New Releases 3/12/10

Green Zone (R)
Starring: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Amy Ryan, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Paul Greengrass
The director and actor who infuse the Bourne films with such artistry try to make this so-called political thriller work, but …

In case you didn’t already know this, when Damon’s character and his team of Army inspectors don’t find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, they discover instead that there never were any, and it was just an excuse to go to war. Quelle surprise!
2 pieces of well…duh,  toast

She’s Out of My League (R)
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Alice Eve, T.J. Miller, Mike Vogel
Director: Jim Field Smith
The skinny, nerdy guy du-jour (Jay Baruchel) gets to star in a Judd Apatow rip-off about a clueless guy in a minimum wage job falling into a chance to date the pretty, blonde girl who gave up a law career to be a party planner.  Wait…isn’t this the same fantasy that sells all those automobiles, aftershaves, Grecian formula hairdye and booze?
2 pieces of occasionally funny (but raunchy)  toast

Remember Me (PG-13)
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Pierce Brosnan, Emilie de Ravin, Chris Cooper, Lena Olin
Director: Allen Coulter
His mother died, his father remains distant, the girl of his dreams has  also survived a family tragedy and it’s all played like “Rebel Without a Cause.”  But despite good actors, the characters all manage to be annoying if not downright distasteful.
1 and 1/2 pieces of I guess I can’t keep all those fans of Robert Pattinson away, but this is a downer of a film toast

Our Family Wedding (PG-13)
Starring: Forest Whitaker, America Ferrera, Taye Diggs, Regina King
Director: Rick Famuyiwa
A Latina and an African-American are getting married, and the filmmakers use this to create a film filled with every wedding cliché possible and kill the film by continuous use of unfunny racial insults, and stereotypes.
1/2 piece of avoid this even if someone gives you free tickets toast
The Yellow Handkerchief (PG-13)
Starring: William Hurt, Maria Bello, Eddie Redmayne, Kristen Stewart
Director: Udayan Prasad
Obviously designed to give the actors a chance for an Oscar-worthy performance, the first half of this movie—about a  road trip with three unlikely Southern types in a convertible driving through post-Katrina Louisiana—works well enough, but after all the stories are told, the handkerchiefs come out, the Max Factor tears start flowing and…  Despite Hurt’s formidable acting chops, in the second half, the yellow handkerchief becomes handy for blowing your nose.
2 and 1/2 pieces of feels like a Hallmark special toast

North Face (NR)
Starring: Benno Furmann, Florian Lukas, Johanna Wokalek, Ulrich Tukur
Director: Philipp Stolzl
In a true story from 1936, Nazi pride is on the line as two Aryan climbers begin an asault on the Eiger’s deadly North Face, only to learn that an Austrian team has a head start. The climb begins in sunshine, but a blizzard moves in, and with telescopes watching, the everyone fears that the local legend will come true again, and that the ogre of a mountain will devour all who challenge her slopes.  There is an unnecessary romantic subplot injected in  the movie, and that, combined with heavy-handed political expostion,  just get in the way of a great film, but it’s still a good one the way it is.

3 pieces of white-knuckle toast

NEW ON DVD

Capitalism: A Love Story (NR)
Director: Michael Moore
In interviews, Michael Moore admits that this film was paid for by the very corporations he attacks because “they understand that I get people who would never go to a documentary out to the Cineplex to be entertained and even become a little indignant.” And that, in a nutshell, is what is accomplished in this 20-years-later bookend to “Roger and Me.” But perhaps the most interesting bit is a replay of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s state of the union address where he proposed a “second Bill of Rights, including the right to work, the right to a pension and the right to health care!
3 pieces Michael Moore toast

Planet 51 (PG)
Starring the voices of: Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Seann William Scott, Gary Oldman, John Cleese
Director: Jorge Blanco
In an obvious attempt to be clever, the filmmakers force an “ET” in reverse plot about an American astronaut getting marooned on a planet inhabited by round-edged green characters a lot like us. Internationally and independently produced, the film is competently animated but the pathetic plot dooms it to kiddy-fare for children who have never had the joy of seeing a Pixar project.
1 and 1/2 piece of insipid toast

Best known for her work on Hollywood films like “Amadeus,” “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” and “Henry and June,” Vivien has devoted most of her time recently to editing documentary films. One of these, Wendy Slick and Emiko Omori’s “Passion and Power: the Technology of Orgasm” was shown at Sebastopol’s first doc fest in 2008.

PROGRAM NOTE :For 2010, Emiko Omori will be presenting the special program “The Art of Shooting Docs” featuring clips from dozens of films to illustrate how to be a better filmmaker—both professional or amateur. 2:00 PM Saturday at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts

In preparation for tonight’s screening of “Today Is Better Than Two Tomorrows,” Vivien contacted Anna Rodgers by e-mail and prompted responses by sharing some of the notes she took while watching Anna’s film.

Jason Perdue, the SDFF’s program director shared this e-mail with me, and with Vivien and Anna’s kind permission, I am making this insightful interchange available to my readers.

Mon. Mar, 1

Hi Vivien,

Thank you again for your comments and your patience awaiting my response. I was filming a music video amongst other things these past days so it’s all a little hectic.

I hope you don’t mind but I looked up your background and I am incredibly impressed! You’ve worked on some wonderful films and tv shows. I’m excited to meet you.

