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Annette Kellerman Appraises ALEXANDER THE LAST!!!
Hello there. It's Annette Kellerman back again with yet another short review from SXSW 2009. Though I am still a bit weary from rocking out at the Metallica show at Stubb's last night (it was SO GREAT!), I am still trying to stay on track with at least one review a day...
ALEXANDER THE LAST
As the king of the "mumblecore", Joe Swanberg has been at the forefront of this low-budget, loosely scripted film movement. Unfortunately, aside from Swanberg's numerous projects I've found most of his followers work to be pretentious, uninteresting, hipster drivel. In contrast, Swanberg shows enormous talent in pulling great performances from his actors- even his sometimes non actors. In ALEXANDER THE LAST once again he displays this talent. Not that this is his only talent, mind you. The director also manages to pair a visual tone with the performances he extracts that contributes to the intimacy, intensity, or silliness of the situation he is capturing.
The film revolves around Alex, and actress who is happily married to a frequently touring musician. When she lands a particularly juicy role opposite and actor with whom she obviously shares some chemistry offstage, Alex begins to question her own temptations and desires.
Though Swanberg's usual bells and whistles are all there, and the overall look of the film, I think, is superior to any of his previous work, I just found the film a bit boring. There are some silly moments between Alex and her sister as well as a good dose of T and A throughout, but these were the only moments that really grabbed my attention, and a few cute or sordid moments hardly make up for the blahness of the rest of the story.
The one redeeming factor that kept me watching, however, is the beautiful and fantastic Jess Weixler. Weixler first wowed me with her honest and ballsy performance in Teeth- a film that would have drowned in campiness were it not for Weixler's buoyant and perfectly nuanced performance. Again, in ALEXANDER THE LAST, she provides the sole vestige of greatness in a sea of blah. I look forward to her future work with eager anticipation.
So, in conclusion, ALEXANDER THE LAST isn't a terrible effort from one of my usual faves, Joe Swanberg, its just the least memorable. On a cooler note, this film is at the forefront of Video on Demand distribution. While it had its premiere here at SXSW, the film is also available on VOD through the Independent Film Channel, so if you want to check it out, you can do so today. While I am thrilled that Swanberg is leading another sort of film making and distribution revolution, I'm afraid I just wish it could've been with one of his earlier efforts.
I'll be checking in again soon with my final reports from the festival.
Annette Kellerman
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He's probably the true king of mumblecore, actually. And I met him. Interesting fella.
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I'm really not the biggest fan of mumblecore, but it has its strengths to be sure. Wouldn't mind checking out Baghead. And the reason I said Bujalski's the true king is I think he directed the first true mumblecore movie, Funny Ha Ha.
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Wonder how long I can keep this going.
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Oh yeah!
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Of this talkback. Boo yah, bitches. God I'm such a loser.
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Is someone tracking down and killing all the AICN talkbackers? Holy shit, I'm fucked!
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Come on! Who will defeat me?
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I always wondered what that name means, actually. Used to remind me of Amarcord, not sure why exactly...
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I'm running out of stuff to say though. But it's getting exciting.
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Slowest day for AICN talkbackers...maybe ever? Or are Saturday afternoons always like this?
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Let's start the mumblecore conversation! I'm actually interested to see what you guys have to say about this. Have we ever had a mumblecore talkback? I can't remember right now...but probably.
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But...I can't...too addictive...Must have longest train of uninterrupted posts ever...
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I've been the only one talk-backing. On this page, at any rate. Well gosh darn it, it's been fun.
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Should I say anything more about mumblecore? Is anyone listening? Hey-oh!
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There was some AICN talkbacker party, wasn't there? Why the hell didn't I get an invitation?
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LORD OF THE TALKBACK!
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a "heavily trafficked talkback", now is it? CACHE THIS, MUTHAFUCKA!
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just sitting back and watching me go at it? Not wanting to break the immense amounts (exaggeration there, but only slightly) of fun I'm having?
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be talkbacking on this page?
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...Guess I'm The Man Who Wasn't There...
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...and now back to your coen_fan program already in progress.
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I've had my fun. It's been real.
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oh shit, wrong TB. sorry... carry on, coen_fan.
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"...but now I'm back!"
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was it the "suprise" one in texas? i missed them up here in seattle...at least their awesome again... load, reload, and st anger are now distant memories!!!
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Mar 21, 2009 3:52:27 PM CDT
even in a lame movie terry crews stands out
by supercowbell4therequestformorecowbell
white chicks and the longest yard? hes easily has the funniest parts.
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Mar 21, 2009 3:53:09 PM CDT
ok the terry crews ones are in the wrong talkback
by supercowbell4therequestformorecowbell
meant it for the expandables
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thats like going to a seafood restaurant and ordering a burger
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Seriously, teeth might just be the dumbest attempt at feminism I've ever seen. She just wanders around Rapetown, USA getting raped and then, mid-rape, bites off dudes' penises with her vagina. It's as if Andrea Dworkin got drunk and made a superhero with no agency. The moral: all men are rapists, and the only way that women can fight back is if they have teeth in their vaginas.
