Saturday, December 8, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Present Bias
From Planet Money
Given a choice between $50 now and $100 in a month, many people would take the money
now. But offered $50 in a year, or $100 in 13 months, they'd wait the extra month to double
their money.
Another example from This Wikipedia page
In the experiment, subjects of the study were offered free rentals of movies which were classified into two categories - "lowbrow" (e.g. The Breakfast Club) and "highbrow" (e.g. Schindler's List) - and researchers analyzed patterns of choices made. In the absence of dynamic inconsistency, the choice would be expected to be the same regardless of the delay between the decision date and the consumption date. In practice, however, the outcome was different. When subjects had to choose a movie to watch immediately, the choice was consistently lowbrow for the majority of the subjects. But when they were asked to pick a movie to be watched at later date, highbrow movies were chosen far more often. Among movies picked four or more days in advance, over 70% were highbrow.[3]
Given a choice between $50 now and $100 in a month, many people would take the money
now. But offered $50 in a year, or $100 in 13 months, they'd wait the extra month to double
their money.
Another example from This Wikipedia page
In the experiment, subjects of the study were offered free rentals of movies which were classified into two categories - "lowbrow" (e.g. The Breakfast Club) and "highbrow" (e.g. Schindler's List) - and researchers analyzed patterns of choices made. In the absence of dynamic inconsistency, the choice would be expected to be the same regardless of the delay between the decision date and the consumption date. In practice, however, the outcome was different. When subjects had to choose a movie to watch immediately, the choice was consistently lowbrow for the majority of the subjects. But when they were asked to pick a movie to be watched at later date, highbrow movies were chosen far more often. Among movies picked four or more days in advance, over 70% were highbrow.[3]
Sunday, August 12, 2012
First Samuel Chapter 8
10 And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king.
11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.
12 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.
13 And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.
14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.
15 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.
16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.
17 He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.
18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.
19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;
20 That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.
21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord.
22 And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Sinica
This is my favorite new podcast. Podcast URL is http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. Blog site is at http://popupchinese.com/lessons/sinica
I first heard of this via This American Life (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/467/americans-in-china) wherein the main Sinica guy, named Kaiser something, was extensively interviewed about being an expat living in China for many many years. Kaiser is joined by two or three other very smart, very engaging vernacular English speakers who know China and Chinese extremely well. They are the young, smart, into-their-thing, well educated ones who write scholarly articles and occasionally get stories into the Guardian or Wall Street Journal. They go over the big news stories in China and then focus in on two or three of them, I am pretty sure beer is present. Or they do a historical retrospective on some aspect of Chinese history. My favorite dialog from the current episode, in a discussion of the Manchus (all quotes approximate):
"I don't really know what Manchu [language] sounds like"
"It sounds a lot like Romulan to me"
"You are such a nerd"
"Right, I'm the guy on a podcast talking about the Manchu dialect, what was your first clue?"
When I say big news stories in China, I mean big to the Chinese, not to us. I did not know that Peking recently had major flooding and 34 people died, nor that the Ming Dynasty waterworks held up just fine, but the stuff from the 20th Century pretty much collapsed, nor that this prompted widespread speculation about why the Mayor of Peking's resignation was announced (deep, hall of mirrors Chinese government stuff here). Nor did I know that their health care system sucks. The docs and nurses are very poorly paid and demand bribes for every little thing, you have to buy an appointment from a ticket scalper and patients get treated like shit. The story was deemed important on the "if it bleeds it leads" (they used this very phrase) basis that there is an outbreak of enraged patients murdering doctors, Chinese going postal.
Its not all as big a downer as these stories suggest, especially since they were treated with great sympathy toward both the regular people and for the problems of being a government for such a huuuuuggge number of people. Also, they have a good sense of humor.
I first heard of this via This American Life (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/467/americans-in-china) wherein the main Sinica guy, named Kaiser something, was extensively interviewed about being an expat living in China for many many years. Kaiser is joined by two or three other very smart, very engaging vernacular English speakers who know China and Chinese extremely well. They are the young, smart, into-their-thing, well educated ones who write scholarly articles and occasionally get stories into the Guardian or Wall Street Journal. They go over the big news stories in China and then focus in on two or three of them, I am pretty sure beer is present. Or they do a historical retrospective on some aspect of Chinese history. My favorite dialog from the current episode, in a discussion of the Manchus (all quotes approximate):
"I don't really know what Manchu [language] sounds like"
"It sounds a lot like Romulan to me"
"You are such a nerd"
"Right, I'm the guy on a podcast talking about the Manchu dialect, what was your first clue?"
When I say big news stories in China, I mean big to the Chinese, not to us. I did not know that Peking recently had major flooding and 34 people died, nor that the Ming Dynasty waterworks held up just fine, but the stuff from the 20th Century pretty much collapsed, nor that this prompted widespread speculation about why the Mayor of Peking's resignation was announced (deep, hall of mirrors Chinese government stuff here). Nor did I know that their health care system sucks. The docs and nurses are very poorly paid and demand bribes for every little thing, you have to buy an appointment from a ticket scalper and patients get treated like shit. The story was deemed important on the "if it bleeds it leads" (they used this very phrase) basis that there is an outbreak of enraged patients murdering doctors, Chinese going postal.
Its not all as big a downer as these stories suggest, especially since they were treated with great sympathy toward both the regular people and for the problems of being a government for such a huuuuuggge number of people. Also, they have a good sense of humor.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Gerald Emil Kosh
This is a true footnote character from history. I'm reading google news and there is a story about a potential war between China and other countries over ownership of the ecologically sensitive, oil-rich South China Sea and it mentions a battle between South Vietnam and China in 1974, just after the US had cut and run from Vietnam but before the North won the war. Thats interesting, so I look it up on Wikipedia, and there is Gerald Emil Kosh. That is an unusual name so I was able to track down a lot of weird stuff. Kissinger talked to the Chinese, the government later denied he was an employee, his military record is listed ambiguously. He went on to live a quiet life, and this incident was not mentioned in his obit. His name got tossed out to Obama by a South Vietnamese dead-ender waving the bloody shirt. To this day he is on E-bay and possibly Facebook.
The Battle of the Paracel Islands was a military engagement
fought between the naval forces of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the
Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) in the Paracel Islands on January 19, 1974.
A potential diplomatic crisis was averted when China quietly
released an American prisoner taken during the battle. Gerald Emil Kosh, 27, was a former US Army
captain captured with the Vietnamese on Pattle Island. He was described as a
“regional liaison officer” for the US Embassy, Saigon, on assignment with the
South Vietnamese Navy. China released him from custody on January 31 without
comment. Kosh is sometimes described as having been a civilian employee of the
Pentagon at this time.[10] He died around 2002 at the age of
Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976 Volume
XVIII, China, 1973–1976, Document 66. Memorandum of Conversation1
Washington, January 23, 1974, 6:15–6:45 p.m.
[Secretary
Kissinger]… there are only two points I
wanted to make with respect to the Paracel Islands issue.2 The South Vietnamese government is making a
number of representations to international organizations, to SEATO as well as
to the United Nations. We wanted to let you know we do not associate ourselves
with those representations. We are concerned, however, about the prisoners, and
we noted that your government has indicated that the prisoners will be released
at an appropriate time. We wanted to urge that this appropriate time be very
soon, especially as there is an American included in that group. And that would
certainly defuse the situation as far as the United States is concerned. That's
really all I wanted to say about that issue.
(To
Mr. Hummel) Or is there more, Art?
Mr.
Hummel: For domestic political reasons we would like to say that we have been
in touch about this American.
…
Ambassador Han [of the PRC]: …As for when the prisoners will be released, our statement said that at an appropriate time they will be released. It was the Foreign Ministry statement.
But as a personal observation, I would just like to express surprise that there should be an American citizen at that particular area at that particular time.
.....
Ambassador Han: With regard to Mr. Hummel's suggestion whether to publicize this to the media would this be quickly, right away?
The Secretary [Kissinger]: We can wait. What do you want? You report to Peking. Not having said anything up to now, we can survive another 24 hours. We can take the heat. We will give it until Friday morning,3 but the more quickly you can let us know, the better. Eventually, we will have to say that we have talked to you.
Ambassador Han: After we have reported to the government, we will see what the reply is.
Mr. Hummel: All we have in mind is to say that we have talked, not to make the other points that the Secretary raised.
The Secretary: We will wait until Friday. We can give you until Friday a.m. to see whether you get an answer. We have been accused of so many things, we can be accused of neglecting an American interest for a day.
Lawrence Journal-World - Jan 29, 1974
http://haichienhoangsa.freetzi.com/timGeraldKosh.htm
B Company 3/12 4th Infantry
Gerald Emil Kosh, 56, died Sunday.
He was born Oct. 25, 1946, in Philadelphia. An Army veteran of the Vietnam War, he was a journeyman wireman, a 17-year resident of Las Vegas and a member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 357.
He is survived by his wife, Susan; daughter, Jennifer; and son, Jonathan, all of Las Vegas; brother, Gabe of Blue Bell, Pa.; and sister, Arlene McElree of Lafayette Hill, Pa.
Visitation will be from 3 to 7 p.m. today at Palm Mortuary-Eastern, with services at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Anne's Catholic Church. Graveside services will follow at noon at Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
http://vuhuyduc.blogspot.com/2011/01/me-nam-letter-to-president-of-united.html
January 14, 2011
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
We are writing to ask
you to halt or postpone the welcoming ceremony and the state dinner for the
People's Republic of China ("PRC") president Hu Jintao on January 19,
2011 during his visit to the United States.
January 19 is the anniversary of the Chinese invasion of the
Paracel Islands which had belonged to the Republic of Vietnam, an ally of the
United States then. After the fall of
Saigon, China established control over the Paracel Islands.
……………….
Please do not forget the fact that on January 19, 1974,
Chinese forces had also captured an American, Captain Gerald Emil Kosh, during
the battle for the Paracel Islands.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
The End
So there we go, 54 movies. Probably my favorite SIFF ever. The Uptown is a terrific venue, and we saw about 90% of our movies there. There is a long list of movies I wish I’d seen. The last movie was 3 days ago, and I am still recovering.
Shorts
We saw three collections of shorts, which I am counting as 3 movies. Most of them were great, vey much worth seeing. Alas, I was the least impressed with the Best of the Shorts collection SIFF put together.
I always wonder, what are shorts for? Other than at Acadamy Award time we never think about them. They do not get shown in commercial theaters. And why not? I know not. Its too bad.
I always wonder, what are shorts for? Other than at Acadamy Award time we never think about them. They do not get shown in commercial theaters. And why not? I know not. Its too bad.
The Most Fun I've Ever Had With My Pants On
USA. Meh
The writer/director/star of the movie is beautiful, and a main theme of the movie is: I am such a babe. The other theme is: even a babe like me has problems. The stupid title of the movie is pretty much a non sequitur, and I strongly suspect it was the product of a youthful vow to make a movie with that name.
The writer/director/star of the movie is beautiful, and a main theme of the movie is: I am such a babe. The other theme is: even a babe like me has problems. The stupid title of the movie is pretty much a non sequitur, and I strongly suspect it was the product of a youthful vow to make a movie with that name.
Wuthering Heights
UK.
I do not think this story can be spoiled at this point. England was a complete bummer in this movie. It is one of those movies that uses viscous film stock, shots with a lot of closeups and sparse story telling to create atmospheric and poetic, aka vague and unpleasant, stroytelling. We left early.
