The Screengrab : encounters at the end of the world

Werner Herzog Remembers the Good Old Days in Peru, the Bad New Days in New Orleans

Phil Nugent — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Fitzcarraldo, the 1982 epic that Werner Herzog shot in the jungles of Peru, using a team of locals to pull a 320-ton steamboat up a mountain, may have been the most troubled production of the director's long and adventurous career, though the competition for that title is fierce. (Herzog had shot an estimated forty percent of the film when his star, Jason Robards, was sidelined by amoebic dysentery, after which his co-star, Mick Jagger, had to abandon the project to fulfill a commitment to tour with his day job, the Rolling Stones. Herzog wrote Jagger's role out of the script and replaced Robards with Klaus Kinski, the only known instance in movie history of someone bringing Klaus Kinksi in to stabilize a situation.) It's probably the most well-documented production in Herzog's career, though. The director Les Blank recorded it all in his won 1982 feature documentary Burden of Dreams, and now it's reported that, in June, Ecco Press is bringing out Herzog's journals written during the production, under the title Conquest of the Useless: Reflections from the Making of Fitzcarraldo. For those of you who can't wait, The Paris Review has a selection in their Spring 2009 issue. ("These texts are not reports on the filming --of which little is said. Nor are they journals, except in a very general sense. They might be described instead as inner landscapes, born of the delirium of the jungle. But even that may not be entirely accurate--I am not sure." Coming from anyone else but Werner, this sort of thing would count as discouraging.) The excerpt isn't available online, but hey, it's a good magazine, so throw them twelve bucks if you're so inclined.

Herzog also just checked in with John Patterson, giving him a quick rundown of the current busy state of his movie career at his Laurel Canyon home, because he still considers himself to be a filmmaker and all this "man of letters" business is making him nervous. Herzog, who credits his global viewpoint to the fact that he "had seen much of the world before I was 20, and I had experienced it in a very fundamental way - being on foot, in Africa, in danger," actually had to take his age into account--he's now 66--when deciding not to imperil his life by shooting some icy underwater footage himself on his Antarctica documentary Encounters at the End of the World. However, he braved New Orleans, Nicolas Cage, and the wrath of Abel Ferrara on the movie he recently finished, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Werner insists that, previous reports to the contrary, this is not a remake or a reboot of or a sequel to Ferrara's 1992 scuzzball classic, which came complete with rape on a church altar, visions of Jesus, and full-frontal Keitel. It seems that producer Ed Pressman owns the rights to the title and just wanted to use it on a new project. "I was assured," says Herzog, "that this was not related to another film of a similar name. I told them, 'If you swear on the heads of your children.' I also had hints from Nicolas Cage that he wouldn't sign unless he knew I was directing, which is a good way to start a film." Herzog was keen to shoot in New Orleans "because, after Katrina, you were in a situation where civil life came to a breakdown. Not merely because the hurricane caused a lot of material destruction, but it also created a collapse of civility - looting and, by the way, the police were heavily involved in that, too." And the producers were hot to shoot there too, because of "the tax incentives."

Herzog is "also in the process of wrapping up another film, My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done, produced by David Lynch and loosely based on a gruesome matricide in San Diego in the 1980s, starring Michael Shannon...This being a Herzog movie, the suburban footage is interspersed with scenes - visions, perhaps - captured in Central Asia and Peru. He calls it 'sort of a horror movie'." This all amounts to the most time Herzog has spent working with actors and scripts for quite some time, now; most of his filmography for the last several years has been devoted to nonfiction filmmaking. (The biggest and most recent exception, 1996's Rescue Dawn with Christian Bale, was based on the same story that Herzog had already used a decade earlier for his documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly.) Not that he sees much difference, of course; this is a guy who, in 1991's Lessons of Darkness, presented footage of the smoking, apocalyptic aftermath of the Gulf War as a science fiction film, and who later, in 2005's The Wild Blue Yonder, intercut NASA footage with film of the actor Brad Dourif improvising a monologue recounting his life as an extraterrestrial immgirant. "The distinction between fiction and documentary," says Herzog, "is the last thing I would spend a sleepless night over."

Related stories: Werner Herzog's Very Bad Idea

Strangers in a Strange Land: Special All-Herzog Edition

Screengrab Predicts The Oscars: Winners (Part Two)

Andrew Osborne — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:30:00 GMT

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

And the nominees are...

Bolt – Chris Williams and Byron Howard
Kung Fu Panda – Mark Osborne and John Stevenson
Wall-E – Andrew Stanton

Paul Clark Predicts: Wall-E

The Panda may have swept the Annies, but this award’s voted on by everyone, not just the animators. And it’s foolish to bet against Pixar.

