The
New York Film Critics
Circle have made the following
awards: Best Film ("Brokeback Mountain"); Best Director (Ang Lee for
"Brokeback Mountain"); Best Foreign Language Film ("2046"); Best
First Film (Bennett Miller for "Capote"); Best Animated Feature
("Howl's Moving Castle"); Best Actor (Heath Ledger for "Brokeback
Mountain"); Best Actress (Reese Witherspoon for "Walk the Line");
Best Supporting Actor (William Hurt for "A History of Violence;" Best
Supporting Actress (Maria Bello for "A History of Violence"); Best
Cinematography (Christopher Doyle, Lai Yiu Fat, and Kwan Pun Leung
for "2046"); Best Screenplay (Noah Baumbach for "The Squid and the
Whale"); Best Non-Fiction Film ("Grizzly Man" and "White
Diamond"-both by Werner Herzog).
The
New York
Times film critics announced
their best of the year as follows:
A.O.
Scott: The Best of Youth; The
Aristocrats; Darwin's Nightmare; The Holy Girl; Match Point;Wallace
and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit; Mysterious Skin; The Squid
and the Whale; Funny Ha-Ha; and Munich.
Scott's Second Best Movies of the Year:
"Capote," "Good Night, and Good Luck.," "Good Morning, Night,"
"Syriana," "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada," "A History of
Violence," "Schizo," "Brokeback Mountain," "Nobody Knows," "Look at
Me," "Shopgirl," "40 Shades of Blue,""Kings and Queen," "Howl's
Moving Castle," "My Summer of Love," "Gunner Palace," "Broken
Flowers," "Head-On," "Casanova," and "King Kong."
Manohla Dargis:
(In no particular order) "A
History of Violence;" "Brokeback Mountain;" Caché;" "Munich;"
"Regular Lovers;" "The New World;" "Kings and Queen;" "2046;" "Last
Days" and "Princess Raccoon."
Stephen
Holden: "Brokeback Mountain;"
Caché;" "Nine Lives;" "A History of Violence;""Grizzly Man;"
"Downfall;" "Look at Me;" "Junebug;" "Saraband;" and "The Squid and
the Whale."
Holden's runners up (listed
alphabetically): "The Beat That My Heart Skipped," "Capote," "The
Constant Gardener," "Crash," "Good Night, and Good Luck.;" "The
Intruder," "Munich," "Mysterious Skin," "Syriana," "The Three Burials
of Melquiades Estrada"
Roy's 10 Best Viewed for 2005*:
Ray, Hotel Rwanda, Sideways, Vera Drake,
Born Into Brothels, Mad Hot Ballroom, Bad Education, Million Dollar
Baby, Heights, My Architect: A Son's Journey
*Since I see many films the year after
their release, some of these are actually from the previous
year.
2006 Reviews
My rating system:
A to F.
I see virtually all films on DVD. If I see
a film in a theater, I will so indicate.
"Little
Miss Sunshine"-The best thing about this
somewhat morose film is the putdown of adolescent female beauty
pageants which takes place at the end. However, to get there the
viewer must travel a road from Albuquerque to southern California
that has quite a few very strange bumps along the way. Greg Kinnear
is the father of the almost completely dysfunctional family at the
center of this movie. He is Richard, an unsuccessful drip of a
husband with a highly questionable scheme to get rich by promoting a
nine-step plan to success. Alan Arkin is Grandpa, Richard's cranky,
off-color and rather funny father. Toni Collette is Sheryl, Richard's
wife, the earnest and hard-working mother of two children, Olive
(Abigail Breslin) and Dwayne (Paul Dano), and the sister and
caretaker of Frank (Steve Carell). Frank is gay and a leading Proust
scholar who has just survived a suicide attempt after the man he
loved ran off with Frank's academic competitor. Dwayne doesn't talk,
having taken an oath not to speak until he can enter the military and
become a pilot. He looks as much like a potential military man as,
say, Mick Jagger. But at the heart of the story is Olive, the
cheerful 9-year-old daughter who dreams of being a beauty contestant
and lucks into an entry into the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in
Redondo Beach, CA. Despite lots of misgivings the family takes off
for California in an old yellow Volkswagen bus that ultimately will
need a running start every time they try to get it going. The problem
with "Little Miss Sunshine" is that it isn't quite sure if it's
comedy or tragedy. The film is loaded with pitiful moments posing as
humor. For example, when the otherwise very serious Frank goes into a
store to buy porn at Grandpa's urging, he tries desperately to hide
his purchase when he realizes (amazing coincidence) that the man he
loves is standing right there waiting to get into a car with his
competition, another Proust scholar. There is also real "humor" in
the death of one of the characters and the need to steal the body
from a hospital and transport it to California. Wow, I rolled on the
floor with that one. But "Little Miss Sunshine" does have its
moments. Little Abigail Breslin is charming and delightful. She
steals the film with her smile, and with her dance number at the
beauty pageant which defies description and which also constitutes
one of the best condemnations of child beauty pageants that I've
seen. B- (12/22/06)
"Sketches
of Frank Gehry"-The subject of this
wonderful documentary is one of the greatest and most original
architects in the world. Born and raised in Toronto, Gehry
(originally Goldberg) ultimately moved to LA where he created such
astounding wonders as the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao, Spain, and the
Disney Concert Hall in LA. If you aren't familiar with the appearance
of these amazing and unusual buildings, check out the photos in the
Frank Gehry entry on wikipedia.com. Gehry's friend, director Sidney
Pollack, was asked by the architect to do a documentary and Pollack
became an active participant. He is often seen camera-in-hand,
interviewing the architect about his life and his attitude towards
his art and business. Pollack originally scoffed at doing the film,
saying that he had never done a documentary and knew nothing about
architecture. Gehry replied that that was exactly why he wanted him.
Well, like his buildings, Gehry knew exactly what he was doing.
Pollack has done a marvelous job of cinematically exploring the what
and why of Gehry's creations, but doesn't hesitate to include
negative criticism. With the comments of several significant people
in the field of business, art and architecture, including the great
architect Philip Johnson, the former Disney CEO Michael Eisner,
businessman Barry Diller, former agent and Disney exec Michael Ovitz,
and the eccentric artist/filmmaker Julian Schnabel, "Sketches of
Frank Gehry" beautifully introduces us to a world of creativity
that's rarely explored. This first-rate documentary is highly
recommended. A (12/16/06)
"Superman
Returns"-Let's get to the negative
first. Unfortunately, "Superman Returns" seems like a remake of a
remake of a remake. There's the hint of the oft-repeated story of
Superman's origins, the ice crystals from past films, the threat of
Kryptonite, and even the late Marlon Brando as Superman's father,
Jor-El. And let us not forget the evil Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) who
seems to have the been bad guy in virtually every "Superman" film.
But "Superman Returns" has some positives. I found Brandon Routh
quite appealing as the new Superman. He certainly looks the part and
gives off the old Clark Kent shyness and the ultra-confidence of
Superman himself. And I also liked the story of Superman's love life
as Superman returns after a five year visit to his native planet (or
what was left of it) only to find that Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) had
moved on, had another man in her life (James Marsden), and had a son,
Jason (Tristan Lake Leabu). Old Super's disappointment is patent
until questions arise as to the paternity of Lois' young son. Parker
Posey is fun as Lex Luthor's sidekick/girlfriend, Kitty Kowalski, but
even though she obviously gets pissed off at old Lex for his many
evil actions, she never really gets to show her stuff. So "Superman
Returns" is a mixed bag. Some good, some bad, and always Kryptonite.
C+ (12/15/06)
"Who
Killed the Electric Car?"-When the state
of California ordered the auto companies to make a percentage of cars
with little or no emissions, many auto companies, including GM, built
electric cars run on batteries and California opened recharging
stations for these cars. Many were loaned out, often to celebrities
such as Tom Hanks and Peter Horton. This documentary centers around
the life and death of the EV1, GM's electric vehicle, which
ultimately died a mysterious death when GM and other auto companies
rounded up and destroyed all the electric cars (some as recently as
2005). The film, narrated by Martin Sheen, explores the ins and outs
of who was responsible for the death of these cars and the advantages
and disadvantages of such vehicles, including the effects on the
environment. Many of those who were allowed to operate the EV1 are
interviewed. The most interesting and enthusiastic individual in the
film is Chelsea Sexton, a young lady who was hired by GM to watch
over the EV1 vehicles and who, after being laid off upon the
mysterious roundup of the cars by the company, became a major
advocate for this new technology. B
(12/11/06)
"Idlewild"-An
old-fashioned 1930s gangster/romance with hip-hop music? Well, that's
what we get from Bryan Barber, a director of hip-hop music videos, as
well as André Benjamin and Big Boi (Antwan A. Patton), both
members of the hip-hop group Outkast. Benjamin plays Percival, a
quiet piano player who works in the family mortician business with
his self-oriented father (Ben Vereen). His antithesis is his friend
Rooster (Big Boi), a singer, husband, lover, and minor gangster
during Prohibition who succeeds to ownership of the local club when
its sleazy owner, Ace (Faizon Love), and another gangster, Spats
(Ving Rhames), are gunned down by Spats' underling, Trumpy (Terrence
Howard), with Rooster as an unseen witness. Trumpy then becomes the
nemesis of the somewhat carefree Rooster. There has to be romance, of
course, and in the middle of all this is the lovely Angel Davenport
(Paula Patton), a singing star who has arrived from St. Louis with a
seeming chip on her shoulder but who is peculiarly nervous when it
comes time to perform. "Idlewild" had a great deal of potential as
both a story and musical, but it suffers from some confusing scenes
and segues, especially early in the film, relatively weak acting by
some of its stars, and a mish-mash of musical numbers that feature
some first-rate dance numbers (choreographed by Hinton Battle) but
some woeful singing (it's almost impossible to hear the primary
singers in a few scenes). Hip-hop is not personally my kind of music,
but I'm willing to listen and experience. Outkast's music isn't bad;
it's just that the music used in the film is not as good as it should
be for the potentially powerful musical numbers the filmmakers wanted
to show. Ironically, possibly the best musical number in the film
occurs at the end behind the titles when Percival (or André
Benjamin) shows off in a powerful 1930s type stage number. Also of
note in the cast are Cicely Tyson in a cameo role, Macy Gray as a
nasty singer jealous of Angel, Patti LaBelle in a brief role, and
Paula Jai Parker as Rooster's frustrated wife.
C+ (12/9/06)
"Wah-Wah"-British
actor Richard E. Grant wrote and directed this fine film which,
although fictionalized, is about his boyhood years in Swaziland, East
Africa. Told through the eyes of young Ralph Compton (Zac Fox as the
young Ralph and Nicholas Hoult as the elder Ralph), "Wah-Wah" begins
in the late 1960s as Swaziland is about to be granted independence by
the British. Ralph lives with his mother Lauren (Miranda Richardson)
and father Harry (Gabriel Byrne), a British official, but their
marriage is miserable and when the mother leaves with the husband of
Gwen Traherne (Julie Walters), another of the local band of British
residents, Ralph begins to feel the misery of life's pains, suffering
a noticeable tic. Not long later he decides to leave his father and
attend boarding school. When he returns two years later, he finds
that his father has been recently remarried to a bright and cheerful
American woman, Ruby (Emily Watson), whom his father hardly knew.
"Wah-Wah" does an outstanding job of revealing the stresses that the
boy feels from the emotional pain that the adults are experiencing,
ranging from adultery to fighting to alcoholism. Grant has a lot to
say about the snootiness of the imperialist British (especially in
the form of Lady Hardwicke, played by Celia Imrie) and the special
way the upper class Brits communicate with each other (described by
Ruby as "Wah-Wah"). Richardson is powerful as the miserable mother
who wants to have her cake and eat it too. Byrne is first-rate as the
father trying desperately to keep himself together while his love
life is conflicted. Grant has done an excellent job of writing the
script and directing his first film, although there are some minor
complaints. For example, there are so few Africans in the main part
of the film, except as servants, that one would almost forget the
film takes place in East Africa. In addition, while Emily Watson is a
joy to behold, her American accent is a little painful to listen to.
Despite this, however, "Wah-Wah" is a beautifully made film, with a
wonderful cast, about the stresses of family life and society at the
end of the period of British imperialism.
A (12/2/06)
"Keeping
Up with the Steins"-I was surprised at
how low key this comedy is, considering the potential for stupid
slapstick/ethnic humor. Directed by first-time director Scott
Marshall (son of Garry and nephew of Penny--and not Jewish), "Keeping
Up with the Steins" presents a family, the Fiedlers, who have just
witnessed one of the most outlandish Bar Mitzvahs ever seen (riding
into the reception area of the temple on the prow of a large model of
the Titanic with a beautiful young woman holding on to him,
13-year-old Zachary Stein announces "I am king of the Torah!"), and
now feel the pressure to outdo the Steins with the Bar Mitzvah of
their own son, Benjamin (Darryl Sabara). Benjamin is scared to death
of standing in front of a crowd reciting in Hebrew, but more than
that he's concerned about having his grandfather Irwin (Garry
Marshall) present. Seems his father, Adam (Jeremy Piven as a
Hollywood agent--what else?), hasn't talked to his father for many
years since Irwin abandoned him and his mother (Doris Roberts). So
Benjamin invites his grandfather two weeks early and we soon see the
arrival of hippie Irwin and his girlfriend, Sacred Feather (Darryl
Hannah). Now this could have led to a lot of silly hijinks that would
have made this just another dumb Hollywood comedy. Instead we get a
fairly down-to-earth family comedy about love and forgiveness. Garry
Marshall, who has done just about everything in the world of
moviemaking, here does a fine job of playing the grandfather with
regrets for his youthful indiscretions. Jeremy Piven, who plays a
crazed agent on "Entourage," here gets to be a little more subtle in
his emotions. Also of note in the cast are Jami Gertz as Benjamin's
mother Joanne; Larry Miller as Arnie Stein, the man who comes to envy
the Fiedlers for their choice of Bar Mitzvah theme; Cheryl Hines as
Casey Nudelman, the Bar Mitzvah planner; and Richard Benjamin (where
has he been?) as the self-important rabbi. "Keeping Up with the
Steins" may actually be a little too low key, but it still gives off
a nice sensation that the filmmakers made wise choices in theme and
cast. In that regard, Darryl Sabara ("Spy Kids") does a great job as
the Bar Mitzvah boy who makes a very wise choice for his Bar Mitzvah
theme. B+ (12/1/06)
"Joyeux
Noël"-It is Christmas Eve, 1914, in
the trenches of World War I. On one side are the Germans, led by
Horstmayer (Daniel Brühl), an officer with some surprises in his
background. On the other, are the British and the French. The latter
are led by Lieutenant Audebert (Guillaume Canet) and the British are
inspired by their priest, Palmer (Gary Lewis). One of the Germans is
Nikolaus Sprink (Benno Fürmann), a famous tenor, who has been
joined at the front by his girlfriend and singing partner, Anna
Sorensen (Diane Kruger). When the British start playing the bagpipes
and singing Christmas carols, tenor Sprink joins in, and the
soldiers, who had only the previous day been killing each other, come
together in peace in "no man's land." They drink, talk, sing and play
soccer in a Christmas truce. That this is a violation of their orders
is, of course, beside the point. The film seems to be trying to
portray the true spirit of humanity among men who otherwise would be
killing each other. In a sense, though, this film is really about
religious hypocrisy. The enemies, or at least most of them, worship
the same "God," sing the same carols, and celebrate the same holiday
and yet, despite their beliefs, their "God" allows them to return to
the trenches and resume the miserable war, killing each other for
little or no reason. The theme is emphasized in an even stronger
scene late in the film when Palmer, who led the soldiers in their
Christmas eve mass, is berated by a Bishop (played in his usual
delightfully evil manner by Ian Richardson). The Bishop,
understanding what war is all about, holds a service to inform the
British soldiers that they are fighting a holy war and that "God" is
only on their side. "Joyeux Noël" is well done and loaded with
excellent performances, including those of Benno Fürmann as
Sprink; Guillaume Canet as the French lieutenant who must deal with
the jingoism of his father, the General (Bernard Le Coq); Daniel
Brühl ("Good Bye Lenin!"), as the German officer of a different
religious background who loves Paris and is related to the French;
and Gary Lewis as the priest who finds that doing his job and
bringing people together is simply not allowed when men must kill
each other. Diane Kruger ("Troy") is lovely but unfortunately
continues to demonstrate that she has little or no idea how to
express emotion. The singing scenes are poorly dubbed. Aside from
those relatively minor complaints, "Joyeux Noël," a 2005 best
foreign language film nominee at the Oscars, is recommended for the
issues it raises about humanity and religious hypocrisy.
A- (11/25/06)
"An
Inconvenient Truth"-I challenge any
conservative to see "An Inconvenient Truth" and tell me that we were
better off with George W. Bush in the White House over Al Gore. Al
Gore appears in this incredible documentary as a highly intelligent,
thoughtful, and caring man, a giant with regard to the important
environmental issues facing humanity. And Gore does a fantastic job
of proving that our future, and especially that of our children and
future generations, depends on what we (particularly America) do
right now to cut down on the emissions that are destroying the
planet's environment. Global warming is THE issue. Issues like
abortion, immigration, terrrorism, and Iraq pale when one considers
that the planet and its weather patterns are being so drastrically
changed for the worse right now by what we are doing to our
environment that life as we know it is in jeopardy. "An Inconvenient
Truth" consists of a rather technically advanced and detailed
slideshow that Al Gore presents to audiences around the world about
the history and effects of global warming, interspersed with personal
facts about Gore's life. The former VP proves that despite the
ranting and raving of deniers, global warming is a fact and a very
frightening one at that. In the not too distant future with melting
icecaps, significant areas of land, currently populated by millions,
would be underwater. Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons could
regularly be as large and damaging as Katrina. Drought and flooding
would increase, especially in parts of the world that will have the
most difficulty dealing with these problems. The point Al Gore makes
successfully is that we are not dealing with a political issue, but
rather with a survival issue. This outstanding documentary, extremely
well made by Davis Guggenheim, is one that is not to be missed if you
care about the future of the planet and life on Earth.
A (11/24/06)
"Scoop"-This
is the lightest and most enjoyable Woody Allen film in a while. Where
his last film, "Match Point," was too serious and annoyingly
contrived, "Scoop" is merely contrived in a classic Woody Allen
comedic way. And also unlike "Match Point," this time Woody
personally appears and is hysterical as Sid Waterman, aka Splendini,
a stage magician with a schlock act. With the sounds of Grieg's "Peer
Gynt" in the background, a young and beautiful blonde student
reporter, Sondra Pransky (played delightfully by the delectable
Scarlett Johansson), magically meets the ghost of a recently deceased
London reporter, Joe Strombel (Ian McShane). Strombel's ghost gives
Sondra a potential scoop on the Tarot Killer, a London serial killer
who is murdering young women with short dark hair. Thinking the
murderer may be Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman), the son of a British
Lord, Sondra, with the help of Sid Waterman posing as her father,
courageously ventures forth to find the truth and finds a little
romance to complicate matters. Unlike so many of the really contrived
comedies coming from Hollywood these days, "Scoop" put a genuine
smile on my face and made me laugh out loud a few times as a result
of Woody's Allen's smart humor. "Scoop" is charming and fun and also
contains nice performances by Romola Garai as Sondra's upper class
friend, Vivian, and Charles Dance as a journalist who advises Sondra
on her endeavors. A-
(11/22/06)
"Head-On"-This
is a moral tale about German Turks and the pressures brought on by
the immigration experience. Cahit (Birol Ünel) is wasted in
alcohol and depression after the death of his young wife. So wasted
that at one point he crashes his car into a wall "head on" without
even stepping on the brake. Miraculously, he has only minor injuries,
but finds himself being treated at a mental institution where he
meets the similarly suicidal Sibel (Sibel Kekilli), another young
German Turk. Sibel is young and lovely and wants to get as far from
her rigid, ultra-conservative parents and brother as possible. So she
begs Cahit to marry her because he is of Turkish descent. Despite
missing his dead wife, and enjoying passionate sex with a friend,
Maren (Catrin Striebeck), he marries Sibel to help her obtain freedom
from her family. Initially, the marriage is simply for convenience
but as one might expect, love enters the picture and creates
complications. Although the basic theme sounds depressing, and the
story goes a little overboard at times, particularly when Sibel finds
herself in Istanbul, "Head-On," directed by Fatih Akin, does a fine
job of exploring the pressures of old country values and their
conflict with modern life in a western country. Birol Ünel and
Sibel Kekelli are impressive as these somewhat lost souls.
B+ (11/18/06)
"The
Da Vinci Code"-There's really no point
to discussing the plot and theme, which is known to the millions who
have read Dan Brown's book, but I will say that this film is about a
Harvard professor of religious symbology, Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks)
who is invited to a murder scene at the Louvre, and becomes embroiled
in both a murder investigation and a religious plot involving a
search for the "holy grail" and the "true" nature of Jesus. To those
unfamiliar with the plot, the nature of the holy grail is somewhat of
a surprise and Dan Brown's intricate plot is pretty clever, whether
it has a basis in historical fact or not. Ultimately, "The Da Vinci
Code" as a film is a pretty standard thriller and has to be judged on
its cinematic merits. First of all, it's directed by Ron Howard
("Cinderella Man" and "A Beautiful Mind") who usually hits the
jackpot. He didn't here. The film begins in Paris in the murky night
and seems never to emerge from the darkness even when the characters
go inside. I wouldn't call the cinematography scintillating. Second,
although it has a pretty good cast, they never seem to be enthused
about their material. Can't really complain about Tom Hanks as
Langdon. He's just about right. Or about Audrey Tautou
("Amélie") as Sophie Neveu, the French police officer who
alerts Langdon to the danger he's in, joins in the chase, and finds
herself right at the heart of it. Or about Ian McKellen as Leigh
Teabing, the eccentric British expert on the "holy grail." Or even
Jean Reno as Captain Fache, the French detective with a secret tie to
the conspiracy. But, collectively, they all seem to be doing not much
more than going through the necessary motions. And I can complain
about Paul Bettany as the albino, Silas. He's too thin, good looking,
and certainly not sinister enough for the part of the murderous monk.
While it avoids confusing the audience with its somewhat complex
conspiracy, "The Da Vinci Code" ultimately plods its way through to
its conclusion, or should I say conclusions because every time one
thinks the story is over, it's usually not.
C+ (11/17/06)
"Cars"-This
is without a doubt one of the most truly spectacular animated films
ever made. A story about characters who are all motor vehicles of one
sort or another can be called "realistic" because of the brilliant
animation that makes the scenery and details look "real" at the same
time that we know it is pure movie magic and fantasy. From the
opening race track scenes to the charming southwestern locale of
Radiator Springs, "Cars" introduces us to a bunch of enjoyable
characters and a plot designed to show that there's more to life than
self-serving greed. Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) is a
slick selfish rookie red racecar who is ignominiously dropped off his
van, Mack (voice of John Ratzenberger), while on the way to
California to compete in a major race. He finds himself in trouble
with the law in Radiator Springs, a town along the old Route 66 which
was long ago abandoned by tourists when the Interstate was built not
far away. The judge, Doc (voice of Paul Newman), an old Hudson with a
secret, initially decides to let him go after Lightning destroys town
property, including its road, but Sally Carrera (voice of Bonnie
Hunt), the town lawyer in the form of a little blue sports car,
convinces Doc to make Lightning repair the road and he's forced to do
so while accompanied by an old rusted tow truck, Mater (as in Tow
Mater) (voice of Larry the Cable Guy). "Cars" contains a series of
delightful features, including the voices of Bob Costas (as Bob
Cutlass) and Darrell Waltrip (as Darrell Cartrip) playing the perfect
race track announcers, and the appropriate appearances of Tom and Ray
Magliozzi of NPR's "Car Talk" as the owners of Lightning's sponsor.
"Cars" not only has all this, but it also has some downright funny
scenes and characters, including the hippy Fillmore (voice of George
Carlin) and Lightning's agent Harv (the voice of Jeremy Piven (who
plays a similar agent on "Entourage"). "Cars" is directed with zeal
by John Lasseter ("Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2") who said (in a
feature on the DVD) that this film brought together his parents'
respective interests in art and cars. He has undoubtedly made his
parents proud. A (11/9/06)
"The
Lost City"-Andy Garcia, star and
director, was born in Cuba and is sincerely enthusiastic to
demonstrate that the revolutionary takeover of Cuba in 1959 by Fidel
Castro was as evil on the Marxist-left as Batista's regime was on the
ultra-right. "The Lost City" shows Havana as it was prior to Castro,
a city of somewhat decadent entertainment. Garcia plays Fico Fellove,
the owner of an Havana nightclub, and the elder of three brothers
from a very well-to-do family. Fellove watches as his two younger
brothers become involved in the revolution, while he ultimately falls
for the beautiful widow of one of his brothers, Aurora (Inés
Sastre). Despite Garcia's enthusiasm for his theme, "The Lost City"
goes wrong in a variety of ways. Mostly, it suffers from the poor
acting of Garcia who must have been so distracted by his directing
efforts that he forgot he also had to provide some emotion and depth
to his role. The film also contains a rather bizarre unnamed
character played by Bill Murray, a sidekick and Greek chorus who
stands out in a sport jacket and Bermuda shorts. Murray plays the
role in his standard low-key style, but here it simply doesn't work,
serving to make his scenes appear dull and silly. Dustin Hoffman has
a minimal and ineffective role as Meyer Lansky, the gangster.
Garcia's plot is dense and difficult to follow and the movie is
simply too long. One of my biggest complaints about "The Lost City"
is that the characters speak mostly in English, some with Spanish
accents (Sastre, a native of Spain) and others with American accents.
Having the natives of Havana speak in Spanish would have added an
important element of authenticity. I should note that Tomas Milian
does a fine job as the father of the Fellove clan who must watch his
family gradually disappear as a result of the revolution.
C+ (11/4/06)
"Mission:
Impossible III"-Tom Cruise is once again
Ethan Hunt, a special IMF agent who always seems to get into a lot of
trouble and who this time endangers the life of his new bride, Julia
(Michelle Monaghan). The bad guy, Owen Davian, is played with
appropriate nastiness by the great Philip Seymour Hoffman, whose
talent is totally wasted in this role. And that's about it for the
plot. What really makes "Mission: Impossible III" are, of course, the
special effects which never seem to end, whether visual or aural.
From a thrilling opening with weapons ablazing and helicopters
arotoring to an amazing escape by Davian on an ocean waterway to the
ultimate conclusion atop skyscrapers in Shanghai, Cruise and his
little gang perform acts that clearly would place them in the
superhero category. No normal human being could possibly survive. A
true Mission Impossible. Hunt's MI support group is portrayed by Ving
Rhames, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Maggie Q. Also appearing are Keri
Russell as an ill-fated agent and Billy Crudup as one of the honchos
back at HQ. Simon Pegg ("Shaun of the Dead") brings humor to the part
of the British tech specialist, Benji Dunn. Since it really has no
plot worth mentioning, this film serves one good purpose: to test
your video and audio. B
(11/3/06)
"Take
the Lead"-This might be called "Dancing
with the Star," and the star is Antonio Banderas as Pierre Dulaine, a
ballroom dance instructor who decides to teach the craft to a group
of tough New York City high school kids. The kids are initially
unimpressed, of course, especially when they hear music by Gershwin
and refer to it as "noise." Dulaine initially has his hands full
inspiring them. But what gets them going is Dulaine's decision to
bring one of his students, Morgan, a sexy slim blonde (Katya
Virshilas) in a tight black skirt, to perform one of the hottest
tangos this side of Argentina. What makes "Take the Lead"
particularly charming is the cast of kids, led by Rob Brown as Rock,
a confused and embittered but good-looking young man; Dante Basco as
Ramos; Marcus T. Paulk as Eddie; Jenna Dewan as Sasha; and Lauren
Collins, as Caitlin, a rich girl who is happier with the tough high
school kids than with her own group. Also notable in the cast is
Alfre Woodard as the principal, initially resistant but soon
convinced by Dulaine's irresistible charm. The film is loaded with
clichés and has few surprises, but the dancing is fun to watch
and the cast makes it worthwhile. B-
(10/28/06)
"Hard
Candy"-This indie film about the subject
of pedophilia gives us a jolting surprise, but the story is hard to
describe without giving it away. Suffice it to say that this movie
concerns a 30ish male photographer named Jeff (Patrick Wilson) who
has been communicating by IM for three weeks with a 14-year-old girl
named Hayley (Ellen Page). They agree to meet at a local coffee
hangout. When they meet, Hayley is obviously extremely precocious and
flirtatious and although Jeff seems resistant, he doesn't protest
when Hayley admits she's a little "insane" and invites herself to his
home. At his home, the two begin drinking, and things start getting a
little antsy. Ultimately, though, events don't proceed as one might
expect. In fact, events become so bizarre that one might actually
think of this film as perfect for Halloween. This is not a typical
film about a child molester. In fact, it's downright shocking. Ellen
Page is astonishingly sharp as the quick-witted Hayley, a young woman
who knows exactly what she's getting herself into. In fact, she's so
sharp and quick-witted that it essentially undermines any credibility
the story may have had. Patrick Wilson does a fine job as the
seemingly nice photographer with lots of secrets soon to be exposed.
Directed by David Slade, "Hard Candy" is, except for the brief
appearances of two other characters, including one by Sandra Oh, a
two-character film. Page and Wilson are dynamic and the film
certainly raises lots of questions, but it's not easy to watch. If
you have a queasy stomach, forget it. If you like very edgy indie
films with good acting, try this. B
(10/21/06)
"A
Prairie Home Companion"-Anyone familiar
with Garrison Keillor's longstanding Saturday night radio show on NPR
will feel right at home with this entertaining film with a wonderful
cast and a great director, Robert Altman. Keillor and his
co-scriptwriter, Ken LaZebnik, apparently decided to show off the old
radio routine in a film and add a story for fun. And so it is the
last performance of "A Prairie Home Companion" on the fictional WLT
("with lettuce and tomato"). The axeman (Tommy Lee Jones) is on his
way to close down the show and its home, the Fitzgerald Theater in
St. Paul, MN, and a mysterious woman in white (Virginia Madsen) is
wandering the theater, initially observed only by the theater
detective, Guy Noir (Kevin Kline), one of Keillor's best-known radio
characters. Characters enter and leave, talk to and over each other
and wander around in classic Altman style. And while all of this is
going on, the radio show is proceeding too with its cast that
couldn't be beat. The Johnson Sisters, Yolanda and Rhonda (Meryl
Streep and Lily Tomlin), cowboys Dusty and Lefty (Woody Harrelson and
John C. Reilly), and Chuck Akers (L.Q. Jones) are all there to sing
and entertain, along with some of Keillor's real life regulars such
as Robin and Linda Williams, and Jearlyn Steele. Needless to say,
Streep (with a perfect Minnesota accent), Tomlin, Harrelson, and
Reilly steal the show with incredibly witty Johnson Sister routines
about their life and their mother, plus the expected off-color songs
from the raunchy cowboy duo. Lindsay Lohan is also there as Lola
Johnson, Yolanda's darkly poetic daughter. And, of course, out front
is Keillor, going about his business in his normal dry way, hardly
ever showing expression but always ready with a wonderful story or
hysterical pseudo-commercial. In other words, if you like wonderful
actors, good humor, and a great old-time radio show, this film can't
be beat. A- (10/14/06)
"Thank
You for Smoking"-Life is dangerous. As
pointed out by the ultimate lobbyist, Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart),
there are lots of popular things that potentially kill besides
cigarettes (think cholesterol-causing cheese and airplanes). And he
gleefully points this out in testimony before a Senate committee, led
by Vermont Senator Ortolan K. Finistirre (rather weakly portrayed by
William H. Macy). Eckhart does a fine job as Naylor, a smooth talker
who talks himself into almost being killed by anti-tobacco
terrorists, only to find his career reinvigorated by his smart mouth.
Based on a novel by Christopher Buckley, "Thank You for Smoking" is a
little too sincere to be taken as real satire. We've heard just these
kinds of arguments from the real tobacco lobbyists who support an
industry that has led to untold numbers of deaths. What's the
difference between cigarettes, on the one hand, and, on the other,
Vermont cheese which, if over-consumed, can lead to high cholesterol,
and Boeing airplanes that can crash? Well, whereas the latter are
necessary for other purposes, such as eating and traveling,
cigarettes serve no purpose whatsoever other than to provide
poisonous pleasure much the same as illegal drugs. And there's one
other difference. Whereas cheese and Boeing airplanes can't kill
anyone other than those who choose to use or abuse them, cigarettes
can. But this point is never made in the film.
In real life, lobbyists like Naylor have
more power over public affairs than the millions who vote for public
officials. They spread their nasty products and encourage public
officials to support them with votes and money. So it's not
surprising that Naylor hangs around with lobbyists for alcohol (Maria
Bello, totally wasted in this part) and handguns (David Koechner).
"Thank You for Smoking" laid a gigantic egg as far as I'm concerned.
If it was intended to be humorous, it's not. If I ever saw an ad for
just about everything that's wrong with the corporate world and the
dealings of many government officials who fall for the propaganda
coming from corporate lobbyists, this is it.
With regard to the cast, this film also
contains a monumental miscasting and plot weakness. Naylor is seduced
by a reporter for the "Washington Probe" named Heather Holloway, who
is writing an article about him, and he knows it. We are supposed to
believe that Naylor, who is incredibly clever in debating those who
oppose big tobacco, would suddenly give away all his secrets to a
reporter simply because he is having sex with her. And who plays this
seductive reporter? Well, Katie Holmes, an actress who looks about as
wholesome and pure as an actress can get.
C (10/9/06)
"The
Lake House"-This is a time travel flick,
a genre I generally enjoy because of the "what ifs" involved. "The
Lake House" begins with Dr. Kate Foster (Sandra Bullock) moving out
of a lovely glass house on a lake near Chicago with her dog Jack and,
in departing, leaves a letter in the mail box for the next occupant.
We then see Alex Wyler (Keanu Reeves), a young architect/condo
developer, arriving at the house (which was built by his architect
father), meeting the same dog, and finding Kate's letter. The problem
is that Kate is in 2006 and Alex is in 2004, and was at the house
before Kate. The two, after realizing what's going on with their
magic mailbox, begin to communicate via the mailbox, actually
witnessing the rise and fall of the box's red flag by the other.
Without going into more detail (there are a lot of puzzling scenes),
the time travel aspect of the story is chock full of holes, even
apart from the primary hole of time travel (which is one hole viewers
gladly ignore for the sake of entertainment). The other holes and
connected coincidences, and especially the ultimate time travel
climax, overwhelm the film and make it impossible to suspend
disbelief. It also doesn't help that both Bullock and Reeves, who
have appeared together before ("Speed"), are not much more than
pretty presences. Christopher Plummer seems to have made a late in
his career decision to play the same uptight self-centered and
self-righteous character in every film (see, for example, "Inside
Man" and "The New World"--here, he's Wyler's architect father).
Shohreh Aghdashloo. wonderful in "House of Sand and Fog" and "24,"
here has little to do as an older physician working with Kate. "The
Lake House" starts out with an intriguing situation, but ultimately
flops. C (10/8/06)
"The
Notorious Bettie Page"-Directed by Mary
Harron ("I Shot Andy Warhol"), "The Notorious Bettie Page" is a light
and fluffy memory about one of the leading pin-up models of the 1950s
and 1960s. Starring Gretchen Mol as Bettie Page, we see a young
beautiful woman from a religious family in Tennessee move to New York
and be talked into posing for photographers, initially dressed but
gradually sans clothes. And later, urged on by the well-meaning Paula
(Lili Taylor) and Irving (Chris Bauer) Klaw, she poses in "S & M"
photos which by today's standards were incredibly innocent. Gretchen
Mol, a blonde in real life, looks astoundingly like the real
dark-haired Bettie Page, who is still around today in her 80s and who
has said she's more famous now than she was then. Harron never makes
Bettie's pinup life look truly unpleasant except when she waits
painfully in the halls of Congress waiting to be called by the
committee of Sen. Estes Kefauver (David Straitharn). One of the more
charming features of this film was the clever idea to shoot most of
it in black and white to remind us of the black and white days of the
50s. But whenever Bettie goes to Miami to be photographed by the
famous pinup photographer Bunny Yeager (Sarah Paulson), the film
changes into a look of somewhat misty and aged color (and old color
stock was in fact used). Written and produced almost exclusively by
women, "The Notorious Bettie Page" is a rather enlightened look at
the 50s pinup industry. I'm sure Bettie Page is quite proud of the
way she comes across in this film. Mol, incidentally, does a fine
job, taking on a rather courageous role that requires her, I imagine,
to expose more than she would have liked.
B (9/30/06)
"Nobody
Knows"-This is an interestingly
controversial Japanese film, not so much because of its subject
matter but rather because of its style and theme, or lack thereof.
It's on A.O. Scott's best film list for 2005. It would not be on
mine. I've read various views, the most interesting of which attacked
those who object to this film on the grounds that they can't deal
with a serious subject. Well, there is a difference between a serious
subject and a deadly one. Said to be based loosely on true events,
"Nobody Knows," directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, is about a mother and
four children living in a small apartment in Tokyo. Obviously, the
landlord didn't allow so many children, so the mother and older son
sneak in the other three and they are required to stay inside
permanently, yes permanently, never to even to go on the balcony lest
they be seen. Gradually, the mother Keiko (You), who has had the
children by different fathers, drifts away, ultimately abandoning
them totally. The older son takes on the responsibility of caring for
his siblings with the minimal food, supplies, and money left behind.
But things deteriorate and the children are finally left living in
ultra squalor, without electricity and having to get water from the
park. That's pretty much the film, which lasts, agonizingly, for 2
1/4 hours. Does it have a theme? Well, other than survival, the
outcome of which is unclear at the end, the biggest theme that came
across to me is that of the astounding indifference of the outside
characters to the fates of the children and the children to each
other. The older son hints to people about the travails of himself
and his siblings and no one does anything. The landlady drops by, dog
in arms, to question the fact that the rent hasn't been paid, sees
the squalor, and inexplicably simply walks away. When the youngest
child suffers a major accident the others do essentially nothing.
They don't scream, they don't shout for help. Nothing. If that's the
theme Koreeda intended, it certainly comes across. But by the end of
this film, the point has been made over and over and over and this
viewer simply wanted to scream. (In Japanese with English subtitles.)
C+ (9/29/06)
"Good
Morning, Night"-In 1978, the Italian
prime minister, Aldo Moro, was kidnapped and murdered by the Italian
Red Brigades. "Good Morning, Night," directed by Marco Bellocchio, is
a story focusing on the kidnappers and, to some extent, the
triviality of their daily lives and the emptiness of their ideas.
Maya Sansa ("The Best of Youth") is Chiara, the lone woman among the
terrorists. She keeps the apartment, listens to the news, and goes to
work while Moro is locked up in a secret room. The others, including
the leader Mariano (Luigi Lo Cascio, also of "The Best of Youth")
seem aimless and full of unrealistic propagandistic conceptions about
class warfare. After they kidnap Moro, the terrorists are shocked
that there is no uprising among the "working class." Meanwhile,
Chiara has second thoughts but seems able only to dream about what
she might do. Maya Sansa is lovely and touching in the part of Chiara
and Luigi Lo Cascio is once again a real presence as the
single-minded Mariano. But "Good Morning, Night" doesn't seem to have
much to say about an important subject, although it would certainly
be another bit of evidence in support of Hannah Arendt's concept of
the "banality of evil." (In Italian with English subtitles).
B- (9/22/06)
"Lucky
Number Slevin"-Within 15 minutes of the
start of this film, at least 10 people have been murdered, ranging
from a shooting in a parking lot to a man being killed by a baseball
thrown at his head. A man in a wheelchair (Bruce Willis) sits next to
a young man in an empty waiting room, tells him a story about a fixed
horse race in 1979 and a family that got tragically involved, and
then kills him. Next, we see another young man (Josh Hartnett) arrive
in NY, be mugged, then mistaken for a friend at whose apartment he's
staying, and finally dragged away by gangsters. Two crime bosses
(Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley), former allies but now longtime
enemies, separately threaten the young man (who calls himself Slevin)
and order him, despite his claims to mistaken identity, either to
commit murder or come up with thousands of dollars. With the help of
a newfound girlfriend (Lucy Liu), Slevin acts with amazing calm
considering the threats. Mysteriously in the background is Willis'
character, the killer known as Mr. Goodkat. And following it all are
the police, led by Detective Brikowski (Stanley Tucci). As it turns
out, of course, as is true in most films of this genré, things
aren't quite as they appear. "Lucky Number Slevin" has a combination
of violence and some raw sex and still received an MPAA rating of
only "R." Amazing. If you can tolerate the violence, the film is a
pretty decent thriller with a surprise ending. If watching one person
after another die turns you off, and it should, stay away.
B- (9/16/06)
"Akeelah
and the Bee"-Following a little too
closely on the heels of "Bee Season" and "Spellbound," this film is
about an 11-year old African-American girl with a knack for spelling
who is feeling somewhat out of place among her classmates at the
Crenshaw Middle School in LA. She's not in a good situation until the
school principal, Mr. Welch (Curtis Armstrong), encourages her to
join the school spelling bee with the hopes that she'll represent the
school in the regional bee. Despite an initial lack of encouragement
from her mother (Angela Bassett) and the professor whom she hopes
will help train her (Laurence Fishburne), Akeelah, not surprisingly,
goes on to great success. "Akeelah and the Bee" is a cliché
whether it's about spelling or sports: the story of the underdog who
is pushed into training and ultimately rises to the occasion. What
makes this film a little special is the performance of young Keke
Palmer, an extraordinary young actress (see "Madea's Family
Reunion"), who projects every emotion, facial expression, and
attitude that's needed for her to become Akeelah. It also has the
underlying theme of the "father/daughter" relationship as Akeelah has
lost her father and Dr. Larabee (Fishburne) has lost a daughter.
Their developing relationship is portrayed in the classic sense of
tough love turning into real love. In summary, "Akeelah and the Bee"
is something we've seen before in many other forms, but the
performances still make it worth seeing.
