April revivals: first half

Hey, Mike here with a list of April revivals for the first half of the month. Like to take a little time about The Manchurian Candidate screening, sponsored by TCM on Saturday, April 2nd. Very good experience overall, with a few of my pictures included in this list. Was glad I ignored the instruction of someone who worked for the School of Visual Arts, who said to only arrive at the screening one hour before showtime. Sounded like someone who never worked attended any kind of free screening in NYC, because I got there an hour forty-five minutes beforehand, and if I arrived fifteen minutes later, I might not have gotten in at all. SVA has a nice 490 seat theater, a former twin run by Clearview Cinemas, converted to a single screen.

Started promptly at 7:30, with a very quick intro to Robert Osbourne, who took most of his solo time to publicize the TCM Classic Film Festival. That festival takes for a few days out in L.A., generally with new prints of older films, screenings of little seen or long forgotten pictures, and introductions and Q and A's with someone involved with the film, its restoration, or its history. But since it's out in L.A., I no longer care so moving on.

Moved on quickly to bringing on Angela Lansbury. A mostly standing ovation coming, big time standing ovation when she exited. This, along with quick commercials for the TCM festival and for Time-Warner Cable (turns out they co-sponsored the screening), tool up a half-hour, before the film started a little after 8. Among the highlights of Ms. Lansbury's answers, please excuse the paraphrasing:

-She did Gaslight when she was 17, her first film. Nervous and with practically no experience in front of a camera. She was brought to set on her first day by her director, George Cukor, and introduced to the actors she was working with that day, Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman among them. Lansbury noted that not only did was she treated warmly, they treated like an equal; like an actor with the talent to do a good job, and will deliver. Lansbury never forgot this treatment, bringing it to her show, "Murder, She Wrote". Every episode, whoever the guest star or two was that was key to that particular episode, Lansbury would visit them at their trailer their first day, and chat with them. Generally they were astonished a lead of their series would do such a thing, but something Lansbury felt was important to do.

-She didn't like The Manchurian Candidate remake. Felt the cast did a good job, singling out Meryl and Denzel in particular. But what was the point of this remake, as far as she was concerned, if there was no suspense whatsoever to it?

-She didn't feel there was much to her film career. Manchurian Candidate and Bedknobs & Broomsticks were the highlights of her film career as far as she was concerned. Wished she had the chance of different roles, maybe like what Lana Turner had. Lansbury had to turn to theater, in roles in Mame and Sweeney Todd, to find the level of challenge and stardom (My word) she wanted. Lansbury appreciated the comment from an audience member, that for all the hoopla about Lana Turner, that Lansbury was more famous than Turner ever was.

- Despite the roles, she has enjoyed her career, having worked "the best". Among the actors cited were Boyer, Bergman, Spencer Tracy, Kate Hepburn, and Bette Davis. She note that she worked with Davis on Death On The Nile; not much of a film, but great fun to make.

There was more, but you had to have been there. Now on with the revival list:

THE FACE OF ANOTHER- Thurs April 7 at 8:10- Film Forum- Part of the Forum's 5 Japanese Divas retrospective. 5 actresses who made a big splash mostly in the 50s and 60s, and were a big deal there for the rest of their careers. I'm not interested or have no time for most of the films there, including films by Kinuyo Tanaka, Isuzu Yamada (Throne of Blood), and Hideko Takamine. But I would to try a film from Machiko Kyo (Rashomon), one that I posted last December: The Face of Another.

Tatsuya Nakadai (Yojimbo, Ran) plays a businessman, with a horribly scarred and burned face. He's fitted with a lifelike mask with a different face than his original. Does his wife find him more attractive, or even realize that this is her husband and NOT a complete stranger? Is he living his life as though he has a whole new personality to go along with the new face? Does he even have the power to retain even parts of his own personality? Never seen this film, but it seems interesting.

http://www.filmforum.org/films/divas.html

THE IDIOT- Fri Apr 8 at 4:30 and 7:30- Film Forum- The other film from the Forum's 5 Japanese Divas retrospective. The "diva" acknowledged here is Setsuko Hara, but the main reason I'm posting is that it's another Akira Kurosawa- Toshiro Mifune team-up. It's the only one of three Kurosawa films in this retrospective that I haven't seen, and I'd like to try it. Rashomon and Throne of Blood are the films I was referring to by the way, see them on your own.

Not that I'd expect this adaptation of the Dostoyevsky classic to be an easy hoe. This was Kurosawa's favorite book, and his loving first cut was 4 hours, 25 minutes, which he then cut to three hours for the film's premiere. When told by his studio that the film was too long by half and demanded it to be cut down, Kurosawa reportedly said "In that case, better to cut it lengthwise". Since then, The Idiot has only been seen in a 2 hour 46 minute cut which is what will be screened at the Forum. This should be a challenge, and possibly a fragmentary challenge, but hopefully an interesting challenge:

http://www.filmforum.org/films/divas.html

HOOP DREAMS- Sat April 9 at 12:30- AMMI in Astoria- 36-01 35th Ave.- Part of the Museum's sports documentary series, and almost inarguably, the best of the bunch. For almost 3 hours and over the course of about 5 years, director Steve James covered 2 the lives of 2 teenagers, Arthur Agee and William Gates. They have basketball skills that could get them out of the inner city. But this ain't Rocky, people: the road is paved with metaphorical land mines, and questions about the kids troubles, the unfairness of their varying situations, and their own immaturity, are not unfair to ask. But they are not Supermen, just kids trying.

