The film is directed by Lisa Cholodenko.  She also co-wrote the script with Stuart Blumberg, a former writer for MADtv.  I don’t know for sure if Cholodenko is a lesbian, but if I were to make a guess based on The Kids, this picture, and her history with the show The L Word, I’m going to stereotypically say that she just may be.  Either way, it doesn’t seem to matter as her film may have some subtle political subtext, but overall, it didn’t seem too… in-your-face-overturn-Prop-8-now!  Her story is simply about a family.  The ups, and downs, the joys and the pains.  It just happens that there are two moms in this family, and no dad.  Until the sperm donor, played by Mark Ruffalo shows up and starts spending times with Nic and Jules’ kids (played exceedingly well by Mia Wasikowska, and Josh Hutcherson).  As you can imagine, jealousy, mistrust, and confusion start to destabilize this otherwise established family.

What convinces me that Cholodenko doesn’t have any sort of political agenda is the completely lake of prejudice against the family because of the two women who have chosen to create a family together.  I’ll admit, this was a relief.  I personally don’t have a problem with gay marriage, but I prefer not to use the struggle for acceptance as entertainment in my films.  Cholodenko chose to spent her time examining the dynamic of this family, and she did it very well.  During one scene in the film, Nic and Jules decide to try and accept Paul the sperm donor into their circle.  Over dinner, Paul makes a toast to an ‘unconventional family.’  Perhaps this is the best quality of the film, it demands us to really contemplate what makes a family?

Cholodenko’s pacing is excellent and she makes the best of every shot.  She truly is a gifted filmmaker, and you should all go see her film as soon as possbile.  Even though the chances are that you’ve all, all ready seen it.

4 out of 4 stars

The story of A Single Man comes from the  novel of the same name by Christopher Irsherwood.  Mr. Ford shares writing credit with David Scearce for adapting.  It centers around one man, George, played by Colin Firth.  George is a mostly unremarkable man, an intelligent professor at a small college.  The most remarkable thing about him, surrounded by a community of intolerance at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, where everyone looks and dresses the same, is his sexual orientation.  He’s reeling from the loss of Jim (Matthew Goode), his partner of sixteen years.  The grief builds and builds and is quickly taking over all rational thought for George.

The film spans only one day, but lends itself to multiple flashbacks: the night he met Jim the first time, happier days, dream sequences.  Many of these flashbacks could be ripped out of the pages of Vogue, or another high-end fashion magazine (or an upscale homo-erotic publication, likely centered around a smoking fetish).  The vision of Ford seemed to be perfectly paired with cinematographer Eduard Grau who gave the film a polished touched that sets it apart from it’s peers.  A sweeping original score by Abel Korzeniowski compounds this effect.  Mr. Firth is in fine form here.  In fact, this may be a career high for him.  He’s proved once and for all that he can handle the trickiest of roles.

A Single Man weaves its story with a slow, but confident pace.  The emphasis is not simply on a plot arc, but is an examination of a tortured man.  Using the word ‘tortured’ brings to mind cliches and worn out devices.  I promise, this is not the case here.  First time director Ford shows a remarkable amount of promise.  His well placed instincts are served best by his cast, of whom he gets the most.  One of the film’s most remarkable scenes plays out between George and his friend Charly (Julianne Moore).  A quiet dinner, between two lonely souls who’ve had too much to drink, allows a brutal honesty to rage before quickly hiding itself again behind tact and manner.  It’s a prime example of all the emotions running just below the surface through the length of the movie, just dying to be set free.  Certainly, one of the best films of 2009.

4 out of 4 stars

]]> http://bitchinfilmreviews.com/a-single-man/feed/ 6 http://bitchinfilmreviews.com/1001-movie-club-magnolia/ http://bitchinfilmreviews.com/1001-movie-club-magnolia/#comments Mon, 28 Dec 2009 07:30:57 +0000 Blake http://bitchinfilmreviews.com/?p=1380 It’s that time of the month again. Time for the films of the 1001 Movies You Must See Club. I was super stoked when Magnolia was picked, as it’s one of my all-time favorite films, but one of my all-time favorite directors.  This is one of the few films that assures me that I have some sort of idea of what makes a good film, as I saw it in 1999 when it was released, and loved it even back then, when I was 14 and had no knowledge of cinema beyond was playing in Idaho Falls, Idaho.  See other reviews from the other club members here.

Magnolia bares more than a little resemblence to Robert Altman’s Short Cuts.  It’s fair to say the critical success of the film owes quite a bit to Mr. Altman’s classic.  But in its own right, Magnolia is magnificient.  It follows a myriad of stories.  There are so many of them, it’s difficult to explain.

There’s a young boy genius playing on a game show that pits kids against adults.  The host of the show, Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall), just found out he has cancer, and will be dying soon.  This greatly affects his wife.  And somewhat affects his estranged daughter (Melora Walters), who won’t speak to him.  She does drugs and plays music too loud, which leads her to meet a kind, odd cop (John C. Reilly) who wants nothing more than to spend his life with a nice girl.  The game show is produced by a production company started by an Earl Partridge (Jason Robards), who is dying very rapidly.  His nurse is named Phil (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and has grown close to him.  Earl married a golddigger named Linda (Julianne Moore), who’s fraught with guilt now that her husband is dying and she’s actually fallen quite deeply in love with her.  Earl’s son Frank (Tom Cruise) is a misogynist who peddles self help seminars for men who want to turn their female friends into sexual conquests.   There’s also a former child star, William H. Macy (who also was a contestant on the same children’s show), who’s in love with a male bartender, and plans on robbing his place of business to pay for his oral surgery.

