D'oh! D'oh! D'oh! I mean, Woo Hoo!

You've got to love the nature of illness. It's a beautiful winter's day, sun shining, mild weather, long weekend and I've got a bloody cold! I certainly don't feel up to going out to see any films. Ah well, by chance my Errol Morris DVDs arrived from Amazon and now I can maybe get around to watching something. Mind you, I'm trying to finish the Kieslowksi documentaries I bought online from Poland several weeks ago, and continued on with that today.

From Amazon I received: Errol Morris' First Person The Complete Series (3-DVD set), The Dark Wind, Mr. Death, The Fog of War and Fast, Cheap & Out of Control. I already picked up the Errol Morris DVD collection (3 DVDs: Gates of Heaven, Vernon Florida and The Thin Blue Line) several days ago from Umbrella Entertainment in Northcote.

Also, arriving yesterday, was the latest Astor Theatre calendar and I spent some time this morning marking the titles that look like they might be worth seeing. Some, like Kieslowski's La double vie de Véronique I definitely want to see while I need to research some of the others to see if it's worth the effort, particularly for a late night mid-week when there's work the next day. I happy to get comments on the films in this list (all times are 7.30pm except where indicated):

• Hannah and Her Sisters + Manhattan (Mon 18th Jun)
• Sabah + Tibet, A Buddhist Trilogy (Sun 24th Jun 2pm)
• The Double Life of Veronique + Diva (1981) (Mon 25th Jun)
• The Army of Darkness + The Return of the Living Dead (Mon 2nd Jul)
• Paris, je t'aime + Paris, Texas (Fri 6th July)
• Apocalypse Now Redux (Sun 15th Jul)
• Arsenic and Old Lace + The Ladykillers (Sun 22nd Jul)
• The Party + What's New Pussycat? (Sun 29th July)
• Cousin Cousine (1975) + Petulia (Sun 5th Aug)
• Some Like It Hot + Victor Victoria (Sun 12th Aug)
• Les Enfants du Paradis (Wed 15th Aug)
• Repulsion + Cul-de-sac (Mon 27th Aug)
• Gas Pump Girls + Motel Hell (Mon 3rd Sep)
• Vixen + Super Vixens (Mon 10th Sep)
• Sweet Smell of Success + Raging Bull (Sun 16th Sep)
• Up! + Beneath Ultra Vixens (Mon 17th Sep)
• I Have Never Forgotten You + The Italian (Wed 19th Sep)
• Watusi + Mogambo (Sun 23rd Sep)
• Baraka (Mon 24th Sep)
• Mon oncle + Play Time (Sun 7th Oct)
• The Boat (Director's Cut) (Mon 8th Oct)
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Sun 14th Oct)

Getting serious about French

Today I finally succumbed to a twenty-year itch and enrolled in French language classes at Alliance Française in St. Kilda. Faxed my application form and credit card details. CAE in the CBD would have been more convenient, but I can be impetuous and wanted to strike while the iron was hot - CAE's classes started about a month later than AF.

I have a certain personality-type. When there are lots of options, I find it hard to make a decision, because deciding on one means excluding the others. At different times I've also contemplated German, Spanish and Greek. German, because I learnt it at high school and liked the well-structured and phonetic nature of the language. Spanish, because of all the languages I've encountered, I've found it the easiest to pick up (I spent 17 days in Panama in 1987). And Greek because my partner speaks it fluently and could assist me.

Ultimately French won because of all countries, French (and French-speaking) have been my favourite overall. The culture really appeals, and I'd love to at least visit the place and be able to go to a cinema without subtitles. The recent French Film Festival and screening of Paris, je t'aime probably added to my decision. And just tonight, I saw Claire Denis' sublime Beau travail (1999) for the first time at Melbourne Cinémathèque. It just confirms why I want to learn French.

Classes start from 23 April and I'm just hoping I can remain committed. I've since found a free online resource and have adjusted my keyboard settings so I can type all those accents. As if I had plenty of spare time up my sleeve... sheesh!

Oh, and somehow or other I've managed to make it to 50 posts - they've snuck up on me. I'm pretty happy I've made it this far. That's about 10 posts a month. Now I just need someone to pay me for my writing. Anyone?

Lost Highway Script

I was excited to open a package via Amazon today to find the published script of Lost Highway by David Lynch and Barry Gifford. Amazon doesn't actually have the book in stock, but it's available through a third-party company.

As I mentioned in my review of the film, the idea for Lost Highway was inspired by those two words appearing in Gifford's novel, Night People. I have recently received that book from Amazon as well as Gifford's Wild at Heart, which Lynch made into another wild film with Nicholas Cage and Laura Dern.

I've never bought a film script before, and first became acquainted with the idea from reading Cinematic Storytelling by Jennifer van Sijll. Hers was my first cinema book, which I bought from a sales assistant's suggestion at ACMI earlier in the year (or was it last year? Time has passed strangely since my son Abhi died late last year).

I haven't written about Sijll's book yet, and won't go into detail here. As a cinema amateur with no formal academic background in the field, I found it a great introduction.

