Instant View Film Festival

Zombie Blog

2014-09-08T12:11:00.003-05:00

The Instant View Film Festival blog is now a "zombie blog," no longer active or updated.

Check out my more recent work in Madison, Wisconsin at Madison Film Forum.

madfilm.org

Madison Film Forum: See Claire Denis' Bastards @ Spotlight Cinema, Dec 5, 7pm

2013-12-05T14:04:00.000-06:00

Well, this is cutting it a little close as a review for Madison audiences, but I strongly encourage folks to venture down to see Bastards, the final installment of the current series for the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art's Spotlight Cinema, tonight (Thursday, December 5) at 7:00 p.m. You may recall my earlier post about their screening of Museum Hours, and programmers Tom Yoshikami and Mike King continue to do a great job bringing in films that deserve longer commercial runs in Madison.

Claire Denis has had a prolific career since her directorial debut, Chocolate, in 1988. I think my favorite of her films has been Beau Travail from 1999, which combined a deliberate pace with attention to textures and details. I also admired her art-horror film Trouble Every Day (2001) with Vincent Gallo, which for one reason or another remains difficult to access on video in the U.S. At the moment her 2009 feature, White Material, is available on Netflix Watch Instantly.

Bastards (or Les Salauds) starts with an elliptical sequence of a man in his office during a rain storm. In its simplicity, the shot of the man standing in the foreground as the rain falls heavily outside the window in the background is one of the most gorgeous shots I've seen in a while. The opening sequence also sets the stage for the kind of work the audience will have to do to piece together cues provided in a more cryptic style of visual storytelling. We quickly piece together that the man has committed suicide, and that his daughter Justine (Lola Créton) has been mysteriously traumatized. In another elliptical sequence we meet the main protagonist of the film, Marco (Vincent Lindon), who learns of the death of his best friend and brother-in-law and abandons his position as a cargo ship captain to return to his sister and his traumatized niece. The best parts of the opening act of Bastards work almost like a Jean-Pierre Melville thriller: spare dialogue, characters focused on quick, distinct actions, and just enough room for the audience put all the pieces together.

Marco learns from his sister, Sandra (Julie Bataille) that she suspects the wealthy Edouard Laporte (Michel Subor) of using her daughter as a kind of sex slave. A month later, Marco moves into an apartment in the building where Laporte lives with his mistress Raphaëlle (Chiara Mastroianni) and their young son. It doesn't take long for Marco and Raphaëlle to notice each other. In one great sequence, Marco leans over to help the young boy fix his bicycle chain, and Raphaëlle notices the muscles thinly veiled under Marco's expensive white shirt. One of the several strengths of Bastards is the great chemistry between Lindon and Mastrioanni; their characters have the kind of intense sexual energy that only unhappy people can share.

The balance of the movie follows Marco as he investigates what happened to Justine and possibly contemplates some kind of revenge against Laporte. In the process, Marco must sacrifice almost everything he cares about to reconnect with a family that he had deliberately distanced himself from years ago. What he discovers is perhaps needlessly over-the-top. Denis seems to have a preoccupation with violently traumatized vaginas; I recall two women jumping out of their seat and immediately leaving the theater during a particularly gory scene in Trouble Every Day. And the ending might be a bit too perfect a fusion of art film ambiguity and film noir genre conventions. But throughout the film you feel like you are being guided by a talented visual storyteller and her committed cast working in peak form.

Posters and Synopses from The Movie Database

Bastards (Claire Denis, France, 2013, 100 minutes)»

Container ship captain Marco Silvestri is called urgently back to Paris. His sister, Sandra, is desperate; her husband has committed suicide, the family business has gone under, her daughter has been admitted into psychiatric care. Sandra accuses the powerful businessman Edouard Laporte of being responsible. Determined to find the businessman's weak spot and exact a terrible revenge for the violence done to his family, Marco moves into the building where Laporte's mistress, Raphaëlle, lives with her son.

Spotlight Cinema @ Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Thu Dec 5, 7pm»

White Material (Claire Denis, France, 2009, 105 minutes)»

Maria is a White farmer who runs a failing coffee plantation in an unnamed African country in the present day. Civil war has broken out and rebel soldiers, many of them child soldiers, are advancing on the area. Rebels on the radio advocate attacks on emblems of colonialism. Maria's workers leave, but she refuses to abandon the plantation, and searches for men to finish harvesting of the coffee.

Global TV: The Magic Blade and Darna on Viki

2013-11-16T19:56:00.000-06:00

Apologies for the delay in new posts this week. One goal I have for the re-booted IVFF is to explore alternative streaming resources, apps, and websites. I started looking at Viki, a Singapore-based resource, when its Viki Premiere app appeared at the Samsung Smart Hub app store. One of the more interesting things about Viki is that the subtitles for its programming are crowd-sourced (its slogan is "powered by avid fans") Depending on the quality of the source video, the Samsung Smart TV app looks very good, and I have also been successful flinging the Viki website to a television using Chromecast. The Samsung Viki Premiere app is free and it does not feature advertisements. Video streams at viki.com, however, will feature ads unless you purchase a "Viki Pass."

The two series worth looking at (so far in my brief explorations) have been The Magic Blade from China and Darna from the Philippines. The Magic Blade is an old-school wuxia pian serial in the tradition of the Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong. (But this should not be confused with the 1976 Shaw Brothers film with the same title). While the production values do show the limitations of a television series budget, I was actually surprised by the overall quality of the production. (The location scout should have top billing, the outdoor scenes are often gorgeous.) One weak spot is the actual fight choreography (which requires a lot of time to do well) but other wuxia conventions like wirework are handled pretty well, relatively speaking. In what I've watched so far, The Magic Blade does not hesitate to swing from broad humor to somewhat messed up near-torture scenes. The main focus of the plot is, of course, revenge, but there are several interesting subplots begin to emerge even in the first episode.

The first few minutes of episode one of Darna should tell you whether you want to explore the rest of the series. The brief opening scene previews the kinds of super-villainesses we can expect later on, and some of them seem so over-the-top that I won't even pretend to understand what is going on. But one challenge to sticking with the show is that the origin story is dragged out over the entire first episode. Another challenge is the truly awful gender politics in the first episode, but that actually makes me curious about how those attitudes towards gender roles will mix with an empowered female superhero and female villainesses as the series moves forward. The production values for the show are not great, the video quality of the Viki stream is not ideal, and even the shows fans on Viki make fun of the special effects. But the show has a certain charm that makes me want to explore it for some more episodes. [Edit: Shortly after posting this I watched another Viki episode, which I now believe combines 2 30-minute episodes; Superhero Darna still hasn't appeared, and she is unlikely to appear for a few more episodes. So another challenge to sticking with the series is how tolerant you are of poorly treated child characters.]

For more information about the history of Darna, consult The Darna Wiki.

Posters and Synopses from Viki.com

The Magic Blade

The leader of the martial arts world is killed mysteriously and the crime goes unsolved. Fu Hong Xue (Wallace Chung), the leader’s son, is determined to avenge his father’s death 24 years later. But a number of people, including Yan Nan Fei (Zong Feng Yan), who wants to become the new leader of the martial arts world, plot to get rid of Hong Xue. Will Hong Xue be able to overcome Nan Fei’s gang and solve his father’s murder? What will he do when he discovers the shocking truth about his own life? The Magic Blade is a 2012 Chinese drama series directed by Gao Xian Ming and Huang Wei Jie.

Darna

Darna is a Philippine drama/fantasy series adapted from Mars Ravelo's fictional superheroine of the same name. This latest adaptation was directed by Dominic Zapata and Don Michael Perez and developed by Jun Lana, based on the Darna graphic novels by Mars Ravelo. It stars Marian Rivera in the title role and her alter-ego Narda, Iwa Moto as her main nemesis, Valentina, as well as Dennis Trillo as Pancho and Mark Anthony Fernandez as Eduardo.

Joss Whedon: Much Ado About Nothing, Streaming Films and Shows

2013-11-11T11:37:00.000-06:00

Only time for a short post with a long list of titles today. This evening I'm finally going to catch up with Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing, which played the festival circuit and had a limited release and is now available on several on-demand streaming services. (When a title is available on several services, I'll provide a button link to the least expensive option, and a link to the other options at GoWatchIt). As a double-feature I hope to add Cabin in the Woods, co-written by Whedon, which I probably should have caught up with around Halloween, but then again I've never been much of a Halloween fan.

Whedon is interesting for many reasons. A third generation screenwriter (following in the footsteps of his grandfather John Whedon and father Tom Whedon), he seems equally comfortable in the realms of feature films and hour-long television. He's also equally comfortable working in "universes" devised by others (the Marvel universe) or himself (the Buffy universe). And when he's not working on those more elaborate projects he's able to put together more low-key projects, often working with the same group of actors, like Much Ado About Nothing and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Of the "name directors" who are currently bouncing back and forth between television and feature films, Whedon is not as interesting as Steven Soderbergh (who perhaps now will only do television projects), but I find him far more interesting than J.J. Abrams. Both Whedon and Abrams are in the tradition of "movie brats," but I enjoy Whedon's eagerness to explore different formats (comics, the internet) more than Abrams evolving devotion to Spielberg and Lucas.

The only Whedon series I've watched the whole way through has been Firefly, which is pretty easy since it only lasted one season, with an additional feature film, Serenity. In the list below I've included a documentary on the history of the show, Done the Impossible: The Fans' Tale of Firefly and Serenity.

Posters and Synopses from The Movie Database

Feature Films

Much Ado About Nothing (Joss Wheadon, USA, 2012, 109 minutes)

A modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.

Cabin in the Woods (Drew Goddard, USA, 2012, 95 minutes)

(Co-written by Joss Whedon)

Five college friends spend the weekend at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

Marvel's The Avengers (Joss Whedon, USA, 2012, 183 minutes)

When an unexpected enemy emerges and threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins!

Serenity (Joss Whedon, USA, 2005, 119 minutes)

When the renegade crew of Serenity agrees to hide a fugitive on their ship, they find themselves in an action-packed battle between the relentless military might of a totalitarian regime who will destroy anything - or anyone - to get the girl back and the bloodthirsty creatures who roam the uncharted areas of space. But, the greatest danger of all may be on their ship.

Done the Impossible: The Fans' Tale of Firefly and Serenity (Brian Wiser, USA, 2006, 79 minutes)

A documentary covering Firefly's birth, death and rebirth from the perspective of both the fans and the cast and crew of both productions.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (Joss Whedon, USA, 2008, 42 minutes)

Dr. Horrible, an aspiring supervillain with his own video blog, is attempting to join the prestigious Evil League of Evil (led by the legendary "thoroughbred of sin", Bad Horse), but his plans are usually foiled by the egotistical superhero Captain Hammer. Dr. Horrible's life is thrown for a loop when he falls in love with Penny, a beautiful and optimistic advocate for the homeless he meets at the laundromat.

Television

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-present)

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., or simply Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., is an American television series created for ABC by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D.. The series is produced by ABC Studios, Marvel Television, and Mutant Enemy and is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, sharing continuity with the films in that franchise. It revolves around the character of Phil Coulson, with Clark Gregg reprising the role.

Firefly (2002-2003)

Firefly is an American space western drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. The series is set in the year 2517, after the arrival of humans in a new star system, and follows the adventures of the renegade crew of Serenity, a "Firefly-class" spaceship. The ensemble cast portrays the nine characters who live on Serenity. Whedon pitched the show as "nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things".

The show explores the lives of a group of people who fought on the losing side of a civil war and others who now make a living on the outskirts of society, as part of the pioneer culture that exists on the fringes of their star system. In this future, the only two surviving superpowers, the United States and China, fused to form the central federal government, called the Alliance, resulting in the fusion of the two cultures. According to Whedon's vision, "nothing will change in the future: technology will advance, but we will still have the same political, moral, and ethical problems as today."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an American television series which aired from March 10, 1997 until May 20, 2003. The series was created in 1997 by writer-director Joss Whedon under his production tag, Mutant Enemy Productions with later co-executive producers being Jane Espenson, David Fury, David Greenwalt, Doug Petrie, Marti Noxon, and David Solomon. The series narrative follows Buffy Summers, the latest in a line of young women known as "Vampire Slayers" or simply "Slayers". In the story, Slayers are "called" to battle against vampires, demons, and other forces of darkness. Like previous Slayers, Buffy is aided by a Watcher, who guides, teaches, and trains her. Unlike her predecessors, Buffy surrounds herself with a circle of loyal friends who become known as the "Scooby Gang".

Angel (1999-2004)

Angel is an American television series, a spin-off from the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffy's creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt. It aired on The WB from October 5, 1999, to May 19, 2004, consisting of five seasons and 110 episodes. Like Buffy, it was produced by Whedon's production company, Mutant Enemy.

The show details the ongoing trials of Angel, a vampire whose human soul was restored to him by gypsies as a punishment for the murder of one of their own. After more than a century of murder and the torture of innocents, Angel's restored soul torments him with guilt and remorse. During the first four seasons of the show, he works as a private detective in a fictionalized version of Los Angeles, California, where he and a variety of associates work to "help the helpless", restoring the faith and saving the souls of those who have lost their way. Typically, this involves doing battle with evil demons or demonically allied humans, primarily related to Wolfram & Hart, a demonic law firm. He must also battle his own demonic nature.

Dollhouse (2009)

Dollhouse is an American science fiction television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon under Mutant Enemy Productions. It premiered on February 13, 2009, on the Fox network and was officially canceled on November 11, 2009. The final episode aired on January 29, 2010. Production wrapped in December 2009, with a total of 27 episodes produced including the original pilot.

The show revolves around a corporation running numerous underground establishments across the globe which program individuals referred to as Actives with temporary personalities and skills. Wealthy clients hire Actives from Dollhouses at great expense for various purposes. The series primarily follows the Active known as Echo, played by Eliza Dushku, on her journey towards self-awareness. Dushku also served as series producer.

Glee

(Joss Whedon directed Season 1, Episode 19, "Dream On")

Glee is an American teen musical comedy-drama television series that airs on the Fox network in the United States. It focuses on the reconstituted William McKinley High School glee club, New Directions, which competes on the show choir competition circuit while its disparate members deal with relationships, sexuality, social issues, and learning to become an effective team. The initial twelve-member main cast encompassed new club director and Spanish teacher Will Schuester, cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury, Will's wife Terri, and eight club members played by Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Amber Riley, Mark Salling, and Jenna Ushkowitz. In subsequent seasons, the main cast has expanded to fourteen and fifteen members.

