The Filmcake

An interesting commentary written by Sarah (originally posted at Two-Headed Blog):

I had no immediate plans to go out and see the Sex and the City movie, but after reading Roger Ebert’s review, I now feel compelled to – if only to try and rebut some of his points. I need to know how much of his review is warranted criticism of a flawed movie, and how much is simply an adherence to dated gender stereotypes.

Something about the way this movie has been discussed in the media has created a little blip on my Sexism Radar. The level of smarminess and near-hostility that’s been directed towards the movie so far surprises me. Look at how Ebert begins his review:

I am not the person to review this movie. Perhaps you will enjoy a review from someone who disqualifies himself at the outset, doesn’t much like most of the characters and is bored by their bubble-brained conversations.

Okay, that’s fine. There have certainly been plenty of movies in which I couldn’t stand the characters. (I’m thinking of The Darjeeling Limited at the moment, although there have been many others.) But where Ebert felt the need to make such a disclaimer at the beginning of his review, one of the two male hosts of Filmspotting (one of my favorite podcasts) has been trying to get out of seeing the movie entirely. I think this might be the first time I’ve heard of a film reviewer try to get out of seeing a particular movie. Why this one? I’m sure there have been many other, much worse, movies. But, at least the Filmspotting dudes are bringing in a female film critic for a little “female perspective” on the movie.

Wait – there are female film critics?

As far as the Ebert review is concerned, I agree with his criticisms of glorified materialism. That was very much present in the Sex and the City series. And some of the over-the-top, gross-out gags he described – one character literally craps her pants, another has a compulsively masturbating dog – seem like they’d be more appropriate in a movie aimed at the traditional target audience of male teenagers. All of that is fair criticism that I very well might agree with after seeing the movie myself. But it are comments like these that catch my eye:

The most human character is Louise (Jennifer Hudson), who is still in her 20s and hasn’t learned to be a jaded consumerist caricature. She still believes in True Love, is hired as Carrie’s assistant and pays her own salary on the first day by telling her about a NetFlix of designer labels (I guess after you wear the shoes, you send them back). Louise is warm and vulnerable and womanly, which does not describe any of the others.

To me, this sounds like Ebert is suggesting that to be appropriately “womanly,” one must be warm, vulnerable and devoted to the idea of “True Love.” Really, Ebert, really? The worst of it, though, is reserved for Carrie Bradshaw’s longtime love interest, “Mr. Big,” who’s described as “unreal,” “passive” and “kinda slow:”

As played by Chris Noth, he’s so unreal, he verges on the surreal. He’s handsome in the Rock Hudson and Victor Mature tradition, and has a low, preternaturally calm voice that delivers stock reassurances and banal cliches right on time. He’s so … passive. He stands there (or lies there) as if consciously posing as the Ideal Lover. But he’s … kinda slow. Square. Colorless. Notice how, when an old friend shouts rude things about him at an important dinner, he hardly seems to hear them, or to know he’s having dinner.

To me, “passive” is pretty much in the same adjective group as “vulnerable.” Is Ebert criticizing one of the main male characters for being what the women of Sex and the City are not? And would a more “manly” response at the described dinner party have been to stand up and deliver a punishing blow to the insulter’s jawbone? This part, most of all, really got me: “He stands there (or lies there) as if consciously posing as the Ideal Lover.” Substitute “she” for “he” and you have a sentence that aptly describes the typical female role in the typical male-oriented film.

There are plenty of things one could reasonably criticize about Sex and the City. As I said, it can be a little materialistic for my taste – although some secret little part of me always did kind of lust over Carrie’s Manolos and Jimmy Choos. I also think the series went on a season or two too long. But it was (and I think this is what many male critics don’t get) one of the few shows that portrayed women as strong, assertive, independent people. Perhaps even more, it portrayed female friendships as interesting and worthy of attention. We’ve been inundated over the decades with portrayals of male relationships (there are even entire genres devoted to male bonding – westerns and war movies). So why the hostility towards a television series, and subsequent movie, that does the same for female friendship?

