The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band), a German film directed by Michael Haneke (Cache, Funny Games) won the award for Best Foreign Film at this year’s Golden Globes. I saw it this weekend and it is one of the most subtly disturbing, provocative films I’ve seen in awhile. As the story unfolds scene to scene each uncomfortable moment after the next demands your attention despite the droll sound of the German narration. Maybe it’s just me, but German is not a language I’m used to hearing. Nei!

The story is set in a Protestant German village in 1913 just before the start of the first World War. The narration focuses on a series of strange, violent occurrences, along with the doubt and speculation that follow.  During the first half of the film I was perplexed. I literally had no idea where the story was going. The plot quickly shifted between interactions involving various townspeople while alluding suspicion on the children for all the mysterious attacks. Yet, despite all the characters and the story lines there was a precise moment when the film’s message perfectly crystalized, and the construction of the story made sense - brilliant!

The film covers a lot of ying and yangs - envy and kindness, innocence and guilt, punishment and praise, dominance and submission. Yet, what was most interesting to me was the fact that the film explores the childhood of what would become for some, an eventual involvement in a fascist regime and tyrannical impulses. The white ribbon worn around the children’s arm in the early 1900s was a symbol of purity. Interesting that another ribbon represented another form of purity and ultimate dictatorship decades later.

The cinematography is beautiful and timeless, and if you watched this with no idea of its year of release I’m pretty sure you’d never guess it was filmed in 2008. The stillness, subtlety and quiet movements really reminded me of Bergman. It was really quite something.

VIDEO: A quick list/review of all the films I watched over the course of a year.

Many documentaries, classics and comedies, but surprisingly didn’t catch a lot of big Hollywood titles. With the Oscars coming up, on my birthday no less  - any actor/director out there need an escort?, :) - I’m going to knock off a bunch of the big ones in 2009. I’m dying to see Up in the Air, The Fantastic Mr. Fox and a few others.  Any other suggestions?

Music “Up with titles” by Michael Giacchino (from the Up Soundtrack)

*This list isn’t 100 percent comprehensive as I’m just remembering a few titles I forgot to add :)

“The great directors—Griffith, Chaplin, Renoir, Ford, Hawks, Hitchcock, De Sica, Mizoguchi, Kurosawa, Bergman, Scorsese, and the others—did not imagine that they were making films for a tiny audience; they thought that they were making films for everyone, or at least everyone of spirit, which is a lot of people. But, over the past thirty years, the movies have split, increasingly, into mass and class. The conglomerates, through marketing and maximum use of cable, DVDs, and other ancillary markets, have perfected the task of catering to the ever-emerging young audience—the audience they want to sell to—while older people have been cordoned into the fall season, to wander aimlessly the rest of the year like downsized workers; or they have decided simply to look at movies at home. To put it crudely (and I admit there are many exceptions), we now have a spectacular mall cinema that favors sensation over emotion, and a small, intense art cinema, for the remaining art houses (and, more recently, cable and the Internet), centered on intimate relations and difficult, crabby, even painful themes. As for myself, I’m still trying to bridge the gap, looking for art that speaks to a sizable audience, the dream community of our national theatre.”

- New Yorker film critic David Denby setting up his picks for best films of the decade.

Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/tny/2009/12/best-films-of-the-decade-david-denby.html#ixzz0Zs8Go4V8

I’m obsessed with finding the connection between the film’s that influence filmmakers and their films. Lately, I’ve been checking out the filmographies of Truffaut, Bergman and Godard to name a few and in watching their work I’m experiencing film in a whole new way. It may sound silly, but with the old stuff I feel like I’m solving some sort of cinematic mystery the moment I make a connection.

For example, I recently watched Bergman’s Hour of the Wolf, a gothic horror, the film paints a portrait of an artist, his love and the demons that haunt him. The couple in love, the eccentrically off neighbors, and all the sensual and sexual imagery - it screamed Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby. I was also recently surprised by the opening of 400 Blows, a scene where Woody Allen definitely drew inspiration to create the intro scene in Manhattan, a longtime favorite of mine.

Anyway, an article in The Independent shares the movies that mattered most to some of today’s great directors including Martin Scorsese, Lars von Trier, Danny Boyle and Mira Nair to name a few. I can’t wait to watch some of these.

I watched two documentaries back to back last week at the CMJ film festival and I got to hand it to festival programmers - the films, although each featuring very different genres of music, complemented each other very well.

Kid Creole and My Coconuts follows the 1980s multicultural tropical funk band from its roots in divey downtown bars through the fun of celebrity to the end of an era as told through the voice and vision of Mama Coconut herself Adriana Kaegi. As happenstance would have it, Kid Creole and the Coconuts played their very first gig in an old Yugoslavian dive bar back in the early 80s, which is now the Chelsea Clearview Cinema where I and others watched the film. That was cool.

