Golden Globe Nominations 2010

The Golden Globe nominations are in and have proven what a strange year it has been for Hollywood. While two nods for Meryl Streep is usually an annual affair, two for Sandra Bullock is just about unheard-of; Matt Damon makes the third actor with two nominations. In the non-acting categories, Jason Reitman and Quentin Tarantino received two nominations for directing and writing. As usual, the nominations were all over the board, giving recognition to films most people would would argue don't deserve it (Nine, Avatar, Tobey Maguire... at least if early word is accurate). But the two best moves the Hollywood Foreign Press made were ignoring both Lee Daniels and Rob Marshall in the directing category. I've discussed Daniels previously, but Marshall is quite possibly one of the worst directors in Hollywood. Chicago worked (for the most part) as a result of its source material and Catherine Zeta-Jones, but pay attention to any of the non-musical scenes, and you'll see that the guy can't direct for shit.

So who was missing, in terms of expectations? Invictus for picture, even though ol' Clint got a directing nod; Jeremy Renner; A Single Man in any non-acting category; Samantha Morton and Ben Foster; In the Loop, period; the Coens and A Serious Man in the Musical/Comedy category; and of course Tilda Swinton, though Julia came out so early this year, all the award folk have forgotten. Oh, and also, Mariah Carey. Full nominees, including the television categories and film music ones (Karen O. is now a GG nominee), via the press release.

Best Picture - Drama

- Avatar, d. James Cameron
- The Hurt Locker, d. Kathryn Bigelow
- Inglourious Basterds, d. Quentin Tarantino
- Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, d. Lee Daniels
- Up in the Air, d. Jason Reitman

Best Picture - Musical/Comedy

- (500) Days of Summer, d. Marc Webb
- The Hangover, d. Todd Phillips
- It's Complicated, d. Nancy Meyers
- Julie & Julia, d. Nora Ephron
- Nine, d. Rob Marshall

Best Director

- Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
- James Cameron, Avatar
- Clint Eastwood, Invictus
- Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
- Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Best Actor - Drama

- Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
- George Clooney, Up in the Air
- Colin Firth, A Single Man
- Morgan Freeman, Invictus
- Tobey Maguire, Brothers

Best Actress - Drama

- Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria
- Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
- Helen Mirren, The Last Station
- Carey Mulligan, An Education
- Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

Best Actor - M/C

- Matt Damon, The Informant!
- Daniel Day-Lewis, Nine
- Robert Downey, Jr., Sherlock Holmes
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer
- Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man

Best Actress - M/C

- Sandra Bullock, The Proposition
- Marion Cotillard, Nine
- Julia Roberts, Duplicity
- Meryl Streep, It's Complicated
- Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actor

- Matt Damon, Invictus
- Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
- Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
- Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
- Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress

- Penélope Cruz, Nine
- Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
- Anna Kenrick, Up in the Air
- Mo'Nique - Precious
- Julianne Moore, A Single Man

Best Screenplay

- Neill Blomkamp, District 9
- Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
- Nancy Meyers, It's Complicated
- Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
- Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Foreign-Language Film

- Baarìa, d. Giuseppe Tornatore, Italy
- Broken Embraces [Los abrazos rotos], d. Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
- The Maid [La nana], d. Sebastián Silva, Chile
- A Prophet [Un prophète], d. Jacques Audiard, France
- The White Ribbon [Das weiße Band], d. Michael Haneke, Austria/Germany/France/Italy

Animated Feature

- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, d. Phil Lord, Chris Miller
- Coraline, d. Henry Selick
- Fantastic Mr. Fox, d. Wes Anderson
- The Princess and the Frog, d. Ron Clements, John Musker
- Up, d. Peter Docter, Bob Peterson

All My Friends: Millennium Mambo, Take 3: Mike Hassler

For something like three years, Mike Hassler and I suffered working for the same horrible company, which is where we met and where my first impressions of him were from another co-worker who informed me that Mike really liked the movie Electra. Thankfully, I soon learned that his admiration for the Daredevil spin-off was neither a fluke nor indicative of his taste on a larger scale (thankfully). Shortly afterward, we would spend most of our time on the clock creating a real-time commentary for the Sister Act saga, throwing themed music nights (the soundtrack night/weekend was the highlight of which), making up elaborately perverse fantasy lives for the motley crew of customers we had to encounter every week and occasionally convincing one another to take home DVDs we wouldn't give a second look (sometimes out of curiosity, other times out of malice, often just to fuck with one another). Mike occasionally updates his blog Heteroerotica with film and music write-ups (and, yes, he was the one who chose his Amy Winehouse Halloween costume photo). Thanks, Mike.

