The Pop Culture Addict’s Blog

Haywire
I have a funny story about Haywire. I see most of Steven Soderbergh’s movies even the most experimental and obscure such as Bubble. That was an odd movie that I kind of liked. It’s about a factory workers played by non-actors who get caught up in jealousy, murder, theft. But it is very slow and stylized. Anyway, I had heard about a “spy movie” by Steven Soderbergh. This was over a year ago – maybe last September so 14-15 months ago. I heard Haywire was opening in Manhattan. A fellow Pop Culture Addict and I decided to see it. For some reason, it was not being advertised. Then I saw it was listed in Times Square. We got our tickets and sat in anticipation. The theater was very sparsely populated. The opening credits started and it seemed to have the air of some sort of espionage movie but really cheesy – like circa 1982. And it was set in India. We read all of the credits, knowing that Soderbergh often assumes pseudonyms to avoid trouble with unions and to allow control over all aspects of the movie. But none of his usual names were popping up, especially his own. And where was Ewan McGregor and Michael Fassbender? Surely they featured in the opening credits. So after the credits finished and the movie started, we had to accept that we were in the wrong movie! We went to customer service and explained that this Haywire was not the Haywire we wanted to see. We exchanged our tickets and saw Easy A instead. We found it to be a perfectly likable homage to the oeuvre of John Hughes. By the way, I can’t even find reference to that Indian movie I almost sat through. But I feel like it is safe to say, our lives are fine without seeing it.

Needless to say, when we heard Haywire was finally being released, we had to see it. It was cool to get tickets to a showing featuring a conversation with Steven Soderbergh and MMA fighter and star of Haywire, Gina Carano. She is quite a figure in person. Striking and an impressive athlete. The actual movie is pretty entertaining. It is a stripped down story about being betrayed and fighting for your life. The fight between Michael Fassbender and Gina Carano is fun to watch. Some people seem to find the fighting redundant and even exploitative. Gina Carano is a great athlete who I could not take my eyes off of. Is it a great movie? No. But it’s a good movie.

We Need to Talk About Kevin
I did not read the book. It seemed too dark of a subject matter to read. I was on the fence about the movie but it was actually presented in a way that was thoughtful but not harsh. It was more evocative of feelings presenting images and events out of time to show the viewer the mother’s experience trying to bond with and raising her son who seems out of step with the world. It was reminiscent to me of how Guy Van Sant approached a similar subject in Elefant, his movie addressing the events of the Columbine shooting. Both are very dreamlike and suggest ideas without lingering. In We Need to Talk About Kevin, Tilda Swinton plays her torment and depression well. The kids are all hard to connect to as their character, at different ages, is supposed to be. The main kid actor, Ezra Miller, did a quick Q&A afterwards and it was nice to seem him light and happy after watching this heavy movie. There were some elements of the movie that didn’t seem believable – like how ostracized the mother was in the community. The actor said he had not read the book because it is told from the point of view of the mother and he thought he might read it afterwards but decided not to. I also do not feel a need to read the book.

Hot Pepper, Air Conditioner & the Farewell Speech, a play by Chelfitsch Theater Company
I had seen this avant garde Japanese theater company Chelfitsch perform a couple of years ago but didn’t really remember much about them except feeling like it was interesting and a bit weird. This time around, I found their repetitive gestures to make a lot more sense. It was dance-like. I saw how it was carefully choreographed and they were conveying ideas, not lines per se. I have to say, I truly enjoyed the performance and highly recommend them. They address modern day Japan hearkening back to Kabuki theater but truly modernizing it and making it something contemporary.

NY Jewish Film Fesstival
I have to say, I missed one of the movies I had tickets to because I was under the weather but I heard it was worth seeing – Deaf Jam. I only saw a handful. I loved the silent movie, Breaking Home Ties, for its historical value. It was accompanied by piano and violin and it was very dramatic but it captured the immigrant experience very well in a time capsule sort of way. I also enjoyed the more modern Mabul and short Howl. Mabul is a family story as the young son prepares for his bar mitzvah and as the older autistic son returns home unexpectedly. The Polish movie, Daas, was more of a real film festival movie in that it was abstract and arty. It was challenging and not along the escapist lines. But I found it interesting in a historical way. Oddly, it made me think of Martha Marcy May Marlene because even though it was set in the late 1700s, it was in part from the point of view of a man who had left a cult. It was a strange movie though. Interesting, but strange. My fellow Pop Culture Addict found it too challenging to get into.

Albert Brooks & Drive Redux
I wanted to hear Albert Brooks speak so I went to this showing of Drive even though I’d already seen it. The first time I saw it, I already anticipated it was going to be an arty, stylistic movie based on the fact that it was by the director of Bronson (captivating Tom Hardy but less captivating story). So I found Drive’s slow pace to be fine. There was quite a lot of brutality. I guess it was to show Ryan Gosling’s character and the characters he associated with. My second impression was the same. This time, knowing what was going to happen, it seemed to go at a quicker pace. Albert Brooks was very entertaining. I liked how open he was. He spoke of how he is playing Paul Rudd’s father in a movie and how strange it is to him because hie own child is only 13.

Norwegian Wood
I read Norwegian Wood by Marukami a while back. I wasn’t as caught up with it as The Wind Up Bird Chronicle but I think I found it fine. I am gearing up to read 1Q84 this year. Anyway, I was curious to see a Marukami story in film form even though it was made by a non-Japanese. I liked how director Anh Hung Tran’s Scent of Green Papaya looked but I guess in retrospect, he might have laid it on a little thick with the sentimentality. So, I figured Norwegian Wood would like beautiful at any rate. Overall, I found the story lacking a bit. It was not very Japanese. Also, I wonder if maybe the source material is lacking or just not that appealing. I might have read it in a Marukami high and just thought I liked it. So the movie was very pretty to look at, the story was just okay.

