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Reviews
Monsters (2010)
Cloverfield meets Lost in Translation (minus Bill Murray)
In this genre, 7 out of 10 is a must see. This film actually reminded me a bit of The Mist, with Thomas Jane, for obvious reasons (impossibly tall creatures with foggy CGI values), but with more of an indie feel. Certainly the characters could have stepped out of a Sofi Coppola travelogue film, which is why I mention Lost in Translation in the heading.
Essentially, I think Blake Snyder -- the "Save the Cat!" screen writing guru -- would have to classify this as more of a "golden fleece"/buddy love type movie than a "Monster in the House" film. Most alien horror films do have the romance element, but none so developed and sophisticated as in this film. Of course, I don't want to over-complicate what is essentially a pretty simple, beautiful film. I suppose, however, the cinema verite style of production (albeit with impossibly tall creatures appearing from time to time) really kind of made it for me here.
In closing, if you can appreciate the honesty of a curiously-long Jim Jarmusch take and the imagination of an extra-dimensional creature tale, you should check this film out. Besides, these poor bastards are losing money -- At least let them recoup expenses before trashing them online!
Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (1981)
Greatest Junkie Love Story ever...(cue stock '70s Bowie anthem of alienation & post-modern dehumanization...)
This is THE hot shot of all downward junkie spiral cinema...the truest, most life-like, gutter-fabulous portrayal of adolescent cult worship gone awry. This film has style, it has presence, and it has substance (literally, many of them in fact).
One thing, though, that I feel has been MASSIVELY overlooked in the rest of these here commentaries on this film. It is a theme in this film that is, perhaps, a bit less obvious to discuss than 'poor teenage girl gets strung out and sells herself for habit,' but I think it is more profound, and enigmatic than the tired clichés of 'talking smack' about this film. Let me explain.
The fact that Bowie is eerily present somewhere in most scenes is likely mistaken for simple teenage rock'n'roll hero worship. But this Berlin-era Bowie is no Elvis, no cheery, giggling Paul, John, Ringo and George. When Christiane gazes longingly into those (intentionally) mysterious, piercing pale blue Bowie eyes from the front row, she is transferring onto Bowie everything that she considers herself to be lacking: Maturity, style, matinée idol good looks, and above all, that most-elusive COOL that bonds her to all the other "young dudes" in the audience. The beauty (and the calculated genius) of Bowie's asexual stage persona was just that: why have only half the audience become obsessed with BEING you when you can have the WHOLE audience, boy AND girl, want to be you?
This cult worship notion in this film, I feel, is drowned out by the hit-you-over-the-head obviousness of the drug message. But the drugs are only part of the problem, if this is indeed to be considered a "problem" in the youth culture of the past 30 years, post-punk, post-new wave, and post-dancehall eras. What I am trying to say, despite obvious pretense (which i cannot help), is that much like the hundred-foot iconic images of Mao, Stalin, Che Guevara (or even Barack Obama currently), the constant marketing of David Bowie's image in the film's depiction of 1970s-era Berlin, the album covers, the subway walls, the rock clubs constantly blaring Bowie's latest, is all a kind of intentional indoctrination by the subversive powers-that-be of the youth nation. The too-clever marketing of a David Bowie, or a Kurt Cobain, or a Tupac Shakur, or Britney Spears, whomever you choose, is only the means to an end. And to what end, you ask? Simple.
Mass control of youth culture. The kids become hooked on the same heroin that Bowie copped from Lou Reed and made fashionable to the mainstream, just like he did with homosexuality and cross-dressing, except more sinister and destructive. To quote one of the kids in the film, "Look at them. The more shots they've had, the cooler they are." That is the mantra. And it is NO COINCIDENCE that our cutesy little daytripper Christiane's first blast of heroin comes when?? After the David Bowie concert!! Am I the only one to pick up on this?? The message is so heavy-handed that I am shocked that nobody here has even touched on anything remotely approaching this idea.
Mass control of the youth culture, in any proto-fascistic society, is to be promoted and desired by its 'caretakers', as it ultimately prevents the youth culture from actively participating and BEING AWAKE to the REALITY, harsh and cruel as it may be, that pervades every inch of their environments.
The only real question, to me, is whether or not a David Bowie (or a Cobain for that matter) is conscious of his role as a shill for the powers-that-be, in subtly doing his own advertisements for heroin culture, via stage performances or elaborate subliminal marketing techniques. I am sure to be labeled a wacko conspiracy theorist, but I sure as sh*t am not gonna waste this bandwidth making lazy 8th grade arguments about which was 'grittier', this or Trainspotting or Requiem for a Dream.
