Cinematicalhttp://www.cinematical.comCinematicalhttp://www.cinematical.com/media/feedlogo.gifCinematicalhttp://www.cinematical.comen-usCopyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/400 Screens, 400 Blows - Sci-Fi Goes to War http://www.cinematical.com/2009/07/03/400-screens-400-blows-sci-fi-goes-to-war/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/07/03/400-screens-400-blows-sci-fi-goes-to-war/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/07/03/400-screens-400-blows-sci-fi-goes-to-war/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



A few months ago, I saw two new sci-fi movies at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and now both are in limited release: Duncan Jones's Moon (21 screens) and Aristomenis Tsirbas' Battle for Terra (2 screens). And it got me thinking. These two movies couldn't be more different, and the main distinction between them is this. Moon is sci-fi based on an actual sci-fi idea. That means that science actually figures into the fiction somewhere. And Battle for Terra is the perfect example of a war film decorated with sci-fi trimmings; its big "twist" is that the humans are the bad guys and the aliens are the good guys, but aside from that the story unfolds exactly like a regular war film. The aliens, spaceships and other gizmos don't really figure into the major themes or plot.

It got me thinking about how many science fiction movies are really just war movies in disguise. (The current Terminator Salvation is another one.) It's very easy to transform the combatants of a war to alien races and make the cause of the war something fictitious, like the "spice" in Dune (1984). It's much easier to explain why people are fighting over that powerful stuff than why they're fighting over differences in religions or beliefs. And it's much nicer to justify battling alien invaders than it is to justify humans fighting humans. Frankly, I'm all for this little bit of deception, provided the sci-fi movies have three things. Battle for Terra has none of them.

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]]>battle for terraBattleForTerracinematicalfilmhurt lockerHurtLockermoonmovieJeffrey M. AndersonFri, 03 Jul 2009 21:03:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - Mix Me an Old Fashionedhttp://www.cinematical.com/2009/06/28/400-screens-400-blows-mix-me-an-old-fashioned/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/06/28/400-screens-400-blows-mix-me-an-old-fashioned/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/06/28/400-screens-400-blows-mix-me-an-old-fashioned/#commentsFiled under: ,



A few movies out there, specifically Easy Virtue (255 screens), The Brothers Bloom (209 screens) and the new Cheri (opening this week on 80 screens), have taken it upon themselves to try and re-capture something of the style of old movies. Easy Virtue is based on a 1926 Noel Coward play, which was previously filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1928. Cheri comes from a 1920 novel written by the creator of Gigi (1958). And The Brothers Bloom is a new, original screenplay but it comes with some of the sensibilities of old films, namely snappy dialogue and hats.

I'm all for this, since many of today's movie fans who name their "all time favorite" films rarely list anything made before 1999. Aside from that at least half the cinema buffs out there is generally aware of a short list of classic films, which includes things like The Godfather, Dr. Strangelove, maybe some Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton, Casablanca, etc. And those are, of course, great places to start for those interested in looking at something beyond the IMAX screen. But there's a danger in labeling all that stuff "old movies." Not all of them come with country estates, or hats, or even dialogue.

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]]>chericinematicaleasy virtueEasyVirtuefilmmoviethe brothers bloomTheBrothersBloomJeffrey M. AndersonSun, 28 Jun 2009 09:02:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - Neurosis and 'Control'http://www.cinematical.com/2009/06/21/400-screens-400-blows-neurosis-and-control/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/06/21/400-screens-400-blows-neurosis-and-control/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/06/21/400-screens-400-blows-neurosis-and-control/#commentsFiled under: ,


400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

I'm rather dismayed by the huge success of the awful He's Just Not That Into You (21 screens). I mean, I like Bradley Cooper in general, and Justin Long's character is interesting for a while, at least until his stupid Hollywood redemption during the third act. And it does pose an interesting question: if you were married to Jennifer Connelly and had the chance to sleep with Scarlett Johansson, would you do it? I prefer to think of this question as a koan, or an unanswerable riddle meant to be pondered during meditation. Now, I know what you're thinking: this guy just doesn't like chick flicks. Not true. I love chick flicks, provided they're good, which they rarely are. Chick flicks are almost like horror films; the filmmakers have their audience hooked already and so most of them do the minimum amount of work required to crank out another just like the last one.

