Sundance 2008, baited breath

Good news for all Gregg Araki fans (they appear to need it after Smiley Face). The Living End will screen on January 18th at the Sundance Film Festival. Not only has the film been completely remastered and restored by Strand Releasing and Fortissimo Films, but it will appear in its uncut 92-minute version. This is fucking great news as the rest of the line-up for Sundance looks pretty snoozy (except for Bruce LaBruce's Otto; or Up with Dead People... yeah, gay, I know). I would expect a special edition DVD for The Living End (billed as "an irresponsible film by Gregg Araki") sometime in 2008 from Strand, and here's hoping that they can get their hands on the other unavailable Araki titles (Nowhere, Three Bewildered People in the Night, and the made-for-MTV-but-never-aired This Is How the World Ends) and fix the severe fuck-up of the Lionsgate/Trimark Doom Generation disc. Baby steps, I know, but here's hoping.

2008, baited breath

The spring of 2008 is already looking like a hot arena for world cinema, particularly if you're following IFC Films' releases for the early part of the year. Here's a rundown of some notables for the coming year.

Of course, I'm most excited about Catherine Breillat's latest, The Last Mistress [Une vieille maîtresse], which went home empty-handed at Breillat's first Cannes this past May but has received positive feedback on the North American festival circuit (even from her detractors). Sample dialogue: Asia Argento (to another woman): "Ugh! I hate everything feminine... except young boys of course." Brilliant. With Argento, Roxane Mesquida, Fu'ad Ait Aattou, Anne Parrillaud, Sarah Pratt, Amira Casar, Claude Sarraute, Yolande Moreau, Lio, Caroline Ducey. France/Italy. 25 April. IFC.

Romanian cinema has never felt so exciting as it has in the past two years, with the astounding Death of Mr. Lăzărescu and the lauded (though yet unseen by me) 12:08 East of Bucharest. The crowning jewel of this new attention is the Palme d'Or winner of 07, Cristian Mungiu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, a minimalist abortion drama that's already scooping up a number of end-of-the-year critics prizes (it's main opposition in the non-English-speaking realm: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly). With Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu, Vlad Ivanov. Romania. 25 January. IFC.

Winner of a special prize at this year's Cannes, Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park is dazzling and frustrating, just like you like him. I can assure you it's a change in pace to his Death Trilogy, though still light-years away from, say, Finding Forrester. I just wish Gus would stop finding his "actors" on MySpace as the kids here are given much more to do than just walk dazed through hallways as they did in Elephant. With Gabe Nevins, Daniel Liu, Taylor Mornsen, Jake Miller. France/USA. 7 March. IFC.

Jacques Rivette's latest comes in the form of a period romance from a novel by Honoré de Balzac. Titled Ne touchez pas la hache (translated: Don't Touch the Axe), the film will be released under the more arthouse-approved title The Duchess of Langeais. With Jeanne Balibar, Guillaume Depardieu, Michel Piccoli, Bulle Ogier. France/Italy. 22 February. IFC.

I guess there were people that liked Gummo. And I guess there will be people who'll cream themselves over Harmony Korine's high-concept Mister Lonely. It got surprisingly positive responses at Cannes, but you know how the French can be. With Diego Luna (as Michael Jackson), Samantha Morton (as Marilyn Monroe), Denis Lavant (as Charlie Chaplin), Anita Pallenberg (as The Queen of England), Joseph Morgan (as James Dean), Richard Strange (as Abraham Lincoln), Werner Herzog, Leos Carax, James Fox, David Blaine. USA/UK/France/Ireland. 30 April. IFC.

Although they have yet to do anything with the director's last film Mary, IFC picked up Abel Ferrara's latest Go Go Tales, a "screwball comedy" at a go-go dancin' club. The reception has been tepid, at best, but I know there are people who will watch anything the Bad Lieutenant director touches (even if all of them happen to live in France). Added bonus: Asia Argento makes out with a pit bull. With Willem Dafoe, Bob Hoskins, Matthew Modine, Argento, Lou Doillon, Pras. Italy/USA. Date UNK. IFC.

