List: Top 30 Summer Films to See (May-August)
08 May 2012 8 Comments
in 2012, 2012 list, List, To See Tags: 2 Days in New York, 2012, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, Animation, August 31sr, Austrailia, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Beyond the Black Rainbow, Brave, Christopher Nolan, Collaborator, Compliance, Documentary, France, G.I Joe: Retaliation, Hirokazu Koreeda, Horror, I Wish, Inc., Indie Game: The Movie, Japan, Joachim Trier, John Hillcoat, Joss Whedon, Julie Delpy, Killer Joe, Kumare, Lawless, Lee Byung-hun, Leonard Cohen, Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present, Moonrise Kingdom, Nick Cave, Oslo, Paul Williams Still Alive, Pink Ribbons, Pixar, Polisse, Prometheus, Revisionist Fairy Tale, Ridley Scott, Science Fiction, Searching for Sugar Man, Sleepwalk with Me, Snow White and the Huntsman, Summer 2012 film, Summer film, Superhero, Take This Waltz, The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, The Imposter, The Intouchables, The Invisible War, The Loves Ones, The Queen of Versailles, To See List, Wes Anderson, William Friedkin
This is a list of the 30 films I most look forward to seeing. As far as I can tell, all of these films are set for summer releases. I’m sure more release dates will be announced throughout the months. The ones I am eagerly awaiting to get release dates are Shut Up and Play the Hits and Alps. Both have distribution, with LCD Soundsystem’s final concert show doc acquired by the late great Adam Yauch’s Oscilloscope Laboratories.
There are several films on this list that I have already seen due to IFFBoston. I included them where I would have placed them before seeing them. Those will be bolded. I’m feeling pretty passionate about these 30 films as a whole. After the 30, I have a massive list of films that are on my to-see list and it should be kept in mind that they range from films I really want to see (Farewell, My Queen, Lovely Molly and Whores’ Glory. The latter would be on the list if I weren’t too lazy to shuffle it around) to films like Men in Black III (for Josh Brolin) and Dark Shadows (Burton completist) which I am largely unenthusiastic about but would still see at some point.
What films are you most looking forward to this summer?
First, an honorable mention:
G.I Joe: Retaliation. Why you ask? That looks positively idiotic. Well, first because the trailer makes it look like some honest-to-goodness fun. But really truly my reason boils down to this:
If you can deny the sexiness of Lee Byung-hun then I put forth that you are soulless. The promise of shirtless Lee Byung-hun is enough to get me to pay and see this.
30. Marvel’s The Avengers
Kicking off with a film I and the rest of the world have seen, this was at the top of most lists of this kind. I was looking forward to The Avengers, but as a Joss Whedon fan, not as a Marvel fan. I’m not a superhero film person or at least, I’m a tough sell in most cases. Thankfully, I thoroughly enjoyed The Avengers, more so than most films in this genre.
29. Untouchable (aka Intouchable)
Summary: After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caretaker.
Reasons: It is hard to overstate the cultural phenomenon this film has been in France. It is the second most successful of all time at the French box office. Looks like a hearty crowdpleaser and it has Francois Cluzet, one of my favorite French actors. Color me curious.
28. Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present
Summary: A documentary that follows the Serbian performance artist as she prepares for a retrospective of her work at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Reasons: I know nothing about Abramovic outside of having heard of her and knowing of her importance. So this seems like a great opportunity to get some insight into her and her work.
27. Compliance
Summary: When a prank caller convinces a fast food restaurant manager to interrogate an innocent young employee, no-one is left unharmed. Based on true events.
Reasons: The most controversial and divisive film at Sundance. Reason enough for me.
26. 2 Days in New York
Summary: Marion (Delpy) has broken up with Jack (Two Days in Paris) and now lives in New York with their child. But when her family decides to come visit her, she’s unaware that the different cultural background held by her new American boyfriend Mingus (Rock), her eccentric father, and her sister Rose who decided to bring her ex-boyfriend along for the trip, added to her upcoming photo exhibition, will make up for an explosive mix.
Reasons: Saw this at IFFBoston (embargo prevented review), but this would have been placed here because of Julie Delpy’s directing/acting/writing involvement.
25. Sleepwalk with Me
Summary: A burgeoning stand-up comedian struggles with the stress of a stalled career, a stale relationship, and the wild spurts of severe sleepwalking he is desperate to ignore.
Reasons: Really strong response everywhere it has played, starting with Sundance at the beginning of the year.
24. Kumare
Summary: A documentary about a man who impersonates a wise Indian Guru and builds a following in Arizona. At the height of his popularity, the Guru Kumaré must reveal his true identity to his disciples and unveil his greatest teaching of all.
Reasons: A doc about deception on a mass scale. Acquired by Kino Lorber. Interested to see what kind of perspective it takes.
23. Beasts of the Southern Wild
Summary: Faced with her father’s fading health and environmental changes that release an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy leaves her Delta-community home in search of her mother.
Reasons: The film that took this year’s Sundance by storm. Haven’t seen the trailer in my newly implemented effort to abstain from most trailers but the buzz surrounding it is more than enough to pique my interest.
22. Snow White and the Huntsman
Summary: In a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen.
Reasons: As if we need more takes on fairy tales. However! This one actually looks entertaining even if it is preposterous that Theron would not be the fairest of them all against Kristen Stewart. Most people mean this as a knock on Stewart, but I don’t. Don’t get me started on the nonsense insults heaped onto her. It’s a testament to Theron. My main two reasons are: 1. Charlize Theron who looks like she is chewing some delicious scenery. 2. Look at some of the cast list for the dwarves: Ian McShane (!), Eddie Marsan, Bob Hoskins, Toby Jones, Ray Winstone and Nick Frost. Case closed.
21. Collaborator
Summary: A playwright whose marriage and career are in a free fall has an explosive run-in with his former neighbor, a right-wing ex-con.
Reasons: Olivia Williams in a starring role = I’m there. Martin Donovan’s first directorial effort.
20. The Loved Ones
Summary: When Brent turns down his classmate Lola’s invitation to the prom, she concocts a wildly violent plan for revenge.
