My Name is A By Anonymous
My Name is A By Anonymous (2011)
Directed by Boneshin (aka Shane Ryan)
Anonymous aka Boneshin is clearly not that anonymous. My Name is A is directed by Shane Ryan, who clearly is a fringe filmmaker who's helmed the infamous Amateur Pornstar Killer series as well as Warning!!!! Pedophile Released. Having not seen the latter which I hear is actually pretty good, I'm left to judge his merit on APK and this film.
My Name is A (formerly a short called The Columbine Effect) is clearly in that genre of fictional recreations where a real life tragedy is turned into a film but shaded with arthouse flair. The film is a recreation of the life and times of alleged murderer Alyssa Bustamante who at the age of 15 killed Elizabeth Olten, who was only 9 years old. I had not heard of this crime and it's clearly something TruTV would focus on. Oh wait they did.
The film plays out the real as real life. You can read the entire notorious murder by heading here. We meet Alyssa, a gothy teen, who paints her face Joker style and has a taste of the killing. She's accompanied by "the sidekick" who follows her orders to a tee. In parallel we also meet "the performer" who is trying to find her direction in voice and art. Finally, we meet "the angst" who's abuse from her stepfather has her vomiting into jars.
Told in a shaky cam 3rd person blended with Flip/phone cams, it's got a docu-teen feel to it. Everything is overlayed with a music video quality and the dialogue is pure vulgar spewage. But whatever Ryan was trying to do here is lost on me. Movies like The Zero Effect and Van Sant's Elephant that recreated Columbine did so by not judging the killers, only following them on that day's events. After such a tragedy, nobody ever has a clear understanding why.
In My Name is A, Ryan clearly wants us to see Alyssa's madness manifest themselves in visual characters of performer, angst, sidekick, etc. Why did she kill this little girl? Was it the culmination of sexual abuse with teenage angst, being a rebel and trying to be "famous"? Clearly, we are led to believe this is the case. Why is never important when creating a fictional version of a real life tragedy. One has to judge on it with uncertainty...it's the only thing that's certain when it comes to motive.
The film itself is a miragy mix of Harmony Korine's early stuff and it's just plain boring. Add in the visual nausea and the meanderings of dialogue (and bad acting) it's a milkshake of nonsense. Every scene seems picked from the true story such as the Joker makeup, the kid brother, the electric fence playground and the actual way the victim dies. Even her look (see the link above) is mimicked in unison. However, I didn't see a what felt like 10 minute music video dream sequence coming. No idea what that was about.
There have been movies like this before. The Sylvia Likens case comes to mind and I watched 2 films based on that. An American Crime (starring Ellen Page) and The Girl Next Door. Both handled the real life horrific murder solidly and elegantly. Even Elephant was oddly mesmerizing.
Unfortunately My Name is A by Anonymous clearly wants to give us innocence lost (a killer and a victim) theme, but none of that really stood out. Instead, Shane Ryan tricked me with a cool title and made me watch a film with untapped potential that had me asking him....why??
Nude-ipedia
Umm I try to not think of what I saw as nudity... ::shivers::
Gore-ipedia
A bit of blood
WTF moment
Where did this Russian music video come from?
The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis
My Name is A by Anonymous comes from Mad Sin Cinema. Here's some info on the vitals. My Name is A by anonymous (formerly known as The Columbine Effect) stars Russian pop star Teona Dolnikova, Demi Baumann – the younger sister of actor Ken Baumann from The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Sean Cain. With newcomers Katie Marsh, Kaliya Skye, Joseph Marsh and Alex Damiano. Produced by Alisha Rayne, Cinematography by Arturo Guerrero.
Rating:
Check out the trailer.
20111215
My Name is A by Anonymous (Review)
20110314
Rubber (Review)
Rubber
Rubber (2011)
Directed by Quentin Dupieux
"Why is ET gray?....No reason"
"Why is the president killed by someone he's never met in JFK?....No reason"
"Why does Robert the tire kill people with his telekinetic powers?.....No reason"
There is a lot of "no reason" in movies Quentin Dupieux through the character Lt Chad likes to tell us in the opening of Rubber. I'd never really given it great thought. Filmmakers slip in a deux ex machinas and you rarely question it. Maybe even a twist that makes no sense. But rarely does a movie go full frontal no reason like Rubber does. If the movie is trying to either make a statement about no reason in films or exists for no reason, you be the judge. All I can say is that it's an absurd motion picture that I thoroughly enjoyed. And I'm here to give you the reasons why I think it's one of the best of 2011.
At the end of the day Rubber is about the birth and journey of a tire that has telekinetic powers. But somehow it's also about the audience's perception of what they're seeing. Rubber has both as the audience we see is not us, but actual spectators in a hill in the middle of a desert town armed with binoculars watching this killer tire's life as it unfolds. Lost yet?
