Showing posts with label Eliza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eliza. Show all posts
Friday, October 21, 2011
Take Shelter
Leaving the theater after seeing Take Shelter (dir. Jeff Nichols), I heard thunder and felt big raindrops starting to hit my face. Once you see this movie, which you absolutely should, you'll understand why I pretty much had a panic attack on the sidewalk.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Netflix Instant Watch: The League
A few years ago, when everyone was tuning into FX for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I was too lazy to get off the couch after the show was over and ended up watching what was next on FX's Thursday lineup: The League. This show has since become one of my favorite weekly TV indulgences, along with 30 Rock and Bored to Death.
The first season is an engaging introduction to the overall series. Even as the show gets off to a slow start in the first few episodes (it seems to struggle initially with character development), The League only makes forgivable mistakes. Like in many sitcoms, the writing assumes its audience to be ultra-familiar with the characters immediately; however, on The League, unlike these other sitcoms, the characters aren't really recognizable types. They're always surprising and a little bit disgusting (which is FX's favorite quality in shows if you look at The League, Sunny, and Archer). That's what makes this show so fundamentally enjoyable; you're never exactly sure what's going on, and then it uncompromisingly offends and delights.
The first season is an engaging introduction to the overall series. Even as the show gets off to a slow start in the first few episodes (it seems to struggle initially with character development), The League only makes forgivable mistakes. Like in many sitcoms, the writing assumes its audience to be ultra-familiar with the characters immediately; however, on The League, unlike these other sitcoms, the characters aren't really recognizable types. They're always surprising and a little bit disgusting (which is FX's favorite quality in shows if you look at The League, Sunny, and Archer). That's what makes this show so fundamentally enjoyable; you're never exactly sure what's going on, and then it uncompromisingly offends and delights.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Transitions, or: Why You Should Be Excited for the Future of this Blog
by Eliza Rosenberry
In reawakening from this sleepy summer, we here at Bostonian on Film would like to thank our readers for their patience. Like many of you, we've spent the past few months in a transitory state; between our collective internships, jobs, travels, and sheer exhaustion due to humidity, regular updates to the site have become fewer and farther between. We apologize for this temporary lull with a promise to assume our usual enthusiasm within the next few weeks.
On a personal note, I am leaving Boston in the fall to pursue career opportunities in New York City. However, after discussions with the rest of the staff here, I'm going to remain the Editor-in-Chief of Bostonian on Film. More excitingly, I'll have access to a whole new world of movies! Many films premiere in New York weeks before they reach other cities, if they even reach there at all, and there are often promotional events, screenings, and talks that I wouldn't have access to in Boston.
That means more exciting blog posts, potential interviews, and information for all of you to enjoy. Read about the New York Film Festival after the jump.
In reawakening from this sleepy summer, we here at Bostonian on Film would like to thank our readers for their patience. Like many of you, we've spent the past few months in a transitory state; between our collective internships, jobs, travels, and sheer exhaustion due to humidity, regular updates to the site have become fewer and farther between. We apologize for this temporary lull with a promise to assume our usual enthusiasm within the next few weeks.
On a personal note, I am leaving Boston in the fall to pursue career opportunities in New York City. However, after discussions with the rest of the staff here, I'm going to remain the Editor-in-Chief of Bostonian on Film. More excitingly, I'll have access to a whole new world of movies! Many films premiere in New York weeks before they reach other cities, if they even reach there at all, and there are often promotional events, screenings, and talks that I wouldn't have access to in Boston.
That means more exciting blog posts, potential interviews, and information for all of you to enjoy. Read about the New York Film Festival after the jump.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Midnight in Paris: Time and place in Woody Allen's newest film
By Eliza Rosenberry
Woody Allen movies are always very obviously Woody Allen movies. Even as his films branched out from Diane Keaton love affair storylines (see Zelig and Vicky Cristina Barcelona for two of his most creative pieces), there are elements in each that make them definitively Woody Allen.
Although most of these commonalities are characterizations of the autobiographical protagonist (neuroticism, intellectualism, self-alienation), Allen also places a significant value on the location of his films. Most of his earlier works take place in New York City. In Annie Hall, Allen’s character notes that he is too East Coast-neurotic to live in California, thereby correlating mentalities to geographies. Vicky Cristina Barcelona similarly relies on the exoticism and unfamiliarity of the city to create a foreign, dreamlike state of consciousness. Midnight in Paris, Allen’s newest film, again toys with the notion of tourism but also develops a more complex relationship between the protagonist (a pitch-perfect Owen Wilson) and the city (Paris).
