The Filmcake

September 5th – September 11th

The Thomas Crown Affair — Holy crap, I love Faye Dunaway. She sported a great wardrobe for sure. And she looked amazing.

I loved the gamesmanship between Thomas Crown and Vicki. I liked how they were kind of set-up as intellectual equals. There was sexual tension, to be sure, but there was also just a battle of intellect going on. I never quite figured out whether or not the two characters were really falling for each other or whether they were just using that sexual tension to their advantage so that they could win. Was Vicki really coming on to Crown during the chess game, or just trying to throw his game off so she could win, or both? Also, when she cries at the end, it was unclear to me whether she was crying because she lost this person she was falling in love with or if she was crying because she lost the “game.” That ambiguity was quite appealing to me. My favorite of our McQueen marathon so far.

Not well-crafted, but still wanted to get up some of the stuff that I’ve been watching, in addition to a lot of TV (Parks & Recreation, Louie, etc.):

Rise of the Planet of the Apes & Another Earth — Saw these together a few weekends ago. I expected to enjoy Rise of… and love Another Earth. I ended up quite impressed with the former and just liking the latter. I still have a crush on Brit Marling, but it was the other movie that won me over.

The Sand Pebbles — The second in our Steve McQueen marathon. I liked, but didn’t love, this one. I thought McQueen was great. And it looked beautiful. The river and dock/shore shots were beautifully captured. And they did an excellent job with the stuff on the ship. The interior of the ship felt real, unlike in some movies where the inside of a ship just looks like a fabricated set. And a war film released in 1966 is certainly saying something (intentionally or not) about Vietnam, and America’s overall foreign policy, but I haven’t yet developed any conclusive opinions on what this film is saying.

Cracks — Directed by Ridley Scott’s daughter, this one was another take on the all-female boarding school. There are mean teachers and jealous girls and inspirational teachers. Nothing ground-shattering.

I Saw the Devil — An interesting revenge film from South Korea. Very misanthropic. Kind of weird and sick and beautiful in that S. Korean sort of way.

August 1st – August 14th

Badlands — Terrence Malick’s first feature film. I think I still like the esoteric later stuff better. But you can certainly see where Malick was finding beauty in a film like this, which is certainly more narratively straightforward than later works. Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen are wonderful. And upon looking back, the violence that takes place, while misguided, certainly starts from an accepted place.

Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench — A small indie musical delivered in black and white 16mm. Very entertaining. A good find.

Soldier in the Rain — The first in our new Steve McQueen marathon. For me, this film was all about the love that comes out of a good friendship. It doesn’t have to be romantic or sexual to still be love. There’s a man’s love for his dog. There’s the unlikely friendship between soldiers of different ranks and backgrounds. And there’s the unlikely friendship between a teenager and an older man. I think one could argue, if they wanted to, that Eustis and Metzler had their own kind of friendship. The kind which is best, in the case of the military, not asked or told.

I liked how the film steadily progressed from something silly (that first scene was silly and a bit off-putting) to something with some emotional depth. The friendships all seemed unlikely at the start. But by the end, the emotional stuff coming from Slaughter’s death seemed completely earned. Sure its still a trifle of a film. But a nice early Bromance to be sure. A good start, I thought.

The Adjustment Bureau — Based on a story by Philip K. Dick, this was a fun scifi-ish diversion. Matt Damon and Emily Blunt are wonderful as the leads. The chase scene at the end was a lot of fun. But the denouement was a bit too preachy and over-explained. A little more mystery would have been preferred.

Apparently, I’ve been spending more of my time lately watching TV rather than movies. Luckily there are plenty of great shows readily available. I can’t truly evaluate whether or not we are in the Golden Age of Television, but things seem pretty good.

I was glad to see Twin Peaks show up on Netflix. I had some vague memories of it from the original run and from the pop-culture ether. It’s just about everything one would expect from an early 90′s Lynchian soap opera cum crime drama. It’s abstract. It’s weird. But never pointless. I think the series would’ve been better if Lynch had been able to let things play out more leisurely on his own schedule. Instead, we confront both Laura Palmer’s killer and the second season’s evil antagonist too early. That being said, I cannot imagine a show like this making it onto television today.

