Date of first viewing: Saturday, June 16, 2007
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Once again I find myself giving 5 stars to a movie most people hated. Yes, this film is over the top, but so are all fairy tales, aren't they? We tell kids stories of witches who capture little children and bake them in the oven, but since stories like that happen "a long time ago in a kingdom far, far away" we don't find them as unsettling as this modern-day fairy tale. To those who thought the events were too horrific for a child actor to depict, I ask exactly what did you see that was so horrible? No one was murdered; the deaths were accidental or caused by the characters' own negligence. No one had sex with a child, although many seem to be interpreting a couple of kissing scenes with the retarded Dickens as pedophilia. I found Pan's Labyrinth (which I also loved) to be way more violent and disturbing, yet most folks raved about that one.
In fact, rather than being about death and violence, I found the main theme of Tideland to be all the ways that humans attempt to *escape* the reality of death, whether through heroin vacations or chocolate or taxidermy or vivid imaginary worlds. The real violence in Tideland doesn't occur until the very end of the film, when Gilliam visually depicts the end of the child's innocence the moment she sees that the wailing character in the darkness is not the triumphant dance of her friend but the agonized stagger of a stranger blinded by her friend's actions.
I think viewers expected a film like Pan's Labyrinth in which the lines between harsh reality and imaginary escape are clearly delineated. But in Tideland, the whole world is a freakish fairy tale, and Terry Gilliam is the perfect guy to tell it.
Oh, and one more thing. To all those who were bothered that the little girl was obviously *acting*, isn't that the point? From personal experience, as a child who had a vivid imagination, the only times I wasn't acting were when I was asleep.
Date of first viewing: Friday, May 18, 2007
Location: Home
Format: DVD (Oh how I wish I'd seen this on the big screen when it was first released.)
I can't remember ever having such a purely visceral experience watching a movie. From the first stunning image I began to cry and by the end of the film, my body was wracked with sobs. It wasn't sadness that brought on the crying, but an almost unbearable elation! My point is that this movie is not something to figure out with the logical mind. Like the practice of meditation, it's not a concept to be grasped intellectually, but an experience to be felt by letting go. Letting go. Letting go. Each moment, letting go. Which is ultimately the point of this gorgeous masterpiece, is it not?
Date of first viewing: Monday, April 30, 2007
Location: Kabuki Theater
Format: Big screen
I just saw this film at the San Francisco International Film Festival. It left me glowing. At first, this documentary reminded me a little of Errol Morris's
Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control, in that it tells 4 seemingly different stories. But the charisma and sincerity of the four subjects as they relate the dramas of their lives, combined with gorgeous puppetry and elements of Euripides plays create a delicious, warm stew of human motives and emotions. I left the theater thoroughly satisfied.
Date of first viewing: Thursday, April 26, 2007
Location: Castro Theater
Format: big screen
Beautifully shot, leisurely paced, short on dialogue and unnecessary exposition, combining meticulously researched realism with profoundly surreal images, this film was the glorious opener to the 2007 San Francisco Film International Festival. Don't expect quick answers or lots of action. Instead, relax into this film, allow yourself to savor each moment, let the images penetrate your unconscious, and you will be roundly rewarded.
Date of first viewing: Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Location: Home
Format: DVD
After a day of watching classic horror films, this silent movie left me breathless. Like a moving painting, a story told in shadows on the wall, beautifully-timed orchestration, a heroine like a porcelain doll you don't know whether to protect or smash, a hero (villain?) with as much pathos as the elephant man, humor and terror and opera and ballet and a grand chandelier falling from the ceiling.
Such a poignant image: the deformed face of the unmasked phantom juxtaposed against a statue of Apollo on the roof of the opera house as he overhears the woman he loves plotting her escape from him.
It's a beauty and the beast story gone tragically wrong, which is just right for a cold, gray November day.
