Film Quarterly, Vol. 2016, Issue 4

Tags

Adaptations, Awards, Challenges, Horror

This image of teen angst from The Edge of Seventeen pretty much sums up my feelings post-election.

This quarter I saw thirteen films in the theater and sixty-five at home (either on DVD or streaming). I watched thirteen female-directed works, making good on my 52 Films By Women pledge, while also managing to complete a thorough review of classic horror, watching forty-eight horror (or horror-adjacent) films released between 1920 and 1960. In addition to these films that were mostly new to me, I rewatched eight of my favorites from earlier in the year to confirm my 2016 top ten rankings; however, I didn’t feel I should include these in my yearly viewing totals a second time. At least it was all a nice distraction from the disastrous election.

Best Movie Seen in the Theater: Arrival (2016). I saw Arrival just days after the election and its hopeful message was exactly what I needed at the time. I was already big fan of Villeneuve’s work through his recent films (Prisoners, Enemy, Sicario) and Arrival made me seriously hopeful for the Blade Runner sequel. One thing I love about Villeneuve’s work is that it always makes me think. Arrival is no exception and I recommend going into it as unspoiled as possible. That said, I did see this film a second time in the theater and I’m happy to report it was just as enjoyable on rewatch. In fact, the second viewing left me with even more admiration for its structure, score, and Amy Adams’s performance.

“They’re here!” (and there, and there…) in Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival

Best Theater Experience: The Love Witch (2016). I was very privileged to attend a local showing of The Love Witch in the presence of its director, the lovely and talented Anna Biller, who also served as the film’s set designer, costumer, and composer, among other tasks. It is very hard to describe this gorgeous film in only a few words, but for me it was Alfred Hitchcock’s Family Plot meets Jacques Demy’s Peau d’Âne meets The Court Jester, all wrapped up in a feminist witch bottle. Shot to look like an old Technicolor film, I consider myself privileged to have seen this in a theater, especially since the audience took such a delight in it.

Samantha Robinson as Elaine in The Love Witch

Best Adaptation: Ah-ga-ssi (The Handmaiden) (2016). I had only read about one hundred pages of Fingersmith when I saw this and I’m glad for that because this is not a film you should be spoiled for. It’s a thriller with incredible twists and turns, but also romance and humor. I would have cut way down on the extensive sex scene (a number of previous scenes are full of sexual tension and the explicitness wasn’t necessary) and some of the gore at the end, but otherwise this film was near flawless. One of the best examples I have seen of successfully resetting a story in another time and place entirely and still having it work. [Side note: I loved that they set the subtitles in different colors depending on whether the characters were speaking Japanese or Korean so you could understand the class implications.]

The cast of Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden

Best Directorial Debut: The Edge of Seventeen (2016). I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of this coming-of-age tale, but I didn’t expect it to be so laugh-out-loud funny. Yet, the teen awkwardness on display was also so real and so uncomfortable at times as to make me squirm. While being full of the usual elements found in teen flicks, debut director Kelly Fremon Craig manages to present each character as a fully developed person, not just a cliché. Hailee Steinfeld delivers an excellent performance as the misfit teen trying to navigate the treacherous waters of high school.

Hailee Steinfeld as Nadine in The Edge of Seventeen

Speaking of female-directed films, I completed my 52 Films By Women challenge this quarter, watching thirteen films that qualified: L’Avenir (Things to Come) (2016) by Mia Hansen-Løve, Bachelorette (2012) by Leslye Headland, The Bling Ring (2013) by Sofia Coppola, Crossing Delancey (1987) by Joan Micklin Silver, The Edge of Seventeen (2016) by Kelly Fremon Craig, The Fits (2016) by Anna Rose Holmer, The Invitation (2016) by Karyn Kusama, The Love Witch (2016) by Anna Biller, Real Women Have Curves (2002) by Patricia Cardoso, Saving Face (2004) by Alice Wu, 13th (2016) by Ava DuVernay, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2005) by Judy Irving, The Wolfpack (2015) by Crystal Moselle.

#52FilmsByWomen Ranked
The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
The Love Witch (2016)
Saving Face (2004)
L’Avenir (Things to Come) (2016)
Crossing Delancey (1987)
13th (2016)
The Fits (2016)
The Invitation (2016)
Real Women Have Curves (2002)
The Bling Ring (2013)
The Wolfpack (2015)
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2005)
Bachelorette (2012)

I haven’t quite decided if I’m going to undertake this challenge again in 2017. Fifty-two films represents about a quarter of my movie viewing for the year, which is a significant commitment given the small percentage of films out there that are directed by women. While I support the cause, my selections are really starting to feel very random. At this point I have seen a lot of the best older films directed by women and I’m not sure seeing obscure films is really helping promote women in the industry today. Instead, I may try to focus on seeing a certain number of current films in the theaters. I missed a number of high-profile female-directed films in the theaters this year (due to travel, schedules, or sheer laziness) and I’d like to rectify that.

Isabelle Huppert contemplates her future in L’Avenir (Things to Come).

You can see the complete list of films I watched for the #52FilmsByWomen challenge at Letterboxd.

