2005 Foreign, Alternative and Independent Films (1 Viewer)

[Steve Felix]

I'm joining this thread for the first time with a look at:
Me and You and Everyone We Know

Miranda July is one of my new favorite filmmakers. She stars in Me and You and Everyone We Know along with John Hawkes (Sol on Deadwood), having also written and directed.

I don't think there is a trailer out for this film so I didn't know quite what to expect, although I had high expectations due to Roger Ebert's high praise. If anyone happens to be familiar with her short films (The Amateurist, Nest of Tens, etc.), this first feature is like those thematically but is far more accessible. In fact, it's hilarious. Imagine the humor and inventiveness of Spike Jonze/Michel Gondry/Charlie Kaufman applied (without a high concept) to Kieslowski-esque themes of attempted connections between people we wouldn't expect to be related. That's what we have here.

It was such a fresh experience that I'm reluctant to describe it too directly, hence the laborious description above. I will say that Closer has been decimated in the race for funniest and most audacious instant messaging scene. And that there are moments that I find as moving as those in one of my favorite films, Three Colors: Red.

It was shot digitally with a CineAlta (unfortuantely I don't know by who), and it looks lovely. There is a clear, colorful innocence to everything that reflects the story and the characters.

IFC Films is releasing it in June, and I can't wait to see it again. I'll be lucky to see a better movie this year. How's that for setting up expectations?

www.mirandajuly.com

 

[Adam_S]

Oldboy - :star::star::star::star:
03/15/2005
35mm
revised up to 4* from 3.5* on 3/26

I really wanted to love this film completely and ninety-eight percent of it is brilliant, but there are just enough convolutions that the mastermind character is way too talky for the ending, and so we lose suspense, and to a degree we lose interest, because they're just talking heads, they pause to be talking heads for several minutes right at the climax of the film, it's very frustrating. Otherwise it's a brilliant and stunning film, but the impact of the ending was a bit lost on me, which was unfortunate. I highly recommend it, but not quite as mind-numbingly perfect as Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.

I'm revising this up because it's a film that latches onto the back of your mind and eats away at you, to the point that I'm now anxious to rewatch it but with friends in tow so I can see how they will react.



Adam

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

This week’s notable releases:

Melinda and Melinda: Director: Woody Allen; Stars: Radha Mitchell, Will Ferrell, Chloe Sevigny, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Jonny Lee Miller

Milk and Honey: Director: Joe Maggio; Stars: Clint Jordan, Kirsten Russell

Sixteen Years of Alcohol: Director: Richard Jobson; Stars: Laura Fraser, Ewen Bremner

Steamboy: Director: Katsuhiro Ôtomo

~Edwin

 

[Steve Felix]

Assisted Living

As a relatively young person myself, I can't judge whether this movie about old people made by young people got the elderly experience right. I think it did, though, with close ups of the infinite small frustrations of slipping mental and physical acuity seeming to take half the running time. There's nothing very uplifting here -- the best hope that is offered is that it may be possible to at least endure the final insults before death. And yet, it is very funny.

It could also stand to be a bit shorter, even though it is already a mere 77 minutes. The close ups get a tad repetitive.

(The following doesn't give away a surprise ending or anything, but it does indicate the general way things go)
There is a beautiful scene near the end that is a succinct metaphor for the struggles that run though the film. Todd, who is almost as disoriented and unhappy as the residents of the nursing home at which he works, has taken one of them outdoors. This is not allowed; appeasement is (wisely) not policy at such an institution. As he sits on a hill with her and indulges her Alzheimer's induced fantasy, he turns and sees the other staff members coming over the hill from the direction of the building. He turns back around and waits for the inevitable -- for the Australian day trip he has devised to be shattered. Through editing, they take longer to arrive than we expect.

But, of course, they arrive. And they could almost be expected to grab Todd's and Mrs. Pearlman's hands and walk along the edge of that hill in silhouette.

The bittersweet tone that the trailer strikes is accurate. The phone joke is taken further than in the trailer, to hilarious and tragic effect. Other moments inspire the ol' "Hmmm... is this exploitive?" The answer is no. As with the brilliant How's Your News?, the audience's discomfort becomes a subject of the film. The movie is, after all, about how to relate.

