The Awesome God Project™®©

District 9 has done something that few films this summer have accomplished, made people talk about the ideas it represents.  We aren’t talking about giant robot testicles, Arnie’s brief cameo, or how much it sucked in general.  The vigorous debates and conversations surrounding the film are on the thoughts behind it.  I was gonna write about some of the technical aspects in the film, the impressive acting feat, and the seamless integration of CGI.  Instead, the internet (the always accurate pulse of the real world) is becoming mired in the debate “is District 9 racist?”  The answer is simple: no, but I am.

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Rachel Corrie was nothing like me.  If I’d met her, I’d probably not like her.  She would be one of those super-focused, always nice, willing to drop anything for you people.  They annoy me.  Mainly because they portray a level of selflessness and genuine concern of world events that I never do.  They feel their direct actions against an imposing force will make a difference, something I never do.  They believe in social justice, something I barely do.  While I like social justice – helping others? Sure, that sounds biblical – my execution certainly lacks behind my concepts.  I have an array of excuses I could use. I’ve struggled adapting from an inadvertent exposure of fundamentalist Christianity to a worldview that can only be described as “lib’ral” (the fundie part not because of my parents, but from attending events like Acquire The Fire and hearing Jerry Falwell speak).  When you see and try to live in a culture that embraces punishment for stepping outside the norm, it’s hard to convince yourself to help without preconditions.  Or I could mention how my one little action won’t affect change halfway around the world.   I could blame a lot of things for jamming me into neutral on social justice, but inevitably it comes back to me, and that’s why I hate Rachel Corrie.

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There are several accepted facts in my family.  Things that we all know, unquestionably, and are weaved into the family fabric.  A lot of these have to do with Star Trek, the unspoken show rankings, and that any TV show viewing can be pre-empted by a Star Trek episode of any series at any time (minus pre-beard Riker).  Two of these are less well known, but equally important in the collective consciousness: (1) Simon and Garfunkel is beloved by all and acceptable at any family function; (2) We know good organ music.  (2) is slightly tricky, none of us really know how to play the organ, or the mechanics of what makes a good organ player.  Intern/Music major Jordan has a better knowledge than most of us, but his specialty is the cello and properly bowing to an audience (see his twitter feed for critiques on the musicians bows at Traverse City Film Festival).  Nevertheless, we were exposed to good organ music early, the organist at our church played phenomenally as did the Musical Director.  After that, we instinctively knew what good organ playing should sound like, and that most churches don’t have it.  It’s an odd sixth sense, but once you know good organ music, you don’t settle for less.

Troubled Water combines the two accepted facts into one: an organ version of Bridge Over Troubled Waters.  And not a haphazardly arranged, slapped together version, but one perfectly designed for the strengths of the organ.  When Jan Thomas, the organist, plays Bridge for a group of touring school children in the church, the dynamics of the arrangements stunned me – I didn’t even know the organ could sound like that, and my unspoken rules knows what the organ should sound like.  The outstanding organ music didn’t stop (or even start) there, and neither did the stunned feeling.

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After coming in yesterday afternoon, I can safely say the TCFF team does not want to see any more movies or subtitles anytime soon.  Of  course, as poor planning would have it, we will be exposed to both in a few hours.  But one more capsule review before I trudge onto the full blown reviews.

Rudo y Cursi: A classic screwball comedy about two brothers who find their big break into the world of Mexico’s First Division soccer league (fútbol for my Slovokian friends).  Naturally, the two get caught up in everything but soccer, risking their careers.  The solutions to all their ills comes down to their final soccer game, when they are pitted against each other.  It’s a screwball comedy, so you can imagine what happens.  However, Rudo takes time to build it’s characters and doesn’t rely on the comedy gags to carry the film.  Caring about the characters makes the final scene funnier and more tragic, because you know the thought process going through their heads and the inevitable outcome.

Harmony & Me: An American indie comedy from Austin, Texas the new hotbed of indie films (according to the Traverse City Film Festival guide).  The film, directed and penned by Bob Byington follows Harmony, a recent dumpee as he maneuvers through life post-breakup, holding onto the pain.  Harmony fails were Rudo suceeded, giving us a storyline and characters to go with it.  Instead, Harmony relies on a string of dry witticisms to hold it together.  Sure, they’re funny, but several comedy gags back-to-back don’t hold a film together.  Nothing else steps up to keep you intrigued in the film, the editing is minimal at best, and the cinematography ignores any thought to framing.  Holding to the idea that if everything is in focus and you position everyone in the middle of the frame, you might get a good shot.  I laughed, but never enjoyed myself during the screening, the Q&A session was hilarious, saving the entire experience.