Madison Film Forum: Bollywood Films at AMC Star Fitchburg 12

2013-11-07T15:47:00.001-06:00

This week I had the opportunity to write an Isthmus article about the Bollywood films that have been playing at AMC Star Fitchburg 18, mostly without significant local media attention, for over a year now.

You can find the article, "Bollywood in Fitchburg," at The Daily Page, or Madison readers can pick up a copy of Isthmus this week.

Someday I might write a "meta-article" about how difficult it was to get information for the article because AMC Theaters have entered a "quiet period" leading up to their IPO. But given that, I was grateful that they could give me enough nuggets of information to get the word out about the films. The most interesting piece of information, however, was confirmed by simply looking at the foreign language titles that have played in Madison commercial theaters from June to November 1. I encourage you to read the article and see how Star's foreign language lineup compares to Sundance...I think you'll be surprised.

What wasn't clear at press time was whether Krrish 3 would play for another week at AMC Star Fitchburg 18. I can now confirm that it will play for another week, and that I had as much fun at it as I have had at any recent superhero franchise film. Madison readers should check it out if they have the opportunity (and bring friends).

Meanwhile, I thought it would be useful to post some links for those interested in trying out a few Bollywood films at home before venturing to AMC Star Fitchburg 18. First, I'll mention some previous posts that have useful links.

Back in March, 2011, I did a "Quick Picks" collection of Shah Rukh Khan titles that were then streaming on Netflix, including a title I recommend as a good starting point in the Isthmus article, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. As with all of these older posts, the links to films no longer streaming will still take you to that title's Netflix DVD page. If you want to watch the recent Shah Rukh Khan film that played at AMC Star Fitchburg 18, Chennai Express is now streaming on Netflix.

In the article I make a brief mention of the two versions of the 2010 film, Kites. Back in October, 2011, I posted links to both Kites (122 minutes) and Kites: The Remix (98 minutes), the later of which was re-edited by Hollywood director Brett Ratner. The original film is still streaming on Netflix. For streaming options for Kites: The Remix, consult GoWatchIt, where you'll find options to rent it on iTunes, Vudu and other resources (beware: the Amazon Instant Video link sends you to a completely different film).

In the near future, I hope to put together a post about classic Bollywood, films starring Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor, Nargis, Amitabh Bachchan, and more. I've had trouble finding good streaming sources for them, however, so for now just search these names on the internet and you'll find good starting places for classic Bollywood.

Finally, getting back to films at Star, I recommend that people watch Dhoom 2 (2006) on Netflix View Instant in preparation for the release of Dhoom 3 in December. The original Dhoom (2004) is also available to stream on Netflix, but Dhoom 2 is a much better test to find out if you will want to see Dhoom 3 on the big screen.

Posters and Synopses from The Movie Database

Chennai Express (Rohit Shetty, India, 2013, 141 minutes)

Chennai Express follows man's journey from Mumbai to Rameshwaram and what happens along the way after he falls in love with the daughter of a don.

Dhoom 2 (Sanjay Gadhvi, India, 2006, 147 minutes)

In the second installment of the Dhoom series, Jai and Ali are back as the buddy cops on their toughest job so far. "Mr.A" is an international thief who has planned to steal a priceless artifact in Mumbai and the police have got to nab him. But Mr.A manages to steal the artifact and elude the police. He finds his match in Sunehri and they form a partnership. They move on to Rio for their next job, with Jai and Ali hot on their trail. Mr.A whose actual name is Aryan, and Sunehri are drawn towards each other but little does Aryan know of Sunehri's little secret.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (Aditya Chopra, India, 1995, 190 minutes)

Raj is a rich, carefree, happy-go-lucky second generation NRI. Simran is the daughter of Chaudhary Baldev Singh, who in spite of being an NRI is very strict about adherence to Indian values. Simran has left for India to be married to her childhood fiancé. Raj leaves for India with a mission at his hands, to claim his lady love under the noses of her whole family. Thus begins a saga.

Stream Ryan Trecartin's Center Jenny through Nov. 8 at Vdrome

2013-11-06T19:30:00.000-06:00

Very high on my to-view list is Center Jenny, a new video by Ryan Trecartin, and one of four that he screened at the Venice Biennale. In fact, I should probably watch it tonight, because it is only streaming on the Vdrome website channel through November 8.

As the Vdrome about page will tell you, Vdrome is "an online platform that offers regular, high quality screenings of films and videos directed by visual artists and filmmakers, whose production lies in-between contemporary art and cinema." You can consult the Vdrome archive for previous artists and films, but the streams themselves are only available for a limited time.

It is difficult to open the Vdrome Vimeo links outside of the Vdrome page itself, and I've not been able to use my previously described technique of using the myPlex Media Queue to watch Vdrome on my television. This seems like a good scenario for using Chromecast to fling the Chrome tab containing the Vdrome video to my television, because while Trecartin's work is driven by an internet sensibility, I don't want to watch it on a computer.

Quite a bit of Trecartin's earlier work is available on UbuWeb, and I feel less guilty about pointing you there in this context because unlike other work on Ubu, Trecartin's work is there with the artist's permission. As you will see Trecartin is quite prolific, and it is difficult to catch up with his work because it can be somewhat exhausting to keep up with his hyperkinetic style. One place to start might be I-BE-AREA from 2007, the first hour of which I think is absolutely brilliant, followed by a second hour that would be just as great if I hadn't been so exhausted by the first.

Center Jenny (Ryan Trecartin, USA, 2013, 53 minutes)

Vdrome: Ryan Trecartin’s movies unfold like futuristic fever dreams. Collaborating with his cast, Trecartin’s layered aesthetic reveals high-definition uncanniness, wherein digital life dynamics and gamesmanship merge with pop culture histrionics and banality. In CENTER JENNY, part of Trecartin’s presentation at the 55th Venice Biennale, his characters continuously evolve towards a post-human realm through reality show hermeneutics, prosumer rhetoric, and collegiate rituals.

Note: After November 8, the Center Jenny links will simply take you to the Vdrome main page.

I-BE-AREA (Ryan Trecartin, USA, 2007, 105 minutes)

UbuWeb, citing Electronic Arts Intermix Catalog:

Holland Cotter, writing in The New York Times, describes the "sensationally anarchic" video I-Be Area, in which Trecartin uses what Cotter terms "very basic digital tools to create a highly personal narrative art, almost a kind of folk art."

Cotter writes: "We're in a house of many tight, messy rooms. In the suburbs? Cyberspace? Hard to say. Anyway, it's night. A door bangs open. A girl, who is also a boy, dashes in, talking, talking. Other people are already there, in gaudy attire, dire wigs and makeup like paint on de Koonings. Everyone moves in a jerky, speeded-up, look-at-me way and speaks superfast to one another, to the camera, into a cellphone. Phrases whiz by about cloning, family, same-sex adoption, the art world, the end of the world, identity, blogging, the future. Suddenly indoors turns into outdoors, night into day, and we're at a picnic, in dappled sunshine, with a baby. Then this all reverses, and we're indoors again. A goth band is pounding away in the kitchen. The house is under siege. Hysteria. Everyone runs through the walls."

"...For queer artists of Mr. Trecartin's generation, cross-dressing, cross-identifying and cross-thinking are part of a state of being, not statements of political position. Like the work of John Waters and Jack Smith, his art is about just saying no to life as we think we have seen it and saying yes to zanier, virtual-utopian possibilities."

Johnny To: 10 Films Streaming on Roku

2013-11-04T05:53:00.001-06:00

Katherine Spring, recent author of Saying It With Songs: Popular Music and the Coming of Sound to Hollywood Cinema (congrats, Katherine!) posted an interesting link on her Facebook page to Ranked: The Films of Johnnie To From Worst to Best. Almost everyone commenting on the link agreed that there were problems with the rankings (that is true of all such lists, and that is why people keep making them), but nearly everyone agreed that the list itself was ambitious. While many fans in the West know To for his action and triad films, this list does a good job recognizing his romance and comedy output as well. While I'm a personal fan of Running on Karma (2003), I'm not sure if I would place it at #3 among the films that I've seen so far, but then again clearly Jake Cole at Film.com has seen more of To's overall output than I have. His list has 49 titles, of which I have seen 20, most of which are the action films (and most are at the top of his list).

What inspired me to follow up on this list with a blog entry today was Cole's placement of Romancing in Thin Air (2012) at number 1 on the list. It's one I hadn't seen, or even heard of. Cole points out that while it has not been released in theaters or on DVD in the United States, it is currently available on Hulu (free Hulu in fact, not just Hulu Plus). I did a little more digging and discovered it is also available on Amazon Prime Instant Video, for those who want to avoid Hulu's ads.

Romancing in Thin Air is certainly a charming, if somewhat predictable, romance. While watching it I was reminded how To has viewed his output as one film to keep Milkyway Studios going strong, then one film for the critics. Certainly this film is for a general audience, it's well crafted and acted and certainly worth a look for those who are less familiar with this significant part of To's output. I'm not as crazy about it as Jake Cole at Film.com, but it does fit in interesting ways into To's recurring themes in his non-triad work. Also streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video is the #16 film on Cole's list, Don't Go Breaking My Heart (2011, co-directed by Wai-Ka Fai), which I also hope to catch up with in the near future.

The other recent To films hat have received more attention from the critics currently are also worth checking out. Drug War has several interesting genre twists that really get you just when you think you know where the film going, and its third act really punches you in the gut. Life Without Principle is a clever network narrative following several characters on the day of a global financial meltdown. It features some abrupt shifts in tone that only To seems to be able to pull off effectively (or perhaps only To is allowed to get a away with).

I did a March, 2011 blog entry on To films streaming on Netflix, but while those links still bring you to the film's Netflix page (the links are not broken), very few of those titles are still streaming.

Posters and Synopses from The Movie Database unless noted.

Romancing In Thin Air (Johnny To, Hong Kong, 2012, 111 minutes)

Amazon Instant Video: After a popular actor is jilted at the altar by an actress he travels to the mountainous area of Yunnan province. There, he finds true love with a heartbroken woman who is also a secret fan of the actor.

Drug War (Johnny To, Hong Kong, 2012, 105 minutes)

The taciturn police commander Zhang leads an undercover drugs team and in his continuous battle against the ubiquitous drug barons, takes up arms against his arch enemy, Timmy Choi. When he gets hold of Choi, he makes a deal with him: in exchange for his life (in China you can get the death penalty for producing only 50 grams of drugs) the young criminal will help the police infiltrate a sizeable drug network.

Life Without Principle (Johnny To, Hong Kong, 2011, 87 minutes)

A criminal, a bank clerk and a police officer find their destinies entwined when a loan shark gets assaulted after having withdrawn $10 million from the bank in the midst of the world financial crisis.

Don't Go Breaking My Heart (Johnny To & Wai Ka-Fai, Hong Kong, 2011, 115 minutes)

Mainlander & financial analyst Cheng Zixin (Gao Yuan-Yuan), who followed her then boyfriend Owen (Terence Yin) to Hong Kong, runs into her ex-boyfriend while riding the bus. Owen is now with his pregnant wife and when his wife spots Owen talking to his ex she she freaks out. Cheng hurriedly gets off the bus and, being in a daze, is almost run over by a car. A haggard drunk named Fang (Daniel Wu) then saves Cheng. Meanwhile, in a nearby car, sits CEO Cheung Shen (Louis Koo) who watches everything that transpires. CEO Cheung Shen is a playboy who also works in an office building directly adjacent to Cheng Zixin. Cheung Shen soon starts to woo Cheng Zixin by sending messages to her through the window of his office building. The drunk haggard Fang, who saved Cheng Zixin's life, runs into Cheng Zixin a few weeks later. It turns out that the drunk haggard is a Canadian-born top architect going through personal problems. They soon become friends.

Vengeance (Johnny To, Hong Kong, 2009, 108 minutes)

François Costello arrives in Hong Kong to avenge the death of his daughter and her family, who were murdered by hired killers. Twenty years before, Costello was a professional hitman... As Costello's memory is fading away, three professional killers, Kwai, Chu and Lok, are sought to help him complete his revenge plan.

Triangle (Johnny To & Ringo Lam & Tsui Hark, Hong Kong, 2007, 101 minutes)

Small-timer Fei (Louis Koo), his harried buddy Sam (Simon Yam), and antique store owner Mok (Sun Hong Lei) are all in desperate need of money. Fei wants his friend to drive a robbery getaway car but Sam backs out, throwing Fei in trouble with the triads. As the three are arguing, a mysterious man leaves them a map, leading them to an unlikely treasure under the Legislative Council building. All their financial woes seem to be solved after a late-night heist, but they are being tracked by shady cop Wen (Lam Ka-Tung), who is carrying on an affair with Sam's emotionally unstable wife, Ling (Kelly Lin), and has connections with Fei. When the twisted relationship tangles come to light, the brotherhood dangerously breaks down and the treasure ends up in the wrong hands.

Mad Detective (Johnny To & Wai Ka-Fai, Hong Kong, 2007, 89 minutes)

A rookie cop teams up with a former detective with a supernatural gift to hunt down a serial killer.

Exiled (Johnny To, Hong Kong, 2006, 110 minutes)

A friendship is formed between an ex-gangster, and two groups of hitmen - those who want to protect him and those who were sent to kill him.

Election (Johnny To, Hong Kong, 2005, 115 minutes)

A drama-thriller centered on a democratic election within an organized crime society.

The Heroic Trio (Johnny To, Hong Kong, 1992, 88 minutes)

Tung and Ching were both adopted by the same master. But later Ching was abducted by the eunuch-Chan. Ching grew up and became scientist Li's assistant and Tung married officer Lau. Chat had escaped from Chan at 15 and became a thief-catcher. During Chan's intrigue the trio united to become "The heroines of the East".

IVFF Pages: "Quick Picks," "In My Queue," and "Streaming Tools"

2013-11-01T04:00:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd use this entry to point out some of the Instant View Film Festival pages I've been developing to help you quickly find good stuff to watch. The "Quick Picks,""In My Queue," and "Streaming Tools" pages will always be available through the links on the top navigation bar, and I will update them periodically (and I will try to remove dead links quickly).

On the Quick Picks page I will simply list titles that I've liked that are currently streaming. Currently, the page only features Netflix and Hulu Plus titles, but I plan to add other streaming sources very soon (Amazon Prime Instant Video, in particular). As I point out on the page, almost everything in the Criterion Collection on Hulu Plus is worth watching, so I put together a list of one film for each letter of the alphabet (more or less). Below I have pasted the list that I updated this week to give you as sense of what you can expect and save you a click.

