Film is Truth 24 Times a Second

Our friend and former co-worker Andrew has just had a significant piece of criticism - the cover feature, no less - published in Cineaste magazine, which you can read about here. Unfortunately the article is not available online, so make an effort to track down the actual publication, either at your local library or periodical vendor (such as The Newsstand, here in Bellingham — hello Stephen!).

Anyway, congrats on the article, Andrew, hopefully it’s the first of many.

The first full length film from Japanese director Mai Tominaga is one of those films that while I was watching it, I felt a little guilty when I needed to blink… The aesthetic is delicate without being overly whimsical, giving the viewer visual aperitifs throughout the duration of the movie. This is done both through the central role that stylized, vintage objects play (the main characters are two meticulous sisters who have spent their life collecting and cataloging bizarre cast-off junk in their decaying mansion) as well as the frequently changing methods of narration through assorted types of animation (in addition to the live-action footage which makes up the majority of the film.) Complementing this is a score of thumping, dissonant cello sonatas; the charm of the film allows this to work effectively, without any implied pretension.

The plot is, like the imagery, confusing but endearing. The sisters, after discovering a trail of crimson yarn find an unexplained girl on their kitchen table in the middle of the following night, frantically knitting the same red yarn into a matted dress, which she then unravels in a rage, ransacking the house in the process. This continues night after night until the sisters are at their wits end…

The Oscars were last night, and particularly ho-hum. Luckily, my buddy and I made a list of the noms and tried to guess the winners, I got 9 correct as did he. We also tried to guess what scenes would be shown for the actors categories for their nomination, tying at 5 correct guesses. All in all, that was what made the night fun for us.

Anyway, the point of this quick entry is to express both my confusion and disappointment with the Academy not including two people in their “Memorial” segment - Brad Renfro and Roy Scheider. C’mon! While certainly not to be remembered as acting giants down the road, they didn’t even get a mention as one of the “losses” this year. The stuntman from the Great Escape gets a segment, but the guy who fought Jaws and the kid from the Client don’t get anything? What’s up with that?

New Releases:

• Beowulf
• Burn to Shine 5: Seattle, WA
• Congorama
• The Darjeeling Limited
• Death at a Funeral
• Goya’s Ghosts
• I Could Never Be Your Woman
• Justice League: The New Frontier
• Life After Tomorrow
• Rendition
• Silk
• Slipstream
• 30 Days of Night

New Releases (TV Series):

• Comanche Moon
• Faces of Earth
• State of Play

New Arrivals:

• The Last Emperor (Criterion)
• Open City
• Red Dwarf: Series 3
• Red Dwarf: Series 4
• Tora! Tora! Tora!
• Warts & All: The Films of Danny Plotnick

Best Motion Picture
No Country for Old Men

Best Director
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen for No Country for Old Men

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men

Best Supporting Actress
Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton

Best Original Screenplay
Juno - Diablo Cody

Best Adapted Screenplay
No Country for Old Men - Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Best Animated Feature Film
Ratatouille

Best Documentary
Taxi to the Dark Side

Documentary Short
Freeheld

Score
Atonement

Cinematography
There Will Be Blood

Original Song
Once - “Falling Slowly”

Foreign Language Film
The Counterfeiters

Editing
The Bourne Ultimatum

Sound
The Bourne Ultimatum

Sound Editing
The Bourne Ultimatum

Short Film, Animated
Peter & the Wolf

Short Film, Live Action
Le Mozart des pickpockets

Art Direction
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Visual Effects
The Golden Compass

Makeup
La Vie en Rose

Costume Design
Elizabeth: The Golden Age

This is the first time I can remember that I’ve liked all five of the movies nominated for Best Picture — no matter what wins, I’ll be pleased. Some would please me more than others, of course.

I would rank the five nominees in this order, on the basis of my own personal enjoyment:

1. No Country for Old Men
2. Juno
3. There Will be Blood
4. Atonement
5. Michael Clayton

But, again, I liked all of them.

Here are my predictions — not my personal choices, although there’s some overlap, of course. The ones at the bottom are slightly — slightly – more than guesses.

PICTURE
No Country for Old Men

DIRECTOR
Coen Brothers, No Country for Old Men

ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

ACTRESS
Julie Christie, Away from Her

SUPP. ACTOR
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

SUPP. ACTRESS
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Diablo Cody, Juno

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Coen Brothers, No Country for Old Men

ANIMATED FEATURE
Ratatouille

CINEMATOGRAPHY
There Will Be Blood

EDITING
No Country for Old Men

DOCUMENTARY
No End in Sight

FOREIGN FILM
The Counterfeiters

ART DIRECTION
Atonement

COSTUME DESIGN
Atonement

MAKEUP
La Vie en Rose

SCORE
Atonement

SONG
“Falling Slowly,” Once

VISUAL EFFECTS
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

SOUND
Transformers

SOUND EDITING
Transformers

ANIMATED SHORT
Peter & The Wolf

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Freeheld

LIVE ACTION SHORT
The Tonto Woman

Check back tonight to see how wrong I am!

New Releases:

• American Gangster
• Excellent Cadavers
• For the Bible Tells Me So
• In the Valey of Elah
• Lust, Caution
• Margot at the Wedding
• Michael Clayton
• Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project
• The Monastery: Mr. Vig & the Nun
• Moolaade
• The Power of Forgiveness
• Redacted

New Releases (TV Series):

• This American Life: Season 1

New Arrivals:

• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (German Expressionism Collection)
• Demetrius and the Gladiators
• The Easter Bunny is Comin’ to Town
• George of the Jungle: The Complete Series
  
• The Hands of Orlac (German Expressionism Collection)
• It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown
• Jazz on a Summer’s Day
• Les Miserables: 10th Anniversary Concert
• Pierrot le Fou (Criterion)
• The Robe
• Rocky & Bullwinkle: Vol. 2
• Secrets of a Soul (German Expressionism Collection)
• Walker (Criterion)
• Warner Bros. Academy Awards Animation Coll.
• Warning Shadows (German Expressionism Collection)
• The X-Files: Season 4
• The X-Files: Season 5
• The X-Files: Season 6

I have been accused of sloth in the “watching new stuff” category, and so this week I made an extended effort to watch at least some of the new stuff coming into the store.

Michael Clayton - It was pretty good, but it wasn’t refreshingly great. Clooney does alright, but he is kind of always the same guy. I was rooting for him though. Overall, check it out if you liked The Constant Gardener or the Bourne Trilogy.

American Gangster - Not since Virtuosity have Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe been this good together (what, you forgot about that nugget of cinematic gold?). This felt like a condensed 5 seasons of The Wire meets Scarface (why don’t these gangsters get out when they should?), but it was overall easy enough to get through the 2.5 hour runtime. I appreciated what Scott chose what and what not to focus on as well. I cannot believe that Ruby Dee is up for a Best Supporting Actress here though, she was only in 3 scenes and had no more than 6 minutes of screen time.

Walker - Do not be fooled by either the content or line-up here - this is more of a comedy than anything else. Ed Harris and Alex Cox treat this strange and brutal story with an almost “South Parkian” touch (I was reminded too much of Cannibal! The Musical numerous times). If that appeals to you, check it out.

Margot at the Wedding - I am no Noah Baumbach aficionado, but I found this one more interesting than I thought it would be, with Zane Pais as Claude dominating the entire film. I was frustrated by the actions of the characters, but then I began to realize, this might just be how some people react to each other, how some families actually exist within themselves. Was I raised in a dysfunctional family? I guess I’ll never know now.

For The Bible Tells Me So - Homophobia fuels lot of hatred in this country. This film debunks a lot of the “proof” used to condemn that gays are going to burn forever in hell. I, like many, many people, have never looked into what exactly the Bible says regarding this matter (and was shocked what I found, not regarding homosexuality, but everything else).  In the film, a lot of the arguments are put to the test by qualified people, who readily take them down to their most basic and (most importantly) contextual meaning. The film is truly about understanding the power the Bible has on people in general, and how that power can be abused. Show your friends and family this great, great film; I highly recommend.

New Releases:

• Becoming Jane
• Blue State
• The Bubble
• Fat Girls
• Gone Baby Gone
• Introducing the Dwights
• Martian Child
• No Reservations
• Romance and Cigarettes
• We Own the Night
• Why Did I Get Married?

In the Shadow of the Moon, originally scheduled to be released today, has been postponed until March 15.

New Arrivals:

• The Avengers: The Complete Emma Peel Collection
• The Beatles Anthology
• Belles on Their Toes
• Hans Christian Andersen
• Kolya
• La Bamba
• The Love Parade (Lubitsch Musicals Collection)
• McQ
• Monte Carlo (Lubitsch Musicals Collection)
• One Hour With You (Lubitsch Musicals Collection)
• Peter’s Friends
• Pocketful of Miracles
• Rocky & Bullwinkle: Vol. 1
• The Smiling Lieutenant (Lubitsch Musicals Collection)
• The Song of Bernadette
• Stuart Little
• Tom Sawyer (1973)