An Honorable Use of 3D

Oh if only this 3D craze would just die already! It's a gimmick, it isn't the future of cinema and in a few years we'll all be watching "I Love the 2000s" and laughing at how silly we all were. You don't need to see The Great Gatsby in 3D! 

That being said, there are some filmmakers out there who could potentially do interesting things with 3D. Jackass 3D was fascinating for it's use of cutting-edge technology to document such crudely simple gags and I cannot wait to see what Martin Scorsese accomplishes on Hugo Cabret. 

Another artist who I am intrigued to see work in 3D, is Japanese wild-man Takashi Miike, who will be debuting his remake of Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.

The fact that Miike seems to have mellowed in recent years actually makes his decision to use the format all the more interesting. His earlier films like Ichi The Killer and Dead or Alive were so relentless that use of 3D would likely turn your brain to Jell-O. But as evidenced by this teaser trailer, Hara-Kiri seems to be a film content to take its' time. 

Ideally this will mean action sequences that are much more visceral, because they have been earned through slow build-up. A good Samurai film is one that takes its' time finding the perfect moment to STRIKE! This should also be used as a guiding principle for 3D filmmakers. Not everything needs to be a peak. Sometimes you need valleys.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)

This hilariously riveting documentary follows the epic battle to set a new world record for the arcade classic - Donkey Kong.

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I want to show this movie to anyone who thinks Christopher Guest's mockumentaries are unrealistic. The characters in this film are as (if not more) over-the-top than anything Guest has ever committed to celluloid. AND IT'S ALL REAL! Even Steve Wiebe, the every-man "hero" of this story, is an obsessive-compulsive who borders on neglect towards his family. But the real draw for this film, the thing that makes it sing, is hot sauce empresario Billy Mitchell. Mitchell's ego is a thing of wonder. So many quotables. I honestly watched this film three times in one week it's that good. And streamable!

The Incredibles (2004)

One of the newest additions to our movie library is The Incredibles, yet another Pixar home run! Although...I haven't seen Cars, is that any good? Meh.

Anyways, The Incredibles! It's a fun, fast-paced movie about a family of "supers" saving the day! Bob (Mr. Incredible) and Helen (Elastigirl) live incognito lives with their three children. But when Mr. Incredible starts to get nostalgic for the "good ol' days" and starts doing hero work again, he winds up getting in a heap of trouble with a nemesis who's holding a personal grudge.

The animation, as usual for Pixar, is excellent and the characters are well-written and likeable. My personal favorite is Edna Mode, a superhero costume designer (inspired by famous costume designer Edith Head) who's pretty damn wacky. We also have Samuel L. Jackson as Frozone, Jason Lee as Syndrome, a fantastic score, and lots of laughs. I love this one!

Also worth noting is the short "Jack Jack Attack" that is featured on the DVD/blu-ray. As Syndrome would say "Ohhhh, this is just too good!"

A Prairie Home Companion (2006)

After decades on the air, the plug has finally been pulled on the  A Prairie Home Companion radio program. This film takes place on the night of their final live broadcast.

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Last films are tricky. Since you can die at any time, any film could also be your last. Sometimes this allows you to go out on a strong note like Passolini did with Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom. But it also means you could end your career like the legendary George Cuckor did with Rich and Famous. Robert Altman was fortunate enough to leave this world with A Prairie Home Companion as his final celluloid statement. It's an amazing mix of comedy, music that also somehow makes death not such a scary prospect.

Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

(First of all, SO sorry for slacking in my posting! Thanks Craig for keeping it up!)

Okay, so, Jesus Christ Superstar! This rock opera tells the story of Christ from just before his arrival in Jerusalem to his crucifixion. It opens with a bus arriving in a desert, and all the players unpacking the props, their costumes. It's a show, every word is sung, it's deliberately anachronistic (ie sooooo 70s) and it's all over the place.

I won't really get into the religious aspect of this film (some say it's blasphemous...I was raised Catholic, but no longer practice and I love this movie). I will say that in spite of the theatrics, it has some very touching moments. Carl Anderson as Judas knocks it out of the park with his tormented portrayal of the most famous traitor of all. And that voice! He's just so good (check the video below)!

It's colorful, campy at times, but at the end of the day it's a very moving and original film that I very much recommend.

