Life Is NOT A Malfunction: Short Circuit (1986)

I am wholly aware that there are some incredibly absurd movies that made their self aware during the 1980's, indeed, I have even gone so far as to review many of them, almost always with loving admiration or an unhealthy attachment, especially if said films involve things like cocaine smuggling ninjas or satellite based aliens consuming orgy minded suburban parents.  These movies were weird and did not necessarily acquire anything beyond the obvious cult status associated, however, Short Circuit is a film that has managed to retains most of its respect and was decidedly successful upon its initial release could out do every other film in its notes of the absurd.  Indeed, Short Circuit is perhaps the most bizarre film to come from the 80's not in that it exists alone, but that it was so successful.  Between some wonderful smirking by eternal heartthrob The Gutt, one of the more curious performances of Ally Sheedy's career one can pick apart its obvious attractions.  Everything else is completely an enigma though, notably the bizarrely Orientalist spin on the major foreign character within the film, not to mention a decidedly confusing and ethically problematic take on robotics, sentience and human bonding.  I assume this film is intended to be comedic, however, I could not begin to unpack the ramifications and implications of approaching such movie with an awareness that it is chuckling at such deeply social woes.  In contrast to Ally Sheedy's involvement in say WarGames, one almost thinks that Short Circuit is in bad taste, and I would certainly make this claim were it made in any other year than 1986.  It is in this unabashed push towards complete absurdity that one is able to truly appreciate Short Circuit, because what one paper should come off as complete and irreverent politically incorrect satire manages to take on a knowing level of self-awareness, wherein each glance of humor on the part of Steve Guttenberg and moment pun-infested dialogue manages to say everything about an era where excess and decadence were simply a fact and any point of lack or oppression was ignored or made to be a point of frustration.  In the very choice to ignore any palpable reality Short Circuit reconsiders the ability and execution of satire.  It is bad, it is wildly problematic, but it is also delightful.

Short Circuit focuses on the American governments most recent attempts at launching a series of former Cold War robots, known collectively as the S.A.I.N.T. program, as service industry robots.  This appears to be an ideal situation as the precision and focus affords the robots to do both very general tasks as well as specific, detailed endeavors.  Yet, when an intense lighting storm hits the factories, one robot is electrocuted a la Frankenstein and breaks free from the space.  In doing so, the war division of the government goes wild fearing that the number five division of the robot will destroy everything in its path, as the lightning resulted in an overriding of its circuits and reverting to its former Cold War programing.  To make matters worse the robot is equipped with a laser capable of destroying any item nearly instantaneously.  The robot becomes a point of fascination for its creator Dr. Newton Crosby (Steve Guttenberg) who sees this "glitch" as a movement towards a higher degree of sentience, particularly with Number 5 rewires his own switchboard to assure his livelihood.  Eventually, Number 5 travels far enough to meet with food truck entrepreneur and lively twenty something Stephanie Speck (Ally Sheedy) who immediately assumes the robot to be a form of extraterrestrial life, becoming visibly upset when it proves to be the far less exciting government weapon of mass destruction.  Yet, realizing that Number 5 truly desires to become "alive" Stephanie takes it upon herself to teach and train Number 5 while also helping to avoid his own disassembly, or, in human terms, death.  All the while, Dr. Crosby and his wise-cracking Indian assistant Ben (Fisher Stevens) attempt to track down Number 5 with the most advance positioning technology possible.  Eventually, they are able to track down the robot and discover him deep in training with Stephanie, as well as attached in a manner that is noticeably more than platonic.  However, Crosby and Ben realize that Number 5 is indeed advanced and capable of self-control, so much so that when the government eventually attacks Number 5 it proves to be a decoy created by the very robot who has become hyper-sentient.  The film closes with Number 5 assigning itself with the name Johnny 5 and becoming the pal of Crosby, Ben and Stephanie, assumedly planning on undertaking a series of new journeys, a fact shown in the multiple sequels that followed.

I am currently pinpointing my research interests within the field of film studies and, as I have noted earlier, this includes South Korean cinema.  However, realizing that just having a regional focus does not entirely suffice for the deeper I delve into school, I have decided to also focus on the ways in which gendering and body politics emerge within films about beings that are non theoretically human, including things like cyborgs, robots and dolls which become sentient.  As such, much to my surprise and elation, Short Circuit very much fits within this new vein of research, especially in regards to the gendering of Johnny 5, who moves from being a purely servile non-human other to that of a war based threat to eventually being a thing of fraternal and pseudo-sexual interest to at least two characters in the film.  In theory, Johnny 5 should not be a figure with a specific gender, but it is rather clear from the onset that viewers are supposed to define him as masculine, whether it be a result of his phallic like laser or his male-inclined vocal pattern, his gender is fixated within the masculine, making its creation by Dr. Crosby and the American government all the more ethically curious.  Indeed, his very war like identity suggests an entrenched notion of war as sexual aggression wherein each element of warfare finds its ties to the male phallic privilege, perhaps most famously explored in Kubrick's uproariously funny Dr. Strangelove.  Here it is becomes more heady intellectually, because if Johnny 5 is indeed a phallic extension of the government, he too is one that is anthropomorphized, suggesting a desire that war not only be a sexual act, but one that in the process "gives birth" to new entities that are vaguely human but still less than in the important factors.  The levels of control and privilege that emerge in such a scenario are complex and fascinating and could certainly extend on to consider other films within this genre.  The fact that Stephanie has a pseudo-romantic encounter with Johnny 5 takes on a reverse-Pygmallion element, although she is not the creator so again it is a bit more confusing.  There are also a ton of ways in which to consider how gender is performed and how a viewer is to understand that Johnny is supposed to be masculine, all tying to an assumption that a non-human body could still exist within a gendered dichotomy.  It is also no small coincidence that Wall-E is clearly based on Johnny 5.

Key Scene:  Johnny 5's quest for knowledge through reading the encyclopedia from front to end is both hilarious and deeply curious from an ethical standpoint and is dealt with in a near perfect way.

This is a solid rental through and through, although it is cheap enough on DVD that buying it might prove equally inexpensive.

Don't Forget...Stay Out Of The Adult Bookstore: Blast From The Past (1999)

Here I sit again contextualizing a film from 1999, which is proving to be one of the most profoundly important years in cinema, post-New Hollywood.  I was originally turned onto this year as being key cinematically by the dynamic duo over at Battleship Pretension, and was a bit hesitant to fully embrace their argument, particularly considering that at one point they delved pretty deeply into the genre films of the year, I realized there was likely some legitimacy to the argument.  Especially considering that it was the year that established The Wachowski's, as well as David Fincher as important directors with The Matrix and Fight Club respectively.  However, it was also a year where more cult heavy directors took stabs at new cinematic engagements, with David Lynch offering the Disney produced masterpiece The Straight Story while David Cronenberg reworked the themes of his classic Videodrome to consider game based virtual realities in the criminally under appreciated  Existenz.  With a decided push towards the dark the occurred this year, highlighted by Takishi Miike's Audition, it is a bit surprising that I would consider completely altering my top ten list to include a comedy, particularly one whose critical reputation is far less established than all the previously mentioned films.  Yet, when I watched Blast from the Past earlier today I found myself genuinely laughing and engaging with a satire of such excellent composition as to remind me of my previous love for Clueless.  There is a lot to like about Blast from the Past, so much so that I was initially hesitant to praise the film since it appeared to purely be a result of my loving of minor parts and not the collective whole of the film, but given a few hours to let it sink in I am certain that it is a justifiable feeling one that I am certain would find a consensus were people who initially dismissed the film to revisit it with a decades detachment.  Indeed, it came out in a year of cerebral and mentally challenging films, therefore, it is no surprise that a highly idyllic, bright, yet no less critical film would be pushed to the wayside.  Blast from the Past is both highly nostalgic for a simpler time culturally, while also being incredibly forward looking in thematic issues and considerations of who can occupy cinematic space.  Also, it has Christopher Walken, which means it is elevated by default.

