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Mexican Cinema in the U.S.A.
This has been a bizarre year for American cinema. The best films to come out in this country were all made by Mexicans. An otherwise boring and subpar year in cinema has turned into a year to behold thanks to the amazing work of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Alfonso Cuaron, and Guillermo Del Toro. These three filmmakers have always put out wonderful and interesting work, however, this is the year that all three hit their stride and entered into a realm of filmmaking one can only describe as masterful. Inarritus Babel was a critical darling that has been nominated for all the key Academy Awards this year. Cuarons Children of Men was a magnificent achievement in story telling and a reminder that when Science Fiction is done right it is truly something to behold. Del Toros Pans Labyrinth was a bittersweet fantasy film in which the real world was often far more awful than all the monsters in the world of fantasy.
Of the three above mentioned films,Babel is the closest film, story and execution wise, to an independent film. Sure the film starred Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchet, but the subject matter was not something for the mainstream to embrace. For an audience, this film was a two and a half hour descent into sorrow. This is not a Brad Pitt film. If you are expecting quick witted quips between him and other A-Listers, Oceans 13 comes out next summer. This film starts off with a sad and morose tone and gets worse and worse and worse and worse. It is truly extremely hard to watch. By now I am sure all of you know the basic theme of communication (or should I say lack there of) that the screenwriter used to link the stories all together (if you didnt, its there in the title of the film). This is a very important and pertinent message in this day and age, however, if you are one that likes pure entertainment and a nice warm and fuzzy feeling after a film you better go elsewhere. This film hurts to watch. I love all of Inarritus films, but this one was the hardest one for me to watch. It isnt necessarily because it was more painful than his other two gems. I just found this film to be extremely slow. Maybe it is just hard to sit in a theater and get depressed for two and a half hours. Dont get me wrong, I will be buying this film the day it comes out and looking forward to re-watching it, especially the Japanese storyline. I guess what made this film a tough watch for me was the fact that I didnt quite relate to the subject matter all that much and if you dont relate to depressing material it is a little harder to swallow. Why listen to a sad song when the words dont mean anything to you?
Children of Men is one of those films that you hear about again in a few years. It may go unnoticed for the next couple years, but I promise you that this film will stand the test of time. This film will be remembered when Best Picture winners like Crash and A Beautiful Mind are long since forgotten and found in used DVD bargain bins. When Science Fiction is done right it can show what could happen if society were to head in a general direction. Bad Science Fiction (which is pretty much the bulk of what comes out these days) merely throws great special effects and fantastical action at the audience while having a story as dense as high mountain air. Children of Men shows us the dangers of letting the government attain too much power as well as what a culture of fear can do to a civilization. The whole while it remains an intimate story of hope and the power of the human spirit. This film being forgotten by the general public is more of a guarantee that we will get generic film after generic sequel after generic remake. When a studio takes a risk and makes a truly smart film with a spectacular filmmaker the public wants to see more quick cutting action scenes that show the laziness of filmmakers today. Gone are the good stories and smart films. In are the mindless schlock films that we have become accustomed to seeing every May through September. See this film and support inventive amazing filmmaking. The camera work alone is worth the price of admission.
Pans Labyrinth is one of my favorite films of all time. This film entered my top 10 the first time I saw it and has made it into my top 5 in the previous 6 viewings. This is the reason I go to the movies. It is very hard to put into words exactly what I feel about this film. I could give you a plot summary, but you can get that in a quick Google search. I could tell you the meaning this film has, but that would take the joy out of watching it. All I can tell you is to see this film NOW!!!!! It is a modern marvel. It grows with every viewing. Sure the movie is a little bitter sweet, but that doesnt make it any less beautiful. That is probably the best way I could describe this filmbeautiful. Sure there is gore and horror, but at the heart of it is a soul that is so pure and beautiful that it will engrain itself in your soul.
Did I mention that all three of these filmmakers are best friends???? What an exciting future we have.
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 The MMC Movie Club is coming soon! Keep your eye out for it...
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