All you Moondoggies (or dudes who like duck diving during the day) and Gidgets (or regular-size wahines) should be totally stoked regarding the Film Movement September 11, 2018 release of the 2016 documentary "Between Land and Sea." Righteous dude Ross Whitaker, who is not a Barney or a Jake, shows us the year in the life of Irish surf town Lahinch. 

Although the tubular vernacular above suggests otherwise, "Sea" entertains without depicting a California style surf scene; this film is much more "Waking Ned Devine" than '60s beach movies that include the totally awesome "Wet Side Story" about a romance between a biker chick and a surfer dude, A prime example of this is mood-apt instrumental music filling in for more rousing Beach Boys tunes regarding the copious footage of the surf. 

The following YouTube video of the Movement trailer for "Sea" perfectly captures the charming and mellow vibe of this equal parts documentary, travelogue, and character study.

The concept that Ireland has a thriving surf culture alone is adequately surprising and compelling to warrant a film; the characters who are the subjects of the aforementioned studies not being airhead slackers contributes additional depth.

The stereotype of the California surfer is of a guy who fully embraces a dude lifestyle to the extent of only working hard enough to keep a minimal roof over his head and tacos in his stomach. He also usually does not have a steady Betty and even more rarely has rugrats. 

The first man to whom Whitaker introduces us is a married mining engineer, who admits to practicing that profession just enough to provide his family a good life; he devotes much of the rest of his time to his passion for surfing. His English-transplant wife makes soap to contribute to the family fisc. 

We also meet a farmer/surfer with a good sense of humor; his comment regarding the relative status between him and a English farm worker provides the only political commentary in the film. 

We additionally get a look at a surf camp that allows a quimby to try to learn to shoot curls. Related fun comes via watching our subjects prepare their kids to hit the waves. A shoot of the face of a young girl when her 'rent tells her how her life jacket will activate if she goes under the water is priceless.

The bigger picture is the aspect of a tourist town that at least partially relies on a weather-dependent activity to bolster the local economy. Another aspect of this is working like a surf dog during the high season (no pun intended) and living a slower pace of life the rest of the year.

Whitaker encompasses all of the above by beginning "Sea" at the start of the calendar year as our Kens and Barbies prepare for (and otherwise anticipate) the upcoming summer; he concludes things with a wonderful community-oriented Christmas celebration.

The aloha regarding all this is that "Sea" indicates that surfers generally are the same the world over. Riding waves seems to keep their temperaments at an even keel regardless of what life throws at them. Further, these guys seem equally open minded and accepting of all. 

The awesomeness of the Film Movement July 24, 2018 DVD release of the 2009 French drama "You Will Be Mine" extends beyond this tale of a med. student being obsessed with her single white female roommate leaving expectations deeply in the dust. "Mine" further is notable regarding Movement pairing it with the (reviewed) French sex comedy "Three-Way Wedding" 

"Mine" additionally passes the same acid test as virtually every Movement film. It could have been made word-for-word and shot-for-shot in America and still made perfect sense and had the same impact..

The following YouTube clip of a "Mine" trailer provides a sense of the cinematography and the performances that make the movie much more than a Lifetime-style film about one post-adolescent woman becoming manic over the girl who shares the expenses. 
​

This almost literal year-in-the-life opens with a gleefully Marie Dandin and her entire family piling into the family station wagon to drive this piano prodigy to the gorgeous apartment that she is going to share with childhood friend Emma while Marie studies at the prestigious Lyons National Conservatory. The rest of the story is that M. et Mme. Dandin virtually idolize Emma for reasons that include her now-absent mother being an artist whom Mme. Dandin particularly admires. 

Writer-director Sophie Leloy channels the best of the '80s obsessed psycho films in having the drama start subtly before the excitable boy (or girl) of the film goes completely cra cra. In this case, Emma begins her reign of terror by seemingly innocently suggesting to Marie that they restrict their socializing to the apartment and never have visitors. 

The next portent comes when Marie convinces Emma to go to a restaurant; Emma subsequently is very uncool when cute Jewish boy Sami (who later shows one way in which he is one of the chosen people) and other classmatess of Marie run into the roommates and invite them to join them at a bar. Marie not properly interpreting the reaction of Emma ultimately makes a bad situation worse.

