In Between Days (2006)

This is a sad movie. It is a very short view (I don't think it is 90 minutes) of the life of a Korean immigrant girl living in Canada. Dad took off. Mom is lonely and starting to date, which pisses Aimie off. She leaves messages for her dad, but I got they impression they were messages into the clouds - all in her head. Dad isn't coming back or calling.

Aimee is in love with her best friend - a guy. He is not interested. This is a movie about loneliness and isolation, and it's pretty sad. The director uses the Canadian winter vistas well; the opening scene is snow and Aimie crunching along by herself. Her isolation is palpable. If you want to watch a stripped - bare movie, try this one.

Castle of Blood (1964)

This is pretty bad. It's an old Italian horror film ostensibly based on an Edgar Allen Poe story. (I think that's one of those movie lies.)

A journalist bets that he can survive a night in a haunted mansion. I need to look up the Haunting - was that after this? Nope, the Haunting was 1963. This appears to be an Italian knock-off! Could they have filmed and released Castle of Blood in a year? Based on the production quality, I would say yes.

Anyway, all these dead people come to life in the mansion on this one night and mess with him. He falls in love with one women. Since it is an Italian film, there are boobs and implied sex. Also, the heroine has two men and a women trying to have sex with her in one night! They all end up dead. What a downer.

I would pass on this one. Watch The Haunting instead.

Cedar Rapids (2011)

This is a farce with solid performances, but it doesn't hit it out of the park - not even remotely. It's a one-joke story: geeky or gross insurance agents embarrassing themselves, showing their stomachs, and exposing fraud at an insurance conference. Not exactly riveting. John C. Reilly has no pride and has no problem walking around with his gut out, or his ass. Ed Helms gives him serious competition in the I-look-worse-in-my-saggy-tighty-whiteys-than-you-do-in-your-baggy-boxers competition. I cannot say who wins (loses?) that one.

As an aside, do you notice that there are very few top-paid women looking like that in films? Women apparently need to look hot in their undies. (See Bridesmaids for the hilarious exceptions.) I am sick of that.

Anne Heche looks hot in her underwear when she strips down for a late night dip. Sigourney Weaver is good in a nice-gal role, but she doesn't have much to work with here. This movie belongs to the guys - and it's a spaz contest. Remember Revenge of the Nerds? Kind of like that, but dirtier. It's a decent rental, but just fluff.

Something Wild (1986)

I was in college when this came out! I remember these outfits - Melanie Griffith wears Guess Jeans - the ones with the zippers at the bottom? Jeff Daniels wears skinny ties and tries to look like Simon Le Bon. And Ray Liotta? He was maniacal and dressed like a gangster in 1986 just as he does now (in the movies).

I have been reading about this movie lately, so I checked it out. I understand it is a cult classic, and I kind of get it, but the beginning is perplexing to me. Melanie Griffith is supposedly the hottest thing around, and that is what drives the film - the assumption that she is all that. (BTW - check out Melanie pre-surgery.) I think you have to be a guy to get it. I don't. And I also think that this movie appeals to guys because Jeff Daniels is just a regular guy. And he gets Melanie and quits his bank job and starts dressing like Simon Le Bon.

The second half of the movie changes dramatically. Ray Liotta enters the picture, and the movie is now a gangster / chase film. The second half is better than the first. It was not a bad trip down memory lane, but I'd rather watch Animal House or Jaws for cult classics.

Before the Rain (1994)

My friend P has recommended some great movies. Fingersmith - I don't even need to add to the list, because that one was SO good her rep is set.

Before the Rain is one of her fav films because of the structure, and I understand what she means. The film has no linear beginning or end, which is even referenced in the movie (first and last speeches). I believe the quote was something along the lines of: the world is a circle, but it's not round. The movie starts and ends with the same scene and dialog, and that makes sense because the movie moves in a circle. As the movie is about the never-ending conflict and hatred between Macedonia and Albania, the circular point is valid.

The action in the film is impossible. A man in London leaves a photograph with his girlfriend of a murder that has not yet taken place. The viewer knows this, but the lack of continuity is not referenced overtly in the film. It just keeps moving, and the lack of a real timeline makes a cool structure.

Unfortunately, I didn't like the acting much. Some of it is great (the young priest and his runaway friend), but some of it is overdone and schlocky. The dialog is also poor, and the London relationships seem very contrived. Perhaps that was the director's point, as in real life is only happening in Macedonia, but the London relationships added nothing to the film. They did make the timeline interesting, but not enough to compensate for the fluffiness.

I would watch this if you would like to see something different, and if you like out-of-time movies (think Sliding Doors, but about war).

Days of Heaven (1978)

Tree of Life, the new film by Terrence Malick, won the Palme D'Or at Cannes last month. I suspect I won't like the movie, as I hear it is hard to track, and doesn't have much of a plot. I guess there are dinosaurs in it. In order to extend my annoyance with movies that expend time without moving forward, I rented Malick's first big film, Days of Heaven.

