When I first saw the trailer for Flight, I was impressed by the last shot: a commercial plane screaming its way towards the ground upside down. It was truly something I had never seen in a theater before. I wasn't sold on the rest of the film after reading a couple mediocre reviews, then reconsidered when cooler heads prevailed, and finally decided to see it. But this isn't a review. 

Regardless of where you land (hehe) on the film itself, the work that went into the thrilling crash sequence is very effective and it is arguably the best part of Zemeckis' "comeback." If you're like me, knowing the details of how an effect is created makes the shots more effective. If you're unlike me and behind-the-scenes footage spoils the magic for you, skip this vid and watch Glove & Boots' dramatization of a world without Twinkies (apparently, we are IN the zombie apocalypse and Woody Harrelson was right after all). 

Ehem. Check out this spoiler-free interview with Visual Effects Supervisor Kevin Baillie that gives a little insight into the incredibly technical process of shooting in and around airports, weather issues, and the infamous flight itself.

[from WatchThe Daily] 

If you've ever heard Ang Lee speak you know he is humble, funny, and whip smart. He often speaks of his deficiencies -- sexual repression, self-doubt, identity issues -- with rare transparency and humor, illuminating the themes of his films with intensely personal insight.  

Ang Lee is ethnically Chinese, culturally a hybrid of Taiwan and the U.S., but particularly rooted in neither place. He grew up under the heavy influences of education (his father was the principal the high school he attended) and an agriculturally-based economy, complimented by parental encouragement to read Chinese classic literature and practice calligraphy. All early signs pointed to a future in academia, but Lee found himself instead drawn to the arts. He attended what is now the National Taiwan University of Arts and, after mandatory military service for the Republic of China, completed his thesis film at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts (also having served as Spike Lee's Assistant Director on Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads). These experiences enriched Lee and produced a sort of global wanderer and citizen, and reinforced his need to create films. "I don't know where I am, but I never know where I am. I was born in China, then my parents moved to Taiwan, where we were outsiders, then to the States, then back to China, then back here. I trust the elusive world created by movies more than anything else. I live on the other side of the screen."

This mentality has allowed Lee to approach filmmaking in a way that few directors can. It has been said that he creates quintessentially American stories, and he attributes that ability to seeing traditional material with fresh eyes where others might be unable to escape their culture's well-worn interpretations. "My resources come from reality, not theatrical conventions... [but] I have that problem when I do Chinese films. People say I twist genres; sometimes I feel I just untwist it, set it straight. But that's just the way I see it."

Lee's first two post-grad films were original screenplays submitted to Taiwanese competitions out of desperation. Despite early acclaim and support from the William Morris Agency as a result of his thesis film, Fine Line, Lee did not find work for six years.  "When I sent those scripts, that was the lowest point of my life. We'd just had our second son, and when I went to collect them from hospital, I went to the bank to try and get some money to buy some diapers, the screen showed I've got $26 left." Pushing Hands and The Wedding Banquet won top prizes and garnered Lee modest funds to begin filming. During his search for a producer, Lee was approached by the founders of Good Machine (the company that would later be merged with USA Films to create Focus Features and continues to distribute for Lee) through whom he began his longstanding and fruitful partnership with James Schamus. Schamus has written or co-written all but three of Lee's films, a collaboration for which Lee is relieved: "I don't care about writing really. When I started out, nobody gave me scripts, so I had to write. . . That's why I wrote family drama - I'm a domestic person, it's all I know! Now I'm kind of established as a director, I much prefer directing to writing. Writing's lonely. Directing, I get all kinds of inspiration."

The Wedding Banquet (perhaps unintentionally) set something of a career trajectory for Lee. Despite becoming a household name for the stir he created with Brokeback Mountain's subject matter, it was this 1993 comedy about a gay New York couple that introduced his recurring theme of sexually charged identity crises. Eat Drink Man Woman (the film that inspired the Mexican-American remake Tortilla Soup for which Lee wrote the screenplay), Sense & Sensibility, and Lust, Caution all feature characters struggling to find themselves amidst cultural repression and sexual exploration. Beyond admitting his own sexual repression, Lee find himself uniquely suited to empathize with these "lost" characters. "I do have identity problems -- what is the deepest cultural root for me? All my life I've been a foreigner." Lee was also nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for The Wedding Banquet, a trend that has persisted well into his career -- his films have won a total of eight Oscars, twelve BAFTA's, and eight Golden Globes to date. 

