1. The White Darkness (2002)- Low budget auteur Richard Stanley's 'documentary' about voodoo doctors. I put a ton of his available in the queue a year ago and it's just now coming around. I was underwhelmed by Stanley's "Hardware" but recognize his cult status.
2. Rewind This! (2013)- Doc about VHS movies that got some pretty healthy talk a few years back from old fogies like myself who remember wandering the aisles of video stores in their childhood.
3. The Color of Time (2010)- Hmm, maybe because it stars Mila Kunis this one is here.
4. Oliver Twist (2005)- One of only two Polanski films I haven't seen.... the other being his obscure "What?" from 1972 that I'll be watching around the same time as this one. His take on the Dickens classic.
5. Plus One (2011)- Greek director Denis Iliadis did the remake to "Last House On the Left" a few years back and while his films reek of street-level 'degeneraism' (see his 2004 film "Hardcore"), I have to see everything available by a filmmaker when I get it in my head to do so.
6. Les Cousins (1958)- Early Chabrol that I feel like I've seen, yet somehow I don't remember a thing about. Time to rectify.
7. The Trip To Italy (2014)- Michael Winterbottom's follow-up to the immensely entertaining "The Trip".
8. Four Sons (1928)- Continuing on my appreciation of every John Ford film available. Check back sometime in 2017, probably, for a long post since he made about 500 films.
9. The Cut (2015)- Fatih Akin burst onto my radar when I saw his 2004 masterpiece "Head-On", but each film has been concurrently underwhelming for me. Perhaps this one will change my perception.
10. H-Man (1958)- From the imdb description: While investigating the mysterious disappearance of a low-level drug runner, Tokyo police discover that a race of radioactive flesh-eating creatures are emerging from the sewers and attacking civilians. Set in the criminal underground of 1950s-era Tokyo, this effort from B-movie maven Ishiro Honda is an obscure precursor to sci-fi noirs like Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner.
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Friday, August 19, 2016
The Current Cinema 16.7
Indignation
James Schamus' adaptation of Philip Roth's novel strives to encapsulate the post World War II generation's swirling mass of emotions which includes the disdain for parental over-indulgence, the groping for expected spiritual (non) identity, and youthful sexual abandon. Lofty ideas, indeed, and "Indignation" hits the mark and more. As young Marcus, Logan Lerman is spectacular as the Jewish boy swimming against the grain at a prestigious Ohio college, whose life becomes even more confused when he meets beautiful (and non Jewish) Olivia (Sarah Gadon) and they begin dating. College is certainly about new experiences, new attitudes and finding oneself, but "Indignation" soon charts the upheaval of conflicting traditional versus progressive ideas and actions in a carefully modulated manner. Not only does Marcus not understand the ways of love, but his very ideals come under insidious attack from the school's dean (Tracy Letts), none moreso than a long give-and-take scene between the two that proves talk in cinema can be just as tense as anything else. "Indignation" is verbose, powerful, moving and, ultimately, heartbreaking in the way lives are seismically altered by a few words. One of the year's best films.
Blood Father
Now this is what summer entertainment should be. And maybe a tiny morsel of resurgence for Mel Gibson. Full review on Dallas Film Now.
Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV
Kind of feel old after watching this one. Video game spectacle as fodder. And I didn't really understand a lick of what was going on. Review on Dallas Film Now.
James Schamus' adaptation of Philip Roth's novel strives to encapsulate the post World War II generation's swirling mass of emotions which includes the disdain for parental over-indulgence, the groping for expected spiritual (non) identity, and youthful sexual abandon. Lofty ideas, indeed, and "Indignation" hits the mark and more. As young Marcus, Logan Lerman is spectacular as the Jewish boy swimming against the grain at a prestigious Ohio college, whose life becomes even more confused when he meets beautiful (and non Jewish) Olivia (Sarah Gadon) and they begin dating. College is certainly about new experiences, new attitudes and finding oneself, but "Indignation" soon charts the upheaval of conflicting traditional versus progressive ideas and actions in a carefully modulated manner. Not only does Marcus not understand the ways of love, but his very ideals come under insidious attack from the school's dean (Tracy Letts), none moreso than a long give-and-take scene between the two that proves talk in cinema can be just as tense as anything else. "Indignation" is verbose, powerful, moving and, ultimately, heartbreaking in the way lives are seismically altered by a few words. One of the year's best films.
Blood Father
Now this is what summer entertainment should be. And maybe a tiny morsel of resurgence for Mel Gibson. Full review on Dallas Film Now.
Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV
Kind of feel old after watching this one. Video game spectacle as fodder. And I didn't really understand a lick of what was going on. Review on Dallas Film Now.
Sunday, August 14, 2016
Thursday, August 04, 2016
The Space Between: How Jia Zhangke Sees the World
There are a select few directors whose work is porous with a distinctive milieu. Martin Scorsese and New York City. Richard Linklater with Texas. Victor Nunez with Florida. A good majority of their films frame a narrative around the living, breathing atmosphere of a specific region with breathtaking results. Yet, even fewer filmmakers absorb their city and make it a wondrous extra, at times upstaging the flesh and blood people inhabiting it. I'm thinking of Thom Andersen with Los Angeles.... a city so cannibalized by Hollywood that it takes a dirge-like documentarian to bring out its real ghosts and phantoms through stationary shots of the city's abandoned architecture. In both "Los Angeles Plays Itself" and "Get Out of the Car", Andersen shows us a Los Angeles seen everyday on the big screen but rarely seen.
The same goes for Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke. His mixture of hybrid documentaries and fictional efforts rarely venture outside of his own China (or even his hometown province) and the devastating advancement of civilization at the cost of its people is never far removed from the central idea. Specifically, four documentary films including "Dong", "Useless", "I Wish I Knew" and the masterpiece "24 City", could more accurately be called postcards of a deteriorating city. Even when he chooses an original idea, such as the listless inhabitants of a theme park in "The World" or following the impetuous teens of "Unknown Pleasures", there's China and its corners, peeling paint and bustling streets barely contained behind his speaking actors threatening to high-jack the entire thing. Watching the edges of the frame can often be more entertaining in a Jia Zhangke film than anything else.
"Dong" (2006) begins Zhangke's fascination with the documentary form, although its feathery relationship with the genre is tenuous at best. Following Chinese painter Liu Xiaodong as he initiates several of his pieces, Zhangke ultimately shifts the perspective from a typical painter's bio to the way Xiaodong sees the landscape around him. Much more attention is paid to Dong as he stumbles through the apocalyptic brick and mortar remnants of the Three Gorges Dam- a setting also explored in his film "Still Life" released the same year- than celebrating the piece of artwork created. Zhangke's camera becomes fixated on the tanned, weary-faced men posing for Dong on the edge of a concrete barrier that resembles the idyllic vista of Jean Luc Godard's "Contempt" more than a hollowed out section of Earth. We follow Dong to Bangkok where he paints a scantily clad woman as she lies, suggestively, like a Sleeping Beauty. Then its back to the Three Gorges area where Dong and Zhangke visit with the family of one of the men who posed for him earlier as they deal with his death due to an unspecified accident. In its short (66 minute) running time, "Dong" becomes an evocative bio of the land rather than the person. It's a bold move for a film named after the person.
In "Useless" (2007), the same digressive attitude is taken. Ostensibly about a female fashion designer of earthy and wild styles, it takes about 25 minutes before Zhangke even decides to include her in the film. The first half is full of patient lateral pans around and across concrete beams as an assembly line toils away at creating the clothes. Exterior shots of the province of Guangzhoa and the daily, minuscule activities of its people inform portions of the middle half and then, finally, Zhangke focuses on Ma Ke, the designer/artist whose line of clothing evokes the film's title. Not quite as powerful as "Dong" in its meditative rhythms, "Useless" does expand Jia's sense of time and place over subject. The best parts of the film lie in the blank expressions of the factory workers as they barely notice the camera penetrating and capturing the lived-in spaces around them.
Rounding out his triptych, "24 City" (2008) is a damning critique of society-as-ghosts. Once a sprawling, mammoth factory known as Factory 24, urban revitalization and 'progress' sees the Chengdu structure being torn down to build a series of high rise condos and mixed-usage business. Part talking head interviews with people who worked in the factory or shared joyous moments there with family members, Zhangke's film is an overwhelming snapshot of time and place whose forward movement feels like a slap-in-the-face. Alternating between carefully timed tracking shots, lateral pans out to the city and powerful stationary shots as even the huge letters of the factory are sent tumbling to the ground, "24 City"- like Thom Andersen's films mentioned earlier- becomes a bittersweet portrait of a city in flux. Music and image marry with quiet and unsuspecting grace, such as the melancholy way an older man slowly makes his way around a worker's room and Zhangke's camera almost floats along the ceiling, simply observing the process. It's a scene that doesn't have any ancillary meaning, but it speaks volumes about the angelic quality Zhangke holds for these people and their crumbling exteriors.
In "Useless" Ma Ke's fashion show in Paris is shown briefly at the end. Instead of the typical runway with models sauntering up and down, a huge curtain drops and all the models are wearing her clothes, perched ever so methodically on lighted pillars placed strategically around the room. The patrons simply walk around and look up at them. It's this interactive idea of looking and observing that informs all of Zhangke's work. China is the model and I don't get the sense Zhangke is going to stop observing anytime soon.
