Tiny Furniture (2010)

So this review, is many weeks old as I think I saw this movie nearly a month ago. But so be it, I'm forced into catchup mode, because, simply put, I don't always have the time or energy to review stuff right away. And if I was actually earning any income (or for that matter, perks/comps of some sort), the motivation to get this done in a more timely fashion would be there.

Blech.

So in 3-4 weeks post seeing this, I can say this was definitely one of the better movies I saw in the past 12 months. Although I doubt I'd consider among my top 5 or whatever (or as good as the 2010 IFP winner Easier With Practice). But it or the screenwriter (and actor/director) Lena Dunham did win a Independent Spirit Award (for best first feature) for it a few weeks ago, and for good reason.

It's a coming-of-age sort of movie, about a girl who comes home from college to live with her single mom and sister. Although those 2 were slightly less significant in the story as just what Aura (Dunham) goes through. She just ended a relationship with a long-term boyfriend, along with trying to figure out her life professionally, socially, romantically.

She meets 2 guys, 1 named Jed (Alex Karpovsky) at a party whose a bit awkward, but ultimately has his charm. The 2 of them end up having pretty much purely a platonic relationship, despite Aura's advances. Maybe some of that was a rebound thing?

The 2nd guy, named Keith (David Call), is this guy she meets at this restaurant place she ends up working at, whose not single nor really interested in her like she is in him.

Now I remember a bit of what I thought about driving home. Aura really comes off like a lot of guys in this movie. A bit desperate for something or someone. Maybe she does poorly in solitude. But it is ultimately given that her mother actually needs her, maybe more than she needs her mother.

At one point, Aura plans to move out of her mom's flat in NYC, and in with her friend from college who remained at their school in Ohio for awhile. It's odd how at the beginning of the movie, Aura talks to her friend on the phone, more or less like they were rather close. Eventually said friend comes to town and Aura sort of blows her off. I was a bit disappointed in that. It was in a circumstance where she was to meet Keith who she can't resist.

I actually think her friend from college's role was a bit downplayed. Maybe the point of her character needing to figure out her next move in her life added to that, but it's a bit sad when you are connected to a friend and then you don't see them for a few weeks, and suddenly their priorities and interest in you seem to have changed.

It is pretty noteworthy how not only is Dunham (and her family?) from Minnesota, but also how her mother and sister are played by her real family members. So, in a way it was almost a documentary in that sense. And if I recall from this interview Dunham gave on NPR, a lot of the story is based on her real life.

I would say this is hardly my favorite movie of this type (see 2010's Fishtank for one, or maybe more so Funny Haha which the more movies I see in this ilk, the more that movie stands out as being one-of- if not the best), but it definitely was good and impressive for a 1st feature.

Lena Dunham I guess is now working with Judd Apatow (it's mentioned in that NPR interview) to develop some kind of black comedy for HBO. I can't deny, I'm rather curious about that, as I think she showed enough with this movie not only as an actor and director, but screenwriter especially, to add interest in her future.

That's something to keep in mind in the coming months/years.

72/100.

2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards: Afterthoughts

I was looking-to do some kind of DotM for these and/or the Academy Awards for tomorrow. And, I may still, I'm kind of playing it by ear right now. I did post some thoughts which I'm sure would have been at least partially rehashed in said DotM, here when the nominations were announced.

But stuff like the breakup of Oceansize and lacking in energy/motivation etc, had me do some other activities the past couple of days. Also, I was hoping to find on youtube, some clips from past shows, namely the year Sarah Silverman hosted. And I found some stuff from that year on youtube, but not the pre-recorded "backstage" part which probably was my favorite thing of the whole show. Namely the quote "Man-Push-Cart....Who-Give-Shit."

No dice, nor from the Rainn Wilson or Samuel L Jackson hosted awards shows.

So, that kind of led me to stop. And then before I knew it, the show was about to air. My plans to see the Gael Garcia-Bernal picture Even the Rain today (which opened at the Uptown Theater yesterday) along with The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra double-cd-release show at The Loring Theater got killed mainly due to snow+sub-zero temps outside and lack of desire to determine which side of the street to park on in Minneapolis in order to avoid a Snow-Emergency parking ticket (or towing).

And in both events cases, I will have more opportunity to see them in the coming weeks.

So, I just finished watching the Joel McHale edition of the Spirit Awards, and I can say, it was certainly better/funnier than 2010's Eddie Izzard snoozer. But I would still say the show hasn't returned to the jaw dropping hilarity it had a few years ago. I guess we'll see next year if it may.

