Film Review: Pina, a film by Wim Wenders

Pina is an art film by Wim Wenders dedicated to Pina Bausch, a German choreographer who has given the world some amazing avant garde dance … which is very hard to describe.

I’d like to share this clip from the soundtrack by talented musician Jun Miyake. It’s called Lilies of the Valley. It gives you a sense of how upbeat some of the music is, although many of the pieces were also dark and deeply emotional to watch.

This piece, from the Opening, I felt to be the strongest of the entire film. You immediately know, when you watch a piece like this you are going to be watching something extraordinary.

What you don’t see in this clip though, is how the dancers start the scene – by spreading dirt on the stage to dance on as their surface.

There is a lot of use of open air settings, using “props” like dirt or water, or other natural elements… leaves, grass, etc to convey something larger than just human beings interacting with one another, they are interacting with the entire world and its environment.

Here are some other arresting images and music from the film:

I have one criticism of this film though. First, Pina was presented in 3D and it was the concensus of me and my friend, along with the chatter of others in the audience when the film was over, that the 3D didn’t add enough to the presentation of the film to justify its use. When going to the art house for one movie costs $16 or $17 bucks in Manhattan, you know your audience is expecting you to wow them if you’re going to bother with 3D.

You’d think a clip like this would be enhanced by 3D, but I swear, what you see here is basically the same thing I saw in the theater:

Finally, I’m not a big dance afficianado, but I enjoyed this film. My friend, who loves dance, came out of the movie on a cloud, she really loved every minute of it. There were spots that dragged a bit for me, and because some of the dancing is deeply emotional, it’s quite difficult to sit through two hours of dancing with no plot and essentially no dialogue.

I would recommend going to see this film if you enjoy dance, especially contemporary avant garde dance, but be prepared to pay that extra bit for 3D glasses you don’t really need.

Film Review: A Separation

A Separation won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film for the 2011 season. I saw the movie yesterday, and it was fascinating to watch, although perhaps a bit long as the film clocks in at a whopping two and a half hours. I’d recommend Americans watch the film because it provides some insight into Iranian culture.

The set up for the events is a wife decides she wants to separate from her husband because she has applied for travel visas (it is implied to leave the country and perhaps go to the United States – it’s never made clear) but the husband changed his mind and no longer wants to go. The wife goes to live with her parents while the husband stays at home and cares for his elderly father suffering from Alzheimers and the couple’s 11 or 12 year old daughter.

Once the wife leaves, the husband hires a woman to come in and care for the father during the day while the husband is at work. The woman that comes in is pregnant, and brings along a very young girl, maybe 5 years old.

After that the storyline gets very complicated, and if I say much more I’ll spoil the film for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet.

I will say this, there are a lot of scenes in the movie where we see how “justice” is served in Iran. There is no such thing as a court room as we understand it in the United States, and no jury either. The magistrate (not a judge) overseeing the cases does some interviews with “witnesses” or people who might make character references for those being accused of crimes, but in the end the magistrate just decides whether or not he believes the person is guilty and then assigns the punishment. The scenes in the film showing these segments always show the magistrate sitting at a desk in a small office, and the parties being accused sit in chairs in front of the desk, along with their spouses (who often say stuff and interfere during the proceedings.)

I saw the movie with a friend, and her observation was that every character in the film (including both young girls, who are called upon to make their own observations about what happened) winds up withholding information from everyone else. (The exception is the elderly father who doesn’t speak.) Ironically, the characters in the film often try to tell the truth but on the way to telling the truth, things wind up getting very convoluted. Religious belief systems are implied as at least one of the reasons this happens.

In the end, we’re left with a deep impression of how challenging life in modern Iran can be, and the entanglements of families, religious beliefs and societal norms all have a deep affect on the quality of life available.

Potpourri Post: Metazen, Letters in the Mail, Zouch, The Artist and more

Today’s post is brought to you random topical inspiration.

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My story Baby Crazy will be published by Metazen on March 6th. That’s only 2 days away – yay! I’ll post the link on Tuesday.

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Do you subscribe to Stephen Elliot’s Letters in the Mail over at The Rumpus? I started getting them recently, and I like them. He sends one email a day and it has his personal observations about things going on in his literary circle, he talks about events he may have attended or promotional things he’s doing, and of course he talks about pieces on The Rumpus site. He uses a very casual style which is appropriate since the email is supposed to be like a personal letter. Anyway, if you haven’t checked out The Rumpus, you probably should.

