Author Archives: aaronwest
Top 20 of 1997
The late 1990s were a period of transition. The indie movement was running its course. Instead we had a new brand of auteurs, both American and international, making their mark and establishing themselves. Paul Thomas Anderson was getting rolling with Boogie Nights, as was David Fincher, further distancing himself from being a music video director. Abbas Kiarastomi, Hayao Miyazaki and Takeshi Kitano were in their prime, while newcomer Michael Haneke showed some promise with a caustic take on the thriller genre. We would hear a lot more from him. Atom Egoyan and Quentin Tarantino were the main holdouts from the indie era. The former’s career would take a nosedive after this high point, at least in my opinion. QT is still hanging around.
I recently wrote a piece for Kiarostami’s Where is my Friend’s House? over at Wonders in the Dark, but I used Taste of Cherry as a point of comparison. If you have seen both films, you can see the parallels. Many will see it as a film about an older man driving around on dirt roads, but it is much deeper than that, and is a remarkable achievement in filmmaking.
There are a couple of guilty pleasures. Contact stands out, but part of that is because I’ve been an astronomy junkie and read the book when I was younger. I found it fascinating how it mixed real science in with the narrative. Most of that is thanks to the late Dr. Sagan. Starship Troopers could be considered a guilty pleasure, but I truly feel it is unfairly maligned. Flixwise had a good discussion on the subject. I feel that number 20 is low, but this turned out to be a good year for film.
Other late cuts were comedies like Grosse Point Blank, Wag the Dog, and Fierce Creatures. David Lynch’s Lost Highway was in the mix, and I think it could in the mix after a rewatch (Criterion?). The other two that I hated cutting were Donnie Brasco and the brilliant documentary, Waco: The Rules of Engagement.
1. Taste of Cherry
2. The Sweet Hereafter
3. The Ice Storm
4. Boogie Nights
5. Princess Mononoke
6. Insomnia
7. Funny Games
8. L.A. Confidential
9. The Game
10. Cure
11. In the Company of Men
12. Perfect Blue
13. Jackie Brown
14. Little Dieter Needs to Fly
15. Hana Bi
16. Gattaca
17. Fast, Cheap & Out of Control
18. Contact
19. Open Your Eyes
20. Starship Troopers
Criterion Blogathon: Blogs & Topics
The initial surge has slowed down, but we still have an impressive 121 topics claimed for our Blogathon, and that number is surely to grow. We’ve been asked often whether people got their first choices, and here is the official unveiling. Most people did get their first choice, and I think that’s because many checked out the First Round page. Thank you for that!
This same info is being pasted at the official Blogathon HQ and this page will not be updated with new submissions, but the other one will.
One thing we noticed is a lot of USA films. We get it, but we think that will probably change now that the biggest American films are claimed. The UK, France and Japan also have a good number of entries.
Kudos to the brave souls that claimed box sets or essays. A lot of these topics look like grad papers, which is terrific. Just because these are going to require the most work, we are going to have them posted on the last day.
We will divide the rest of the days mostly by country and era, and we’ll post a full schedule along with publish dates down the road.
Did we mention prizes? We will be offering some for each day. We are still working on an objective and fair way to judge the winners, but with such a large volume of entries, please be understanding and respectful. By that same token, we hope you will do your best and post quality content.
