mother.

Interwoven with these recreations are bizarre, Winnipeg legends. Maddin tells us about the First Nation (would be Native Americans for us) belief that beneath the forks of the rivers that converge in Winnipeg, are a second "forks beneath the forks" that are mystical in nature. This image of a parallel existing underneath what can be seen is crucial to understand what Maddin is doing in this film. All of his anecdotes about Winnipeg involve the idea of a darker side of things, and the world of myth and fable.

Many of Maddin's claims about Winnipeg are suspect (10 times the number of sleepwalkers than any other city, a city hall built as part of an occult Mason rite) but they act as conduits into the subconscious and representations of the unseen nature of things. The fact that this entire film is a one long poem taking place in the mind of Maddin plays into the examination of a seedy underbelly to things. The film is also able to evoke strong emotion, particularly when Maddin laments the destruction of the city's professional hockey stadium, a temple to him as he grew up.

What started as a commission by the city of Winnipeg to make a documentary of their city, evolved into an amazing exploration into one man's psyche. Maddin is a director more interested in making what he likes to see and, if an audience happens to enjoy it, that is simply an added bonus. What Maddin creates as an end result is very similar to the film art created by David Lynch. This is not cohesive story with beginning/middle/end, but is an expression of the artist's mood.

Film 2010 #11 - Gomorrah

Gomorrah (2008, dir. Mateo Garrone)

In Southern Italy there is a disease that infects the lives of many people living below the poverty line. This disease is a crime cartel known as the Camorra. The mafiosa organization has interwoven itself into the workings of both black market operations and legitimate enterprise, including investing in the construction of the rebuilding at Ground Zero in NYC. Such a concept seems too large to be real, but as director Garrone chronicles in this film, it is all too true.

Gomorrah, based on the nonfiction book by Roberto Saviano, takes an interesting direction in telling this story. The film is divided up into five separate plot strands that occasionally interweave, but more than not remain as their own isolated story. If the plots were to connect, it would cause the film to feel insular rather than expansive, which is the feeling Garrone wants to evoke. The Hollywood version of this film would seek to be sleek, refined, and would desperate to constantly try and engage the audience. Gomorrah, plays out slowly and at a pace that could be infuriating to some viewers. It is a slice of life film, showing how mundane and common these acts of violence and crime are in the lives of the people in these regions of Italy.

The main characters are Don Ciro; a man charged with distributing cash to the families of imprisoned members of the family, Toto; a 13 year old boy who seeks to join the family to gain prominence in his slum community, Roberto; a recent university graduate working with a mob boss to illegally dump toxic waste, Pasquale; a tailor who is struggling to make the order demands of the mob and moonlighting as a sewing instructor for a Chinese-Italian sweatshop, and finally Marco and Ciro; two young men who are caught up in the fantasy of being in the mob and are unaware of the real dangers of pissing off the wrong people.

Instead of focusing the top tier of the mafia and glamorizing it, the film seeks to explore the lives of the people at the bottom rung of the ladder. The lives displayed are gritty and bleak and there doesn't seem to be much chance of rising out of the mire. The mob has so taken over every aspect of life that they have replaced the government, and in the case of Tito, his biological family. There is much this picture has in common with Fernando Meirelles' City of God, just even less stylistic. In fact, I believe Garrone is trying to create a film without embellishment so that the every day nature of crime is the main focus. I highly recommend this as counterprogramming to the mainstream films that stylistically glorify the criminal lifestyle

Film 2010 #9 - Cold Souls

Cold Souls (2009, dir. Sophie Barthes)
Starring Paul Giamatti, Emily Watson, Dian Korzun, David Strathrain

The premise is an intriguing one: Paul Giamatti playing an actor named Paul Giamatti, is having trouble tackling his role in an upcoming production of Uncle Vanya. His agent informs him of a new soul extraction service and hints that this might help him overcome his difficulties. Giamatti hems and haws over it and finally agrees and finds he's lost his ability to act completely. Sounds like it could be good, right? Sadly, the film fails to explore its concepts fully and provides a picture that is moderately engaging.

Giamatti's story is paralleled by that of Nina, a Russian woman who traffics souls back and forth to be used on the black market. Because the only safe way to transport a soul is to have a person carry it inside them. A side effect is that fragments of carried souls accumulate in a person and they begin to lose touch with the world. This story takes up more of the narrative and is eventually tied into Giamatti's plot strand. It feels that the cleverness and originality of the plot concepts it lost on director Barthes.

The film owes a lot to the work of Charlie Kaufman, most notably Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Unlike those movies, there is an undeveloped nature to this script. The Giamatti angle doesn't feel fully explored the true plot is Nina's. In addition, Barthes creates a much darker landscape than Kaufman has ever attempted. His world's lean more to the fanciful, while Cold Souls has merely dipped its toes. There seems to be a lot of influence from Russian literature and absurd and satiric theater, specifically that of Eugeneg Ionesco. There is not much humor in this picture, and for myself that is where I felt myself distancing from it.

