Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Kiss Me Deadly is a film noir. After having taking the film noir class, it was fun to casually see a noir on the beach. It is a mystery that keeps you guessing. It is the original asker of the classic question: what's in the box? I don't know if we get a proper answer, but we get most of an answer so that you can fill in the gaps yourself. We saw the original American ending, but there was an alternative ending that leaves out the final minute or so. It is a much more pessimistic ending, apocalyptic if you will. It is a movie that is reflective of the time in which it was made. In that sense, you can read it as a primary source on Cold War paranoia. I loved the 1950s answering machine. It is enormous! And also he has this oddly close relationship with his mechanic.

The Neon Demon (2016)

There is only one good thing about this movie, and that is the cinematography. Many of the shots you might find in a Vogue photoshoot. They are stylish and glitzy. The models: stoic and sexy. The first third of the film makes use of bold colors and lights, especially in the club scene. But after that, it seems like Refn gives up on style, and is just going for shock. His manner of shock is disgusting and misogynistic (and would have guessed that cannibalism would be a common theme in the Festival?). The characters are flat and one-dimensional, reducing these women to vicious animals, and one deer in the headlights.  Concerning the male characters, their stories are underdeveloped and unfinished. We are left hanging, not that I was ever really invested in them enough to care. Sure, I get the message about the modeling industry--but it is an inherently misogynistic one. As far as plot goes, there is beginning and end, but the middle is severely lacking. You are constantly asking "what the heck is happening?" Take the catwalk for example. What was the inexplicable triforce light doing there? I would go so far as to say it is boring and offensive movie. 

Dog Eat Dog (2016)

I was a little disappointed that Nicholas Cage didn't show up to the morning screening, but I was otherwise pleasantly surprised by his performance. This could have been a tired old crime story, but under Paul Schrader's direction we get a fresh take. In the Q&A, he gave an example of how he updated the classic genre. The strip club has been done before, so he did it in black and white. And the contrast between the black and white with the solid vibrant blues and reds (notably resembling police lights, or a drug-induced high) is striking. The use of color in this film is one of its greatest stylistic strengths. Willem Dafoe is really creepy. The first shot is a close up of his deranged face. And then in a manner reminiscent of a Quentin Tarantino film, he commits an admittedly stylish bloody double murder.  And then of course there is Nicholas Cage. And he is Nicholas Cage as usual, but it kind of works here. It is almost a parody of that type of character and he plays it up.

Gimme Danger (2016)

It's not a bad film, it's just not a midnight movie. At midnight, you need a blockbuster to keep you up. This movie lacked explosiveness. And I found that not being familiar with Iggy Pop's music made it difficult to care. I just wasn't really engaged with the movie. And it was too late and I was too tired to try very hard. But Iggy Pop showed up, naturally without a shirt. I don't think he passes the red carpet dress code, but they let him through. It is a pretty typical documentary with talking head interviews and archival clips. One weird thing was I thought the font they use in the movie was borderline illegible. It was something you'd find on a Halloween party invitation. It seemed inappropriate for a documentary about a rock musician.

Risk (2016)

Risk is Laura Poitras's latest documentary about Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. She has been filming Assange since 2011, before she started work on Citizenfour as well as after. And this is where I got a little confused. From watching Citizenfour, I understood that Edward Snowden reached out to her because of her previous work on the Iraq War. But I'm not so sure about that anymore. Did Snowden know about her Assange project and is that why he contacted her? Did Assange actually connect her with Snowden? What was so incredible about Citizenfour was that she was in that Hong Kong hotel room in the moment. Was it luck? Not exactly, but it was certainly fortuitous. Here, she has an incredible amount of access to Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy, but it is not quite as eventful and thrilling as Citizenfour. Perhaps it is unfair to compare though. This film has lots of merits. It really is an excellent and insightful documentary. Less confined, Poitras's camerawork is more developed. She composes her shots well and builds tension and anger. She asks her audience to question the government. She has proven herself to be one of this generation's most important filmmakers, indispensable. And after seeing her retrospective exhibit at the Whitney Museum earlier this year, I could fully appreciate her sacrifice and efforts.

There is a scene in the film that is an interview between Lady Gaga and Julian Assange. It is an awkward celebrity cameo that I certainly didn't see coming. But it is a bit of much needed comic relief to release some of the tension. And Lady Gaga is fabulous as always.  

Graduation (Bacalaureat) (2016)

This movie was surprisingly very good. Romanian cinema is vibrant and well. On the surface, it is about a father who is willing to do whatever it takes to help his daughter, who was assaulted. But it is not a revenge story as it would be in America. It is actually not about revenge at all. There is some nuance. His daughter needs to pass her final exams to accept her scholarship, but shaken up, she is not her usual smart self. This is a story that could've taken place in a different developing country, but it is unique to this world where corruption reigns supreme. I rub your back and you rub mine. This look at Eastern Europe is illuminating. Adrian Titieni gives an excellent performance as the concerned father. And things get particularly interesting when he has to drag his innocent daughter into his schemes.

The titular graduation is something of a joke. I learned that in Europe, they don't do big graduation ceremonies. There isn't really any ceremony. They all gather in the playground, no gowns, no pomp, no chairs, a few speeches. And then they hilariously gather for a picture. They get in formation for this picture unnaturally fast. There is no way that any group of human beings could line up for a picture that quickly. Otherwise, it is a very realistic film. And it is this real melodrama that makes it so compelling.

It's Only the End of the World (Juste la Fin du Monde) (2016)

From what I've seen of Xavier Dolan at the closing ceremony, he is beloved by his fellow filmmakers, but derided by the critics. And he gets teary very easily. He cried even watching other people win awards. He's like the John Boehner of the Cannes Film Festival.

But about the film…in short, I didn't like it. There are some good things about it amidst a cluster of bad things. I appreciate Dolan's style. There is a great use of head-banging pop music accompanied by strong colors and quick cuts. There is an excellent wordless dream-like scene of stylish reminiscing. The cinematography is gorgeous. He makes use of a very shallow depth of field, focusing on one thing at a time, leaving the rest of the shot in a blur. There are very close-up shots of faces (often crying or teary eyed) that are kind of unsettling. The acting is very good but the script that they're dealing with is just too emotional. There is so much yelling and screaming and I don't think it's all justified. Because the script is so circuitous. It goes around in circles without getting anywhere and freaking Antoine just riles everyone up sometimes seemingly for the hell of it. And I'm just so sick of Antoine. He provides all the drama, but his brand of drama is just exhausting and excessive.