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]]>cinematicalfilmhes just not that into youHesJustNotThatIntoYoumoviethe limits of controlTheLimitsOfControlJeffrey M. AndersonSun, 21 Jun 2009 09:03:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - Sex, Sex, Sex... What Was I Talking About?http://www.cinematical.com/2009/06/11/400-screens-400-blows-sex-sex-sex-what-was-i-talking-abo/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/06/11/400-screens-400-blows-sex-sex-sex-what-was-i-talking-abo/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/06/11/400-screens-400-blows-sex-sex-sex-what-was-i-talking-abo/#commentsFiled under: ,

400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

Well, seven seconds has gone by and here I am, thinking about sex again. Not like that, you little perverts... I was thinking about sex in movies. It seems like, lately, the movies have learned to become sexy again. In the late 1960s, it became slowly acceptable to show nudity in American films. By the 1970s, many filmmakers were running with it. At some point during the 1980s and 1990s, some kind of conservative mood took over and the MPAA and other forces began taking sex out of movies, replaced with violence. As one clever soul put it: "if you show a breast, you get an R rating, but if you cut it off, you get a PG-13." Perhaps people have grown tired of conservatism lately because this year has been a good year for sex. In movies.

If you like sexy, funny women, for example, you can do no better than Anna Faris, who played a Playboy bunny last year and this year plays mall makeup countergirl Brandi, who listens to vulgar hip-hop and wears her good-time girl attitude like a revealing halter top. Her sex scene with Seth Rogen in Observe and Report (119 screens) contains so far one of my favorite lines of dialogue this year. She's downed several shots of something or other and a few pills on top of that. She's about 99% passed out as Ronnie Barnhardt (Rogen) pounds away on top of her. He stops, concerned about her well-being: "Brandi?" he asks. Suddenly, from between smears of lipstick: "Why are you stopping, motherf----r?"


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]]>cinematicalfilmmovieobserve and reportObserveAndReportsexthe girlfriend experienceTheGirlfriendExperienceJeffrey M. AndersonThu, 11 Jun 2009 20:03:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - As the Crowe Flieshttp://www.cinematical.com/2009/06/07/400-screens-400-blows-as-the-crowe-flies/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/06/07/400-screens-400-blows-as-the-crowe-flies/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/06/07/400-screens-400-blows-as-the-crowe-flies/#commentsFiled under: ,


400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

State of Play (240 screens) continues playing this week, and despite its lukewarm performance and reviews, something about it makes me happy. In mid-2003, I got myself into hot water with a Russell Crowe fan club. I reviewed a very minor film called The Hard Word, starring Guy Pearce, who of course had been Crowe's co-star in L.A. Confidential (1997). I took the opportunity to compare the two actors, praising Pearce for his work in interesting films like Ravenous and Memento, and questioning the much more fashionable Crowe. I did this mainly because I was irritated at the enduring popularity of two terrible films, the sludgy, brooding mess Gladiator (2000) and the manipulative Oscar bait A Beautiful Mind (2001).

I felt that Crowe went through the former film with one single expression, a glower, and through the latter with an unchanging collection of tics and actor's tricks; neither one was a particularly interesting or deep performance. Both performances received Oscar nominations, and Crowe won for Gladiator. I was also irritated that the immeasurably superior Memento, and Pearce, didn't get the same attention. In any case the Crowe fan club grabbed my review, posted it on one of their forums and went to town. I started getting all kinds of angry, nasty e-mails. The fact that I presented one, small opinion contrary to their perfect, orderly world absolutely infuriated them.