I don't want to say this launched a love affair or newfound respect for documentaries. But Hoop Dreams is one of the landmarks of the genre, almost doing in its way, what Pulp Fiction did that same year for crime films (and films in general). Oscar nominated, but for its Editing, NOT for Best Documentary. I won't even bother to mention what was nominated instead. Worthy subjects, but not worthy films. A great chance to catch Hoop Dreams in the early afternoon, and check out the Museum of the Moving Image in the late afternoon:

http://www.movingimage.us/visit/calendar/2011/04/09/detail/hoop-dreams

THE BIRDS- Wed April 13 at 7:30- introduced by Robert Osbourne, with a pre-film Q and A with Tippi Hedren by Osbourne- Huntington Arts Center- 423 Park Avenue in Huntington- A free screening of the Hitchcock classic. sponsored by TCM. The last standout film in Hitch's career, though I feel Frenzy is underrated. The Oscar nominated Visual Effects may not hold up, but the decreasing family security and the increasing claustrophobic attacks (even in the great outdoors!), still make this film interesting and watchable. And like the recent screening for The Manchurian Candidate, there will be a pre-film Q and A, this one from the film's star, Tippi Hedren.

Click the link I leave under this paragraph, find the button to click for tickets. It will lead you to a pdf you can save for printing/copying purposes. One major difference in turning in your flyer for tickets. Unlike previous screenings where you stand outside for at least 90 minutes with your flyer, Huntington Cinema Arts Centre is apparently changing the unwritten policy. According to someone at the Arts Centre box office (sorry I couldn't get the guy's name), you need to turn in the flyer for tickets on April 13th as soon as you can at the box office (10AM is when its open) so the standing should be somewhat minimal. Still general admission, with probably a healthy number of seats blocked off for VIP types. So its mostly first come first served for seating purposes:

http://www.tcm.com/2011/roadtohollywood/longisland/onsale.html

FLASHDANCE- Thurs April 14 at 7- 92ndY Tribeca- Part of a Giorgio Moroder retrospective. It's been I think, almost two decades since we heard an original Moroder film score. But if you were around for film scores and songs from the late 70s thru the mid 80s, Moroder's work in films like Scarface, Top Gun, Midnight Express and Electric Dreams made an impact. Flashdance was where Moroder's music was the most commercially successful. The film itself barely kept the musical genre alive, and its MTV style editing and music helped make it a sleeper hit of the spring of 1983, and then (because of word of mouth), one of the summer hits of that year as well.

The film is ok, but the dancing and music make it something to watch. It made Jennifer Beals a star, playing a steel worker by day, a nightclub dancer at night, as she pursues her dream of getting into ballet school. Some of that star wattage dimmed when it was revealed how many dancers (of both genders) it took to do the dancing Beals couldn't do, and the wattage dimmed even further after her weak performance in The Bride. It took years of 90s indie film work, followed by TV work on The L Word to bring respectability back. She also became a major sex symbol from this film, especially the scene where she's sitting, wearing a one shoulder-bearing sweatshirt, and nothing else.

Oscar nominations for Editing, Cinematography, and for the hit Michael Sembello song "Maniac". An Oscar for Moroder and Irene Cara for the title song "Flashdance, What A Feeling"; a big hit for weeks on end in 83. Overall, not a great film, but certainly a good looking and sounding film for sure:

http://www.92y.org/shop/92Tri_event_detail.asp?category=92Tri+92YTribeca+Film888&productid=T-MM5FA11

THE STEPFATHER (1987)- Fri April 15 at 10- 92ndY Tribeca- A cult film from the late 80s gets a rare revival screening.Fans of Lost, especially those not active in late 80s/ early 90s stuff, were probably floored by veteran actor Terry O'Quinn as Locke. But those of us who remember Quinn from this film, were happy to see him finally get something worthy of his talent. Big gap between this film and the start of Lost.

O'Quinn plays a man who believes in the American family ideal (circa 1950s like in Leave It To Beaver), who makes himself available to single, house-owning mothers. He marries them, but the wives and the kids, all tend to have that deadly combination of being of the 1980s as opposed to the 1950s, as well being fallible human beings. But that sends O'Quinn character over the edge, slaughtering the family, wiping all trace of his previous identity, assumes a new identity, and repeats the process with a new family. And this new family in the film, where the stepdaughter sees right through him yet has no sway, and the wife while nice doesn't blindly follow her new husband, it looks like the stepfather is getting that old itch again. And keeping that axe sharp . . . .

Not a perfect film by any stretch. Most of the cast can't keep up with O'Quinn's work, a side plot involving a brother of a previous slaughtered family takes up too much screen time, and turning the stepfather into a kinda of Jason/Freddy type near the end is a major disappointment. The Stepfather has been called a satire of Reagan's America, but that doesn't work with me very well. For that kind of satire, head straight to John Carpenter's They Live and ignore the rest.

