Wednesday, March 05, 2003

Human Nature

I saw the 2001 film "Human Nature" on the weekend and I liked it. I didn't know really what to expect, but I wanted to see it since the script was written by Charlie Kaufman whose "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation" are well-loved by me. It definitely has Kaufman's multithreaded plot structure with an elaborate, but simple tale of a man (Tim Robbins) who teaches a feral man (Rhys Ifans) to become mannered. Oh...and there is a very hairy nature writer played by Patricia Arquette (with a musical number)... but that's a lot about the film... in an odd way it reminded me a bit of "A Life Less Ordinary"... but that probably only makes sense if you've seen both films. "Human Nature" is directed by Michel Gondry, who has previously directed some great music videos for Björk and Daft Punk along with television commercials. Although the film is in English, it has a somewhat French structure and pacing (like Truffaut's lighter works or "My Wife is an Actress") which I liked as well. His next film is also written by Charlie Kaufman and is called "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" which stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet.
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Six Feet Under

Some time last year, late one night during a free trial or when I was somewhere that had a cable channel that I don't subscribe to, I saw a chunk of the pilot of the series "Six Feet Under." What caught my attention was seeing Peter Krause who starred in the excellent "Sports Night" series... I thought that it was an episode of "Sports Night" that I hadn't seen, but I realized that it wasn't. The first season is out on DVD now and I watched the first 3 episodes. The series was created by Alan Ball who made "American Beauty" and they share some elements. The drama is built around a family-owned funeral home and part of what I liked is the way that the family history and tensions emerge in the early episodes...it looks great and has a great ensemble cast who all seem to have deep roots in theatre... The family chemistry is great with a neat dynamic between mother, brothers and sister with a somewhat wacky employee thrown in. I want to see the rest of the episodes and I'm looking forward to checking out the second season as well.
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a weblog by Chris Campbell ⋅ Bio ⋅ Credits ⋅ Contact me (at) bitdepth.org

Wednesday, March 05, 2003

Human Nature

Six Feet Under