Next it was onto the first and second seasons of Friday Night Lights. A teenage soap opera, the excitement of football, and a realistic depiction of a marriage all captured with a wonderful cast. Who could ask for anything more? As with another teenage high school drama–My So-Called Life–I find myself mired in some confusion about whether or not I relate with the kids or the parents. The obvious answer is that relate to both. But I somewhat disturbingly find myself strongly relating to the teens as well. It’s a little nostalgic, a little longing, but mostly the result of good storytelling. I love this series.

Then in a single weekend I knocked out all of Party Down. This was a two-season comedy series that premiered on Starz. It had some of the people from Veronica Mars and Freaks and Geeks. There’s a very strong cast led by Adam Scott. The series reminded me of Arrested Development. A not quite as funny but still pretty good series.

Now that Star Trek is on Instant Viewing, I’ve got plenty to keep me busy.

July 11th – July 24th

Hobo With a Shotgun — Like Machete, this movie came about after its Grindhouse mock trailer. This one wasn’t in the Grindhouse duo of films, but was a winner of Robert Rodriguez’s contest for such trailers. It was okay. It works in that grindhouse-y place. It’s very blood splattered. But I preferred Machete quite a bit to this one.

Source Code — Duncan Jones’ follow-up to the wonderful Moon. This is another sci-fi film that plays with reality and our sense of self. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a man (Colter Stevens/Sean Fentress) who must relive eight minutes of a train bombing in order to ostensibly save the city of Chicago from more destruction. Gyllenhaal is really strong here. And Jones impresses once again.

McCabe and Mrs. Miller — This one seems to take the revisionism a tad bit farther. In the previous films, we see a revisionism in place whereby the hero isn’t always the cowboy or the US soldier and the enemy isn’t always the Indian or outlaw. Here we are introduced to a character who is certainly a gambler but may also be a gunfighter. But it doesn’t take long to figure out that he doesn’t walk the walk. And he barely talks the talk.

The women, although almost all still whores, fare a little better here. At least they seem to be somewhat in control of their destiny. They seem at least as entrepreneurial as the men.

McCabe wears out his welcome. He is quite the annoyance. But he’s not a bad guy. He’s just not cut out for the west.

This one really made me want to revisit Deadwood. The building of the town reminded me of the first season of that show (from tents to finished buildings). Then you’ve got the bar with the gambling and a brothel. And the Chinese opium den.

July 6th – July 10th

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger — A decent, but far from great entry from Woody Allen. At this point, Allen’s films are like pizza and sex. Even when they aren’t great, they’re still pretty good. There were some good ideas and good characters here, but they didn’t quite go as far as they could’ve. In many ways, this one almost seemed like it would’ve played better as a stageplay.

Swingers — A classic. And one that, sometimes unknowingly, gets referenced in our household on at least a weekly basis. Now that’s money.

Mega Python vs. Gatoroid — Debbie Gibson and Tiffany. And a barely there Micky Dolenz. Wow. Just, wow. At least it was more entertaining than last week’s Countdown: Armageddon. But that’s about all I can say for it.

Bad Teacher — A decent summer comedy. But again it felt like it could’ve been better. It was definitely better than most mind-numbing summer comedies tend to be. And I really like Cameron Diaz and Jason Segal. And I’m really starting to like Lucy Bunch (who was also in You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, wonderfully). This just needed a few more writing passes. It was a few drafts away from being either brilliantly funny or at least a really good movie.

Super 8 — Now THIS is a summer blockbuster. For the most part, it was a great blockbuster in the mode of Spielberg’s earlier stuff. Adventurous kids and aliens. It’s wonderful. Elle Fanning is stunningly good. All the kids are good, but she is a real standout. Like Best Supporting Actress good. It doesn’t quite reach Spielbergian heights, but it’s strong in its own right. And the kids’ film, which plays during the closing credits, encapsulates everything there is to love about movies and about the desire to make them yourself.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind — Well, after Super 8 we had to go back to the man himself, Spielberg. I had seen fragments of this film throughout my years. And of course the mashed potato sculpture and tonal light show are firmly fixed in the pop culture ether. But for the most part, I went into this one not remembering much of the movie as a whole. And was I stunned. I loved it. It’s quickly been catapulted into my shortlist of best movies of all time. I can’t believe it’s 34 years old. It’s nearly as old as me.