What I’ll do is write some reactions or answers to your comments below. If there’s anything else, I will follow up with you. Feel free to clarify anything with me.

VH • Sense of lighting very strong

AR   It’s interesting you say that. I shot all of this on a DV camera, using only natural light. In villages, there is very little if any electricity so you have to be very aware of light, and to shoot when you can. I remember early in my researcher career a director friend was bouncing light onto my face during a meeting with a CD to distract me and kept telling me how much I have to look for good light! There is a certain quality to the light in Laos… or perhaps that is in my imagination. I think I feel closer to nature and generally more aware of my senses when I’m there.

VH • Camera is used with both confidence and affection

I love the height of the camera. You are low to the ground, at the level of the two boys,not towering above. It is a sign of respect.

AR   I love that you noticed that. Only a few people have said that to me. First of all, as a person I think I tend to do that. If a small child or dog comes to visit our office I always get down on the floor with them! Maybe I never grew up ! I work with young people a lot and I suppose I always try to meet people at their level. Before I made this, I talked about telling the story from the boy’s eye level so I’m glad if I achieved this. Children are so much more open to people who don’t speak their language because so much of their interaction is non-verbal. The boys and their friends enjoyed teaching me Lao or laughing at my inexperience eating certain foods, negotiating the rice fields, or slipping in the mud. At the same time, I was very aware of being western and an outsider. We’re so used to sitting on chairs or standing up straight… but in Laos, you bend as you pass an elder, and women are not supposed to sit on the roof of boats, or to ever be higher than a monk. I couldn’t shoot in the room with the monks if they were sitting so I had to lower my tripod and angle the view finder downwards so I would not be above them. I was very aware of being respectful of the local customs and it felt very natural too. They are such a gentle people, it made sense to behave this way.

VH  • Like the use of title cards instead of VO [voice over]

AR    I didn’t want to impose a voice over on this film – to interpret their world, or to impose a narrative on their lives. I was very aware that as a non-native filmmaker there were limitations to my understanding of the culture, and didn’t want to present this film with a voice of authority. I did have to argue for this at times, but due to the fact that ultimately I didn’t have a broadcaster on board, I managed to retain a creative freedom that is probably unusual these days. I’ve always loved Buddhist writings like this, so it was wonderful to research these quotes to find ones that framed the story and gave it some spiritual grounding.

VH  •  Love how film lets action take place gently and easily

AR    There is a different rhythm of life in Laos, and I tried to capture this in the pace of my shots and the way I filmed things. When I first arrive there, it takes me a while to slow down, and unwind. When I met my editor Emer Reynolds I showed her the shot of the young girl carrying the baskets through the village. She walks so languidly and peacefully, as though she’s in no hurry to arrive anywhere. She is just walking and being with that. I think that shot somehow set the pace of the film.

VH  • Music very good marriage with pix

AR    I’m glad you liked it. We really struggled with music. In the beginning, I was rather purist about the film. I intended to not use any music and wanted the sound scape or music to be made up of natural sounds which occur in Laos – the chanting of the monks, the drums, the hum of the cicadas, the rushing of the Mekong river, the shaking of the rice. In the end we did have some moments like this and it’s true that something about music not being there makes you really listen to the location sounds, which is a bit like meditating. However, the fact that I did not have a sound recordist and didn’t always capture the sound quality required to create a more abstract visual and aural journey weakened this approach and we felt that the music helped to drive the narrative and add emotion and drama where it was needed. So I compromised, and was happy with the result.

I worked with a composer in France called Cyril Morin, who had done a beautiful feature film called “Samsara” which I was familiar with. Since we worked together over the phone and email, he basically asked me to send him 10 ‘feelings’ that I felt the film expressed, and he wrote themes around those. We then edited the music to picture and sent it back to him to remix appropriately. I gave him some of the location recordings made by Guillaume Beauron, my friend and sound recordist who accompanied me on the final ‘pick up’ shoot. The monks, and the two boys chanting, as well as their mothers singing traditional songs were worked into the soundtrack. Recording these songs was hilarious! We had great fun with that. Some of the music was also composed by my brother Hugh Rodgers, and this was officially his debut film too and it was great to experience this together with him.

VH • Audience allowed to be in the film—just hang out

AR   Great! I really just wanted to bring people to Laos and let them experience it in a way. I wanted people to watch this film without preconceptions, to question and wander through it as I did as a visitor in Laos. I was quite happy for people to still have questions, and not to fully understand everything. Some people who watch it want to know everything – “who is that? What’s his relationship to him? Why are they doing that” etc – but a lot of other people just let the questions go and journey with the film. I think it probably depends on your expectations and taste in films.

VH• Montages are exquisite—which I consider almost a lost art as so many filmmakers now talk all the way through their documentaries. This is such a good example of what I call cinema language.

AR   I was extremely lucky with my two editors. Both were incredibly experienced and I was so fortunate to have them. The main editor was Emer Reynolds who is the top editor in Ireland. She recently cut the Irish film “The Eclipse”.

VH • The film is such a perfect example of “the present is sufficient” Buddha quote. You want to know what is going to happen, but you are very happy to stay in the present enjoying the film. In this way it teaches patience.

AR    Thank you.

