Filed under: Thoughts | Tags: 1971, 2009, Alexander Skarsgard, Benjamin Button, Bruno, Che, GI Joe, Happy Together, Harold and Maude, Inglourious Basterds, Kanye West, Milk, Moon, Opening Night, Patrick Swayze, Ponyo, Public Enemies, Review, Revolutionary Road, Salient, The Hired Hand, The Limits of Control, The White Ribbon, The Wrestler, Transformers, Up, Wake in Fright, Welcome to Heartbreak, Zodiac
Last month, New Zealand’s number one student magazine Salient put out the last issue of the year. Here is the column reviewing the year in film (despite the fact it was only October).
2009. It’s not over yet, but it might as well be considering this is the last issue (the ultimate issue, if you will) of Salient. Hells teeth, where do I begin. Has 2009 been a good year for film? Well, I would say yes. It was certainly a damn sight better than 2008 but still perhaps not as good as the No Country for Old Men-There Will be Blood-Zodiac trifecta that ruled my 2007. I always keep my movie stubs so the following is an attempt to try to make sense of the little torn up pieces of paper, which are the only physical reminders of the things I saw on the silver screen this year.
For starters, Hollywood was up to its worst tricks again. The big Blockbusters came in the stupidly long Transformers 2 and the just plain stupid GI Joe. Once again animated films like Up proved that Pixar is pissing all over everyone else when it comes to good storytelling. A little film called Bruno pulled no punches in making Americans look like fools (again), and managed to fill the screen with a giant talking penis. Michael Mann disappointed me greatly with his sub-par Public Enemies, while Tarantino divided critics with Inglourious Basterds.
At the Oscars, Slumdog Millionaire, a terrible picture that everybody seems to love won way too many awards. I’m sorry, but the ending was nonsense. Its main competition The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was rubbish too, a shame because Fincher’s Zodiac was so unbelievably good. Leonardo DiCaprio was at his best in Revolutionary Road but didn’t even get a nomination (nor did the very solid film for that matter). Instead Sean Penn’s Harvey Milk trumped Mickey Rourke’s stellar comeback in The Wrestler. Kate Winslet hoisted the Oscar for her role in The Reader and Heath Ledger became only the second actor to win posthumously for his superb turn as the Joker.
Some cool people died this year too. Patrick Swayze (above) lost his battle with cancer, as did Farrah Fawcett. English rose Miranda Richardson and old timers Henry Gibson, Dom Deluise and Karl Malden all said their last goodbyes. John Hughes left, taking with him part of my adolescence. David “Kill Bill” Carradine died in bizarre circumstances (Bound for Glory jokes aside). And of course they’re still talking about some small timer named Michael Jackson.
In July the festival came with swag of good pictures. Antichrist was not one of them—I hated it. Ponyo was Miyazaki in fine form. Che was a brave, often fascinating four-hour masterpiece. Palme d’Or winner The White Ribbon was near perfect. Aussie classic Wake in Fright had the most beer and Kangaroo wrestling I’ve seen in any film. I still haven’t made heads or tales of Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control, but Chris Doyles photography was beautiful. Moon was as good a sci-fi as I’ve seen in years.
Writing for Salient has been great because Uther was radical enough to let me scribble about stuff I really like, in the hope that maybe other people will like it too. Hence I blabbed on about my New Hollywood favourites like Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and Two-Lane Blacktop, mainly because they both star Warren Oates. Go watch them, they are the best. I also got to write on the greatest television show of all time, The Wire, which even proved a hit in the Salient office. If you haven’t seen it yet, sheeeeeit, make sure you do.
So what does 2010 bring? Well, if Avatar lives up to its absurd hype, cinema might ‘never be the same again’. Frankly, I think this is nonsense. Even if the 3D experience is amazing the film looks like a ten-foot blue turkey. Expect Transformers III and GI Joe II. As long as people keep going to these movies, Hollywood will keep making them. Expect all the best movies to come in the festival and expect them to have subtitles. Expect Megan Fox to make her relationship with Nic Sando official. Expect there to be too many movies to watch, and not enough time in the day.
In proper Salient/High Fidelity tradition here are some top fives.
