I give up. No time. Too much to talk about in these films. Too much going on in Baltimore.

I will do better with the Films Viewed (May 2013). My sincerest apologies.

The Man with Iron Fists (Netflix)

Sun Don’t Shine (MICA)

On the Road (The Charles)

Prozac Nation (Netflix)

The Girl on a Motorcycle (MUBI)

Muholland Drive (The Charles)

To the Wonder (The Charles)

Bachelorette (Netflix Instant)

BMA Sight Unseen Short Films Program (BMA)

Farewell, My Queen (Netflix)

The Muppet Movie (The Charles)

Total: 10 films, 1 program of short films (6 in theaters)

Tabu was a stunner, as expected. Portuguese Colonialism explored as the history of the depiction of Colonialism is film and literature is also explored. A two part film that connects in wonderful and unexpected ways. I need to see more of this filmmaker’s work. (The Charles)

Lore has a tactical advantage in that it is a story rarely told, that of the children of the Third Reich following the end of World War II. A young woman attempts to get her siblings to safety in a hostile, collapsing environment. Lots of decay and death lots of psycho-sexual situations. How this stiff drink of a film lasted as long as it did at the Charles is beyond me. (The Charles)

To see Dead Man was to return in my mind to the time of its release (1995) and to contemplate my life at that time compared to my life today. I will always love this film, but it took me to a very dark place this time, which was surprising  A man on the edge of the fading Western frontier approaches death by misadventure slowly. I film imbued with biting deadpan humor and surprising spirituality. My favorite Jarmusch? Thanks to the Gunky’s Basement crew for putting this screening together. (The Charles) 

The Birds was half-remembered from childhood broadcast television appearances, reduced in my head to certain key scenes. Those key sequences save the film from being entirely flat. Did they just cut that first reel out when they would show it on television? I found myself re-editing and re-casting the film in my mind to keep things interesting until the Birds starting wigging out. Weird subtext about women’s hostile nature towards one another noted but not entirely comprehended. I am sure scholarly papers have been written on that topic. (The Charles)

Barbara was good, taught and fraught with tension. A woman in Communist Germany is in trouble, tries to escape. She works at a hospital. People are unhappy. Masterful performance by Nina Hoss.(The Charles)

I went to What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? more out of a dutiful sense that this was the last Saturday revival at the Charles before things got bumpy for a bit (at least on Saturdays). My partner commented that I wasn’t “gay enough” to really get into this one, that was a fair observation. Two sisters, portrayed by Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, live together in misery after careers in Hollywood and Vaudeville. I could see the clear influence on John Waters, but was otherwise just sort of along for the campy ride. (The Charles)

Ah, to go to the mall theaters on a spring evening to see Spring Breakers! A group of young women go to spring break, discover their true selves, party hard, meet Gucci Mane. A object of such discussion among my friends I now feel unsure of what to say outside of to recommend that you see if for yourself. (AMC White March 16) 

All That She Wants is not another baby, but to get out of rural Quebec in this slow-burner from director Denis Cote. A  shot-in-black-and-white slow sad journey filled with crime and tangled relations and desperate poverty. I had a good time, and have added a new director of note to my list. (MUBI)

Stoker was a stylized bit of oddness, probably paying homage to films I have never seen like Suspiria. A young woman begins to blossom into the family way thanks to a mysterious uncle. Lots of twists and turns and  twisted nasty psycho-sexual business as is often the case with the films of Chan-wook Park. (The Charles)

Drunken Wu-tang was just plain insane, a videotape find brought to the public by the good people at the Red Room‘s new Tape Worms series. I have been having a good time with films like these since I discovered them in high school at the local video store. (Red Room)

Beeswax was an indie that just didn’t cohere, Andrew Bujalski doing his best with the drama of two twins, one of whom can’t seem to get it together in general, the other is which is caught in a drama with her small business partner. The drama just could not be wrung from the material, despite top notch performances from the three leads. It is always a pleasure to see Alex Karpowsky in pretty much anything. (MUBI)

Total: 11 films (9 in theaters or Red Rooms)

(Please note: Whenever possible, all titles are linked to their pages on the Netflix website)

 

So…

Back in 2009, I signed up for MUBI (formerly The Auteurs), an online social networking site for “film people” with the additional option of watching films on their server. I then promptly forgot about it since you had to pay to watch each movie on their site.

Then, recently, they changed their format and started e-mailing me daily with a new film to watch. I signed up to pay after clicking around.

For $35.88 a year, I get to screen/stream thirty films. Each one is available for thirty days.