BOX SETS
Criterion Blues – The Apu Trilogy
The Wonderful World of Cinema – Three Wicked Melodramas
// Lillybelle Production – The Lower Depths (both)
Wrong Reel – 3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg
John Likes Movies – Warped World of Kureyoshi Kurahara
The Howard Bannister Report – Sabu in the Criterion Collection
ESSAYS
Jahnke’s Electric Theatre – Criterion and Animation
L’Amour Fou and Movies, Too! – Jacques Demy
Make Mine Criterion! – (My) Top Ten List
Wolffian Classic Movies Digest – Thief of Bagdad Arabian Fantasies
The Joy and Agony of Movies – Nicolas Roeg
The Criterion Completion – Collecting Criterion
Threedonia – Christian Faith in Classic European Cinema
365 Days 365 Classics – The Indian ethos in Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy
365 Days 365 Classics – Women in Satyajit Ray’s Cinema
Cinema Cities – Classic Film Noir in the Criterion Collection
Scream Blu Fans! – Criterion and Horror
TITLES BY COUNTRY
CANADA
To be Confirmed – Videodrome (1983)
Cinema Versus – The Brood (1979)
Midnight Only – Belle du jour (1967)
CZECH
Life In Cinema – Marketa Lazarova (1967)
DENMARK
In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood – Master of the House (1925)
FRANCE
The Stop Button – Diabolique (1955)
Pioneer Pride – Elevator to the Gallows (1957)
Criterion Blues – Rules of the Game (1939)
The Film Tank – Rififi (1955)
CineMaven’s: Essays From the Couch – Quai des Orfevres (1947)
Spitball Army – Les Miserables (1934)
Film Grimoire – The Testament of Orpheus (1960)
The Lady Eve’s Reel Life – La Ronde (1950)
ericapeplin.com – News From Home (1976)
Movie Mania Madness – A Woman is a Woman (1961)
Hope Lies at 24 Frames Per Second – The Soft Skin (1964)
Spellbound by Movies – Judex (1963)
Ferdy on Films – Jour de Fete (1949)
Cameras and Joysticks – Pierrot le Fou (1964)
Cameras and Joysticks – Breathless (1960)
The Cinematic Frontier – Beauty and the Beast (1946)
GERMANY
The Movie Rat – The Tin Drum (1979)
Aperture Reviews – M (1931)
Moon in Gemini – Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
Smitten Kitten Vintage – Pandora’s Box (1929)
Serendipitous Anachronisms – The Threepenny Opera (1931)
SkeletonPete – Vampyr (1932)
INDIA
Totally Filmi – Charulata
IRAN
Pinnland Empire – Close-up and Taste of Cherry (double feature)
Cinema and other Impossible Pursuits – Close-Up (1990)
Wrong Reel – Taste of Cherry (1997)
ITALY
TheVoid99 – La Dolce Vita (1960)
The Jump Cut at Lime Fiesta – Salo, or 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
unfocusedframes – Umberto D (1952)
JAPAN
Silver Screenings – Ikiru (1952)
Mookes and Gripes – Mr. Thank You (1936)
Destroy All Fanboys! – High and Low (1936)
Seven Doors of Cinema – Jigoku
The Blazing Reel – Tokyo Story (1953)
Caftan Woman – Sanjuro (1962)
Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings – Early Summer (1951)
Critica Retro – Late Spring (1949)
The Terrible Claw Reviews – Godzilla (1954)
RUSSIA
Cinephilia – The Cranes are Flying (1957)
SPAIN
Krell Laboratories – Viridiana (1961)
TAIWAN
Coffee Gone Cold – Yi Yi (2000)
UNITED KINGDOM
Sister Celluloid – Green for Danger (1946)
Blogue cinéastique – The Innocents (1961)
A Shroud of Thoughts – That Hamilton Woman (1941)
Wonders in the Dark – A Room with a View (1985)
Defiant Success – Insignificance (1985)
The Blue Chair – This Sporting Life/If…
Journeys in Darkness and Light – Fish Tank (2009)
GirlsDoFilm – An Angel at my Table (1990)
Mildred’s Fatburgers – Watership Down (1979)
Pop Culture Pundit – Weekend (2011)
The Cinematic Frontier – The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
Phantom Empires – The Deceivers (1988)
USA
Speakeasy – In Cold Blood (1967)
Now Voyaging – Ride the Pink Horse (1946)
The Other Critic – 12 Angry Men (1957)
Second Sight Cinema – Lonesome (1928)
Mookes and Gripes – Brief Encounter (1945)
Movie Movie Blog Blog – All That Jazz (1979)
Twenty Four Frames – A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
Aurora’s Gin Joint – My Darling Clementine (1946)
Love Letters to Old Hollywood – Heaven Can Wait (1943)
Movies Silently – Pool Sharks (1915)
Arturo – The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
B Noir Detour – Pickup on South Street (1953)
Superfluous Film Commentary – Paris, Texas (1984)
Mike’s Take on the Movies – Jubal (1956)
Cinema Gadfly – Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
Classic Movie Man – The Lady Eve (1941)
Back to Golden Days – Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Loud Green Bird – Being John Malkovich (1999)
Wide Screen World – Spartacus (1960)
Cindy Bruchman – Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Old Hollywood Films – Red River (1948)
Cinema Monolith – Ministry of Fear (1944)
In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood – To Be Or Not To Be (1942)
An Ode to Dust – Safety Last! (1923)
Film Ruminations – The Third Man (1949)
In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood – Written on the Wind (1956)
Mildred’s Fatburgers – Shock Corridor (1953)
Hometowns to Hollywood – The Freshman (1925)
Floyd R. Turbo – Paths of Glory (1957)
Interested in Sophisticated Fun? – Two Lane Blacktop (1971)
Dismal Whimsy – The Uninvited (1944)
A Scunner Darkly – The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
F for Films – Notorious (1946)
Criterion Close-Up – Mulholland Drive (2001)
Grand Old Movies – Island of Lost Souls (1932)
The Last Drive-In – Carnival of Souls (1962)
Diary of a Country Pickpocket – The Furies (1950)
Diary of a Country Pickpocket – Stagecoach (1939)
Cinematic Catharsis – Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Nerdy but Flirty – The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Micro-Brewed Reviews – Fiend Without a Face (1958)
In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood – My Man Godfrey (1937)
The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog – The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
Moviefreak.com – The Black Stallion (1979)
Checkpoint Telstar RoboCop (1987)
Cameras and Joysticks – The Game (1997)
My Life as a Troll
This morning I posted a review about Lasse Hallström’s My Life as a Dog over at Wonders in the Dark. Some may remember that I podcasted it with Martin Kessler a couple weeks back, and my review basically touched on the analysis that we talked through. I was pleased with the piece, and went out of my way to avoid major plot developments. I did speak generally as to the problems that Ingemar faced and how he handled them. I let it go and figured I would get a good response.
