So far I've watched 16 movies this month. I already posted about Syndromes and a Century, I think, so that just leaves 15.
The Chaser is a Korean movie about a former police officer who was kicked off the force for corruption and is now working as a pimp. He realized one if his prize whores is in the clutches of a man he believes to be a human trafficker but who is actually a serial killer. Naturally the whore is a sweetheart with a child. The police are naturally inept and there is naturally plenty of foolishness where people in the government put their own interests in front of those of the public. It's really entertaining and well put together and although it loses you for a while it mostly gets you back by the end. B/B+
Talk to Her was of course another Almodovar film I was revisiting. I still don't understand why people say it's his best film. I see that it's accessible to a broader audience and it's more restrained but it doesn't really hook me the way the other films do. I like the actor who plays the journalist though. And really, I mean, I like it, I'm just not sure what makes it one of the greatest movies of his oeuvre or of the last decade or what have you. B/B+
One night my boyfriend and I were at my place and it was late and we felt like watching something stupid and my roommate has Drowning Mona on DVD so we watched that. It was watchable and intermittently entertaining but with movies like this one, Isn't She Great, and That Old Feeling, it'll be a wonder if she ever makes a decent movie ever again. She made a handful of pretty good movies in the 70s and 80s but looking at her filmography as a whole is pretty scary. It looks like the closest thing to a decent movie she's made since First Wives Club is Helen Hunt's Then She Found Me. Jamie Lee Curtis and Neve Campbell are okay in it. I sort of like Casey Affleck but this isn't really his shining moment, though I'm not sure what he really could have done with such a lousy script here. D/D+
A friend of mine posted the video of The Obama Deception on my Facebook one day and asked what I thought of it. It ended up being an Alex Jones movie, which means that although it was strangely watchable it was also a product of a different logical universe than that which generally governs Reality. I think what makes his movies so popular with people though is they really tap into this sense of betrayal we feel toward our government. I think he's pretty paranoid though and off-base on any number of issues but so many of his claims look real because there is a lot that goes on in America that either conflicts with our notion of America and our ideals or is outright unsavory. As with all of these conspiracy theoristy things, I would just like a more level-headed examination of the issues in question. I mean, you don't have to be the head of the UAW to feel disappointed in the president's performance. People will always tell you how much worse it would have been had McCain been elected and I'm all, "Yes, only an idiot like Sarah Palin would disagree with that but I don't think we should be satisfied with 'Things could always be worse' because as long as the population of the planet isn't in the process of boiling alive or slowly asphyxiating on burning fumes things could get worse than anything and that's not what we should aspire to, now is it." Anyway, D
Import/Export is an Austrian movie about a nurse from the Ukraine who does internet sex to get money to leave her son behind and go to Austria and try to make a better life. She works there as a maid. This story is intercut with the story of some unstable Austrian guy who works as a security guard until he gets fired for something that didn't seem to be his fault. He ends up going to the Ukraine with his mother's boyfriend to deliver some outmoded vending machines to the impoverished country. It was really interesting and maybe I should watch it some time when I'm feeling better but it didn't really hit it out of the park for me, which I hoped for after John Waters put it on top of his top ten list. (Of course the list also included the terrible World's Greatest Dad and the so-so Whatever Works. Not to mention Bruno.) B+
Adam is a sort of romantic comedy/drama about a guy with Asperger's and his pretty new neighbor. It was decent. Entertaining but nothing groundbreaking or thrilling or terribly smart. C+
Bright Star was a total disappointment. Jane Campion turned the story of John Keats into a snooze. She also ignored the existence of Isabella Jones, which could be excused, I suppose, by the fact that it's from the perspective of Fanny Brawne. However, even if she didn't know about Isabella Jones, which I don't know about, it's kind of disingenuous not to bring her into the story. It also would have made the story more interesting. An outright lie is at the end of the film there's a text that indicates that Fanny basically spent the rest of her days roaming the moors in mourning like some kind of depressed Thomas Hardy heroine despite that she went on to marry and have several children. C-
Showing posts with label South Korea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Korea. Show all posts
10 February 2010
12 January 2010
Treeless Mountain / Avatar revisited / Up in the Air / Valentino: The Last Emperor
