The Best Canadian Movie, Ever?

I had heard some good things (and some bad) about the movie The Trotsky, but I admit I was not fully prepared for how good this thing would be. I enjoyed it so much, I can't even tell you how good it is. You should just see it yourself.

So, with that - move over Porky's - The Trotsky really may be the best Canadian movie. I only add the "may" because I haven't seen every Canadian movie ever made... But I am not really stressing the maybe. It is only a technicality. Maybe.

New in Town (2009)

I've heard the risque chestnut that women try anal sex twice: Once to see what it is like; the second time to see if it really was as bad as she remembers. Well, I am not commenting on anal sex, but I can say that that saying pretty much perfectly describes my experience with the dreadful New in Town (2009).

And, yes, it was as bad as I remembered.

It seemed innocuous enough: A fish-out-of-water romantic comedy about a no-nonsense business exec (the ever-pouting Renee Zellweger) coming from Miami to downsize a small Minnesota (a place I tend to like on film) factory. Sparks fly between her and the local union boss. (Played Harry Connick Jr - why is he in so many romcoms? He looks like someone's ugly cousin.)

Will love ensue? You're right in assuming so. In fact, from the opening credits, you are likely right in every single last prediction you have about this movie. It really is that paint-by-numbers. It makes not one step in the region of originality.

But, hey! It's a genre pic, so I don't hold formula against it. Actually, it can be really relaxing and comfortable to settle in and watch a movie that doesn't surprize you. If it amuses, that is. Sadly, this one does the opposite - it aggravates, annoys and angers. (Attractive and alluring alliteration, that.)

First, the locals do have that external "we're so simple and friendly, dontcha know?" feel that so many of these films have, but this appearance is completely belied by the constant cold nastiness they show towards Zellweger's character. I mean, I understand that being a corporate suit in hard economic times comes with a "kick me" sign, but these people are horrid. Over and over again. And it makes little to no sense to have a factory full of people who are supposed to be worried about losing their jobs be completely insubordinate and unwilling to work. This movie, whether it intends it or not, is one long explanation of why American factories are being shut down in favour of workers less filled with a feeling of entitlement in other places. Places where people might actually want to work. (Even I got that message from this film, and I am pro-union!)

Second, there is no chemistry, whatsoever. Not just between the heavily botoxed Zellweger (seriously - NO expression, ever) and Harry Ratface Jr, but in general. Nothing has any charm. Nothing is likable. There is no magic, or even anything approximating magic. Just a bunch of actors who look miserable, pissed off and wishing to be elsewhere. Sort of like the audience.

Not even J.K. Simmons was enjoyable, and I usually adore him - especially as middle class working guy smart asses, which he normally plays perfectly. I think he is one of the greatest character actors of our times, in fact. In this, he does give a twinge of effort, and does manage to produce the only bearable moments in the film, but even his obvious screen charisma is not enough to make this film worth the retinal power.

Finally, the lighting. Oh holy hell, the lighting. Now, I know Renee is no spring chicken any more, and her skelator incarnation doesn't really compete with her winsome cuteness in Bridget Jones, in my opinion, but she is hardly ugly. In New in Town, though, she would have to work hard to come up to the beauty level of sea hag. Between her lifeless, stringy hair and her pitted, lackluster skin, she should sue the makeup, hair and lighting departments on this film. And toss in the costuming department for making her reminiscent of Cruella deVil, only in search of simple rural souls instead of puppies. She looked and acted like a dissatisfied marm. Even when they had the obligatory "casual letting the icy guard down for the male lead for some chit chat on the sofa" scene, she had all the appeal of a Socialist charwoman. What on earth did she do to the DP to make them treat her this way?

Of course, she has no one to blame but herself for the bad botox.

But Zellweger's attractiveness (or lack thereof) is not the only lighting sin. Really, the whole movie has this thick, unappealing pea soup look to it that really doesn't scream "romcom magic." (Though, I guess it does capture the spirit of industrial drudgery.) Just a bit of care in the film craft could have gone a long way to make this less offensive to the human spirit. Dismal is the only word for the whole bloody mess.