Date of first viewing: Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Location: Home
Format: VHS & DVD
What could be better than watching
The Mummy with friends on Halloween night, a log crackling in the fireplace, hot mulled cider on the stove, popcorn and candy, and a pizza on the way? How about recuperating the next day with 4 more* classic horror films? It's gray outside and all I want to do is curl up in my chair with the remote and be afraid.
Count Dracula: To die, to be *really* dead, that must be glorious!
Mina Seward: Why, Count Dracula!
Count Dracula: There are far worse things awaiting man than death.
Henry Frankenstein: Look! It's moving. It's alive. It's alive... IT'S ALIVE!
*The 4th film is
Phantom of the Opera, a masterpiece which deserves its own separate entry.
Date of first viewing: Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Based on the previews, I wasn't looking forward to this film but felt compelled to see it before the Academy Awards. I'm so glad I did. I think Meirelles fell in love with Kenya, and his vibrant, thrilling palette invites us to fall in love too. A gorgeous film. I think the studio did it SUCH a disservice to promote it as a fast-paced thriller. The trailers I saw use mainly the slick-looking blue/gray London scenes, which are a small part of the film, rather than the gorgeous super-saturated Kenyan scenes. Based on those trailers, it looks to be just the usual cold-blooded spy thriller. It is no such thing, and I think the audiences that went to see it or rented it based on the trailers were the WRONG AUDIENCES for the film! WHY OH WHY DO STUDIOS MAKE THIS MISTAKE???
Date of first viewing: Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Location: Lowe's Metreon with Mark
and Friday, December 2, 2005 at United Artists Metro Theatre with Sonia and Anna
and Monday, December 19, 2005 at AMC 1000 Van Ness with Michael
and many more times on DVD
WOW! I’ve seen "Rent" on stage 4 times and listened to the cast album over and over. But the movie blew me away! The director used the medium of film well to highlight things in ways that can't be done on stage. “Tango: Maureen” was brilliant. “Santa Fe” done in the subway was a hoot. "Today 4 U" and "La Vie Boheme" were exciting, and Tom's reprise of "I'll Cover You" had everyone in the theater in tears.
To me, skipping "Contact" was a blessing. It's my least favorite part of the show. In fact, I’ve always found the last half of the show to be thin and unfinished somehow. In the film, plot points are fleshed out in ways that give the relationships more meaning. I LOVE the additional details of Joanne’s and Maureen’s relationship. And unlike a previous reviewer, I thought the use of montages were effective.
A problem of the stage show is too much explication and not enough action. The film adheres to that old saying, "Show; don't tell." In the movie, quite a bit of the sung explication is replaced with visual sequences. We don't need to hear Roger sing clunky lyrics about how Mark lives for his work and detaches from feeling alive because we can see it for ourselves. And still, all but a handful of songs remain fantastically intact.
I did miss "Goodbye Love." On the other hand, I didn't realize I missed it until I came home and played the album. The film also replaces quite a bit of the sung dialogue with spoken dialogue. It was weird at first, but after a while I realized how much more effective this technique is for a wider audience. The first time people see "Rent" on stage, they miss quite a bit of important information because the words are sung so fast and the performers’ diction is not always great. Speaking the words eliminates this problem. The story is not "dumbed down." The delivery of the story is simply more accessible. Not everyone has the patience of a Renthead to go back time after time and pick up what they missed.
Date of first viewing: Saturday, November 08, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Date of first viewing: Saturday, November 01, 2003
Location: AMC 1000 Van Ness
Date of first viewing: Friday, October 31, 2003
Location: Red's house on Halloween
Format: DVD
More Halloween horror. This one really freaked Michael out!
Date of first viewing: Friday, October 31, 2003
Location: Red's house on Halloween night
Format: DVD
Date of first viewing: Saturday, October 25, 2003
Location: Home, with Michael
Format: DVD
Scary movie #2 this week. Yeah, chilling, creepy, logical, all that. But I guess I had heard so much hype about this movie that the terrifying ending was just not as awful as I thought it would be. Maybe because it was so inevitable. The sociopath is relentlessly cold and calculating in his crimes while warm with his family. I found the film to be more depressing than gripping.
