Sunshine Cleaning

One of those movies that reminds me how much life can suck while making me laugh at the same time.

…

Albequerque . Current Day.  Amy Adams is a maid with an adorable (if public-school challenged) seven year old son!  A Rebel Rebel younger sister!  A shennanigan-y father!  An affair with her married high school sweet heart!  And it kind of… really… sucks.

So here’s an idea!  New job!  Cleaning up after dead people.  Ick.  Have to afford that private school somehow!

I really liked Sunshine Cleaning, but it was also one of those movies that reminded me how low that life can become.  The film suitably opens up with a suicide and is later marked by two others.

While the cleaning company is the major plot device, the movie is really about the relationships Rose (Adams) and Norah (Blunt) have with other people.  Rose is trying to hold onto the life she had in high school with the affair and her desperation at a baby shower to show that she is a success.  Norah finds herself caught up in a friendship of a daughter of one of their decomp clean up jobs, always getting caught up in who these people they were cleaning up after were as people.

Sometimes the film relied on hijinks to move the plot along, making their sad business seem quite funny, but with the sad effects after death, especially after suicides, the grimness of their jobs and life seep through the celluloid.

An Unwritten Life: The Brothers Bloom

Directed by Rian Johnson

Starring: Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel Weisz, Rinko Kikuchi

Simultaneously a movie I love, but I’m afraid to see again.

Premise: Stephen and Bloom (his first name) have been grifters since they were children, but Bloom (Adrien Brody) wants out, in order to drink by himself in Montengro.  But his brother  convinces him to do one last con.

I’m paraphrasing this, but it’s an important quote: “My brother writes cons like a Russian writes novels… and I’m the vulnerable anti-hero,” Bloom says at one of their usual haunts in Berlin.  Stephen creates plans for their jobs that are so complex, they couldn’t work in real life.  The relationship between the brothers seems almost crafted by Stephen as well, since he knows Bloom well enough to predict his every move and every motivation.

Their last job: Swindle the inheritance of an eccentric heiress, Penelope(Weisz), by letting her have an adventure.  This becomes a wonderful trip to Prague, all scenes and score reminiscent of old French films we sometimes dream about, but find they never really existed in the morning.

All of the dialogue seems as stolen as the rare prayer book they’re after in Prague, but delivered with a light humor that’s juxtaposed with the near-mute Bang Bang (Kikuchi), the Brothers’ assistant and explosive expert.

As my first summer film (it only just made it to my local theater), it matched the great film cliche: It had everything in it that is looked for in a film.  There was action, romance, humor, a heist, travel… Bloom falls for Penelope, seeming to almost sabotage himself in the process.

There’s a lot to love from this film: Thematically black and white costumes, watching Bloom steal a brilliant red apple then run dizzingly down a hill, blowing up a castle in Prague, Bang Bang singing karaoke in Tokyo, card tricks, the brother’s mentor Diamond Dog who Stephen took his right eye out with an antique sword in St. Petersburg, and the achingly adorable relationship between Bloom and Penelope.

And from all of the brother’s lies, the ones that seem the most unbelievable are really the truth.

What I’m afraid of when it comes to this film is whether I would like it the second time around.  A lot of the joy comes from the surprises that wait, hiding in the plot, the twists and turns, and the great final scene.  After seeing it once, how could I possibly recreate that feeling again?  Short of mild amnesia, that is.

The Last Reservoir Dogs Virgin…

… Loses it!
(the whole ResDogs Virginity, that is).

On the whole, I really liked the film. I have a greater feeling towards Tarantino now, one that is neither apathy nor “…what?” It’s more of a curiousity thingummer. I now want to go through IMDb now and look through his works, finding things to either love or hate, or learn from (at least, a little bit at a time).

There’s really nothing I can say here that hasn’t been said before about the film. That’s why I always hesitate for posting about big films like these: What more can I add? It’s not like this is one of those smallish indie films that always gets a blank look when I mention it.

I will say that I needed a bit of digesting time afterwards. There was a lot that I didn’t understand immediately (or maybe not as much? I watched it about two weeks ago ago), but it’s one of those movies that sticks. I’ll be at work or at school, and all of a sudden my mind connects something entirely random with Reservoir Dogs.  For instance:

I smiled a lot while reading an article about the new tipping etiquette laws.

