2053 - The One I Love

The trailer for this intrigued the hell out of me.  Combined with the fact that I adore Elisabeth Moss and really dig the Duplass brother’s stuff it had me at hello.  

Part of the fun of the film is the mystery element, and I don’t want to say too much.  It’s about a husband and wife who are at their wit’s end of what to do with each other, and then at the advice of their therapist they go to a retreat-esque cabin where all goes really well… too well… and they start to question that. 

The best part of the film is how the “element” (as I’ll call it in a non-spoilery way) does a really beautiful job of dissecting relationship issues in a fun, fresh, and really really smart way.  I LOVED that about the film.  The worst part is how the “element” closer to the end tries to explain itself in a realistic way, and almost destroys what came before by doing so.  I HATED that about the film.  So this is a tough one for me.  I think it’s worth seeing for sure, but by the end I didn’t love it as much as I did at about the half-way mark.  The performances are fantastic and the ideas are interesting - so based on that alone I can recommend it.  It’s definitely a conversation piece.  I’d say give it a go if you’re a fan of the cast and like messed up loved stories and think pieces.

2002 - Bad Milo

We were catching up on episodes of Jim Henson's Creature Workshop, and so I felt like watching something puppet oriented and remembered that I had this in my netflix que.  It's the story of a man who has a creature living in his ass, and when people/life stresses him out, the little guy crawls out and attacks those who are causing him the stress.  It's a perfect and beautiful metaphor for human interactions (seriously).  This also calls back to some of the fun shlocky horror films of the 80's and early 90's that I watched in my youth.  Lots of great little creature moments.  Gillian Jacobs is the love interest here and I adore the hell out of her as per usual.  The creature is adorable and fantastically creepy all at the same design to kudos to whoever did the work here.
Story wise it's a pretty fun ride, there's a nice little twist at the end, more of an additional element that made me grin a lot.  This is a film full of great ideas and smart execution.  If you want to watch a really fun horror-comedy with just enough of social commentary then this is a must watch.

1767 - Jeff, Who Lives at Home

I'm a big fan of the Duplass Brothers and their success - I think it's well deserved.  I think that, like Jeff in this film, they were in the right place at the right time and ready for it.  They tell simple stories but ones that are just rife with wonderfully comedic, but painfully honest moments - and this is no exception.  The story is, literally, about a stoner son who is sent out to buy wood glue for his mother and the events that transpire around it.  Jeff is obsessed with the idea of fate and things happening for a reason and this day will test that in really great ways.
Filled with talents that I adore - Jason Segal, Ed Helms, Susan Sarandon, and Judy Greer (who can do no wrong in my book) - each character gets a solid moment to shine here. 
Is some of it heavy handed?  Perhaps - actually - yeah, sure.  But it never steps into melodrama, it doesn't need to.  It just got added to Netflix recently so there's no time but the present to check out this really solid little flick!

1690 - Hannah Takes The Stairs

Regular visitors of this blog will note that I've had a lazy viewing/reading month.  I swear it's 'cause I'm working my ass on something (which will be revealed in a few weeks).  But I decided to take a break tonight to wade through another film by Joe Swanberg.  What's really interesting in this film is how tight he shoots everything.  I don't know if it's to capture subtleties of actors or if it's to hide the extremely bland locations that they're in - somehow it works.
This film was a tad frustration on a few levels - technically it was difficult to make out the audio at some points, and just from a story point of view - I'm not really sure what story they were trying to tell here... It's almost about a woman who can't stand to be along or focus on herself so she attaches herself to men to avoid that.  I don't know.  It's pretty unfocused.  That said, I enjoyed the characters quite a bit.  I know that Swanberg works pretty lose, so it's hard to know who to credit for what on a film like this.  The film works largely because Greta Gerwig is so goddamn watchable.  She's one of those actresses incapable of a false move, I never feel like she's trying something - she's always being it.  She deserves all the success she's been getting.
Like Swanberg's other efforts this is the kind of film you'll either love or hate.  I liked it.

