MAKSQUIBS CINEMATHEQUE: SOUND OF MY VOICE (2011)

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RECOMMENDED - Meaning Strongly Recommended. A film that's good enough or historically important enough to demand viewing. WARNING: A few real stinkers are important enough to rate this label. And, on the other hand, lots of pretty good or pretty valuable films, don't quite measure up to our RECOMMENDED level. (See also UNIQUE, below.)

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(Hint: most of the posters will enlarge if you click on them.)

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT - sort of like those EAT THIS, NOT THAT diet books only with film instead of food as the topic. Sometimes, the substitute pick isn't the obvious 'better' choice, but one of those 'flawed-but-interesting' films that often get left behind.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID - some easy to miss element worth noting.

SILENT FILM - hey, figure it out (LOL)

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Like just about everyone with an interest in the movies, I'm watching more films on DVD and going out to movie houses a lot less. Convenience trumps the better experience.
Of course, you lose audience interaction and the poor film now has to compete with all the comforts of home.
It's a bit like seeing Rembrandts & Titians in a book reproduction, or from posters with iffy color values, no texture or weight to the surface and the wrong dimensions . . . all while snacking on chips & soda. (Oops! You get that at your local cinema,too.)
The ease of instant movie gratification risks turning an art form (well, sometimes) into little more than low-grade eye-candy & mindfodder. So, maybe it's worthwhile to write a bit down on what we're all viewing, just to keep fully engaged.

DVDs: the latest opiate of the people meets the internet, where everyone's a critic.
God help us.

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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

SOUND OF MY VOICE (2011)

Newbie megger Zal Batmanglij & writing partner/actress Brit Marling got a distrib pick-up, but almost no commercial traction on this MumbleCore/Psychological Thriller about a pair of amateur video investigative journalists trying to crash a nascent mini-cult. The laughably transparent leader claims she’s from the future, but it’s hard to believe anyone would follow her to Dairy Queen for a free double-dipped cone let alone paradise. The film spends most of its time trying to tantalize us, vigorously applying the supernatural/metaphysical ‘maybe’ factor, all the way to a ‘gotcha’ denouement that feels more like narrative surrender than the gasp-worthy moment they were aiming at. Those who can keep their focus thru the flat uncadenced acting that passes for naturalism in these things (just imagine giving the cast a good slap every now & then) may get something out of noting how much the peer-pressure inside the cult resembles the group-think mentality at Film Fests that gives so much crap premature commercial/artistic buzz.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: The Gold Standard for ghostly paranormal tales remains Henry James THE TURN OF THE SCREW; disturbingly filmed as THE INNOCENTS/’61. But Jeff Nichols’ TAKE SHELTER/’11, while hardly a complete success, is a nearer companion piece, right down to its infuriating ‘gotcha’ twist-ending.

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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

SOUND OF MY VOICE (2011)

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