It’s even more complicated than it sounds.  What’s remarkable, is that none of these stories would be remotely interesting on their own.  Anderson takes all of these seemingly mundane strands and orchestrates them into a veritable symphony, the likes of which rarely show up in theatres.  The film runs just over three hours, and is a good example of what can happen when a director has the final say when it comes to editing.  Should the film have been shorter?  Yes.  William H. Macy’s storyline should have been cut out completely.  Some probably should have merited more time and attention.  For instance, Tom Cruise’s character goes through an interview in the middle of the film that is surely the movie’s finest moment, and much of it was cut.  Frank is an example of the skill of Anderson in creating and writing characters.  Other fine performances buoy the film as well, especially those by Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Julianne Moore ( the New York Times claimed Moore and Hoffman saved the film from it’s own worst, reductive ideas by their intimate performances and deeply felt distress signals).

In it’s own rambling and excessive way, the film builds and builds into a tense frenzy when all the stories come to a dramatic head that, at first glance seems completely random, but can actually be explained.  At a very early seen, an audience member at the game show is seen holding up a sign Exodus 8:2.  References to the numbers eight and two are found throughout the film.  And yes, the single thread that keeps all these stories attached is a little week.  So was the ending to Short Cuts.

For all it’s faults, Magnolia is a fine piece of American cinema.  When asked if American cinema was dead, Ingmar Bergman mentioned Magnolia as proof that cinema was alive and well in the US.  Even those who are critical of the film, even they must admit that this is better than most of the other stuff out there.

4 out of 4 stars

The basis of the story is that an epidemic of blindness triggers the downfall of a mysteriously international city without a name.  In fact, names aren’t used at all in the plot, as the blind can find no use for them.  The main characters are quarantined in an abandoned mental hospital.  After just a few days of unassisted living, the hospital turns into an enormous port-a-potty, trash, and dirty everywhere, unable to clean after themselves.  The small societal structure, and the humans in that structure, within the hospital quickly deteriorates as the lack of necessities drive them to extreme measures.  The circumstances are horrifying, and it is certainly a scene that is difficult to watch thanks to the skills of director Fernando Meirelles.

Oscar nominated director Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardner) brings us this adaptation of the book by the same name, written by Nobel Prize-winning author, Jose Saramago.  The cinematography is beautiful , thanks to the knowing hand of Cesar Charlone (City of God, Sucker Free City).  The shots Meirelles and Charlone manage to capture, perfectly framed in their lens are stunning.  They could belong to an intense, but intriguing coffee table book.  They masterfully manipulate light, darkness (playing on the theme of the White Blindness), focus and shadows to create a haunting world that you believe can exist.  Meirelles commanded quite the performance of Julianne Moore playing ‘Doctor’s Wife,’ who shouldered the burden of carrying the plot through most of the movie.

While the film is certainly beautiful to look at, and there are scenes that aggressively move the audience to feel at least something, the pacing and plot leave much to be desired.  Some of the central acts that should have been the most poignant, lack power.  It’s like the story was stretching too hard to try and be more than it is.  Some of the more dramatic elements were harped on the length of the film, leaving an unpleasant impression on the viewer.  What could have been a affecting, and poignant cautionary tale, ended up being an extremely beautiful, philosophically appealing, but nonetheless, unbalanced, and uneven story that’s not quite sure where it fits between the art, and thriller genres.

3 out of 4 stars

Rottentomatoes: 37% – Cream of the Crop: 31%

Rated R for violence including sexual assaults, language and sexuality/nudity.

This movie seems to have everything going for it.  Literally, everything.  It’s directed by Fernando Meirelles.  The man we can thank for the near perfect City of God, and the 2006 Oscar favorite The Constant Gardner.  This Academy Award nominated director knows his stuff, if you don’t believe me, watch either of the two previously mentioned movies, give me a call, and I’ll say I told you so.

Blindness is based on the book of the same name, written by Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago, the plot follows a city wide epidemic causing blindness in 90% of the population.  The city’s ultimate and immediate goal becomes containment of the infection.  Those afflicted are quarantined to an abandoned mental hospital, where they are left with meager food rations and no contact with the outside world.  Left completely to their own devices, a sightless, savage society is formed based on gree and brutality.  Power is left in the hands of those that control food and supplies.  Left to their own devices, this ‘society’ quickly devolves and loses it’s humanity (a la Lord of the Flies).

The cast offers an endless supply of some of the most talented actors in Hollywood today. The Julianne Moore (Magnolia, Boogie Nights, Children of Men) plays the wife of a Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) who’s infected.  She follows him to the quarantined hospital, keeping her sight a secret while leading/protecting the underdogs.  The film also stars the wickedly talented Gail Garcia Bernal (The King, Babel), Sandra Oh (Hard Candy, Sideways), Danny Glover and scores more.  Check out the full cast here.

Blindness is set to be released September 26th and while it’s not yet rated, if it stays true to Saramago’s novel, it will most likely be rated R.  Check out the official movie site at blindness-themovie.com.

Check out the following trailers and teasers as well (some of which feature the ridiculously awesome original score to Danny Boyle’s Sunshine).