B (9/15/06)
"Kinky
Boots"-Based on the true story of the
transformation of a British men's shoe factory from the production of
standard men's shoes to boots for drag queens, "Kinky Boots" is
somewhat of a comedy-drama. Joel Edgerton is Charlie Price, a young
man who inherits his father's shoe business, something his
fiancé (Jemima Rooper) had hoped he would leave far behind.
But Charlie is hooked when he meets a drag queen/cabaret performer
named Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and entices him to be his designer. The
charm of this film comes from the cast. Ejiofor, otherwise known for
more masculine parts ("Dirty Pretty Things" and "Inside Man") is
absolutely marvelous as the drag queen with a new career, and
Sarah-Jane Potts is delightful as Lauren, the laid-off factory
employee who sparks the idea for change in Charlie's mind and
ultimately becomes the spark in his eye.
B+ (9/9/06)
"The
Sentinel"-This thriller gets off to a
pretty good start by making the simple act of the president departing
from the White House by limousine as exciting as one might expect
from say, a "thriller." Michael Douglas is Pete Garrison, a veteran
Secret Service agent who was shot during the attack on Ronald Reagan.
Now he's an old veteran but with some questionable habits, including
an impossible love affair. When Garrison is given a hint from a
snitch that there is a plot to kill the president and it involves a
Secret Service agent, Garrison goes into full investigative mode. But
after another agent is murdered, Garrison learns that he himself is
the target of the investigation. And the chief investigator is his
old friend and now enemy, David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland), who
has long believed that Garrison had fooled around with Breckenridge's
wife. Alongside Sutherland is his rookie aide, Jill Marin (Eva
Longoria), seemingly added pretty much for the scenery (made clear
when one agent is shown to be carefully watching Marin's rear,
literally and not figuratively). "The Sentinel" is good up to a
point. As long as it's a mystery, it's taut, well-filmed, and
exciting. Only when it ultimately descends into a chase/shoot 'em up,
as do most of such films, does it bring itself down to the level of
mundane. And it is also has several plot holes that are never clearly
explained (such as the true role of the snitch, and why Garrison
takes a phone call while standing in front of a hotel, and sits
waiting for hours in a coffee shop that turns out to be a dropoff
point for a drug cartel). Douglas is fine, as usual, as Garrison, and
Kiefer Sutherland manages to avoid most thoughts of "Jack Bauer,"
except when he's entering a room with his gun drawn in the standard
"24" position. Also of note in the cast is Kim Basinger, as the
president's wife. B-
(9/8/06)
"Brick"-The
idea of a high school detective thriller sounded appealing. And so it
was, up to a point. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is very good as Brendan, a
loner mourning the loss of his relationship with Emily (Emilie de
Ravin) who has moved on to other men and drugs. When Emily
mysteriously calls him and expresses fear, Brendan decides to find
out what's going on. With the help of The Brain (Matt O'Leary) who
seems to have no point in life other than to help Brendan, our hero
gets more and more enmeshed in the dealings of The Pin (Lukas Haas),
the local high school drug kingpin, and his henchmen, including
Tugger (Noah Fleiss), whose favorite activity seems to be
head-butting. With the film done in classic film noir style, director
and writer Rian Johnson ultimately goes a little too far. The
dialogue, for example, is so convoluted as to be almost
incomprehensible. The story gets more and more complex, almost as if
we were watching an adult thriller of international intrigue. These
are supposed to be teens. Frankly, it's hard to imagine teens talking
even remotely like these kids. When the film ended I still was
unclear as to just what had occurred. Also worth noting in the cast
is Nora Zehetner as Laura, a mysterious young woman who seems to be
in the middle of everything. Rian Johnson gave it a good shot and
almost succeeded. B- (9/2/06)
"Friends
with Money"-I wonder how many people
went to see this Jennifer Aniston film thinking they were going to
see a comedy, only to find that this is a fairly dramatic tale of a
rather miserable group of Southern California friends. Aniston's
character, Olivia, is the sole unmarried among a group of friends
made up otherwise of three married couples. One pair, Franny and Matt
(Joan Cusack and Greg Germann), are loaded but living a fairly
humdrum suburban existence. Another, Jane and Aaron (Frances
McDormand and Simon McBurney). are successful businesspeople but
McDormand's character, Jane, is going through menopause and is angry
and bitter, and refuses to wash her hair, while her husband, a
shampoo manufacturer (get the irony?) may be bisexual. The third
couple, Christine and David (Catherine Keener and Jason Isaacs), are
a screenwriting pair who quickly realize that the better days of
their marriage are behind them. Meanwhile, Olivia, seems a little
dazed, having quit her job as a schoolteacher to become a maid, or
"housekeeper" as she condescendingly informs the maid at the home of
her really wealthy friends, Franny and Matt. Director Nicole
Holofcener ("Lovely and Amazing") is exploring and deconstructing the
life of upper middle class people (especially women) in Los Angeles.
The problem is that these people are unhappy, self-centered, and
unpleasant enough to make watching the film feel like we're joining
them. The acting, by the way, is very good.
B- (9/1/06)
"The
Beat That My Heart Skipped"-It's been my
observation that most of the time European films are remade into
American films. This is one in which the situation is reversed. Based
on a 1978 American film called "Fingers." starring Harvey Keitel,
"The Beat That My Heart Skipped" is a French film with a rather
unpleasant and unlikely story. Thomas Seyr (Romain Duris) is a real
estate thug, following in the footsteps of his father (Niels
Arestrup). Seyr and his cohorts engage in violent acts, such as
forcing tenants out of their homes by releasing rats or by other
methods of terror. But Seyr has a soft side, being the son of a woman
who was a concert pianist. Somewhere along the line, Seyr learned to
play classic piano and, after an unexpected meeting with his late
mother's former agent, he has thoughts of returning to that field.
While he continues his thuggish activities, somewhat reluctantly,
Seyr hires Miao Lin (Linh Dan Pham), a Chinese concert pianist who
cannot yet speak French, to guide him in his efforts to audition for
his mother's former agent. The biggest problem with this film is that
Seyr is never sympathetic. Even when playing Bach, the film let's you
see the rotten part of his character. When he's not being brutal,
he's seducing the wife of his not terribly innocent friend's wife and
discouraging his father from a loving relationship. I found myself
watching with some interest but with no feelings of empathy or
sympathy for Seyr.. Of note in the cast is Emmanuelle Devos as Chris
(the father's girlfriend) and Aure Atika as the seduced wife. In
hearing and reading about "Fingers," and without having seen that
film, it sounded to me like one that didn't need to be seen let alone
remade. (In French with English subtitles)
C+ (8/26/06)
"Balzac
and the Little Chinese Seamstress"-This
film takes us back to the Mao cultural revolution. Taking place in
1981, we immediately meet two young men from the city who are forced
to be "re-educated" in a small ignorant mountain village where the
"chief" is obsessed with making sure that everything Mao said is
carried out to the fullest. When the boys arrive, Luo (Kun Chen),
immediately falls for the pretty granddaughter (Xun Zhou) of the
local tailor. Meanwhile, the other, Ma (Ye Liu), attempts to charm
the powers-that-be and the locals with his violin. The boys, coming
from a more sophisticated society where people actually have read
books other than those written by the leaders of the Revolution,
manage to find copies of several classic western novels, including
those of Balzac, and they decide to educate the little seamstress by
reading to her, in secret, the western novels. As one might expect,
this results in some profound changes in the characters, especially
the seamstress, which we ultimately learn about when, many years
later, Ma, now a member of a classical musical quartet, learns of the
flooding of the mountain village by a new dam on the Yangtze and
thinks back on the days of his "re-education." "Balzac and the Little
Chinese Seamstress" provides some insights into what was happening in
China when Mao led it almost to disaster. The film appears to be
based somewhat on the actual life experiences of its writer/director
Sijie Dai (In Mandarin and French with English subtitles). This is
certainly not a film for everyone. It is recommended only to those
who enjoy the experience of learning about other utterly different
cultures and cultural experiences. B+
(8/25/06)
"Don't
Come Knocking"- I had the good
fortune recently to see Wim Wenders' excellent 1984 film "Paris,
Texas," about a man found wandering in the Mojave desert who has been
missing for four years. This man is brought back to Los Angeles by
his brother who, with his wife, has been treating the missing man's
young son as their own. The man, returning to a semblance of life,
realizes his love for his son and decides to seek his missing wife,
the mother of their son. Ultimately, we learn just what happened to
this couple and why they had abandoned each other and their child.
The film, starring Harry Dean Stanton, Dean Stockwell and Nastassja
Kinski, was based on a screenplay by the American playwright and
actor, Sam Shepard, and contained themes of alienation and search for
identity. "Don't Come Knocking" returns to very similar themes just
over 20 years later. This film is again directed by Wim Wenders ("The
Buena Vista Social Club") and based a screenplay by Shepard. This
time the film stars Shepard himself as Howard Spence, a fading cowboy
actor with a notorious reputation for carousing and getting into
trouble, who simply rides away from a film set in the Utah desert. He
returns home to Elko, Nevada to see his mother (Eva Marie Saint),
whom he has not seen for many years, only to discover that many years
earlier he had fathered a son in Butte, Montana, while making a film.
Spence is metaphorically lost and aimless but decides to take his
late father's old blue car ("Paris, Texas" was also loaded with blue
cars) and drive to Butte to discover his past. There, he not only
finds his old girl friend Doreen (Jessica Lange) and his bitter son
Earl (Gabriel Mann), but makes another unexpected discovery. "Don't
Come Knocking" is beautifully photographed, as was "Paris, Texas,"
giving a clear and crisp vision of the look of the American west. The
film contains excellent performances, including those of Tim Roth, as
an insurance investigator from the film production, trying to track
Spence down and return him to the set, Sarah Polley as a mysterious
young woman carrying her mother's ashes in an urn, and Fairuza Balk
as Earl's somewhat wacky girlfriend. Whereas the music in "Paris,
Texas" was provided by the twangy guitar of Ry Cooder, "Don't Come
Knocking" has the haunting sounds of T-Bone Burnett. This is a
little-known film that deserves to be seen.
A (8/19/06)
"Ask
the Dust"-Based on the 1930s novel by
John Fante about depression-era Los Angeles, "Ask the Dust" is a good
old-fashioned human drama about down-and-outs with dreams. Arturo
Bandini (Colin Farrell) is a first generation Italian-American writer
from Colorado who has had a story published in H.L. Mencken's
"American Mercury." He comes to live in a rundown area of LA called
Bunker Hill. Bandini wants to write and dreams of having experiences
to write about, but he lives in a boarding house, can barely pay his
way, and wishes he could connect with one of the many beautiful
blondes on the streets of Hollywood. Instead, he finds himself drawn
to Camilla Lopez (Salma Hayek), a dark and sensuous Mexican waitress.
Camilla, of course, has her own dream of marrying a wealthy American.
"Ask the Dust" is not only about life in Depression-era LA, but also
about racial and ethnic prejudices that were so much more blatant in
those days (the hotel desk clerk announces that it does not allow
Mexicans or Jews). Directed by Robert Towne (who wrote the
screenplays of "Chinatown" and "Shampoo"), "Ask the Dust" is
beautifully filmed with sets that clearly reflect the seedy LA of its
day. Colin Farrell (sans Irish accent) and Salma Hayek do a fine job
of portraying these characters, struggling with the problems of 1930s
life and their own weaknesses and prejudices, although they never
achieve the "heat" that one would expect from this relationship. The
cast also includes Donald Sutherland as Bandini's alcoholic neighbor;
Idina Menzel ("Rent") as Vera Rivkin, a Jewish woman from Long Beach
who drops, out-of-the-blue into Bandini's life and then gives him
posthumous inspiration for a story; and Justin Kirk as a
bartender/writer who advises Bandini on how to win Camilla.
B (8/12/06)
"Inside
Man"-Spike Lee directs an unorthodox and
yet mainstream bank robbery film. Different. A group of masked
robbers dressed in painter outfits, walk blithely into a baroque
downtown Manhattan bank branch and take over. Under the leadership of
Dalton Russell (Clive Owen), the little gang moves their hostages
around the bank, makes them put on similar outfits and masks, and
mysteriously takes their time about whatever they are up to.
Meanwhile, two detectives, Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) and Bill
Mitchell (Chiwetel Ejiofor), appointed to be hostage negotiators,
find themselves somewhat helpless as the robbers show utter lack of
concern for the fact that the bank is surrounded by well-armed cops.
Russell, in fact, blithely asserts that he will simply walk out of
the bank to freedom. "Inside Man," it soon becomes obvious, is not
about a standard bank robbery. It isn't long before we see Arthur
Case (Christopher Plummer), chairman of the bank, hiring the cool,
clever and competent Madeline White (Jodie Foster) to protect the
contents of a safe deposit box at the branch under siege. And it
isn't hard to figure out just what's inside that safe deposit box.
Certainly, Dalton Russell knows exactly what he's looking for. With a
few nods to the issue of race relations, "Inside Man" is otherwise a
fairly unique heist film, although it unfortunately takes so much
time about getting to where it wants to go that by the end it has
turned into somewhat of a yawn. Also in the cast is Willem Dafoe as
the police captain in charge of operations around the bank. Denzel
Washington and Jodie Foster can play parts like this in their sleep.
Their performances are pro forma, demonstrating nothing unique about
their acting abilities. Clive Owen, who, being masked, is rarely
seen, is very effective as the chilling and articulate thief. Perhaps
the best performance in the film is that of the very humorous Florina
Petcu as an Albanian sexpot brought in to translate what the cops are
hearing from inside the bank. B
(8/11/06)
"The
Libertine"-Johnny Depp brilliantly plays
John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, a rather debauched, raunchy, and
self-destructive member of the 17th century court of Charles II (John
Malkovich). Wilmot is presented as a miserable man who tells the
viewers from the start that he isn't nice and that we are unlikely to
like him, and he's right. The second Earl of Rochester was apparently
a fairly decent poet, although that's hardly clear from this rather
murky production. Instead, we see Wilmot abusing virtually everyone
around him, including a woman he had once kidnapped but who later
became his wife, Elizabeth Malet (Rosamund Pike), and making little
or no effort of friendship with Charles, a man with life or death
power over him. In one historically questionable scene, Wilmot is
presented as being the acting tutor of Elizabeth Barry (Samantha
Morton), his lover and a great British actress of the day.
Ultimately, Wilmot descends into a youthful syphilitic demise that
isn't very pleasant to watch. John Malkovich, not one of my favorite
actors, is perfect as Charles. Best thing he's ever done. Francesca
Annis, a fine actress, has a small role as the Countess, Wilmot's
mother. Films about historical characters usually have a purpose.
Despite the excellent acting performances of Depp, Morton, Pike and
Malkovich, I couldn't imagine what inspired the filmmakers to tell
the story of this rather useless character from British history.
C+ (8/5/06)
"V
for Vendetta"-This is without a doubt
the best film I've seen made from a comic book or graphic novel. With
a spectacular cast, including John Hurt as the Big Brotherish British
chancellor, Adam Sutler; Tim Pigott-Smith as Sutler's henchman,
Creedy; Stephen Rea as a police inspector (along with his aide played
by Rupert Graves; the wonderful Stephen Fry as an hysterical TV
comedy show host; and Sinéad Cusack as a pathologist with a
past, "V for Vendetta" wonderfully tells us the story of V (the
masked Hugo Weaving, essentially never seen), a man seething with
anger from the past who has waited years to plan and carry out a
revenge attack on those in the government who wronged him and others.
When he decides to begin his explosive vengeance on November 5, Guy
Fawkes Day, he accidentally comes across Evey Hammond (Natalie
Portman), a young woman with her own past, who finds herself becoming
an important part of his plot. The actions of the government in "V
for Vendetta," while possibly more fascistically advanced, brings to
mind a certain current Administration and its methods. "V for
Vendetta" is not only well acted, but beautifully filmed. Highly
recommended. A (8/4/06)
"Ushpizin"-We
are in Jerusalem and Succoth, the holiday that reminds Jews of the
temporary nature of life, is just about to begin. Moshe Bellanga
(Shuli Rand) and his wife, Malli (Michal Bat-Sheva Rand), are
Orthodox Jews hoping to have a child. They are down to their last
shekel and praying for a miracle. Their prayers seem to be answered
when a substantial amount of money is amazingly slipped under their
door and two escaped convicts arrive to occupy their sukkah (hut or
temporary home) as "ushpizin" or guests, a part of the holiday. Moshe
and Malli hope that their arrival will help them with "God" in their
quest for an offspring. One of the two ushpizin is a childhood
comrade of Moshe's from his pre-religious days, and Malli is
initially unaware of their seedy background, although she soon
discovers that they are capable of some serious mischief. Giddi Dar,
the director, has been described as a secular Jew, but he has
presented, in a script written by the star, Shuli Rand, a humorous
fable about the practices of people whose life revolves utterly
around their religious beliefs. Neither cynical nor worshipful,
"Ushpizin" presents an opportunity to learn about the lives of people
very different from our own. (In Hebrew with English subtitles).
B+ (7/29/06)
"The
Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio"-Based on
a memoir by Tuff Ryan, about her family when she was a teenager
during the 50s and early 60s, "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio"
stars Julianne Moore as Evelyn Ryan with Woody Harrelson as the
father, Kelly. The Ryans have 10 kids and live in a dull midwestern
town (a town sign saying "a nice place to live" is made fun of by
Mrs. Ryan as "a nice place to leave"). Mr. Ryan is a struggling
machinist with a big alcohol and temper problem and related money
difficulties. Mrs. Ryan is an eternally optimistic soul who engages
in a variety of commercial jingle-writing contests with extraordinary
success, bringing in money and prizes enough to help the family
survive. Julianne Moore, who seems to be overly attracted to parts as
housewives of the past (consider "The Hours" and "Far From Heaven"),
performs her role as an ultra-stereotype of a perfect 1950s
housewife. She's comes across as a cartoonish combination of the
mothers in "Leave it to Beaver" and "Ozzie and Harriet." Evelyn Ryan
is simply too perfect throughout most of the film until her husband's
misbehavior and profligate spending lead her almost to a nervous
breakdown and the family to the edge of losing their home. Fitting
the title of the film, the home is saved by Evelyn's literary skills
in a Dr. Pepper contest. Woody Harrelson, unfortunately, looks silly
with the hairpiece they have on him, and never quite seems real as
the pitiable Kelly Ryan, a man scorned by his own family. Laura Dern
appears as another stereotypical 50s housewife obsessed with winning
commercial contests. "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio" has its
moments, but overall, despite its attempts at pathos and humor, it's
just a little too corny for its own good.
C (7/28/06)
"Little
Fish"-Despite an excellent cast,
including Cate Blanchett, Sam Neill and Hugo Weaving, this Australian
film is about as dense and murky as a film can get. Blanchett,
normally a luminous star, is brought down to earth as Tracy, a former
drug addict, who continues to be surrounded by relatives and friends
involved in or on the edge of the drug business. "Little Fish"
follows her around as she struggles to deal with the weaknesses and
stupidities of her brother (Martin Henderson), friend (Weaving), and
boyfriend (Dustin Nguyen). Sam Neill is The Jockey, a bigtime drug
dealer. The title appears to relate to drug users, equipment used in
the drug business, and Tracy herself who is seen on a variety of
occasions swimming laps for no purpose that seems to move the story
along. Not recommended. C
(7/26/06)
"Tsotsi"-Based
on a novel by the South African writer Athol Fugard, "Tsotsi" tells
the story of a young township thug (the definition of "tsotsi"),
played with great subtlety by Presley Chweneyagae in his first film.
After taking part in a couple of violent acts, Tsotsi (he keeps his
real name from his friends) walks up to a wealthy home in the
suburbs, shoots the woman standing at the gate, and drives off in her
car only to find her baby in the back seat. Herein lies the heart of
the tale and also its weakness. Although we later see that Tsotsi was
abused as a child, the idea that a disturbed thug, after committing
so many heinous acts, would take the child home and try to care for
it is a little hard to swallow. But this film is about rebirth and
the child serves to bring out whatever humanity Tsotsi has left. The
transformation is moving, even if one must suspend some level of
disbelief. The director, Gavin Hood, has used genuine locations,
including the townships and suburbs of Johannesburg, to give the
movie a deep sense of the reality of life for those living in the
townships in modern-day South Africa. The cast is very good,
including Terry Pheto as Miriam, a young mother to whom Tsotsi turns
for feeding and care of the baby; Kenneth Nkosi as Aap, a slightly
clueless member of Tsotsi's gang; Mothusi Magano as Boston, a gang
member with some education; Zenzo Ngqobe as Butcher, the malicious
gang member; and Rapulana Seiphemo as John Dube, the father of the
baby, who manages to keep his cool during his suffering. Also in the
cast is Zola, a South African singer, who provides the music and a
very good turn as Fela, one of the local gang leaders. (Primarily in
Zulu, Xhosa, and Afrikaans with English subtitles) .
