Tarkovsky Thursday: Solaris (1972)

Posted on by bernardovillela

If you’re not already aware of Open Culture you should bookmark or follow them for they are great resource. One post on their site notified me to the fact that the films of Andrei Tarkovsky are online legitimately. In the case of his last student film: the great The Steamroller and the Violin it’s been taken down, but the others are good to go. Be sure to click on the “cc” for subtitles.

It’s hard to believe that Tarkovsky authored but seven features. What he lacked prolifically he made up for with his impact.

I will be featuring all his films here.

Mini-Review: Deep Dark Canyon

Posted on by bernardovillela

Introduction

This is a post that is a repurposing of an old-school Mini-Review Round-Up post. As stated here I am essentially done with running multi-film review posts. Each film deserves its own review. Therefore I will repost, and at times add to, old reviews periodically. Enjoy!

Deep Dark Canyon

Two things I often write about with regard to film-watching came into blissful convergence when I saw this film: first, there’s the Blank Slate Theory. Granted I read a line or two of synopsis, but up until that email from Redbox I hadn’t heard of this film. Secondly, and closely related to the first part, whatever expectations I created, over-inflated, and then guarded against in my head; were exceeded.

So why’s that? What Deep Dark Canyon does is take something that may sound like a higher concept or gimmicky set-up: two fugitives on the run while handcuffed to one another, and grounds it. What it gets grounded in is a wicked microcosm wherein one family, the Cavanaughs, calls all the shots and stacks the deck, whether inside or outside the law. When the Towne family won’t stand for it anymore things start to get complicated.

There are quite a few great turns of the plot in this tale, which coaxed audible reactions from me. This is a film that doesn’t fear going down the rabbit hole of further and greater consequences, but it never gets unreal in the given parameters.

While crimes, secrets and conspiracies bring you into the tale, it’s the human story that keeps you engaged in it. The revelations among Towne family members (uncle, father and brothers) swing the pendulum of power back and forth and the struggle is intriguing.

Of course, in a story that’s contained and stripped down, plot points can only take you so far. The performances have to keep you engaged. Spencer Treat Clark, in his first role as an adult performer that allows him to follow-through on the promise he showed as a young actor (there will likely be more to come soon like Much Ado About Nothing), and Nick Eversman, has quite a breakthrough performance (All I had seen him in prior was Hellraiser: Revelations); are captivating co-leads, who deliver incredibly raw, earnest performances.

Deep Dark Canyon delivers quite a bit of drama in the guise of a fugitive film, but delivers in both respects. It’s a fairly enthralling film that’s worthwhile viewing for sure.

8/10

Mini-Review: Silent Night (2012)

Posted on by bernardovillela

This year, as I did both last year and in 2012, I am engaging in something I like to call the Year-End Dash. Basically, its the scramble to get as many eligible titles viewed as possible before the end of the year for the forthcoming BAM Awards.

The extemporaneous reactions to late viewing will be short, but they will be logged. So I thought it would also be a good idea to re-post in standalone form some of the more memorable films I’ve seen in the first few jaunts.

Silent Night

I have not seen the film upon which this is based, but knowing that it spawned a low-budget franchise of its own makes it a candidate for examination next time 61 Days of Halloween rolls around. There aren’t nearly enough evil Santa tales, while this one doesn’t go to a “real Santa” like Santa’s Slay, this is definitely my favorite so far: good twists and mistaken identity, great turns from Malcolm McDowell with hilarious “movie cop” dialogue, and Donal Logue and excellent kills.

8/10

2014 BAM Award Considerations – November

Posted on by bernardovillela

I decided that with the plethora of BAM Awards-related post towards the end of 2013 and the start of this year it was best to wait to the end of this month before officially recommencing the process.

I will post these lists towards the end of the month to allow for minimal updates. By creating a new post monthly, and creating massive combo files offline, it should make the process easier for me and more user-friendly for you, the esteemed reader. Enjoy.