I do not think this story can be spoiled at this point. England was a complete bummer in this movie. It is one of those movies that uses viscous film stock, shots with a lot of closeups and sparse story telling to create atmospheric and poetic, aka vague and unpleasant, stroytelling. We left early.
Easton’s Article
USA. Meh.
Time warp type sci-fi movie. The movie does a decent job of telling the story of a guy having to deal with his shit whether he likes it or not in order to solve the central problem of the movie. So in order to deal with the future, he has to deal with the past. Clever premise, that is never really articulated and in that light it has a perfect ending. But its just an OK movie overall, and also suffers from including a particular cheat that time warp movies sometimes use (Terminator, just for one) that was not at all necessary.
Time warp type sci-fi movie. The movie does a decent job of telling the story of a guy having to deal with his shit whether he likes it or not in order to solve the central problem of the movie. So in order to deal with the future, he has to deal with the past. Clever premise, that is never really articulated and in that light it has a perfect ending. But its just an OK movie overall, and also suffers from including a particular cheat that time warp movies sometimes use (Terminator, just for one) that was not at all necessary.
The Mirror Never Lies
The Mirror Never Lies
Indonesia. Highly recommended..
Set among subsistence fishers who live in houses built on poles in the water on shallow reefs. Indonesia is made out of 17,000 plus islands. Some amazing and beautiful underwater photography. Mostly non-professional actors who actually live in this place. These people live in the water. Little tiny kids running about on 2x8 planks with no rails no sun screen and no helmet, and jumping into boats with no life preservers, and I doubt that they are properly hydrated. So, pretty depraved, but for all of that it looks very cool.
Indonesia. Highly recommended..
Set among subsistence fishers who live in houses built on poles in the water on shallow reefs. Indonesia is made out of 17,000 plus islands. Some amazing and beautiful underwater photography. Mostly non-professional actors who actually live in this place. These people live in the water. Little tiny kids running about on 2x8 planks with no rails no sun screen and no helmet, and jumping into boats with no life preservers, and I doubt that they are properly hydrated. So, pretty depraved, but for all of that it looks very cool.
Nosilatiaj.Beauty
Nosilatiaj.Beauty
Argentina. Worth seeing
Set among what look to me like middle-middle class Europeans and their servants. On several levels it resembles my image of Southern California, only no one is that rich. The message I got from this is that it sucks to be indigenous and poor in Argentina, and indeed the titular Beauty does not appear to be enjoying herself much, mainly because she is treated like a family member it is OK to be crappy to. The story is driven by the preparations for the Quinceañera of the daughter of the household. So everyone is stressed out, displaying their real disposition. The movie is much better than the above probably suggests.
Argentina. Worth seeing
Set among what look to me like middle-middle class Europeans and their servants. On several levels it resembles my image of Southern California, only no one is that rich. The message I got from this is that it sucks to be indigenous and poor in Argentina, and indeed the titular Beauty does not appear to be enjoying herself much, mainly because she is treated like a family member it is OK to be crappy to. The story is driven by the preparations for the Quinceañera of the daughter of the household. So everyone is stressed out, displaying their real disposition. The movie is much better than the above probably suggests.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
419
USA. Recommended\
First off, there is a guy in this movie who looks, sounds and acts, but especially looks, uncannily like my nephew, Steve. I never got used to it. So, O’Briens will have a different experience of this movie.
The MacGuffin of this movie is whether it’s a real documentary or a fiction movie. No position is taken at any point by the film maker. Three manly young white guys (like Steve!) Go on an adventure, despite their girlfriends misgivings, with highly dramatic results. Interviews with the principles, and with expert types is interspersed with the documentary footage, much of it filmed in South Africa. Every one is totally likable (Steve, again) and the story is well told. And the question of whether it is real or not gives it good flavor.
First off, there is a guy in this movie who looks, sounds and acts, but especially looks, uncannily like my nephew, Steve. I never got used to it. So, O’Briens will have a different experience of this movie.
The MacGuffin of this movie is whether it’s a real documentary or a fiction movie. No position is taken at any point by the film maker. Three manly young white guys (like Steve!) Go on an adventure, despite their girlfriends misgivings, with highly dramatic results. Interviews with the principles, and with expert types is interspersed with the documentary footage, much of it filmed in South Africa. Every one is totally likable (Steve, again) and the story is well told. And the question of whether it is real or not gives it good flavor.
Simon and the Oaks
Sweden. Must see.
Beautiful movie, in every sense. Marion’s favorite movie so far. Very high production values. The storytelling is deep and satisfying and there is not a false note to be found. Set during WWII and its aftermath in Sweden. In return for a certain amount of kowtowing to the Germans - in the form of ball bearings, rail lines and such - Sweden wasn’t invaded and their Jews were mostly not murdered. So the people in the movie got through the war as well as anyone in Europe. Of course, no one living in Europe got through the war all that well. The older I get the more cannibalistic it seems to me. How people could have destroyed themselves and their culture so thoroughly is harder and harder to comprehend. There is a lot of high culture in the form of classical music, and university life in the movie. I really do not know if it was the film makers intent is to contrast this with the satanic forces abroad in the world, but that’s what I got from it.
Beautiful movie, in every sense. Marion’s favorite movie so far. Very high production values. The storytelling is deep and satisfying and there is not a false note to be found. Set during WWII and its aftermath in Sweden. In return for a certain amount of kowtowing to the Germans - in the form of ball bearings, rail lines and such - Sweden wasn’t invaded and their Jews were mostly not murdered. So the people in the movie got through the war as well as anyone in Europe. Of course, no one living in Europe got through the war all that well. The older I get the more cannibalistic it seems to me. How people could have destroyed themselves and their culture so thoroughly is harder and harder to comprehend. There is a lot of high culture in the form of classical music, and university life in the movie. I really do not know if it was the film makers intent is to contrast this with the satanic forces abroad in the world, but that’s what I got from it.
Winter Nomads
Switzerland. Highly recommended
This is one of those times I was glad not to know a thing about the movie going in. Marion picked that day. From the title and a glance at the poster, I thought it was going to be one of those great movies about, like, yak herders in Mongolia. (Actually. I’ve seen some pretty good Mongolian movies that feature yaks, but not this year.) Anyway, it turns out to be a documentary is set in modern day Switzerland and documents some shepherds doing what they call a “transhumance” which good old Wikipedia says is the seasonal movement of people with their livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In this case it’s a couple of great looking people who really are real shepherds. They take a flock of 800 sheep around the Swiss countryside to fatten them up on fallow fields. For 4 months during winter, for real. They have great clothes. They have cool dogs. For most of the time, at least when there are no cars around, there is something eternal about this, it has to be something people have been doing for several thousand years, and there are not a lot of new ways to herd sheep. Its in Switzerland, but everyone speaks French. By the way, bell-wether is a sheep herding term. They put a bell on a wether, which is a castrated ram, and teach the to lead the flock, and also can find the flock in the dark or in fog. And the ram gets to live.
This is one of those times I was glad not to know a thing about the movie going in. Marion picked that day. From the title and a glance at the poster, I thought it was going to be one of those great movies about, like, yak herders in Mongolia. (Actually. I’ve seen some pretty good Mongolian movies that feature yaks, but not this year.) Anyway, it turns out to be a documentary is set in modern day Switzerland and documents some shepherds doing what they call a “transhumance” which good old Wikipedia says is the seasonal movement of people with their livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In this case it’s a couple of great looking people who really are real shepherds. They take a flock of 800 sheep around the Swiss countryside to fatten them up on fallow fields. For 4 months during winter, for real. They have great clothes. They have cool dogs. For most of the time, at least when there are no cars around, there is something eternal about this, it has to be something people have been doing for several thousand years, and there are not a lot of new ways to herd sheep. Its in Switzerland, but everyone speaks French. By the way, bell-wether is a sheep herding term. They put a bell on a wether, which is a castrated ram, and teach the to lead the flock, and also can find the flock in the dark or in fog. And the ram gets to live.
Policeman
Israel. Feh
I’ve mentioned a couple of times that a lot of movies give the impression that you have to be a member of that culture to really get what is going on. Sometimes one row in an audience will be convulsed at things everyone else just chuckles at. This might be such a movie, except there are not many chuckles. Its set in Israel among Jewish middle and upper class Israelis, largely SWAT type cops. I suspect there is a bit of caricature going on, these guys are testosterone donor types who mostly hug and grunt at one another, in a brotherly way. This is not played for laughs that I can tell, and this is not a funny movie at all. Theirs is only part of the story, such as it is. The rest has to do with some privileged and messed up kids. The two groups encounter one another in the third act.
Not to be cute but one of the things I like about cop movies is the great gear and cool clothes. Here is a website cops use to order gear. I love this website 511 Tactical, and recommend the Stryke Pant with Flex-tac.
I’ve mentioned a couple of times that a lot of movies give the impression that you have to be a member of that culture to really get what is going on. Sometimes one row in an audience will be convulsed at things everyone else just chuckles at. This might be such a movie, except there are not many chuckles. Its set in Israel among Jewish middle and upper class Israelis, largely SWAT type cops. I suspect there is a bit of caricature going on, these guys are testosterone donor types who mostly hug and grunt at one another, in a brotherly way. This is not played for laughs that I can tell, and this is not a funny movie at all. Theirs is only part of the story, such as it is. The rest has to do with some privileged and messed up kids. The two groups encounter one another in the third act.
Not to be cute but one of the things I like about cop movies is the great gear and cool clothes. Here is a website cops use to order gear. I love this website 511 Tactical, and recommend the Stryke Pant with Flex-tac.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
The Monk
French. Recommended
This movie really brought me back to my childhood in the 17th Century. I was raised Catholic in the pre-Vatican II days, and this movie depicts the very religion I grew up with. The candles and the incense and the robes and the crucifixes and confession and strange unexplained rituals and the really weird statutes of saints and the Marianolatry and the demeaning of women. And the harshness. You are either good or horribly, horribly bad, and you are not good. You need to repent of everything you do except for actual praying. Satan really truly exists, is out to get you and God is entirely willing, you know, maybe kinda wants, to have you suffer in the most horrible way imaginable forever. There is a scene that includes a procession of nuns and I promise they were dressed exactly, exactly, like the Dominicans who taught me all the crazy shit they used to teach in those days. The always reliable 17th century stuff. It is Set in Spain, where the Jesuits started, although they are not in the movie. This would be at least 100 years after the Inquisition, so none of that stuff is in the film.
Really brought me back and with no irony I say: in a good way. The movie was so well done. Its about very devout people doing their very devout thing and the titular Monk’s struggles with his demons. The color commentary above is not the real subject of the movie. The movie is about good vs. evil. Also about love. Great ending.
This movie really brought me back to my childhood in the 17th Century. I was raised Catholic in the pre-Vatican II days, and this movie depicts the very religion I grew up with. The candles and the incense and the robes and the crucifixes and confession and strange unexplained rituals and the really weird statutes of saints and the Marianolatry and the demeaning of women. And the harshness. You are either good or horribly, horribly bad, and you are not good. You need to repent of everything you do except for actual praying. Satan really truly exists, is out to get you and God is entirely willing, you know, maybe kinda wants, to have you suffer in the most horrible way imaginable forever. There is a scene that includes a procession of nuns and I promise they were dressed exactly, exactly, like the Dominicans who taught me all the crazy shit they used to teach in those days. The always reliable 17th century stuff. It is Set in Spain, where the Jesuits started, although they are not in the movie. This would be at least 100 years after the Inquisition, so none of that stuff is in the film.
