Oak Street Cinema: Not dead yet!

I am more than happy to be proven wrong and to report that the Oak Street is rising from the ashes once again to offer a slate of fall screenings that, for the most part, hits the nail on the head of what this town needs. Announced in an e-mail newsletter and highlighted in this week's City Pages Fall Arts issue, the Oak's schedule seems almost too good to be true. The next month will be jammed packed with very worthy repertory screenings, starting with an Isaac Hayes tribute this weekend, then a new print of Jean-Jacques Beineix's Diva, followed by a Alain Robbe-Grillet tribute and then rounding things off with six films by Godard. No belly-aching here. Thank you Minnesota Film Arts!

Here's the full line-up:

A Soul Cinema Tribute to Isaac Hayes
September 19 - 25
Truck Turner (1974) directed by Jonathan Kaplan
Friday, September 19 - Thursday, September 25 at 7pm (No show on Wednesday, September 24)
Shaft (1971) directed by Gordon Parks
Friday, September 19 - Thursday, September 25 at 9pm (No show on Wednesday, September 24)
Wattstax (1973) directed by Mel Stuart
Saturday, September 20 - Sunday September 21 at 4pm

September 26 - 29
Diva (1982) directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix
Friday, September 26 - Monday, September 29 at 7pm and 9:30pm w/ Saturday and Sunday Matinees at 4:30pm. (No show 7pm Saturday)

September 27
Manhattan Short Film Festival
Saturday, September 27, 7pm

September 30 - October 1
Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) directed by Alain Resnias
Tuesday, September 30 - Wednesday, October 1 at 7 & 9pm

Alain Robbe-Grillet Series
October 3 - 9
Last Year in Marienbad (1961) directed by Alain Resnias (written by Alain Robbe-Grillet)
Friday, October 3 - Sunday, October 5 at 7pm w/ Saturday and Sunday Matinees at 5pm
Trans-Europ Express (1966) directed by Alain Robbe-Grillet
Friday, October 3 - Sunday, October 5 at 9pm
L'Immortelle (1963) directed by Alain Robbe-Grillet
Monday, October 6 - Tuesday, October 7 at 7pm and 9:15pm
Eden and After (1970) directed by Alain Robbe-Grillet
Wednesday, October 8 - Thursday, October 9 at 7pm and 9pm

Godard Retrospective
October 10 - 23
Contempt (1963) directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Friday, October 10 - Sunday, October 12 at 7pm and 9:15pm w/ Saturday and Sunday Matinees at 5pm
Band of Outsiders (1965) directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Monday, October 13 - Tuesday, October 14 at 7pm and 9pm
Two or Three Things I Know About Her (1966) directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Wednesday, October 15 - Thursday, October 16 at 7pm and 9pm
Breathless (1960) directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Friday, October 17 - Sunday, October 19 at 7pm and 9pm w/Matinees Saturday and Sunday at 5pm
Alphaville (1965) directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Monday, October 20 - Tuesday, October 21 at 7pm and 9pm
Pierrot Le Fou (1965) directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Wednesday, October 22 - Thursday, October 23 at 7pm and 9pm

Go to Minnesota Film Arts for complete and updated information.

DVD releases for September 16

I'm flushing last week down the toilet. Not because there weren't any good DVDs, but mostly because I want to forget about it. Onward to a new week! This week offers some good options, but nothing to get yer britches in a bundle about:


Young @ Heart (2007) directed by Stephen Walker
Here's a way that we can connect to the older generation: they can sing songs of a younger generation. If you missed this in the theaters, you are a loser like me. Fellow blogger at Getafilm considers it on of the best documentaries of the year, and I believe him.

Snow Angels (2007) directed by David Gordon Green
Did I miss anything when I missed this film in theaters? Probably. David Gordon Green proved with George Washington and All the Real Girls that he is a director to watch, but Pineapple Express?

The Pyongyang Concert (2008)
No, the New York Philharmonic is not going to fix the problems facing North Korea, but neither is isolating the entire country. The population of North Korea deserves someone better (or at least less crazy) than Kim Jong Il and they also deserve a world with more diplomacy rather than finger-pointing and hate-mongering. This concert was pretty monumental and represented nothing but good intentions. The DVD includes some supplementary material that hopefully gives some behind-the-scenes of the event.

