ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[memento]

IMDB: Billy Brown (Vincent Gallo) has been in jail, but his parents think that he's married and successful. When he can't find anywhere in Buffalo where he can pee, he runs desperately into a dance studio to use the washroom. He winds up kidnapping a dance student, Layla (Christina Ricci) to bring home and show off to his parents (Angelica Huston & Ben Gazzara). The parents just barely remember their son or care about him, but Layla falls for him.

=aside= Paul
Have a great Fourth.

[Fran]

From IMDb:  Tell you what, if C.R.A.Z.Y. doesn't win the all the Geminis (the Oscars in Canada) it deserves, and doesn't get at least a nomination for the Academy Award for best foreign language film, there's something seriously wrong. This emotional roller-coaster, which I had the opportunity to see this year at the Vancouver International Film Festival is WONDERFUL! The director has blended together a gay coming-of-age story that is not exclusive to gay audiences, anyone can see this and relate to the family functions and dysfunctions on view here. The acting, everyone from Emile Vallee who plays the young Zach (actually the director's son) to a awesome performance by Michel Cote as the father of the family, is also wonderful. This movie had me in tears....

=aside= Paul
Enjoy your time away.

=suggestion=

Now that the New Archive for the movie game is being kept pretty much up to date, I find the best way to search to see if a movie has been played is to just go to the New Archive, find the particular year of the movie you want to play -- they're in descending order -- and see if it's there.

Page 1 covers 2013 to 2004
Page 2 covers 2003 to 1994
Page 3 covers 1993 to 1984, etc., etc.

Sandy and I have just been posting the entire list of movies from each round in the old archive -- making a record of the rounds played.  I think checking the New Archive is much simpler; everything is alphabetical, so you only have to scan through a couple of movies.

[oilgun]

From Imdb: Daytrippers is a progressive drama about a family that takes an adventure into New York City after Eliza (Hope Davis) discovers a love letter that may uncover an affair between her husband and somebody named Sandy. Anne Meara does a good job as the typical East Coast, controlling mother. The indie-film queen Parker Posey plays Eliza's little sister whose boyfriend Carl, played by Liev Schreiber, is an exaggeration of the young, snobbish, know-it-all author. The family is hardly functional which makes this film particularly honest.

The key to Daytrippers is not the plot, which never fails to keep you watching, but the dialogue and the situations. Pay close attention to the characters that the family meets in the city. They all embody some kind of contradictions that make you think a little bit. Look for the scene where Marc Grapey begins describing his sexual exploits by condemning such practices.

If you are looking for a drama that provokes you, this is one of them. There are no happy endings and none of the issues raised are resolved. Fans of Parker Posey will especially enjoy her performance in this one.


==COMMENT==
A real gem filled with wonderful actors at their best.

[memento]

IMBD Plot: Mamá Cora (Antonio Gasalla) is about 80 years old and she has three sons and a daughter. Mamá lives with one of them, unfortunately, the one who is in the worst economic position. One day, all the members of the family have a reunion to celebrate an anniversary. In the middle of the whole thing, an awkward question appears out of nowhere: ¿Who's going to be Mamá Cora's heir? ¿Who is going to take care of her during her last days in this world?. The answer is not easy and it doesn't take too long for the members of this bizarre family to start a terrible and yet hilarious fight. However, in the middle of the whole thing, they're interrupted by some disturbing breaking news...Mamá Cora killed herself!

[Fran]

Also known as:  The Celebration



From IMDb:

"Festen" aka "The Celebration" was the impressive directorial debut of the young Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg ("It's All About Love", "Dear Wendy"), and the first film made according to the rules of the daring Dogme 95 movement. It shows that you don't need big budgets to make a great film. However, Dogme wouldn't work if its films weren't as daring as its ideals of film-making -- and "Festen" proved that those guys really have much to say.

"Festen" is an extremely cruel film, and it's somewhat uneasy to watch in some moments. The celebration of the title refers to the 60th birthday of Helge Klingenfeldt-Hansen (Henning Moritzen), who entertains his big family in his castle. But Helge's son, Christian (Ulrich Thomsen, excellent), whose twin sister recently committed suicide, has an important revelation that will surprise -- and displease -- many people; in the meantime, other secrets are revealed and nobody will get away clean. "Festen" deserved all praise/awards it got in international festivals (it won the Jury Prize at Cannes 98) and is a great introduction to Danish cinema. My vote is 10/10.

[Ellemeno]

Sofia Coppola as Mary Corleone and Andy Garcia as Vincent Mancini

[memento]

Aka: The Sea (Canada: English title) (France) (International: English title)
Havet (Norway)



IMDB: Wealthy, aging patriarch Thordur assembles his scattered heirs to discuss the future of the family fishery. But bringing everyone together unleashes a storm of long-repressed sexual abuse, lingering suspicions, sibling rivalries and incestuous passions. Ultimately, it's a heartless battle between the past and the future that culminates in a night of explosive rage.

=comment=
There were no posters for its original title "Hafio" only for the English title "The Sea."

[oilgun]

Plot: 17-year-old rich kid Igby Slocumb is a rebel with a cause: to break free from his pill-popping mother, his schizophrenic dad and his fascist brother. Seduced by sexy older women and subverted by family and friends, the ever-resilient, witty and inventive Igby is determined to keep up - no matter what goes down.

[Fran]

From IMDb:

Okay it's not exactly the biggest stretch of casting to have Robin Williams playing a ten-year-old in the body of an adult. However, Jack is a pretty decent and funny movie. Jack Powell is born and he ages at four times the normal rate. For the first ten years of his life, he is tutored at home and sheltered by his parents. Bill Cosby plays his tutor Mr. Woodruff. Diane Lane and Brian Kerwin play his parents who are reluctant to send Jack to public school because they fear the other children's reactions to him. When he does go to school, his teacher, played by Jennifer Lopez, welcomes him with open arms while, predictably the kids are both awed and afraid, and teasing soon follows. Jack gains acceptance when the boys realize that he is a natural for basketball, and he soon is running with a whole group of new friends.

The rest of the movie is basically about Jack and how his body is just naturally slowing down, leading to his withdrawal from school, his eventual return, and the epilogue at his high school graduation.

Jack was a pretty charming film and I liked the way that Robin Williams acted in his scenes with Diane Lane as the 10-year-old with a strong bond with his mother and her feelings of longing when he shows that he is pulling away when he gains friends his own physical age.

[memento]

AKA: The Art of Crying



IMDB:

Follows a precocious, eleven-year-old Allan, who tries desperately to keep his dysfunctional, rural family together during the social upheavals of the early seventies. Allan reveres his father, Henry, the local milkman, and can't understand why others don't feel the same way. His family life is so twisted he thinks it's perfectly normal to stay awake all night dealing with his father's hysterics and suicidal threats. Allan's older brother left town several years ago, and his mother gave up long before that, relying on sleeping pills to escape Henry's tantrums. Allan then becomes obsessed with a rival family, whom he considers foolish white trash until they start taking away Henry's customers. He is frustrated that his mother doesn't take his father's complaints seriously, and is perplexed by the increasingly rebellious and bizarre behavior of his sister, Sanne. Incapable of understanding what's going on and heavily influenced by his father, Allan commits appalling acts, unaware of their import.