Watched: Brief Interviews With Hideous Men

Monologues. Dialogues. Simultaneous monologues, theatre-style. Narrative. Subtext. Meta-narrative. Feminism. Mysogyny. Rape. Empowerment. Love. Abandonment.

P.S. I liked this film more than I thought I would, although in all fairness I should say that I never read the stories it's centered on. I think it deals really interestingly both with the nature of storytelling and what it means to love, in a myriad of different ways. Even though I don't think I really captured them, there are quite a few interesting shots. Finally, the acting is great; although my one complaint would be that there are, in fact, so many brief interviews (and though not all the men are physically or emotionally hideous, many of them are) that it's hard to entirely sink into any one story or character. That's probably the point, but I felt as though it did keep me at a distance from the film. I think my favorite "interviews", so to speak, were John Krasinki's and the man who talked about his father spending his life working in a bathroom (2nd and 3rd pictures). They were both powerful for really different reasons.

This one felt very play-like. In a good way, though.

The guy in the hat is adorable. These two were some sort of Greek chorus whose discussion seemed to be mostly about the post-feminist's role in the world and where/how men fit in. It was kind of cool and, as I said, meta.

Ben Gibbard?

Law & Order guy!

GOB!

That dude from The Station Agent!

The Julie & Julia guy!

P.P.S. Could there BE any more dudes in this movie?

Watched: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

Barbara Stanwyck. A seriously young Kirk Douglas. Some other guy (Van Heflin) that everyone keeps referring to as young/handsome despite his being neither. Double meanings. Double crosses. Double identities.

Happiness is

Jon Hamm impersonating a Jamaican woman. If you are not watching 30 Rock... WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?

Watched: The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstal

After watching all three-ish hours of this documentary about the director of The Triumph of the Will and Olympiad, all I can say is: I don't believe you Leni Riefenstahl. I believe that you believe you. But I don't. (Which is not saying much, since why would what I think matter? But that's what I took away from this. So yeah. Not buying it. You're too fucking smart to be so goddamned stupid.)

"I understand small business growth. I was one."

Found in a lecture hall on Rutgers campus. Yes, it was founded by H.W., not W. Yes, it's part of Texas A&M University, a respected institution, especially for some of their graduate programs. And yes, public servic is a noble calling. Sometimes. Maybe.

Still, I can't help but feel vaguely... unsettled. Are they learning Rovian doublespeak and mud-flinging? How to butcher the English language? How to entrench the country in a quagmire of debt, war, and job-loss?

I don't get political too often, mostly because I am well aware of how uninformed I am, but... Good grief. That's not a school I'd want to tell people I was matriculating at.

Watched: Dear Zachary

I don't have any pictures for this one because I was too busy CRYING the entire time. I am not the weepy sort. The last time I seriously cried in the theater (besides a litle sniffling at Where the Wild Things Are) was Life is Beautiful, which my mother made my whole family see together without warning us about the ending. I'm pretty sure I, being TEN YEARS OLD, yelled, "No!" at the screen. I was very impressionable.

I'm made of stronger stuff now! Kind of. But this documentary... completely undid me. It's a story that is both so completely grounded in reality yet so deftly manipulative that even while you know what the filmmaker is doing, you can't help but continue watching. I'm sort of crap about plot synopsis so here's what some random IMDB nerd has to say:

In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a medical resident, is murdered not long after breaking
up with his girlfriend. Soon after, when she announces she's pregnant, one of
Andrew's many close friends, Kurt Kuenne, begins this film, a gift to the child.
Friends, relatives, and colleagues say warm and loving things about Andrew, home
movies confirm his exuberance. Andrew's parents, Kathleen and David, move to
Labrador where the ex-girlfriend has gone. They await an arrest and trial of the
murderer. They negotiate with the ex-girlfriend to visit their grandchild,
Zachary, and they seek custody. Is there any justice; is Zachery a sweet and
innocent consolation for the loss of their son?

What that summary fails to tell you (MAJOR SPOILAGE AHEAD, if you don't already know, since this case was in the news) is that his girlfriend Shirley Turner, after skirting justice through lame Canadian beauracracy and a ridiculously over-sympathetic judge, kills both herself and Andrew's son, Zachary. Yeah. Like I said this case was in the news, but I got so into the first half, which is about what a really great guy Andrew was and how this baby gave Andrew's parents something to live and fight for after the senseless, violent murder of their son that by the time that bombshell was dropped I was helpless.

So, worth watching? Absolutely. The film is excellently edited with really great testimonial from the wide variety of people touched by Andrew's life. Despite Kuenne's obvious love of his friend and hatred for Turner (which seems completely justified, although this woman was obviously capital-C-Crazypants and so to me the real blame should fall on the legal/medical community), it still gives what seems as complete a picture as is possible of the events that transpired. But let anyone considering it know that this film is devastating. Just emotionally brutal. That's not a bad thing per se, but anyone considering it should prepare like one does for a Dementor visit: chocolate, blankets, and a fluffy rom-com to cleanse the emotional palette.

Watched: Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen (Diary of a Lost Girl)

And her too, no?

Sidenote: How much does this guy, who plays Count Ordoff, look like Thomas Lennon,the Reno 911 bike cop? The film was made in 1929. Whisky tango foxtrot!