Date of first viewing: Saturday, October 25, 2003
Location: Home, with Michael
Format: DVD
Halloween is coming. It's scary movie time. "The Ring" is Scary Movie #1. Except it wasn't that scary. And it wasn't that good, despite Naomi Watts. Too many broken links and bits of illogic. And Naomi Watts wasn't that good. She could have been any blonde-haired scary movie actress. Too bad. Now I see on IMDB that The Ring 2 is in production, also starring Naomi Watts. Maybe some things will be explained. But maybe no one will care anymore.
Date of first viewing: Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Disturbing, raw, difficult. Normally, I would write off this kind of movie as pretentious (or "artsy fartsy," as Julien's father would call it.) Certainly exploitive - of people with disabilities. But then, what films don't exploit people, and why shouldn't disabled people get their few moments of fame? Anyway, this morning I can't get the images out of my head. There is something really compelling about the absolute raw honesty of this movie. And speaking of Julien's father, I found him to be even MORE disturbing than the Dennis Hopper character in Blue Velvet. Because of the naturalness of Werner Herzog's performance, I didn't feel like I was watching a performance at all, but a deranged guy being secretly filmed in his bedroom. Creepy.
Date of first viewing: Saturday, October 18, 2003
Location: Home, with Michael
Format: DVD
Cute, frothy, retro fun. Great colors. A mere wisp of a story.
Date of first viewing: Sunday, October 12, 2003
Location: Home, with Michael
Format: DVD
One of the WORST examples of VOICEOVER NARRATION!! Why oh why do they do it?!? Don't tell us how we should feel! Make us feel it! Generally, voiceover narration should be used sparingly. There are brilliant examples of effective voiceovers: "About A Boy," "Adaptation," "Fight Club," "The Opposite of Sex." In these movies, the narration doesn't explain what the audience can clearly see for itself on the screen. Instead, it provides a counterpoint to what's on screen or reveals the inner workings and obsessions of the narrator's mind.
Anyway, suffice it to say, this Academy Award nominated film is NOT RECOMMENDED, despite Michael Caine.
Date of first viewing: Saturday, October 11, 2003
Location: (Metreon. Snuck in w/ Michael after previous movie. Don't tell!)
Date of first viewing: Saturday, October 11, 2003
Location: The Metreon with Michael
Date of first viewing: Thursday, September 18, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Date of first viewing: Saturday, September 13, 2003
Location: Michael's house
Format: VHS
Date of first viewing: Sunday, August 24, 2003
Location: Home, with Michael
Format: DVD
Date of first viewing: Saturday, August 23, 2003
Location:With Michael & Jan at Jan's house
Format: DVD
Date of first viewing: Monday, August 18, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Date of first viewing: Sunday, August 17, 2003
Location:United Airlines Flight 64 to San Francisco
Wow! I never thought I'd enjoy so many Disney movies. And especially not in the same year. This movie is funny and clever and suspenseful. The plot is a little confusing at times, but the characters are great. Sigourney Weaver is truly evil as the detention camp warden. Jon Voigt is hysterical as her assisant, Mr. Sir. Henry Winkler plays the main character's schlumpy dad; Eartha Kitt plays the mysterious Madame Zeroni; Patricia Arquette (who I love because her teeth are like mine) is the vengeful Kate Barlow. But the character I loved the most is Zero, played by newcomer, Khleo Thomas. My only regret is that I missed the first part of the movie and parts of the dialogue whenever our pilot decided to make announcements. And, of course, the picture quality was pretty crappy on the plane. I'd love to see this again in a decent theater.