The Adventures of TinTin
I had just seen Raiders of the Lost Ark (more on that later) and TinTin reminded me of the fun action sequences in that. It is a very old-fashioned adventure story. I really enjoyed it.

New Year’s Eve
I see all sorts of movies and freely admit some are of lesser quality than others and I can still enjoy them. But New Year’s Eve is one that I just can’t get myself to watch. Instead, on New Year’s Eve, I did a marathon. First I saw Pina in 3D. I found it really inspiring and moving. I didn’t know much about German choreographer Pina before seeing the movie and as I watched it, I developed a admiration and respect for her visionary thinking. Then I saw an old black and white movie Laura from 1944 directed by Otto Preminger. I had never seen it before but I typically enjoy watching old movies on big screens with an audience. I didn’t even recognize a young Vincent Price playing the dim, good-lucking guy. It was a fun experience. Then to top things off, I went to my first movie of 2012. I saw a 12:15am showing of the 4k digital print of Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was a fantastic way to kick off the new year. I’ve seen the movie numerous times but I still enjoyed it immensely. Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones is a classic role that never stops being entertaining. The action sequences are top-notch and it’s fun to see the product of tow greats, Steven Spielberg, as director, and George Lucas, as writer and producer, working together.

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Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol IMAX
I will start with the best movie surprise of the month. I was stoked by the MI Ghost Protocol trailer (click to see the official trailer). I couldn’t wait to see it even though my memory of the other Mission Impossible movies was foggy. Then the day came and it opened a week early in IMAX. I had so much fun. The crowd was enthusiastic and the movie had the elements I wanted and more. The action sequences were entertaining and seamlessly put together with athletism, charisma and great IMAX and non-IMAX camera-work. The actors were fun to watch especially the crew- Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg and Paula Patton. They looked great and created characters that were interesting enough for the duration of the movie. The story had a few twists and turns but not too many to make it arduous to follow. MI Ghost Protocol in IMAX is a thoroughly fulfilling action movie. Brad Bird directed the fantastic movie The Incredibles and brought to live action the excitement of the animated superheroes to Ghost Protocol.

It seemed like a significant portion of the audience was drawn to the IMAX show to see the 8-minute Dark Knight Rising clip. I barely even knew it was happening. But I like events and this was certainly a movie event. The movie looks cool with the crisp look from Inception and the other Dark Knight movies. The action also looks pumping but my complaint is as much as I am intrigued by Tom Hardy’s performances, I could not understand what he was saying as Bane. I hope they fix that in the final product.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
I already mentioned that the trailer for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy rocked my world (click to see it). After seeing it a few times, I realized I wanted to read the book by John Le Carré. First I read the introduction from 1991 by Le Carré and felt very satisfied. Then I read a bit of the beginning and felt a little overwhelmed and put it down. But I got inspired to try again and was richly rewarded. I was reading it until a couple of days before I saw it. I was reminded of when I was reading the last chapter of Never Let Me Go while sitting in the theater with my fellow Pop Culture Addicts, waiting for the movie to start. I was like, hello, friends. I need to ignore you while I finish reading these last few pages. Anyway, as a fellow PCA said, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is what we fantasize spy life is like and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the reality of spy life. I greatly enjoyed reading the book and appreciated the realization on film. I had not seen the Alec Guinness version on Masterpiece Theater (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy). But now I would be curious. In the newer version, Gary Oldman masterfully captures the strength, wisdom and humanity of George Smiley. Colin Firth is always interesting to watch. The rest of the cast was mesmerizing as well. I liked how they worked together as an ensemble and did not draw attention to themselves. I liked how director Tomas Alfredson treated Let The Right One In and he brought his magic to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The period was evoked beautifully and hauntingly by the set design and costumes. Even though I knew the puzzle solution while watching it, the knowledge only added to my viewing experience. I think that seeing it cold would also be a good movie experience.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
I read the books (Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy) and saw the first (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) and second (The Girl Who Played With Fire) Swedish movies. I wanted to see the third one (The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest) but it opened and closed before I got to it. I was duly impressed by David Fincher’s Social Network. He artfully took a fascinating story and created, with the right cast and crew, a great movie. For the record, I also can re-watch Fincher’s Zodiac and be consistently entertained and amazed. I was one of those wondering what the purpose of re-making GWTDT was. I do believe that re-workings are valuable and at times supersede in quality and emotional value the originals and maybe subsequent remakes. Again, I was impressed by the teaser/short trailer with Trent Reznor and Karen O performing Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song (click to see). I saw the movie in style – opening night with avid fans and my trusted inner circle of Pop Culture Addicts. That in itself created a nice atmosphere. The movie works. It is solidly acted, directed and presented. There are changes made from the (entertaining but lengthy) book that make sense for story coherence, audience interest level and visuals. Overall, I liked it and thought it turned out to be a good rendition of a dark trilogy with one of the most fascinating protagonists of recent times, the girl with the dragon tattoo. Rooney Mara does her justice. Noomi Rapace nailed it but Rooney made me focus on her and not compare.

War Horse
The play War Horse garnered rave reviews in NY. I made an effort to see it even though it did cause some tension in my pop culture budget. Broadway shows are expensive. That’s just a fact of the arts. Still, as far as pop culture investments go, this one had a good pay off. The puppetry in War Horse was truly magical. I wondered how Steven Spielberg would equal it in his movie version. Well, Spielberg is a top-notch director and horse movies usually get me. The formula works. War Horse is an effective movie about a horse that contributes to the home and war efforts during WWI and impacts the lives of the humans it encounters.