Top 5 films of 2009 (that I saw)
1. The White Ribbon
2. Che
3. The Wrestler
4. Revolutionary Road
5. Ponyo
Top 5 films I saw in 2009 (from any old year)
1. Happy Together
2. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
3. Opening Night
4. A Taste of Cherry
5. Being There
Top 5 films of 1971 (for my loyal readers)
1. Two-Lane Blacktop
2. The Last Picture Show
3. Harold and Maude
4. McCabe and Mrs Miller
5. The Hired Hand
Top 5 movie quotes
1. “If I’m not grounded pretty soon, I’m gonna go into orbit.”
2. “Get the meat.”
3. “If you keep looking at me you’ll see me kill you.”
4. “Pipe dreams Dad, I’m a barber’s son.”
5. “GARBAGE DAY!” or alternatively “CARPET DAY!”
Top 5 other things…
1. The video for ‘Welcome to Heartbreak’ by Kanye West.
2. The trailers for Must Love Jaws, Brokeback to the Future, and Shining.
3. Alexander Skarsgard (above).
4. HSX.com.
5. My blog! therushmorefilmsociety.wordpress.com.
Filed under: Things | Tags: Ben Gazzara, Dick Cavett, Husbands, John Cassavetes, Peter Falk
Peter Falk Ben Gazzara John Cassavetes
I stumbled across this gem from the Dick Cavett show archives so I decided to post it in its entirety for your viewing pleasure. I can’t believe TV used to be like this. What happened? What’s the appeal of David Caruso wearing sunglasses? I don’t get it. I want TV to be like this. Alive, just like a Cassavetes film.
Filed under: Things | Tags: 10 Things I Hate About Commandments, Brokeback to the Future, Must Love Jaws, Parody, Shining, Trailers
Must Love Jaws
“I Love Sharks. Yeah I Love Them. I Love Them.”
Brokeback to the Future
“Oh ah this is my ah Doc, ah, Uncle Doc, Brown.”
Shining
“I’m your new foster father.”
10 Things I hate About Commandments
“Moses, Moses.”
Filed under: Writing | Tags: Edward Hopper, Johnny Depp, Michael Mann, Public Enemies
A few weeks back I posted a link to an article I co-wrote with my lecturer Tim Groves discussing the relationship between the American film director Michael Mann and the great painter Edward Hopper.
Coincidentally, in June Mann admitted to the influence of Edward Hopper on his recent film Public Enemies.
Below is the audio from an interview with Michael Mann…
Writing the piece there was never any evidence that Mann was influenced by Hopper so it’s great to hear the director himself validate our claim.
Once again, you can read the piece here…
Filed under: Thoughts | Tags: At the Movies, Creative Screenwriting Magazine, Film Weekly, Meet the Filmmaker, Museum of the Moving Image, National Radio, Pinewood Dialogues, Podcasts, Radio New Zealand, The Guardian
This year podcasts have hit me in a really big way. If you spend long enough browsing iTunes you can find some surprisingly interesting stuff and further more you don’t have to pay for any of it.
Big on my list is the ‘Creative Screenwriting Magazine’ podcast hosted by Jeff Goldsmith. This guy gets to interview some of the best Hollywood screenwriters who often volunteer fascinating insights into their writing methods. This podcast can be found on iTunes by searching ‘Creative Screenwriting Magazine’ or by clicking here to get it from podcastalley.com.
My first discovery which I have plundered substantially is the excellent Museum of the Moving Image Pinewood Dialogues series. This is top in terms of important directors and personalities. My favourite is an hour long session with the creative team behind ‘The Wire’. As a long running series The Pinewood Dialogues have interviews dating back 20 years! Most of the late ones are mediated brilliantly by David Schwartz, a guy who really knows his stuff. If you don’t want to download the audio you have the option of typed transcripts of each session as well. Museum of the Moving Image also offers a wealth of great articles by top writers that you can find here.
Another iTunes podcast rich with exclusive interviews is ‘Meet the Filmmaker’. Here you can listen to lengthy Q & A sessions with the likes of Darren Aronofsky, Errol Morris, Clint Eastwood, Spike Lee, The Coen Brothers, Guy Maddin and Wong Kar-Wai to name but a few. Last week I listened to a great one with Dave Gibbons, the illustrator of ‘Watchmen’.
For reviews I like the Guardian ‘Film Weekly’ podcast with Jason Solomons and Xan Brooks. These guys pack a half-hour show with solid reviews and interviews. Since I’ve been listening they have interviewed Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese and my favourite actress Isabella Huppert. This one can be found easily on iTunes by searching ‘Film Weekly’.