B+ (7/22/06)
"Glory
Road"-If this were the first film of its
genre ever made it would be a truly outstanding film. However, this
story of an inexperienced basketball coach who is given the job at a
less than stellar college in west Texas (Texas Western, later known
as UTEP) in the mid-1960s, recruits little known black athletes from
the east, and puts together a championship team of historic
proportions, is so full of clichés that it might have been
made from an old script of who knows how many films about miraculous
sports teams and their victories. In addition, it appears that even
if the story had been told straight, exactly as it actually happened,
it would still be inspiring and exciting. Unfortunately, the
filmmakers, in typical Hollywood fashion, decided to change things,
making it appear that Haskins did everything from recruitment to
winning the NCAA within one year when in reality it actually occurred
over a period of about four years. But putting these negatives aside,
"Glory Road" is still an exciting and inspiring film about the first
team to win the NCAA championship with an all black starting five in
the championship game against Adolph Rupp-led Kentucky at College
Park, MD. Rupp, incidentally, is portrayed brilliantly as a nasty
son-of-a-you-know-what by Jon Voight. And it is an important film
about the civil rights era and the misery that black athletes were
put through by racists in order to achieve their dreams. Josh Lucas,
finally getting a real part, is wonderful as the inspired, tough and
human coach, Don Haskins, who went from coaching a girls high school
team to bringing about this tremendous sports and social first,
ultimately making it to the basketball Hall of Fame. The film
contains notable performances by Derek Luke ("Friday Night Lights")
as Bobby Joe Hill, the star of the team; Mehcad Brooks as Harry
Flournoy; Damaine Radcliff as Willie Cager, a player with heart and,
unfortunately, a cardiomyopathy; Al Shearer as Nevil Shed who went
from the streets of New York to the desert of El Paso; Austin Nichols
as Jerry Armstrong, one of the white players who had to stand aside
for history; and Schin A. S. Kerr as the big guy, David Lattin. If
you like sports films, you can't help but enjoy and be inspired by
this film. B+ (7/15/06)
"Tristram
Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story"-Laurence
Sterne's classic 18th Century novel "The Life and Opinions of
Tristram Shandy, Gentleman" is said to be impossible to turn into a
film. The filmmakers of "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story"
appear to have dedicated themselves to proving not only that Sterne's
novel could not be filmed but also that their own story was
impossible to turn into a cogent script. Steve Coogan plays himself,
Tristram, and Tristram's father, Walter, in an attempt, I suppose, to
demonstrate the complications of filmmaking. Coogan, who has been in
such diverse films as "24 Hour Party People" and "Around the World in
80 Days," is crisp and articulate as Tristram whose difficult birth
and unfortunate priapic accident with a window are portrayed
lovingly, if not repeatedly. When he becomes Steve Coogan, however,
he looks sullen and appears to be mumbling, especially when running
between his girlfriend Jenny (Kelly McDonald) who has come to the
film site "just to have sex" and Jennie (Naomie Harris), his
attractive assistant, who seems to interest him more than Jenny, the
mother of his child. The silliness of this situation should give you
some idea of what is going on in this film. The filmmakers of the
film within the film come up with the idea of adding Gillian Anderson
as Widow Wadman, a character they'd previously omitted, and, via cell
phone, Gillian Anderson is committed within five minutes only to have
the co-star, Rob Brydon, playing himself and Toby Shandy, express
doubts because, frankly, he has the hots for Gillian Anderson and is
afraid he'd blush in any intimate scenes. Apart from a couple of
articulate scenes during the film within a film, including one with
the wonderful British actor, director, and writer Stephen Fry, the
vast majority of this film is, to put it mildly, a bunch of "cock and
bull." If you choose to see this film, watch for the wonderful
Shirley Henderson ("Topsy-Turvy") as the hysterical maid Susannah,
especially during Tristram's birth, and a cameo by Jeremy Northam as
the director. Overall, my recommendation is to stay away.
C (7/14/06)
"Caché"-Daniel
Auteuil and Juliette Binoche play Georges and Anne Laurent, a couple
with a young son, who find themselves suffering terror when
mysterious videotaped views of their home and their comings and
goings, are left at their door in plastic shopping bags. Along with
the tapes come what appear to be child-like drawings of a young boy
either bleeding from the mouth or neck. Ultimately, one of the tapes
leads Laurent, a TV personality, to the door of an Algerian man named
Majid, someone he knew as a child and about whom he guiltily dreams.
I won't reveal more about the plot, but I will say that the theme of
"Caché" appears to concern the French attitude towards
outsiders and Algerians in particular. Auteuil and Binoche are
perfect at displaying the fears and stresses that come when a
mysterious implied threat invades their home. The film contains one
scene involving the Laurent's son, Pierrot, that could only be
described as a red herring. It appears to add nothing to the film and
is never explained. "Caché," directed by Michael Haneke, is
otherwise intelligent and Hitchcockian in its portrayal of growing
terror and the effect it has on its victims. An American film would
have provided a clear and unambiguous ending. In classic European
fashion, this film ends with some ambiguity because the filmmaker has
respect for his audience's intelligence. In French with English
subtitles. B+ (7/7/06)
"Madea's
Family Reunion"-The imprint of Tyler
Perry is everywhere in this film. Star (in three roles). Writer.
Director. Executive producer. Perry, originally a playwright, is now
a film auteur and worth watching. "Madea's Family Reunion" is a
comedy and a drama, in which the comedy moves the drama along
extremely well. Dealing with a whole gamut of issues that are
important to African-Americans as well as humanity in general,
"Madea's Family Reunion" concerns the importance of family, the
tragedy of abuse (child abuse and the abuse of women by men), the
need for good foster care, overbearing parents, and concerns about
the loss of dignity in modern culture. Tyler Perry plays an old
woman, Madea, the grandmotherly matriarch of a large Atlanta family.
One doesn't get the sense of a male in drag, but rather Perry's
performance provides an interesting and extremely funny portrayal of
a smart old lady with some very good advice to give. He also plays
Madea's somewhat raunchy white-haired husband, Joe, and her lawyer
son, Brian. The themes revolve around relationships, including those
of the overbearing Victoria (Lynn Whitfield) who is doing everything
she can to marry her daughter Lisa (Rochelle Aytes) to a wealthy and
abusive businessman (Blair Underwood), a man she doesn't love; Lisa's
half-sister Vanessa (Lisa Arrindell Anderson) who has two children
but does not trust men (for a reason that will come out in the film),
including the handsome and charming bus driver, Frankie (Boris
Kodjoe), who also has a child and is doing everything he can to
convince her that he's the right man for her and worth trusting. The
film is loaded with excellent performances, including those of Maya
Angelou and Cicely Tyson as elderly aunts at the family reunion, and
young Keke Palmer as a tough foster child taken in by Madea on court
order. "Madea's Family Reunion" has its share of corny and slightly
raunchy moments, but overall it's an impressive film dealing with
human issues in an uplifting way. I look forward to more from Tyler
Perry in the future. B+
(7/6/06)
"The
Matador"-Pierce Brosnan (aka "James
Bond") here plays completely against type as Julian Noble, a lonely,
somewhat sad hit man who has lost his nerve. In an original comedy
written and directed by Richard Shepard, Noble, in between murders,
seeks out a friend at a bar in Mexico City and finds himself becoming
emotionally attached to struggling American businessman Danny Wright
(Greg Kinnear) who is worried that his business failures will harm
his marriage to his wife Bean (Hope Davis). "The Matador" manages to
portray an angst-filled assassin in as light a manner as possible
thanks to Brosnan's first-rate efforts portraying Noble's descent
from a tough hardened killer to one experiencing sniveling
uncertainty. The comedy continues when months later Noble arrives at
the Wrights' Denver home to seek Danny's help in pulling off a very
important murder. Pierce Brosnan is particularly effective in
portraying the uncertainties of this "poor" professional killer and
especially funny in a few lust-filled scenes, including one in which
he demonstrates his ultimately unrequited interest in Mrs. Wright.
Hope Davis, as always, is wonderful as the suburban wife who, rather
than being uptight and straightlaced, actually gets a kick out of
hosting an assassin and can't wait to ask if he'll show her his
weapon. B+ (7/5/06)
"Neil
Young: Heart of Gold"-Directed by
Jonathan Demme, this documentary begins with an introduction to Neil
Young's troupe, each having the opportunity to say something about
the experience of playing and working with Young. Ultimately, though,
this film is a beautiful rendition of a 2005 concert Young gave at
the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, introducing music from a new album
called "Prairie Wind." In addition to his regulars, joining him was
the great Emmylou Harris. Director Demme concentrates lovingly on the
performers, especially Young, with minimal camera movement. The
cinematography is gorgeous, the sound magnificent. While the newer
songs are pure Young, the concert later turns joyfully toward the
great songs of Young's early years, including "Heart of Gold" and
"Old Man." Worth noting and watching is Young's interaction with an
important member of the troupe, his wife Pegi. If you know and love
the sound of Neil Young, you won't want to miss this concert.
B+ (7/1/06)
"Kiss
Kiss Bang Bang"-Sometimes a motion
picture is so bad that you can only wonder what the filmmakers had in
mind. "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is one of those. Apparently, the thought
was to create a humorous takeoff of film noir, but instead the script
is pathetic and the acting borders on atrocious. Robert Downey, Jr.,
in possibly the worst performance of his career, is Harry Lockhart, a
thief and burglar who, while on the lam from the cops, walks into a
movie tryout, gets offered a part, and finds himself in Hollywood.
Harry provides a rather unfunny narration while trying to show how he
and an old childhood friend, Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan),
meet again in Los Angeles in the midst of multiple murders and evil
doings. The story makes little or no sense, a great deal of the
acting is shrill, and ultimately the whole thing collapses in on
itself. Val Kilmer undertakes the rather bizarre role of a character
named Gay Perry and looks like he just walked out of an amateur night
tryout. Corbin Bernsen offers little as a power figure who is at the
heart of all the evil doings. Shannyn Sossamon is lost in the role of
a pink-haired woman who becomes one of several murder victims. There
is nothing to gain by trying to describe the rather absurd plot of
this awful film. Miss it. D-
(6/24/06)
"Syriana"-This
is a somewhat complex non-linear story that takes awhile to gel, but
gel it does (or at least most of it). George Clooney stars as Bob
Barnes, an overweight and out-of-favor CIA agent, who stumbles onto a
geopolitical plot to help a gigantic crooked oil company, Connex,
gain a major oil base in the middle east. Although fiction, "Syriana"
is based on the non-fiction books of ex-CIA agent Robert Baer and
must be viewed in that context. The film is magnificently
photographed in a variety of locations and contains several
outstanding and subtle performances. Christopher Plummer is perfect
as Dean Whiting, the establishment mover and shaker whose job it is
to smooth the way for Connex. Jeffrey Wright is, as always, wonderful
as Bennett Holiday, Whiting's agent and tool. Matt Damon fits right
in as Bryan Woodman, a businessman who thinks he can make it by
advising the benevolent middle eastern Prince Nasir (Alexander
Siddig) who is, unfortunately, out of favor with his father, the
emir; his younger brother, the soon-to-be new emir; and the US
government whose interests are in helping a gigantic American oil
company rather than doing what is best for the people of the unnamed
middle eastern country. Amanda Peet also appears as Woodman's wife,
and is touching, portraying a woman who suffers a tragic loss as a
result of her husband's business pursuits. In an interview on the
DVD, George Clooney says that the film is not political. But this
seems to be a politically correct comment for movie PR purposes.
"Syriana" is an indictment of the policies of big government and
major corporations which go beyond simple power and greed into a
whole new dimension of evil. The film contains side stories that
unfortunately add to the initial complexity. Some belong and some
don't. One that belongs is the tale of two fired oil company
employees who find themselves caught up in the world of terrorism.
One that should have been cut is the conflict between Bennett Holiday
and his father which seems to add nothing to the overall theme.
Despite that,"Syriana" is highly recommended.
A (6/23/06)
"The
World's Fastest Indian"-There are people
in the world who want to do things that almost no one else on earth
would even consider. At an early point in the film, Burt Munro
(Anthony Hopkins), an eccentric 60ish New Zealander with an affinity
for speed and his 1920s Indian motorcycle, tells young Tom (Aaron
Murphy), his next-door neighbor, that if you don't live out your
dreams, "you might as well be a vegetable." This film, based on the
unusual true-life tale of this resolute Kiwi, demonstrates that if
someone really puts his mind to it, he can live out even an amazing
crazy almost impossible-to-believe dream. It is the 1960s and Munro
has dreamed of setting a land-speed record at the Bonneville Salt
Flats with his ancient cycle. How he manages to do that is the
subject of this ultra-road tale which takes us on his journey by ship
to Los Angeles, his misadventures in Hollywood, his difficulties on
the road to the salt flats, and how his charm ultimately wins the day
in Utah. One of the surprising things about Anthony Hopkins is how,
despite limitations in his acting style, he manages to convince the
viewer that he is in fact the character he plays. Burt Munro is
certainly a charmer, maybe almost to the point of being a little too
much to believe. As directed by Roger Donaldson, "The World's Fastest
Indian" shows that, with minimal exception, Burt makes friends almost
immediately and is able to use those friends to advantage when
needed. And what a group of friends he makes, including the lovely
Fran (Annie Whittle), his girlfriend in Invercargill; the very funny
transvestite motel clerk, Tina (Chris Williams), in Hollywood; Ada
(Diane Ladd), whose beat-up car wrecks attract him but whose home and
bed welcome him; and Jim (Christopher Lawford), a racer of influence
who takes to Burt and helps get him a place in the Bonneville racing
lineup! And these are only a few of the people that find Burt Munro
eccentric, interesting and attractive. Anthony Hopkins, with the
support of an excellent and enthusiastic cast, does a fine job of
making Burt's dream seem truly important.
B+ (6/17/06)
"The
Three Burials of Melquiades
Estrada"-Directed by and starring Tommy
Lee Jones as Pete Perkins, a Texas border cowboy who befriends a
Mexican "wetback" cowboy named Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cesar
Cedillo), "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" is a fascinating
contemplation of a variety of subjects. These include friendship, the
ennui of life in utter dullsville, and the concerns of the problems
at the border between the US and Mexico. With a variety of
flashbacks, the film tells the tale of the arrival and death of
Melquiades Estrada, and the efforts of Pete Perkins to find and
punish the killer and to carry out his promise to Melquiades to bury
him, should he die on the American side, in his hometown in Mexico.
What seems the main theme of the film, at least to me, is the utter
absence of any form of real mental stimulation in this part of the
Southwest near the border. An elderly blind man who speaks no Spanish
(Levon Helm) asks to be shot when found at his remote home doing
nothing but listening to Mexican radio. A young wife of a new border
patrol agent falls into a life of TV watching, sexual dalliances and
mall shopping. A local waitress, married to the cafe owner, has
affairs seemingly with everyone in sight. A border patrol agent
carries his Hustler magazine with him on patrol. Tommy Lee Jones is
his usual impressive self as the obsessed, somewhat crazed Pete
Perkins. Julio Cesar Cedillo is a delight as the ill-fated
Melquiades. Other first-rate performances are provided by Barry
Pepper as the new border patrol agent, January Jones as his young
bored wife, and especially by Melissa Leo as the waitress, Rachel,
whose easy ability to go from man to man symbolizes the absence of
other activities. Also of note is Dwight Yoakum as a police officer
trying to keep everything quiet in an already very quiet place. "The
Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" has a few unpleasant scenes,
including the handling of a dead body, but ultimately is a fresh look
at the problems of life on the border.
A- (6/16/06)
"Everything
Is Illuminated"-Based on the novel by
Jonathan Safran Foer, "Everything Is Illuminated" stars Elijah Wood
as a character named Jonathan Safran Foer who has slicked hair, big
glasses, and wears a suit and tie no matter where he goes. Jonathan
is an American Jew whose dying grandmother has given him a photograph
of his grandfather, Safran, standing in a field with a woman back in
their native Ukraine, and informed him that the woman saved his
grandfather from the Nazis during WW II. Jonathan, a collector of
memorabilia and minutiae, especially about family events, decides to
go and seek out the woman. He soon finds himself in the good (?)
hands of his tourguide, Alex (Eugene Hutz), a smooth young resident
of Odessa who wears gold chains around his neck and is a master of
English malaprops. Jonathan, for example, is Jonfen. Alex encourages
his elderly and somewhat nasty grandfather (Boris Leskin), who seems
to find it easy to make derogatory comments about Jews, to drive the
car as they look for the town where the Foers came from. Oh, also
along for the ride is a rather scroungy dog named Sammy Davis Junior,
Junior. This is one very funny and tender trip that Alex, the
narrator of the story, calls the "rigid search." This rigid search
takes us and the characters on a trip across the Ukraine which
ultimately succeeds, in a way. Eugene Hutz, who also sings in a
Ukrainian rock group called Gogol Bordello (heard in the closing
credits), is wonderful and funny as the "smooth-talking" but sincere
Alex. Boris Leskin is just right as the gruff, seemingly anti-semitic
grandfather who has a secret. Laryssa Lauret is tremendously
affecting as the elderly woman they find who knows all the secrets.
"Everything Is Illuminated" is a delight.
B+ (6/9/06)
"The
Dying Gaul"- The premise of this
film is, in a way, its own downfall. Robert Sandrich (Peter
Sarsgaard), a gay writer who has recently lost his lover, has written
a screenplay about two gay men. Jeffrey Tishop (Campbell Scott), a
movie producer, wants to buy the screenplay but tells Sandrich that
the public won't attend a downer film about gays and insists that he
change it to a story about heterosexuals. Despite his misgivings,
Sandrich complies in light of the large amount of money involved.
Meanwhile, Sandrich is invited to join Tishop and his wife, Elaine
(Patricia Clarkson) at their beautiful hillside/poolside house and a
triangle soon begins when the bisexual Tishop approaches Sandrich
and, separately, Elaine treats Sandrich with great warmth. "The Dying
Gaul" (the name of Sandrich's screenplay, by the way) soon becomes a
rather fascinating although confusing computer chat game that winds
up in tragedy. Ultimately, I believe this film failed commercially
because it is a downer and especially because it is, unfortunately
somewhat confusing. On DVD, it's easy to stop and go back to look at
the chatroom scenes again. Even that doesn't always clear up either
the confusion or the wonderment at how the characters manage to
confuse and toy with other. Campbell Scott, unfortunately, seems to
be stuck in a single performance. His somewhat stiff acting style is
similar from film to film. On the other hand, Peter Sarsgaard and
Patricia Clarkson are dynamic as, respectively, the gay writer in the
middle and the wronged wife. "The Dying Gaul" has lots of defects but
is still worth a look for anyone who likes this sort of three-way
character interaction. B
(6/3/06)
"Rumor
Has It..."Hollywood has a strange idea
of what's funny. It seems to recycle bad situations over and over
until the result can be deadly dull. This dud is directed by someone
who once knew better, Rob Reiner of "When Harry Met Sally" and "This
is Spinal Tap." Well, this is no "Spinal Tap." Jennifer Anniston (who
better soon get someone to give her some recommendations on good
parts) is Sarah Huttinger, an obit writer in NY who returns for her
sister's wedding to her hometown of Pasadena, CA,with her
fiancé, Jeff (Mark Ruffalo). Sarah, who appears to have some
cold feet about her engagement, doesn't tell anyone about it, and
also seems to feel extremely uncomfortable around her own family,
including her father (the always reliable Richard Jenkins),
grandmother ("Don't call me Grandma") (Shirley Maclaine), and sister
Annie (Mena Suvari, looking more like an 18-year old blonde
teenybopper than the far more mature mid-20s actress seen recently in
"Six Feet Under"). Sarah gets the idea in her head that her family
was the basis for the story of "The Graduate" written by Charles Webb
(a "friend of the family") and figures out that a certain Beau
Burroughs (Benjamin Braddock, get it?) made it with both her
grandmother and her late mother (just before her mother's wedding).
So, what does Sarah do? Like any normal young woman, she chases down
Mr. Burroughs, now an extremely wealthy businessman near San
Francisco, to find out if he could be her real father. And fun
ensues. Or doesn't. The cast of "Rumor Has It..." looks like they
weren't having a good time, finding themselves in forced and silly
situations. The script is silly and dull. Mark Ruffalo, who was
wonderful in "You Can Count On Me" seems to have been findng, like
Jennifer Anniston, a lot of dud roles recently (such as "In The Cut"
and "Just Like Heaven"). Kevin Costner, as usual, speaks in a
monotone, and just doesn't seem to have the charisma needed to
attract a young woman who knows he's already slept with her mother
and grandmother. To sum up, miss it. C-
(6/2/06)
"The
Best of Youth"-Starting out a movie that
is six hours long takes a little effort. But is it worth it! It
doesn't take more than a few minutes to be totally captivated by the
story of the Carati brothers from Rome, Nicola (Luigi La Cascio) and
Matteo (Alessio Boni). It is 1966. They are seemingly serious
students, but it soon becomes apparent that Matteo is unsure of what
he wants out of life. After volunteering at a mental hospital, he
naively removes a young patient, Giorgia (Jasmine Trinca), to save
her from electroshock therapy, and plans to take her back to her
father, never considering that her father may not want her back.
Nicola and Matteo, who had planned to go to Norway with friends,
ultimately fail in their endeavors with regard to Giorgia and only
Nicola makes it to Norway. The two brothers, now separated, take very
different paths in life with Nicola, the warmer of the two brothers,
ultimately starting a relationship with a young left-leaning pianist,
Giulia (Sonia Bergamasco), he has met during salvage efforts to save
the wonders of Florence following the floods of 1966. Nicola becomes
a psychiatrist (and ultimately treats Giorgia) and he and Giulia have
a daughter, Sara. Matteo, on the other hand, is clearly missing an
important element in his psyche and decides to join the police in
order to have his life subject to rule and direction. "The Best of
Youth" is the lovely story of the Carati brothers, their relatives
and friends, and of Italy over a 37-year period from 1966 to 2003.
