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I wish more people understood this simple fact!
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The Americans
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Inside Out LGBT 2013: ‘Animals’ is Ted if M. Night Shyamalan directed it
Is that thing real, or is that kid just crazy? Thats what you’ll be asking yourself during the first half of this movie. We follow Pol, a handsome young high school student in Spain. Pol carries on a friendship in private with a small living (and apparently breathing) teddy bear named Deerhoof. The two play in a rock band together and discuss conflicts with each other. When Pol meets and falls for Ikari, the new mysterious boy in school, things start to take a dark turn as Pol has to either embrace or reject the influence of his new lover.
Watch this trailer!
Carrie, 1976 USA
Written by Lawrence D. Cohen (based on Stephen King’s novel)
Directed by Brian De Palma
The Killer Snakes (she sha shou), 1975 Hong Kong
Written by Kuang Ni
Directed by Chih-Hung Kuei
Australian Cinema: ‘Bad Boy Bubby’ and ‘Animal Kingdom’
Sound On Sight PODCAST REWIND #256
This week, we take on three very different flicks hailing from the great nation of Australia, all three of which are way overdue for our coverage. First up, and garnering a bit of Oscar buzz for co-star Jacki Weaver, is the coming-of-age/mob flick Animal Kingdom. We’ll also be talking about the sleeper-hit neo-noir thrillerThe Square, before moving on to a disturbing, enthralling cult pic by the name ofBad Boy Bubby, a recent Blue Underground DVD release that shares some disturbed DNA with recent art-film cause-célebre Dogtooth.
Terrence Malick / The Tree of Life, pt. 2
Sound on Sight PODCAST REWIND #278
It’s been a couple of weeks since we first reviewed director Terrence Malick’s latest, the Palme d’Or-winning The Tree of Life, and since then it has rolled out to most decent cities, bringing with it a lively discussion about the film’s merits. We thought it would be fun to discuss it again, this time with the help of returning guest Olivier Cruerer. While we’re at it, we also get to talking about Malick’s two other post-comeback films, 1999′s The Thin Red Line and 2005′s The New World.
Best of Bad Cinema – ‘The Room’
The Room
Written by Tommy Wiseau
Directed by Tommy Wiseau
USA, 2003
The Room has been referred to as the Citizen Kane of bad movies. This is due to the fact that Tommy Wiseau wrote, produced, directed and starred in the picture, like Orson Welles. Following suit with Welles, Wiseau has likely achieved his magnum opus the first time out as it’s fairly unlikely he’ll be able to top the epic awesomeness of The Room. In fact it’s the adorably cartoonish presence of Wiseau that makes The Room bad movie gold. Looking like a sedated Robert Downey Jr. on a bad day, Wiseau brings a heartfelt and sincere feel to the film in the same vein as the legendary master of all things bad Ed Wood.
The film starts off with a series of shots of San Francisco, which are on par with vacation home videos. Wiseau uses these establishing shots of famous landmarks throughout the film when he cuts from one scene to another. We get it buddy we’re still in San Francisco. After the intro we’re then immediately introduced to the main character Johnny (played by Tommy Wiseau, yup originality runs deep here) his girlfriend Lisa, who he repeatedly remarks is both beautiful and sexy, and their neighbor Danny who acts as a surrogate son of sorts. The playful interaction of the three makes this painfully obvious as they horse around until Danny is asked to leave. Cue the soft-core porn music and one incredible awkward and unsexy love making scene. Don’t worry, there are two or three more of these bizarre moments to come and they’re each like 3-5 minutes long.
REWIND - ‘Night of the Living Dead’, ‘Dawn of the Dead’ and ‘Day of the Dead’ with guest George A. Romero
Sordid Cinema Podcast #1
In 1968, director George A. Romero transformed cinematic zombies from a bunch of brain-damaged Haitians working on farms to a cannibalistic apocalyptic plague with Night of the Living Dead. The influential film was also helped solidify horror as a genre which filmmakers could experiment with fantasy as social allegory, draping metaphor in flayed skin and decorative loops of intestine. Following Night of the Living Dead, Romero has re-visited the well of the living dead five times and counting, with Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead, diary of the Dead, and this year’s Survival of the Dead. Today, in the inaugural podcast from Sound on Sight spinoff show, your hosts Ricky D, Detroit Burns, and Al Kratina discuss George A. Romero’s influential zombie series starting with the original trilogy.
