HBO’s hype-building mini-series 24/7 is sports/”reality” show perfection. Usually. But something is missing from Pacquiao/Cotto 24/7. Maybe it the subtle humor, which we’ve seen in previous episodes. Like watching Floyd Mayweather, Sr. talk shit, or Manny and his big-ass entourage singing on a Magic Mic, or Oscar De La Hoya talking about how he’s gonna win. Or it could be the in-depth look at the trainer’s role – prevalent in Pacquiao/Hatton 24/7, but less so this time around. This one has the least Freddie Roach screen time, which he now shares with other entourage members (good look on giving Buboy a segment). HBO shifts gears again on Manny’s story, which has shifted in less than a year from Peasant-Hero-of-a-Third-World-Country to Celebrity-Actor-Athlete-With-Bickering-Assistants.

Glad they opened up the first episode with the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy, but damn if it didn’t seem like they put it there to get it out of the way. Aside from the argument over relocating to Manila, it hasn’t been mentioned since. On top of that, the narrator keeps mispronouncing Baguio. Whatever, Pacquiao/Cotto 24/7 is more of the same lo’ shit. Little drama, lots of slow-mo punches, just two focused fighters. Family and friends getting looks is cool, but why are we hearing more from random entourage members than from the fighters themselves? That’s what’s missing. Too much “how” and not enough “why.” Too much about the business of boxing, not enough boxing itself.

Jean-Luc Godard’s long-rumored final film, dropping 2010.

As I mentioned awhile back, Ben Wang and Mike Cheng had been working on a documentary about the late Richard Aoki for the last few years. I just got word from Mike that the project is complete and that the premiere of Aoki is going down in Oakland next week on November 12th at the historic Grand Lake Theatre (one of the dopest movie theaters in the country). Tickets available at the AokiFilm.com.

Gary Hustwit’s Helvetica (2007) was the shit. A conventional documentary about the most conventional typeface ever, as told by some of the most unconventional people on the planet. His newest doc, Objectified (2009), is the same template, different subject, and about half as interesting as the last one. Most of that is the subject matter itself. While Helvetica had a concrete, compact focus, Objectified revolves around an idea. Or several ideas, rather. None of which are really nailed down. Shit, I still don’t know what this one’s really about after watching it all the way through once. Something about the ideas behind the design and manufacturing of mass-produced goods as told by a bunch of rambling engineers and designers who each have their own philosophy about the things they get paid to tell other people how to make. Some of the designers talk about needing to be more eco-friendly with their designs and a few non-designers like writer Rob Walker, representing the lone consumer voice, give some insightful commentary. Others go so far as to say designers should rule the world. A look into the design process of the goods we see everyday in the marketplace is worth seeing, considering how removed most of us are from the realm of production. I was most intrigued by the least eccentric person: the Apple guy, showing the raw materials and explaining the philosophy behind the Macbook Air design. Many of the designers featured here talk about how less is more, that the best “designed” products are the ones that give off the illusion that they were not designed at all. Objectified is crafted the same way, form following function, with no gimmickry and novelties. But it left me with the feeling that the design world is some far away planet full of people who think they’re doing the world a solid while their goods pile up in junkyards and factories. It gets touched upon here, but only in passing. Objectified might’ve been groundbreaking fifteen years ago, but in 2009 it feels soulless and empty. But well-designed.

Paranormal Activity (2009) | dir. Oren Peli | 86 min| USA

Somewhere, director Oren Peli and a handful of Paramount executives are laughing all the way to the bank. The hype over Paranormal Activity (2009) has peaked with remarkable timing, beating out the latest Saw sequel at the box office with one-tenth of one percent of the latter’s budget. If there’s anything dope about Paranormal Activity, it’s that. Some say it’s evidence of a barely-breathing hope that an independent, low-budget film can triumph in the multiplex. Sure, as long as a there’s a multi-million dollar marketing campaign to back it up. There’s no need for me to regurgitate the film’s plot. I can’t even say whether I really liked it or not. I enjoyed being frustrated by it. I was gripped by its tediousness. I laughed at its corniness. It was dope and wack at the same time. But I must say that as simple, as often uneventful, as unlikable as the couple was, it held my attention for 80 straight minutes. Which is something I can’t say for 90% of all the films I ever see in a multiplex. Which is also why I watched a bootleg copy at home instead. By myself. At 2am. Which is probably the best way to appreciate this film, rather than in a theater that reeks of the hype machine’s vomit.