Had a rather fun conversation about it with people at work over birthday cake.

And bought a t-shirt: http://www.threadless.com/product/983/Color_Coded_Criminals

So, like I said, nothing much left to say.

The Legend of 1900

Let’s face it, I’m a sucker for new fairy tales.

I almost put “modern” fairy tales, but that put me too much in mind of Ella Enchanted, and that is exactly what The Legend of 1900 is not.

What it is, is a fantasy of the twentieth century.  Something that feels like it could never happen afterwards, in an almost dreamlike state of mind.  While watching the film, however, it feels real enough, true enough to be able to touch the human soul.

The story is framed by a desolate man entering a music shop to sell the most important thing in the world to him.  Max Tooney (Pruitt Taylor Vince)  tells the shopkeeper his stories about Danny Boodman T.D. Lemon 1900 (Tim Roth) while on the luxury cruise liner S.S. Virginian.

1900, whose name comes from 1) the coal-man who found him, 2) the box of the product he was found in, and 3) the year he was found, was left behind in a fancy ballroom, the child of immigrants from steerage who had the hopes that he would be adopted by kind, first-class passengers.  That’s what I think about when I watch this movie a lot.  There’s a focus on the immigrant’s journey in this film.  The motif of a person who has “America written on his eyes” is repeated throughout.  These are the people who take chances to start a new life, complete with all the risks it entails, a perfect contrast to someone who lives his life on a boat.

1900 is a musical genius from the first moment he sees the ship’s piano, when he’s eight or so, and after the death of his adoptive father.  The story picks up again with Max, circa 1927, an era of beautiful music and beautiful fashion, joining the ship’s band.  He meets 1900 when he gets sea sick his first night, with the boat rocking back and forth.  It’s surreal to see, suddenly this calm man in a suit with tails walk straight across those topsy-turvy floors, then suggest to play the grand piano without it’s brakes on.

The musical fairy tale begins with that scene.  Okay, in stories like this, there are always back stories, and we get it, but those really aren’t important compared to seeing the mythical character finally grown up, doing what he does best.  This is one of my favorite scenes in the movie, when it’s just the piano playing in a dreamy landscape of a turn-of-the-century cruise ship.

Like the best fairy tales, this is really an inward journey for 1900.  Yes, he’s good, known as “The Greatest” when performing.  From Max, he is faced with that option of leaving the ship and setting foot on land for once, always being pushed to changing his lifestyle.  There’s never any real motivation until one immigrant presents to him the idea of the Voice of the Ocean.  Something 1900 has never heard, even though he’s always spent his life at sea.

I might love this movie.  It’s a bit early to tell, as I only saw it for the first time a week ago now.  In some parts it lags, but the ending wraps it all together, gilding the entire experience into one giant Wow moment.  This is a bedtime story for adults, a relaxation of the rules of fairy tales for a story that hits lives harder.

A Delicious Metaphor

My mom took me out to this Asian Fusion restaurant over the weekend, and I realized that the menu serves as a pretty good guide to the movies I’ve watched recently.

 

Chicken Won-Tons: The Navigator: A Mediaeval Odyessy (1988)

            A little, unexpected Indie film (much like our won-tons, which didn’t have anything in them besides dry chicken.  Dry chicken does not a won-ton make).  Apparently, this was the Indie Darling of the ‘80s: it won Fantafestival, Fantasporto, a whole string of Australian Film Institute awards, and was nominated for a Golden Palm at Cannes.

            At a small Scottish village in 1347, there lives Griffon, a boy who can see into the future.  His brother, Connor, has recently returned and informs the town council equivalent that the plague has arrived, and Griffon has a vision about their solution: They must tunnel through the earth to arrive at a great city and place a cross on the highest cathedral’s spire.  Seems feasible when you live in a mining town.

            About six of them go into the mine and start tunneling with their mediaeval “drill” and when they see light, they have arrived at Twentieth Century New Zealand.  Which would confuse anyone, I’m sure, but they handle it marvelously.