John Waters: Pope of Trash

On this day 65 years ago, a child was born unto us to save the world from good taste. It has been far too long since he last perpetrated an act of cinematic anarchy. Hopefully a new one is not too far around the corner. Celebrate today by watching one of his many "exercises in poor taste". Bonus points if you watch something other than Hairspray.

Antici...pation

In the event that this film sucks (which is highly unlikely) there will surely be more than enough jaw dropping images and DINOSAURS to get us through the 2hr 18min run time.

12 Monkeys (1995)

James Cole (Bruce Willis) has been sent from the future back to 1997 to gather information on a virus that will wipe out most of humanity and drive the survivors underground. The only problem is, everybody thinks he is insane.

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A remake of a beloved avant-garde French film with big Hollywood stars. This film should have been absolutely forgettable if not a complete disaster. Yet somehow Terry Gilliam was able to turn this film into not only a wonderful thriller, but also a fascinating exploration of the thin line between sane and insane. 12 Monkeys successfully walks the tightrope between art and commerce that very few filmmakers are able to successfully navigate. Even when you know how things are going to come out, it is still a marvel to watch because you are witnessing a great filmmaker working at the apex of his craft, firing on all cylinders.

They say people don’t go to the cinema for art, yet somehow this film was able to rake in over $150,000,000 worldwide. So I guess there is hope for the future.

Save Our Cinemas

Though this blog was founded as an aid to viewers trying to decide what films to watch at home, we at Cinema Nerds are still extremely dedicated to the theatrical movie-going experience. Since the era of the Lumière Brothers, film viewing has been a communal endeavor. To see a film is to share a dream with everyone else in the theater. It is a beautiful thing and should never be lost.

And now for your feature presentation...

AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY ON PROTECTING THE MOVIE-GOING EXPERIENCE

We are the artists and business professionals who help make the movie business great. We produce and direct movies. We work on the business deals that help get movies made. At the end of the day, we are also simply big movie fans.

Lately, there’s been a lot of talk by leaders at some major studios and cable companies about early-to-the-home “premium video-on-demand.” In this proposed distribution model, new movies can be shown in homes while these same films are still in their theatrical run.

In this scenario, those who own televisions with an HDMI input would be able to order a film through their cable system or an Internet provider as a digital rental. Terms and timing have yet to be made concrete, but there has been talk of windows of 60 days after theatrical release at a price of $30.

Currently, the average theatrical release window is over four months (132 days). The theatrical release window model has worked for years for everyone in the movie business. Current theatrical windows protect the exclusivity of new films showing in state-of-the-art theaters bolstered by the latest in digital projection, digital sound, and stadium seating.

As a crucial part of a business that last year grossed close to $32 billion in worldwide theatrical ticket sales, we in the creative community feel that now is the time for studios and cable companies to acknowledge that a release pattern for premium video-on-demand that invades the current theatrical window could irrevocably harm the financial model of our film industry.

Major studios are struggling to replace the revenue lost by the declining value of DVD transactions. Low-cost rentals and subscriptions are undermining higher priced DVD sales and rentals. But the problem of declining revenue in home video will not be solved by importing into the theatrical window a distribution model that cannibalizes theatrical ticket sales.

Make no mistake: History has shown that price points cannot be maintained in the home video window. What sells for $30-a-viewing today could be blown out for $9.99 within a few years. If wiser heads do not prevail, the cannibalization of theatrical revenue in favor of a faulty, premature home video window could lead to the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue. Some theaters will close. The competition for those screens that remain will become that much more intense, foreclosing all but the most commercial movies from theatrical release. Specialty films whose success depends on platform releases that slowly build in awareness would be severely threatened under this new model. Careers that are built on the risks that can be taken with lower budget films may never have the chance to blossom under this cut-throat new model.

Further, releasing a pristine, digital copy of new movies early to the home will only increase the piracy problem—not solve it.

As leaders in the creative community, we ask for a seat at the table. We want to hear the studios’ plans for how this new distribution model will affect the future of the industry that we love.

And until that happens, we ask that our studio partners do not rashly undermine the current – and successful – system of releasing films in a sequential distribution window that encourages movie lovers to see films in the optimum, and most profitable, exhibition arena: the movie theaters of America.

We encourage our colleagues in the creative community to join with us by calling or emailing NATO at 202-962-0054 or nato@natodc.com.

