Nine Inch Nails + Godspeed You! Black Emperor (followed by a day of films) and Another Show
It's been just about a week because I've been so incredibly busy. So much has happened since my last post. Several concerts. So, here's the lowdown.
Friday night belonged to Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. I saw them for the 4th time since 1999. They were playing the Garden, in Boston, again.
Some of my favorite songs have always been:
And then, Sunday night, I was down in Boston again, this time to see Ra Ra Riot (again- I think I saw them back in May, so there's probably a post on here from that show). They were playing at the House of Blues, which is coincidentally, right behind Fenway Park. Now, the Sox are in the playoffs and this of course was the same night of the David Ortiz miracle Grand Slam. I literally left the show right when he hit the homerun and let me tell you, the entire streets went crazy.
Anyway, here's the setlist from that show, which was also the last night of their tour, so they really did an excellent job with their set:
Film 285
"Carrie"
starring: Sissy Spacek, John Travolta, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, Nancy Allen
directed by: Brian De Palma
This is an incredible horror film for the time period that it came out (1976) and perhaps that has a lot to do with who directed the film: the one and only boundary-pusher, Brian De Palma (best known for his controversial films "Scarface" and "Dressed to Kill" and "Body Double" as well as recently with "Femme Fatale" and "The Black Dahlia"). Now, his films are not necessarily all controversy. I think what was controversial about "Carrie" was in the beginning of the film, he spends a significant amount of time in the locker room/shower of some high school girls, in a bit of an unnecessary focus on nudity, but it was really to lay the foundation that Carrie is a sweet, naive, innocent girl (who happens to get her period while taking a shower, but has no clue what to do or if there's something wrong with her). Of course, all the other girls make fun of her for being so innocent.
Of course, it's 1976, and so the graphics and technology are poor and limited, at best, but De Palma does an amazing job with the movements of his cameras (even if I'm watching it in 2013 and I've been spoiled with the advancements in technology, I can still appreciate it as thought-provoking in the mid-70s).
This is a horror film that relies on its characters really building the story, and yeah, sure, the film's based on Stephen King's book of the same name, which came out a mere year prior, but as a film, the suspense and thrills build slowly, all around the characters. "Carrie" is a true horror story, not manufactured like so many nowadays. The horror grows out of the characters, and it's spellbinding to watch it all develop, from the early scenes in the shower, to Carrie's interactions with her overly-religious and protective mother (who seems quite crazy, but then again, she's a religious zealot who locks her daughter in a closet). With the film, we get an observant human portrait of a shy, pretty, and oh so complicated girl. Add to that another layer, in which she has recently discovered her telekinesis powers, and she becomes a girl you don't want to piss off.
The film's final act, the much talked about "prom scene" in which Carrie releases all her fury and powers on the unsuspecting peers and faculty at her high school's senior prom, has always been one of the best horror film scenes of all time. I'm sure you've seen the film, so I'm not ruining anything for you. If you haven't, dare I say, what's wrong with you, but I'd be a hypocrite because this was the first time I'd ever watched the film from beginning to end. De Palma actually does an amazing job with final acts (re: Al Pacino's final showdown in "Scarface"). And what makes the prom in "Carrie" so riveting is that De Palma builds the tension relentlessly throughout the whole film, and then while at the prom, he lets the action tell the story. There's really no speaking through the final 20 minutes or so. Perhaps, because there's nothing left to say at this point. Carrie has been humiliated by her peers for the last time and they will all be the recipients of her wrath. It's like Columbine without the guns blazing. And it all started because the beautiful, blonde cheerleader gets in trouble for bullying Carrie in the shower at school and the gym teacher doesn't take kindly to her prissy, better-than-thou attitude. This girl decides to plot revenge against Carrie (even though, it really wasn't Carrie's fault she's been the butt-end of everyone's jokes). Typical, cliche, popular girl in high school.