I truly wanted to love this movie after seeing the trailer and seeing the interesting angle Giamatti was going to take. However, I finished it with a sense of dissatisfaction, wishing I could have seen the movie I had prepared myself for in my head. I wouldn't encourage someone to not see this film, because there are some wonderful concepts and ideas, I just wouldn't be able to recommend it enthusiastically.

Film 2010 #8 - The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones (2009, dir. Peter Jackson)
Starring Saorise Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon

Before he was known as the director who brought The Lord of the Rings to the big screen, Peter Jackson was a small budget New Zealand filmmaker. Among his work was the wacked out zombie flick Dead Alive, the Muppet show on crack Meet the Feebles, and the amazing Heavenly Creatures. And it is Heavenly Creatures, that seems to bear the strongest kinship to Jackson's latest film. Both films focus on female protagonists and involve their subconscious being brought to the surface in surreal landscapes. However, where The Lovely Bones is an improvement in technical achievement, it lacks the narrative strength of Heavenly Creatures.

Based on the 2003 novel by Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones is a first person narrative where the newly deceased Susie Salmon chronicles her afterlife and her family's reactions to her death. Susie is unable to be at rest in the afterlife, due to her murderer still wandering free. She begins to influence the actions of her family and direct them towards the murderer's house so that the case can be solved and she can move on. This is juxtaposed to her living out fantasies in a strange surreal afterlife landscape.

This film felt as much like fantasy as the Lord of the Rings trilogy. While there are no orcs or wizards, characters are so unrealistic they might as well be wielding magic wands and riding dragons. Susie is so perfect in her actions and attitudes that I could not connect or empathize with her at all. Susie's biggest rebellion as a teenager comes in being embarrassed about her new knit cap. Everything Susie does is framed by the film in a sort of gauzy light. In contrast, Mr. Harvey, her murderer is filmed in an equally absurd but menacing way. He constant sweatiness and heavy breathing is over-emphasized, and Jackson employs low camera angles to create a sense of looming danger.

This over simplification causes the film to come across as shallow as a silent film. I half expected, Mr. Harvey to start twirling his mustache and tie Susie to a railroad track. I assume the audience is meant to be wowed by the CG effects employed in the afterlife sequences, but because of the initial depthless nature of the characters it was simply some pretty pictures. At the end, the characters are so poorly developed it doesn't seem possible to have the strong emotional response I'm sure Jackson and co-scripter Fran Walsh intended. It seems that since, and in despite of the success of, the Lord of the Rings series, Jackson has been returning a diminishing product (see King Kong as well). One hopes that he can make his next project a bit more meaningful and more character-driven.

Film 2010 #4 - The Road

The Road (2009, dir. John Hilcoat)
Starring Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smitt-McPhee, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce

The post-apocalyptic landscape of The Road does not feel all that distant. Set mainly in rural areas and rundown smalltowns, these are settings familiar to my own youth growing up in Springfield. There is an extreme nature to these places though, all animals and crops have died and now roving bands of modern barbarians troll for fellow humans to slaughter. Into this setting is dropped The Man (Mortensen) and The Boy (McPhee). The characters are never named, purposefully, and the story contains traces of allegory moreso than speculative fiction.

Though I have not read the novel this film was based on, I was familiar with McCarthy's work through Blood Meridian and No Country for Old Men. I was elated when I heard John Hilcoat was signed to direct this picture. Hilcoat directed the 2005 independent Australian western, The Proposition and in that film I could see the themes and spirit of much of McCarthy's work. Both men are contemplative and almost mystical in their narratives, while juxtaposing that with sudden and brutal moments of violence. Hilcoat seemed one of the few directors best suited for speaking for McCarthy on the big screen.

The Road is by no means a perfect film, and in moments feels like a filmic self-flagellation, watching humanity suffer in such hopeless squalor. There are few moments of happiness, which is understandable when the world around our characters is literally crumbling and dimming out. The structure of the plot is episodic, with the Man and the Boy mostly encountering hostiles and the occasional old man (Duvall). Flashbacks are provided wherein we see how The Man and The Boy came to be on this odyssey to the East Coast and what happened to the Man's wife in the early days of the Apocalypse.

The most obvious parallels to be drawn between the two main characters are that of the Old Testament Jehovah and the New Testament Jesus. The Man is thoroughly convinced that all people they encounter possess base, survivalist instincts. Within the Boy though, he talks about a fire that burns inside him and is his responsibility to carry on. The Boy is the half of the duo willing to trust those they meet, and chance that they will find some sort of company in the wilds. And despite all of the film's bleakness and atmosphere of a shattered world, it does offer hope in the final moments, specifically in The Boy. You see that, unlike The Man, the Boy is able to trust and understands that without that capacity to risk in others life would truly be over.

