(no subject)
Short films/documentaries/animations that you may have never seen that I really think everyone should see:
+A Stranger in Her Own City: Documentary following a Yemeni girl that refuses to wear her veil. Najmia is the director/narrator's embodiment of her own rebellion against harsh traditions. I think she is magnificent and indeed "worth 5 boys", as the Imam of the Great Mosque described her. The President (Prime Minister? Head Bitch in Charge?) of Yemen saw the film and offered to pay for her education, after Najmia's father took her out of school and forced her to wear the veil 7 months after filming concluded. It's a very hopeful film; if a 13 year old in the streets of Yemen can get it, doesn't that mean IT isn't found in those shinyfastsexy things they want us to buy?
+Kitchen: hilarious French short about a woman trying at any and all costs to cook a damn lobster dinner.
+High Falls: short with Peter Sarsgaard, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Funny in the way running over your Happy-Ending-indulging husband's dog is funny. Though he is obviously not supposed to be the focus, my favorite character is Jackson, played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Overlooking the fact that I find him ridiculously sexy, his involvement in the relationship between Gyllenhaal's and Sarsgaard's characters seems to be what is keeping the marriage afloat (that wordplay will seem more witty once you've seen the film). He is their respective confidant, and often uses his omniscience to agitate the couple, but ultimately he toasts their "simplicity" and effectively steering the two away from a burgeoning fight. I also suspect he may be the father of the baby Gyllenhaal is 7 months pregnant with at the time the story takes place. This is being made into a feature-length film, so hopefully the exchange that sparked that suspicion is clarified.
+Strange Culture: In May of 2004, biological artist Steve Kurtz calls 911 after his wife and co-founder of the Critical Art Ensemble dies of heart failure. Paramedics responding to the call notice petri dishes and lab equipment in the home. Of course, so soon after the attacks of September 11th and the subsequent anthrax scares, all kinds of higher-ups are called, until Kurtz finds himself explaining to an FBI agent that the Arabic writing she had found in his home was an invitation to an art exhibit. And, of course, the expected idiocy of the government in regards to anything they don't have a specialist for lead to Kurtz being arrested and indicted for wire/mail fraud. Which a 5 year old can tell you is just a way to cover their ass. It is a highly recommended watch for everyone, not just artists, because it is a case of a professor, someone even American society respects, being treated like a bioterrorist of the worst degree. All because some paramedic can't tell a hazardous material generator from a fucking petri dish. Don't they have to take science classes too? MAYBE if scientific materials and research were easier to locate, access, and toy with on an individual level (granted measures have been taken to at least verify the basis and sincerity of the scientific curiosity), this wouldn't have happened in the first place. Oh, and the charges weren't dropped until April of THIS year.
+Two Cars, One Night: Short from New Zealand, also being made into a feature-length, also quite remarkable, given the fact that for 12 minutes you're watching the evolution of interaction between 2 8 year old boys and a 10 year old girl. The cinematography is gorgeous, and I always find myself desperately wanting to see more of the characters, to know what happens tomorrow and when they get older. I think I just really like the end credit's song :)
+La Chatte Andalouse: French short film. Honey-harvesting nun helps a dying Andalusian by finishing an art project involving plaster, condoms, and alizarin rose pigment. With an amazing bellydancing scene. What else can I say?
+Madame Tutli-Putli: Canadian animation about a woman on a train. More entertaining than you'd think. Keep an eye out for men in suitcases playing chess, my favorite characters.
+Death to the Tinman: Explains the Tinman's history, and why we find him heartless in Oz.
+American Outrage: Informative and highly depressing film about the struggle of the Shoshone peoples to live the way their moral and natural codes dictate while their land, horses, and cattle are being swallowed by the American government. I STRONGLY recommend viewing this, not enough people have seen an armed authority manhandle an old Native woman, maybe if enough do something will change. Please watch it. I can just see how future generations will be told the pilgrims were actually the first settlers once all traces of real Native history and culture have been razed and sold. Even if you don't care, it's a compelling film about a woman fighting with all she's got to maintain her identity. And isn't that the American way?
+Chonto/Bobby Bird series: Funny as shit animation, won me over in less than a minute. Funny in the way your drunk Uncle Bobby is funny.
+House Hunting: Stars Zooey Deschanel and Paul Rudd. I'm pretty sure this is how it will be if Forrest and I ever have to go house hunting. Funny the way O. Henry is funny. And if you know that reference, you might even know where I'm getting all these movies :)
Another good one to check out is Heavy Metal Jr. Not the best in terms of documentary style but good god if it isn't adorable to see a 10 year old debate whether a lyric should be penned as "Satan rock" or "Satan rocks". Watch out for a past-his-prime father trying to recapture a youth he didn't actually live, and a wicked hot music store employee.
More soon, because summer is half over and the major studios have only been able to put out one good movie. And I don't even think it counts because Pixar ALWAYS puts out gold. They probably take throw-aways from other studios and scribble on them and voila! Toy Story. SO, I'd like to share the films I've been watching to keep my brain from dehydrating.
