Just in time for the Holidays is John Hillcoat’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Road. Which, at its heart, is an incredibly touching story about the love between a father and son. Still, it’s incredibly depressing and should be avoided at all costs. Just kidding. Well, except for the depressing part. That’s all true.

We don’t know much about what’s happened to the world. Everything is covered in a blanket of ash. Very few people are still alive. Those who are are forced to eke out a living, scrounging for food, which sometimes includes the unlucky others they run across. In the middle of all this are a father and son who make their way across the ruined landscape, desperately searching for something better than this. Better than where they are now.

If there was ever an author who’s work lent itself to adaptation, it’s McCarthy. Whether your reading The Road or No Country for Old Men, you almost get the feeling that his novels are one giant storyboard, strung out in front of you. The hopelessness and despair are translated perfectly in The Road. Actually, it’s translated a little too well. The film’s message seems to be that love endures. But after watching Viggo Mortensen (who I think is beginning to approach that Daniel Day-Lewis level of immersing oneself in their role) and Kodi Smit-McPhee run out of a basement full of people who are being harvested as food, I ask myself, who the hell would want to endure this?

That’s the question asked by Charlize Theron, who plays Mortensen’s wife in a series of flashback sequences. I remember being annoyed by her character in the book. In the movie, I felt I understood where she was coming from. Theron is one of a very small cast. Aside from the Man and the Boy, there are only a handful of characters, none of whom spend very much time onscreen. This means that Mortensen and Smit-McPhee are carrying a lot on their shoulders, and both do it very well. Mortensen makes you believe that the only reason he’s carrying on is because of his son.

One reviewer described The Road as a story about a kid who doesn’t understand the situation he’s in. It seems like that would be obvious, considering this is the world he was born into and the only one he’s ever known. That’s exactly how Smit-McPhee plays his character. He’s sheltered but slowly coming into his own. He looks to his father as a seeing-stone, someone who can interpret the world around him and put it all into perspective. He puts forward a very good performance and I think he’s setting himself up for some good stuff in the future.

Like I said before, the issue explored in The Road is whether or not love can survive in the face of complete hopelessness. Obviously it isn’t anything that’s going to be settled anytime soon, and I’m not sure McCarthy himself feels settled on the issue. If The Road’s message is that love endures, the message of No Country for Old Men seems to be that, sometimes, evil screws you over, and that’s it. Well, food for thought.

The Road is one of the most powerful movies we’ve seen this year. It screams out, “Oscar!” but I’m worried that, in the end, it’ll be skipped over in favor of something more mainstream. You don’t see many post-apocalyptic dramas win awards these days. Then again, you don’t see many post-apocalyptic dramas with such a touching and pure story at its heart, after you’ve peeled away all the dreary scenery and special effects. A

Joel y Ethan Coen son prácticamente los inventores del cine independiente. Desde su ópera prima, Sangre fácil (1984), hasta la recientemente premiada con el Oscar al mejor filme del año 2008, estamos ante un dúo que es esencial a la hora de hablar de la historia de la cultura visual en Norteamérica.

Son contados los casos que recogen los historiadores con respecto de la asociación de dos hermanos en la manufacturación de un filme. El caso más célebre es el de los hermanos Taviani (Padrone, padrone) en Italia. Acaso el más trillado sea el de los hermanos Wachowsky, que crearon la trilogía de The matrix. También funciona comercialmente el tándem de los hermanos Farrely, autores de las burdas Loco por Mary, Tonto y retonto, Irene, yo y mi otro yo.

Los comienzos de la carrera de los hermanos Coen ha sido dictada por los parámetros de la independencia económica y artística: presupuestos mínimos, apretados cronogramas de rodaje y actores poco conocidos. Como sucede con todo cine independiente, al final se vuelve dependiente del sistema, por lo que los Coen han terminado filmando con estrellas como George Clooney (Oh brother where are thou?, Intolerable cruelty) y Tom Hanks (El cuarteto de la muerte). Fue a partir de esta última película, estrenada en el 2004, cuando recién ambos hermanos pudieron firmar como directores. Antes de ese año, había una estricta prohibición gremial que impedía que más de una persona firmara como director. La autoría grupal (en este caso, dual) era desconocida en la legislación cinematográfica norteamericana. Antes de The lady killers (como se le conoció a El quinteto de la muerte), Ethan Coen sólo aparecía como guionista y productor.

Inventario de una carera memorable

Raising Arizona (1987) significó explorar en tono de comedia los roles familiares. Nicolas Cage interpreta a un ex presidiario que, al juntarse con una policía (Holly Hunter), deciden raptar a un bebé para poder llenar el nido de pareja.

The Hudscucker Proxy (1994) es una comedia sobre el mundo industrial. Con ciertos tintes chaplinescos de Tiempos modernos, los hermanos Coen hacen una crítica al sistema mecánico de producción en serie. El rol del tonto útil lo interpreta Tim Robbins que tiene que enfrentarse contra el líder industrial, interpretado por el fallecido Paul Newman.

En The Big Lebowski (1994), los hermanos Coen realizan una disparatada comedia protagonizada por Jeff Bridges. Él interpreta el rol de The Dude que es un vago que vive en los Angeles y que un día es confundido por un par de matones con el millonario Jeff Lebowski. Tras propinarle una paliza y orinarle en la alfombra, The Dude iniciará la búsqueda del Gran Lebowski para que le compre una alfombra nueva. Se trata de uno de los filmes más logrados de la larga carrera de estos hermanos.

En el año 2000 realizan otra obra maestra, O brother where are thou? (Oh, hermano, ¿dónde estás?), que se basa libremente en La Odisea de Homero. Los directores declararon de manera relajada que jamás leyeron el libro original. Detrás de esta broma hay una verdad: toda gran adaptación siempre debe derribar el texto original. El rol principal estuvo en manos de George Clooney que logró una de las mejores perfomances de su carrera interpretando a Ulysses McGrath.

