Analog This: Community, Pillow Fights, and Storytelling Algorithems

 The Changlourious Basterds.

Earlier this week, while reading a document for my English class, I realized something: studying theory can really suck, especially when words such as "interpellation" are used every other word. So I vow now, when discussing a comedic pop culture artifact* such as "Community," I will do all I can to stay away from such language.

This seems necessary, especially when the story at hand is about how a pillow fight turns into war.

Movie Review: Chronicle

Apparently, when you put together two genres together that didn't need another entry (superhero; found footage), something good can happen. 

"Chronicle" is like taking a philosophy course, albeit an introductory one where you only go to half of the lectures. That doesn't mean it isn't intriguing, it just means that there could have been a little more substance to stick around for. 

Movie Review: Project X

There is a code of objectivity that all journalists are supposed to abide by. As a self-proclaimed film journalist who tries to live by these rules, there are times when my objectiveness goes right out the door. With something like "Project X," there is no other way to approach it.

"Project X" contains pretty much everything I usually hate in a movie: its sexist, stupid, overlong, and incredibly unrealistic. I did not hate it, and I did not love it either. However, I enjoyed just about every single minute of it.

"Project X" falls into the subgenre of the mockumentary genre, under the kingdom of comedy and or drama, known as the found footage footage movie. I just wrote that last sentence because it made me sound like a scientist. Anyway, it is less hilarious than "This is Spinal Tap" but more developed than "The Blair Witch Project." Three best friends in high school, all incredibly unpopular, decide to throw the party of the century in order to get noticed. They hire someone (Dax Flame) to film the whole experience for them. He turns out to be a pretty bad fly on the wall, and the party becomes both a success and a disaster.

Movie Review: Exit Through the Gift Shop

There can be a point in a certain film where it stops being a film and starts a living, breathing creature. Some call this meta. Some may think it doesn't even deserve a name. Whatever meta may be can be the only way to ever truly describe the riveting maybe real or maybe fake documentary, "Exit Through the Gift Shop."

"Exit Through the Gift Shop" that tells multiple stories and is, believe or not, multiple films rapped within one. The main focus of "Exit Through the Gift Shop" is on Thierry Guetta, an eccentric French-American man who is obsessed with filming everything he sees. Thierry's annoying filmmaking begins to find a purpose once he gets sucked into the world of street art, meeting such famed street artists as Shepard Fairey.

One day, Thierry is asked to become the personal filmmaker to the most famous, most elusive modern street artist: Banksy. Banksy also directed "Exit Through the Gift Shop." Discuss.

The interesting thing about describing "Exit Through the Gift Shop" is that it may sound like I'm describing a narrative film rather than a documentary. That's because "Exit Through the Gift Shop" does a better job than most modern documentaries at taking its parts and constructing a coherent whole.

"Exit Through the Gift Shop" proves that Inception can be a real thing: once an idea is planted in someone's head, it can never be eradicated. Once the idea that this movie might be a hoax comes to mind, it makes almost too much sense. "Exit Through the Gift Shop" is either the best documentary or the funniest comedy of the year, or both.

However, Guetta seems almost too strange to have ever been invented. At first, he is likably ambitious. After a little twist, he begins something more of a psycho who has absolutely no clue what he's doing. Nevertheless, it is fascinating to see this man somehow become an extreme success in the world of street art.

Thierry Guetta may be the film's main star, but "Exit Through the Gift Shop" is always surrounded by the idea of Banksy. After all, this is a Banksy production. Even though he is nothing more than a man in a black hoodie with a muffled voice, he still feels so real and powerful. He also proves here that he is a multi-talented artist, not just mastering the world of street art, but also the world of filmmaking.

Real or not, "Exit Through the Gift Shop" does exactly what it's meant to do: explore the world of street art. It gives us a look at how street artists function in a way that is so close and exclusive that the viewer begins to become enveloped in the world itself. Notice the film barely uses the term "graffiti." Instead, all the artists say "street art." "Exit Through the Gift Shop" will make you more open minded about what art can be.

What "Exit Through the Gift Shop" is really trying to answer (besides who its own director is) is this age old question: what is art? Nearly any object in the world can be taken and turned into art. What Banksy is really asking is this: maybe it isn't. Could we be living in a world where the idea of artistic expression has been taken too far? That seems possible, especially in a world where people like Thierry Guetta can pick up a camera or a paint brush.

