truedis

Saw this at the premiere/National concert at the Shrine in LA on Tuesday 3/25/2014. This is the story of Matt Berninger, lead singer of the National's younger brother (by 9 years) Tom attempting (and succeeding) to make a documentary of the band on tour. It mostly plays out as a story of brotherly love & jealousy, but always with a good-natured and humorous bent. Tom is a goofy kid-stuck-in-a-man's-body who has a history of quitting things before he's finished them, and Matt seems determined to see him finish this project, even if it means risking the public perception of his band. The audience was in uproarious laughter throughout the whole thing, and everyone seemed surprised at what a genuine portrait it was of not only the band, but of how a regular family's dynamics change when one member is throw into the spotlight. Highly recommended.

I have to say I had huge hopes for The Fall when I saw it last night, and I was sorely disappointed. If you go to see this film for the visuals, you'll definitely be amazed, which I was, but the story is just a complete and utter failure. I think I can best describe it as The Princess Bride meets Pan's Labyrinth, however it doesn't work out at all. The fairy tale story just isn't engaging at all, and neither is the "real world" storyline that just seems to annoy you when it pops up every so often and takes you out of the beautiful, colorful fairy tale world back into the drab, "where the hell is this going" primary plot line. Of course the two intertwine, which is horribly executed in my opinion because you never really get to know the characters, they're just there so that they can fit into extremely clichéd roles for no explicable reason. I'm really struggling to come up with anything good to say about it, other than the locations and shots are amazing, but even that wasn't enough to keep me from considering walking out at several points.

I have to say that I saw this after seeing Paper Moon and enjoying it so much that I wanted to see more of Bogdanovich's work. I really enjoy good character films, but I really just couldn't identify with the characters in this one. I'm not sure exactly what you're supposed to take out of it at the end. There just aren't any characters that I would consider compelling and the story just sort of meanders on without going anywhere or picking up any steam. It could just be that this represents another time/place that I can't identify with, but let me tell you that if you're looking for another Paper Moon (which the rating would have you believe), this isn't it. I'd say it's worth a shot, but if you aren't really into it early on then give up, it doesn't get any better...