Instead I got trolled. I’ve been trolled before. That’s unavoidable in the modern day of anonymous commenting. Even this site has been trolled. Actually a good friend of mine was trolled just recently and I defended him. Trolling is something that has to be accepted, and I agree with the wise advice that trolls should not be fed. In a moment of weakness, I fed this troll. I defended myself, and that prompted the troll to continue.
The subject was not about the quality of the review. This person actually complimented that. The problem was with spoilers. In speaking of the film, I revealed a couple of minor developments although I did not reveal the major, traumatic plot points. I’ve written about a lot of films and have learned ways to navigate around them, in the hopes that if someone has not seen the film, they won’t be spoiled. On the other hand, those who have seen the film know where I’m getting at. Some people are spoiler sensitive, and so I developed a Spoiler policy a long time ago, which you can see on the About page. When talking about a newer film, I’ll be careful to warn people of spoilers. If I don’t have to spoil a film, i won’t. Sometimes the ending is required to delve deep into an important film, and what I’ve done here is separate it with a warning and an image. People can keep reading at their own risk.
This person pointed out what I spoiled. One specific was how I defined a major character. What I said is something that is revealed within minutes of this character’s introduction. The other had to do with him parting company with someone, which happens very early in the film. Now some of these plot points do come back into play later in the film. I stand by the fact that I did not spoil the film, and Martin and I were careful in our discussion to do the same.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love the internet and social media? First off, some of the regular commenters rallied to my cause. I highly recommend you read the comments, although be warned, we spoil under-seen films such as Star Wars, The Sixth Sense, Psycho, Casablanca, and others. The commentary became very funny, and it extended to Twitter. I have to give a shout to Fritzi from Movies Silently for giving me a few chuckles. I was not the only one chucking:
And with good reason:
This troll also mentioned that we should write more in the TV guide style. Fritzi called her bluff:
It is easy to have fun with the subject. The troll probably has taken offense, and has back-tracked in the thread, but I will concede that spoilers are something to steer clear of. If I’m watching something that’s obscure and people probably haven’t seen before, then I’m not going to ruin it for them, but instead use my words to tantalize them. On the other hand, modern, professional film writing requires that you talk about all aspects of a film. I know that, and that is why I avoid reviews for films I have not seen.
There’s also the point that people can be too spoiler sensitive. I understand and appreciate that people like to go into a film clean, and I am one of those people with new films. If something is spoiled, I don’t make a fuss about it. I’ve had major films spoiled in film studies classes. It would be unbecoming to raise my hand and troll my teacher. Life is short. Movies are fun. Don’t worry about little things.
So what did I learn from this?
A) Do not feed trolls.
B) The internet is funny.
C) Probably should be careful with spoilers.
D) There is a hidden oasis of TV-Guide reviews hiding in some dark corner of the internet.
Episode 3: November Releases and 2015 Geekfest
In this episode, we delve deep into the Criterion Collection. We discuss the November releases, news, the Blogathon, and then we go into the rabbit hole. We talk extensively about numerous titles that have been “confirmed” that have not been released (we use quotes because nothing is definite) and others that have been rumored based on educated guesses, teases, restorations, and that sort of thing. This is a long episode, probably the longest we’ll ever do, but we wanted to do the topic justice. If you are the kind of person who loves to speculate what titles are coming soon, then this is the episode for you.
Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | Soundcloud
Or listen here to it here:
For other apps or mobile devices, try this link.
