Zombie You-Know-Who

What a dick.

You put a spell on me...

Lost Highway – dir. David Lynch – France/USA – 1997

Now that your David Lynch DVD collection complete, after Universal (finally) released Lost Highway on DVD last Tuesday, you might come to the realization that Lost Highway probably isn’t as out-there as you may recall. I probably hadn’t seen the film in about seven years before purchasing it last night, and memory didn’t serve me correctly. For one, I remember disliking the film more than most of Lynch’s body of work; in fact, I’m not even sure I ever watched the whole thing, as the last twenty minutes of the film rang no bells. For two, I remember part of my distaste for the film coming from the utter incomprehensible fortress Lynch placed around it. I’m now ten years older, and I’ve suffered through Inland Empire, so I think now was the perfect time to have proven myself wrong about Lost Highway, David Lynch’s rock-n-roll noir, through my unorganized notations.

My knee-jerk reaction to Lost Highway involved something about Lynch throwing everything and the proverbial kitchen sink into his opus, but when placed side-by-side, Lost Highway looks positively Hemmingway-esque against Inland Empire. I jest, of course, as both films really do pride themselves on the inclusion of that kitchen sink, but in retrospect, Lost Highway makes a more flattering setting for it. This perhaps comes from the knowledge that, at least, there’s a lid on the whole thing somewhere (which could be a problem in some cases, but not in Lynch’s).

In fact, one of the ways in which Lost Highway’s “weirdness” becomes illuminating is when you approach it the same way one would approach Lost. Without giving too much away, there are some striking parallels in the goings-on of both places, notably the nose-bleeds and “cabin” as a result of a so-called “rip in time.” I would recommend for those into the series Lost to investigate further into the vortex theory and see how it might create a better understanding for Lost Highway (check out Lostpedia).

Does Lost Highway have Lynch’s strangest cast to date? Other than Jack Nance, most of the actors onscreen are first-timers (and likely last-timers) with the director, which is certainly unusual for him, but it’s the casting itself that’s most abnormal. Gary Busey, Richard Pryor, Robert Blake, Henry Rollins, Robert Loggia and Mink Stole? Where did that come from? Unfortunately, Lost Highway also suffers under one’s general understanding of Lynch’s repeat casting. Bill Pullman obviously plays the Kyle Maclachlan role here, most recognized in his bangs (don’t believe me? Check out the episode of Twin Peaks where “Bob” leaves his host body… you know the episode). The absence of Maclachlan could best be attributed to their falling out post-Twin Peaks and of no result of Showgirls. Natasha Gregson Wagner, daughter of Natalie Wood, is a lousy substitute for Lara Flynn Boyle, and Balthazar Getty is just lousy all-around… which leads me to Ms. Arquette.

There’s a certain distraction in Lynch’s emphasis on Patricia Arquette’s look over her performance. The robe, ankles, shoes and bangs (hair is very important in Lost Highway) of her Renee screams Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, which isn’t Lynch’s first nod to the film (see the episode of Twin Peaks where Piper Laurie is visited by an insurance salesman by the name of Mr. Neff). Arquette’s Alice is far more Veronica Lake than Stanwyck, but it’s especially difficult getting past her forced exterior to delve into Lynch’s typical duality of women. Though Arquette strikes me as a strange choice for both roles, she’s rather archetypal of Lynchian women in that the film appears to slow down when she’s not onscreen. This may also be attributed to the lack of skill both of her male counterparts (Pullman and Getty) hold, but other than the famous Loggia “tailgating” scene, Arquette is sorely missed when she’s offscreen. Additionally, Alice’s retelling of her initial meeting with Loggia’s character, set to Marilyn Manson’s cover of “I Put a Spell on You,” ranks among Lynch’s finest sequences.

Stylistically, Lost Highway often feels like a retread, even if it did come before Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire. Lynch’s aesthetic obsession with rotary telephone rings, dimly lit lamps barely lighting the wall, ominous hallways, and Angelo Badalamenti is on full display in Lost Highway, but in overall aesthetics, Lost Highway’s is as different as Wild at Heart in Lynch’s oeuvre, and much of this could be attested to Badalamenti and Trent Reznor’s production of the soundtrack, which features tracks by Manson, The Smashing Pumpkins and Rammstein (and of course Nine Inch Nails), all of which would be seemingly out-of-place in familiar Lynch environment, but are perfectly evocative here. Cocteau Twins fans might also note that Lynch finally got the rights to This Mortal Coil’s cover of Tim Buckley’s “Song of the Siren,” with vocals by Liz Fraser, which Lynch originally wanted for Blue Velvet, and when he couldn’t acquire the rights, “created” Julee Cruise. Lynch claims that Lost Highway exists in the same world that Twin Peaks does, which would make sense with the Robert Blake character, but I stumble at finding greater comparisons.

Thoughts?

Zombie Jules Dassin

Oh those strange coincidences. Richard Widmark died just a week before his Night and the City director Jules Dassin. Dassin had an amazingly rounded career, born in Connecticut, became a master of the film noir, blacklisted from Hollywood, moved to France, celebrated a career resurgence, moved to Greece, and continued to work there in his later years. He was famously married to actress Melina Mercouri, whom he directed into a Best Actress prize at Cannes for Never on Sunday. He was 96.

Notable Filmography

The Canterville Ghost (1944)
Brute Force (1947)
The Naked City (1948)
Thieves' Highway (1949)
Night and the City (195o)
Rififi (1955)
Never on Sunday (1960)
10:30 P.M. Summer (1966)

Ruined

Bugcrush - dir. Carter Smith - 2006 - USA

In preparation for seeing The Ruins this weekend (better known as the only hope for a decent horror film this half of the year), I visited Carter Smith's short film, Bugcrush, available through Strand's Boys Life 6 collection... and, yes, my anticipation is now high. Running just over a half hour, Bugcrush is thrice as moody as any horror film I've seen in a while, focusing on the unlikely crush of a young high school boy (Josh Caras) on a likely heterosexual bad boy (Donald Cumming). Things don't really move as you would expect them to and Smith drapes Bugcrush with a palpable sense of danger. Ultimately, it doesn't make a lick of sense, but by that point, it doesn't matter. As you probably know, films that stray from any sense of reality or proper dissection after establishing itself fantastically suit my fancy. I just hope The Ruins can restore my faith in the American horror. Sorry Carter Smith for laying such an unrealistic task on your shoulders. Also, keep an eye out for Billy Price, the subject of the documentary Billy the Kid, as one of the bad boy's friends.

Oh, THAT's Why...

According to Premiere's Glenn Kelly, Chapter 27 is "the most godawful, irredeemable film yet to emerge in the 21st century." Wow! As a paid film critic, I'm sure he's had to watch all those films from the creators of Date Movie, so that's saying something. Like the quiet smirks I had when Southland Tales and Marie Antoinette were panned at Cannes, my complete and utter distaste for Jared Leto can now be shared widely. Another hilarious tid-bit, from Nathan Rabin of The Onion AV Club, "Perhaps the harshest criticism that can be directed at Chapter 27 is that it's awful even for a late-period Lindsay Lohan movie." Double yowza. Read more awful reviews at GreenCine Daily or Metacritic... better yet put on your favorite 30 Seconds to Mars album and revel in Jared Leto's awfulness.

Zombie Richard Widmark

The actor passed away at the age of 93. Remember him with two of my favorites: The Night and the City and, especially, Pickup on South Street.

Quick Reference

Wristcutters: A Love Story - dir. Goran Dukic - 2007 - USA

Sure, it's an interesting premise, but does an interesting premise a good movie make? Of course not. I'm not going to stretch myself as far to call Wristcutters a bad film, as it's--at least--engaging throughout. In fact, now that I'm thinking clearly upon the film, there's not much more to do with it other than outright reject it or take its effective surrealism as something altogether shallow. In fact, Wristcutters is one of the few films you can adamantly hate or enthusiastically love, and I frankly wouldn't give two shits. It's not offensively "culty," despite an almost entire soundtrack from Tom Waits, and it's also not as arrogant as Donnie Darko to set off my offensives. It's fine, as much as I hate the idea of leaving that generic sentence to conclude this "synopsis."

Socket - dir. Sean Abley - 2007 - USA

Have fun, if you so desire, with Socket, a crude, superficial update of David Cronenberg's Videodrome. It's certainly unapologetically gay, casting the only "heterosexual" woman as a transgendered woman, but I hope you would know that shamelessly queer doesn't alone impress me. From the disc menu, I found reason to question the integrity of the film. Honestly, what purpose does a generic techno soundtrack serve a film, let alone a generic gay film? None, I would beg to say. Unfortunately, Socket plays with fascinating subjects, i.e. the paralyzing nothingness and heightened eroticism of a man recently struck by lightening. Unfortunately, the symbolism and metaphors are way, way too easy, crippling any legitimate comparison to Videodrome, as the lead character's (Derek Long) ultimate desire for power and, yes, electricity becomes all-too-apparent. Is it even worth someone's time for commending a shitty film for its ambitions when they ultimately lead to nothing worth speaking of? I'd like to say no, and thus, like to tell you to avoid Socket.

La vie sur le terre

So, I turned 24 on Sunday, which coincided with the anniversary of the zombie-esque resurrection of the Christian god. And I partied in full Ramona Lutz style. If you don't get the reference, go rent Freeway. I share a birthday with the incomparable Amanda Plummer. Jealous? I thought so. Anyway, I made myself a musical playlist to celebrate my birthday in style. Here it is. You should always score your own life.

1. Goldfrapp - Eat Yourself
2. Yeasayer - Wait for the Summer
3. MGMT - Electric Feel
4. Cat Power - The Greatest
5. Portishead - The Rip
6. The Verve - Grey Skies
7. The Magnetic Fields - All My Little Words
8. Mojave 3 - Trying to Reach You
9. Til Tuesday - Voices Carry
10. Devo - Mongoloid
11. Sonic Youth - Shadow of a Doubt
12. Eighth Wonder - I'm Not Scared
13. Scratch Massive - Hung Over [fitting, no?]
14. The Human League - Human
15. Montag - Softness, I Forgot Your Name
16. The The - The Beat(en) Generation
17. PJ Harvey - Silence
18. Stacey Q - Two of Hearts
19. The Hidden Cameras - Why I Understand
20. Françoise Hardy - J'aurai voulu

May Fools

God, I totally forgot that the line-up for this year's Cannes film festival will be announced in a mere month, and The Hollywood Reporter has a line-up of possible films to make their way into this year's festival. Among the possibilities are:

- Michael Winterbottom's Geneva with Colin Firth, Catherine Keener and Hope Davis
- Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona with Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Messina (the only Jew in the cast, likely playing the Allen role) and Patricia Clarkson (you might know the film better as the one where Cruz and Johansson have a steamy lesbian sex scene)
- Two films from Steven Soderbergh, The Argentine and Guerilla, the first with Franka Potente, Benicio del Toro, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Demián Bichir, the latter with all the above plus Jordi Mollà, Benjamin Bratt, Joaquím de Almeida, and Julia Ormond
- Bertrand Tavernier's In the Electric Mist with Tommy Lee Jones, John Goodman, Kelly Macdonald, Peter Sarsgaard and Ned Beatty
- Anh Hung Tran's (The Vertical Ray of the Sun) I Come with the Rain with Josh Hartnett and Elias Koteas
- Fernando Meirelles' Blindness with Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Sandra Oh, Gael García Bernal and Danny Glover
- Wim Wenders' The Palermo Shooting with Milla Jovovich, Dennis Hopper, Sebastian Blomberg, Patti Smith and Lou Reed
- Arnaud Desplechin's Un conte de Noël with Catherine Deneuve, Mathieu Amalric, Chaira Mastroianni, Melvil Poupaud, Emmanuelle Devos and Hippolyte Girardot
- Bertrand Bonnello's De le guerre with Asia Argento, Mathieu Amalric, Guillaume Depardieu, Aurore Clément, Michel Piccoli, Elina Löwensohn and Laurent Lucas
- Barbet Schroeder's Inju with Benoît Magimel.

Sounds fucking good to me, whether these films make it into the festival or not. Oh, and via the same source, Wong Kar-wai may debut his Ashes of Time Redux, a new version of his martial arts epic. A new version? That doesn't sound like Wong! (I'm being sarcastic, see below). Anyway, I can't wait until May.

Once I wanted to be...

What can we expect for the US release of My Blueberry Nights? According to the Weinsteins, the US version will differ greatly from the version which screened at Cannes (which I have seen and was rather lukewarm toward). This seems to be a trend for Wong Kar-wai. He caused a minor scandal a few years back when the Cannes release of 2046 was delayed due to it "not being ready." As far as I know, the version most of the world has seen of 2046 is not the version which screened at Cannes (to decidedly mixed reviews). Please correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe Wong's problem is that he hasn't been able to successfully follow up his breathtaking In the Mood for Love and has been even more unsatisfied with his last two films than most of his fans have been. May I offer a suggestion? Less Natalie Portman, less Rachel Weisz, more Chan Marshall. Okay, so I'm bias. Normally I would oppose of those slimy Weinsteins fucking with the film, but if you saw the film I did, it could certainly use some improvement. If anyone has more information about the US release of My Blueberry Nights, don't hesitate to share. My Blueberry Nights begins its limited release on 4 April, and here's the US poster below, which is probably the lousiest out of all the international posters for the film, which you can see at this link.


My original review of My Blueberry Nights, the non-US cut, can be found at this link.

Short Cuts 22 March 2008

Here's an update of what I've been watching in the past few days.

The Witnesses [Les témoins] - dir. André Téchiné - 2007 - France

The Witnesses is uncharacteristically swiftly-paced for an André Téchiné film, particularly one that deals with what I'd like to call a love trapezoid during the course of an entire year in the early 80s. Like his previous Wild Reeds and Strayed, he treats The Witnesses like an epic war romance, crafting the AIDS crisis into une guerre, told from the point-of-view of an apathetic mother and wife (Emmanuelle Béart) whose husband (Sami Bouajila) is sleeping with a young boy (Johan Libéreau, of Cold Showers) who comes down with signs of what we now know as AIDS. Though successful in its own right, the film ultimately lacks the overall heartbreak of Wild Reeds and the simply stunning nature of Rendez-vous. Try not to pay attention to Béart's plastic surgery face and lips (or the fact that an American character who shows up near the end is clearly not from the United States).

Them [Ils] - dir. David Moreau, Xavier Palud - 2006 - France/Romania

Note to foreign directors who've made a successful horror film in their native country: don't come to America. Now, I'm not outright banning anyone from coming, but Hollywood has been recruiting foreign directors for their shitty remakes for the past few years (see The Hills Have Eyes, The Grudge 2, Hitman), and now we have the directors of Them to blame for The Eye. Them is actually pretty creepy (which is something I've heard The Eye certainly is not), but it feels more like a suspense demo reel than it does an actual film. It's tense and eerie, but empty and meaningless. Thankfully at seventy-seven minutes, it's hard not to at least applaud the directors for favoring old-fashioned terror over merciless gore.

It's My Party - dir. Randal Kleiser - 1996 - USA

It's been AIDS week at my house, first with The Witnesses and then It's My Party. It's My Party is pretty indisputably bad, but I can't bring myself to despise it. The film represents a specific era of time in which AIDS irrevocably changed the lives of everyone around it. In It's My Party, a brain tumor begins to eat away at Eric Roberts (whose casualness about dying gets grating after a while) after years of suffering from AIDS. Instead of dying in a hospital, he throws himself a "going-away" party with his close family and friends, including Lee Grant as his Greek mother, Marlee Matlin as his sister, Olivia Newton-John, Bronson Pinchot and Margaret Cho as his best friends, and George Seagal as his estranged father, among others. I can't really call It's My Party hokey because, in a way, it's authentic; its subject matter is too desperate to be easily dismissed even if it's constructed by lousy filmmaking. Just look at it as a brave aritfact.

Hannah Takes the Stairs - dir. Joe Swanberg - 2007 - USA

Grumblecore. Mumblecorpse. Those are two words that I couldn't resist using in reference to Joe Swanberg's Hannah Takes the Stairs, the ultimate test of my patience in a long time. In yet another depiction of post-college life, Swanberg introduces Hannah (Greta Gerwig), an emotionally confused serial dater who blows through the hearts and lives of three men (Mark Duplass of The Puffy Chair, Andrew Bujalski of Mutual Appreciation and Kent Osborne) throughout the course of the film. With Hannah Takes the Stairs, Swanberg best identifies the dead-end nature of the so-called mumblecore movement, crafting a film that's barely distinguishable in maturity or even in terms of plot devices from his previous Kissing on the Mouth and LOL. I could go on, but I'm remaining tight-lipped on this one.

Céline and Julie Go Boating [Céline et Julie vont en bateau] - dir. Jacques Rivette - 1974 - France

Oh, joy. Add these ladies to my list of all-time favorites. It's easy to see how David Lynch might have gotten inspiration for, well, just about all of his films from Céline and Julie, but seldom has surrealism seemed as playful and enchanting as it has here. I would suggest you go out of your way to find this film if you haven't already seen it, and thanks to both Eric and Ed for their incessant Jacques Rivette masturbation sessions or I might have missed out. A fucking incomparable masterpiece.

You see your gypsy

Transylvania – dir. Tony Gatlif – 2006 – France

When looking at cinema with the auteur theory at work, it’s always reassuring to find a director returning to the themes that seemed to previously obsess him. Many people have made such assessment to Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park in which the director revisits the ideas behind the films that got people interested in the first place, notably Mala Noche and My Own Private Idaho. With Transylvania, Algerian-born Tony Gatlif does the same, returning to his love and obsession with gypsy culture. More so than his “documentary” Latcho Drom, Transylvania is more accurately a thematic sequel to Gadjo dilo (The Crazy Stranger), his 1997 film in which a Frenchman (Romain Duris) travels to Romania to find a singer who’s become his obsession. Obsession and gypsy culture, particularly music, fuel Transylvania, as three women (Asia Argento, Amira Casar and Alexandra Beaujard) trek to the titular city in search of Argento’s deported lover. Her lover, whom she just discovered is the father of her baby, is naturally a musician, a pianist of Romanian descent.

