Many reviews have touted Terry Gilliam's Tideland as a return to form after the mess of last year's Weinstein-complicated The Brothers Grimm, and it is that. What the reviews fail to mention, however, is how challenging a film Tideland is. That may seem redundant, but it is worth a reminder that Gilliam's best work is not easily digested.
Tideland is the story of a young girl, without an ordinary plot or antagonist to commercialize things, and it takes place in the most Gilliam-esque world since 1998's Fear and Loating in Las Vegas. Case-in-point, there is not a level, static shot in the film for almost 30 minutes. Factor in an eight-year-old girl cooking heroine for her loser daddy (Jeff Bridges), being called a bitch by her bitch-of-a-mother, and playing kissing games with a lobotomized, adult epiliptic and you have a film that is probably too much for the majority of American filmgoers.
But that's kind of the point. Terry Gilliam is the sort of filmmaker who must make movies that push the envelope of the acceptable and even the tasteful. Here he juxtaposes the innocence of Jeliza-Rose (Jodelle Ferland) against a truly disturbing backdrop of drug use, death and sex, creating one of those few films that truly invoke the innocence of childhood. (Count last year's Pan's Labyrinth in that number as well.)
Some might question this choice, yet what better way to reveal than to challenge? Fear and Loathing turned our views of the drug culture and America on our heads by reveling in their humorous excesses and revealing in the end the horrifying and honest result.
What Gilliam has created here is a film that will have many crying foul citing "extreme and inappropriate content" due to the presence of a child, yet it is a story of hope. In finding his inner child, as he claims in the DVD introduction, Gilliam has championed the resilience of children, the inner strength that tends to fall by the wayside when we coddle them. This is not a film for children, but a film for adults who have forgotten their childhood and the innocence inherent therein. Gilliam is attempting to revive the childlike resilience that our adulthood has beaten into hiding. He has shown us hope for a future that adults seem so intent on fucking up, and in so doing has hopefully helped some of us recapture the innocence that makes that hope possible.
Note: I recommend renting but not purchasing the ThinkFilm DVD release of Tideland. The flick was filmed in 2.35:1 and cropped slightly for DVD by Gilliam, yet ThinkFilm has unconscionably cropped the image further to an "anamorphic full-frame" ratio of 1.77:1. A ridiculous move since the only likely viewers of a Terry Gilliam movie are hardcore cineastes, the kind of people who actually care about the presentation of their art.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Disconnect
Does it ever seem like very intelligent people have lost all grasp of everyday life? Maybe they never had one to identify with. Whatever the case, this week's out-of-touch award goes to yet another movies-cause-smoking study.
Browsing the IMDb for like the 9th time in the last two hours (I really don't want to be at work today) I came across this story: imdb.com/news/sb/2007-03-06/#film3. It seems another group of bespectacled grad students have determined that R-rated movies make kids smoke. Apparently, once again, movies are the cause of everything dangerous. I know I'm hyperbolizing, but it kills me that they never make the obvious connection: that the kinds of movies people watch tend to tell you more about the kind of person they are, then influence the way they behave.
Of course, I'm fully aware that exposure to R-rated movies can spur on rebelliousness, but the soil's gotta be there before the seed can grow. It's just funny to me that people who are so careful about using words like "theory" and "projection" haven't managed to determine that "young people who are likely to watch R-rated movies are more likely to smoke" is a more accurate statement. Smoking is a symptom (or trait) of rebelliousness, not the cause.
Now, anybody got a light?
Browsing the IMDb for like the 9th time in the last two hours (I really don't want to be at work today) I came across this story: imdb.com/news/sb/2007-03-06/#film3. It seems another group of bespectacled grad students have determined that R-rated movies make kids smoke. Apparently, once again, movies are the cause of everything dangerous. I know I'm hyperbolizing, but it kills me that they never make the obvious connection: that the kinds of movies people watch tend to tell you more about the kind of person they are, then influence the way they behave.
Of course, I'm fully aware that exposure to R-rated movies can spur on rebelliousness, but the soil's gotta be there before the seed can grow. It's just funny to me that people who are so careful about using words like "theory" and "projection" haven't managed to determine that "young people who are likely to watch R-rated movies are more likely to smoke" is a more accurate statement. Smoking is a symptom (or trait) of rebelliousness, not the cause.
Now, anybody got a light?
Monday, March 05, 2007
Zodiac
First, a note: I will never promise anything on here ever again (like future drafts of the Decalogue). And, since I'm the only person who reads this, I will henceforth be far more honest with myself.
