The Batlord

No picture. What's the movie?

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Carpe Mortem

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV...14,317_AL_.jpg

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

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bob.

Freaked

you wanna see Bill of Bill and Ted....get covered in highly toxic green sludge and turned into a hideously disfigured mutant freak?

wanna see a feminist and a misogynist covered in toxic sludge and turned into Siamese twins?

wanna see a talking worm complain about not being able to wipe it's ass?

or how about Bobcat Goldthwait as a sock puppet?

this movie really has it all....disturbing 90s sociopolitical satire....hilarious mutant freaks at a freak show....giant,stoned Rastafarian eyeballs with machine guns....Mr T as a bearded lady....and a soundtrack that has both Rollins Band and Butthole Surfers

my suggestion is get really stoned and/or drop some really shitty blotter acid and watch this 3 times in a row....then go to a mall and laugh at people

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A kiss is the beginning of cannibalism.

Reach out, pierce the fine fabric of the sheltering sky, take repose.

Exo

Night Moves

Being a fan of Kelly Reichardt is hard. While I loved both “Wendy and Lucy” and “Meeks Cutoff”, I realize that they are both acquired tastes and not for everybody. The only reason this matters is that I want to see directors I like tackle bigger projects but in the case for Reichardt, she might not be given that opportunity. Her films are slow burns with usually ambiguous endings. That is like box office kryptonite in a country where explosions and animated musicals reign supreme. I never expected Night Moves to make a lot of money, nut I secretly wish I lived in a culture that applauds unique films that take time to set a mood and develop characters rather than spoon feed me action and back story. Night Moves ended up not being something I enjoyed as much as her previous films, but I applaud Reichardt for sticking to what she does best and digging out a unique niche for herself. Hopefully somebody in Hollywood will notice soon and give her some money to do something really special.

Her newest film, Night Movies, is set in the Northwest, Oregon I believe, where we follow a small group of environmentalists who are planning to make a radical change. I think some films benefit from not having that much of a backstory. This lets the viewer figure out things for themselves which I find important in film. We don’t really know much about these characters. We know they are passionate about the environment early on as we see Dena and Josh attending a screening of a pro environment film focused on the preservation of trees and rivers. Dena, played by a no longer little girl Dakota Fanning, shows her passion in the subject by speaking out during the question portion of the film screening. Later on Josh and Dena are driving down a baron road and we see them pass a deer that had been hit by a car. Josh pulls the truck over, examines the deer, realizes it is pregnant, and moves the deer off to the side to rest. It showed the compassion Josh had for living things and is a key scene to remember as the film progresses. Eventually they meet up with a friend played by Peter Peter Sarsgaard where they plan to blow up a dam and restore some balance to nature.

The story is pretty cut and dry but the thing that makes Reichardt’s films unique is how much she tries to in ordinary and frankly boring people a bit of mystery through atmosphere and delicately created photography. The film, which is mostly set at night, is shot beautifully through the use of long static shots with minimal score or music. The camera work on the night of the dam job is particularly impressive. The whole sequence had a distinct feel of realism to go along with the tension of the job. This was the highlight of the film for me. The movie trailer captioned that this was an “almost work of Hitchcock” and while I disagree with that statement I could really feel my heart racing during and after the Dam sequence. If you’re a fan of Hitchcock you know that feeling of tension when watching Grace Kelly snooping through Jimmy Stewarts neighbors house in “Rear Window” and seeing the neighbor come home and Stewart can’t warn her. I felt that kind of tension during that sequence in Night Moves. That’s a big plus for me.

The negatives didn’t ruin the film, but also didn’t help raise the film to a higher standard. I had trouble with the pacing at places as even I have my limits as far as slow burns go. I also needed a little more motivation and reasoning why these young people would risk their lives for their cause. I know why they were doing it but would have liked to know the reason each one of them personally had for jumping into the crime. The ending was also problematic for me as I honestly have no idea what it meant. I have theories, which is a good thing, but even my theories add up to anticlimactic results. It just kind of ended. You can stitch as much pseudo symbolism you want to a bad ending but for me it won’t work, and neither did it for Reichardt.

The acting in the film was subtle. Eisenberg really stood out to me but his character carried the most emotion with him so it was an easy choice for a standout performance. Eisenberg did a great job though as he is a gifted actor. Fanning, who reminded me I haven’t seen her in a film since she was like 12, carried her weight well but just seemed subdued to what she is usually accustomed to handling. Sarsgaard, who I find to be a completely underrated actor (see his work in The Killing) also does a fine job in a supporting role.

Overall the film was a little forgettable but had moments of brilliance and I really hope Kelly Reichardt continues working on her craft because there is immense potential with her. The film could have been a little more active due to the subject matter but events of pure tension and realistic suspense kept it from being boring to me.

3/5

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LastFM

SUPREME POO BAH MODERATOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

Engine

No need to keep that a secret, film fans all over the world feel exactly the same way. I was excited to read your review of Night Moves but I only kind of skimmed it b/c I've been looking forward to watching it myself and I don't want any preconceived notions in my head when I watch it. Will thoroughly read your review after I've seen it.

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Like an arrow,
I was only passing through.

Exo

Looking forward to what you think...