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Zouch Magazine recently followed me on Twitter, so I followed them back. Then I went to their site because I wanted to find out more about them. Turns out two artistically inclined Canadian guys who are into music and literature decided it was time to put up their own site and do their own thing. I notice the site is very visually inclined, so some stories are represented by a picture and you have to click on the picture to get to the content. Also, they are very actively looking for people to submit content so if you’re looking for a new market to check out, they’re a place to look.

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A few days ago I got an email from an editor I’ve only submitted to twice (a third item had to be withdrawn when it was accepted elsewhere) but she was so nice, I want to share what she said to me:

I really enjoyed this story.  What did you send me last time? I know that I liked it as well.

I don’t think this is quite the story for [  ] either, but I have no doubt that one of your stories certainly will be.

I was like, what…me? You only read two stories and you liked them both? But what was funny is that she never told me that in the original rejection slips. Good lesson for me kids, behind those rejection slips people are forming opinions – even when they don’t share them.

And she was SO nice, she even offered to re-read the first piece and provide more detailed feedback. I need someone to love that story as much as I do, because I’ve been trying to get Family Picnic published for years. Nate Tower just accepted the only other story I had from that long ago, so The Paperboy found an adoptive dad, maybe if things go well Family Picnic will soon have an adoptive mom. Or at least, maybe it’ll have an adoptive aunt to provide feedback that leads me to the right editorial parent.

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I’ve noticed something funny is going on now with my rejection slips – most of them are getting personal responses now, and in some cases they’re saying things like “this is well written” “I like the crisp language” or “this flows well” (all comments I’ve gotten recently, by the way) even though the pieces aren’t getting accepted. Believe me, this is a significant development for me…I feel like some invisible tide is turning.

When I consider how important it is to be published in places like PANK, Metazen, Foundling Review, Spilling Ink, Bartleby Snopes (twice), Dogzplot, Right Hand Pointing, etc. I think these brand name journals are helping me tremendously as I make forward headway. Then again, I don’t put all those names on my submission cover letters but let’s be real, I always put a few.

That takes me back to something Jacob Appel said in that Tips article I mentioned in my last post… he said a twenty-something MFA student slushpile reader might dismiss you out of hand if you have no recognizable pub credits but they’ll think two or three times if you’ve got heavy hitter names, maybe a Pushcart nom, or something. Ahh, back to their hierarchy of talent, right?

I don’t know.

I’d like to believe, and I do believe, that my writing has improved over the past two years too. I’ve had so many great editors give productive feedback and I’m listening – I swear I’m listening very closely to those snippets of feedback – and maybe my nose to the proverbial grindstone, plus my successful story placements, plus the ongoing goodwill of new editors equals the promise of further placement.

Hmm. This set of observations could be influenced by the sun shining and it’s Sunday and I can go out and enjoy the day too.

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Finally, movies. Or, a movie. The Artist, in fact.

I recently made some very snide comments about how would it be possible for a French film to win over an American film for Best Picture. (By the way, j’adore Paris and Viva La France…) Then I went to see The Artist.

Yeah, it’s good. It deserved Best Picture over The Descendants.

Also, now I understand why Jean DuJardin (Mr. John Garden, for those of us who speaka de English) got selected for the lead role. He has a certain je ne c’est quoi about him that does strongly remind you of old Hollywood. He was able to use his face so wonderfully, and he must be dangeously charming in France, where he speaks the native language.

But… and there is a “but” here…

Movies just ain’t what they used to be, I lament to you, dear reader.

In two years from now, I’m not going to be talking about The Artist. I’ll still be talking about how phenomenal The Departed is, and it’s destined to be a classic. I’ll talk about the wonder of The Royal Tennenbaums, the razor-sharp and inspiring dialogue from David Mamet’s Heist (“Don’t you want to hear my last words?” “I just did.” BANG) and how far ahead of its time Close Encounters of the Third Kind was as a film, yes, these movies I will watch again and again along with my romantic favorites Good Will Hunting, The Piano and Groundhog Day.

But The Artist will, to me, be like Shakespeare in Love… it was a movie I saw, and liked, but I probably don’t need to see again and again and again.

