I feel like I could talk for ages about this movie, but I'll keep it as brief as possible, since this is decidedly not a review. The Fall, according to IMDb, was originally released in 2006 but either could not find a large enough audience or ran into distribution issues. Now The Fall comes to DVD in 2009 and hopefully to much wider acclaim.
In the film, a young foreign girl meets a paralyzed film stuntman in the hospital where they are both being treated in early 20th century California. A friendship grows between the two as the man begins to spin a fantastical tale for her. The camera weaves the story being told with the events happening in the film's present day, with extreme expertise; characters and story elements cross over and see the light of day in both threads.
But what's truly worthwhile about The Fall is its setting, and more specifically, its color. While the small California hospital is made up of muted beiges and tans, the story's heroes are radiant in jewel tones. Their travels take them across sweeping deserts, lush meadows, and sparkling seas. The architecture is some of the most ornate ever featured in a film. The colors and designs leap off the screen, making you feel as if you've never seen a greener shade of green than, for example, when the Mystic treads through the oasis grass. The camera shot length, angles, and cinematography features these aspects to their best advantage.
The most amazing part is that the director claims that no special effects were used in attaining the incredible shots used in the movie. The film is a complete treat, full of vibrancy and electricity that I've not seen on film anywhere else.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Review: Sunshine Cleaning
(originally published in The California Aggie at UC Davis, 4/16/09)
Sunshine Cleaning highlights young talent
Familiar but enjoyable comedy leaves little to be desired
It's almost too easy to draw comparisons between Sunshine Cleaning and recent entries to the newly minted category of, for lack of an official name, "quirky indie films." They all have in common a quiet, quaint sense of humor that sets them apart from boisterous big-budget comedies. Sunshine Cleaning, directed by New Zealand-born Christine Jeffs, follows in this vein in its own way.
The film manages to deftly bring to the forefront the talents of its two leads. Adams, with her comfortable established pattern of cheerful characters, presents Rose as distinctly both a realist and an optimist. Blunt's opposing nihilism creates a stark contrast. Together the actresses are more than the sum of their parts. What results is the brightest part of the movie: a believable sister relationship that refrains from stooping to uncomfortable confessions of love, need and mutual dependence. The love is there, but it's all in the subtleties.
Sunshine Cleaning highlights young talent
Familiar but enjoyable comedy leaves little to be desired
It's almost too easy to draw comparisons between Sunshine Cleaning and recent entries to the newly minted category of, for lack of an official name, "quirky indie films." They all have in common a quiet, quaint sense of humor that sets them apart from boisterous big-budget comedies. Sunshine Cleaning, directed by New Zealand-born Christine Jeffs, follows in this vein in its own way.
The fun subgenre has not yet worn out its welcome, since it hasn't been around long enough to form its own clichés. Though Sunshine Cleaning isn't breaking any boundaries or challenging the status quo, it has frequent small moments of originality that make it shine.
The film follows sisters Rose and Norah, played with charisma by Amy Adams and Emily Blunt respectively. They both lament their monotonous blue-collar work until they suddenly find themselves without it. They concoct a plan to turn their manual labor skills into a lucrative business of the diplomatically phrased "crime scene cleanup."
The two women unavoidably become entangled in the lives of their clients, most of which have recently lost a loved one in a violent way. Rose thrives at helping this kind of situation; she is the type of fixer who can't fix her own life, remaining in a stagnant affair while trying to raise a kid. Norah is less emotionally accessible and more likely to compartmentalize than face troubles, but she finds ways to reach these unexplored caverns with the help of a new friend she meets through the job.
The film manages to deftly bring to the forefront the talents of its two leads. Adams, with her comfortable established pattern of cheerful characters, presents Rose as distinctly both a realist and an optimist. Blunt's opposing nihilism creates a stark contrast. Together the actresses are more than the sum of their parts. What results is the brightest part of the movie: a believable sister relationship that refrains from stooping to uncomfortable confessions of love, need and mutual dependence. The love is there, but it's all in the subtleties.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Feature: Observe and Report
(originally published in The California Aggie at UC Davis, 4/9/09)
Chatting about Observe and Report
Stars and filmmaker describe their latest film
Observe and Report isn't your typical big budget Hollywood comedy. The audience remains in constant struggle with the film's humor, unsure of whether or not laughter is intended or appropriate.
However, writer and director Jody Hill says he designed it that way, describing the film as "sad and weird."
"I was interested in driving a character insane, taking him to the edge of insanity," Hill said in an interview during a recent college conference call.
Observe and Report follows the sad story of mall security guard Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen), a young man who takes himself and his job extremely seriously. When a flasher begins indiscriminately assaulting women in the mall parking lot, Ronnie sees the opportunity to impress make-up counter employee Brandi (Anna Faris) with his strong commitment to justice.
