Cinema Mishmash

I didn’t make it to the cineplex very often in 2009. Of the 43 films nominated for Academy Awards this year (see previous post), I have seen 16. What follows is my impossible plan of attack over the next 33 days. (If Netflix would buy more than 10 copies of new Blu-ray discs, perhaps those like me who pay a monthly premium in hopes of obtaining the highest possible quality in home viewing would actually see the movies, rather than the words “Very Long Wait.”) [Read more →]

Here are this morning’s Oscar-nominated films, alphabetically. The nominees for foreign language film and documentary feature are compiled at the end of the list. (Short format nominees are listed in a separate post.)

Avatar (9 nominations)
Art direction, Cinematography, Directing, Film editing, Original score, Best picture, Sound editing, Sound mixing, Visual effects

The Blind Side (2 nominations)
Sandra Bullock – Performance by an actress in a leading role, Best picture

[Read more →]

My favorite film from the 2009 Chicago International Film Festival, Bong Joon-Ho’s Mother, doesn’t so much defy classification as much as it conglomerates genres in a way that seems as unusual as it is natural. Those who have seen Bong’s 2006 sea monster romp, The Host, will sense an immediate familiarity with Bong’s blending of the poignant and the absurd. A beautiful opening sequence features actress Kim Hye-ja in a wind-swept autumnal field. But as the camera earnestly swirls in for a close-up of Kim’s deadpan expression, the soundtrack shifts and Kim begins an unexpected two-step, creating a moment you might expect to see on a DVD gag reel. Bong’s message is clear: expect just about anything over the next 2 hours. [Read more →]

If one of the independent film organizations had an award for the cast who most allowed themselves to look bad on film, there is no question but that the award would go to Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. (And yes, the length of the film’s official title is annoying.) The festival centerpiece in the Chicago International Film Festival (and the New York Film Festival), Lee Daniel’s latest film not only features a truly remarkable central performance from newcomer Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe as Precious, several celebrity members of the supporting cast are almost not recognizable. Most notable is Mo’Nique, a beautiful woman who plays Precious’ mom, character whose physical ugliness surrounds a soul that seems extensively, irreparably damaged by poverty and ignorance. You may also not recognize [Read more →]

The prologue to Antichrist, Lars von Trier’s latest cinematic provocation, is among the most moving, sumptuous, beautiful imagery ever set to a score and projected for an audience. Washed in a blue monochrome, the slow-motion sequence both takes your breath away and paralyzes you. It is so beautiful, in fact, that it nearly anesthetizes you from the horrible accident that is occuring while Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg, as husband and wife, are in the throes of passionate lovemaking: their small child is falling to his death.

During the four chapters that follow, the anesthetic is steadily reduced until it is eliminated altogether. Left exposed during most jarring moments during the final chapters, your only option is to look away. But it is unlikely that you’ll be able to do so for long, because [Read more →]

Here is a sure indicator that a movie franchise has gone too far: when the latest installment, despite the spectacle of its explosions and special effects, is more or less a bore. That is, sadly, the state of things in the X-Men department. By the look of things, the film has left the caretakers of the Marvel franchise a little stunned as well, given that as many as four different sequels are listed as being “in development,” according to the IMDB. The lesson is should be clear: just because a concept (an origins story, for example) works extremely well in one instance (Batman Begins, for example), doesn’t mean that any ole comic book origins story will do. [Read more →]

Aside from being a kind and gracious soul (as displayed again at his appearance tonight at the film’s North American debut at the Chicago International Film Festival), John Woo is a talented filmmaker. He is well known for the visual flourish he brings to action sequences, which is tirelessly put to use is Red Cliff, the first of a two-part adaptation of the enormous Chinese historical novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. But underneath the clashing swords, incredible landscapes, giant sets, and thousands of extra, Woo has put his talent and resources toward the most important asset in any film, large or small: the individual characters.

The first ten minutes of the Red Cliff are tough work. For a moment I thought Woo had hired the narrator of the film festival trailer, Ken Nordine, to supply the voiceover in the opening scenes. [Read more →]

One of the nicest things about a film festival is the surprise delight, if you are bold enough to take a chance on a film and lucky enough for it to pay off. Not that choosing The Girl on the Train as the first film to see at the Chicago International Film Festival was that big of a risk. Director André Téchiné was known to me (although seeing only one of his several films hardly makes him familiar). And it is hard to go wrong with actress Catherine Deneuve. But the point is that I squeezed this one in, so to speak, prior to my attendance at the premier of John Woo’s Red Cliff, and the fact that this film won out over the other three in it’s general time slot had more to do with my inability to leave the office earlier and the length of the line at the festival box office. [Read more →]

Director Carlos Reygadas doesn’t have a very simple explanation for why he entitled his feature film debut Japón, given that the film is set in Mexico and populated by Mexican characters who do not do or say anything remotely Asian. Reygadas claims that the title captures the film’s tone, revealing his own broad conception of Japanese culture and lifestyle. That is a defendable position, and yet I suspect that the choice also reveals the pretensions of a young, talented, and energetic director who wanted to enhance the sense of mystery associated with his film. That’s okay, too, given the fact that Reygadas puts his money where his mouth is, crafting a bold, complex, yet sensitive portrait of two ordinary people. [Read more →]

While a lot of attention will be given to the fact that director Brian Caunter and his Columbia College Chicago colleagues landed the very recognizable Frank Vincent (The Sopranos, Goodfellas, etc.) for their feature debut, I was more excited to see the late cameo by Stacey Keach. There wasn’t an art house cinema in my hometown, but I grew up watching “Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer” on TV, back when TVs were either tiny or part of a large piece of furniture, sometimes both. For anyone with a touch of nostalgia for pulpy noir, Chicago Overcoat has a lot to offer. Vincent plays a washed up middling mobster hitman who comes out of semi-retirement in order to make some extra cash. In doing so he sparks the attention of an old school cop (Danny Goldring), who is the only one who sees a connection between the new bodies and a string of dusty unsolved murders files. [Read more →]