It’s hard to say when a new genre is created. Maybe it’s when it gets its own term in Wikipedia, or maybe when a mass of artists claim to be a part of it, or maybe it’s only when it has a movie covering it. Well, whatever the catalyst will be, Freak Folk is by now an official genre. Sporting dozens of artist who are part of it, basking in the limelight with a Wikipedia article and having a sweet movie covering it. Just like the genre itself, The Eternal Children, doesn’t give any straight answers, it just provides a charming childhood experience. This one is a treat to anyone cherishing the works of Devendra Banhart, CocoRosie, Antony and the likes.
It’s hard to capture the essence of a person, of an event and even of a simple picture. It’s ten times harder to capture the essence of a city and it’s even harder to catch the essence of a unique city. Les Méduses (Jellyfish) manages to do just this. Even if it doesn’t capture an entire essence, it does so with amazing precision. It captures the essence of Tel Aviv and of an entire generation of young Israelis that live, love and get lost in this vibrant city. With the history, environment and the mixture of people that Tel Aviv sports, it’s a challenging task. What makes this movie even more special is that very few movies tried to really do this, and even less succeeded, while keeping themselves as a pleasuring eye candy.
Les Méduses won two award in the Cannes 2007. It’s probably not going to be easy to get to see this one, but it’s well worth it. Links: Les Méduses @ Pyramid Films
Trailer [YouTube] Music Video Tribute (If You Fall by Azure Ray) [YouTube] Theatrical Teaser [YouTube] There’s a reason for every word in the dictionary. The pretext under the word ’sex’ is the need to describe an act. The alibi of ’sexuality’ is a bit more complex. Sex doesn’t require sexuality, and, actually, one can wonder if it’s possible for sexuality not to exist in a person. If we don decide that sexuality exists in all, then we must provide it more depth, levels and various qualities. Shortbus does just this. The movie is known for its outrageous sex scenes. The reputation is totally justified. But here a point should be made clear: although the movie is full of sex, its sex is not sexy. It arouses, but doesn’t attract. It’s pornographic in the visual way, but sexually dull on the other hand. Shortbus manages to look at sex in a genuine way, in a realistic manner. Sex is not holy, and it’s not bestial. Sex is not erotic, and not pornographic. Sex is us, and, as such, it’s complex, painful, joyful, sad, bitter, happy, enslaving, redeeming, liberating, possessive, stupid, silly, intelligent, beautiful, ugly and above all humane. This is what Shortbus is, it’s humane, and it’s beautiful. And through all these, Shortbus is sexy.
“I believe sex is sacred, too,” Mitchell continued. “But it’s not being respected by the American cinema.”
The genius quality that men managed to induce into art is the almost complete correlation between eroticism and high aesthetic value. It’s wonderful, we have the privilege of drolling over a girl, and excuse it as an aesthetic admiration. Of course, a beautiful girl is a highly aesthetic object, but still, agree with it or not, the connection between erotic attraction and aesthetic value does seem odd, as if it was created this way.
Cashback is two things: a short movie and a full length feature. The short movie, which is linked here, is a wonderful presentation of an idea which was created in 2004. The full length feature is a new movie released recently, which takes the idea and adds a “personal” touch to it. Looks promising. Links: IMDB entry - 2004 version IMDB entry - 2006 version Official movie website
Trailer [YouTube] Tricks. Camera angles. Light. Sound. González uses the same tricks as in his previous works. However, despite shocking the audience throughout the movie, he provides what feels like a happy ending, which seems unfitting. But in this happy-end conception lies the power of the movie. It’s a classical happy ending, and we see it as such: the American couple is safe and sound, the children were saved and the rich Japanese deaf-mute has come to terms with the shadows of her past. The subjects that focused our attention got their share of American style salvation. The heroes that we identified with are save. But what about the others?
These are not the only characters in the movie, and with, sharing equal screen time and attention, are also some “others”, the aliens with which don’t identify. The Mexican maid, at the end, loses her life in the US, and is being deported, denied legal help and doesn’t get any help from the family she raised. She goes through this accompanied by contempt and an attitude of lordship from the Americans system. The Moroccan family loses their two boys: one dead, the other on his way to prison. The Mexican cousin - his fate unknown. Here joins the Japanese girl, starring in the two categories, in the first as a rich girl with a trauma, and here as a deaf-mute in a hostile society. Yes, her Traumas are better, but for the rest of her life the role of the cripple in the Japanese society is reserved for her.
