Left to right: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Josh Hutcherson, Mia Wasikowska, Mark Ruffalo in THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT.

In my discussion with director Lisa Cholodenko about her new film, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT — about a sperm donor (Mark Ruffalo) abruptly entering the lives of a lesbian couple (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore) whose children were spawned from his seed — I mentioned to her that the tone felt distinctly Southern Californian. Just to be clear: Despite my typical, knee-jerk attitude as a chauvinistic New Yorker, that comment wasn’t meant as a slap. It’s just that there’s something in the trappings of the characters’ lives, in their careers (Ruffalo plays a locavorish restaurateur; Moore is a landscaper), and in the overall sunny feel of the film even as relationships are being fractured and reassembled, that left me feeling that, though this story could really have taken place anywhere, it couldn’t have played out quite as it does in this particular setting.

Which is good, I think. The left coast locale provides context to the way Bening and Moore style themselves as models of a progressive, twenty-first century couple, and a affords a certain, reassuring optimism as the complications thrown in the characters’ paths become increasingly challenging. As with her previous film, HIGH ART, Cholodenko knows how to dig under the skin of modern relationships, without shortchanging her characters or overselling the drama. Turns out it’s not suprising that this is coming out in the summer — KIDS is a cool counterpoint to all the massive explosions and CG aliens that have invaded theaters elsewhere.

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THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
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More Relationship Insights.

Ahead to the Past: Tilda Swinton in a retro-future moment from I AM LOVE.

Before going on a brief hiatus (explained further in the show; we’ll be back at the end of July, latest), we were lucky enough to get some time with Luca Guadagnino, director of the captivating drama, I AM LOVE.

The film comes out of Italy, and — in its story of a well-to-do woman (Tilda Swinton) being reawakened to life’s possibilities, to both tragic and positive ends — manages at once to embrace the country’s classic filmmakers while paving a new direction with Guadagnino’s distinctly bold, visual style and dynamic editing. Driven by the complex, densely-layered music of composer John Adams, this is a lush, emotional experience, and one of my favorite films so far this year.

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I AM LOVE
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One of the Legends.

Liberation's Forge: A tense moment from STONEWALL UPRISING.

And so now we catch up on a couple of very good films that opened last week, but — because there’s only so much podcasting I can do before my ears start to bleed — had to wait a week to be covered. In the case of the film featured in this episode, STONEWALL UPRISING, the delay turns out not to be too bad: We’re still in the midst of  Pride Week, after all, so this documentary remains relevant.

This is from Kate Davis and David Heilbroner, whom we met earlier this year with the release of their black metal documentary WAITING FOR ARMAGEDDON. There are fewer church burnings in STONEWALL, but that doesn’t mean the event depicted — a 1969, NYC riot sparked when the police raided a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn and the patrons decided they’d had their fill of harassment — didn’t stoke its own kind of fire, specifically the birth of the gay rights movement. Davis and Heilbroner rally some great, eyewitness interviews — including the vice cop who led the raid — and manage to put the story in context with considerable footage from news shows and “educational” films showing how, even in the mid- to late-sixties, attitudes towards homosexuality had barely advanced beyond the let’s-burn-’em-at-the-stake stage. If you paired this up with another great doc released last week — 8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION, about the Mormon church’s concerted efforts to have their institutionalized homophobia turned into law — you’d get a good view of how far gay rights have come, and how far they still need to go.

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STONEWALL UPRISING
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A Worthy Complement.

Household War: John C. Reilly (left) faces down Jonah Hill in CYRUS.

Wow. Four films worth talking about, all opening in the same week, and I’ve got interviews for all of them. I’m also pretty strung out to begin with, so I’m not going to attempt to get them all in within a single show, or even a couple of shows. Instead, we’ll start off with two comedies that are somewhat interrelated because they both break the mold in their own ways. Then, next week, we’ll be back with one episode looking at a fantastic documentary about the event that gave birth to the gay rights movement, and another episode about a beautiful and riveting drama from Italy starring Tilda Swinton. (Yeah, I could tell you titles, but, hell, listen to the show — they’re mentioned at the end).

