May Flowers: 'The Hours'

Kurt here from Your Movie Buddy. In an intro to cinema studies course, my peers and I were tasked to select and present a three- to five- minute segment from a film for a collegiate show and tell. The terms: choose something that features effective editing and/or noteworthy use of music. With the field so finely narrowed (sarcasm), my mind went...everywhere. Rather than drive myself nuts, I opted for the opening credits sequence of a movie I always feel like I've seen recently: The Hours.

This remains one of my very favorite movies of the aughts, and it's a fine specimen for Nat's "May Flowers" series. The brisk and beautiful introduction culminates with a trio of bouquets, but more on those in a bit. Guided by Phillip Glass's score (by turns elegant, chipper and paranoid), we wake up with three women, all of them linked by Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway. We have Virginia (Nicole Kidman), the writer; Laura (Julianne Moore), the reader; and Clarissa (Meryl Streep), the character (in a matter of speaking). The sequence sets the stage for the three ladies' storylines, which seem to run parallel, but are decades – and miles – apart.

Click to read more ...

Mix Tape: "Gondola no Uta" in Ikiru

Andreas from Pussy Goes Grrr here, with an especially sobering song selection.

Midway through Akira Kurosawa's life-affirming masterpiece Ikiru (1952), the terminally ill protagonist Watanabe (Takashi Shimura) gives those around him a painful reminder of life's transience. An aging bureaucrat, Watanabe has been trying to indulge in a little of the good life as he dies of stomach cancer. But nothing, not even a fancy new hat, has been able to lift his depression.

At his nadir, Watanabe sits in a bar surrounded by young revelers, with an attractive woman is at his side. The piano man calls out for requests, and in a low rasp, Watanabe suggests "Gondola no Uta." The piano man obliges him and, although the bar's denizens initially try to dance, they soon fall still and silent as Watanabe's anguished singing takes over the soundtrack.

Read more about Takashi Shimura's incredible performance (including Ikiru spoilers) after the jump.

Click to read more ...

Rose is Sad; Rose is Comedy

Robert (author of Distant Relatives) here, pondering why Rose Byrne is always so sad. Have you noticed this? Which is why I was shocked to see her show up in the ensemble comedic cast of Bridesmaids. Now from what I hear Ms. Byrne is something of the straight man of the group. Most of the buzz for this film is falling in the laps of Maya Rudolph and especially Kristen Wiig, the lead, as it should be.

But still, as long as we're talking about whether this film can put to rest the notion that women can't be raunchy funny, can we also put to rest the typcasting rut that too many particularly good actresses fall into. If anything it would make Rose Byrne less sad.

Rose Byrne in Insidious, "Damages", Knowing, 28 Weeks Later, Sunshine, The Dead Girl

Cannes Summary: Woody Allen through Gus Van Sant

Hi All. Robert (author of Distant Relatives) here. As Nathaniel has mentioned, MUBI.com is really the place to go for lots and lots of Cannes reviews. But in case you don't want to sift through lots of reviews or fear leaving the warming embrace of The Film Experience, I thought I'd sum up some of what people are saying about the first few Cannes Films, right here.

Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris opened the festival and while a few viewers are suggesting it's an unnoteworthy truffle, most of the reaction has been positive though not exhuberant. Still, with expectations growing lower and lower for Mr. Allen's releases, it's nice to see that he can still enchant an audience. Seriously, you've never seen the words "charming" and "pleasant" and "whimsical" so much in one place. Here's the MUBI summary.

Sleeping Beauty, the first film by author Julia Leigh is one of a handful of films this year that feels like Cannes attempt to recapture that uncomfortalbe sexual Antichrist buzz. Here, Emily Browning plays a newbie prostitute whose specialty is being drugged and taken advantage of in her sleep. Detractors here seem to be in the slight majority calling the film "cold" and "psychosexual twaddle." But there are still some reviewers who find the film "enthralling" and have high praise for Browning's performance and desire to break free from studio stuff. MUBI summary.

Nathaniel has already touched on We Need to Talk About Kevin and the great notices coming Tilda Swinton's way (Roger Ebert referrs to her in his tweeting as Saint Tilda and I must admit that name is sticking in my brain). It's also nice to see excitement greet a Lynn Ramsay film (whose Ratcatcher and Morvern Callar I assume must have been some of the better DVD discoveries of the past 10 years). Alas the film itself is getting a bit of a mixed reaction. MUBI summary.

Gus Van Sant's teenage romance Restless opened Un Certain Regard and it's hard to ignore the bad reviews piling up. While there are a few nice sentiments, like Mike Goodridge's declaration that it's a "gentle moving hymn to life" most of the agreement seems to be that the film is a "dud" not to mention "intert" or "emo goo." MUBI summary here.

Lars & Marty Picking Apart The Past

JA from MNPP here, highlighting an exciting bit of news making the rounds today. We'd heard back in February the rumor of this, but now it's seeming official - next year Lars Von Trier will be redoing his Five Obstructions experiment with Martin Scorsese. Excuse me, make that "Oscar-winning pool of awesomesauce, Martin Scorsese."

If you're unfamiliar with The Five Obstructions, in 2003 Von Trier had his mentor the Danish filmmaker Jørgen Leth remake a short film of his own five times under five different sets of limitations. He was forced to shoot it in difficult locations like Cuba and the red light discrict of Bombay; he had to make it in animated form.

And now Von Trier will be training his cinematic sadism on one of the living masters of American movies. But the big question remains - what film will Scorsese be remaking? When the rumor first popped up it was attached to Taxi Driver, but now that Variety's confirmed the project's happening there is no word on if that's true or if it'll be a different film of Marty's. So I ask y'all - what movie do you most want to see Scorsese tackle again under Von Trier's ever-brutal thumb? And what limitations would you like to see set for him?