rebootied

Documentary following a married couple, artists who immigrated from Japan to New York, and are now in their senior years. Yushio Shinohara was a rising star in the avante garde art movement in Japan, and enjoyed some serious popularity in the '60s and '70s. Now, no-one really seems to know him except pop art scholars and, at 80 years old, he's living hand-to-mouth with his wife, Noriko who is 60. Here's a brief summary of the theme:

Through animated sequences of Noriko’s art, Heinzerling gives viewers the Shinoharas’ painful backstory. Noriko arrived in New York at age 19 to study art, but that dream was squashed after she met Ushio, 21 years her senior, and soon became pregnant with Alex. “Cutie and Bullie” is Noriko’s catharsis, as 40 years of Ushio’s alcohol abuse and their constant struggles to keep above the poverty line spill forth onto her canvas.

It is a beautifully shot documentary, very honest, rich camera-work, and well-edited. Some of the lingering shots, they convey stress or concern, or hurt feelings so well. I found myself cheering for the wife, who had put her artistic pursuits on hold, but ultimately finds her own artistic voice.

It's good.

I watched two documentaries which were available briefly on iTunes for 99¢, and my one-month rental period was about to run out. I watched them on consecutive days, and I'm happy that I watched them in this order:

The Motivation
This documentary tells the story of six skateboarders competing in the winner-take-all Street League championship of 2012. Street League itself is the product of Rob Dyrdek, himself a hardcore skateboarder. There's a skinny kid from Long Beach who has been put on a skateboard by his dad, Tiger-Woods-style, since he was 6. There're a couple guys who are making sick, sick money from Nike and Monster, living in big houses with their hangers-on and entourage; I just hope they have been investing. There's a couple older guys (30s) who are capable of winning, but are less likely to win each year, due to the harsh cocktail of injuries and age. There is a wide range of difference between the skaters, in age, background, outlook -- but not ability. The whole thing really comes down to each of them being, in their own way, the best skater in the world, and the contest itself takes them beyond their comfort zone, pushes them to their limits, making the finals less of a question of straight up ability, and more a matter of handling psychological pressure. Fun, well-produced, and quite tense as it ramps into the Street League championship.

Dirty Wars
Jeremy Scahill, independent reporter frequently associated with The Nation, recounts his investigation into America's "War on Terror," and the indiscretion with which attacks are being carried out in more countries with less oversight and public awareness. It starts with an investigation into an American attack which mistakenly kills a number of guests at a wedding party in the Afghanistan countryside, which is denied, journalists disavowed and blacklisted, before finally having the official version reflect the mistake -- and continues through the same group, Joint Strike Operations Command, beginning to make strikes into Syria with drones and missiles, and JSOC's eventual move into the mainstream limelight and public praise with the assassination strike on Osama Bin Laden. Later, we find that the kill-list for JSOC includes Anwar al-Awlaki (wikipedia), an American citizen who has essentially been publicly targeted for assassination by his own government, without any attempt for capture or trial. Reading his wikipedia entry, Awlaki is painted as a through-and-through Al Qaeda supporter, though sermons in the documentary make it clear that his shift to radical Islam was later. Not only was Awlaki killed, but his 16-year-old son, also an American born citizen, was later killed by a US drone strike in Yemen while he was returning from searching for his father. Just amazingly tragic.

Interviews with officials and ex-JSOC personnel make it clear that we're operating outside our publicly defined rules for warfare, and that we're also inadvertently creating more enemies as we strive to make the world safer for the USA through violent intervention. From a technical standpoint, the documentary uses a bit too much flashy editing, moody shots, and re-created sets for Scahill's office and research, which look too self-consciously constructed to be believable. Scahill's narration tone seems timid and unsure; this is sad, because it's almost certainly a performance issue, and not one of his own confidence in the problems he is presenting.

As a liberal who has a sheaf full of concerns about the military industrial complex, corporate lobbying, corporate-funded news reporting, I was surprised and saddened that this wasn't a spot-on perfect, undeniable, shake-this-in-the-neocons-face piece of work but, then again, our self-awareness and self-questioning are hallmarks of what separate us from those who make decisions and then never reexamine the evidence. 

