Wolf of Wall Street HOWLS!!!

Dear distinguished cinephiles,

The final moments of 2013 are approaching.  Mr. Martin Scorsese has gone back to his roots and delivered his best since "Casino."  Think "Casino" meets "Wall Steet."  Gordon Gekko intertwined with Ace Rothstein.  The memoir by Jordan Belfort is equally rewarding.  I had serious doubts that the book could be adapted.  Credit to Scorsese for executing it perfectly.  Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography captures the pinks and yellows of the late 80's and early 90's on point.  The colors reminded me of
Sofia Coppola's "Bling Ring" and Michael Mann's "Miami Vice".  Jonah Hill's clothing, the bikini's at the Long Island Beach house, the yacht, and European sequences in Switzerland and Italy were all popping off the screen.  The picture clocks in at three hours, but seems like a fever dream.

The film like the memoir encapsulates the emotion of excess.  Ferraris, rolex watches, designer
suits,  diamonds, piles of physical money, sex, cocaine, ludes, and insanity.  The film makes Jordan Belfort look like Jay-Z mixed with Gordon Gekko on steroids.  He buys a yacht then rebuilds it to fit his helicopter.  Scorsese achieved this with Ace Rothstein and Nicky Santoro.  This time it is Jordan Belfort and Donnie.  Unlike Casino in which the mob is running a Las Vegas Casino with Joe Pesci as muscle, instead of murder Dicaprio is a white collar criminal who along with Jonah Hill are stripping the American public of millions without murder.

In looking at acting Dicaprio dives into the film off the top diving board.  He makes Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko look tame.  Dicaprio seems both maniacal and driven beyond belief.  I believe it is his best work since "Aviator."  The fact that he was Jay Gatsby and Calvin Candie in such a short time period is just a testament to his range as an actor.  I am so pleased he has yet to be a super hero or do a sequel.   He plays the wolf with a roar that is amazing.  He builds a firm of blood thirsty brokers and in terms of excess there couldn't be more.  The film seems to be a study in excess and power.  Given the opportunity to leave honorably with millions he instead opted out to go to club fed for three years and be a self help speaker.  He has an all or nothing personality, which for a cinema goer is fascinating to watch.  Just like Casino there is no way that Stratton Oakmont is going to survive without imploding.
The scenes of him talking to the brokers with the microphone defines his core and who he really is.  He enjoys creating a circus and being a ringleader.  The humor in the film is hysterical and has the tone of a black comedy.  Audiences are divided about the humor, but personally I practically fell out of my seat multiple times.

Movies are always subjective and a question of taste.  Many will be displeased with this film.  I love that Scorsese has gone back to form and taken a risk.  The fact that he almost did not have final cut because it was 3 hours is a travesty.  This is the creator of MEAN STREETS.  What is happening in the world when Scorsese almost doesn't have final cut?   Well Summit Cinema is going to keep on rocking the last remaining moments of 2013 at the theater.  Shout out to the hits from France, Latvia, Canada, Russia, Vietnam, India, Korea, Australia, the United Kingdom, Tanzania, and Chile.
Break a champagne bottle on the bow of the yacht for MARTIN SCORSE he did it again in 2013!!!

Alexander Payne's Amazing Nebraska!

Dear Thanksgiving Cinema viewers, The French and the their love of cinema, Russia, Latvia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Korea, and India.  Summit Cinema has to take a step back and swallow some humble pumpkin pie.  12 Years a Slave will be my favorite film of 2013, but as a cinephile it is vital not to snub amazing work when it hasn't been screened and for this I truly apologize.  12 years a Slave was not screened at Cannes, but Spielberg and the jury picked two amazing films to be honored.  "Blue is the Warmest Color" is an awe inspiring tour de force fully deserving the Palme d'Or.  Like wise the Cannes film festival awarded Mr. Bruce Dern best actor for Nebraska and his subtle performance which is mind blowing.

It's Thanksgiving week in America and today I went to the cinema with my father.  This happens about once a year if I am lucky.  We sat together with a large popcorn and waited to be blind sided by Nebraska.  This cinematic miner's cart was loaded with humor and deep emotion from the heartland in America.  I love road stories whether it's "Badlands" "Wild at Heart" "Into the Wild" "Bonnie and Clyde" "True Romance" "National Lampoons Vacation".  Seeing America captured on film and covering regions that becomes characters of their own is fascinating.