Eligible Titles

I Am Yours
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Apaches
Rhymes for Young Ghouls
Halbschatten
Pants on Fire
To Kill a Man
The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears
Interstellar
Big Hero 6
A Life in Dirty Movies
Zip and Zap and the Marble Gang
Santa Hunters
Horrible Bosses 2
The Theory of Everything
The Babadook
Spud 2: The Madness Continues
A Christmoose Story

Best Picture

Big Hero 6

Best Foreign Film

I Am Yours
Apaches
Halbschatten
To Kill a Man
The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears
Zip and Zap and the Marble Gang
A Christmoose Story

Best Documentary

A Life in Dirty Movies

Most Overlooked Film

As intimated in my Most Underrated announcement this year, I’ve decided to make a change here. Rather than get caught up in me vs. the world nonsense and what a film’s rating is on an aggregate site, the IMDb or anywhere else, I want to champion smaller, lesser-known films. In 2011 with the selection of Toast this move was really in the offing. The nominees from this past year echo that fact. So here, regardless of how well-received something is by those who’ve seen it, I’ll be championing indies and foreign films, and the occasional financial flop from a bigger entity.

Apaches
Rhymes for Young Ghouls
The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears
A Life in Dirty Movies
Zip and Zap and the Marble Gang
A Christmoose Story

Best Director

Apaches
The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears
Big Hero 6
Zip and Zap and the Marble Gang
A Christmoose Story

Best Actress

Amrita Acharia I Am Yours
Devery Jacobs Rhymes for Young Ghouls
Anne Ratte-Polle Halbschatten
Jennifer Lawrence The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Felicity Jones The Theory of Everything
Essie Davis The Babadook

Best Actor

Matthew McConaghuey Interstellar
Eddie Redmayne The Theory of Everything

Best Supporting Actress

Rabia Noreen I Am Yours

Best Supporting Actor

Ola Rapace I Am Yours
Arjan Ederveen A Christmoose Story

Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Leading Role

Claudia Vega Zip and Zap and the Marble Gang
Dana Goldberg A Christmoose Story


Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Leading Role

Bradley Steven Perry Pants on Fire
Raul Rivas Zip and Zap and the Marble Gang
Daniel CerezoZip and Zap and the Marble Gang
Noah Wiseman The Babadook
Dennis Reinsma A Christmoose Story

Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Supporting Role

Mackenzie Foy Interstellar

Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Supporting Role

Prince Singh I Am Yours
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Lenard Proxauf Halbschatten
Joshua J. Ballard Pants on Fire
Timothée Chalamet Interstellar
Marcos RuizZip and Zap and the Marble Gang
Oliver Payne The Theory of Everything

Best Cast

I Am Yours
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Interstellar
Zip and Zap and the Marble Gan
Horrible Bosses 2
The Theory of Everything
Spud 2: The Madness Continues
A Christmoose Story

Best Youth Ensemble

Apaches
Pants on Fire
Interstellar
Zip and Zap and the Marble Gang
Santa Hunters
The Theory of Everything

Best Original Screenplay

The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears
Big Hero 6

Best Adapted Screenplay

Big Hero 6
Zip and Zap and the Marble Gang
A Christmoose Story

Best Score

<emThe Strange Color of Your Body's Tears
Big Hero 6
Zip and Zap and the Marble Gang
The Theory of Everything
A Christmoose Story

Best Editing

The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears
Interstellar

Best Sound Editing/Mixing

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears
Big Hero 6
Zip and Zap and the Marble Gang

Best Cinematography

The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears
Interstellar
Big Hero 6
Zip and Zap and the Marble Gang
The Theory of Everything
A Christmoose Story

Best Art Direction

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears
Interstellar
Zip and Zap and the Marble Gang
The Babadook

Best Costume Design

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears
Zip and Zap and the Marble Gang
The Theory of Everything

Best Makeup

Rhymes for Young Ghouls
The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears
The Theory of Everything

Best Visual Effects

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Interstellar
Zip and Zap and the Marble Gang
The Babadook
A Christmoose Story

Best (Original) Song

“The Hanging Tree The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
“Immortals” Big Hero 6
Choir Spud 2: The Madness Continues

Year-End Dash 2014

Posted on by bernardovillela

Typically on my calendar what you will find is that the end of the year runs one theme into another from 61 Days of Halloween to Thankful for World Cinema to the Year-End Dash. While the prior two tie a specific genre or niche to the time period the time of year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve is reserved for all manner of cinema so long as the titles are eligible for the current years’ BAM Awards. So here are some films seen in this time period so far.

