Post by klep on Mar 14, 2016 6:36:14 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/14: I Love You Phillip Morris
In one sense, all acting is a con job. You have a person on screen trying to convince you that they are somebody else; that they are feeling things they don't really feel or know things they don't really know. But to tell a story about a con artist, you need a little something extra. The actor playing a con artist needs to convince you of the con, while also conveying the sincerity of the con artist's worldview and identity. That's a much harder trick to pull off, but it's one that Jim Carrey is particularly good at in I Love You Phillip Morris.
Jim Carrey plays Steven Russell, a real life con artist on whose life the film is based. The very first moment we share with him is him learning that he isn't who he thought he was; he's adopted. This initially prompts him to become the best person he can be, but when he learns his birth mother still rejects him, all that integrity goes out the window. In suddenly revealing that he's gay, he tells us he's been lying to us and that he does that a lot. Throughout the rest of the film, he repeatedly leads us to believe certain things and then pulls the rug out. And Carrey never breaks. His entire screen time he gives the impression that he is sincere, but also ridiculously duplicitous. He manages to repeatedly convince us of his sincerity even as he repeatedly proves that the only thing he's actually sincere about is his love for Phillip.
One aspect of this flim that I found myself lacking in is how (and whether) to judge it as part of queer cinema. It's not an area I'm particularly well-versed in, nor is it an area I feel particularly comfortable sitting in judgement of as a straight man. I'd be very interested to hear from people what they think of issues of representation in this film
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/21: Cloud Atlas
This 2012 Wachowskis' adaptation of the sprawling David Mitchell novel will be our next Movie of the Week. Starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, and a number of others in different roles in different times and places, it weaves a narrative of interconnection and a desire for harmony. Cloud Atlas is available on Amazon Instant Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 3/15: M*A*S*H
Robert Altman's Korean War comedy is first up in this week's Next Picture Show podcast, and we'll have a space to talk about it on Wednesday. It is available on Amazon Instant Video, though it is not free for Prime Members.
In one sense, all acting is a con job. You have a person on screen trying to convince you that they are somebody else; that they are feeling things they don't really feel or know things they don't really know. But to tell a story about a con artist, you need a little something extra. The actor playing a con artist needs to convince you of the con, while also conveying the sincerity of the con artist's worldview and identity. That's a much harder trick to pull off, but it's one that Jim Carrey is particularly good at in I Love You Phillip Morris.
Jim Carrey plays Steven Russell, a real life con artist on whose life the film is based. The very first moment we share with him is him learning that he isn't who he thought he was; he's adopted. This initially prompts him to become the best person he can be, but when he learns his birth mother still rejects him, all that integrity goes out the window. In suddenly revealing that he's gay, he tells us he's been lying to us and that he does that a lot. Throughout the rest of the film, he repeatedly leads us to believe certain things and then pulls the rug out. And Carrey never breaks. His entire screen time he gives the impression that he is sincere, but also ridiculously duplicitous. He manages to repeatedly convince us of his sincerity even as he repeatedly proves that the only thing he's actually sincere about is his love for Phillip.
One aspect of this flim that I found myself lacking in is how (and whether) to judge it as part of queer cinema. It's not an area I'm particularly well-versed in, nor is it an area I feel particularly comfortable sitting in judgement of as a straight man. I'd be very interested to hear from people what they think of issues of representation in this film
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/21: Cloud Atlas
This 2012 Wachowskis' adaptation of the sprawling David Mitchell novel will be our next Movie of the Week. Starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, and a number of others in different roles in different times and places, it weaves a narrative of interconnection and a desire for harmony. Cloud Atlas is available on Amazon Instant Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 3/15: M*A*S*H
Robert Altman's Korean War comedy is first up in this week's Next Picture Show podcast, and we'll have a space to talk about it on Wednesday. It is available on Amazon Instant Video, though it is not free for Prime Members.