Andrew Osborne Predicts: Wall-E

Leonard Pierce Predicts: Wall-E

This one is as sure thing as there is at the Oscars this year; the 3D gimcrackery of Bolt and the overrated Kung Fu Panda don’t stand a chance against Wall-E, which really ought to have been nominated for Best Picture.

Should Win: Wall-E
Will Win: Wall-E

Nick Schager Predicts: Wall-E

Wall-E wins, or I throw something at the television. Or, at least, say something nasty under my breath.

Sarah Clyne Sundberg Predicts: Wall-E

Clearly Wall-E will win. It is this year's answer to An Inconvenient Truth. Only with animated robots instead of Al Gore.

Scott Von Doviak Predicts: Wall-E

SCREENGRAB CONSENSUS: KUNG FU PANDA! (No, just kidding...WALL-E)

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

And the nominees are...

La Maison En Petits Cubes - Kunio Kato
Lavatory - Lovestory - Konstantin Bronzit
Oktapodi - Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
Presto - Doug Sweetland
This Way Up - Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes

Paul Clark Predicts: Presto

It’s Pixar. Good enough for me.

Andrew Osborne Predicts: Oktapodi

My time-honored rule in this category is always to pick the one with the funniest title. (And yes, I think Oktapodi is funnier than Lavatory – Lovestory, which may come back to bite me right in the ass...that or the fact I forgot Presto was from Pixar.)

Nick Schager Predicts: La Maison en Petits Cubes

Scott Von Doviak Predicts: Presto

SCREENGRAB CONSENSUS: PRESTO

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

And the nominees are...

Nerakhoon (The Betrayal)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

Paul Clark Predicts: Encounters at the End of the World

Man on Wire is the best movie, but I think that sentiment for Herzog -- a newly-enshrined Academy member whose stock in Hollywood is higher than ever -- will take this. Besides, wouldn’t a Werner Herzog Oscar speech be awesome?

Andrew Osborne Predicts: Man On Wire

I can’t remember a stronger year for the Documentary Feature category...by which I mean I’ve actually heard of most of the films and the two I saw were great. I haven’t seen Trouble the Water (which by all accounts is fantastic and which I’m adding to my Netflix queue...right...NOW), and I’m rooting for Werner Herzog (if only for the peculiar, deadpan acceptance speech), but I’ve seen that little French tightrope elf on a dozen talk shows, so it seems Man On Wire has the most exposure...and, in the absence of a Holocaust documentary this time around, that may be enough to secure a win.

Leonard Pierce Predicts: Encounters at the End of the World

It’s a terrific year for documentaries, and the trick will be predicting which one appeals to the Academy voters. Man On Wire has charm, Encounters at the End of the World is stunning, and Trouble the Water is one of the best of the Katrina documentaries; my guess is that AMPAS will go for the Herzog to compensate for his not getting any dap for his fiction films.

Should Win: Trouble the Water
Will Win: Encounters at the End of the World

Nick Schager Predicts: Man On Wire

Sarah Clyne Sundberg Predicts: Man On Wire

In these post-Bush times we can look back on the Twin Towers and reminisce in a French way. N'est-ce pas?

Scott Von Doviak Predicts: Man On Wire

I guess I'm the only one who thinks this is overrated. It's the sort of thing I probably would have enjoyed if I'd stumbled upon it on the Discovery channel or something, but the twinkly Frenchman got on my nerves after a while and all that build-up to, what, two still photographs? I dunno, give me Encounters at the End of the World – compelling characters, brilliant cinematography and that poor goofy penguin.

SCREENGRAB CONSENSUS: MAN ON WIRE

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

And the nominees are...

The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

Paul Clark Predicts: The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

I haven’t seen any of these, but this sounds like the sort of title that wins this category.

Andrew Osborne Predicts: The Final Inch

Again, I go with the funny name in this category. The Final Inch. Heh-heh-heh-heh...

Nick Schager Predicts: The Final Inch

Scott Von Doviak Predicts: The Conscience of Nhem En

I don't know anything about it, but it sounds very important.

SCREENGRAB CONSENSUS: THE FINAL INCH

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

And the nominees are...

On the Line (Auf der Strecke)
Manon On the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig (Grisen)
Toyland (Spielzeugland)

Paul Clark Predicts: On the Line (Auf der Strecke)

Sure, why not?

Andrew Osborne Predicts: Toyland (Spielzeugland)

Ordinarily, I’d go with the “funny name” strategy again, but this one’s about Nazis: ka-ching!!!