I first visited Laos in 2002 as a backpacker. I had been traveling in Thailand, and whilst in Chiang Mai visited Wat U Mong, a forest temple in the outskirts of town. There were different Buddhist contemplations written on signs on the trees, and one said “Today is better than two tomorrows”. I took the title for the film from that. For me it meant that you should always cherish the present moment, always live for today. That the past and the future are something you should not worry about. I think this is how children live. It’s not really how I live and in fact, I’m always trying to get back to that! I think that’s probably why I appreciated the way of life in Laos so much! I think the reason scenes unfold the way they do in this film is because I didn’t speak the language very well. I had to be patient and just to observe things in the present. I wasn’t trying to anticipate what was happening next, and every scene I shot, I was really there for it. My mind wandered a lot less! I had to really focus because I was trying to interpret things non verbally (and also pick up the words I understood here and there). Time sort of has this elasticity there too. Once you get into the rhythm of things, you sort of lose time.

VH • What motivated you to make “Today is Better Than Two Tomorrows”?

AR    In a way that’s very difficult to answer. I HAD to make this film, and throughout all the moments of doubt or the rejection letters for funding, I never gave up on it. The film was self-funded until the very last stage of production (which was 4 years down the track). As I mentioned above I was in a temple whilst in Thailand and there I met a monk named Bounmy, who is Leh and Bo’s uncle. I suppose my interest in meditation and Buddhism brought me to explore temples in the first place.  Bounmy took me on a local boat down the Mekong River to Laos to meet his family. At this stage I didn’t know a single word of Lao, and his village was 12 hours from the city and had no electricity nor running water! Since Bounmy had to stay in the village temple, I stayed with the family. Leh took me everywhere, as did the other children, and taught me words in Laos, how to eat, wash and find the village toilet!

After 6 months in Asia I went home and spent the following two years thinking constantly about my return, and finally in 2004 made my first filming trip to Laos. I was inspired by Bounmy’s story of leaving home at age eleven, and when I realised his two nephews would make the same journey, it seemed like a mirror of his life and I wanted to follow it. It was also a way to keep a connection with the country which had really got under my skin.

VH • Was language a barrier or an advantage? I ask this question because I’ve edited a lot of documentaries in languages I don’t know but the language becomes almost music, even though it is very hard to edit with a script translation at your side;-)

AR    I think it was both an advantage and a disadvantage. Because I spoke only basic Lao, I often missed key events or conversations, and important details of the boys’ stories were missing. The nature of shooting solo is that you do not have the money to do certain things which would benefit the film’s production values. On the other hand, it allows you into some experiences and situations which a crew might find difficult to access. The biggest challenge of working in a different language is actually knowing when to shoot! Liz Mermin, the director on “Beauty School of Kabul” used a very interesting device for shooting observationally in a language she did not know. She had a translator on a feed from her mic in another room, who simultaneously translated back to her in her headphones. I have heard Kim Longinotto say that she has a translator/ assistant there who fully understands what Kim is trying to capture and who taps her on the shoulder when it is a good time to roll. Of course, I didn’t have the funding to do anything like this. A lot of it is using your instincts – reading body language and non-verbal cues. There are benefits to it too – when you work in another language and culture sometimes you are much more alert and aware. Things are heightened. I think not always knowing exactly what was being said helped me focus on the look on someone’s face, or the fact that a child was listening, peering through the window and allowed for those emotional gestures or little moments to come to the fore.

VH • You were able to get incredible access to family, temple and monks. Would you speak to that.

AR    I’m very friendly haha! I think because I was a young woman on my own, people trusted me and I think I am an open person, so they saw I didn’t have an agenda. Plus, I put in the time. I still communicate with the family every few weeks. The older monk who Leh shares the room with became a good friend. He was very respected in the temple so that made access easier. You know, you’re not actually supposed to make documentaries in Laos without permits and minders, but I seemed to slip through all of that. It’s since been viewed by the authorities and we had no issues at all. Just one spelling mistake in the Lao script we had to fix!

VH • What are some of the most important awareness’s you learned as a person and as a filmmaker?

AR    I think I probably covered that a lot in some of my answers but I’ll have another think about that one.

As you can probably tell, I am very chatty! When I’m in Laos though I am much quieter, and back then I used to meditate too so I think the experience of making this film allowed my access another part of my personality. In a way actually, it think I felt more connected with myself making this film than anything else I’ve worked on, which is strange perhaps since it was in such a farflung world. Hope that all helps and makes sense. It’s late here… Looking forward to meeting you.

Anna

As of this morning, space is still available for Anna Rodgers “ Today Is Better Than Two Tomorrows,” but since there is no more time to mail tickets, they are no longer available online and must be ordered by phone (707) 829-4797 or in person at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts  6780 Depot Street, Sebastopol.

New Releases 3/05/10

Alice In Wonderland (PG-13)
Starring: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasakowska, Helena Bonham-Carter, Crispin Glover
Director: Tim Burton
For generations raised on the animated Disney version of Lewis Carroll’s classic this may only be a grounder  up the infield,  but, (and it’s a big but), for fans of Tim Burton, this is a home run. The original, written by a man obsessed with little girls and making fun of adults in general and British Royalty specifically, includes some truly dark yet Technicolor-tinged moments. For obvious marketing reasons, this script (by the same woman who wrote Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast”) has Alice as a dreamy little girl growing up to hear a marriage proposal that sends her escaping down a rabbit hole  and eventually turning into an Amazon warrior fighting the Red Queen so that the White Queen may assume the throne.  Burton, and all the actors involved, have a great time with it.
3 pieces of really through the looking glass toast

Brooklyn’s Finest (R)
Starring: Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Instead of his soaring and empowering “Training Day,” Fuqua has created a depressing, grungy and completely uninspired good-cop, bad-cop set of clichéd set pieces. Despite the impossibly high body count and over the top violence, you still have moments of nothingness which let you wonder about things like how Gere is way too old to have been on the force for only 22 years.
1 and 1/2 pieces of pointless exercise toast

Ghost Writer (NR)
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall, Olivia Williams
Director: Roman Polanski
Polanski knows how to create paranoid-fueled suspense, Brosnan has suave and dangerous nailed shut, and Ewan McGregor makes the perfect chameleon-like ghost writer who has no political opnions and sees this as an advantage in his line of work,  Artfully plotted, seductively constructed,  Polanski only reveals a little bit at a time and what you think you see (or hear) may not be what you thought it was at all.
3 and 1/2 pieces of North by Northwestish toast

NEW ON DVD

2012 (PG-13)
Starring: John Cusack, Chjwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt
Director: Roland Emmerich
If someone hands you an envelope with the date of your death, would you open it? What about the date of the end of the world? Well, the filmmakers want you to think it’s going to be 2012, and to make sure this is universal destruction, they have waves crash over, earthquakes level or volcanoes swallow the Eiffel Tower, the Washington Monument, the Vatican, LA’s freeways and Rio’s statue of Christ. Deciding mankind’s only hope is to build gigantic arks (in China no less), the President, his advisors, scientists, and a failed sci/fi novelist head to find safety on the steppes of Asia
1 and 1/2 pieces of almost 3-hours long toast

Ponyo (G)
The voices of : Cate Blanchett, Noah Cyrus, Matt Damon, Tina Fey
Director: Hayao Miyazak
Based on a Hans Christian Anderson tale, the master of Japanese animation creates a simple, but multilayed story about a goldfish that falls in love with a human boy.
3 and 1/2 pieces of best for the little ones toast

With fifty-two documentary films to choose from, and over thirty filmmakers from all over the world to talk with, the official “cool” place to be the first weekend in March is at the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival.

“Last year’s Festival was selected as one of the ’25 coolest film festivals’ by Moviemaker Magazine,” says Linda Galletta, director of the Sebastopol Center for the Arts—the organization which presents the Festival. “This year’s programs are even stronger. We’ve got filmmakers coming from as far away as Ireland, parties with Cuban/Salsa music from Pellejo Seco, and Bluegrass from Old Jawbone, five great downtown venues, fabulous films telling the stories of people in dozens of countries, and the opportunity for everyone to have fun, see some powerful films, and even talk about them live on our V-Pype/Facebook video channels. How cool is that?”

“We’re known as a filmmakers’ festival,” says SDFF director Jason Perdue, “They love the comfortable Sebastopol style and the knowledgeable appreciation of their work. Our selection committee only picks the best films—those telling a story in an engaging and technically proficient manner. With over three hundred entries submitted, we have the luxury of programming only those which will resound with Sonoma County audiences.”

“The Award winners reflect the tremendous depth of films this year,” Jason says. “Selected by people in the movie business, the Jury Awards went to Dustin Grella’s artfully animated short documentary “Prayers for Peace,” featuring video footage his brother shot Iraq, and Mai Iskandar’s “Garbage Dreams,” which features three young men who struggle to continue the centuries-old family tradition of recycling garbage in Cairo, Egypt. Three local film critics (including Gil Mansergh) picked the Critics Award winners. “Michael Fountain’s “Bonecrusher” is an intimate portrait of the powerful bond between a grizzled Virginia coal miner and his son, and Eddie Rosenstein’s “Miss Shade is Missing” is a humorous recounting by 3^rd graders of their worst day in school. It was surprisingly bad—and surprisingly funny.”

A new sponsor this year is the Humane Society of the United States, and several films feature animals. Geralyn Pezanoski’s “Mine” tells what happened after thousand of pets left homeless by Hurricane Katrina were adopted by people across the country—until residents returned to New Orleans and wanted their pets back. “Green” is the name of a displaced Indonesian Oranguntan in Patrick Rouxel’s narrator-less documentary about the effects of deforestation. Christie Callan-Jones film “Cat Ladies,” is about several women (formally labeled “cat hoarders”) who have rescued numerous felines because of their sincere desire to make the world a kinder place.

Screened in five locations around town, the Festival’s films have been “matched” to the different venues. Screenings at the Sebastopol Cinemas will feature the crispness provided by digital hard drives, films and special programs shown at the Center for the Arts have artistic themes, the movies at the Viva Culinary Institute are enhanced by the intimacy of this unique room, the Latino Programs like the Cuban-based films about Olympic boxing hopefuls (“Sons of Cuba”), or international health workers (“Salud”) resound with the vibrancy of the Hopmonk Tavern, and the newest venue, the Community Center’s Youth Annex, features movies (including the Critics Award winners) especially suited for multi-generational audiences.