Top Ten Classic Horror
Freaks (1932)
The Old Dark House (1932)
The Cat and the Canary (1927)
The Unknown (1927)
King Kong (1933)
The Mummy (1932)
Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)
Frankenstein (1931)
Cat People (1942)
The Bad Seed (1956)

I’m not going to go into my horror series much here or below since I am planning to post about the remaining films in the next week or so. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed a number of these movies, but that watching so many (48!) in such a short time was overwhelming and didn’t leave much room for other older films I might have chosen instead.

You can see the complete list of films I watched for my Horror 101 series at Letterboxd.

Fay Wray contemplates a Trump presidency.

In terms of my other movie watching this quarter, here are some favorite (and not-so-favorite) selections:

Best Classic Rewatch: Freaks (1932)

Best New-to-Me Classic: The Old Dark House (1932)

Best Silent (tie): The Cat and the Canary (1927) and The Unknown (1927)

Best Documentary: 13th (2016). A highly informative documentary about race and racism in America and its implications for the U.S. prison industrial complex.

Must-Watch Documentary: Tickled (2016). I don’t even know how to describe this bizarre film that gets weirder and creepier as you go along. It is not a particularly good example of documentary filmmaking and definitely rambles, but the story it tells is utterly fascinating. Just watch it; it’s not what you think.

Best Math Greek Selection: Exotica (1994). Speaking of bizarre, and weird, and creepy, Exotica is all of these and more. Atom Egoyan proves himself to be a master at drawing you into the least attractive mysteries possible and providing utterly satisfying conclusions (even when they don’t necessarily answer all your questions). The Math Greek is getting so good at picks for me that when he proposed watching this I was convinced I must have seen it already when I was living in Paris once upon a time, but I hadn’t.

Mia Kirshner as Christina in Exotica

Most Underrated: The Accountant (2016). Speaking of math, going into the theater I didn’t realize The Accountant was going to be like John Wick but with math. To be sure, The Accountant is no John Wick, but it is far more enjoyable than critics would have you believe. I feel like I should have figured out a few things before their reveal but didn’t and I loved many of the performances and the resolution of the lead couple’s relationship. I’m not claiming this is a great film, but it would be a good rental and most other decent films I saw this quarter were fairly (or over) praised. Speaking of which…

Most Overrated: Moonlight (2016) and La La Land (2016). Both of these are perfectly fine films and I’m happy to see them on the screen and reaching an audience, but I don’t get the raving to high heaven in either case. Both have a number of great scenes but, for me, those individual moments don’t hang together successfully (for very different reasons). While they start and finish very strong, these films fall apart in the middle either through clichéd, clunky, or inconsistent storytelling. I just wasn’t transported by the story in either case—and I so wanted to be. Given the subject matter and hype, I would have expected these to be among my favorite films of the year, but they aren’t even in my top ten. In the case of Moonlight, I’ve seen comparisons to both Malick and Carol, neither of which I get but perhaps explain why I wasn’t blown away by it. That said, some of the performances, notably those of Mahershala Ali, André Holland, and Ryan Gosling, really elevate themselves above any script limitations.

Biggest Theater Disappointment: Rogue One (2016). Admittedly, I was so looking forward to Rogue One that it would have been hard for anything to live up to what was in my brain. There was a lot to like about it, but I really wish they had stayed off the Death Star altogether and focused more on the caper elements of the plot and the characterization of those on the squad. A side bonus to such a plan would be that the completely unnecessary (and atrocious) CGI character could have been completely avoided.

Worst Movie Seen in the Theater: Rules Don’t Apply (2016). I don’t know what Warren Beatty was thinking with this one. A waste of great period set design.

Lily Collins as Marla in Rules Don’t Apply recovers from a night out in her mid-century modern house above the Hollywood Bowl.

Worst #52FilmsByWomen Movie: The Bachelorette (2012). I felt like this was trying to be a female Hangover but I don’t remember the guys in that film being as mean as the girls in Bachelorette. I just can’t decide if this is being subversive or reinforcing ugly stereotypes. I don’t need characters to be likeable per se, but who are we rooting for here?

The Rupert Giles Award (aka Mathiest): The Accountant (2016). See above.

Most Existential Ennui (aka Frenchiest): L’Avenir (Things to Come) (2016). This film is so French it hurts. It is also one of those good films that doesn’t really go anywhere so it will never be on any “favorites” list of mine, but it’s solid filmmaking nonetheless.

Quirkiest: The Lobster (2016). I wasn’t sure what to expect of this film, and I’m not sure it is entirely successful (for one thing, it is extremely repetitive in its message), but it held my attention all the way through and that’s more than I can say for a lot of films I watch at home. If you can accept the absurd premise and have an offbeat sense of humor, this may be a film for you.