Hypothetical Film Festival #3 - No Capes Comic Book Films

The super hero movie is valuable stock in Hollywood these days. From Batman to Iron Man to Spider-Man and the X-Men, every superpowered being in print is fodder for the next big budget blockbuster. On the flipside, existing parallel to the Big Two (DC and Marvel), has been an independent and creator driven comics industry. Out of this alternative has come unique and quirky stories that use the sequential art medium to tell stories off the beaten path. Here's a few that would make for a dynamic and engaging film festival.


From Hell (2001, dir. The Hughes Brothers)

While I am no big fan of this adaptation of Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's graphic novel, it is still decent film even though it loses the essence of the original work. The story follows British Inspector Frederick Abberline (Johnny Depp) who has been brought onto the Jack the Ripper case. He befriends East End prostitute Mary Kelly (Heather Graham), whose friends are being picked off one by one. The mystery unfolds as part of a dark Illuminati conspiracy and the Ripper's motives are attached to satanic machinations. The Hughes Brothers, best known for their contributions to African-American cinema with Menace II Society, Dead Presidents, and the wonderful documentary American Pimp, devise a few clever visual tricks but nothing that can raise the film too far beyond a mediocre level. The best part of the film are those metaphysical and occult concepts of Moore's that made their way from the page to the screen.


American Splendor (2003, dir. Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini)

From my earlier review: "American Splendor is one of the most unusual comic book adaptations of the 2000s. While this is an origin story, there are no capes or tights. Instead its vintage records and perpetual scowls. Cleveland native, Harvey Pekar began chronicling his life in underground comic books in the 1970s after befriending cult comix artist Robert Crumb. The film works as a docudrama, that features the real Pekar commenting on his life mixed with Giamatti acting out the anecdotes. Even the illustrations from the comic books are animated and spliced amongst the live action sequences. The entire form and style of this film is unlike any other I have seen and have not seen it attempted since. Giamatti does an excellent job mimicking Pekar, but if you have seen the film you can agree nothing surpasses the natural curmudgeon of the original."


Ghost World (2001, dir. Terry Zwigoff)

Based on the graphic novel by Daniel Clowes, Ghost World follows the post-high school graduation summer of surly teen, Enid (Thora Birch) and her best friend, Rebecca. The two girls move from episodic moment to episodic moment, slowly growing apart. Enid is the voice for many of the mid- to late 90s proto-hipsters. She has a love of old blues vinyl and kitschy ironic pop culture, and it comes across in a less forced away than many contemporary hipsters do. The summer is a growing time for Enid as her poor temper is forced to dissipate as the responsibilities of adulthood set it. A very sharp, clever film that appeals to the introverted English major type (as I can speak from experience).


A History of Violence (2005, dir. David Cronenberg)

Based on the overlooked graphic novel by crime writer John Wagner, Cronenberg reinterpreted it and took the main character, Tom McKenna (Viggo Mortensen) in a different direction. The inciting incident, a pair of murderous thieves hold up Tom's small town diner, is the same but the choices the character makes and how figures from his past choose to interact with him is where the changes occur. This is a wonderful film that displays Cronenberg's gifts as a filmmaker. He is totally comfortable in quiet moments and knows how to jolt the audience without playing to cheap shocks. This is also a film that gives an ending that doesn't need a twist to create a powerful impact.


Persepolis (2008, dir. Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud)

Unlike the other films of this list, the author of the graphic novel had a direct hand in the adaptation and direction of their work. Persepolis chronicles Marjane Satrapi's adolescence in Ayatollah-ruled Iran and her eventual relocation to Europe when her parents become afraid of the oppression in their country. Both the film and graphic novel give a wonderful history lesson on Iran and showcase how great America's ignorance is about Iran's relations with Iran and the rest of the Arab world. On a microcosmic level, it is also the story of a young girl who tests the borders of rebellion and transitions through the awkward moments of childhood into a confident and brilliant young woman.

The James Dean Trilogy - East of Eden

East of Eden (1955, dir. Elia Kazan)
Starring James Dean, Raymond Massey, Burl Ives

This month, I'll be looking at the three core works of James Dean's sadly short career. I didn't see any of these films until 2007 when, while living in Washington state, I decided to check out Giant from the public library. What I discovered was the reason behind an icon. So often a pop culture figure's work has been so far removed from our contemporary experiences that it is hard to understand exactly how they became so iconic. I have found that Dean was indeed a brilliant actor with a potential I don't see in many others.

Dean made his starring role debut in Elia Kazan's East of Eden (based on the novel of John Steinbeck), playing the tragic loner Cal Trask. Cal is the son of Adam, a farmer and brother to Aron. Throughout his life, Cal has been overshadowed by Aron's accomplishments and looked at as the black sheep of the family. The mother mysteriously disappeared when the boys were children and Cal remembers little of her. The story is a reworking of the Cain and Abel story and mixes it with the gorgeous landscape of Salinas and Monterey, California.

