muses

The Future

Pretentious Badly-Acted Indie Drivel...With a Side of Blech

May 3rd, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Genres: Actors: Angela Trimbur, Clement von Franckenstein, David Warshofsky, Hamish Linklater, Isabella Acres, Joe Putterlik, Kathleen Gati, Mary Passeri, Miranda July, Tonita Castro Directors: Miranda July
SIFF Synopis

"With droll humor and touches of magical realism, Miranda July (Me and You and Everyone We Know) tells the story of a young couple who decide to take thirty days to explore their destinies. This whimsical experiment leads to some surprising revelations about the uncertainty of what the future holds."

Why I Hate This Flick

Like I said: Pretentious Badly-Acted Indie Drivel...With a Side of Blech

Why You May Love This Flick

You maybe loved Miranda July's previous effort: Me and You and Everyone We Know and have gobs of left-over good-will to heap upon miss July , or maybe "quirky" 30-something slacker ennui is your thing.....or, I dunno...you think pretentious badly-acted indie drivel is just the cat's meow...(and maybe you can explain to me about the cat......cause I'm at a loss)

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Project Nim

Man's Inhumanity to Chimp...Fascinating Study of Humans

May 3rd, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Genres: Directors: James Marsh
Project Nim
SIFF Synopis

"The emotionally wrenching story of Nim Chimpsky, a chimpanzee raised and nurtured as a human child in a 1970s experiment that started off as scientific curiosity but ended as profound human drama. James Marsh's follow up to his Oscar-winning Man On a Wire."

Why I Love This Flick

A sad but fascinating tale that reveals far more about the various vanities, prejudices, follies, fantasies, blind-spots, and sheer idiocies of human-kind than anything about chimps. Much like last year's "Secrets of the Tribe" this film is quite an indictment of the objectivity of "scientific study"....at least wherever humans have any role to play in it.

Why You May Hate This Flick

This is a very sad story with many awful twists and few moments of redemption. While it gives all kinds of ammunition to animal-rights folks, it's a bit of a hard view for animal-lovers.

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Kings & Queen

That director Arnaud Desplechin is not to everyone’s taste is an understatement

April 9th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Featured Actors: , , Actors: Elsa Woliaston, Hippolyte Girardot, Jean-Paul Roussillon, Magalie Woch, Maurice Garrel, Nathalie Boutefeu, Noemie Lvovsky Featured Directors: Languages:
Kings and Queen

Desplechin makes very long movies, full of incredibly neurotic and dysfunctional individuals and families having very odd interactions involving a whole lot of philosophical and literary dialogue. This film is a prime example. Nobody is really a hero or heroine; everybody is an anti-hero, with some good qualities, but their humanity generally shines through. The film portrays a somewhat cynical and tragic view of life, but with a strange sense of humor to balance it out. If that doesn’t sound like fun to you, give this a miss. Desplechin’s more recent film, A Christmas Tale, is at least oddly uplifting; Kings and Queen is much less so, though a case could be made that Devos triumphs over her father’s malevolence, or that sheer survival is a kind of triumph. Read More…

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La Moustache

I found this movie utterly fascinating from beginning to end

April 8th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Genres: Featured Actors: , , Actors: Brigitte Bémol, Cylia Malki, Denis Menochet, Fantine Camus, Franck Richard, Frédéric Imberty, Hippolyte Girardot, Macha Polikarpova Directors: Emmanuel Carrere Languages:
La Moustache

I’ll warn off folks who need to have things neat and tidy right off the bat, because there is nothing neat and tidy about this film. When you watch the extras, you’ll see Emmanuelle Devos state that she still doesn’t understand the bit about the moustache! Well, if she doesn’t, how are we supposed to? At various times throughout the story I thought Marc was crazy, his wife Agnes was crazy, or Agnes was plotting to make Marc think he was crazy. I’m still not sure which, if any, of these is the case. One of the really interesting things I experienced while watching this was the twists and turns in my own reactions; fear, sympathy, suspicion and distrust, loathing, frustration…and constantly jumping to conclusions…it was a great ride! Read More…

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Simon of the Desert (The Criterion Collection)

For a quick and delightful introduction to Buñuel, you can’t go wrong with Simon of the Desert

April 8th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Genres: , Featured Actors: Actors: Antonio Bravo, Claudio Brook, Eduardo MacGregor, Enrique Alvarez Felix, Enrique del Castillo, Enrique Garcia Alvarez, Francisco Reiguera, Hortensia Santovena, Luis Aceves Castaneda Featured Directors: Movements: Languages:
Simon of the Desert

