Postcards from the Edge

Last night I had a dream in which I found myself with a large cake that no one wanted to eat. It might have something to do with the fact that the cake was made entirely out of spinach and ricotta. I remember in vivid detail feeling very anxious over the fact that I could not get anyone to eat this cake, even after cutting a slice and making mmmm sounds, only to have the whole thing collapse onto itself, 'cause it was a cake made of ricotta and spinach. Now that I've shared that, let me say that I'm growing increasingly worried about my dreams. Not only are they strange as fuck but they feel so real that I often wake up in a fright, sweating, heart racing.. If I close my eyes I can feel that panic... why didn't someone at least try my cake. 

-Since I last edited this draft I had a dream in which my current boss (who scares me a little) insisted I perform stand up comedy at a men's prison in remote Western Australia on Christmas day. When I finally calmed the hell down and accepted my fate by convincing myself that at least my humiliation would only be witnessed by prisoners, it turned out I was the opening act for Louie CK - (who obviously has nothing better to do on Chrstmas Day)


Reviews from the Edge 

So if you've made it through my dream musings, I shall reward you with my thoughts on the films I've recently seen. 

All that heaven allows (1955) 
God bless my husband, he's always trying to get his white trash, bourbon swilling wife to appreciate the classics. A few Friday nights ago he requested we enjoy another cold winter night in the comfort of our warm lounge and watch one of his favourite films "of all time". A suggestion which usually filsl me with an equal measure of wonder and dread, as you might be able to tell from the contents of his blog, one can never know exactly what Andrew might classify as "all time best". 

After spending a few tense moments scanning his eyes along his criterion collection shelf of pretension, the selection was made. I spent the next 90 odd minutes immersed in a  picture perfect world inhabited by a lonely widow and a  younger man who would go from being her gardener  to the love of her life. I've made it sound cheap and a little cheesy in my description, that may be because I have difficulty connecting to films from this era (similar to my inability to connect to a lot of fantasy/sci-fi films). The perfect neighbourhoods, children calling out "mother" and those passionate embrace kisses, for me there is a disconnect and to be honest it saddens me a little. 

 That being said I enjoyed All that heaven allows more than any other film I have seen from the time. Sure the story of a good looking, well-to-do older woman finding love with someone a little younger and with a different background whether that be class, religion etc has been done to death since (and with varying degrees of sincerity and interest). Even the most naive film viewer sits and waits for the disapproving kids, noisy neighbours or "misunderstanding" to cause a rift between the couple only to have them reunite at the end.  What I enjoyed about All that heaven allows is that the differences between the couple was explored in a meaningful manner, Ron is a character with an interesting world view, one that wouldn't be out of place in a modern film, what is different however is that his character feels real, fleshed out, he is not a construct for Carey to fall in love with, to merely fill a void.

The other interesting element of the film for me was the relationship between Carey and her daughter, who throughout the film waxes lyrical about her modern understanding of the mind and nature of human emotions and behaviour, only to fall into pieces when her mother admits to being in love with Ron and crumbles when she is mocked about it by her friends. Carey's son also disapproves and insists his mother choose between her children and her new love. Carey makes the only choice she feels she has and ends her relationship with Ron, only to be rewarded by being abandoned by her children who have now moved on in their lives, either by getting engaged or moving abroad for work. As her children spring this devastating new on their already lonely mother, they also surprise her with a Christmas gift, a new television "a lonely woman's best friend"...All Carey can say is "I've made a horrible mistake". No shit and it is that realisation that I admire most about the film. 
 * * *1/2 

Evil Dead (2013)
I walked into the screening of Evil Dead thinking two things, Firstly I'm glad I'm seeing this and that the session is near full because as a film lover it sucks when films that should be seen on the big screen get a straight to DVD release. Secondly I'm glad this is only screening at the local art house cinema so I can drink beer, because after all this is a remake and worse, a horror film remake. If I'm being honest, I don't recall much about the original Evil Dead, the last time I watched it was with my dad in 1990, I was 7 and slightly disturbed by the fact that my staunchly roman catholic dad's DVD collection consisted entirely of sexplotation pics and horror movies. What I do remember was the blood and those moments of humour whether intended or not. The 2013 Evil Dead delivers on the blood and then some, which is good to see, however suffers due to a tendency to take itself too seriously. The women who are the first to be possessed are the most effective actors, the same can not be said for their male counterparts who are as interesting on screen as a wet blanket, a wet blanket soaked in blood.  
***

Central Park Five (2012) 
The documentary Central Park Five tells the story of a group of teenagers arrested and charged with a brutal attack and rape of a white female jogging in central park in 1989. I read a review of the documentary when it was first released in the U.S and the heading read "expect your blood pressure to rise" and I have to say mine went through the roof. I am a huge fan of true crime and miscarriage of justice sagas, and Central Park Five is certainly one of the best I have seen since Murder on a Sunday Morning. 

