Homewood Public Library Film Group

Great Scene, Lousy Movie

2008-02-03T22:19:00.000-06:00

So, here's a thought - even the worst movies can have a glimmer of brilliance at their core. Sometimes a single moment in a film can become so memorable that the rest of the picture is forgiven for its shortcomings. Opinions abound, but my pick, to start this thread, is the much heralded Five Easy Pieces. I love Jack Nicholson. He's got an unmistakable delivery and an incredibly expressive face. But in this film, there isn't much story to give him room to shine (of course, I feel the same about his other outings around this time, like Carnal Knowledge and The Last Detail). Then comes this little nugget, and the rest is history...

You can almost feel the role of Randle McMurphy presaged here. Perfect.

Ratatouille

2008-01-20T22:56:00.000-06:00

I'm in love with a little rat named Remy. But he's no ordinary rat - he has dreams, ambitions and tenacity that far exceeds the complacency of his family and friends. Not content to live a life of "stealing garbage," Remy is determined to become the greatest chef in France. It should come as no surprise that a number of obstacles might stand in his way, but it's the finesse with which he negotiates through this maze that makes him a role model for not only rats, but for humans as well.

I was particularly moved by a line of dialogue he shares with his father outside of a Paris exterminator's shop:
Django: Take a good, long look, Remy. This what happens when a rat gets a little too comfortable around humans. The world we live in belongs to the enemy. We must live carefully. We look out for our own kind, Remy. When all is said and done, we're all we've got. [starts to walk away]
Remy: No.
Django: [stops] What?
Remy: No. Dad, I don't believe it. You're telling me that the future is, can only be, more of this?
Django: This is the way things are. You can't change nature.
Remy: Change is nature, Dad. The part that we can influence. And it starts when we decide. [he walks away]
Django: Where are you going?
Remy: With luck, Forward.

In the midst of an already brilliant film, this gem touched off a glorious array of emotions and meditations that caused me to pause the film and reflect. Was this pivotal moment really spoken in a Disney film? Will the masses of children and parents seeing this immensely popular movie see the inherent Buddhist message contained here? With the charm of Remy coupled with the whip smart choreography and timeless storyline, I have no doubt that this film will find favor (and repeated viewings) for many years to come.

4 out of 5 stars (especially since there was no sung dialogue!)

The Fine Art of Goofing Off

2008-01-20T22:42:00.000-06:00

Last night, my wife and I learned a valuable life lesson, a deep philosophical revelation, an instruction of epic proportions: Don't delay, start goofing off today! We have now been transfixed and mesmerized by the artistic genius of Henry Jacobs.

"Henry Jacobs is a legend, at least among fans of 1950s radio satire and electronic music. He was a West Coast composer, radio host, and a friend and collaborator of philosopher Alan Watts. His legacy might have existed mostly in the hazy memories of his fans -- had not some of his tapes been rediscovered, and just released in a CD/DVD combo, The Weird Wide World Of Henry Jacobs.

Beginning in 1953, Jacobs hosted a music program for KPFA in Berkeley, Calif. The Folkways record label later released highlights from this show on an LP, Audio Collage, in 1955. His work represented a patchwork of skits, soundscapes and mock interviews.

Jacobs co-organized the Vortex Experiments, a series of mind-expanding sound and light concerts at a San Francisco planetarium starting in 1957. In 1970, he moved to a stretch of remote coastline north of San Francisco. Now 80 years old, he says he's trying to live as if it's the 19th century -- or possibly the fifth."

The above introduction accompanies an excellent interview with Jacobs on NPR's All Things Considered.

January's Film: Dayereh (The Circle)

2007-12-07T16:24:00.000-06:00

Join us Wednesday, January 2, 2008, at 7:00pm in the Homewood Public Library Meeting Room as we discuss Jafar Panahi's 2000 film The Circle.

Control

2007-12-07T15:30:00.000-06:00

Anton Corbijn's 2007 black and white biopic about the late Ian Curtis (1956-1980), lead singer of post-punk band Joy Division is one of the finest films of the year for its unparalleled cinematography, brilliant casting and directorial execution, its sensitivity to the much-ballyhooed subject matter, AND a thrilling soundtrack. It's screenplay is artistically adapted from the thoroughly engaging and illuminating book Touching From a Distance, by Deborah Curtis (Ian's wife), who also co-produces the film with the band's former manager Tony Wilson.

Chronicling the life of troubled young musician Ian Curtis, who forged a new kind of music out of the punk rock scene of 1970s Britain, and the band Joy Division, which he headed from 1977 to 1980, is a daunting task. Clearly there's a reason why a film of this magnitude hasn't been attempted for Curtis before. Nothing could have come close to the coverage here (without direct participation from the band members, family and friends) of his rocky marriage, extramarital affairs, and his increasingly frequent seizures, which were thought to contribute to the circumstances leading to his suicide on the eve of Joy Division's first U.S. tour.

Extra points to Samantha Morton for her sympathetic portrayal of Deborah Curtis, and for making me wish she'd be cast as Sandy Denny in a similar biopic chronicling her life on stage and behind the scenes. Tell me I'm not the only one who thought Sandy was playing Debbie.

4 out of 5 stars

No Country For Old Men

2007-11-28T19:47:00.000-06:00

Based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy, No Country For Old Men is the story of a man with a suitcase full of money on the run from the most convincing and bewildering antagonist since Anthony Hopkins's Hannibal Lecter. Joel and Ethan Coen, perhaps my most beloved modern filmmakers, have achieved something marvelous with this film - and it's surely destined for most critics' top 10 lists, and perhaps a contender on several fronts for the Academy Award. Rarely have I encountered such an amazing combination of acting talent (Tommy Lee Jones in perhaps his best-ever role, Javier Bardem playing the crazed serial killer, and Josh Brolin cleverly eliciting our identification as the protagonist), brilliant cinematography (West Texas is alive and wholly palpable in every shot), and a thrilling shooting script (naturally the source material helps). To further describe why this film is my favourite pick of the year would only spoil its grandeur. This film isn't only to be seen, it's to be experienced and marveled over. An exceptional achievement in modern cinema.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

December Film Discussion: Fanny & Alexander

2007-11-08T17:27:00.000-06:00

Join us on Wednesday, December 5 at 7pm for our lively discussion of Ingmar Bergman's glorious look at childhood, Fanny & Alexander

Commentary on Children of Men

2007-09-26T13:17:00.000-05:00

I just discovered this five minute commentary on Children of Men by Slavoj Žižek, which is also found on the DVD version of the film. Žižek has a wonderfully literate reading of the film, sensitive to the context which shapes and frames the content of the story, which he refers to as an anamorphosis of our culture and society. In short, Žižek examines the film's ability to obliquely capture the social oppression and the despair of an imagined (though no less real) late capitalist society through the constructed barriers of our present day xenophobia to arrive at a remarkably powerful political commentary on the foreign policy of the modern first world psyche.

Looking forward to our discussion of this film on Wednesday, October 3 at 7pm.

Jesus Camp

2007-09-18T12:01:00.000-05:00

Jesus Camp is a 2006 documentary directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing about Kids on Fire, a charismatic Christian summer camp for children who spend their summers learning and practicing their "prophetic gifts" and being taught by run by Becky Fischer, a Pentecostal children's pastor, that they can "take back America for Christ." According to the film's distributor, it "doesn't come with any prepackaged point of view" and tries to be "an honest and impartial depiction of one faction of the evangelical Christian community." It may be debated about the film's position on the subject matter, however. Interestingly enough, as featured in the previously reviewed Old Joy, this film also features Mike Papantonio (an attorney and a liberal radio talk-show host for Air America Radio's Ring of Fire), who debates with Fischer intermittently and offers commentary at several points during the film. An amazing glimpse into the childhood of some beautiful young people with a strong will to make a positive mark on this confusing world.

Hotly debated, highly arresting, highly incendiary.
Highly recommended.

4 out of 5 stars

Old Joy

2007-09-18T11:29:00.000-05:00

Old Joy (2006) is an independent film by director Kelly Reichardt which tells the story of two old friends, Kurt (Will Oldham, a prolific independent musician in real life), an idealistic stoner who has yet to "grow up", and Mark (Daniel London) his boyhood buddy who's grown up and settled into the lifestyle of responsible adult. At the, Kurt phones Mark after an apparent lapse in their communication. Kurt is passing through Portland on a lark and hopes to reunite with Mark for a weekend camping trip in the Cascade mountain range and visit the fabled Bagby Hot Springs. For Mark, the weekend outing promises a respite from the pressure of his imminent fatherhood; for Kurt, it's just part of a long series of carefree adventures.

The film is a minimalist story of friendship, loss and alienation, with a subtle political message brewing beneath the surface about the lives of modest and idealistic leftists in the era of George W. Bush (punctuated at points with voice-over commentary from Mike Papantonio's Air America radio program). The film is considered part of the American mumblecore film movement, characterized by its ultra-low budget production, focus on personal relationships between twenty-somethings, improvised scripts, and use of non-professional actors. Indie rock supergroup Yo La Tengo provides a melancholy, ambient loop of electro-acoustic guitar music as the soundtrack.