The aliens with their horrible destinies, some covered in fog, some crystal clear, are not able to ruin our feeling, that, yes, we just got another dose of American-style happy ending.The movie, and us, demanded a tragic ending, but we wanted the tragedy to belong to these that count, we wanted the tragedy to be ours. When others get it, we don’t feel it’s a tragedy. It’s a tragedy, a classical one, the kind that the hero can’t escape from. The rich-western-beautiful get away, in the movie they buy their way out, just like in life. The rest, to be honest, we don’t really care about. Here lies the power of the movie, in revealing to us, that, actually, we don’t really care. And we don’t. Links: IMDB entry Official movie website
Trailer 1 [YouTube] Trailer 2 [YouTube] Clip [YouTube] Music Video Clip [YouTube] Dream Sequence [YouTube]
Year: 2004
Directed by: Gen Sekiguchi Plot Summery:
A man continually trying and failing to get his wife to stay dead; a self-absorbed ad agency creative director who comes up with one unworkably inane idea after another; an English hitman who only wants to know everyone’s function in life; and an unfortunate office worker and father whose brain is left scrambled after a stage hypnotist is murdered in mid-performance. Starting off as unrelated plot lines, they intertwine with each other as they continue on their respective ways. Links: IMDB Entry Official UK Site Movie Torrent
Trailer [YouTube] Párbaj Trailer [YouTube] Kurvaelet Trailer [YouTube] CNN Trailer [YouTube] Julika az erkélyen Trailer [YouTube] Fifty years of communism doesn’t go by unnoticed. Eastern Europe escaped the clutches of communism and the Soviets to the embrace of a Europe who leaped across the ocean with one leg, and kicked in the same direction with the other. The ideology that developed in Western Europe is an attempt to embrace the American world and enjoy it, and at the same time keep one self’s as a creature of higher social values. All these didn’t happen in the east. Five decaded of communism left the nations in ruin on the financial side, but brought to the people there a taste of what it feels not to on the top of the food chain, what does it feel to colonized by foreigners. A cruel lesson, but one can only wonder on the irony, and ask what such a lesson would have done to the western side of the continent. However, fifty years of communism doesn’t go unnoticed, hundreds of years of colonization in India did live their mark, and such is also the case eastern Europe. Corruption and occupation by a foreign power leave their marks on the society, and the values which they bring permeate into the society. From this comes this wonderful and hilarious animated movie, the comparison to South Park is, although common, totally misplaced. South Park never managed, nor tried, to mirror such a mayhem, such a chaotic micro-cosmos, which is so refreshing at the same time. Don’t misunderstand, this is not a serious movie, but it does point the direction. Any connection between the movie and this piece is totally incidental. Links: IMDB entry Official website (English) Official website (Hungarian)
We come from people who brought us up to believe that life is a struggle, and if you should feel really happy, be patient: this will pass.
Stage. Lights. Curtain up. We have been fooled, there’s no prairie here, only some worn out musicians. Lies! Deception! Oh, my lord, Christ is pure and we have deceived by the fuckin’ democrats. But wait, what is going on? It’s the prairie all right, it’s the goddamn wilderness, cowboys and lasses, Christians and nothing else, whites and no more. Oh, yea, cowboy, this is the prairie, and these rugged musicians are your guides. It’s all on the radio, no TV can transmit these pictures, for that you need a stretch out that antenna, move it a bit to get it clear, and here the prairie invading your life. Some miracles just keep on running day by day, despite TV, despite Podcasts, despite Soulseek, there were some good things, and for some reason CNN and WB forgot to wipe them out or buy them in.
She shot that bastard in the heart, And ruined his nice suit!
Links: IMDB entry Radio show website Movie official website Update 21/11/06:
On November 21st Robert Altman, the director of A Prairie Home Companion, died at the age of 81. This makes A Prairie Home Companion his bid of farewell. A grander one he couldn’t ask.
Lola Johnson: What if you die some day?
Garrison Keillor: I will die.
Lola Johnson: Don’t you want people to remember you?
Garrison Keillor: I don’t want them to be told to remember me.
Trailer [MOV][YouTube] A film noir movie is a like a drug, an hallucinatory drug. The movie itself grand and exciting and wonderful, but the real treat start when you are out of the cinema, when the trip begins. The sense sharpen up, the worlds slows down. You are both fully alert and calm. You are able, and nothing stands in your way. Your life becomes a film noir, and you become the hero. The rugged fellow with the tough look and the slow voice. The careless anti-hero with his weaknesses and addictions, and the slow world revolving around. This is when a film noir really reveals itself to be what it really is - a fix. And the real experience - the post-fix.
