filmmaker

Role Models

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 01:14:00 +0000

When you decide to read a memoir, do you do so to commune with the author–to get to know his inner secrets, what makes him tick? If that’s the reason you usually shop the autobiography and memoir section of the bookstore, steer clear of controversial filmmaker (Hairspray, Cecil B. Demented) John Waters’ new “memoir” Role Models. While disclosing inspiration is no problem for the eclectic Waters, laying his guts out on the table is not his strong suit.

Of course, memoir can also be an account of someone else’s life as observed by the author–and in this case, we’re talking about the lives of famous crooners, a notorious killer, and fringe pornographers, to name a few. But if you’re looking for major insight into why John Waters is simultaneously comfortable with labels like “King of Puke,” “Duke of Dirt” and maker of “trash epics,” but doesn’t want to end up a gay cliché–as he confesses one of his heroes Tennessee Williams avoided becoming, you won’t find it here.

You won’t find much of anything personal in this book. As Waters warns, “The ultimate level of celebrity accomplishment is convincing the press and public that they know everything about your personal life without really revealing anything.” And speaking of Tennessee Williams: his chapter begins “Tennessee Williams saved my life.” From what? He never says. Waters alludes to conformity and cliché as terrible things to avoid in life; but you might find yourself longing for more depth from a lengthy and detailed confession about the psychic wounds of childhood after reading such a statement. It just isn’t there.

In his Leslie Van Houten chapter, Waters confesses to the tragic event in his own life that inspired his used and reused face-pressed-against-the-windshield-of-a-car image. Beyond this small detail, you’d be hard-pressed to find much else worth discussing in film school or after a screening of Polyester, for instance, in this self-effacing work.

Perhaps his most interesting observations are found in the "Leslie" chapter simply because there are no other humanizing portraits of this Manson family killer to be found: “Leslie inspired me too. Inspired me to believe that if you wait long enough and work hard enough on your damaged psyche, you can eventually come out of it with some kind of self-respect and mental health.” But again, the questions and not the answers to the Waters’ enigma resurface for the reader: why does Waters see his own sins as akin to those of a woman who stabbed another sixteen times with a knife in the lower back, as Van Houten did to Rosemary LaBianca in 1969? The "Leslie" chapter is the most compelling of the book, but Waters lingers too long on this subject and apologizes for the crime, saying he understands its severity, too many times.

As this critic went over her notes after finishing the book, she discovered that she’d written more than two dozen question marks in its margins. This harks back to the point Waters made early on about causing people to think they know everything about him, when really he has shrewdly kept his secrets under wraps. For every insight into the real Waters the reader gets, there's at least one question about said reality that naturally follows.

Role Models is an interesting read, but it’s never as shocking or grotesque as any one of Waters’ films. And its message is muddled: do perverts exist because of or in spite of public opinion? Waters’ seems to teeter back and forth between wanting to vindicate his socially rejected role models and wanting to celebrate their freak status. One thing is for sure: reading this book is like turning over a rock in the mud and examining all of the creepy-crawlies you’d find there. Do it for the fun of learning something new, even though you’ll learn very little about cult filmmaker John Waters.

Written by: Rachel Moehl, August 29th 2010

An Oscar Win for International Women’s Day

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:01:00 +0000

Kathryn Bigelow

The Oscars have been over for five minutes. My cheeks are flushed, there are tears in my eyes, and my stomach is doing flips. It has finally happened!

A woman has won the Academy Award for Best Direction and Best Picture. The winner is not just any woman, but Kathryn Bigelow, the amazing genre filmmaker and director of The Hurt Locker. Three other women have been nominated previously: Lina Wertmüller for Seven Beauties, Jane Campion for The Piano, and Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation. This is a monumental achievement and a dream come true for any feminist film buff, a dream I honestly thought would never happen.

I’m going to have to let it sink in a little bit before I can fully articulate the impact I think this will have on filmmaking, but everything has changed, and is still changing, definitely for the better. Bigelow's double win (though the film itself took home six awards) deserves a double congratulations both for her hard work, perseverance, and excellent filmmaking, as well as for helping change the face of filmmakers forever. When people stupidly say “There aren’t any good female directors,” we can now point to this moment as solid proof they are wrong.