3 out of 5 stars

3:10 to Yuma

2007-09-18T10:54:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I had the sincere pleasure of seeing 3:10 to Yuma, James Mangold's (Walk the Line) remake of the 1957 film of the same name, and the second adaptation of Elmore Leonard's (Get Shorty et al) short story. Staring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, each in roles that play to their singular strengths in economy of words and depth of silent expression, the film defied my high expectations and left me speechless.

At the Emmys on Monday night, Robert Duvall talked about how the Western is uniquely American, a film tradition and genre that better than any other medium captures the essence of what it means to be American and pursue justice. Duvall may have used some broad brushstrokes in painting that image, but he's not far off and very convincing, especially when films like this are still being made. At the heart of every Western is a core struggle to do the right thing, adhere to an ethical ideal, or defend one's dignity. In a film that carries this much gravity and decision making, there's no shortage of conversation - and over dinner my wife and I had a blast speculating and debating over the actions of the main characters in this film (not unlike one would do over political decisions, foreign policy, etc.).

Like any Western, the cinematography was spectacular - the New Mexico landscape was brilliant, expansive and oppressively dry. It was the perfect setting for our characters to carry on with their respective existential initiatives. And each played their parts convincingly (despicable villains, earnest homesteaders, fearful leaders, etc.). The plot holds its tension taut - there were admittedly times where the action seemed implausible, but then the story advanced a hidden trait that makes everything even more clear than we had initially thought, illuminating the purpose of every action. In the end, it's hard to find fault with this film. Surely a bet in Oscar season.

4 out of 5 stars

October's Film: Children of Men

2007-09-18T10:38:00.000-05:00

Not long ago I reviewed Children of Men, eying the film as not only one of the more poignant films I had seen of late, but also a possible selection for the group to discuss. Lo and behold, here we are about to discuss the film at our October 3rd meeting. Note: this film has only just recently hit libraries in DVD form - it may not be as readily available as some of our previous films, but check SWAN first to be on the safe side before visiting your video store.

The Science of Sleep

2007-08-14T10:08:00.000-05:00

Visionary director Michel Gondry's (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) The Science of Sleep tells the story of Stéphane (Gael García Bernal), a young man whose vivid dreams and imagination often interfere with his ability to interact with reality. One day while leaving his apartment to go to his mindless job as a typesetter, Stéphane attempts to aid two men who are having trouble carrying a piano up a flight of stairs. In doing so, Stéphane's hand is injured and the piano falls down the flight of stairs. The owner of the piano is Stéphane's new neighbor, Stéphanie (celebrated musician Charlotte Gainsbourg - daughter of the weird French national treasure Serge Gainsbourg), who soon becomes the unassuming object of his affection. Their childlike relationship becomes a catalyst for his dreams (comically represented as Stéphane TV) and romantic frustration.

I found this film incredibly satisfying both in terms of narrative exposition and one of the finest artistic presentations of the dreamworld ever captured on film. When Stéphane and Stéphanie come together over an art project, their magical visions become a world unto themselves. Gondry is extremely gifted, as evidenced by his previous films and music videos, but his sensitivity to a certain innocence of dreams and love here make him deeply respected by this viewer. Bernal (Y tu Mamá También, Babel and The Motorcycle Diaries) is convincing and infectious in his emphatic role. The entire cast is brilliant - I was particularly taken by Alain Chabat's portrayal of Guy, a young-at-heart office manager. I highly recommend this film.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Art Mind

2007-08-14T09:48:00.000-05:00

Does art have the power to heal? Do sacred monuments, paintings and sculptures evoke more than just beauty? Visionary artist Alex Grey believes so. In Art Mind, Grey's film documenting his art and process, he takes us on a tour of sacred art around the world, demonstrating how these works can be used today to revitalize our sense of well-being and help us discover our divine potential. I mention this film here not so much on its merits as film (Grey's commentary is droning and inarticulate - which may be a result of ready admission to steady consumption of psychedelics), but on its exhilarating visual presentation. Grey's art, which essentially portrays the anatomical detail of the central nervous system and its supposed interconnectedness to higher purpose (such as the electrical charge of an embrace), is nothing short of mesmerizing. The art gallery track on the DVD is a great introduction to his work, and spares the viewer the "um, ahs" and "you knows".

September Discussion Moved to August 29

2007-08-02T09:20:00.000-05:00

In recognition of travel plans around Labor Day, we have elected to move the September Film Discussion forward a week to Wednesday, August 29 at 7pm - Mark your calendar! We'll discuss our first animated film at this next meeting, the celebrated 2002 valentine to the Tour de France, The Triplets of Belleville.

See you there!

And Now For Something Completely Different

2007-07-30T17:27:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, the Reno 911!: Miami DVD was in the house. Amused by the genre (you know the kind: slapstick situational comedy with a host of social stereotypes played-out by an ensemble representing a institution we generally trust each day in real life, such as paramedics, security guards, or in this case, the police). So, being a childhood fan of such movies, and loving the work of much of the cast in the 90's sketch comedy troupe The State, (still one of the best TV shows in my lifetime, I do declare), I simply couldn't resist.

Well, maybe I should have. Sometimes the sum isn't greater than the parts. There were some laugh-out-loud funny elements of this movie (most revolved around sexual double entendres and situations that make the viewer cringe). But the most redeeming aspect of the film is that it plays up its own genre in a self-referential style that is at once reverent and self-deprecating. It doesn't take itself seriously, and well, as for the plot: plot be damned. Reno 911! is just silly... and a bit perverse. Teenagers will love this. But watch out for that "unrated" version - it's there are a couple scenes that might make a parent upset, even if our kids already know what's up.

2 out 5 stars (but that's about right for the genre)

You Might Like These Titles Too:

Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988)
Maybe Reno is a send-up of this movie, but it never achieves the humor or character of this modern classic. There's some real comedy talent here - and I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's almost wholesome. Maybe Police Academy 4: Citizens of Patrol is more of a personal favorite, but at this point (since I'm not talking about Ingmar Bergman) it probably doesn't even matter.

Disorderlies (1987)
Remember the Fat Boys? Yeah, me too. Well, there was a movie in the 80's about a group of bumbling orderlies that played on the genre of the moment. I vaguely recall thinking it was funny at the time, and wonder if it holds up today as well as the Fat Boys' brand of hip hop.

Paramedics (1988)
Now this film was fast-paced, as I recall. The plot centers on a duo of cocky med-school kids who work South Central LA as parameds and stumble upon a fiendish conspiracy that deals in harvesting internal organs from unwilling donors. There's also a part of me that wondered if the PG-13 weren't a little light for some of the, er, adult content. The minor characters were the real draw.

and finally, one of my personal favorites...

Armed and Dangerous (1986)
John Candy and Eugene Levy are washed up cops and lawyers, respectively. They decide to change gears and become security guards... and zaniness ensues. Oh, how I loved the "Born to be Wild" traffic jam sequence as a kid... "Well, climb on in, Slim!"

August Film Discussion

2007-07-24T13:50:00.000-05:00

Heeding an excellent recommendation from our group members, the next film we will discuss is actually 2 films... both based on the play The Lower Depths, by Maxim Gorky. The first adaptation comes from 1936, from the acclaimed French director Jean Renoir (of Grand Illusion fame). The second version arrived in 1957, from Japan's finest director Akira Kurosawa. Both directors have been clearly moved by the themes of the play in their different renderings, in particular their exploration of humanity's ongoing challenge of accepting harsh truths versus living with the comfort of lies, and how most of the characters in this play choose to deceive themselves from the bleak reality of their condition. Criterion issued a two-fer DVD set of both films packaged with a fine booklet... and for extra credit :) some group members are also reading the source play. How exciting!

See you all on Wednesday, August 1, at 7pm.

Children of Men

2007-07-23T16:28:00.000-05:00

I love a dystopian tale. Originally written by P.D. James, Children of Men is the hauntingly real story with a "what-if" of epic proportions: What if next year every woman in the world became infertile?

Set in an apocalyptic United Kingdom of 2027, the film explores a grim world in which two decades of global human infertility have left humanity with less than a century to survive. Societal collapse, terrorism, and environmental destruction accompany the impending extinction, with Britain, perhaps the last functioning government, persecuting a seemingly endless wave of illegal immigrant refugees seeking sanctuary. In the midst of this chaos, Theo Faron (Clive Owen) must find safe transit for Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), a pregnant African refugee - the first pregnant woman in 20 years and perhaps the last hope for humanity.

Few films are so grippingly palpable in forecasting the future. Children of Men (expertly filmed by Alfonso Cuarón, whose Y tu mamá también (2001) was one of my favourite recent coming-of-age tales), turns the mirror on our current political landscape and predicts an all-too-real chaos informed by xenophobia and terror. Clive Owen is convincing in his role, while Julianne Moore (whom I ordinarily admire) was abysmal, flat and detached. Look for a great hippie role for Michael Caine - he's brilliant here. One of finer, more intelligent films I've seen of late. High recommended.