Nick Schager Predicts: Toyland (Spielzeugland)

Scott Von Doviak Predicts: Auf der Strecke (On the Line)

SCREENGRAB CONSENSUS: NO CONSENSUS!

Stay tuned for appearances by Viola Davis, Marisa Tomei, Philip Seymour Hoffman and the vengeful ghost of Heath Ledger as the 2009 Screengrab Oscar Special continues!

Contributors: Paul Clark, Andrew Osborne, Leonard Pierce, Nick Schager, Sarah Clyne Sundberg, Scott Von Doviak

Strangers In A Strange Land: Special All-Herzog Edition (Part Five)

Andrew Osborne — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:00:00 GMT

FITZCARRALDO & BURDEN OF DREAMS (1982)

“Loveable” is not one of the words that typically springs to mind when describing Klaus Kinski. For example, in the documentary My Best Fiend, Werner Herzog famously tells of South American tribesmen involved with the production of Fitzcarraldo offering to kill the notoriously petulant actor, to which the director replied, “No, for God’s sake! I still need him for shooting!” And yet as Brian Fitzgerald, the crazy gringo opera enthusiast determined against the odds (and basic common sense) to haul a big-ass steamship up and over a muddy hill from one Peruvian river to another, Kinski actually manages to make obsessive, quixotic insanity appealing, even inspiring. Les Blank does the same for Herzog himself in Burden Of Dreams, a fascinating companion documentary about the outrageously arduous production of the film about Fitzgerald’s outrageously arduous undertaking. Both movies feature half-crazed Europeans determined to bend reality to their will in a brutal, untamed environment (while anonymous, dark-skinned natives do all the heavy lifting), an interlocking double helix of parallel parables about the pros and cons of Western civilization. As critic Paul Arthur notes in an essay comparing Fitzcarraldo and Burden of Dreams, Herzog’s movie champions the white man’s burden, “exuding an almost mystical admiration for the crazed adventurer,” while Blank more or less sides with the native “extras” in the background, preferring their “rhythms of collective effort, of sensuous community, over Eurocentric ideals of heroic individualism”...yet despite all the cultural and philosophical differences between Herzog, Blank and the Peruvian Indians, it is somewhat reassuring to note the common humanity in the fact that pretty much everyone thought Kinski was a hot mess.

AGUIRRE, WRATH OF GOD (1972)

In the opening scene above, the Andes are lined with Spanish conquistadors, ladies of royal carriage, men of God and their trappings, and machinery of war, all of which seem violently out of place among the serene and indifferent mountains. What drives men to try to claim that which should not be disturbed? Why would rational people who sail halfway around the world to search for a new source of power cling so stubbornly and foolishly to the power they left behind? Herzog's movie doesn't have the answer, but the questions he asks are all the more powerful for their plunge into the unknown. Things will continue to go wrong. Claiming ownership and mastery over a hostile environment is quite different from owning or mastering it. Although one man may possess the drive and need to take himself well beyond the norm, the world does not usually bend itself to any one man's will. Herzog will return to this theme time and again.

ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (2007)

Few among us could ask questions about the strangeness of the natural world with the eloquence of Werner Herzog at the beginning of last year's documentary about Antarctica, Encounters At The End Of The World. Among the seasonal workers and high-concept scientists he finds on the frozen continent, the strangers are us, the viewers. It seems glib to say that the extremes of Antarctica attract people who engage with the extremities of the world, but the people Herzog interviews have, to a person, a way of looking at the world with awe and curiosity that suggests astronauts or high priests marked by their encounters with the unknown. Their experience with the strangeness of the world has given them a strangeness of their own. Or perhaps they already had the strangeness, which led them to seek out the extreme. Either way, Herzog continues his quest to suggest as directly and beautifully as possible that there are more things in heaven and earth, dear reader, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Or mine.

One of the best sequences involves the mandatory survival training required of anyone leaving the base camp for the wilds of Antarctica. The instructors simulate a white-out rescue but placing buckets over the participants' heads and directing them to try to find an outhouse from their trailer using a rope and a human chain. The first one out makes a relatively minor mistake early on and the following cascading series of errors gets everyone far off path and hopelessly tangled. Herzog points out on the commentary track that this is how movies are made, also.