But I'll give A.V. Club Scott Tobias credit for comparing this film, and the lead character in particular, to Robert Mitchum's in Night of the Hunter, and Joseph Cotton's in Shadow of a Doubt. But give more credit to screenwriter Donald Westlake for interesting script. But without Terry O'Quinn's scary good performance, there's not a reason to pay attention to the film. It helped with word of mouth, turning the film's box office performance from flop to merely disappointing.

http://www.92y.org/shop/92Tri_event_detail.asp?category=92Tri+92YTribeca+Film888&productid=T-MM5FA18

WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?- Sat April 16 at Midnight- Landmark Sunshine Cinema- The big hit of the summer of 1988 where Bob Hoskins is a film-noirish gumshoe, tracking a killer while dealing with all types of people, human and animated. This Disney film is a blast on the big screen, and innovative in its time for the mixing of animation and live action. 4 Oscars, including an award for visual effects that still holds up today, and a special achievement in animation:

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/NewYork/NewYork_frameset.htm

Let me know ASAP. Later all.

New screening date for Manchurian Candidate

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE- hosted by Robert Osbourne with a post-film Q and A by Osbourne with Angela Lansbury- School of Visual Arts- 333 West 23rd st.- Saturday April 2 at 7- The Frank Sinatra brainwashing classic, gets a special screening, courtesy of TCM and their travelling Film Festival, highlighting classic films. It was originally scheduled for Monday April 4th at 7:30 as of March 16th. But sometime within the last 10 days, the screening was moved up by 48 and 1/2 hours. The link needed to print out a pass good for two people will be at the end of this post.

I've done one TCM sponsored screening before: All About Eve last spring. I made sure to get there 2 hours before the screening, because those passes, like the ones here for Manchurian Candidate, didn't guarantee seating. Getting there at least ninety minutes early did the trick. But this was at the Ziegfeld, and this Saturday's screening will be at the smaller of School of Visual Arts.

Also there's a bigger special guest. For All About Eve, we had Elaine Stritch. But for this screening, we get the infamous mother herself, Angela Lansbury, who will be there for a post film Q and A. That should definetly help attract a crowd willing to show up a little sooner than usual.

Oh, did I mention IT'S FREE? If you want to go, print now and plan on a long night, and maybe a late dinner, or a meal to go and have while you're on line. If you're thinking maybe, print now, because TCM won't keep the link up forever. Hope you say yes, because it's a great film; and unless you're over 60 from back when this film came out in 1962, or you caught it during its 1988 re-release, you've never experienced this on the big screen. Here's a great chance to change that. Later:

http://www.tcm.com/2011/roadtohollywood/newyork/onsale.html

March revivals: second half

Hey all. Mike with a list of revivals. Not only for the second half of March, but one film in April that I need to speak up about now, because tickets might go fast for this. The first film I'm posting here, is not only playing here in NYC, but it will also play in a few other cities in the country. So if you live in say, Upstate New York or the cities of San Francisco L.A. Miami Pittsburgh Tampa or Columbus, please pay attention to the first film here:

TAXI DRIVER- Sat March 19 at 5:30, 7:45 and 10, Sun March 20 at 7:45, Tues March 22, Wed March 23, Fri March 25, and Mon March 28- Wed March 30 at 7:45 and 10- Film Forum- also Sat March 19 and Tues March 22 at 8- AMC Loews Raceway in Westbury, AMC Loews Nassau Metroplex in Levvitown and other AMC theaters in Sony Digital 4K around the country- Taxi Driver, a film that could only have come from the post-Vietnam, post-Watergate 70s. A film that gets all the respect it deserves, except for losing the Best Picture Oscar to Rocky. Is on both AFI top 100 lists, and in my own personal top 100. New York at its scuzziest looking, even it was reflecting a national mentality, as far as Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader were concerned. The areas of New York depicted may have been cleaned up a long time ago, but the fetish-like love for guns and violence, the possibilities for sexual degradation and the idea of a lone nut ready to misinterpret the forces around them? Afraid that's a alive and well, and certainly not just a New York issue, thanks.

Why am I not writing more about this? One, if you look at this blog in even in passing, you know the film. And if you don't, just make the time and go. Two, I've done this film at the Forum already. I'll gladly go again, because seeing this on the big screen is completely different from TV. A beast of a film that, when given your full concentration in the dark, just burrows into you. Make time to catch it.

Now if you live in NYC, you can come to the Forum and see its newest 35mm restoration, presumably for the blu-ray. If you live in Nassau County, the following is for you . At the AMC Loews Raceway in Westbury and the AMC theatre in Levittown, there will be a Sony Digital 4K at 8pm on Saturday March 19th, and Monday March 22 at 8pm. So if you have a spare AMC pass, that should work for you.