The same goes for Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke. His mixture of hybrid documentaries and fictional efforts rarely venture outside of his own China (or even his hometown province) and the devastating advancement of civilization at the cost of its people is never far removed from the central idea. Specifically, four documentary films including "Dong", "Useless", "I Wish I Knew" and the masterpiece "24 City", could more accurately be called postcards of a deteriorating city. Even when he chooses an original idea, such as the listless inhabitants of a theme park in "The World" or following the impetuous teens of "Unknown Pleasures", there's China and its corners, peeling paint and bustling streets barely contained behind his speaking actors threatening to high-jack the entire thing. Watching the edges of the frame can often be more entertaining in a Jia Zhangke film than anything else.
"Dong" (2006) begins Zhangke's fascination with the documentary form, although its feathery relationship with the genre is tenuous at best. Following Chinese painter Liu Xiaodong as he initiates several of his pieces, Zhangke ultimately shifts the perspective from a typical painter's bio to the way Xiaodong sees the landscape around him. Much more attention is paid to Dong as he stumbles through the apocalyptic brick and mortar remnants of the Three Gorges Dam- a setting also explored in his film "Still Life" released the same year- than celebrating the piece of artwork created. Zhangke's camera becomes fixated on the tanned, weary-faced men posing for Dong on the edge of a concrete barrier that resembles the idyllic vista of Jean Luc Godard's "Contempt" more than a hollowed out section of Earth. We follow Dong to Bangkok where he paints a scantily clad woman as she lies, suggestively, like a Sleeping Beauty. Then its back to the Three Gorges area where Dong and Zhangke visit with the family of one of the men who posed for him earlier as they deal with his death due to an unspecified accident. In its short (66 minute) running time, "Dong" becomes an evocative bio of the land rather than the person. It's a bold move for a film named after the person.
In "Useless" (2007), the same digressive attitude is taken. Ostensibly about a female fashion designer of earthy and wild styles, it takes about 25 minutes before Zhangke even decides to include her in the film. The first half is full of patient lateral pans around and across concrete beams as an assembly line toils away at creating the clothes. Exterior shots of the province of Guangzhoa and the daily, minuscule activities of its people inform portions of the middle half and then, finally, Zhangke focuses on Ma Ke, the designer/artist whose line of clothing evokes the film's title. Not quite as powerful as "Dong" in its meditative rhythms, "Useless" does expand Jia's sense of time and place over subject. The best parts of the film lie in the blank expressions of the factory workers as they barely notice the camera penetrating and capturing the lived-in spaces around them.
Rounding out his triptych, "24 City" (2008) is a damning critique of society-as-ghosts. Once a sprawling, mammoth factory known as Factory 24, urban revitalization and 'progress' sees the Chengdu structure being torn down to build a series of high rise condos and mixed-usage business. Part talking head interviews with people who worked in the factory or shared joyous moments there with family members, Zhangke's film is an overwhelming snapshot of time and place whose forward movement feels like a slap-in-the-face. Alternating between carefully timed tracking shots, lateral pans out to the city and powerful stationary shots as even the huge letters of the factory are sent tumbling to the ground, "24 City"- like Thom Andersen's films mentioned earlier- becomes a bittersweet portrait of a city in flux. Music and image marry with quiet and unsuspecting grace, such as the melancholy way an older man slowly makes his way around a worker's room and Zhangke's camera almost floats along the ceiling, simply observing the process. It's a scene that doesn't have any ancillary meaning, but it speaks volumes about the angelic quality Zhangke holds for these people and their crumbling exteriors.
In "Useless" Ma Ke's fashion show in Paris is shown briefly at the end. Instead of the typical runway with models sauntering up and down, a huge curtain drops and all the models are wearing her clothes, perched ever so methodically on lighted pillars placed strategically around the room. The patrons simply walk around and look up at them. It's this interactive idea of looking and observing that informs all of Zhangke's work. China is the model and I don't get the sense Zhangke is going to stop observing anytime soon.
Monday, July 25, 2016
Grand Canyons: Guillaume Nicloux's "Valley of Love"
It's telling of the parabolic nature of Guillaume Nicloux's "Valley of Love" that the specified non-believer of the couple (Gerard Depardieu basically playing himself) is the one eventually shown the spiritual majesties of the other side. Guffawing and obese, he's been dragged to Death Valley by his ex-wife (Isabelle Huppert also playing a variation of herself) in the hopes of reconnecting with the dead spirit of their deceased son. For the first two-thirds of the film, "Valley of Love" concerns itself with the discordant nature of this middle-aged couple, divorced and basically unhappy in each other's company. To make matters worse, the setting is Death Valley's scorched barrens of land, offering nothing but repulsive heat and non-descript tourist motels. Nothing too extraordinary happens, yet part of the film's resplendence lies in the natural and lived-in performances from two of France's most recognizable movie stars. Then, things turn a bit metaphysical and "Valley of Love" slinks towards a conclusion that's both breathless in its audacity and mysterious in the way it can draw completely new variations on grief and the hollow center it often leaves behind.
Opening with a long steadicam shot that simply follows behind Huppert as she walks to her motel room across a winding sidewalk, "Valley of Love", doesn't get any more urgent after Gerard (Depardieu) arrives. This same unbroken, unhurried camera movement is duplicated later in the film, reversed to follow Gerard through the carpeted hallways of their motel and eventually outside to enjoy a smoke. The couple dine together, spend time at the motel pool (where Depardieu gets recognized by a man and then insults him by signing his autograph request with Robert DeNiro's name) and travel to select locations in the Valley where they await a sign from their son who committed suicide years ago and then promised to return on the given dates. The couple re-read their son's cryptic letters. They ponder on what type of person he really was, as both confess they didn't really know him after all. This lamentation of a child lost and a marriage imploded hang over the first half of the film. Completely devoid of fashionable performances, both Huppert and Depardieu exert a veteran calm that not only plays right into their roles as recognizable French faces lost in America, but adds gravity to the weary and low-key atmosphere of the entire film. Then, sudden unexplained events occur... once right after the aforementioned long shot that follows Depardieu outside Huppert's motel room window and the second at the very end.... and "Valley of Love" turns into something more than the study of a couple hoping, searching for answers and ultimately doubting their marital time together.
The French are known for their penchant to fly outside the boundaries of reality-based cinema. Where "Valley of Love" succeeds in its metaphysical nature and other recent examples have failed miserably (such as Pascal Ferran's abysmal "Bird People"), a majority of the credit has to go to the methodical way Nicloux builds a sense of mounting frustration between Depardieu and Huppert. She calls him fat and he replies that, "yes, he knows he is". They are endlessly surrounded by clueless tourists or the oddball outcast who seems right at home on a scorched patch of earth yelling at televised baseball games in the motel restaurant. Life, love, habits and their own patience has run out with each other over the years. All of this is made candidly tactile throughout the first half of "Valley of Love" so that when narrative (and our own disbelief) about why they're there together begins to take shape, it washes over you with modulated force. Maybe there is something there or maybe it's all in the minds of grieving parents who simply begin to project their desires onto the blank canvas of Death Valley. Either way, "Valley of Love" proves to be a rewarding, evocative masterpiece.
Friday, July 22, 2016
The Last Ten Films I've Seen, Sweaty Summer Edition
1. Camp XRay (2014)- Otherwise known as the film where Kristen Stewart emerged into the lauded young actress she's become over the last 3-4 years, culminating with the cover of "Film Comment" this month. She's good here and all, but there's still a hint of her emo-scowl and the film suffers from a bit of staginess.
2. The Infilitrator (2016)- Grimy and gritty undercover drug saga that manages to remain highly entertaining despite its been-there-done-that attitude and a relatively low-key performance from Bryan Cranston. The best part of it, though, is the casting of several unknowns in supporting character roles that not only represent the electric funkiness of mid-80's drug dealers, but emit a certain hollow eyed electricity found in the 70's films of the great Sidney Lumet.
3. Ryuzu and His Seven Henchmen (2015)- Takeshi Kitano's comedy, if it actually received some type of release outside of the random Asian film festival last year, would probably be compared to a Hollywood film like "Old Dogs"- that is paychecks for grey haired Hollywood stars a bit out of synch with the younger generation. Here, Kitano recruits a who's who of Asian film baddies of the 60's and 70's and has them reunite as "old farts" forming their old 'yakuza' gang to take on the new corporate sized gangsters of the neighborhood. Neither deconstructive of the genre or all that reflective, it does echo back to Kitano's sketch comedy style and probably only remains interesting for Kitano purists such as myself.
4. The Purge Election Year (2016)- I typically try and stay neutral in my communion of film and politics, but this film (and the entire trilogy) is a repellent example of a fictional work that contributes nothing but fuel to the current rhetoric of hatred, violence and divisiveness sweeping the globe.
5. The Professor (1986)- Been looking for this one for years. Guisuippe Tornatore's debut film stars Ben Gazzara as a mafia chief who rises to prominence behind bars and then takes control of the Naples 'cammorista' upon escaping. Lots of events and facts are compressed into almost 3 hours (culled from the original length of 5-6 hours as an intended TV miniseries) and it does feel long in the tooth at times, but its stark and ugly representation of violence and the role of Laura del Sol as the sister who actually runs things are inspired bits of narrative. It's also interesting in the way "The Professor" almost subverts the role of Gazzara into a secondary background character. He's the star and it's his film, yet he remains a deflected personality in this sprawling world of corruption, shadowy orders and political subterfuge.
6. Hello, My Name Is Doris (2016)- Sally Field is quite amazing in Michael Showalter's slightly berzerk little comedy about a 70'ish woman falling in love with her early 30's aged boss... how about that nifty age reversal for a comedy? Keeping some of its darker elements just at the edges (i.e. stalkerish tendencies) the film is a breezy 90 minutes. Plus it really makes me want a Baby Goya and the Nuclear Winter cd.
