“He’s a Pimp. And pimps don’t commit suicide.”

Sometimes we watch stuff that we want to talk just a little bit about, not a full review worth. These are those films. If any of the films reviewed are available on Netflix Instant Watch (US or Canada) or HuluPlus (US only), we’ll note that by putting a direct link below the capsule.

Here

2011 US. Director: Braden King. Starring: Ben Foster, Lubna Azabal, Peter Coyote.

A longer review is forthcoming, but I felt it prudent to scribble down a few thoughts as I will likely re-watch Here prior to providing more fleshed-out thoughts. At this juncture, however, I am uncertain that I saw a superior film from the 2011 calendar year. Foster and Azabal were jointly and severally fantastic, displaying beautifully believable chemistry whilst maintaining their independent characters and characteristics (and without stumbling into the cliché). The cinematography and editing were reminiscent of a Malick or Herzog film, both in terms of fluidity and beauty, with King and cinematographer Lol Crawley conveying landscapes and scenery through both elemental and humanized means. The lack of discussion to-date (as well as the lack of a proper release) is equal parts maddening and saddening, and I’m very hopeful that Here begins to generate some buzz.
-DOMENIC

Haywire

2012 USA. Director: Steven Soderbergh. Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, Bill Paxton.

For me, this is exactly what a popcorn action movie should be. It’s not cerebral, it’s not complicated, it’s not flashy, and it doesn’t rewrite any rules of the action thriller genre. But it is solid, well-shot, well-acted, well-directed, as clever as it needs to be, and has some of the best fight scenes I’ve seen ever. The story is pretty much what’s laid out in the trailer – Gina Carano is a private security operative, she’s betrayed by her employers, and then she beats the crap out of them. Carano’s MMA background shows; every hit looks (and sounds) sickeningly real, and the way she moves, the way she fights, even the way she runs are all totally believable. Soderbergh knows just how to support her, too, holding long shots instead of cutting away, as if to say, yeah, she can really do this. But it’s not just a showcase for a fighter – the story is simple, but it works, and Carano is nearly as convincing an actress as she is a fighter (her rawness actually works to her advantage), and the supporting cast is all superb, fitting in perfectly with the ’70s aesthetic Soderbergh pulls out here. I’d trade most any big-budget blockbuster if we could get two mid-budget action films like this in their place.
-JANDY

The Spanish Prisoner

1998 USA. Director: David Mamet. Starring: Campbell Scott, Steve Martin, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ben Gazzara, Ricky Jay, Felicity Huffman.

“Beware of all enterprises requiring new clothes.” – words of wisdom from David Mamet, or more specifically, David Henry Thoreau.

This twisty-turny triple-con starts off slow, and then slows way down. But the pleasure is in the walk down the rabbit hole with Campbell Scott, and honest working math genius who has his miracle macguffin…er…process threatened to be stolen by outside interests to his company; a company who is also, likely, trying to screw him over. It is a rude awakening for our Boyscout (literally) patsy John Ross (Scott) but a smartly written meditation on vanity and hubris, concentration-interuptus from a pretty woman and where good intentions (and too many assumptions) all too often lead. The Ricky Jay supporting role is sublime, and he gets most of the great quotable lines (as he does in Heist and House of Games…other well oil’d David Mamet confidence-machines.
-KURT

Pandorum

2009 US. Director: Christian Alvart. Starring: Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cam Gigandet.

Insofar as I can recall, Pandorum was advertised as a run-of-the-mill horror film, predicated upon dark and dank set pieces and jumpy suspense. For the most part, reviews and word of mouth supported this face value judgment, leading me to avoid the film entirely. Having recently been terrorized (though enjoyably so) by Dead Space, I decided to give Pandorum a shot due to a recommendation from a Dead Space savant … and I was unexpectedly blown away. My expectations could not have been more off the mark, as Pandorum was more Alien or Sunshine than anything else. And, perhaps best of all, the design, direction, and writing served as more of an homage to the great sci-fi psychological thrillers, as opposed to copying, pasting, and hoping for the best. Ben Foster, one of the most underrated and underutilized young actors in the game, was stellar, and Quaid was surprisingly solid, to boot. The rest of the cast was decidedly ephemeral, but believable and quite strong in what little they were given to work with. The strong rating may be somewhat predicated upon my very low expectations, but I can recommend this with confidence to any fan of the genre.
-DOMENIC

Drop Dead Gorgeous

1999 USA. Director: Michael Patrick Jann. Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Ellen Barkin, Kirstie Alley, Denise Richards, Amy Adams, Brittany Murphy.

I gotta say, I was a little surprised when my husband picked this out as one of the films he wanted me to watch. I mean, a movie about a bunch of girls vying for a beauty pageant crown? But it wasn’t very far into the film that I understood. Miss Congeniality this ain’t. It’s a mockumentary in the style of Christopher Guest, with a bunch of soon-to-be-famous starlets as the Minnesota girls (seriously, we were all like, hold up, is that Amy Adams? AND IT WAS) trying to win their podunk town’s pageant, from feted favorite Denise Richards (and her stage mom Kirstie Alley) to trailer park resident Kirsten Dunst, and everything in between. I’m pretty sure a good chunk of the reason Jonathan H. likes it can be traced to the satire on Minnesota itself (his home state), but everything else is pretty spot-on as well. This film should’ve gotten way more attention than it did – I remember it coming out, but only as a little blip on my late ’90s pop-culture consciousness. And I was watching everything in 1999. Almost not exaggerating there.
-JANDY

