SNOW ANGELS

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David Gordon Green's most recent film is snow angels and I had got the chance to see this beautiful, yet depressing film at the Downer during it's brief run. I knew little of Gordon Green's work before this film, the other film I saw prior of his was All the Real Girls and I thought it was a really great film. I would say Green's films are very much in the nature of an independent film for two reasons, his subtle and patient stylistic choices, and the choice in content for his films. One way in which I would describe the style of the film is poetic, all of the shots were patient, beautiful, and lingered long enough for the actions of the film to soak into you. The way the shots are lit and colored are very delicate, they are colorful and rich, but always have a bit of a gray undertone, not making them too polished. The way the film is shot lends itself to the content of the film, which hits you like a sledgehammer towards the end of the film and truly shows this films independent status. The film drifts along through parallel stories, and I use the word drift because the story seems to not utilize the traditional arch of a Hollywood film, the film takes it's time. One story is a married couple how are on a separation from one another, but still have a very young daughter that binds them. The other story is of a young High School boy who's parents split up and who starts a budding, yet awkward romance with the new girl in school. The two stories take place in the same nameless town and the characters are intertwined for various reasons. You get a sense of the parallel stories being a reflection of the same relationship, the younger boy and girl, the crush, the first kiss; and the older couple, the fights, alcoholism, a child that binds, an affair, and heartache. So, in many ways this story examines two spectrum's of human romantic relationships. But the content of the film pushes the older couples relationship to an extreme. The female in this relationship is the one that primarily takes of the daughter and the male father is recovering from being unemployed and an alcoholic. The dad is starting to try harder, to be clean, to be a better father, the mother is still not trusting of him, but seems to be on the brink of another chance. But the story takes a sharp u-turn and you see how non-Hollywood of a film Snow Angels is. SPOILER ALERT, this film does not have a happy ending, and if you are planning on seeing the film I wouldn't read further, but if it doesn't matter, here we go. The mother gets a mild cold and one day finds herself sleeping all afternoon, waking up in early evening with her daughter nowhere to be found. The town gets everyone together to the find the daughter, and this is where the parallel stories met at extreme, the high school boy, who you've been following along side the older couples story throughout the film, stumbles across the little girl in a frozen river bank. This pushes the father and mother to the brink. The mother spirals into a depression and refuses to see the father, the father questions everything he knows and believes and torments the mother for killing his daughter. In the end, the father realizes there is only one thing he can do; he gets his shotgun and breaks into the mothers house, waits for her to get home, marches her out in her bare feet to the spot where the daughter was found dead and shoots her in the back of the head and not to far after he kills himself. The ending hits you like a ton of bricks as a viewer. It is an independent film like this that pushes the human actions in a film so far that is forces them to think about what the hell just happened, sure it gets you depressed, but it makes you contemplative, in a very independent film manner, it makes you think. Snow Angels was a beautiful and tragic film which I would recommend to anyone who can bear it.

-Cory Gorman

Leon The Professional

For my last lived experience blog I chose to do another movie review. The movie I chose to review was Leon The Professional. This movie starts out with Leon, who you find out is actually a contract killer or “cleaner” as he puts it, moving through a complex taking out various bodyguards to get to his target to threaten him. The movie then takes a different turn when a little girl’s family gets murdered and she (Mathilda) waits outside Leon’s apartment hoping for him to let him in, when finally she does. She then lives with him till she can get enough money to move out. When she realizes that Leon is a contract killer, she then wants him to then teach her how to kill for a living so she can get back at the men who killed her family. Mathilda then teaches Leon a few things like that he can love and doesn’t just have to be a cold hearted contract killer. There’s another twist when the men who killed her family, who turn out to be crooked cops, capture Mathilda. I’m not sure how exactly I heard about this movie in the first place, one night a few buddies of mine and I were bored and decided to go out and rent a movie, Leon the professional looked like it would be a good movie, turns out it is. While I was thinking of what to write about I remembered this movie and wanted to see if it was independently made, sure enough its more of a European independent film but its been converted over to America. The movie is shot in kind of a grainy film, which gives a low grungy feel to the movie which goes along with the lifestyle that Leon has chosen. There are a lot of close up shots of Leon looking through his peephole in the door and also of him just sitting around for a while, which gives a look at his mundane day to day life. Pretty much all of the camera work is done close up as to give a more hands on feel which is what the world of professional contract killing is all about. When he’s teaching Mathilda about his trade, he explains that the knife is the last weapon you use, and that’s when you’re a professional. Overall I enjoyed the movie a lot because I’m into those kind of films but I recommend it to anyone who likes the kind of suspenseful stealth type movies.
-Dustin Fletcher

The Savages

I recently rented the Independent film "The Savages". It stars Academy Award winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Academy Award nominee Laura Linney. This film did not get a lot of media attention. I only saw one or two commercials\trailers, and that was promoting the film on DVD. Even though  it did not get a lo of attention, it did get a lot of attention  at the Academy Awards. Where it was nominated for Best Actress and Best original Screenplay. It also go a lot of attention from multiple film festivals. It won top ten movies of 2007 from both the American film Institute and the National Board of of Review. It also won Best Actor and Best Screenplay fro the Independent Spirit Awards. 

