Should've Had A Better Home Town

Movie Review: The Last Picture Show
America Lost & Found: The BBS Story

Sonny and his friends come of age in Anarene, a small Texas town, in the early 1950s. Over the course of several years, their lives intersect with the rest of their town as it slowly crumbles around them. Stars Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybil Shepherd, and Ellen Burstyn. Written by Larry McMurty and Peter Bogadanovich, and directed by Bogadanovich. 1971.

I've been noticing a common thread amongst the BBS movies I've seen so far, and it's that the plots aren't really about any one thing, and tend to be observational pieces revolving around a character over a certain period of time. The Last Picture Show is a contemplation of friendship, growing up, and life in a dying community. It's one of those movies that reads like a book. Shot in the style of a fifties teen romp, it undercuts the fluff and happy-go-lucky rebellion characteristic of those films by showing teens growing up and facing realistic problems that the people around them can't recognize nor resolve. The Last Picture Show never tells or shows us what is driving this town to ruin, and ultimately it's unimportant, because the characters don't try to save it, and occasionally beg the question if it deserves saving at all. An all round exemplary cast never overdoes it, playing scenes in a very organic and conversational manner. Touching, bittersweet, full of a very human aimlessness.

Just Some Old Hood

Movie Review: Hard Eight

Professional gambler Sydney recruits transient John outside a diner and teaches him how to make a living cheating casinos. Two years later, Sydney becomes wary of John's new friend Jimmy. Stars Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Samuel L. Jackson. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, and released in 1997.

Movies with older protagonists aren't as common as you might think, and it sometimes feels like every time I see one, it's possessed of an immediately distinct atmosphere. Hard Eight isn't a movie about getting old, but only an old man could be the main character of this film. Plus, it's Philip Baker Hall, who I'm beginning to think would read the phone book with depth and subdued passion. Hard Eight is the feature debut of writer/director Anderson, but it doesn't miss a single beat. It's another movie that has too much going on in it to be about any one thing, and it's plodding, low-key delivery makes every scene seem very thoughtful and methodical. Anderson's trademark tenderness for his characters is really the spotlight here, and the film is stronger for it. A fascinating first entry that is clearly his own without ever trying too hard.

I Try So Hard to be Good

Movie Review: The Elephant Man

John Merrick suffers from such severe genetic disfigurements that he cannot go out in public without being met with horror. He is displayed as a carnival freak until he is met by Doctor Frederick Treves, who attempts to diagnose him and offer him a more dignified existence. Stars John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins, Freddie Jones, and Anne Bancroft. Adapted from the 1923 novel The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences by Sir Frederick Treves and the 1971 book The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity by Ashley Montagu. Directed by David Lynch and released in 1980.

To say that The Elephant Man is a movie about humanity is vague, and I guess all movies are (except The Bear), but this movie in particular shows the heights of kindness, forgiveness, and dignity while simultaneously showing humanity as a psychotic creature of fear and hatred. John tries so hard to be good in an effort to make up for his deformity, and is humbly silent even when confronted with great cruelty. He's so used to being a terrifying oddity that he is limitlessly grateful for the most basic of human courtesy. It's absolutely heartbreaking. David Lynch's direction coats the whole film with a viscous atmosphere of dread, and his habit of including quietly horrifying abstract dream sequences is put to especially good use here, perhaps exemplified by the Victorian setting, which seems both ancient and modern at the same time. There's a lot to take away from The Elephant Man, and a lot has to do with how unforgiving the world can be to people who are a little different. But on the other hand, it also showcases how sometimes being a little nice can make the most important difference.

Things That Get Bad

Movie Review: Five Easy Pieces
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story

Bobby Dupea is kind of an asshole, works on an oil field, and treats his not-too-bright girlfriend like shit. When his sister tells him that their father has fallen ill, he returns home for a final visit. Stars Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Billy Green Bush, and Lois Smith. Written by Adrien Joyce and Bob Rafelson, and directed by Rafelson. 1970.

Very sombre, plodding, disenchanted. Five Easy Pieces could be described as an unforgiving character study of an asshole. The film moves at a very staggered pace with plenty of memorable scenes, delivering short episodes of conflict before Bobby, and the film with him, simply moves away from these. It's not a movie that's about any one thing, except for I guess Bobby himself, and it doesn't really deliver a moral, a theme or idea that we're supposed to take away, and it becomes fitting the more the audience gets to know Bobby. The movie spends a lot of time building Bobby into a person we don't really like, and then shows us what made him into the man he is and can't help but sympathize. You can't call him a hero or a rebel, but a guy who's just trying to move away from the intolerable and finds nowhere else to go. Jack Nicholson brings his talent to bear here in one of his earliest lead roles, showing us a man who simply goes through the motions of everything, until it becomes too much trouble and he flees. The social dissatisfaction and desperation presented in the film seems aimed in particular at the western culture of the time, but it doesn't matter because it feels like nothing's changed.

I like it! More!