Reasons: Ever since this Australian horror film was released back in 2009, I have been hearing about it. This will be the first time I will actually get to see this oft-talked about work. It is finally being released in the US.
19. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
Summary: AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY is the first feature-length film about the internationally renowned Chinese artist and activist, Ai Weiwei. In recent years, Ai has garnered international attention as much for his ambitious artwork as his political provocations. AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY examines this complex intersection of artistic practice and social activism as seen through the life and art of China’s preeminent contemporary artist.
Reasons: This doc, like many on this list, has been getting a lot of attention and I’ve been hearing about it for a while now. I think its pretty obvious that this sounds completely fascinating.
18. The Queen of Versailles
Summary: A documentary that follows a billionaire couple who live in a 90,000-square-foot mansion inspired by Versailles, built on the success of the time-share industry.
Reasons: Saw at IFFBoston. You may ask yourself why you should care about these people, but the film allows you to feel disgust and empathy without compromising itself. I had wanted to see it since the buzz surrounding it started and I can tell you it is well worth seeking out.
17. Pink Ribbons, Inc.
Summary: Breast cancer has become the poster child of corporate cause-related marketing campaigns. Countless women and men walk, bike, climb and shop for the cure. Each year, millions of dollars are raised in the name of breast cancer, but where does this money go and what does it actually achieve?
Reasons: Another doc that looks like it is asking some imperative questions and is able to come up with some telling information. I cannot wait for this.
16. Lawless
Summary: Set in the Depression-era Franklin County, Virginia, a bootlegging gang is threatened by authorities who want a cut of their profits.
Reasons: I expected this to be a lot higher, especially considering this was directed by none other than John Hillcoat and boasts a screenplay and music by Nick Cave. And take a look at that sick cast. The last time these two teamed up we received the gritty existential western gift that is The Proposition. I have high expectations for this, but I admit that the trailer (which in hindsight I should not have watched), presented a more conventional looking film. I keep in mind though that the business of trailers is to make things look conventional. The one thing that really stuck out to me was Guy Pearce who looks creepily searing. I’m still highly anticipating this. The Proposition is one of my favorite films.
15. Polisse
Summary: A journalist covering police assigned to a juvenile division enters an affair with one of her subjects.
Reasons: Been waiting for this since it premiered at last year’s Cannes, precisely one year ago. Word has been strong. Oh and it has the beauteous Nicholas Duvauchelle.
14. Beyond the Black Rainbow
Summary: Despite being under heavy sedation, Elena tries to make her way out of Arboria, a secluded, quasi-futuristic commune.
Reasons: Seeming to blatantly and proudly take from Cronenberg, Kubrick and an endless amalgam of mind-bending influences, this seems crafted with cult status in mind, which tends to make me weary. But I cannot deny this looks awesome and I cannot wait to see if it can deliver and earn the status it desperately wants.
13. Searching for Sugar Man
Summary: Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock ‘n’ roller, Rodriguez.
Reasons: Like the majority of the films on this list, there’s been a lot of strong buzz surrounding this one. I don’t know what else to say besides it shooting up to the top of my to-see list since reading about it.
12. I Wish
Summary: 12-year-old Koichi, who has been separated from his brother Ryunosuke due to his parents’ divorce, begins to believe that the new bullet train service will create a miracle when the first trains pass each other at top speed.
Reasons: New Hirokazu Koreeda. Need I say more?
11. The Dark Knight Rises
Summary: Eight years after Batman took the fall for Two Face’s crimes, a new terrorist leader, Bane, overwhelms Gotham’s finest, and the Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy.
Reasons: I don’t really need reasons here. This is clearly the most anticipated film of the summer along with one or two more on this list. Admittedly, Nolan’s Batman work is my least favorite stuff of his and I merely like The Dark Knight. The last third left a bitterly dismal taste in my mouth that I’ve never been able to wash out. But I trust in Nolan; its obvious he’s remarkable at what he does and we can justifiably expect a lot from him. But I’m still not sold on Hathaway.
10. Indie Game: The Movie
Summary: Follows the dramatic journeys of indie game developers as they create games and release those works, and themselves, to the world.
Reasons: Talk about this has been really prominent (don’t you love my original reasons?) and to get an inside look at what it takes to be working on the fringes of this industry is sure to be rewarding on multiple levels.
9. The Invisible War
Summary: An investigative and powerfully emotional documentary about the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the US military, the institutions that perpetuate and cover up its existence, and its profound personal and social consequences.
Reasons: A topic that makes for essential viewing, this is a problem that needs to be brought to the forefront of conversations. Hopefully this film will help this happen. From Kirby Dick, director of This Film is Not Yet Rated.
8. Paul Williams Still Alive
Reasons: Saw at IFFBoston. Basically you should see this because its a documentary about Paul Williams. And Paul Williams is a genius. And if you don’t like Paul Williams I don’t want to know you.
7. Brave
Summary: Determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse.
Reasons: Um…a new Pixar film that is not part of the Cars franchise? That’s just for starters. My two main reasons are the following. First, it is the first Pixar film featuring a female protagonist, and it looks like a refreshing rejection of the traditional expectations of women. The sprightly and flame-haired Merida looks like a much-needed role model for young girls that can counteract the toxicity they are exposed to on a daily basis. Second, this looks to be the most visually stunning Pixar setting since Finding Nemo. Every time I see a picture or trailer for the film I am blown away by how absurdly gorgeous this looks. I want to live on this world already. I want to escape into this film and I haven’t even seen it yet.
6. Killer Joe
Summary: When a debt puts a young man’s life in danger, he turns to putting a hit out on his evil mother in order to collect the insurance.
Reasons: And the list takes a turn as we transition from Pixar to the NC-17 rated film from the bunch. William Friedkin and Tracy Letts collaborating again, adapting one of Letts’ plays, after 2005′s claustrophobic Bug which is one of my favorite films of the aughts. I’ve been dying to see this for a while now. It looks brutal, funny, and brutally funny.