Sincerely,

Michael Bay
Kathryn Bigelow
James Cameron
Guillermo del Toro
Roland Emmerich
Antoine Fuqua
Todd Garner
Lawrence Gordon
Stephen Gyllenhaal
Gale Anne Hurd
Peter Jackson
Karyn Kusama
Jon Landau
Shawn Levy
Michael Mann
Bill Mechanic
Jamie Patricof
Todd Phillips
Brett Ratner
Robert Rodriguez
Adam Shankman
Gore Verbinski
Robert Zemeckis

Paid for by the National Association of Theatre Owners

The House of the Devil (2009)

It’s the early 1980s and college student Samantha Hughes (Jocelin Donahue) needs money fast. Fortunately someone is looking for a babysitter...

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Modern “torture porn” films have bread us to expect unrelenting thrills from frame one to the end. As a result the films are one big flat line. They become a necklace of loud and gruesome showpieces that never really strike a chord. Real scares need to be earned and The House of the Devil absolutely earns them.

Nearly the entire film is build-up to the crazy climax. From the moment Samantha sets foot in that house you know something is off. Director Ti West builds an insane amount of tension. Little things become big scares. You really have no clue what to expect from one moment to he next. This is easily one of the creepiest movies you will ever see. And if you need bigger scares, be patient. Good things come to those who wait.

Currently this film is streamable on Netflix.

Battle Royale (2000)

An entire class of middle-schoolers find themselves on a deserted island where they are forced to fight each other – to the death.

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Could you kill your best friend? What if failing to do so meant that you would have to die? Watch as a bunch of very civil Japanese schoolchildren are reduced to the most animal urge of all – to survive. Who can you trust?

For many years this was a difficult film to find in America. After the Columbine High School Shootings, no American distributor would touch it. Your best bet was to buy an all region disc from Korea. Thankfully after a decade people have calmed down and America can finally enjoy Kinji Fukasaku’s blood-soaked final masterpiece. It is absolutely worth your time.

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Inglourious Basterds knocked my socks off the first time I saw it. It's a sad and heavy story, told with flair and style, and even a bit of humor. And it's Tarantino, so that should tell you everything. ;)

Plot summary? Nazis suck, so kill 'em! The Tarantino trademarks are all here: humorous violence, dialogue-heavy, quirky music cues, badassery all around, even a foot shot!

I know Tarantino gets bashed by non-fans for having too much dialogue in his films, but I think that's what makes them so special. Two characters talking, and I'm on the edge of my seat, hanging on their every word, judging the characters by the seemingly unimportant things they're saying. It helps that some of this dialogue is given by some very superb actors, notably Christoph Waltz who plays the super evil Col. Hans Landa and Mélanie Laurent who plays Shosanna.

There are some beautiful scenes (Shosanna preparing for the night), some downright vicious scenes (umm...most of the movie), it's got suspense, it's funny, you name it, the Basterds have got it. Yes, I covered my eyes in some scenes, and yes, I'm a baby.

War is ugly and brutal. Applauding a movie that makes World War 2 seem like a crazy cartoon at times might seem like I'm not aware of that fact. But to put it simply, Quentin Tarantino makes a damn good movie, brutal or not, and you can bet I'll always be in line when his films are on the marquee.

Round Up The Usual Suspects...

As if we needed another reason to wish we were in France...

This morning the official line-up for the 64th annual Cannes Film Festival was announced. The festival will open on May 11th with the out of competition premiere of Woody Allen's Midnight In Paris. 

As expected, Terrence Malick's long awaited The Tree of Life will finally make its' premiere here after several years in the works. Also in the, "everyone saw it coming" file: Festival favorite filmmakers Pedro Almodóvar,  Lars Von Trier and Gus Van Sant will debut their newest works on the croisette.

In the "far less predictable" column we find Japanese madman Takashi Miike's new film Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai as well as Nicolas Winding Refn's crime-thriller Drive.

This year's lineup also seems front-loaded with controversial subject matter. Von Trier and Miike are legendary provocateurs and Almodóvar's The Skin That I Live In is a rape/revenge film with sex reassignment surgery at its' center. But perhaps this year's lightning-rod of controversy will be Lynn Ramsay's adaptation of We Need To Talk About Kevin which follows a mother coming to terms with her son and the fact that he shot up his school.

