It's All About Looks

Generally, I pay more attention to the dialogue and acting in a film than to the “look” of the picture, but three movies that I saw recently stood out to me because they looked so different from one another.

Pan’s Labyrinth is very dark in both the realistic and fantastical portions of the story. The fantasy sections are really amazing and well done, and the darkness definitely suits the movie’s tone. It is a somber film and the fantasy sections are not light-hearted diversions. Overall, not a feel-good movie, but worth a look just to see, well, the look of it.

A Scanner Darkly is very different in appearance not only from Pan’s Labyrinth, but also from any other film you’re likely to see. Filmed in “rotoscope animation” it has a very unique and disconcerting look that suits the film’s subject matter – that of drug addiction. Even though it is a bit funnier than I thought it would be, I found the movie to be a bit confusing as well, but maybe that is the point. Regardless, it is a decent, if not great, film.

Shortbus could not be more different in style. It is shot almost documentary-style. What sets apart Shortbus is the sex. Much of the movie is composed of stark and real sex scenes. That is not to say that the sex is particularly erotic. Even though there are a couple of “titillating” scenes, in general the sex just serves to move the story forward -- unlike in some movies. Yes, Caligulia, I’m talking about you. (Sidenote: A special three-disc DVD set of Caligulia is due to be released soon and Jeff has hinted this might make a good Christmas gift for me. I have taken some time on my day off to consult an attorney to determine whether this would constitute an “act of cruelty.”) This is my favorite of the three, but mostly because I dug the characters (well, most of them anyway).

Work irritation of the week: The past couple of weeks have included holidays, so I have only been working three-day weeks. Of course, I don’t get paid for holidays. I am told over and over that there is so much I need to do before I take maternity leave, yet today (Monday), I was told to work a half-day (even though this will be a three-day week as well). I simply told the bosses that there is too much to do for me to do that (and I really can’t afford it – not with a baby coming). So, I worked a full day. Still, I got to exercise my eye-rolling abilities with the contradictory “you have so much to do – take the day off” messages that I keep getting.