Suture

This clever, meticulously-shot drama about identity, lost and regained (?) should have been a thriller and then it would have been amazing. As it is, many of the elements are a good film are here: an interesting story, solid performances, decadent sets, but for me, it was too: perpetually self-aware, posturingly stylish, and slow-without-the-suspense-it-needed-as-an-engine.

+++

GINA, AN ACTRESS, AGE 29

This short feels as natural and unaffected as any short film I've seen -- the performances, the mise en scene, the direction -- they all work together to serve the simple, rewarding story. Gina, a new actress, finds herself in an ethically shady pay-the-bills gig, and then needs to find a way to retain her own sense of truth.

++++1/2

This Sundance short, by Paul Harrill, is available now at the Auteurs.

The Motel

Thirteen year old Earnest wants to leave the hourly-rate motel that his immigrant Chinese family owns; he wants to go the awards dinner for the honorable mention; he wants to make it with his teenage friend who waitresses at the nearby Chinese restaurant, but despite everything he wants, he really doesn't have much of an idea of who he is or what he should be doin', until a mysterious lothario named Sam arrives and complicates his world even more. The naturalistic style, the subtle dark humor and winning characters everywhere make this coming-of-age, fish-out-of-water story a delight to engage.

++++1/2

Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days

This story is simple, quiet and direct, and because it manages to retain such a dignity and continuity it's impact is devestating. The production values are so inobtrusive because such care has gone into developing the mise en scene, the performances and the choreography of the cinematography; together, all help achieve the remarkable restatement of: how profoundly unfair women's experiences have been and are -- and how the politics of our bodies orient us to the world.

++++1/2

Four Eyed Monsters

I came to this movie in the same kind of intertextual swirl that most of its audience did and I had my reservations about solipsism and narcissism beforehand. Ultimately the pace and the honesty mingled with the artifice and the pretense worked in exactly right proportions for me to care -- all the way until the ending -- which -- I am less enthusiastic about...

+++1/2

Raise the Red Lantern

This stunning chronicle of one year in the life of a new Chinese concubine manages to work partly because of the meticulous artistry in the grand costume-drama tradition, but also because of the (subtle, almost invisible) point of view that is cultivated. We stay so close to our protagonist that each mistake and horror and hope seems ours during the second half of the film.

+++++

The Conversation

Harry Caul tries to live a life below the surveillance technologies (since surveillance is his job) and below the threshold of moral evaluation (he does his job well; he's not responsible for any outcome other than quality) -- when he recognizes that his work may indeed contribute to a great evil, his attempts to undo what he has done become increasingly difficult. This film puts a near-perfect story structure in the service of masterful camera work, startling audio recording and editing and fantastically contained performances.

+++++

Adventureland

When James realizes that his champagne education gave him some significant misperceptions, landing him in a carnie job at a local amusement park instead of on a summer-long European tour, he tries to make sense of his identity and direction through an emerging relationship with the bad girl in the next game booth. The film managed evenly matched script, mise en scene, cinematography, music and performances, opening by hitting every genre expectation on the note, but morphing into a much more subtle soft-peddled fruition.

++++

Up In The Air

Ryan Bingham embodies a new version of the American Dream - placeless, unfettered upward mobility - he travels around the country firing people until he runs up against two threats -- the internet's promise that even airlines and frequent flyer miles can be obsolesced by it's placeless promise of progress and the threat of a woman who seems his perfect match. Reitman is at his best in this film -- the stylistic strength he's shown before is intact, but here, they reach much more maturity, depth and evenness.

++++1/2

The TV Set

Though I've been a longtime fan of Jake Kasdan, movies made about Hollywood, and Network (to which TV Set develops many homages), this film never felt worth my while, with the stakes of mass dumbing-down vs. middle aged comfort for our Judd-Apatow-alike-Protagonist, it felt a bit too kitchen-sink, and ultimately not serious enough about the serious points it would like to make. The ironic shrugging tone didn't fit well with the classically tragic ending - maybe I like my dark comedy a bit less broad and ultimately, actually, serious about something.

++1/2

Where the Wild Things Are

In my mind it doesn't matter that this film is an adaptation, with a tone this singular, a story this simple, characters this rich, and visuals this delightful, it works with a cinematic panache that I've never seen in a children's story before. Until I loved my way this movie, I don't think I was fully cognizant of the truth obscured by almost all children's movies, but embraced by this one: Life is disappointing and sad, but that doesn't mean that it can't also be full of meaning and beauty.