It shows what can happen, fictionally and with science fiction helping, when teenagers are so cruel, bullying relentlessly- add to that, Carrie's mother's abuse and you've got a recipe for disaster. It's a "bloodbath" (pun intended) and De Palma really works his cameras around the gymnasium through it all in such a way that really showcases the mess everyone finds themselves in. And Sissy Spacek was nearly perfect in her portrayal of the naive and innocent Carrie.
It was also kind of interesting to see a few things in the film, and remember the time period:
1) The gym teacher, who doesn't like the popular girl or her attitude, not only yells at her in front of other girls, but she slaps her across the face, and physical abuses her. She's a teacher feared by all the girls and clearly uses intimidation as her behavior management technique. This would definitely not fly in this day and age in/at schools.
2) Also, John Travolta's (?! never knew he was in this ?!) slaps his girlfriend (the popular, blonde girl) several times. Whoa! Times have changed!
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Film 286
"Somebody Up There Likes Me"
starring: Jess Weixler, Nick Offerman, Keith Poulson, Stephanie Hunt
written and directed by: Bob Byington
I'll give writer and director some credit, a film like this hasn't really exist before it (coming close is the much better Richard Linklater film "Waking Life"). I really haven't seen anything like it. It's nihilistic, misanthropic, and kind of relaxing to watch. It's an absurdist comedy (of errors) that treads lightly on its premise as an anti-comedy. Ultimately it's about the two main characters, Max and Lyla (Poulson and Weixler), who meet, get married, get divorced, and die (all without aging, while the other characters around them age). Perhaps the lack of aging for the main characters is just filmmaker Byington highlighting the meaningless of life. The film also doesn't really build, with tension of any kind, up to a climax. The only consistency in the story is the presence of a mythical light blue suitcase that carries some kind of inexplicable meaning. Does it hold the meaning of life? Does it matter, because it only gets opened when the main characters are dead.
It seems a bit pretentious for filmmaker Bob Byington, for a couple reasons: (re: animated interludes that play a bit like a rip off of Richard Linklater's "Waking Life"- one of the best, existential-based animated films, which I thought this film was trying to copy-- and then, there's Vampire Weekend's Chris Baio's musical score- I mean, can things be more pretentious than VW?). But for some reason it all works rather well, in the condensed time of 76 minutes.
The acting is stellar here from all involved. Keith Poulson plays Max, the central character of the story who surrounds himself with others disaffected by life just as much as he is. Max is stoic to the nth degree as he sleepwalks through his life. He meets a waitress at his job, Lyla (Jess Weixler, always good), and they get married, have a son, but nothing about their marriage or life together really works. They seem to be going through the motions the entire length of their courtship. Max has an affair with their nanny/cleaning girl (and he ends up staying with her after their divorce... "Who gets the nanny?" he asks in the proceedings). Lyla is obsessed with the restaurant's breadsticks (kind of a funny idiosyncrasy, which I appreciated). She comes off as a once-sweet girl with optimism in her eyes in regards to her expectations in life, which makes her bitterness in middle age a lot more authentic, because she discovers life is nothing like you think. The scene-stealer though here is Nick Offerman, who plays Sal, a straight-shooter dishwasher at the restaurant. It doesn't matter what he's saying or doing, he commands your attention, much like he does on NBC's "Parks and Rec."
You never really get the answer to what is in Max's suitcase, but it doesn't matter. I think that's the point of Byington's film. The suitcase is the vehicle for the metaphor of life. It was decently executed.
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Film 287
"Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil"
starring: Katrina Bowden, Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk
written and directed by: Eli Craig
This is just an all-around fun movie. It takes the horror genre, in the same vein as "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and kind of turns it on its head. All the typical horror conventions are reversed in this clever film about a vanload of college kids going for a camping getaway in the middle of the woods. Their paths cross with a couple of easy-going rednecks, Tucker and Dale (Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine, who are amazing as the hillbilly brothers) and unfortunate accidents occur thereafter.