Oddly, my favorite part is how Roy Neary’s family reacts to him as he becomes more obsessed. His wife, played by Terri Garr, seems to become more distant. I couldn’t tell if it was bad acting or brilliant acting, either way it works. And the kids just start crying and acting out in response to losing their dad. That response is juxtaposed with Roy’s immediate connection, nearly passionate, with a fellow UFO-sighter played terrifically by Melinda Dillon.

June 27th – July 4th

Howl — An entertaining and interpretitive look at the poet Allen Ginsberg through his autobiographical poem of the same title. The film also looks at the obsenity trial that surrounded the publishing of that poem. Not groundbreaking by any means. But I still gained a great deal of reverence for Ginsberg and finished the film wanting to read and/or write some poetry.

The Freebie — A decent low-budget talker (mumblecore?) from Katie Aselton. Aselton, former Miss Teen Maine and wife of Mark Duplass, stars along with Dax Shepard in this film about a couple who must deal with the outfall of a misguided attempt to inject romance back into their marriage by allowing each other a one-night stand. I think both actors play the relationship quite realistically. This could have veered off into uncomfortable comedy territory in Hollywood hands, but Aselton handles the tone, pacing, and reality of the situation quite well.

Brothers — A remake of Susanne Bier’s Danish film about two brothers dealing with the trauma of their lives. As Tommy is released from prison, Sam is sent back to Afghanistan where he is eventually captured and presumed dead. Tommy comforts Sam’s grieving wife and children. The real crisis, however, doesn’t hit until it is discovered that Sam was only MIA and finally returns home, scarred from war. The cast here is quite strong. Natalie Portman is good. I think Sam Shepard plays things a bit too predictably. But both Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal are very good as the two brothers.

Creation — A welcomed film about a brief portion of the great scientist’s life. The film chronicles Charles Darwin as he puts the finishing touches on his On The Origin of Species. But the movie isn’t so much about the book, or what evolution means, as it is about how the loss of his daugter Annie put him in and brought him out of a personal funk.

Cedar Rapids — A decent comedy starring Ed Helms. A country bumpkin goes to the big city (Cedar Rapids). The normal fish out of water with the usual sophmoric humor.

Citizen Ruth — Alexander Payne’s first film about the crazies on both side of the abortion debate. Made in 1996, the film is just as relevant as if it were made yesterday. Those same crazies are still lingering around.

Cars — One of the Pixar films I hadn’t yet seen. I kind of expected this one to be a very weak entry in the Pixar catalogue. I expected it to be simplistic and childish, like most other animated movies aimed at children. But this follows strongly with the Pixar tradition of creating wonderful visuals that are backed up by a strong story. I quite enjoyed myself. Now I see why my little nephew loves this movie so much.

The Wild Bunch — This was my first time watching this film. I have to admit that there was some difficulty, near the beginning, trying to discern who was who. Pike looked too much like Deke for me to be able to easily distinguish between the two and their respective groups. I basically ended up using Ernest Borgnine to tell the groups apart.

That difficulty in distinguishing the different groups didn’t really bother me. I quickly established a vague idea of who was who and that got me through well enough. Some of it seems very much intentional. Even if you can physically distinguish the different groups, there is certainly moral indistinguishability. It’s hard to point to any hero. I suppose Pike is the protagonist…but it really feels like a film with no real protagonist and a bunch of antagonists. And then the ending just adds to the confusion. You can’t trust anyone.

Pretty much everybody is after their own self-interest and willing to use violence to achieve it. Same with the sexism. Women are treated only as whores here. The film portrays these morally bankrupt people without glorifying anyone for it (or at least not overly glorifying).

Pretty much everybody is bad, save for the innocent townspeople at the beginning and the townspeople in Angel’s village. And the kids…who seem to just be picking up on the violence so they can continue the cycle in their own, more modern ways.

Of course there’s the Vietnam War stuff. The moral ambiguity of it and the pure violence of it. You can see how some of that stuff was touched on.

