Blog on hiatus due to move...
Mood:  rushed
This blog was just an experiment in getting used to the blog format. I'm a newbie. I'll bet you could tell.

I'm in the process of moving and need to take a break. When I come up for air again, I'll probably move this blog to another server where I have more control over the design.

I'll email you and let you know when I resume!

XOXO,
Anna

bring on the Ben & Jerry's . . .
VIDEO RECOMMENDATIONS
(Shortlisted specifically for JB, who shares my admiration for Jaoui, a brilliant French writer/director.)

Notes: This list is a hodge-podge of recent video/DVD releases and older, classic, and foreign films in all genres.
I'm purposefully leaving off more mainstream fare. I prefer to give attention to smaller films with little marketing/advertising clout. My remarks are just disposable, spontaneous, ungrammatical, eccentrically punctuated, and opinionated comments meant to be a wee bit helpful. This is just a personal list of movies I like.
I hope you find something from the list that speaks to you.

Key:
LOL = Laugh out loud funny.
CF = Child Friendly. The children might be bored, but it won't traumatize or embarrass them (or you).
GP = Guilty pleasure. Waste of time, but better than booze for vegging. Good flick for multi-tasking.
*** = Excellent, contains some nutritional value.
**** = Stellar, pure genius. Worthy of repeated viewings.

(I don't acknowledge the existence of * and ** movies.)