7. Cymbeline (2014)- Michael Almyreda is at it again, updating Shakespeare into a modern environment. Anachronistic and all, this one pits the bard's tale of deception, familial jealousy and star-crossed lovers into the world of biker meth dealer gangs and hipsters. It is quite fun to hear Dakota Johnson spewing Shakespeare.
8. Angel Face (1952)- Slight film noir about a young girl (Jean Simmons) and ambulance driver (Robert Mitchum) who fall in love amidst the death of her parents. Otto Preminger directs with a sure hand.
9. Heat and Sunlight (1987)- Coming off like a bad Henry Jaglom or Jon Jost, Rob Nilsson's surprising Sundance winnner reeks of everything pretentious and boring about early American independent cinema. Black and white photography. Self absorbed lovers fighting through their bouts of denial, self-doubt and solipsism. A tendency to carry on scenes way longer than patience allows. I suppose it;s early Sundance award is more about the time and place than the actual effort.
10. The Happiest Girl In the World (2009)- Radu Juda's film "Aferim!" has been one of the joys of film this year, and this sophomore feature length effort falls more in line with the typical traits of Romanian cinema. After a girl wins a car by sending in juice bottle caps, she's invited to the city to film a commercial. That's only the mind-numbing beginning of a day that sees her parents fight over the eventual financial windfall of selling the car, the pressing demands of a film crew who want the perfect commercial and an oppressive heat wave striking the city. To say the least, its one of the more ironic titles in recent film.
2. The Infilitrator (2016)- Grimy and gritty undercover drug saga that manages to remain highly entertaining despite its been-there-done-that attitude and a relatively low-key performance from Bryan Cranston. The best part of it, though, is the casting of several unknowns in supporting character roles that not only represent the electric funkiness of mid-80's drug dealers, but emit a certain hollow eyed electricity found in the 70's films of the great Sidney Lumet.
3. Ryuzu and His Seven Henchmen (2015)- Takeshi Kitano's comedy, if it actually received some type of release outside of the random Asian film festival last year, would probably be compared to a Hollywood film like "Old Dogs"- that is paychecks for grey haired Hollywood stars a bit out of synch with the younger generation. Here, Kitano recruits a who's who of Asian film baddies of the 60's and 70's and has them reunite as "old farts" forming their old 'yakuza' gang to take on the new corporate sized gangsters of the neighborhood. Neither deconstructive of the genre or all that reflective, it does echo back to Kitano's sketch comedy style and probably only remains interesting for Kitano purists such as myself.
4. The Purge Election Year (2016)- I typically try and stay neutral in my communion of film and politics, but this film (and the entire trilogy) is a repellent example of a fictional work that contributes nothing but fuel to the current rhetoric of hatred, violence and divisiveness sweeping the globe.
5. The Professor (1986)- Been looking for this one for years. Guisuippe Tornatore's debut film stars Ben Gazzara as a mafia chief who rises to prominence behind bars and then takes control of the Naples 'cammorista' upon escaping. Lots of events and facts are compressed into almost 3 hours (culled from the original length of 5-6 hours as an intended TV miniseries) and it does feel long in the tooth at times, but its stark and ugly representation of violence and the role of Laura del Sol as the sister who actually runs things are inspired bits of narrative. It's also interesting in the way "The Professor" almost subverts the role of Gazzara into a secondary background character. He's the star and it's his film, yet he remains a deflected personality in this sprawling world of corruption, shadowy orders and political subterfuge.
6. Hello, My Name Is Doris (2016)- Sally Field is quite amazing in Michael Showalter's slightly berzerk little comedy about a 70'ish woman falling in love with her early 30's aged boss... how about that nifty age reversal for a comedy? Keeping some of its darker elements just at the edges (i.e. stalkerish tendencies) the film is a breezy 90 minutes. Plus it really makes me want a Baby Goya and the Nuclear Winter cd.
7. Cymbeline (2014)- Michael Almyreda is at it again, updating Shakespeare into a modern environment. Anachronistic and all, this one pits the bard's tale of deception, familial jealousy and star-crossed lovers into the world of biker meth dealer gangs and hipsters. It is quite fun to hear Dakota Johnson spewing Shakespeare.
8. Angel Face (1952)- Slight film noir about a young girl (Jean Simmons) and ambulance driver (Robert Mitchum) who fall in love amidst the death of her parents. Otto Preminger directs with a sure hand.
9. Heat and Sunlight (1987)- Coming off like a bad Henry Jaglom or Jon Jost, Rob Nilsson's surprising Sundance winnner reeks of everything pretentious and boring about early American independent cinema. Black and white photography. Self absorbed lovers fighting through their bouts of denial, self-doubt and solipsism. A tendency to carry on scenes way longer than patience allows. I suppose it;s early Sundance award is more about the time and place than the actual effort.
10. The Happiest Girl In the World (2009)- Radu Juda's film "Aferim!" has been one of the joys of film this year, and this sophomore feature length effort falls more in line with the typical traits of Romanian cinema. After a girl wins a car by sending in juice bottle caps, she's invited to the city to film a commercial. That's only the mind-numbing beginning of a day that sees her parents fight over the eventual financial windfall of selling the car, the pressing demands of a film crew who want the perfect commercial and an oppressive heat wave striking the city. To say the least, its one of the more ironic titles in recent film.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
The Current Cinema 16.6
The Neon Demon
Nicolas Winding Refn's latest film is a synth-infused mood piece whose narrative has strayed even farther and loopier than even the rudimentary progression of "Only God Forgives". Parceled out like a glam-pop music video with bits of David Lynch dreaminess tossed in for good measure, ultimately, "The Neon Demon" suffers from a wallop of rote ideas and well tread commentary. We get it. The Los Angeles fashion/model scene is cannibalistic and treacherous. As the film winds down to its conclusion, all I could stop thinking about is "where the hell is that house with the swimming pool and why hasn't it been featured more prominently in an L.A. film before?" I'm sure Refin wanted more reactive passion than that from his film.
Hunt For the Wilderpeople
I can think of a handful of films in which a young boy is pitted against a curmudgeonly old man and, slowly, they not only form a bond but come to resemble something close to a family. That formula is followed here in Taika Waititi's comedy, "Hunt For the Wilderpeople" and it succeeds thanks to the wonderfully etched relationship between newcomer Julian Dennison and Sam Neill, as well as Waititi's acerbic sense of editing and perfectly timed laughs. The film also eschews laughing "at" something (such as those zany New Zealand bush folk) and imparts a generous sense of zaniness all around.
Nicolas Winding Refn's latest film is a synth-infused mood piece whose narrative has strayed even farther and loopier than even the rudimentary progression of "Only God Forgives". Parceled out like a glam-pop music video with bits of David Lynch dreaminess tossed in for good measure, ultimately, "The Neon Demon" suffers from a wallop of rote ideas and well tread commentary. We get it. The Los Angeles fashion/model scene is cannibalistic and treacherous. As the film winds down to its conclusion, all I could stop thinking about is "where the hell is that house with the swimming pool and why hasn't it been featured more prominently in an L.A. film before?" I'm sure Refin wanted more reactive passion than that from his film.
Hunt For the Wilderpeople
I can think of a handful of films in which a young boy is pitted against a curmudgeonly old man and, slowly, they not only form a bond but come to resemble something close to a family. That formula is followed here in Taika Waititi's comedy, "Hunt For the Wilderpeople" and it succeeds thanks to the wonderfully etched relationship between newcomer Julian Dennison and Sam Neill, as well as Waititi's acerbic sense of editing and perfectly timed laughs. The film also eschews laughing "at" something (such as those zany New Zealand bush folk) and imparts a generous sense of zaniness all around.
Friday, July 08, 2016
Frederick Wiseman: Deaf and Blind But Not Dumb
Frederick Wiseman's documentaries are a collection of dialogue, compromise, anger, observation and, in the case of his 1987 film "Blind", an exercise in pure cinemas as discovery. It comes at the halfway point when one of the very young blind children featured in the film (known as Jason) is followed in an extreme long take as he feels his way downstairs into one classroom and then back upstairs to another to talk to his teachers. There's no expediency or montage juxtaposition to hurry up the act. We simply exist to observe this child as his newly taught sensory skills are put to the test. It's a moment both bracing in its honesty and awe-inspiring in the possibilities of film to capture something non manufactured and real. In essence, that's what Wiseman has been doing for forty plus years.
As a companion piece to "Blind", there's also "Deaf", released a year earlier in 1986 but taking place in the same Alabama area school for the Deaf and Blind. Culled from endless hours of footage and whittled down to approximately five hours of film, both "Deaf" and "Blind" follow the framework of Wiseman's now pattern formula... i.e.basic exterior shots of the city and school welded around the inhabitants, leadership and tangential elements of an institution. In between, there are one or two extended scenes of discussion or conflict that serve as the identifying setpiece. In "Deaf", its a 35 minute discussion between a principal, a teacher, a mother and a deaf child whose been causing trouble at the school. Threats of suicide and intentional fights with other boys has landed this young man in the hot seat and through a carefully worded and patient conversation, his animosity about not seeing his real father and his mother's supposed lack of communication become the root cause. It's as if we're watching an intense psychiatric session, punctuated by sign language and the genuine care of all involved to arrive at an accepted and humane compromise.
Separating the visual style of both films- while "Deaf" is in color, "Blind" is black and white, naturally- both films are interested solely in the mechanics of thought, learning, perception and discussion... even when we don't fully understand the discussion. Several scenes in "Deaf" feature students communicating outside or by themselves in the hallway in sign language. There's no attempt to translate or cheapen the moment. The viewer is present, fully, in their world. Likewise, in "Blind", Wiseman sagely dispenses with compassionate leanings and shows only the strong moments of the blind students. Jason's confident walk. A classroom lesson where children learn about textures and feel as linen cloths are placed over their prone bodies. And a carefree dance where the energies and vigor of youth take over, regardless of their inability to see.