Overall I really enjoyed this film. Obviously the acting was amazing. he acting was very important to the film because of the dark humor and the serious plot. Like most Independent films it is very important to listen and pay attention to the dialogue. It was not as important to pay attention to what they were actually doing. And there was not of action to be seen. The film had a very invisible style, like a lot of Hollywood films. Although there were some artistic filming choices, for example,  whenever they are pushing there father in the wheel chair they camera usually showed them from the side and follows them very quickly.

A I said before, this film has a serious plot and dark humor. The story is of two siblings, a brother and sister, who discover that there father has dementia and is dying. But this story is also about forgiveness and dealing with estranged family members. It was very encouraging to watch the adult children forgive there father and take care of him. Because he was a bad parent and really damaged his children during their childhood. It was also encouraging to watch then become closer as a family and as siblings. 

I would recommend this film to people who enjoy a dialogue filled film with thick humor. As a warning, the film was depressing at times and difficult to watch. So do not watch it is you want to feel warm and fuzzy. 

Redbelt

Redbelt opened on May 6, 2008 on six screens nation wide, grossing a mere $65,000, far from its budget of $10,000,000. Written and directed by the famous playwright David Mamet, he explores the challenges Mike Terry faces as he tries to uphold the true standards of the jiu-jitsu morals in the modern world, where everyone seems to be against him from his wife to business associates. Slow but surprising Mamet has gotten the technique of creating emotion through the juxtaposition of images. Although you may know what is going to happen and it feels like it will be corny, the small twist and untold obvious facts make it a genuine presentation. Most of the plot is delivered to you in the form of action or the way the actors look and talk to each other not through boring direct dialogue. Like if you where filming a brewers game and Fielder hit a game wining homerun then the camera cut to a fan yelling “Fielder his a homer, we won! We Won!” Instead we see the home run then there is a wide shot of the whole stadium erupting in joy. Mamet lets the image speak for itself. The only flaw is that when the actors do speak it is through a monotone voice that contradicts all of the non-verbal scenes that happened before it.
Redbelt is a fight for the underdog, an argument against the studio, commercialization, and the strive to be rich. We are given a man that has the highest standards of morals that have hardly been tested before. Now they are tested to the limit, he must uphold his morals when everyone around fights for him to cross over to the dark side. Just before he steps his foot across the line he pulls back and fights for what is right, the truth. In the end he is rewarded with the highest honor he could personally ever wish for. If we stick to our gut feelings, what is morally right, and is the truth the path we lead will only take you to a life without regret. A motto that is at the heart of the independent cinema. If the studio where to make this film they would hypocrites. A moral that might actually benefit the lives of the every day people could only be made by a independent. Plus, the only known actor in the film plays a drunk, lying, cheating, stealing movie star. Yeah.

Jonathan Lenoch

For my second lived experience blog post, I decided to watch the independent film, The Ten. The Ten was directed by David Wain, who also directed Wet Hot American Summer. The film was released in 2007 and was made for a budget of $3.75 million. The Ten has many familiar faces in it. Such faces are: Jessica Alba, Paul Rudd, Wynona Ryder, Famke Janssen, Adam Brody, and Liev Schreiber. The Ten tells ten mini stories that have to do with the ten commandments of the bible. Let’s have a little refresher course on the Ten Commandments. 1. I am the lord your god 2. You shall have no other gods before me 3.you shall not make wrongful use of the name of your god 4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy 5. Honor your father and mother 6. You shall not murder 7. You shall not commit adultery 8. You shall not steal 9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor 10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. Story one is the story of a guy who jumps out of an airplane without a parachute and becomes a celebrity idol. He becomes arrogant, and refers himself to a god. His fiancé leaves him for a TV anchor. (Thou shall worship no god before me). The second story is the story of a librarian who has a sexual awakening in Mexico with the real Jesus. Later she marries a coworker and is reminded of her affair when she prays (thou shall not take the lord’s name in vain). Next, there is a doctor who kills a patient by leaving a pair of scissors inside her as a “goof” he is sentenced to life in prison (thou shall not kill). A white mother hires an Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonator and tells her two black kids that he is their father, it is later revealed that Arsenio Hall is their father (honor thy mother and father). A police detective sees that his neighbor has bought a CAT scan machine, so he buys one; they each keep buying machines until they hit the bottom and they go for a drink. While they are gone a bus full of nuked kids need the CAT scan machines, but they are gone and they all die (thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s goods). The fiancé, after marrying the TV anchor, falls in love with a ventriloquist’s puppet, and runs off with it (thou shall not steal). The ventriloquist is told by a homeless man about a fake rhinoceros who was a liar, but learns that a band of wiener dogs plan on infecting others with an STD. he warns everyone but no one believes him (thou shall not bear false witness). A prisoner desires a fellow inmate’s wife to be his (thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife). The husband from story two skips church to get naked with his friends and hang out (remember the Sabbath and keep it holy). The presenter of the stories has a constant struggle between choosing his wife and his younger mistress (thou shall not commit adultery). Overall The Ten was very enjoyable. The many different actors were great to watch as this smart stretch on something so old and well known as the Ten Commandments was told. I would recommend this story to anyone who wants a few laughs.

