tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4678851516676044982024-03-14T09:45:49.273-04:00christine jin's blogchristine j's bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14154230137842232235noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467885151667604498.post-10276390041429210112012-11-13T19:11:00.003-05:002016-06-25T06:11:53.140-04:00Review: THE MASTER (2012, USA)<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Originally posted on: Oct. 15, 2012</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">THE MASTER (USA, 2012)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">[Spoiler in the last paragraph]</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The gist: Paul Thomas Anderson's critically acclaimed sixth feature boasts his stylistic idiosyncrasies in depicting the mentally distressed WW2 vet and his relationship with the leader of a burgeoning cult in postwar America. </span></i></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">His chin angled slightly upward, mouth
contorted at random into a sneery smile, eyes washed out, and entire face
frequently slipping in and out of focus, Freddie Quell may well come across as
permanently drunk and hypnotized. When his inebriated face dominates the
screen, it’s often followed by a closeup of a stern-faced person opposite Quell
giving him orders and/or asking questions, determined to make him one of their
subjects or dupes. There’s a sort of dialectical process at work that leads up
to a furtive power shift: most scenes exemplifying this process open with a
two-shot of Quell and the person sitting next to or across from him, both given
equal screen space. Once an interrogation or a “processing” session begins,
however, it cuts to alternating closeups, in which Quell ends up revealing his
propensity towards sex addiction or his insecurities, whereas the other
person—whether a doctor, a V.A. officer, his mentor, or the mentor’s
wife—remains distant and poised. This transitional process doles out glimpses
into Quell’s backstory and psychological states, but it above all epitomizes
his way of relating to the world outside himself, including his master
Lancaster Dodd.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="clear: left; display: inline; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1EREdnNZBskP9JRXZVoXSMLtcCDsvQVizeTP_DK7wqaQhHLG5HlxV75h_oWl_3zdiQvTu3J42YYZNp1K4LYqwdA6IeqnWDOQxvcug6uXqL5Wq818p4zsOv_hVJjiLaDufuZJzlQeGQk3V/s1600/master+quell+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1EREdnNZBskP9JRXZVoXSMLtcCDsvQVizeTP_DK7wqaQhHLG5HlxV75h_oWl_3zdiQvTu3J42YYZNp1K4LYqwdA6IeqnWDOQxvcug6uXqL5Wq818p4zsOv_hVJjiLaDufuZJzlQeGQk3V/s400/master+quell+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div class="separator" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Unfortunately, though, one seldom gets
to know much about Quell, despite a generous portion of the movie being devoted
to probing the Navy vet’s past. Most of the time, morsels of information about
him are dispensed here and there, yet the majority of it is concentrated in the
first few sequences in the form of discrete chunks of his post-WWII vagabond
stints: as a sailor, a portrait photographer, and a cabbage farm worker.
Meandering between jobs, places, and the situations of his own making, Quell
carries with him a whiff of disorientation and total isolation. His postwar
years unfold episodically, without allowing much context with regard to his
whereabouts, except in very generic locations such as a ship, store, and farm.
If there’s anything constant about Quell, it’s that he’s helplessly intoxicated
all the time. Indeed, only so much can viewers learn about him.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Then what part of the story, which
centers deceptively on the origin of a belief system devised in 1950s America
to cure the war-traumatized, makes it a compelling character study of Freddie
Quell, when the events of his past seem unlikely to form a coherent whole? The
answer might be a sense of discontinuity or disconnect that prevails
throughout, indicative of not just Quell’s apparent mental disorder but his
relationships with others, notably Lancaster Dodd, and with society at large, as
well as Paul Thomas Anderson’s stylistic approach to presenting them. The first
half hour or so is all about Quell’s ephemeral attempts to readapt to civilian
life. These episodes of his postwar striving to survive are strung together in
roughly chronological order, but spatially almost unrelated. Even after Quell
enlists in Dodd’s burgeoning spiritual crusade called The Cause, the narrative
