Darren Aronofsky's THE WRESTLER

There is much buzz about The Wrestler, but most of it is centered on Mickey Rourke's performance. (And if you want to get excited about the Bruce Springsteen song, that is your own business.) If you missed it, Rourke won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama, and it is very likely that he will be battling it out with Sean Penn at the Best Actor Oscar. (I'm convinced that Hollywood is feeling guilty about Proposition 8, and they will try to make it up to us by being generous to Milk. But that is another story.) You will notice, however, that there aren't too many people talking about Robert D. Seigel's amazing scrip or even Darren Aronofsky's talented directing. I would argue that there is a reason for that.

I was fully prepared to be disappointed in The Wrestler. The trailer screamed cliché every time I saw it. An over the hill and down on his luck guy who wants to make good on all he has done bad; his only friend is a stripper with a heart of gold; and he decides now is the time to make an effort with his estranged adult daughter. The tear rolling down the cheek as he pleads his case to his daughter was just too much for me. The only twist that I could see was that the guy with the shit-life flashing before his eyes is a professional wrestler.

I may have been prepared for the overused story and the mawkish dialog, but I was completely unprepared for The Wrestler's tenderness and sheer physicality. Randy 'The Ram' Robinson's longevity in the world of professional boxing is exemplified in this yin-like humanity and yang-like brutality. And now that I think about it, it may also explain his lack of meaningful personal relationships. His professional relationships have more depth than the one he has with the stripper or even his daughter. The moments of sincerity in the locker rooms shared between the wrestlers is like some sort of code of the samurai: the respect and love shown due to a clandestine understanding for one another.

And then there is the physicality. First there is Rourke's surprising gravity and age. The burly and rough man that he has become from his soft and pretty days of 9 1/2 Weeks is unbelievable, and the film is willing to exploit it into art. The second part of this is a testament to the fact that I am not totally desensitized. I'm willing to see people cut out their own tongues and many other unspeakable things, but, I'm sorry, volunteering to be tagged over and over again with a brad gun? I don't think so. The centerpiece fight had me looking at the seat in front of me for it's viscerality. It was all a little too realistic. I'll cry at a movie at the drop of a hat, but admitting defeat in the squeamish department is not something I'm used to doing. To Aronofsky's credit, it's a well edited scene that is meant to drive the point home. He may not have had my defeat in mind, but its obviously a pivotal scene that is meant to blunt and unembellished.

Mickey Rourke is quite remarkable in his role, and no doubt part of it has to do with personal experience. Like most people, I haven't exactly been following Rourke's career, but the film inevitably highlights the fact that he left acting to pursue a boxing career. Honestly, I don't really care much about that, but the reality is that his career choices off the screen translate on the screen. Taking the role was a pretty gutsy move. As much as I think Sean Penn transformed himself into Harvey Milk and was the shining light in a very ho-hum Gus Van Sant movie, I would much rather see Rourke get the little gold man for this one.

Darren Aronofsky has a mixed bag of cult films to his resume, and I would have to say that The Wrestler is by far his most 'mainstream.' Sort of. The Wrestler is certainly not the feel-good movie of the year, I don't care how you look at it. Most will find this film unsettling and unresolved. Even though those are the qualities I admire about it, The Wrestler is bound to disappoint some award-curious viewers. With its moments of graphic violence and unadorned sex and less than happy ending, it may just as easily fall into the film fringes.

Yu Hyun-mok's STRAY BULLET

Enough about 2008 already. Now let's move on to 1960...

My idea of a classic Korean film might be something from the mid-90s. As a matter of fact, I think the two 'oldest' Korean films I have seen are 301/302 and A Single Spark, both from 1995 (unless you count the classic North Korean kaiju film Pulgasari from 1985.) Pleasantly distracted by the offerings of Contemporary Korean film, I have rarely given a thought to the history of Korean cinema. It goes without saying that classic Korean cinema doesn't have nearly the recognition of classic Japanese cinema. Part of the problem is distribution, with few pre-1990s Korean films making it across the Pacific. The bigger problem may be that 35% of Korean films made since 1910 are simply gone: products of a fragile medium and a tumultuous century.

Under these circumstances, I was surprised to see Yu Hyun-mok's Stray Bullet (more commonly known as Aimless Bullet or simply by its Korean name Obaltan) out on DVD in the US. It's been out for some time on the Cinema Epoch label that is also responsible for the Chinese Film Classics series. Considered one of the best Korean films ever made, Stray Bullet is a relentless melodrama that owes a large debt to Italian Neorealism. Its examination of social strife is so resolute that reports of it being banned at the time come at no surprise.

Stray Bullet takes place in urban South Korea shortly after the end of the Korean War. The economy and society are reeling from the effects of a very physical yet also a highly ideological struggle. At the heart of the film is one seven-member family desperately living from day to day. Each member represent a different perspective on what can only be called the worst of times.

Chul Ho is the oldest brother in the family and the only bread winner. He works long tireless hours as an accountant for a salary that barely sustains everyone. His misery is only heightened by the fact that he lives with a painful toothache he can't afford to fix. His young daughter is painfully hopeful that she will get a new pair of shoes, and his wife is malnourished and pregnant. She diligently collects her husbands earnings, but barely says a word throughout the entire film. It seems less a case of subservience, than simply 'if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all.' Chul Ho's brother, Yong Ho, is a war veteran. He spends most of his time drinking with his army buddies and being nostalgic about their time as heroes. Chul Ho and Yong Ho also have a young brother who has given up his education to sell newspapers on the street. Their sister, Myong Sook, is more pragmatic about the situation. Her boyfriend has been emasculated by a war injury and refuses to marry. Giving up hope on ever having a family, she turns to prostitution to support herself. Lastly, there is the matriarch, Chul Ho's mother. Bedridden, she wakes every ten minutes or so to wail, "Let's get out of here! Let's get out of here!" and then falls back into a catatonic state. She is the symbolic cornerstone of the film and an ominous reminder of what the family has already been through.