In both "Deaf and "Blind", the overriding message is that, yes, these children do have handicaps, but their immersion in life, relationships, and the everyday ebbs and flows of emotions are just as pertinent. Perhaps more so because they're learning to adapt without a vital sense many people take for granted. Wiseman doesn't. And the men, women and children featured in "Deaf" and "Blind" certainly don't.
Both films are available at www.Zipporah.com.
As a companion piece to "Blind", there's also "Deaf", released a year earlier in 1986 but taking place in the same Alabama area school for the Deaf and Blind. Culled from endless hours of footage and whittled down to approximately five hours of film, both "Deaf" and "Blind" follow the framework of Wiseman's now pattern formula... i.e.basic exterior shots of the city and school welded around the inhabitants, leadership and tangential elements of an institution. In between, there are one or two extended scenes of discussion or conflict that serve as the identifying setpiece. In "Deaf", its a 35 minute discussion between a principal, a teacher, a mother and a deaf child whose been causing trouble at the school. Threats of suicide and intentional fights with other boys has landed this young man in the hot seat and through a carefully worded and patient conversation, his animosity about not seeing his real father and his mother's supposed lack of communication become the root cause. It's as if we're watching an intense psychiatric session, punctuated by sign language and the genuine care of all involved to arrive at an accepted and humane compromise.
Separating the visual style of both films- while "Deaf" is in color, "Blind" is black and white, naturally- both films are interested solely in the mechanics of thought, learning, perception and discussion... even when we don't fully understand the discussion. Several scenes in "Deaf" feature students communicating outside or by themselves in the hallway in sign language. There's no attempt to translate or cheapen the moment. The viewer is present, fully, in their world. Likewise, in "Blind", Wiseman sagely dispenses with compassionate leanings and shows only the strong moments of the blind students. Jason's confident walk. A classroom lesson where children learn about textures and feel as linen cloths are placed over their prone bodies. And a carefree dance where the energies and vigor of youth take over, regardless of their inability to see.
In both "Deaf and "Blind", the overriding message is that, yes, these children do have handicaps, but their immersion in life, relationships, and the everyday ebbs and flows of emotions are just as pertinent. Perhaps more so because they're learning to adapt without a vital sense many people take for granted. Wiseman doesn't. And the men, women and children featured in "Deaf" and "Blind" certainly don't.
Both films are available at www.Zipporah.com.
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Top 5 List: Standouts From Halfway Thru 2016
5. Stellan Skarsgard in "Our Kind of Traitor"
Though the film itself is sturdy, efficient but completely unremarkable, the real pleasure of Susanna White's spy thriller is Stellan Skarsgard as the "traitor" in question. Playing a Russian mob accountant who wants to go straight and get his family out of dodge before they end up like the rest of his compatriots, Skarsgard plays his role like a bumbling good natured giant who not only seems to understand the complexities of the international game in front of him, but is prescient about his determined attempts in protecting his family. The rest of the cast is solid. Ewan McGregor is Ewan MvGregor. Damien Lewis hams it up as an MI-6 agent playing by his own rules, but its Skarsgard who registers the most.
4. Rebecca Hall in "Tumbledown"
Allow my Jason Sudeikis moratorium to expire with "Tumbledown". Sean Mewshaw's romantic drama not only provides him with his best and most affable performance to date, but its also a film of surprising warmth, humility and carefully crafted emotional manipulations. Oh, and Rebecca Hall is pretty damn amazing also. Taking the narrative of cult-songwriter worship to varying heights, "Tumbledown" initially wallows in grief as Hannah (Hall) struggles to come out from under the shadow of her late husband's death. Added to her grief is the fact he released one personal album that (as mentioned in the same vein as Kurt Cobain) still resonates around the world as a lost musical genius. Obsessed with writing a biography of the man, Sudeikis enters Hannah's world as the two try to manage their expectations and accolades for the man from drastically different sides of his persona. Packing a huge emotional wallop, "Tumbledown" is a film that builds slowly. Part romantic comedy and part backwoods New York cultural war, I wasn't expecting the ultimate wallop it delivers. There are no big dramatic shifts or surprise secrets, just a cautious and searching tale about the lives we lead after unforeseen devastation. Just watch the scene where Hall listens to a previously unrealized song and watch the shadows of memory, love and loss sway across her face. In that single moment, "Tumbledown" hooked its claws into me and never let go.
3. Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe in "The Nice Guys"
Shane Black's loopy, irreverent 70's noir has been one of the genuine surprises so far this year both in how it manages to tell a story (i.e. "The Big Lebowski" would be proud) and for its high-profile star duo who bounce and repartee off each other like Abbott and Costello. The denouement is less important than the sly comedy and almost accidental way this pair of private detectives bob and weave their way around Los Angeles trying to solve a scheme of kidnapping, murder and political infractions. It's a joy from start to finish.
2. Anya-Taylor Joy in "The Witch"
It's a film in which the character speak in mid 18th century English. It's taken from the annals of witchcraft history. It's dark, a bit glacial and certainly not the Blumhouse production most audiences were expecting. But Robert Eggers' superb atmospheric horror features not only features skin-crawling dread in just about every scene, but a terrific lead performance from wide eyed Anya-Taylor Joy. As the oldest daughter of a family experiencing some profoundly evil attributes, she grounds the film in realism with her anger, disbelief and misunderstood adolescent behavior that today would pass as simple tween angst.
1. The Ensemble Cast of "Mustang"
In the opening scene of Deniz Erguven's devastatingly real tinderbox of female-emotion-drama, the older three of five sisters are waiting outside the school for young Lala (Gunes Sensoy) as she says her goodbye to a teacher. The three stand, half full of swagger and attitude, knowing that their budding sexuality and natural beauty are but moments away from blooming when they meet their boyfriends by the ocean. It's as if they're poised to star in an 80's teen drama and they're most certainly Kim Richards or Lea Thompson... i.e. the bad girls. But it's exactly this risque attitude that lands all five sisters in trouble when they get home, subsequently beaten and verbally abused for being such loose women and flirting openly with men. "Mustang" doesn't reside in John Hughes middle America, but the restrictive culture of Turkey. Gradually, their freedom (both of personal expression and choice) are eroded as they're locked inside their home and kept prisoners by grandmother and uncle until, slowly, each one is given away to womanhood and arranged marriages. "Mustang", the debut feature film by Erguven, works methodically and brilliantly, canvasing the girl's suffocation in gentle overtones. There are night time escapes to freedom. Outward displays of retaliation. And of course tragedy. Even though it's a Turkish film, "Mustang" is universal in its depiction of smothered youth via overwrought and antiquated traditions. By the time it ended, not only was I reduced to tears for these girls to make it out alive, but ultimately resentful of so many nationalities whose backwards belief system chokes the life from sparkling eyes.
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
The Current Cinema 16.5
The Conjuring 2
Following a tried and true horror formula, director James Wan carries forward his 'off-shoot' franchise of famous paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren with "The Conjuring 2". Transitioning to England in the late 70's (immediately after they assisted on the infamous Amityville horror case), part 2 establishes much of the same shock and awe any Wan devotee will recognize- that being a disconcerting soundtrack, voices and eerie sounds cranked up to propulsive levels and an acute eye for jump scares. Thankfully, the theatrics are far from cheap thrills, stringently earned by the atmosphere. Mix in some genuine character sympathy (in the case of young possessed Janet, played by Madison Wolfe), a truly demonic evil spirit in the form of an electric-eyed nun, and a reflexive sense of humor and "The Conjuring 2" paints a nightmarish palette whose images and sounds won't diminish inside your head for awhile.
Dheepan
Beginning as immigrant drama where Dheepan (Jesuthasan Anthonythasan) and his make-shift 'family' struggle for survival in a French slum, things soon turn very "Taxi Driver"ish as their congenial existence is routinely threatened by the nearby violence and poverty of the local gangs. In the hands of French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, "Dheepan" is a modulated study of eroding morals and trust, featuring a score of authentic, sensitive performances... none moreso touching then the way he frames a woman and child in two dimly-lit apartment windows, begging for their father figure to return home. As he did in his masterpieces, "Rust and Bone" and "A Prophet", the sly affection for these outsiders slowly creeps up on the viewer. If the finale seems overtly jarring in its violence, its only because a parable about immigration such as this can only result in baptism through fire.
Cosmos
Andrzej Zulawski's final film is, sadly, his most labored and strained. Punctuated by tangents that play like a cross-patterned puzzle of his greatest thematic hits, "Cosmos" spins and whirls and digests itself into a pretentious mess. There's the country estate setting ala "The Blue Note" where everyone's fears, paranoia and repressed lust plays out in hysterics. There's the attention to weird linguistics that gave "Mad Love" a truly manic feel. And there's the beautiful Lena (Victoria Guerra) at the (partial) center that sets young Witold (Jonathan Genet) into a confused tizzy of stumped creativity and obsessive reasoning as to why various animals are being hung around the house. Guerra- and pretty much every one here- lacks the inner sultriness that Sophie Marceau brought to so many of Zulawski's pained efforts about the ineffectiveness of personal connection. It's as if Zulawski tried to merge his collective concepts into the 21st century after his long hiatus, but ended up with a hollow recreation at best.