            I love seeing the characters react to modern day events, like crossing a highway.  Everything is related back to their quest or to religion.  There’s a great scene when Griffon breaks into an appliance shop and he’s staring at a wall of televisions, all showing these truly bizarre images that keep switching every few seconds.  It’s a fun watch when the night is waning and you can’t get to sleep.  Like watching a fairy tale with some modern depth.

Manchurian Shrimp: The Host (2006)

            This was my mom’s dish.  I tried some, but didn’t like it.  There was this really complicated mixture of flavors in it and it was really spicy.  In this sense, it was a lot like The Host, a Korean Horror-Family Drama.  (To be honest, at first thought I figured these go together because the shrimp were butterflied and looked like the monster).

            The full amalgamation of the movie baffles at first.  It seems like too much to include, but c’est la vie.  It opens up by introducing the monster’s origins (stupid decisions with formaldehyde at an American military base), but cuts to the family, a man (Gang-du) with his daughter (Hyun-seo) living with his father (Papa Park) and helping to run the family snack shack.  The family comes together through the illegitimate daughter, who is adored on all sides by her father, grandfather, uncle (drunk, unemployed college graduate, Nam-il), and aunt (National archery competitor, Nam-joo).  Their drama escalates with the first of the monster attacks, which drags Hyun-seo into the river after gobbling up a few dozen other people.

            Sometimes the family interactions feel like I’m watching a dark comedy.  They weep pathetically for the lost Hyun-seo, then fall down with journalists taking their picture in some comedic pose.  They can’t help but bicker and fight while their being quarantined at the hospital (the greatest concern after the attack was the potential ‘virus’ spread by contact with the creature).  Late at night in quarantine, Gang-du gets a phone call from his daughter.  She’s alive!  But trapped in the sewer by the monster.  And thus begins phase two: the rescue.

            There’s social commentary in this, on the relationship between family members and America’s involvement with other countries (after deciding that the Korean government wasn’t handling the situation, they come in with “Agent Yellow”).  The combination of seeing the characters in a larger than life problem, combined with a sweeping score that emphasizes the emotional tension perfectly, The Host is an extremely powerful film.

Deep Fried Lamb Peking: Captain from Castile (1947)

            I was surprised in the flavor and texture that I had with my Lamb, but I was also surprised by this movie.  It is a stepping stone from the old epics to modern cinema, even back in 1947.

            It’s a very involved storyline, from the opening to the conflict that leads our hero Pedro de Vargas to the New World, under the command of Cortez.  I watched it day-by-day style, so for awhile I felt like they were just throwing together plot points so that Hollywood could produce another swashbuckling adventure flick.

            That’s not the case.  Remove one character flaw, it destroys the plot.  Change one moment in time, the ending wouldn’t make sense.  There’s still this 1940s feel to it, either coming from the costumes, sets, or style of acting, but there is that script with the modern feel to it. 

Mongolian Beef: Mongol (2007)

            Mongol.  The dish I never had (but I greatly enjoyed the film).  This is the story of Genghis Khan, first emperor of the largest land empire ever in existence.  According to The Industry Rumors, there are two more sequels to follow, in order to span his entire life.  So far, this was the beginning.

            Temudjin, son of a rather powerful Khan, is taken by his father to pick out his bride (family bonding abounds in this menu, it would seem).  His choice is the best Mongolian bride ever, apparently.  More importantly, she picked him.  That equality follows them through their whole relationship.

            When Temudjin’s father dies, his family is thrown out of their clan while the powers that be fight over the vacuum left in the death’s wake.  There, Temudjin starts to be filled with righteous fury and makes a blood brother in Jamukha, who is also looking towards becoming a great khan.

            The story goes on like this: Temudjin grows up, marries his girl, and jumps through hoops in order to become the hero-leader that he lives up to.  The filmmakers felt it necessary to include his family life a great deal in this opening and the violence takes a step down.  Overall, it is very engaging, both as an action movie and as a biopic.  The culture is well explained visually and through voiceover, mostly by watching Temudjin go through religious rituals and laying out his plans of government. 

