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sivilcavage
Reviews
Shortbus (2006)
"a cry of rapture and of horror".
this movie is continuing a tradition of envelope-pushing American movies. while watching it i could sense the influence of cassavetes, larry clark ("ken park" anyone?), gregg araki (especially the use of alternating media formats and the free-wheeling live-now-die-tomorrow attitude), and even slight homages to these greats along with a nod to the patron saint of queer cinema: fassbinder.
while i won't get into how fleshed out these references are, i'll say that they work incredibly well in favor of this movie and i think it's a fairly commendable sophomore effort. i think that some directors would buckle under the pressure of having to deliver a crowd-pleaser twice in succession. maybe mitchell didn't even intend for this to be what it is, maybe he did. but even older directors don't always pull that off. but that's beside the point. the point is that mitchell took a huge risk by making this movie and was risking his renown, the scandal of this picture eclipsing the rapturous accolade that his stage-to-film production garnered, and touching some very sensitive places in his audiences minds and hearts.
but, i have to admit, it couldn't have arrived at a more auspicious time.
while i can't say that i was particularly moved by this movie (i was more entertained than moved), there were moments that stood out. one in particular is when the "former mayor of new york" makes his speech to the character of ceth about how people seek forgiveness, how unforgiving one's own home can feel, and how overwhelming compassion for other people can be. it's a brief moment and signals the end of the first act, puts a period on all the seemingly frivolous sex, and shows that amidst all of the chaos there is an old guard (bearing in mind the aforementioned cinematic predecessors) that serve as watchers over the tender flock. one of the taglines for the movie is, after all, "voyeurism is participation".
and this movie, i think, doesn't so much ask for participation as it does for careful attention. and that's a tall order for most audiences. throw in all the graphic distracting sex and you can imagine how people won't be rushing to their local theaters to see this. although, quite the inverse is bound to happen when word-of-mouth takes over and people realize that it's one of those "in" things to do, see 'shortbus' ("it's hilarious", "the guys are cute"...).
all the same, it'll get people talking and seeing one another in a different light but, in my opinion, it's not going to do much for conservative homosexual men and women (timing is everything, and there should be no surprise that this movie's release coincides with two of the most riveting scandals involving closeted gay men and conservative leaders in the united states which have begged the question: are there really that many gay men living in the closet and under the auspice of our own government?). conservative heterosexuals however, may learn something about the malleability of prejudice and how people imagine and reimagine themselves (something mitchell dealt with in 'hedwig and the angry inch') all the time. in my opinion, that's something that a little uneven about the movie but, everyone will no doubt take something different away from the experience.
and although i have to agree with some of the unfavorable opinions about this movie: some scenes seem gratuitous and/or overwrought, some parts seem designed only to shock, and there is guaranteed to be something in this that rubs you the wrong way if you're not used to seeing sexual acts portrayed so frankly; on the contrary, at its core this movie has a very important message about communities, relationships, and non-traditional families that (expectedly) will fall on deaf ears. see it and decide for yourself.
Babel (2006)
gritty but not grisly: iñárritu's most successful experiment with this form
be glad for iñárritu. that man makes some gutsy movies. they have a lot in common with other movies i've seen (style-wise, 'babel' is experimental although taking a more minimal approach in contrast to the way, say, fernando mereilles' movies are. it's gritty but not grisly, to put it one way) it takes some guts to make the movies that he makes. and that's exactly where they hit you when they're not piercing your heart or grappling with your mind.
i'm glad to see any of the "little guys" make a big movie. 'babel' was such an appropriate movie, i think, to see before 'the fountain' (another movie i've been looking forward to this year). they both have a lot of buzz and both come from directors i admire, and are projects that i otherwise don't get to see in wide release. i'd rather see someone small but with tremendous imagination make a spectacular movie than someone colossal, with a titanic budget, and an "average joe"-type imagination (i'm in that pool, so hey, don't splash me) make a "blockbuster". that's not to say "blockbusters" aren't for me. they are, they're for everyone. but i've gotten to a point where i appreciate movies for their "imagineering" (i hate that word but, darnit, it suits what i'm saying) what the mind, the technology, the means and the medium can forge. it's almost like visual alchemy.