Margaret
I first saw Margaret when it played in NY in September. Then I saw it again this month. I knew I’d find it interesting like I find all of Kenneth Lonergan’s works. He is a talented writer who captures the intimacies of friend and family relationships in believable and captivating ways. I was not disappointed by Margaret. I had heard that it had encountered legal difficulties and that Lonergan was having trouble with putting out the cut he wanted. But this 2.5 hour cut was lovingly put together. When I saw it a second time, I was able to enjoy it even more. The words washed over me and I once again admired Anna Paquin’s nuanced performance as a self-centered teenager trying to reconcile the contradictory feelings and viewpoints in her adolescent brain. The movie has the pace of a novel following a brief period of time in a teenager’s life during a particularly formative period of her life. At the end, the editing suggests storylines were truncated and sacrificed. I still found it thought-provoking and look forward to seeing the 3-hour version of it one day.

Mean Streets
I’ve seen Mean Streets on video and I’ve seen it on big screen. Big screen is preferable. I was glad to have the chance to see it again on big screen, as it was meant to be seen, with an audience and with an intro and Q&A by none other than the ever effusive Martin Scorsese himself. It is a seminal work on many levels. It introduced the filmmaker Martin Scorsese as well as drew attention to Robert DeNiro and Harvey Keitel. With the advent of technology, people have the equipment to see movies on big screen in the comfort of their own homes. But there is nothing that compares to the audience experience. Yes, there are drawbacks to being with strangers who are not respectful of others around them. But when it’s good, it’s good. The crowd displayed great enthusiasm for film and for Scorsese. It was another example of the benefits of taking advantage of re-showings of old movies in movie houses. Just when my interest starts to wane, I have another memorable old movie experience and am reminded that it can still be great.

Seminar
I had the chance to see Alan Rickman on stage in Seminar so I took it. The entire play was enjoyable – well-written and well-acted. I am curious about the upcoming tv show Smash as the writers for both are the same. The play reminded me of the things I liked about Wonder Boys and The History Boys: A Play and all of those other stories about mentors and mentees.

Young Adult
I didn’t see the most recent Diablo Cody movie but I did watch United States of Tara until the end and thought Juno was unique in a good way. Young Adult turns out to be even better than Juno. Diablo Cody has a way with words that evokes snarkiness and vulnerability as well as an affinity with pop culture. I imagine, this is very much how she talks. The main characters in Young Adult, as the title suggests, are arrested developmentally or defined in part, by who they were as high schoolers. But they don’t talk so stylistically and with such self-awareness. They are more naturalistic. Charlize Theron plays a neurotic beauty with passion and rawness. Patton Oswalt is funny, smart and appealing. Patrick Wilson embodies the once popular high school jock with surprising likability.

The Muppets
I wish they would re-run The Muppet Show. Then again, the memory is already positive and strong. Maybe I don’t want to see it again and be disappointed. Maybe it requires that wonderment of childhood to appreciate. Anyway, I always liked Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. I was curious about The Muppets when the movie came out so I saw it with some like-minded PCA’s. We all enjoyed it and were glad we saw it.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
I heard it was good when it first came out but I just didn’t get around to seeing it. Then it played again at the Museum of Modern Art’s Oscar contender festival. I am really glad I got a chance to see it in a movie theater. Andy Serkis did a phenomenal job of bringing Gollum to life in The Lord of the Rings and he does it again with Caesar the Chimapanzee in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The chimp is the main character and pilots the story. But the humans are interesting to watch as well. The effects work and the story holds up. It is a good movie with a stellar performance by Andy Serkis.

Coriolanus
I admit I never read Coriolanus. But I have seen Ralph Fiennes on stage before in Shakespeare and I know he sells it. Coriolanus is updated to the present somewhat but ultimately, it is a straightforward presentation of a traditional Shakespearean drama. Ralph Fiennes is a great actor and I love that he played Voldemort in Harry Potter because it shows whimsy. Coriolanus is hardly whimsical. He is a hardcore military man who shuns the trappings of politics to his detriment. Coriolanus is challenging to watch but it has familiar themes conveyed by a stalwart cast.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Steve Jobs is well-written and fast-paced despite the fact that it spans the history of Silicon Valley. Isaacson presents the information gathered from the source itself, Steve Jobs, and his colleagues, competitors, family, friends and frenemies in an accessible, page-turning manner. Now that I’ve had some time to digest what I read, I wish I could have met Steve Jobs in person to get a better read on his personality and how he interacted with others. The descriptions of him are interesting and evocative but I wonder about the different facets of his personality and how he presented himself and how he acted naturally. Still, the biography is revealing and engrossing. Even learning about the behind-the-scenes development and inspiration of the most magical and mysterious of Apple products did not take away the desirability of any of them. My admiration for Apple, particularly the Mac, the iPod in all its incarnations, the iPad and all things Pixar, are higher than ever.

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Hugo 3D Redux
Yes, I saw Hugo again! I liked it even more in its completed form. When I saw it last month, many of the special effects were still being refined. The soundtrack was temporary. There were green screen shots, there were fake people walking in the opening shot. This time, everything popped. Somehow the story held together more and I didn’t find Sacha Baron Cohen as arch. The 3D effects were really memorable and magical. Martin Scorsese truly is a master and he made this movie with care. Unexpectedly, everyone at the theater received a free Hugo scarf and poster.

Rampart
When The Messenger came out, it looked pretty intense and definitely a downer. But it got rave reviews and I felt compelled to see it. I really appreciated Woody Harrelson’s performance. The story was also very accessible. I was drawn into the narrative and not weighed down by a message or point of view. I just took it in and felt moved. So, I was interested in seeing Oren Moverman, the filmmaker/writer’s follow up movie also starring Woody Harrelson. Plus, I heard James Ellroy co-wrote the script. Harrelson plays a cop in the notoriously corrupt Rampart department of the LAPD. He plays corrupt with such honesty. His performance made the movie for me. Even though his character displays many flaws, he also shows the earnest foundation that once believed in upholding the law to protect the citizens. This is hardly an action movie. It is a character study within the context of societal woes.

