JILL CLAYBURGH, 1944 - 2010

If you want to see a great film about women, and sex, and relationships; humor and melodrama; and just a great performance; find "An Unmarried Woman".





JILL CLAYBURGH, 1944 - 2010

House

Excerpt from

Nobuhiko Obayashi's House – Criterion Blu-Ray Review

Like any good horror film, the violence and bloodshed escalates with every set piece, each more elaborate (and entertaining) than the last; lighthearted cannibalism, slightly disturbing sexual innuendo, and some demonically possessed shrubbery to inspire The Evil Dead, mixed with Obayashi's freaky fantasia, and you have a potent brew for pure macabre.


Read More...http://www.suite101.com/content/nobuhiko-obayashis-house--criterion-blu-ray-review-a301901

The Magician

...in a brilliant display of cinematic acumen, Bergman teases his audience with his own slight of hand, by concluding his film with a masterful series of shocks and scares, not unlike his legendary dream sequence in Wild Strawberries (which incidentally inspired a nightmare in William Freidkin’s The Exorcist).

Set alone, the rapid-fire series of events wherein the non-believing doctor is trapped in an attic with re-animated body parts and the walking dead would make for a great horror film short, comparable to John Carpenter (Halloween) or even William Castle (House on Haunted Hill).

Read more at Suite101: Ingmar Bergman's The Magician — Criterion Blu-Ray Review http://www.suite101.com/content/ingmar-bergmans-the-magician--criterion-blu-ray-review-a296828#ixzz12X0QqXDR

David Fincher's Exclusive Clubs

"I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member." -Groucho Marx

David Fincher:

Harvey Pekar, 1939-2010

Harvey Pekar, 1939-2010

rainmusic

rainmusic


A sparsely furnished room:
light comes and goes,
casts shadows, manipulates mood.


Outside: the sound of rain.
Inside: music plays.
When one rises, one falls:
the low rumble of thunder,
a bass trombone.


Outside: a passing car 
splashes a large puddle;
Inside: a crashing cymbal.


The record ends.
Light drops tap at the window;
the needle skips:
scratch, scratch, scratch;
a lightning flash, and you are gone.

The Poetry of Spring: Claude McKay – E.E. Cummings – Edna St. Vincent Millay

The Poetry of Spring: Claude McKay – E.E. Cummings – Edna St. Vincent Millay

Perhaps, no other season is as anxiously awaited as Spring. After a long, cold, dark and brutal Winter, many people begin to anticipate the sunshine and warmth of Spring as early as January, knowing full well they are weeks away from seeing their apocalyptic tundra replaced by lilting song birds and kaleidoscopic flowers.

Read more at Suite101: The Poetry of Spring: Claude McKay – E.E. Cummings – Edna St. Vincent Millay http://poetry.suite101.com/article.cfm/the-poetry-of-spring#ixzz0irVYnbHM

Hey! How Ya Been?

Well, I have spent the last month back among the working stiffs; and after 13 years of being self-employed, I am thoroughly exhausted, and no longer oblivious to how good I’ve had it.

I miss all my friends in the “blogosphere”; and now that I’m beginning to build up a certain amount of endurance, and getting the feel for carving out free time between work days, I feel I’ll soon be able to return to the computer. 

Here is a poem I wrote some years ago; and I apologize if it’s a bit of a downer, I promise I’ll start posting some of my sunnier stuff soon (maybe, when the sun actually starts to fucking shine again!):

a room so large

to hold all the people leaving

and they are all leaving

no one seems to be coming home

J.D. Salinger on Film

From the initial publication of J.D. Salinger’s masterpiece The Catcher in the Rye in 1951 there have been rumors surrounding a possible film version of the seminal teen angst classic; but, alas only rumors, because the reclusive author never relinquished the rights to his novel.


One has to imagine the late Mr. Salinger got quite a kick out of the myriad offers made over the years, from the sublime: Elia Kazan, Steven Spielberg, to the ridiculous: Jerry Lewis, Harvey Weinstein.
From Brando to DiCaprio, actors have longed to play the beloved teen anti-hero, Holden Caulfield, to no avail. But, J.D. Salinger’s stubborn refusal to allow anyone to transfer The Catcher in the Rye to the big screen has not stopped many writers and directors from making their own Salinger-like films.

