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Capone's Art-House Round-Up with Soderbergh's THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE, OUTRAGE, and Egoyan's ADORATION!!!
Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here, with quite an array of choices that are hopefully making their way into your local specialty theater. If you don't have a decent art house near you, my advice is to move as soon as possible. This is too important a problem to ignore a moment longer. Let's get to it…
THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE
I've come to realize over the last few years that Steven Soderbergh is my favorite American director working today. He may not be the best one working today, but he's my favorite. The guy can deliver a commercially viable and highly successful film at one point during the year, and then turn around and make two or three films that he has to know will not make a dime. I wouldn't never go so far as to call him brave, but he is fearless (there is a big difference in my eyes). I don't always like his films, but I'll be damned if I'm not really happy that there is somebody out there making them, taking risks, experimenting, and more often than not creating works that mesmerize the eyes and captivate the brain. Perhaps more telling, I have yet to revisit one of his films and found it dated or less compelling--quite the opposite, in fact. I stumbled upon his remake of SOLARIS on cable the other day and couldn't tear my eyes from it. I was something of a fan of the film after my first viewing years ago, but seeing it again a couple weeks back, I recognized its strengths with far more clarity, even as a fan of Tarkovsky's original.
Soderbergh is also a machine, which doesn't make him a better filmmaker, but it does make it fun to see what this man who seems committed to not repeating himself (OCEAN'S 11, 12, and 13 aside) has in store for us next. In one year, he put out the two-part CHE epic, continues editing his Spalding Gray documentary (which he expects will hit the fall festival circuit this year, with a 2010 release date to follow), has scheduled an October release for the Matt Damon-starring THE INFORMANT, and is prepping his Cleopatra rock musical (called CLEO) and a new film with Brad Pit (MONEYBALL), both set for 2011 release. And then there's his low-budget latest work, THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE, which was pulled together in a fashion similar to his excellent, sneaks-up-on-you 2005 work BUBBLE. Far less linear than that story of a small-town Ohio murder and more a snapshot of a woman's life and a time in very recent history, GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE follows the life of a high-priced call girl in Manhattan, played by the captivating adult film actress Sasha Grey.
Now, everything I know about Ms. Grey I've found out about her since seeing her strangely disconnected performance in this film. A recent profile in Rolling Stone filled in all the details, and it's almost impossible for me to synch up the woman in this movie to the career as a no holds (or holes) barred porn star. But I'm going to focus on what I've seen, which is a genuinely haunting performance by an actress I'd like to see make a clothed career for herself. She is occasionally naked in this film, although never performing a sex act, but the unexpected (on my part) result is watching an unclothed woman who looks so comfortable and natural (no implants on Sasha) naked that you feel like you're viewing a private moment in someone's home. The title of the film refers to a type of role Grey's Chelsea plays for some of her clients. Rather than simply sleep with them for an hour, they pay for her to play the role of a girlfriend--the go to dinner, converse on any and every subject, and head to a hotel room to complete an entire evening of intimate activities that go way beyond just sex.
We get bits and pieces of Chelsea's professional work and her disintegrating personal life with her loving boyfriend (Chris Santos). These slices of Chelsea's world are given to us out of order, in a seemingly random pattern. But Soderbergh has ordered these scenes in such a way that Chelsea is revealed to us just at the right pace and the right measure, hitting beat after beat. A single statement from her might tell us all we need to know about her upbringing, her state of mind, her true feelings on love or sex. One sequence that Soderbergh keeps coming back to shows Chelsea being interviewed by a reporter, and it is revealed that there might be much she'll do sexually but certain things that are far too intimate to discuss in the light of day. Another sequence shows her meeting with an influential blogger who reviews and ranks call girls, who seems to care less about collecting comments on Chelsea and more about sampling the goods himself.
We also see her strikingly handsome, personal trainer boyfriend in the company of some Wall Street types attempting to take a quick trip to Vegas. He doesn't know these guys, but they want to bring him along because he's good looking, and they think he'll attract women to their roving band of Vince Vaughn wannabes. His relationship with Chelsea is clearly in trouble, as she meets a man she believes might be the real deal and more than just another wealthy client.