Tonight, kind reader, is a good night.  We came home before 1AM and can wake up after 7AM.  Not to shabby.  Of course let’s address the obvious time discrepancy you’re noting.  To you, kind reader, the sun is shining and the day just entering the laziness of a midafternoon.  To me the sun left a few hours back and I can easily make out every star in the Milky Way (seriously – no street or city lights for a good 45 minutes were we are).  There are serious implications to this time discrepancy: have I created a flux capicitor?  Am I using a black hole or some other sort of space-time continuum loophole?  What ethical implications are raised with this new form of writing?  Especially in terms of breaking news and general news reporting.  However, these questions are outside the scope of this blog, and I’m afraid the truth might bore you (writing in Word at night and copying to WordPress in the day at a coffee shop is easier than trying to write blurbs on a public computer at a cybercafe.  Even if it is a 30” HD iMac.  It makes easier for people to read my rough drafts).  As we ponder these ethical implications of time-travel blogging, let me recap, in a not so succinct way.

About Elly: I love Hitchcock.  Not much to expand on there.  He’s the first director who I grew to admire – from how he told a story, visually staged the shots, and the themes he used.  In the recent Film Rumble (blog post describing the idea later, but imagine movie night with 10 smart people and you have to defend your selection) I chose Rear Window as my favorite film.  But Vertigo, Psycho, and The Rope could all easily take the slot.  Now the method of my Hitchcock love fest is this: About Elly is an Iranian Hitchcock film.  A group of friends head on vacation in Northern Iran, the hostess invites her children’s nursery school teacher, Elly, to hook up with one of her friends.  Elly mysteriously disappears, possibly drowned or simply ran away, and the friends discover things about Elly’s past, and deliberately blur the truth about what happened from themselves and her family.  Oh, and the tangled web they weave leads to more trouble and issues.

The film embodies the best of Hitchcock: McGuffins, fast-paced dialogue, and simple character studies disguised as a murder mystery.  Most of the films coming from the Middle East at Traverse City focus on a very politically and emotionally charged issue (Rachel, Lemon Tree).  About Elly is escapism, but like the best suspense films, subtly addresses political and social issues.  Sometimes, more than any documentary or news story, viewing the entertainment of another country does more to break down culture stereotypes – especially when their films bring back memories of classic director’s like Hitchcock.

Another interesting subject of conversation that came up from this film: subtitles.  More on that, possibly, later.  Just remember: subtitles.

Waltz With Bashir: You don’t see many animated documentaries, Ari Folman frames his documentary about the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, specifically the Sabra and Shatila massacres, about his hunt to remember his IDF service at the time; and where he was and what he was doing when the massacre occurred.  Through interviews with friends, psychologists, and an Israeli reporter, Folman slowly breaks down his wall to recall what happened during the massacre.  The film deals not only with the 1982 invasion, but also the trying effects of PTSD on soldiers.  The film is done in a graphic novel animated style, not unlike the feel of A Scanner Darkly or the moving comics recently released for Watchmen.  The animation isn’t a gimmick, but serves as a symbolic purpose of how people cope with traumatic events.  This was nominated for an Oscar and currently out on DVD, now go watch out – I know you’re not busy, you’re reading my blog.

I have one, possibly two, films left.  However I have one striking memory of the 2009 Traverse City Film Festival: subtitles.

Another quick update of some capsule reviews of the films I saw, funnily enough, all documentaries.

Rachel:  We saw this film after going to a panel on Palenstian and Israeli relationships and the role cinema has played.  The documentary is about a 24-year old American student, Rachel Corrie, who was killed by the IDF protecting Palestinians houses being bulldozed down.  Her murder occurred the first days of the Iraq War so the coverage was minimal.  I watched the film only 3 seats away from her parents, one of the most nerve-wracking experiences.  This is also pegged for a full review.

The Cove: Flipper meets The Bourne Ultimatum was a spot on description if I ever saw one.  You really want to save dolphins at the end, but the high point of the film was the production values and beautiful cinematography.  This is playing down at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak — go see it.  I know you’re not busy, you’re reading my blog.