‘Nest of Vipers’ showcases Giulio Petroni’s complex plotting and atmospheric set pieces
Nest of Vipers (Night of the Serpent)
Directed by Giulio Petroni
Italy, 1969
Though Giulio Petroni has only rather few titles to his name when compared with his prolific, and better known, counterparts, the Italian director does have the bragging rights of working with both Lee Van Cleef (Death Rides a Horse, 1967) and Orson Welles (Tepepa, 1969).
It’s Petroni’s Nest of Vipers, recently released alongside Pierro Pierotti’s less successful Tails You Lose (1969), by Wild East Productions, that showcases the director’s talent for complex plotting and atmospheric set pieces.
Similar to the earlier Ringo series by Duccio Tessari, and to the now time-honored traditions of Leone and Corbucci, the structure of Nest of Vipers pits the outsider (here, and often, the“gringo”) versus a band of outlaws, where a largely unassuming and tight-knit community is caught in between and unawares.
Luke Askew, probably best known for roles in Easy Rider and Cool Hand Luke, plays Luke, the drunk sharpshooter with a dark past, sent on a mission to kill a child to help his employer’s contact gain a $10,000 inheritance. The plot is complex, particularly when pitted alongside many of the lesser Spaghetti Westerns of the late period, and Petroni and co-writers Fulvio and Lorenzo Gicca Palli do well to start the narrative somewhat obtusely with a mostly unseen murder, shot through a rainy window:
“True Grit” – two movies; a generation apart
‘True Grit’
1969, written by Marguerite Roberts and directed by Henry Hathaway.
Starring John Wayne, Glen Campbell, Jeff Corey and Kim Darcy.
‘True Grit’
2010, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.
Screenplay by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on True Grit by Charles Portis.
Starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and introducing Hailee Steinfeld.
It is strange to think that one genre can be closely connected to just one actor. When someone mentions silent cinema, people think Charlie Chaplin; martial arts, Bruce Lee and Westerns? It seems that the poster boy for many Western films is John Wayne. Even though his career included over 140 films, he received his only Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal as US Marshal ‘Rooster’ Cogburn in True Grit, the 1969 adaptation of Charles Portis’ novel, directed by Henry Hathaway. The film follows young Mattie Ross (played by Kim Darcy), as she recruits Cogburn to avenge her father’s killer Tom Cheney (Jeff Corey) and accompanies him and Texas Ranger LeBoeuf (Glen Campbell) into Indian Territory to track Cheney, in order to bring him to justice.
In modern terms, True Grit could almost be called a glamorous Western – with its rich Technicolor, the landscapes are extremely picturesque. Compared to the Sergio Leone-style Westerns, it is like the rough edges of what is a gritty genre have been polished off to contend with the lavish expensive films released in the same era, such as Cleopatra (1963) starring the late Elizabeth Taylor. Hathaway’s decision to stray the story away from Portis’ text, by using an original script by Marguerite Roberts and sticking with a happy ending, lessens the drama of a Western rather than reaffirm the sense of duty and justice shared by the protagonists.
Staff List: The Best Films of 2012
To say that none of the 40 + films on our staff-voted list is universally beloved is putting it mildly; but then, that’s the nature of polls like these. Every year we’ve run this poll, there’s been a runaway winner; this year, the top film crossed the three-hundred-point threshold, a first here at Sound On Sight. Not since Inglourious Basterds has a film run away so clearly with the number one spot. Our top choice received unbelievable love and support from everyone, nearly doubling the amount of points of our second place pick.