On the In My Queue page I will simply list titles that I hope to get around to watching soon. The difference between the two pages will be that "Quick Picks" are titles that I've seen and recommend, "In My Queue" are titles that I find intriguing but haven't seen yet, but I think you will want to know are currently available.

On the Streaming Tools page I will periodically add tips that I have discovered using the Roku Streaming Player, Chromecast, and Samsung Smart Hub apps. For example, I just added a tip on how to watch Conan without commercials using the Roku Plex App. In the future I will also add notes on lesser known Roku channels worth exploring.

Netflix

Classic American / English Language Films

The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, USA, 1974, 113 minutes)

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover (Peter Greenaway, 1989, 124 minutes)

Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, USA, 1995, 121 minutes)

Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, USA, 1933, 68 minutes)

The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford, USA, 1940, 129 minutes)

His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, USA, 1941, 91 minutes)

Intolerance (D.W. Griffith, USA, 1916, 192 minutes)

The Long Goodbye (Robert Altman, USA, 1973, 112 minutes)

Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, USA/Italy, 1968, 165 minutes)

Slacker (Richard Linklater, USA, 1991, 100 minutes)

Slaughterhouse-Five (George Roy Hill, USA, 1972, 103 minutes)

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (Buster Keaton, Charles Reisner, USA, 1928, 70 minutes)

Classic Foreign Language Films

8 1/2 (Federico Fellini, Italy, 1963, 138 minutes)

The Bicycle Thief (Vittorio De Sica, Italy, 1948, 89 minutes)

Children of Heaven (Majid Majidi, Iran, 1997, 87 minutes)

Metropolis Restored (Fritz Lang, Germany, 1927, 148 minutes)

A Woman is a Woman (Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1961, 83 minutes)

Xala (Ousmane Sembenne, Senegal, 1975, 122 minutes)

The Young Girls of Rochefort (Jacques Demy, France, 1967, 124 minutes)

Recent American / English Language Films

Boy (Taika Waititi, New Zealand, 2010, 87 minutes)

Compliance (Craig Zobel, USA, 2012, 89 minutes)

Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, UK, 2009, 122 minutes)

Four Lions (Christopher Morris, UK, 2010, 101 minutes)

The Limits of Control (Jim Jarmush, USA, 2009, 115 minutes)

Old Joy (Kelly Reichardt, USA, 2006, 83 minutes)

Paranoid Park (Gus Van Sant, USA, 2007, 84 minutes)

There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, USA, 158 minutes)

This is Martin Bonner (Chad Hartigan, USA, 2013, 83 minutes)

Recent Foreign Language Films

Alps (Giorgos Lanthimos, Greece, 2011, 93 minutes)

13 Assassins (Takashi Miike, Japan, 2010, 125 minutes)

Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, France, 2010, 106 minutes)

Chico & Rita (Tono Errando & Javier Mariscal & Fernando Trueba, Spain, 2010, 93 minutes)

Dogtooth (Giorgos Lanthimos, Greece, 2009, 103 minutes)

Exiled (Johnny To, Hong Kong, 2006, 109 minutes)

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (Joann Sfar, France, 2010, 121 minutes)

Holy Motors (Leos Carax, France, 2012, 115 minutes)

The Intouchables (Olivier Nakache & Eric Toledano, France, 2011, 112 minutes)

Klown (Mikkel Norgaard, Denmark, 2010, 91 minutes)

Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, Sweden, 2008, 114 minutes)

Le Quattro Volte (Michelangelo Frammartino, Italy, 2010, 88 minutes)

Tabu (Miguel Gomes, Portugal, 2012, 118 minutes)

Trollhunter (André Øvredal, USA, 2010, 103 minutes)

White Material (Claire Denis, France, 2009, 105 minutes)

Documentaries

Armadillo (Janus Metz Pedersen, Denmark, 2010, 101 minutes)

Bill Cunningham New York (Richard Press, USA, 2010, 84 minutes)

Hoop Dreams (Steve James, USA, 1994, 171 minutes)

Man on Wire (James Marsh, USA, 2008, 94 minutes)

Marwencol (Jeff Malmberg, USA, 2010, 82 minutes)

Pina (Wim Wenders, Germany, 2011, 103 minutes)

The Red Chapel (Mads Brügger, Denmark, 2009, 87 minutes)

The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris, USA, 1988, 101 minutes)

Room 237 (Rodney Ascher, USA, 2012, 103 minutes)

Television Series

Arrested Development

Doctor Who

Little Britain

Louis

Portlandia

Twin Peaks

Criterion Collection Alphabet
Okay, it is a no-brainer that Criterion films are worth watching. Here are a few that you might not have considered, one or more for each letter of the alphabet.

L'Atalante (Jean Vigo, France, 1934, 88 minutes)

Burden of Dreams (Les Blank, USA, 1982, 94 minutes)

Chafed Elbows (Robert Downey, USA, 1966, 58 minutes)

Chronicle of a Summer (Jean Rouch & Edgar Morin, France, 1961, 90 minutes)

Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami, Iran, 1990, 97 minutes)

Daisies (Věra Chytilová, Czechoslovakia, 1968, 73 minutes)

Elevator to the Gallows (Louis Malle, France, 1957, 91 minutes)

F for Fake (Orson Welles, USA/France, 1973, 88 minutes)

George Washington (David Gordon Green, USA, 2000, 89 minutes)

House (Nobuhiko Obayashi, Japan, 1977, 87 minutes)

Innocence Unprotected (Dušan Makavejev, Yugoslavia, 1968, 119 minutes)

La Jetée (Chris Marker, France, 1962, 28 minutes)

Juliet of the Spirits (Federico Fellini, Italy, 1965, 137 minutes)

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (John Cassavetes, USA, 1976, 108 minutes)

The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock, UK, 1938, 95 minutes)

Mala Noche (Gus Van Sant, USA, 1986, 77 minutes)

Mickey and Nicky (Elaine May, USA, 1976, 106 minutes)

Mr. Freedom (William Klein, France, 1969, 91 minutes)

The Naked Kiss (Samuel Fuller, USA, 1964, 90 minutes)

Osaka Elegy (Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan, 1936, 71 minutes)

Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, France, 1959, 76 minutes)

Quadrophenia (Franc Roddam, UK, 1979, 114 minutes)

Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1950, 88 minutes)

Schizopolis (Steven Soderbergh, USA, 1997, 96 minutes)

Shoot the Piano Player (Francois Truffaut, France, 1960, 81 minutes)

Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (William Greaves, USA, 1968, 75 minutes)

The Times of Harvey Milk (Robert Epstein & Richard Schmiechen, USA, 1984, 87 minutes)

Umberto D. (Vittorio De Sica, Italy, 1952, 89 minutes)

Vivre sa Vie (Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1962, 83 minutes)

Who Are You, Polly Magooo? (William Klein, France, 1966, 101 minutes)

Wise Blood (John Huston, USA, 1979, 105 minutes)

A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, USA, 1974, 146 minutes)

WR: Mysteries of the Organism (Dušan Makavejev, Yugoslavia, 1980, 84 minutes)

The X From Outer Space (Kazui Nihonmatsu, Japan, 98 minutes)

Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1961, 110 minutes)

Zéro de Conduite (Jean Vigo, France, 1933, 44 minutes)

Online Shorts: Drums West, Mute, Chocolate Bacon, Agamemnon Counterpart, Solipsist

2013-10-30T04:00:00.000-05:00

I plan to highlight online short films as a regular feature, and here are five experimental and animated shorts that I've seen and enjoyed over the past few weeks.

Lately my two favorite resources for online shorts have been Mike Everleth's Underground Film Journal and Amid Amidi and Jerry Beck's Cartoon Brew. I decided to avoid a Halloween-themed list, but if you're looking for one check out Everleth's "Great Underground Horror Films Streaming For Halloween." Yesterday, Cartoon Brew posted an article about the month-long National Film Board of Canada showcase, Get Animated! Both resources are worth following on their respective Twitter feeds and Facebook pages.

The final selection below, along with six other online experimental titles, can also be found in the Cultural Weekly article, "The New Innovators of Experimental Short Cinema" by Amy Cobb.

I prefer to watch online shorts on my television for a better viewing experience, and Plex and its myPlex media queue has become my go-to resource for collecting any online video for later viewing. I first discovered Plex as an app on my Samsung Blu-Ray Smart Hub, and I use it even more extensively with its channel on the Roku Streaming Device.

The procedure is very simple if you first install the myPlex bookmarklet in your bookmark bar, or add the Chrome myPlex Queue Extension. Simply find a video online, then click the bookmarklet to add it to your myPlex queue. On pages with multiple videos, you might want to go to the video's source page first to make sure you're queueing the right video. The videos in your myPlex queue are then available to watch on your television using your Samsung Smart Hub app or Roku Channel. Depending on the quality of the video source, the myPlex image and sound quality is very good (although it can take a little bit of time to access the video in your queue).

"Drums West" cut-paper animation from Jim Henson. This newly rediscovered short was created in Jim's home studio in Bethesda, MD around 1961. It is one of several experimental shorts inspired by the music of jazz great Chico Hamilton. At the end, in footage probably shot by Jerry Juhl, Jim demonstrates his working method.

MUTE from Job, Joris & Marieke on Vimeo.
MUTE is an animated short about a world populated by people born without a mouth. When a gory accident leads to the discovery they are able to create their own mouth by cutting themselves, this releases an enthusiastic chain reaction among the population…

This 4 minute cgi short has been created by Job, Joris & Marieke, a Dutch studio for animation, illustration, character design and music. In 2011 Job, Joris & Marieke made the music video 'I'll take you along' for Dutch rapper Gers Pardoel which has been viewed over 15 million times. The music was made by Happy Camper, and all voices were done by Fresku!

MUTE premiered at the Dutch Film Festival in the Golden Calf competition and was screened at the Anim'est festival in Bucarest. More festival news can be found on the MUTE website

http://jobjorisenmarieke.nl/mute

Chocolate Bacon (2012) from asavari kumar on Vimeo.
SYNOPSIS
Chocolate bacon is a portrait of a young woman’s experiences in the first year of grad school, presented through a series of conversations re-contextualized by abstracted characters. The film is divided into 6 episodes showing slices of life from a 7 month time period and the voices are from real audio recordings. The vignettes are interspersed with pieces where the main character talks more specifically about her trials and tribulations in making the film.

WEB : http://asavarikumar.com/chocolate-bacon/

AWARDS AND SELECTIONS
(Innovation Award) No Budget Film Festival ’12 (CA,US)
(Official selection) Ottawa International Animation Festival ’12 (Ottawa, Canada)
(Official selection) Lone Star Film festival ’12 (TX, US)
(Official selection) BUtiful Film festival ’12 (Bournemouth, UK)
(Official selection) Dirt poor filmmakers festival ’12 (NC, US)
(Official selection) Victoria Film Festival ’13 (Victoria, Canada)
(Official selection) Pune International Film Festival ’13 (Pune,India)
(Official selection) Women and minorities in media Festival ’13 (MD, US)
(Official selection) Fort Myers Film Festival ’13 (FL, US)
(Official selection) Toronto Animation Arts Festival International (Canada, 2013)

Agamemnon Counterpart from Michael Robinson on Vimeo.
Original Recipe (made in 2005):

"In 2571 in the heap of crushed stone among the ruins of that not determined turn blue planet it was found video cassette. The fact that you intend to see, has to it no relation. This is completely different record."

Music and character drawings by Jason Kovac aka Dave From 2001 (D2K1).

Free downloadable video game based on Agamemnon Counterpart created by Jason Baum aka Giz/Gizmonicgamer (PC only)-

fileupyours.com/view/127688/Agamemnoncounterpart_gamezFINASH.rar

Another way to watch:

http://www.yooouuutuuube.com/v/?rows=16&cols=16&id=ZqzESY7SIqU&startZoom=1

Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors' Showcase 2012

Lou Reed (1942-2013): Berlin, Trainspotting, Velvet Goldmine, Red Shirley

2013-10-28T06:32:00.000-05:00

Lou Reed passed away yesterday, at age 71. The ideal tribute would be to showcase his Warhol Screen Tests, but many of those posted online have unfortunate soundtracks added. No longer streaming on Netflix, but still available on DVD, is 13 Most Beautiful...Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests, which features Reed as well as Paul America, Dennis Hopper, Nico, Edie Sedgwick, Ingrid Superstar and Mary Woronov among others (be sure to watch the tear roll down the cheek of the non-blinking Ann Buchanan). If you look hard enough, you might even find a copy of Raro Video's DVD of Vinyl and The Velvet Underground and Nico.

There are many official and unofficial streams of Velvet Underground and Lou Reed performances, and one in particular worth pointing out is the Ronald Nameth film Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable with The Velvet Underground on UbuWeb. And, of course, the first appearance of the Velvet Underground in January, 1966 at the Annual Dinner of the New York Society for Clinical Psychiatry at the Delmonico Hotel is briefly featured in various manifestations of Jonas Mekas's diary films, including Walden: Diaries, Notes, and Sketches and Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol.

There was a stretch in the late 1990s where Reed's songs appeared in several memorable cinematic moments in narrative features, most notably Trainspotting and Velvet Goldmine, which are currently streaming on Netflix (see below). Perhaps there could have been one more if he had not objected to I Shot Andy Warhol in 1996. He appears as "himself" in at least five feature films: Permanent Record (1988), Faraway, So Close! (1993), Closure (1997), Prozac Nation (2001) and Palermo Shooting (2008). He's credited in Blue in the Face (1995) as "Man with Strange Glasses" and in Lulu on the Bridge (1998) as "Not Lou Reed." He also provides the singing voice for some of Mok's songs in the animated feature Rock and Rule (1983).

I did not realize until surfing the internet tributes to Reed that he directed a 27-minute documentary short, Red Shirley (2010), about his 99-year-old cousin. Red Shirley is currently streaming at SnagFilms.

Jim Healy and the UW-Cinematheque Facebook page posted a memorial link to this collection of Lou Reed's scenes from Get Crazy (1983), which they screened last year.

Posters and Synopses from The Movie Database

Lou Reed's Berlin (Julian Schnabel, USA, 2007, 85 minutes)

Lou Reed recorded the album Berlin in 1973. It was a commercial failure. Over the next 33 years, he never performed the album live. For five nights in December 2006 at St. Ann's Warehouse Brooklyn, Lou Reed performed his masterwork about love's dark sisters: jealousy, rage and loss.

Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, UK, 1996, 93 minutes)

Renton is living the dream and that dream is Heroin. As Renton struggles with the agony and ecstasy of his life we follow him and his increasingly unstable mates. Drinking, fighting, drugs, sex and the most disgusting toilet in Scotland.

Velvet Goldmine (Todd Haynes, USA, 1998, 119 minutes)

In 1984, British newspaper reporter Arthur Stuart is investigating the career of 1970s glam rock star Brian Slade, who was heavily influenced in his early years by American rock singer Curt Wild, whose show was quite crazy for his time.

Singin' in the [Mise-en-]scène: The Wicker Man, La France, I Used to Be Darker

2013-10-25T05:00:00.000-05:00

Well, after a very lengthy Monday post, I ended up missing a few days...and now here's a short list of recommendations.

This list is inspired by the current run of Matthew Porterfield's I Used to Be Darker at Sundance Cinemas, and my recent viewing (finally) of the original The Wicker Man (unfortunately I haven't seen the restored print of The Wicker Man that has been circulating in theaters).

This is a list of films that feature singing but are not musicals, properly speaking, or are very unconventional musicals. I Used to Be Darker is not streaming yet (but I recommend putting it in your queue at GoWatchIt), so I'm adding the film that it most reminded me of, Once (2006). Okay, Once has been easily translated into a Broadway musical, but I'm not sure if it is a film musical.

What all these films share is that they engender the unique exhilaration of simply watching someone sing, especially when you're not expecting it. I think elaborating on that might ruin the experience, if you're not already familiar with these films. This list certainly is not exhaustive (I considered putting Nashville and Magnolia on the list...oh, I guess I just did), so any additional recommendations on this theme are welcome in the comments section.

Posters and Synopses from The Movie Database

The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, UK, 1973, 89 minutes)

Police sergeant Neil Howie is called to an island village in search of a missing girl whom the locals claim never existed. Stranger still, however, are the rituals that take place there.

Once (John Carney, Ireland, 2006, 85 minutes)

The Guy is a Dublin guitarist/singer-songwriter who makes a living by fixing vacuum cleaners in his Dad's Hoover repair shop by day, and singing and playing for money on the Dublin streets by night. The Girl is a Czech who plays piano when she gets a chance, and does odd jobs by day and takes care of her mom and her daughter by night.

La France (Serge Bozon, France, 2007, 102 minutes)

During the First World War, Camille (Sylvie Testud), a young woman whose husband is away fighting at the front, receives a short letter of break-up from him. Distraught, she decides to go to join him, but is driven back by the rule of the time which forbids women to move around alone. She has no other recourse than to dress herself up as a man so as to be able to take to the road on foot. As she lives near the Western Front she hooks up with a passing group of French soldiers without too much trouble. But there's something a bit odd about these stragglers, and it's not just their habit of bursting into song at every opportunity.

The American Astronaut (Cory McAbee, USA, 2001, 91 minutes)

Samual Curtis's first mission in this bizarre science fiction musical comedy requires him to take a cat to a saloon on an asteroid. There, he meets his former dance partner (the Blueberry Pirate) and collects his payment: a device capable of producing a Real Live Girl. Including music by alternative rock group The Billy Nayer Show, this film began life as a live show with a loyal following.

Stingray Sam (Cory McAbee, USA, 2009, 61 minutes)

A dangerous mission reunites Stingray Sam with his long lost accomplice, The Quasar Kid. Follow these two space-convicts as they earn their freedom in exchange for the rescue of a young girl who is being held captive by the genetically designed figurehead of a very wealthy planet.

I Used to Be Darker (Matthew Porterfield, USA, 2013, 90 minutes)

When Taryn, a Northern Irish runaway, finds herself in trouble in Ocean City, MD, she seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore. But Kim and Bill have problems of their own: they’re trying to handle the end of their marriage gracefully for the sake of their daughter Abby, just home from her first year of college. A story of family revelations, people finding each other and letting each other go, looking for love where they’ve found it before and, when that doesn’t work, figuring out where they might find it next.

Madison Film Forum: Museum Hours at MMoCA Spotlight Cinema, Oct. 24

2013-10-21T05:00:00.000-05:00

As I continue to develop ideas and content for this site, most posts will be aimed at a more general web audience while some posts will address readers in my hometown, Madison, Wisconsin. Even when I write about screenings happening here, I will provide information that readers outside of Madison hopefully will find useful.

This post is also an experiment in that the main film discussed isn't actually streaming right now, and instead I provide a link to GoWatchIt, where you can put it in a queue to notify you when it is available on one or more streaming service. Any feedback regarding this would be greatly appreciated in the comments section.

There will be some appropriate museum hours at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art for Spotlight Cinema's screening of Jem Cohen's Museum Hours, Thursday, October 24 at 7:00 p.m. Madison viewers might remember Cohen's earlier feature, Chain, at the 2006 Wisconsin Film Festival, which also won Cohen a "Someone to Watch" 2005 Independent Spirit Award. Cohen's work often focuses on urban landscapes, and Museum Hours is no different as it juxtaposes the story of a man and a woman developing a gentle friendship at the Kunsthistorisches Art Museum, with what is essentially a "city symphony"-style portrait of Vienna.

Anne (Mary Margaret O'Hara) is a self-employed (or, as she puts it, "friend-employed") Canadian who must travel with limited resources to Vienna to visit her cousin who is in a coma. After asking for directions to the hospital, she is befriended by Johann (Bobby Summer), a museum guard who shares observations about the museum with the audience via voice-over throughout the film. While Anne's visit is the catalyst for the narrative, in many ways Johann is the main protagonist for the film, because we learn a great deal more about him, ranging from his past as a punk-era band manager, to his thoughts about art, museum patrons, co-workers, and Vienna itself. Johann's actions, including his decision to provide Anna with a pass to the museum, propel the narrative forward.

Although the extent to which Johann quickly becomes involved with Anne's visit might seem a bit forced for the sake of the plot, the two leads' naturalistic performances help us forgive this as Johann and Anne develop a gentle, and to a degree mutually therapeutic, relationship. Many of the best scenes involve Anne simply asking Johann questions or requests, and Johann providing answers or assistance. One request in particular helps highlight one of the themes of the film: the impact art can have on our lives.

There are many shots of paintings in the museum (of course), and many shots of urban landscapes in Vienna. The way these shots are put together, however, reminded me of two different experimental filmmakers, Warren Sonbert and Hollis Frampton. Sonbert's own travel-inspired films often utilized so-called "polyvalent montage," where the element linking the shots within a sequence changes as the sequence progresses, and certain shots appearing much later resonate despite not being placed within a related sequence. The most obvious way of putting shots together in Museum Hours would be to have a description of a painting visualized with a shot of the painting. But in several important moments, that's not what we get. Instead, we need to look for the common denominator linking the shots, which might be some other kind of literal relation to dialogue, or some other kind of graphic connection.

When Anne asks Johann to visit her comatose cousin with her at the hospital, she also requests that Johann describe some of the paintings at the museum, with the assumption that her cousin might have visited the museum frequently and such descriptions might provide some kind of stimulation. He first describes some Rembrandt self-portraits; the description is visually illustrated by some shots in the Rembrandt gallery. But while Johann describes the most famous of the portraits, in which Rembrandt wears the clothes of a poor man because he was in fact poor at the time, that detail is not shown to us. Johann follows up with a description of Giuseppe Arcimboldo's Summer (seen here at left), but we do not see it. Instead, we stay on a profile of Johann as he describes the painting and the way children react to it. The relationship between description, visualization, and memory also will be important when I come back to Hollis Frampton, below. When the Summer description is complete, Anna requests that he describe paintings of Christ; the request is visualized at first not by paintings in the museum but by a picture and crucifix in the hospital room itself. Johann abides by describing a painting involving Christ and John the Baptist, but instead of seeing the painting, we see a frozen river and moving train in Vienna.

Johann describes the painting as having a "blue river under a blue sky,"and we get an overcast urban landscape shot. This shot has very little narrative motivation in relation to Anne, Johann, or the comatose cousin. There are a couple of ways we might link the shots in terms of "polyvalent montage." One link might be on the word "river,"as we do in fact see a river despite not seeing the river described by Johann. Another link might be the word "blue," because despite the overcast sky the shot does have a blue hue (perhaps not immediately apparent in my frame still) due to shooting outdoors at the wrong color temperature (shooting outdoors at an indoor setting will produce a blue tone, like the old Levi's 501 blues ads). The following shot, which has even less to do with the painting being described, does have a link to the previous shot due to its similar blue hue. (One could also argue a conceptual connection between the train in the first shot and the public transport vehicles in the second shot.) Meanwhile, after we return to a close-up of Anne, Johann continues his description of the Christ painting, which we have to continue to imagine for ourselves, and which he describes as "bluer than I could ever tell." This sequence, then, sets up two viewing strategies that we might find productive: first, look for shifting connections between shots in a sequence, and second, think about when the dialogue is or is not explicitly visualized by the cutaways. Also, this hospital scene develops the theme that living a life that engages with art and creating art that engages with life is important, as in this instance Johann has clearly benefited from engaging with the work he describes, and the descriptions in turn might help Anne's cousin.

Besides shifting common denominators between shots within a sequence, some shots that come much later also resonate with earlier shots. For example, we eventually do see the Rembrandt self-portrait in the poor-man's clothes, three shots after the hospital scene is over, which adds to its emotional resonance due to our memory of Johann's description. Later in the film Anne describes the experience of seeing a flock of birds looking like specks of pepper as they sat on the concrete bank of the river. In this case, her story is visualized nearly simultaneously, and her description of the birds flying away is punctuated by a shot of the birds flying away. But the shots also resonate with the earlier shot at the same (or similar) river seen with the blue hue during the description of the Christ and John the Baptist painting.

The shifting montage connections are sometimes more concrete, and at other times more abstract. One more amusing example of a concrete connection between a line of dialogue and a subsequent shot comes when Johann concludes a conversation with the observation that some people are "too worried about Turkish invasions." This is followed by what at first might seem like just another urban shot, but then we realize that inside the shop window is evidence of a kind of "Turkish invasion": hookahs. Realizing this depends on our ability to shift focus or look at different shots in different ways. Another more concrete example comes when Anne gets off a public transport and observes a series of posters. We're not sure what we are supposed to notice in the posters, but after the next shot we retroactively know that this is actually cueing a transition to the next location: the Seegrotte underground caves.

Since there are two posters, and the Casino Admiral poster is more visually striking in terms of color and design (and words in English), we might not realize at first that we're supposed to notice the Seegrotte poster. So while this technique is commonly used in narrative films to cue transitions to a new location, it is not as common to make the viewer work so hard to recognize the cue.

Other montage links work on a more purely abstract basis. Late in the film there is a series of shots of statues, which seems like a more conventional montage based on shape or type of statue. One of the shots, in fact, contains a headrest described by a pre-recorded museum guide, so it is not too difficult to understand what we are looking at or the connection between shots. Eventually we see a shot of a statue with a long head (or headdress) in the left part of the frame, with empty space on the right.

The shot lasts longer than others in the sequence, as the camera begins to slowly pan right into the empty space next to the statue. Eventually the camera stops on a space that roughly divides into three areas of color: brown, black and grey. The camera holds on this seemingly empty area for a period of time. The following shot begins a sequence in a somewhat poorly lit Viennese bar, which provides a rough graphic match of a frame divided into thirds. Before the new shot, holding on the empty space in the museum might not make sense to the casual viewer, but this is just another example of shifting the terms of the montage from the graphic qualities of the statues to the graphic qualities of the shot itself.

In addition to reminding me of the kind of polyvalent montage seen in the Sonbert's work, certain sequences in Museum Hours reminded me of Hollis Frampton's work, specifically (nostalgia), which is available on DVD through the Criterion Collection, and thus also available on Hulu Plus (see link below). To describe (nostalgia) briefly: we hear descriptions of photographs as we see photographs burn on a hot plate; the catch is that we hear the description of the photograph that we will see next, while we see the burning photograph that we have just heard described. So while we imagine a photograph we will see next based on the description, we also recall a description of the photograph as we watch it burn. Like several sequences in Museum Hours, such as Johann's description of paintings for Anne's cousin described above, (nostalgia) explores and experiments with the description, visualization, and memory of images.

The final sequence of Museum Hours seems to allude to this kind of experimentation (but I have no idea if Cohen meant to reference (nostalgia) itself). We hear a description of an image while Johann walks though the museum galleries. After a brief black screen, we fade into the image being described: an old woman walking as a tall building looms in the background. The image is framed in black, suggesting that we should consider it as an image rather than be absorbed in it as a narrative space. The discussion of this image continues as other images framed in black appear, so we have to remember the image of the woman as the description continues and we absorb new, different visual information. The rest of the sequence has some images which are described while others are not described explicitly. Along with the polyvalent montage examples described above, this kind of experimentation forces the viewer to engage with the images in ways different than conventional narrative films.

While I enjoyed the range of experimentation in Museum Hours, the film does have a few mis-steps. One is a short sequence after a discussion of nudity in art where museum patrons are themselves nude in the galleries; the sequence is a bit too arty for its own good. The other sequence involves a guest lecturer on Bruegel, which contains interesting information and several thematically important points. Unfortunately the acting in the sequence, especially compared to the easy-going interactions of Anne and Johann, seems peculiarly stiff and staged.

But overall Museum Hours is a well crafted, patient and observant independent feature film, with strong lead performances and engaging experimental techniques.

For further reading about Cohen and Museum Hours, check out this interview with Cohen at the San Francisco International Film Festival. I have also provided a link to the only Cohen film I can find officially streaming at the moment, his documentary Instrument: Ten Years with the Band Fugazi.

Posters and Synopses from The Movie Database

Museum Hours (Jem Cohen, USA, 2013, 106 minutes)

At the Kunsthistorisches Art Museum in Vienna, a museum guard and a visiting out-of-towner find refuge in life, art, and each other, in Jem Cohen’s painterly rumination on how art influences and echoes contemporary society.

Instrument: Ten Years with the Band Fugazi (Jem Cohen, USA, 1999, 115 minutes)

Shot from 1987 through 1998 on super 8, 16mm and video, Instrument is composed mainly of footage of concerts, interviews with the band members, practices, tours and time spent in the studio recording their 1995 album, Red Medicine. The film also includes portraits of fans as well as interviews with them at various Fugazi shows around the United States throughout the years.

Hapax Legomena I: (nostalgia) (Hollis Frampton, USA, 1971, 37 minutes)

In which the off-screen voice of confederate Michael Snow narrates a series of Frampton's photographs (speaking as Frampton, in the first person)—as each picture catches fire on a hot plate.