but, there's also the element of the story. i think a lot of people forget that what they're seeing is a story. often their senses are engaged, but not their minds. 'babel' is the kind of movie that grabs your brain with clenched fists to tell you a big story. altho it seems to have a convoluted and disjointed story (if you've seen iñárritu's previous work, you're familiar with it) it's the director's style and it's the command that he has over this particular style that's fascinating to see and experience. you don't get to see much stuff like it. the characters spill over into one another's lives yet they're so far apart, they say things that echo in another's thoughts or actions, and it all seems like a dream. it seems at first like chaos but it's too beautiful to be mere chaos. and i see aronofsky's work intersecting with iñárritu's in this regard. they put together thought-provoking stories about people who are as ordinary, innocent, hopeful, angry, disappointed, scared, courageous, and (in)sane as anyone else. it's fantastic, is a short way to put it, simply fantastic.
see this movie with someone that you usually have good discussions with, trust me, you'll have some great things to discuss after you see 'babel'.
Idlewild (2006)
enjoyable! *MILD SPOILERS*
aside from the hip-hop star headliners and the music video-to-feature film director patina, this movie has quite a few things going for it...
1. the music. i've been keen on the outkast duo's talents as musicians (MUSICIANS), especially andre benjamin, and i see here what they can really do outside of just making records. the music, it's like a main character in the movie and really the entire thing felt like it was a music video (which at first seemed like it was going to be something weighing on my mind) but instead turned out to be what kept the pace of the whole thing going. i'd definitely categorize the movie as a musical. at times, i have to admit, it slows down and seems like it skips a groove... but, it turns out to have a significant resonance when all is said and done.
2. the dance numbers. honestly, another music video cliché i have to admit i thought would bog the movie down but instead added to the pace and tempo of the overall experience. and some of the dancing is downright fun to watch.
3. T H E C O S T U M E S. seriously, i expect this to pick up some award nominations for the costumes. some of them are downright FIERCE.
if you liked 'moulin rouge' or 'chicago' and you're a follower/admirer of the outkast duo, you'll really enjoy this movie. it's fun, it's sad, it's got action, sex, thrills, humor, and (believe it or not) heart.
Palindromes (2004)
good bad, bad good.
it's pretty heavy stuff solondz always seems to put into his films. i think 'palindromes' is really done in the rebellious spirit, something that gets between your teeth, something that sticks, something you have to wrap your mind around; of course, he's getting in our face, who can't SEE that in his pictures? it IS incredibly well-crafted and i admire solondz for the material he dares to deal with in his scripts. he's definitely an auteur and experimental filmmaker like so many of the greats that his pictures often lend homage to ("rosemary's baby", polanski; "annie hall", woody allen; "that obscure object of desire", bu�ñuel). he works within a certain frame, definitely, and the arguments he raises in his pictures should definitely refer to this framing and to solondz's personal opinions wherever they may be observed in his movies. personally, i am definitely shocked by what solondz decides to include in his scripts and to go through the trouble of composting with the drama of the story, however, i do think that the effort he puts into the films, their scripts, and so many other details of the movie (the devil, as solondz reminds us, is in the details) is at least admirable and his message, of course falling on a few deaf ears, will not soon be forgotten.
'palindromes' is good, but i won't say that you'll like it...
5th World (2005)
Viewed at the Native Cinema Festival in Gallup, NM, April 2, 2005.
I do agree to an extent with some of the harsher critics of this film that it was very amateur in fact a little self-indulgent. However I have a different perspective. I know that some of the people that were involved in its making weren't at all serious about the film making it to Sundance so yes, I too, Indian as the director, stars, etc. think there's something fishy about their film selections. I'd be careful before saying things about quotas or affirmative action however. To be fair, if I saw a film made by a director of another ethnicity I wouldn't prejudge all other filmmakers of the same ethnicity (good call by the user that brought up "The Brown Bunny"), just that filmmaker alone.
Of course, it's easier to prejudge than to get all the facts and make a more sincere effort.
Anyway, here's my review of the film that I culled from my blog.
