Velvet Goldmine (Todd Haynes, 1998)

I feel that this was a movie before it's time. It only grossed one million domestically which is a real shame on it's nine million dollar budget. It has somewhat of a cult following today. It is suprising seeing all these currently famous actors in such an unconventional film. Christian Bale as a sexually confused adolescent in England. Jonathan Rhys Meyer as a bi-sexual David Bowie-like character. Ewan McGregor just showing us his peen while rocking out vis-a-vis Iggy Pop. It is a lot to take it in.



I can see how this is a cult classic of sorts. Not as popular as Rocky Horror Picture Show but I can see how it could catch on eventually. The plot centers around a special "alien" gem that apparently makes him famous. Or something to that extent, it is really never explained. Anyways, the rest of the story is similar to that of Citizen Kane, with Arthur Stewart (CB) attempting to solve the mystery of Brian Slade's (JRM) faked assassination. The plot revolves between Arthur's past involvement in the glam rock movement and his current interviews with the people involved with Slade.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (Peter Sollett, 2008)

I don't really know how I feel about this one. On the one hand, it is a perfectly fine date movie. It has some amusing moments. I don't recall laughing out loud once however. The movie just seemed like a commercial by MTV for the New York Chamber of Commerce. The plot is that Nick has been dumped by his girl friend of six months-but he cannot get over her despite having been separated for over a month-I suppose she took his V-card.

Anyways, nothing too special about this film.

Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)

Wood Allen's semi-autobiographical account of growing up in New York City. I really enjoyed this one. I loved it when Woody would break the 3rd dimension and talk directly to audience about the stuff that was happening around him. Appealing them to understand where he is coming from. Those were my favorite moments during the film. Allen has some of the most interesting insights into man's habits and shortcomings.

The narrative focus of this film jumps around in time quite a lot. Examining his childhood. His pervious wives. His mistakes. His triumphs. I think the most depressing moment is when he attempts to recreate with a new girl the time he spilled lobsters all over the floor with Annie. Originally it was such a touching and heartfelt moment, but the new girl just sat there smoking a cigarette not understanding what his deal was. It showed him how much Annie really meant to him. I think Allen hits the nail on the head about how when you are in a relationship with someone you can just get caught up on the minutia. Getting annoyed by petty things. Expecting your partner to be exactly who you want them to be.

Woody ends his film with a great monologue "...it was great seeing Annie again. I... I realized what a terrific person she was, and... and how much fun it was just knowing her; and I... I, I thought of that old joke, y'know, the, this... this guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, "Doc, uh, my brother's crazy; he thinks he's a chicken." And, uh, the doctor says, "Well, why don't you turn him in?" The guy says, "I would, but I need the eggs." Well, I guess that's pretty much now how I feel about relationships; y'know, they're totally irrational, and crazy, and absurd, and... but, uh, I guess we keep goin' through it because, uh, most of us... need the eggs."

I've only seen a couple of Woody's films; Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Match Point (2006), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), and Zelig (1983). I felt that this film was eerily similar to Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Almost to the extent that Crimes and Misdemeanors mirrored Match Point. In both Annie Hall and VIcky Cristian Barcelona Woody shows how humans cannot ever seem to be happy with what they have. We are always looking over to those greener pastures.

The same is true of Match Point & Crimes and Misdemeanors. Only those films are direct parallels in that they both deal with a rich man killing the woman he truly loves to maintain his social status and orderly lifestyle.

Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)

There seems to be a coherent thread tying all of David Lynch's films together. Now, I've only seen a few of them. Eraserhead. Blue Velvet. Mulholland Dr. Inland Empire. Yet all three have something to do with dreams. Something I am highly intrigued by.

So, the plot is this; Jeffrey, a young college student, comes back home to work at the family hardware store because his father has been injured (it appears he took a nasty fall and/or came down with an extreme illness.) On his way from the hospital to his home he stumbles upon an ear. A very icky-looking ear crawling with ants. Jeffrey decides to take the ear to a neighborhood friend who also happens to be the local detective of Lumberton.

Detective Williams tells Jeff he was right in bringing him the ear and that he wants him to show him exactly where he found the ear. Later that night Jeffrey decides to go to the detectives house to discuss the ear. Unfortunately Det. Williams tells him that he isn't at liberty to tell him anything about that case, but that once it is all wrapped up they can discuss it.

As Jeffrey is leaving Sandy, the detectives daughter, calls to him and walks out of the darkness and into the light. I imagine this is some sort of foreshadowing by Lynch. She tells Jeffrey that she hears things about her father's cases and she suspects that the ear may have something to do with some lady named Dorothy Vallens. They decide to walk over to Dorothy's apartment.

The next day Jeffrey pulls up to her school and takes her to the local diner to tell her he has a plan to sneak into Dorothy's place dressed as a pest control worker. The plan ends up working out despite a few hitches, this allows Jeffrey to sneak in later on. Once inside he is almost caught when he fails to hear Sandy warning him with his car's horn because he was pissing in the bathroom due to the Heineken he drank earlier.

This is where the film dips into the surreal that is so common for Lynch. Prior to this scene, the film was a coherent depiction of life in Lumberton USA. After this scene the life that Jeffrey knew previously is ripped apart. His beliefs are questioned. I think my favorite line takes place right before Jeffrey goes to sneak into the building. Sandy-I can't figure out if you're a detective or a pervert. Jeffery-Well, that's for me to know and you to find out.