Emma soon making a very aggressive mood on a not entirely unreceptive Marie amounts to a rookie mistake that shows that the latter is unfamiliar with films such as "Fatal Attraction" and ""Single White Female." An increasingly aggressive Emma, mixed emotions regarding Sami, intense pressure at school, and having the limited financial resources of her parents limiting her options make Marie a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown by the time of her Christmas break, Her clueless parents inviting Emma, who charms the family, to come along does not help matters.

Spring semester drama includes Emma promising to behave and going so far as to invite Sami to move in with Marie providing a very short respite, A particularly creepy breakfast table conversation among the three roommates is a highlight. However, one of the best moments come via Marie trapping Emma in a major lie.

Leloy wraps all this up in a believable manner in which feelings get hurt much more than bodies. 

The bigger picture this time is that Leloy touches on many overlapping themes that are relatable to large portions of the populations of many countries. The first is the extent to which people who lack close ties with blood relatives seek bonds with friends; the second is the gray area between a close platonic relationship and a sexual desire (particularly one involving a same-sex pair). Even more dangerous territory exists regarding someone who is closer to the homosexual end of the Kinsey Scale engaging in physically intimate activity with someone who is close to the heterosexual end. What is a combination of curiosity, horniness, and fun and games to one can mean more than that to the other person. 

Film Movement celebrates Bastille Day Month with separate but equal July 24, 2018 DVD releases of French films with modern sensibilities. An upcoming post on "You Will Be Mine" discusses that film about a lesbian love affair between reunited childhood friends.

​Our subject du jour is the more comedic 2010 film "The Three-Way Wedding." The attributes of this one include a strong live-stage vibe.

The following YouTube clip of a PG-13 trailer for "Wedding" showcases the midsummer-style comedy and eroticism of the film.
​

This homage to Woody Allen and all the greats whom he honors in his "Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy" and numerous other adult comedies occurs during an eventful day at the country estate of blocked playwright Auguste. His day commences with an intimate moment with young law student Fanny, who is his assistant/confidante. The real fun begins with the arrival of visitors from Paris who are there to replenish the well of creative juices.

The source of much of the trouble is leading lady/Auguste ex Harriet being the current object of affection of leading man Theo, who accompanies her. Discovering this French connection enrages Auguste and prompts le fit hissy by the much younger Theo. Harriet taking off after her current beau does not help matters much.

Meanwhile, Fanny is the young innocent caught up in all this. These developments stir up feelings of ardor by all concerned, This is turn triggers thoughts of various unconventional options that reflect the title of the film. Fanny also is the center of a plan to literally upstage Harriet.

The absurdity of all this is that the plans to make Fanny a woman will rob her of the innocence that makes her appealing. It further seems that she is becoming "New Harriet." 

Theo portrayor Louis Garrel steals the show as he pursues Fanny with varying degrees of enthusiasm, plays young stud moving in on the territory of aging lion August, and regularly displays his emo side. Highlight includes his role in a reverse shotgun wedding and his clumsy attempt to seduce Fanny in her car.

Writer-director Jacques Doillon wraps things up in an apt but surprising manner that creates tantalizing ambiguity regarding which combination (if any)  of our characters will walk down the aisle and how that will work out. Either way, it seems sure that the finished play will reflect the outcome.

The fun of "Wedding" for Americans is the incredibly strong French feel of the film. Everyone is sophisticated regarding the sexual tensions and related overlapping relationships. We also get heavy emoting that seems par for the course for the affected folks. 

The summer movie season void that the Film Movement July 10, 2018 DVD release of the 2016 drama "Hotel Salvation" fills is for a beautifully shot foreign film with relatabale substance,  This film additionally is part of the always-awesome Movement Film of the Month Club. 

The following YouTube clip of a "Salvation" trailer focuses on the equal heart and humor of the film in this synopsis of the film. 

The Film Movement June 19, 2018 DVD release of the 2017 French drama "In Syria" provides another reason to look beyond Hollywood (or New York) for quality films. This production with an incredibly strong live-stage vibe literally brings the conflict in Syria into the living room of a typical Damascus family.
Writer/director Philippe Van Leeuw scoring 12 festivals wins in numerous countries reflects the good job by all in this film that has mother of three Oum Yazan converting her apartment into a "barricaded shelter" for her children, her father, a young couple, and a horny teen boy from the building. This siege mentality results from the constant sniper fire right outside the front door.
The following YouTube clip of a trailer for "Syria" showcases the tension and other drama related to being on the front line of a war.

