The Rain Falls Down on Portlandtown

Sunday, March 4, 2012

1 QUICK FIX #TWO: UNE NUIT SUR LE MONT CHAUVE (A NIGHT ON BALD MOUNTAIN)

Back in the late 90s, I caught a glimpse of a fascinating old animation while flipping channels in my cramped, one bedroom apartment in Berkeley, California. The short film was being aired on the local public access channel during a classical music show, due to its use of Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" as its score. It possessed the look of ancient film stock mixed with a technique I'd never seen before; a shadow-filled, fluidly morphing style that, while crude at times, pointed to the stuff of nightmares more effectively than the realistically rendered animation of the now. Basically, it rocked my world for a few minutes...and then it was over.

Because I'd come in halfway through the film, all I had to go on were the two names I'd quickly jotted from the credits: Alexander Alexeieff and Claire Parker. Keep in mind, this was before YouTube or Wikipedia existed and, though IMDb was around, film information on the web was often incomplete and untrustworthy. Still, I was able to glean a few details from a web search: the short was named Une nuit sur le mont chauve (A Night on Bald Mountain), the animators were married and the mesmerizing technique devised by them was called pinscreen animation; a form of stop-animation that uses a far more complex version of those pin art toys you might remember from childhood.

Almost seven years later, the Unseen Cinema box set was released and I had the chance to see Alexeieff and Parker's work for the second time. It's still mindbogglingly effective in its overall singularity; I've had the chance to see other films by them but, while those were quite impressive, Une nuit sur le mont chauve seems to be the crown jewel of their career together.

So let's get on with it: here is Alexander Alexeieff and Claire Parker's 1933 masterpiece Une nuit sur le mont chauve:

Related links:
1 QUICK FIX #ONE: POWERS OF TEN
1 QUICK FIX #THREE: ORGANISM
1 QUICK FIX #FOUR: THE GREAT ECSTASY OF WOODCARVER STEINER

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Thursday, March 1, 2012

KILL LIST: Where the Domestic Meets the Horrific

You ever get entangled in a situation, thinking it's one thing when really it's an altogether different ball of wax? That's kind of the experience of watching Kill List. Director Ben Wheatley (Down Terrace) keeps switching up the narrative terrain upon which his characters travel, keeping us on our feet, guessing as to where exactly his drama/thriller/horror-hybrid of a genre film will land.

At first, we appear to have a domestic drama akin to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. But as we move into the second act, Wheatley has placed two of his characters in the role of contract hit men. And then, finally...no, I wouldn't dare spoil what happens in the astonishing, game-changing third act. My advice is to actively resist foreknowledge of where Kill List heads in its final third. Go in blind, I tell thee.

The action of the film centers around Jay (Neil Maskell), a family man whose long-term unemployment (due to mysterious circumstances on a job gone wrong in Kiev) has led to marital strife with his wife Shel (MyAnna Buring). It doesn't help matters much that his old military buddy Gal (Michael Smiley) has mentioned the possibility of a job for Jay to Shel before bringing it up with him. All of which causes Jay and Shel to make like Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton over dinner with Gal and his girlfriend Fiona (Emma Fryer).

Next thing you know, Fiona's in the bathroom, carving an obscure symbol into the back of Jay and Shel's bathroom mirror; the first of many clues offered up by Wheatley that things are not what they seem. The observation is only reinforced as the film moves away from the domestic to tell the story of what happens after Jay accepts the job with Gal. Guess what, it isn't pretty.

Be prepared for a graphically violent exploration of the tendencies that drove Jay away from the workplace, as well as what makes him uniquely suited for the kind of work that he and Gal do. Along the way, Wheatley offers up some fairly strong hints that Jay's proclivity for the work springs from a less than healthy mind. Even Gal, whose attitude towards the work they do suggests the ho-hum aura of a door-to-door salesman rather than that of a hit man, seems to recoil in horror when faced with Jay's chilling embrace of whatever it takes to get the job done.

Like I hinted above, where the film heads from there is best discovered as it plays out across the screen. Kill List is one of the few films that I've seen in recent years that contains a final act that effectively redefines what came before it. Wheatley's film isn't flawless; there are times when the numerous breadcrumbs pointing to the denouement feel overstated, and the second act feels a bit soft at times (even as some of the more grisly sequences of violence play out), but the chilling payoff at the end elevates the film beyond the stuff of mere exploitation and into the realm of WTF?!

Kill List had its Portland premiere last month during the Portland International Film Festival's PIFF After Dark late night screening series. It begins its regular run at the Hollywood Theatre on Friday, March 2nd. Showtimes and advanced tickets are available here.

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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Breaking News: Guest Director at POWFest 2012 is...

The good folks at POWFest (Portland Oregon Women's Film Festival) have hosted many a great visiting director in past years; one of my favorite memories of attending the fest is linked to Allison Anders' (Mi Vida Loca, Border Radio) appearance at a screening of Gas Food Lodging. Other past guests of note have included Gillian Armstrong (My Brilliant Career, Little Women), Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Point Break) and Irene Taylor Brodsky (Here and Now).

Well, this year's guest-of-honor is none other than Amy Heckerling (Clueless, National Lampoon's European Vacation). Her 1982 comedy classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High had already been announced to play the festival on Friday, March 9th at 9:15 at the Hollywood Theatre, so I'm assuming that more than a few fingers were crossed concerning the possibility of her being present during the weekend.