The look of Nebraska is simple, pure, and sticks to the ribs.  Black and White is utilized wonderfully.  The towns of boarded up main streets and a solitary tavern speak volumes for our nation's economy and psyche.  The broken down ranch house where Dern grew up is sad and beautiful.  The heartland on the screeen evokes a powerful sense of place.  The "Last Picture Show" and "The Straight Story"  are two films that evoke similar feelings.

The million dollar sweepstake earnings promised to Dern is a symbol of Hope.  No matter it's legitimacy he is determined to travel the distance of 4 states to collect.  Dern captures the walking of a senile man with dementia seamlessly.  Whenever we see him walking on the side of the road he seems almost biblically determined.  He fades in out of obscurity through out the film.  A variety of responses occur when his son Will Forte calls him.  He say's DAD!  And Dern finally responds through out the film as if he were dreaming in the clouds.  The humor of the film is a backbone.  The brothers, the mother, ex lover, and former best friend are all hilarious.

The relationship with Father and Son on the road is beautiful. The son realizes that keeping the dream alive for the father is vitally important and will go to any length achieve this goal.  From looking for his dentures on the train tracks to driving him across multiple states.  The son wants his father's respect.  He also wants to discover who his Father truly was.  But also the son needs to heal himself and get out the rut he has dug himself into in Montana and his personal relationship that ended with a girl who has recently moved out of his apartment.

The road offers both the opportunity to analyze life and get to the essence of what it's really about.
 
Me and my father laughed loudly through out the feature.  When the son buy's Dern a compressor and allows him to drive down main street in a new pickup , me and my Pop's were crying.

Happy Thanksgiving! Thank You Alexander Payne!  Thanks to all the hits from across the Globe especially, Russia, France, Australia, Kenya, and Malaysia.  Keep on Grooving and keeping Cinema ALIVE!

12 Years a Slave is the top film of 2013!

Good evening Ladies and Gentleman.  Distinguished guests from England, Amsterdam, Trinidad, Kenya, and Russia.  Before the Palme d'Or was given to the self serving French film "Blue is the Warmest Color."  Prior to the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences giving a stumbling Jennifer Lawrence best actress oscar for "Silver Linings Playbook."  The same academy that has deprived David Lynch, Wong Kar Wai, Terrence Malick, David Cronenberg, Spike Lee, Fatih Akin, Paul Thomas Anderson and Mickey Rourke for "THE WRESTLER" and countless other amazing performances and directors.  Will no doubt follow form and DEPRIVE the cast, crew, and AHAB AUTEUR STEVE MCQUEEN OSCAR GOLD!!!

12 YEARS A SLAVE SHOULD BE A SWEEP!!!  I mean like a "Dances With Wolves", "Unforgiven", "Ben Hur", "Braveheart," mop up no matter how much weight McConaughey lost, how little dialogue Robert Redford spoke,  Payne shot in Black and White so what!  Tom Hanks was a Captain and Walt Disney is that a surprise?  Justin Timberlake will ruin the Coen Brothers, Gravity was the worst film of the year!  Scorsese can't pull it off this time.  Ladies and Gentleman I am loading the dice.  Breaking the Cardinal Sin of film criticism for the first time Summit Cinema has not seen half the above fall oscar contenders.  I can guarantee for the first time ever that nothing will cast a shadow this year on 12 YEARS A SLAVE.  The academy will fail as usual.  Oprah will win for the "Butler."


I knew last year at around roughly the same time that "THE MASTER" was the jewel of 2012!

These films are birds of a feather.

Steve McQueen transports the viewer into a space that is full of amazing images, savage cruelty, love, survival, and makes DJANGO LOOK LIKE TRASH!  The fact that so many critics mention Django Unchained upsets me.  They have forced me to do it.   I don't compare a serious drama about slavery from a amazing dramatic director.  To a fun Comic Book obsessed Grindhouse cartoonish director.
Tarantino's Django was a lot of fun and had good writing, but lets get serious ladies and gents it's like comparing "The Godfather"  to "Police Academy".  Both of which I like by the way.