A few days ago I watched So Yong Kim's Treeless Mountain. One of the things I caught on to in 2009 is that Korea has a pretty strong film scene. I don't know why it seems so surprising but there it is. This movie is about these two young sisters whose mother seems to have been beaten (?) and abandoned by her husband. The mother takes the two children to their paternal aunt's place and leaves them there so she can go searching for their daddy. She gives them this big piggy bank and says that whenever they're good their aunt will give them each a coin to put in the pig and when it's full that's when she'll come back for them. The core of the film is the longing of the girls. Their aunt is hardly the alcoholic monster she's made out to be in some of the reviews but she isn't ready to take care of children and she's not particularly nurturing. There's a neighbor woman who has a son with Down syndrome and there's something really magical about her. I really thought this movie was beautiful and I really identified with it. I know that ache well; from childhood but also from adulthood. It's shot beautifully. There's something kind of magical about the dress the smaller girl wears through much of the movie. I disagree with Manohla Dargis's assertion that there isn't anything inherently interesting about the lives of children. I mean, I felt like this was one of the most compelling depictions of a child's life I've ever seen, perhaps because it's unsentimental and unpatronizing. I feel like this winter is calling on me to get all Ozu and Ozu-esque in my film consumption. I think this film and Still Walking have both lit a spark for me to go back to Ozu, whom I've always neglected in favor of the more glamorous Mizoguchi. A
My boyfriend's trip to LA ended up canceled at the last minute this weekend so we took the opportunity to go see Avatar, which I had seen an advance screening of and which he hadn't seen at all. It's not quite as powerful as I thought it was the first time and the imagery is a little kitschier than I remembered it but I still think it's a strong movie. In fact, the cheesy dialogue bothered me less this time, although I remained impatient with the clumsy exposition. I think so much of the criticism of this movie is so absurdly absurd I'm not sure I'd even know how to address it. I think that all the racial groups who think it's about them, and there seem to be very many, are missing the whole point of this movie. I mean, this is right out of Joseph Campbell. It's a hero myth about leaving a corrupt civilization and returning to something more in line with what are often regarded as our inherent values. I don't think the Na'vi are portrayed as "noble savages" like the criticism goes. I mean, these stupid academics know what a Bildungsroman is. The fact that they dismiss everything in terms of marxist sociology and identity politics only reinforces Camille Paglia's indictment of the state of the American university. How easy and lazy is it to look at a text and be content to call it reactionary in terms of identity politics and leave it there. I think it's great that he couched a condemnation of the Iraq war and the values that got us there in a familiar myth. He condemns imperialism and takes issue with the war on terror in a manner that in these times where everyone is trying to conform seems very bold. I really think these criticisms that the film is racist illustrates clearly what Naomi Klein wrote about in her book No Logo: people have been so concerned over the past few decades about identity politics and social issues that they haven't even paid attention as everything they had was swiped out from under them. So here you have a movie that's trying to use a fairy tale to tell us how we're making our own graves and betraying our own values and destroying our planet and all that and all we can do is focus on whether the use of a tribal dance is a slight against Polynesians or whether the story was robbed from this movie or that. Good grief. It does share common elements with those other films because the stories are based on the archetypes that Joseph Campbell spent his lifetime studying. They're the same sorts of stories we've been telling since the storytelling ape started telling stories. Furthermore, whether this movie is or isn't like Dances with Wolves is completely irrelevant since this is a superior movie. I feel like people are lazy and shallow sometimes and this constant demand for something new is part of that. Like we can't be bothered to appreciate or reassess something that is familiar to us, except that people spend so much time watching movies and television shows that you could basically recite the dialogue to without having seen the movie if someone gave you a two sentence description of the premise. B+
Last night we went to see Up in the Air, which is another in a string of overrated Hollywood movies. It surprises me how weak the year has been for Hollywood. I actually liked this movie to start with. The first half, I guess. I thought at one point, "This movie is really about right now, just like Summer Hours. This might actually be really good." Then halfway through, it chickened out and went and hid under its sister's skirt. It makes sense, psychologically, that this movie is so popular right now because that's where we are as a country. We really feel bad about where we've gotten ourselves but we aren't ready to own up to it or handle the situation like adults. We want to go home and we want to return to sentimental truism approaches to life and we want to wander off into wish-fulfillment land and hope that we or the world or what ever will heal by the time we've done our wandering or spent whatever coins we have to show for the past thirty years. Of course, it won't heal because we aren't prepared to admit that Ronald Reagan was wrong. That life isn't all Gordon Gecko playing around in some gigantic McDonaldland Playland. I thought the bit where he walks away from his speech was phony. I thought a lot of the second half was phony. I liked Vera Farmiga and I thought Anna Kendrick seemed like another dogfaced Anne Hathaway clone. I don't get where all the hype about their performances comes from. I thought Vera Farmiga was good and Anna Kendrick was fine, if a little boring. I feel like the image of America I'm seeing lately is one of dithering whiners. I guess I need to take this insight and turn it against myself. Aside from the fact that the movie lost its teeth partway through, I also think it held back from seriously addressing the dominant issue. For how little there is there, it just didn't seem like enough fun. C