Blast from the Past begins in a kitschy version of the 1960's where the real fears of the Cold War linger over America proving particularly dire for Calvin Weber (Christopher Walken) and his wife Helen (Sissy Spacek) who have, under the paranoid direction of Calvin, built a whole fallout shelter their home, one that essentially doubles as a recreation of their home.  During a party, an announcement of possible threats from Cuba lead Calvin and Helen underground to wait out the night, hoping to avoid an imminent bomb drop, yet when a helicopter crashes within the vicinity of their home, a mechanism locks the couple inside their shelter, programed to remain closed for 35 years, wherein any threat of radiation poisoning would be avoided.  This would not be that large of a problem, were Helen not expecting a child within days.  Trapped underground, Helen gives birth to Adam (Brendan Fraser) who proceeds to spend the next thirty five years of his life living completely detached from the world.  When the seal is finally broken, Calvin ventures forth into an America that is far from what he remembers, riddled with crime, transvestites and an adult book store.  Panicking he returns underground and suggest that the family reseal the shelter, but Helen disagrees noting that they need supplies and that Adam needs to be able to experience a world outside of the fabricated domestic space, one of skies and oceans.  The desire is met indirectly when Calvin falls ill and Adam is sent to the surface for supplies.  Hoping also to find a girlfriend while above ground, Adam moves into mid-nineties California hyper-idealistic and wide-eyed.  Within moments he attempts to dump off a ton of rare baseball cards hoping that the money will afford him the ability to purchase the far more expensive items on his mother's shopping list, which includes alcohol and pipe tobacco amongst other things.  While on his quest he meets Eve (Alicia Silverstone) a young woman whose desultory lifestyle runs counter to Adam's idealism, however, their seemingly impossible bond forms an immediate friendship, one that is navigated by Adam's hopes of finding a partner and her assurance that she is anything but what he is looking for, particularly since she fears he is mentally unstable, not realizing their is validity to his seemingly being stuck in a time capsule.  As things unwind, it is clear that Eve cares for Adam and that his wild stories are all but so, leading to their undertaking of bringing aid to Adam's parents, while also delicately dealing with the fact that the two are not ready to move into a post-Cold War world.

The movie plays up on cultural divisions with such restrain and focus it is a surprise that this did not fair better in the cult comedy circles.  While it does jump through some of the clear racial and gender issues a person from the era would face, it plays more on cultural cues and social etiquette differences, both as a means to suggest that the contemporary American society is far from ideal, while also reminding viewers that the fifties were rife with their own issues, clear nods to "the problem that has no name" occurring with the character of Helen.  Similarly, it paints a future where non-normative bodies are excepted, a reality that is still yet to exist, perhaps director Hugh Wilson using this a a mirror to cause viewers to consider how far their personal views on "otherness" stand from the wildly conservative Calvin.  Indeed, because it realizes that to fall too heavily on a single cultural difference, Blast from the Past approaches many cultural differences within a relatively short film, dealing with the state of religion and self-understanding in regards to the fifties, where Adam's mind frame places unquestioned value on the lord's name with blind faith, while on the surface people are so lost and disillusioned as to believe that the Weber's are some sort of second coming and thus spiritual gurus.  More humorous than this, however, are the suggestions that perhaps many of the issues an individual navigates in the world half a century apart are really not too different.  Both Adam and Eve are attempting to navigate their worlds to find the ideal other, momentarily assuming that this shared bond cannot occur between one another.  Characters like Eve's friend Troy (Dave Foley) exist as cultural commentators who possess on the spot observations of the individuals within the film who lack an understanding of their own feelings and inhibitions, perhaps playing somewhat problematically into the "gay character as magical conscience," but no less so that Sex in the City would have been doing at the time.  The closing moments become heavily idealistic, but given that the film does not possess hefty stakes or high intensity action this is fine and helps to make the closing conversation between Adam and Calvin, paired with the sudden invasion of Eve's voiceover not absurd, but appropriate, because it suggest that while the present is not perfect, it is certainly more productive than living in the past or fearing for the future.

Key Scene:  Brendan Fraiser and Nathan Fillion fight in this movie, it may not be the best scene, but it was certainly my favorite.

This DVD is super cheap, it is worth blindly buying.  I am fairly certain you will not be disappointed.

I May Have Lost My Heart, But Not My Self Control: Emma (1996)

It should have come to no surprise to me that in trying to include a particularly diverse set of films for my month of women in film that I would run into some less than stellar movies.  I had high hopes for Emma considering that it possesses a ton of actors for whom I think highly of, not to mention that it fancied itself, and even claims to exist within the same vein as Clueless, a film I caught up with last year to much elation.  While Emma is certainly a film that exists within the framework of satire, it is hardly on the same level as Amy Heckerling's masterpiece.  Of course, both are based off of the same Jane Austen novel, yet where Heckerling's film fully commits to the absurdity of the narrative, particularly its being situated within the madness of nineties valley speak, Douglas McGrath seems far too concerned with keeping some sort of artistic distance to truly do the narrative justice.  It appears that, despite all the clear mocking of gender divides and marital expectations which exist within the narrative, and to some degree the original text, Emma, the film, fails in its desire to necessarily exist within the romantic side of a romantic comedy.  This is all not to suggest that Emma is a terrible movie, this is far from the case, but simply adapting a novel of the same name, does not automatically place you on the same level as the magnificent satire that is Clueless.  I understand very much that this intends to be a period piece and desires to adhere to the stylistic limitations of the era, not to mention the social mores, but McGrath clearly takes liberties in making Emma, as a character, seem willfully ignorant and purposefully destructive of those around her, all in some blind ambition to prove that she excels at her rather arbitrarily chosen field of matchmaker, for which she holds mild success.  Nothing screams empowerment towards the female figure put on display and possessing of the narratives title and I am by no means suggesting that Jane Austen was the most ideal of feminist icons, yet, this film was made right on the coattails of Clueless, yet fails so desperately to find a fresh and realized voice in relation to its inspiration.  Tragically, Emma is a film that suffers the woe of attempting to cash in on the success of a previous film (think about all the terrible quirky films that emerged post Napoleon Dynamite) and the real shame lies in the fact that it could have been so much more.

Emma, as the title, and the clear reference to Jane Austen's novel suggests, centers on the life of Emma (Gwyneth Paltrow) a decidedly optimistic and assuredly aware young woman who fancies herself an expert matchmaker and knower of all things romantic.  Coming fresh off the success of a courtship she helped implement, she considers herself prepared to create another success story with the local town vicar Mr. Elton (Alan Cummings) and Harriet Smith (Toni Collette) a somewhat mousy, yet attractive woman with whom Emma is a good friend.  However, even with Emma's rather blatant direction, it is discovered that Harriet finds herself attracted to a town farmer named Robert Martin (Edward Woodall) to which Emma contests, thinking it is societal suicide on the part of Harriet.  Fully aware of her problematic meddling, Emma's family friend George Knightley (Jeremy Northam) attempts to dissuade her actions and when he realizes that Emma willfully ignores his suggests, notes that Mr. Elton has had his eyes on a woman from a family just outside of town, leaving Harriet to make a fool of herself in her attempts to attract the vicar.  Into the picture enters the young man named Frank Churchill (Ewan McGregor) much to the adoring eyes of Emma who becomes infatuated with his suave attitude and genteel charms, yet when Frank takes a liking to another woman, Emma's already crumbling assumptions of matchmaking worsen considerably.  Things become romantically intensified between Emma and George, realizing that they see each other more as platonic friends and after a respite on the part of George after a falling out between the two, Emma finds herself missing his presence considerably.  The two agree to marry, much to the initial rage of Harriet who eventually works things out with Mr. Martin and each couple is happily married by the films closing.