Terrence Malick: Six Films Streaming on Roku

2013-10-18T13:34:00.000-05:00

A strange thing about doing these posts is that I discover strange patterns in my viewing habits, and what I have and haven't seen. For example, as I discovered that all of Terrence Malick's films are available through one service or another on Roku, I also realized that for some reason I have only seen the middle three: The Thin Red Line, The New World, and The Tree of Life. I have at least some excuse for missing To the Wonder, which only played on the big screen once on the UW-Madison campus, but it appeared relatively quickly on Netflix streaming, so I should have caught up with it by now. I really have no excuse for not seeing Days of Heaven; I even owned a copy of it when it first came out on DVD, but those were the days when you were never quite sure if all of the DVD authoring would be compatible with your particular DVD player, and since I could never get it to play in the correct aspect ratio, I never watched it.

Everyone was pretty excited when The Thin Red Line came out in 1998, Malick's first feature in 20 years; since then he has been downright prolific, with the last two features coming out in consecutive years. As you may recall, there was some pretty odd responses to his Palm d'Or winning The Tree of Life when it came out in 2011. Several theaters felt it was necessary to post a consumer warning at the box office, perhaps because some irate customers might have been expecting something more conventional from a movie with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.

Pictured is the placard I came across when I saw the film at Thalian Hall in Wilmington, North Carolina.

I offer no such warning here. Instead I encourage you to explore some of the most gorgeous images in American cinema, from the Oscar-winning cinematography in Days of Heaven by Nestor Alemendros, to the most adorable baby's feet you've ever seen in The Tree of Life.

Posters and Synopses from The Movie Database

To the Wonder (Terrence Malick, USA, 2012, 112 minutes)

A romantic drama centered on a man who reconnects with a woman from his hometown after his marriage to a European woman falls apart.

The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, USA, 2011, 139 minutes)

The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.

The New World (Terrence Malick, USA, 2005, 135 minutes)

A drama about explorer John Smith and the clash between Native Americans and English settlers in the 17th century.

The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, USA, 1998, 170 minutes)

Based on the graphic novel by James Jones, The Thin Red Line tells the story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived. A powerful frontline cast - including Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Woody Harrelson and George Clooney - explodes into action in this hauntingly realistic view of military and moral chaos in the Pacific during World War II.

(Until 10/31/13)

Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, USA, 1978, 94 minutes)

In 1910, a Chicago steel worker accidentally kills his supervisor and flees to the Texas panhandle with his girlfriend and little sister to work harvesting wheat in the fields of a stoic farmer. A love triangle, a swarm of locusts, a hellish fire—Malick captures it all with dreamlike authenticity, creating at once a timeless American idyll and a gritty evocation of turn-of-the-century labor.

Badlands (Terrence Malick, USA, 1973, 94 minutes)

Dramatization of the Starkweather-Fugate killing spree of the 1950's, in which a teenage girl and her twenty-something boyfriend slaughtered her entire family and several others in the Dakota badlands.

Television: The Prisoner, The Tulse Luper Suitcases

2013-10-16T12:43:00.000-05:00

Only time for a brief entry today, so I'll call your attention to one of my favorite television shows of all time, and another that I have in my queue in its various forms.

Crackle is a free, ad-supported streaming service; it doesn't have a lot, but it does have a few gems. I'm probably making a mistake writing such a short post to call your attention to The Prisoner, about which I could go on and on. For now it is enough to say that it is one of the best, and certainly the most imaginative television series ever made. Recently Dangerous Minds posted a link to an interesting interview with the creator and star of The Prisoner, Patrick McGoohan; I recommend watching at least a few episodes before listening to the interview.

The YouTube description of the video provides a link to a web version of the book, The Prisoner Puzzle, published in 1976.

Again, probably a mistake to try to briefly discuss Peter Greenaway's multi-media project The Tulse Luper Suitcases, which Wikipedia describes as "initially intended to comprise four films, three 'source' and one feature, a 16-episode TV series, and 92 DVDs, as well as Web sites, CD-ROMs and books." The official website for the project describes it as, "a personal history of Uranium by Peter Greenaway." One of the supplementary websites, The Tulse Luper Journey, is an interactive game where "players are required to assemble a 92 minute movie from "layers" obtained by completing short puzzles/games, each which then open one of 92 suitcases containing a piece of the 92 minute movie" (Wikipedia). Fans of Greenaway will recognize Tulse Luper as a mysterious figure in several of his early short films, including one of my favorites, Vertical Features Remake.

Three different manifestations of the project are available to stream on Netflix. Three films, The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story; The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vaux to the Sea; and The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish, are all available in one Netflix entry (listed like three episodes of a television show). From there you can go long, or you can go short: The TV Series is 16 episodes, and another feature film, A Life in Suitcases, is 120 minutes long. I have not yet ventured very far into this project, but the Netflix member reviews on most of these pages are worth the clicks alone.

The Prisoner (1967, 1 Season, 17 Episodes)

The Tulse Luper Suitcases (2003, 3 Episodes)

The Tulse Luper Suitcases - The TV Series (2004, 1 Season, 16 Episodes)

A Life in Suitcases (Peter Greenaway, UK, 2005, 120 minutes)

In Focus: Room 237 and the Interpretive Leap

2013-10-14T10:00:00.000-05:00

It is interesting that a poster for Room 237 draws upon an iconic image of the carpet on the second floor of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining, but it doesn't use the carpet in Room 237 itself. The now famous interlocking hexagons are quite visually striking even if you are not familiar with Kubrick or The Shining; but if you are familiar with them, the image provides a starting point for various interpretations of the film and Kubrick's style. Young Danny himself seems to interpret the strong angular lines as borders and barriers as he keeps his cars lined up within the orange lines as if they were roads. Is it that far of a leap, therefore, to assert that Kubrick placed Danny just as precisely within the hexagon so that the yellow ball would roll up the brown line to reach him? That seems like staging by an experienced director working within a vivid production design. But can we then say that Kubrick "traps" Danny in the hexagon, and that the rolling ball violates or transcends the barriers to reach him? Now we're moving into what these staging and production design decisions mean, not what the decisions are or what we literally see on the screen. That move to interpretation is what filmmaker Rodney Ascher is interested in exploring with his subjects.

M.P. King, Wisconsin State Journal

The Outlook Hotel carpet design so jarring that it must be a decision with some intention (right?). Anyone who has visited the Frank Lloyd
Wright-designed Monona Terrace in Madison knows that a jarring carpet has many effects on those subjected to it. But while the Monona Terrace carpet has been controversial over the years, the controversy has not been about what the carpet "means." That controversy has been more about what the intention of the carpet should be and whether it does or does not make visitors feel welcome. The Outlook Hotel carpet is equally jarring, but people tend to make the move to narrative or thematic interpretations right away, rather than dwell on the psychological effects of color, shape, and pattern. It's not just that the interlocking hexagons suggest a puzzle, it's that the solution to the puzzle is not immediately obvious. Thus the image of the carpet is perfect for the poster for a film about people who have spent a lot of time with the puzzle of The Shining.

The carpet in Room 237 itself, on the other hand, would make a horrible poster for the film, because it is too obvious. It is about as subtle as a Georgia O'Keefe flower painting. Nobody wants to talk (or hear) about obvious phallic symbols, they only want to talk about the hidden symbols, the ones that you need some degree of skill or a hermeneutic code to find and decipher. Still, the discussion of the carpet in Room 237 is one of the more effective sections of the documentary, because it did reveal a detail that was not immediately obvious from a casual viewing of The Shining (which I revisited a few days before watching Room 237). Ascher has to do an optical (or digital) zoom-in during Jack Torrence's point-of-view shot walking through Room 237 to reveal this detail, much like the participants in the documentary had to repeatedly watch the film first on VHS and then on DVD. And while I admit groaning and rolling my eyes when the Room 237 carpet detail appeared, its relationship to other stylistic choices prompts further questions and reflection. The phallic shape in the design is its least interesting aspect; far more interesting is how the design echoes yet diverges from the hexagonal carpet. And once you have that relationship in your head, you start thinking about how both designs relate to other stylistic choices in the mise-en-scene, most obviously the hedge maze.

Calling this a motif is not yet assigning meaning, it is simply observing the repetition and variation of graphic elements in the mise-en-scene. This repetition and variation is not a matter of subjective response; it is not my opinion that these elements repeat, it is a fact that they repeat. But once these repetitions and motifs are observed, most people quickly make the move to interpretation. What does it mean that Danny is inside the hexagonal pattern and inside the center of the maze in these shots? What does it mean that the Room 237 carpet and the hedge maze feature the color green? What does it mean that Wendy is with Danny inside the hedge maze when we compare the maze to the two carpets? Do the answers to these questions affect our response to the climactic chase in the hedge maze? If stylistic decisions cue us to draw comparisons between these moments in the film, what is the point (or intention) of the comparison? It is the process of answering questions of interpretation that Ascher focuses on in Room 237 by interviewing five perverse spectators of the film: Bill Blakemore, Geoffey Cocks, Juli Kearns, John Fell Ryan, and Jay Weidner. (In addition to their biographies on at the Room 237 website, you can follow the name links to their web resources).

I do not call them perverse spectators as an insult. Room 237 exemplifies the tradition of what film academics call "reception studies." A good starting point for those interested in reception studies is Janet Steiger's book from 2000, Perverse Spectators: The Practices of Film Reception. Those who reject the interpretations in Room 237 are usually missing the point. It is irrelevant whether or not the interpretations are "right or wrong"; Ascher is more interested in how these spectators have used these images and sounds and this story to create a range of meanings. That said, I found some observations and interpretations more compelling than others, but even when I was less compelled Ascher conveys the interpretations in interesting ways.

To start with a less compelling observation and interpretation, I was not particularly swayed by Juli Kearns's argument about the skiing poster and the minotaur. To paraphrase and perhaps oversimplify her point, she suggests that it makes no sense for the skiing poster to be in the Outlook Hotel game room, because in the opening interview scene Stuart Ullman explains to Jack Torrence that the Outlook Hotel cannot stay open during the winter and cater to the skiing market because it is too logistically difficult to do so. But she seems to assume that skiing posters would only appear in venues that cater to skiers. It seems to me to be perfectly plausible that a game room anywhere in Colorado might have a skiing poster, regardless if the venue actually served skiers. (Would it be difficult to find a skiing poster in a bar in downtown Denver or Boulder?)

Even if we accept her premise that the poster shouldn't be there, I also found the description and the analysis of the poster itself problematic. Despite the fact that she insists that it is a minotour, at best I would describe it as a skier whose silhouette happens to suggest a minotour when you look at it in a certain way. Both the poster and the minotaur are then building blocks for larger points that I won't paraphrase here. But to repeat my earlier point, it is irrelevant whether I agree with her observations or interpretations. Ascher vividly visualizes her observations by guiding our attention to parts of the original frame (using arrows, or in this case, a square), and by enlarging and panning over parts of the frame like Ken Burns would do to a Civil War photograph. He effectively matches the rhythm of the speaker's voice with the rhythm of the visual presentation, often transforming Kubrick's original static and stoic compositions into something more dynamic and frenzied.

Far more compelling, in my opinion, is Kearns's observation about the "impossible window." It is more compelling because rather than building upon a possibly faulty inference about information conveyed in the story, the "impossible window" observation is built upon some pretty clever work with mapping out the layout of the Overlook Hotel after many, many repeated viewings.

The "impossible window" discussion reminded me of the very amusing promo for a Kubrick retrospective on More4 in England.

As crazy as the space in the promo is, in spirit it is not that far off from how odd the space in the Overlook Hotel set is once you stop to think about it, or as Kearns and others have done, once you stop to map it out. Again, Ascher very vividly presents the work that Kearns and others have done and indeed the "impossible window" argument is hard to refute when it seems there should be not one but (at least) two hallways between the office and the outdoors. This observation and others support a general argument that several of the subjects put forth, that the spatial inconsistencies and what usually would be called continuity errors are part of Kubrick's deliberate designs and intentions.

The fact that a chair disappears in the middle of a shot-reverse-shot conversation scene, or that Jack's typewriter changes color in different scenes in the film could be part of an intentional design. Artists deliberately putting mysterious elements in their work is not without precedent, in cinema and the other arts. One subject briefly mentions James Joyce; recall that Joyce once said about his Ulysses, “I’ve put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that’s the only way of insuring one’s immortality.” There are other possible explanations for some of these inconsistencies, of course. One being that they may simply be the type of continuity errors typical of films that feature performers who are allowed to improvise (as the Room 237 mentions Kubrick allowed Nicholson to do). There are possible narrative explanations as well: it seems perfectly plausible that a professional writer using a manual typewriter in 1980 would bring more than one with him if he were to spend a winter isolated from the nearest typewriter repair shop (there's nothing in the film itself that directly supports this inference, however).

Other examples of breaks in spatial continuity are more compelling, in addition to the "impossible window," including one that returns us back to Danny on the second floor carpet. These two shots in front of Danny are separated only by one brief wider shot behind him looking down the empty hallway after the yellow ball has rolled up to him, so this is supposed to be continuous time. As you can see, in the first shot Danny faces the "open" side of the hexagon (and as I mentioned at the beginning, the yellow ball draws our attention to the brown line leading up to him). In the second shot Danny faces the "closed" side of the hexagon. Unlike some of the more typical continuity errors, this seems like a deliberate attempt to mess with our heads using visual style. The question then becomes whether this is part of a larger pattern or system, and Room 237 does give other examples of discontinuities that seem more than just mistakes, like entrances and exits from what is supposed to be the same room that the maps show us are in completely different places on the set.

While I seem to be more interested in the formal observations in Room 237 over the socio-political speculations about The Shining, I don't mean to completely dismiss the possibility that The Shining has something to say about the monsters we have made or the horrors that we have inflicted on ourselves through history. One can legitimately use almost anything to help analyze or explain another thing; for example, I used the seemingly unrelated Monona Terrace carpet to help make a point about the function of the carpets in The Shining. So while I have no objection to using The Shining to discuss the genocide of American Indians or the Holocaust, it is a fair question to ask to what degree these interpretations offer any explanatory power. Or, to ask what they actually help explain. The explanatory power of my Monona Terrace carpet example is very focused and limited, and it probably would be a mistake to use it in a more wide-reaching way to interpret or explain The Shining (or Western civilization). So, while I'm not interested in calling these readings "wrong," it is worth asking what The Shining actually "says" about genocide beyond "It is bad that we have been so capabale of extreme violence, on small and large scales, throughout history," which we hopefully knew just as well before watching The Shining. Or, to ask this another way, aren't most horror films also about the monsters we have been or are capable of becoming?

