Whole New Thing

Apparently this movie appeared in the Gothenburg International Film Festival a few years back. I however managed to completely miss it which I remedied the other night. I had no expectations in particular and no real feeling about it acquired from trailers, reviews or what-not.

In many ways it is standard north American independent film. The production was fine, as were the actors. The issues that are dealt with, finding one's sexuality, growing up, being an outsider, are common to this genre. Curiously it shares themes with high school movies, even though here they are taken (allegedly at least) more seriously.

The Canadian winter works as an effective frame for the story underlining the isolation the characters all feel. We get to follow Emerson, a homeschooled genius kid and how troublesome he finds it settling in school. His parents are slowly drifting apart, each of them dealing with it differently, but both destructively. Emerson finds an ally and something of an intellectual match in his teacher mr Grant. Presumably due to his having little contact with the world outside of his parents hippie-like friends Emerson explores his relation to his teacher too far.

It provides an interesting watch though one has the feeling one has seen precisely this before. The problem of the movie is neither in the plot nor the themes but in some of the character development which seems rather strange at times. None-the-less this is a fairly good movie and is worth a watch.

Primer

There's one problem with watching a lot of movies and that's the fact that it gets harder and harder to be impressed by a movie. But it's still worth it because once in a while you stumble across a movie that completely blows you away. Primer is exactly that kind of movie. Written/directed/produced/edited by Shane Carruth (who also acts) on a silly small budget of $7000 this movie really shows how far pure skill and ingenuity can take a movie. Unlike most new "independent" movies, which in fact are produced by subdivisions of the major Hollywood-studios, this is proper independent cinema.

The movie is a sci-fi story revolving around a group of engineers that spend their spare time working on various inventions, and strike gold when they realise that they've constructed a time-machine. The consequences of this discovery are devastating and very complicated to say the least. The plot is in fact so intricate that I don't hesitate to say that this is the most intellectually demanding plots I've ever seen. It really requires you to focus and you're not given any Hollywood-style simple explanations. I've seen this movie 3 times and still haven't figured out the plot completely.

One reason why I really like the movie could be that I sympathise with the geekiness of the characters and enjoy the scientific edge to the movie, but I think this movie should appeal to anyone who likes challenging movies and appreciates the craft that goes into making them.

Charles Chaplin

I recently sat down and saw "Modern Times" and "City Lights", both being generally considered as Chaplin's best silent films. Now, I've been putting this off for awhile for reasons I myself do not even know. Maybe I was scared that they wouldn't be all that good. It seems as though every critic on the face of the earth praise these movies without even thinking about it. The thing is, they are that good. Now, for those of you wondering "why?" I'll tell you why.
First of all, they're hilarious, period. Some people claiming to be academics or maybe people considering themselves especially intelligent might frown and think it below them to watch a guy that stumbles around, well, fuck you. It is funny, it is just that the art of slap-stick has been sorely forgotten and abused over the years. Watching Chaplin is watching the master at work. Just observe his movements and the expressiveness of his face, it truly boggles the mind.
Secondly, Chaplin has a large heart and wasn't afraid to be sentimental. This might also be something some people might frown about, fuck them as well. I do not hold anything against sentimentality if it is done for the right reasons. Charlie did it for the right reason, which is plain to see.
Thirdly, and finally, these are intelligent movies and you should go see them as soon as you can (if you haven't already).