The filmmaking at work here is a unique artifact of its time. Kazan is a deft director who is responsible for such masterpieces as On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire. And it was Kazan's keen eye who discovered James Dean as he was performing on Broadway. Dean was a major proponent of method acting, a technique that transitioned from the more classical theatrical style of acting into a more psychological and physically interpretive method. Method acting bridges a sort of gap between acting and dance. This is seen in the way Dean almost spasms through his performance, he twists and contorts his body in unison with the psychological torment. The character of Cal is stunted mentally and Dean chooses to express that through his movement. Cal is constantly jamming his hands into his pockets, kicking at the dirt nervously, just like an awkward adolescent.

Dean was reportedly very uncooperative on set, and Kazan admitted he would encourage this by antagonizing the actor. Kazan believed that keeping Dean in such a mentally upset state would, in turn, enhance the anger and frustration of Cal on the screen. Dean's co-star, Julie Harris is credited with truly enhancing the performance by adjusting her own to become more low-key and further highlight the distinction of what Dean was doing. For a first major film performance, Dean delivers in an astonishing way. Method acting was a new and exciting development in theater and its no wonder audiences were entranced with Dean.

Coming up next: I take a look at the film that made Dean an icon, Rebel Without A Cause.

Film 2010 #6 - Youth in Revolt

Youth in Revolt (2009, dir. Miguel Arteta)
Starring Michael Cera, Steve Buscemi, Jean Smart, Ray Liotta, Zach Galafinakis, Justin Long

In 2003, Arrested Development debuted on Fox, and introduced America to the nebbish, nervous comedic talent of Michael Cera. He made George Michael one of the most lovable sad sacks in television history. With the series' cancellation, Cera would go on to star in the Apatow-produced Superbad, wherein he reprised the George Michael personality. Since then, Cera's stock had begun to drop as it appears he's becoming typecast in a very disconcerting way. Youth in Revolt appears to be a partial attempt at breaking out of that mold, but sadly only reconfirms Cera's career may have an early expiration date without some drastically different roles.

Based on the novel Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp by C.D. Payne, the film follows high schooler Nick Twisp, an intellectual lad who, despite his deft use of language, is unable to relate to his classmates. His life is transplanted to a trailer park miles away after his mother's current beau scams some Navy men. Twisp meets the francophiliac Sheeni Saunders who becomes his object of obsession and leads to a series of catastrophic incidents.

Twisp is a strange mix of Cera's afformentioned George Michael and the wise cracking of Ferris Bueller. Whereas, Bueller possessed an abundance of confidence about his plans, Twisp manages to mutter clever comebacks under his breath and awkward hatches schemes. I felt that Cera was probably of the mind that this film would help him break the typecasting he's undergoing, but once on set he was coerced into going through the same muttery shtick that has defined his career so far.

Director Miguel Arteta is best known for indie pics Chuck and Buck (2000) and The Good Girl (2002), and since then has worked primarily in television (Ugly Betty, Freaks and Geeks, Six Feet Under). Because of Arteta's background in the indie film scene of the late 90s/early 00s, Youth in Revolt has a the feel of those low budget pictures. The way in which things spiral continuously downward for Twisp felt to me like many indie black comedies. While, Arteta is very skilled at directing he offers few inspiring visual twists, aside for a couple stop motion animation sequences, that don't add much to the film.

Youth in Revolt is not a bad film, but it feels like an opportunity missed. The material provided the opportunity for Cera to truly break free of the audience's expectations, but it seems the filmmakers were too scared to attempt that. At the end of the day it will provide a few chuckles, but doesn't contain much beyond that.

Film 2010 #7 - Up in the Air

Up in the Air (2009, dir. Jason Reitman)
Starring George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman

I come to the table with a strong dislike of the work of Jason Reitman. I didn't find Thank You For Smoking funny and reviled Juno like the swine flu. That said, Reitman had a lot to prove to me and I felt this film was his "last shot" before I wrote him off as a director who simply didn't make the sort of movies I enjoy.

Based on the novel by Walter Kirn (he also wrote the wonderful Thumbsucker which was also adapted to the screen), the story follows Ryan Bingham (Clooney), a "career transition counselor", or in plain english, the man your boss hires when he's too scared to fire you himself. Bingham is at home in airports and first class seats. The entire process has evolved to an almost ritualistic state, and Bingham takes great pride in his impeccable ability to traverse and flow through the environment like water. The inevitable snag occurs when young upstart Natalie Keener (Kendrick) proposes a new video conferencing system to replace the face to face firings Bingham's firm provides. Bingham is terrified that his entire life and soul is at stake and volunteers to take Keener on his route in an effort to prove that the face to face is an essential part of their job.

