Russian Ark: Complete and Utter Masterpiece of World Cinema

Alexander Sokurov’s Russian Ark is quite simply, the most technically impressive film in the history of cinema. This movie is a beautiful tour of the Hermitage museum (which was previously the Winter Palace during Czarist times, a running theme in Russian Ark) in St. Petersburg with a wistful ghost and a 19th Century French Marquis as your tour guides. The costumes and lighting are magnificent and the overall atmosphere is at once gorgeous, spooky, and mysterious, much like Mother Russia herself.

Oh, did I mention that the entire film was shot IN ONE CONTINUOUS TAKE? 96 glorious minutes were painstakingly sketched out and filmed as one long camera sequence (with three unsuccessful run-throughs captured before a fourth take was pulled-off without a hitch). The logistics involved in the making of Russian Ark are absolutely mind-blowing—it is truly a masterpiece and serves as a work of art just as important and timeless as the paintings that hang in the background of the film.

The entire movie is available on YouTube (albeit divided into ten or so clips, not the most ideal way of viewing Russian Ark). Here is Part 1, with the following Parts easily attainable…

In the Loop: US/UK Policy Wonks Find Themselves in The Thick of It

Armando Iannucci’s feature-film debut is a biting political satire that serves as a companion piece to The Thick of It, Iannucci’s highly acclaimed BBC television show about the behind-the-scenes machinations of British Parliament. In the Loop uses the political-suicide statement “war is unforseeable” as a jumping-off point for increasingly heated relations between US and UK governments. The phrase is uttered by MP Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) who is immediately ripped a new one by the profane-laden Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi reprising his role from The Thick of It), the Prime Minister’s closest confidant and enforcer of the party-line. Hollander is superb as the hapless Foster—his comedic timing and ability to conjure pathos are amazing.

Underpaid and overworked aides try their hand at power plays, Washington stalwarts practice dirty politics, and oh yeah, human lives hang in the balance of the decisions of bitter, manipulative government officials. James Gandolfini is great as a flip-flopping Lt. General and while somewhat thuggish, nothing at all like the iconic character he desperately needs to separate himself from. In the Loop can, at times, suffer from the weight of its own cleverness, but overall, it’s a well-written, wonderfully acted piece of political parody/satire. The movie was recently released on DVD in the US.

NOTE: If British/American alliances are at all of interest to you, visit Good Teeth, Bad Teeth, a joint-venture between yours truly and NewsBag, the UK’s best (and most brilliant) source of media-based satire.

Laurent Cantet’s Trinity of Humanism

There is no director living today who depicts everyday people and situations (i.e. life) with more humanity and grace than Laurent Cantet. The French auteur may not have a multitude of films to his name but what he lacks in prolificness (a completely overrated artistic trait), he makes up for in merit. Cantet’s oeuvre includes three movies that are modern cinematic classics, yet not widely known outside of art-house circles. The films are: Human Resources (Ressources humaines, 1999), Time Out (L’Emploi du temps, 2001) and The Class (Entre les murs, 2008).

Criteria for appreciating Cantet’s masterpieces: You must be a human being capable of giving a shit about other human beings and the manner in which they are portrayed on film. If you don’t meet this criteria, then please deposit yourself at the local multiplex and enjoy whichever Michael Bay/James Cameron/Brett Ratner movie happens to be showing that day.

Saturday Night Cinema: Dementia 13

Juice up the laptop, hop in your jammies, and fluff the pillows—-it’s time for Saturday Night Cinema!

Dementia 13 (1963) is a B-movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Roger Corman. Capitalizing on leftover budget and location from Corman’s The Young Racers, Dementia 13 takes place at an Irish castle, which serves as the movie’s most memorable character as it provides plenty of creepy, haunted atmosphere throughout the movie. The plot is secondary to the mood in Dementia 13, so leave your thinking caps off, kick back, and enjoy.

Watch Dementia 13 in its entirety here

NOTE:  This blog has an outstanding write-up on Dementia 13 and is a fine read all-around. Also, TWIRFMR stole the above screenshot from the very same blog.

Saturday Night Cinema: Fritz Lang’s M

Juice up the laptop, hop in your jammies, and fluff the pillows—-it’s time for Saturday Night Cinema!

M is a classic German thriller written and directed by Fritz Lang. M’s original German title, Eine Stadt Sucht Einen Mörder (A City Looks for a Murderer) was shortened to M (as in “murderer”) for English speaking audiences. Peter Lorre is brilliant as the disturbed child killer Hans Beckert and the film itself is as dark as it is engrossing.