STROSZEK (1977)

Werner Herzog once said, "Perhaps I seek certain utopian things, space for human honour and respect, landscapes not yet offended, planets that do not exist yet, dreamed landscapes." Herzog's films are perfectly suited to a list like this one, none more so than his magical 1977 film Stroszek. Taking the stranger-in-a-strange-land premise and tripling it, Stroszek takes three German outcasts -- a former mental patient (Bruno S.), a skeletal old man (Clemens Scheitz), and a prostitute (Eva Mattes) -- and uproots them to the American heartland. The protagonists move to Wisconsin in order to escape their difficult lives, but it's typical of Herzog's approach that the United States isn't seen as a paradise, but is merely a different kind of strange than the world his characters already know. Mattes is the best equipped to make money for them, and she goes to work as a waitress, but once the trio's finances dwindle, she falls back on prostitution to pay the bills. Meanwhile, Scheitz is too old to work, spending his days wandering the landscape and pondering such ideas as animal magnetism. And there are few opportunities in this small town for an ex-street performer like Bruno, so all he can do is wait for the bank to come and repossess their home, a moment we witness in forlorn long shot as Bruno stands by, helpless. America was hardly a land of opportunity for Bruno and his friends, yet I don't think Herzog is condemning the U.S. in Stroszek. Instead, he seems to be saying that there are some people like Bruno who just don't have the resources to make it anywhere, whether they're in an Old World country of gangsters who are predisposed to pulling apart musical instruments, or a new land of truck stops and dancing chickens.

Click Here For Part One, Two, Three, Four & Six

Contributors: Andrew Osborne, Hayden Childs, Paul Clark

The Best of 2008: Leonard Pierce's Picks for the Best Movies of the Year, Part Two

Leonard Pierce — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:45:00 GMT

5. WALL*E (Andrew Stanton, dir.)

Pixar has been on such a roll of late that if they were a single director, they’d be getting mention in the same breath as the golden age greats. But they’re not; they’re an aggregate of many clever, talented folks who make computer-generated cartoons that are at least partly intended for children. I’m not going to argue that this isn’t sometimes a weakness; in WALL*E, the environmental message only seems fitting and appropriate because I happen to agree with it, and the crypto-Objectivism in The Incredibles only bothered me because I don’t. But regardless of the heavy-handedness of the moral, it can’t be denied that WALL*E is flat out the most wonderful film of the year, hopeful and funny and romantic and bittersweet all at the same time, and wrapped up in a package so beautiful to look at you wonder why anyone ever questions the potential of CGI. And if this astounding motion picture spawned an obnoxious marketing empire, one can only shake one’s head and say “Damn kids don’t know how good they’ve got it.”

4. RACHEL GETTING MARRIED (Jonathan Demme, dir.)

If you ever want to flummox a music critic, ask him to describe one of his favorite new bands without comparing them to another band. Of course, Rachel Getting Married proves that the same can occasionally be said for movie critics: it seems impossible to talk about without referencing something else. It’s got the dysfunctional family dynamics of Il y a Longtemps Que Je T’aime; the comeback-kid story of The Wrestler; the hateful-misanthrope-as-vehicle-for-joyous-redemption jawn of a Wes Anderson film (only better) and the structure and form of the late Robert Altman’s best work (only different). With all of these elements at play, though, it never seems derivative of anything else, only reminiscent in the best possible way. In the end, Rachel Getting Married is its own film, familiar yet new and impressive, and carried along by some of the finest acting of the year, most especially from Anne Hathaway and Bill Irwin.

3. CHE (Steven Soderbergh, dir.)

Steven Soderbergh keeps on making great movies, and never the same one twice. His latest is getting lots of what child care experts call “good attention” and “bad attention”; it’s certain that Soderbergh intended it that way, with its rigid formal structure, back-spasm-inducing length, difficult tonal shifts, and…oh, yeah, it’s a biopic about one of the most controversial figures of the 20th century. It’s just as hard to figure out how much of the negative reception is due to political and moral judgment of the revolutionary Che Guevara as it is to figure out how much of the positive reception comes from those who valorize him, but taken purely as a movie, Che is hard to beat: it’s formally daring, adventurously directed, risk-taking, well-made, and held together by a powerful performance that shows its subject neither as a heroic rebel or a vicious murderer, but simply as a man so consumed by his cause that he didn’t know what else to do than keep fighting for it.