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Incendies: Film as metaphor
By Eliza Rosenberry
Watching movies for their literal value has become inherent in contemporary film culture. Plot-driven blockbusters and emotionally-sensitive indie flicks both rely on literal interpretation. Taking films at face value is often beneficial, as most movies are created for such an approach. However, Incendies is so literally upsetting and traumatizing for even the most removed viewers that it could be far more productive to watch the film as a metaphor.
Watching movies for their literal value has become inherent in contemporary film culture. Plot-driven blockbusters and emotionally-sensitive indie flicks both rely on literal interpretation. Taking films at face value is often beneficial, as most movies are created for such an approach. However, Incendies is so literally upsetting and traumatizing for even the most removed viewers that it could be far more productive to watch the film as a metaphor.
Incendies is a French Canadian film about a Palestinian sister and brother who are sent by their mother's posthumous wishes to uncover a dark family history. The story itself becomes progressively and increasingly horrible. Without revealing the plot twists, it turns out that the family has a history of political and personal violence that cycles throughout generations.
Their mother's dying wishes initially seem demanding and unnecessary; the closure afforded at the end of the film seems more for her benefit than her children's. Metaphorically, though, the family can be seen as a representation of the unending perpetual conflict in Palestine, among and between religions and generations. In the children's recognition of their origins of violence and resentment in their family history (arguably interpretable as original sin) there exists a potential release from this very cycle.
Yeah, it sounds pretty corny without the movie's details (I really don't want to ruin the plot twists because they're so affecting). But the story is so upsetting that understanding it as a metaphor makes it both tolerable and universal. Film interpretation generally takes a literal form, with additional understandings of theme and structure, but metaphor serves a significant purpose in understanding Incendies. The film uses striking cinematography as a constant reminder of human capacity for both evil and beauty, and shows how the two are often more closely linked than we might like.
Contact me on Twitter: @elizarosenberry or email: bostonianonfilm@gmail.com
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Cave of Forgotten Dreams: Misses the mark, albeit beautifully
By Eliza Rosenberry
Not everyone wants to watch German director Werner Herzog's movies. They can be a little frustrating and too much for even the most philosophical of viewers. If you've even heard of him, it's probably because of his crazy antics (example one, example two) and not for his directorial skills. His best-known film in recent years is probably Grizzly Man, but my favorite is Encounters at the End of the World. Herzog attempts to find humanity in the unlikeliest of circumstances, a goal at which he often remarkably succeeds. Once you adapt to the thickly-accented, poetically-motivated narration, his documentaries are probably the best artistic efforts to capture and explore extremes of human existence in recent years.
That said, Cave of Forgotten Dreams was pretty disappointing despite being a documentary filmed and shown in 3D. Particularly in the context of his other documentaries, in which narration compliments visual and sometimes falls silent to allow footage to speak for itself, Herzog's newest venture seems contrived and limited. The film is about the breathtaking French Chauvet cave with the oldest cave paintings (oldest artistic achievements of any kind, the film is quick to note) yet discovered. Herzog does his usual interviews with involved persons, from the scientists who research the physical nature of the cave to the artistic historians who analyze the paintings themselves. The film uses 3D to its advantage, certainly; it often allows the viewer to feel as confined and claustrophobic as the cave itself. Spatiality is developed in Cave of Forgotten Dreams like nothing I've ever seen.
But to be perfectly frank, it seems as though the film crew got funding and access to these severely-restricted caves and showed up on Day One of filming only to discover that they had practically nothing to work with. Through arguably little fault of his own, Herzog fails to uncover the fascinating characters and personal histories which make his other films so rich. The cave itself is certainly beautiful and breathtaking, but with such limited access and content (you can only look at so many rock formations before they begin to look the same) the film gets antsy. Herzog randomly inserts a scene from another cave, elsewhere in Europe, and a boring interview with a man wearing caveman-style garb talking about this unrelated cave. Although I understand the film's efforts to compliment its limited subject matter, and extend the length of the film itself, this interview only drew attention to the insufficiency of the film's content.
Even though Herzog's heart is in the right place and his filmmaking is admirable and motivated, Cave of Forgotten Dreams falls significantly short of being the astounding, game-changing 3D documentary it was purported to be.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams, C
Get in touch with Eliza via Twitter: @elizarosenberry or email: bostonianonfilm@gmail.com
Not everyone wants to watch German director Werner Herzog's movies. They can be a little frustrating and too much for even the most philosophical of viewers. If you've even heard of him, it's probably because of his crazy antics (example one, example two) and not for his directorial skills. His best-known film in recent years is probably Grizzly Man, but my favorite is Encounters at the End of the World. Herzog attempts to find humanity in the unlikeliest of circumstances, a goal at which he often remarkably succeeds. Once you adapt to the thickly-accented, poetically-motivated narration, his documentaries are probably the best artistic efforts to capture and explore extremes of human existence in recent years.
