Well, if I was simply a romantic then perhaps I would be more worried about my Heart than my Fingers.
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Well, if I was simply a romantic then perhaps I would be more worried about my Heart than my Fingers.
Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)
Ousmane Sembene's Moolaadé (2004)
Not the last film seen but I couldn't find anyone elses comments on it.
Imaginary Heroes (2004)
Directed by Dan Harris
Starring Sigourney Weaver, Jeff Daniels
This film that could have easily been a TV movie but for the quality of the casting. The basic premise; a familial tragedy causes the collapse of an already dysfunctional family, the father has no idea how to communicate with his children, his wife or even himself. The mother puts on an air of being completely oblivious to the facts, one daughter is in University (she’s lucky to be out of it) and the son is so full of his own problems and angst that although he can see what’s happening and shares a close bond with his mother, he doesn’t want to have to deal with the problems.
It’s a good representation of a middle class family in crisis, it is also obvious that the family has been on the verge of collapse for a long time, a complete communication breakdown and a total lack of respect pervades the air only to be accentuated by the tragedy, comments that seemingly have no meaning are daggers to the heart when the truth eventually spills out and guilt is borne by a couple of members of the family who both feel that they could/should have prevented the tragedy.
So any problems? Due to the nature of the set up, Sigourney Weaver kept reminding me of her similar role in “The Ice Storm.” As for the son, half the time he looked as though he was trying to do an impression of “Donnie Darko,” so not a bad film but an above average dysfunctional family in crisis drama, not as good or interesting as The Ice Storm, Donnie Darko or American Beauty but generally very fine casting.
Classic quotes:
Speech at the High School graduation “These were the best years of our life. At least that's what they told us. Personally, I hated high school. I hated all of you and I hope you all rot in hell!”
Cheers Trev
No, I don't believe there's a thread for it. Sounds like this material is ripe for a credible TV film. Good review, though; your short takes are of perfect length.
Unfortunately it's one of those films where even slightly too much info would entail including spoilers and Imaginary Heroes has plenty of moments that if mentioned would ruin it for any potential viewers.
Cheers Trev.
Happiness of the Katakuris (2001) - Takashi Miike
Well got four films from him, and this is the first to be viewed. Can't say anybody makes films quite like him, although I could see Lars Von Trier making a similar picture. For those unfamiliar with the picture, it is a black comedy/musical with random clamation.
That being said the film is fun if for nothing else the sheer lunacy involved. There isn't any moment in the film that's utterly predictable, and it keeps things permanently interesting. I'm still very ignorant of Miike as a director (having only seen Ichi), so I will however say I find him very intriguing, and am certainly looking forward to seeing more films from him.
Directed by Claude Sautet of Un Saison en hiver, with Daniel Auteuil, which made a good impression on the US arthouse audience for understandable reasons. This one is almost equalily good and likewise features the gorgeous Emanuelle Béart, this time along with one of France's most seasoned actors, Michel Serrault. It doesn't have quite the mood and focus on the internal nature of a central character that Saison en hiver has -- or the strong focus on music (which Sautet can handle very beautifully, but eschews for conventional movie music here). M. Arnaud is a rich old man with a mildly interesting past who persuades Béart to come and type a memoir, but you wonder if he doesn't just want to have her around and pry into her private life, and you can see why. It's funny how elegant and reserved everybody is and yet how nosy Arnaud is and frank Nelly is. Are French people reserved or passionate? Both, I guess, and you get both here. There's a drollness about the portrait of this grumpy but sometimes charming man. Charles Berling and Jean-Hugues Anglade provide young male interest, Berling as Béart's estranged husband and Anglade as her new boyfriend. And there's the eternally odd Michel (AKA Michael) Lonsdale as .... an odd fellow who wanders in and out. Elegant, talky, intellectual stuff not for the Michael Bay fan, this could be used to illustrate a friend's assertion that French films are nothing but people talking and not feeling very strongly. Deftly done, and this got a higher rating on metacritic than Un saison en hiver, but I'd go the other way, because of the touching portrait of the emotionally shut down man provided by Auteuil in Hiver.
Good stuff. However, I'm not sure if you had to pronounce, "Elegant, talky, intellectual stuff not for the Michael Bay fan." Most wouldn't but let's keep the door open.
I love Un coeur en hiver (1992), I think it's one of the best French films of the 90's. Nelly is good but it's a bit meandering and is ultimately inconclusive. Fine performances, though. It was Sautet's last film.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2003) - Chris Columbus
Wasn't overly impressed with this installment, yet to see the third, which is supposed to be the best of the bunch.
Imaginary Heroes--I saw it in the end of 2004 in New York and I enjoyed it but I didn't think it was an outstanding movie; a little bit too meandering and self-consciously depressed, perhaps. I too enjoyed the acting, not only Sigourney Weaver, who's always so much more interesting than her Yale Drama School classmates gave her credit for being, but also Jeff Daniels, and especially Emile Hirsch, who really caught my attention in the very offbeat and completely ignored The Mudge Boy and in the higher profile Lords of Dogtown (one of this year's better and more enjoyable American films so far), and I first saw him in Secret Lives of Altar Boys but didn't particularly notice him then because he was overshadowed by another very talented young actor, Kieran Culkin -- probbly by Vincent D'Onofrio too. I didn't think of The Ice Storm when I watched Sigourney Weaver. She's been in so many other things, including the equally related A Map of the World. And personally when she caught my eye forever was in Ridley Scott's Aliens. But her Ice Storm role may be the most relevent to her one here.
