2003 Foreign, Alternative and Independent Films

He Loves Me... He Love Me Not - I just got back from this film and wow! what a surprise. A wonderful film that the less you know about this film the more you will enjoy it.

I knew nothing about this going in. I just wanted to see a decient film from 2003. For a while I thought it would be a showcase for Audrey Tautou's cuteness, but there is so much more. Can't wait until more people see it.

It opened in Dallas last Friday so maybe it is making it's way around the country.

Not much activity of late. Is no one seeing alternative cinema, or is there just diminishing interest in reviewing it?

Laurel Canyon

This is the movie for anyone who's ever wished there was more of Frances McDormand in films like Almost Famous or Primal Fear, because McDormand is the main attraction here. She's Jane, the unrepentantly bohemian record producer whose current beau is the lead singer of the band for which she's producing a record. He's played by Alessandro Nivola in a sly performance as a natural lothario, whose every encounter with a woman -- any woman -- hints at seduction. Christian Bale plays her straight-arrow med student son, who, at the start of the film, has gotten as far away from Jane as possible, only to find himself thrown together with her and her companions when he accepts a residency in Los Angeles. Kate Beckinsale is Bale's fiancé, another straight-arrow, who find herself oddly fascinated by Jane's sloppy, perpetually stoned world.

The film was written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko, and it's not nearly as good as her debut feature, High Art. (Then again, few films are.) It doesn't really have a story, and there's no real conclusion. The pleasure of the film is in watching the characters bounce up against each other. Bale and Beckinsale are somewhat limited by the formulaic nature of their characters, but McDormand and Nivola do wonderful work exploring the ways in which being utterly indifferent to the consequences of your actions can be both fascinating and exasperating at the same time.

Adding additional spice is Natasha McElhone as Bale's fellow resident, with obvious designs on him. Her character is enough of a square to make Bale want to talk to her, but underneath she's as wild as his mother -- and that makes her dangerously attractive.

Cholodenko knows enough to keep the scenes short and tight, and not to prolong the movie to the point where it would grow tiresome. The movie doesn't have much substance, but it's never less than entertaining.

A minor amusing point: Almost no one in the principal cast uses their real accent. Nivola, who was born in Boston, plays a Brit; Beckinsale, who's a Brit, plays a character born and raised in Boston. Bale once again plays an American (is his U.K. citizenship in danger?), and McElhone plays . . . an Israeli. McDormand is the only one speaking in something close to her own voice, and maybe that gives a clue about the characters.

M.

Blame it on the theater exhibitors, Michael, that would rather open Bringing Down The House in my area on 7 screens and not even 1 screen in sight for any new 2003 released alternative film since the start of the year. And here we are almost a quarter way through the year already.

~Edwin

The number of available screens shrank last year, which was considered a healthy thing (economically) for an overextended industry. Maybe the lack of screens devoted to alternative films is a side effect. Too bad.

According to Box Office Mojo, Laurel Canyon is playing at all of ten theaters, four of which are here. The Safety of Objects, which I may see tomorrow, is only at 32 theaters.

I made a conscious decision to skip Bringing Down the House. I feel like I've already seen it after watching the trailer a dozen times.

Side note: Before Laurel Canyon, AMC ran the trailer for Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things, which I'm eager to see. The version staged in New York, with the same cast, was a truly memorable evening, and I'm curious to see how it works on film.

M.

I'm just now getting films like Far From Heaven, Talk To Her and Ararat to show around here. And that's at the only arthouse theater in the vicinity. They might also be screening Rabbit Proof Fence, but probably not before the DVD hits the market. But, as you have said...there is no shortage of places to go see Bringing Down the House.

Bruce

I'm not seeing a whole lot of anything lately. I did see All The Real Girls this week, but didn't really have a whole lot to say about it.

I know how you feel.

M.

Primarily because of comments in this thread, I changed course today and went to see He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not. Wicked fun, and a sure-fire antidote to Amelie. (I realize that many people don't feel they need an antidote to Amelie, but I did.) Any reasonably alert viewer will pick up on what's happening pretty quickly, but that doesn't detract from the pleasure of watching things unfold. It's the utmost in manipulative cinema, but I don't mind being manipulated when it's done this well.

M.

Criminy, hasn't anybody seen Gerry? It isn't playing here yet, but I know it's out there. It's a great film that I can't wait to see again, although I'll admit that some here will probably hate it. Anyone else?

Gerry is playing here, but I won't be seeing it. Too many other things rank higher on my list.

M.

Only played for a week here in Cambridge (when something with Damon & an Affleck only lasts a week here, that's worrisome), and I don't have the time to fit a trip to Brookline in.

I guess all those "I liked it, but you'll hate it reviews" weren't the best thing for the movie.

