Take Three: Max von Sydow

Craig (from Dark Eye Socket) here with another Take Three. Today: Max von Sydow

Take One: Hour of the Wolf (1968)
It goes without saying, of course, that a von Sydow Take Three wouldn’t feel right unless one of them was an Ingmar Bergman film. All three could’ve been, but the aim is to err on the side of variety whenever possible. They made 11 films together: The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, The Magician, The Virgin Spring, Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, Shame and The Passion of Anna are all classics. But Hour of the Wolf, in which von Sydow plays a painter losing his grip on his sanity, doesn’t always get the high mention it deserves. It contains some of von Sydow’s best work in any film, for any director.

With his handsomely regal face, von Sydow boldly dominates the film. His sinisterly unhinged stillness and almost unreadable presence cement the notion that he’s a tormented artist uncertain of his place in the world. He's visited by people, possibly demons in human disguise, who embody his trauma, his shame. In a possibly imagined, probably symbolic, but definitely surreal dinner scene von Sydow’s deathly wan countenance crumples in extreme close-up. His mind seems to deteriorate due to the inane banter of the chattering souls surrounding him. (No one said Bergman’s personal parables were cheery.) Von Sydow masters depression and disgust like breathing and underplays his scenes like a covert pro. With complete skill von Sydow does as much as an actor can to attempt to place the viewer inside his character’s brain.

Take Two: The Exorcist (1973)
I don’t think it’s via Jeez himself, but, Christ!, the power of character acting compels me... to write about Father Lankester Merrin in The Exorcist for this Take.

Demonic Possession and Demonic Behavior after the jump

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Melissa Harris-Perry and "The Help"

I fear that I may have to retitle the blog "The Help Experience" but that's okay. This kind of happens when Oscar contenders show up and get everyone talking. Soon there will be more of them and The Help won't hog so much attention.

If you haven't yet read my review, do that please (they don't write themselves!) but today I wanted to discuss Melissa Harris-Perry's righteous fury at the movie (There is a lot of this going around which Sasha Stone discussed recently though Perry was never mentioned).

For those of you who don't Perry she's a professor of political science at Tulane University, her new book "Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes and Black Women in America" just came out, and she's regularly on political programs as a talking head.  She's also one of the smartest people alive. Every time she's on television I swoon. When her segments are over I often feel as if the fog has cleared from the subject under scrutiny, her commentary is so perceptive and accessible. Gender, race and politics of the South are kind of her thing so, naturally, she HATED The Help. But she was amusing about it so I thought I'd share her disgruntled tweets.

They're not as incisive and genius as her political commentary but 140 characters, y'know. Read on!

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Michael Sheen is Such a Freak...

Sheen as computer program

Sheen as lycan

How did he ever end up in that stuffy English man groove in all those political movies?

This random question is brought to you by the recent full moon (were any of you killed by werewolves?) and my new blu-ray of Tron Legacy in which Sheen really gets his freak on... presumably to entertain himself since the movie won't. [Editor's aside: The BFCA is honoring the 5th anniversary of the Blu-Ray soon so I'm reinvestigating several titles for their blu-crispness and such so I can vote on the honors.] 

My god is that movie (Tron Legacy) incoherent. And I'm not talking about the plot since one can forgive movies about people getting trapped inside computers and creating malevolent digital versions of themselves for plotholes and diversions; part of the territory! I'm talking about the filmmaking. From scene to scene but more problematically from cut to cut nothing ever makes any sense. Where is this character standing? Which direction are they moving in? Where did that other character come from? Did they leave where they just were? Perhaps they turned around to face another direction? Why are we looking through a window now? Why did we just watch Tron fall into water from underneath the water? Why does that butterfly conveyor built thingie take 21 minutes to take the characters to the climax when every other distance in Tron world seems to be covered in like 4 seconds? We're talking basic spatial incoherency constantly. And you can't blame "the grid"... don't know if you've ever noticed this but cities built on grids are super easy to navigate in comparison to cities that aren't. 

This post was brought to you by 2010. Thanks for listening.

SuperFreak and his unsuspecting lady friend Rachel McAdams

As you were.

DRIVE. "People will love it ten years from now!"

I only left the Drive screening two and a ½ hours ago at the time of this typing. But I feel like I have two thoughts I want to get out immediately. (Plus a second screening seems wise before reviewing as it has that further-riches- await-you vibe emanating from its dark surface.)

The film is super-stylish and idiosyncratic and though some critics already love it, I'm not sure that people by and large will. But in ten years, if it's not a surprise hit in September, people will be pretending like they saw on opening night and were part of its first rush of fandom when in fact they caught it on DVD or cable a year or more after it flopped in theaters. I'm not wishing it ill, trust, but it feels like a possible contender for a Big Lebowski type trajectory, if you know what I mean. It's an odd film but it sure does know itself. Yay!

People will love it ten years from now!
-Nathaniel R, The Film Experience

Listen to me... Yeesh! I'm never ever going to make it as a blurb whore.

The new posters like the one above -- they just keep coming -- keep using the pink font and at first it's like "what? pink for a noir about a bad-ass driver?" But then you see the movie and all is right with the marketing due to the movie's neo-noir-neo-neon-1981 stylization. (What?)  It's not exactly my type of film -- very bloody -- but I kinda loved it anyway. Or maybe admired/liked? I haven't decided. It's only been 2 and ½ hours. But my god can Nicolas Winding Refn compose a frame. I didn't see this coming when watching Bronson which was attention grabbing enough but hugely messy and undisciplined in comparison.

This 'n' That: Girlz 'N' Games, Depp 'n' Tonto, Kevin 'n' Tilda

Many many years ago I became online friends with Noelle Adams due to our obsessive mutual Pfandom. Now she writes "Girlz 'N' Games". We've heard 2011 described as "Year of the Superhero" and "Year of the Sequel" or the "Year of the Raunchy Comedy".

But Noelle has another idea...

She goes on to explain herself  and it's a persuasive case, right? Or maybe Hal Jordan was such an A-hole that he makes the whole summer douchey? 

Your Movie Buddy interviews Miranda July currently in theaters with The Future. 
Ultra Culture is covering a huge event in London 'Empire Big Screen'. I guess the magazine is hosting a big event? I don't know. I'm confused. But I like this blog and I love a subway getting saloon doors to celebrate Cowboys and Aliens.
Deadline reports that Disney has pulled the plug on the Johnny Depp Lone Ranger movie due to cost. Didn't see that coming, Depp being the billion dollar franchise guy o' choice.  

I Need To Talk About Kevin...
In that... I realize it's weird that I haven't. What blog should be more excited for this movie than The Film Experience? I mean Tilda being a frequent topic and gold medalist and all. And now the movie has got this awesome Rosemary's Baby hued poster that dares to make "Kevin" the big face, and shove Tilda in the corner!? [P.S. I love that he's transparent so that you can see her.]

But as I was thinking about the weirdness of me never talking about this movie last night, I realized that somewhere in the back of the brain I had logged this as 'will read book before seeing movie or watching any clips' And now time is running out. 

Must read it. I'm between books anyway. Keep hearing it's great.