And then there’s the unavoidablity of looking at it through the lens of today. All the slow-mo stuff and “gore” didn’t really jump out at me. You see it so often today (in a way that’s often over used). But in retrospect both would’ve had more impact at the time.

So far I have to say I come down on the side of the smaller, more intimate westerns. I appreciate the big epic-sized ones for their grandeur, but so far I prefer those with more emphasis on character. That binary distinction is oversimplification to be sure, given I’ve only seen 4 so far in our Westerns marathon.

Another Year — Another wonderful character drama from Mike Leigh. It revolves around an older couple’s seemingly happy existence and its depressive interlopers. Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen are wonderful as the happy couple, Tom and Gerri. And Lesley Manville is quite good as the awful Mary. She is at times over-the-top annoying but plays Mary as realistically desperate. One can certainly feel Tom and Gerri’s conflict, empathizing with Mary and wishing for the best for her but also wanting to go on with their own lives without Mary always looming over them.

Countdown: Armageddon — A horrible, horrible movie. I was hoping for bad. But of the SyFy Original variety. Not of the Left Behind variety. This movie was originally titled Countdown: Jerusalem. It was something about the Rapture. And destroying Israel to bring the End of Days to the fore. And finding Jesus before it’s too late. Or something. I quickly lost interest.

June 20th – June 26th

Zombieland and Celtic Pride — The result of a really lazy Saturday afternoon. I had little desire to do anything besides lay on the couch watching TV. It just so happened that Zombieland was just starting on the Encore HD channel. I’d liked it the first time I saw it, so why not catch it again? Then after that one, I was extremely lazy so I just didn’t even bother to change the channel. Celtic Pride came on next. Very middle of the road. Not particularly original or funny. Interestingly, however, the script was written by Judd Apatow.

Somewhere – Sofia Coppola’s latest. I really liked it. Sofia’s movies seem to be quite divisive. A lot of people dislike them because they seem to deal with the problems of the privileged. I think they work because a viewer can empathize with out sympathizing. Also this one takes it’s time. Nothing really happens. But it’s those slow, less dramatic moments that really give this film meaning. Plus, Elle Fanning is wonderful here. Can’t wait to see some of the other stuff she is starting to show up in.

Iron Man 2 — When the need for lighter fare hits, why not look to what’s streaming on Netflix. Not much different from the first one. It does some things better, some worse. But whereas the first one, along with The Dark Knight, seemed to make the comic book movie seem a little fresher and more interesting to the non-geek audience, this one seems less interesting simply perhaps because it is a sequel. We’ve already seen the grittier, more based-in-reality origin story (of The Dark Knight and the first Iron Man) so that it has lost some of its novelty.

The Tree of Life — Sarah’s already posted her thoughts on this one. I have to say that I liked this one more than she. I still haven’t really unpacked it all. That would require multiple viewings. But I already think it’s a masterpiece. It’s not one family’s story so much as it’s one man’s fragmented and nostalgic look back at a particular point in his childhood. As an autobiography, I think this is filmmaking at its very best. Of course one man’s story is not going to resonate equally with all people. But I was certainly happy to be along for the ride. It was quite surprising to see a packed theater for a Sunday afternoon show. I guess not too surprising was the fact that there were at least a half-dozen walkouts (from about 15 minutes after the start of the film to about 5 minutes from the end of the film).

Thelma & Louise — Another one available on Netflix Instant Viewing. There’s plenty of that early 90′s-ness to it that makes it feel a bit dated. But it’s dark and original enough to still hold up. And regardless of the gender politics of it, it’s just kind of nice to see a movie with two strong (in their own way) female leads.

June 13rd – June 19th

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly — This one almost feels like a heist film in some respects, in that its not so much about the characters as it is about quest for the money. The three in this one are morally not that much different from each other, but the film tries to engage you in the search for the buried treasure. Will Angel Eyes resources prevail? Will Tuco’s perserverence prevail? Or will Blondie’s brains prevail?