            Everyone I talk to always likes to mention how international the cast and crew are, or they criticize it.  I think they’re missing the point: yeah, it’s fun to notice stuff like that, but it’s more important to acknowledge the film separate.  It is supposed to stand as a whole when we watch it, as a work of art or a person.  It’s not supposed to be analyzed for where it came from, but then again, we do that with people and art a lot too.

Fortune Cookie: The Duchess (2008)

            The Duchess is fun to watch while watching, but once the credits roll my mind went to “What?  I just watched a movie?  But… what happened?”  The plot is so slow and languidly formed that I felt more like I was watching a fashion show than an actual movie.  And I had such high hopes… ah, well.  The costumes were pretty, expectantly, and I have greater respect for Keira Knightly as an actress.  She had to really stretch her emotions for this one.

            I feel now that I should have gotten more from watching the film—there are these high-strung emotional moments when you’re horrified or at least sympathetic to her situation.  The problem was that I wasn’t all that sympathetic:  I was horrified from my own perspective first, but I was never really rooting for her to conquer her husband or escape from that lifestyle. 

            I discussed this movie with my friend who saw it with me, and she got the same opinion out of it: A lot happened, but it doesn’t feel like much at all.  I’ve seen this story before, I’ve heard it in history class every year since sixth grade.  A woman is only as good as the children she bears, and in that society she didn’t have the capacity to rebel.

            Well, whatever.  Rebel away, or at least make the attempt.  Please, just do something so that I don’t forget you after the credits roll and the taste of crispy cookie has left my mouth.

But I’m a Cheerleader

SUCH a 90s Satire, It’s not even Funny

directed by Jamie Babbit (1999)

Starring Natasha Lyonne and Clea Duvalle

But I’m a Cheerleader starts out with cheerleaders being… they’re naturally cheerleader selves.  And our good friend Megan, with her perfect cheerleader big hair and other sterotypical lifestyle of the average teen, not enjoying her make out session with her buff boyfriend (but I can understand this, because from what I could see of the scene, he couldn’t kiss).

This, however, plus other signs, leads her friends and parents to believe that she’s a lesbian and is shipped off to True Directions.  There she meets Graham, who opens her eyes to a new lifestyle.

I like this movie because it parodizes the Anti-Gay movement so well and their favorite war cry “It’s Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve!”  Best seen through the crazy woman running True Directions, with her obviously fabulous  son and her determination to put men and women in their “proper” roles: Such as, women as housewives, men as… lumberjacks (not kidding, it does).

This movie is rated R for the obvious sexual orientation reasons, and I don’t really feel like going into them right now.  Masturbation, sex, kissing, etc etc.

The extremity of the movie is what makes it fun and hilarious.  I equally love when the Gay Troopers come in to take the kids to a field trip to the local gay bar.  It’s this gay couple who went there and then realized that they would rather just be true to themselves afterwards, so now they offer a different option to the new campers.  And that is where Megan and Graham have their first kiss, awww… (well, first kiss outside of Megan’s dreams.  And, let’s assume, Graham’s).

The settings really form part of the hilarity, since it starts in creepy suburbia clearly stolen from Edward Scissorhands and then moves to this pink and blue house with rooms decorate to the proper color of the sex that’s practicing in it.  Except for some green rooms, which represent something.  Something like greed or ignorance.  It’s the color of the boss-lady’s bedroom and the office where the campers meet with their parents.

The relationships developped between characters, or the ones that do, seem realistic enough for me.  If you consider being trapped on a farm with others of your sexual orientation for two months, the logical matching up would occur.  The relationship between Megan and Graham seems very well crafted, since it’s Megan’s first love so she’s all puppy-eyed and Graham is torn between Megan and her parents’ expectations or financial support. 

I do have problems with this movie, which is that half of the evidence presented as to why Megan is gay is rather baseless.  As I mentioned before, her boyfriend just can’t kiss.  Then it was because of a Melissa Etheridge poster in her room.  Things like that, added to staring at the other cheerleaders and not having pictures of boys in her locker at school.

So, to sum up: It’s a satire made in the 1990s.  The opening premise is really weak in order to launch this plot immediately and as expediently as possible.  Very entertaining to watch unless you’re squeamish about the sex stuff, which is understandable because, yeah, that stuff can be rather awkward to watch.