Most of my daily posts will be prior selections that impacted the year in question. I will not over-elaborate here on my opinion, but rather just log what is being viewed for consideration

Films Seen

Late November

1. Horrible Bosses 2

Very funny. A worthy follow-up.

2. The Theory of Everything

Strong acting, music; a few strong images but overall a fairly tepid affair after a certain point.

3. Santa Hunters

An unfortunately far-too-run-of-the-mill holiday telefilm, whose decent or unique moments are far too scarce.

4. The Babadook

A smart, rather original idea that struggles to reach and elegant effective conclusion following some good ambiance, great scares and better acting.

Short Film Saturday: From London with Love

Posted on by bernardovillela

I believe in nothing before its time, which is why even though I’ve seen it, and it’s already quite popular on YouTube; I am only posting this holiday-themed film from Burberry now. While I have discussed in the past that commercial-films can be artful (See example one and two). This one is interesting in another way: it also blurs lines of theatre and film as Old Hollywood musicals did in big numbers. It also starts Romeo Beckham, the son of a international footballer David Beckham.

Mini-Review: 23:59

Posted on by bernardovillela

Introduction

This is a post that is a repurposing of an old-school Mini-Review Round-Up post. As stated here I am essentially done with running multi-film review posts. Each film deserves its own review. Therefore I will repost, and at times add to, old reviews periodically. Enjoy!

23:59

Where this film succeeds in in bringing oral history and the element of fireside horror stories into a mostly cohesive narrative. Where it finds troubles is unfortunately towards its ending. What was a very simple and straightforward story decides it’s going to take a dip into the coy and vague.

Sadly, the ending though does feel a bit of a letdown and incongruous when it first occurs is truly symptomatic of the lack of ebb and flow of the film as whole. During act one, when most of the flashbacks are occurring there are some good moments, and maybe even a shock or two, as the suspicions of what’s really occurring come to the fore the film becomes increasingly uninteresting and uninspired.

The ending is the built-to whimper rather than a necessary jolt.

5/10

Review: A Life in Dirty Movies

Posted on by bernardovillela

A Life in Dirty Movies is a documentary about the life and films of Joe Sarno who was professed as “The Ingmar Bergman of 42nd Street,” a titan of sexploitation cinema from the 1960s through the mid-1970s.

Early on in watching A Life in Dirty Movies you may find a weird number of allusions coming to mind as the narrative unfolds such as the character of Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) in Boogie Nights. Yet as the story moves on you’ll see the individual, the milieu, the genre and where some of the legends about these films came, as well as information on the transformative shift from what was once sexploitation to hardcore; and thus Joe Sarno as an artist goes from the avant guard to a man of a bygone era almost immediately.

As a man he is almost unchanged. In one of the wonders of the Internet age his films, like those of other mavericks and originals in specific niches; have found new life and appreciation due to discussions and video availability. As the story unfolds and you see footage, even if you never saw one of his films, that illustrates what the likes of his widow Peggy Sarno, John Waters, and film historians are saying: in this softcore world Sarno found a voice.

It’s one of the film writing axioms that within your genre you find the room to speak and ply your craft. This was the case here. The fact that years later be it in the United States or Sweden there were retrospectives and reconsideration and seemingly sudden interest in his film is a testament to what Sarno did do, and what after a while he was no longer allowed to do as frequently.

