HAPPINESS

Don't see this movie of the week:
HAPPINESS

I don’t like this movie.

I don’t want to recommend this movie. But it's next on my list to recommend, and I must have had a good reason to put it there at the time, but for the life of me, I can't remember why. Although it’s well made, and well written, and well acted, with a marvelous cast, I can’t find anything that I like about it, at least nothing that I can put my finger on. So, maybe if I tell you what I don’t like about it, it’ll give me time to think of something positive.

Things that I don’t like about this movie:

1. No likable characters: Everyone in this story is a total pathetic loser. You can’t identify with anyone (at least I hope you can’t identify with anyone). If all the main characters died halfway through, you’d say, “Well at least that was something.”
2. None of the main characters die in this film. You want them to, but they don’t.
3. They refer to this movie as “a black comedy”. If you laugh anytime during this movie, you should have your moral fabric analyzed, and then begin therapy every Tuesday and Thursday - to start.
4. I suppose the term "black comedy" could possibly apply, however - there are shades of black that make the underside of a rock look like fireworks on the sun.
5. Some films may have one or two uncomfortable moments, where you squirm through an uncomfortable situation and then it gets resolved and then you feel better. This film has 141 minutes of squirming. I think it has more squirming than the annual Squirm-festival in Munich. It has more squirms than the movie Squirm, about the attack of killer worms. It almost has as much squirming as “Squirm – The Musical”- and that’s a lot of squirming!
6. This is one of the most polarizing films that you are likely to see. You will either really love it and say that FranksFilms is a genius for choosing such an erudite film (unlikely), or you will hate it so much that you will never read another recommendation from me again. So, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
7. This is not a gross out slasher film. It’s not scary, there’s no explicit violence, and no explicit sex. By the time this movie is over, if you make it that far, you’ll wish there was.
8. Ordinary people, perhaps your next door neighbors, sometimes do horribly un-ordinary things. You don’t often see that in a movie. There’s probably a reason for that. People don’t want to think about that kind of stuff.
9. Some of the material in the story is pretty difficult and will offend a lot of people. Actually, that’s not so bad. Hat’s off to Todd Solondz for having some balls.
10. This movie pisses me off………… Oh yeah! Now I remember. That’s why I’m recommending it. I saw it about 8 years ago, and it’s still pissing me off. Now that’s real staying power.

Director Todd Solondz knows how to push peoples’ buttons. He knows exactly where peoples’ comfort zones are and is definitely not afraid to go way outside of them. This is perhaps the best and most controversial of his films which include Palindromes, Welcome to the Dollhouse, and Storytelling. The film showcases the dark underbelly of suburban life in a way that I’ve never seen before or since.

The story centers around three sisters, each more miserable than the other. One, the youngest, who can’t keep a boyfriend and can’t decide what to do with her life, is put down and made fun of by her older sisters. The middle sister is a successful writer - except that she’s not happy because she has never experienced the things she writes about. Her older sister puts her down because neither of the two have the “perfect” family and life that she has. She has the perfect doctor husband, a perfect son, and a perfect home in the perfect neighborhood. What she doesn’t realize is that she is perfectly clueless about how un-perfect her life truly is. All the other characters in the film orbit these three. The cast is superb. Philip Seymour Hoffman is great as a next door neighbor with a secret (he likes to make obscene phone calls – oh, don’t worry, you find this out at the start of the story. It’s just a secret to the rest of the characters). Ben Gazzara is great as the father who is divorcing his wife after a zillion years for no other reason than he wants some time to be alone. With this crowd, I can’t blame him.

This is not an easy movie to watch, but if you do, you’ll discover that this is some of the most honest portrayal of real people (real miserable people) in search of happiness that you will ever see in film. You may want to watch it alone, and the decide weather you want anyone else you know watch it with you.

I mentioned earlier that it was a dark comedy. So the question comes up – is it funny? I hate to admit this but – yes. There were times (between all that squirming) that I did laugh. I’m not sure why, but I did.

The critics loved this film, scoring an 82% on the tomatometer. Furthermore, it appears in Steven Jay Schneider's book, “1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die”. How far down the list have you gotten? Film critic Roger Ebert has published a particularly good review of the film. You can read it here.