The future of the world is in the hands of the younger generation, and several films showcase the diverse creative spark and resiliency of youth. Marshall Curry’s “Racing Dreams” rumbles with the sounds of powerful engines as Anabeth, Josh and Brandon compete for the World Karting Association national title and a chance to move up to NASCAR. Irish filmmaker Anna Rodgers first met two Laotian boys when she stumbled upon their village while backpacking. Over four years, she captured their journey to the big city to train as Buddhist monks in the beautifully made “Today Is Better Than Two Tomorrows.” The challenges of forming  (and then continuing) a garage band are shown in Gord More’s “Potential,” and the challenges of learning to create photographs when cerebral palsy keeps you in a motorized wheelchair are well-told in George Katchadorian’s transformational film “Shooting Beauty.”

Schools provide opportunities for youngsters and documentary makers alike, and in addition to the already mentioned “Miss Shade is Missing,” and “Sons of Cuba,” several other selections are shot in classrooms, gyms and playgrounds. High school science fair winners from across the country astound us with their dedication and knowledge in Tom Shepard’s “Whiz Kids,” students from several schools candidly talk about trying to figure out what it means to be labeled as male or female in Debra Chasnoff’s “Straightlaced,” students at Lafayette Middle school train to be future “Iron Chefs” in Michael Attie’s “Mr Mack’s Kitchen,” while the students at Mr. Tom’s South Bronx high school grab on to the chance to have a future in Christopher Wong’s “Whatever It Takes.”

In a phone interview, Christopher Wong explained how his first feature film came together and what he hoped to accomplish: “When I was a banker in New York, I had a friend who was an executive with Saks Fifth Avenue…when we switched careers, he went into public education and I wanted to tell his story but wasn’t quite ready. Flash forward five years, and he did so well…that they made him a principal and he said he wanted to open up this new school in the South Bronx and so at that time I said I have to tell the story—It’s an Asian-American man opening a new small school in the South Bronx, and his kids are all at-risk Latino, African-American—and I just wanted to see what happened—because I think generally with these kind of stories you only hear the bad parts—schools are failing, kids are all in gangs—and I thought that my friend, who’s just an amazing person, could really make a difference and I wanted to see if that would happen.”

In addition to the opportunity to talk with Christopher Wong, you can also chat with Anne Rodgers, Michael Fountain, Eddie Rosenstein, Dustin Grella, Geralyn Pezanoski, Tom Shepard and dozens of other filmmakers. To learn some of the skill sets needed to create an effective documentary, don’t miss “The Art of Shooting Docs,” a special presentation by Bay Area documentary pioneer Emiko Omori using film clips to prompt discussion of various documentary approaches.

Movies, music, food, drink, conversations, dancing, artworks, live broadcasts, and the coolness of the March 5^th to 7^th Sebastopol Film Festival are all accessible with tickets from the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, 6780 Depot Street, (707) 829-4797 or online at sebastopolfilmfestival.org

New Releases 2/26/10

Cop Out (R)
Starring: Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Michelle Trachtenberg, Jason Lee, Seann William Scott
Director: Kevin Smith
Once upon a time, Kevin Smith made entertaining films, Bruce Willis was believable in his role as “cool” action hero, and Tracy Morgan was a recurring and forgettable character on SNL. Now the three of them combined add up to almost nothing as they chase after a mint-condition baseball card because the Willlis character needs to sell it to pay for his daughter’s wedding even though it is coveted by a ruthless drug lord. Who cares?
1 piece of witless Willis toast

The Crazies  (R)
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Danielle Panabaker, Joe Anderson
Director: Breck Eisner
Based on a 1973 George Romero classic, the premise is that the good citizens of a small town in Kansas are suddenly plagued by insanity and gruesome death after drinking contaminated tap water.  If you think of this as being brought to you by the water bottling association of America, it’s a gory good satire—that is if you like stylishly served gore.
3 pieces don’t drink the water toast
NEW AT THE RIALTO

Fish Tank (NR)
Starring: Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender, Harry Treadaway
Director: Andrea Arnold
Discovered fighting with her boyfriend at a train station, newcomer Katie Jarvis plays in almost every scene and makes this movie work. Almost as bleak as “Precious,” this film follows the travails of a hard-drinking 15-year-old school dropout who lives in a housing project with her mum and the mother’s new boyfriend. Dreaming of becoming a dancer in music videos,  the girl attracts unfatherly attention from her mother’s boyfriend and he suddenly abandons the two women.
3 pieces of artful verite toast

NEW ON DVD

Sorority Row (R)
Starring: Briana Evigan, Rumer Willis, Carrie Fisher, Jamie Chung
Director: Stewart Hendler
The press notes say: “Five sorority girls inadvertently cause the murder of one of their sisters in a prank gone wrong they agree to keep the matter to themselves and never speak of it again.” But someone else knows, and after graduation, the murders of the five girls begins.
Gil does not screen slasher films

September Issue (PG-13)
Starring: Anna Wintour
Director: R.J. Cutler
Criticized because it doesn’t mention animal fur, sweatshop labor, or anorexia, this behind the scenes documentary about Vogue’s bitchy editor –in-chief, Anna Wintour, and the making of the four pound, September, 2007 issue, show provides an entertaining, (and now historic) look at the way magazines were (and may never be again).
3 pieces of In Vogue toast

New Releases 2/19/10

Shutter Island (R)
Starring: Leonardo Di Caprio, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Mark Ruffalo
Director: Martin Scorsese
Federal Marshals try to unravel the mysteries in a  prison for the criminally insane sitting on an island in Boston Harbor in 1954.  A murderous  prisoner has escaped and is hiding somewhere, the psychotherapists are less than helpful, and portions of the prison are locked and “off limits.” Interviews conducted with the inmates uncover clues of something truly sinister and very, very Hitchcockian. Oh, did I mention the Category 5 hurricane that knocks down the prison walls allowing the inmates to escape and trapping everyone on the island?
3 pieces of things that leap out of the darkness toast