So here I am with three Lynch/Gifford books and wondering how the hell am I going to find time to read them. I'm nearly finished A Spanish Labyrinth: The Films of Pedro Almodovóvar by Mark Allinson, but I've ordered another three on the same director that should come any day soon. It's all part of personal research I am doing that's consuming me more than I'd intended. I've also ordered every DVD that's available (14 of his 16 films) so that I can re-view them. I'm not sure what I'm going to write about Almodovóvar - this guy really perplexes me. I've never been so consumed by a director whose work I find so many faults with.

Back to Lynch - here's someone who's work I find truly sublime. I'm just happy to have the script to what is my all-time favourite film. Aside from the above-mentioned ongoing research, there's a huge amount of films coming up in the near future: the Melbourne Latin American Festival started today, running to Sunday, there's some repertory screenings I want to catch at The Astor* in addition to Melbourne Cinémathèque's regular screenings at ACMI.

Next week, I have invites to five media screenings (and I'm planning to go to all of them, taking some time off work) as well as a two weeky festival La Mirada - Jewels of Spanish Cinema that I'm planning to blitz because - wait for it - Almodovóvar curated the five classic films screening. They're all films he considers important and I'm keen to see his taste and influences.

They are: El Espíritu de la Colmena (The Spirit of the Beehive, Víctor Erice, 1973), La Tia Tula (Aunt Tula, Miguel Picazo, 1964), El Extraño Viaje (Strange Voyage, Fernando Fernán Gómez, 1964), El Sur (The South, Victor Erice, 1983) and El Verdugo (The Executioner, Luis García Berlanga, 1963). I'm also wanting to catch as many of the new releases as possible as we get little Spanish cinema outside of festivals.

But wait, there's more...

Melbourne Queer Film Festival starts March 16, French Film Festival starts March 20 (I'm hoping to catch about eight films this year), Festival of German Films starts April 20, and I haven't even mentioned new releases.

Did I mention I'm feeling rundown? I'll get around to my new books. I'm just not committing myself just yet.

P.S. It's always great to have an excuse to post a Lost Highway image - that's Bill Pullman as Fred, lost as hell.

* Including All About Eve - which Almodovóvar's All About My Mother references - and which screens with Hitchcock's Lifeboat, which All About Eve references.

On Film Criticism

Happy new year, for whatever that may mean to you. I'm not big on things like Christmas and New Year. They represent the most significant holiday season, which means I can get to lots of films. Unfortunately, as usual, there's a vacuum of good films right now.

I haven't seen a film for 6 days, so I've resorted to DVD. I've watched Pedro Almodóvar's All About My Mother and Bad Education as part of my research and education. Volver really got me started and these two earlier films have confirmed my observations. I want to see his earlier works to see how his films have evolved. To this end, I have taken out membership at ACMI who have an extensive library of DVDs, videos and 16mm film available to loan. I plan to write an article on the films of Almodóvar in the near future.

Now, for the main purpose of this post. A couple of posts on other film blogs have recently caught my attention. Ray Young on Flickhead has light-heartedly listed some points about film criticism that resonate for me. Summarily they include:

• I don’t normally read film criticism or reviews
• A film’s subject matter doesn’t matter. In the end, it’s all in the art of film, the craftsmanship and storytelling.
• Reviews or critiques should never be read before seeing the film
• The need to know what a film is “about” before seeing it is an open admission of a closed mind
• The movie is over even before it started

For more details, check out the page at Flickhead. Ray's position is closer to my own, but contrary to Jonathan Rosenbaum's defence of spoilers.

And over at Last Night With Riviera, Sydney film blogger Matt Riviera has provided a highly enlightening list of 10 Thoughts on Watching and Appreciating Film. To summarise:

1. Every film is a masterpiece
2. You are half of the viewing experience
3. If a film is slow get into the Zone
4. If a film feels shallow go in overdrive
5. Get a second opinion (from an unlikely source)
6. Your assessment of the film is already obsolete
7. Clear your mind (and the rest will follow)
8. Read between the lines
9. Take a break (there's a world beyond the screen)
10. If any of these approaches get in the way of your enjoyment of the medium, then disregard them entirely
    

I highly recommend a visit of these sites for further readings. I basically wanted to bookmark the sites for myself but am open to further discussion here.

The Year in Review

2006 has been a great year of cinema. Not only have I seen more films this year than any other (more than the previous two years put together). But also the quality of films has increased. I maintain a database of films I’ve seen and the scores I’ve given them. I have developed a competition with myself to try to increase the year’s average score from year to year by avoiding films that I expect to be at best ordinary. Life’s too short to waste on throw-away movies.

This year I have managed to weed out most of the dogs. However, it’s getting harder to beat the previous year’s average because over time I’m becoming more critical of the films I see. Perhaps past scores have been generous by my standards of today.

Highlights for me this year have been:

1. Starting a dedicated calendar in MS Outlook for film releases, festivals and special screenings.
   
   
2. The discovery of ACMI as a rich source of film screenings not available elsewhere. At the start of the year I was between jobs and took the opportunity to catch up on as much cinema as I could.
   