1607 - Cyrus

I got around to this film a lot later than I wanted to, but better that than never, right?  I bought this DVD at a blockbuster closing sale, but I think it's on netflix as well.  Cyrus is the story of a lovable lug, John C. Reilly, who finally meets the right woman, but she's living with a needy grow-up-son, and (as expected) the two clash.
What I like in particular about how the Duplass clan approaches story telling is that it's plot by character growth.  This could have very very easily been a big broad comedy with these two men one-upping one another in outrageous ways, but I think the harder choice was to really ground this in reality and make us really feel for these characters and all of their struggles.  There is a particularly lovely device that's used where a speech/reflection from a previous or soon to come scene plays at voice-over during a scene that cleverly punctuates it.  Hill could just be a big goof, but he's human and flawed and comes to terms with that.  Most men would wonder - why put up with that shit?  But the set-u for Reilly character is perfect, and honestly, who wouldn't want to be with this smart, sexy, and fun Marissa Tomei?!  She and Reilly have a lovely chemistry together and it makes the story work because of it (not that there are story problems, far from it). 
This is by no means laugh-out-loud, but there's some great chuckles, but more importantly it's about dealing with change when you're not ready to and don't know how.  It's a lovely, lovely film and I recommend it for anyone who likes good character romance and drama. 
Cyrus  Cyrus [Blu-ray]

1596 - The Freebie

I really dig Katie Aselton from the other Duplass projects and I was excited by the idea of this film when I'd heard about it - and then even more excited when I learned that it would be playing at the Calgary International Film Festival in the same program as my film The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard - but then disappointed when I learned that it was screening in the same slot in another theatre.  Alas!
So I picked this up in a Blockbuster closing sale.  For those that are unfamiliar it's a film about a couple that hasn't had sex in a long time, and doesn't really have a strong desire to.  They love each other, but their relationship is closer to best friends than lovers - so they pose the question... what if we both had a one night stand to try and put the spark back into our relationship?  What follows is the exploration of that idea, what goes through your mind in the lead-up to it, in the aftermath, etc...
This isn't a film for everyone, shot in an off-the-cuff improvised style, but I don't think that you go into a film like this without having an interest in alternative-indpendant cinema. 
Anyone that's been in a long term relationship knows the issues that these characters face.  For it's 77 minute running time Aselton packs a lot into this film and it turns out really lovely performances by herself and Dax Shepard.  For those who like relationship films that are on the talky-side and explore ideas, this will probably be up your alley - for those looking for a quirky rom-com, this ain't it.
Enjoy!
The Freebie

1496 - Baghead

 

If you're up on independent films then you've probably heard of the Duplass Brothers and their group of likewise filmmakers, mostly responsible for the mumblecore movement.  They have that great attitude of - let's just go out and do the goddamn thing.  

So on this outing the film is about a group of unknown actors who decide that the only way to get their careers going is to make their own film - so they run off to the woods to try and write a groundbreaking film over the weekend and along their way their inspiration starts to come true.

This film has a rawness to it that people will either love or hate depending on their sensibilities.  It doesn't bother me, and inside of that you discover a wonderful talent, such as Greta Gerwig.  

What's really great about this little film is that it starts off a bit silly and self-aware, and while it doesn't lose that, it does merge into the horror genre quite well and actually gets pretty scary towards the end.  

What I liked most about this is the realistic choice that the characters make throughout.  They feel real and that's not normal for a horror film.

This isn't going to give you gore, so don't bother if that's what you're after.  It's just a fun little flick that's got some interesting, often clever, things going on.  Check it out of you're curious!

Baghead 

1340 - Humpday

This film has been talked about quite a bit, based solely, I think, on the premise - which is essentially two heterosexual friends daring each other to have sex with them on camera.
This comes out of the Duplass methodology which started back with The Puffy Chair. It is unscripted and completely improvised - I'm not quite sure how much of an outline existed. I'd be curious to know.
The film is an entertaining one and the cast is charming. I particularily enjoyed Alycia Delmore and found that she really grounded the whole thing. Sadly I wasn't blown away by this. I enjoyed it and would gladly recommend it to anyone into independant film made experimentally.

1056 - The Puffy Chair

This is a film that I found myself liking more and more as I went along. I won't go into super great details about the specific things I liked since this is the kind of film a lot of people haven't really heard about, so I don't want to ruin anything.

This is the kind of film that would live or die by it's cast. Full of unknowns, the cast is fantastic. They feel like real people complete with real problems and real shit that they need to work out. This is a great twenty-something film full of some really realistic sequences which anyone whose every been in a long relationship with be familiar with.

The worst I can say about the film without ruining too much is that it's 86 minutes and it feels like it's stretching even to get to that. That being said I don't know how much more you could have added to the story without it feeling overdone.

I could recommend this film to anyone who likes movies about human relationships. It's worth the rental.