February has been a good month for American movies in which vulnerable males stare out their bedroom windows at willowy, troubled blondes and grow obsessed. No, Rear Window has not been re-released; in James Gray’s melodrama Two Lovers a Brooklyn Heeb falls for the Shiksa next door, and in William Olsson’s stylistically assured, super-cynical without even realizing it directorial debut An American Affair, a slick, low-budget period movie with the cozy art direction of a Danish furniture commercial without even blinking an eye suggests that Jack Kennedy was a man of many mistresses and woefully foreseeable enemies.
Such is our post-Watergate American existence that we no longer see politicians as enlightened, civic minded individuals in an ennobling vocation. Such is our post-Lewinsky American existence that we are no longer shocked or even especially aroused by our political leaders’ sexual misdeeds. Sure Eliot Spitzer’s political star fell just under a year ago after his nocturnal visits from call girl Ashley Dupre were exposed, but Louisiana Senator David Vitter continues to sit in his Senate seat nearly a year and a half after he admitted to seeing prostitutes. As An American Affair deftly dramatizes, in the previous era the press corps would have just kept what they knew about the sex lives of powerful men under wraps. But lets get to those tantalizing one sheets.
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Because there’s nothing like waiting until the last minute to do some holiday shopping, we’ve compiled this handy-dandy shopping guide to the best DVDs of 2008 that you can use now, or wait until the dust settles and clean up with any cash that Santa or Hanukkah Harry happened to leave you. It’s broken down by the person you’ll be shopping for to make things easier, even if that person happens to be yourself.
When noted, we’ve picked the Blu-ray version over the standard definition, because we try to be all about 1080p and other technical terms whenever possible. But, the regular versions are just fine as well. Still, it’s true what they say: once you go HD you’ll never go back.
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It’s already been called the most important civil rights film of the decade, but only time will tell if Milk has any real impact on the gay marriage issue or any other related civil rights matter. Obviously the film, which is set thirty years in the past, can be appropriated by the campaign to overturn Proposition 8, but if that campaign is successful, it will be difficult to prove with certainty Milk contributed to the end result.
The Birth of a Nation may have inspired a reformation of the Ku Klux Klan and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner may have opened some minds to wider acceptance of interracial marriage (which had just recently been legalized). However, as Time magazine reported earlier this year, it’s quite rare for cinema to really change the world. A movie like Philadelphia easily gets moviegoers thinking about AIDS and discrimination, for instance, and Sicko exposes some of the supposed benefits of universal health care, yet most of these kinds of message films preach primarily to the choir.
But at least five films have made an actual difference, either on a local or national level. Will Milk join the small group of movies detailed below?
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This past weekend, Saturday Night Live received a huge ratings boost thanks to the appearance of vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. But as much fun as it was seeing her act the good sport next to a jokingly critical Alec Baldwin, it only made me anticipate her inevitable feature film debut. I mean, did you notice she was the only person who didn’t need to keep reading from the cue cards? She’s a natural. And whether her ticket wins or loses the race on November 4, it’s certain that one day Palin will at least make a cameo in some kind of fictional movie, whether she means to or not.
So, as we wait for her to show up in a small part in the Coen brothers’ adaptation of Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (both because she’s from Alaska and reminds me of Frances McDormand in Fargo), let’s take a look at some other politicians who’ve made interesting film cameos, some intentionally and some not.
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There’s an argument to be made that W., Oliver Stone’s Josh Brolin-starring sorta-biopic on our sitting but barely-standing president, has been thrust on the culture too soon. What kind of perspective could Stone and screenwriter Stanley Weiser possibly have on the Commander in Chief with George W. Bush still bumbling along in office, still a regular fixture on cable news and a constant target for Saturday Night Live? And wouldn’t the real W’s minuscule approval rating suggest that interest in dramatization of his presidency would be slim? But maybe a better argument is that W. has hit at exactly the right time — in fact, maybe the only time when this oddly argument-free work of trompe l’oil comedy could possibly slip seamlessly into the media diets of average Americans. Almost unbelievably, Stone has John McCain to thank for this accident of timing: W. would look much more freakish as a bizarrely idea-light folly if it had been released into a world that hadn’t ever seen (or even conceived of) Tina Fey’s dead-on impression of Sarah Palin.
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The epic battle between McCain and Obama will shape America’s future. To prepare, we look at an eerily similar battle from America’s past, the 1960 primaries between JFK and Hubert Humphry, as portrayed in Robert Drew’s verité classic, Primary.
Karina stays in for the weekend watching back-to-back movie marathons to settle an age-old debate: Who’s better, Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire? Also, she shares her fantasy of seeing Olympic gymnastic ass-kicker Nastia Liukin star in a prison-break exploitation flick. It never hurts to dream…
On a more serious note, we talk to director Richard Berge about his documentary The Rape of Europa. The film recounts the heroism of WWII monument men, soldiers tasked with protecting the most priceless artifacts of Western Civilization. Berge tells the story of two veteran monument men debating the film’s central question: can a work of art be more valuable than a human life?
(Subscribe to FilmCouch–Spout’s weekly movie podcast–in the iTunes store or to our RSS feed and an episode will download each Friday)
0:00 - Intro, send us your Olympian movie pitch
3:55 - Primary
12:33 - Karina on Gene Kelly vs. Fred Astaire, and Nastia Liukin’s future in Hollywood
24:16 - The Rape of Europa
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We take this brief break from our wall-to-wall SXSW coverage to link to the competition line-up for 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, currently posted at indieWIRE. As you know, Baby Mama will open the festival; according to The Reeler, Speed Racer will close it. Here’s a look at a few titles of interest in between:
Shane Meadows’ Somers Town, previously mentioned here.
Guest of Cindy Sherman. Official synopsis: “Analyzing his relationship with reclusive artist Cindy Sherman leads videographer Paul H-O to confront his own ego and identity in this personal and often humorous documentary, which features unprecedented access to Sherman and a unique view of the New York art world.”
Chevolution. Official synopsis: “How did the iconic image of Che Guevara end up on beer bottles and bikinis? This inquiry into the ethics and aesthetics of appropriation investigates how the enduring symbol of Cuba’s Communist Revolution skyrocketed to fame and was ultimately devoured by its own worst enemy: capitalism. English, Spanish with English subtitles.”
I Am Because We Are. Madonna saves orphans.
A President to Remember. Directed by Robert Drew. Synopsis: “Culled from “direct cinema” pioneer Robert Drew’s unparalleled behind-the-scenes footage of JFK at work in the Oval Office, and the events that brought him there, this remarkable film proves a timely update of the Kennedy mythos and an eerily intimate portrait of the now-legendary man himself.”