Of course, Tucker and Dale are immediately drawn to the scantily clad coeds in the group, but are completely awkward and shy around them. In fact, they try hard to be invisible, while still sort of spying on them. It all comes to a head when they spot the most attractive, blonde in the group, Allison (played by Katrina Bowden from "30 Rock" fame) disrobing to go swimming in the moonlight. She falls in the water and hits her head, so Tuck and Dale take her back to the "summer" cabin. Well, the guys in the college group misinterpret that action and set out to kill the pair.
Katrina Bowden does an excellent job playing the slightly dim-witted, pretty blonde who is oblivious to the misunderstandings going on around her. She bonds with her supposed captors, and Dale especially takes a shine to her. He wants to ask her out.
As the whole misunderstandings escalate, from one thing to another (which make for hilarious scenes all together), the college kids start panicking and begin getting hapless and reckless with their abandonment and they start offing themselves one by one. See, it's usually the horror genre killer that offs the innocent victims. Tables turned.
Tucker and Dale are an excellent pair of hillbillies caught up in a series of unfortunate events. The dialogue is full of comedic timing points that work really well. And I was pleasantly surprised by the acting capabilities of Katrina Bowden, although, I would hate to see her typecast as the oblivious blonde. It works very well here though.
I absolutely loved this movie. It's just a good time.
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Film 288
"Cairo Time"
starring: Patricia Clarkson, Alexander Siddig
written and directed by: Ruba Nadda
If "Lost in Translation" is my generation's semi-romantic, bittersweet, stranded overseas, strangers-meet film than I think "Cairo Time" had potential to be relatable for my parents. I haven't seen "The English Patient" but I've heard complaints of its blandness and dullness. Unfortunately, "Cairo Time" is a very bland film that really doesn't have any significant drama or tension to really move the story along. Sure, the main character is stuck in Egypt, which is not as woman-friendly as the United States, but Patricia Clarkson's character is just really dull. You are left not really caring that she is in a foreign, unfamiliar place with little to no understanding of the culture.
Juliette (Clarkson) is a New York magazine editor in Cairo to meet her husband, who works for the United Nations in Gaza. There is trouble there and he is confined to his building, which leaves Juliette alone in Cairo. But not quite. Her husband has sent his former bodyguard, Tareq, to chaperone her. As a romance teeters on the edge between these two, the dialogue they are given in the script to say to each other is just awful. Tareq is apparently there to reawaken Juliette's fantasy-driven libido (which has been dead for some time, I guess), but it just boils and boils (with no real reason to, I mean, the two are not necessarily a good pair together- there doesn't seem to be much of any chemistry between the two).
Here's the main reason why it didn't work for me at all: Juliette is supposed to be a well-educated and informed woman, I mean, she works for a magazine. So, why would she be shocked to learn about the significant culture differences? I just don't believe in her as a character or person.
And the entire plot seems to be wanting so hard to be like something in the same vein as "Before Sunrise" but it's a cheap knockoff without any real, conceivable point. It just all comes off as more awkward than romantic. I was severely underwhelmed (I think I just made up a word) and disappointed in a film that could've used its location (the beautiful backdrop of Egypt) or even the conflicts that have been boiling in that region for years.
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Film 289
"For Ellen"
starring: Paul Dano, Jon Heder, Jena Malone
written and directed by: So Yong Kim
This film project has allowed me to further explore my love for independent films. I love indie films for there real-life element and the filmmakers ability to show and tell us life as it really is. And sometimes it can be quite depressing, and lacking the happy ending that most all Hollywood films gives us. Maybe we seek out indie films, because we don't necessarily want to be entertained, but rather, we want to be made to feel better about our own lives and choices.
"For Ellen" is an excellent, surprising hit for me.