+A Stranger in Her Own City: Documentary following a Yemeni girl that refuses to wear her veil. Najmia is the director/narrator's embodiment of her own rebellion against harsh traditions. I think she is magnificent and indeed "worth 5 boys", as the Imam of the Great Mosque described her. The President (Prime Minister? Head Bitch in Charge?) of Yemen saw the film and offered to pay for her education, after Najmia's father took her out of school and forced her to wear the veil 7 months after filming concluded. It's a very hopeful film; if a 13 year old in the streets of Yemen can get it, doesn't that mean IT isn't found in those shinyfastsexy things they want us to buy?
+Kitchen: hilarious French short about a woman trying at any and all costs to cook a damn lobster dinner.
+High Falls: short with Peter Sarsgaard, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Funny in the way running over your Happy-Ending-indulging husband's dog is funny. Though he is obviously not supposed to be the focus, my favorite character is Jackson, played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Overlooking the fact that I find him ridiculously sexy, his involvement in the relationship between Gyllenhaal's and Sarsgaard's characters seems to be what is keeping the marriage afloat (that wordplay will seem more witty once you've seen the film). He is their respective confidant, and often uses his omniscience to agitate the couple, but ultimately he toasts their "simplicity" and effectively steering the two away from a burgeoning fight. I also suspect he may be the father of the baby Gyllenhaal is 7 months pregnant with at the time the story takes place. This is being made into a feature-length film, so hopefully the exchange that sparked that suspicion is clarified.
+Strange Culture: In May of 2004, biological artist Steve Kurtz calls 911 after his wife and co-founder of the Critical Art Ensemble dies of heart failure. Paramedics responding to the call notice petri dishes and lab equipment in the home. Of course, so soon after the attacks of September 11th and the subsequent anthrax scares, all kinds of higher-ups are called, until Kurtz finds himself explaining to an FBI agent that the Arabic writing she had found in his home was an invitation to an art exhibit. And, of course, the expected idiocy of the government in regards to anything they don't have a specialist for lead to Kurtz being arrested and indicted for wire/mail fraud. Which a 5 year old can tell you is just a way to cover their ass. It is a highly recommended watch for everyone, not just artists, because it is a case of a professor, someone even American society respects, being treated like a bioterrorist of the worst degree. All because some paramedic can't tell a hazardous material generator from a fucking petri dish. Don't they have to take science classes too? MAYBE if scientific materials and research were easier to locate, access, and toy with on an individual level (granted measures have been taken to at least verify the basis and sincerity of the scientific curiosity), this wouldn't have happened in the first place. Oh, and the charges weren't dropped until April of THIS year.
+Two Cars, One Night: Short from New Zealand, also being made into a feature-length, also quite remarkable, given the fact that for 12 minutes you're watching the evolution of interaction between 2 8 year old boys and a 10 year old girl. The cinematography is gorgeous, and I always find myself desperately wanting to see more of the characters, to know what happens tomorrow and when they get older. I think I just really like the end credit's song :)
+La Chatte Andalouse: French short film. Honey-harvesting nun helps a dying Andalusian by finishing an art project involving plaster, condoms, and alizarin rose pigment. With an amazing bellydancing scene. What else can I say?
+Madame Tutli-Putli: Canadian animation about a woman on a train. More entertaining than you'd think. Keep an eye out for men in suitcases playing chess, my favorite characters.
+Death to the Tinman: Explains the Tinman's history, and why we find him heartless in Oz.
+American Outrage: Informative and highly depressing film about the struggle of the Shoshone peoples to live the way their moral and natural codes dictate while their land, horses, and cattle are being swallowed by the American government. I STRONGLY recommend viewing this, not enough people have seen an armed authority manhandle an old Native woman, maybe if enough do something will change. Please watch it. I can just see how future generations will be told the pilgrims were actually the first settlers once all traces of real Native history and culture have been razed and sold. Even if you don't care, it's a compelling film about a woman fighting with all she's got to maintain her identity. And isn't that the American way?
+Chonto/Bobby Bird series: Funny as shit animation, won me over in less than a minute. Funny in the way your drunk Uncle Bobby is funny.
+House Hunting: Stars Zooey Deschanel and Paul Rudd. I'm pretty sure this is how it will be if Forrest and I ever have to go house hunting. Funny the way O. Henry is funny. And if you know that reference, you might even know where I'm getting all these movies :)
Another good one to check out is Heavy Metal Jr. Not the best in terms of documentary style but good god if it isn't adorable to see a 10 year old debate whether a lyric should be penned as "Satan rock" or "Satan rocks". Watch out for a past-his-prime father trying to recapture a youth he didn't actually live, and a wicked hot music store employee.
More soon, because summer is half over and the major studios have only been able to put out one good movie. And I don't even think it counts because Pixar ALWAYS puts out gold. They probably take throw-aways from other studios and scribble on them and voila! Toy Story. SO, I'd like to share the films I've been watching to keep my brain from dehydrating.