Not a bad movie, but a few too many conceits at the end. The film ends several times, which was kind of neat. The scary school was a fantastic backdrop, as always, and some of the camera work was so suspense-inducing that I found the hair on my arms rising and a big smile creeping across my face.

The acting is, across the board, typical for a Japanese drama, which doesn't lend much to the found-footage nature of the film. Even if none of the scenes were improvised, I think they could have increased the tension in the acting by just telling the actors that occasionally things were going to happen, thus keeping them more on edge.

There's a sequence in the middle which plays a bit with time, which was really creepy and fun.

The ghosts, overall, were scary, but didn't make much sense in the overall theme -- I suppose I should be thankful to not have everything explained for me, but there were some things which were so over-explained that the missing bits just feel thematically off.

3 out of 5 shrieking aidoru

I just saw A Dangerous Method, featuring Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen, and Keira Knightley. It was directed by Cronenberg, but I'd never have guessed it from the film's style. There is an abundance of light in nearly every shot, to the point where women's chin lines can't be discerned from their necks. There's no gore. Jump-cut transitions are so abrupt, they're like a light slap in the face.

Fassbender as Carl Jung is good, but perhaps a little understated, even while playing most of the film like a stage play. For some reason, "stately" is the word which comes to mind for his performance. Also, damn that man can wear a set of clothes. Jung seems näive and uncomprehending of his affect on others' lives.

Viggo is amazing as Freud; I believe Viggo may be one of the great actors of our time. His Freud is a fragile, dominating, egocentric patrician.

Keira... was an interesting case. She brings an intensity to the role that is, in itself, distracting. Her accent feels accurate, but varies in its presence. It felt unnecessary, but hen I tried to sympathize with the actual historic personage she was playing. Here is a woman, in an age when women were 2nd class citizens, and also a Russian Jewish immigrant to Austria, when Jews were also discriminated against, seeking unorthodox and largely still questioned medical treatment. As she struggles toward health, she presents a tremendously fierce character, essentially caught between Jung and Freud's increasingly disparate philosophies.

I was surprised to see how far Keira can distort her face, in the throes of psychological pain. I was also surprised how plain and unattractive she tried to make herself for a role which featured such complex sexuality. And by complex, I should say "uncomfortable." Even with the effort to reign in her fey features, it is a mystery then why nudity is so frequently and casually featured. My only guess is that this disconnect is intentional, and likely the one mildly transgressive element Cronenberg snuck in.

Wanted to get some USA feels and '80s nostalgia, so I rented MIAMI VICE. Michael Mann brings just the right amount of what made Miami Vice great in its day, and applies more of what he's learned since that era. Jamie Foxx was flawless, and Colin Farrell was alright. If there's anything I could complain about, it's the weird, "Everyone wants to get with the Asian chick" vibe that goes throughout the film I mean, basically everyone loses their professional perspective at some point because they're all bonkers to get with a very cold, very severe-looking Asian mob accountant. I mean, Gong Li killed it. She was very good. But I just don't see why #1 baddie, #2 baddie, and Crockett ALL had to have a thing for her.

Another part that bothered me was some continuity stuff: In one scene, prior to meeting a major player, Sonny and Rico are frisked for weapons, but not two minutes later, Sonny produces a hand grenade. I guess he had it in his underpants, and the frisker mistook it for his brass balls.

After that, I realized I shouldn't take the continuity too seriously, but there's a whole bit in the climax where the Miami/Dade Police Department appear to have TRANSPORTER TECHNOLOGY, because they're in the middle of a very fast boat journey in one scene, racing toward a deal and then, BAM, they're infiltrating a trailer park, outfitted with SWAT kit.

It is, all in all, a fun movie with a lot of suspense. Several UK citizens people play Americans, which is always a little weird for me, but then Naomie Harris gets in a shower with Jamie Foxx and I forgot about most of it.

