Reader of the Day: Jamie

Today's Reader of the Day is Jamie who lives in LA.  I've never met her but she once volunteered as a magical Film Experience elf to give us a few articles direct from the Cannes Festival (this year's lineup is announced very soon, so stay tuned). So let's start there.

Nathaniel: How did your Cannes journey come out? What's your favorite memory from it?
JAMIE: I had the privilege of attending twice (2008, 2009) through my university. Unlike many college programs, our mandate was simply to see as many films as possible. Simply getting to worship at the altar of film that frequently over the course of two weeks is irreplaceable.

My favorite memory was not seeing one of the many award-winners or much-hyped titles, but rather attending the world premiere of the restored print of The Red Shoes. Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker hosted the screening, and hearing Scorsese talk at length about the passion the film inspired within him, as well as Thelma's relationship with Powell, made me feel like I was part of some exclusive club of cinephiles. I ended up having to miss the premiere of Precious to attend, a decision that bewildered my fellow festival-goers, but it was so worth it. I had never before seen The Red Shoes and seeing it in that environment was almost a holy experience.

                           

A holy experience.

First movie? First movie obsession?
I do not remember my first movie (for shame), and I had a lot of strange obsessions when I was younger. Due to my father's job, we always had access to all of the premium cable and pay per view channels, so I would just re-watch the films I loved on some type of continuous loop until I could move on. That's why I still know all of the dialogue to Selena.

However, my first informed obsessions came toward the end of my high school career. I impulsively bought a Miramax Best Picture DVD set that included The English Patient and Shakespeare in Love. I fell madly in love with each of the films and became obsessed with the narratives that emerged around them and their unfairly maligned legacies. It's when I first became aware of the many intricacies and politics of Oscar season. The films fostered an obsession with Harvey Weinstein and Miramax that eventually led to my first film internship, my honors thesis, and my current not-allowed-to-talk-about job.

Which current director are you rooting for in a big way in the next few years?
Lone Scherfig earned my eternal devotion with An Education. I think she has the potential to become a vital, female commercial directing voice. I don't usually root for the directors I love to sell out, but I think we need more ladies working within the studios. And Armando Ianucci made me laugh harder than I feel comfortable admitting with In the Loop. I love that he doesn't treat politics as sacrosanct and doesn't allow the humor to get in the way of making a resonant point.

Tell us about the biopic of your life. Who will it star, etcetera?
I will have to anger the movie gods and instead opt for a television series. I want Paul Feig and Judd Apatow to create an updated version of Freaks and Geeks based on my high school experience, still starring the lovely Linda Cardellini. The one thing that always bothered me about that show was that Lindsey was forced to choose between being completely straight-laced with Millie and the mathletes or a burn-out with the freaks. I too went to a suburban public high school rife with the usual parties and drama, but it was also extremely competitive and the popular kids were amongst the highest achieving. I'd love to see someone meaningfully tackle the intricacies of being a seemingly "normal" but hyper-ambitious teen still negotiating the pain and angst of growing up.

Freaks and Geeks is so genius. It takes place in a Michigan High School and name-checks places we actually went while in high school in Michigan. The clothes, the language, the "types" ... everything brings back memories -- more than any other movie or high school set show ever has for me. The show reminds me of my sister (although we were far enough apart in age that we didn't actually go to high school together like the brother / sister in the show) and all my Michigan friends so I ♥ it so hard. I really do.

Oops BIG TANGENT! Ok. Let's wrap up. Your favorite movie in the following 5 genres: musical, drama, romance, Woody Allen, and last year (yes, "last year" is a genre). Go.
Due to some unknown childhood trauma, I've always been wary of traditional musicals but I absolutely love All That Jazz and Dancer in the Dark. Regarding the former, the recent news about Bryan Singer directing a Fosse biopic infuriated me. What can any biopic reveal that All that Jazz didn't already cover? 

Network is my all-time favorite film, so it easily takes the drama category. As much as I tired of Aaron Sorkin's tear through Oscar season, I couldn't help but smile at every Paddy Chayefsky reference. Romance: Before Sunset. Even though I think it's Woody Allen's least favorite, I adore Hannah and Her Sisters. The "not even the rain has such small hands" moves me every time I see it. Having said that, I was raised on Woody Allen films and would jump at the opportunity to watch any of them at the slightest notice.

Finally, despite my previous Sorkin slight, The Social Network was by far my favorite last year. It felt like one of those special movies made just for me.

"How do you use the birds?"

Podcast: Jane Eyre

New season of the podcast starts now. Though Oscar season is still many months away the Big O (and I don't mean Oprah) is not required for hearty movie conversations. Even if he likes to muscle his golden way in from time to time. In this week's episode Nick and Katey and I have gathered to talk about the dreaminess of Michael Fassbender, the skill of Mia Wasikowska, the promise of Cary Fukunaga and drafty manor houses on the moors filled with dark secrets.