Reitman has begun to win me over. Gone is the smirking humor of Thank You For Smoking and the nails-on-chalkboard hip-speak of Juno. There are still traces of the director's hand but it feels like a maturation has occurred. Bingham is developed quite organically from a simple pastiche of Clooney's typical film persona and into a truly broken and incredibly pathetic man. Vera Farmiga plays Alex, a woman who refers to herself as just like Bingham "but with a vagina". They meet in an airport bar and foreplay consists of showing off their voluminous elite status cards from luxury hotels and car rental services. Their relationship feels shallow and it is and how that relationship plays out was quite a surprise to me. There are a few beats in the film, involving the transformation of Bingham's priorities and it feels like Reitman is taking us into heavily tread territory, but he completely reverses things in a very satisfying way.

The film is very much a product of contemporary events. Bingham's firm is seeing a boon in business as the economy tanks. Bingham himself seems to be losing the assurance he normally feels in his job as he is contracted to fire an ever growing number of the workforce. The film comes across a bit heavy handed in some of these moments, particularly a ending montage sequence where real people who have been laid off in the last year talk directly to the camera about their feelings and reactions. While I thought they had good insight, the insertion of this into the film felt slightly pretentious. I think a documentary of said material would be a much more interesting venture though.

In the end, Reitman has duly impressed me. I went from having incredibly low expectations for his third film, to finding it to be enjoyable. I think his tempering and maturation as a filmmaker are very apparent, and I'm actually interested in what his next project will be.

Film 2010 #1 - Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes (2009, dir. Guy Ritchie)
Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan, James Fox

There are few characters more iconic than Sherlock Holmes. He is a figure strongly ingrained in the pop culture psyche, wearing his deerstalker hat while sporting a pipe and magnifying glass. When British director Guy Ritchie was announced to be helming the current incarnation of the most famous detective, I wasn't to intrigued. Since 2002's Swept Away, Ritchie has seemed to be unable to find direction in his film career. With Sherlock Holmes he has managed to combine his dynamic visual storytelling style with plenty of humor to create an incredibly fresh twist on the icon.

The plot is not based on any particular Holmes' tale, but references many characters and cases familiar to those who have read the stories. Holmes and Watson have just helped Inspector LeStrade apprehend Lord Blackwood, a member of the House of Lords involved in a satanic Illuminati ritual. Blackwood tells Holmes of a larger power at work before he is hung and appears to return to life. While Holmes attempts to uncover the truth behind Blackwood he must deal with Watson's impending engagement and the return of his greatest adversary and infatuation, Irene Adler.

What Ritchie has effectively done is make a buddy cop movie set in the London of the late 19th century. The dynamic between Holmes and Watson is much different than previously presented and feels much more in tune with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's intent. They are a bickering married couple, with Holmes blatant jealous and worried over the idea of Watson leaving him to marry his fiancee. Ritchie also brings in Holmes' past as a boxer, as aspect of the character greatly ignored in the previous interpretations.

What surprised me the most was how funny the film is, and because of that it should be classified much more as a comedy than anything else. I came to the realization that Robert Downey, Jr. is a good actor but what he's been asked to play for the last decade or so is a pastiche of himself. Other than an accent there is not much difference between how he plays Holmes and Tony Stark. What I enjoyed wasn't necessarily his acting, but rather his ability to do what he does so damn well.

The film is definitely a fresh look at the icon of Sherlock Holmes. Anyone who holds the traditional film portrayal, first seeded by Basil Rathbone, will find this to be quite jarring. For audiences who are ready for a new take, it is one of the most fun films they will see this year. And in the case of any good studio franchise, they leave this one open for an inevitable sequel.

My Top 10 Favorite Films of 2009

I've been keeping track of all the films I watch annually since 2005 and this year was one of the most prolific. I was able to see 200 new films and picking a top 10 was an incredibly hard task. That said, here are my top 10 favorites with some comments, followed by the long list of my viewing for 2009.

10) Where The Wild Things Are (2009, dir. Spike Jonze)

I love that Jonze and, co-writer, Dave Eggers managed to maintain the honest, darker tone of Maurice Sendak's children's book. Max acts like a real kid, not a movie script child. I especially appreciated the skillful mix of traditional puppetry and CG effects that made the Wild Things solid and real beings.

9) Inglourious Basterds (2009, dir. Quentin Tarantino)

From the trailers, I was led to believe this was an action shoot-em up and that turned me off immediately. I love Tarantino but had no interesting in a WWII action pic. However, a series of interviews turned me around and I found it to be yet another incredibly original film from a master. In essence, its a WWII fairy tale.

8) Bronson (2009, dir. Nicolas Winding Refn)

This one came out of nowhere but grabbed my attention due to its blatantly Kubrickian influence. Sort A Clockwork Orange about a real person. The film is less concerned with plot than it is establishing a dynamically visual character sketch.

