Filmwell Icons: #1. Truman
Awakened to the fact that his world was built for the entertainment of the masses through the exploitation and manipulation of one man, Truman “dies” to the false world, in which all of his material needs were met, and is born again into a new, authentic life. The truth has set him free. Read More
If winter won’t leave, let’s call it springtime at the movies.
It’s a grey and dreary downpour of a day here in Seattle. Help all of us in the Pacific Northwest fight this oppression. I’ve just posted this plea for help on my Facebook page: What are the most colorful movies you can think of? Here are some of the suggestions I’ve seen so far: Moulin Rouge (Yes, that was my first thought as well.) Hero Avatar My Neighbor Totoro Ju Dou The Fall Finding Nemo Monsoon Wedding The Wizard of Oz The... Read More
Good Cinema Is Diagnostic
Here I am hunched over another impression of the brain with its wads of flat batting and weird yarn, thinking how can I read these films without a light board— (continue…) “Interpreting the Film” is a tragic poem about a different type of film, but a slight shift in the semantic domain of the word makes it applicable nonetheless. Perhaps there is another great metaphor for film in here somewhere: Good cinema is diagnostic. Read More
The Alternative History of Jesus
For me, it all begin with Jeebus, who was made manifest to the world in the fifteenth episode of the eleventh season of The Simpsons. In this episode, titled “Missionary: Impossible,” Homer flees a mob of angry PBS telethon hosts by hopping a cargo plane to hide out as a missionary in Microasia.* Realizing the gravity of his situation, Homer gets on his knees, clasps his hands together, and appeals in all humility to Jeebus: “Save... Read More
The 2012 Oscar-Nominated Animated Short Films
Clockwise, from top left: La Luna, WIld Life, A Morning Stroll, Dimanche/Sunday, and the Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore The Academy has done great work over the past few years in expanding the reach of the Oscar-nominated short films; if you live in the right cities, they could be playing in a theater near you, and if not, most of them are available on iTunes and other digital distribution sites. I’ve been watching the Oscar-nominated... Read More
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (Billy Wilder, 1970)
In most of these essays, I try to keep a pretense of critical distance. That is, I point out whatever loose sally of thought the movie in question inspires and then proceed from there, without venturing much comment on the quality of the movie itself. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, however, must stand as an exception to this rule, for the simple reason that I love it too much. I’ve often said that it’s neck-and-neck between this movie and... Read More
Martha Marcy May Marlene (Durkin, 2011)
“Cult” as a label has recently re-entered national conversation on the heels of conservative voters trying to figure out how to best think about Mitt Romney’s Mormon religious affiliation. The ensuing confusion expressed at times in this debate is a good example of how fluid and misunderstood this term often is. For recent generations, the images connected to this term are violent and infrequent, yet it is still exotic enough to makes us listen... Read More
The Secret World of Arrietty (Hiromasa Yonebayashi, 2011)
The Secret World of Arrietty, the new Studio Ghibli film, isn’t really a Miyazaki, but you could easily mistake it for one. Disney’s marketing has carefully pitched the film as being “from the studio that brought you Spirited Away and Ponyo,” both Miyazakis, and it could happily fit somewhere between those films and another of his films, My Neighbor Totoro. I can’t speak for Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who directed the film,... Read More
Fish Story (Yoshihiro Nakamura, 2009)
It’s the year 2012 and as it turns out, the Mayans were right: Earth is doomed. An asteroid is heading our way, and it seems that nobody, not even the United States can save us (their ambitious asteroid-busting mission has failed). But we still have one thing on our side that the Mayans and their “Long Count” didn’t predict: punk rock. And not just any punk rock, mind you, but the very first punk rock song, recorded in Japan... Read More
Emmanuel Lubezki: Terrence Malick made me a different man
Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki was recently interviewed about his work with Terrence Malick on The Tree of Life, and discusses some of the technical aspects of working with the acclaimed director. But this is perhaps the most interesting bit: Lubezki, who has since made his third film with Malick, an untitled love story with Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams about a man who reconnects with a woman from his hometown while struggling with his marriage,... Read More
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