Finally, last night we watched the documentary Valentino: The Last Emperor and I found it captivating. I should have been annoyed at the excess because it's so against what I believe in but it really intrigued me. I don't know what it is about fashion movies that I find so interesting. Who knew former Soviet bloc nation Bulgaria had a princess that pals around with and serves as a muse for Valentino? I had no idea they still had royalty there and it kind of surprises me that a country in Bulgaria's position puts up with that kind of extravagance. There's really something epic about the decadence in the film and when it all ends because of the global domination of financiers, it really seems sad. It's another example of what Naomi Klein and Gore Vidal have been warning us about. Of course, one wonders why he sold his successful company in the first place but it probably paid for one or more of his jewel encrusted villas... Regardless of who pulled the string that shut the curtain, it's another great portrait of the end of an age. B+
My boyfriend's trip to LA ended up canceled at the last minute this weekend so we took the opportunity to go see Avatar, which I had seen an advance screening of and which he hadn't seen at all. It's not quite as powerful as I thought it was the first time and the imagery is a little kitschier than I remembered it but I still think it's a strong movie. In fact, the cheesy dialogue bothered me less this time, although I remained impatient with the clumsy exposition. I think so much of the criticism of this movie is so absurdly absurd I'm not sure I'd even know how to address it. I think that all the racial groups who think it's about them, and there seem to be very many, are missing the whole point of this movie. I mean, this is right out of Joseph Campbell. It's a hero myth about leaving a corrupt civilization and returning to something more in line with what are often regarded as our inherent values. I don't think the Na'vi are portrayed as "noble savages" like the criticism goes. I mean, these stupid academics know what a Bildungsroman is. The fact that they dismiss everything in terms of marxist sociology and identity politics only reinforces Camille Paglia's indictment of the state of the American university. How easy and lazy is it to look at a text and be content to call it reactionary in terms of identity politics and leave it there. I think it's great that he couched a condemnation of the Iraq war and the values that got us there in a familiar myth. He condemns imperialism and takes issue with the war on terror in a manner that in these times where everyone is trying to conform seems very bold. I really think these criticisms that the film is racist illustrates clearly what Naomi Klein wrote about in her book No Logo: people have been so concerned over the past few decades about identity politics and social issues that they haven't even paid attention as everything they had was swiped out from under them. So here you have a movie that's trying to use a fairy tale to tell us how we're making our own graves and betraying our own values and destroying our planet and all that and all we can do is focus on whether the use of a tribal dance is a slight against Polynesians or whether the story was robbed from this movie or that. Good grief. It does share common elements with those other films because the stories are based on the archetypes that Joseph Campbell spent his lifetime studying. They're the same sorts of stories we've been telling since the storytelling ape started telling stories. Furthermore, whether this movie is or isn't like Dances with Wolves is completely irrelevant since this is a superior movie. I feel like people are lazy and shallow sometimes and this constant demand for something new is part of that. Like we can't be bothered to appreciate or reassess something that is familiar to us, except that people spend so much time watching movies and television shows that you could basically recite the dialogue to without having seen the movie if someone gave you a two sentence description of the premise. B+
Last night we went to see Up in the Air, which is another in a string of overrated Hollywood movies. It surprises me how weak the year has been for Hollywood. I actually liked this movie to start with. The first half, I guess. I thought at one point, "This movie is really about right now, just like Summer Hours. This might actually be really good." Then halfway through, it chickened out and went and hid under its sister's skirt. It makes sense, psychologically, that this movie is so popular right now because that's where we are as a country. We really feel bad about where we've gotten ourselves but we aren't ready to own up to it or handle the situation like adults. We want to go home and we want to return to sentimental truism approaches to life and we want to wander off into wish-fulfillment land and hope that we or the world or what ever will heal by the time we've done our wandering or spent whatever coins we have to show for the past thirty years. Of course, it won't heal because we aren't prepared to admit that Ronald Reagan was wrong. That life isn't all Gordon Gecko playing around in some gigantic McDonaldland Playland. I thought the bit where he walks away from his speech was phony. I thought a lot of the second half was phony. I liked Vera Farmiga and I thought Anna Kendrick seemed like another dogfaced Anne Hathaway clone. I don't get where all the hype about their performances comes from. I thought Vera Farmiga was good and Anna Kendrick was fine, if a little boring. I feel like the image of America I'm seeing lately is one of dithering whiners. I guess I need to take this insight and turn it against myself. Aside from the fact that the movie lost its teeth partway through, I also think it held back from seriously addressing the dominant issue. For how little there is there, it just didn't seem like enough fun. C
