A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

I love reading memoirs. I’m fascinated with reading true stories about real people, and I don’t mean it in a history buff kind of way. Some examples…A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (an ironic title but right on the money), A Million Little Pieces, My Friend Leonard, Private Parts, Jarhead, Goat, Running with Scissors (actually everything by Augusten Burrows, and the same goes for David Sedaris), Superstud and Kick Me…I’m sure you get the point, but if you’re a reader, write these titles down! I may be adding one to this list by next week, except in this case, I saw the movie before I read the book. It’s called A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and it knocked me for a loop.

The film is based on the memoir of the same title by Dito Montiel, who also wrote the script and directed the film. It is a coming of age story about a young man growing up Queens who desperately wants to get out. While plotting his escape, there are many things going on his life that propel him to want to leave but could also keep him from going anywhere.

The film has a raw intensity and energy that you find in personal works, especially first time filmmakers. There isn’t a whole hell of a lot that is conventional about this film. It’s shot with a handheld documentary style that brings real authenticity to the film and the cutting style is all over the place- and I mean that as a compliment - there are jump cuts, repeat cuts, flash forwards, fragments of scenes are teased and filled out seconds or minutes later. Where most filmmakers would hold a dramatic scene to elevate the drama, here they cut away and everything hasn’t been explained in the scene yet, but it will be. In case I’m not explaining myself well enough, Gene Siskel used to say ‘it isn’t what a film is about that matters, it’s how it’s about it’ and that theory applies here. The way this film is told supports the film exactly the way it should. The film is told in flashback, but it doesn’t feel that way. It starts at, what I assume is, a book reading and the cutting style starts to shine through right away. The next thing you know we’re back in Queens in 1986.

There have been a lot of coming of age stories set in NYC and the surrounding boroughs, especially those where the main character wants out. This film stood out to me because of the material. The script is well written. The dialogue is natural and feels authentic but that only goes as far as the actors take it. Well, the acting couldn’t be better. Shia LaBeouf, who has continually impressed me, delivers a truly great, involving, three dimensional performance as Dito. Like Johnny Depp, he is an actor whose eyes tell you everything and never have I seen him in a film where it benefits him more than here. Chazz Palminteri and Dianne Wiest play Dito’s parents and are, as always, wonderful. Robert Downey Jr plays the adult Dito and again, when has he turned in a bad performance. There’s no exception here. He is such a natural actor that he makes it look easy, which if you’ve ever acted- it’s anything but easy. There was a big surprise here only because I didn’t know too much about him, but Channing Tatum is phenomenal. He reminded me of Mark Wahlberg when I saw The Basketball Diaries. He has an undeniable intensity and when he’s onscreen, it’s tough to take your eyes off him. The only film I had seen him in was Step Up, which I watched with my fiancé on HBO. Not normally my cup of tea, to say the least, and I don’t remember much from the movie, but I do remember thinking he and the female lead had decent chops. He shows what he can do here and apparently some filmmakers have taken notice. Oliver Stone cast him in Pinkville, and Michael Mann just cast him as Pretty Boy Floyd in Public Enemies. He also has a role in Kimberly Pierce’s new movie, Stop/Loss and he’s playing Duke in GI Joe. Keep you eye on this kid because if he keeps at this rate he’s going to be a big, big star.

Okay, so I’m going to Amazon to buy this memoir and you should go rent the movie.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is not the film you are probably expecting it to be. Automatically you’d assume that it’s a shoot ‘em up western. It isn’t. It’s a deeply hypnotic, lyrical and poetic, both visually and literally, film which I fell deeply into. It is also a western with some shoot ‘em up and much like There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men, this film is a slow boil, brimming with intensity.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert tells story of the last 7 months of Jesse James’ (Brad Pitt) life. Quickly we get the idea that the hangers on in the James Gang are all starfuckers with their gaze set directly on the elusive, charismatic and mysterious Jesse James, but none more than Robert Ford (Casey Affleck). Not yet 20, Robert Ford worships his childhood hero with the same wide-eyed wonder he did 10 years earlier, though he acts like he doesn’t. It’s a crush essentially, and he doesn’t hide it well.

