Feelms

NORTHFORK (2003)

Director: Michael Polish

If you’ve ever seen “Twin Falls, Idaho”, you might have some idea of what you’re in for with Northfork.   Or perhaps, not.   I suppose there would be some comparisons with the work of David Lynch but this is more eerily beautiful than creepily disturbing.

It’s the early 1950’s, and Northfork, Montana, is being evacuated, slowly, in preparation for a new dam. Once the evacuation of the town is complete, the dam will open & the entire area will be flooded. A group of state employees are assigned to the town to “assist” all who have not yet left, and some of the hold-outs are rather reluctant to go, much less chat with anyone about it.  In fact, some of them are armed and downright unwilling to do anything they don’t want to do.

Interspersed with all this is the saga of some eccentric people living in one of the houses, who, as the story rolls on, appear to be angels, sent to look for a “lost” angel.   There is also a young boy, abandoned by his adoptive parents (back to the priest that got him adopted in the first place) because he is “sick”.    Even though we see the young boy lying still in his bed, he appears to these “angels” and may well be the one they seek. One of the state employees (as played by James Woods) and his son, must also deal with disinterring his dead wife and moving her body to another location. These two also have the pleasure of dealing with a man who has built an ark and is waiting for the water to rise.

This is beautifully filmed, and the scenery is breath-taking. The story line is a bit difficult, but worthwhile, so stick with it. It’s a beautiful and eerie film, but it won’t be for all tastes, as in, those who have no patience. It’s even got its own droll sense of humor to it. Well worth seeing but not for all tastes.   The bad news is, though, that this may not be readily available, as it’s out of print & apparently didn’t rake in the big bucks…which is too bad, but try to get your mitts on it anyway.

Sam

Just the premise of this movie classifies it as a Feeeeelm!

Elvis pulls a Prince & the Pauper routine with one of his impersonators and it is the impersonator that dies on the shitter, not Elvis. Fast forward to current day and Elivs is in a nursing home in Texas, where he meets JFK. It seems the government turned JFK into an African American and has been hiding him in the very same nursing home as Elvis. Elvis and JFK then battle the evil Bubba Ho-Tep, a mummy that wears a cowboy hat, who is sucking the souls out of all of the nursing home patients.

Bruce Campbell of Evil Dead and Old Spice commercial fame, plays a great Elvis and this movie is so over the top campy that it is a laugh a minute. Like a lot of my five e feelms, most people don’t like this movie when they watch it, but I attribute that to the fact that they think this movie is taking itself seriously, which it isn’t. It is in essence making fun of itself. Also beware, that for the squeamish, there is a particularly disgusting repeating scene as mini-Elvis gets regular attention from the nurse.

It’s funny how the mind works. I remember hearing about the movie, Being John Malkovich, but because I am not a great Malkovich fan, I never really checked into it. One of the perks of NetFlix is that based on the movies you get from them they make recommendations on movies they think you would like. Being John Malkovich kept showing up at the top of my list. I decided to check into it and the premise sounded pretty cool, so into the queue it went.

The premise? John Cusack is a puppeteer who takes a job as a file clerk on the 7 1/2 floor of the Lestercorp building. 1/2 floor you say? Yep, the floor is literally half size and everyone has to stoop to walk around! This is just the beginning of an incredibly inventive journey. Cusack’s character, Craig moves a filing cabinet and stumbles into a portal that plants you into the mind of John Malkovich the actor for 15 minutes before dumping you out on an exit on the New Jersey turnpike!

Craig’s co-worker, Maxine decides this is a great business opportunity and starts selling 15 minutes inside John Malkovich’s mind like a ride at Disney. Throw in some very inventive plot twists and you have the perfect Five E Feelm! I really enjoyed this movie and think it is possibly the best Cusack movie I have watched. Enjoy!

When I first started talking to my buddy Sam about contributing reviews to this site, Sam asked a series of questions about what qualifies a movie as a “Feelm”. I’d say after viewing my second Feelm that Sam has contributed to the site, he gets the concept brilliantly!

Alice, by Jan Svankmajer is a creepy cool rendition of Alice in Wonderland. A combination of live action and stop motion animation, Svankmajer manages to create a world that is fascinating to watch. Everyone knows the story, but it is a blast to see how Svankmajer interprets the story and puts his own creepy signature on it. I had previously watched a Svankmajer collection of short films and put it on my five E Feelm list and Alice will also be joining that exceptionally weird collection there as well!

“Off with their Heads!”

Bill

Liquid Sky (1982)

Director: Slava Tsukerman

So, is Liquid Sky a FEEELM, or is it just a “cult classic”?    Doesn’t matter how it gets pigeon-holed to me, but you should really see it, if you never have.   Just don’t watch it if everything has to make perfect sense to you, because, guaranteed, you won’t like it.