sometimes gets disrupted by the prewar flashback fixated on his first love
Doris or cutaways of the open seas. This overarching ellipsis mirrors Quell’s
crushed, amorphous psyche, his wandering tendencies and inability to relate to
other people. He isn’t in the least interested in adjusting himself to blend
into society; he stoops to primitive instincts and impulses often at others’
expense.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihOUvHX9Ixm7suAtVp28whDOPTcIMA7INkl28BAw-4L5wIjuCn6CRPIXhzNeLYUo7mcDqa4uN1NUZownagaqZoyRql_fowIr88VtmkxVafERO2UVMea6SHGg6wllXtUHyvYu_d1e12MO89/s1600/master+dodd2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihOUvHX9Ixm7suAtVp28whDOPTcIMA7INkl28BAw-4L5wIjuCn6CRPIXhzNeLYUo7mcDqa4uN1NUZownagaqZoyRql_fowIr88VtmkxVafERO2UVMea6SHGg6wllXtUHyvYu_d1e12MO89/s400/master+dodd2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />
<br />
</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Such facets of him at once bring out
the contrast between him and Dodd. In fact, a straightforward illustration—or
rather, schematization—of their antithetical relationship can be found in a
symmetrically designed jail cell shot in the second half, where on the left
side Quell unleashes his fury and tries to destroy everything around him while
on the right Dodd takes it all in his stride and pisses unperturbed. It seems
as if not only the toilet gets shattered into shards, but so does Quell’s
(forced) faith in The Cause. A bit of context would help here: Before their
imprisonment, Dodd’s son tells Quell with nonchalance, but not without
condescension, “He’s making it up as he goes along. You don’t see that?” Quell
instantly pounces on the son; his overreaction seems rather a failed disguise
of his harbored yet barely repressed suspicion that the way of life Dodd
preaches is plain sham. Why doesn’t he just turn around and run away, as he’s
always done, instead of defending the con artist so vehemently? Now let's go
back to Dodd and his protégé’s first encounter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwcCdGZF26sYd_VwldeDCUrq7QxM5eKRU_BCOeWJkoEN3l-i3wQVedsBDwpS7UvWjj6EcNq5nbe6_lw3NhhzRr4Ul6z9LaHCj49h2l1mnNjebwNXT7EK_rLFqZp20wTzwkIR6_LODDh4L2/s1600/master+quell+dodd+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwcCdGZF26sYd_VwldeDCUrq7QxM5eKRU_BCOeWJkoEN3l-i3wQVedsBDwpS7UvWjj6EcNq5nbe6_lw3NhhzRr4Ul6z9LaHCj49h2l1mnNjebwNXT7EK_rLFqZp20wTzwkIR6_LODDh4L2/s400/master+quell+dodd+4.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Quell meets Dodd, a self-professed
writer, nuclear physicist, theoretical philosopher, and “hopelessly
inquisitive” man, after he sneaks aboard a yacht Dodd commands. Sitting in a
noir-ishly low-lit room and looking contemplative and self-assured, Dodd
regards a lost, worn-out Quell lingering on the threshold with fatherly
sympathy. During this sequence, Anderson conveys the two’s instant camaraderie
by narrowing the physical distance between them in just a few alternating
shots. Thereafter the varied distance between them ostensibly delineates
something close to a common push-pull courtship pattern. At the wedding
reception for Dodd’s daughter, Quell examines the Master from the back row, who
warms up the guests by spinning a tale about dragons with a confident display
of glibness and geniality. Then, their second rendezvous advances the
relationship to the next defining phase. At first, the pair is seen in one
frame facing each other in preparation for a therapy session. But once Dodd
starts churning out repetitive, increasingly demanding questions leading to the
two's exchange of tight facial closeups, the session quickly establishes their
relative positions in this relationship. That way, Dodd soon succeeds in
breaking through Quell’s boozed-up armor and simultaneously anointing the
subject a precious guinea pig of his.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiokOVJ16L3AFJZAKeQ5pwqYYdMl41TWRX8STn1tXxNSB5LSE-XHGHSAWL2Vo_x1VmaFZ_j4Xe_m-RX3Y6mnY_pY38MWDuJH87yoxj5sFv2QgYzqOBblh6472j_zozgBvw2AeccWRzO_11B/s1600/master+therapy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiokOVJ16L3AFJZAKeQ5pwqYYdMl41TWRX8STn1tXxNSB5LSE-XHGHSAWL2Vo_x1VmaFZ_j4Xe_m-RX3Y6mnY_pY38MWDuJH87yoxj5sFv2QgYzqOBblh6472j_zozgBvw2AeccWRzO_11B/s400/master+therapy.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">And thus Dodd is the ultimate master
and their one-sided liaison continues unhindered… But of course, there’s more
to it than that. True, they manage to find their own places where they feel
most secure, the kind of stability that helps them regain their bearings in the
chaotic postwar reality and assures them that order can still be restored and