The family's events fit neatly into the flow of the country's events,
ranging from the flooding in Florence, the rise of the Red Brigades
(and the involvement of a family member in terrorist activities), and
the mafia attacks on judges in the 1990s. The film is blessed with
scenery (including Rome, Turin, Tuscany, and Sicily) and wonderful
characters whose lives intertwine with the events and with each other
over the many years the film covers. Although "The Best of Youth"
contains an occasional contrived and unlikely situation (such as an
extremely hesitant relationship between a man and a woman who clearly
are attracted to each other and which goes on for far too many
years), overall the filmmakers make it easy for the viewer to want to
keep watching (and hoping that the film won't end). Others who are
notable in the cast are Valentina Carmelutti as Francesca, the
younger Carati daughter; Maya Sansa as Mirella Utano, a woman who
plays an important role in the lives of both Matteo and Nicola;
Adriana Asti as Mrs. Carati, the boys' mother; and Camilla Filippi as
Sara, Nicola's spunky and independent daughter. If you're put off by
the thought of a six-hour film, then think of it like a TV miniseries
to be broken into two hour segments which is simple to do when
watching on DVD. It was originally filmed to be just that, but was
instead first released in theaters as a motion picture. Don't miss
it. (In Italian with English subtitles).
A (5/28/06 and
5/29/06)
"The
Twilight Samurai"-Somehow I managed to
miss this wonderful 2002 Japanese film until now. Hiroyuki Sanada
("The Last Samurai" and "The White Countess") is Seibei Iguchi, a low
level samurai in 19th Century Japan. But he's not like any samurai
you've ever seen before. Seibei is essentially a family man with two
young daughters and an elderly mother with dementia. He's just lost
his wife to illness, and labors essentially as a clerk in the food
warehouse of the local clan lord. Known as "Twilight" to his more
raucous and rowdy colleagues, Seibei goes home each night to his
family and seems to want little more in life than to enjoy seeing his
daughters grow. But ultimately, he finds himself forced to show a
little of the real samurai by fighting the abusive ex-husband of
Tomoe (Rie Miyazawa), his childhood friend. Tomoe is clearly
attracted to Seibei and spends as much time at his home as possible,
playing with his daughters and cleaning, but when Tomoe's brother,
Iinuma (Mitsuru Fukikoshi), offers her hand in marriage, the humble
Seibei, fearing that Tomoe will hate living in his humble
surroundings, declines. "The Twilight Samurai" is a sensitive and
human film about a subject that is usually portrayed as it was in the
more jingoistic Hollywoodish "The Last Samurai" or in classic
Japanese films such as "The Seven Samurai." Hiroyuki Sanada does a
magnificent job of portraying the feelings of this humble "petty"
samurai. Rie Miyazawa is lovely as the caring and attentive Tomoe.
This is one samurai film that should not be missed.
A (5/27/06)
"Transamerica"-Felicity
Huffman gets the performance of a career out of playing transsexual
Bree Osbourne (previously Stanley). Bree hasn't gone through the
operation yet and just when he/she is about to, a previously unknown
son intervenes and Bree flies off from LA to NY to get to know Toby
(Kevin Zegers), a young male prostitute who wants to know his real
"father" since his mother has died. Somehow Bree manages to convince
Toby, who has acting aspirations, that she's a church lady and that
he should accompany her on a road trip across the United States back
to LA. "Transamerica" is a charming, funny, low-key tale of that trip
back west. We don't get much of the usual awkward set-ups that one
would expect in a film with this subject. That's not to say that Bree
is home free as a male turned female, but the embarrassments are
short-lived and we ultimately find ourselves at the home of
Bree/Stanley's real parents in Phoenix. That Bree's mother is
compulsively controlling is not so surprising and Fionnula Flannagan
is outstanding as the impossibly hostile mother, Elizabeth, who
disses Toby until she discovers that he's her grandson and doesn't
know it. "Transamerica" also contains a delightful appearance by
Graham Greene, as a Navajo in New Mexico who puts Bree and Toby up
for the night and finds the still male Bree so pleasant he encourages
"her" to return. Felicity Huffman is a revelation. Although obviously
female she manages to give enough of an impression of a male
consuming lots of female hormones, that her performance is memorable.
This is one road trip I'm glad I was on.
A (5/26/06)
"The
Producers"-I must start out by saying
that I am not a big fan of Mel Brooks nor did I like the original
Zero Mostel-Gene Wilder film of "The Producers," although a recent
re-viewing of it gave me a slightly improved perspective. That said,
this film musical isn't half bad, despite Brooks' esssentially
immature slapstick humor. Matthew Broderick does a very good job of
impersonating the hysterical characteristics of Gene Wilder as the
original Leo Bloom, the accountant who wants to be a producer. Nathan
Lane also does a fine job playing Zero Mostel as Max Bialystok, the
lascivious and unfortunate producer of Broadway flops. Uma Thurman is
lovely and sexy as Ulla, the Swedish bombshell who inspires the pair
in their plot to raise millions, produce a gigantic flop, and run off
with the "losses." Will Ferrell, however, steals the show as Franz
Liebkind, the very funny pigeon-raising Nazi who writes "Springtime
for Hitler," the astonishingly tasteless show that backfires on the
plans of Bloom and Bialystok. Ferrell's performances in the "Guten
Tag Hop Clop" and "Haben Sie Gehört Das Deutch Band" numbers are
a sight to see and hear. "The Producers" is rather hectic and hyper
for a musical, fitting in quite well with the less than classical
style of modern Broadway shows. And it has some good non-Ferrell
moments, including Broderick's song and dance number,"I Wanna be a
Producer," a showstopper for sure, and "Springtime for Hitler," which
doesn't fail to give the audience an extremely queasy feeling in the
pit of the stomach. It's not everyday you get to see a Broadway show
that people paid a fortune to attend, even if it does raise more than
a few grimaces. B (5/23/06)
"Duma"-A
film about a boy and his cat. Well, not an ordinary cat. A cheetah.
Alexander Michaeltos plays Xan, a young boy living with his parents
(Hope Davis and Campbell Scott) on a farm in South Africa. One night
he and his father come across a cheetah cub wandering on a highway
and bring him home. The cub, who initially seems very kitten-like,
soon grows into a full-size cheetah named Duma, but he has become
tame and friendly. When the father grows ill and dies and the mother
decides to move Xan to the city, things start to go wrong. Having
discussed with his father Duma's ultimate need to return to the wild,
Xan starts out on a trip to take Duma back to his natural habitat.
The remainder of the movie is the story of that journey which brings
to mind other films about young kids trekking through the desert,
including "Walkabout" and "Rabbit-Proof Fence," both of which
involved the Australian desert. "Duma" is beautifully filmed and any
animal lover will soon grow to adore the magnificent Duma (played
actually by several cheetahs). Along the way there are the usual
"roadblocks," including some very hungry looking crocodiles. Annoying
though these roadblocks may be, they certainly enhance the dramatic
tension. Eamonn Walker is excellent as Ripkuna, a man who finds Xan
and Duma wandering in the desert. Ripkuna at first seems mysterious
and dangerous, but turns out to be somewhat of a savior. This is a
very good "family" film with themes of love, loss and growth. It was
not well supported by Warner Bros., and got little attention in its
theater release. Now on DVD, "Duma," directed by Caroll Ballard ("Fly
Away Home"), truly deserves to be seen by a much wider audience.
B+ (5/20/06)
"The
White Countess"-Merchant/Ivory films
have had mixed success over the years. Some were spectacular hits ("A
Room With A View" and "Howard's End") and some were duds ("The Golden
Bowl"), but all have one vital element: they are quality films
intended for those who appreciate good, intelligent cinema. "The
White Countess" is loaded with quality, from the directing of James
Ivory, the cinematography of Christopher Doyle, the acting of Vanessa
and Lynn Redgrave, Natasha Richardson, Ralph Fiennes, Allan Corduner,
and Hiroyuki Sanada, and the writing of Kazuo Ishiguro ("The Remains
of the Day"). Why the film got little attention is not clear. But it
is a very good and interesting film about a group of expatriates
living in Shanghai in the years just before WW II. Ralph Fiennes is
Todd Jackson, a blind American diplomat who turns horserace winnings
into his dream--a nightclub in which the "centerpiece" is the
beautiful Countess Sofia (Natasha Richardson). Sofia, who has worked
as a dancehall girl/prostitute in order to keep her family of former
Russian aristocrats alive, is used and abused by these relatives,
including Olga (Lynn Redgrave) and her sister-in-law Greshenka
(Madeleine Potter), who is obviously desirous of turning Sofia's
daughter Katya (Madeleine Daly, Potter's real-life daughter) into her
own. The film ultimately centers around the emotionally stiff Jackson
who has a mysterious tragic past that led to his blindness. The
interactions of Jackson with those around him, including Mr. Matsuda
(Hiroyuki Sanada), a Japanese man who becomes a close friend, are
spellbinding, especially in the exquisitely filmed setting (on
location in Shanghai). When the Japanese invade. the lives of all are
completely disrupted as they attempt to leave Shanghai, a situation
which allows some of the social relationships of the characters to be
rearranged. Natasha Richardson, showing the vulnerability of Sofia,
and Ralph Fiennes, exposing the emotional pain of the blind diplomat,
are brilliant in these roles. Notable also are the wonderful Allan
Corduner ("Topsy-Turvy") as Feinstein, a Jewish neighbor with three
children of his own, who adores Katya and aids in the escape from
Shanghai; Vanessa Redgrave as Sofia's only empathetic relative,
Princess Vera; and Hiroyuki Sanada ("The Last Samurai") as the
soft-spoken and intelligent Mr. Matsuda.
A- (5/19/06)
"The
New World"-Since 1973, when he directed
"Badlands" with Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek, Terrence Malick has
directed only three additional films, including this one, "Days of
Heaven," and "The Thin Red Line." Each has been a cinematic
meditation on the beauty of the setting, "Days of Heaven" being about
rural farming, "The Thin Red Line" about war at Guadalcanal, and "The
New World" about the development of Jamestown in the early 17th
Century. The problem ultimately is that Terrence Malick becomes so
obsessed with the scenery that he appears to have developed his own
visual world, a place I can only call "Malickland." "The New World"
seems hardly to be about anything, although it obviously shows us the
landing of the British at what became Jamestown, the objections and
behavior of the local Algonquian Indians under Chief Powhatan, the
attraction of Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell) to Powhatan's young
daughter (Q'Orianka Kilcher) (obviously Pocahontas although she is
never named as such in the film and is later named Rebecca by the
British colonists), the departure of Smith, and Pocahontas' later
marriage to colonist and tobacco grower John Rolfe (Christian Bale).
But what we see mostly is a two-hour documentary reflection of
spectacular Virginia scenery near the Chickahominy River. We are
overwhelmed visually by beautiful fields, gorgeous sunsets, lovely
waterside scenes and the like. The film also contains the virtually
inaudible whisperings of the three main characters, Smith,
Pocahontas, and Rolfe, often drowned out by the musical soundtrack,
thus undermining whatever there is of a script and story. If the
purpose of "The New World" was to give us a visual sense of life in
colonial Virginia in the early days of the 17th Century, it succeeds
quite well. If, on the other hand, the film was intended to tell the
tale of Pocahontas, Smith and Rolfe, it must be considered to have
failed because all we get are the barebones and muffled outline of
the story. B- (5/13/06)
"Wedding
Crashers"-Hollywood comedy films more
often than not suffer from a fatal disease or two. They're either not
funny or they're based on a funny idea which doesn't translate to a
full two-hour film. "Wedding Crashers" seems to fall into the latter
category. Two guys who mediate divorces, Jeremy (Vince Vaughn) and
John (Owen Wilson), are wedding crashers, with the goal of meeting
and bedding as many women as possible. The first hour of this film is
quite funny, presenting the charming and conniving Jeremy and John
successfully attending a variety of weddings to which they have not
been invited and meeting a slew of gorgeous and hungry women. That
hardly anyone, including the brides and grooms, seems to wonder who
they are is almost beside the point. But the humor starts to fade
when the film takes a turn about half way through when the guys
attend the extravagant wedding of the daughter of the Secretary of
the Treasury William Cleary (Christopher Walken) and predator-wife
(Jane Seymour). Jeremy meets one ultra-aggressive Cleary daughter,
Gloria (Isla Fisher), and John falls for another, more restrained
Cleary daughter, Claire (Rachel McAdams), who just happens to be
going with a "Lodge" (as in Cabots and Lodges). With John and Jeremy
suddenly limited to interacting with the slightly nutty Cleary
family, including Claire's awesomely obnoxious boyfriend, Sack Lodge
(Bradley Cooper), "Wedding Crashers" descends into formulaic
monotony, especially when John starts feeling sorry for himself after
Sack's one-sided announcement of his engagement to Claire. Bradley
Cooper, who was a pleasant hero in the TV series "Alias" is
outstandingly obnoxious as the aggressive and repulsive Sack. Vince
Vaughn, Owen Wilson, and Rachel McAdams are delightful to watch. But
Isla Fisher is memorable as the hot red-headed sister who ultimately
gets her man. "Wedding Crashers" certainly has its moments. It's just
too bad that they couldn't have been throughout the whole film.
B (5/13/06)
"Munich"-The
script is by Tony Kushner ("Angels in America") and Eric Roth, the
film is directed by Steven Spielberg, the premise is simple, and the
"live by the sword, die by the sword" theme blares out at us.
Following the Black September terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich
Olympics which resulted in the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes, Israeli
Prime Minister Golda Meir decided to kill as many of the terrorists
as possible. Avner (Eric Bana), the son of an Israeli hero, is
brought in and briefed by Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen) and then receives
specifics from a Mossad officer, Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush). He is told
that he and his colleagues will be considered to be non-existent as
far as the government is concerned. But they will be provided with
large amounts of money to accomplish their goals, although "it may
take years." Avner, happily married with a pregnant wife, doesn't
hesitate and joins four others, Steve (Daniel Craig), Robert (Mathieu
Kassovitz), Hans (Hanns Zischler), and Carl (Ciaran Hinds). Avner and
his cohorts proceed to rather amateurishly kill several Palestinian
terrorist leaders in a variety of European cities. A bungled shooting
here, a couple of almost bungled bombings there, and it begins to be
obvious that this is no easy job. And Avner, at the very least, is
suffering: from both guilt and the absence of his family. "Munich"
seems initially like a run-of-the-mill tale of an assassination squad
until we begin to see the theme of insanity involved in the cause of
political murder. Avner gets information from a French family who
claim to be hostile to governments, and who may or may not be dealing
with the other side as well. A beautiful woman in a bar may or may
not be an assassin. His colleagues begin to die. Ultimately, Avner
finds himself looking obsessively under his own bed, and checking
electronic devices in his room for bombs as his own paranoia and fear
of reprisal develops. "Munich" has some weaknesses, including a few
rather abrupt segues and some unclear locations. While some European
cities are clearly identified, others are not. The weakest part of
the film is the setting for the retelling of the actual events at the
Munich Olympics, with a great deal portrayed as part of Avner's bad
dreams as well as a distraction in his mind during sex with his wife.
I would have appreciated a more direct approach. Bana is excellent as
Avner. Also notable are Ciaran Hinds (Julius Caesar in the HBO series
"Rome") as a thoughtful and concerned colleague, and Mathieu
Kassovitz as a not completely expert bombmaker. I also loved the
subtle performance of Michael Lonsdale, as Papa, the head of the
mysterious family which provides much of the information Avner and
his group needs to do their job, but only at a great expense.
"Munich" is an outstanding achievement, despite its flaws.
A- (5/12/06)
"The
Family Stone"-We've seen it all before
so many times. The family reunion at a major holiday (Christmas in
this case) that brings out every unreal and annoying feature of the
various family members and friends. And here, director/writer Thomas
Bezucha has decided to literally unload on us a family that looks
great but certainly doesn't taste great. Serious and rather dour
businessman Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney) brings his incredibly
uptight girlfriend, Meredith Morton (Sarah Jessica Parker), home for
Christmas. The family is led by mother Sybil (Diane Keaton) (who has
a disturbing health secret) and father Kelly (Craig T. Nelson), and
includes a variety of unlikely siblings, including the gay and partly
deaf brother Thad (Tyrone Giordano) and his black significant other,
Patrick (Brian J. White), the beautiful but nasty and obviously
insecure sister Amy (Rachel McAdams), the slightly wacky and very
free brother Ben (Luke Wilson), and the rather passive, pleasant and
pregnant sister Susannah (Elizabeth Reaser). In this melange,
Meredith simply doesn't belong and manages to do and say virtually
everything the wrong way and to remind us over and over how annoying
and uptight she is. If there was you know what on the ground,
Meredith would have stepped into it. Which makes for hysterics,
right? Well, not exactly. Meredith becomes so unhinged that she calls
for her sister Julie to come keep her company, and we know that
something drastic in the romance department is about to change when
the beautiful long-haired Julie (Claire Danes) steps (actually falls)
off the bus. Director/writer Bezucha has filled his film with family
reunion jokes and clichés to the nth degree, the worst of
which is that after only one beer, the miserable Meredith undergoes
the standard (for this genre) astounding, impossible but predictable
transformation that helps lead to the ultimately semi-happy ending.
"The Family Stone" has a rather talented cast. No bad performances.
But good performances don't make up for a silly script loaded with
weak attempts at humor in contrast to the family angst that pervades
the film. C (5/6/06)
"Aeon
Flux"-Based on Peter Chung's cartoon
series shown, I believe, on MTV, "Aeon Flux" turns out to be a rather
decent sci-fi film. The versatile Charlize Theron is Aeon Flux, a
sleek 25th-Century Monican rebel whose sister Una (Amelia Warner) has
been killed by the government. She receives mind-wave instructions
from The Handler (Frances McDormand) to kill the seemingly oppressive
government leader, scientist Trevor Goodchild (Marton Csokas) and,
with the aid of the four-handed Sithandra (Sophie Okenedo), literally
flies, leaps and twirls her way into the government headquarters. But
when she finally reaches Goodchild, the descendant of the original
Goodchild who had saved a small portion of mankind from a terrible
virus in the 21st Century and founded the walled city of Bregna, she
discovers that things may not be as she had previously thought.
Something about Goodchild brings out hints of distant and pleasant
memories and she backs off. "Aeon Flux" is a fairly understandable
and original sci-fi tale with some rather unique features. The
future, for example, rather than being full of computers and other
machine-like technology, is portrayed as one in which high tech and
nature have become one. Charlize Theron, always a delight to look at,
took the chance that didn't work for Hallie Berry in "Catwoman."
Wearing what might be thought as something close to a cat suit,
Theron as Aeon has the advantage of a pretty decent story to romp
around in and a fairly good cast to support her, including McDormand,
Okenedo and Pete Postlethwaite. Ultimately, though, "Aeon Flux" turns
out to be somewhat of a love story and it is undermined by the
lackluster performance of Marton Csokas, as Goodchild. Csokas is
simply blah in his role, demonstrating virtually no personality or
charisma. Since Goodchild is supposed to be a charismatic leader and
a potential love interest for Aeon, this is a serious flaw.
B- (5/5/06)
"Casanova"-Director
Lasse Hallstrom seems to jump back and forth between semi-serious
films such as "The Cider House Rules" and "The Shipping News" and
very light fare such as "Chocolat" and now "Casanova." Here he
presents a comedic farce about the 18th Century Venetian rake,
Giacomo Casanova (Heath Ledger), whose misadventures with women and
otherwise have him being watched closely by the law, including the
Doge (Tim McInnerney) and, later, the Grand Inquisitor Pucci (Jeremy
Irons). Casanova jumps from bed to roof and roof to bed, one step
ahead of the law, until ordered by the Doge to marry or leave Venice.
In the process he becomes engaged to the seemingly innocent Victoria
(Natalie Dormer) only to meet and fall for the independent and
exciting Francesca Bruni (Sienna Miller) who manages to both write
feminist tracts and impersonate men, almost at the same time. Filmed
on site in Venice, "Casanova" is lovely to look at, including
especially an enchanting scene in which Casanova and Francesca ride
over the city at night in a hot air balloon. The story is not to be
taken seriously and certainly doesn't represent any significant
historical fact. But this is one of those films which deserves to be
called entertainment, light though it may be. Heath Ledger, in a role
very far from "Brokeback Mountain," and the gorgeous Sienna Miller
("Alfie" and "Layer Cake") are a delight to watch. Jeremy Irons is
funny as a bumbling Grand Inquisitor. Also notable in the cast are
Lena Olin as Andrea, Francesca's mother; Oliver Platt as Francesca's
sight-unseen and somewhat overweight fiancé, Paprizzio;
Charlie Cox as Francesca's brother who would be Casanova in his
dreams; Helen McCrory as Casanova's mother; and the delightful Leigh
Lawson as a Cardinal impersonator and Casanova's mother's lover. As
usual, a Hallstrom film is easy to watch.