Date of first viewing: Saturday, August 09, 2003
Location: United Airlines Flight 59 to Hawaii
Take a cheesy yet perfectly fun musical like Grease, cross it with a cheesy yet perfectly fun TV show like The Love Boat and then update it Britney Spears-style to eliminate any traces of melody or humor and you're left with the dreck called,
From Justin to Kelly. Okay, I knew it would be awful. But after becoming an American Idol addict this year, I just had to see for myself what the first 2 winners of the show were up to. Poor kids. Maybe Kelly Clarkson sold more albums than Madonna this year. But where will she be when the next Madonna album is delivered? Will anyone even remember her name?
Date of first viewing: Friday, August 08, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Date of first viewing: Saturday, August 02, 2003
Location: Home, with Michael
Format: VHS
Date of first viewing: Saturday, August 02, 2003
Location: Home, with Michael
Format: VHS
Oooo, I'm in trouble for watching this naughty thing about a naive Mormon missionary boy in L.A. whose martial arts talent lands him a role as sex superhero, Orgazmo, in a porn flick. By Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the Southpark guys: you know it's gotta be rude. Ron Jeremy is funny as Jizz Master Zero. (Well, maybe it's just his name that's funny.) Is it true that you have to pay to get married in the Salt Lake temple?
Date of first viewing: Friday, July 25, 2003
Location: Home, with Michael
Format: DVD
Frances McDormand is hot. I liked the feel of this movie and watching Frances McDormand running around in teen-age boy T-shirts. It's by Lisa Cholodenko, the same woman who did
High Art, which I loved. I wasn't as crazy about this movie. I guess the plot wasn't as compelling, and the writing was a bit heavy-handed, or as Michael would say, clunky, in places. But overall, I thought it successfully captured the atmosphere of the place and the sexual tension/frustrations among its characters.
Date of first viewing: Monday, July 14, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Date of first viewing: Sunday, July 13, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Date of first viewing: Saturday, July 12, 2003
Location: United Artists Emery Bay Theater with Michael
I'm in love with Johnny Depp all over again. His pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow, is hilarious. This movie is funny in all the right places and exciting and scary and visually amazing. Keira Knightley is gorgeous. The skeleton pirate crew is spooky. So much fun, I didn't want this movie to end!
Date of first viewing: Friday, June 27, 2003
Location: Home, with Michael
Format: DVD
Date of first viewing: Monday, June 23, 2003
Location: Red's house
Format: DVD
This could have been a typical psycho thriller. The story has been done over and over. Lonely person idolizes someone who represents an ideal and slowly admiration becomes obsession. Friendliness devolves into stalking. Repressed anger erupts into full-blown psychosis. The end is usually fraught with screaming and running. Sometimes there's blood. The psycho ends up either dead or remains at large looking for his/her next victim. But
One Hour Photo is not a typical thriller. It's quiet and deliberate, and in its understatement is scary as hell.
Nevertheless, it's not the plot that interests me so much as what the film has to say about documentation -- the things we record and preserve -- and how the artifacts of our lives can be mistaken for the actual substance. Sy says, "If pictures have anything to say, it's this: I was here, I existed. I was young and happy and someone cared enough about me to take my picture." That's probably true. On the other hand, "Most people don't take snapshots of the little things. The used Band-Aid, the guy at the gas station, the wasp on the Jell-O. But these are the things that make up the true picture of our lives. People don't take pictures of these things." "Nobody takes a picture of something they want to forget."
And even though Sy knows how pictures only tell part of the story, he still allows himself to be seduced by the pictures of the "perfect" family. The family he didn't have. The family he wants to be a part of. Uncle Sy. He buys an old high school photograph from an antique dealer so that he will have a picture of a "mom" to keep in his wallet. His story is all about what is shown and what is hidden. The surprise ending is heartbreaking. He says, finally, to the police chief, "All I did was take pictures..." And in a way, that's all any of us do, no?
I'm a fraud, I thought to myself last Sunday at the meditation retreat. And then I smiled. Even chuckled.
