A Few Films and a Great Week
Another busy week, which found me unable to do much writing, so here I am on a quiet, humid Sunday night catching up in my apartment while watching a few episodes of "Louie" on Netflix. I've been able to keep up with my film viewing and I've had some fun. Oh, and my school's Summer Reading Program started this week, for which I am in charge and the lead/only teacher for sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It's always great being in school and I get to work with some fun kids for these sessions. I've spent time at the beach, swam in a decent 70 degree ocean water last Monday. I went swimming in a pool. Really, I've done anything I could to counter-attack this heat-wave we are finally getting to experience as a full-blown Maine summer. I love it, but it's also exhausting, and troublesome when trying to get some sleep. It's too muggy to sleep some nights. Thankfully this week, I will be house- and dog-sitting for another teacher and she and her family have AC and a beautiful in-ground pool. I will take full advantage of! Here are my films.
.....................................................................
Film 198
"Never Forever"
Starring: Vera Farmiga
I don't think I've ever seen so many films with Vera Farmiga since starting this project way back in January, but she has quickly won over my heart as one of the better actresses out there. Very underrated. Very understated in all of her performances. Always ready and willing to shed her clothing, it seems. Here, with a shaky script she does it again. Proves she's a star of indie films, for the most part. I've really yet to see her really break into the mainstream (other than her starring role on the AMC show "Bates Motel" where she shines as well).
Gina Kim's film is an erotic melodrama with enough flaws and florid and inconceivable plot-lines to make it a near-miss for me. Farmiga plays a blue-eyed American lady who is married to a very successful Korean-American businessman. So, why are they so unhappy together? It could be that his family has never approved of her. Or it could be that they cannot conceive a child together. That hurts them so much that he attempts suicide over that simple fact. To save her husband's face, to save their marriage, secretly, Farmiga's character decides to hire a seemingly dirt-poor Korean illegal immigrant to impregnate her. She meets him at a fertility clinic, where he is denied access, because of his illegal status, so she chases after him and offers herself and renders his services for $300 per tryst. How can she be so sure that this will work? That she will become pregnant? Well, they do it quite often. They have sex, a lot! And Vera Farmiga is not afraid to show her body in each of the intimate sex scenes.
What makes this story an erotic melodrama is of course the twists and turns any kind of relationship takes when sex is involved, especially an business relationship...even more so when the inevitable feelings get mixed in between. And yes, the film begins to derail itself when it introduces the romantic and emotional crises that these two characters are experiencing. For example- during their first sexual tryst, Farmiga's character instructs him and lets him know that feelings will not be accepted, no kissing, no intimacy. That all goes out the window, soon. I liked how filmmaker Kim chose to focus more on the gestures and body language shared between these characters during intimate moments to convey their emotions and help the story. The camera-work is precise, especially with each sex scene, showing just enough to tell the story without being explicit.
I liked it enough that I would watch it again.
......................................................................
Film 199
"Take Me Home"
starring: Same Jaeger and Amber Jaeger (real life married couple)
Written and Directed by: Sam Jaeger
I guess I was naive before this project when it came to "Road Trip" movies. Now I know that could be a subgenre in and of itself (in fact, it probably is, although many of them probably get lumped in with romantic comedies because that's ultimately what they become, at least the mediocre and bad ones). "Take Me Home" is a mediocre film, with good intentions from writer/director Sam Jaeger who enlisted the acting prowess of his own real-life wife, Claire Jaeger (who looks so much like a Maria Bello double it's almost ridiculous), who plays his counterpart and eventual love interest (of course, I mean, that's not a spoiler is it? You should know the plot points of these films). Much like horror films and romantic comedies follow a formula in how the story is told and presented, road trip films have become predictable. The "Road Trip" genre always has an answer to life troubles: Go West! And here, the main characters do not deviate from that answer (even though the reason may be different, for both of them).