The film suffers from its confusion about whether it wants to exude modernity or embrace the traditions of the period in which it is set.  Of course, this is not entirely McGrath's fault as he had similar ideas to that of Clueless, but was simply late to the game, yet the execution of the film is problematic.  As it stands, Emma is decidedly a film about logical men navigating the spaces of ill-conceived plots on the part of desirous women, particularly Emma who seems to think herself of creating love in even the unlikeliest of places.  While she claims at multiple points to be concerned with notions logical behavior, her concerns seem far more tied to economic safety and advancement than anything that could be defined as logical.  In fact, she deals with situations illogically for the most part, avoiding contact and forcing men tied to religious devotions into the marriage pool.  The film seems, initially, to be doing so with some sense of irony which should allow viewers to distance themselves from Emma and critique her actions, yet when viewers are asked at points to empathize with her and feel bad for her situation, it comes to the forefront that she is intended to be a likeable protagonist, and a problematic one at that.  I hate to keep drawing comparisons to the better Clueless, but in that film Silverstone's character is detached from the situation and capable of commenting on all the terribleness existing within her life and interactions, where as Paltrow's Emma is as wide-eyed and ignorant about her involvement in her own oppression and terrible life choices as she is about her ability to create love.  Emma wants to be really hip and cool in what it is trying to say, unfortunately, it never achieves the success its predecessors filmically and textually managed to do so.

Key Scene:  I don't know, I guess the dancing is nice...

This is an outright pass for me, I cannot think of any legitimate reason why you should feel obliged to check it out yourself.

We Must Always Be On Guard For The Mischievous Lip Drift: Bernie (2012)

I can only describe Bernie as one very specific thing and I realize how obscure it sounds even as I elaborate, but to me, one could only define this absurdist masterpiece as a Louvin Brothers song that has been put to film in an homage to the mockumentary stylings of Christopher Guest, while clearly taking heavy influence from the underlying social tensions of American Psycho.  Seriously, that is exactly what I felt while watching this film, which technically came out in 2011, but has not seen wide release until the past year or so, making it a contender during awards season, as well as proving to be one of the most overlooked works of the last year, in a very literal sense, considering that people did not simply watch it and dismiss it, but actually completely avoided it all together.  I am fully aware that he film contains two of the most off-putting actors in Hollywood, in Jack Black and Matthew McConaughey, but both are doing some excellent work in this film, particularly Black who goes against his garrulous and bombastic traditional role, for something much more reserved, but equally grandiose in its spectacle.  It is great to see Richard Linklater back in the game providing viewers with some really great work, quite reminiscent of his early films, Slacker in particular, wherein a society is clearly in a state of crumbling disillusion but can only manage to deal with such issues by either condemning those around them or living vicariously through those doing far better than themselves.  It is clear from the onset that viewers are to take Bernie lightly, the title cards intercut throughout the film, along with the incorporation of interviews by the townspeople manage to undermine any sort of legitimate commentary on the nature of deception and psychological breakdown, but as Linklater reminds viewers, on more than one occasion throughout the film, as much as one may mock the characters within the film, at the end of the day they are truly based off of real individuals making the humor become far less laughable and incredibly real, much like The Informant!, but with an even higher degree of scathing social criticism, directed wholly at the "heart of America."

Bernie, centers on the title character, played by Jack Black, who is a flamboyant, but well loved assistant funeral director in the small Texas town of Carthege.  While everyone is rather certain on the homosexuality of Bernie they do seem intent on claiming him to be one of the most standup guys they have ever met, and find him to be a true gift to the elderly community, particularly the older women who welcome his hospitality in a time of great sadness.  Bernie, in fact, takes a particular liking to one of the older women in the community, Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine) who is initially dismissive to the awkward advances of Bernie, but comes around after a few visits, realizing that he is indeed the only nice person in the entire town, never mind that Marjorie made a reputation as an incredibly mean individual turning down those who requested loans at the bank she ran in place of her late husband.  Things boil over for Bernie, when, after quitting his job at the funeral home and becoming solely dependent on Marjorie, he realizes that she is only using him as a chauffeur, caretaker and general servant with little care for his happiness, going so far as to openly chastise him for spending too much time with his two hobbies: flying and musical theater.  During one day at Marjorie's house, Bernie becomes incapable of starring at the old woman over-chewing her food any longer and shots her with a hunting rifle and subsequently stuffing her in a meat freezer.  The town goes on assuming that Marjorie is simply suffering from a bad stroke, yet when Marjorie's stock broker expects fowl play on the part of Bernie he manages to obtain a search warrant, where in they discover her body.  At this point Danny Buck Davidson (Matthew McConaughey) a Texas district attorney enters the picture with hopes of prosecuting the murder, yet when he realizes that even after Bernie openly admits to the crime, the townspeople still believe him to be innocent, leading to Danny moving the trial to another county, a rare occurrence, especially since the notion of a "fair trial" would hinder Bernie.  Within his new trial Bernie is found guilty and sent to jail, where he continues to receive visits from the people of Carthege who presume him innocent.

This movie is a scathing film, although its lightheartedness and concern for the opinions of the common person would lead many a viewer to assume otherwise.  Linklater, however, manages to even trick viewers into believing Bernie to be an incredibly likable guy.  In constructing the narrative in such a way the film causes one to consider what effect community involvement and outreach play into the judgement of a character.  Sure Bernie is a great role model within the church and goes out of his way to spend money on those less fortunate than himself, but the narrative constantly sneaks in reminders that he is not an entirely functional person and certainly exploits others when the situation proves beneficial, whether it be the sale of coffins, or the use of an aging woman's money to engage in lavish world travels.  Bernie's dandy veneer is always to be questioned, yet Linklater's incorporation of praiseful words by the townspeople make that difficult to do, not to mention how likable Black makes Bernie seem, nonetheless, he is quite capable of murder and deceit and certainly has no problem using devious tactics throughout the film.  Secondly, the film questions the notion of a "good and wholesome" middle America, one where nothing bad can happen and when it does it is clearly the result of muckraking by outside forces, in this case the folks of Carthege believe Danny Buck Davidson to be using his political aspirations to destroy a stand-up guy like Bernie, and while this may have a degree of validity, it is clear that Danny really does realize how disillusioned everyone in the town has become in relation to the town hero.  It is no accident that it is only through creating a cultural/social difference between Bernie and the common folk in the trial that Danny is able to secure a guilty verdict, by a simple question of what wine pairs best with fish.  The townspeople point to this moment in the trial as an assured moment of his demise, it made him certifiably different and therefore capable of fault.  Linklater seems to suggest that as long as an individual can obtain insider status within the "heart of America" they can get away with anything...even murder.  However, one cannot forget that Linklater is merely adapting a very real story, one that causes me to consider my understanding of human nature far more than I imagined I would upon initially viewings this superb dark satire.

Key Scene:  I laughed the entire time Jack Black sang "Love Lifted Me" in his car, and proceeded to laugh through the rest of the film, but his opening moment is so ridiculous that it is hard not to become entirely occupied in the narrative unfolding.

Another gem watchable on Netflix, do yourself a favor and watch this film, I can only assume that you will want to pass it along as did I, because it is in need of as many fans as possible.