Now, I have seen reviewers blame all this on having a foreign director who perhaps didn't understand how American romantic comedy is expected to look. That might be the case, I don't know. But I do know if you have a formula film, you at least have to present it well. This film failed on all scores.

So, why did I watch it twice? The first time I saw it, I had purchased it extremely cheap, previously viewed (note I'm not saying "previously enjoyed"), as I thought it was a harmless enough thing to take up an evening. The second time, I watched it because I had trouble believing it really was as bad as I remembered it being. Indeed, it may have been worse.

I am writing this now to save you the trouble of even seeing it once. Don't bother. If you wish to see a film in the classic subgenre of city slicker coming to a small town to save a small factory full of quirky characters, rent the highly (highly!) superior, Kinky Boots - so superior, I cringe even to mention it in the same post as this piece of dung. Another that comes to mind is the likable Spotswood (aka The Efficiency Expert in American release). Or the memorable and bold 1996 flick Brassed Off! These are all fine films that show how small communities can pull together to control their destiny in the face of corporate anonymity, and, in the process, transform the individual. And all three have some enjoyable romantic elements.

New in Town seems to want to focus more on the romance than the industrial aspect, which would be fine if the romance actually worked. In the end, it failed at both.

Don't waste your time.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

This week, we went from Tommy Douglas to Gandhi (1982), in our filmic quest for courage in the face of adversity. The last few nights, however, I have gone from Father of a Nation seeking independence to something of an imperialist warmonger, albeit one whose heart may have been in the right place - T.E. Lawrence. (That is to say, Lawrence seems to have thought he was fighting for the freedom of the colonial "Arabs," even though politicians later ruined this vision.)

The 1962 film, which made the young but powerful Peter O'Toole a star, is something of an "Eastern" - as opposed to a "Western." Mounted Arabs hoot and ululate as they diverge on trains waiting to be looted - sheik versions of old Republic Pictures "Indians." Yet, it is not as simple as all that. Like T.E. Lawrence's writings themselves, this film doesn't only exist in state of attraction for the masculine virtues of war - it also seeks to problematize courage as a form of madness, a preoccupation Lawrence seems to have had in his own life. In this, this film is even more worth the viewing. On the surface, it is a war epic, but underneath, it explores the futility of violence and the insanity of killing. And the anticlimax of victory in a world where there seem to be no definitive goods and evils.

I have owned his film for some years, and have seen it a handful of times, but this must have been the first time I actually watched it. I cannot believe I never realized the scene in which Lawrence was captured by the Turks and beaten was a thinly veiled rape scene, obscured so as to not offend the viewers of the early-60s. Perhaps we modern audiences are obtuse when it comes to the subtly of sexuality in classic film, no matter how well versed we are. A homosexual rape would not have been as ham-fisted as we are now accustomed to in the post-Deliverance era. In understanding the import of this scene, the movie falls into place for me so much better than it did in my youth. Before, I could make no sense of the total personality change in Lawrence as a result of a simple beating. A beating and brutal gang rape (which is also alluded to in Lawrence's own writings) would much better account for his transformation from heroic, confident youth to worn and partially demented husk. In this, too, the film succeeds in interrogating old myths - Lawrence refuses to cry out in pain as he is beaten, but allows his wounds to fester in silence and break his soul. We are left to ponder what is truly the most courageous way to deal with suffering.

I have often felt this film is worth it for the cinematography and that amazing score, alone - not to mention O'Toole's eccentric and oddly majestic performance. Now, adding to that my increased understanding of the film's deeper meaning, and I am beginning to realize just how artful this film really is.

Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story (2006)

Seemingly continuing some sort of unintentional social credit movie marathon, I have followed up Our Daily Bread with the well made CBC miniseries on the life of the "Greatest Canadian," Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story.