Sleeping Beauty
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see this or not. I felt certain I would agree with the post modern feminist statement about the oppression of women in Western society. However, I wasn’t certain I wanted to watch a movie about it. I was curious and curiosity won over. Let me say that it was a very strange movie. It made its point but it was oddly shaped. The young actress, Emily Browning, does a nice job with a tough role. I was informed that there was a recently published short story along the same lines as the story. The main character needs money and obtains a job that pays well but she gives up all control. I don’t know if I would recommend it. I found it visually interesting and thought-provoking but it was weird.

Breaking Dawn, Part 1
For better or worse, I enjoyed the books and want to see the movies. What can I say? Yes, I laugh at the absurdities in the movies and the less than stirring acting. But I still enjoy the experience of seeing these movies. Michael Sheen is such a good actor. He takes what they give him as the head Volturi and works it!

Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger have earned their place in cinematic history. I am always stunned by their work. This movie was released during the war in 1945 without the blessing of the British war office because there is a line that is not entirely supportive of the British army. The print is newly restored by Martin Scorsese’s society. He and the head of the society both spoke about the pain-staking work done to clean the mold and make the colors warmer and the visuals sharper without losing intention. There was a before and after comparison reel shown before the movie. Very interesting. The movie was so much more than I expected as many Powell/Pressburger movies tend to be. It is a movie about life as told by a soldier seeking love.

Into the Abyss
I can’t deny that the description of this movie is Depressing. But a documentary by Werner Herzog always catches my eye, even one about a triple homicide in Texas highlighting the perpetrators and the victims. It is a well made movie about a tragic subject – the crime and fall out. The information is culled together nicely with current interviews and crime footage. Don’t expect to see me in Texas anytime soon though.

Immortals
It looked great with actors in great shape with flawless skin or impressive make up and fantastic action sequences. The story was very thin. But the effects were strong. There were elements with potential. It was not a profound viewing experience. But it was fun at times.

J. Edgar
I admire Clint Eastwood’s work on all fronts, acting, directing, soundtrack, etc. He is so cool. So I am always intrigued by a Clint Eastwood project. It is easy for me to find something worth noting in his movies even if I am not completely blown away (see Changeling – the story just fell flat but I appreciated the effort in capturing the time, Hereafter – Matt Damon is a good actor; he just gets better with age). J. Edgar is a solid movie about a controversial figure whose work will forever be a source of intrigue and entertainment to the general public. Spies, spies, spies. This movie is not about spies. It is about J. Edgar Hoover and his relationship with his mother, his paranoia, his best frenemy and companion Clyde Tolson and his secretary/confidante played by Naomi Watts who still looks like a beauty in her aging make up. Leonardo Dicaprio does a strong job. He still looks like Leo which is a somewhat distracting. But his acting rings true. Judi Dench can play anyone and plays his mother like I imagine Norman Bates’ mother might have been. I just missed seeing Clint Eastwood act.

Happy Feet 2
When I saw Happy Feet, I wasn’t expecting it to be as delightful as it was. A couple of fellow Pop Culture Addicts pointed out it starts out cute but gets preachy at the end and doesn’t flow. I was so floored by the tap-dancing, singing and adorableness of the animation, characters and story, I didn’t care. I just accepted the story and yes, it could’ve been more subtle. I had to watch Happy Feet 2. I loved it. It was beautifully animated. The animals are so vivid and fun. The ecological themes are more integrated into this one. The dancing and singing are sparser but the numbers are fun. Savion Glover’s motion-capture tap-dancing is fantastic. I would watch an entire movie about his choreography and performance in the movie.

Anonymous
Let me say straight off that while I find the idea of Shakespeare’s work being written by more than one person interesting to toss around, I don’t believe it. Still, I found Anonymous entertaining. They portray Shakespeare as a bumbling illiterate which seems extreme. And the nobleman, Edward de Vere, who supposedly wrote the works is not portrayed as having a particular affinity with acting or actors. A fellow Pop Culture Addict made a convincing point in looking at some of the plays that they are clearly written by an actor given the understanding of staging and performance. So, the movie had merit as a royal/political conspiracy story but not as a convincing argument that Shakespeare was not Shakespeare. I went in believing he is the true author and left feeling even more strongly about it.

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Let me think how to organize this. I am going to go chronologically. I am going to include four movies that were in the fest that I saw elsewhere. I will add the non-fest movies at the end.

Carnage
The screenplay is co-written by Yasmin Reza who wrote the French play God of Carnage. Directed by Roman Polanski, starring Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, John C. Reilly and Christoph Waltz, it was the opening movie of the fest. Nice and quick just like the story. I didn’t know what to expect because I managed to stay away from too much info even when it was on Broadway. The story certainly translated cross-culturally from Paris (I presume) to Brooklyn Heights. The story is basic but it is comical and universal. Not only was it actually short, it happens in real time (more or less) and kept my interest throughout. The question is, what is civility and what is the proper extent of it?

Miss Bala
I liked the enthusiasm of the film makers more than I liked I’m Gonna Explode so I was only mildly interested in their recent movie set in Tijuana. It is very arty and slow even though the story is about a beauty pageant contestant getting mixed up in a drug cartel war. The lead is very good – Miss Bala (Miss Bullet). The look is interesting. I was very turned off visiting Tijuana. The movie makes a strong distinction between the few bad guys and the many innocent bystanders who get caught up in the badness. Apparently the movie was controversial in Mexico and the film makers said they definitely wanted to make a message movie but in their own (arty) way. I would say I found this interesting enough to watch but not the masterpiece others deemed it.