For the first half hour or so, I was trying to get my bearings and trying to figure out who was who and what came before and after what. But it became clear early on that most of that doesn't matter. Soderbergh and screenwriters Brian Koppelman and David Levien (OCEAN'S 13, THE ILLUSIONIST, ROUNDERS) aren't trying to tell a story. They're more interested in creating a rich and meaningful profile of a woman who appears confident and self-assuring in nearly every situation, while hiding and protecting her deep desires to find someone to be a positive influence in her life. She's certainly not a hooker with a heart of gold; her somewhat cruel treatment of her boyfriend after she meets this new man is proof of that. But that doesn't stop us from rooting for her and caring about where her life goes after the movie is over. THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE is not simply a film about the life of a call girl. I'm a big fan of Showtime's "Secret Diary of a Call Girl," which covers every juicy detail about just such a character. Chelsea's story is about what happens between appointments, in that far less certain landscape she calls a life. A part of me hopes I never see Grey in a porno, because I'm guessing my illusion about her possibilities as an actress will be lessened. But what she puts forth in this film is outstanding stuff, and Soderbergh handles the material in a way that never feels seedy or gratuitous. Sometimes a buttload of T&A is a great move, but here it would have felt so out of place. Can't wait to see how Soderbergh dazzles me in a few months with something new.
OUTRAGE
It's nearly impossible to discuss the latest and angriest film by director Kirby Dick (SICK, TWIST OF FAITH, THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED) without it turning into a discussion of the methods and intensions of those profiled. You may have heard OUTRAGE is a film that exposes in-the-closet politicians and other policy makers (most of whom are Republicans); that is incorrect. In fact, OUTRAGE profiles the men and women who run blogs and publications that do the outing, and justify it by saying that they only target those people who consistently vote against gay-rights issues while leading the lifestyle in private. Anyone they see as holding back the cause (whether the cause is same-sex marriage, health care/research, hate crime legislation, etc.) is thoroughly investigated (they hold themselves to the same standards as the New York Times in terms of checking sources), given a chance to out themselves before the news is released, and then outed in a very public manner.
If you weren't aware that some of these politicians were said to be gay, I guess this news would be new to you. But the film goes beyond simply naming names. It exposes how the media will rip a politician a new asshole (a la John Edwards) for having a straight affair, but largely ignores the often-blatant activities of closeting lawmakers, many of whom are married with children. Special attention is paid to Jim McGreevey, who is interviewed extensively here, and Congressman Barney Frank, both of whom came out on their own. But it feels strange and voyeuristic to hear details about Idaho Senator Larry Craig or former New York Mayor Ed Koch or current Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who has long been said to be living the gay life despite also being accused of being a womanizer.
More aggravating is hearing about closeted members of the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations who steered the gay agenda away from forward-thinking policy. Dick really allows his subjects to tear into Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of the former vice president, who was very much involved in the gay rights movement until her father became a candidate. Her hypocrisy is legendary and appalling. But I'm not really reviewing the movie, am I? Dick's fury is palpable, and it's kind of intriguing to see a film that has such a clear viewpoint. Is this a form of propaganda? You bet, and most of those who go to see this film will be members of the choir anyway. But that doesn't make it any less compelling. Not much time is devoted to issues of right to privacy, which seem completely and totally violated by the practices on display in this film, but perhaps this behavior can be looked upon as a preemptive attack, which apparently America is OK with in certain circumstances. The gay community is feeling threatened, and it's fighting back. No matter who your opinion on any of the issues discussed in OUTRAGE, I don't see how can leave the theater after seeing it feeling anything but, well, OUTRAGE mixed with a great deal of enlightenment. It may not be ethical, but it's damn entertaining, and isn't that what's important? (It's spelled S-a-r-c-a-s-m, folks!)
ADORATION
And while I'm on a roll namedropping directors I like a great deal, let's talk about Atom Egoyan's latest, which I think is his comment on post-9/11 paranoia. But like most films from the Canadian master (THE SWEET HEREAFTER, CALENDAR, EXOTICA, FELICIA'S JOURNEY), there is never just one theme. He weaves into his story of high school student Simon (Devon Bostick), who invents a biography for his late father that casts him as a terrorist who was willing to sacrifice his pregnant wife by sneaking a bomb aboard a plane she was flying in. The idea to write this story and submit it to the internet for peer review (shown in a series of webcasts) comes from an assignment from the boy's French teacher (Egoyan regular/wife Arsinee Khanjian) who has the class translate a story similar to the one Simon comes up with about his dad. Simon's parents actually are dead, so he lives with his troubled uncle (Scott Speedman) who is unaware of both this fiction his nephew has created and the strange connection the teacher has with Simon.
