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  • Model Shop: Review

    Model Shop: Review

    Model Shop: Review. By Betty Widdicombe.

    Model Shop is a late sixties LA based film made by French Director Jacques Demy, centring around the penultimate 24hrs of a 26 year old unemployed architect George Matthews (Gary Lockwood), who’s got the debt collectors hot on his tail to repossess his car, and his hot live-in girlfriend Gloria (Alexandra Hay) an aspiring actress – tired of his non-committal and nonchalant lazy ass.

    Off on a mission to borrow a $100 to save the one thing he seems to care about, his car…(typical sixties male lead), he encounters a mysterious all white wearing Goddess called Lola (Anouk Aimee). Captivated, he stalks her and finds that she works in a seedy ‘model-shop’. For fans of Demy’s earlier work, and new fans alike, the Lola character is a reprisal from his earlier French speaking film ‘Lola’ made in 1961, also played by Aimee. 

    For the sake of this review and how it relates to the first of ‘Echo in the Canyon’, I will not focus on the relationships of the characters in the narrative, more on the creativity of the time, the laid-back attitude, social climate and the landscape.

    The camera follows George, either driving his car through the roads and valleys of LA, or on the sidewalks of the city, dropping in on Diners, friend’s offices and homes all to get his money. When he spots Lola in a carpark and follows her, we follow along to a view of the cascading beauty of the canyon; a mixture of city buildings, pylons, epic rolling hills and trees. This technique is heavily mirrored in Jakob Dylan’s driving scenes and aerial shots of Laurel Canyon in ‘Echo in the Valley’.

    When asked about the making of ‘Model Shop’ Demy said;

    “I learned the city by driving – from one end of the Sunset to the other, down Western all the way to Long Beach. LA has the perfect proportions for film. It fits the frame perfectly”. 

    This is very apparent and highlighted beautifully in a scene where George visits his musician friend, at his home in the Valley. From the interior, recording equipment and his discourse, we acknowledge that he’s successful. Learning George’s predicament he freely whips out the $100 note he is so desperate for, part of a much larger wad, kept so coolly in his trouser pocket. As he moves over to his keyboard, a huge poster of ‘The Beatles’ looms over like a religious painting of ‘Jesus and his disciples’ – blessing this alter of creation. At this point George interjects with something ‘funny’ that happened to him earlier….

    “…I stopped at this place that looks up over the city. It was fantastic. I suddenly felt exhilarated you know. I was really moved by the Geometry of the place. Its conception its Baroque harmony. It’s such a fabulous city. To think some people claim it’s an ugly city, when it’s really pure Poetry, it just kills me. I wanted to build something right then, create something…you know what I mean”?

    “Yeah I do, I understand”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppg7w8XfYR4

    I feel it is here, the joining of an unemployed architect, a musician and the inspiration of music, city and dwellings that we get a real sense of the freedom and creativity at that period, and more of a genuine indication of why that place was such a melting pot.

    Music features heavily, with a Score by LA Rock Band ‘Spirit’ very much in the foreground. We are made very aware of its importance, sudden switching on of tunes, gives the action a sense of interruption/ accentuation of mood…George tuning in always when driving, and using one of his last nickels to put a record on the Jukebox in the Diner scene, and also the classic piano music when he is with Lola.

    There are so many more things I could go in to about this film, the looming war and being drafted, the seedier sides of LA, but as it was missed from the documentary, I have left it out. One thing that I think is worth mentioning  in this review comparison, is the dialogue from George to Lola’s roommate via the telephone in the last scene (WARNING: Plot spoiler) – after his girlfriend has left him, his car is being towed away in the background, and he no longer has to be drafted to Vietnam is when he discovers Lola has left for Paris;

    “I just wanted to tell her that I love her. I wanted her to know that I was going to begin again. It sounds stupid, I know. But a person can always try”!!

    On that note, both Documentary and Film are a love affair, both look into LA and its vast beauty. One succeeds in its depiction of a time, a style an emotion. The other just attempts…but at least like the final quote…”a person can always try”.

  • Olympia: Review

    Olympia: Review

    Harry Mavromichalis’ Olympia delivers a deeply personal and philosophical documentary, following Oscar-winning actress Olympia Dukakis over the course of several years.

    Beginning as Olympia turns 80, the film shows present day accolades and daily living, whilst interjecting stories and footage from her past. There is a heavy theme of Dukakis’ reflection on her origin and purpose, which although is not an original theme in documentary, is fresh coming from a woman of such quirkiness and eccentricity.