12 Years a Slave goes for the jugular.  It leaves you like Von Trier's "Breaking The Waves" does, your not going out to celebrate and be social afterwards.  It is the kind of film that makes you question your life the medium and the craft of acting and directing as a whole.  As a viewer it takes you through slavery as Herzog takes you through the Jungle in "Fitzcaraldo" or Lynch takes you through the desert in "Wild At Heart".

Favorite scenes become difficult to decipher.  When I usually critique film I have nothing, but love for scenes that I term favorite.  This is different.  I believe these scenes are like pinatas that get cracked open emotionally and historically.  I believe this is my generation's clearest glimpse into slavery ever put on screen thus far.

Scenes:  The first beating of Solomon Northup in a darkened cell where he is on all fours and wearing a white shirt reminded me of Chaim Soutine's Carcass of Beef

Scenes:  The boat sequence from D.C. to Georgia was filled with tension like a cobra in Comparison to "Apocalypse Now"

Scenes:  The beating of Patsey by Solomon forced by Epps had myself and most of the theater crying

Scenes:  Solomon staring at the color of fruit on his pan of food to write with

Scenes:  Solomon talking to Bass about getting out

Scenes:  Solomon singing during the funeral

Scenes:  Solomon holding his grandson after 12 years

The look of the cotton fields, peat moss, sugar cane were awe inspiring, oak trees and heat set the tone.

Lupita Nyongo was show stopping especially it being her first film was unbelievable.

Chiwetel Ejiofor couldn't have done more.

Michael Fassbender was fearless and has become with McQueen what Deniro was for Scorsese in the 1970's.  (SHAME, HUNGER, 12 YEARS A SLAVE most actors get one of those parts a lifetime)

McQueen executes it perfectly:  Organic acting, superb art direction, fearless recount of authentic history!

The Academy will undoubtedly shun McQueen and the movie, but Summit Cinema salutes you Sir you are an artist in the truest sense of the word.  You are what makes going to all the bad movies worth
while.

Mark my words 12 Years A Slave will go down for years to come!!!

Fall Drama takes center stage: Prisoners

   
Dear Cinephiles the dew in the morning's and the cool breathe in the air symbolize that fall is in the air.  Special cinematic greetings to Quebec and especially Montreal for bringing out a fresh cool serious new auteuer Denis Vileneuve.   God Bless the French-Canadian in his pursuit of going head on into a subject matter that most would run to the hills from.  Vilenevue has a freshness of vision like a fall maple leaf.  His film "Prisoners" is daring and asks the viewer to be faced with a variety of moral dilemmas.  There are some parallels to be drawn between Vilenevue and Michael Haneke.  They both approach the subject of violence in a a similar way.  Both directors choose not to glorify violence and create suspense for the viewer by leaving many things unseen.

The acting in Prisoners is by far some of the best of 2013.  Hugh Jackman dives straight into a character that is completely intense.  A construction worker, hunter, survivalist, and devoted family man.  The greatest sign of Jackman's range is how he never breaks character through out the entire film.  As Keller  Dover,  Jackman portray's a character that is so typically different from his wheel house.

The best acting in Prisoners however  belongs to none other than Jake Gyllenhaal.  Arguably Jake has delivered the best performance of his career as Detective Loki in Prisoners.  Jake is a great actor "Zodiac" and "Donnie Darko" were personal favorites, but he had a child like quality in both of those features that is completely absent here.  With age Jake has matured into a part that was superbly written and directed for him.  Vilenevue claims that Jake used improvisation in two key scenes.  In the opening sequence at the Chinese restaurant where we meet Jake's character, Detective Loki it is Thanksgiving.  He is alone at night in an empty restaurant.  Instantly as a viewer we know everything about this character.  His dialogue with the waitress was improvised.  Later during the crescendo of the film.  One of the suspect's is taken into custody.   Loki comes into the interrogation room and the suspect takes Loki's gun.  He commits suicide in the interrogation room.  The reaction of Jake Gyllenhaal is one of the best examples of acting this year.  Vilenevue claims for this scene there was 48 takes.  The raw visceral emotion by Loki for the fallen suspect is so real.  The film Prisoners has a very haunting yet beautiful quality to it. Roger Deakins captures a jagged yet organic atmosphere of the small town.