En el año 2001 este par de hermanos logra uno de los puntos más altos de sus carreras. Estrenan The man who wasn´t there (El hombre que no estuvo allí). Esta película está en blanco y negro, iluminada al estilo de los años cuarenta, y está protagonizada por Billy Bob Thornton. Éste interpreta a un peluquero que se ve envuelto en un hecho de sangre (típico del cine de los Coen) y su repetorio de gestos (entre la apatía y el desdén) es un homenaje al mejor Humphrey Bogart.

En el 2003 Intolerable cruelty significó retomar a George Clooney como actor principal. Se trata de una comedia sentimental de enredos en la que un abogado experto en divorcios termina casándose con una manipuladora muy bien encarnada por Catherine Zeta Jones.

En el 2006 los hermanos Coen realizan el corto titulado Tullerías para un gran filme llamado Yo te amo París. Ellos forman parte de un equipo de dieciocho directores que realizan minúsculas historias de mayúscula calidad que son un homenaje a la ciudad luz. Steve Buscemi es en esta pequeña historia un turista que se encuentra en una estación de metro de París. Mientras espera el medio de transporte revisa postales y libros comprados en el Louvre, además de una guía de la populosa ciudad. Frente a él, del otro lado de la estación observa a una pareja de jóvenes tener una pelea sentimental. Sin proponérselo, el turista terminará formando parte de un triángulo tan absurdo como violento. Se trata de una ácida crítica a las metrópolis y a las percepciones equivocadas de los países ajenos al de uno.

Quizá los mejores títulos de esta fulgurante carrera sean tres: Fargo (1996), Miller´s crossing (1990) y Barton Fink (1991). La primera, que lleva la falsa pero irónica advertencia de estar ante una historia real, le dio al Oscar a Frances McDormand (esposa de Joel) como la detective embarazada que resuelve un hecho de sangre; la segunda, incursiona en el género de los filmes de mafia con muchos tintes líricos; la tercera, con John Turturro (actor fetiche de los Coen), disecciona irónicamente el mundo de los guionistas de Hollywoodlandia de los años cincuenta. Barton Fink ganó la Palma de Oro en el Festival de Cannes y terminó consagrando en Europa al gran dúo de artistas.

No country for old men

Vamos ahora a comentar la reciente cinta de estos hermanos Caradura que ganó cuatro premios Oscar (mejor filme, mejor director, mejor actor secundario y mejor guión adaptado). Basada en la novela del ganador del Premio Pulitzer, Cormac McCarthy, No country for old men es un análisis de una sociedad norteamericana cada vez más sumida en una franca decadencia y obsesionada por la competencia económica y la ansiedad por el estatus. Las brechas generacionales se hacen cada vez más grandes, parece decirnos el sheriff Ed Tom Bell, personaje de Tommy Lee Jones, al principio y al final de la historia. Mientras se aprecian paisajes desolados de Texas, se escucha la voz en off de Jones que encarna al sheriff del condado muy respetuoso de los valores tradicionales. Esa voz se muestra nostálgica por un pasado en el que no se necesitaban armas de fuego para hacer cumplir la ley, en contraste con un presente en el que el narcotráfico es una bomba de tiempo en las fronteras.

La droga conlleva una ambición desmedida por el dinero fácil. Esto llega a convertirse en la premisa dramática del filme. Josh Brolin interpreta a Lewellyn Moss, un ex combatiente de Vietnam que se encuentra por casualidad dos millones de dólares. Aquí entra en escena el personaje más fascinante del filme, Anton Cigurh, interpretado por el ganador del Oscar al mejor actor secundario, Javier Bardem. El actor español encarna a uno de los personajes mejor elaborados que ha dado el cine norteamericano en los últimos años. Se trata de un sicario despiadado que representa el lado opuesto del sheriff, carece de valores, es un perfecto sicópata que mata sin piedad a toda persona que se le cruza en el camino. Aquí también entra una modernización de las técnicas de matanza: Cigurh mata con una pistola de aire conectada a un tanque de oxígeno. Sin embargo, su sicopatía no le impide tener ciertos valores, como por ejemplo, un alto sentido del profesionalismo. Misión que se le encarga, es misión cumplida, aunque esta vez él también quiere quedarse con el dinero, al igual que el personaje de Josh Brolin. Hay también un respeto hacia el azar o buena fortuna en la escena en la que decide si debe matar o no a alguien echando una moneda al aire. Esta pincelada de humor negro hace de éste un personaje más rico.

El sentido de la historia es evidente: se nos presenta como una crítica a una sociedad cada vez más arribista. El pisotear al otro no es más que un deporte nacional y global. La carrera por el dinero hace que todos antagonicen entre sí. Es una nación que ha enseñado a sus ciudadanos que la acumulación del capital es la razón de existir. De allí que en esta crítica al american way of life salga indemne únicamente el personaje del sheriff que tiene una conversación vital en la última escena. Es una charla entre viejos que habla de la nostalgia de los que se fueron. Es una constatación de que Norteamérica no es un país para ellos. El título en español, No hay lugar para los débiles, resulta acertado en la medida que estamos ante personajes aguerridos, ambiciosos, que se embarcan en una empresa que debe ser concluida. Norteamérica exige que sus ciudadanos sean osados y que no escatimen esfuerzos pisoteando la cabeza de alguien para llegar a la cima. Vale el Oscar.

First off, I must apologize for procrastinating on Mothpowder. You see, Mothpowder is the result of me procrastinating from essays and other school work, and I’ve been having… more than I expected. Sure, I’m comfortable writing essays, but french ones? not as much. The rules are far more complicated, and the subject isn’t one I’m familiar with, so everything’s gone all loopy with my writing. I go from formal to not, and back again. But these days, I’ve been craving some Mothpowder and I know now why I’m having so much difficulty with this.