Sam Jaeger plays a man of dual identities (because ultimately he doesn't really know himself or who he wants to be). He is Dan Reeves, a New York cab driver, who picks up an unsuspecting rider in Claire (Amber Jaeger) one day, after she has "caught" her husband cheating on her in their fancy, upscale, New York apartment. She tells Dan to just drive, with no destination in mind, at first, but then convinces him to drive her across the country to California, with the incentive of $5,000 and all expenses paid. This is exciting to Dan, because really he is Thom, an out-of-work wannabe photographer who's been evicted from his apartment and is now living in his bought-at-an-auction cab. What?! He's not even a real cab driver?! Isn't impersonation against the law or something? What a bizarre plot-point to include. At first, Claire is just trying to get away from the hurt she is feeling. The supposed affair, come to find out later on through dialogue, is sort of her own imaging, because perhaps as Thom philosophizes, she was simply looking for a way out of her unhappiness. Halfway through their trip, Claire finds out her father has had a heart attack, and so her trip takes on a whole new meaning. A discovery, though, once they make it to Vegas and to Claire's mom's house. Her mom has some other news. Thom's reasons for being on the trip are really just to show Claire that he's actually a decent guy, aside from all the lying he's done. He confesses everything, and then just wants to show that he is there for her (when her husband isn't). It's the classic case of "good guy wants to win."
What makes it a disappointment is all the cliches:
They fight.
They share secrets.
They become friends.
They stop to admire the scenery.
They get lost.
They lose all their money.
They come close to kissing.
They share conversations.
They come to their destination together.
They go through the necessary changes.
The characters of Thom and Claire are just charming enough to make it work and have you almost forget about the formula and the cliches. I think it intrigued me to watch these two people work together on a film where they have to start out at opposite attractions because they are actually married in real life. It made me wonder if they had any trouble getting along on set during the filming. Did they actually squabble?
Unfortunately what doesn't work in this "mid-age coming of age" road trip film is that nothing is truly earned by this characters. Everything seems to be given freely to them. No hardships included. And if you've ever gone on a road trip (especially with someone else, a friend or significant other) you know that you have to earn a lot of things throughout the trip, especially your epiphany. I know on my own circular road trip through the country a few summers back now, I certainly had a great deal of success and wonderful times, but it wasn't without its own adversities (like getting that feeling that I was stuck at a truck stop somewhere in Texas, having relied on my GPS system to take me everywhere and it had somehow decided to stop working; or the 3 hours I spent in my car to drive a mere 20 miles in California to go to Hermosa Beach and meet up with some other road trip friends). God, I could write a story/book about my travels!
.........................................................................
Film 200
"One Track Heart" (documentary)
starring: Krishna Das
I went to see this documentary at SPACE Gallery, on a whim, with my coworkers from LuluLemon on Thursday night. I didn't know anything about it, other than it filled my requirement of being a film, which is the only necessity for my project.
Krishna Das is a musician, has been a musician his entire life. The interesting fact I learned from this documentary: Jeffrey Kagel was in a band with friends who later became better known as the Blue Oyster Cult (he left the band to pursue his own, bizarre musical and spiritual interests).
What plays out in this documentary is almost equal to a moving picture Facebook Fan Page or Wikipedia link on Krishna Das (who is an interesting man/musician who's led quite an intriguing life, but after watching this documentary I unfortunately do not know too much about the secrets behind man who makes such inspiring and moving music that can often be heard in Yoga Studios, in fact that's how my lady coworkers found out about the film's viewing). Unfortunately the film does not offer much as far as insight into who he is. I almost think I have to wait for his "Behind the Music" episode on VH1, because that may go more in depth than this disappointing documentary. Yes, there were some great interviews with some name-dropped important people (re: Rick Rubin, Ram Dass aka Richard Alpert, and Daniel Goleman). These interviews weave with the footage to reiterate all the repetitive points about Krishna Das, who is perhaps one of the most successful new age musicians of all time (re: 8 Grammy nods). Everyone regurgitates the same stories and points about him. The film's structure, and yes, documentaries are supposed to tell a story as much as a regular film, is very disorganized and disjointed.