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]]>cinematicalfilmmovierussell croweRussellCroweJeffrey M. AndersonSun, 07 Jun 2009 09:02:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - Fighting and Knowing, Knowing and Fightinghttp://www.cinematical.com/2009/05/31/400-screens-400-blows-fighting-and-knowing-knowing-and-fight/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/05/31/400-screens-400-blows-fighting-and-knowing-knowing-and-fight/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/05/31/400-screens-400-blows-fighting-and-knowing-knowing-and-fight/#commentsFiled under: ,


400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

This week we face an existential crisis as we approach the box office and must decide between Fighting (253 screens) and Knowing (264 screens). Let's listen in on this inner conflict.

Mind: Clearly we must choose Knowing.

Body: There you go again. You're forgetting that there can be no Knowing without Fighting.

Mind: How so?

Body: Just think about the cavemen days. No one would have had the opportunity to learn anything if the caveman hadn't learned how to hunt dinosaurs.

Mind: That's ridiculous. What have you been watching? "The Flintstones"? And how could the caveman have fought dinosaurs without stopping and thinking about how to make weapons?


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]]>channing tatumChanningTatumcinematicalfightingfilmknowingmovienicolas cageNicolasCageJeffrey M. AndersonSun, 31 May 2009 09:02:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - Gran Ole Clinthttp://www.cinematical.com/2009/05/23/400-screens-400-blows-gran-ole-clint/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/05/23/400-screens-400-blows-gran-ole-clint/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/05/23/400-screens-400-blows-gran-ole-clint/#commentsFiled under: ,


400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

I suppose everyone knows by now that Gran Torino (218 screens) was Clint Eastwood's final screen appearance as an actor, and that he plans to concentrate on directing from now on -- though the film's nearly $150 million gross and a spot at #77 on the IMDB All-Time Top 250 will probably result in many phone calls begging him to reconsider. But this raises an interesting question: was it Eastwood's appearance onscreen make the movie such a popular favorite? Does he still have all the right stuff, 40 years later, to rank as one of the all-time great movie stars? Or was it his skill as a director that paid off?

Any actor who also decides to direct must eventually face the choice of whether or not to direct his or her own performance. There's a long list of people who chose one side or the other with varied results. But though it's probably the more difficult choice, I think any actor would agree that it's easier to sell the film with his or her face onscreen. Even Spike Lee admitted to this when he acted in his first three films, up to and including his masterpiece Do the Right Thing. And certainly when someone like Woody Allen initially decided not to appear in his films, his fans did not take it well.

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]]>cinematicalclint eastwoodClintEastwoodfilmgran torinoGranTorinomovieJeffrey M. AndersonSat, 23 May 2009 14:03:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - Treeless Mountainhttp://www.cinematical.com/2009/05/17/400-screens-400-blows-treeless-mountain/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/05/17/400-screens-400-blows-treeless-mountain/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/05/17/400-screens-400-blows-treeless-mountain/#commentsFiled under: ,


400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

Every few months I find myself sitting down for another "coming of age movie." It's taken awhile, but I think I have these things sorted out now. There are essentially three categories. In the first, a young boy befriends a crusty, cynical man -- sometimes a grandfatherly old fellow. The man coaxes the boy out of his shell, and the boy reminds the old man of what it's like to live. Examples include Cinema Paradiso, About a Boy and the new Is Anybody There? In the next category, the boy befriends another boy (or girl) of roughly the same age. The second boy is knowledgeable, outgoing and/or unique and coaxes the first boy out of his shell. Examples include Son of Rambow or The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. Then we get the "sexual awakening" kind of film, in which the boy falls in love with a grown woman, as in Malena or Mister Foe.

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]]>cinematicalfilmmovieso yong kimSoYongKimtreeless mountainTreelessMountainJeffrey M. AndersonSun, 17 May 2009 09:32:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - See 'Sita Sings the Blues'http://www.cinematical.com/2009/05/10/400-screens-400-blows-see-sita-sings-the-blues/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/05/10/400-screens-400-blows-see-sita-sings-the-blues/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/05/10/400-screens-400-blows-see-sita-sings-the-blues/#commentsFiled under: , ,


400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

Of the 100 or so new movies I've seen so far in 2009, only two of them have been great, and both of those have been animated. The first was Henry Selick's Coraline (111 screens), about which you've no doubt heard. The second one has been quietly playing on a few screens around the country and it opens this week at the Red Vic Movie House in San Francisco. Oddly, if you go to the film's official website, you'll find that it's also available for free streaming or download, and you can request that your local PBS station broadcast it. You can also order DVDs -- when they're finished. The film is not in 3D, it's not CGI-animated, and it has no fart jokes. It's Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues.