Death Note (2006) directed by Shusuke Kaneko
Those that want to keep up with the various films adapted from anime should check out Death Note. Tatsuya Fukiwara has yet to grow out of his beguiling youthful look that he trademarked in Battle Royale. On it's own, this film is nothing to write home about. But as a package (manga, anime, and two more live action films: Death Note: The Last Name and L: Change the World) it's pretty entertaining and easy to get caught up in.


Proteus (2004) directed by David Leburn
This documentary is either really cool or just kind of boring. From the synopsis is sounds very cool: "Filmmaker David Lebrun casts his eye on the evolution of art, science, and the world around us in this fusion of documentary and experimental forms. Ernst Haeckel was a 19th Century biologist with a keen interest in art; he found a way to merge these two disciplines when he published the book Art Forms in Nature, in which he offered detailed sketches of nearly 4,000 different single-celled organisms. As Lebrun tells the story of Haeckel and his work, he meditates upon the vision shared by the artists and scientist and other great minds of the age, and uses Haeckel's images as a jumping off point for his own visual explorations." I will report back.

La Ronde (1950), La Plaisir (1952) and The Earrings of Madmae de... (1953) directed by Max Ophuls
All from Criterion and I'm sure these are great films. Should I feel guilty for watching Cromartie High School instead of Max Ophuls films?

Welcome back Sammi Cheng

It wasn't too long ago that Sammi Cheng was the queen of the Hong Kong box office. Although her career started with her appearance in the popular Fell 100% in 1996, it was Johnny To's Needing You in 2000 that propelled her to super-stardom, making no less than twelve films in four years (the best being the six she made with Johnny To: Needing You, Wu Yen, Love on a Diet, My Left Eye Sees Ghosts, Love for All Seasons, and Yesterday Once More.) Cheng has an uncanny gift for comedy, but is equally suited for the light romantic comedies that began stacking up in her resume.

That all came to a halt when Stanley Kwan (Rouge, Center Stage) sought out Cheng for his period arthouse drama Everlasting Regret portraying a privileged women ravaged by the social and political turmoil of the Shanghai in the last half of the 20th century. Kudos to Cheng for accepting the challenge where she would be asked to clearly act outside of her normal range and her performance would have to carry the entire movie. Cheng completely transformed herself and gave a performance of a lifetime. Everlasting Regret, which came out in 2005, is a beautiful film, but it fell short of people's expectations as a whole. And without reading too much into the tabloid headlines, the entire experience devastated Cheng, who retreated from the public eye for 2 years before returning to her music career in 2007.

Thankfully, Sammi Cheng will also make her return to the screen this fall with a new film by Alan Mak (Andrew Lau's directing partner) and Felix Cheong entitled Lady Cop & Papa Crook. She stars alongside Eason Chan and plays, well, she plays Lady Cop. Let's face it, the nuances of the plot really aren't that important, but all signs point toward Lady Cop & Papa Crook marking Cheng's return to her very entertaining shoes in HK film. I think the trailer looks awesome! Welcome back Sammi!

Lady Cop & Papa Crook has seen a couple of delays, but is set to open in Hong Kong on October 23rd.
Look for a review on Love HK Film shortly after.

John Crowley's BOY A

Everyone deserves a second chance, or so the idealistic adage goes. Reality tends to not be so kind, even to the people who might deserve it. (Or to be even more jaded, the second chance goes to those who don't deserve it.) The irrepressible human tendency to rashly adjudicate others is on full display in Boy A. Although somewhat manipulative, Boy A is nonetheless sincere in its portrayal of a young man looking for redemption; redemption that he himself doesn't even think he deserves.

We meet Eric just as he is choosing his new name (Jack) and receiving a new pair of Nikes from his counselor Terry upon his eminent release from jail. As we watch Jack acclimate to society after a long absence—start a job, get an apartment, try drugs, have sex and learn what a panini sandwich is—we get the backstory on his troubled childhood, and the heinous crime he committed that put him behind bars. The film is careful to paint Jack (and his child persona Eric) as a naive lost soul, and shrewdly avoids visually showing the act that turned him into a monster in the eyes of the public. His painful childhood was further marred by falling in with someone whose childhood was even more painful.

Although the media is fully aware that the infamous 'Boy A' (the name given to Jack as a juvenile criminal) has been released, no one knows his true identity except for Terry and Jack himself. The nightly news reports on Boy A, and tabloids publish publish computer renderings of what Boy A would look like as a young adult, as Jack nervously looks without wanting to look. Despite the dark cloud that continues to exist about 'Boy A' , his assimilation is exemplary making his counselor glow with pride. Jack is anything but the individual that the odds would send up after his ordeal. He is the gentlest of creatures who seems to harbor no ill will against anyone, which makes the inevitable turn of events all that much more gut-wrenching. Jack's happiness is an evanescent reality.