Or direct download/listen to the MP3.
Episode Outline:
0:00 – Introduction, Blogathon, News
25:00 – November Criterion release discussion
43:00 – Geekfest. “Confirmed” discussion.
1:26:00 – Geekfest. Rumored discussion.
Mark Hurne, Aaron West and Special Guest Trevor Berrett from Mookes and Gripes and The Eclipse Viewer.
Correction: Allan Fish did not contribute directly to The Story of Film as stated on the show. He made suggestions via a friend and provided DVDs to The Story of Children and Film. His name is subsequently in the “thanks” section.
First Round of Blogathon Responses.
Criterion Cast: The Newsstand, November Releases.
A Plea for Criterion Eclipse Sets of the future.
Blu-Ray.com Criterion Collection Thread
Eclipse Viewer 20: A Conversation with Michael Koresky.
Luis García Berlanga phantom page.
Contact info:
feedback@criterionclose-up.com
Twitters:
Trevor Berrett
Mark Hurne
Aaron West
First Round of Blogathon Responses
Edit: Unless you have been notified, you were given your first choice. Full lists with blog links will be posted soon.
Wow! We expected a good turnout, but never did we expect such an overwhelming amount of submissions in the first 24 hours. Scratch that, we still have 5.5 hours to go before we get there.
The below titles have been “claimed.” Some were second choices; most were first. There were two that had both topics claimed and they aren’t listed here. We will reach out to those people individually. If you really want to cover your topic and it is already taken, you can do it in a creative way. For example, one person is doing a Kiarostami double feature and one of the films is Close-Up, but another person claimed the film by itself.
Even though participation is amazing, we want it to continue to grow. We want people to see this as an event, not just a Blogathon. Please spread the word. Grab our banners from the announcement post. Post on your blog that you are participating and invite your friends.
Help us make this a blast of an experience!
Please also note the HQ page to see the latest updates. Eventually all titles and blog links will be posted there.
We also LOVE that there are some creative titles where people are looking not only at films, but larger Criterion pieces. One example is Criterion and Animation. Another is Nicolas Roeg, and there are many more like that and probably more coming. Keep these up and you’ll make us really happy.
TOPICS THAT ARE TAKEN
(My) Top Ten List
3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg
12 Angry Men
A Hard Day’s Night
A Room With A View
A Woman is a Woman
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
All That Jazz
An Angel at My Table
Arsenic and Old Lace
A Taste of Cherry
A Woman is a Woman
Being John Malkovich
Belle de Jour
Breathless
Brief Encounter
Carnival of Souls
Charulata
Christian Faith in Classic European Cinema
Close-Up
Close-Up & Taste Of Cherry – double feature
Collecting Criterion
Criterion and Animation
Diabolique
Early Summer
Elevator To The Gallows
Fiend Without a Face
Fish Tank
Fritz Lang’s M
Godzilla
Green For Danger
Heaven Can Wait
High and Low
Ikiru
In Cold Blood
Insignificance
Island of Lost Souls
Jacques Demy
Jigoku
Jour de Fete
Jubal
Judex
Kiss Me Deadly
La Dolce Vita
La Ronde
Late Spring
Les Miserables
Lonesome
Make Way for Tomorrow
Marketa Lazarova
Master of the House
Ministry of Fear
Mr. Thank You
Mulholland Drive
My Darling Clementine
My Man Godfrey
News from Home
Nicolas Roeg
Notorious
Pandora’s Box
Paris Texas
Paths of Glory
Pickup on South Street
Pierrot le fou
Pool Sharks (1915) from the WC Fields DVD
Quai des Orfevres
Red River
Ride The Pink Horse
Rififi
RoboCop
Rules of the Game
Sabu in the Criterion Collection
Safety Last!
Salo, or 120 Days of Sodom
Sanjuro
Shock Corridor
Spartacus
Stagecoach
Taste of Cherry
That Hamilton Woman
The Apu Trilogy
The Beastie Boys Video Anthology
The Black Stallion
The Brood
The Cranes are Flying
The Freshman
The Furies
The Game
The Indian Ethos in Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy
The Innocents
The Lady Eve
The Last Temptation of Christ
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
The Lower Depths (Renoir & Kurosawa)
The Most Dangerous Game
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Soft Skin
The Sporting Life/If ….
The Testament of Orpheus
The Third Man
The Tin Drum
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
The Uninvited
Thief of Bagdad Arabian Fantasies
Three Penny Opera
Three Wicked Melodramas
To Be Or Not To Be
Tokyo Story
Two Lane Blacktop
Umberto D
Watership Down
Weekend (2011)
Women in Satyajit Ray’s Cinema
Vampyr
Viridiana
Yi Yi
Announcing the Criterion Blogathon
We are pleased to announce the first annual Criterion Blogathon!