Really brought me back and with no irony I say: in a good way. The movie was so well done. Its about very devout people doing their very devout thing and the titular Monk’s struggles with his demons. The color commentary above is not the real subject of the movie. The movie is about good vs. evil. Also about love. Great ending.
Joan and the Voices
Armenia. SIFF owes me a movie.
I looked it up, and according to Wikipedia, “A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images”. This...thing thus qualifies by a technicality as a movie. It has no story, plot, apparent reason for existing, and conveys no meaning, but it is a series of moving images projected on a screen. There is also sound, although little that conveys information. However, it is the opposite of Hitchcock's definition of a movie, real life without the boring parts. For the life of me, I do not understand why this movie was made, or why it was selected. I sat through the whole thing in part because I had nothing else to do and in part out of incredulity. Toward the end I became worried that they would ruin the perverse anti-perfection of the thing by putting something meaningful on the screen. They came close, there were a number of scenes of regular looking people in real seeming places having heartfelt conversations, but they did not include the dialog, just some discordant music, so crisis averted. It has to be seen to be believed, but then you would have to see it. Most misleading SIFF guide blurb ever.
http://visiblecontents.blogspot.com/
I looked it up, and according to Wikipedia, “A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images”. This...thing thus qualifies by a technicality as a movie. It has no story, plot, apparent reason for existing, and conveys no meaning, but it is a series of moving images projected on a screen. There is also sound, although little that conveys information. However, it is the opposite of Hitchcock's definition of a movie, real life without the boring parts. For the life of me, I do not understand why this movie was made, or why it was selected. I sat through the whole thing in part because I had nothing else to do and in part out of incredulity. Toward the end I became worried that they would ruin the perverse anti-perfection of the thing by putting something meaningful on the screen. They came close, there were a number of scenes of regular looking people in real seeming places having heartfelt conversations, but they did not include the dialog, just some discordant music, so crisis averted. It has to be seen to be believed, but then you would have to see it. Most misleading SIFF guide blurb ever.
http://visiblecontents.blogspot.com/
Monday, June 4, 2012
People Like Us
USA. Highly recommended
The best kind of American movie. Very polished, exceptionally good writing, exceptional performances by major talent, very well crafted story with some great lines and a wow finish. I laughed, I cried I was the perfect cliche of an appreciative audience member.
The director has worked on Big Movies that made a ton of money for the studios, and they rewarded him by funding a Small Movie and letting him do as he pleased It worked out pretty well. More, please. It is hard to imagine this will not get a wide release and do well and win awards. The question is, why are they bothering with the festivals? There was a Hollywood style movie last year with an all star cast giving what I think are their best ever performances, which the audience loved, and I really loved, called Salvation Row. It sank like a rock, never heard of it again. There was another movie that I despised with big stars and a name director called Burke and Hare ( again, I spit on you, John Landis). Everyone but me loved it, looooved it. Never heard from. I have no idea why this happens. Must be awfully frustrating for the people involved.
The best kind of American movie. Very polished, exceptionally good writing, exceptional performances by major talent, very well crafted story with some great lines and a wow finish. I laughed, I cried I was the perfect cliche of an appreciative audience member.
The director has worked on Big Movies that made a ton of money for the studios, and they rewarded him by funding a Small Movie and letting him do as he pleased It worked out pretty well. More, please. It is hard to imagine this will not get a wide release and do well and win awards. The question is, why are they bothering with the festivals? There was a Hollywood style movie last year with an all star cast giving what I think are their best ever performances, which the audience loved, and I really loved, called Salvation Row. It sank like a rock, never heard of it again. There was another movie that I despised with big stars and a name director called Burke and Hare ( again, I spit on you, John Landis). Everyone but me loved it, looooved it. Never heard from. I have no idea why this happens. Must be awfully frustrating for the people involved.
The Last Friday
Jordan.
I have decided that when the SIFF blurbs say a film is a “black comedy” that often means it isn’t very funny. This is a slice of life in a completely different country, and worth seeing for that. We do not get a lot of Jordanian movies, even at SIFF. It is often a little disorienting when there are large veins of un-differentness in different cultures. Everyone has a cell phone, there are vapid rich kids driving Range Rovers, stuff like that. It may well be that when I think a movie is slow moving, it is just at the same pace as that place.
I have decided that when the SIFF blurbs say a film is a “black comedy” that often means it isn’t very funny. This is a slice of life in a completely different country, and worth seeing for that. We do not get a lot of Jordanian movies, even at SIFF. It is often a little disorienting when there are large veins of un-differentness in different cultures. Everyone has a cell phone, there are vapid rich kids driving Range Rovers, stuff like that. It may well be that when I think a movie is slow moving, it is just at the same pace as that place.
The Blindfold
Indonesia.
This is more of a docu-drama or crime re-enactment type movie than a movie type movie. There are more Muslims in Indonesia than in any other country, over 200 million, mostly Sunni. It seems there are extremist cults that do a lot of the things extremist cults of other religious do, and worse. This movie was undoubtedly intended for the youth audience in Indonesia, as a warning not to fall for this stuff, so good for them, really. The subtitles were obviously generated by a non-English speaker. The reason to see this movie is as a cultural artifact.
This is more of a docu-drama or crime re-enactment type movie than a movie type movie. There are more Muslims in Indonesia than in any other country, over 200 million, mostly Sunni. It seems there are extremist cults that do a lot of the things extremist cults of other religious do, and worse. This movie was undoubtedly intended for the youth audience in Indonesia, as a warning not to fall for this stuff, so good for them, really. The subtitles were obviously generated by a non-English speaker. The reason to see this movie is as a cultural artifact.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Silence: All Roads Lead to Music.
Italy. Highly recommended
Lots of very cool music in this movie, which basically follows a guy as he puts together a band and plays a gig. He calls it Mediterranean Music. Tamborine, bagpipes, piano, accordian, Jew’s Harp. Just a little didgeridoo. Now to me, this does not sound that promising, but the music is really very nice. To a non-musician (I have to say that whatever anti-matter is to musicianship, I’m heavily contaminated with it.) Anyway, to a non-musician watching how these guys talk to each other about music as they make it up is pretty great to watch. They do not all speak the same language, so when I say “talk” I do not exactly mean “speak”.
Lots of very cool music in this movie, which basically follows a guy as he puts together a band and plays a gig. He calls it Mediterranean Music. Tamborine, bagpipes, piano, accordian, Jew’s Harp. Just a little didgeridoo. Now to me, this does not sound that promising, but the music is really very nice. To a non-musician (I have to say that whatever anti-matter is to musicianship, I’m heavily contaminated with it.) Anyway, to a non-musician watching how these guys talk to each other about music as they make it up is pretty great to watch. They do not all speak the same language, so when I say “talk” I do not exactly mean “speak”.
Earthbound
Ireland. Recommended
More great sci-fi. This time a straight up romantic comedy with a sci-fi theme. Very polished movie, seems likely to get released. It’s a comedy, so they get to play with sci-fi movie tropes, and slip in a couple of great lines from famous movies. You either really like movies like this (me) or you don’t like them much at all (Marion). The variable seems to be ones appreciation of stupidity in movies, which I quite like up to a point.
This was the second time the movie has ever been shown. Before it started Marion and I had both spotted a woman we were sure is a movie actress in the crown milling at the Uptown. Sure enough, she was in this movie.
More great sci-fi. This time a straight up romantic comedy with a sci-fi theme. Very polished movie, seems likely to get released. It’s a comedy, so they get to play with sci-fi movie tropes, and slip in a couple of great lines from famous movies. You either really like movies like this (me) or you don’t like them much at all (Marion). The variable seems to be ones appreciation of stupidity in movies, which I quite like up to a point.
This was the second time the movie has ever been shown. Before it started Marion and I had both spotted a woman we were sure is a movie actress in the crown milling at the Uptown. Sure enough, she was in this movie.
Italy, Love it or Leave it
Italy. Fabulous.
I love this movie. I love it like I loved David Sedaris until I got tired of him; like I would love Michael Moore if he were not such a blowhard; like I love John Stewart without reservation. Also like a lot of people who aren’t me loved “the Trip” last year at SIFF. Two slim and deeply sweet guys drive around Italy looking for a reason not to move to Berlin. It’s a documentary. They interview people. They show stuff. They recite facts. All in the most endearing way, and in Italian, which is a beautiful language to listen to. They have these great, maybe just a little scripted, conversations. In Italian. They mug for the camera, but in a good way. They inform, they entertain, they give insight. Everything one wants from a movie.
I love this movie. I love it like I loved David Sedaris until I got tired of him; like I would love Michael Moore if he were not such a blowhard; like I love John Stewart without reservation. Also like a lot of people who aren’t me loved “the Trip” last year at SIFF. Two slim and deeply sweet guys drive around Italy looking for a reason not to move to Berlin. It’s a documentary. They interview people. They show stuff. They recite facts. All in the most endearing way, and in Italian, which is a beautiful language to listen to. They have these great, maybe just a little scripted, conversations. In Italian. They mug for the camera, but in a good way. They inform, they entertain, they give insight. Everything one wants from a movie.
Rouge Parole
Tunisia.
A documentary of the period during the departure of the dictator ben Ali and the fall of the corrupt Tunisian government. The beginning of the Arab Spring. Lots of footage of street protests, of both the conventional big city protest and also of the scary and violent kind. Also a lot of guys on street corners and in cafes talking very loudly about the revolution. It is from the point of view of a guy in the middle of it all, and there is little context or explanation. I think the Arab Spring is the most significant world event since the end of the cold war, except maybe Brad and Jen splitting up, so this is must see stuff for me.
A documentary of the period during the departure of the dictator ben Ali and the fall of the corrupt Tunisian government. The beginning of the Arab Spring. Lots of footage of street protests, of both the conventional big city protest and also of the scary and violent kind. Also a lot of guys on street corners and in cafes talking very loudly about the revolution. It is from the point of view of a guy in the middle of it all, and there is little context or explanation. I think the Arab Spring is the most significant world event since the end of the cold war, except maybe Brad and Jen splitting up, so this is must see stuff for me.
Best Intentions
Romania.
This is another movie that could be set anywhere, almost any time. This movie gets at aspects of real life as we live it better than almost any I have seen. Not entirely in a good way. The theme of the movie is that everyone has something to say. A guy’s mother has a problem and is in the hospital. All of the conversations with girlfriends and friends who know doctors, and random strangers on a train and the friends of the other hospital patients and the doctors. Constantly. This is an aspect of real life that makes me crazy, so I am surprised that I tolerated the movie as well as I did.
This is another movie that could be set anywhere, almost any time. This movie gets at aspects of real life as we live it better than almost any I have seen. Not entirely in a good way. The theme of the movie is that everyone has something to say. A guy’s mother has a problem and is in the hospital. All of the conversations with girlfriends and friends who know doctors, and random strangers on a train and the friends of the other hospital patients and the doctors. Constantly. This is an aspect of real life that makes me crazy, so I am surprised that I tolerated the movie as well as I did.
