Naked City - Volume 1 Issue 3 - (Page 30)

>spin it never came here BRICK written by > PhilliP Andrew longmAn Film is the most accessible art-form of the 21st century, and we’re letting ourselves get left in the prairie-dust. So we at NakedCity are dedicated to providing you with this monthly session of indie indoctrination: We don’t live in an artistic wasteland. WiChita gets prestigious art titles like there Will Be Blood and atoNemeNt. But there are so many other brilliant movies that never come here. They don’t have big-name production companies behind them or Oscar-level attention. They’re made on shoestring budgets by directors who have to fight hard to get their vision made. Its hard for these visions to get mainstream distribution—if they played here at all it was a blip at the PalaCe Premier—so we want to bring them to your attention. This month, we want you to watch BriCk, the stunning feature debut of writer-director Rian nakedcity Johnson. The 2005 SuNdaNCe Special Jury Prize winner is a mashup of two well-worn genres; it’s a film noir that takes place in a Southern CaliforNia high school. Think, “Down these mean halls must walk a senior who is not himself mean.” Raymond Chandler does 30 nakedcitymag.com > volume 1 issue 3 the BreakfaSt CluB. Tough loner Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), is franticly contacted by his ex-girlfriend (Emilie de Ravin). She left him for the wrong crowd and now she’s in trouble. Big trouble. She mentions the word brick, but before she can say what’s wrong she hangs up in a panic. Brendan sets out to find her and before long he does—face down in a drainage tunnel. So like Sam Spade he sets out to delve the sticky details of who and why, delving deep into the sewage and taking more and more physical punishment the closer he gets to justice. It could be ridiculous, but it’s riveting. All the usual noir parts are there in ways we’ve never seen before. Brendan’s legman is the school nerd, “Brain” (Matt O’Leary). There are femme fatales and the weak-willed men they use: the rich and beautiful head cheerleader (Nora Zehetner) and the seductive drama queen (Meagan Good), the quarterback and the punk stoner. There’s a Goth drug lord, “The ‘Pin” (Lukas Haas), and his poorly controlled muscle (Noah Fleiss). The movie has a hyperreal quality to it. When you’re in high school, your trivial problems seem this serious. Fitting in is a matter of life and death. Johnson takes the juxtaposition seriously, and that’s why it works. It never delves into shtick. Gordon-Levitt manages to sound tough delivering gems like, “Still picking your teeth with freshmen?” and “She knows where I eat lunch.” He gets beaten as hard as Bogart or Nicholson. The ending is the malteSe falCoN on a football field. It’s not a perfect film. The dialogue is peppered with 1940’s crime slang. It enhances the effect most of the time, but sometimes it’s a little alienating. Between the slang and the muddy sound quality, you may find the dialogue hard to understand at times. Don’t stress out, like most mysteries, the plot loops around like a stunt pilot on mescaline. Noir is about the experience. Now go experience it. >>> http://nakedcitymag.com http://brickmovie.net http://brickmovie.net

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Naked City - Volume 1 Issue 3

Naked City - Volume 1 Issue 3 Contents Muse - A Walk Around the Block Terrain - Geocoaching Uncommon Threads - Stylin' in Doodah Iconology - Illustrated Man Babble - Reporter's Journal Noise - Hearts and Bondage Cake - Road Trip Grub Juiced - Death to Analog Muse - The Art of Emprise Muse - Vision for a Beautiful City Muse - Hand2Hand Uncommon Threads - Matt Egan Male Model Spin - It Never Came Here: Brick Street - A Piece of Americana Noise - Metal Engagement Spin - Road Trip 10 Noise - Jason Aldern Spin - The Need to Read Make Me Blush - Personal Landscaping Lip Service - Ask the Ass

Naked City - Volume 1 Issue 3

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