Though there are few true surprises in the lineup, this year's slate of films is nothing to scoff at. Check back often for updates as we deliver coverage so good that you'll find it hard to believe that we're thousands of miles away.

The Brothers Bloom (2008)

The eponymous Brothers Bloom (Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody) and their mute demolition expert Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi) have set their sights on eccentric heiress Penelope (Rachel Weisz) for one last con.

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Though it sucks to be the victim of a confidence scheme, EVERYONE loves films about con artists. It’s the perfect con.

No matter how “in on it” you are throughout the film, there is always something being held back by the filmmakers. You don’t realize it at the time. It’s right there in front of your face but you don’t see it because you’re too busy having fun watching these goofy characters in these exotic locations. Yet when it all comes together in the end, rather than feeling like you’ve been had, you feel exhilarated. You cannot help but stand back and admire what the filmmakers were able to accomplish. “The perfect con is one where everyone involved gets just what they wanted.” - Stephen Boom

RIP/FPS?

For the first time in nearly 100 years, the frame rate of motion pictures is going to change. Silent films were shot and projected at roughly 18 frames per second (fps). With the advent of sound in the late 1920s, some extra frames were added to help keep sync between the picture and the audio. From then on, 24fps has been the standard. But this could be changing.

Yesterday, Peter Jackson announced via Facebook that his adaptation of The Hobbit is being shot at and will be projected in 48fps. Double the standard! As a result the film will be a much crisper and blur-free viewing experience for the audience. Essentially it is an analogue version of hi-def. And while it is admirable that Mr. Jackson is so concerned with presenting the best possible product to cinema-goers, the question begs: Will this change anything? 

Within the next decade we are likely to see the end of celluloid as a medium for commercial artistic expression. Sure some fringe artists out there will (and should) still cling go the old technology, but the studios are another ball of wax. When you shoot 48fps, not only is the frame rate doubled, so is the amount of money you have to spend on buying film. Couple this with the fact that more and more multiplexes are switching over to digital projection, and it becomes clear that the die has already been cast.

So in the end, while The Hobbit is sure to be a great treat upon its' release, don't bet on it to start any revolutions.

The Last Days of Disco (1998)

Follow the lives and loves of a group of New Yorkers (Chloë Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale, Matt Keeslar, etc) as they make their way through the early 80s.

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Dialogue is all about rhythm. None of the great dialogue writers actually write realistic dialogue. Shakespeare is great because he used iambic pentameter. Every great dialogue writer has his or her own rhythm and people gravitate to it because it’s pleasing to the ear. It’s like music. Some writers do jazz, others are more hip-hop. When Whit Stillman writes a film, he writes a symphony.

The dialogue in The Last Days of Disco simply cannot be beat. It is some of the funniest, wittiest and most cutting verbal sparring you will ever hear. And in the few moments where there is no talking, you get the steady pulse of disco music. Most filmmakers would use disco for camp and laughs but Stillman has genuine affection for the period. The opening credits alone actually cause you to have a modicum of respect Carol Douglas’ easy listening hit “Doctor’s Orders”. This movie somehow magically succeeds in making it cool to be a yuppie.

SIDE NOTE: Violet Wister’s Damsels in Distress, Whit's first film in 13 years, has recently been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics. So keep an eye out for it this fall!

Big Fish (2003)

Oh Tim Burton, what happened to you? Your films used to be so original, so touching, so amazing. What is that Alice nonsense? Don't get me started.

Big Fish is one of my favorite movies, and in my humble opinion, Burton's last great movie. It also makes me cry like a baby!

Edward Bloom (Ewan McGregor/Albert Finney) is quite a guy. He's popular, good at everything, and has many incredible adventures over the course of his long life. Or so he claims. His adult son Will (Billy Crudup), about to have a child of his own, is sick of his father's tall tales and wants the true version of everything. The movie takes us through the fantasy (or is it true?) version of Edward's life: his beautiful romance with the love of his life, his search for adventure and his encounters with the most unusual people, including a giant, a werewolf, siamese twins, a witch, and an eccentric poet. As his son tries to find out what really happened, he discovers that maybe the fantasy is better than the reality and the two are brought closer together.