Following a tried and true horror formula, director James Wan carries forward his 'off-shoot' franchise of famous paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren with "The Conjuring 2". Transitioning to England in the late 70's (immediately after they assisted on the infamous Amityville horror case), part 2 establishes much of the same shock and awe any Wan devotee will recognize- that being a disconcerting soundtrack, voices and eerie sounds cranked up to propulsive levels and an acute eye for jump scares. Thankfully, the theatrics are far from cheap thrills, stringently earned by the atmosphere. Mix in some genuine character sympathy (in the case of young possessed Janet, played by Madison Wolfe), a truly demonic evil spirit in the form of an electric-eyed nun, and a reflexive sense of humor and "The Conjuring 2" paints a nightmarish palette whose images and sounds won't diminish inside your head for awhile.
Dheepan
Beginning as immigrant drama where Dheepan (Jesuthasan Anthonythasan) and his make-shift 'family' struggle for survival in a French slum, things soon turn very "Taxi Driver"ish as their congenial existence is routinely threatened by the nearby violence and poverty of the local gangs. In the hands of French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, "Dheepan" is a modulated study of eroding morals and trust, featuring a score of authentic, sensitive performances... none moreso touching then the way he frames a woman and child in two dimly-lit apartment windows, begging for their father figure to return home. As he did in his masterpieces, "Rust and Bone" and "A Prophet", the sly affection for these outsiders slowly creeps up on the viewer. If the finale seems overtly jarring in its violence, its only because a parable about immigration such as this can only result in baptism through fire.
Cosmos
Andrzej Zulawski's final film is, sadly, his most labored and strained. Punctuated by tangents that play like a cross-patterned puzzle of his greatest thematic hits, "Cosmos" spins and whirls and digests itself into a pretentious mess. There's the country estate setting ala "The Blue Note" where everyone's fears, paranoia and repressed lust plays out in hysterics. There's the attention to weird linguistics that gave "Mad Love" a truly manic feel. And there's the beautiful Lena (Victoria Guerra) at the (partial) center that sets young Witold (Jonathan Genet) into a confused tizzy of stumped creativity and obsessive reasoning as to why various animals are being hung around the house. Guerra- and pretty much every one here- lacks the inner sultriness that Sophie Marceau brought to so many of Zulawski's pained efforts about the ineffectiveness of personal connection. It's as if Zulawski tried to merge his collective concepts into the 21st century after his long hiatus, but ended up with a hollow recreation at best.
Thursday, June 09, 2016
Produced and Abandoned #19
More titles that deserve some type of home video release.
1. Out of Bounds (1986)- Anthony Michael Hall and Jenny wright in an L.A. noir whose VHS copies go for decent money on Amazon, which means no DVD in sight. The box cover for this movie is ingrained in my memory from daily trips to the video store as a kid. It's also featured prominently in Thom Andersen's mammoth documentary "Los Angeles Plays Itself", which (in this case) is regarded fondly.
2. Decoder (1984)- German horror sci-fi and overall weirdness. If nothing else, Code Red or Shout! Factory need to make this available for a whole new generation of trash lovers.
3. Boris Godounov (1989)- The only Zulawski effort I haven't been able to track down is this late 80's musical that, apparently, does some pretty nifty fourth wall breaking as he chooses to reveal the filmmaking process of this staged presentation.
4. Thieves After Dark (1984)- Now that Sam Fuller's "Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street" has finally crashed it way onto Region 1 DVD, how about someone make this French production available. It's one of the last Fuller's I need to see before I can check the auteur off the list.
5. The Lost River (2015)- So what's the status on Ryan Gosling's directorial debut? Trashed at Cannes. Played a few film festivals. Pulled from distribution. Sounds like a case of Johnny Depp and "The Brave"- a film in which its high profile actor turned director has backed away from criticism.
6. Farewell to the Ark (1984)- Shuji Tereyama is vastly underrepresented on DVD. I've only seen a small number of his films, but this one, about a village that lives by its own codes and mores sounds twisted and surreal.
7. Pennance (2011)- One of my favorite Asian filmmakers, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, has made 3 or 4 films in the last five years, yet none of them have made it onto DVD here in the States. His latest film, "Journey To the Shore", which certainly had its admirers last year on the festival circuit, may get a limited run this year, but "Pennance" and others are in limbo. Hopefully, that changes soon.
8. Farewell Friend (1968)- Alain Delon and Charles Bronson star as two friends who exit the army and then find themselves years later working to pull of a robbery. One of those weird French-American co-productions, but Delon and Bronson together? Needs to be seen.
2. Decoder (1984)- German horror sci-fi and overall weirdness. If nothing else, Code Red or Shout! Factory need to make this available for a whole new generation of trash lovers.
3. Boris Godounov (1989)- The only Zulawski effort I haven't been able to track down is this late 80's musical that, apparently, does some pretty nifty fourth wall breaking as he chooses to reveal the filmmaking process of this staged presentation.
4. Thieves After Dark (1984)- Now that Sam Fuller's "Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street" has finally crashed it way onto Region 1 DVD, how about someone make this French production available. It's one of the last Fuller's I need to see before I can check the auteur off the list.
5. The Lost River (2015)- So what's the status on Ryan Gosling's directorial debut? Trashed at Cannes. Played a few film festivals. Pulled from distribution. Sounds like a case of Johnny Depp and "The Brave"- a film in which its high profile actor turned director has backed away from criticism.
6. Farewell to the Ark (1984)- Shuji Tereyama is vastly underrepresented on DVD. I've only seen a small number of his films, but this one, about a village that lives by its own codes and mores sounds twisted and surreal.
7. Pennance (2011)- One of my favorite Asian filmmakers, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, has made 3 or 4 films in the last five years, yet none of them have made it onto DVD here in the States. His latest film, "Journey To the Shore", which certainly had its admirers last year on the festival circuit, may get a limited run this year, but "Pennance" and others are in limbo. Hopefully, that changes soon.
8. Farewell Friend (1968)- Alain Delon and Charles Bronson star as two friends who exit the army and then find themselves years later working to pull of a robbery. One of those weird French-American co-productions, but Delon and Bronson together? Needs to be seen.
Thursday, June 02, 2016
The Reconstituted Image: Thom Andersen's "The Thoughts That Once We Had"
Like Andersen did with his best film, "Los Angeles Plays Itself" (2003), "The Thoughts That Once We Had" encompasses a filmmaker drunk on both film itself and how film becomes ingrained in our subconscious and manifests itself in every day life. Just watching the "implied dreams" section alone gave me goosebumps as it not only features clips from some of my recent favorite films (those being Hou Hsiao Hsien's "Millenium Mambo" and Jia Zhang-ke's "24 City"), but it highlights one of the more superfluous- and in my opinion essentially intoxicating- pieces of filmmaking, which is the seductive expansion of time in film as we simply watch someone drift and walk along. With Jeanne Moreau lost in her delirious thoughts, narrowly dodging traffic in nighttime Paris or Qi Shu's neon tunnel strut, these 'drop downs' in cinema comprise a director's infatuation with their leading ladies, but they also turn film into a slow motion dream of image and music that gets me every time. "The Thoughts That Once We Had" is full of said moments and itself becomes a slow motion dream of image and music.
The Thoughts That Once We Had can be seen at the Oak Cliff Film Festival on Saturday Jun 18th and opens in limited release in New York and Los Angeles on Friday June 3rd.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
The Current Cinema 16.4
The Nice Guys
Deconstructive. Self deprecating. Knowingly subversive. Whatever one wants to label Shane Black's "The Nice Guys", I'm all for it. Finally, after so many knock offs, he gives us a stone cold, raucous 'sun noir' that not only dips into the 70's title font bucket, but seems to fall in love with the overall hazy, sun-drenched milieu of the times just as easily. Like the best of the genre (i.e. Altman's "The Long Goodbye", Aldrich's "Hustle", Mulligan's "The Nickel Ride" or Bogdanovich's "Paper Moon" which trust me will make more sense once you've seen both films), Black's film ambles, waddles and hints at so many prevailing winds of attitude, 'hippiedom' and culture clashes that the basic story of two private investigators (Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling) trying to locate a missing girl becomes secondary to the effort. It's the oblique journey and not the straight up conclusion that makes this and fellow neo-noirs so compelling and immersive. Like the visual style of the film- which is often more inclined to tail off from the narrative and hover over some Los Angeles landmark or take more joy in the nighttime valley of lights that is hypnotic 1977 Los Angeles- "The Nice Guys" challenges our expectations of a "thriller" and provides us something much more interesting and non derivative. Black's script is tone perfect, darkly humorous (i.e. a man on stilts receiving a very random bullet) and whip smart. Oh, and it does get around to solving the central mystery which is just another satisfactory tentacle to the film's pleasures.
A Bigger Splash
Luca Guadagnino's "A Bigger Splash" works best in the first two-thirds when it's unmoored from any real narrative drive, its camera careening and tracking and swiveling to follow four aimless, sensational and dance frenzied set of people in the Italian countryside. That two of the people were once lovers (Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes) and the other two include the new boyfriend (Mattias Schoenarts) and daughter (Dokata Johnson) of the ex-pat couple only heightens the slow burn tension. It's in the final act- when all the swirling aspects of jealousy and passive aggressiveness finally rear their heads- that surprisingly "A Bigger Splash" loses its spark. The image of a hidden restaurant carved into the side of a field mountain or the way Fiennes looks directly into the cameras as he preens and dances to The Rolling Stones "Emotional Rescue" give the film an embellished energy that can't be matched in its finale. Yet, like his previous film "I Am Love", Guadagnino's stylish creativity behind the camera reveal a talent who still has some great masterpiece inside him.
