Now Playing 10/05

I am off to see Margot at the Wedding. wheeeee [/bragging]

L I M I T E D
Finishing the Game Justin Lin (Better Luck Tomorrow) directs a comedy about the casting process to finish Bruce Lee's last picture (unfinished when he died) Game of Death
The Good Night -Gwyneth's brother Jake directs her in his first feature, a lucid dream dramedy which also stars Penélope Cruz, Martin Freeman, Simon Pegg and Danny DeVito
Michael Clayton -The Clooney makes another sober bid for awards season play with this legal drama written and directed by Bourne franchise scribe Tony Gilroy. Co-starring Oscar-bound (?) Tom Wilkinson (In the Bedroom) and the always welcome presence of avant garde icon gone mainstream Tilda Swinton

Plus documentaries including rave magnet My Kid Could Paint That about an explosive few months in the art world that mainstream media egged on, Tony Kaye's (controversy freak!) abortion doc Lake of Fire, a look at the exhausting topic of religion vs. the gays For the Bible Tells Me So

W I D E
Feel the Noise a would be rapper on the run from thugs. Let's hope it is not as generic as its tag line "dream out loud"
The Heartbreak Kid Ben Stiller, comedic assault #347. That guy sure stays busy. But I detect some misogyny from the trailer (wives bring a man down... ewww, woman are gross if you have to live with them.... etcetera hard-ee-har-har). No thanks, Ben
The Seeker: The Dark is Rising based on the fantasy series from Susan Cooper although this is the second novel of that series. Why start at the beginning? It's fun that Hollywood has discovered the fantasy novel --truly an inexhaustible supply of source material though separating the jewels from the shiny fakes will be difficult-- but it's sad that they'll probably be careless with them. They've made a lot of changes to this one and change is fine if its driven by artistry (see Peter Jackson) and not a lack of imagination or commercial concerns (i.e. the neutering of the entire thematic drive of The Golden Compass which is so heavily about organized religion in literary form and which will be about what exactly onscreen... the special effects?)

E X P A N D I N G
It just got easier to see In the Valley of Elah, Into the Wild, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and Across the Universe. The Darjeeling Limited (related post) and Ang Lee's Lust, Caution both added a few markets but most of you will still have to wait.

How long is it until you can take Wes Anderon's red yellow and orange Indian voyage? How long is it until you can witness Tony Leung Chiu Wai & Tang Wei's Cirque du Soleil worthy flexibility for yourself?

"Attend the Tale"? Sweeney Todd Trailer

"at last my arm is complete again"

The Sweeney Todd trailer has finally arrived. True to form with Tim Burton movies it looks like sweet sweet dark eye candy. Helena and Johnny both look good (from what little we can tell here). Unfortunately Hollywood's marketing departments still haven't learned the lessons of Chicago, Moulin Rouge!, Dreamgirls and Hairspray. It's not 1986 anymore. People actually like musicals again. They go to them. Those first three won Oscars. The last one had the best musical box office opening in decades. This wishy washy "it's a musical. but it's not really a musical! OK, there's some music" thing is so passé.

Lunchtime Poll

I’m itching to see Into the Wild but I’ve been too busy to seek out that opportunity. So for today’s Lunchtime Poll put yourself in that traveling man mindset:

Q: If you were abandoning everything for some solitary adventure, which movie related sites would you visit on your travels?
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Are Julianne and Nathaniel Getting Back Together?

I moved to Harlem two years ago and I knew immediately that I'd made the right choice. As if to reward me for my continued neighborhood faith the city put up Michelle Pfeiffer posters at my subway entrance this summer.

Now, the universe is winking at me again.

<-- This time its my other goddess, Julianne Moore, blowing in the wind on 125th street. As you may have gleaned, Julie and I have been going through a rough patch for the past couple of years... trial separation and whatnot. But things are looking up. I'm hearing only good things about her performance in Savage Grace. I accidentally walked by her brownstone a month ago with a friend of a friend who unexpectedly pointed at her door and told me he'd met her and blah blah blah (he had no idea about my, um, feelings for "god" and I had no idea I was walking on the street where she lived). Now she's filming Blindness for Fernando Meirelles, which is based on one of my favorite novels. (We'll talk about that one soon)

These must be signs.

