art imitating

above: hurricane damage
below: Philip Estlund, Wash Out, 2009

you are not yourself

barbara kruger

remember this and you will go far in life

obscure movie pick of the week: Diva

Diva, Jean-Jacques Beineix's debut film from 1981, regularly seems to come up in conversation between me and a friend of mine, and always with the fondest of memories. We both saw it together in a film and lit. course back in college. Thing is, despite its genius and over-all entertain-ability, we always seem to remember and refer to the most obscure and minimal details from the film. For example, my friend (Ralph's his name) always brings up a particularly interesting apartment-rollerskating Asian teenager and said apartment with its lack of walls and furniture (an ideal place to crash in the idealistic eyes of young college students such as ourselves). The film is just so modern and different the story and its meaning (upon first viewing at least) takes a backseat to Beineix's daring and mesmerizing stylistic choices. Regardless of just how weird Diva is, be sure its definitely a riveting thriller with style to spare and layers upon layers that will provide hours of interesting conversation afterwards. For Beineix, it was quite the hard act to follow. As his IMDB page proves, he never quite reached the heights of his debut and retreated into assistant director obscurity.

Even more sad, I haven't seen Diva in quite a while...

excess vs. necessity at the multiplex (or your netflix qeue)

excess...

Into the Wild: Good not great. Very obvious (eye-rollingly, at time) with unnecessary narration and back-story, manipulative close-ups, over-the-top acting, and cheesy dialogue.







necessity...

Wendy and Lucy: A better take on a similar story and theme (though with a very different message). A grade-A example of what some are calling Neo-Neo Realism (more on that at later time), this is Sean Penn's indulgent film from two years ago without the self-serving beginning or end; it plops you down in the middle of this woman's predicament, doesn't sugar coat it or glorify it, and trusts you to put together the pieces.

obscure movie pick of the week: The Return

You wont be able to get this movie out of your head for quite some time after seeing it. Russian writer/director Andrei Zvyagintsev's debut film Vozvrashcheniye (The Return) explores the mixed emotions and layered tension the return of a missing father brings upon two brothers.

A stunning, haunting film with one of the best ending pay-offs I've ever seen, The Return is impossible to categorize with elements from many different genres and more to say than most other films combined. Expect to use your brain for this one because it doesn't tie up the loose ends at the end Hollywood-style, that's your job. The performances are flawless, particularly from the main child actor, and the cinematography is nothing short of (subtle) brilliance. This movie hits your heart like a ton of bricks, half of which you don't even feel until the credits have long since rolled by.