The Other Side ( Louisiana)
Italian Roberto Minervini seems to be one of the few international directors burrowing his foreign gaze on the marginal quarters of the U.S. His "Texas trilogy" of films (which includes the well respected film "Stop the Pounding Heart" which I haven't seen yet) will be highly circumspect from a native Texan such as myself, but his latest film "The Other Side" has me curious. Following a family of down-and-out grungy drug users, alcoholics and general roustabouts in the far reaches of the Louisiana bayou, it's a film that claims to be a 'documentary', but I seriously doubt its hybrid approach. Too many scenes feel compromised for dramatic effect... as if its one big bayou freak show put on for the red flashing lights on the camera. Even more dubious is the abrupt tangent the film embarks upon during its final twenty minutes, leaving the family behind and turning its focus on a group of military survivalists teaching each other how to deal with the impending apocalypse. There's plenty of drinking, shooting guns and Obama-swearing as "The Other Side" shifts towards a more radical approach of low-income American miserablism. As if the first half didn't hammer home the idea of suffocated lifestyle in this otherworldly part of the U.S. the second half doesn't provide much hope either. Maybe the whole thing is a Harmony Korine-like hoax.
The Lobster
A film I admire more than like. Review on Dallas Film Now
Belladonna of Sadness
Based on a mid ninteenth century about witchcraft and not released in this country for over 30 years, this "adult" cartoon weaves a heartbreaking and eye-popping tale. Full review on Dallas Film Now.
Deconstructive. Self deprecating. Knowingly subversive. Whatever one wants to label Shane Black's "The Nice Guys", I'm all for it. Finally, after so many knock offs, he gives us a stone cold, raucous 'sun noir' that not only dips into the 70's title font bucket, but seems to fall in love with the overall hazy, sun-drenched milieu of the times just as easily. Like the best of the genre (i.e. Altman's "The Long Goodbye", Aldrich's "Hustle", Mulligan's "The Nickel Ride" or Bogdanovich's "Paper Moon" which trust me will make more sense once you've seen both films), Black's film ambles, waddles and hints at so many prevailing winds of attitude, 'hippiedom' and culture clashes that the basic story of two private investigators (Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling) trying to locate a missing girl becomes secondary to the effort. It's the oblique journey and not the straight up conclusion that makes this and fellow neo-noirs so compelling and immersive. Like the visual style of the film- which is often more inclined to tail off from the narrative and hover over some Los Angeles landmark or take more joy in the nighttime valley of lights that is hypnotic 1977 Los Angeles- "The Nice Guys" challenges our expectations of a "thriller" and provides us something much more interesting and non derivative. Black's script is tone perfect, darkly humorous (i.e. a man on stilts receiving a very random bullet) and whip smart. Oh, and it does get around to solving the central mystery which is just another satisfactory tentacle to the film's pleasures.
A Bigger Splash
Luca Guadagnino's "A Bigger Splash" works best in the first two-thirds when it's unmoored from any real narrative drive, its camera careening and tracking and swiveling to follow four aimless, sensational and dance frenzied set of people in the Italian countryside. That two of the people were once lovers (Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes) and the other two include the new boyfriend (Mattias Schoenarts) and daughter (Dokata Johnson) of the ex-pat couple only heightens the slow burn tension. It's in the final act- when all the swirling aspects of jealousy and passive aggressiveness finally rear their heads- that surprisingly "A Bigger Splash" loses its spark. The image of a hidden restaurant carved into the side of a field mountain or the way Fiennes looks directly into the cameras as he preens and dances to The Rolling Stones "Emotional Rescue" give the film an embellished energy that can't be matched in its finale. Yet, like his previous film "I Am Love", Guadagnino's stylish creativity behind the camera reveal a talent who still has some great masterpiece inside him.
The Other Side ( Louisiana)
Italian Roberto Minervini seems to be one of the few international directors burrowing his foreign gaze on the marginal quarters of the U.S. His "Texas trilogy" of films (which includes the well respected film "Stop the Pounding Heart" which I haven't seen yet) will be highly circumspect from a native Texan such as myself, but his latest film "The Other Side" has me curious. Following a family of down-and-out grungy drug users, alcoholics and general roustabouts in the far reaches of the Louisiana bayou, it's a film that claims to be a 'documentary', but I seriously doubt its hybrid approach. Too many scenes feel compromised for dramatic effect... as if its one big bayou freak show put on for the red flashing lights on the camera. Even more dubious is the abrupt tangent the film embarks upon during its final twenty minutes, leaving the family behind and turning its focus on a group of military survivalists teaching each other how to deal with the impending apocalypse. There's plenty of drinking, shooting guns and Obama-swearing as "The Other Side" shifts towards a more radical approach of low-income American miserablism. As if the first half didn't hammer home the idea of suffocated lifestyle in this otherworldly part of the U.S. the second half doesn't provide much hope either. Maybe the whole thing is a Harmony Korine-like hoax.
The Lobster
A film I admire more than like. Review on Dallas Film Now
Belladonna of Sadness
Based on a mid ninteenth century about witchcraft and not released in this country for over 30 years, this "adult" cartoon weaves a heartbreaking and eye-popping tale. Full review on Dallas Film Now.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
An Appreciation: Elia Kazan
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (1945) **1/2- Kazan's debut film doesn't contain the amateur dazzle of say Nicholas Ray or John Huston, but its a different animal all together. More of a social family drama about the effects of lower income life on young Francie (Peggy Ann Garner), her face is so emotive against a world of weak and flawed adults that she carries the film on her thin shoulders.
Boomerang (1947) *1/2 - I realize this is Hollywood post World War II and its hard to expect bone-shattering authenticity from its films of the time, but "Boomerang" feels disjointed, limp and way too left-leaning to be taken seriously as either a police procedural or an expose of small Northeastern town political skulduggery. By the time district attorney Dana Andrews self-implodes his own case and begins to rally for the criminal he's prosecuting, I lost hope for anything short of liberal panhandling.
The Sea of Grass (1947) *** - Not quite a western, but a soap opera set within the confines of a western with Katherine Hepburn falling in love and having children with two men (Spencer Tracey and Robert Walker) which causes all sorts of uproar. One can still feel Kazan searching for himself. Not everything works with "The Sea of Grass", but it is commendable for the way it grapples with some risque material and dares to follow the path of destruction across the generations of children trying to cope with the predicament laid at their feet by their parents.
Gentleman's Agreement (1947) ** - Respectable drama that grapples with some sensitive and intelligent themes- i.e. Gregory Peck writing a story on the prevalence of Antisemitism in the U.S.- yet the screenplay and performances understands its self-importance early on and devolve into a series of overblown, stagey monologues. One can feel Kazan trying to find his footing as social commentator.
Pinky (1949) * - Yet another very-serious-social-drama from Kazan, this time confronting racism in the form of light skinned Pinky (Jeanne Crain) when she returns home to the South and experiences the wave of injustices all over again. It's a troubling effort, to say the least, shortsighted in its conservative placement of a thoroughly Caucasian actress and unconvincing in her performance which never breaks free from the privileged white actress mold of the 1940's. At times, Kazan's effort even feels counterproductive to the ails of society it purports to admonish. A sure failure on just about every level.
Panic In the Streets (1950) *** - Well made semi thriller about a cop (Widmark) trying to catch a highly contagious killer in New Orleans. The gothic appeal of New Orleans, the sweaty atmosphere of time running out and Kazan's own relinquishing of sermonizing result in a good time here.
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) ***1/2 - Much has been made of Kazan's ennobling of actors.... specifically Marlon Brando, and in this Tennessee Williams adaptation, the performances feel like something from another planet. Brando is electric in every sense of the word and the sexual frustration, sweat and body odors just seem to drip off the screen.
Viva Zapata (1952) **1/2 - Despite a powerful ending- marked by the somber faces of old women surveying the betrayal and a transgression of soul from man to horse- "Viva Zapata!" loses some of its force in the ambiguous actions of its Mexican folk hero (played by Brando in a pretty terrible make up job). Devoid of any cohesive political ambition for why the characters are risking life and limb outside of casual socialistic obligations, the film feels a bit afraid to fully embrace the assuredly murky real story of Emiliano Zapata and the revolutionary nature of early twentieth century Mexico.
Man On a Tightrope (1953) **** - Perhaps Kazan's unsung great work, "Man On a Tightrope" also contains a delicious title, both literally as a circus manager (Fredric March) and once-tightrope walker and secondly as a man trying to pull away from the strings of Communist oppression. His idea- to defect his entire circus troupe if his own workers, family and competition can spare their in fighting and jealous deceptions long enough. Moments of extreme humor (such as the "meeting" between March and arch rival Robert Beatty) only heighten the immense affinity we feel for the cast and their desperate plan to escape the Iron Curtain, all brought to a thrilling head in the finale that blends action, pathos (oh that stoic face of elderly grandma watching on in horror) and tension. It's easy to see how this film was lost after the success of his next three or four films, but it deserves its place in Kazan's canon. Not available on DVD.
On the Waterfront (1954) **** - Like "A Streetcar Named Desire", there's not much left to be said about the greatness of "On the Waterfront" except its a film so perfect.... so ahead of its time..... that one cannot help but see its reverberations throughout film history both in the film itself and the indelible mark it left on future filmmakers.
East of Eden (1955) ***1/2 - Like his films with Brando, James Dean brings a primal restlessness in this family western that jettisons safe Hollywood drama and aims for high soap operatics... often hitting more than missing.
Baby Doll (1956) *** - A bit perverse in that early-60's-sexually-laced-innuendo-way that certain filmmakers were terrific at, "Baby Doll" is a nice black comedy that takes the boiling frustration of earlier films like "A Streetcar Named Desire" and makes it more overt. Carroll Baker, as the young titular wife of Karl Malden (for my money) out-Lolita's Sue Lyon as the teenage vixen. The film gets better as it goes along, placing poor Malden between a sexual rock and a financial hard place.