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi has made her second feature as director/writer/actress in another tale about, well, herself. As much as I love the Franco-Italian actress (see Cote d'Azur or Time to Leave for reasons), her indulgence appears to be wearing thin on her admirers with Actresses [Actrices] (the film has gotten bad notices at nearly every festival it's played). Still, I'll see it. With Bruni Tedeschi, Noémie Lvosky, Louis Garrel, Mathieu Amalric, Valeria Golino. France. Date UNK. IFC.

I've gone on record stating that I kind of hate Christophe Honoré, the author-cum-filmmaker of the wretched Ma mère and the blah Dans Paris. But I've also gone on record stating my love for the musical, particularly France's interpretation of it (outside of Une Femme est une femme, damn you). Here's his take with Love Songs [Les Chansons d'amour]. With Louis Garrel, Ludivine Sagnier, Chiara Mastorianni. France. 19 March. Red Envelope Entertainment/IFC.

I do not count myself among the followers of Canada's Guy Maddin, a pretentious bore whose The Saddest Music in the World and collection of shorts have made him a favorite among the film student crowd. His latest, My Winnipeg, won the prize for Best Canadian feature at the Toronto International Film Festival... because, well, other than David Cronenberg and Sarah Polley, how many working Canadian directors can you name? With Darcy Fehr (as Guy Maddin). Canada. Date UNK. IFC.

Hou Hsiaco-hsien's greatest fans don't reside in his homeland of Taiwan, or even the continent of Asia. They reside in, surprise, France, so it was no surprise at all that he crafted his first French-language feature this year with The Flight of the Red Balloon [Le voyage du ballon rouge], a strange take on the classic Red Balloon, making its rerelease rounds in the US right now. With Juliette Binoche, Hippolyte Girardot. France. 2 April. IFC.

Oh, Claude Chabrol, how you cease to thrill me outside of your collaborations with Isabelle Huppert. Thankfully, he's enlisted the lovely Ludivine Sagnier for his latest dark comedy/thriller A Girl Cut in Two [La Fille coupée en deux]. Every time you think the seventy-seven year old director has made his last, he churns out another. With Sagnier, Benoît Magimel, François Berléand. France/Germany. Date UNK. IFC.

IFC Films' calendar for 2008 is exhausting already, and here's the last of the crop: Tom Kalin's Savage Grace with Julianne Moore returning to more Safe material than The Forgotten. It's a docudrama about an infamous murder case from the 70s. Kalin hasn't directed a film since the early 90s with Swoon, so I'm most excited to see his long overdue follow-up. With Moore, Eddie Redmayne, Stephen Dillane, Hugh Dancy, Belén Rueda, Unax Ugalde, Elena Anaya. USA/Spain. 28 May. IFC.

The Hungarian dark comedy Ex Drummer went through plenty of turmoil when Jan Bucquoy tried to adapt Herman Brusselmans' novel in the mid-90s. Only now was it completed, with Koen Mortier in director's seat. The film follows the manipulation of a man who joins a rock band of three "handicapped" dudes. Rumor has it Mortier really pulls out all the "shock" punches with this one. With Dries Van Hegen, Norman Baert, Gunter Lamoot, Sam Louwyck. Hungary. Date UNK. Tartan USA.

Tartan is pulling a double bill of Hungarian shock cinema with György Pálfi's follow-up to his wildly original Hukkle, entitled Taxidermia. The film follows three men, according to the IMDb, "an obese speed eater, an embalmer of giant cats, and a man who shoots fire out of his penis." Hot. Hungary. Date UNK. Tartan USA.

Olivier Assayas' English-language crime thriller Boarding Gate boasts the third mention in this post by Miss Asia Argento, all three of which premiered at this year's Cannes with varying results. My friend Pete hated it, but he's disliked most of what Assayas has done, so I'm not fully convinced. His new French-language film with Juliette Binoche will be out from Sony Pictures Classics sometime later next year. With Argento, Michael Madsen, Carl Ng, Kelly Lin, Alex Descas, Kim Gordon, Joana Preiss. France. 14 March. Magnet Releasing/Magnolia.