In the midst of critical acclaim, Lee continually challenges himself to grow as a storyteller. Having read and loved  the Crane Precious Sword Crouching Iron Pentalogy (a series of five books often abbreviated as the "Crane-Iron Pentalogy"), Lee detected a filmable story in the fourth book, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  He optioned the novel in 1998 but never felt skilled or qualified enough as a director to tackle the ambitious subject matter. He continued to work for the next few years, directing in succession Sense & Sensibility, The Ice Storm, and Ride with the Devil, films that gave him experience with larger scope and action. "Going back after three major league productions, English-language films including one somewhat action film, I thought I was ready. I was, you know, tougher." 

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (a Chinese proverb meaning "talented or dangerous people hidden from view") follows Jen, a young woman who fakes her own death and vanishes into the desert with a horse and a legendary sword, the Green Destiny. Lee embraced the mythology of the sword, interpreting it as a feminine representation. He also wanted to create a romantic drama that wasn't "just a martial arts film" while using the fight sequences to act as "expressions of relationships." The film also subverted traditional Chinese expectations: "Usually with this genre the first thing that happens is a good fight sequence to show that you're in good hands. So we broke that rule. I think a lot of that comes from the western audience." Just like Lee himself, the film is neither western nor Chinese, yet succeeds in appealing to both.

2003's Hulk was Lee's first foray into mainstream Hollywood. He devoted three exhausting years to the film, choosing to approach the story with an emphasis on the strain of Banner's father-son dynamic. Though it underperformed at the box office, it was the first film that caused his father to approve of Lee's chosen profession. "He told me to just put on my helmet and keep on going." This sanction from his father inspired Lee to pare down his style and focus. He returned to the intimate storytelling of his early films and subsequently yielded the controversial 2005 masterpiece Brokeback Mountain. 

After completing Lust, Caution, Lee spent four grueling years adapting and shooting the "unfilmable" Life of Pi. Based on Yann Martel's prizewinning novel of the same name, the story follows the lifelong spiritual journey and 227-day-at-sea ordeal of Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel.  After growing up the son of a zookeeper in French-colonized Pondicherry, India (and named after a Parisian swimming pool), Pi, his family, and the animals begin a trans-pacific journey to Canada. Their Japanese freighter is sunk during a storm and Pi is stranded at sea on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, during which time he and the tiger must learn to co-exist and survive. 

Lee was challenged by nearly every aspect of the film: technical difficulties and shooting in 3D, the scope and location of the set pieces, the psychological and internal nature of the narrative, the need for a realistic CGI tiger, and finding the right actor to play Pi -- ultimately an inexperienced, 17-year-old Indian boy named Suraj Sharma -- all took their toll. Lee became a spiritual mentor to Sharma and the entire experience was very intense for cast and crew alike. Reports USA Today, "One of the crowning moments is the sinking of the cargo ship that starts Pi's journey. All told, the storm-filled scene took nearly 77 days to shoot." Upon completion of the massive production, Lee remarked, "I started to feel this aching in my bones. I didn't feel like celebrating, but I should have. Give everyone a big hug and smile. But nothing." The film is a technical marvel, the new benchmark for 3D filmmaking. But it also contains many of Lee's tried-and-true themes (self-acceptance, actualization, global awareness) while introducing a new one: spiritual discovery.  Life of Pi is expected to garner a Best Picture nomination at the 2013 Academy Awards. 

And Lee will be on to to the next adventure: "I'm not really good at time off. I'm a fortunate filmmaker. People send me stuff. Whatever gets me hooked, makes me feel like doing a movie, I just go do it. That will be the next one or two years of my life. Or, if it's like this case, it will be my next four years."