7) Ballast (2008, dir.Lance Hammer)

A film whose merits lie strongly in its tone. The landscape is a familiar one to those of us who grew up in the rural South. The film also presents a look at contemporary rural Southern African-Americans in a very real and honest manner.

6) Antichrist (2009, dir. Lars von Trier)

Despite the hubbub over the graphic violence in, von Trier is able to evoke a strong sense of horror that so many mainstream horror movies never attempt. It's typical von Trier in its attempts to upset the audience, not just through the brutality, but also through the incoherence of many story elements. And in the end, that's why I love this director!

5) Precious (2009, dir. Lee Daniels)

Gabby Sidibe's performance as the title character is so impressive, especially after seeing her interviews and realizing how drastically different she and her life are from this character. In this film, I saw the lives of a good number of children I've worked with. The dark nature of living below the poverty is broken though by a strong sense of hope in the film's ending, that never comes off as maudlin.

4) Harlan County, USA (1976, dir. Barbara Kopple)

Though made thirty four years ago, this film is just as relevant, given the climate of economic disparity and anti-unionist rhetoric being spouted. Kopple chronicles the struggle between a group of poor Kentuckian miners and the Duke Power Company, in a strike the ended in blood being spilt. You may go into the film thinking it can't engage you, but it will captivate you.

3) Synecdoche, New York (2008, dir. Charlie Kaufman)

Kaufman produced some of the best written films of the 2000s and this directorial debut is the culmination of all his themes and concepts. The film works as a matryoshka, a Russian nesting doll, and seems to have a kinship with much of Michel Gondry's work.

2) Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006, dir. Tom Tykwer)

One of the most overlooked films of the 2000s by one of the most over looked directors. Tykwer follows a very literary structure and presents a character who lacks the ability to be sympathetic but somehow makes us sympathize with him by the end of the film.

1) Waltz With Bashir (2008, dir. Ari Folman)

Check out my full review for my thoughts on this amazing film!

And here is the full list of the 200 films I saw in 2009

1. Near Dark (1987, dir. Kathryn Bigelow)
2. Taxi to the Dark Side (2008, dir. Alex Gibney)
3. Revolutionary Road (2008, dir. Sam Mendes)
4. Scrooged (1988, dir. Richard Donner)
5. Renaissance (2006, dir. Christian Volckman)
6. The Magic Christian (1969, dir. Joseph McGrath)
7. Rock School (2005, dir. Don Argott)
8. The Spirit (2008, dir. Frank Miller)
9. Mirrors (2008, dir. Alexandre Aja)
10. Synecdoche, New York (2008, dir. Charlie Kaufman)
11. Cinemania (2002, dir. Angela Christlieb, Stephan Kijak)
12. Henry Fool (1997, dir. Hal Hartley)
13. Moonshine (2006, dir. Roger Ingram)
14. Crazy Love (2007, dir. Dan Klores)
15. Doubt (2008, dir. John Patrick Shanley)
16. Slumdog Millionaire (2008, dir. Danny Boyle)
17. The Reader (2008, dir. Stephen Daldry)
18. Fay Grim (2006, dir. Hal Hartley)
19. Sleeping Dogs Lie (2006, dir. Bobcat Goldthwait)
20. Waltz With Bashir (2008, dir. Ari Folman)
21. Fears of the Dark (2008, dir. Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre Di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, Richard McGuire)
22. Gran Torino (2008, dir. Clint Eastwood)
23. In Bruges (2008, dir. Martin McDonagh)
24. Foot Fist Way (2008, dir. Jody Hill)
25. Che, Part One (2008, dir. Steven Soderbergh)
26. Coraline (2009, dir. Henry Selick)
27. The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005, dir. Jeff Feuerzeig)
28. Hard Eight (1996, dir. PT Anderson)
29. Friday the 13th (2009, dir. Dean Haspiel)
30. Pola X (1999, dir. Leos Carax)
31. Paris, Je T'aime (2006, dir. various)
32. The Ring 2 (2005, dir. Hideo Nakata)
33. Watchmen (2009, dir. Zach Snyder)
34. Sex Drive (2008, dir. Sean Anders)
35. Rachel Getting Married (2008, dir. Jonathan Demme)
36. Cabin Boy (1994, dir. Adam Resnick)
37. Puffball (2007, dir. Nicolas Roeg)
38. Semi-Pro (2008, dir. Kent Alterman)
39. Freddy Got Fingered (2001, dir. Tom Green)
40. Wild Tigers I Have Known (2006, dir. Cam Archer)
41. Confederate States of America (2004, dir. Kevin Wilmott)
42. Fuck (2005, dir. Steve Anderson)
43. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006, dir. Scott Glosserman)
44. Standard Operating Procedure (2008, dir. Erroll Morris)
45. Perdita Durango (1997, dir. Alex de la Igelsia)
46. Glass: A Portrait of Philip in 12 Pieces (2007, dir. Scott Hicks)
47. W. (2008, dir. Oliver Stone)
48. The Sinful Dwarf (1973, dir. Vidal Raski)
49. Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (1973, dir. Richard Blackburn)
50. Angel-A (2005, dir. Luc Besson)
51. The Room (2003, dir. Tommy Wiseau)
52. I Love You Man (2009, dir. John Hamburg)
53. Cthulhu (2007, dir. Dan Gildark)
54. Chop Shop (2007, dir. Rahmin Bahrani)
55. Monsters Vs. Aliens (2009, dir. Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon)
56. Dig! (2005, dir. Ondi Timoner)
57. Zoo (2007, dir. Robinson Devor)
58. Observe & Report (2009, dir. Jody Hill)
59. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009, dir. Gavin Hood)
60. Safe Men (1998, dir. John Hamburg)
61. Chuck & Buck (2000, dir. Miguel Arteta)
62. Zach Galifinakis: Live at the Purple Onion (2007, dir. Michael Blieden)
63. The Wicker Man (2006, dir. Neil LaBute)
64. Grey Gardens (2009, dir. Michael Sucsy)
65. Mad Dog and Glory (1993, dir. David McNaughton)
66. Midnight Run (1988, dir. Martin Brest)
67. Bonnie and Clyde (1967, dir. Arthur Penn)
68. Crash (1996, dir. David Cronenberg)
69. Prime Cut (1972, dir. Michael Ritchie)
70. Special (2006, dir. Hal Haberman, Jeremy Passamore)
71. Papillon (1973, dir. Franklin J. Schaffner)
72. The Five Obstructions (2003, dir. Jorgen Leth, Lars Von Trier)
73. Haxan (1922, dir. Benjamin Christensen)
74. Shampoo (1975, dir. Hal Ashby)
75. S. Darko (2009, Chris Fisher)
76. Star Trek (2009, dir. JJ Abrams)
77. The Ninth Configuration (1980, dir. William Peter Blatty)
78. The Pledge (2001, dir. Sean Penn)
79. Heckler (2007, dir. Michael Addis)
80. Abel Raises Cain (2005, dir. Jenny Abel, Jeff Hockett)
81. Parents (1988, dir. Bob Balaban)
82. Harlan County, USA (1976, dir. Barbara Kopple)
83. Rubin and Ed (1991, dir. Trent Harris)
84. Eyes Wide Shut (1999, dir. Stanley Kubrick)
85. Bedtime Stories (2008, dir. Adam Shankman)
86. Fanboys (2008, dir. Kyle Newman)
87. The Unborn (2009, dir. David S. Goyer)
88. Terminator Salvation (2009, dir. McG)
89. Drag Me To Hell (2009, dir. Sam Raimi)
90. Trembling Before G-d (2001, dir. Sandi Simcha Dubowski)
91. Land of the Lost (2009, dir. Brad Silberling)
92. The Hangover (2009, dir. Todd Phillips)
93. Up (2009, dir. Pete Docter, Brad Anderson)
94. Deadgirl (2008, dir. Marcel Sarmiento, Gadi Harel)
95. Phoebe in Wonderland (2008, dir. Daniel Barnz)
96. Collateral (2004, dir. Michael Mann)
97. Sid and Nancy (1986, dir. Alex Cox)
98. Tell No One (2006, dir. Guilliame Canet)
99. Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell (2006, dir. Johnny Gillette, Kevin Wheatley)
100. The Cable Guy (1996, dir. Ben Stiller)
101. Sita Sings the Blues (2008, dir. Nina Paley)
102. Bruno (2009, dir. Larry Charles)
103. IOUSA (2008, dir. Patrick Creadon)
