Gates of Heaven (1978)

Errol Morris’s documentary about one failed and one successful pet cemetery is extremely well thought of in some critical circles. This is not a flashy documentary, while the subject matter may seem gimmicky the movie is really about the people, proprietors, employees, former owners of the interred, and even neighbors of the subject facilities. Morris spends a lot time just showing you his interviews of these people, talking heads with very limited use of other visuals (yet the film has a stylistic rhythm you catch onto after awhile). Notice the sequence were he intercuts between interviews of the three members of the Harberts family, and it takes a while before you realize that their all talking about their respective dreams, and how different, and kind of desperate those dreams are. A little slow, especially at first, but intriguing on the whole. Grade: A-

Fallen Agnel (1945)

Fallen Angel (1945)

Largely small town film noir not overly impressive plot wise, but possesses some good acting with Charles Bickford and Alice Faye (in what would be her last film for 17 years) offering this pictures most intriguing characterizations. Grade: B-

2012 (2009)

Watching 2012 was like being a pig rolling around in Roland Emmrich excrement, you know its crap but it feels so good. Actually this is probably the directors best film since Independence Day ,though I think the only two of his movies I’ve seen since then are Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow, so maybe that’s not saying much. Emmrich likes to blow stuff up, and it looks neat, plus his ability to craft the sort of characters that work in disaster films is probably the best this side of the 1970's. It’s a crowd pleaser that makes up in scope for what is lacks in depth. I kind of wanted to dislike this film, but I’m having a hard time doing that because I really enjoy it, though I’m under no illusions, art it ain’t but as spectacle, the most satisfying disaster film in some time. Grade: B-.

Portrait of a "60% Perfect Man": Billy Wilder (1980)

Documentary (really more of an extended interview) of Director Billy Wilder by film critic Michel Ciment. I found this one a lot more enjoyable then the similar Billy Wilder Speaks filmed during the 1990's. In this earlier film Wilder is more vibrant, he’s younger (in his mid 70's at the time), still working (his last film, Buddy, Buddy would be released this same year), you see him walk around, gesture wildly, his wit in full form. Wilder was an excellent story teller, both on screen and in person, and his personality one that makes him just a joy to watch being himself. I already knew most of the information in this film, but it felt like spending time with the man which is what made it so enjoyable. Grade: B. Title is a reference to the classic closing line from Wilder’s 1959 film Some Like It Hot: “Nobody’s Perfect”.

Broken Blossoms (1919)

Now considered a classic of silent cinema, this film pushed many envelopes for its time in its deprecations of child abuse and inter-racial love. The story concerns an immigrant Chinese shop keeper (Richard Barthelmess), who takes in an abused 15 year old (Lillian Gish) in then contemporary London. The film has a maturity and subtlety you don’t always associate with American silent cinema, particularly this early in the art forms history. Knowing what I know about its director D.W. Griffith, and his Victorianism and Confederate sympathy in politics, I was surprised by the handling of a number of elements in the film. Take Bartholomew’s affections for Gish, I think its strongly implied that he’s sexually attracted to her, but despite his disillusionment and opium addiction, the character still posses a very strict moral code and is unable to act on his baser desires. This is set up well in the short prolog to the film, where we see that Bartholomew’s character was a very committed Buddhist back in China, and in fact left that country for Europe in the hopes of being something of a ‘missionary’ to the ‘savage Anglo-Saxons’, a delightful inversion of period expectations, and one that I’d be very curious to know what Griffith meant to convey by. Grade: B+.

Virginia Davis (1918-2009)

Disney’s little known first star. I actually had a conversation with her once four years ago, she was a very animated grandmotherly sort, seemed to keep her youthful enthusiasm her whole life.

Lou Jacobi (1913-2009)

Some actors only need one role to be memorable, and he was so funny as Moustache in Irma La Douce (1963), that that alone warrants him mention here.

Henry Gibson (1935-2009)

Like Jacobi, Gibson had a long and successful career as a character actor, but when the folks at Boston Legal brought him on as Judge Clark Brown, did they know what a treasure they had, I think so.

Lou Albano (1933-2009)

Super Mario himself.

Ertuğrul Osman (1912-2009)

The last claimant to the throne of the Ottoman Empire.

Irving Kristol (1920-2009)

One of the least known but mostly politically influential Americans of the 20th century, his son continues the family’s neo-conservative tradition but isn’t as impressive.

William Safire (1929-2009)

Journalist, political figure, “libertarian conservative”.

The Informant! (2009)

This is a film that really exceeded my expectations. There’s a lot going on here, there’s of course the quirky style, and Damon’s great performance, along with a whose who of under used character actors, but there’s also a surprisingly intricate tapestry running beneath everything that I didn’t fully start to piece together until after I left the theater (though I can’t say to much about that with out spoiling it). Suffice it to say this film didn’t take me where I expected to go, and while I felt a little trepidation at first, I now embrace it. One of the most enjoyable part of the film are Matt Damon’s little internal monologues as Mark Whitacre. Here is a guy in the middle of some high stress, intense stuff, price fixing, working as a mole for the FBI, yet like most of us he often spends his time thinking about stupid stuff, like where he should go to get his ties, an idea for a television show, and South American butterflies, these moments are often hilarious. One of my favorite films of the year so far. Grade: A-.

Manufacturing Dissent (2007)

Another film about Michael Moore, though this one feels more journalistic then most. Moore still comes off badly, or at least as complicated, which he assuredly is. I think when we learn more about his past, especially around the time of Roger & Me, we see that he had always been an egoist, practically incapable of admitting when he was wrong (I don’t ever think I’ve heard him say he was wrong), and someone who clearly doesn’t think it wrong to manipulate the truth when he thinks he’s right (which again appears to be basically all the time). I don’t hate Michael Moore, I still kind of like him, but I think he’s a man more motivated by an unhealthy psychology then by principle or anything else. Grade: B-

Films title is a play on the Noam Chomsky documentary Manufacturing Consent.

Mad Men:Season 2 (2008)

What can I say, the show gets even better, even deeper. Grade: A. My favorite episode from the season: Three Sundays.