If you're familiar with Michael Haneke's other work, you know him to be an unflinching director of harsh, difficult films. From the trailer, Amour (literally, "love") looks to continue in that tradition though the tension here stems from emotional rather than visual unease. It offers a level of emotional insight that few -- Haneke included  -- have captured on film before. 

I have always been curious about stories that feature the aged: long-running, worn-in marriages; enduring love; and hard-earned experience are built into the narrative by necessity of time. Rather than the thin love stories of twenty-somethings beginning their lives we get compelling drama that doesn't strive to be dramatic. Anne and Georges are two eighty-somethings living in their flat -- their center of culture, music, and a shared lifetime. They are both retired music teachers who still enjoy life and one another until Anne has a stroke and begins a long mental and physical deterioration. 

Essentially, Amour is about the bond  between two people when one is seriously ill and the other must sacrifice, compromise, bargain, despair and (sometimes) hope alone. The trailer's strongest indications of the film's trajectory are the beginning alternating shots of the quiet apartment versus its later violent assault; and the gentle classical piano which ushers us through the scenes, then appears to be Anne playing, then is revealed to be a recording by which Georges remembers Anne. I don't quite understand much of what is happening between these strong bookends (except that the grief escalates when the couple's daughter comes home to see her ailing mother), but that is the genius of this film. Haneke uses the small apartment interior as both paradise and prison; he communicates the utter fear of seeing a loved one slip into the recesses of their mind only to emerge unpredictably; he takes us through this exceedingly simple, near-impossible task that Georges shoulders for love of Anne. 

If the trailer is splintered and oppressive in tone, it is because the film spares neither of these things as a method to demonstrate Georges' desperate campaign to just keep his wife. There is no neat ending with satisfying answers except those we must each find for ourselves in hardship. Yet, the film remains balanced and never becomes heavy handed -- just intimate. Amour is difficult, heartbreaking, and intelligent. It is as fierce as its heroine, and tender as its hero. This trailer (from the UK) succeeds in demonstrating why Amour won Haneke his 2nd Palme d'Or and why it will make waves during the upcoming awards season. See it in select theaters December 19th. 

I came to the Tarantino party late, to the extent that I saw Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Pulp Fiction and was let down. I mean they were good, but it was like an inside joke I didn't have the subtext or background to be able understand. There was irony, subtle cultural commentary, unforgettable characters, unique writing -- all things I love. Why was I so "eh" about it all? 

Fast forward about 5 years and I get it. No one does what Tarantino does. No one makes films with the incredible knowledge and respect for history that he does, and no one throws away the rule book and gets away with it like this man. Since 2007 he had wanted to do a film about slavery, but not as an "issue" movie. "I want[ed] to do them like they're genre films, but they deal with everything that America has never dealt with because it's ashamed of it, and other countries don't really deal with because they don't feel they have the right to." Django Unchained is the unofficial second entry in a "trilogy" that was started with Inglorious Basterds, and will finish with an as-yet-undetermined film by continuing the tradition of justice being served in unconventional ways. 

Django is funny. Many of the critics who saw its early footage and trailer at Cannes this year were surprised, because isn't this a violent, bloody, revenge film about a slave in the pre-Civil War south? Yes. But this is also Tarantino, whose unselfconscious sense of humor serves the story well because it lets White folks enter Django's world without guilt or worry, and Black folks claim Django's triumphs as their own. He is the hero of his own story: he teaches himself to read; he learns how to shoot a gun with deadly accuracy; and he begins to believe in his own value despite society's opinion of him. 

As the trailer starts the music is appropriately somber, but then Christopher Waltz emerges from the woods (with a giant, wobbly tooth mounted to the top of his stagecoach?) and politely "in-KWIRE"s about the whereabouts of Django. But isn't a white man giving Django his freedom? Doesn't it insult his humanity? The trailer doesn't let us dwell on the "issue" of it all because there's Django, throwing off the heavy symbolic blanket of slavery and -- spaghetti western style -- taking control of his situation as a respected equal of the bounty hunter Schultz. 

