LFF 2016: Certain Women

In the last ten or so years of reviewing films and witnessing the beginning of genuine brilliant careers and attending film festivals around the country, you get to see films from all walks of life, that gestate somewhere and manifest into a whole project that appears in your home city. It is a privilege to witness them when they come to fruition.

And yet you sometimes search for the roses amongst the odour. You always miss the boat on certain auteurs or writer-directors who are swooned over by peers and critics of the current age, and yet you miss their coming out party. You try to second guess yourself and wonder maybe it is your point of view or background that is not doing justice to the film, and sometimes it just cannot be helped.

Certain Women, is that sort of film.  Kelly Reichardt, is rightly acclaimed as a light for female directors in the still male dominated world of popular cinema from her feminist western Meek's Cutoff to her fable Wendy and Lucy. Reichardt comes from a less heard voice of middle America, telling stories rarely seen and sometimes pushed to the boundaries of social documentary. 

Reichardt has also hit upon a budding relationship with Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain) as her muse of sorts. This film is based upon the short stories of Maile Meloy who herself is from Montana, where the film is set.

The palette of the film is stark and grey, the tone of the film is ponderous and plodding. From the start of the film with a long cargo, freight train coming from the east to the west - establishing the new settlers coming out west perhaps - the shot goes on for as long as the cast and early production members are listed. We then cut to a clandestine affair taking place between lawyer, Laura Wells (Laura Dern) and Ryan Lewis (James Le Gros). The set up looks clandestine due to the lack of discussion between the two and his abrupt departure.

We follow Laura as she deals with an injury lawsuit client Fuller (Jared Harris) who took an early pay-off and thus denied himself a big pay day in court. His own shortcomings come to a head when he takes a security guard hostage when seeking evidence of his being screwed by the system, this belief becomes fact when Laura recites to the illiterate Fuller her statement to the corporation she was meant to be fighting.

From his arrest, we cut to Gina Lewis (Williams) who is married to Ryan, the guy we saw having an affair earlier. Gina has aspirations of building a house with sandstone and attempts to take some from an elderly man who lives on his own, there is tension between Gina and Ryan which serves as reason
for his affair.

Then we cut to a horse handler, Jamie (Lily Gladstone) who on an evening drive goes into a night class where people are. There she meets the teacher Beth (Kristen Stewart) who gives the class as extra income despite the 8 hour round trip to Belfry from Livingstone.

Jamie seeks solace from her loneliness by listening to Beth's classes and their brief discussions in a diner before her long journey home.  Beth stops coming to the classes due to the arduous journeys prompting Jamie driving to Livingstone to see her one more time.

That is the synopsis as best I can describe, not a lot else happens throughout the film, with the ponderous framing and narrative taking shape as I describe it.  There is not a lot of incident and a lot of plot points are not resolved or concluded; Gina does not learn about Ryan's affair, Laura is forgiven by Fuller for her shortcomings and the film ends with Jamie back in the stables with her horses.

To be cruel you could call this film boring, having seen versions of slow cinema, it felt stale that with a cast of this much talent there was not a lot asked of them in terms of character development.  However, the film is an attempt to comment on the alienation and loneliness felt by people in the less populated states of America, where you work to live and live to work. Yet you hoped for more of an emotional impact, however, this perhaps Reichardt's modus operandi, she wants you to see how other people live in poverty.

The role of farm hand Jamie, is beautifully played by Lily Gladstone who does the most with what she is given, gaining the most emotional resonance when she departs Beth and Livingstone, welling up as she drives away from what she felt was a genuine connection with somebody else.

It is those sort of connections that were lacking throughout the film that was reaching for contemplation but left this reviewer frustrated.  Overall a shame as it does not do justice to the beautiful landscape photography captured by Christopher Blauvelt (The Bling Ring).

Certain Women will be released in the USA by IFC Films on October 14th.

Thoughts On...Requiem for a Dream

Continuing my trend on being way ahead on the cultural sphere, I am reviewing a film I have never seen before. It is always good to catch up on films that captured a moment in their cultural zeitgeist and were popular at that moment in time; and to see if it maintains and has withstood.

Having come across Trainspotting on the occasion of its 20th anniversary it is interesting to encounter Requiem for a Dream, the acclaimed Darren Aronofsky film of 2000 that garnered much critical attention and Oscar buzz.

The reason the film got so much attention was that it has that independent feel that was paramount at that moment led by the Weinsteins bankrolling Steven Soderbergh and the like. Aronofsky fitted into this with his debut feature Pi, an off the wall, black and white film that wore its intelligence proudly.

In Requiem though he takes an adaptation of a Hubert Selby Jr novel and makes a hellish journey of drug addict's total dependency on drugs, how it changes people, how they become different and how those drugs become the only important thing in life - more than love, family and personal health.

Sara Goldfrab (Ellen Burstyn) is a lonely widow who is somewhat estranged from her only son Harry (Jared Leto), a drug addict along with his girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connolly) and best friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans).