The separation of parent and child could be a tired subject looked at in film, but with Kim's indie credibility, she takes a routine story element and transforms it into a story quite touching and sad. It is purely through choice and circumstance of the lead character, Joby, that is the cause of this separation. Kim's directorial abilities really help drive this theme home, whether it's through the quiet moments of the rock star in silent contemplation or outbursts of frustration and outrage. Perhaps one of the best scenes in the film comes about halfway through when Joby (Paul Dano) is invited to his lawyer's (Jon Heder, whom you might think is an odd choice for a serious role, since he's best known for his role as Napoleon Dynamite) house for dinner. This turns into a cathartic night drinking excessively at a bar with the lawyer and then a sad downward spiral into an air guitar session with music from the jukebox.
Paul Dano plays Joby, an aging rock star who could be on the verge of making it if he wasn't struggling so much personally. The film starts with he and his soon-to-be ex-wife going through divorce proceedings, which just sets off his depression. He then goes on a last-ditch effort to gain shared custody of the daughter he hasn't seen in over a year. He is unwilling to sign the divorce papers because he wants some piece of shared custody of his daughter, Ellen (an unbelievable performance from child actress Shaylena Mandigo). Dano is so committed to this role that his intensity and sadness really affect you, and you begin to feel really sorry for him, because ultimately, this is a guy who has become his own worst enemy. the filmmaker's script has quiet moments and just enough dialogue mixed in that really hits home how lousy his life is at the moment. But he only has himself to blame.
And the real emotional payoff comes in the third act, with a 28 minute long sequence between Joby and his daughter Ellen, when he is finally granted a two hour visit from his ex-wife's attorney, after he sets some ground rules. It starts off awkwardly, like you would expect between an absentee father looking to connect with his daughter again, but not knowing exactly how to do it. And it could also have something to do with the fact that the actors maybe didn't know each other well and so they are feeling each other out, until they become comfortable enough to be open with each other. Either way, by the end of the visit, the theme of separation really hits home for the viewer and for Dano's Joby.
This was an incredibly emotional rollercoaster of a film. Great find!
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Film 290
"The Puffy Chair"
starring: Mark Duplass, Katie Aselton
written and directed by: Mark and Jay Duplass
I've seen this film before, a couple of years ago, when I ran across it on Netflix, but since I've seen Mark Duplass in a few other films since then, I wanted to check out this one again. It's interesting because Mark Duplass and his co-star Katie Aselton are actually married in real life (and they also star together on FX's TV show "The League"). Katie Aselton is actually from Milbridge, Maine (weird, acting connection to Maine).
Here, the brothers take a rather simple format for a movie and definitely take it someplace, even though a couple of things just didn't work for me this time around. "The Puffy Chair" is a simple indie film that works. It uses simple, unadorned dialogue, real speak between real people that could very well being having these conversations and just didn't know they were being filmed. The performances are off-the-cuff, while still being intimate and getting at the underlying issues. It's a rather simple script and approach to filming (handheld, jostling around, so that you feel like you're there with the three characters) that is also bold. And it works, for the brief length of the film.
Duplass' character, Josh, is a twentysomething nobody with no direction, who'd prefer being an out-of-work indie rocker waiting for his big break while playing videogames. He's the kind of guy who definitely takes advantage of having such a stable girlfriend, Emily, played by Aselton.
Josh has one mission: he is going to pick up a recliner he bought online (only to find out he may have been ripped off) and then take a road trip to deliver it to his father for his birthday. At the start of the road trip, the "happy" couple's relationship is already on the skids, though. Emily's getting more than frustrated with his lack of ambition and/or direction. Here's what doesn't work for me: why are there so many girls like Emily in the world (yes, she's definitely a relatable character, because these types of girls actually exist and it's frustrating to me, as a guy, as a decent guy).
"It's three people trying to figure out themselves and their lives, trying to get what they want without knowing what they want, or what they have. The ingenious ending wakes us from a dream in which we had unknowingly become complicit."
