Sunday, March 23, 2008

Gus Van Sant gets Paranoid at the Ken

Fresh off of his "death trilogy" of Gerry, Elephant, and Last Days, Gus Van Sant, who made his name with the great Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho, continues to explore the theme of youth and death with this adaption of Blake Nelson's novel, Paranoid Park. Shot entirely in Van Sant's hometown of Portland, Oregon, the film focuses on Alex, played by Gabe Nevins, a non-actor Van Sant found while scouting, who is partly responsible for the death of security guard near the skate park he frequents. From there we see how Alex is unable to really deal with his involvement in the death as he tries to suppress his guilt and anguish in a world of adults who don't necessarily know how to deal with their own inner emotions. Lovingly shot by Christopher Doyle, Wong Kar-Wai's normal go-to DP and one of the best in the world, Paranoid Park has been getting rave reviews, such as this one:

http://www.avclub.com/content/cinema/paranoid_park

Here's the trailer, and make sure to catch it at the Ken Cinema this week. There's a chance it might carry over for another week or so, but you never know.



And here's a clip:



--CO

Friday, March 14, 2008

Right Now!

So you've seen our posts about 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days and David Gordon Green's Snow Angels. I was lucky enough to catch the former back in September at the amazing Telluride Film Festival in Colorado as part of a student symposium, which meant that we spent an hour in a small elementary classroom with the film's director, Cristian Mungiu, and picked his brain about the film. I'm a huge fan of Green, and read the novel of the same name which the film is adapted from, in anticipation of the film, which came out of last year's Sundance with glowing reviews. However, there's a few other things as well to check out worth your while.

One is The Band's Visit, about a band made up of members of the Egyptian police force, who become stranded in Israel on their way to a concert. While there they end up staying overnight, with the Captain and one of the younger members of the force shacking up with the owner of a small shop. Throughout the night the three learn about each other and themselves, and the film deftly balances a light, comedic, deadpan tone with a dramatic undercurrent. I highly recommend this.



Something that I was supposed to see but missed at Telluride was the Best Foreign Oscar Winner The Counterfeiters, set in WWII Germany. Word was high on this high, and apparently for good reason.