Colin Farrell as David in The Lobster

Most Romantic Couple: Black and Kevin in Moonlight (2016)

Sexiest Couple: Lady Hideko and Sook-hee in The Handmaiden (2016)

Best Romance to Take Place in a New York Immigrant Community (tie): Crossing Delancey (1987) and Saving Face (2004). Saving Face focuses on a young Chinese American doctor whose family is not necessarily accepting of her homosexuality. Meanwhile, her widowed mother, played by Joan Chen, is pregnant and refuses to say who the father is, also causing a rift in the family. This story reminded me a lot of Appropriate Behavior, but is lighter in tone. Crossing Delancey, which takes place in New York’s Jewish community, centers on a young, intellectual, single woman whose grandmother hires a matchmaker to ensure she settles down. The film is very sweet, but super dated at this point. Still, it was very interesting to see how independent and unlikable Amy Irving’s character was allowed to be (and not in an “adorably awkward” way).

Most Confusing Geography: Elle (2016). Both my sister and I have lived in and around Paris but neither of us could figure out where Isabelle Huppert lived or worked in this movie and it drove us crazy.

Worst Abuse of Geography: The Love Witch (2016). While this could have been Arrival (Where exactly does Louise live that you can fly from her house to Montana in a helicopter?) or La La Land (Pasadena, Hermosa Beach, and Watts are all just a hop, skip, and a jump away in La La Land’s Los Angeles), I chose the geographical quirk that most bothered me while watching, namely, if Elaine is driving north from San Francisco (which I think is implied), why is the ocean on her right?

Best Opening: La La Land (2016). A great ode to the traffic that essentially validates the fact that much of the rest of the action is pure fantasy.

Best Closing Shot: The Invitation (2016). I’m sure some might argue that it is too cheesy, but I loved the Twilight Zone-like ending.

Best Closing Shot (runner-up): The Lobster (2016). If you know my issues with certain kinds of violence on screen, you’ll know why I thank god this movie ended how and when it did.

Freddy Mercury Real Life-Fantasy Award: The Wolfpack (2016). This is either a middle-of-the-road documentary or a brilliant performance piece. I just can’t decide which.

Joss Whedon “Bored Now” Award: Captain America: Civil War (2016). Oh good god, make them stop already. Or at least let’s stop pretending these bloated superhero movies are in any way good filmmaking.

Gloria Steinem “Thank God This Film Wasn’t Made by a Man” Award: Real Women Have Curves (2002). “Thank god this film wasn’t made by a man” is a serious thought I had at multiple points during this film. While I loved the fact that this movie was so body positive and that the women were complex and super independent, the lead character wasn’t very sympathetic, which I guess is good in the sense that she seemed like a real teenager, but I couldn’t fully root for her as a result.

Reading is FUNdamental Award: The Handmaiden (2016). This movie is book porn in every sense of the word.

Least Faithful Adaption: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931). This film isn’t bad by any means, but it doesn’t come close to resembling the original novella.

Most Sherlockian: Zero Effect (1997)

Best Western: The Magnificent Seven (2016). There was nothing really innovative about this western except the casting, but it was very fun and serves as another example of how female or PoC directors can help revitalize and/or reenergize stale genres.

Best Sports Movie: The Fits (2016). I didn’t really understand this movie, or what the director was trying to say with it, but I loved the coming-of-age through sports element and seeing Toni, played by Royalty Hightower, move from the world of boxing to dance.

Royalty Hightower as Toni in The Fits

Best Worst Dancing (tie): The Lobster (2016) and The Fits (2016)

Biggest Head-Scratcher: Elle (2016). My sister and I left the theater and simultaneously said to each other “WTF was that?” I’m still wondering. Isabelle Huppert is great though (of course).

Best Headshake: Janelle Monáe in Moonlight (2016). One of the many scenes in the first third of this movie that stood out to me. I’d love to know how many takes it took to get her glance just right.

Best Score: Arrival (2016)

Best Score (Classic Edition): Candyman (1992)

Best Mantra: Rogue One (2016)

I’m one with the Force; the Force is with me.

Best Gloves: The Handmaiden (2016)

Best Lingerie: The Love Witch (2016)

Best in Birds: The Big Year (2011). I came to this delightful film about obsessed birders via Far Out City. I think it was underrated upon its release because it’s not a clear-cut comedy or buddy picture, but it has amazing actors and a fascinating story.

Best in Birds (runner-up): Arrival (2016)

Worst in Birds: The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2005). I had wanted to watch this documentary about the parrots in San Francisco for some time but I was sorely disappointed. It is more about one man than about the birds, a fact that is problematic at best when you realize the director ends up in a relationship with her subject.

Most Surprising Lack of Birds: The Cat and the Canary (1927)

Best in Cats: L’Avenir (Things to Come) (2016)

Most Cats: Cat People (1942)

Most Superfluous Cat: The Black Cat (1934)

Least Effective Watch Cat: Elle (2016)

Most Unfortunate Cat: A Bucket of Blood (1959)

Most Unfortunate Cat (runner-up): The Fly (1958)

Most Misunderstood Cat: The Leopard Man (1943)

Most Surprising Lack of Cats (tie): The Cat and the Canary (1927) and Curse of the Cat People (1944)

So many cats. So, so, so many…

Best in Dogs: Village of the Damned (1960)

Best in Dogs (runner-up): The Uninvited (1944)

Most Dogs: Les Yeux sans visage (Eyes Without a Face) (1960)

Most Unfortunate Dog (tie): Candyman (1992) and The Lobster (2016)

Best Camel: The Lobster (2016). I mean, obviously.

Biggest Waste of Hollywood Cred: Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring (2013)

Five Films I Can’t Recommend
Bachelorette (2012)
Beat the Devil (1953)
The Black Cat (1934)
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
White Zombie (1932)

I wanted to like this film noir parody, I really did, but Beat the Devil fails on almost every level.

For Vol. 2016, Issue 1, click here.
For Vol. 2016, Issue 2, click here.
For Vol. 2016, Issue 3, click here.

*The movies I saw or rewatched this quarter include:

2016: The Accountant, Allied, Arrival, L’Avenir (Things to Come), Captain America: Civil War, The Edge of Seventeen, Elle, The Fits, Ah-ga-ssi (The Handmaiden), The Invitation, La La Land, The Lobster, The Love Witch, The Magnificent Seven, Moonlight, Rogue One, Rules Don’t Apply, 13th, Tickled

2015: The Wolfpack

Released prior to 2015: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Bachelorette, The Bad Seed, Beat the Devil, The Big Year, The Black Cat, The Bling Ring, The Body Snatcher, Bride of Frankenstein, A Bucket of Blood, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Candyman, The Cat and the Canary (1927), The Cat and the Canary (1939), Cat People, The Corpse Vanishes, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Crossing Delancey, Curse of the Demon, The Curse of Frankenstein, The Curse of the Cat People, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, Exotica, The Fly, Frankenstein, Freaks, The Ghost Breakers, Horror of Dracula, House of Wax, House on Haunted Hill, I Walked with a Zombie, The Invisible Man, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Island of Lost Souls, King Kong, The Leopard Man, The Monster, The Mummy, Mystery of the Wax Museum, Nosferatu, The Old Dark House, One Frightened Night, The Phantom of the Opera, Real Women Have Curves, Saving Face, Secret of the Blue Room, Son of Frankenstein, The Thing from Another World, The Uninvited, The Unknown, Vampyr, Village of the Damned, White Zombie, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, The Wolf Man, Zero Effect

Note: These posts are in no way affiliated with the Film Quarterly journal published by the University of California Press.

Opera 101—Dream Weaver

Tags

Adaptations, Opera

Fly me high through the starry skies
Maybe to an astral plane
Cross the highways of fantasy
Help me to forget today’s pain

—Gary Wright, “Dream Weaver”

Crimson Pearl Flower (Pureum Jo) enters the mortal realm as Dai Yu. Photo by Cory Weaver.

Bright Sheng, Dream of the Red Chamber (2016)
Based on: an eighteenth-century novel by Cao Xueqin
Setting: Dynastic China
Sung in: English

Plot in 101 words or less: A heavenly stone and flower use a magic mirror to become kissing cousins on Earth. Okaaay. Spoiled brat of the Jia clan, Baoyu (aka stoner boy) tries to impress poor relation Daiyu (aka flower girl) with mad poetry skillz, but mama bear Lady Wang, whose other cub is raising the red lantern at court, is not playing. She schemes to pay off family debt by marrying a reluctant Boayu to Baochai, of the wealthy Xue clan. A strategically placed veil does the trick. But the emperor uses the red wedding to swoop in and confiscate everything from both clans. Oh, snap!

It’s a nice day for a red wedding. Photo by Cory Weaver.

New operas are always hit or miss and one never knows quite what to expect, especially when said opera is an adaptation of a classic novel that runs more than one thousand pages. I’m happy to report that San Francisco Opera’s world premiere of Dream of the Red Chamber falls more on the hit side, mostly due to extremely high production values and great singing. The sets, designed by Tim Yip, were absolutely stunning. No surprise there I suppose, as Yip won an Oscar for his art direction on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I thought that Stan Lai’s direction mostly complemented Yip’s work, though there were times I wished that the blocking of the singers matched the energy and activity of the sets.

As for the actual opera, composed by Bright Sheng with a libretto by Sheng and David Henry Hwang, author of M Butterfly, there are certainly interesting musical and orchestral moments (especially Dai Yu’s arias and anything that involved percussion), but overall it seemed hampered by the lackluster libretto. The work is also hampered by the gender imbalance in the cast. As much as I hate to say it, there were just too many women. Given the context of the story, this was perhaps unavoidable, but it made the singing seem a bit repetitive as the night wore on. [Side note: Are we seeing a flip side of last year? Will our fall season be a string of stunning sets and ho-hum operas? Tune in next time when I review Don Pasquale.]

Kicking back at the home of the Jia clan in Dream of the Red Chamber. Photo by Cory Weaver.

Still, the biggest problem for me in the libretto was the almost completely superfluous narrator. If his action had been strictly relegated to the prologue, it might have been fine, but he would periodically arrive to pompously proclaim (not sing) the most useless information. The best example of this came during an otherwise delightful bit of stagecraft: As women literally swept changing colored leaves across the stage, the narrator explained about changing seasons. There’s a Clinton-Trump debate joke to be made here I’m sure.