If you live in Upstate New York, or in cities such as San Francisco, L.A., Miami, Pittsburgh, Tampa, and Columbus, Ohio, Taxi Driver will also play in those places on the 19th and 22nd of March at 9 as well. Scroll down and click the Taxi Driver/AMC theatres link below for the exact theaters, and you'll have a chance to see what I'm talking about as well:

http://www.amctheatres.com/taxidriver/

http://www.filmforum.org/films/taxidriver.html

SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER- Thurs March 24 at 1- Walter Reade at Lincoln Center- Francois Truffaut's version of a gangster film, where thriller and comedy aspects are thrown into the genre in uneven amounts. A concert pianist, burned out and widowed, works in a dive. Has 2 hot chicks who want him, but he's closer to Spock than to an emotionally expressive person, except when he plays the piano. But now that his brothers are in trouble with (amateur) criminals, things can't stay good forever. Never seen this, but the mixture of comedy, drama, thriller aspects, homages to Warner Bros B crime flicks, and a passing resemblance to Vertigo (more than just passing?!?!?), it's sounds very interesting.

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1986)- Thurs March 24 for 7.50 at 7 and 9:30- Chelsea Clearview Cinemas- A cheap screening of this 1986 musical, an adaptation of the hit Off-Broadway show. Might be the best musical of the 1980s, but when your only competition in that decade is The Little Mermaid, The Blues Brothers, Pennies From Heaven, A Chorus Line, Breakin, and Breakin 2: Electric Bugaloo, and you'll have to excuse me if I'm not impressed. Let me not be a hater here. It's a wonderful upgrade of the Roger Corman original, where nebbish Seymour tries to get his dream girl Audrey to pay, eh, close attention to him. But he makes the flower shop with the popularity of the alien plant named Audrey 2, who has an appetite for blood, and grows far beyond its original plant pot. Director Frank Oz's best film.

Rick Moranis doesn't have the best singing voice but beyond that, he's the perfect Seymour. Ellen Greene (Pushing Daises) does sing well, and successfully transferred her stage performance to screen. Vincent Gardenia makes an appropriate Mr. Mushnik. But back in 86, to draw audiences who tended to avoid movie musicals, a lot of Warner Bros.' advertising push was to promote the cameos/extended cameos of comics associated with SNL or SCTV. Yes, Christopher Guest, John Candy and James Belushi are there. But the ones who pack the film with energy and elevate the material are Steve Martin (as the abusive dentist; his Be A Dentist" is a standout) and Bill Murray (who steals the film as the depraved dental patient; not an improvement of Jack Nicholson's original take, so much as a hysterical variation). Personally, I feel a chunk of the film's high energy departs when Murray and Martin leave the screen for good, even with Levi Stubbs' inspired vocals as Audrey 2. But the film is a pleasant enough ride, even with an ending that was changed to please preview audiences who hated the original end. Oscar noms for Visual Effects, and to Howard Ashman and Alan Menken for Best Song (Mean Green Mother from Outer Space).

I post both the 7 and 9:30 screenings. I don't feel the film is so sacred that comments like from Mystery Science Theater 3000 are uncalled for, so I'm fine catching the 7pm screening hosted by Hedda Lettuce. Hedda is fun, does pre-show stuff and then comments on it as it plays, but won't intrude on Little Shop too much. For that screening, best to purchase tix at the box office by 5:45-6, and get a good seat by about 6:30 or so. If you rather just see the show sans comments, there's the 9:30 screening which you could buy tix with no worries of sellout.

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951) and/or THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE- Sat Mar 26 at 12:30 (Day) and 7 (Obscure)- Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria- The movies at the Museum of the Moving Image are free WITH museum admission, which is 10 dollars. I prefer going to both films, and frankly, unless there's a film coming up on their free Friday late afternoons/early evenings schedule, I'm going to push to see both films until further notice. It shouldn't be that hard to push both films.

At 12:30, we have the original The Day The Earth Stood Still. I didn't dislike the remake on cable, but can understand why one would be pissed if they spent full price at a theater, or over 20 dollars for an IMAX screening. A couple hundred million in visual effects doesn't improve a mediocre script. Especially when it runs almost one hour fifty minutes, and feels like it goes two hours and counting. No worries with the efficient Robert Wise classic original. The state of science fiction on whatever size screen has changed tremendously. Whether you lean to the hope for humanity side, like in 2001 or the Battlestar Galactica reboot, or stay with the pessimism of most of Wall-E or Terminator 2 ("It is in your nature to destroy yourselves".) This film straddles both sides; that goes it beyond the Red Scare going on in that film's era, seems incredible, a little unfortunate and great film making all at once. Go Gort go.

Also playing on Saturday is a complete change of pace: the French film That Obscure Object of Desire, from 1977. Luis Buenel's last film, that plays with fantasy and reality like a lot of his other films like, say, Belle de Jour for example. A comedy/drama with something that resembles romance, but not the way we might expect it. Fernando Rey (The French Connection) plays a pompous rich man who tells, mostly in flashback (or dream?) while your typical terrorist insurgency occurs in the background(!), the story of his obsession with a beautiful lower-class woman, who frustrates his romantic advances at every turn. That the woman in question is played in completely different ways by two different actresses (high couture Carole Bouquet and earthy Angela Molina), only further messes with our heads as to what is real and what might not be. Granted, the plan wasn't to have two actresses in the role. But apparently, when the recently deceased Maria Schneider quit after a heated argument 3 days into shooting, the idea of using 2 actresses came out as a joke, then as the only way to save the movie.

The film wasn't appreciated back then by audiences, but critics have always been backing this up. Oscar nominations for Foreign Film (expected), and Screenplay (pleasantly unexpected).

