Drew, you go on and Whip It, grrrl

Roller Derby? No thanks. But wait! Drew Barrymore directorial debut AND Juliette Lewis is in it?? Hang on. Ask me again.


Whip It, despite the fact that the film follows a traditional narrative formula as a typical 'coming of age' dram-edy, manages to tow the Hollywood line but with an unlady-like crispiness. Rural Texas debutant pageants just just don't float Bliss's boat, so she becomes Babe Ruthless, queen of the 'whip' at the Austin roller derby, despite being underage, lying to her parentals and eventually alienating her nearest and dearest. It all works out nice and neat and clean in the end, but not before getting in a few riot grrrrl jibby-jabs.
Despite being formulaic, Whip It is certainly a story I haven't heard before. Roller Derby in Texas would not have been enough to get me excited. What impressed me was the honesty of some of the narrative choices, and the feminist-for-a-new-era quality of several plot points. For example, a film of this kind, centering on a female lead, generally comes to a well rounded, feel-good climax by some sicko interpretation of classic Disney narratives. Prince Charming enters the scene and somehow everything works out fine and dandy, all of her wishes become reality, and angst bleeds away into candy-crap fulfillment. Either that or dem' other bitches sabotage our heroine to a degree of greater suffering, which she and her Prince then overcome together (how nice). Whip It, however, is having none of that watered-down over-indulged fairytale Prince shit. While Bliss does have a love interest, its not the approval of this man who saves the day. In fact he provides an opportunity for her to say "I'm better than this. Get lost ya' loser". And instead of being a story of female rivalry in which one bitch devourers another, it becomes a caustic little female bonding film. There does exist a rivalry between squeaky Ellen Page and the seriously bad-ass Juiliette Lewis, aka Iron Maven, but as Iron says "I don't wanna beat you with rumors, I wanna beat you on the track with ma' skates".
Drew Barrymore has made a worthwhile Indy-rock n roller-Derby film. But, unlike Indy's that go all the way down the feelin'-bad-just-like-real-life-do scale, the brilliant screenplay leaves ample room for feelin' nice and cheery when the credits roll.

50 Dead Men Walking

Intro: I loved this film. And not just because my very dear friend Kris Edlund is in it. She totally rocked, by the way, and yes, I have already asked her for all the juiciness on Jim Sturgess, who is "an absolute sweetheart". You could tell by looking at him that this would be true. Anyway, I digress. After having lived in Ireland for 3 years, 50 Dead Men Walking filled in many of the gaps in my "outsider" knowledge of Northern Irish history. It was well made, well told, and of course, very well cast.

50 Dead Men Walking, staring the beautiful and talented Jim Sturgess, unravels the story of Martin, an IRA Volunteer turned British Army informant during the ongoing "troubles" of late 1980's Belfast.

Right from go the audience knows this double-lifestyle is not going to work out well for Martin. Borrowing from the flashback narrative structure of several other famous Irish fight-the-system films such as The General and Veronica Guerin, Martin is bloodied in a hail of bullets during the first 2 mins of the film. We are transported back through time, after a fade to black, to the police state known as Belfast during the troubles. Martin, an industrious young lad is recruited by the British for his street survival instincts and access to the community at large. He quickly becomes a trusted volunteer of the Irish Republican Army before he is double crossed by MI-5 and must leave his girlfriend and small child behind to believe he has been killed in IRA retribution.
Sounds like a rusty old recycled action/thriller plot, and in many ways it is...but what makes this different and intriguing, is that its all true. A highly disturbing yet matter-of-fact portrayal of life inside the communities of Belfast during a time of suppression, oppression, revolution and counter-revolution, 50 Dead Men Walking weaves a gloriously gritty and simultaneously warm story of love and survival, heroism and betrayal. Ben Kingsley, who plays the British agent who recruits and advises Martin, is brilliant as the haggard and war weary Londoner.
I want to say, Jim Sturgess is the next big thing. I have now seen him play a Liverpool lad in Across the Universe, an American in 21, and a Northern Irishmen with a perfect Belfast accent. He is an amazing actor and I fully expect to see him pursue many more challenging roles.
For all of its violence, and despite the fact that the filmmakers ruined the ending by placing it at the beginning, 50 Dead Men Walking is film worth seeing, especially if you have any interest in Irish History, or you are in love with Jim Sturgess!

