Films Viewed (December 2011)

Seeing a preview of Young Adult was a nice alternative to the Mount Vernon Monument Lighting hoo-ha. A woman returns from the big city to try to re-kindle a romance with her high school sweetheart. So what if he is happily married and anew father? So what if she is an alcoholic train-wreck of a human being? Cruel and grim and very in tune with the status updates of my fellow class of 1994 high school graduates.

Chelsea Girls was a rare treat, an Andy Warhol film dual-projected at the Creative Alliance thanks to Matt Porterfield. Various Warhol superstars interact in improvised scenes like they are on some alternate reality speed-drenched soap opera. Not for the short of attention span, each scene plays out in one take, the audio alternating to give emphasis to one scene over another as the two projectors unspool.

I missed the recent screenings of Diner at the Charles, so I substituted with Netflix Instant, where it happened to be available at the time. Although I am certain I have seen the film before, it felt new. Local Baltimore guys pull together and fall apart as adult life emerges in 1959 Baltimore. As excellent cast kept loose and improvisatory. It is amazing to see how different early 1980s Baltimore (posing as 1959 Baltimore) looks in comparison to 2011 Baltimore.

Tin Men, another in a series of Barry Levinson's "Baltimore films" screened via the Maryland Film Festival, was somehow totally new to me. Two aluminum siding salesment engage in a game of oneupsmanship that eventaully involves the affections of a wife. Great to see. A local like myself takes umbrage at Danny DeVito's attempt at the Baltimore accent, but it is a minor point.

After much anticipation. Fassbinder's World on a Wire finally played Baltimore. A man is embroiled in a computer scandal involving virtual realities. Made in 1973, the film anticipates many concerns of contemporary Science Fiction film and literature. A three and a half hour subtitled German film... that right there should tell you whether or not you are on board.

Grondhog Day concluded the second series of Gunky's Basement on a high note. A film that has the unfailing ability to put me in a better mood. Bill Murray gets trapped in the same day, learns lessons. What's not to like?

Elite Squad was on the list for a while, having never played Baltimore. A man who is a member of an elite Brazilian mercenary squad approaches retirement and burn-out as the chaos of the favela play out around him. The film has been criticized for being too right-wing and definitely takes the collegiate leftists to task repeatedly. Remains an adrenalized thrill ride nonetheless.

My Week with Marilyn was a delightful dishy cream-puff of a movie, an account of one man's interactions with Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) and Sir Lawrence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) over the course of the troubled production of the film The Prince and the Showgirl. Brought to life by excellent performances throughout.

Z was a film I have been meaning to see for some time. A politically assassination plays out in a corrupt Latin American country. Manages to feel both torn from the headlines of its time (the late 1960s) and wickedly satirical. Much credit must be given to director Costa-Gavras for pulling this off.

The Adventures of Tintin 3D began an epic run through the holiday season's films. Tintin buys at model ship at a flea market and adventures ensue. Fun, frenetic and in three dimensions.

I caught Le Havre right before it closed at the Charles. A kindly reformed reprobate takes in an immigrant boy on the run. Retaining some of director Aki Kaurismäki 's previous filmic bite while remaining upbeat. A deadpan fairytale.

I read Of Mice and Men for the first time in the hopes of helping my students with Sophomore English, a year I have never taught. This is a well-known and well-executed adaptation of the work. It was good to finally sit down and watch it.

Mission: Impossible began a game of catch-up with the (current) #1 movie at the box office. A great twisty thrill-ride from the years I was away from the screen. The De Palma-crafted action sequences were top-notch and sometimes ridiculous.

Tuesday, After Christmas was a Romanian film about a man caught between his wife and his lover over the holiday season. Long takes and superb naturalistic performances kept this one afloat. I look forward to continuing to explore contemporary Romanian cinema.

I kept the disc of The Sleeping Beauty so long it wound up on Netlfix Instant. A dream-like loose re-telling of the Sleeping Beauty story from directoer Catherine Breillat. Way weirder than Bluebeard while still remaining engaging.

Shame was a "date night" movie that proved to be a nice bracing alternative to the usual holiday cheer. A sex addict spirals as his sister arrives to complicate his life further. A stunningly crafted film that makes me want to see the director Steve McQueen's first film. This Steve McQueen, not that one.

Mission: Impossible II was, for me, the most "eh" of the four films. Director John Woo can pull off a good action sequence without a doubt, but the rest of the film was too mired in nü-metal American era trappings. Worst use of Ving Rhames in a Mission: Impossible movie.

