The Oscars 2015

Please see below my educated guesses.

Mejor Película Birdman - Birdman
Mejor Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu - Birdman
Mejor Actor Eddie Redmayne - La Teoría del Todo
Mejor Actriz Julianne Moore - Siempre Alice
Mejor Actor De Reparto J.K. Simmons - Whiplash: Música y Obsesión
Mejor Actriz De Reparto Patricia Arquette - Boyhood: Momentos de Una Vida

Mejor Película Animada - Los Boxtrolls
Mejor Guión Original - El Gran Hotel Budapest
Mejor Guión Adaptado - El Código Enigma
Mejor Película De Habla No Inglesa - Ida
Mejor Diseño De Producción - Interestelar
Mejor Fotografía - Birdman
Mejor Vestuario - Maléfica
Mejor Montaje - Boyhood: Momentos de Una Vida
Mejores Efectos Visuales - El Planeta de los Simios: Confrontación
Mejor Maquillaje Y Peluquería - El Gran Hotel Budapest
Mejor Cortometraje Animado - Buenas Migas
Mejor Edición De Sonido - El Hobbit: La Batalla de los Cinco Ejércitos
Mejor Mezcla De Sonido - Whiplash: Música y Obsesión
Mejor Banda Sonora - Interestelar
Mejor Canción 'Glory' - Selma: El poder de Un Sueño
Mejor Documental - Citizenfour
Mejor Cortometraje - The Phone Call
Mejor Corto Documental - White Earth

Gabriel Ripstein’s debut film “600 Miles” wins first feature award at Berlin

Gabriel Ripstein’s debut film was awarded the first feature award at Berlin’s 65th Film Festival. Although this is Gabriel’s first film, he has been around the film industry for quite some time. He is the son of one of Mexico’s most celebrated Directors, Arturo Ripstein. Although Arturo Ripstein has mainly worked in the Mexican film industry, his son Gabriel ventured to the north (like his other fellow directors: Cuarón, Del Toro and Iñárritu), to tell a story that touches upon the relationship between Mexico and the US, as well as some other subjects.

The award comes with a €50,000, which is to be split between the producer and the director of the winning film.

I have not seen the film yet, but the trailer sure looks promising.

Guillermo Del Toro’s Crimson Peak

Yesterday, Guillermo Del Toro debuted the trailer for his new film, Crimson Peak. The film stars Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chastain. It is a great little treat for fans of horror. Although this is a Hollywood film, it seems that Del Toro managed to infuse some of the characteristics he usually reserves for his efforts made in Spanish. This new films seems to have some more thought-provoking elements combined with big entertainment, and it also looks like it will be very scary.

Objective views on film?

When I decided to revive my blog, I went back and read some of my previous posts. In doing so, I realized that some of the views I had a couple of years ago were not in line with the views I hold now. It was not only a question of having similar shades within the same general view, in some particular cases, my views were diametrically different.

I know people change over time, and my opinions and thoughts now are different from the ones I had five or ten years ago. Nevertheless, I had the misguided belief that somehow my views on film were more solid and stable than my whimsically prone thoughts. I do not mean that my thoughts are whimsical, but somehow I held my views on film to a higher standard.

This is something I should have known. I have seen clues in my experience as an audience. In my younger years I just to watch all the new releases at the theater rarely making an exception. Nowadays, I am a bit more selective in what I decide to watch, either at home or at the theater. I thought this was due to my lack of free time, and that certainly has something to do, but maybe the most important reason is that my views on film do change. I now know this.

Reading Scott Tobias’ piece “When once isn’t enough” at The Dissolve put into words some of these thoughts I was having.

The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders

Yesterday’s post about “The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders” was very well-received by some of the readers of this blog. Needless to say, this made me very happy and I kept thinking about the trailer. I even watched it again a couple of times marveling at how it captured the essence of a Wes Anderson film while managing to be extremely funny. It is like a film lover’s dream. The only drawback is that is not a feature film.