The White Ribbon  (R)
Starring: Christian Friedel, Leonie Benesch, Ulrich Tukur, Ursina Lardi
Director: Michael Haneke
2 Academy Award Nominations!
Best Foreign Language Film 
& Best Cinematography
Golden Globe Winner!
Best Foreign Language Film
Strange accidents and deaths occur in a northern German, Protestant village on the eve of World War I. The victims are somehow involved with the children’s choir or the school room where youngsters sporting a white ribbon to proclaim they have been bad and broken some rule but will try to be better. Like classic German folk tales where bad things happen because of trolls or spirits or witches inhabiting the darkness it may be that these accidents just happened—but the villagers are told to think otherwise and the audience is left to choose between playing detective or hiding under their proverbial bedcovers.

2010 Oscar Nominated Live Action and Animated Short Films
Shorts International, Magnolia Pictures and Rialto Cinemas will once again bring the wildly popular Oscar nominated short film programs to Santa Rosa beginning February 19th.

The Animation Nominees are:
French Roast Fabrice O. Joubert
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte) Javier Recio Gracia
Logorama Nicolas Schmerkin
A Matter of Loaf and Death (UK) Nick Park

The Live Action Nominees are:
The Door Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
Instead of Abracadabra (Sweden) Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellstršm
Kavi (India) Gregg Helvey
Miracle Fish Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
The New Tenants Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusso

NEW ON DVD

Good Hair (PG-13)
Starring: Chris Rock
Director: Jeff Stilson
Chris rock’s funny and occasionally sad look at the complex love-hate relationship African-American women have with their hair,caused nationwide discussion online and on Oprah as women chastised Rock for revealing “our secrets” to both white audiences and to African-American males.
3 and 1/2 pieces of “Daddy. How come I don’t have good hair?” toast

Coco Before Chanel (R)
Starring: Audrey Tautou, Benoit Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola, Marie Gillain
Director: Anne Fontaine
Like a collaboration by Dickens and Collette, a Catholic orphan girl grows to be a music hall singer and avoids the inevitable spiral into prostitution by becoming a mistress to a wealthy playboy. On the way, she designs a hat, dons men’s clothing, beds both sexes, and grabs hold of opportunities that come her way as though she had been to the best business school on the continent.
3 pieces of French toast

New Releases 2/10/10
The Wolfman (R)
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving
Director: Joe Johnston
After lots of tinkering and multiple rescheduling, what should be a wild, howling beast of a movie ends up instead as a whimpering,  anemic, missed opportunity. Even the best efforts of master editor Walter Murch couldn’t  save a film that hadn’t decided if it was a faithful retelling of the original, a campy, fog-shrouded gothic, or a pastiche of visual effects and quick cuts that would make a music video director happy. At least monster-maker Rick Baker ‘s work is still good.
1 and 1/2 piece of this is no American Werewolf in London toast

Valentines Day (PG-13)
Starring: Julia Roberts, Emma Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Alba
Director: Garry Marshall
The director who brought us “The Princess Diaries” and “A League of Their Own” strikes out royally in this so-called romantic comedy with little romance and even less comedy. The only thing that works are the outtakes in the closing credits. It looks like everyone involved had a really good time, but none of it made the final cut.
1/2 piece of  take your Valentine anywhere but this movie toast

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Starring: Logan Lerman, Uma Thurman, Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean
Director: Chris Columbus
It’s almost impossible to write a review of this movie without mentioning “Harry Potter,” but where J.K. Rawlilng created an entire mythical world of wizards and magic, this film is based upon the classic Greek myths. The Greek Gods, Goddesses and Monsters are the most spectacular part of this film.—the snakes writhing on the head of Medusa,  (Uma Thurman), the muscular equine parts of the Centaur Chiron (Pierce Brosnan),  the devilish Hades (Steve Coogan) who keeps the beautiful Persphone (Rosario Dawson) locked in Hell—all work movie magic.
3 pieces of give it a chance, it’s worth it toast

The Last Station (R)
Starring: Helen Mirren, James McAvoy, Paul Giamatti, Christopher Plummer
Director: Michael Hoffman
Instead of calling the performances over acting, lets call them exuberant, and larger than life. And instead of saying this is a biopic about dead Russian writers, let’s say it’s a lust-filled tale filled with humor related in prim British accents by characters named Valentin, Vladimir, Fyodor, Sofya, and Masha. For this story about Leo Tolstoy, the world famous novelist who, in his last few days on earth, gave up his fortune, title and comfort to live in a utopian commune, is almost unbelievable—except it really happened.
3 pieces of historical schemes and dreams toast

NEW ON DVD

Time Travelers Wife (PG-13)
Starring: Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams, Ron Livingston, Arliss Howard
Director: Robert Schwentke
Based on the bestselling Audrey Niffenberger, there is too much detail for most of us and the scenes where the 40-year-old Eric Bana plays chummy with his future wife when she is only six seem really creepy.
1 and 1/2 pieces of super unnatural toast

A Serious Man (R)
Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg, Fred Melamed, Richard Kind, Aaron Wolf
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
There are always some in the audience for a Coen Brothers movie who don’t understand the film, and that goes double for this semi-modern day retelling of the Story of Job. It’s set in the Minnesota Suburbs of 1967 and tells the tale of a physics professor who consults three rabbi’s for answers because his life is falling apart. It is also confusing, upsetting, profound and occasionally very, very funny.

