My day got off to a slow start with this film about a young woman who needed to discover . . . something. I'm not quite sure what, but I do know that she needed the help of five animated dogs that served as a Greek chorus, voiced by David Cross, Eli Wallach, Andrea Martin, and others (oddly enough, it featured H. Jon Benjamin in a rare live-action role). All of this was scored by Yo La Tengo.
Any Philadelphian will recognize Isaiah Zagar's mixed-medium mosaics on South Street and throughout the city but they probably don't know much about the man himself. Fortunately, his son made a wonderful documentary about him (at the bequest of his mother). At least, the project started off as a portrait of his father as an artist but it ended up becoming an examination of a difficult time in his parents marriage. One member of the audience described this film as the bravest thing she'd ever seen any family do and I have to agree. It's a brutally honest film about imperfect people who have to come to terms with their self-inflicted wounds. If you ever get the chance, you should see it.
The director said it shouldn't have been made. This movie is so indecent that I don't think I should even try to summarize it. Hell, that mutant baby pictured above only scratches the surface of this film's depravity. I loved it!
This is the type of movie that is almost made Oscar nominated. It's a moving portrait about how people's lives can altered by chance encounters and then torn apart by an unfeeling bureaucracy. It's full of really strong performances and it even deals with a current social issue (immigration policy in post-9/11 America) by focusing on how it affects individuals on a personal level. You should catch it when it's at the Ritz. And it will, undoubtedly, play at the Ritz.
Inspired by the horrifying real-life events of a woman who hit a homeless man with her car and then parked in her garage with the victim still embedded in the windshield, alive and pleading for help, this film packs a powerful punch. The main character's refusal to assist a dying man or even acknowledge her responsibility for the situation is chilling. That being said, this is also a movie from the man who brought you Re-Animator, so it's got a few laughs. It's a really smart film and in many ways it's the opposite of a standard horror film. In this movie the unstoppable foe who continues to come back from the dead is the innocent victim while the horny co-eds are the merciless villains.
No comments:
Post a Comment