Julianne Moore @ a party for Savage Grace in Cannes (photo from IndieWire)

Finally, my girl made me chuckle yesterday as a stiff folk singer in Todd Hayne's Bob Dylan rumination I'm Not There. One particular Julie moment has a distinct whiff of Christopher Guest style mockumentary adlib'ing. I laughed out loud and found my heart beating a little faster. Perhaps the trial separation is over. Is our love reborn?

Links & Delurkers

<---La Pfeiffer and Sienna Miller at another Stardust premiere elsewhere. Poor Sienna... Poor anybody who has to stand next to Michelle.

Ken Levine The difficulty of episode two (after the pilot episode, what then?)
ModFab has thoughts on 19 (19?!) new TV shows
Lazy Eye tortoise or hare zombies?
Anne Thompson surveys the major media attempts at awards-blogging
ZigZigger thinks Hotel Chevalier is wonderful. (I concur) Maybe the short film is Wes Anderson's true calling?
BuzzSugar preview for SciFi's show "Tin Man"

<--- I didn't find about about the great mofo delurk until today. It's a day designed to get the lurkers everywhere on the web to type a word or five into those little white boxes on their favorite blogs. But today is the day. I didn't miss it. So if you've been reading the film experience in silence now is the time to finally say hello. Tell us one thing about yo'self. Come out of that dusty closet and admit you read this blog.

Heroes in Hiding

I recently noticed that The House Next Door was pushing an article from the Guardian from a former TV hater who had seen the light: TV shows were better than movies was the basic claim. The writer conveniently passed on reality television, game shows or the like. I don't know how one can make grand pronouncements about the quality of an artform if you're ignoring huge swaths of it. That's like claiming that movies are generally filled with nuance are slow moving and deeply political whilst on your way back from a film festival (Try the multiplex and then get back to us). Anyway... though I've been guilty of it before I think it's silly to compare TV and Film. They are different mediums with separate weaknesses, strengths and goals.

So... I thought I'd stick a pinky toe into the TV water (more on pinky toes later) here and there. Not too much --this is still a film site. So, let's start with Heroes. I watched it on and off last season and found it plagued by the curse of Buffy Season 7. In the final season of Buffy the characters were always engaged in Dramatic Acts of Worrying™ and the dialogue often featured ominous chestnuts like 'something's coming' or 'things are bad... really really bad' as if the concerned faces and inchoate fear would convince us that something was indeed worrisome. and happening (!!!) If something was it was definitely happening offscreen. Like many a bad movie, some TV series forget the #1 rule of visual medium: show don't tell.

It's too early to state with certainty that Heroes second season is treading water until they think of some story to tell but it sorta feels that way. Still, the show works on the pop level. It continues to be a kick that they've embraced comic book aesthetics for so many of their visual choices be it the fonts used for credits or the camera angles chosen. And we should also thank the Heroes team for getting their men wet with some regularity. I'm for that.

Elsewhere things were less scrumptious. Hiro (the Japanese time stopper) is still in the past ---zzzzzzz time travel stories are a pet peeve of mine but this one is particularly tedious. Claire (the indestructable cheerleader) and family are still arguing about hiding their true selves. That exciting discussion was also featured in the last episode and i'm guessing we'll hear it a few more times, too. Wheee.

Northstar and Aurora. er... the Wonder Twins um, the Latino twin characters are still accidentally killing people with their black oozing eyeballs (sometimes when I watch this show I retroactively wish that Buffy the Vampire Slayer had been blessed with a budget this big). Their involuntary manslaughter bodycount was also featured in the last episode and i'm guessing we'll see that at least once more --maybe they'll get to their destination in episode 4 or 5.