5. Oslo, August 31st
Summary: One day in the life of Anders, a young recovering drug addict, who takes a brief leave from his treatment center to interview for a job and catch up with old friends in Oslo.
Reasons: I admit I’m not the biggest fan of Joachim Trier’s Reprise, although I won’t deny its status as one of the more assured pieces of debut filmmaking I’ve ever seen. Still, I’ve been anxiously awaiting this since last year’s Cannes debut. Its placement should indicate just how much I am looking forward to this one.
4. The Imposter
Summary: A documentary centered on a young Frenchman who convinces a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who went missing for 3 years.
Reasons: Saw at IFFBoston and it’s going strong as my favorite 2012 film so far. It would have been this high on the list regardless. I’ve been hooked since reading the one sentence summary above. Don’t read any reviews. Don’t watch any trailers. Just see The Imposter.
3. Take This Waltz
Summary: A happily married woman falls for the artist who lives across the street.
Reasons: Written and directed by Sarah Polley, I am counting down the days til this film’s release. The summary sounds like this story has been done a million times. But all signs point to a uniquely honest and complex telling of the grey areas of relationships, feelings and monogamy. It looks challenging and uncompromising. And it’s named after a Leonard Cohen song.
2. Moonrise Kingdom
Summary: A pair of young lovers flee their New England town, which causes a local search party to fan out and find them.
Reasons: New Wes Anderson. Case closed.
1. Prometheus
Summary: A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.
Reasons: To me, the trailer for Prometheus is the advertising equivalent of dropping the mic and walking off the stage. Every time I see this trailer in theaters, my thought is that everyone should just pack it on up and go home. I’m trying to avoid Ridley Scott’s contradictory and increasingly distracting comments. I’m trying to go into this as blind as I can outside of that first full trailer and general unavoidable information about the film. I’m also trying to keep my anticipation to a controlled level as I tend to be let down for films I get this excited about. But damn if this doesn’t look like its going to own the summer movie season.
The rest unordered:
The Woman in the Fifth
Klown
Farewell, My Queen
5 Broken Cameras
Lovely Molly
Savages
Lola Versus
Where Do We Go Now?
The Good Doctor
Planet of Snail
Side by Side
Your Sister’s Sister
The Awakening
The Dictator
Paranorman
Safety Not Guaranteed
Easy Money
Magic Mike
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
To Rome with Love
Elena (Russian)
First Position
Dark Horse
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Jack and Diane
Bel Ami
OC87
Mother’s Day
God Bless America
Dark Shadows
The Bourne Legacy
360
Hope Springs
Hick
The Pact
Hysteria
Virginia
Ruby Sparks
The Expendables 2
Chicken with Plums
Premium Rush
Unforgivable
Chernobyl Diaries
Men in Black 3
The Watch
Little White Lies
Red Lights
Trishna
Total Recall
Neil Young Journeys
Whores’ Glory
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Screening Log: April 15th-30th, 2012 – Films #104-123
30 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Weekly Screening Log, 2012 Tags: 1940, 1940's, 1942, 1947, 1948, 2 Days in New York, 2 Days in Paris, 2007, 2012, adaptation, Adaptation: Play, Alexander Korda, And Then There Were None, Andrea Arnold, Anthology, British, Carl Dreyer, Crime, Criss Cross, Dark Passage, Day of Wrath, Detective, Documentary, Edward G. Robinson, Film Noir, Fritz Lang, Green for Danger, Horror, Jean Gabin, Joan Bennett, Julie Delpy, Man Hunt, Michael Powell, Moontide, Pursued, Raoul Walsh, Romantic Comedy, Secret Beyond the Door..., Tales of Manhattan, The Imposter, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, The Theif of Bagdad, The Wolf Man, The Woman in the Window, Western, Wuthering Heights
Note: All grades are entirely subjective.
105. Man Hunt (1941, Lang): B-/C+
106. Dark Passage (1947, Daves): B-
107. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946, Milestone): B+
108. And Then There Were None (1945, Clair): B+
109. Secret Beyond the Door… (1948, Lang): A-/B+
110. Criss Cross (1947, Siodmak): B
111. The Wolf Man (1941, Waggner): B-
112. The Woman in the Window (1944, Lang): B+/B
113. Green for Danger (1946, Gilliat): A/A-
113. Tales of Manhattan (1942, Duvivier): B
115. Moontide (1942, Mayo): B/B-
116. The Thief of Bagdad (1940, Powell, et al): A
117. Pursued (1947, Walsh): B
118. The Imposter (2012, Layton): A/A-
120. 2 Days in Paris (2007, Delpy): B+/B
121. Day of Wrath (1943, Dreyer): A-/B+
122. 2 Days in New York (2012, Delpy): B+/B
123. Wuthering Heights (2012, Arnold): C+
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Review: Cabin in the Woods (2012, Goddard)
15 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in 2012, Film Review, Short Review Tags: 2012, Cabin in the Woods, Drew Goddard, Film, Horror, Joss Whedon, Meta, movies, Review, Slasher
IMDB Summary: Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.
Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon clearly have a love-hate relationship with horror. In Cabin in the Woods, affection for clichés and tropes linger even as it lambasts every last one of said formulas. They get that when characters make bad decisions, it never feels organic. The genre forcefully places stupidity and bad judgment onto placeholder characters that are trapped in an unoriginal scenario that never derails off-course.
Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the slasher film, the most repetitive of horror subgenres. In recent years, a push towards meta-horror has already outstayed its welcome, despite several worthy entries. This is mainly because meta-horror rarely goes beyond exclamations of ‘hey we’re being self-referential, get it? Wink wink!’ Cabin in the Woods takes things into uncharted territory.
But to simply label Cabin in the Woods as meta is reductive. The film works on several different levels, fully committing to its ideas with an admirable audacity. It carries a fondness for its underdeveloped characters; an immediate deviation from the norm. It refuses to conform; every time you think it has, director/writer Goddard and producer/writer Whedon have another trick up their sleeves. Every cliché it takes on serves the film’s larger purpose. It places an additional layer of onlookers/stakeholders who are central to the story (Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, and the incomparable Amy Acker) between us and the victims, forcing the audience to dissect how we interact with horror films and what we really get out of them. It does all of this without the false sense of superiority Michael Haneke insists on seeping into every frame of Funny Games (love the director though I do). Goddard and Whedon fully implicate themselves into the genuine curiosities the film ponders.