Egoyan almost can't help but create a pallet onto which we project what we think are his subtle meanings and messages. And while I felt that the acting in the film is across-the-board solid, the deeper meaning is a bit fuzzy. Everyone in this film is damaged in multiple ways, some in much more interesting ways than others. But there are some exchanges and moments of silence where I'm pretty sure the writer-director wants us to contemplate what has just happened. As he often does, Egoyan mixes up his timelines; but thanks to Simon's story, he also tosses in sequences that never actually happened, simply to give us visuals to go along with the boy's written fiction. I don't think I was ever confused by what I was watching--Egoyan is simply to skilled a storyteller to allow that to happen--but who I did find perplexing is what he hoped the audience is going to take away from the experience of watching ADORATION. I didn't particularly like any of the characters, which isn't a prerequisite for me recommending a movie, but I could have at least used a viable entry point into this story. The film carries with it Egoyan's usual lovely and atmospheric cinematography (courtesy of Paul Sarossy), but that wasn't quite enough for me to fully enjoy the experience of watching this disjointed, confused film. It was a close call for me, but more often than not I found myself wondering why I should care about these characters than I did actually enjoying their company.
-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com
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Is playing at the Sydney International Film Festival, and I was tossing up whether to go see it. The CHUD review swayed me against it, but Capone's just brought me back to the other side. Shit.
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anyone ever go there?
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May 22, 2009 9:25:35 AM CDT
"He may not be the best one working today, but he's my favorite.
by windowlicker74
so in your opinion he is the best one working today, ok? christ all these geeks with there different end-of-the-year lists, favourite movies, best movies, personal best movies SIGH!! your favorite director is the BEST director in your humble opinion. glad we got that out of the way.
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their
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To put things in AICN parlance: I like some of Michael Bay's films. But I would never call them good films. Liking that Soderbergh is so willing to make his own way, experiment with the medium of film and constantly make interesting films doesn't mean that he's the best director going around. I'd say 'best' is a much more objective title than 'favourite'.
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in a porno. She'd want it that way and she's just as talented at that side of her life.
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why can't it work the other way round? I'm looking at you Anne Hathaway.
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don't even pretend like you aren't...in a moment of weakness you will and we all have those moments if we are healthy guys.
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you are absolutely right...appreciation of art is ultimately 100% subjective and your "favorite" director is by definition the "best" director unless you are confused...as Capone is here.
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Nothing like seeking equality under the gov't when they were born free and equal. Does anybody listen to those of us that want gov't to have nothing to do w/ marriage? God forbid we want to keep some privacy in our lives.
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I just can't get myself excited for any film he does nowadays. I hear about a new project from him and all I can muster is "meh". Sad really. You think I could appreciate him, but now I just find myself ... bored with him.
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cant even do PORN ACTING let alone mainstream! she's fucking awful! she gets lots of work and acclaim because shes super gorgeous and she'll do anything toa anyone in her completely phoney desensitised fashion. that's all. this film sounds boring as hell.
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Considering marriage is in fact a legal relationship first and foremost, "the government" has a lot to do with it. Determining health, welfare and property rights is a legal issue. Seems to me that "the gay agenda" is to just seek equal rights for people living in what amounts to the same type of relationship as straight couples.
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To be treated like human beings.
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This is a movie starring a porn star chick..let's stay on topic.
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May 22, 2009 1:53:59 PM CDT
I think the gay agenda was realized in the last Twighlight threa
by azultool
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There 2 movies that are going to change the world this year, Bruno and Avatar. Bruno will make anybody who is doesn't agree with ass fucking among men an outcast, and Avatar will fuck people's eyeballs out.
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that gay people are actually people, herc-death, thanks for clearing that up. Now that I understand that I will change my mind about words and their definitions.
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Not to rag on you Capone, but that is a huge pet peeve of mine when someone describes a filmmaker or artist that way.
Fearless is willing to charge a machine gun nest all by yourself or rush into a burning building; Brave is being a black dude in the 1950's in the South and daring to set at the whites only section to force change in the country.
Making a movie isn't at the same level. Maybe making a pro-Jewish movie in Nazi Germany would make someone use those descriptions, but I don't think there is much personal risk making a movie about johns who hire prostitutes for the GFE. -
I saw it OnDemand on TV. I wasn't impressed beyond the sleek filmmaking. The previous poster put it perfectly. Yeah, Sasha Grey is gorgeous and she can pretend to be more interesting than she is. But that doesn't make her a good actress. And if I wanted to watch as smug screed against capitalism by someone making art with other people's money, I'd watch "There Will Be Blood" again which at least has some interesting ideas.
