Monday, November 12, 2007
Just yesterday, Lesley brought a tall man downstairs from the Attic Gallery into the Highway 61 Coffeehouse to tour our secret microcinema. She introduced me to Ray McKinnon who looked vaguely familiar. We told him of our interest in screening independent films in the coffeehouse and he agreed to lend us a copy of a short he had made called The Accountant. He returned from his car unable to find the dvd he had thought was there, but in lieu of, he presented me with a CD of the soundtrack of his new feature: Randy and the Mob, which he told us was playing for the next week in Madison, Mississippi (about an hour away.) I recognized the cover of the CD, because I had seen an ad in the Oxford American promoting this film, which starred the director, Ray McKinnon and Walton Goggins of the Shield t.v. series.
Anyway, we went to see it tonight and it was hilarious.
(Also, I was reminded by the IMDB that Ray was not only the bona fide suitor from Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou, but he was the wonderful addled preacher man from the first season of Deadwood.)
If we had seen Randy and the Mob before we met him, it would have been hard to keep from laughing. (He seemed pretty normal in person.)
Ray is a major talent: writer, director, and actor with a real gift for physical comedy. Go see him tear it up as the Pearson twins in Randy and the Mob. (Walton Goggins is pretty good, too.) It is a southern story about a man who needs to change. You may not see a lot of promotion for this picture, but if you seek it out, it will make you smile. And laugh. A lot.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
I think the best way to spend my recovery from my recent brain surgery is to watch DVDs. But then what would you expect. But really, leaning forward is counterindicated for me - it causes pressure which leads to headaches; so leaning back for a couple of hours while a good film unspools is just what the doctor ordered: "Watch two movies and call me in the morning."
When I first rotated out after a week in the hospital, I was in the mood for Japanese films. I started with the first disc of Kinji Fukasaku's The Yakuza Papers - Battles without Honor & Humanity. It was good, but I think I needed humanity and maybe even honor; so I made the switch to Ozu.
Yasujiro Ozu's films are mostly about battles with humanity and honor, but the battles are inside the characters. There is seldom any violence or even much motion. The inner struggles mostly have to do with making decisions which will threaten to bring about the inevitable dissolution of a family (either sanguinary or metaphorical.)
Since the recent beginning of this new century, my wife and I have lost all four parents; so the subject of the dissolution of the family is never far from us. My nearly one year facing what to do about my macroadenoma of the pituitary gland has prompted much contemplation of my own death. It seems the sure hands of a talented surgeon have delivered me from my fears, but the inevitability of change remains in my brain.
I had alreaady acquired Ozu's End of Summer from Amazon UK. (It's not available here, yet.) Often when I get a DVD, even one I have waited years to be released, I will hold onto to it, waiting for the "right time" to watch it. Also, sharing with others is something I like to do - it makes me feel a little less guilty about the big screen TV and the cost of a DVD, if more people are entertained. So my wife and two friends joined me for a movie night. I'm not sure how fascinating everyone else found it, but the gentle rhythms of Ozu's charcters: an extended family struggling with making decisions about marriage, responsibility, family ties, and mortality; was a tonic for me.
I read in the paper the next day that Ozu's Tokyo Story has been selected by hundreds of critics as the best film in the history of the world. Hmmm.
This year will be the first in nearly 20 that I will not attend the Telluride Film Festival. It grieves me to miss this annual rite, and to miss the immersion in new and exciting films. So, I am having my own personal Ozu fest here. Such an endeavor requires a little international commerece. The Criterion Collection has started releasing special editions of several by the master: Tokyo Story, Early Summer, Stories of Floating Weeds - these are all readily obtainable from Amazon among other sources.
Amazon UK offers a couple of sets from Tartan : Ozu Volume One: Late Spring / Early Summer / Tokyo Story (Noriko Trilogy) and Ozu Volume Two: Record of a Tenement Gentleman / Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice.
From there, it's time to got to ebay. About a dozen more titles can be found available from Hong Kong reputedly featuring English subtitles. We'll see - they are headed this way now. The trick to this is you need a DVD player that can play the shiny discs from all over the world. That should be the beauty of DVD: it is a technology that unites the world by making all cinemas from Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas readily accessible to all. The cultures of the planet are a smorgasbord just waiting to be sampled. But. Sinister movie corporations demanded that the machines here have built in blocking devices to prevent all this cinematic world peace and understanding. Isn't that always the way?