As the second movie in a truly “unique”, black comedy double feature, you can pair HAPPINESS with The Happiness of the Katakuris. You’ll be glad you did.

So there you go. If you dare – rent and watch HAPPINESS, then send me all the hate mail you want, I don’t care. I have a DELETE button.

Enjoy - (or don’t)

THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP

Movie of the week:
THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP

Most people are rooted firmly in the real world, and others ……..

I must say that I am sometimes a member of the “others”. Dreams and fantasy form a big part of my life. Not that I need them. I mean, interesting and exciting things do happen to me. Like the time, last year, when I was hired to play a small part in an independent film. After my reading, they offered me a bigger role – that of the wise-cracking womanizing friend with a heart of gold. Two weeks into shooting, they signed Nicole Kidman. It took 125 takes to shoot our big scene together. Four weeks later, they replaced her with an Irish Setter. It took 125 takes to shoot our big scene together. Then, while on location in the Arizona dessert, I was abducted for four days by prairie dogs and was made their king. While in office, I authorized new den construction, water hole cleanup, settled territorial disputes, and organized a universal health care for all prairie dogs. When I got back to the set, I found they had replaced me with an Irish Setter. It took 125 takes to shoot his big scene. Nicole Kidman and I are suing for breech of contact. This is all done through our lawyers since we are both currently on location in New Zealand for the new Peter Jackson film. I ………..

Oh wait ………….. yeah, that probably didn’t happen.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell – not usually, but sometimes. For Stephane, the main character in this week’s movie THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP, reality and dreams are so closely intertwined that, to him, it makes little difference. Stephane has a little place in his head that he goes to when he sleeps, where he can examine and analyze elements of his life. It looks just like the real world – except that it seems to be constructed of toilet paper rolls. Yeah – that’s right, I said toilet paper rolls.

Stephane, following the death of his father in Mexico, has come to live with his mother in Paris. Now, I know what you’re thinking. He speaks Spanish, the story takes place in France, - I’m going to be reading subtitles. Right you are! That is if you only spoke French or Spanish – because they all speak in English in this movie. So now you have no excuse. He begins a new job (which he hates) and meets Stephanie, the girl next door (which he loves) – suffice it to say that he will spend a lot of time out of the real world.

THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP is one of the most creative, inventive and visually exciting films to come along in recent years. It walks a fine line between sad and funny.

Why should you watch it?

1. “I’ve never heard of this movie. If it was any good, I would have, at least, heard of it.” The truth is, you only ever hear of movies that are advertised on TV or in magazines or as trailers on other movies. Your local multiplex will only carry movies that get a lot of promotion – that they think will fill seats. If they don’t think it fits the formula profile, they won’t invest the money for an advertisement campaign. Consequently, it never plays in your town and you’ll never hear about it. That’s where I come in.
2. #1 doesn’t mean the film’s not good. Most of the time, it’s just the opposite. The movies that play in you local multiplex are made for one purpose and one purpose only – to make as much money as possible for the investors. They don’t take chances with big money. They use formula plots that have been proven in the past to please audiences. They cast familiar faces. They often use a lot of special effects and stunts. What you end up with are movies like Evan Almighty, The Fantastic Four, and Norbit.
3. On the other hand, small film makers know that they can’t compete with the big Hollywood machine. They know that the only way they can get their film seen and appreciated is if the script is well-written, the story is interesting, the roles are well acted, and they take some chances on style or subject matter to make their film stand out from the rest. More often than not, these are way more interesting and likeable movies than what you see in the theaters. Here you get movies like Memento, and Secretary, and THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP.
4. Oh, and another thing – they occasionally make descent films in other countries too, like La Dolce Vita (Italy), and Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Germany), and THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP (France). After a few of these, you get really adept at reading the subtitles without missing a beat.
5. Michael Gondry, who directed the film, also made Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and uses a similarly whimsical visual style.
6. Ahhh! Young love. If they only knew what they were doing.
7. It’s a very delicate balance between dreams and reality, between funny and sad, and between romance and "god, you just want to reach through the screen sometimes and whack him on the back of his head – duh!"
8. It’s an escapist movie about escaping! It’s a make-believe story about make-believing! It’s an hour and 45 minutes long (sorry, it was all I could think of). I’ve been considering an alternate career in tag-line writing.
9. Even if you didn’t go to tech school for four years to study Sleep Science, you can still enjoy this movie.
10. I really identify with this film because, like Stephane, I also have an active fantasy life – like the time I imagined that I joined a blues band and played guitar, and even though I never sang in my life, I was the singer of the band, and we played for thousands of fans, and I belted out these searing guitar solos, and ……………….oh wait – no, I think that might have actually happened.

