Week 2

"Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" (feature)
Dir: Pedro Almodovar
Premier: 1988
Viewed: 1/26/09 & 2/2/09
Review: "Women on the Verge" packs in a lot of surprises for the non-film buff. For one, I didn't expect to see Antonio Banderas in such an early stage in his career. The dialogue was subtitled from Spanish but was no less witty for it. It used slightly pale primary colors and chose red to be the symbol of sanity. There were many things that I enjoyed in the film, one of them was the amount of subplots introduced sequentially during the story. From Shiite terrorists to an eccentric taxi driver, the story gets more and more cramped and hectic until the very end, where we step back and see the chaos after it crumbled. Many had a problem with that, but I believe the film was just very well named.

For story artists looking for interesting and comical ways to shoot moments of insanity, I'd say study the down-shots and closeups used to frame Lucia, the male love interest's wife. A very entertaining twist is that in the beginning of the story, we believe Pepa, the leading lady, to be losing her mind due to her calm attitude in the face of absurd situations. By the end of the film, everyone else has been emotionally exhausted and the building subplots have all collapsed. The only one left unscathed is Pepa, who calmly weathered the whole storm. She wasn't necessarily losing her mind, but becoming empowered.


"Double Indemnity" (feature)
Dir: Billy Wilder
Premier: 9/06/1944
Viewed: 2/02/09




The Daily Show With Jon Stewart: "Jan 27, 2009" (tv series)
Dir: Andy Barsh, Scott Preston, and Christian Santiago
Premier: 1/27/09
Viewed: 2/02/ 09



Robot Chicken: "But Not in That Way" (tv series)
Dir: Chris McKay
Premier: 2/01/09?
Viewed: 2/02/09