Is it self-congratulatory? Of course it is. Is it scary? Not really. However, neither of these minor quibbles can detract from the whole. It is almost mind-boggling to think what Cabin in the Woods accomplishes in a tightly-packaged 95 minutes. Goddard and Whedon are freakishly on-point every step of the way.
Cabin in the Woods sounds like a fictionalized essay; but it manages to deconstruct an entire genre while being one of the funniest, entertaining and genuinely involving films to come around in quite some time. And it manages to go into surprisingly off-the-wall directions to boot. It is surreal to have finally seen this after years of anticipation stemming from the three-year gap between filming and release. I am happy to say that Cabin in the Woods was worth the wait.
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Screening Log: April 1st-14th, 2012 – Films #83-104
15 Apr 2012 3 Comments
in 2012, Weekly Screening Log Tags: 1927, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1986, 2006, 2012, A Day in the Country, Alexander Dovzhenko, Animated Short, Bad Movies, Beggars of Life, Cabin in the Woods, Campy, Carnosaur, Cecil B. DeMille, China, Comedy, Cult, Désiré, Documentary, Don Hertzfeldt, Drew Goddard, Earth, Frank Capra, Hong Kong, Horror, Indonesia, It's Such a Beautiful Day, Jackie Chan, Jean Renoir, Johnnie To, Joss Whedon, Land without Bread, Louise Brooks, Luis Bunuel, Madam Satan, Maggie Cheung, Martial-arts, Mel Gibson, Mexico, Miss Bala, Monkey Business, Montage film, Musical, October, Pre-Code, Project A, Quadrille, Raoul Walsh, Religious film, Russia, Sacha Guitry, Sadie Thompson, Silent, Silent Film, Spain, Street Angel, The Bitter Tea of General Yen, The Heroic Trio, The Marx Brothers, The Passion of the Christ, The Raid: Redemption, The Rape of Europa, Vicious Lips, William Wellman
Note: The letter grades are entirely arbitrary, and merely reflect my own subjective interest and response to the film on a first viewing.
83. Land without Bread (1933, Bunuel): B-
84. A Day in the Country (1936, Renoir): B
85. The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933, Capra): B+
86. The Raid: Redemption (2012, Evans): B+/B
87. It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2012, Hertzfeldt): A-
88. Sadie Thompson (1928, Walsh): B+/B
89. Monkey Business (1931, McLeod): B-
90. Madam Satan (1930, Demille): A-
91. October (1927, Eisenstein): C-
92. Street Angel (1937, Yuan): C
93. Beggars of Life (1928, Wellman): B+/B
94. Earth (1930, Dovzhenko): B-
95. The Passion of the Christ (2004, Gibson): C-/D+
96. Désiré (1937, Guitry): A
97. Quadrille (1938, Guitry): A-
98. Miss Bala (2012, Naranjo): B
99. Carnosaur (1993, Simon): F
100. The Rape of Europa (2006, Berge, Cohen and Newnham): B
101. Project A (1983, Chan): B+/B
102. Vicious Lips (1986, Pyun): C/C-
103. The Heroic Trio (1993, To): A-/B+
104. Cabin in the Woods (2012, Goddard): A-/B+
List: Film Characters I Have an Irrational Hatred Towards Part 2: The 1940′s-1960′s
05 Apr 2012 8 Comments
in 2012, List, Uncategorized Tags: 1940, 1940's, 1946, 1950's, 1955, 1960's, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1967, Alfred Hitchcock, Animated Film, Animation, Based on a Play, Bonnie and Clyde, Carnival of Souls, Comedy, Disney, Estelle Parsons, Film, Horror, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, It's a Wonderful Life, Judith O'Dea, List, movies, Musical, Night of the Living Dead, Pinocchio, Shadow of a Doubt, Sidney Berger, Teresa Wright, The Seven Year Itch, Thomas Mitchell, Tom Ewell, Walt Disney, West Side Story, zombies
Have you ever watched a film and found yourself thinking “My God, but that character is getting on my nerves”, when said character is not necessarily meant to? There are plenty of onscreen characters throughout the years who are meant to be vexing or obnoxious. But at what point does that frustration transform into something a little more intense?
What do I mean by intense? Here are two possible definitions. First is that the hatred extends far past what is meant to be felt, becoming a somewhat preposterous fixation. The second is that the ‘irrational hatred’ for the character overflows to the point where you begin feeling adverse effects to the entire film itself.
Of course, these are more extreme side effects of the topic in question. For one thing, there are plenty of characters on this list that get on my nerves, but have never jeopardized my willingness to rewatch the film they are part of. For another thing, some of the characters on this list are supposed to get on your nerves; to a point. When you cannot move past it, when it grates on you beyond normalized reason, then it counts for this list, whether one is supposed to be annoyed by the character or not.
Something else to note; it does not have to be the character. In fact, many of the lists inclusions irritate me because of the performances attached to the character.
This is not the type of list I see around too much and so I thought it would be a fun and harmless road down which to venture. I like these kinds of lists that really have nothing to do with being the end-all be-all of anything, and focus more on ones personalized relationship with a variety of films. And anyone that reads this blog with any regularity knows I favor embracing the subjectivity of lists and somewhat resent (at least for myself) any attempts for a list to speak for anyone but myself.
The idea for this list came about from reminiscing about Apollo 13. In a management class for my graduate school classes for Library Science, we watched a few clips from the film. We had to discuss the various methods of group collaboration taking place and insert all the terminology we had been discussing about teams and groups into examples from the scenes (most featuring Ed Harris). I had been thinking about how much I truly like Apollo 13, and was lamenting about how long it had been since I watched it.