A shot that stood out to me was when Jeffery is inside of the closet looking out through the screen door, it is an obvious homage to Psycho (1960). It stood out to me because this scene is obviously referenced in Burn After Reading (2008). While Jeffery is in the closet we get our first encounter of one of the greatest movie villains ever. Frank Booth.

I like Frank for two reasons:
1. Heineken? Fuck that Shit! PABST BLUE RIBBON!
2. Where's my bourbon?!

The Wackness (Justin Levine, 2008)

The Wackness is Justin Levine's third film he has written and the fourth he has directed. I found the plot to be quite engaging, despite the fact I never experienced growing up in NYC in the early 90's.
I thought the relationship between Luke & Stephanie quite accurate. The girl was bored because her "boyfriend" Justin was away in Italy for the summer. So she takes a liking to the local pot dealer to pass the time. Unfortunately for Luke, he falls head over heels for this girl. Only to have his heart broken. It is a tragic tale. Albeit common.
I really kind of feel sad for Stephanie in this situation because she doesn't even realize that Justin is a total tool. Then again, a lot of good looking intelligent women seem to have a strange attraction to egotistical unintelligent men. It's not their fault though. Those men are exciting. Luke is a boring guy that really like her. Why would she want that when she can have a bro that will treat her like dirt. At least that keeps her emotions running high at all times.
I thought that Ben Kingsley did a great job portraying a broken man in a bad relationship. Though this movie was depressing for the most part, it ended on a happy note.

Roman Polanski: Wanted & Desired (Mariana Zenovich, 2008)

This documentary by Mariana Zenovich describes the life and trials of Roman Polanski, the famed director of Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby, The Pianist, and many other great films. I have always been interested in being a film director, but I am not sure it would be worth it if I had to go through the trials and tribulations that Roman had to put up with. His parents killed by Nazis. The brutal murder of his gorgeous wife and unborn son by the Charles Manson Family is enough to crush a man alone.

Yet he lived on, continued to make films and try to enjoy life to the best of his ability. Only to get into a sticky situation--statutory rape. 13 years-old to be exact, a little young in California, well, not Baja California where the limit is 12 for some inexplicable reason! Not a very fun rap to have over your head. Anyways, the trial was not handled in what I would call a highly constitutional manner; more like a circus side show. One thing lead to an other and one of the greatest directors of our time hops on a flight to France never to return. Leaving him "wanted" in the US and still "desired" as a filmmaker abroad.

The film did an excellent job portraying the trial and life of Mr. Polanski and the media's fascination with celebrity and crime. Similar to a recent film I watched, only this seems to be the anti-thesis to Badlands. Where instead of the media glorifying a serial killer (Charlie Sheen) because he is young, beautiful and charming. Instead condemning Roman Polanski because he had consensual sex with an underage girl. It was a stupid decision on his part, because in my humble opinion, there are plenty of beautiful 18 years or older women out there to choose from.

Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)

Psycho is one of those movies, where, despite never having seen it before in my life it felt a part of me. Something in the collective psyche of America. I knew some vague plot points; girl gets killed in a shower, the killer is his mother, the Bates motel... but I felt I understood the movie, without ever watching more than a ten second shower killing scene at Universal Studios where they revealed to me that the secrete to Alfred Hitchcock's blood was Bosco Brand Chocolate Syrup.

Anyways, after watching it, my suspicions were more or less confirmed. I did already know the basic plot, but the devil is in the details. I didn't have any idea Marion had stolen $40,000 (about $300,000 today!) from her employer in order to pay off her lover's debts. She then makes her way across country, being chased/harassed by a sketchy cop for a short while. Only to end up at the hotel of Norman Bates. While there Bates shares a nice meal with Marion and thoroughly creeps the fuck out of anyone watching.

Marion retires to the shower only to be attacked by Norman Bate's mother! Or so Hitchcock would like us to believe until the big reveal at the end of the film. Watching this film make me realize how great of a filmmaker he really was. I have only seen 4 of his 66 films (Vertigo, North by Northwest, Rear Window, & This Film) but each one is phenomenal.

Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973)

Terrence Malick's major directorial debut is a re-imagining of Bonnie & Clyde. The movie takes place in South Dakota, where Kit (Charlie Sheen) works as a garbageman turned cowhand. He decides to leave work early and on his way home he stumbles across Holly (Sissy Spacek) a fifteen year old living with her widowed father. Kit decides to try and talk to her because he'll "try anything once."
They end up falling in love (or whatever that means for a fifteen year old girl) and when Holly's father find out he is not too happy. Suffice to say Kit isn't happy when, even after telling her dad he has good intentions, he says to stay away. After that Kit decides to try and run away with Holly, everything goes wrong when her father tries to stop them. Kit kills him in an instant (though he claims he was "provoked") and then leaves telling Holly she can call the cops if she likes, it doesn't make much difference. He returns and decides that burning the house down would be the best plan of action. From there they travel across the state with no real plan of action, but with Kit's itchy trigger finger they get into quite a lot of trouble along the way.
I think the most interesting device used in the movie was the score- a very upbeat xylophone and unusual operatic singing- that combined with the distance of the narration by a very naive little girl create a movie that is surreal yet not in the least bit unbelievable. The I particularly liked how this film showed how people in the USA are such celebrity fanatics. Even if the person is famous for killing a handful of people on a pointless killing spree across the great plains.
It is quite obvious that this film has has left a mark on the history of cinema. I thought a lot of the cinematography reminded me of the Cohen Brothers' films No Country For Old Men (2007) & Blood Simple (1984).