A Cube of Sugar
Iran. Very Highly Recommended
Probably our favorite film so far. Everything I have read and seen about Iranians, and something I’ve seen in print more than once, is this: forget everything you think you know about Iranians. Nicest People In The World. The setting is a big house on the occasion of a big family event with the brothers and the sisters and the in-laws and the cousins and the kids and the food and the rugs and the traditions and the food and the music and the dancing and the food and the crushes and the grown men acting like boys and the kids taking it all in and the food and the woman just breaking each other up all the time, and the great mad swirl and they are all these attractive nice people all sleeping over for a few days. And stuff happens. What there is only a little of: Islam. These people are devout Moslems they way the Italians are devout Catholics. Unquestioning believers, with a lot of traditions and superstitions that go way, way back, so that the formal religion is just a veneer over a folk, and essentially pagan, set of beliefs and practices.
Probably our favorite film so far. Everything I have read and seen about Iranians, and something I’ve seen in print more than once, is this: forget everything you think you know about Iranians. Nicest People In The World. The setting is a big house on the occasion of a big family event with the brothers and the sisters and the in-laws and the cousins and the kids and the food and the rugs and the traditions and the food and the music and the dancing and the food and the crushes and the grown men acting like boys and the kids taking it all in and the food and the woman just breaking each other up all the time, and the great mad swirl and they are all these attractive nice people all sleeping over for a few days. And stuff happens. What there is only a little of: Islam. These people are devout Moslems they way the Italians are devout Catholics. Unquestioning believers, with a lot of traditions and superstitions that go way, way back, so that the formal religion is just a veneer over a folk, and essentially pagan, set of beliefs and practices.
The Glass Man
The Glass Man
United Kingdom
A mainstream thriller. Neve Campbell has a minor role. A nerdy, craven English snob gets pulled into underworld skullduggery in order to protect his nerdy English snob lifestyle. The heavy in the movie is great, and if you’ve seen “Breaking Bad,” looks and acts like the bigger older brother of Mike, the heavy in that series. This is a good thing.
United Kingdom
A mainstream thriller. Neve Campbell has a minor role. A nerdy, craven English snob gets pulled into underworld skullduggery in order to protect his nerdy English snob lifestyle. The heavy in the movie is great, and if you’ve seen “Breaking Bad,” looks and acts like the bigger older brother of Mike, the heavy in that series. This is a good thing.
True Wolf
USA. Must see first hour at least.
Nim for wolves. A couple of well educated Montana hippie types got conned into raising a wolf pup and were then abandoned with it. They had to violate the animal in some way, either by killing it or by trying to tame it and keep it. I guess release to the wild was out of the question. So they tamed it and ended up taking it to schools for show and tell. Sounds creepier than it is, although even the couple aver that it is not a good thing for the wolf. The film is mostly home video they made interspersed with interviews of the couple and some other people. The video of the wolf in the first year is not to be missed by anyone who likes canines. The point made over and over is that a wolf is never tamed and is not at all like a dog in that respect. The owners are pretty polished interviewees, having made a bit of a career out of talking about wolves. The most honest moment in the film is when the guy was explaining that, contrary to common beliefs, one simply does not try to take food away from a wolf. Like, really look at his eyes, don’t try it.
Nim for wolves. A couple of well educated Montana hippie types got conned into raising a wolf pup and were then abandoned with it. They had to violate the animal in some way, either by killing it or by trying to tame it and keep it. I guess release to the wild was out of the question. So they tamed it and ended up taking it to schools for show and tell. Sounds creepier than it is, although even the couple aver that it is not a good thing for the wolf. The film is mostly home video they made interspersed with interviews of the couple and some other people. The video of the wolf in the first year is not to be missed by anyone who likes canines. The point made over and over is that a wolf is never tamed and is not at all like a dog in that respect. The owners are pretty polished interviewees, having made a bit of a career out of talking about wolves. The most honest moment in the film is when the guy was explaining that, contrary to common beliefs, one simply does not try to take food away from a wolf. Like, really look at his eyes, don’t try it.
The House
Slovak Republic. Worth seeing.
Another available only at SIFF slice of the lives of others. Slovakia is one of those Eastern European countries that have a long and terrible history about which we know little. The only reference in the movie to history is when one character says of someone that his grandfather sold my father out and we lost our land to a collective farm. That kind of place. Since the breakup of the Empire, the country is doing pretty well.
I often look at SIFF movies and either recast them in my head or think about how we would do a remake for an English speaking audience. This one would need almost no changes in the plot or story to do well here. Kind of a universal coming of age with a difficult father story. Very well acted.
Another available only at SIFF slice of the lives of others. Slovakia is one of those Eastern European countries that have a long and terrible history about which we know little. The only reference in the movie to history is when one character says of someone that his grandfather sold my father out and we lost our land to a collective farm. That kind of place. Since the breakup of the Empire, the country is doing pretty well.
I often look at SIFF movies and either recast them in my head or think about how we would do a remake for an English speaking audience. This one would need almost no changes in the plot or story to do well here. Kind of a universal coming of age with a difficult father story. Very well acted.
Beasts of the Southern Wild
USA. The emperor has no clothes.
This is a highly acclaimed, in the manner that film festivals give acclaim, movie. Critics love it, Sundance loved it. The theater was packed. We left early. I am the first to acknowledge that mine is the minority opinion and so I am probably wrong in my tastes and opinions. Remember “The Piano”? Holly Hunter playing a mute, the great Harvey Keitel, set in Samoa. Never was a film more highly acclaimed by the art house types, as well as everyone else. The very model of a Great Movie. Took the Golden Palm at Cannes, and 3 Academy Awards. To me, that movie was sandpaper for the eyes. What...a...load...of...crap, says I. So I ought to be ignored.
The first 40 minutes or so was, in my worms eye view, a paean to southern poverty and featured a fair amount of what in any other context would be called child abuse and neglect, for which I have no stomach. It was kind of a magical realist story so I suppose among the uptown swells who judge such things, that makes it OK. There were a lot of very tight shots with a jittery camera that showed various wild and magical realist type activity in a way that I, but only I, consider to be just disorienting lazy film making. Had I stayed I am confident I could go on.
This is a highly acclaimed, in the manner that film festivals give acclaim, movie. Critics love it, Sundance loved it. The theater was packed. We left early. I am the first to acknowledge that mine is the minority opinion and so I am probably wrong in my tastes and opinions. Remember “The Piano”? Holly Hunter playing a mute, the great Harvey Keitel, set in Samoa. Never was a film more highly acclaimed by the art house types, as well as everyone else. The very model of a Great Movie. Took the Golden Palm at Cannes, and 3 Academy Awards. To me, that movie was sandpaper for the eyes. What...a...load...of...crap, says I. So I ought to be ignored.
The first 40 minutes or so was, in my worms eye view, a paean to southern poverty and featured a fair amount of what in any other context would be called child abuse and neglect, for which I have no stomach. It was kind of a magical realist story so I suppose among the uptown swells who judge such things, that makes it OK. There were a lot of very tight shots with a jittery camera that showed various wild and magical realist type activity in a way that I, but only I, consider to be just disorienting lazy film making. Had I stayed I am confident I could go on.
Sharquia
Israel. Highly Recommended.
The movie is centered on a small family of Bedouins living on their ancestral lands in what is not the State of Israel. Something I did not know: Bedouins are not necessarily nomadic, land is just as important to them as it is to everyone else in that land crazed part of the world. In this case the land looks pretty much like just a patch of desert. What they un-ironically call a village is some corrugated metal shacks, a few sheep pens and a generator. So here is another great SIFF movie that drops us into the everyday lives of people who, at best, we only otherwise see in our rear view mirror. These dwellings would not be legal in any normal country and therein lies the main driver of the story. A lot of the movie is of the lets-follow-this-guy-around-for-a-few-days variety which can be completely boring or, as in this case, pretty interesting. It depicts the relationships between the Jewish and Arab Israeli citizens in a way that I suspect is much more like the real thing than we usually see. Even the representatives of the overbearing bureaucracy are portrayed as decent people.
The movie is centered on a small family of Bedouins living on their ancestral lands in what is not the State of Israel. Something I did not know: Bedouins are not necessarily nomadic, land is just as important to them as it is to everyone else in that land crazed part of the world. In this case the land looks pretty much like just a patch of desert. What they un-ironically call a village is some corrugated metal shacks, a few sheep pens and a generator. So here is another great SIFF movie that drops us into the everyday lives of people who, at best, we only otherwise see in our rear view mirror. These dwellings would not be legal in any normal country and therein lies the main driver of the story. A lot of the movie is of the lets-follow-this-guy-around-for-a-few-days variety which can be completely boring or, as in this case, pretty interesting. It depicts the relationships between the Jewish and Arab Israeli citizens in a way that I suspect is much more like the real thing than we usually see. Even the representatives of the overbearing bureaucracy are portrayed as decent people.
How to Steal 2 Million
South Africa.
A by-the-numbers film noir. Recently released convict trying to go straight but tempted by one last score by his former best gangster friend who stole his girlfriend but wants to make it right, assisted by the beautiful con artist he caught picking his pocket in a dive bar. Very familiar stuff. The actors are very attractive, everything is done very well. This movie is a perfect representative of the genre. A little too perfect, we got bored and left early, we may have been surprised by something had we stayed, but were not while we were there.
A by-the-numbers film noir. Recently released convict trying to go straight but tempted by one last score by his former best gangster friend who stole his girlfriend but wants to make it right, assisted by the beautiful con artist he caught picking his pocket in a dive bar. Very familiar stuff. The actors are very attractive, everything is done very well. This movie is a perfect representative of the genre. A little too perfect, we got bored and left early, we may have been surprised by something had we stayed, but were not while we were there.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Can
Turkey.
The title is pronounced “Chan” and is the name of an amazingly cute little boy. He has a lot of scenes in the movie, and is the reason to go to it. Great stuff. I like movies like this that center on everyday life in other places, in this case some non-Istanbul city in Turkey. I cannot say the story is especially uplifting or, for that matter, enjoyable, but it is well told. I think its intent is to focus on an Important Social Issue in present day Turkey more than it is to entertain.
The title is pronounced “Chan” and is the name of an amazingly cute little boy. He has a lot of scenes in the movie, and is the reason to go to it. Great stuff. I like movies like this that center on everyday life in other places, in this case some non-Istanbul city in Turkey. I cannot say the story is especially uplifting or, for that matter, enjoyable, but it is well told. I think its intent is to focus on an Important Social Issue in present day Turkey more than it is to entertain.
Future Lasts Forever
Turkey. Meh.
Although Marion and I mutually agreed to leave early probably a lot of people like this movie. A bit more ethereal staring into space and a lot less actual story than I care for. Turkey does not have a sterling human rights record vis a vis the Kurds, and this was being referenced pretty strongly. A separatist movement prompted the usual dirty war stuff death squads, villages cleared out, wounds that will never heal. The movie depicted none of this, the main characters have an interest in the survivors and their stories. Possibly the Turks themselves get more out of the movie, knowing the references better.
Although Marion and I mutually agreed to leave early probably a lot of people like this movie. A bit more ethereal staring into space and a lot less actual story than I care for. Turkey does not have a sterling human rights record vis a vis the Kurds, and this was being referenced pretty strongly. A separatist movement prompted the usual dirty war stuff death squads, villages cleared out, wounds that will never heal. The movie depicted none of this, the main characters have an interest in the survivors and their stories. Possibly the Turks themselves get more out of the movie, knowing the references better.
Los Acacias
Argentina. Recommended
Another movie that is the reason for SIFF. Set in a place among people we never get to see unless we whiz by them without stopping while traveling. I often like Argentine movies. Pretty much a 2 ½ person cast, shot mostly in the cab of a long haul semi, and there are a number of long almost silent shots. Some movies this would bother me, this one it did not at all. I cannot say why. The action, for want of a better word, was almost internal to the characters, but somehow the viewer gets what is happening. Very effective acting, especially the guy. How they got that baby to do stuff on cue is a mystery to me.