Just as I was getting really annoyed with the placeholding narrative, the show finally got to the good stuff: an appearance by the show's best character: MR. MUGGLES (pictured, left)! I'm not the only viewer that thinks Heroes is overcrowded. The problem with huge ensembles like this is that you get so little time with the characters you love the most. And since Heroes is allergic to death (even the murdered people come back) there's no way to prune the cast. It's only going to get more crowded as new heroes emerge. Poor Mr. Muggles. This little guy is cuter than cheerleaders and politician's brothers put together. He also has the show's best comic timing. He's so underused. His superpower is that he makes me want a dog and I am a devout cat person.

Oh and yes. Just after Mr. Muggles made my night, this episode topped itself with its extro. Earlier in the episode Claire got curious about the regenerative abilities of lizards and whether they're a match with hers. She gets another one of her brilliant ideas...


Claire wants to test her limits and the healing process. I get that. But did it have to be with scissors? Ewwww. But then, the prettiest girl is always paired with the grossest images on Heroes --that incongruous marriage is still the show's best running gag.

"This One Goes to 11"

That famous line from Spinal Tap is more than appropriate here. My god but there's bombast!

p.s. Cate is a hoot. She's clearly relishing her star mojo... the rest of the cast kind of stares at her in dumb awe, poor things. But then that's basically all Elizabeth The Golden Age requires of them.

"I Am the Queen Mother Judd!"

The title shout of this post refers not to a country squabble --Naomi given Wynonna the what's what -- but to Ashley Judd letting loose in Bug. Pay attention.

It's DVD Tuesday...

I've been neglecting the DVD feature on this blog what with my general malaise (geez louise ~ tough year) and all the festival-festiveness so rather than detail each new disc coming out today I offer this simple guide of 11 (why not?) recent DVD releases -- stuff you and I both oughta rewatch / catch up with /discuss in the comments, else we be squished beneath the toes of that ever sprinting popculture beast

(in alpha order)

Away From Her -Sarah Polley's exquisite tale of an everlasting marriage and alzheimers will make my top ten list this year. I love its cool palette, wintry setting, and tearjerking performances which somehow free of cheap sentiment yet warm all the same. My nightmare: Julie Christie gets passed over for a Best Actress nomination this year. It could happen. It better not.

Black Book -Since this was skipped by the foreign language committee during last year's Oscar race, it's technically eligible for Oscar consideration in other categories this year (the year of its US release). Not that anyone will notice. But some people think it's awesome and that the lead actress is the shit.

The Boss of it All -Lars Von Trier does comedy (?) Have you seen it?

Brothers and Sisters: The Complete First Season -it desperately craves your love (this one's so codependent with the audience) it requires your patience with its histrionics (endless). It rewards those things with compulsive watchability... and of course Sally Field

Bug -Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon deal with infestations of the body... or mind. Director William Friedkin (The Exorcist) helps them freak you out. I loved the play so much I overhyped myself on this one --I was probably more disappointed than I should have been though I did like it. I plan to watch it again soon. [more blather on the hype vs reality problem here and the next victim I fear it'll take] If you're seeing Bug for the first time do share -- did it burrow under your skin?

Death Proof -I've excluded the Grindhouse preface to this title because they've neutered that angle in DVD release form. Tarantino's car chase epic is expanded to 113 minutes now so even more tedium awaits! I realize this film has many vocal fans but if you're one of them, please for the love of celluloid explain to me how you stayed awake for the first interminable hour. I need to know. Figure it might be useful next time I have to go to work after a whole night of insomnia.

Jindabyne -Because it won awards @ Stale Popcorn and because Nick seconds that love

Next -The only Julianne Moore movie that I ever skipped (and she makes a lot of clunkers --so basically I'm a saint). I passed on account of terrible reviews but mostly on account of Nicolas Cage whom I've only been tricked into looking at a few times in the past 10 years, a major feat since he makes so many movies.

My body trembles at the thought of renting this. Netflix adds a cold sweat to those shakes by sharing that the folks who loved Ghost Rider, Wild Wild West and Fantastic Four "recommend" it. As, what, a torture device? I'm just asking.