I then started to think about the one glaring downside to that film; Kathleen Quinlan. I flat-out do not like Kathleen Quinlan in this film. I realize that she was stuck with the obligatory ‘wife’ role and that it’s a pretty thankless part (although not thankless enough; she was nominated for an Oscar). There are a lot of similar thankless roles that actresses get saddled with, but none really got on my nerves the way she did. My memory recalls one worried facial expression throughout, and distractingly garish late 60’s/early 70’s wardrobe and makeup. At a certain point the negative feelings I have become inexplicable.
And thus the idea for this list was born.
There are some questionable choices here; I realize this. Some of the irrationality can be argued. I have a few characters on here where my reactions could be argued as being completely rational.
There were many that came to my head and I decided not to put them on. I felt either that my feelings were entirely too justified or that too many people hate the character for it to really feel ‘irrational’. How can it feel ‘irrational’ if so many others hate them as well? So no Jar-Jar Binks will be found here.
I hope everyone enjoyed the first installment of “Film Characters I Have an Irrational Hatred Towards”. It is now time for installment to, which will be covering three decades; the 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s. I wish I were able to come up with more for this 30 year span but alas.
Someone I decided not to put here is Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The reason for this is, though I physically am unable to watch his scenes, I feel entirely justified in my hating him. I don’t find it to be irrational. I think we can all agree that performance is as bad and offensive as it gets.
What would you have put for these decades? Hopefully you can come with more than I was able to.
Pinocchio – voiced by Dickie Jones - Pinocchio (1940)
This installment kicks off with another major Disney character. I have a stronger fondness for this film than I do for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It attains a majestic quality at points and its certainly one of Disney’s most beautiful pieces of animation. Pinocchio is a naive wooden being; he does not have any life experience to guide him. He is a child, a selfish and foolish wooden child, who gets himself into a host of perilous situations.
Overcoming this selfishness and naiveté is embedded in the parable of this story. The journey is about him overcoming this near-fatal flaw. Still though; it is difficult to get past just how idiotic Pinocchio can be. His shockingly devil-may-care attitude is pretty staggering for someone who has only been in existence for a mere day.
The reasonable part of my brain keeps saying “but Pinocchio has no idea how the world works”. And the sillier, far too heavily involved part of my brain says “with the equally bothersome Jiminy Cricket at his side he has no excuse. Screw him; I hope he ends up a donkey slave”. It’s a bad sign when you want a cherubic character like Pinocchio to get his comeuppance.
Charlie – Teresa Wright – Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Over the years I never had a problem with Teresa Wright as Charlie. I thought her character was relatable and refreshing; a bored small-town girl who is just waiting for something exciting to happen.
The last time I watched it her incessant enthusiasm and refusal to see a situation for what it is got on my nerves. She is far too happy in the beginning and far too stubborn in the end. She plays these two emotions in every single scene and uses restlessness as a go-between throughout. And I realize how unreasonable it is to expect Charlie to see the situation for what it is. We as the audience have the advantage of omniscience.
I don’t hate Charlie; but as I get older, I just don’t like her very much. She strikes a high-pitched note that gets a little too under the skin. Every time she says “Uncle Charlie” all I hear are nails on a chalkboard.
Uncle Billy – Thomas Mitchell – It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Is there a bigger snafu than Uncle Billy’s misplacement of $8,000 in It’s a Wonderful Life?
It was an honest mistake. The guilt Billy feels as a result turns him into a far more tragic figure than George Bailey at his worst. In the end, it all turns out all right. We can forgive Uncle Billy right? Wrong.
Why anyone would ever trust Uncle Billy with that much money is beyond me. In a sense this whole thing is George’s fault too. Yet Uncle Billy will always remain an irrational source of aggravation for me. His nonexistent ability to keep track of large sums of money effects how I see him from the get-go. Uncle Billy and his stupid goddamn crows are the pits.
I don’t know how many times I have seen It’s a Wonderful Life; lots. One would think my fury would die down, but no. It doesn’t. Not even close. The tradition of watching Capra’s masterpiece every Christmas season is coupled with yearly shouting matches I have with myself. Without fail I always end up hurling insults at a lit-up box that projects Uncle Billy’s dimwittedness. Without fail I always end up shaking my head in shame, smacking my hand to my forehead mumbling “He’s so fucking stupid. Why is he so fucking stupid?”
It is safe to say my feelings got out of hand long ago.
Uncle Billy is cinema’s biggest hooplehead.
Richard Sherman – Tom Ewell – The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Tom Ewell gets the distinction of playing the only character from the 1950′s to appear on this list. Sad isn’t it? But just look at that face. Ew. Ew. Ew.
Part of it is that I rather superficially don’t like his face. He has that vibe that suggests he belongs on a 1960’s sitcom destined to forever be accompanied by a laugh track. His performance, which is admittedly good, is shadowed by his experiences performing the role on stage. He plays the part as if for a live audience, hence the laugh track vibe. The incessant ongoing monologue isn’t exactly endearing either.
He belongs to a class of bumbling overzealous male characters. His character and Ewell’s performance are exactly what they are meant to be; but that does not mean I have to like him.
The Jets – played by various - West Side Story (1961)
It was a long time ago when I realized I side with the Sharks in West Side Story. There is a sympathetic quality there as well as a laid-back ‘cool’ factor that The Jets lack. The Jets may have the song ‘Cool’ (the film’s best scene and the most exhilarating musical number I have ever seen onscreen), but that song is about harnessing rage and anger and not about actually being cool. Because they aren’t cool; they are lame.
By ‘The Jets’, I mean everyone excluding Riff and ex-Jet Tony. Tony is a massive sap but at least he possesses a modicum of common sense. And Riff is Russ Tamblyn and there will be no hating on Russ Tamblyn.
The ‘Daddio’ speak allows staginess to emerge in their dialogue scenes where every Jet takes turns shouting random words. It is painful.
The gang is really all The Jets have; their downtrodden lives suggest they have little to look forward to in life. I get it. I’m supposed to care. But I don’t. I care about the Sharks.
Action is by far my least favorite Jet or as I like to call him, Matt LeBlanc’s doppelganger.
Did I mention the part where they humiliate and assault Anita? Unforgiveable.