Besides experiencing the main story's driving purpose -- rescuing Django's wife Broomhilda once the Brittle Brothers have been located -- I just want to go on this ride. How does Django come to be wearing that heinous blue suit? Why is Leo so excited, and is he allowed to be having that much fun as a despicable, rotten-toothed plantation owner? Why is Jonah Hill in the credits? So many questions. 

If you're interested to know more about the story before its December 25th release, check out the ScriptShadow review that gave it a rare "genius" rating (spoilers, obviously).

And how much fun is this trailer?

This score holds the distinction of being the first that got me to see its film by musical merit alone. Back in 2010 after the film had been in theaters for a week or so, I wasn't particularly grabbed by the trailers (which made it look like usual DreamWorks Animation fare, of which I'm not a huge fan). I started to hear buzz about how great it was, but a lot of people raved about Shrek and you can ask anyone -- Shrek's particular brand of humor is not my cup of tea. BUT, then I listened to streaming samples of two songs, "Test Drive" and "Romantic Flight," and I wanted to see the sequences that went with those songs. 

This is John Powell's first stand-alone score (for which he was nominated for an Academy Award) after collaborating  previously with Hans Zimmer and Harry Gregson-Williams through Zimmer's film score company Remote Control Productions. Powell and Gregson-Williams (The Chronicles of Narnia, Prometheus) are arguably the two most successful artists to emerge from the company, though Klaus Badelt (Pirates of the Caribbean), Steve Jablonsky (Transformers franchise), Trevor Rabin (Remember the Titans), and Ramin Djawadi (Game of Thrones, Iron Man) are all prolific and sought-after as well. Powell has scored numerous animated features through the years, including Kung Fu Panda, Chicken Run, Antz, Shrek, and Bolt. 

Dragon, however, is his most accomplished work to date. Its use of traditional Scottish instrumentation (even though the story is not set in Scotland?) and a full orchestra are rousing and emotional, creating a flawless narrative structure. The film has Vikings, dragons, quiet moments, emotional tension between father and son, and (literal) soaring moments of triumph. Powell makes use of it all. The theme that forms the backbone of track 1 ("This is Berk") reappears in various incarnations throughout -- building tension in "Downed Dragon," sped up and urgent in "Dragon Training," mystical and majestic in "Wounded,"and paying off with energetic depth and affection in "Test Drive."  And we've only reached track 11 (of 24!). Three other themes are present which all play well off one another, culminating in the battle pieces which are the score's only real weak spot: technically proficient but overwhelming, they may be too much "noise" for the listener. Powell would have benefitted from implementing slightly more restraint in his orchestration; this section of the score is relentlessly tense (though it mirrors the movie's action) and loses some of the previous intricacy that marks the more excellent tracks. However, Powell relieves the assault with a deep choir and lone piano softy reprising the main theme, before escorting us by strings and pan flute into rousing drums over a full orchestra (utilized to perfection this time). His strength is pacing -- knowing when to switch gears and give respite from the more intense sequences -- which is something the movie cues very well. The result is a musically and emotionally mature ride that satisfies whether or not you've seen the film. But I promise, it will make you want to. 

To paraphrase another reviewer, this is the soundtrack Avatar wished it had. 

1. "This Is Berk"  (4:10)
2. "Dragon Battle"  (1:54)
3. "The Downed Dragon"  (4:16)
4. "Dragon Training"  (3:10)
5. "Wounded"  (1:25)
6. "The Dragon Book"  (2:22)
7. "Focus, Hiccup!"  (2:05)
8. "Forbidden Friendship"  (4:10)
9. "New Tail"  (2:47)
10. "See You Tomorrow"  (3:53)
11. "Test Drive"  (2:36)
12. "Not So Fireproof"  (1:12)
13. "This Time For Sure"  (0:43)
14. "Astrid Goes For A Spin"  (0:43)
15. "Romantic Flight"  (1:56)
16. "Dragon's Den"  (2:29)
17. "The Cove"  (1:10)
18. "The Kill Ring"  (4:28)
19. "Ready The Ships"  (5:13)
20. "Battling The Green Death"  (6:18)
21. "Counter Attack"  (3:05)
22. "Where's Hiccup?"  (2:43)
23. "Coming Back Around"  (2:51)
24. "Sticks & Stones" (Written and performed by Jónsi; 4:17)
25. "The Vikings Have Their Tea" (2:03)