3 Films with 4 Character, 1 Word Names

This past weekend I viewed 3 films with 1 word titles:

1) Moon (2009, Duncan Jones)

2) Fame (2009, Kevin Tanchareon)

3) Adam (2009, Max Mayer)



All 3 just out in the United States on DVD, these films were on my list of "films I wanna go see now that I am back in the US where movies generally premier sooner" but, with my newly ex-pat-returned-home status, I was unable to spend the outrageous $12 a ticket necessary to view whilst still in the theater.

Which is the case with a lot of films I am watching right now. I am catching up, so to speak...

Adam, a cutesy-poo film about love and Autism, ending with typical Indy Rom-Com discomfort and ambiguity, the film lacked a certain something special. Not a bad film, certainly worth seeing, but not particularly noteworthy either. Feel free to contest this remark should you feel so moved.
In my private weekend film-fest, the film that truly struck me as genius was Moon (forget about Fame...I'm not even gonna go there...though I would love to rip it to ever loving shreds).
Moon, staring the unrequited love of my film critical life, Sam Rockwell, takes place on the lunar surface, where a global corporation is mining a substance responsible for meeting 97% of Earths energy needs. Sam (also the characters name...how cute!) is alone aboard the lunar station, where he has supervised the fully automated mining operation for nearly 3 years, the length of his contract. In a overly utilized narrative choice, Moon gives a nod the Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey in the form of GERTY, the talking computer. Its not quite as big brother-ish as 2001: Sam has privacy and more than once he calls for GERTY with no response. It becomes plain that while the convention set by Kubrick in his groundbreaking Sci-fi vision, is referenced, it is not the template for the film. GERTY exists to serve and is not at all the nefarious HAL 9000 of Space Odyssey. Simply by referencing the convention set forth by Kubrick, the "character" of GERTY is assumed to be evil. Duncan Jones successfully denies the convention, yet manipulates the audience into thinking they already know the narrative to follow. The convention becomes subverted, allowing for the filmmakers to mold a tension that is unrelieved by the confirmation of assumptions.
I am not going to give away the story. I want you to see this film, but I will tell you a little something about Mr. Rockwell...
What ends up unfolding is a wicked performance by Sam Rockwell, Sam Rockwell and Sam Rockwell...that's right 3 Sam Rockwell's for the price of 1. Brilliant. And it takes a genius to pull off what Sam Rockwell gracefully accomplishes in this ballet of intertwining performances. Its a Celtic Knot of Sam Rockwell. Overall, Moon is a deliciously disturbing film. The discomfort creeps up on you like a dirty little prankster. A then BLAMO, the plot thickens in the most unexpected way (well...maybe not so unexpected...I kinda saw it coming, but then again I have seen A LOT of movies.) All in all, well worth the rental. And Sam Rockwell, if your out there: Shine on you crazy diamond!

A Moment in "9"

Since this blog is primarily dedicated to artful moments in cinema, I can't resist writing about a beautiful (and probably also cliched) moment in the recently released to DVD film "9".


Humanity, along with the rest of life on earth, has come to a nefarious end, save for a few little mechanical creatures brought to life from the transference of a single human soul, who battle for survival against an intelligent super machine slightly reminiscent of a Jurassic Park predator.



The film as a whole is a nearly non-stop, teeth-gritting, thrill ride as the numbered creatures (1 is the elder "leader", 8 the cronie, 2 the wise intellectual, 9 the hero, and so forth) attempt to destroy the machine before it destroys them. One such attempt is the point at which the moment in question occurs:

Amid the desolate, brown hued, dust ball landscape piled high with the demolished human record, a fire ball rages where once stood the laire of the enemy machine. The surviving numbered creatures relax in the tranquility of knowing the predator is destroyed. In a surreal choice, marked mainly by the emotionally jarring "uncanny juxtaposition" over this disturbing visual landscape of death and destruction, floats the defiantly innocent voice of Judy Garland singing her most famous number, The Wizard of Oz "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Perhaps the metaphor is too obvious, as literally moments later the machine drags its crushed limbs from the inferno and begins once more its death dealing pursuit. Its not as though we the audience have never seen this type of musical juxtaposition; however, due to the quick-fire pace of "9"'s action sequences, this moment of pause is especially effective. Before the viewer is made aware of the approaching machine, Judy's voice gleams a reflexive sorrow. We, along with the our numbered friends inside the diagetic world, grieve. As long as there is someone to fight against, the bitter reality of an extinguished planet Earth can be temporarily avoided. But here, in this aftermath of a seemingly successful last battle, the calm is bitter-sweet. Nothing survives, and beyond the rusty vinyl sounds of Garland song, is the most terrifying silence imaginable. While 9 and his tribe feel at ease for the first time in the film, we feel disquieted and anxious, a feeling then justified by the appearance of the machine. A metaphor, within a metaphor, within a metaphor. This is but one rich moment in a fantastic film.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

** Article as it appeared in Film Ireland Magazine website Feb. 13, 2009 http://www.filmireland.net/2009/02/13/vicky-cristina-barcelona/ **


Woody Allen, master writer-director of the Jewish New York comedy, throws his faithful fans a witty, yet serious film that asks ‘why is love so hard to define?’ Being known for his artsy, intellectual characters of privileged means and ultra New York-ified scripts, Vicky Cristina Barcelona is typical Woody Allen – but set in Spain…
Two young friends, bohemian Cristina and intellectual Vicky, arrive in Barcelona for a summer adventure. Split screens and a narrator whimsically explain that though the two women are best of friends, they are polar opposites when it comes to love, which, I suppose in a Woody Allen microcosm, translates to them being polar opposites when it comes to the world. Cristina: artistic, insatiable and uncommitted, alongside Vicky: practical, rational, and about to be married. The ensuing drama can only be described as angst-filled, tragically romantic whimsy, transpiring between people of talent, beauty and privilege. Juan Antonio, a painter whose tempestuous marriage ended in a rain of gossip throughout the art scene, lands both women into the middle of the stormy relationship between himself and his ex-wife, Maria Elena. A weekend in Oviedo with the bluntly flirtatious Spanish painter ultimately challenges the rigidly held views of both Vicky and Cristina.
Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) as Juan Antonio and Penélope Cruz (Vanilla Sky) as María Elena steal the show as their passionately violent relationship upstages even Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Cruz’s Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress legitimizes not only the film but the power of its performances.
Melodramatic, yet tempered with good old-fashioned ‘get on with it girl’ attitude and ‘can do’ solution-oriented rationalizations, the script for Vicky Cristina Barcelona is nothing short of brilliant. Allen manages to create a borderline pretentious flirtation in his characters between what one must do and what one wants to do in relationships, with, of course, a whole lot of feelings tempered by the unavoidable siren call of the insatiable: changing of minds. What is left is a perfect combination of drama, adventure, intrigue, romance and comedy. If all that isn’t your cup of tea, no worries, the film times in at a bearable 96 minutes

Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ On Screen Weekend

** Article as it appeared May 13, 2009 on Film Ireland Magazine's Website. http://www.filmireland.net/2009/05/13/bram-stoker%e2%80%99s-dracula-on-screen-weekend/ **

Lydia O’Connor reports on the Dracula-fest that took place 17–19 April in the Irish Film Institute, Dublin.