I really liked this film, even the second time around. It's another decent indie gem among many mediocre films.
Friday night belonged to Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. I saw them for the 4th time since 1999. They were playing the Garden, in Boston, again.
Some of my favorite songs have always been:
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- Encore:
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And then, Sunday night, I was down in Boston again, this time to see Ra Ra Riot (again- I think I saw them back in May, so there's probably a post on here from that show). They were playing at the House of Blues, which is coincidentally, right behind Fenway Park. Now, the Sox are in the playoffs and this of course was the same night of the David Ortiz miracle Grand Slam. I literally left the show right when he hit the homerun and let me tell you, the entire streets went crazy.
Anyway, here's the setlist from that show, which was also the last night of their tour, so they really did an excellent job with their set:
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- Encore:
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Film 285
"Carrie"
starring: Sissy Spacek, John Travolta, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, Nancy Allen
directed by: Brian De Palma
This is an incredible horror film for the time period that it came out (1976) and perhaps that has a lot to do with who directed the film: the one and only boundary-pusher, Brian De Palma (best known for his controversial films "Scarface" and "Dressed to Kill" and "Body Double" as well as recently with "Femme Fatale" and "The Black Dahlia"). Now, his films are not necessarily all controversy. I think what was controversial about "Carrie" was in the beginning of the film, he spends a significant amount of time in the locker room/shower of some high school girls, in a bit of an unnecessary focus on nudity, but it was really to lay the foundation that Carrie is a sweet, naive, innocent girl (who happens to get her period while taking a shower, but has no clue what to do or if there's something wrong with her). Of course, all the other girls make fun of her for being so innocent.
Of course, it's 1976, and so the graphics and technology are poor and limited, at best, but De Palma does an amazing job with the movements of his cameras (even if I'm watching it in 2013 and I've been spoiled with the advancements in technology, I can still appreciate it as thought-provoking in the mid-70s).
This is a horror film that relies on its characters really building the story, and yeah, sure, the film's based on Stephen King's book of the same name, which came out a mere year prior, but as a film, the suspense and thrills build slowly, all around the characters. "Carrie" is a true horror story, not manufactured like so many nowadays. The horror grows out of the characters, and it's spellbinding to watch it all develop, from the early scenes in the shower, to Carrie's interactions with her overly-religious and protective mother (who seems quite crazy, but then again, she's a religious zealot who locks her daughter in a closet). With the film, we get an observant human portrait of a shy, pretty, and oh so complicated girl. Add to that another layer, in which she has recently discovered her telekinesis powers, and she becomes a girl you don't want to piss off.
The film's final act, the much talked about "prom scene" in which Carrie releases all her fury and powers on the unsuspecting peers and faculty at her high school's senior prom, has always been one of the best horror film scenes of all time. I'm sure you've seen the film, so I'm not ruining anything for you. If you haven't, dare I say, what's wrong with you, but I'd be a hypocrite because this was the first time I'd ever watched the film from beginning to end. De Palma actually does an amazing job with final acts (re: Al Pacino's final showdown in "Scarface"). And what makes the prom in "Carrie" so riveting is that De Palma builds the tension relentlessly throughout the whole film, and then while at the prom, he lets the action tell the story. There's really no speaking through the final 20 minutes or so. Perhaps, because there's nothing left to say at this point. Carrie has been humiliated by her peers for the last time and they will all be the recipients of her wrath. It's like Columbine without the guns blazing. And it all started because the beautiful, blonde cheerleader gets in trouble for bullying Carrie in the shower at school and the gym teacher doesn't take kindly to her prissy, better-than-thou attitude. This girl decides to plot revenge against Carrie (even though, it really wasn't Carrie's fault she's been the butt-end of everyone's jokes). Typical, cliche, popular girl in high school.