I'm a fraud. See the things I am showing you? See how I present myself in public? See what I choose to publish on this web site? Pictures. Only pictures. Even the wasp in the jello would be only a fraction of the story. And ultimately, none of it matters. Because, finally, the story itself is an artifact. Even if you could include the whole world in a moment, a second later the edifice crumbles. Reality cannot be preserved.
Our pictures, our snaphots, reflect our lives. But our lives themselves, our bodies and personalities, our beliefs and histories, are only shadows of what is eternal, aren't they? And what is eternal is change. There is freedom in knowing that your own life is the ultimate lying snapshot. That you are no more real than a photo. That the only way to be truthful is to acknowledge the fraud. To not believe in the fraud. Yet at the same time, to live it as fully as you can. Because even if all we are is pictures, we can be beautiful ones, can't we?
Date of first viewing: Saturday, June 14, 2003
Location: Salt Lake City w/ Mom & Dad
Format: VHS
and also sometime last year at the Shattuck Theater in Berkeley
I wasn't thrilled by this film when I saw it in the theater last year, and I'm still not impressed by it. I find it tedious. Will Terry disagrees. Here is our e-mail exchange:
Will: Cool balloons....the road to perdition rocked!
Beth: The Road to Perdition was artificial, overly ornate & precious, took itself way too seriously, and what was up with the American Beauty soundtrack? Oh, wait. Did you see American Beauty? Road to Perdition used the exact same cinemagraphic techniques. But American Beauty was about artifice and superficial appearances, so those techniques worked. Road to Perdition should have been grittier, not so stylized. The camera angles started to become soooo predictable in their cleverness after while.
Will: Damn...that there road to perdishon was bitchin...
Hmm... which sibling was dropped on his head and which one takes herself way too seriously?
Date of first viewing: Saturday, June 14, 2003
Location: Salt Lake City w/ Mom & Dad
Format: VHS
Date of first viewing: Friday, June 13, 2003
Location: Salt Lake City w/ Mom & Dad
Format: VHS
Date of first viewing: Thursday, June 12, 2003
Location: Salt Lake City w/ Mom & Dad
Format: VHS
Date of first viewing: Thursday, June 12, 2003
Location: Salt Lake City w/ Mom & Dad
Format: VHS
Who cares about Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry? We're waiting for Madonna. Thankfully, her part is just big enough to add spice and small enough for her not to suck.
Date of first viewing: Saturday, June 07, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Date of first viewing: Saturday, May 31, 2003
Location: The Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley with Michael
Yeah! Fun Fun Fun! And did I mention Fun? P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney. Marlin, a clown fish who can't tell jokes, (Albert Brooks) must find his son, Nemo, who has been captured by deep sea diving dentist, P. Sherman, before Nemo becomes gift to the dentist's headgear-wearing fish-killing niece. Marlin is aided by Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a fish with short-term memory loss, Bruce (Barry Humphries a.k.a. Dame Edna), a shark in recovery from eating other fish, Crush, a 150-year old sea turtle surfer dude, and others. Of course, it's Disney, so you can't escape a certain amount of family values sappiness, but the hilarous jokes and quick timing make up for it.
Date of first viewing: Friday, May 30, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Date of first viewing: Sunday, May 25, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Saw it because I "should." Okay, now I've seen it.
Date of first viewing: Saturday, May 24, 2003
Location: Home, with Michael
Format: DVD
Another "should" movie. Getting my dose of cinema history. Also, Madonna history. After all, the set for her video, "Express Yourself," was based on this film, so of course I forced Michael to watch it afterward.
Date of first viewing: Sunday, May 18, 2003
Location: With Mom & Dad in SLC, UT
Format: VHS
Date of first viewing: Sunday, May 11, 2003
Location: Home, with Michael
Format: DVD
The same schtick Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant are famous for. But this is the first time they've done it together. A good combo. Cute.
