"Listen up because here's a lesson... Life's not fair." -Marty,

- Film Club Ranked: boxd.it/3M2sq

Meta.

I love how Solondz does a story about two stories and criticizes the stories within the context of the story. It's an interesting exploration of the process, what works and what doesn't and how different takes on an experience can impact different groups.

I personally enjoyed Fiction, the first story, a bit more but really feel that both get at important things. I could've watched more students read their stories and get criticized by the group in Fiction, I found the vibe of those scenes to be interesting. Many reviews discuss how intense this film is but I don't find the intensity to be so bad... the film has a few shocking parts but it's fairly grounded for the duration, which I appreciated.

Really good!

not even sure what to say about this its absurd and would probably never recommend this to anyone but it kinda???sorta???worked for me in the weirdest way. dont even want to delve into the politics to this as its all so convoluted and fucked but idk. just really want to have a long conversation with todd solondz with what the fuck is going on in his movies

dry and nasty with some irreconcilable moral conundrums. few films hate performative liberalism as much as this, and the utterly terrifying scenes between the kid and the maid consuelo underscoring the portrait of the middle-class nuclear family, showing what has to be upheld to ensure it, are a great rebuke to films like roma that gloss over the inherent exploitation in the homeowner-maid relationship for the sake of a whitewashed and uncomplicated nostalgia. i have no clue if some of what's in here is defensible but the way it consistently engages with itself as a text and deconstructs issues of ethics and exploitation while at the same time knowing it may also be perpetuating these things due to the failure oftentimes of satire as providing adequate cushioning means it's at least solondz's most interesting film to me.

Probably a masterpiece, but also relentlessly pessimistic and often even evil towards its characters, to the point where it was almost hard to digest. Brb gonna go rewatch Singin' in the Rain and My Neighbor Totoro a bajillion times.

One of the best and most maturely written films of the 21st century thus far.

Great. A career-best performance from Paul Giamatti. He plays a documentary filmmaker who is attempting to examine the life of the modern teenager, although he seemingly misses every important moment and manipulates the result into focussing more on himself than his supposed subjects. I can't help but see this as Todd Solondz's response to American Beauty - there is one delicious, deliberate reference - and it's infinitely more complex, insightful and meaningful. Also has music by Belle & Sebastian.

WOW.
Isn't it funny that fiction sometimes seems like nonfiction, or vice versa? This is Solondz's most mature and honest work yet, peeling back the layers on misconceptions of American youth and adulthood. People treat others badly, sometimes forcefully, and other times in a subtle way. A brilliant masterpiece, and the endings of both segments hit me like a bullet. Todd Solondz makes even the harshest things ironic.
I'm blown away.

Solondz quite brilliantly prods and pokes at the often vacant, moral and intellectually bankrupt psyche of the subjects in question. Through his own spread of wry humour and pitch black wittiness he delivers sharp and amusing dialogue that examines themes of personal turmoil, youthful angst, racial and sexual taboos and even an entertainingly sad dissection of the American nuclear family, which for me doesn’t even seem like it’s that satirical at all. Void of all the quirky and comedic elements to the film, there’s also an underlying tragedy that courses through the veins of it; hopelessness. It’s a film which teeters on the precipice of awkwardness and sheer discomfort but remains engaging all the way through. I need to watch more of these Solondz films.

Ranked - Film Club Weekly Picks

Film Club #67
Film Club Ranked

I haven't watched a Film Club movie in a while due to exams but I was delighted with this one. This weird, short little movie enthralled me almost immediately. I know that 'Storytelling' is about a lot of things and I'm not going to even try to dissect that. I did notice, however, the ironic labelling of parts 'Fiction' and 'Nonfiction' because their names seem to contradict their content (which is probably the point in this instance). I thought the Fiction portion felt a little out of place (or maybe I just didn't like it that much), I honestly would have preferred a movie just about Paul Giamatti making a documentary - I do see the value of having each section though. Really interesting, funny little movie. I'm naming my firstborn son Scooby and my firstborn daughter Consuela.

Wow 20 years ago this edgelord nonsense disguised as a thinkpiece was considered provocative lmao

this is not a film that should ever be watched with a family member....and if you are watching it highly recommend turning down the sound and or using headphones otherwise it will definitely sound like you are watching a specific kind of movie....if you know what i mean

this is such a strange movie but that is kind of its appeal? it is so uncomfortably awkward that it serves its exact purpose??? i would never watch this again personally but I can definitely appreciate it in all of its dysfunctional-ness.

the discussion the relationships between the upper middle class and the poor + the racism in the fiction part really was not depicted as well as it could have been in my opinion but i appreciated that it was there i guess

the ending of this film also was not it

but selma blair with pink hair uhmm YES

I'm very conflicted by this because firstly, I entered this movie expecting to be, in some way, enlightened by it, which it wasn't. Secondly, the themes and some of the scenes that happened here (even if they have meaning and a clear analysis of it) were disturbing, sad, and I really didn't want to see them.

I also really hated the first "fiction" part. And I think I liked the "nonfiction" much more because of the documentary part and some of the storylines. Although that kid, oh boy Mickey... I need to throw hands...

film club!

I’m sorry this might be rude but that little kid was so annoying and evil. I think I would’ve liked this if the stories were woven together better and the ending was more satisfying.

A decent and quite ambitious satire. It’s pretty absurd and shocking for most of the part. The film is divided into two halves , one is “ficton” and the other is “non-fiction”. I liked the first one a bit more despite being short, the second one is just pure chaos. Nonetheless, both stories are provocative and uncomfortable to watch, while having lots of things to say.

Film Club #67

I uh, hmm
No. I think I'll just go with no.

Hating that little kid is the only thing that kept me going. I wasn't even offended, just bored and unsure what the point was

Objectively flawed, scattershot, even crippled in its final form and way too short. The result hangs together in a way that bemuses me each time. Somehow manages in 50 minutes to outdo what took American Beauty nearly 2 hours to as well.

In the other section, we get a scathing defense of Todd's earlier film Happiness, and a kind of mission statement about writing and its purposes/limits. Watch Todd increasingly going out on a limb himself with a medley of new themes to tackle, and himself personally going to the bathroom in a school for teens to find his new subject.

How many themes can we get up to in less than 90 minutes? It turns out a lot. Definitely in the vein of a kind of movies made for people who love Haneke, yet also feeling like an episode of Strangers With Candy. If the third chapter was bad, maybe it shouldn't be here.

Watched For Film Club

There's some smart(?), or at least clever, ideas going around about the blurred or non-existent lines between fiction and non-fiction but it's buried DEEP underneath layers of cruelty, misanthropy, and nasty humor that's gonna be impenetrable to most people, perfectly understandably. I swear after every Solondz movie (still just my third) I wanna report him to the FBI.

🟥👄🟥

Leo Fitzpatrick is basically everyone in my feed for the last five years now.

Here’s another film club pick. I thought it was fine. It felt very early 2000s but it was still interesting. I still want to see Happiness but maybe soon. I know Todd Solondz is a pretty messed up director but this seemed pretty tame compared his other films. So maybe this was a good start. Also thanks Derek for the pick.