The King is Dead...Long Live, Ahhh Fuck It

Schamus wearing his professor's bow tie, sits outside Dodge Hall

So as you may or may not have heard there was what we like to call a clusterfuck of a coup d'état over at Focus Features, and visionary producer and distributor; James Schamus was basically let go with Universal forcing Focus to relocate to Los Angeles under the guise of some other guy whom no one has ever heard of, and now Focus is going to suck more than the government shutdown. This hits no one harder than someone like me, and I'm not showing off here, but got to not know him personally but at least pick his brain for a semester during grad school when he taught my Narrative in Film class in a tiny dingy classroom at Dodge Hall at Columbia University in the Fall of 2008. 

It was the hardest single class I've ever had, and also the most rewarding. It showed me that there was hope for the film industry as long as visionaries like Schamus were still big players in the game, and really understood the medium better than the money-hounds. 

Schamus and one of his favorite collaborators; Ang Lee. They made three films together.

Here's what I THINK happened, because no one really knows. I'm sure it will be made public soon. Focus, though being owned by Universal has maintained its integrity throughout and also its loyalty to independent film. Universal was feeling antsy and decided out with the old and in with the new. Focus made it's home in New York City where film is still appreciated as an art form, so they decided well, to hell with that, we'll sell our souls and move the whole company to Los Angeles, leaving Schamus and everyone he ever made famous or important back in NYC to fend for themselves. 

A little history about Schamus. He started out with his own company called Good Machine, and personally pioneered the New Queer Cinema movement along with producers like Christine Vachon (another visionary) and her company Killer Films, which is also New York based. Together, they released the films of Gus Van Sant, Todd Haynes, Tom Kalin, Derek Jarman, and others, building a repore within the indie world as mavericks of cinema. 

Schamus and fellow renegades of cinema, director John Waters and producer Christin Vachon.

Once Schamus started getting more notice, he took things into a more mainstream direction and founded Focus Features, which gave him the opportunity to take small independent films that no one else would touch like Francois Ozon's masterpiece Swimming Pool (2003), and Todd Haynes' definitive work Far from Heaven (2004) and managed not only to make them financially successful, but to win them all kinds of acclaim from the Palm d'Or (for The Pianist (2002)), to multiple Oscars and nominations (For Milk (2008) and (Brokeback Mountain (2005)) all the while maintaining what Gene Kelly repeats somewhat ironically in Singin' in the Rain (1952) ...dignity, always dignity. 

Brokeback Mountain (2005), a film who's meteoric rise and lasting affect on cinema culture would not have been possible without the guidance of James Schamus.

If I could just open things up here for a minute and speak to James Schamus directly, I would say that you sir, were a paragon, and an iconoclast of cinematic distribution and production in a sea of people who just want to make a quick buck. You have always held up your high standards and never given in to pressure. You've made successes out of the most unpredictable situations, and helped some of the best films of the last two decades be seen and appreciated. Focus will not be the same without you, and neither will the realm of American cinema. Without you, many masterpieces that only you would see the potential in will falter into nothingness, and that is why your departure from Focus is so genuinely sad on all of us. But I at least know that this is not the last we'll hear of Schamus. I have a feeling he'll stick to his principals as he always has and go back to his indie roots, championing the underdog, and remaining an integral cog in the scope of cinema. We all wish you the best. 

Below some trailers for Focus films: 

AWOL - An Unapologetic Look at Gay Women Home from War

A still from AWOL (dir. Deb Shoval)

A Columbia comrade of mine, Deb Shoval is making a feature out of a beautiful short film called AWOL, a sincere and devastating look at what happens when soldiers return from war, that is not Hollywood in any way, and I mean that in the best way possible. Here's the twist, unlike most films from Stop-Loss (2008) to Coming Home (1978) to The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), to the daily news, when we hear about soldiers returning home from war to their loving families, and coping with the process of painful adjustment, it's usually heterosexual couples. Think about it, footage is all over the place of men hugging their wives and children with an unbearably desperate love, but CNN always seems to shut off the cameras when it's a man coming home to his life-partner, or like what is explored in AWOL, when a woman soldier comes home to another woman who loves her. 

Even the New Queer Cinema movement, aside from some specific examples built its identity on 'gay' being a quintessentially man to man event, rather than a woman to woman conceptualization.

The film has a lot of buzz around it, and is definitely going to earn its keep among the great 'makes you think' indie films of this generation. 

Shoval draws not only from her own experiences but nuances themes of loss, fear, desire, and existentialism in a completely organic and non-pretentious way.

It is not a film about sex per se, nor is it about war, nor lesbians, though those are all inclusive within the plot. On the whole, it's a film about our humanity and our desperation in maintaining it. It is a slice of pure Americana at its most desolate, and most forgiving. Shoval illustrates that this is a film that we can all identify with. Sometimes the best way to tell a universal story is to tell it minutely, and as personally as possible, and this is what I believe Shoval is able to accomplish. She is one of those rare filmmakers that is completely sincere with every scene she creates. 

AWOL makes you think not only of those beautiful times that come with having ones that you love come back to you from unimaginable circumstances, but the hard part, which is everything that happens afterwards. 

Does it deserve to be a feature length film? Absolutely. In fact, I'm surprised no one has yet made it so. But you can help and donate to not only make this a reality, but also contribute to a very important aspect of our culture being finally put to celluloid completely devoid of pretentiousness, and wholly vulnerable and inspiring.

Below is where you can donate to this film: 

AWOL Film Project

Below, is a link to the New York Times article on the film to get more info on it: 

Big Movies Coming in Short Packages

Best On-Screen Smooching

I'm not going to lie. I just ate my weight in McDonalds, because I'm secretly white trash and have zero self respect, so I am bed-ridden at the moment with nothing to do but watch TV Guide Channel's Best Cinema Kisses, because all of the animal fat is coursing through my veins like poison and I'm too lethargic to even pick up the remote and change the channel. I actually happen to agree somewhat with this list (OMFG I actually agreed with something) but of course not completely. They are missing some serious heavy hitters in the tonsil hockey celluloid world and I'm going to go ahead and make my own list before the fast food makes it's way to my skull and renders me brain dead. 

Ok let's just get this one out of the way. The most famous kiss in cinema ever, of all time, bar-none, no arguments. Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity (1954).

Liza Minelli, Michael York, and Helmut Greim in Cabaret (1972). This prelude to the actual kiss goes on for a good 4 minutes, it's one of the most erotic things I've ever seen.

Yeah, ok. Atonement (2006). But I give the credit to James McAvoy. Keira seems completely devoid of any kind of passion, probably because she's not human.

Notorious (1946). This is definitely my personal favorite on the list. The story goes that back during the Haze code, kissing couldn't last longer than about 4 seconds, so Hitchcock had the kissing last about 2 minutes with intervals where Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman pull away for air every 4 seconds. Thereby in full compliance with the censors, but actually totally not.

Ewan McGregor and Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Velvet Goldmine (1998). Probably the hottest thing I had seen on film at that point, both men seriously know how to kiss. And the embellished glam rock outfits only make it better.

Match Point (2004). Second time Jonathan Rhys Meyers is on the list, but what can I say, the dude is passionate as fuck. No pun intended. Ok, maybe a little intended. This kiss scene way trumps The Notebook in the kissing-in-the-rain department.

Probably the second most famous kiss in cinema history, Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in the iconic burning of Atlanta scene in Gone with the Wind (1939) The story goes that Vivien Leigh actually hated all of those repetitive takes of having to kiss Gable over and over again because he had bad breath, but then again on set, she was a chronic chain-smoker, so I can't imagine it was too pleasant for him either.

The closest thing to S&M I had experienced when I first saw it, Marlon Brando tries to get Eva Marie Saint to admit that she's in love with him in On the Waterfront (1954), when she refuses he grabs her, throws her up against the wall and passionately has at it, she at first tries to fight him off and then succumbs, what girl wouldn't?

And let's end on a low note. As you know, I'm a fervent fan of the first Twilight (2008), and in this scene Kristen Stewart wakes up to Robert Pattinson watching her sleep at the foot of the bed, and apparently he does that all the time, now if that was me, that guy would be on the floor in a headlock with the police on the way, but she tells him she wants him to try 'controlling himself' and kiss her without basically eating her, it's really hot for about two seconds before he loses control and flies to the other side of the room.

And here are some clips, in case you haven't seen any of these and need proof. Now go make out with someone. 

Spotlight on: Swoon

The infamous thrill killers that stunned the nation. A Bergmanesque shot of Nathan Leopold (Craig Chester) and Richard Loeb (Daniel Schlachet)

I've had a slight stagnation on my Downton Abbey watching so I'm not ready to publish a third installment in the series quite yet, though I would like to instead shine some light on one of the best films of the 1990's and in my opinion, one of the most definitive of that decade; Tom Kalin's Swoon (1992). I'm seeing it at the Billy Wilder theater in Los Angeles next week and am very excited. Thought I'd blog about it to get ready.
Before college took over my life and I moved to New York, I was taking an interest in films on my own and taking my ques from odd documentaries on films that TCM and AMC would show every once in a while. There was one such doc about American Independent Film which of course was born with the work of John Cassavetes back in the 50's and 60's and reached a creative zenith and strength of integrity in the 80's with the film of someone like Jim Jarmusch, it wouldn't be long until Quentin Tarantino and the Sundance Film Festival dissimulated the whole thing but out of that collective in the late 80's and early 90's sprung a couple creative minds including the likes of Todd Haynes, Gus Van Sant and Tom Kalin who's work would be sub-categorized into what B. Ruby Rich coined as 'New Queer Cinema'.

It was unapologetic, low-budget, and brilliantly poignant, but most of all it was honest. The 'New' in its name suggested that it was a break from every cinematic cliche created to illustrate gay culture from the past and tell real stories about real people in the most sincere means possible. This is not to compare it to something like Dogme 95, because the formalistic concepts through which to achieve this sincerity were secondary to the narrative at hand.
One of the most profound films that came out of this movement was tragic yet rather snide drama Swoon (1992) starring Craig Chester and Daniel Schlatchet as Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb; two young men who, one fated night in the 1920's murdered a young boy simply for the thrill of it, believing themselves to be the physical manifestations of the Nietzschean Superman. This story and the subsequent trial that followed were so sensationalized that it actually has had many previous film adaptations of it, most notably Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948) and Compulsion (1959) starring Orson Welles. Yet, every film prior seemed to sidestep one big part of the story; Leopold and Loeb were lovers (although to be fair, Hitchcock's version does hint at it a great deal). Note: in 1997 Michael Haneke would loosely adapt the story for his excellent film Funny Games which could also be classified under New Queer Cinema.
Though this was common knowledge and used frequently in their infamous trial, Hollywood always seemed to sidestep this one big notion. There was a romance as timeless and devoted as we've ever seen between the these two young thrill killers that is the centerpiece of Swoon. Beyond the grizzly nature of this murder, there is a love story that motivates the shocking action that lead to both of the lovers' demise. It's bizarre, it's co-dependent, it's passionate, and it's volatile, and most of all it was doomed.  They killed because they could, and perhaps for love. But what Tom Kalin explores is the notion that we would do anything we possibly could to keep the other person interested, and to keep the other person impressed. It's the ego in us.
The visual poetry of this tragic love story is breathtaking. It is shot on grainy black & white film, with minimal and at times anachronistic set dressing and a general stylized aesthetic. It looks remarkable, but that doesn't overshadow the staunch and cynical tone with which it tells it's story. It's very stoic and seems at once detached from itself so that it does not lay on the drama heavy-handedly, which is incredibly effective in that it requires the viewer to experience the narrative objectively.

Of the two main characters, the star of the film is clearly Craig Chester (who plays Nathan Leopold) a character who felt intellectually superior but psychically inferior to most, but in particular to his lover Richard Loeb and to prove his genius incited, planned, and executed the murder (or so it was thought). He is shown as a man who is completely sexually aware and able to therefore control his impulses so that he is able to play mind games on his partner and manipulate him all the while keeping strangely calm...i think that's what we all secretly wish we could do quite honestly. We've all tried to have the upper hand in a relationship, but goddamn emotion always gets in the way.

The narrative functions highly based on the visual style in order to portray the sexual subtext through iconography. Visually, this film draws on techniques of Ingmar Bergman, Kenneth Anger, and even to a lesser extent Andy Warhol and creates a re-imagined aesthetic of sexual representation on film, and I'm going to stop right now before this begins to sound like a thesis.

To conclude, Swoon (1992) is a major important commentary on sex and the mental state. It's wholly psychoanalytical and impeccably honest. It's cinematography is stunning, and it's writing though dated is rather superb. This was a tiny film that wouldn't have had as big a legacy had it not been one of the seminal works of the New Queer Cinema movement, and now will thankfully have a rightful place in the sex-in-cinema anthology.

Here is the trailer: