While a Che Guevara poster in ubiquitous in many college dorms, the revolutionaries story may seldom be heard. The Motorcycle Diariestakes a look back at the epic journey across South America that turned Che into the man he would become. Both Che and Alberto left as hungry medical students eager to earn medical credentials, but the journey ends and both men know their calling is different.

The poverty and social injustices seen on the trip, particularly with indigenous populations, and the village of lepers he helped.

Some rant that the film white washes communism, but to Andrew L. Urban, a reviewer from Australian film site Urban Cinefile, the film reminds him personally of his experience as an 11 year old in Hungary’s 1956 Communist revolution. Though the two revolutions are diametrically opposed , the author says “a genuine social conscience is what is at the root of both revolutions. For those oppressed, left or right makes no difference; both are enemies of human rights and personal liberty.”

For this reason, the film was handled sensitively and thus directed by Walter Salles, winner of the Sundance-NHK Cinema Grant.

Executive producer Robert Redford said “I knew Walter would handle the story with lyricism and humanity rather than focusing on the politics of who Ernesto would later become.”

Salles wanted the film to exude the virtues of adventure, exploration, and hope that one can change the world they exist in.

The film does accomplish this goal, but it is not ridden with drama or darkness. Light pervades the film through scenes which shows the two friends goofing off and chasing women, or cursing their rusty and dilapidated bike. Shot mostly in Argentina, Chile and Peru, the story is set against a beautiful landscape that brings this memoir to life.

Sources:

The Motorcycle Diaries. (2004). Retrieved March 23, 2009, from Focus Features The Motorcycle Diaries Web site: http://www.motorcyclediariesmovie.com/home.html

Urban, A. (2009). Motorcycle Diaries, The.Retrieved March 23, 2009, from Urban Cinefile Web site: http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?Article_ID=9755

Two of these types of films are Mulholland Dr. directed by David Lynch and The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Storydirected by Peter Greenaway.

In typical but perfected Lynchian efforts Mulholland Dr. combines the strange and odd with stunning visual imagery and a suspenseful plot. Many say with Lynch, you either love it or hate it.

Christopher J. Jarmick’s article in Sense of Cinema  calls Lynch’s latest venture his masterpiece. Jarmick says:

“Everything in Lynch’s universe has another side, sometimes perverse, sometimes slightly out-of-synch and quirky enough for you to notice every detail, every colour, every movement, and every sound. But his surrealism is doggedly pure and naïve even when things are at their darkest. He creates cinematic poetry that makes us see things, ordinary things, in brand new ways. His films switch tones and perspectives from make-believe fairy tale fantasies to dark dangerous alternate realities that can play with time-lines and employ dual narratives.”

This is apparent in Mulholland Dr. I can’t begin to explain the plot, you just have to watch it. Keywords are: amnesia, dream world, mistaken identity, lesbian love affair, murder.

Watching this film is like working, in a good way. I was left stunned and trying to figure it out in the end. It’s a movie that stuck with me long after I viewed it.

The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story is another case of strange all together. Greenaway creates another world just as Lynch does, but its even more disjointed and harder to digest.

The story follows Tulse Luper througout his life; his childhood during World War I, as a young man searching for Uranium in Moab, Utah, and as a writer in Belgium in his latter years.

Using multiple frames on one screen, the story is difficult to follow, but stunning to watch. The Tulse Luper Suitcases website states a historical study of the 21st Century through the 92 suitcases he finds.

The website serves as an archive of Luper’s life, where he went, and who he met on his journeys.

At one point, Luper is holed up in a strange Mormon prison. He is tortured and stripped naked in the desert, with something involving honey in his nether regions. It is disturbing to watch.

This is another film you would have to see to believe, and it resembels no other film in form that I can say.

While odd and abrasive at times, Tulse Luper defines unrestrained cinema and storytelling that is smart and progressive.

Sources:

Greenaway, P. (2009, March 21). Retrieved March 21, 2009, from The Tulse Luper Suitcases Web site: http://www.tulselupernetwork.com/basis.html

Jarmick, C. (2006, May). A Slow Ride down Mulholland Dr. Retrieved March 21, 2009, from Senses of Cinema Web site: http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/06/40/mulholland-dr.html

Taika Cohen wrote and directed this simultaneously hilarious and painful peek into a pair of New Zealander loonies who can’t seem to get love right. It’s part romantic comedy and  part revenge of the nerd.

What happens when some people can never get over themselves? Jemaine Clement plays loser Jarrod, who works at a video game store in the mall and is plotting revenge on a classmate that tortured him years ago. Wait, he also has a daughter in which he practically ignores.

Lilly (Loren Horsley) sees past his infantile ways and falls for him, only to find herself stuck at his family’s house after he decided to break off their relationship. Not only does she have to deal with Jarrod’s canoodling with another woman, but Jarrod’s  false paraplegic father who can’t get over his other son’s suicide.

The movies many wacky turns has great moments-one of my favorites is when -Lilly shows up to a party clad in a sweat-suite, gets drunk off champagne, Hoola hoops with the crowd chanting her name, and runs obliviously into the night sea.

This film has been bagered and said to be a Kiewie knockoff of Napoleon Dynamite. The erratic and lonesome weirdos may seem very similar, but Eagle Vs. Shark was written first. I feel lost in a world where the time period is unknown, and everything is stark and bleak as I did when I saw ND, but Eagle Vs. Shark has a glimmer of a bigger meaning peeping behind Jarrod’s mullet. The film does inspire while it entertains.

Adam Bregman’s review for Orlandoweekly.com points out the fact that this movie diverges from the typical nerd flick.

“In the real world, nerds have sex, fall in love, get married and have kids, though they may do some of these things more awkwardly than others. A revelation in the history of nerds on film, Eagle vs. Sharkis a sincere work that treats nerds as human beings, rather than punching bags. ” writes Bregman

He also says that Jarrod is atypical in the way that he is not a sympathetic character. He is a jerk through and through, but he eventually realizes his failings.

Lilly is genuine and cares for Jarrod even though he is a “loser”.

But when love is the final outcome, not matter how awkwardly it is assembled, we should celebrate it.

Oh- and I almost forgot to mention the killer soundtrack made up of many New Zealand bands as well as some other great stuff.

Sources:

Bregman, A. (2009). Losers in Love. Orlando Weekly. Retrieved from http://www.orlandoweekly.com/film/review.asp?rid=1287

Van Sant employs the use of the long shot which echoes the bland existence of everyday high school life, while keeping the real time apparent.

David Edelstein’s review from Slate.com asks if Van Sant’s film is a Rorschach blot with hints of deeper psycological meaning placed throughout the movie. He notes  “Is it my imagination that the long, rectangular openings in the concrete walls recall the slots for guns in many cavalry Westerns?”

I recall the elephant poster hanging in gunman Alex’s room. Is there any coincidence to this repeated reference to the title? I believe it goes along with the saying “there is an elephant in the room” and many school’s failing to recognize the social barriers high schools represent for troubled teens. The rigid structure of school, along with the long standing social hierarchy’s imprinted in the social structure leave so many feeling alienated. With a rash of school shootings, violence seems to be the answer for these kids.

Edelstein also comments on the soundtrack used. Does the Beethoven nuances that play reveal the killer’s smarts and perhaps unappreciated talents unseen by peers? During the shooting scenes the hallway sounds are flush with clamoring, slamming lockers, and pounding feet. Interestingly, the sounds of birds and water interplay ironically with gunshots. The false idea of serenity, or perhaps the killer’s making peace with the havoc inside him by inflicting violence in his outer world.

Neera Scotttalks about this in the essay “Sublime Anarchy in Gus Van Sant’s Elephant” in Senses of Cinema. The author discusses

“… the Columbine shootings surely provokes an intensive inquiry into its causes, and there is much debate surrounding the event. Camille Paglia’s view expresses some of the issues facing teenage kids in high schools in the United States, and she suggests the murderous act was an attempt to find meaning. Theories, of course, only go so far, and Van Sant is much more interested in the real life stuff of the teenagers who are the subject of the film. In this way, Van Sant takes his job as filmmaker seriously, affirming the medium’s great investigative power. This means he absolutely avoids promoting a sense of entertainment, and instead pares down characters and dialogue to allow the action to unfold with an apparent naturalism.”

Scott concludes that Elephant is a study in “postmodern anxieties and ennui”. Perhaps what we feel is elevated on the screen. The film is certainly not for entertainment, but to help audiences search within themselves. What they will find I am as unsure of as the vagaries and dips in the plot of this stunning commentary.

Sources:

Edelstein, D. (2003, October 24). Gus Van Sant’s brutal, confusing, Elephant. Retrieved March 18, 2009, from Slate Magazine Slate Web site: http://www.slate.com/id/2090284/

Scott, N. (2005). Sublime Anarchy in Gus Van Sant’s Elephant. Retrieved March 18, 2009, from Senses of Cinema Web site: http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/05/36/elephant.html

Dustin Hoffman epitomizes the young, confused, and sexually charged male in the classic The Graduate. One of my best male friends has a Ben Braddock like breakdown (sans the affair with an older woman) every so often- questioning the meaning of life, jobs, love to the point where he drives himself a little nuts.

On the verge of graduation myself (well, next year) I feel many of the pressures Ben was facing, and I think any one with a penchant towards anxiety and thinking will come across the some of the problems he encounters.

Tim Dirks from filmsite.org reviews the top films of all time, and The Graduate makes his list for its superior and new style of film making, and the correlations the film makes to 1960′s American society.

Dirks says “There was already a growing dissatisfaction with the status quo and middle-class values, and the breakthrough film mirrored that anarchic mood perfectly for America’s youth of the 60s during the escalation of the Vietnam War.”

I feel this tension in my generation, with the wars going on and shifts in political power. It seems we are living on a perpetual see-saw of ideals. With an economy that’s heading steadily south, I keep hearing from professors and peers how hard its going to be to get a job after graduation.

Benjamin doesn’t know what to do. With his people screaming in his ear about what he should do for the rest of his life (the plastic business), he can care less about fulfilling others expectations, and more about finding his own way. He finds Mrs. Robinson, which only exasperates his problems.

The cinematography and soundtrack only exemplifies this feeling.

 Simon and Garfunkle’s mark on the soundtrack is not just because it sounds groovy, the lyrics correlate directly with the scenes in which they appear, says Dirk. He notes, “…the credits play as The Sounds of Silence is heard on the soundtrack, reinforcing the theme of his emptiness and alienation from his surroundings:

…And in the naked light I saw, ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening.
People writing songs that voices never shared, no one dared disturb the sound of silence…

Dirk comments “Ben’s alienation is symbolized by shots through glass – he looks out on the backyard swimming pool through the upstairs window. His face is viewed through his fish tank’s glass as he stares into it and studies it – possibly envying the peaceful position of the plastic deep sea diver.”

In the culmination of Ben’s quest to save love, he runs into Elaine’s wedding, wielding a huge cross to fight off people. He fights victoriously, as Elaine runs away with him. The ending is all but happy, as the ominous Sounds of Silence  play and the bus heads on to nowhere, the same old fears and anxieties creeping up in their faces.  

Sources:

Dirks, T. (2009). The Graduate.Retrieved March 17, 2009, from AMC Filmsite Web site: http://www.filmsite.org/grad.html

After seeing Frank Capra’s 1934 romantic comedy It Happened One Night I suddenly understood Gibbard’s words, and seeing Gable’s onscreen chemistry with Claudette Colbert, I felt a lot more could have went on between the two then the movie allowed.

To modern moviegoers, this classic may be too sachrine and frustrating in nature. A tried and true plot reveals a reporter  Peter (Gable) searching for a spoiled heriess Ellie (Colbert) who jumped ship after her controlling father has her recent marriage annuled. Naivee and sheltered Ellie meets Peter on a bus and the two stick together as he plans his big newspaper story.(IMDB)

I loved this movie the first time I saw it  because it’s a brand of film making that is non-existent today.  Capra is famous for his “comedies of manners” and this film debuted in the year that the Production Code was instated, censoring violence, sexual innuendo, drug use, or dirty language. (SparkNotes)

The steamiest the film gets is during a scene in which the two stay at a cabin and Peter reveals his plot to Ellie. Peter constructs a barrier between the two beds, (he calls them the “walls of Jericho”) but he proceeds to get undressed in front of her. His shirt comes off, but as soon as his hand goes to unzip his pants she flees to the other side of the wall.

Its refreshing to see two people fall in love before they wind up in bed together, but there is no way an audience would tolerate such modesty today.

Sources:

It Happened One Night (1934).(2009). Retrieved March 15, 2009, from Amazon.com IMDB Web site: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025316/plotsummary

SparkNotes.(2009). Retrieved March 15, 2009, from SparkNotes Web site: http://sparkcharts.sparknotes.com/film/film/section5.php

After viewing the short that led Wes Anderson into bonified auteur status, I decided to explore how Bottle Rocket made its way to the Sundance Film Festival, and on to become a feature film. Christopher Null from Filmcritic.com talks about the little film that could and the unlikely collaboration that blossomed between Wes Anderson (writer, director) and Owen Wilson (writer and actor). Null says the two went through a play writing class with each other, and didn’t say one word to each other until a hallway conversation ensued.

The venture was supposed to be a serious crime film, but they decided they were out of their league.

Null writes about the ripple effect that got Bottle Rocket a budget of $5 million, nine producers, backed by Columbia, and a small role for revered actor James Caan.  The first timers were new to the independent world of film, and having to deal with big egos on set made things interesting, if not a bit difficult.

For Anderson fans, Bottle Rocket may be the most stripped down of Anderson’s films, (some accuse him too much artifice) and perhaps the most raw fun.

The Criterion Collection is finally giving Anderson’s debut its proper due by entering it into the fancy pants CC lineup. With the clever artwork and tons of extra features, including a suped up new transfer, commentart, and deleted scenes, Bottle Rocket joins the ranks with Anderson’s other films.

Sources:

Null, C. (1996). Message in a Bottle (Rocket) – Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from Film Critic Web site: http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/reviews/Message-in-a-Bottle-(Rocket)—Wes-Anderson-and-Owen-Wilson

Todd McCarthy for Variety film reviews offers an analysis of the film’s new wave nuances.

The apparent differences between the two lovers are startling. Physicaly, they are opposites. “Changing hair colors on a dime and moods faster than that, Clementine is a live wire who might become exasperating in real life, but onscreen emerges as a life force who simply needs to be channeled and focused to achieve some fulfillment,” says McCarthy.

Joel is sluggish, repressed, and gaunt. Carrey plays off this distraught fellow so well I wondered how much weight he shed for the role, or if the makeup crew made him look sickly.

The turmoil and connection between the two is unescapable.

McCarthy says “… the story’s emotional dynamic is hard to miss, as are its glancing but touching reflections on the centrality of memory in defining one’s personality, and the richness and value of both positive and negative memories in the overall scheme of life.”

Most of us have  probably gone through heart curdeling break-ups that make us wish the very procedure of memory loss performed on the characters. But as McCarthy states, it is both the good and bad that define our humanity, and without these bits and pieces we would have no essense.

A movie which exemplifies the thrill and ambiguities of falling in love and the torture of falling out of it, the cinematography and disordered non linear narrative lends perfectly to the feeling of loss. 

Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and Gondry make a good duo, according to McCarthy. The two combine an aestetic that seems to be relevant to a new type of cinema. The film represents a sort of escapism in the sense of its theme and the way it is shot. It’s an adventure in beauty and raw truthfullness that cannot be forgotten. (sorry for the cornballness, but its true!)

Sources:

McCarthy, T. (2004, March 28). Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Variety. Retrieved from http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117923353.html?categoryid=31&cs=1

Audrey grocery shopping in Beverly Hills with her pet fawn

The above photo was originally taken by Bob Willoughby, a close friend who photographed her from the beginning of her career to the end of her life. In Remembering Audrey, a compilation put together by LIFE and edited by Robert Sullivan, the book focuses on Audrey’s home life and later parts of her career.

Willoughby remembers Audrey as a warm and charismatic person who transcended her career as an actress to become a noble humanitarian.

Audrey Hepburn is the woman that showed me that a funny face was OK, and a slim and stick like figure was beautiful all the same. In all her characters she embodies a spirit that compels the viewer to join her, laugh with her, and cry with her.

The huge closet can only hold so much, and Tony is left with all the remnants of her past to deal with.  Tony’s initial fascination and attraction to her clothing ultimately wears him thin (no pun intended).

The short story is also beautifully composed, and illustrates Konuma’s obsessions poignantly.

 Sources:

Tony Takitani.(2009). Retrieved March 8, 2009, from Amazon.com IMDB Web site: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0420260/