5th World - Larry Blackhorse Lowe The only feature-length fiction entry in the festival. This one got some attention previously when it was showcased (not entered in competition) at this year's Sundance film festival. It's a mix of coming-of-age story, love story, documentary, and road movie. Its basically the story of two young lovers that are hitchhiking across the Navajo Nation and who are examining life and love together through laughter, stories, and a sheep butchering. Yes, there is a lengthy sequence involving a sheep being butchered. While I wasn't particularly impressed with the shock tactics there is an interesting plot twist (which I won't give away) that saves the film as well as a few parts that managed to elicit a few laughs for those "real johns" in the audience. The comedy duo "James and Ernie" make a cameo as well. While i liked the photography, the pacing of the road trip sequences, and the idea of fiction inspired by fact (the film was inspired by the director's aunt and uncle's story of how they first met and began courting) there were some flaws that I couldn't pull my attention from. The use of profanity seemed gratuitous and unnecessary (the guy calling the girl "a dirty b***h" and the girl calling the guy a "f***er" and "fa**ot" became pointless, regardless of how "real" the director wanted to keep the characters, same problem I had with Chris Eyre's "Skins"), the tie between the story of the aunt and uncle sort of led nowhere and really ultimately served the purpose of showing "that is how it was and this is how it is" in a simplistic manner, and lastly the plot twist is really the only redeeming feature (not even going to give you a hint!) when the story seems to be going nowhere. All the same, it manages to illustrate the importance of community and social values as well as a respect and concern for ones ancestral ties and traditional foundations. Obviously, this film will not be accessible by all and that too I think is a flaw.
Canoa (1976)
prophetic
i picked up this film at random after being hooked by the cover art. like the hikers in the film, i had no idea what i was getting myself into. while not a particularly "polished" or grand film it was still very chilling. it's always the smaller things that make the biggest impact. i think this is because prior to this film i had never really seen the kind of paranoia on display here, seen the foundations laid so meticulously, except in an overly "preachy" way in American cinema (Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" for example). this was different however, and i think that it has a lot to do with the social climate and history of Mexico and above all, the talent of the director.
all the same, being a native New Mexican and in close proximity to such a vivid heritage, i think that this film has a very valid message about the madness of crowds and the unthinking, unfeeling, unaccountable and exploitative aspects of organized religion. i was raised without religion so my biases are limited (though some would say invalidated, ipso facto). i can't recall any film that i've seen, except "La Mala Educación" by Almodóvar (also an excellent film) that almost literally equates organized religion with organized crime. that may not have been the director's aim, but that's certainly what i got from it. but, it's not religion that's attacked here, it's the hypocrisy and manipulativeness of (exactly as a previous poster identified the priest) megalomaniacs (just like the jealous priest in "La Mala Educación"). while some people would jump to the conclusion that it's religion and the Catholic church or the ignorance of the indigenous peoples that are emphasized here, they're missing the point entirely. it reminded me much of the style of Buñuel who its possible Cazals was influenced by. like Buñuel, he employs these symbols and signs of the time, they help tell the story, but they do not distract nor are they the focus of the examinations in this film. the overtones are more social than they are religious, the questions it raises are more intellectual than theological.
one of the closest examples i can think of pertaining to this concept was actually contained in a line by a character in (ironically) a big-budget Hollywood film: "Men In Black". the line: "A person is smart. people are panicky, dumb, dangerous animals and you know it." this almost sums up "Canoa". this is what makes it unnerving. it catches you off guard. the smallest word (within the film literally amplified by the use of the loudspeakers) makes such a difference in the course of action that the characters in this film take. the entire town is itself a character. a big paranoid, schizophrenic, suspicious, and vindictive character. it also made me think of the biblical account of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. except in this instance the city is not destroyed but instead allowed to get away with its crimes...
it's not morbid, and not exploitative or cheap in its depiction of violence but contextualizes violence VERY effectively and this also adds to the overall tone. bouncing back and forth between the straightforward plot-driven scenes and the documentary-style interviews with the village people (also a device that brought to mind a Greek chorus), going between the crowds and the individual, seeing one person alone and then lost in a crowd is very disorienting but gives the film its power. the scenes where the most ordinary conversations seem out of place amidst the chaos of a riot give the film almost a postmodern quality that we see in the films of Tarantino and other younger directors (who seem to utilize this gimmick solely for its vulgar qualities). but of course, "Canoa" predates such films by over 20 years, is more serious in its tone, and is quantums more profound. this is definitely a film ahead of its time. what people see in American cinema today is actually pretty cheap if you ask me, when compared to a film such as "Canoa".
this is a powerful film.
i feel better having spent $1 to rent this than spending $10 to watch a movie at the cineplex... the smallest things can make the biggest difference.
see this film. it is excellent.