The Dying Gaul


Synopsis
A gay screen writer whose partner recently died is given an opportunity to make a million dollars off his gay-themed script, but only if he makes it a straight couple and not a gay couple. When Robert (Peter Sarsgaard) accepts the money, he ends up compromising more than his work as he enters into a love triangle with his bisexual boss, Jeffrey (Campbell Scott) and his wife Elaine (Patricia Clarkson). (R, 2006)


Observations
The first thing I liked about this movie was the exposition. It was through without being heavy-handed, or blunt; without using monologues or voice-overs. That’s a tricky thing to do and director Craig Lucas (his feature film) manages it with ease. Sarsgaard amazes me as an actor again and again. He can play creepy (Flight Plan), redneck-gay-basher (Boys Don’t Cry), crazy military man (Jarhead), and keen investigator (Shattered Glass). He will win an Oscar in the next five years.

There are two cinema things that I hate and unfortunately this film has both: a weird split shot sex scenes (a la Munich) and a pretentious title. But those were not enough to take away from the stellar acting and superb dialogue. Many have criticized the uses of IM and e-mail in this film. My justification for suspending my disbelief (example: talking to your dead lover over IM) was that people do funny things when money, sex, grief, and compromised principles are involved.

This movie didn’t go anywhere near where I thought it would. It is reminiscent of a Greek/Shakespearean tragedy. It was hubris on the part of the screenwriter, Robert, to think that he could sell his soul and bastardize the beautiful script he had created and believed in and not be affected to the core of his being.

If you’re looking for an intelligent bisexual love triangle tragedy, take 90 minutes and watch this.

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Waydowntown


Synopsis
Four Canadian cube drones bet a month’s salary to see who can go the longest without stepping outside the downtown city complex in which they work. Bizarre visions and a little bit of mania ensue. (R, 2005)


Observations
This movie was so unremarkable that an hour into the film I still couldn’t remember any of the character’s names. That’s especially disappointing because Fab Filippo played such a textured character in Seasons 2 & 3 of Queer as Folk (if you haven’t seen any of this show, start with Season 1. It’s worth the time commitment.) I guess the intention was to capture the young corporate angst that those of us who are cube-dwellers feel, but the film felt flat and forced. If you liked Office Space, but are longing for a smarter work comedy, try Haiku Tunnel. Temp work was never so funny.
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Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic


Synopsis
Sketches, musical numbers and stand-up comprise this 72 minute routine by comedian Sarah Silverman. (R, 2005)


Observations
So, I’ll start by stating the obvious – if you are easily offended by off-color material, please don’t see this film. Though it is not nearly as raunchy as say, The Aristocrats, there is a lot of questionable material in this comedy special.

I was a bit disoriented by the bad-high-school musical flavor of some of the film, especially the opening musical number. Though Silverman has an OK singing voice, the songs just aren’t that funny. I had assumed the whole special was stand-up so I was confused with the sketch that opens the film. Though her stand-up is hilarious at times, I found myself dreading the vignettes that peppered her act. Silverman’s material is unforgiving, and any one can be a victim. I have a special appreciation for artists that use their platform to bring up social issues, and Silverman does that a lot. She has an interesting bit about Jews buying German cars and another piece about the horrors of the diamond industry.

If you are a fan of quality stand-up, it would behoove you to pick up some Mitch Hedberg. He’s unquestionably the smartest, most original stand-up I have seen in the past several years.

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Grizzly Man


Synopsis
This documentary chronicles the obsessive attachment and ensuing death of Timothy Treadwell, a self-proclaimed bear activist. Using his own footage, Timothy’s video diaries, and interviews with Timothy’s friends and family, Werner Herzog creates a film about big bears, folly and addiction. (R, 2005)


Observations
Is Timothy Treadwell crazy as a loon? Probably. Treadwell had a substance abuse problem that he traded in for a fanatical addition to bears. He camped with them for 13 years, touched them, followed them, and played with their poop. Treadwell prided himself on being a “gentle warrior” and keeper of the bears. This basically meant that he followed bears about for months at a time, naming them and watching them, but also turning the camera on himself; star of his own nature show. Treadwell taped himself with his video camera a lot. Take after take after take he presents himself as the Steve Irwin (Crocodile Hunter) of bears.