The set up does not paint a very pretty picture, and it hardly gets any better. Most of the film focuses on Yong Ho's psychological struggle to find a place in society after the war. When a friend sets up an opportunity for him to act in a movie, Yong Ho becomes furious at the director's intentions to trivialize and exploit his experience as a war veteran. In a rare moment of lightheartedness, Yong Ho runs into a nurse who treated him during the war. Their bond seems to open the door to some sort of hope for happiness only to be slammed shut again.

Stray Bullet is a harsh social critique, and is revered because of it. Unfortunately, the print the DVD was taken from is not the best. It's a black and white film, and in cases of extreme darkness the image is reduced to mud. The opposite is also true, where the brightest images simply get washed out. This is all to be expected. Much like Epoch's Chinese Film Classic DVDs, without the funding to restore the films, I'm simply glad that something exists. It states at the beginning of the DVD that it is taken from a festival print that was recovered. The subtitles were burnt into the print, but there are also selectable subtitles in yellow that are probably a little easier to read.

Facts come from Darcy Paquet's research here and here. Also find a robust amount of information on the Korean Film Councils website here.

Steven Soderbergh's CHE

As luck would have it, I was fortunate enough to review this film for the Star Tribune. You can read the review here.

The long and the short of it, pun probably intended, is: Che is a great film; it is 4 hours and 20 minutes long; and you should not miss the "Roadshow Edition" of the film playing at the Uptown for one week only. The Roadshow Edition has Part One and Two screening together with no ads or previews and a fancy program in lieu of no opening and closing credits. After playing the Roadshow Edition at the Uptown, it will then be screened as two separate films most likely at the Lagoon. The other rub to all this is that Soderbergh is also releasing Che online January 21. I'm not sure where and how online, but I am generally kind of stupid about such things. Nonetheless, if Che is not coming to a theater near you, Roadshow or otherwise, you can still see it without having to wait.

Soderbergh has guts to release a film like this: breaking the time barrier for normal films and seeking alternative methods of distribution. He obviously has the clout and the respect to do such things and I am glad for that. (In another interesting note on Mr. Soderbergh, he has plans for a 3-D Cleopatra rock musical with Catherine Zeta Jones in the lead. I kid you not.)

There is a lot I would like to say about Che and I feel I said most of it in my review. I will more than likely go to see the Roadshow Edition for the program and to see what the difference is. (The two part version with credits was screened for the press.)

I'm interested in these films that go beyond the three hour mark, because they really behave differently on an psychological level. Our brain has been conditioned to the 90 minute attention span requirement for an average movie. When a movie breaks out of that, especially beyond, it becomes free from certain restraints that most films are held accountable for. I revel in such experiments and like to see these boarders pushed. No doubt this is one reason for my high regard of Che.

Best of 2008: Music

Less a self-congratulatory need for a high five than just a little record keeping and reminiscing on my year in music. (I'll take the high-five, however, if there are any out there.) Click on links and rock out.

In absolutely no order:

CSS - "Donkey"

Cansei de Ser Sexy (literally 'I got tired of being sexy') is dance rock perfection from Brazil. The show at First Ave was a physical dance endurance test for me, shaking my money-maker to The Go Team for an hour and then doing all over again for CSS. (Probably kind of a sad sight, but I enjoyed myself.) Infectious music good for any party.

M83 - "Saturdays = Youth"

I spent over a month listening to this album and this album alone. Saturdays = Youth is as atmospheric as any other M83 album, but is infused with irresistible melodic 80s pop sound that is soooo dreamy.

Santogold – "Santogold" and "Top Ranking"

Where is Santogold! When will she come to Minneapolis? Santogold just came out of nowhere with Radio K playing "L.E.S. Artists" and "Unstoppable" months before the actual full length came out. And with good reason. Santogold's image might scream underground New York artist, but her music is pure glorious pop. The fact that Diplo released a Santogold remix album, "Top Ranking," meant that I could hear all these songs that I loved (and more) in a new version.

Nomo - "Ghost Rock"

This nine piece from Michigan is one part Fela Kuti and one part Aphex Twin, sometimes leaning toward a horn heavy sound and sometimes leaning toward a effervescent electronic sound.

Be Your Own Pet - "Get Awkward"

This band just keeps getting louder and rowdier. "Super Soaked" never fails to super-charge my jog into an all out run. "Get Awkward" is Be Your Own Pet's second album - owning both means twice the fun. Punk lives in this loud, fun music. Zombie Graveyard Party!

Black Mountain - "In The Future"

The Black Mountain show was the most purple haze I have seen for some time. Of course half of that was the City Pages pumping them up as stoner music with a glorious Sabbath sound, and although that is true, "In the Future" has so much more to offer than that. First there is Amber Webber's warbling ethereally vocals, nicely contrasting with Stephen McBean's growling Damon Alban-like voice. And second, it may sound like the 70s, but it is 2008 (or at this point 2009, but you know what I'm saying.) The beauty of Black Mountain is that they are making this big riff, super-sonic rock-n-roll now.

Fleet Foxes - "Fleet Foxes"

I challenge anyone to find four guys that can harmonize better than Fleet Foxes. These songs are so achingly beautiful, that the lyrics are simply an added bonus of earthy sweetness. If that weren't enough, these guys are really funny and smart. Look, they even have a Bruegel painting for their cover art.

High Places - "High Places"

Two people standing behind a couple laptops making music may be passe, but High Places is livelier than most in this genre. Their bubbly mechanical pop is lifted by lead singer Mary Pearson's high, child-like voice. It's pretty enchanting music that will have kids and adults bouncing in their chairs.

Marnie Stern - "This Is It and I am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and That Is That"

I'm not kidding around about that title. And if that isn't enough to convince you that Marnie Stern is no ordinary woman, you should hear her guitar playing. She does more fret tapping than, well, any of those guys who are more famous for fret tapping. Marnie Stern's music is seriously quirky, which is totally why I love it so much: not metal, not punk, and certainly not pop.

Ponytail - "Ice Cream Spiritual"

Ponytail produces solid experimental rock lightened by Molly Siegel's unexplainable vocals. Is she speaking English? Or a foreign language? Or her own personal language? Does it really matter? Not really. It only matters that I want to trill and scream and 'wooop!' along with her. Ponytail rips through songs much like Deerhoof, only Deerhoof turned in one of the most tired sounding albums of the year and Ponytail turned in one of the freshest.

Portishead - "Third"

One might think that a ten year hiatus might water down Portihead's sound. Quite the contrary, Portishead seems to have honed their melancholic electro-drone to some sort of perfection that is something more subversive than just sounding creepy.

Elbow – "The Seldom Seen Kid"

Elbow is Brit pop wonderment that seems like it could explode onto the popular scene at any second. (Or maybe they have, but my head is so buried, I didn't notice.)

U.S. Christmas – "Eat the Low Dogs"

What shall I compare "Eat the Low Dogs" to? Monster Magnet? Mudhoney? Pink Floyd? Or some combination of the three and some other stuff? It's a loud, hard hitting album that is equally spacey and psychedelic. There are so many fuzzy layers to these songs, you feel like you could just dive in. Hailing from the mountains of North Carolina, its the perfect music for that setting. In the modern day Deliverance, these dudes will be standing on the bridge howling at you. The ten minute elegy "Silent Tongue" is a force to be reckoned with.

UNKLE – "End Titles…Stories for Film" and "End Titles…Redux"

I'm content to have James Lavelle remix Vivaldi or remix his remix on Vivaldi. I love both of these releases.

Honorably Mentionable
Tricky - "Knowle West Boy"
Terry Lynn - "Kingstonlogic 2.0"
Abe Vigoda – "Skeleton"
TV on the Radio - "Dear Science"
Dengue Fever - "Venus On Earth"
Hot Chip - "Made in the Dark"
Sian Alice Group – "59.59"
Ocrilim - "Annwn"

Best of 2008: Twin Cities Film

By all accounts, 2008 was a bad year for the film industry. As movies vie for attention, television has become far more sophisticated at distracting the audience. As the piece of the money making pie for films gets smaller, the larger companies fight harder. A handful of specialty distributors (Warner Independent Pictures, Picturehouse, THINKFilm, New Line, Paramount Vantage, Tartan) threw in the towel, changing the landscape of independent film distribution. As the lines become more and more blurry between the theater and your television and your computer and your PDA, film generally gets ignored under the wide umbella of media events. The biggest shows of the year played out not on film, but on TV and the various digital outlets that it supports. Between Zhang Yimou's theatrical mega-show in Beijing and the election year's many moments of political dynamism and ridiculousisms, I was even willing to join the couch potatoes. Although Oliver Stone filmically tried to add to the conversation with W, no one heard him over the shouts for Tina Fey.

Of course the other watershed of 2008 was the "crisis in film criticism." A number of full time critics at large publications lost their jobs due to a seismic shift between digital and print media. All of the sudden those who get paid to write about films are threatened by those of us willing to write about film regardless of pay. (Please note the two very important exhibits right before you: a) your computer, b) my ragtag blog where you have read into the second paragraph.) Every conversation about what is going on with film criticism eventually ends up on those dirty weirdos in their basements on a 24/7 blog-a-thon. (Again, refer to exhibit b.) The irony locally is that yours truly and my friend Daniel over at Getafilm, bloggers at the very least, have crept out from our basements to occasionally grace the pages of our local daily. Needless to say, the crisis is more of a crisis of excess, and this is by no means isolated to film. Figuring out what form this excess will take on in the coming years is a do-or-die task for every magazine and newspaper. Personally, I don't know if film periodicals have ever been better. I am continually amazed by the rich material in Cinema Scope, Film Comment, Cineaste, the newly redesigned Film Quarterly, and Art Forum.

It is under these dire circumstances that the Twin Cities film community soldiers on! If it was a bad year in film, I was ignorantly oblivious to it here in the Twin Cities, where film exhibition continued to challenge my schedule and my brain. Although I wish our community had a little more solidarity (uniforms? lapel pins?), our resilience has nonetheless been rewarded with a very fruitful year of screenings. Whether you wanted to be nostalgic or cutting edge, a handful of venues and organizations did their very best to offer top shelf programming. Here were the highlights:

26th Minneapolis-St Paul International Film Festival
Carrying a huge sign that signified 'not dead yet,' Minnesota Film Arts packed St Anthony Main day in and day out with a very solid film festival. Offering a glorified sneak peak of the year's indie darlings (The Visitor, Encounters at the End of the World, Beauty in Trouble, The Edge of Heaven, The Last Mistress, OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies, Son of Rambow, Tell No One, Time Crimes, Young @ Heart, Up the Yangtze, Savage Grace, American Teen) as well as unprecedented screenings of fantastic films that will never ever return(Alexandra, Autumn Ball, Beaufort, Dry Season, Import/Export, Jar City, Katyn, Little Moth, Slingshot, Still Life, Way I Spent the End of the World, Woman on the Beach, Yella, You the Living, Pageant, Momma's Man, Patti Smith: Dream of Life...and those were just the ones I saw. To say that there was something for everyone would be an understatement. MFA has been struggling the past few years and has faced many criticisms (perhaps even from me.) But its sheer tenacity is admirable. Film Fest dates for this year are set for April 16 to May 3.