Aside from a strange, seldom-acknowledged penchant for eugenics in his youth, Douglas is just about as complete a hero as you can get in this country, and Prairie Giant clearly plays to that legendary aspect of the small, bespectacled preacher from Saskatchewan. Painting an impressionistic landscape of Douglas' rise from Depression-era radical social-democratic minister to demonized "Red Menace" in the '50s to the 1970s leader of the nubile NDP, this miniseries is fairly informative (keeping in mind that it is TV, after all), hits Douglas' greatest hits (especially in terms of speeches and his iconic role in the founding of socialized medicine in Canada), and is actually quite slick for a Canadian TV production. It's enough to make the Captain Canuck in all of us bust a button or two.

At about 3 or 4 hours long, it's quite an extended lesson, but I find that it doesn't drag and manages to hold the attention and the imagination throughout. Some details are a bit dodgie (they show Douglas as actually present at the Estevan "riot," for instance, when he wasn't), but you do come away feeling bigger than when you started watching.

It's a fable of social ethics and of what people can do when they put their fellow humans first - for that, it's well worth a look.

(Also strongly recommended is the NFBC's Tommy Douglas: Keeper of the Flame, 1986.)

100 Days, 100 Movies

Well, actually, I am not setting myself a day or movie limit/assignment, but I had to call the post something, so there you have it.

My life is kind of the pits right now, what with post-school identity crisis, unemployment and those pesky wolves at the door who respond to neither garlic nor Wolf-B-Gone®, so, really, who the heck wants to hear about me? Therefore, I have decided to get back to my film buff roots, and start posting more film reviews and such.

I might even live up to the blog's subtitle and focus a lot more on silent films. (Been thinking of changing the subtitle and even the title of this blog, though it'd be strange to have a new blog title after 5 years.)

I generally watch a movie (or some TV on DVD) a day, anyway, so I think I will start posting a review a day, with some videos when I can - no promises, though, as I am sure I will miss some days, or have Real Life stuff crowd in on the action. However, writing reviews is good for my brain and skills, and a lot more fun than whining (which I am sure I will still do from time to time), so I think I will revert to that.

That is, of course, if I don't get evicted in July when I can't pay the rent.

La-di-da, la-di-da.

Gold Rush (1925)

This is the re-release of the Gold Rush, as narrated by Chaplin himself. They sure don't make films like this any more. This was the first Chaplin film I ever saw, which makes it a real milestone. I don't know what I expected, but the 1990s teenage arrogance in me likely figured comedy before the 1960s all involved buggies and old men slapping their knees a lot - I know that I wasn't prepared for how awesome this film is. The chicken scene completely slays me. Still ranks as one of the funniest comedies of all time, in my humble opinion. Truly a classic.

On a personal note, I'm glad to be getting back to my film roots with this blog.

Our Daily Bread (1934)

When times are tough, I turn to this movie. The tot and I watched it again this evening, and it still has a positive impact on me.

Perhaps the acting leaves a lot to be desired (aside from my favourite 1930s character actor John Qualen, who is always wonderful), and the print is pretty awful, but this film, once you get past all the corny (pun only half intended), can be deep-down inspirational.

After going bust in the city, "big ideas" man John Sims and his wife relocate to a dirt farm donated by a relative. Not knowing anything about farming, John happily accepts a hand from marooned Swedish farmer Larsen (Qualen) who went bankrupt in Minnesota and ran out of gas on their road.

When the Larsen family shares with John and the Mrs their rabbit stew, John gets an idea - a collective farming village, peopled with all manners of tradesmen and their families to share the work, the resources and the profits. At first only interested in the practical trades, such as carpentry and plumbing, John soon realizes their commune has a place for all manners of folks. There is a bit of dramatic de-railing with passion and pessimism come slinking in, but the social fabric retains its strength, and the community re-knits together even stronger than before.

The film takes us through several ups and downs of Depression-era life, including food shortages and droughts, but also gives us highs, such as the moment they first see the shoots of their new life spring through the ground, and the climatic final moments of humanity's triumph over adversity.

