Tue Feb 01 7:00 8:40 Tue Feb 08 7:00 8:40
(2010, Elijah Drenner, DVCAM, 80m) From pre-code Hollywood to the down and dirty 70s, American Grindhouse explores the exploitation compulsions, from filmmakers to audiences alike, that led to one of the biggest and most influential underground film movements in American film history. Through fascinating interviews with directors, actors and critics, this documentary delves into the overlooked origins and films of a buzzword film genre.
The next step is to make an exploitation-style documentary about exploitation movies.
While watching Tiny Furniture, I couldn’t help but feel that this movie was made for me (or at least the girl version of me): recent graduate from a mid-western liberal-arts college moves home and struggles to take life’s next step, whatever that might be. That uncertainty makes life tough for our main character, Aura (Lena Dunham, also the film’s writer and director).
She’s having a hard time. She lets you know all the time. Every argument with her mom or sister either starts or ends with her saying so. For you readers, that might make the main character sound whiny. That’s probably the whole idea, and the main joke driving the film. Aura comes off like some modern Woody Allen, living out the great recession’s effect on our country’s youngest workforce.
Despite my ability to relate to Aura’s situation, I struggle to go along with the joke. It’s not that I don’t buy the character or her struggles, it’s more that I don’t buy the ironic viewpoint the movie seems to take with our heroine. Every hardship that befalls her, every cold shoulder she elicits, no one comes to the aid of our distressed Aura. The movie itself is against her: the camera’s stagnant throughout the picture; her environment (her home in particular) is cold and unreceptive to her sorrows. I see all of this as a microcosm for the indifference shown to twentysomethings by the world.
None of this should really be a surprise to me. But I find the nature in which it portrays Aura to be overly aggressive. Oftentimes, Aura fluctuates from feelings of content to berating her family in little to no time at all. Those switches are jolting, demonstrating Aura’s flippancy; all of this servers as a constant warning not to take her too seriously. The effect is a movie elbowing us throughout the film: “Look at this pathetic chick! She has everything and she’s still not happy.” I’ve come across this attitude before, usually while listening to interviews on NPR with fiftysomething businessmen on a book tour, saying something along the lines of:
Today’s youth are ungrateful, expecting awards around every corner. The whole lot were coddled from day one. They demand everything and deserve nothing.
I find Aura to be likeable if only because her world is filled with even bigger assholes. But I fear Dunham might have been too weary about the portrayal coming off as self-absorbed, maybe conceited or who knows what else (None of this really is for me to say). Whatever the case may be, she puts as much distance between Aura and the film as possible in an attempt to keep us from sympathizing with her too much: giving the set no warmth but plenty of sterility, the camera very little movement, and letting Aura just stew in her own pity for comedic effect (no matter how subdued that effect might be). The film judges too much, and gives the audience little chance to decide for themselves how to view our character. I don’t want to laugh Aura, so much as I want to let her be.
Other notes worth mentioning:
•The name Aura seems like an odd one. I tried to find other instances of it in pop culture, but the closest I could come up with is Aurora in Sleeping Beauty. Let’s assume the similiarity is intentional (if only because it makes for an enjoyable reading). Should we think that all it takes to wake Aura from this funk is a kiss from Prince Charming? Or in the year 2010/2011, a romp in the abandoned lot with an ex-coworker? Ok, probably not. But if Aura is in a sleep-like state, it might explain the alarm clock buzzing ominously at the end of the movie. It’s like each beep is a reminder that no one’s going to wake her up but herself. Ok, that’s a little cheesy. And probably why I didn’t put it in the main review.
•I like to think of Aura and Charlotte’s relationship as an homage to Alice and Charlotte’s in Last Days of Disco. I doubt that’s the case (but Dunham does use the same name- that can’t be a coincidence, can it?). It is interesting to see two sets of comical, privileged characters be both the cause and solutions to each other’s problems while coming of age in uncertain economic times in New York City. I mean, come on here, look at those similarities (did I mention that both films contains characters named Charlotte?).
•I just found out that Dunham shot the whole film on a Canon 7D, the same camera I own. The similarities don't end.
The closing weekend of Trylon's "Color Me Gone: The Racing Picture" brings you Grand Prix, the 1966 John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate, The Birdman of Alcatraz) film seriously upped the game that is race car film:
Fri Jan 28 7:00 Sat Jan 29 7:00 Sun Jan 30 3:45 7:00
(1966, John Frankenheimer, HD-DVD, 176m) Younger audiences may know John Frankenheimer as the director of the late 90s white-knuckled heist flick Ronin. Here, he commands a huge international cast (including Toshiro Mifune, Yves Montand, James Garner, and Eva Marie Saint), and cutting-edge stuntwork to bring to life the high-stakes world of Formula One racing.