Another movie that is the reason for SIFF. Set in a place among people we never get to see unless we whiz by them without stopping while traveling. I often like Argentine movies. Pretty much a 2 ½ person cast, shot mostly in the cab of a long haul semi, and there are a number of long almost silent shots. Some movies this would bother me, this one it did not at all. I cannot say why. The action, for want of a better word, was almost internal to the characters, but somehow the viewer gets what is happening. Very effective acting, especially the guy. How they got that baby to do stuff on cue is a mystery to me.
Extraterrestrial
Spain. Recommended.
This is another advertisement for the sci-fi genre. You can do anything. The special effects are as minimal as could be, its mainly silly people doing silly things. The director was there, a very funny guy. He could be a successful stand-up comedian. He said he wanted to approach an alien invasion from the point of view of the people holed up in their apartments from the curfew while someone else actually dealt with the menace. “Sci-fi for the 99%” is how he put it. Brilliant. So, all the normal rules are suspended until we find out if everybody dies or what; and people do what they do in such a situation. For laughs.
This is another advertisement for the sci-fi genre. You can do anything. The special effects are as minimal as could be, its mainly silly people doing silly things. The director was there, a very funny guy. He could be a successful stand-up comedian. He said he wanted to approach an alien invasion from the point of view of the people holed up in their apartments from the curfew while someone else actually dealt with the menace. “Sci-fi for the 99%” is how he put it. Brilliant. So, all the normal rules are suspended until we find out if everybody dies or what; and people do what they do in such a situation. For laughs.
Abu Son of Adam
India. Highly Recommended
I was riding to work one day and was wondering if it is possible to make a decent movie without interpersonal conflict and with only nice people and no bad guy in it. Then that evening I saw this film, which is just such a movie. This is the one Marion mentions when asked what good movies she has seen. Set in rural, which is to say impoverished, India. It is in the present day, there are scenes of people on computers and cell phones, but for the most part people’s lives seem to be from early last century. A really sweet devout couple who have little money want to do the Hadj. Complications ensue.
This movie is why to go to the film festival. It drills right into life as it is lived in another culture with no apparent artificiality.
I was riding to work one day and was wondering if it is possible to make a decent movie without interpersonal conflict and with only nice people and no bad guy in it. Then that evening I saw this film, which is just such a movie. This is the one Marion mentions when asked what good movies she has seen. Set in rural, which is to say impoverished, India. It is in the present day, there are scenes of people on computers and cell phones, but for the most part people’s lives seem to be from early last century. A really sweet devout couple who have little money want to do the Hadj. Complications ensue.
This movie is why to go to the film festival. It drills right into life as it is lived in another culture with no apparent artificiality.
5 Broken Cameras
Palestine. Important Movie.
This is the reason to go to SIFF films. A guy has his first kid and so he buys a video camera. Just so happens he lives in the West Bank, in a village that the Government is grabbing up pieces of to build settlements, and there are a lot of street protests. Our guy ends up documenting just how this is done, the small bore daily grind of being occupied, and the protests. The title refers to the number of cameras taken out during protests. He left in a lot of the footage that every proud father in the world makes of their kids. Birthday parties, that sort of thing. Then very polite Israeli Army guys politely ordering people off their land. I have a maxim that injustice makes people crazy. Marion and I agreed to leave early, just because we could see where things were headed and could not bear to watch.
This is the reason to go to SIFF films. A guy has his first kid and so he buys a video camera. Just so happens he lives in the West Bank, in a village that the Government is grabbing up pieces of to build settlements, and there are a lot of street protests. Our guy ends up documenting just how this is done, the small bore daily grind of being occupied, and the protests. The title refers to the number of cameras taken out during protests. He left in a lot of the footage that every proud father in the world makes of their kids. Birthday parties, that sort of thing. Then very polite Israeli Army guys politely ordering people off their land. I have a maxim that injustice makes people crazy. Marion and I agreed to leave early, just because we could see where things were headed and could not bear to watch.
As Luck Would Have It
Spain. Recommended
I found this to be a strange movie. I have to say, Spanish movies, especially comedies, often have this effect on me because they do not seem to follow the rules. They are too funny for a drama and too serious for a comedy. On some level, messing with preconceptions has to be a good thing, and in this case the movie is very well made and very well acted.
This is billed as a satirical black comedy . Black humor, saith Wikipedia, is sub-genre of comedy and satire in which laughter arises from cynicism and skepticism. This movie does not follow that rule. The comedy in it is not subversive or especially satirical in, say, the Daily Show manner of satire. The funny parts are conventionally funny, there is one running gag that straight up slapstick. The funny parts are, indeed, funny and there are many laughs to be had. The dramatic parts are not in the service of any comedic end, they are Drama. The great Selma Hayak has a straight up dramatic role, I do not think she has any funny lines at all, and her character is really the heart of the movie. I freely admit that I cry at movies, pretty much on cue. I cried at this one more than any film so far.
I found this to be a strange movie. I have to say, Spanish movies, especially comedies, often have this effect on me because they do not seem to follow the rules. They are too funny for a drama and too serious for a comedy. On some level, messing with preconceptions has to be a good thing, and in this case the movie is very well made and very well acted.
This is billed as a satirical black comedy . Black humor, saith Wikipedia, is sub-genre of comedy and satire in which laughter arises from cynicism and skepticism. This movie does not follow that rule. The comedy in it is not subversive or especially satirical in, say, the Daily Show manner of satire. The funny parts are conventionally funny, there is one running gag that straight up slapstick. The funny parts are, indeed, funny and there are many laughs to be had. The dramatic parts are not in the service of any comedic end, they are Drama. The great Selma Hayak has a straight up dramatic role, I do not think she has any funny lines at all, and her character is really the heart of the movie. I freely admit that I cry at movies, pretty much on cue. I cried at this one more than any film so far.
Unforgivable.
France. Meh.
I do not know what this movie is for. Really attractive people in a beautiful place with what I think is an incoherent story that takes the audience no place. The audience seemed to love it because, I guess, it is very Francais. To me its even more of a carbon copy of every other French film ever made.
I think this is a good place for me to expound on the general uselessness and specific evils of movie reviews. Lots of people loved the movie I just slammed. Why would you pay any attention at all to whether I liked it? No good reason. I know nothing about what anyone but me likes. Screw what I think! Also screw what Anthony Lane of David Denby or any other reviewer thinks. And most of all, screw Pauline Kael in her grave. Wake her up and let her die again, says I. A review rarely enhances ones appreciation of a movie one has yet to see. They mainly spoil movies, either by giving the viewer this extra 30 pounds of baggage to carry into the film or by dissuading the person from attending in the first place. I actually love reading Denby and Lane, they are very gifted writers. But my rule is that I only read beyond the first paragraph if I have seen the movie or have decided not to see the movie. Most of my best movie experiences has been watching films about which I knew nothing going in.
So this begs the question (as that phrase is used these days) why I am writing all these blurbs. First, because this time of year everyone I know asks me about the movies I’ve seen and I can never think of anything to say. Lets face it, when you are attending 3 or 4 movies a day, its hard to even remember what you have seen. No one I do not know is likely to read this blog, and to know me is to know that I am a blowhard. Cheap copout, I know. Mostly I write this stuff because I think a lot of the movies that can only be seen at festivals are Important and should be widely seen, and if I can influence a few of my friends to go, I have done good.
I do not know what this movie is for. Really attractive people in a beautiful place with what I think is an incoherent story that takes the audience no place. The audience seemed to love it because, I guess, it is very Francais. To me its even more of a carbon copy of every other French film ever made.
I think this is a good place for me to expound on the general uselessness and specific evils of movie reviews. Lots of people loved the movie I just slammed. Why would you pay any attention at all to whether I liked it? No good reason. I know nothing about what anyone but me likes. Screw what I think! Also screw what Anthony Lane of David Denby or any other reviewer thinks. And most of all, screw Pauline Kael in her grave. Wake her up and let her die again, says I. A review rarely enhances ones appreciation of a movie one has yet to see. They mainly spoil movies, either by giving the viewer this extra 30 pounds of baggage to carry into the film or by dissuading the person from attending in the first place. I actually love reading Denby and Lane, they are very gifted writers. But my rule is that I only read beyond the first paragraph if I have seen the movie or have decided not to see the movie. Most of my best movie experiences has been watching films about which I knew nothing going in.
So this begs the question (as that phrase is used these days) why I am writing all these blurbs. First, because this time of year everyone I know asks me about the movies I’ve seen and I can never think of anything to say. Lets face it, when you are attending 3 or 4 movies a day, its hard to even remember what you have seen. No one I do not know is likely to read this blog, and to know me is to know that I am a blowhard. Cheap copout, I know. Mostly I write this stuff because I think a lot of the movies that can only be seen at festivals are Important and should be widely seen, and if I can influence a few of my friends to go, I have done good.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Three-Quarter Moon
Germany. Highly recommended.
A movie about a grumpy, prejudiced old guy saddled with an immigrant kid. Its odd, that sounds like a total, done to death cliche of a premise. But there are a million ways to tell the same story, and some of them, like this one, just stand out.
The director was asked how he pulled such an amazing performance from his female lead, playing a 6 year old Turkish girl. When she was supposed to look thoughtful he gave her addition problems to do in her head, and when he wanted her to look confused he gave her multiplication. Anyway, she was very good. Its set in Nuremburg, and there are a lot of great shots of the old city. An audience member who was German asked about the “:dialects” that were used. I think we would say “accent”. I guess Nuremburg is in the south, and the lead actor is sort of a Tommy Lee Jones: enough of an accent to sound southern, but not hard to understand at all. If you know German. I forget that a place like Germany has regional speech differences, it all sounds like German to me.
A movie about a grumpy, prejudiced old guy saddled with an immigrant kid. Its odd, that sounds like a total, done to death cliche of a premise. But there are a million ways to tell the same story, and some of them, like this one, just stand out.
The director was asked how he pulled such an amazing performance from his female lead, playing a 6 year old Turkish girl. When she was supposed to look thoughtful he gave her addition problems to do in her head, and when he wanted her to look confused he gave her multiplication. Anyway, she was very good. Its set in Nuremburg, and there are a lot of great shots of the old city. An audience member who was German asked about the “:dialects” that were used. I think we would say “accent”. I guess Nuremburg is in the south, and the lead actor is sort of a Tommy Lee Jones: enough of an accent to sound southern, but not hard to understand at all. If you know German. I forget that a place like Germany has regional speech differences, it all sounds like German to me.
Safety Not Guaranteed
USA. Highly Recommended. Sometimes at SIFF we go to movies we don’t think we are going to like for basically logistical reasons, and end up loving the movie. The kiss of death on this one is that it is a local production which, alas, often equates to being bad film making.
I loved this movie, as did the rest of the audience, except, apparently, the grouchy looking lady next to me. (Not, I hasten to add, Marion, I went alone.) It did everything a comedy is supposed to do, which is make people laugh. The ending is perfect. As I mentioned in a post last year that both of you may remember, Scifi is a really good genre for low budget film making, because you can make up any facts you like to make the scenario work and the audience will go along. This is a romantic comedy. A big element of the story is whether the male lead is crazy, or on to something, or both, and they make this hold up really, well. They make knowing/ironic use of various movie tropes like the character who is supposed to be a plain-jane portrayed by a hot actress. Her role is really very nicely constructed, and she has all the best lines. Mary Lynn Rajskub, The actress who was Chloe O’Brien, my favorite character in “24" has a cameo.
