Tom & Alissa

We showed Chop Shop to a small crowd on Friday night at work, and it was just as good the second time around as the first. It didn’t hurt that there was lots of yummy popcorn going around, too.

But by the time I got home I realized I was getting sick, and I woke up Saturday with a raspy throat, plugged ears, and a stack of homework to do. Tom headed out to help Ken & Sarah (and Dahlia) move, and I spent the next eight hours writing essays, plowing through esoteric scholarly articles on art and anthropology and such, and trying to unearth myself a bit. It was successful, but a little exhausting!

When Tom got home we started watching The Wire, finally. We’d previously watched the second season, because Tom had seen the first, but as it turns out, this is emphatically not a show where you can actually do that. So we’re starting from the beginning again. I wouldn’t say I’m sucked in, but I know I’ll eventually be really into it and I immensely appreciate the skill in the storytelling.

I did manage to get to church on Sunday. Lots of new faces, and a few new names on our small group sign-up list. Afterwards Tom and I went to Moustache for middle eastern-style pitzas (and the discovery that it’s a Slow Food establishment), then came home and watched Caramel, a sweet Lebanese movie we missed when it was in theaters. We ate a quinoa-chicken-vegetable concoction I cooked up that was rather good and very healthy, to boot.

So here I am, at NYU since 8am this morning, with a giant water bottle on one side and a giant cup of hot tea on the other, which keeps me from coughing. I passed a somewhat sleepless night since I have trouble breathing without coughing, but I feel rather cheerful and am diving headfirst into the work I’ve got this week. This is Tom’s last free week before he starts a job next week, too.

We also have three excellent screenings this week: Wendy and Lucy tonight (directed by Kelly Reichardt, who also made Old Joy), a Variety screening of Blindness tomorrow (directed by Fernando Meirelles of City of God and The Constant Gardener), and Ballast (which finally has a screening I can attend since I started getting invitations in the spring). We also are seeing Marilynne Robinson read with John Crowley at the 92nd Street Y on Thursday night.

And next week, while Tom’s working, I’m supposed to be in meetings in NYC, DC, and Boston, all between Tuesday and Friday. I haven’t been on a business trip since I left BofA in 2007. I’m pulling out the teeny-tiny travel bottles once again . . .

But let me just say that today is a lovely first official day of autumn, and I am happy to be alive!

First and foremost, we saw the Coen brothers’ new comedy, Burn After Reading, at a Variety screening on Monday night. I believe it’s releasing this weekend, so technically I guess I can’t say too much. But let’s just say that it is my kind of movie - a little dark, a little weird, and very funny. They somehow managed to make both George Clooney and Brad Pitt deeply unattractive (not a small feat, my friends), and Brad Pitt in particular is kind of astounding as a bouncy, vaguely juvenile personal trainer who shares a penchant for adventure with Frances McDormand. Also notable is the appearance of Richard Jenkins, who I am happy to see popping up all over the big screen lately.

I never mentioned that I finally watched The Band’s Visit the other night, which is now available on DVD. It’s a sweet, funny comedy about an Egyptian classical folk band that gets accidentally stranded in the wrong Israeli town en route to a cultural exchange. Instead of the ethnic tension I was expecting, the film is mainly about people learning from each other and bettering one another’s lives, all in the space of an evening. This is very likely going to be one of my top ten films of the year, and it’s well worth seeing. (Incidentally, it’s also good for people who are just getting into subtitled films; about half of it is in English, since that’s the language held in common between the two groups.)

Last night we watched another sweet, funny comedy that we should have seen earlier this year - Son of Rambow. It’s a little reminiscent of Billy Elliot in that the main characters are young English schoolboys, but it’s a little quirkier and much less Hollywood. It’s also very funny, and the two lead actors (for whom this was their first job) were brilliant. There’s some small commentary on being an outsider, too, but it’s mainly a fun and touching movie about friendship and making amateur movies as kids - something that has been touched on already this year in Michel Gondry’s Be Kind Rewind.

On the docket this week is a cast & crew screening of Ghost Town, starring Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, and Tea Leoni; next week we’ll be screening Chop Shop (a must-see) at my office; and we’ve just landed a screening of Fernando Meirelles’ much-anticipated Blindness the week after that. I’ll be sure to report on these as well. Busy movie season has begun!

What did we do this weekend? Saturday was mostly laundry and a lot of angst from my corner at the direction (or, shall we say, non-direction) of my term paper. By the time we went to dinner around 9pm, after wading through a two-foot-high stack of Very Old And Smelly Books from the eminent NYU library, I finally had a grip on my topic. In between my two articles to write this week, I’ll get the paper written, by hook or by crook.