B (4/29/06)
"Match
Point"-It's got the classic Woody Allen
opening titles with accompanying music (in this case, opera) and the
classic Woody Allen themes of love and lust, with a little greed
thrown in, but the scene has moved from New York City to London and a
few things are missing. For one, humor. There is virtually none. For
another, a concise rapidly moving script. "Match Point," which
generally received favorable reviews, is a disappointment as it is
tiresome in many ways, although it does play out, with the
accompanying strains of the great Caruso and others, as a mini-opera.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers is Chris Wilton, a tennis pro hired to teach at
an upper class London club, who soon meets and falls in with the
Hewett family, including the charming Tom (Matthew Goode), sister
Chloe (Emily Mortimer), superwealthy father Alec (Brian Cox) and
highly critical mother Eleanor (Penelope Wilton). While Chloe
immediately has her eye on Chris, he seems utterly underwhelmed by
her, but he nevertheless begins a relationship with her that may or
may not be based on his desire to enjoy the perks of the good life
(his initial motives are never clear). But there's a catch. Tom
Hewett is engaged to the beautiful and sensuous, but struggling,
American actress Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson), and Chris, despite
his relationship with Chloe and friendship with Tom, cannot take his
eyes or hands off Nola. Since I can't give away the rest of the
story, I will say that it has elements of Hitchcock and classic
opera. Unfortunately, Jonathan Rhys Meyers is virtually
expressionless in this film, even when lusting after Nola. His lack
of emotion undermines the theme. Try to imagine Montgomery Clift
lusting after Elizabeth Taylor in "A Place In the Sun" without any
signs of emotion or expression. Whether he's sneaking out to call
Nola on his cell phone, talking to his secretary at the office, or
trying to act as if he really likes Chloe, Rhys Meyers looks exactly
the same. Woody Allen uses too many obvious devices to create
tension. For example, if someone is doing something wrong, even if
the act is innocuous, another character will notice and ask about it
but will then immediately be easily distracted. Phone calls are
noticed and questioned when the need arises, but highly questionable
calls are utterly ignored despite their obvious irregular nature. Or,
if a character does something inherently dangerous to himself, it'll
be done almost in the open while someone else just happens to be
looking for him and calling his name. It definitely creates tension,
but is so unlikely as to undermine the effect of the film. Scarlett
Johansson is excellent as the initially sexy and later desperate
Nola, and the supporting cast does a fine job.
B (4/28/06)
"Breakfast
on Pluto"-It is Ireland, early 1970s,
and this is an original tale (from the novel by Patrick McCabe) of
Patrick Braden (Cillian Murphy), also known as "Kitten," a young man
who was left by his mother as an infant on a priest's doorstep and
has grown up to be feminine and to prefer to dress and look like a
woman. One would think that the tale of a transvestite in rough,
tough Ireland of the 1970s would be a serious tragedy/drama, but
director Neil Jordan ("The Crying Game" and "The Butcher Boy," also
by McCabe) will have none of it. No, instead, this is a charming,
funny, and intelligently presented story of a strange young man's
journey to find his lost mother who, he knows, left him behind to
move to England. Cillian Murphy goes through an astonishing
transformation to become Kitten, a character like no other he's done
before. On his various trips away from home, he encounters a group of
humorous and human characters, ranging from rock star Billy Hatchet
(Gavin Friday), Bertie the magician (Stephen Rea), and John-Joe
(Brendan Gleeson) who dresses like a wombat and teaches Kitten an
hysterical wombat dance. "Breakfast on Pluto" is told through
Kitten's narrative, each chapter having its own title. There is, of
course, the IRA. What movie about Ireland in that period could omit
the IRA? But ultimately, "Breakfast on Pluto" is about more
down-to-earth issues and about the humanity of a young man who is so
unusual that he just might have come from Pluto. Notable in the cast
are Liam Neeson as the priest who plays a major role in Kitten's life
and Ruth Negga as Charlie, a young woman with whom Kitten has a
cosmic connection. "Breakfast on Pluto" is an experience and one that
should not be missed. A- (4/23/06)
"Mrs.
Henderson Presents"-Judi Dench and Bob
Hoskins. Could anything go wrong? Well, not much. Judi Dench is
simply out of this world as Laura Henderson, a real-life British
upper class widow in the 1930s who doesn't know what to do with
herself until she discovers and buys the Windmill Theater in London.
Hiring a theater veteran, Vivian Van Damm (Bob Hoskins), to run the
theater, Mrs. Henderson begins a conflicted relationship with Van
Damm that runs the gamut from anger to love. Van Damm proposes
non-stop musical "revuedeville." Initially a success, the theater
begins to have financial problems just before World War II, and Mrs.
Henderson gets the brilliant but shocking idea to have nude women in
the cast. What results are some wonderfully funny scenes with
Christopher Guest as Lord Cromer, who must give approval for
something so unusual. "Mrs. Henderson Presents" is touching,
poignant, and fun. And the fun is magnified by a delightful bit of
casting with Will Young (the first winner of "Pop Idol," the British
predecessor to "American Idol") as Bertie, the main song and dance
man. Young couldn't be more perfectly cast and exudes a 1940s
personality and character. Directed by Stephen Frears ("Dirty Pretty
Things," "High Fidelity," and "The Grifters"), "Mrs. Henderson
Presents" is simply a funny jolly romp with a great cast, which also
includes Kelly Reilly as Maureen, the young woman Van Damm and Bertie
discover by accident, and Camille O'Sullivan as the main female
singer. A- (4/22/06)
"Separate
Lies"-This is the first film directed by
actor/writer Julian Fellowes and it shows. A British tale with
typical lovely country scenery that would have made a darn good TV
show were it not for the grade A cast, "Separate Lies" tells the
story of a wealthy couple with an apartment in London and a home in
the country. He is barrister James Manning (Tom Wilkinson) and she is
his wife, Anne (Emily Watson). Initially, they appear to have a happy
marriage but it soon becomes clear that while James is off in London
working with an adoring but hardly noticed blonde assistant, Anne is
having an affair with a country neighbor and friend of both, William
Bule (Rupert Everett). The marriage is further pressured by the fact
that the husband of Anne's housekeeper, Maggie (Linda Bassett), has
been accidentally killed after being hit by a car while riding his
bike near their home. This happens during a night in which Anne, left
alone by James, is entertaining friends. It soon becomes obvious that
one of the primary characters is responsible and a police
investigation ensues, putting pressure on all. "Separate Lies" tries
to defy what we might consider normal human emotions as James remains
in love and loyal to Anne despite some rather harrowing treatment.
The cast is first rate, although some of the scenes seem a little
awkward. "Separate Lies" is not a bad film; but not a great one
either. B (4/15/06)
"Derailed"-A
married man (Clive Owen) meets an attractive married woman (Jennifer
Anniston) on a commuter train to Chicago and they decide to have an
affair, winding up at a somewhat seedy hotel. While in the act of
consummating their friendship, a thug (Vincent Cassel) enters the
room, beats the man and rapes the woman, and leaves with their money
and wallets. But the thug is not finished with the man and proceeds
to blackmail him into handing over many thousands of dollars more,
much of which the man needs for his daughter's precarious health. I
won't give away the story for those who really like to punish
themselves, except to say that from this point on the man finds
himself in the middle of various acts of violence, including the
murder of a friend who was going to help him. Never once does the man
ever consider going to the police. By the time this incredibly
contrived and unlikely story ends, the man has managed to avoid
almost any real contact with the police despite being involved in
some hair-raising and quite bloody acts. "Derailed" is an utter
failure. It think it's a clever film with a tricky ending, but it's
not. It's really a labored and strained story that never once has the
viewer thinking that the events could possibly happen. The result is
a lack of suspense and a desire to have the whole thing end as soon
as possible. Clive Owen, a fine actor, is utterly wasted here.
Jennifer Anniston is initially pert and charming, but ultimately lost
in her role. Vincent Cassel probably does the best job as the vicious
thug. Miss it. D+ (4/14/06)
"Bee
Season"-As "Bee Season" (based on the
novel by Myla Goldberg) opens we see what looks like a normal
intellectual Jewish family in Oakland, CA. The father, Saul Naumann
(Richard Gere), is a professor of religious mysticism, somewhat
obsessive about his supernatural beliefs and, as we observe, very
talkative and extremely controlling of his family in many subtle
ways. His wife is Miriam (Juliet Binoche) who, we learn, was born a
Catholic and suffered the tragic loss of her parents in her childhood
(the details are never made clear). It doesn't take long to realize
that there is something seriously wrong with Miriam who looks vacant,
expressionless, and depressed. Naumann, too busy babbling, never
notices until it's too late. The Naumanns have two children. At
first, Aaron (Max Minghella), the older child, seems perfectly okay.
He is cheerful and happy to help his younger sister Eliza (Flora
Cross), who has suddenly emerged as a spelling bee champion. Eliza,
like her mother, shows little expression but manages to spell
impossible words through some form of hypnotic magical concentration.
Naumann becomes obsessed (as he apparently is with most things) with
Eliza's spelling championships, and Aaron suddenly becomes bitter and
angry towards his father, turning to a young Hindu cultist he has
met, Chali (Kate Bosworth), for succor. "Bee Season" is loaded with
characters rather annoying to behold and whose motives and problems
are strangely unexplained (whether this is the fault of the novel or
the script is unclear). The weaknesses of this film are amplified in
a scene in which young Eliza, on the verge of winning the National
Spelling Bee, experiences what appears to be a seizure but is
apparently intended to be the outward manifestation of some kind of
supernatural revelation. Ultimately, "Bee Season" is about a
distinctly unpleasant dysfunctional family loaded with malarkey.
Juliet Binoche, a wonderful actress, is utterly wasted in a role in
which she must look blank and rarely has any chance to show emotion.
Richard Gere, however, seems perfectly cast as the father so into
himself and his mystical ideas that he fails to see anything of what
is going on right in front of him. C
(4/8/06)
"Brokeback
Mountain"-I suspect that by now almost
everyone interested in movies knows that "Brokeback Mountain" is
about two Wyoming male ranch hands, assigned to herd sheep on
Brokeback Mountain, who fall for each other while passing the lonely
hours. Based on the short story by Annie Proulx, directed by the
great Ang Lee, and with a script written by Larry McMurtry and Diana
Ossana, this film is truly courageous in telling the unusual story of
two men one would never suspect of homosexual longings. One of the
things that surprised me about the film was that although Heath
Ledger got so much attention and an Oscar nomination for best actor
as Ennis Del Mar, it is Jake Gyllenhaal, as the more aggressive Jack
Twist, who is more impressive. Gyllenhaal, it should be noted, also
got an Oscar nod (strangely for best supporting actor, although he is
certainly one of the leads in this film). Ledger, unfortunately,
decided to play his role as a western hand as someone who could
barely move his lips or show expression. At times, it is very
difficult to understand what he is saying. Ledger simply looks pained
throughout the film. Gyllenhaal, on the other hand, is extremely
powerful as the cowboy with homosexual longings who wishes that he
and Del Mar could spend their lives together. The tight-lipped Del
Mar, who understands the reality of what would likely happen to two
cowboys living together, is rather pathetic in not knowing what to do
with his life, first marrying Alma (Michelle Williams), having two
daughters, and then divorcing and facing a barren life alone. Jack
Twist also falls into a loveless marriage with Lureen (Anne
Hathaway), has a son, and finds himself living in the shadow of his
rich father-in-law. "Brokeback Mountain" is an amazing, unusual, and
painful love story. It says so much more about the humanity of its
characters than most films and certainly deserved to win the Oscar
for Best Picture, especially against the mediocre "Crash."
Michelle Williams deserves mention for her
wonderful acting as Alma, a woman who is happy with her ranchhand
husband until she sees him kissing his "old fishing buddy," Jack, at
the foot of the stairs outside their home. Her distress and
frustration is palpable. Anne Hathaway is somewhat miscast as the
silly rich daughter of a businessman who marries Jack seemingly just
to have a child. She's good, however, at expressing her disdain and
lack of interest in Jack. Randy Quaid has a short but nice turn as
Joe Aguirre, the man who hires Ennis and Jack and places them
together on Brokeback. "Brokeback Mountain" is full of touching
characters and scenes, including the one extremely powerful scene in
which Ennis, at the end, goes to visit Jack's parents. While the film
moves slowly and cautiously, there is a great deal to see and feel.
Needless to say, it is not to be missed.
A (4/7/06)
"Memoirs
of a Geisha"-Directed by Rob Marshall
("Chicago"), "Memoirs of a Geisha" has a lot going for it. A cast of
first-rate Asian stars, gorgeous sets and cinematography, a
spectacular score by John Williams with performances by Yo Yo Ma and
Itzhak Perlman, and a potentially fascinating story about an aspect
of foreign culture that we rarely hear about. But as good as it is,
somehow it also leaves you a little empty at the end. Ziyi Zhang
("House of Flying Daggers") plays the grown-up Chiyo who, as a child
from a rural village, is sold with her sister to geisha houses in the
city. Somewhat rebellious against the cruelty she experiences, she
ultimately becomes caught up in the world of the geisha, that
specially trained breed of Japanese women who entertain men with
singing, dancing, and conversation. With the aid of an ally, Mameha
(Michelle Yeoh), Chiyo grows into the beautiful geisha, Sayuri, in
competition with the older, jealous, and nasty Hatsumomo (the elegant
and wonderful actress Gong Li of "Raise The Red Lantern"). But at the
heart of everything she does is Sayuri's dream of one man, the
Chairman (Ken Watanabe), who, when she was still a child, inspired
her to cooperate with the head of the geisha house. "Memoirs of a
Geisha" is a romance and unlikely to be intended to be an authentic
look at the culture of the geisha. The sincerity is tainted by the
characters speaking English (with rough accents) instead of the
authentic Japanese. That several of the stars, including Ziyi Zhang
and Gong Li, are Chinese and not Japanese, and have rarely if ever
acted in English before, contributes to the ultimate weaknesses of
the overall production. Still, "Geisha" is a sumptious film and worth
seeing. Just don't expect a real cultural experience.
B (4/5/06)
"King
Kong"-At the end of the three hours of
continuous special effects known as "King Kong," my wife and I both
felt as if we had just gotten off a boat that had been rocking for
that period of time. Once again, we learn the truth about Director
Peter Jackson ("Lord of the Rings" trilogy). He is probably one of
the best special effects directors of all-time. But three hours of
special effects does not a movie make. His failing is in one simple
word: EXCESS. There is a basic story to "King Kong." Carl Denham
(Jack Black) wants to make a jungle movie on mysterious Skull Island
and essentially hijacks a group of people, including filmmakers,
actors, and merchant seamen, to take him to the island and make his
film. One of these is Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts), a pretty blonde
burlesque actress he has just met and convinced to become a movie
star. When they get to the island, Ann is captured and placed as a
sacrifice by zombie-like natives to the giant gorilla, Kong. In their
effort to save Ann, the men battle prehistoric monsters and, rather
revoltingly, gigantic cockroaches and slugs, in a series of scenes
that seem to go on forever. The result is that Ann is saved and Kong
is chloroformed to be taken back to New York for Denham's show. That
17 men are killed in the process hardly phases Denham. Back in New
York (how they manage to get him on the ship and back to NY is as
unexplained in this version as it is in the original), Kong escapes
and ultimately reaches his end at the top of the Empire State
Building. Besides the visuals and the special effects, Jackson does
one thing particularly well in "Kong," and that is demonstrating the
affection that grows between the human Ann and the creature Kong. But
virtually everything else in this film makes one hyperventilate from
the astounding battles between Kong and prehistoric creatures, the
attack of the killer bugs, and the battles in the streets of New
York. There's only one reaction I can think of to the end of this
film and that is utter relief that it's over. Notable in the cast are
Adrien Brody as the screenwriter, Jack Driscoll, Ann's ultimate love
interest; Jamie Bell as a young seaman; Thomas Kretschmann as the
ship's captain; Evan Parke as Hayes, a thoughtful seaman who meets a
bitter end; Colin Hanks as Preston, Denham's assistant; Kyle Chandler
as Bruce Baxter, the narcissistic male star of Denham's film; and
Andy Serkis ("Lord of the Rings") as both seaman Lumpy and as Kong.
If you like three hours of virtually continuous special effects, you
will adore "King Kong," but it you don't, all I can say is BEWARE.
B- (4/1/06)
"Capote"-I
can still remember the excitement when the "non-fiction novel" "In
Cold Blood" was released. I read it as soon as it was off the presses
and was distinctly impressed by the tale of the shocking murders of
the four members of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, and Truman
Capote's intense descriptions of the killers, Perry Smith and Richard
Hickok. And I well remember Truman Capote, one of those significant
cultural and social figures of the mid-20th Century. Now, with a
truly astonishing performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman as the rather
bizarre, brilliant, and self-centered Capote, Dan Futterman
(screenwriter), Adam Kimmel (cinematographer) and Bennett Miller
(director) have given us a brilliant insight into the man Capote, how
"In Cold Blood" came about, and its ultimate effect on Capote's life.
Philip Seymour Hoffman was made for this part and he makes it his
own. But he's accompanied by the wonderful Catherine Keener as Harper
Lee, Capote's friend and assistant (and ultimately author of "To Kill
A Mockingbird.") After reading of the murders in the New York Times,
Capote, a writer for The New Yorker, decides to do a story and takes
Lee with him to Kansas. But it isn't until Capote sees the killers,
and especially Perry Smith, being brought after being arrested, that
his obessession with the story and with Smith really begins. The film
moves slowly, deliberately and wonderfully. With gorgeous muted
photography from Kimmel (who does a brief stint in the film as
Richard Avedon, the great photographer), "Capote" gets us into the
minds and character of the main figures. One of the most interesting
performances, apart from the stars, is that of relative unknown
Clifton Collins, Jr., as the soft-spoken appealing Smith who seems
not quite to understand just why he did what he did. The cast is
brilliant, including Chris Cooper as Alvin Dewey, the Kansas Bureau
of Investigation detective who received a great deal of Capote's
attention; Bruce Greenwood as Jack Dunphy (Capote's lover who wishes
he would return from Kansas); and Bob Balaban as William Shawn, the
strained but ultimately supportive editor of The New Yorker. This is
a must see--highly recommended. A
(3/31/06)
"Jarhead"-Based
on the book by Anthony Swofford, "Jarhead" is an original look at
military life. In this case, it's the life of a few jarheads, or
marines, during Desert Shield and, later, Desert Storm, in the early
1990s. Jake Gyllenhaal is Swofford, a man who soon realizes that
joining the marines may have been a mistake. But there he is,
nonetheless, dealing with the daily misery of boot camp, training,
and the slow effects of the insanity of military life as he slowly
turns into a Marine Corp sniper. And then, suddenly, he and his
cohorts are swept off to the Gulf to prepare for a possible battle
against Iraq over its invasion of Kuwait. The film and, I suspect,
the author Swofford, avoids political commentary. At one point, when
one of the marines makes a political comment about why they are in
the middle east (oil), Troy (Peter Sarsgaard) replies: "Fuck
politics. We're here. All the rest is bullshit." But while the film
may not be a comment on the pros and cons of Desert Storm, it
certainly is a comment on the miserable life of the poor souls who
found themselves in the desert going nuts while doing almost nothing
for months on end except preparing for the unknown, constantly
contemplating hydration, and thinking of their women back home who,
they suspected, were abandoning them for available men. "Jarhead" has
a cinematic look that pretty much gives you a real feel of what
vision must have been like in the blazing sun of the Gulf desert.
Jake Gyllenhaal is at his best as Swofford, an ordinary man, like
most of his platoon, placed in an extraordinary situation and being
pushed along by events. Peter Sarsgaard is excellent as Swofford's
co-sniper, Troy. Jamie Foxx is appealing as Staff Sgt. Sykes, a tough
but more human Marine sergeant than is usually portrayed in films.
A- (3/25/06)
"The
Squid and the Whale"-Writer/director
Noah Baumbach, apparently writing semi-autobiographically, here tells
the story of a dysfunctional family in Brooklyn in 1986, and this one
is memorable. Loaded with great characters and a wonderful cast "The
Squid and the Whale" is one of the finest portrayals of real life
I've seen in a long time. Jeff Daniels, doing the best acting of his
career, is Bernard Berkman, a teacher and fading novelist, who is, as
the film opens, clearly hostile to his wife Joan (Laura Linney), an
up-and-coming writer whose work is showing up in "The New Yorker."
