Earlier in the week I perplexed my sister when she asked why so many of the movies that I love are so sad, and I told her that watching an excellent movie, no matter how sad, actually makes me happy. And conversely, watching a poorly made but “feel-good” movie often just makes me feel sad. She didn’t quite understand, but of course, I don’t claim to be normal.
That said, if you are in the market for a not-badly made and not-entirely sad movie, we found a little gem this week in The Ramen Girl. Very sweet, great characters, lots of food – we all loved it.
But back to the topic at hand…
This weekend I watched first A Single Man, and then Creation. On the surface these two films don’t have much in common at all, but after watching both of them, I have to say that they are far more similar than you would think. The only striking difference is that one film is far better than the other.
Both of the films deal with grief. In A Single Man, George (Colin Firth) grieves the loss of his partner, and in Creation, Charles Darwin (Paul Bettany) grieves the loss of his daughter. Both films treat time in a slightly non-linear fashion: set in a period sometime after the deaths of their loved ones, we are nonetheless treated to extended flashbacks and scenes which detail the depth of their relationship (and thus, the chasm of their absence).
In each film, the death is the catalyst for some kind of tension. George has been with Jim for over 16 years, and yet after Jim’s death, George is not welcome at the funeral. Just as their relationship was concealed (or outright ignored), so George must also hide his grief. And it gnaws away at him, for every waking moment is a reminder of what he does not have and cannot admit to wanting.
For the Darwins, the death of their oldest daughter drives a wedge between them. Charles no longer finds comfort in the faith to which his wife clings. She sees where his work is going, watches his faith slip away, and fears that they will find themselves separated for all eternity. But for Charles, it’s not so much about the faith as it is about the truth. Just as she cannot understand his persistence, he cannot understand any argument which would deny what he has irrefutably witnessed.
And while they both deal with these hugely controversial issues (homosexuality and evolution), neither film is an activist’s piece. That George and Jim love each other in a society that does not accept their relationship only compounds the sense of loss, but A Single Man really is about loss, first and foremost, and it is a deeply moving film. I imagine it’s first-time director Tom Ford’s experience in the fashion industry that gives him this incredible sense for aesthetics. He may perhaps rely too much on detail shots and long, dreamy sequences, but everything about the set design and costuming is meticulously perfect, and his use of color is inspired. Colin Firth absolutely deserved the Golden Globe, and the Oscar nomination. He is amazing in this movie.
Meanwhile, Creation does such a good job of avoiding controversy that most of the life is sucked right out of the film. The only real moment of discord is when Thomas Huxley declares that Darwin has “killed God” and proceeds to make a rather over-exaggerated speech about science reigning victorious over religion. Darwin, for his part, looks duly horrified. Rarely have I watched a film about a historical figure and thought that a documentary would be more interesting. A commenter on Roger Ebert’s blog characterized the film as “another deathly serious melodrama about the life of a famous person struck by tragedy, and only [glosses] over the controversial issues that are actually relevant and interesting”. What we have here is not so much a film about Charles Darwin’s life or his work, but a film about a man coming to terms with loss.
And if you want to see that, just watch A Single Man.
It drives my dad crazy every time I say it: “Great movie…definitely not appropriate.”
I don’t say it to justify or excuse what I watch – I’m an adult, I can distinguish the good from the bad, and I do know my own limitations.
I say it because I fear that this is what will happen if I don’t:
“Yeah, that was a great movie.”
“So let’s watch it.”
“Well…um…”
And then I stammer something about adult content, and my dad says that we’re all adults, and I try to find a way to explain that there are some things I just don’t want to watch with my parents and little sister.
They give you that look, you know – The Look – when something unsavory happens on-screen and you’re the one who chose the movie. I’d rather avoid the whole thing, to be honest. But at the same time, because we are all adults here it seems kind of silly to include a caveat with every review.
>> So consider this a WARNING that for the most part I will not be including warnings. <<
That said: Netflix has developed a great partnership with Common Sense Media to include detailed content advisories for many of the titles on their site. There are other sites out there but, unlike them, Common Sense Media doesn’t have an agenda – they exist simply to help people make informed choices. It’s a very useful reference if you want to know what a movie is rated for: violence? language? sexytiems?
I’m a big fan of knowing what you’re getting into *before* you start and with Common Sense Media at your fingertips, there’s no reason to ever feel blindsided.
I think it’s safe to say that I’ve watched a lot of movies.
If Netflix had a frequent-flyer program, I’d be well on my way to a platinum membership, kind of like George Clooney’s character in Up in the Air, only I wouldn’t have that contemplative moment where I discover that my hollow quest has left me lonely and unfulfilled.
See what I do? I talk in ‘movie’.
Anyway, several months ago I promised a friend that I would put together a list of movie recommendations and I’ve been so busy watching movies *cough* having a life, that I just put it off until now. There are too many excellent films to cram into just one post, and I thought it best to divide them up into more manageable chunks.
