Brad McGann, R.I.P.

Way back on August 4, 2005, I started this blog with a post about a brilliant movie from New Zealand called In My Father's Den, the first feature from writer/director Brad McGann.

Three months later, I learned that McGann had cancer and that a fundraiser had been organized to pay for life-saving treatment. The fundraiser was successful, but it only bought him another year. On May 2, the cancer McGann had been fighting for a decade finally took his life.

Click here to read his obituary in the New Zealand Herald.

Zodiac

8.5/10. Saw this on June 3 at the Gotthard in Bern.

A riveting dissecting of a murder investigation and an engrossing study of the men caught up in it, Zodiac is one of the year’s best movies.

Dirty Mary Crazy Larry

7/10. Watched this on June 1 on DVD.

Vanishing Point

8.5/10. Watched this on May 31 on DVD.

"This is Really, Really Fucking Brilliant!"

Over the past few years, the Federal Communications Commission has become increasingly less tolerant of any kind of profanity on network television, dishing out six-figure fines for even the most benign offenses.

Happily, on Monday a federal appeals court criticized the FCC for its "inexplicable departure from past policy" and struck down new rules that would've allowed the FCC to issue fines for broadcasting even "fleeting expletives" with no profane meaning or intent.

The following is from USA Today:

For years, the agency had not fined isolated uses of vulgarities when they weren't "sexual or excretory" references, which are barred by FCC rules from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., when children are more likely to be watching. But after U2 singer Bono blurted out the F-word during the 2003 Golden Globes, the FCC reversed course and said the F-word and S-word are inherently sexual or excretory.

The appeals court said the FCC's reasoning "defies any common-sense understanding of these words," adding that Bono's outburst "has no sexual connotation." The judges also said the agency provided no evidence that a "fleeting expletive" is harmful to children.

By the way, the title of this post is what Bono said at the Golden Globes. U2 had just won an award for Best Original Song, and apparently Bono was quite happy about it. I suppose he could've said "really" a third time, but personally I'm happy he went with "fucking" instead.

The Proposition

8.5/10. Watched this on May 29 on DVD.

In this Australian western, lawman Ray Winstone gives outlaw Guy Pearce nine days to track down & kill his own older brother -- or his younger brother, now in custody, will be hanged. Complications ensue. A violent & elegiac portrait of an untamed nation that is also visually ravishing & has a compassionate heart.

2 Days in Paris

8/10. Saw this on May 27 at the Bubenberg in Bern.

Like Sarah Polley and Adrienne Shelly, Julie Delpy started her movie career young and made a name for herself in well-regarded out-of-the-mainstream fare. And like Polley and Shelly, 2007 finds Delpy breaking out in a big way as a writer/director.

Polley’s Away From Her and Shelly’s Waitress are both currently enjoying limited-release success in the States (with the latter rapidly expanding into a bonafide hit). Based on the large & receptive audience at 2 Days in Paris last Sunday, Delpy’s romantic comedy will follow in their footsteps when it opens in the U.S. in August.

Marion (Delpy) and her American boyfriend Jack (Adam Goldberg) stop in her hometown of Paris on their way back to New York from a holiday in Italy. At first, Jack’s encounters with Marion’s eccentric family & friends are humorous -- but then every other man they meet turns out to be one of Marion’s ex-boyfriends, and Jack’s insecurities start to overwhelm him, pushing their relationship toward the brink.

A funny and perceptive movie, 2 Days in Paris struggles a bit about two-thirds of the way in, when it seems that Delpy has lost her way & might be considering a When Harry Met Sally-style wrap-up. But when the ending comes, it’s heartbreakingly appropriate, and in fact brings into sharp focus what the entire movie has been all about.

The Quiet

4/10. Watched this on May 25 on DVD.

A deeply dishonest movie that squanders a talented cast & crew.

Matango

7/10. Watched this on May 22 on DVD.

A luxury sailboat is disabled in a storm and its occupants stranded on a mysterious island. While they ultimately encounter a band of murderous mushroom people -- yes, mushroom people -- Matango is less about that than it is about the dynamics of the shipwrecked group that prevent them from saving themselves.

Directed by Ishirô Honda, the man who brought the world Godzilla.