This works for me because the clock is ticking as each film moves from day one to day thirty, This is different from my Netflix Instant queue (which has 228 items, currently), where films come and go seemingly at random in terms of their availability or just sit there for years, daring me to find the time to watch them.

Also, the films chosen are smartly curated and reflect my interests as a film watcher. It brings to my attention films I may have passed over in the video store or films that are not available in the US otherwise.

So, you will now see MUBI movies appearing in my queue, and there may be no Netlfix link for them if they are not available.

This is not meant to be an advertisement for the site, but an explanation of what MUBI means in terms of my monthly chronicle.

March 2013 Films Viewed will be posted soon. I am bogged down with other writing projects at the moment.

Regards,

Charm City Cineaste

Nothing but a Man delivered, an early Indie from the 1960s Deep South. A African-American man lives and loves, torn between the more respectable stable life he strives toward and the chaos he comes from. Powerful and moving. (The Charles)

Die Hard remains “the Cadillac of Action Films,” as one of the organizers of Gunky’s Basement put it. I had never seen it on the big screen, instead catching it in fits and starts as it siphoned through the pay cable channels. A good time. (The Charles)

Lola Versus was so close to being good! A woman in her late 20s almost gets married, then doesn’t  then has adventures and breakdowns. Will endlessly be compared to Girls, which is a bit unfair. I could watch Greta Gerwig do almost anything and find it engaging. Nice use of Lower Dens and Dan Deacon musics. (Netflix)

Amour was about two old French people slowly dying. Nominated for the 2013 Academy Award for Best Picture. (The Charles)

Day of Wrath was my cup of tea, all repressed religious tensions and witch trial hysteria. The film kept using the title song effectively and well. Clearly influential on Bergman. A way into the films of Carl Theodor Dryer, who I had yet to engage with in a positive way. Now, on to The Passion of Joan of Arc, (The Charles)

Celine and Juile Go Boating is a rarely seen gem, the cinema apple cart being upset at every turn in an effort to “live in the movies”. Two women lead each other on adventures in a house in which each visit is like… well, despite the film’s 1970s pedigree, I could not help think they were “playing” the scenario in the house like a video game. So good and interesting and endless and wild and wonderful.(The Charles)

Murmur of the Heart was the story of a young man’s coming of age in an anarchic post-war French household. Had a kind of spittle-flecked kicking life to it, the non-acting of the lead feeling very true to the dumb artless moves of the first make-out sessions I remember. I am a fan of the genre, and this one takes a subversive and disturbing twist at the end. (Netflix)

Total: 7 films (5 in theaters)

(Please note: Whenever possible, all titles are linked to their pages on the Netflix website)

Citizen Ruth, the first film by noted director Alexander Payne, somehow manages to make a comedy about abortion feasible. This is primarily achieved by the satiric trick of inserting Laura Dern’s clueless and amoral character into the middle of the debate. You have to get past the film poster, but an auspicious directorial debut for a now-known talent. Not a bad night at home, and another film off of our queue. One item down, two hundred and twenty-five to go. (Netflix Instant)

It is hard to beat the minimal terseness of A Man Escaped, the jailbreak saga to end all jailbreak sagas. The story is based on the memoirs of an actual prisoner of war The film sticks to the narrative with a rigidness that only Bresson can pull off without me being bored or turned off. (The Charles)

Silver Linings Playbook was recommended to me by pretty much everyone I knew as a good film, but it took a lot to get me into the theater. Essentially a rom-com but much more realistic in various ways. Two damaged people get together despite obstacles. I have found that I enjoy Jennifer Lawrence in films, and that I also can stand Bradley Cooper sometimes. Robert De Niro actually acts for the first time in a while. Is this a film for the ages of the next Jerry Maguire? TIme will tell. (The Charles)

Walking and Talking was a messy debut for Nicole Holofcener, but that messiness allows an edge and raggedness that kept the proceedings transgressive. Two women who are best friends deal with thier changing relationship, one geting serious with her boyfriend, the other constantly searching for one. What’s with me watching all these 1990s directorial debuts this month? (Netflix Instant)

Paranorman was a children’s film by the same stop-motion team that made Coraline. A young man works to save a town from a vengeful ghost. My inner twelve year old was having a pretty good time, although I rarely delve into this kind of fare (Netflix).

