Coming Review: Bettie Page Reveals All

She was erotic poetry physically manifest.  Bettie Page Revealed her in all her sexy humanity.  Review coming tomorrow.

The Frame-When Our Stories Become Aware

In 2009, an intriguing indie fantasy film called Ink came out.  Sure, it was a low budget affair, perhaps some dodgy acting here and there, but it was a wonderful flick with powerful writing, about a convergence and conflict between denizens of the dream world and how their conflict encroaches upon ours.  The visuals were compelling, the soundtrack was terrific (composed by writer and director Jamin Winans) and enough of the actors were strong enough to transport viewers into the otherworldly scenario being laid before them.

Well, Mr. Winans is keeping on with another mindbender, 2014's The Frame.  Winan's craft has improved with this film, in that the cinematography has gotten more sophisticated in the way he stages and frames his shots and action.  His actors have seemingly upped their game even more.  Structurally, the story is, at first, seemingly smaller than Ink, as it primarily involves two people, one a professional thief looking to leave the trade and another a paramedic.  What they both don't know is that they are watching each other on TV.  The paramedic is in a reality TV show in the thief's world, while the thief is a character in a drama in the paramedic's "frame". 

The real kicker happens when one day, the two notice they can talk to each other through their TVs.  This begins the foundation of a love story and an exploration of art and reality.  What is real?  When does something become real?

And when characters get out of hand in their reality, is there anyone else to rein them in?

The Frame.  Check it out.

The Zero Theorem-Tearing at Illusions, Grappling with God

In the future, we still grapple with the essential questions.  We are pretty good with the "what" of things, even decent with the "how" of things.  But the "why" of things, the big questions of purpose and reason, continue to elude.  Or at least, elude the preferred singular approach of science (the process of figuring out the physical workings of things) and even philosophy (or at least, the approach of which uses language to parse ad infinitum and break things down into their tiniest pieces parts in concept).  The whys continue to defy.  There have been attempts in some materialistic and philosophical circles to dismiss the importance of the whys entirely, that they are all just creations of our inner  electrochemical workings.  But no one buys that.  Not even the proponents of such views.  Because, you wait long enough...some of them waffle publically.  When we look into the outer dark or the inner light, no one can be long term satisfied by the idea that it is all for nought.

Nonetheless, it is reasonable to assume some will still try and will turn our greater and greater technological prowess to the purpose of the same.  In the future, it is reasonable to assume that computing power will be greater.  Fortunes will be more immense (for some) and those managing said fortunes might find talented individuals, such as a Mr. Quohen Leth (Christoph Platz), an obsessed loner waiting for a phone call to give him a purpose in his life.  Well, Management does not have a purpose for him.  But it does have a job.  Management wants to hire him for his computer operating and number crunching skills to solve an immense mathematical formula, the Zero Theorem, whose resolution will put this God question to rest, once and for all, one way or another.  Or so they hope.

Is the universe purposeless and meaningless?  Are we eventually just lazily spinning our way to the Heath Death of the universe?  Or is there something more going on here?

We live in a curious time now where our technological prowess is stunning and growing.  Our knowledge is expanding.  Yet, idealogically, assumptions seem more unstable than ever.  Traditional religion is being openly questioned, and yet, contrary to those asking those questions, religion and spirituality is pushing back, both in ways terrifying and against the spirit of Spirit (terrorism, militant fundamentalism) and hopeful (ordinary people finding the answers offered by the materialists have been found wanting and people have begun to look at religion and spirituality anew).

One of the most stunning is the release of The Principle, a film that seemingly asks for another look at the pre-Copernican idea of the universe.  Such a view has been reacted to as "heresy" among the materialists and has been called one of the most negatively reviewed non-viewed films.  Now, that is a nutty idea, the idea that perhaps Copernicus took civilization off the rails in ways.  However, the idea the filmmakers had is that Copernican theory was a platform that science then launched off of in ways that evidentially and philosophically are increasingly unsupportable.  That is, the universe as a big, mindless machine.

