Top 10 of 2009

A confession: I didn’t see every film in 2009. I feel bad about this. Particular-ally this list doesn’t include the likes of Werner Herzog’s second 2009 film My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? What have me done? Again I retreat these lists, but it is reassuring when Oscar bait fails: not that I hate Hollywood. I hate that films are financed to win awards and like when they don’t/won’t. These include recent disappointments including: Nine (an incoherent remake of a brilliant yet incoherent film, 8 1/2), A Single Man (great performance by Colin Firth, pretentiously directed in a way that made it look like an ad for designer clothing, hey it was directed by a fashion designer), The Lovely Bones (the mix of realism and fantasy didn’t work on the same emotional level as say Avatar), Invictus (a ruby film that sadly was pretty uninteresting) and Amelia (a paint by the numbers bio-pic).


So if I were handing out the 10 oscar nominations this year, I’d give a nom to this group - one of which doesn’t qualify because it never got a theatrical run, it may never get one (or more likely it’ll get picked up by IFC and given a token release at their theater and on cable). I know, I know, stop being hard on IFC, after all they are picking up a lot of obscure films you saw at festivals and enjoyed (IFC Center opens A Film With Me In It today, a quirky little Irish picture I saw at Toronto in 2008). I know, but I worry it’s cheapening the experience of seeing a new film by a world master, and also hindering the business model of more traditional distributers that seem dormant lately (I don’t recall seeing much of the Strand Releasing logo lately, for example).

As for the ten - here goes (in reverse, of coarse):

10.-Of Time and City (Terrance Davies) A personal essay film by Davies on growing up in Manchester, haunted by the past he super imposes stock footage over newly shot footage, using his voice over to tell his story of growing up Catholic and gay. A haunting, powerful, personal picture.

9.-Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (Warner Herzog) Along with Whip It, we have the most entertaining film of the year - Herzog and Nick Cage are firing on all cylinders, it goes over the top, then into outer space. A brilliant dark comedy on par with the likes of American Psycho.

8.-Ponyo (Hayao Miyazaki) A children’s film directed towards younger children then most Miyazaki, lovely re-dubbed by Disney with the voice talents of Tina Fey. It’s a well imagined story meant to be seen on a big screen.

7.-The Messenger (Oren Moverman) Influenced by the Maysles Brothers Salesmen, Moverman has crafted a raw and emotional story about military life. Ben Foster comes back from the war and is assigned to the causality notification service with Woody Haroldson in a film that’s as humorous as it as painful.

6.-Beaches of Agnes (Agnes Varda) Another personal documentary, Varda reflects on her life and the filmmakers that meant so much to her (Chris Marker is played by an animated cat). A beatiful reflection on filmmaking and life.

5.-A Serious Man (Coen Brothers) The Coens have done it again: a personal journey of Larry Gopnik, a university professor on the verge of a midlife crisis sit early in the era of the Cold War. Darkly funny with a perfect ending.

4.-Vegas: Based on a True Story (Amir Naderi) Taking place barely in Vegas, this official selection from Tribeca (of all festivals!) by master filmmaker Amir Naderi who observes as a family unit destroys itself by destroying its home, in the shadow of the strip.

3.- Adventureland (Greg Mottola) Okay number 3 on my list for enjoyment factor: Mattola has taken us back in time and told us the story of real teenagers - rare but brilliant. It captures the joy of one of those Rush songs.

2.- Up (Peter Docker) Pixar does it again - the formula is simple: tell a good story. They’ve mastered technical, hell they invented computer animation, and as such they are 20-years ahead of what anyone else is doing. Up contains an opening montage that will go down as one of the best in film history, it’s at its core an adventure story, but so much more.

1 - Somerstown (Shane Meadows) A beatiful study of urban London, two boys become friends, gain a crush on a beatiful women and they get drunk after they think they’ve lost her. Why am I sucker for this movie? It’s beautifully shot and powerful, a strong and short film (its running time is just over an hour), but leaves a lasting impression, sure it’s a film where kids hang out (like Adventureland), but there’s something so optimistic in it, especially the film’s closing scenes which had me smiling. Shouldn’t cinema be about joy? (Not if you’re Lars Van Trier)


and....as for the runners-up - it pains me to say this but here goes:

11.-Inglorious Bastards
12.-(500) Days of Summer
13.-Everlasting Moments
14.-Crazy Heart
15.-Anvil: The Story of Anvil!
16.-Public Enemies
17.-Departures
18.-La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet
19.-In The Loop
20.-Avatar
21.-The Garden
22.-Katyn
23.-The Hurt Locker
24.-The Windmill Movie
25.-Broken Embraces
26.-Goodbye Solo
27.-Every Little Step
28.-An Education
29.-Carcasses
30.-Precious
31.-Whip It
32.-Severe Clear
33.-Bandslam
34.-Racing Dreams
35.-Sugar
36.-Treeless Mountain
37.-Bright Star
38.-Fish Tank
39.-The Garden
40.-Memorial Day
41-Watchmen
42.-The Talented Mr. Fox
43.-Carcasses
44.-Serpahane
45.-The Road
46.-The Class
47.-Antoine
48.-Hunger
49.-Coco Before Chanel
50.-Yoo Hoo Mrs. Goldberg

Wondering about the year’s worst? Glad you asked:

1.-The Forth Kind
2.-Obsessed
3.-Push
4.-Fast & Furious
5.-Monsters Vs. Aliens
6.-Sorority Row
7.-Adam
8.-Twilight: New Moon
9.-The Final Destination
10-I Love You, Beth Cooper
11.-Dance Flick
12.-Ninja Assassin
13.-Year One
14.-Revolutionary Road
15.-The Informers

The Top 10 Films of the Decade ("the 00's")

And so it’s inevitable: the top 10 films of the naughts. The last movie I saw of the 90’s was Gavin O’Conner’s The Tumbleweeds, the last film I’ll see in 2009 I think will be yet another film named Nine (the musical this time). A lot has changed, too much to detail here. The official tally assuming I don’t go to the movies tonight (I have plans for tomorrow and Thursday) will be 2428, or 242 films a year, not bad - just over the average of 4 a week I tell average people I see (the real average is between 4 and 5 and probably growing).

A top ten list is cruel, but if your forcing me here goes (in reverse order to build suspense, of coarse):

10.- Goodbye Dragon Inn (2003, Ming-liang Tsai) - An atmospheric work, a study of color, mood, done with humor and insight, at the end of a decade when film might be dying I couldn’t resist kicking off the list with a film about a theater’s closing night. As a sucker for time and place films, this will be a repeated theme here (proving how subjective such a list is). This is a wonderful architecture study with some incredible compositions, hypnotic and nostalgic.

9.-Almost Famous (2000, Cameron Crowe) - Yet another nostalgia trip, perhaps the most entertaining film of the decade, it comes in two flavors - seek out the “director’s cut”, running 3 hours I still want more.

8.-Somers town (2009, Shane Meadows) - A coming of age story, told in London as a study of time and place - two boys living in a housing project fall for the same women, a beatiful Polish immigrant. A great social comment in the form of a sweet and entertaining film about the joys of childhood, wherever you are.

7.-Three Times (2005, Hou Hsiao-hsien) - The story is the same, the politics aren’t and therefore neither are the emotions. Two lovers, played by the same actors are shown in three time period: 1911, 1966, and 2005. You can call this the Hou Hsiao-hsien “sampler” - each period has its own style, each his own style as seen in his other films.

6.-Talk to Her (2002, Pedro Almodovar) - Every Almodovar film is a mini-masterpiece, this is a perfect blend of dark humor and romance - discover it, I won’t ruin it for you.

5.-Vera Drake (2004, Mike Leigh) - Leigh’s best since his masterpiece, 1996’s Secrets and Lies. A period piece about an abortion provider and mother, Vera Drake.

4.-Touch The Sound (2004, Thomas Riedelsheimer) From the director of Rivers and Ties, this documentary follows Evelyn Glennie, a deaf musician and attempts to put us in her shoes. A powerful soundscape.

3.-Wendy & Lucy (2008, Kelly Reichardt) An edge of your seat thriller without violence, Michelle Williams is charged with atomic energy in a Pacific Northwest drama about Wendy, a young women running away from something. That thing is not important, we know so little about her but we know so much about her. This is one of the best films of all times.

2.-The Piano Teacher (2001, Michael Haneke) An instant classic - I remember being a 17 year old scared shitless, driving home, not sure what I just saw - it shook me in a way horror films cannot. A few days later I processed it and realized it was one of the best films I’ve ever seen. Since then I’ve been brave enough to revisit this brutal and painful fantasy - much has been written academically about the film, which is easier to watch for upon review, but the film is best experienced cold, of coarse - see it and be prepared.

1.-Syndromes and a Century (2006, Apichatpong Weerasethakul) A film of the century: two stories, 10 years apart set in a Thailand hospital. Weerasethakul’s films are pure joy, and this is no exception, a light hearted political love story, warm, beatiful and simple.

Runners up:
11.-Beau Travail
12.-Up
13.-Head On
14.-Slumdog Millionaire
15.-The Departed
16.-Since Otar Left
17.-Time to Leave
18.-United 93
19.-ATL
20.-Rocky Balboa
21.-Into the Wild
22.-The Princess and the Worrior
23.-This is England
24.-The Dreamers
25.-In America
26.-Ghostworld
27.-American Psycho
28.-Mysterious Skin
29.-The Circle
30.-Bad Education
31.-Million Dollar Baby
32.-City of God
33.-Nowhere in Africa
34.-Redacted
35.-I’m Not There
36.-Junebug
37.-Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son about His Father
38.-Chop Shop
39.-Nobody Knows
40.-Of Time and City
41.-RR
42.-Our Song
43.-A Searious Man
44.-Stevie
45.-Lost in Translation
46.-There Will Be Blood
47.-Paranoid Park
48.-Palindromes
49.-Downfall
50.-Operation Filmmaker

There are sadly many great films that made the short list - some 200. Enjoy these films with this disclaimer: I could spend years on this list, rewatching, evolving and changing my point of view. I like to think the fact I’ve sent two nights and a few hours on it and no more proves I’m going from the gut. All films are not for all people: but they were for John Fink. I regret the fact that there are no true Bollywood films on this list and not many documentaries (my 2009 list contains documentaries such as Beaches of Agnes, Anvil, La Danse, The Windmill Movie, Carcasses, and The Garden, the shortlist contains the likes of Capturing the Freedmans, Jesus Camp, Standard Operating Procedure, After Innocence, Tupac: Resurrection and Street Fight).