Right, I'm The Chosen One, And I Choose To Be Shopping: Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1992)

Leave it to me to not realize until a couple weeks ago that Buffy The Vampire Slayer originated as a campy, satirical teenage comedy, much in the same vein as Clueless, although considerably less scathing, and tragically without the ever welcome presence of Wallace Shawn.  Where the television series would leap into some more gothic elements and clearly embrace special effects and romantic involvements, this original manifestation of the cult character considered its relation to high school experiences, as well as a surprisingly realized emergence of one girls own feminist politics.  For a variety of reasons films like this seem to fall to the wayside, perhaps a direct reflection of their revolutionary style and commentary, or a fact of it simply not fitting with viewers palettes for the era.  One cannot deny that this clearly independent film emerged well before it was made cool by Quentin Tarantino to reference other films within a film and wink at the audience.  Clearly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer manages to do this, particularly with the cinematic means by which it considers the history of Vampires, as well as what I can only assume was a conscious choice to cast Paul Reubens and Rutger Hauer in the roles of the two lead vampires.  Joss Whedon's script shows signs of the evolving writer who would come to be associated with some of the most socially conscious scripts, as well as the ones which prove to completely deconstruct everything associated with a genre piece, something which occurred with a hefty amount of zeal in 2012's Cabin in the Woods.  To call Buffy the Vampire Slayer a high-school comedy is to incorrectly categorize it, yet one cannot simply refer to it as a vampire flick, because while the title clearly suggests such a film, within the narrative of Whedon it constantly reconsiders, undermines and eventually reappropriates everything viewers have come to understand about a genre.  I would even be so bold as to suggest that Whedon is very much picking up where Harold Ramis left off concerning socially situated satirical filmmaking and boy does it exude within the brief insanity of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The narrative of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, while not reflective of the television series, nonetheless, still focuses on a girl named Buffy (Kristy Swanson) who seems quite content to live the life of ditsy high school cheerleader, while batting off the secretly desired accosting by her male classmates.  Yet, when a  bizarre sickness begins spreading around her high school Buffy begins considering her own identity, particularly one tied to consumerist ideologies and a rather vain attachment to the performance of cheerleading, yet it is not until some of the members of her high school begin dying or going missing that she really begins considering thing more. A confrontation with Merrick (Donald Sutherland) a professional vampire hunter, who informs Buffy that she comes from a lineage of vampire slayers, causes her identity to completely change, although Buffy tries for quite a bit of time to avert this change and adhere to her traditional ideal.  Yet as the vampires begin taking on very violent forms, even attacking her at points, she agrees to training an action that leads to her eventual awakening into her own powerful person, one capable of kicking some serious vampire ass, while also not relying on the guidance and protection of a male figure.  Yet even her strong independence does not afford her the avoidance of falling in love, in fact, she begins taking a liking to an other-side-of-the-tracks guy named Pike (Luke Perry).  Buffy's job as a vampire slayer begins to unfold from simple back alley fights, to all-out brawls at her high school prom, ones that cause her to reconsider her previous friendships, as well as her burgeoning relationship with Pike, whom she decides to ride of into the sunset with at the end of the film, after of course she a icon of good destroys all the evil in the world of vampires, or at the very least drive stakes through them and leaving them suffering well after the credits begin.

The feminist label to this film is often attached hesitantly, not because it only passively adheres to some of these constructs, but because, as I genuinely believe, many critics are quite afraid to admit a schlocky satire work could be capable of such high levels of social commentary.  I would be willing to at least acknowledge this possibility were the writer anybody but Joss Whedon who constantly proves himself quite attune to social identity issues, hell, look at Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog, which exist primarily to undermine the writer's guild, but also manages to completely deconstruct masculinity in a post-feminist rhetoric.  However, when considering Buffy as a burgeoning feminist one must look at the way she moves from a vain cheerleader reliant on others for her identity to a ass-kicking vampire slayer.  One manner this occurs is through her wardrobe which begins with a attire that exposes her body in an exploitative way to a far more butch look, appropriate for her fight and moving about in self-protection, this is one instance in which her awakening as a feminist allows for her to change her identity not to please others, but instead to adhere to her own identity.  Secondly, her evolution into a vampire fighting master is reflective of her movement towards an individual who challenges oppressive forces, in which Rutger Hauer plays a magnificent metaphor for patriarchal oppression, considering he is an old, white and quite European male.  Buffy directly challenges the groundings of patriarchy eventually undermining it.  Even her relationship with Pike is one in which she clearly asserts control, particularly considering that she is always seen in a dominant place, aside from the films closing scene, although to read to heavily into the riding off into the sunset scene, would be to ignore everything leading up to the occurrence.  Sure they are leaving with Pike driving the vehicle, but one cannot forget that were it not for Buffy, Pike would be far from capable of operating any heavy machinery.

Key Scene:  The conversations between Buffy and Merrick could be totally forced, but under the guidance of Whedon's dialogue the flow naturally and prove some of the better moments in the film, if not, the entire prom section of the film is quite awesome.

A DVD is rather easily obtained and well worth owning, particularly if you fancy your films with a heavy amount of feminist empowerment.

Maybe If You Stopped Getting Drunk And Buying Stuff Off Craigslist: Entrance (2012)

I will openly admit that the first half an hour or so of this film had me really confused as to why the guys over at Battleship Pretension would even have the nerve to suggest this film, let alone fall out of their seats demanding that people go out of their way to watch it, of course I came around to their statement, especially for the back half of this movie which proves to satirically slap everything viewers have come to signify as low budget indie filmmaking.  Of course, Dallas Richard Hallam and Patrick Horvath's purposefully slow-paced horror film is by no means perfect and fails to properly deliver its premise in a timely manner, making a considerable amount of the film seems like superfluous, begging the question as to whether or not the last thirty minutes would not serve themselves better as a short film.  I am quite baffled by the clear disdain that has arisen towards this film, primarily from two parties, the indie film elites who find the horrific closing portions of the film unnecessarily gory, while on the other end horror fanatics who are incredibly dismissive of the lack of plot and terrible acting.  I wish to criticize both parties in their indictment, in so much as those who think the film is a travesty to indie film need to remember that most major success in the style often rely on a major absurdist event to bind the plot, where as horror films (at least the die hard ones) should never complain about inadequate acting and misguided plots, because they are a staple of the genre.  I will admit that the twist becomes rather predictable early on into viewing, yet no amount of assumption could prepare me for the very real intensity which happens when the film's bottom falls out and all hope of normalcy and reason disappear.  While Entrance has nothing on the absolute brilliance of Cabin in the Woods as a satire, it certainly manages to offer a new way to consider a filmmaking style as well as a genre, ultimately, making for a welcome and brief viewing experience far from the terrible film so many people seem insistent on reviewing.

In traditional indie film fashion Entrance begins by incessantly focusing on the most monotonous and irrelevant actions of a woman named Suziey (Suziey Block), a name I will admit is a bit excessive.  She seems content to drink heavily and work a few hours at her barista job, barely making enough to afford rent.  Her only point of happiness seems to exist with her close connection to her dog named Daryll, yet again not the greatest name choice ever.  Yet during a shower one night and overarching feeling of dread seems to consume Suziey and she hobs out of the shower to search her house, a quest that yields no results, but does little to avert her paranoia.  Seeking some sort of explanation for her disdain she resorts to a variety of actions, but when her dog goes missing she loses all sense of rationality and engages in some rather destructive behavior, some of which involves drunkenly sleeping with a man who attempts to leave unnoticed the next morning.  During one night of sleeping in a bed with her friend a light comes upon them off camera suggesting somebody is watching her, an act immediately followed by a photograph being taken.  While she cannot verify that any of these paranoid feelings are valid, Suziey, nonetheless, knows that she cannot stay in Los Angeles and plans to leave, but not without having one last party of drunken decadence.  During this party the lights go out and assuming it to be a circuit break, Suziey heads down to fix it, only to be attacked by a masked man upon successfully turning them back on.  After the unknown individual confesses his love for her he proceeds to kill the attendees of the party one by one, leaving only Suziey to share in his vision of unity.  In a disturbingly poetic last scene, the killer forces Suziey to look upon the L.A. nightscape with his arms around her, suggesting that her future, despite her misgivings, will invariably involve staying put.