In the Realm of Oshima: The Films of Japanese Master Nagisa Oshima at the Walker
The Walker offered many things in 2008—Naomi Kawase and her films Shara and Mourning Forest, Mike Leigh and his amazing first film Bleak Moments, Carlos Reygadas and his most recent masterpiece Silent Light, Two Lane Blacktop, crazy Errol Morris and Standard Operating Procedure—but the Nagisa Oshima retrospective was the crowning jewel. Seeing these films, many for the first time, was like some kind of unbelievable gift that I didn't deserve. The three week remastered CinemaScope retrospective of film rebellion was like a dream come true: intellectually engaging, visually stunning and completely overwhelming.

Playing the Villain: The Films of Richard Widmark at the Parkway
Take-Up Productions has worked tirelessly to make repertory screenings a reality, offering two film noir series and this hum-dinger at the newly renovated Parkway Theater. Richard Widmark was born in Minnesota, and although he wasn't a huge star, he was a familiar face. The beauty of the Widmark series was the relative obscurity of the titles: Kiss Of Death (1947), Slattery's Hurricane (1949), Panic in the Streets (1950), Yellow Sky (1948), and Don't Bother to Knock (1952). I'm willing to be corrected, but I would guess that all five probably had not screened here theatrically since being released.

Alain Robbe-Grillet Series and Godard Retrospective at the Oak Street
Word on the street was that the powers that be were not happy about the turn out for these two series, but I thought they resurrected some much needed life back into Oak Street. Despite the fact that everyone was focused on the election and debates, film fans turned out to see these films either for the first time or the fifteenth. The Alain Robbe-Grillet films were a stark reminder to what the Oak used to be with surprising hidden gems that I could have never imagined in my wildest dreams.

The sad reality of theaters fighting for audiences did make itself evident in small, but very obvious ways in the Twin Cities. The most stinging was coming back from vacation to find Mama Mia and Batman Returns dominating my independent film mutiplex. With that in mind, I make the plea for everyone to check out a film that you have never heard of, or support the cinema offering challenging programming. I'm no Gene Siskel or Roger Ebert, but I'll see you at the movies anyway.

Best of 2008: Movies

It's not a top ten list if you don't make some difficult decisions separating the wheat from the chaff. It's also not a top ten list if there aren't ten. Because I couldn't bring myself to reduce this list any more than I already have, I am inaugurating the top 5% list. That's right, these 16 titles represent 5% of what I saw in 2008. (You do the math.) From the heart, here are my favorite films of the year, in order, with a sizable bucket for honorable mentions:

1.

Ashes of Time Redux (2008) directed by Wong Kar Wai

December 12 an 17 at the Lagoon

Seeing Ashes of Time again was like falling in love all over again. The most surprising thing about Redux is how similar it is to the original, but how it feels like an entirely new film. Painstakingly remastered, it looks as it never has before. Ashes of Time is the martial arts film for the contemplative romantic that finds the human heart as mysterious a place as the Gobi desert. Ashes of Time has been my favorite Wong Kar Wai film because of its elusive nature that turned most people away. Like most of his films (My Blueberry Nights the big exception), Ashes revealed a new layer with each viewing. Thankfully the era of watching it from DVDs that are shamelessly cropped and devoid of color is over.

2.
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) directed by Cristian Mungiu
March 3 at the Edina

The buzz for this film was in 2007, but it didn't arrive here until 2008. Although very un-movie like in pragmatic storyline and tone, 4 Months is all the more powerful and painful. Oppression hangs over every scene like a high pitch that you can't hear but you can definitely feel.

3.
Syndromes and a Century (2006) directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
January 27 on DVD

Apichatpong Weerasethakul may be one of the most brilliant filmmakers alive. His films are visual dreams that find their beauty in a gentle surreality. Syndromes and a Century was inspired by Weerasethakul's parents, who were both doctors, but it hardly stops there. Like Tropical Malady, Syndromes and a Century is made up of two stories that work as a sublime puzzle that thankfully defies being 'figured out.' This film was one commissioned for Mozart's 250th birthday in 2006; it got a brief theatrical run in 2007 (but not here); and came out on DVD early in 2008. I'm ashamed that I didn't take the time to write about it and will make a new year's resolution to rewatch it and write about it in 2009.

4.
Silent Light (2007) directed by Carlos Reygadas
April 25 at the Walker

Just one of the theatrical screenings in the Twin Cities that defied all odds. It screened only once with the director himself there for a Q and A. Reygadas has dropped some of the overt experimentation found in Battle in Heaven to return to the minimalist beauty of Japón. Silent Light takes place in a cloistered Mennonite community in Mexico and functions like a contemporary religious fable.

5.
Man on Wire (2008) directed by James Marsh
August 14 at the Uptown

Nothing contemplates the human condition more than Man on Wire. And by 'the human condition' I mean the dreams that make us feel alive. In Philippe Petit's case that meant walking a high wire between the Twin Towers in 1974. It's an awe-inspiring story that is truly hard to grasp.

6.
The Mourning Forest (2007) directed by Naomi Kawase
March 27 at the Walker

Naomi Kawase's visit to the Walker was a huge highlight for me in in 2008, and seeing her most recent Cannes Grand Prix winning film was the icing on the cake. The Mourning Forest takes liberties in telling a deceptively simple story that apologetically wears its heart on its sleeve. Two strangers come to terms with the loss through a give and take allegorical adventure that is as quiet as it is unsettling.

7.
Flight of the Red Balloon (2007) directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien
May 2 at the Uptown

Juliette Binoche got all the attention for her 'unconventional performance,' stealing the thunder of Hou's window-on-the-world piece of wonderment. In some respects Flight of the Red Balloon is a family drama, but it is also a fantastic homage to the medium. A film inspired by another film that includes a character making a film. We are constantly reminded that the beauty of the mundane is right before our eyes, either through Hou's lens or Song's lens or Simon looking through Song's lens.

