Words

Deb 5    Me 6

This is a very good story. I liked just about every aspect of the story. Didn't like the movie that much. Deb didn't like the acting. The main couple was just too runway ready. It's a beautiful people movie, white people problems. But its a very good story. They do some twists and there's some curiosities and there's all the ingredients of a good movie; it just wasn't anything to watch. It would be a good book. It would be better in words.

Chicken and Plums

Deb 2     Me 6

When it was over, the four of us walked out saying "whatta long movie". It was an hour and a half. The first few minutes were fine, you don't know any better and you just sit and watch. Then it takes a turn down a long and tedious road that seems to go on forever. I think the director realized how slow and uninteresting the film was going and added some neat vignettes to try to punch it up. But unfortunately they only served to un-necessarily complicate what was ultimately a nice little story. I don't know if its a French film set in Iran or an Iranian film spoken in French, but it felt kind of unsophisticated. They tried too hard to be odd. The casting was sort of cartoon like. The main dude was a kind of bug-eyed distant dude that I never really cared about. The others were no more engaging. Whereas "The Well Digger's Daughter" featured a beautiful and poetic French language, the sound of this French language was no fun at all; compare riding a nice bike on the sidewalk with a riding on a dirt trail with a flat.

The last third of the movie picked up. All the groundwork had been laid, all the wearisome development was behind us and the movie beautifully wrapped up. The last twenty minutes or so were brilliant. At least I thought so. Apparently the movie had drug the other viewers to a point of total disinterest and there was nothing that could save it. I'm not saying it saved it for me, just that the last few minutes were really good. It was long montages with appropriate music that moved the story along with speed and simplicity. Too bad they didn't apply that level of film making to the whole thing.

The Well Digger's Daughter

Deb 9    Me 10

The opening montage sort of set the stage for me. The first shots were quiet and ran long and set a nice pace for the rest of the movie to follow. The credits were in French and looked like random letters from a keyboard, some of these names were totally abstract, it was amusing. The players were all authentic in their look and actions. It takes place around the time WW1 breaks out. The set direction was incredible, everything, all the little details were carefully picked and placed in a most natural way (with the possible exception of what appeared to be a Bic lighter). And that's the way the movie moved, it just naturally cruised through the story. There were a few moments of sap, but they were moments. I really liked the people in the movie, they were all so earnest. For the most part it was good people in difficult situations doing the best they could given their time and place in the world. I might give it a 9, but I just enjoyed sitting there watching so it got a 10. The subtitles allow you to enjoy the melody of the French language. I have just finished a couple paintings where I had to pay close attention to trees and weeds, and this film was chock full of great flowing weeds under trees bent by the breeze. Stupid me, I thought I was going to see another movie and when this unexpected one started it just sucked me in and kept me captivated all the way through.

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Deb 10    Me 10

Never heard of it, knew nothing about it, totally dug it. The worst part of it is the title, and it was based on a play with an even worse name. I don't know what to think about that, but its a great movie. In my zeal to not give anything away I often don't say anything about the actual movie (the sign of a great movie review), and I'll try not to spoil anything here. 

A couple years ago there was a slew of movies that starred children, this has a young lady as the central character who is absolutely beautiful, skin like a copper kettle. It reminds a bit of "Tree of Life", but a bit more focused, less ethereal. There were a couple metaphors here that didn't quite work, but incidental. 

There's a lot of hand held camera work, some weird focus situations and POV shots that gives you the feeling being there. I didn't feel like I was watching a movie as much as I was somehow involved with the action. There's no Hollywood names here but the acting is superior, like "Rabbit Proof Fence", you just feel like you're watching it unfold before your eyes. Good music, interesting people and a good story. But the story telling is what grabbed me, I was totally sucked in and each new unpredictable scene brought more interest. We were both blown away by this little sleeper.

spoiler: Until the end of the movie I wasn't sure where this thing took place, it was right here in an ignored part of our own backyard. Still, there was something uniquely American in their staunch independence, ability to create their own culture in an unfriendly environment and reliance on booze. It really felt like the old microcosm.