Richard Gere plays Bill, a hot-headed factory worker living in poverty in Chicago at the turn of the last century with his girlfriend, Abby, and his little sister. To run away from trouble and to earn money, the three head to the Texas Panhandle for the wheat harvest. The rich farmer for whom they are working (Sam Shepard) falls in love with Abby. Abby and Bill have been posing as brother and sister, and Bill encourages Abby to secure their future by marrying the farmer. You can figure out where this is going. The marriage happens. Things fall apart.

This is not a new or original story, but the movie isn't about the plot so much anyway. There is not a lot of dialog; instead the little sister is the narrator. The movie seemed to me to be more of a string of gorgeous images of wheat fields, sunrises, sunsets, the wind through the wheat, the wind rippling water, etc. Not much dialog or story, but lots of pretty pictures. I find it boring but lovely.

A friend and her husband just saw Tree of Life. They said it was really boring. They sat in the back and surfed the internet on their phones.

Late Spring (1949) and Early Summer (1951)

A.O. Scott and Mahnola Dargis now have a column in the Sunday NY Times where they answer reader q's. I don't remember the q, but Mahnola's answer referenced some of the greatest directors of all time. She spoke about Yasujirō Ozu.

Well, crap. I'd never heard of him. So I moved some of Ozu's movies to the top of my queue.

First I watched Late Spring, a very quiet movie in which Noriko, played by Setsuko Hara, lives with and takes care of her father in post-war Japan. Dad is played by Chishû Ryû, and he is a sweet father. He and Noriko have a nice life, but people start putting the bug in dad's ear that Noriko needs to be married. Noriko doesn't want to marry, she just wants to stay home and take care of her father.

Watching this, I struggled to understand the concepts of arranged marriage, suitable marriage, and duty. You might also, but just sink in and watch these people act. Ozu is a master at showing everyday life - the banal activities that might seem inconsequential, but are really quite important. Noriko doesn't want to leave her dad; she likes the status quo. Dad lies to get her to agree to marry, and he thinks he is doing his best for his daughter. It is fascinating to watch. Watch Noriko's face as she is dressed for her wedding. Actors amaze me, and Setsuko Hara is a breed apart.

Next I watched Early Summer. This movie also stars Setsuko Hara as Noriko, but it's a different Noriko. This Noriko is also single, but she works as a secretary and lives with her family, including her brother (played by Chishu Ryu, who played the other Noriko's dad in Late Spring).

This brother loves Noriko, but he's a prick sometimes, and very controlling. Again, people start to be concerned that Noriko should be married. This Noriko makes up her own mind, which causes problems.

There is a lot of stillness in these movies, but I didn't notice it much. I was anxiously waiting to see what would happen.

I've got more of Ozu's movies coming in the mail - woohoo!

It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010)

I actually found this movie a bit offensive, which sounds odd. Craig, a high school student in a very competitive school, is feeling the pressure and considers suicide. Instead he checks himself into a mental hospital - smart move, right? It's really smart when you consider all the cute, funny people he meets there and all the fun he has.

This is a very, very trite movie. It has a great cast, but doesn't use the cast in any discernible way. Emma Roberts plays a cutter, Zach G (who is not believable at all), has tried to commit suicide more times than he can count. This does not stop any of them from having a great time sneaking around the hospital, making love connections, or singing karaoke. I think the movie needed to be set in a summer camp, like Meatballs. That would have made sense with this script. Or maybe at the mall?

Watch One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or Shawshank if you want an "inmate" film. For fluff, pick up any John Hughes film and you'll be much happier than if you watch this. Or watch Friends reruns. That'll work.

Mid-August Lunch (2008)

This is an Italian movie filmed mostly in a condo in Rome. Gianni (Gianni Di Gregorio, who wrote, directed and stars in the film) lives in his condo with his mom, and we learn most of what we need to know about him in the opening scene. He is patiently reading The Three Musketeers to mom, and she is quizzing him about the appearance of D'Artagnan. Gianni is infinitely patient. I would say he is in his late 50's or 60's and mom is in her 90's.

Gianni and his mom have a big problem: he is unemployed and hasn't paid his bills (utilities, etc., in years). The condo administrator shows up and offers a trade. He will forgive the bills if Gianni watches his mother, too, over the August 15 holiday. Gianni agrees, and the condo-guy shows up not just with his mom, but his aunt as well. Then Gianni's doctor stops by and pretty soon his mother is also in the apartment.

This is a very short movie about Gianni and the interaction of the four older woman. At first they squabble, but then they start having fun. This movie is about the pleasure of interaction and joy of friends. It is only 75 minutes, and there is very little action; this movie is conversation and food. If you need action, pass. If you want to end up with a smile on your face, this will work.