8.
Alexandra (2007) directed by Aleksandr Sokurov
April 22 at St Anthony Main/MSPIFF

It is no mistake that Sokurov's most recent protagonist shares his name as he channels himself through Alexandra into the difficult terrain of Chechnya. Alexandra travels to Chechnya to visit her grandson who is stationed there. She is not only a matronly all-knowing presence among the Russian soldiers on the base, but also among the Chechnyan's in the market. The film is tender but also unwaveringly no-nonsense: a mere peek into the personal politics of one individual.

9.
Mad Detective (2007) directed by Johnny To
May 27 on DVD

Although there was promise of Mad Detective making into theaters, it never appeared in these parts. Johnny To is making quite a name for himself, cranking out the films that the festivals just can't get enough of. With Mad Detective, To has completely outdone himself. Last year I was saying that To had made his best film yet with Exiled, but now Exiled just seems like a well put together rehash of his best films. Mad Detective is something new with an edge provided by Lau Ching-Wan's amazing performance. It's funny, clever, dark and extremely entertaining.

10.
Chop Shop (2007) directed by Ramin Bahrani
May 13 at the Parkway

Once again simplicity wins out in this small, unassuming film. Two orphans trying to make their way in life from the ground up. Young and entrepreneurial Alejandro takes up work in a chop shop in Queens, a stones throw from Shea Stadium. Working to make life better for himself and his older sister is only priority. Comparisons with Neorealism are not unfounded, but more importantly it is heartfelt and grounded. Alejandro carries this very weighty film to great heights.

11.
JCVD (2008) directed by Mabrouk El Mechri
December 12 at the Lagoon

I am filled with admiration of Jean-Claude Van Damme and gratitude to Mabrouk El Mechri for making this film. A drama made for the appreciation of action stars that is unbelievably honest. Van Damme stars as himself, an aging action star whose physical talents are no longer appreciated. The opening shot is no bullshit, as it shows a ridiculous single take of a film within the film. It will make you see Bloodsport in a whole new light. Van Damme is fantastic in this film.

12.
Taxi to the Dark Side (2007) directed by Alex Gibney
March 20 at the Parkway

Last year's news is this year's screening. Despite economic woes, the world seems a little brighter now than it did when I saw this film in March. I don't know which makes me more sad: that such things happen, or that such things happen and the majority seems not to care. Gibney was brave to make such an honest film about such an ugly subject.

13.

Paranoid Park (2007) directed by Gus Van Sant
April 21 at the Lagoon

Paranoid Park is far more impressive to me than Van Sant's by the book biopic Milk. Paranoid Park is an artfully atmospheric continuation of Van Sant's meditations on the inner workings of young men's minds. Where Milk is straight forward, Paranoid Park is wonderfully meandering and experimental.

14.

Trouble the Water (2008) directed by Carl Deal and Tia Lessin
September 19 at the Lagoon

Why are people still talking about Hurricane Katrina? Watch Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke or read Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine or watch this documentary to get your answer. Trouble the Water is guerrilla filmmaking, the antithesis of the pre-packaged government approved nightly news. Kimberly and Scott Roberts were too poor to leave New Orleans as the hurricane approached. With no car and no means of transportation, Kimberly resigns to staying with her video camera turned on. The result is nothing short of an amazing document to what really happened to the people abandoned there and their continuing struggle.

15.

Mister Lonely (2007) directed by Harmony Korine
December 3 on DVD

Perhaps I chose this film simply because it was ignored. Or perhaps I choose this film because John Waters did as well. Or maybe I chose this film because it offered something unique in the homogeneous mess of films that generally hits screens.

16.

Before I Forget (2007) directed by Jacques Nolot
June 25 at the Walker

The best entry in the Walker's Queer Takes series, Before I Forget is an intelligent and dignified portrayal of an aging hustler. Jacques Nolot himself takes the lead role of a man dealing with his own age as he watches friends pass on. Nolot has created an uncompromising fictionalized autobiography that breathes visual poetry. The breathtaking somber last shot still lingers with me six months later.

Much more than Honorable Mentions:
Beaufort (April 29, MSPIFF)
I’ve Loved You So Long (November 24, Lagoon)
Little Moth (April 19, MSPIFF)
Happy-Go-Lucky (October 31, Uptown)
Casandra’s Dream/Vicky Christina Barcelona (January 19/August 15, Lagoon)
Encounters at the End of the World (December 12, DVD)
Slumdog Millionaire (November 21, Edina)
The Unforeseen (October 28, DVD)
Let the Right One In (October 30, Lagoon)
Ballast (October 29, Walker)

Although I would like to think I have the common sense to avoid the worst movies of the year, there were two movies that I did make the mistake of seeing: Cloverfield and The Happening.

Bryan Singer's VALKYRIE

Hollywood has been mining Nazi villains for decades. Even before Hitler was dead and buried, you could take a character, put a swastika on his arm and give him some shiny black jack boots and—vuala!—a perfect, easily identifiable bad guy. Colonel Deitrich from Indiana Jones, Dr. Christian Szell from Marathon Man, and even Major Strasser from Casablanca have all done their part to create the caricature of 'Nazi' that we have today. Nazi equals bad.

So one might think that a film about 'good' Nazis—whose blood boils with so much hatred for Hitler that you might mistake them for Americans—would turn the tables on our old iconic villain. But alas, Valkyrie, the story of one of the attempts on Hitlers life, is told with the same simplistic reductions of historical morality that make us feel good. Some Nazis equal good; some Nazis equal bad.

You don't have to be a history buff to know that the real story is going to be more interesting than the fictionalized fluff. And this seems more than true in the case of Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. As might be apparent with that name, Claus von Stauffenberg was born into an wealthy aristocratic family. He started his military career at a young age, and although he was extremely nationalistic, Stauffenberg (a practicing Catholic) was sympathetic to religious freedom and moral justice. His discontent with the Nazi Party was no secret, and he had been approach very early to join the resistance movement. It was only after he was injured in Africa in 1943 that he was willing to help those against Hitler.