The metaphor in this film is a beautiful thing, often in the works of indie filmmakers it is blatantly obvious and obnoxious, at least I felt this to be the case with something like The Pleasure of Being Robbed wherein the metaphor of robbing people was to reflect the main characters own inability to engage with society in a productive manner, yet her well-to-do appearance and unusual means to escape the malaise of her life just did not equate to a decent film.  Entrance instead uses the idea of being "killed" by your surroundings in a very literal manner to undermine the half-inspired diatribes of indie kids living in cites and situations which they think themselves always above.  The film completely displays that the monotony and "tragedy" of these hipster kids lives are actually not worth of being dead over, especially when they indeed die and plead for their well-being to magically return.  Of course, the film could have established this notion much earlier instead of making the paranoia be the main narrative focus for nearly an hour of the film, yet I cannot help but enjoy the means by which an intensity is built from the moment the shower scene occurs up until the final moments on the balcony.  If I were to produce any single critique about the metaphor it would easily be directed at the somewhat passive means by which the film deals with Suziey's apparent alcoholism, especially since in the death metaphor her own addiction proves the sole factor, aside, of course, from mass murder in keeping her stationary.  She could stop her path of destruction and move away when she pleases, but she is far to indifferent and attached to monotony to do so and a very real act of destruction forces her to accept that disconcerting fact.  Hell, Entrance really does some clever things with its cinematic output and it should really be reconsidered by the many parties who seem intent on dismissing if for single factors.

Key Scene:  The killer reveal is obvious in its timing, yet it is so intense that it still manages to be the best portion of the film, not to mention that it involves some rather impressive single shot takes.

This is a quick watch on Netflix and well worth spending an afternoon with, I am still somewhat on the fence about completely liking the film and would love to hear some more thoughts on its nature and execution.

You Kind Of Look Like Betty Crocker: The Stepford Wives (2004)

There are a handful of films that for some reason or another just end up with a bad wrap, I often argue that this is due to choosing and awful time to be released, or having an actor whose offscreen persona manages to be so distancing as to affect ticket sales or the reputation of the film, fortunately for this remake of The Stepford Wives it appears to be the aforementioned issue of timing, something that can be transcended as we look at the film nearly a decade later.  Having never seen the original, although I am quite interested based on the DVD cover alone, it is quite clear that the revamp of The Stepford Wives is not a perfect film, however, I do not believe that anyone was expecting it to be such a thing.  The satirical jabs set-up in the film are often to misdirected or on-the-nose to really become effective and the mixture of veteran actors and comedic performers causes a clear divide between film and viewer, making it hard to become wholly involved with Frank Oz's narrative.  Of course, as a out and out satire it is not fair to criticize these points too heavily, because within this particular cultural framework tradition and the rules of filmmaking are certainly allowed to be undermined, yet, while viewing the film one cannot help but feel that it is falling victim to over cutting of scenes and key plot points at the hands of producers.  It also cannot be ignored that this film was released in the wake of a post-9/11 hyper conservative American landscape that seemed to sop up anything spouted from the good ol'boy president in office.  Furthermore, The Stepford Wives does a rather intriguing thing with feminist theory that, to some degree, undermines some of the key figures and commentaries of second wave feminist rhetoric and could damn well be a third wave feminist masterpiece, in so much, as it confronts issues of intersectionality, in the very fact that the film ignores intersectional bodies, excluding two gay characters.  This movie is certainly above middle of the road quality and deserves reconsideration, if only for Christopher Walken probably being given the most appropriate role of his entire acting career.

The Stepford Wives begins with an awards ceremony for a major television network headed by Joanna Eberhart (Nicole Kidman) whose female-empowering television has become a means for her own iconic cultural place, yet when one of her shows causes a man to lose his wife, he exacts revenge by attempting to shoot her during the ceremony.  The insanity of this situation leads her to be released from the network, which also causes her husband Walter Kresby (Matthew Broderick) to step down from his position as vice-president and suggest they move to the suburbs.  Along with their two children the family moves to Stepford, the hyper-idyllic gated community in where the ideal image of woman is ripped right out of a 1950's home decor catalogue.  The gender divide is rather clearly established within Stepford, women are to be subservient to their husbands, while they shoot off to a large mansion to enjoy the masculine pleasures of life, most of which revolve around scotch and sports.  Realizing the absurdity of this lifestyle, Joanna befriends the Jewish anti-oppression writer Bobbie Markowitz (Bette Midler) and the outspoken gay male Roger (Roger Bart) who is attempting to meet at a middle ground with his gay republican partner by living in the suburbs.  The trio makes their own world within Stepford, all the while the community pretending not to notice, although their condemnation is rather obvious.  It is not until Roger disappears one night and becomes inexplicably altered into the ideal male political partner that Joanna becomes suspicious, a fear that is reaffirmed when Bobbie turns into a blonde housewife days later.  It is revealed that Mike (Christopher Walken) a former employee at Microsoft has discovered a technology that allows men to implant chips into their wives heads to make them submissive and able to reaffirm their place of power in a traditional hegemony.  Walter wrestles with whether or not to submit Joanna to this treatment, which leads to a climactic garden party in which all assumptions of submissiveness, power and whose hands are really in control of this idyllic community come into question.  Needless to say oppression is completely undermine and the power of the Stepford syndrome is eventually removed.

I mentioned that this film probably suffered from coming out at a terrible time.  The American landscape in 2004 certainly did not want to question anything, serious fears of another terrorist attack still gripped our nation and to question anything our government did in the name of our protection was tantamount to claiming to be a communist during the Cold War, as such the undermining of the ideal American image, no matter how illogical, was a death sentence during this time and, I would contest, that The Stepford Wives suffers from this mind frame.  Were it to have come out in the past five years, it would probably have been an entirely different story.  Another issue arises in that many people seem to dismiss this is a feminist friendly film, sure on a cinematic level it does not display anything but white , privileged bodies, however, I would contest that the ironic and undermining ways in which they do so is entirely intended to draw attention to issues of intersectionality.  Even the gay characters depicted are so overdramatized as to be a point of critique.  Furthermore, and spoilers ensue, another attack comes in that the main villain in this film is that of a woman seeking traditional values, many feminist thinkers would seemingly have a problem with this depiction, but it should not be ignored that many women do internalize traditional patriarchal values and heavily effect the ability of progress.  However, the character in this scenario specifically seems to be doing so because she was once a powerful woman who could not handle the stresses and strain of constant work and pressure.  It seems again on a passive glance to suggest latent femininity, however, it is wrong to read the film as such.  The women who desire the suburban housewife lifestyle of submissiveness are no less stressful and have very little to show for it, the classic cult of domesticity at work.  The woman who desires to have simplicity in making a family in the suburbs is blindly following the male patriarchal oppression because her stress has opened up a chance to internalize a false ideal.  Sure the film is a bit tenuous in how it depicts this idea, but I promise you it is in there somewhere.

Key Scene:  The introduction of Mike is a pretty funny scene and really sets up the illogical way in which Stepford presents itself for the remainder of the film.

This is an exceptionally cheap movie to purchase and while it is not great anyone who seriously enjoys discussing feminist theory or theories of oppression should own this movie as it provides for a great point of discussion.  This is also secretly a horror film, something people seem reticent to admit.