For one, writing is not my initial medium. I’ve been taught to paint with brushes, not words. This is a challenge. I have my ideas, but when I start to write them out in order, with some kind of flow, the flow fails and I store it away to be forgotten. I suppose I admit I haven’t been confident in my writing. I’m alright with small writing, like poems, mini short stories. They’re simple and that’s my comfort zone. I don’t like complications or detail. Even in my drawings I rarely went further than sketches.  Slowly, I’m returning to the habit of writing. My mom discovered my work (onoes) and encourages me to write more, possibly scripts for films. She’s been nosy, likes to know what I’m up to. But I like my private life, too. Some time alone is always nice and rewarding.

However, I did get a little something out of this writing hiatus.  An idea for a sequel. Its title will be Tearlint. For a third, if it should happen, I have Ashenfade. Hurray! Progress. (:<

Earlier today, I was really inspired by the Behind The Scenes footage of the upcoming movie The Road, starring Viggo Mortensen. Written by the same writer/director who did No Country For Old Men. Maybe The Road will prompt me to see the latter, since I haven’t although I’ve been wanting to since its nominations at the Oscars on its release year. For those who don’t know, The Road is set in a post-apocalyptic America, about a pair of remaining survivors; a father & his son. The movie portrays the emotion the two main characters face so beautifully, and I truly admire the director, who refused to have a studio & instead shot the entire film on location. This movie comes out november 25th, so while I waited for its release, friday night, I watched the new Star Trek movie. Loved it. Highlyrecommend it. I mean, I’m no Trekkie, and I totally fell in love with Chris Pine. He’s a babe, first of all, and his friendship with Spock was so cute. <: Okay, some shots were really cheesy, but it was fun and totally worth watching with my mum!

Speaking of movies.

My own film is currently undergoing post-production. We’re working on editing and hopefully filling out as much as possible until the deadline. It’s due tomorrow, my but team & I believe he’s just bullshitting and the project is going to be pushed for later during the week. So far, it’s looking delicious. We’ve got some nice effects, ideas from everyone in the team. I loved to work on this so much more since we all got a chance to do everything. Directing, filming, editing, sound. Everyone did their part. We even got our own stunt-person.

You cannot go more legit than this.

Funny shooting moment:

we’re getting ready to shoot a scene in the woods. all of a sudden, we pause, start looking at eachother. it smelled like rotten egg.

Ally: Okay, who the hell farted.

Marie: Wasn’t me.

Me: Wasn’t me – and I would tell you if it was me.

We ignore it for a while, keep shooting. It smells like shit now.

Ally: we can’t shoot in this stink. WTF!

me: could be a bear. bears are smelly.

marie: (we were by her house in the middle of nowhere) yeah there’s supposed to be one around here.

Ally: oh great. I’m going to be some overgrown animal’s dinner!

We hear rustling in the woods. Everyone gasps.

Turns out it was a dear doing its business nearby.

I love being one with nature. Don’t you?

Damn good article in the Los Angeles Times from Scott Timberg titled, “Cormac McCarthy’s rugged road to respectability.”

The writer had been dismissed as an eccentric with ‘horrible’ style and a hacky, regional view. Now, the much-anticipated film ‘The Road,’ based on his Pulitzer-winning novel, opens Wednesday.

Read humor. Not this. And other sentence fragments @ www.jeffreypillow.com

Three bullet points.

• For the past few weeks I’ve been growing Charlottesville’s worst beard. Today, I decided instead to grow Charlottesville’s worst mustache so I shaved my cheeks, chin, and neck. My face can no longer be confused with my butt cheeks. Ghost of Dale Earnhardt eat your heart out.
• Last night, I watched No Country for Old Men for the first time. As a relatively huge fan of Cormac McCarthy, (I am 6′4″ after all), I had refused for the longest time to watch the movie before I read the book. Unfortunately, God said that contrary to my prayer he cannot add any more hours to the day. My internal narrator, Jason, pleaded with Him. To no avail, however. Thus, I gave up and decided to go ahead and watch the movie. At the rate I was going, I wouldn’t see the film for another year. I’m currently reading 1984 by George Orwell. Awesome book. Winston Smith better bash someone’s head in with a brick before the end of the novel or my hopes as a reader will be dashed, the conclusion not crowned as it should. No Country for Old Men, the film, superb. Wasn’t pissed by the ending. Felt it was perfect. Has moved into my Top 10. White Men Can’t Jump still holds #1 spot followed by One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and No Way Out (year: 1950, starring Sidney Poitier. NOT the Kevin Costner/Gene Hackman flick of the same name. Shit no.), plus six others.
• Back to the mustache. After shaving the ass hair off my face, I found this humorous video on YouTube:

“Two-Headed Boy” by Neutral Milk Hotel (via Stereogum)

Turns out that Merge Records, the label under which Neutral Milk Hotel released their two albums (On Avery Island, In the Aeroplane Over The Sea), has been hiding this delicious live footage of the band all along, the bastards. Two-Headed Boy is absolutely my favorite song from the group, and the video reminds me exactly why Aeroplane Over The Sea is one of my favorite albums of all time.

My only qualm here was inspired by a comment on the Stereogum post: “I didn’t know Anton Chigurh could sing so well.” GAH CANNOT BE UNSEEN…! Regardless, what really matters is the music, and the music is as hauntingly beautiful as I remember. There’s also a clip from the same performance in which NMH performs April 8th (you can watch it here).

The film that many proclaim to be the Coen Brothers masterpiece!

Screenplay By: Ethan & Joel Coen
Directed By: Ethan & Joel Coen

Sometimes I take plenty of notes when watching a film I plan on reviewing, other times I take very few notes. When No Country For Old Men finished I looked over at my note pad and realized I hadn’t written a single thing down. This being my second go around with No Country For Old Men I can only assume that my familiarity with the material was partially responsible for the lack of note taking. The rest I chalk up to a film engrossing me so completely that I didn’t feel the need or desire to jot down any notes.