Doing some research about the short-film, I stumbled upon a very detailed technical making-of piece by the Director of Photography, Alex Buono. It is a very detailed account of the process, and it also contains a couple of interesting side stories about working with SNL.

In doing my research, I also found out that this team was the same team behind the short film “Djesus Uncrossed”, which you can watch below. “Djesus Uncrossed” tries to do to Tarantino, what “The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders” does to Wes Anderson. Although it has some equally brilliant moments, I think it feels more disconnected and does not reach the audacious execution of “The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders”.

Wes Anderson and horror

With the recent Oscar nominations, I thought it would be appropriate to look back at a wonderful send-up SNL did of what a horror movie directed by Wes Anderson would look like. I am a big fan of horror film, and Wes Anderson would probably the Director I would least expect to make a horror film. That being said, I would really love to see The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders.

Regarding the Oscars, I think the award for best Director is between Richard Linklater and Alejandro González Iñárritu.

Paul Thomas Anderson is another one of my favorite Directors. I remember watching Magnolia on my birthday at the theater with three other viewers in attendance. It is one of my favorite film-watching experiences ever. A few months later, when I received my first paycheck working as a lawyer, the first thing I did was buy the deluxe imported 2-discs DVD edition of Magnolia. I was hoping to get a commentary track by P.T. Anderson, but sadly it was not included. There was, however, a documentary about the making of Magnolia. I watched it several times, trying to get a sense of the Director behind Magnolia.

Back in the day, I used to track down the DVDs with commentaries in order to learn about films and filmmaking. It was not easy. Nowadays you can listen to these commentaries online. But another resource that I enjoy as well are podcasts. Recently I listened to Marc Maron’s WTF podcast with Paul Thomas Anderson.

It is a funny, interesting and insightful conversation. PT Anderson is a Wunderkind of American filmmaking. If you love his films, or if you love films in general, I highly recommend you to listen to it.

Kubrick and GTA V

Stanley Kubrick is one of my favorite filmmakers. The title of my blog probably gives that away. His movies are intense dissections of characters and always go beyond what you would expect. If there was ever a master of filmmaking, it is Kubrick. Up to this day, I have not watched all of his films, the reason being that I want to save some of his films for a special occasion. I am yet to see The Killing and Paths of Glory.

The reason I bring this up is because I recently stumbled upon a reenactment of some of the scenes in A Clockwork Orange made entirely by using Grand Theft Auto V. The video is great and goes to show that Kubrick’s influence still remains intact.

Have a look.

Tusk (2014)

Tusk is not a date movie. In fact, my wife claims she is still traumatized because of it. Although I did not like the movie upon first viewing, I find myself occasionally thinking about it since then. I still think it is not a good movie, but I am glad Kevin Smith made the movie.

I have always liked Kevin Smith’s movies, but I am aware not everyone likes his movies. Thinking of Clerks and Mallrats brings back memories of my teenage years. I have not watched them in a long time, and if I did, I might find out that they do not hold up as well as I remember them, but then again, few movies do.

Tusk is weird movie, and it is also uneven in tone. Nevertheless, I do not think Kevin Smith was striving for anything other than that. It is a movie based on a silly story told in his popular podcast. During the podcast, the story was played for laughs, and that is pretty much all you can do with a story like this. During the short writing process before it became a movie, Kevin Smith added several references to his podcast network, and included everything from comedic elements, relationship drama, horror and thriller elements and a detective character that seems from a different movie. Finally, his movie ends the way you would expect from a movie containing all of this.

In the end, the movie is not for everyone. Just like my wife did not like it, many out there did not like it either. However, the movie did revitalize him and now we can expect a few more movies from him. I look forward to seeing them.

A Good Marriage

A Good Marriage is based on an interesting premise but the movie never quite delivers on its promise. It is a shame, because it could have been a great movie. This is because the movie was done better not so long ago when David Fincher delivered his adaptation of Gone Girl. Both movies share similar ideas and both serve as a commentary on the institution of marriage, but Gone Girl does it better.