On Film: I like to think I hit middle ground -- not too snobby, but people can point fingers. I haven’t had the time to watch or rewatch all that I would like to, but I’m happy enough with my list. I know I’ve forgotten things, and I’m positive I’ve jumbled the order so many times that they’re probably not in any particular order outside of the first few. Congrats to Greengrass for making it twice. [Editors note: Quentin Tarantino only made the list twice due to Mike including a 1999 film in the 25th spot.]

01. Oldboy, 2003, d. Park Chan-wook, South Korea
02. The Piano Teacher [La pianiste], 2001, d. Michael Haneke, Austria/France/Germany/Poland
03. Hedwig and the Angry Inch, 2001, d. John Cameron Mitchell, USA
04. The Squid and the Whale, 2005, d. Noah Baumbach, USA
05. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly [Le scaphandre et le papillon], d. Julian Schnabel, France/USA
06. The Shape of Things, 2003, d. Neil LaBute, USA/France/UK
07. Fat Girl [À ma sœur!], 2001, d. Catherine Breillat, France/Italy
08. The Beat My Heart Skipped [De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté], 2005, d. Jacques Audiard, France
09. Inside [À l'intérieur], 2007, d. Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury, France
10. Rachel Getting Married, 2008, d. Jonathan Demme, USA
11. OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies [OSS 117: Le Caire, nid d'espions], 2006, d. Michel Hazanavicius, France
12. Once, 2006, d. John Carney, Ireland
13. Bloody Sunday, 2002, d. Paul Greengrass, Ireland/UK
14. A Bittersweet Life, 2005, d. Kim Ji-woon, South Korea
15. Inglourious Basterds, 2009, d. Quentin Tarantino, USA/Germany
16. The Incredibles, 2004, d. Brad Bird, USA
17. Chopper, 2000, d. Andrew Dominik, Australia
18. Murder on a Sunday Morning [Un couple idéal], 2001, d. Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, France/USA
19. Ip Man, 2008, d. Wilson Yip, Hong Kong
20. Love Exposure, 2008, d. Sion Sono, Japan
21. House of Sand and Fog, 2003, d. Vadim Perelman, USA
22. Mulholland Drive, 2001, d. David Lynch, France/USA
23. There Will Be Blood, 2007, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, USA
24. The Bourne Supremacy, 2004, d. Paul Greengrass, USA/Germany
25. Grindhouse, 2007, d. Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Rob Zombie, Edgar Wright, Eli Roth


On Music: Likewise here, I'm positive I've missed things, but decided to go with what I believe have had the most spins.

01. Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007)
02. Kings of Leon - Youth and Young Manhood (2003)
03. Lupe Fiasco - The Cool (2007)
04. Portishead - Third (2008)
05. Clipse - Lord Willin’ (2002)
06. Muse - Origin of Symmetry (2001)
07. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black (2006)
08. Coldplay - X & Y (2005)
09. PJ Harvey - Uh Huh Her (2004)
10. Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R (2000)
11. Thrice - Vheissu (2005)
12. The Damnwells - Air Stereo (2006)
13. Kanye West - College Dropout (2004)
14. Espers - II (2006)
15. Sigur Rós - Takk... (2005)
16. Louis XIV - The Best Little Secrets Are Kept (2005)
17. Doves - Lost Souls (2000)
18. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple (2008)
19. The Strokes - Room on Fire (2003)
20. Iron and Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days (2004)
21. Ray LaMontagne - Trouble (2004)
22. The Roots - Rising Down (2008)
23. Interpol - Turn On the Bright Lights (2002)
24. The Darkness - Permission to Land (2003)
25. Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe (2009)

The Decade List: Grindhouse (2007)

Grindhouse – dir. Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Rob Zombie, Edgar Wright, Eli Roth

Probably the most rousingly effective ode to bad taste that graced the cinemas over the past ten years, Grindhouse provided its audience what so few of the exploitation films it honors only hinted toward: the meat (and outside of Antichrist, my Decade List entries have been a little too “respectable” lately). With both the meat and the sizzle on the plate, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino (as well as Rob Zombie, Edgar Wright and Eli Roth who directed shorts that accompanied the double-feature) recreated the spirit of the films they both love so much with their back-to-back sleaze fests, Planet Terror and Death Proof, both of which just so happen to be two of the best films either director has ever made. The former is the best thing Rodriguez has ever done; with Tarantino, it’s not as certain.

