Ben X

This Flemish film was great!! A nice surprise. It's about a hypersensitive genius boy who gets teased relentlessly because he can't interact socially. He has some great insight into human nature as he tries to copy their expression of emotion because he can't feel the emotions himself. He thinks that he has to fake being human and you identify with him because he does point out the absurdities of human behavior, their insecurities and fight for power by belittling others, without being a part of it. His bullying scenes go a little far, I mean we get how bad it is pretty quick, we don't need another 20 minute sequence of torture, but at least during that scene we know about the girl coming to visit him the next day so we have that hope to cling to (like Ben does) during this whole scene. Oh, he does interact normally with people online, in his World of Warcraft like game, and he has a girl that is his healer and plans to come meet him in person. The tension of him finally meeting up with her is great and although he never actually speaks to her, you still feel like he has made some sort of personal triumph. Although you want them to be together, the end almost seems better in a way. He always has her in his imagination and she will never hurt him or embarrass him or leave him like the other kids. Because Ben is the way he is and his fantasy in his head is more real for him than the real world, we accept this as his best possible ending. She does end up saving him without ever actually speaking to him, and this is enough.

The best part about this film was the set-up for Ben's death. The whole film was very subtle about how it prepared you for the idea that Ben would die. Occasionally we see interview style shots cut-in with people from his school, his mom, etc. answering questions like they would a news program. From these we get the early idea that they might be coming from a post-suicide interview and we start to feel smart because we think we have figured out where the film is going. When the suicide did happen you felt prepared and I even thought for a second that maybe where he has gone is better for him than this earth, which just wasn't meant for this kid. And then when he re-emerges and we realize that the "suicide" was all a ploy to get the kids to realize the consequences of their bullying, it was just a fantastic twist. I cheered. He still lives in his own head, with his imaginary girlfriend, but like his mom says at the end, it is ok because he is living. This was a charming film that really makes you think about why people do what they do. It also had two unconventional resolutions with the fake suicide and the girl, both of which were set-up but payed-off differently than you expected, in a way that was still a satisfying surprise for the viewer.

Oh, I also really enjoyed how it intercut the beginning of the film together with the game. It highlighted perfectly the reason people escape into worlds like Warcraft, because they can escape who they are and their own physical limits and construct themselves as anyone they want to be.

Fight Night (aka Rigged)

This is a random one I picked out a Blockbuster while trying to find something different on my quest to see what is possible with a super low budget. I picked it for obvious reasons when you see the poster. In a smart marketing decision to remove Dublin, the main character, from the DVD cover, they got the most out of their little boxing underdog genre film, appealing to lesbians and straight men alike. In fact, Dublin is nowhere to be found on the DVD case. Interesting. Maybe because he is no Brad Pitt. His "charm" just comes across as bad acting. I mean he is supposed to be a bad promoter, but it always came across as so fake charming. He was far too one note and didn't have the depth and struggle, even when facing his mom for the first time after 6 years, to become endearing. His faux confidence was just irritating and his delivery was not at all working.

Kat, played by uber newcomer Rebecca Neuenswander, (seriously, she has one credit and her resume is as slim as some of the girls I get in my auditions), had many more genuine moments. She had the badass tough girl, fighting her past part down and she actually played detached in a way that drew you in and left you wanting more. Some of her her moments with Dublin were awkward. Their relationship was hit and miss. Sometimes she nailed a zinger that was dead funny and sometimes it was like whoa, missed that one. Her physicality was generally good and I did believe she was a bad ass boxer, but in the same way that Kagan and Tim said my actress didn't understand completely the depth of her wounds after being tortured, I would say Rebecca didn't understand her wounds either. Especially after her hand was broken. That kind of pain fucks with you. Even if it is something you deal with daily, it fucks with you. Like you need it to feel alive and you are always aware of it. For the discomfort or the rush. More awareness of the wounds and the reality of getting hit by someone twice your size was definitely needed.