Corny, yes. But really a statement about the human spirit, and what can be achieved through hard work, unflagging optimism, self-control and common decency. It is a remarkable testimony to the strength and perseverance of the 1930s "back to the land" farmers, who refused to be licked by hard times, which is all the more touching for being produced as the suffering continued across North America and beyond. It's a type of Christian Socialism that was killed off by the Cold War, and one we likely won't ever see again. And it does us good to witness it.

In terms of its zeitgeist and sense of purpose, Our Daily Bread is one of the top 10 pictures of the 1930s, in my books, and is not to be missed. Enjoy!

A Little Something Different

So, long story short - I've got to learn PhD-level stuff about Yiddish film. Fast.

Thus, I thought I would share, and encourage you to learn along side me.


Enjoy!

Hubbell Gardner and Annie Hall

Prototypes of Gentile masculinity and femininity? Counterparts?

Hubbell:

• Blond and handsome
• Calm within his body and healthy
• Athletic
• Self-assured
• Casual
• Confident of his place
• Unconcerned with the world
• Blessed
• Simplified world view and goals
• Unconcerned with his talents and future
• Unconcerned with the past
• Lacking in empathy
• Light
• Privileged background
• All-American
• Intrigued by Katie as someone opposite from himself
• Fun and spontaneous; concerned only with pleasure
• Feels welcome
• Frustrated with the Jewish Katie's pushiness and attempts to guide him
• Ends up being less ideal than Katie first assumed

Annie

• Care-free
• Unambitious
• Simple/uncomplicated
• Fair and pretty, and slim
• Unaggressive
• Feels somewhat inferior to people she perceives as intellectual
• Simplified world view and goals
• Immature
• Seeks "good times"
• Awkward, but in a charming way
• Light
• All-American
• Intrigued by Alvy as something exotic
• Wholesome family with money
• Lacking in empathy
• Unconcerned with the past
• Frustrated with the Jewish Alvy's pushiness and attempts to guide him
• Ends up as less ideal than Alvy first assumed

Some Points from Evans & Deleyto, 1998 (Romance Genre Book)

Introduction: Surviving Love, Evans & Deleyto (1-14)

• while some form of "love" is universal, romantic love is culturally constructed
• romantic comedies reflect changes in "intimate culture"
• the current myth of romantic love is that the irrational passions of love and sex help people remove the inauthentic strictures placed on us by social conformity, thus it is the process through which we grow to know our real identity and "true self" (i.e. Foucault 1981)
• romantic comedy, nevertheless, has a conservative core

Love Lies: Romantic Fabrication in Contemporary Romantic Comedy, F. Krutnik (15-36)

• In Annie Hall, Alvy progresses through women who he tries to control, but the Jewish women he married he was unable to control - he sought in Annie a women he could dominate, intellectually, and tried to re-make her, but as she grew she out-grew him, denying him his dream of a woman he could control.
• Romantic comedies often rely on the crossing of borders.
• Romantic comedy often employs a fabrication or masquerade element - thus, they must balance the tension between "real" relationships growing out of falsehood. Modern intimate culture holds that one cannot find anyone to love their true selves, but that one must pretend or change in order to find and keep love.

Love and Other Triangles: Alice and the Conventions of Romantic Comedy, C. Deleyto (129-47)

• When sex was linked to reproduction, it was connected to communal survival and duty - thus, it was part of the transcendent order; when it became a matter of pleasure/identity/individual needs ("plastic sexuality" = sexuality parted from reproduction), it no longer required a transcendent element - in fact, a transcendent element would be counter-productive to the needs of personal choice. (Following Giddens 1992.)