Luckily, the singing itself was superb. Yihie Shi as Bao Yu certainly held his own as the lone male voice and Pureum Jo as the delicate Dai Yu was very convincing. Hyona Kim stood out to me as Lady Wang, but arguably had a juicy part to work with, while Irene Roberts (last seen as Carmen this past summer) as Bao Chai was very good but didn’t have much meat to her role. I was much less enthusiastic about contralto Qiulin Zhang as Granny Jia. When I commented at intermission about how much I disliked her singing style, La Maratonista replied that she thought Zhang sounded like the Cowardly Lion—I almost lost it laughing during the second act when I realized how right she was. Sorry, but it’s true.

Hyona Kim as Lady Wang (left) and Yihie Shi as Bao Yu (right) in Dream of the Red Chamber. Photos by Cory Weaver.

All in all, this opera looked gorgeous and was sung well, but I mostly hope to “see it again” by having the sets and costumes repurposed for the next run of Turandot. (Remember how horrific those costumes were? Good times.)

There is just one more performance of Dream of the Red Chamber at the War Memorial Opera House on September 29.

Film Quarterly, Vol. 2016, Issue 2

Tags

Adaptations, Awards, Feminism, French Cinema, Pixar

@MerriamWebster on Twitter: “Trust us: the feminine form of ‘ghostbuster’ is ‘ghostbuster’.”

Yes, I’m late again. I was hoping to get this post up earlier in the month, but it just didn’t seem appropriate given current events; however, then I thought that perhaps people might be looking to add some escapism to their lives right about now. In any case, the delay means that Ghostbusters is among my selections below and really everyone should run out and see that first. And then, if you are so inclined, please rate it on IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes, where whiny man children have apparently been down-voting the film without even seeing it. Sigh.

My movie-watching was rather uneven this quarter, and I’m a few weeks behind on my 52 Films By Women project, but I nevertheless saw eleven films in the theater and thirty at home.* I continued catching up on the critical darlings of 2015 and also managed to rewatch the entire Star Wars saga.

The second quarter of the year is always a bit slow until the summer movies start rolling out, but this year it seemed slow all the way through since there weren’t many blockbusters I was interested in seeing. Last summer was so great I think we got a little spoiled. Of course, Ghostbusters is a fun summer popcorn flick, but I don’t think it quite reaches the heights of Spy. And where oh where is this year’s Mad Max? I swear, Jason Bourne had better be good. I need a smart thriller right about now.

Still, the 2016 films I saw in the theater between April 1 and now were—for the most part—better than what I saw last quarter. There were two that stood out above the crowd and that I suspect may still be on my Top Ten at the end of the year: Green Room, a locked-room horror thriller by Jeremy Saulnier, and Love & Friendship, a Whit Stillman adaptation of Jane Austen’s Lady Susan.

Love & Friendship really captured the spirit of Jane Austen.

2016 Top Ten (to Date)
Love & Friendship
Green Room
Ghostbusters
Zero Days
Zootopia
Finding Dory
Money Monster
The Nice Guys
Hail, Caesar!
The Man Who Knew Infinity

Best Film Seen in a Theater: Love & Friendship (2016)

With a pitch-perfect performance by Kate Beckinsale as Lady Susan, Whit Stillman really captures Jane Austen’s snarky spirit. The only weak link for me was Chloë Sevigny, who didn’t seem to fit in this world at all. I hope this at least gets an Oscar nod for Best Costume; the dresses were fabulous.

Best Theater Experience: Green Room (2016)

Though wary of the potential gore—and there was gore—I was really looking forward to this horror thriller by Jeremy Saulnier, the director of 2014 favorite Blue Ruin. The crowd of critics and other guests was obviously excited as well and there was even swag at the screening. Plus, it was my first visit to the new Alamo Drafthouse so that added to the fun. Terrific performances all around, including a Patrick Stewart like you’ve never seen him before and the late Anton Yelchin, gone far too soon.

TFW you just want to go home but you’re stuck hanging out in the green room.

I was hoping to present a definitive Top Ten for 2015 in this post, however, while I managed to watch six more critical darlings from last year (Appropriate Behavior, Creed, Eden, Grandma, Le meraviglie (The Wonders), and Slow West), I still have a bunch more I’d like to get to before I laminate that sucker. So I guess you’ll have to wait until next quarter for that.

As for my 52 Films By Women challenge, I only watched nine films that qualified: Appropriate Behavior (2015), Batkid Begins: The Wish Heard Around the World (2015), Dance, Girl, Dance (1940), Dear Frankie (2005), Eden (2015), Le meraviglie (The Wonders) (2015), Merrily We Go to Hell (1932), Money Monster (2016), and Suffragette (2015). So, I have some catching up to do to stay on track for the end of the year. Luckily, there are a couple films in the theaters now that fit the bill, including Rebecca Miller’s Maggie’s Plan and Anne Fontaine’s The Innocents, both of which I’ve been meaning to see. You can follow my progress on this challenge at Letterboxd.

Let’s just say I found the lead in Appropriate Behavior very relatable.

Best Film by a Female Director: Appropriate Behavior (2015)

In many ways, this film is just your typical indie about a young Brooklynite hooking up and finding themselves in the big city. Except the lead is the daughter of Iranian immigrants. And bisexual. The film goes back and forth in time as the main character remembers and re-examines her past relationship with her (now) ex-girlfriend.