Through his determination, the audience sees his struggles with a meddling police officer, his alcoholic mother, his unreliable security team, his mental disorders and his inner battles with right and wrong. Yet, shockingly, most of the movie is hilarious.
"I really tried to use the model of the character piece from the '70s," Hill said. He said he loved the themes of isolation and loneliness he saw in these films and tried to mimic "characters trying to come up with a code [and] feel in place in their time."
Hill said that when toying with ideas for a script, he tries to focus on a world. For Observe and Report, this world is the mall, a location Hill claims to hate ever since his days as a boy watching his coffee vendor father fight with mall security guards over parking.
The role of Ronnie is different from the role of the likable, carefree boy-man that originally gave Rogen acclaim. As a fan of Rogen since his early work on the show "Freaks and Geeks," Hill said that he wrote the film's delusional hero Barnhardt with Rogen in mind for the role. Rogen's involvement and faith in Observe and Report was the main reason the movie studio agreed to produce a film that defies genre or categorization, Hill added.
"It was a really small, thrown together independent movie - and those are exactly the kind of movies I don't like," Rogen said.
When asked why he signed onto the film, Rogen answered, "It was just really funny." He said he approaches making movies as a movie fan, and Observe and Report appealed to that side of him.
Co-star Anna Faris, however, plays a role that many fans of hers will recognize. Brandi, the Ronnie-using, bad decision-making melodramatic love interest of Observe and Report, is "the kind of girl we all know a little bit," Faris described.
"It was so fun to be so bad," Faris said.
Though Hill had a very specific vision for each of the characters, Faris was responsible for Brandi's memorable look of long nails and black clothes "because she thinks it's sophisticated," Faris said.
When looking at scripts, Faris said that she looks for "a whole new interesting wave of comedy" and whether or not she "gets to stretch [her] legs a little bit."
Hill said he hopes the audience thinks about the movie after they leave the theater.
"We praise [Ronnie] certainly in the movie, but how real is that praise and what exactly are we praising? I hope that's the issue the audience grapples with and kind of talks about," he said.
"Whatever people take from the movie is what they take from it. I don't have a certain agenda," Hill added.
Feature: Beauty Mark
(originally published in The California Aggie at UC Davis, 4/2/09)
How do we define beauty?
Screening of film Beauty Mark begins Davis Film Festival
For the last five years, the Davis Film Festival has brought cinematic expressions of exploration and worldliness to the city of Davis.
How do we define beauty?
Screening of film Beauty Mark begins Davis Film Festival
For the last five years, the Davis Film Festival has brought cinematic expressions of exploration and worldliness to the city of Davis.
Tonight, the festival kicks off its sixth annual event at the Varsity Theater on Second Street with the screening of Beauty Mark, a film designed to speak to people of all backgrounds.
Beauty Mark will be screened tonight at the Varsity at 6:30 p.m. Following the film will be a question and answer session with the filmmakers and a presentation by Elizabeth Applegate, UC
Davis senior lecturer in the nutrition department and director of sports nutrition for intercollegiate athletics. Tickets are on sale at the door for $7.50 for students and $10 for non-students.
"I was on a quest to understand what is genuine beauty," said Diane Israel, producer of the film. Israel, along with directors Carla Precht and Kathleen Man, created a movie designed to address the body issues dealt with by everyone.
She described her frustration with American culture's definition of beauty and unattainable standards, calling the images of beauty society promotes "the impetus for [her] rage."
Israel's work with the fitness camp Women's Quest was the beginning of Beauty Mark's realization. Many women expressed the desire to be good role models to the next generation, said Israel, but at the same time these women possessed significant body image issues themselves.
She united with Man and Precht (Israel's childhood friend) and the process began. They interviewed a broad range of people from athletes to burn victims, psychotherapists to employees of mannequin companies.
During this interview process, it became apparent to Precht and others that Israel would have to come to terms with her own personal self-esteem and body issues. As a professional runner and triathlete in the '80s, Israel also dealt with issues of body dissatisfaction. She summed up her experience as "being a great athlete but also dying inside."
Precht said that she learned a great deal about body issues from Israel's personal story; she supported Israel's eventual decision to address her struggles in front of the camera.
"These are people who were striving for perfection; a lot of it was striving for … filling a hole in their life," Precht said about athletes with body issues. "There really weren't a lot of people around at the height of their athleticism to support them and help them see that this was a real illness."
In addition to the film screening, the Davis Film Festival's opening night will include a guest appearance by Applegate.
Applegate, also a former triathlete, said that she works with many athletes who experience the same feelings of striving for perfection that Israel did."Exercise [can be] … the means by which athletes are trying to heal or submerge the issues from their backgrounds," she said.