This is not to say that A Good Marriage does not have some good moments, which is based on a short story by Stephen King. Joan Allen is as good as she typically is and Stephen Lang delivers a solid performance.

Some of the problems with the film are the repeated use of the imaginary scenes, which after seeing them once, we can easily anticipate them. Also, the ending comes too abruptly, leaving the viewer wanting more and confused.

Unfortunately, Stephen King’s film adaptations rarely fare well, and even if this is better than most of the Stephen King’s adaptations, it still fails to make a lasting impression.

Best of 2014

The best films I watched in 2014, in no particular order are:

The Raid 2

Expansive in its scope like the Godfather II.

The Guest

A great 80's throwback thriller with a great performance by Dan Stevens.

Red Army

A riveting documentary about hockey, politics and more that is as relevant now as it was 30 years ago.

Locke

A one-man show which shows why Tom Hardy is a great author.

Captain America The Winter Soldier

A comic movie that transcends its comic book origins, and it is a lot of fun.

Interstellar

An epic film and experience.

Gone Girl

David Fincher is alive and well.

Dawn of Planet of the Apes

The franchise that keeps surprising.

Snowpiercer

What Elysium should have been.

Nightcrawler

Taxi Driver in L.A.

Other movies I was unable to watch, but have potential to end up on my 2014 list:

The Babadook, Birdman, Jodorowksy’s Dune, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Only Lovers Left Alive and It Follows.

Reslts at the Oscars

Well 11 out of 24 is not great. On the upside I wanted The Hurt Locker to win Best Picture; I just did not expect it would. Having Kathryn Bigelow win Best Director was also a nice touch (James Cameron and Quentin Tarantino already have Oscars), and she did a great job directing The Hurt Locker. I also liked that the Academy finally acknowledged horror films. 

The Oscars

Even though this is nothing but an exercise in futility; here are my predictions for the Oscars. Let’s see how in tune I am with the politics of the Academy.

Mejor Película - Avatar

Mejor Actor - Jeff Bridges por 'Crazy Heart'

Mejor Actor de Reparto - Christoph Waltz por 'Inglourious Basterds'

Mejor Actriz - Sandra Bullock por 'The Blind Side'

Mejor Actriz de Reparto - Mo'Nique por 'Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire'

Mejor Película de Animación - Up

Mejor Dirección Artística - Avatar

Mejor Cinematografía - Avatar

Mejor Diseño de Vestuario - Nine

Mejor Dirección - Avatar James Cameron

Mejor Documental - The Cove

Mejor Cortometraje Documental - China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province

Mejor Edición/Montaje - Avatar

Mejor Película Extranjera - Un Prophète France

Mejor Maquillaje - Star Trek

Mejor Música Original - Avatar

Mejor Canción Original - The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart) 'Crazy Heart'

Mejor Cortometraje Animado - Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty

Mejor Cortometraje - The Door

Mejor Edición de Efectos de Sonido - Avatar

Mejor Sonido - Avatar

Mejores Efectos Visuales - Avatar

Mejor Guión Adaptado - Up in the Air

Mejor Guión Original - Inglourious Basterds

The Three Amigos: Alejandro González Iñárritu

Alejandro aka “El Negro” (as his friends call him) is one of the three Mexican filmmakers spearheading Mexico’s Cinema to worldwide recognition. The other two being: Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro. Together they are a force to be reckoned with. Call it a clique if you may, but their intimate collaboration with each other’s projects as well as their continuous support for new emerging filmmakers has proven to be successful in drawing attention to a movie industry that has been on the map from time to time, though never managed to breakthrough, until now.

Alejandro started his career as a DJ for one of Mexico’s biggest radio stations and soon moved to directing commercials and short-films. His first feature length film splashed its way out of nowhere into the world in 2000 and quickly garnered great critical reviews and box-office success.