Michel Gondry's new film, Be Kind Rewind, sounds like just about the most fun you could have at the theatres come January. The film takes place in a video rental store during the VHS era where Jack Black aids Mos Def in making their own versions of such cinema classics as Ghostbusters. With Black, Mos Def, Mia Farrow, Danny Glover, Marcus Carl Franklin. USA. 25 January. New Line.

Unhappy with the lightness of the television series of the same name, the producers of City of God crafted their own sequel to the highly popular Brazilian film, called City of Men. With Douglas Silva, Darlan Cunha, Jonathan Haagensen, Rodrigo dos Santos. Brazil. 18 January. Miramax.

Europe seems to think Turkish-German director Fatih Akin is the bee's knees after Head On and In July, two films that did nothing for me. He won the Best Screenplay award at this year's Cannes for his latest The Edge of Heaven. Germany/Turkey. Date UNK. Strand Releasing.

See if you can join the small crowd of people that actually enjoyed Wong Kar-wai's English-language debut, My Blueberry Nights, a curious starring vehicle for singer Norah Jones. I'm sure, at least, that it will be pretty. With Jones, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Natalie Portman, David Strathairn. Hong Kong/France/China. 13 February. Weinstein Company.

US Studios are still scared of the NC-17 rating. Even in the horror genre. I suppose it's because most of the audience for horror films, particularly the Saw films, is under 17... but still. The Weinstein Company is having issues with their pending release of the Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury's gruesome French horror film Inside [À l'intérieur] due to its NC-17 rating. It's still suspected that they may do something with it around March, but it may shoot directly to an "unrated" DVD release instead. With Béatrice Dalle, Alysson Paradis. France. Date UNK. Weinstein Company.

There's a number of other films that I will touch upon later, but duty is calling and I must invest the rest of my time elsewhere! Until then...

John Waters liked Away from Her??!!

More interesting than whatever overweight, middle-aged man who makes a living writing film criticism has to say about the merits of the films of a given year, I'm always interested in seeing what people who actually make films would list (I always wonder if Faye Dunaway attends films that she hasn't starred in... probably not). John Waters is always a reliable source for this, making a top ten for Artforum each year and being the only one I noticed to have included Vincent Gallo's The Brown Bunny on his list a few years ago (God bless John). This year is no different and his list is as follows:

1. Grindhouse - dir. Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth, Rob Zombie, Edgar Wright
2. Before I Forget [Avant que j'oublie] - dir. Jacques Nolot [Note: Strand will have this out 2008]
3. Away from Her - dir. Sarah Polley
4. Zoo - dir. Robinson Devor [You knew John would love a documentary about horse-fucking]
5. Lust, Caution - dir. Ang Lee
6. Brand Upon the Brain! - dir. Guy Maddin
7. An American Crime - dir. Tommy O'Haver
8. I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With - dir. Jeff Garlin
9. Flanders - dir. Bruno Dumont
10. I'm Not There - dir. Todd Haynes

Of course some of the choices are kind of obvious, as Jeff Garlin was the director of his documentary This Filthy World, but I must applaud John for being the only critic I've noticed so far to have the balls to put Grindhouse on top of his list... and does anyone else wish they had a camera on Waters while he was getting misty-eyed for Julie Christie in Away from Her? I sure do. I'm also surprised that Lust, Caution made his list and Black Book didn't. IndieWire provided, a few years back, a rundown of famous people giving their lists of the year, including John Cameron Mitchell, Paul Schneider, and Peter Dinklage. Unfortunately, I haven't noticed them doing it lately, so... this will have to do. Plus, I know you were way more curious to see what John Waters liked this year than, say, Stephen King.