Stay tuned to the fall serious drama viewers.  When films with intense subjects come into the arena in force.

Thanks to Summit Cinema's hits from France, Latvia, Quebec, and England.  

Summit Cinema Film Festival Finale! Grandmaster splinters the competition!

Dear Ladies and Gentleman, representatives from Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Beijing, Moscow, London, Mumbai,  Sydney, Vienna, Paris, Charleston, Los Angeles, and New York.  Thank you all for attending the Summit Film Festival this summer!  As the Festival comes to a close I wanted to thank all of you personally for not giving up on the art of film.

The final entry for the summer of 2013 competition is the done by none other than the jazz auteur himself.  A man whom pays attention to every cinematic detail the way a conductor guides a symphony.  The one the only MR. WONG KAR WAI.  In watching the opening of his latest feature "The Grandmaster" from the classical music and the swirl of colors of a painters palette a viewer gets transported to a cinematic Milky Way galaxy instantly.  The visuals by Wong are the best of any living director.  The initial rain sequence in which Tony Leung in his Panama hat and black Kung Fu outfit takes on a group of many is amazing.  Rickshaws are splintered and rain hits the actors like carpet bombs.  He is the Ip man and the last man standing.  His silhouette outlined like Indiana Jones as the fighters all reel in pain on the ground is stoic.

In looking at the sets for the film they were astounding.  Cheers to Martin Scorsese, Samuel Jackson, and the French for financing this movie.  Without their help I am sure the decadent Golden Pavilion that looks fashioned after the Forbidden City couldn't be created.  The train depot and snow house locations were magnificent.  The snow at the house Ziyi Zhang has never been executed in exactly the same way as how Wong utilized it for Zhang's childhood training.  There are parallels to this and Wong's other Kung Fu movie "Ashes of Time" although much of that takes place in the desert.  The way the natural environments and elements  add another dimensions to Kung Fu in general is enjoyable, but in Wong Kar Wai's hands it is taken to another level.

Favorite scenes from the film are watching Tony Leung and Ziyi Zhang fight in a romantic dance sequence.  In some ways the Kung Fu in this film feels like a dance like West Side Story or Michael Jackson's "Bad".  Another scene is the Ziyi Zhang's fight sequence at the train depot.  In  this scene bricks are surreally  moved and bars are unhinged in slow motion.  Tony Leung practicing on the wooden block in stutter step slow motion looks amazing.

In terms of story and dialogue the romance between Leung and Zhang is mysterious and noir.  A button becomes a romantic symbol of everything.  As in most Wong Kar Wai film it's the mystery of love and desire that are most intriguing and not the actual dialogue.  In "In the Mood for Love" "2046" "Chungking Express" and "My Blueberry Nights" this is true.  The actors and actresses read the majority of the range of their emotions on their faces.  A reoccurring theme is the one that got away.

Thanks to those that support the Grandmaster especially the Weinstein Company.  Thanks for attending the Summit Cinema film festival this summer!  We appreciate the hits from Latvia, Russia, France, and India or wherever you may be.  Jump in the ocean one time before the summer's over.  Keep on grooving cinephiles and stay tuned!

Summit Cinema Part III: Woody Allen's master stroke "Blue Jasmine" and Cate Blanchett to the Rescue!

Dear Cinephiles, academics, Australia, Indonesia, and Papa New Guinea, fine arts enthusiasts, donors and high society/ in addition with just as much respect the working class labor oriented American people, fellas with grit under their nails and paint stuck to the hair on their arms,  the library movers, painters, construction crews, the flower shop owners, independent movie theater workers, volunteers for big screen cinema, clerks for independent music stores and freight movers.  Well ladies and gentleman from top to bottom what Mr. Woody Allen's latest opus deals with is the topic of CLASS!

The muse for this brush stroke is none other than the fabulous show stopping Cate Blanchett.  I have waited a long time for Allen to find a muse that could rival Diane Keaton in "Annie Hall."  Mrs. Blanchett who hails from Australia has done just that.  She is a welcome change from Allen's constant use of Scarlett Johansson and a ten times better actress.  Scarlett is talented, but compared to Cate no one comes close.  In a similar debate I wonder if Scorsese chose not to use Leonardo DiCaprio so much  that perhaps he would get better performances.  Perhaps an actor and a muse can get too comfortable together in the creative process when they work together so frequently.  Leo and Scarlett are both extremely talented, but perhaps they know the exact styles of Allen and Scorsese.