I loved this movie, as did the rest of the audience, except, apparently, the grouchy looking lady next to me. (Not, I hasten to add, Marion, I went alone.) It did everything a comedy is supposed to do, which is make people laugh. The ending is perfect. As I mentioned in a post last year that both of you may remember, Scifi is a really good genre for low budget film making, because you can make up any facts you like to make the scenario work and the audience will go along. This is a romantic comedy. A big element of the story is whether the male lead is crazy, or on to something, or both, and they make this hold up really, well. They make knowing/ironic use of various movie tropes like the character who is supposed to be a plain-jane portrayed by a hot actress. Her role is really very nicely constructed, and she has all the best lines. Mary Lynn Rajskub, The actress who was Chloe O’Brien, my favorite character in “24" has a cameo.
Liberal Arts
USA. Recommended
This one will probably get released and do well. Very well made romantic comedy. Apparently, the cast is well known, although the only actors I recognized are the great Richard Jenkins and Allison Janney in character roles. Its basically about getting older and maturing, in one sequence or another. It is, I suspect, aimed as much at boomers as at the demographic represented by the main characters. Funny movie very effectively acted. There are lots of those lines that you know must be scripted, but seem so perfect to a moment that its hard to believe.
This one will probably get released and do well. Very well made romantic comedy. Apparently, the cast is well known, although the only actors I recognized are the great Richard Jenkins and Allison Janney in character roles. Its basically about getting older and maturing, in one sequence or another. It is, I suspect, aimed as much at boomers as at the demographic represented by the main characters. Funny movie very effectively acted. There are lots of those lines that you know must be scripted, but seem so perfect to a moment that its hard to believe.
Goodbye
Iran. Probably a very good movie.
There was a technical problem, the subtitles were about 10 minutes out of synch with the movie, or it seemed so. Lots of people left, us included. The movie centers of a woman trying to be treated decently, which differs in degree but not greatly in kind from the difficulty experienced by a lot of people who want to be treated decently in highly organized countries, ours included of course.
The director is appealing a six year jail sentence is Iran for his movies on charges of “assembly, collusion, and propagandizing against the regime.”
There was a technical problem, the subtitles were about 10 minutes out of synch with the movie, or it seemed so. Lots of people left, us included. The movie centers of a woman trying to be treated decently, which differs in degree but not greatly in kind from the difficulty experienced by a lot of people who want to be treated decently in highly organized countries, ours included of course.
The director is appealing a six year jail sentence is Iran for his movies on charges of “assembly, collusion, and propagandizing against the regime.”
Monday, May 28, 2012
Woman in the Fifth
France. Pretty Recommended.
A French movie, mostly in French with two Hollywood stars. The director is from almost everywhere in Europe except France. I’m not sure what that is about. I have a bit of an attitude toward Kristin Scott Thomas. She seems to have a taste for roles portraying people I seriously dislike, often in that genre of movie I think of as privileged-people-making-themselves-unnecessarily-miserable. Except she has been in a number of French movies and I generally like both her character and the movie. She is great in this movie. Her character is intended to be very enigmatic, the audience is not 100% sure she even exists. She does this wonderfully. She conveys the ambiguity of the character as surely as if she were winking at the camera, without being a bit obvious even about that.
There is a storyline in this movie that is always intriguing. Guy randomly walks into a café and with no particular plan becomes involved in that scene, becomes one of the people in the ecosystem of that random café. Walk down the street and a door will be open, look in and people are interacting and there is a little universe spinning on its own axis in there. Behind every door.
Its best to see some movies without knowing anything at all about the story. This is one of those. Try not to read anything. All I will say about it is that there is one element that is often used in movies that I think is kind of a cheat.
A French movie, mostly in French with two Hollywood stars. The director is from almost everywhere in Europe except France. I’m not sure what that is about. I have a bit of an attitude toward Kristin Scott Thomas. She seems to have a taste for roles portraying people I seriously dislike, often in that genre of movie I think of as privileged-people-making-themselves-unnecessarily-miserable. Except she has been in a number of French movies and I generally like both her character and the movie. She is great in this movie. Her character is intended to be very enigmatic, the audience is not 100% sure she even exists. She does this wonderfully. She conveys the ambiguity of the character as surely as if she were winking at the camera, without being a bit obvious even about that.
There is a storyline in this movie that is always intriguing. Guy randomly walks into a café and with no particular plan becomes involved in that scene, becomes one of the people in the ecosystem of that random café. Walk down the street and a door will be open, look in and people are interacting and there is a little universe spinning on its own axis in there. Behind every door.
Its best to see some movies without knowing anything at all about the story. This is one of those. Try not to read anything. All I will say about it is that there is one element that is often used in movies that I think is kind of a cheat.
Breathing
Austria. Recommended.
A young guy on work release will either find a reason to be a whole person or will remain a fuck-up. I see this as kind of a man vs. machine story. (Machines often win in these stories.) In this case Man is the guy and the Machine is our apparatus for disposing of the excess population. The audience roots for the guy, of course, and every time something even a little nice happens to him its heartening.
A young guy on work release will either find a reason to be a whole person or will remain a fuck-up. I see this as kind of a man vs. machine story. (Machines often win in these stories.) In this case Man is the guy and the Machine is our apparatus for disposing of the excess population. The audience roots for the guy, of course, and every time something even a little nice happens to him its heartening.
Rose
Poland. Recommended, with a warning.
This is set in the aftermath of WWII in a really horrible place. A part of Poland whose inhabitants, the Masurians, just to stay alive had to adjust their loyalties every 50 or 100 years or so from Poland to Prussia to Germany to Poland again then back to Germany under the Nazis, and then to the Soviet Empire. So, everyone hates everyone. The Nazis thought the Poles were defective, the Poles hated both the Germans and the Russians, The Russians were commie bastards. Pretty much everyone hated the Masurians at a time where there was no limit to the crap available to dish out to despised groups of people and in a place where the fighting had turned everyone feral.
It’s a love story between two people trying, against all odds, to get back to normal. It’s a very engaging story and the audience really roots for things to go well. Stories set in the immediate aftermath of a war always interest me. The norms have all been destroyed, people are choosing which to adopt and which to discard. There are possibilities that do not exist in normal times. There is also a bit of man-with-no-name style western in this movie. The main guy kind of shows up from no where and we get little by way of his backstory, and he is a definite good guy hero type.
It being a love story, complications ensue and some of these are pretty violent and creepy, hence the warning. The violence and creepiness took me pretty close to my personal threshold, which is not that high.
This is set in the aftermath of WWII in a really horrible place. A part of Poland whose inhabitants, the Masurians, just to stay alive had to adjust their loyalties every 50 or 100 years or so from Poland to Prussia to Germany to Poland again then back to Germany under the Nazis, and then to the Soviet Empire. So, everyone hates everyone. The Nazis thought the Poles were defective, the Poles hated both the Germans and the Russians, The Russians were commie bastards. Pretty much everyone hated the Masurians at a time where there was no limit to the crap available to dish out to despised groups of people and in a place where the fighting had turned everyone feral.
It’s a love story between two people trying, against all odds, to get back to normal. It’s a very engaging story and the audience really roots for things to go well. Stories set in the immediate aftermath of a war always interest me. The norms have all been destroyed, people are choosing which to adopt and which to discard. There are possibilities that do not exist in normal times. There is also a bit of man-with-no-name style western in this movie. The main guy kind of shows up from no where and we get little by way of his backstory, and he is a definite good guy hero type.
It being a love story, complications ensue and some of these are pretty violent and creepy, hence the warning. The violence and creepiness took me pretty close to my personal threshold, which is not that high.
Madrid, 1987
Spain. OK movie.
“My Dinner with Andre” naked and in Spanish. I’ll say I like this better than “My Dinner’, and not because of the nudity, which was pretty understated. The horror show that was the mid 20th Century started early in Spain, and lasted a lot longer there. The movie in large part is the occasion for a character who went through that crap with his dignity intact to muse coming to grips with a world where its not so challenging to live honestly. His muse is a very pretty cardboard cutout with the word “youth” written on it. Some people liked this movie a lot more than I did.
“My Dinner with Andre” naked and in Spanish. I’ll say I like this better than “My Dinner’, and not because of the nudity, which was pretty understated. The horror show that was the mid 20th Century started early in Spain, and lasted a lot longer there. The movie in large part is the occasion for a character who went through that crap with his dignity intact to muse coming to grips with a world where its not so challenging to live honestly. His muse is a very pretty cardboard cutout with the word “youth” written on it. Some people liked this movie a lot more than I did.
My Brother the Devil
United Kingdom. Recommended.
Let this be the occasion for me to bitch about the movie descriptions in the various SIFF guides. For a start they can be completely misleading. In this instance the blurb contains a spoiler, that mortal sin of movie guides, presumably in order to appeal to a niche audience. This one is especially egregious in that highlighting it shows that the blurbographer pretty much missed the main point of the movie. So do not read the blurb if you can manage it.
Set in youth gang culture in London its about what most guy movies are about: loyalty. This youth gang culture is not white soccer hooligan types but native Londoners of Arab and African descent. Interestingly, its not Arabs vs. Africans, but one group of Arabs and Africans vs. another similar group. The competition among gangs is incidental to the competition between gang life and straight (in the sense of, like, getting a job or a degree) life, which is the main conflict of the movie in various ways.
The lead actor bears a striking resemblance in both visage and manner (and accent) to the young Jude Law. The cast also includes the excellent Saïd Taghmaou, who played the torture guy in Three Kings, the guy with the deathless line "What is the problem with Michael Jackson?".
Let this be the occasion for me to bitch about the movie descriptions in the various SIFF guides. For a start they can be completely misleading. In this instance the blurb contains a spoiler, that mortal sin of movie guides, presumably in order to appeal to a niche audience. This one is especially egregious in that highlighting it shows that the blurbographer pretty much missed the main point of the movie. So do not read the blurb if you can manage it.
Set in youth gang culture in London its about what most guy movies are about: loyalty. This youth gang culture is not white soccer hooligan types but native Londoners of Arab and African descent. Interestingly, its not Arabs vs. Africans, but one group of Arabs and Africans vs. another similar group. The competition among gangs is incidental to the competition between gang life and straight (in the sense of, like, getting a job or a degree) life, which is the main conflict of the movie in various ways.
The lead actor bears a striking resemblance in both visage and manner (and accent) to the young Jude Law. The cast also includes the excellent Saïd Taghmaou, who played the torture guy in Three Kings, the guy with the deathless line "What is the problem with Michael Jackson?".
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Oslo, August 31
Norway. Total drag of a movie.
Our bias against Scandinavian movies is reinforced. Really depressing movie with no discernible point, and the most rudimentary and meaningless story telling. Movie that follows this one guy around for a day. There are movies that do this wonderfully and we love. This is not one of those. Its like watching creepy paint dry.
Our bias against Scandinavian movies is reinforced. Really depressing movie with no discernible point, and the most rudimentary and meaningless story telling. Movie that follows this one guy around for a day. There are movies that do this wonderfully and we love. This is not one of those. Its like watching creepy paint dry.
Kill Me
Germany. Recommended.