Crunch Time

I only have five days left to screen as many 2007 films as possible and give them a write-up for Playback's Best of 2007. I've already finished my 'Worst of 2007' film list, but it's the best of... that's giving me the most trouble. In the past five days I've watched ten films (There Will Be Blood, The Savages, Michael Clayton, Starting Out in the Evening, The Orphanage, Lust, Caution, Once, Margot at the Wedding, The Simpsons Movie (which blows), and Paranoid Park) and the entire third season of Lost. Here's what I have left of the possible viewings: Juno, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Ratatouille, The Hottest State, Mr. Brooks (yes! I'm told it's wonderfully awful), Great World of Sound, Terror's Advocate, Redacted, Reservation Road, I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, and the Sisters remake... and if I'm lucky, maybe The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and Persepolis (but those two are going to be the tough ones). No possibility, however, for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days or Syndromes and a Century, unfortunately. Anything else I'm missing? Holla at me. All this and I still haven't watched the fourth season of The Wire (which will more than likely be better than all of the films I've lined up)!

Chilly

Criterion has announced 3 titles for March, two of which have already been available on R1 DVD before. Ang Lee's The Ice Storm, the one we all knew was coming (regretfully), will have a two disc treatment with awesome cover artwork. Hiroshi Teshigahara's Antonio Gaudi, a documentary about the famous architect, will be their second release (the film was previously available through the Milestone Collection); the disc will also include a short about Gaudi by one of my faves, Ken Russell. And, for the first time on DVD, Alberto Lattuada's dark comedy Mafioso. Rounding out the Eclipse box will be the Delirious Fictions of William Klein, which includes the satirical Who Are You Polly Maggoo?, Mr. Freedom, and The Model Couple. Would you consider it a good month if you're more excited about the Eclipse series than the Criterion releases?

Good Move, Penny

GreenCine Daily is reporting that Penélope Cruz will once again work with director Pedro Almodóvar on his next feature, Los abrazos rotos. After literally igniting the screen (and garnering the attention she never received in any of her English-language films) in Volver, this is probably the smartest move Cruz could have made. No word as to when Pedro will reteam with Antonio Banderas, who was supposed to star as the priest in Bad Education at one point.

Resnais en février

Kimstim/Kino will be throwing four Alain Resnais films from the 80s on your shelves on 19 February 2008. The titles include I Want to Go Home (1989) with Gérard Depardieu and Geraldine Chaplin; Life Is a Bed of Roses [La vie est un roman] (1983) with Fanny Ardant, Vittorio Gassman, and Chaplin; Love unto Death [L'amour à mort] (1984) with Ardant; and Mélo (1986), also with Ardant. I'd have rather Criterion announced Last Year at Marienbad, but take what you can get.

A Thought or Two on Golden Globe noms

Seriously... Jodie Foster for The Brave One? Gross. I can accept this nomination simply on the fact that Into the Wild got only one nomination (for song, no less), and because I'm thrilled any time Tilda Swinton is nominated... for anything. But where was Josh Brolin? Oh well. You can find the full list here.

Surprise!

Universal has (finally) announced what looks to be a pretty bare-bones edition of David Lynch's Lost Highway for 25 March 2008 (which is actually two days after my birthday, so if you forget and don't get me anything, I will still be accepting gifts two days late). More details (hopefully) to follow.

Yes, there will be blood

Four more critics' circles announced their year-end awards today. Amy Ryan seems to be taking the place of once frontrunner for the best supporting actress category Cate Blanchett (though I may suspect that confusion would be made as to whether she was the lead or supporting). Frank Langella has also emerged as a dark horse candidate for Best Actor... and if you're wondering about Colossal Youth from Portugal which took two best "experimental" films, the film, as of yet, has no US distributor (I'll keep you posted with that one). And this year's Cannes line-up appears to be connecting with the US film awards much more than previous years with In Competition films like No Country for Old Men, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Colossal Youth, Persepolis, and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days all faring quite well in the year-end rush of prizes. Keep in mind though that The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is ineligible for the Foreign-Language Oscar as France chose Persepolis as their official selection. I'm pretty sure a good portion of the film is in English as well, so France avoided the conflict that Israel is facing now with their selection of The Band's Visit. I really don't have anything to say other than that... but here they are anyway. UPDATED: 12/11 with San Francisco Film Critics Circle.