I much preferred Mission: Impossible III with all its J.J. Abrams coordinated spectacle. Phillip Seymour Hoffman turned in a great "bad guy" performance and the MacGuffin was finally recogized as a MacGuffin. Best use of Ving Rhames in a Mission: Impossible movie.

I am a sucker for films like Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Victorian-era setting, buddy cop bromance movie dynamics, that hint of British sophistication... good times.

Seeing Fincher's take on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) wasn't too redundant. I am of the original Swedish films only in my understanding of the phenomenon. Once we got past that "gother than goth" title sequence it was off the races, this time around the relationship between Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander more emphasized. One of these days I need to read this thing. The copy I bought while waiting for an appointment with the back surgeon is still staring back at me from my bookshelf.

Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol completed my run through the series. Director Brad Bird brought a new sensibility to the series and made the transition from animation to live action admirably. I think I was suffering from a bit of "action sequence fatigue", but overall the film was a good time.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was a raucous 1950s musical comedy starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. A beyond iconic performance by Monroe, although I think I preferred Russell's performance overall Another dipping of the toe into the genre-spanning work of revered director Howard Hawks, who one day I am going to sit down and really look at career-wise.

War Horse capped off the cinematic year. When I told people I was going to see it, they made a face I am now calling the "War Horse face." A two and a half hour epic done in the old David Lean/ John Ford style. Boy meets horse, boy loses horse... will boy regain horse? I sometimes surprise myself with my ability to be engaged by such sentimental material.

Key
The Charles
The Rotunda
The Senator
The Landmark Harbor East
Suburban Multiplex/ Video Americain / Creative Alliance
Netflix Instant/ Netflix DVD
(Please note: Whenever possible, all releases are linked to their pages on the Netflix website)
Total: 23 features (14 in theaters)

Films Viewed (November 2011)

Went the Day Well? was that rare propaganda film the transcends its intent enough to become a valid film experience. A British town faces a stealthy Nazi invasion. Essentially, the message is "Report Suspicious Activity," but I still had a good time.

Beats, Rhymes, and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest was a fond look back at the golden Age of hip hop coupled with the stresses and realities of being a part of this innovative and influential group. We watch as they implode yet again. One of those things I missed in theaters (it's Baltimore-area run was only a week or so in a County Cineplex) and waited impatiently for on DVD.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) was a prime slice of vintage popcorn thrillride set in a decaying and bankrupt New York. A subway train is highjacked, a ransom is demanded, the clock ticks. Satisfying on many levels. Grimy, gritty and wise-ass till the last freeze frame.

The Seduction of Mimi was screening in Toronto when I was there a few years ago. I filed the title in my filmic memory bank and finally managed the time to rent and watch. Earnest worker Mimi is a man of honor in this savage lampoon of hypocritical Italian morays. Lina Wertmuller has won me over, and I look forward to seeing more of her films.

Martha Mary May Marlene has divided viewers, some finding it unaffected and not very satisfying. I found it to be a taught psychological thriller worth my time, an evocation of a nightmare anchored by Elizabeth Olsen's performance. A woman returns from a mysterious disappearance into a commune/cult with much damage to attempt to unravel.

Hugo 3D was such a direct hit on me that I feel like an unreliable praise-giver. A young boy lives in the walls of a train station while unraveling mysteries that have to do with his father and the birth of cinema. Charming, beautifully shot... a movie I want to live in.

Lilya 4-Ever tells the brutal story of a Eastern European girl's descent into prostitution. Bleak, bitter, no holds barred film-making that never felt like Exploitation. A little too plodding, (the situation the woman lives in is so godawful that the reasons she would choose this life become clear quickly) but altogether effective once you settle in.

Immortals 3D was other eye-popping Tarsem Singh film, this time viewed in a Dundalk movie theater with mediocre (dark) digital projection and a terribly blown out sound system. A movie-going experience as close to watching a film on bootleg DVD in a theater as I have yet to encounter. The plot was a miss-mash of sword and sandal epic and Greek mythology. Mickey Rourke goes predictable over the top as a the villan. I say "eh".

Melancholia is why I go to the movies, to see and experience something new. Kirsten Dunst's character's wedding party, already a disaster, concludes at the beginning of a much bigger global one. Lars Von Trier captured the mood of my Fall inadvertently in film. Armageddon: now more than ever.

The Leopard was a sumptuous feast of a film, still going strong two hours into the run-time. An Italian man of means and privilege who has lived by the old codes tries to adjust to the new ways. He remains stuck between eras as the modern state of Italy is born around him. Burt Lancaster is used effectively and well. One of those "on the list" films that the Charles theater revival series finally presented an excellent opportunity to see.