The Fever and the Itch: Matching Plots in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever, I.C. Santaolalla (148-67)

• read for use in interracial romance - read Wartenberg chap, as well, for this?
• these stories, and the reaction to them, highlight the ambiguity of Americans towards their own foundational myths of equality
• Hollywood is behind reality in terms of interracial coupling - while it is becoming more and more acceptable and popular in reality, film still has difficulty showing interracial romance (without making the romance about their interracial status), and still try to avoid showing interracial sex as much as possible
• popular notion that interracial sexuality is spurred by boredom, curiosity and/or sexual stereotypes being tested/explored (Spike Lee's position here)

Some General Ideas from these Readings (Useful for Q&A)

• Annie Hall shows Alvy's romances with Jewish women fail - does this harm my theory? No, because he had idealized the Gentile woman to such an extent that he had constructed his memory of these women along the lines of negative images of Jewish women (shrill/high-strung; grasping; dull) -- however, after his experience with Annie, Alvy reviews his life and cannot understand why his younger self had rejected Alison - this was because Annie had cured him of this idealization
• Annie Hall quote: "...all those PhDs are in there, like, discussing modes of alienation and we'll be in here quietly humping" - sex is, for Alvy, the ultimate connection, and, being purely physical, is the exact opposite of the theoretical contemplation of alienation.

***

Ref:

Terms of Endearment: Hollywood Romantic Comedy of the 1980s and 1990s. Edited by P.W. Evans and C. Deleyto. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University, 1998.

17 Days til D-Day

So, slightly embarrassed, I have recently found out that adding "ABD" to your CV, etc., is considered "cringeworthy" by hiring committees. Whoops. I knew that "PhD Candidate" was a bit snerky, but I simple-mindedly thought, since the job posts asked for ABD or higher, I should clearly specify ABD. Guess not. My face is a little red for the applications I have already submitted with what basically amounts to "newbie affectation" written all over them. Oh well, since I am in second consideration for one of them, I guess it didn't completely blow me out of the water, and I have learned my lesson.

Not much progress Monday, other than submitting a job application on campus, and buying myself a new notebook for defence Q&A scribbles.

Oh, and we watched part of Fiddler, which the tot loved (I figured he would) but I didn't have the heart to keep on with after he fell asleep. That is a long frigging movie! I wonder if I have watched the flip side of the disk even half as many times as I have watched the first half? Well, at least I tried - I know I will get at least one question on that movie at defence (even though it features in only one paragraph of my work), as it is the one "Jewish Movie" people have seen or recall off hand. However, let us hope their question is on the first half, and that they never flip the disk, either.

OK, on to some MS edits before I pass out.

18 Days til D-Day

I am frigging exhausted. Tot decided to resist sleep until nearly midnight tonight, so I am stuck staying up much later than I had hoped to get today's allotment done before sleep. But, I did my consistency check for Canadian spelling, and got rid of some of the one-shot things I wanted to fact check (i.e. Does Ostjuden have an umlaut? What exactly is the plural for bildungsroman in the Anglicized form?).

I also revamped the Spanglish section, having viewed it again tonight. (I think this will be a consistent process throughout the next few days - I will re-visit 30 film descriptions in the dissertation over the next few weeks as a I re-watch the films. Re-watching a handful of the 50 or so films I look at in the dissertation is essential prep for Q&A, as in some cases I have not seen the films I describe in a year or two. If someone asks me a question about a movie I watched a couple times back in 2006 or 2007, I am basically toast unless I make sure to refresh my tired memory.) On the plus side, I was reminded how much I do enjoy that movie, so prep is not all grunt work!

OK, now to read over my job app once more and then hit the hay - finally, thank heavens!

Films I Could Have (Would Have Liked to Have) Done More With

In case people ask, there were indeed films in this dissertation that I had to neglect, trim or skim over.

Some films I wish I had have spent more time on:

• Spanglish
• Mrs Delafield Wants to Marry
• Brooklyn Babylon
• Yentl
• Hester Street
• The Apprenticeship of Duddy Karavitz
• Two Lovers
• Flannel Pajamas
• Giving it Up
• Reality Bites

(I am sure there are more; I will update this list as I progress in my preparations.)

