mccarthyedits

These are the rare films whose characters are so raw that they could easily be mistaken for the guy standing next to you at the grocery store or on the subway, or perhaps even a family member living in your own home. They live and breathe on the screen and you believe every breath they take. This connection becomes particularly poignant in Fruitvale Station, the real life story of police brutality and shooting victim Oscar Grant. It's a day in the life story, where we're removed from the politicizing of the shooting, and instead given a seat next to Oscar as he navigates through his daily struggle as a young father. The script, the acting, and the Bay Area backdrops all feed off the incredible energy of 26 year-old writer/director Ryan Coogler, an Oakland native, who turned his anger from the 2009 shooting into a beautiful work of art.

I watched Prince Avalanche last night and thought – A bare production doesn't equate to a bare narrative. We open in a Texas State Park where many of its trees are missing due to a recent wildfire. Long takes with a hand-held and sometimes stationary camera follow two road workers. Alvin (Paul Rudd) and Lance (Emile Hirsch) traverse the barren landscape not only trying to repair the park's roads, but also trying desperately to make an emotional connection with the outside world and each other. The bareness in production aspects; hand-held cameras, long takes, low- key score, one set location, and especially the small cast only accentuate Alvin and Lance's struggle. In such a bare and intimate mis-en-scene, the complexities of their insecurities are exposed and deeply felt. Director and Writer David Gordon Green captures a variegated palette that spans the ranges of human feeling. In Prince Avalanche scenes of human frailty and desperation harmonize with moments of ridiculous comedy that then transcend to moments of philosophical wonder.

After watching a plethora of the dark and serious fare, I came away feeling refreshed and excited about the world of comedy today. There is a trend to include more comedies at festivals, in particular Sundance where In a World… won Best Screenplay. The jokes weren't rapid fire and didn't originate or end in the toilet. Instead they were smartly nuanced around the life of Carol Solomon (Lake Bell), a professional voice-over artist and coach. Bell also has tremendous talent as the director, writer, producer, and lead actress in this one. The humor came from poking fun at the industry. Some of the funniest moments touch on the overinflated ego of industry artists and the banality of the modern blockbuster. Carol is the underdog in this one fighting against the aspects of the biz it pokes fun at. In a broader sense, this indie film is also the underdog for the same reasons. But this is also what makes it such a refreshing and funny film to see.