But a region free machine can be had. And for barely more than that ultra cheap model, the world can be yours. A little search on Amazon reveals many models to choose from.
More about Ozufest 2005 coming soon.
Friday, October 29, 2004
House of Flying Daggers & Space Travelers
In September at the Telluride Film Festival Lesley and I saw Zhang Yimou’s latest: House of Flying Daggers. It is a story of doomed love and betrayal set against political struggle in the mold of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and related to Yimou’s next to latest: Hero (only with its theme being pretty much the opposite of that picture).
It was exquisitely beautiful to behold and the audience broke into spontaneous applause at the climax of several elaborate and brilliantly staged set-pieces. The film is a type of ballet involving arrows, swords, brightly patterned fabrics, and bamboo. Obviously many of the stunts are tricks utilizing wire, but still one can’t help but wonder often, "How they do that?"
Set in feudal China (is that a legitimate period?) the first 20 minutes or so take place indoors in a gloriously colorful house of entertainment (or house of a thousand fabrics maybe) where we meet all our new friends. Not long after, they all head outdoors into forest and field for the remainder. (This involves a change of clothes and identity for most.)
As a blind dancer (and so much more), Zhang Ziyi is as lovely as ever, especially when she changes into "men’s" clothes. Her rival (and also much more) as portrayed by Takeshi Kaneshiro is very cute in his blue silk suit. And that bamboo is gorgeous.
Even though House of Flying Daggers won’t officially premiere in the states until December, I have just received the Hong Kong DVD from one of the Internet sources for such things. While not quite as rich as the film, the transfer looks pretty damn good. I speak of the DVD 9 version. It has the good transfer, DTS audio (oooh, listen to the wind!) and removable (and legible) English subtitles.
The DVD 5 version is not recommended, as it lacks all the above and features instead blurry transfer, plain stereo, and burned-in hard-to-read subs. Ugh.
I enjoyed the movie enormously when we first saw it. On repeat viewings the seemingly endless twists of the plot become more laughable when there’s no surprise and they seem to make less sense each time. But still it’s a visual/aural treat.
Mr. Kaneshiro looked vaguely familiar, and after doing a little research, I realized I had another of his films in my collection: a Japanese comedy (mostly) entitled Space Travelers, in which he is the good-looking leader of a trio of young would-be bank robbers.
Another of the gang is obsessed by an anime series with the same name as the movie. His real life has not featured much fun, so in his fantasy life he projects himself and his friends as incarnations of the cartoon heroes: the Space Travlers.
The three young men see this bank robbery as a quick way to fund their trip to paradise, which they understand must be just like the image on a postcard they carry with them: waves crashing on a tropical beach. Somewhere.
Space Travelers is goofy, but eventually moving.
Like the three young men who have filled their lives with dreams and fantasy, I must admit that as I walk away from a film like House of Flying Daggers I am filled with the momentary feeling that I could swing from sky high bamboo by my feet, swinging my sword expertly as I plummet screaming towards my enemy. I guess I can understand how with nothing else in their lives but each other, they might try to parlay a feeling like that into the down payment on an equally unrealisitc new life.
But my advice to the youth of Japan and maybe even America is: robbing banks is not a suitable way to achieve your goals.
My version of Space Travelers is a VCD I scored on ebay a few years ago during a period when I figured any movie I never hard of must be worth sending a few bucks to Hong Kong for. VCDs look like DVDs but they are actually CD Roms. The video compression on these shiny discs is pretty crummy and the subtitles are usually burned in and hard to decipher. A movie of normal running time requires two discs. The VCD experience adds even more foreignness to foreign films. If the movie is any good, you forget how hard on the eyes it was. Mostly.
Sometimes I do miss those VCD collecting days a little, but not when I spin up as sumptuous a DVD as House of Flying Daggers. Wind blowing through bamboo never looked (or sounded) so good.
Monday, October 27, 2003
Killing Bill...
I left the theatre all charged up, head full of cool music, and feeling like at the slightest provocation I could whip out my Japanese sword and slice and dice whatever required it.
Tarantino was definitely leaving one of his strengths behind when he set out to make Kill Bill: the loopy conversations that defined Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and Jackie Brown (which I like a lot). But the art direction, music selection, casting (Uma Uma Uma), and even the choreography of the action was enough to make Kill Bill a lot of fun for me.
I think he did a great job of stealing liberally from these cheesy exploitation pictures and concocting probably the most fun kung fu/samurai sword/spaghetti western ever made that didn't involve bad dubbing.