For New Zealand readers, if you don’t have time to catch Simon Morris’ witty ‘At the Movies’ on National Radio you can also as of now get it on iTunes as well as several other National Radio shows by searching ‘Radio New Zealand’.
None of these podcasts cost a cent and there are literally hours of fascinating things to listen to. These are the best I’ve found but I’m sure there are others. If you know of any please let me know as I’m quickly making my way through these ones.
Fact. In 1977 Roman Polanski drugged and then had sex with Samantha Geimer, a thirteen-year-old girl he was photographing in Los Angeles for Vogue magazine. He was arrested and pleaded guilty to one of a six charges against him, (charges which included giving a drug to a minor, committing a lewd act upon a person less than 14, rape of a minor, rape by use of a drug, oral copulation and sodomy). For his guilty plea he was sentenced to 90 days of psychiatric testing by Judge Laurence Rittenband. Fearing the sentence he had given was too light, Rittenband was ready to renege on the deal when Polanski, on bail, fled to Europe. He has trode carefully, avoiding capture for the last 32 years. That was until last week when Polanski was arrested by Swiss authorities. He now faces extradition back to the USA where if found guilty he will probably spend the rest of his life in jail.
No one can deny that Polanski committed the crime in question, and he shouldn’t be above the law. That he is a world-renowned film director, as well as a man who has suffered great personal tragedies makes no difference. Nothing gives anybody the right to drug and sexually violate a young girl. For me, the real travesty was the initial plea-bargain sentence, one that was utterly absurd considering the gravity of the charge. Sadly it seems Samantha Geimer received the real sentence in 1977, forced to live for all these years without any real form of closure. Remarkably, Geimer doesn’t think Polanski should be punished now, citing the impact it might have on his own family. One must empathise with Geimer who most likely just wants the whole thing to go away. But the decision of what to do with Polanski is not Geimer’s, in fact authorities haven’t figured out whose it is yet. Regardless of what happens with this case lets at least hope there is some definitive outcome.
Filed under: Reviews | Tags: The September Issue, RJ Cutler, Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington, Vogue Magazine, Fashion, The Devil Wears Prada
The September issue is the phonebook sized fashion bible Vogue magazine puts out every year which has the power to make or break designers and to ostensibly define what’s ‘in’ for the new fashion season. This film follows the production of the issue from concepts, to photo-shoots, to publication. Calling all the shots is Vogues ‘ice-queen’ editor Anna Wintour. Wintour was famously caricatured by Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada and has maintained her reputation as queen bitch of the fashion industry ever since. Good subject for a documentary.
Well, the trouble is she’s not really that much of a bitch. Anyone expecting this film to be full of behind-the-scenes fashionista infighting, and Wintour reducing interns to tears will be disappointed. The real Wintour is far from the bastardised version that Streep played. She is a petite woman, from a family of highly respected editors, who ruffles people’s feathers merely because she is in a position of power and must make tough decisions. Wintour isn’t nasty, like any editor she is just highly discerning.
Much of the film focuses on Wintour’s relationship with creative-editor Grace Coddington, a Welsh ex-model with a great mane of red hair. Towards the end the film becomes more about Coddington and it’s not hard to see why. She is everything Wintour is not, emotional, relatable and in essence interesting. The film plays on the inherent conflict between Coddington and Wintour, which is one of creativity vs. criticism. We side with Coddington because she seems like the only one who actually contributes to the magazine. Her often stunning photo-shoots when completed are lined up on a desk where all Wintour appears to do is yay or nay them.
This documentary is a great insight into the inner workings of Vogue magazine, however I can’t help but think the director RJ Cutler was expecting more meat. We never really get anywhere near Wintour, her ice-queen persona and designer glasses shielding any potential for intimate details. The confrontation between Coddington and Wintour never escalates far beyond Coddington complaining, and I frequently felt the film overreaching to try and make more of it. However, even without a great interest in the fashion industry The September Issue was an enlightening glimpse of the frequent absurdity of those in it, and the way in which a magazine like Vogue finds its way to the newsstand.
Filed under: Reviews | Tags: 2001, Clint Mansell, Duncan Jones, Moon, Sam Rockwell, Sci-fi, Solaris
There is a heck of a lot to like about Moon. It is a very confident debut by director Duncan Jones, which boasts retro-cool set design, coherent storytelling, and an excellent performance by the consistently wonderful Sam Rockwell. Despite knowing nods to sci-fi classics like 2001 and Solaris, Jones has created a truly original piece that uses its revisionist detailing to subvert generic trends and in many cases enliven them. Moon also manages to mix conventional narrative with challenging concepts, whilst remaining an accessible and enthralling picture for those uninitiated with science fiction cinema.