Boston Film Critics Assosication

Film: No Country for Old Men

Director: Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)

Actor: Frank Langella (Starting Out in the Evening)

Actress: Marion Cotillard (La Vie en rose)

Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)

Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone)

Screenplay: Brad Bird (Ratatouille)

Foreign-Language Film: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Documentary/Non-Fiction Film: Crazy Love - dir. Dan Klores

Cinematography: Janusz Kaminski (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)

New Filmmaker: Ben Affleck (Gone Baby Gone)

Ensemble Cast: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Albert Finney, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Amy Ryan, et al)

Independent/Experimental: Colossal Youth [Juventude Em Marcha] - dir. Pedro Costa

Los Angeles Film Critics Association

Film: There Will Be Blood
Runner-Up: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)
Runner-Up: Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)

Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)
Runner-Up: Frank Langella (Starting Out in the Evening)

Actress: Marion Cotillard (La vie en rose)
Runner-Up: Anamaria Marinca (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days)

Supporting Actor: Vlad Ivanov (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days)
Runner-Up: Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild)

Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone)
Runner-Up: Cate Blanchett (I'm Not There)

Screenplay: Tamara Jenkins (The Savages)
Runner-Up: Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)

Foreign-Language Film: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile] - dir. Cristian Mungiu
Runner-Up: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - dir. Julian Schnabel

Documentary/Non-Fiction Film: No End in Sight - dir. Charles Ferguson
Runner-Up: Sicko - dir. Michael Moore

Production Design: Jack Fisk (There Will Be Blood)
Runner-Up: Dante Ferretti (Sweeney Todd)

Animation (tie): Ratatouille - dir. Brad Bird; Persepolis - dir. Vincent Parannaud, Marjane Satrapi

Music: Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova (Once)
Runner-Up: Jonny Greenwood (There Will Be Blood)

Cinematography: Janusz Kaminski (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
Runner-Up: Robert Elswit (There Will Be Blood)

New Generation: Sarah Polley (Away from Her)

Career Achievement: Sidney Lumet

Independent/Experimental: Colossal Youth [Juventude Em Marcha] - dir. Pedro Costa

Washington DC Film Critics

Film: No Country for Old Men

Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)

Actor: George Clooney (Michael Clayton)

Actress: Julie Christie (Away from Her)

Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)

Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead)

Ensemble Cast: No Country for Old Men (Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Kelly Macdonald, Woody Harrelson, et al)

Breakthrough Performance: Ellen Page (Juno)

Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin (Charlie Wilson's War)

Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody (Juno)

Animated Feature: Ratatouille - dir. Brad Bird

Foreign Language Film: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - dir. Julian Schnabel

Documentary: Sicko - dir. Michael Moore

Art Direction: Sweeney Todd

New York Online Film Critics

Film (tie): The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - dir. Julian Schnabel; There Will Be Blood - dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)

Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)

Actress: Julie Christie (Away from Her)

Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)

Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett (I'm Not There)

Cinematography: Robert Elswit (There Will Be Blood)

Screenplay: Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman, Roman Coppola (The Darjeeling Limited)

Foreign Film (tie): The Lives of Others - dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmark; Persepolis - dir. Vincent Parannaud, Marjane Satrapi

Documentary: Sicko - dir. Michael Moore

Music/Score: Jonny Greenwood (There Will Be Blood)

Breakthrough Performance: Ellen Page (Juno)

Debut as Director: Sarah Polley (Away from Her)

Ensemble Performance: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Albert Finney, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Amy Ryan, et al)

The 11 Best Films of 07 (alphabetically):
Atonement - dir. Joe Wright
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - dir. Sidney Lumet
The Darjeeling Limited - dir. Wes Anderson
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - dir. Julian Schnabel
I'm Not There - dir. Todd Haynes
Juno - dir. Jason Reitman
Michael Clayton - dir. Tony Gilroy
No Country for Old Men - dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Persepolis - dir. Vincent Parannaud, Marjane Satrapi
Sweeney Todd - dir. Tim Burton
There Will Be Blood - dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