Andrew Garfield deserves the credit for any emotion you feel toward Jack, and in my case, even though I knew I was being played, I was admittedly moved. Broaching adulthood with the guileless exuberance of a child, you can feel the guilt, torment and sadness bottled up behind Jack's boyish smile. As a result Jack has a human dynamism that few actors can pull off at any age, let alone 24. The fact that he can just as easily play a cocky American college kid (in Lions for Lambs as the student that Robert Redford feels is worth his time) as the fragile and unpredictable Jack shows a pretty convincing range. Garfield was born in the US but then moved to England at the age of four. Boy A is his only film as a lead, but he also has a part in this year's The Other Boleyn Girl and Terry Gilliam's upcoming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (that was thrown into turmoil after Heath Ledger's untimely death, but nonetheless is scheduled for release next year.)

Showing the human behind the demons is a them that has certainly been done before, but not nearly as many times as simply reconfirming societies demons, and I appreciate Boy A on that account. John Crowey does a great job in directing a thoughtful and sensitive film that out does most films for its openness and candor. Boy A begs people to look beyond the headlines, falsely providing every ounce of hope possible only to succumb to the most cynical and honest outcome.

More ingesting, less regurgitating.

Look for less posts in the next month or so as I take care of the stacks in the proverbial in-box and ignore the blogoriffic out-box for a while. I will keep the Film Calendar updated, so please check it out if you haven't already done so. (It seems to work beautifully with iCal.) I am also averting a pending strike from the blog's chief editor, Copper, who has been demanding more leasure time in the sun.

DVD releases for September 2

A week riddled with DVD gems that got little or no theatrical attention:


The Last Bolshevik (1993) and Happiness (1934)
The Sixth Side of the Pentagon (1967) and The Embassy (1973)
The Case of the Grinning Cat (2004)
Remembrance of Things to Come (2001)
All directed by Chris Marker.
These four DVDs showed up in my releases for April 8th, at which point they were available only through the Wexner's Chris Marker Store. But they are well worth mentioning them again. Now they are available at all the bastard online retailers. The first DVD is a two disc set that includes Marker's film about the Russian film director Alexander Medvedkin as well as Medvedkin's silent film Happiness. There are also a host of extras. The second DVD might be a good one to watch while the local media tries to demonize protesters at the RNC in St Paul. The Sixth Side of the Pentagon chronicles the 1967 protest in Washington, D.C. to end the war in Vietnam. The Embassy on the other hand is a fiction film depicting dissidents seeking refuge in a foreign embassy after a military coup d'état in an unidentified country. Read about Remembrance of Things to Come here, and my personal thoughts about The Case of the Grinning Cat here.


Before I Forget (2007) directed by Jacques Nolot
The best film in this year's Queer Takes series at the Walker, Jacques Nolot stars, writes and directs this film about aging, grace and humility. The camera stares unflinchingly not only at undeniable beauty but also the harsh reality of the complex human condition. In this case, the human condition is applied to an aging hustler living with HIV for 24 years. It's a film about observation, and more specifically the observation of self-observation.

Fist of Legend (1994) directed by Gordan Chan
Possibly the best kung fu movie ever made. A remake of Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury, Fist of Legend had only been available in the most deplorable versions that were dubbed, cut and renamed. (The best version used to be a VCD where the Mandarin track was on one channel and the Cantonese on the other - that's just how bad it was.) Thankfully that has all changed and Fist of Legend is now available here and elsewhere with the original edit and soundtrack. Jet Li is in his prime, and his kinetic wonderment is in fine form thanks to action choreography by Yuen Woo Ping.

Forsaken Land (2006) directed by Vimukthi Jayasundara
The first Sri Lankan film to ever be awarded a prize at Cannes, Jayasundara's directorial debut received the Camera d'Or for Best First Film. It played in NYC two summers ago, but I'm not sure if it got any further than than in the US. It's pretty awesome to see it on DVD, even at this late date.