No, there is something bigger here worth discussing, and I want to find out what it is with the rest of you. Can anybody please join in this discussion with something remotely relevant and thought-provoking? I'm really trying to hit on something, but it may take one of you to help me get there. Please! The Christianes of the world are depending upon you to help expose the true motivations behind getting a society's children addicted to smack and turning them out as prostitutes and hustlers as young as possible. I beg you to brainstorm with the above rant as the bass line thumping along as you scour your own fragile psyches for melodic fragments, tiny clues that may help us find the answer to this dilemma that both plagues and oppresses youth culture.....
By the way, thank you to whomever recommended the film Lilja 4-ever as a companion piece to Christiane F...now that is a brilliant film. Hard to believe it was filmed mainly, what, on a handycam?? Pretty soon we will be making films with our mobile phones on our cigarette breaks and uploading them directly to YouTube indie film network....
Mikey and Nicky (1976)
SPOILER ALERT!! Mikey & Nicky, a poor man's "Mean Streets"
It all makes sense that Cassavetes' took Scorsese under his wing, and though Mean Streets came out a few years earlier, I think it owes a great deal to the Cassavetes' crew. In the same way that Keitel and DeNiro play out their tragic friendship on the streets of New York, the same dynamics exist between Cassavetes and Falk here, and maybe more poignantly. The back story of this film is ever so gradually revealed to the viewer, and along the way we get to both love and hate both lead characters. Falk is a good buddy in a classic buddy film, coming to the rescue of Cassavetes in need. But then we find out about the double cross, and Falk suddenly takes on a much more sinister persona. One of the appeals I believe the gangster film has is how the easy camaraderie between the gangsters can so easily melt down into a survival of the fittest contest, and the supposed "best friend" will generally be the guy to arrange or commit your murder. Mean Streets showed Keitel going leaps and bounds out of his way to protect DeNiro, in spite of his best self-preservation instincts. Falk walks the same line, as he becomes suspect by the contract killer and the bosses when what should be a simple hit becomes an all night event. Cassavetes also has a lot of that same crazy, cocksure bravado of DeNiro in Mean Streets, and we see how that tragic flaw in each of them cause their respective ends. They act like little kids, with a little manic depression thrown in to spice things up. Mikey calls out his buddy Nicky for insecurity issues, for always having to prove his manhood, his self-worth, often at the cost of hurting others who are equally crazy enough to love him. The charisma of each of these tragic characters in their respective films is unequaled by any other character in each one's film, and the level-headed Falk (and Keitel) are intoxicated in their own way by that charisma, so much so that they get themselves into a lot of hot water over it. How many of us have not known someone whose charisma, charm and extroverted personality, although troubled, has not swept us away completely, causing us to do or say things we would otherwise never do? But we can never be that person, if we just don't have it in us to be that way. Falk realizes it, and also realizes that those types of characters are generally consumed with too much self-love and not enough consideration for anybody else. That is one of the key elements in each film I think, that dichotomy between the charismatic extrovert who is essentially a selfish megalomaniac, and the caring, protective friend or brother, less outgoing and likely to behave erratically, compelled to be responsible for his brother living on the edge for the both of them. I believe the characters played by Keitel and Falk were both at one point addicted to their crazy friends, so much so that they got in too deep, no limit to what they would do for their pals, and when these nuts got themselves in too deep, stepped on too many toes, they had to step away and let these people deal with the consequences of their actions, no matter how brutal. I would agree with others that it is a Shakespearean dilemma, that need to protect and rescue, versus the need to stay out of harm's way. These ideas that are examined in this film make it incredibly important, timeless, and vital for anybody who values films that are able to portray actual human relationships in a way that is real and true to life, that we can all relate to and that allows us to learn about ourselves through. Mikey & Nicky is one of those films, and whether or not you are a fan of '70s cult mobster films, I believe there is a lot to be gained here regardless of that surface description.
Georgia (1995)
Cool offbeat dark country film
Its probably not like the greatest film ever made but for those who 'get' the country vibe, not the cornball stuff but the real rootsy kind of textures and colors of a good Hank Williams record, this film is a keeper. There are some amazingly cool covers of some Velvet Underground stuff by the main character's band that I was rather shocked to hear, as I am a huge fan. They really had the whole Cowboy Junkies vibe down pat....Leigh is an amazing actress who has portrayed many dark and troubled characters throughout her career (almost exclusively). Here the tradition continues....Good soundtrack does not a great film make, but to me the characters were compelling enough to hold my interest (and I'm a tough customer). It kind of reminds me a bit of the LA-indie extravaganza Sugartown, an ensemble piece about many intertwining music & entertainment biz loonies, which is a bit more comic but certainly as dark.