This is a meta and surreal film that reminds me why I love independent film. French filmmaker Dupieux takes Austin weird to a whole new dimension with Rubber. This is the first time in a long time I've seen a movie that's just a likeable oddity. It looks indie-ish and has a bunch of no name actors and a soundtrack that emotes the feelings of our viciously evil tire.
Rubber treads on the road of hilarity, 4th wall hypnosis and goretastic awesomness and is the most original movie I've seen in quite a while. The neo cinephiles will eat up this kookiness, regular moviegoers beware. The film is mocking you and you don't know it.
Boring Plot-O-Matic
When Robert, an inanimate tire, discovers his destructive telepathic powers, he soon sets his sights on a desert town; in particular, a mysterious woman becomes his obsession.
Awesome Review-O-Matic
Honestly, how could I resist not watching a movie about a killer tire? As the movie starts, we see a sheriff breaking the 4th wall and reciting a speech with examples of no reasons in movies. The thing about breaking the 4th wall is it's automatically telling the audience we're going to flip the reality from you for the next 80 or so minutes. You're going to have to decide if the entire flick is a "no reason" film or are we watching a tire kill people for....well....no reason.
You either buy into it or you don't. I did because hell I've never seen a telekinetic "live" tire blow people's heads off. We see Robert the Tire awake and start to wreak havoc across the desert. He starts smashing things like a good tire would and when he can't he uses the power of his mind to blow up random wildlife.
Oh and it's gloriously awesome to see rabbits and birds explode into itsy bits of chunky goodness.
Meanwhile, a group of spectators with binoculars are watching these events unfold and are our sort of voice in the movie. These include a father and son, a wheelchair vet, a few chubby movie geeks, some tweeny girls and a boisterous black woman. As we watch the flick, they comment on exactly what we're thinking. It's a weird telepathic bond. An example is at one point one of the spectators, a boy says "It's already boring" and his father responds "Don't be so negative. It's just the beginning. It's going to pick up. Just be patient". I was honestly thinking the same thing and I was like "GET OUT OF MIND!!!"
It's this self awareity humor that makes you chuckle and admit the cleverity of it all is something you kinda think is hipster-ish cool. This is a modern day hipster movie with various scenes that will make the highest stoner laugh.
Soon our tire sees a hot girl, Sheila driving in a convertible and seamlessly gets obsessed with her. But this isn't before a few victim fodder fuck up our tire accidentally. Note to self: Never mess with a tire with psychic powers. Your Gore-ipedia includes some stellar (non CGI?) exploding heads that are insanely hilarious in that Scanners sort of way. Later in a motel, our tire voyeurs after Sheila and spends a few minutes watching TV?!?!
Yes, we see a tire watching TV (you know he loves the NASCAR).
With the deaths of a few more victims who've pissed off Rob after he sees a genocide on his people, the police are called into action and we get a unique speech from our Sheriff explaining to his deputies that "this isn't real life". Again the 4th wall is breaking down and culminates in our sheriff giving a demonstration of his theory. To say this is off the wall is not doing any justice. There is completely no logic in the movie and to try to understand Rubber is pointless as you watch it. You have to constantly keep reminding yourself that every question you may have should end with the words "no reason".
As the police close in on our berserk tire, an elaborate plan is executed to destroy the tire once and for all. The ending has more metaness in it and the last scenes are clearly a mock on the place where no reason movies come from.
The performances by the spectators (especially Wings Hauser as the wheelchair Vet), our inept sheriff (Stephen Spinella) and an accountant (Jack Plotnick from Reno 911 fame) are all quirky and ambitiously vague. Their performances are straight even though the scenes are completely weird. I must admit, watching Roxanne Mesquida as Sheila gave me a weapon of mass erection.
The film is shot and edited quite well. Sure we know somebody is rolling around the tire as they film but it seems so seamless. The CGI showing the tire spinning on its own is quite extraordinary. We even get a soundtrack that shows the emotion of our tire telling us he's either happy or angry. He may not be a name brand tire, but he's got personality. It's also got the funniest dialogue and odd observations as well. The spectators conversations to each other are like a sitting with Mike, Tom Servo and Croooooooooooooooow!
So what's the prognosis? Is Rubber a movie that exists for no reason or is there something that Dupiex is trying to say? I'm going with the latter though some may disagree. We constantly suspend disbelief when we watch movies from giant transforming robots to blue alien natives. We are asked to do it again with a killer tire that can explode heads. Why is one different than the other? It's not.
