MIFF Blogathon: Day 1 (Kings of Comedy, Depressed Planets and 1950s Melbourne)

This blogathon is an initiative of MIFF for their 60th anniversary year. I am one of six bloggers given the mission of seeing 60 films in 17 days and writing, reporting, reviewing and wrangling my way through the tiredness and hunger to bring the festival experience to your computer.

The King of Comedy
Dir. Martin Scorsese
Running Time: 109mins

Amidst the 250+ feature films at MIFF is a series of retrospective titles from throughout the 60 year history of the festival. It was, perhaps, fitting to start my festival with one I had already seen and loved since it's always great to get a festival off to a good start. Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy may seem like a curious title to screen, but watching it again and it makes perfect sense. This brutal satire on celebrity is as pertinent today as it surely was in 1983 when originally released and remains one of Scorsese's finest works. In fact, I rank it just below Taxi Driver as his best film, so you know I liked it a lot!

That screenplay by Paul Zimmerman - a BAFTA winner for Best Original Screenplay, one of only a few award season wins, further cementing its reputation as a under-cherished gem - is truly a thing of beauty, filled with so many barbs, awkwardness and genius exchanges. It's shocking to realise that Zimmerman would only go on to write one other screenplay (the 1988 Giles Foster comedy Consuming Passions).


Of course, a large part of this film's success rests with the cast. While Jerry Lewis and Diahnne Abbott are wonderful, for me it's all about Robert DeNiro and Sandra Bernhard. DeNiro's Rupert Pupkin is such an uncomfortably character to be around, and yet his goofy innocence remains charming. Even once he's well and truly fallen off the deep end I can't help but still be entertained by him. It's this tricky skill that makes this one of DeNiro's very best performances. Who can't laugh at the whingeing exchanges between Pupkin and his off screen mother? And Sandra Bernhard... Sandra Bernhard! Her borderline insane performance as stalker Masha is one of my all time favourite performances. It's my understanding that a lot of her part was improvised, with her brand of comedy did not endearing Bernhard to co-star Jerry Lewis, but it's exactly this tension that makes those final scenes as well as they do. Such a rich and rewarding film. Isn't it about time this film was finally raised to classic status like Taxi Driver or Raging Bull? A

Melbourne Shorts (Program 1)
Dir. Various
Running Time: 69mins

This collection of six short films were introduced to the sold out crowd as being a way of exploring Melbourne's past on this 60th anniversary of the festival. What we got was a bit of a mixed bag. Beginning with Darrel Wardle's's weird is-it-a-pisstake-or-not The American (10mins) from 1959, which proposed to look at the ways America's superior manufacturing and invention has changed other cities across the world. It was followed by Douglas White's 1966 dialogue free Life in Australia: Melbourne (19mins), which followed the casual comings and goings of Melburnians as they do everything from go to work, purchase TV Week and go see William Castle's The Busy Body.

By far the corniest of the lot was Melbourne Wedding Belle (10mins), a curiously wannabe technicolour short about various members of a bridal party making there way to the wedding. Colin Dean's short had most of the dialogue narrated and written in a rhyming fashion as if they're lyrics. It was good for a few laughs at how completely silly the whole thing was, especially the strand about the old lady who just needed a new pillbox hat. The final short was David Greig's Sunday in Melbourne (19mins), an incredibly tedious exploration of - you guessed it - Sunday in Melbourne. It's by far too long and generally quite pointless, using the advantages of a short film structure to no effective use whatsoever. Although it does work as a compare and contrast piece if you look at the differences between a Sunday in Melbourne in 1958 and 2011. Perhaps knowing its shortcomings full well, the pompous narrator tells the audience at film's end that most people find Sunday remarkably boring.


The two best shorts, however, were Malcolm Wallhead's The Cleaners (16mins) from 1969 and The Melbourne Concert Hall (19mins) from 1982. The former was a rather gorgeously photographed look at one of the dirtiest of professions. The latter - the most recent of the shorts in both programs - was a rather simple documentary short on the building of The Melbourne Concert Hall in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Much of the information given by the talking heads was rather fascinating and anybody with a love of architecture should try and seek this short film out. I liked the factoid about the building being designed to last for 150 years! Pertinent now since they're remodelling it right now for a 2012 unveiling. My favourite part, however, was the way they mixed construction footage with musical pieces, to provide a rather lovely contrast. Reminded of Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi, actually.

Hopefully program 2 towards the end of the festival yields better rewards.

Melancholia
Dir. Lars von Trier
Running Time: 130mins

Lars von Trier announced that there would be "no more happy endings" and, when you think about it, there was really nowhere else for the notorious Danish troublemaker to go than Melancholia. It's a film that takes the debilitating cruelty of depression to it's next logical step. There's little doubt that von Trier's metaphors here are obvious, but it's what he does with them that allows him to remain one of the most fascinating, important and down right excellent filmmakers in the business. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Lars von Trier is the greatest working director in the world right now. Just my own subjective opinion, but if I can't share wildly expressive opinions on my own blog then I might as well just give up.

Opening with a 10 minute prologue that begins with a close-up of Kirsten Dunst's pillowed face that then proceeds into a spectacular visual effects reel that I'm sure Terrence Malick would appreciate, Melancholia then splits into to halves: Justine (Dunst) and Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Justine suffers from depression, this is plainly obvious once she wipes away the cute smile that audiences will recognise from Bring It On. Claire suffers from caring too much and her anxiety towards Justine, the rapidly spiralling wedding she helped organise (with a deliciously ridiculous Udo Kier!) and the lingering mysterious presence in the sky above.

The performances are universally excellent, with Dunst especially proving that von Trier's faith in her was well deserved (something that her lingering fans like myself knew was never a worry). Gainsbourg, the first of von Trier's leading women to return to the Dane's backlot of fun, is also wonderful as this nervous, tightly-wound woman. Manuel Alberto Claro's beautiful cinematography does wonders with shadow and light, using the idea of this foreign light-emanating source to create painterly pictures. The sound work and visual effects are also worth praising to the heavens.


No matter how much I was liking Melancholia, however, no matter how much it had impressed me, nothing prepared me for the gut punch that is the final scene. As von Trier's vision of a truly apocalyptic portrayal of the burden of depression comes to its natural, yet poetic, conclusion, there was something so deeply effecting that I found myself unable to breath. The final shot is certainly one for the all time lists in its brave, devastating imagery. Much like the rest of the film it will be something that lingers with me for quite some time and that is why I cherish Lars von Trier so much. A-

Scream to Scream, Scene by Scene: END CREDITS of Scream 2 (1:47:39-1:55:31)

In this project I attempt to review the entire Scream trilogy scene by scene in chronological order. Heavy spoilers and gore throughout!



SCENE 31 (End Credits) of Scream 2
Length: 7min 52secs


Cue inappropriate end credits song!

Randomly, this song that plays over the beginning of the end credits is, much like in the original, one of my favourite songs from the whole soundtrack. Along with D'Angelo's "She's Always In My Hair" from the opening scene, and "Your Lucky Day in Hell" by The Eels, Collective Soul's "She Said" is definitely a keeper. I know ranking Collective Soul alongside The Eels is considered sacrilege by many, but I just like it, okay? Reminds me of that great alt-rock period of the 1990s. Sigh.

Now, what I don't understand is what a song about an aging lush is doing as the big triumphant end scene. Anyone care to explain? Watch the video below, which features clips from Scream 2 interspersed. Using images of Neve Campbell's Sidney as they sing lyrics about "time isn't fair to a woman her age" and "she's seen better days" and you'll see how much they misread the lyrics. The video is so deliciously '90s though that I have to love it. Underwater ballet dancer putting on Ghostface mask!


Curious, too, that they chose a far more triumphant song choice to accompany the big end credits crane camera move, as opposed to the original which used a much darker track. If they never made another Scream movie then this would have been a very fitting ending. Apart from the lyrics.


I've said multiple times how wonderful and vivid the colours are in Scream 2, especially compared to the lower budget aesthetic of the original, so here is one last reminder.