It shows what can happen, fictionally and with science fiction helping, when teenagers are so cruel, bullying relentlessly- add to that, Carrie's mother's abuse and you've got a recipe for disaster. It's a "bloodbath" (pun intended) and De Palma really works his cameras around the gymnasium through it all in such a way that really showcases the mess everyone finds themselves in. And Sissy Spacek was nearly perfect in her portrayal of the naive and innocent Carrie.
It was also kind of interesting to see a few things in the film, and remember the time period:
1) The gym teacher, who doesn't like the popular girl or her attitude, not only yells at her in front of other girls, but she slaps her across the face, and physical abuses her. She's a teacher feared by all the girls and clearly uses intimidation as her behavior management technique. This would definitely not fly in this day and age in/at schools.
2) Also, John Travolta's (?! never knew he was in this ?!) slaps his girlfriend (the popular, blonde girl) several times. Whoa! Times have changed!
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Film 286
"Somebody Up There Likes Me"
starring: Jess Weixler, Nick Offerman, Keith Poulson, Stephanie Hunt
written and directed by: Bob Byington
I'll give writer and director some credit, a film like this hasn't really exist before it (coming close is the much better Richard Linklater film "Waking Life"). I really haven't seen anything like it. It's nihilistic, misanthropic, and kind of relaxing to watch. It's an absurdist comedy (of errors) that treads lightly on its premise as an anti-comedy. Ultimately it's about the two main characters, Max and Lyla (Poulson and Weixler), who meet, get married, get divorced, and die (all without aging, while the other characters around them age). Perhaps the lack of aging for the main characters is just filmmaker Byington highlighting the meaningless of life. The film also doesn't really build, with tension of any kind, up to a climax. The only consistency in the story is the presence of a mythical light blue suitcase that carries some kind of inexplicable meaning. Does it hold the meaning of life? Does it matter, because it only gets opened when the main characters are dead.
It seems a bit pretentious for filmmaker Bob Byington, for a couple reasons: (re: animated interludes that play a bit like a rip off of Richard Linklater's "Waking Life"- one of the best, existential-based animated films, which I thought this film was trying to copy-- and then, there's Vampire Weekend's Chris Baio's musical score- I mean, can things be more pretentious than VW?). But for some reason it all works rather well, in the condensed time of 76 minutes.
The acting is stellar here from all involved. Keith Poulson plays Max, the central character of the story who surrounds himself with others disaffected by life just as much as he is. Max is stoic to the nth degree as he sleepwalks through his life. He meets a waitress at his job, Lyla (Jess Weixler, always good), and they get married, have a son, but nothing about their marriage or life together really works. They seem to be going through the motions the entire length of their courtship. Max has an affair with their nanny/cleaning girl (and he ends up staying with her after their divorce... "Who gets the nanny?" he asks in the proceedings). Lyla is obsessed with the restaurant's breadsticks (kind of a funny idiosyncrasy, which I appreciated). She comes off as a once-sweet girl with optimism in her eyes in regards to her expectations in life, which makes her bitterness in middle age a lot more authentic, because she discovers life is nothing like you think. The scene-stealer though here is Nick Offerman, who plays Sal, a straight-shooter dishwasher at the restaurant. It doesn't matter what he's saying or doing, he commands your attention, much like he does on NBC's "Parks and Rec."
You never really get the answer to what is in Max's suitcase, but it doesn't matter. I think that's the point of Byington's film. The suitcase is the vehicle for the metaphor of life. It was decently executed.
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Film 287
"Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil"
starring: Katrina Bowden, Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk
written and directed by: Eli Craig
This is just an all-around fun movie. It takes the horror genre, in the same vein as "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and kind of turns it on its head. All the typical horror conventions are reversed in this clever film about a vanload of college kids going for a camping getaway in the middle of the woods. Their paths cross with a couple of easy-going rednecks, Tucker and Dale (Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine, who are amazing as the hillbilly brothers) and unfortunate accidents occur thereafter.