2. WENDY AND LUCY (Kelly Reichardt, dir.)

There have been a number of exceptionally well-done documentaries in recent years about ordinary people dangling from the precipice of financial ruin in economically uncertain times, but successful narrative films dealing with the same subject have been few and far between. That’s largely because it’s hard to approach the topic in fiction without becoming didactic, maudlin, or treacly – and those challenges are certainly, and perilously, evident in Kelly Reichardt’s story about a young woman in brutally limited circumstances who loses her beloved dog while pursuing a slender chance at a decent job. But the miraculous thing about Wendy and Lucy is that it toes that line from its first frame to its last without ever tumbling down and making a mess of itself. That’s a testament to the top-notch script, the surprisingly deep direction, and the beautiful performance by lead actress Michelle Williams. No one could ever have predicted that an heir to the Italian neo-realist tradition would emerge in 2008 from America’s Pacific Northwest; that it happened is one of the year’s greatest surprises.

1. SYNECHDOCHE, NEW YORK (Charlie Kaufman, dir.)

There are so many things that could have gone wrong with Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut. I first heard him talk about his desire to direct way back in 2004, when I interviewed him for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and when Synechdoche, New York was finally announced, I was full of dread. The video stores of America are choked with mediocre-to-bad movies by talented writers who decided what they really wanted to do was direct. I needn’t have worried: Synechdoche, New York is easily my favorite film of the year. Kaufman approached directing with the same meticulous, self-searching approach that he does writing, and the result is nothing short of astounding. The best movies, for me, are the ones that seem to completely rewire my head – that are so profound and well-crafted that they redefine my basic approach to their subject, form or content. Charlie Kaufman accomplishes that his first time out of the gate, and that’s the mark of a major talent.

ALMOST MADE IT: The Strangers, Doubt, Iron Man, The Wrestler, Bigger Stronger Faster*.

DIDN'T SEE THEM: Entre les Murs (The Class), Standard Operating Procedure, Lat den Ratte Komme In (Let the Right One In), Dear Zachary: A Letter To His Son About His Father, Trouble the Water, Full Battle Rattle, Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge (Flight of the Red Balloon).

PERFORMANCES OF THE YEAR: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler; Bill Irwin, Rachel Getting Married; Kristin Scott Thomas, Il y a Longtemps Que Je T'aime; Viola Davis, Doubt.

MADE IN 2007, BUT GREAT IN 2008: 4 Luni 3 Saptamani si 2 Zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days); Paranoid Park; My Winnipeg; Une Vielle Maitress (The Last Mistress); Auf der Anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven); Encounters at the End of the World; Chop Shop.

OVERRATED: Waltz with Bashir; In Bruges; Happy-Go-Lucky; Slumdog Millionaire; Kung Fu Panda.

Click for Part One

Screengrab's 2008 Person of the Year

Scott Von Doviak — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Next to People's Sexiest Man Alive, there is no more coveted honor in Hollywood than Screengrab's Person of the Year. At least, that's what we're hoping; we've never actually done it before. After combing the archives over the past year, I have determined the five individuals who recieved the most coverage - for good or for ill - here at our humble blog. Can you guess Screengrab's Person of the Year? The top five, after the jump:

5. Zooey Deschanel

Described by our Phil Nugent as "the unofficial muse of the Screengrab," Ms. Deschanel has an open invitation to our New Year's Eve party. We celebrated her SXSW performance, her survival of the Shyamalan bomb The Happening, her role in the surprisingly influential All the Real Girls, and her "Sweet Ballad" in Yes Man. Call us, Zooey!

4. Werner Herzog

The year in Werner news began with the director reminiscing over his gravedigging days with Errol Morris. Later, Herzog expounded on his many unmellow moods. More shocking developments arrived with the Cannes Film Festival, at which it was announced that Herzog would remake The Bad Lieutenant, a very bad idea indeed. Abel Ferrara agreed, and a celebrity feud was born. Next, Werner signed a cocktail napkin deal to collaborate with fellow weirdo David Lynch. In the end, Herzog redeemed himself with the acclaimed (here, anyway) Encounters at the End of the World.

3. Heath Ledger

Dying at the beginning of the year is perhaps not the most satisfying path toward Screengrab Person of the Year. We ran the breaking news of his death, the initial coroner's report, the Esquire diaries, the fate of Terry Gilliam's Doctor Parnassus and the somewhat unseemly buzz on Ledger's Oscar chances. We'd prefer he was only on this list for his performance as the Joker, but that's life (and death).

2. Uwe Boll

We're a little hurt that our favorite crapmeister hasn't been in touch to thank us for all the publicity. We've covered everything from the petition urging him to retire to his many feuds to the efforts of a gum company to end his career. We've reviewed his Unwatchables Alone in the Dark and BloodRayne 2: Deliverance, and watched as theaters shunned Postal. Heck, Paul Clark even defended the man! Come on, Uwe. Take out an ad in Variety to thank us already.

