Please Give

Please Give (2010) d: Nicole Holofcener, Sony Pictures Classics.

Funny, sweet, and melancholy, all at the same.  This is a movie about the intersection of various characters in each other's lives: two sisters, one in her earlier twenties, the other a little older; their elderly grandmother; a couple in their forties who live next to the grandmother; and the couple's fifteen-year-old daughter.  Each character is just a little bit lost, a little bit adrift.  The grandmother is just plain rude.  I loved this picture.  Nicole Holofcener, doesn't make pictures often, but when she does they're fantastic.  The actors in this are all fantastic as well.  Catherine Keener can do no wrong.  Rebecca Hall is perfect in this.  Sarah Steele, as the daughter with acne, has a couple of killer lines.  This is indie dramedy at its best, folks.  A gem.  5 out of 5 stars.

Old Movies on Blu-Ray

I recently upgraded to a hi-def TV and a blu-ray player. I've thus been using Netflix to rent blu-rays of old movies like The Graduate, Young Frankenstein, and North by Northwest. However, I've been disappointed in Netflix's selection of blu-rays. The company makes perfectly clear that they are devoting their resources to streaming. Well, I tried out the streaming service on my TV, and I have to say, it doesn't compare to blu-ray. Also, I really like commentaries and extra features, stuff you don't get with streaming. So I'm stuck. I've been a Netflix member since 2002. The other services that do DVD by mail, Blockbuster and Greencine, don't have appreciably better blu-ray selections. Here are some movies available on blu-ray that Netflix doesn't carry:

Noroious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946)
The Night of the Hunter (C. Laughton, 1955)
Sweet Smell of Success (A. Mackendrick, 1957)
The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
Charade (Stanley Donen, 1963)
Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
Broadcast News (James L. Brooks, 1987)
Yi Yi (A One and a Two...) (Edward Yang, 2000)
The Darjeeling Limited (Wes Anderson, 2007)

If there was a better blu-ray/dvd by mail service out there, I would use it. Until then, I would encourage Netflix users reading this to call Netflix Customer Service to request the above titles: 1-888-811-1933.

Netflix has succeeded in killing off most of the independent video stores around the country. If one survives near you, by all means give them your business. Here are my favorite Puget Sound area video stores:

Scarecrow Video, Seattle.
Stadium Video, Tacoma.
Film is Truth, Bellingham
Rainy Day Records and Video, Olympia.

Once video stores are gone, they're unlikely to come back. I've always loved video stores; I've spent time in all the above stores just browsing for fun.

By the way, I called each of the above stores to see if they had Charade on blu-ray. Only Scarecrow had it. Please support Scarecrow, Seattle.

Old Ideas, Leonard Cohen

Old Ideas, Leonard Cohen, Columbia Records, 2012.

These are not exactly pop songs.  They're dour, hushed, and more spoken than sung.  But Cohen is a poet and these songs are poems.  And the songs are quite beautiful, in a dark sort of way.  Cohen is now 77 years old and you can hear the years in his voice.  The background instrumentation is spare, but backup singers pop in now and then to liven things up.  Actually, the last song on the album, "Different Sides," is kind of catchy.  Also, is that a great cover, or what?  Leonard Cohen is a living treasure and we are lucky that he is still with us and making music.  5 out of 5 stars. 

Submarine

Submarine (2011) d: Richard Ayoade, The Weinstein Company.

I guess you could call this a somber comedy.  It's set in Wales, which is dark and grey and by the ocean.  The protagonist is Oliver, who is sort of withdrawn, and into literature and silent films.  However, he is nothing if not enterprising.  His father is stoic and his mother is bored.  He is attracted to a classmate who seems a bit dour and has a fondness for matches.  The film is directed by Richard Ayoade, best known for his role as Moss on the very broad British sitcom The IT Crowd.  As a director, Ayoade is a bit of an auteur.  The film utilizes freeze frames, slow motion, dream sequences, Wes Anderson-like titles, exaggerated music cues, etc.  I liked the film and I generally liked the aesthetic Ayoade was going for.  The film is not as compelling as some of the classics in the disaffected youth comin-of-age genre,  but it has style and some humor and some genuine moments (the ending, for one).  Craig Roberts captures the earnestness of Oliver and Yasmin Paige conveys melancholy and mischievousness in his girlfriend Jordana.  Both are well cast.  For that segment of the population for which Harold and Maude is a seminal film, Submarine is a must-watch.  3 out of 5 stars.

Youth in Revolt

Youth in Revolt (2010) d: Miguel Arteta, Dimension Films.

A severely truncated adaptation of the book, but still very awesome. Humor pretty much stays in tact, and the casting is so good: Buscemi, Liotta, Galifanakis, Fred Willard, Jean Smart. Most importantly, Mike Cera and Portia Doubleday work as Nick and Sheeni. And Cera pulls of Francois perfectly. I only wish the film were longer to get more of the book on screen. Because, honestly, the book is some of the funniest shit I've ever read. Oh, and the animation sequences in this are pretty great as well. 4 out of 5 stars.