things returned to normal, exactly the way they were before, even in the
aftermath of total man-made world annihilation. To foster such delusional hope,
they are compelled to rely on each other—as much as Quell needs some guiding
figure like Dodd, who proclaims during their fight in the jail cell, “I’m the
only one who likes you!” Dodd also depends on the fidelity of his followers
like Quell to sustain his cult and to survive. And needless to say, this
symbiosis developed out of necessity extends to other believers in The Cause as
well. Their desire for a decent, normal life without feeling alienated reaches
a point where the degree of faith doesn’t even matter. Dodd’s son, for
instance, who lives off his father, plays along although he considers him a
charlatan. Quell secretly nurses his own doubts about the Master, but he
willingly curbs his animal instincts and obeys. The whole enterprise is founded
upon lies and deceit, in which all the related parties, the master and his
patrons/acolytes alike, are complicit to the extent that the cult subsists. And
that seems one of the few viable ways people acclimatized to postwar America.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfG9pTrdYpc3jzGHZaDkJpjjYgbL1emGcnDE8WCS-I6ltUp4HlJHpkDeRVaAf0tlUNmpTriMBfheOwmHrjg7C029VQHcLlDliDus8w7V8sR9DdJ955CKdxAtRFf1mTgGFjwsawb4nxABQo/s1600/master+quell+dodd+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfG9pTrdYpc3jzGHZaDkJpjjYgbL1emGcnDE8WCS-I6ltUp4HlJHpkDeRVaAf0tlUNmpTriMBfheOwmHrjg7C029VQHcLlDliDus8w7V8sR9DdJ955CKdxAtRFf1mTgGFjwsawb4nxABQo/s400/master+quell+dodd+8.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />
</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />
<br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">In the end, Quell frees himself from
Dodd’s hands, but his reclaimed independence is not the same as the unfettered
freedom he enjoyed before The Cause. He’s still afloat—wandering in search of
the affection, comfort, and security that Doris, and possibly Dodd, offered
him, yet the imprint Dodd left on him appears indelible when Quell casually
reenacts that “thought-processing” on a woman with whom he crosses paths in a
pub during sex. The sex scene’s also reminiscent of the beach sequence
bookending the movie, where Quell humps a female body sculptured of sand, only
to find it frustrating altogether since it’s not a real woman. He finally gets
to have intercourse with a real woman, but Anderson’s powerhouse
performance-backed elusive character study ends with Quell wistfully eyeing the
sandy woman. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip_H8FCQ2Ugc8Y2Pspjtpvd7yXdFi1BpQSh9b6p0oQ0UJsxPLhsWi4bPVuQwXazMUC53ImMiU5Bn0LBlW5XAeZRWOV8liWeKUe4Zg6dK9L70Zf4H5DRcrEHEZXh-c_XFDnVRrGlqvDErE/s1600/the+master+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip_H8FCQ2Ugc8Y2Pspjtpvd7yXdFi1BpQSh9b6p0oQ0UJsxPLhsWi4bPVuQwXazMUC53ImMiU5Bn0LBlW5XAeZRWOV8liWeKUe4Zg6dK9L70Zf4H5DRcrEHEZXh-c_XFDnVRrGlqvDErE/s400/the+master+1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
christine j's bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14154230137842232235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467885151667604498.post-18576409440149210672012-11-13T18:59:00.001-05:002016-07-22T21:21:58.331-04:00Review: Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011, USA)<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">originally posted on Nov. 11, 2011</span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE (USA, 2012)</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The gist: This is Sean Durkin's debut feature and technical triumph centering on a lost girl suffering from delusions. It particularly excels at editing, cinematography, and sound design. Elizabeth Olsen delivers.</span></i></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 160%;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 160%;"></span><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Girls in trouble aren't a rare
sight in theatres. They are an enticing subject for filmmakers and offer a
multitude of intriguing narrative possibilities, especially in the realm of
psychopathology. In those narratives, vulnerable girls are placed into situations
beyond their control and forced to fight not only extrinsic misfortunes but
inner battles. To delve into their states of mind, most films of this kind seem
to prefer a thoroughly point-of-view approach, and handheld shooting has been a
typical choice to present the characters’ insecurities up close. While Durkin’s
first feature, Martha Marcy May Marlene, is also told almost entirely from the
protagonist Martha’s perspective, he doesn’t rely solely on the conventional