The blogathon will take place November November 16th to 21st, and I have the pleasure of co-hosting with two of my favorite bloggers and favorite people: Kristina from Speakeasy and Ruth from Silver Screenings. This is not their first rodeo, as they’ve hosted numerous fantastic Blogathons. Earlier this year they hosted the Great Villain Blogathon and the Beach Party Bash Blogathon. What’s great about these two is that they turn these Blogathons into events, which is what we are planning for November.
Just last year, The Criterion Collection celebrated their 30th anniversary. That’s an amazing accomplishment for a physical media label. They began with laserdiscs, transitioned to DVDs, and now are the top boutique label for Blu-Ray/DVD. They have established credibility with their film choices, ranging from mainstream classics to some of the best art films the world has ever seen. Today they continue to add to their library, adding modern auteurs and classic films. I’m of the opinion that they have something in their catalog that appeals to anyone with a passion for film and history.
This Blogathon is scheduled to take place over six days in November to correlate with the release of The Apu Trilogy and In Cold Blood. During the month of November, they are also releasing Code Unknown, Julien Duvivier in the Thirties, Ikiru and Don’t Look Back. We think that The Apu Trilogy is an important release for the history of film and we couldn’t pick a better time to celebrate the label.
How does this work?
If you are a blogger, you can choose any film or topic from the Criterion catalog. If you’re unfamiliar with Criterion releases, check out the links below for films offered in a variety of media:
Laserdisc
DVD
Blu-ray
The Eclipse Series
Hulu (Available to US users only.)
iTunes
You can also search Criterion for titles or people. Or just Google an actor/actress and Criterion.
We expect good participation, so we are not allowing duplicate entries with one exception. Any title that is going to be released in November is fair game. October releases do not count. (Sorry to everyone who wants to cover Mulholland Drive!) This is on a first-come, first-served basis.
You are welcome to write about a film, a director, an era, a DVD release, or anything that is related to The Criterion Collection. These do not have to be formal DVD reviews. You can write from whatever style or angle that you think appropriately covers the topic within the theme of your blog.
You can sign up by completing the form at the bottom of the page or clicking here. Please think of two good choices. You may not get your first choice and maybe not your second, but we hope that everyone can find a personally interesting topic to write about. With more than a thousand titles in the catalog, there are plenty to go around.
Please also keep the hashtag #criterionblogathon in the back of your mind. We’ll be using that on Twitter prior to and during the event. Maybe if enough of you sign up, we can even get it trending!
The Blogathon will take place for six days. Kristina, Ruth and Aaron will alternate posting recaps each day. We will separate the daily recaps by era and region, but we’ll get into that later.
One more thing: We ask that you try to upload your Blogathon posts in time for us to post it in that evening’s recap. If you post late, you will still be included, but probably won’t get as many readers.
We can’t wait for this mega blogging event!. Grab a banner and share it with your blog’s readers.
Any questions? Feel free to comment below.
Participants:
Aaron, CriterionBlues.com, The Apu Trilogy
Kristina, Speakeasy, In Cold Blood
Ruth, Silver Screenings, Ikiru
Criterion Close-Up 2: My Life as a Dog & Lasse Hallström’s Career
Or listen here to it here:
For other apps or mobile devices, try this link.
Or direct download/listen to the MP3.
Timeline:
0:00 – Intro: Introductions, Housekeeping, Criterion News.
25:00 – My Life as a Dog discussion
1:00 – Lasse Hallström discussion
Thanks to guest host Martin Kessler for joining us.
New show Twitter: CriteronCU
Wish list:
The New World
Clouds of Sils Maria (DVD release already out)
La Chienne
News:
Wim Wenders Janus Retrospective
Late Spring Criterion has Tokyo-Ga.
Arrow’s The Jacques Rivette Collection (Region B only)
Imamura Masterpiece Collection (Region B only)
My Life as a Dog
Film Rating:
Mark – 7.8
Aaron – 7.5
Martin – 8
Average: 7.76 (rounding up to 8)
Criterion Rating:
Mark – 7
Aaron – 7
Martin – N/A (sorry Martin, forgot to get yours)
Average : 7
Lasse Hallström
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?
