The Civilization of Maxwell Bright

At the Scottsdale film festival a few years back I embarrassed myself in front of Patrick Warburton. I was volunteering for the festival, which usually means handing out review forms or herding citizens into neater lines. But that year, I got to meet Mr. Puddy, who was presenting Civilization..., in which he plays Maxwell, on opening night.

First, I giggled when I was introduced. See, I always had a thing for him, back to the Puddy days. The guy is hysterical - and now I find out, super charming. Later, during the intro, he was doing a round of trivia and I was the only one in the audience who could answer a Tick question. I was probably the only one there who had even seen The Tick... After the intro, he sat right behind me, and I was worried I couldn't focus on the film.

But no. His character, Maxwell Bright, is a certain type of angry American, a guy who just can't handle independent, American women. (The character is despicable, and yet riveting to watch. You can't believe it's Warburton... Had he ever been in a serious role?) He decides to marry an Asian mail-order bride, a beautiful Buddhist who, of course, has no idea what she signed up for.

So you think you know where this is headed, that the drama is going to come from their clashing cultures, beliefs, and typical male-female struggles. That's how it starts. But there's a transforming event that comes out of nowhere, and profoundly changes the tone of the film.

It was my favorite film of that year. If you're a Warburton fan, you'll be very proud of him.

Do yourself and favor and don't watch the trailer, it gives too much away.

The Man Who Cried

This is the only Sally Potter film currently streaming on Netflix, and it's Starz Play, so it will be gone in February.

Better known for Orlando and The Tango Lesson, Potter's The Man Who Cried has the same fabulous look, using a cinematographer of the best European arthouse tradition.

Russian Jews, gypsies, and music form a thread that leads us, finally, to the Nazi occupation of Paris. It seems like a traditional holocaust story, but it's more about Christina Ricci's character, a young Russian who is trying to follow her dreams. John Turturro plays a professional singer, and did his own stunts, as it were - Cate Blanchett hooks her carriage to his star.

Potter worked on the film for 4 years, wanting to convey the horrors of the holocaust without depicting endless violence on screen.

If that's not enough to recommend it, Johnny Depp plays a gypsy. :) Let me know what you think.

Why the Title?

I used to be obsessed with David Foster Wallace. I also had an old blog called Entertainment Cartridges, but had become disenchanted with blogging, was uninspired to write about anything, and was seriously sad about DFW's death. Stopped updating in 2009...

The one thing that hasn't changed since then for me, entertainment-wise, is my obsession with film. This title comes from Infinite Jest, DFW's magnificent opus. Yeah, it's a book, but it's a book that's partially about a film, a film so entertaining that viewers watch it repeatedly, losing interest in everything else but the film, and become zombie-like. The film is on the Entertainment Cartridge, and it goes missing... (I look forward to your corrections, Howling Fantods.) This is oversimplified, of course, but that particular concept from the book has always stayed with me.

Cut to now. A few months ago I gave up cable - was wasting too much time watching crap, and spending too much money on it. I substituted Apple Tv 2 and a Netflix streaming subscription (and a little Hulu on the side, but the movies there -eh). People complain a lot about the streaming selection, and compared to their DVD list, it does suck. And it's only going to get worse in Feb when they lose Starz. But if you're like me, you're willing to dig, to make the most of it, for your lousy $8 a month.

So here's my plan. I'm going to share the good ones here, ones I dug for, stumbled on, or got from fellow obsessives. And I hope that you'll share yours in return.