A buddy movie. An escaped convict is assisted by a depressed teenaged girl who demands only that he agree to kill her once he is clear. Pretty great premise. One of the first things I thought about in watching this was, hey, its present day Germany, where can you run to? The highly civilized world has made anonymity pretty much obsolete. Turns out you run to Africa. Of course.
There is a scene in, just coincidentally, “The Fugitive” (one of my favorite movies) where Harrison Ford is walking along a dark road at night and a woman stops her car and picks him up. No explanation and no follow-up. There just had to be more story to be told about this encounter, and presumably there just was not time to tell it. I really wonder why that one scene was left in. There is an eerily similar scene in this movie, and a couple a little less eerily similar. One of the actors was at the showing, and someone asked the excellent question, “Were there any scenes you wish had made it into the movie?” It turns out that one of the minor characters in the movie originally had a much larger role, but all of it was cut except for two or three scenes.
A buddy movie. An escaped convict is assisted by a depressed teenaged girl who demands only that he agree to kill her once he is clear. Pretty great premise. One of the first things I thought about in watching this was, hey, its present day Germany, where can you run to? The highly civilized world has made anonymity pretty much obsolete. Turns out you run to Africa. Of course.
There is a scene in, just coincidentally, “The Fugitive” (one of my favorite movies) where Harrison Ford is walking along a dark road at night and a woman stops her car and picks him up. No explanation and no follow-up. There just had to be more story to be told about this encounter, and presumably there just was not time to tell it. I really wonder why that one scene was left in. There is an eerily similar scene in this movie, and a couple a little less eerily similar. One of the actors was at the showing, and someone asked the excellent question, “Were there any scenes you wish had made it into the movie?” It turns out that one of the minor characters in the movie originally had a much larger role, but all of it was cut except for two or three scenes.
Trial on the Road
Russia. Recommended
This was filmed in 1971, and has a much older feel to it. Black and white movie. Set in the winter of 1942 among partisan fighters against the Nazis. For some reason the Soviets banned this movie. Not sure why, it makes the Russians seem pretty heroic which, indeed, they were. Pretty much a classic war movie with a nice twist. A guy in a German uniform beats a partisan into submission and then surrenders to him, saying he is a Russian soldier who was captured and impressed by the Germans. He wants back into the fight on the right side. The film has terrific portrayals of the stock characters of war movies: the grizzled field officer, the popinjay lieutenant, the willies and joes, and we get terrific performances from the character actors.
This was filmed in 1971, and has a much older feel to it. Black and white movie. Set in the winter of 1942 among partisan fighters against the Nazis. For some reason the Soviets banned this movie. Not sure why, it makes the Russians seem pretty heroic which, indeed, they were. Pretty much a classic war movie with a nice twist. A guy in a German uniform beats a partisan into submission and then surrenders to him, saying he is a Russian soldier who was captured and impressed by the Germans. He wants back into the fight on the right side. The film has terrific portrayals of the stock characters of war movies: the grizzled field officer, the popinjay lieutenant, the willies and joes, and we get terrific performances from the character actors.
L’Afrance
France. Meh.
OK, Marion liked this movie a lot. I would have left early, and compromised by taking a nap. Highly educated Senegalese in France endlessly debating whether ‘tis best to stay in Europe and have, like, a life or to go back and help fix the broken country. The leading guy keeps sweating his illegal status and also sweating that going back seems best. The French can go on and on about the philosophical and moral implications of... just about anything well past the point that I want to shout “Make-A-Damn-Decision”, and these guys are pretty French in that respect. But Marion thought it was a good movie.
OK, Marion liked this movie a lot. I would have left early, and compromised by taking a nap. Highly educated Senegalese in France endlessly debating whether ‘tis best to stay in Europe and have, like, a life or to go back and help fix the broken country. The leading guy keeps sweating his illegal status and also sweating that going back seems best. The French can go on and on about the philosophical and moral implications of... just about anything well past the point that I want to shout “Make-A-Damn-Decision”, and these guys are pretty French in that respect. But Marion thought it was a good movie.
Valley of the Saints
India. Recommended.
There are several things going on in this movie. It is set among the people who live and work on Lake Dal, which has been a resort area since the days of the Mughals in the 1600's. Of course, it is dying from all the humanity, and that is one story line. It is in Kashmir and a lot of the action of the movie is driven by civil unrest and a curfew that was actually occurring during the filming, so the scenes of soldiers and demonstrations is mostly real. (Kashmir is the largest Muslim populated area in India, so there you go. By the way, the reason we have such problems with Pakistan: Kashmir. True story, but not part of this movie.) So there is a bit of John Sayles style social commentary going on, but it interferes with the story not at all. The story is about two young guys trying to get something going for themselves. Good story, well told. There are a lot of gorgeous shots of the lake. Mostly non-professional actors including the leading man, who was terrific. So almost everyting the audience sees is the real deal. He wrote a couple of songs that are in the movie. He actually is a boatman on Lake Dal.
There are several things going on in this movie. It is set among the people who live and work on Lake Dal, which has been a resort area since the days of the Mughals in the 1600's. Of course, it is dying from all the humanity, and that is one story line. It is in Kashmir and a lot of the action of the movie is driven by civil unrest and a curfew that was actually occurring during the filming, so the scenes of soldiers and demonstrations is mostly real. (Kashmir is the largest Muslim populated area in India, so there you go. By the way, the reason we have such problems with Pakistan: Kashmir. True story, but not part of this movie.) So there is a bit of John Sayles style social commentary going on, but it interferes with the story not at all. The story is about two young guys trying to get something going for themselves. Good story, well told. There are a lot of gorgeous shots of the lake. Mostly non-professional actors including the leading man, who was terrific. So almost everyting the audience sees is the real deal. He wrote a couple of songs that are in the movie. He actually is a boatman on Lake Dal.
The Intouchables
France. Recommended.
First off, François Cluzet has quite a resemblance to Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman would probably take this role, which must be a challenge for an actor: he can’t move his body, all his acting was from the neck up. On one level this is a pretty standard heartwarming story with some standard plot elements. Rich paralyzed guy, streetwise hustler type, but with heart, conned into becoming caregiver. Complications ensue. It is really very well done, and is pretty funny. Hollywood is seldom able to do both of these things in a movie.
First off, François Cluzet has quite a resemblance to Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman would probably take this role, which must be a challenge for an actor: he can’t move his body, all his acting was from the neck up. On one level this is a pretty standard heartwarming story with some standard plot elements. Rich paralyzed guy, streetwise hustler type, but with heart, conned into becoming caregiver. Complications ensue. It is really very well done, and is pretty funny. Hollywood is seldom able to do both of these things in a movie.
Daas
Poland. Highly recommended.
I liked this more than anyone else I have talked with. I think it compares favorably to “Chinatown”, but I got a weird look when I said that. A movie about a major historical event that I never really heard of. Set in 1776, of all years, in Vienna centered on a cult led by Jacob Frank, a Polish Jew who had lived in Turkey and who had decided he was the messiah. Also he could grant immortality. At the time he was a really big deal. He encouraged his people to commit all the sins they could because conventional morality is for suckers. Good way for a cult leader to do what cult leaders do which is so very often to have sex with as many cult followers as they can manage.
Most of the action of the movie centers on a couple of guys trying to bring him down for all the bad stuff he did. Last Honest Man stuff. Its not a movie about Jacob Frank, it’s a movie about guys trying to get the right thing done with the Hapsburg version of the cops and the courts and the inside players and the dangerous thugs.
As always with period movies, I could not get enough of the great clothes these guys wore. Also, part of the storytelling includes a woman who had locked in syndrome after a stroke, and boy was she treated right. Really, normalization at its best.
I liked this more than anyone else I have talked with. I think it compares favorably to “Chinatown”, but I got a weird look when I said that. A movie about a major historical event that I never really heard of. Set in 1776, of all years, in Vienna centered on a cult led by Jacob Frank, a Polish Jew who had lived in Turkey and who had decided he was the messiah. Also he could grant immortality. At the time he was a really big deal. He encouraged his people to commit all the sins they could because conventional morality is for suckers. Good way for a cult leader to do what cult leaders do which is so very often to have sex with as many cult followers as they can manage.
Most of the action of the movie centers on a couple of guys trying to bring him down for all the bad stuff he did. Last Honest Man stuff. Its not a movie about Jacob Frank, it’s a movie about guys trying to get the right thing done with the Hapsburg version of the cops and the courts and the inside players and the dangerous thugs.
As always with period movies, I could not get enough of the great clothes these guys wore. Also, part of the storytelling includes a woman who had locked in syndrome after a stroke, and boy was she treated right. Really, normalization at its best.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
SIFF Diary
OK, so the reason I started this blog is to post commentary about every single movie I see at the Seattle International Film Festival. It starts next week. I did this last year on Facebook, and came to fundamentally dislike, as well as never quite understand, Facebook.
Just to begin, here is a re-post of the review I did of SIFF itself toward the emd of the festival last year. It is kind of mean spirited to mention flaws when SIFF fundamentally enriches the planet. But here goes.
SIFF
USA. As SIFF winds down I thought I would do a review of SIFF itself. And this one time I will do the traditional reviewers job of talking smack about the subject. So let me first say that SIFF is amazing. There are not many things for which I will give up all of my free time and most of my sanity for 3 weeks a year. SIFF manages that. Three completely non-ironic cheers for SIFF! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Great, Great movies. I actually do not go to many non SIFF movies. Most movies do not measure up.
OK thats done.
I like to watch Mad Men and Breaking Bad and The killing on AMC. I have evil Comcast and can time shift my viewing. Watching the on demand episodes, they do have commercials (and let me here say that the remote control Comcast hands out is made of dung) and the commercials include ads for the show that is being watched. “Hey, person watching Mad Men, you should see how great Mad Men is.” What are they thinking. Really, does anyone know? Do they know? SIFF does the same thing. Before the movie begins they play 4 or five trailers for SIFF. I have seen these trailers 45 times now, and they have become torture to me, in addition to the pointlessness making me crazy.
And then before the movie one of the programmers gets up and makes a little speech. Necessary announcements. Off with cell phones and their kin, the director will/will not be here, applause for the donors (blessed be the donors, by the way). The end time for the movie. The majority of the people who do this, though, feel the need to inject a bit of personality into the proceedings, with uniformly lame results. These people know movies, they pick the movies and do it well. Like most movie lovers (me included) they are probably frustrated performers. But, it must be said, frustrated because they are not good at it. Thats fine too, but I just sat through 5 pointless trailers I’ve seen 40 times, can I please not listen to any more of you than I need to and please watch a movie? Please?
I am convinced that many of the blurbs on the SIFF website are written by people who have not seen the movie. I understand. There are so many movies, so little time. They describe a movie like the movie being blurbed, but different. The most egregious of many examples is calling “Burke and Hare” a comedy about grave robbers. Burke and Hare were real people and were not grave robbers, they murdered people and sold the bodies, and the movie shows the funny ways people can be murdered for their bodies. So, SIFF, no, it was not like “Garden State”, it was like a comedy about the Boston Strangler. (By the way, let me say here in case I forgot: Fuck you, John Landis.)