+++++

Inglorious Basterds

Tarantino's Nazi-Revenge-Fantasy interweaves the quests of three delightfully warped human beings as their goals become interlocked in a nail-biting, suspense-driven finale. While the brilliance of this film is evenly realized in the writing (structure!), the direction (the mise en scene! the camerawork!) and the performances, the joy of watching it is a pure human cinematic experience; every moment I found myself caring so much, wanting so much, fearing so much, and over and over again? delighting so much.

++++1/2

Fog of War

I didn't expect to like Robert McNamara as much as I did in this documentary that explores what he has learned about war through his involvement in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Errol Morris is at his best, using visual tropes that are both inventive and unexpected while carefully crafting a nuanced portrait of a man that is both hard to resist and hard to embrace.

++++

Zombieland

This film is predictable in the best ways you can imagine, with strong characters making every moment worthwhile, and an exhuberant pace and visual style that keeps the audience's mind far from the Zombieland of media-saturated contemporary life. While the film hints at deeper darker meanings, it never belabors the points, nor does it make the connections perfectly, but it's fun... really fun.

++++

500 Days of Summer

While this break-up rom-com hits every conventional number it should, the structure and writing are masterfully crafted for maximum effect, the art direction, music and cinematography nail that sweet spot just past stylized and just before twee; the ensemble is funny and sweet and the leads create chemistry that matches their (well-established) individual abilities to rock the screen. (MILD SPOILER AHEAD) My minor disappointments have to do with the (literal) last word in the script and the uplift it signifies; I bear no grudge against the uplift per-se but in this case, it seems like a betrayal of the best message of the film, and it cements a (at least mild) patriarchal and regressive attitude toward women and the meaning of "true love."

++++

Little Dieter Needs to Fly

Herzog's recounting of Dieter Dengler's harrowing crash, capture, escape and rescue manages to endear the unique specificity of Dieter's humanity to the audience more than allowing us very close to the story or experience itself. Though he employs many inventive devices (taking us through the footsteps of the experiences, hiring locals to "play" his captors), I felt the devices push me farther the experience and emotion of the story which had the effect of focusing most of my viewing on the person Dieter is now and how distant he seems from the whole experience, too.

+++

Harlan County USA

This Oscar winning documentary blew me away with it's pastiche of protest music, raw human spirit, collective struggle and sense of authentic place. The movie astonished me both because it successfully transcended so many conventions of cinematic storytelling (no main character, only vague allusions to sequentiality), but it also successfully located me in a very specific world and depicted many human beings doing their best, doing true things and speaking with the sort of local eloquence that is rarely found in any contemporary public sphere.

+++++

Make-Out With Violence

The Dougal Brothers (a media-making collective) have created a sumptuous feast in their first feature: a coming of age zombie flick crafted from (the unexpected combination of) generous portions of John Hughes 80s teen-angst and Tarkovsky's Solaris. Through the entire experience, I experienced pleasure overload - gorgeous photography, indulgent (in a good way) pacing, a music score that haunted me for weeks, and a ridiculously fun, aching lovestory about growing up or becoming a zombie, choices about which this film doesn't make any judgements.

+++++

Times & Winds

Three young adolescents, having subconsciously recognized some of the ugly contracts that have bound their families, village and society together, keep their lives meaningful by escaping to each other, nature and work. The rhythmic experience of time, behavior and place gradually make this meditative story so rich and resonant and feeling that all its ambivalence, all of the ways that the photography renders the ugly world beautiful and all the complex and tragic characters feel rewarding and resonant.

++++

Revolutionary Road

Revolutionary Road follows the rhythms of a married couple who recognizes the hopeless emptiness of their middle class suburban lives, almost chooses a different path, but threats from within and without make the status quo seem both attractive and inevitable. The veneer of the art direction is beautiful and works well with the lush color and light of the cinematography, Kate's performance is layered and outstanding while Leo's feels mostly Big; in typical Hollywood style, the (beautiful) score is too close, the camera sweeps in for closeups too often and the ending drags on to very specific conclusions for about 10 minutes longer than is needed.

+++1/2