 

[Adam_S]

Gunner Palace - :star:½
03/19/2005
35mm

This film is a passable but ultimately a scattershot effect at showing us the Iraqi war. A coworker (who had seen this before me) had described it as very poor because it didn't have a single thing you could latch onto. Gunner Palace starts off slow and it hiccups constantly from moment to moment. It's not so much an emphasis on the randomness of combat and the disparate experiences by the many 'faceless' GI Joes that are the film's focus, it's that there is no cohesion to the film at all. The proceeding description would make a good film, and I think that was the filmmaker's idea, but he just never got there. The editing is slapshod and some moments are repetitive or don't work. I think this could be more effective pared down to a 45 minute TV special than as an eighty minute film.

The single standout, exceptional aspect of the film is the numerous hip-hop-freestyle asides by various black soldiers, these are incredibly brilliant and powerful--it's the sort of hip-hop that Public Enemy became known for. The hip-hop is not bragging about bling, women, cars, and/or violent prowess. It is for-real free-expression; an agressive and unapologetic stance that makes you think hard every time you groove to their rhymes.

But sadly the film itself is never so good as the soldiers that are in it. :frowning:

Adam

 

[Steve Felix]

I agree that the end of Oldboy didn't have as much punch as it should have. (Or at least not as much as I expected it to have based on the hype.) Guess I have to see Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. And now for something completely different:

The Ballad of Jack and Rose

This is a very busy movie. Just about everything one thinks might happen, does. Whenever I thought I was latching onto some subtext, it became text. Still, the many varyingly vague references to this strange family's past make trying to imagine the personal history of Daniel Day-Lewis' eccentric Jack interesting.

It's fun to watch due to the originality of the title characters (who compellingly manage to live outside society, although with questionable success) and its unique island environment. Director Rebecca Miller has come a long way since getting the freshman film baggage out of the way in Personal Velocity. (A film that, while not nearly as bad as the title suggests, suffers from a disastrously overwrought narration.) The performances don't disappoint, of course. We're talking Day-Lewis here. Camilla Belle as Rose is amusing but difficult to judge, as her character doesn't do much that can be compared to reality. I blame the script for the fact that her personality doesn't gel -- the actress could be very good in the right movie, I think.

There's something solid here, perhaps about the effects of living in a vacuum, but it's so chaotic, with so many strange characters and some heavy handed symbolism (there's a snake zipping around for half the film), that the core of Jack's and Rose's story is hard to ferret out. It's not boring, but it doesn't ring true or make much emotional sense.

IFC Films is releasing it this week.
Trailer

 

[Adam_S]

Steamboy (director's cut) - :star::star::star::star:

Just a hair bit overlong but a damn fine film. Incredible set pieces, things just blowing up and blowing up and blowing up. A great experience to see on the big screen. kaboom.

I'd also revise my rating of Old Boy up a notch to four stars, that film really sticks in your craw and I can't wait to expose others to it just to see how they react (same impression with 800 bullets, battle royale, devil's backbone, sympathy for mr. vengeance and his and her circumstances).

Adam

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Nice reviews lately from Steve Felix and Adam. Keep them coming.

This week’s notable releases:

The Ballad of Jack and Rose - Director: Rebecca Miller; Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Catherine Keener, Camilla Belle, Ryan McDonald, Paul Dano , Beau Bridges

Mondovino - a documentary by Jonathan Nossiter about the world of wine as it interviews vintners across three continents.

Oldboy - Director: Park Chan-wook; Stars: Choi Min-sik, Yu Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong

~Edwin

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Downfall

Under Oliver Hirschbiegel's direction and an enigmatic performance by Bruno Ganz, Downfall is a gripping tale of the last 10 days of the life of Adolph Hitler and those who are close to him. Noteworthy also are the many supporting performances.

The film is based on the book Inside Hitler's Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich and the memoirs of Traudl Junge, Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary, where her character also serves as a main witness to most of the events during these final ten days. The real life Junge, who died in early 2002, also bookends the film in a documentary interview clip.

