People Don't Live Or Die, People Just Float

Jeff, Who Lives At Home (Duplass and Duplass, 2012)

Mark and Jay Duplass, brothers behind Cyrus, Baghead, and The Puffy Chair, continue to expand the definition of mumblecore with their latest film Jeff, Who Lives At Home. While it would be easy to describe this movie as a tale of a slacker who attempts to find his place in the world, what the Duplass brothers do with this film is so much more expansive because of the way they build upon the concept of a genre they helped popularize. Existing between the realms of drama and comedy their latest creation is more concerned with the humanity than it is with laughs, but it also willingly paints with the broadest of strokes in order to further reach for the universal. But by doing this I couldn't help but wonder if the shift of focus from the nuanced examination of relationships that have defined previous Duplass brothers films would be needlessly sacrificed for a more sprawling affair.

When You Punish A Child For Dreaming His Dream Don't Expect Him To Thank Or Forgive You

Cyrus (Duplass and Duplass, 2010)

In the past couple of years there seems to be one runaway indie comedy that is usually distributed by Fox Searchlight that reaches an unexpected amount of people and is met with surprise financial success. The most notable of these films are Juno and Little Miss Sunshine, both comedies that attempt to combine dramatic elements and complex characters to create genre hybrids offering more meat than the average romantic comedies that inundate theaters on a near weekly basis. In many ways Cyrus follows in the footsteps of these films, but unlike the other Searchlight features the new film from the Duplass Brothers seeks to bring an entirely new genre, mumblecore, to the masses. As a result the two have crafted one of the most interesting cinematic experiments in recent memory, creating a blend the likes of which your local coffee shop can only dream of concocting.

Cyrus takes so many conventions and places them directly at odds with the audience's expectations throughout the film, and from this aspect a portion of the film's genius is found. While I am no expert of mumblecore as a genre, of the films I have seen it appears that certain conventions of that genre are a heavily improvised script, generally lower key actors, and minimal camerawork to create a more 'realistic' film. So how do you do this when you have the queens of the indie scene, Catherine Keener and Marisa Tomei, Seth Rogen 2.0, Jonah Hill, and dramatist turned Tim and Eric vet, John C. Reily, headlining your film? Well you coax a magical performance from each and every one of these actors. In each performance is a brutally honest depiction of humanity, the complexities of love and the need for security. Stripped down to their basic elements we have a man seeking a major change clashing with an individual attempting to hold on not only to a life of security, but hoping to avoid being completely alone in the world around him. What Hill does with the Cyrus character is absolutely breathtaking, but not only is his turn completely stunning, the Duplass brothers have crafted such a wonderful character that he really deserves much more inspection.

The name Cyrus is, in many ways, completely fitting in regard to the film's themes and the character. While the source is questionable, the entomology section of the Wikipedia article states that the name means either "to bestow care" or "humiliator of the enemy in verbal contest," two traits completely attributed to the titular character. He has a need for nurture, and the film establishes his relationship with his mother as being the only fulfilling one in his life, so Cyrus's decision to act out against John is understandable. The stakes are so intense, but because Reily serves as the film's main character we are asked to also sympathize with him, and the character is incredibly easy to sympathize with throughout the film. At the very start of the film a party occurs, and the energy captured during this scene is so intense and well constructed that it absolutely gravitates throughout the rest of the film. This energy, paired with the sympathy that Cyrus does generate for himself, provides a beautifully engaging central conflict.

The construction of the film is also incredibly important when looking at Cyrus as well because the camerawork also plays against so many conventions. The most distinguishing trait of the film is the abundant use of zooms, giving the viewer a more intimate look at these characters, but even above that the zooms act as a way to work with the tension created between all the different aspects of convention playing against one another. The movie is a comedy as much as it is a drama, and because of the type of comedy, a much quieter and serious style, an underlying melancholy is found in the words, which generates an uneasiness throughout the film. The zooms don't allow the viewer much time to breathe or gain a sense of security, not only giving a layer of direct sympathy to our connection with Cyrus's grasp to hold on to what is comfortable at any cost, but also to heighten the uneasiness in each individual scene.

Cyrus is a film that finds complexity in its simplicity, but also does not allow the narrative to carry all the weight. The construction of the film, each zoom, each shot, each quietly creepy look from Hill, they all work simultaneously to enhance both the tone and themes. The film constantly builds to an ultimate clash of enormous forces until it crescendos beautifully as we see ideologies lashing out against each other. And I was left staggering back to my car after the credits started to flash by, and then I broke down in tears, and while I had a feeling during the film, after having a chance to mull it over more and see how perfectly all the elements work together, I knew Cyrus was not only a great film, but one of the year's best.

Comments are encouraged and, for anyone with a literary mind, I encourage checking out my poetry blog filled with all original works for your reading pleasure.

Also I am on the old Twitter thing so I guess you can follow me at twitter.com/FLYmeatwad.