The Wolves (1971) directed by Hideo Gosha
Here's another 'best' film, in this case one of the best yakuza films ever made. I picked up the UK import after reading someone else's proclamation that it was the best yakuza film. The Wolves is part of the 'Ninkyo Eiga' genre or yakuza chivalry films that are for more character driven than violence driven. Gosha's big contradictory claim to fame is that he has been virtually unknown on this side of the Pacific and as a result has gained quite a following amongst us fanboy types. Gosha's rich palette and inovative style in The Wolves is quite stunning and the story itself is nothing short of gripping. Tatsuya Nakadai, who plays the lead, anchors the film with his presence. Check out the trailer here.


Workingman's Death (2005) directed by Michael Glawogger
This amazing documentary played for a week in the final day of the Bell as a documentary only 'movie house.' I saw it there, but wish I had seen it on a huge state of the art screen. This highly aestheticized visual look at manual labor may not be everyone's idea of a great documentary with its lack of commentary or opinion. Personally, I think it makes it that much more powerful. Glawogger takes us to five location where the work people do is unimaginable: illegal mines in the Ukraine, sulphur mines in Indonesia, slaughter yard in Nigeria, shipbreaking in Pakistan, and steel complex in China. Workingman's Death is an unbelievable visual experience.

Reprise (2006) directed by Joachim Trier
I really loved this movie. Although it played almost a year a half ago at MSPIFF 25, it only got a theatrical release this year. I found it very moving (without being heavy handed) in addressing the manifestations of personal achievements and failures and how they propel or social lives. It is also beautifully acted by people I had no reason to disbelieve. I would totally watch this film again.

Itty Bitty Titty Committee (2007) directed by Jamie Babbit
A sweet movie about young rebellious girls who like girls.

The Promotion (2008) directed by Steve Conrad
I thought this film looked good and ten times funnier than Step Brothers. However, I was still trying to work of my Edina Cinema hangover from the holidays and was still on a conscious injunction.

Don LaFontaine (aka "Movie Man") R.I.P.

Don LaFontaine may not be the most recognizable name, but anyone who has seen a movie trailer would recognize LaFontaine's voice. The most iconic (and at this point, the most laughable) where his voice-overs that introduced a premise to a film with "In a world of..." LaFontaine died yesterday due to complication a collapsed lung at the age of 68.

Brad Anderson's TRANSSIBERIAN

It's hard to believe that The Machinist and Transsiberian were children of the same person. Or that the same pen wrote the smart and funny Happy Accidents and the moronic film I saw at the Uptown a few days ago. I'm still baffled by how anyone could find suspense or intrigue out of a film built on such slight stereotypes (the Russian cop, aka torturer; the backpacker, aka drug smuggler; and the American tourist, aka idiot) and on a scenario that is utterly droll for the sake of being complex. Opinions differ on this film to the point where I am clearly in the critical minority, causing me to reassess, but I still come back to the same verdict. At the height of the suspense, instead of being engaged I was either knotting my brow in disbelief or distracted by the people getting up, wondering if they were leaving and wondering if I should do the same.

Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer are Roy and Jessie, a married couple completing some sort of vague good will effort in China organized by their church. Instead of flying back home, Roy, a train enthusiast, and Emily, a restless soul that has yet to settle, decide to take the Trans-Siberian train to Moscow and fly back to Iowa from there. Needless to say, the journey is the romantic adventure they had hoped for. (Especially since when Jessie wants Roy to use a condom, gosh darn it.) When globetrotters Carlos and Abby show up to share their cabin, suspicion and couriousity is aroused as they are transparently painted as the 'bad element'. Maybe a little less transparent, but nonetheless stereotypical is Grinko, the Russian detective, who also befriend Roy and Jessie at a convinient time. Who's zoomin' who is the question of the hour as we stay on pins and needles until we find out if our American friends can survive the web of international trechary! Not.

Anderson is good at flipping the coin back and forth: making something romantic into something frightening, or something beautiful into something ugly, or something passionate into something violent. Specifically, when Jessie and Carlos visit a deserted church out in the middle of nowhere - not only do you start to feel some honesty in the characters and the situation, but it is also a plateau in the film of breathtaking beauty. Save this one scene, Anderson's preoccupation with the blurred lines of who we are as individuals in this global village of Russian train travel feels like a contrived morality tale looking to outdo Moses on Mount Sinai. From this perspective, it's hard not to read into Roy's eventual fall from innocence in the face of the big bad world and Jessie's discovery of a deeper love for her knight-in-shining-armour husband. Not to mention her resulting change of heart about offspring.