Billed as "the Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told," Sita Sings the Blues is based on the epic Ramayana. It tells the tale of Sita, who falls in love with the king's son Rama. Rama is banished from his kingdom for 14 years, and Sita accompanies him; they make the best of their life in exile. Unfortunately, an evil multi-headed king kidnaps Sita. Rama eventually rescues her with the help of a monkey-man called Hanuman, but he can no longer trust her "purity." Paley does not adapt this story literally. Rather, she takes several, simultaneous approaches, with several different artistic styles. In one version, Sita lip-syncs to old records by jazz singer Annette Hanshaw and magically, the songs ("Lover Come Back to Me," etc.) fit exactly.

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]]>cinematicalcoralinefilmmovienina paleyNinaPaleysita sings the bluesSitaSingsTheBluesJeffrey M. AndersonSun, 10 May 2009 09:32:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - San Francisco International Film Fest, Week Twohttp://www.cinematical.com/2009/05/01/400-screens-400-blows-san-francisco-international-film-fest/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/05/01/400-screens-400-blows-san-francisco-international-film-fest/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/05/01/400-screens-400-blows-san-francisco-international-film-fest/#commentsFiled under: , ,


400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

The world's oldest film festival, the San Francisco International Film Festival, continues this week. Diving through the myriad of titles, I came up with a couple of winners, neither of which has a U.S. distributor as of this moment. I'll start with the latest from the infuriatingly brilliant French director Claire Denis. Following her baffling, free-flowing, poetic epic masterpiece L'Intrus (The Intruder), Denis returns with a relatively simpler, more narrative-based feature, 35 Shots of Rum, though without sacrificing any of her unique flow. The new film focuses on an all-black Paris community of friends, relations, former and current lovers and colleagues. Lionel (Alex Descas) is a train engineer and lives with his beautiful, grown daughter Jo (Mati Diop). They don't speak very often, but they share an obviously tender relationship full of hugs and kisses on the cheek. Near the film's beginning, Jo buys herself a rice cooker, and Lionel coincidentally brings one home as well. Jo opens her father's and cooks rice, keeping her own in the package and hidden away.

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]]>Jeffrey M. AndersonFri, 01 May 2009 19:02:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - San Francisco International Film Fest, Part Ihttp://www.cinematical.com/2009/04/23/400-screens-400-blows-san-francisco-international-film-fest/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/04/23/400-screens-400-blows-san-francisco-international-film-fest/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/04/23/400-screens-400-blows-san-francisco-international-film-fest/#commentsFiled under: , ,


400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

This week begins the 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival. It's the oldest film festival in the world, and one of the largest, though it never gets as much publicity as Cannes or Sundance for two reasons: one is that it doesn't usually have the world premieres of the latest Hollywood blockbusters, and two is that it doesn't choose a "winner." No matter. Each year I choose my own winners, such as the following two.

When Mexican-born Fernando Eimbcke made his directorial debut with the wonderful Duck Season (2004 -- released here in 2006), he immediately earned comparisons to Jim Jarmusch with his black-and-white cinematography, deadpan humor, and a distinct lack of forward momentum in the plot. He probably won't shake that comparison with his second feature, the full-color Lake Tahoe, but it doesn't matter. This film is equally wonderful, and besides, how many good Jarmusch imitators are there?