Rubber mocks the mockery by giving us scenes that exist for no reason but uber amplifies them into complete outrageousnessness you just go with it. The fact we can empathize with a tire says it all. If say the tire were an animal, the same emotional bond we would have would be the same. Hell I wanted Robert to fuck up anybody who was messing with him. Did I even question I was cheering for a tire?!?! Nope. Why would I?
Rubber is a throwback to all that is awesome about independent film like Linklater, Jarmusch and Kelly. Dupieux may not be on par with those names yet but he's brought back that vibe that percolated in the early 90s. Rubber is a genre film that somehow breaks all genres. I can't even generalize what it exactly is. It's a surreal-meta-weird horror comedy. It made me laugh countless times and made me think the rest of the time. Not a lot of movies can do that.
But the question you want to know is should you watch Rubber? I say yes and for one reason.
No Reason.
Nude-ipedia
We get some side flesh from Sheila
WTF moment
The entire film
The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis
Rubber is currently on Video in Demand and comes out in theaters 4/1 via Magnet Releasing. Rubber may not be for everyone but if you enjoy watching the non Hollywood fare of indie cinema, Rubber is must see. It's the best movie about a tire that kills people you'll see this year.
The Vitals
Check out the trailer below.
Red Band Trailer
20110304
The Shortround: Worm (Review)
With all the hoopla in Wisconsin about unions and teachers unions being underfunded and teachers jobs being cut, it's kinda ironic that I watched Richard Powell's 20 minute short Worm. It's produced by Zach Green and on the surface it's about a teacher with a serious darkside. On the inside, it's like watching the mind of a volcano about to explode.
Here be the plot.
A day in the mind of Geoffrey Dodd, a seemingly kind, gentle and sane High School teacher. As we follow Geoffrey through the course of a typical school day we gain an eerie insight into the darkest corners of his soul and beyond. Beneath the carefully constructed veneer of Geoffrey Dodd lies something wretched, insidious and foul rotting him from the inside out.
the jaded viewer says: Geoffrey has the shittiest job other than being a guidance counselor, being a teacher. Can you really educate the youth of America today in a world filled with distractions from Facebook and Twitter to Lady Gaga and Eminem? What do our teachers really think of the students they teach?
I really think it's not to far from what our disturbed teacher Geoffrey thinks. As we follow him along on a typical school day, we the audience get to hear what he's thinking like a twisted version of What Women Want. The narration is odd the first time you hear it but his ramblings are clearly what drives this short.
From mocking the dumb students to raging jealousy of the smart students, we hear his insults and his anger. After a few breaks in the teachers conference room, Geof blasts his fellow staff with a running commentary of the hot well dressed teacher's smarts to the fat teacher who he wants to have another heart attack.
It also seems he's writing a love story in his spare time but is interrupted by another fellow teacher with a dying mom. Geof lacks compassion and his thoughts echo that same view. Oh he says all the right things in reality and in face to face conversations, but we see his 2 face and slowly we begin to hate his guts.
At the tale end of the film, we begin to see he is enamored by one of his female students. A Lifetime movie of the week with kidanpping and To Catch a Predator overtones starts to seep into his narration. By the end we feel a reverse Columbine about to happen. What do you think happens?
Worm is clearly a play on the apple on a teacher's desk. It's a wonderful experimental short that blends noir-ish cliches into a modern day horror film. It sometimes strays into repetitiveness and hearing a man's thoughts like we were telepathic gets kinda irritating after a while. If somehow Worm was balanced with some suspense or another POV, it might have given it a counterpoint. Instead we get one man's drawl on his shitty life.
I liked it and if I had to pick a grade like our teacher Geoffrey does I'd give it 6/10. What he writes on one of his know it all students papers kinda holds true: YOU CAN DO BETTER :-)
The Vitals
Check out the some clips below.
20100610
Don't burn Rubber or your head will explode!
I posted a link to the teaser trailer for this on the jaded viewer Facebook page but I now think this little film from Quentin Dupieux's new movie Rubber deserves its own post. Back when I began watching the quirky films we all take for granted now, this concept of a psychic vengeful tire would have been on top of my list to see.
I use to watch all the Alejandro Jodorowsky, David Lynch and others because they were bizarre, non linear and completely surrealistic. There were alot of films like this back in the day (or maybe they were all new to me). So when we get half a dozen bizarre films a year, you have to take notice and see these little odd possibly soon to be cult classics.
But a one joke movie like a self aware psychic tire is like a one joke movie about a human centipede. How the hell do you drag it out to go over an hour? A few reviews are mixed in their reaction but that's not going to let the hype machine here be a downer.
A tire that's lonely, falls in love and wreaks fury. This I gotta see.
Check out the teaser and the short clip below. Is this the next cult classic or some shiny flattened quarter that will soon be forgotten?
Short clip courtesy of Twitch Film.
Finally a link to the official site.