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http://tinyurl.com/c43jlb
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The film revolves around Alex, 'and' actress?' It should be 'an', just like it should be 'an' on the line below too. I guess the job of editor is dead now.
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...that came up with this one?
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Is it the new "grind house" or "torture porn"? This site needs a fucking dictionary.
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...women cheating on men. "Oh, I'm in a loving relationship, but, there's this other cute guy who I want to fuck ...Gawd, we women sure do have to go through a lot!"
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is Annette.....gay? and anything that's called "mumblecore" certainly doesn't sound interesting to me
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Fucking hysterical actually, that summary should be on the back of the dvd to that horrible fucking movie. I remember it getting some love on this site and I have no idea why.
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I wish AICN wasn't so slow today
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Ain't My Cock Hard News
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who cares about this movie? I sure don't
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AMAD, I reaaaaaaally wish Quint was continuing that article
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I have only seen one Swanberg film: "Nights and Weekends", and while it had it's moments it was barely watchable.
The camera work was appauling, compensating for limited depth of field from HDV by zooming in ridiculously close, even when scenes call for far longer shots. Worse though, was the script, which was improvised, and felt like a high school drama workshop because of it. That said, it did have the most erotic and realistic sex scene I've seen on film, but the whole fiml seemed like an excuse for Swanberg to fuck his co-star.
I hope Alexander The Last is better. The fact that, according to IMDB, Swanberg isn't acting AND directing is something of a relief, but if Annette Kellerman, who actually claims to enjoy Swanberg's output thinks it's not as good as his previous output then it doesn't hold out much hope. -
I love how everyone who is critical on this site loves to use words that are too big for thei9r vocabularies to criticize flicks...but I have to agree. Teeth was literally an anti-penis flick. To make everyman into a rapist was lazy and I felt nothing for the girl at the end when she decided to fuck that dirty old man to teach him a lesson. Guess what girls, fucking a guy simply to bite off his dick is still fucking and makes you a whore. God, how I miss 80s flicks.
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I'd so fuck that girl in Teeth. Yes, I am that lonely.
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I know I made a mistake in my post. Thei9r instead of their. God, I have OCD.
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Look, you agree with me, and you call yourself "Literarywanderer," so I'm not sure what you're trying to say here, or why you're trying to say it. Or what word I used that was too big for my vocabulary.
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You know what would have been great? Some backstory on this Swanberg character I guarantee you the majority of AICN readers have never heard of.
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Swanberg needs to stay at the film school of Hot Topic.
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I absolutely hated that shit, it was like an episode of Gilmore Girls on overload. Everyone loves to praise this writing as if it's crisp and unique, but I absolutely think it is lame generation Y bullshit that hasn't settled yet so not everyone can smell the stink. No on in their right mind talks like this, and to incorporate situational comedy is even more of an insult. This shit is not "cute" or intelligent, it is mindless drivel of quasi-intellectuals who think cutesy wording is the end all and be all of cinema. Let this trend die in hellfire. I CANNOT stand hipsters.
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who could never banter like the fast-talking dames of classical Hollywood (or say, characters in an Oscar Wilde play, or a Heinlein novel), I agree.
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MUMBLECORE!IT'S HARDCORE PORN WITH MORE MUMBLING!
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Mar 22, 2009 8:33:31 AM CDT
Yeah, hipsters are pretty bad. Most of them are not bright, eit
by dr sauch
LIke, to watch Juno, you'd think that they all talk like that, but most of them are retarded drunks.
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And boring?
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You're fucking creepy.
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I like the so called mumblecore films. Especially Swanberg's. First, they are polar opposites of Juno. Juno has very polished quick "clever" banter for dialogue. These films are very slow. Have a lot of ums and ahs.
They aren't GREAT movies. They are just good little introspective movies. Made for only 1000 bucks or so. What I like about them is that they do not follow the hipster cliches of reaching for big subjects or discussing pretentious art topics. They are just people doing everyday little things.
If that sounds boring to you , I don't blame you. It can be. But I like them.
What I mean to say is. There is no reason to resent these films, don't watch em if you don't like em.
Kissing on the Mouth is great. For a movie made with only 4 actors for 1000 bucks on home video cam. It really works.
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I think its perfectly fine for people to resent films like this if they are "boring", and yet for some reason see success (that of course these resenters don't feel is deserved).
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"a genre of low-budget movie using nonprofessionals to depict mundane postcollege or early adult existence." Shudder.
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It's like reading a 10th grade essay in English II. It has an introduction, body, and then a conclusion that wraps it all up nicely. The only problem is that it reads like an 10th grader's essay in English II! Why is this shit being allowed on AICN? I could crap out a better review than this. I do not know who Annette Kellerman is, and I do not want to know. I expect something more professional from AICN. I don't want to read some fucking amateur's movie reviews. At least Script-Girl has a pair of big tits to look at.
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www.nothing-but-everything.com
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So does some other celebrities,Hilton,sheen,Macdonna...are dating online too,but i am not sure which site they are using...
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