The Cider House Rules
Chocolat
The Shipping News
Auteur Rating:
4/10 (sorry Lasse)
Where to Find Us
Martin on Twitter
Aaron on Twitter
Mark on Twitter
Criteron Close-Up on Twitter
Flixwise
Criterion Blues
Criterion Blues on Facebook
The Ice Storm, 1997, Ang Lee
Some films are so thematically rich that it’s nearly impossible finding an angle. There are just too many options. The Ice Storm is one such film. I could look at it from the period, the unruliness and political instability of 1973. It could be seen as a grim portrait of despicable and irresponsible people. Instead, I chose to approach this as a contrast between the sexual behaviors and confusion of children versus their parents.
With such a large ensemble cast, a great many character parallels can be drawn between the familial bonds. There are two primary families of characters, the Hoods and the Carvers, with no real single protagonist. A good argument could be made for many of the characters as the primary protagonist. Ben Hood (Kevin Kline) gets a lot of screen time and his actions initiate much of the plot. The narrator is his son Paul (Tobey Maguire), although he plays a comparatively small role. Elena Hood (Joan Allen) is also a central figure, as is their daughter, Wendy (Christina Ricci). The Carvers are important but secondary characters. Janey (Sigourney Weaver) is in some respects an antagonist, yet she has a few sympathetic moments – primarily with parenting. Her husband Jim (Jamey Sheridan) is a passive character, as is his son Mikey (Elijah Wood), but not the other son, Sandy (Adam Hann-Byrd).
Ben is a terrible parent, terrible husband, terrible adulterer, and completely unaware of all of this. He is living in another world. The fact that he’s having an affair with the icy Janey is surprising. He doesn’t seem like the type of paramour that she would settle with, and the attraction is waning. “Ben, you’re boring me. I have a husband. I don’t particularly feel the need for another,” she tells him after he goes on about his problems. He is more hurt by her rejection than by his wife’s suffering as a result of the affair. His lack of awareness extends to his terrible excuses, which his wife rightly sees directly through.
Ben is at his worst when he tries to be a father. There are two instances where he comes off as a buffoon while parenting about sexual matters. One instance is when he talks to his son Paul about masturbation while they are driving in the car. He tells his son not to do it in the shower because it is a waste of water, and everyone knows what he is doing anyway. Paul looks befuddled, unable to respond. What can he really say? What if he does not masturbate in the shower? What if he does? He is helpless at discussing the situation, and it really is not a discussion anyway. It is an awkward diatribe from a sexually confused father. When they arrive at the house, in a brief moment of self-awareness, Ben asks, “Can you do me a favor and pretend I never said any of that?” Of course he cannot, but he is not about to bring it up again.
In another instance, he catches his daughter in a promiscuous act with Mikey Carver, and he gives another silly diatribe towards them. Again, it is awkward. He is terrible at it, not understanding the situation and accusing Mikey of going further than they were. What made it more ridiculous was that his daughter, Wendy, was wearing a Richard Nixon mask. The conflict ends with her being rebellious, saying “and forget all the stern dad stuff.” This is not the first time she has lashed out at him. At one point she calls him a fascist, and while he challenges her on it, she seems to understand the world better than he does. She is curious about life, but more comfortable and deliberate, and immeasurably more expressive and compassionate.
Elena Hood (Jane Allen) is one of the more fascinating characters. Knowing that her husband is cheating on her, she takes refuge in trying to live vicariously through her young daughter. She fondly remembers the feeling of being free, which is probably an idealized and unrealistic memory. She sees her daughter riding her bike down the road, merely using it as a means of transportation to one of her romantic trysts. Elena sees the act of riding the bike and letting the wind blow in her hair as liberating, yet she is not sexualized like her daughter and you wonder whether she ever was. She rejects the advances of a progressive, freethinking pastor, who uses religion as a way of “breaking the ice” with a frustrated, married woman. It is not until the real ice storm begins where the sexual tension reaches a breaking point for all of the characters.
This was my second viewing of The Ice Storm, and before the first, I had never heard of a Key Party before. It is where everyone drops their keys in a container, and later the ladies draw them one by one. Whichever man’s key is chosen goes home with the lucky (?) lady. It is a foolish game, so silly that the youngsters would not even consider it. With a number of married or dating couples, one of whom has a boyfriend young enough to be her son, there is going to be unpleasantness and jealousy. Adult or child, it is a terrible idea. The outcome of the key party is a spoiler, so I won’t share it, but it is yet another example of how conflicted the adults are sexually.