Saw He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not based on the good word in this thread. Enjoyable movie. I don't think the narrative of the film is a gimmick because it is the main reason why the film works at all. The pleasure of the movie comes from the narrative style, it is therefore the subject of the movie rather than a cheapshot.

But The Son casts a much longer lasting impact. The movie can be difficult: it has very little dialogue (almost none for exposition), almost no reaction shots, lots of handheld, long take shots, and focuses on an ordinary looking man. The movie follows a carpenter who teaches ex-convict adolescents the trade; we are thrust into his daily life patterns, and a key new boy who arrives. There is an important plotpoint revealed relatively early in the film, and the tension it generates from there on with its seemingly slow pace is amazing. Olivier Gourmet is great as the main character.

Saw Bend It Like Beckham on Saturday, and it's the most fun I've had at the movies this year. Too tired tonight for a detailed review, but I can take a stab at one later if anyone's interested.

M.

Michael,
Unfortunately, because of where I live I doubt I'll ever get a chance to watch it in a theater, except if I venture to Detriot which I might do because I found the Ebert/Roeper comments about the film very interesting. Obviously, they loved the film!

Hell, I'm still waiting on City of God and The Quiet American to open around here.

Has anybody seen Irreversible?





Crawdaddy

Jason Seaver's review is here. Also, Jason has been keeping up an index of movies reviewed in this thread, which can be found on the first page (the second post).

I haven't watched the latest installment of Ebert and Roeper, because they also review Spun, which I'm seeing later today. I know they split on it, but the thumbs down was from Roeper -- and to me that's almost a recommendation. But I'm not surprised they both liked Beckham. It's an accomplished piece of filmmaking that breathes new life into material that, in outline, must have sounded like the most derivative stuff in the world.

M.

Since you just made the Irreversible threads offical before I did, there's a small amount of people that are finally getting to see Noe's gem of a film. I'm just curious on how the film will play to smaller markets, if at all.

Jason

Robert, don't be so sure that Beckham won't get to your neck of the woods. Fox Searchlight is putting a pretty good push behind the film--local word of mouth screenings are going for a month ahead of the film's release here--and the buzz I've heard is that they think Full Monty-like success is possible. This may turn up in multiplexes.

Very possible. This one's a crowd-pleaser.

M.

I enjoyed Spun, but it's definitely not for all tastes. Think Requiem for a Dream played as a black comedy and without any of the sense of loss or tragedy. You quickly realize that there's not much of a plot, and you're just going to be watching the ludicrous antics of a bunch of tweaking speed freaks for about 90 minutes. What keeps your attention (well, it kept mine) is the stylized filmmaking (overexposed and overlit cinematography, which exaggerates the grain and bleaches out the colors; jumpy "shock" editing; a production design that's as dreamy as it is disgusting; a few truly subversive animation sequences) and some of the over-the-top performances, especially Brittany Murphy, Mickey Rourke and (briefly) Eric Roberts. And if you've ever wondered how Mena Suvari would look taking a dump or John Leguizamo jerking off into a sock, this is the film for you. (No, I'm not making this up.) Jason Schwartzmann (of Rushmore) plays the lead, who, among other things, has some uses for duct tape that Tom Ridge probably wouldn't approve. And Deborah Harry has an all-too-brief role as a . . . well, I'm not exactly sure what, but she makes a strong impression.

According to Box Office Mojo, the film is currently playing in a grand total of one theater. I'm not sure how much wider Newmarket Films plans to take it, so it'll probably get discovered on DVD.

M.

It’s screening tomorrow night in Dallas and opens this weekend. I’m going to the screening tomorrow night, and would be interested in your comments

Gah... Falling behind on that index again.

Anyway... Went to the Coolidge Corner Theater's "We've Got Oscar's Shorts" fundraiser last night. A pretty light-hearted evening - almost all of the shorts were comedic - featuring a lot of good short films, but I don't find myself really pulling for anything in these categories like I did for Don Herzfeldt's "Rejected" a couple years ago.

So, without further ado...

Animation

"Katedra", from Poland, is a really stunning technology demonstration, with near-photorealistic people and quite impressive design. However, it really doesn't have much of a story to it, so as good as it looks, its six minute runtime seems longer. ¾

"The Chubbchubbs!" has been called the best part of Men In Black 2, but we didn't get it at the theater where I saw it. Cute, and nearly as clever as it thinks it is.

"Das Rad" is my pick for best of the bunch; apparently stop-motion, it has the neat gimmick of shifting between human timeframes and rock-time as two rocks on a cliff carry out a conversation while human history speeds on below, in fast-forward. ¼

"Mike's New Car" will likely win the award. It's cute and funny and not nearly as inventive as the other nominees.