Down Terrace

2009 UK. Director: Ben Wheatley. Starring: Robin Hill, Robert Hill, Julia Deakin, Michael Smiley.

I missed watching this when other film blogs were talking about it a year or two ago, but after loving Kill List, I had to go back and check out Ben Wheatley’s earlier film, said to be in the same vein in terms of out-of-the-box genre filmmaking, but applied to gangster films instead of hit-men and horror. There are definitely resemblances, though Kill List is a step up in confidence, I think. Down Terrace starts off really slow and casual, to the point that it’s really difficult to figure out what even is going on or who these guys are as they sit around and chat. But that’s all very deliberate, and when shit starts going down, SHIT GOES DOWN. I’m still not totally sure what the ground zero event was that set everything in motion, but it doesn’t really matter – what matters is how it plays out, with suspicion leading to accusation leading to murder leading to cover-ups, etc. Plus there are a lot of surprisingly funny scenes, like when a cleaner comes to take care of a potential loose end but brought his kid along and thus can’t get with the violence the way he needs to in order to finish the job. The beginning is a bit of a slog, but it’s definitely worth it for the second half.
-JANDY

(USA)

The film may have already had a successful festival run, and has opened commercially in United States last Friday, but I just missed seeing this handsome Quad for the column a week ago by about an hour. So here you go.

This drama/horror blend of Hit Men and The Wicker Man and Ben Wheatley’s first film Down Terrace (an understated gangester black-comedy of errors and manners) takes its time to ease its audience into complacency before dropping a substantial bomb of dread and pain. The poster above reflects the literal title and what awaits at in the finale. I love the ‘domino’ motif, and the slanted credit block. It’s a keeper.

(Via Mubi)

If you knew that you only had three weeks to live and that everyone else in the entire world had three weeks to live as well, what would you do? It’s a question that every twelve year old asks themselves at one point. It’s also not the most original plot, as it has been visited in many end-of-days films over the years. Perhaps though, it has never been visited quite like this. In Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, the plot takes on the angle of a quirky Steve Carell dramedy.

As for Steve Carell, leaving his highly acclaimed The Office was about the best decision he ever made. It was a great show, but he knew when it was time to move on, and his career looks more promising then ever. He has his schtick, but he is damn good at it. I’m loving the vibe of this trailer and I can’t wait to see it.

What do you think? Take the jump to check out the trailer!

But also, after the way in which Greengrass and Damon wrapped up The Bourne Ultimatum, the idea of more from the franchise seemed like milking the cow and completely unnecessary. After today, I don’t completely feel that way anymore.

It might be just another typical actioner, but so what? Quite frankly, despite very little of a plot structure given away, this new trailer is rather promising. With the cast and crew that is involved, I can’t help but be intrigued. Renner is on his way to A-List status and Edward Norton looks to be making some kind of much-needed and well-deserved comeback in 2012. Also Mike Hammer = win. The film also stars Albert Finney, Oscar Isaac, Joan Allen, David Strathairn, and Scott Glenn.

But let’s be honest, after Gilroy’s last two directing successes (Michael Clayton, Duplicity), I’m pretty much on board with anything he’s got up his sleeve for the time being.

Looks like the make-up department already is deserving of an Oscar nod for making Renner almost completely unrecognizable. The film opens in theaters everywhere on August 3rd. Check this shit out…

Welcome back to our little show. Lots of in-house business items on the table this week, including the first grading of this semester’s homework assignments. Kurt and Matt discuss found footage superpower movie Chronicle. We delve into the state of the reborn Hammer studios with spooky ghost tale, The Woman in Black. Then we talk Clint Eastwood, Chrysler and the state of the Nation through Advertising and Politics. The Watchlist covers a fair bit of talk on David Mamet, but also the woefully received Clint Eastwood rugby movie, Invictus. Also, terrorism, Carlos and the films of Olivier Assayas. And Miranda July revisited. It’s a pleasantly meandering show in an otherwise quiet movie-going month. Join Us.

As always, please join the conversation by leaving your own thoughts in the comment section below and again, thanks for listening!

 
 
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Cinecast (Andrew and Halfyard show)
After the Credits (Marina and Co.)
Mamo! (Matt and Matt)
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IN-HOUSE BUSINESS:
– Movie Club Podcast this week.
– Donate
– 150 Episodes of The RotCast (congrats guys!)
– Kurt’s appearance on the Film Junk Podcast
– Matt’s article at Film Junk on digital projection
– Thanks to Ryan for the Groundhog Day present!

GRADING LAST WEEK’S HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT:
Zippy Period Pieces:
– Courtney: Moulin Rouge
– Rot: Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
– Rick Vance: Zodiac
– Hatter: neo-Westerns, The Woman in Black and The King’s Speech
– Sean Kelly: Hamlet (1996)
– Lennart Andersson: Brick

LetterBoxd list

MAIN REVIEW:
– Chronicle

OTHER REVIEW:
– The Woman in Black

SUPER BOWL ADS:
Kurt’s post on David Gordon Green’s Chrysler Commercial:

Andrew’s post on the Mötley Crüe Commercial:

THE WATCH LIST:

Andrew
– Carlos
– Heist
– Raiding the Lost Ark (watch it now)

Kurt
– The Spanish Prisoner

Matt
– The Future
– Invictus

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT:
Send us an example of a film in which the characters start off as friends, but ultimately attempt to kill one another.

