The Filmcake

May 23rd – May 29th

Old Joy, Wendy & Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff — A trio from Kelly Reichardt viewed back-to-back-to-back. I love the ease with which these three films saunter from beginning to end. In their quiteness, they become all about a feeling. Not only are the characters searching for something that eludes them, but we begin to feel their emptiness in our own souls. In Old Joy, Mark is reunited with his old friend Kurt. He is searching for his place between the domesticity of his homelife and the wilder day of the past that Kurt represents. In Wendy & Lucy, the search is both for a home and a dog. In Meek’s Cutoff, the settlers are searching for the unknown. Not a lot happens in any of these movies, but they still remain so powerful.

Bridesmaids — A damn good comedy from writers Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumulo, director Paul Feig, and producer Judd Apatow. It’s funny and it’s kind of sweet. It follows the Apatow bro-mance formula only replacing the dudes with chicks. But I think a little bit too much was made of it though. Of its portents. It’s certainly better than average. And of course it’s nice to see a comedy like this that almost exclusively features female actors. But this film isn’t a game changer. I don’t know if I buy the suggestion that Hollywood doesn’t want to make smart movies that feature women. I frankly don’t think Hollywood wants to make smart movies. It would be great if Hollywood would change, but I’m not going to hold my breath. At least in the independent world of film, there appears to be somewhat more balance and smarter movies.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance — The second installment of our Westerns Marathon. I REALLY liked this one. Some great lines of dialogue. Tom and Ransom seem to symbolize the changing face of Western movies and of society at large. They also seem to represent today’s political divisions. On one hand, you have Tom Doniphon who symbolizes the rugged gunslinger, the status guo, and the law & order conservative values. Then you have Ransom Stoddard who represents a change towards the educated, progressivism, and a new way of doing things. I’d imagine that one’s political views shape how you view both Doniphon and Studdard. Still we can all agree that Liberty Valance is clearly the enemy. And ultimately, the thing that stopped him was a bullet. A true masterpiece.

Piranha — A schlocky and fun comedy horror remake of the 1978 film. I would have liked to have experienced it in 3D. While I doubt there was much subtlety to the 3D effects (stuff just flying out at the viewer), I think it would have added to its enjoyable terribleness. It’s also one that would work great at the drive-in. Which is just another reminder that I need to hit the drive-in before they are no longer in existance.

March 17th – March 22nd

Synecdoche, NY – What can I say? I love Charlie Kaufman. There is no analysis of this one that can be done in just a few sentences. So, I’ll wait on that. All I can say, really, is that this is the first movie in a while where I couldn’t wait to purchase the Blu-ray and devour it over and over again. One thing I will briefly mention–I really, really enjoyed the film blogger featurette on the disc. Movie discussions & beer. Does it get any better? I’d like to see more of that type of discussion as a special feature on future (deserving) movies.

Old Joy – In anticipation of seeing Wendy & Lucy this coming weekend, I wanted to take a look at director Kelly Reichardt’s previous film. Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Willy Loman (or, Daniel London as Tom as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman in Synecdoche, NY–see above) are upstaged by Lucy (Reichardt’s dog) in my opinion. Not really, but I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want to see this one in part because of the dog. It did look like it would’ve been a really fun film shoot for a dog though.

Friends are a strange thing. The reviews and discussions of I Love You, Man bring up Paul Rudd’s character who is almost carelessly a friend of girls but who has real trouble finding guy friends. Hey, I’m that guy! Then last week I somehow got peer-pressured into finally setting up a Facebook account. Well, of course, that brings up its own quandaries. What is a friend? How much work should one exert towards finding and/or keeping friends? How passive/active to be? Does any of it matter?

Old Joy quietly and beautifully examines what friendship means after time passes, people change, and life continues on regardless. Maybe friendship is going your separate ways. Or maybe friendship simply ends right there and then. I don’t know. I still find myself very much in the dark when it comes to friendship. I’m still learning. I am truly grateful, however, that a dog is a man’s best friend. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know much of it.