"Mt. Head" is surreal, with an animation style that would seem more at home in a Spike & Mike festival than next to what many Americans think of when Japanese animation is mentioned. Somewhat amusing, but not my thing. ½

Live-Action

"I'll Wait For The Next One" (France) is, well, slight. One location, two or three characters, some cute dialogue and a lame ending. I've got no idea how this is nominated for an Academy Award while some of the shorts I saw at the Boston Film Festival (particularly "The Remembering Movies" and "Ocha Cups For Christmas") aren't. ¾

"This Charming Man" is probably the best of the three I saw. This Danish film pulls together a few interesting elements - romantic comedy, beauraucratic mix-ups, and overcoming racism - in a manner that isn't always smooth, but manages to balance goofy comedy with grounded realism. ¼

"Fait D'Hiver" (Belgium) starts out obnoxious and builds up to a good piece of dry, black comedy. Cute, and doesn't overstay its welcome. ¼

Documentary

"Mighty Times: The Legacy Of Rosa Parks" is a good, well-meaning documentary that is edited extremely well, considering that it's forty minutes of various people who knew her saying that Mrs. Parks was a saint. Not that it's not true, or that the piece's message of nonviolence is anything but good to hear, but the part which piqued my curiosity (and was understandably understated, considering that it's a bit more cynical than the movie's goals) is that Mrs. Parks wasn't the first to sit down on a Montgomery bus, but the first who was squeaky-clean enough that the NAACP was willing to press the issue over. Still, a well-made short that accomplishes its goals.

(Of coruse, since it features a lot of re-creation footage and is up against a 9-11-related short, I don't expect it to win)

Interesting to note that this year, all the animated shorts were on 35mm film while the others were projected video (BetaSP for "Mighty Times", DVD for the other three) - the opposite of previous years. And, brother, nothing makes you appreciate film more than sitting in the second row of a movie theater watching a subtitled DVD be projected!

(Speaking of the 2nd row, if the girl who sat next to me is reading this, PM me; my mouth sadly doesn't work until four hours or so after my brain takes an interest )

OK, Lew Crippen, this is for you:

Bend It Like Beckham

Imagine all of the following hackneyed elements rolled into one 2-hour movie:

• the sports movie featuring an underdog player on whose shoulders the Big Game comes to rest;
• the female empowerment movie about women struggling to define themselves in a man's world;
• the immigrant movie in which the new generation just can't relate to the concerns of its parents (recently revived by My Big Fat Greek Wedding);
• the "person with a talent" movie in which a youngster with some special ability (artistic, athletic) has to struggle for acceptance in a world that wants him/her to choose a more respectable profession;
• the teenage romantic triangle;
• the sibling rivalry plot (but deep down they care for each other as family members should).

That gives you some idea of the plot elements to expect in this film, but it can't prepare you for the cleverness, charm and sheer energy with which this remarkable project has been put together by director Gurinder Chadha (who also co-wrote the script).

Let me disclose up front that I know zero about soccer (or football, or whatever). If I correctly understood what I learned in the film, the title refers to the ability of soccer star David Beckham (and tabloid regular, thanks to marrying Posh Spice) to make the ball curve in just the right way to evade the goalie. That's the dream of teenage Jess, the raised-in-England child of a Sikh family relocated from India to London. The obstacles in Jess's way are formidable: There's no regular woman's team; her mother wants her to get married, cook and have a family like her sister is doing; her father wants her to become a solicitor; and the male friends with whom she hones her playing skills in the park are happy to include her but still treat her like a girl.

And then Jess meets Jules.

Jules has it a little easier. Her mother (played with pitch-perfect cluelessness by Juliet Stevenson) wants to interest her in girlie pursuits, but her father is happy to train her, and Jess has found an informal women's team set up as a kind of auxiliary to a men's team. At Jules' urging, Jess tries out and makes the team. Then she has to spend about half the movie lying to her family and sneaking off to practice. And when the Big Game, which will be attended by the professional American scout (!), is scheduled for the same day as Jess's sister's wedding . . . get the idea?

Along the way, Jess and Jules find themselves in a love triangle with their coach, nicely underplayed by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, and get mistaken for lesbians by Jules's hopeless mum. One of the things that makes the movie work is the apparent effortlessness with which director Chadha juggles all these elements, and the effect of cramming so much incident into one movie is to reenergize routines that, by themselves, would seem shop-worn. It helps that the cast is a winning one, especially Parminder K. Nagra, who is never anything less than believeable as Jess.

The film is loaded with unexpected grace notes that are, all by themselves, worth the price of admission. I give nothing away by disclosing that the opening sequence is one of Jess's daydreams, which is rudely interrupted in a way that lays out Jess's whole predicament for you. A cell phone ringing at an engagement party leads to a great visual joke. A brief scene showing Jess's mother trying to teach her traditional Indian cooking tells you in a few hilarious frames that Jess's heart isn't in it. And when Jess faces her moment of truth in the Big Game, something so unexpected happens that I nearly fell out of my seat laughing. The closing scene, which involves a cricket match (a game I will NEVER understand), even manages to resolve a trailing plot point that I never imagined the movie would find a way to work out.