Of course, Tucker and Dale are immediately drawn to the scantily clad coeds in the group, but are completely awkward and shy around them. In fact, they try hard to be invisible, while still sort of spying on them. It all comes to a head when they spot the most attractive, blonde in the group, Allison (played by Katrina Bowden from "30 Rock" fame) disrobing to go swimming in the moonlight. She falls in the water and hits her head, so Tuck and Dale take her back to the "summer" cabin. Well, the guys in the college group misinterpret that action and set out to kill the pair.
Katrina Bowden does an excellent job playing the slightly dim-witted, pretty blonde who is oblivious to the misunderstandings going on around her. She bonds with her supposed captors, and Dale especially takes a shine to her. He wants to ask her out.
As the whole misunderstandings escalate, from one thing to another (which make for hilarious scenes all together), the college kids start panicking and begin getting hapless and reckless with their abandonment and they start offing themselves one by one. See, it's usually the horror genre killer that offs the innocent victims. Tables turned.
Tucker and Dale are an excellent pair of hillbillies caught up in a series of unfortunate events. The dialogue is full of comedic timing points that work really well. And I was pleasantly surprised by the acting capabilities of Katrina Bowden, although, I would hate to see her typecast as the oblivious blonde. It works very well here though.
I absolutely loved this movie. It's just a good time.
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Film 288
"Cairo Time"
starring: Patricia Clarkson, Alexander Siddig
written and directed by: Ruba Nadda
If "Lost in Translation" is my generation's semi-romantic, bittersweet, stranded overseas, strangers-meet film than I think "Cairo Time" had potential to be relatable for my parents. I haven't seen "The English Patient" but I've heard complaints of its blandness and dullness. Unfortunately, "Cairo Time" is a very bland film that really doesn't have any significant drama or tension to really move the story along. Sure, the main character is stuck in Egypt, which is not as woman-friendly as the United States, but Patricia Clarkson's character is just really dull. You are left not really caring that she is in a foreign, unfamiliar place with little to no understanding of the culture.
Juliette (Clarkson) is a New York magazine editor in Cairo to meet her husband, who works for the United Nations in Gaza. There is trouble there and he is confined to his building, which leaves Juliette alone in Cairo. But not quite. Her husband has sent his former bodyguard, Tareq, to chaperone her. As a romance teeters on the edge between these two, the dialogue they are given in the script to say to each other is just awful. Tareq is apparently there to reawaken Juliette's fantasy-driven libido (which has been dead for some time, I guess), but it just boils and boils (with no real reason to, I mean, the two are not necessarily a good pair together- there doesn't seem to be much of any chemistry between the two).
Here's the main reason why it didn't work for me at all: Juliette is supposed to be a well-educated and informed woman, I mean, she works for a magazine. So, why would she be shocked to learn about the significant culture differences? I just don't believe in her as a character or person.
And the entire plot seems to be wanting so hard to be like something in the same vein as "Before Sunrise" but it's a cheap knockoff without any real, conceivable point. It just all comes off as more awkward than romantic. I was severely underwhelmed (I think I just made up a word) and disappointed in a film that could've used its location (the beautiful backdrop of Egypt) or even the conflicts that have been boiling in that region for years.
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Film 289
"For Ellen"
starring: Paul Dano, Jon Heder, Jena Malone
written and directed by: So Yong Kim
This film project has allowed me to further explore my love for independent films. I love indie films for there real-life element and the filmmakers ability to show and tell us life as it really is. And sometimes it can be quite depressing, and lacking the happy ending that most all Hollywood films gives us. Maybe we seek out indie films, because we don't necessarily want to be entertained, but rather, we want to be made to feel better about our own lives and choices.
"For Ellen" is an excellent, surprising hit for me.