Come Along With Me, And Let's Head Out To Sea

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (Miyazaki, 2009)

Miyazaki is a director and an animator who I tend to have an off and on relationship with in regard to how much praise he has rightfully garnered over the years. Now I am not going to claim to be an expert on Miyazaki, I have seen about six of his films but have yet to see Mononoke or Nausicaä, but I do believe that I have a decent enough grasp on what I have seen to say he is a very talented animator and filmmaker, but certainly not one of the best currently making films. Much like Pixar, the love for Studio Ghibli, and more specifically Miyazaki himself, strikes me as irrational and far too over the top. Unlike his American counter part, Miyazaki does make, usually, decent to good films and not the mediocre product that Pixar pushes out, but it is not like Miyazaki is Satoshi Kon or anything.

Either way, I went into Ponyo with very little knowledge about the film but also cautiously optimistic that I was about to bear witness to something great. After about a minute or so of watching numerous aquatic creatures swim around an oceanic area, reminding me of Nemo a little bit I guess, I was pretty sure that I had become swept up in the world that Miyazaki was putting on display. The animation, despite appearing fairly mundane on the surface, is absolutely stunning when in motion and the way that Miyazaki handles the water and the aquatic life in the film is nearly unrivaled in terms of technical quality. Top to bottom the film is mostly gorgeous, though I was never too much on the animation of Sosuke, but the way Ponyo is handled makes up for that complaint. Not surprisingly, when the world becomes surreal everything is turned up a notch and the film transforms into something beautiful. Combined with all the details that are put in the world the film certainly succeeds an animated picture in many ways that American films have simply lost over the years as CGI became common place.

All of the voice acting is really good and the person playing Ponyo brought such a sense of wonder to the character that the character became instantly believable. However, the two surprising performances come from Lisa, Sosuke's mother, and Fujimoto. Lisa is such a well developed character, having all the traits of a loving mother mixed in with a fiery rage that makes each time she is on screen an absolute delight. Her relationship with her son is handled nicely, but the strength is found in the way Miyazaki frames her as the family's anchor. On the other hand, Fujimoto is reserved enough to give off the slightly evil feeling without being laughably bad or overly soft. He's a pretty complex character who changes a decent amount during the story, but he never abandons all the qualities that make for a good villain. He's a menacing force, but Miyazaki also has more going on under the surface with him, and the voice actor portrays this beautifully.


Speaking of beautiful things in the film, of which there are several, the action scenes are a thrilling ride that far surpass any action set pieces throughout the year thus far. There is one chase sequence that proves to be incredibly riveting while also being touching at the same time, and all without abandoning any of the tension that such a scene demands. The way the shots are all framed during this sequence help enhance the film as well, keeping the action squarely focused on the screen and never letting thing mesh together or losing the audience during the film's faster parts. Of course all the slower parts are shot masterfully too, and the film does showcase Miyazaki's prowess as a director. Visually the film is stunning, but not simply due to the animation, the technical craft on display in Ponyo is top quality film making no matter how things are sliced.

I must now take time to pause from my gushing and begin wrapping things up with the complaints I have about the film. For a film that deals with such a cataclysmic event, I shall not spoil what said event is, the film lacks a distinct sense of dread. Perhaps the reason for this is to better highlight the relationship between Ponyo and Sosuke, but if that is the case then there had to be a better way of getting the two of them to the script's end without tossing in some underdeveloped conflict that really ups the films stakes incredibly.

On top of that, there are a few parts that seem to drag. Sure they are pretty to look at, but they never feel like they are driving toward anything, just nice little breaks in the plot that are needed to be there because advancing from point A to point B with a cut would leave things far too short. The film works spectacularly in building relationships and when all of the film's themes are fleshed out completely, but the narrative just feels tacked on and I do think that the film would have been a good deal stronger if it had not rushed the plot and just expanded its run time by twenty minutes.

Still, my time with Ponyo was incredibly enjoyable and I would call it my third favorite Miyazaki film behind Totoro at the two spot and Porco Rosso on top. Actually, I was not incredibly surprised to find out after watching that others had made the same connection that I did: the film feels a lot like My Neighbor Totoro. While I could go into a few of the major similarities between the films, I feel that I have done a good job keeping this review just about spoiler free and drawing specific comparisons would begin to give away too many plot elements. Probably best to just wrap things up.

Miyazaki is a master when it comes to expressing and idea on film and Ponyo is no exception. He handles all of the themes with the care of the best novelist; however, Miyazaki overlooks simple narrative decisions that ultimately hold the film back from being a masterpiece. Ponyo is, for me, tier two Miyazaki, sitting side by side with Howl's Moving Castle in an area that is a step below masterworks like Totoro and Porco, but a noticeable cut above a film like Spirited Away. I look forward to seeing this on the big screen when it hits American cinemas, plus it will be interesting to see how all the big name voice actors (Damon, Blanchett, Neeson, and Fey) approach the characters and if they are able to bring the same level of skill that the original voice actors posses. Plus I am interested to see how newcomers, and siblings of some very talented people, Frankie Jonas and Noah Cyrus do in the roles of Sosuke and Ponyo respectively.

B+/A- or 4.28918243702814723105471

Comments are welcome and, for anyone with a literary mind, I encourage checking out my poetry blog filled with all original works for your reading pleasure.

Also I am on the old Twitter thing so I guess you can follow me at twitter.com/FLYmeatwad.