The quote from the high school graduation address would appeal to most anybody who recently graduated from high school and pretty well sums up my feelings at that time.
You're right because that's misleading. I didn't mean a specific demographic, only somebody who's looking for an action movie. The door is always open. But in this particular area, where Nelly showed is not where Michael Bay movies show. So they'd have to drive cross town as well as open doors. I agree with you that I feel that Sautet creates a bit too much static in Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud with the other men and plotlines and the lady who introduces Nelly to M. Arnaud, a party, nights out, etc. This indeed causes the movie to be meandering. It's a shame because Béart and Serrault are so crisp and effective together. You don't need much else. But a character portrait as haunting and an actor as right for it as Auteuil in Un cœur en hiver just come along only once in a lifetiime; luckily it came along for Sautet while he was still around. It's amazing how much he looked like Serrault when he directed him in Nelly. I didn't realize Sautet'd died in 2000 or that Nelly came out as long as ten years ago. Speaking of Sautet, I'm also a big fan of Vincent, François, Paul... et les autres, a great ensemble piece and an example of a movie about grown up people with grown up problems.Quote:
Good stuff. However, I'm not sure if you had to pronounce, "Elegant, talky, intellectual stuff not for the Michael Bay fan." Most wouldn't but let's keep the door open.
I love Un coeur en hiver (1992), I think it's one of the best French films of the 90's. Nelly is good but it's a bit meandering and is ultimately inconclusive. Fine performances, though. It was Sautet's last film.
I haven't seen Vincent, François, Paul... et les autres. Will check it out; I believe it's available on vhs. Have seen his popular 1972 film César et Rosalie with Yves Montand and Romy Schneider. This one also deals with grown up problems.
VHS is how i discovered Vincent, François, Paul... et les autres. I have not seen the popular 1972 film César et Rosalie--I'll have to get it. French films seem to focus more on grownup problems than ours, but not always in the way of Vincent, etc. Maybe it's a more recent innovation for them to focus on youth -- and an underclass, as in Lila Says and La Haine, etc., do you think?
The definition of what’s considered an "independent" film nowadays has certainly broadened. In recent years we’ve seen big-budget films financed by sub-divisions of major studios competing with the rest of the market yet they’re still considered indies. However, that doesn’t apply to Campbell Scott’s Off the Map. Unlike those "pseudo-indies," it was made with as minuscule a budget as possible but it languished without a distribution deal for nearly two years after premiering at Sundance in 2003. In most cases, the blame is placed on the distributors for not taking enough chances but that’s hard to do in this case. A voice-over narration (overutilized here which usually signals that the director doesn’t have much confidence in his own abilities) from a young woman takes us to the summer of 1974 when she was a precocious 11-year-old (Valentina de Angelis) living at an off-the-map location somewhere in New Mexico with her enterprising "earth mother" (Joan Allen) and an almost catatonic father (Sam Elliot). No one quite knows what ails the patriarch but it’s probably not that they primarily live off the land and their makeshift house is devoid of any modern comforts. Then one day, another depressed soul, this time a tax-inspector, shows up at their paradise but conveniently passes out perhaps due to the overwhelming milieu or the fact that Allen was in the nude admiring the beauty of a nearby coyote. Needless to say, he ends up staying for a little longer than what anyone in the family expected, but he expectedly (at least to us) ends up bringing about certain changes to this unit. Scott has a lot going for him in Off the Map -- the strong performances from Allen and Elliot; the breathtaking, Malick-esque visuals of Juan Ruiz Anchía; an unusual subject matter -- but he fails to properly take advantage. Certainly, the stilted dialogue, part of a poorly written screenplay (surprisingly since writer Joan Ackermann adapted it from her own play) didn’t help matters. Another problem here is that our young narrator is the least interesting character; her overly-theatrical performance is annoying to say the least. Instead of adapting a metaphysical and poetic stance (it's possible that he simply isn’t capable), Scott chooses a more conventional approach for a film which moves in fits and starts, and ends up grinding to a halt.
Grade: C
Yeah, I think César et Rosalie is available on DVD. As for the focus on youth, you might be right. Perhaps the market has changed and it demands certain types of films. Although, Nouvelle Vague and some post-NV filmmakers dealt with youth in their own ways, didn't they? I'm not sure if I, or you, have the time to go deep into La Haine (I think hengcs just started a thread), but I don't see too much depth or relevant socio-political critique there. It looks good; sounds good; is certainly a "cool" film to like; has a Christian, a Jew, and a Muslim roaming around and speaking the "langue de la banlieue," but that's about it.Quote:
Originally posted by Chris Knipp
VHS is how i discovered Vincent, François, Paul... et les autres. I have not seen the popular 1972 film César et Rosalie--I'll have to get it. French films seem to focus more on grownup problems than ours, but not always in the way of Vincent, etc. Maybe it's a more recent innovation for them to focus on youth -- and an underclass, as in Lila Says and La Haine, etc., do you think?