Finally, last night we watched the documentary Valentino: The Last Emperor and I found it captivating. I should have been annoyed at the excess because it's so against what I believe in but it really intrigued me. I don't know what it is about fashion movies that I find so interesting. Who knew former Soviet bloc nation Bulgaria had a princess that pals around with and serves as a muse for Valentino? I had no idea they still had royalty there and it kind of surprises me that a country in Bulgaria's position puts up with that kind of extravagance. There's really something epic about the decadence in the film and when it all ends because of the global domination of financiers, it really seems sad. It's another example of what Naomi Klein and Gore Vidal have been warning us about. Of course, one wonders why he sold his successful company in the first place but it probably paid for one or more of his jewel encrusted villas... Regardless of who pulled the string that shut the curtain, it's another great portrait of the end of an age. B+
22 October 2009
Chicago International Film Festival recap
Saturday, 10/10
Raging Sun, Raging Sky, Mexico, A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAvW4I6lMFs
Sunday, 10/11
A Frozen Flower, South Korea, A-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvG4rvI8HBw
Mother, South Korea, B+
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rDeNM-M8p8
Monday, 10/12
Vincere, Italy, B
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69f_Z4i_Vj8
Case Unknown, Poland, C-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6fzvHyq4uY
Tuesday, 10/13
Police, Adjective, Romania, B
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpAbFoWwjJY
Eastern Plays, Bulgaria, B-
http://cineuropa.org/ffocustrailer.aspx?lang=en&treeID=2015&documentID=112248
Thursday, 10/15
Hidden Diary, France/Canada, C
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPKNZimsQBc
Friday, 10/16
Who's Afraid of the Wolf?, Czech Republic, A
http://vimeo.com/3005565
Women in Trouble, USA, B+
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5-UoltzDBk
The Rapture of Fe, Philippines, B
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBh5jYaVmmQ
Saturday, 10/17
Made in Hungaria, Hungary, B
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSz3QKQR0Fo
Backyard, Mexico, A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMeBfNAAnvQ
A Woman's Way, Greece, A+
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30vAhfZ53F4
Sunday, 10/18
Eyes Wide Open, Israel, B
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnKfBvlZAcM
The Thank You Girls, The Phillipines, C
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwyQ6Bjdfgw
Monday, 10/19
Will Not Stop There, Serbia, B
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4b168J3SfA
A Single Man, USA, D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tCxRO67gyk
Tuesday, 10/20
Ricky, France, B+
http://www.francois-ozon.com/en/videos
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, B-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jU3AimFaz0
Wednesday, 10/21, Best of the Festival
Fish Tank, UK, A-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg1yMOdjyp0
Hipsters, Russia, A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5Geb5zO4co
Raging Sun, Raging Sky, Mexico, A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAvW4I6lMFs
Sunday, 10/11
A Frozen Flower, South Korea, A-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvG4rvI8HBw
Mother, South Korea, B+
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rDeNM-M8p8
Monday, 10/12
Vincere, Italy, B
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69f_Z4i_Vj8
Case Unknown, Poland, C-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6fzvHyq4uY
Tuesday, 10/13
Police, Adjective, Romania, B
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpAbFoWwjJY
Eastern Plays, Bulgaria, B-
http://cineuropa.org/ffocustrailer.aspx?lang=en&treeID=2015&documentID=112248
Thursday, 10/15
Hidden Diary, France/Canada, C
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPKNZimsQBc
Friday, 10/16
Who's Afraid of the Wolf?, Czech Republic, A
http://vimeo.com/3005565
Women in Trouble, USA, B+
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5-UoltzDBk
The Rapture of Fe, Philippines, B
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBh5jYaVmmQ
Saturday, 10/17
Made in Hungaria, Hungary, B
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSz3QKQR0Fo
Backyard, Mexico, A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMeBfNAAnvQ
A Woman's Way, Greece, A+
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30vAhfZ53F4
Sunday, 10/18
Eyes Wide Open, Israel, B
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnKfBvlZAcM
The Thank You Girls, The Phillipines, C
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwyQ6Bjdfgw
Monday, 10/19
Will Not Stop There, Serbia, B
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4b168J3SfA
A Single Man, USA, D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tCxRO67gyk
Tuesday, 10/20
Ricky, France, B+
http://www.francois-ozon.com/en/videos
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, B-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jU3AimFaz0
Wednesday, 10/21, Best of the Festival
Fish Tank, UK, A-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg1yMOdjyp0
Hipsters, Russia, A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5Geb5zO4co
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