Movie Review: Thor

On the eve of being proclaimed King of Asgard, Norse god Thor defies his father's edict by declaring war on Jotunheim, and is exiled to Earth in the hopes that he will learn to be worthy of the title. Stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgård, and Tom Hiddleston. Directed by Kenneth Branagh and released a few weeks ago (2011).

I never got into Thor the comic at all. My interest in Marvel comics really centred around the X-Men and Spider-Man animated shows of the nineties, and the idea of a high fantasy superhero existing among them never really appealed to me, so I can't speak to Thor the film as a faithful adaptation (though I hear it kind of isn't), so strictly experiencing it as a superhero action movie, it is a stupid one, but it's a fun kind of stupid and I enjoyed myself pretty much start to finish, but I'm not going to call this a masterpiece, and in the scheme of Marvel movies, I'll say it's not as good as Iron Man, but it's a lot better than Iron Man 2. Thor kind of meanders around Earth in a comedy of errors (which is funny) while all the real drama is still going on in Asgard (which is dramatic). The story keeps moving and once the two plotlines catch up with each other, it's an action spectacular. It's worth it for the great cast, of whom the standout is the underused Idris Elba as Heimdall, and Chris Hemsworth is a charming hottie who handles the lead well even amongst such a crowd of much bigger names. Definitely a worthwhile addition to Marvel Studios' lineup, and I continue to be cautiously enthusiastic about their current schemes.

With Apologies to Lord Xenu

Game Review: Donkey Kong Country Returns

A volcanic eruption looses an army of animated, hypnotic tiki masks who enslave the inhabitants of Donkey Kong Island and steal all of Donkey Kong's bananas. Donkey and Diddy Kong team up once again to free the animals and reclaim their bananas. Stars the voice talents of Takashi Nagasako and Katsumi Suzuke, directed by Bryan Walker, art led by Ryan Powell. Released for the Wii in 2010.

Another great and incredibly difficult platform game, great design and innovative if extreme challenges. The only real criticism I have for DKCR is that its gameplay can be incredibly unforgiving, and you sometimes feel like you're playing a game devised by a team of sadists. One-hit kills that cost two lives just seems like a little much, but extreme penalties for the tiniest mistakes encourage very precise gameplay, so it's truly an accomplishment, sometimes, just beating a level. But there's also the occasional ragequit. And has anyone picked up on the strange parallels this plot has to the myths of Scientology? Evil spirits erupt from volcanos and make everyone do things they don't want to do. I'm surprised Nintendo hasn't been sued. Also, wicked music.

Every Town Is The Same

Webseries Review: The Adventures of Ledo and Ix

Ledo and Ix are characters in an 8-bit fantasy roleplaying game, who, in their travels together, notice that there is something different about everyone around them. Written and animated by Emily Carmichael, and released on PATV from 2008-2009. The series can be streamed here.

I never got into the old Final Fantasy or Legend of Zelda games until, like, recently. So there's not a whole lot of nostalgic factor for me and I suspected that the success of Ledo and Ix was going to rely on fond memories I don't have. But creator Emily Carmichael has tapped into something about these games that is touching and at times verges on profound. Ledo and Ix are both very engaging characters, frustrated and confused by the limitations of the world they live in, and it's impressive how much emotion Carmichael is able to convey with no voice actors and very simple animation. Of course it's not all metafictional existentialism; it's also really funny most of the time, and the gags don't get stale in the way they could. But when it's not being a comedy, it's strangely forlorn and haunting. It's really great stuff, and it makes me more excited about the potential of web-based creative media.

The City That Care Forgot

Why aren't you watching Treme?

I started to write a review of the second season premiere of Treme and a couple of things occurred to me: first, that virtually no one I know seems to be watching Treme and only a handful even know what I'm talking about when I bring it up, and second, that this is a very circuitous show with a pretty pitch-perfect first season from guys who have clearly demonstrated they know how to put together an HBO show, so it's likely that any episode review I post will be a well-deserved gush.

Instead, I've decided to try and help get people watching Treme, so I've found download links that work (at least at the time of this posting) for every episode aired so far, including the two from second season. Treme is a show following intersecting lives in New Orleans six months after Hurricane Katrina. It's funny, tragic, intriguing, and has done its homework.

Season I
Episode 1 - "Do You Know What It Means"
Episode 2 - "Meet De Boys on the Battlefront"
Episode 3 - "Right Time, Wrong Place"
Episode 4 - "At the Foot of Canal Street"
Episode 5 - "Shame, Shame, Shame"
Episode 6 - "Shallow Water, Oh Mama"
Episode 7 - "Smoke My Peace Pipe"
Episode 8 - "All on a Mardi Gras Day"
Episode 9 - "Wish Someone Would Care"
Episode 10 - "I'll Fly Away"

Season II
Episode 1 - "Accentuate the Positive"
Episode 2 - "Everything I Do Guhn Be Funky"

Hopefully these links stay working long enough to get a few people started; I'll try to keep an eye on them. Enjoy.