Pierrot Le Fou

Made at the cusp between Jean Luc-Godard's carefree experimental period and his political period, Pierrot le fou (1965) is an important work for both cinema and Godard's career. Like Godard's early experimental films, this work reads as a cluttered collage of moments with varying degrees of narrative glue to hold them together. At times this can be trying since there is certainly less narrative glue in this work then in prior works such as Une femme est une femme (1961) or Bande à part (1964). Even the crisp memorable moments that I identify with early Godard works aren't as potent in this effort. The politics of the film though were carefully intertwined and less in-yer-face then Godard's later works which I appreciated. A carefully line between politics and fun was walked in the film that I always feel is lacking in Godard's later uber-political films. Also as usual, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina gave performances that could be the dictionary definition of cool and helped the film keep moving . Overall, while I wasn't too keen on the film I do think it is an important work since it documents a large transition in Godard's work and therefore can be useful in informing us why and how Godard's work changed. I give this film a 6/10, because each of Godard's early works between 1960-66 is a unique lover. Somedays you are in the mood for rebellion, while other days you just want to lie in bed all day long. Without this film there would be a diminished range of "lovers" that Godard tried to capture and that would just be a tragedy.

6/10

PIERROT LE FOU TRAILER

ANTICHRIST

Lars von Trier has never been one to steer clear of controversy, instead deciding to embrace it with a pair of brass knuckles in one hand and a katana blade in the other. Von Trier's films are always raw and unrestrained, which can work beautifully as in his devastating effort Dancer in the Dark (2000), or be too overbearing for my taste like Dogville (2004) and its sequel Manderlay (2005). Two things you can always be sure of in his works is blatant misogyny and a film that will forcefully submerge you into a new world. Antichrist (2009), starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg, holds true to these von Trier staples creating a bleak and horrifying world which comes out of the tragic death of Dafoe and Gainsbourg's child in the opening minutes of the film. The death of their child causes Gainsbourg to fall into deep depression, which leads Dafoe, a psychiatrist, to decide that a trip to their summer cottage in the woods is the escape they both need. Without giving too much of the plot away, their trip into the woods reveals the evil in nature and in their (human) nature. The way von Trier frames and examines the "evil" of nature is particularly well done and incorporates the use of images which, by themselves, are just part of nature (deers giving birth to dead fawns), yet in the context of the film become haunting and foreshadowing. The first 2/3rds of the film creates a world that we are immersed in, even though we know so little about it. We never learn either of the main character's names, only know the location of their summer cottage as Eden, and watch as Dafoe slowly works through psychiatric tests and exercises with Gainsbourg to help cure her of her depression. Sadly, the last 1/3rd of this film reminds me a lot of Sunshine (2007), in that the film descends into pointless, unexplained, and unjustified violence. In the filmmakers' defense, endings are never easy, but I am dumbfounded to see two similar film that spend a majority of their time slowly and articulately discussing philosophical issues descend to nothing short of cannibalism. Well, I guess the next time I have a conversation with Von Trier or Danny Boyle (Sunshine's director) I'll have to give them a copy of Bergman's Persona, which did it right. I give this film a 6 out of 10 because the cinematography and CG was shimmering and beautiful, but in the end... well, the ending killed it.

6/10

ANTICHRIST TRAILER

UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING

Based on the book of passions, loss and war comes the movie that captures the books passion, loss and war. What more could you ask from an adaptation then? Having read the book, I'll say what I have to say "The book was better" and attempt to move on. Having an acting core made up of Juliette Binoche and Daniel Day Lewis certainly gives the move an equal depth as what I remember from the movie, but where the two differ is on the creativity and ingenuity the books structure and language. The movie also cuts things which I believe were crucial to what makes the book and classic and instead cut it into a bizarre love story that contains the same name. I give Unbearable Lightness of Being a 6/10, since lets be honest it could have been a lot worse and Binoche in particular is her character.

6/10

BE KIND REWIND

The newest effort by Micheal Gondry proves once again that the french director doesn't want to be boxed into the romantic genre his first two films cast him as. His new work stars Jack Black and Mos Def and reads like almost any mainstream comedy (not that that is a bad thing). After our two clumsy heroes erase all the VHS tapes in their videostore they are forced to choose the only logic solution and re film each tape they own with themselves as the stars. Now here is where Gondry's genuis becomes present as our stars have to tackle the technical feets of many of our most beloved films (King Kong, Ghostbusters, Driving Miss Daisy, etc.) with no budget or sometimes knowledge of the film. While this does produce many good laughs the plot is just as cheesy as any mainstream comedy. I give Be Kind Rewind a 6/10, since it does manage to make you laugh but the fact that Gondry is directing it makes me think there could have been so much more.

6/10

GUILIANI TIME

If you go and see SICKO and just come out saying "I really want to see another liberal muckracking documentary about how horrible conservatives are/the faults in American polotics" then boy do I have a film for you. Now I never was one of those people that got caught up in the Guilliani hype after 9/11, but then I never really knew what too critize him on until after watching this documentary. Again as I said this is a liberal muckracking documentary so don't go into this expecting to learn all 100% facts, but still the "stuff" the documentary does paint, creates an image of a person I don't want to be my president. The documentary does run way too long at over 2hrs and also doesn't talk much at all about what he did for NY post 9/11, because that might've painted a better image of the man, but still hands down an interesting film that more Americans I believe should see to educate them for the upcoming elections. I give this film a 6/10, because this is a democracy.

6/10

PARIS JE T'AIME

A collection of 18 short stories about love and paris and of course vampires staring an impresive array of actors (Natalie Portman, Elijiah Wood, Steve Buschemi, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, etc.) and an equally impressive lineup of driectors (Wes Craven, Gus Van Sant, Alexander Payne, Alfonso Cuaron, Coen Brother, etc.). The film runs the gamut of types of characters, forms of love and places in Paris which are explored. My only really complaint would be that there was a lot of brilliance in the film that I feel I personally missed out on due to the fact that I have never been to Paris and don't know any French. For example the story of the nanny and the baby didn't make much sense to me because I didn't know any french, but according to Jessi the nanny sings a different song to her own child then to the child she is nannying, which makes a drastic difference in how i interpreted the story. I give this film a an 6/10, for showing some beautiful moments.

6/10

SCIENCE OF SLEEP

Before anything else is said I should mention this film was beautiful, since there is no getting around praising Gondry for the astounding visuals in this film. The film also has above average acting, good music, Gael Garcia Bernal (which is always a plus) and an interesting romantic storyline. The storyline itself still has me somewhat transfixed, though transfixed may not be the best word. It was an interesting storyline, it kept me interested and didn't really fall into cliches, so I'm not sure what problems I had with it. Simply put there were just parts in this movie that didn't flow well and confused me. While I liked all the characters...I simply was confused by certain aspects of what I thought was the real world, but perhaps I wasn't supposed to view the real world in this movie as a real world and more of a more realistic dream world. Overall I give this movie an 6/10, for taking risks and capturing my dreams.

6/10

28 WEEKS LATER

(Spolier Alert) While the original is a classic, this one isn't exactly there. W/ Danny Boyle and Alex Garland Executively Producing, the eerie vision of the original movie is kept, yet there are problems in the story. Most of my issues with the film are instances where itchooses to be too dramatic. Instances of this are the fathers "knowledgable" stalking of his kids, the main soldier's choice to leave his post and escort the british citizens and the ending where they had to show you the eiffel tower. Besides these flaws, a few other holes in the story and many parts which pushed the level of believability (something which I prided the first film), for the most part I believe the original vision of the first film was kept. Also as prevelant or more prevelant than in the first film are the global parallels that exists in both film. One of a few horror sequals that is worthy of using a title similiar to to that of the original. I give this movie a 6/10.

6/10