The Conversations: 3D

Is modern 3D technology the gateway to a new and improved kind of cinematic storytelling? Or is it an empty gimmick, a retread of an old fad, destined to disappear again as quickly as it arrived? Bottom line: Does 3D exist today because it provides an opportunity to enhance cinema or because it provides an opportunity to enhance the box office, or maybe both? These are the kinds of questions that Ed Howard and I approach in the latest edition of The Conversations at The House Next Door. We frame the conversation around the 3D of Martin Scorsese's Hugo, Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin, and, to a somewhat lesser degree, Werner Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams. (Alas, we didn't include Wim Wenders' Pina, only because we wrapped the discussion before it was available.) This isn't the first time 3D has been debated like this, and it won't be the last. Whether Ed and I stumble onto any new ground or simply recap the many arguments that have been made elsewhere already, I'm not sure, but as we head into 2012 it seemed appropriate for a kind of "state of 3D" assessment of where things stand. Please add to the conversation by leaving comments at The House Next Door.

Six Movie Geeks Sitting in a Tree, M-U-L-L-I-N-G

The second edition of the SLIFR Movie Tree House has been called to order, and I'm very pleased to be in attendance. The rest of the club of course includes our charming host, Dennis Cozzalio of Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule, and veterans Sheila O'Malley and Jim Emerson. New to these parts are Steven Boone and Simon Abrams.

If you followed along last year you know how this works: for a few days, the crew trades thoughts on the previous year in film (at least, that's the idea). Most of the initial entries are in, and I'll be providing links on this page (below the jump) as they're posted. Of course, nothing is stopping you from heading right over to Dennis' yard and following along.

Loner Lover: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Nothing on the surface of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy would suggest that it’s a hard movie to keep up with. From a distance, Tomas Alfredson’s adaptation of John le Carre’s 1974 novel unfolds with the calm of an Englishman’s Sunday stroll, which of course is precisely the point. Le Carre wrote Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy, and the other books of its series, as an alternative to the action-packed James Bond adventures, and Alfredson is faithful to that intent. Guns are fired in Alfredson’s film, but there are no shootouts. Punches are thrown, but there are no fight scenes. Pursuit of the enemy is a constant, but there are no chase sequences. Somehow the movie is still outwardly slower than what I just described, and yet it challenges us to match its pace. Just beyond its calm demeanor and passive posture, Tinker Tailor is a maelstrom of information – clues dropped without fanfare, all of them exposing hidden truths that point to the identity of the mole and then to even deeper personal truths beyond that. Those who have read the novel or watched the 1979 miniseries starring Alec Guiness will have an easier time staying afloat. But the rest of us have no choice but to splash around in the torrent of first names, last names, codenames, nods, glances and insinuations while trying to keep our heads above water.

The first time I watched Tinker Tailor, I followed it well enough, but it took a second viewing to really feel it. There’s no shame in that, nor is there fault to be found in the film’s deliberate avoidance of boldface elucidation. Alfredson’s adaptation is a reflection of the film’s main character, George Smiley, the externally unhurried former agent of the British Secret Intelligence Service who goes searching for a mole inside the “Circus” as a storm of doubts, regrets and suspicions thunders inside him. At the same time, Tinker Tailor puts us in touch with Smiley’s experience, giving us a palpable sense of, and a great respect for, the tangled web of information that he must unravel to uncover the truth. Smiley is never spoon-fed, and thus we aren’t either, and no matter how many clues pass before us, Smiley is always one step ahead, deciphering the significance of the seemingly trivial. Thus, we often spot that Smiley has had an epiphany long before we have one of our own. The complexities of the plot are reason enough to see the movie (at least) twice, but there’s also this: Among other things, Tinker Tailor is actually about the act of reexamination, the discovery of new details through a second look at the familiar.

Bests of 2011

Happy New Year! Based on what I’ve seen so far (and there are notable exclusions, like Carnage, Coriolanus, Margaret, Mysteries of Lisbon, A Separation, War Horse and I’m sure several others that I don’t even know I’m missing), here are my bests of the past year at the movies:

The Conversations: Alexander Payne

I have a backlog of 2011 reviews in me that I'll need to attack in early 2012, but I'm pleased to close out the year with The Conversations: Alexander Payne, which is now live at The House Next Door. In this edition, Ed Howard and I discuss the writer/director's five feature films, from Citizen Ruth to The Descendants, and his short from Paris Je T'Aime. Along the way, we regularly engage with Payne's reputation for condescension, finding evidence that it fits and yet is often misapplied. Payne's films don't overwhelm me, but they offer much to discuss. If you're killing time before the ball drops tonight or find yourself recovering from a night of excitement tomorrow, please head over to The House Next Door and join the discussion.

Shell Games and a Hangman's Noose: Thoughts on Homeland

I have no doubt that Homeland is one of the most riveting new shows of 2011 - and while I don't watch enough TV to know for sure, maybe the "new" modifier isn't even necessary. The Showtime drama's strengths are many: Claire Danes' wide-eyed intensity and frail figure have proved perfect for the paranoid, reckless and ultimately self-destructive Carrie Mathison, the bipolar CIA agent trying to prevent a terrorist strike to preserve (and maybe prove) what remains of her sanity in the process; Mandy Patinkin is flawless as the mercurial Saul Berensen, Carrie's mentor, father figure and conscience; and Damian Lewis is a one-man-band of versatility as Sgt. Nicholas Brody, the central figure in the sometimes mysterious, sometimes suspenseful and often intense narrative, who is alternately charismatic, nurturing, pained, jaded, dark, warm, twitchy and/or violent, whatever the situation requires. The problem with Homeland, though, and the reason I can't see it as anything more than B-movie escapism with A-movie production values (and C-movie dialogue), is that it's too much like its main character, which is to say that, like Brody, Homeland is disingenuous and uncommitted, frequently doing things in the moment that are counter to its supposed ultimate aims.

(Major spoilers ahead, written under the assumption you've seen Homeland.)

Best Movie Posters of 2011

Tis the holiday season, which means it's the time of year when I get super excited about the idea of catching up on movie writing, only to realize that family time is precious and demanding (in a good way!) and that the best I can hope for is to kinda-sorta keep up with movie watching. So while I do hope to get some actual writings posted between now and 2012, I figure this is as good a time as any to make my annual recognition of my favorite movie posters.

What do I look for in a movie poster? In general, I like a striking image that stands out in the lineup at the multiplex while evoking the film's themes. The best movie posters ingrain themselves within our memories of the films themselves, so that to think of Jaws, for example, is to think of that image of the giant shark swimming upward toward the helpless swimmer. Of course, that means that sometimes how we feel about a movie poster is directly tied to how we feel about a film, and an image that might otherwise be pedestrian takes on greater meaning retroactively or a compelling image is made to feel trite because the movie turns out to be. The collection below represent some of my favorite films of the year, and some I didn't care for and a few I didn't even see.

So, tell me, what are your favorite posters of the year? And what did I get horribly wrong?