A Monkey Movie Report

Sometimes a film comes along that reaffirms your love of movies. For me, this film is one of those films: I usually find films about a city to be self indulgent pieces of crap to be avoided at all costs. I could care less how much Woody Allen wants to fuck NYC or how Paris makes pasty British film directors jizz in their jeans. But when I saw that Michel Gondry was attached to this film I knew I had to at least give this movie a fair shake.

I was not disappointed.

Gondry's portion is in my opinion the high point of the movie but the other directors portions are definitely worth seeing. The film opens with Gondry's tale of a young woman who feels like she's in the way and on her way to becoming part of the scenery. So she does what any other woman in her position would do, she turns herself into a chair when other humans are around and she ends up in the apartment of a young male who takes good care of her. It's a trippy tale that's very entertaining.

I wasn't familiar with the work of Leos Carax and after seeing his story about a feral almost subhuman man who lives in the Tokyo sewer system and who comes out only to terrorize Japanese people because he hates them because in his mind they are too clean and too ugly I may have to search out other films he's directed. This one is a strange tale with an odd ending.

And finally Bong's improbable tale of two hardcore agoraphobics is a sweetly touching and fitting end to this movie about odd people in Tokyo.

I recommend this film highly.

Monkey Movie Round Up

Here's some quick reviews of the films and one TV series on DVD that I've seen recently.

This was the darkest Harry Potter film yet, as it should be since the book it is based on is very dark. It's also one of the best yet. These films keep getting better and better in my opinion and it's because the kids are getting older and they are growing into their roles. Yes, the books are a bit different and things get left out or glossed over in the films, but that's to be expected because they want to make a two hour movie, not a two day movie.

****

Stand out performances in this one are given by Imelda Staunton, Evanna Lynch, and the guy who plays Lucius Malfoy. The principals also turn in good performances as usual.

****

I can't wait for the next one. And maybe I'll get around to reading the last book in the series sometime soon.

Oy my god, I fecking loved this film.

****

I loved the books and I was worried about the film until I saw that Ms. Satrapi was the co-director. She and her co-director took her two books and they pruned out some of the stuff that wasn't really germane to the story as a whole and they left more than enough to keep you interested in this fascinating tale of one women's journey to freedom.

****

For those of you who don't know Persepolis is the story of a young girl, Marjane Satrapi, who got out of Iran during the Islamic revolution, lived in Europe for awhile, went back, and then got out again. Ms. Satrapi's story is a universal one of teenage angst and rebellion. It's also a touching story of how she made her way in a world that tried to crush her and turn her into something alien.

****

This film is important because it shows that the people of Iran are not the Islam crazed fundamentalist terrorists the Bush controlled media wants us to think they are. This film shows that people in Iran are just like us, they work hard, they love and want what's bets for their family, and a good many of them hate the idiots who are running their country, just like many of us do. It does a hell of a good job to show that Iranians are human, just like we are.

****

I can't recommend this film highly enough. It's beautifully drawn and animated. See it, you won't be disappointed.

Michel Gondry is the most inventive film maker out there today. His Be Kind Rewind is not as "out there" as The Science of Sleep was but it's a better film because it's not.

****

This film is a light comedy with a message and that message is that friendship and community are far more important and lasting than any corporation. When Jack Black, in a subdued performance, well subdued for him anyway, erases all the videotapes in Danny Glover's video store, he and his best pal Mos Def, who gives yet another great cinematic performance, remake all the movies in shorter "Sweded" versions. Their remakes are a hit and everyone in the neighborhood lines up to rent and be in them. Of course as soon as the corporations find out they aren't making money off the films they shut the whole thing down, but then something great happens. The community has become awakened and it decides to keep making movies, not remakes of Hollywood pap, instead they make honest to goodness original movies.

****

This was Black's best role in years and it was because he was reigned in. He's at his best when his manic energy is curbed and it's used for good and not evil. Mos Def just keeps getting better and better. The rest of the cast was fine as well.

****

I highly recommend this movie.

They kept piling it on Mary Louise Parker's character this season and she kept finding ways to get out of it. I can't be objective about this show anymore, I love it too much to be objective.

If you have never seen it, go back and watch the first two seasons and then watch this one. It's the show I always dreamed someone would make while I was getting stoned all those years ago.