Yesterday we had the delight of the Shake Shack with Angela, who was in town, and various others. We stood in line for an hour and it was worth it. Everyone had regular burgers, but I had the ’shroom burger, which was divine; a portobello mushroom, stuffed with mozzarella and other cheeses, breaded, fried, and on a bun with shack sauce. Everyone duly oohed and ahhed, and Angela tried to take a bite and was inundated with cheese.

Tom and I came home and watched Kubrick’s version of Lolita, which is pretty tame (considering the source material, and no, I haven’t seen the 1997 Jeremy Irons version yet) and includes a hysterically twitchy Peter Sellars as Quilty. Also, Tom read the IMDB trivia, which noted that you can clearly see a famous building in Albany off in the distance near the end, when Humbert is visiting a slightly more grown-up Lolita, which means she was living in relative squalor in . . . Rensselaer. Teehee!

I have officially finished my stack o’ novels for class, and it was with much joy and deliberation that I picked up a book off the shelf since February that wasn’t assigned either by a professor or an editor. Happiness! I went with The Twenty-Seventh City, Jonathan Franzen’s first novel, and I have about four weeks until school starts again so I’m hoping to polish off The Rest is Noise, by Alex Ross, and then maybe something by Joan Didion or Kathleen Norris. I am practically salivating at the thought. I discovered this morning that the gym is the ideal context for reading the New Yorker (I can finish a lengthy profile and a shorter article in the half hour or so that I’m on the treadmill), so I can finally get back into reading.

We saw two excellent movies last week, one of which you might be able to see soon if you have an art theater nearby - Frozen River, directed by Courtney Hunt (a hometown girl!), a deeply moving, low-budget drama about smuggling, single mothers, and the working poor in the extreme northern US. The other film was the ensemble dramedy A Christmas Tale, which I’m reviewing for Paste and can’t rhapsodize about too much except to say it was funny, heartwarming, and French, with a cast to die for (including Mathieu Amalric of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and legend Catherine Deneuve). It will be out in November.

I’m Not There
Well, I don’t think we expected that this would live up to the hype, but it certainly did. I’d heard that it got “tedious”, but I didn’t find it to be tedious at all. It’s absolutely great, even if you’re not a Bob Dylan fan. Cate Blanchett is brilliant. (In case you’ve been living in a hole, this movie is sort of a riff on the life of Bob Dylan - six actors play different parts of his persona, which are shot in different styles.)

Matrix Reloaded
I finally got around to watching it. You know, it’s not great cinema, but the car chase almost makes up for it.

Woman on the Beach
This is a tragicomedic Korean film that kind of plays like a Woody Allen movie, only not at all American. The movie director goes off to a seaside beach to finish writing his movie, brings along a friend, who brings along his girlfriend, and hijinks ensue. Nobody’s actually going to see this movie, though, so I don’t feel like I need to say too much more. It wasn’t awesome, but it wasn’t bad.

Se7en
David Fincher is a very evil genius (seriously, the man scares me) and apparently I’m working my way backwards through his movies. This is brutal but excellent. I’m glad Brad Pitt made them keep the ending the way it is, even though it’s bleak. A serial killer works his way through the seven deadly sins as he systematically knocks off his victims. Not for the faint of heart or stomach.

Matrix Revolutions
Some of this I really loved, and some of it just bored me (mostly the Zion bits). The fight scene at the end was worth waiting for.

Still Life
A Chinese film by the director of The World, which I did like. This is mostly a tale of people looking for things they’ve lost. There’s also some demolition of a town that’s about to be submerged. I think I liked it, but it pretty much defines “slow foreign film”, so if you’re not into that, beware.

In Bruges
Press screening. Funny and so politically incorrect. The acting is great. My review is here.

Kicking and Screaming
Not the Will Ferrell one, the Noah Baumbach one. What do you do when college is over? It’s wall-to-wall talking, and as many have said and I will repeat, Baumbach can do dialogue like nobody else. Also, Jason from Gilmore Girls is in here, very young, and that just made me laugh.

Boss of It All
Lars von Trier makes a comedy about a Danish out-of-work, pretentious actor who gets hired to be the “president” of a company because the real president of the company has never let on that he’s the president, preferring instead to pretend that all the bad announcements are handed down from the “boss of it all”, who works in the US. Sticky situations ensue. I like this kind of experimental stuff (he let a computer pick all his camera angles), but most people probably wouldn’t enjoy it that much.

Catch Me If You Can
We’d both seen this before, but gee, what good fun, and I think better cinematically than a lot of Spielberg’s films (though I do usually enjoy them, because that man can entertain!). Plus, a great score.