My idea is to get there by about noon, see Day/Earth Stood Still, check out the museum, grab a bite (whether inside their new cafe, the diner with the nice coffee across the street, or elsewhere), then see Obscure Object of Desire. Hopefully you want to go for that.

BLUE VELVET- Thurs March 31 at 9:30- Chelsea Clearview Cinemas- A cheap screening of a darker variation of Shadow of a Doubt, with more than a little Wizard of Oz, in its way. In my top 5 ever, possibly higher. What Shadow of a Doubt pushed in terms of evil in a small town Americana, Blue Velvet cranked to 11 and turned it on its (severed) ear. This mystery/neo-noir/romantic drama got David Lynch a Best Director nomination, and brought both his and Kyle MacLachlan's career back from the dead. Isabella Rossellini established herself as an actress once and for all, and Dennis Hopper became a working character actor forever, in a career performance. Also drew major controversy in its day for its, let's just say, sexual connotations, and what was required of Rossellini in her role. I believe it was Ebert who called this film the most vile thing he had ever seen (or something along those lines). Rosselini attacked him in response (verbally attacked I meant). A bit of a Rorschach test, this hauntingly beautiful film is. Decide for yourself.

Please excuse me if I post the non- Hedda Lettuce screening only. I like it too much, no comments during the film please.

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE- hosted by Robert Osbourne with a post-film Q and A by Osbourne with Angela Lansbury- School of Visual Arts- 209 East 23rd St.- Mon April 4 at 7:30- The Frank Sinatra brainwashing classic, gets a special screening, courtesy of TCM and their travelling Film Festival, highlighting classic films. Was on the first AFI Top 100 list though not on the second one, and I'm not sure if it would be on my own Top 100 list, but if it isn't it's very VERY close. Normally I would post this on the next revival list, but the possible popularity (introduction by Robert Osbourne, and his interviewing Angela Lansbury post-film), and offbeat location (the School of Visual Arts) means that tickets could be scarce unless I say something now. So let me know ASAP. Tickets go onsale Friday, March 18.

Let me know ASAP, especially if you want to catch Manchurian Candidate. Also let me know if you live outside NYC and you can catch Taxi Driver. If it's your first time seeing it, first time unedited, first time on the big screen, first time since the late 70s, whatever. Otherwise, later all.

March revivals: first half.

Hey, Mike here with a list of revivals for the first half of March. Small list and I'll keep it brief, so here we go:

WHITE HEAT for 5 dollars- Mon March 7 at 7- Academy Theater at Lighthouse International- 111 E. 59th St.- A Jimmy Cagney gangster classic at cheap price thanks to the Academy (the Oscars people). Now that they don't have to deal with newly nominated films anymore, we get our monthly screenings back, and White Heat is the first. For the record, its nomination is for the Screenplay. The story aspect in particular. Yeah, the writing categories were broken up in a weird way back then. Cagney's last gangster film, and he went out with a bang. And yes, this is the film with "Top of the world, Ma! Top of the WOOOOORRRRRLLLLDDDD!!!!!!!". Richard LaGravenese, Oscar nominated writer for The Fisher King and a member of the Writers Branch of the Academy, will introduce the film. Follow the link below and on the bottom right side, you'll see how to order online:

http://www.oscars.org/events-exhibitions/events/2011/03/white-heat.html

DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST- Mon March 7, Wed March 9 and Thurs March 10 at 7 and 9:30, and Tues March 8 at 9:30- Film Forum- Robert Bresson's drama, one that heavily influenced Taxi Driver 25 years later, in a new 35 mm print. A young, sickly priest starts to work at his new parish. It's in a small town in Northern France, and the townspeople have no want of him. I barely know the film, so I can't tell you if it's a classic or nothing special. I can only say that I'm willing to take a chance:

http://www.filmforum.org/films/diary.html

THE SOFT SKIN- Sat March 12- Thurs March 18 at 7:45 and 10- Film Forum- Also a new 35mm print. A Francois Truffaut film I don't know at all, but would really like to see. A 40 year old man, with a successful career, and a beautiful wife and family, falls for a 20+ year old stewardess (Francoise Dorleac, Catherine Denuve's sister, who died 3 years after the films release). Is this a mid-life crisis or is there something more to this relationship? And once you commit to a double life, the mundane practical matters that come along with it (flight connections, the right hotel, money) cause a strain to the fantasy. But if with those issues, this man-boy still wants to be with this younger woman, now what? As his next film after the big success of Jules and Jim, Truffaut's The Soft Skin was, well, not a big success. Though the years since its 1964 release have been kind. Never seen it, and I'd like to:

http://www.filmforum.org/films/softskin.html

Let me know if there's interest. Must know quickly regarding White Heat because the tickets will go fast. Not so quick about the other two are needed. Later all.

Best of 2010

Hey all. Mike here with a list of my favorite films of 2010. A respectable year in film. It reminds me a little of 2006: fairly good in overall quality. It was a slog for the first half of last summer. Bad enough that Iron Man 2 was a disappointment, but even trailers for stuff like The A-Team, Jonah Hex, Killers and Sex and the City 2 all looked terrible. I really had to rely on indie films and revivals for the bulk of my cinematic entertainment.