OTHER STUFF MENTIONED:
The Blood of Heroes (aka Salute of the Jugger)

NEXT WEEK:
Perfect Sense(?)
Safe House
Oscar Nominated Shorts

PRIVATE COMMENTS or QUESTIONS?
Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, or email us:
feedback@rowthree.com (general)
andrew.james@rowthree.com
kurt@rowthree.com

FOLLOW US:
Andrew: Twitter, G+, Letterboxd
Kurt: Twitter, G+, Letterboxd
Matt: Twitter
RowThree: Twitter, G+, Letterboxd

If you follow Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s career at all, you probably are not surprised by the news that he is set to direct and star in his first feature length film. In running the online collaborative production company HitRECord, he has been experimenting with short films for quite a few years at this point, many of them going on to be featured in film festivals around the country.

Now, according to Deadline, JGL is finally moving forward on directing and starring in an untitled comedy from a screenplay that he wrote about “a modern-day Don Juan, and his quest to become less of a “selfish dick.’” It will co-star Scarlett Johansson.

“I spent a year working with Chris Nolan, Rian Johnson, Steven Spielberg, and I did my best to pay attention,” JGL told Deadline. “I’ve also been making short films for a long time now, I’ve directed a ton of them, and that is a huge part of why I feel comfortable and confident in this. … This is the first time I finished a feature film I thought was good enough to make into a movie … I wrote myself a helluva role, one that people wouldn’t necessarily thought of me for.”

He said that he now may have to step down from his cameo in Tarantino’s Django Unchained, but said that the director was “so cool and encouraging” about the potential schedule conflict, saying that JFL struck him as “the kind of guy who would want to direct.”

Either way, it will be interesting to see if he can pull off having written, directed, and starred in a feature film. I am saying with a resounding yes that he will.

The Amazing Spider-Man trailer has hit the web today and people are swinging all around the web to talk about it today. So, stick around for our discussion here, which will surely include the usual compliments and complaints about superhero origin films. For some viewers, they will throw this right in the I-don’t-care pile with The Avengers and Man of Steel. For others, we have been weighing the idea of what a reboot of this series would mean. Here are my thoughts after watching the trailer:

Reasons why you should be looking forward to this:
1) It has a pretty stellar cast that includes Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Denis Leary, and Embeth Davidtz.
2) It’s directed by Marc Webb who had a pretty stellar (or for some, obnoxious) debut with (500) Days of Summer.
3) James Vanderbilt was the screenwriter for Zodiac.
4) Gwen Stacy > Mary Jane Watson. End of discussion.
5) The Lizard is the best Spider-Man villain. Duh. The last trilogy never gave him his deserved screen time.
6) It’s nice to see Spider-Man smack-talking behind his mask without any Peter Parker awkwardness.
7) Stan Lee will be making his token cameo.
8 ) The web-shooters are back!

Reasons why you should not be looking forward to this:
1) It’s covering an origin story that was covered in a film a decade ago in a genre with too many origin stories.
2) In fact, it’s another superhero movie – this might be enough of a turn off for some.
3) James Vanderbilt was the screenwriter for Darkness Falls.
4) But seriously, do we need another Spider-Man movie?
5) No Bruce Campbell.
6) CGI-villains can be pretty lame.
7) The question remains: do we need another Spider-Man movie?

Is the world ready for a slightly more gritty, slightly less cartoonish Spider-Man? He was my favorite superhero growing up, I loved and collected the comics, I loved the old 90s cartoon show – so all that I can do is say: I hope so. The trailer is what one would expect from a big budget blockbuster. I can’t help but root for it.

The Amazing Spider-Man opens up in theaters on July 3, 2012.

I do not watch The Super Bowl. Generally, I am more interested in the movie trailers and whatnot that more or less tell me what films to avoid this summer, which are aired to great expense during the big game. Curiously, this year most of them made it to the internet a few days early; thus, I am a little bit late on this bit of tempestuousness hiding as a lengthy advertisement. My assumption that I had seen all of the biggies before Super Bowl Sunday was flat out false! Colour me surprised (and playing catch-up) when I came across this Chrysler Ad that plays like a bit of good old fashion propaganda. I’ll take this ‘entertainment’ any day over those gawd-awful Act of Valour ads that demonstrate Micheal Bay has been setting down the film-grammar for military recruiting for the past few decades, only to give birth to the perfect synergy of popcorn-entertainment and propaganda.

But I digress.

I am a fairly big fan of David Mamet penned Wag The Dog, and this commercial fits nicely into the “Don’t Change Horses Mid-Stream” Ads (themselves an echo of the Ronald Reagan Campaign “Morning in America spots in 1984.) that gets Dustin Hoffman hired, rewarded and then killed, in that film. Even more amusing is that it was directed by David Gordon Green, striding the line between original Americana, George Washington, and bad 1980s remake, The Sitter.

Apparently this has ruffled a lot of feathers. Clint’s made a statement, as has Karl Rove, and a lot of that is covered here.

I know that Robert Rodriguez works fast as a filmmaker and all, but doing some quick arithmetic says this: Danny Trejo’s current age of almost 68 years old – the tall tattooed Mexican is almost 70 and you have two films to go through pre-production! So, yea, you better get on the promised sequels to the Grindhouse trailer-turned-feature, Machete, fast, Mr. Rodriguez. Of course, Trejo still manages to crack out about 10 films appearances per year, despite his age, so there is that – and even in the first film, it seemed Machete was almost supporting character in a huge ensemble.

Machete Kills! is currently in pre-production. No word if Machete Kills Again! will be happening.

Oh, and given that these films came from Planet Terror (in a way), is it too much to ask for a Zombie Seagal (post Hara-Kiri guts hanging out and all to appear in one of the sequels

I only saw Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused for the very first time about a year ago and it became an instant favorite. It’s one of those flicks that I find insanely rewatchable because of the distinct characters, quotable dialogue, terrific soundtrack and a general sort of laid back, “it’ll be all right on the night” attitude. And it has a host of actors before they were really known names, from Milla Jovovich and Matthew McConaughey to Rory Cochrane and Nicky Katt (to name but a few).