I get that Jeffrey Kagel is a very interesting and cool dude, but I'm left to do my own research about him, which I haven't even done yet, because the film didn't really leave me with a desire to do so.
We got some interesting footage of his performances, whether his devoted fans are packed in together at festivals concert halls, small rock club venues, or auditoriums. His audience is almost equivalent to those found at evangelical services and they seem just as devoted to his sung words and chants as evangelist followers are to the words said. They are moved to tears, or to dancing/swaying, aside of chanting along with him for the most part. Euphoria. That's apparently what his performances invoke in his devotees (are they called that, "fans" just seems like too less of a word to describe them).
I was disappointed by this documentary, especially since I've seen better ones of the past few months. I love what my coworker, Alexis, said in her synopsis of the film: "I wished he would just shut the fuck up!" Well said. There's a lot to be said for someone who doesn't speak so much (especially about themselves). In fact, that's very Buddhist!
...........................................................................
Film 201
"Malice in Wonderland"
starring: Maggie Grace
I finally read Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" novel a couple of years ago. I know. I know. I'm quite late to the party, especially since I went to Catholic school and Carroll's works are filled with Catholic imagery and similes and metaphors. I found this film version of the story to be quite entertaining (and British) and a truer interpretation of the story than Tim Burton's visually stimulating, inflated, purely money-making film (which coincidentally came out around the same time as this one). And Burton's version has gone on to make over $1 billion worldwide. That's a lot of money! A lot of money that this small, independent film will never see, unfortunately.
This film almost plays like the British TV show "Skins" (before MTV picked it up and Americanized it, meaning it made the story terrible). It also reminded me, slightly of the film "Go" in its presentation, which really worked, so kudos to director Simon Fellows for seeing that his vision is what showed up on screen. It's all parts hectic, frenetic, energetic, and rather incoherent (in a good way). It really showcases the teenage Alice's crazy, silly, and wild ride (in a yellow cab for most of the film) through the London Underground, which looks just as seedy as any of the giant cities here in America (re: Detroit, Los Angeles), but it really works in London for this story. I'm happy that Fellows decided to stay in London. Maggie Grace (a British actress best known for her role in the TV show "Lost" which I haven't seen yet, but I will watch) plays this Alice wonderfully.
Alice is running away from two dudes when she gets hit by the cabby who will see her through this adventure. the cabby's name- Whitey (an homage to the white rabbit found in the story, who talks speedily about being late and is concerned with time). He is also looking or in pursuit of finding a crazy mob boss the perfect birthday gift. Getting hit by the cab had a single effect on Alice- she lost her memory, so Whitey, being a self-proclaimed pharmacist has quite an assortment of drugs, which he gives her to help her find her memory again. Much like in the story (and a bit like "The Matrix" I guess), the drugs Alice takes kind of enhances her little trip through "Wonderland" (i.e. London Underground).
Whitey leaves her after realizing she can now take care of herself (as much as a teenage girl who's been hit by a car and drugged up slightly can). With Alice on her own, she embarks on adventure upon adventure and meets a lot of interesting (to say the least), familiar characters. There is Hattie (homage to Mad Hatter), Caterpillar (who dishes advice like a sage to Alice), Tweedledee and Tweedledum sightings, and my favorite perhaps, DJ Felix Chester (homage to the Cheshire Cat). who fades in and out on the screen in his scenes as he also offers up advice to help Alice make her way through the adventure. Oh, and also we are introduced to a bizarre bag/homeless lady, who turns out to be someone Alice knows (but I'll let you watch and figure it out for yourself).