Luckily, film quality picked up as the weather got colder. In the end, i came away feeling glad that my taste and Oscar choices veered so close together. Putting a list together, I realized I needed very little push from nominations or critics awards to see films that interested me. I had my top Seven decided by New Years weekend, the last 3 slots were the tough positions. Therefore, here are the three that didn't make the cut. All three had good to great acting, so I'll stick with the flaw that kept me from pushing it higher:

BLUE VALENTINE: Felt like the writers had a great feeling and connection to Ryan Gosling's character, but I question the writing of Michelle Williams' character. Not a small thing. Glad to see her nominated, and a very good debut for director Derek Cianfrance.

THE KING'S SPEECH: A good script, and an above average episode of Masterpiece Theater. But I feel there was 8 screenplays that were better, all on my top ten. At least seven of them feel like pieces of Cinema, not a filmed play. I feel that they can only be truly embraced on the big screen, so there's no room for The King's Speech.

THE FIGHTER: And if I'm going to nit pick The King's Speech as being an above average filmed play, a film with a somewhat weaker, more predictable script like The Fighter certainly won't get in. Plus, while I had no issues with Christian Bale's performance. I mean he's playing a crackhead, extreme subtlety doesn't cut. It's Melissa Leo's performance that I felt was too over the top and too jarring to deal with. But I'm not likely to forget that coven that comprised Mickey Ward's sisters. Scarred the living shit out of me . . . .

Now as for my top 10, the only studio films I feel bad about not catching in time, are animated ones. Specifically, How To Train Your Dragon, Despicable Me, and Tangled. No time for Barney's Version as well. The only other aspect that I consider to be a hole in the list, is my not catching as many foreign films as I normally do. No time to catch up with say, Dogtooth, Carlos, Enter The Void, The Illusionist and The Secret In Their Eyes. Now on with the list. I'll try to keep the comments as brief as possible:

10) - GASLAND- A Facebook friend wrote this a while back:

Maybe it is time for all of us to peacefully relieve the power of our "elected" regulators and truly put our own government back in the hands of the people. After all, with all the ways people can communicate today and spread news, I believe We the People can regulate and be responsible for ourselves. We can be our own oversight.

A nice sentiment, but a sentiment that sounds ineffectual in the face of the world depicted in the documentary Gasland. We see areas effected by by the process of extracting natural gas called hydraulic fracturing, or Frakking. Or perhaps to be more accurate, the chemicals used in the Frakking process. No plant life or grass worth a damn. Brown water that someone might declare safe, but would never dare to drink. Natural gas coming through the water pipes, giving you flammable tap water. Wildlife unable to survive. Town after town, state after state, from Wyoming to Texas to most of the South (from Texas to a portion of Florida). You see so much of the same footage, you almost have to remind yourself that it's happening in a lot of different areas. The mass quantities of powerless individuals against what's happening to them made me angry.

And as for them getting help? Ha! A pittance of a settlement with non-disclosure all over it, while their kids and/or pets and/or themselves keep getting sicker. An EPA that can respond to government complaints, NOT civilian complaints. And that's assuming that the agency hasn't received further cuts of manpower, and that the area to be examined hasn't been blocked based on 2005 legislation. And now the Frakking method is waiting to be used in an area that effects, among other things and areas, a large portion of New York City's water supply?

A grassroots method against this seems to be going underway, so maybe that Facebook sentiment might fit after all. But is there enough time, and enough members in state and Federal government will to help? Gasland asks us to decide and then do something now. There are other high quality films out there, but few that got to me so viscerally. Currently on HBO On Demand, should be on DVD eventually.

9) KAWASAKI'S ROSE- A pleasant surprise for me. From director Jan Hrebejk and screenwriter Petr Jarchovsky, this Czech film made to the short list for consideration by the Academy for Best Foreign Film, but didn't make the final cut. A drama, but not a dark, depressing one, and it could easily have gone down that ponderous road. A morally upright doctor, famous for speaking out against the Communists, is about to receive an important award. But on the eve of the ceremony, the man's bitter, jealous, son-in-law, reveals to all that the good doctor might have worked with the secret police decades earlier, to hurt a radical who's too close to the doctor's future wife. The revelation hits the family, and makes the dissident kicked out known again. But does it truly rip the family apart, or has the decades in-between allowed for the chance for forgiveness to occur? A little film that's practically unknown here and not on DVD as of this writing. But do try to keep an eye out for it on Netflix, IFC or Sundance channel.

8) ANOTHER YEAR- Again, another Mike Leigh film for me to enjoy. The simple story of a very happily married couple near retirement age, who seem to be surrounded by friend, who are crushed and devastated by age and life's disappointments. But is the couple really nice, or are they the living embodiment of passive aggression? It's as though they made sure to help their son be decent and dull (like them?), but they seem the type to see an alcoholic, figure out their problem, make fun of him (and her), and then pour the person more drinks. And don't forget, this is England, so you have the chance to see a lower class person looked down upon by a middle class person. Another ingredient to stir in this mess. Some may disagree with me, but I don't see this couple, played by Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen, to be the nicest people in the film. Patient probably, human definetly, but nice? I don't know, but I don't see it as a detriment either.