Well I See Split Ends Are Universal: Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)

I will start this off with a question I posed while watching this film, followed by a statement.  Is there an era where Jeff Goldblum does not look amazing? Probably not, and along with that thought I want to state that Earth Girls Are Easy might well be one of the most underrated comedies of the 1980's if not one of the most underrated films of the entire decade. With a healthy amount of influence from the New Wave movement of the 80's, a cast of actors who would be stars only years later and some of the best musical numbers, in terms of zaniness since Little Shop of Horrors, this has got to be one of the most misunderstood and overlooked films ever, certainly not deserved of the ungrounded 5.0/10 given to it on IMDB.  An argument could certainly be made that the films is dated, considering the costuming, cell frame animation and surfer dialogue spouted by most of the characters, but like my somewhat recent review of Clueless, I think a lot of the films magic comes in its rather exceptional satire.  Under the directorial eye of Julien Temple this film does not shy away from a visual metaphor and, indeed, embellishes ever moment to use a prop or sign to reinforce or undermine what is occurring on the screen.  Hell, some of the more intense scenes exude an almost Lynchian quality.  It is impossible to watch something like Earth Girls Are Easy without a wide smile and wider eyes, the character commit to the absurdity of what is going on, and even Jeff Goldblum's detached smugness manages to work beautifully within the musical.  With an equal number of SNL and In Living Color actors involved on this production the humor is rather obvious, however, it is no surprise that many of the laughs come from unexpected moments.  A film that uses both The B-52's and Depeche Mode in its soundtrack while also deconstructing notions of otherness, male sexual promiscuity and vanity cannot be easily shirked and it should not be as unloved as it stands to be at the moment.

The premise of Earth Girls Are Easy is as such, Valerie (Geena Davis) is rearing for what she hopes to be the inevitable marriage to her ideal husband the doctor Ted (Charles Rocket) despite their love live having gone to the dumps, made all the more problematic by his wandering eye.  Valerie's coworker Candy (Julie Brown) suggest that she undertake a makeover as a means to rekindle things with Ted, unfortunately, her act is a little too late as her attempts to surprise Ted, result in her catching him in an act of infidelity.  Meanwhile, in the expanses of outer space three aliens, in desperate hope of getting laid botch their controls and crash land on earth, in of all places Valerie's pool, only hours after a fight with Ted has led to his being kicked out.  The three aliens Zeebo (Damon Wayans), Wiploc (Jim Carrey) and Mac (Jeff Goldblum) emerge from the pool to a frightened and uncertain Valerie.  Yet after much misunderstanding and a realization that it will take at least a day for her pool to be drained in order for the spaceship to be removed, Valerie agrees to take the aliens in and hide them.  However, their colorful furry bodies will not pass as humans, and she recruits a befuddled Candy to help.  Upon cleaning them up to make them look more human, it is apparent that they are not bad looking, least of all Mac who Valerie takes a liking to instantly.  Obtaining a surprisingly substantial amount of information and language from one afternoons worth of language, the aliens fit nicely into the absurdity that was the West Coast in the 80's.  Yet, Ted returns into the picture when he realizes the error in his ways and while seeking forgiveness has a falling out with the aliens, leading to their eventual arrest and placement in a hospital.  Ted sees the aliens as the medical break through that will assure him success, while Valerie only possesses concern for their safety and after much back and forth she is able to return the trio to their ship, realizing that it is best for Valerie to stay with Ted, Mac uses his alien techniques to cause the couples hormones to run wild, yet it proves unsuccesful as Valerie now loves Mac.  Elated Mac invites her to join them as they return to their planet.

A couple of brilliant things are going on in this film, the first being the clear condemnation of the America under the hyper-conservative eyes of Reagan.  Ted represents an individual who wants all that wealth entails as well as an unbridled masculine privilege, particularly in regards to those who work under him, as opposed to Valerie who appears to want to exist in a state of self-expression and enjoyment as her employment at Curl-Up and Dye suggests.  The film contrast this image of hyper rigidity with an equally problematic free hippie liberalism via Woody (Michael McKean) whose demands that every one chill and be cool push a varied form of conformity.  Aside from the "otherness" of the aliens as a commentary all its own, perhaps suggestions of interracial love or at least communal unity, the intense observation skills of Mac, Wiploc and Zeebo display a commentary on the necessity for listening and learning, particularly for an assured unified society.  The aliens succeed in companionship because they, better than the humans in the film, pick up on cues in the world around them and in any instance that their actions may be seen as violent or aggressive, it is always the result of  ignorance or misunderstanding on the individual they are engaged with.  In fact, if any person in the film is incapable of evolution it is Ted with his philandering ways, a habit he shows no intent of altering.  Only Valerie is able to obtain the drive to learn from the aliens, something that comes to fruition when she leaves Ted to join Mac on a new planet.  This is a migration to the unknown on an intergalactic level, transcendent of the woes of late 80's America, yet all to keen in its inherent suggestive nature.

Key Scene:  Dat reveal of Jeff Goldblum!  You will know what I am talking about.  I was prior to this film gay for Brad Pitt, but I might add Mr. Goldblum to that list as well.

This fim needs a revival and I hope at least one person who reads this takes my reviews earnestness to heart.  Either purchase a copy or watch it on Netflix.  Who knows maybe this vibrant an cinematic film will get an HD upgrade if enough people show interest.

Jesus, America, Freedom: The Campaign (2012)

Hopefully, the handful of people who read this blog, were like myself and made sure to vote today.  As I attempt to balance writing this blog, taking care of some schoolwork and also keeping an eye on the poll numbers as they come in, I felt it best to choose a politically inclined film as the topic of todays blog.  Fortunately, I did not have to go about and dig up some classic political thriller or comedy as a means for this post, because the comedy star driven The Campaign was in the local cheap theater, providing me with the perfect subject for today's post.  I will admit that I expected a varied level of humor from this film, something both heavy in high brow humor, as well as a considerable amount of toilet humor and this assumption was certainly proven appropriate, as the film does take some liberties with crude jokes, yet always manages to turn these moments into astute social critiques that while not perfectly satirical do manage to pin the tail onto some of the bigger problems facing contemporary political rhetoric.  The thing I did not see coming from a film starring Ferrel and Galifianakis, was a movie that earnestly reflected on the state of voter power and big money spending in political campaigns, without engaging in a completely cynical approach to its subject matter.  The Campaign manages to raise some rather pertinent questions as people return from the 2012 elections, anything ranging from what one should value in a political candidate to what role media coverage and financial revenue should play in power moves.  The film also begs the question as to what value grass roots movements have in a political arena in which the moment an action or statement is taken out of context a person's political future is essentially ruined, in so much as it makes even the most well-polished and seasoned candidates victim to sly and corrupt actions on the part of divisive forces.  Fortunately, the film is positive in its closing moments, suggesting that with honesty and well directed efforts, a person can affect change within a society, or at the very least draw attention to the inabilities of a group in power.

The Campaign begins by introducing viewers to the illustrious if not a bit pompous Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) a North Carolina congressmen who has made a career out of simply being a politician, one who it is revealed rarely engages in any sort of political actions.  After a unfortunate misdialing, it becomes nationally known that Brady is a philanderer, causing his poll numbers to drop, despite running uncontested in his area.  Two business brothers with ties to Chinese worker exploitation Glenn (John Lithgow) and Wade Motch (Dan Akroyd) realize they have the power to dethrone the seemingly career congressman, by bringing in a dark horse candidate who they find in the eccentric and somewhat flamboyant Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis).  Despite his concerns about what it will do to his familial bonds, Huggins eventually agrees to taking up the race, almost solely as a means to please his father.  While it appears as though the race between Brady and Huggins will be somewhat civil, at a brunch Brady makes a vicious attack on Huggins connecting him to communist ties and socially unacceptable behavior, leading to the beginnings of a scathing campaign that includes everything from babies being punched to Brady going so far as to sleep with Huggins wife.  After a continual beating and prodding between the two individuals, it becomes clear that Huggins has a slight lead he is informed about the plans of the Motch Brothers in which he realizes that his hometown will be destroyed by corporate greed.  Adamantly refusing to help the plan, Huggins heavy handed aides back off and turn to helping Brady, ultimately, allowing him to win the race.  Yet in a moment of confrontation about the true nature of running for office, Huggins reminds Brady about what really matters when representing a group of people, something that causes Brady to step down and, ultimately, give Huggins the win.