If anything I’m going off memory - some films on here I’ve seen only once, others I’ve relived or written about many times. Even as I write I regret this. Hit - Publish Post - No Turning Back - done.

Let’s meet back here in 10 years.

A SAW You Can Believe In - or - Jigsaw Has Pre-Existing Condition

Full disclosure: this essay will contain spoilers.

I didn’t like Saw 5 - perhaps because I was tired, had to wait till 10:30PM to see it (all the previous times were sold out), and it required thinking when I wasn’t expecting it and didn’t think thinking was worth it.

That being said I saw Saw 6 because I was expecting to see something that’s pretty rare: an audience at the Market Arcade Theater downtown (still I counted about 50 people, better than the prior show I attended Walt and El Grupo at the North Park, which saw an audience of about 12). Long and uninteresting story short: I am a “season pass” holder for the chain that operates both, which is the perfect gift for someone like me who would probably go anyway at full price if I had to.

Now to the film: the Saw franchise has been cranking out a new film every October for the past 6 years which like South Park allows the team a great deal of power: they can actually be relevant to the zeitgeist. The films of the past dealt with drug users (perhaps an allegory to excess in good times - not only do you own that BMW you don’t need but you also have a coke habit and as Robin Williams said “cocaine is god’s way of telling you that you make too much.”)

The last film dealt with the police - and as I said I don’t remember Saw 5 except for the fact I didn’t really like it. Here Mark Hoffman is back and Jigsaw is more of a conceptual artist - (spoiler) - he’s still not dead. Jigsaw has been dying of cancer and can’t get his insurance company to cover an experimental treatment. He then proceeds to give a speech worthy of Alan Grayson - blasting the whole system. Although bipartisan and even seemingly apolitical this is the first time a Saw film addresses a current issue head-on. (Then again I could have told you the lobbyists, republicans and Obama would drag this on a year ago, it’s a sad fact of life).

Saw 6 takes perhaps can be somewhat cathartic for it’s core audience which seems to be frustrated apolitical people that may have been energized by the promises of Obama, I know I was - and still am for the most part - but please, deliver on that change that was promised.

For the start this is clear: this is a new Saw for a post TARP era - it’s pissed that wall street was bailed out and millions of Americans who were not financially literature were connected with 50-page credit card agreements and tricky predatory lending practices. While banks are never taken to task here (perhaps that’s Saw 7) - two mortgage brokers are pinned against each other in what is an awfully angry Saw film that proves to be more disturbing than others. While certain moments are tame, there is one image concerning the number 6 that is truly frightening and disturbing in the way that seems to throw it back at us: I didn’t get any pleasure out of watching it.

But do we get any pleasure out of watching the Saw films period? I don’t know - this time it seemed more frightening, whereas you might be let down by someone who is a drug addict who you’ve tried to help - the prospect of people with families killing in the name of revenge (not “curing”) seems to tint this entry into the genre a shade darker than the others.

Still, not a lot of films have taken the heath insurance industry to task and here is a film that is oversimplified for a midnight madness and urban crowd that has a certain amount of power. It hates the “hooray for me and fuck you” politics that flourished under George Bush and even earlier under that jerk-off Ronald Reagan (where as corporations got richer and richer because they found ways of screwing and squeezing the middle class).

Unfortunately the health care industry has not been taken to task by anybody who would get credit in a bipartisan fashion, that is it’s just Saw and Michael Moore’s Sicko. Sicko is pretty brilliant on its own terms, but Saw, for the folks that wouldn’t see a documentary has a certain amount of power to make points and I’m glad the series is finally getting political even if it doesn’t name names.

Here is the situation as I understand it: the US leads the development of new drugs, treatments, ect that are not shared for the greater good. I understand the motivation to innovate, invest and develop - maybe it’s not even the researcher’s fault. Profit is a strong motivation - perhaps I’m rare but I just want to live comfortably, I have no desire to be rich (think back to the Robin Williams quote earlier), but at the same time I understand the concept of being paid fairly for the work that you do - why should your CEO get rich on the backs of employees working, producing and delivering?

The fear is if governmental “public option” health care was introduced, of coarse it would cause the quality of health care to decline for everyone else that has it, even if it’s as mediocre as Jigsaw’s. There is too much misinformation on it, the debate, which I’ve been following has become cloudy thanks to the uninformed radical morons who still believe Obama was born in Kenya. What’s wrong with this country?

I’m excited to see what Saw does next, while it’s as oversimplified as the liars who spread roomers about “death panels” - surely Jigsaw is not an example to be followed (although here with Detective Hoffman carrying out Jigsaw’s orders - it appears the film is more brutal, perhaps another point).

I remember reading an interview with Eli Roth who made Hostel, an over the top, almost pornographic film involving torture. As the studio was releasing Hostel II (which I didn’t see) he was discussing his inspirations including videos of beheadings in Iraq. The torture-porn movement was born out of something political itself. Perhaps national embarrassment Lynndie England is partly responsible for these films, although when it comes to torture, she argues in Errol Morris’ Standard Operating Procedure “I didn’t do it, I just took a picture of it”. These films reflect a disturbing American truth, I think - born out of the last few years. I hope the Saw films will become more interesting (and better - Saw 6 is not a terribly good film although I admire what it achieves in its narrative).