This movie is like a dream, visually stunning, with an awesome soundtrack combining period-appropriate songs (Buddy Holly!) with original score by (who else?) Danny Elfman. Yes it's offbeat, but it's up there with Edward Scissorhands as one of Burton's most tender films, and I'd probably rank it in my Top Ten Movies I Could Watch A Billion Times.

I don't know what else to say about it. Please see it if you haven't!

Year of the Omnivore

Not really sure why he did this but, Stephen Soderbergh has made a list of all the media he has consumed in the last 365 days. Books, films, plays, TV programs. The only thing missing is music. But I guess then the list would be bordering on OCD. Did someone ask him to do this? Does he do it on his own? Regardless, It is a fascinating insight into the consumption habits of a great artist.

Mystery Team (2009)

A trio of friends (Donald Glover, DC Pierson and Dominic Dierkes) who specialize in solving grade-school level crimes, are thrown into a real murder mystery – and hilarity ensues.

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Being funny in a short video is easy. Say something outrageous or get injured and you’re a hit. Being funny over the course of a full feature film is something much more difficult. You now have to have interesting characters, sustain a story arc AND be funny. Though making the transition from short-form to long-form has crushed lesser talents, the men of Derrick Comedy were able to produce one of the five best comedies of the decade.

Though made by/for people who follow the “alternative comedy” scene, I guarantee this film will make ANYONE laugh because it has everything you want from a great comedy. It’s funny, it’s quotable and most importantly, you actually give a fuck about the characters. If this film somehow doesn't make you laugh then there is something really really wrong with you and you might want to seek professional help.

Look for it on Netflix Instant!

A Mighty Wind (2003)

A Mighty Wind is probably my favorite of Christopher Guest's "mockumentaries." Guest is the comedic genius behind Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and most recently For Your Consideration (as well as writing This Is Spinal Tap). A Mighty Wind is about the folk music scene, and focuses on three reuniting folk music groups putting on one big show.

If you haven't seen a Christopher Guest movie before, the humor is a little different. It's played totally straight, but the finished result is hilarious. He reuses many of his actors from his other films and it's truly an ensemble performance. Favorite characters include Jane Lynch as a singer in "The New Main Street Singers", who is also a former porn actress and founder of W.I.N.C. (Witches in Nature's Colors), and Eugene Levy as Mitch, a folk singer who had a total nervous breakdown and wanders through the movie with a dazed look on his face. I can't list all of the funny characters and moments, you just have to watch it.

This movie has real heart too. Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara have real chemistry as Mitch and Mickey, former lovers who went through a bitter breakup but are still able to perform beautiful music together, including the Oscar-nominated "Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" (which lost to Annie Lennox for her Lord of the Rings song...Mitch and Mickey were robbed!)

This movie KILLS me, and I highly recommend it.

Sidney Lumet 1924 - 2011

The film industry lost a great today with the passing of legendary director Sidney Lumet. Beginning as a respected TV director in the 50s, Lumet easily transitioned to feature films with the masterful 12 Angry Men. Though his career did falter at times with bombs like The Wiz and the Vin Diesel vehicle Find Me Guilty, his career is filled with an inordinate number of film classics such as Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Murder on the Orient Express and the immortal satire Network. Though nominated 5 times, Lumet never received an Oscar until he was awarded an honorary statue in 2005. He leaves behind one of cinema's great bodies of work through which he will be remembered for decades to come.

High and Low (1963)

Kidnapping can be a highly lucrative venture. Especially if you kidnap the son of a wealthy businessman (Toshiro Mifune). But what if you accidentally kidnap the son of the businessman’s chauffer instead? And what if paying that ransom will bankrupt the businessman? Would you throw away your family’s livelihood for the life of a person you have no blood relation to?

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Samurai showdowns are insanely tense. You don’t just go willy-nilly chopping at your opponent. Most of the battle is spent observing, finding a weakness and, when the moment is right - attacking. Akira Kurosawa excelled at this tension in film after film about warriors in ancient Japan. But it was in his non-period masterpiece High and Low that the full magnitude of his mastery came to the fore.

Though High and Low is a long film, it never feels so. The story is set in motion very early on and from there the tension takes hold and carries you through the remainder of the picture. Through the decision whether or not to pay the ransom and through the relentless pursuit of the responsible parties you are constantly on the edge or your seat. Right down to the climactic confrontation. This film is so powerful that it actually aided in reforming kidnapping laws in Japan.