As its intended theatrical double-feature, both Planet Terror and Death Proof hilariously play off one another, despite aligning with different subsets of exploitation films. Planet Terror is blissful mayhem from the Rose McGowan go-go dancing credit sequence to its absurd (in the good way), utopian ending. Death Proof, however, takes its time, alienating certain viewers with its incessant long-take dialogue and Tarantino pop culture references. Yet, however you feel about the rest of the film, Death Proof offers the most exhilarating finale for not just the Tarantino entry, but Grindhouse itself. The positioning of the films is almost as crucial as the films themselves, not to mention that both sort of play off one another. In Planet Terror, we hear a radio dedication to one of the characters in Death Proof, not to mention that McGowan appears in both films as drastically different characters and Marley Shelton as the same one. And in a way, Grindhouse is just as much an ode to the specific charms of Rose McGowan as it is grindhouse films of the past.

While I generally lean toward Death Proof as the superior of the two, I suppose it really boils down to a matter of (dis)taste. Planet Terror is about as faithful as you can get to a zombie-infused nuclear apocalypse film. The script, by Rodriguez, would have probably been ranked as one of the more efficient and skilled (in a screenwriting sense) of the time, had it came out during said period. Everything obnoxiously and hilariously comes back in the end, from corny life lessons to disputes among characters, one in particular involving a barbeque recipe. The screenplay is so artless that it reaches a level of tongue-in-cheek beauty.

Death Proof, however, functions drastically differently. I, personally, haven’t felt like Quentin Tarantino has ever really followed up Pulp Fiction; the tepid Jackie Brown and overrated Kill Bill series don’t feel like films as much as they do time-wasters, even though time wasting is what Tarantino does best in Death Proof. In hindsight, one realizes that Death Proof only exists for its final fifteen-minutes, its utterly invigorating car chase. Once again, I’d like to quote my friend Tom, who hilariously described James Gray’s We Own the Night as “a car chase in search of a movie;” that particular statement would perfectly describe Death Proof, only in this case its not a criticism. While some might disagree with it not being a criticism, the chattiness in Death Proof isn’t merely a Tarantino motif as it is intentionally unintentional suspense. There’s an overcast of fear and terror that runs throughout the film which heightens with every silly talk-fest that is seemingly just leading up to the film’s stunning climax. When the film reaches its second act (Death Proof itself is something a double bill), there’s a real uneasiness about what is about to transpire. The excessive build-up to the game of ship’s mast that stuntwoman Zoë Bell and Tracie Thoms want to play is both irritating and alarming. Their chatter, which just fills screen time to the act itself, makes for brilliant danger, which Tarantino will execute like, really, no other in the scene that follows. I appreciate the long stretches of dialogue that seem to be about nothing, because it feels like an authentic exploitation film that wrote some semblance of a screenplay around a single jolting car chase sequence. Pop culture references from Lindsay Lohan to Vanishing Point (and the best of the lot, when Rosario Dawson tells her girlfriends that her director boyfriend fucked Daryl Hannah’s stand-in) become permissible not because Death Proof is so good but because modesty doesn’t really have any place here.

I mentioned in the piece on Children of Men that I pity those who missed it in the theatre, as the home theatre experience could never fully recreate the cinema experience, and this statement applies just as much to Grindhouse (and it would even if The Weinstein Company had released Grindhouse officially on DVD instead as two separate films). I don’t mean to suggest that the best cinematic experiences come in the form of bold “action flicks;” I still regret that I had to see the majestic Flight of the Red Balloon on television and not in the theatre (and I also defended the theatre-going experience with Mulholland Drive as well). But anyway, I can’t really think of another theatrical experience I had in the past 10 years that was more entertaining to the point of beatific exhaustion than Grindhouse.

