Cinecast #25: Locked Inside A Heart-Shaped Box
What's more indulgent than a troubled rock star roaming the woods for 97 minutes in a heroin-induced haze? How about two movie geeks spending 15 minutes talking about it? Maybe you haven't noticed, but "Good Will Hunting" director Gus Van Sant has spent the last few years making some of the most interesting and technically inventive films of his career. His latest, "Last Days," employs the non-traditional narrative structure he used in 2002's "Gerry" and 2003's "Elephant" to construct the final hours of the late Kurt Cobain. Like his re-imagining of the Columbine shootings in "Elephant," Van Sant diffuses potentially provocative subject matter with careful, deliberate pacing (read: really slow) and an absolute respect for his subject matter. So load up on guns, bring your friends ... "Last Days" is a "minor masterpiece!" -- Sam Hallgren, Cinecast
The film is currently playing in Los Angeles, New York, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle with a wider release on Friday.
Also on the show, listeners challenge Cinecast on the definition of "antihero" and share their Top 5's. Plus, Massacre Theatre, and we preview Friday's countdown of the Top 5 Movies of the Year (So Far) by revealing our Top 5 Worst Movies of the Year (So Far).
Music by Dan Bern courtesy of Messenger Records ... Cinecast theme music by Age of the Rifle.
Cinecast #25
:27-15:37 - Review: "Last Days"
16:45-26:59 - Cinecast Notes, Listener Feedback
27:55-30:20 - Massacre Theatre
30:21-32:57 - Top 5 Worst Movies of the Year (So Far)
Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send us an e-mail at cinecast@cinecastshow.com. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.
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9 Comments:
Your iTunes feed is working beautifully these days!
I never understood why people found the film Elephant to be so fascinating. I found it trite and really irritating to watch. The characters had no dimension. Was I missing something?
When might shows #1-19 be available in iTunes? I've got to catch up!
Interesting comment, Jen. For me, "Elephant"'s power came from it's lack of judgement and lack of sentimentality. Van Sant's quiet observation of these kids' lives struck me as completely believeable - and intentionally (and fascinatingly) mundane. I thought Van Sant's subtle depiction of the school's social hierarchy was really smart, and it lets you really experience the arbitrary nature of the killing. Wonder what you'd think of Last Days?
Maybe I should watch it again because I honestly think I'm missing something. I'll give it another chance.
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Elephant really bothered me and really intrigued me in the weeks after watching it. Overall it was a gorgeous film... the long shots were breathtaking and I responded the same way as Sam to the "mundane" interactions between characters.
However, I think that I agree with Jen concerning the violence. It didn't really disturb me as much as confuse me. It felt very surreal instead of realistic, and clearly that's what Van Sant wanted, but I don't know if it works for me. By surreal I mean it didn't feel like what I would expect a school shooting to feel like... it felt like it was a dream of a school shooting.
Anyway, I am still excited to see his newest film, unfortunately I'm stuck in MI instead of Chicago so I can't find it yet!
Jake
http://imdb.com/name/nm1921051/
I just discovered that I now need a blog account to write stuff here? Now my name is linked to a site I don't want. Don't click my name!
Damn you for using that Dan Bern "God Said No" song. After hearing it, I of course had to find it, and as I write it's stuck (and has been stuck for the past two hours) in my head. Painful.
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