House of Sand & Wassup Rockers

So, I can't figure out how to get these photos on my sidebar. It's not working somehow. But I've been meaning to write about both of them anyway.

House of Sand was one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. I am firmly in disapproval of the constant use of the word "hypnotic" in movie reviews, but for this one it was actually appropriate. Be forewarned, though. This movie was slow. It's a Brazilian movie that takes place in the dunes (I'm not up on Brazil, so I don't know precisely where this would be), begins in 1910 and spans fifty or sixty years. It's the story of a woman who is brought to the dunes with her husband, and then becomes literally trapped there, because it is so isolated. It goes from there, and becomes a movie of three generations of women: the main character, her mother, and her daughter.

It was a beautiful and startling movie, and had a way of sneaking up on me once in a while with surprises, but after a while I began to check the clock (it is about two hours long). Slow... slow... And I am usually a fan of the slow movie. I can put some time into a slow movie and get something out of it. However...

So anyway, I was thinking while I watched it that it would almost be better if you just watched it on mute, like a moving photograph. Oh yeah, and the wind is blowing throughout the whole thing, and after a while the noise starts to drive you crazy. Yep, definitely on mute.


Wassup Rockers is the new movie out by Larry Clark, director of Kids. It basically follows a group of punk-rock Guatemalen skater kids throughout the course of one day in their neighborhood, South Central L.A., and later in Beverly Hills. I liked this movie, but I think it was mainly because of the actors. They were amateur actors, just kids, and that's what really makes the best part of the movie. I do give Clark credit for both drawing such vulnerable and realistic performances out of the actors, and managing to capture some great stuff on camera. But the movie itself is clunky, and the plot feels forced. What starts off as a sort of psuedo-documentary of these kids, following them around, devolves at some point into a series of very close escapes from varying houses around Beverly Hills (and the inevitable run-in with a cop). As I watched it, I felt like every time there was an opportunity to for things to go in an interesting direction, Clark forced it in a different direction. After a while, I just ignored the plot and watched the actors. It was much more interesting. And the soundtrack was a little tiresome. It was all punk, which isn't a problem at all, except for the fact that it was all the same. I could see what he was trying to do, but there needed to be a little change-up; after a while it just got tedious.

That's the latest from Toad Lake. I hope I didn't put anyone off these movies, they're both worth a look. Just saying what I think.