The Pop Culture Addict’s Blog

I think last year I saw 21 movies in 17 days (NYFF08 Parts I and II). This year I have a lighter load of 13 movies in 17 days. That’s enough. I don’t want my dvr to get too close to full capacity. I like to watch and delete but if I’m out at the movies, the tv shows keep recording and awaiting my viewing. I will go chronologically.

NYAFF 2009

Opening Night 9/25: Alain Resnais’s Wild Grass
Wild Grass is exactly what I consider a film festival movie. It is far from mainstream but it has elements that have cross-over appeal. I feel like movies are meant to be watched and should be accessible. I don’t mind working a little to get it although I also don’t mind the occasional mindless fodder. Wild Grass was reminiscent of Hiroshima Mon Amour in its collage-like feeling. It was also an adaptation/interpretation of a book/story. The movie itself was interesting to watch. I couldn’t quite predict what would happen next and I certainly couldn’t predict what image would be on screen next. I was turned off by the protoganist’s creepiness. I know it is part of the story but it interfered with my ability to let the movie wash over me. Then again, I don’t think Alain Resnais really cared if I experienced his movie like that or not. He gave a nice intro in French and English saying there was a French saying that if the audience didn’t like something, they would break the chairs. He said he hoped we liked the movie for the sake of the newly-renovated Alice Tully Hall. Aside: It looks identical to the old Alice Tully Hall! Just the bathrooms have a newness to them. I guess the interior has a glossy finish. The loge looks slightly better angled. The seats might be a tad more spread out. The acoustics are supposed to be improved. I really couldn’t say. I enjoyed last year’s fest at the Ziegfeld. It seemed like the actors and directors et al also appreciated the beauty of the theater. Anyway, it was cool to see the actor from The Diving Bell and Butterfly, Mathieu Almaric especially when he filmed Alain Resnais on stage using his handicam. The movie made me laugh and wonder but as the man’s curiosity about the owner of the wallet he found grew, it became difficult to watch. I really wanted him to get back on his meds. Actually, the movie is vague on what the main guy/stalker’s issues are but clearly he has some. I just felt like he could use something to keep his temper and inappropriateness in check.

The Wizard of Oz, 9/26
As I tweeted, I enjoyed every moment of it. It is so iconic. Every image, line and song is such a part of pop culture now. Judy Garland was 16 when she made the movie. She is clearly a star even at that young age. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard that five of the Munchkin actors would be present. Considering the movie was released in 1939, I wasn’t sure what shape they’d be in. The Wizard of Oz historian John Fricke gave wonderful introductions for each actor reminding us that filming the movie was only 7 weeks of their lives. The oldest actor was the coroner at 94. He came out in a wheelchair but had the energy and enthusiasm to give his “witch is dead” speech. The youngest seemed to be one of the Lollipop Guild boys. He was very sprightly, demonstrating his song and dance using his wife as a stand in for Dorothy. In the movie he looked like a teen so that would still put him in his 80s. There was a woman who is known as the flowerpot girl and she wore a flowerpot. There was another women who played various roles and spoke of being a Rosy the Riveter in WWII. She said she used her size to help fit underneath planes to place rivets and such. The fifth actor was probably the youngest chronologically. It seemed like he was only 7 or so when he was in the movie. He had a very rough life as a young boy (they mentioned Hungary and the Czech Republic too so maybe he doesn’t want to say where he’s from exactly). His parents tried many methods to make him grow including placing him in a vat of boiling oil. They placed him on a stretcher until his bones broke. Then his father sold him to a circus-type group. He was only 4. Then he made it to America all the way to Hollywood and was known to be able to sing and dance. He was the one who got to show off the new music to visiting celebrities on the set. All of the actors traveled from far and wide for this casting call often meeting other little people for the first time in their lives. Lorna Luft was there too. I saw her perform at Rufus Wainwright’s Carnegie Hall concert where he replicated Judy Garland’s famous concert. She kind of answered FAQs which made sense. She said the first time she saw the Wizard of Oz, she was home in CA with a nanny while her mom was in NY. She watched it on tv and was terrified that the flying monkeys had taken her mother to NY. Her mother reassured her by phone and said she’d make sure they always watched it together. Lorna Luft said her mother loved working on the movie and always appreciated where it took her. There were many kids in the audience who raised their hands when asked who had never seen the movie before. I raised my hand when asked who had never seen the movie in a theater before. That was the cool part. It reminded me of seeing Irving Berlin’s Easter Parade in a theater for the first and only time, one of my favorite Judy Garland movies. Seeing Mean Streets and The Godfather, Part II in the theater last year was just as meaningful. I forget that movies are made for the big screen not for my iPod Nano screen. Also, there was a Spike Lee sighting. He has stated being a big fan of The Wizard of Oz. I was reminded of his homage in She’s Gotta Have It.

Vincere, 9/26
I liked this movie a lot which is weird to say because it is a movie about Mussolini. It is another film fest movie in that is employs less than conventional choices. Let me give an example: the actor who plays Mussolini as a young man returns at the end of the movie as his son who then imitates his father. Also, Bellocchio mashes up archival footage of the real Mussolini within the context of the movie to show the audience his rejected family is keeping tabs on him through the news. Bellocchio gave an interesting Q&A and spoke about this. He also used headlines to quickly convey passages of time during this period in history.

Kanikosen 9/28

The source material of this movie is from a leftist book about a Japanese crab-canning ship written in 1929 which more recently became a very popular manga. That really says it all. There were very cool images. The story was very depressing. It became pro-Communist with the Russians being rich and friendly, the one Chinese character is a wise man, the Japanese are split between cruel overseers and miserable workers. It was not as stylized as say Seijin Suzuki but it had that Watchmen feeling but with less effects. The actors were all good-looking Japanese actors playing downtrodden workers so it brought a modern touch to it. I found it more interesting visually than story-wise. But the story was decent though dark.

So I’m interested in seeing Toy Story 1&2 in 3D but I don’t know if I have time. I also still want to see Let’s Get Loud. But I think I have a full schedule with the rest of my festival picks. More to come…

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The short of it is the Academy Award winning short encapsulates all the good things about the movie. It’s visually inspired. The story has universally interesting themes (the end of humanity, the end of the world as we know it, robots/technology taking over, the little guy(s) winning the war). I guess it doesn’t have Elijah Wood voicing it or the other casting. But it’s impressive.

Here’s my long popcorn back story. I don’t typically get popcorn at the movies unless it’s free. I get it free from movie memberships (like at the IFC Center and through reward points) and occasionally from special movie events. So I got passes for two free Wednesday popcorns. I was annoyed at first because it’s so inconvenient to get to the movies on a Wednesday night. Then I realized it was in fact Wednesday. So my fellow Pop Culture Addict went first. I was still holding out because I wasn’t particularly munchy. But the principle of it got the better of me so I went out to get my free popcorn. Then I stopped in my tracks because I saw Elijah Wood walking by. I realized he must be introducing the movie. I got my popcorn and then pushed by his handlers and him to tell my fellow PCA. I was too cool to show it but I was excited to see him. He was dressed kinda preppy but hipster, you know, very Young Hollywood. He said a bit about the origins of the movie and about being in the movie and being there to introduce the movie. Then he left (maybe to go to another showing of 9 further uptown) and the movie started. What did I think of the 79 minute version? Immediately I thought it was very interesting to look at and I definitely was intrigued by the odd-looking mute creature. I wanted to see where it was going. In the end, it had its moments but the plot was a little thin. It’s stronger visually than narratively. Still, it’s only 79 minutes. I applaud the length. : ) If you’re interested in animation, I would say it’s worth seeing.

I didn’t see the movie of The Time Traveler’s Wife but a fellow PCA just lent me the book. I loved it. Audrey Niffenegger did a great job with the concept and wrote an engrossing book. It’s the kind of book that made me worry I’d miss my subway stop because I was in another world. I’m curious about the movie now. I have a free pass so maybe I’ll use it to see that. I’m so annoyed that It Might Get Loud left my local theater! I’m a loser for taking so long to see it but I’ll catch it the minute it comes on demand.

OMG. I’m hooked on the Twilight/New Moon/Eclipse books. And I think I’m Team Jacob. I mean, I see why Edward and Bella are supposed to be together. But the book makes a compelling argument for Jacob/the Werewolf and Bella. I’m still holding out for the paperback of Breaking Dawn. I just watched the New Moon trailer and noted that the entire plot was shown in the span of 3 minutes. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the series. I have yet to re-watch the movie. I’m curious to see if I still think Kristen Stewart is underwhelming. I liked her in Into the Wild and Adventureland. So she has the ability to fill out a role. I guess I have to say she was miscast. But I’ll withhold judgment until I view Twilight again.

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It wasn’t perfect, but I liked it. I watched it with great interest waiting to see how it would unfold. I know Demetri Martin from Flight of the Conchords and his show on Comedy Central. He was fairly serious in Taking Woodstock. Ang Lee is technically strong. He knows how to create a time period and atmostphere. He succeeded again in Taking Woodstock. It was like we were there. They must’ve hired a million extras. I’m not exaggerating. Unless they used CGI, they cast  hundreds of thousands of people to mill around on the road and hill. I enjoyed Jonathan Groff though he didn’t have a lot to do. No one really had a lot to do on their own. I find Ang Lee’s work to be a little on the cold and tightly wound side even when I like it. Like The Ice Storm was distanced. Brokeback Mountain was more personable though in both movies, the time periods and settings were impeccably re-created and filmed. Taking Woodstock is actually loose and warm. But it is very ambling. It reminded me of a Gus Van Sant movie without the experimental aspect. It was kind of like Elephant as we followed Demetri Martin’s character through the experience of Woodstock. I never thought of how most people there didn’t even see the musicians or really hear the music distinctly. But that makes sense. There were at least 500,000 people there or trying to get close to it. So, as the audience, we hear strains of music but nothing distinct. Demetri Martin keeps trying to see the concert but gets sidetracked by various encounters.  What would’ve made it a better movie? I think it could’ve been edited down. I think a stronger narrative would’ve helped although I didn’t mind the little vignettes. People sort of stood in for themes. Emile Hirsch is excellent and stands alone as the very young Vietnam War vet suffering from PTSD. Liev Schreiber, in his mini-dress and long blonde wig, represents another emerging  alternative culture. Jonathan Groff and Mamie Gummer are the hippie kids straddling corporate America and the Woodstock Nation. Imelda Stauntan and Henry Goodman are the Russian Jewish immigrant parents of Demetri Martin holding on to their 20-something kid who is on the verge of becoming part of the new cultural revolution in America. It’s very thin on plot and focus. I enjoyed watching it though. It’s just at times I thought a scene was going somewhere and then it didn’t. It was very open-ended. As a fellow Pop Culture Addict said, it was like we were there walking around. I think that could’ve been conveyed without being so meandering. I’m trying to balance out my criticisms of Ang Lee because I think while I complain that he’s on the cold and tight side, I’m complaining that he was too loose and touchy-feely this time around. But I think he’s a strong filmmaker. I liked Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon a lot. It had a lot of passion in it alongside the technical strengths. I’m not sure if The Wedding Banquet would hold up if I watched it today but the first time I saw it, I remember being impressed. So Taking Woodstock would probably be fun for someone who actually attended Woodstock to see. It seems to mimic the experience of being there and never reaching the actual concert. It’s like Spike Lee’s Get On the Bus. It’s about the journey, not the destination. But Spike Lee made a better movie. It was more succinct though it employed similar ideas having representatives of different types and issues. I guess he had a literal boundary of the bus whereas Taking Woodstock’s setting was in an open field. So let me wrap this up. I got into the movie and wanted to know what was going to happen next. I found the characters interesting but superficial. They were intriguing and I wanted to spend a little more time with them than I got. The ambience was amazing. It must’ve taken hours and a lot of money to re-create that atmosphere. It was spot-on. Overall, it succeeds at being about the feeling of being at Woodstock rather than a story that happened to be set at Woodstock.

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Mike Judge is funny. And he’s talented. But he’s an acquired taste. I admit when Beavis and Butthead first appeared on MTV, I had mixed reactions. I was oddly mesmerized by their buffoonery but at the same time I found them offensive and worried about the youth of America. To be honest, I think that was exactly Mike Judge’s intent. That’s why it’s so perfect to have Beavis and Butthead introduce a clip from Extract in their completely irreverent, juvenile way. I feel like Mike Judge derives real joy from creating his animated characters and then voicing them. I get a kick out of seeing him do his voices live. Let me find a clip of that…

Here’s a great interview he did with David Letterman:

King of the Hill is a great balance of well-intentioned characters who get involved in mundane situations that get zany because of who they are. Actually, so is the short-lived The Goode Family. Yes, I love Office Space. I wasn’t an original fan but I caught Office Space fever pretty early on. A fellow Pop Culture Addict saw it in the theater and highly recommended it. Like anyone who’s had any type of office job, I can relate to it all. At one point I actually had my name on my stapler so it would guilt people into not taking it. It was not a red Swingline though. LOL. To be fair to me, my friend put it on as a joke and I was sort of annoyed that people would think I was that uptight about office supplies. But grew to think it was funny. And no one ever took my stapler. I own the dvd but I still watch at least part of it whenever it’s on tv. It never fails to make me laugh. Idiocracy is much funnier conceptually than in practice. Telling someone about a movie where Luke Wilson plays a soldier with an average IQ who takes part in a military experiment and wakes up 500 years later where he’s the smartest man on earth sparks interest. Maya Rudolph is the female counterpart; she also tests as having an average IQ. The army couldn’t find a woman willing to partake in the experiment. Maya Rudolph’s pimp got a lot of money for volunteering her but she doesn’t know this. She is just a jaded lady of the night trying to make a living. In the future, sports drinks have taken place of water. Lawyers get their degrees from Walmart Costco. Starbuck’s serves a lot more than coffee. But Idiocracy has grown on me. In actuality, things happen day to day that make me think of that movie. In Idiocracy, food costs millions of dollars as do medical services. I feel like we’re not that far from that kind of ridiculous inflation. When Luke Wilson wants to go to Starbucks, the future guy says, and I am cleaning up the language, we’d all like adult company but we don’t have time for that now. Yeah, Starbucks is getting to be all-service despite their recent massive downsizing. So any movie by Mike Judge intrigues me. I had heard that Extract was just so-so. I think that people expect comedic brilliance from him and when he doesn’t change the world with his work, he gets highly criticized. I found Extract to be consistently funny and entertaining. It’s not chockful of quotes fan boys and girls will be spouting for eternity but it’s amusing. The actors do a great ensemble job. Jason Bateman is a guy trying to be a decent boss but is also foolish enough to let his less than lucid friend played by Ben Affleck give him ridiculous plans of action that he barely protests. Mila Kunis is interesting as a comely con artist. Dustin Milligan is hilarious as a thick wannabe gigolo. Kristen Wiig tones it down and is a convincing unhappy suburbanite. JK Simmons delivers as he always does. Mike Judge gives a cameo just for kicks. As a Mike Judge fan, I felt satisfied. He may never make another Office Space, i.e., a movie that has firmly found a place in pop culture forevermore. M. E. Kerr always says that we’re all born with a certain deck of cards that don’t change as we grow older. It’s just how we deal them out. That’s why we do variations on a theme. I guess if you don’t like someone’s deck of cards, you probably won’t ever like their work. For me, it’s Lars Von Trier. I know film critics and film buffs really appreciate his work. I am not one of them. I’ve seen a handful of his movies and only really liked The Five Obstructions. In fact, I adored it. You can read my rave review here: The Five Obstructions review. I have less than zero interest in seeing Antichrist but I might end up going just to see it and have an opinion. I am a Bjork fan so I liked seeing her in Dancer in the Dark but it was too bleak for my tastes. Anyway, I digress. Extract is not for everyone. It’s not life-changing comedy but it’s steady. It’s diverting. If you like these actors and are in the mood for a light and goofy comedy, you might like it.