I would guess it's not necessarily a chick flick.
And, far from being annoyed at the blatant commercialism of splitting the film in two, I wish the epic quest to kill Bill could just go on in regular installments kinda like the Lone Wolf & Cub/Baby Cart series: if not every six months, maybe every year or so for the next few. We need some antidote to the Harry Potter series.
Monday, November 11, 2002
Punch Drunk Love
When one emerges blinking into the light after seeing a Paul Thomas Anderson film, there’s usually one of two reactions:
1. What in the hell was that?”
2. Wow, he done it again!
I’m firmly in the latter camp, at least so far.
I do have to admit I can’t accurately tell you what a person thinks/feels after the average Adam Sandler picture, because I haven’t blinked into that particular light, yet. Punch Drunk Love is no average Adam Sandler (or anybody else’s) movie.
Sandler plays Barry Egan, a loser who appears to have a small business selling novelty plumber’s friends. His seven sisters appear to be dedicating their lives to “help him” past his weirdness, while reminding him of it and, more importantly, inciting it with every breath they take. I need to call my lone brother tomorrow morning and tell him how much I love him.
Sandler is riveting as a man so on edge he is afraid to make any move because people might notice him, who longs to be noticed for something other than his innate geeky ineptitude. And somebody does: a perfectly cast Emily Watson.
No one may be quite as odd in real life as Barry behaves in this film, at least no one who finds love with a beautiful woman. I’m reminded of the Jerry Lewis movies of my youth where babes like Stella Stevens can see how beautiful Jerry is inside, even though it’s
pretty clear to the rest of us that no bigger loser ever trod the Earth. This is an idea with appeal for a certain kind of boy. Believe me. But I can testify that many of us (boys and men) feel as goofy and angry, and out of touch as Barry (and Jerry) feels, and sometimes
miraculously we do find the love of a beautiful woman. My own wife assures me that Barry’s behavior was not really attractive to her, as if to make sure I don’t make of him a role model.
Yes, in some ways (but not the usual ones) Punch Drunk Love is quite the romantic comedy, but most of all it is another P. T. Anderson show. (If you’ve seen Boogie Nights or Magnolia you know what I mean) The movie starts cold with a sequence introducing us to Barry, and Emily, and a stray Harmonium, and a remarkable offer from Healthy Choice and American Airlines. After a suitable period of time, what appears to be the opening credit sequence begins with a musical interlude and some abstract patterns of intense color. We wait to see the title and other credits, but, well, that would be too easy. Anyone could do that.
The rest of the cast is superb, especially a couple of Anderson’s rep posse: Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Luis Guzman. The camera work, sound design, editing, choice of natural sets, lighting and color design, and yes, the music are all a delight; and as much of
the comedy of the piece is found among these crafts as in the acting. I would buy the soundtrack for just the closing credits if I could.
Punch Drunk Love: even the title is just right. As we left the theater, I commented to my long suffering wife, “you know, they really don’t make them like that any more.” She just rolled her eyes. I’m a lucky man.
Thursday, September 19, 2002
Spirited Away links
Here's an article about Spirited Away from USA Today (Sept. 18, 2002)
And here's a related story from that same paper.
Thursday, September 12, 2002
More from Telluride - Spirited Away - Japan Anime - Hayao Miyazaki
Spirited Away is another anime by Hayao Miyazaki, who directed Princess Monokoke. It begins much like his My Neighbor, Totoro: a family (Mom, Dad, and young daughter) is moving to a new neighborhood. It's right before the beginning of school. As they drive towards their new home, the daughter is clearly not happy about starting over. She misses her old friends, school, etc; and her parent's efforts to point out the new exciting possibilities are not getting through. The dad takes a wrong turn up a long forested hill, coming to an abrubt stop at a mysterious gate guarded by a stone sentinel. Despite the daughter's pleas, the parents are drawn to investigate. They find themselves in what might be an abandoned amusement park. But it dosen't appear to have been abandoned for long, and it's not exactly an amusement park. Uh oh!
The first 10 or fifteen minutes of Spirited Away are spooky and fun. The plot is much like Neil Gaiman's new book Coraline in that a young girl has to find the courage and wisdom to rescue her parents, and an important step in doing so is recognizing them. The premise of Spirited Away is the same as Totoro: ancient Japanese mythological spirits coexist with modern Japanese society, but are most likely only perceived by children. Not a sweeping epic like Princess Mononoke, but magical just the same.