Part of the film talks of his work in a filmographic sense with talking-heads and footage, part of it is current as he is trying to write and get a new script produced well into the 21st century as well as making ends, juxtapose that with the sudden recognition he’s getting and the travails he faced personally aside from the career that couldn’t and didn’t want to conform to where business took his form and there’s a lot to work with and fit into this compact film.

It does meld together well and the conclusion has impact. I can’t help but think the final third did feel a bit herky-jerky not because of narrative decisions, but rather pacing decisions in the edit that built emotional backstory and current context that shifts a bit too abruptly. The shift in the end does need some abruptness based on the parameters but it lends itself to a compartmentalized fragmented view of the film that had come to tie together many disparate elements to that point.

Ultimately this is a case wherein film is the best chronicler of film history in a manner such that the information would reach an audience that may not have been receptive to Sarno’s story another way. As is illustrated in the film Joe struggled to win any sort of favor with his wife’s family and it seemed even his industry had forsaken him, but when he died the New York Times dedicated the topmost, largest obit on that day to his memory. A mark had been made, but to the completely uninitiated that or text on his work may not be the most effective introduction, but rather this film is. For I think without it, without cutting in clips starting with one that is a jarring amount of cinéma vérité in sexploitation film; I may not have come away from the film with an appreciation for what he did and a curiosity to perhaps see it. A writer can do wonderful things in describing a film, but a lot of film writing can communicate more easily when the audience has already experienced the film it’s harder still to paint that picture and compel someone to seek out further and in that way this film may allow Sarno’s legacy to live on further.

7/10

Mini-Review: Deadfall

Posted on by bernardovillela

Introduction

This is a post that is a repurposing of an old-school Mini-Review Round-Up post. As stated here I am essentially done with running multi-film review posts. Each film deserves its own review. Therefore I will repost, and at times add to, old reviews periodically. Enjoy!

Deadfall

The hook in Deadfall, or what pulls you into the story, is the inevitable collision course of events and people at a Thanksgiving dinner. From the start when a bank heist escape goes awry in a blizzard and characters split up, you can feel it coming. However, what keeps you engaged throughout is the characters and their personal journey leading up to the moment.

You have in the tale essentially four parallel story-structures surround the manhunt. There is Addison (Eric Bana) who takes off and tries to keep on the move and get to the US-Canada border, who while on the run encounters some foes and plays out some family traumas of his own. Liza (Olivia Wilde) who sets the collision course in motion by finding Jay (Charlie Hunnam) whose troubles and complications we are introduced to early.

Then there’s the law enforcement side with another family dynamic of Sheriff Marshall T. Becker (Treat Williams) and his daughter, a trooper named Hanna (Kate Mara). Lastly, the parents awaiting Jay, and little do they know the trouble coming with them, Chet (Kris Kristofferson) and June (Sissy Spacek). What occurs in the end is a tense, though not overly-melodramatic, confrontation. There is great acting throughout, particularly by Bana, and the story takes its time so there are stakes invested on behalf of characters who we now know and understand. Some of the explosive dynamics of the climactic sequence we know will occur, just not how, are set up wonderfully; but they have even more impact with the work that has been put into these personages.

Deadfall is a beautifully photographed film that doesn’t neglect development while creating a compelling crime thriller. It delivers plenty of shocks, heart and intelligence.

8/10

Mini-Review: This Girl is Badass!

Posted on by bernardovillela

Introduction

This is a post that is a repurposing of an old-school Mini-Review Round-Up post. As stated here I am essentially done with running multi-film review posts. Each film deserves its own review. Therefore I will repost, and at times add to, old reviews periodically. Enjoy!

This Girl is Badass!

This is a film that does promise action and comedy and delivers small, portioned doses of both. Sadly, there is never really a good balance struck between the two. It usually seems to be one or the other, with comedy far outweighing the action.

The action is never overly dynamic, and the plot, which is not terribly involved, never develops at a sufficient rate to raise this above being a mere diversion into being genuinely entertaining. It’d be a passable film if it didn’t drag through certain sections, but unfrotunately it does.

4/10