Melancholia
I was prepared to hate this with a passion. Whenever I see a Lars von Trier movie, with the exception of The Five Obstacles, I am struck by how pretentious it is. But I do enjoy the work of Kirsten Dunst and thought I’d give this a film festival try. Boy, was I surprised. I thought it looked beautiful and Kirsten Dunst was very impressive. There was a levity to the first half even though it is about a woman fighting depression. Even though it takes a strange twist half way, I was able to go with it. Charlotte Gainsbourg lovingly takes care of her sister played by Kirsten Dunst. Alexander Skarsgård has fun playing a hapless guy in love with this unstable woman. During the Q&A, he expressed enjoying the filming and the experience of working in a more improvisational environment. As a Generation Kill and True Blood fan, I got a kick out of seeing him both on screen and in person. Kirsten Dunst was also gracious and Charlotte Gainsbourg was funny about not being tortured in this shoot like she was in Antichrist which I skipped because I had zero interest.

A Separation
This Iranian movie was one of the best ones of the festival I thought. It was so intimate and so well-acted. The story is simple but complicated. It is about a middle class Iranian couple that wants “a separation” in their marriage. There are so many interesting elements to this movie. It is a slice of life unfamiliar to me yet the interpersonal aspects are universal. The court system is different but the same. The legal issues aren’t directly related to the marriage. They are related to the secular and non-secular worlds in Iran. There is a conflict and overlap of modern and old world views. High recommend.

George Harrison: Living in the Material World
I had tickets to this but had to miss it because I double-booked. I also had tickets to see So You Think You Can Dance on tour. SYTYCD was fun but I was wistful that I was going to miss the George Harrison documentary. I heard from my fellow Pop Culture Addicts that Olivia Harrison came out first and spoke about how it was a collaborative project between her and Martin Scorsese. Then Martin Scorsese came out and then spoke animatedly and at length about the great access to footage he received from Olivia Harrison and the pleasure he had in making this movie. I am a fan of the Beatles, documentaries and the work of Martin Scorsese so I could not see how this movie would miss. I watched it later in the week on HBO. I loved it. There is amazing footage and the journey is lovingly documented by personal footage, old interviews, new interviews and professional footage. I really liked the current interviews with his friends and family. Of course the footage with George Harrison himself is precious. This is another recommend.

A Dangerous Method
A History of Violence is an example of a perfect movie. eXistenZ was so ooky but so enthralling. I will always give David Cronenberg a chance to introduce me to something repulsive and/or captivating. His mind is full of strange and creative ideas. I also enjoy Michael Fassbender. The ingredients for A Dangerous Method were too intriguing to pass up – the story of the relationship between Jung and Freud as played by Michael Fassbender and and unrecognizable Viggo Mortensen. This movie is also based on a play – like Carnage. The play is A Talking Cure. So what did I think of the movie? Fascinating source material. Apparently it is a known story that Sabina Spielrein, played interestingly by Keira Knightley, was first a patient of Jung’s and then more. She later became a psychiatrist herself. She had a professional relationship with Freud too. I wasn’t blown away like I was with A History of Violence but I was struck by the story. I wouldn’t recommend this movie to everyone but I think people who are interested in the story between Jung and Freud will also find this movie something to see. Michael Fassbender is a very chatty guy, having seen him a couple of times. He loves talking about his work and the process and hearing reactions. So it was a pleasure to hear him talk about the research he put into playing Jung such as reading The Red Book.

Shame
I was curious to see Shame based on how impressed I was by Steve McQueen’s debut starring Michael Fassbender as Bobby Sands. I loved how the story in Hunger was conveyed with images and very little dialogue. Shame also looks stunning. I found it watchable but less magical than Hunger. I guess it’s not fair to compare them but it is hard not to when the director and lead are the same. The premise has promise but the simplicity of it was somewhat of a letdown. I expected more passion even though it is about the addictive nature of Michael Fassbender’s behavior. It was a tad too detached for my taste. But I know people who liked this just as much as Hunger. My expectations were quite high for Shame so I think that played a part in my reaction. I was still impressed but I haven’t been telling everyone to run out and see this.

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
This was one of the more challenging movies of the fest. In the end, I liked it but it helped that I went into it knowing it was long and experimental. The pay off is good but it takes a big investment from the viewer. I liked seeing the empty Turkish countryside and the bureaucracy of closing a homicide. I know people walked out of this one because the pace was so slow and the I have to admit I took a little cat nap. So use your own judgment on this one. If you can sit through long movies and want to see a Turkish art movie, this might be for you.

Turin Horse
By far, Turin Horse was the most challenging movie of the festival. It is one of those movies that is so slow that if it were any slower, it would be going backwards, as the saying goes. And yet, I have to say I liked this one too. The drudgery kind of spoke to me. Béla Tarr has a cult following. Film students, film critics love how he sees the world and portrays it on film. He was there in person and said he wanted to show how every day is the same and yet different. Again, this is very long and very slow. I got something out of it but that might say something about my life’s philosophy. So again, use your judgment.

Hugo 3D
I was highly intrigued by the announcement that the fest would be showing a work in-progress by a master. I got tickets immediately and started speculating that it might be David Fincher’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Then I thought it might be Steven Spielberg’s Tin Tin or Martin Scorsese’s Hugo. It turned out to be Hugo. I didn’t think Fincher would really relinquish control enough to show an unfinished work. Scorsese announced Hugo without even announcing it. He came out beforehand with a list of things that we might notice were unfinished. Afterwards, the stars, Asa Butterfield and Chloe Moretz came onstage at the end just to wave. There were many magical moments. The story is charming. The 3D is fun. Ben Kingsley is good as expected. Sacha Baron Cohen’s character is a bit annoying but at times amusing. I would’ve had him be a little less relentless and used his comedic side more. Overall, I enjoyed the look of the movie and loved the main boy played by Asa Butterfield.