I still am always a bit outside of Polyester, but seeing more Fassbinder and Sirk definitely helps me “get it.” A suburban homemaker’s seemingly idyllic life collapses. Can Todd Tomorrow save the day? Maybe the problem is that I have never seen it in Smell-O-Vision. The bits all work, sure. John Waters approaching the mainstream, with Hairspray up next in his filmography. A kick to see it at The Charles, which is named as the porn theater in the film. (The Charles)

Looper would probably have made my top ten if I had seen it sooner. A solid bit of Sci-Fi time travel mashing up. A man is payed to kill people from the future. First things go wrong. Then they go seriously haywire. I was surprised at my tolerance for Joseph Gordon-Levitt made up like Bruce Willis. (Netflix)

Total: 7 films (3 in theaters)

(Please note: Whenever possible, all titles are linked to their pages on the Netflix website)

Wake in Fright, an unearthed cult film from 1970s Australia, was a study in tensions and repressions finally let out to rip. An Outback schoolteacher goes on holiday and gets himself deep into a whole heap of trouble and dark journeys. Scarily powerful thanks to all the elements cohering  especially an unhinged performance by Donald Pleasence. (The Charles)

I managed to watch four short films by Lena Dunham included on the Bluray Criterion edition of her film Tiny Furniture. Uneven but still impressive work from the brief era of the Youtube auteur. (Bluray DVD)

Police seemed, at first, as generic as its title. A French police officer investigates a crime family with plodding persistence  Then, women enter into the story and things get odd. The genre rules get thrown out the window and the fact that the script was written by Catherine Breillat becomes clear. I always enjoy a Maurice Pialat film, as I never know exactly what to expect. (Video Americain)

Holy Motors is why I go to the movies, to see and experience something new. A man goes about his job in Paris, enacting roles and scenes in an odd tribute to the particular artificial magic of film. No plot to clearly follow (a group walked out of my screening at The Charles), but plenty to puzzle over and take in. Leos Carax does not make movies often, but when he does, run, don’t walk to your local arthouse. (The Charles)

As the genre of “movies about movies” has become more and more prominent, I am always interested to check in and see how things are progressing. Hitchcock does a great job of narrativizing the making of Psycho. I found the constant filmic references to shots from other Hitchcock films disorienting, but it was a game to be played like any other in a hall of mirrors like this one.

Ever since Mod Fuck Explosion played at the Orpheum cinema, I have been meaning to see it. The underground film, borrowed from a friend, is “very 1995,” but still enjoyable in its insane way. A girl gets caught up in a gang war between mods and Asian bikers with a soundtrack featuring Unrest.

We Won’t Grow Old Together was my second Pialat of the month, thanks to guest curation by Matt Porterfield of The Charles’ revival series. A super dysfunctional, brutal relationship sputters and sparks as the action is caught in real time, a la Cassavetes. Raw and ugly, but shot through with a compelling reality. You know this couple.(The Charles)

The Woodmans has been sitting in the Instant cue for months. A balanced portrait of a family of artists, with the photography of the tragically deceased daughter Francesca given (rightly) the most time and attention. Her images are haunting and could have been taken yesterday. Drifted a bit, but remained engaging. (Netflix Instant)

Oh, what a grand mess was this version of Anna Karenina! Due to the “arty” miscalculation of setting the scenes in a decaying theater instead of in a “real” setting, the film just got jumbled up despite occasional flashes of brilliance. Also, I like Keira Knightly usually, but she just wasn’t Anna to me. Forgive my “lit teacher” problems with this adaptation. (The Charles)

Bones Brigade  An Autobiography was a well made look at the rise and (gentle) fall of the skateboarding crew. My inner middle-schooler enjoyed the look back. Surprisingly engaging and poignant. I remain vigilant for Animal Chin. Have you seen him? (Netflix Instant)

Life of Pi should have been seen in 3D ,but the option had disappeared in Baltimore City by the time I got to see it. After disaster at sea, a young Indian man gets stuck on a lifeboat with a tiger. Visually sumptuous when not caught up in its own pseudo-profoundness and “all religions are one” spirituality. (Landmark Harbor East)

Lincoln was good, a nice solid meal of a film, giving one a picture of an important moment in American history and showing the man behind the icon. It was all about the performances (by essentially every contemporary actor of note) as well as the masterful speechifying script by Tony Kushner. (Landmark Harbor East)

Magic Mike was a good time, a story of average Americans told with the right level of execution by Steven Soderbergh. Mike, a stripper, wants more out of life. My Floridian friends say the film captures Tampa perfectly. Also, there is sexy dancing if you are into that sort of thing. (Netflix)

I have continued my tradition of watching Fanny and Alexander: The Television Version: Episode One on Christmas eve. As I fell asleep, I was tuned this year into the sumptuous set design.