Snow Cake & The TV Set -A Sigourney Weaver double feature? Why not. (prev thoughts on TV Set here)

Zoo -I dunno. But Nick likes it a lot and I am occassionally found watching documentaries. Only very occassionally. A character flaw I know.

Will you be renting any of these or giving them a second go. Thoughts?

NYFF: Patty, Will You Marry Me?

From the 45th Annual New York Film Festival (Sept 28th thru Oct 14th)

<--- I am in love with Patty Clarkson. I've declared this fondness before... albeit in a more platonic professional fashion. But my suddenly matrimonial intent was not a solitary one in the Walter Reade theater last week. The entire audience @ her new film Married Life was eating out of her hand. She was all flirtation and humility while working that crowd during the Q & A that followed. Boy does that woman spark. [My favorite moment: she affectionately referred to her character as "a deep redheaded ladygirl." Emphasis hers.]

Life director Ira Sachs, who hogged most of the questions, said he wanted to show Patty in a new light in this film and he does: There's one particularly fresh scene with Ms. Clarkson in lingerie that'll make you envious of her scene partner. She plays a grandmother but da-amn. But, anyway, the movie...

Married Life opens on one of those kitschy illustration-filled title sequences. It's essentially suggesting that you're about to view a comedy. The narration by "Richard" (Pierce Brosnan), is of the serious but winking variety of running commentaries. It suggests that you're watching a noir or a black comedy. Yet the movie that unspools is neither of those and more things too: a treatise on coupling, a melodrama, a bedroom farce. I shan't spoil the story's twists for you but the comic premise itself is known: Harry Allen (Chris Cooper) has fallen in love with a young woman Kay (Rachel McAdams) and decides to spare his wife Pat (Patricia Clarkson) the pain of divorce by murdering her.

I'm all for tonal mishmashes if they work but Married Life doesn't. In a period film that doesn't open up much (it's based on a book but you're forgiven if you assume it was a play) you're left with only the actors to sell the material. Despite their collective talent (considerable) the effort shows. Chris Cooper has the most to work with and acquits himself well though his interpretation is so serious that it tilts the movie far into sober drama.

Maybe that's the intent since Rachel McAdams also goes for a portrait of deep hurt. This Canadian actress is the one that everyone wants to crown as the newest bonafide movie star but in this film she only continues her stardom avoidance tour. She's quite good at hinting at unexplored depths but the movie seems mostly interested in her beauty and its ability to hold the frame.


Patricia Clarkson, always a joy to watch, is assigned whatever levity this quiet serious film can muster. Unfortunately, "Pat" is the character that makes the least sense in retrospect as more and more of the story becomes known. It's as if the earlier scenes are purposely obscuring the story rather than playing as organic parts of the whole. Married Life ends with a dinner party but the dish it's serving up smells weird. There are tasty ingredients but this movie is a clash of flavors. C

NYFF: A Francophile Weekend

From the 45th Annual New York Film Festival (Sept 28th through Oct 14th)

The Romance of Astrée & Céladon
French legend Eric Rohmer rather cheekily adapts an ancient myth for today's cinema. Or rather I think that he does. Astree & Celadon is one of those foreign language films that make me question the whole enterprise of people judging films and performances that aren't in their native tongue. Are these performances as affected as they seem? (How can I tell when I can't hear the line readings filtered as they are through subtitles, a non-aural beast.) If not, why do I imagine the affectations? If I'm correct, does the stylistic choice inform the subject or is it poorly executed? I couldn't tell you.

Here's what I do know. The screenplay makes an initial fuss over this tale's bucolic charms and wild poetry; the former is nominally present in the scenery --though I wish it'd been more capitalized on by the cinematography; the latter is found in the ridiculous beauty of its lead players (Astrée is Stéphanie Crayencour. Céladon is Andy Gillet, whose charms were not lost on Boyd in our Venice coverage) ...but not, I think, in the film itself which feels stiff. At least to this non French speaker. And yet the movie has some charm, fun circular logics --"love desires only itself" is played out amusingly, and an altogether satisfying and sensual conclusion. (As a whole though, er.... grades are so useless. I'm going with "C"ish grade but the ending is divine. Steve, who reported from TIFF earlier, liked it less than I.)