4 out of 5 stars

Knocked Up

2007-07-23T15:39:00.000-05:00

Well, I caved-in and saw a movie that ordinarily isn't my "type." There was something about the promotion of this film that caught my eye and I couldn't resist. Having seen The 40 Year-Old Virgin, by the same writing team and also featuring this film's leading actor Seth Rogen, I was prepared for outrageous humor and oddly-poignant socio-cultural commentary. I was not disappointed.

Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) is a 23-year-old slacker. He passes his days working without compensation on a website and getting high with his friends. Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) is a responsible, career-minded woman on a fast-track course in Hollywood media correspondence. One night, Alison and Ben find themselves at the same club, and have a one night fling. After a follow-up date they discover they have little in common and go their separate ways. Eight weeks later, however, Alison discovers that she is pregnant... and that Ben is the father. The resulting story, while clearly predictable by any standard, is hilariously satisfying and illuminating. It's worth the price of admission alone to see Ryan Seacrest (of American Idol fame) play himself as an off-camera loather of the cult of celebrity. Genius.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

June Film Discussion: Nashville

2007-05-11T15:10:00.000-05:00

Nashville, the 1975 film directed by Robert Altman, depicts the country music and gospel music businesses in Nashville, Tennessee and combines them with material on U.S. presidential politics. The film weaves together multiple storylines that eventually coalesce in the final half-hour in a climactic sequence at the Parthenon in Nashville. Among its many musical sequences, the song "It Don't Worry Me" is the film's theme, heard sporadically throughout and then performed at the climax.

The film features a large ensemble cast including David Arkin, Barbara Baxley, Ned Beatty, Karen Black, Ronee Blakley, Keith Carradine, Geraldine Chaplin, Shelley Duvall, Allen Garfield, Henry Gibson, Scott Glenn, Jeff Goldblum, Elliott Gould, Barbara Harris, David Hayward, Michael Murphy, Cristina Raines, Lily Tomlin, Gwen Welles and Keenan Wynn.

See you all on Wednesday, June 6th at 7:00pm!

Film Screening: An Inconvenient Truth

2007-05-11T14:54:00.000-05:00

Lunch & a Movie and the Film Group present former United States Vice President Al Gore's critically-acclaimed, Academy Award-winning documentary film An Inconvenient Truth. This may be the best opportunity we’ve had to reflect on the role humans have played in global climate change. The companion book authored by Gore has been a New York Times bestseller for nearly a year now. Join us in the Meeting Room for this special event Tuesday, May 15th at 12 noon, and Thursday, May 17th at 6:30pm (see the library calendar).

May Film Discussion: Crash

2007-04-23T10:38:00.000-05:00

Crash is the 2005 Best Picture Academy Award-winning drama film directed by Paul Haggis, and starring (amongst many others): Matt Dillon, Ryan Phillippe, Sandra Bullock, and Don Cheadle. A self-described "passion piece" for director Paul Haggis, th efilm was inspired by a real life incident where his Porsche was carjacked (mentioned on the DVD commentary track) outside a video store on Wilshire Boulevard in 1991. Motivated by depicting modern race relations in Los Angeles, Haggis undertook this film project with co-writer Bobby Moresco. For more information, see the Wikipedia article.

See you all on Wednesday, May 2 at 7:00pm!

Peaceful Warrior

2007-04-02T10:07:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Aleeca, I was able to attend a free preview screening of Peaceful Warrior this weekend. Billed as a "powerful tale of enlightenment and redemption," among other things, the film, "inspired by actual events," may nevertheless be tired and bound with cliche, but the core messages are not without merit or meaning.

Dan Millman is a college gymnast destined for a spot on the podium at the next Olympic games. He has everything: popularity, youthful exuberance, a flair with the opposite sex, good grades, and a rising star. But his pride and ambition might be blinding him from appreciating his good fortune. When his hopes are dashed by a near miss encounter with death, Dan has to confront himself head on in a mirror held by service station shaman known to us only as Socrates (played by Nick Nolte channeling his best Uncle Jesse from the Dukes of Hazzard). Dan finds himself accepting new challenges and reflecting on all he's taken for granted under the aegis (and coaching), of his Buddhist teacher. Will he heed the lessons?

My wife was unforgiving of the film's use of convention. And while I see her side (and that of many leading critics, I'm afraid), I couldn't help but notice a group of teenagers noticeably shaken as we exited the theater. A father and son (probably no older than 12), lingered afterwards discussing the lessons of the film. I was actually moved by the repetition of the lessons, myself. They bear repeating. The simple fact that we find ourselves at the movies for this pop philosophy session indicates that there is still cause to question much of what we fail to recognize as we go forth each day. What did you take for granted today?

3 out of 5 stars

April Discussion

2007-03-27T17:06:00.000-05:00

This month we'll be discussing Juzo Itami's 1985 cinematheque classic Tampopo. Some of our group members have also resolved to compare the film this month to a couple analogous films: Eat Drink Man Woman and Tortilla Soup.

I'll see you all on April 4 at 7pm. Enjoy!

The Departed

2007-03-27T16:06:00.000-05:00

So, Marty finally scored the big one at the Academy Awards this year. I've always been a big fan of Scorsese, so I was pleased to see the recognition. But let's face it, the Academy frequently misses the mark. The only way they can compensate for their past errors is to correct them in the present. Apparently enough time had passed, and it was Marty's time this year.

So, I thought, what better way to ring in St. Patrick's Day than to screen this recently celebrated picture? Well, in hindsight, I might have better suggested Darby O'Gill and the Little People (remember that one?). Here's my beef (and I'm a vegetarian): this film should be the best film that money can buy. Look at the cast, the sets, the music, the director, the producers, the everything. How can it lose? Those very same elements can be a detriment. In the case of this film, however, the acting was superb (Mark Wahlberg and Jack Nicholson were brilliant), the sets were realistic and deceptively natural, the soundtrack was huge (the opening with the Stones' "Gimme Shelter" however did give me pause - I thought, "this better be good"), and who can discount the direction? But the editing in the first 30 minutes about made me leave the room - textbook, boring, and deliberately "arty" at times. It set the film up as a formula, which is kinda true, but I'll give the writers credit. After all, there's nothing original about this film... it's a remake of Wai Keung Lau's blockbuster Hong Kong action film Mou gaan dou III: Jung gik mou gaan (Infernal Affairs 3: End Inferno).

And that's the kicker. I wished that I had been overwhelmed, but I wasn't. It wasn't overlong, so it held my attention for 2 1/2 hours, but I wouldn't see it again. It's no Goodfellas or, my favorite Scorsese, Mean Streets, but it's good a Hollywood movie, with a lot of great elements. It's like that almost perfect meal at a nice restaurant - they've got all the right ingredients on the plate, it just didn't come together to leave a lasting impression.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Babel

2007-02-25T14:09:00.000-06:00

Last night Dara and I shared in viewing one of tonight's Oscar nominated Best Pictures, Babel. Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, and starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Kôji Yakusho, and Gael García Bernal, this multi-narrative drama completes his "death trilogy," which also consists of the critically acclaimed Amores Perros and 21 Grams. In this film, the narrative is woven together with intense character portaits taking place in Morocco, Japan and along the border of the United States and Mexico. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama, and has also been nominated for 7 Academy Awards this evening, including Best Picture and Best Director.

We were both struck early with how somber and apparently political the film's constructive elements play out. There is no mistaking the messages conveyed in this film, but discussing them was no less challenging or rewarding. Inevitably, our conversation returned to the themes linking the characters, and by token the humanity of all. The distance between experience, empathy, cultural mores, sense of security, sense of purpose, perception of events, perception of self, interpretation of media, the barriers of language, the call to duty, the socio-political significance of ethical action, the platonic absolutes of truth and beauty - all of these forces align and invite the viewer to ponder, "Why Babel - What does that mean?"

The performances (save those of the perhaps deliberately uninteresting Pitt and Blanchett) are brilliant. The editing, pacing and narrative construction are spectacular. The cinematography is appropriately arid and stifling. And finally, the score (which undoubtedly should garner an Oscar) unites the entirety. It's one of those films that I wouldn't see again - and that's a compliment, really.

4 out of 5 stars

March's Film Discussion

2007-02-12T13:59:00.000-06:00

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 romance film by director Michel Gondry. The film employs equal parts of science fiction and philosophical inquiry to explore the nature of memory and love. In addition to winning an Academy Award, the film won praise from critics and has developed a cult following.

The screenplay is by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation), who worked on the story with Gondry and Pierre Bismuth, a French performance artist. The film stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet and features David Cross, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson and Elijah Wood. The movie's title is taken from the poem "Eloisa to Abelard" by Alexander Pope.

View the trailer:

A Dozen Recommendations Say...

2007-02-12T13:49:00.000-06:00

The movie to see this Oscar season is Pan's Labyrinth. It's an animated story (but not for kids!) of a young girl who travels with her pregnant mother to live with her mother's new husband in a rural area up North in Spain, 1944, after Franco's victory. The girl lives in an imaginary world of her own creation and faces the real world with much chagrin. Fascist repression towards the end of World War II (1944) is at its height in rural Spain as the girl must come to terms with that through a fable of her own.