shaky cam to illustrate her struggles. Instead, he first forms a dingy, murky
mood, encloses Martha in nebulous surroundings, and then slowly presses in on
her, whether in a cramped, communal cult or in a luxurious, spacious house.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFEMu_fnIuPWNuVfAf9HGPg5WPI341gWkhwqvAQbclhyphenhyphenlysiBNVUKKiLHRefoEKDVOG6j4VKeSBHS96lLnn3HBlnHZtMC9Tl6sibXvANk8i5Z5EOsK3TMBErx02KKCD34QlKNl6ylqIMU/s1600/MMMM+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFEMu_fnIuPWNuVfAf9HGPg5WPI341gWkhwqvAQbclhyphenhyphenlysiBNVUKKiLHRefoEKDVOG6j4VKeSBHS96lLnn3HBlnHZtMC9Tl6sibXvANk8i5Z5EOsK3TMBErx02KKCD34QlKNl6ylqIMU/s320/MMMM+1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">For all their stark contrasts,
those two environments wherein Martha entraps herself share a few elements:
smothering milieu, patriarchs, and their accomplices both deliberate and
involuntary. The film begins with a string of questions such as, “Why is she
running away?” and “Why did she leave her family in the first place?” but
leaves some of them unsatisfactorily answered or unanswered altogether.
Dependent on Martha’s recollections of her past inserted fairly
chronologically, the narrative indeed takes an investigative form, but it
focuses on conveying her mental states rather than fulfill the audience’s
curiosity. She suffers in both the abusive cult and the comfort-inducing home;
she finds equally intimidating the cult’s leader Patrick and her soon-to-be
brother-in-law Ted; and she fails to find comfort in living with either her
cult companions or her sister Lucy. Her anxiety and loneliness are forever
ingrained in her; she tries hard to dissipate them, get a hold of herself and
become a teacher and a leader in her own life, but to no avail. The camera watches
her tread water, try to keep her head above water, only to sink gradually.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKGvAlLGEGY4ElEzG98VrNNqu9B1kV6-VCw8MFxDl3MFrn6mno-MAtzDFK09AtMCcpz9yvpUlLTZn4uSSp3UFlQNFpm8P4O7v5yglxUYBL8tvFdeK1-mKhtRYvoq2bhho4FK7NH8AuMtk/s1600/MMMM2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKGvAlLGEGY4ElEzG98VrNNqu9B1kV6-VCw8MFxDl3MFrn6mno-MAtzDFK09AtMCcpz9yvpUlLTZn4uSSp3UFlQNFpm8P4O7v5yglxUYBL8tvFdeK1-mKhtRYvoq2bhho4FK7NH8AuMtk/s320/MMMM2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Martha Marcy is Durkin’s
technical triumph in efficiently depicting a lost soul’s confusion and
delusions. Its slow pans and zooms could have rendered the film sluggishly paced,
but the director/writer enlivens it by connecting the flashbacks with the
present-time scenes so seamlessly that the blurring boundaries between past and
present themselves become a metaphor for Martha's paranoia. Also commendable is
his use of sounds and images to create motifs and smooth transitions. Martha’s
stint in the cult is linked to her present life at Lucy's through tapping,
chopping and hammering sounds and glasses of water/kale and ginseng juice. Most
viewers will, however, leave the theatres most impressed with Elizabeth Olsen’s
subtle delivery of Martha’s troubled mind. Though mostly implicit throughout,
the film has one (and probably only) shot where Martha stares daringly into the
camera, as if to confront the eye of the observer who’s been complicit in
subjugating her, calling her by any name they want. As if to yell at him,
“Don’t call me crazy. You don’t know me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiNb3yQDVieCiZcDyWhaRIDxbFz_ucKhIPsYrIwvBGC2i48FRj7nOvwrwHAyI2ZAEuOTTC1-Lk6KFhA8SisGWVvYVylQqcnuxJ4d-QHke0GMqojm73SLYWELvZoGC1P-93JoAtlnRCt6g/s1600/MMMM3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiNb3yQDVieCiZcDyWhaRIDxbFz_ucKhIPsYrIwvBGC2i48FRj7nOvwrwHAyI2ZAEuOTTC1-Lk6KFhA8SisGWVvYVylQqcnuxJ4d-QHke0GMqojm73SLYWELvZoGC1P-93JoAtlnRCt6g/s320/MMMM3.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwY9AcIQslhAezB8_y2Da-HxhvukC9sKTAcchBlls7asrKV2rR0AimPmV94ZCQ-WhoFr61i4BNr_tvt681C6t-0RtrD-MsD75Ak9VMRR0D6eF70Z8WM2OomMQkD-HMciQNfkSAt-xIa4s/s1600/MMMM4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwY9AcIQslhAezB8_y2Da-HxhvukC9sKTAcchBlls7asrKV2rR0AimPmV94ZCQ-WhoFr61i4BNr_tvt681C6t-0RtrD-MsD75Ak9VMRR0D6eF70Z8WM2OomMQkD-HMciQNfkSAt-xIa4s/s320/MMMM4.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
</div>
christine j's bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14154230137842232235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467885151667604498.post-28088694562498530032012-11-13T18:55:00.002-05:002014-05-03T05:47:14.804-04:002011 in Review: My top 10 of the year<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">originally posted on Jan. 1, 2012</span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