Since this is my first Leone experience, I viewed this through Tarantino eyes as well. It didn’t make me appreciate Tarantino more so much as it made me realize how bad the Tarantino knock-offs really are. After seeing this, it seems more noticeable when someone is stylistically ripping off Tarantino rather than going back to the same source material and referencing it in their own way. Whereas I see Tarantino as repurposing Leone stylistic flourishes, among others, and creating somewhat of an homage in his final product, it seems like others simply copy Tarantino because it seems “cool.”

Sarah guest posts at The Filmcake:

After racking up a serious sleep deficit and a thoroughly marinated liver, I’ve finally mustered up the energy to give a few shout-outs to the films, people, and local buisnesss that made my time at deadCENTER so damned memorable (the parts I remember, that is). In no particular order:

* Clifton Raphael and his film and television program at Jenks High School. As an Owasso alum, it pains me greatly to give any kind of a shout-out to Jenks, but it’s deserved in this case. Filmcake had the pleasure of chatting with Raphael at the OKCMOA Opening Night Party. Not only is he an extraordinarily nice guy, the quality of the films coming out of his program (All That Remains, RSVP) is impressive. I look forward to seeing what these kids do next.

* Joey’s Pizzeria. We stopped in after checking out the Film Row Frolic and before the Late Night Shorts. It was a little before 11pm, and their posted hours said they were open until midnight, so we thought we’d grab some pizza and a couple COOP Native Ambers (the fact that they have my favorite beer on tap is reason enough to love them). However, when we had our beers in front of us  and started to order our pizza, our waitress told us that they’d just shut down the oven. We were disappointed, but at least we had our beer. No worries. A few minutes later, though, the manager came by and said that they’d just fired the oven back up, so what kind of pizza would we like? Joey’s, you have a new fan.

* I Wear My Fanny Pack Low. This short screened during the Okie Shorts (which was overall, a very solid block of Oklahoma-made short films) and was easily the funniest couple minutes of the festival. Have you ever seen a fanny pack full of queso? Well, I have – and it’s a sight to behold.

* That fake Wayne Coyne guy. Every time I turned my head during this festival, this guy was there.  The very sight of him inspired a great and wondrous rage within me, for reasons I have yet to work out. By the time Saturday night rolled around, I was wanting nothing more than to punch this man in the face. And to his credit, he let me. Now I’m somewhat less enraged.

* Iguana‘s Black Pearl party bus. I’ve always wanted to ride in this thing, and Saturday night, I got to – twice. Some sort of blueberry trashcan punch, Lady Gaga blasting on the speakers, and what is apparently a complete lack of suspension made for one wildly jarring, drunken ride. It was fantastic.

* Bobo’s Chicken. This delicious, smokey, drippin’ with honey chicken is always a highlight of the closing night after-after party, and this year, we got to go on the actual Bobo’s run itself. We hopped back on the Iguana party bus with deadCENTER Tech Director Ian Peterson, Programming Director Kevin Ely, and filmmakers Stefanie Leland (Where Did the Horny Toad Go?), Matt Porter (More Perfect Union) and Jamie Renee Williams (Floating Lanterns). More blueberry punch, more bone-rattling, more fun. And I got to watch a man order $160 worth of fried chicken.

* Mark Potts, Cole Selix and the rest of the Singletree Productions crew. Filmcake was pretty harsh on these guys last year for their Simmons on Vinyl, and since it kind of sucks having to say negative things about people you might like, run into in real life, it’s a relief to say that this year’s film, S&M Lawn Care, is a vast improvement. The story of a small lawn care company forced to compete with a flashier, sexier (well, if you’re one of those who found Tom Cruise’s Magnolia ponytail sexy) lawn care company, the film felt tighter and more disciplined. As a result, it was funnier from start to finish. There was also some experimentation with different styles – I especially enjoyed the black and white Mr. Smith Goes to Washington homage. This felt like the work of filmmakers who have matured quite a bit in the last couple years (but haven’t lost their goofy charm). While the film has received some criticism for being misogynistic, this card-carrying feminist doesn’t agree. S&M Lawn Care was one of my festival favorites this year. I look forward to the next Singletree film (now, with crew and budget!), A Splice of Life.

A big congratulations and thank you to all the festival organizers, volunteers and filmmakers who made this a great experience. Get some rest, rehydrate, and we’ll see you in 2012!