A film that will only get better as one ages, or even more painful to watch, depending on one's direction in life. Uniformly good cast, with Lesley Manville straddling herself perfectly from one extreme emotional state to another. Her character may have a hot little spitfire in her day. But age, alcohol abuse, unfilled dreams, and no hope for love on her unsteady terms leaves her falling apart, and leaves us with a quiet, devastating ending. The best ending of all the films on this list.

7) TRUE GRIT- I read an article a little while back where Bill O'Reilly said that True Grit was a favorite of his. The original John Wayne version, not this, though O'Reilly didn't beat up the Coen bros. film by any means. And I won't attack his preference at all. There was obvious sentiment in his words which I would never attack, and it is a good film. But it was a little anachronistic then (jammed in-between The Wild Bunch and Butch Cassidy), and definitely by the time Unforgiven came along. This version of True Grit veers closer to the Unforgiven style of gritty/realistic with little sentiment, and the Coen Bros. pull off a successful western from start to finish. A finish that No country for Old Men failed to accomplish, but I'm griping again . . . .

I won't get into a Jeff Bridges/Wayne comparison, but Bridges pulls off his Rooster Cogburn with aplomb. but I am willing to compare Matt Damon's performance with Glen Campbell. Damon is an actor and he did his job well, did it spectacularly compared to non-actor Campbell. But newcomer Hailee Steinfeld carries the film, and this would have been a pale imitation of the Wayne version if she hadn't pulled it off. I just hope she beats Mellisa Leo's overrated performance in decent The Fighter. Plus Josh Brolin makes a great coward. Overall, it's nice to know that I don't have to borderline plead to catch up on a Western, the moviegoing public has done a fine job of that on their own.

6) TOY STORY 3- Someone I know was very pleasantly surprised to find out that that this film was nominated for both Best Picture and Best Animated Feature, and if the Academy had any guts, Toy Story 3 would win in both categories. My response: yes, a Pixar film should win both categories, but the Academy already had their chance with Wall-E and blew it. They should not do that with Toy Story 3.

That said, one of the best studio films of the summer of 2010, and the best of the series. Almost like a cinematic McDLT. They kept the comedy side funny, and the humanistic side emotional heartfelt and true. Though I suspect this film will last a lot longer than the McDonald's McDLT relic, call it a hunch. We don't a fourth film. Now that the toys are with a new family, the story of one boy's end of childhood, has both a satisfying conclusion, and hope for new generations to enjoy, that will probably play out better in our heads rather than in a fourth installment. Different children's film, but the sentiment is the same: Well done pig, well done.

But like I said in the previous paragraph, not the best studio film from last summer. To me, that title goes to . . .

5) INCEPTION- Sorry if this required massive usage of brain power to follow. Multi layers, different strands whose connections take a while to come together, with a bit of regret about of life not that different from what's brought up Another Year. All jumbled together and put through the filters of sci-fi and heist films. I won't pretend to have understood everything perfectly. The ending was one, where I thought one thing, and Christopher Nolan, Michael Caine and Inception's DP said something different. No matter, I won't pretend i get everything in say, Solaris or 2001, but that doesn't keep me from coming back for more. A less stilted performance from Ellen Page might have raised it a little higher, and I'm not sure how well this will play on tv. But keep it going Mr. Nolan, you're doing just fine. But try not to lose editor Lee Smith. His work and/or assistance (however the two of you work together) seem invaluable, based on how the last 40 minutes play.

4) THE AGONY AND ECSTASY OF PHIL SPECTOR- The best documentary to be released in the U.S. this year and it couldn't get very far with Oscar voters for Best Doc? It was nice to see the good Exit Through The Gift Shop get acknowledged, but that slog of a Rorschach test called Restrepo gets through and Agony and Ecstasy doesn't?!?!? Unfortunate. Also the only film I saw twice in a theater if that means anything.

Consider this as a documentary musical. Interviewed at his home near the end of his first murder trial. Spector is given a wide berth and open forum, to discuss his past, his infamous wig (doing a tribute to Einstein and Ben Wallace at a murder trial? What the fuck . . . .), air his grievances (with Tony Bennett and Paul McCartney among others), and place himself among the greats, alongside Bach and Michelangelo.

Plus we get the glorious music. Songs that include Imagine, The Long and Winding Road, My Sweet Lord, And Then He Kissed Me, and television/concert performances of To Know Him Is To Love Him, Da Doo Ron Ron, You've Lost That Lovin Feeling and (my favorite) Ike & Tina Turner's River Deep Mountain High. All played in their entirety to get full appreciation of the work.

Most of the time however, the songs are used in a way that we get an idea of Spector's famous Wall of Sound. Edited in with portions of the news coverage of the first murder trial, and the actual trial itself. Forensic demonstrations, testimony, shots of the preening ADA and the judge with a little bit of Judge Ito in him, opening and closing arguments. No one gets names. The Judge. The District Attorney. The Girlfriends, who all inevitably testified how Spector would at some point, put a gun to their heads. The victim however, does get a name, Lana Clarkson. Spector never talks about her, but we see and hear her. We see pictures, and clips of her work, including her heartbreakingly mediocre audition reel. Plus shots of her from security cameras when she meets then leaves with Spector, as well as crime scene photos and post-mordem shots.