<br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;">This year’s cinema has left me with so many striking images I can almost combine them into a movie in my head. It’s probably going to be an incoherent hodgepodge, but who knows. Those images might somehow find a way to coalesce into an uneven, but understandable, narrative, with some kind of overriding theme that could resonate with viewers, such as: the hollowing out of the American middle class; loyalty and betrayal; depression; an individual’s victory against all odds; a girl in trouble; or the apocalyptic dread and ripple effects of a pandemic. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Let’s start with a man huffing and puffing his way toward a wee better life: <b>WIN WIN</b> opens with Paul Giamatti’s Mike Flaherty on a morning jog in a yellow hoodie, soon outrun by a couple of fellow runners. With triumphant performances by Giamatti and Amy Ryan, Tom McCarthy’s third feature is an exemplary execution of the three-act structure most dramatic screenwriters abide by.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5ts9TjgxuTY/TwBQt1ROhuI/AAAAAAAAAVg/ew6B8eFgatU/s1600/2011+win+win+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5ts9TjgxuTY/TwBQt1ROhuI/AAAAAAAAAVg/ew6B8eFgatU/s320/2011+win+win+1.png" height="170" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Another man hunkier and in better shape than Flaherty and who’s also on the run for a win is Billy Beane, convincingly portrayed by Brad Pitt in <b>MONEYBALL</b>. On one hand, it appears to be about establishment versus revolutionary idea, old generation subsisting on experience and instincts versus game-changing, ambitious new generation; on the other, it digs deep in flashbacks into the underdog baseball team’s general manager, whose last-ditch effort to turn the team’s fortune around on the back of sabermetrics, or “gimmicks,” mirrors an unattainable lifetime goal of his.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-47EXEdBdmxI/TwBQ8H-jdaI/AAAAAAAAAWY/dv2c5dt5VIc/s1600/moneyball+00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-47EXEdBdmxI/TwBQ8H-jdaI/AAAAAAAAAWY/dv2c5dt5VIc/s320/moneyball+00.jpg" height="217" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;">And we have a running orphaned hero hailing from 1930s <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:city> called Hugo Cabret. The world he lives in lies inside the walls of a train station. And it’s also a secret world where he learns to run clocks, sneaks peeks of a bigger, warmer world outside, dreams of finding home out there, and teaches himself an invaluable lesson: every single component of a mechanism exists for a reason. Martin Scorsese, in <b>HUGO</b>, his first venture into 3-D and also family film, creates this mechanical universe with his usual imaginative virtuosity and tender glimpses of all the characters, from cold-hearted station inspector to flower girl to newspaper seller, and connects the orphan’s rags-to-riches story with a loving ode to the early days of cinema, especially to George Méliès who’s rendered sympathetic and unforgettable by Ben Kingsley. It’s about finding home and purpose, and about memories once lost and eventually found, hearts once broken and, after decades of pain, fixed.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XAzFUS530ac/TwBR5jPl0lI/AAAAAAAAAXI/OYJ4EwOJSy0/s1600/2011+hugo+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XAzFUS530ac/TwBR5jPl0lI/AAAAAAAAAXI/OYJ4EwOJSy0/s320/2011+hugo+1.png" height="172" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Not all men in 2011 cinema are on the run and out of breath, however. Ryan Gosling’s almost mythological protagonist, Driver, is mostly seen behind the wheel in <b>DRIVE</b>, eerily calm and collected, save for the rare unleash of a latent monstrousness. In it, Nicolas Winding Refn offers an existential, exorbitantly romantic and violent road trip redolent of neo-noir urban thrillers decades ago. It tiptoes on the boundaries of pastiche, but intentionally so. As inundated as this year’s cinema has been with love letters to the cinema, this may well be also considered homage to filmmaking, if limited to the aforementioned genre. When the opening credits appear scribbled in hot pink, buckle up, it’s going to be a hell of a ride.