Amores Perros (2000)


A kinetic film in which three stories converge with a car accident in the streets of Mexico City. The film employs a gritty raw handheld photography that seems too commonplace nowadays, but was far from commonplace back in 2000. The naturalistic-traditional music scoring the film is carefully blended with pop music, bringing a great balance to the story and the atmosphere of the movie. One of the great moments of music in film is the brilliant choice of bringing out of semi-obscurity one of Nacha Pop’s hits “Lucha de Gigantes” scoring a passionate scene between Gael García Bernal and Vanessa Bauche intercut with a brutal beating of Gael’s character brother, Octavio (who also happens to be Vanessa’s character husband).



Powder Keg (2001)

In the heels of Amores Perros’ success, Iñárritu followed with a short film for the overly ambitious BMW film project, Powder Keg. El Negro continued experimenting with the hand-held camerawork, raw kinetic power punching photography and violence to deliver one of the best shorts in the series.



11'09''01 - September 11 (2002)

The following year he once again contributed to a collection of short films centered around 9/11. The film collection as a whole was an uneven collection and Alejandro’s work was just a step above a novelty.

21 Grams (2003)

In 2003, in his first US film he further deconstructed narrative by presenting a story out of any chronological order by pushing the audience to take a leap of faith with the characters and their tribulations. The gamble paid off, and his deconstruction of the story proved to be a successful attempt at exciting storytelling.

Babel (2006)

After producing one film per year, Babel took 3 years to produce. Iñárritu’s most ambitious project to date showed the evolution of a filmmaker by tackling something that seemed impossible. His same preoccupations and ideas (a true sign of an auteur) were painted upon the broadest scale possible, the whole wide world. A story revealing the interrelation of all human being and their actions, no matter how insignificant they might appear.


To Each His Own Cinema - Segment “Anna” (2007)

Another uneven but very well intended compilation of short films, this time celebrating Cannes 60th Anniversary. A very good short-film about the emotional power of Cinema set in a film theater.

Anna - short film by Alejandro González Iñárritu
Uploaded by vahea. - Classic TV and last night's shows, online.

Alejandro González Iñárritu is one great filmmaker and his films keep getting better. I can’t wait to see Biutiful.

Das Leben der Anderen aka The Lives of Others (2006)

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s film is sheer brilliant storytelling. Hollywood just to be the best storyteller, but it appears they have lost their touch (don’t worry, I still love Hollywood). Today, as my own little homage to the 20^th anniversary of the fall of the wall built by the German Democratic Republic, I decided to finally check out The Lives of Others. It was on my to do list for quite some time but I just didn’t find the opportunity to see it. I should’ve listened to my friend Violeta and dropped whatever I was doing and watch it. I finally watched it, and thank God I did, since it is one of the best films in the past decade.

I love movies and yet they rarely move me. Some people watch a movie and they live the movie. I envy them so much because I’m always aware it is a movie and I can’t find myself submerging into the story as they do. In the case of The Lives of Others, I was submerged in the story from the get-go.

I knew the basic premise of the story and I also had an idea of what to expect, but the movie was so much more than that. The photography is deceptively sober. The director decided to mask the gorgeous photography in favor of not overshadowing a character-driven piece. Even though it might not be an epic story as Schindler’s List, this one is rooted in the characters and their relationships. Ulrich Mühe shines in the role of Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler, a secret police agent conducting surveillance on Georg Dreyman, (Sebastian Koch, who was also good in Verhoeven’s Zwartboek aka Black Book) a playwright and his girlfriend Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck).

What starts as another job for agent Wiesler slowly turns into admiration for Dreyman, and slowly Wiesler is living vicariously through Dreyman. Dreyman gives Wiesler an opportunity to live a life he never had. Through Wiesler’s journey we share into his voyeuristic mission and we learn Dreyman is a good man, who although not happy with the regime, is not conspiring against it. He probably would have not taken any action against it had it not been for Wiesler’s intervention.