The Diving Bell and Butterfly
The first half hour of this bio story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffers from locked in syndrome (i.e. total paralysis but with a fully functioning mind) is a marvel. Entirely told from the paralyzed man's point of view the film is visually inventive, moving, and rich with an array of tones from gallows humor to curiousity to horniness through to sober despair. The rest of the film which abandons its "locked in" point of view rather suddenly and for reasons I cynically assume are commercial isn't as strong but is still moving and well played.

This movie has a way of amassing ardent wet-eyed admirers. You need those fans if you're hoping for rave reviews, abundant top ten lists, and awards traction. It's in French so there are obstacles to its inevitable Oscar campaign but expect the team to push hard anyway. It can be compared, at least on the shallow surface, to The Sea Inside wherein Javier Bardem emoted while paralyzed from his bed. That earlier film went on to win the foreign film Oscar but missed its expected Best Actor nom. More surprisingly it didn't do so well even by adjusted arthouse standards given the awards, media attention and Bardem's fame. The Diving Bell and Butterfly is a much better film: less cloying, less superficial, and directed with true showman's flair. Whether or not that transfers to more awards and box office is impossible to predict... for now (more on Julian Schnabel at the Q & A) B

I missed: Spain's creepy genre pic The Orphanage but you can read reviews both very pro (Levy) and very con (Slant) if you're interested. Bela Tarr's The Man From London will also play today but it didn't fit into my schedule.

next up: 4 Months... , Secret Sunshine and Patty Clarkson in Married Life

Sweet Links Are Made of These

Submarine Channel features a fine title sequence from the upcoming Love in the Time of Cholera [src] --it's floral themed like Volver's closing credits but with a lighter earthier spirit
Hollywood Elsewhere hears very good and rather specific buzz on Enchanted. A must read hope for Amy Adams fan
Gallery of the Absurd an Oscar-tastic Pedro Almodovar painting
Projectionist a backwards glance at Sideways
StinkyLulu Supporting Actress 1990. Big hair. Fractious opinions
Flickhead Luis Bunuel blog-a-thon is now over.
Kellee Laser not the type o' thing I'd usually link to but this children's photographer was inspired by a Pfeiffer flick. All things Pfeiffer-related (however tangentially so) find me somehow

I'm so trying this gadget out --only in a more MPAA friendly way
The Rec Show draws dirty pictures involving Eastern Promises and the upcoming Sex & The City movie

<--- And a little bit o' Annie ...ok, a whole lotta Annie (Lennox)
Modern Fabulousity a whole slew of posts about the one and only Annie Lennox
Queerty Annie Lennox brutal honesty when questioned about dance remixes
Radio Allegro Gabriel and I gab about why we love this woman so much. Plus: tracks from her new album
Annie Lennox official site for news and the new single "Dark Road"

Katee Sackhoff. Still Hot ****

Just a reminder to the thousands of blogs out there currently and noisily kissing Katee Sackhoff's ass due to her orgasmic star turn as the evil bionic woman on NBC...


... I saw her first. That post is from January 2006 ;) Y'all should really listen to me more often. Surely she's TV's hottest find since, oh, Eliza Dushku and Wentworth Miller (both introduced on the greatest show of all time don'cha know). As for the rest of Bionic Woman, I'm less impressed. Carry on.

New Season @ TFE

Have finally joined the DVR/TIVO masses. Just finished programming the television shows I'm interested in --for the life of me I can't be bothered trying to figure out when shows air so I should've done this looong ago. Is anyone interested in more (albeit still limited) television coverage here? Speak up

This programming endeavor got me to thinking about the "series" on this blog --I'm basically me own amoeba sized network. See, I'm the numbers obsessed executive and the rundown abused talent. Still, regular programming has helped me keep up the output so I'm giving myself deadlines and structure since blogging has been getting wobbly during festival season

Sun: "Naked Gold Man" (new Oscar-centric series. Premieres 10/14)
Mon: Reader Request (Topics controlled by kindly contributing $ patrons. Premieres 10/15)
Tues: Top Ten (Returning 10/16)
Wed: Hump Day Hottie / Kissing (sharing this timeslot -returning/premiering 10/24)
Thurs: "A History of..." (returning Nov 8th)
Fri: TBA
Saturday:
All that plus the usual assortment of one-off goofs, reviews, guest bloggers and midseason replacements in case this network starts losing ratings. I've also heard the pleas and "20:07" returns (10/19) for one last month of screen capturey goodness.