A Trip to the Moon/
From Morning Till Midnight
I don’t want to spoil Hugo too much but I will say that Georges Méliès and his seminal silent movie La Voyage Dans La Lune/A Trip to the Moon play a big role. So it was very timely to get a chance to see it in the fest. It was a new print, colorized and with a soundtrack by Air. The colorization was nearly original. Apparently they hand painted it back in the day. The parts that were missing, the restorers took the black and white print and colored it. The soundtrack by Air was a bit jarring at first but then I got into it. It was incredible to see a movie that came out in 1902!

The second silent movie was mostly interesting for its historical value, From Morning Till Midnight from 1922. The German Expressionism was fascinating. The story was very basic and moralistic. I enjoyed the experience of watching this movie with live music provided enthusiastically and expertly by The Alloy Orchestra. But as far as silent movies go, it was not my favorite. The look was the most interesting thing about it – the way the clothes were painted and the way the sets were made. Now, we get de-sensitized but at the time, the movie was considered too bizarre for it’s native country, Germany. Instead, it became a hit in Japan and thanks to the fandom, they saved a copy of this movie which is certainly worth preserving for history.

The Artist
Following those original silent movies, it was an experience to see a modern silent movie. I admire the French writer/director, Michel Hazanavicius, for creating this project. Again, it is not the most complicated story but it is very charming. I greatly enjoyed it and hope people won’t be turned off by the idea of a silent movie. I recommend this as a unique experience and want to put out there that it is crowd-pleasing.

The Policeman
This is another film festival movie. It is not mainstream despite the description that it is a political thriller. No, it really isn’t. I have seen a few modern Israeli movies but this one was kind of different. It does not focus on the expected issues. I found the first half interesting as a look at life in a different country. The first half focuses on a Counter Terrorism Unit. But it is not done Ridley Scott style. It is done in an arty filmic way. It lingers on shots of the guys hanging out with their wives. The director said “brotherly” relationships are forged in Israel due to the military duty everyone does. He also said he wanted to contrast their loyalty and work with who they were protecting. He showed that the police are not paid much and work very hard to protect the very rich who do not have any appreciation for the working class. The second half of the movie was very dadaistic. It had poetry and dispassionate youth talking ideology without fully fleshed out reasoning. I am glad I saw this movie but I wasn’t that moved by the story.

The Descendants
The Descendants ended the festival with a bang. George Clooney is a star who delivers. I enjoyed the intimacy of the story. George Clooney convincingly and appealing plays a husband, father and businessman who carts around his daughters while trying to keep their relationships going, dealing with their mother being in a coma and managing a family land deal that could change the face of Hawaii. I think people won’t need convincing to go see this one. Alexander Payne introduced the movie and said he thought A Separation was a perfect movie and that he hoped he did Hawaii justice in The Descendants. At the end, George Clooney, all of the kids, most of the main adults and Alexander Payne all waved to us from the director’s box. Yes, he looks exactly like how he looks and he did a great job in the movie. Alexander Payne did Hawaii justice. High recommend.

And the Beat Goes On: More Movies
I stuck in George Harrison above because I was going chronologically. Next are movies that were in the festival but I saw them after the fest ended.

The Skin I Live In
Pedro Almodóvar loves to make movies with his people so there’s always something memorable in his movies. But not every movie is as unique as Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. I figured I would like the cinematography and find the actors luminous on screen. I did but again, I was glad to feel that The Skin I Live In is something unusual and worth sitting through. Antonio Banderas plays his obsessive, driven plastic surgeon character with charisma and creepiness. The story is hardly predictable and very unbelievable yet very watchable.

The Kid with a Bike
The Dardennes brothers always tug at my heart with their movies featuring urchins who just want to make a connection with someone who cares about them. The Kid with a Bike is a magical little story that thankfully is light on the handheld camera unlike Rosetta which I liked a lot but got awfully dizzy from watching). It is about a boy who is in Belgian foster care system very unlike the American one. He walks up to a nice local woman and asks her to foster him and she says she will. The acting is understated and superb. A great small movie.

Martha Marcy May Marlene
I saw the short and didn’t really remember much about it. Elizabeth Olsen does a stellar job as the titular character. She portrays the past and present character seamlessly. We see her loose confidence as she first joins the cult and then the PTSD as she flashes back and forth once she gets herself out. John Hawkes is a great actor who plays creepy charisma like no other. He spoke in person after I saw Winter’s Bone and was so, so gentle. The movie holds up. I think the acting is strong and the story is strange and disturbing. It made me want to avoid the Catskills like a plague.

Le Havre
Le Havre is super charming and mixes old French movie references with a modern story. Maybe because it is set in Normandy and not Paris, the people dress in an old-fashioned way and interact in a very small town, trusting way. The detective reminds me of a character in a Jean Pierre Melville movie. The movie is likable and warm. It is a fairytale of sorts and I think people will find it very appealing.

Non-fest movies
Margaret
There is something about the way Kenneth Lonergan writes his dialogue and creates relationships between his characters that rings so true to me. Margaret is an interesting morality tale with wonderful acting by a pre-True Blood Anna Paquin. I don’t think this movie got a wide release and apparently Kenneth Lonergan is not satisfied with this version, but it is a good one. I don’t think it will be easy to find but I think people will be surprised by how much they get drawn into it.

Puss in Boots 3D
Nice use of 3D. Cute. Not Toy Story great but a fun, nice-looking movie.

In Time
Cool premise with a decent cast who seem to be enjoying themselves. I left wanting to know more about the backstories of the characters and more about the history of how things came to be. Watchable but light.

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Drive
The premise for Drive is so cool and succinct. It is about a Hollywood stunt driver by day who moonlights as a get-away driver by night. And it stars the ever-mesmerizing chameleon Ryan Gosling. It has a great extended trailer but I will just post the 30-second one because really, there isn’t much to the plot so the less you know going in, the more it will shock you and entertain you.