With: Rose McGowan, Kurt Russell, Marley Shelton, Zoë Bell, Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thoms, Freddy Rodriguez, Josh Brolin, Sydney Tamiia Portier, Vanessa Ferlito, Jeff Fahey, Michael Biehn, Jordan Ladd, Naveen Andrews, Bruce Willis, Quentin Tarantino, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Eli Roth, Rebel Rodriguez, Tom Savini, Omar Doom, Michael Parks, Electra Avellán, Elise Avellán, Stacy Ferguson, Marcy Harriell, James Parks, Jay Hernandez, Udo Kier, Sheri Moon Zombie, Nicolas Cage, Sybil Danning, Tom Towles, Bill Moseley, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Katie Melua, Matthew Macfadyen, Danny Trejo, Cheech Marin, Will Arnett
Screenplay: Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Rob Zombie, Edgar Wright, Jeff Rendell, Eli Roth
Cinematography: Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Phil Parmet, Milan Chadima
Music: Graeme Revell, Robert Rodriguez, Carl Thiel, Tyler Bates, David Arnold, Nathan Barr
Country of Origin: USA
US Distributor: Dimension/The Weinstein Company

Premiere: 6 April 2007

Some Gays, Some Basterds, Some Exiles, Some Sigourney Weaver - DVD Release Update 8 Sept

Here's a quick DVD update for you. The bad news? I discovered that Sony's beautiful Blu-ray cover for sex, lies and videotape won't be displayed in your living room until 17 November. I guess the good news is that Sony also announced Luc Besson's Léon for the same date, to this day the only film I've ever been able to tolerate Natalie Portman. The most exciting title listed below is Milestone's release of Kent MacKenzie's The Exiles on 17 November. The website I got that from may have the date wrong, as DVDs are typically released on Saturdays, but maybe this is a special occasion. I'll let you know if anything changes. Thanks for the date correction, Dennis

- Brüno, 2009, d. Larry Charles, Universal, also on Blu-ray, 3 November
- Expired, 2007, d. Cecilia Minucchi, Asylum, 3 November, w. Samantha Morton, Jason Patric, Teri Garr, Illeana Douglas
- Familiar Strangers, 2008, d. Zackary Adler, Phase 4, 10 November
- Aaron… Albeit a Sex Hero, 2009, d. Paul Bright, Water Bearer, 17 November
- The Boy with the Sun in His Eyes, 2009, d. Todd Verow, Water Bearer, 17 November, w. Marcel Schlütt
- The Exiles, 1961, d. Kent MacKenzie, Milestone/Oscilloscope, 17 November
- Like a Moth to a Flame, 2009, d. Toby Ross, Joe Rubin, Hornbill, 30 November
- The Girl in the Park, 2007, d. David Auburn, The Weinstein Company, 1 December, w. Sigourney Weaver, Kate Bosworth, Alessandro Nivola, Keri Russell, David Rasche, Elias Koteas
- Into the Storm, 2009, d. Thaddeus O'Sullivan, HBO, 1 December, w. Brendan Gleeson, Janet McTeer, Iain Glenn, James D'Arcy
- Live!, 2007, d. Bill Guttentag, The Weinstein Company, 1 December, w. Eva Mendes
- Inglourious Basterds, 2009, d. Quentin Tarantino, The Weinstein Company, also on Blu-ray, 15 December

Grindhouse? Maybe?

A couple of people have suggested to me that the theatrical version of Grindhouse, with all the trailers, is coming to DVD and Blu-ray on 11 August. No official announcement has been made, so I don't know the specifics of the release. I'm pretty skeptical about any of the upcoming Weinstein Company's releases anyway.