Overall the underdog narrative was completely stock, but the part about Kat being a lesbian running from her mormon family and in denial because she wants to go back, didn't wind up being as disappointing as it could have been. From a newbie male director, I completely expected Kat and Dublin to wind up together and every time I saw it leading there, it unexpectedly drew back. That was refreshing. It was also great how it took the "tough ass fighter has to be a lesbian" stereotype and used it, but played with it as well. Dublin's box munching jokes actually worked to the advantage of the film in undermining the stereotype. Shock. Also, it would have completely killed her narrative if she went straight, because she clearly wasn't and that would have wrecked the entire backstory they constructed for her as to why she fights. Obviously if she could just be straight, she wouldn't have to fight, because she could go home. They do kind of leave the end mysterious as to her relationship with Dublin and she definitely looks way girlier here than anywhere else which was a little disappointing, but at least they left it vague.

Of course the end was ridiculous. Yay, she won and now what? Long unnecessary agony and monologues that avoids the real confrontation and drama. A scene between Kat and her family was ripe for tension. Also it was very unfulfilling to not have her stop running and face herself and finally accept her sexuality. This could have been done very economically and been a great little scene to send this movie out with more than just a boxing win, but a personal triumph as well. It could have also infused Dublin and her's relationship with a little more energy at the end. Some quippy exchange where he makes fun of her, but ultimately accepts her for who she is (like her parents wouldn't) as she accepts herself and finds her new familial support in Dublin. Make sure we get some sort of answer to both the characters needs in the final resolution!! And don't go for a one hit surprise when you could have sustained tension and development.

Nina's Heavenly Delights

I have seen this one before, in pieces on veoh or something. It was charming and so I was fine seeing it again and on DVD where I was sure not to miss anything that was accidentally cut out or because it was blurry and small. I guess I was hoping things were cut and I would get more in the DVD, but alas no.

Yes it, is charming and refreshing not to have to deal with a coming out story on top of a story about Indian food and family. She was at least out to herself and her friends. It didn't dwell at all in the beginning on them falling in love and having it be all secretive and wrought with agony over falling in love with a girl.

If it is Nina's story than her superobjective is to win the cooking competition, but her need is to not run away from who she is. Basically to face her family and tell them the truth. In fact her entire family's need is the same. They all have a secret they need to tell. When she does this, than she will be able to "get the chemistry right" to win the competition. So her falling in love with a girl, and then coming out to her family is just her catalyst for honesty, aka fulfilling her need. It is good, because the love story is handled like most heterosexual romances. It is similar to the Sara's role in The Hustler. This, to me, is the future of gay/lesbian cinema and the kind of films I want to make.

That said, it definitely missed a lot of great opportunities for romantic tension between the two girls and Nina's desire for Lisa was totally glossed over which made the ending weaker to me. They kept talking about what you would do for love, but I had a hard time seeing the two girls in love. Yeah there was a little sexual tension that built as we all thought Lisa was with Nina's brother, but this "surprise" when we find out they aren't together somehow lost a bit of steam. I can't figure out why, but I wanted more tension when they both know each other is gay and they are attracted to each other so when they finally do kiss it is like yeah!! Maybe this had to do with how the club scene was handled. The back and forth and missed glaces at each other were good, but that guy showing up was weird. It was still done rather well. The kitchen scene was hot, but we don't know where that leads and what the consequences of it are. We need some sfermath to see how they both feel about what happened. Once we see they are both totally smitten, WHAM that is when we hit them with a clear THREAT. Something concrete that threatens the bliss. And now we see Nina's desire for Lisa as real because she overcomes this threat to be with her. This kinda happens and we get that weak-sauce allusion to a sex scene that ends waaaaaay to soon. If I get to see this than I start to believe that she could actually be in love with Lisa and not just "movie love" that is convenient for the story. Then I understand why she is so afraid. I get that fear of losing either her or her family that defines love. This really amps up the end and makes me much more invested. Of course the director made the choice to make it more about the food than the love story, but food is passion and desire and I really don't think food and sex are too far removed. Why not wrap them more tightly and visually together? This just makes me more driven to not back off, ever. Keep pushing every scene and script and actor to make sure you are getting the most emotional investment out of everything you put on the screen. Justify the emotions!

The actresses were believable regardless, and darn hot. They pulled off the "love" in the context of the fantasy world, even if it wasn't quite as deep as it could have been. Both have been continuing to do TV projects , but nothing big for either of them yet.