So, to get us started, here are my Top Five Favorite Films:
I have waxed poetic about this film before. Everytime someone asks about my favorite movies, this is always at the top of the list and it is almost always the one movie that no one has ever heard of. I’ve seen it many times over the past two years, and I still love it. It is beautiful. It is captivating. I can (and have) enjoyed just sitting and watching the trailer repeatedly. Seriously…see this film.
Like a good book, a good movie changes the way you look at the world. Donnie Darko changes the way you look at time. It’s strange, it’s inventive, it’s superbly well-acted. And fun fact: it’s the only film that the Gyllenhaal (yill-en-HOO-le-hay) siblings have starred in together. This movie is like a puzzle that you will want to piece together over and over again.
Set in early 1900′s Ireland during the Irish war for independence, this movie is haunting and heartbreaking. How much can be justified in the fight for sovereignty? In the end is it really true that “all we’re changing is the accents of the powerful and the colors of the flag”? There are no easy answers to be found here. The Wind That Shakes The Barley won the 2006 Palm d’Or at Cannes and it is the highest-grossing Irish-made independent film ever. It’s incredible and it really deserves a wider audience.
This is a film about a little boy who believes he is a little girl, and a lot of the discussion related to the movie centers around gender issues. To me, though, that’s not really the heart of the story. The main character, Ludovic, is 7 years old: maybe he’s transgendered, maybe he’s not. The real tragedy is that strict gender norms might create something sinister out of a child’s guileless play and curiosity. This movie is really about Ludovic’s family, his community, and how one little boy tries to reconcile what he feels with what he’s told. George Du Fresne is an enchanting young actor in a very enchanting little film. I highly recommend it.
I’d put this up there with The Fall as one of those movies you should see just to see it. Filmed entirely in India, each scene is rich with textures and bright colors. You can practically smell the saffron. Wes Anderson’s films are quirky, to be sure, but they also contain an emotional depth to offset the eccentricity, and of all his films I feel like this one found that balance perfectly. It’s very funny, it’s kind of sad, and it has a great soundtrack.
You know, for a neo-noir film set in a modern day high school with teenage actors who talk like they’re in a 1940′s detective movie…this actually works.
Handled with any less earnestness and honesty, the whole thing would simply come across as a spoof. Every detail is here: the dame, the thugs, the hero, the kingpin. Fast-paced dialogue that’s short on exposition yet laden with meaning. A murder. A mystery.
“I was just going to come up with some bit of information, or set up some phony deal. And I think she’d let me walk. Then I was going to go to the vice principal and spill the in the street address of the biggest dope port in the burg.”
Like in a Peanut’s cartoon, the characters inhabit a world that is almost entirely devoid of adults. They exist, of course, but they exist outside the world of the teenager. Much of the movie takes place around their high school, but it serves to function more as a neighborhood than a place of learning. Each subset of high school culture fills in the different hang-outs, and no one seems to actually go to class. The only significant adult presence comes from the vice principle in the role of The Brass.
“No more of these informal chats! If you have a disciplinary issue with me, write me up or suspend me and I’ll see you at the Parent-Teacher conference.”
A lot of teen movies derive their tension and intensity from common experiences that aren’t really such a big deal: dating, popularity, making the football team. Instead of being a movie about things that feel like a matter of life and death, here we have a movie with teens that really is about life and death. Brick ultimately works because it is solid and well written. It has just the right levels of intensity and self-awareness to keep it away from being a gimmick and steer it instead toward being a great film.
“Michael Bay’s stylish sci-fi thriller stars Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson as members of a strictly regulated indoor futuristic colony who hope to win the lottery, a contest in which the grand prize is a trip to a utopian island. It’s reportedly the last uncontaminated place on Earth. But a startling discovery about the true nature of “the Island” — and their very existence — leads the two to stage a desperate escape to the outside world.”
In the original, the characters are completely and almost painfully stupid. In this movie, characters are allowed to have just a shred more intelligence; evidently the creators decided that their audience would have a hard time rooting for a total moron. The problem is that it’s entirely inconsistent. Lincoln Six Echo is at once thoughtful, confused, sophisticated, childlike, sharp and dull. It just doesn’t work. (And I’ve seen The Men Who Stare At Goats – I know McGregor can play stupid convincingly)
The whole movie is like that. The highways are filled with people driving their sedans and SUVs, but meanwhile the police officers are riding hovercraft motorcycles mounted with machine guns. Did they have such a limited production budget they decided to throw in fake technology here and there so we know it’s really The Future?
And here’s what I really don’t get: several people in this movie have British accents, including at least one clone. So if you’re going to allow the other British actors to retain their natural inflections, then why OH WHY do you make Ewan McGregor talk like an American? He does not do this well. I think this has been wellanddulyestablished. It’s only redeemed by a funny scene later in the movie where it turns out that the original Lincoln does have an accent.
The Island has some very basic spooky elements working for it: cloning, evil corporations, multi-layered conspiracies, coordinated outfits. And it’s a Michael Bay movie so, you know, EXPLOSIONS. If you want all of the scifi-esque intrique, watch Moon. If you want meaningless bits of dialogue and mediocre acting strung together with cars blowing up, by all means, watch The Island.