Actually, another one of my criticisms of the series is that in the end, it still (quite predictably) boiled down to love, marriage and children for most of the main characters. I don’t think it did quite as much as it could have to buck some of those gender stereotypes. With that being said, in a world where there seem to be fewer and fewer interesting roles for women in mainstream film and television, Sex and the City has been much appreciated. And I, for one, am looking forward to the movie. Even if I have to go by myself to see it.

June 21, 2008 – Diamond Ballroom – Oklahoma City

Not sure what sort of horror “celebrities” will be there besides Charles Band himself. As Sarah mentioned, any event that includes hot chicks in cages among its draws is probably an event meant to appeal to others besides ourselves. Still, I think you go to something like this as much for people watching as for the actual show/merchandise.

Sarah and I attended the first Full Moon Horror Convention & Film Festival in Little Rock last year.  Night Frights had a booth at the convention (where Sarah writes factoids). We unfortunately missed out on the Zombie Walk and spent more time with the Film Festival than the Convention but still had a lot of fun. No word yet on the 2008 version of the Convention/Film Festival.

The Lucas/Spielberg creation of Indiana Jones has returned to the big screen. I certainly have Indy on the brain (the Indiana Jones theme won’t leave my head…damn you, John Williams). But perhaps you’re more Han Solo than Henry Jones. If so, you might want to check out The Secret History of Star Wars:

Covering a period of over four decades, you will discover how George Lucas got his ideas for the original film, how Darth Vader was made into Luke Skywalker’s father in 1978 and forever altered the arc of the story, what happened to the infamous third trilogy in the series and how the prequel stories came to be. The book also reveals the style and method of Lucas himself and how his personal life affected and shaped the story, for better and worse. This is a book which challenges many legends surrounding the series and places the films in a new light.

Oh, and it’s free and available for download as a PDF file.

(Slashdot via Jessika)

May 19th – May 26th

Godless In America – This Sundance Channel documentary told the story of the curious disappearance and murder of American Atheists founder Madalyn Murray O’Hair. Very interesting. And sad. I knew nothing of this story beforehand but am so glad that I know of it now.

Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – We had DVR’ed the Indy Trilogy last week in anticipation of the new installment. But, Friday night after reading about the original movies in the Tulsa newspaper and perusing Indiana Jones trivia, we broke down and bought the 3 DVD set at Best Buy. It was a fun, nostalgic amusement park ride to watch these again. Like a lot of these movies I grew up with, I mostly remember them from their runs on television. It’s always interesting to see these same movies again on DVD, unedited and in widescreen. The movies really hold up more than twenty years later, partly due to their being throwbacks themselves. And, Indy is just such a great action hero…a dustier James Bond.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – We saw this one in one of the Grand Auditoriums at the Warren Theater. I have to say the look of this theater certainly added to the excitement of seeing the new Indiana Jones movie. It was the perfect place to see that sort of summer popcorn movie. That being said, I’m antisocial enough to admit to being annoyed by all the redneck families and children running around everywhere. Nevertheless, Indiana Jones is precisely the type of movie you’re supposed to see in a crowded theater. So, I am more than willing to suffer. Before too long, Sarah and I will be watching art house movies in one of the empty smaller screens towards the back. So, we should enjoy the Grand Auditorium while we can.

Anyways…the Crystal Skull lived up to my expectations. It was a lot of fun. While nothing can live up to the Raiders of the Lost Ark in my book, this new one maintained most of the spirit of the first three installments. Shia LaBeouf was good. Cate Blanchett was awesomely hammy. The whole alien slant actually worked for me because of the Lucas/Spielberg canon. If you’re a fan of the first three, or of summertime popcorn movies in general, you won’t be disappointed with this one.

May 12th-May 18th

Blades of Glory – Meh. Okay, Talladega Nights on ice. But instead of the brilliant John C. Reilly and Sacha Baron Cohen, you have the barely serviceable Jon Heder. I laughed a few times. Will Ferrell can still make me laugh. A little.