Pardon Us for Living, but the Graveyard is Full reveals the often untold story of the band who never really “made” it by traditional measures of success. The Fleshtones, a garage rock band from Queens opened for the Ramones, hailed at CBGBs, and despite their longevity and brief moments in the spotlight failed to achieve the acclaim that would write them into the music history books. These guys still play bars across the U.S., and after seeing this film, I definitely want to see one of their live shows - these guys do not let age slow them down.

What links these two films so perfectly together is the fact that both of these American musicians never really felt the love from fans in their own country, in their own backyard, and it was something that has kept the fire burning as they continue to “make it” as they say in the biz.

Anyone who has taken a road trip, particularly one across America, knows how enriching an experience it can be. It’s not about the destination as much as it is about the journey. Opening the CMJ Film Festival Tuesday night, The Perfect Age of Rock N’ Roll tells the story of two estranged childhood friends - one a rock star and the other a middle school music teacher - as they rediscover their relationship on a road trip along Route 66, 2,451 miles of metaphorical bumpy road.

The film stars Kevin Zegers (Transamerica) as Spyder, the self-absorbed, excessive yet broken rocker who 20 years into the future sits in his dark living room and begins to tell music journalist Clifton Hangar (Lucas Hass) the “behind the music” story behind a mysterious album that has yet to see the light of day. Through flashbacks, the washed up rocker’s story and fate is revealed and we’re introduced to his former best friend Eric Genson (Jason Ritter of Peter and Vandy, W). Eric, despite his rock n’ roll family ties, chose a life free of the limelight and upon reuniting with Spyder greets him with bitter resentment toward the guy who took credit and fame for the hit songs he wrote.

It’s in the set up where things begin to get interesting and where the the film continues to build upon the idea of “origin” - the beginning of a place, a friendship, a song, a beat, and ultimately of rock n’ roll. The friends reconnect and decide to collaborate once again with Eric’s condition that they make their way to LA across the country on wheels. Although it wasn’t planned during the writing process, Peter Fonda was cast as August West the likable, free-loving hippie who chauffeurs the crew the opposite direction he rode in Easy Rider. The RV also included Rosy (Taryn Manning), Spyder’s manager and Eric’s love interest on the road.

The film was entertaining and enjoyable, but not perfect as the title implies. My biggest problem with the film was the love story between Eric and Rosy, which seemed more convenient than true. I just didn’t believe it and it seemed more insignificant in the grand scheme of things yet it heavily influenced the ending of the film, which was a disappointment. When it comes down to it, the real love story was a platonic one between the two friends as they examine the life choices they made and the music that makes up their world.  Oh, and the music, there were great music montages, which made this a very fitting film for CMJ, including a very memorable scene in a blues bar featuring a group jam with Pinetop Perkins, Sugar Blue and Hubert Sumlin that was completely awesome and really energized the purpose of the film and its characters.

I spoke with Jason Ritter at the after party and he said he had some trouble initially picking up the flamboyant rocker mannerisms of glam rock, but in watching the film, he managed it all just fine. Both Ritter’s and Zegers performances captured the tragedy and complexity of these characters as they fought for understanding with each other and within themselves.

The Perfect Age of Rock N’ Roll is not in theaters yet, but was recently picked up by Meida 8 Entertainment, so stay tuned!

I’ve scoured the Internet for movie stills of the breathtaking cinematic moments in Pedro Almodovar’s Los Abrazos Rotos, (Broken Embraces) yet this image of Penelope Cruz channeling Marilyn Monroe is all I can find. This of course, is a beautiful shot, but it’s far from being the most captivating moment in the film. In this case, words cannot describe the experience as well as the imagery does, which is one of the reason’s why Almodovar is always a must see for me. With Almodovar, images are handled with care and executed as visual metaphors to support the story and points of view unfolding on screen - it’s nearly always perfection!

I’m not going to go into a full blown critique of the film, but I will say that I was mesmerized by a vibrant story about passion, filmmaking, obsession, desire, drive, motherhood, fatherhood and of course love.  It also ended with a message which I’ll never forget. “You must always finish a film. Even if you do it blindly.” So poetic!

One other thing - if you enjoyed Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown you will get a kick out of how he brings back the story with the film within the film. Ah, It was an incredible honor to sit in the same theater watching Almodovar with Almodovar - I still can’t really believe it happened. I will never forget it.