For those who haven't yet read the book or seen the movie we pull back from the spoilers so fear not. But go see the movie! All three of us were fans of this particular adaptation. Also discussed, however briefly: Rango, Certified Copy and Andrea Arnold's forthcoming adaptation of Wuthering Heights. It's a big year for those Brontë girls.

Podcast: Jane Eyre

Take Three: Michael Pitt

Craig here with Take Three. Today: Michael Pitt

Take One: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
Pitt’s weedy teenage wannabe rock imp Tommy Gnosis (The Jesus freak army brat formerly known as Tommy Speck – then, very nearly, Tommy Ache) got to grapple with Hedwig’s Angry Inch in unconventionally inventive ways back in 2001. John Cameron Mitchell’s slip-up-operation rock opera, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, was like nothing else on screen at the time. If you could avert your eyes from internationally ignored “icon” Hedwig’s shining beacon of starlight, then hidden in the flared remnants, and on the sidelines, was Pitt’s Tommy. He was initially willing to dote on her every word but eventually reluctant to acknowledge his own sneaky appropriation of her back catalogue. He became the big star; Hedwig toured the fish restaurants of America.

Pitt does the naive, overtly adoring rock moppet well. He also does the non-committal, dull-eyed whiner-singer act capably, too. In short: he nailed being a half-hearted androgynous songster on the head. His game karaoke portrayal was a bizarre squishing together of Iggy Pop, Kurt Cobain and Marc Bolan and it made for a perfect contrast with Mitchell’s gender mis-reassigned glamzilla. Pitt had the “gee shucks” drippiness down to a tee early on and the moody insouciance of a fast-rising pin-up later in the film. Pitt’s occassionally been compared to Leonardo DiCaprio (they look faintly alike), but he was destined for less starry vehicles. Hedwig was his first substantial role after a few bit parts in some notable movies, setting the left of mainstream tone.

Take Two: Funny Games US (2008)
Pitt put his baby-faced Buscemi looks to ominous use in Michael Haneke’s close-to-replica  American remake of his own 1997 violent image treatise Funny Games. I’m not this particular remake’s biggest admirer, but I’ll stunt the bile flow and focus on the matter at hand, the one stand-out aspect: Pitt’s performance, which was remarkable for its blandly creepy conviction. Brady Corbet’s less assertive Peter was fine. But Pitt, as fourth-wall-breaking smiling Paul, had the film – just like the terrorised family at its centre – under his thumb with his politely negotiated terror. He was the sociopathic preppy-styled ringleader; a blond, blank-eyed menace.

Pitt brings out the duplicity innate in his character through careful use of body language and an array of insincere facial expressions (a slyness you can also see in his Murder by Numbers and Boardwalk Empire roles). Rid of his floppy-fringed slacker locks and the pouting hipster tics of other films, with hair slicked down in Aryan tidiness and his lips curled into a smug half-smile respectively, he projects just the right amount of playful goading. He fleshes out what was essentially a second-hand scolding message character. By the time he’s playing God – and, by proxy, director – by rewinding the action to fit his own murderous MO, Pitt has quite literally won his not actually all that funny game. Without him, Haneke’s lofty polemic loses something integrally dark.

Take Three: Last Days (2005)
He certainly looked like teen spirit. And he certainly sounded like teen spirit. But whether he really, truly smelled like teen spirit is open for debate. Pitt played jaded and degraded rock icon Blake, a rather transparent stand-in for Kurt Cobain, in the third entry in Gus Van Sant’s loose death tetralogy. (Gerry, Elephant and, slightly less a part of the gang, Paranoid Park being the others.) Some folks got terribly roiled up by “their” favoured generational spokesperson being portrayed in such an irregular fashion, other folks went with Van Sant’s tonic poem and embraced his loose interpretation of a famous life self-terminated too early. Although Blake was our main focus, Pitt ensured we weren’t privy to everything his portrayal represented. I’m Not There was used for Todd Haynes’ experimental Dylan biopic, but it’s a more apt title for this portrait of rock iconicity. Or He’s Barely Audible.

Pitt achieves a lot by doing little on screen: stumbling his way around his crumbling mansion with a shotgun, mumbling his way around a conversation with a pair of Mormon callers, looking fed up when Kim Gordon pops in for a chat, playing hide-and-seek with Asia Argento, making himself scarce when Lukas Haas and co. drop by unannounced, sharing a moment of tender clarity with a mini clowder of stray kittens. He draws attention by shielding himself from us; we barely see his face. When we do see his face, it’s a blank slate - a pale, unkempt presentation of incoherent mannerisms. It’s kind of Method acting, but kind of not. (Stripped Method? Method Undone?) It's the shuffling, vaporous presence itself that makes an impact. Portrayed this way, Blake is always a scruffy enigma, there to curiously mull over or ignore as we see fit.

Thre more key films for the taking: The Dreamers (2003), The Village (2004), Silk (2007)

First and Last, Hello Girls

the first and last images from a motion picture.

Need another clue? Here's the first and last lines of dialogue.

first: "girls, girls, girls."
last: "get in."

Can you guess the movie?

Check your work after the jump.

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