By David Michels

Mean Creek

For my second live blog post, I want to talk about the movie Mean Creek. It is directed by Jacob Aaron Estes and was made in 2004. It all begins in a small Oregon town, when shy Sam (Rory Culkin) confesses to his protective older brother Rocky that he is getting pummeled daily by the towering school bully, George. Together, they plan the perfect payback, inviting George on a birthday river trip tailor-made to end in the bully's humiliation. Rocky's pals Clyde and Marty and Sam's budding girlfriend Millie also join the journey, which starts almost immediately with misgivings. Seeing George in a new light, as a lonely kid desperate for friendship and attention, Sam wants to call the whole thing off. But the boat and the plot are already in motion, and no one can foresee the surprises and accidents that are to come.

This is a great independent film with a superb, but unknown cast. It won numerous awards on the film festival circuit including Independent Spirits Award for best director and best ensemble cast, and also best director debut award at the Stockholm Film Festival. It was independently produced by Whitewater Films.

This film gets under you because it starts off light and some what humorous. There is a bully issue, but like all bullies they are just lonely and want some real friends. The older brother knowing this because he is somewhat of a bully, tell his younger brother to invite him on a rafting trip and act like his friend. As the film moves along the bully realizes that no one actually likes him and so he starts to cut down everyone, especially Marty the older brother. He has a crazy father that is in a mental hospital, and the bully starts ripping on him. I don't want to say what happens last, but it puts the young kids into a situation that either they can run from or grow up and except the consequences. The ending is intense and brilliant, and not Hollywood material at all.

Bryan Pechacek

Will There Be Blood?

Oh, yes. There will be, Eli. There Will Be Blood is centered around the Upton Sinclair novel titled Oil! This film, recently nominated for the Academy Awards Best Picture honor, is another from the independent monster that dominated Hollywood this year. Daniel Day-Lewis plays Daniel Plainview, a miner who accidentally strikes oil when blasting in his mine. He becomes a successful prospector of sorts and dominates the west coast oil market. However, like the making of this film, he does so independently of big companies. He trusts no one and is only willing to make his son and brother partners in his business. I do not want to elaborate on what becomes of that, because if you have not seen this movie it would be completely spoiled. But Daniel struggles his entire life, trusting almost no one, and any trust he gives is usually on certain conditions. A story about the terror of greed and self-centeredness, this film is a must-see. Of course, everyone knows that being an independent film does not necessarily mean it will be a great film that all should view. There Will Be Blood definitely is. The film was produced by Paramount Vantage as well as Miramax. With these two companies behind it, the film definitely got the financial backing necessary to make a believable and complex set of oil rigs and old West towns. However, by being produced independently the film was able to deal with more complex issues that are challenging to the viewer. It deals with selfish ambition, betrayal and hatred. It deals with manipulation and greed. It relies very heavily on character development as the audience begins to see Daniel shift from a smart ambitious man into a complete profit-driven monster. The pastor of the local “church” is extremely controversial, mimicking the development of faith-healers and charismatic manipulation of unwitting people. The film could never deal with these topics and extremely flawed characters if produced within Hollywood. The film makes great use of landscapes and open areas, very much reminding me of the cinematography in No Country For Old Men. And Daniel Day-Lewis is astounding. He absolutely carries his role with dignity and power. His passion for his role was obvious and is usually obvious in most of his characters. He picks and chooses his parts, rarely taking two roles in one year. He focuses his energy on one role, and does it superbly. If you have not taken the time to see this film, see it. If you have not taken the time to watch Daniel Day-Lewis in many of his roles, watch them. Buy them, they are worth it. And There Will Be Blood is absolutely no exception.