A man of principles is good, but is only as good as his principles. Wiesler “lived” his principles more than anyone in the regime, but Dreyman’s life that some things don’t fit within his principles. We feel sorry for Wiesler; he just wants a connection with someone. Unable to find that connection he becomes Dreyman’s best friend even though they will never talk to each other.

The Lives of Others is one of the best films in the last decade, how can you make it better by remaking it?

12 Notable TV Shows

As I mentioned in a previous post, short films are becoming a contender for our entertainment by strongly fighting it off against movies. TV on the other hand, has been fighting off movies since its very conception. Nevertheless, film still remains the paramount entertainment and arts vehicle, notwithstanding TV’s latest string of incredibly high quality products. Big shot film stars and film directors are no longer afraid of venturing into TV’s domain and yet TV hasn’t captured Film’s mystique. But our TV is not our regular father’s TV, or for that matter our own TV from a few years ago. TV is no longer watched the way it was originally intended, instead you can rent an entire season and watch episodes back to back during a weekend. One of TV’s strengths is that it allows exploring a “universe” in a more detailed way, as opposed to Film’s limited 2 hours. TV, in the same way as theater, allows fine-tuning a show due to the availability of immediate feedback.

The X Files (1993-2002)

The Granddaddy of them all! The X Files was a unique show while being ahead of its time. Most shows where TV, The X Files attempted to be cinematic, and it paid off. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that TV had it not been for Chris Carter’s baby (The X Files). A show that had both the single standing (TV type) episodes and the story-arc mythology (Film type) episodes. It also tried its hand at comedy, horror, mystery and thriller throughout its long successful run. The bar was set high with The X Files.

Firefly (2002)

I watched this show because I kept reading about how great it was. The Brown Coats (Firefly fans) passionately defended this show ‘till the end, and then some. When something can spur this kind of passion it makes you wonder why. When I first watched it I didn’t really understand why it was so special. It seemed like a cool show, but not the outstanding show I had read about. As time has passed, I now get it. It was a pretty smart show and a true labor of love by Joss Whedon and the rest of the crew and cast. Well-drawn characters that you relate to and care for were only part of its success. It was sadly short-lived, but if Serenity (the movie) is the last we will see of these characters, I will remember them fondly.

24 (2001-?)

A show with a gimmicky premise that I was not expecting to last. 24 greatly influenced the way we’ve come to think of our heroes, definitively imprinting Jason Bourne and James Bond redux with some raw energy. Keifer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer has carried the show, but a lot is owed to its staple aesthetic and its excellent writing and directing. Some story lines seem a tad repetitive, but it still remains as exciting as the first season.

Dexter (2006-?)

Dexter (right in Latin) is such a great show, but I still can’t imagine how someone pitched the idea for it. Luckily for us someone decided it was a good idea and decided to give it a shot. A story about a serial killer of bad (deserving?) guys, who kills following his own strict due process. This show could’ve gone so wrong in lesser hands, but the sheer brilliance of Michael C. Hall has always steered it in the right direction. One of the best TV title sequence as well.

Veronica Mars (2004-2007)

Another fan boy favorite, but with just cause. Other than the fact that Kristen Bell is gorgeous, she portrayed a pitch-perfect postmodern Humprey Bogart’s Sam Spade. A show that showed it was possible to make film noir with a teen backdrop (a precursor to the brilliant Brick by Rian Johnson). If only they hadn’t cancelled it. A great song for the title credits.

Lost (2004-?)

What can you say about Lost that hasn’t been said already? It is a great show most of the times, but we will have to wait for the resolution to see if it is as great as we think it is.

Gilmore Girls (2000-2007)

I have mentioned my love for the Gilmore Girls in the past, but as I’ve said it before, I don’t think wittier pop dialogue sparring can be done better than this; as if written by an estrogen-packed Quentin Tarantino. We even got to see one of the best Tarantino’s homage. Rory as Gogo Yubari, how cool is that? Very, I’d say.