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]]>adam goldbergAdamGoldbergcinematicalfernando eimbckeFernandoEimbckefilmjonathan parkerJonathanParkerlake tahoeLakeTahoemovieuntitledJeffrey M. AndersonThu, 23 Apr 2009 20:02:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - A Song and a Pushhttp://www.cinematical.com/2009/04/16/400-screens-400-blows-a-song-and-a-push/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/04/16/400-screens-400-blows-a-song-and-a-push/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/04/16/400-screens-400-blows-a-song-and-a-push/#commentsFiled under: ,


400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

This week I was thinking of two very different movies, both in need of a boost. One of my favorites of 2009 so far is Fados (1 screen), which I saw last year, but has happily received a theatrical release this year. Director Carlos Saura generally makes movies with music and dancing as a main theme, such as in his Oscar nominated films Carmen (1983) and Tango (1998). He's not mentioned very often with the names of the world's greatest filmmakers, but his films have recently earned the distinction of a Criterion DVD release (Cría cuervos) and a Criterion Eclipse DVD box set. Fados is more or less a collection of music videos, all performed in the Portuguese fado style. The music is very sentimental, passionate and sad, very often about poverty and lost loves.

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]]>carlos sauraCarlosSauracinematicalfadosfilmmoviepaul mcguiganPaulMcguiganpushJeffrey M. AndersonThu, 16 Apr 2009 19:03:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - Waters and Briggshttp://www.cinematical.com/2009/04/10/400-screens-400-blows-waters-and-briggs/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/04/10/400-screens-400-blows-waters-and-briggs/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/04/10/400-screens-400-blows-waters-and-briggs/#commentsFiled under: ,


400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

Lately I've been dreaming of a TV show I'd like to see. Ever since Roger Ebert hired Richard Roeper to be the permanent replacement on his review show, I've dreamed of something a bit edgier and funnier -- you know, like when Ebert used to fight with Gene Siskel. Now the network suits have made things even worse with the two idiots they have on now (I mean, really! Could they be any worse?). Here's my idea: Joe Bob Briggs and John Waters. That's a show I would pay to see each week!

For the uninitiated, Joe Bob Briggs was the world's first and only "drive-in movie critic." He was nationally syndicated from the early 1980s to the late 1990s and he reviewed horror and trash movies, rating them based on gallons of blood, number of "nekkid breasts" and so forth. (His favorite movie is the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.) John Waters, of course, is the director of such films as Pink Flamingos (1971), Hairspray (1988) and Cry-Baby (1990), but he is a big movie fan and occasionally writes about movies for magazines like ArtForum. (His favorite movie is Joseph Losey's Boom!) To put it mildly, they each have a slightly off-kilter view of movies that generally has nothing to do with hype; they tend to see through the B.S.

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]]>cinematicalfilmjoe bob briggsJoeBobBriggsjohn watersJohnWatersmovieJeffrey M. AndersonFri, 10 Apr 2009 17:35:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - Godard Told Me Tohttp://www.cinematical.com/2009/04/02/400-screens-400-blows-godard-told-me-to/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/04/02/400-screens-400-blows-godard-told-me-to/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/04/02/400-screens-400-blows-godard-told-me-to/#commentsFiled under: ,


400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

Should you see Jean-Luc Godard's color, widescreen Made in U.S.A. (1 screen), which has recently been brought back from oblivion, restored and re-released by the great Rialto Pictures? Every film buff worth his salt knows that Godard re-wrote the rules of cinema and that he may be the most culturally and historically important filmmaker after D.W. Griffith, but what is he worth today? To be honest, he's worth everything. His films still provoke, and though some of the details of his arguments are stuck in the 1960s, the main thrust is still highly relevant. And no one has come along since that has accomplished anything close.