As of this writing it is available for instant streaming on Netflix so...SEE IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

Melancholia

It seems as though the more beautiful Lars Von Trier's films become visually, the uglier they become in their depiction of human weakness and cruelty.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

This movie needs no plot summary, no explanation. Here are 10 things I love love LOVE about The Wizard of Oz:

10. Nerdy Wizard of Oz trivia. Did you know Buddy Ebsen was the original Tin Man? Did you know Toto was a "she"? Did you know the Wicked Witch was originally supposed to be a glamour girl? Did you know they used a stocking for the tornado? I love this stuff.

9. "If I Were King of the Forest"...this song sends me into fits of giggles.

8. Glinda, her arrival in a bubble, and that fabulous gown/crown/wand combo! She looks delicious.

7. The horse of a different color. I wish my cat changed colors!

6. All of the Emerald City dwellers and their cute, quirky, green costumes. Oh, to be an extra in this film!

5. "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" and other awesome quoteables.

4. The view of Emerald City. It's so gorgeous, and all the poppies, *swoon*

3. Jack Haley as The Tin Man. Love him, and there is indeed a Tin Man bobblehead in my car.

2. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Has there ever been a more perfect marriage between a song and a performer? I think not.

1. The switchover to Technicolor when she first steps into Oz. Takes my breath away every time.

We're seeing a screening of this film with a live orchestra tonight. I. CAN'T. WAIT!

True Romance (1993)

After coming across a briefcase full of uncut cocaine, Clarence (Christian Slater) and his former call-girl wife Alabama (Patricia Arquette) head for the west coast with the Mob hot on their trail.

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For most people, the three greatest words you can have another human being say to you are, "I love you". After watching this film, those words you will be replaced by a slightly different set of three:

You’re So Cool

And you don’t get much cooler than a script by Quentin Tarantino, directed by Tony Scott, starring pretty much anyone who is awesome. Even the bit players are amazing. “Hey is that Brad Pitt playing the stoner on the couch?” Yes, yes it is.

On the surface it’s guns, drugs and mobsters. But underneath lies a bloody, beating heart. Clarence and Alabama are honestly one of the greatest couples in cinema history. As wild and crazy as this film gets, everything is held together by them and their love for one another. It doesn't matter if the world is crumbling around them. As long as they have each other – everything is cool.

Blank City

Even though this film is going to be 99% self-glorification ("Weren't we all awesome?") a lot of the work that came out of this scene was in fact AWESOME!



So Cal Opening: Friday May 27th at the Nuart

The Virgin Suicides (1999)

I will see anything with Sofia Coppola's name attached to it (unless she's, erm, "acting") and a lot of what I like about her films was very well developed in her first feature film, The Virgin Suicides. The story focuses on a group of sisters raised by strict religious parents. When their youngest sister commits suicide, the sisters become more and more isolated, peaking their neighbors' curiosity, and eventually deciding their own fate.

The film is dreamy, surreal, and sad. The girls float through the scenes like beautiful blonde ghosts, and the very 70s look of the characters (flowing dresses and long unkempt hair) adds to the dream-like quality. Add an amazing soundtrack by Air and you've got yourself a winner. And Kirsten Dunst is just perfect in this. She plays one of the sisters, and while she uses flirtation and cheekiness as an escape in the film, you can see the sadness in her eyes.

Coppola's films tend to be light on plot, but rich in emotional resonance. It's like a warm bath that you have to settle into and just enjoy. The film leaves you with more questions than answers, but it's an aesthetic treasure. It's streamable on Netflix, too!

Enjoy.

Free Screening!

I know we just told you to watch Dazed and Confused today, but maybe you should wait a couple days because...

Mondo Celluloid is putting on a free screening for 4/20!

As if that weren't cool enough, the screening will be outdoors and on the beach! Totally groovy times for all. Please check out their Facebook Event Page for more details.

Dazed and Confused (1993)

It’s the last day of school 1976. Time to party!

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“Kids these days!” Every generation assumes that the younger generation is the one that has finally lost it. “We were NEVER like that…” Well thankfully we have filmmakers like Richard Linklater to remind us of one simple truth:

“The older you get, the more rules they are going to try and get you to follow. You just gotta keep on livin', man. L-I-V-I-N.”