Californication (2007-?)

Not content with having one great show, David Duchovny delved into a different kind of beast with Hank Moody’s character. Breaking his Fox Mulder typecast, Californication could be described as testosterone-packed Sex and the City, or as West Coast’s reply to NYC’s Carrie Bradshaw. Jim Morrison said it best, “the West is the best”.

True Blood (2008-?)

A show about vampires as if we needed one. But we did, and True Blood was the perfect dosage of V with bite. This is not your average 90210 Twilight fangs. One of the best title sequences ever, setting perfectly the mood for the show.

Weeds (2005-?)

If someone had a difficult time greenlighting Dexter imagine greenlighting a show about a suburban mom pushing drugs to provide for her family after her husband’s death. Could this be proof that the craziest premises “just work”? It seems like it. A show that started great but had a small drop in the quality for a few seasons. The latest season looks like it recovered some of the past glory. It is always great to see Kevin Nealon and of course Mary-Louise Parker.

Mad Men (2007-?)

A show about an ad agency in the pre-Kennedy’s assassination 60’s. I don’t really know how to describe this show without making it sound boring, but trust me, its not. Just watch the Hitchcockian title sequence.

     

House M.D. (2004-?)

Did we need another medical drama? Apparently we did. House brought a breath of fresh air to a tired old TV genre. Part Sherlock Holmes part grumpy old man; House is probably one of the coolest characters ever. Everyone wants to be House, or at least everyone wants to watch his show.

6 Notable Short-Films

Short-Films are becoming increasingly important in our modern age of entertainment. The supply of entertainment widely exceeds the demand while content providers have to compete for our precious time. In this regard, short-films cater to the movie hungry audience who due to time constraints are unable to enjoy a feature length movie. In a short-film you can package everything you would normally have in a film, but in a condensed manner and sometimes even more successfully than in a film. Feature length movies usually have lots of constraints (ie. time, structure, money etc.), while short-films enjoy more freedom in most of the cases. This advantages, however, have yet to promote short-films into mainstream entertainment outlets, but it is just a matter of time.

Spider by Nash Edgerton

A very interesting film made by two Australians. Even though Australia does make some really good feature length films (ie. Chopper, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, The Proposition etc), I believe that their film industry should take a cue from their short-film industry. Spider tells a story efficiently and builds its characters into real, believable people. It takes just a few minutes for us to know the characters and care for them, while some movies can’t accomplish it in their 90-minute run.

I Love Sarah Jane by Spencer Susser

A horror film with a heart. This is a film you wish you could see more of, and a feature film treatment would be optimal to learn more about the characters and their world. Set in an apocalyptic world with zombies (we only see one but we assume it is zombie infested) we follow the lives of a young boy alone in a world who clings to his love for Sarah Jane.

Crossbow by David Michôd

This film is a very good example of VO narration done right. VO narration is constantly used as lazy filmmaking when the story can’t be told through actions or as an unimaginative last resort when the production can’t deliver something either because it is too expensive or too complicated. In this short-film the VO blends in perfectly with story and with the idea of the viewer sharing in the voyeuristic experience.

Down the Road by Alejandro Marquez

A short film made for the Ford Mustang campaign (I am a big Mustang enthusiast) that highlights how a good film sometimes has to tackle something bigger than the sum of its parts. In this short-film we can grasp the filmmaker’s intention of trying to encompass some grander metaphysical issue using a Ford Mustang as an excuse.

Sin Sosten by Rene Castillo

A Mexican short-film in which no word is uttered and yet we understand the dynamic workings of a crowded “cosmopolitan” neighborhood.

7:35 de la Mañana by Nacho Vigalondo

A short musical-film in black and white and it works! Musicals are usually thought to be big colorful productions and yet those preconceptions don’t apply to this short-film. A great ending as well. You can turn on the CC subtitles in English.