The children are curious and spend a lot of time exploring the opposite sex. Wendy is romantically assertive, while all of the other characters are passive. Paul shares some of his father’s bone-headedness, as he pursues Libbets Casey (Katie Holmes) who is not only out of his league, but shares more in common with Janey than anyone else in the film. She begins the film with an icy reaction to Paul’s advances, and is ambivalent to him at their little private party even though he does not fit in. Like with another romantic tryst, alcohol is the catalyst, but Paul’s connection with Libbets is just as pathetic as any of his father’s activities.
Mikey is as lost as his father, Jim. Again, I won’t spoil the film, but things happen to them due to their being detached from the world, and in the finale, they express that detachment is specific and different ways. Jim is basically a non-entity, while Mikey is more interested in molecules than with catching a football.
As I alluded to at the beginning of this essay, The Ice Storm is deep, as it is convoluted. It is also extremely well put together, has some terrific performances. Joan Allen and Christina Ricci really shine. It also has some phenomenal shots and motifs. The ice is the most impressive, both as a plot device, a character descriptor, and as an example of gorgeous set design. After seeing the film twice, I’ve found that there’s a lot more depth than merely frozen water.
Film Rating: 8.5/10
Supplements
Commentary: 2007 with Ang Lee and James Schamus.
They introduce the film as the lowest market research tested film he’s ever done. That makes sense to me since it was marketed as a mainstream indie, but is dark and intricate. I would not expect it to test well at malls.
Lee says “F You” to Schamus in opening credits, and we can tell that they have a jovial and tight relationship. Schamus knows what questions Lee gets asked and which ones annoy him.
Schamus says that this is not a faithful adaptation of 1973, but it is an adaptation of what people remember about 1973. Everyone worked together to “craft this memory landscape.”
The book was structurally difficult to adapt. They had to “open it up” as Schamus said, which they did by showing all the characters at the beginning and ending. Lee calls it a “circular structure.”
Weathering the Storm: 2007 documentary.
There were a number of interviews with the cast, some of which were better than others. There were many statements of “it was an honor working with … “ someone, which are common in these type of featurettes.
There is plenty of discussion of the “adults” versus the “kids” and how they interacted. Older actors watched out for them and used them for inspiration, while the younger actors were intimidated at first and then warmed to them.
One of the most interesting parts of this documentary was with the kids talking about sexual encounters, which was weird for them. One of the best quotes comes from Elijah, talking about how he was coming to terms with sexuality personally, so he has to come to terms with it in the film too.
They are all proud of the film, even if it didn’t do well.
Rick Moody Interview: 2007 interview with the author.
He talks about the feeling of handing off his work over to someone else. It feels like giving some part of himself away. His book was first person, whereas the film was third person, yet there are examples of first person narration in film, primarily through Tobey Maguire (although having not read the novel, I am not sure whether that character is the narrator).
The town was actually the town that he grew up in, and the town wanted to impede the shoot because of the subject material. That was strange for him.
Lee and Schamus: 2007 Conversation at Museum of the Moving Image.
I tend to enjoy these podium conversations, because they are usually not artificial. Often they are asked good questions.
This was filmed after Lust, Caution, which is probably safe to say will not come to Criterion. They talk about his career trajectory, being repressed in his homeland and getting an opportunity when he came in touch with Schamus. Lee gave a bad pitch, but he described a movie he had already made in his mind, and that vision impressed Schamus. The relationship has worked well for both of them.
Lee calls The Ice Storm the most artistic film he had done. I wonder if he would say the same thing now that Life of Pi exists. My personal observation when perusing his career is that he does a phenomenal job of adapting others, including this film and with Pi.
The Look of the Ice Storm: Interviews with three of the key visual artists behind the film.
Frederick Elmes – Cinematographer
They found photorealist painters from early 1970s and used them to develop style and natural light. This was filmed intentionally late in the season, so little warmth outside, but there was warmth inside. They made a strict distinction between Janey’s and Klein’s house – warm versus cold.
Mark Friedberg – Production Designer
It was the first story he worked on that he didn’t have to research. He lived it. His dad was an architect, so he knew the styles. He was not prepared for the ice. It turned out that was a challenge. It had not been done before. He used unusual tooks like hair gel, which was effective, as it looked frozen. The biggest challenge was the large frames. Glue was used a lot for the wide ice-work.
Carol Oditz – Costume design
She lived in the period and still had to research. She looked through vintage stores, found 70s fabric, and did a lot of crocheting. The Kline family were in lighter tones, whereas Sigourney in murkier tones. That impacted the character differences. She said that Kline was “naughty” with costumes because it was not comfortably fitting like modern clothes. He did knee bends to loosen them up and they had to repair them.