Cate Blanchett delivers a character from opening sequence on the airplane that is totally unique.  She is talking to a fellow passenger whom is considerably older and who at first thinks she is talking to herself.  Cate nails a crazy disheveled down and out woman seamlessly.  On the other hand she is so grounded and stoic at being a regal debutant.  She can be hosting a fancy dinner party, at a polo ground, or in the Hampton's and it fit's  like a glass slipper.  In the following scene she can be literally at her wit's end in a small disgusting apartment clinging to her dignity as her mind is unraveling in her reversal of fortune.  Blanche Dubois's ghost is definitely hiding in the beams of the ceiling.  Andrew Dice Clay is amazing as a working class guy in Allen's world.  In the climax of film he is a perfect juxtaposition to Blanchett.  Blanchett could dine with the Queen of England, while Dice could easily be tailgating at a Jet's game.  Neither could do the other in reality.  In the scene where she loses it in Sarsgaard's car after the climax of the film.  The mascara is running down her face and she is screaming at Peter Sarsgaard.  Cate hit's so many levels on this film of being on top of the world, to sitting with wet hair on a park bench talking to herself.   She is truly a marvel to watch how did she do this?

San Francisco is a new terrific location for Allen.    The Golden Gate Bridge hasn't been utilized so effectively since Vertigo.  When Sarsgaard and Blanchett meet at the party the bridge is in the distance.  Alcatraz can be seen in the background when Cate's sister and the two men are on top a hill for a selfie picture.  The Marina is a great backdrop as well as Chinatown.  "Dirty Harry" and  David Fincher's "Zodiac" are some of only a handful of films to truly capture the flavor and the look of this location.
San Francisco is very photogenic if done correctly.

Well I thought "Midnight in Paris" was Allen's best film in 10 years.  I have to admit that I like "Blue Jasmine" even more because of the splendid Blanchett, she makes going to movies worth while and fortunately has gotten the right part.

Sweet dreams to all the people that have hit the Summit Cinema post!  From Mumbai, India, to Caracas Venezuela keep on grooving and keeping big screen cinema ALIVE!

Summit Cinema: Film Fest Part II: Only God Forgives-poetic, pulverizing pulp

      Dear ladies and gentleman, hard copy book lovers, Type-O-Negative, Latvia, Tarkovsky, Gaper Noe and the distinguished arts community of the Russian Federation and Eastern Europe.  Bukowski, Toshiro Mifune, Kurosawa, Dersu Uzala, Wong Kar Wai, and Fatih Akin.    On top of the dumpster of reboots and half dead superheroes the Summit Cinema glistens.  Since when did Comic-Con dictate global cinema?  We here at The Summit know cinematic nectar when we screen it.    Nicolas Winding Refn has done it again the man has ripped the roof off the dumpster.  "Drive" was a beautiful operatic fairy tale.  Inspired by Thomas Mann and 1980's Michael Mann.  "0nly G0d F0rgive$ is a ghost red room nightmare into beautiful hell.  The film immediately draws correlations to Lynch's "Fire Walk With Me" and Wong Kar Wai's "In The Mood for Love".  The establishing shot of Gosling's outstretched arms and clenched fists book end the last image seamlessly.  Julian is a man who has killed his father with these bare hands and loves his mother.  Oedipus and Greek tragedy have been commented on by numerous viewers and critics.  Critics complain that the film has cardboard characters, is  visually over indulgent, no hero, and complain at Gosling's 12 lines of dialogue.  I have a response to these allegations.  Learn to sit and read a hard copy book like a film.   Refn obviously feels confident with assigning his lead actor little to no dialogue.  This forces the true cinephile to go internal on a wild ride with a visual pleasure cake in a pulpy, haunted, neon Bangkok, Thailand.  The stares of Gosling reveal a man who has always been in the shadow of his brother, emasculated by his mother and is methodical about every decision.  