I had seen another movie by this director, Nicolas Winding Refn, Bronson because I had heard it was something different and it was highly acclaimed. In the end, I was impressed with Tom Hardy’s performance (and loved the surprising charm and levity he brought to Inception) and the look of the movie but found the story not for me. So with that in mind, I didn’t expect Drive to be a typical action movie. I thought it could be really good or could be too pretentious for me. I knew it would be an art movie not following Hollywood conventions with the director and actors making choices based on very personal levels. The director introduced the movie and said it had action, violence, a very American story, romance and it was only 90 minutes. He felt we would enjoy it. He was right on all accounts. Let me say, it is VERY violent. He made a point afterwards to distinguish between between “stylized” and “stylistic” preferring the latter. I have to differ in opinion and say Drive is highly stylized. He is trying to present a hyper-reality that is visually-directed with stark color contrasts, slowed-down camera-work, still pauses in action to punctuate inner thought and anticipation of what’s about to happen. The director said he is color blind so he likes vast contrasts in color. He also made an interesting point about his use of 1980′s sounding pop music, although it is current music that evokes the past, and the Risky Business font. He knew the movie was overwhelmingly masculine so he made feminine choices to balance it out. Interesting comment. I see what he was doing. He and Ryan Gosling seem very aware that they are harkening back to John Hughes in the look, music and perhaps romance. But it is John Woo too because of the extreme violence. I was also reminded of the style of Sonatine by Takeshi Kitano. My fellow Pop Culture Addicts said it was very Michael Mann. There is a slickness and stylistic similarity. See, I used both “stylized” and “stylistic” – director’s qualm was the former suggested manipulation of emotion but what is cinema if not an expression and often presentation of emotion. The director views “stylized” as a hacky descriptor while I think it is just a descriptor that is apt in this case. I enjoyed the movie. I enjoyed the Q&A. I said to my Pop Culture Addicts that I thought it would do well. They disagreed although they all liked it thinking that viewers will expect something more mainstream and be turned off by the artiness. I wanted to say that the casting worked for me. Bryan Cranston works a limp like I’ve never seen aside from Ratso Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy. It’s great fun to see Albert Brooks as a gangster when I’ve so enjoyed him in the likes of Mother, Modern Romance, Defending Your Life, etc., etc. Ryan Gosling can do small, independent movies like Half-Nelson and keep my interest and do Crazy, Stupid Love and make me want to see it (I still haven’t seen this one.) He sent the director a funny text giving his support for BAM where I saw it and stating that he loves Brooklyn girls.

Warrior
This movie surprised me by being so unabashedly crowd-pleasing in the most effective way. I felt very manipulated but I didn’t care. I could see the direction of the story pretty much until the end when I wasn’t sure which way it would go. And yet, every time, at every climactic scene (there were many) I was on the edge of my seat thinking, “Oh no, what’s going to happen? Who’s going to win this fight?” And then it would resolve the way my brain had said it would and I would be relieved and continue watching. Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton must have worked out for a million hours to look the way they do in this movie and to move the way they do. They look like MMA machines. I don’t really watched Mixed Martial Arts for real but I was riveted by the acting and the visuals. The fights were incredibly visceral as audiences have come to expect thanks to Martin Scorcese’s seminal Raging Bull. So my end review is even though the story is not very complex, the two leads are compelling and poured themselves into these roles. I had thought it was based on a true story. After my Fellow Pop Culture Addicts saw it and loved it, they were dubious. Then I saw it and realized it would be pretty incredible if it were a true story. Nonetheless, there were a few elements from different personal stories that might have inspired this fictional tale. There were brothers who were MMA fighters. Not sure if it was the same family or if another MMA fighter was a soldier/war hero. Anyway, even though I didn’t see it with a big crowd, it felt like a crowd movie. The handful of strangers in the theater kept clapping after each fight like we were all actually at the tournaments. That is an effective movie to create that kind of atmosphere. I think I need to watch Animal Kingdom again to see Joel Edgerton not all buff and American.

Restless
I always find something worth watching in a Gus Van Sant movie even if the entire movie isn’t to my liking. But often, I am intrigued by everything on-screen, the actors, the stylistic choices made cinemagraphically, the story or more often than not, the abstractness of the story that somehow has a coherent line running through it mysterious as it might be. He often has dreamy dissolves, stream-of-consciousness editing and voice-overs. I’m thinking about the very art-y Last Days, Elephant, Mala Noche. Then in his oeuvre are the more cohesive mainstream movies like Milk, To Die For, Finding Forrester, Good Will Hunting. Gerry is a good example of both – a movie that seems to have an easy to follow plot but then turns out to be an almost real-time movie about two guys named Gerry who get lost during a day hike. I went through many emotions watching Gerry from befuddlement, amusement, anger, frustration and by the end, just when I thought I couldn’t take any more, I realized I liked the movie. That is the power of Gus Van Sant. But he ranges in how much he infuses into a movie. Restless is written by someone else and has some readily identifiable GVS elements. Henry Hopper has the quintessential look of a Gus Van Sant street kid/model. Also, he looks very much like his father Dennis Hopper and this quality was captivating. He is also a decent actor. Never seen him in anything before. I also find Mia Wasikowska appealing. While Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland was uneven though visually interesting, I found Mia W’s Alice quite likable and watchable. I was a bit turned off by the preciousness of the emo quirkiness of the characters at first. They are so Pacific Northwest teen hipsters dressing so deliberately in period clothing, dealing with with their raw deals of mortality. But I found myself rooting for them and wanting them to find what they needed in each other. I was also initially wary and slightly annoyed by the Japanese friend character played by Ryo Kase but he ends up being something different from what I expected and not really annoying at all. In fact, I quite liked him after I learned his true identity. So the movie is not the best movie I saw this week,(I saw Drive and Warrior this week) but it had its moments and I was not unhappy that I took the time to see it in a theater. At the end, there was a very Gus Van Sant montage of Portland that I appreciated.