Deleted Scenes
Often I find deleted scenes superfluous, and I would say that is true for the majority of the ones here. The one I wish would have made the final cut is the Reverend moving forward in trying to pick up Joan Allen’s character. I think it would have added dimension to her struggle. The other scenes were interesting, yet not essential.
Criterion Rating: 9.5
First Podcast
Phew! What a week!
As you may have noticed in the last post, we launched our podcast this week. I’ll be honest that our first test run for The Rose could have gone better. Mark and I had a good rapport and had a lively, analytical discussion. We had some audio problems. My opinion is that they don’t affect the show, but they required a lot of editing and probably still a little more. We have decided for now not to release that episode, although we might reconsider in the future. It might make for a good bonus episode.
When we put our recording hats on this past Sunday, we had learned some from our mistakes with The Rose. Speaking for myself, I was a little nervous, and that probably showed in the early going. After a few minutes I got into it, and I think that on my next go around, I’ll get more comfortable. I thought our discussion about Broadcast News and the media went well. Of course when I listened back while editing, I heard all my stumbles, stutters and audible pauses. From what I understand, we always hear those. We are our worst critics. The audio sounded good and we sent it out to the world.
When I listened again, despite those early jitters, I felt better about it. Overall I think it was a solid debut.
The question was how would other people respond. So far we’ve had a number of comments, and they range from light to enthusiastic praise. That was extremely pleasing. Some of the best comments came from today’s First Time Watchers cast. Mark does a monthly stint there doing a Criterion 101 segment. They spent their first segment talking about our show. Tim was very kind. He said that it usually takes 40 shows to find your “voice,” but that we were way ahead of the ballgame the first time out. Some of that can be attributed to Mark’s experience. I’ll take some of the credit as a fast learner at editing and using clips. For anyone reading, I cannot recommend First Time Watchers enough. They are fun, energetic, and have a unique slant on a film podcast. Who knows? One day I might make an appearance.
There were some criticisms, and I actually cherished those over most. They mostly came from other podcasters, but many of them said the same thing. One was that it was clear that I was nervous at first. Guilty. I probably won’t be next time. The other was that the theme music was annoying and went on too long. That’s my fault. I should have mentioned that we are going to use the theme of the film we’re covering for every episode. We will shorten it some, but we feel that it gives the episode a unique flavor. For example, when we do Mulholland Drive, we might start with the “Silencio” sequence. The score is amazing and we might let that go longer than usual. Why? Because it’s cool. For next week’s cast, My Life is a Dog, we’ll just give a little taste because the music is a bit of a downer.
We also have a special guest for the next episode. I’ll leave that as a surprise.
Another surprise was that people listened. That says something given that it took a few days for us to get on iTunes. We are there now. Please subscribe and if you like the show, leave us a review. I know some stats from other shows, and while I’m not going to reveal ours in this blog post, our number pleasantly surprised me. As we go on, we should grow, so this is a good foundation to build on.
We have some good stuff coming out soon. As I mentioned, this week we will cover My Life as a Dog with a special guest. The week after will be our first Criterion Close-Up and we promise a Criterion geek-fest. We’ll cover the new releases some, and then we’re going deep into the label. I’ll save the details for when it comes out. After that is Day for Night. Also on the schedule is Hiroshima Mon Amour, Moonrise Kingdom, House, The Brood, 12 Angry Men, The Music Room and a few others that we haven’t scheduled or ready to mention yet.
I should also mention that we have a big announcement next week. Watch this space.
So yeah, it has been an exciting week. Thank you for everyone that has supported us so far. We’re in for a thrill ride and we’re glad to have you on board.
P.S. I got these. Did I mention I like Criterions?
Episode 1: Broadcast News & Media through Film
SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST HERE (Not all browsers are friendly with this link, but most mobile devices will be.)
Or listen here to it here:
Show Notes
Podcasts we love:
Criterion Cast
Eclipse Viewer
Wrong Reel
Flixwise
Filmspotting
First Time Watchers
InSession Film Cast
News
Dressed to Kill
The Graduate
Don’t Look Back
Where to find us?
Facebook
Podcast Directory
Aaron’s Twitter
Mark’s Twitter
Email us at Criterion Close-Up
Broadcast News
Film Rating:
Mark: 7.8
Aaron: 8.0
Combined: 7.9
Criterion Rating:
Mark: 9
Aaron: 8
Combined: 8.5
Media in Film
Positive Examples
All the President’s Men
The Parallax View
Good Night, and Good Luck
Shattered Glass
Negative Examples
Network
Nightcrawler
Satirical Examples
Anchorman
Being There
Criterion Close-Up 