1. Scarlett Johansson

Oh Scarlett, what would we do without you? I think you can tell the Screengrab is sharply divided over you. Phil Nugent, for one, has little use for you, as you can probably tell from posts like Scarlett Johansson, Yellow Journalism, Grammys Snub Scarlett, Toast Tia, Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds: 2 B 2-Gether 4-Ever and Scarlett Johansson Sings! Sings Tom Waits Songs!! Others of us - like me - are more enamored of your attributes, as you might glean from such posts as Scarlett Johansson, Cover Girl, Your Scarlett Johansson Music Video Has Arrived, and the all-time favorite, And Now Scarlett Johansson Making Out with Penelope Cruz. Either way, there's no denying it: Scarlett Johansson, you are Screengrab's 2008 Person of the Year!

2008 in Review: Paul Clark's Favorite Movie Moments

Paul Clark — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Starting tomorrow, the writers of Screengrab will be unveiling their lists of the top 10 films of 2008. But before that begins, I’d like to post a different sort of list of highlights from the past year. For those of you who’ve only started reading recently, I used to write a bi-weekly column called “The Movie Moment,” in which I’d explore in depth some of my favorite scenes from movies both old and new. This past spring, I had to put the column on indefinite hiatus for various reasons, but I wanted to bring it back for this week only so I could celebrate some of my favorite Movie Moments of 2008. However, I had such a devil of time trying to narrow down my list that I’ve decided to simply list all of the moments that made me laugh out loud, cry like a baby, bite my nails uncontrollably, or which otherwise rocked my world this past year. This list is by no means meant to be taken as comprehensive, but merely were the moments which readily sprang to mind while I was writing the piece. So without further ado, I give you…

2008: The Year in Movie Moments:

(in no particular order)

The little boy’s confession notes- In Bruges

“No-no-no. I kill the bus driver.” - The Dark Knight

The security guard makes his rounds - Man on Wire

Sidney’s musical vows - Rachel Getting Married

The kiss that launched a thousand lens flares - Silent Light (only one of several transcendent moments in the film- the swimming-hole scene or the epic rainstorm might just as easily have qualified)

Mike’s late-night visit (or really, anytime Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” is played) - The Strangers

Peekaboo nudity - The Romance of Astrea and Celadon

Harry unveils the machine - Burn After Reading (honestly, who could possibly enjoy THAT?)

Madame Gaudens’ confession - A Girl Cut in Two

Incident at the race track - My Winnipeg

Most hilarious random line of the year: “When it comes to women, you’re Michael Jordan. I’m… Bill Laimbeer.” - Baghead

The new army suits up for battle - Role Models

Alex takes a shower - Paranoid Park

Brandi forgets her cell phone - Stuck

Black Kold Medina puts on a show - Trouble the Water

Runaway penguin - Encounters at the End of the World

Jung-rae Kim diagrams his neuroses - Woman on the Beach

Alex’s sex surprise, both inevitable and strangely erotic - XXY

The director’s big exit - Tropic Thunder

Most unlikely tearjerking moment of the year: Fred Knittle sings “Fix You”, Young@Heart

Three-way fist fight: Seth Rogen vs. James Franco vs. Danny McBride - Pineapple Express

The Richard McGuire segment - Fear(s) of the Dark

Ninjas! - In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (yes, really)

And finally, my five favorite openings and finales of the year:

Perfect openings: “Put on Your Sunday Clothes”, WALL*E; Sunrise, Silent Light; The piano, The Silence Before Bach; The Jean-Claude Van Damme Stunt Spectacular, JCVD; The Legend of Po, Kung Fu Panda

Great final scenes (no spoilers): Synecdoche, New York, The Duchess of Langeais, Shine a Light, The Visitor, Burn After Reading

I would invite all of you to share some of your favorites in the comments section. After all, I’m surely missing at least a couple of really good ones.

Roger Ebert Supersizes Top 10 of 2008

Scott Von Doviak — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Is 2008 ending early? I didn’t get the memo, but I do know that Roger Ebert traditionally waits until after Christmas to unveil his top ten list because I’m always up at the Von Doviak ancestral manse in Maine when it appears online. This year, however, Ebert has jumped out early – and not only that, he’s doubled the content. “In these hard times, you deserve two ‘best films’ lists for the price of one,” Ebert writes. “It is therefore with joy that I list the 20 best films of 2008, in alphabetical order. I am violating the age-old custom that film critics announce the year's 10 best films, but after years of such lists, I've had it. A best films list should be a celebration of wonderful films, not a chopping process.”