(500) Days of Summer - visited and revisited

This summer I was consumed by Hollow Spaces, a film I’m extremely proud of mostly because of all my films it is the best acted (no offense to people from Hartford, but this time around I hired professionals). In the time spent prepping the film, from pre-production to casting, filming and now I’m coming towards the end of post-production I had taken the time to move from Pompton Lakes to Amherst NY, quitting what was a steady, if somewhat dangerously dead end day job. This still has yet to hit me, and I’m thinking one weekend (perhaps in two weeks when I’m home for the first time in a long time to present Mary May’s Suicide Letter at two festivals - the Big Apple Film Festival and the Hartford International Film Festival) - I will end up in tears.

Unexpected things, perhaps preordained by some higher power happen for better or worse if you choose to look at things that way. (500) Days of Summer, although not reflective of my summer, is a pretty wonderful, life affirming film. Perhaps I’m taking it too far, but to call it a romantic comedy seems to be an over generalization based on a simple way of marketing a film. The film opens with no surprises, we know the ending - or do we. Roger Ebert wisely observes in his review that we never remember things in chronological order. We remember relationships and the moments that comprise these relationships in an emotional hierarchy that exists when we trace back through the remains of what was, filtering out data we deem irrelevant. That is, of coarse until Tom, the hero of the film thinks back on the small moments he didn’t observe when his relationship with Summer starts to run off the tracks.

Much of a relationship can be based on first meetings. If your a jerk, or not in the right frame of mind you might miss that chance. Hell, that girl behind you in line at Starbucks may indeed be the one, but if your having a bad day, she’s having a bad day - then maybe it’s not meant to be. It’s getting past the first meeting that builds a relationship of coarse - but that first meeting is critical. My theory on finding love (which I’ve written about extensively over the years) or even dating is visually displayed beautifully in the video to Seether’s song Fine Again - a pretty girl stands in the middle of a carnival holding a sign “I will change your life” - perhaps, if I’m in the right place, right time and in the right mind frame that might happen - and there begins the maddening complexities of love. Then again (500) Days of Summer doesn’t contain the obligatory meet cute of the romantic comedy - Summer and Tom meet rather boringly at the office, more on that later.

Women have a certain power - often without even knowing the power they have, to drive guys crazy. Tom becomes a stalker, not dangerously so but developing a work place crush. She might like him back - or at least she’s willing to give it a try. I’ve had these, sitting around hoping that a certain someone would call, sure - but never had the opportunity nor did I work in an industry that would have allowed this. Tom studied architecture but is working beneath him, illustrating and writing greeting cards for a firm with the name New Hampshire Greetings (based in LA, the film’s setting). In a creative setting openly dating in the work place may be acceptable, working for an organization in which the HR department has a tendency to overstep ethical and potentially legal boundaries, this is a bad idea.

Manufacturing tools of love is one of many lies Tom points out about this firm, citing the contemporary literature we have on issues of love (mostly popular music - a theory proposed in Whit Stillman’s equally wonderful romantic comedy Barcelona) never tells us that it never works out in the end. Greeting cards are perhaps artifacts of how we are suppose to feel in a perfect world which is sort of why I dislike them. Then again I try to develop special relationships with people that I would give a card to - and thus I’ve had blank cards printed with my name for hand written notes for such an occasion. My theory is my good friends, family and acquaintances are far too important to me to get off-the-rack language.

But so much of our daily life is crafted from Tom’s walk to work (listening to his iPod) that one might suppose we’re programed how to feel in some way. Enter free spirit Summer played by the very lovely Zooey Deschanel - who we learn in voice over is cynical while not believing she has an effect on me. She does find love, Tom doesn’t - and so starts the cycle, this time perhaps with a very lovely women named Autumn (sure it’s a silly joke but why not leave the audience smiling).

(500) Days of Summer (I learn from an interview with the filmmaker that 500 is punctuated in parenthesizes to mimic pop song titles) - is as rich as a great mixed tape. While all the usual markings of narrative cinema exist (plot - check, character - check) - the film functions as a friendly mind-fuck. It is not a mind-bender (it’s coherent because the film provides useful tags labeling the days - an idiots guide to the film - shit hits the fan at about day 275).

So what we have is about a year with Summer and about half the time getting over her. Tom is a victim of his own idealism - falling in love with April and imaging happiness while dancing in an imagined but fun sequence to Hall and Oats. Summer is easy to fall in love with: a strong women, she knows what she wants or so she thinks - the film makes a complex case for love. She doesn’t leave Tom to have a series of trysts with other men - but at the same time one could argue her omission of finding a new lover and her engagement until Tom finds out in public is either cruel and or necessary.

But trauma inspires one to go out, not just to find a beatiful women but to reassess one’s own life: Tom does this. To quote Bill Maher: America we can either die in bed hopped up on drugs like Michael Jackson, or we can be like Brittany - but on our circus outfit and go out there and show the world we still got it.