Writing is less pleasureable and sustainable in a vacuum so please link up when you love something and speak up in zeee comments. Y'all have been quiet lately. And while we're on the topic of programming, put the film experience blog on your

If you're old fashioned, there's always the bookmark. And thus ends today's massive self-indulgent promotion. Thanks for your patience, xoxo

NYFF: Blade Runner, Scrubbed and Polished

From the 45th Annual New York Film Festival (Sept 28th through Oct 14th)

My eye has seen the glory of Blade Runner: The Final Cut. Technically my eyes saw it... but I am thinking about just one of them since the film's opening shot is so dependent on that reflective eyeball. I'd forgotten that, so entranced have I been for decades by its widescreen cityscape with fiery explosions. But the macro eye closeup is a perfect statement for Blade Runner's opening, human but abstract... unconnected to a face.

When you finally get a chance to see this film in its clean and pristine form (i.e. not some grubby VHS print or DVD from ancient negatives) it's difficult to imagine how you lived with previous versions.

I've seen Blade Runner in theaters before (most memorably in the early 90s rerelease) but this experience was divine. My earlier fears about the rejiggering (click the label below for more Blade Runner fanaticism) proved mostly foolish, though I did catch a glimpse of what I believe was a new Joanna Cassidy shot. Otherwise it just felt entirely new through being completely refreshed. God bless chemicals or digital technology or Ridley Scott... or whatever / whomever is responsible.

Though I loved Blade Runner from the start I've always been a little surprised (pleasantly so I should add) that it's developed such a rabid fan base. For, narratively speaking, it's really unsatisfying as typical movie thrills go. The hero is decidedly unheroic. You are not eager to see the villains get theirs. The action sequences end quickly. The big finish is quiet rather than explosive. This 1982 classic is almost anti dramatic yet it's completely absorbing, hypnotic and resonant.


In 2007 it's a time travelling mindf*** to see a movie so clearly and heavenly 80s looking like it just came from the lab. Blade Runner is that rare thing, a piece of art that has definitely aged but is none the worse for having done so. It's not "aged" in the typical derogatory sense of the word. It's only older.

I'm miffed that many of you won't be able to see this in theaters where the über influential imagery and lush immersive soundscapes really make it an experience rather than just a movie. It will have a very limited rerelease before it hits stores. The upcoming DVD release will include all previous versions of the film and will cost a measly $78. That's OK. Starving artists like myself don't need earthly --or in this case offworldly-- possessions (sniffle).
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NYFF: The Darjeeling (Very) Limited

From the 45th Annual New York Film Festival (Sept 28th through Oct 14th)

Despite the buzz you may have heard surrounding the hush hush screenings of P.T. Anderson's There Will Be Blood it was not sadly not part of the general press offerings since it’s not in the festival. So I must wait. There Will Be Tears… from me.

So let’s talk about the other writing/directing Anderson. Wes.


The Darjeeling Limited, the story of three brothers on a spiritual journey through India, opened the New York Film Festival last night. It is unmistakably a Wes Anderson picture. The Wes elements are out in full force: obsessively designed sets, amusing rectangular compositions, eclectic song scores, privileged lost boys, bright colors and theatrical costuming, Angelica Huston and Bill Murray. The question is really whether or not those elements, pleasing to a one, add up to great movie. I’m not sure they do. Though I remain completely enamored of The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) there’s beginning to be a distinct whiff of branding to this auteur’s work. His movies are always lovely and still fun but they don’t smell as fresh.

