Just fast forwarded through most of Alexander the Last. Nicely shot. Good sound. There's some small time grief in there somewhere. Justin Rice & that actress from Happiness are interesting to watch for a while even though there do not seem to be actual, even partially developed, characters or anything plot related for the characters to do. Maybe it's a generational thing or liking fictional narrative movies where characters know they want to do something and then they try to do it (no matter how small their goal is & no matter how "uninteresting" their lives are - Stranger Than Paradise is a good example) - whatever - or maybe it's the lack of exterior shots or lack of transitions that indicate the passing of time - whatever it is I am just not able to connect with Swanberg movies (and this is coming from someone who once made a movie that took place entirely in a living room made to look like a diner using bedsheets & liked the results enough to show to like 500 people, and from someone who likes some of the bizarre/not-fully-realistic Jon Moritsugu movies). There doesn't seem to be anything there on the screen in Alexander - not much. Hannah Takes The Stairs was fun to watch for a bit, but all in all I am glad I skipped Nights & Weekends & probably will be skipping Swanberg movies for like a decade - I'll check back on what he's up to - film wise - in 2019 or so. But hey, good productivity, good marketing & publicity skills, great job plowing ahead in spite of some heavy negative criticism, & good low budget production skills that makes use of a lot of talented people - so there are some interesting & useful ideas to take away from the Joe Swanberg experience, even if I can't connect with his movies. Also IFC's Festival Direct or whatever it's called could be a good thing - a good distribution avenue - for some movies - I saw that they were offering Medicine for Melancholy at present also - definitely check that out anyone who hasn't yet - MfM is definitely a real movie. So, I am glad I was able to support IFC with my $6 even though Alexander was a non-event/anti-entertainment/anti-art experience.
After I got through Alexander I watched Baghead again (had some time to kill while my mac took its sweet time creating a DVD) - Baghead is a solid movie - looking forward to more of that.
I did like that one scene in Alexander where one of the sisters is yelling at the other & then walks away - felt kind of real (but the poster of two women fighting that the camera pans over at the end of that scene took a lot of that realness away, but, not bad all in all - that one scene).
- Sujewa
After I got through Alexander I watched Baghead again (had some time to kill while my mac took its sweet time creating a DVD) - Baghead is a solid movie - looking forward to more of that.
I did like that one scene in Alexander where one of the sisters is yelling at the other & then walks away - felt kind of real (but the poster of two women fighting that the camera pans over at the end of that scene took a lot of that realness away, but, not bad all in all - that one scene).
- Sujewa