A Face In the Crowd (1957) ***- Exhaustive from start to finish as Andy Griffiths portrays a drunken bumpkin who ascends to stardom as a folk singing cultural prophet. Combining Peter Finch ala "Network"... pre-dating Beatle-mania.... and mixing in some brutal stabs at political and media stalwarts, "A Face In the Crowd" has alot on its mind. It winds up being a pretty sorrowful reflection on hollow stardom.
Wild River (1960) **1/2- Sometime around the early 60's venerated filmmakers began making films about the collision of progression versus naturalistic existence. Nicholas Ray in "Wind Across the Evergaldes, for case in point. "Wild River" is Kazan's interpretation of the idea and while it boasts some strong performances from Montgomery Clift and Lee Remick, it falls a bit flat in its wide-eyed liberalism. Exploring the actions of a county authority to remove an old lady and her family from land that will be flooded to make room for a new dam, the film ensures it hits all the important topics of the day while wrapping a fairly contrived romance around the edges. Most interesting for the performances and because, like "Man On A Tightrope", its one o the harder Kazan films to track down. Available on region 2 DVD.
Splendor in the Grass (1961) **1/2- My unending love for Natalie Wood aside, this mawkish teen drama about the sour high school romance between Wood and boyfriend Warren Beatty feels like Kazan trying to reclaim the masochistic moodiness of Brando and Dean in his 50's films. This time, the focus is on the female side of the relationship as Wood doesn't take her break-up all that well. The second half of the film- which deals with the damaging imprints on the two lovers as they grow older- feels more genuine than the first half.
America, America (1963) *** - Molded from Kazan's own family of Greek immigrants, this is an epic (three hour) journey of a young man (Stathis Giallelis) suffering, being beaten down by life, swindled, and then re-born as someone else all to get himself to America where, ironically, this whole process will most likely start over again. Like "El Norte", its a film that details the excruciating journey rather than the cathartic arrival. Like all of Kazan's films, the faces are weary and etched with life and the scrambling of humanity for the basic necessities in life become the overwhelming purpose of his characters.
The Arrangement (1969) *1/2 - Muddled and confused portrait of a successful ad executive (Kirk Douglas) having a mid life crisis both in his work and love affair between wife and mistress (Faye Dunaway). I can feel Kazan thinking that the film's pushing-envelope sexuality is enough to buoy the effort's incompetence, but it still comes off as a bore. If one is looking for better late 60's male psychosis disillusion, watch Frank Perry's mysterious and penetrating "The Swimmer" instead.
The Visitors (1972) *** - If watching this gives one deja-vu about Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs", its because the two films were released only a year apart and deal with some of the same uncomfortable themes of embattled masculinity and post war trauma. Peckinpah's vision is much more piercing, yet the most fascinating thing about "The Visitors" is that it resembles virtually nothing else in Kazan's ouevre. Mostly handheld, grimy interiors and a penchant for long distance point of view shots dominate the picture. Not available on DVD
The Last Tycoon (1976) ***1/2 - Kazan's final film is elegiac and mounted with a sense of fragility, such as the half-built beach house Deniro has consigned not because its necessary, but simply so he can have some place to "come read scripts when I want." Lots of films have tried to capture that twilight serenity and amber glow of forties Hollywood, but "The Last Tycoon" feels like its come the closest. Throw in a doomed love affair (with beautiful Irene Boulting) and the shrinking powers of the studios via a writer's strike and the entire film becomes a crescendo of finality. I also can't imagine a more appropriate final shot for Kazan- a man who spent his entire life in the industry- as DeNiro slowly walks into a darkened movie studio set and becomes engulfed in its infinite glory.
Boomerang (1947) *1/2 - I realize this is Hollywood post World War II and its hard to expect bone-shattering authenticity from its films of the time, but "Boomerang" feels disjointed, limp and way too left-leaning to be taken seriously as either a police procedural or an expose of small Northeastern town political skulduggery. By the time district attorney Dana Andrews self-implodes his own case and begins to rally for the criminal he's prosecuting, I lost hope for anything short of liberal panhandling.
The Sea of Grass (1947) *** - Not quite a western, but a soap opera set within the confines of a western with Katherine Hepburn falling in love and having children with two men (Spencer Tracey and Robert Walker) which causes all sorts of uproar. One can still feel Kazan searching for himself. Not everything works with "The Sea of Grass", but it is commendable for the way it grapples with some risque material and dares to follow the path of destruction across the generations of children trying to cope with the predicament laid at their feet by their parents.
Gentleman's Agreement (1947) ** - Respectable drama that grapples with some sensitive and intelligent themes- i.e. Gregory Peck writing a story on the prevalence of Antisemitism in the U.S.- yet the screenplay and performances understands its self-importance early on and devolve into a series of overblown, stagey monologues. One can feel Kazan trying to find his footing as social commentator.
Pinky (1949) * - Yet another very-serious-social-drama from Kazan, this time confronting racism in the form of light skinned Pinky (Jeanne Crain) when she returns home to the South and experiences the wave of injustices all over again. It's a troubling effort, to say the least, shortsighted in its conservative placement of a thoroughly Caucasian actress and unconvincing in her performance which never breaks free from the privileged white actress mold of the 1940's. At times, Kazan's effort even feels counterproductive to the ails of society it purports to admonish. A sure failure on just about every level.
Panic In the Streets (1950) *** - Well made semi thriller about a cop (Widmark) trying to catch a highly contagious killer in New Orleans. The gothic appeal of New Orleans, the sweaty atmosphere of time running out and Kazan's own relinquishing of sermonizing result in a good time here.
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) ***1/2 - Much has been made of Kazan's ennobling of actors.... specifically Marlon Brando, and in this Tennessee Williams adaptation, the performances feel like something from another planet. Brando is electric in every sense of the word and the sexual frustration, sweat and body odors just seem to drip off the screen.
Viva Zapata (1952) **1/2 - Despite a powerful ending- marked by the somber faces of old women surveying the betrayal and a transgression of soul from man to horse- "Viva Zapata!" loses some of its force in the ambiguous actions of its Mexican folk hero (played by Brando in a pretty terrible make up job). Devoid of any cohesive political ambition for why the characters are risking life and limb outside of casual socialistic obligations, the film feels a bit afraid to fully embrace the assuredly murky real story of Emiliano Zapata and the revolutionary nature of early twentieth century Mexico.
Man On a Tightrope (1953) **** - Perhaps Kazan's unsung great work, "Man On a Tightrope" also contains a delicious title, both literally as a circus manager (Fredric March) and once-tightrope walker and secondly as a man trying to pull away from the strings of Communist oppression. His idea- to defect his entire circus troupe if his own workers, family and competition can spare their in fighting and jealous deceptions long enough. Moments of extreme humor (such as the "meeting" between March and arch rival Robert Beatty) only heighten the immense affinity we feel for the cast and their desperate plan to escape the Iron Curtain, all brought to a thrilling head in the finale that blends action, pathos (oh that stoic face of elderly grandma watching on in horror) and tension. It's easy to see how this film was lost after the success of his next three or four films, but it deserves its place in Kazan's canon. Not available on DVD.
On the Waterfront (1954) **** - Like "A Streetcar Named Desire", there's not much left to be said about the greatness of "On the Waterfront" except its a film so perfect.... so ahead of its time..... that one cannot help but see its reverberations throughout film history both in the film itself and the indelible mark it left on future filmmakers.
East of Eden (1955) ***1/2 - Like his films with Brando, James Dean brings a primal restlessness in this family western that jettisons safe Hollywood drama and aims for high soap operatics... often hitting more than missing.
Baby Doll (1956) *** - A bit perverse in that early-60's-sexually-laced-innuendo-way that certain filmmakers were terrific at, "Baby Doll" is a nice black comedy that takes the boiling frustration of earlier films like "A Streetcar Named Desire" and makes it more overt. Carroll Baker, as the young titular wife of Karl Malden (for my money) out-Lolita's Sue Lyon as the teenage vixen. The film gets better as it goes along, placing poor Malden between a sexual rock and a financial hard place.
A Face In the Crowd (1957) ***- Exhaustive from start to finish as Andy Griffiths portrays a drunken bumpkin who ascends to stardom as a folk singing cultural prophet. Combining Peter Finch ala "Network"... pre-dating Beatle-mania.... and mixing in some brutal stabs at political and media stalwarts, "A Face In the Crowd" has alot on its mind. It winds up being a pretty sorrowful reflection on hollow stardom.
Wild River (1960) **1/2- Sometime around the early 60's venerated filmmakers began making films about the collision of progression versus naturalistic existence. Nicholas Ray in "Wind Across the Evergaldes, for case in point. "Wild River" is Kazan's interpretation of the idea and while it boasts some strong performances from Montgomery Clift and Lee Remick, it falls a bit flat in its wide-eyed liberalism. Exploring the actions of a county authority to remove an old lady and her family from land that will be flooded to make room for a new dam, the film ensures it hits all the important topics of the day while wrapping a fairly contrived romance around the edges. Most interesting for the performances and because, like "Man On A Tightrope", its one o the harder Kazan films to track down. Available on region 2 DVD.
Splendor in the Grass (1961) **1/2- My unending love for Natalie Wood aside, this mawkish teen drama about the sour high school romance between Wood and boyfriend Warren Beatty feels like Kazan trying to reclaim the masochistic moodiness of Brando and Dean in his 50's films. This time, the focus is on the female side of the relationship as Wood doesn't take her break-up all that well. The second half of the film- which deals with the damaging imprints on the two lovers as they grow older- feels more genuine than the first half.