Sure, it’s too long. And sure, it’s indulgent. But Quentin Tarantino continues to make films that get you thinking, my friends and I engaging in vigorous analysis and debate as we left a sold-out screening of Django Unchained on Christmas day. A slave is freed and is given the ability to kill white people by a kindly bounty hunter. Jamie Foxx’s Django serves as the blunt dialogue counterpoint to Christoph Waltz’ ever-so-wordy Dr. King Shultz as they go on various adventures, the last and longest being a quest to free Django’s wife from slavery in the deep South. (Landmark Harbor East)

I am still trying to figure out how I feel about The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 3D 24fps. I think the film has be unfairly compared to a much-abridged animated version from my childhood which was a big favorite of my early film life.  Also, I just found Bilbo to be smug. Good, but not great. Perhaps time and re-viewings will help.. (AMC White March)

Hyde Park on Hudson was a big disappointment, too gentle and respectful. FDR’s cousin becomes involved in his inner circle the summer when the King and Queen of England visit. Bill Murray as FDR didn’t do it for me. Perhaps a film for another, older generation?. (The Charles)

The Cocoanuts is the first Marx Brothers film. A good time, if a bit to ready to be a normal film as opposed to a anarchic showpiece for the Brothers. The pacing was vaudeville rapid-fire.

This is 40, despite being overlong and overstuffed  was an interesting snapshot of what is happening to my generation as we age. A husband and wife deal with turning 40 in various messy ways. Good lines, good moments that felt real, and Paul Rudd being Paul Rudd.

I ended the year with a screening of The Bucket List at a house party. The point was to heckle, and gang did  without mercy. A good way to ring in the new year.

Total: 19 films, 4 short films (11 in theaters)

(Please note: Whenever possible, all titles are linked to their pages on the Netflix website)

Le Amiche, an early film by Antonioni, has flashes oft he breakthrough yet to come. A study of Italian bourgeois existence, filled with plot convolutions and despairing characters. A Saturday afternoon well spent. (The Charles).

Hit So Hard may be a bit “fans only” but does a great job of telling the story of the woman behind the drum kit of Hole in their prime years. Patty Schemel is a likable and engaging character at the center of the great tornado couple of 1990s altrock. Addiction  dysfunction, and some memorable music along the way. (Netflix Instant)

Turn Me On, Dammit! was a bolt from the blue, a coming of age drama featuring a sex-obsessed Norwich teen who has many painful and awkward encounters on the way to adulthood  Could have been exploitation  but instead felt authentic. Why don’t films like this play Baltimore anymore? (Netflix)

You have to admire the ambition of Cloud Atlas, taking a sprawling complex novel some have called “unfilmable” and turning it into a sprawling yet cogent film. So many excellent thought-waves and sequences to get lost inside for a while. Preposterous things happen and I just went with it. Sometimes I cannot do that. (Landmark Harbor East)

Skyfall is another James Bond film. I enjoyed Sam Mendes’ handling of the sacred texts, an eyebrow arched at some of the more hoary cliches  Not amazing  not as tonally odd as Quantum of Solace. I was very struck by the end set-piece, at least visually. (Rotunda Cinemas)

Horse Feathers is early Marx Brothers on film, not quite at the place I consider the most excellent and perfect, but still a good time. A burlesque take on a now-forgotten genre, the college life film. The jokes come so fast and furious, still at a vaudeville velocity, that you have to suppress your laughter to catch them all. (The Charles)

For many years I have been meaning to see The Lovers on The Bridge based on the recommendations of several friends. I managed, finally, to see it. A couple live in abject squalor and mad love on France’s oldest bridge  Took time to get started, but became free and alive and messy and wild. A stunner. (Netflix Instant)

The Weird World of Blowfly was engaging enough as a documentary subject. Blowfly, of course, is a dirty song-smith with a semi-secret rare groove R&B past. Too see the drama play out with the man himself on the road well into his senior years was surprisingly compelling and poignant. (Netflix Instant)

Speaking of compelling (in another sense), I felt compelled to see Flight because of the word of mouth surrounding the film at the office water cooler. A pilot unravels following a disaster in which he is, arguably, the hero. Denzel Washington’s performance is superb, and the film’s script and construction are top notch. (Rotunda Cinemas)

Sometimes you are at Video Americain and you have a third rental for free so you grab something off the shelf. Street of Shame turned out to be the final film by Kenji Mizoguchi, a  director I have until now not encountered. Various prostitutes suffer and struggle as legislation to outlaw their profession moves through the political process in Post-war Japan. A great introduction to the filmmaker that managedto be tragic without being strident or polemical. (Video Amercain)

Total: 10 films, (5 in theaters)

(Please note: Whenever possible, all titles are linked to their pages on the Netflix website)