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May 22, 2009 4:46:46 PM CDT
40s and 50s they knew how to make smug screeds against a capital
by continentalop
Back then, at least those guys against capitalism were actual commies, socialist or die-hard liberals with strong anti-capital credentials. Now, I like capitalism, hate communism, but fuck if those old timers didn't know how to really make a good "The capital system is corrupt and evil" films. Especially the noirs.
Force of Evil, Brute Force, The Prowler, Night and the City - those were all damn good "capitalism is evil" movies, and the funny thing is those commies seemed less preachy than the guys making those type of films today. -
It's about what happens when capital becomes the guiding star for all transactions, public and private. There's a big difference between screaming that capitalism is evil and examining what happens when capitalism squeezes out everything else.
Also, I enjoyed Grey in this film, but my favourite character was The Erotic Connoiseur. He was such a sleazy bastard. -
meh. typical boundary pushing soderbergh
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“…the funny thing is those commies seemed less preachy than the guys making those type of films today.”Why is that, do you think? I mean to be fair Stanley Kramer was a bit on the preachy side, but still that's a valid point you made Continentalop.Somehow I don't think that applies to Egoyan or Soderberg, although I haven't seen "Ché" yet.
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I don't find Soderberg preachy, although I do find his ideas derivative and less thought-provoking than Sirk (IMO the best critique of American capitalism). And to believe that "capitalism squeezes out everything else" is one of the primary beliefs of Marxism so I don't understand how that makes TGE any less anti-capitalist If there is more preachiness, in anti-capitalist films, I think it's the increasing desperation in the wake of Communism's fall. You have to hit the dramatic notes harder, or else people might start laughing at you, which we all know is a fate worse than being hated.
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you guys are the biggest bunch of faggots on the internet! Sasha is a goddess - she will fuck, suck, lick, swallow anything with anyone anytime! What more could you want from a woman? Oh, that's right, you're a bunch of FAGGOTS! Will Sasha become a master thespian? Maybe but probably not, but who cares? She's perfect already.
The way a moral - i.e. capitalist - society works, is that each person in a transaction does so as an equal trader. Each person has to be willing to trade what the other wants for an agreed upon 'price' whether that's cash, services, etc. The people in the movie that are angry, unhappy, upset, etc. don't want to trade value-for-value. They want a freebie.
And all I want is Sasha - and I'll pay the asking price! -
Mine was a generalization and not targeted towards any specific director. But anyone who has ever watched the Sundance Channel knows what I am talking about when I talk about preachy anti-capitalist filmmakers.
As for Stanley Kramer, yes he could be preachy and be so obvious when delivering his message (especially the ones he directed) that he should have been wearing a mailman uniform, but for one thing he was preaching a message that the overwhelming majority of Americans probably accepted – racism and anti-Semitism was bad. The majority of Americans at that time might not have wanted to hang out with blacks, Jews or other minorities, but I think they all accepted the fact that racism was bad and unfair. And yes, Southerners obviously disagreed with racial tolerance and complained about his movies, but that just made Kramer’s films seem “important” when they really were tame (obvious and in-your-face, but not very brazen or challenging).
The only film in recent years that reminds me of a Kramer film is “Brokeback Mountain” which I think is a good movie but far from being as daring as everyone thinks it is. I mean, how many people out there in America are really against the idea of two gay men being in love? And the ones that are, they are so ass-backward and intolerant you knew they never would have accepted the movie. It changes no ones opinion but gives the illusion of being a “brave movie.” It is important that it broke new ground for homosexual story lines; it didn’t change America over night.
I should also say that some of the films Kramer produced were much more powerful and touched on sensitive subject matters much better than his own films did. The Men (handicapped), High Noon (HUAC and the Witch-Hunts), and The Sniper (mentally disturbed) all dealt with important subject matter but didn’t feel preachy or obvious. In fact two of them – High Noon and The Sniper – didn’t feel like message movies at all, they were genre flicks with a message smuggled in.
That is also why I think the past filmmakers were so much better at conveying messages than most modern films – they had to smuggle them in so people would see them as entertainment and not a church sermon. Anyone who has seen Martin Scorsese’s Personal Journey Through American Film knows about this concept – Scorsese spends an entire section of the DVD on this. Yes there was the important message movie, but the lower budget genre flicks that chose not to be so overt in their message usually eclipsed those. Hence while the studio gave you a painfully obvious story about anti-Semitism like Gentlemen’s Agreement, RKO gave you Crossfire, a film noir with anti-Semitism as the motive for murder. Today you get an obvious story about racism like Crash, but back then they made films dealing with the same subject matter that were infinitely better: the Well, No Way Out, Odds Against Tomorrow. All of those films are vastly superior to Haggis’ clumsy and intelligence insulting ode to Southern California racism.