San Francisco Film Critics Circle

Film: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)

Actor: George Clooney (Michael Clayton)

Actress: Julie Christie (Away from Her)

Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)

Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone)

Original Screenplay: Tamara Jenkins (The Savages)

Adapted Screenplay: Sarah Polley (Away from Her)

Documentary: No End in Sight - dir. Charles Ferguson

Foreign Film: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - dir. Julian Schnabel

Victoria Beckham, my ass: Andrea Arnold's Wasp

Wasp - dir. Andrea Arnold - 2003 - UK

Examining a director’s relationship to their subject can be a tricky endeavor. No matter whether you’re creating someone as vile as the two leads in Godard’s Weekend, the subject will always be a product of the filmmaker’s loins. In that regard, it’s thus difficult to establish your subject without the hint of a paternal attachment, a strange level of affection and criticism. In Andrea Arnold’ Wasp, her relationship with her subject is a deeply complex one.

On one level, Wasp is a depiction of the strange worship of celebrity. America doesn’t, and probably never will, understand David and Victoria Beckham, the uber celebrity couple of Great Britain, as America’s equivalent, Brad and Angelina, seems to function on a different level. The Beckhams are the epitome of the fashionably idolized. They’re the idealized depiction of family with three terribly good-looking young sons whose existence never steps in the way of living the glamorous life. David’s not so much the greatest football player in the world as he is the prettiest, and Victoria, a one-time pop star of limited talent, spends her time at fashion shows. They’re, in a sense, the perfect celebrity family.

For Zoë (Natalie Press), the Beckhams are the ideal. In an embarrassing scene, one of her three daughters tells a woman how she says she’s as pretty as Victoria, resulting in scoffs from the other woman and Zoë telling her daughters to not tell anyone that again. In many ways, there’s an impossibility about Victoria Beckham, the ideal of the young, attractive mother. Motherhood for Victoria isn’t a sacrifice; her wealth provides the useful opportunity of maids and nannies to allow her time to shop and pose for the sea of paparazzi.

There’s a sadness to Zoë’s idealized notion, for she can barely even feed her children. When Zoë runs into Dave (Danny Dyer), a former crush showing his first bit of interest in her, one of the girls remarks, “He looks just like David Beckham!” This, naturally, elicits a knowing smirk from Zoë, in a way opening herself up to the possibility of coming to a closer realization of her idolization. Of course, as long as she can get someone to watch her kids for their evening date to the pub. The Beckhams function similarly in Wasp as ABBA does in Muriel’s Wedding. For Muriel (Toni Collette), ABBA is the escape of her own harsh personal reality, their infectious pop the archetype of eternal bliss and happiness. For Zoë, the Beckhams represent the same thing, the false pinnacle of desire: fashionable motherhood, physical perfection in marriage. The young girls share their mother’s obsession with celebrity, asking their mother to play Robbie Williams at the pub and demanding her to take them to McDonalds (or Mack-donals, as they call it).

It would appear that Zoë is a pretty awful mother. She beats a woman up in front of her young girls, even with the understanding that she’s doing so because the woman hit one of her girls. When she can’t find a babysitter, Zoë plants her children outside the pub to fend for themselves. They’re starving, and she has no money to buy them anything more than crisps. However, this ultimately comes in question when the titular wasp threatens to crawl inside her baby’s mouth. Zoë’s in Dave’s car, passionately making out with him, yet at the moment the screams from her girls erupts, she bolts out of the car to find out what’s the matter. The incident proves to be the wake-up call she needed, eclipsing her own personal desires for a man or, more accurately, to play the part of Victoria to Dave’s David.