When the marriage finally fails, their two sons, Walt (Jesse
Eisenberg), the older, and the younger, Frank (Owen Kline), are
literally caught in the middle, having to jump back and forth between
their mother's lovely Park Slope brownstone and their father's
somewhat needy home in a lesser neighborhood not far away. Berkman is
an intellectual but also a self-centered jerk. Poor Walt has had no
other hero than his father and emulates his ways and thoughts almost
instinctively. Frank is also suffering but seems more together in
dealing with the craziness of his parents' breakup. "The Squid and
the Whale," with enough touches of humor to match the misery,
beautifully portrays what can happen in a family with equally strong
parents who don't always realize the errors of their ways or that
they can harm their children. Laura Linney, one of the finest
actresses around today, is simply magnificent as the mother who must
deal with the needs of her two sons as well as her own failings. Owen
Kline (son of Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates) is adorable and perfect
as young Frank. Others of note in this great cast are Anna Paquin as
Lilli, a young flirt from Berkman's class who comes to live in his
home; William Baldwin as Ivan, the charming tennis pro who has an
affair with Joan post-marriage; and Halley Feiffer as Sophie, a
lovely young woman who really doesn't need poor Walt as a boyfriend.,
"The Squid and the Whale" could be thought of as depressing. But it
is so well done and effective in its portrayal of a family in pain
that it is ultimately an uplifting and extremely satisfying
experience. Don't miss this one. A
(3/24/06)
"Good
Night, and Good Luck."-Director/star
George Clooney not only has made a wonderful film, he has also
provided Americans with an important public service: reminding them
of how vital it is to our democracy to have an independent and
functioning media that isn't afraid to question the liars and
demagogues who unfortunately are often elected to high office in this
country. "Good Night, and Good Luck.," filmed beautifully and crisply
in black and white, seems almost like a documentary about the courage
displayed by CBS's Edward R. Murrow (David Straitharn) and his
producer, Friendly (Clooney), in exposing the anti-Communist terror
and intimidation of Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950s. With a
delightful "greek chorus" in the background, in the form of jazz
singer Dianne Reeves, we see how the chain-smoking Murrow, a very
serious journalist with great integrity, and Friendly, fought the
instinctive desires of CBS corporate (William Paley, played by Frank
Langella) to avoid annoying Alcoa, Murrow's "See It Now" sponsor. I
have only two complaints about this film. One, as good as it is, it
doesn't completely get across the nightmarish fear that fell over
America during the period of "McCarthyism," and, two, it's not long
enough at 90 minutes. Clooney could have added more to make it even
clearer to viewers that McCarthy and his supporters, including
Attorney Roy Cohn, were ruining many innocent and decent lives with
outrageous charges and innuendos. The memorable scene in which
Attorney Joseph Welch, representing the US Army during the
Army-McCarthy hearings, asks McCarthy "Have you no sense of decency,
sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?" loses a great
deal of its impact by the absence of further exploration of the
terrible effect that McCarthy had on the country.
David Straitharn is simply brilliant as
Murrow. He literally morphs into the look, sound and feel of the man.
Others worth noting in the cast are Robert Downey, Jr., and Patricia
Clarkson as Joe and Shirley Wershba, a couple hiding their marital
status in the CBS newsroom; Ray Wise as the ill-fated Don Hollenbeck;
Jeff Daniels as CBS newsroom exec Sig Mickelson; and Glenn Morshower
("24") as an overbearing colonel trying to stop Friendly and Murrow
in their tracks. This is an important film and is highly recommended.
A (3/18/06)
"A
History of Violence"-Violent films are a
dime-a-dozen in American movie theaters and this film is loaded with
violence. So what makes this one different? Well, it's an original
take on the entire subject and originality goes a long way,
especially with a cast as talented as this one. Tom Stall (Viggo
Mortensen) is a quiet midwestern family man who runs a local
restaurant, but his life is turned upside down when two men walk in
the door and threaten the lives of all present. Stall, almost with
utter ease, kills both men and becomes a hero locally and on national
television. The result is that shortly thereafter a one-eyed east
coast hood, Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris), arrives with a couple of
henchmen and informs Stall that he knows that he is really Joey
Cusack of Philadelphia, a killer who took out Fogarty's eye and that
he wants revenge. The question facing Stall and his family is whether
he is really the simple, quiet Tom Stall or the ruthless Joey Cusack.
"A History of Violence" becomes an analysis of varying emotions,
including the effects of the threat on Stall's wife (Maria Bello),
son Jack (Ashton Holmes), and young daughter. Directed by David
Cronenberg (usually known for horror flicks such as "The Fly"), "A
History of Violence" exposes the raw emotions and sexuality that
occurs when people are threatened with serious life turmoil. The cast
is first rate. Mortensen is perfect as the tight-lipped Stall. Maria
Bello ("The Cooler") is ideal and real as Edie Stall, whose life has
been turned upside down by the violent incidents this film describes.
Ed Harris is ultimately sinister as the smooth-talking nightmare who
has entered the lives of the Stall family. Ashton Holmes, a newcomer,
provides the right level of fear and anger as the son who is the
subject of a bully at school and wants his own vengeance. William
Hurt, playing a role unlike almost anything he's ever done, is
stunning as an insecure but ruthless underworld figure.
B+ (3/17/06)
"The
Ice Harvest"-Directed by Harold Ramis
(who starred in "Ghostbusters") and written in part by Richard Russo
(better known for novels-turned-films such as "Empire Falls" and
"Nobody's Fool"), "The Ice Harvest" is a black comedy that occurs
during a Wichita, KS, ice storm on Christmas eve. Centered around
lawyer Charlie Arglist (John Cusack) who thinks up a way to steal a
fortune from his mob boss, and a strip-club owner, Vic Cavanaugh
(Billy Bob Thornton), who encourages Arglist to go through with the
theft, "The Ice Harvest" follows Charlie around as he waits for the
opportunity to escape from Wichita with Vic (who has insisted on
taking the money for safekeeping). Charlie claims he knows how to
commit a perfect crime, but it's obvious that he never listened to
the weather report. Following the theft, we see Charlie live through
a night of twisted events in which he deals with the icy road
conditions; the angst of a friend (Oliver Platt) who is now unhappily
married to Charlie's cold ex-wife; the fear of being sought-after by
mob hoods and his angry boss (Randy Quaid); and flirting with the
gorgeous strip-club operator, Renata (Connie Nielsen) who appears to
be throwing herself at him. The rather slow-moving film has its
moments, but ultimately breaks down at the end when just too much
goes wrong after Charlie begins to suspect that Vic doesn't intend to
share. John Cusack provides his standard professional performance,
unfortunately mostly poker-faced, and Billy Bob Thornton is, well,
Billy Bob Thornton, bringing back Christmas memories of "Bad Santa"
(although this film has a decidedly better script--but that's not
really saying much). Connie Nielsen is beautiful as Renata but it's
always obvious why, despite her beauty, she is still relatively
unknown. Randy Quaid is funny as the angry mob boss bent on getting
back his money and killing Charlie. Finally, Oliver Platt is perfect
as Charlie's depressed drinking pal who never knows when to keep his
mouth shut. Lots of potentially good elements for a black comedy, but
ultimately it's not much more than a big ho-hum.
C+
(3/11/06)
"Domino"-Domino
Harvey (Keira Knightley), who died not long after this film was
finished, was the daughter of the late Laurence Harvey, star of "The
Manchurian Candidate." But she didn't turn out like a typical star
offspring. Instead of being a 90210-type, she hardened, picked up a
shotgun, and started chasing wanted criminals as a bounty hunter.
"Domino" is a fictionalized tale based loosely on Domino's life and
provides us with a cartoonish world of bailbondsmen, bounty hunter
thugs, and hardened criminals. Despite being almost ripped off by a
lecturing bailbondsman, Claremont Williams (Delroy Lindo), Domino
joins his questionable gang which includes Ed Mosley (Mickey Rourke,
looking like a living version of Marv, the character he played in the
even more cartoonish "Sin City") and Choco (Edgar Ramirez). The film
tells a rather comic tale of an attempt to raise money for an
operation for the granddaughter of one of Williams' cohorts, Lateesha
Rodriguez (Mo'Nique, who has an hysterical ethnic re-naming scene as
a participant on Jerry Springer) by crosses and doublecrosses
involving an armed robbery (what else?). That the activities of the
bounty hunters are being filmed by a TV crew, including two actual
"90210" stars as hosts, turns the whole escapade into one of manic
hysteria. Keira Knightley has undergone one of the most incredible
role transformations from the 18th Century heroine of "Pride and
Prejudice" to a gun-toting tough talking 21st Century chick, and does
it sublimely well. "Domino" is rough around the edges but provides
some good laughs along the way. B
(3/10/06)
"Rent"-The
Broadway play won all types of awards and yet every time I saw or
heard a scene from the musical I was not impressed. So, at last, here
was my opportunity to see what the shouting was about. And now I can
say that while it's not great, it's not terrible either. "Rent" is
the tale of a group of New Yorkers living on Avenue A in 1989. The
story follows them for approximately one year and thus the main theme
song, "525,650 Minutes." Based very loosely on "La Boheme," they're a
group of "bohemians?" Most owe rent, some are sick with AIDS. The
diverse group of characters are friends and, through caring and being
cared for, form the essence of a family. At the heart of the story is
Mark (Anthony Rapp) who shares a loft with guitar-playing Roger (Adam
Pascal), who seems numbed by life. Mark, a would-be filmmaker who
walks around filming with his seemingly ancient wind-up camera, has
lost his lover, performance artist Maureen (Idina Menzel) to an
attorney, Joanne (Traci Thomas). Roger, meanwhile, is attracted to
his AIDS-stricken stripper neighbor Mimi (Rosario Dawson). Among
their dear friends are Tom Collins (Jesse L. Martin) and his amazing
drag queen lover Angel (a bravura performance by Wilson Jermaine
Heredia), also suffering from AIDS. Causing problems for all is
Benjamin (Taye Diggs), a former member of the group who married up
and is now the landlord. "Rent," of course, is a "rock opera" and the
recitative tends to be annoying. Portions of the score are difficult
to listen to, but every once in awhile a catchy number comes along
like "La Vie Boheme," "The Maureen Tango," or "Santa Fe." Parts of
the script and some of the lyrics are laughable and the film contains
some sloppy techniques (in one scene on a subway, a woman sits in a
corner seat, then is gone, and then is magically back
again--continuity, where art thou?). "Rent" has its virtues, even if
they are limited. C+
(3/4/06)
"Pride
and Prejudice"-I first fell for Jane
Austen's Elizabeth Bennet when I saw the lovely Elizabeth Garvie play
the part in a British TV serial version in the early 1980s. Then
there was the Jennifer Ehle/Colin Firth TV extended version in 1995,
followed by the "Bollywood" version of "Bride and Prejudice" in 2004.
I didn't think I could take another viewing, but I was wrong.
Director Joe Wright and screenwriter Deborah Moggach somehow
distilled a rather complex tale by editing down some of the more
unpleasant aspects of the story and turning it into a truly
magnificent early 19th century two hour film about romance and the
ties of family. Gorgeously filmed, and loaded with wonderful
performances, this version of "Pride and Prejudice" presents a new
take on the characters of Lizzie Bennet (Keira Knightley) and Mr.
Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen). Lizzie is younger with more pizzazz and
Darcy seems more real as he changes from the seemingly pompous fool
who appears at a local dance to the caring and lovestruck gentleman
with whom Lizzie ultimately falls in love. "Pride and Prejudice" is
simply chock full of delicious characters and performances, including
Brenda Blethyn as the somewhat airheaded matron of the Bennet clan
intent on marrying off her five daughters, Donald Sutherland as Mr.
Bennet who knows Lizzie's worth, the gorgeous Rosamund Pike ("Die
Another Day") as older sister Jane Bennet whose romance with Mr.
Bingley (Simon Woods) is initially interrupted by the mistaken Darcy.
Jena Malone is delightful as the younger sister Lydia, obsessed with
the local military men, and who runs off with Mr. Wickham (Rupert
Friend), a role that is far more significant in the original Austen,
but toned down in this smaller version. The great Judi Dench does
another fabulous and nasty turn as Lady Catherine de Bourg. She is
astoundingly overbearing in the scene in which she attempts to
intimidate Lizzie to stay out of Darcy's life. Tom Hollander is
delightful as the stiff and silly Mr. Collins, the Bennet cousin who
will inherit the Bennet estate and turn out the Bennet women if Mr.
Bennet should die. "Pride and Prejudice" is a joy to watch. Highly
recommended. A (3/3/06)
"Walk
the Line"-One of my favorite genres of
motion pictures is the biopic about entertainers and especially
musical ones and this is one of the best. I've been following Johnny
Cash since the days of early rock and roll in the early 1950s and
this wonderful film shows us just how Johnny Cash came out of cotton
field roots in Arkansas and turned into a superstar despite various
trials and travails. Echoing themes from last year's "Ray," Cash had
to deal with the pain of losing a loved brother with accompanying
deep feelings of pain and guilt imposed by his steely father; an
early marriage and children; the attraction to another; and
ultimately the descent into substance abuse. Joaquin Phoenix
literally becomes Johnny Cash, even to the point of singing the songs
himself. Likewise, Reese Witherspoon, who also does her own singing,
finds the role of a lifetime as June Carter, the comic country singer
with a perky personality who at first resists Cash, especially as he
is married with children, and finds himself more and more reliant on
drugs and alcohol, but ultimately turns into his savior. In addition
to the brilliant performances of Phoenix and Witherspoon, the cast is
loaded with excellent performances by Ginnifer Goodwin as Vivian,
Cash's first and long-suffering wife (and mother of Rosanne and three
others), Robert Patrick as the father who never saw good in his son,
Waylon Payne as Jerry Lee Lewis, and Sandra Ellis Lafferty as
Maybelle Carter, June's mother. "Walk the Line" is beautifully filmed
and recorded. Director James Mangold deserved an Oscar nomination.
A (3/2/06)
"North
Country"-Based on the true events of a
sexual harassment trial involving a mine in the northern Minnesota
Mesabi Range, "North Country" is a fictionalized version involving a
young woman miner, Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron). Having left her
abusive husband and taking her two kids with her, Josey, who unfairly
has a reputation for loose morals, decides to go to work in the local
mine where her father (Richard Jenkins) has worked for many years. It
doesn't take long until she discovers that the men in the mine don't
want women working there and will make it as miserable as possible
for them via harsh forms of sexual harassment. "North Country,"
directed by Niki Caro ("Whale Rider"), is beautifully filmed and
acted, if not a little overbearing on the stereotypical
clichés of man vs. woman. The men in the mine are portrayed as
almost unanimously vicious whereas reports of the real case (which
actually took years to settle), indicate that there were only a few
transgressors among the men working in the mine. The mine officials
and their female lawyer also seem slightly cartoonish in their
presentation as evil characters. Charlize Theron proves once again
that a beautiful woman can act and play a normal human being. She
transforms herself into the crusading mother who wants to work in
these miserable conditions so she can support her children. The
supporting cast is outstanding, including Sissy Spacek as her
husband-dominated but understanding mother; Woody Harrelson as a
lawyer friend who ultimately agrees to take her case; Frances
McDormand as Glory, a truck driver at the mine who suffers miserable
health but still rises to the occasion to support Josey; Sean Bean as
Glory's husband Kyle, who retired from the mine after a back injury;
and Xander Berekeley ("24") as Josey's miserable chauvinistic
supervisor at the mine. Richard Jenkins ("Six Feet Under") is
powerful as Josey's father, a man who has misunderstood and failed to
appreciate his daughter's qualities, but ultimately rises to the
occasion when forced, by his wife, to appreciate what women do for
men. "North Country" is full of those film techniques that push our
buttons about the miserable treatment of human beings by others, but
despite some of these clichés, the film is powerful because of
its theme, its visual and audio qualities, and its outstanding cast.
Both Theron and McDormand have deservedly been nominated for Oscars.
A- (2/25/06)
"Proof"-Taken
from a successful Broadway play of the same name, "Proof" feels like
it during many scenes. The four main characters often talk to each
other in the tone of a dramatic stage play rather than a fluid film
script. They are Robert (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant mathematician
from Chicago, whose daughter Catherine (Gwyneth Paltrow) has cared
for him in the last years of a severe mental illness; Hal (Jake
Gyllenhaal), a student of Robert's who haunts the house after
Robert's death searching his papers for any previously unknown
mathematical proofs; and Claire (Hope Davis), Catherine's sister, who
arrives from her home in New York to attend the funeral and attempt
to take her sibling, whom she believes is ill like her father, back
to NY. Catherine and Claire are a real pair. Catherine is depressed
and socially hostile following her father's death, and Claire is
dense and thoughtless in relating to Catherine and those around her.
The heart of the film ultimately is intended to be the question of
whether a significant proof discovered in Robert's desk is that of
Robert or of Catherine, who claims it as her own. We learn something
of the truth during flashbacks, but ultimately this theme is
overwhelmed by the silliness and pettiness of the two sisters.
Catherine's hostility is unexplained and also unexplained is her easy
surrender to a sister she obviously does not like. Throw in a sister
who lacks feelings and is more interested in her TV shows than in
higher learning, plus Hal who isn't sure whether he's coming or
going, and you have a strange mix. Anthony Hopkins, as usual, seems
strong as Robert, but it's pretty much the same Anthony Hopkins we
see in virtually every film. Nuance is not one of his specialties.
"Proof" undoubtedly was stronger on a stage because that's where it
belonged. B- (2/24/06)
"Wallace
and Gromit in The Curse of the
Were-Rabbit"-The original short
claymation films of Nick Park about Wallace, the eccentric British
inventor who loves cheese, and his intelligent dog, Gromit, are
brilliant and wonderful to see. Now, years later, Park has presented
us with a more sophisticated full-length animated film starring
Wallace and Gromit. This time Wallace and Gromit run a pest (rabbit)
control company aimed at protecting the astoundingly large vegetables
being grown in their neighborhood for Lady Tottington's annual
vegetable contest. We see all of Wallace's amazing inventions,
including one that appears to have created a Frankensteinian monster,
a large "were-rabbit" who devours virtually everything in site. This
animated film is fun to watch, even if a little too long. Wallace and
Gromit probably are best seen in short spurts as they were in films
like "The Wrong Trousers." But nevertheless the film contains some
delightful characters, including the red-haired Lady Tottington or
Tottie (voiced by Helena Bonham-Carter), the toupeed Victor
Quartermaine (Ralph Fiennes) (Wallace's rival for Tottie's
affections); and the somewhat dense Reverend Hedges (Nicholas Smith).
Peter Sallis is the voice of Wallace, who is a little too smart for
his own good and is awfully lucky to have the incredibly smart dog
Gromit (whose eyebrows astoundingly establish virtually every
necessary thought and emotion). B+
(2/18/06)
"Nine
Lives"-I'm sure most people would enjoy
becoming a "fly on the wall" and dropping in to other people's lives
to see what's going on, even if only for a few minutes.
Director/writer Rodrigo Garcîa has given us about 10 minutes in
the lives of nine women who are experiencing angst in their
relationships, whether with spouses, family, or others involved in
their lives. With some overlapping of characters, among others, we
see nine stories, including a woman (Elpidia Carillo) in prison
frustrated by the refusal of prison authorities to allow her to
communicate with her young daughter; an angry woman (Kathy Baker)
with breast cancer awaiting surgery; a nurse (Lisa Gay Hamilton)
angrily estranged from her father but contemplating talking to him; a
pregnant woman (Robin Wright Penn) who runs into an old lover (Jason
Isaacs) at a supermarket with emotional consequences; and a woman
(Amy Brenneman) at the funeral of her former husband's suicidal wife.
Each vignette is intriguing but disappears just as we begin to wonder
what is going to happen. In an interview on the DVD, director
Garcîa admits that he wrote the stories to fit the basic idea
of nine vignettes and it shows. We want to care about these people,
but we never get enough to allow us reason to care. The film contains
sharp-edged performances from those noted and others, including Sissy
Spacek, Holly Hunter, Glenn Close, Molly Parker, Joe Mantegna and Ian
McShane. B (2/17/06)
"Elizabethtown"-Director/writer
Cameron Crowe ("Almost Famous" and "Jerry Maguire") has now gone
wrong two pictures in a row. His last, "Vanilla Sky," was hardly
worth viewing. "Elizabethtown" is a little more appealing, but is
seriously flawed. Orlando Bloom plays Oregonian Drew Baylor, a
creative guy at a shoe company who has created a disaster of a shoe
and cost his company almost a billion dollars. Needless to say, he's
fired by his boss (Alec Baldwin) and, having lost his job and his
girlfriend (Jessica Biel) (who works at the company), he contemplates
suicide. But fate steps in and he gets a call from his sister (Judy
Greer), who tells him his father has died in his native
Elizabethtown, KY, and he must go and deal with the body, the funeral
plans, and the rest of his father's family and friends. Virtually
sleepwalking through the film, Drew flies to Kentucky on a red eye
and meets what can only be called his "fairy godmother," Claire
Colburn (Kirsten Dunst), a flight attendant who has nothing more to
do than sit, flirt, and give advice to poor Drew. The rest of the
film takes Drew to Louisville and Elizabethtown where he meets a
whole range of characters, but seems always to find Claire by his
side giving advice. "Elizabethtown" has a decent theme of considering
just what is important in life: a young man's rise from suicidal
thoughts to life by the experiences he has and the people he meets.
But the film is often dull at points, and contains some really poor
segues. Ultimately, it's a hodgepodge of images, almost as if the
film were thought up and created in separate sections. One ends,
another begins and they don't seem to connect. Orlando Bloom is often
expressionless in the film. I guess he missed his usual horse, armor,
and arrows. Kirsten Dunst, an actress I usually like, is just too
chirpy as the all-knowing everpresent Claire. One of the best scenes
in the film is performed by Susan Sarandon as Drew's mother who shows
pathos and humor at a memorial for her late husband.
C (2/10/06)
"The
Aristocrats"-There's no secret about the
joke that is the centerpiece of this film. It's simple, although
there are a million variations. A family walks into a talent agent's
office and asks to do their act for him. The agent says to go ahead.