I don't want to push that line of questioning too hard, however, because Room 237 isn't so much about The Shining as it is about what its subjects have done with The Shining. So what is Ascher's argument about these interpretations? While for the most part he simply allows the subjects to speak while he illustrates their points, at times his stylistic choices could imply a degree of skepticism. For example, while he uses arrows and boxes to draw our attention to the part of the frame being discussed, in the sequence discussing the alleged image of Kubrick in the clouds he does not do so, leaving us to stare and wonder if Ascher thinks it is there. In terms of visual style, the film often reminded me of an Adam Curtis documentary, using archival footage, from Kubrick and non-Kubrick sources, to punctuate or counter-point the subject's voice-overs. Like a Curtis documentary, sometimes the footage is used excessively to a fault; the connections with some Kubrick films, like Paths of Glory, seem a bit too forced. One problem I had with the overall presentation was that it was difficult to remember to whom the voices belonged, and mentally I had to resort to short-cuts like "Oh, it's the American Indians guy," or "the Holocaust guy," "the laughing guy with the kid," or "the Apollo conspiracy guy" (Kearns voice, as the only woman, was obviously easier to recognize). I liked the decision to keep them all off-screen, but the heart of the film depends upon the ethos of these speakers, yet we're not entirely sure who they are.

Perhaps the one exception to that would be Jay Weidner, but that could be because makes the most audacious and memorable claims of the bunch, especially that Kubrick directed the staged footage of the Apollo missions. Below I have included Amazon Instant Video links if you are interested in renting Weidner's two films on Kubrick; part one seems to be devoted entirely to Kubrick and Apollo. Personally, I don't know if I want to go much further down that rabbit hole. But if you do, please let me know your reactions in the comments section below. (Also, one last streaming point: Weidner's website points out that he is the programming director for Gaiam TV, which is a channel available on the Roku Streaming Player.)

Here are a few other films that are currently streaming (either subscription service or rentals) that you might want to check out, including, of course, Room 237 and The Shining.

[Edit: Within hours of this post I received a nice response and kind words from Kevin McLeod, who does the commentary track for the Room 237 DVD. For those who have seen the film, he is referenced as Mstrmnd.]

Posters and Synopses from The Movie Database

Room 237 (Rodney Ascher, USA, 2012, 102 minutes)

A subjective documentary that explores the numerous theories about the hidden meanings within Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining. The film may be over 30 years old but it continues to inspire debate, speculation, and mystery. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments. Together they'll draw the audience into a new maze, one with endless detours and dead ends, many ways in, but no way out.

The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, USA/UK, 1980, 142 minutes)

Jack Torrance accepts a job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy and their son Danny must live isolated from the rest of the world for the winter, but they aren't prepared for the madness that lurks within.

Twelve Kubrick films are streaming on various services on the Roku Streaming Player. Most of them are rentals, but the titles available with subscription services include Eyes Wide Shut (Redbox Instant), Dr. Strangelove, and The Killing (both Amazon Prime)

Kubrick's Odyssey: Secrets Hidden in the Films of Stanley Kubrick, Part One, Kubrick and Apollo (Jay Weidner, USA, 2011, 70 minutes)

This provocative and insightful film is the first in a series of documentaries that will reveal the secret knowledge embedded in the work of the greatest filmmaker of all time: Stanley Kubrick. This famed movie director who made films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut, placed symbols and hidden anecdotes into his films that tell a far different story than the films appeared to be saying. In Kubrick's Odyssey, Part I, Kubrick and Apollo, author and filmmaker, Jay Weidner presents compelling evidence of how Stanley Kubrick directed the Apollo moon landings.

Kubrick's Odyssey II: Beyond the Infinite Secrets Hidden in the Films of Stanley Kubrick (Jay Weidner, USA, 2012, 62 minutes)

This provocative and insightful film is the second in a series of documentaries that will reveal the secret knowledge embedded in the work of the greatest filmmaker of all time: Stanley Kubrick. This famed movie director who made films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut, placed symbols and hidden anecdotes into his films that tell a far different story than the films appeared to be saying. In Kubrick's Odyssey, Part II, Beyond the Infinite, author and filmmaker, Jay Weidner further explores the esoteric secrets allegedly hidden in Kubrick's films.

Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (Jan Harlan, USA, 2001, 141 minutes)

A documentary about the life and work of Stanley Kubrick, famed film director, made by his long-time assistant Jan Harlan. 135 minutes long, it consists of several 15-minute chapters, each detailing the making of one of his films - and two more showing his childhood and life.

Color Me Kubrick (Brian Cook, UK, 2005, 86 minutes)

The true story of a man who posed as director Stanley Kubrick during the production of Kubrick's last film, Eyes Wide Shut, despite knowing very little about his work and looking nothing like him.

Madison Film Forum: MMoCA Spotlight Cinema Screening "American Promise"

2013-10-10T13:03:00.000-05:00

While the target audience for this blog will be anyone, anywhere with access to streaming resources, I will also post occasional entries tagged "Madison Film Forum" which will feature news and information related to screenings and events in Madison, Wisconsin. A permanent Madison Film Forum page with links to Madison venues and resources can be found by following the link in the navigation bar (last link, upper right of any page).

Just a quick post for Madison readers: the Spotlight Cinema series at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art begins tonight at 7:00 p.m. with a screening of the acclaimed documentary American Promise. Check out Rob Thomas's preview of the series at his Madison Movie blog. I've also added American Promise reviews in the Madison Film Forum Flipboard Magazine.

Below is the complete schedule from the MMoCA website; be sure to follow the link to find additional links to trailers for the films. Unfortunately, I will not be able to make most of these screenings. So I strongly encourage Madison readers to go and support programmers Tom Yoshikami and Mike King and their efforts, and please post your reactions to tonight's film in the comment box below.

From the Spotlight Cinema page on the MMoCA website:

This fall, MMoCA’s Spotlight Cinema will feature Madison premieres of five critically acclaimed and award-winning documentary and feature films. The series, which is curated by Mike King and Tom Yoshikami, screens on selected Thursday evenings through the fall; see schedule below. Admission is free for MMoCA members and $7 per screening for the general public. Ticket sales begin at 6:30 pm in the museum’s lobby.

Spotlight Cinema is a program of MMoCA’s education department. The series is generously funded by maiahaus and Venture Investors, LLC.

SCHEDULE

October 10 · 7 pm
American Promise
2013, USA, 140 min., HD
Dirs.: Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson

The series kicks off Thursday, October 10 with American Promise. Filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson turned the camera on themselves and began documenting their five-year-old son, Idris, and his best friend, Seun, as they started kindergarten at the prestigious Dalton School. Their cameras followed both families for another twelve years as the paths of the two boys diverged—one continued private school while the other pursued a different route through the public education system.

American Promise is an epic and ground-breaking documentary charged with the hope that every child can reach his or her full potential and contribute to a better future for our country. It calls into question commonly held assumptions about educational access and what factors influence academic performance. Stephenson and Brewster deliver a rare, intimate, and emotional portrait of black middle-class family life, humanizing the unique journey of African-American boys as they face the real-life hurdles society poses for young men of color, inside and outside the classroom. (Description from the Sundance Film Festival)

October 17 · 7 pm
Our Children (À perdre la raison)
2012, Belgium/France, 111 min., HD
Dir.: Joachim Lafosse
Cast: Émilie Dequenne, Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup

Thirteen years after her indelible performance in Rosetta, Émilie Dequenne was again awarded Best Actress the Cannes Film Festival for Our Children. She stars as Murielle, whose marriage to Moroccan-born Mounir is put under duress when they move in with Andre, his wealthy adoptive father. Andre’s surface generosity soon proves suffocating, and his closeness with Mounir makes Murielle a pawn in her own family. Based on a harrowing true story, this powerful psychodrama recalls A Woman Under the Influence by way of Gaslight. “Nothing short of revelatory… you’ll be convinced [Dequenne] may be the best European actor of her generation” – Time Out New York.

October 24 · 7 pm
Museum Hours
2012, Austria/USA, 107 min., HD
Dir.: Jem Cohen
Cast: Mary Margaret O’Hara, Bobby Sommer, Ela Piplits

This thoroughly modern film from independent cinema icon Jem Cohen unfolds largely amongst the 16th century masterworks hanging in the hushed galleries of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum. Anne, a Canadian in town to visit her hospitalized cousin, forges an unlikely bond with Johann, a wryly philosophical museum guard. Drawing on his actor’s biographies and freely incorporating documentary interludes, Cohen treats his characters with the reverence usually reserved for the Rembrandts displayed around them, crafting a deeply human, serene and soulful portrait of cross-cultural friendship. “Quietly amazing, sneakily sublime… this movie is rigorously and intensely lifelike, which is to say that it’s also a strange and moving work of art” – A.O. Scott – New York Times. “Rapturous. A film of such intelligence and originality that ‘radical’ seems the only accurate word” – Village Voice.

November 7 · 7 pm
Let the Fire Burn
2013, USA, 95 min, HD
Dir.: Jason Osder

In the astonishingly gripping Let the Fire Burn, first time documentarian Jason Osder crafts a found-footage film that unfurls with the tension of a great thriller. On May 13, 1985, a longtime feud between the city of Philadelphia and the radical black liberation group MOVE came to a deadly climax. By order of local authorities, police dropped military-grade explosives onto a MOVE-occupied row house. TV cameras captured the inferno that quickly escalated and ultimately resulted in the tragic deaths of 11 people (including five children) and the destruction of 61 homes. It was only later discovered that authorities decided to “...let the fire burn.” Using only archival news coverage and interviews, Osder brings to life a tumultuous and largely forgotten clash between government and citizens in modern American history.

December 5 · 7 pm
Bastards (Les salauds)
2013, France, 100 min., HD
Dir.: Claire Denis
Cast: Vincent Lindon, Chiara Mastroianni, Julie Bataille, Michel Subor

Mysterious and enveloping, the latest cinematic puzzle box from French master Claire Denis (Beau Travail, White Material) follows one family’s unraveling at the hand of a wealthy businessman. Loosely inspired by William Faulkner’s Sanctuary and Akira Kurosawa’s The Bad Sleep Well, this labyrinthine descent into the darkest realms of capitalism, crime, and family is impossible to shake off. Shooting digitally for the first time, Denis beautifully brings her signature atmospheric, elliptical style into a new age. “The rarest of cinematic objects – a completely contemporary, disturbingly relevant film noir” – Amy Taubin, Sight and Sound. Official Selection, 2013 Cannes, New York Film Festivals.

Coen Brothers: Fifteen Films Streaming on Roku

2013-10-09T10:28:00.000-05:00

The buzz for the new film from Joel and Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis, continues to grow after its New York Film Festival screening. Besides Rotten Tomatoes, where the Tomatometer rating stands at 89%, a good survey of the current reviews for the film can be found at IndieWire. As further proof of the Coens' ongoing popularity, InstantWatcher has rated the newly available Fargo as one of the most streamed titles in the last 24 hours.

As it turns out, all of the 15 films written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen are available through various services on the Roku Streaming Device. Five of them are available for free with a subscription (which as we know, ain't free): Miller's Crossing (Netflix, Amazon Prime), Barton Fink (Netflix, Amazon Prime), The Hudsucker Proxy (Amazon Prime), Fargo (Netflix, Amazon Prime), and Intolerable Cruelty (Netflix). Most other titles are available through Amazon and Vudu, as well as some other services (simply use the search function on the Roku). I've listed the titles below in chronological order, using Netflix as the default subscription link and Vudu as the rental link (unless, as in the case of No Country for Old Men, Amazon is cheaper).

Posters and Synopses from The Movie Database

Blood Simple (Joel Coen, USA, 1984, 97 minutes)
A rich but jealous man hires a private investigator to kill his cheating wife and her new man. But, when blood is involved, nothing is simple.

Raising Arizona (Joel Coen, USA, 1987, 93 minutes)
The Coen Brothers tell the story of a absurd yet likable family with an unproductive couple as the focal point. The couple has gotten themselves into some trouble while kidnapping a baby and give Hollywood one of the most memorable chase scenes to date.

Miller's Crossing (Joel Coen, USA, 1990, 114 minutes)
Miller’s Crossing is the Coen brothers' first successful attempt at reaching a wider audience. They illustrate an atypical Mafia story that sways away from the typical films from the genre like The Godfather or Goodfellas. Taking place during Prohibition, this film is an incredible piece of work accompanied by superb acting performances.

Barton Fink (Joel Coen, USA, 1991, 116 minutes)
New York intellectual playwright Barton Fink comes to Hollywood to work as a screenwriter. Staying in the eerie Hotel Earle, Barton develops severe writer's block when his studio boss orders the serious-minded Barton to write a low budget wrestling movie. His neighbor, jovial insurance salesman Charlie Meadows, tries to help, but Barton continues to struggle as a bizarre sequence of events distracts him even further from his task.

The Hudsucker Proxy (Joel Coen, USA, 1994, 111 minutes)
When Waring Hudsucker, head of hugely successful Hudsucker Industries, commits suicide, his board of directors, led by Sidney Mussberger, comes up with a brilliant plan to make a lot of money: appoint a moron to run the company. When the stock falls low enough, Sidney and friends can buy it up for pennies on the dollar, take over the company, and restore its fortunes. They choose idealistic Norville Barnes, who just started in the mail room. Norville is whacky enough to drive any company to ruin, but soon, tough reporter Amy Archer smells a rat and begins an undercover investigation of Hudsucker Industries.

Fargo (Joel Coen, USA, 1996, 97 minutes)
Jerry, a small-town Minnesota car salesman is bursting at the seams with debt... but he's got a plan. He's going to hire two thugs to kidnap his wife in a scheme to collect a hefty ransom from his wealthy father-in-law. It's going to be a snap and nobody's going to get hurt... until people start dying. Enter Police Chief Marge, a coffee-drinking, parka-wearing - and extremely pregnant - investigator who'll stop at nothing to get her man. And if you think her small-time investigative skills will give the crooks a run for their ransom... you betcha!