Now I would in most every other situation go into a great deal of criticism and theory as it relates to a film like this and as much as I would enjoy doing so, as it is certainly full of possible points of discussion, I would rather contest something that has bothered me to no avail today as I glance through various social media outlets.  I love democratic activism and the notion that we as a people are able to elect our leaders, even if it seems as though our options are slim or not particularly the best, it is always pertinent to remember that in most of the world people are unable to vote for anything and are often stuck with not just subpar leaders, but ruthless dictators who physically harm and belittle their people.  I say al this to bemoan the onslaught of idiots who claimed that they were "too cool to vote" or I do not want to vote between "two losers," thus making a statement that it is better to lazily sit around and not do anything, instead of taking, in most cases ten minutes, to chose local and national leaders, who often have larger global political impacts.  I could care less if everyone who reads this votes in opposition to my personal political beliefs as long as they are engaging in choosing our leaders, as opposed to complaining about having nobody to vote for, only to turn around and complain about the state of politics for the four years after a leader is elected.  I mean it is thoroughly possible to write-in a candidate for basically everything on a ballot, which allows people to say that yes I voted, but did not vote for x, y or z leader.  I know this all is a bit of a diatribe, but it is serious folks, political indifference and celebrated ignorance are not things to reward.

Key Scene:  The "town hall" debate depicted in The Campaign is quite hilarious and somewhat pertinent in the wake of the debates of the past few weeks.

Go out and vote and then enjoy the warm feeling of civic duty by watching this enjoyable comedy in your local cheap theater.

Is This Like A Noxzema Commerical, Or What?: Clueless (1995)

Satire, at least filmically speaking, is somewhat a difficult thing to pull off, particularly if a director even cares about the validity and pertinence of said satire.  This is further problematized when an individual attempts to adapt a classic piece of literature in to a film satire, particularly when the film is centuries older than the novel from which it draws its inspiration.  Fortunately, in the hands of Amy Heckerling, a film like Clueless, despite its rather dated cultural references and definitely nineties look, is a pitch perfect satire.    From the opening use of "Kids In America," to the use of sped up camera shots to emphasize time lapse, Clueless captures the plummeting sense of morality and absurd degree of ennui that consumed the youth of mid-90's America, particularly those with an insurmountable amount of wealth and hardly any concern for the larger picture of the world in which they existed.   An easily quotable film, it is clear to see why Clueless has accrued a respectable degree of cult status over the years, and while I was uncertain about my girlfriend's initial insistence of watching the film managed to find myself coming around to its brilliance in a matter of moments.  This is also a film filled with what seems like an unending array of cameos, although considering the date of its release, perhaps the only actual cameo in the film is that of Wallace Shawn who was by then a well established actor.  Clueless, as a satire, manages to exist in a world of absurdism that has viewers both considering the implausibility of what is being portrayed, as well as the off chance that somewhere, somehow this is a tragically real existence, one that makes you want to bang your head against the wall for having acknowledged.  However, despite a somewhat roundabout plot, Clueless is quite excellent to view and manages to make, at least backhandedly, some statement about finding self-identity in a culturally vapid society, as well as the values of friendship with respectable and varied individuals...or it could just be a huge comedy, either route is fine by me.

Clueless centers on the less than troubling life of Cher (Alicia Silverstone), who along with her friend Dionne (Stacey Dash) roam the halls of their profusely wealthy high school exuding their clear popularity and somewhat less clear sense of fashion.  Cher struggles with her grades, as she attempts to navigate the waters of a home life which witnesses her taking care of her busy lawyer father Mel (Dan Hedeya) in replacement of her late mother, as well as forming a bond with her pseudo-stepbrother Josh (Paul Rudd).  Cher's life seems exceptionally lackadaisical, until the emergence of a new grunged out girl named Tai (Brittany Murphy) allows for a project in refashioning for her, and along with the help of Dionne the two make Tai into a thing of pride, despite her clear attachments to a grunge lifestyle and one of the schools skateboarder potheads Travis (Breckin Meyer).  Similarly, Cher find herself falling hard for a new student, and Luke Perry look-alike, named Christian (Justin Walker).  While Christian certainly appears to take a liking to Cher it is clear that Christian has no sexual desires towards her and would rather spend time watching Tony Curtis films and shopping.  Once it is brought to Cher's attention that Christian is clearly gay, the two rekindle a strict friendship, while she comes to grips with her own identity something that is further drawn into question when she notes Tai taking a particular interest in Josh.  Upset at first because she is so close with Josh, Cher eventually realizes that her attachment to her Dad's ex-wife's son is far more than just platonic and the two share a kiss of longing in the films closing moments, before they all attend a wedding for a pair of teachers they fixed up in the films opening scenes.  Did I mention the film is based off of Jane Austen's Emma, if not it should be considerably obvious...what with all the insta-romances and out of the blue weddings.

There is a clear criticism to be formulated as it relates to Clueless, however, it is entrenched in some sort of Marxist-philosophical-psychological level that I am simply not equipped to speak about at this time.  Instead, I want to conjecture as to why the film has managed to not only find success upon initial release, but why it has further lasted some seventeen years later.  First off, the film takes a very critical, look at the generation we have become considerably nostalgic about in times of economic woe.  Clueless manages to confront the issues of wealth and conspicuous consumption abrasively, without completely ridiculing the individuals in the film for enjoying success...or their parents success to be more precise.  Yet the youth in this film are not completely void of value, sure they spend heavily, recreationally use drugs and are profusely vain, but they too are existing in what was arguably a scary time in American history, considering the images of Bosnia and middle eastern conflict that filled the screen, something directly commented upon in the film.  Of course, it takes some degree of effort to get person's like Cher to acknowledge this tragedy and undertake organized efforts to confront the issues, but when she does so it proves rather successful.  Furthermore, it is not fair to blame the youth depicted in this film for their disconnect, because as Herckerling's film manages to show, with the exception of a few driven teachers, they are essentially barred via media, parental distractions and capitalist desires from accepting the tragedies invading the world.  Overall, this is what, I believe, manages to make Clueless a bit transcendent of its dated image and far more than simple satire.  Clueless manages to capture a real tragedy facing youth of the era, that has, to some degree only grown worse within the past decade.

Key Scene:  Aside from the various film homages, the best executed scene is perhaps when Cher takes her drivers test.

This movie is quite good and incredibly watchable and is, at the moment, available on Watch Instantly so as always there is no time like the present.

Damngoddit: Zazie Dans Le Metro (1960)

If one were to look at the collective works of Louis Malle it would be quite impossible to pinpoint a specific genre or thematic element between his works.  Sure some of the films deal with the issues of childhood loss of innocence, while others are clear studies of the dissipation of a flailing relationship.  However, each films within the directors oeuvre is so unique and fully realized that it is impossible to say with any certainty the directors ultimate concern as a filmmaker.  This is perhaps no more true than with his 1960 offering Zazie Dans Le Metro, which is about….well I am not exactly sure, but I know it involves an androgynous girl and her somewhat dandy of an Uncle’s traipse through Paris.  With that being said it is one of the most genius things I have seen on film in quite sometime and possibly my favorite viewing experience of the year, next only to my recent watching of Secret Sunshine.  Zazie Dans Le Metro is the textbook definition of a zany film and is clearly something that affected the work of directors like Terry Gilliam and Steven Soderbergh with its experimental composition and dialogical diversions.  Malle’s vision leaks off of the screen in Technicolor and is just as eye-popping as any 3D movie to date.  Quite simply, the movie is something to be viewed for explanations are only so helpful.