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0pnUobUzx_w/TwBSCojGgkI/AAAAAAAAAXc/48dMrUQysA4/s1600/Drive+cap3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0pnUobUzx_w/TwBSCojGgkI/AAAAAAAAAXc/48dMrUQysA4/s320/Drive+cap3.png" height="136" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;">But then again, everyone seems on the run in every direction in Steven Soderbergh’s alarming and efficient pandemic thriller, <b>CONTAGION</b>. Its multi-strand narrative and the constant, effortless intercutting between the multiple arcs evoke the havoc that a pandemic of yet unknown origin is wreaking around the globe. Cliff Martinez’s chillingly menacing score amplifies the immediate urge that the movie causes you to wash your hands upon coming out of the theater.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RkazoPkh2iA/TwBSraarzwI/AAAAAAAAAYg/zIGsD8m02_Q/s1600/2011+contagion.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RkazoPkh2iA/TwBSraarzwI/AAAAAAAAAYg/zIGsD8m02_Q/s320/2011+contagion.png" height="179" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Among those delicious delights, however, unflinching, ass-kicking, multidimensional, and unforgettably idiosyncratic heroines have been such a rare sight in theaters this year. Some would tout as an example a feel-good sleeper juggernaut <i>The Help</i> or Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody’s much-hyped reunion <i>Young Adult</i>, but I think they’re rather acting vehicles for their ensemble casts—I’d personally single out Viola Davis and Charlize Theron, respectively—than all-around cinematic monuments.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i9rkAsmTS9E/TwBTh2CnWgI/AAAAAAAAAYs/zUhQSGxDHp8/s1600/2011+help.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i9rkAsmTS9E/TwBTh2CnWgI/AAAAAAAAAYs/zUhQSGxDHp8/s320/2011+help.png" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rIxXXNJt3l4/TwBTiPA35QI/AAAAAAAAAY0/41mQy6JHjvo/s1600/2011+young+adult.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rIxXXNJt3l4/TwBTiPA35QI/AAAAAAAAAY0/41mQy6JHjvo/s320/2011+young+adult.jpg" height="176" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Yes, in <i>The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo</i>, an adaptation of Steig Larsson’s international bestseller masterfully crafted by David Fincher and his usual collaborators, Rooney Mara certainly kicks some ass, both literally and figuratively, but I wish writer Steven Zaillian had delved further into Lisbeth Salander and penned a more focused character study, instead of staying faithful to the book, though Mara left an almost semi-permanent imprint on me as a vulnerable victim armed with an outwardly tough shell. Another solidly written heroine in a good, but not mindblowingly great, film is Saoirse Ronan’s Hanna in <i>Hanna</i>. Speaking of girls in trouble, Elizabeth Olsen in <i>Martha Marcy May Marlene</i>, a psychological thriller debut by Sean Durkin with a daringly ambient approach, excels in subtle displays of innocence, paranoia and deeply ingrained trauma. (<i>Martha Marcy</i>, by the way, ranks #11 on my 2011 list). Mia Wasikowska also gets my honorable mention for her delicate interpretation of the most famous self-assured Victorian heroine in <i>Jane Eyre</i>.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yqEHtIRIPVY/TwBUZLV3fII/AAAAAAAAAZA/1cSXdfwt1Z4/s1600/jane_eyre_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yqEHtIRIPVY/TwBUZLV3fII/AAAAAAAAAZA/1cSXdfwt1Z4/s320/jane_eyre_500.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XVIjNpRHTOQ/TwBUZTr4pwI/AAAAAAAAAZI/qh-IE8GWo-I/s1600/mMMM+olsen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XVIjNpRHTOQ/TwBUZTr4pwI/AAAAAAAAAZI/qh-IE8GWo-I/s320/mMMM+olsen.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-At7Eb-yBiIM/TwBUZtwowdI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/KUlR1cR6kco/s1600/rooney+mara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-At7Eb-yBiIM/TwBUZtwowdI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/KUlR1cR6kco/s320/rooney+mara.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Ultimately, however, it’s Michelle Williams’ second collaboration with Kelly Reichardt <b>MEEK’S CUTOFF</b> that tops my best films with the most awesome heroines list. Its aspect ratio, color scheme, compositional and framing choices all bolster its thematic resonance. Shot after shot observes a group of settlers trudge across an endless parched desert. Despite the minimal dialog, those shots are, in fact, loaded with information: the horseback riding guide Meek’s red shirt, his followers’ inconspicuously colored clothes that almost blend into their arid surroundings, the clear distance between the husbands and wives while the former interrogate an Indian, the wives’ mounting skepticism over Meek’s credibility and dominance, and contrasting scenes where one of the wives, Emily, tries to talk the Indian into helping them find water, whereas Meek resorts to physical violence. And of course, this revisionist western’s most striking image is the Mexican standoff between Meek, Indian and Emily. It’s not just a blatant feminist argument wherein the female protagonist questions male authority; it also reaches beyond the confines of the biological sex differences. See: a shot in which Paul Dano’s character, just like what Emily does later on, attempts to communicate with the Indian while the other men’s faces are out of frame.