Never finished because of financial and other issues, Simon of the Desert is only 45 minutes long. This film explores one of the recurring themes of Bunuel’s work: his ambivalence; his almost reverent irreverence towards God and religion. Simon is a disciple of Saint Simeon Stylites, an historical Syrian ascetic. He emulates his namesake by fasting, enduring other ascetic trials, and lecturing from atop his pillar. The film takes a little time to really get going, but the payoff of a little patience is greatly rewarded. Read More…

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Hanna

Visuals: Wow! Point? Nowhere to be Found

April 7th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Genres: Featured Actors: Actors: Eric Bana, Jason Flemyng, Jessica Barden, Michelle Dockery, Olivia Williams, Saoirse Ronan, Tom Hollander, Vicky Krieps Directors: Joe Wright
Hanna

There are four or five really good movies just waiting to pop out of this mish-mash of a sensory overload.  Unfortunately, no one single one quite makes it out alive.  It has some potential as the female Bourne Identity….except the premise is too over-the-top kooky for even that highly-forgiving-in-the-plausibility-department genre.  There are shades of Kill Bill…but hey, that’s been done already…and much better.  Ultimately it is a modern fractured fairy tale….and Cate Blanchett is the Big Bad Wolf/Witch to Saoirse Ronan’s Little Red Riding Hood.  Unfortunately, the characters in this film are far less-dimensional than the average fairy-tale character.  We even get a family of hippy caravaners…. in Morocco no less!  They provide comic relief and also serve as blithe innocent foils to our worldly little coming-of-age assassin sprite.   I fully expected to see a kitchen sink glide by at any moment.
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The Milky Way (The Criterion Collection)

This is a delightful entry in Bunuel’s canon of surrealistic masterpieces

April 7th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Genres: Actors: Alain Cuny, Bernard Verley, Claude Cerval, Delphine Seyrig, Edith Scob, François Maistre, Georges Marchal, Julien Bertheau, Laurent Terzieff, Michel Piccoli, Paul Frankeur, Pierre Clémenti Featured Directors: Movements:
The Milky Way

At first this film may seem a bit intimidating as it  seems to require a knowledge of the history of specific heresies in the Catholic Church. But, by watching the extras it is possible to get as much background information as is necessary to fully enjoy this movie. “An Athiest’s Thanks to God” is especially helpful—the very title catches a sense of the humor and paradox that is this film. Read More…

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La Truite

Isabelle Huppert and Jeanne Moreau fans will be amply rewarded as both give delightfully nuanced performances.

April 7th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Genres: Featured Actors: Actors: Alexis Smith, Craig Stevens, Daniel Olbrychski, Isao Yamagata, Jacques Spiesser, Jean-Paul Roussillon, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Jeanne Moreau, Lisette Malidor, Roland Bertin, Ruggero Raimondi Featured Directors: Languages:
La Truite

This is a rather odd character-driven movie that will appeal to a rather limited audience. This film could almost be considered feminist, but it isn’t really. It is primarily the story of Frédérique, played by Huppert, a young woman who, utterly disgusted by her father and his friend’s constant womanizing, becomes determined to get as much from men as possible, without giving anything in return. The movie is largely about watching her do just this, with a variety of men. Read More…

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Mississippi Mermaid

This underrated little Truffaut gem is not so much a thriller or a mystery as it is a straightforward tale of obsession.

April 7th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Genres: Featured Actors: Actors: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Marcel Berbert, Martine Ferriere, Michel Bouquet, Nelly Borgeaud Featured Directors: Languages:
Mississippi Mermaid

The primary mystery is solved early on. What remains is the mystery of just how far down a man will go in pursuit of the object of his mad love. The film moves and flows at a wonderful pace, with lots of twists and turns, so it remains interesting and engaging throughout. That anyone would be completely obsessed with the enigmatic, preternaturally gorgeous, and impenetrable Catherine Deneuve, is hardly a stretch of the imagination. That such a masochistic obsession would grow in the face of cruelty and betrayal is also hardly a revelation. Read More…

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Private Property

A Complex, Twisted Tale of Family Dysfunction, with the Incomparable Isabelle Huppert

April 7th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Genres: Featured Actors: Actors: Jérémie Renier, Kris Cuppens, Raphaelle Lubansu, Yannick Renier Directors: Joachim Lafosse Languages:
Private Property

This is a complex, twisted tale of family dysfunction that requires patience, attentiveness, and the ability and inclination to watch faces and bodies for clues to emotions and thoughts. It’s not a “talky” movie. The characters don’t tell us or each other much of what is actually going on with their thoughts and emotions. But it is painfully realistic—the essence of dysfunction is the breakdown of healthy communication, and in this film the viewer is dropped into a situation where they are in exactly the same situation as the family members—adrift in an uncharted sea without map or compass, trying to make do. Read More…