Yet Arnold isn’t as sure about this. There’s a glimmer of a happy ending in Wasp, where Dave finally realizes that the young girls Zoë played off as belonging to her girlfriend are, in fact, hers. Instead of running away (which always looks like it might be a possibility), he gets the children fed and takes the family home. Despite the realized importance in Zoë’s life, this comes with a return to the consumerism of fast food, and on top of that, a merry car ride to horrible pop music. The last shot of Wasp shows the car driving off as one of the passengers carelessly throws their bag of fast food out the window. On one hand, Arnold says that some things will never change. On the other, there’s a happiness achieved in spite of it all. Arnold knows Zoë will never be the Victoria she so longs to become… and, really, Zoë knows this underneath as well. Yet with said understanding, Zoe finds what she’s both looking for and not expecting to find. However, happiness doesn’t come with a clean slate.

You can find Andrea Arnold’s Oscar winning short film as a special feature on Tartan’s release of her debut feature, Red Road, or on Warp Films' release of Cinema16's European Short Films.

[Written as my fourth entry in the Short Film Blog-a-thon, hosted by Seul le cinema and Culture Snob.]

The NBR's fave "INDIE" and "SUBTITLE" movies of 07

How stupid. The National Board of Review also unveiled the best foreign-language, documentary, and "independent" (In the Valley of Elah and A Mighty Heart are "indies," but not Juno) films of the year. You may notice that the NBR showed no love for I'm Not There, Sicko, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, There Will Be Blood, or Charlie Wilson's War. Don't ask me what the fuck an independent film is these days, but here they are anyway. I also have no idea what is eligible or not... I'm pretty sure as long as the folks who vote saw it this year, it counts, as 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days ain't being released in the States until January. All lists are alphabetical... though I don't think they realized the "La" in La vie en rose is a damned article.

Best Foreign Films (other than winner The Diving Bell and the Butterfly):
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile] - dir. Christian Mungiu - Romania
The Band's Visit [Bikur Ha-Tizmoret] - dir. Eran Kolirin - Israel/France/USA
The Counterfeiters - dir. Stefan Ruzowitzky - Germany/Austria
La vie en rose - dir. Olivier Dahan - France
Lust, Caution -dir. Ang Lee - Taiwan/USA

Best Independent Films:
Away from Her - dir. Sarah Polley - Canada
Great World of Sound - dir. Craig Zobel - USA
Honeydripper - dir. John Sayles - USA
In the Valley of Elah - dir. Paul Haggis - USA
A Mighty Heart - dir. Michael Winterbottom - UK/USA
The Namesake - dir. Mira Nair - USA/India
Once - dir. John Carney - USA
The Savages - dir. Tamara Jenkins - USA
Starting Out in the Evening - dir. Andrew Wagner - USA
Waitress - dir. Adrienne Shelley - USA

Best Documentary Films (other than winner Body of War):
Darfur Now - dir. Ted Braun - USA
In the Shadow of the Moon - dir. David Signton - USA/UK
Nanking - dir. Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman - USA
Taxi to the Darkside - dir. Alex Gibney - USA
Toots - dir. Kristi Jacobson - USA

Kickin' off award season

The National Board of Review started the ball rolling for the year-end film awards, naming the Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men the best film of the year. Keep in mind that the National Board of Review is probably one of the less reputable sources to hand out awards each year. The awards are as follows:

Best Picture: No Country for Old Men - dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Best Director: Tim Burton (Sweeney Todd)

Best Actor: George Clooney (Michael Clayton)

Best Actress: Julie Christie (Away from Her)

Best Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)

Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone)

Best Ensemble Cast: No Country for Old Men (Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Kelly Macdonald, Woody Harrelson, et al)

Best Foreign Film: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - dir. Julian Schnabel

Best Documentary: Body of War - dir. Phil Donahue, Ellen Spiro

Best Animated Feature: Ratatouille - dir. Brad Bird

Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild)

Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Ellen Page (Juno)

Best Directorial Debut: Ben Affleck (Gone Baby Gone)

Best Original Screenplay (tie): Diablo Cody (Juno); Nancy Oliver (Lars and the Real Girl)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)

2-11 of the Best Films of 2007 (in alphabetical order):
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Atonement
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Bucket List (seriously?)
Into the Wild
Juno
The Kite Runner
Lars and the Real Girl
Michael Clayton
Sweeney Todd