The film follows the members of the James Gang as they chunk off into groups and separate following a train robbery. Most are related to each other in one way or another and never stray too far for too long, usually ending up back at the Ford household. And it is there where Jesse James seals his fate with the socially awkward Ford.

The film doesn’t just focus on James and Ford, we get to know all of the members of the gang, and love them or hate them, they are richly drawn and beautifully brought to life by an incredible cast. There are little performance gems all over this film. Sam Rockwell, Paul Schneider, Garret Dillahunt, Jeremy Renner, Sam Shepard, Gretchen Mol, and Mary-Louise Parker deliver terrific performances which can’t be fully appreciated until they are seen. Ted Levine (Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs) and Zooey Deschanel show up for a brief period of time and leave a deep impression. This is a great cast. Before I saw the film and read the cast list I was excited- Bravo to the casting director, the director or whomever came up with the idea of casting these actors. There are people whom you may not recognize but have been doing terrific work on TV and in smaller, meaning less widely seen, films.

Brad Pitt is someone whose work I’ve admired for a long time. I noticed him in Thelma and Louise just like the rest of the world, but I felt the part to be a little showy and frankly, kind of obvious. Kalifornia is what really brought him to my attention and if you haven’t seen the film, seek it out. For those of you who have seen it, you’ll appreciate something Pitt does in the film that is a direct nod to Kalifornia. It would be easy to forget that he’s such a great actor seeing as how his personal life has become tabloid fodder and lame late night talk show jokes about how many kids he has. He has a varied and high reaching line of movies trailing behind him…12 Monkeys, Interview with a Vampire, True Romance (best stoner ever), Legends of the Fall, Fight Club, Snatch, Ocean’s Eleven, Babel…you get the idea- The man is not afraid to take chances. His performance here is beautifully nuanced- at times big and powerful and at others small and equally, if not more, powerful. He won Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival and I can see why.

Casey Affleck had a great year. He was very good in Gone Baby Gone and he is even better in this- not that it’s fair to compare (poet didn’t know it) but from frame one to the end frame he is nothing less than totally convincing. He broke my heart. Sad and awkward, angry and introverted, proud and ashamed- he covers it all and he covers it all very well. I’m starting to reconsider my belief that Javier Bardem gave the best supporting actor performance of the year.

This film is also very well directed by Andrew Dominik, who has only one other credit under his belt, the terrific Chopper starring a then unknown Eric Bana (Hulk, Troy, Munich). The film is deliberately paced and mannered. Shots hold for longer than we’re used to, cutaways are used to show the mood of the characters and set the tone and mood for the film as a whole. Portions of the film are punctuated by voice-over passages done in a very even almost stoic voice as if they were being read directly from the book. These scenes are shot in the same fashion and have the same musical score. It’s an interesting technique that some might not like but that I loved.

Now onto the cinematography; Good God is it amazing. Roger Deakins is my favorite DP and while I was over the moon that Robert Elswit picked the Oscar for his work in There Will Be Blood, I think the award belongs to Deakins. There isn’t a single shot in the film that isn’t beautiful. Most of it is downright breathtaking. For a man who consistently does incredible work, he truly out does himself here. The film is painterly and eye-poppingly majestic. I’d be curious to know how much of the film was shot with natural light. Some of it looks as though it’s lit only with candles. I was mesmerized. This is a wonderful film, but something significant would be missing without Roger Deakin’s photography. Bravo, sir!

I saw this film in the ideal conditions and you should do likewise should you choose to seek it out. Lights completely out, volume cranked. I wish I saw it in the theater but alas I didn’t. This came and went from theaters faster than Daddy Day Camp and that’s fucking sad if you ask me. I’ve read, I believe on Ain’t it Cool but I can’t be sure, that the studio didn’t like or believe in the film and so they “dumped” it. This means they released it in a very small amount of theaters, did no promotion for it and essentially cut their losses and didn’t give a shit about it. What a shame…and keep in mind this film is not for everyone but neither is Daddy Day Camp or the innumerable other total piece of shit, waste of time and money films released every week. There is exceptional work from cast and crew alike in this film and it’s too bad more people haven’t seen it.

