Directed by Gore Verbinski The Weather Man is about Dave Spritz’s (Nicolas Cage) general disaffection with life, both personal and professional, and his plan to escape through a “very American accomplishment,” to become the national weatherman on “Hello America,” a program very much meant to resemble “Good Morning America” or “The Today Show.” Dave is … Continue reading The Weather Man (2005)
depression
The Merchant of Four Seasons (1972)
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder Fassbinder's films seem to be about the despicable things we are capable of doing to each other, and in this case it's about the despicable things one man is capable of doing to himself. Hans Epp runs a pear stand with his wife, Irmgard. It's a struggling operation that brings … Continue reading The Merchant of Four Seasons (1972)
Wildlife (2018)
Directed by Paul Dano Wildlife is a tense, bleak family drama set in the early 1960s, kind of like Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road (2008). Both films deal with young married couples who are no longer happy and don't know why. Presumably they were sold a false bill of goods about the American Dream, particularly in postwar … Continue reading Wildlife (2018)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Directed by Bob Rafelson Five Easy Pieces is at the forefront of the New Hollywood, at least I think it is. Released at the beginning of the 70s, the film precedes many of the classic movies from the likes of Martin Scorsese, Hal Ashby, Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg, Altman, Bogdanovich, Boorman, De Palma... [deep breath]... Friedkin, … Continue reading Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Winter Light (1963)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman "Why hast thou forsaken me?" Paster Tomas' plight is such a bare, direct expression of his existential crisis. His overt vulnerability is hard to take but also hard to deny because the rigidity of his devout despair refuses cliche or sentimentality. Instead it's almost robotic, like a programmed emotional breakdown, a … Continue reading Winter Light (1963)
Ballast (2008)
Directed by Lance Hammer “Filmmakers are from a privileged class and tend to make films about themselves. That’s decadent and in my opinion worthless.” - Lance Hammer Ballast concerns three people tied together by one man's suicide. They live in the Mississippi Delta, but the environment feels much more out of this world than that. Hammer … Continue reading Ballast (2008)
The Seventh Continent (1989)
Directed by Michael Haneke Everything is fragmented in The Seventh Continent. Like Haneke's Code Unknown (2000), the film is separated with cuts to black between every scene. Some of these scenes are brief vignettes, and in those cuts to black we have no real sense of how much time has passed. We know right off the bat … Continue reading The Seventh Continent (1989)
