[Film Review] - Winter's Bone

I've always been a big supporter of Hollywood films. They tend to get a bad reputation for being stupid, full of flash but no substance. I think it'd be hard to make a case against that claim, but that doesn't mean major Hollywood films aren't enjoyable. In fact, I have loved many major Hollywood films.

Having said this, I do think the Indie market is where films that have a chance to make a difference are being made - the kind of movie that moves you to something other than fantasizing about making out with Hollywood's latest beefcake. My love of a good Rom-Com aside, I do think that film should be used as a medium to tell a real story. Not necessarily to make a political or moral statement, but to help the audience to understand the story of someone else's life.

I recently watched Winter's Bone which won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance in January, and was released on DVD in late October. It is based on the novel of the same name. It is a beautiful, subtle, heartbreaking, heroic story of a 17 year-old Missouri girl named Ree Dolly who is the acting matriarch of her family. Her father - who got tangled up in meth cooking a long time ago - is gone and left Ree's two younger siblings and ill mother in Ree's care. When the sheriff arrives and tells Ree that her daddy used their house as bail, Ree seeks out her father to make ensure her family gets to keep their home; which is about the only thing they have in the world.

In a recent interview, Jennifer Lawrence (who you might recognize from TBS's The Bill Engvall Show) spoke about how it's hard for a young woman, particularly a blond, to find a role with any substance in movies. Jennifer Lawrence has surely made a name for herself with this role. She gives a riveting, silent performance. Ree is a modern day heroine, less a teenager and more a strong, independent woman who will do anything necessary to protect the people she loves.

Winter's Bone is absolutely a must-see movie. The performance's are stunning (particularly Jennifer Lawrence as Ree) and the score is haunting. There are few movies of this caliber our there today.

View the trailer:

[Ear Candy] Green River Ordinance - Best New Band in Years!

It doesn't get much better than this.

I got introduced to Green River Ordinance on Kris Allen's Summer 2010 tour. GRO was the opening act and they were amazing. I immediately got their album and fell in love. GRO just recently split with their label and released not one but two new EP's on their own. The first, Wait a Minute More, is a re-release of some of their older material (pre-major label). The second is The Morning Passengers, an entirely acoustic EP. It's pure heaven. "Dancing Shoes" (from above) is from TMP.

For a mere 6 dollars, run don't walk to the nearest computer and buy this EP on iTunes...and their full length album if you don't already own it!

Don't know if you'll like acoustic? Watch this video I took at the Kris Allen/GRO concert in Minneapolis earlier this summer. The lead singer hushed us all and played totally acoustically. We were all mesmerized.

[Ear Candy] What I'm Listening To - August 2010

The Rescues - Break Me Out

A 45-mile daily commute is a good excuse to listen to music. The other day I just set my radio to scan through available stations and after a few searches, I heard a station playing this song. It usually takes me at least five listens to a song to like it, but I liked this song immediately. It's so bouncy and catchy!

Break me out tonight/I wanna see the sun rising anywhere but here
Come with me/Oh, this could be/The only chance we get/We gotta take it

Maroon 5 - Misery

Maroon 5's latest single - Misery - also falls into the bouncy and fun category. Quite antithetical to it's lyrics, Misery's melodic line is pop-y with a great hook -- exactly what I love about Maroon 5's music. I've heard some criticism in regard to this song being nothing more than stereotypical Maroon 5, but why fix something that works? A new song to groove to in the car is always appreciated.

I am in misery/There ain't no other/Who can comfort me
Why won't you answer me/Your silence is slowly killing me

Doves - There Goes the Fear 

Hall & Oates - You Make My Dreams

The first time I saw 500 Days of Summer, I didn't like it. After seeing Inception twice, I decided that my love for Joseph Gordon Levitt was great enough to warrant a second chance. I'm really glad I did because not only is the movie excellent, it is full of great music! 

I heard Hall & Oates - You Make My Dreams come true on the radio and I couldn't suppress the image of JGL doing that happy dance through the park after he "gets" the girl. I love how music can do that; how it can be so linked to a memory or an important moment in life.

Wisconsin Film Festival Day 3 & 4

Panique Au Village [A Town Called Panic] (2009)

On day three, I had the distinct privilege of seeing one of the single most ridiculous and amazing films I have seen in a long time. Panique Au Village is a Belgian film based on a failed children's television series by the same name.

Imagine what it would be like if adults started playing with toys again. That's what this film is. Totally surreal and totally over-the-top, it is a huge improvement upon a series that took itself far too seriously.

The plot centers around Cowboy and Indian realizing it is Horse's birthday. They decide to build him a barbecue pit. But a mix-up with the number of bricks they order online causes unforeseen catastrophe. It's all in French and the dialogue is spoken quite quickly and in funny voices. It's truly difficult to explain how amazing this film is to someone who hasn't seen it. Anthropomorphic horses who fall in love, massive bouts of cow throwing, and mysterious creatures that live in the pond are just some of the things that add to the hilarity of this film. Seriously. You will be laughing all the way through. If you get a chance to see this, do. I am eagerly awaiting the DVD release.