Dune capped off the month. As it is a film I have seen many times and know a great deal about, I thought of it this way this time around: the first half is an excellent example of David Lynch on a big budget, all stops pulled. The second half is like a very long preview for the film that could have been appearing on the screen for the next several hours had Lynch had final cut. Always a great film to dive into; many thanks to the Gunky's Basement crew for doing it again.

Key
The Charles
The Rotunda
The Senator
The Landmark Harbor East
Suburban Multiplex/ Video Americain
Netflix Instant/ Netflix DVD
(Please note: Whenever possible, all releases are linked to their pages on the Netflix website)
Total: 11 features (8 in theaters)

Films Viewed (October 2011)

Shoot the Piano Player remains the prime Truffaut that I don't quite get, more a playful mishmash of genre styles than his other movies from that era. A formerly famous musician in exile gets caught up in various gangland misadventures and a tangled romance. I think I just prefer when Godard did this sort of thing, which would probably really bug Truffaut considering their complicated relationship and rivalry.

Le Rayon Vert, brought to me courtesy of the Charles theater revival series, is a mid-period Rohmer, a director I have only encountered via his "Six Moral Tales" series. A difficult woman flops in and out of various encounters and situations over the course of a ruined summer vacation. I love any film that dares question the surety of summer fun in the sun, and I found the films modes of alienation to be very engaging. Just call me Mr. Sunshine!

I was really happy to see In A Better World despite having never heard of the Oscar-winning Danish film. Masculine roles are explored via the story of two troubled boys and their distant, complicated fathers. Perhaps made more resonant thanks to the nuanced perspective of a female director and my professional experience as a teacher of dudes.

Videodrome was a classic key Cronenberg I had yet to encounter, a film ahead of its time and a look towards our frightening future of image consumption. A surreal dream of a film that rides the line between horror and Neo-noir skillfully until finally giving in to gore. Another quality Gunky's Basement screening.

It is amazing I have not seen The Grapes of Wrath before now. A digitally restored VHS copy has been floating around my personal possessions for years, purchased when I began teaching and found a crate of the novel among my potential texts for my first teaching assignment. Like a lot of things that year, I never quite got to it. A great film to see now.

Take Shelter is already clearly one of my films of the year. A family man struggles with apocalyptic visions in workaday Ohio. The masterful choices make the film powerful and effective, leaving the viewer guessing until the very end. Michael Shannon has never been more perfectly cast.

Dracula (1931) was a nod to the season and a diverting choice off the Netflix Instant queue. Tod Browning's version of this classic tale appears aware of how campy it is, and the whole thing is just so creaky, ridiculous, and over-the-top that a modern viewer can't help but hear the MST3K gang riffing on it in their heads. I prefer Whale's Frankenstein from the same year for having a bit more meat on its bones in terms of subtext and atmosphere. I don't think I've ever seen the film in its entirety until now, but the text has been referenced so many times it felt entirely familiar, especially the first twenty minutes.

Key
The Charles
The Rotunda
The Senator
The Landmark Harbor East
Suburban Multiplex
Netflix Instant/ Netflix DVD
(Please note: Whenever possible, all releases are linked to their pages on the Netflix website)
Total: 7 features (5 in theaters)

Charm City Cineaste Four Year Anniversay: 2007-2011

Just a quick note to mark the beginning of a fourth year of this blog.

CCC has become a strange sort of feedback mechanism for me. Through it, I am able to quickly share my thoughts about films I've seen and have a handy reference to aid my filmic memory. Did I see Rachel Getting Married? Yes, I did. In January of 2009.

I remain happy with the current format as a writing exercise. I know sometimes I don't feel like writng these capsule reviews, but I give it my darnedest. We live in a culture of instant communication and the format is a nod to that. At the same time, the lag on my posts means a film is often out of theaters by the time you read my thoughts. But maybe I am just the tipping point to putting it on the queue for later viewing.

Speaking of the queue, how about that Netflix, huh? What seemed like the happy future of film viewing has become quite the mess, current indicators being that Netflix is going to stay the course for now. I remain a Netflix subscriber, but I know millions have left the service, and there were some involved conversations in my household over our subscriber status, especially during the Quikster fiasco.