And there in lies the charm of (500) Days of Summer, a romantic comedy that I think guys will enjoy more than women: haven’t we all been there before? Tom’s own reactions mirror mine - I was young, stupid and optimistic once (optimistic for what - I don’t know, hell in retrospect I wish I could talk to little John Fink and tell him if you end up with THAT girl you’d be bored out of your fucking mind). What I learned is to become more like what Summer is: someone who doesn’t believe in being tied down. Then again if the right women comes along.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt I think walks a fine line in approaching Tom. He’s not pathetic the way that Michael Cera might have played the role (to me he continues to play George Michael, and while it’s funny sometimes, it’s growing old). Gordon-Levitt walks a fine line and nails it: here is a guy who’s a product of his experience, he loves British pop songs. I should note I write this while listening to Pete Yorn’s remake of New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle.

Yorn doesn’t contribute to what is a solid soundtrack here, opening with the haunting Regina Spektor track Us - but I thought of his music throughout the film. Obviously Last Summer comes to mind first (“we were great last summer - we were fresh as the ocean”) but, perhaps because of the chronology Crystal Village comes to mind first (“we were good in the beginning”). Yorn like Tom is a fan of British popular music of the same era (the late 80’s), and like his contemporaries is creating work that continues in that vain without really cracking the hip-hop, younger pop music sound of the Top 20 (or iTunes’ top 100 for that matter). We shall the discussion regarding Mily Circus’ Party in the USA at a later date. (a quick look at iTunes shows me Mily’s grip on the top spot has slipped to Fireflies by Owl City - which I’m less impressed with by listening to 30-second sound clip).

But back to the subject at hand: (500) Days of Summer is an example of great cinema in that it hits all the right notes and works as both a comedy, drama and romance. There are some films that perhaps don’t work in execution: here Zooey Deschanel is perfectly cast and its nearly impossible to Summer played by anyone else. One particularly beatiful moment played perfectly is where she cries while at a screening of The Graduate, for reasons we, and she probably cannot fully comprehend. Moments like this are truly rare in romantic comedies - moments of deep self realization. Often in romantic comedy two opposites become attracted to each other quickly and spend the rest of the film sorting the matter out, ultimately to come together in some form, and thus some realization occurs - the characters are changed, often simplistically by the other person. Often this requires both people to change, while both characters change, swapping ideologies on love even (although Tom’s period of cynicism is brief, dark but also pretty funny) - neither changes to accommodate each other. Rare, indeed.

Equally as rare is a picture that hits these notes so well leaving one fulfilled and eager to take the trip again: classic Bollywood attempts this, but the long running times can be off-putting, I think. Pixar also does this time and time again, whereas their works are both technical masterpieces, as well as solid storytelling. Good storytelling offers an emotional experience for all viewers - I may be alone in my love for (500) Days of Summer, but it hits all targets and is funny, tragic, and as fulfilling as one of those British-pop inspired Pete Yorn CDs (that’s high praise from me). It’s also well directed from a technical point of view by Marc Webb although it’s an easy criticism to call it too stylish. Style gets boring fast if substance is lacking (I find the movie to be satisfying on all grounds, notwithstanding there are a few moments that don’t work as well as others). The narration is tricky - who’s story is it? Tom’s remembrance or the narrator who aids us in tracking Tom’s frame of mind - the film is as temporal as it is lucid - in one sequence Tom’s expectations are shown in a split frame from the actual reality of the situation. Not confusing, sure, but slightly disorienting without having it explained. Still the storytelling is strong.

To be fair all great movies have small flaws, don’t let that stop you.

** I originally saw (500) Days of Summer the weekend before I went into production on Hollow Spaces. If you’re in the greater Buffalo area it’s currently at the Moveland 8, where I revisted it. The theater is a pretty good cheapo-plex ($1.50 shows on Tuesdays - but trust me, this one was well worth the $12.50 ticket price I paid at the Empire in New York). It’s also scheduled to come out on video in January, although I wish the studio would make a push for a few Oscars, at least in the screenwriting category.

The Ugly Truth about The Ugly Truth

Last night I caught a screening of The Ugly Truth and this morning I’m going to spoil it. You may want to revisit this essay after you’ve had a chance to see it (it opens wide on Friday). I’m not sure I can totally recommend it, but will say that it has its moments - I think most people will actually kind of enjoy it - so make of that what you will.

The Ugly Truth starts with some hard hitting observations - I liked it. It was more like Neil Strauss’ The Game than He’s Just Not That In To You - then (spoiler, but you knew it) it goes soft. Granted it make some excellent points, that would negate the value of The Game, here is a self help guy that dismisses all other self help guys - with a point. No offense to anybody, but there is a multimillion dollar industry with these self help books and dating websites out there. Some work, perhaps  - others seem like a waste.

Now for a full on disclosure: I am single. It is by choice, soon there will be a life circumstance change I will have that will allow me to look for something more serious but until then I like my life style. What men want, as the film would agree I think, is freedom with the ability to have sex any time you want. Of coarse the reality, and (I don’t disagree, it only seems fair) is that real relationships require investment, some times sacrifice to make sure it works. It may be small things, like going to see The Proposal with your girl - or going to some party thing that you really don’t want to go to. I spoke to a friend the other day who was on vacation with his girl, he sounded miserable. The things we do for beatiful women.

Of coarse there are women that put up with a lot of shit from guys. Too much. They are are looking for that perfect guy and end up staying in a relationship they are ultimately unhappy with because they don’t want to risk the social implications of walking away from this person. Or they have a kid with him. The Ugly Truth assumes everyone is 30, good looking and single. Most people I know are pretty average looking, but the film’s softness towards the end negates its message in the beginning. 