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]]>cinematicalfilmjean luc godardJeanLucGodardmade in usaMadeInUsamovierialto picturesRialtoPicturesJeffrey M. AndersonThu, 02 Apr 2009 20:03:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - How Rourke Wrestled Milk and Losthttp://www.cinematical.com/2009/03/26/400-screens-400-blows-how-rourke-wrestled-milk-and-lost/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/03/26/400-screens-400-blows-how-rourke-wrestled-milk-and-lost/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/03/26/400-screens-400-blows-how-rourke-wrestled-milk-and-lost/#commentsFiled under: ,


400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

The Oscars are history now and soon people won't even be able to remember the winners. But I keep thinking about that Best Actor race that came down to a near-draw between Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler (291 screens) and Sean Penn for Milk (111 screens). My group, the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, simply called it a tie. We agreed that both men gave the performance of their lifetimes. Other critics groups and other year-end awards also split between them; there was no clear consensus. For my annual predictions, I went with my gut on this one: I got the vague impression that, just from the cultural temperature, people were really into Rourke. But Penn won. And now that it's over -- with some hindsight -- it makes perfect sense. The Oscars didn't want to ruin The Wrestler for us.

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]]>cinematicalfilmmickey rourkeMickeyRourkemilkmoviesean pennSeanPennthe wrestlerTheWrestlerJeffrey M. AndersonThu, 26 Mar 2009 21:02:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - Dear Katehttp://www.cinematical.com/2009/03/19/400-screens-400-blows-dear-kate/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/03/19/400-screens-400-blows-dear-kate/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/03/19/400-screens-400-blows-dear-kate/#commentsFiled under: ,


400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

Well, Kate Winslet, you finally won your Oscar. Congratulations! It has been a long hard road since your first nomination, what was it? Fourteen years ago, for Sense and Sensibility? Then, let's see, the other nominations came for Titanic (1997), Iris (2001), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Little Children (2006) and finally The Reader. In-between, there were lots of other attempts to get nominated, with performances in Kenneth Branagh's amazing four-hour Hamlet (1996), Philip Kaufman's fascinating Quills (2000), the awful anti-death-penalty message movie The Life of David Gale (2003), the turgid Finding Neverland (2004), and even a remake of a former Oscar-winner, All the King's Men (2006).

Some people thought you should have been nominated for last year's Revolutionary Road (181 screens), rather than The Reader. But can I be honest? I thought they were both bloody boring, both filled to the brim with prestige with no room for art or soul. (They are what Manny Farber once termed "parade floats" or "white elephants.") Because, let's face it, if you really want an Oscar -- and who can blame you for that? -- you have to make a certain type of film. We can fight and complain, but that's just the way it is.

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]]>cinematicalfilmkate winsletKateWinsletmovieJeffrey M. AndersonThu, 19 Mar 2009 19:50:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - 'Wild' Man Truffauthttp://www.cinematical.com/2009/03/12/400-screens-400-blows-wild-man-truffaut/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/03/12/400-screens-400-blows-wild-man-truffaut/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/03/12/400-screens-400-blows-wild-man-truffaut/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

A small distributor called The Film Desk has one film in release on just a couple of U.S. movie screens. It has received very little notice from anywhere in the press or the blogosphere. It's an older film, from 1970. It's considered to be something of a classic, but it's not really one of the essential classics, nor is it one of those "unsung" or "forgotten" classics. It's currently available on DVD, so no big gaps have been filled in. I'm not even sure to what extent, if at all, the new print has been restored. But, due to lack of a press screening, I went to see it last Friday with an audience, and it made my week.

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]]>cinematicalfilmfrancois truffautFrancoisTruffautmoviethe wild childTheWildChildJeffrey M. AndersonThu, 12 Mar 2009 20:02:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - Doc Ranthttp://www.cinematical.com/2009/03/06/400-screens-400-blows-doc-rant/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/03/06/400-screens-400-blows-doc-rant/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/03/06/400-screens-400-blows-doc-rant/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

Every year critics are subjected to who knows how many dozen documentaries; most probably don't bother to see them all, and others will be reluctant to admit that most of them are the same. Oh, the subjects are different. One may be about war in Asia and one will be about war in Europe and another is about politics in the U.S.A., but they're the same in structure and tone and rhythm. We usually get the big three: talking heads, stock footage and photographs, and sometimes some "re-creation footage."

