Wendy and Lucy.

If you’ve ever had a dog, this movie will upset you.

It was nominated, along with The Wrestler, Rachel Getting Married, Frozen River and Ballast for the Independent Spirit Award for best picture.  Having seen it just last night, I’ve got to agree with the sentiment.  While The Wrestler won, that picture has Darren Aronofsky and Mickey Rourke behind its name.  Wendy and Lucy was produced by Todd Haynes.  Have you heard of him?

My plug for Haynes – he hit the film biz a little too late (the 70s were more apt to his style), but definitely belongs among the auteurs from the 80s.  He’s responsible for Poison, Safe, Velvet Goldmine, Far From Heaven and I’m Not There (the film about Bob Dylan).  If none of those films ring a bell, they should.  As an openly gay filmmaker, he has been touted as one of the preeminent voices in the “queer cinema” movement.  His first film, Superstar, used Barbie dolls instead of actors to tell the story of Karen Carpenter (who died of anorexia in 1983, when she was 32).   It stirred up controversy and due to legal issues with the music (she was half of the music duo The Carpenters) exists only on the internet.

Take a look if you have the time.  It’s a bit disturbing.

But anyhow, he obviously believed in W&L, and for good reason.  The film touches on some tender issues without being overly political or arrogant.  It has the pacing of a Van Sant film and the personality of Thomas McCarthy.  It is, like many films, a blip in the life of its characters, but we still follow the journey without reservation. 

It is a movie about people.  Not to say it doesn’t have a message, but when the message consumes the movie (I’m looking at you, Doubt), it becomes about something else entirely. 

So often these days we are taken for rides that entertain rather than involve.  It’s nice to see a film that does both.  At only 80 minutes, the film doesn’t ask for much of your time, so check it out if you have the chance.  I’d be interested to see what people think, especially those of you who aren’t often exposed to the world of independent cinema.

This movie got me all emotional, but then again, I’ve had a dog that looks and acts almost exactly like Lucy, so it may be more of a personal thing.  Let me know!

Peace. 

Yup.. I did alright.

17 for 21, though I think it could be considered out of 20 because of my foreign shot-in-the-dark. 

You know, I kind of wanted to be wrong.. It's no fun for the Academy to be so predictable.  I did win some prestige points among friends however, so I guess I have to thank them for that.  

I know there's been some debate over this, but I thought the show was FANTASTIC.  It was everything it needed to be and more--I was thoroughly enthralled for 3 hours and I can't even sit through the Superbowl, though I suppose that's not saying much. 

Gay rights are being pushed to the forefront by art and I couldn't be more pleased.  I was being pessimistic, arguing that there was no way they'd include a scene from Milk in the montage of love scenes, but then they proved me wrong.  Now that we've got gay men in the spotlight (Props to Sean Penn for his biting acceptance speech), Women must not be far behind.  This is an era of CHANGE and I'm thrilled to be a part of it. 

The best part of the show, far and away, was Penelope Cruz's acceptance speech (for an award she was not favored to win).  If you haven't seen it, here it is and watch it quick because copyright infringement is bound to come crashing down.  

What a beautiful, unfiltered display of humanity.  It was a good night.

Peace.

OK so I have to do it… here are my OSCAR PICKS!!!

Best Picture – Slumdog Millionaire

Best Male Actor – Sean Penn for Milk

Best Female Actor – Kate Winslet for The Reader (probably my favorite actor in Hollywood at the moment)

Best Supporting Male – Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Female – Viola Davis for Doubt (some internal debate about this one… I like Marisa Tomei as well, and Viola’s part was, oh, only 5 minutes long.. but damn if she didn’t knock it out of the park)

Best Director – Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Original Screenplay – Dustin Lance Black for Milk (though I quite liked Happy-Go-Lucky)

Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Published or Produced – Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire (or Doubt, but I think Slumdog will sweep)

Best Cinematography – Anthony Dod Mantle for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Editing – Chris Dickens for Slumdog

Best Art Direction – Donald Graham Burt and Victor J. Zolfo for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Costume Design – Michael O’Connor for The Duchess (I haven’t seen Australia however)