Regardless of when they were born, teenagers will always gravitate towards this film because it feels true to how they feel. Adults will always come back to it because it allows them to be young again and spend a day/night hanging out with the freaks and the geeks.

Also - regardless of age, everyone should have no problem grooving on the amazing classic rock soundtrack. Schooooooools out for summ-ah!

il vient...

Junkies

"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream, it takes over as the number one hormone; it bosses the enzymes; directs the pineal gland; plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to film is more film."

 -Frank Capra

The Women (1939)

The Women is one of my all-time favorites. Featuring an all-female cast, the plot centers around sweet Mary Haines (Norma Shearer) and her marriage woes. Mr. Haines has been going around with a viper of a shopgirl (Joan Crawford), and all of Mary's friends are eagerly watching and gossiping about the downfall of their friend's perfect marriage. Doesn't sound like a comedy, does it?

There are a lot of fabulous performances in this film, especially from Rosalind Russell, the biggest busybody of the lot. The tone is very cheeky (the opening credits feature the women as animals first to get an idea of their character...sweet Mary is a deer, and the evil Crystal is a leopard) and the dialogue CRACKLES. It's old-school bitchery at its best. "There's a name for you ladies, but it isn't used in high society...outside of a kennel." I can't even begin to list all of the delicious zings, comebacks and one-liners, but they are plentiful and before you can say "Oh no she didn't" there's another! I could go on and on about this movie...the overtly feminine settings, Paulette Godard's faaaabulous hair, the technicolor fashion show, Virginia Weidler's delightfully campy performance as Mary Haines's daughter, the all-out catfight...but I'll just recommend it and be on my way.

I haven't seen the remake (nor do I intend to) but I always believe in giving the originals a chance! Go see it!

Charade (1963)

After her husband’s death, Regina (Audrey Hepburn) is on the run from men who are after a fortune she didn’t even know existed. Can the helpful seeming Peter Joshua (Cary Grant) be trusted?

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The 1960s was a very bi-polar decade for cinema. It was the crossover decade that took us from the golden-age Hollywood of Casablanca to the avant-garde “New Hollywood” of Easy Rider. While the more cutting-edge films are arguably the greater "artistic" triumphs, some of the more conventional films of the period are not without merit. Charade goes down sooooooooo smooth. Take two of the most magnetic stars EVER, put them in a fun mystery, give them witty things to say, set it in an exotic location with underscoring by Henry Mancini and you are in pure cinema heaven. How can you not love a film with opening titles this amazing?

NOTE: I know some of you are bias against older films, but PLEASE AVOID the 2002 remake The Truth About Charlie AT ALL COSTS!

(As of this writing, it's streamable on Netflix! Check it out!)

Fantasia (1940)

Oh, Fantasia. Some say you are overrated, but I will defend you to the death!

Well, not to the death, but you know.

Fantasia was the first of what was meant to be a series of films made up of animated shorts set to classical music. We only have Fantasia (and Fantasia 2000), but it is actually a beautiful little movie. I think a love of Disney animation and a deep love of music has led to this film holding a very special place in my heart, although as a little girl I just loved the ponies, haha.

The film features music by Tchaikovsky (love!), Bach, and Beethoven among others, and yes, there are cheeky centaurettes, fairies, dancing hippos, elephants, alligators, and ostriches, menacing dinosaurs, and even the Devil (basically). Despite how silly it all sounds, I think what makes this film so special is the amazing animation. From the delicate limbs of the fairies, to the ghosts at the end rising eerily out of their graves, it leaves you in awe of how much they were able to accomplish in 1940. Yes, it's very "Disney", but you also have to keep in mind what made this company so great. Stellar and innovative work, and great imagination and creativity. It's just so...pure. Music and art. Bravo, Walt!

Nerd note: The Fantasia blu-ray has a great commentary track by Disney historian Brian Sibley, full of interesting making-of tidbits...very much worth a listen!

Second nerd note: I don't want to rip into Fantasia 2000 too much, but the only one I really recommend watching is the "Rhapsody in Blue" segment, which is SO amazing.

Third nerd note: I had a dream about Pegasuses (Pegasi? Pegases?) that very much echoed this movie and it was amazing. :)