You’ve gotta admire his enthusiasm after so many years in the game, especially if, like me, you have about three movies on your list and are scrambling to catch up with any possible contenders you may have missed. In fact, since Ebert presents an entirely separate list of documentaries, as well as a “special jury prize,” he actually has 26 movies on his list. Since he declines to rank them, I can’t tell you which is his favorite, but the most surprising selection has to be The Fall. “Tarsem's film is a mad folly, an extravagant visual orgy, a free fall from reality into uncharted realms.” I didn’t catch this one myself, but our own Phil Nugent dissents.

That special jury prize went to My Winnipeg. “Guy Maddin's latest dispatch from inside his imagination is a "history" of his home town, which becomes a mixture of the very slightly plausible, the convincing but unlikely, the fantastical, the fevered, the absurd, the preposterous, and the nostalgic. Oddly enough, when it's over, you have a deeper and, in a crazy way, more "real" portrait of Winnipeg than a conventional doc might have provided--and certainly a far more entertaining one.” Among the documentaries singles out for praise is Encounters at the End of the World, which director Werner Herzog dedicated to Ebert. Logrolling in our time!

Here’s the full list.

Related:
Roger Ebert Gives Himself Thumbs Down
Classless Man in Voiceless Brawl

DVD Digest for November 18, 2008

Paul Clark — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:00:00 GMT

This week, some of summer’s biggest hits arrive in stores in time for the holiday shopping season, along with a handful of choice classics.

DVD of the week: With all the care Pixar devotes to creating their theatrical releases, it’s amazing that they have any time left for their DVDs. However, Pixar’s DVD editions are almost invariably first-rate, and this week’s release of WALL-E would appear to be no exception. We begin, of course, with the razor-sharp transfer of the movie itself, which comes directly from the digital master, making it arguably crisper than could be found in the theatre. But that’s only the beginning, with two animated shorts (one seen in theatres, the other a DVD original), featurettes on the film’s sound design, visual design, music, character design, and more. Finally, there are a number of features on WALL-E that take viewers into the world of the film, including a documentary about the movie’s robotic cast, and short films about the nefarious “Buy N Large” corporation from its inception to their Earth Exit plan, and beyond. Needless to say, WALL-E is an ideal DVD for kids, but it’s also a must-have even if you don’t have a family to buy for this holiday season.

Other recent releases coming to DVD this week: Ben Stiller’s Hollywood action satire Tropic Thunder (Paramount, also Blu-Ray); America Ferrara, Amber Tamblyn and friends in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (Warner, also Blu-Ray); and a quartet of acclaimed indie films- Werner Herzog’s Encounters at the End of the World (Image); the documentary Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson (Magnolia); Harmony Korine’s Mister Lonely (Genius); and Audrey Tautou in Priceless (First Look).

On the classics front, the big release this week is David Lynch: The Lime Green Box Set (Absurda), which includes the new-to-DVD Industrial Symphony No. 1, plus the remastered Eraserhead, a Lynch-approved 5.1-surround version of Blue Velvet, The Elephant Man, Wild at Heart, The Short Films of David Lynch, Dumbland, along with new extras for Elephant Man and Wild at Heart, the Eraserhead soundtrack, and a “Mystery Disc” full of exclusive Lynch goodies. Or if you’re looking for something a little more “classical”, pick up the new Criterion editions of Martin Ritt’s masterful adaptation of the John le Carre novel, The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, or the French swashbuckler Fanfan la Tulipe. Also worth mentioning is the release of Fred Schepisi’s long-unavailable classic of Australian cinema, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (Ryko Distribution).

In a slow week for TV on DVD, the most noteworthy title is Bones Season 3 (Fox).

Finally, this week presents the most definitive argument that Blu-Ray has really arrived, with a plethora of mostly crappy Blu-Ray only releases. The exceptions are Curtis Hanson’s pretty-good Eminem vehicle 8 Mile (Universal) and the Neil Gaiman-scripted Mirrormask (Sony). But other than that, it’s looking pretty dire, with the Martin Lawrence double feature of Blue Streak (Sony) and National Security (Sony), Guy Ritchie’s Revolver (Sony), and Richard Kelly’s Southland Tales (Sony), which if nothing else remains the most definitive cinematic statement about the ongoing war over teen horniness. I’m for decriminalization, by the way.

Werner Herzog vs. Abel Ferrara: Round 2

Scott Von Doviak — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:00:00 GMT

Last time we checked in with the developing saga of Werner Herzog’s planned remake of The Bad Lieutenant, the original film’s director, Abel Ferrara, had extended his best wishes for a fruitful collaboration between Herzog and star Nicolas Cage. Either that or he wished they’d die in Hell, I forget. Herzog himself has been mum on the subject, but now he’s broken the silence to clear the air. Or something like that.