Watch THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP
It won’t put you to sleep.

Enjoy.

OLDBOY

Revenge movie of the week:
OLDBOY

Let's face it. I don't care how forgiving you think you may be, everybody loves to see revenge being had.

I know I'm right. If somebody has been horribly wronged, you just feel - I don't know - a little uneasy until they are avenged. It has to do with our sense of fairness and justice. This is an emotion that is uniquely human, and has been around since the beginning of time.

Revenge movies tap into that human emotion and can often give you a real sense of satisfaction (Kill Bill, Les Diaboliques, The Count of Monte Cristo). C'mon, you know you love this stuff. Don't tell me you're above all that. That's like saying you're above - oh, I don't know - breathing? In the movies, revenge is simple and satisfying, and the bad guy always gets his in the end, and then we all feel better about life. Justice is served.

But in real life, revenge is never that simple. In real life, revenge is never satisfying. In real life, if you've been horribly wronged, no amount of vengeance will ever make you feel better - even if you were to crush your tormentor to a slimy pulp with your bare hands then put him back together, and then do it again. The wrong-doer is not always the bad guy - and revenge is not always justified.

No filmmaker has ever depicted the subtle consequences of vengeance as successfully as Korean director, Chan-wook Park. This week's film, OLDBOY, is the second installment in what has become known as the Korean Vengeance Trilogy (BTW: They are independent stories and can be viewed in any order) along with Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance & Lady Vengeance.

Dae-su Oh is a young man who is abducted off the street one night and taken captive. He is placed in a small room and held without any human contact, other than a TV set, and without explanation - for 15 years. He is told that his wife and young daughter have been killed and that no one is left to look for him. He endures psychological torture - he has no idea why any of this is happening to him. After 15 years he is suddenly released. He is told that he has just 5 days to find who is responsible for his captivity and to exact his revenge - and, oh boy, is he going to get it! But first, he has to unravel the mystery and find his identity.

Five days and a body trail later, the mystery is solved - but who is getting revenge on who? You want very much for there to be closure - for the bad guy to "get it - and get it but good!" But the lines are blurred. This is genius film making.

This film is not for everyone. Certainly not for the squeamish. It goes for the throat. It's violent and intense, and it doesn't dumb down the violence or soften the intensity for mass audience. It doesn't give a hoot about the MPAA rating (those rat bas****ds!). It has plot twists galore, and it's in Korean with the appropriate subtitles. Revenge is achieved at the end and you'll say, "Damn!" But as I've said, revenge isn't always sweet. So - the following warnings apply.

1. Damn!
2. There's a twist that comes near the end, where information is revealed that sheds light on the full nature of the revenge. Many many people will be offended by this.
3. Damn!
4. Asian filmmakers aren't as afraid to break old taboos as their American or European counterparts, so be forewarned.
   
5. Dae-su Oh (the main character) is royally pissed off. It ain't going to be pretty.
6. This film is violent. The violence is not stylized or comic-book-like (although the screenplay was based of a comic book). It is gritty and raw and realistic. If this is going to bother you, watch some kind of penguin movie instead.
   
7. I forgot what I was going to say for #7.
   
8. If you're looking for a film to show for your church group - this would be an excellent choice! .....................................................nah, Just kidding.
9. Not for your children - unless they've been bad.
10. Damn!

The numbers:
Scores an 81% on the tomatometer.
Makes it into the IMDB top 250 at #120 between Cool Hand Luke and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
MPAA rating: R for .........well, everything.

OLDBOY - oh boy!
Enjoy.