Most of the complexities of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg is completely lost in Valkyrie which demands you only know one thing about about him: that he is an unwavering hero. The intricacies of his character are never revealed for fear we might forget that he is the good guy. Because Stauffenberg is represented as an archetype, I found his character superficial and unmoving. Tom Cruise's performance doesn't help much. With his million dollar smile sidelined, Cruise remains resolutely serious—as in, Nazi serious; as in, I'm-a-gonna-kill-Hitler serious. Physically, he is about as animated as a toy soldier. With his hand withdrawn up his sleeve and his chest puffed out, Cruise is stiff as a board thoughout the entire movie.

To Bryan Singer's credit, he seems to want to tell a story unhindered by over the top drama or exaggerated action. Hitler and Goebbels are portrayed with apathy and without a patronizing introduction. Ticking off historical signposts and maintaining an authentic production (except for the weird mish-mash of English accents) seem to be Singer's main concerns, even if it is dry and unemotive. But the film carries such an even tone that when it come to a moment of supposed drama (such as Stauffenberg's revealing of his stump in an exaggerated heil Hitler!), it falls completely flat. Same goes for the dramatic ending in which I have no idea what Stauffenberg says, but does it really matter?

Valkyrie has been rife with controversy from the get go. Singer wanted a smaller project, but signing Tom Cruise sent it in the other direction. The poster boy for Scientology not only allowed the budget to blossom, but also caused protests among Stauffenbreg's family. Poor response to the film cause schedule changes that I mostly lost track of. Valkyrie is certainly not the film that is should be, but nor is it the film that it wants to be. Historically this is pretty interesting stuff, but it's peddled out the tepid simplicity that Singer should have saved for X-Men 3.

My Christmas List for 2009

For what Santa didn't deliver in 2008, I will patiently wait for in 2009. Before I shower 2008 in praise for the diverse screenings I've seen this year, I first want to lament what I have yet to see. I know my Christmas list is long, but these are gifts I would gladly share with anyone.

First here are things on my list already scheduled for this unfortunate frozen middle-land we live in:

Waltz With Bashir (2008) directed by Ari Folman (Opening January 9 at Landmark)
Given the fact that I have been to five movies at the Lagoon in the last week means that I have seen this trailer five times. I'm not saying anything new when I proclaim that it has a great look to it—iconically contemporary.

Che (2008) directed by Steven Soderbergh (Opening January 9 at Landmark)
Che is coming, but I suspect the scheduled date is off. This is a huge film and I'm not sure why it isn't being treated as such. The lack of a trailer, ads, website, anything is just odd. Plan on paying two admission prices, ala Best of Youth, for parts one and two. (The total running time between the two is about four and a half hours. Yea-yah.) However, it may be worth it. Soderbergh has charmed the critics into thinking Che is something of a magnum opus.

Of Time and the City (2008) directed by Terence Davies (Screening January 23-24 at the Walker)
I'll admit having seen none of Davies films despite their availability. But I can't say I ever had the interest until I started reading about this film and the director himself. This film marks a return to Davies' hometown, a place of pain and joy for him, in something of an homage. Of Time and the City was another film that premiered at Cannes. Check out issue 35 of CinemaScope for a very interesting interview with Davies.

24 City (2008) directed by Jia Zhangke (Screening January 30-31 at the Walker)
Jia's most recent feature film arrives sooner than his 2007 film, Useless. 24 City is part fact, part fiction in its story of a factory that is to be torn down to make way for high-rise apartments in Chengdu. Reading about Jia's construction of a 'slice of life' interviewing people connected to the factory immediately reminds me of Liao Yiwu's amazing book of interviews The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories—China From the Bottom Up. I am very excited that the Walker has included this in their "Expanding the Frame" series.

Wendy and Lucy (2008) directed by Kelly Reichardt (Opening February 6 at Landmark)
Much like 2 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days from last year, my anticipation and confidence about this film is so strong that I would almost call it my favorite film of the year without even seeing it. Reichardt's previous film, Old Joy, is a film that has stayed with me since I saw it two years ago. Old Joy captures the beauty and complexity of life and friendship with a sorrowful reverence. Wendy and Lucy looks to be no different. Because there is nothing sexy about a poor, homeless young woman (at least not as sexy as a horny Nazi or an angry and horny suburban housewife played by Kate Winslet), Michelle William's performance is not getting nearly the attention it probably should.

Gamorrah (2008) directed by Matteo Garrone (Opening March 13 at Landmark)
This film promises an examination of the mafia like we have never seen before. Based on the bestseller by Roberto Saviano (who is now in hiding for his own protection) Gamorrah takes place in a very rough and raw crime world of Naples. Gamorrah was one of the most highly praised films from Cannes 2008.

The Wrestler (2008) directed by Darren Aronofsky (Opening January 9 at Landmark)
This promises to be a unique tear-jerker that even the most macho guy will enjoy. Micky Rourke looks absolutely amazing, and I would like to see him get an Oscar for this (but I think Hollywood is feeling too guilt ridden about Proposition 8 and will give it to Sean Penn.)

And here is the laundry list of the other films that I am waiting on, at least the recent ones. Get ready to scroll:

The Headless Woman (2008) directed by Lucrecia Martel
Lucrecia Martel's first film (La Cienaga aka The Swamp) was nothing short of a masterpiece, and her second (The Holy Girl) was psychologically tighter but no less masterful. I would like to think I don't bandy words like 'masterful' casually. I've been waiting for Martel's next film for four years, and the fact that it is somewhere out there, but I can't see it, drives me nuts! The Headless Woman premiered at Cannes 2008, and had its US premiere at the New York Film Festival.