The exploration of love and relationships with oneself, others, culture and a bustling European metropolis, is a common theme found within the filmography of French film director Cedric Klapsich. First there was, L’auberge espagnole (The Spanish Apartment), a story about a group of student internationals living together in Barcelona, a saga revisited in Les poupees russes (The Russian Dolls). Both films were rich, vibrant feel-good films, and frankly, I somewhat hoped for a similar experience with Klapsich’s latest - Paris, but it was much more subdued than his comedies of the past.

The film stars my favorite French leading man Romain Duris (Pierre), a young dancer at the Moulin Rouge who tells his sister, Juliette Binoche, that he’s dying and will need a heart transplant. From there, the film interweaves the stories of the people that Pierre encounters as he watches middle-class life in “the city of lights” from his apartment balcony above. I will not go into all the other plot lines, as I think it’s better not to know, but like many of Klapsich’s films, the city, is a main character unveiled through snapshots of life on its streets. It’s energy and the lives of others remain almost un-phased by the comedy and tragedy that happens within its walls each and every day.

I watched Paris on IFC Indie On Demand for the cool price of $5.99 - half of what it would cost me to see it in theaters today. Now, I prefer the theater-going experience most of the time, but video-on-demand has its place. Tonight I just felt like curling up on the couch with a french film, and this did the trick.

I enjoyed the film and wasn’t the only one. Check out these short Twitter reviews below.

• deb_oh: The new Cedric Klapisch film ‘Paris’ made me nostalgic for French class, baguettes, and winter in Paris. In that order.
• hedrickjeff: My five word review of Cédric Klapisch’s Paris . “Quirky characters in beautiful Paris.”
• WeekofWonders: Ignore uninspired title. Cédric Klapisch’s PARIS is very satisfying and fun for dance lovers.

*Each week, I’m going to highlight Twitter film reviews that catch my eye. If you’d like to share yours with me include #brieflynoted or @erincrum with your review.

WATCH the trailer HERE

My brother is visiting from North Bend, WA and as we were walking all around the city last night he joked that his town has been famously featured in film as well. David Lynch filmed Twin Peaks all over North Bend, which is extremely woodsy, mountainous, and glazed with a misty fog - perfect scene for a creepy who-done-it mystery, which is also why the main gas station my brother visits nearly every other day is the scene of Sandra Bullock’s disappearance in The Vanishing.

I’ve never seen The Vanishing and thought it might be fun to watch an early 90s psycho-thriller set in familiar territory, so I went to Alan’s Alley only to discover that the 93’ version is in fact a remake of a 1988 Dutch film Spoorloos, translated in English as The Vanishing and filmed by the same director George Sluizer. The video store only had a VHS of the 93 version, so I picked up the original and I’m glad I did.

Where to start with this film. The basic plot involves a young couple - Saskia and Rex-on holiday who stop at a gas station before heading out on a cycling trip. There, Saskia mysteriously disappears and Rex spends the next three years obsessed with finding out what happened to her. There’s a lot of foreshadowing, so much so that every move of the story makes sense, yet still feels unpredictable. This film breaks a lot of cliches found in suspenseful films today. First off, the abductor is revealed instantly and the passing of time is used to tap into the sociopath Raymond’s psyche, revealing a chemistry teacher and family man with an odd obsession with proving to himself that he’s not the hero his daughter sees him as.  As you begin to understand Raymond’s motivation, you see Rex’s obsession spiral, ultimately leading him to the same destiny as Saskia, which is revealed in the final, chilling scene. As much as I’d like to see home in the movies, I have a feeling the original, which is apparently highly acclaimed, was the better film of the two. Watch it!

American life has many sides, but the point of view of an immigrant offers the good, the bad and the unexpected ugliness that hides in what starts as a hopeful idea of a new beginning. It’s an interesting theme explored in the feature film Amreeka, which follows the immigration story of a Palestinian mother and son who leave their home for a fresh start in small-town America just as the first Gulf War conflict in the Middle East begins.

The film is soft, honest and unexpectedly funny and light while at the same time shows the strength and weaknesses of a family facing opposition and acceptance in their foreign community. I’m not an immigrant by any means, but I related to the closeness, hope and optimism as I followed this family’s journey. It was a very easy film to enjoy, but more importantly it shined a spotlight on a time that easily parallels today where racial profiling and prejudice sadly remain.

Amreeka opens in theaters in majors cities, including the Landmark Theater in New York, on Sept. 4th. Interestingly, this film is the first feature film produced by National Geographic as they tread further into the film world to raise awareness of global issues. The fact that they chose Amreeka as their feature debut definitely says something, so please continue to support independent films and check this one out!

I’ve included the trailer above and will be posting a Q&A with first-time filmmaker Cherien Dabis and the Film Society of Lincoln Center very soon!