Director Fatih Akin

No, his name is not Faith, it's Faa-tee. He's a German director with Turkish blood and his films usually take place in multiple countries, with multiple languages. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I had to ask someone exactly what was going on between these two groups, and this is more or less what I found out. In the 1960s Germany created a visa for "Guest Workers," allowing people from foreign countries to enter and earn money legally, but only for a certain amount of time. Most immigrants planned on moving back to their home country, except they started having children and planting roots. Now there is a huge Turkish community in Germany, but they are looked upon as secondary citizens. This happens all over the world, but I like seeing little pockets of cultural layering, especially when it takes place generationally within families. It makes for great drama, and Akin uses this to his advantage, while also being truly gifted at guiding performances. I could just sit and watch the faces of his actors for hours.

Head-On won the Golden Bear in 2004, along with a slew of other awards. Probably my favorite movie about marriage ever made. I really enjoyed watching it, but found myself to be seriously depressed and effected days later.

Edge of Heaven really captures the existential connections that Kieslowski and Fellini gravitated towards in their work. It's not like Inarritu (Babel, 21 Grams), who thinks that we just bump into one another without reason and create chaos, it's very nuanced and has a sense of purpose.

UP

I feel silly even recommending it, since I'm pretty sure everyone has already seen the new Pixar film UP. I liked it a lot (better than WALL-E), loved it even, and wouldn't mind seeing it again. Tomasz saw it twice, once in 3-D and once in regular fashion, and he recommends seeing it with the forty dollar red and blue lenses. At the same time, some reviewers reported 3-D to be distracting. My guess is that most people will see it two or three times, so for the first time spring for some depth perception. Then see it at the two dollar theater when the temps reach ninety and above. Free air conditioning!

What's with Pixar movies and the crying? I was strong willed enough to make it through WALL-E without shedding a tear, I found the sympathy for him to be a little forced, but I'll be damned if I made it six minutes into UP without balling. Bring a hankie with you or something.

A Fun New Game to Play

The next time you see a movie, try and guess if it was shot digitally or on film. You'll be surprised by the answers if you look them up.

Exhibit A: Superbad

Sceen Unseen

Scene Unseen is the best radio program about movies right now. Chris sees a movie, Jimmy doesn't. Then they make fun of each other. It's actually a podcast, which means you can listen to them for free when you're doing things like working or ordering hovercrafts online.

Scene Unseen Website

Summer Times

If you're trying to spend less money this summer, put together your own film festival and tell your crew to bring some popcorn.

The Sandlot













Summer Rental











Space Camp


















Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation


















Stand By Me














Little Darlings

Looking for films that won either the Palm d'Or or the Golden Bear also works great when picking in a pinch.

Inglorious Basterds

Usually WWII films are politically correct - artsy, moving allegories with poignant atrocities - so the Inglorious Basterds trailer has made me nervous. This seems like a lot of violence in a genre where the evil of mankind is typically handled gently. Can we think of other WWII movies with large amounts of gratuitous violence?

Inglorious Basterds Trailer

Interested: I Love You Man

For those of us that loved Forgetting Sarah Marshall (and if you haven't seen it, don't rent it, just buy it) this might be a way to hold us over until Jason Segel directs the new muppet movie. Caution: The director John Hamburg has only made one movie. Along Came Polly. He did however, direct two episodes of Stella so we all have a fifty-fifty chance here. 

I Love You Man Trailer

Milk

Milk, the newest film from Gus Van Sant about the charismatic force that was Harvey Milk, will leave you feeling inspired, touched, and full of life. It might come with a few tears, there is no secret about the ending, but every one of them is earned and elicited from perfect execution. 

I liked Milk more than I thought I would for a few reasons. One, Gus Van Sant is not what I would consider consistent filmmaker. By this I mean his approach and story choice, not his talent. (Wes Anderson, too gifted for his own good, keeps making the same movie, so I'm not knocking Van Sant, I just don't go running around watching movies because he directed them.) I was uncertain about what what the film might be like. Two, bio pics get under my skin with their formula — rise to power, abuse of power, demise — and since you almost always know how they will end, I feel as if I never need to see them again, let alone finish them. Milk lets these issues flow behind it like paper streamers; they're attached, but the film is much too far ahead for them to get in the way.

Milk is what you'd expect, only better. If you think it will be okay, it will be good, great, perfect even. It is a gorgeous representation of a time, city, and legend. Harvey Milk was a man like any other, so his utter perfection in this film (he's never mean, unpredictable, or wrong), is surely an exaggeration of the truth, but if you're bogged down by fact this may not be the movie for you in the firs place.