I often know being burned by love can lead one to dismiss it, often for years at a time. After all in Neil Strauss’ The Game, the whole “pick up artist” culture was born out of rejection: the men weren’t traditionally handsome or athletic, never dated the hot girls, now they’re out to bang as many as they can, at first by rejecting them. Gerard Butler’s Billy Mays look alike Mike isn’t a terrible guy- he claims the rejection advise isn’t for girls in puberty, but “hot 25-year olds that can get any guy they wanted”. Still does it work, it assumes using the technique will get you attention, but perhaps of the wrong kind. I would illustrate an example I once observed out, some times harsh techniques like being a jerk will lead the girl to hook up with a guy who isn’t a jerk, say someone like yours truly.

As far as I’m concerned I’m not taking these things too seriously. After all movies, books, television, music effect how our culture behaves. Some reflect really dark places (ie: Lil’ Wayne and Young Money who are the rap game’s equivalent to R. Crumb: they go places that are too clinical for the average person, but then again Lil’ Wayne has his own women probables, he’s knocked up 3 so far. Then again why would any self respecting women sleep with a guy who sings “I wish I could fuck every girl in the world”? I’ll let somebody out there answer that - and trust me there some girls I wouldn’t go near).

The Ugly Truth has the power to make some hard hitting social observations, it seems fresh for the first 20-minutes, I had thought I got a more upbeat, less mean spirited version of In The Company of Men. Neil Labute’s In The Company of Men is brilliant but harsh, it’s the ugly truth - we know more men like Aaron Eckhart’s Chad in that film than like Gerard Butler’s Mike or even Eric Winter’s Colin, the young/handsome doctor from next door in Ugly Truth.

Then again one of the things I deal with, especially with my producer is the fact you don’t go to the movies to see people you know on screen, you go to see an escapist fantasy. You want the guy to get there girl at the end, even if its not the point of the film. I remember when the virtually unwatchable The Break Up came out, everyone hated it. I hated it because it was boring and a lot like a sitcom. Everyone else hated it because the couple didn’t get together - those dumb bastards: it’s called The Break Up. Right?

So why was I pissed when opposites attracted at the end of The Ugly Truth. I agree - Katherine Heigl is a lovely women, but the control freak aspect of her is off putting. For example she’s goes out on a dates prepared with talking points and the guy’s background check. Scary stuff. 

But think about this: eHarmony, JDate, Plenty of Fish, Match.com - and so on - are good in that you wouldn’t have to settle for the luck of the draw you get in real life- there are plenty of fish out there, all presumably single. You can filter out the guy that watches NASCAR obsessively - unless you like that sort of thing.

But doesn’t it take some of the fun out of the searching? Maybe I’m young and optimistic but I try to find women when I’m out, interesting. I’m not looking for a random hook-up that night, I’m looking for somebody who I could potentially hang out with again. The sites take the fun out of asking the right questions by listing essentially what their favorite music, movies and TV shows are. If I were to go out on a date with someone from a site like that I would have this preconceived notion of the person knowing they love the show Hells Kitchen and their favorite song is awful one where they sing ‘shush girl, do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips”. That doesn’t sound like somebody I’d ever be interested in, but if I’m out talking to her and this doesn’t come up, it’ll help me to build a good impression.

My friend Ercan Bas gave me some advise: you should always appear to be mysterious. Same for a women, The Ugly Truth builds an ideal women out of the modest Katherine Heigl who is beatiful but dresses for comfort and efficiency. One of the film’s best exchanges goes like this:

“What’s wrong with comfort and efficiency?”

“Nothing, but who wants to fuck it?”

This was the movie that He’s Just Not That In To You should have been - that film, was desperate while only flirting with observing normal human behavior. The main character really felt creepy without really having to be: as I said I would have enjoyed having dinner with her, but I wouldn’t have enjoyed the 15 follow up calls that would have come along with it. The Ugly Truth starts off with a theory: men are programed a certain way, then it reverts to being a formula romantic comedy. Yes, I should have known it’s a slightly more edgy date movie from the trailers and it’s going to work out, but the R-rating gave me hope. If your restricting admission to those under 17 why shader a bubble or two. Why can’t she choose someone all together different and Mike go on as a motivational speaker. Is romance the real end to the hunt? I suppose, after all a film needs a conclusion (except Matrix: Reloaded).

The film, rancher than most ends in orgasm which is a subtle nod to a women taking back the power. The power shifts all of the place here and that’s interest to watch as a tennis match of sorts. The pursuit I suppose ends with fulfillment, but why should it? Chasing Amy ended in heartbreak and it was brilliant, smart and sharply observed, while presenting all sorts of impossibilities (like a beatiful lesbian falling in love with Ben Affleck). 

The first half of The Ugly Truth is useful, more so than the self help books. I like Billy Bob Thoroton’s quote in the otherwise unmemorable School for Scoundrels “How can you help yourself, when yourself sucks”. Good point. Most of the modern literature we have about love comes in the form of pop songs, most give us templates for how to live, love or get over love. Just look at the iTunes top 10:

I Got A Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas - this sounds like it could be an ad for alcohol, I keep expecting to hear a bland announcer come on towards the end of the song and say “Hennessy - 40% alcohol by volume, drink responsibly”.

