rcjohnso: If you’ll forgive me, I’m going to gush a little about my friend Joe’s movie Don Jon’s Addiction. Don Jon’s Addiction is about a young man in New Jersey whose addiction to internet porn is holding him back from having real relationships.  Joe could have done this as a naturalistic character study, with underplayed performances and subdued non-committal style, and I’m sure it would have been great. But Joe did the exact opposite.  Don Jon is hyper-stylized not just in the easy-to-spot realm of visual style and execution, but in the sneakier and more abrasive/subversive arena of characters, world and conceptual construction.  It’s not a realistic depiction of sex, or male/female relations, or Jersey culture, or family dynamics, and trying to read it as any of these things will lead to the equivalent of critiquing skillful caricature as failed portraiture.  Its characters are all exaggerated, magnifying facets of a meticulously constructed object, and the sum of its parts is a meditation not on a young man’s struggle with porn or even his emotional maturation, but on the myriad screens we all use as proxies for intimacy with other human beings.  That’s pretty vital stuff. Oh, and it’s also funny as hell and so much fun to watch.  You guys are going to love it.  I couldn’t be prouder of Joe, and I can’t wait for everyone to see his ambitious, brave and terrific movie. Rian Johnson on DON JON’S ADDICTION, which is currently my favorite film at Sundance 2013. High-res

rcjohnso:

If you’ll forgive me, I’m going to gush a little about my friend Joe’s movie Don Jon’s Addiction.

Don Jon’s Addiction is about a young man in New Jersey whose addiction to internet porn is holding him back from having real relationships.  Joe could have done this as a naturalistic character study, with underplayed performances and subdued non-committal style, and I’m sure it would have been great.

But Joe did the exact opposite.  Don Jon is hyper-stylized not just in the easy-to-spot realm of visual style and execution, but in the sneakier and more abrasive/subversive arena of characters, world and conceptual construction.  It’s not a realistic depiction of sex, or male/female relations, or Jersey culture, or family dynamics, and trying to read it as any of these things will lead to the equivalent of critiquing skillful caricature as failed portraiture.  Its characters are all exaggerated, magnifying facets of a meticulously constructed object, and the sum of its parts is a meditation not on a young man’s struggle with porn or even his emotional maturation, but on the myriad screens we all use as proxies for intimacy with other human beings.  That’s pretty vital stuff.

Oh, and it’s also funny as hell and so much fun to watch.  You guys are going to love it.  I couldn’t be prouder of Joe, and I can’t wait for everyone to see his ambitious, brave and terrific movie.

Rian Johnson on DON JON’S ADDICTION, which is currently my favorite film at Sundance 2013.

2012 Movies #166-172

  • Les Miserables
  • Jack Reacher
  • Zero Dark Thirty
  • Django Unchained
  • Total Recall (2012)
  • Push
  • Sound of My Voice

And so my final tally for 2012 is 172 movies… Honestly, I was hoping to get over 200, but I think this isn’t a bad showing.

2012 Movies #141 - 165

  • The Road Warrior
  • The Master
  • Umbrellas of Cherbourg
  • Step Brothers
  • Evil Dead 2
  • Great Expectations (2012)
  • Silver Linings Playbook
  • Indie Game The Movie
  • Hobo With A Shotgun
  • Skyfall
  • Miami Connection
  • Babe
  • West Side Story
  • The Red Shoes
  • A Clockwork Orange
  • Back to the Future
  • Frankenstein (1931)
  • Lincoln
  • Back to the Future 2
  • Back to the Future 3
  • Secret Documentary At Sundance 2013
  • Alien 3
  • The Hobbit (2D - 24fps)
  • The Campaign
  • Life of Pi (3D - Atmos sound)

My favorites amongst the bunch (in screening order) were The Road Warrior, The Master, Evil Dead 2, Indie Game The Movie, Babe, West Side Story, The Red Shoes, and Back to the Future.

I’ve become really terrible at blogging about each film as I see it, and I’m trying to evaluate whether I should keep blogging about the films I watch in 2013. As a reader of this blog, please let me know what you think. Is it even of interest to anyone?