Can't Stop The Titeness

Happy Holidays, all.

This is where I apologize for not updating since December 8th. My extended winter break left me full up with film projects, hangouts, weddings, and holiday activities. I've probably watched some movies since then, but none really worth posting about -- I don't have to broadcast to the world that Spike Lee's "School Daze" is a bad movie. The only film I watched since my last post that was worth talking about is probably "Grey Gardens", the Maysles documentary from 1976 about the Beales, which is fascinating, funny, obnoxious, and boring at the same time. It's worth a watch, and hopefully I'll type much more about it later.

That being said, I'm in the process of finishing up a short film for an online competition at the moment, and then on Thursday I head to Phoenix, Arizona, the desert land of Steve Nash, Beer Pong, NBA Live 2005, and karaoke near the airport. So sorry faithful readers (though I know you don't exist), but I won't be posting anything until I get back after January 3rd. I hope you all have a great New Years and get very blacked out for me. I know I will.

In January, the Titeness will continue and come on like gangbusters. Reviews to look forward to (or dread):

Francois Truffaut's "Shoot the Piano Player"
Jean Renoir's "The Rules of the Game"
Yasujiro Ozu's "Good Morning"
Todd Haynes' "Safe"
Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing"
Luis Bunuel's "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie"
"Cache"
...and more.

So until then, remember what Jacques Rivette said:

"The evidence on the screen is proof of Hawks's genius: you only have to watch Monkey Business to know that it is a brilliant film. Some people refuse to admit this however; they resue to be satisfied by proof. There can't be any other reason why they don't recognize it."

[img]http://web.utk.edu/~cmaland/images/fargo.jpg[/img]

(Music to write to, a new favorite of mine: Wilderness, "Vessel States")

Swimming With Sharks (1994)

Swimming With Sharks (George Huang, 1994)

Rating: B+



We've seen it before, we've heard it before -- people in Hollywood are assholes. Swimming in Sharks is about two of these assholes (and some others), specifically thet foul-mouthed jerk-off studio boss Buddy Ackerman (Kevin Spacey) and the naive recent film school graduate assistant Guy (Frank Whaley). The film is about the greed and power that drives these characters, and how they are able to survive and thrive (swim with the sharks!) in a cuthroat environment. Swimming With Sharks brings to mind a similar film that came out several years before, Christopher Guest's The Big Picture. Both involve a recent film graduate who has gone to Hollywood with ideals only to be swept up in the shit-storm hurricane of petty in-studio politics and money-grubbing idiots. The difference however, is drastic -- Swimming With Sharks avoids the fluffy, jokey side that brought down The Big Picture and tears into the culture with one of those spikey ball and chain things that would rip off all the skin on your ribs (i.e. James Caviezel while filming Passion of the Christ). That's not to say that Swimming With Sharks isn't funny though, it's just funny in the biting, satirical way, which always wins me over more so than light-hearted drab. The film is constructed in a non-linear fashion, which allows the manipulation of the viewer in order to shift the understanding of each character as the film goes along -- which is done quite well. To give away more of the plot would be to ruin it, so I'll keep it minimal, and say that what's good about Swimming With Sharks is its ability to pull itself out of the hole that it finds itself in constantly. Just when you think it would be predictable and go in an overly melodramatic and shitty direction, it finds a clever and fulfilling solution to the problems at hand. They say to give the audience what they want, just not how they expect it: and that's precisely what works here. The dialogue is written well, though a bit self-indulgent and comes across awkwardly with some of the weaker actors. Spacey however, is nothing short of brilliant, and he makes the film what it is with his performance.

With Benicio Del Toro in a small role and Michelle Forbes as the object of everyones affection (kind of). Rated R. 93 minutes.

Poison (1991)

Poison (Todd Haynes, 1991)

Rating: B



I might be at a handicap here since I've never read anything by Jean Genet, and the three narratives of Poison are based on his writings. A movie is a movie however, and a filmmaker can never expect that his viewers have read the 'based on' material, so here goes nothing:

Poison marked the directorial debut of Todd Haynes (contributing pioneer of New Queer Cinema) outside of his previous effort and now bootleg cult classic The Karen Carpenter Story, which doesn't really count since it was made with barbie dolls. The film uses three completely different narratives to explore sexuality -- which includes themes of isolation, love, homosexuality, paranoia, disease, sadomasochism, violence, and jealousy. The three segments are titled Hero, Horror, and Homo.

Hero is a mock documentary, evoking the style of Errol Morris in order to tell the story of a misunderstood child's murder of his abusive stepfather, and his mysterious disappearence. Through interviews we learn that the child had some peculiar sadomasochistic (and homosexual) tendencies, and was a master manipulator of other people. We also learn that he had an abusive stepfather, of whom he shot, before he flew away through a window, his mother says. Hero is the weakest link of the narrative, as the interviews are often not as funny as they should (could) be, and the is either the most shallow in thematic depth or the hardest to understand. It captures the strangeness of modern suburbia in the same way that Morris captures similar absurdities in Gates of Heaven and Vernon, Florida -- but the problem is that the latter are not only real, but much funnier.

Horror is a black and white 1950s style monster movie (think Roger Corman) -- and uses a scientific experiment gone wrong as an allegory for the AIDS crisis and paranoia of the American public. Stylistically, Haynes captures it perfectly -- the awkward, cheesy inflection of dialogue, the expressionist black and white lighting, cheap laughs, and its obvious low-budget appeal. Thematically, it's the easiest to follow of the three, and is the most frenetic, complimented by a freakout jazzy-type score and the sadness, horror, paranoia, humor of the disease and contagiousness. This segment shines because it forces you to not take it too seriously while still getting its message across.

Homo is the story of an orphan turned thief, who has found himself in prison, suffering at the hands of his repressed homosexuality and love of another one of the prisoners. This narrative is in the vein of French realism, and again, captures the style excellently despite how derrivitive it is. It's the most complicated and challenging of the three narratives, and Haynes does a particularly good job in portraying the relationship between the two prisoners and the awkardness and hesitance for them to act as who they are in their situation: the jealousy, the tension, the fear. What is impressive about this segment is Haynes' tendencies towards the subtle nuances of dialogue and character -- he often lets the camera just roll, before and after the what's scripted, and captures reactions and looks that are devastating.

The film cuts between these three narratives, and is the film's major fault -- since they are so different in style it often takes you out of the picture as you have to re-adjust to the style, characters, and varying themes. Never the less, Poison is an extremely impressive independent film, even though Hayne's ambition gets the best of him. It has style and substance (albeit a bit mushed together) and its no wonder Haynes has gone on to have a successful and uncompromising career -- the talent displayed here is one of encouraging possibilities.

NC-17 (for a shot of an erect dick). B & W and Color. 85 minutes.