And of course the Commie filmmaker had to be more covert and clever than anyone else, because he was sending a message that was generally despised by the majority of Americans (Communism is good isn’t going to get many people in the theatres). The only thing hated more than a Commie in America is a child molester, and the only filmmaker I know making pro-sleeping with underage boys is Victor Salva, and he isn’t nearly as good at hiding it as Abraham Polansky or Jules Dassin (I mean, Jeepers Creepers II and Powder look like they could have been financed by NAMBLA).
Damn it, blakindigo, you got me sprouting off like Cliff Claven!
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A guy called Anal Inflector calling everyone else "faggots."
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I haven't been discussing Sasha Grey's porn work, because that's not in the movie. However, even if I disagree with your political philosophy, the movie you describe (that the problem with America is everyone expecting a free lunch) sounds more interesting than the movie Soderbergh made.
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I've never seen "The Sniper," I'd like to check that out.I wonder how something like "Bad Day at Black Rock" fits into the discussion? The allusions to racism against Asians seems more an indictment of small–town thinking—a sort of slight of hand substitution. I wonder how widespread the issues of (insert social ill here) were discussed back then, certainly not over many dinner tables—unless you were a member of the disenfranchised group.On "Crash," well, hmm… As problematic as that film was it does have some worthwhile parts, I'm thinking of Terrence Howard's television director and Don Cheadles's political dilemma. Those are two elements that I don't really have a problem with, although the film is very much a discussion of racism for people who aren't "of colour." It's 'Racism 101' without providing an honest context.Victor Salva! Jeezus, what a can of worms THAT guy represents. I can't even go there.What was Cliff Claven's favourite drink? I owe you one.
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I'm much less keen on them most - other than Force of Evil and The Well. I tend to agree with Billy Wilder on the Hollywood Ten, "Two were talented, the rest were trouble."
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That man was talented beyond belief.
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And if you watch carefully you'll see a shot that Martin Scorsese swiped from it and put into Taxi Driver.
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by JJoseph L. Mankiewicz starring Richard Widmark and S Sidney Poitier? Great social issue movie around a racist bent on revenge against the black doctor he accuses of causing his brothers death. Widmark is just loathsome in it.
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JJoseph L. Mankiewicz and S Sydney Poitier? Time for me to go out and drink.
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Yeah—that's a vicious emotional ride.
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But I have seen Brute Force and Odds Against Tomorrow and wasn't impressed. I did like Crossfire, though. I actually prefer the 30s social justice films.
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First film that pops in my head is the Fury. That was unbelievable.
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Its been playing for the last month on TimeWarner on Demand,and was on HD Movie net for free a before even showing up in theatres.
dont waste your money folks nothing worth seeing here. -
For everyone saying it's bad that's why it is already on cable, quality has nothing to do with it. Soderbergh has a deal with Mark Cuban's company HDnet (Cuban owns a pro sports team. I know most of the nerds here are not to into sports.) In the deal he gets a small budget and complete freedom to do whatever he wants in exchange for rights to show it on HDnet and small theatrical release. I'd take that deal, imagine being able to work with no one fucking with you.
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I reckon that'de be pretty damned cool if that happened!
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May 23, 2009 10:46:39 AM CDT
I don't think Capone is qualified to review Egoyan
by cant_stop_yawning2
If it really took you 3 viewings to get House of Games, then you shouldn't be sitting at the grown-ups table.
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Were those guys the more famous artists' non-union, Mexican equivalents?
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No, I just suddenly got the shakes from lack of booze in my system.
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I just call 'em hunger pains.
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I hear your best / favourite viewpoint on Soderbergh. He's interesting in that he mixes commercial projects with arthouse and documentary. That's one reason I continue find to think directors like Jonathan Demme, Martin Scorsese, Ken Loach, Joe Berlinger, Richard Linklater and even Michael Moore interesting (I'm one those people that thinks that Moore's sensibilities might be better expressed in fiction than in documentary). Really interested in the Spalding Gray movie - and if you guys haven't seen either both Demme's SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA and Nick Broomfield's MONSTER IN A BOX then you really should.
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though a Moore / Sacha Baron Cohen team-up might be interesting...
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nice man!
whattaya think of lars von trier...he's obviously not subtle....
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