Also in the mix is one Ben Affleck, playing bully Fred O’Bannion who makes it his mission to smack in the ass with a paddle all those juniors who escaped his clutches during the last day of school (I’m sure that school “tradition” makes much more sense to those in the US!). There are so many great scenes I could have chosen to highlight but ultimately I decided on the one in which O’Bannion gets what he deserves. I hate the kind of person that Affleck plays in the movie (being mean and nasty for no good reason) and I get so much satisfaction seeing him get his comeuppance like this every time I watch it.

A couple of years ago the best Star Wars documentary (probably the best film documentary) I’ve ever seen hit the annals of YouTube and blew away fans with the amount of (relatively) unseen footage, stage sound, archival interviews and unbelievable behind-the-scenes evidence edited together in the most meticulous of researched fashion. Star Wars Begins launched Jaimie practically into super stardom amongst Star Wars fans and many cinephiles alike. Now Jaimie, with a little more knowledge and experience under his belt tackles the second most beloved trilogy on earth, Indiana Jones.

The “filmumentary” is slowly becoming standard lexicon around the webs and I’m happy to see more of them done… as long as they’re half as well done as these exceptionally well made pieces of nostalgic awesome. I haven’t sat down to watch Raiding the Lost Ark quite yet, but as soon as I hit publish on this post, I’m going to head over to the Vimeo site and check it out. I am absolutely stoked and I can blindly recommend you do the same. Do yourself a favor and go watch it. Now.

PS – if you haven’t seen Star Wars Begins yet, I don’t know what you’re waiting for. It’s brilliant.

The only other information that we currently have about the project is that it will costar Tim Blake Nelson and “a number of West Virginia locals” and Franco says that the shoot is going “extremely well” and he is excited to see the results. Now that I know this sucker is in motion, I can say that I am extremely excited to see this myself.

For those unfamiliar with the novel, it is one of McCarthy’s most bizarre stories. In fact, if you had asked me which of McCarthy’s novels I would think would be the last to be adapted for the big screen (and I’ve read them all), this would have been the one. The story follows a murderous sexual predator – with very few redeeming characteristics – named Lester Ballard as he takes on the life of a cave dwelling nomad in the mountains of Tennessee. As he spends more time in isolation, his lust for blood and sex only increase – and I will leave it at that.

I highly recommend you read the source before the film comes out. I insist. So, buy the paperback right here or the Kindle edition right here. I’m pretty excited to see the direction that Franco takes this. I can really see no way of sugarcoating the story or playing down the deviant nature of Lester without lessening the impact of the story.

Soon enough, I reckon, we will find out.

Knightley. Lolz.

The Greatest Scarf Ever Made:

Astron-6 newest, Star Raiders (this is actually a faux trailer within their feature, Father’s Day:

ASCII Star Wars:

Other fun links:
Top Ten Film Performances by Professional Wrestlers
22 Years of Gowns at the Oscars
Darth Maul in 25 Films Other than Star Wars

I could have selected one of hundreds of different frames from hundreds of different sci-fi and horror films of the last hundred years, but it was during a recent viewing of the original The Fly (from 1958) that this particular bright neon image reminded me of how much I love a great movie laboratory. From Dr. Caligari to Dr. Frankenstein (isn’t that rig that lifts the monster up during the storm the greatest movie prop ever?) to Dr. Jekyll to Doc Brown and onwards, there’s an abundance of incredible machines, gizmos and flashing doohickies in the labs of mad scientists. I particularly like the bright green and blue blinking tubes in The Fly that have no obvious use and look like someone re-purposed the gleaming beer signs from your local pub. I can only imagine the fun that set designers for those old Universal horror films or any of the Hammer horrors must have had in creating the many different labs – a bubbling liquid here, an electrical arc there and tubes everywhere. Another favourite is the duplicating machine in Terence Fisher’s The Four-Sided Triangle (1953) which is not overly removed from The Fly‘s contraption, but this time with its dual chambers lying flat like beds with semi-cylinders encasing the objects undergoing the experimentation and enough switches and knobs to put any room-sized 1950s computer to shame.

That kind of stuff puts a smile on my face every time.

[Starting Thursday, February 9th, Toronto's TIFF Bell Lightbox will be presenting a retrospective of French master Robert Bresson's films entitled The Poetry of Precision: The Films of Robert Bresson. To celebrate the event, here is a review of Bresson's second film, which will be playing at the Lightbox on February 23rd and March 5th.]

Here, in Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne, is a story that might have been given an unsatisfactory treatment, like so much melodramatic drivel, and instead is carefully invested with some actual weight. Each of the central characters and their concerns are represented with an admirable amount of depth and conviction, elevating the narrative to nearly grand proportions. This shows how, even at just his second feature film, Robert Bresson had a firm grasp on his craft. That craft would eventually grow into a singular, pure style far more severe than what he uses here, yet Les Dames still certainly deserves recognition as a notable (and entertaining) entry in the great filmmaker’s body of work.

The film opens with the introduction of Hélène (María Casares), a calculating, icy femme fatale if there ever was one, and Jean (Paul Bernard), the object of her affections who, foolishly and a little too eagerly, rejects her. Outraged by this turn of events, she begins to put into motion a plan of revenge. In doing so, she reunites with an old friend of hers (Lucienne Bogaert) who has fallen into a bad lifestyle of boisterous parties and lewd hangers-on. The main causal agent for this unfortunate situation is none other than her daughter, Agnès (Elina Labourdette), who is trapped in her double profession as a cabaret dancer and prostitute. Hélène helps them by moving them to a new, sparsely furnished apartment, then goes about the delicate task of orchestrating a fresh romance between Agnès and Jean. The latter becomes positively obsessed with Agnès, escalating his courtship of her without realizing the truth about her past nor Hélène’s sinister motives behind her advice and direction.