In order to do the wonderful things SIFF does they need to have a lot of volunteers. A lot of them. And they are polite and helpful and enthusiastic. Again, all non-ironic praise for the volunteers. But. They hand out ballots for the movies with the exact amount of assertiveness I would use for smallpox vaccine, its hard to get in the door. They congregate around the entrance/exits so getting out of the theater (to get to your next movie that starts in ½ hour someplace else) is like going through airport security with your shoes on. On a movie that is going to fill the theater 1/4 full, tops, they treat Back to Back passes like letters of transit on the Lisbon plane. To a line of, say, 8 series pass holders they will call out “Platinum Passholders may enter!” as if they worry maybe they should have brought their plastic shields to hold back the hoards of non-platinum pass holders who may appear from hyperspace and rush the door. One year at the now lamented Uptown, they had closed off one of the entries to the theater. I asked why and the volunteer explained that they had figured out a better way for people to enter the theater. This to people who go to movies all the time and really do know how to find a seat in a movie theater. Volunteers! This is fun! Be loose! Its going to be OK!
Just to begin, here is a re-post of the review I did of SIFF itself toward the emd of the festival last year. It is kind of mean spirited to mention flaws when SIFF fundamentally enriches the planet. But here goes.
SIFF
USA. As SIFF winds down I thought I would do a review of SIFF itself. And this one time I will do the traditional reviewers job of talking smack about the subject. So let me first say that SIFF is amazing. There are not many things for which I will give up all of my free time and most of my sanity for 3 weeks a year. SIFF manages that. Three completely non-ironic cheers for SIFF! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Great, Great movies. I actually do not go to many non SIFF movies. Most movies do not measure up.
OK thats done.
I like to watch Mad Men and Breaking Bad and The killing on AMC. I have evil Comcast and can time shift my viewing. Watching the on demand episodes, they do have commercials (and let me here say that the remote control Comcast hands out is made of dung) and the commercials include ads for the show that is being watched. “Hey, person watching Mad Men, you should see how great Mad Men is.” What are they thinking. Really, does anyone know? Do they know? SIFF does the same thing. Before the movie begins they play 4 or five trailers for SIFF. I have seen these trailers 45 times now, and they have become torture to me, in addition to the pointlessness making me crazy.
And then before the movie one of the programmers gets up and makes a little speech. Necessary announcements. Off with cell phones and their kin, the director will/will not be here, applause for the donors (blessed be the donors, by the way). The end time for the movie. The majority of the people who do this, though, feel the need to inject a bit of personality into the proceedings, with uniformly lame results. These people know movies, they pick the movies and do it well. Like most movie lovers (me included) they are probably frustrated performers. But, it must be said, frustrated because they are not good at it. Thats fine too, but I just sat through 5 pointless trailers I’ve seen 40 times, can I please not listen to any more of you than I need to and please watch a movie? Please?
I am convinced that many of the blurbs on the SIFF website are written by people who have not seen the movie. I understand. There are so many movies, so little time. They describe a movie like the movie being blurbed, but different. The most egregious of many examples is calling “Burke and Hare” a comedy about grave robbers. Burke and Hare were real people and were not grave robbers, they murdered people and sold the bodies, and the movie shows the funny ways people can be murdered for their bodies. So, SIFF, no, it was not like “Garden State”, it was like a comedy about the Boston Strangler. (By the way, let me say here in case I forgot: Fuck you, John Landis.)
In order to do the wonderful things SIFF does they need to have a lot of volunteers. A lot of them. And they are polite and helpful and enthusiastic. Again, all non-ironic praise for the volunteers. But. They hand out ballots for the movies with the exact amount of assertiveness I would use for smallpox vaccine, its hard to get in the door. They congregate around the entrance/exits so getting out of the theater (to get to your next movie that starts in ½ hour someplace else) is like going through airport security with your shoes on. On a movie that is going to fill the theater 1/4 full, tops, they treat Back to Back passes like letters of transit on the Lisbon plane. To a line of, say, 8 series pass holders they will call out “Platinum Passholders may enter!” as if they worry maybe they should have brought their plastic shields to hold back the hoards of non-platinum pass holders who may appear from hyperspace and rush the door. One year at the now lamented Uptown, they had closed off one of the entries to the theater. I asked why and the volunteer explained that they had figured out a better way for people to enter the theater. This to people who go to movies all the time and really do know how to find a seat in a movie theater. Volunteers! This is fun! Be loose! Its going to be OK!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Bad is Good
So, I’ve been reading the Constitution of the Confederate
States of America. I was looking for free downloads for the Kindle, and one of
them is “the Rise and Fall of the Confederate States of America” by Jefferson
Davis. The strangeness of this overwhelms. I started, as one ought, with their
Constitution. That’s as far as I have gotten.
What they did was take the US Constitution and tweak it a
bit. An appendix to Davis’s book is a side by side comparison.
They banned introduction of slaves from Africa or from the
US. These people were assholes on a par
with the Nazis, and had they had their way the world would be a place even more
nasty than ours by many degrees, so it is hard to imagine that this decision
was for other than base reasons. But it is unexpected. They had aggressive provisions
about acquiring new Territories. The Big Plan was to expand into Mexico and
points South and set up an empire with slave based economy on a massive scale.
Come to think, had they succeeded, Hitler and company could have just emigrated
and there would have been no Nazis. They all ended up in South America anyway.
Their capital was Montgomery, Alabama, which I did not know.
The true weirdness is that if the parts about slavery are
ignored, its pretty much an across the board improvement.
The President of the Confederacy had a line item veto on
appropriations bills. Both GW Bush and Obama advocated for this. It’s
a really good idea and could save a lot of stupid bridges to nowhere built with
$800 hammers. Many US States have this, Washington included. Bills allowing
line item vetos have been passed by Congress, Clinton signed one that turned
out to be unconstitutional, and one passed the House of Representatives last
February that tries by tortuous means to get around the US Constitution.
They had a single subject rule for legislation. I think this
is one of the two or three things we could do that would significantly change America for the
better. None of these omnibus bills that no one reads containing hidden changes
that give tax breaks to two or three zillionaires. No anti-gay provisions tacked on to
must pass budget bills. Here
is a spirited argument for such a rule. Most US State Constitutions provide for
this.
They provided that heads of Executive departments would have
a seat in both chambers of their congress, and be permitted to participate in
debate. I think that’s a very cool idea. Not nearly as cool as having Question
Time like the British House of Commons has, but cool.
If I am reading it right, they banned tariffs that would
protect industry, so it seems they were early advocates of free trade. Not sure
if it’s a good idea, but its an one that remains in play. They banned appropriations
to benefit any industry except for dams, lighthouses and navigation. It does
not seem that TARP would have had much chance in the CSA. Or ethanol, or Solyndra.
I'm guessing Haliburton would have done just fine. Their Post Office was to be self-supporting. No balanced budget provision,
though.
They included the Second Amendment to the US constitution,
word for word. I wonder if they knew
what it meant.
They made it easier to summon a Constitutional Convention,
and easier to have amendments ratified by the States. Probably a good idea. Hard to say.
Their president served a single six year term. Excellent idea.
the US has essentially a 2 year first term followed by a one year period where
nothing significant is possible followed by a one year campaign for
re-election, so at most a six year tenure with a lot of pointless nonsense in
the middle.This change would probably be an improvement on the cycle of partisan bickering that passes for governance in the US.
Their Vice President had no more to do than ours does. They
had an Electoral College. They allowed recess appointments to Federal office,
but not of candidates whom the senate had voted to reject. I strongly suspect
that this has been the de facto
practice in the US.
What to make of this? To me, probably not much. Most of the
changes were basically to make the trains run on time, something fascists are
known for, but that benefits everyone. They wanted a more effective government that could carry out their
creepy, horrible aims. I suspect their founders were mostly lawyers who, as
good lawyers do, took an accepted form and
tweaked it a bit. Probably if present day Americans could figure out a way to look
at changes just because they were a good idea and without stupid partisanship,
a lot of these would be no-brainers. The Confederates were all on the same
side. We don’t have that. The Civil War has really not ended.
Most interesting non-Constitutional fact I ran across is
this, from Wikipedia,
“The Choctaw and Chickasaw fought predominantly on the Confederate side. The
Creek and Seminole supported the Union, while the Cherokee fought a civil war
within their own nation between the majority Confederates and the minority,
pro-Union men.” I happen to know that the Cherokee had a long tradition of
slavery themselves.
By the way: Civil War - one of my favorite oxymorons. Also fun run and rap music.
POSTSCRIPT
Well, I read a bit of Jefferson Davis' book. So I got answers to the puzzling parts of the constitution.
The Confederates banned importing slaves because they already had enough slaves that the expected growth in slave population was adequate for what they wanted. They put out this argument that extending slavery would not increase the number of people enslaved, just where the slaves lived. This kind of argument is really no weirder - grosser by far considering what slavery is about, but no weirder - than arguments we hear nowadays relative to gay marriage, reproductive rights, and so on. Arguments that try to intellectualize irrational and dehumanizing belief systems. Think Rick Santorum, Dick Cheney, Pat Buchannan. Those guys would have favored slavery back then, I think.
They were anti-tariff because they were getting screwed by the North on tariffs. The industrialized North got tariffs to protect industries, raising the price of manufactured stuff. The South did not have industry, got no benefit from tariffs and had to pay more for everything. A legitimate beef, I'd say.
Davis reminds me a lot of Newt Gingrich. Endless self justification, kind of a crybaby, wants to come across as really smart. A good subtitle for the book: "Why Me?" Basically an asshole. I did not get very far.
POSTSCRIPT
Well, I read a bit of Jefferson Davis' book. So I got answers to the puzzling parts of the constitution.
The Confederates banned importing slaves because they already had enough slaves that the expected growth in slave population was adequate for what they wanted. They put out this argument that extending slavery would not increase the number of people enslaved, just where the slaves lived. This kind of argument is really no weirder - grosser by far considering what slavery is about, but no weirder - than arguments we hear nowadays relative to gay marriage, reproductive rights, and so on. Arguments that try to intellectualize irrational and dehumanizing belief systems. Think Rick Santorum, Dick Cheney, Pat Buchannan. Those guys would have favored slavery back then, I think.
They were anti-tariff because they were getting screwed by the North on tariffs. The industrialized North got tariffs to protect industries, raising the price of manufactured stuff. The South did not have industry, got no benefit from tariffs and had to pay more for everything. A legitimate beef, I'd say.
Davis reminds me a lot of Newt Gingrich. Endless self justification, kind of a crybaby, wants to come across as really smart. A good subtitle for the book: "Why Me?" Basically an asshole. I did not get very far.
Favorite podcasts this week
Fresh Air April 16, 2012 Sadakat Kadri is an English barrister, a Muslim by birth and a historian. His first book, The Trial, was an extensive survey of the Western criminal judicial system, detailing more than 4,000 years of courtroom antics. In his new book, Heaven on Earth, Kadri turns his sights east, to centuries of Shariah law.
The Treatment April 11, 2012 Whit Stillman joins us after a 13 year hiatus ("I'm a failure as a producer," he explains), to talk about his long-awaited return to the director's chair with Damsels in Distress
Witness Thu, 19 Apr 12 The Birth of The Simpsons. Cartoonist
Matt Groening remembers how he created The Simpsons 25 years ago. (Look for it between the ones titled "Rivers of Blood" and "Auschwitz Train Escape")
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Here is a Planet Money podcast very much worth hearing Why People Do Bad Things I have always been fascinated by stories about people who get involved in serious wrongdoing almost by accident. This piece has psychologists explaining how, one teensy little step at a time, we go about convincing ourselves that what we are doing, while technically totally wrong, is still OK. A maxim I invented to explain some of the stuff I see at work is that humans have an almost infinite capacity to convince ourselves that what is good for us is Good.
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