Can we get a round of applause for Mr Craven and Mr Williamson, please? I think they deserved it after helping to bring the life one of the greatest ever sequels and one damn good film in general. I do still love that Kevin Williamson is perhaps the only horror film writer of the last few decades to actually be a name. Says a lot about the impact these movies had, I say. And even if Scream 4 didn't do the sort of business that everyone was hoping, the fact that so much press was made out of his return made me happy.


I like that the cinematographer gets the first credit title card after the screen goes to black. Like his own little ovation now that the curtain has closed.




The "return" of Ghostface in the credits has been taken by fans as meaning that he/she will be back. There was not one at the end of Scream 4. Make of that what you will.

Oh! It's time for the cast credits. For reason I get a real kick out of seeing these. One last reminder of all the awesome actors and characters. One last chance to go "awww" at their subsequent death.














I'm glad that Jamie Kennedy got upgraded to the main credits rather than the strange non-alphabetical order section that he was dumped in during the original's end credits. Meanwhile, would it had hurt them to add an extra slide for Omar Epps/Phillip Pavel/Christopher Doyle? I mean, they were all somewhat vital characters who died so it's almost like they're saying their deaths weren't important enough. They were just nothing characters. Hmmm.


And with that we are DONE! Complete! Finished! No more!

er... until we start on Scream 3. Oh Jesus. It will never end!

Scream:
Intro, Scene 1 Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14, Scene 15, Scene 16, Scene 17, Scene 18, Scene 19, Scene 20, Scene 21, Scene 22, Scene 23, Scene 24, Scene 25, Scene 26, Scene 27, Scene 28, Scene 29, Scene 30, Scene 31 Scene 32, Scene 33, End Credits

Scream 2
Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14. Scene 15, Scene 16, Scene 17, Scene 18, Scene 19, Scene 20, Scene 21, Scene 22, Scene 23, Scene 24, Scene 25, Scene 26, Scene 27, Scene 28, Scene 29, Scene 30

Hit Me With Your Best Shot: Rebel Without a Cause

When Nathaniel Rogers at The Film Experience said he was doing a "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" feature on Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without a Cause I made sure I made a preemptive blog note to be involved. I so rarely get the chance to do so, but not only do I actually own Rebel on DVD, it's also one of my favourite films. And when I say "favourite films" I mean favourite films, I mean top five of all time. The first day I ever saw it I didn't just watch it once, or even twice, but three times.

I was hooked on the film - and the film's star, James Dean, naturally - and any chance I can get to rave about it I will take. Of course, I got super busy and then these past two days I've had the flu and haven't felt like writing much and subsequently forgot all about this. Nevertheless, even though I'm a little late, there was no way I gonna miss out on this baby. I knew immediately what shot was my favourite, but that doesn't mean we can't look at a few others, right? A movie as gorgeous as this deserves to be obsessed over.


This shot is a fabulous one because it says so much about the relationship between these two characters, played by Dean and Natalie Wood. His volatile reactionary behaviour becomes blunted by the beautiful Judy that he can't even face her, while she is almost confused by why he would act this way. Everyone wants to look at her.



I adore these two shots, shared between Dean's Jim Stark and Sal Mineo's Plato. The flirtation between these two is so tragically erotic that it adds a whole 'nother dimension to the film. But I love these shots specifically because it's almost as if you can feel Plato's heart beating within them as Jim, the boy he lusts after, stands so close. The second shot of Jim playfully touching Plato's nose as he hides behind bars is very symbolic of how Plato surely feels about his sexuality. Like he's trapped behind the bars of society, but maybe - just maybe - Jim could be the one to remove those bars. Their relationship is so touching, and pains me somewhat to even talk about it.


This shot, meanwhile, exposes the sad, lonely lives of these two teenagers. It's a shot that director Ray and cinematographer Ernest Haller hold on screen for a long time, but this very moment where all three principal characters have this look of longing on their face feels the most devastating. The three of them brought together by their sadness.


Meanwhile, this shot of James Dean bathed in the shimmering light of the planetarium during the big finale? Well, I just like it because of the way it played with light and illuminates, but doesn't glorify, Dean's beauty.






However, my choice for favourite shot is this one. It comes roughly half way through the film as Jim tells his parents that he wants to go to the police regarding the "chicken death" on the clifftop. As this "all-American family" talk and argue - most argue - the camera suddenly tilts for seemingly no apparent reason. First time I saw it was confused by it, but liked it as an unexpected moment to remind audiences of 1955 that - to borrow a famous movie poster catchphrase - it's only a movie.