Brick is that kind of a flim noir experience. To me it was like going back to my childhood and watching Parker Lewis (to these of you who remember), a dark version of Parker Lewis, very dark, it’s like I took with me all these years, dragged it and tainted it, darkened it. And it’s all in high school (now this is the point that makes this a true master piece). Links: IMDB entry Official website (including the original script)
Pixel Pirate II: Attack of the Astro Elvis Video Clone is an hour long narrative remix video constructed from samples pirated from over 300 film and music sources. It contains no original audio or video footage. Think of it as a sci-fi / biblical epic / action movie with a subplot of troubled romance. It also stars Elvis Presley, Moses, The Hulk, Monkey, Batman & Robin, Michael Jackson and The Ghostbusters.
The Year is 3001 and the ancient art of remix is being oppressed by the evil tyrant Moses and his Copyright Commandments. Meanwhile, in a secret base-camp on the moon a team of Pixel Pirates plot to overthrow Moses via their latest scientific discovery - video cloning. Their plan: travel back to 1955, abduct Elvis and bring him back to the future. They then clone Elvis and send the Video Clone back to 2015 to assassinate Moses, altering the course of VHS history. But first the Elvis Clone must face-off against the Copyright Cops and every action hero that MGM can throw his way.
Texting Your Way To Love [short movie]
Times have changed. The eloquently written love notes of yesteryear probably won't get you very far these days when it comes to serenading that special someone.
There’s a reason for every word in the dictionary. The pretext under the word ’sex’ is the need to describe an act. The alibi of ’sexuality’ is a bit more complex. Sex doesn’t require sexuality, and, actually, one can wonder if it’s possible for sexuality not to exist in a person. If we don decide that sexuality exists in all, then we must provide it more depth, levels and various qualities. Shortbus does just this. The movie is known for its outrageous sex scenes. The reputation is totally justified. But here a point should be made clear: although the movie is full of sex, its sex is not sexy. It arouses, but doesn’t attract. It’s pornographic in the visual way, but sexually dull on the other hand. Shortbus manages to look at sex in a genuine way, in a realistic manner. Sex is not holy, and it’s not bestial. Sex is not erotic, and not pornographic. Sex is us, and, as such, it’s complex, painful, joyful, sad, bitter, happy, enslaving, redeeming, liberating, possessive, stupid, silly, intelligent, beautiful, ugly and above all humane. This is what Shortbus is, it’s humane, and it’s beautiful. And through all these, Shortbus is sexy.
Tricks. Camera angles. Light. Sound. González uses the same tricks as in his previous works. However, despite shocking the audience throughout the movie, he provides what feels like a happy ending, which seems unfitting. But in this happy-end conception lies the power of the movie. It’s a classical happy ending, and we see it as such: the American couple is safe and sound, the children were saved and the rich Japanese deaf-mute has come to terms with the shadows of her past. The subjects that focused our attention got their share of American style salvation. The heroes that we identified with are save. But what about the others?
Fifty years of communism doesn’t go by unnoticed. Eastern Europe escaped the clutches of communism and the Soviets to the embrace of a Europe who leaped across the ocean with one leg, and kicked in the same direction with the other. The ideology that developed in Western Europe is an attempt to embrace the American world and enjoy it, and at the same time keep one self’s as a creature of higher social values. All these didn’t happen in the east. Five decaded of communism left the nations in ruin on the financial side, but brought to the people there a taste of what it feels not to on the top of the food chain, what does it feel to colonized by foreigners. A cruel lesson, but one can only wonder on the irony, and ask what such a lesson would have done to the western side of the continent. However, fifty years of communism doesn’t go unnoticed, hundreds of years of colonization in India did live their mark, and such is also the case eastern Europe. Corruption and occupation by a foreign power leave their marks on the society, and the values which they bring permeate into the society. From this comes this wonderful and hilarious animated movie, the comparison to South Park is, although common, totally misplaced. South Park never managed, nor tried, to mirror such a mayhem, such a chaotic micro-cosmos, which is so refreshing at the same time. Don’t misunderstand, this is not a serious movie, but it does point the direction. Any connection between the movie and this piece is totally incidental.
A film noir movie is a like a drug, an hallucinatory drug. The movie itself grand and exciting and wonderful, but the real treat start when you are out of the cinema, when the trip begins. The sense sharpen up, the worlds slows down. You are both fully alert and calm. You are able, and nothing stands in your way. Your life becomes a film noir, and you become the hero. The rugged fellow with the tough look and the slow voice. The careless anti-hero with his weaknesses and addictions, and the slow world revolving around. This is when a film noir really reveals itself to be what it really is - a fix. And the real experience - the post-fix.
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