Nyotaimori

i’d suggest not reading this if you want to see the movie and don’t want anything spoiled for your viewing pleasure.

it’s a sad day when you go into a movie expecting will smith to be his normal sci-fi film snarky self and instead get a slightly crazy, wholly unfunny smith. in the grand tradition that started with independence day and came through in wild wild west, men in black, and i, robot, i EXPECT will smith to be sarcastic while kicking ass and taking alien/robot names. i do NOT expect him to pant in terror, talk to mannequins like a crazy person, and kill his dog. the will smith i know would have found a cure before snapping the dog’s neck. this is just depressing.

also depressing was the inclusion of emma thompson as the originator of the disease. i do not like her to be the destruction of the human race.

the infected people were pretty fucking scary. they did the whole open-the-mouth-downwards-really-wide-roar thing that the mummy in the mummy did (a movie which i, admittedly, love because there’s an ass-kicking, name-taking, sarcasm-making male lead). annoyingly smith did not seem to catalog on his stupid streaming video camera that the infected HAD redeveloped human-like cognitive behavior in their creation of an alpha-male general character who set up booby traps and attacked smith’s dog with slavering infected dogs. but luckily god and butterflies come to him and he found the cure at the end in time to give it to the completely unrealistic duo that just saved him from a suicide run. you know what i enjoyed? how the infected found his house and he blew up washington square.

basically this movie started with chasing deer through the middle of new york’s devastation and i had to cover my eyes for THAT at the thunks the deer made as they ran into things. it didn’t get any better from there. stupid hank at the video store, stupid will smith crying to a mannequin, stupid flashbacks, stupid god/butterfly theme, stupid depressing/terrifying movie. and the ending, oh god(butterfly), seriously? voice over? VOICE OVER? not ok.

and speaking of cool ass films, did you know that they made persepolis by marjane satrapi into a movie? hell yeah! who wants to see that? it’s playing in SF on december 12 and should be pretty good. the graphic novels by satrapi are good, after all. it is $25 though. but this includes a reception and talk by satrapi and the director.

Marjane Satrapi, with codirector Vincent Paronnaud, brings her acclaimed memoirs about an irrepressible young girl growing up in Iran and Europe to the big screen with a style that combines bold visual design with amusing and heart-rending storytelling. Thematically rich, the film covers the changing political climate in Iran during the ‘70s and ‘80s, the difficulties and challenges of boarding school and expatriate life, as well as the admirable efforts of the Satrapi family to maintain a warm and open home life amidst an increasingly hostile external environment. Featuring the vocal talents of Chiara Mastroianni and her real-life mother Catherine Deneuve as Marjane and her mother, this Cannes prizewinner (and submission

for Best Foreign Language Film) is a sensational film for adults and discerning younger audiences.

The screening will be preceded by an onstage interview with co-directors Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud. Following the screening, join Film Society staff in the Bistro to discuss the film.