And I watched these on my own:
Helvetica
Really quite interesting - less about the font and more about controversies in design and aesthetics around the world, plus a lot about modernism and post-modernism in there. Definitely a must-see if you’re into design.

The Nanny Diaries
This was better than I expected, but not as good as the book. They changed the plot a ton - which is completely understandable. I really liked the look of the film - vibrantly colorful - but I think it flew along too fast. In any case, not bad.

La Misma Luna
A press screening, and it doesn’t come out until March so I can’t say much.

Last year I started doing “what we watched” capsule reviews, but I got bogged down and forgot about it after about a month and a half. We watched over 150 movies last year, so I think I’m justified; however, it had been a big hit, so I’m going to try and keep up this year.

The Lives of Others
A re-watch. One of the best films of the last few years.

The Page Turner
Wonderfully nerve-wracking film; think a French version of The Talented Mr. Ripley. Deborah Francois is fabulously blank.

Charlie Wilson’s War
See review here. We really enjoyed this film.

La Vie en Rose
It jumped around chronologically far too much, which made it confusing. Following two parallel tracks might have made for a stronger story. However, it is fabulously acted and really lovely to look at, and Marion Cotillard is sensational.

Also, Tom’s been working, so I’ve watched a couple of movies on my own (something I rarely do). Here they are:
Run, Fat Boy, Run
David Schwimmer’s directorial debut, which is a male-driven British romantic comedy starring Simon Pegg, Hank Azaria, and Thandie Newton. Not earth-shattering but still a lot of fun. My review will be in Paste.

Sleepwalking
A much less cheery film; Charlize Theron is great, but there’s some holes in the plot. I plan to review it when it gets closer to its release.

The Business of Being Born
Reviewed this for WORLD.

Chocolat
Somewhere I’d gotten the wrong idea about this film. Despite a handful of small flaws, it was lovely, sweet, well-told, and beautifully acted. An interesting parable on Pharaseeism, forgiveness, grace, being human, and joie de vivre.

U2 3D
I mentioned this here. If you’re a U2 fan, you’ll love it.

Tom has been watching a load of Westerns in his free time (from the silent era to more recent work), and maybe if you’re terribly lucky, he’ll share a few when he’s all Westerned-out.

Installment #2 of What We Watched. As always, keep in mind that we are a filmmaker and film critic and don’t always watch what other people would want to watch.

That said, it’s been a very amusing month.

January 21
Venus - the new Peter O’Toole movie. I really wanted to like this movie - I loved the trailer. The ick factor was a bit too high. However, it was superbly acted, and it’s a movie full of roles for the elderly, which you don’t see much in cinema. I think that if you’re getting up there yourself, you might appreciate this movie more, as it is, in the end, a meditation on the “winter years”.

January 22
Starter for 10 - I saw this at a press screening so technically I can’t say too much, but I recommend it to people who like good, entertaining romantic comedies. It stars James McAvoy (The Last King of Scotland, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) and Rebecca Hall (The Prestige), and though the plot was a bit predictable, it also took some non-smarmy twists and was hysterically funny in parts. I guess I haven’t seen that many press screenings of comedies, but the whole room was laughing - hard - and jaded critics can be hard to impress. So, if you like romcoms, give it a shot.

January 24
The Devil Wears Prada - This is a re-watch for me, and it’s a film Tom has yet to see. The fact that it’s so much better than the book is enough for me to overlook some of the questionable fashion - it’s a good story and most people can relate. Meryl Streep is tres magnifique.

January 26
Dirty Pretty Things - Finally got around to watching this, partially because I recently spoke with the writer, Steve Knight, for another article I was doing, and partially because the director, Stephen Frears, also directed The Queen. I liked it. I didn’t think it was the most brilliant thing I’ve ever seen, but I think it had a compelling story and great acting.

January 31
Shopgirl - Tom did not like this at all (he didn’t even finish watching it). I think I liked the way it was shot best; the colors are very saturated and deliberate in an Amelie-like fashion. The story dragged, though, and I was ticked at everyone by the end of it, though I understood a bit better in the very last scene. I think I should read the novella.

February 3
Old Joy - We finally saw this at Film Forum. At its most basic, it’s the story of two old friends who go camping overnight in the forest. Warning: if you don’t like slow movies, don’t go see this one. However, we both liked it. There’s very little dialogue and you’re left not quite sure where it was driving, but you know there was something profound about it. The scenery is lovely, too.

