Friday, September 17, 2004
Garden State
I've seen this twice now in the theaters.
It's a stunning first movie. It hit me with the same intensity as "American Beauty". Zach Braff does a stellar job as a director. As a writer? Well, my friends and I agree that this could have been a stronger movie but is certainly much better than say, your average senior film project.
Here's the premise: a 20-something jaded hipster actor leaves Los Angeles to return hom to New Jersey ("the Garden State") for his mother's funeral. What happens in the next four days is the core of this movie.
While some movies take this Family Reunion scenario and drag it through indie hell (think "Myth of Fingerprints", "You Can Count on Me", "Pieces of April" ... ad nauseum), "Garden State" prevails by often just showing scenes as weirdly funny and letting it be. And this movie is downright funny at times. Some of the biggest laughs are taken from surreal moments, shown without emotion or dialog. And really, that's the best way to think of this film. A surreal, hyperbolic lovestory among emotionally-stunted individuals.
And while I think Natalie Portman was miscast, she does bring a certain amount of chemistry to the film. The real standout character though is the best friend, a richly developed man who is neither buddy nor savior to Zach's main character. Overall, a very stunning debut. But I already thought he was a sexy little indie boy from the first moment I saw "Scrubs" back in 2001. Now everyone's fawning. I guess that's fame for you. Oh yeah, the soundtrack is also AMAZING.
It's a stunning first movie. It hit me with the same intensity as "American Beauty". Zach Braff does a stellar job as a director. As a writer? Well, my friends and I agree that this could have been a stronger movie but is certainly much better than say, your average senior film project.
Here's the premise: a 20-something jaded hipster actor leaves Los Angeles to return hom to New Jersey ("the Garden State") for his mother's funeral. What happens in the next four days is the core of this movie.
While some movies take this Family Reunion scenario and drag it through indie hell (think "Myth of Fingerprints", "You Can Count on Me", "Pieces of April" ... ad nauseum), "Garden State" prevails by often just showing scenes as weirdly funny and letting it be. And this movie is downright funny at times. Some of the biggest laughs are taken from surreal moments, shown without emotion or dialog. And really, that's the best way to think of this film. A surreal, hyperbolic lovestory among emotionally-stunted individuals.
And while I think Natalie Portman was miscast, she does bring a certain amount of chemistry to the film. The real standout character though is the best friend, a richly developed man who is neither buddy nor savior to Zach's main character. Overall, a very stunning debut. But I already thought he was a sexy little indie boy from the first moment I saw "Scrubs" back in 2001. Now everyone's fawning. I guess that's fame for you. Oh yeah, the soundtrack is also AMAZING.
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Better Luck Tomorrow
Um, ick, better luck picking out a good movie. This sucked.
Sunday, September 12, 2004
a nos amours
mmmm .... sexy indie french cinema at the university screening.
From 1983, this film by Maurice Pialat is actually one of the best French films I have ever seen. It's post-new wave but it's edgy. Basically, it's about a SEXY high school girl who just wants to be loved by her daddy, but isn't. So she screws everything in sight, all ages, all the time. She just wants to be loved and still pines for her first boyfriend. But that isn't the selling point of this film. No, see, it's all in the style. It makes Cassavetes look like a knockoff. The film moves in quick jumps from scene to scene, from year to year. Conversations are meaningless and random and end at random points. You see movement and you learn information, but it never adds up.
A must-see for any aspiring film snob.
From 1983, this film by Maurice Pialat is actually one of the best French films I have ever seen. It's post-new wave but it's edgy. Basically, it's about a SEXY high school girl who just wants to be loved by her daddy, but isn't. So she screws everything in sight, all ages, all the time. She just wants to be loved and still pines for her first boyfriend. But that isn't the selling point of this film. No, see, it's all in the style. It makes Cassavetes look like a knockoff. The film moves in quick jumps from scene to scene, from year to year. Conversations are meaningless and random and end at random points. You see movement and you learn information, but it never adds up.
A must-see for any aspiring film snob.