Ostensibly interviewing Herzog about his new documentary about life in Antarctica, Encounters at the End of the World, those pranksters at Defamer couldn’t resist asking a few questions about the Bad Lieutenant remake. First of all, says Herzog it’s not a remake. “It's like, for example, you wouldn't call a new James Bond movie a remake of the previous one — although the name of the bad lieutenant is a different one, and the story is completely different.”

While Harvey Keitel’s tormented cop roamed the streets of the New York, Herzog has a different setting in mind. “And it's going to be in New Orleans, which is a fascinating place. Part of it was the decision of the producers for tax incentives — which is totally legitimate. However, I thought to myself: ‘We have seen a lot of New York in movies; we have not seen New Orleans in feature films.’ Or very few feature films. After Katrina it's a particularly interesting set-up.”

As for Ferrara, Herzog is delighted with the angry auteur’s wish for his fiery demise, although he professes not to actually know who he is. “Maybe I could invite him to act in a movie! Except I don't know what he looks like.”

So let’s see if I’ve got this straight. Herzog’s remake is actually a continuation, except it’s a different cop with a different name in a different city, but aside from that, it’s actually a franchise akin to James Bond. I think I’m more interested now. But I’m not sure.

Related:
Werner Herzog's Very Bad Idea
Let's Get Weird with Werner Herzog and David Lynch

The Rep Report (23--May 1)

Phil Nugent — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK: One of the strangest and most intriguing new filmmaking talents to emerge in recent years, the Korean writer-director Kim Ki-Duk gets his first complete U.S. retrosepctive, courtesy of the Museum of Modern art, running from April 23 to May 8. Originally typed as a bit of a sickie on the basis of his 2000 film The Isle, with its isolated, watery setting, creepy eroticized atmosphere, and creative use of fishhooks, Kim has continued to turn out deluxe midnight-movie fare (such as Samaritan Girl) while also revealing a more restrained, meditative side in such films as Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring and the weird, mute romance 3-Iron. The MOMA show will be of special interest to old fans eager to get a look at some of his movies that haven't gotten much play here before, including his 1996 debut picture Crocodile.

"Creatively Speaking" (April 25-27) at the Brooklyn Academy of Music is a series, curated by Michelle Materre and co-curated and produced by Neyda Martinez, that seeks to showcase "realistic, universal portrayals of people of color." It includes documentaries about the culture and political activism of South Africa, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, a concert honoring what would have been Bob Marley's sixtieth birthday, the African-American activist Robert F. Williams, and the roots and spread of hip hop culture, along with a number of dramatic short films. Each screening will be accompanied by a Q & A session afterwards.

FESTIVAL NEWS: In spring, the film geek's heart turns to thoughts of film festivals, where the hardcore faithful can seal themselves up in dark screening rooms to take refuge from all that sunshine and pollen. The Independent Film Festival of Boston, which was founded in 2003 and is already well-established as perhaps the city's premier yearly film event, kicks off on Wednesday, April 23, and runs through the 29th. This year's week-long bash includes new features from Guy Maddin (My Winnipeg, Harmony Korine (Mister Lonely), Werner Herzog (Encounters at the End of the World), and the Hoop Dreams, Steve James and Peter Gilbert (At the Death House Door), as well as documentaries on Joy Division, Harlan Ellison (Dreams with Sharp Teeth), and George W. Bush's home away from home, Crawford, Texas. From April 25 through May 8, Pacific Film Archive will be running standout attractions from the 51st San Francisco International Film Festival, including Ermanno Olmi's One Hundred Nails, Bela Tarr's The Man from London, Claude Chabrol's Girl Cut in Two, Roy Andersson's You, the Living, and Mock Up on Mu, the latest "pulp serial-cum-political tract" from Bay Area filmmaker and "culture jammer" Craig Baldwin. Across the border, Toronto's fifteenth annual Hot Docs Candaian International Documentary Film Festival begins on Thursday and spends eleven days showcasing the best in nonfiction filmmaking, including more than a hundred new pictures and retrospectives devoted to the work of Richard Leacock and Canada's own Jennifer Baichwal. And New York's youthful-and-still-growing counterweight to the city's fall festival, the Tribeca Film Festival, begins Wednesday and continues through May 4, with a handsome spread of independent and international films sandwiched in between the premieres of Baby Mama and Speed Racer. We'll have more to come on Tribeca as soon as it lands.