Best Makeup – Mike Elizalde and Thomas Floutz for Hellboy II: The Golden Army (if it doesn’t win, it deserves to)

Best Original Score – A.R. Rahman for Slumdog

Best Original Song – A.R. Rahman for Slumdog

Best Sound – Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt for Wall-E

Best Sound Editing (wait, these are different?) – Richard King for The Dark Knight

Best Visual Effects – I think Benjamin Button will win but to see Iron Man get it would be cool

Best Animated Feature – Andrew Stanton for Wall-E

Best Foreign Language Film – Vals Im Bashir (shot in the dark—I unfortunately haven’t seen any of these)

Best Documentary – James Marsh and Simon Chinn for Man on Wire because it’s about the Twin Towers

…And I haven’t seen any of the shorts, so I’d feel bad betting on them.

I’ll post later to either boast or concede. 

Enjoy watching all the beautiful people!

Peace. 

Wanna see something weird?  I bet you do.

Here’s MORE by filmmaker Mark Osborne.

(URL if the video goes wonky: http://www.gethappy.com/watchmore.html)

This short film was nominated for an Oscar (you see I’m getting in the spirit), and it’s a supreme example of stop-motion “claymation”.  For those of you who don’t know, the process behind such magic is incredibly tedious and requires frame-by-frame manipulation.  An ordinary scene is filmed at 24 frames per second, so in order to recreate that look and feel, animators have to draw (or in this case mold) 24 scenes for a mere second of screen time.  Whoa.

Oh, and guess what?  Osborne has another film nominated this year… heard of Kung-Fu Panda?

Hurrah for the Academy!

This year, the powers that be have decided to nominate the very, very independent film Frozen River in the Best Screenplay and Best Actress category.

Directed/written by Courtney Hunt, this nomination marks a very important step in the film-going community, not only for independent film, but for women filmmakers as well.

If you’d like to take a look at the genesis of the film-

http://www.indiewire.com/article/oscar_09_frozen_rivers_courtney_hunt1/

Women used to be extremely prominent in the industry.  In fact, in film’s early years (1910-20), women basically owned the writing process.  Names like Gene Gauntier, Mary Pickford, Anita Loos and more dominated the scene—Pickford was at one time the highest paid actor/writer in Hollywood (making absurd amounts—in today’s dollars, close to $173,000 a WEEK). 

Since then, and I mean that literally—since the 1920s—woman have taken an apparent back seat.  Sofia Coppola hit it big with Lost in Translation in 2003, but she is Francis Ford Coppola’s daughter (I don’t mean that quip to mean any ill-will towards her, it’s just a fact).

So here, in 2009, to have a film directed/written/conceived by a woman in the running for an Oscar is big news.  Even though it shouldn’t be, but that’s another matter entirely.

I just saw it a couple nights ago.  I wouldn’t give it the highest recommendation, but I really did enjoy it.  It felt more real to me than the rest of the Oscar fare. 

Give it a shot.  Then watch the Oscars.

Peace.

A bit about internet piracy…

I’d be a hypocrite if I completely denounced the whole piracy fad, so I won’t.  Instead, I’d just like to point out a few things.

I don’t feel bad for movie executives or big companies – their only goal is to make money.  In fact, I’ve heard tell that the biggest companies aren’t going to be producing as many features simply because they want to focus their time and energy of films that are likely to become blockbusters or franchises. 

There is no room for art anymore.  I don’t feel bad for stealing their movies, but considering the quality of their work, those are rarely the ones I seek out online anyhow. 

I think the internet is a place where we can defeat that capitalist trend.  I’ve done some research and found several hosts that support the distribution (illegal or otherwise) of art-house films through sites like The Pirate Bay and other P2P hubs.  I’ve downloaded films that haven’t been released on DVD, films that only exist on VHS and films that are completely out of the social register.  This, while still considered “illegal”, is a completely legitimate and beneficial use of internet piracy. 

Not that my sanction means much when you get caught.

Unlike music distribution, films are not “performances” that can be replicated by an artist again and again at different venues.  Thus, unlike the P2P music sharing trend, filmmakers don’t necessarily benefit from you seeing their work for free on the computer… or do they?

I’m not sure if you are familiar with film’s auteur theory, but it’s rather simple: it’s the idea that films made by a particular person of group of persons reflect an authorship, much in the same way that an author writes a book or a musician assembles a body of work.  In other words, the film represents the intent and directorship of an individual’s ideal or a group’s collaboration.

I think a recent popular example of this, however lighthearted and commercial, is the explosion of the Judd Apatow-Seth Rogan-Freaks and Geeks series of films (including, but definitely not limited to, Pineapple Express, Superbad, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, etc.). 

I would argue that this ideal, when put into practice, results in some of the best films I’ve seen. 

Illegal downloading, as a jumping off point, is tailor-made to advance this type of filmmaking.  Say, for example, you download a film (perhaps it has even been offered as a free, legal download) by a particular auteur.  Word of mouth buzz, if the film is worthy of it, spreads across the internet.  The next time they release a film, it’s in theaters, and they already have an established fan base that is likely to go and support their film.  It’s a lot like the approach some musicians have been taking, but it requires a slightly different approach considering the methods of distribution.

You could argue that this could create a sort of exclusivity in the market, making it harder for no name talent to get their work heard, but I think it’s exactly the opposite.  When you let public opinion decide what will succeed or fail (as opposed to leaving it in the hands of the big-wigs and pencil-pushers), it opens the door for anyone with a digital camera and some dedicated friends to break into the limelight. 

This is a socialist view, I know, so it would only work under the most optimal, uncorrupted conditions, but I think it is something worthy of consideration.   

If you haven’t ever tried to follow one filmmaker’s work, I would highly recommend it.  You might have to sit through a lemon or two, but you will undoubtedly notice themes and styles that will intrigue.  I’ve found that doing this also humanizes the whole process a bit, making films more approachable and easier to love. 

For a pretty supreme current example, I’d suggest Gus Van Sant.  I’m pretty sure he’ll come up in our discussion again soon. He rocks my world.

Film Suggestion – Coraline - (commercial I know, but it's damn nifty)

See it in 3D!!

Peace.

Welcome!

Welcome to my BLOG.  It won’t be pretty, it probably won’t be coherent, but I’ll be damned if you don’t get anything out of it.

What I’m attempting here is to provide the every-person with a platform upon which to begin their jump into the world of film-as-art, rather than film-as-not-art, if you know what I mean.  I won’t succumb to the follies of pretension, because I can’t tell you She’s Just Not That Into Me isn’t art; I’m neither qualified nor willing to make that judgment.  To me, all film is art to an extent, there are just some things I’d rather not watch.

You have to remember though, here at the outset of this adventure, that film is a business just like any other business.  It began with a marketable product and will inevitably end with a marketable product (or unmarketable I think, if it’s ending).  This dictates pretty much everything you see, whether it is “independent” or not.  Somebody somewhere had to decide that whoa, this is a good idea or that whoa, this could be our “big break”.  Unfortunately more often the latter than the former.

But!  Don’t despair just yet, because there are people out there who manage to subvert (and even manipulate) this capitalist path, and those films/people are who I wish to dedicate these page to.  I won’t constrain my efforts to purely current cinema, so forgive me if I tread in places that seem unfamiliar to you, but trust me, I’m coming from the same place.  I will do my best to provide a context that will guide a discussion of these films and filmmakers, as per the title, film.culture.etc.

The etc. part is where I’ll let personal opinion interfere, even though I suppose you could make the case that this entire blog is a personal opinion.  But more importantly, the etc. is my excuse for going off-topic and venturing to places outside the world of traditional film.  Things I find that intrigue me, or that I hope might intrigue you, I’ll post.  If I’ve stretched the limits, curb my enthusiasm and I’ll steer us back on course.  We’ll smooth out the bumps together.

To end this  introduction, I’ll leave you with a recommendation; something new that will hopefully entertain as much as intrigue.  I went to high school with one of the main characters and both the director and cinematographer graduated from NC School of the Arts (and have gone on to become great commercial successes too; see if you can find their most recent collaboration).  This, their debut feature, was shot in NC. 

The film this week: George Washington.  

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0262432/

Peace.