Boxing Helena

Three years after Pedro Almodovar’s ¡Átame! comes Jennifer Lynch’s directorial debut, Boxing Helena. A film mostly written off as the poor man’s David Lynch, I however, found it very interesting. The film shows Jennifer’s limitations as a Director, mainly due to her inexperience; nevertheless the ideas behind her story and her passion for it are palpable throughout. Boxing Helena owes a great deal to David Lynch, but it also appears to be indebted to Almodovar and Hitchcock. This is only natural, as others influence every Director. The interesting thing about Jennifer Lynch is that she filters all her influences to create her own distinctive style, even though she has a tall order to fill.

Last year I saw Jennifer’s second film, Surveillance, and I was really impressed by it. She has clearly matured as a Director, and keeping some of the dark themes she has managed to streamline her independent vision, which she hinted in her opera prima. With her second film, directed fifteen years after Boxing Helena, her directing skills seem a la par with her discourse. I don’t mean, however, that Surveillance is a perfect movie.

The symbolisms in Boxing Helena may be obvious but that doesn’t take away merit to how strong they are. The objectification of women and the pursuance of an obsession have rarely been followed to its logical conclusion in the way it is done here. Spoiler ahead. The ending does feel like Jennifer was holding back (maybe due to the theme being way ahead of its time), but it also seems to work within its “safer” solution approach (which has been labeled as a cheat). But really, where can you go from where the movie was heading? I still agree the road not taken would’ve made the best ending.

The first time I heard about this movie I was intrigued by the premise of the story, which sounded as a novelty rather than a full fletch film (but movies have been made with less!). Kudos to Jennifer for pursuing such a difficult idea and following it through.

Julian Sands role kept reminding me of Anthony Perkins in Psycho, and sadly I thought Julian Sands couldn’t keep up with that. On the other hand I was really taken by Sherilyn Fenn, whose performance was really good (and she looked beautiful), in a role that was really difficult to play, both because of the theme of the movie and the character (it even scared Kim Basinger). Nevertheless, Sherilyn’s promising career was truncated mainly due to this film.

The movie could’ve been done better, but who could’ve done this movie? I’m glad Jennifer decided to continue Directing, even if it took her 15 years. It is certainly not easy to follow in your father’s footsteps, and even less if your father is David Lynch, but I believe Jennifer Lynch is a Director in her own right.

Johnnie To’s Election

The crime genre has been explored ad nauseam, particularly within the Hong Kong movie industry (the Hong Kong industry seems to have lost its domination of Asian Cinema giving way to other industries, mainly South Korea). Western films through staple efforts by Coppola and Scorsese have also explored it: The Godfather, Goodfellas etc. Nevertheless, the Hong Kong crime genre has been influential; proof of it is Scorses’s remake The Departed, based on the highly successful Infernal Affairs. Recently however, it seemed that other than a few noteworthy films, the genre was recycling themes and ideas without having new grounds to explore. Election is proof that the genre still has life and shouldn’t be disregarded just yet.

Although I was not familiar with Johnnie To’s work (I had seen Mad Detective and wasn’t impressed) I had heard many positive reviews of his oeuvre. I was particularly excited about Vengeance, which debuted last year in Cannes, even thought it had not fared well with the critics. The idea of French crooner Johnny Hallyday, playing a chef seeking revenge over the death of his family sounded appealing to me (maybe it reminded me of Steven Segal’s Casey Ryback in Under Seige which I must admit is a guilty pleasure of mine). I also heard Quentin Tarantino championed Election but precisely because of that I decided not to delve into it, fearing it would be mostly style over substance.  Because of this, I was expecting a completely different movie, something more in the realms of a B-movie. I was so wrong. Election is a subtle study of Hong Kong’s society and culture through the eyes of a Triad Organization echoing some universal political ideas.

The story centers on the election for the leader of the Wo Sing Triad. Two candidates on the opposite end of the spectrum want to be the leader of the Wo Sing for the next two years; Lok (Simon Yam) the cool headed and Big D (Tony Leung Ka Fai) the uncontrollable hot head.