Zodiac. My God, what a movie. David Fincher is a master (like you didn't know that). From the opening frames, I was hooked. Two lovers sit in a T-Bird on lover's lane. She wants him. He wants to go party. Then a car drifts by, pausing behind them. He's freaked. She just wants to get some. He asks if it's her husband. Then the Mustang comes back. The driver gets out, the sounds of Three Dog Night swell, and he shoots the lovers.
How's that for an opening? From there we're introduced to the players: Robert Downey Jr. as Paul Avery, a drunk, pill-popping, sleaze-slinging reporter; Mark Ruffalo as the work-a-day detective; and Jake Gyllenhaal as the headliner, comic artist Robert Graysmith. These guys all turn in stellar work, as does the supporting cast including Bryan Cox and Anthony Anderson (two "o"s in Goose, boys).
Special credit here must also go to cinematographer Harris Savides and screenwriter James Vanderbilt. Savides' work is elegant, pushing the limits of digital photography and finally capturing that ghostly, barely-there nighttime feel Fincher has been after for so long. As for Vanderbilt, nothing in his resume suggests that he's capable of a work of this scope, yet here stands the result. I don't know how much of it had to do with Fincher, but the writer of Darkness Falls managed to turn out a script that yielded an exciting, suspenseful, and somehow complete film about the endless multi-decade search for an almost-forgotten killer.
Go see it. And dethrone that fucking Wild Hogs piece-of-shit from the top of the box office. Please.
Zodiac. My God, what a movie. David Fincher is a master (like you didn't know that). From the opening frames, I was hooked. Two lovers sit in a T-Bird on lover's lane. She wants him. He wants to go party. Then a car drifts by, pausing behind them. He's freaked. She just wants to get some. He asks if it's her husband. Then the Mustang comes back. The driver gets out, the sounds of Three Dog Night swell, and he shoots the lovers.
How's that for an opening? From there we're introduced to the players: Robert Downey Jr. as Paul Avery, a drunk, pill-popping, sleaze-slinging reporter; Mark Ruffalo as the work-a-day detective; and Jake Gyllenhaal as the headliner, comic artist Robert Graysmith. These guys all turn in stellar work, as does the supporting cast including Bryan Cox and Anthony Anderson (two "o"s in Goose, boys).
Special credit here must also go to cinematographer Harris Savides and screenwriter James Vanderbilt. Savides' work is elegant, pushing the limits of digital photography and finally capturing that ghostly, barely-there nighttime feel Fincher has been after for so long. As for Vanderbilt, nothing in his resume suggests that he's capable of a work of this scope, yet here stands the result. I don't know how much of it had to do with Fincher, but the writer of Darkness Falls managed to turn out a script that yielded an exciting, suspenseful, and somehow complete film about the endless multi-decade search for an almost-forgotten killer.
Go see it. And dethrone that fucking Wild Hogs piece-of-shit from the top of the box office. Please.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Decalogue 2006, Rough Draft
Disclaimers: First, I know I am using "decalogue" inappropriately and even irreverentially. I don't care. It sounds cool. Second, a careful count will reveal twelve items in my so-called top ten. Deal. It's a rough draft.
Here is my first stab at a Top Ten list for the 2006 movie season. It's rough, and mostly not in order, but it represents my first attempt to collectively analyze the movie season. Looking at this list, I think it was largely a good one. Great acting seemed to be the hallmark, with a great deal of very personal films getting some wide exposure. Almost all of the good films had an epic sweep/scope to them, making me think (or hope) that all of this conflict and exposure is opening us up to a more international view. Although somewhere deep down, I doubt it. Anyway, here's a list that will probably change a great deal over the next few weeks, as I catch up on the ones I haven't seen.
TOP TEN
Brick - I said mostly in order, this is the exception. Rian Johnson's little masterpiece is number one, top banana, the king cheese for the year. This could be his only film, and he would still be one of my favorite filmmakers. It floored me when I saw it in the spring, and continues to awe and inspire through many DVD viewings. It's even wormed it's way into my current Top Ten of all time. Yeah. It's that good. (Note: I feel some jealously. I've been wanting to make the whole "Noir in High School" concept work in a film of my own for some time.)
The Departed - God I love Scorsese, and here's another reason. This one ranks up there with Goodfella's, Taxi Driver, et all as one of the great's. It's got some absolutely audience-devastating moments that shook me up, wrung me out, kicked me in the nuts, and I loved every second of it.
