Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives: FILM REVIEW (sort of)

I would have to agree with the Daily Telegraph’s assessment, “It’s barely a film; more a floating world.” Agreed, but I don’t mean that in a complementary way.

I was one of many who left the theater bewildered by this floating world. Maybe it speaks to my Thai cultural illiteracy, but so little of the film moved beyond the enigmatic that I didn’t find myself able to maintain my interest.

That fact, combined with a lack of sleep and 20 previous screenings in seven days meant that I fell asleep twice during the screening. Oh, I hope I didn’t snore.

I had hoped to be mesmerized and educated by this film which was a fave of Sundance. I had hoped to gain cultural insight to pair with my love of Thai food. I’d hoped for so much more from this film that I was ultimately likely to be underwhelmed by it.

But even that could not explain how disappointed I was when this was over. I’ll have to get a synopsis and maybe a director’s commentary and see it so that I can learn to appreciate it. Thailand is one country which I very much want to visit, and a culture I would love to understand. This wasn’t an ideal primer for either of those pursuits.

I was lost as to what the character was experiencing and who the people were in the film. I couldn’t follow the flashbacks and didn’t know what the significance of monkey spirits are to appreciate them. They were rather odd looking, like taller Jawas without the heavy linen cloaks.

But some art needs to be appreciated over time and with the assistance of educators. I could learn to appreciate this film with the right tutor. Anyone got the time to help me out? Beuller? Beuller?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588895/

Rise, Rise, Roar: FILM REVIEW

This was a thoroughly enjoyable behind-the-scenes documentary for me. I was lucky enough to have been at the Milwaukee concert which David Byrne gave at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee a couple of years ago and this film was nearly as enjoyable as the real thing.

It did help me to appreciate that experience even more thoroughly with the help of thorough explanations and backstory laid out by Byrne and his choreographer. It was enlightening to know how last minute the decision to tour was. I appreciated the way the non-traditional dance accompaniment was formed and performed on stage. That answered some creative questions I had during the concert.

I had admired the asymmetrical trio of dancers and their use of props and unique dance moves. I found myself marveling at the compatibility of their movements to the songs. Hearing Byrne describe the creative process of their creation in this film made so much sense. It was genius.

I also loved the concept which was used to select the three dancers, and how they were put in a space and told to create a unique repetitive movement and to perform in the group with the other dancers. When the dancers would come upon another dancer doing a movement which was more “strong” than their own they were instructed to switch to that movement. This went on until the whole room of dancers was doing the same movement. That was powerful.

The film is really a lot like a concert with some backstage glimpses spaced throughout. Like Rattle & Hum, this film is a concert and a documentary. It’s something which resonated for me as one who attended one of the concerts which were highlighted onscreen, but I am sure that anyone who loves music or documentaries would find something to love here.

David Byrne has again proven his relevance and longevity, this time with a glimpse into how he remains so.


http://www.rideriseroar.com/

Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival: FILM REVIEW

Before this collection of shorts started I was excited. I was ready to learn and be inspired anew about environmental causes by stories on the forefront of the green movement. There were UWM staff in attendance who I know from my work at the university, and we chatted before and after the film about what we hoped for the screening.


There were nine short films which were part of the 90 minute event. Big River, a companion film to the acclaimed short Big Corn by Ellis and Woolf. There were two shorts sponsored by VW which used what they termed "the fun theory" to promote awareness about how enjoyment can change attitudes and practices. Planting Hope: Wangari Maathai & The Green Belt Movement, a film about a tree planting effort by a woman who earned a Nobel prize for her efforts in Africa. The Secret Life Of Paper, another of INFORM’s Secret Life Series. Signatures, a film by Nick Waggoner that featured skiing and surfing as an art form. The New Amsterdam Market, a film about an effort to create a farmer's market in NYC. And Watershed Revolution, a film about the Ventura River watershed conservation movement.