I don't think this will presented in 70mm cinerama, sadly. But there are other aspects of the film worth celebrating, I assure you. Why, look at what Anne Friedberg has to say about it in her bookThe Virtual Window: From Alberti to Microsoft:
Frankenheimer and cinematographer Lionel Lindon mounted specially constructed cameras on racing cars, combined dynamic point-of-view racing footage with helicopter footage from above.
and later:
its tripartite split of the screen's wide-aspect ratio was a notably new narrative technique.
If that still doesn't convince you, Wikipedia tells me there's other interesting tidbits to keep you entertained, like:
•The level of driving ability of the actors varied wildly - Bedford couldn't drive at all, Sabato was very slow and nervous, Montand himself scared very easily early in filming and was often towed rather than driving the car, but Garner was highly competent and took up racing and entering cars as a result of his involvement in the film.
•Sub-plots revolve around the women who try to live with or love men with dangerous lifestyles.
Not sure why that last bit was necessary in the original article, but here I am passing it on to you.
The Film Society is screening Tiny Furniture at their St Anthony screen starting tomorrow and going through at least next Thursday, if not longer. The movie has garnered loads of buzz, including spots on year-end lists by The New Yorker and The New York Times, and the film's director/star struck a TV deal with HBO, bringing Judd Apatow along in the process. Come back here tomorrow when I'll have a review of the film posted. In the meantime, here are showtimes and excerpts from the Film Society press release:
TINY FURNITURE is a hilarious and endearing film that explores the depths of romantic humiliation and the heights of post-college confusion. 22-year-old Aura (Dunham) returns home to her artist mother's Tribeca loft with the following: a useless film theory degree, 357 hits on her Youtube page, a boyfriend who's left her to find himself at Burning Man, a dying hamster, and her tail between her legs. Luckily, her trainwreck childhood best friend never left home, the restaurant down the block is hiring, and ill-advised romantic possibilities lurk around every corner. Surrounded on all sides by what she could become, Aura just wants someone to tell her who she is.
I almost forgot that movie theaters still operate during the winter months. Trash Film Debauchery's got a show for you at the Trylon tomorrow night, starting at 7:30:
Wed Jan 26 7:30
(2009, S.S. Rajamouli, DVD) WOW! I'm not sure a movie could be any more epic than Magadheera. Harsha is a care-free motorcycle racer who happens to touch the hand of a woman named Indu and is immediately overcome with a love that dates back to the 1600's. You see, Harsha and Indu were star-crossed lovers in the ancient Kingdom of Udaigarh but died a tragic death trying to be together. The film flashes back and forth from their ancient love story to their struggles to regain their memories and be together in modern day. Romance aside, this movie is AWESOME! Limbs go flying, awesome mustaches abound, and a dude crashes his jeep into a helicopter. And of course there are several ridiculous musical numbers to get stuck in your head.
For those keeping score, the movie won 9 Nandi's in 2009. If that still doesn't convince you, there's always this trailer:
Tue Jan 11 7:00 9:00 Tue Jan 25 7:00 9:00
(2010, Tony Jaa + Panna Rittikrai, 35mm, 94m) Martial arts legend Tony Jaa writes, directs, produces and stars in ONG BAK 3, the third and final installment in one of the most beloved action series of all time. Picking up at the cliffhanger ending where Ong Bak 2 leaves off, Jaa ramps up the epic supernatural elements of the previous film, while still maintaining the trademark bone-crunching action that the series is known for. This time he must face his ultimate enemy: a fierce supernatural warrior named “Demon Crow,” played by fellow martial arts sensation Dan Chupong (Dynamite Warrior).
Wed Jan 05 7:30
(1964, George Sidney, BD, 85m) Of the 33 feature films that Elvis Presley made, few loom larger in the cultural memory than this hip-shaking ode to sin city. Elvis is Lucky Jackson, a young man who has racing on the brain, until a tantalizing young swim instructor (Ann Margaret) enters the mix--and raises the stakes.
Wed Jan 05 10:00
This CPT production tells the tragic story of a lowly clerk who seeks refuge from his futurist hellscape in forbidden classic cinema. Against long odds, Raul Julia escapes this film with his career battered but faintly alive. The same can not be said of any remaining cast or crew. This screening, originally scheduled for the Turf Club, will have a suggested donation of $5 to cover the Trylon's overhead. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