Best Film by a Female Director (runner-up): Dear Frankie (2005)

This film shows up on a lot of “female director” lists but it never really stood out to me as particularly interesting. Well, I wish I had seen this earlier as it’s utterly delightful. Not quite a romantic comedy but it has that vibe. Bonus: Scotland!

Best Female Director Discovery: Dorothy Arzner, Merrily We Go to Hell (1932) and Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)

There are not many female directors to be found in classic Hollywood, but one is Dorothy Arzner. The two films I watched by her were real gems that you should seek out; I got my copies on DVD from Netflix. If you have never seen a pre-code film and want to go dark, try Merrily We Go to Hell, which shows how a quick movie courtship can go wrong. Bonus: a young Cary Grant pops up in one scene. If you like musicals and backstage antics and want to see Lucille Ball playing a “sexpot” role, then Dance, Girl, Dance is for you. Note: Dance, Girl, Dance was edited by Robert Wise, who later went on to direct West Side Story. [A special shout-out to @NitrateDiva on Twitter for turning me on to Arzner.]

There’s no doubt the thoroughly modern marriage of Merrily We Go to Hell was filmed pre-code.

One mini-project I managed to complete was rewatching all the Star Wars films. With all the excitement over The Force Awakens, I had been reading quite a bit about how, for younger generations, the prequels are similar in quality to the original trilogy. I found this hard to believe (as I thought the prequels were pretty god-awful) but I hadn’t seen the originals since they were re-released in theaters in 1997. Because I am very excited about the upcoming Rogue One and that film is set just before the action of the original Star Wars, I figured a rewatch and re-evaluation might be in order.

Ah, Star Wars… nothing but Star Wars… gimme those Star Wars… don’t let them end!

The Definitive Star Wars Ranking
Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
The Force Awakens
Return of the Jedi
Revenge of the Sith
The Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones

I was more than a little surprised at these rankings, but I have to say that Empire just doesn’t hold up as well as I expected. The movie really suffers from the “gang” being separated, the timeline is somewhat hard to follow, and it just sort of wanders all over the place, from the lackluster opening to the cliffhanger ending. It’s just not a complete film unto itself. Still, it’s a solid follow-up to the original, which remains a masterpiece of story and character. Rewatching The Force Awakens I had to admire its pacing, as well as its straddling of old and new. I think the only weak link was the lame villain and can only hope that the character of Kylo Ren improves in the next episode. Finally, while I don’t dislike Return of the Jedi as much as some, it gets bogged down in the beginning on Tatooine. Thankfully, there was less of slave Leia than I remembered, but the fact that almost a quarter of the film’s running time is spent on Jabba the Hut is sort of ridiculous—and people complain about the Ewoks! As for the prequels, the less said the better, they were as awful as I remembered—the acting, directing, and writing (along with most of the CGI) are atrocious. Even if some of the lines in the original trilogy were cornball, they were at least delivered with flair.

With The Force Awakens, the torch has been successfully passed to a new generation.

And with that, let’s look at some of my other favorite (and not-so-favorite) selections from this quarter:

Best Classic Rewatch: Star Wars (1977)

I had forgotten how tight this story is. Also, how much of a bad-ass Leia was in the first film. She really loses agency and spark as they go on doesn’t she? Sigh. Despite Luke’s whining, I can easily watch this one over and over.

Best New-to-Me Classic: Experiment in Terror (1962)

I caught this with Sudden Fear in a San Francisco double feature at the Castro Theatre with the Math Greek. This Blake Edwards film has interesting cinematography, a terrific score by Henry Mancini, and, for you sports fans, an incredible finale that takes place at Candlestick Park.

Best Math Greek Selection: Jodorowsky’s Dune (2014)

I had meant to see this when it came out, despite my lack of interest in science fiction in general and Dune in particular. Regardless of your own stand on sci fi, this documentary is an interesting look at the pre-production process and the challenges artists face in bringing their vision to the screen.

Best Documentary: Zero Days (2016)

Zero Days is this year’s Citizenfour and it was just as fascinating and terrifying; however, I think the narrative structure is more effective in Zero Days. Furthermore, the film does a great job of explaining the tech involved so that even I could understand it.

Biggest Theater Disappointment: Finding Dory (2016)

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may remember that Finding Nemo came out on top of my Pixar rankings, so naturally I had high hopes for its sequel. Finding Dory was perfectly fine, but, like Zootopia, is really more for kids than adults. In other words, it’s more of a Disney “message” movie than a visual stunner or creative concept. And the incredible animation of Piper, the Pixar short that ran before Dory, only highlighted this fact. [One reason Zootopia ranks higher than Dory in my 2016 top ten list above is its impressive animation.]

Best Opening Scene: Ghostbusters (2016)

The audience spontaneously burst into applause after this opening. It captures the spirit (hah!) of the original film’s library sequence but ups the ante by actually being scary. That’s something I really appreciated about the new Ghostbusters; I was genuinely scared at times. Much like an SNL sketch (and the original Ghostbusters), the finale goes on far too long, but I thought the writers modernized the story well and came up with an excellent origin story for the team.

Best Closing Scene: Creed (2015)

One thing I love about Creed is how it works very much within its sports film genre but takes it to another level by building on the Rocky legend in just the right way, staying true to its roots but expanding the vision. So it seems only fitting that the movie closes on the “Rocky Steps” overlooking Philadelphia. Creed (along with Niki Caro’s McFarland, USA) is an excellent argument for supporting more female and PoC directors whose unique viewpoints can help revitalize stale genres.

“One step at a time. One punch at a time. One round at a time.”

Worst on Rewatch: Ghostbusters (1984)

Yup, I went there. It is hard for me to objectively judge this childhood favorite, but on rewatch the misogyny hit me like a ton of bricks. It’s creepy and sexist and simply not funny enough to overlook that. It may be “better” than the remake because of its originality and quotability, but it’s really not based on the quality of the comedy.

Most Overrated: Patton (1970)

This is a decent biopic but certainly not the must-see classic I was expecting given its reputation. Yes, it has an incredible performance by George C. Scott and a great opening shot, but not much more to recommend it. It mostly made me want to rewatch The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.

John Wayne award for hyper-masculinity: Thief (1981)

After finally watching and enjoying Manhunter and Heat last year, I thought for sure I would love Thief, but this Mann film was a bit too “man’s man” for me. From the opening shots of heavy machinery, it was all toughness and tough dialogue, with no real heart (though that did make the Tangerine Dream soundtrack remarkably apropos).

Gloria Steinem award for proto-feminism: Suffragette (2015)

This film suffered from a tone-deaf marketing campaign which is unfortunate since it is a rather good (albeit overly earnest) period piece. I liked the choice to profile the real movement in Britain through main characters that are fictional, keeping real-life suffragettes in the background of the action and drama. Carey Mulligan is outstanding. I’m sorry to say it (not really), but if this movie was about a man and directed by someone like Spielberg, it would have been up for numerous Oscars.

Cutest Kitten: Keanu (2016)

I don’t even like pets but this kitten was adorable. And not just because he was named after my man Keanu.

Keanu “starring” in Point Break, aka January.

Best Dragon: Dragonslayer (1981)

While the story is a bit muddled and not really my thing, the dragon special effects used in this film are great even by today’s standards.

Worst Dragon: Pete’s Dragon (1977)

A childhood favorite of the Math Greek, I think the less I say about this rambling tale the better. I’ll simply note that the effects are not good and they really should have just committed to the invisibility gimmick.

Best Bees: Le meraviglie (The Wonders) (2015)

Best Use of a Dictaphone: Sudden Fear (1952)

The Rupert Giles Award (aka Mathiest): The Man Who Knew Infinity (2016)

Most Existential Ennui (aka Frenchiest): Eden (2015)

Best Worst Dancing: Ralph Fiennes dancing to “Emotional Rescue” in A Bigger Splash (2016)

Worst Geography: The Age of Adaline (2015)

This popped up on Hulu so I decided to rewatch what I remembered as a not-great selection from last year. The boyfriend is still too stalkery for my tastes, but it bothered me less on this second go-around and I found myself enjoying this romance fantasy more than I expected. On the other hand, the geography of San Francisco as presented in this movie bothered me just as much as in the theater. So much wrongness.

Five Films I Can’t Recommend
Attack of the Clones
Man of Steel
Oz the Great and Powerful
The Phantom Menace
Revenge of the Sith

Sure Oz was a hot mess, but it was very, very pretty.

Tune in next quarter when I tackle the Bourne filmography, more female directors, and make a final stand on the films of 2015!

For Vol. 2016, Issue 1, click here.
For Vol. 2016, Issue 3, click here.

*The movies I saw or rewatched this quarter include:
2016: A Bigger Splash, Demolition, Finding Dory, Ghostbusters, Green Room, Keanu, Love & Friendship, The Man Who Knew Infinity, Money Monster, The Nice Guys, Zero Days

2015: The Age of Adaline, Appropriate Behavior, Batkid Begins: The Wish Heard Around the World, Creed, Eden, The Force Awakens, Grandma, Le meraviglie (The Wonders), Slow West, Suffragette

Released prior to 2015: Attack of the Clones; The Cheat; Dance, Girl, Dance; Dear Frankie; Dragonslayer; The Empire Strikes Back; Experiment in Terror; Ghostbusters; Jodorowsky’s Dune; Man of Steel; Merrily We Go to Hell; Oz the Great and Powerful; Patton; Pete’s Dragon; The Phantom Menace; Return of the Jedi; Revenge of the Sith; Star Wars; Sudden Fear; Thief

Note: These posts are in no way affiliated with the Film Quarterly journal published by the University of California Press.

Opera 101—A House Divided

Tags

Adaptations, Opera

Roderick Usher (Brian Mulligan) in La Chute de la maison Usher. Photo by Cory Weaver.