The film opens with a distressed Oum using water from a large container in the kitchen; the action then shifts to the young couple with a baby dreaming of their flight to Beirut. The husband having an appointment to meet their reputable coyote that afternoon provides reasonable hope of that great escape.
The young boy is the fly on the wall as he plays with his grandfather, watches the aforementioned teen horndog demonstrate a complete lack of game, and witnesses an argument regarding a teen girl taking a shower that is much more serious than this running up the water bill or leaving the next person with tepid bathing.
The drama amps up when the "storm troopers" invade what essentially is equivalent to an "Anne Frank" existence. One member of the group taking the brutal brunt of this invasion further frays already strained nerves.
Other drama comes on learning that an absent resident is a casualty of the fighting; this leads to a harrowing mission, which leads to a few out-of-the-blue twists.
Much of the impact of "Syria" comes from seeing these ordinary people cope in these extraordinarily difficult circumstances. It also makes audience members think about how they would handle being in the shoes of these folks under house arrest.
The Movement bonus short film this time is the French film "Le Pain." This one centers on family, love, and loss regarding the impact of the man of the house disappearing after going out for the titular carb.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Syria" or "Pain" is encouraged either to email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.

​Indie film god Film Movement proves that the play is the awesome thing regarding the June 12, 2018 DVD of the 2015 film version of "Hamlet." This version of that classic tale of a dysfunctional family with an emo boy is a perfectly filmed production of a live-stage performance at the Manchester (England) Royal Exchange Theater.

The following YouTube clip of a trailer for "Hamlet" highlights the artful staging, the intense trauma and drama, and the best-known scenes from this play.

The stark modern staging is perfect for the tone of the story. Androgynous tall thin blonde-haired blue-eyed actress Maxine Peake ("The Theory of Everything") portraying the titular Prince of Denmark follows the practice of the alternative casting in many modern Shakespearean productions. Her appearance also evokes the thoughts that Portia (rather than Ophelia) is the love interest of Hamlet and that the original Yorick soliloquy includes rambling about guessing that Hamlet did not know him very well and concludes that he did not know him at all.

Other fun comes regarding hearing the numerous Shakespearean quotes that originate in this work. Not only do "Hamlet" virgins learn of the roots of these still popular expressions, their frequent use provides the basis for a drinking game.

The best news is that the poetic Elizabethan prose is very understandable; it is equally cool that Peake expertly delivers the numerous soliloquies that provide the primary narrative. The only disappointment is the lack of musical numbers ala the "Gilligan's Island" take on "Hamlet."

Stage director Sarah Framkcom starts thing out right with a sight of the ghost of the father of Hamlet appearing in a manner that is more "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" than "A Christmas Carol." The action soon shifts to a dinner party at which Hamlet is still moping about the death of his father a few weeks ago and his mother Gertrude is reveling with former brother-in-law/new husband Claudius. The urging of Hamlet to get over it hilariously evokes thoughts of the episode of the '80scom "The Facts of Life" in which well-meaning teen Tootie tries to get a grieving Natalie to attend a Pat Benatar concert.

Hamlet learning that Claudius is guilty of regicide and fratricide sets our already excitable boy further on edge. The related revenge scheme further evokes thoughts of sitcoms by including a plan to present a play that is intended to unnerve Claudius.

Meanwhile, the impact of these events on Ophelia and Polonius (who is the mother of Ophelia) affects brother/son/Hamlet bud Laertes  in a manner that strains his friendship with Hamlet. The pop culture analogy this time is to "The Princess Bride."

In true Shakespeare style, the final act consists of heavy emoting and bodies piling up like firewood. This leads to the curtain closing on the story.

The moral in this story that still rings true in the 21st century is to come for the culture and to stay for the relevance. Newly single parents often are are not very loyal regarding the former spouse and often quickly enter a second marriage with the wrong person; it is equally true that the kid is the one who suffers the most. It is equally relatable that the heir has mixed feelings regarding a leadership void in the family business.
​
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Hamlet" is strongly encouraged to email me; you also can connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.