"Exit Through the Gift Shop" becomes meta in that it is a film about the making of the film. It is like a behind the scenes documentary that is way more informative than the average behind the scenes documentary you'd find on Showtime. It is not really about the stars, but about the art that the stars create. What Banksy has created a behind the scenes look not about himself, but about his art. In that art, maybe the real Banksy can be found.

I could be thinking to myself right now that it is a real shame that I didn't see "Exit Through the Gift Shop" earlier on, for its brilliance deserves a spot on my list of the ten best films of 2010. However, I find it impossible to say that. "Exit Through the Gift Shop" doesn't even deserve to be on a list of its own. Its unique, reality-bending view on art defies the entire idea of lists.

Movie Review: District 9

For decades, Hollywood has been fascinated with the concept of life on other planets. The first films about extraterrestrial life began as ones where the aliens were portrayed as villainous, inhumane creatures looking to enslave the human race. Then, in the late 1970s, things turned around when Steven Spielberg proposed the idea that maybe the invading aliens were nothing but friendly, curious creatures. Stemming from that idea is "District 9," one of the biggest surprises of the summer.

"District 9" takes us to Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city. One day, a giant alien space ship stops and hovers over the city. The ships stands hovering over the city for 20 years. Eventually, the government opens the ship up to find an entire alien colony inside. With the ship immobile and the aliens stuck on Earth, the humans decide to segregate them into an area called District 9. We are never told what their race is called or what planet they are from, but simply that humans give them the derogatory name of "Prawn."

While in Johannesburg, the Prawns are mistreated and District 9 turns into a slum. The government plans a giant relocation project for the alien community. This mission is led by Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley). At first, Wikus finds him self battling Prawns. Soon however, he finds himself all to close to them.

A lot has been written in recent weeks about the many feats pulled of by "District 9." Most articles have focused on the film's extremely low budget ($30 million) and it's starless cast and first time director. They act like these are impediments, but in fact they are benefits. These elements just serve to make "District 9" more original and more refreshing. The blockbuster and the sci-fi thriller seem to be dying thanks to uninspired ideas and adaptations of toys and video games. Here is the first sci-fi thriller I've seen in a long time that is totally inspired and totally new. 

The first time director at the helm of "District 9" is Neill Blomkamp. Although it's only his feature debut, he directs like a pro. Much of "District 9" is shot in documentary style. A majority of the movie is taken from security camera shots and news footage. However, the whole film isn't shot in documentary style. It transitions at times to a typical filmmaking style. The film always transitions smoothly between these two styles. Often when a film attempts to balance out these two styles, it usually turns out poorly (for example, "Public Enemies"). "District 9" does the rare thing that most experienced filmmakers rarely achieves and makes a successful film that is part mockumentary, part narrative.

The typical blockbuster has needed a big makeover in recent years. Films like "Transformers" and "G.I. Joe" have nearly destroyed the idea that entertaining action films can also have a brain. "District 9" brings the brain back to sci-fi. 

Part of "District 9"'s big brain comes from the fact that it's an allegory on apartheid. This makes sense as to why exactly the film is set in South Africa; it's a country that was once torn apart by bitter racial apartheid. This time, the apartheid is against the aliens. The message here isn't just that apartheid is bad, it's that the forced segregation of any being ends up de-humanizing further those who aren't being segregated. It's not the aliens that look like monsters here, it's the people.

While most have talked about the film's connection to apartheid, it also mirrors several other current events. District 9 resembles the slums of Mumbai, and the way that South Africans talk about the visiting Prawns sounds a little bit like the way some people talk about illegal immigrants in this country.

The aliens of "District 9" look like giant grasshoppers who talk like Jabba the Hut. But it's not so much the appearance that is groundbreaking but rather the personalities of the aliens. Even though they are aliens, they behave like people. They raise families, they buy food, and they live in houses. The alien Christopher's troubles makes him seem basically like a human being.

"District 9" is not the best sci-fi film ever made, but it's the best one that's come out in years. It contains some incredible action sequences involving a vaporizer gun. The film also has an ongoing, very dark sense of humor and the emotional finale in a sci-fi film since "Blade Runner."

Already a huge success, there has already been talk of a sequel for "District 9." I usually am not a huge fan of sequels, but this is one the few films that I actually would want a sequel for. That is just how much I liked the characters, and just how much I liked the movie. "District 9" proves that in an unoriginal world, a little bit of unique ideas can go a long way.

Recommended for Fans of: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., Blade Runner, Alien, Cloverfield