   ACMI’s Stanley Kubrick retrospective in January afforded the opportunity to catch up on his films I hadn’t seen. I saw Killer’s Kiss (1955), The Killing (1956), Paths of Glory (1957), Lolita (1962), Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Love the Bomb (1964) and Barry Lyndon (1975). Lolita was my pick with 4.5 stars and I gave 4 stars to each of the others. I had been to ACMI a few times prior, but now I make it a point to see what ACMI is screening.
   
   
3. Discovering Melbourne Cinémathèque. My partner Zoe and I selected Wednesday as a week-day evening to see a 7pm film each week after work. By chance this is the day that Cinémathèque has it’s screenings at ACMI. $85 buys annual membership and the opportunity to see around 100 rare and classic films on the big screen. Some of the highlights of this year were films by Jean-Pierre Melville, Maurice Pialat, Marco Bellocchio, Andrei Tarkovsky, Rainer Fassbinder, Werner Herzog and (my favourite director) David Lynch.
   
   
4. Becoming a committee member of Melbourne Cinémathèque. I turned up early for the regular screening one week, not knowing that the Annual General Meeting was to be held. An invite was given for further committee members, and I took up the offer.
   
   
5. Writing a 2,000 word review of David Lynch’s Lost Highway (my all-time favourite film) for distribution at Cinémathèque. This was a challenge for me as I hadn’t written to this extent on cinema before and also because of the very elusive nature of the film.
   
   
6. The best year yet for Australian films. In the past I have avoided Australian films which are typically clichéd, contrived and embarrassing to watch. While some of 2006’s fit into this mould, many did not. I saw 19 Australian films this year, 3 times my average, and two (Em 4 Jay and Ten Canoes) I gave five stars. In fact, Em 4 Jay was my favourite film of the year. I consider it my equal favourite Australian film – the other being The Boys.
   
   Despite Australian films taking my 1st and 3rd places, I don't think I can be accused of any bias - local films also figure prominently in my worst list.
   
   
7. Getting to more film festivals than ever before. I could only take one day off work, but managed to fit in 15 films over the course of 18 days at the Melbourne International Film Festival (my favourite was Climates by Nuri Bilge Ceylan from Turkey). I also saw 9 films at the French Film Festival (the pick was The Child) and fitted in screenings at the Queer, Mexican and Italian Film Festivals.
   
   
8. Getting included on some media lists for film previews. Working full-time, I can’t take full advantage of it, but fit in some advance screenings. It’s great to see a film without being pre-empted by any exposure to previews and advertising.
   
   
9. Last, but not least, was setting up my blog which only happened as a result of many of the above events. I Googled Em 4 Jay reviews and found Alison Croggon’s review on her blog Theatre Notes. By chance it was her husband, Daniel Keene, who is the writer of the film as well as Alkinos Tsilimidos’ previous films Silent Partner and Tom White.
   
   Alison suggested the blog, and now 10 weeks and 16 articles later, I’m still going in spite of the recent trauma of losing a teenage son to suicide – more on that in the future, perhaps. In relation to my grief, I will say that resuming my film-going after a short break has been very therapeutic. Unfortunately there's not much on at present (that I haven't seen), until ACMI's Focus on Movie Magic season starts next week and the new releases in a couple of weeks or so. By then, I'm back at work - d'oh!

Some of my plans for 2007 (other than film reviews) include:

1. Honing my critical skills (quality over quantity of reviews)
2. Learn more about the history of cinema to give a broader context of films I review
3. More detailed coverage of Q&A sessions (I finally bought a digital recorder)
4. Interviewing one or more local film identities
5. Writing an article on the significance of film for me
6. Collaborating on an article on how to develop children’s critical skills by analysis of the films they watch
7. To further my film network and increase my involvement in cinema

A couple of people have asked me for my obligatory top 10 lists. I’ve never done them before, but for what it’s worth I offer them here. I’m going to borrow a leaf from the book of the venerable Jonathan Rosenbaum and offer my top 20 and bottom 10. The top 20 includes festival and non-commercial contemporary screenings (eg ACMI) as indicated.

[Edit: Links to my reviews or comments added where available]

	Best		Worst
1	Em 4 Jay	1	Hard Candy
2	The King	2	Casanova
3	Ten Canoes	3	Happy Feet
4	The Child (L'enfant)1	4	Lost and Found
5	Factotum	5	No. 2
6	Climates (Iklimer)2	6	Solo
7	A History of Violence	7	The Constant Gardener
8	Time to Leave (Le Temps Qui Reste)	8	X-Men: the Last Stand
9	Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (Qian Li Zou Dan Qi)	9	The Libertine
10	Gabrielle2	10	Little Miss Sunshine
11	Hidden (Caché)
12	Gravehopping (Odgrobadogroba)3
13	Walk the Line
14	Backstage1
15	Live & Become (Va, vis et Deviens)
16	Be With Me2
17	Fallen (Krisana)2
18	Oliver Twist
19	United 93
20	V for Vendetta

¹ French Film Festival
² Melbourne International Film Festival
³ ACMI

Photos: Nick Barkla & Laura Gordon, Em 4 Jay; Gael Garcia Bernal, The King; Ten Canoes