The late 90's -- '98 and '99 specifically -- saw something of a resurgence in feature length animation. Sure, Disney/Pixar was dominating the field with A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Tarzan, and Mulan, but DreamWorks and Warner Brothers' animation studios were playing for keeps when they released The Prince of Egypt and The Iron Giant, respectively. The latter of the two was seen by almost no one due to a bungled promotional campaign on the part of Warner Brothers ("We did not have a fast-food component," as it was explained to the New York Times) which they knew would cause the film to underperform but didn't have a recourse to remedy it. So, amidst department restructuring and a lack-of-producer, Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol) was given uncommon creative freedom to write and direct what has gone on to be considered one of the best animated films of all time. The Iron Giant's box office failure was not for lack of love. 

The film centers on 9-year-old Hogarth (Eli Marienthal) a loner kid who has no trouble passing time in the coastal town of Rockwell, Maine, as imaginative boys do. He and his mother (a war widow, voiced by Jennifer Aniston) live a quiet, private life together in 1957 until a giant iron "man" falls from the sky and Hogarth adopts him as his friend; he knows that the giant needs to remain a secret and hides him in his mother's barn. The giant, you see, is a weapon, though rendered inert via a dent on his head. In a heartfelt scene about identity, Hogarth reads comics-as-bedtime stories to the giant; he likes "Su-per-man" but becomes distressed when he sees a cover featuring a violent robot. Hogarth's earnest reassurance -- " you can be who you choose to be" -- becomes the emotional touchstone of the film, even echoing through supporting characters like Mansley (Christopher McDonald) and Dean (Harry Connick, Jr. in my favorite thing he has ever done). 

Neither Mansley nor Dean existed in the book the film is based on, The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. I haven't read the book, but the film's narrative benefitted from their inclusion so much that I cannot imagine the story without them. Hogarth's unlikely friendship with Dean -- a beatnik metal-working artist whose "live and let live" philosophies contrast nicely with the unrelenting tension of the outside world -- provides emotional respite for our heroes and the audience alike. After a reluctant start to their relationship, the pair find a rhythm of easy understanding that illustrates people's ability to connect through shared values despite being very different in all other respects. Housing the giant in Dean's junk yard lent itself to comedic moments as well as some of the best character development of the story; it is here that The Iron Giant's intelligence shines. Through Dean and Hogarth's interactions, mutual trust and respect push them both to make braver choices than would make on their own. Mansley, on the other hand, is Hogarth's immediate enemy: driven, singular, and reckless in his desire to "protect America at all costs." He sees people in black and white terms; forgets the possibility of innocence; has forgotten his own boyhood. Yet, Mansley is not the villain; he is a representation of what happens when people allow themselves to be primarily motivated by fear. 

About the Cold War setting Roger Ebert commented, "The movie is set in the 1950s because that's the decade when science fiction seemed most preoccupied with nuclear holocaust and invaders from outer space." The heightened sense of paranoia that was so pervasive at the time is the true villain of the film: unseen, lurking, oppressive. From classroom bomb shelter drills to Russia's Sputnik orbiting overhead, each individual citizen was acutely aware that times were tenuous at best. It was not unreasonable to be afraid. The emotional climax of the story, however, insists that peace is the harder, better goal; and as we see through Mansley's desperate actions, warfare is the coward's realm. 

Is this a kid's movie? Yes. It has enough charm and relatability in Hogarth that kids will not feel condescended to; there are plenty of visual gags and impressive action sequences; and the giant himself -- well... he's pretty cool. 

But is this just a kid's movie? Not at all. Refreshing stillness emanates from the straight-narrative format (versus musical numbers and splashy CGI animation). At one point in the film, Hogarth "suits up" with his army helmet and BB gun, ready to serve his country, and salutes himself in the mirror with all the intensity of a decorated vet; but he is just a boy with no concept of warfare. Despite it claiming his father's life, Hogarth still wholeheartedly emulates  his country. The contrast of boyhood hero idolization with messy real-world politics is simply irrelevant when faced with Hogarth's determination, and it is this kind of understated moment that elevates The Iron Giant beyond typical animated fare. Brad Bird and Tim McCanlies were prescient with their message that global community may trump old-fashioned nationalism, but it doesn't have to be at the expense of patriotism. The message continues to be poignant in our post-9/11 world -- a fact which might explain the film's cult status. 