The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen, USA, 1998, 117 minutes)
Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski is the ultimate LA slacker, until one day his house is broken into and his rug is peed on by two angry gangsters who have mistaken him for Jeffrey Lebowski, the LA millionaire, whose wife owes some bad people some big money. The Dude becomes entangled in the plot when he goes to visit the real Lebowski in order to get some retribution for his soiled rug, and is recruited to be the liason between Lebowski and the captors of his now "kidnapped" wife.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Joel Coen, USA, 2000, 106 minutes)
O’Brother, Where Art Thou? is a Coen Brother's film roughly based on Homer’s “Odyssey.” Taking place in the deep south in the 1930’s the film tells the story of three escaped prison workers and their journey for a buried treasure. On their journey they come across many comical characters and incredible situations.

The Man Who Wasn't There (Joel Coen, USA, 2001, 116 minutes)
A tale of passion, crime and punishment set in the summer of 1949. Ed Crane, a barber in a small California town, is dissatisfied with his life, but his wife Doris' infidelity presents him with a chance to change it.

Intolerable Cruelty (Joel Coen, USA, 2003, 100 minutes)
A revenge-seeking gold digger marries a womanizing Beverly Hills lawyer with the intention of making a killing in the divorce.

The Ladykillers (Joel & Ethan Coen, USA, 2004, 104 minutes)
An eccentric, if not charming Southern professor and his crew pose as a band in order to rob a casino, all under the nose of his unsuspecting landlord: a sharp old woman.

No Country for Old Men (Joel & Ethan Coen, USA, 2007, 122 minutes)
Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh comes looking for it, with local sheriff Ed Tom Bell hot on his trail. The roles of prey and predator blur as the violent pursuit of money and justice collide.

Burn After Reading (Joel & Ethan Coen, USA, 2008, 95 minutes)
This is comedic tale of espionage. An ousted CIA official's memoir accidentally falls into the hands of two unwise gym employees intent on exploiting their find.

A Serious Man (Joel & Ethan Coen, USA, 2009, 105 minutes)
A Serious Man is the story of an ordinary man's search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and F-Troop is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous acquaintances, Sy Ableman.

True Grit (Joel & Ethan Coen, USA, 2010, 110 minutes)
Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney, 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. Marshal she can find, a man with "true grit," Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. Mattie insists on accompanying Cogburn, whose drinking, sloth, and generally reprobate character do not augment her faith in him. Against his wishes, she joins him in his trek into the Indian Nations in search of Chaney. They are joined by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, who wants Chaney for his own purposes. The unlikely trio find danger and adventure on the journey, and each has his or her "grit" tested.

Madison Film Forum: October 29 UW Cinematheque Digital Projector Benefit

2013-10-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

UW Cinematheque Digital Transition Benefit Screening
Nosferatu the Vampyre (Werner Herzog, West Germany, 1979, 107 minutes)
Tuesday, October 29 @ 7:00 p.m.
Sundance Cinemas, 430 N. Midvale Blvd (Hilldale Shopping Center)
Tickets: $20.00 https://itkt.choicecrm.net/templates/UWFF/

I will follow up soon with some thoughts about the importance of having a digital projector in downtown Madison, and the positive and negative consequences of having that projector in 4070 Vilas Hall. But for now I hope everyone will mark their calendar and try to make this screening. Or just buy a ticket, or just donate some money.

A good starting point for those interested in the ongoing saga of the film industry's conversion to digital projection is David Bordwell's (appropriately digital) book, Pandora’s Digital Box: Films, Files, and the Future of Movies.

If we can get past the unfortunate timing of screening a Klaus Kinski vampire film at a benefit shortly after Kinski's daughter, Pola, has released a book with some pretty unpleasant claims about him, this screening will provide a strong capstone to the UW Cinematheque's Werner Herzog series. You can catch the film and still have plenty of time to get down to State Street on a Halloween week night.

Press Release from the UW Cinematheque blog:

NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE - SPECIAL BENEFIT SCREENING
Friday, October 4th, 2013
Posted by Jim Healy
CINEMATHEQUE PRESS RELEASE -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 4, 2013

UW CINEMATHEQUE & WISCONSIN FILM FESTIVAL PRESENT BENEFIT SCREENING OF HERZOG’S “NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE”
OCTOBER 29 SCREENING AT SUNDANCE CINEMAS IS FUNDRAISER FOR BRINGING DIGITAL CINEMA TO UW-MADISON CAMPUS

In conjunction with their current series tributes to Werner Herzog and the International Horror Film, the UW Cinematheque, in partnership with the Wisconsin Film Festival, will present a benefit screening of Herzog’s 1979 chiller NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE (NOSFERATU: PHANTOM DER NACHT). The screening will take place Halloween week on Tuesday, October 29 at 7 p.m. at the Sundance Cinemas in Madison, 430 N. Midvale Blvd. The screening will serve as a benefit for the Cinematheque, which is seeking funds to install a new digital projector and server in their regular venue at 4070 Vilas Hall. These upgrades will also benefit the Wisconsin Film Festival, which annually holds its event at the Cinematheque venue.

Tickets are $20 each and can be purchased online through the Wisconsin Film Festival’s website here: https://itkt.choicecrm.net/templates/UWFF/

A remake of F.W. Murnau’s horror classic, Herzog’s NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE is itself an outstanding contribution to the vampire genre. Unavailable for big screen showings for several years, the film’s visually sumptuous quality extends to its cast, which includes Klaus Kinski as the notorious and hideous count, the beautiful Isabelle Adjani as Lucy Harker, the vampire’s prey, and acclaimed actor Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Harker. Simultaneously shot in German and English versions, NOSFERATU will be screened in a newly restored DCP of the German version, with English subtitles.

Over the last two years, the vast majority of commercial cinemas in the U.S. and around the world have made the transition from exhibiting movies on 35mm film prints to screening them via DCP (Digital Cinema Package). DCP provides a bright, clear digital image in a lightweight, compact format that is immune to the type of damage and degradation of sound and picture that a 35mm print incurs during its lifetime.

While the UW Cinematheque has remained committed to screening 35mm, most major studios and independent distributors are proceeding with plans to make movies available only on DCP in the near future. This ongoing transition applies not only to new releases, but in some cases to the catalogue holdings of these studios and distributors - holdings that represent decades of cinema history. Even archives and museums, in an effort to preserve the original elements, are now loaning film titles that have been transferred to DCP.

Changes are coming to the Cinematheque that will allow our regular audiences, and audiences for the Wisconsin Film Festival, more opportunities to discover cinema’s past, present, and future. For this to happen, it will be necessary for our projection booth to be upgraded with a new projector and digital server in compliance with current industry standards. Our new equipment will give us the ability to alternate between film prints and DCPs.

This fundraising initiative has a target of $50,000 and over $10,000 has already been raised. Donations are currently being accepted by the Cinematheque’s Friends of Film fund at http://cinema.wisc.edu/donate.

A benefit screening of NOSFERATU: THE VAMPYRE on Tuesday October 29, 7 p.m. at:

Sundance Cinemas
430 N. Midvale Blvd.
Madison, WI 53705

Tickets: $20.

Tickets can be purchased here: https://itkt.choicecrm.net/templates/UWFF/

NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE (NOSFERATU: PHANTOM DER NACHT)
West Germany | 1979 | DCP | 107 min. | German with English subtitles
Director: Werner Herzog
Cast: Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, Bruno Ganz
Herzog’s remake of F.W. Murnau’s horror classic is itself an outstanding contribution to the vampire genre. The film’s visually sumptuous quality extends to its cast, especially Kinski as the notorious and hideous count and the beautiful Isabelle Adjani as Lucy Harker, the vampire’s prey.

For inquiries, please contact Jim Healy, jehealy@wisc.edu or 608-263-9643.

See you at the Movies!

Jim Healy, Director of Programming

Alfonso Cuarón: Six Films Currently Streaming on Roku

2013-10-05T16:34:00.000-05:00

Everyone seems very excited about Alfonso Cuarón's first feature film in seven years, Gravity. It currently has a Tomatometer Rating of 98%, with many critics echoing Joe Morgenstern's assertion that "motion pictures have been with us since the middle of the 19th century, but there's never been one like Gravity." The film apparently made $17 million on opening day, and is on pace to earn $50 million this weekend.

Seems like a good time to catch up with Cuarón's previous work. Here are six Cuarón films currently available for streaming through subscription or pay-per-view services, from oldest to newest. If you haven't seen Children of Men, scroll down to the end of the list and watch it immediately (what have you been doing these past seven years?) I was surprised that the portmanteau film Paris, je t'taime / Paris, I Love You was not currently streaming; please let me know in the comments if I'm wrong about that. When films are available on multiple services, I'll just provide a link to the least expensive option.

Posters and Synopses from The Movie Database

Solo con tu pareja / Love in the Time of Hysteria (Alfonso Cuarón, Mexico, 1991, 94 minutes)

Tomás Tomás (Giménez Cacho) is a young yuppie playboy. Silvia (Liubomirova), the victim of one of his adventures, tries to get back at him by typing "positive" on his AIDS test. Tomás, trying to end his life, meets Clarissa (Ramírez), a flight attendant, who is also trying to kill herself after finding out her fiance is having an affair.

A Little Princess (Alfonso Cuarón, USA, 1995, 97 minutes)

When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend the same boarding school her late mother attended. She soon clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who attempts to stifle Sara's creativity and sense of self- worth.

Great Expectations (Alfonso Cuarón, USA, 1998, 111 minutes)

Based on Charles Dickens' timeless tale, this is a story of the love of a man for an unreachable woman. Updated to modern day New York City, the story concerns a man of modest background who falls in love with a rich girl. But when a mysterious benefactor greenlights the man to make his dreams come true, everything done has the ultimate goal of making Estella fall in love with him.

Y Tu Mamá También (Alfonso Cuarón, Mexico, 2001, 106 minutes)

Y Tu Mamá También (English: "And Your Mother, Too") is a coming-of-age story about two teenage boys taking a road trip with an older woman. When teenagers Tenoch (Diego Luna) and Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal) meet the alluring, older Luisa (Maribel Verdu) at a wedding, they try to impress her with stories of a road trip to a secret beach, and ultimately convince her to come with them. What follows is an escapade involving seduction, conflict, and the harsh realities of poverty set in 1999 against the backdrop of the political and economic realities of present-day Mexico, specifically at the end of the uninterrupted 71-year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party, and the rise of the opposition headed by Vicente Fox.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Alfonso Cuarón, UK/USA, 2004, 141 minutes)

Harry, Ron and Hermione return to Hogwarts for a third adventure-and-magic-filled year in this follow-up to the first two Potter blockbusters. Harry comes face-to-face with danger yet again, this time in the form of escaped convict Sirius Black. In a bid for help, Harry turns to sympathetic Professor Lupin -- but will it be enough?

Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, USA, 2006, 109 minutes)

In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.

PBS Emmy Award Winning Documentaries

2013-10-03T11:20:00.000-05:00

The POV Blog has posted a convenient list of news programs and documentaries that won 2013 Emmy Awards, all of which are currently available to watch online.

Even though I have a computer attached to my main television, I'm finding that I prefer to navigate to watch programs using my Roku and Chromecast (linked to my phone). An interesting feature of the PBS Roku channel is that you initially log in with your zip code so that you will also have options to watch from your local PBS station (in my case, WHA-TV in Madison, Wisconsin). Of the many WHA-TV options, readers of this blog might be interested in checking out episodes of Director's Cut, which features Wisconsin filmmakers and their films.

I was very excited when the PBS Roku channel appeared, and indeed there is a great wealth of programming available through it. The one disappointment I had, however, was the delay in access to new episodes to the PBS Newshour. Ideally, I would like to watch the 6:00 broadcast sometime later that evening or as late as the following afternoon. The Roku channel delay often did not make this possible. I did find an alternate solution, however, when the Chromecast came out and I discovered that full episodes of PBS Newshour are posted relatively quickly on their YouTube channel. Individual segments of the broadcast are posted very quickly, and complete episodes are available usually by 10:00 p.m.

Regardless of how you access these programs, these links provide a good way to pass the time during the government shutdown by appreciating what PBS provides to us.

From the POV Blog (follow link to find links to all of these programs online):

At last night’s News and Documentary Emmy Awards ceremony, PBS programs garnered nine awards. FRONTLINE alone collected seven of those awards, with Nature and American Experience each receiving one. The good news for you — all of these winners are available to watch for free online at video.pbs.org!

American Experience

Jesse Owens
Outstanding Research
The most famous athlete of his time, his stunning triumph at the 1936 Olympic Games captivated the world even as it infuriated the Nazis. Despite the racial slurs he endured, Jesse Owens’ grace and athleticism rallied crowds across the globe. But when the four-time Olympic gold medalist returned home, he could not even ride in the front of a bus.

FRONTLINE

The Battle for Syria
Outstanding Coverage Of A Breaking News Story In A News Magazine
Reporter Ghaith Abdul-Ahad journeys to the heart of the insurgency, with rebels that are waging a full-scale assault on the forces of President Bashar al-Assad in the streets of Syria’s largest city. Within “liberated zones” near the city of Aleppo, the rebels not only fight the Syrian Army, but struggle against each other. Then, FRONTLINE examines how the president is holding on to power.

Big Sky, Big Money
Outstanding Investigative Journalism – Long Form
FRONTLINE travels to the remote epicenter of the campaign finance debate for a tale of money, politics, and intrigue. How has the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision changed campaigns in America? Ask Montana, which has tried to challenge the ruling in court, is investigating alleged campaign abuses and is playing host to a bitter race that could decide control of the U.S. Senate.

Inside Japan’s Nuclear Meltdown
Outstanding Continuing Coverage Of A News Story – Long Form
In the desperate hours and days after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the fate of thousands of Japanese citizens fell into the hands of a small corps of engineers, firemen and soldiers who risked their lives to prevent the Daiichi nuclear complex from complete meltdown. This is their story, with rare footage from inside the plant and eyewitness testimony from the people on the frontlines.

The Interrupters
Outstanding Informational Programming – Long Form
From acclaimed producer-director Steve James (“Hoop Dreams”) and best-selling author-turned-producer Alex Kotlowitz (“There Are No Children Here”), an unusually intimate journey into the stubborn persistence of violence in our cities.

Money, Power, and Wall Street
Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting – Long Form
As Wall Street innovated, its revenues skyrocketed, and financial institutions of all stripes tied their fortunes to one another. FRONTLINE probes deeply into the story of the big banks — how they developed, how they profited, and how the model that produced unfathomable wealth planted the seeds of financial destruction.

Opium Brides
Outstanding Investigative Journalism In A News Magazine
Najibullah Quraishi journeys deep into the Afghan countryside to reveal the deadly bargain local farm families have been forced to make with drug smugglers in order to survive.

Fall Preview: How Come?
Outstanding Promotional Annoucement – Institutional

Nature

An Original DUCKumentary
Outstanding Nature Programming
Masters of the water and air, they have conquered the globe. From deft dabblers to great divers, these are one of the Animal Kingdom’s ultimate athletes. Take a fascinating look at one of our most familiar birds.

A fan of web documentaries? You can also view all of the winners of the New Approaches categories online:

In Jennifer’s Room
New Approaches: Current News Coverage
A harrowing tale, told with simple illustrations, about what happened to a young developmentally disabled woman in a place that was supposed to keep her safe.

Clouds Over Cuba
New Approaches: Documentaries
Relive the Cuban Missile Crisis 50 years later and discover what might have been.

Life, Interrupted
New Approaches: Arts, Lifestyle & Culture
Suleika Jaouad, a 23-year-old writer from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., is chronicling her experiences as a young adult with cancer.

Also, to recognize their nominations in this years Emmy Awards, POV’s Nostalgia for the Light, Give Up Tomorrow, and The City Dark are available for streaming until Wednesday, October 9, 2013.

Andrew Bujalski: Computer Chess, Mutual Appreciation, Beeswax

2013-10-01T05:00:00.000-05:00

Andrew Bujalski's Computer Chess is available for purchase via iTunes, and will be available this week on other services (October 4 on Amazon Instant Video, for example).

[Edit November 7, 2013: Computer Chess is now available on Netflix Watch Instantly]

I'm quite a fan of his 2005 film, Mutual Appreciation, which many people associate with the so-called "mumblecore" movement/genre/group of films and filmmakers. One thing that distinguished Mutual Appreciation from other mumblecore films was that it was shot on film rather than digital video, which gave it a texture more akin to an early Cassavettes film. It is somewhat ironic that for his move to video, Bujalski went in the opposite direction of the latest digital camera and instead shot Computer Chess on old-school video cameras not unlike those that were around at the time the film takes place, the 1980s. Beyond being just a gimmick, the technical decision creates some interesting stylistic obstacles and challenges, most of which fit well with the deadpan observational humor of the film.

Aside from one false step, an artsy flourish in color near the end, Bujalski commits himself to the technical and conceptual minimalism of observing a computer chess tournament, with most scenes taking place in a conference room and individual hotel rooms. The film compensates for its lack of spectacle with wry humor about a complicated network of professional rivalries and relationships hampered by awkward social skills. A mix of professional and non-professional actors produces an interesting clash of tones in some scenes which again works well with this particular milieu. Bujalski is probably more interesting in terms of the environment he creates for the actors to find their way through the scenes, rather than in terms of visual style. Still, pulling off a period piece which is very dependent on genuine technological artifacts from the era on an independent budget is quite impressive.

Bujalski's films have been available on Netflix Instant View at various times, but they are not there at the moment. So for this post, I'm experimenting with suggesting three films that are available on three different services, at various prices. Of course, you could play the waiting game and see if they appear on subscription services again.

Synopses and images from The Movie Database

Computer Chess (Andrew Bujalski, USA, 2013, 91 minutes)

A 1980s-set story centered around a man vs. machine chess tournament.

[Edit November 7, 2013: Computer Chess is now available on Netflix Watch Instantly]

Mutual Appreciation (Andrew Bujalski, USA, 2005, 109 minutes)

Alan is a musician who leaves a busted-up band for New York, and a new musical voyage. He tries to stay focused and fends off all manner of distractions, including the attraction to his good friend's girlfriend.

Beeswax (Andrew Bujalski, USA, 2009, 100 minutes)

Beeswax revolves around the personal and professional entanglements of twin sisters Jeannie and Lauren – played by extraordinary newcomers Tilly and Maggie Hatcher – living in Austin, Texas. Jeannie co-owns a vintage clothing store with Amanda, a semi-estranged friend who she fears is trying to end their partnership. Lauren leads a looser, less tethered existence and is considering getting out of the country altogether. When Jeannie receives an email from Amanda threatening a lawsuit, she calls her law student ex-boyfriend Merrill for help. Eager for distraction from his own problems, he begins helping the sisters with theirs. Imbued with an innate charm, Beeswax is a story about families, friends, lovers and those awkward moments that bring all of them together.

Instant View Film Festival Reboot: October 1

2013-09-30T21:41:00.000-05:00

After a 19-month hiatus, I've decided to bring the Instant View Film Festival blog back to life. The first new post will be tomorrow, October 1. Subsequent posts will start coming out slowly, but eventually I will work my way up to daily entries. A few developments influenced this decision.

First, the Roku and Chromecast streaming devices and Samsung Smart TV apps have significantly changed my viewing habits, and I'd like to have an outlet for sharing what I discover using these relatively new tools. I became somewhat frustrated with the direction of the IVFF was taking because it was too dependent on Netflix as a resource. While Netflix titles will be featured prominently in upcoming posts, I also believe it is relatively easy for people to access other VOD and streaming resources not only on their computers but also on their televisions. So posts will feature a mix of films available from different sources, subscription-based (Netflix, Hulu), pay-per-view (iTunes, Vudu) or free (Crackle, certain Roku channels, some YouTube). Apologies in advance for the spoiler, but tomorrow's post will be a mini-festival of films by Andrew Bujalski available on three different sources, none of which are Netflix.

Second, I'm in the process of learning more about web design, and while I develop another cinema-related web project (stay tuned), I'd like to sharpen my skills in code-writing and graphic design by improving what I've already built here. For example, I hope to learn how to use APIs to provide some of the content for the entries, so basic movie synopses and images will come from the open source The Movie Database (http://www.themoviedb.org/). After a short course in the basics of Adobe Photoshop, I'm now able to produce buttons and other graphics that should make navigating to the films or to Roku channels much easier. Some posts will be designed specifically to force me to learn and use certain skills. So the look and navigation of the blog will be a work-in-progress as I move away from the Blogger template towards new ideas and features that I will design and implement myself.

Third, I had stopped watching movies. I want to start watching movies again, with a purpose. I want a return to the thrill the hunt, and to the rewards of finding and sharing good films. Posts will range from brief thoughts more dependent on The Movie Database synopses to more in-depth entries that provide analysis and context for the suggested mini-festival. Some will focus in films I have seen, others will focus on films I plan to see. The suggestions and links will be available and functioning at the time of the posting, but as you know not every film is available forever on every streaming source. I will make an attempt to go back and fix dead links, but in the case of Netflix the links for films no longer streaming should still bring you to their entry for the film if it is available on DVD.

Okay, enough talk about what I plan to do, it's time to start doing it. Again, thank you for your time and interest.

JLK

Korea: I'm a Cyborg..., Poetry, I Saw the Devil, Mother

2012-02-02T11:01:00.000-06:00

Here's a quick list of recent Korean films available for streaming on Netflix Watch Instantly. Korean cinema has been very successful on the international film festival circuit in the past few years, and a few Korean directors have also earned a cult following in various areas of genre filmmaking (especially horror).

Chan-Wook Park is probably best known for Oldboy, which won the Grand Prix of the Jury at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. His Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) and Lady Vengeance (2005) are also currently streaming on Netflix. These next two films are interesting ventures in to very different genres: romantic comedy and vampire horror.

I'm a Cyborg, but That's Okay (Chan-wook Park, Korea, 2006, 107 minutes)
Netflix: Placed in a psych ward for believing she's a robot, troubled Young-goon forsakes food and attempts instead to charge her body with electronic devices. As her health deteriorates, another eccentric patient tries to inspire her to start eating again. Netflix link.

Thirst (Chan-wook Park, Korea, 2009, 133 minutes)
Netflix: When the smoke clears from a failed experiment to find a cure for a fatal disease, a devout priest finds himself forever changed. Specifically, he's a vampire -- but that isn't the only thing that's different. Now he's also willing to commit adultery with the wife of his childhood friend, a sin he never would have considered before. Kang-ho Song, Ha-kyun Shin and Ok-bin Kim co-star in this horror offering from Korean director Chan-Wook Park. Netflix link.

Lee Chang-dong's Poetry was particularly successful on the international film festival circuit, winning the 2010 Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Poetry currently has a 100% Tomatometer critical rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Poetry (Chang-dong Lee, Korea, 2010, 139 minutes)
Netflix: A poetry-writing class inspires serenely self-possessed grandmother Mija (Jeong-hie Yun) to open her senses to her suburban surroundings, but in rushes an array of unsettling discoveries in this lyrical South Korean melodrama. Along with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease comes information that Mija's teenage grandson was party to a horrific incident, and it is left to Mija to compose order from the untidy emotional consequences. Netflix link.

Kim Ji-woon is also known for his 2008 cult action film The Good, the Bad, and the Weird, which is also streaming on Netflix. I Saw the Devil is not for all tastes, but you'll realize that when you read the synopsis.

I Saw the Devil (Ji-woon Kim, Korea, 2011, 142 minutes)
Netflix: From famed thriller director Ji-woon Kim comes this edgy thriller about secret agent Dae-hoon (Byung-hun Lee), who discovers how far over the edge he will go in order to seek revenge after his fiancée is brutally slain by psychopathic serial killer Kyung-chul (Min-sik Choi). With the police baffled by Kyung-chul's murders, Dae-hoon decides to capture the killer, but his own increasing violence makes him wonder who the monster really is. Netflix link.

Bong Joon-ho had an international breakthrough hit with The Host in 2006, and that film just became available again on Netflix Watch Instantly. His most recent film, Mother, currently has a 95% Tomatometer critical rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Mother (Joon-ho Bong, Korea, 2009, 129 minutes)
Netflix: A murder rocks a South Korean town and suspicion quickly falls on a reclusive, mentally challenged -- and alibi-free -- young man (Bin Won). When an inept public defender botches the boy's case, his mother (Hye-ja Kim) sets out to prove her son's innocence. Acclaimed director Joon-ho Bong (Memories of Murder) explores the lengths a mother will go to protect her child in this atmospheric crime thriller. Netflix link.

Bollywood: Ghajini, Dev.D, Jodhaa Akbar

2012-02-01T12:10:00.001-06:00

After a significant of time off, I will return to regularly scheduled posts and updates in the coming weeks.

This past month a significant number of Bollywood films have been added to Netflix Watch Instantly. Some of them mark the return of films that I've posted about in the past, including several films with Shah Rukh Khan.

Ghajini might not be for everyone, but it certainly is a wild ride and it features many of the pleasures and odd contradictions of Hindi popular cinema. It is actually a Hindi-language remake of a 2005 Tamil language film (by the same director), and it is currently the sixth highest grossing Bollywood film in history. It is often described as a Bollywood version of Memento, but that description will be misleading to those who are unfamiliar with the mix of tones and genres within many Bollywood films. Certainly many of the plot elements will be familiar to those familiar with Memento, but Ghajini also features an extreme mix of light whimsical romance and brutal violence that one simply would not see in Hollywood genre filmmaking. If you are willing to handle some extreme genre mixing within the same film (even more so that the typical Bollywood film), you should give Ghajini a try.

Ghajini (A.R. Murugadoss, India, 2008, 177 minutes)
Netflix: After a vicious attack claims the life of his girlfriend and leaves him with a debilitating case of short-term memory loss, mobile phone mogul Sanjay Singhania sets out on a quest to bring down the perpetrators that have ruined his life. Netflix link.

Here are some other films, perhaps more typical of recent Bollywood output.

Dev.D (Anurag Kashyap, India, 2009, 137 minutes)
Netflix: Because they come from different castes, Dev, the son of a tax collector, and his true love, Paro, are not allowed to marry. After Paro's family sends her to Calcutta, Dev despairs and spirals down into a life of overindulgence. Netflix link.

Jodhaa Akbar (Ashutosh Gowariker, India, 2008, 205 minutes)
Netflix: What begins as a strategic alliance of two cultures becomes a genuine opportunity for true love between a mighty Mughal emperor and a Hindu princess in director Ashutosh Gowariker's epic romance set in 16th-century India. Netflix link.

On the Edge: The Brown Bunny, Montenegro, Downfall

2011-11-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

After taking a little more than a week off, I've returned with a few recommendations for films recently added to Netflix Watch Instantly.

Vincent Gallo's The Brown Bunny isn't nearly as bad as its reputation (and even Roger Ebert modified his stance on the film somewhat after seeing its post-Cannes shorter cut). In fact it is reasonably good if you're game for a good old-fashioned existential crisis art-cinema excursion. Self-indulgent? Sure. Any time you have a actor directing himself getting fellated in a scene, there's a degree of self-indulgence (and somehow Chloe Sevigny's career survived this). But I still think it is worth a watch and I hope to catch up with Gallo's most recent film, Promises Written in Water (released in 2010 based on its IMDB entry, but to be honest I hadn't heard of it until I looked it up).

The Brown Bunny (Vincent Gallo, USA, 2004, 93 minutes)
Netflix: Director Vincent Gallo stars as Bud, a competitive road biker riding from New Hampshire to California for a race. But the journey is also an attempt to erase his memory of the one true love he can't forget, even as he beds other women. Netflix link.

Dusan Makavejev is a truly great Yugoslav/Serbian filmmaker, and one of his better known films, Montenegro, is now streaming on Netflix Watch Instantly. If you're not familiar with his work, one of many online interviews with Makavejev is Ray Privett's piece for Senses of Cinema from 2000. Montenegro is an English-language film shot in Sweden starring American actress Susan Anspach.

Montenegro (Dusan Makavejev, Sweden, 1981, 91 minutes)
Netflix: Housewife Marilyn Jordan (Susan Anspach) seems to have everything she could possibly want -- a successful husband, two beautiful children and a palatial house by the sea ... until she meets a group of Yugoslavian immigrants at the airport. Before you can say "unbridled abandon," Marilyn finds herself swept up in a bohemian world of dangerous pleasures and newfound freedom in this surreal black comedy. Netflix link.

While certainly a respected film in itself, Downfall is probably best known for its bunker scene with Adolf Hitler that has been re-subtitled numerous times in parody videos (or Hitler Downfall Memes). We've all seen at least one of the parodies by now, here's a chance to see the original film.

Downfall (Oliver Hirschbiegel, Germany, 2004, 155 minutes)
Netflix: After introducing audiences to Adolf Hitler's stenographer, Traudl Junge, in the gripping documentary Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary, director Oliver Hirschbiegel brings Junge to life in this Oscar-nominated drama. With painstaking realism, Hirschbiegel's Best Foreign Language Film contender adopts Junge's (Alexandra Maria Lara) point of view to recreate Hitler's (Bruno Ganz) final 12 days in his Berlin bunker. Netflix link.