My Oscar Predictions – Sort of

Here are my Oscar predictions for tonight. Oh yeah, I haven’t seen all the movies, but do you really think that’s gonna stop me? Also, this past year wasn’t exactly a series of knockout films either. But the show must go on!

Best Oscar Host: Billy Crystal, who else? Yes, I want to watch him dance around and hear his cheesy “It’s a Wonderful Night for Oscar” song about the best picture flicks, so sue me.

Best Actor – George Clooney for The Descendants. Yes, I think he’s going to beat that French guy no one has heard of for The Artist. In my opinion, George Clooney did a much better job in Out of Sight than The Descendants, but I think he’s a favorite to win for sentimental reasons.

Best Actress – Viola Davis for The Help. I haven’t seen the movie, so this is a guess based on everybody saying Viola Davis. Everyone keeps saying -as usual- it was Meryl’s to lose for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher, but apparently The Iron Lady wasn’t that good so Meryl gets another rubber chicken dinner and she can smile at the camera and shrug, as if to say, oh well…I’ll do it again next year, so don’t worry about little ol’ me.

Actor/Actress in a Supporting Role – Who cares? I haven’t seen any of these movies, although I really wish I had had a chance to see Bridesmaids, damn it. Maybe Melissa McCarthy will win, but I doubt it since she is up against 2 supporting noms for The Help. Also, have you noticed how nobody has been talking about these categories at all. If Jonah Hill wins for Moneyball, I’ll laugh my butt off. It’ll probably be sentimental favs either Christopher Plummer or Max von Sydow.

Best Director – it’ll be a little sad to see that in a category this year with both Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen that neither of them will win. Maybe the director of The Artist (again who no one has ever heard of and by no one I mean me) will take this one, then again, it could go to Alexander Payne for The Decendants, but it’ll definitely be one of the two of them.

Best Picture – The Descendants. I actually saw this movie, and I didn’t think it was all that great. It was “okay” with decent plot twists. It’s really a reflection of a not-that-great year in movies. I need to go see The Artist. You know The Artist has The Weinstein’s behind it, and we all know what Bob and Harvey can do for a movie (Shakespeare in Love, anybody?) so I guess it’s possible The Artist could pull it away from The Descendants, but I don’t know… a silent, black and white movie starring French people? Nah… come on.

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Post Oscar re-cant – so clearly it’s a bad idea to not watch movies and then try to predict what’s going to happen. Here’s who actually won:

Best Actor – Jean DuJardin, The Artist

Best Actress – Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady (Yay!)

Best Director – the French Director from The Artist

Best Picture – The Artist

What movie do I need to go out and see immediately? The Artist.

Thank you and good night!

A funny thing happened on the way to Istanbul

Sometimes you have to love life’s serendipity. In this age of the internet, in the 21st Century, people from all over the world are being brought together in ways we never could have imagined perhaps even a decade ago.

So when a Turkish short film maker from Istanbul contacted me via my blog contact page a few days ago to ask me if it would be okay for her to potentially use one of my short stories as the basis for one of her short films, well…

I read her email. Then I read it again, to make sure I was really understanding it. Then I read it a third time, thinking I probably still wasn’t following what she meant. But yes, there it was – would I let her use my story as the basis for a short film?

The funny thing is … the story she is interested is about characters and settings in New York City, but it was published in a journal in Europe, and then she read the story in Turkey. How is that for a modern-day connection? Kind of funny, right? I thought so, anyway.

And my answer was, this is such an interesting idea, I want to see where it goes. So she and I have agreed to discuss this more (via the internet, of course – or maybe we’ll Skype some day when I figure out how to do that) and see how we can make it all work.

So I’ll keep you all posted on the progress that we make in our new international artistic collaboration. Maybe it won’t go anywhere, or maybe we’ll collaborate on a really fun short film that will amuse audiences all over the world. Maybe I’ll be writing my first story-adapted-as-a-screenplay for this endeavor, or maybe I’ll watch from the sidelines as this thing evolves and be available to provide artistic input. Who knows?

What I do know is I’m excited about the possibilities. I love the idea that my little story, a vignette snapshot of an interaction between two people, may come to life with a director and actors who may not even be speaking English when the story is filmed, but there it’ll be. Something that came to life off the page and onto a screen. Or screens.

Maybe it’s not a coincidence that I’ve seen short film programs at the Tribeca Film Festival for the past five years running. Maybe it’s also not a coincidence that friends have said some of my stories are very visual for them and they can see the story from a camera’s eye view.