The Fountain - This is one of those personal films. So raw, it lays Darren Aronofsky almost embarrassingly bare. The salvation of the film, and Aronofsky, is his artist's eye for composition (and that of his D.P., Matthew Libatique), his sensitivity and passion for his characters, and the propulsive, progressive editing that has been the trademark of his earlier films (Pi & Requiem for a Dream).
Babel - Speaking of raw and emotional... Inarritu's films are very difficult to watch. 21 Grams left me shaking. Fortunately I have matured since and could more easily come to terms with my reaction to Babel. A plea for tolerance and empathy, this is the kind of true work of art the cinema seems designed to yield, yet rarely produces.
Children of Men - I love sci-fi that doesn' t seem to know it's sci-fi. Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men is such a film. It took me a while to get into it, but once I did, it shook me baby. An all too possible conception of a future where England has been walled off, illegal immigrants are locked away in camps by Homeland Security, and the government and terrorist groups have taken on an equal leval of menace. All grounded by Clive Owen's excellent performance. And if you can figure out how did they did those shots, please tell me.
Casino Royale - The badass Bond film the series had been aching for ever since From Russia With Love. Daniel Craig is amazing, as those of us in-the-know knew he would be, Eva Green is gorgeous, and for once all the stunts, beatings, and love-making seems to mean something.
Deja Vu - I don't think it's possible to be a film fan and not love Tony Scott, however the ever grumpy Moriarty over at Ain't It Cool sees things differently. I can't remember if he liked Deja Vu though, so I'll give him a pass for now. Anyway, this movie kicks ass. That's all I have to say about it.
The Prestige - A friend thought Chris Nolan's latest moved too slow, but I liked it that way. As I thought on the way home, it moves with the stately pace of a funeral procession. It's no spoiler to tell you it's a tragedy, since it walks, talks and feels like one. Very operatic, very dark, and very cool.
Pirates II - I refuse to type the entire title, but at least it's a shorter moniker than the first installment. This movie would have been damn near perfect had they done the same with the running time (shortened it, that is. Keep up.). As it stands, however, it's still a ridiculously entertaining ride, embracing the boisterous spirit of those old Errol Flynn flicks, and adding the sort of imagination modern CG allows. And Keira's hot.
Superman Returns - Along with The Prestige, this is the other operatic masterpiece of the summer, I don't care what any of the fanboys say. More interested in emotional sweep than action and corny one-liners, it's just my kind of movie. Singer strikes again.
The Black Dahlia - Those who know me know I love my Noir. I also have a deep affection for anything De Palma. Put both of them together? Well, it's the stuff dreams are made of. Especially when combined with some freaking incredible cinematography (Zsigmond) and production design (Ferretti). Also, I keep wanting to hate Josh Hartnett but he keeps showing up in movies I like and doing a good job. Damn him.
The Proposition - The anti-Hollywood movie of the year. It doesn't flinch from the evil nature of the protagonists, even while exposing their humanity. Chilling, incredibly acted, and beautifully phographed in Australia.
ALSO DUG
Clerks 2, Miami Vice, Apocalypto, Talladega Nights, Cars, Rocky Balboa, The Illusionist, Marie Antoinette, A Prairie Home Companion, The Good Shepherd, MI:III
STILL TO SEE
The Science of Sleep, Blood Diamond, Pan's Labyrinth, Letters From Iwo Jima, District B13, Volver, Don't Come Knocking, Neil Young: Heart of Gold, Monster House, Old Joy, Inland Empire, Bubble
Recently Watched
Children of Men
The Informer
Here is my first stab at a Top Ten list for the 2006 movie season. It's rough, and mostly not in order, but it represents my first attempt to collectively analyze the movie season. Looking at this list, I think it was largely a good one. Great acting seemed to be the hallmark, with a great deal of very personal films getting some wide exposure. Almost all of the good films had an epic sweep/scope to them, making me think (or hope) that all of this conflict and exposure is opening us up to a more international view. Although somewhere deep down, I doubt it. Anyway, here's a list that will probably change a great deal over the next few weeks, as I catch up on the ones I haven't seen.
TOP TEN
Brick - I said mostly in order, this is the exception. Rian Johnson's little masterpiece is number one, top banana, the king cheese for the year. This could be his only film, and he would still be one of my favorite filmmakers. It floored me when I saw it in the spring, and continues to awe and inspire through many DVD viewings. It's even wormed it's way into my current Top Ten of all time. Yeah. It's that good. (Note: I feel some jealously. I've been wanting to make the whole "Noir in High School" concept work in a film of my own for some time.)
The Departed - God I love Scorsese, and here's another reason. This one ranks up there with Goodfella's, Taxi Driver, et all as one of the great's. It's got some absolutely audience-devastating moments that shook me up, wrung me out, kicked me in the nuts, and I loved every second of it.
