The MacGuffin

Michael Haneke’s Funny Games (1997) is a film about a family enjoying their vacation lake home. They get set up in their home for a short stay and some friends of the neighbor’s come to visit. Things go south quickly.

One of the reasons I am so passionate about film is because of the emotional experience the medium can provide. This is true as well of other types of stories and media; the narratives and images we are fed have incredible power. Obviously, this is also why they can be dangerous. As a person who is tuned into the media and who is also a feminist (let me tell you some other time why all of us who believe in gender equality should be comfortable saying we’re feminists), I am frequently distraught by images and depictions of women that permeate popular culture. The bad far outweighs the good, and progress sometimes feels non-existent.

There are many reasons to dislike Sleeping Beauty, the new film from first-time writer/director Julia Leigh, but at least being sick of half-hearted fairy tale updates is not one of them. This is because the film has almost nothing to do with the traditional Charles Perrault tale, or any of the versions that have come since. If you were hoping for a smart commentary on one of the ultimate damsel-in-distress scenes, or even just a satisfying re-telling of the much-loved story, look elsewhere. What we have here is oblique randomness in which, yes, at several points a beautiful girl does catch a few winks. That’s about it.

Here is a way to know you’re watching a great film: every scene contains both an element of surprise and a sense of inevitability. Surprising a savvy audience that has seen every trick in the book is tough; doing it while following the rule of inevitability—but not predictability—is tougher. It’s master-level storytelling. It’s what fills every moment of , the new film from writer/director Paddy Considine.

Matthew Lillard is a talented actor who is unfortunately often overlooked. Despite a long career, he hasn’t received many opportunities to be the lead in a film, at least in part because he is known for playing over the top characters. It is hard to not think of some of the misses he has been involved with, most notably Scooby-Doo, but I would argue that he is usually the best parts of those films (his portrayal of Shaggy was certainly the best part of that film). Occasionally he has received an opportunity like SLC Punk—a project that has a lot more heart than people give it credit for—and he has proven that he can handle subtly and nuance.

There are many ways film can be entertaining, but one of my favorite ways is for it to be a vehicle for entertainment and escapism. That isn’t to say film shouldn’t be thought-provoking, but I’m always excited to see movies that push my imagination and make me want to be more creative. One of the most consistently creative areas of film is the world of independent cinema.

One possible attribute of a great documentary is that it shows you a world that you might not be familiar with and finds a way to make it relatable. This can be a great challenge, as it is very easy to have the subjects become caricatures. This was one of my concerns when I heard the synopsis to The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia, directed by Julien Nitzberg.

The Sundance Film Festival has a reputation for being a launching pad for filmmakers. This is becoming more challenging, as increasingly lately it seems to be a premiere spot for the indie branches of film studios to screen their latest projects. Still, every year, a few true indies seem to break out…and Martha Marcy May Marlene should be one of those films. Produced by indie über-producer Ted Hope and picked up by Fox Searchlight, this has the potential to be a star-making film.

A lot of mediocre and bad movies seem to follow the same formula when it comes to dealing with estranged parent/child relationships: parent and child meet or reconnect, there is resistance from one or both of them, they are forced together by circumstances beyond their control, bonding events occur, they reconcile in the end. Every once in awhile, a good movie will use this same formula and manage to avoid most of the sentimental pitfalls a reconciliation movie is prone to. Janie Jones is one of the good ones. It’s not a great movie, but certainly good enough not to make me regret attending the press screening on a rare warm October day in Seattle.

starts with a group of fisherman dumping barrels of what I assume is something toxic into the ocean/bay. The fish are eating this toxic stuff and then a shark swims up and eat the contaminated fish. Flash to an awful montage of CGI sharks eating the fish, then a larger shark eating that shark, and so on (while the opening credits are flashing on the screen). Ridiculous start to the film.