I wish I could be as happy for Sandra Bullock and Mo’Nique as I am for Bigelow, but I can’t. Despite Sandra’s excellent speech, I’ve never liked her as an actress because she constantly plays characters who revel in personal humiliation. Her rom-com’s are the worst of the worst of female portrayals. Knowing Hollywood, she won because she was the highest grossing performer of last year, and acting had nothing to do with it. In fact, she wasn’t even on the awards radar until the profits of The Blind Side were announced.

That being said, it’s hard for me to be truly disappointed by her win. She beat out every dick, dick, and dick in 2009 at the box office. That’s another first for last year's films, and an especially nice success for an actress over the age of forty! Here’s to hoping Bullock's Oscar will open up some doors for the actress, and that she will be more inclined to accept roles in better female-driven films. (Also, I give Bullock kudos for her Razzie acceptance speech for Worst Actress in All About Steve. I think it was really tasteful.)

Mo’Nique gave the best performance imaginable in an exploitation film. I don’t think Precious is a good movie and find its manipulative, over-dramatized sensibilities more offensive than torture porn. With torture porn, you at least have the courtesy of knowing exactly what you’re getting into. Precious' earnest intentions come off as over-stylized drama-rama, and Mo’Nique’s character in the film actually sums up the worst aspects of that movie. But, again, her win actually means more than meets the eye, as she joins the few African Americans who have won Academy Awards.

Aside from Bigelow winning Best Director, there weren’t any major surprises at the ceremony this year. The problem with the awards season, in general, is that most of the excitement over films has diminished by Oscar time because every award is virtually set in stone. I adored the speeches given by Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), Michael Giacchino (Up), and Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker), and I enjoyed the special speeches for each leading actor/actress nominee. Kristen Stewart and Sean Penn boarded the fail boat with their presentations, and at times, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were painful to watch, but what can you do?

The memorial gets to me every year because it always has a handful of my favorite classic actors, actresses, and filmmakers. In 2009, we lost Jennifer Jones, Jean Simmons, Betsy Blair, Karl Malden, Jack Cardiff, Eric Rohmer, Natasha Richardson, Kathryn Grayson, David Carradine, and so many more. I loved the odd tribute to horror films, which included bona fide classics like The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby, and Psycho, as well as some odd balls like Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4 and Leprechaun. The John Hughes tribute was just weird.

The biggest disappointment of the evening fell to their lifetime achievement awards. Lauren Bacall, Roger Corman, and Gordon Willis all received the honor this year, but they failed to honor them properly by not airing their acceptances during the actual ceremony. If we had ten or fifteen minutes to honor John Hughes, surely we had enough time to honor the amazing work ethic, careers, and talent of Bacall, Corman, and Willis. Boo, Academy, boo.

All in all, though, I had a great time watching the Oscars this year and am still buzzing with happiness over Bigelow’s win. I know change doesn’t happen overnight, but I have a feeling I’m going to wake up tomorrow with a sense of feminist progress in the world. I’d like to thank the Academy for making it possible. Happy International Women’s Day!

Written by: Sara Freeman, March 8th 2010

Ms. Films DIY Guide to Film & Video, Third Edition

admin — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 19:04:00 +0000

Edited by Niku Arbabi

Parcell Press

This anthology of DIY film techniques and ideas is nothing short of inspiring. It takes what I had thought of as a corporate and very difficult to break into medium and brings it to the level where anyone can become a filmmaker. Comprehensive and fascinating, with a lot of spirit, Ms. Films DIY Guide to Film & Video looks and feels like a zine, but is bound durably as a book. Geared toward women and girls, as women and girls are under-represented as film-makers, this book serves a meaningful purpose. I had never felt the desire to make films, but Ms. Films DIY Guide to Film & Video gives me ideas and makes me want to implement them—furthermore, it suggests how to implement them. This is a feel-good book in a deep and lasting way.

The filmmakers whose writing is anthologized in here are diverse and have a lot of personality. The reader gets a sense of the different filmmakers as people, and feels supported by their words. Some specific techniques and ideas presented include a DIY drive-in movie theater, how to make your own puppets for stop-motion animation, discussion of good lengths for short films, where to start with fundraising and publicity, a guide to film festivals, tips for script writing and personal writing of a filmmaker’s experiences with a specific production.

Suggestions I have for the fourth edition include a bigger inside margin for easier reading as well as cleaner fonts—a few of the typewriter fonts aren’t easy on the eye. Otherwise, I would recommend this book to anyone. Long-time filmmakers will be reminded why they started making films and find some new ideas, while newcomers, like myself, will be introduced to an entire new world.

Written by: Laura-Marie Taylor, April 28th 2007