I'm in the middle of moving from Florida to Rhode Island, so my writing time's rather limited. Here are some short notes and redirects concerning the films I've seen recently.
Castaway on the Moon
When he was writing for chud.com, my friend Alex Riviello reviewed Castaway on the Moon. He did so well that, rather than write up a new review of my own, I'll just point you to his. Read it, then queue up the movie. I bet you'll be glad you did.
Sir Arne's Treasure
Ed Gonzales of 'Slant Magazine' wrote a nice piece on Sir Arne's Treasure. The film didn't quite work for me, as I found the pacing arduous. Nevertheless, it's one of the great achievements of early Swedish film; it merits an introduction.
Take Shelter
Take Shelter is a film a bout a good man, a family man, slowly coming apart under the assault of mental illness. I found its subject matter so painful and it's execution so slow that I couldn't make it past the 45-minute mark.
Here's setup: Michael Shannon is a skilled laborer with a house in the country, a committed wife (Jessica Chastain), a daughter, a dog, and the trappings of a respectable, middle class country life. Then the dreams kick in: dreams of disasters to come, of pets turning on their masters, of the world falling apart. He begins to react to these dreams, kicking the dog out of the house and getting to work on the cold-war relic fallout shelter in the back yard. His wife is worried. His friends are worried. He's worried.
And that's about where I hit the eject button. I'm a family man, a few rungs up the socioeconomic ladder from Shannon's character, but definitely on that ladder. I found myself empathizing with Shannon's fears and their consequences too much, such that Take Shelter was a painful, vice entertaining, experience.
Perhaps I'd have stuck with the film had it been a faster-paced. Take Shelter is meditative, however. The net effect was like watching a slow-motion car wreck involving people who were uncomfortably similar to oneself.
Castaway on the Moon
When he was writing for chud.com, my friend Alex Riviello reviewed Castaway on the Moon. He did so well that, rather than write up a new review of my own, I'll just point you to his. Read it, then queue up the movie. I bet you'll be glad you did.
Sir Arne's TreasureEd Gonzales of 'Slant Magazine' wrote a nice piece on Sir Arne's Treasure. The film didn't quite work for me, as I found the pacing arduous. Nevertheless, it's one of the great achievements of early Swedish film; it merits an introduction.
Take Shelter
Take Shelter is a film a bout a good man, a family man, slowly coming apart under the assault of mental illness. I found its subject matter so painful and it's execution so slow that I couldn't make it past the 45-minute mark.Here's setup: Michael Shannon is a skilled laborer with a house in the country, a committed wife (Jessica Chastain), a daughter, a dog, and the trappings of a respectable, middle class country life. Then the dreams kick in: dreams of disasters to come, of pets turning on their masters, of the world falling apart. He begins to react to these dreams, kicking the dog out of the house and getting to work on the cold-war relic fallout shelter in the back yard. His wife is worried. His friends are worried. He's worried.
And that's about where I hit the eject button. I'm a family man, a few rungs up the socioeconomic ladder from Shannon's character, but definitely on that ladder. I found myself empathizing with Shannon's fears and their consequences too much, such that Take Shelter was a painful, vice entertaining, experience.
Perhaps I'd have stuck with the film had it been a faster-paced. Take Shelter is meditative, however. The net effect was like watching a slow-motion car wreck involving people who were uncomfortably similar to oneself.
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