Flawed Production: Agnès Jaoui (left) endures the ineptitudes of Jamel Debbouze (center) and Jean-Pierre Bacri in LET IT RAIN.

This week, we’ve got Agnès Jaoui discussing LET IT RAIN, her film about a politician (Jaoui herself) enduring an inept documentary crew (Jamel Debbouze and frequent Jaoui collaborator Jean-Pierre Bacri) in her public life, and family friction in her private one. As with the director’s previous effort, LISTEN TO ME, the interlocking havocs set the stage for a keenly nuanced view of the human condition, only this time with a considerably lighter tone.

Marisa Tomei (left) and John C. Reilly in CYRUS.

Then we’ll be talking with Jay and Mark Duplass about their new film CYRUS, wherein John C. Reilly tries to woo Marisa Tomei while fending off attacks from her passive-aggressive, live-at-home son, played by Jonah Hill. And if that log-line gives you chills, remember that the Duplasses were responsible for such cutting-edge, indie projects as THE PUFFY CHAIR and BAGHEAD. Here, they let that feeling of spontaneity — ganged to an exceptional cast — work its magic, and the result is a comedy with a refreshing sense of humanity.

Good stuff this week, with even more to come next. Click on the player to hear the show.

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LET IT RAIN
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CYRUS
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When Reilly was Cyrus (sort of).

Not Quite Human: Delphine Chanéac as Dren in SPLICE

In Volume 1, Episode 17 of the Cinefantastique Podcast, Dan Persons Lawrence French, and Steve Biodrowski delve into the worlds of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, unraveling the mysteries of genetic engineering and bad parenting as they analyze SPLICE, Vincenzo Natali’s thoughtful variation on the old “mad scientists create a monster” scenario. Also this week, the usual round-up of news, home video releases, and upcoming events.

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Public Threat: A criminal (Javier Godino, left) delivers a not-so-subtle message to public servants Soledad Villamil and Ricardo Darin in the Oscar-winning foreign language film, THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES.

Seems to be some confusion about the title of this. For the record, according to the front page of the production notes, it’s THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES. Not THE SECRET OF THEIR EYES or even THE SECRET IN HER EYES, which is the way the video file for the trailer is labeled. So I hope we’ve got that all ironed out, now. Let’s move on, mmmkay?

The nominees for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film were a strong bunch: AJAMI; THE WHITE RIBBON; A PROPHET (UN PROPHÈTE) — I didn’t get to see THE MILK OF SORROW, so can’t say how it matched up. That the Argentinian SECRET — the story of a retired police inspector (Ricardo Darin) who delves back into a rape-murder he investigated in 1974 — took the prize may have had much to do with director Juan Jose Campanella’s ability to mold the film (adapted from a novel by Eduardo Sacheri) as a popular, whodunit while running deeper currents about love and sacrifice underneath. It probably didn’t hurt that supporting actor Guillermo Francella — better know in Argentina for his comic roles — delivered a complex, powerful performance as the inspector’s flawed sidekick, or that the film boasts a stunningly choreographed arrest sequence set in a crowded soccer stadium.

Campanella was clearly enjoying his victory, and we had a fun time talking. Click on the player to hear the interview.

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THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES
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Another Powerhouse Nominee from 2009

Dead Wrong: The poster for AFTER.LIFE

After sitting out last week’s CLASH OF THE TITAN’s episode, Dan Person’s is back in the host’s chair this week for a round-table discussion of AFTER.LIFE, the new horror-thriller starring Christina Ricci, Liam Neeson, and Justin Long, about a young woman who wakes up after a car accident to find that she is in a funeral home – dead, according to the mortician. The independent film is in limited release around the country. Also reviewed this week is THE BLACK WATERS OF ECHO’S POND, another low-budget horror film in limited release. And of course, the usual round up of news, home video releases, and random recommendations.