On a side note and totally unrelated matter, Lok’s calm demeanor reminded me of SNL’s Obama Plays it Cool.

The movie does have some interesting discussions about what would be the desirable characteristics of their leader in order to continue expanding the business while at the same time remaining stable (desirable qualities as well for CEO or a President). As we can see in the movie, the Triads have been an Organization alive for hundreds of years (even longer than some political parties or even political systems) and a big reason for their success is their quasi-religious following of traditions.

On the other hand, the Police aware of their inability to fight the Triads have decided that they role should be limited to ensure the least amount of violence and bloodshed, which can only be achieved through a swift transition of power within the Wo Sing.

This sets up the scene for the struggle for power between the two “candidates”. The way they fight is somewhat reminiscent of a chess game. The action elements of the film are minimum, yet we do get to see a few minutes of action through a more “realistic” eye.

Election seems to take some of its cues from The Godfather, but using a wider canvas. Instead of focusing on the family, albeit all of the Wo Sing members are brothers, it attempts to describe not only the nucleus of society (the family) but society as a whole. That successful attempt raises the bar for future crime films, which although not a novel theme, it does approach it in a way that seems fresh.

Johnnie To proves that the Hong Kong cinema is still relevant and still has a lot to offer.

Sitges 2009

So I got the scoop on Sitges from my good friend Violeta. She said the festival this year was great although she missed me, and to tell you the truth I also missed going to the festival with her.

The highlights according to her were La Horde, Carriers (already released in the US), Zombieland (excellent zom-com of which you can read some of my thoughts here), Accidents Happen, and her favorite this year, Palermo Shooting.

Of those, I must admit I urged Violeta to see both La Horde, Zombieland and Park Chan Wook’s latest, Bakjwi aka Thirst (which she couldn’t see because it premiered the previous weekend). She, on the other hand, was fixed on the idea of watching Palermo Shooting, which for some reason I wasn’t feeling it, because even though I recognize some good work from Wim Wenders I also believe he is a very pretentious Director (yet not as pretentious as Peter Greenaway) and doesn’t always deliver. In any event, Palermo Shooting with its punctual metaphysical study of death was the best of the bunch according to my friend. The way she speaks of it spiked my interest and I will most likely check it out.

 La horde, which is the French foray into Zombie apocalypse, is one of the films I am most excited about. The French have shown that they know horror, and it was just a matter of time before they stepped into Zombie terrain. From what I was told it seems like sort of Assault on Precinct 13 (John Carpenter) meets Dawn of the Dead (Zack Snyder) with a French flavor. Exciting right?

Carriers (Infectados), already released in the US, was also a great success. The Writers and Directors, Àlex Pastor and David Pastor, who happen to be two Spanish brothers, attended the presentation of their movie. A movie that is the materialization of their lifelong dream; is a story about survivors of pandemic contagion. The movie is rooted in well-drawn characters and a carefully imagined world that seems just around the corner, and for that is much scarier. The Pastor brothers also benefited from the financial backing of a US production company, they are certainly a promising duo.

Regarding Paranormal Activity (which I’m yet to see) was not really my friend’s cup of tea but she did recognize that it made her uncomfortable at some moments. Geena Davis was really good as usual in Accidents Happen. Van Diemen's Land, a movie centered on cannibalism was flat and gory. And ahh, as I told you before, this movie has its own on-going legend. Apparently it was too hard on a young woman who happened to pass out during one of the movie’s particularly realistic scene (which I won’t spoil!).

The festival itself had a great affluence of fans and was perfectly managed by an experienced committee and crew; after all it is the 42th edition. They also did something pretty cool, as they decided to offer zombie make-up to the fans. Imagine walking around the beach with zombies trying to eat your brains as if it was a Romero film! It is a pity I was not there to get me some of that make up! But this is what I would like as a Zombie, and you can also take a look at my friend with some Italian Zombies. Brilliant!