Passenger Side (2009)

Adam Scott (who you may have seen as the not-so-amazing boyfriend in Leap Year) leads the cast of this film, as Michael, an unsuccessful author who is a total luddite. He drives an ancient - though classic - car, listens to tapes in his tape deck and uses pay phones. Passenger Side is primarily a road trip movie. When Michael's ex-druggie brother, Tobey, asks him to drive him around LA, Michael reluctantly agrees.

Through the course of the film, Michael realizes he's not actually living his life. While his brother, who he considers a total loser, is. It takes seeing all of LA and a cast of interesting characters for Michael to realize that he can't just write about life. He has to live it. When it's finally revealed that Tobey has taken him on a search for the girl of his dreams, we find that Michael's lack of living actually loses him a girl, while Tobey gains the same one.

Passenger Side is a wry and witty, but often serious look at two brothers who don't exactly have their lives together but in completely different ways. It's a decent road trip film with some great performances by it's lead actors. Adam Scott has great comedic timing and I see a bright future for him. As Tobey, Joel Bissonette reminds me of Geoff from the TV show Ace of Cakes; entirely laid back and rarely worked up about anything. His performance is subtle, but extremely on point.

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Overall, I enjoyed the festival very much. Madison is a great town and a great place to host a low-key but profound selection of films. I would go again. Definitely. Now it's back to the real world. I'm unfortunately not on island time anymore.

Wisconsin Film Festival: Day 1 & 2

I made it. I took a bus to a cab to a train to a bus. My day began at 5:47am and I finally arrived in Madison at 11:50pm on Wednesday. Not the most ideal day of traveling, but I did get to ride on the Amtrak Empire Builder and see Chicago.

Day 1:
On official day 1 of the festival, I met up with Ali Selim and we talked over some extraordinary tea at this very authentic little tea joint on State Street. He asked about how things were going with Far Away and I told him. We also talked a bit about what I'd like to do in the future. Then he told me all about the totally awesome things he is working on. He's going to be super famous VERY soon. I just know it.

After having a very pleasant time with Ali, I went to see my first movie.

The Happiest Girl in the World (Cea Mai Fericita Fata Din Lume) [2009]

The Happiest Girl is a Romanian film about a young girl who wins a car by sending in juice labels. We meet the girl and her family as they are on their way to shoot the promotional spot that is a requirement of receiving the car. We find out pretty quickly how ironic the title is. She is not at all happy because her parents want her to sell the car so they can invest the money in rental housing. As any teenage would, she wants to keep the car.

Most of the rest of the film is cut between arguments with her parents and her filming the promotional spot. The executives of the juice company cannot figure out why she isn't being happy enough in the commercial, but the audience knows. Take after take she tries to pretend to be happy. It's a quirky film and not as depressing as it might sound. It definitely had some light humorous moments to break up the angst. At one point, the juice executives decide that the juice doesn't look orange enough, so they mix Coke in with it - which I can only imagine tasted repulsive to the poor girl who had to drink it again and again.

While The Happiest Girl in the world didn't have much lasting meaning, it was certainly a cute little romp.

Day 2:
Collateral (Featuring Manohla Dargis) [2004]
A major Hollywood blockbuster from six years ago isn't necessarily something you'd expect to see at a film festival. Festivals are notoriously full of snooty art house film lovers. If it ain't subtitled, it ain't worth it.

I am not one of those people. Certainly not every film that comes out of Hollywood is of a high intellectual caliber, but that doesn't mean a film can't be enjoyable. And - among the chaff - you do tend to find a few good solid films with meaning and merit. I went to this showing because NY Times Film Critic Manohla Dargis was scheduled to intro it and give a talk. I went to plenty of action movies with my dad growing up, but they are rarely something I pursue on my own. Especially one with Tom Cruise. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The writing was solid and witty. Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise gave extremely believable performances and the film itself was a haunting tour of LA. As Manohla pointed out before the screening, the sounds of the city are very prevalent and I found myself just waiting for the next sounds at times, rather than paying attention to the action. The point is, there is something to be learned from almost any movie, even if it is devoid of indie cred.

Manohla Dargis spoke before and after about Michael Mann's film. I didn't get to stay for as much of it as I would have liked (see the next paragraph), but she's not exactly cut out to be a public speaker. Like many of us writers, she's slightly awkward at public speaking. It was rather cute, but also slightly annoying. But, she had some interesting insights into the film that I hadn't picked up on.

I also had tickets to a set of four or five shorts at the Monoa Terrace, but I got lost on my way there (from Collateral), and by the time I'd righted myself to the correct direction, it was too late to make the showing. It wasn't that big of a loss.