Cloverfield

It's pretty tough- check that- it's practically impossible to live up to hype. I had my first run-in with hype when Batman (Tim Burton's version) came out in 1989. Severe disappointment didn't even cover it. My buddy Jon and I anxiously awaited it's arrival and when it came we were there- super long line wait 'n all. When the movie was over and the lights came up everyone was on their feet applauding. We were on our feet too saying "Let's get the fuck out of here!" Thank God for Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins- faaaaaaaaaaar better. Any-who, with the marketing and mystery surrounding Cloverfield the hype was nearing epic proportions and I started to worry because I didn't want Batman-like disappointment again. Due to a busy schedule I wasn't able to see Cloverfield until the other day and I was not disappointed. Quite the opposite in fact.

I was extremely anxious for the first 15 minutes because I knew what was coming and I just wanted it to happen. But the film is getting you to know the characters and their situation a bit before, well...you know. Rob is moving to Japan and his friends are throwing him a going away party. His brother Jason and his girlfriend are the main hosts and Jason passes off "camera testimonials" to Hud. Hud spots Marlena, who isn't really supposed to be there and falls in love or lust or whatever, with her almost immediately. The biggest problem, however is that Rob has recently slept with Beth, a longtime friend, first time lover. She shows up to the party with some fucking tool because Rob didn't know how to talk to her after they had sex. It's alot right? And, really, it happens in a short amount of time, but that's what was great about it. It's also what's realistic about it. I hung with a fairly large group of close friends throughout college and that's how it happens; word travels fast and everyone knows everyone elses business in 2.2 seconds. There is a very real feel brought to this movie, not just from the handheld handicam camera work, but from the writing and acting.

Although I was getting into the story, I was also very anxious through the first scenes of the film because I knew what was in the mail, so to speak. When it happens, I had stopped being anxious and was really getting into the scene at hand and then- WHAM- it hits. From there the fucking wheels come off. This is an intense movie. And tense. I was tense throughout. My fiance almost chewed her fingers off her hand after she took care of the nails. There are moments where the action settles down a bit but the intensity stays.

The idea of first person camera work intrigued me and was largely the reason I was attracted to this film. Execution is another story- things can get screwed up easily, but not here. Here it works. Very well. The action and the reality of the situation are palpable because of the camerawork. The constant movement of the frame- panning, adjusting, twisting and tilting...it feels real. You are never taken out of the moment with a cutaway. And there's no editing to speak of. I mean there is but it's just the camera being turned off and on so sentences and scenes get cut and then WHAM you're back into a new one. There are no cutaways or reaction shots. There also is no music telling you how to feel in each scene and believe me you don't miss it. The reality of it all weighed on me and in large part it was due to the technical work, but the acting was a huge part of it as well.

The cast is made up of, not unknowns, but not well knowns- if you known what I mean. You'll recognize or vaguely recognize most of them, or maybe not at all if you don't watch a lot of TV. Everyone was very natural and in a movie like this where it's shot, essentially, raw documentary style how do you act natural in the middle of a very unnatural situation. Natural in this situation would be an orgy of shock, confusion, shit-your-pants-fear, I mean someone might have a breakdown and someone else might take charge. Even though there is a script, it feels like there isn't by the interactions between the characters. Hud, played by TJ Miller, is the man behind the camera and he is constantly making comments and observations. His performance is paramount to the film coming off and he plays it very well. I also liked, Michael Stahl-David, who played Rob, and Lizzy Caplan, who played Marlena. Jessica Lucas plays Lilly, and she's currently on CSI. She has the potential to be a big star. As an aspiring writer/producer/director I get really excited for people that break into the big time and it was exciting for me to see all these young actors kicking ass in a Major Motion Picture, produced by a Major Hollywood director/writer/producer, which, conveniently brings me to my next point