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Alias Betty

This is a strangely satisfying little entry in the works of one of my favorite directors, Claude Miller

April 7th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Genres: Actors: Arthur Setbon, Edouard Baer, Luck Mervil, Mathilde Seigner, Nicole Garcia, Roschdy Zem, Sandrine Kiberlain, Stephane Freiss, Yves Jacques Featured Directors: Languages:
Alias Betty

Though less ambiguous than many of Claude Miller’s films, it still bears the mark of his hand, in that he never takes you to the obvious places—good and evil is explored with Miller’s characteristic subtlety. This film is not about the “letter of the law” but the spirit of what is somehow “right.” We sympathize with the protagonist, even though she is clearly breaking the law. We may hold high-minded ideals about never “taking the law into our own hands,” but the film appeals to our deeper sense of righteousness that longs for things to somehow work out right. Read More…

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A Secret

A very subtle and human story of one Jewish family in France during the Nazi occupation

April 7th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Genres: Featured Actors: Actors: Cécile De France, Julie Depardieu, Ludivine Sagnier, Nathalie Boutefeu, Orlando Nicoletti, Patrick Bruel, Sam Garbarski, Valentin Vigourt, Yves Jacques, Yves Verhoeven Featured Directors: Languages:
A Secret

Set before, during and after the deportation and murder of approximately 90,000 men, women, and children- 26 per cent of the French Jewish population. The director, 66 year-old French Jewish veteran filmmaker, Claude Miller, lost most of his aunts, uncles and grandparents in the concentration camps. I think it is the subtlety, and refusal to make this a straightforward story of perpetrators, victims, and politics, that is actually the most disturbing or uncomfortable thing about the movie. After all, we still live in a world of Holocaust deniers and victim blamers. I am thus, extremely grateful to Mr. Miller for treading into these murky waters to create a story about real people with real human passions, ideals, opinions, politics, wounds, foibles, and humanity—rather than cardboard victims and villains. Read More…

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The Collector

Early Terence Stamp gem, and a faithful rendering of John Fowles' novel

April 7th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Genres: Featured Actors: Actors: Maurice Dallimore, Mona Washbourne, Samantha Eggar Directors: William Wyler
The Collector

I’m a huge fan of Terence Stamp, and rather fond of Samantha Eggar, who won a Golden Globe and got an Oscar nomination for this film, so I was excited to watch it. It did not disappoint! I’m also a fan of John Fowles’ The Collector, and felt the movie stayed very true to the book. I can’t say the movie is really scary by today’s standards, though, even though the book is. This may indeed have been an influence on modern thrillers like Silence of the Lambs, but it’s no Psycho! What it is, is a really fascinating psychological study of a rather milquetoast, possibly slightly autistic, little man who can only relate to the world at a distance. Read More…

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3 Women – Criterion Collection

Surreal, Dreamlike, Utterly Absorbing, and Perfectly Cast

April 7th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Genres: Featured Actors: Actors: Craig Richard Nelson, Janice Rule, John Cromwell, Robert Fortier, Ruth Nelson, Shelley Duvall, Sierra Pecheur Featured Directors:
3 Women

Altman says he dreamed this movie whole, complete with the actors, and then went about trying to recreate the dream on film. That is exactly how it feels: surreal, dreamlike, utterly absorbing, and perfectly cast. The nice thing about all this is that Altman himself does not claim to know exactly what it all means, so we are left with a great deal of freedom of interpretation. The three women in this movie seem to me to be parts of a whole; individually they are mere caricatures or faces of the Goddess; the sad, wise, mysterious, and resigned Willie, who is part mother and part crone; the hopelessly dorky and out-of-touch Millie, who seeks, through the outward trappings of what she imagines to be sophistication, to be the popular it-girl of her imagination; and the unformed child-woman Pinky, who remained utterly creepy to me from beginning to end. Read More…

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The Best Way to Walk

This is film that only Claude Miller could have made--full of subtlety and ambiguity.