The Rover

A while back I wrote about the work of David Michôd. The man is responsible for one of my favorite films in the last ten years, Animal Kingdom, and after delving into his short film work and the movie “Hesher”, which he scripted, it’s safe to say he’s one of my favorite directors working today. Once I found out that The Landmark Sunshine theater in NYC was going to be getting the film a week before it’s widely released, I had to shoot down and see it. The auditorium wasn’t packed, but had a substantial amount of people in it. I made a joke to one of my friends that there were going to be women in there that were only present to see them some Robby Patt (Yes, I just made that up) and **** me were there actually a group of girls in there that were very keen on making that fact known. I couldn’t believe it. That’s dedication guys. It’s also quite sad. Those girls did not like the movie I’m sure. I however, loved it. All my waiting and anticipation paid off because the film ended up being exactly what I wanted, a challenging and laboring work that will be both loved and hated by audiences. That is my kind of party.

The story is set in the future but there are no flying cars or androids. Without being told what happened, Australia’s economy has collapsed and spun the country into a state of free for all lawlessness with the only form of “police” coming from either rogue military groups or paid mercenaries. It’s a baron wasteland even worse than what the country was before…a baron wasteland. We meet a man who is given no name throughout the film, played by the outright vicious and brutal Guy Pearce. His car is stolen and he is going to get it back. Along his chase of his vehicle he runs across Ray, the brother of one of the men who stole his vehicle, played by an almost unrecognizable Robert Pattinson. Those ladies must have **** a brick when they saw his face because the heartthrob vampire was transformed into a simple, dangerous, broken, and outright ugly kid. What follows next can really only be experienced in the cinema so I’ll leave that to you.

Disregarding my joke before, I have the utmost respect and fascination with the country of Australia when it comes to film. The work coming out of there in the last few years has just been outstanding. David Michôd has stood out among the crowd and with the completion of this film, totally formed a fresh pair of eyes on the way we watch movies. He sculpts his films with meticulous care and attention while also having the skill to leave the audience in a state of utter confusion. I’ll be honest, I fought with this film. I went from loving it, to questioning it, to being shocked, to being underwhelmed, to being overwhelmed, and finally floored by the ending. The crowd I was with seemed to be going through this battle with me. As the credits rolled, groans were heard, sarcasm was spoken, but some butts, including mine, were glued to their seats. The ending was a bow on top of a mystery box that I’m sure was on the laps and minds of everyone in the theater. Why was this man doing this…for a car? Why would he go through such hardship to get his ****ty four door sedan back. To be honest, I had given up hope that we would find out but the haunting final shot clued us in to what motivated a man with little to no motivation left in his life. It was a beautiful way to end a film that was so bleak and disturbing.

The film did have some flaws though. For one, the narrative was a bit clumsy in parts. That is, tense moments of horror and violence were often followed up with transition scenes that kind of killed the emotion of what just happened. There is also a terrible, terrible, use of a song in this film that just distracted and confused the entire theater. It may have been used to illustrate the mental capacity of Pattinson’s character, but it just seemed way too out of place.

Speaking of Pattinson, holy **** can that kid act. I have never seen a single Twilight film nor do I have any interest i ever seeing, but this kid is special. I remember seeing Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis” and being teased in what Pattinson could possible achieve later in his career. This film should be his break. If he was given a supporting actor nomination, I wouldn’t bat an eye. He perfected the thousand yard stare. He nailed an almost unintelligible accent. He stole every scene he was in and that was hard when realizing mostly every scene he was in was with Guy Pearce, who in my opinion gave the performance of his career. The both were powerhouses in a film with both power and unrelenting dread. They should be applauded for their work.

David Michôd crafted a beauty of a film. Each shot is crafted so well with full detail that it’s hard to not find the hell that the film was set in beautiful. The rolling hills played like a second character as we are reminded in nearly every shot that there is something bigger than us and that if we are not careful, we will fall. The score, when not being played on the radio by Pattinson, was eerie and dark as the violence carried out. It kept me glued to the screen waiting for what was going to happen next even though I was sure nothing was around the corner. It was an immersing and unflinching watch in where even if you don’t buy into the film, you can still be entertained.

Overall it was a slightly flawed, but nearly brilliant film by David Michôd. The last twenty minutes or so, including that ending, was some of the best film making I’ve seen in a long time. It’s a film that will be talked about and debated on whether it is too pretentious and whether or not it takes itself too seriously. Much like Animal Kingdom, which is slightly the superior film as of now, The Rover requires multiple viewings to fully digest but it’s a wonderful thing when something can get so much use.

4.5/5

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LastFM

SUPREME POO BAH MODERATOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

James

Great review Exo, been looking forward to that one for a while and even more so now.

Frownland

Samsara

Ron Fricke's latest film that's basically more of the same: long and gorgeous shots centred around a given concept. Even though we've seen this type of thing before, this is still a very pleasant viewing experience as essentially every shot in the film is fantastically composed and set to new agey music. I'm gonna go ahead and say that I think this is better than Koyaanisqatsi, but the latter has better music. Very beautiful film that I would recommend to fans of photography/camerawork/cinematography.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

The Batlord

Dude, somebody call Ghost Hunters. We have empirical evidence.

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Frownland

Lion King 1 1/2

Watched this with my five year old cousin last night, and loved it. I didn't really want to watch it but he did so I threw it on and was pleasantly surprised, especially since I thought the second one was pretty bad. It takes a look at the first film from the perspective of Timon and Pumbaa as the events unfold.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.