Zazie Dans Le Metro focuses on the experiences of Zazie (Catherine Demongeot) a wiley young girl who is unwillingly placed in the care of her “hesserosesual” Uncle Gabriel (Philippe Noiret) for a few days in Paris.  Desiring only to visit the city metro, Zazie is flabbergasted to discover that the railways have been shut down due to a strike amongst union members.  Enraged, Zazie acts out against the adults around her often calling them names and cursing in their presence, in some instances the adults ignore the young girl while in other moments they go out of their way to chastise her for breaking from social norms.  Disillusioned by the experience, Zazie is further baffled upon realizing that she is being pawned off on her Uncle Gabriel, simply because her mother desires to spend a torrid day with her lover, whom Zazie runs into multiple times throughout the film.  As such, Zazie begins to evade the watchful eye of her Uncle and wanders around Parisian locales that include stores, cafes and one of the most beautifully shot sequences of the Eiffel Tower in the history of cinema, hands down.  By the end of the film, Zazie has encountered a multitude of French citizens, each representing a problematic existence within the bustling metropolis that is Paris, and, instead of growing greatly from the experience, Zazie simply leaves still desiring to visit the metro.  

Malle’s film is about as satirical as a film can get, considering that the film uses irony, ridicule and about every other form of the comedic style to gets is point across.  No character within Zazie Dans Le Metro is treated in an optimistic manner, including the title character who is clearly a self-concerned brat that seeks her own needs above others throughout the film.  This is understandable though considering that Zazie’s mother too seeks her own carnal desires above the safety of her mother, something that is reinforced by their continual encounters with one another throughout the film, many of which find Zazie in dangerous situations whilst her mother ignores her for the sweet nothings of her rather sleazy lover.  Even Uncle Gabriel is chastised, considering that he is intended to be a gay character, Malle’s adapation plays up on all the stereotypes of homosexuals at the time only to have his actions overlooked by everyone in the narrative.  The film also steals from Tati with a heavy dose of slapstick to help make the characters that much more absurd to the viewer.  The greatest feat, however, is the cinematography which is incredibly varied and mesmerizing, because, despite being exceptionally well done, it manages to cast the characters in a ridiculous existence by causing the world around them to figuratively consume them.  This overpowering only adds to the satirical nature of the brilliant film.  Finally, like the best satire, Zazie Dans Le Metro has viewers laughing hysterically from beginning to end, despite making rather dark and disparaging comments about French society as it moved into the sixties.

Zazie Dans Le Metro is easily one of the best releases from Criterion in 2011 and is certainly worth picking up on bluray.

You May Say That I Ain't Free, But That Don't Worry Me: Nashville (1975)

Robert Altman was one of the most prophetic filmmakers of the second half of the twentieth century and continued to make respectable films until his passing in 2006.  Critics claim his 1975 work Nashville to be his masterpiece and the statements are more than justifiable.  In a film that weaves between a nonlinear experimental film and a astute political satire, Nashville becomes something tragically real yet absurdly impossible.  As a viewer I was uncertain whether to take the film as a blatant social criticism or a preemptive parody of the political thrillers that would soon follow Nashville, most notably the works of Oliver Stone.  This hybridity of narrative makes the film incredibly enjoyable and makes the lengthy viewing seem rather brief, given that dispersed focus of plots and constant flow of hilariously tragic characters that result.  Nashville is its own film, by an auteur whose main concern is creating a seemingly illogical film that still has a very cohesive underlying statement, one that is quite cynical, yet seems to be proving truer as American politics evolve into the 21st century.


Given the rather sporadic nature of the narrative, I am going to approach my discussion of the plot through the various vignettes within the film, as Nashville is more about the characters as they relate involuntarily relate to a political movement much larger than themselves.  Altman makes it very clear that the film is about the actors and their characters given that the films opening credits are done in the fashion of a concert commercial.  It is made clear that this is a film about actors playing characters, one that just happen to be tied to political ideologies, whether by their own decision or not.  The political party discussed directly in the film is that of the Replacement Party, which proposes bizarre changes to politics.  This party throughout the film is led by the unseen voice of Hal Phillip Walker, whose image is obviously so important that he cannot afford to be seen interacting with the rather remedial characters that exist in Nashville.  In fact, the only semblance of an individual from the Replacement Party comes through John Triplette (Michael Murphy) who is obviously using this job as a stepping stone to his own political future.  Triplette has been assigned to create a fundraising event involving prominent Nashville musicians and understands both the delicacy of the situation and the necessity of it being a very broad night of music.  His first acquisition for the event is the Haven Hamilton (Henry Gibson) a staunchly patriotic, sequin suit donning country star whose fading image is obvious to everyone but himself, particularly when he dismisses Opal (Geraldine Chaplin) the overzealous and misguided BBC reporter whom he believes to be sabotaging his recording session.  Opal simply desires to get a real image of Nashville, which in her mind is as faded as the garbage dumps she frequents.  Triplette also garners the help of a young musical folk trio that are constantly breaking up and reuniting without logic and seem rather lost as musicians in the god fearing and flag waving musical styling of the rest of the city.  The trio's most troubled member is Tom (Keith Carradine) whose womanizing tragically leads to his downfall, particularly as he takes advantage of a Linnea Reese (Lily Tomlin) a depressed housewife whose only joy appears to come from taking care of her two deaf children.  This depression also stems from her disconnect with her husband Delbert Reese (Ned Beatty), a real southern boy who is more concerned with advancing the image of his fading starlet Barbara Jean (Ronee Blakely) whose recent unexplained accident has left her mentally unstable and physically drained.  It is Barbara Jean, in fact, who proves the most important character in the film as she ultimately becomes the victim of an implied political assassination.  I have only mentioned a handful of characters, which fails to represent the entirety of the films twenty plus interacting major characters.  The characters all react to the assassination of Barbara Jean in various ways, however, each individuals actions are obviously for personal advancement and not a single one of the characters shows a genuine concern for the dying starlet.  It is terribly cynical but rather reflective of Robert Altman's worldview, particularly as it relates to politics.

Robert Altman's films posit a notion of futility as it relates to political movements and attempts to form grassroots revolutions.  He delivers this most effectively in his mini-series Tanner '88 which features Nashville star Michael Murphy playing democratic candidate Jack Tanner, a "for real' political candidate who is genuinely concerned with changing the corruption in American politics.  However, in the cynical cutthroat world of politics, Tanner is doomed from the start and is undermined not only by news media and other candidates, but by his own campaign team, who, like Murphy's character in Nashville, have their own ulterior motives.  In the end Tanner is left disillusioned about politics and realizes that people will only vote for the person they "like the most," which rarely has anything to do with politics.  Similarly, in Nashville, Altman creates a world in which politics are won by who you know, not what you know.  Hal Phillip Walker's image relies on his political ties, thus explaining Triplette's concern with accruing not only staunchly conservative characters like Hamilton, but allowing for their image to be mixed with someone like Elliot Gould, who makes a cameo in the film at a mixer for the Replacement Party.  This particular scene is brilliant because neither Hamilton nor Gould recognizes the other, yet they are at the same party, performing their believed duty to a political candidate.  It is precisely this act of performance, which Altman criticizes throughout the film, everything is done with imagery as an underlying concern.  For example, the films opening scenes involve Hamilton singing an obnoxiously patriotic song about the bicentennial celebration in the United States.  His performance is rather uninspired, yet he decides to criticize his hippy looking pianist for its terrible quality, as though the guys look will be reflected on the entirely audio.  Similarly, the Grand Ole Opery night shown is both riddled with ridiculous uses of advertising as well as a token performance by a black singer, which borders on minstrelsy, both to assure revenue for the dying musical venue as well as a new more politically acceptable image.  The brilliance in these images is that Altman is attaching them to the overarching issue of political actions claiming that they are nothing but a performance and those involved concern themselves with images and not ideas.  It may seem cynical, but it is proving rather pertinent in our previous political elections, and particularly so in our upcoming primaries as well.  The next time you watch a debate, keep this film in mind.

I am particularly fond of Robert Altman and this is right up there with The Long Goodbye and Tanner '88 as one of my favorite films by the director.  I cannot emphasize how necessary owning a copy of this film is, although I would also strongly encourage you to share it with your friends, as it is a brilliant and continually pertinent film.