Top 10 Dinner Party (Gone Wrong) Films

There’s something so amusing about watching a handful of friends (or complete strangers) sit down and have a seemingly pleasant meal crumble before their eyes. I don’t know what it is about that situation that I enjoy so much, but below are my favorite film dinner parties gone wrong. I’ve taken liberties with some inclusions here; most occur over the course of an evening, some are spread out for a weekend. Few are about the food, many are about awkward social conventions.

Night Moves

Do me a favor and think about a recent time you got together with a friend to hang out. Maybe you went to happy hour, maybe you had dinner; you’re meeting up with someone you likely meet up with often. You shoot the shit, tell jokes, share laughs. Now, think about what you really said to this person while you were with them. You’ve known them for a while, so there was probably no reason to, for example, keep repeating their name back to them. Or recall stories you’ve already told too many times. You don’t need to do these things, because there’s a shorthand to your interactions. An ease that makes hanging out with them enjoyable. If a camera were present to film your time together, what was captured may not make a lot of sense to people who don’t know you. We wouldn’t have any context to help us better understand the familiarity you and your friend have.

WAIT: Revealing the Poster

Seven years. I can’t believe I started this blog seven years ago. And the funny thing is, And So It Begins was born out of necessity. When I was a journalism student in college, one of my professors demanded that each of her students start a blog. She didn’t require us to buy textbooks for her course, and, according to her, the tradeoff was that we create own our blogs and update them regularly. We were allowed to write about anything, so, naturally, I began writing about film. Several years later, after numerous changes to layout, design, and my personal taste, I decided to do something I was honestly hesitant to do, and that was discuss my own filmmaking.

My Favorite Scene: L.A. Confidential

“Rollo Tomassi.”

It’s a name that echoes throughout Curtis Hanson’s masterful modern noir, L.A. Confidential.  It’s a name that changes minds, reveals guilt, and displays shame. But, of course, the beauty of the name (and what a fine name it is) is that, technically, “Rollo Tomassi” means nothing. Who he represents is real, a purse snatcher who shot and killed Detective Lieutenant Edmund Exley’s father some years ago, but the name itself was made up by Exley, just to “give him some character.”

Top 37 Things I Love About Somewhere (that no one talks about)

Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere is one of my all-time favorite films. It’s subtlety, its minimalism, its restraint, its isolation – few films from the past several years have had such a profound emotional effect on me. Moreover than simply loving the film, I’m indebted to everything Somewhere has taught me as a filmmaker. Below are just a handful of reasons why I enjoy the film so much. As always, do feel free to share your favorite, overlooked moments from the film as well. (And consider listening to this while you read. It’s more fun.)

In Character: Kevin Bacon

Kevin Bacon gets a lot of crap. There’s the game and the blasé attitude and the rock band and the mediocre films. But beyond all that, I’ve always thought that Kevin Bacon was genuinely one hell of an actor. His range is never given enough credit, which is why, in highlighting my favorite Bacon roles, I’ve chosen performances that explore the many facets of his talent. From funny to sad, smartass to asshole, martyr to monster. Here, for my money, is Kevin Bacon at his best.

the Directors: Andrea Arnold

There is no contemporary filmmaker currently making better, more important films about women than Andrea Arnold. As far as my tastes go, Arnold’s films are simply unmatched. Her frank and necessary use of sexuality, her understanding of the lower class, her unyielding respect for women – all reasons why Arnold is one of cinema’s most unique voices.

Beyond the stories she chooses to tell, it’s the way Arnold chooses to tell them that is worth praising. Arnold’s last two feature films, Fish Tank and Wuthering Heights, were shot in the 4x3 (or 1.33:1) Academy ratio, which means that the films are essentially projected as a square, as opposed to a widescreen rectangle that we’re used to. This is a very deliberate and very bold way to display a modern film, especially if you’re not using it as a gimmick, as Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel did. According to Arnold, the 4x3 ratio gives the film a specific type of intimacy that widescreen lacks.

Interview: Indie Writer/Producer Lukas Kendall

Last March, I went to one of my favorite independent theaters in Los Angeles, the Laemmle in North Hollywood, and did what I love doing: saw a micro-budget film that I literally knew nothing about. Lucky Bastard had an amusing title, a salacious poster, and, most importantly for my tastes, an intriguing NC-17 rating. Very few NC-17 are released in any given year, so when one hits theaters, I often take notice.

Lucky Bastard is a found footage film about a fan who is invited to have sex with his favorite porn star on camera. But shortly after the fan arrives on set, it becomes very clear very quickly that this whole setup is a bad idea. I found the film to be an unnerving and brazen experiment of a tired idea. The bulk of Lucky Bastard takes place in a house that is used for actual porn shoots. The set is rigged with dozens of cameras, leaving every area of the house documented. Much of the footage in Lucky Bastard comes from these stationary cameras, thereby giving the tired found footage motif a nice, organic twist. I dug the film when I saw it, but it wasn’t until last week that I became engrossed by the process in which Lucky Bastard was made and released.

Top 10 Peter Andrews Films

When Steven Soderbergh was doing post-production on Traffic, he wanted the first title of the end credits to read “Directed and Photographed by Steven Soderbergh.” But the Writer’s Guild wouldn’t allow it, saying that, contractually, a writing credit has to come second, following director. So Soderbergh said screw it, and decided to credit his work as cinematographer under the pseudonym Peter Andrews (his father’s first and middle names), which is what he’s continued to do on all his films and TV shows since.

No cinematographer inspires my own filmmaking more than Steven Soderbergh. I have difficulty explaining it, but the simple way Soderbergh pans to reveal an office sign, or colors physical settings differently, or shoots upside down (because why not?), or… well, I could go on and on. When I watch Soderbergh’s films, I refuel my creative drive. The impact his work has had on me is unspeakable.

In Character: Stephen Tobolowsky

One of the things I love most about character actors is that the great ones really can play anything. Stephen Tobolowsky is a perfect example. Looking through the roles I’ve highlighted below, there isn’t a common thread among them. We have psychopathic murders, goofballs, straight-laced business exe­­cs, zany film producers, and so on. The man has 232 IMDb credits, most of which defy the notion of typecasting. Very few of his best roles are alike, but damn near all of them are enjoyable. Stephen Tobolowsky is one of the best, most recognizable character actors currently in film. Below are just six of many reasons why.

Coherence

One of the easiest ways to make a movie for cheap is to set it in one interior location. But one of the hardest things about creating a cheap movie is to make it for cheap, but not cheap looking. The new micro budget headtrip, Coherence, accomplishes both feats. The entire film is set in (and directly around) one home, and takes place over one particularly troubling evening. Rather than let its minimalist setting work against it, Coherence embraces its own physical claustrophobia. It traps you in its unsettling atmosphere and dares you to pick it apart.

Top 10 Making-Of Documentaries

Making-Of documentaries can be compelling for a number of reasons. They can reconfirm your love for a movie you’ve always enjoyed, or act as a cautionary tale for what not to do while working on a movie. Whether they’re shorts included on the main film’s DVD, or standalone features, a great Making-Of documentary will teach you about film and filmmaking. Below are my favorites, but considering there are thousands to choose from, do feel free to list your favorites as well.