And maybe it’s no coincidence that artists from all over the globe can come together and choose to collaborate and see where it takes them. I know I’m looking forward to where the journey leads.

Top 10 movies I’ve never seen

In doing all these lists, I realized there are still movies out there I haven’t seen from beginning to end that I probably should.  Some of these are big, famous films that I’ve somehow never gotten around to…and others I’ll have to admit I’ve avoided.

• Gone with the Wind (I’ve just never been all that interested. I saw Dr. Zhivago and I thought “eh.” Zhivago seems 60′s and dated now, in my opinion.)
• Breakfast at Tiffany’s (I’ve seen parts, but not the whole thing from beginning to end. I’ve also never seen Charade or Roman Holiday either, oops)
• The Maltese Falcon (Seen parts, but not the whole thing)
• Last Tango in Paris (this was controversial at the time it came out, I remember that much)
• Dial M for Murder and Strangers on a Train (which Throw Momma from the Train was based on, and I loved that comedy with Billy Crystal and Danny DeVito)
• The Birth of a Nation (yeah, I know I “should” see it for historical reference purposes, I just never have…)
• The Seventh Seal (the only reason I want to see this Ingmar Bergman flick is because Marty Scorsese and Woody Allen say it’s like the best movie of all time, but it seems like an acquired taste)
• The 400 Blows (same as #7, Truffaut is one of those film makers I know I should watch)
• Nashville (I love all things Altman, I’m embarassed to say I haven’t seen this one)
• Dr. Strangelove (I’ve seen parts, of course everyone has seen the shot of that guy riding the bomb, but I’ve never seen the whole thing beginning to end.)

What movies should you see that you haven’t (yet)?

More Top Movies – Devastating Performances

I woke up this morning with my head swimming with movies I forgot to mention…fantastic movies that are crying out to be here, and again, I’m sure I could keep going and going… these dozen represent high water marks of talent and performance in my mind.

1. Amadeus (Tom Hulce and of course F. Murray Abraham are amazing)
2. Breaking the Waves (what an amazing performance by Emily Watson!)
3. Marathon Man (Dustin Hoffman and Sir Lawrence Olivier, could you ask for more?)
4. The Boys from Brazil (Gregory Peck is haunting)
5. The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 (the ORIGINAL with Walter Matthau thank you very much)
6. Ocean’s 11 (not the original with Frank Sinatra, the new one with George, Brad, Matt and co. Okay, okay – lots of hunky guys who are easy on the eyes)
7. Little Big Man (another incredible performance by Dustin Hoffman)
8. Bound (Gina Gershon knocks it out of the park)
9. The Big Chill (what a cast!)
10. The Apartment (Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine are delish)
11. Gandhi (Ben Kingsley won the Oscar for this one, as he should have)
12. Less Than Zero (Robert Downey Jr. is devastating in this, and it foreshadows aspects of his struggles with drugs in his own life…)

The Moral of the Story – An Amusing Interpretation

So often in today’s modern society, readers are seeking out entertainments with the highest moral aims in mind. One thinks of classic films like Citizen Kane or Home Alone along with serious books such as Of Mice and Men, or The Little Engine That Could.

And so, dear reader, I am here to offer up some titles you could put on your must-view or must-read lists, with a handy plot summary to use as your guide.

The Boys From Brazil, film – A man decides to conduct a scientific experiment and start his own soccer team with boys from Brazil, where they play some pretty mean soccer

The Godfather, film - a heartwarming family film about a pater familia who ensures the success of his sons for future generations

The Road, novel – a father and son go on a road trip together. The father teaches the son how to be a good camper.

Empire Falls, novel – how to book on running a diner in a small town

His Girl Friday, film – a murderer is on the loose but Cary Grant is more interested in stealing someone else’s fiance

Marathon Man, film - Dustin Hoffman as the jogger who gets his teeth cleaned by an older German gentleman

Middlesex, novel – living in Detroit isn’t all its cracked up to be, especially if you are Greek and have a big secret

Groundhog Day – film, freakish popular resurgence of Sonny and Cher permeates this film, although Bill Murray is spectacular as the charming, weatherman who plays the piano

The Royal Tennenbaums – film, Gene Hackman plays a man who tries to convince his family he has cancer by substituting tic tacs for real pain medication. They fall for it, then they don’t.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory – film (the original) – a tale about why it could actually be good to drop acid and write children’s books

What Every Movie Needs – A Few Good Men

While I enjoy movies with the top stars: Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, Denzel Washington, Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, and Brad Pitt, why does Hollywood always have to go back to the same pool everytime? And even if they do decide to have these men in the lead roles, why can’t they mix it up on the supporting actor roles?