Read the Rest @ AWARDS DAILY

NYFF Thwarted by Evil MTA

Those of you who live in big cities will understand: sometimes public transport conspires against you. You're like a flea on an unruly animal. You need the beast but it might just kick you off and be done with you.

This morning before squeezing in some hours for my abandoned day job I planned to take in The Orphanage, a big buzz Spanish title, at the NYFF. The innocent-looking conductor of the 2 train had other plans. He nonchalantly announced that he was going local instead of express. Various types exited the train in protest and I, having just exited, got back on. I was happy to have the MTA deliver me to my cinematic destination a few minutes earlier than the walking I was about to do. (OK, I was lazy. That, too)

But...horrors! The conductor then revealed his true malevolent film-hating nature and proceeded to skip all the local stops he'd just promised. He dropped me off 10 minutes away --too late to retrace my steps to catch the one and only press screening of this film that doesn't open until late late December. [/whining]

The Orphanage has recently been announced as Spain's official Oscar submission. You must always pay close attention to Spain. They have the third best foreign Oscar record of all time, just behind France and Italy.

Guillermo Del Toro, who nearly won this category last February with Pan's Labyrinth, produced this movie and it's another supposedly vivid genre piece. Will the Oscar voters want to go there --or near there again? Can The Orphanage overcome the dozens of strong contenders already announced? This looks like a competitive Oscar year for the Foreign Film Category (click here for lots of updates)
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NYFF: Mungiu and 'Message'

From the 45th Annual New York Film Festival (Sept 28th through Oct 14th)

In the Q & A following the press screening of 4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days, the terrific Palme D'Or winner from Cannes, writer/director Cristian Mungiu was discussing why he makes commercials to pay the bills. (What !?! Art films don't pay...who knew?) He said:

I never wanted to make television because television is... uh... something else

I can't say that I knew exactly what he meant with that evasion but, curiously, I can say that I get it. But then I like to fill in blanks.

Mungiu wants us to do that anyway. Repeated attempts were made by the audience to pin the soft-spoken director down on the subtext, meaning, message and politics of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. They wanted clarification because the movie obviously has more meat to its bone than its threadbare abortion plot suggests. His repeated refrain regarding "messages" delighted me...

I don't believe in this

This aversion to didacticism is one of the reasons that his movie is so damn good. It's also why it will never win the Foreign Film Oscar (though I hope its critical rep will force it into the shortlist)

updated: a few words about the lead performance by Anamaria Marinca

Now Playing (09/28)

L I M I T E D
Lust Caution opens in exactly one theater. Oh the withholding...not from director Ang Lee mind you. He doesn't pull punches in this one: there's graphic sex (in the service of a fairly gripping story) and even some disturbing violence. In tribute to this movie and since you can't see it yet I'm offering up three DVD recommendations of other racy dramas. Well, you can technically see it now if you live in NY but you'll have to risk cramped seating, sell out crowds and bad sightlines the latter of which is just ideal for a subtitled movie... sheesh. For reasons only the distribution gods know, it's the Lincoln Plaza Cinema that got it. How Lincoln Plaza and the Angelika (two of the worst venues in the city) continue to get great movies as exclusives is a mystery to me.
Outsourced -a man loses his job and travels to India to train his replacement. Somehow it's a comedy
Trade -Kevin Kline stars in this sex-trafficking drama. Given that it's being massacred by early reviews perhaps it'd be wise to rent Lukas Moodyson's earlier Lilja 4Ever instead. It covers the same general topic and is quite good

W I D E
Feast of Love -Academy Award winning director Robert Benton and actors Morgan Freman, Gregg Kinnear, Radha Mitchell and a bunch of others (ensemble movie) investigate love in its many forms through several couplings
The Game Plan -Big lug's life altered by playing caregiver. Not a sequel to the Pacifier! Whatever happened to Vin Diesel anyway?
The Kingdom -Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper and Jamie Foxx shoot 'em up in the Middle East. Something about using our current political nightmares for typical action thrills disturbs me but I haven't seen it so I'll shut up. Maybe it's better than that