A large part of what makes Les Dames so compelling is the respectful development of its main characters by the actors. Casares, known for her work with Marcel Carné and Jean Cocteau (who wrote the dialogue for this film), turns in a stunningly dramatic performance as the ideal vision of a woman scorned. She uses her sultry looks to her fullest advantage, her expressive eyes commanding attention and respect with no compromise. As the lovesick Jean, Bernard isn’t quite as impressive as his female co-stars, but still manages to convincingly fill the role of Cupid’s (and Hélène’s) hopeless mark. But the most intriguing presences in the film are Labourdette and Bogaert as the fallen daughter and her touchingly supportive mother. Labourdette in particular lends a certain glow to the screen every time she appears with her enchanting, spirited presence – no wonder Jean is so smitten. Yet her strong personality especially resonates when she is filled with shame by the frustrating remnants of her old life as a well-known hooker, such as when she encounters a throng of “admirers” who have followed her from her previous job at a nightclub. Though she possesses a genuine talent and even passion for dance, as seen in one scene in which she enthusiastically cavorts around the new apartment, she is determined to leave that chapter of her life behind, to not just find a new kind of love in Jean but also to try and keep herself from letting her previous sins weigh her down.

This is what makes Hélène so cruel: the young woman she has chosen to play a part in her plan is not a distant, nondescript pawn, but a fully realized character with her own life, feelings and regrets. Agnès struggles to cover over the sad details of her life without even knowing that they are being used against her by this gorgeous so-called benefactor for her own selfish ends. At one point, Agnès desperately begs her mother to cut off all contact with Hélène, only to be told that that is impossible – how could she, after the charity they have been given? Thus, Hélène ensnares her targets with façades of kindness and concern, relishing the way in which she controls and maneuvers the budding relationship between Jean and Agnès whilst utilizing the agonies of love with the utmost patience before delivering the final humiliating blow. The powerful sensations of hope and desperation that pervade the film’s final moments are testaments to the degree of investment the audience has given to these characters. Such is the quality of Bresson’s storytelling, compelling us to share the characters’ agonies and fears. If this is just melodrama, then it is melodrama done right.

*Some Spoilers, Fair Warning*

Perhaps a goofy co-incidence that Facebook filed with the SEC to launch its $5 Billion (with a B) initial public offering in the same week as this virally advertised film hit cinema screens. The dollar value for the filing is itself equal parts news-catcher, market-hubris and ultimately an underscore on where society, in the here and now, lays its value: Social Networking. Even more curious that the script for Chronicle makes room for Carl Jung and Arthur Schopenhauer, but relegates Facebook and Twitter curiously to subtext. Chronicle is an interesting name for the movie; perhaps more literal in meaning (a chronological ordering of events – here by an unseen editor) but also less on-the-nose than say, “Status Update.”

I’m getting ahead of myself, perhaps.

The latest found footage movie is one of the more interesting uses of this increasingly strained sub-genre and this is why: The main character, an angry young man with nascent telekinetic powers who is well on his way to becoming a super-villain, not only self-incriminates himself by filming the process of his road to villainy but (and here is the kicker) he uses his powers control the camera’s framing of his own story. In the case of the films big climactic show-down, the full self-realization/actualization of himself as the Apex-predator, he uses dozens of cameras to capture things from multiple angles. The thing that always struck me as strange with the outbreak of social networking, is how so many young people capture themselves drinking underage, skipping school, or other such activities that are both unacceptable in society (but also loaded, perhaps, with a cachet of cool) and upload it THEMSELVES to later be prosecuted, ostracized, or whatnot by their own self-publication. To make the the unspoken, but underlying ‘thesis’ of the film is interesting to me. I wish the filmmakers (Josh Trank and Max “son of John” Landis) did not have to be so overt with every character justifying or explaining why they are filming all the time (see also George Romero’s Diary of the Dead) because, dammit, it is 2012 and rather obvious that we are race of beings whose souls are been stolen by the camera on pretty much an hourly basis – from mall and street security, to our own goshdarned phones!

Certainly this is interesting enough to let me make my way through a film where the acting is somewhat mediocre, and the character moments are played at ‘eleven.’ Perhaps over-simplification of motive is a side effect of the comic book superhero-movie genre which almost always wears its emotions and character beats on its sleeve, but it also plays into the ‘crafting of a story’ boiling a narrative down into blog entries or emoticons. I will not say the idea of building an crafted personality (ahem, Catfish) or video autobiography as catharsis (Tarnation) are new, but Chronicle is the first movie to mould these ideas in an interesting mash of genre-filmmaking (teen angst, superhero.) Well loved movies B-films such as They Live or Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1955) were not the first time their respective ideas (Trickle-Down-Reaganomics and The Red Scare) were put out there, but man, they captured their times in timeless (and yes, slightly clunky) genre fare. I do not believe that Chronicle is any different in shouting out our own bigtime flaws. Note: In the logic of Chronicle, the emotional fallout of the death of the high school super-star popular guy is given equal parity as hallway heresay of a blowjob gone wrong (Oi! Easy A eat your heart out.) The film ends on a possible note of (self-aggrandizing) blasphemy – a video blog of one of our three Übermensch filming himself in front of an isolate Tibetan monastery – in other words, “One kick-ass Facebook update, Dude!”

