The Dirties

Matt Johnson, 2013

Can I Stream It?

3/5

High school outcasts Matt (Matt Johnson) and Owen (Owen Williams) work together on a film where they exact revenge on the bullies they call "The Dirties", who torment them on a regular basis.

The Dirties is a love letter to popular cinema almost immediately, as Matt and Owen throw around movie references. The young cinephiles continue to reference them as they work on their indie film for a school project, but it's really a movie they are making for themselves. Sort of an indulgent nod to everything they've loved on screen. They certainly don't take a whole lot seriously, as most of their jittery shots are them giggling mid-line and having to put their heads down as they surrender to laughter. This could easily go off the tracks and become a sloppy mess, but it somehow manages to harness that energy and keep you engaged. And while all the movie love is going on, there is an interesting satirical experiment being conducted on high school bullying and violence in the media's impact on American Culture. All of which is being done through the divisive found footage genre. But it's never done in a way where it feels like an after-school special or something made by someone who is out of touch with American youth. Matt and Owen are likable because there's a real authenticity to their characters. We all remember someone from high school that is sort of like them, or perhaps we were those guys. The types of people who didn't necessarily engage in a lot of extracurricular activities but instead spent a lot of time together playing video games or watching movies. This lifestyle decision unfortunately also makes them a target for bullies. But the film really nails that realistic complacency. Like they have ultimately decided to surrender to the abuse, assuming it will never go away. They decide to take their retribution to the screen, where movie-obsessed Matt begins to take it all a bit too seriously.

Leviathan

Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Verena Paravel, 2013

Can I Stream It?

4/5

Two artists associated with Harvard University's Sensory Ethnography Lab, Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel, create this experimental documentary that focuses on a North Atlantic fishing vessel using several portable waterproof cameras.

The absence of any narrative or any cuts to interviews with crew members really leave you to your own senses with this film. A harsh purity. You realize right away that you aren't simply watching an episode of The Deadliest Catch. The vessel drifting through the black night might as well be a Ghost Ship. The resonating sound of clanking steel. The sounds of chains being pulled up and down. Muffled voices reverberating across the deck. In between the crashing waves on the ships deck you may even see a ring of cigarette smoke appear and quickly fade into the black night. The constant presence of airborne creatures flapping through the air like winged demons. The camera cuts to dead fish sliding across the floor, their eerie eyes staring straight at the camera like they are stuck in a momentary purgatory before they are beheaded. Their discarded parts will soon wash out of the ship's sides, and of course a camera will be there to capture it. Quite often the camera hangs for extended periods of time, creating a certain entrancing feeling but keeping you alert. And yet, in the midst of all of the darkness there is something truly alluring to Leviathan. 

It's a Hell barge that punishes the open seas. A soul grabber of sorts. The nameless workers gruel through their long shifts, like orange-suited Angels of Death. There aren't any smiles being spread around. They don't need to utter any words to show that their job is demanding. Close shots of the Captain's face show the toll the sea has taken. The other cuts to the various cameras mounted throughout the ship also give you a chance to change perspective. At times you feel like one of the ill-fated fish laying on the metal surface, waiting for the doom-bringers to end it all. Then you become one of the many flapping seagulls desperately trying to get their piece of the pie. Soon after you become one of the ships crew, basically lending a hand to lowering buckets to the belly of the vessel where the catch will be stored. There's a lot of moving parts that feel like a collaborative supernatural flow is at work. In a sense it's just the food chain at work. But even the sea surrounding the men feels unforgiving, almost as if everyone on the boat is stuck in some kind of purgatory. It feels like a ship that may never return to harbor. When the periodic daylight strikes it feels perturbing. Even when it does strike it feels like the sun only shines for a couple of hours before quickly fading to pure black again. Leviathan is a spooky, hypnotic work of art that puts you in a trance, only to leave you with aural memories of metal hitting metal.

Holy Motors

Leos Carax, 2012


4/5

Mr. Oscar (Denis Lavant) is a man with a busy schedule, spending the day traveling around Paris via limousine. Each stop he makes involves him changing his wardrobe, speech and overall persona to fit that particular appointment.

It's a Surreal Art-House piece that's so confidently artistic, so boldly eccentric that you spend most of the film in sheer confusion as to what you are watching but can't take your eyes off the screen. It's an abstract piece that is likely controversial in terms of its appeal. This is not a film with a three-act structure. It's not even necessarily a film with a beginning or end. Oddly, Certain elements of the film reminded me of Eyes Wide Shut. Without a doubt one of the strangest films I've ever seen. I had thought initially that there would be some kind of significant reveal at the end of the film, but I soon realized that it doesn't even matter. It's a film that changes form, much like Mr. Oscar's attire. At times you feel as if you are watching a performance art piece. At others, a musical. In the end, it's a wild ride but a provocative one.