Margaret (Anne Carlisle) is “an uptight WASP c*** from Connecticut”, according to her nasty girlfriend, Adrian.   Margaret is the one with all the cool fashions and make-up though, even though she is a bit…androgynous.    Imagine her surprise when a tiny alien spacecraft lands on the roof of their penthouse (unknown to anyone except for a German scientist who’s “sort of” in hot pursuit of it, and by “sort of” I mean he’s much more busy being seduced by a woman in a neighboring building that has a nice view of the action.) The aliens have come to earth looking for heroin but have apparently decided that they like getting off on Margaret’s orgasms, but this also results in the death of her sex partners (of which there are quite a few). Don’t think of this as a bad thing, they all deserve to die, more or less.   It’s just a bit unnerving for Margaret, though.  And by the way, at the time this was made, “liquid sky” was slang for heroin…maybe it still is, don’t know, don’t care.

There are unfortunately long stretches of talky bits, and due to the budget some of the effects are ultra-cheesy.  However, this has a sort of galloping weirdness to it that sucks you right in.  Also, lots of time spent, trying to figure out what to do with the bodies of former lovers.  Lots of strangely orchestrated scenes of traffic set to what sounds like harpsichord music.  And, a LOT of this appears to be a great big poke at the NYC music scene of the times, very minimalist rhythm box stuff, and the “stars” which think that they can go anywhere (like Berlin) and become famous with their crap (like Adrian).   By the way, I think Adrian wears a jock strap on her head throughout most of the film.   

Sam

Finally got around to watching one of Sam’s contributions to this site and wow, what a maiden voyage! Knowing I liked Donnie Darko, Sam recommended I watch Southland Tales right away and I am glad I did. It is easily a five e feelm and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would say it is not as polished as Donnie Darko was, but from an out there story and all of the cool cinematography that Richard Kelly brings to the table, this movie was killer.

Bill

The Science of Sleep (La Science des Reves) 2006

Director:  Michel Gondry

Stephane Miroux has been living in Mexico with his father since he was a child & his parents divorced.  Now that his father has died, Stephane returns to France to be near his mother, and has taken a job that she has arranged for him.

Stephane, as his mother says, has always had a problem with “inverting his dreams and reality”, as you’ll soon see, because Stephane seems to live in a world of his own creation.    Sometimes it’s pretty obvious when he’s dreaming and sometimes it’s not, so it’s rather a challenge to the viewer to make that distinction sometimes, since apparently Stephane can’t.   It’s not like he’s a dangerous character or anything, because his dreams seem to be of a much better world where things happen as he thinks they should.

And speaking of things happening as he thinks they should, he took the job his mother arranged for him at this business where they make calendars, thinking he’d be a graphic artist, when all his job is supposed to be is to put business names on calendars for other business owners to give away.    Stephane was rather under the impression he was to be a graphic artist, and he’s rather puzzled when no one seems very interested in his “Disasterology” calendar, which has a famous disaster for every month (plane crashes, earthquakes, etc.).   He also boasts some rather eccentric co-workers. 

Stephane is living in their old apartment while his mother is living with her new beau, and he meets two young ladies who live next door, but doesn’t want to let them know he’s their landlord’s son.   He becomes rather smitten with Zoe but it’s Stephanie that he hooks up with and he wants to show her “his world”, although at times you’re never sure if she can really see it.   Stephane and Stephanie sort of become an item but Stephane is so into his own little world that he seems to get frustrated with her and her inability to share it.

Stephane is also somewhat of an inventor, and he invents 3D glasses for real life (“isn’t life already in 3D?” asks Stephanie).   He also invents a sort of time machine that will allow one to travel into the past by only a couple seconds.   He also breaks into Stephanie’s apartment and mechanizes a stuffed horse of hers, too, and you’ll see that horse sometime later as well..  

This is a rather messy movie, but it’s rather a magical film and there’s tons of eye candy.   Don’t expect a tidy ending or something that necessarily makes tons of sense, because that’s not what this is about.    There’s nothing particularly dark about this though, it’s is all rather light-hearted fantasy.   Great soundtrack, too, including a Lou Reed song performed by a band dressed as furry mammals.   Very fun stuff.

Sam

Tarantino’s homage to trashy novels is known primarily for its violence and the fact the story is told out of sequence, but for me it is the dialogue that carries this movie. Tarantino is at his witty best, touching on topics like; Going Medieval, Choppers, Foot Massages, The history of particular family heirloom watch, the merits of eating pork, etc…

Tarantino resurrected Travolta’s career when he paired John with Samuel L Jackson as two hit-men trying to recover  some sort of prized possession in a briefcase for their boss. Their journey has them cross paths with a couple robbing a coffee shop, a boxer (Bruce Willis) who was supposed to throw a fight, but instead crosses the mob and actually kills the other fighter. Other great performances are turned in by Christopher Walken who used a unique storage method to bring a watch back from Willis’ dieing father in Nam, Harvey Keitel as the Wolf, a problem solver and the ever sexy Uma Thruman as the mob bosses trophy wife.