The Zero Theorem, contrary to what some might expect, is not an embrace of  the mindless materialism, the God-null.  In fact, Terry Gilliam's religious and spiritual views are far more complex than that.  He allows for a universe of mystery.  Of active engagement.

Of where we mere mortals need to look to the outer and inner, we need to wonder and seek it out.

The Zero Theorem almost is a call to action to just that.  That spiritual auto-pilot, our inner sleep, is a big part of what is messing us up.

Good film.

True Blood-A Season 7 Retrospective-Does this Vampire Tale in the end...Suck?

Yep.  It is all said and done.  HBO's adaptation of the tales of the strangest, most sexed up town in Louisiana, originally books by Charlaine Harris has now wrapped up.  For seven years, we were regaled with tales of the denizens, living and undead of Bon Temps, lurid, colorful, improbable, shameless, bloody, yet somehow compelling.  What started out as the simple tale of a small town bar and grill worker Sookie Stackhouse amdst a sociological sea changed cause by vampires "coming out of the coffin" due to the creation of a synthetic blood substitute, turned into a bodice ripping drama of mayhem and powerplays of various supernatural communities working out their issues, with Bon Temps somehow being the ground zero of much of this.

With all this going on...when you get to the end, you have to decide, was the journey worthwhile? Was it worth it, this stay in Bon Temps for seven years?  In deciding that question, one has to contemplate just what kind of show True Blood was.  True Blood can be sort of deceptive when attempting to sort this out.  Clearly, Sookie Stackhouse was going to be one of the epicenters of this thing, her and her relationship with Bill Compton, a Civil War veteran whose family has deep ties to this community.  And for some, that was a bit of a problem from the get go.  Their "will they/won't they" relationship and the drama it orbited around could get tiresome.  Sookie has interesting qualities but setting her up to be the most desirable woman in the TB universe only works if you buy into that conceit.  I didn't.  She was attractive and had a moral compass.  But her judgemental BS and her penchant towards drama just got annoying.  And as noble and interesting a character as Bill Compton was, seeing the puppydog like traits is attraction towards her took on just got too much at times.  Yes, things got interesting with some of the moral quandaries he had to deal with, and though his dip towards vampire religion was interesting, I wish it had been set up and developed more.

Which is one of the key criticisms of True Blood.  There was a bit of schitzophrenia about what kind of show that it wanted to be.  The show touched on various high concept ideas, from the existence of the supernatural and how it affects affairs in the human world, spirituality and the like, but more often than not, it just used the situation for more mayhem and didn't really explore things in any meaningful way.

The main draw for the show was really some of the supporting characters.  While some relied mainly on the charisma of the actors (Tara, Alcid, etc) to give them the life they had, as it wasn't clear the writers had any purpose for them beyond bouncing them off the main players, some of the others got some fairly meaty arcs to deal with and had great moments and endings that satisfied at the end.  The top of that heap was Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgaard) who started out as an old, powerful vampire who embraced is not-human nature.  Except for his also inexplicable draw to Sookie (which they resolved with some dignity, thankfully), with some rather skilled writing as well as portrayal from Mr. Skarsgaard, showed humanity in a monster with out wimping him out.  I suppose closest to that would be Lucien Lacroix from the TV series Forever Knight, another mandatory show for vampire fans.  He was shown as a decent being under certain circumstances without watering him down or dialing down the fact that he was fundamentally not human.  Although, now that I think about it, he would be more like Janette from FK, in that he accepts his nature, but is more matter of fact about it, not quite reveling in it.  For revels, you need Pamela Swynford De Beaufort, Bonnie to Eric's Clyde.  She embraced the inhuman nature of vampire even more, but, like Eric, held on to enough of her "love", I suppose is the word, to keep her from being a monster.  But she very much was an apex predator, a vampire, and did not care much for most of humanity. 

Jason Stackhouse is another supporting character who emerged.  First shown as a dimwitted himbo horndog, he is later shown to not be actually stupid, just a guy who was used to getting by on sex appeal and athleticism, yet later developments in life made him come face to face with the deficiencies in his character.  Rather than just continue to be the user and hedonist he had been for most of his young life, he became determined to become something better, something more.  And in this, he succeeded, forging a life of professional responsibility as a police officer and redefining himself in how he dealt with friends, family and even women.  They no longer served in a universe of sex/no sex.  Not that it became a feminist condemnation of the heterosexual man, it just became a case of a young man maturing and learning more about recognizing the humanity in those he previously had just seen as objects of conquest.

Though that thing with him lusting after Eric Northman was a bit out of left field.  It seemed less character development and more about fangirls looking for slashfic fodder.

That is what makes True Blood worth it for the long haul.  Yes, it was sexy and visually stunning.  But for the long term, with some characters that went in circles and high concepts that ultimately went nowhere, many characters had very satisfying arcs and portrayals and their stories were worth it.  It will be interesting to see how it holds up on subsequent viewings, but this first time completing the journey, it was ultimately worth it.

The Whisperer In Darkness-Lovecraftian Horror filmed in Old School Horror Cinema Style

It seems that Howard Phillip's Mythos are nigh ubiquitous.  No matter where you look, games (electronic and table top), books, TV and film, the influence of the works of Lovecraft are there.  Tales of alien, mindbending horror lurking at the edges of vision, their very presence breaking down human perceptions, warping minds and shriveling souls.  That's before they even step on the physical stage, as exposure to the fleshly presence of Mythos manifestations is something sought by only the insane or the ignorant.  Given this rich heritage and influence, direct Lovecraft films have gotten relatively few big Hollywood productions.  In fact, it appears that the first will be the long in development Guillermo Del Toro's At The Mountains of Madness, a tale of icy polar alien exploration whose influence can be seen in The Thing (both versions), stories from X-Files (both the season one episode "Ice" and the first film, Fight The Future), and Ronald D. Moore's Helix (season one).  There have been other films with direct Lovecraft influence.  John Carpenter himself has two, Prince of Darkness, and At The Mouth of Madness.  It seems, though, the domain of Lovecraft adaptations is more in smaller budget productions.

The Howard Phillips Lovecraft Historical Society celebrates all things Mythos and seeks to bring to the world loving recreations of the worlds of HPL.  The society dabbles in several media realms, but some of their most remarkable works are film adaptations of Lovecraft's stories, not only seeking to accurately tell his stories, but do them in a way that recreates film styles of old.  Their first film was an adaptation of the classic Call of Cthuhlu, done in the style of yesteryears silent cinema.  Their followup, The Whisperer In Darkness, moves up to the black and white style of the old Universal Monster films and applies them to the Mythos, telling the tale of Professor Albert Wilmarth of Miskatonic University, Arkham, Massachusets, investigating a case of folklore seemingly come to life.  Skeptical of the outlandish claims and feeling the need to defend "scientific integrity", he is overwhelmed by the otherworldly madness he discovers.  But being a brave man and determined to do the right thing, he steps up faced with supernatural horrors and the prospect of an alien incursion.

Lovecraft's tales refuse to just step off the stage.  Despite the difficult language at times, the obvious age of the prose and the times described and the problematic nature of what appears are some of Lovecrafts viewpoints (accusations of racism, nativism, et al), his worlds inspire writers and other creators to this day.  Not only can Lovecraft's voice be heard in other fictional universes, creators return to his worlds and seek to bring them to life before new audiences.

Whisperer In Darkness does just this, with an eye to authenticity as well as excitement, wonder and otherworldly horror. 

This is a good one.  Check it out.

Tusk-Kookoocatchoo

Once upon a time, a boy blew his credit cards on an indie movie with his buddies.  The film, which took place mostly in a convenience store, blew up and boom, new indie auteur Kevin Smith was born.  Since then, two things have remained fairly consistent.  One, he is a man who goes through life passion first.  He has no problem telling the world what he is about and what he loves, be it literature (comics), film (geek cinema), food (anything sugary), mind altering substances (pot) or sex (yes, please). He mixes and mashes with his passions and what he feels inspired by, but he is determined to make certain it is his voice that is the primary note being hit.  Now, he may have had pretenses at selling out and going corporate and should any of his attempts at actually doing so gone the way he wanted, he might have embraced it for awhile.  Because he does want success, he does want the benjamins and he does want to be the adored figure of millions.  Well, the thing is, is that he always comes back to his own voice.  His own voice has now brought him back to film, and he hasn't let his experience with Red State go away.  He loves the idea of small indie film and now has gravitated to gonzo oddball horror.