    Cliff Martinez drives a stake through the heart of a vampire with a haunting fever dream of a score.  I have never seen karaoke utilized as a serious art form and a way of life.  Vithaya Pansringarm is the Thai police chief who from his opening shot wearing wing tipped shoes on a rain slicked Thai alley has the vision of a samurai and a surgeon.  He defines intensity simply by standing erect.  Many would call Chang the villain, but I see him as a judge.  Everyone he punishes is from the criminal underworld and I agree he is despicable.  Yet he never dies and for Refn he perhaps takes the human form of God as Michelangelo illustrated in the Last Judgement.
Kristin Scott Thomas plays Crystal Julian's mother.  She is the character I love the most!  The range of Thomas as an actress is astounding.  In "Loved You So Long" by Phillipe Claudel she delivered one of the most emotional performances in years.  Here she has been shaped into an ice sculpture by Refn he claims Lady Macbeth and Donatella Versace were primary influences.  The hotel check in and family dinner sequences are show stoppers.


On to the best part.  The cinematography by Kubrick's Larry Smith is flawless.  The red hall ways with exquisite Dragon wall paper are jaw dropping.  The blue slit lighting in Gosling!s eyes in a solid red room are genius.  The slow motion sequence of the two Thai Hitmen in flip flops wearing sunglasses on a neon lit dreamscape is my favorite visual in the movie.  There is no dialogue just lips 
moving and hypnotic techno.  The reds lead the viewer literally into hell.  Ghosts were definitely in 
the machine.  Even if Cannes booed the film it is meaningless.  It was a hit at our festival.  The 
Summit Cinema thanks our hits from Latvia.  Until next keep your eye on the screen and not the smartphone.  Stay tuned for part 3 of the Summit Cinema festival and enjoy the ocean this summer!!!

Summit Cinema: Film Festival

     Ladies and Gentleman, hospitable Southerners, the French Foreign Ministry of Culture,
surfers, hip hoppers, David Lynch, Pantera, and Limp Bizkit.  While television may try to slay the cinema Gods.  I can always count on a few lads and lassies to keep pushing the envelope even when the box office return rate has shell shocked the rest.  After Steven Soderbergh's "retirement" State of Cinema speech I got a little nervous it was an amazing speech from a cinematic wizard with tent pole success.  So when he said cinematic art is vanishing quicker than Barnes & andNoble I got concerned.

Then I went to the first day of the summer Summit Cinema festival and it all changed.  The red carpet
was out in Hollywood.  The Magnum Ice Cream bars sponsored.  Which of course means the stiletto Magnum Girls.  Sofia Coppola and Paris Hilton did the ceremonial ribbon cutting.  The assortment of
noir black and white fashion was there.  Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Alexander McQueen, and Karl Lagerfeld brought high fashion onto Sunset.

The room went dark for none other than the cinematic treasure aka Sofia Coppola's "Bling Ring".
Opening shot of teenage kid's scaling  a celebrity's fence etched in security camera lime green night vision set the tone.  The film chronicles rich teenage angst with a bull's eye.  In "Rebel Without a Cause" James Dean enters a new school friendless.  The same is true for Israel Broussard's character. When Dean asks Buzz as they are about to drive cars off cliffs "why are we doing this?"  The response from Buzz is "we have to do something".  Reckless teenage excess has been happening since the 1950's in cinema and now Sofia God bless her has taken a whack at youth gone wild.  For all the critics who find the characters as shallow, unlikable,  and are aimlessly searching for a protagonist happy hunting.  When I looked I found teenagers that were bored.  I was happy that Sofia chose not to judge them.  I myself have no idea what high school would be like today?  Celebrity and reality  television may be the other focus of critics.  I saw the stealing and home burglaries of celebrities as teenage rebellion.  Ironically in "Rebel Without a Cause" teens die the same could be said for "Less Than Zero".   Nobody dies here, but jail is on the menu.   I never really thought throughout the movie how hard Paris or Lohan's life must have been as a result of the burglaries.  Sofia Coppola turns the stealing into an addictive art form.