This was my first Tarantino exposure. I also really liked Reservior Dogs and the Kill Bill movies. He isn’t much of an actor, but he has a knack for great dialogue, exciting action and the perfect tunes to go along with it.

Bill

Divine Intervention (Yadon ilaheyya) (2002)

I’m not truly sure of the origin of this film as it seems to have been a collaboration between several countries.   I guess it’s mostly Palestinian, but since Palestine is not recognized as a country then it’s released through a French company.  The basic story though, seems to be that of two lovers, non-Israeli’s living in Israeli-occupied territory,  who are separated by an army checkpoint and who go to great lengths to meet on the sly.  I guess the city in which this takes place is Jerusalem, and the film also focuses in here and there on little bits of life & society and how it is functioning in such a strange environment. The film begins with a bunch of youths chasing a Santa Claus up a hill in a very non-Christmas kind of setting; cacti, etc, presumably to stone him to death (also not a very Christmas-like setting).   There’s also a man driving a car through the crowded streets and waving and acknowledging his neighbors and acquaintances, all the while providing a foul-mouthed running commentary on what a bunch of scum they are.

This is chock full of black humor but it’s very sad in many ways too. There are some very memorable scenes, such as a woman slinking through the checkpoint like she owns the place, despite the fact that all the guards have their machine guns trained on her. She lifts her sun glasses and gives them “the look” (you’ll see “the look” a couple more times in the film) and they let her just stalk on by, after which their guard tower collapses. Also memorable is a group of men shooting at targets on a practice range, the targets being Muslim women, and the men perform choreographed moves while shooting that must be seen to be believed. A woman emerges from the last standing target as some sort of Super-Ninja and takes revenge on the men in ways that ALSO have to be seen to be believed, right before she spins off into the air and takes out a helicopter as well.

The main man of the story, Elia, (who I guess is also the director) has a bit of a tragedy going on with his father who is in the hospital due to a heart attack. This is a very interesting hospital as the patients in the cardiac ward can disconnect their monitoring equipment to go take a smoke break.  Most of the doctors, nurses, and patients wander around the hospital, puffing away.     

This is a rather stunning film and probably my first from this part of the world. It’s amazing to me that someone is able to derive humor from this situation and have it come off so well.   At times this is almost more a series of “blackout” sketches, some without dialog, than a full-blown “film”, but this does not detract from the power of it.   Trust me, this is a wonderful film and if you have an open mind you’ll probably find it fascinating.

Sam

Delicatessen (1991)

Director(s):  Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Like “Brazil”, “Delicatessen” takes place in a “futuristic” society which looks like the 1940’s.   But unlike with “Brazil”, apparently there’s been some kind of nuclear war, and the post-war survivors in a small town pass the time by trading, scrounging, and eating each other.

This has some absolutely wonderful performances by an excellent cast. This is a dark black comedy, which at times is whimsical, and at other times, somewhat gruesome, and sometimes both at the same time. 

An outsider, Louison (played by rubber-faced Dominic Pinon) comes to town and finds employment doing “odd jobs” for a butcher.  He happens to be a former circus clown, who is very sad because his “partner” (a chimpanzee) was eaten.   He falls in love with the butcher’s shy daughter. Little does he know that plans are being made for him that probably don’t fit in with his intentions.  You might say that he’s “fresh meat”.   Of course, his new love doesn’t want him to end up on their table & makes every attempt to stop her crazy father.  

This movie has so many little things that it must be watched more than once to catch them all. There is a sequence featuring a bicycle pump, knitting needles, and a man and a woman making love in a bed with squeaky springs,  that is perfectly choreographed into one of the most interesting and amusing scenes ever put into a movie.    Another highlight is a depressed and suicidal woman, Aurore, who makes several unsuccessful attempts at doing herself in.  And that’s entertaining?  Yeah, it is, you have to SEE it.   And there are two guys who make a living fabricating (and tuning) the little round toys that make a sound like a cow’s “moo” when you turn them over.   Yes, really.  There’s no shortage of interesting neighbors and tenants in this….why, they all seem awfully nice to be CANNIBALS….  And let’s not forget about the rebel underground which gets into the mix too…this is a rather busy film.

This is a totally bizarre film, equal parts light and dark, with very like-able characters and somewhat of a good nature to it despite its subject matter. Highly recommended, and if you see this and DO like it, you will want to see “City of Lost Children” and “Amelie”, which are both by the same people, also containing some of the same actors.

Sam