extraordinary machine

Jane. Los Angeles. Re-watching movies. Nail art. Making bracelets. Knitting. Flats.

Movies (really good ones)

Away We Go

Plot: Burt and Verona are expecting their first child in a few months, and the longtime couple decides to go on a journey to find a perfect place for their new home with the baby. 

At first glance when this movie first came out, I just remember thinking, “what an odd pair. They did a horrible job at casting this movie.” I’ve always loved John Krasinski from The Office for many years, and I enjoyed Maya Rudolph’s segments in SNL way back when. They were spectacular individually, but I didn’t think they would have the chemistry nor the acting skills to pull this off. I stand corrected. They were just perfect for this movie. The ensemble cast is amazing, and it was one of those movies that made me feel really warm and fuzzy after the credits started rolling. I greatly enjoyed this film, and the character development is remarkable (especially Maggie Gyllenhaal - I love you Maggie). 

Husbands and Wives 

Plot: Upon discovering Jack and Sally’s divorce, Gabe and Judy start looking into their own marriage and start finding themselves being attracted to other people. 

This was filmed and released during the whole scandal involving Woody Allen’s break-up with Mia Farrow (who plays his wife in the film) and his affair with the adoptive daughter of Mia Farrow, Soon-Yi Previn. It was disturbing to say the least, but the film was great. It’s a typical Woody Allen film, starring himself as a helpless intellect. 

Alice

Plot: Alice is a spoiled housewife in Manhattan who starts falling for a saxophone player that she randomly saw at her children’s school. While she visits Dr. Yang for herbal remedy for her back pain, instead, she gets magic drugs that slowly but surely get her out of the complacent but empty life that she’s been living. 

Another Woody Allen film. This movie was unexpected. The plot seemed so unrealistic to be one of Woody Allen’s. I didn’t enjoy it as much as Husbands and Wives, but it was interesting. 

Annie Hall

Finally! Who hasn’t heard of Annie Hall? The fashion, Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Oscars. It’s been on my list of movies to watch for a very long time, and the time has finally come. The film is revolutionary. I’m not saying that it was the best thing that I’ve ever watched or even that this is one of my favorite movies like so many of the critics have claimed so in the past. The plot was a bit bland for me, to be honest, but Allen’s directing style in this film was surely something that no one has ever done before the time of release, and I found it very unique and interesting (even for someone who’s been jaded after years and years of watching countless movies in different shapes, forms, and sizes). 

Crumb

This documentary goes in depth of the lives of a famous cartoonist Robert Crumb and his brothers Charles and Maxon. It was just amazing to see how all three brothers were raised to be somewhat of social outcasts, yet so brilliant in the realm of art. Robert Crumb’s cartoons were very popular in the 60s and 70s, during the big hippie era, for his sexually charged and unique cartoons at the time. His older brother Charles is the one that sort of jump started Robert’s interest in cartoons and art, yet he himself, as a very talented artist, still lives with his mother and refuses to leave the house. Robert’s younger brother Maxon, lives in a ratty hotel in San Francisco, panhandles to find spiritual meaning of life, sits on a bed of nails in lotus position for hours on end, and passes a long piece of cloth every few months to “cleanse his insides.” All three of the Crumb brothers are just so bizarre yet compelling, I highly recommend this film. 

Capturing the Friedmans

This is one of the best documentary films that I’ve ever seen.

The Friedmans were an upper middle class Jewish family that lived in Great Neck, Long Island; Arnold and Elaine with three grown sons, David, Seth, and Jesse. Arnold was a very well-respected school teacher with numerous awards for his work. Then, one day before Thanksgiving, Arnold and his youngest 18-year-old son Jesse are charged with multiple charges of sodomy and sexual abuse against young boys from Arnold’s computer class. This starts hysteria not only in their family, but also in the entire town. As the tag line suggests, the question “who do you believe,” is raised for the audience to answer, and even though there is evidence after evidence that proves Friedmans’ innocence, the director remains his ambiguity and avoids addressing it in the film. He just wants the viewers to decide for themselves whether the Friedmans were guilty or not guilty. What makes this film so remarkable is that there are hours of home video footage of the family that David started filming once this case broke out, so we can see what the family was going through during this chaos, and how it started breaking the family apart. MUST. WATCH. 

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