Sleep No More
This was a busy pop culture week because I started it by seeing the much-touted performance art production of Sleep No More, an avante garde interpretation of Macbeth. I am not big on interactive theater because it is not my thing. I would rather watch a performance than be a part of it. Of course, because of Murphy’s Law, whenever a volunteer is needed, I do NOT volunteer and yet somehow become a volunteer. So really, I should just give into fate and not let it bother me so much. Anyway, I was simultaneously attracted to and repelled by the idea of Sleep No More. I heard quite a lot about it before I actually went. I knew that it takes place in a warehouse designed to be a 5-story hotel for the duration of the performance, it is set in the 1920′s, you are separated from your party to enhance the individual experience, you are given Eyes Wide Shut type masks to wear for the entire 3 hours or so, you can touch whatever you want except the actors, the actors are really more like dancers who appear occasionally in non-sequential order of the scenes in the play and that it is up to you who you follow until the end when the ushers in black masks usher everyone into the same room for the final scene. One of my fellow PCA’s said it best when we were seated in the hotel bar, I should say, “hotel bar” waiting for our turn to start, “Everyone is sitting around acting like this isn’t weird when it is really weird!” Yes, I found the experience weird from start to finish. We all had very different experiences in my group of PCA’s and found that the ones who stumbled into the most scenes were most satisfied. I saw Macbeth and Lady M in a pivotal scene (murder, out damn spot, out, etc.) but missed other moments and saw really random scenes or dances, really that even having refreshed myself with the story was uncertain about the relevance. The set is incredible. It is very dark and eerie. My favorite was the forest. I got used to seeing other patrons walking around in their white masks but every time I walked by a mirror and glimpsed myself, I got creeped out. I’m glad I went because it is certainly a unique experience and I wasn’t turned off by the interactive aspect of it like I thought I might be. When we analyzed our respective experiences, we decided that it would be a fuller experience if we were more directed to see all of the scenes in some order, not necessarily sequential order. Put it this way, my fellow PCA’s talked about the minotaur in the rave and I completely missed both. That is a disappointment. But the creators believe that it is fine because they think everyone’s experience should just be self-directed. I would have to say I disagree. But our collective advice to others would be to make sure you go to every floor, follow the killers and you’ll see another interesting scene, follow the music and you’ll see another cool set, bring something for afterwards to cool your sweaty face – that mask was not comfortable for any of us but we were not allowed to take it off. Also, be sure to follow the ushers and crowd around 9:45pm so you see the final scene. I didn’t follow until closer to the end and apparently missed a reunion of all of the cast – “ghosts” and all.

Higher Ground
Vera Farmiga manages to keep my attention no matter what role she’s playing even if the rest of the movie falls short of her performance. So I was curious about her directorial debut Higher Ground based on a memoir by Carolyn S. Briggs called This Dark World. It ended up being an easier movie to watch that I had expected. It is about one woman’s firsthand experience with fundamentalism in Christianity and how she gets into it and how she falls out of it. I was impressed with the direction and acting done by Vera Farmiga and look forward to more movies directed by her. I was won over by Dagmara Dominczyk’s performance as well.

The Interrupters
Remember Hoop Dreams? It was a gripping documentary about two talented young boys in the inner city of Chicago aspiring to gain something in life by following the path of basketball. You can actually watch the entire movie (clicking opens video) on Hulu. Documentary filmmaker Steven James has a new movie out called The Interrupters. It is a documentary about a non-profit group based out of University of Illinois in Chicago staffed by former gang members who want to decrease the number of shootings in Chicago particularly amongst the youth but also with adults. It is fascinating, despairing yet hopeful and truly admirable. I could not do what these people do. They “interrupt” conflicts as they are unfolding between aggressive, violent-minded people. We see conflict resolution on screen as an Interrupter convinces angry sisters to put down their concrete slabs and go home rather than defend their disrespected brother’s honor. We see an Interrupter invited to speak at a funeral service of a young boy she doesn’t know personally about keeping the peace. We do see badly injured Interrupter and it is painful. The project is inspiring while the problem is upsetting. The movie has been sold out in Chicago where I saw it. I hope it does well elsewhere. The founding doctor, an epidemiologist, spoke at the screening I went to and said the actual movie does not profit the organization. But the movie being well-received does generate interest and support for the work they are doing. By the way, he did say the people featured in the movie have seen it and are pleased with it.

Contagion
I am a fan of Steven Soderbergh and am intrigued that he is doing 2nd Unit Direction for The Hunger Games and worried that he’s going to follow through with his statement that he is retiring from movie-making soon. Even those movies other people just don’t like such as Bubble have something in it for the likes of me. I still chuckle when I remember how desperately I wanted to see his movie Haywire and somehow ended up watching the opening credits of a terribly produced Indian (maybe) spy movie called Haywire which I can’t even locate on IMDB. My fellow Pop Culture Addict and I walked out and explained how we didn’t mean to buy tickets for it and watched Easy A instead. Anyway, somehow I thought Contagion might be like a zombie movie but instead it turned out to be a fairly realistic portrayal of how an infectious disease might break out all over the world. Let me say it was extraordinarily creepy. I loved the look of the movie with the yellows and other Soderbergh colors. I liked the Traffic-like break up of screens and action. There are many quiet sequences when the characters are just accepting that this disease is brutally fatal. Overall, I got into the pace and mystery of the movie. It is certainly star-studded. I guess everyone wants to work with Soderbergh. He has such a clear vision. It has a much more deliberate pace than suggested by the ads so I think people might be turned off by the dire seriousness of it but if they can stick with it, the story is reasonably entertaining.

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