What would have happened if Clint Eastwood who worked with Morgan Freeman on Unforgiven, had selected Keith David for Million Dollar Baby?  We’ll never know.

Why isn’t Don Cheadle, who gives his heart in roles like Hotel Rwanda, tapped for serious lead roles? He should be. Maybe it should go without saying that black male actors don’t get lead roles nearly as often as they could, or should. That said, I’ll watch Don Cheadle in Crash and Ocean’s Eleven anytime.

And where is Paul Giamatti these days?  He was amazing in the John Adams mini-series, Sideways and The Illusionist but then he also took a role in Fred Claus which is a waste of his talent in my opinion. Why couldn’t he be in a movie like Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr.? I think they’d play off one other very well.

Daniel Day Lewis was unbelievable in There Will Be Blood but he has had long stretches in his career when we don’t see him.  I don’t know if that is his personal choice, and if we look at this filmography he picks winning roles for himself whether In The Name of the Father or My Left Foot but I for one would like to see more of him.

And although he has a very long career behind him, Gene Hackman adds depth to any film he is in from Enemy of the State, and The Royal Tennenbaums to his absolutely stunning performance in David Mamet’s Heist. I’m not as big a fan of all the second-rate bad guy roles he takes on, but when he is given a character with depth and great lines, he will deliver every time.

I could go on and on… Christian Slater has done some great work like Interview with a Vampire, and Untamed Heart but then got sucked into movies like Broken Arrow and unfortunately it looks like he’s been doing a lot of television roles and smaller parts since.

So, take a longer look at all the massive talent sitting on the shelf out there and support films that might be a little further off the beaten Hollywood path.

Who do YOU want to see more of in Hollywood (or Indie) films?  What fantasy movie match ups would you create?  Please comment!

Tribeca Film Festival 2011

Every year, for the last 10 years, the Tribeca Film Festival is held in New York City. And for many years now, I’ve been going to the festival.

Past year’s highlights included going to the 2007 world premier of the documentary The Gates, which chronicled Christo and Jean-Claude’s epic battle with the city of New York to get the permission of the parks department to stage The Gates in Central Park. Jean-Claude was there in person, only a few months before she died in fact, and it was lovely to see her.

And who could forget the crazy antics of John Malkovich’s real-life character in 2006′s Colour Me Kubrick, about a guy in London who romps around town pretending to be Stanley Kubrick. Somebody snapped a shot of Malkovitch at TFF the following night, he was pretty under-stated at the premier but he did take questions from the audience.

Last year, 2010, I saw Get Low, with Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek and others. The film was so phenomenal that I commented to anyone who would listen to me that Duvall was going to get an Oscar for his performance. Much to my surprise, Get Low did not get a widespread film distribution and it remained little known or celebrated the year it was released. Later, Duvall was nominated for a SAG award for the performance, but it was Colin Firth’s year and Firth swept all the awards with his role in the King’s Speech.

So far this year I’ve seen Treatment, a small budget indie film that had a cameo appearance by John Hodgeman (of The Daily Show fame). Hodgeman and his fellow actors showed up to the premier and answered questions, as is typical at the Festival. 

I watched another film called The Trip which was very funny but also had a lot of heart.  It’s about 2 British comedians (Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon) who go on a restaurant tour of the northern Lake Country districts in England. Unfortunately despite the packed audience, no one was there to take questions about the film.

One of the things that I find so appealing about the Tribeca Film Festival is that you can see actors, directors, indie films, great documentaries, collections of shorts and various other entertainments – and you can do it without a lot of Hollywood drama and hoopla. 

I love the fact that TFF is very low key – if you see John Malkovitch, Duvall, DeNiro, Ed Burns or anybody else you may know, you don’t have to worry about crazed fans and screaming and all the stuff you see on T.V. for Hollywood premiers.  I adore New York and New Yorkers for knowing how to be cool and just do our thing, regardless of who else is standing nearby.