Some of My Favorite Movies:
? 24 Hour Party People (**** BRILLIANT!!! The narrative style is a post-modern free for all. Goes beyond being merely a mockumentary. Although film is based on a true story, it's fanciful myth making that doesn't take itself or the subject too seriously. Very arch and witty at times and sometimes crudely funny. I can't stop watching this film. Michael Winterbottom is one of my fave directors working today.) ~ LOL
? Talk to Her (**** Pedro Almodovar, director. How can such a twisted and sad story be so beautiful and romantic and humane? Improbable male bonding picture, but it works. Gorgeous cinematography. The writer character's voice is lovely. Swoon.)
? Y Tu Mama Tambien (**** Loved the documentary, handheld home-movie look of the film and the wistful, melancholy tone of the voiceover. Raucous, picaresque road movie at the surface. At the heart, it's a truly grave film. Class, coming of age, friendship, society, aging and mortality, sex, infidelity, homoeroticism--this film doesn't shy away from difficult subjects. Some of the banter can be funny, but the film kicks you in the teeth at the end.)
? Autumn Tale (**** Eric Rohmer directed. Perfectly drawn characters. Touching mid-life love story. One of my favorite Rohmer films, if not my top pick. I remember so many scenes vividly. Beautiful and rings true emotionally.) ~ CF
? Truly, Madly, Deeply (**** Alan Rickman, Juliet Stevenson, cellos, Bach, Neruda, social-activism, London, what more could I want?! This film is a veritable list of My Favorite Things. The thinking person's "Ghost," it's full of smart and amusing dialogue that still sounds natural and unforced. Hollywood and the current crop of sitcomish, tone-deaf playwrights everywhere should listen and learn. Everyone is loveable, including most of the secondary characters (including dead boyfriend's ghost-posse). It's one of my all-time favorite films. It's romantic and life-affirming.) ~ CF
? 7 Up (**** An excellent documentary series which follows the lives of a group of children from the age of seven. Other films (14 Up, 21 Up, 28 Up, 35 Up) revisit them periodically. Ahem, every 7 years! It's touching to see their lives unfold. One thinks about determinism and free-will. Some of their lives are fairly predictable. Of course, some are very surprising. It's amazing to see the seeds of their eventual lives and adult character in their 7 year-old personas. ~ CF
? In America (*** Lovely performances from the children. Beautifully written and filmed, if a touch sentimental. Just steers clear of being maudlin. One small gripe--film employs the well-worn clich? of the spiritual and wise black man. Hackneyed trope, so no surprises in his character and/or plot-turn despite the fabulous actor. If you cry at movies, you will with this one. The Landmark Theater at the Embarcadero, SF, was filled with the sound of muffled sobbing when I saw it. Did I sniffle? B slapped me hard and yelled, "Get a grip!" as the lights came up.)
? Winged Migration (*** Birds, birds, and more birds. Achingly beautiful cinematography. Some distressing scenes of injured and dying birds. Look away if you must, I did. Mostly I blissed out from the luxury of escaping inane Hollywood dialogue; there's only the honking of Canadian geese. I'll never eat Christmas goose ever again. Note to self--learn to fly an ultralight.) ~ CF, with reservations. As a child, I was haunted by wounded birds in the movies.
? Triplets of Belleville (*** Anti-Disney, anti-Pixar, completely original oddity. Very French. There is no dialogue, just very unusual music. There are some hauntingly beautiful images. It's also a sly little satire, funny and charming.) ~ CF
? Dirty, Pretty Things (*** It's official. I'm in love with Stephen Frears, the director. He's a mensch, truly a big-hearted man. This is an excellent thriller that takes place in the marginal lives of immigrants in London. Reminded me a bit of "The Third Man," and Frears sheepishly admitted that the classic film was indeed a source of inspiration. Excellent choice for a model. In the noirish world of London's underbelly, life is cheap. A dignified and brave African doctor risks the life of his roommate and himself to stop the powerful from preying on the weak. Conventional Hollywood structure and story, but the actors and direction are amazing.)
? Impromptu (*** Scary, cross-dressing George Sand (wonderfully played by Judy Davis) woos, nay stalks, retiring, sickly, effete Chopin (Hugh Grant when his stammering schtick was fresh). Lots of ensemble comedy from their artistic clique. Excellent period dramedy. The pathos is earned and the laughs are loud, loud that is for a period costume type of film. Amazing cast. Merchant Ivory would have made this precious and twee, but this crew makes it irreverent, naturalistic, and yet still lush and romantic. Oh, and I loved Julian Sands as Liszt. A must see.) ~ LOL
? The Closet (*** I have a weakness for French farce. This film is at its core steeped in classic French bedroom farce, but it's a satire as well that attacks society's homophobia. Some bits are predictable, but you'll giggle anyway. Depardieu is a panic. Auteuil is understated and yet perfect. He doesn't act overtly gay; people just perceive him as different when he's outted, and respond accordingly.) ~ LOL
? The Winslow Boy (*** I can't remember if David Mamet wrote or directed this veddy, veddy English film. Perhaps it was both. The dialogue doesn't sound like a typical Mamet script, but then again the subject isn't typical Mamet fare. I like Mamet, but his usual ceaseless onslaught of hardboiled dialogue can be exhausting. This quiet and thoughtful film has moments of heroism that is scaled to real people, real life. The character of the bluestocking older sister is especially interesting.) ~ CF
? Code Unknown (*** This film can be excruciatingly painful to watch at times. Michael Haneke, the director, has a way of shooting that seems to erase the presence of the camera. It seems like all the scenes are unfolding in real-time and real-space. It's a given most movies aim for the illusion of real life, but most movies have a glossy, unrealistic sheen to them--and don't get me started on editing conventions. With most films, you always know you are watching a movie--it's entirely fictional. Not with Code Unknown. This feels like a documentary that depicts the many different strata of Parisian society jostling against each other. The tension is palpable. The viewer has to meet the film more than half way and work to get the story and connect with the characters. There's no spoonfeeding in this pic. Haneke holds master shots longer than anyone else I can think of. The horrible but emotionally powerful subway scene is brilliantly staged. I almost chewed my fingernails down to the quick.)
? The Daytrippers (*** The story is kind of clich?d and predictable. Nothing new here--just marital discord and bickering annoying families. The family members all pile into a station wagon to look for older sister's cheatin' husband. It's a quirky little road trip movie from hell that ends on a resigned feel-good note and a hug. What really makes this film wonderful is the skillful directing and the stellar cast (Hope Davis, Stanley Tucci, Ann Meara (wife of Jerry Stiller and mother of Ben Stiller--her shrill voice in this film made me want to drink arsenic), Parker Posey, and Liev Schreiber.) The actors are all amazing, but Liev Schreiber playing an adorable hipster dork really made this movie for me. He had some excellent monologues. Also, I like the shaggy, low-budget, resourceful indie scrappiness.)

"Green: An Epistle"
~ an excerpt, by Anthony Hecht


Here is the microscope one had as a child,
The Christmas gift of some forgotten uncle.
Here is the slide with a drop of cider vinegar
As clear as gin, clear as your early mind.
Look down, being most careful not to see
Your own eye in the mirror underneath,
Which will appear, unless your view is right,
As a darkness on the face of the first waters.
When all is silvery and brilliant, look:
The long, thin, darting shapes, the flagellates,
Rat-tailed, ambitious, lash themselves along --
Those humble, floating ones, those simple cells
Content to be borne on whatever tide,
Trustful, the very image of consent --
These are the frail, unlikely origins,
Scarcely perceived, of all you shall become.