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Little Seen Film of the Day – Picture Day

Picture DayThis one is for all the rabid Orphan Black lovers out there (like me).  Or maybe it’s not.  Maybe they’ve already found this film and devoured it like all things Tatiana Maslany.  So maybe this is for everyone else.

A couple of years ago, before the Clone Club, I saw a little Canadian film at the Toronto International Film Festival, 2012.  It was fun, it was well written, and it starred a young actress who caught my eye.  I remember saying to Beth, “We should get Tatiana Maslany to come to Chlotrudis for the Breakout Award.  I think she’s going to go places.”  Well, it wasn’t many months later that Orphan Black hit the scene and the rest his history.  Tatiana Maslany was a cult favorite, rapidly gaining wider and wider audiences.  But back in 2012, she starred in a terrific, complex, teen comedy/drama called PICTURE DAY.

Claire (Maslany) was a bad ass in high school, but now she’s repeating her senior year and she’s become something of a joke.  She’s hanging around Henry, a nerdy freshman that she used to babysit, who now has a hopeless crush on her, with a goal of making him into a mysterious, hip rebel.  Her success with Henry throws his life into a turmoil, but her own life isn’t much better off.  With a mother who barely notices her, and an 33-year-old rocker-wanna-be boyfriend who’s clearly not in Claire as much as he’s into the adoration of young groupies, Claire’s work with Henry is really the only things that’s going well – at least in her mind.  Clearly, Claire’s is being set up for some tough life lessons, which are delivered in a way that isn’t heavy-handed, a credit to writer/director Kate Melville’s skill as a flimmaker.  But it’s Tatiana Maslany, who shines in PICTURE DAY.  Clearly just a taste of what was to arrive less than a year later on the small screen.

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Little Seen Film of the Day – Take Care of My Cat

Take Care of My CatFive friends from high school living in a poor city in South Korea try to maintain their friendship a year after graduation even as they all seek diverging paths away from their current lives. Take Care of My Cat provides a terrific look at contemporary South Korea, with frequent cell phone and text message use. integrated wonderfully into the film. Performances are strong, and the script is punctuated with humor and emotional moments. The lack of stereotype so prevalent prevalent in this type of film is a testament to the actresses, and the sure directorial hand that elevates this film above the norm.

Also notable about this lovely film is it was the first time many of us saw Doona Bae, the talented actor who went on to such films as Linda Linda Linda, The Host, Air Doll and Cloud Atlas.  I haven’t seen any of director Jae-eun Jeong’s subsequent films but I would like to.  If you have a chance to see Take Care of My Cat, it’s a sweet film that I think you’ll enjoy.

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Little Seen Film of the Day – Kandahar

Not being a very proficient blog poster, I’ve decided to try something that will get me to at the very least, post more often.  For the last 25 years or so, I’ve been enjoying a lot of independent, documentary, and international film.  I’ve attended a lot of Film Festivals… heck, I started my own independent film society!  So many of the films I’ve loved have been seen by so few people.  This morning in the shower, something made me thing of a film I saw back in 2002, that has stuck with me pretty well, although I probably haven’t thought of it in years.  It’s probably also a film not many people saw.  Then I started thinking about other films that a lot of people probably heard of, much less saw.  I decided I would try to post a film a day that probably hasn’t been seen by a lot of people.  Hope you get a chance to see some of these films and enjoy them!

Caveat:  Some of my friends and fellow Chlotrudis members may think that the films I choose have actually been seen by a lot of people.  The films I’m selecting are films that most of my non-Chlotrudis friends have probably never seen.  If you’re in Chlotrudis, you’ll probably have a higher percentage of viewing rate.

KandaharKandahar (2001)

directed by Mohsen Makhmabaf

Kandahar is the tale of one woman’s journey. Superficially, Nafas is returning to her native Afghanistan from Canada, to save her sister. On the last full moon of the century, Nafas’ sister, who lost her legs in a mine accident, will commit suicide. Now Nafas must race against time to arrive in Kandahar in time to prevent the tragedy. Along the way, she must record in her tape recorder, the hope that her sister has lost.

Nafas is our guide as a woman arriving in Iran. We watch as she must cover herself completely with the traditional burka, and find her way to Kanadahar without any of the rights or status befitting a western woman. We witness with her, the horrors of a war-torn country, and the irony of women, completely hidden from view, putting on lipstick and other makeup.

Kandahar is powerful, with some unforgettable images. None of the actors are professionals, which shows a bit, but this is still a film not to miss.

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30 Day Song Challenge Day 30 – Your Favorite Song at This Time Last Year

This is a silly challenge to end the meme with. In reality, my favorite song is my favorite song, and while it does change over time, it certainly doesn’t change in a year’s time. So last year, my favorite song was Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love, just like it is this year. That said, I did have a “favorite new song” last year… a discovery that made me really excited. An amazing song with an incredible video by an artist I had never heard of that just blew me away. So that’s the song I’ve selected for this Day 30 challenge. (And come back tomorrow, because I’ve got a little added extra in store for this meme).

The artist is billed as Fever Ray, which is actually the solo project for Swedish singer/songwriter Karin Dreijer Andersson. Karin first gained acclaim as one half of the electronic duo, The Knife, for which she sang lead vocals. I can’t remember how I discovered the video for Fever Ray’s second single off her debut album. The song is called When I Grow Up, and the video exemplifies the theatrical nature of Karin’s performances. It’s creepy, it’s primal, it mystical, it’s clever and I do hope you’ll take a look. I still enjoy watching this video every time I think about it.

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30 Day Song Challenge Day 28 – A Song That Makes You Feel Guilty

Emm GrynerI had my own rule for this meme, that I would only include songs for which I could post videos from YouTube. I am now breaking this rule for day 28, a song that makes me feel guilty. There’s really only one song that makes me feel guilty, and by guilty, I don’t mean guilty pleasures, because those don’t really make me feel guilty. During the break-up of my previous serious relationship, I felt plenty guilty, and I have a distinct memory of driving in my car, listening to Emm Gryner’s Science Fair album, and this song in particular, and bawling my eyes out. The song as a whole isn’t applicable to that situation, but in general it is, and some of the lines just pierced my heart. The song is called Revenge, and it’s not available on YouTube so click the link below which will bring you to Yahoo Music where you can listen to this heartbreakingly lovely song. I said Tori Amos’ Tear in Your Hand was lyrically spot on about what you feel when you’re going through a breakup, and so it this one.

http://new.music.yahoo.com/emm-gryner/tracks/revenge–8743615