Hirschbiegel's depiction of war as the Russian’s advance toward Berlin along with the scenes where Hitler tries to hold on to his power is full of madness, realism and a quiet sense of paranoia. Downfall is a sad but potent story not about a single person but the influence and power one man can have over many people and of a system where blind allegiances can lead to so much destruction and loss of human life.

~Edwin

 

[Dave Hackman]

Off the Map

A resourceful family living on a parcel of land well off the beaten path in Taos New Mexico during the 1970’s finds themselves caught in the middle of an IRS audit and a family members clinical bout with depression.

Valentina de Angelis makes her film debut playing the young Bo Groden who resembles a blend of Mathilda from Leon aka The Professional and John Connor from Terminator 2. She excellently portrays a young tom girl that is super smart and creative in her attempt to live with her fathers affliction and her ability to creatively put her desires into motion which in turn forges her future.

Sam Elliot plays the depressed father Charley Groden and does a good job of portraying the emotional layers associated with such a condition with episodes of uncontrolled sobbing, speechless withdrawal and sudden bursts of insanity.

Joan Allen is excellent as the beautiful mother Arlene Groden. She portrays a woman in harmony with nature whether it’s gardening completely nude or her respect for the wild and a believability that is wonderful to see.

Jim True-Frost plays the IRS agent William Gibbs who is ok and brings the man who needs to get away from the city in order to heal his soul quite effectively even though I consider his character to be the weakest of them all.

J.K. Simmons known for his role as Peter Parker’s boss in Spiderman 1 & 2 is good as George the war buddy who helps Charley deal with his depression and adds a much needed support structure for the family.

An abundance of patience is required to make it through the entire movie and only the extreme die-hards will be left to see the credits. While the movie exhibits fine acting, beautiful scenery and good character development the movie is just too darn depressing for its own good.

C-

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

This week’s notable releases:

Look At Me (France) – Director: Agnes Jaoui; Stars: Agnes Jaoui, Laurent Grevill, Jean-Pierre Bacri

Dust To Glory – Director: Dana Brown; Stars: Mario Andretti, Mike McCoy, Rick Johnson

Kontroll (Hungary) – Director: Nimrod Antal; Stars: Sandor Csanyi, Zoltan Mucsi, Csaba Pindroch

~Edwin

 

[Dave Hackman]

Downfall

I am sick to death of movies about those f**king Nazis. There seems to be an unlimited # of these that just keep coming out year after year and this is it for me, at least this week. What’s next a perspective from animals on how they were treated during the war?

Detailed accurately I haven’t a clue but it sure didn’t leave much to the imagination. This sucker lingers on even after Hitler’s death. Stay around for the end where they tell you the outcome of the key players.

I didn’t care for any character in this move for most of the men were either 2 faced liars or yes men and the women were all ignorant beyond belief. Hitler with his shaky hand was portrayed fairly tame and less evil then I would have expected.

The continuous explosive bombardments had me feeling shell-shocked when I left the theater. This helped me feel like I was in that bunker with them. The film looks great and very professional. Subtitles are easy to see and read.

My only complaint is where was the sex? All those hot young women and the most risky thing was a night of drinking and some impromptu dancing.

Good movie about an un-likeable man that I need only see once.

B

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

This week’s notable releases:

Eros – Director: Steven Soderbergh, Wong Kar-Wai, Michelangelo Antonioni; Stars: Gong Li, Robert Downey, Alan Arkin

Kung Fu Hustle (China) – Director: Stephen Chow

Winter Solstice – Director: Josh Sternfeld; Stars: Anthony LaPaglia, Aaron Stanford, Mark Webber

~Edwin

 

[Eric Howell]

Eros: The First two segments (Wong Kar Wai’s and Steven Soderbergh’s) are definitely worth the price of admission. Sure, Wong Kar Wai doesn’t explore any new territory for him, but his style and characters will always be fascinating to me. Conversely, Soderbergh’s comedic segment is a real departure from what I’ve seen of his work and I really enjoyed it. I wish I could offer similar praise for Michelangelo Antonioni’s segment, but I dunno, maybe I just don’t appreciate the talent it takes to make something that bad(this is the final segment, you’ll know you’ve made it here when the movie starts sucking). Still worth going to based on two thirds of it being excellent film making.

 

[Haggai]

Edwin, here's one that I don't think you listed yet:


Walk on Water (2004) :star: :star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

An Israeli-produced drama that's now going into limited release in the US. A Mossad agent gets assigned to find information about an elderly Nazi war criminal via his German grandchildren, a new emigre to Israel and her brother who's on his way to visit her. The main strength of this movie is the abundance of wonderful character moments and situations, enhanced by excellent performances from the three leads (the agent and the two young Germans). There's some political message-sending that I didn't find all that effective, although there isn't too much to crowd out all the other good stuff, and the story resolution is less than completely successful. But, there really are a lot of strong character-driven scenes that resonate very honestly and effectively, achieved in several instances through well-utilized choices of popular music.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Thanks, Haggai. I've added it to the list.

~Edwin

 

[BridgetJZ]

Nothing but positive buzz surrounding Eros. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Does anyone plan on checking out Ring of Fire when it airs on cable (april 20th, i believe)??

 

[Dave Hackman]

The Boys & Girl From County Clare

Unlike the weirdo characters of late such as the super skinny guy Trevor Reznik in The Machinist or that nut bag Samuel Bicke in The Assassination of Richard Nixon, the characters in this movie are just normal decent Irish ceili playing musicians that use their love of the music to help mend the rifts that have kept two competitive brothers apart for over 20 years.

John Joe lives in County Clare, Ireland where this year’s Irish Ceili competition will be held. His band has won the competition 2 years consecutively. John Joe’s streak is in jeopardy when a hot band from Liverpool enters the competition lead by his estranged brother Jimmy (Colm Meaney) most recognized as Chief O’Brien from STNG. The last time they saw each other was over 20 years ago when Jimmy left for the big city leaving behind a young woman Maisie to raise her baby alone. Maisie’s baby has grown up to become a beautiful talented fiddle player who is the star of John Joe’s band. Andrea Corr the lead singer of The Corrs makes her lead debut playing this young beauty Anne. Jimmy’s band has a star of its own Teddy (Shaun Evans) who plays a mean flute and develops an interest in Anne, to her mother’s disgust.

A lot of interwoven stories amongst different members of the band help give this movie a substance that makes it worth seeing. Andrea Corr and Shaun Evans both do a fantastic job as young actors and Colm Meaney brings legitimacy to the entire story with his confidence. This is a pro family film in a weird way that stays with you after you leave the theater. A couple of F-bombs by Jimmy and a woman briefly swimming/undressing nude are the only risky things to be aware of. It’s a good-natured sobering effort that has characters that are refreshingly real.

C+

 

[Haggai]

Saw Eros today, and I second Eric's comments from post #54. WKW delivers more of what makes him so great, and Soderbergh provides some really good laughs in his clever skit-like segment. Antonioni's segment isn't completely worthless, as there are some nice shots of a beachfront and lighthouse in the mix, but yeah, it's bad.

 

[Dave Hackman]

Millions

That little boy Damian is so cute. The way he talks about giving his money to the poor just melts my heart. This movie is very unique and hard to describe. It’s a fantasy caper that exists in stepford neverland.

Two little motherless snots Anthony & Damian stay with their father and utilize their parental loss as a means of getting what they wish and as an excuse when they find themselves in trouble.

One day amongst visitations from the young Damian’s beautiful mind arrives a suitcase full of British pounds that means different things to each brother. Anthony wants to keep it hush-hush and spend it wisely before it becomes worthless due to the currency conversion to the Euro. Damian is more interested in helping the poor and returning it to its rightful owner. He’s also a little loose lipped about their secret stash, which irritates Anthony to no end.

Of course this money didn’t just fall from the sky and this brings the original owner into the picture with a quest to regain his loot.

It’s creative and interesting to watch. The boys are wonderful, the father and his love interest are great. The villain is a little weak but it doesn’t bring the movie to far down.

B