February's Film: Little Miss Sunshine

2007-01-04T10:41:00.000-06:00

By an overwhleming consensus, our next film discussion will feature one of 2006's most critically acclaimed "independent" films, Little Miss Sunshine. In one of my few sojourns to the cineplex this year I made a concerted effort to see this film and was glad that I did. My initial reaction to the film was posted here last October. I'm looking forward to further discussing the film with you all on Wednesday, February 7 at 7pm. The film is newly available on DVD, and should be easy to come by at your local video store. Libraries across our great land have also purchased the film for their collections, but the waiting list may prove too unwieldy for our purposes. I guess that's the price we pay for being hip! In the interim, have a look at the trailer below.

January's Film: Winter Light

2006-12-14T11:55:00.000-06:00

It's an honor and pleasure to be sharing one of my personal favourite films with the Film Group to start the new year. Ingmar Bergman, as you all know by now as one of my most celebrated directors, explored religion (and faith) in all of his work - but with particular tenacity in the late Fifties and early Sixties. Winter Light (1963) is considered the second installment in what has come to be known as the Faith Trilogy - although Bergman never grouped or identified the films as such. The story follows a near-faithless pastor's experience over the course of one dreary (imagine that) Sunday in the Swedish countryside. Stars the amazing talents of Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand, Gunnel Lindblom, and Max von Sydow.

The following ten minute documentary serves as a great introduction to the film, and is hosted by renowned Bergman scholar Peter Cowie.

Trailer for December Film

2006-11-14T15:43:00.000-06:00

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring

2006-11-14T15:23:00.000-06:00

The next film discussion, Wednesday December 6, will be devoted to Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (South Korea, 2003). Set in a Buddhist monastery on a beautiful lake island within a pristine forest, the story follows a Buddhist monk as he passes through the seasons of his life, from childhood to old age.

Directed by Kim Ki-duk, and starring Su Oh-yeong, Kim Young-min, Seo Jae-kyung, Kim Jong-ho. Like a similiar motif explored by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa in his Dreams, the director himself appears as the man in the last stage of life.

Chicago Film Series This Fall

2006-10-16T13:39:00.000-05:00

Homewood Library: Chicago in the Movies, Fall 2006

This Fall, the Library will be celebrating films made right here in Chicago with an exciting series of afternoon and evening screenings in the Meeting Room.

September

Friday, 9/15, 7pm: Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Tuesday, 9/19, 12pm: My Big Fat Greek Wedding

October

Friday, 10/13, 7pm: Child's Play
Tuesday, 10/17, 12pm: The Fugitive

November

Friday, 11/10, 7pm: Soul Food
Tuesday, 11/14, 12pm: The Sting
Monday, 11/20, 7pm: Teens Only/TAB: Mean Girls

December

Friday, 12/8, 7pm: Planes Trains and Automobiles
Tuesday, 12/12, 12pm: The Untouchables

November's Film: The African Queen

2006-10-09T16:52:00.000-05:00

The Film Group reconvenes next month on Wednesday, November 1 at 7:00pm for the discussion of the classic (if infamous) 1951 John Huston film The African Queen starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn.

See you there!

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

2006-10-02T11:04:00.000-05:00

By request, here's the trailer to our October film.

See you all on Wednesday!

French and Saunders Parody of Ingmar Bergman

2006-10-02T10:23:00.000-05:00

Little Miss Sunshine

2006-08-28T09:22:00.000-05:00

Some might call it a trend, the comedy of unhappiness. One needn't look far, they're everywhere these days. There's dark, psychological subject matter lightly peppered with quirk and whimsy. There's clever editing and a homespun appeal to the filmmaking process. There's an amplified reliance on the significance of color that makes the whole picture feel like a gumball machine. There's an "indie" soundtrack by artists that any independent musician would swear is the work of giant corporations. There's a climactic dance number to make it all the more surreal and at once strangely human. Then there's the moniker "independent film". Of course any film starring Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Steve Carell and Toni Collette couldn't truly pass as "independent" - these are household Hollywood names! But somehow despite all the gripes critics are levelling at this phenomenon, I simply cannot find fault - and I couldn't find one thing to complain about with Little Miss Sunshine.

Failed suicide, failing marriage, closet heroin snorting, a vow of silence, an obsession with pagentry, and self-help grandstanding posturing itself as a solution to every little thing. These are a few of the impediments that the endearing Hoover family must grapple with as they trek from Albuquerque to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in Redondo Beach, California. To say much more would spoil the fun that ensues. I haven't had such an entertaining experience at the movies in as long as I remember. And judging by the audience's anticipation before, participation during, and buzz afterwards, I'm certain that I'm not alone in my infatuation. Eat your heart out Napoleon Dynamite.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

The Fugitive

2006-08-22T14:38:00.000-05:00

Every actor has a gimmick that features in each film. For some of us, it's what draws us to our favorite players. For others, it's the element we love to scrutinize. Just think: have you ever seen a Tom Cruise movie where we wasn't running and grimmacing? Take for example Harrison Ford's husky, contempuous delivery of the pivotal line of a film. It's there in every one. Will he perpetually play Han Solo or Indiana Jones? How about Tommy Lee Jones rattling off about 50 words in the space a few spare seconds? Well, for me, as I flipped through the channels the other night and landed on TBS and their abbreviated version of the 1993 chase thriller, I was hooked once again by the lines:

"Listen up ladies and gentlemen. Our fugitive has been on the run for 90 minutes. Average foot speed over uneven ground, barring injury, is four miles an hour. That gives us a radius of six miles. What I want out of each and every one of you is a hard target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farm house, hen house, outhouse and dog house in that area... Go get him!"

It's a great movie: it goes by at break neck pace, there's a great cast, even better location shots - it's set in around Chicago [for fun, find all the liberties they take with street names and landmarks - of course there's no Balbo "L" stop!], it's hugely improbable - but that's part of the fun. But above all, my money is on Tommy Lee Jones - he saves the picture from falling apart with all the pitfalls of an action thriller. No wonder he landed the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Samuel Gerard. Oh yeah, it's based on the TV series - but just barely, not enough to upset the loyalists. Good clean Hollywood fun.

3 out of 5 stars

Tristam Shandy: A Cock And Bull Story

2006-08-22T14:16:00.000-05:00

It seems like an unlikely subject - especially since it was deemed one of the most impossible to film novels - but director Michael Winterbottom has endeavored the challenge of adapting Laurence Sterne's 18th century novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Using the impossibility of the concept as the overarching device, the film is cast as a satire - a making of the movie, movie. Characters ebb and flow. The lines between acting and reality begin to blur. The absurdities of both worlds intermesh.

Steve Coogan (I'm Alan Partridge, 24 Hour Party People) hilariously plays the title role, and Shandy's father Walter - seamlessly addressing the camera as well as characters in his scene. All the while, he's embattled with trumping the even more funny Rob Brydon (and his character, Walter's brother Toby) with every little thing imaginable. Meanwhile Nino Rota's score to Fellini's 8 1/2 propels the film forward like a crazy train destined to run off the tracks. From the opening sequence to the final frame of the credits, this is British humor at its finest. A wild ride, it almost makes me want to read the book. Almost.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Howl's Moving Castle

2006-07-31T14:01:00.000-05:00

It started with Princess Mononoke and burst open with Spirited Away. Hayao Miyazaki's star has risen and continues to shine with his latest feature, Howl's Moving Castle. There's long been a cultish quality about Japanese animation, and lately there's been a huge crossover in appeal to young adults in the United States and abroad, both on screen (anime) and in print magazines and books (manga). Many credit Miyazaki's success to his ties with Disney, but that isn't necessarily so - these films stand on their merits and garner more critical acclaim than most Disney features of late. In my opinion, they're leagues apart.

This film offers a fantastical look inside a distant world (decidedly Victorian in appearance), but with its own analogues to our current time. From within Howl's moving castle, the young wizard's magical door can open on several concurrent realms - each with their own ties to an evil presence threatening to upset the whole system. In the middle, a young girl is played a pawn and is thus drawn into Howl's world as he tries to reverse the curse cast upon her and save all that is good in the world at the same time.

Dramatic, scenic, endlessly entertaining. I highly recommend interested parties view the film in its original Japanese, with English subtitles. While the characters and settings don't benefit much from the language (as the culture represented is more European), the English dub is distracting (if downright annoying) and more tame (some of the innuendo is lost in translation to English spoken dialogue, but remains in the subtitles).

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Dirty Harry

2006-07-31T13:13:00.000-05:00

Clint Eastwood. Such an imposing figure. Tall, commanding, and mostly silent 'til that characteristic rasp whispers a threat. Westerns use sweeping landscapes to cast a larger than life uncertainty upon their subjects. Eastwood's films usually use this expanse to tackle morality and justice. Many times, the context of these westerns have analogues to our modern day struggles with morality and issues of law enforcement. So, it wasn't a stretch that Eastwood took on the role of Harry Callahan (although, I understand that Frank Sinatra was originally slated as the character!).

It's 1971. A raving lunatic is on a killing spree in San Francisco, taking on life each day until the mayor pays up. Harry takes to the case to tracking the killer and bringing him to justice. Well, kind of. Harry doesn't realize he's not in a western. There's no such thing as vigilante justice as a modern police inspector. But, who cares about Miranda rights? As Harry spits, "The law's crazy." You'd think so too after seeing it all through his eyes.

I'd forgotten how arresting this film is: smart, efficient directing that could only have been produced in the 70's. The acting is taut - some great supporting roles, and Andy Robinson is freakish as Scorpio, the manic maniac (makes Hannibal Lecter look like a kitty cat). The cinematography is gritty and predominantly POV, for maximum impact. It's got a great, albeit cliched by now, soundtrack. It's unfortunate that it became a franchise that spawned 4 sequels that all pale in comparison. Next up, The Eiger Sanction! "You've got to ask yourself a question: do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

4 out of 5 stars

Heart of Gold

2006-07-31T10:55:00.000-05:00

I love Neil Young. If you were to ask me my favourite musician, I'd probably have a different answer each time you asked. But Neil would always be in the top of the top. Of the hundreds of concerts I've attended, Neil Young's performances have never failed to amaze - and they still resonnate with me after all this time. So, when I heard that Jonathan Demme had created a film document of Neil Young's recent "Prairie Wind" album, I was caught up.

Neil's no stranger to the cinema. His music has featured prominently in a number of films (either individual songs, or complete scores), and he's been the subject of more than a few concert films (the downright shockingly perfect Rust Never Sleeps, and Jim Jarmusch's Year of the Horse are thrilling documents of Neil's sometime (and raucous) backing band Crazy Horse).

But what makes this latest feature so captivating is it's location and context. Filmed at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium (home of the Grand Old Opry), this concert is something of a homecoming - and it feels intimate, downhome. There's a sobering tenderness to the proceedings that one simply cannot deny (especially since we're hit with it in the first moments of the film). "Prairie Wind" was written and recorded as the recollections of man looking back over his life with a strong sense of mortality. Just days before entering the studio, Neil collapsed with a brain anuerysm. Having the time and musicians already booked, he decided to soldier on and record the album before having his surgery - not knowing the outcome (thankfully, it was a favorable prognosis). The resulting concert, recorded just weeks later, is a triumphant return to form. Highlights include some of his best recent songwriting such as the "The Painter", and classics such as "I am a Child," "Heart of Gold," "Comes a Time" and a great cover of "Four Strong Winds." Intermittently, Neil adds color to the songs by talking about their context - something he rarely does. A real treat.

4 out of 5 stars

War Movies

2006-06-09T11:42:00.000-05:00

There's a certain tone to a film centering on the topic of war. The world, humanity at its very core, is reduced to its most essential elements. Everything is of consequence, everything matters. War movies, despite all the requiste drama, explosions and epic-adventure pacing, may ultimately the most accessible forms of philosophical (if not, out-right ethical) inquiry available in popular culture. Any film can raise questions, but war movies by nature commit to following an argument.

For being a something of a pacifist, I've found just in meditating on the war movies I've seen, that I'm actually quite fond of a number of such films. What are some of your favorites?

Grand Illusion (1937) and Dr. Strangelove (1964) are two of my all-time favorite films, regardless of genre (both of which have been reviewed by the Film Group).

Here are 10 other War Movies that I recommend.

Paths of Glory 1957

Patton 1970

A Bridge Too Far 1977

The Deer Hunter 1978

Apocalypse Now 1979

Full Metal Jacket 1987

Glory 1989

Last of the Mohicans 1992

Gettysburg 1993

No Man's Land 2001

and one more... It's been years since I last saw this one, but this British WWII homefront story is without peer.

Hope and Glory 1987

The Constant Gardener

2006-06-02T16:07:00.000-05:00

Harrowing humanity. In director Fernando Meirelles's (City of God) second full-length film, his first in English, he works with screenwriter Jeffrey Caine in adapting John Le Carré's novel with an outstanding cast including Ralph Feinnes and Rachel Weisz (who won an Academy Award for her performance) in the leading roles. The story, a basic espionage thriller plotline, is actually engrossing.

Told simultaneously in realtime and flashback, Justin Quale (Fiennes) is a low-level British diplomat who has been given a new assignment in Kenya. His wife, Tessa (Weisz), is an activist with a keen interest in issues of poverty and social justice; Justin urges her to avoid getting too deeply involved in the people living in Kenya, who are constantly dogged by poverty, but she shows little interest in obeying these instructions. One day, Tessa disappears, and is soon found dead; officials believe that she was murdered by her close colleague, a doctor that had been working with Tessa in investigating a potential pharmaceutical scandal, after an alleged argument. However, before long Justin becomes convinced that there was a larger scheme that led to Tessa's death, and begins digging into areas where he's not especially welcome: in a distressingly convincing corrupt world where everyone is guilty and no one is responsible..

The film starts out comparatively sedate, with Justin reacting with ineffectual calm to his wife's death, even consoling his friend Sandy (Danny Huston) when he gets distressed while identifying the body. Appropriately, the film comes alive in the flashbacks to Tessa's life, and as she traverses the teeming city of Nairobi, the screen pulsates with color and the energy of cinematographer César Charlone's street-level handheld camera work. Fiennes delivers a perfectly modulated performance. Justin is a passive, ineffectual minor diplomat who marries a beautiful younger woman he doesn't really know. "You could learn me," she tells him, and over the course of the film, it becomes clear that Justin is more concerned with understanding his murdered wife than with avenging her death. This may frustrate audiences accustomed to catharsis, but it's the only way to treat the material truthfully. a distressingly convincing corrupt world where everyone is guilty and no one is responsible. The Constant Gardener offers a superb, thoughtful, and finally heart-wrenching example of the conflation of the personal and the political.

4 out of 5 stars

Three Movies I Didn't Have Time To See

2006-05-25T11:23:00.000-05:00

There are a million joys of working at the library. One of the many things I love about my work is reading review journals and selecting materials for our collections. I'm especially fond of Video Librarian, a journal that reviews all matters of new and reissued films, both feature and documentary, for all ages. In every issue I discover dozens of great films I'd love to see. With this list in hand, I then go through the library catalog and request the movies to be delivered to my home library.

This week, five DVDs arrived on the same day. I knew there was no way I could see them all before I went on vacation. So, I had to pass these by, at least for the moment...

Sequins

The hand-woven designs and luxurious embroidery of two women's work become the visual basis of this masterfully observed French tale of an unlikely friendship between two women of different ages, classes and cultures. Using embroidery as a metaphor for the steady weaving together of two very dissimilar souls, Eléonore Faucher's debut film has been compared to Girl With a Pearl Earring for the beauty of its lighting and the detailed depth of its photography.

Young and pregnant, Claire decides to flee the questions of her family and friends by taking refuge as an apprentice to Madame Melikian, a strange, lonely woman who owns an embroidery business. Fearful of her advancing pregnancy, doubtful if she even wants a baby, Claire develops a fateful connection with the bereaved Madame, whose son was killed in a motorcycle accident. In the shadows of shawls and fabric hangings, an unspoken bond slowly builds between these two easily unraveled women, one that grows from diverse strands of suspicion and emotion into a common thread.

Sequins discovers a surprisingly fresh beauty in familiar tones, that of women adjusting to one another and of the doubts inherent in becoming a mother, or in suddenly losing a child. Pierre Cottereau's cinematography and Francois Guillaume's sound design enhance the film's understated mood, capturing how fabric gleams in a certain shadow or how the rhythm of needles echoes through cloth, and of how single stitches can be united with work, camaraderie and love.

I read a nice review here.

Ten

Celebrated Iranian writer-director Abbas Kiarostami (Taste of Cherry, Close-Up) once again casts his masterful cinematic gaze upon the modern socio-political landscape of his homeland, this time as seen through the eyes of one woman as she drives through the streets of Tehran over a period of several days. Her journey is comprised of ten conversations with various female passengers, including her sister, a hitchhiking prostitute and a jilted bride, as well as her imperious young son. As Kiarostami's "dashboard cam" eavesdrops on these lively, heart-wrenching road trips, a complex portrait of contemporary Iran comes sharply into focus. Calling it a "work of inspired simplicity," A.O. Scott in The New York Times wrote that Kiarostami, "in addition to being perhaps the most internationally admired Iranian filmmaker of the past decade, is also among the world masters of automotive cinema...He understands the automobile as a place of reflection, observation and, above all, talk."

Lumumba

Lumumba: la mort du Prophete offers a unique opportunity to reconsider the life and legacy of one of the legendary figures of modern African history. Like Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba is remembered less for his lasting achievements than as an enduring symbol of the struggle for self-determination. This deeply personal reflection by acclaimed fimmaker Raoul Peck on the events of Lumumba's brief twelve month rise and fall is a moving memorial to a man described as a giant, a prophet, a devil, "a mystic of freedom," and "the Elvis Presley of African politics."

If this is a film about remembering, it is even more a film about forgetting. It is not so much a conventional biography as a study of how Lumumba's legacy has been manipulated by politicians, the media and time itself. Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck meditates on his own memories as the privileged son of an agricultural expert working for the regime which displaced Lumumba. He examines home movies, photographs, old newsreels and contemporary interviews with Belgian journalists and Lumumba's own daughter to try to piece together the tragic events and betrayals of 1960.

A film essay in the tradition of Night and Fog or The Sorrow and the Pity, Lumumba explores how any image inevitably represses the multiple stories surrounding it, how the past as preserved by the media is always in a sense the hostage of history's winners. Therefore present-day Europe figures as prominently in Lumumba as the Congo in 1960, because Europe was the unseen hand behind the camera and the events leading to Lumumba's assassination. Peck presents an unfamiliar Europe seen through the eyes of a visitor from the Third World - cold, affluent, a guilty present trying to forget its past. Yet, as this film testifies, Lumumba's prophecy will not be silenced until Africa achieves its second independence where the promises of the first can be fulfilled.

I hope to have the opportunity to see these in the near future.

What are some of the films on your list this summer?

Me and You and Everyone We Know

2006-05-20T16:07:00.000-05:00

"Back and forth. Forever." In one of the more idiosyncratic films I've seen of late, actress/director Miranda July creates a space so real its painful. The DVD box summarizes the film as such: "Christine Jesperson (Miranda July) is a struggling artist and senior cab driver who uses her talents and imagination to draw her dreams and objects of desire nearer. One such object is Richard Swersey (John Hawkes), a newly-single father of two precocious boys who is hoping for amazing things, yet panics upon meeting the captivating Christine. But in a world where the mundane is transcendent and people seek meaningful connections despite the risk, anything magical can - and will - happen."

There are several notable scenes that convey the sheer humanity of the film with a grace unseen in many Hollywood films. For me, one of the most affecting moments occurs near the beginning of the picture when an outside character places a goldfish, in a water bag, on his roof of his car after purchasing it at the pet store. He forgets to retrieve the bag before closing his door and starting off down the highway. Christine and one of her senior passengers notice the fish, and in a moment of tenderness, offer kind blessings in what we know will be its last moments of life. Several other such moments occur interspersed throughout the film, but not with nearly as much emotional sensitivity or impact.

Perhaps the most "intriguing" scenes are those that helped the movie earn an R rating for a category I had not yet seen before: "Disturbing sexual content involving children." It sounds worse than it is. Basically, these scenes are further illustration of the film's overaching theme of the lengths that people will go to in order to be recognized by others - especially a potential love interest - in the hope of truly connecting with someone on a significant, transcendental level. The most "disturbing" factor of these scenes may simply be that our world alienates children to such an extent that they too are left searching for compassion long before they even realize what these abstract concepts mean to the greater welfare of their adult lives. Simply put, we are all lost in this great big world - we are all looking for someone who is looking for us. Sadly, children feel this loneliness too, and are uncertain how to reconcile this experience.

Roger Ebert wrote a glowing review that all but begs one not to miss this film. I agree that the child actors save the film. It's an important statement, if not universal enough for my taste.

3 out of 5 stars.

Walk The Line

2006-05-15T11:34:00.000-05:00

Johnny Cash. The man in black. The legend. I can hear a hundred songs from my rural childhood. I can hear those great last sessions with Rick Rubin - the ones that won over a whole new generation of listeners. The songs tell stories of real people and real challenges. All the while, I listened and wondered just who this man, this deep-voiced singer, was.

Walk The Line begins, much like as it ends, at Folsom Prison in 1968. Of course, Johnny broke huge in 1955 with "Folsom Prison Blues" - but at that time he had no idea of what prison life must be like. Before he takes the stage, as he takes a moment to reflect, the film hastens to call back the past and run through the upbringing of one J.R. Cash. From his humble life on the farm working (or not) in the fields alongside his older brother, hymn-reciting mother, and hardened father, Johnny grew accustomed to a life of hardship. At night, he escaped through the radio and the sounds of the Carter Family. It was here that he began to carry the torch for June Carter.

Over the course of the next two decades, Johnny married, bore two children, and set about making an honest living as a musician in Memphis, starting at Sun Studios with a his ragged band of mechanics, the Tennessee Two, and eventually moving to the touring circuit with the likes of Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and company. In time he grew successful, changed to Columbia records and drew an enormous fan base, but with that success came greater challenges. Through it all, as Johnny battled addiction and depression, there was but one constant: his love and determination to marry June Carter.

This film is the story of how Cash struggled to overcome his demons and win the heart of the woman of his dreams. Joaquin Phoenix play Cash convincingly - if naive. But the real showstopper is Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon. I'll confess that I generally cannot tolerate her characters, but this film would be lost without her shining light. The cinematography is stunning. Many of the shots set up context to the lyrics Johnny wrote and made famous (those who already know the music will be rewarded by this clever device). And the music, all sung by the cast, is rightfully reverent (if still pale in comparison). By the time the film draws to a close, I'm left wanting more, wanting to experience the longest chapter in Johnny's life, his salvation and devotion to June over the course of the ensuing three decades. Highly recommended.

4 out of 5 stars

Broken Flowers

2006-05-08T16:57:00.000-05:00

Jim Jarmusch's latest film is the story of a man who sets out to find the son he didn't know he had and ends up getting answers to some questions he never dreamed of asking. Don Johnston (Bill Murray) is an emotionally blank middle-aged Don Juan who has never married and lives a quiet, comfortable life thanks to shrewd investments in computers (though he doesn't use one himself). After being given his walking papers by his latest girlfriend, Sherry (Julie Delpy), Don receives an anonymous letter informing him he fathered a son 19 years ago, and that the boy wants to find his dad. Not sure what to do, Don shows the note to Winston (Jeffrey Wright), a neighbor who fancies himself an amateur detective. With Winston's help, Don narrows the list of possible mothers down to four women, and with a mixture of reluctance and resigned determination he sets out to find them. Armed with a CD of traveling music from Winston, Don pays unannounced visits to Laura (Sharon Stone), an oversexed widow with a libidinous teenage daughter (Alexis Dziena); Dora (Frances Conroy), a stuffy real estate agent; Penny (Tilda Swinton), an aging biker with no happy memories of Don; Carmen (Jessica Lange), a self-styled analyst for pets whose outward eccentricity disguises a firm inner stability; and finally the gravesite of Michelle, a woman with whom it appears Don had a serious connection.

In one of the most poignant dramatic comedies I've seen in ages, Murray and Jarmusch team up to produce a memorable portrait of searching humanity, and spontaneous determination, all framed with extreme sensitivity and unparalleled humor. Murray is outstanding: his every expression is copiously descriptive of an interior monologue that we the audience are allowed to hear through the silence. The cinematography is brilliant, vivid, gritty and realistic (as one would expect with Jarmusch), but so much more colorful than the classics we've been reviewing here. The soundtrack is great (and is also available in the library system), and lends another glowing layer of character and meaning to the proceedings. I also recommend checking out the bonus features on the DVD: one includes a reel of footage from the clapboard takes for each scene from beginning to end, edited take by take, including a few gags. It's quite possibly the most interesting look at how a film is made that I have ever seen - and it's only 8 minutes.

4 out of 5 stars

Coffee and Cigarettes

2006-05-01T16:45:00.000-05:00

In keeping with our smoking theme, and in light of our upcoming discussion of Mystery Train this week, last night I saw Jim Jarmusch's episode film Coffee and Cigarettes. I'm a sucker for Jarmusch's singular style, so I was forgiving when the first sketch with Roberto Benigni and Steven Wright sitting in a cafe, behaving strangely and musing to the point of idiocy about coffee and cigarettes left me kinda cold and detached. But by the time I got to the sequence with Iggy Pop and Tom Waits (two of rock's most interesting personalities), I was questioning why I should care what was going on. That's when I understood the point, I suppose. This film isn't so much about "anything" per se, as much as it's about the socio-cultural phenomena surrounding what really happens at a table at a coffee shop when we sit down (no matter who we are) and have a cup and a smoke. Of course, you and I can go to our favourite bean shop and have our series of vignettes, but I doubt that they would leave you as dissatisfied as this slight film. I mean, for all the star power and art house clout this picture throws around, I expected more.

I question what made Jarmusch feel so inclined to take the original 3 episodes of this film (shot in black and white in the mid to late 80's), and create several complementary pieces. Granted, in light of Mystery Train, we probably should see the 1989 installment, "Memphis Version," which stars an brilliantly ignorant (imagine that!) Steve Buscemi, Joie Lee, and Cinqué Lee (who star in said film), if for nothing other than the discussion of Elvis and race is more direct and pointed than the whole of Mystery Train does overtly. On the other hand, there are a few scattered moments of grace here: Cate Blanchett shows her ability to tackle a dual role with her opposite "cousin", and the sketch with Bill Murray alongside GZA and RZA (members of the Wu-Tang Clan), is rich and intelligent. Unless you're already sensitive to Jarmusch, and perhaps curious about the outstanding cast (even if they're doing little to nothing), you may want to give this one a pass.

2 1/2 out of 5 stars

Thank You For Smoking

2006-05-01T15:00:00.000-05:00

Jason Reitman's directorial debut, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Christopher Buckley, is the media satire Thank You for Smoking. Starring Aaron Eckhart as Nick Naylor, a man who has turned spinning news and information into a successful career for the tobacco lobby, the film mines the fertile land between politically-pointed entertainment and edifying-yet-smarmy documentary. Though ripe with potential, given the sucess of films as divergent as those of Michael Moore and the likes of the singularly genius The Corporation, this one failed to hold my interest despite a interesting cast and nearly-clever storyline.