When all was said and done on screen, my friends and I were a bit disappointed. We remarked that we've seen better on POV or Independent Lens, and we agreed that we hadn't learned anything which we didn't already know.


I did appreciate the "fun theory" spots, and Big River was somewhat enjoyable albeit rather simplistic and lacking continuity. It would likely be better if I had seen the companion film first because it really couldn't stand alone. 


I found it hard to understand the inclusion of Signatures, which was gorgeous but irrelevant. I felt that it was an indulgent film amidst what ought to have been films which celebrated conservation. 


The film about the NYC market was a nice film, but it wasn't anything special, and we're way ahead of them in Milwaukee at this point. I do appreciate that the challenges in their neighborhood might mean that it takes more effort to pull off, but I would have rather seen something which highlighted the lessons learned after the birth of the market, to know what a developed system had shown them about how to sustain such an entity.


The Secret Life Of Paper did remind me of some things I already knew, and galvanized my efforts to reduce paper waste. I like that they brought up European efforts to remove paper boxes from things on store shelves and the reminder of how much water is used in the process of making paper. That's going to be more important than even the trees are as time goes on.


Planting Hope was confusing because my friends and I were asking questions throughout which the average person would. How did planting trees help the woman get food, a new dress, and become prosperous? What did planting these trees do to improve the lives of the Africans who lived nearby? The film left more questions than answers. It was quite odd. If you're a hard-core tree-hugger you'll probably not care. But I cannot see from this film why Maathai won a Nobel Prize.


Watershed Revolution was a solid film about a place which was mildly inspiring. There are some translatable lessons about water conservation within this film, but the context was so closed that it made it hard to find them. I think that the film would have been better if they'd finished it after the dam mentioned in the film was removed, so that we might see the scope of what could be done, and the complications of dam removal and environmental restoration.


I was disappointed. I'd like to see some local filmmakers do shorts about people like Will Allen and Growing Power or local spots like the Riverwest Co-op. We've got a vibrant series of local  farmers markets here in Milwaukee which could educate the world far more than these films did. Allen is being acclaimed throughout the nation but largely ignored in his hometown. Next year I would love to see a collection of shorts entitled: Brewtown Green or Growing Power: The Rise Of Urban Farming.

Metropolis with Alloy Orchestra at the Oriental: FILM (EVENT) REVIEW

What do you get when you combine the top silent movie accompaniment, Alloy Orchestra, with a top-ten historic theater, The Landmark Oriental, and the newly restored Fritz Lang masterpiece, Metropolis?

Tears, euphoria, and two standing ovations.

Roger Ebert describes Alloy Orchestra as, "The best in the world at accompanying silent films." After hearing them perform their ear-shattering, soul-shaking, heart-wrenching (okay, okay, enough already) score live I think Ebert was being diplomatic. They're even better than that.

I listened to the raving fanaticism in the lobby afterward on Tuesday when I saw it, and again last night when I came out of a different film. They were talking about it as if they'd gleaned an indelible memory. Some were speechless, milling about like drugged penguins on an ice floe. They had so much to say to each other but lacked the words to communicate it properly.

That this was an event was clear to me before it happened. I was ready to fly to Berlin this year when the festival over there debuted the movie with the footage which was found in Argentina. I knew that was something significant, and the story was intriguing. That which was thought to have been lost forever had been found. Now we could see the film in the completeness which the director had fought for.

Honestly, I would have to see it again to appreciate what was added. I like that they filled in the unrecoverable frames with text describing the circumstances which we'd have seen on film. I also like that they didn't worry about changing the aspect ratio for the added footage. They simply left the black space when it didn't quite fill the frame. That was barely noticeable.

I can say that I didn't feel like I was watching a film for 2.5 hours when it was over. Although we surely could have used a break during those two intermissions within the film, the film's continuity kept us enthralled until the end.