Or, it could just be that good.  

You may have seen PES videos on YouTube before -- stop motion short films usually involving food and clever uses of everyday objects to create plays on words. "Human Skateboard," "Western Spaghetti," and his inventive Coinstar commercials are just a few examples of PES' whimsical and inspired work. The shorts are made by one man, Adam Pesapane, a commercial and film director whose work has also been featured at film festivals internationally. "Fresh Guacamole" was included in Showtime's Short Stories web feature -- a minimal, classy attempt to connect with the YouTube generation -- and it was just shortlisted for the Animated Short Film Oscar. 

Watching the style evolution over the years, you can see that the shots get crisper, brighter, and more fluid (almost to the point that the "stop" of stop motion isn't even noticed). "Fresh Guacamole" displays refined technical skill along with PES' usual sense of humor (diced onions, anyone?). My favorite part of this video, however, is the rich soundscape that brings the images to life. Watch it once, then play it in the background while just listening to the slices and crunches and whacks (especially enjoyable if you're ASMR). Just like being in mom's kitchen, no?

Check out the rest of PES' work at his YouTube channel.

The things that Ben Affleck is famous for don't make sense in the larger context of his work. Tabloid fodder? Gigli? Sappy romantic war movies and cheesy action flicks? How does someone who majored in Middle Eastern studies and co-wrote the Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting (at the tender age of 25) end up choosing such misguided projects? 

In a way, it doesn't matter. Affleck turned 40 this year and welcomed his third child and first son, Samuel. He often speaks of wife Jennifer (Garner) fondly in interviews, clearly grounded by the relationship and her presence in his life. They were married after 9 months of dating that began on the set of Daredevil, and it may or may not be coincidence that his directing career began just 2 years later with Gone Baby Gone. 

Based on the novel by Denis Lehane (Mystic River, Shutter Island), Gone Baby Gone is the story of two investigators who are hired to supplement a police investigation after a 4-year-old girl goes missing in Boston.  About the story itself, Affleck said, "I picked it really kind of foolishly first of all because I really liked it and because I also thought, 'You know, I’m not that good at writing plot. I don’t really want to write an original story. I’ll find something that has a story architecture that I can fall back on...  and I can work on character and dialog which I feel more confident about.'" He knew that the film was pivotal for his career at the time, and attacked it with guidance from Kevin Smith and by looking to other actor/directors such as Clint Eastwood and Kevin Costner. He had the unique experience of working with his brother, Casey Affleck, as the lead of the film. They challenged one another which is a lesson that Ben took with him into other directing gigs. "The worst mistakes I’ve made creatively have been when I’ve just always agreed."

His confidence grew from the experience and earned him a lot of respect as Gone Baby Gone garnered awards and spots on many top-10 lists in 2007. Rather than jumping into another project however (which would have been easy with all of the directing offers he received), he focused on his family life -- a practice which has carried into his life today. "I'm acting a lot less. And when I have the time, I think, 'It has to be a really good part, it has to be a director I want to work with.' My life's different now... I have my family. I have philanthropic work that means a lot to me. So I've definitely turned down some things. Not because I suddenly have such great taste but . . . maturity, I guess. The kinds of movies that used to appeal to me don't necessarily appeal to me anymore." 

Nothing caught his attention until 2009 when the novel Prince of Thieves was adapted into The Town. It was immediately anticipated by critics; not only was Affleck set to direct and co-write (again with Aaron Stockard), he would also star in the story set in Boston, marking the third film of his career featuring his hometown. This film featured leaner scenes and slicker dialogue, benefitting overall from Affleck's solidifying directorial voice. It stumbled narratively as a result of some bigger risks taken, but not to the extent that the story became unbelievable; ultimately, it was the characters that kept its forward momentum. Jeremy Renner was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role. 