3 and 1/2 pieces of Coen Brothers toast

New Releases 2/05/10
Dear John (PG-13)
Starring: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Richard Jenkins, Henry Thomas
Director: Lasse Hallstrom
So far, seven Nicholas Sparks novels have been made into movies. This may be the lamest of the lot. Once again, a written missive is involved—a real Dear John letter.  But the problems  plaguing character after character —autistic child,  distant, coin collection obsessed father,  wounded vet,  stroke victim and cancer victim just to name a few—continue to pile up
1 piece of multiple afflictions do not breed romance toast

From Paris With Love (R)
Starring: John Travolta, Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Director: Pierre Morel
Is that John Travolta? My wife asked as the bald and bearded guy appeared onscreen. Just listen I said, and lo and behold it is John Travolta. That little interchange may be the only exciting part of this misguided bufddy picture set in a City of Lights where no cops seem to exist. Billed as an action/thriller/comedy, the end result mocks all three genres without being “cool” enough to be worth the price of admission.
1 and 1/2 pieces of  please tell me the CIA doesn’t have real agents like this guy toast

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

OSCAR NOMINEES

Over a dozen Oscar contenders for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Director. etc. are screening at local theaters this week. Some are only offered at special times, so check local listings carefully. These include:

James Cameron’s “ Avatar,” Colin Firth in “A Single Man,” George Clooney in “Up In the Air,” Pixar’s “Up,” Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhall in “Crazy Heart,” Jeremy Renner in Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker,” the beautifully filmed “Young Victoria,” Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds,” Gabbie Sidibe  in “Precious,” Carey Mulligan in “An Education, and Sandra Bullock  in “The Blind Side.”

Up (G) (Your chance to catch this Oscar contender on the big screen at the Rialto in Santa Rosa as a Movie In the Morning)
Starring the voices of: Ed Asner, Jordan Nagai, Christopher Plummer, John Ratzenberger, Bob Peterson, Delroy Lindo
Director: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
The curmudgeonly old man is a movie staple,  and Ed Asner, on Mary Tyler Moore’s TV show was great as her curmudgeonly boss. Well Asner is back and still curmudgeonly so in Pixar’s newest film, and what is enjoyable, is that the first part of this animated treasure bothers to explain how he got to be that way, why he wants to escape in his house, and why he uses helium-filled balloons to do so. By the way, the bad guy, scientist/explorer Charles Muntz, is loosely based on the real-life Alexander Hamilton Rice, who used radios and airplanes to explore the Amazon jungle in the 1920’s, and Percy Harrison Fawcett who disappeared in the Amazon in 1925 with worldwide publicity.
4 pieces of up, up, and away toast

Downstream (NR)  (At the Roxy for a limited run with a percentage donated to Redwood Empire Food Bank)
Starring:  Jonathan Trent, Elizabeth Ann Roberts, Jonno Roberts, Lenny von Dohlen
Director: Simone Bartesaghi
Santa Rosan Philip Kim wrote and produced this locally filmed dystopian sci-fi film in a future world where food and petroleum are rare commodites. Inexplicably, everyone roars around in souped up gas-guzzlers when you would think they would attach sails or solar cells or or utilize processed cow or chicken manure. It is only being shown for a week here and then travels to a theater in LA and after that, Guam. Kim is the new publisher of the legendary fanzine  Famous Monsters of Filmland.
unavailable for screening

NEW ON DVD

Zombieland (R)
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin
Director: Ruben Fleischer
This energetic melding of a zombie movie and college-aged romance is refreshingly entertaining. The set up is that the world has been taken over by zombies, and two male survivors (including Woody Harrelson as a wryly amusing man who doesn’t want to know people’s names so he has everyone identify themselves by where their destinations), meet up with two female con-artists with terrifyingly funny results.
3 and 1/2 pieces of reinvented genre toast

Amelia (PG)
Starring: Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Virginia Madsen
Director: Mira Nair
Scorcese’s masterwork of depression age aviation, “The Aviator” set the high bar for others to try to reach historic propeller-driven aviation movies. In comparison, this film makes the enigmatic aviatrix Amelia Earhart seem old-fashioned instead of retro. Swank smiles a lot but remains as static as the black and white photos which pop up throughout this disappointment.
2 pieces of never really takes off toast

THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING,

and FROM HERE TO ETERNITY

are films with sexy scenes

are films with sexy scenes

By Gil Mansergh

A Promise Made

One of the secrets screenwriter Pamela Gray revealed in her Filmmakers Sampler presentation last month, is that Viggo Mortenson and Diane Lane didn’t use body doubles in the very naked waterfall scene in “A Walk on the Moon.” That scene helped Pamela’s film earn the number 9 spot on Entertainment Weekly’s “50 Sexiest Movies” list. There is very little dialogue in that scene, so since we were studying screenwriting, I promised the audience that I would show it in February along with clips from twenty other films with famous scenes of sexually charged romance, at my pre-Valentine’s Day Sampler entitled “The Art of Seduction.”

Lingerie and a Bowler Hat

Making suggestions for Valentine’s Day movies has been a staple in my Screenings columns for almost fifteen years. But it is one thing to write a suggestion to a reading public, and quite another to share those scenes with a live audience. The presentation has to be artfully and tastefully choreographed and the scenes need to be sensual instead of pornographic. For example, n Vivien Hillgrove’s Filmmaker’s Sampler last summer, the Oscar-winning editor talked about the relative ease of editing the famous “mirror and bowler hat” scene in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” (# 34 on EW’s list) Vivien said: “[Director] Philip Kaufman laid out in advance exactly what he wanted Sven [Nyquist] to shoot…which angles to use…which close-ups to take…Philip makes great [editing] notes and the scene was a delight to edit.”  Rated R, there is no nudity per se in this sequence, but the cinematic eroticism is heightened precisely because Lena Olin wears lingerie with her grandfather’s bowler hat.

From Here to Eternity Was Heavily Censored

Another scene I will share is Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr kissing on a Hawaiian beach as the waves engulf them in “From Here to Eternity.” It’s famously erotic, but it almost wasn’t made. Producer Harry Cohen resisted casting Deborah Kerr saying: “She’s not sexy enough.” Even more important, the MPAA was so concerned with the profanity, whorehouses, gay soldiers, and negative portrayal of the US Army in the novel, they assigned a full time censor to the film. When they were getting ready to film the beach scene, the censor demanded a skirt be added to Kerr’s swimsuit so it wouldn’t be “too sexually provocative.” Filmed on location at the Halona Cove on Oahu, the scene includes many successful improvisations. It was screenwriter Daniel Taradash who moved it from the hotel suite in the book to the romantic beach, but in Taradash’s script, the lovers were supposed to be standing up. Former circus acrobat Burt Lancaster thought he could play it better lying horizontally on the sand, and then director Fred Zinneman moved the actors and cameras down to the edge of the surf. But it was Lancaster and Kerr who made the scene work. As the IMDB website notes: “during filming, the two were romantically involved.”

Wise Counsel

In preparation for the Saturday, February 13^th presentation “The Art of Seduction” Filmmakers Sampler at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts (SCA), I pulled almost fifty films off my shelves—movies with romantic, sensual, and erotic scenes and revisited these films from an SCA audience’s perspective. Then I showed my two dozen final selections to my wife and followed her savvy advice on when to start or stop a particular film clip. “Less is more,” she reminded me. “You want to leave people with fun ideas for films to rent… to tease them a little bit—watching movies in the SCA screening room with strangers sitting next to you is different than watching at home with your Valentine sweetie.”

To make things even sweeter, California sparkling wine, fruit juices, imported chocolates and popcorn will be available Saturday night, February 13 at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, 6780 Depot Street. Tickets: 829-4797.

New Releases 1/29/10

Edge of Darkness (R)
Starring: Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Bojana Novakovic
Director: Martin Campbell
Based on a twenty-year-old British TV series, a daughter returns home only to be gunned down in front of her policeman father, and the chase to find her killer begins. Gibson, who hasn’t appeared onscreen for seven years, acts by using broad facial expressions as though the rest of his body wasn’t on camera until the third act, when Mad Max suddenly reappears.
1 and 1/2 pieces of rusty toast

When In Rome (PG-13)
Starring: Kristen Bell, Josh Duhamel, Will Arnett, Alexis Dziena
Director: Mark Steven Johnson
The press notes say “A young woman with multiple men after her heart escapes to Italy and makes the fatefull decision to remove coins from a fountain.” Gasp!
Unavailable for Preview toast

NEW ON DVD

Whip It (PG-13)
Starring: Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig,  Drew Barrymore
Director: Drew Barrymore
I first saw the Bay Bombers when I was a cub scout, and for some reason that experience, with all its bruising, bone cracking tumbles, jumps and “crack-the-whips, has stuck with me. I am pleased to say, that the multi-talented Drew Barrymore has created a marvelously empowering film about the tattooed and rough-and-tumble world of Roller Derby that is as fast and slick as the wheels on these women’s feet.
3 and 1/2 pieces of Hurl Scouts toast

Michael Jackson’s This Is It (PG)
Starring: Michael Jackson
Director: Kenny Ortega
We’ve seen Fred Astaire and Nat King Cole come back to life through special effects, and I first assumed that this film would be cobbled together out of old film clips and computer generated novelties.  But it’s all real, all new, and all Michael. Over 100 hours of behind the scenes footage was filmed during the last four months of the King of Pop’s life, and Kenny Ortega, the director of the stage show being filmed, has respectfully and wisely created a movie that showcases the singer’s talent. No “fat Elvis problem” here. The scenes that are shown are of a fifty-year-old performer still at the top of his game.
3 and 1/2 pieces of memorial toast

Bright Star (PG)
Starring: Ben Whishaw, Abbie Cornish, Paul Schneider, Kerry Fox
Director: Jane Campion
Jane Campion’s mastery at directing beautiful scenes and Abbie Cornish’s spirited performance as 18-year-old Fanny Browne are the main reasons to catch this occasionally stolid movie. Browne is the literal girl next door who captures young British poet John Keats attention so much that he writes “I have the feeling as if I were dissolving.” As in all great romantic love stories, Keats literally is dissolving (or at least his lungs are), as tuberculosis ravages his body. So the lovers’ plight is even more tragic.
3 pieces of poetic romance toast