February 3
V for Vendetta - Ok, so, I don’t understand a lot of reviewers’ comments on this. However, Tom hated it, and I sort of liked it. Sort of. We’d both read the graphic novel on which it’s based (note that the author was so disgusted with the film that he asked to have his name taken off) - I really disliked the graphic novel, and Tom really liked it, so maybe that’s half the problem. At any rate, I don’t think I agree with the movie, but I also don’t really see what the fuss was.

February 5
City of God - Great, wonderful film, and if I could write something, I’d love to have it be this style. Think Shortcuts meets Tsotsi, but with a better plot and cooler characters; we follow the gang wars in a ghetto town and see how one boy perceives everything. It’s bloody, but not too disgusting.

February 8
The Last King of Scotland - If you can handle two scenes of gore/torture (and they are relatively brief, but still completely revolting), then you should not miss this movie. I don’t know anything about the history behind it, but the writing, story, and acting is great. Forest Whittaker definitely deserves his nomination. And Africa is a beautiful character in the film.

February 11
We decided to have “bad movie night” over a bottle of red wine and some dark chocolate.
Constantine - This was bad movie #1. I’m disappointed, because it had a lot of potential, a great plot, and interesting spiritual implications. I think its problems were a) Keanu Reeves, in general and b) lack of direction. Some really cool effects. As entertainment goes, isn’t a bad movie. (Caveat: A handful of disturbing scenes of demon possession. However, I, who had nightmares from The Exorcism of Emily Rose, wasn’t affected by this one. I think it was enough of a comic-book movie so as to not stick in my brain.)

Get Rich or Die Tryin’ - Bad movie #2, and truly the worse of the two. This is the 50 Cent movie. I should have to say more, but oh wow, don’t waste your time. (Although, did you know the director is Irish?)

February 12
Flags of Our Fathers - We’d decided to see this before we see Letters from Iwo Jima, which we’ll probably see next week. It wasn’t bad, but it jumped around a lot and I think that was ultimately the problem. It’s an engaging story, but I think it’s a hard story to tell on film. Still, it makes me want to see Letters, which is supposed to be fantastic (and is nominated for Best Picture).

We also have been chugging through season 2 of The Wire when we’re not watching a movie, and I watched season 1 and the first disc of season 2 of The Office (American) and I’m loving it. Very recommended.

It was a somewhat edited weekend, with work cutting in at all angles and reducing it a bit. But some much-needed R & R was spliced in.

Right.

We, very late on Friday night, watched Dirty Pretty Things. We’d both heard of it but neither of us had seen it; however, I’d recently interviewed Stephen Knight, the writer, about his work on Amazing Grace, so we wanted to see it. We had differing reactions but I think we both liked it. Audrey Tatou is divine. This is the first time I’d hear her in English; of course, she had a Turkish accent, but it worked.

Saturday was a lot of feeling under-the-weather and trying to survive; Tom was at “the office” all afternoon and I dragged myself into Soho to try and find an inexpensive suit for a presentation I have to give this week at Columbia. I did not succeed and felt more miserable for trying, but I did pick up two enormously expensive and heavy two-terabyte hard drives from the Apple store for the film project (not bought by us, thankfully) and lugged them to BAM, to get tickets for Edward Scissorhands, and then convinced a cab driver that yes, he could drive ten blocks to my apartment. And then we brought food to our friends the Pesnells, who just had a baby twoish weeks ago. She is beautiful and tiny.

Possibly most notable event of the weekend: the first disc of the American version of The Office came (I was torn - British? American? - but being in an office right now in America, I opted for the latter, plus, Steve Carrell!!!). I watched the first four episodes, including the pilot, and giggled. Exactly my kind of humor, exactly appropriate.

Jim: If I got promoted, then this would be my career. If this was my career, I’d throw myself in front of a train.

We had lunch after church yesterday with Angela and her friend/neighbor who’d come to church with her, and we had fascinating conversations and then bolted across town so Tom could interview a set intern and I could run errands. Tom bought long underwear; necessary in this weather when you’re outside for 12 hour days, just standing and yelling “Quiet on the set!” repeatedly. And then we came home and I slow-cooked baby back ribs (ridiculously easy) and we whiled the evening away on our laptops.

Speaking of, Tom is on Day 1 of shooting Cult of Sincerity today, so if you see him in Williamsburg, holler. Or don’t, rather, but wave. He’s the assistant director.

Things you should check out:
• 8apps - I think I’m addicted to online productivity tools, and I think it’s Ken’s fault. In any case, this one is one of the more full-featured I’d seen. Add me if you see me on there.
• I love these sheets!
• Because I like to talk about awards: the Bloggies nominations are up. Sometimes a good way to just find a good new blog to read.
• Web design in 2006 roundup.
• The recipe I used for our baby back ribs. Insanely easy.

Here’s edition 1 of “What the Wilkinsons Watched”.

I have no idea what I watched last year and decided that was no good - I track what I read, don’t I? So we’ve both been tracking what we watch (me in the back of a wee little moleskine).

A few notes before we begin:
1. It may seem that we only watch movies. Not true; we do watch a lot, but we tend to spend a lot of time thinking and talking about them afterwards. Some people watch TV in the evenings . . . we watch movies.
2. It may seem that we only watch bizarre, inaccessible, or foreign films. Not true; but sometimes those are the ones we like.
3. With very few exceptions, we watch all movies together so as to foster dialogue.

As I will state over and over again, please check ratings of movies to see if they meet your standards before you watch them. We’re a filmmaker and a film critic, so we see stuff that not everyone perhaps wants to see.

January 1
Training Day - To start off the year, an undercover narcotic cop movie. We seem to see a lot of these, or maybe it just is a good topic for a movie. In any case, I liked it. Not for the faint of heart.
Pan’s Labyrinth - We were vaguely disappointed, based on the hype. Taken as a fairy tale, it’s more acceptable, but I wanted an extension to the story, more lore, more to dig into. I wanted to care more. Plus, there was a lot of the gross-out factor. The bit with the mandrake was good.

January 2
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu - We saw trailers for this way back when, but only got around to seeing it now. It was actually very good. If nothing else, it will give you a great appreciation for the relative humanity of the American healthcare system. Funny in places. A must-see for anyone in the medical industry.

January 3
Door in the Floor - So, this was great, but the best part was how literary it was. There’s a splendid section in the DVD special features where John Irving talks about adapting novels to film, and he’s just profound and insightful.

January 4
The Proposition - Again, not for the faint of heart. However, I loved it and fully understand why it ended up on a lot of “best of” lists. A western set in the Australian outback, written by singer Nick Cave. Beautifully shot and disturbing.

January 5
M.A.S.H. - The IFC center is having a Robert Altman retrospective in honor of his passing this December. I’d never seen M.A.S.H. (either the film or the TV series), but when I worked for Bill Womer back in college he used to call me “Radar” and I never got it. Now I do. Plus, this was thoroughly enjoyable. I suspect it’s a bit more crass than the TV show, but the acting . . . ahh, superb.

January 7
Shortcuts - Another Altman. This made me suddenly understand why P.T. Anderson is considered Altman’s heir. It’s based on an assortment of Raymond Carver short stories, which threw me for a loop. I’d read a few in college but forgotten them, and suddenly I knew what was going to happen on screen and I thought perhaps I’d developed ESP. No, it turns out, my subconscious just logged the stories without my conscious picking up on it. Lily Tomlin & Tom Waits are great as a drunk couple with a serious love/hate relationship.

January 11
Bridget Jones’ Diary - I watched this alone for about the millionth time while I was cleaning up the apartment. Tom gave me this and 10 Things I Hate About You for Christmas (with a note, “From Your Own Mr. Darcy”) because he knows I love them. Bridget makes me laugh.

January 12
Children of Men - By far the best movie we’ve seen this year. We kept trying to see it and missing it or finding sold-out screenings. It was totally worth the wait. Excellent storytelling, and Tom was completely impressed with the way it was shot. Futuristic without involving rockets and hovercrafts. And I nearly cried at points.

January 13
10 Things I Hate About You - Again, we were cleaning up the apartment. Fun as always.

Thank You for Smoking - This one we really loved. It’s very funny, very well-written and very intelligent. Makes you understand how someone can actually spend their life convincing people of things they don’t believe are true.

January 14
4 - A Russian film we rented because it was on someone’s top ten list. This person also had David Lynch’s Inland Empire on their top ten list. Yeah. There were moments of brilliance, but overall it just didn’t hang together very well, and there’s some really disturbing bits. We essentially lose a couple of the characters after the first forty minutes. Blah. Tom fell asleep, if that tells you anything.

January 15
Nashville - Another Altman classic. Funny, insightful, and charming, plus it leads you toward a conclusion that you can’t pinpoint.

January 16
A Scanner Darkly - We watched this last night. I think I liked it, but I had to fight to keep up. This is the one where artists went in and “animated” the acted film, frame by frame. The acting was uniformly good (who would think to put Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., and Woody Harrelson in the same movie?) but if you don’t like scifi you probably won’t like this, though it’s not exactly scifi. If you’re a film geek you’ll probably want to see it, though. Whether or not it’s the best movie ever, it’s certainly important.

That winds it up to today.