I was so glad to see the film again on a big screen, and to see the incredible cinematography and vision of Lang again. So many films were derivative of this one. The cityscape was copied by movies like Blade Runner and The Fifth Element for sure.

But the message of the film is as resonant today as it was then, with the circumstances of our economy having separated the rich and poor by a divide which rivals that which existed during the time when this film was created. We all ought to learn from that which this film is trying to say.

Alloy really was incredible to witness do their thing. They certainly resembled their name with their score for this film. They used more industrial, metal sounding effects and more powerfully evocative music than the original score provided. There's no comparison, even though I liked the original score.

I will never forget the experience. It will be something that I can tell people I was part of for the rest of my life.

http://www.alloyorchestra.com/

Perrier's Bounty: FILM REVIEW

What is it about the Irish dark comedy that I love so much? That's hard to contain succinctly.


Maybe it's as simple as the earthy Irish accent which can make expletive-laced tirades sound absolutely prosaic. I find myself getting in trouble with my wife after seeing a film like this one, which seems to me to call for a rating of "fecking brilliant."


It's certainly more than that. It helps to know the source of the darkness to understand the depth of the comedy in a film like Perrier's Bounty. Anyone who has a basic knowledge of the history of Ireland and Northern Ireland could begin to grasp that sharp-edged humor is a legacy which was borne of real suffering and conflict.


This was the second time I saw this film. I loved it when we screened it for the festival, and I have been talking about it since I saw it in the program. 


For the sake of full-disclosure, let me say that I am biased toward Dublin as if it were my younger brother. I love it dearly. So the fact that the film is set there, and in the Wicklow Mountains to the north, bade well for it before I saw it at all. 


The acting was superb. The sensitive mobster, the dying father, the dog-handlers, the manic neighbor girl, and the hit-men whose love could not be named are my faves... but that's almost all of them, isn't it? Cillian Murphy did well to erase the high creep-factor which I associate with him since his roles in Batman Begins and Red Eye.  But Broadbent and Gleeson steal the show in this one for me. Let me suggest that it's very likely that you'll laugh the next time you see Nescafe.


There's a lot going on in this movie filled with characters. Gabriel Byrne voices the narrator who one finds to be the grim reaper at the close of the film. I missed that the first time, and so did a couple of others who saw the film with me. Regardless, his narration was perfect for the film, and I love the idea that this is a story told by the grim reaper, set in Dublin, about gangsters and witless accomplices.

It's violent, gritty, laced with profanity, and addresses a range of subjects which would make many uncomfortable. There's plenty for one to choose to be offended or affected by in this film, but it's wrapped up in that easy-to-swallow Irish package which is what takes this from Reservoir Dogs toward Hot Fuzz. It falls somewhere in between those two for me.


It was worth getting punched in the arm by the wife after this one ended when I described it with the rating which I thought was appropriate...


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1003034/

Da Bears Still...

I realized early on in that lopsided penalty-fest called a game last night that it would not be the Packers night. I should not have skipped festival films for the NFL. Never again.


Anyway, the NFL isn't something I trust in anymore. So I wasn't really angry last night after the loss. It's to be expected that any team which has more penalties than points will not win.


Now, several of the penalties were more than questionable and several for the winning team weren't called. In both cases, they were during the most crucial points of the game. The Bears have two wins on their record which were gifts from the zebras, and that does lead coworkers to sing that refrain which Packer fans like to trot out each year.


Congrats to the Bears fans I know. You've got three wins, now you need to become the team that deserves them.


http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2010/9/28/f659c241-4449-42d6-b801-a0f4bbb402d4.jpg

A Tale Of Two Quarterbacks

Just an NFL factoid for today. After yesterday's game versus Detroit:


Brett Favre: 499 TDs 


Brent Farse: 509 INTs


Both are tops all time by a large margin. I'd bet even the sad-eyed and disinterested qb would like to flip that script by the end of this season. If not, he's currently on pace for 518 and 535 respectively.