The Fountain - This is one of those personal films. So raw, it lays Darren Aronofsky almost embarrassingly bare. The salvation of the film, and Aronofsky, is his artist's eye for composition (and that of his D.P., Matthew Libatique), his sensitivity and passion for his characters, and the propulsive, progressive editing that has been the trademark of his earlier films (Pi & Requiem for a Dream).
Babel - Speaking of raw and emotional... Inarritu's films are very difficult to watch. 21 Grams left me shaking. Fortunately I have matured since and could more easily come to terms with my reaction to Babel. A plea for tolerance and empathy, this is the kind of true work of art the cinema seems designed to yield, yet rarely produces.
Children of Men - I love sci-fi that doesn' t seem to know it's sci-fi. Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men is such a film. It took me a while to get into it, but once I did, it shook me baby. An all too possible conception of a future where England has been walled off, illegal immigrants are locked away in camps by Homeland Security, and the government and terrorist groups have taken on an equal leval of menace. All grounded by Clive Owen's excellent performance. And if you can figure out how did they did those shots, please tell me.
Casino Royale - The badass Bond film the series had been aching for ever since From Russia With Love. Daniel Craig is amazing, as those of us in-the-know knew he would be, Eva Green is gorgeous, and for once all the stunts, beatings, and love-making seems to mean something.
Deja Vu - I don't think it's possible to be a film fan and not love Tony Scott, however the ever grumpy Moriarty over at Ain't It Cool sees things differently. I can't remember if he liked Deja Vu though, so I'll give him a pass for now. Anyway, this movie kicks ass. That's all I have to say about it.
The Prestige - A friend thought Chris Nolan's latest moved too slow, but I liked it that way. As I thought on the way home, it moves with the stately pace of a funeral procession. It's no spoiler to tell you it's a tragedy, since it walks, talks and feels like one. Very operatic, very dark, and very cool.
Pirates II - I refuse to type the entire title, but at least it's a shorter moniker than the first installment. This movie would have been damn near perfect had they done the same with the running time (shortened it, that is. Keep up.). As it stands, however, it's still a ridiculously entertaining ride, embracing the boisterous spirit of those old Errol Flynn flicks, and adding the sort of imagination modern CG allows. And Keira's hot.
Superman Returns - Along with The Prestige, this is the other operatic masterpiece of the summer, I don't care what any of the fanboys say. More interested in emotional sweep than action and corny one-liners, it's just my kind of movie. Singer strikes again.
The Black Dahlia - Those who know me know I love my Noir. I also have a deep affection for anything De Palma. Put both of them together? Well, it's the stuff dreams are made of. Especially when combined with some freaking incredible cinematography (Zsigmond) and production design (Ferretti). Also, I keep wanting to hate Josh Hartnett but he keeps showing up in movies I like and doing a good job. Damn him.
The Proposition - The anti-Hollywood movie of the year. It doesn't flinch from the evil nature of the protagonists, even while exposing their humanity. Chilling, incredibly acted, and beautifully phographed in Australia.
ALSO DUG
Clerks 2, Miami Vice, Apocalypto, Talladega Nights, Cars, Rocky Balboa, The Illusionist, Marie Antoinette, A Prairie Home Companion, The Good Shepherd, MI:III
STILL TO SEE
The Science of Sleep, Blood Diamond, Pan's Labyrinth, Letters From Iwo Jima, District B13, Volver, Don't Come Knocking, Neil Young: Heart of Gold, Monster House, Old Joy, Inland Empire, Bubble
Recently Watched
Children of Men
The Informer
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Weekends and Epiphanies
The last weekend has been busy:
Saturday was spent shooting our IFC Spirit Awards submission, a 90-second short that should turn out pretty funny. True to our natures we ended up with enough material to fill three times that length. We'll probably have to save that for the extended edition DVD.
On Sunday I worked with Mischa again on his "Conversations" short film, a run-and-gun flick on which I'm working as D.P. . Mischa's a good guy, and the short should be interesting. It's got a very cool, 70's-inspired look that's helped by the overcast, rainy winter. Of course, all that wet and cold makes it a bitch to shoot. "Pain is temporary, film is forever," right?
I had an epiphone last night (unfortunately it didn't involve how to spell epiphany): I work best with actors when I know them. This actually comes from watching Cory, who has a very solid bullshit detector when it comes to false moments. It's not the same with me. If I know someone, then I have an excellent sense of when something they say or do doesn't ring true. If I don't know them, however, their expressions are like a series of masks: recognizable as gestures in a broad sense, but inscrutable on an honest emotional level. This means that in the future I will have to spend time with my actors before shooting. Not necessarily rehearsing (although that may be the excuse), but just getting to know them.