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3G-dhj-a6BE/TwBU2JgpeeI/AAAAAAAAAZc/6n5Nqg3sQWk/s1600/2011+meeks.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3G-dhj-a6BE/TwBU2JgpeeI/AAAAAAAAAZc/6n5Nqg3sQWk/s320/2011+meeks.png" height="238" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Lars von Trier’s apocalyptic downer with a happy ending, <b>MELANCHOLIA</b>, features two sisters Justine, a depressed bride, and Claire, fidgety and fearful of a collision between the planet Melancholia and Earth. Justine’s Part One takes a nauseatingly wobbly stride into Claire’s house; Claire’s Part Two watches the menace of the impending world’s end creeping up on the sisters, Claire’s scientist husband John and their son. Von Trier mocks the desperate flailing of human reason embodied in John played by Kiefer Sutherland, but at the same time relies on human sensibility for the proper appreciation of the stunning scene where Justine bathes in the light of Melancholia, secretly welcoming the annihilation of life.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oo_x7a9avpo/TwBVG-hr-PI/AAAAAAAAAZo/bTViGZpJhps/s1600/2011+melancholia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oo_x7a9avpo/TwBVG-hr-PI/AAAAAAAAAZo/bTViGZpJhps/s320/2011+melancholia.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;">The universe and humans find another special way to communicate with each other in <b>NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT</b>, Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzmán’s crusade to remember the past. Shots of a towering telescope tilting up to stargaze are followed by shots of dust particles. The star dust, then, leads to the <st1:place w:st="on">Atacama Desert</st1:place>, whose climate allows mummification of human remains and where political prisoners of the Nixon-endorsed 1973 Chilean coup d'état were killed and buried. Guzmán parallels astronomers and archaeologists’ exploration of the past and the bereaved families’ relentless search for traces of their loved ones. As much as it’s easy to be awestruck by the splendor of those beautifully captured celestial bodies, it’s hard to suppress a surge of tears watching the victims sitting helplessly on cruel stretches of sand while latching onto a glimmer of hope. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TfW0LlXlNWo/TwBVpMWESTI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/qVCbP6Ra_is/s1600/2011+nostalgia+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TfW0LlXlNWo/TwBVpMWESTI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/qVCbP6Ra_is/s320/2011+nostalgia+2.jpg" height="172" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dFt9EhHR9Lw/TwBVpWpCAnI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/OuoJB1l24J0/s1600/2011+nostalgia+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dFt9EhHR9Lw/TwBVpWpCAnI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/OuoJB1l24J0/s320/2011+nostalgia+1.jpg" height="172" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;">A cinematic quest for the relationship between man and nature continues in <b>TAKE SHELTER</b>, Jeff Nichols’s second feature about a working-class family man, Curtis, who suffers from paranoia. For him, nothing is more frightening than the very thought of losing his family because of his mental distress. Up until his climatic breakdown, he takes every rational step to get to the bottom of his symptoms, but the camera gradually presses in on him as his condition gets worse, putting an enormous strain on his relationships with his best friend and then his family. The movie reaches into viewers’ consciousness especially because a bottomless pit of anxiety, its unknowable causes, and the fact that it drains the life out of a nondescript middle-class guy are reminiscent of our own tough times. Nichols’s slow-burn suspense peaks when a deranged Curtis refuses to open the shelter despite his wife’s pleas. With Jessica Chastain’s strong support as the wife, Michael Shannon as Curtis turns in a truly inspirational performance.