    As a viewer who is not so familiar with Dukakis’ career, what struck me about the documentary is how Mavromichalis has captured the peaks and troths of womanhood and how that fits within the entertainment industry. We see Dukakis receiving a star on the Hollywood walk of fame, a flash back to her Oscar win, but also raw performances taken from her illustrious stage career.

    It’s easy to see why he wanted to capture this woman’s career. The third act of film takes an unexpected turn, as Dukakis’ and the women of her family take a pilgrimage to the village in Greece where their relatives originated. There is a shift to theology and lineage which goes further than roots, to a mini-study on women in power and the role of woman in religion, history and mythology.

    It’s certainly a jolt in tone, yet it somewhat reflects the life of Dukakis. There is a scene where she watches a turtle being released back into the wild. She comments on how it pauses, before tasting more of the sea and going forward before another break, and how she feels like that turtle. This documentary is a bit like that turtle too.

    We watch, we pause, we try some more, eventually being released into the ‘wild’, or, the core of her self. 

  • Palm Springs: The BRWC Review

    Palm Springs: The BRWC Review

    Andy Samberg’s affable, goofball presence has infused mainstream comedy with some much-needed inventiveness. Whether he’s rapping about boating escapades with The Lonely Island or playing a vain stuntman in Hot Rod, the former SNL-funnyman has operated on his own wave-length with inordinate success. Teaming with How I Met Your Mother star Cristin Milloti in the new Sundance comedy Palm Springs (Hulu and Neon gave the film the biggest acquisition deal of all time), the two concoct an irresistible pair in a satisfying twist on its familiar set-up.

    Palm Springs follows Nyles (Andy Samberg), who embraces a nonchalant attitude as he’s stuck reliving the same day at a Palm Springs wedding. After he encounters reluctant maid of honor Sarah (Cristin Milloti), Sarah gets sucked into the bizarre time loop, with the two bonding as they attempt to escape their altered reality.

    Palm Springs is certainly not the first film to embrace the Groundhog Day set-up (Happy Death Day and Before I Fall utilized the premise well), yet Andy Siara’s self-aware presentation delivers a breath of fresh air to the concept. Along with crafting some colorfully over-the-top gags that take full advantage of the repetitive cycle, Siara works deftly to subvert comedic standards, often undercutting cliched plot beats with a wry sensibility. Director Max Barbakow implements a stylistic verve that matches the script seamlessly, depicting Palm Spring’s bright, sunkissed allure as a clever contrast to the character’s monotonous journey.

    Most of the film’s splendors derive from watching Samberg and Milioti share the screen. Samberg delivers one of his finest big-screen performances to date, tuning his comedic persona aptly while still unearthing Nyles’ long-standing misery. It’s refreshing to see Samberg tone down his cartoonish-energy in favor of a more emotionally vulnerable performance, handling the sensitive frames with assured ability. For Milioti, her effortless command of the screen makes for a breakout performance, displaying natural charisma while humanizing Sarah’s complicated history. Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons steals multiple frames with his distinctly sardonic energy, as the beloved character actor continues to flex his well-rounded skillset.

    Palm Spring’s rarely offers a dull moment in its tight 90-minute runtime, yet the end product can’t help feeling slightly inconsequential. Siara’s script offers some compelling ruminations on depression and the emptiness of a circular lifestyle, but the film’s dramatic portions can’t convey the full extent of these concepts. Refining the film’s substantive qualities would have elevated its cumbersome third-act set-up, properly allowing the character’s painful solace to render before the cathartic final frames.

    Encapsulating the refreshingly light feel of a summer movie, Palm Springs constructs an assured reinvention of its tried and true set-up.

  • Stationary: Review

    Stationary: Review

    By Rowan Malyon.

    Shot in perhaps the most constrictive of settings, Stationary follows two old friends with a loaded history who have ended up on very different paths. 

    Written and directed by Louis Chan, the film manages to encompass the worlds of these young people in a way that is rarely seen. Over the course of one afternoon in a parked car, we see former drug dealer Jimmy (Aaron Thomas Ward) confront his childhood friend Che (Rebekah Murrell) about the life she leads, and the dangers of dragging her younger brother down the same road. 

    Their friendly reunion is prickly to begin with, but when Che sends her brother home to make a delivery for her, things soon turn violent, and an already fractured relationship is left in limbo. Optimism and bitter reality intertwine and we are not sure if they can ever recover, but there is hope. 