Here are some pointers for future documentarians. 1) Don't do that thing where, if the subject starts crying, you discreetly keep the camera rolling, and then use that footage in the final film. If your cutting is otherwise neat and smooth during the rest of the film, then if you suddenly pause over a weeping shot for the first time, it's annoyingly obvious why you're doing it (see My Architect). 2) If the police or someone else tries to make you turn your camera off, pretend to comply and leave it on. It's very cool and it gets the audience on your side (see Street Fight). 3) No fancy graphics, unless your movie is funny (see Bigger, Stronger, Faster). Animation is still cool -- see Chicago 10 and Waltz with Bashir (208 screens) -- but it could get old, fast, so approach with caution.

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]]>cinematicaldocumentariesfilmman on wireManOnWiremichael mooreMichaelMooremoviewaltz with bashirWaltzWithBashirJeffrey M. AndersonFri, 06 Mar 2009 20:03:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - Dark Knight, Not-So-Bright Oscarshttp://www.cinematical.com/2009/02/28/400-screens-400-blows-dark-knight-not-so-bright-oscars/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/02/28/400-screens-400-blows-dark-knight-not-so-bright-oscars/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/02/28/400-screens-400-blows-dark-knight-not-so-bright-oscars/#commentsFiled under: ,



I didn't do too badly in my Oscar predictions. At the last minute, I went sentimental and predicted Mickey Rourke over Sean Penn, which was a bad idea, given that the Oscars were all business and duty this week, with no room for anything sentimental or personal. The other big mistake I made was to predict The Dark Knight (55 screens) as a winner in most of its eight categories. Everyone in the free world saw the film and no one can deny that its achievements in these categories were ground-breaking in some cases, and superb in all cases. But the Academy dutifully chose The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for these awards.

I have yet to meet very many people who actually like Benjamin Button, so I think there are two factors at stake. One is the concept in which the movie that employed the most people subsequently gets the most Oscar votes. The other factor states that only a certain type of movie actually gets to win. Benjamin Button is an Oscar movie through-and-through. It's long, first of all, and has a high-class literary pedigree (F. Scott Fitzgerald). It has obvious award bait in all the categories, not only in acting, cinematography, editing and music, but also the lower categories like makeup, visual effects and sound that usually go to summer blockbusters.

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]]>cinematicalfilmmovieoscars 2009Oscars2009the curious case of benjamin buttonthe dark knightTheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButtonTheDarkKnightJeffrey M. AndersonSat, 28 Feb 2009 19:03:00 EST400 Screens, 400 Blows - Choosing the 'Right One'http://www.cinematical.com/2009/02/19/400-screens-400-blows-choosing-the-right-one/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/02/19/400-screens-400-blows-choosing-the-right-one/http://www.cinematical.com/2009/02/19/400-screens-400-blows-choosing-the-right-one/#commentsFiled under: ,


400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

The Oscars are on Sunday and awards season is almost over. The flavor of the month this season has been almost all war movies and biopics, as it has been roughly since 9/11. Though this year we have the occasional mention of Hurricane Katrina (which kind of falls in both categories). For example, Baz Luhrmann couldn't bring himself to make pure entertainment like he did with Moulin Rougue. This time he had to make Australia (110 screens), which starts out as a lightweight entertainment, and then morphs into a heavy war movie, and drags on too long in the process.

At least three movies managed to combine biopic and war elements: Edward Zwick's Defiance (442 screens) managed to please some viewers, but most critics as well as the Academy voters couldn't get past its awkward filmmaking to embrace the powerful true story hidden somewhere deep inside. On paper, Steven Soderbergh's Che (20 screens) seemed tailor-made for Oscars. Both the director and star (Benicio Del Toro) are former Oscar-winners, and the film runs four hours and encompasses both war elements and a true story. Many critics went bonkers for it, but Academy voters resisted it, possibly because of the length, but more likely because it doesn't spell out precisely what it wants you to think. It's a hugely complex, very intelligent, slightly aloof essay-like film rather than an emotional rise-and-fall story like most biopics.

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]]>australiachecinematicaldefiancefilmlet the right one inLetTheRightOneInmoviewaltz with bashirWaltzWithBashirJeffrey M. AndersonThu, 19 Feb 2009 20:02:00 EST