Room 237 (2012)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Room 237 (2012) -- R. Ascher

Although they are not conspiracy theorists (OK, mostly not conspiracy theorists -- one of them believes that Kubrick staged the moon landing), the 5 interviewees (Kubrick decoders) who provide the voice-overs that _are_ this film are a pretty obsessive bunch (John Fell Ryan from Excepter among them). Their sacred text is The Shining and they have found endlessly fascinating cryptic clues to its meanings lurking in each shot, or the differences between two shots, or the impossible topography of the Overlook Hotel, or the posters and pictures on the walls in the background, or missing chairs (and other faux continuity errors), suggesting mythological minotaurs in the labyrinth, Freudian dilemmas, the genocide of native Americans, the Holocaust, and yes, the faked moon landing footage. And these guys are the tip of the iceberg (I shit you not -- take a look around the internet). Rodney Ascher uses clips from The Shining and a million other movies to illustrate their points and perhaps poke a little fun at them. I had a great time watching this at the Melbourne International Film Festival.

Judex (1963)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Judex (1963) -- G. Franju

Georges Franju keeps things zipping along in this loving homage to French silent serials (with sound). No cliffhangers, but enough sudden plot twists to keep the average viewer rooted to their seat (the fact that these are often unexplained keeps a good level of absurdity in play, which I like). Franju has an eye for composition and a deft hand with tracking shots. The costumes are surreal and sexy. Worth the price of admission -- two bits (or is it two francs)!

Midnight in Paris (2011)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Midnight in Paris (2011) -- W. Allen

I've only slowly returned to Woody Allen, after so many seemingly inconsequential films in a row. But I'm glad I did. Perhaps Midnight in Paris caught me in the right mood, in need of a pick-me-up and a reminder of the special role of art in this occasionally brain-bruising world. I was willing to take the trip to Paris with Owen Wilson (and even before the opening credits, I was dazzled by the montage of Parisian sights) and this film cast a magic spell over me as well as him.

Hanyo (The Housemaid) (1960)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Hanyo (The Housemaid) (1960) -- K.-Y. Kim

Insane psychodrama from 1960 Korea that sees a music teacher (for women working in a factory) commit adultery with the dimwitted girl he hired as a maid to help his wife (pregnant with their third child).  True to film noir convention, the noose tightens as the maid demands more and more from him.  And then there is the rat poison, which commands a lot of Hitchcockian attention. To make things even more dramatic, an incredibly insistent (and loud) score ramps up the tension and punctuates the action (as does the occasional expressive effect).  The whole thing even gets "postmodern" by the end.  A cracker of a film.

Arrietty (2010)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Arrietty (2010) -- H. Yonebayashi

I liked this latest offering from Studio Ghibli (overseen but not directed by Miyazaki) a lot better than Ponyo or Howl's Moving Castle.  Taken from classic children's book The Borrowers (which I didn't think I'd read until I saw this), it tells the story of "little people" who live under the floorboards of an actual human house and who scrounge together an existence from bits and pieces of things they can purloin.  Like a lot of great science fiction, the film treats the premise entirely realistically showing how the characters might tackle instrumental goals (such as scaling a cabinet or procuring a tissue) given their size and the resources at their disposal.  Like all Studio Ghibli fare, the film also has heart and indirectly addresses some basic human feelings associated with loss and connection. Well worth a look.

The Sacrifice (1986)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Sacrifice (1986) -- A. Tarkovsky

Tarkovsky's final film is also the last of his features for me to see, although I'd seen some "making of" footage of The Sacrifice in Chris Marker's Tarkovsky doc. As usual, there is a sense of true mystery here, of the unknowable (or occasionally the unfathomable), of a spiritual yearning.  But a number of factors heighten the pitch: 1) Tarkovsky was dying in exile; 2) he made this film under the auspices of Ingmar Bergman -- in Sweden, using Bergman's cast and crew; and 3) the movie is about the end of the world, due to a nuclear war.  Erland Josephson is given a chance, after offering an incredible sacrifice, to save the world. It takes a long time to reach that conclusion and the first half of the film drags (unless the philosophical postman is present) but the elemental imagery (earth, wind, fire, and water, sometimes in a single shot) and echoes of his earlier films in the second half do captivate. Anguish is palpable, but don't let that scare you way from this profound meditation by one of cinema's greatest.

Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) -- T. S. Durkin

Spooky tale of a girl who escapes from a hippie cult (with obvious and direct references to the Manson Family) and the aftermath of her time there (seen in flashback).  Generally, the effects of trauma and brainwashing seem realistic (as acted vacantly by Elizabeth Olson) but the yuppie couple (her sister and her husband) who take her in are a bit beyond belief.  Genuinely moody and paranoid, if you like that sort of thing (which I do).  I believe this is the first directorial outing for Sean Durkin, championed by Sundance.

A Separation (2011)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

A Separation (2011) -- A. Farhadi

Serious melodrama from Iran (winner of the best foreign film Oscar last year) that is also a mystery story, a courtroom drama, a Rashomon-like tale of multiple conflicting viewpoints, and a reflection on lying, truth, and morality.  Shot in a style more appropriate for documentaries captured on the fly (which is also a strategy used by other Iranians in the past, such as Kiarostami), Asghar Farhadi conceals telling details from us even as he chooses to show other intimate moments. This is after all a view into a relationship that is falling apart.  Often heart and gut wrenching but nevertheless intellectually teasing, this time Oscar got it right.

Alien (1979)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Alien (1979) -- R. Scott

Watched again on blu-ray last night, for the first time since I saw Prometheus (Ridley Scott's new take on the reality presented herein).  There is no doubt that the original is light years ahead of the more recent output (try that, time travelers!) but this time through the scares were not so scary even as the visual power and sound design (despite schlocky 70s retro technology imprinted on the future) commanded full attention. Nevertheless, this is a movie to watch over again just for the universe it created.  (I can't imagine anyone needs to know the plot, but...  awakened space workers find seemingly abandoned planet but end up with a lethal alien on board.  Sigourney Weaver stars).   

La Jetée (1962)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

La Jetée (1962) -- C. Marker

I found a spare 30 minutes to watch La Jetee (and some related ephemera on the Criterion DVD) to commemorate Chris Marker's passing.  A series of still photographs conveys the narrative (with voiceover narration).  It is after Paris has been destroyed (by nuclear war?) and survivors are sheltered underground.  They begin experiments in time travel to find food, water, energy etc.  A man returns to the past, his own past, but as a stranger, a visitor.  He falls in love with someone he remembers seeing at a distance at the Pier at Orly Airport where he also saw a man die.  Later, people from the future help him to escape his present.  There is something about watching still photos (OK, mostly still) that creates calm and a sense of focused reflective attention -- this gives you time to process the associations that Marker's images elicit (if only Twelve Monkeys didn't get in the way, as interesting as it was).  Love, childhood, memory, animals, future, past, existence.

Vertigo (1958)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Vertigo (1958) -- A. Hitchcock

Is this the greatest movie of all time (as recently voted by critics in the 2012 Sight and Sound poll)?  I watched it again to find out.  My conclusion?  This is a film that  offers many riches to the discerning viewer and certainly belongs in a list of films that can be watched again and again.  It sends ripples through my brain.  Jimmy Stewart plays flawed and cruel (as he sometimes did in the Anthony Mann westerns) and you feel for him as he suffers in the trap created by Gavin Elster.  But this isn't quite film noir, the romance (even though it is mysterious and then sinister) and Bernard Herrman's score sweep away the noose-tightening vibe of that genre -- instead Stewart through his own actions takes us somewhere else.  Of course, much has been said about the way voyeurism, cinema-going, and wish fulfillment are put on trial by Hitchcock here (damning himself most of all) and those points are all well taken (Scottie is a stalker and we are sizing up Madeline/Judy ourselves).  And Chris Marker's thoughts about the power of memory to influence our thoughts, feelings, and actions in the present are both alluring (since we all have nostalgic reveries) and disturbing (because the innocent Judys of the world may not deserve Scottie's tranference, even if this Judy does). I could go on...and that is what raises Vertigo to a lofty height in these sometimes arbitrary polls.