The heart of the plot makes "Malice in Wonderland" a crime drama, in which Alice finds herself a pricey prize to be sought after and returned to her wealthy father. The beginning 20-25 minutes of the film were hard to buy into, but because I had faith that it would get where it needed to and because I love Lewis Carroll's writing and wanted to see this interesting interpretation, which seems like it was made or conceived under the influence of something, I stayed with it and it paid off, because I enjoyed all the little pieces that added up to an enjoyable film, albeit quite hectic and spacey and speedy. It's certainly a unique piece of cinema.
Maggie Grace is a great star. And I know have a bit of a crush on her, mostly because she fits into all my categories. Blonde. Tall. And a sexy accent.
.....................................................................
Film 198
"Never Forever"
Starring: Vera Farmiga
I don't think I've ever seen so many films with Vera Farmiga since starting this project way back in January, but she has quickly won over my heart as one of the better actresses out there. Very underrated. Very understated in all of her performances. Always ready and willing to shed her clothing, it seems. Here, with a shaky script she does it again. Proves she's a star of indie films, for the most part. I've really yet to see her really break into the mainstream (other than her starring role on the AMC show "Bates Motel" where she shines as well).
Gina Kim's film is an erotic melodrama with enough flaws and florid and inconceivable plot-lines to make it a near-miss for me. Farmiga plays a blue-eyed American lady who is married to a very successful Korean-American businessman. So, why are they so unhappy together? It could be that his family has never approved of her. Or it could be that they cannot conceive a child together. That hurts them so much that he attempts suicide over that simple fact. To save her husband's face, to save their marriage, secretly, Farmiga's character decides to hire a seemingly dirt-poor Korean illegal immigrant to impregnate her. She meets him at a fertility clinic, where he is denied access, because of his illegal status, so she chases after him and offers herself and renders his services for $300 per tryst. How can she be so sure that this will work? That she will become pregnant? Well, they do it quite often. They have sex, a lot! And Vera Farmiga is not afraid to show her body in each of the intimate sex scenes.
What makes this story an erotic melodrama is of course the twists and turns any kind of relationship takes when sex is involved, especially an business relationship...even more so when the inevitable feelings get mixed in between. And yes, the film begins to derail itself when it introduces the romantic and emotional crises that these two characters are experiencing. For example- during their first sexual tryst, Farmiga's character instructs him and lets him know that feelings will not be accepted, no kissing, no intimacy. That all goes out the window, soon. I liked how filmmaker Kim chose to focus more on the gestures and body language shared between these characters during intimate moments to convey their emotions and help the story. The camera-work is precise, especially with each sex scene, showing just enough to tell the story without being explicit.
I liked it enough that I would watch it again.
......................................................................
Film 199
"Take Me Home"
starring: Same Jaeger and Amber Jaeger (real life married couple)
Written and Directed by: Sam Jaeger
I guess I was naive before this project when it came to "Road Trip" movies. Now I know that could be a subgenre in and of itself (in fact, it probably is, although many of them probably get lumped in with romantic comedies because that's ultimately what they become, at least the mediocre and bad ones). "Take Me Home" is a mediocre film, with good intentions from writer/director Sam Jaeger who enlisted the acting prowess of his own real-life wife, Claire Jaeger (who looks so much like a Maria Bello double it's almost ridiculous), who plays his counterpart and eventual love interest (of course, I mean, that's not a spoiler is it? You should know the plot points of these films). Much like horror films and romantic comedies follow a formula in how the story is told and presented, road trip films have become predictable. The "Road Trip" genre always has an answer to life troubles: Go West! And here, the main characters do not deviate from that answer (even though the reason may be different, for both of them).