The Good, The Bad, The Weird (2008) directed by Kim Jee-woon
Obviously this was a big enough hit in South Korea, that eventually it will show up hopefully in theaters. Kim Jee-woon has been working his way up the popularity ladder with The Quiet Family (1998), Foul King (2000), A Tale of Two Sisters (2003, being remade as The Uninvited here in the US) and Bittersweet Life (2005)—some of the best film to come out of South Korea in the past ten years. He seem to have reach a critical mass with The Good, The Bad, The Weird, a Korean version of the great American Western. I thought The Weinsteins had the rights for this film, but now I find a listing that IFC has the rights...either way, they need to hurry up, because that fancy DVD from Korea is coming soon! Official Korean site here.

Seven Nights (2008) directed by Namoi Kawase
Seeing Naomi Kawase's films at the Women With Vision series was a 2008 highlight for me. Seeing this film may prove to be a little difficult in these parts. It opened in Japan in November and hasn't really done the festival circuit yet. After winning the Grand Prize at Cannes for Mourning Forest, Kawase had mentioned, sarcastically, that her next film would be a comedy. Hilariously, this got reported and she did nothing to deny it. If you watch the trailer (linked above) you can clearly see that it is not a comedy—lots of emoting here. Seven Nights is a literal translation of the Japanese title, Nanayomachi.

Sebris (2008) directed by Brillante Mendoza
I set my sights on Singapore to bring me this film on DVD. It got completely dumped on at Cannes, but further reports made it seem that the presentation (specifically the sound) was all effed up. Sebris is a family drama from the Philippines. The family lives in and runs a large old movie house that has been reduced to screening porno films. (I would also like to see Mendoza's Slingshot from 2007 please.)

Tokyo Sonata (2008) directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
No doubt in my mind that this has a much better chance of making itself available on DVD than in theaters. Although Kurosawa's last three films (Retribution, The Loft, and Doppelgänger) haven't been his best, word is that Tokyo Sonata not only finds him back in fine form, but also exploring new territory. (Does anyone think Seven Pounds director Gabriele Muccino has seen Bright Future?)

Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind (2007) directed by John Gianvito
"A visual meditation on the progressive history of the United States as seen through cemeteries, historic plaques and markers." I know it doesn't sound like much, but I am convinced it is and would really like to see it.

Martyrs (2008) directed by Pascal Lagnier
What would life be if you weren't waiting for a blood-splattering French horror film? Maybe I'm just kidding myself when I say the French bring something new to this genre. Either way, just like I have with US films of the same ilk, I will give these films a chance so I can make a more informed critical assessment...

Tulpan (2008) directed by Sergey Dvortsevoy
Tulpan is a contemporary Kazakh folk tale with a wandering reality-based nature. Asa is off to proposed to Tulpan for her hand in marriage. When she refuses, Asa is convinced that Tulpan is his true love despite the fact that he hasn't even really seen her.

Hunger (2008) directed by Steve McQueen
"Featuring on of cinema's greatest scenes ever..." proclaims the London Times. Steve McQueen is an Artist (with a capital A) earning the Turner Prize for a performance video he did in NYC entitled "Drumroll" and garnering fame as a war artist, campaigning to have each British soldier who has died in Iraq commemorated on a postage stamp. Hunger, his first feature, tells the story of IRA martyr and hunger striker Bobby Sands. From everything I have read, this film is no walk in the park, and I worry it may have some trouble finding its way to the US.

Pontypool (2008) directed by Bruce McDonald
A Canadian horror film from the director who brought us The Tracy Fragments. An apocalyptic virus that spreads via the English language has hit the small town of Pontypool. In theory, this film sounds very cool, but I'm not sure how it will all play out on screen. I like the tag, "Shut up or die."

Dust of Time (2008) directed by Theo Angelopoulos
Angelipoulos' second film in a trilogy that started with The Weeping Meadow made in 2004. If it is only half as good as The Weeping Meadow—a dense, complex and poetically elegiac film—I will not be disappointed. The film stars Bruno Ganz, Michel Piccoli, Irene Jacob, and Willem Dafoe. In Angelopoulos' words: "The Dust of Time is a film that treats the past as if it were in the present. It is history written in capital letters and history written in small print. We used to think of ourselves as the subjects of history. Nowadays I can't say if we are its subjects or objects."

Plastic City (2008) directed by Yu Lik Wai
Oh, to be an independent filmmaker in Hong Kong...Yu Lik Wai continues to do it, barely scratching the festival surface with his film. Love Will Tear Us Apart is without a doubt one the most interesting and unique Hong Kong films I have ever seen. I search endlessly for his other film All Tomorrow's Parties endlessly the last time I was in HK and China, but to no avail. Yu Lik Wai is much better know as Jia Zhangke's cinematographer, but certainly has his own credentials as director. Plastic City stars Japanese superstar Jo Odigiri as a gangster living in São Paulo, Brazil. Part Triad film, part international action drama, Plastic City seems perfect for a subtitle tolerant mainstream audience.

Sky Crawlers (2008) directed by Mamoru Oshii
Godfather of Japanese anime adapts this five part novel from Hiroshi Mori into an very exquisite looking animated feature. This is the kind of thing that I die to see on a big screen. In this case I am optimistic that it might just happen. Check out the trailer linked above.

Warsaw Dark (2008) directed by Christopher Doyle
Crazy man and super-cinematographer Chris Doyle completed his second film in the director's chair this year. His first, Away With Words, was (as one might expect) beautifully filmed but a hopelessly flawed meditation on life, love, and drinking too much. I guess I don't expect too much more from Warsaw Dark, but I will take it any day over the choices facing me today in the theater. Warsaw Dark screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival with a few people reporting both the good and the bad, but no word on the film since and nary a trailer to be found. The film is set and was shot in Poland, and is some sort of crime thriller with gangsters and the like.

