film updates

i am constantly told i am the 'worst film major ever' for not having seen this or that (tonight it was planet of the apes). since the worldwide film library is thousands and thousands and thousands of movies deep, i am constantly playing catch up. this means i can usually be found watching older movies that are on dvd and relying on "play now" from netflix. but in the last month or so i have seen a few new movies that i would like to recommend.

i went into date night because i thought it was going to rain and that steve carell may provide a few laughs. well it didn't rain and i spent most of the movie laughing out loud. carell and tina fey were paired perfectly - their comedic timing never felt forced. along with ridiculous situations and crowd-pleasing cameos, the film was a pleasant surprise. light and amusing.

lucky for me, my friend's father is one of the distributers for exit through the gift shop and she invited me to a free screening of the film. i will admit i had no idea what this movie was about and from the posters i thought it looked like a horror flick. well it's not. it is instead a film by Banksy, the famous anonymous street artist. instead of following him though, the movie tracks a wannabe filmmaker/graffiti artist, Thierry. a lover of contemporary art, i was forced to view this art form more critically. and if that does not interest you, Banksy's dry, witty humor surely will. the documentary is absolutely fantastic and i encourage anyone and everyone to see this.

i will preface this last review by saying i am completely and utterly biased toward this film. last year i wrote about matt porterfield's to-be film "metal gods," but due to financial difficulties the movie was never made. instead, putty hill was created, which i was lucky enough to be a part of. with this film porterfield breaks the fourth wall of filmmaking with this quasi-fictional narrative. most of the actors play themselves and the stories they tell are their own but set within the frame of the fictional death of Cory. the production qualities are gritty and accentuate the style of cinema verite. beautiful images of tattoo artists at work and teenage girls smoking cigarettes add to this emotionally charged film. a real treat in independent filmmaking. it's currently deep into film festival circuits, so find out when it's playing near you.