JJ Abrams is the producer, NOT, the director, which isn't to say that he didn't have alot of input- I'm sure he did, but at the end of the day, he's the producer. I can pretty much guarantee you he wasn't in the edit room, day in and day out, like the director, Matt Reeves probably was. People get this confused alot and as a result sometimes the director or writer doesn't get the credit he or she deserves. This film is a mammoth undertaking and one false move could fuck the whole thing up. Matt Reeves did an amazing job and I applaud him. He's a writer/director who co-created Felicity and directed The Pallbearer, both very credible pieces of work, but an out of control, train off the tracks monster movie they were not. I can't wait to see what this guy has up his sleeve next. By the way, I'm taking nothing away from JJ Abrams. I'm sure he had alot of input and the man is clearly talented- he delivered the best Mission Impossible movie by far- but people think it's his movie and it's isn't. Not entirely at least.

I want to address something I've read in some reviews, not all, but some. People have complained that no one in their right mind would have continued filming through all the chaos. I disagree. Completely. First of all you can't definitely say what any one person would do in this situation because you don't definitely know, but that's beside the point. I know someone who would continue filming as he was trying to run for his life. He would have actually been going out of his way to get cool shots. His name is Pottyboy. Got to his site and you'll see what I mean. But even that doesn't give the slightest idea of how much has shot in his life. This is also besides the point. Making a case for the movie being unbelievable because you don't feel someone would continue filming is a stupid point to make. There wouldn't be a movie in the first place if the person didn't film it, so you shouldn't be in the theater if you don't like the concept. By taking a "realistic" or "documentary" approach the film opens itself up to such criticisms, but I feel they are unfounded and moot. When you go see Transformers you don't say "How did they get a guy in the middle of the highway to film them fighting?" Why? Because it's a movie, entertaining you, hopefully, so you know it's not real. Well Cloverfield is presented as "found footage" therefore we should buy into the fact, even though we know it's not real that someone did continue filming whilst running for their life and enjoy what we see, much like we'll buy into Transformers. This is why we go to the movies, folks, so we can be entertained. Hopefully I've made myself clear on this because it baffles me that someone would use that as an argument.

Either way, Cloverfield is an amazing film and I can't wait to see it again. An extraordinarily effective and groundbreaking approach to a monster movie that lived up it's brilliant marketing plan. Good luck to anyone who tries to top it. They'll need it.

There Will Be Blood

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of my favorite filmmakers and I’ve loved to pieces every film he’s made. I believe it was 2 or 3 years ago I read he was making a new film called There Will Be Blood. Super heightened anticipation doesn’t even come close to describing my desire to see this film and I finally got to see it on Sunday. I was hypnotized throughout the film. Everything about the film- the writing, directing, acting, cinematography, editing, etc…- sucks you in, casts you under its spell and leads to a dazzling finish that knocked me on my ass. Actually I was already on my ass but when the film ended, I sat in my chair not moving.

As more time passes from when I saw the film, it’s sinking in deeper and deeper. There are shots and lines of dialogue I can’t get out my head. Images in the film, so powerful, are burned into my brain and pop up like my own private slideshow. Anderson’s movies always have this effect on me. The amount of times I’ve watched Boogie Nights and Magnolia would appall people of better sense than mine, but I can’t help myself. There Will Be Blood is no different. I want to go back to the theater and watch it over and over and over again.

This film tells the story of Daniel Plainview and his quest to succeed, to dominate all people and things, no matter what. He doesn’t let anything get in his way. Anything at all. He's "an oil man" and he has "a competition in him." His drive is so strong he doesn't want to see anyone other than him succeed. He’s a self-made man who built himself from the ground up and Daniel Day-Lewis plays him to perfection. I think everyone knows that Daniel Day- Lewis doesn’t give bad performances. Ever. I think this is his best performance and knowing what we know about him, that’s no small feat. Much has been made, with good reason, about his performance in the film but I’m surprised more people haven’t made mention of Paul Dano’s performance, an actor who’s work I’ve been enjoying a lot lately and I was beyond excited when I found out he was cast in the film. He plays Eli Sunday, a supposed "prophet," but really he's more interested in profit. This is a film about greed, but it is also a film about God and without Dano's extremely strong performance as the preacher, the film would be broken. You may have seen Dano in Taking Lives, The Girl Next Door or The Ballad of Jack & Rose (also starring Daniel Day-Lewis) but I’m sure you remember him as the self-imposed mute from Little Miss Sunshine. He does incredible work in There Will Be Blood. Look for him as the lead in Spike Jonze’s version of Where the Wild Things Are. Dillon Freasier plays H.W. Plainview, Daniel's adopted son. He is an absolute revelation. His performance is so important to the movie and although his imdb page lists no previous film credits, his work is that of a seasoned actor.