John Linden – Sidney Berger – Carnival of Souls (1962)
Sidney Berger knocks Carnival of Souls down a couple of notches with his insufferably lecherous skeeveball character. He detracts with his presence, taking away from what is otherwise a fabulously unsettling film. It feels like a glaring waste of time to use a subplot to showcase him. Berger is gross, slimy and the definition of obnoxious. I could not figure out the point of him when I first saw it and looking back, I am still perplexed by his presence.
Emeline Marcus-Finch – Dorothy Provine – It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1964)
There are few films I have seen more than It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, which is odd because it does not represent the kind of comedy I like at all. By all accounts the film’s humor should annoy me but it doesn’t. It is one of my favorite comedies and I can quote it back to front. But Emeline will always be a major thorn in my side.
Emeline is supposed to be the innocent character. She is the poor soul who is dragged on a wild goose chase while everyone around her becomes increasingly obsessive over massive wads of cash. We are supposed to see her as the one uncontaminated character in the ensemble cast.
When you play Ethel Merman’s daughter and you are the more insufferable of the two, you know it’s bad.
Where the film sees unselfishness, I see an unendurable superiority complex. The ensemble cast’s desire for the money is not the problem. The problem is their inability to be reasonable people and come up with a method of equally distributing the money to everyone’s satisfaction. That is their downfall.
Call me unethical, but even though the money belongs with authorities and they have no right to it, I completely sympathize with their initial cause to get the money. Emeline’s haughty disapproval with the whole endeavor shows her as a stick-in-the-mud to the extreme; a nagging, prudish, bitch of a woman who is supposedly the film’s only moral character. If that is what moral looks like, then hand me a shovel so I can go look for the big W.
Blanche – Estelle Parsons – Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
What is unfortunate about this is that I cannot get past her shrillness to appreciate Parsons’ work as a performance. I have no idea if her work here is extraordinary or painfully overdone. Is every beat her acting hits purposeful? Am I supposed to find any redeeming qualities in this person? Should I feel remorse or compassion? I honestly can’t tell. If I am supposed to feel these things I am sorry to say I didn’t.
Parsons falls into the headache-inducing category here. It has been years since watching Bonnie and Clyde, but I remember wanting to jump out the nearest window in regards to Blanche. My hatred for her extends to the point where when I first saw it as a teenager; she became my most hated character in any film I had seen up to that point.
Barbara – Judith O’Dea – Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Showing a more realistic depiction of what would likely happen after a traumatic experience, such as the one Barbara has at the beginning of Night of the Living Dead, may not always be a good call. In the case of Judith O’Dea, she represents the archaic idea that women are useless shrieking creatures who are incapable of action in the face of danger. She bogs down the picture with her frenzied pouting recollections. When Ben slaps her across the face, hitting a woman actually comes a triumphant moment as a viewer, which as a woman is a really depressing confession to make.
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Screening Log: March 15th-31st, 2012 – Films #61-82
01 Apr 2012 1 Comment
in 2012, Weekly Screening Log Tags: 1921, 1927, 1930's, 1930's Film, 1932, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1982, 2011, 2012, 21 Jump Street, A Day at the Races, action, action-comedy, Adaptation: Book, Adaptation: Play, Adapted from a TV Show, Alexander Nevsky, Alfred Hitchcock, Basket Case, Beats Rhymes and Life: the Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, Comedy, Cult, cult film, Destiny, Documentary, Dystopian, F.W Murnau, Fritz Lang, G.W Pabst, Gary Ross, George Cukor, Germany, Historical Fiction, Holiday, Horror, Japan, Kenzo Mizoguchi, King of Devil's Island, Ladies They Talk About, Love Me Tonight, Musical, Norway, Osaka Elegy, Pre-Code, Prison film, Reboot, Rouben Mamoulian, Sabotage, Sacha Guitry, Science Fiction, Sergei Eisenstein, Silent, Silent Film, Sisters of the Gion, Tabu, The Hunger Games, The Lodger: Story of the London Fog, The Marx Brothers, The Pearls of the Crown, The Story of a Cheat, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, The Threepenny Opera
Heading into April I thought I would be done with my goal for watching some films from the 1920′s and 1930′s. But as I look at what I roughly have planned for the 1940′s, I realize I do not want to move on from these decades until I finish up what I had planned to watch. The films I have planned before moving on are A Woman in Paris, Beggars for Life, October, Joyless Street, Spies and Sadie Thompson for the 1920′s and Earth, Desire, Quadrille, A Day in the Country, Street Angel, The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums, City Streets, The Four Feathers, Madam Satan, Land without Bread, The Bitter Tea of General Yen, Monkey Business and The Crime of Monsieur Lange for the 1930′s. These will likely comprise the majority of the films I see in April.
Once again, the letter grades are entirely arbitrary, and merely reflect my own subjective interest and response to the film on a first viewing.