It's not an especially deep film, and one could argue that some of the resolutions are a little too easy (like a lot of TV shows, the plot relies on a father who, in the crunch, knows best). But it's a hopeful movie, which is why I suspect it's such a crowd-pleaser and has already done major box office in the U.K. Even the credits are exuberant. They feature a sing-a-long by what appears to be the entire cast and crew (and a few bloopers for good measure). It's obvious that everyone involved had a good time making the film, and the pleasure is right there on the screen.

M.

Hey thanks Michael. I’d seen trailers for this a couple of times, and truthfully they pretty much put both my wife and I off—it did seem reasonably trite.

As late as this weekend we were debating on attending (we have a pass for the screening), but it now looks an easy choice.

Geez, Lew, that's a heavy burden you've put on my shoulders.

FWIW, Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave Beckham an "A", proclaiming that:


M.

Ah well, rest easy Michael. This is being screened in one of three ‘art’ houses we have in Dallas (though you might beg to differ) for critics and NPR contributors. My wife and I have only to choose where to eat (and if it should be pre or post-theatre).

All this about a mile from our home. It would have to be a very poor movie indeed to not enjoy the evening.

Of course, should we not, it will be your fault.

I did see Bend It Like Beckham last night. After Michael’s review there is not much left to mention.

The closing scene is actually quite nice in that the father is disclosing how to ‘bowl’ to the football coach. (His delivery to the father that got him out was technically illegal—you can’t bend your elbow when bowling). Of course we have leaned that he was a good fast bowler in his youth. This is equivalent to having a 95mph fastball.

And one more small point for non-football fans: Manchester United (Beckham’s side) is roughly the same as the Dallas Cowboys or the New York Yankees. A team that you love or love to hate.

If you liked ‘Greek Wedding’, you will love this film. And if you disliked ‘Big Fat’, finding it full of flab, you may well love this one also. Probably the best feel good movie, I’ve seen in some time.

I caught a late-morning showing of Nowhere in Africa, and I'm glad I didn't go later because the next showing sold out quickly. I guess that's what happens when a film wins the Oscar for best foreign-language film.

The film traces the experiences of a Jewish family who flee Nazi Germany in the late 30s and spend the war years on farms in Kenya. Though the Holocaust casts a shadow over all of the events of the film, it is not really the film's subject (as in, e.g., The Pianist). The film is more about how different individuals adjust to losing their place in the world so that they come to feel they are "nowhere". Not surprisingly, the daughter, Regina, through whose eyes we see much of the action, proves the most adaptable, while her mother and father struggle, each in their own way, with reinventing or rediscovering who they are when everything familiar has been torn away. Writer/director Caroline Link makes fine use of the African landscape, but doesn't overuse it; you never feel that you're watching a travelogue. The film is episodic but never less than engrossing, and Link finds unexpected moments of humor and tenderness in unlikely places. By the end, I found myself wanting to know everything that happened to the characters in the years after the film -- always a sign that a story has truly gotten under my skin.

M.

Yesterday was quite the alternative film day, with a second viewing of Gerry (finally opened here). A great film but one I realize will bore many to tears.

Then it was off to Devils on the Doorstep, a Chinese film about the Japanese occupation of the country during the waning days of World War II. Two hostages, a Japanese officer and his Chinese translator, are put into the care of a Chinese villager who wants nothing to do with them. Unfortunately for him, the people who took the hostages promise to kill him if he doesn't follow their orders. The movie is a lot funnier than it might sound, although a lot of the humor is of the gallows variety. Reminded me of No Man's Land in some ways. Pretty good.

Following this was The Happiness of the Katakuris, my first experience with Miike. Simply put, this film is completely insane, and reading any descriptions of the events in it cannot fully prepare you for the full blown oddity that this is. A family runs a hotel in the middle of nowhere. Each guest that checks in ends up dying, but to avoid bad public relations of these incidents, the familiy buries the bodies behind the hotel. It's a musical too. And claymation to boot.

Definitely a memorable film, good or bad depending on your view. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. It's hysterically funny in parts. I'm partial to anything that had to do with Richard Sagawa, the pilot in the U.S., no, wait, British navy who also is a secret agent. His first scene with the love song is a scream, and then there's when he tries to explain how he's a member of the British royal family. I was laughing so hard that I was crying. Truly bizarre but worth seeing.

You're a lucky man Michael, given the opportunity to see all of these films while many of us are subjected to the following, if we want to see many of these films.

• Waiting and hoping it comes to our area.
• Taking a field trip to a large Metro area.
• Wait for it's dvd release.

I've been interested in Nowhere in Africa ever since Ebert raved about it. I assume you agree that it was a good choice for the AA?






Crawdaddy