Transylvania closely aligns itself with The Crazy Stranger more than Latcho Drom or Vengo in their central motives. Whereas Latcho Drom and Vengo capture rhythm and beauty in the movement and music of a group of people, Transylvania and The Crazy Stranger represent a journey. For Gatlif, there appears to be something missing in the heart of the western European and something inherently desirable about this gypsy lifestyle. There’s a purity of life which is never spoken of but suggested through the pursuit and subsequent transformation of French Stéphane (Duris) and Italian Zingarina (Argento). As is expected of Gatlif, Transylvania is exquisitely composed, beautiful and lush, but there seems to be a patronizing quality about returning to the singular theme of western Europeans finding themselves in the east. Perhaps it wouldn’t seem as critical if Transylvania didn’t seem like an almost entire transposition of Argento into Duris’ role. I also wouldn’t suggest watching Transylvania directly after Catherine Breillat’s The Last Mistress, as there’s only so much one can take of Asia Argento mumbling her dialogue whilst writhing in pain. Funny that I have yet another Argento film, Boarding Gate, next on my list of films to see. I’m a masochist.

Paramount Catalogue for Summer 08: UPDATED

Paramount announced a slew of catalogue titles for this summer, none of which you've likely ever heard of. Thankfully, there were a few you might know. On 1 July, Paramount will (finally) make available Patrice Leconte's internationally successful The Girl on the Bridge, with Vanessa Paradis and Daniel Auteuil. Also bowing on that day is John Sayles' Baby It's You, starring Rosanna Arquette and Vincent Spano. The other titles are as follows, but don't blame if you haven't heard of some of them. Almost an Angel with Elias Koteas and Paul Hogan (3 Jun), Blue City with Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy and (yuck!) David Caruso (3 Jun), William Castle's The Busy Body with Sid Caeser among others (1 Jul), Desperate Characters with Shirley Maclaine (1 Jul), Hitler: The Last Ten Days with Alec Guiness as Hitler (3 Jun), Houdini with Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh (3 Jun), Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again (3 Jun), Frank Pierson's King of the Gypsies with Sterling Hayden, Shelley Winters, (yuck) Susan Sarandon, Brooke Shields, Annette O'Toole, Eric Roberts and Annie Potts (3 Jun), Mandingo with James Mason and Perry King (3 Jun), Carl Reiner's The One and Only with Henry Winkler (3 Jun), The Optimists with Peter Sellers (3 Jun), Papa's Delicate Condition with Jackie Gleason (1 Jul), Partners with Ryan O'Neal and John Hurt (1 Jul), The Possession of Joel Delaney with Perry King and Shirley Maclaine, Rhubarb with Ray Milland (1 Jul), Serial with Martin Mull and Tuesday Weld (1 Jul), The Skull with Peter Cushing (3 Jun), Some Kind of Hero with Richard Pryor and Margot Kidder (!), Student Bodies (3 Jun), Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (aka Monte Carlo or Bust) with Tony Curtis (3 Jun), Villa Rides with Yul Brynner, Robert Mitchum and Charles Bronson (awesome cast) (3 Jun), The Whoopee Boys (3 Jun), and ZPG with Oliver Reed and Gerladine Chaplin (3 Jun). Whew.

UPDATE: According to DVDDrive-in, these titles will be released by Legend Films, a division of Genius Products. I don't quite know what's going on. Also announced with these titles: Sidney Lumet's Daniel with Timothy Hutton, Mandy Patinkin, Ellen Barkin and Ed Asner (1 Jul).

Also, via Eric, Lionsgate will be releasing another actor-themed box, via Studio Canal; this time it's Catherine Deneuve. The set contains some minor Deneuve work: Jean Aurel's Manon 70, Jean-Paul Rappeneau's Le sauvage, André Téchiné's Hôtel des Amériques, Robin Davis's Le choc and Alain Corneau's Fort Saganne. I'm probably most excited about the Téchiné film, which would be the first of five collaborations between the director and star, preceding Scene of the Crime, My Favorite Season, Les voleurs and Changing Times. The set will be available on 10 June.