62. The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927, Hitchcock): C
63. Love Me Tonight (1932, Mamoulian): A-
64. 21 Jump Street (2012, Lord & Miller): B+
65. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933, Lang): B
66. Basket Case (1982, Henenlotter): B-
67. Holiday (1938, Cukor): A/A-
68. Ladies They Talk About (1933, Bretherton and Knighley): B-
69. Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest (2011, Rapaport): B-
70. Alexander Nevsky (1938, Eisenstein): C/C-
71. The Threepenny Opera (1931, Pabst): C
72. A Day at the Races (1937, Wood): B+
73. Sabotage (1936, Hitchcock): B/B-
74. Tabu (1931, Murnau): B+
76. The Pearls of the Crown (1937, Guitry): A-
77. The Hunger Games (2012, Ross): B
78. Sisters of the Gion (1936, Mizoguchi): B
79. Destiny (1921, Lang): B-/C+
80. Osaka Elegy (1936, Mizoguchi): B+
81. King of Devil’s Island (2011, Holst): B
82. The Story of a Cheat (1936, Guitry): A/A-
Screening Log: February 1st-15th, 2012 – Films #28-34
15 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in 2012, Weekly Screening Log Tags: 1928, 1943, 1945, 1949, 1955, 2012, British, Caught, Documentary, Film, Film Noir, France, Gerhard Richter Painting, Germany, Gothic, Horror, James Watkins, Josef von Sternberg, Les Dames du Bois de Bologne, Max Ophuls, Melodrama, Michael Powell, Powell/Pressburger, Screening Log, Silent, The Big Combo, The Last Command, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Woman in Black
28. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943, Powell & Pressburger): A-
29. The Big Combo (1955, Lewis): B/B-
30. Caught (1949, Ophuls): A-
31. The Woman in Black (2012, Watkins): B-/C+
32. The Last Command (1928, von Sternberg): B+
33. Les Dames du Bois du Bologne (1945, Bresson): A/A-
34. Gerhard Richter Painting (2012, Belz): B+
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Review: The Woman in Black (2012, Watkins)
10 Feb 2012 1 Comment
in 2012, Film Review Tags: 2012, 2012 film, Daniel Radcliffe, Film, film review, Ghost, Gothic, Horror, James Watkins, movies, Suspense, The Woman in Black
There is an ornate decaying delicacy that comes with the period haunted house film. The Woman in Black is a classic back-to-basics Gothic tale that boasts an impressively patient and confident execution of familiar tropes, successfully piling on spook after spook. This may be all the film has to offer, but it garners enough satisfaction to ward off disappointment.
Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) is a young widowed lawyer with a son. He is given an assignment (which his job hinges on) in a secluded English village where he is to sort through the estate of a deceased woman named Alice Drablow. The villagers are troubled by Arthur’s arrival. He gradually learns that many of the villagers have children who have died, including two hospitable citizens’ played by Ciaran Hinds and Janet McTeer. It is only when Arthur is alone, in the entirely isolated and haunted estate of Eel Marsh, that he is able to put the pieces together amidst a ghost who means harm.
The vast majority of ghost stories are all essentially the same. There is a ghost. This ghost has been somehow wronged in their former life. The ghost wants to invoke suffering to others because of what they were forced to endure in life. This suffering could be targeted at nobody in particular, at a specific type of person, or at the ghost’s perceived wrong-doers.
With this in mind, it is imminently clear what is going on in The Woman in Black after about thirty minutes. The trick is to have this not matter. It does matter here, and in that case, the story needs to be stronger. To be an effective ghost story, the basis may be obvious (because at this point they almost certainly will be), but the particulars should be more vague, and at least as intriguing as what can be easily ascertained. The Woman in Black lacks the mysteriousness in story that it puts forth as having.
The story’s shortcomings are largely made up for by the macabre atmosphere and revivified use of tropes that go far in filling the void. The scares themselves are not unfamiliar, but they work because of the impressively sustained ambiance that figures in far beyond the ‘jump’ moments themselves. James Watkins makes the entire journey one long successfully sustained spook.
Gothic tropes are heartily embraced with an appreciation for creaky doors and hallways, madwomen, shadows and fog, and a grandiose and decaying house that reign supreme over any character or story element to be had. Watkins wrings out a lot with a little; without him and an impressive technical crew (the production design here is stellar), this would have been entirely forgettable as opposed to the somewhat satisfying film that it is. A special kudos to those responsible for the props, who conjure up what is easily the most unsettling collection of antique wind-up dolls one is likely to ever see.
Much has been made of the fact that this is Daniel Radcliffe’s first post-Potter role and I am one of those, being the Radcliffe fan myself. Sadly, there is nothing much asked of him, and it is hard not to ponder if an actor who can make something out of nothing (there are not many that can) might have been able to lend some much-needed gravitas. For one, Radcliffe is oddly callow here as a lawyer with a four-year old son. He spends his time mainly reacting to creepy goings-on within the broadly defined quietness of his character. It does not help that the characterization of Arthur Kipps hinges entirely on the continuous lamenting over the death of his wife, and the constant reminder that he loves his son and wishes he could spend more time with him. This is all he is given to do and he is serviceable.
The problematic end, which I will not explicitly spoil, is impossible to overlook for its painful mawkishness. This kind of ending has always been a personal pet peeve, for the pitiful strain it reveals in insuring that the audience is sent off with a modicum of the ‘happy ending’, no matter what the contradicting circumstances. It is corny, evasive and cowardly.
The Woman in Black is in some sense following the type of film that nobody watches for plot or characterization. There are plenty of horror films, indeed many, that offer nothing in story and are heralded for their aura alone (many Hammer Films included). I was tempted to stride towards the ‘but it wasn’t meant to’ line of reasoning. But The Woman in Black seems to want to simultaneously intrigue with its story. The film neither backs up its plot-oriented ambitions nor goes forward with a bold proclamation of plot scarcity. The result is a potentially involving tale lost as well as a residue of intention that leaves an unfulfilled mark. But its primary reason for being, the resurrection of Gothic atmosphere and tropes used effectively is something The Woman in Black has in spades, and this is almost enough.