Nobody will agree on each entry, but keep in mind, Sound On Sight has always been a place that bridges the gap between mainstream and independent cinema. We love foreign films but we also love genre pics and documentaries. In other words, we cover it all, or at least we try.
With more movies in limited and general release than ever before, 2012 was a ridiculously crowded year for both casual and discerning moviegoers alike. Usually we publish a list of 25 entries but this year we’ve extended it to 40. There is just far too much to choose from and we cover too much ground to limit it to any less.
2012 was the year of disappointing blockbusters yet somehow a few managed to sneak onto the list. The year’s top grossing movie only reached the twelfth spot, and one director managed to get in two movies. Ten foreign-language films made the cut, as well as five documentaries. Twenty six contributors from around the world participated, and every film listed below received at least three votes. (In the event of a tie, which only occurs when the films get the same number of votes AND points, they share the poll number. Got it?) Yes, we have a mad method on how to calculate the results, but every year our method proves to work – in the sense that it really reflects our entire staff and our year-long-coverage.
Worth noting: Since our staff is spread out across the globe, sometimes a film will appear on our list two years in a row due to having different release dates world wide. This year, that honour goes to Once Upon A Time In Anatolia.
Anyone looking for We Need To Talk About Kevin or Kill List can refer to last year’s list.
****
#39: The Raid: Redemption (32 points)
Written and directed by Gareth Evans
Indonesia/USA, 2011
The Raid is an action thriller with unmistakable, specific influences, but one that combines them with its own unique qualities to provide a particularly potent collection of thrills. Made in Indonesia but directed by a Welshman, the simple but effective plot of Gareth Evans’ film is almost like a mix of two of its clear influences, Die Hard and Assault on Precinct 13. A derelict apartment building in the heart of Jakarta’s slums acts as a seemingly impenetrable safe house for a ruthless gangster and an array of killers and thugs. Tasked with raiding the fortress and capturing the vicious drug lord who runs it, an elite police team enters the building while under the cover of pre-dawn darkness and silence, only for an unexpected witness to reveal their presence to the criminals in charge. The members of the unit, protagonist Rama among them, suddenly find themselves stranded and easy targets on the sixth floor. With the lights cut off, all exits blocked and a hive of the city’s most deadly criminals looking to exterminate them, the team must fight their way out to survive… (read the full review)
Josh Slater-Williams
#39 (tie): How to Survive a Plague (32 points)
Directed by David France
USA, 2012
How to Survive a Plague is a compelling look at LGBT protesters during the AIDS crisis in the 80′s and 90′s. The story follows two coalitions, ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group), whose activism and research turned AIDS from a death sentence into a liveable condition. Plague isn’t about the history of the disease, instead about the history of a movement. Despite having no scientific training, these self-made activists provided a template of how grassroots activism can temper societal and governmental prejudice. In challenging the pharmaceutical industry, these men and women helped discover promising new drugs, while fighting to move them from experimental trials and directly to patients in record time. First time filmmaker David France transports viewers right in the moment of the height of the crisis by using everything in his reach: interviews, broadcasts, news reports, home videos and more. When it’s over, this documentary lingers as a testament of extraordinary determination and the will to survive. How To Survive A Plague is impressionistic in its scope, extremely moving, astonishing, important and downright inspiring. No other film in 2012 left me with tears flooding down my cheeks.
Ricky D
#38: The Comedy (33 points)
Directed by Rick Alverson
Written by Robert Donne
USA, 2012
Musician-turned-filmmaker Rick Alverson obliterates American indie-film propriety in The Comedy, an alternately brutal, repellent, and (yes) hilarious hyper-black satire(?) that also happens to function as the logical endpoint of the current cinematic obsession with man-children. Tim Heidecker (still, and likely forever, best known for Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job) pulls off the fairly incredible trick of bringing to life one of the most despicable antiheroes in film history, a man semingly incapable of sincerity or affection, and imbuing him with some semblance of a poisoned inner life. Ambiguous and compelling, Alverson’s film is designed to polarize and offend, but also to embed itself in your consciousness.