There are a number of highlights however, including an honest performance by child actor Cameron Bright as Naylor's wide-eyed son. There's also a brilliant sequence where Nick is kidnapped and bound by a vigilante group who attaches hundreds of nicotine patches to his body in an attempt to draw public attention to the horrors of cigarette dependence. The rest of the film's plot-line pales in comparison. Strong performances by William H. Macy as a Senator who runs a anti-tobacco campaign (and reminds me a little too much his stellar role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo), Robert Duvall as the king of big tobacco, and Sam Elliott as the Marlboro Man, really take this picture from monotony to genuine entertainment. But Eckhart's performance is too scattershot to be believable (I'd rather believe Christian Bale's Patrick Bateman from American Psycho in this role), and Katie Holmes is far too immature to lend creedence to her role as a smart young reporter getting the best of her elusive subject. It's a shame that such a great book couldn't get a better film.

Did I mention that Jason Reitman's father directed Ghostbusters?
I wonder if that helps.

3 out of 5 stars

The Squid and the Whale

2006-04-17T15:21:00.000-05:00

Ten years after launching his directorial career, Noah Baumbach's 2005 breakthrough feature, The Squid and the Whale, has rightfully earned its "critically acclaimed" status. In one of the most esoteric films I've seen since his partner Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums, Baumbach has created a poetic storyworld of a family at its breakingpoint. The film is so human, so realistic, that it's frightening to conceive that such a place exists in the homes of our own tree-lined streets. Even more so, it's sobering to think that the children at the center of the emminent divorce in this story, are really as mature as they are.

Jeff Daniels is back on point (after a dreary dry spell of lousy films) in the lead role as an egotistical professor / washed-up author, and sometimes father to his teenage son (in all accounts bent upon becoming his father) and astute younger son (virtually self-destructing from neglect). The great Laura Linney plays the searching mother who's finally had it with her husband's self-centeredness and decides to make it on her own. In the process of separating, the four of them must ultimately come to terms with what it means to be "authentic," no matter what the cost. But, make no mistake about it, the reason you see this film (as it becomes abundantly clear when you watch) is the roles played by the children. Keep an eye out for Owen Kline, the youngest son - the way he got into and portrayed his complex character so knowingly, this kid is going to be huge. And no, William Baldwin isn't as cute or commanding as his brothers, but he might be a better actor, at least in this film. And yes, you're right, it is kinda weird that Anna Paquin plays Jeff Daniels' love interest given that they were father and daughter in Fly Away Home just a few years ago, but maybe it's serendipitously creepy for a reason.

The writing is stellar. The pacing is excellent. Set in 1986, it feels as though it's from another time and place (even if it is only Brooklyn). The camera work is spot-on and intelligently shot. My suspension of disbelief was upset only a couple times when, bearing in mind the storyworld is set in the eighties, I saw a number of cars and products clearly from the current day. But that's the joy of an indie, low(er) budget feature. For more insight to this end, have a look at the "Behind the Scenes" featurette on the DVD - it's a perfect glimpse into the process and plays nicely after viewing. This is a film that touches the heart and doesn't let go.

4 out of 5 stars.

A History of Violence

2006-04-10T10:38:00.000-05:00

Small-town diner owner Tom Stall becomes the local hero when he saves the patrons of his restaurant from a thuggish duo travelling through podunk America on a killing spree. But the exacting manner in which Tom conducted himself in this takedown has investigators questioning his identity after members of the Philadelphia Irish mafia come to town for a visit to Tom's diner.

David Cronenberg's latest offering is one of the more thrilling and unbelievable pictures I've seen in recent times. Thrilling in that it sent my blood pressure through the roof with some intense family drama and uninhibited graphic violence. It's unbelievable in that, to this viewer, it failed to convince me that what was going on, despite being down-home in many respects, was actually "real." Critics of the film praised its cast's performances (Viggo Mortenson and Maria Bello are indeed outstanding in their roles - although I disagree that William Hurt deserved an Oscar nomination, I found his performance laughable at best), and the gritty texture of the overall storyline. Fans of the graphic novel, on which the film is based, complained that too many liberties were taken in presenting the story (e.g. the relationship of Joey to Richie was altered, and there wasn't a glimmer of the Hollywood-style sexual charge this film lapses into meaninglessly at two distinct points). I was disappointed, my wife on the other hand was not!

3 out of 5 stars

Paradise Now

2006-04-10T10:14:00.000-05:00

What it is the price of dignity? Paradise Now follows lifelong friends Said and Khaled, two young Palestinians who've been chosen with the dubious honor of becoming martyrs to the cause of an activist faction carrying out a suicide mission in Tel Aviv. In one of the most compelling and well-wrought films I've seen in quite some time, director Hany Abu-Assad presents the humanity and horror of the contemporary status of the widening rift between the Palestinians and the state of Israel with knowing honesty and sensitivity. The photography is gorgeous, the acting is superb, the writing is concise, intelligent and convincing. I can't imagine a more appropriate or timely film for this conflicted moment in time.

4 out of 5 stars

May Film Discussion

2006-04-06T13:22:00.000-05:00

The Film Group's next meeting will be Wednesday, May 5, 2006 at 7pm in the library's meeting room. We will be discussing Jim Jarmusch's 1989 slice-of-life Mystery Train.

When ordering your copy of the film, be aware that there are 3 separate title records for the film in the SWAN catalog. Each record contains the same film, but there are 2 records for the VHS (with one copy on each), and 1 record for the DVD (only 3 copies system-wide) - making that a total of 5 copies available through the library. As we're still a relatively small group, I think these few copies should be enough for all of us, but order early for best results. If you're desperate to see the film before we meet, and your library copy hasn't arrived in time, the film should be available at your favorite video store for rental.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact me or post a comment to this post. I look forward to seeing you all next month!

Wallace & Gromit

2006-03-30T22:07:00.000-06:00

Nick Park's distinctive style of clay animation has captivated audiences since the debut of the English sleuthing duo of man and dog, Wallace and Gromit, in the early '90s. Wallace, a cheese-loving hack inventor, and his patiently faithful (and ever industrious) sidekick Gromit find themselves in and out of trouble in some of the most absurd (if patenly banal) situations. But it's precisely this slice of life, and cheese, that keeps audiences coming back again and again. The original trio of short films that launched Park's career, A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers (one of my all-time favourite animated films), and A Close Shave, have achieved cult status only solidified by last year's critical success (and Oscar nominee) The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the duo's first long player.

While Park's Aardman Studios enjoyed acclaim for their first feature length animated film, Chicken Run, fans couldn't wait to see Wallace and Gromit again. When Were-Rabbit arrived last year, we hadn't seen a new film of the duo in over 10 years. And while this film lacks the homespun whimsy (and bracing speed) of the original trilogy, it deftly tackles the classic horror genre with a razor wit that the whole family can enjoy. Keep your ears out for the voices of Helena Bonham Carter (now perhaps better known for her voice than her face after Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride), and Ralph Fiennes - and yes, Peter Sallis still provides the familiar voice of Wallace. Fun for all...

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Good Will Hunting

2006-03-27T13:40:00.000-06:00

After our previous discussion of Chicago movies, my wife and I decided to have a look at some Boston movies before attending the Public Library Association's conference last week. With a bit of research, we determined that Boston hasn't fared as well as Chicago in being the subject setting of as many films, but one of the titles rose to the top.

I can't believe that I'd never seen Good Will Hunting: A rebellious 20-something MIT janitor from South Boston fights to overcome a troubling past, an uncertain present and an inability to commit to just about anything but bars and brawls, flexes his mental muscles, proves he's an unparalleled math genius and decides to take a chance on love. Sure there are many films that pit a struggling young man against the obstacles that only he must overcome: learning to love, learning to make decisions for oneself, learning to learn how to learn. A number of these movies happen to be some of my favorites (I'm a sucker for rites of passage represented in literature and film): Say Anything, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Almost Famous, and Dead Poets Society. But Gus Van Sant takes Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's astutely sensitive (albeit slightly derivative), Academy Award winning script and spins a magical yarn with amazing visual charm and top notch acting to boot. Outstanding performances by Damon, Stellan Skarsgard and Robin Williams (who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor) propel this film to the next level.

4 out of 5 stars

Crash to be Screened at the Library

2006-03-14T19:56:00.000-06:00

In a rare bout of serendipitous programming, our library planned months in advance that Crash would win big at the Oscars and scheduled a screening for this coming April.

As part of the on-going "Lunch and a Movie" series, Crash will be screened April 18 at 12 noon in the library meeting room. Bring your lunch and enjoy some "light entertainment." Sorry, no evening screenings planned as of yet, but we're working on a potential series for the Fall. Stay tuned.

Note: Discussion isn't historically part of the "Lunch and a Movie" proceedings, however, I wouldn't be surprised if conversation erupted as the credits roll. It's worth looking into.

Chicago Movies

2006-03-10T13:53:00.000-06:00

Having recently had the great pleasure of seeing the new DVD special edition of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, I've been thinking about great moments in Chicago cinema. It's amazaing how many films have been set in Chicago.