Instead of all these nostalgic cold-war era Marvel and D.C. comic books being turned into films, radio-active accidents and military-industrial-complex billionaires, this is the super-hero movie that our times deserve.

The Student Comedies is a DVD collection of some of Yasujiro Ozu’s earliest feature films, all part of the ‘student-comedy’ genre, popular in Japan at the time (the late 20′s and early 30′s). The films include Days of Youth (Wakaki Hi), I Flunked, But… (Rakudai Wa Shita Keredo), The Lady and the Beard (Shukujo To Hige), and Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? (Seishun No Yume Ima Izuko). Below I give brief reviews of each feature and look at the set as a whole.

Days of Youth

Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Screenplay: Akira Fushimi
Starring: Ichiro Yuki, Tatsuo Saito, Junko Matsui
Country: Japan
Running Time: 99 min
Year: 1929

Ozu’s earliest surviving film and his first feature length film as director, Days of Youth follows two student friends as they (at first unknowingly) chase the same girl. One is a glasses-wearing bookworm, the other a cheeky prankster who will pull any dirty trick he can to get the girl. These come to a head when the three of them take a skiing trip together.

Like most of the films in this collection, Days of Youth strikes an odd but successful balance between gag-comedy influenced by the Hollywood comedies Ozu loved and mildly melancholic drama which suggests the direction he would take in his later years. The film isn’t one of his masterpieces it must be said. The artistry and subtlety the director is famous for is in it’s fledgling years, but nonetheless there are signs of future genius in the film. Although not nearly as funny as the silent comedies of Lloyd, Keaton or Chaplin (Ozu’s cast don’t have the charisma or comedic prowess of these legends), the film does have a human and naturalistic element that most cinema of the time lacked. Visually there are a couple of nice touches too, with some early use of his famous low angled static wides and signs of his careful framing, although there are a fair amount of conventional Hollywood techniques on show too.

So it’s an interesting glimpse into how the great master started out, but taken on it’s own is not much more than a simple yet charming diversion.

I Flunked, But…

Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Screenplay: Akira Fushimi
Starring: Tatsuo Saito, Kinuyo Tanaka
Country: Japan
Running Time: 63 min
Year: 1930

I Flunked, But… begins with Takahashi and his friends slacking off in their final years at college, finding ingenious ways to cheat at their exams in order to get through. However, when one trick fails the group have to face the harsh reality of flunking out. During an economic depression life is tough and the group long for their carefree college days.

Even more than in Days of Youth, this slightly later effort from Ozu markedly changes from goofy comedy to touching drama halfway through. For me, this was the more successful film. There are some nice touches in the early comedic scenes such as when the group use an over the top technique to order bread from the local bakery – shooting a cap gun to get the baker’s attention then using limbs and props to spell out the word ‘bread’ in shadow through the window. Then later on, some of Ozu’s poetic use of the cinematic format starts to shine through a little. There are some touching scenes that use body language to show emotion – including a number of close-ups of feet to show a character’s mood or mindset, a technique that is used throughout the films in this collection. I also loved the scene after Takahashi finds out he has flunked where he eats rice with his family, with Ozu using the rhythm at which they eat to signify the tension and mood of the scene.

It’s still pretty light stuff and the end was a little unsatisfying, but there are enough signs of Ozu honing his craft and elements of humour and poignancy to make this a recommended watch.

The Lady and the Beard

Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Screenplay: Komatsu Kitamura & James Maki (a pseudonym for Ozu)
Starring: Okada Tokihiko, Hiroko Kawasaki, Choko Iida
Country: Japan
Running Time: 72 min
Year: 1931

In The Lady and the Beard, graduate Okajima struggles to get by in modern Tokyo due to his old-fashioned beard and traditional ways. Along the way he falls for a girl who works at a bakery and is followed by a gangster’s moll who he saved the girl from early on in the film.

I didn’t get much from this film it has to be said. It felt quite uneven, jumping around a lot with little narrative flow, and several plot points didn’t make sense to me at all. Much might be lost in translation, but when Okajima takes the moll back to his place, his intentions are very unclear and the whole scene ends very bizarrely. There are less traces of any of the poetics or naturalism from the previous films either, instead feeling like a bit of a rush job.

Coming across as a sillier film than the others, The Lady and the Beard has it’s moments, but not enough to keep you all that engaged.

Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth?

Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Screenplay: Kogo Noda
Starring: Ureo Egewa, Kinuyo Tanaka, Tatsuo Saito
Country: Japan
Running Time: 82 min
Year: 1932

Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? opens similarly to I Flunked, But… with wealthy student Hirano and his friends taking the easy route through college, cheating their way through exams and goofing around outside of school. However, a year before graduation, tragedy strikes as his father dies and his successful business is passed on to the young layabout. The rest of the film looks at how this inexperienced youngster struggles to adjust to adulthood and the strain being ‘the boss’ has on his friendships and relationships.

This was the strongest film of the set for me. The comedy, although still not hilarious, is more effective here, with a great scene early on where Hirano and his father try to put off his aunt from setting him up with an ‘overly modern’ young lady for marriage. Again the film turns into a drama as it goes on though and these elements impress too, building to a surprisingly intense showdown before ending on a (slightly bitter) sweet note. As in I Flunked, But… there are more examples of using close-ups of hands and feet to tell the story to an extent. There are some lovely shots too, with Ozu making good use of depth within the frame and using movement and match-cuts very effectively.

It’s a bit too melodramatic to match up to the director’s finest work, but Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? is the best example of his skill in this collection and it’s also the most consistently engaging and interesting.