Pussy-footin'

Thanks to Karina Longworth from SpoutBlog for this. In a photo shoot for The New York Times Magazine, Quentin Tarantino gets "intimate' with his Inglourious Basterds star Diane Kruger, and as no surprise, we can see the director fondling the actress' feet. This continues Tarantino's long-standing obsession with lower extensions of the female, as it goes beyond feet to include legs as well. While I once found his fetish to be amusing coincidental, it's reached a level of parody, whether intended or not. From Mia Wallace's (Uma Thurman) rumored foot massage, The Bride's (Thurman, again) toe-wiggling, Jungle Julia's (Sydney Poitier) decapitated leg to his From Dusk Till Dawn character's preoccupation with Juliette Lewis' little piggies (I believe the clip was followed by a fantasy of Lewis politely asking Tarantino to eat her pussy), the picture is pretty clear, and I, for one, didn't need to see Tarantino, looking a bit like Richard Nixon, "erotically" clasping Diane Kruger's heel to reiterate this.

Cannes 2009 Line-Up

Heavy competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival, which was announced earlier today in France. As stated earlier, the new Pixar 3D film Up! will open the fest, and it will be closed by that other Coco Chanel film Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, from director Jan Kounen (Dobermann) with Anna Mouglalis and Mads Mikkelsen. New films from a number of previous Palme d'Or winners will screen in competition, from Lars von Trier (Dancer in the Dark), Jane Campion (The Piano), Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds) and Ken Loach (The Wind That Shakes the Barley). More films in the other various programs will be announced tomorrow. Actress Isabelle Huppert is the head of this year's jury.

In Competition

Bright Star - dir. Jane Campion - UK/Australia/France - with Paul Schneider, Kerry Fox, Abbie Cornish

Spring Fever - dir. Ye Lou - China/France

Antichrist - dir. Lars von Trier - Denmark/Sweden/France/Italy - with Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg

Enter the Void - dir. Gaspar Noé - France/Japan

Face [Visages] - dir. Tsai Ming-liang - France/Taiwan/Netherlands/Belgium - with Laetitia Casta, Lee Kang-sheng, Mathieu Amalric, Jeanne Moreau, Fanny Ardant, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Nathalie Baye

Les herbes folles - dir. Alain Resnais - France/Italy - with André Dussollier, Emmanuelle Devos, Sabine Azéma, Mathieu Amalric, Anne Consigny

À l'origine [In the Beginning] - dir. Xavier Giannoli - France - with Gérard Depardieu, Emmanuelle Devos, François Cluzet

Un prophète [A Prophet] - dir. Jacques Audiard - France - with Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup

The White Ribbon [Das weiße Band] - dir. Michael Haneke - Austria/Germany/France - with Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Tukur

Vengeance - dir. Johnnie To - France/Hong Kong/USA - with Johnny Hallyday, Simon Yam, Sylvie Testud

The Time That Remains - dir. Elia Suleiman - Israel/France/Belgium/Italy

Vincere - dir. Marco Bellocchio - Italy/France - with Giovanna Mezzogiorno

Kinatay - dir. Brillante Mendoza - Philippines

Thirst - dir. Park Chan-wook - South Korea/USA - with Eriq Ebouaney, Song Kang-ho

Los abrazos rotos [Broken Embraces] - dir. Pedro Almodóvar - Spain - with Penélope Cruz, Ángela Molina, Lola Dueñas, Rubén Ochandiano, Blanca Portillo, Rossy de Palma, Chus Lampreave

Map of the Sounds of Tokyo - dir. Isabel Coixet - Spain - with Rinko Kikuchi, Sergi López

Fish Tank - dir. Andrea Arnold - UK/Netherlands - with Michael Fassbender, Harry Treadaway

Looking for Eric - dir. Ken Loach - UK/France/Italy/Belgium

Inglourious Basterds - dir. Quentin Tarantino - USA - with Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Kruger, Mike Myers, Eli Roth, Cloris Leachman, Til Schweiger, Michael Fassbender, Maggie Cheung, Daniel Brühl

Taking Woodstock - dir. Ang Lee - USA - with Demetri Martin, Liev Schreiber, Emile Hirsch, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Paul Dano, Eugene Levy, Kelli Garner, Imelda Staunton, Katherine Waterson

Out of Competition

Drag Me to Hell - dir. Sam Raimi - USA - with Justin Long, Alison Lohman

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - dir. Terry Gilliam - France/Canada - with Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Christopher Plummer, Jude Law, Tom Waits

Agora - dir. Alejandro Amenábar - USA/Spain - with Rachel Weisz

Off to Cannes We Go!