-The winners: Winter's Bone, The Kids Are All Right and Black Swan all did well. Black Swan probably more than I or many expected. I haven't seen it, but the more I hear or read about it, I'm not sure I want to (despite having Mila Kunis and her hook up briefly :p). I get why Natalie Portman won, and probably will win tomorrow night at the Academy Awards, but it kind of speaks to people voting-for roles that are the most difficult, rather than the most moving/impact-ful.



-5 or 10 years from now, will Portman's performance in that be looked-to the way Jennifer Lawrence's was in Winter's Bone ? I would question that. But then again, I feel the best female performance I saw on film was not even Lawrence's but Katie Jarvis in Fishtank. It's also odd how Lawrence basically made Winter's Bone, and doesn't win, yet John Hawkes and Dale Dickey both did win. But that can be looked at as much for competition or lack-of, as quality of the performance.

-Also one thing Portman said in her acceptance speech, about *never* coming to them before. Am I forgetting, or was she not there when Garden State got nominated (and won?). I know Zack Braff was.

-Why was the stage slicked down with water or whatever else? Comedic effect? the idea might have been okay for like 1 segment/section of the show, but it just became an annoying hazard.

-Please Give won the Robert Altman award, which is all well and fine, as I do like people involved with that film, but I cannot forget about how after a lot of buzz at Sundance and the previews and interviews got me rather excited to see it; but then I left rather underwhelmed by it. And Catherine Keener has been on a roll for me pretty much over the last decade, but I can say this was my least favorite of all the movies I've seen her in.

-Exit Through the Gift Shop winning didn't come as a surprise to me, and I was happy to see it and presumably the main creator behind it, in Thierry Guetta up on stage accepting the award and (trying to) give some kind of inspirational speech. However, when he said "everything is real..everything in this film is real" I wonder a bit if a lot of the skeptical comments about *how real* the whole thing was. I imagine somewhere online there's some decent investigative work about how accurate it is, and how much may be fabricated for the film ala Michael Moore in a lot ways.

-Plus, the lack of stuff like No One Knows About Persian Cats and even Catfish still bugs me about the list. But between those 3, Exit Through the Gift Shop was the best.

-The way they had The King's Speech not only get nominated, but win, for Best Foreign Film is another head scratcher. Is it "independent"? I'm not sure. Is it even really "foreign"? technically, I suppose yes, but given it won at the Globes and SAG's, and is nominated for a number of awards at the Oscars tomorrow night, makes it even being included and in that category seem far-fetched.

-Seeing Ewan McGregor there, like Gael Garcia-Bernal in 2007 (when The Science of Sleep got no love from any of the Awards shows including the IFPs), just strikes me as overlooked and forgotten with The Ghost Writer. Now the budget thing may seem that point be moot, but it's difficult at times for me to watch these awards shows, seeing these movies and stars win awards, when I know very well that a movie like The Ghost Writer should be recognized and is a much better movie than a lot of them.

-What the hell was Kate Walsh doing there? Was she in or involved with a movie that got nominated? no. And I suppose for that matter, Tae Diggs. I didn't realize the Spirit Awards are now opening their seating for major network tv casts as well, lol.

-The voting process: well I recall learning about it a few years back. And I certainly would be interested in voting if I could. But from memory, you have to pay.

-edit:  this link explains
$95 for a membership. Okay? uh, I love small movies and support them however I can, but in order to vote for these things, it costs me nearly $100? sorry. I'd pay $15 perhaps. Maybe that $95 goes towards more than just the ability to vote for them, but I wonder what . I'd love to believe more, such as ability to bring more smaller movies to town, even if it were a 1-night or 1-weekend thing.

-I can't forget that, along the lines of lacking the in-town screening, 2010's show exposed me to 1 of my favorite movies I saw in the last 12 months, in Easier With Practice. And among the list of titles nominated I was unfamiliar with, I checked out a few trailers, and 1 I even got to see, the yet-to-be-reviewed Tiny Furniture, which I saw a few weeks ago at St.Anthony Main.

-However, while I liked Tiny Furniture (and Lena Dunham won an award for it tonight, best 1st Screenplay I think?..but that award was only mentioned by John Waters and not shown pathetically. WTF IFC?..your show is supposed to be the show that includes the little guy, right? wtf is up with not showing Lena Dunham winning?..maybe she wasn't there?). I don't know if I'd regard it at Easier With Practice's level. But, there's another movie that was nominated, but didn't win, called The Exploding Girl, which has Mark Rendall (who should play Jeff Buckley) and Zoe Kazan, that looks potentially rather good. And I am likely to see rather soon, hehe.

-And I recall liking Zoe Kazan in a few things recently, namely Me and Orson Welles. And well, there's a few reasons to want to see her in anything, after seeing a few clips from Revolutionary Road, hehe.

All in all, slightly better, but not entirely one of the better years for the IFPs again. But, I still look to them more than the Globes and Oscars for the heart of my taste in movies.