Woody Harrelson's character, Roy, comes a close second to Mark Wahlberg's character in The Happening as one of the most annoying characters of the year. A God loving American, from Iowa no less, who loves trains, he is naive to a fault. Perhaps Anderson is having a little fun making iconic generalizations for the sake of allegory, like the fool-hardy Christian from Iowa or the weathered punk girl from Seattle. I had a hard time swallowing it, even for the sake of parable.

Criterion puts five Blu-Ray titles up for pre-order

I have been dragging my feet on getting a Blu-Ray player ever since HD called it quits, waiting for a price drop in players or simply the right release that would get me pulling out my credit card. Well, that day has come and my deadline for getting a player is November 25 and the release is this one:


Criterion has put five Blu-Ray DVD up for preorder on their sight, three for November 18 (The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Third Man and The Last Emperor) and two for November 25 (Chungking Express and Bottle Rocket), all for $31.96. Chungking Express is the big news even if you are not a huge Wong Kar Wai fan. It is the one release that has been ignored domestically, unless you want to count the pan scan DVD that Tarantino slapped his picture on. A couple remaster versions have come out in Japan, France and most recently in Hong Kong. Criterion is releasing Chungking Express on Blu-Ray as well as on plain ol' DVD. Here are the special features listed for both:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer
• Remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack supervised by director Wong Kar-wai
• Audio commentary by noted Asian cinema critic Tony Rayns
• U.S. theatrical trailer
• Episode excerpt from the BBC Television series Moving Pictures, featuring Wong and cinematographer Christopher Doyle
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Amy Taubin

Blu-Ray party at my house for Thanksgiving!

DVD releases for August 26

Chicago 10 (2007) directed by Brett Morgen
I was more interested in this film for its visual flair that its history lesson, but I missed it or it didn't play here; I'm not sure. Either way, from the art standpoint, Chicago 10 gets high marks and low marks for the factual diversions along the way. Whatever. Those in the Twin Cities should hold off on renting the DVD and check it out at the Walker: they are screening it for free and director Brett Morgan will be on hand to introduce the film and participate in a post-screening discussion with local filmmaker Matt Ehling and U of M scholar Jane Kirtley.

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
Personally, I think the merits of this film are completely blown out of proportion, but maybe that is just because I saw it on some crappy import where the quality of the DVD was more of a bigger subject than the film itself (a testament to just how bad the DVD was.) But what is a person like me to do when a film is unavailable? For those who didn't track down a blasphemous version on DVD, your waiting has paid off. Criterion offers Pasolini a stage that he no doubt believes his film deserved. I'll give it another chance, if for no other reason than to check out the DVD itself. Maybe there will be something in the special features or the new transfer that will convince me that Salò is a masterpiece. Not for the faint of heart.

Son of Rambow (2007) directed by Garth Jennings
For those not ready to tackle Salò, I whole-heartedly recommend this sweet and funny film that is as easily enjoyed by adults as it is kids. (Read a short something I wrote during MSPIFF about this film here.)

Redbelt (2008) directed by David Mamet
I did not care for this film so much, but that doesn't mean I don't respect Mamet, even if he is a born again conservative, or, what he calls "not a brain dead liberal." (Read more blah blah blah from me about Redbelt here.)


Love for Sale (2006) Karim Aïnouz
I wish I could offer up more of a recommendation that just a weak proclamation that this film generally received good reviews. It didn't play around these parts, but seems worthy of the rental. Also known Suely in the Sky.

Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? (2008) directed by Morgan Spurlock
Oh, that crazy Morgan Spurlock, willing to eat McDonalds more than once and willing to grow his chops out into a full beard in order to chase America's most wanted. This documentary probably would have gotten more publicity if he had found Osama Bin Laden, but as it is this film kind of came and went. Is it a sore subject or just a bad movie?

Lynch (2007) directed by "blackANDwhite"
Part one of the documentary about the man himself is a must for Lynch lovers. Part two is included on the Inland Empire DVD. (This is another that I caught at MSPIFF, leaving my thoughts here.)

Pingpong (2006) directed by Matthias Luthardt
I don't know much about this German film other than the ad was up on Screen Daily for like a year. It played at Cannes two years ago and I guess the ad paid off because somebody bought the rights at least for home distribution. Interested parties should check out this interesting article about Pingpong by Hanns-Georg Rodek for Die Welt.

Snuff, a documentary about killing on film (2007) directed by Paul von Stoetzel
Local filmmaker Paul von Stoetzel's documentary is now out on DVD. It is also screening locally this weekend at the Minneapolis Underground Film Festival.