Gates of Heaven - 1978 - No Rating

Subject: Pet Cemeteries

Director: Errol Morris

I've decided to give no rating to Gates of Heaven, because rating such a film is a silly exercise. Gates of Heaven is purportedly about pet cemeteries, but the film is about much more than that. It's a definite must-see for anyone who considers themselves a movie aficionado.

I'd seen Gates of Heaven before, and on the second viewing, it perhaps made less sense. This isn't to say that the movie is confusing, but Morris doesn't guide us along. There's no voice-over narration. He's not an investigator, like he is in many of his other documentaries. He's merely an observer. What he observes is so oddly fascinating that I can't begin to describe it.

Primer - 2004 - 4 Stars

Actors: Shane Carruth, David Sullivan

Director: Shane Carruth

It's almost impossible to give a primer on Primer - I can't tell what the hell happened myself. It's a no-budget film about the implications of scientific discovery. The acting is between passable and bad. The story, however, is fascinating. I don't want to give anything at all away, but the film did remind me quite a bit of the huge-budgeted Inception. Unlike Inception, though, I'm going to have to watch this film a second time.

Badlands - 1973 - 4 Stars

Actors: Sissy Spacek, Martin Sheen

Director: Terrence Malick

Badlands is one of those independent 70s films that rests on the performances of the actors. These films rely heavily on acting because they're scripted in the way that people tend to talk and think - if we (as normal people) had the perfect words for every moment, we'd likely be Hollywood screenwriters. We don't, and so what we can't quite express has to come out in gestures and glances. Spacek and Sheen are perfect at this, and it makes the movie believable. We don't always understand what we do, and sometimes we can't even find the words to rationalize what we've done.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

I thought at first that the film was too similar to Bonnie and Clyde, but the film avoids the histrionics and generational commentary pitfall that that movie fell into. It's not a celebration of violence, nor is Martin Sheen's character necessarily violent. It's hard to know what to make of him by the end - Malick certainly doesn't tell us, nor does he plant a bunch of giant symbols that point the way.

One negative was the voice-over, which seemed necessary but was a touch overused. All in all, I think I'd like this film more if I saw it again.

Kicking and Screaming - 1995 - 4 Stars

Actors: Josh Hamilton, Olivia D'Abo

Director: Noah Baumbach

It's always difficult to rate indies like Kicking and Screaming - I think perhaps I should do away with rating them altogether. These movies are so often piecemeal and overtalkative, but they can also emulate life in a scary way. A film chronicling four graduated college seniors trying to adjust to life outside the comforting embrace of education, Baumbach as writer/director nails all the tropes of Northeastern private colleges. The overeducated using their reasoning skills on total ephemera, the pathetic 30+ year old graduate still hanging around, the ridiculousness of campus life - it's all represented with just the right amount of absurdity. Still, the film overdoes the symbolism of its title, and it never lets us develop much sympathy for any of its characters. Much like college, Kicking and Screaming is a place that's great to spend time for a while, but there's definitely a right time to leave.

Brief Interviews With Hideous Men - 2009 - 3 Stars

Actors: Julianne Nicholson, John Krasinski

Director: John Krasinski

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men was originally a short story by David Foster Wallace that was exactly what its title suggested - invented interviews between an unseen, unheard female and men who tell stories that cast them in a less than noble light. Director John Krasinski selected difficult source material - not only does he have to provide a story around the interviews, but he has to dramatize the interviews as well. He calls on a stable of noted character actors to play the titular men, and the performances are a strength. Still, his use of jump-cutting and inability to put more than a wisp of story around the original work make this a difficult watch for anyone who hasn't already read the original.

The Searchers - 1956 - 4 Stars

Actors: John Wayne, Ward Bond

Director: John Ford

This is a trite observation, but one thing that Westerns such as The Searchers succeed at is presenting things with moral clarity. They can present situations that you or I would never get into as moral questions - what would you do, if faced with this decision? I think it's one reason I don't care that much for Westerns - I'm too larded down by society to ever think I could get into one of these moral situations. So many niggling factors come into the decisions we make now; someone of Ethan Edwards' moral framework not only seems like he's from another time (because he is), but perhaps even another species. However, the moral decisions he makes are still of vital importance, decisions we will be considering long after we've forgotten about the worthless subplots in this film.

Wayne's Ethan Edwards is a classic film character - knowledgeable, contemptuous, quick to anger, and mysterious.

Clockwatchers - 1997 - 2½ Stars

Actors: Toni Collette, Parker Posey

Director: Jill Sprecher

Movies about the minor frustrations of modern life have a hurdle to overcome - monotony doesn't translate well to film. It is anti-film. Luckily, Clockwatchers is unambitious enough that it doesn't tumble into being unwatchable. Detailing the mundane interactions of four temp workers as they struggle with frustration and impermanence, Clockwatchers could be called a comedy. However, it is neither funny nor unfunny. It consists of many setups with no punchline, and punchlines with no setups. Its rhythms are, in short, the rhythms of unedited life.

Plot threads go nowhere and the plot itself is paper-thin. Some of the editing and direction feels off. Still, Clockwatchers sufficiently captures what it's after.