In just a matter of hours, the line-up for this year's Cannes Film Festival will be announced. It's already been announced that Pixar's latest Up! will open the fest, but the rest of the films are less certain. With new films from Michael Haneke, Tsai Ming-liang, Lars von Trier, Jacques Rivette, Claire Denis, Abbas Kiarostami, Jane Campion, Alain Resnais, Gaspar Noé, Patrice Chéreau, Jacques Audiard, Werner Herzog, Fatih Akin, the Coen Brothers and Andrea Arnold all finished (or at least close to), the line-up could be an exciting one. Expect Pedro Almodóvar's Broken Embraces [Los abrazos rotos], Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds and Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control to screen, either in or out of competition.

Contemplating/Fearing/Desiring Viewer Interactivity

Oh, my darling Death Proof. Watching you again, in your extended home video cut without your âme soeur Planet Terror, just confuses me. Exhilarating as you always were, do you really need to exist the way you do? Upon four viewings (two in the theatre, two at home), I'm still not sure where you belong. While I wholly understand the business aspect of the Weinstein Company's decision to divide up Grindhouse for the video market, especially after it performed dismally at the domestic box office, but where exactly should I find Death Proof? Should it always follow a machine-gun legged Rose McGowan destroying zombies, or is it okay that I skip that hour and a half and dive head-first into Quentin Tarantino's love song to Dirty Mary Crazy Larry and Vanshing Point?

I think the answer to that question is simple. It's perfectly acceptable to jump ahead, as (especially on repeat viewings) Death Proof always has more to offer than Robert Rodriguez's half of Grindhouse. However, with this "extended" version, the question of finite viewing and definitive editions (when announced by the filmmaker, not the studio) comes into play. While I smile endlessly on my sofa seeing Vanessa Ferlito perform her lap dance for Kurt Russell, I saw myself reaching for the fast-forward button once the black-and-white introduction to our second troupe of vixens begun after it was thankfully absent from the theatrical version. So what am I to do? As the theatrical is available streaming on Netflix (still not on DVD), do I settle for a lap dance-free version? Or do I chose to endure the tedious middle-segment that brings GrindhouseDeath Proof to a screeching hault? I could say the same about the entire French plantation sequence (and all of the fully-lit shots of Brando) in Apocalypse Now Redux.

There's no easy answer to this question, but the reason I bring it up is to address this growing issue with no real solution. Where is home video viewing headed? I recall my viewing of the woefully messy but not without its charm Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist about a week and a half ago. Riddled with bad editing decisions, particularly in its awkward use of music (not exactly its use of awkward music, as director Peter Sollett appears ill-at-ease to place the music cohesively within the film's diegesis), could I, someone who never successfully made a film over fifteen minutes long, re-shape Nick & Norah into a much better film? If given the power to sort through the raw material, I firmly believe that I could have salvaged a more suitable film out of Nick & Norah. I would have ended the film at that final, lovely kiss down the escalator instead of dollying the camera out of the train station to close the film on a shot of a New York City morning skyline. I might have omitted the silly missed connections when Nick (Michael Cera), Norah (Kat Dennings) and gay company lose drunkard Caroline (Ari Graynor, who does provide some of the film's few genuine laughs). I probably would have cut most of Alexis Dziena's character from the whole thing and likely reworked the soundtrack completely, although I suppose it was consistently harmless; there wouldn't be a "cameo" from Bishop Allen in my version. Nick & Norah also seems to exist in some fairytale New York City where high schoolers, even those not with the big record producer's kin, get into bars and wander the streets at all hours with little danger. It all sort of makes sense when you realize the big goal of the entire evening is to see a mythical band that was made up for the book/film. However, doesn't this contrived fairytale make you long for the sort of fantasies of the 90s independent scene in which Ethan Hawke could find a pretty, charming French girl who not only spoke perfect English but was also willing to spend an entire night with his lame ass?