Viewing Schedule for Defence Prep

• Sun, May 2: Spanglish (2004)
• Mon, May 3: Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
• Tues, May 4: Corrina, Corrina (1994)
• Wed, May 5: Gentleman’s Agreement, (1947)
• Thurs, May 6: Chariots of Fire, 1981
• Fri, May 7: Keeping the Faith (2000)
• Sat, May 8: Along Came Polly (2004); There’s Something About Mary (1998); Meet the Fockers (2004); Meet the Parents (2000)
• Sun, May 9: Dirty Dancing (1987); When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
• Mon, May 10: Cemetery Club, The (1993)
• Tues, May 11: Prime (2005)
• Wed, May 12: Liberty Heights (1999)
• Thurs, May 13: Two Lovers (2008)
• Fri, May 14: Believer, The (2001)
• Sat, May 15: Sophie’s Choice (1983); Walk on the Moon (1999); Wedding Singer, The (1998)
• Sun, May 16: Way We Were, The (1973); What’s Up Doc? (1972)
• Mon, May 17: Crossing Delancey (1988)
• Tues, May 18: White Palace (1990); Price Above Rubies (1998)
• Wed, May 19: Zelig (1983); You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (2008)
• Thurs, May 20: Annie Hall (1977)

Wake Up Call

I finally saw Coraline tonight, and I must say I enjoyed it - it was really quite well written for a 3D movie (which usually seem like they didn't have writers, only animators who hoped everyone would be too busy gasping "whoa!" and pawing the air for whatever whizzbanger appeared to be floating from the screen into their face-space to notice there was little else to the movie), and the atmosphere was captivating.

I hope to try the 3D side of the disk at some point in the near future - tonight, I correctly decided that 3D glasses would be ruined almost instantaneously by riotous toddler. Nevertheless, it was a good time without the whizzbangers.

Though, I must admit tales about a small child who escapes into a fantasy world because her parents are too busy with work (at computers) to be caring, present and enjoyable does cut a little close to home. *gulp*

Note to self: Never snap at tot over the rim of a coffee cup and across a keyboard from a pinched, bag-eyed face... In a white turtleneck sweater, at least. OK, that last part, I think I can do.

:(

Things We Have Learned from Zombies

from Necromantic Media

A New Addition to My Favourite Sites:

This one.

Movie posters are an under-appreciated art form. Also a lesser-known treasure trove of idiocy.

Sad Losses

Today, we mourn the death of Miramax, which has put out some of the better films produced over the past 31 years. So, we can all say the bum economy has truly hit us in a significant way... you know, in ways other than personal unemployment and hardships, etc.

We have also lost J.D. Salinger, writer and generational mind blower.

Also, R.I.P. Zelda Rubinstein. Walk towards the light, Zelda.

The world is a lot less cooler today.

Now the Bad News

Well, Paper Heart has been achieved. A pseudo-documentary by Charlyne Yi seeking eternal truths about love, in which one eternal truth is delivered with resounding clarity: There is certainly such a thing as way too much Charlyne Yi.

*SPOILER*(Side note: This would have been a much better film had Charlyne and the "director" paired up in the end.)*SPOILER*

So, I have managed to treat myself to some new-ish movies, and am enjoying myself, but the trailers (which I normally do not watch, but was dumb enough to do so this time) have given me a few more to add to my "Missed in 2009" list:

• The Men Who Stare at Goats
• Extract

Getting the feeling here that I will never catch up.

Annie Hall: TNG

_

By comparing (500) Days of Summer to Annie Hall, I am not mocking either film. Far from it. Both are majestic in their humanity - of dreams gained and lost; of the consumption of love and what we do to our experiences in post-production. Annie Hall is a film I return to again and again; I have a feeling (500) Days of Summer will be likewise. Non-linear, but with a whimsical sense of fun that never falls into the cloying, (500) Days of Summer is a film that should not be missed.

I can only be relieved neither of the lead characters were Jewish - this film could have easily demanded chapter re-writes. I simply cannot say enough about it. When it ended, I wanted to re-start it. That should say enough.