The separation of parent and child could be a tired subject looked at in film, but with Kim's indie credibility, she takes a routine story element and transforms it into a story quite touching and sad. It is purely through choice and circumstance of the lead character, Joby, that is the cause of this separation. Kim's directorial abilities really help drive this theme home, whether it's through the quiet moments of the rock star in silent contemplation or outbursts of frustration and outrage. Perhaps one of the best scenes in the film comes about halfway through when Joby (Paul Dano) is invited to his lawyer's (Jon Heder, whom you might think is an odd choice for a serious role, since he's best known for his role as Napoleon Dynamite) house for dinner. This turns into a cathartic night drinking excessively at a bar with the lawyer and then a sad downward spiral into an air guitar session with music from the jukebox.
Paul Dano plays Joby, an aging rock star who could be on the verge of making it if he wasn't struggling so much personally. The film starts with he and his soon-to-be ex-wife going through divorce proceedings, which just sets off his depression. He then goes on a last-ditch effort to gain shared custody of the daughter he hasn't seen in over a year. He is unwilling to sign the divorce papers because he wants some piece of shared custody of his daughter, Ellen (an unbelievable performance from child actress Shaylena Mandigo). Dano is so committed to this role that his intensity and sadness really affect you, and you begin to feel really sorry for him, because ultimately, this is a guy who has become his own worst enemy. the filmmaker's script has quiet moments and just enough dialogue mixed in that really hits home how lousy his life is at the moment. But he only has himself to blame.
And the real emotional payoff comes in the third act, with a 28 minute long sequence between Joby and his daughter Ellen, when he is finally granted a two hour visit from his ex-wife's attorney, after he sets some ground rules. It starts off awkwardly, like you would expect between an absentee father looking to connect with his daughter again, but not knowing exactly how to do it. And it could also have something to do with the fact that the actors maybe didn't know each other well and so they are feeling each other out, until they become comfortable enough to be open with each other. Either way, by the end of the visit, the theme of separation really hits home for the viewer and for Dano's Joby.
This was an incredibly emotional rollercoaster of a film. Great find!
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Film 290
"The Puffy Chair"
starring: Mark Duplass, Katie Aselton
written and directed by: Mark and Jay Duplass
I've seen this film before, a couple of years ago, when I ran across it on Netflix, but since I've seen Mark Duplass in a few other films since then, I wanted to check out this one again. It's interesting because Mark Duplass and his co-star Katie Aselton are actually married in real life (and they also star together on FX's TV show "The League"). Katie Aselton is actually from Milbridge, Maine (weird, acting connection to Maine).
Here, the brothers take a rather simple format for a movie and definitely take it someplace, even though a couple of things just didn't work for me this time around. "The Puffy Chair" is a simple indie film that works. It uses simple, unadorned dialogue, real speak between real people that could very well being having these conversations and just didn't know they were being filmed. The performances are off-the-cuff, while still being intimate and getting at the underlying issues. It's a rather simple script and approach to filming (handheld, jostling around, so that you feel like you're there with the three characters) that is also bold. And it works, for the brief length of the film.
Duplass' character, Josh, is a twentysomething nobody with no direction, who'd prefer being an out-of-work indie rocker waiting for his big break while playing videogames. He's the kind of guy who definitely takes advantage of having such a stable girlfriend, Emily, played by Aselton.
Josh has one mission: he is going to pick up a recliner he bought online (only to find out he may have been ripped off) and then take a road trip to deliver it to his father for his birthday. At the start of the road trip, the "happy" couple's relationship is already on the skids, though. Emily's getting more than frustrated with his lack of ambition and/or direction. Here's what doesn't work for me: why are there so many girls like Emily in the world (yes, she's definitely a relatable character, because these types of girls actually exist and it's frustrating to me, as a guy, as a decent guy).
"It's three people trying to figure out themselves and their lives, trying to get what they want without knowing what they want, or what they have. The ingenious ending wakes us from a dream in which we had unknowingly become complicit."
I really liked this film, even the second time around. It's another decent indie gem among many mediocre films.
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