A L S O
Wes Anderson puts three brother on The Darjeeling Limited in India for some family bonding and art directed comedy. It opens the NYFF tonight before moving into regular theaters Saturday. It opens properly next week. In expansions In the Valley of Elah more than doubles its screen count so you can see what all the fuss is about Tommy Lee Jones (but doesn't it feel like Oscar buzz isn't really kicking in as expected for the movie itself?) and Warner Bros still doesn't want you to see The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. We may have to retitle it The Assassination of 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Corward Robert Ford' by the Disapproving Warner Bros. In its second week it's only at 5 theaters. Talk about withholding
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Random Lynchian Thought

"...fire ...walk ...with ...me"

Why is it that David Lynch can always scare the crap out of me?

And why do I always get the sense that the actors helping him are as unnerved as I am by their own efforts? See also: Naomi Watts in Mulholland Dr, Laura Dern in INLAND EMPIRE, Grace Zabriskie in Twin Peaks, etc... it's not just "Bob"-channeling "Laura Palmer" here.

Do any of you worry for their sanity while you watch his movies. Or do you just find yourself craving cheese?

NYFF: Julian Schnabel Said So

The 45th Annual New York Film Festival runs Sept 28th ~ Oct 14th but the press screenings began on Sept 17th and end Oct 12th. The postings here at the blog run from now through October 16th. Don't even try to follow the chronology for it will defeat you. It's like a blog project with Rashomon angles Pulp Fiction looping and even Memento reverses. I'm already totally confused and this is the first post.

<-- Director Julian Schnabel with his former leading man Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls)

I'll also be chiming in at Oscar Watch Awards Daily soon to add to the (my) confusion. So let's start with something easy just to flip this switch.

Ready? Here comes the annoyingly hooky title...

12 Things I Learned (or was reminded of but had forgotten) While Listening to Julian Schnabel at the Press Conference and Watching His New Film The Diving Bell and Butterfly (and how I feel about those things I learned and remembered)

1. Johnny Depp was supposed to star in this movie which is about a man (Jean-Dominique Bauby) paralyzed entirely but for one eye, but the mega star dropped out. I'm glad he did actually. A movie star essentially offscreen for huge portions of the film since you're seeing things from his bedridden perspective? Maybe not the best use of star magnetism.
2. Max Von Sydow is a helluva actor. He plays Bauby's dad. If the movie breaks out at all, expect Supporting Actor nomination talk. He made me cry and I don't cry at movies.... not regularly at least.
3. Mathieu Almaric deserves a big career. Seriously he was so good in Kings and Queen, Munich and this. Three in a row.
4. Julian Schnabel likes to name drop --Andy Warhol, Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando were just the tips of the iceberg. But it's all film related so...
5. Julian Schnabel is a flashy director. This works for the movie. How else to make a movie about a man lying immobile in bed interesting?

Von Sydow gets a shave from his screen son Almaric in The Diving Bell and Butterfly

6. Julian Schnabel is a Buddhist. Cool
7. Julian Schnabel seems miffed that he didn't win the Palme D'Or and had to settle for Best Director at Cannes. Not cool -- but in fairness this might've been a joke. It was hard to tell
8. Julian Schnabel was offered both 8 Mile and American Gangster but turned them down Yeah, chew on that one for awhile. Try to imagine the results
9. Julian Schnabel really wanted to make Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. He didn't see the film when it came out. Neither did I

10. Julian Schnabel only makes biopics --Basquiat, Before Night Falls, The Diving Bell and Butterfly. He claims that this is unintentional, it's just that he's interested in artists and writers.
11. Julian Schnabel doesn't care about movies. He said so. Still, he's good at making them. This is not quite a Salieri/Mozart moment I'm having, but it's annoying when someone so gifted at filmmaking doesn't really care or know that it's the greatest artform in the world.
12. Julian Schnabel would probably love seeing his name this many times in a row. I'm just sayin'

Further suggested reading: bad boy painter turned fêted director"