An Exercise in Exorcism: "The Dance of Reality" Review

Jodorowsky's Dune, a documentary of interviews about Alejandro Jodorowsky's planned adaptation of 'Dune', is about 90 minutes of talking that feels like 2 1/2 hours of wonderful flashbacking. Jodorowsky, even when subtitled in English, has such a command of words; every sentence spoken by him is evocative and filled with purpose. Mundane moments of casually meeting someone are made alive and important, with every detail necessary to the story. This is a man not worried about time, but still concerned enough to not waste it.

Why isn't he making more movies?

When the conversation of who was to direct Man of Steel was held, the first names to jump to my mind were Clint Eastwood and Alejandro Jodorowsky. Both men have vastly different styles and agendas when it comes to making film, but they do share a certain reflective quality, a thoughtfulness, that I was looking for in a Superman story (which I still liked, by the way). Actually, the hero would've been a mere vessel for the filmmakers, as they explore themselves the more they examine the star.

Seriously, why isn't Alejandro making more movies?

The Clones of Josef K: "The Double" Review

In the book 'Kafka Goes to the Movies', an author investigates journal entries and letters, written by Franz Kafka himself - the tortured soul behind 'Metamorphosis' and 'The Trial' - to piece together his thoughts and feelings regarding the new form of entertainment: cinema. Someone who wrote such nightmarish prose, filled with anxiety upon anxiety, would surely have a perspective more critical than that of the masses. Would he even be able to enjoy watching this parlor trick?

Actually, yes. Yes he was.

According to the book, he wrote about his time watching moving pictures - some as simple as a young woman looking pretty - with *shock* joy. And it's joy at something superficial, too. Amazing. If Kafka could time travel, would he be stuffing his face with popcorn, laughing at Michael Bay robot testicle jokes?

It's scary to think of, but might be easily explained with, ironically, Kafkaesque logic. At least, I hope it can.

Decayed Contrast: "The Great Flood" Review

As I sat in a theater filled with mostly middle aged festival goers, halfway through The Great Flood, I came to some conclusions:

• Bill Morrison is THE filmmaker who could possibly settle the digital vs. film debate.
• People make their own stories, with or without a camera being present.
• Intent isn't always relevant.

It's amazing the kind of work and study that went into this movie - hours upon hours of footage, carefully chosen sequences edited in specific order, music scored along with it all, etc. When I add the three bullet points above, the images presented take on startling depth. Who is responsible for this depth? The original cameramen? The modern editor? The people and objects depicted? The effects of time on the film stock itself?

All of the above.

St(alk)ing and Occupying: "Buzzard" Review

"What do you do at Wal Mart?"

"I'm a night stalker."

At this point in the film Buzzard, our "hero" Marty has been living off of his skills as a scam artist for a few
days, on the run from trouble with a previous con. He's been caught by the manager of a check cashing place, and is being held in the back office until the cops arrive. During some chit chat, he comes up with several stories, one of them about a job at Wal Mart. In passing, it's not all that important, as he just wants out of the building. But, when asked the specifics of his job, he pronounces stocker as "stalker".

This takes the manager back a bit, who responds with a what and a smirk. To us, it was only a matter of time.