Escape From Suburbia – A decent documentary about peak oil and how three “families” react. It’s just a tad strong on the hippie vibe for my taste, but not too bad (nowhere near Go Further, eck!). I agree with a lot of what these people have to say–in the importance in moving towards a more sustainable society–I just wish they’d sound a little more, I don’t know, rational when they talk about why and how people need to change their lifestyles.

Green Porno. It just doesn’t get better than this. Isabella Rossellini made eight short films that demonstrate the sex lives of various backyard creatures. They’re gross, hilarious, and just plain awesome.

Sarah and I caught Rossellini on Letterman last week where she talked about making these short films and screened the Praying Mantis video. Besides the Mantis film, be sure and check out Snail and Fly.

(Cross-posted on Two-Headed Blog)

I’m hoping this blog helps me to stay out of the usual ruts. I want to explore all different kinds of cinema. I don’t want to watch the same types of things over and over. I don’t want every movie I watch to come out of my Netflix queue, or every movie to be out of the same genre, or every movie to be one that was well-reviewed by A.O. Scott. I also want to get out more–to experience movies outside of my living room every once in a while.

To that end, here’s one possibility for this weekend:

This is the 11th year that IAO has invited filmmakers to screen their short films of 15 minutes or less. As the Film and Video Committees largest and longest running event, it always includes a diverse range of stories, techniques and styles.

At this year’s event, winners of the 24 Hour Video Race (sponsored earlier this year by IAO, Living Arts of Tulsa, and the Philbrook Museum) will be screened.  At the conclusion of the screening, both an Audience Choice Award and Committee Choice Award will be presented. Also, the Linda Jaeger Honorarium awarded to a graduating high school senior planning to study film and video in college is announced that evening.

The fun begins at 7pm.

May 5th-May 11th

The Nun (La Monja) – With FEARnet (and perhaps the horror genre) it’s hit or miss. You hope for good horror movies or bad horror movies. What you fear are horror movies that are neither. That’s the way La Monja was for me. A killer nun. That should’ve been enough. But, it just didn’t do it for me. The movie was fun enough, but it always seemed to be lacking. They should have just made the movie around the elevator (El Ascensor?). Or maybe it would have been scarier in Spanish.

The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) - I quite liked it. Sarah thought it way too melodramatic. Certainly, we both agree that Pan’s Labyrinth should’ve won the Foreign Language Oscar.

Lake of Fire – Absolutely chilling. The so-called “pro-life” zealots are so much scarier than the procedure itself. And to think these people still surround us, especially in this part of the country. Chilling. I enjoyed the scope of the film–that the footage spans back to the 90′s and is presented in black & white gives it a more even perspective. Still, I would have liked to have seen more of the less rabid opponents and supporters.

It’s been over a month since my last post. It’s high time I returned to this experiment–this blog–to see where it can take me. I haven’t been doing a lot of posting over at 2HB (it seems to be more of a one-headed blog at the moment). I’m not sure if I’m tired of the whole blogging thing, temporarily uninspired, or what. But, I did want to compel myself to come back to Filmcake, not so much for the sake of the blog but as a conduit for growing as a student of film. I’m thinking about movies all of the time. But perhaps blogging about movies will get me thinking about movies in different ways. I don’t know. Like I said, this is an experiment.

Moving forward, I’m going to try a couple of new things. First, I’m just going to try (force myself) to blog more regularly. A few times a week. Or daily, even. Second, I’m going to try and do a weekly recap of the movies I saw that previous week (Week in Review). So basically just a list of those movies with maybe a short 1 or 2 sentence thought about it. If that leads to some longer review or discussion, then all the better.

That being said, Sarah and I finally made it to Warren Theater. The weekend before last we went to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It was nice. The decor certainly let you know that it wasn’t your average multiplex. The tackiness worked. But, then I don’t go to a multiplex for the ambience, I go for the movie. Still, we need to see a movie from a balcony seat in one of their Grand Auditorium theaters to get the full experience.

Also, I purchased our tickets for deadCENTER yesteday. This year they’re offering discounts for students and for those who order early. So, we actually saved $35. I’m really excited. I’m sure when it rolls around I’ll be doing some cross-posting here and at 2HB.