Sam Jaeger plays a man of dual identities (because ultimately he doesn't really know himself or who he wants to be). He is Dan Reeves, a New York cab driver, who picks up an unsuspecting rider in Claire (Amber Jaeger) one day, after she has "caught" her husband cheating on her in their fancy, upscale, New York apartment. She tells Dan to just drive, with no destination in mind, at first, but then convinces him to drive her across the country to California, with the incentive of $5,000 and all expenses paid. This is exciting to Dan, because really he is Thom, an out-of-work wannabe photographer who's been evicted from his apartment and is now living in his bought-at-an-auction cab. What?! He's not even a real cab driver?! Isn't impersonation against the law or something? What a bizarre plot-point to include. At first, Claire is just trying to get away from the hurt she is feeling. The supposed affair, come to find out later on through dialogue, is sort of her own imaging, because perhaps as Thom philosophizes, she was simply looking for a way out of her unhappiness. Halfway through their trip, Claire finds out her father has had a heart attack, and so her trip takes on a whole new meaning. A discovery, though, once they make it to Vegas and to Claire's mom's house. Her mom has some other news. Thom's reasons for being on the trip are really just to show Claire that he's actually a decent guy, aside from all the lying he's done. He confesses everything, and then just wants to show that he is there for her (when her husband isn't). It's the classic case of "good guy wants to win."
What makes it a disappointment is all the cliches:
They fight.
They share secrets.
They become friends.
They stop to admire the scenery.
They get lost.
They lose all their money.
They come close to kissing.
They share conversations.
They come to their destination together.
They go through the necessary changes.
The characters of Thom and Claire are just charming enough to make it work and have you almost forget about the formula and the cliches. I think it intrigued me to watch these two people work together on a film where they have to start out at opposite attractions because they are actually married in real life. It made me wonder if they had any trouble getting along on set during the filming. Did they actually squabble?
Unfortunately what doesn't work in this "mid-age coming of age" road trip film is that nothing is truly earned by this characters. Everything seems to be given freely to them. No hardships included. And if you've ever gone on a road trip (especially with someone else, a friend or significant other) you know that you have to earn a lot of things throughout the trip, especially your epiphany. I know on my own circular road trip through the country a few summers back now, I certainly had a great deal of success and wonderful times, but it wasn't without its own adversities (like getting that feeling that I was stuck at a truck stop somewhere in Texas, having relied on my GPS system to take me everywhere and it had somehow decided to stop working; or the 3 hours I spent in my car to drive a mere 20 miles in California to go to Hermosa Beach and meet up with some other road trip friends). God, I could write a story/book about my travels!
.........................................................................
Film 200
"One Track Heart" (documentary)
starring: Krishna Das
I went to see this documentary at SPACE Gallery, on a whim, with my coworkers from LuluLemon on Thursday night. I didn't know anything about it, other than it filled my requirement of being a film, which is the only necessity for my project.
Krishna Das is a musician, has been a musician his entire life. The interesting fact I learned from this documentary: Jeffrey Kagel was in a band with friends who later became better known as the Blue Oyster Cult (he left the band to pursue his own, bizarre musical and spiritual interests).
What plays out in this documentary is almost equal to a moving picture Facebook Fan Page or Wikipedia link on Krishna Das (who is an interesting man/musician who's led quite an intriguing life, but after watching this documentary I unfortunately do not know too much about the secrets behind man who makes such inspiring and moving music that can often be heard in Yoga Studios, in fact that's how my lady coworkers found out about the film's viewing). Unfortunately the film does not offer much as far as insight into who he is. I almost think I have to wait for his "Behind the Music" episode on VH1, because that may go more in depth than this disappointing documentary. Yes, there were some great interviews with some name-dropped important people (re: Rick Rubin, Ram Dass aka Richard Alpert, and Daniel Goleman). These interviews weave with the footage to reiterate all the repetitive points about Krishna Das, who is perhaps one of the most successful new age musicians of all time (re: 8 Grammy nods). Everyone regurgitates the same stories and points about him. The film's structure, and yes, documentaries are supposed to tell a story as much as a regular film, is very disorganized and disjointed.
I get that Jeffrey Kagel is a very interesting and cool dude, but I'm left to do my own research about him, which I haven't even done yet, because the film didn't really leave me with a desire to do so.