Paul Thomas Anderson has created a film so simple, yet so complicated. I've heard and read that this is a departure for him. I disagree. You still feel his imprint in the writing, camera work (though with less kinetic dolly moves) and cutting style-not mention it is a sprawling epic, much like Boogie Nights and Magnolia (Magnolia takes place in one day but it feels like a lifetime). There is a rhythm to his writing and the beats he uses draw you into his scenes and ultimately his entire film. He isn’t afraid to hold shots. For awhile. (I’d love to know how many cuts are in this film, by the way.) Though the film is just over 2 ½ hours, there is no fat on it- not unnecessary bullshit. I must say when the early word about the film starting emerging and people were throwing around comparisons to Citizen Kane, Giant and other works of exceptionally high caliber, I wasn’t surprised. I wasn’t surprised by the fact that he had made a quote-unquote masterpiece. I just nodded ‘Yeah, of course. He’s the fucking man.’ I’ve wanted his films to sweep the Academy Awards but they never do. If There Will Be Blood doesn’t, I might throw my fucking TV out the window.

Robert Elswit is a terrific cinematographer who’s been doing particularly good work lately (Good Night and Good Luck, and Syriana to name a few). This is 4th film with Anderson and his work is nothing less than breathtaking. He created beautiful, lasting, epic images which, as I’ve mentioned, I can’t get out of my head. Not only is the film shot well, it is also edited very well. Dylan Tichenor, an extremely talented editor, who has also worked with Anderson on his last 4 films, does wonderful work once again. The Production Design by Jack Fisk is truly awesome. I would hope to see all of these names on Oscar ballots in a few weeks.

The score is by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead fame. It’s easily one of the best scores I’ve ever heard. I dropped a few tracks on this blog a last month, but heard with images in it’s entirety give rise to the emotions going on in the film, but on the surface and under it. At times subtle and at times not, the score, much like every other aspect of the film, is perfect.

Much has been made of the nearly wordless opening, which lasts, I think, 10 minutes or so. Either people didn’t mention or I didn’t read that there are quite a few nearly wordless sections of the film that are fantastic and exciting. This film is a slow burn and it takes it’s time- necessary time- getting to where it needs to go. But from the first frame you can feel the intensity of it, simmering- waiting to boil, crouched in a dark alley, around a corner, fist clenched, ready to pounce. That intensity never settles. That intensity has been slow cooking in me since I saw it yesterday. I can’t get this film out of head.

Dexter

Pottyboy has been raving about this show, in fact it's his favorite all-time show, and he burned a DVD of the first 2 seasons for me. My fiancée and I stayed up until 4am last saturday watching the first season. Yeah it's that good. Dexter is a forenics expert, specifically a interested in blood spatter patterns, who moonlights as a serial killer. But he kills other "killers" or people he deems bad. He even collects evidence and has a procedure based on years of training from his foster father. Just-"this much"-ever-so-slightly over the top it's barely noticable, Dexter is American Psycho meets CSI (not the shitty NYC or Miami editons, even though Dexter takes place in Miami). But even that doesn't describe it entirely. I'm sure I've said it before, but tone is HUGE, and the tone in this show is balanced so delicately and so well you don't even realize it until you reflect. At times, hilarious, moving, scary and violent this show blends just about every genre into a big bowl. Speaking of reflecting, as the episodes go on, right up and into the finale you realize you've seen a truly well thought out and brilliantly conceived idea that spans 13 episodes. Michael C Hall plays Dexter to perfection and without his performance the show doesn't work. The show just finished it's second season on Showtime, so in the meantime, and the midst of the writers strike, when there's very little to watch on TV, rent the first season of Dexter.

Cloverfield Party

This could be cool. Sadly I'll be knee deep in work. Who's going to go so I can live vicariously.

Roundup

I hope everyone had a nice holiday and a Happy New Year. I’ve seen a bunch of good movies lately and they are all worth mentioning. Here we go-

Juno
In fell in love with this movie early on, and when it was over, I wanted it rewound so I could watch it again. Juno is a 16 year old girl who discovers she’s pregnant and decides to give the baby up for adoption to whom she thinks are the ideal parents. The result is touching and hilarious. This is the debut from screenwriter Diablo Cody and I can’t wait to see what she has coming down the pipeline. It’s also the second film, after Thank you for Smoking by Jason Reitman who has a good eye for comedy and casting. Which leads me to Ellen Page, who plays Juno. Her performance is note perfect, in a delicately balanced film, and award worthy. She’s perfect. Her supporting cast isn’t too shabby either. You can’t beat charm and humor. Check it out.

The Bourne Ultimatum
The best of the bunch. It’s fast and furious but more importantly we see a different Jason Bourne than before and it made the film that much better than it’s predecessors. Matt Damon is such an interesting choice for the character and he’s done it so well. He kinda makes it look easy. There are a few action set pieces here that made me sit up in my chair (couch, whatever). I’ve seen this film on a few 10 top ten of the year lists and I can see why. There is a fight scene in this movie which ranks right up there with the very best and joining it is a fight scene from Eastern Promises (see below).

The Kingdom
I’m surprised this wasn’t a bigger hit. Then again I’m not. People don’t go to the movies to escape something very real to us. An oil company community in Saudi Arabia is attacked at an afternoon picnic/softball game. An FBI crew goes in to investigate. The director, Peter Berg, described the movie by saying the “first two-thirds of the film are like cocking a giant bow with a big arrow and the last third we let it go.” True and true. The movie is taut and intense- it’s a slow burn, but the last 20 minutes are batshit. Oddly enough I saw this movie about two hours after I saw Juno and Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner are in both films, together (literally in Juno, they’re married).

Eastern Promises
I have read that this film plays like an Opera. I’ve never seen an opera but if they play like this, I’m down. Viggo Mortensen is a bad motherfucker in this movie, plain and simple. He plays the “driver” for the Russian Mob, but he’s so much more than that. This film unfolds beautifully and I had avoided trailers, reviews and the like so I went in fairly blind and I’m glad I did. Try to do the same. David Cronenberg directed this and much like A History of Violence, (a film I greatly admired) Eastern Promises is told swiftly and cleanly, meaning it doesn’t muddle down in unnecessary shit. Very admirable, especially for a movie I’d find tempting to tell in a much longer running time.

Shoot ‘Em Up
Fucking crazy. I read somewhere that within the first five minutes of this film, you’ll know whether or not you’re going to like it and I agree. I loved it. This movie is pure fun and adrenaline. The story and the action move fast and some scenes get more outlandish than the next. I mean outlandish in a good way because the action is inventive and well thought it. Clever too. Shoot ‘Em Up would be a fun on a triple bill with Run Lola Run, and Running Scared (Paul Walker -who can really act when he wants to, not Billy Crystal) – a compliment to all of those films by the way. Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti are not usually a disappointment when it comes to performance. This movie is no exception. I mention Giamatti of note- I loved all his work here.

Bug
If you liked fucked up movies and I mean fucked up, watch Bug. It’s from William Friedkin, who directed The Exorcist. Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon play two lonely people who connect and find comfort in one another. Harry Connick, Jr. who alwasy plays "creepy" well, plays Judd’s “ex” who has just been released from prison. This film hits you in back of the head without warning. I wouldn’t call it a horror movie, but it creeped me out in a big way.