Recently Purchased
Johnny Cash - At Madison Square Garden
Fiona Apple - When The Pawn...
Steven D. Katz - Film Directing Shot By Shot
Joseph V. Mascelli - The Five C's of Cinematography
Saturday was spent shooting our IFC Spirit Awards submission, a 90-second short that should turn out pretty funny. True to our natures we ended up with enough material to fill three times that length. We'll probably have to save that for the extended edition DVD.
On Sunday I worked with Mischa again on his "Conversations" short film, a run-and-gun flick on which I'm working as D.P. . Mischa's a good guy, and the short should be interesting. It's got a very cool, 70's-inspired look that's helped by the overcast, rainy winter. Of course, all that wet and cold makes it a bitch to shoot. "Pain is temporary, film is forever," right?
I had an epiphone last night (unfortunately it didn't involve how to spell epiphany): I work best with actors when I know them. This actually comes from watching Cory, who has a very solid bullshit detector when it comes to false moments. It's not the same with me. If I know someone, then I have an excellent sense of when something they say or do doesn't ring true. If I don't know them, however, their expressions are like a series of masks: recognizable as gestures in a broad sense, but inscrutable on an honest emotional level. This means that in the future I will have to spend time with my actors before shooting. Not necessarily rehearsing (although that may be the excuse), but just getting to know them.
Recently Purchased
Johnny Cash - At Madison Square Garden
Fiona Apple - When The Pawn...
Steven D. Katz - Film Directing Shot By Shot
Joseph V. Mascelli - The Five C's of Cinematography
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Project Update, As Promised
Here's project info, from the oldest to the newest:
Fifteen Grand
Once known as Cool, this thing has been in the works for a goddamn long time. We filmed it in the summer of '05, and it's been slowly coming together on the editing machine ever since (give me a break, we've been working on other shit). Part of the problem: it's the worst thing we've ever written. Some nice visuals though.
Fall
My baby. Nicole's editing it whenever she has time between her three jobs (one's called Kyle). Shot in January/February of '06, it's probably the most personal thing I've done. It's also taking a while to come together, but my recent viewing of the third-act scene Nicole put together assured me that it's worth the wait.
Band Documentary
I don't know how much the guys want me to say about it, but we're working on a very interesting band documentary. This group of guys (three of them) came together for one weekend, to write/improvise and record an album. It's all instrumental, very moody, and very cool. We're envisioning the documentary as a sort of window into the creative process. The DVD will be a b-side to the album, and there's talk it will be packaged with the CD.
Aces & Eights
Cory's flick, shot this summer, and featuring our best cinematography to date (I wonder who could've shot it...). I've seen the latest cut, and it's easily our strongest short right now (well, until Fall is cut, that is). Definitely festival material once it has finalized sound effects.
In other news, the Music Video we did for Brightwood has reached 2000 plays and has 20 votes. It's coming it at a solid four stars, and with a few more votes we might get some attention for it. So get off your ass and go vote for it!
Fifteen Grand
Once known as Cool, this thing has been in the works for a goddamn long time. We filmed it in the summer of '05, and it's been slowly coming together on the editing machine ever since (give me a break, we've been working on other shit). Part of the problem: it's the worst thing we've ever written. Some nice visuals though.
Fall
My baby. Nicole's editing it whenever she has time between her three jobs (one's called Kyle). Shot in January/February of '06, it's probably the most personal thing I've done. It's also taking a while to come together, but my recent viewing of the third-act scene Nicole put together assured me that it's worth the wait.
Band Documentary
I don't know how much the guys want me to say about it, but we're working on a very interesting band documentary. This group of guys (three of them) came together for one weekend, to write/improvise and record an album. It's all instrumental, very moody, and very cool. We're envisioning the documentary as a sort of window into the creative process. The DVD will be a b-side to the album, and there's talk it will be packaged with the CD.
Aces & Eights
Cory's flick, shot this summer, and featuring our best cinematography to date (I wonder who could've shot it...). I've seen the latest cut, and it's easily our strongest short right now (well, until Fall is cut, that is). Definitely festival material once it has finalized sound effects.
In other news, the Music Video we did for Brightwood has reached 2000 plays and has 20 votes. It's coming it at a solid four stars, and with a few more votes we might get some attention for it. So get off your ass and go vote for it!
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