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Screening Log: December 1st – December 16th
17 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in 2011, Weekly Screening Log Tags: 2011, Animation, Anime, Another Earth, Based on a True Story, Biopic, Captain America: The First Avenger, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Coming-of-age, Documentary, Film, Hesher, High Concept, Horror, In Time, Kung Fu Panda 2, Le Quattro Volte, Margin Call, Moneyball, movies, My Week with Marilyn, NC-17, Nico, Nico Icon, Prequel, Redline, Remake, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Sci-Fi, Shame, Silent, Sports, Superhero, Terri, The Arbor, The Artist, The Debt, The Devil's Double, The Mill and the Cross, The Thing, Warrior, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Werner Herzog, Young Adult
346. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2011, Herzog): B
347. Warrior (2011, O’Connor): A-
348. Margin Call (2011, Chandor): B-
349. In Time (2011, Niccol): D-
350. The Artist (2011, Hazanavicius): B/B-
351. Le Quattro Volte (2011, Frammartino): B+
352. The Debt (2011, Madden): B-
353. The Devil’s Double (2011, Tamahori): C
354. The Arbor (2011, Barnard): A
355. Hesher (2011, Susser): C
356. Terri (2011, Jacobs): B
357. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011, Johnston): B-
358. Moneyball (2011, Miller): A-
359. My Week with Marilyn (2011, Curtis): C-
360. Shame (2011, McQueen): A-
361. Another Earth (2011, Cahill): C-
362. The Thing (2011, Heijningen Jr.): C-
363. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011, Ramsay): A
364. Redline (2011, Koike): B
365. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011, Wyatt): B
366. Young Adult (2011, Reitman): A
367. Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011, Yuh): B+
368. Nico Icon (1995, Ofterringer): B-
369. The Mill and the Cross (2011, Majewski): B
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Review: The Skin I Live In (2011, Almodovar)
02 Nov 2011 10 Comments
in 2011, Film Review Tags: 2011, Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Horror, Melodrama, Pedro Almodovar, Spain, The Skin I Live In
Pedro Almodóvar made a horror film? Oh the possibilities! Well, apparently not. The Skin I Live In feels like any other Almodóvar film, which is always a great thing, but in this case is also a bad thing, and it culminates as a missed opportunity. You can expect all the delicious goodies that one of his outings has to offer; a film entirely dependent on melodrama complete with plot twists, interweaving storylines, time jumps, stylish pop-infused décor, lustful sexual exploits and themes of obsession, desire, fate and identity. It is all there in spades. This work may be able to shed the absolutely inconsequential Broken Embraces, but it does not quite qualify as top-tier Almodóvar by any means.
I fully admit I may just hold the director up to the impossible standards that he has set for himself. That he accomplished one of the great directorial streaks in film history with All About My Mother, Talk to Her, Bad Education and Volver can account for that. Hell, I would even throw 1997’s Live Flesh into that streak, his most underrated output. The Skin I Live In is a largely missed opportunity, where the groundwork for a great film lays (and certainly pops up from time to time within the finished product), but it never reaches that level of success we come to expect from him.
A review for this is nearly impossible without going into spoilers, and indeed an insightful dive into the inner workings of the picture will be largely avoided in reviews marking its theatrical release (including mine). When enough time passes to be able to really get into the thick of it, the meaningful analysis of the film will really come into play. For now, reviews can only be vague. This will sound like a largely negative review when it is not meant to be. This is because what I loved about the film almost entirely involves a reveal that radically alters audience perspective. I will not be divulging it here, but it is the resulting thematic implications that make up my admiration.
The basic plot involves an innovative plastic surgeon (Antonio Banderas) who has a kept woman (Elena Cruz) in his house against her will. The audience enters this situation in media res, of what looks like a dynamic that is years into its existence. The film starts out vague and eventually falls into a flashback which explains the circumstances of the why, when and how it all came to be.
A big reason the unmentioned reveal works, despite being able to figure it out before its disclosure, is because it lends some much needed layers to the proceedings. The first third is meant litter the audience with questions; to hook us into wanting to know what is going on, and how this situation that has clearly been normalized by the characters, came to be. That element of intrigue never grows organically out of these scenes and they misuse critical time that could have been spent truly grabbing the audience and establishing meaningful characterization. With that, the film gets off to a rickety start.
An example of a scene that does not do what it could is a set-piece that takes place about half an hour in. Marisa Paredes plays a shady matriarchal figure (in what could have been a much juicier role for one of the filmmaker’s great regulars) whose son Zeca (Roberto Alamo) pays her an unexpected visit. Without giving anything away, the way this scene plays out should have slowly ratcheted suspense before giving way to the set-up’s conclusion. It could have had the audience on the edge of their seats akin to the opening scene inInglourious Basterds (not to insist that the set-piece should have been exactly like that, but it provides an example of a situation that slowly reveals itself simultaneously to the audience and characters and finds suspense through that alliance). Instead, the scene, while interesting, just sort of plays out without reaching that sense of suspense that it clearly means to have.
Another major factor of disappointment is the way it essentially wastes former male muse Antonio Banderas. Granted, to see him back in action with the Spanish director that helped catapult his career back in the day is an unbridled joy. Banderas was always usually given darker characters to play in their collaborations and this case is no different. The actor does a wonderful job with what he is given to work with, but unfortunately it is not much. His character somehow gets lost amidst everything and we never get a sense of him. His actions suggest some potentially incredible characterization but the filmmaker never goes there. Banderas’ more than capable star presence is depended upon too much to carry his character through.
If only Pedro Almodóvar had stepped outside of his comfort zone a bit. His aesthetic will always be a feast for the eyes and will more than carry its weight in worth and skill. But there is a twinge of sadness that he did not branch out even slightly within the horror territory. In fact, The Skin I Live In hardly even feels like a horror film. For some this will be a great thing, showcasing how he can make any kind of material his own. That is fine, and without having hoped for something too dissimilar, I still was optimistic for a fusion between melodrama and horror that does not exist here.
There is a lot to admire here, and even a disappointing film by this director is more than worth seeing. Elena Anaya as Vera Cruz give a smashing performance in a really difficult part as she emotes through her self-consciously porcelain beauty. The sharp use of strings in Albert Iglesias’ score is perfection and perfectly in tone with the film. He uses a different sound that evokes “Twin Peaks” during a fabulous scene featuring windy back roads (this is the music used in the trailers). The way Almodóvar uses nudity and sexual assault are unprecedentedly remarkable. It is thematically rich and on that level has a lot going on and does not disappoint. It is sprinkled with greatness throughout despite missing the mark as a whole.
In many ways, it demands one sees it twice. A film should be able to carry its weighty impact on a first viewing, but it almost feels like there cannot be a true assessment on general thoughts without seeing it again. In fact, it is probable that the film would mean more if one knows what is going on and I fully acknowledge that.
Despite its misgivings, the film holds throughout, goes to some pretty fantastically implicit territory and features the filmmakers’ reliable skill level. A lot of expectation comes with a Pedro Almodóvar film and he falls short here of creating a great work, though inklings of it can be seen. Ultimately The Skin I Live In feels somewhat hollow; too obsessed with surface beauty to get under the skin of the title, and into the meat of things.