I am a terrible judge of time when it comes to movies. I will look to see how much time has elapsed in a film and realize that only fifteen minutes had passed by, quite a lower number than the forty minutes I thought had passed before my eyes. I always do this, I don’t know why but I always think that much more time has passed than actually has. Beyond all the usual accolades tossed in the direction of No Country For Old Men, I found it a highly engrossing film. It’s a very pensive film, it takes its time in frame after frame, but it isn’t a static film. It sounds weird to say I was on the edge of my seat during No Country For Old Men, but I was. My problem with judging time took a spot on the back burner during No Country For Old Men, a sure sign of an engrossing picture.

You can’t lump No Country For Old Men into one genre, well, you could, but you would be wrong in doing so. The Coen Brothers have spent their entire careers toying with genre labels and classifications, always seeking to blur the lines and show that a movie need not neatly fit into one genre to be any good. No Country For Old Men is a dark comedy, a thriller, an action movie, an indie arthouse flick and a far reaching character drama. As far as genre mixing goes No Country For Old Men may be the Coen Brothers masterpiece.

I’m finding that my thoughts about No Country For Old Men are scattered and hard to peg down. Don’t know why that is the case and because of that this isn’t a review I am particularly proud of. I’ll end by telling you that No Country For Old Men is a fantastic movie, a calm and measured presentation from the Coen Brothers that reaches high and hits as high of a mark as it could hope for. No Country For Old Men is a cool movie when it needs to be, a thoughtful one when the moment calls for it and scarily dramatic when you least expect it. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the best explanation, and the simplest explanation for me is that I found No Country For Old Men to be thoroughly captivating.

Rating:

****

Cheers,
Bill

A Serious Man, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, 2009

shrink-wrap for the soul

HOOK: Is the cat in the house, dead or alive?

 LINE:  “Even though you can’t ever figure anything out, you will be responsible for it on the midterm.”

 SINKER: How can someone ‘who hasn’t done anything’ be blamed for everything? A Book of Job treat with a razor hidden in it. 

JOHN: As our friend Bob (at Coffeespew) points out the new suburbs of the fifties and sixties are old territory for authors like John Updike. So why do the Coen brothers revisit them (other than the fact that this is where they grew up in one around Minneapolis)? I think there’s a broader question concerned with the difference between comedy and drama—a line they’ve crossed with mixed results in the past. In drama we in the audience want to identify with the protagonist, feel that what is happening to him is happening to us. We are curious and relieved (even if things turn out badly, “It is only a movie.”). Comedy requires more distance. We recognize the situations but want to laugh at the characters, not ourselves. Whether or not the Coens relate to the Larry Gopnik character (superbly played by newcomer Michael Stuhlbarg in a career launching performance), we don’t, even if the fact that this involves his Jewishness makes it a bit of an uncomfortable laugh. The genius of this film is that it doesn’t stay in the mid sixties. The last moments, like impending doom, roll out at us today. I found the movie funny, at times stereotyped and slow, but ultimately a masterpiece that leaves you gasping.

GO GO GO GO (4 GOs out of four) 

SPANKY: The fact that you have to do all this rationalizing, John, seems to me to indicate that the film isn’t making it on its own terms (like Fargo). We can debate great films, like those of Bergman and Fellini, all night, but whether or not we do they stand as great films. This one has some magical moments: the sequence with the young rabbi, the tale of the message on the teeth of the Jewish dentist’s client, Sly Abelman—beautifully played by Fred Melamed—even the dark, sub-titled prologue. And I agree, the shift of vantage point from the father to his son toward the end gives the conclusion knock-out power. But it also seems to me the movie has to work a little harder than it should have to. And we in the audience do too. Plus the two-dimensional, hair-washing daughter, the Jewish lawyers, the Nazi-like neighbors and the desperate housewife next door…com’on. This may be much better than their other recent movies, but the Coen boys are still a long way from home.

BARK, BARK (2 BARKs out of four)

Michael Stuhlbarg, Fred Melamed, Richard Kind, Aaron Wolf, Sari Wagner, Jessica McManus, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen,  Sari Lennick , A Serious Man, Fargo, Comedy, Drama, Coen Brothers, No Country For Old Men, Man Who Wasn’t There, Woody Allen

Alla sammanfattar 00-talet just nu, jag är inget undantag. Det kom en hel hög bra filmer under decenniet, från hyperrealistiska dramadokumentärer till högklassig fantasy och underbara animerade filmer.

Här är de tio bästa:

10. Donnie Darko
Den här filmen hade inte behövt alla tidstypiska poplåtar för att placera sig omisskännligt i 80-talet. Stämningarna som byggs upp och skildringen av Donnies accelererande psykos gör den till det mästerverk den är.

9. Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex
Kritiken mot den här filmen är befogad, lika lite som boken den bygger på förklarar den på något begripligt vis Röda arméfraktionens drivkrafter, förutom att det ser väldigt häftigt ut att sno bilar, spränga saker och skjuta folk. Å andra sidan lyckas filmen verkligen med den uppgiften, stadsgerilla har aldrig varit sexigare.

8. Der Untergang
I Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex spelar Bruno Ganz terroristbekämparen Horst Herold, mannen som skaffade sig ett eget datoriserat furstendöme på BKA i Wiesbaden. I Der Untergang är han der Führer själv. En paranoid, nervsjuk gammal man i ett rike i totalt sönderfall. Den definitiva Hitlerfilmen.

7. Morvern Callar
Samantha Morton är lysande som missanpassad snabbköpskassörska i en film som är lika vacker när den skildrar skotsk vinter som spansk sommar.

6. Bloody Sunday
Brittiska soldaters massmord på fjorton obeväpnade demonstranter i stadsdelen Bogside i Derry, Nordirland 30 januari 1972 skildras utdraget och obarmhärtigt realistiskt. Som film om terrorns orsaker är den raka motsatsen till Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex. Konkretare och mer lättbegripligt kan det knappast bli.

5. This is England
Britterna har en alldeles särskild känsla för realism, och en kärlek till sina subkulturer som av någon anledning saknas helt i Sverige. En kärleksförklaring till skinheads som går rätt in i hjärtat.

4. Spirited Away
Hayao Miyazakis verkliga genombrottsfilm i västvärlden är en helt fantastisk sagoberättelse och något av det bästa tecknade jag sett på film.

3. Lord of the Rings-trilogin
JRR Tolkien skrev de ultimata fantasyromanerna, och Peter Jackson har gjort den ultimata fantasyfilmen. Ses helst i de förlängda DVD-versionerna, i en följd.

2. The Virgin Suicides
USA-premiär 1999, Sverigepremiär 2000. Därmed kvalar Sofia Coppolas hyllning till Peter Weirs Picnic at Hanging Rock in på den här listan. Så fantastiskt vacker.

1. Fight Club
Ja, den kom verkligen 1999, men överskuggar 00-talet så fullständigt att den självklart toppar en sådan här lista. Ett mästerverk och en av de där filmerna som faktiskt är bättre än boken.

Strax utanför: Old Boy (korridorscenen!), No Country for Old Men (garagerockfrisyren!), Battle Royale (Takeshi!), Pans labyrint (fascism och fantasy!), The Football Factory (kläderna!), Inglourious Basterds (uniformerna!), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (sagokänslan!), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Johnny Depp!), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (galenskapen!), Watchmen (allt!)

Mer om 00-talet, filmer, Old Boy, No Country for Old Men, Inglourious Basterds, Battle Royale, Pans labyrint, Football Factory, Harry Potter, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Watchmen, Fight Club, The Virgin Suicides, Lord of the Rings, Spirited Away, This is England, Bloody Sunday, Morvern Callar, Donnie Darko, Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex, Der Untergang,

Watching movies is one of my favorite activities. Today I had the rare pleasure of getting to watch two (usually that only happens when I’m dog-sick and stuck in bed). They provided a bizarre counterpoint for each other.

The first was the upcoming adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Now, the last one out of the gates on this was No Country for Old Men, what I consider to be an almost pitch-perfect movie. Add to that Viggo Mortensen and Robert Duvall, two of my favorite actors, and I was pumped. The kicker: free passes for pastors, followed by a theological discussion of the movie led by a “noted theologian.” Sold!

The movie was bleak – I expected that. And that was hard to watch. But it just wasn’t that good. The Coen Brothers nailed No Country’s pacing with the painfully drawn-out vista shots and the almost wordless dialogue. Here, there was some good cinematography, but it felt like they were trying to get through it too fast. I know it’s unfair to compare relatively new-comer directors to the Coen Brothers, but this really didn’t live up to the challenge at all. For a free movie, though, intriguing.

The noted theologian was Reg Grant, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. It was not that long ago that places like Dallas would have urged faithful Christians to run the other direction from such movies, so I am encouraged to see the evangelical mainstream willing to engage secular culture, not deny it out of hand. But what followed in discussion was frustrating. The film was full of Biblical and philosophical allusions, much like No Country. However, the discussion seemed to be hell-bent (pardon the expression) on shoe-horning the film into a Christian allegory. The relationship of the Father and the Son, the pronouncement that the Son is “the one,” the only man in the film named is “Eli,” sparse conversations about God and angels, all of that adds up to a lot of fodder for conversation. But to somehow assume that McCarthy’s nihilistic worldview could be bent into a crypto-Catholic “hope in Christ” morality tale? Not quite…

I was reminded of the Ralph Wood article comparing the theologies of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, entitled Lewis & Tolkien in Tension. In it, Wood describes how Lewis’ literature has no purpose if the allegorical interpretation is not there. In other words, if you don’t get that Aslan is Jesus, then The Chronicles of Narnia aren’t going to be of much use. Tolkien, on the other hand, seemed to prefer the uniqueness of Christ and therefore refused to have any Christ-figure in his masterworks. The themes of Scripture, however, are there: betrayal, trust, faith, transcendence, temptation, humility, etc. Allegorical, no. Rich, yes.

It was reading Wood’s article that helped me understand the deep flaw I’ve never been able to articulate with dispensational readings of Revelation. A vision of the future? Yes. One in which the Whore of Babylon/seven seals/four horses means a specific person/entity/nation/enemy? Probably not.

And yet, that’s exactly what this audience was trying to do with The Road, find the Christ-figure and how to use this as a preaching tool. One audience member went so far as to say that the end offers the possibility of hope in Christ and the “new heaven and new earth.” First of all, there’s a big difference between hope and optimism; hope is a lot more than “glass half full.” You can have a bleak future and still have eschatological and soteriological hope. And second, folks, if the future looks anything like McCarthy’s vision, then there is no cause for hopetimism.

Enough about the film I didn’t enjoy. The second film was with guys who went on our OPC Men’s Retreat in October. We watched Into the Wild, the story of Chris McCandless, the Emory student whose misanthropy causes him to abandon all for the solitude of an Alaskan winter only to discover the truth that “Happiness is real only when shared.”

Sean Penn’s directorial eye was exactly what The Road needed. The drawn out shots of mountains, whether bleak or beautiful, were well-executed. And there was enough fodder for theological/philosophical discussion, albeit in non-allegorical terms: loneliness, woundedness, community, limitation, success, dependence, independence, forgiveness, enlightenment, you name it. And if that weren’t enough, there’s far more religious conversation that actually occurs within the movie. From vague discussions about God to prominent quotes from Tolstoy (himself an intriguing Christian writer), McCandless’ own search seems to have these eternal questions in mind. And the way Penn shapes the narrative only highlights these ideas.

And so for now, the balcony is closed. We’ll see you next week at the movies.

(having watched the preview again, did we get a truncated version today? ‘cuz half of the scenes in the preview were not in what we saw)

Not sure what exactly is up with the release date (this was originally scheduled for October 16) but The Road is now set to open nationwide on November 25. I, for one, will be there. And I may add, I’m not a moviegoer. I’ve maybe gone to two movies in the past seven years.

But if The Road is even 1/4 as good as Cormac McCarthy’s novel (which I absolutely consumed in less than two days) then this film may jump into my all-time Top 5. A few things:

• Viggo Mortensen is the perfect actor for the role of the unnamed father
• Regarding post-apocalyptic tales, this will be far superior than anything the movie 2012 and its special effects can offer
• Hopefully Charlize Theron’s character won’t play a substantial role and the movie will not be turned into some kind of sappy love story. The wife in the book plays a significant part, yes, but only in placing the context properly and acting as a vehicle for the husband/father’s motivation
• One of GQ Magazine’s movie critics said the film is more violent and brutal than the novel to which another of GQ’s movie critics responded saying, how can you get any more violent than the novel? It had babies roasted on a spit in one scene
• Read the novel first. Actually, read T.S. Eliot’s poem The Wasteland first and then Ernest Hemingway’s Big Two-Hearted River.
• Cormac McCarthy is the author behind “No Country for Old Men” and “All the Pretty Horses”
• It has Robert Duvall. Days of Thunder. Enough said

And now for a short synopsis from the novel’s Wikipedia entry following by the movie’s trailer,

The Road follows an unnamed father and son journeying together toward the sea across a post-apocalyptic landscape, some years after a great, unexplained cataclysm has destroyed civilization and almost all life on Earth. The setting is extremely bleak: the sun is obscured by a layer of ash so thick that the pair must breathe through masks, and plants do not grow. The surviving remnants of humanity have been largely reduced to thoughtless violence and cannibalism. Realizing that they will not survive another winter in their present location, the father leads them through this desolate landscape towards the sea, sustained by a vague hope of finding other “good people” like them.

Every time I talk about top 10 lists,  I always start with the  disclaimer that I know  how pointless they are.

And then I ask myself:  OK, if they are  so pointless, why do I have so much fun reading them and doing  them and sharing them?

No good answer, In fact, making lists is far from the only pointless thing I do.

Today, I am adding some new films and slightly changing the order.   It is not a 10 best list.  It is a list of my ten favorites. A  list of 10 best films  would be beyond nervy given how many films have a legitimate claim to inclusion.

But it seems perfectly fair to make a list of ten favorites since they are, in fact,  only my favorites.

My favorites have stayed the same for over a year.  But for the last few months I have been mulling over “No Country for Old Men”  and “The Lives of Others.” (Now I can really hear you saying: This guy need a life! Who has time to mull anything over?)

Seriously, I want to make some changes to my list.  But according to ground rules that some friends of mine and I set up many years ago in a UCLA dorm room, I have to remove one film for each one I add.  I posted my last 10 favorite about a year ago. Here is my new one along with a list of contenders.

Comments welcome. Lists welcome. Ridicule welcome.

My Ten Favorite Films as of November 15, 2009

1. Dekalog

2. Godfather 1/Godfather 2

3.  Salesman

4. The Lives of Others

5. Amarcord

6.  Goodfellas

7  No Country for Old Men

8  Fargo

9. Rear Window

10 Night and Fog

__________________________________

Other Contenders (not in order)

Midnight Cowboy

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Au Revoir les Enfants

Shop on Main Street  (1965)

It’s a Wonderful Life

Jeux interdits

Come and See

Smile

Atlantic City

Three Kings

Das Boot

The General

Paris, Texas

Shoah

Invaders from Mars

Strangers on a Train

The Graduate

The French Connection

Double Indemnity

Les Enfants du Paradis

Les Diaboliques

Psycho

Le Salaire de la peur

Sunset Boulevard

The Exiles

The Last Laugh

Hotel Terminus

Happiness

The Third Man

M

The Marriage of Maria Braun

00-talet summeras på sina håll och jag vill såklart bidra med min egen lista över decenniets bästa filmer. Men först av allt vill jag nämna några filmer som jag inte riktigt förstått eller till och med ogillat, men som många andra hyllat:

Requiem for a dream (jag gillar dig Darren Aronofsky, men du kanske inte skulle tagit emot det där stipendiet från Föräldraföreningen mot narkotika), De ofrivilliga (som Killingänget fast utan humor), Amelie från Montmarte (kulturtantsnusk) och Sagan om ringen (som Braindead utan Braindead och typ allting annat som får mig att engagera mig i en film).

Sådärja. Då är det dags för några filmer som jag tyckt mycket om och som nästan är med på listan. Thank You For Smoking, Morvern Callar, Der Untergang, Irreversible, City of God, Sin City, Snatch och Oldboy.

10 – No Country for Old Men (2007)
Det finns två tillfällen när jag älskar bröderna Coen. När de låter allt vara buskis, som i Big Lebowski, eller när ingenting är buskis, som i Millers Crossing. No Country for Old Men är helt klart ett exempel på det sistnämnda. De lyckas faktiskt koka filmen lika hårt som Cormac McCarthys bok. Och det vill inte säga lite. Jag växlar mellan att vara lite rädd för psykopaten och att vilja ha en sån där tantfrisyr.

Dessutom spottas det ut repliker till höger och vänster (vars kred i de flesta fall bör tillfalla Cormac McCarthy) som jag skulle byta en kroppsdel mot att ha skrivit. Som de här:

- If I don’t come back, tell mother I love her.
- Your mother’s dead, Llewelyn.
- Well then I’ll tell her myself.

9 – Donnie Darko (2001)
Att sjunka ner i en biofotölj, träda in i någons annans fantasi och köpa varenda detalj hur bisarr den än må vara är bland det bästa som går att vara med om. Donnie Darko bjuder på just en sådan verklighetsflykt. Den ena osannolika händelsen efter den andra upplevs som självklara. Det är inte ens konstigt att pojken har en grotesk kanin som heter Frank som ledsagare. Extra plus till Patrick Swayze som gör sin livs roll som filmens slemhög.

8 – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Det tog ungefär en halvtimme att komma över chocken att Jim Carey var riktigt, riktigt bra. Sedan rullade det på. Jag har alltid gillat Nietzsche, Charlie Kaufman, Kate Winslet och extremt avancerad teknologi i lo-fi-tappning så att den här filmen skulle vinna mitt hjärta kan ha varit det mest förutsägbara som hände under 00-talet. Ska också villigt erkänna att Lacuna Inc varit en stor inspirationskälla under arbetet med Metropia.

7 – The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Trots att filmen inte är humoristisk i traditionell mening är Royal Tenenbaums bland det roligaste jag sett. Särskilt Owen Wilsons karaktär, den vilsne, avundsjuke unge mannen som skriver psykedeliska westernromaner. Scenen där han sitter under en bild på några bisarra typer på fyrhjuliga motorcyklar och inte gör något annat än att se så där dum ut som bara han kan göra är kanske filmhistoriens roligaste scen.

6 – Memento (2000)
Många håller Eastern Promises som den ultimata tatueringsporrfilmen. Men de har fel. Det är givetvis Memento. Filmen handlar om en man som varit med om något fruktansvärt. Problemet är bara att han inte vet vad eftersom han förlorat sitt långtidsminne. Tillståndet huvudpersonen befinner sig i är betydligt obehagligare än händelsen han glömt. Memento är faktiskt ännu läskigare än baklängeskollegan Irreversible.

5 – Good Bye Lenin! (2003)
Good Bye Lenin handlar om en kille vars mamma faller i koma under DDRs sista dagar. För att den partitrogne mönstermedborgaren inte ska få en chock när hon vaknar till liv igen rekonstruerar sonen DDR kring hennes sjukbädd. Inte bara det. Han gör det lite bättre än det egentligen var. Mera som det var tänkt, mindre som det verkligen blev. Som ett rikt och välfungerande samhälle där alla människor är lika mycket värda.  I sonens version flyr människor givetvis från väst till öst, istället för tvärtom, när muren faller.

Good Bye Lenin är inte bara rolig utan också tankeväckande. Slavoj Zizek har sagt att det skulle vara omöjligt att tänka sig en nazistisk version av både ostalgi (naztalgi?) och filmen (Good Bye Hitler?). Ett DDR där allt fungerade som det var tänkt hade nämligen varit ett riktigt fint samhälle. Ett Nazityskland där allt fungerade som det var tänkt hade däremot varit ännu värre än i verkligheten. Och det vill inte säga lite.

4 – Mulholland Dr (2001)
Vet inte hur många gånger jag sett den här kärlekshistorien som eventuellt inte har en linjär handling. Vet inte om jag blivit klokare för det. Jag antar att det skrivits hundratusentals b-uppsatser i filmvetenskap om vad Mullholland Dr egentligen handlar om. Jag antar också att diskussionen kommer att överleva filmen.  Som om inte det var nog bidrar David Lynch själv med en lista på saker man kan tänka på när man ser filmen – i stil med “lägg märke till morgonrocken, askfatet och kaffekoppen” – för att lätta lite på mystiken. Eller är det kanske tvärtom?

Men strunta i det. Mullholland Dr är en av de där filmerna man kan se flera gånger trots att man inte fattar vad den handlar om. Förlåt, jag menar förstås tack vare att man inte fattar vad den handlar om.

3 – Der Freie Wille (2007)
Sugen på tre timmars kompakt ångest och mardrömmar i veckor efter det? I såna fall är “Den fria viljan” filmen för dig. Den handlar om en sadistisk våldtäktsmans försök att leva ett hyfsat normalt liv. En av Tysklands absolut bästa skådespelare, Jürgen Vogel, är lysande i huvudrollen. Det går inte att distansera sig. Det är bara att kliva in i psyket på en man som begått avskyvärda brott och desperat kämpar mot sitt eget öde. Oerhört smärtsamt. Jürgen Vogels insats är helt klart 00-talets starkaste rollprestation.

Filmen passerade mer eller mindre obemärkt förbi i Sverige. Men se Den fria viljan. Om du orkar.

2 – The Wrestler (2008)
Skräckfilm behöver inte innebära  att det händer något ovanligt, abnormt eller avvikande. Det kan vara ännu läskigare när det inte händer något särskilt. Jag vaknade jetlaggad tidigt en morgon och såg The Wrestler två gånger på raken. Jag grät båda gångerna.  Ena gången för att det var så uppenbart att det handlade väldigt mycket om Mickey Rourke själv. Andra gången när jag förstod att den riktigt stora katastrofen varken är den trasiga relationen med dottern eller hjärtoperationen utan att allt fortsätter precis som vanligt.

1 – Fight Club (1999)
Ok, den här filmen är formellt sett inte från 00-talet. Den hade svensk premiär några dagar innan Y2K. Men ingen annan film, eller annan företeelse för den delen, beskriver 00-talet så perfekt som Fight Club. Känslan av alienation. Av att världen är på väg åt helt fel håll. Av att vilja starta ett upplopp eller till och med krascha en större högst symbolisk byggnad.

Det var egentligen bara en sak jag var besviken på när jag kom ut ur salongen. Det var sista föreställningen för kvällen så jag kunde inte gå direkt ut till kassan, köpa ny biljett och se den en gång till. Det kanske är bäst att hoppa över amatörpsykologin. Killen dödar faktiskt sin pappa, ligger med sin mamma och spränger en massa fallosar i luften till tonerna av Pixies “Where is my mind”. Vågar inte tänka på vad Dr Freud hade kunnat göra med den patienten.

Frågan är om inte Fight Club kommer att beskriva även nästkommande tio år. Åtminstone mina.  För jag är fortfarande Ikeapojken. Mitt liv är a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy, men jag kommer troligen inte att dö av insomnia. Men jag vill fortfarande vara skitsnygg, slå folk på käften och spränga banker och försäkringsbolag i luften.

