Schoolio's Movie Corner

[VigoTheCarpathian]

Anyone seen the documentary on the Whites of West Virginia?




My ex factory foreman, born and raised in Boone County, West Virginia, used to tell us stories 'bout these folks all the time.

[schoolofruckus]

Next up was the documentary Dear Zachary. Supposedly, this started off as a home movie project by an aspiring amateur filmmaker but ended up building into something more. It's set up as a video letter to the unborn son of the director's best friend, who was murdered by the child's mother after he broke up with her, as a way for the kid to get to know his father. As time goes on and the legal system begins to fail the grieving loved ones of the victim by not incarcerating his murderer, it turns into a document of the custody battle for the baby between the mother and his grandparents on his father's side. It's a really harrowing, fascinating story with some truly devastating "plot twists" (they're almost presented as such, despite being non-fiction). The director was lucky enough to have enough footage to edit together to keep things varied and moving swiftly, which, combined with the fascinating story, keeps things fairly compelling. Unfortunately, he decided to make some really distracting and unnecessary stylistic choices with the editing and effects that come off as tacky and manipulative. The story is strong enough to stand on its own, but these choices sometimes drag the film down into second rate CourtTv territory. Another problem with the film, which is to be expected with such a personal involvement with the subject matter, is a lack of objectivity. All the interviews are done with friends, family, and co-workers of the victim who heap hyperbolic praise upon him, leaving us with a rather incomplete picture of him as a real human being, despite the surplus of footage ranging from his childhood up until the time of his murder. The inverse is true of his murderer, who is set up as basically "the devil," as the guys parents call her, and while her actions are inexcusably horrific, the film loses a great deal of complexity by not allowing her to be a three dimensional person. I suppose a lot of this is a result of being too close to the subject matter and the director being an amateur, and there is enough good stuff here to make it worth watching through at least once, but it's definitely not on the same level as something like The Thin Blue Line or Capturing The Friedmans, documentaries that Dear Zachary some times echoes but never matches.

So you did. And yes, I imagine this would be the compassionate way to do it.

[cutterbutter]

The Master is back at the Arclight Hollywood in 70mm, starting this Friday:
https://www.arclightcinemas.com/movi...omo=spotlightD

[KungFuJoe]

[Originalbob]

Jen and I watched Dear Zachary on Friday night. I was under the impression that this was a landmark documentary of some sort; in reality, it's the most poorly made movie in the history of people making fucking movies. God DAMMIT is this thing a miscalculation....I don't know this filmmaker felt the need to cut this entire film at the speed of the most frantic scene in Tony Scott's filmography, but let's just say that it does it's true story (admittedly fraught with the sort of real-life devastation that can't help but shake a person) no fucking favors. Part of me is inclined to credit the film - which is essentially a document of the life and death of a young doctor who was murdered, made by his best friend - for withholding its ultimate reason d'etre until the final moments, but given how awful the filmmaking is for the entire duration (it's literally the sort of film that spends its final 10 minutes saluting the heroism of the dead guy's parents in completely unambiguous fashion, and then follows that up with a Ron Howard-esque title card dedicating the film to them), it's more likely that happened because the filmmaker edited chronologically as the events played out and happened to luck into an evolving narrative. I'm sure some will think I'm an asshole for criticizing the sincere efforts of people who have gone through this sort of trauma, but let's all acknowledge that the courage shown by these people in the face of tragedy doesn't mean the movie has a fucking iota of value beyond making people cry.

I must not have been in a stylistically critiquing mood when I saw it. I remember watching it when it first came out and bawling through half of it. Yes, I would agree Blair Witch Project was filmed better than this, but I suppose it got to me, making it a successful Documentary in my eyes.

[Miroir Noir]

Trailer for new Coens:

[PotVsKtl]

[PotVsKtl]

Fucking sick. I was just wondering what Chow had been up to.

[PotVsKtl]

...although apparently the answer is not, "Directing this movie they just called a Stephen Chow film."

[KungFuJoe]

...although apparently the answer is not, "Directing this movie they just called a Stephen Chow film."

I thought he was directing... http://twitchfilm.com/2013/01/intern...-the-west.html

More slapstick insanity ensues in the Taiwanese teaser for Stephen Chow's fantasy comedy Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons. It features new footage of an incompetent demon hunter getting into all kinds of silly situations. This marks the first Stephen Chow-directed film without Chow himself carrying the onscreen comedy, leaving Shu Qi and Bo Wong to fill the spotlight.