True Blood Season 2
I mentioned earlier that I gave True Blood a try when it began. I watched a few episodes and felt like I should give my tv attention to my many other shows that attract my attention. Ken Tucker at EW said he had the same reaction. But as it is his job to critique tv, he kept at it and he got hooked. I will have to go back and give Season 1 due time because I am a True Blood Season 2 convert! A couple of Pop Culture Addicts I hang out with were stunned I couldn’t get into True Blood so I thought I’d start fresh with Season 2. I watched the 30 minute Season 1 tutorial. I was familiar with the basics just from watching what I had and from soaking in bits and pieces from all the entertainment news I peruse. Then I settled in to watch Episode 1 of Season 2. Then I watched the next one and next one and next one. I got through most of the season and then watched the most recent eps during the broadcast. The setting is so rich and the characters are personable, appealing and really good-looking. (Smallville still wins for having the most unbelievably good-looking cast. That first season, Kristin Kreuk and Tom Welling were distractingly symmetrical and shiny. Let me also stop here for a moment to sing my praises for Judd Apatow’s Undeclared, a college show starring a talented and attractive bunch who nonetheless emanated normalcy; they seemed like kids we all actually know and went to college with not kids who clearly had side jobs as Armani models. But I still am a fan of both shows.) Eric the Viking is a hot vamp. Sookie wears ridiculously short shorts. Even Anna Paquin’s says so. It’s comical actually. Stephen Moyer’s accent and cadence is just theatrical enough. Sam Trammell as a shape-shifter gives Gary Oldman’s Sirius Black a run for his money. Rutina Wesley and Ryan Kwanten are fun to watch and have well-written storylines. Oh, and I know Michelle Forbes’ Maryann the Maenad character is somewhat controversial. Some fans are sick of her weird raw meat fetish already. But I remember her from Homicide: Life on the Streets days. I think she is perfectly cast in this role. She is goddess material. She’s petulant, she’s powerful, she’s demanding and commanding in her presence. She wears those toga-like dresses well. Having seen The Bacchae recently (my review), it was interesting to see a character from that play in action on a different show and in modern day. And, Allan Hyde as Godric was an inspired performance. He will be missed but I bet he will appear in flashbacks. As I tweeted: As a newly minted True Blood fan, I admit I’m totally going to DL that Demi Lovato song where Allan Hyde/Godric sings the Joe Jonas part. Here is an iTunes link to This Is Me/Den je er sung by Sine and Allan Hyde: http://bit.ly/18mmxE. EDIT: I wanted to add that I am thoroughly entertained by the character of Lafayette played by Nelsan Ellis. END EDIT

Being Human on BBC America
I read about Being Human in Entertainment Weekly and noticed it was available on BBC-America on-demand. It’s a modern day British show about 20-somethings who are a werewolf, ghost and vampire (who’s really about 100) that room together in a flat. I know from The Office and Spaced that BBC shows are only 6 shows a season. I don’t know if Being Human was shown on network tv or on a cable channel because it’s more than TV-14. The language, violence and adult themes are more prevalent than they would be on say a CW show. I thoroughly enjoyed this show. It’s a unique premise because it isn’t goofy at all. It’s dead serious. It considers what if these creatures actually could live among humans, work along side them, have their neighbors over for a beer, date. At the same time, they have their respective cultures and communities to engage with, to contend with, to resolve their issues with. Being Human also stars very good-looking stars. Their individual stories are taken seriously and equally. It’s nice to see the bond between the three of them grow. I’m looking forward to the marathon on 9/21 and Season 2 next year.

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