The family proceeds to engage in virtually every sexual and
scatalogical act imaginable, ranging from incest to pure degradation
(and all described in detail by the joke teller). When the act
finishes, the agent looks stunned and asks the name of the act. They
reply "We're called the Aristocrats." Penn Jillette (of Penn and
Teller) and Paul Provenza interviewed dozens of comedians and people
connected to comedians about this joke. The film provides everything
from straight versions of the joke, philosophy about the joke, and
variations, some of the latter being the funniest things in the film.
But ultimately "The Aristocrats" presents the viewer with a very
revealing vision of comics who, rather strangely, think that overkill
on sex and bodily functions is an inherently funny thing, but even
some of them wonder why and almost looked embarrassed. One of the
funniest tellings of the joke in the film occurs when Gilbert
Gottfried is seen shaking up a Friars Club roast three weeks after
9/11, making everybody (well almost everybody) laugh again. The
almost pained look on the face of Hugh Hefner, of all people, sitting
next to the lectern where Gottfriend is speaking, is priceless. Among
the many comics in the film are Jason Alexander, George Carlin,
Whoopie Goldberg, Bob Saget (telling possibly the filthiest version),
Sarah Silverman (hysterically lowkey and serious about the whole
thing), Jon Stewart, Martin Mull, Eric Idle, Robin Williams, and Bill
Maher. "The Aristocrats" was unrated and, as a result of this and its
subject matter, I have concluded that it should be left
Ungraded
(2/5/06)
"The
Legend of Zorro"-Pure fluff but fun,
"The Legend of Zorro" is a combination of Zorro, James Bond, and The
Incredibles. Alejandro (Antonio Banderas, as the dashing hero Zorro
has just helped California become a state by guaranteeing that the
votes are counted. He then has a tiff with his gorgeous wife, Elena
(Catherine Zeta-Jones), and finds himself on the receiving end of
divorce papers. Three months later, he discovers that Elena is in a
relationship with Count Armand (Rufus Sewell), a wealthy and powerful
European. Seething with anger, Alejandro lets himself get drunk but
in the process discovers a sinister plot that revitalizes the Zorro
within him. "The Legend of Zorro" has in it the tale of a very human
superhero (and he is that as he is shown running at astounding
speeds, leaping beyond the capacity of any normal human, and almost
flying); the James Bondian story of a megalomaniac, planning
dastardly doings on a very large scale who even has an Oddjob-like
right-hand man to Armand's "Goldfinger"; and the presence of an
Incredibles-like son of the superhero, Joaquin (Adrian Alonso), who,
despite the fact that he doesn't know his father is Zorro,
demonstrates Zorro-like abilities. Antonio Banderas and Catherine
Zeta-Jones provide the swordplay and good looks to make one admire
both. Nick Chinlund is quite nasty as one of Armand's henchmen. If
you like a little adventure and pretty scenery without a hint of
seriousness, check this out for a couple of hours of fun.
B (2/4/06)
"Flightplan"-Jodie
Foster is Kyle, an airplane engineer living in Berlin whose husband
has just died after a fall from a roof. She is seen walking the
streets with her husband after his death, thus raising questions
about her sanity. Kyle then takes her 6-year old daughter Julia home,
along with her husband's coffin, on a very large two tiered jumbo
jet. While on the plane, Kyle and Julia stretch out on empty seats
and, when Kyle awakens, Julia is gone and can't be found. The
problem? No one saw or can remember seeing Julia, the boarding list
doesn't include her, and the hospital at which Kyle's husband died
reports that Julia died as well. Kyle is thus seen as a madwoman
disrupting the plane searching for a non-existent daughter. The
problem with this film is that we know that it is not likely to be
about a woman's descent into madness. The ultimate end is obvious and
the machinations of at least the first half of the film are such that
I, at least, had the desire to fast forward to get to the climax. I
didn't, however, and finally got to the "thriller" portion of the
film. But this was relatively predictable minor stuff and it's
somewhat sad to see a talented actress like Jodie Foster sticking to
films of this genre (compare "Panic Room"). Others in the cast are
Sean Bean as an annoyed pilot, Peter Sarsgaard as an air marshal, and
Greta Scacchi as a well-meaning therapist/passenger who wants to help
poor deluded Kyle. C
(2/3/06)
"Oliver
Twist"-This umpteenth version of the
Dickens classic, directed by Roman Polanski, falls on its face. On
the DVD, Polanski says that he didn't know what to do after "The
Pianist," but wanted to make a film for his children. And this is it?
"Oliver Twist" is a tough story about an orphan in 19th Century
England who is mistreated by virtually all, and falls into the hands
of the ultimate fence, Fagin (Ben Kingsley), and his very nasty
colleague, Bill Sikes (Jamie Foreman). But even the story of Oliver
Twist has some charm. Well, there's none in this film. Polanski's
version plays more like an American thriller than a Dickens
masterpiece. Characters are thrown at us, not developed. Young Barney
Clark as Oliver, as cute as he is, fails to provide any appeal. It's
almost as if he is a cipher to whom things are happening. Ben
Kingsley is almost unrecognizable as Fagin, but it's a comic book
Fagin rather than the pitiable soul that Dickens portrayed in his
novel. Ultimately, the film is not really for children. It's likely
to give them nightmares. I liked Leanne Rowe as the good-hearted but
ill-fated Nancy, Edward Hardwicke (Dr. Watson in the BBC's "Sherlock
Holmes") as Mr. Brownlow, the man who ultimately gives Oliver a home,
and Harry Eden as the Artful Dodger. If you really want to see
"Oliver Twist," I'd recommend the 1948 David Lean version with Alec
Guinness as Fagin and Robert Newton as Bill Sikes.
C+ (1/28/06)
"Junebug"-Madeleine
(Embeth Davidtz) is a fairly sophisticated art gallery operator in
Chicago who one day spies the handsome George (Alessandro Nivola) in
her gallery and immediately falls in love. A week later they're
married. When Madeleine decides to check out the work of an "outside"
artist in North Carolina, she and George travel together as the
"outsider" lives near George's family and a family visit is overdue.
"Junebug" is all about culture clash and especially about the state
of mind of those in the South, and North Carolina in particular (the
roots of the writer, Angus Maclachlan). Madeleine, born in Japan and
raised in Africa, tries to fit in, but it's almost embarrassing to
watch her touchy-feely affection for people she has never met before,
especially when most greet her with cold dispassion or
misunderstanding. On the other hand, Ashley (Amy Adams), the
red-headed pregnant wife of George's brother Johnny (Benjamin
McKenzie), can't wait to meet Madeleine and make her into her "best
friend." Madeleine finds herself in the middle of a rather nasty
family situation, especially with Johnny tightlipped and angry about
his brother. "Junebug" has lots of potential and a magnificent
performance by Amy Adams as the bubbling and loving young pregnant
woman whose husband is incapable of showing any affection during her
greatest time of need. However, it also has weaknesses that undermine
its effectiveness. Madeleine is too affectionate, whether it's
genuine or not, with people she has never met before. The idea that
someone as worldly as Madeleine would marry a guy after one week is a
little too much to accept. George's father is played as tightlipped
and subdued as possible and this is understandable when we see the
domination of his rather nasty wife, Peg, George's mother, played by
Celia Weston. Finally, George, having stayed away from his family for
three years, suddenly becomes a family man when back home, but still
shows more feeling for his sister-in-law than for his own flesh and
blood. If Angus Machlachlan intended a favorable view of southern
life, he erred. The lack of diversity in the local culture (lots of
white people and churches) is broken only by the bizarre sexual
ramblings of the "outside" artist, David Wark, played beautifully by
Frank Hoyt Taylor. This indie film is unusual enough and Amy Adams'
performance magnificent enough to recommend a viewing. But it could
have been a lot better. B+
(1/27/06)
"2046"-From
director Wong Kar Wai ("In the Mood for Love"), "2046" is an
experience. Is it science fiction set in the future? Is it the story
of a man's romantic failures set in the 1960s? Well, it's something
of both. The cinematography, the score, and the acting are all
superb. Having said that, I must note that the plot is a little murky
and the timeline confusing, and this can ultimately be a put-off.
Following up on "In the Mood for Love," "2046" stars Tony Leung as
Chow, the same character who appeared in the other film, and who has
significant but fading memories of Su Li Zhen (Maggie Cheung), the
woman he lost in the earlier film. Chow is now living in Hong Kong
and "2046" portrays his relationships with a group of other women,
including another Su Li Zhen (Gong Li); his landlord's daughter, Wang
Jing Wen (Faye Wong), who pines for her lost Japanese boyfriend; and
Bai Ling (Ziyi Zhang), a woman who initially puts him off but finally
falls madly in love with him. At the same time, we see another Chow
riding a train in the future trying to escape from the year 2046, and
surrounded by beautiful androids. That Chow occupies Room 2047 in the
hotel where he lives, right next to Room 2046, is symbolically
significant. The film, however, contains too many titles indicating
"one hour later," "ten hours later" or even "100 hours later,"
especially when events happen and then repeat in slightly different
versions (are they memories?). "2046" is ultimately like looking at a
beautiful work of art even if it's not easy to figure out just what's
going on. (In Cantonese, Japanese, and Mandarin with English
subtitles). B+ (1/21/06)
"The
Chumscrubber"-Considering the cast, I'm
surprised this black comedy did not get much attention when in
release. The plot is simple. Jamie Bell ("Billy Elliot") is Dean
Stiffle, a teen living in a dull, typical, ultra-suburban California
development, who walks past the adults attending a party at the home
of his neighbor, Mrs. Johnson (Glenn Close), enters the cottage
occupied by her son, his friend, and finds him hanging from the
rafters. Instead of telling anyone, he simply walks out in a stupor
and returns home to deal with his utterly clueless parents, Dr. Bill
(William Fichtner), who is obsessed with his celebrity upon writing a
self-help book, and Mrs. Stiffle (Allison Janney), who is totally
into cooking and distributing health pills. But some of Dean's
schoolmates are interested in other kinds of pills and kidnap a young
boy whom they think is Dean's brother Charley (Rory Culkin). Even
when they learn that they actually have Charley Bratley (Thomas
Curtis), son of the local policeman (John Heard), they inform Dean
that they will kill the boy unless he hands over drugs stored in the
cottage of his late friend. But this film is not really about the
plot to get the drugs so much as it is about almost total
miscommunication between adults and their teen children. Every adult
in the community is portrayed as a dolt, utterly oblivious to their
kids and what they are doing. When the kidnappers Billy (Justin
Chatwin), Crystal (Camilla Belle), and Lee (Lou Taylor Pucci), are
totally honest with their parents ("We kidnapped this kid and are
holding him for ransom"--you get the point), the parents respond,
Stepford-style, with "That's nice, dear." Ultimately, "The
Chumscrubber" (a symbolic figure in a computer game) fails because it
goes over the edge into portraying almost all of the adults as
totally oblivious and insane. For example, Charley Bratley's mother,
Terri Bratley (Rita Wilson), divorced from her police officer
ex-husband, is so obsessed with her upcoming marriage to the mayor
(Ralph Fiennes) (who is also in a world of his own), that she doesn't
notice for two days that Charley is missing. Jamie Bell, sans British
accent, is wonderful as the decent pill-popping Dean, who simply
wants to be left alone in response to the nutty environment in which
he lives. Ralph Fiennes is, as always, excellent, as the spaced-out
mayor. Others of note are Carrie-Ann Moss (the "Matrix" films) as a
very sexy but oblivious mother, and Jason Isaacs (of the "Harry
Potter" films) and Caroline Goodall as another set of "Stepford"
parents. "The Chumscrubber" may not succeed but it is earnest and
worth a look as a social commentary. B
(1/20/06)
"Hustle
& Flow"-DJay (Terrence Howard) is a
Memphis pimp who spends most of his time driving around his blonde
"ho" Nola (Taryn Manning), looking for tricks. But DJay is no
ordinary pimp. While waiting for tricks to show up, he philosophizes
to a somewhat stupefied Nola. Back home, DJay must not only care for
Nola but also Shug (Taraji P. Henson), pregnant with his child, and
deal with the anger and frustrations of Lexus (Paula Jai Parker) and
her crying infant. DJay's interest in music is reignited one day when
he's given a small electronic keyboard and, upon meeting an old
schoolmate, Key (Anthony Anderson), who is knowledgeable about sound
recording, the idea of his becoming a rapper emerges. But what really
gets DJay inspired is the information he gets from a friendly bar
owner (Isaac Hayes), that Skinny Black (Ludacris), a local rapper who
made good, is coming for a visit. Written and directed by Craig
Brewer and produced by, among others, John Singleton ("Boyz n the
Hood"), "Hustle & Flow" is one of the finest inner city films in
many a year. It's loaded with incredible performances. Terrence
Howard ("Crash") is utterly and breathtakingly transformed into a
pimp with a dream. But that's not all. Anthony Anderson is amazing as
Key, who has to weigh his desire for success through DJay's off-color
and harsh rap sounds versus the middle-class ways of his wife,
Yevette (Elise Neal). Taraji P. Henson also does a wonderful turn as
the sweet, somewhat helpless, and pregnant Shug who suddenly finds
herself inspired when invited to join in on DJay's demo rap song.
Meanwhile, Paula Jai Parker provides a touch of inner city anger to
Lexus, a stripper who ultimately pushes DJay too far. And if that
wasn't enough, possibly the most memorable performance is that of
D.J. Qualls as Shelby, the white keyboard player whose self-confident
entry into DJay's home produces one of the funniest bits of dialogue
(between DJay and Key) heard in a long time. This is one of those
films that I would recommend putting on your "must see" list but
remember that it is surely for adults only.
A (1/14/06)
"The
Constant Gardener"-From John
LeCarré's novel, "The Constant Gardener" is a compelling,
taut, and beautifully filmed and acted thriller with a genuine
message about the ultra-cynical state of modern business and
politics. Ralph Fiennes is brilliant as Justin Quayle. a low level
British diplomat in Africa who initially seems more concerned with
his flowers than with the world around him. But he starts to seethe
with anger and some jealousy when his activist wife, Tessa (Rachel
Weisz), whom he thinks may have been having an affair, is killed
while on a trip with a doctor colleague. Flashbacks provide us with
the background of the development of the relationship between Quayle
and Tessa, a woman who is unafraid to question and embarrass
authority about significant issues. Realizing that his wife, whose
activities centered around the medical treatment of local poor
Africans riddled with AIDS and TB, may have been onto something while
investigating pharmaceutical companies who apparently were using the
locals as guinea pigs for their new drugs and suspecting that her
death was related, Quayle begins his own investigation under threat
that what happened to his wife can happen to him. The director of
this film is Fernando Meirelles, the director of the great Brazilian
film "City of God," and it is easy to see what motivated Meirelles to
make this more mainstream film but one with a theme very closely akin
to that of "City of God." "The Constant Gardener" proves that "City
of God" was no accident. Meirelles once again demonstrates his
tremendous talent for outstanding, unusual, and beautiful films about
social issues. He is a director to be watched very closely in the
future. Not only is Fiennes brilliant in his subtle, low-key
performance, but the performances of Rachel Weisz as the fearless
Tessa and Danny Huston as Sandy Woodrow, another British official
involved in the life of the Quayles, are not to be missed. Also to be
watched closely are Bill Nighy as a somewhat creepy high British
official, Hubert Koundé as Arnold, Tessa's doctor colleague,
and Pete Postlethwaite, a cynical doctor who gives Quayle some
important answers. Finally, "The Constant Gardener" is magnificent to
watch as a result of the incredible cinematography of César
Charlone. Run, don't walk, to see this film.
A (1/13/06)
"Red
Eye"-Directed by horror maven Wes
Craven, "Red Eye" isn't quite in the same league with his other
films. In fact, surprisingly it's fairly run-of-the-mill. A beautiful
young lady (Rachel McAdams) who also happens to be a Miami hotel
exec, having just attended her grandmother's funeral, gets on a
late-night plane to Miami and finds herself seated next to a
seemingly charming young man (Cillian Murphy) she met in the
terminal. But it doesn't take long for Lisa, the young lady, to
discover, that Jackson Rippner (get it?), the young man, is not what
he seemed. Rippner is a bad guy who has been tracking Lisa so that he
can use her to move an important official and his family from his
regular room in Lisa's Miami hotel to another so that he can be
targeted for death. After a few scenes of Rippner terrorizing Lisa
aboard the plane, the film deterioriates into a standard and almost
ho-hum chase film. Don't bother. C
(1/13/06)
"Broken
Flowers"-Jim Jarmusch, one of America's
most original filmmakers, has finally given us a totally coherent
film and he's loaded it with some of the best actors in the business
who simply excel in the exotic roles they are given. Don Johnston
(Bill Murray), called "Don Juan" by his neighbor Winston (Jeffrey
Wright) and whose name frequently brings laughs when people think he
has said "Don Johnson," is a somewhat dour retired successful
computer exec who sits in his fairly tasteless home staring at the TV
set while his current girlfriend Sherry (Julie Delpy) walks out. At
the same time, Don receives a pink anonymous letter informing him
that 20 years earlier he impregnated a girlfriend and now has a
19-year-old son who is looking for him. Winston, who is an amateur
sleuth, encourages Don to check out the ex-girlfriends of 20 years
earlier and sets up a road trip, complete with plane, auto, and hotel
reservations and maps. Although Don continuously says he's not
interested, he leaves and heads out to visit his former girlfriends
played respectively by Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange,
and Tilda Swinton. What makes "Broken Flowers" astonishing is
Jarmusch's insight into the nature of American culture. From Don
sitting in front of his HDTV watching mindless shows, to the heady
flirtation/exhibitionism of one of his ex-girlfriend's daughters, we
are confronted with a variety of incredibly telling images of our
culture. We see Don flying from city to city, but everything always
seems to look much the same, both at the airports and on the road.
One ex is a closet organizer, another is a monumentally dull real
estate agent married to a monumentally dull real estate agent who
live in and sell monumentally dull pre-fab homes. A third ex is a pet
"communicator," a slap at some of the "new age" ideas that have
haunted our culture. A fourth is a hick in a rundown farm shack
surrounded by motorcycle toughs. Each has obviously moved in very
different directions from the days when they were Don's flames. Even
the lesser characters in the film are realistically revealing, from
the two chattering young women on an airport rental car bus, to the
characters who give Don directions by pointing without saying a word
and then driving off. Although his face is blank much of the time,
Murray has a wonderful ability to show expression when it's needed.
And because he doesn't waste expressions, they make far more impact
than if he emoted throughout the film. Jeffrey Wright ("Angels in
America") proves once again that he is simply one of the best actors
in the business. Chloë Sevigny has a delightful brief role as
the very businesslike but sexy receptionist for the pet
"communicator." And Sharon Stone, Frances Controy, Jessica Lange, and
Tilda Swinton are out of this world in their brief roles as the
ex-flames. Swinton particularly is so unlike her usual image that
it's easy to forget that it's her. This is Jarmusch's masterpiece to
date. Don't miss it. A
(1/6/06)
"November"-This
low budget film shot in about two weeks doesn't lack cinematic
values, although some sections of the film are shot in very
depressing dark hues. What it lacks is a coherent story and theme.
It's a sort-of "Rashomon"-style tale of a photography teacher named
Sophie Jacobs (Courtney Cox) who is experiencing a nightmare of
sorts. The problem is that we ultimately have no idea what the truth
is. We see a robbery/shooting/murder in a grocery store in three
versions, all combining with various visions of Sophie's confused and
differing memories. In the first one (they all take place on November
7), Sophie sends her boyfriend Hugh (James LeGros) into a corner
store for a late-night snack (after just finishing a Chinese meal)
and he is shot and killed by a nervous hold-up man (boy, haven't we
seen this sort of thing before?) while she is sitting in the car
talking to a lover on her cell phone. We then see her, following
Kubler-Ross style headings (e.g., despair), seeing a psychiatrist
(Nora Dunn). But everything keeps changing. Sometimes it looks like
the story is coming together but when we reach the end of this film,
it is virtually impossible to determine what was reality. To me this
kills any theme that the filmmakers may have intended. Courtney Cox
is very different from her "Friends" role. But even then a little too
somber and expressionless. James LeGros has a lot more life in his
limited role as her seemingly-doomed boyfriend. This film has been
called a "psychological thriller," but ultimately we are left with
the question of what in the world it all means.
C- (1/6/06)
"The
Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill"-A wild
flock of cherry-headed conures (parrots), originally birds from South
America, somehow wound up living in San Francisco and congregating on
Telegraph Hill (most were probably abandoned imported pets). One of
the residents of the Hill, Mark Bittner, became their loyal friend
and, to some extent, caretaker, and this documentary by Judy Irving
tells the tale of Bittner and the parrots. Bittner, who had
originally come to San Francisco to get into the music business,
found himself surviving on odd jobs and living in a rent free cottage
until he found a new raison d'etre, the birds. This absolutely
wonderful and heartwarming documentary shows Bittner interacting with
the birds on a truly profound and loving basis. And some of the birds
star. There is Mingus, the musical conure, and Conner, the
blue-headed founder and yet somewhat outcast of the flock, and
Tupelo, the disabled bird that Bittner clearly loved. This is a film
not so much to talk about as to recommend. If you love animals, you
will love this film. It truly soars. Don't miss it.
A (1/1/06)