[PotVsKtl]

I thought he was directing... http://twitchfilm.com/2013/01/intern...-the-west.html

Ah, IMDB doesn't even have it listed and I was looking at Odyssey thinking it was some kind of bad translation.

[unit300021]

Trailer for new Coens:

It's a Coen brothers movie, It's a Coen brothers with John Goodman so I'm already sold on it. Looks interesting enough though.

[AlecEiffel]

So, it looks like Abrams is doing Star Wars.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/j-j-...ie-for-disney/

[tyles]

So, it looks like Abrams is doing Star Wars.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/j-j-...ie-for-disney/

It's offical. JJ Abrams has a monopoly on nerds.

[Grandma]

Hope he gets permanently blinded by a lens flare prior to filming. fuck that cocksucker.

[ThatGirl]

It's a Coen brothers movie, It's a Coen brothers with John Goodman so I'm already sold on it. Looks interesting enough though.

I love that they didn't let us hear the music from the lead character in the preview. It ups the interest factor.

[VigoTheCarpathian]

7 Psychopaths

[schoolofruckus]

I love that they didn't let us hear the music from the lead character in the preview. It ups the interest factor.

I wouldn't be surprised if that continues through the majority of the film.

People of Los Angeles* - if you didn't see Miguel Gomes' Tabu at AFI Fest or at one of the Laemmles in the past week, get down to the Royal tonight and catch it before it leaves town. It's a masterfully structured, joyously shape-shifting (though neither of those terms may seem immediately appropriate) little film from Portugal that begins with a woman settling into the dull repetition of retirement, and then explodes into a thrillingly sensuous journey through the early years of a friend's life that seemed nowhere near this remarkable to begin with. This one goes right into the top five of my 2012 films.

On that note - there are a lot more films left on my need-to-see list for 2012. But given that it's the end of January, here's the best list I can come up with:

Top 10 of 2012

1. Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas)
   
   • Playing theatrically in May 2013 - YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SKIP IT ON A BIG SCREEN IF YOU HAVE THE OPTION.
2. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson)
   
   • I could have just used a comma instead of a parentheses.
3. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson)
   
   • He never really fell off, for me, but he hasn't been this good since Rushmore.
4. The Color Wheel (Alex Ross Perry)
   
   • This would easily be the most polarizing film of the year if enough people had seen it - like a weird stew of Vincent Gallo, Lena Dunham and Todd Solondz.
5. Tabu (Miguel Gomes)
   
   • The second 4:3 film and third 16mm film on this list...what year is this, again?
6. Killing Them Softly (Andrew Dominik)
   
   • Amazing how successful Dominik is onscreen here, working close to 180 degrees away from his masterpiece. Even more amazing how unsuccessful this was financially.
7. The Loneliest Planet (Julia Loktev)
   
   • One of the most subtle, spellbinding films I've ever seen. Literally, if you sneeze at one inopportune moment midway through, you could walk away with absolutely no idea what this film is about.
8. Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino)
   
   • Tarantino may be one of the filmmakers I most underrate. Even his "minor" works (I'd rate this one fifth among his seven features) are glorious.
9. Anna Karenina (Joe Wright)
   
   • In a movie year brimming with audacity, Joe Wright's don't-call-it-a-stylistic-conceit choice to stage this tale of public scandal inside a theater rates as one of the boldest and most successful gambles.
10. Dark Horse (Todd Solondz)
    
    • His first great film that doesn't involve the Jordan sisters is also his best.

Honorable Mention

• Rust and Bone
• Zero Dark Thirty
• Argo
• Sleepwalk With Me

Leviathan Category For Excellence In Image Capturing

• Leviathan

Film I Admire But Reeeeally Don't Get In Any Way - Intellectually, Emotionally, Viscerally, Or For That Matter, Understanding Why It Appeals To Virtually Everyone

• Holy Motors

Movies I Wanted To See Before Making This List

• Alps
• Magic Mike
• The Deep Blue Sea
• For Ellen
• Goodbye First Love
• Killer Joe
• Red Hook Summer
• Wuthering Heights
• Chronicle
• Life Of Pi
• Generation P
• Starlet
• In Another Country
• Bonsai
• Jeff, Who Lives At Home
• Nobody Walks
• God Bless America
• Lawless
• Damsels In Distress
• Middle of Nowhere

Oscar-Begging Nonsense I Have No Interest In

• Lincoln
• Lincoln
• Lincoln
• Les Miserables

* - People of other places in the US - check here for Tabu listings in your city.