Read more at Suite101: Films Inspired by the Works of J.D. Salinger: Igby Goes Down – The Squid and the Whale http://independentfilms.suite101.com/article.cfm/films-inspired-by-the-works-of-jd-salinger#ixzz0eDQUFUkI

My Favorite Films of the U.K.

My Favorite Films of the U.K.

Click on title to learn more about the film (asterisk indicates my original review).

1. Naked (1993)

2. The Ruling Class (1972)

3. The Third Man (1949)

4. Howards End (1992)

5. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

6. Gosford Park (2001)

7. *The Hit (1984)

8. *Withnail and I (1986)

9. Local Hero (1983)

10. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Mass. Hysteria, Frank Rich, and My Two Cents

"It was not a referendum on Barack Obama, who in every poll remains one of the most popular politicians in America. It was not a rejection of universal health care, which Massachusetts mandated (with Scott Brown’s State Senate vote) in 2006. It was not a harbinger of a resurgent G.O.P., whose numbers remain in the toilet. Brown had the good sense not to identify himself as a Republican in either his campaign advertising or his victory speech.  And yet Tuesday’s special election was a dire omen for this White House."  -After the Massachusetts Massacre by Frank Rich




My two cents:

If Mr. Obama can figure out a way to bring the economy back...

80's Fun fact: When was the last Great Recession? Dec. 1980-Nov. 1982 - unemployment over 10% - Republican hero, Ronald Reagan? Most political pundits saw no hope of re-election in 1984 - Won re-election by one of largest landslides ever.

Approval Ratings:
Reagan 49% (1/1982)
Obama 50%  (1/2010)

Cache: My "Best of" list goes to 11

One of the reasons I tend to dislike Top 10 lists (yet, I continue to make them) is the fact that I invariably leave a title off the list.

Case in point, I have been reminded by recent blog postings by Roger Ebert and Jim Emerson how much I love Michael Haneke's mystery, Cache (2005); and how it is without a doubt one of the best films of the 2000's.

Cache is a great mystery that has puzzled many a film-goer, and if you read my review you will learn certain details that might tip you to the "who" done it; but, alas, I have yet to decipher the "why".

Oh, I hear the skeptical cinephiles out there deriding my proclamation; saying, "How dare you claim to know the answer to the Cache mystery!" Well, again, I think I know the "who", but, not the "why". Suffice it to say, I think Jim Emerson is on the right track.

Both Ebert and Emerson's take on Cache are encompassed in this link: What is hidden in Cache?

....

a natural pose

a natural pose

a natural pose
in artificial light
causes her eyes to close
his interior to collapse
flowers implode
within his simple heart
strains of rain 
well
she lowers her hand
and drenches her hand
in his eyes
clouds of weather
and stars together
fall
in an indirect light
come angels
fat with desire 

The Invention of Lying: A Bad Omen?

About halfway through The Invention of Lying I thought I might be watching one of the most brilliantly funny religious satires ever made; and then, for whatever reason, the film took a turn into the most dreaded of genres: Romantic Comedy; and all was lost. I am both encouraged and concerned about Ricky Gervais as a comic actor and film maker. 

There is of course Mr. Gervais' comic genius, when combined with the kind of bravery and insight displayed in the first half of Invention, shows a potential for something great; Woody Allen great; Preston Sturges great. But, ominously lurking in Gervais' work is a fatal flaw that has brought down many a good comic; that flaw is sentimentality (See Robin Williams). 

 

My Favorite Films of 2009

Films I think would probably have made my list had I seen them are Nick Hornby’s An Education, The Coen Brothers' A Serious Man and Pedro Almodovar's Broken Embraces; but, alas, I'll have to wait to see them on DVD, and curse my lists limitations.

Indie Film of the Year

(granted, small scale films were slim pickins’ this year)

(500) Days of Summer

This film is an example of why I refuse to call my movies list, The Best of...  Because, (500) Days of Summer is not one of the best films of 2009, frankly, its not even a great film at all, but, it was one of my favorites.