United Red Army (2007) directed by Koji Wakamatsu
Once again, I have little hope of seeing this in a theater. Wakamatsu has tried to give a true account of Japan's radical student group formed in the 1970s. Wakamatsu knew many of the people involved, and proves that fact by still being barred from entering the United States due to his political affiliations. The complicated story lets the viewer decide whether to demonize or champion it's idealistic members. The film is entrenched in history that few outside of Japan might know about, making the film a hard sell. Wakamatsu did some grassroots fundraising to get the film made, so perhaps it will find an equally creative way to be distributed.

Bing Ai (2007) directed by Feng Yan
Recommended to me as a much more poignant look at the displacement of people from the Three Gorges Dam project than Up the Yangtze. Zhang Bing Ai is a peasant woman who refuses to leave her home and stands in the way of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. Filmmaker Feng Yan spent ten years documenting Bing Ai's struggles. Chances are I'll have to find this on DVD.

Fengming (2007) directed by Wang Bing
This is only Wang Bing's second film in five years, but if you counted every 90 minutes as one film, these two films would equal 8 films. His documentary, West of the Tracks, was over 9 hours long and Fengming is 3 hours. There is a lot of banter about the transformation of China, and West of the Tracks showed a powerful version of that through the industrial landscape of Shenyang. Fengming seems to do the same thing, but through one woman's eyes, He Fengming.

Dust (2007) directed by Harmut Bitomsky
It is the smallest subjects that are the most fascinating. We had a book kicking around out house for a while that tackled this subject matter called "The Secret Life of Dust," and although I didn't read it, the person who did would relay the high points. Thinking about the nature of dust makes me feel a little like Pigpen, but I like the idea that I physically retain some of the space I'm in. I think this documentary sounds amazing.

Useless (2007) directed by Jia Zhangke
Here's the Jia film I must wait on a little longer. Useless is a documentary about clothing designer Ma Ke, but also reaches beyond to China's role in the clothing industry. Someone should bring Jia here and do a retrospective of his work. (Hint, hint!)

Yasukuni (2007) directed by Ying Li
Yasukuni is the Japanese Shinto shrine that is dedicated to those who died for the Emperor of Japan. To say that the shrine has become controversial is kind of an understatement. Many see the shrine and those who visit it a validation of what Japan did in WWII. It didn't help that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi like to visit it with great fanfare just to piss people off. (And by people, I mean China and South Korea.) Documentary filmmaker Ying Li has done a little pissing off himself. Born in China but living in Japan, Ying Li says that he made this film "for both Japan's sake and for my sake." Clearly meant to be a cathartic film, it was nonetheless seen as inflammatory and largely suppressed.

At Sea (2007) directed by Peter Hutton
I guess this isn't even a feature film. At least not a feature film your gonna see in your multiplex, Mall variety or independent variety. Most refer to Peter Hutton as a cinematic portraitist of landscape. Nonetheless, I am fascinated by commercial maritime activity, and when I read about this film (no doubt in Art Forum, my favorite covert film magazine) I immediately wrote it down. What I found on MOMA's website encapsulated where my enthusiasm came from: "A haunting meditation on human progress, both physical and metaphorical, At Sea charts a three-year passage from twenty-first-century ship building in South Korea to primitive and dangerous ship breaking in Bangladesh, with an epic journey across the North Atlantic in between."

The Mugger (2007) directed by Pablo Fendrik
I'm sure there is a good reason why I wrote down this Argentinean film, but the article or review or interview I read escapes me. I have no choice but to trust myself.

Rembrandt's J'Accuse (2007) directed by Peter Greenaway
Peter Greenaway has certainly fallen from cinematic grace that he once possessed. His recent films are damn near the hardest things to get a hold of. Which is too bad, because Greenaway is a director who is obviously creating a body of work rather than single films. Only seeing one Tulse Luper Suitcases film, for example, does no justice for what this man is doing. (Or that is my excuse for feeling so confused by it.) I was hooked on Greenaway at an early age and then ended up working at a theater that screened The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover for an unprecedented amount of time due to the brand new NC-17 rating it received. Jeepers, I have seen that film so many times. I also have a fond memory of seeing Prospero's Books at an empty theater at St Anthony Main on a particularly lonely Thanksgiving. Those are other stories though. Greenaway's esotericism is a draw for me, but no doubt a deterrent for others. I would like to see Greenaway's new films in similar situations for future nostalgia.

Cargo 200 (2007) directed by Alexei Balabanov
This film is tagged as a bleak black comedy. Now I am not really sure where I read about this film, but it must have caught my eye at some point. And although I don't think I have seen any other films by Balabanov, I notice that I also have his 2002 film War on my list of films I would like to see. (Don't worry, I will not go that far in this list.) Somebody needs to fill me in on this guy.

Sad Vacation (2008) directed by Shinji Aoyama
Yes, there is a Japanese and Korean DVD out there of this film, but neither has English subtitles. Why? Why?!? Is someone really going to buy the rights to this film in the US. If they do, great, I don't mind waiting. But if they don't, I'm a-gonna be really mad. I consider Aoyama to be an inconsistent director, but that is only because I regard Eureka as one of the best films ever made. Given my expectations, his other films have failed to launch, in my opinion. Maybe odds are bad that he will make one of the second best films ever made or even outdo Eureka, but as long as he is making films, I will hope for the best.

The Unpolished (2007) directed by Pia Marais
The début feature from German director Pia Marias scored high marks when it made the festival rounds, but has yet to show up beyond that. This film looks really interesting, and just reaffirms my assumption that there are so so many good films out there that never surface. Let's hope the digital age and on-demand services will bring more access to films like this.

Am I asking Santa for too much? God knows, there is more, but I am cautious to just how much of my insanity I am willing to reveal.