She noted in particular the uncommon discussion of the kinds body issues plaguing men.
"Because they're men, you're automatically in awe," Applegate said. "You fail to think that they have their own demons and are compelled to excel much in the same way as women."
Though Israel's story comes from a very personal place, the film's broad range of interviews is designed to reach all people and all types of body issues. Applegate called Beauty Mark "a movie about internal struggle that I think will transcend to individuals in many different ways."
"People think that people with eating disorders have a choice. That's just not true," Precht said.
For more information about Beauty Mark, visit beautymarkmovie.com. For a full schedule of the Davis Film Festival, visit davisfilmfest.org.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Feature: Milk
(originally printed in The California Aggie at UC Davis, 12/4/08)
Milk, in their own words
Actors, filmmakers, and UCD students discuss the potential impact of this controversial movie
“When people stand up, things change.”
In six words, Sean Penn managed to sum up the entire movie of Milk. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still see it.
Released in theaters tomorrow, Milk is a biographical film from director Gus Van Sant about Harvey Milk, the United States’ first openly gay elected official. The film spans eight years in the life of Milk, played by Penn, from the mere conception of his first campaign for San Francisco city supervisor to his assassination at the hands of colleague Dan White.
A panel of actors and filmmakers from Milk sat down with reporters in San Francisco on Oct. 29 to talk about its upcoming release. While they made it clear that the film was enjoyable to make, all were aware that the film they made had a gravitas that existed beyond its run time.
“I don’t think most students know who Harvey Milk is,” said Emile Hirsch, who plays Cleve Jones, one of the youngest activists in Milk’s campaign. “For me, what the film really was about was about human rights and equality and democracy and just some of the core principles that I think America’s about and America stands for. And I think it’s important for college students to learn those things.”
Sean Penn stressed that understanding who Milk was as a person in addition to as a political figure is a large step toward understanding why his message continues to be meaningful.
“What struck me really was that Harvey Milk, whether he had been in politics or not, he would have been a political figure simply because he had been one of these people who had come up against the obvious obstacles in life,” Penn said. “And he greeted it with such courage and warmth and was politically kind. He was a kind spirit, and that was going to be strong whatever he did.”
Though the film that muses on the subject takes place around thirty years ago, the dearth of young people in local politics is a topic applicable to today’s political sphere. The inertia that propelled young voters to participate in this year’s election has created a lingering, now aimless passion among young adults. With four years until the next presidential election, many feel that energy should be channeled into community involvement.
“Students don’t feel that local issues in particular affect them… but it’s actually the opposite,” said sophomore international relations major and ASUCD senator Jack Zwald.
“In Davis city politics, we don’t have enough student involvement, and that’s why city council can get away with passing a lot of ordinances that aren’t fair to us.”
Despite the high voter turnout for the presidential election, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black expressed his frustration at the current climate of political activism outside the realm of elected officials.
“The folks who I know who are even political and supposedly activists are so passive… Actually getting up and doing something about it, organizing physically and making some sort of change, it just doesn’t seem to happen so much.”
“Being apathetic to politics is acceptable and normal,” agreed Zwald. “We can wean people off of that apathy [and] really start working for that change…But we’re going to fall short if we only go this far.
Zwald’s sentiments echo the feelings of many gay rights supporters today. One month after the passage of anti-gay marriage laws and amendments in three states, a film about a prominent and capable gay civil rights leader will be released. The actors and filmmakers know that the movie is going to add fuel to the flames of the debate over civil liberties. The film, had it been released earlier, might have played a part in the Prop 8 dialogue, since the film explores the struggle against a similarly themed 1978 proposition.
Penn commented on how watching the film in particular relates to approaching gay rights in general.
“There’s something in the movie where Harvey Milk is emphasizing what an impact it makes if people know that they know just one of us,” he said.
“You’re watching a lot of good-hearted human beings, and where and how they decide to fuck is irrelevant. And so I think that alone can be strong, to get in there and feel more familiar, less stigmatized and confused by it, less afraid of it. … The more the pure heart of people is in the face of [disapproval], the less breathing room there is for that kind of thinking.”
Third year international relations and women and gender studies double major and Gender and Sexualities Commission Chair Laura Brown said that the release of Milk may increase visibility for the LGBT community, but it’s important to stay focused on the bigger picture.
“I think it’s interesting to see how the queer community has galvanized after the Prop 8 passing…[but it is important] to recognize that gay rights issues existing separately aren’t as important as broader issues that incorporate the queer community as well as other marginalized communities.”
On a more universal level, this movie shines as a different kind of beacon of hope. The connections to today’s struggle for gay rights will obviously reignite deeply rooted positions on the subject, but the film’s forte is delving into the importance for activism and public participation on local, state, and national levels.