For whatever reason, (500) Days of Summer stuck with me for a long time; I thought about it; I thought about the characters; I re-played certain scenes in my head; it was memorable; and I liked it, a lot. 

As one who absolutely despises the romantic-comedy genre; and feels films that romanticize romance and elevate fairy tales about knights on white horses and snow white beauty, are as dangerous as any graphically violent horror show, I was pleasantly surprised by an unsentimental (to a point anyway) love story that pulls very few punches. 

(500) Days of Summer is a lovely remedial Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (which was itself Annie Hall transmogrified through the portal of Charlie Kaufman).

Animated Film

Ponyo 

I liked Up, but, after having watched it a couple of times, I think it might be a bit overrated.  I think I’m going to like Wes Anderson’s  stop motion take on Roald Dahl’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox, but, there is nothing like a Miyazaki film.

Every film Hayao Miyazaki has made presents something surprising and unexpected; the man’s imagination is boundless.  From Castle in the Sky to Spirited Away, he’s not just my favorite maker of animated films, but, one of my favorite film makers, period.  Ponyo is beautiful and subtly moving.  

Documentary

Food, Inc.

Food, Inc. is a compelling and disturbing film about the corporatization of America's farms, and the damage done to America's food safety and personal welfare.  It’s also one of the most potently emotional films I saw all year.  

Read my full review: Food, Inc.

Science Fiction

Moon 

What makes Moon so refreshing (ugh, did I just say that), aside from the fact that first-time director Duncan Jones resists the amateur's urge to dazzle the audience with technique, is the fact that this is a Science Fiction film, in the old-fashioned, Issac Asimov-Arthur C. Clarke sense of the term (as opposed to most so-called Sci-Fi movies today, which are actually just action films that happen to be set in the future; See Star Trek).

Moon is a character study, wherein our hero's emotional and physical fate will lie at the mercy of technology and some form of scientific magic that we may not understand, but will relate to, because of a fantastically construed dilemma that challenges our preconceived notions of what it means to die alone.

Action

Star Trek

Even Trekker purists `fessed-up to being thoroughly entertained by Star Trek 2009, with a caveat:  the actual Science Fiction part of the film left a bit to be desired.

Arguably the best-looking movie of the year (all due respect to Avatar), the film literally glows, as witnessed by a shiny new Starship Enterprise zipping through space with an equally shiny new cast of actors.  The guy who played Kirk was good, and the guy who played Spock was good, but, the guy who played Bones McCoy, Karl Urban, was awesome; his performance was a nice homage to the late DeForrest Kelley.

Comedy

Whatever Works

Once again I've found myself in the position of having defend my beloved Mr. Allen against charges that he can't deliver the goods; but, aside from the fact that I happen to know a good Woody Allen film when I see one, Whatever Works is funny as hell; and I have a pretty good pair of film students to back me up, Quentin Tarantino and John Waters.

Read my full review: Whatever Works

Horror

Drag Me To Hell

Sam Raimi returns home with a kick-ass horror film with all kinds of beautiful allusions to his most cherished work, Evil Dead.  Drag Me to Hell is a pitch-perfect fright flick that shows the young bucks out there making those ridiculous torture porn films that with the right mixture of suspense, intrigue, and yes, gore, there’s only a razor’s difference between something good and scary, and something bloody awful.

The Film of the Year

Inglourious Basterds

Quentin Tarantino’s best film since Pulp Fiction. 

Inglourious Basterds is an embarrassment of riches; providing the viewer with countless scenes of action and drama, spiked with black humor, all equally compelling; perfectly balancing bloody, red meat action sequences with rich, full-bodied, red wine conversation pieces.

Read my full review: Inglourious Basterds

Melancholy (poem)

Melancholy

touch my hand my

darkness sounds amplify

my

let loose my shoulder

so I may cry

while you have hold

of someone

elses

I am only a child

my mouth slight

your face long and creased

my smile is night

something from you lingers

in my

teach me my

help me my

I am my

my