Filmography 2010

Precious: Based on Push by Sapphire (2009)

"I'm gonna break through or somebody gonna break through to me."
           - Clareece "Precious" Jones

I avoided this movie for some time. I avoided this thing like the fuckin’ plague. Not because I didn’t think it would be good, but because I knew it was going to be a heavy one. This isn’t the kind of movie you throw on when you’re bored; you need to build yourself up to see this. Rest assured it is worth it.

Even if you’ve only given this movie a cursory glance online you’re probably familiar with the plot, so I won’t give it more than a sentence in this blog: Illiterate, overweight, pregnant, teenage black girl from Harlem strives to overcome abuse and better herself. I read that the director was worried that the film would be read as playing into, and up to, stereotypes of black folks. I can understand the concern (there’s the scene where the title character literally runs down the street eating a bucket of stolen fried chicken!) and it’s not unreasonable. But that’s not what bothered me. What stuck with me and made me uncomfortable was how much bad shit happens to one person. Don’t misunderstand, I know these things (rape, incest, verbal/sexual abuse, STDs, etc) unfortunately do happen to people in real life, far more often then we think in fact. But seeing this all play out in the span of a 2 hour movie and to one person is too much and moves towards melodrama. This is unfortunate because melodrama lessens the impact that these topics deserve. I suspect this is something that wasn’t addressed in translating the story from novel to film. A novel can be paced better than a film; a novel breathes in a way that a film doesn’t. A novel can have all of these experiences happen to one character and not be overwhelming. This distinction of medium could have been handled with more nuance.

So why is Precious on my list? Well it’s an incredibly well acted movie. Gabourey Sidibe and Mo’Nique received an enormous amount of praise for their work, and rightly so, but the supporting cast is just as strong. It’s also on my list because these topics are very real and deserve to be addressed. I hesitate on this last point though. Just because a film delves into a topic worth exploring, or offers a positive message, doesn’t make it a worthwhile movie going experience (see any after-school special or Lifetime movie); it still needs to be a good film and story in its own right, despite the topic. And though Precious may not be perfect in this sense it does get way more right than wrong. So it’s worth a watch.

The Mist (2007)

"As a species we're fundamentally insane. Put more than two of us in a room, we pick sides and start dreaming up reasons to kill one another. Why do you think we invented politics and religion?”
               - Ollie

A New England town becomes a microcosm of humanity in Frank Darabont’s The Mist. Based on the novella by Stephen King the film is no doubt firmly rooted in the horror genre (it’s tense, scary, and bloody) but it works on more levels than just that. Indeed, the monsters inside the mist are nothing compared to the darkness within ourselves.

A curious mist rolls into town and traps a collection of people in a local supermarket. Slowly they discover that various monsters dwell within the mist and the struggle for survival begins. Things move quickly early on, as they should, and in fact the creatures’ origins are never fully explained because they aren’t what’s important. The story is less about the monsters and more about how we react to extreme circumstances. They function merely as the circumstance for this sampling of people to come together. The supermarket is itself is an interesting, if understated, setting for the film to take place. Just like the suburban mall in Dawn of the Dead, it’s the great equalizer. Everyone, from the educated to the uneducated, high class to working class, can be found in the supermarket and that’s how you get your microcosm. Within this collection of people larger societal sections are also represented, and thoughtfully explored.

Consider Mrs. Carmody who represents the rise and corruption of religion. Early on her claims of the end of days are regarded as crazy ramblings of the town nut; nothing more than nonsense to be ignored. Slowly she gains a following in light of attacks by the mist monsters, and by the film’s third act she’s hailed as a prophet and commands some of her fellow survivors to carry out violent, terrible acts in the name of religion and survival.

Heartbreaking ending notwithstanding, the film’s greatest success, and why it’s worth watching, is in its portrayal of humanity. We’re panicky and we’re organized, we’re altruistic and selfish hypocrites, we’re believers and we’re rational; we are undoubtedly walking contradictions in so many ways. The Mist captures this quality so incredibly well. It’s a shame that the film didn’t garner more attention when released.

The Human Centipede: First Sequence (2010)

"...a Siamese triplet, connected via the gastric system. Ingestion by A, passing through B, to the excretion of C. The human centipede, first sequence."

                                                  - Dr. Heiter 

The Human Centipede: First Sequence is a film with a ridiculous B movie style premise that takes itself so seriously (no winks and nods to the camera) it’s almost engaging. Almost.

Dutch filmmaker Tom Six tells the age old tale of two American tourists in Europe who get lost and end up on the wrong doorstep on a rainy night. Enter Dr. Heiter. Heiter is a mad German scientist (seriously) who dreams of creating the human centipede by linking three humans into one centipede-like creature. You can use your imagination (or Google) to guess how this looks once he successfully reaches his goal. And he does reach his goal. The three victims (the two Americans and a third captive) try to escape, their screams bring the attention of the police, blah blah blah, murder, gunshots, and tragedy ensue.

Does it have a larger message or a theme to be explored? Is it commentary on gruesome Nazi experiments? Hard to say, but no. Not even slightly. This truly seems like an idea that two guys kicked around while they were high and then actually followed through on it.

Be warned that there are some truly gross scenes here. That said, it’s not a very graphic movie (very little gore or nudity involved) and yet still very disturbing which, incidentally, is a pretty neat thing to pull off. So why should you see it? See it because it’s ridiculous. See it because the acting is so very, very bad. See it because it’s a gross out movie. See it because it’s stupid and marvel at the fact that someone actually financed a movie like this to be made…and because there’s a sequel due out next year. It really is fascinating to think about the development process with a movie like this. What did it look like to pitch this idea to investors? What was the casting process like? Hmmm...

Have a drink and watch it with friends; it’ll be funnier.

Big Fan (2009)

“You didn’t have to be mean. Everybody’s always so mean. It wears me out.”

                     - Paul

Robert D. Siegel’s Big Fan is an engrossing look into a diehard fan. It’s completely engaging and tragic and uplifting all at once.

Paul from Staten Island lives in boxes. He’s a parking garage attendant. He lives with his mother. He has one friend. He has one obsession: Giants’ football (though he won’t dare step foot inside Giants stadium – real fans watch from the parking lot while tailgating). He’s got one hobby: calling into a sports radio station. A meticulous hobby, he doesn’t just call in. He writes down what he’ll say, rehearses it out loud before he calls in and after he "nails it," he casually tells his friend that he was just wingin’ it.

Paul won’t take your pity; he chooses this life. It’s not that he’s socially awkward or can’t interact with society in a larger way, it’s that he doesn’t want to. It's his dedication and unconditional love of something greater than himself that he values and when we recognizes that others lack that kind of passion he's uninterested in them.

Paul and his friend tail their favorite player, Quantrell Bishop, to a club one night and through some unfortunate miscommunication Paul gets brutally beaten up by Bishop. Putting his love for football over his own self interest Paul tries to ignore how his hobby turned on him. From this choice spirals a host of effects that Paul fights to regain control of. All of this ends with a climatic showdown with his radio rival in a scene that is pure brilliance and pure Paul, through and through. You’ll cheer. Trust me.  

Paul is played by comedian Patton Oswalt and holy hell does he do an amazing job. A character like this could easily spin into caricature or stereotype, but with subtlety and honesty in Oswalt's performance it never does.