The DVD Set Itself

The Student Comedies DVD collection is out on 20th February, released by the BFI. The four films are spread over two discs (with quite short running times this doesn’t effect the quality too much). The quality of the picture on the films varies. Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? looks great, with barely a blemish in sight, but The Lady and the Beard has a flickering cloud of white over most of the film which annoyed to begin with, but I got used to it as the film went on. Of course with films this old and rare the very fact they are in existence is commendable – the BFI have clearly done the best they can in restoring the films and even the weaker moments are acceptable to watch.

There are newly commissioned scores on all the films by Ed Hughes, featuring The Camilleri Trio and Richard Casey. These are quite modernistic and interesting, but I found them a little repetitive and obtrusive at times. It seemed odd having constant music blaring out during an Ozu film, even his lighter early work. You can choose to watch the films with no score, although a totally silent film would be too eerily quiet for me.

Also included in the package are the remaining 11 minutes of I Graduated, But…, another early student comedy from Ozu. This is an interesting watch and actually works as a short film with a clear arc still remaining, but it’s not as fulfilling as the features by a long stretch. Added to this is a 20 minute excerpt from a talk by Japanese Cinema expert (and DVD extra regular) Tony Rayns, who discusses Ozu’s early work and influences. This is very interesting and concisely presented by Rayns who is always engaging to listen to.

On top of everything is a fantastic 30-odd page booklet which contains essays and thoughts on Ozu’s beginnings and the films present in the set. This is an interesting read and helps to better appreciate the films and their standing in Ozu’s ouvre.

Overall the films are mostly solid, not mind-blowing, but as a thorough look into the beginnings of one of cinema’s most well-respected directors it’s a highly worthwhile purchase. Fans of Ozu’s later work especially owe it to themselves to add this to their shelf.

• Errol Morris’s continuing series of Microdocs for the NYT: Eating Champion ‘El Wingador’
  “El Wingador is a man truly committed to a certain kind of excellence — or at least, a certain kind of excess. Sure, I could have picked a different eating champion, but I guess I have an affinity for chicken. It is evident that chicken is his favorite competition food — particularly chicken wings. I asked him, “Why not hot dogs?” The simple and compelling answer: “Hey, my name is ‘El Wingador,’ not ‘El Hotdogador.’ ” A New Jersey native, he is the five-time champion of the Wing Bowl and has come out of retirement to compete once again this year.”
• Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi: Why Digital is Far Superior to Film
  
  Gamble on Celluloid vs. Digital in the projection booth: “Cinephiles cry out about the loss of film citing the lower picture quality and the dangerous precedent set on the levels of their oh so precious film grain, but frankly, after being in the film exhibition business (i.e. movie theatres, for those unencumbered by the burden of industry jargon) for over a decade, I see digital as a welcome upgrade. And in some instances, a god damn savior. Here’s why.”
• Wolves in Sheep Clothing (Genre as Sartorial Satire): Robin Hardy talks the Legacy of The Wicker Man the Timing of The Wicker Tree, and 40 years of History
  While The Wicker Tree got only the tiniest of Theatrical releases from Anchor Bay last week, here is Kurt Halfyard and Michael Guillen in a lengthy (over an hour) conversation with director Robin Hardy, who is not shy with his opinions on the world and politics.
• John Anderson sits down for a chat with the legendary Douglas Trumbull
  “When the special-effects whiz and director Douglas Trumbull receives a special Oscar on Saturday — the Gordon E. Sawyer Award for filmmakers “whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry” — it could be taken as a valedictory tribute, the cap on a career that began with Stanley Kubrick and “2001: A Space Odyssey” and includes a best-picture nominee this year, “The Tree of Life.” But Mr. Trumbull, 69, is hardly finished with his contributions.”
• Josh Fox Arrested on Capitol Hill While Filming ‘Gasland’ Sequel
  “According to Politico, Fox was led out in handcuffs before the hearing began while shouting, “I’m within my First Amendment rights, and I’m being taken out.” Fox’s “Gasland” took on oil and gas companies for their policy of using hydraulic fracturing to obtain fuel from underneath layers of otherwise unpenetrable rock. The process has been accused of contaminating drinking water in rural mid-Atlantic towns, and Fox’s film is famous for showing residents set fire to the water coming out of their kitchen sinks. He was in the Capitol shooting a follow-up.”
• Cafe de Flore comes out on DVD in a couple weeks, here is Joseph Belanger talking to Jean-Marc Vallée
  “While I flat out refuse to divulge what exactly the connection is between these vastly different plots, I will say that a simple song connects them on screen and that song also served as the filmmaker’s inspiration for the entire film. The name of that song? Why, “Café de flore”, of course. When he first heard the Doctor Rockit song, Vallée thought, “It’s so epic. I’m going to make a film with this track.” And so the movie is built around this song as well as a general appreciation for music itself. This aspect of the film is the director’s most autobiographical. “Music makes me feel so good, makes me feel alive, makes me dream, makes me want to make movies,” Vallée asserts right before he starts humming the catchy accordion hook from the film’s title track to me.”
• The Hulk Persona writes (shouts) an open letter to NBC on the necessity for saving COMMUNITY
  “WE SOMETIMES FORGET THAT PART. BRANDS, NETWORKS, AND INDIVIDUAL SHOWS HAVE AN ETHEREAL, YET INESCAPABLY-PRESENT CACHET. AS MUCH AS SOME NETWORKS SEEM TO BE AT ODDS WITH THIS CONCEPT AT TIMES, THE TRUTH IS THAT THEY SPEND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TRYING TO CREATE AN IDENTITY. SO OF COURSE IT MATTERS. BUT WHY IS NETWORK IDENTITY SO NECESSARY? FOR LONG-TERM BUSINESS EFFECTS, OF COURSE. HECK, BRAND IDENTITY IS THE ONE THING THAT A NETWORK CAN RELY ON IN THE EVER-CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF TELEVISION.”