Lee Eun Shim (pictured above) wins in Hanyo (The Housemaid, 1960), an old Korean flick about a creepy housemaid who terrorizes a family after she seduces the man of the house. She peeks through slightly-open doors, breathes heavily in the rain outside of windows, picks up rats by their tails, and smokes cigarettes with a weirdo cuteness. What differentiates this film from other creepy-woman-scorned melodramas, besides its superb directing, is a layer of class criticism. The target of director Ki-young Kim’s critique isn’t the maid, nor even the man for his indiscretions. Its the whole notion of bourgeois aspiration–the wife working tirelessly to buy more shit like that new TV they don’t really need, the husband taking side jobs to supplement his modest teacher’s salary–that he goes in on. Where the desire to own things, including, ultimately, another human being, becomes dependence, becoming death. The noirish audio/visual style constructed around this story, with the constant rain and dissonant piano stabs, is impressive. Restricted camera movements and well-angled shots reinforce a feeling of entrapment. But its the terrorizing innocence of Lee Eun Shim that completes this work.

Watch Hanyo (Ki-young Kim, 1960) at The Auteurs

Everybody seems to have a strong opinion on Michael Moore. Neo-Conservatives and the filthy rich have a legitimate beef–they’re the ones he’s constantly targeting. But whats interesting to see and hear is the criticism he gets from other “progressives” who say they “agree with his ideas, but not his tactics,” mention his white privilege to discredit him or, even worse, snide remarks about how the hell he’s gonna make a health-care movie (Sicko), as fat as he is. Another popular one is the supposed contradiction of how much money he’s making off a system he opposes (with no mention of how much more money these already-rich movie industry cats are making off of him). One thing I’ve noticed that most of these folks have in common: they actually haven’t seen his films.

Some have called his films incoherent. Instead, I see someone trying multiple forms of agitation to reach the widest audience possible with the rare soapbox he’s attained. Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) is vintage Moore: a barrage of historical and statistical information with archival footage anchored by interviews with angry people fucked by the system. There’s a hilariously re-edited old Jesus movie and well-narrated, animated explanations of how our financial institutions work. And, of course, Mr. Moore himself trying and failing to get interviews from bigwigs and pulling off stunts like wrapping crime-scene tape around Wall Street.

Some parts irked me, some parts riled me up. Sitting in a sparsely-filled Atlanta theater on the film’s opening day, I got reminded that we all have varied reactions to the same information, depending on how its presented. An older black couple sitting behind us cheered on the Wall Street stunt, which I found contrived. Others were visibly choked up and jeering at the screen during some of the interviews, which I found manipulative. Apparently, Saba and I were the only ones in the theater who found many parts LOL-worthy.

Capitalism: A Love Story isn’t a pleasant film. It’s not even anything new if you’ve been really paying attention. Moore’s films do not aspire to be aesthetic masterpieces nor provide easy solutions to complex problems, and anyone expecting that, and hating when they don’t get it, is missing the point. What he wants is to expose, through pulling heartstrings and tickling funny bones, the injustices of a political-economic system, and not apologize for it. And if you even just mildly agree with that, then your best bet would be to just shut the fuck up for a minute and just watch the film. Then talk.

Sonicsgate SD Full Version from sonicsgate on Vimeo.

Sonicsgate: Requiem For a Team (2009) premiered earlier this month with an opening screening at SIFF Cinema and simultaneously released in its entirety online. Besides being a well-crafted documentary chronicling the demise of Seattle’s former NBA franchise, it sports a thoroughly dope soundtrack of instrumentals from Seattle hip-hop artists, including yours truly (Blue Scholars). I was reluctant to revisit the disappointment of our team getting snatched away but this brought a necessary closure. More than just a bitter story, it’s chronicles the team’s history, which is intertwined with the city’s culture and history. Whether you were a Sonics fan or not, it’s an intriguing look at the commodification and corporate takeover of cultural institutions. Watch the entire documentary in standard version above, or in HD at the Sonicsgate website.

Shabazz Palaces – “Belhaven Meridian” [OFFICIAL] from Kahlil Joseph on Vimeo.

Inpsired by Charles Burnett 1977 film Killer of Sheep. And yes, that voice you hear rapping is the 206’s own Ish (f.k.a. Butterfly of Digable Planets). Probably the best music video I’ve seen all year.

Philippine filmmaker Raymond Red is back in a major way with Himpapawid (Manila Skies) (2009), his first feature since his short film Anino (Shadows), which won the Cannes Palme d’Or in 2000. The world premiere goes down at the Tokyo International Film Festival Main Competition (Oct. 17-25), and it will be the closing film of the Cinemanila International Film Festival on Oct. 25. The synopsis of the film, from Red’s website:

Inspired by a true event, Himpapawid (Manila Skies) tackles the astounding story of a lone deranged hijacker who is pushed to the edge as he struggles with the oppression of surviving in modern Philippine society. The film dwells on the common story of a desperate simple man from the countryside searching for a decent means of living in the big city, Manila. He keeps stumbling as he moves from one “station of the cross” to another. In dire straits, he later joins an amateur gang plotting a heist to get even with a corrupt employer. This ultimately goes wayward and ends in devastation. Further hounded by guilt that his father is helplessly ill in the province, he draws his last straw and plots the insane hijacking of a plane to finally take him to his ultimate destination – home or hell.