That said, Cave of Forgotten Dreams was pretty disappointing despite being a documentary filmed and shown in 3D. Particularly in the context of his other documentaries, in which narration compliments visual and sometimes falls silent to allow footage to speak for itself, Herzog's newest venture seems contrived and limited. The film is about the breathtaking French Chauvet cave with the oldest cave paintings (oldest artistic achievements of any kind, the film is quick to note) yet discovered. Herzog does his usual interviews with involved persons, from the scientists who research the physical nature of the cave to the artistic historians who analyze the paintings themselves. The film uses 3D to its advantage, certainly; it often allows the viewer to feel as confined and claustrophobic as the cave itself. Spatiality is developed in Cave of Forgotten Dreams like nothing I've ever seen.
But to be perfectly frank, it seems as though the film crew got funding and access to these severely-restricted caves and showed up on Day One of filming only to discover that they had practically nothing to work with. Through arguably little fault of his own, Herzog fails to uncover the fascinating characters and personal histories which make his other films so rich. The cave itself is certainly beautiful and breathtaking, but with such limited access and content (you can only look at so many rock formations before they begin to look the same) the film gets antsy. Herzog randomly inserts a scene from another cave, elsewhere in Europe, and a boring interview with a man wearing caveman-style garb talking about this unrelated cave. Although I understand the film's efforts to compliment its limited subject matter, and extend the length of the film itself, this interview only drew attention to the insufficiency of the film's content.
Even though Herzog's heart is in the right place and his filmmaking is admirable and motivated, Cave of Forgotten Dreams falls significantly short of being the astounding, game-changing 3D documentary it was purported to be.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams, C
Get in touch with Eliza via Twitter: @elizarosenberry or email: bostonianonfilm@gmail.com
Friday, May 20, 2011
Bridesmaids Review: New Gender Roles in Studio Hollywood
By Eliza Rosenberry
It’s been a recent trend for female comedians and actors to bemoan the gender culture of studio Hollywood. Not to say that moviemaking hasn’t always had a male-dominated power structure, with male-centric stories, but for some reason there’s been a lot of welcomed questioning lately regarding female characterizations (see this Natalie Portman interview). Girls and women in studio movies often lack the depth and relatability of their male counterparts; an example Portman references in that interview, Devil Wears Prada, appears to present a strong female lead but her success is undermined by femininity (especially its location in fashion). Even Judd Apatow's previous movies don't allow women characters to be in on the joke. Although Bridesmaids’s protagonist (played by a superbly balanced Kristen Wiig) is a pastry chef, a traditional homemaker-like career path, she’s otherwise one of the only female characters in recent memory to refuse female conventions while maintaining a strong sense of relatability.
It’s been a recent trend for female comedians and actors to bemoan the gender culture of studio Hollywood. Not to say that moviemaking hasn’t always had a male-dominated power structure, with male-centric stories, but for some reason there’s been a lot of welcomed questioning lately regarding female characterizations (see this Natalie Portman interview). Girls and women in studio movies often lack the depth and relatability of their male counterparts; an example Portman references in that interview, Devil Wears Prada, appears to present a strong female lead but her success is undermined by femininity (especially its location in fashion). Even Judd Apatow's previous movies don't allow women characters to be in on the joke. Although Bridesmaids’s protagonist (played by a superbly balanced Kristen Wiig) is a pastry chef, a traditional homemaker-like career path, she’s otherwise one of the only female characters in recent memory to refuse female conventions while maintaining a strong sense of relatability.
Bridesmaids is hilarious. It’s as good as Knocked Up and The 40 Year Old Virgin, and somehow manages to incorporate the best of all of its talent. Apatow’s production and oversight is certainly palpable, particularly in the film’s structure (sex scene, sadness, failure, isolation, self-alienation, some good drunk scenes, epiphany, everyone comes together at the end). But Paul Feig, the film’s director (known for creating Feaks and Geeks back in the 90’s and also for directing episodes of some of the best television comedies since: The Office, 30 Rock, Arrested Development, and Bored to Death, to name a few), has incorporated his television experience and eye for scene development into an efficient yet cinematic film. That is to say, individual scenes (I’m thinking of the one where Kristen Wiig gets inebriated on a plane) feel like they could have been a threaded storyline in a sitcom, but are done so epically that it is actually very movie-like.
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