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-unOv5QZxaNA/TwBV__fzVuI/AAAAAAAAAaY/mY7V124lrVE/s1600/2011+take+shelter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-unOv5QZxaNA/TwBV__fzVuI/AAAAAAAAAaY/mY7V124lrVE/s320/2011+take+shelter.jpg" height="172" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And here's<span style="color: red;"> <a href="http://christine-jin.blogspot.ca/2012/11/review-tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-2011.html" target="_blank">the last film I’d like to mention as my best film of the year (click)</a>.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7PUHo6vBtxs/TwBWE92KQ_I/AAAAAAAAAak/SWn0vmb5zH8/s1600/TTSS+smiley+walk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7PUHo6vBtxs/TwBWE92KQ_I/AAAAAAAAAak/SWn0vmb5zH8/s400/TTSS+smiley+walk.jpg" height="268" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10pt;">So here are my top 10 of 2011:</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">10. Contagion</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">9. Win Win</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">8. Moneyball</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">7. Melancholia</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">6. Drive</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">5. Meek’s Cutoff</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">4. Hugo</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">3. Nostalgia for the Light</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">2. Take Shelter</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://christine-jin.blogspot.ca/2012/11/review-tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-2011.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">1. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy</span></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
</div>
christine j's bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14154230137842232235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467885151667604498.post-46684828926293699842012-11-13T10:07:00.001-05:002012-11-27T22:35:30.510-05:00Welcome.<br />
Hey guys. Welcome to <i>the good moviegoer</i>, a blog dedicated to movie reviews and Oscar predictions.<br />
<br />
Here, I will post movie reviews and my thoughts on the state of the Oscar race as regularly as possible. Readers, thanks in advance for reading and commenting on my blog.<br />
<br />
Let me quickly outline the blog's features:<br />
<br />
1. Movie reviews<br />
<br />
Movie reviews I post here each consist of the gist of the review, the body, and my grade on a scale of 0-10. Needless to say, all of them are based on my own opinions and preferences, and some will be expanded in my Further Thoughts.<br />
The following is my grading system:<br />
<br />
[0] <i>Bomb</i>. In other words, what did I do to deserve this.<br />
[1] <i>Disaster</i>. A warning to the reader: Avoid at all costs.<br />
[2] <i>Near disaster</i>. Should have walked out after the first reel.<br />
[3] <i>Bad</i>, but with a little fun. Includes most guilty pleasures, especially those terribly crafted.<br />
[4] <i>Not so bad </i>or <i>mediocre</i>, it wasn't a waste of time, but I wouldn't bother revisiting it.<br />
[5] <i>Okay</i>, story told well, but with no outstanding technical merits. <br />
[6] <i>Fine</i>, story told well, with a few outstanding scenes, performances that made me cry<br />
[7] <i>Good</i>, story told well, technically good overall, performances that made me cry, director's signature style<br />
[8] <i>Very good</i>, story told well, technically excellent, unforgettable performances, director's signature style, my top 10 of the year candidate<br />
[9] <i>Great</i>, all of the above plus thematic depth & personal resonance, of course my top 10 of the year candidate<br />
[10] <i>Best of the year</i><br />
<br />
2. Oscar predictions<br />
<br />
The kickoff of the annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in early September is widely considered the beginning of each Oscar season, and my first Oscar Predictions entry will be also posted around then. I haven't decided on the look of a predictions chart, but until then, I will just put up a list of my current predictions as frequently as once a week.<br />
<br />
3. Weekly roundup<br />
<br />
If I don't have enough time, or if I have only little to say about movies I've seen, I will include short reviews for them in a weekly roundup.<br />
<br />
And... that's pretty much it. Again, thanks for your visit, and my next post will be about my first 85th Oscar Predictions. Feel free to share your thoughts, predictions, etc.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />christine j's bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14154230137842232235noreply@blogger.com0