I still believe that streaming remains the future of film watching, but I am no longer sure what form that future will take. So many things we feel comfortable with (the video store, the movie theater, the television/cable channel) just don't seem to presage what is coming. In the meantime, Video Amercain is offering membership deals for anyone who dumps their Netflix account in a movement they are cheekily hashtagging as #occupyvideoamericain. It seems there is still some fight left in this beloved Baltimore institution, and I hope my travels will take me there more often in the coming months.

So, here we begin another year of me seeing movies and briefly writing about them. My focus on film exhibition in Baltimore is gone, but my current life/work situation dictates that unless the film is delivered to my doorstep or available instantly, a short walk to the Charles theater on a Saturday morning or Friday night is about all I have time for these days.

Thank you for reading and I hope I can continue to be of service.

Films Viewed (September 2011)

Attack the Block was a rollicking good time, a perfect film to close out the summer. A rag-tag band of British public housing toughs contend with an alien invasion. Well executed and an eerie echo of what happened in England this summer.

Cluny Brown was a return to more classic Charles theater revival fare. The films remains unavailable on DVD and was Ernst Lubitsch's last completed film. In pre-World War II London, a plumber's niece falls for a Czech refugee. Smart, sophisticated, and tonally askew. Jennifer Jones gives a memorable performance, her odd energy quite modern for a film released in 1946.

Rango was an odd duck plucked from the Netflix queue. An example of the kind of film I used to see in the movie theater when I went to the movie theater more often. Johnny Depp voices a chameleon who goes on an epic journey through the desert. As the wiki page says, a "computer-animated Western comedy-drama film." A visually stunning, smartly crafted crowdpleaser.

I was warned away from Cedar Rapids during its local bow, but I still found value in it. I think you have to have spent a lot of time around Midwest corny earnestness to really enjoy this film. A small town insurance agent loses his naivete in the big bad city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa during an insurance convention. A strong ensemble keeps the film afloat. No masterpiece, but I did not find great fault with it.

Elevator to the Gallows was another classic finally checked off the list thanks to the Charles theater revival series. Moody and prone to almost improvisatory excursions, I found the film to be live up to its reputation. A contract killer gets stuck in an elevator following a job, but there is much more to the story. The Miles Davis score is also notable.

Good ol' Starship Troopers capped off the month thanks to the Gunky's Basement crew.. The debate continues over the film, but I continue to find it a dark satire on the dangers of Fascism (a good article on this is here).

Key
The Charles
The Rotunda
The Senator
The Landmark Harbor East
Suburban Multiplex
Netflix Instant/ Netflix DVD
(Please note: Whenever possible, all releases are linked to their pages on the Netflix website)
Total: 6 features (4 in theaters)

Films Viewed (August 2011)

Cowboys & Aliens employed an ampersand in its title. I saw it with my father. We both agreed it was "all right."

"Proud Flesh" was a short film made by two experimental filmmakers and musicians (Chiara Giovando and Jenny Graf Sheppard) which featured several of my friends as actors. A Western of sorts. I was happy to have an opportunity to see it so many years after its completion, as it has not been commercially released and was only screened locally a few times. A trailer can be seen here.

Beginners was a bit too precious for its own good at times, but had a compelling, (based on a true) story at its core. A man discovers his father is gay after the death of his mother, continues to have problems emotionally. It was a pleasure as always to watch Melanie Laurent and Christopher Plummer on the screen. I enjoyed director Mike Mills' art films, and have watched his progression into more mainstream fare with interest. Netflix confuses him with the bass player for REM, but that is not him.

Jaws remains a good time at the movies. Having seen it so many times as to have borderline memorized it, one is allowed to notice smaller details, especially when a 35mm restored print is on the big screen. The film also marked a welcome return to the Charles theater revival series, which will continue into the fall (for details, go here).

Tabloid was a lesser Erol Morris documentary, but still told a bizarre and compelling story comptently. A beautiful but unstable woman falls instantly in love with a young Mormon man. Things get decidedly complicated (and tabloid-worthy) from there.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. has title-punctuation problems but was otherwise a sharper variety of romantic comedy from an indie directing team. Of all the rom-coms this summer, I chose this one. Great cast and pleasingly complicated. The ending was improbable, but I must forgive it that flaw.

During a trip to Chicago, I saw The Future. Here, it is clear that is a movie. Miranda July manages to stay true to the vision and voice of her debut film, but takes things in a much darker and despairing direction. A couple in their mid-thirties realizes that they are in their mid-thirties. Let us just say, in some ways, the film was a direct hit on the creeping dread of someone born in 1976. Should be playing at the Charles theater in the coming weeks.

