...what happens now?

Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing Tiny Furniture, a film about the post-graduation abyss that we all suffer through. I had met the writer/actor/director Lena Dunham earlier this year at a women in filmaking conference and after hearing that her film won the best narrative feature award at SXSW, I knew I had to watch it during it's New York Premiere. I'm glad that I did. It's a charming tale about a post-grad, Aura, who returns home to NYC to live with her uuber-successful artist mother and her talented younger sister. She has a useless degree in film theory and is struggling to figure out what her next step is. While in the process of "handling it", she is reunited with her past and wondering whether college really made her into a different person. Her love life sucks after being dumped by her feminist boyfriend who decided that living on a farm is more exciting than moving in with his girlfriend. Her other love prospects include a deadbeat youtube artist who "is really famous on the internet" and a sous-chef who is in desperate need for a xanax. The film is witty and has a charming sense of humour that is ensures that you aren't laughing with the characters; you're laughing at them. Awkward situations reign supreme including a sex scene that takes place in a metal tube. My favorite character was Aura's childhood best friend Charlotte (played by Jemima Kirke) who is very posh with a faux-british accent and is longing for the innate connection that Aura shares with her family. The film is very intimate and features both pants-less scenes and stars her real-life mother and sister playing her family. I enjoyed and I recently discovered that IFC will be distributing the film. Congrats.

Saying nothing sometimes says the most

In Stephane Brize's eloquent tale, Mademoiselle Chambon, he tackles the unexplainable attraction between two people of different worlds. The protagonist of our cinematic journey, Jean, is married and has a son whom he loves dearly. He leads a very simple life as a mason and is a doting husband, father and son. He visits his father weekly to sit with him and wash the old man's feet. He does not come from a luxurious, academic background which is made clear by the opening scene, where Jean and his wife struggle to help their son deduce what the direct object of a simple sentence is. Yet there is no obvious indication that Jean is unhappy or that he has cause to be; Until he meets Mademoiselle Chambon, his son's grammar teacher. She seems to awaken a longing in him that he was previously unaware of. However, Mademoisellle Chambon does not provoke this relationship. It is as if they are being pulled together by an invisible magnet. Their attraction is beyond their control. But does that make it right? The film casts no judgement. Instead it simply poses the question of whether it is right to deny the heart's desires? Brizet has accomplished creating an intense feeling of intimacy without much dialogue. The film has very little talking and the communication is primarily accomplished through the use of music, specifically Mademoiselle Chambon's intoxicating violin playing. The main characters express themselves through longing looks and unfinished sentences that suggest they don't understand their actions either. The actors were incredibly poignant in their potrayals and rather than making it a tale about an adulterous husband, they've accepted their longings and are searching for a way to deal with them. Their truth lies in their silence.


*the title of the post is a quote by Emily Dickinson.

the comic books are coming....

In today's cinema most of the films that are in theatres are live-action remakes of popular cartoons and comic books. Especially in the critical summer blockbuster season we will be seeing a lot of our childhood pleasures transplanted to the screen. Upcoming films such as Jonah Hex, The Last Airbender, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, and the upcoming Avengers movie starring Thor, Iron Man, Hulk and Captain America, are all the offsprings of the comic book genre. But comic books have influence beyond their magical world. Maxim magazine (and yes I only read it for the articles) has a list of the best comic book moments in films that weren't based on comic books. While the list can be stupid at times (Really? Cameron Diaz dancing around in Spiderman underwear in Charlie's Angels is not a comic book moment, folks) it does include one of the greatest conversations about the topic ever to be discussed in narrative cinema. In Kill Bill Vol. 2 towards the end of the scene, Bill (David Carradine) and Beatrix (Uma Thurman) have an in depth analysis of Superman and what that means for the rest of our earthlings. It's one of my favorite scenes in the movie and I'm sure most of you remember it. But let's relive it for old times sake.



I included the five point palm technique for kicks! Enjoy!

if you wanna fuck with the eagles, you got to learn to fly....

Everyone has a particular movie that they can quote from beginning to end. I have several and one of them is definitely the 1988 classic, Heathers. A black comedy about teenage suicide that deals with some important issues while still being tragically funny. In my opinion its the precursor to Mean Girls, and definitely funnier.  Veronica (Winona Ryder) is part of the most powerful clique in school; The Heathers. When Veronica meets an outsider, JD (Christian Slater) her world is turned upside down and she begins a romantic journey of murder/suicides that don't have the intended outcome. There's a definite social commentary about how much our society values power and notoreity as opposed to friendship and life. But don't think this movie is preaching. No, this film is a satire chock full of great lines such as "If you were happy every day of your life you wouldn't be a human being. You'd be a game-show host" and "She's my best friend. God, I hate her" and "Well, fuck me gently with a chainsaw. Do I look like Mother Theresa?". I could go on for days but instead I really suggest that you just watch it. I should warn you though, this movie isn't for the faint-hearted. I eagerly showed this film to my best friend and after it was over and I was laughing uncontrollably, she looked at me and said "Don't you think this film is inappropriate? I mean after Columbine? Teenage suicide is not funny". And she's completely right. Ich Luge. Suicide will always be funny in the 80s.