Date of first viewing: Saturday, May 10, 2003
Location: The Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley with Michael
Date of first viewing: Monday, April 28, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Date of first viewing: Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Date of first viewing: Sunday, April 13, 2003
Location: Home, with Michael
Format: DVD
Date of first viewing: Saturday, April 12, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Date of first viewing: Monday, April 07, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
I LOVED this movie. So why has it taken me so long to write about it? (Writing this Tues 8/26/03.) I rented it after seeing
All About My Mother, since Almodovar lists this film and Gena Rowlands as inspirations for his movie. Vivid, colorful, emotionally wrenching, and spooky as well. Gena Rowlands getting beaten up by her invisible ghost girl is brilliant.
Date of first viewing: Sunday, April 06, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Having a mini Gena Rowlands fest, inspired by seeing
All About My Mother.
Date of first viewing: Saturday, April 05, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!
Date of first viewing: Saturday, April 05, 2003
Location: The Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley with Michael and Jan
A definite crowd pleaser. I don't normally enjoy these "feel good" types of movies. Count me in the tiny minority of Americans who didn't fall in love with
My Big Fat Greek Wedding. But this one has enough salty humor in with its sugar to keep me interested and laughing.
Date of first viewing: Wednesday, April 02, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
The Coen brothers' first movie. A young Frances McDormand. A bizarre plot that moves slowly but deliberately and builds in intensity and complexity until the end. What could be better on a Wednesday night?
Date of first viewing: Tuesday, April 01, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
April Fool's Day. Am I a fool to have enjoyed this movie? I've been reading many of the viewer critiques on IMDB, and it seems that most die-hard fans of The Who find the movie to be a big disappointment. Well, I like The Who when I hear their stuff on the radio, but I've never owned an album, and I mostly had a ball watching this outrageous psychedelic trip of a movie. The first few scenes are overly melodramatic, and the young boy Tommy leaves me cold. But once Roger Daltry takes over, the thing flies. The Church of Marilyn Monroe is fantastic. Tina Turner as the Acid Queen ignites the screen. Elton John's Pinball Wizard is campy fun, and Jack Nicholson as A. Quackson, Mental Health Specialist, is a scream. The visuals are insane: Ann-Margret as Tommy's mother rolling around in baked beans and chocolate, the Acid Queen's hypodermic-needle-robot-thing (what else to call it?) that encases Tommy, the weirdly touching story of Sally Simpson, I could go on and on. Something that differentiates this movie from a rock opera like Jesus Christ Superstar, which predates this movie by 2 years, is that the film plays like a string of independent rock videos. Each song is separate, distinct, and melodic. There aren't many "connecting" bits of "talk singing" between songs as there are in most operas, and being a member of the MTV generation, I appreciate that. No one can call me a snob!
Date of first viewing: Sunday, March 30, 2003
Location: Home
Format: DVD
Finally! A fantastic film. Colorful, crazy, heartbreaking. Almodóvar calls it, "screwball drama." Taking elements from
All About Eve,
A Streetcar Named Desire,
Opening Night, and probably other films I don't know about, this movie explores the ways in which women "act," and in so doing portrays them as thoroughly authentic, not in spite of the artifice, but in some ways because of it."
Two quotes from the movie sum it up: The character, Agrado, a transexual woman listing the sums of money she has paid to modify her body, concludes that every penny was worth it because, "You are more authentic the more you resemble what you've dreamed of being." And Pedro Almodóvar's dedication at the end of this film, "A Bette Davis, Gena Rowlands, Romy Schneider... A todas las actrices que han hecho de actrices, a todas las mujeres que actúan, a los hombres que actúan y se convierten en mujeres, a todas las personas que quieren ser madres. A mi madre."" (Translation: To Bette Davis, Gena Rowlands, Romy Scheider... To all the actresses who have played actresses, to all the women who act, to men who act and become women, to all the people who want to be mothers. To my mother.)
Thematically,
All About My Mother reminds me of another of my all-time favorite films,
Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which also deals with issues of artifice and authenticity and is also emotionally deep and moving, despite it's flamboyant surface. This is one of the few films I will see again.