But its Spector's show. He gets the chance to explain himself as much as he wants. I came away fascinated at this musically talented, bitter, funny, damaged beyond hope, man. It's possible and I feel its ok to come away from this picture, exhilarated by the music, and stunned by this person. If it ever makes its way on to DVD, or to say, BBC-America, IFC, or Sundance, stop everything and watch it or record it for later viewing. You won't regret it.

3) A PROPHET- One of last year's Oscar nominees for Best Foreign Language Film. One of the best fictional crime films in quite a while. French film that fans of the HBO series Oz might find a little familiar, and hopefully that makes it accessible for them. An 18 year old Arabic-French boy, with no obvious family and useless legal aid, is moved on his birthday, to a maximum security prison to serve several more years there. Like Carey Mulligan's character for which she received an Oscar nomination, Tahar Rahim's character gets an education, though this education he must accept or else it's likely death. But unlike Patrick McGoohan's line in Escape From Alcatraz "we don't make good citizens, but we make good prisoners", Rahim's character is in a prison where he learns to become a master criminal, in part from a Corsican mentor (the excellent Niels Arestrup). We don't know what he did to get in the prison system, but it probably wasn't as bad or as brutal as he'll be capable of doing once he gets out.

You don't have to look at director/co-writer Jacques Audiard well done film strictly as a prison film. It doesn't spend all its screen time inside prison walls after all. When it goes outside, as our anti-hero receives more tasks and responsibility to carry out during his day passes, it expands his horizons, his wants, and his capacity to engage in more dangerous liaisons. You can almost view this akin to a superheros origin story. Except here, we're talking about the development of a young, Arabic-French, Michael Corleone-type.

Supposedly, this is part of a kind of French film phenomenon known as "New French Extremity". In a handheld, quasi-documentary style with sharp editing, we the viewer will feel what it's like in prison. How in its way, it's about as corrupt as anywhere else in French society. We almost feel like we're there when the young man gets his beatings, makes his first kill (not easy and not without cost), and when this young man is ready to get out of prison, and take whatever he wants. 6 years of his life in 2 and a half hours, and you barely even notice the time. Not subtle, but its cinema, and that's good enough for me.

2) THE SOCIAL NETWORK- Boy could this film have been pretty damn dull. Luckily, this potential snoozer of a talkfest moves at lightning speed. I get the feeling director David Fincher studied, or at least knew like the back of his hand, Sidney Lumet films like 12 Angry Men and (especially) Network. With a brilliant script, like the one he has from Aaron Sorkin (NICE re-working of Rashomon!), tight editing (I'm stunned if this loses Best Editing to King's Speech), and a good cast (no more goofing on Justin Timberlake until further notice!), I've got my new favorite Fincher film, surpassing Zodiac. And sorry Mr. Zuckerberg, I don't believe you. While there is some notable changes from fact to fiction, like some particular female names or the amount of Asian girlfriends around, I'm not buying your line about the only thing they got right was the shoes. Ok, so you probably don't have Arsberger Syndrome, based on the way Jesse Eisenberg plays you. But too many scenes with lawyers and statements being taken down for me to believe otherwise. But that doesn't mean you have to stay this person forever. The Social Network doesn't have to be your Citizen Kane. Let's see what happens as you get older. You just might age as well as this probable classic will.

1) BLACK SWAN- There's only one film like The Turning Point. A film where a ballerina can have neuroses, yet not have them hinder her career or personal life to the point of permanent damage. A film where the dancer doesn't have to go bat-shit nuts. The only other notable ballet film before this year was the Red Shoes, and well, throwing yourself onto train tracks doesn't exactly scream sane. But now we have Black Swan, the first horror ballet film, though the horror veers more to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane territory than say, Saw. I couldn't help but think of Fight Club on occasion, but I'm grateful Darren Aronofsky's film-making skill allowed me to forget that after a while.

Two sayings I've heard from the past came to mind while watching this. One, about how girls are generally more mature than boys, and mature at a faster rate. Two, about the old Jesuit statement, about how you give the Jesuits your child for the first seven years of his/her life, and you can have them for the rest. Meaning a strong value system will be there and will never be broken. Well in the world of Black Swan, put that girl in dance class, and you can grind the maturation process to a complete halt. And any Jesuit-type moral installation can be pushed aside, when you can have a dance master with complete control over young girls careers.

Having been around ballet a little bit gave me a positive bias toward Black Swan going in. Had a feeling of authenticity to it. A world not dissimilar to the real world; where if a dancer's tutu has fungus on it, a knife will be used to scrape it off and dancer receives said tutu that very night. A world where some troll from the New York Times can basically call the Sugar Plum Fairy fat, just because she has the audacity to weigh more than 115 lbs. The world felt real enough to support the dark fantasy (or not?) world that Black Swan throws us in. The world feels even more real with Vincent Cassel almost embodying a manipulative George Balanchine- genius/bastard type. Flawless acting, just enough credible dancing, and a script that forced you to think and pay very close attention to. Three great components to the best film of 2010.

Curious about any feedback. Later all.