I saw the way that Treadwell filmed himself, talking about the danger he was under, the risk, the importance of taping the bear’s lives as his way of creating celebrity. Treadwell felt his connection with the bears made him unique; that he had transcended the space between human and animal and made a genuine psychic connection. This was folly. Although that level of dedication makes the documentary interesting in the way a train wreck is interesting, it mostly just served to show over and over again how either naïve or arrogant Treadwell was.

I hesitate to call Werner Herzog a documentarian. Throughout the film he coaches the interviewees, gives advice, and asks completely irrelevant questions. The way that Herzog trampled through the boundary between documentary maker and sensational journalist is annoying. The best thing he did for the film was to decide not to play the audio that was recorded as Treadwell and his female companion were killed by a bear, although, for drama's sake of course, he listened to it himself.
As a side note, Treadwell studied coastal brown bears, not grizzly bears, which live inland. I guess “Coastal Brown Bear Man” didn’t have the same dramatic ring as “Grizzly Man.”

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Transamerica


Synopsis
Bree, a pre-op transsexual is almost ready for her surgery when she gets a call from a NY jail from a boy claiming to be her son. She goes to bail him out and a road trip movie is created as they drive across country towards LA. (Rated R, 2005)


Observations
Though I liked this movie, I think that the reason it got any critical acclaim is two-fold – Felicity Huffman is a good actress and last year was a bad year for movies. The filmmakers do a decent job of creating and understanding between Bree, the transsexual and the viewer without the film turning voyeuristic or sensational. And her son, Toby (played by Kevin Zegers) is a little hottie in a skanky way.

I think there is one scene in the film that calls Bree’s motivations for reassignment surgery into question. She is sitting with her son after a bad visit with her estranged parents and says of her family – “I wish for once they’d look at me and see me.” I felt that statement went against the grain of why she wanted the surgery in the first place – to be able to fit into the world as a woman. Is Bree doing all of this because she wants someone to look at her; someone to validate her? Who knows? It's probably a lot easier for her parents to see her when she's a 6 foot tall man dressed in 1950’s era housewife dresses.

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Oscar and Lucinda


Synopsis
Two social misfits meet on a sea liner headed for Australia in this historical tale of folly, weakness and pride. Cate Blanchett and Ralph Fiennes star. (Rated R, 1997)


Observations
Watching this movie was like being wrapped in a wonderful blanket of artistic story-telling. I had seen this movie when it came out, but decided to revisit it to see if it was as good as I had remembered. And, it certainly was! This is a Merchant Ivory style film – epic, historical, breathtakingly beautiful. The character of Oscar shows Fiennes at his quixotic goofiest. The scoring of the movie was amazing and the costuming was nominated for an Academy Award. The film shows Australia as a wild country, but the savages are not only the aboriginal people, but also those who tore through their lands in an effort to build better trade routes. The gambling in the film is an interesting plot device. Oscar and Lucinda prove their love by going against the norm in their friendship, their love of gambling and their relentless pursuit of what is good and true.

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Funny Ha Ha


Synopsis
This is a super-indie flick about one woman’s trip down the potholed road between graduating college and the rest of her life.


Observations
Please, someone see this movie besides me so I have someone to talk to about it! (Sometimes being obscure is a pain in my ass.) Anyways, the quality of this film is definitely indie, but it’s work sticking it out. The production is somewhere between high school film class and Hollywood – but it doesn’t matter. This film is like an extended self-conscious home movie. Its rawness reminded me of my favorite movie, Fat Girl by Catherine Breillat.

The creepy stalker-ish love interest is the director too. Well done! I chose not to partake in the “special feature” option to watch the movie with commentary “An Outside Perspective from a Russian Scholar.” Huh? Since the movie is super low budget, I’m assuming Bujalski (director/actor) has a Russian friend or something.

This movie really presses the question of the art of movies as they reflect life. Is it art if it just recreates daily life? Does art have a responsibility to be bigger than life, or somehow different than life? This movie could have been done on your parent’s video camera. The acting wasn’t a stretch, the location was nothing special, the dialogue was true urban vernacular (lots of “like’s” and “umm’s”). But somehow this movie is art. It is beautiful in its realism, its unpretentiousness, its normalcy. Make an indie girl happy and try this movie.

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Junebug


Synopsis
A sophisticated New York art dealer quickly meets and marries a Southern transplant, George (played by Alessandro Nivola). During an excursion to see an undiscovered artist’s work, Madeline (Embeth Davidtz) gets to spend some quality time with her new in-laws in North Carolina.

Observations
Warning: this movie wins the award for most obnoxious opening sequence. Have the mute button handy on your remote and you’ll be fine. There is already many reviews that do a good job taking about the dichotomies at work in this film; urban v. rural, family v. non-family, so I won’t do that. But I will mention Amy Adams – she’s a spitfire! For the first part of the film I was a little confused how this actor was nominated for best supporting actress Oscar this year. But hang in there; she ends up giving a surprisingly faceted performance. If you are already a fan of The O.C., this part wasn’t much of a stretch for Benjamin McKenzie. He can certainly work the surly angle.

I was disappointed in Alessandro Nivola’s role. The script doesn’t call for him to do much more than wander around town being the nice guy. I would have like to have seen some sort of confrontation between his character and Johnny (Benjamin McKenzie), but I guess as in life, familial relationships don’t always play out the way you think they should.

“Junebug” comes from the nickname that Ashley (Amy Adams) would like to give her baby when it’s born. I wondered if that was significant in light of the ending of the film. Let me know what you think.

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Shaolin Wheel of Life


Synopsis
Young and old Chinese monk/warriors perform in a Cirque du Soleil type extravaganza displaying their kung fu and gymnastic prowess.
Observations
If you’re looking for some hot Asian action, pop this one in and sit back for the ride. Despite the mediocre sound quality, this show shines. The monks’ display of endurance, agility, flexibility and discipline are outstanding. The frame story around the different feats was super epic. It’s amazing to think that children as young as four can start training to become a monk/warrior. These aren’t snotty-nosed Pixar-loving American brats, but sage little men dedicating their young lives to Buddhism and standing for long periods of time with one leg held up over their heads. I was especially interested in the performances by the children, but the adults were amazing as well. Can you break a metal sword with your head? Didn’t think so.

The thing I was left wondering though was “Why are these monks doing this?” In the behind the scenes featurette, the producers, choreographers and other theater people talk about discovering these monks and bringing their skills to the stage. Did the monks need the cash? The few monks who comment say they wanted to bring Buddhism and Kung Fu to the world. I didn’t quite buy that, but I guess who knows. But overall – their kung fu is strong!!

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The Ringer


Synopsis
When Steve (Johnny Knoxville) needs some cash, he and his uncle concoct a plan to fix the Special Olympics. When the mentally challenged athletes find out he’s a fraud, they decide to help him anyways.

Observations
You might think that I feel kind of embarrassed for watching this movie. And you would be right. But I am forever in search of the next great America comedy and it was in that spirit that I sat through this flick. Unfortunately it wasn’t funny. I thought at first that perhaps I was hesitant to laugh because of the subject matter, but I don’t think that was it. Though the film is in good taste, it’s not laugh out loud funny. Or chuckle funny. Or crack a smile funny.

I like Johnny Knoxville and think he has some untapped comic potential. If you want to see him make a not-so-good movie watchable, try Walking Tall (seriously). If you want to laugh at inappropriate/uncomfortable humor, pop in an episode of Family Guy.

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~~Read My Lips~~ Why does Carla (the deaf office girl) even hire Paul (convict, also the bad guy in Derailed)? Why does she like him? Why does she help him? It just doesn’t make any sense. And that’s the foundation of the film, so since I didn’t buy into it, the film was lost on me. The best part was when Carla takes out her hearing aids when baby-sitting for a friend’s crying baby. Now that’s an idea!

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