Aronofsky's style in this film is to film extreme close-ups of his cast experiencing the highs of the drugs being taken, it requires the actors to be shot with bags under their eyes and not look glamorous.  Burstyn deserves special credit (she lost to Julia Roberts for Best Actress at Oscars for Erin Brockovich) for simply deteoriating on screen - her character is the most intriguing as Sara makes you wonder, did she fake that phone call and send herself that application form because of her loneliness and the need to belong with the other women in her apartment building.

As the film proceeds and builds up to the finale where nobody gets what they wants and everyone loses out, the director cranks up the editing and the soundtrack creating a visual language where not a lot is said but everything shown speaks volumes to us.  The editing is cut of more drug sachets being opened, cut, snorted as characters wince, scream and shout.

The film is a cruel and hard watch by the end and yet its the sort of film that all children aged 15-18 should watch as an educational tool to combat drug use; the message is loud and clear. You end up down and out, injured, mad and ultimately alone.

The acting is superb (bar Leto's awful accent) and the music by Clint Mansell is iconic to the point of being the most memorable facet of the film.

Required viewing but not necessarily essential.

Fight for Old DC

Written by Andrew O'Toole, the Fight for Old DC started in 1932 when laundry store tycoon George Preston Marshall became part owner of the Boston Braves franchise in the National Football League. To separate the team from the baseball team of the same name, he renamed it the Redskins in 1933 and moved them to Washington in 1937. 

Marshall was an innovator, his team were the first to telecast all their games, have their own fight song (as is customary in College Football), have half-time entertainment and assemble a cheerleading squad.

However, innovation does not come without controversy. As a proud patriot of the old South and the flag of the Confederacy; Marshall insisted on his team remaining white, his team were the last team to intergrate black professional football players.

Partly due to pressure by NFL commissioner, Pete Rozelle who wanted league expansion across the nation and the new television contracts, as well as pressure from Congress; the reluctant owner would eventually relent and pushed the team trading for Bobby Mitchell, in 1962 becoming the team's first black player. Mitchell's image adorns the books front cover.

O'Toole does a fine job of not only researching the era, but painting a picture of the systemic problem of racism that is so paramount and at the forefront of current affairs in the United States currently.  Quoting Sam Lacy, columnist for the Baltimore Afro-American;

'Only in the capital of the nation, in a stadium be-deckled by flags of freedom 

does the spirit of democracy get kicked in the pants'

Lacy liked referring to Marshall's team as lily-white, which would go hand-in-hand with contemporary beat writer Shirley Povich, who would refer to 'the decor Marshall has chosen for the Redskins is burgundy, gold and Causcasian'.

Yet for all his innate bigotry, the forward thinking of Marshall cannot be ignored:

'

You'll see the time comes when having good seats to a pro football game becomes a status symbol, when almost every stadium in the land is sold out before the season begins....Going to the football games will be the thing to do in the social fabric of the nation. It will be all that because we're going to make fans of the women, and what appeals to the women will carry along the men who are national football fans.'

This was said by Marshall in 1952 as he nursed a drink with writers, what he states could easily be used as the tagline for the NFL by Goodell in the 21st century.  From humble beginnings, the NFL has become this monster of commerce, growth and yet it has sometimes forgotten about the well-being of its players, be it the black players being segregated or up to now the safety of the players being put at risk by a high impact physicality that cannot be absorbed by the human body irrespective of padding and protection.

Imagine an owner today being so racist, you cannot because at that level of professional sport there is a need to be integrated and understanding of all people you employ, your fanbase may be of that skin colour so you have to embrace it.  There has been a lot of misunderstandings with the stance Colin Kaepernick has taken in light of police brutality in targeting black individuals culminating in another tense few days in Carolina, yet no owner has come out and told their players that they can or cannot stand and protest like Kaepernick has done. The owners stand too lose too much, in this day and age it is right to protest peacefully.

While it is good to see people like Marshall be out of the game now, for all his fall backs he was a trend-setter who did burn a trail for louder-than-life owners who wanted the team they owned to be an extension of their personality, like we have Jerry Jones now and his JerryWorld complex.

The book itself is fascinating with its insights into the world of professional sports and how it has changed pre and post Second World War, how sport became more and more a part of the social fabric Marshall mentioned, how NFL has slowly overtaken Major League Baseball.

Filled with amazing anecdotes and brimming with interesting characters who pour out of this opus ranging from the aforementioned Rozelle and Lacy to the hard working Secretary of Interior, Stewart Udall who after being picked for the job by JFK, took it upon himself to integrate the nation's football team, it gives the appeal of a big picture of new v old and liberalism v bigotry.

The Fight for Old DC is not just a valuable football book but an important book of cultural understanding.

Published by University of Nebraska Press it is released on 1st November in Hardback for £22.99RRP

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American Band

American Band, is the 11th studio album by one of the best and still unheralded bands in America, Drive-By Truckers.

Consisting of a five piece with duelling compositions by Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood; the band is one of those spit and sawdust bands you imagine exist in every bar in the Southern states of America. And yet the older they have got as a band, the better they have become as a unit but also as a voice of the disillusioned masses.

The bands writing has consistently had a great sense of story and narrative, one of this reviewer's favourite albums of the 21st century remains Brighter Than Creation's Dark, which consisted of such fables as 'Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife', 'Three Dimes Down' and 'Monument Valley'.

When Drive-By Truckers released their first single of the album 'Surrender Under Protest', the point was made by Patterson Hood in a statement:  

"These are crazy times and we have made a record steeped in this moment of history that we're all trying to live through. We've always considered ourselves a political band, even when that aspect seemed to be concealed by some type of narrative device i.e. dealing with issues of race by telling a story set in the time of George Wallace or class struggles by setting "Putting People of the Moon" in the age of Reagan.

This time out, there are no such diversions as these songs are mostly set front and center in the current political arena with songs dealing with our racial and cultural divisions, gun violence, mass shootings and political assholery. Once again, there is a nearly even split between the songs of Cooley and myself, with both of us bringing in songs that seem to almost imply a conversation between us about our current place in time."

The band are celebrating their 20th anniversary with the release of this album, and it can be interpreted that the album is a call to arms about the way the world is but also a sense of America coming to terms with not being the biggest noise in the room anymore, a realisation that the country's time is passing with the possible calamity of a Donald Trump presidency mere months away.

The album has the usual bombast and rock and roll guitars from the opening riffs of 'Ramon Casiano', but there is more subdued tone in the lyrics from the lead single of 'Surrender Under Protest' to the wrenching 'Guns of Umpqua' to the reflective 'Once They Banned Imagine'

Cooley and Hood's vocals are great to hear as they mix maturity with the ever optimistic streak throughout their oral history, yet there is still that sense of a moment passing by and of America changing in this current political climate.

'I might get better when the sun don't shine,

Much rather watch the clouds go by'
- 'When the Sun Don't Shine'

The album is a must for all Americana fans and those who love the sound of riffing guitars be it from Neil Young or Bruce Springsteen; this album packs a direct punch and will get your toes tapping quicker than a line dancing contest.

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS
AMERICAN BAND TRACKLISTING:

1)      Ramon Casiano
2)      Darkened Flags on the Cusp of Dawn
3)      Surrender Under Protest
4)      Guns of Umpqua
5)      Filthy and Fried
6)      When the Sun Don’t Shine
7)      Kinky Hypocrites
8)      Ever South
9)      What It Means
10)    Once They Banned Imagine
11)    Baggage

American Band by Drive-By Truckers is released by ATO Records on 30th September 2016

Catch the band on tour
Follow them on Twitter @drivebytruckers

The Yucks

Jason Vuic is a lifelong Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan, and he brings his critical journalistic eye to the creation and formation of the NFL franchise known as the Bucs that were born in the Tampa Bay area of Florida in 1976 and in became the losingest team in NFL history when they lost 26 consecutive games ending in 1977.

The book is a pleasant sprightly read through the early history of a franchise that would ultimately reach the pinnacle by winning the Super Bowl in 2003. Yet it was a very long road, and continues to be so; they have endured more losing seasons than winning seasons in their 40 year history. Although following the draft of Jameis Winston last year, perhaps the cementing of a stronger team is coming to fruition.

The story began with promoter Bill Marcum who wanted to bring a NFL team to his hometown, and the owner Hugh Culverhouse, who was a miserly figure such as charging players for soda in the locker room. Yet the best stories and tidbits of the novel come from the ever quotable head coach John McKay, who would drill his players in an attempt to replicate the success he had at the University of Southern California (USC).

The images that stick with you are a college great in McKay who won National Championships being unable to replicate the success at a professional level, doing two-a-days in 100 degree heat for a whole month running his pros into the ground and instilling a negativity from the outset.

John McKay - coach of the worst team in NFL history

This failure to build a cohesion and team spirit because they were too fatigued meant that they were always facing an uphill battle, and the losing began leading to them becoming a national punchline led by Johnny Carson on 'The Tonight Show'.

Yet the Bucs had good players in quarterback Steve Spurrier (who would go on to become a college great himself in the coaching ranks), defensive end Pat Toomay who was ultimately banished after writing a tell-all book.

However bad they were, the Yucks became something more than if they were a .500 team. They became prominent in the public consciousness and everyone knew who the Bucs were, even if they were not winning. Fans came to the games to cheer on their endeavours no matter how poor they were, McKay would offer a fight with fans who questioned his integrity yet it all culminated with a victory over New Orleans in the Superdome over the Saints led by Archie Manning (the father of Peyton and Eli), the account of their plane ride home is worth the read alone. A first victory turned into the greatest victory.

The Yucks is out now from Simon & Schuster in Hardback