Following the attack, a group of five five African American and Latino teenagers aged 14-16 were arrested and held for hours until they started making false confessions in the naive hopes of ending their torment. Despite the fact that the information provided in the confessions is inconsistent with the crime scene and there is no other physical evidence (besides the fact that they had been in and around central park on the night, doing the types of things groups of youths do at night), tying the teenagers to the attack they are convicted and sent to prison. The boys, now men remained in prison until a 2002 confession by an incarcerated serial rapist and subsequent DNA test clear them all.

The documentary includes fascinating footage of the young men being interviewed, some with their parents who do not seem to have a clue about their rights or perhaps have been misinformed. The other fascinating aspect of the doco is the media attention both the crime and the then convicted criminals receive before and during the trial. The media called it "the crime of the century" and refer to rampages and "wilding" by this group of animals. One has to wonder whether such reporting would have occurred had the members of the group been white males from middle class families or if the victim had been black or latino. 

It is sad to note that members of the police and district attorney's office denied the filmmakers request to be interviewed, yet following the release of the documentary requested film footage and outtakes to help them to defend a wrongful conviction lawsuit brought by the wrongfully convicted.    

****


Ruby Sparks (2012)

I watched Ruby Sparks on a Saturday night when I had the house to myself and I can't seem to get it out of my mind and I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. The reason I mention "house to myself" at the start of the review is this is such a rare occurrence that it often influences both the type of film I watch and my state when I watch it. Lets just say on this particular night I was coming down from a caramel popcorn, 4+ stiff bourbon, husband-less induced mini  coma.  So to the story, Calvin played by Paul Dano (an actor I enjoy watching on screen), wrote a very successful book as a young man and he now finds himself struggling to submit more than an essay or short story for publishing, despite the encouragement of his manager, his brother and rather odd fan base. Calvin would rather spend his days and nights with his pet dog inside the hollow surrounds of his LA townhouse. 

Calvin is a bit of a jerk, but one of those shy, socially awkward intellectual jerks, so it took me a while to realise just how unpleasant his character truly was. Full credit to Dano for not choosing to play him as more sympathetic at those moments. After a trip to his therapist results in Calvin using the inspiration of a girl from his recent dreams to write... and write and write. The girl, named Ruby Sparks (Zoe Kazan, who is also the screenwriter), suddenly appears, exactly as he had written her, a male's creation, she is character by construct. Calvin has the power make Ruby behave anyway he likes, all he has to do is write about her again. The rest of the film explores  their relationship, at first as loving and "quirky" as you would expect given the plot of the film. That being said it soon morphs into something else, as  the inevitable moment comes when Calvin chooses to use his god like power to manipulate Ruby, just as she is starting to become more of her own person, that being someone who isn't satisfied just being with Calvin and more humorously  when all the "quirks" that would make a girl seem uniquely perfect and appealing to Calvin and his modern day audience, start to become annoying as hell. 

The sequence of events that depict Calvin changing Ruby and in particular the scene where she finds out that he has the power to make her do whatever he likes, which plays out in darkened room, Calvin making commands, only to have Ruby do everything from crying, singing, walking on all fours and barking like a dog, all to the sounds of Calvin's typewriter (yes, a typewriter), kind of disturbed me, maybe more than it should have.I like being disturbed by a movie but I don't like a movie that doesn't fully embrace the more interesting elements of it's screenplay, rather touching on it, while surrounding the beginning and the end in standard romcom set up. Hey maybe that's all it was trying to be and if so I guess it succeeds in at least being a bit different and is a vehicle to showcase the charisma of Zoe Kazan  but for me it left me with an uneasy feeling, particularly given the final scene of the film.  
**1/2