The Man Who Fell to Earth was another Roeg to check off the list, and was not the space fantasy I expected. Far from Ziggy Stardust: The Movie, what transpired on screen was much more realistic and cynical. A perfect snapshot of mid-seventies rock star excess and post-Watergate cynicism/paranoia.

As Hurricane Irene approached, I spent a weekend watching various Netfilx items of interest. First up, Jim Jarmusch's break-out film Stranger than Paradise, which reminded me of the attitude and interests of the art and music underground denizens I encountered in the 1980's, when I was just getting started out trying to be cool. Two NYC toughs go on the make with a newly-arrived Hungarian woman. Gritty yet mannered, cool to the touch and deadpan, the film marks the beginning of the Jarmusch style, which I have greatly admired for some time.

Pale Flower popped on and off the Netflix Instant as the storm raged outside. A tough-as-nails Japanese Noir from a director I have yet to explore. A hardened killer recently released from prison meets a highborn lady looking for excitement in the gambling dens of early 1960s Tokyo, and the two begin a run through the urban jungle. Guess how it turns out? Not too well.

Bananas is an early Woody Allen film. Things are schticky and Mad magazine anarchic as Woody's protagonist gets mixed up in the politics of a Latin American country. Fun, diverting, and about to expire on the Netflix Instant queue, so why not?

Trash was also about to expire in more ways than one. A junkie hustler wanders through the New York City of the 1970s and becomes involved in various capers and misadventures. Andy Warhol "produced", Paul Morrissey directed. So trashy and insane and non-acted it became somewhat compelling. Here is an article about other underground films that have been streaming on Netflix Instant.

Something Wild was a successful 1980s re-invention of the romantic comedy road movie from director Jonathan Demme. Three actors (Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, Ray Liotta) are so on-point and in their moment it is astounding to watch. A professional man is "kidnapped" by a wild woman who asks him to pretend to be her husband. A joyride that soon spins out of control. Blink and you will miss a cameo by Baltimore's own John Waters.

Key
The Charles
The Rotunda
The Senator
The Landmark Harbor East
The Music Box Theater(Chicago)
Suburban Multiplex
Netflix Instant/ Netflix DVD
(Please note: Whenever possible, all releases are linked to their pages on the Netflix website)
Total: 12 features, 1 short film (7 in theaters)

Films Viewed (July 2011)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon was an awful film.

Frownland was a paranoid, claustrophobic low budget nightmare of the highest order. It truly achieved something very sweaty, creepy, and mean. A loser continues losing both his mind and his ability to survive as he stumbles further and further down the rungs of New York City.

I became interested in Videocracy due to the recent Rupert Murdock mess. What has happened in Italy is truly frightening, a country ruled by a television/media cult of personality. The film itself was flawed and got going slowly, but improved over the course of its run-time.

Page One: Inside the New York Times, although not revelatory, was a diverting hour and half probing the seeming end times of the newspaper business. I particularly enjoyed/despaired over the coverage of the looting of the Tribune Company by Sam Zell and his cronies, which was the last nail in the coffin of my subscription to the Baltimore Sun.

Uncles Boonmee who can Recall his Past Lives popped up suddenly on Netflix Intstant, being available for streaming before it was released on DVD. Another intriguing meander through the filmed worlds of Apichatpong Weerasethakul. This was a film I was conflicted out of seeing at this year's Maryland Film Festival.

Captain America: The First Avenger won me over for being made "correctly" to someone whose sensibilities were formed as a child in the 1980s. Managed to covey a simple story well. Like with Pokemon, you gotta see'em all when it comes to the Marvel movies.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two was the end of a saga I began following with mild interest with the release of the first film. I'm such a dilettante that I skipped one of the films and only made it to the first Quidditch match in the first book. Others were clearly much more invested in the phenomenon. I just like watchin' a a good wizard movie, I guess.

Terri had a brief a six-day run at the Charles. A film that captured the sad awkward misery of middle school/ early high school perfectly. A young misfit passively rebels as his living situation deteriorates. Notable performance by John C. Reilly as a well-intentioned lunkhead of an assistant principal.

Rabbit Hole was a dark journey of grief and loss made somehow "safe for filmic consumption. All about moments of emotional acting. A couple approaches middle age and ponders the tragic accidental death of their young son. The Netflix envelope sat there by the television for a long while before my girlfriend and I were ready to plunge in.

Key
The Charles
The Rotunda
The Senator
The Landmark Harbor East
Netflix Instant/ Netflix DVD
(Please note: Whenever possible, all releases are linked to their pages on the Netflix website)
Total: 9 features (5 in theaters)