Gordon Getty, Usher House (2014)
Based on: “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe
Setting: Disneyland’s The Haunted Mansion
Sung in: English

Claude Debussy, La Chute de la Maison Usher (1908–1917, 2006)
Based on: “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe
Setting: The lost castle of M. C. Escher
Sung in: French

Plot in 101 words or less: Open on a raven. Strike that, reverse it. Open on a castle inhabited by the last of the Ushers—Roderick and his twin sister Madeline. Madeline is dying of a mysterious illness the doctor can neither identify nor cure. A friend arrives to distract Roderick but they both seem distracted by Madeline. Hey, you can’t spell twincest without twin! Madeline dies and—despite her suspiciously rosy cheeks—is buried. While the friend reads to a distraught Roderick, a bloody Madeline appears, having clawed her way out of a premature grave. The House of Usher collapses around them. And, rain.

Madeline (Jamielyn Duggan) cowers between Roderick (Brian Mulligan) and Edgar Allan Poe (Jason Bridges). Photo by Cory Weaver.

Despite “The Fall of the House of Usher” being one of my least favorite Poe stories, I had high hopes for this one. Alas, both parts of this San Francisco Opera double bill fell flat, particularly the first half, composed by Gordon Getty, which was an unholy mishmash of horror clichés and unnecessary backstory.

It didn’t start well, with the audience laughing at the opening tableau of Edgar Allan Poe (serving as narrator) and a raven, though I found it quite striking. As for the rest of the production, the only thing I liked about Getty’s contribution was the dancing of Jamielyn Duggan who plays Madeline (a role sung offstage by Adler Fellow Jacqueline Piccolino).

Edgar Allan Poe (Jason Bridges) opens Usher House. Photo by Cory Weaver.

The second half fared a little better, as the more interesting musical composition (being a “reconstruction and orchestration” by Robert Orledge of Claude Debussy’s unfinished opera). Brian Mulligan, who played Roderick in both halves of this production, finally had a chance to shine, as did Piccolino, finally getting onstage as Madeline.

Madeline Usher (Jacqueline Piccolino) in La Chute de la maison Usher. Photo by Cory Weaver.

Most of the video productions were a bit much for my taste (and what is it with blood this season?) but I think they could have been used effectively if the two halves had been more consistent. The rain was cool. I’d love to see that in another production because I’m pretty sure this one will not be coming back.

Nevermore.

Opera 101—Città Aperta

Tags

Adaptations, Opera

Quando la ciociara si marita
A chi tocca lo spago e a chi la ciocia.
(When a girl from Ciociaria is married,
Some get the strings, and some the sandal.)

—Alberto Moravia, La ciociara (Two Women)

Cesira (Anna Caterina Antonacci) and Rosetta (Sarah Shafer) help the wounded Buckley in Two Women. Photo by Cory Weaver.

Marco Tutino, Two Women (2015)
Based on: La Ciociara, a novel by Alberto Moravia
Setting: Italy, 1943–1944
Sung in: Italian

Plot in 101 words or less: Bombs are getting teenage Rosetta down so her mother Cesira, shopkeeper and black marketer extraordinaire, decides to hightail it to the countryside. There, the two women strip down to bathe in the center of town (because of course) and—totally coincidentally I’m sure—befriend local intellectual Michele, who later helps them rescue an American soldier. This will soon bite them in the culo because Fascists are bad. Also, Germans are bad. And Moroccans. Moroccans are very, very bad. But not Americans. No, Americans eventually save the day—too bad it’s a day late and a dollar short for Michele.

San Francisco Opera recently held the world premiere of Two Women, a new opera composed by Marco Tutino, based on the 1957 novel La Ciociara by Alberto Moravia, better known in the U.S. as a 1960 Vittorio De Sica film starring Sophia Loren. I had never seen the film, but I had read some of the original novel by the time we saw the opera last week so I was somewhat familiar with the basic plot. However, it turned out that the libretto took a number of liberties with said novel, which was a little distracting for me. (I highly recommend Moravia’s work by the way—he also wrote Il conformista, adapted by Bernardo Bertolucci in 1970.)

While I enjoyed this opera more than most critics seemed too, that was probably because the music is more accessible than many modern operas. In fact, at times, it seemed more like a film score for the 1960 classic than an opera, especially with the use of pop songs like “La strada nel bosco” (which I love, but still). This impression was reinforced by the many projections throughout. I thought they were a bit much at times, but I suppose it was very helpful to have the background and history if you didn’t know it.

All in all, I thought the opera captured the spirit of the novel, if not the exact plot. I had just seen Anna Caterina Antonacci in Les Troyens, but Cesira was a very different role and I thought she was just as effective. I’m not sure I would have even realized it was the same person. I particularly liked the song she sang to her daughter after the rape. Sarah Shafer, who played Rosetta, had a lovely tone to her voice, as did Dimitri Pittas (in his SFO debut) who played Michele. Mark Delavan was a bit over the top as Giovanni, but I suppose that’s what the role called for. In short, while I’m not sure I would seek it out again, I’m happy to have seen it.

Finally, in other opera news, a shoutout to San Francisco Opera for the wonderful dinner at Alta CA and the box seats (with champagne at intermission) that La Maratonista and I won as part of the SFO Selfie contest last fall. In addition to being La Maratonista’s birthday, seeing Le nozze di Figaro was extra special because it was the very first opera we saw with our first subscription back in the fall of 2010 and I was happy to revisit it.

The incomparable Nadine Sierra as Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro.