The Skin I Live In (La piel que habito)

Antonio Banderas and co-star Elena Anaya

Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar's 2011 film has been in my dvd queue for a while and we finally got a chance to watch it this weekend.  It's often described as psychological thriller, but I'm not sure I would agree.  It doesn't have a lot of the pace psychological thrillers often have, so I would almost call it a psychologically probing but relatively bloodless horror film.  I'm not particularly a fan of the horror genre, and I wasn't particularly a fan of the the movie experience of The Skin I Live In, but it does offer good food for thought.

The film is the story of famous and tortured Spanish plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas).  After his wife is burned to death in a car accident, he develops a replacement for human skin that is resistant to burns, insect bites, and injuries.  He conducts his experiments on a mysterious female patient that he holds prisoner in his private mansion/clinic with the help of his faithful servant Marilia.  The prisoner practices yoga, reads, and tears her clothing to shreds, but she does not seem likely to escape.  One day Marilia receives an unexpected visitor and events are set into motion that change the status quo.

I found this film highly repellent and the horror of it is still bouncing around in my brain.  My complaint is entirely with the content and not with Almodóvar's filmmaking, I think he delivered a good film for the most part.  There was one what I would call "convenient" moment towards the end that felt artificial, but for the most part, the script flows, the acting is excellent, the shots are beautiful and there is great attention to detail and visuals, from wardrobe to the paintings on the walls of the Dr. Ledgard's mansion.

As I was searching for photographs to illustrate my review, I was thinking how many strange and suggestive images I could include that might give hints as to the content of the film or entirely color someone's opinion about it.  The following things occur in the film and there are film stills of these moments floating around the internet: murder, rape, torture, plastic surgery, consentual sex, self-mutilation, and Carnivale.  While it includes all of these horrific things, it's not a flashy, gritty,  excessively violent, or highly experiential film.  There's not a lot of pounding music, it's a quiet, very well paced, and carefully plotted film.  The fact that Almodóvar really takes his time is probably what allows the horror of things to sneak up on and completely shock the viewer the most.

As I mentioned before, I do not like horror films particularly.  I think because this one succeeds very well at delicately exploring a horrifying subject matter, I simply did not enjoy watching it.  That does not mean that others should not watch it and it doesn't mean I'm not recommending you do.  If you enjoy psychological horror films, even without all the blood and guts, I think you would enjoy this film.  At the same time, if you want to be scared, this isn't really the film for you.  It's not frightening, things don't jump out at you.  It's just highly disturbing.  So proceed with caution is my advice.

Netflix Update

So, it’s several months later and, still with Netflix. Here’s what transpired to keep me from leaving. First of all, Netflix backed off the Quickster split, so that’s a step in the right direction. Then they beefed up their instant library, though it’s still lacking a bit in my opinion. Lastly, I dropped the blu-ray subscription. The blu-rays seemed to be more trouble than they were worth. Can’t take it with on trips because my laptop doesn’t have a blu-ray player, and they were also having technical problems, which the DVDs never seem to have. Maybe it was our blu-ray player, I don’t know, but with a television the size of ours in our tiny apartment, apparently, you can’t tell the difference. Also, I am working on turning the DVDs over faster too. So now I’m paying $15.98 a month for streaming and 1 DVD at a time. If I manage to watch two things on instant and get two DVDs a month, that’s about the same price as HD videos from those on demand services. I can live with this, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until another price hike hits.

Senna

I had hoped to watch Asif Kapadia's Senna in the theaters in support of theatrical releases for documentary films, but it's hard enough to find time to go to the theater in the first place to watch epic action films that should be viewed on a big screen, much less docs that will probably be making their way to Netflix fairly soon as Senna did.  I ended up watching it on Netflix streaming on my blu-ray player and I probably enjoyed it more that way.

Senna is the story Ayrton Senna, a Brazilian Formula One racer whose intensity and brilliance catapulted him to stardom shortly after joining F1.  Handsome and charming, the endless archival footage of Senna is captivating, and its discovery must have inspired the filmmakers to craft this beautiful and poetic story.  The film primarily focuses on Senna's racing career and the intense rivalry between him and French racer Alain Prost.  This is a great documentary and I would recommend it to anyone, doc lover or no.

I think it was the right moment for me to watch it as well, as we are currently wrapping up editorial on our documentary, Waiting for Lightning, another film about an amazing individual who also happens to be an athlete risking his life in pursuit of his passion.  But more about that in later posts.  As I was watching Senna with my fairly critical eye, I felt myself questioning some of the choices made about not showing interviewees, about the way this looked or that, and I kept thinking, I don't agree with this, but at the end of the film, I found myself deeply emotionally connected to Ayrton Senna, and I think I probably reacted just the way the filmmakers were hoping.  

I think as viewers we often second guess the creators, saying, why didn't they do this, or why didn't they do that?  Well, the truth is, sometimes they did try this or that, but it actually didn't work as well, or accomplish what they were trying to do.  I think Kapadia et al gave the archival a fairly light hand, and let it lead the story, or rather appear to, since they combed through 5,000 hours of footage to put together just the right combination, to wonderful effect.  Ayrton Senna crackles with star power on screen, so why mess with a good thing?

Netflix: The Big Flip Flop

So Netflix has abandoned the Qwikster plan for now.  But I still am not sure we are keeping our subscription.  The whole thing is priced inefficiently if you want to have both services and the reason is noted in this New York Times Blog Article : Netflix, in Reversal, Will Keep Its Services Together: 

"Netflix said it never actually separated the services or started Qwikster. But the planned breakup was rooted in Mr. Hastings’ belief that DVDs and online streams have different cost structures and different consumer demographics."  Hastings couldn't be more wrong in terms of the consumer demographics.  The public outcry at the planned breakup has proved there is a significant overlap between people who consume DVDs/blu-rays and those who consume streaming content.  And this, for the most part, is created by the fact that their streaming library is still not as extensive as their DVD library.  Without this problem, he would likely be correct.  I don't know what the cost structures are for Netflix for the two different services, but I know I'd be willing to pay more for streaming than I currently do if I could be guaranteed HD streaming of every title in the DVD library.  Alas, I think it's the studios and media conglomerates that stand in the way of that.  They would rather sell DVDs than streaming rights it seems.  This will obviously evolve, but these media behemoths move and change slowly and Netflix just got a little too impatient for their own good.

More Commentary, interesting point of view from Popular Science:

Forbes: Netflix Did the Right Thing
Popular Science: We Should Forgive Netflix—But Maybe Netflix Shouldn't Forgive Us

Netflix Replacement: The Hunt Is On

Why Netflix?  Life was so easy and you had to make it so complicated.  And expensive.  At first you hike the rates, now we have Qwikster? It’s so convoluted now.  Is this a play by Netflix to convince the media conglomerates to move on from physical media?  Because with a name like Qwikster, I think it’s doomed to fail.  Not mention all the crap Netflix has pulled lately, alienating its entire customer base.  Now, I’m sorry to say, the search is on in our household for a better service.  Well, it seems like Netflix is trying to shift everyone to the streaming service ultimately and abandon the disc model.  Which is not that bad of an idea.  How many times have we gotten a blu-ray and it didn’t work? At least 60% of the time we get blu-rays, which is why I tend to stick to dvds.  How many times have I been unable to stream a Netflix video?  Twice.  Buffalo ’66 and The Secret of the Grain (La graine et le mulet).  So a much higher success rate.  I would love to only stream, I think we all would, but we all know that isn’t feasible, because their library just isn’t there yet.  If every movie on my DVD queue were available on instant, I would not longer be searching.  I’d cancel the dvd subscription and stream to my heart’s content.  Unfortunately, the Netflix dvd only collection is for the most part made up of recent releases, extremely popular titles, and some obscure classic films that somehow they didn’t get streaming rights to.  So here are some options for on demand streaming of those recent releases that Netflix can’t seem to offer instantly. (For the obscure films, coverage is pretty spotty at all these other sources.)

Amazon Instant Video and Amazon Prime
Subscription Fee: $80/yr for Amazon Prime (comes with other perks too).  Allows unlimited streaming of many TV shows and some films.
Cost of Recent Release Bridesmaids: $3.99 for a 48 hour pass (unclear whether it was more if you rent it in HD on your TV)
Highest Video Quality: 1080i for TiVo, 720p for everything else
Selection: The best after Netflix. Also offers season passes to current TV shows.
Delivery to TV: Cumbersome/Limited- Certain Smart TVs, connect computer to TV, Roku Player, TiVo
Streaming or Download: Both (Computer download only available with PCs)
Overall Rating: 6.5
PC Mag Review: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387719,00.asp

YouTube Movies
Subscription Fee: N/A
Cost of Recent Release Bridesmaids: $3.99 for a 24 hour pass
Highest Video Quality: 480p (DVD quality, not HD)
Selection: Extensive, but not as good as Amazon or Netflix.  They do have a number of films that are free, but apart from a few old classics, most of them are free for a reason.
Delivery to TV: Cumbersome/Limited- Connect computer to TV, Motorola Xoom Tablet, or Android Device
Streaming or Download: Streaming
Overall Rating: 5.5

Hulu+
Subscription Fee: $7.99/mo
Cost of Recent Release Bridesmaids: N/A
Highest Video Quality: 720p
Selection: Pretty much just TV, does not solve the movie access problem which mainly concerns me.
Delivery to TV: Easy/Ubiquitous- Smart TV/Blu-ray player
Streaming or Download: Streaming
Overall Rating: 3
PC Mag Review: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2366593,00.asp#fbid=aOiJtr94HcJ

Vudu
Subscription Fee: N/A
Cost of Recent Release Bridesmaids: $4.99 for 720p, $5.99 for 1080p
Highest Video Quality: 1080p
Selection: Surprisingly decent.  It seems focused on recent popular films and its foreign film selection doesn’t seem very good.  The classic film coverage is spotty, but it did surprise me with a few films that Netflix doesn’t have at all.
Delivery to TV: Easy/Ubiquitous- Smart TV/Blu-ray player
Streaming or Download: Both
Overall Rating: 5.5
Vudu Set top PC Mag Review: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2270955,00.asp#fbid=aOiJtr94HcJ

iTunes and Apple TV
Subscription Fee: N/A
Cost of Recent Release Bridesmaids: $4.99, available for 30 days with 24 hours to watch once you begin
Highest Video Quality: 720p
Selection: Not as good as Amazon for the films.  Probably on the same level as Vudu, but it also boasts a large television selection.
Delivery to TV: Cumbersome/Limited- Apple TV or connect computer, must have iTunes
Streaming or Download: Download
Overall Rating: 6
Apple TV PC Mag Review: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387719,00.asp#fbid=aOiJtr94HcJ

Conclusion:  Okay so the going rate for a recent release HD movie rental is $4.99.  $3.99 for SD.  Other films can be had for $0.99 to $2.99.  This is probably a more economical option than the 1-at-a-time Netflix dvd/blu-ray option at $9.99/mo, especially if you are really busy and don’t want to have to cycle the discs fast enough as often happen at our house.  It also gives more flexibility and freedom.  The problem remains, the access to that Netflix dvd library is not to be had anywhere but your local independent video rental store.  We happen to have a good one fairly close by, but unless it was in walking distance, which it isn’t,  I just don't see it replacing me putting a movie in the queue and forgetting about it until it shows up in the mailbox.  Unfortunately, I think the search is just going to continue.  I didn’t find any good replacements yet and I want to see what happens with Netflix and Qwikster split.  I heard about some other options and will be looking into those next.  To be continued...

Great Films You Might Have Missed on Netflix Instant: The List Continues

NOPE TAKE IT ALL BACK. TITLES COME, TITLES GO.  I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY MAKE THEIR DEALS, BUT THEY NEED TO FIGURE IT OUT.


Okay so I'm updating my lists because with the price hike it looks like they've at least expanded the library a little bit.

Movies you might have missed, mostly released in the last several years:
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Kick Ass
Man on Wire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button NO LONGER AVAILABLE ON INSTANT
The Fall  
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus NO LONGER AVAILABLE ON INSTANT
The Killing
The Secret in their Eyes (El Secreto de sus ojos)  NO LONGER AVAILABLE ON INSTANT
Precious

Here's a quick list of great films you've probably seen (and if you haven't you should), but might want to watch again on instant:
Being John Malkovich 
Big
Bladerunner
Bonnie and Clyde
Double Indemnity
Gangs of New York
Memento
My Cousin Vinny
Raging Bull
Ronin
Sling Blade
The Big Lebowski
The Graduate
This is Spinal Tap
The Kid Stays in the Picture
The Usual Suspects

Also, seasons 1-3 of Breaking Bad and 1-4 of Mad Men are available on instant now!

Great Films You Might Have Missed on Netflix Instant: WTF Netflix

Okay, I know this is kind of late to be complaining about this because we heard about Netflix changing their prices a couple of months ago, but WTF!!  I went from thinking this was a great deal and a great company with good customer service, to wondering whether I should cancel all or part of my subscription.  When it cost around $11 or $12 for one-at-a-time blu-rays or dvds AND streaming, I was happy to subscribe to both.  I used the streaming to explore different films and make my list of cool stuff you might have missed because it was foreign, or indie, or just not marketed well.  Now it's just ridiculous.  The same services costs $18 and I'm sitting here trying to figure out if I should cancel the streaming or the dvd/blu-ray service and I can't decide.  If I cancel dvd/blu-ray, I can't watch most of the movies I actually WANT to watch.  If I cancel the streaming, I won't "waste" dvds on movies that might not be good, thus limiting my exploring and taking chances on indie flicks.  Basically, it really sucks for those indie filmmakers that depended on this tacked-on streaming service to get people to watch their stuff.  I can see people cancelling the streaming service now, simply because most people are convinced the selection was not very good.  I guess they weren't making money, but I'm looking for other options now.  Maybe Amazon or maybe some other purely on-demand service.  It will be more expensive per viewing, but it might be worth it.  I doubt I'm getting my money's worth from Netflix now.

Great Films You Might Have Missed on Netflix Instant: The List

Here is my list of great films on Netflix that often get overlooked.  Most of them are recent films that probably only played in indie theaters or had a limited release. I will be adding to this list and adding more reviews as time goes on. (Note: film availability on Netflix streaming is always subject to change.)

Exit Through the Gift Shop
Kick Ass
Man on Wire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Fall
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
The Killing
The Secret in their Eyes (El Secreto de sus ojos)
Precious

Here's a quick list of great films you've probably seen (and if you haven't you should), but might want to watch again on instant:
Being John Malkovich
Big
Gangs of New York
Raging Bull
The Big Lebowski
The Graduate
This is Spinal Tap

Great Films You Might Have Missed on Netflix Instant: #2 The Secret in their Eyes (El Secreto de sus ojos)

Argentine director Juan José Campanella’s The Secret in their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos) had a limited release in the United States this year.  I wanted to see it in the theater, but I never got the chance.  I was happy to find it was available on Netflix Instant.  I am happy to add it to my list of gems available for streaming via Netflix.  This is a great film.  I am a lover of mysteries and crime stories, but while this was a story of an investigation, as all good detective stories do, it transcended the genre.

Set in Buenos Aires partly in the 1970’s and partly in the modern day, The Secret in their Eyes is the story of Benjamín Esposito (Ricardo Darín), a retired investigator for the criminal court, who is attempting to write a novel about one of his old cases in an attempt to gain closure for himself in regards to the case as well as in regards to his unexpressed feelings for his superior in social class as well as in the judicial hierarchy, the straight-laced Irene Menéndez Hastings (Soledad Villamil).  As he attempts to piece together the past, Benjamin brings his novel to Irene, now a judge in the courts, not only to seek her opinion on his work, but to probe the waters. 

The case that he could never forget was the investigation of the rape and murder of a young newly-wed school teacher, Liliana Coloto (Carla Quevedo).  As Benjamin begins to investigate the case, he is struck most by the deep love demonstrated by her grieving husband, Ricardo Morales (Pablo Rago).  Spurred by Ricardo’s determination to find his wife’s killer, Benjamin digs deeper in the case finding new leads and what he suspects to negligence on the part of his colleagues.  Benjamin’s efforts to give Ricardo his simple justice is set against a backdrop of corruption in Peronist Argentina.

Beautifully shot with simple and honest framing,  the film is a joy to watch.  Argentinian Spanish is a very expressive and beautiful language, so even if you don’t like subtitles you should make an exception.  The acting was excellent as well, so despite the fact that minor subtleties of language or word play might be missed,  I really did not feel that I lost a great deal by having to read subtitles and not understanding the language.

I must confess that my idea of Argentina in the 1970’s was some nebulous combination of the Wild West and a police state.  I never imagined there would be courts and murders would be investigated, and people would dare to have dreams and ambitions.  I never imagined it would seem so “normal.”  It could have been New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, any number of U.S. cities with a history of corruption and violence in the 1970’s.  It is a universal story with universal themes: love and justice.  If a man can but gain one of these two things in life, it is possible that his soul can be at peace.

Previous Posts in Great Films You Might Have Missed on Netflix Instant:
 Great Films You Might Have Missed on Netflix Instant: #1 "The Fall"

Great Films You Might Have Missed on Netflix Instant: #1 "The Fall"

Tarsem Singh’s The Fall (2006),  presented by David Fincher and Spike Jonze, tells the story of eternally curious and unabashed explorer Alexandria (Catinca Untaru) an immigrant child laborer recovering from a fall in a citrus grove.  In her reconnaissance of the invalid hospital, where she is being treated for a broken arm, she discovers Roy Walker (Lee Pace), a young stuntman, convalescing after a devastating accident that leaves him paralyzed.    To pass the time and entertain her, Roy begins to tell her a fantastic story of adventure, but he soon realizes Alexandria's ability to pass unnoticed throughout the hospital corridors and attempts to manipulate her to aid him in his desperate ploy to secure morphine.  The story is completely engaging even as it shifts between fantasy and reality, blending the two.

The costume design is extravagant yet calculating.  The imagery of the film is a tapestry interweaving the earthy hues of early 20th century California and the jeweled tones of exotic locales such as India and Spain.   It’s a visual feast.  The opening scene is a particularly beautiful high speed sequence scored with one of my favorite pieces of music of all time:  Beethoven's 7th Symphony, 2nd Movement, the Allegretto (incidentally the same piece chosen to score the climatic moment of The King's Speech).  This is one of the most dramatic, emotional, and beautiful compositions ever.

This film is very engrossing and it has a strong emotional core.  Untaru gives one of the best performances by a child actor I have ever seen and the interactions between Untaru and Pace are amazing.  This is certainly a film to go back and watch.  Watch The Fall on Netflix Instant. Stay tuned for more films you might have missed that are available on from Netflix Instant.

Great Films You Might Have Missed on Netflix Instant

I love Netflix.  It is the best.  I do have one or two complaints, as I often do.  One is because of their deals with the studios or whatever it is, they will frequently take down movies that are offered for instant play.  I guess this is to keep DVD sales up?  Not sure.  Two is sometimes the instant streaming quality is not good, not because of the internet connection, which of course can affect it too, but because full HD quality is not available for whatever reason, again I think it has to do with the studios.  The final complaint, that I've heard some people make is that there are no good movies available via instant.  While I agree that lots of good recent film and television shows are only available via DVD or blu-ray (like how else can I catch up on Breaking Bad?), there are actually a ton of great films on Netflix available for streaming.  There is a wealth of documentaries, foreign films, and classics, enough to keep me occupied for years, but there are also all kinds of great films waiting to be found.  As I stumble upon awesome instant films, I will post reviews.  Don't wait too long to check them out, though.  You never know when they might get pulled down.