Amidst the work itself, Affleck has pushed himself to keep learning. "I felt like the more educated actor is a better actor, the more educated actor is a better director, and so on." He has immersed himself in film history, working his way through 1000 Films to See Before You Die and pulling inspiration from seventies films ("My favorite era in American filmmaking. To me, those were the great years") than any other period. The Town drew many comparisons to The Friends of Eddie Coyle (which he would take as a complement) ; "The Verdict was the poster I had on the wall during Gone, Baby, Gone." 

Affleck's background with Middle Eastern history paid off when he began to approach the storytelling process for Argo (the opening narrative scene of which was not in the original script and was written by Affleck himself). Argo succeeds in its ability to sympathize with Iranians as well as Americans and Canadians during the hostage crisis, being very sure to depict only extremists as villains, not ordinary Iranian citizens; subsequently, the film has a specific political message that is almost an afterthought, yet powerful enough to drive the point home. It is here that Affleck shows his comfort on set behind a camera -- driving the narrative, setting the tone -- where he has truly grown into a self-possessed director. 

With his next couple of projects lined up (including a rejoinder with lifelong pal Matt Damon and an adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand), we'll be seeing plenty more of Affleck's directorial efforts; and keep an eye out for Argo at awards ceremonies this winter. Argo is still in theaters nationwide. 

Back in September, I started hearing bits and pieces about this French fantasy film called Holy Motors. Just from the name, I associated it with Holy Rollers, the all-girl roller derby team in Drew Barrymore's Whip It from a few years back. This film, of course, has nothing to do with roller derby, except that it shares the tone of a dark comedy and features weird characters who thrive in the underbelly of life, doing things on their own terms. Also, humor. 

Written and directed by Leos Carax, it stars Denis Lavant as a man who plays different roles (the details regarding which are better left unspoiled), showing the audience a series of curious vignettes, costumes, and improbable situations. It received wild applause and awards on the festival circuit, review after rave review popping up on blogs for weeks, yet no one except the reviewers had any idea what it was about. Now we have a trailer and a pretty good idea of what the film does so well: the weird, the uncomfortable, the satirical. Is that... Kylie Minogue? And Eva Mendes is in this? Does she even speak French (from the trailer, it looks like her character gazes enigmatically rather than uses words)? Why is there a giant dog stalking a movie theater?

But I'm hooked. I love the pseudo-neon lettering that appears from behind objects on screen, the camera trickery, the obvious commentary on theatrics and modern media, and the sudden switch from romantic period music to a rollicking anthem by KONGOS that speaks of going on a journey to rid oneself of the false or manufactured ("Confused what I thought with something I felt/Confuse what I feel with something that's real/I tried to sell my soul last night/Funny, he wouldn't even take a bite.").

This teases at cinema at its best: pure art that demands respect while not alienating its audience. 

What do you think; will you see Holy Motors based on this trailer? 

I apologize for the choppy posting non-schedule lately. I am from a shore town in New Jersey, and Sandy has pulled my attention elsewhere as I've been following news, relief efforts, and been in contact with friends and family from the area (everyone is safe, though displaced to varying degrees). Expect a return to normalcy after the weekend; until then, I'll post as I can. If you also have suffered loss from this disaster, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

In the mean time, SAB Lost Films is screening Beasts of the Southern Wild this weekend. This film follows 6-year-old Hushpuppy and her father, Wink, in a Louisiana community called the Bathtub; as a storm approaches, Wink imparts survival knowledge to Hushpuppy and she struggles with the guilt that she caused the flooding of the bayou through an impulsive wish. It's a beautiful narrative story with a powerful ending that will stay with you for a very long time. 

The connection to the flood was completely unintentional; however, given the theme and timing, all proceeds from ticket and concessions sales will be donated to relief efforts in NY and NJ, where many students call home. Additionally, the Friday 9:30PM showing will feature a 30-minute Q&A with producer Michael Gottwald at the conclusion of the film. All are welcome to attend this unique experience!

We hope to see you this weekend at Parmer.