Better hurry up and grab a ticket, as they're bound to go pretty fast!

POWFest 2012 is nearly upon us!!!

POWFest (Portland Oregon Women's Film Festival) invades the historic Hollywood Theatre once again this year, showcasing the work of women directors ranging from the local to the global. Like the attractive graphic above states, the festival's 5th anniversary edition will run from Thursday, March 8th until Sunday, March 11th, packing a remarkable 80+ short and feature length films into the four-day schedule.

Things kick off on Thurs. 8th at 7pm with a series of locally-produced short films, "including Stella's Flight, a 'dramedy' about a woman trapped in a life that even her dog finds boring, written and directed by OPB Livewire host Courtenay Hameister."

From there, it's opening night parties, a two-day financing workshop for filmmakers (co-sponsored by the OMPA), favorite films from the past (Amy Heckerling's Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Nora Ephron's Sleepless in Seattle and Oscar-winner Barbara Kopple's Shut Up & Sing will all screen during the fest) and a large dose of new narrative and non-fiction content from both emerging and seasoned film directors.

The entire schedule is available for access here. Festival passes can be acquired at this link and tickets for individual shows can be purchased here.

Keep an eye on this blog for upcoming posts highlighting some of the films at POWFest 2012. In the meantime, here's a handful of trailers from the upcoming festival:

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

GRINDHOUSE FILM FESTIVAL presents VIGILANTE (1983) @the Hollywood Theatre tonight only!

Dan Halsted's Grindhouse Film Festival roars to life once again tonight (2/28) at The Hollywood Theatre with a one-night-only screening of William Lustig's 1983 vengeance-themed, genre flick Vigilante, starring Robert Forster (The Black Hole, Jackie Brown) and Fred Williamson (Hell Up in Harlem, Black Caesar).

As for the details, I defer to the experts at the Grindhouse webpage:

Vigilante (1983) Robert Forster stars as a New York everyman, with a blue-collar job and a small family he loves. When his family is violently assaulted by street punks, he is shocked to find the police and court system useless and corrupt. His co-worker (Fred Williamson) is fed up with the gangs and drug dealers who have taken over the city, and starts a vigilante group to take care of what the police are too terrified to do. Forster is hesitant to join, until he's finally pushed over the edge, and starts down a road of vengeance. This is one of the greatest revenge films ever made, directed by William Lustig (Maniac) and inspired by Italian crime films and spaghetti westerns.

As a bonus, here's a 2010 AVManiacs/CineFiles interview w/ William Lustig:

Vigilante will screen at the Hollywood Theatre for one night only: tonight (Feb. 28th) at 7:30pm.

Related links:
Grindhouse Film Festival presents Gates of Hell

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Monday, February 27, 2012

1 QUICK FIX #ONE: POWERS OF TEN

Hey all--
Just to mix things up a bit, I thought it'd be fun to start a recurring series of posts highlighting short form films. Not really looking to analyze or review them...just intending for it to be a low-key curatorial sweep through some of my favorites from the past. And I'll probably end up finding some new favorites along the way, too.

As for style, format, etc., I'm not really planning on imposing any rules. Look for the avant-garde to rub shoulders with the strongly narrative or non-fiction to sit side-by-side with popular animation of the past.

Before we begin with the first installment, I wanted to give a quick shout-out to the visual arts blog Fuzzimo, whose free, hi-res 16mm film frame images post is the source material for the 1 Quick Fix image above. Yup, that's the name of the series: 1 Quick Fix. Hope you enjoy it.

I wanted to ease into things with a film that many of you have probably encountered before. Charles and Ray Eames' Powers of Ten. I first saw the film in an elementary school science class (via a 16mm film-strip version). The film's pondering of infinite space blew my mind then and it still wows me to this day. Over time, it's become famous enough to have been paid homage to in an intro segment for The Simpsons, practically the modern equivalent of canonization.

'Nuff said about it. Why don't we just take a look at the film? Here it is, from 1977, Charles & Ray Eames' Powers of Ten:

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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Okay...PIFF's over, so now what?

Anyone else exhausted from seeing (or working) so many of this year's screenings at the Portland International Film Festival? The festival officially came to a close last night (although you still have time to catch a few of today's encore screenings at the Whitsell Auditorium and Cinema 21) with, of all things, the PIFF After Dark presentation of Invasion of Alien Bikini.

With PDX' biggest fest behind us, now what? Of course, there's always tonight's Academy Awards telecast, which you could watch in the privacy of your own home or, if you're looking to make it more of a communal thing, catch over at the Hollywood Theater (got my fingers crossed for Mr. Malick and his film, although I'd be just as fine if they give it all to Woody).

But, if I were inclined to just ignore the Oscars (as I often do), the number one thing appearing on a local screen that I'd hit up is the Laurelhurst Theater's limited engagement of The African Queen. Bogie and Hepburn floating down the river under the direction of Humphrey's best drinkin' buddy John Huston (the duo were reportedly soused on gin for much of the production, "to keep the mosquitoes off)...what's not to love?

The African Queen will screen for the public at the Laurelhurst Theater today at 1pm & 6:40pm. It runs through Thurs. 3/1, all weekday screenings are at 6:40pm.

...and there's absolutely no reason that you can't pull for Demián Bichir as the long-shot for best actor while simultaneously getting your Bogie on, right?

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