A month or so ago I may have lightly sprinkled some hate flakes on the Black Swan. Well last Friday I went to see the New York City Ballet performance of Swan Lake at Lincoln Center and I must say that an apology is in order.
Black Swan totally influenced my experience. In my mind every swan (there are about 21 of them) had Natalie Portman's face and I was okay with that. I enjoyed projecting a troubled home life as the white swan danced around. Oh man, when THE BLACK SWAN made her entrance! I was so AMPED!! It was like that daymare I can make myself have where the psychotic rotten tomato reveals its true colors and the rock music comes on and I know I'm just effed.
I have no idea why Black Swan wasn't nominated for Best Writing (Original Screenplay). 23% of the ballet consists of the swans onstage (which btw are the best parts by far). The rest is about raucous divertissements (which, you might have guessed, are not the best parts).
To understand the above photo is to understand Blue Valentine. First off, Gosling is an extremely handsome man. That's more of a general observation, but I'm just setting the tone here. Next, the vantage of this picture is intimate, it's mad close, it violates Gosling's personal space. We are, one could say, 'in his shit'. Well the whole movie takes place within Ryan and Michelle's 'shit'. Now, finally, look again at Ry Ry. Beyond the beauty, if you can. Notice how he's looking at something he knows may not be in his best interest but keeps looking at because it's pretty damn gripping and the casting is so good?
If this movie doesn't move you then congratulations, you are the living dead.
Lex and I have never been more confused by what we were watching than with The Leopard (now showing at Film Forum). We failed to grasp simple facts such as where, when, who, why, oh and also what. Compounding this in a horrific manner was the row behind us who literally laughed at anything said by anyone. And I'm pretty sure this movie isn't a comedy. And no, they weren't high. And yes, their laughs were unbearable. They were like cough laughs. Laugh coughs. Right in our ear. Cough laughing.
Two hours in and another to go the house lights came on by accident. This was our cue to leave and so we did. We later learned that the last 45 minutes are sublime and the reason the movie is so beloved by all.
After working in the marketing world for over four years I can say without hesitation (no hes) that the most effective marketing tool out there today is the movie trailer.
Behold, the evocative and captivating trailer for Sofia Coppola's new dog turd of a movie, Somewhere:
How VISUAL and INTERESTING was that? And Casablancas straight up doing his thing! (He should literally get a percentage of ticket sales) And even the sound editing; the 'Hey Dad/Hi Cleo' exchange-- it sounds so CRISP. This trailer is PERSUASIVE!
Now, if I had a bootleg version of the actual movie I'd paste it below and say something like 'Behold, the new dog turd of a movie, Somewhere' and I wouldn't really have to say anything else because it would be clear to you how nothing was added in those ADDITIONAL 95 MINUTES. Though I would probably also incorporate a picture of Garfield the cat because Sofia is so lazyyyy.
I think we're all pretty aware of the phenomenon that is high expectations. For example, if I believe for whatever reason that Jamie Foxx's new album, 'Best Night of My Life' will be sick as hell, I am creating a premature level of quality for the star of the 'Jamie Foxx Show' to achieve sonically, setting up the actual experience of popping BNOML into my computer and letting the crooning begin for failure. Whether Jamie likes it or not, I will be listening to his new full-length LP through a lens of 'this is gonna be some good ish' and if it's not then I will think of him merely as an actor-slash-actor.
Now, to be clear, I'm not referring what's commonly known as 'Hype' which has more to do with external excitement and expectations. No, high expectations is about the internal. I am partial to Jamie Foxx as a human being and am irrationally pinning my love for the Academy Award winning actor to his musical talent.
I had high expectations for Black Swan for a few reasons:
I'm interested in anything Darren Aronofsky does.
I read The Black Swan ealier this year and kinda jived with what the dude was saying (note: they are COMPLETELY unrelated).
My friends who had seen it already said they had to decompress afterward because it was so intense.
(Hmm I thought there were more reasons actually. And yea the last one is more hype, but bottom line is I had expectations of elevated proportions.)
I have to say though that the casting was really good.
Enjoy this Psycho remake/mashup. Look out for the original in bottom right and Gus Van Sant's remake in top left.
And check out Psycho the way its meant to be seen at Film Forum this weekend through November 4th!
Hitchcock was constantly finding ways to test the production code enforcers of the day, and Psycho is chocked full of "questionable" material: Marion in lingerie, a nude shower scene...
Even flushing a toilet (seen frequently in the clips above) was controversial in films of the day. According to Hitch's writer Joseph Stefano, "A toilet had never been seen on-screen before, let alone flushing it. I thought if I could begin to unhinge audiences by showing a toilet flushing -- we all suffer from peccadilloes from toilet procedures -- they'd be so out of it by the time of the shower murder, it would be an absolute killer."*
Sure enough, the censors objected to this scene and Marion in her lingerie, and the nudity in the shower scene, but Hitchcock hatched elaborate bluffs and schemes manipulating them to approve the footage. But that's another blog post! One more thing about the significance of this bathroom scene, Film theorist Slavoj Zizek does a great piece about the significance of toilets and drains in a close reading of Psycho and The Conversation, in his great film The Perverts Guide to Cinema.
If you do plan on checking this out at Film Forum (and you should!) Here's something to keep in mind while the lights go out:
Back in the day (1960 that is) Hitchcock went awsomely overboard hyping the release of this movie, restricting critics from advance showings so nothing could be given away, and instructing theaters with strict directions:
"Close your house curtains over the screen after the end-titles of the picture, and keep the theater dark for half a minute. During these thirty seconds of stygian blackness, the suspense of Psycho is indelibly engraved in the mind of the audience, later to be discussed among gaping friends and relations. You will then bring up houselights of a greenish hue, and shine spotlights of this ominous he across the faces of your departing patrons."*
*These quotes and anecdotes are from "Alfred Hitchock: A Life in Darkness and Light" by Patrick McGilligan, 2003.
The New York Film Festival is, as they say in the biz, 'on and popping', and you know the TCP had get a piece of the action. Actually deciding what to see was quite an ordeal, which is another story in itself. We settled on Of Gods and Men, this year's Grand Jury Prize winner at Cannes.
There's nothing really to say about OGAM that's not covered in the synopsis. True story, very serious, subtitles. But what I will say is that the new Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center is, to borrow another phrase from the biz, 'the shizznat'. Franco-Christian Monks filing paperwork never sounded so good.
Going into the Regal Union Square Stadium 14 theater last night, my mind was made up that Catfish was nothing but a hoax. I'm not sure why I was so sure about this. I think it mostly had to do with the well-crafted trailer which has a certain 'you've-never-seen-anything-like-this-and-there's-probably-a-good-reason-for-that' feel to it.
Well my friends, Catfish is real. Really fake! Psyche. It's real...ly bad! Got you that time. Hey c'mon! Oh I was only kidding! Come back!
So, I was graciously invited to a special screening celebrating the 25th anniversary of “The Breakfast Club" hosted by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Seeing it on the big screen with a jam packed audience at the gorgeous Paris theater left me reading things more closely than the last time I caught this on TV.
That might also be due to Kevin Smith's interview with Molly, Allie, Judd and Anthony following the screening. Let it be known: Kevin Smith is freakin' hilarious - would it be beneath him to consider stand up? The Wall Street Journal did a pretty good job covering their shmooze-fest here. They'll tell you what Emilio was up to.
I was born in '84 so I can ride the '80s pop culture train but only if I'm accompanied by an adult. Therefore, I relate way (waaaaaaaay) more to the '90s but I can't name a teen movie of the decade that even touches Breakfast Club's simple sincerity. During the cast member chit chat we learned that John Hughes cut a ton of BS from the final product of this film: dream sequences, half naked teachers, more kissing. And he let the crew improvise a ton on their own, so what came together (due in large part to a genius editor) is a bare bones story without any distractions.
I never thought I'd look back on the '80s and call them simple times -I mean- the hair teasing alone seemed like a lot of work to me. But watching this now made me very nostalgic for my heyday in the 90s, as do lots of things these days.
Anyway's, now I'm inspired to find highlights in under-the-radar-90's teen movies. Get ready for a regular segment on this topic. Suggestions are welcome!
Awesome image credit: Mark Todd, commissioned by Entertainment Weekly.
Cause and effect [Coz ehnd ehfehkt]
n. and n.
1. Pretty self-explanatory
E.g. The PR machine for David Fincher's upcoming Facebook thriller, 'The Social Network', is in full force, at times painting its firebrand CEO Mark Zuckerberg in somewhat of an assclownish light. As it happens, this week Zuckerberg has announced his commitment to donate $100 million dollars to the Newark school system. Now that's some cause and effect ish right there.
(The real lesson here, of course, is that it is in the public's interest to make as many slanderous, unauthorized biopics about our most hyper-rich moneybags. Now go and be bad.)
I grew up in a cable TV-less household. This left me with seven basic channels to choose from: CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, UPN 9, WPIX and PBS. There were probably several reasons why WPIX (which has since dropped the far-from-vestigal W in its name) was my favorite of the bunch, but all I can recall at this present moment is that it was the closest thing I had to a movie channel. What I remember most are the commercials they ran for their movies. Well actually just a little salient bit of each. For example there's the clip from 'Moonstruck' where Cher urges some guy to 'Snap out of it!' and, without fail, slaps him in the face. Another I can recall is for 'Tootsie' with the stars & stripes imagery shown in the picture above. I remember it so goddamn well. However I never saw either of these movies.
Now when my pizza guy demanded that I watch Tootsie the other week, I expected to see something along the lines of Dustin Hoffman as a woman marching and saluting the camera for two hours. I was wrong. It's more like Dustin Hoffman as Mrs. Doubtfire for two hours, but replace Sally Fields with steady employment.
Choice quote: 'Tell me what's wrong or I'll kill you.'
(the TCP has temporarily awakened from its REM sleep to participate in lucid screening's third annual white elephant blog-a-f*ck-i-just-watched-a-really-sh*tty-movie extravaganza)
i love trying new things. like this floating glass shelf i installed in my apartment during my leisure time. i'd never used a drill independently (powerful!). nor had i ever purchased screws at a hardware store before (15 cents each!). firsts are funnnn.
this axiom does not always hold true however. some firsts are horrible. like your first oral surgery procedure. or your first holocaust nightmare. or watching your first feature-length movie based on a mildly-popular xbox game by a company called mindfire. yea, some firsts aren't fun at all.
'coming soon to video' trailers: a movie called 'black sheep' that doesn't star chris farley, 'red line' which is impossibly not listed on imdb, and 'born to fight' which literally has no reason to exist except to meet the $2.99 price point at the waldbaum's checkout display.
i've never played DOA before so that may have hindered my overall viewing experience. so many questions! why would the DOA tournament knowingly invite a 'master thief' to compete? why would the passcode to the vault containing the $100 MM cash prize be 'hidden' on the neck of the founder's daughter? it's literally under her ponytail.
i did know going in about DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball. so when the contestants organized their own beach volleyball game, i gave myself a high-five in my brain cuz i was totally in on it.
the movie itself is broken up into days, which is really cool because that's how time works.
kevin nash (above, acting) used to be a professional wrestler called kevin nash. in DOA he is asked to provide comic relief. hahaha! the star of DOA is eric roberts whose acting credits include the silver-haired lothario in the killers' mr. brightside video and the well-dressed lothario in mariah's we belong together video.
thank you to whoever suggested this piece of crap. dead or alive? dead. definitely dead.
comedic improv takes on many forms. literally! improv forms provide structure to an art form that otherwise is as structureless as a swedish jellyfish.
say for instance you and i are doing a scene where you play a fireman and i'm your incompetent, easily-distracted boss. our scene finds us speeding down a city block to put out a fire, but i want to stop and get a free cone at ben & jerry's because i happened to have voted earlier that morning. in an act of blind loyalty, you join me in line.
this scene could go on forever, of course, but what should happen is that it gets "edited" and a completely new scene starts (maybe at a zoo). now, depending on what kind of form we agreed on beforehand, another member of our group could initiate a scene where we revisit our established hapless fireman and child-like boss characters. and our group would be on the same page because the form called for it. so there you go. improv exposed (wipes hands clean, takes sip from ssips box).
la ronde (french for, the round) is an improv form inspired by the max olphus film from 1950. the movie consists, essentially, of two-person scenes where the first character to enter is the first to leave and a new character is introduced in a new scene with the second character from the first scene. this goes on for 1.5 hours where ultimately, things come full circle. you can see how this can be used in improv.
the table-mannered dog in the picture above is the only character not a part of the 'la ronde', though his scene with the boozed up count is most enjoyable. as for the rest of the movie, people come and people go, some you are happy to see exit where others you wish could stick around a bit longer. one of these is simon simone's chambermaid. straight fire.
wish this movie was funnier. but i guess that's not fair to mr. olhpus who never asked to be the founder of a comedic improv form.
on some non-criterion criterion stuff, this months gq has a photo essay on the definitive women of film. mentioned honorably are criterion faves like jean luc-godard's one time wifey, anna karina, aka shorty from band of outsiders, that sexy ass bowler toting dimepiece from the barely bearable unbearable lightness of being, and the woman who i once bedded in my former life as a a whiskey swigging, drug abusing stagehand for the stones in swingin' 60's london- julie christie. it is well worth a looksie.
not to be overlooked, we here at the tcp have put together our own list of criterion hotties for your consideration in no particular order of smashability:
i'm a man who appreciates a nice porterhouse of a woman. i also find mental instability more than a little attractive. sweetie fulfills all these pre-reqs.
she looks like barbara streisand, who i do not find attractive and sophia coppola who reminds me of a young barbara streisand. therefore, i now find barbara streisand attractive. this pic does little to illustrate my point but she's fly nonetheless.
getting lost in the outback has never been sexier.
2. susan george, straw dogs (solving world peace in her head, up top)
sex crimes portrayed on film can be awkward. it's even more awkward when the girl in question is a susan george caliber dime brizzle. you have to remind yourself that at least you're not into anime porn- that would definitely be worse, right?
as a tike, formulating what would be a future of perceptions of what women should and shouldn't be, her character on the wonder years was the prototype. i hug-pounded my pre-pubescent self when she came on screen in kicking & screaming. he didn't know how to receive the hug pound and head-bunted me in the scrotes. the older me needed that.
so that's our list. let the debating begin or whatever.
british director mike leigh has a new movie out called happy-go-lucky. its ads announce 'aw shucks' reviews like 'it will make you love life again', 'a reason to be on planet earth' and 'i finally called my daughter'. what the reviews don't say is that this whimsical, flighty flick is brained from the same man who brought naked into the world. this is like finding out that shel silverstein used to write books that were unforgettably effed up and demented. thought y'all should know.
the 10th grade was a blur. most of my time was spent in the livingston mall world foot locker stock room, box cutter in hand, hot sam in my belly. it was within these mobb deep-blaring environs that i experienced my first legit black girl crush and heartbreak. her name intentionally escapes me, but her sauciness i will never forget. she had the elegant eyes of a disney princess and lips seductively penciled in a way i had not seen duplicated in the halls of my admittedly white high school. a true dime, indeed.
she, too beautiful for suburban retail, and myself becoming acquainted with phase IV of boyhood awkwardness, our frequent, brief exchanges had an air of the surreal. i'd be intently organizing the men's new balance running section (always a bitch) and i'd glance down the hall to find her sauntering over, eyes locked on mine. to whatever i said, she found to be the most interesting thing she'd heard form anyone ever. back then (and even now, kinda) that was all it took to have my heart. soon i had visions of my nubian foot locker fling and i stealing the show at the upcoming homecoming dance. i had fallen so hard that i was nearly willing to work an extra shift for free just so i could be around her. if i hadn't called my mom to ask her if i could work for free, i would have. completely serious.
it didn't take me long thereafter to realize that this was what my manager wanted all along. although never confirmed, i'm convinced my ebony goddess had, at my manager's behest, flirted with me and impressively feigned attraction to keep me a happy, devoted foot lockerer.
she was damn fine so i ain't mad at him.
i also vaguely remember reading shakespeare's macbeth in the 10th grade, which is the inspiration for akira kurosawa's throne of blood.
The Criterion Project has licked its wounds and is back for more. This time it's personal...or something.
The biggest question we get from our 5 readers is, What is the Criterion Collection? Well here's what the horse's mouth has to say:
'The Criterion Collection, a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films, is dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements."
So pull up a chair and join us for the ride of our lives every now and then.
