Movie Revisit: Birth (2004)

Birth isn’t a perfect film by any means. This was my third viewing of it – first time I hated it, second time I thought I got it, this time around I realized that I didn’t really get it the second time (I think I finally understand things). To call it ambiguous would be to put things lightly, but that’s part of the fascination here. Kidman plays a widow who is visited by a ten-year-old boy claiming to be her reincarnated dead husband. Emotional roller coaster rides ensue for everyone, including Kidman’s fiancée (played by Danny Huston).

I disagreed strongly on this one with my roommate, who really really REALLY hated the film. I don’t love it, but I would totally watch this again, because there’s a lot of really interesting stuff going on. The premise is interesting, the acting is superb across the board (a highly underrated performance from Kidman and solid work from Cameron Bright as her supposed husband), the cinematography is breathtakingly stark and gorgeous, and the score from Alexandre Desplat is brilliant.

There are missteps, to be sure: Bright isn’t directed particularly well by director Jonathan Glazer, I think, going for creepy-as-hell when I think the part warrants more ambiguity; there are weird sequences like a graphic sex scene that serves no purpose; the ultimate revelation of whether or not Bright is who he says he is gets muddled; and Anne Heche is underused in a role that should have been more prominently featured.

Still, the film is interesting and worth watching despite the flaws present. I caught this for six bucks on Amazon and I don’t regret buying it. It takes a couple of viewings to appreciate the film, I think, but once you do there’s a lot to glean from the finished product. A for ambition, B+ for execution.

Oscar Picks 2009

The oscar picks are up over at WBW. Every year I seem to try to raise my Photoshop game one notch higher. I’m actually much more comfortable with that program than I think I am… I think. ::shrugs:: But these articles are always a lot of fun to put together. Last year I was 7.5/8 in the main categories (I chickened out on Best Actress), so hopefully I’ll go 8/8 this year.

Music Moment: “Raising Sand” by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

I am a film person.  I love film criticism, writing film reviews, I want to write movies.  Blah blah blah.  I am not a music person by nature – my taste is varied and I generally can’t articulate why I like the music I like.  I simply like it because I like it.

I mention this only because it should be telling how much I love Raising Sand, which won the Album of the Year Grammy this weekend.  I love the album for my normal reasons: it sounds pleasing to me.  But the album makes me think about the music critically.  It’s an ode to music traditions and influences like bluegrass and traditional country while simultaneously sounding wholly original and unlike anything I’ve heard before.

Also interesting is the way in which Plant and Krauss combine their vocals.  This isn’t really an album of duets, but an album where they’re both the collective lead singer.  Plant and Krauss both have a couple tracks where they take the solo line, but the rest of them feature the two in harmony, equally splitting songs where Plant is the dominant voice and Krauss is the dominant voice.

Standout tracks for me are “Killing the Blues,” “Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us,” and the album closer “Your Long Journey” (that all of these feature Krauss is indicative of where my personal tastes laid before hearing the album).  A couple of the tracks sag a bit, but these tracks feature Plant, and my like-not-love assessment of them is probably heavily influenced by my love for Krauss.  Still, though, the album as a whole is damn good, more thoughtful than damn near most of the music I’ve heard in a long time.  A

Music Moment: Beyoncé and Sasha Fierce

Beyoncé and her alter ego have offered up twin new singles. Let’s have a looksee, shall we?  (Apparently Beyoncé AND Sasha Fierce don’t want their YouTube videos getting embedded, so click away to watch ‘em.)

Sasha.  Honey.  Honey, no.  Honestly, though: my professor from Lesbian, Gay, and Queer Cinema has one more example to show for the unit we did on camp.  This is camptastic.  It’s freakin’ awesome – what on God’s green Earth is up with those dangly sunglass things?  Why does Sasha Fierce always forget her pants?  How many leotards does Sasha own?  Does Sasha always come with those two backup dancers and seriously aggressive dance moves?  These are major concerns.

Oh, but the song is TERRIBLE. D

Beyoncé put her alter-ego aside for a minute and recorded a ballad. This song’s much better and totally catchy. The video’s meh – kinda like Irreplaceable: The Good Years, but the song’s a nice combination of subdued (for Beyoncé) vocals, good beats, and hooky lyrics. Everything you’d want from a pop song. A-