It seems like only a couple of years ago we were arguing the relative merits of No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood and the other films of 2007, a strong year in the movie datebook. No Country is the Coen brothers’ razor-sharp realization of Cormac McCarthy terrain, and the kickoff of a cycle (Burn After Reading and A Serious Man included) in which they bend and slice the idea of what a “story” comprises – a cycle that not only cuts out certain traditional scenes and moments we are accustomed to seeing in our stories, but questions why it is we need to tell those stories in the first place.

There Will Be Blood is Paul Thomas Anderson’s wildly ambitious, tonally crazed piece of American secret history. Where the Coens use a diamond drill, Anderson breaks the soil with a bulldozer; the results are heady, risky, and exciting in a particular way. That both movies take the form of modern Westerns makes them even more interesting in the American film canon. The ten best movies of 2007:

1. No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen)

2. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson)

3. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik)

4. Grindhouse (Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez)

5. Margot at the Wedding (Noah Baumbach)

6. Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg)

7. Zodiac (David Fincher)

8. Lady Chatterley (Pascale Ferran)

9. Into the Wild (Sean Penn)

10. Once (John Carney)

Couple of personal choices there at the end of the list; could’ve gone with a deserving crew of harder-boiled items crowded around the ten: Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone, Paul Greengrass’s Bourne Ultimatum, Tony Gilroy’s Michael Clayton, and Johnnie To’s Exiled. Other movies came close, partly because I think they are undervalued or misunderstood: the much-derided Spider-Man 3, which is actually the most nuttily Raimi-esque of that trilogy; Beowulf, in which Zemeckis does exhilarating things with 3D; and Black Snake Moan, Craig Brewer’s Southern gothic drive-in offering.

Eastern Promises is a compact Cronenberg film that seems already forgotten but is a rather amazing movie. Lady Chatterley is a very unusual take on a literary classic/scandal, completely frank and undecorated in its approach, going exactly to the point it needs to go and then simply stopping. Into the Wild, while not perfect, gives an ideal vehicle for Sean Penn’s 21st-century Beat sensibility to express itself, and it fits into the year’s fascinating survey of Americana. Speaking of which, The Assassination of Jesse James etc. might be the most haunting film of 2007, a lyrical bit of melancholy that is enlivened, not embalmed, by its mythic style. Well done, Team USA.

As the ’00s wrap up, I think it’s a good time to make a list for the ten best movies of the decade.

1. No Country for Old Men (2007)
2. Mulholland Drive (2001)
3. Let the Right One In (2008)
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
5. Donnie Darko (2001)
6. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
7. Children of Men (2006)
8. Kill Bill (2003/2004)
9. There Will Be Blood (2007)
10. Unbreakable (2000)

I guess this list reveals my penchant for sci-fi and Quentin Tarantino.

Estou indo pra casa, então hoje o post vai sair mais cedo.

Neste momento, não tenho criatividade, muito menos tempo. Saio em quinze minutos para a rodoviária e acabei de fazer a mala nesse instante. Então vou só deixar uma dica de filme para o fim de semana.

Não é politicamente correto; muito pelo contrário. Quase não tem mulheres. Mas eu adoro.

Não sei do que gosto mais: se é da história, dos atores ou do cabelinho horrível do Javier Bardem.

Big Lebowski, The (1998)
★★★ / ★★★★

I usually don’t like screwball comedies because the characters are stupid without any sort of redeeming qualities, the jokes are rude and sometimes mean-spirited, the story has no idea where to go, and I quickly get bored watching them because they fail to get me to think. Strangely enough, I enjoyed “The Big Lebowski,” written and directed by the Coen brothers, because of such qualities except for the fact that it is far from mean-spirited. Jeff Bridges stars as The Dude, whose real name was Jeffrey Lebowski, a guy who was mistaken by two miscreants as the millionaire Lebowski. Since the two didn’t get what they wanted from The Dude, one of them decided to pee on his carpet. What started off as a story about a slacker who wanted compensation for his carpet ended up being about a lot of things: a kidnapped woman (Tara Reid), an artist who had intentions of her own (Julianne Moore), nihilists who craved money, and the dynamics among bowling buddies (Steve Buscemi and John Goodman). All of such disparate elements came to together in a way that didn’t necessarily make sense–in fact, sometimes I had no idea what was going on–but it was very funny because each character was driven by well-defined motivations (no matter how strange they might have been). I did not expect this kind of movie from the Coen brothers because I’m more familiar with their thrillers (“No Country for Old Men,” “Blood Simple”) and dark comedies (“Intolerable Cruelty,” “Fargo”), but after watching the film I was glad that I got a taste of their lighter side. The only real complaint I had with this picture was it had no reason to run for almost two hours long. Somewhere after the half-way point, I began to wonder when it was going to be over because at that point it still did not try to put the pieces of the puzzle together. The characters were still too busy running around like children and it made me restless. Nevertheless, despite its flaws, I still enjoyed watching this movie because of the characters’ funny fixations and interesting mistaken identities. And considering I detest stoner comedies, I think it’s a solid accomplishment.

My favorite book is coming to the big screen this month. Hopefully it doesn’t get pushed back again.

The Road, by Cormack McCarthy is about a man and his son’s journey to the ocean after the world is set on fire.

The book never says their names, or tells how the world was destroyed, yet some how it doesn’t seem necessary. I’ve heard that the movie tells the back story, and I’m curious to see how it plays out.

I love this book because, although the dialogue is very dry and to the point, it pulls out so much emotion in the reader. You feel like you’re suffering along with them, and the triumphs come just in the nick of time, before it all seems too dark.

Cormack McCarthy is a great writer. I love all his books, and hope to see each one turned into a movie, as long as they are portrayed honorably. No Country for Old Men and All the Pretty Horses were done well, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for The Road.

The answers to all our questions about these and other famously ambiguous film endings here.

Your Thoughts?