Hugh Jackman is very good, the kid playing Marius is perfect, and Russell Crowe's dull, crawling voice more or less ruins Javert's songs, but is otherwise good in the role. He can act, he just can't sing well enough for the part. Amanda Seyfried is beautiful, and sings surprisingly well. The woman playing Eponine is more to my taste, and a better singer. Movie was great; I'll see it a few more times. For some reason, it felt like the audio was only coming from the front, no side or rear action -- I can't tell if the theater's speakers were malfunctioning, or if it was some weird artistic choice.

Wonderful Days: Japanese and Korean anime collaboration, seemingly targeting a remake of Æon Flux, except unbearably boring. The pacing was miserable for the first half hour, and the rendered CG/cell CG integration was half-assed, so I gave up. Not wonderful.

Behind Enemy Lines: Pretty good for a Top Gun which takes place mostly on the ground! Actually, that's unfair; Top Gun is just a love story about an emotionally stunted pilot and the minimal amount of combat in it is implausible, ill-defined, and only serves the pilot's emotional growth. Behind Enemy Lines is actually a war movie which at least attempts to make a point about international politics, and the validity of interference, at least where genocide is taking place.

The editing, though, is straight out of the Top Gun/MTV school of being artsy but without any particular need or meaning, so... failing at art. I was happy to have a 1.5x speed to rush though a couple of "montage" sequences which served no purpose.

Probably the biggest surprise was seeing GTA IV's Nico Bellic appear. I knew Nico was supposedly from the Croat/Serb ethnic region, but I didn't know that Rockstar had lifted Nico's appearance wholesale from this film's "Sasha." Seriously, it has to be intentional.


Gone in 60 Seconds: Almost entirely worthless action flick. This movie attempts to be playful, but it looks like it wasn't much fun to make; just a weird vibe. Robert Duvall pulls a fair turn as an aging mechanic, but everyone else is chewing the scenery. Giovanni Ribisi cannot act, at least he couldn't in 2001. A young, blonde-dreadlocked Angelina Jolie wears blue contact lenses and bounces around in a tank top, so watching it was worth at least that much.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: I've started watching this movie twice, and haven't been able to finish it yet. The first time, I started the movie quite late and its peaceful, surreal, melancholy world proved too much a soporific. The second time, it had that effect on my wife, though I was enjoying it and wide awake. She just could not parse the humor. My explanation of "Well, to Americans... some Americans, this is quite funny" did not hold water, so to speak. Next time I'll try to watch it alone, possibly with some Portuguese beer and wearing a red toque. "ESTEBAN! ESTEBAN!"

A Beautiful Mind: I watched this on a plane twice and was really impressed. Ron Howard can not make a bad film to save his life; I've been a fan since Coccoon, and I even liked How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Acting is top notch, understated and believable throughout the entire film, without an excess of emotionally manipulative schmaltz. Ed Harris is perfectly cast, and it is always amazing to see the actress Jennifer Connelly became despite her atrocious beginning in Labyrinth. What was she, 14 at that time? I'd be pissed if people judged my art based on what I could churn out at 14, so I should cut her some slack. More than anything else, I'm entranced by the film's ability to induce empathy for a sufferer of schizophrenia. What it comes down to is that we're all broken in some way, and it's just part of what we are, and how we do what we do. In John Nash's case, he's both more broken and more gifted.

And the film does a lot better on a nice TV than watching on a 5" screen with minimal contrast and color depth.

Also watched through ep. 7 of Burn Notice season 2 (still fun), and the first 4 episodes of Warehouse 13 which I'm hoping picks up, because the setting and gadgets are really fun. It's X-Files meets Indiana Jones, or at least the OSS guys from the end of Raiders. The producers should be hiring Ken Hite (princeofcairo ) to spruce up their doo-dads and science hokum. Then again, I think Ken Hite should be hired to spiff up the Tomb Raider storyline as well, which I've got top men working on right now. Top. Men.

Discuss away, ending and all. In key, preferably.