Learning Gravity: This documents the writings of Southeast Michigan Funeral Director Thomas Lynch and how the job of an undertaker helps provide closure to the family.  Even when faced with the most gruesome of bodies.  Shot (regrettably) in HD, but also some of the shooting was in Milford and it’s always cool to see Michigan on the big screen.

3 more films left before I check out of here, but easily TCFF is holding true to their slogan of “just great movies,” even if they place isn’t vegetarian friendly.  Sean may starve to death, or go into a sugar coma.  We’ll find out!

This is a light afternoon, but I squeaked in two films over the past 14 hours, so here’s a quick capsule review of how Paul Simon changed my life and The Lemon Tree  got a little sour (HEY-O! PUNNAGE!).

Troubled Waters: Norwegian director Erik Poppe managed to sucessfully incorporate an organ arrangement of “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”, and a dual timeline narrative structure into a film about atonement and second chances.  When a subtitled film keeps you on the edge of your seat (literally) and tearing up, it’s usually thanks to the strong story but also all the nonverbal elements you learned in school: outstanding acting, amazing visuals, and incredible music.  This was the opening night film, and might’ve been a bad choice because nothing can live up to this film.  I’ve already pegged this film for a full review later on.

Lemon Tree: I’m not a big lemon fan, I try to avoid anything that advertises “With Lemon!”  On the first sip I’m always intrigued but future sips leave my disappointed and cursing my stupidity thinking I like it.  Same goes for The Lemon Tree, an Israeli film, the film focuses on a court battle between a Palestinian woman who’s lemon grove is to be chopped down by the Israeli military when the Israeli Defense Minister moves next door.  The film explores the ancient struggle between the Palestinian’s and Israeli’s and all the emotions that come with.  A compelling story is killed by the pacing in the second half of the film.

I have another film tonight, The Cove which was described by Peter Travers of The Rolling Stone as “A cross between ‘Flipper’ & ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’”, how can I say no?

I’ve gone quiet for the past week, but with a relatively good reason, I had a vacation to attend.  Totally worth it, plus The Awesome Project was able to add an out-of-state theater for the viewing of Harry Potter (review pending, it’s in my head).  I’m also under penalty of death (or something of a very similar ilk) to review (500) Days of Summer very soon.  Add onto that the trip up to the Traverse City Film Festival this Tuesday and we’re gonna (yes, there is an actual team) be busy.  You might get Harry Potter before I leave, and maybe (500) Days.  But come Tuesday our focus will be completely focused on the Traverse City Film Festival.  And like I said, a team actually exists.  Let’s rundown the player because as we know lists are awesome.

1. Joining us with a camera will be Sean.  He’ll be taking some nice high-res photos of the venues, crowds, and probably random plants since he’s in to that sort of thing.
2. Joining us with a cellphone and an opinion will be Jordan.  He’ll be helping us tweet random opinions of the films we see.
3. I’ll be tweeting and writing capsule reviews as I go along.  My favorite films of the festival will get full lengths reviews.
4. We’ll also be hitting up a few of the panels and possibly do a write up or two.
5. Pictures will be posted here at the blog but also on Sean’s flickr.  Of course, if you read the blog you probably already visit that site.  We share the same fanbase.  Hello Facebook.  The Twitter opining you can follow in the sidebar and at these two spots.

On that note, look out for Harry Potter but Traverse City is where the real fun is at.

And also, blog technical stuff.  You see this post?  Ignore it.  Trust Me.

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I’m sitting at the LA Café going through my regular routine of pretending to work.  Sit in the corner, order some food, earth, and then write, away from the prying eyes.  Today, I am privy to exciting conversations from several different directions.  The most intriguing seems to come from three teenage girls, involving incest, the Marines, death threats, and a kid named Xavier.  As in Professor X.  I’m sure this is an entirely true story.

From what I can tell the family Xavier hails from is messed up.  There are Stepdads and Stepmoms sleeping with stepcousins and stepchildren while drunk.  And no, I’m not in Kentucky.  Just Waterford, on the fast track to the South, but still not inbred enough.  In retribution, Xavier, has decided to join the Marines, even though he hates the war.

“DRAMA!” squeals the girl, because apparently sleeping with your Stepparent isn’t dramatic enough.

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