As an icebreaker to get this blog discussion going,
What are some of your favorite Chicago movies, and why?

Add your comments to the right -->>

April Film Discussion

2006-03-07T17:06:00.000-06:00

The Film Group will reconvene on Wednesday, April 5 at 7:00pm to discuss Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso. Released in 1988, the film garnered a number of critical accolades including wins at both the Academy Awards and Golden Globes for Best Foreign Language Film, and at the Cannes Film Festival for Special Jury Grand Prix.

Cinema Paradiso is a film that celebrates cinema. Film critic Richard Gilliam believes the film "evokes the magic of motion pictures, in a style both nostalgic and poetic." It's hard not to identify with the way a film captivates us and holds up a fantastic mirror to our own lives. What makes this film even more remarkable, in light of its meta-subject matter, is its idyllic setting and the way the story gently interweaves a non-linear narrative of one boy's development into manhood, with a timeless intergenerational love story. Gilliam continues: "It takes place in a small Italian town in the years before television, where motion pictures were a social event, and the people who gathered for them knew each other by name. The ambiance is largely autobiographical, drawn from the memories of writer/director Giuseppe Tornatore, who shows great affection for his characters, even when they suffer misfortune or unhappiness."

In 2002, the film was re-edited and returned to theatrical release with an additional 50 minutes of footage picking up where the original story left off. This version is known as simply, Cinema Paradiso: The New Version.

For the purposes of our discussion, I ask that you seek out the first, original version of the film. If you enjoy this version and are curious about Salvatore and his loves, then by all means seek out The New Version as supplemental material.

I look forward to seeing you next month! Enjoy the film.

Hustle and Flow by Craig Brewer

2006-02-25T09:54:00.000-06:00

"There are two types of people: those that talk the talk and those that walk the walk. People who walk the walk sometimes talk the talk but most times they don't talk at all, 'cause they walkin'. Now, people who talk the talk, when it comes time for them to walk the walk, you know what they do? They talk people like me into walkin' for them." - Key

In Hustle and Flow, DJay, a down-on-his-luck pimp, has an epiphany one evening: he should have applied himself to the music business years ago, like his estranged schoolyard buddy who stuck with his dreams of stardom and made it big. Terrence Howard (whose long awaited breakthrough after 22 film roles came this year with Crash - see our previous review), plays DJay's earnest determination knowingly, sympathetically and without compromise - warts and all.

The film opens with our hero struggling in various attempts at hustling for cash. The problem is that DJay is trying to make the most of an endlessly losing situation. At the center of it all, of the three girls he pimps around, one is bored to tears, one is fiercely independent (despite having a baby to take care of), and the other is in the late days of pregnancy. As things go from bad to worse, DJay realizes something has to give and decides to throw himself headlong into telling his story through music. With an ensemble of supporting friends and hangers-on, the act that follows, not unlike that of Eminem's 8 Mile, charts the challenges that a street rapper faces in his rise to stardom at any cost.

Excellent supporting roles are provided by Anthony Anderson (Key), Taraji P. Henson (Shug), and DJ Qualls (Shelby). Less convincing support is provided by Ludacris (a successful rapper himself, who plays the estranged buddy come superstar, who was also a co-star of Crash), who should be able to play a rapper in his sleep, but seems distant. Isaac Hayes is a welcome face as the club owner Arnel. But the lot of the film seems to play like rehash of so much we've seen before in the myriad storylines that play this trope year in year out. Thank goodness for Terrence Howard's stellar performance - which is seriously worth the effort in this otherwise tepid affair.

3 1/2 stars out of 5

The award season looks promising for this film. Hustle and Flow won the Audience Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Terrence Howard, in role of DJay, was just nominated for best actor at the upcoming Academy Awards, while the inescapeable central song of the film, "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp," was also nominated for an Oscar for best song.

[After a rather interesting performance of the song, featuring the story of Hustle & Flow told with expressive interpretive dance, it won its Oscar] -edited 03/07/06

Crash by Paul Haggis

2006-02-21T19:03:00.000-06:00

"It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something." - opening line of the film

My wife and I finally had a chance to sit down uninterrupted and see one of the most talked about movies of this last year: Crash. Writer-director Paul Haggis uses the film as a vehicle to explore our culture's multifaceted racial tensions (be they real, imagined or perceived), set amongst an outstanding cast of characters (Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Brendan Fraser, Ryan Phillippe, Larenz Tate, Thandie Newton, Matt Dillon, and Nona Gaye), whose lives intersect shortly before Christmas in post-9/11 Los Angeles.

And while I see great cause for it being "one of the most talked about" recent films (few films dare to go to such lengths to explode the topic of racial stereotyping), I can't seem to reconcile which of the two camps I fall into: love it or leave it. Without spoiling the plot for those who haven't seen the film, and without going into too much detail, the reasoning behind my position lies wholly in the field of objective potential. The film has tremendous potential to generate thoughtful conversation about one of the most difficult topics to discuss, but in the process of laying all its cards on the table, the film may be defiantly adhering to the further establishment of our already deeply entrenched biases (even if the film offers a small resolution here and there). There's no question of the film's merits. My doubts are only levelled against the ability of the viewer to actively engage with the topic enough to come to a lucid awareness of the core. This is where I feel Haggis takes a tremendous leap of faith.

3 1/2 stars out of 5

[Of course, I might be wrong: Crash just won the 2006 Academy Award for Best Picture - you don't have to take my word for it!] -edited 03/07/06

Roger Ebert wrote an excellent review of the film that touches on the criticism that one could level against the film, while upholding all of the film's virtues (of which there are, in fact, many). Still more criticism can be found on Metacritic.

For more information, see the film's website.

Perfumed Nightmare by Kidlat Tahimik

2006-02-16T14:36:00.000-06:00

Our next film discussion and screening will feature the following film on Wednesday, March 1, 2006 at 7:00pm :

Filipino filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik both directs and stars in Perfumed Nightmare. As the film opens, we see him in three stages of life (symbolized by toy and then real "jeepneys," the elaborately recrafted and decorated vehicles that have their origins in the Jeeps left by the Allies in World War II) crossing the bridge - "the bridge of life" - to his village. Narrating in voiceover, Tahimik explains the patterns of daily life in the village. He has a fascination with the Voice of America broadcasts, and particularly with the NASA space program. He longs to be part of the developed world, and forms a Werner von Braun fan club. When an American arrives for an aborted international conference, he gets his chance. The American asks him to come to Paris, to run his chewing-gum-ball machine concession on the streets. In Paris, and on a trip to Germany, he makes friends and discovers that progress in the developed world sacrifices values important to his cultural heritage.

The film has a delightfully spontaneous home-movie quality - quite literally so, since it was lensed in Super 8mm on a budget of less than $10,000 (basically the cost of the film stock). Truly a one-of-a-kind experience, Perfumed Nightmare was the winner of the Berlin Film Festival International Critics Award in 1983 (six years after its completion, and wholly six years before its general distribution).

March Film Discussion

2006-02-16T11:43:00.000-06:00

As the Film Group meets every month on the first Wednesday, it seems inevitable that there will be a scheduling conflict. Next month is no exception, as March 1st is Ash Wednesday. After some discussion with group members, we've elected to go forward with our regularly scheduled meeting date, and time of 7:00pm in the library meeting room.

We will be screening a little-known gem called Perfumed Nightmare, directed by Filipino filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik, under the auspices of directors Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope Studios and Werner Herzog (who included Tahimik in his film Every Man for Himself and God Against All). The film, which is semi-autobiographical, profiles one man's fascination with Western culture and its influence on life in his small village. I'll post a more thorough introduction here shortly, and update the Film Group's website to include the film guide for this documentary in the coming weeks.

See you then,

F for Fake by Orson Welles

2006-02-11T10:42:00.000-06:00

Last night I had the opportunity to review the Criterion Collection's latest DVD version of Orson Welles' long forgotten final film, F for Fake (1972).

A singular combination of documentary, essay, narrative, broad comedy, hoax, and cinematic vaudeville, the film began as a BBC documentary about legendary art forger Elmyr de Hory. Welles was asked to narrate, but instead, he took over the project, transforming a straight documentary about art forgery into a freewheeling extended meditation on Hory, real-life Hory biographer and notorious fellow faker Clifford Irving, Howard Hughes, Pablo Picasso, and the complicated relationship between creativity and larceny, art and theft. The film inevitably swoops back to two early touchstones in Welles' early legend: Citizen Kane, a fictionalized biography of William Randolph Hearst that echoes Irving's fictionalized autobiography of Hughes, and Welles' notorious radio production of War Of The Worlds.

3 1/2 stars out 5

I've read many reviews of this film, including an outstanding blog entry, but the most concise article I've read can be found here.

Should you find occasion to view this film yourself, for the most rewarding experience, I highly recommend screening the concise Peter Bogdanovich introduction first. The film itself is nonlinear and dizzyingly fast in both narration and editing which makes it difficult for one to hold onto the denouement while simultaneously being introduced to the characters and subject. However, with this short explanation, the film reveals itself as pure magic.