Moon is set in the near future as Earth suffers in the midst of a massive energy crisis. Helium3, a source of alternative power is discovered in abundance on the Moon’s surface where it is mined and shot back to Earth. Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) has the lonely job as the sole human inhabitant of the Moon, responsible for maintaining the harvesting of H3 for Lunar Industries. The film begins with Sam only two weeks from the end of his three-year contract and very much ready to return to his wife and daughter on Earth. Cue extreme complications.
It takes a great actor to carry a film by himself, and Sam Rockwell is exactly the man for the job. He is in fine form here, but then again always is. Another steadfast asset is Clint Mansell who contributes a marvellous score, perfectly suited to the isolation of the Moons dark side. Nathan Parker’s script is intricately plotted yet stays clear and interesting, perhaps only loosing its momentum slightly towards the end. The film also benefits from Kevin Spacey’s contribution as the voice of Gerty, a HAL 9000-esque talking robot who expresses feeling through constantly changing emoticons and is responsible for Sam’s safekeeping.
All these elements would be useless without the hands of a competent director and Jones certainly rises to the occasion, avoiding the stylistic pitfalls that can plague first time directors. His film is restrained, allowing the brilliantly designed sets to dominate his frame and give the picture its air of alienation. The production design is a real joy, which gives the film value far beyond its meagre budget, whilst the exterior sequences that utilise miniatures are really something special. I strongly recommend Moon. It’s another case of ambitious independent films trumping Hollywood mega-productions not only in terms of originality, but storytelling, acting and even production design as well.
Filed under: Things | Tags: Apocalypse Now, Bernardo Bertolucci, Cinematography, Dario Argento, The Conformist, Vittorio Storaro, Warren Beatty
Selected Filmography:
- The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (dir. Dario Argento, 1970)
- The Conformist (dir. Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970)
- The Spiders Stratagem (dir. Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970)
- Last Tango In Paris (dir. Bernardo Bertolucci, 1972)
- 1900 (dir. Bernardo Bertolucci, 1976)
- Apocalypse Now (dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
- Reds (dir. Warren Beatty, 1981)
- One From the Heart (dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1982)
- The Last Emperor (dir. Bernardo Bertolucci, 1987)
- Dick Tracy (dir. Warren Beatty, 1990)
- Little Buddha (dir. Bernardo Bertolucci, 1993)
- Bulworth (dir. Warren Beatty, 1998)
- Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (dir. Paul Schrader, 2005)
Vittorio Storaro is an absolute master, considered by many to be the greatest living cinematographer. I’m not going to argue with this. In fact, if you really forced me to choose I’d have to confess that I think his work on The Conformist is close to perfect. Every frame is rich with meaning and displays the photography of a true intellectual. Storaro collaborated many times with Bernardo Bertolucci and it is obvious they had a very clear understanding of each other. The lighting strategies Storaro employs are perfect visual metaphors for the central characters various emotional states. In The Conformist patterned shadows trap Marcello like prison bars, apt for his impossible predicament and equally fitting for a film set in Mussolini’s fascist Italy.
Storaro is also well known for his work with Francis Ford Coppola, famously on Apocalypse Now. Later he collaborated with Warren Beatty on Reds, Dick Tracy and Bulworth. However, one of his earliest films (actually shot the same year as The Conformist) is The Bird With The Crystal Plumage, a neat giallo directed by none other than Dario Argento (his debut feature). If you can get a hold of this film I strongly recommend it.
I also recommend Storaro’s excellent book Writing with Light in which he discusses the influence of artists such as Rembrandt, Vermeer and Caravaggio. Each painter was a master of using light and so too is Storaro. The Plato’s cave allegory in The Conformist is a marvellous example of this. Storaro also believes strongly in the ability colour has to affect emotion and thus his palettes are carefully thought out (influenced by Goethe’s Theory of Colours).
Storaro is also distinguished as being a three-time Oscar winner for his work on Apocalypse Now, Reds and The Last Emperor.
Below are some links to a few interviews with the man himself, as well as a link to his official site. The last link is from the site The Hollywood Interview which features a wealth of interviews with a hoard of great people.
Vittorio Storaro’s Official Website