104. Moon (2009, dir. Duncan Jones)
105. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009, dir. Michael Bay)
106. Scream 3 (2000, dir. Wes Craven)
107. Adventureland (2009, dir. Greg Mottola)
108. In the Loop (2009, dir. Armando Iannucci)
109. Zazie dan le Metro (1960, dir. Louis Malle)
110. Plague Town (2008, dir. David Gregory)
111. Pontypool (2008, dir. Bruce McDonald)
112. Splinter (2008, dir. Toby Wilkins)
113. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008, dir. Woody Allen)
114. Bart Got A Room (2009, dir. Brian Hecker)
115. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009, dir. David Yates)
116. Green Lantern: First Flight (2009, dir. Lauren Montgomery)
117. The Strangers (2008, dir. Bryan Bertino)
118. Bamboozled (2000, dir. Spike Lee)
119. Funny People (2009, dir. Judd Apatow)
120. Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006, Steven Shainberg)
121. Tetro (2009, dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
122. Gigantic (2008, dir. Brian Aselton)
123. Orphan (2009, dir. Jaume Collet-Serra)
124. Visioneers (2008, dir. Jared Drake)
125. Home Movie (2008, dir. Christopher Denham)
126. Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story (2008, dir. Stefan Forbes)
127. G.I. Joe (2009, dir. Stephen Sommers)
128. Big Man Japan (2007, dir. Hitoshi Matsumoto)
129. Second Skin (2008, dir. Juan Carlos Pineiro-Escoriaza)
130. Used Cars (1980, dir. Robert Zemeckis)
131. Knowing (2009, dir. Alex Proyas)
132. The Informers (2009, dir. Gregor Jordan)
133. Domino (2005, dir. Tony Scott)
134. Push (2009, dir. Paul McGuigan)
135. District 9 (2009, dir. Neil Blomkamp)
136. World's Greatest Dad (2009, dir. Bobcat Goldthwait)
137. The Corporation (2003, dir. Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott)
138. Bronson (2009, dir.Nicolas Winding Refn)
139. Edmond (2005, dir. Stuart Gordon)
140. The Brothers Bloom (2009, dir. Rian Johnson)
141. Antichrist (2009, dir. Lars von Trier)
142. Empire of the Sun (1987, dir. Steven Spielberg)
143. Wall Street (1987, dir. Oliver Stone)
144. Grace (2009, dir. Paul Solet)
145. Year One (2009, dir. Harold Ramis)
146. Lymelife (2008, dir. Derek Martini)
147. 500 Days of Summer (2009, dir. Marc Webb)
148. Christmas on Mars (2008, dir. Wayne Coyne)
149. Manderlay (2005, dir. Lars von Trier)
150. Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009, dir. Sam Liu)
151. Trick R' Treat (2008, dir. Michael Doughtry)
152. Inglourious Basterds (2009, dir. Quentin Tarantino)
153. Life is Sweet (1991, dir. Mike Leigh)
154. Owning Mahowny (2003, dir. Richard Kwietniowski)
155. Adam Resurrected (2008, dir. Paul Schrader)
156. Tideland (2005, dir. Terry Gilliam)
157. Jennifer's Body (2009, dir. Karyn Kusama)
156. Sick Girl (2007, dir. Eben McGarr)
157. Pandorum (2009, dir. Christian Alvart)
158. Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (2009, dir. Garreth Carravick)
159. Zombieland (2009, dir. Ruben Fleischer)
160. Big Fan (2009, dir. Robert D. Siegel)
161. Where the Truth Lies (2005, dir. Atom Egoyan)
162. Paranormal Activity (2009, dir Oren Peli)
163. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006, dir. Tom Tykwer)
164. The Informant! (2009, dir. Steven Soderbergh)
165. You're Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush (2009, dir. Marty Callner)
166. Frontrunners (2008, dir. Caroline Suh)
167. Humpday (2009, dir.Lynn Shelton)
168. Adoration (2009, dir. Atom Egoyan)
169. I Sell The Dead (2008, dir. Glenn McQuaid)
170. Roman Polanski: Wanted & Desired (2008, dir. Marina Zenovich)
171. Paper Heart (2009, Nicholas Jasenovec)
172. American Ruling Class (2005, dir. John Kirby)
173. Homicide (1992, dir. David Mamet)
174. Franklyn (2009, dir. Gerald McMorrow)
175. The Transporter (2002, dir. Corey Yuen)
176. The Magdalene Sisters (2002, dir. Peter Mullan)
177. The House of the Devil (2009, dir. Ti West)
178. The Triplets of Belleville (2003, dir. Sylvain Chomet)
179. BSG: The Plan (2009, dir. Edward James Olmos)
180. Spider (2002, dir. David Cronenberg)
181. Ballast (2008, dir. Lance Hammer)
182. Radiant City (2006, dir. Jim Brown, Gary Burns)
183. Medicine for Melancholy (2008, dir. Barry Jenkins)
184. Extract (2009, dir. Mike Judge)
185. The Box (2009, dir. Richard Kelly)
186. The Cove (2009, dir. Louis Psihoyos)
187. Diagnosis Death (2009, dir. Jason Stutter)
188. Sauna (2008, dir. Antti-Jussi Annila)
189. Tokyo (2008, dir. Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, Joon-ho Bong)
190. The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009, dir. Wes Anderson)
191. Trumbo (2007, dir. Peter Askin)
192. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs (2009, dir. Phil Lord, Chris Miller)
193. Stay (2005, dir. Marc Forster)
194. Herb & Dorothy (2009, dir. Megumi Sasaki)
195. Where The Wild Things Are (2009, dir. Spike Jonze)
196. Avatar (2009, dir. James Cameron)
197. The Invention of Lying (2009, dir.Ricky Gervais, Matthew Robinson)
198. An Education (2009, dir. Lone Sherfig)
199. Precious (2009, dir. Lee Daniels)
200. Ravenous (1999, dir. Antonia Bird)