Saturday Night Cinema: Spaced

Juice up the laptop, hop in your jammies, and fluff the pillows—-it’s time for Saturday Night Cinema!

Welcome to TWIRFMR’s newest feature, Saturday Night Cinema. Our first entry is actually a TV show, but it’s cinematic enough to qualify as film. Five years prior to Shaun of the Dead, Simon Pegg created and starred in a British television show called Spaced. If you like the look and feel and of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz (and if you don’t, what’s wrong with you?), you’ll be sure to appreciate Spaced, as it shares the same director as those two films (Edgar Wright). Both seasons of Spaced are legally available in their entirety here. To get you started, here’s Episode 1 in all its non-embeddable glory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHc0VDdhXVQ

BONUS PEGG: Pegg was a cast member and writer for Big Train, a sketch comedy show that aired in the UK from 1998-2002. The sketches were hit and miss, but this one definitely delivers.

The Anti-Clooney Has Risen

From the Los Angeles Times:

“There’s a flurry of news on the film blogs today about “Moon” director Duncan Jones’ Twitter posts (sorry, tweets) regarding U.S. distributor Sony’s reluctance to send out screeners of his quirky indie to Academy screeners, which would hobble the pic’s chances with voters. According to Jones, Sony balked because the film is not currently available on DVD in the U.S. and the company would be required to send out watermarked copies to combat piracy….it doesn’t seem like Sony plans to change its mind any time soon, and alternate plans, like Academy screenings in New York and Los Angeles (as suggested by writer Neil Gaiman) have fallen on deaf ears.”

In short, Sam Rockwell, who is nothing short of incredible in Moon, is ineligible for an Oscar nomination. Meanwhile George Clooney, incapable of playing anybody other than variations of George Clooney, is a  total shoe-in. Unfuckingbelievable.

It’s Elementary My Dear Watson, This Movie Stinks

Here’s what worked:  (1) terrific dynamic between Robert Downey Jr. (Holmes) and Jude Law (Watson) (2) Guy Ritchie’s trademark style creates an interesting visual contrast between turn-of-the-century London and modern aesthetics.

Everything else about this movie disappoints. Most unforgivable is the “mystery” Holmes and Watson are attempting to solve—a tired rehashing of the old nefarious-secret-society storyline with some very B-movie (and not in a good way) “black magic” elements. Ritchie is usually great with British baddies however, Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) is one of the most uninteresting movie villains in recent memory. There is absolutely no chemistry between Rachel McAdams (Irene Adler) and Downey Jr., not to mention that McAdams character is poorly developed. An hour into the film, foots were tapping, watches consulted, and grocery lists mentally compiled.

No, this isn’t your grandma’s Sherlock Holmes. But you just may wish it were.

If You See Only One Tarkovsky Movie…

…please make sure it’s Stalker. This is Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky’s most effective portrayal of a Tarkovskian hallmark: science fiction as natural realism. Stalker is not special effects dependant science fiction, or glorified outer-space soap opera science fiction, and it is certainly not fast-food tie-in science fiction. Rather, Stalker is meditative (i.e. its pacing is rather slow, but deliberately so). With all Tarkovsky films, patience is a virtue—if the viewer can handle the pace, they will be rewarded with a level of cinematic atmosphere that is rarely achieved in contemporary filmmaking.

Interested? Great! The entire movie is available as a streaming file:

Ready for more Tarkovsky? Try Solaris (ignore super-hack Steven Soderbergh’s 2002 remake), and The Sacrifice.

The Larry Mullen Jr. Awards: Daniel Day-Lewis

The Larry Mullen Jr. Awards are presented by TWIRFMR to recognize excellence in aging.

…and the Larry goes to….Daniel Day-Lewis! Daniel Day-Lewis, 52, is a method actor’s method actor. He is also a two-time oscar winner; once, for the above mentioned My Left Foot and again for his fucking astonishing portrayal of Daniel Plainview in director P.T. Anderson’ s instant classic, There Will be Blood. Completely uninterested in the Hollywood machine, DDL is a soft-spoken Englishman who rarely grants interviews and is famously rumored to have worked as a cobbler in Italy during a five-year hiatus from the industry.

Congrats to Mr. Day-Lewis…..Lookin’ good!