Searching for Sugar Man

Deb 10      Me 10

I read about this in a magazine and it looked pretty great. It is. The slight problem for me was that I read about it in a magazine, so I knew what was going on. The film is designed in a way that assumes you know nothing and they slowly reveal the story to you. It sucks when you know the punch line so I won't wreck it for you. I can't really review it either (I guess I never really do) but I'll suggest you watch it if you like documentaries about people who affect a positive change in one way or another. There's been a few of these lately, Marley, Saint Misbehaivin', Ai Weiwei, they're outstanding and out there and this is among the best of them, kicking ass in both in film making and offering a unique story. Some of the people interviewed are among the most articulate people I've seen in any documentary; and they're construction workers and bricklayers.

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

Deb 8     Me 9

Here's a straightforward documentary about a Chinese artist/political activist. The film concentrates mostly on Ai Weiwei's political side but offers an intro to his art, and his art rocks. As an activist I am amazed. Amazed he gets away with as much as he does in light of others who have suffered under the fucked-up Chinese government. This is a pretty riveting story, well told with lots of interviews with the artist and his family. We have a real behind the scenes you are there footage with the feeling of complete access. I did get the feeling that this is a fairly biased piece, that there is some artistic support from the Chinese government and they allow him a longer leash because of the prestige that he brings the country. One of his jobs was creating the"birdsnest" for the '08 Olympics. This is a very interesting story and I'm happy to have some insights to this creative and dynamic character.

Neil Young Journeys

Deb 8    Me 2

I'm a fan. We go see Neil whenever he's in town. I like his willingness to experiment and stretch and grow. He has stayed valid in his themes, able to cross all kinds of cultural lines and stayed a consistent and reliable talent. The story of he and Jimi stealing a truck together is icing on the Neil cake. There have been several movies made featuring Young performances and they're all pretty weak. Not the performances, but the movies. That's a big distinction here, separating the subject from the movie, my score reflects that, Deb's doesn't. The last one I remember was a quickly put together affair at the Grand 'Ol Opry which featured out of sync footage, weird angles and a hat shadow hiding the performer's face most of the film. It was done by Jonathan Demme, who directed the outstanding Stop Making Sense and a total of four Neil Young performance movies. It looks like they reviewed the failures at the Opry and made some adjustments. The scenes shot in the car were now done in HD instead of HandiCam; it appears they actually did rehearsals and planned some shots and lit Neil so you could see his face even with his battered hat on. But they made some new mistakes. There were some useless camera angles, one was a "mic cam" that was appalling, offering way too much information about Neil's bridge work (no relation to the Bridge school). Even when the view is distorted by the singer's slobber they stick with the shot WAY too long. Where's the editor when you need him?

In the movie Neil drives around and revisits his hometown with his brother. This is a highlight of the movie. Here he shows some personality and almost grins a couple times. Everything sort of leads to the performance at Massey Hall in his beloved Canada. Nowhere do they mention that this a revisiting of the Hall, that he played a pivotal concert there in 1971. It seemed like an important point, the point of the whole movie, yet they never mentioned it or about anything else that would have added a story element to the film. A little context of who, what, where, why and when would have made this a much better experience.

Then there's the performance. Except for an occasional and faint sound of applause you'd think this was a sound check. There's no contact or interaction with an audience (either in the concert theater or the movie house) and no shots of the room to let you know this is a real concert. Near the end they let you in on it, but by then the entertainment ship had sailed. It is mostly new songs, I liked that, and the few oldies were appropriate. "Ohio" got special treatment with bold graphics and nice tributes to the victims; maybe other songs could've used this punctuation for consistency. I really liked the tonal range created by processors and he has developed Jimi's idea of turning feedback into a musical component and run with it. 

Another opportunity lost. I'd like to see the 1972 Neil Young directed "Journey Through the Past" reissued, I liked it.