Sibling rivalry 101

Noah Baumbach has perfected the dysfunctional family film. Squid and the Whale is one of my favorite movies, and he wrote and directed that film brilliantly. What I love about Baumbach is that his films are a plausible kind of dysfunctional–real people with real quirks in really fucked up situations. I think what sets him apart from other dysfunctionalites [writer-directors who tend to churn out un-family friendly films–the likes of Sofia Coppola, Alexander Payne and Wes Anderson] is that his characters are not larger than life. They’re real people with real problems–most of which don’t ever get resolved. His scripts are sharp, funny and succinct–nothing too over the top and pretentious. He and Dan Harris [Imaginary Heroes] kind of have the same style of storytelling, which I really like.

So when I decided to rent Margot at the Wedding, I thought, “Hey, it’s a Baumbach film. Should be good.” I knew going into it that Jack Black was in the movie; and Jack Black is not my cup of tea. Surprisingly, Black was tame and toned down in this film. His character, Malcolm, still provided comic relief for the film, but the power plays were commanded by Jennifer Jason Leigh and Nicole Kidman, both award-nominated and award-winning heavyweights. Kidman was surprisingly good in this film. Her performance was like the one she gave in The Hours, except Sybil-fied. Basically, the premise of Margot at the Wedding, is Nicole Kidman’s character Margot attending her estranged sister’s wedding invitation, and ending up completely mucking up the situation. What’s interesting isn’t the premise of a wedding crasher type thing, but rather, the brazenly self-aware and truthful repartee between type A, perfectionist Margot and her free-spirited sister Pauline [Jennifer Jason Leigh], whose relationship is so strange and skewed that one can only imagine what it would be like to be in that family.

Laughing it up: Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh play two sisters who have a love-hate relationship with each other.

I like the muted tones of the film, how it’s simple and restrained. It can be compared to the Augusten Burroughs memoir-based movie Running with Scissors, except less indulgent. I feel like Noah Baumbach is like a Wes Anderson, only less indulgent and more tell-it-like-it-is. I also like the soundtrack for the movie. Overall, I enjoyed the film. It was purposefully fragmented, which I thought was an interesting aesthetic choice. Good, strong performances, even from Jack Black (who attempted to cry, but failed, in my eyes). If you’re a fan of the dysfunctional movies like Winter Passing and Imaginary Heroes, you will like this movie.

An alien philosophy

We like aliens. I love aliens. I’m obsessed with them. I’ve made it a point to see every movie that’s released about aliens. It’s no surprise then that yet another alien movie was released–and not just any alien movie, but of course, a remastered version of the 1978 Philip Kaufman movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers and 1993’s Body Snatchers as well. The Invasion is a Joel Silver-produced movie starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.

I think it’s impossible for Daniel Craig to not be great in a movie. I think the same of Nicole Kidman as well. Both of them have great charisma on screen and they definitely have some chemistry; which is why putting both of them together makes for a good movie. The Invasion is a pretty good remake. Of course, to purists, the original will always be of sentimental value, but this remake actually holds its own. It’s suspenseful, beautifully shot, and well-cast.

Nicole Kidman delivers a great performance as Carol Bennell, a psychiatrist who tries to flee from a growing invasion of an alien species, which unfortunately starts with her ex-husband. Daniel Craig also shines in the movie, although I would have liked more screen time for him.

Overall it’s a good popcorn movie, but it also raises a couple of interesting questions. The premise behind the film is that the aliens are trying to convince people that being “turned” would be ultimately best for the world is because it would eliminate war and a lot of other conflicts. People will be less inclined to act on their drives to rape and pillage and therefore it would be a better society. Seems like a good argument, but that would mean taking away what makes us essentially human: choice. So no, Mr Alien Species, we’re not going to let you transmit your alien cells to us, thank you.

Cordelia should have her own column

So I’ve been in a creative slump this past week.

I have a million projects due on the final week of class and I’m seriously lagging. Don’t get me wrong, I had all the time in the world to get them done, but alas, ever the procrastinator, I failed to get myself in gear in advance.

I don’t know what it is, but for some reason I couldn’t get myself into work mode. I would open Microsoft Word with every intention of writing my paper, but fifteen minutes would pass and I would still be staring blankly at the blinking cursor on my screen. Then I decided to sit down and envision my poster presentation instead. I started doodling and drawing on my pad, convinced that if I just let the hand work its magic, I would come up with something. Needless to say all I came up with was a bunch of squiggly lines and “I heart Chris Carabba” scrawled over and over again.

So then I figured I’d take a break. An undeserved break, because I hadn’t gotten anything done and logically, I should have pushed myself until I came up with something–anything, other than professing my undying love for Dashboard Confessional’s frontman on yellowpad.

I decided to go see The Golden Compass. I figured, maybe a little dose of fantasy would get the wheels in my head in gear to write my Tolkien paper. Turned out to be a waste of time, but Eva Green and Nicole Kidman were both worth watching. Eva Green is amazing. Extremely underrated, but amazing. I think she was in the movie for about five minutes as the witch Serafina. I was disappointed, because I think she’s a great actress (If you haven’t seen The Dreamers, you’re missing out) and one you definitely need to give more screen time to. Speaking of which, Chris Weitz, if you’re reading this: Shame on you for not giving Daniel Craig more screen time. Of course, Lord Asrael has more of a starring role in The Subtle Knife, but still! How could you! Anyhoo, I also thought Nicole Kidman did a great job. She was conniving in the movie, that Australian woman. I thought it was a treat, considering she never really does villain roles. As for the kid who played Lyra, Dakota Blue Richards, I thought she was annoying as hell. Her face seemed to always contort into this menacing, child monster sort of way, kind of reminiscent of The Omen.

Anyway, although I had a couple of things to say about this movie (for instance, how awesome as usual Ian McKellen was), I emerged uninspired, and therefore, had to postpone another brainstorming session until the next day.

The next day didn’t yield any amazing ideas either. All I came up with was the title of my project and half a paper. Very unimpressive, I know. I didn’t know what it was that kept invading my brain space. Whenever I would start a project I would just space out and get distracted by the stupidest things. I would have this brilliant idea and then when I started to write it, I would get tired right away and stop working. I needed some serious pep.

And who else do you go to for some serious pep than Cordelia Chase, hmm?

All right, losers, it’s from Buffy.

I watched When She Was Bad, an episode from Season 2 of Buffy when Buffy is all uber-bitch because she’s mad that she almost died from Season 1 blah blah blah and is alienating all her friends. Anyway, Cordelia pulls her aside and tells her, “Get over it. Whatever is causing the Joan Collins ‘tude, deal with it. Embrace the pain, spank your inner moppet, whatever, but get over it.”

To make a ridiculously long blog post short, I spanked my inner moppet, and thanks to you, Cordelia Chase, I am now on my way to finishing two papers.

The Zen of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Who knew?