    Though these characters appear very different at first glances, it becomes clear that they are two sides of the same coin. While Jimmy is trying to get his life back on track after being arrested, and represents the future and opportunity, Che is still linked to the past, and the cycle that some people can find themselves stuck in.

    This film shows how a single, defining choice made when you are young can affect the rest of your life, even though you might have been a completely different person in a completely different set of circumstances. The scarring trauma that Jimmy went through still follows him and affects every decision he makes. 

    Onset Short Film “Stationary” • Fresh Look Films • Photo © Daniel D. Moses • www.danielmoses.com

    Chan highlights an important and rarely discussed issue, that lower-class kids are often expected to grow up too fast. The characters are in their very early twenties, barely past teenagers, and yet they are painted with the same brush as people much older, as if we hit the age of eighteen and are suddenly adults. 

    What is refreshing about this film is that there is no obvious right or wrong. Chan creates two totally opposing figures without there needing to be a protagonist and an antagonist. They actually appear more like the two battling halves of one person’s conscience. We are not told who to agree with, we are simply shown these characters and asked to decide for ourselves.

    Crisp and clear and to the point, Stationary depicts the lives of these young people so succinctly and clearly that we feel as if we know them inside out despite the brevity of the film. Their song is one we all know the words to, and yet it is made new and original by incredible actors who keep your attention and hold it tight for the duration of the film. This is a story and set of characters that you cannot help sympathising with even if their experiences differ drastically from your own. 

  • Echo In The Canyon: Review

    Echo In The Canyon: Review

    Echo In The Canyon: Review. By Betty Widdicombe.

    A nostalgic trip to an era, a movement, and a scene that still resounds on popular culture to this day. The credits open with the definition of the word ‘Echo’ – 1. A close parallel or repetition of an idea, feeling, style or event’ – an indication of the attempted documentary format in which we were about to jump into.

    An unabashed tribute to the mid-sixties Folk Rock Scene, including a lot of ‘talking heads’, with karaoke type performances from the likes of Jakob Dylan, Beck, Cat Power et al, juxtaposed with aerial and driving shots of LA’s Laurel Canyon – very much an homage to Jacques Demy’s 1969 film ‘Model Shop’ – which is cited by ‘Andrew Slater’ – documentary Director and President of Capitol Records, as the influence of conception and style.

    Personally, I wasn’t particularly fond of this documentary. I felt it lacked any real narrative, and if I had not spent so much time in LA in the last two years, I’m not sure I would have had a clue where this was set. The location isn’t even mentioned until at least an hour in.

    This documentary felt more as if it was a reminiscence project for music insiders, the celebrities themselves, (boy there were plenty…Ringo Starr, Brian Wilson, Eric Clapton, Beck and Tom Petty to name but a few), and also hard-core fans of this particular genre of music. 

    Although it was entertaining to hear some of the juicy bits of gossip from the very candid ‘Michelle Phillips’ from the ‘Mama’s and Papas’, and also to see photographs of Brian Wilson’s home during the creation of ‘Pet Sounds’ sand filled front room, with only a Piano for furniture – one thinks a form of ‘Stanislavski’s method’ for writers perhaps?!! I feel like so much grittier information could have been included. Also, so many major artists from that period were missing…like, what about Joni Mitchell?

    Questions I am left with…Why was it such a melting pot? How did the city inspire and produce so much creativity? Yes, we hear that they were heavily influenced by ‘The Beatles’, and by each other, but that is nothing new to learn. A lack of any mention of the political climate at the time seems strange, and why were there no reference towards the Manson murders From my only internal geekery I know that Dennis Wilson was very much associated with that, and yet he is not even mentioned. 

    The studio shots, and boring performances made this documentary drag on for far too long. Dylan’s son could have just narrated it, Beck looked so uncomfortable throughout, I’m not quite sure why he was there at all. It would have been much more interesting if they added more archive footage. 

    One thing I will say for this pastiche of celebrity fodder, was that it made me instantly revisit ‘Model Shop’ – every cloud hey.

    If you want a depiction of life during that time, I would skip this documentary entirely and go watch ‘Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold’ 2017, ‘Model Shop’ 1969, or even ‘Forrest Gump’ 1994  (which makes great use of the iconic music produced from that era).

    Overall, a very dry documentary that is a supposed celebration of such a vibrant, psychedelic creative period in history.