Author: reynolds

Mabuse — insert “abuse” joke, preferably prefixed by “self-“, here

I’d heard much about this — Fritz Lang’s 1933 updating of an old serial, adapted from a novel about a criminal mastermind. The film uses its lovingly-reiterated generic conventions to take potshots at the Nazis, then ascendant in Germany.

I won’t say much about all this significance–I watched the Criterion disc, which comes with all of these important extras which someday, maybe, when terribly bored or in prep for a poorly-thought-through decision to teach this film, I need more background. Political allegory, censored film, genre/pop film as subversion, etc.

But I will recommend it on the merits. Despite (because of?) its antiquated plot techniques, there’s this dazzling melodramatic aesthetic: Continue reading Mabuse — insert “abuse” joke, preferably prefixed by “self-“, here

Bloodsucking Freaks, or… films you walked out of

Jeff left “Pet Sematary,” ignoring the fine fine work of Ed Gwynn as the Pepperidge Farm guy.

What films have caused you to get up and leave the theater? I admit that “Bloodsucking Freaks” was actually too sadistic even for me to bear, but I also admit that I simply turned off the video. And that’s not good enough: it’s easy to eject the tape, drop the dvd back in its netflixy pouch. Screw that: what did you pay hard-earned cash for, only to feel so aggrieved or aggravated that you up and walked out?

Me: Rustler’s Rhapsody. I can’t recall why the hell I thought I should see this in the first place.

Fassbinder, Herzog, & Wenders … oh my!

Okay all you high priests of cinema:

I’m working with a student on an independent project on New German Cinema. I, foolishly, thought at first that would mean stuff like Tykwer and … well, new German cinema. But no, she tells me, it’s WF, WH, and WW (see subject heading).

Couple questions for you: Continue reading Fassbinder, Herzog, & Wenders … oh my!

Million $ Dead Baby — or, Disabilities on Parade

Okay. A student just wrote me an impassioned defense of Eastwood’s “Million $ Baby,” deploring how its complex character study has been turned into mere politics. He makes a reasonable case, but I wrote him back a rant about disabilities on film and… well, I am curious how others might respond.

I’m too lazy to change much about my email to him, so cut/pasted:

Continue reading Million $ Dead Baby — or, Disabilities on Parade

Early-morning thread

Okay, instead of prepping class, as I should, a hello–this board has been a bit arid, of late.

But I haven’t seen much. “Ray” is in my queue, but dropped precipitously after Arnab and John chewed it up and spat it out. I watched “The Girl Next Door,” which was not as funny as I’d expected (wearing my “good-reason-for-watching” hat) nor as titillating (wearing my “reason-for-watching-that-will-get-me-in-Dutch” hat). Actually, I watched it to see Timothy Olyphant, because I am so fond of “Deadwood” that I’ll watch almost anything any of that grand cast ends up doing between seasons. And Olyphant was pretty good, even in a dull film.

I’m hanging on to “Stevie” and “Maria Full of Grace” for when I have time and inclination to see these darker things. Meanwhile, Kris and I watch “Freaks and Geeks” together. I like it, but…. three episodes in, I’m not stunned into worshipful muttering. Is that heresy? Amy?

Here’s a challenge–what’s strange in your netflix queue? Those things that will be cool but will take forever to move up, what with all the films about things blowing up that could precede. Me: Dr. Akagi, Mule Skinner Blues, Goin’ South, Tunes of Glory, 9 Souls, Touchez Pas Au Grisbi, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, The Yakuza Papers, Madigan.

They cut me, man, they cut me

So I had this operation yesterday. Operation’s a fancy word for it–in and out of the clinic in thirty minutes. But I had to lie around the house all day with ice on my scrotum, so I watched a movies.

Recommended, all:
“Songs from the Second Floor”–not really sure how to describe this, and the critics’ quotes on the box are terribly confused (“Short Cuts meets Night of the Living Dead” is one inept [and lousy] attempt). It’s an absurdist existential comedy of despair, by a Swede. The film is gloriously composed–each shot a fixed-cam tableau, the lighting and sky usually artificial. (In contrast to Sky Captain . . . actually I’ll put this in a comment there.) I laughed, I was intrigued, and my scrotum wasn’t hurting while I watched.

Two more… Continue reading They cut me, man, they cut me

Recently

“Troy”. This snuck into my house, disguised as a film by Wolfgang Peterson with Brian Cox and Peter O’Toole in it. I lasted a few minutes longer than I did when I tried to watch “Braveheart.”

If “snuck” is the past tense of “sneak,” do I actually “feak” in the present tense?

TV shows: “Firefly” finally made me understand why people are impressed with Joss Whedon. And tonight I’ve been rewatching episodes of “The Upright Citizens Brigade,” which made me want to shove pennies up my ass. Again.

“In Good Company” was a fine exemplum of the contradictory embodiment of ideology in popular film. Even as they satirize “synergy,” the characters drink absurdly large cans of Diet Pepsi; the critique of globalization and the conglomeration of industry stems from a nostalgia for the good old days when old white guys shook hands in back rooms. And Topher Grace is a hottie. He reminds me of John Bruns, if John were taller and more anorexic.

Horror films

Great horror films, of late? Anyone? Suggestions for late-night viewing? John’s teaching this, so I’m assuming he’ll pipe up.

The original “Ringu” films make no sense but are very scary.

“Audition” (Takashi Miike) is unnerving.

“The Others” was very good.

“Open Water” was dull. I wish the yuppies had gotten eaten quicker; even at 80 minutes the film dragged.

Time of the Wolf

Saw this last night. I came to it as a general fan of the director Michael Haneke, whose “Funny Games” was a brilliant provocation (and scarily funny) and “Code Inconnu” was smart, complexly attentive to social injustices and personal desires,…. (And, no, I haven’t seen “The Piano Teacher,” about which a bunch of us would surely and with great vigor disagree.) Both films are very smart, and I walked away from ’em thinking myself very smart for having seen them and liked them. I felt nothing, beyond that intellectual engagement.

I wept–like a fucking baby–at the end of “Time of the Wolf.” The story is post-some-vague-apocalypse, and society’s broken down. We follow a few survivors–mostly one family (Isabelle Huppert and two children)–as they get by. And that’s about it; not much momentous happens. It’s beautifully shot, the acting is pitch-perfect, and the scenario seems utterly realist (carefully attentive to the small details, unconcerned with the big picture).

And the emotional wallop of the final two scenes caught me so off-guard I did, literally, break down and cry. I haven’t done that since The Butterfly Effect. Ok, I’m kidding about Butterfly. But has anyone else seen Wolf? Was this just some random emotional charge, brought on by too little sleep and underlying anxiety about my kid growing up? Or was the film as effective as it seemed?