Fire Burning by Sean Kingston - not about the Station night club fire in West Warwick, RI but about a crazy night at a club - I had one of those at the Borgata last fall while out in AC on business.

You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift - a vivid, well told story about small town life and telling yourself: soon you’ll see... you belong with me.

Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas - more of the same, damn The Black Eyed Peas are loosing their edge and getting too commercial sounding. Not commercial as in selling a lot of records, but commercial as in they sound like they’re making radio jingles, I keep thinking an announcer is going to tell me about Verizon’s latest service break through at some during the song.

Good Girls Go Bad by Cobra Starship - need I say more - “I make them good girls go bad”. Fantasy, sure.

Here We Go Again by Demi Lovato - don’t know it as well as the rest but it sounds like from the sample a women is dealing with the same shit from her “unforgettable” and “addictive” man. Hopefully he doesn’t beat her.

Best I Ever Had by Drake - a template for telling a girl who wonderful she is, even if gross he claims he can make her vagina whistle like the Andy Griffith Theme Song. I’m not making this up, I feel dirty for observing that. See isn’t Lil Wayne and his Young Money crew just a tad too clinical for the mainstream. Am I the only one that thinks being made uncomfortable doesn’t necessarily mean its good - and I’m no prude.

LoveGame by Lady Gaga - She’s the new Michael Jackson, this one is pure fun. Deal with it.

He Could Be The One by Hannah Montana - need i say more.

Use Somebody by Kings of Leon - I can explain their sudden popularity - look at the rest of the top 10, here we have a band that’s still pretty young (their mean age is 27) that appeal to everyone who feels alienated by the rest of the top 10. I feel most of it is for “kids” - where as Kings of Leon are dealing with things the same way that a real human being does, not some character on the Disney channel. I can’t say the same for Jordin Sparks, Kristinia DeBarge, Soulja Boy, and Beyonce. That and their music is good, I’ve been a fan since the McFearless days, nice to see you’re finally on board.

As for films that offer templates for how to live, there are many in the top 10 (none of which last weekend were I Love You Beth Cooper, speaking of Disney channel charactures) but they’re hard to really talk about since can be more complex then music, you can think of a film like reviewing a whole album. This was my review of The Ugly Truth, so for all the women looking for guys out there - don’t just like what in the top 10, we’ve been there and done that. 

Meeting someone is often destiny. I still contend and you can find it fully explored in the Fink archives that meeting someone you like is best explained by the music video Fine Again. A pretty girl in the middle of a crowded carnival holds a sign reading “I Will Change Your Life” - but if you don’t notice her, don’t strike up a conversation, don’t find her interesting, had a bad day and be a dick to her - she may not change your life. Everyone has potential, it’s just unlocking that potential. Isn’t that part of the fun along the way? Why rush it?

Now I’m off to write my self help book.

Going Green in THE GARDEN

Last night I saw the compelling Oscar nominated documentary The Garden by Scott Hamilton Kennedy (who previously directed the doc about Our Town being performed in a South Central Los Angeles High School). The Garden, also taking place in South Central is about a 14-acre community garden that was bulldozed by the land owners. The story of the garden is an interesting one.

The plot of land, in an industrial neighborhood, was taken by the city in the 80’s by imminent domain, in the mean time the project for which it was intended was derailed by a powerful community group. After the Rodney King riots, which sparked a rather understandable outrage after the police acted like criminals, even though King deserved an ass beating, aren’t cops support to comply with the law and act professional?  - the Garden was born as a way of healing the neighborhood.

I should back up and say The Garden catered mostly to the Hispanics. Kennedy, a white documentarian does slightly get into the racial dynamics, but the film doesn’t dwell there. The land is sold through a back room deal back to its original owner, who I sympathized with up to a certain point, until the bulldozers came into the picture. (Spoiler warning)

The film, along the way is a compelling documentary about a neighborhood and the political dynamics of this location. I agree up to a certain extent with the developer that the farmers felt they had a sense of entitlement, in that I sometimes disagree with imminent domain laws. In fact if you want to get enraged there, like everything - is a blog for that (emdo.blogspot.com). I found this blog in trying to research a story I remember in Hartford, where the city had taken over someone’s home with the intention of building an on-ramp to either 84 or 91, and when that didn’t happen the owners wanted to purchase there home back. The courts, if I recall said “no” and the city continues to rent out the house - I remember that. I’m trying to find proof of that, but that is one example of how eminent domain can work at its worse.

At it’s best? Glad you asked - you know that crack house? Yeah. The city can that over. Sadly with the amount of foreclosures in certain areas you may see vacant homes being used to cook crystal meth, it’s bad, but I’m not making that one up, for that I’ll point you to the Tribeca Film Festival selection American Casino.

The city did what I think was a back room deal in The Garden, and they sold the property back to its original developer, Ralph Horwitz. Of coarse Mr. Horwitz declined to appear in the film, the filmmakers didn’t even feel the need to disclose this fact, but they get him on a deposition tape and later in an awful interview. Horwitz, which got 5 million for the land, bought it back for 5 million and tells the farmers they can purchase it back for 16 million. Amazingly through grants, pledges and donations the farmers and the mayor of LA who supported the farmers were able to meet Horwitz’s offer, which he didn’t take.

