we like to watch

2012: is really pretty bad. Not really bad, just predictably bad. You will know the basic storyline: solar flares superheat neutrinos which destabilize the earth’s crust setting off earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis. The earth is more of less destroyed in the process. Meanwhile our planet’s leaders race against time to build a bunch of arks to ensure the survival of the species (plus assorted giraffes, elephants etc.), or at least a reasonable cross-section of the wealthiest and cutest members of the species. Amongst the mayhem we follow frustrated fiction writer, John Cusak and his family, and geophysicist Chiwetel Ejiofer. Continue reading Disaster Movies

I’ve seen all of these but seven and cannot disagree with the number one entry. What are your thoughts? Was really pleased to see This is England at number thirteen (ok, it is a British newspaper, but nobody seemed willing to take me up on Meadow’s excellent little film–Chris I’m pointing my finger at you–so I gloat in hopes you will queue it up). Seems like a good place to start thinking about the decade even if the glories of 2010 are still yet to be determined . . .

Il Divo is the imagined story of Giulio Andreotti’s last decade in the public eye, beginning with his selection as prime minister for the last time in 1989 (he was prime minster seven times in the 1970s and 1980w) and ending with the start of his trial for being an associate of the Mafia in 1996. It skirts the boundary between fact and fiction by implying Andreotti’s guilt for a wide range of crimes, including several murders, of which he was accused but never formally convicted, and for the vast majority of the dialogue, much of it spoken in private conversations by Toni Servillo, who plays Andreotti.

This film is stunning, not so much as an account of political intrigue, though there is plenty of that, but as a portrait of the interior life of Andreotti. He is haunted throughout the film – literally – by Aldo Moro, a rival in the 1970s, in whose murder Andreotti was complicit. Servillo portrays Andreotti as utterly still, at the center of a world that is collapsing around him. The film is beautifully shot – scenes of a police escort moving in slow motion as Andreotti walks to church, a string of rapid-fire murders that rivals the climactic scene of The Godfather, Andreotti motionless while journalists clamor around him, drenching rain as his bodyguards try to open a car door – and the eclectic soundtrack (classical, opera, Italian and German pop, American alternative) serves to heighten the back-and-forth movement between realism and surrealism in the film. There is a gripping “confession” in which Andreotti sits alone in a darkened room and lists his crimes while justifying them. Even setting aside the compelling subject-matter, the film’s construction and execution are brilliant.

Certainly the best film I have seen this year. I’d love to hear Gio’s take on it.

I’m directing a musical. It’s kicking my ass. Forgive me if I watch a little television to unwind or, better yet, to displace the songs from Urinetown: The Musical which haunt me 24 hours a day. Haven’t watched a lot but there are three shows worth recommending. I know I will be the only one to commit to its April 15, 2009 deadline, but ABC’s “Flashforward” is entertaining if you dig post-9/11 anxiety narratives. Check out the cold opening from this past week’s episode (you’ll have to sit through a Disney commercial and about 35 seconds of “previously on” footage which I will ask you to ignore before the show’s clever mash-up of Bjork and cataclysm). Another show that has produced two top notch episodes and two decent eps is ABC’s half-hour sitcom “Modern Family.” The pilot is brilliant and worth your twenty-two minutes. And, finally, there is Fox’s “Glee,” which is fantastic (or maybe I’ve been watching too many teenagers sing and dance for the past three weeks). It’s definitely worth checking out.

Halloween. Yup: time to sift through the seasonal flurry of straight-to-dvd horror, flip through some old favorites, fire up the scary, cue the gore, put on the mask. Yeah.

I gather Takashi Miike’s utterly, grimly compelling Audition has a sweet new two-disc release. And Raimi’s praised Drag Me To Hell will show up in a week or two, and demands some love. (I did indeed love it–a great deal of fun.) But on to the unfamiliar.
Continue reading And then they start in with the tricking and the treating and schmabel…

Not much to say, but just sheer, delirious fun. Clocking in at only 80 minutes, the movie is played entirely for laughs, with Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg playing off each other well. The zombie-killing action never gets old, culminating in a giddy finale in an old amusement park. And Bill Murray. What to say? He should have a cameo in every movie. Zombieland was made all the better by being preceded by a trailer for a ponderous, self-important vampire movie starring Ethan Hawke.

Bearing some similarities to Bubble, this is one of those low budget fragments of a movie that Soderbergh makes in between the glossier Hollywood fare. Lasting only 75 minutes, Girlfriend examines a few days in the life of high end prostitute, played by real-life porn star, Sasha Grey. There is no sex and barely any nudity. Instead we see Chelsea (Grey’s name in this film) meeting and talking to clients, and meeting with an assortment of journalists, webmasters and suchlike who might be able to raise her profile and money potential. We also follow her boyfriend, Chris (Chris Santos), who works as a personal trainer. Most of the stories are unexplained and cut short. Chris is going on a comp-ed trip to Vegas with some male friends and the camera occasionally cuts to the men on a private jet discussing women. Chris leaves a package for Chelsea, but we don’t know what it contains. At some point Chelsea contemplates leaving Chris and becoming more serious with a client she has never met. But it is all pretty aimless. The cinematography is superb, all angles, reflections and middle distance shots. Almost everything about this movie made me think of Van Sant, especially its fragmentary, non-linear narrative, and generally aimless character. Continue reading The Girlfriend Experience