Flash-in-the-pan musical acts are staples of studio soundtracks, particularly those geared at the iPod teen set, and I don't doubt that you could find Vampire Weekend and Band of Horses in more than just a handful of high schoolers' mp3 libraries, but aren't you secretly judging both Nick and Norah on their musical tastes as much as their peers would? So then, wouldn't you be rooting for their inevitable love to blossom if you knew they listened to really awesome music? Yes, had Norah been a die-hard PJ Harvey fan and Nick obsessed with Marc Bolan, I probably would have cared a lot more. Aside from a mention of The Cure and The Rolling Stones at brief moments, very few "real bands" leave the characters' lips. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist is begging for some sort of "Remix Edition" where viewers can upload their own playlist to bring the protagonists even closer to their hearts.

How long will it be before we can make our own versions of films on home video? I'm sure fanboys would jump at the chance to remove Jar Jar Binks and Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman's forced romance out of their beloved Star Wars, just as much as I would love to say goodbye to that weepy, cheap ending to Andrea Arnold's otherwise-astounding Red Road. Does a final version even exist in the world of home video any more? Do I really want to have these interactive thoughts rolling around in my head?

2009 Notebook: Vol 5

Expect an expanded version of the 2009 Notebook later this week! Who'd have guessed... three films with Rose McGowan and two with Traci Lords?

The New Favorites

Salomè - dir. Carmelo Bene - 1972 - Italy - N/A - with Carmelo Bene, Donyale Luna, Lydia Mancinelli, Alfiero Vincenti, Veruschka

The Good

Frozen River - dir. Courtney Hunt - 2008 - USA - Sony Pictures Classics - with Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott, Michael O'Keefe, Mark Boone Junior

Middle of the Road (though perhaps better than expected)

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist - dir. Peter Sollett - 2008 - USA - Sony Pictures - with Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, Ari Graynor, Aaron Yoo, Rafi Gavron, Alexis Dziena, Jonathan B. Wright, Jay Baruchel, John Cho, Zahcary Booth, Bishop Allen

Shitfests

The Reader - dir. Stephen Daldry - 2008 - USA/Germany - Weinstein Company - with Kate Winslett, David Kross, Ralph Fiennes, Bruno Ganz, Lena Olin, Susanne Lothar, Alexandra Maria Lara

Revisited: The Old Favorites

Death Proof - dir. Quentin Tarantino - 2007 - USA - Weinstein Company - with Kurt Russell, Zoë Bell, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Tracie Thoms, Sydney Poitier, Jordan Ladd, Rose McGowan, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth, Marcy Harriell, Omar Doom

The Devils - dir. Ken Russell - 1971 - UK - Warner - with Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Reed, Dudley Sutton, Max Adrian, Gemma Jones, Michael Gothard, Murray Melvin, Georgina Hale, Christopher Logue, Graham Armitage

The Doom Generation - dir. Gregg Araki - 1995 - France/USA - Lionsgate - with Rose McGowan, James Duval, Johnathon Schaech, Nicky Katt, Parker Posey, Margaret Cho, Perry Farrell, Heidi Fleiss, Dewey Weber, Amanda Bearse, Skinny Puppy, Dustin Nguyen, Lauren Tewes, Johanna Went

Nowhere - dir. Gregg Araki - 1997 - France/USA - Fine Line Features - with James Duval, Rachel True, Nathan Bexton, Kathleen Robertson, Christina Applegate, Jordan Ladd, Scott Caan, Guillermo Diaz, Jeremy Jordan, Sarah Lassez, Ryan Phillippe, Heather Graham, Joshua Gibran Mayweather, Alan Boyce, Debi Mazar, Chiara Mastroianni, Mena Suvari, Jaason Simmons, Thyme Lewis, Beverly D'Angelo, John Ritter, Charlotte Rae, Traci Lords, Rose McGowan, Shannen Doherty, Denise Richards, Teresa Hill, Kevin Light, Christopher Knight, Eve Plumb, Lauren Tewes, David Leisure, Gibby Haynes

Rosemary's Baby - dir. Roman Polanski - 1968 - USA - Paramount - with Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer

Revisited: Les Autres

Serial Mom - dir. John Waters - 1994 - USA - Savoy/Focus Features - with Kathleen Turner, Sam Waterson, Ricki Lake, Matthew Lillard, Scott Morgan, Patricia Dunnock, Justin Whalin, Mink Stole, Mary Jo Catlett, Walt MacPherson, Traci Lords, Suzanne Somers