The Irish Film Institute, in participation with the Dublin City Public Libraries annual One City, One Book event, celebrated Bram Stoker’s Dracula with an extraordinary weekend of Dracula on film. Dracula appeared on the IFI’s screens in iconic wisps of nostalgic imagery, from the F.W. Murnau Nosferatu (1922) to William Crain’s Blaxploitation film Blacula (1972). The contrast of films from Tod Browning’s Universal Pictures Dracula in 1931 (with Bela Lugosi as the quintessential Count Dracula) to Peter Sasdy’s Countess Dracula (1971), to the 2008 Twilight, by merit of choice and juxtaposition, proved a strong thesis for the development and evolution of Dracula as a screen character and the effect of these films on the perception and popularity of Bram Stoker’s now classic novel.
In keeping with the IFI’s mission to promote film culture through education, screening introductions, a splendidly informative expert panel discussion, and a lecture provided by Kim Newman all historically contextualised Dracula’s screen presence from film to film. During the Sunday morning panel discussion it was proposed that Dracula’s popularity today began with Bela Lugosi in 1931 and from his performance sprang the classic image of the black caped, slick haired, suave character we most often recognise as vampire. From the Count on Sesame Street to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dracula as a screen character is a broadly evolving, but no less fundamental, keystone of vampire mythology.
The weekend opened with a Friday night screening of the silent, black and white classic Nosferatu, by far the scariest Dracula adaptation I have yet seen. Every seat in the house was filled as the musicians of 3epkano entered to begin the highly atmospheric musical narration. This was truly a rare event. The experience was met with such respect that no one moved or hardly breathed for the duration of the screening. Who has not seen the iconic images from Nosferatu of the eerily long-fingered and pointed-eared shadow creeping up the stairs, with no body visible to cast the shadow? I certainly have, in commercials, film clips and parody, yet I had never had the privilege of seeing a reeled print in a dark crowded theatre. Despite its age, Nosferatu seems to possess a timeless power, which can reach out like the rat-faced, wide-eyed and long-fingered vampire himself to quicken the heartbeat and set the mind to wandering down dark corridors. It must have been unbearably frightening when screened to audiences of the ’20s. While it was argued during the introduction that Tod Browning’s 1931 Dracula was the first Hollywood studio horror film, from watching Nosferatu it is evidential that horror was already an emerging genre in filmmaking.
Bram Stoker, born in Dublin to a middle-class family, Trinity educated and successful in many pursuits, published Dracula in 1897. Though the novel was not unpopular, it was also not an instant classic. However, over the last 112 years Dracula has become a household name as the character and mythology has been adapted to fit film and television screens. As the IFI celebrated and explored the images of Dracula as a screen character, many other manifestations of Dracula’s literary influence were discussed, debated and viewed. The Irish Film Institute splendidly and spectacularly triumphed as the weekend illustrated the worldwide influence of this famously Irish literary contribution.

Food Inc

The 2008 documentary Food Inc directed by Robery Kenner visually illustrates points made in the books Fast Food Nation and Seeds of Change, written by curious Argo-warriors and willing participants in the making of the informative film.
See this film.
Its important.
Through the classic documentarian style of expert and witness interviews, hidden camera reporting, file footage, and a wonderfully ominous graphics series depicting beautiful American farmland intruded upon by the slick forms of problem wielding lawyer types, Food Inc managed to effectively disgust and enthrall me. Building on what I already saw in the film The Future of Food, which you can watch for free by follwoing this link, http://www.hulu.com/watch/67878/the-future-of-food , Food Inc manuevers through the supermarket and asks why we, the consumer, have been "kept in the dark" reagrding the origins of our meals. From meat to gain, it would appear that the illusion of choice which greets us at the market, is the manipulation of only a few mega companies. The film explores the problems that arise from this type of mass food production and the legislative tactics these companies have utilized in order to keep farmers in line and the public blissfully unaware of the horrors of our ultra convienient food comsumption.
Disturbing for many...MANY reasons, Food Inc draws on the expereince of farmers, activists, organics producers and the unrelenting cruelty of the mass market industries. Images of corn fed cow fields (hundereds of cattle in very small grassless fields) juxtaposed against the small farm producers whose zen cow pastures provide space, fresh air and an abundance of grasses creates a narrative of questions ranging from health impact to cost effectiveness.
I for one hope that the message and images of this potent film remain with me for years to come. I would say I was already a consciencious eater, but I can see clearly now, I have been purchasing products under a veil of ignorance.