What started out as frustrated Kev not breaking out into radio has become an online empire.  Smodcast Internet Radio has become quite the little cottage industry, a network of internet radio shows about a huge range of interests, with Smith on many of them.  The flagship show, Smodcast, has Kevin with his friend and collaborator, Scott Mossier, palavering about whatever, but a go-to schtick is to pitch movie ideas on the air.  Kev then decided...why not actually use these?  From Smodcast episode 259, where Kev and Scott discussed a weird Craigslist ad offering free room and board for the boarder dressing up in a Walrus costume for a couple hours.  Kev took that concept and ran with it, with the story of a podcaster (Justin Long) pursuing a strange story and ending up being caught up in some madness up North.  Tusk is the first film in the True North trilogy, next up being Yoga Hosers, the lead characters in that one being the two Colleens, Canadian convenience store clerks (a favorite them of Kevin's), played by his daughter (Harley Quinn Smith) and Johnny Depp's daughter (Lily-Rose Depp).  Depp himself will be returning as Quebecois homicide detective Guy Lapointe.

I don't want to give the story away, but if you have listened to Smodcast episode 259, you know it already.  Walrus suit.  That's all I'll say.

I only have two criticism.  The Walrus suit, valiant effort though it is, shows the limits of the films budget.  But that's ok.  And given that Smith is a veteran podcaster, it kind of surprised me that the podcast scenes were a bit too FM Morning Zoo.  But that's ok.  Creative, clever writing and actors embracing the madness and surprisingly human moments, Tusk is a great opening to an intriguing new trilogy that so far isn't like anything you have seen before.

Zodiac-An Unsolved Murder, Like that Piece of Hanging Skin At The Roof of a Burned Mouth

Opening scene, July 4th, 1969, a young couple, Darleen Farris and Mike Mageau, are assaulted by a mysterious marauder wielding a hand gun at a lover's lane location in Vallejo, California.  Mageau survives, Farris does not.   One month later, the Sanfrancisco Chronicle began getting taunting letters making fun of the police and their progress on the murder, accompanied by cryptograms.  Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr) is the tenacious crime reporter assigned to that beat and Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a Chronicle cartoonist has a knack for puzzles and finds himself drawn to the case.  Later, his interest becomes a burning obsession, which brings him in touch with the cops in various departments in the area as they work the murders that start stacking up.  It becomes a part of local folklore.  It is even the inspiration of the Scorpio killer in the first Dirty Harry movie.  The Zodiac killer not only consumes lives, he destroys careers and families of the people pursuing him. 

Unsolved murders have a particular fascination.  From the puzzle that refuses solution to the idea of the boogeyman still lurking in the shadows, history's Jack the Ripper, my hometown's (Texarkana) Phantom Killer and more, these figures frighten and fascinate in equal measure.

David Fincher plays down the theatrics he sometimes is known for and plays down the gimmicks as well.  His skill here is demonstrated primarily in just bringing to life the people and times of late sixties, early to mid seventies Bay Area California, with locations and music that take you there.  Less about suspense and chills and more about the multi-layered puzzle that is the Zodiac Killer and the emotional and spiritual stresses pulling at the killer's pursuers as they continue on their course.

If you are looking for slasher porn or heebie jeebies, this is not your film.  This is, though, a real life mystery and a film that lets the mystery tell itself.  Fincher is a director who knows just when to step up and knows when to back off.  When it comes to being a dance partner with the material, David Fincher is a man who knows how to lead and knows when to let his dance partner call the tune.

Great flick and an education in a particular chapter of American crime history.