We got some interesting footage of his performances, whether his devoted fans are packed in together at festivals concert halls, small rock club venues, or auditoriums. His audience is almost equivalent to those found at evangelical services and they seem just as devoted to his sung words and chants as evangelist followers are to the words said. They are moved to tears, or to dancing/swaying, aside of chanting along with him for the most part. Euphoria. That's apparently what his performances invoke in his devotees (are they called that, "fans" just seems like too less of a word to describe them).
I was disappointed by this documentary, especially since I've seen better ones of the past few months. I love what my coworker, Alexis, said in her synopsis of the film: "I wished he would just shut the fuck up!" Well said. There's a lot to be said for someone who doesn't speak so much (especially about themselves). In fact, that's very Buddhist!
...........................................................................
Film 201
"Malice in Wonderland"
starring: Maggie Grace
I finally read Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" novel a couple of years ago. I know. I know. I'm quite late to the party, especially since I went to Catholic school and Carroll's works are filled with Catholic imagery and similes and metaphors. I found this film version of the story to be quite entertaining (and British) and a truer interpretation of the story than Tim Burton's visually stimulating, inflated, purely money-making film (which coincidentally came out around the same time as this one). And Burton's version has gone on to make over $1 billion worldwide. That's a lot of money! A lot of money that this small, independent film will never see, unfortunately.
This film almost plays like the British TV show "Skins" (before MTV picked it up and Americanized it, meaning it made the story terrible). It also reminded me, slightly of the film "Go" in its presentation, which really worked, so kudos to director Simon Fellows for seeing that his vision is what showed up on screen. It's all parts hectic, frenetic, energetic, and rather incoherent (in a good way). It really showcases the teenage Alice's crazy, silly, and wild ride (in a yellow cab for most of the film) through the London Underground, which looks just as seedy as any of the giant cities here in America (re: Detroit, Los Angeles), but it really works in London for this story. I'm happy that Fellows decided to stay in London. Maggie Grace (a British actress best known for her role in the TV show "Lost" which I haven't seen yet, but I will watch) plays this Alice wonderfully.
Alice is running away from two dudes when she gets hit by the cabby who will see her through this adventure. the cabby's name- Whitey (an homage to the white rabbit found in the story, who talks speedily about being late and is concerned with time). He is also looking or in pursuit of finding a crazy mob boss the perfect birthday gift. Getting hit by the cab had a single effect on Alice- she lost her memory, so Whitey, being a self-proclaimed pharmacist has quite an assortment of drugs, which he gives her to help her find her memory again. Much like in the story (and a bit like "The Matrix" I guess), the drugs Alice takes kind of enhances her little trip through "Wonderland" (i.e. London Underground).
Whitey leaves her after realizing she can now take care of herself (as much as a teenage girl who's been hit by a car and drugged up slightly can). With Alice on her own, she embarks on adventure upon adventure and meets a lot of interesting (to say the least), familiar characters. There is Hattie (homage to Mad Hatter), Caterpillar (who dishes advice like a sage to Alice), Tweedledee and Tweedledum sightings, and my favorite perhaps, DJ Felix Chester (homage to the Cheshire Cat). who fades in and out on the screen in his scenes as he also offers up advice to help Alice make her way through the adventure. Oh, and also we are introduced to a bizarre bag/homeless lady, who turns out to be someone Alice knows (but I'll let you watch and figure it out for yourself).
The heart of the plot makes "Malice in Wonderland" a crime drama, in which Alice finds herself a pricey prize to be sought after and returned to her wealthy father. The beginning 20-25 minutes of the film were hard to buy into, but because I had faith that it would get where it needed to and because I love Lewis Carroll's writing and wanted to see this interesting interpretation, which seems like it was made or conceived under the influence of something, I stayed with it and it paid off, because I enjoyed all the little pieces that added up to an enjoyable film, albeit quite hectic and spacey and speedy. It's certainly a unique piece of cinema.
Maggie Grace is a great star. And I know have a bit of a crush on her, mostly because she fits into all my categories. Blonde. Tall. And a sexy accent.
Comments
Post a Comment