When Zwald was asked what it will take to get more students involved in politics on all levels of government, his answer was decisive.
“It’ll take major crisis. It’ll take something that really reaches down in to the core of every student… that pulls them out and compels them to get involved. It may be the draft, it may be an economic collapse, it may be the threat of a new war … It’ll really take something big to get us involved on all levels.”
Milk, in their own words
Actors, filmmakers, and UCD students discuss the potential impact of this controversial movie
“When people stand up, things change.”
In six words, Sean Penn managed to sum up the entire movie of Milk. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still see it.
Released in theaters tomorrow, Milk is a biographical film from director Gus Van Sant about Harvey Milk, the United States’ first openly gay elected official. The film spans eight years in the life of Milk, played by Penn, from the mere conception of his first campaign for San Francisco city supervisor to his assassination at the hands of colleague Dan White.
A panel of actors and filmmakers from Milk sat down with reporters in San Francisco on Oct. 29 to talk about its upcoming release. While they made it clear that the film was enjoyable to make, all were aware that the film they made had a gravitas that existed beyond its run time.
“I don’t think most students know who Harvey Milk is,” said Emile Hirsch, who plays Cleve Jones, one of the youngest activists in Milk’s campaign. “For me, what the film really was about was about human rights and equality and democracy and just some of the core principles that I think America’s about and America stands for. And I think it’s important for college students to learn those things.”
Sean Penn stressed that understanding who Milk was as a person in addition to as a political figure is a large step toward understanding why his message continues to be meaningful.
“What struck me really was that Harvey Milk, whether he had been in politics or not, he would have been a political figure simply because he had been one of these people who had come up against the obvious obstacles in life,” Penn said. “And he greeted it with such courage and warmth and was politically kind. He was a kind spirit, and that was going to be strong whatever he did.”
Though the film that muses on the subject takes place around thirty years ago, the dearth of young people in local politics is a topic applicable to today’s political sphere. The inertia that propelled young voters to participate in this year’s election has created a lingering, now aimless passion among young adults. With four years until the next presidential election, many feel that energy should be channeled into community involvement.
“Students don’t feel that local issues in particular affect them… but it’s actually the opposite,” said sophomore international relations major and ASUCD senator Jack Zwald.
“In Davis city politics, we don’t have enough student involvement, and that’s why city council can get away with passing a lot of ordinances that aren’t fair to us.”
Despite the high voter turnout for the presidential election, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black expressed his frustration at the current climate of political activism outside the realm of elected officials.
“The folks who I know who are even political and supposedly activists are so passive… Actually getting up and doing something about it, organizing physically and making some sort of change, it just doesn’t seem to happen so much.”
“Being apathetic to politics is acceptable and normal,” agreed Zwald. “We can wean people off of that apathy [and] really start working for that change…But we’re going to fall short if we only go this far.
Zwald’s sentiments echo the feelings of many gay rights supporters today. One month after the passage of anti-gay marriage laws and amendments in three states, a film about a prominent and capable gay civil rights leader will be released. The actors and filmmakers know that the movie is going to add fuel to the flames of the debate over civil liberties. The film, had it been released earlier, might have played a part in the Prop 8 dialogue, since the film explores the struggle against a similarly themed 1978 proposition.
Penn commented on how watching the film in particular relates to approaching gay rights in general.
“There’s something in the movie where Harvey Milk is emphasizing what an impact it makes if people know that they know just one of us,” he said.
“You’re watching a lot of good-hearted human beings, and where and how they decide to fuck is irrelevant. And so I think that alone can be strong, to get in there and feel more familiar, less stigmatized and confused by it, less afraid of it. … The more the pure heart of people is in the face of [disapproval], the less breathing room there is for that kind of thinking.”
Third year international relations and women and gender studies double major and Gender and Sexualities Commission Chair Laura Brown said that the release of Milk may increase visibility for the LGBT community, but it’s important to stay focused on the bigger picture.
“I think it’s interesting to see how the queer community has galvanized after the Prop 8 passing…[but it is important] to recognize that gay rights issues existing separately aren’t as important as broader issues that incorporate the queer community as well as other marginalized communities.”
On a more universal level, this movie shines as a different kind of beacon of hope. The connections to today’s struggle for gay rights will obviously reignite deeply rooted positions on the subject, but the film’s forte is delving into the importance for activism and public participation on local, state, and national levels.
When Zwald was asked what it will take to get more students involved in politics on all levels of government, his answer was decisive.
“It’ll take major crisis. It’ll take something that really reaches down in to the core of every student… that pulls them out and compels them to get involved. It may be the draft, it may be an economic collapse, it may be the threat of a new war … It’ll really take something big to get us involved on all levels.”
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