5ive Girls

Found this one during my regular trolling of YouTube. Not much worthwhile to mention here although I am making a post about it because it (unknowingly) used superpowers as an allegory for outcasts and marginalized subcultures. Also, ironically, the lesbian was the only girl to survive. All five girls had a different sort of superpower gift and it had caused them to be outcasts in a society that rejected them for being different. The lead girl was telekinetic and slightly telepathic. The lesbian could heal and had this oddly interesting backstory of having had her parents use her has a faith healer for money. Then there was a girl who could move through objects (but not walls), the blind girl who could see the past, present and future and the wiccan/channeler. They all had interesting limitations to their powers which made them far more believable, but primarily they were planted and used as a means to bring them there (all as rejected outcasts, of which the Lesbian was just one, and only cursorily because of her sexuality). The pay off of their powers was minimal at best mostly because the demon and the story and the world, apart from the girls having powers, was a cluster-fuck mess. Scenes were long an confusing and not connected. The demon's power and means to its demise were not explained and generally it was just a bad film. It went way overboard on the 5 points of a star imagery and was just clunky and confusing most of the time. It was also hard to keep the girls separate and they weren't introduced well enough for us to care about them and why they were there and what they ment to each other.

I really liked the allegory of superheroes position girls as outcasts and rejects, linked to sexuality. It was very x-men like but with a more real spin. They had limitations and were restricted by these limitations to being just slighty more powerful than regular girls but just as subject to human emotions, fears, inabilities and weaknesses. I'm obviously very interested in examining society's rejects through super powers and fantasy. Everyone wants more power but what are the consequences of this power? How can the "powers" of my characters position them on the outside? What does having power do to you in a world that ignores or rejects that?

One highlight I forgot to mention earlier was a line of dialog from the blind girl, "When you're blind, packaging is less important." I can no longer remember what it was in reference to, but it was simple way to fundamentally question the power of the visual, in a film, which is all about the image. It got me thinking what is important, especially if you start stripping humans of the basic 5 senses? What is left?

Quantum of Solace

Car chases, boat chases and airplane chases, oh my! Man that airplane chase was laughable and that part just completely lost me. They fall out of a plane, the chute hardly opens and there is barely a scratch on them? Right...Yeah, it was a lot of action and not a lot of feeling or emotion. In a film about revenge, both Olga and Bond are on their own personal vendettas, but there was an awful lot of not caring whether or not they were successful or not. Or how many people they kill along the way. There has to be a way to have an empty, unfeeling Bond, hellbent on revenge, but yet have the audience still desperately care if he succeeds or not. It felt like a weak sauce version of the Bourne Sequel. If you have to motivate a whole movie based on the revenge of a woman (cliche) at least make us care. Don't tell us a sad story about your family getting burned alive, show us it in the beginning of the movie. Than we are emotionally invested in her success and Bond's interference. The boat chase scene doesn't just look pretty, it rips at my heart and builds tension. I desperately care whether or not the burned little girl finally gets her revenge. The same with Bond. They needed to take us back and show us what he was fighting for. What images were lingering in his mind during his sleepless nights? What drives him?

This has been the biggest problem with action films lately. Watchmen is also guilty. They just want to look pretty and out due each other visual but they are boring because they are so emotionally vacant. This is exactly what Braun talks about in 516. You have to lead the audience. Give them a hint of the future that plays on their hopes and fears. We have to know what Bond is fighting for so that we know the stakes and care about what he has to lose. Lay out the mission so the audience is on board. There has to be a way to point to the mission without insulting the audience's intelligence. There is a fine line from suspense of not knowing and having to figure it out (mystery for the viewer) and giving them elements of the future that play on their hopes and fears. I have to play with this in my webseries. Find this balance through trial and error if you have to.

Marc Forster has done many emotionally resonant films. I loved Stranger Than Fiction so how come he forgot about people while directing an action film?

Quizzes From The-N

Clueless (1995)

It is always great to see this movie on a print and with a group. It is just so genius. I'm going to limit my comments to how this film relates to 677 in terms of the readings and other screenings, just to narrow the focus of this post.

After seeing Stella Dallas last week at thinking of fashion in terms of class signifiers, this movie really does use fashion as a class locater, specifically, LA/Beverly Hills elitism. More to come later...