April 6th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Genres: Actors: Christine Pascal, Claude Piéplu, Michel Blanc, Michel Such, Patrick Bouchitey, Patrick Dewaere Featured Directors: Languages:
The Best Way to Walk

This film will annoy those expecting the promised “unflinching portrait of an unlikely alliance,” to result in a modern coming-out story. I was more immediately confused by the ending than annoyed, as it left me not really sure what the “message” of the film was, but it percolated in my subconscious for days after viewing. It made me think…and think and think…and the longer I thought the more I appreciated the film. Miller’s “message” is rarely obvious, but that is what I like about him. He makes character-driven movies, and the characters of Phillipe, Marc, and Phillipe’s girlfriend Chantal are all wonderfully written and exquisitely acted. Read More…

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The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

April 6th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Genres: Featured Actors: Actors: Anne Vernon, Ellen Farner, Harald Wolff, Marc Michel, Mirelle Perrey, Nino Castelnuovo Featured Directors: Languages:
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Michel Legrand’s melody “I Will Wait for You” weaves throughout this deceptively simple “romantic” tale, adding a touch of irony that is more poignant for those raised on the English-language lyrics of this old standard. It’s not your typical Broadway or Hollywood musical, as it’s structured more like an opera—between the more obvious “songs,” where the characters reflect on their inner worlds and heightened emotions, all the dialog is sung in the style known as recitative in opera, a more speech-like singing that moves with the action. This might take a little getting used to for more mainstream modern audiences, but this wonderful film is worth every bit of the effort. Read More…

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Fellini – I’m a Born Liar

Fellini as inseparable from his movies, and vice versa, is the core of this liar's tale.

April 6th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Genres: Featured Actors: Actors: Donald Sutherland, Federico Fellini, Giuseppe Rotunno, Italo Calvino, Roberto Benigni Featured Directors: Directors: Damian Pettigrew Languages:
Fellini: I'm a Born Liar

I know of few who would rate this film as high as I do, nor even who I might recommend it to. All the criticism and complaints directed at it are basically accurate. Nonetheless, I loved it. Do I know more about Fellini now than I did before viewing it? Not really. This one really is primarily for hard-core Fellini fans, and especially for those who like him for being a poetic and visual artist. I have always had a hard time finding the explicit language for why I love Fellini films so much, but this movie gave me some insight and intuition. Read More…

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Belle de Jour

Surrealism 101. Catherine is a Goddess!

April 6th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Featured Actors: Actors: Geneviève Page, Jean Sorel, Michel Piccoli Featured Directors: Languages:
Belle de Jour

Beautiful film that is definitely dated in the eroticism department. But in terms of the overall story and meaning, this is not important, because really, it is a film about social-sexual repression and hypocrisy. Catherine Deneuve is a beautiful young bourgeois newlywed who wants to be bad..really bad! Now in a sane, rational, hypocrisy-free world; no problem! She just says: Honey, I’m just not turned on by this two bed, missionary-style gentle version of sex you keep offering me; I WANNA GET FREAKY! And he doesn’t say: OMG, I married a harlot, not the pure uptight virginal Madonna I paid for. Get thee to a nunnery, wench!! No, in a sane, rational world he says: Whoopee! I hit the jackpot! Let’s go buy some STUFF! Read More…

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A Christmas Tale (The Criterion Collection)

Joyous delight sits down at table with human frailty, and the meal thoroughly satisfies!

April 6th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Featured Actors: , , Actors: Anne Consigny, Chiara Mastroianni, Emile Berling, Francoise Bertin, Hippolyte Girardot, Jean-Paul Roussillon, Laurent Capelluto Featured Directors: Languages:
A Christmas Tale

A Christmas Tale is the story of a dysfunctional family that comes home for a little Christmas healing. The whole cast is exceptional, and the characters are captivating. It’s not particularly edgy or exceedingly artsy (a little, but not too); things I rather enjoy typically, but I thought it was great nonetheless. It is very “artistic” but in a very accessible rather than experimental way. It’s very long at 2 1/2 hours but I wasn’t bored for a moment and could just go on and on voyeuristically enjoying these terrific performances and fascinating characters. Even the most outrageously dysfunctional behaviors just seem “natural” not maudlin, not exploitative, not sensationalized. All the various relationships are treated with so much more nuance and sophistication than most Hollywood offerings—always a great draw of foreign film. Read More…

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My Winnipeg

I love, love, love Guy Madden!!

April 6th, 2011 by Wayward Muse
Rating: Genres: , Actors: Amy Stewart, Ann Savage, Brendan Cade, Darcy Fehr, Fred Dunsmore, Lou Profeta, Louis Negin, Wesley Cade Featured Directors:
My Winnipeg

I think I liked Saddest Music in the World a bit better, but that is due solely to my adulation for Isabella Rossellini. My Winnipeg was apparently funded by some Winnipeg arts & cultural org. as a documentary, & so that, at some level, is what it is. But what a documentary. I actually learned some fascinating things about Winnipeg–the strangest, of course, being the frozen horse-head river make-out spot–but also some cool stuff about the back alleys, and the demolition of the iconic landmarks of Madden’s youth and Winnipeg’s history. Read More…

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