Picking up one of our cats and going “I’m gonna hold him and squeeze him and call him George” while cuddling them so close the cat stares at us in disdain is not uncommon in my household. Seemed like a good time to revisit the classic Chuck Jones cartoon that inspires those outpourings of affection. Bugs and Daffy take that wrong turn in Albuquerque and wind up in the domain of the Abominable Snowman. But the extent of his abominability is that he just might love you to death. Filled with classic Jones face-pulling and bright, minimalist backgrounds.

Rest in Peace, Jackie Treehorn. Ben Gazzara died today of pancreatic cancer.

2012 is starting out surprisingly strong, isn’t it? We look at the just-released Chronicle, and the notion of “found footage” movies in general, and then step back by a week and examine the reborn career of Liam Neeson, c/o The Grey.

To download this episode, use this URL: http://rowthree.com/audio/mamo/mamo239.mp3

I could not tell you what this film is about from this minimalist design, but could tell you the film has played a lot of festivals! Actually, the third film from Russian visual-stylist Andrei Zvyagintsev (Think the Russian version of Anton Corbijn) is a cause for celebration. While The Banishment didn’t light the festival circuit on fire (it was really solid – I liked it), the director’s debut, a meditation on manhood and fathers and sons, The Return, was one of the best films of 2003, period.

The internet these last few days has been abuzz with Super Bowl commercials. I don’t even need to watch the game this year. Usually I watch to see some of these fun ads and eat mini-wieners. These days I’ll just eat the mini-wieners as I’ve already seem all the good ones.

So in am effort to be more of a sheep than I already am and conform even further, how can I not post my favorite pre-Super Bowl ad right here on our movie site?

Now you might be thinking, “This is Andrew so he’s totally going to post the dogs barking out The Imperial March.” But you’d be wrong. And of course Old Spice has been a champ for the last couple of years. But remember, I’m a child of the 80s who dreamed of being a rock star. So ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, welcome to the carnival that is Mötley Crüe (and bronco rhinos, flaming face kicks, giant sandwiches and lumberjacks)…

[This is an ongoing series where Cinecast regular and antagonist (He is our "Q") Matt Gamble offers an immediate reaction to new movies coming to a theatre near you; they are cross-posted from his corner of the internet, Where The Long Tail Ends]  

I’m sure you’re quite aware of my fondness for comic books. I’ve been reading them, fairly faithfully, since the early 80′s and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. That being said, as I’ve aged I’ve drifted further and further from reading mainstream titles from Marvel and DC. Nothing against them, I’m a pretty die-hard fan of Vertigo, but I just don’t have much interest in most superhero titles these days, and Marvel and DC’s primary publications focus almost entirely on superheroes.

Nothing against superhero comics, I’m just a bit worn out after almost 30 years of reading them. They are still great when done well, but I simply don’t have the free time to wade through mediocrity, and unfortunately, in recent years too often mainstream superhero comics have been more concerned with just getting by then trying anything different or interesting.

Oddly enough, certain cinephiles are undergoing similar reservations when it comes to superhero movies. Sure they are one of the most popular sub-genres in recent memory, but man if critics don’t seem eager to crow about their downfall. Populism doesn’t pay the bills when you are a movie critic. Well, unless you are Peter Travers. That shill will rave about anything put in front of him.

Chronicle has had a pretty interesting marketing campaign to date, focusing on the idea of teenagers getting super powers and being unable to deal with the moral complications involved with them. It’s hardly a new idea, Rick Veitch produced probably the most seminal version on the concept with his Brat Pack comic back in 1992, but when it comes to film it certainly would appear to be a new idea, and one that has film snobs actually interested in a superhero film.

But the concept behind Chronicle is a hard task to pull off. Teenage melodrama can often appear frivolous and self-aggrandizing, making for a delicate balancing act in trying to woo audiences to invest in the characters emotional well-being. Toss in a fantastical element like super powers and you are left with a difficult balancing act often shunned by your standard superhero movie audience.

Leaving Chronicle I was left with mixed emotions on how well they pulled off this high wire act. The effects were solid, and while the first-person camera gimmick was hardly needed, it was passable at worst and offered some truly fantastic moments when it was at its best.

But as I rolled things over in my brain I tried to figure out why Chronicle never quite grabbed hold of me. The film did a remarkable job of toying with the audience on who would develop into the “super villain”, tempting each of the trio of main characters with gifts and character flaws that could lead to their fall from grace.

As for the boy who would inevitably become the antagonist, Chronicle offered up one of the better insights into the mind of madness and hatred I’ve seen in sometime on film. Lucas certainly provided far less for Anakin Skywalker in the total of his three films than Chronicle was able to pull of in just under eighty minutes. It’s rare for a villain to be given ample screen time to show how he became the monster, and Chronicle never lacked in effort or skill in doing so.

But in spite of this, or perhaps because of it, I struggled with truly identifying or sympathizing with the characters, and this was Chronicle’s fatal flaw. Its hard to root against the villain when he is the most interesting character, and the one who you’d most like to know more about, and most people don’t like the feeling of rotting for the mass murderer.

That being said, while I initially have a conflicted, if not ultimately a negative reaction to Chronicle, I can’t stress enough that I believe the film succeeded in its goals, often rather brilliantly. Chronicle capably challenges its audience and does its best to never pander, but at the same time struggles to truly engage the audience. Its an interesting film, and one I am eagerly hoping to revisit. Because challenging and interesting films always seem to age the best.