But after seeing the film many times since, I've come to identify it as a moment that symbolises a shift in the dynamics of this family, and especially between Jim and his father (Jim Backus). The way the camera moves ever so slightly like the scales of two prize-fighters, one of which has the upper hand. It's from this moment on that sets up the rest of Jim's story. How can he go back to the way it was before after what has happened now that his world has been shifted off of its axis?

It's a masterful shot in a masterful movie.

Read more "best shots" at The Film Experience.

Scream to Scream, Scene by Scene: SCENE 30 of Scream 2 (1:45:19-1:47:38)

In this project I attempt to review the entire Scream trilogy scene by scene in chronological order. Heavy spoilers and gore throughout!



SCENE 30 of Scream 2
Length: 2min 19secs
Primary Characters: Sidney Prescott, Cotton Weary, Gale Weathers, Dewey Riley and Joel the Cameraman
Pop Culture References:

• None, although major meta movie moment alert!
  

Chief Hartley. What a shit job he did, yeah? The deaths of the two officers, plus Hallie and Derek feel partly responsible to him, don't you think?


Aw, Joel the Cameraman came back! Suspiciously as soon as the murders end, too! I sense secret third killer subplot right there. Or maybe he and Chief Hartley were working in tandem to get these guys alone and easier to kill? I actually like to think that once Gale left the hospital with Dewey that she fired him while screaming "Kenny DIED for me!" or some such. If only.


"We've got a live one!"


"Dewey..."


"I can't believe you're alive!"
Despite the fact that, yes indeed, nobody can believe Dewey is still alive, I still love this moment. It fills the cockles of my heart, as they says. Whatever the cockles of my heart are, Gale and Dewey fill them every time.

Of course, when Gale gets in the ambulance to go with him to the hospital, you just know Joel the Cameraman is all "I came back for this?"


Whoa, lady! You're not pretty enough to be that touchy with strangers.


It's almost as if she's saying to herself "So long, sucker! I'm gonna go become a reclusive hotline worker and you'll become famous and then when the next killer strikes they'll get you first!" How very Jennifer Jolie of her. Cunning.


"No one wants to give you the story more than I do. Unfortunately there is a time, a place, and, indeed, a price for everything so feel free to call me."
"C'mon Cotton! Tell us something."
"Well, I'll tell you one thing... it'll make a helluva movie."
And zing. They had to get one last jab in there, didn't they? It helps that it's a good one, yeah? And, suitably, ends the film on one of the most meta moments imaginable!

Scream:
Intro, Scene 1 Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14, Scene 15, Scene 16, Scene 17, Scene 18, Scene 19, Scene 20, Scene 21, Scene 22, Scene 23, Scene 24, Scene 25, Scene 26, Scene 27, Scene 28, Scene 29, Scene 30, Scene 31 Scene 32, Scene 33, End Credits

Scream 2
Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14. Scene 15, Scene 16, Scene 17, Scene 18, Scene 19, Scene 20, Scene 21, Scene 22, Scene 23, Scene 24, Scene 25, Scene 26, Scene 27, Scene 28, Scene 29

Review: Bad Teacher

Bad Teacher
Dir. Jake Kasdan
Year: 2011
Aus Rating: M15+ (ridiculous)
Running Time: 92mins

She’s a Bad Teacher, shootin’ grades in your direction. The latest in a string of raunchy, adult-marketed comedies (following Bridesmaids, with Horrible Bosses coming soon) is a rather obvious affair – watch as Cameron Diaz acts filthy and inappropriate around young children! – and yet succeeds due to the sheer determination of its towering lead performance. Not willing to lazily waltz their way through Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg’s ho-hum one-note screenplay, Diaz and her supporting cast routinely spin gold out of innocuous moments with blunt force dialogue delivery and physical determination.

Read the rest at Trespass Mag
I liked it. I'd almost say I prefer it to Bridesmaids purely because it's 40 munutes shorter. Hmmm. Anyway, who doesn't like a Vanity 6 reference?