[flaminggodlikecreature]

Watched THE MAN FROM EARTH last night.
It's available on netflix streaming.

What an incredible film,
i think everyone that are into movies should see it.
The concept and storyline are great.

The movie is about a 14,000 year old caveman who reveals his secret to his friends, who are all professors. The setting is at a private cabin and the movie is about their discussion.

I'd give it an A+, one of the greatest late sci fi movies ever made.

[flaminggodlikecreature]

you should see Lincoln, it's actually a great film. Daniel Day Lewis easily deserves the oscar this year

[schoolofruckus]

There aren't many who love Daniel Day-Lewis more than I do. That said, it's impossible for me to believe that his interpretation of a beloved U.S. President (as thoroughly researched and skillfully inhabited as I'm sure it is) is anywhere near the achievement of the character Joaquin Phoenix created in The Master. That character was a brand new fucking mold, and while PTA obviously gets a great deal of credit for conceiving of him, Phoenix brought him to life in a way that is nothing short of extraordinary. DDL, having had the pleasure of collaborating with PTA on another unforgettably singular character, recognizes the difference as well; that's why he hasn't been bashful about saluting Phoenix throughout the current campaign.

I realize that I should probably see the film, if for no other reason than my status as a self-professed Day-Lewisphile. But I have a real problem with Serious, Solemn Steven Spielberg Films; I like portions of Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan, but the parts that don't work are horribly egregious, and then I have to bring up Munich, which poisoned this well for all of eternity. So I know, going into Lincoln, that I would be waiting for the opportunity to carve it up. Usually when I have that instinct about a film, I need to have powerful motivation to give it a fair shot - like, remembering '94-'04 David O. Russell before checking out Silver Linings Playbook, which was nowhere near as atrocious as I expected it to be.

[Miroir Noir]

How is "dude carries scars of war, psycho-sexual trauma, and substance abuse; proceeds to act out in shocking or unpredictable ways" some sort of mold breaker in the realm of acting?

It's like Taxi Driver never existed or something.

[schoolofruckus]

That's staggeringly reductive. Freddie Quell's back story may have much in common with a dozen other iconic film characters, but you can't possibly say that his personality - his speech, body language, spirit, etc. - is a copy of Travis Bickle.

[xanman86]

[*]The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson)

• I could have just used a comma instead of a parentheses.

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

I actually would not describe Lincoln as overly serious or solemn - though that is also what i was expecting going into it. it has a lot of energy in it, is more of an ensemble piece than one would expect, and has a surprising amount of humor. I was quite surprised by it. The entire story is quite riveting and much more than simply being a showpiece for Daniel Day Lewis' acting chops. The script is really tight and sharp.

[roberto73]

As a counterpoint, I found it to be a well-written and well-acted piece of bombastic, overly melodramatic hooey. For every moment that's emotionally resonant, there's one that nearly made me laugh out loud at its heavy-handedness. So I guess in that sense it's not overly serious.

[schoolofruckus]

Goddammit. The more I hear that kind of talk, the more difficult it is to enjoy my mountaintop throne on Snark Island.

[Miroir Noir]

That's staggeringly reductive. Freddie Quell's back story may have much in common with a dozen other iconic film characters, but you can't possibly say that his personality - his speech, body language, spirit, etc. - is a copy of Travis Bickle.

No, I don't mean to say that at all. I'm simply saying that I didn't see the (excellent) performance or (merely good) film as particularly mold-breaking or revolutionary. Phoenix definitely imbued that character with unique mannerisms and tics, but I didn't see it as some watershed moment in either character development or film acting.

[schoolofruckus]

That's fair. My original point wasn't so much that I'm anticipating a revolution (although I think - and hope - that lovers of cinema will be studying both the film and the performance for decades); I just think that Phoenix's work is unique and fearless, bringing genuine, complex humanity to a tortured and thoroughly impenetrable character, and that it (presumably) qualifies as a more impressive accomplishment than stepping into the shoes of one of the most widely beloved figures in American history.

[alyssaf12]

you should see Lincoln, it's actually a great film. Daniel Day Lewis easily deserves the oscar this year

or don't see it.