I'm curious about how straight men will feel about Milk. It's so full of love and romance, and all of it between guys. As a viewer, I was equally engaged watching men kiss and roll around in bed, as I am when a guy and gal, or even two women (I'm talking about cinema here) do the same. Let me know what you think.

On a side note I would like to recommend a little film called The Assassination of Richard Nixon. The main character Samuel J. Bicke, played by Sean Penn with astounding awkwardness, seems related to his Harvey Milk somehow, minus the super powers. Nixon also comes with a tape recorder and an art department dedicated to the seventies.

Milk Trailer

Assassination of Richard Nixon Trailer

Waltz With Bashir

If I had to choose one word to describe Waltz With Bashir it would be: profound. Everyone should see this film. I’ll admit I walked away a little more confused than when I went in, but the point of a documentary is to excite the brain into doing some research, entice it away from passive viewing. Bashir is at times hip and foreign (techno music is alive and well everywhere but the United States), while still maintaining the sense of gravity that is necessary for stories about death and war. It proves that other countries are using animation to tell tales of historical significance and sorrow (I’m thinking of Persepolis here), while America (with the exception of The Chicago 10) is stuck in the stigma that is following Wall-E like the plague. Animation is for kids, not best picture Oscars. Waltz With Bashir does some serious damage to the concept of the cartoon (this movie is NOT for children, or it is depending on how you want them to see the world) and when the director Ari Folman breaks from the form at the end, he does it to remind you that what you just saw may have looked like a fantasy land, but is in fact a very real and disturbing place. Did I mention that I thought everyone should see it?

The Wrestler

I completely understand why Mickey Rourke won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and possibly an Academy Award for his performance in The Wrestler, the newest film from Darren Aronofsky (Requiem For a Dream, The Fountain). It’s also the first movie I’ve seen in a while that actually felt ‘independent’. (Although there’s really no such thing anymore.) Marisa Tomei bares all in this one. Her performance is very subdued, but just as realistic and moving as Mr. Rourke's, and although Evan Rachel Wood tries her best, it was this relationship that moved the least. With all this emotion flying around, I’m curious whether or not our feelings for Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson come from the film or Mickey Rourke, who we also know to be a washed up and tired old man. This is a case of perfect casting and amazing talent, but it is also a case of mistaken identity. Are we watching a story about an actor or a wrestler? A little of both, I guess, because what makes Mr. Rourke’s performance so amazing is it’s degreeing levels of honesty. He bares his very soul to us in some terribly awkward scenes (exercise, tanning, bleaching) almost as if this whole movie were some sort of personal penance of his. I don’t know if he deserves to go to heaven, but I’m more than satisfied with an award or two.

The Wrestler Trailer

Go See: Waltz With Bashir

Waltz With Bashir opens this weekend in Minneapolis — January 30th at the Uptown Theater. (It's already playing in select cities just in case you live in one.) Bashir is an animated pseudo-documentary about the Israeli-Lebanon conflict of the nineteen eighties. Go see it.

Waltz With Bashir Trailer

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire is the perfect blend of Eastern and Western cinema. Danny Boyle adds some grit and realism to this romantic fairytale (it's just barely believable) that no one will be able to leave unsatisfied.

The love that blossoms between the main character Jamal (newcomer Dev Patel who doesn't do much to hide it) and Latika (Indian sweetheart Freida Pinto) becomes harder and harder to swallow as the film progresses and the story adheres strongly to formula, meaning the whole thing feels like a setup and you can see what's coming around the next corner, but Slumdog Millionaire is a welcome return to the old Danny Boyle. Although moments in his films may be bleak, as a director Boyle has always dabbled in destiny — it's hard to forget the chain of events that made A Life Less Ordinary possible — and this film is an exciting achievement for him.

Slumdog Millionaire does Indian cinema a great justice. It's saved from exploitation and is redefined for a western audience. Wes Anderson tried not so long ago to take us to India in The Darjeeling Limited and although his film was a beautiful vacation, as viewers we felt like sight-seers in a foreign country. This film has translated Bollywood for us (even if it's on a superficial level) and I left the theater ready for the real thing. And believe it or not, it makes a great family movie. Parents will feel informed and inspired, so formula or not Slumdog Millionaire is a winner. Getting anyone to voluntarily experience the slums of Indian is an achievement indeed.

Slumdog Millionaire Trailer
A Life Less Ordinary Trailer
The Darjeeling Limited Trailer