Here’s where things get out of control - the filmmakers obtained a radio interview with Horwitz who makes some decent points, but ultimately comes off as a shady bastard (most landlords probably are). He is made into the villain here, whereas the filmmakers did I think try to keep the story balanced up to a certain point, perhaps a true balance would have included an interview with the man himself, it’s clear he probably wouldn’t want to participate in this project.

As a post script to the story the field sits empty and the farmers have moved on. Horowtiz, I learn is working with Forever 21 to build a distribution center on the land, which has led to an internet boycott against Forever 21 in the event the deal goes through. Interesting, the land has been salted, so to speak.

Perhaps it’s Horowtiz’s character that is the problem - he proposed a purchase price, not thinking the group would obtain it, and when he did he decided to hold out for more money, citing he was personally offended because he believe the group made anti-Semitic comments about him. The film doesn’t document it, it spends more time with the farmers and in the court room. Watching this bizarre conflict play out, reminds me of an Avi Mograbi flick, although this one doesn’t quite have the bite and its not really about land conflicts.

Perhaps, as part of the eco movement, more community gardens should be developed. This all occurred in the “Hooray for me and fuck you” era of George W. Bush, but now we’re in a new territory - the green movement is in so is local produce. Michael Polan proposed the idea of the first family planting a garden, I’m unsure if they listened to him, but they have and its rather inspiring. This is not to say that things would be different today, but the farm and Polan’s book The Omnivore's Dilemma (which calls out Whole Foods) highlights the importance of going local and going fresh. I almost want to plant a garden my back yard again as well, I haven’t done so since my grandfather was alive (he inspired me to do it when I saw his backyard, not the green movement). 

The Garden is essential, not as a film about the green movement, it is, but it’s wrapped in the foil of a compelling legal and social realist drama.

Rent it with someone you've rented....

I agree with Bill Maher - Elliot Spitzer wasn’t lashing out - he just wanted to get laid.

I believe this even after seeing Steven Solderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience which stars actual “adult film” star Sasha Grey. The film is pretty good, and if you’re feeling cheap you can watch it at home through Amazon.com and Tivo - which is where I had the experience, while I can go into a separate rant on video on demand two factors came into play: 1.- it was cheaper than paying $12.50 a ticket plus the $8 toll to see the flick at the Sunshine Theater in New York City, and 2.-I could watch it now, and I was bored.

I just watched Spitzer on Rachel Maddow who wasn’t all that aggressive on the one time New York governor and now journalist on Slate.com. Spitzer had some interesting points of view on the crisis and I agree - Wall Street really hasn’t paid for the damage they may have done. Regarding The Girlfriend Experience, and how much he paid a girl that was cute, sure, but not worth that much per hour (in fact I can say I’ve been out with cuter women, for free, well it’s never really free - it usually involves buying dinner and perhaps a movie - but that’s dating after all, not prostitution), Spitzer said he’s still gaining perspective essentially. Hey, none of my business what he’s going though or what he was actually in, perhaps it’s not so much his wife he wasn’t in to, but that it’s something different.

I hate to be cruel but if you were told you could only eat Peter Luger’s steak for the rest of your life and you could never say, go to Chick-Fil-A, for example - you’d get bored soon, even with the best steak known to man. This is why I don’t understand the rush to get married, not with Plato’s Retreat closed for good.

But back to The Girlfriend Experience - a decent enough movie with a good performance by Sasha Grey who plays a high end call girl who doesn’t always have sex with her clients, in fact she likes what she does, she’s selective. Her boyfriend, played by Chris Santos, feels the need to indulge her, they live in an awesome apartment in Manhattan of coarse, he’s a personal trainer. She is a trainer or healer of sorts as well.

The story is non-linear, in fact it may even lack a plot (Ercan tells me my films have no plots either, fair enough - I like to capture time and place, it’s why I’d be bound to fail out of Florida State University’s graduate film program). It’s the type of film that I didn’t mind watching at home, where you have probably watched the other performances of Ms. Grey. This is not to say it’s explicit, it’s the type of film that actually benefits I think from being relaxed at home for some odd reason. I rather enjoyed laying on the couch for The Girlfriend Experience, maybe I’m becoming boring.

With this said, please Magnolia and IFC, please - Video On Demand can’t become a reality. I’m with David Fenkel, who co-founded one of the most exciting new film distributers to come on the scene Oscilloscope Laboratories (the company behind Wendy & Lucy and most recently the beatiful yet simple Treeless Mountain). Mr. Fenkel’s belief, as recorded in the most recent issue of Filmmaker, is that there needs to be some sort of theatrical release first, before video and video on demand, and that theatrical has a certain value. I agree - why not release it first in theaters, and then two weeks or so later on demand. It’s sick when IFC and Magnolia are showing films on demand the same day they are playing at film festivals, no less. I knew things were going to hell when South by Southwest partnered with IFC Films, it’s great that you can build awareness for the festival but at what cost? 

Then again it’s unfair to slam IFC, they are picking up literally everything lately - there aren’t many distributers, and they are getting indie film out there. I just wish some, not just the better ones, but most would get a chance to prove themselves in theaters first. A movie like The Hunger should be seen on a big screen - it’d be boring to watch at home. What’s the incentive to play it outside of New York and LA when it’s on demand. I, for one, prefer Oscillosope’s model. But if you don’t - then you too can have The Girlfriend Experience in your apartment, with your girlfriend, or someone you’ve rented for the hour.