Onto the best part and away from the academic analysis.   The feeling as a viewer was amazing.  The bucket of color Sofia dumps is awesome.  The shoes, jewelry, handbags, outfits, and homes themselves jump off the screen like a Porsche driven by Duran Duran.  The club scenes and color patterns reminded me of Michael Mann's "Miami Vice" movie.  The party atmosphere and quantity of drug sequences set the mindset and tone of these crazy teens.  The music is perfect rap, techno, and Sofia's personal picks.  Nobody is writing about the parents in this film they are just as out of touch with reality or missing in action as the teens are.  The best visual images are Katie Chang spraying Lohan's perfume in slow motion, Paris Hilton's shoe room, Emma Watson' s outside of court television interview, and the best visual the exterior shot of the Hollywood glass doll house mansion as the camera slowly zooms forward and the interior landscape is occupied by Katie and Israel.

The Summit Film Festival is of to a sizzling start.  Don't touch that dial cinefiles!

Frances Ha's: magical dance through Manhattan

      Noah Baumbach is a great writer.  He illustrated his skills in "The Squid and the Whale", "Margot at the Wedding" and "Greenberg".  All of those films are demonstrations of a writer whom is in total control.  One reoccurring theme of his previous work is neurosis.  In his latest feature Frances Ha he drops the shackles of neurosis and depression and offers hope.  Co-written and starring the show stopping and dazzling Greta Gerwig.  Together they have offered a unique and artistic perspective for a 27year old woman in New York.  Gerwig is vulnerable, unsure of herself, hilarious, gritty, pure, and witty.  Three scenes stand out I won't spoil them.  The dinner scene with the friends family, her running pirouettes, and the look between her and Sumner that she eloquently lays out earlier in the film.  Baumbach has outdone himself.  The collaboration with Gerwig for the second time is by far the finest motion picture he has created thus far.  Some critics are upset that he chose for the movie to have no sex.  I can say that the innocence is part off what makes the film a breath of fresh air.  Frances will be a studied and forever cool character for years to come.  

     France Ha is a film that pays tribute to the golden age of French New Wave cinema.  Truffaut's 

"Small Change" and Goddard's "Breathless" are referenced.  Baumbach is also influenced by the great Woody Allen's "Manhattan".  The use of black and white is wonderful.  My favorite aspect of the film is the look of New York.  The perspective of the city feels fresh as channeled through Frances.  The writing captures a late unestablished artist who is 27 in New York perfectly.

The film may pay homage to the classics, but like Frances it is totally unique!

To The Wonder: Reinvents the Wheel

      To The Wonder by Terrence Malick swirls across the wheat fields of Oklahoma and kisses Mt. St. Michel in France.  The film is by far Malick's biggest roll of the dice.  His other films are all amazing, yet easily accessible to the average moviegoer.  Here the dialogue is sparse.  And on three viewings at the theater many people have left or felt uncomfortable by the silence.  I think our current culture  and it's technological restlessness are to blame.  Thank you Mr. Malick for creating a cinematic meditative experience.  The film takes the viewer places emotionally and metaphorically. 

In looking at France under the lense of a master is beautiful.  The film reinvents the wheel of cinema in that it feels like a silent film yet the whole thing seems to be communicated through interpretative dance.  Olga Kurylenko hailing from Ukraine brings a ballet to Malick's visual symphony.  Her dance, gestures, joy, disdain, childishness, and imagination are the backbone of the film.  Ben Affleck is solid as the man whom says very little.  He tests water for contamination and in performing these functions the American soil appears polluted.  The sense of wonder and imagination that Kurylenko possesses is difficult to find domestically.  
America perhaps is jaded from beauty and dance.  Many cinema goers on opening day said things to the effect of it felt like a two hour Calvin Klein commercial.  What some fail to see is the average director could try for 10 years to get the shots of the wheat fields, industrial spaces, buffalo, evicted homes, Mt.St. Michel, Versailles, and never scratch the surface.  

Another treat for American cinephiles and global moviegoers was to see America and France both presented in the modern day.  Malick has never shot modern day and viewing an Oklahoma supermarket  and it's aisles was fascinating.  Modern day machinery at construction sites looked foreboding.  Malick has made his most personal film because it is autobiographical.  Salutations to the Sun God for allowing the director to capture such beautiful natural light.  This is the type of film that makes all the other bad movies fade to dust.