America, America (1963) *** - Molded from Kazan's own family of Greek immigrants, this is an epic (three hour) journey of a young man (Stathis Giallelis) suffering, being beaten down by life, swindled, and then re-born as someone else all to get himself to America where, ironically, this whole process will most likely start over again. Like "El Norte", its a film that details the excruciating journey rather than the cathartic arrival. Like all of Kazan's films, the faces are weary and etched with life and the scrambling of humanity for the basic necessities in life become the overwhelming purpose of his characters.
The Arrangement (1969) *1/2 - Muddled and confused portrait of a successful ad executive (Kirk Douglas) having a mid life crisis both in his work and love affair between wife and mistress (Faye Dunaway). I can feel Kazan thinking that the film's pushing-envelope sexuality is enough to buoy the effort's incompetence, but it still comes off as a bore. If one is looking for better late 60's male psychosis disillusion, watch Frank Perry's mysterious and penetrating "The Swimmer" instead.
The Visitors (1972) *** - If watching this gives one deja-vu about Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs", its because the two films were released only a year apart and deal with some of the same uncomfortable themes of embattled masculinity and post war trauma. Peckinpah's vision is much more piercing, yet the most fascinating thing about "The Visitors" is that it resembles virtually nothing else in Kazan's ouevre. Mostly handheld, grimy interiors and a penchant for long distance point of view shots dominate the picture. Not available on DVD
The Last Tycoon (1976) ***1/2 - Kazan's final film is elegiac and mounted with a sense of fragility, such as the half-built beach house Deniro has consigned not because its necessary, but simply so he can have some place to "come read scripts when I want." Lots of films have tried to capture that twilight serenity and amber glow of forties Hollywood, but "The Last Tycoon" feels like its come the closest. Throw in a doomed love affair (with beautiful Irene Boulting) and the shrinking powers of the studios via a writer's strike and the entire film becomes a crescendo of finality. I also can't imagine a more appropriate final shot for Kazan- a man who spent his entire life in the industry- as DeNiro slowly walks into a darkened movie studio set and becomes engulfed in its infinite glory.
Thursday, May 05, 2016
In Praise of Maggie Cheung #4
The following is an ongoing series about the prolific work of actress Maggie Cheung.
Irma Vep (1996)
For pure fetishism, I'm pretty sure Maggie Cheung's performance in Olivier Assayas' "Irma Vep" will linger in the favorable minds of fans for a very long time. Not only does she mostly slink around in a body-forming black latex outfit, but her often vacant look and malleable presence signify some sort of human living doll complex within the viewer. Of course, the film wants that to be the point as its a meta-meta look at filmmaking, updating old classics and the irreversible collision of creative minds figuring their craft out as they go along. But, as for Maggie herself, she gives an incredible performance as the "living doll", always ready to take direction or simply observe the cast and fellow crew as they stumble through their remake of Louis Feuillade's "Les Vampires" series. Serving as the real international calling card for director Assayas (whom Maggie would eventually marry for several years in 1998) "Irma Vep" also set Maggie up for more widespread recognition here in the States as the film was both a critical and art house success.
Millionaire Cop (1993)
First off, I'm not recommending "Millionaire Cop" to anyone besides the most dedicated Cheung fan. It's an awful film... schizophrenic in mood (a comedy, a supernatural thriller, a musical?) and plotting, it takes all one's strength just to stay with it. The plot- concerning a cop who goes undercover with a look alike rich businessman to prevent his kidnapping- certainly loses something in translation. Only available from someone's worn out Chinese VHS copy (complete with blue screen stoppage for about 2 seconds in the middle!) the English subtitles are negligent at best. Regardless of all that, "Millionaire Cop" does feature a fetching performance by Cheung as the girlfriend of the businessman ultimately charmed by this new personality.
Supercop (1992)
The third film in Jackie Chan's ultra successful "Police Story" trilogy is gloriously exuberant in its action sequences (helicopters versus trains, Rambo style jungle explosions etc.) but amiss in its usage of Cheung. Cauterized to only a few scenes, including a poolside resort setting that devolves into a keystone cops routine of physical comedy that remains the best portion of the film, this is all Jackie Chan all the time. Fairing better on the feminist side, though, is Michelle Yeoh as Chan's partner who gets just as many (if not better) choreographed fight sequences. Still, it needs to be seen for a Cheung completest. And my vote for stunt performer double goes to whomever took the Maggie Cheung fall from a helicopter onto the hood of a car and then onto the street. It looked like they missed their mark and it really, really hurt.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Trial and Error: Yoshitaro Nomura's "The Incident"
Hands clutched to his side and eyes fervently poised downward, filmmaker Nomura constantly frames Hiroshi as some sort of fallen Greek god aimlessly watching the jury deciding his fate. There are onlookers as well- namely members of the press, his current impregnated fiance Yoshiko (Shinobu Ohtake, who's also the sister of the victim) numerous witnesses and elderly family members perched just behind him throughout the trial. Alternating between measured, careful dialogue of examination and cross-examination within the courtroom and the moments leading up to and including the murder, "The Incident" walks a precarious line of fact and blurred memory fiction. Just how reliable is the testimony of the witnesses? What exactly is the relationship of Hiroshi and Hatsuko? What do all those furtive glances between suspect and sister in the courtroom really mean? Over the course of two hours and twenty minutes, Nomura carefully builds a web of "Rashomon"-like events that fold and twist and bend around each other. Like he did in "Castle of Sand"- another film interested in the reverberations of the past on the present- Nomura mines an especially stringent intellectual thriller.
If the final verdict of the film is far less interesting than the serpentine-like path it took to get there, I feel that's the point. Compared to Nomura's other works (and its a shame more are not available on DVD, including this great film) "The Incident" fits neatly into his worldview of panoramic events whose real apocalypse can only be felt in the hearts of an unlucky few. A father and son in "Castle of Sand". A couple in "The Incident". A weathered, somewhat evil husband in "The Demon". While the whole world seems to be caught up in their own self-satisfying objectives in the death of beautiful Hatsuko, Nomura reminds us in a lyrical yet subtly dark closing shot that, perhaps, the greatest victim of this particular incident hasn't even been born yet.
Saturday, April 23, 2016
Music I'm Diggin' Right Now
Unlike 2015 where I had to bury deep beneath the surface to find some music I could tolerate, 2016 has been terrific so far. Of course it helps when perennial faves release new albums, but its been nice.
I think it'll be hard to top this album for my favorite of the year 8 months hence.
I think it'll be hard to top this album for my favorite of the year 8 months hence.
Friday, April 15, 2016
The Current Cinema 16.3
Everybody Wants Some
I'm leaving off the bad punctuation of the title, which like the rest of the film, is fairly extraneous. It pains me to call this one of Linklater's worst, but there it is. Rekindling the plotless, amiable, time capsule reverie of "Dazed and Confused", this one places his lost and delirious youth at the birth of the 80's and also at ground zero of their college experience. Following a bevy of newcomers (some better, some who fare much worse) during the weekend before school starts, "Everybody Wants Some" is a uniquely masculine experiment, placing focus on the testosterone fueled group of baseball players at fictional Southeastern Texas College. Binge drinking, girl-chasing, swearing and pranks are the rigor, and not much depth beyond that. Linklater strains a few decently human strings together towards the end as young Jake (Blake Jenner, the closest thing the film has to a male lead and our central attachment) forms a relationship with Beverly (Zoey Deutsch) and their awkward, searching friendship takes hold in Brady Bunch-style split screen phone calls and a very intellectually stimulating party. No wonder these jocks feel like they're in outer space when they show up. The final 20 minutes of "Everybody Wants Some" feel like the closest thing to Linklater's previous films of growth, verbal intimacy and endearment. Perhaps it's this historical wealth built up by the filmmaker that would allow him to have some vacuous fun here. Regardless, its still a film of odious personalities who live, breathe and react in an artificial construction of 80's films.... one whose song choices are just as obvious and obligatory as the endless carousing of its dull-headed young men and women.
Tumbledown
Allow my Jason Sudeikis moratorium to expire with "Tumbledown". Sean Mewshaw's romantic drama not only provides him with his best and most affable performance to date, but its also a film of surprising warmth, humility and carefully crafted emotional manipulations. Oh, and Rebecca Hall is pretty damn amazing also. Taking the narrative of cult-songwriter worship to varying heights, "Tumbledown" initially wallows in grief as Hannah (Hall) struggles to come out from under the shadow of her late husband's death. Added to her grief is the fact he released one personal album that (as mentioned in the same vein as Kurt Cobain) still resonates around the world as a lost musical genius. Obsessed with writing a biography of the man, Sudeikis enters Hannah's world as the two try to manage their expectations and accolades for the man from drastically different sides of his persona. Packing a huge emotional wallop, "Tumbledown" is a film that builds slowly. Part romantic comedy and part backwoods New York cultural war, I wasn't expecting the ultimate wallop it delivers. There are no big dramatic shifts or surprise secrets, just a cautious and searching tale about the lives we lead after unforeseen devastation. Just watch the scene where Hall listens to a previously unrealized song and watch the shadows of memory, love and loss sway across her face. In that single moment, "Tumbledown" hooked its claws into me and never let go.
Mr. Right
Anna Kendrick and Sam Rockwell maintain sharp chemistry. It's just too bad one has to squint to see it amongst the bad Tarantino-violence. Full review Dallas Film Now.
Criminal
I lost track how many times during Ariel Vroman's insipid thriller I rolled my eyes. This is the type of lazy action film that has every single person's movements tracked by cell phone GPS or facial recognition data, and yet the person everyone's looking for shows up at the home of the female whose central to the plot. Despite being stacked with great talent (Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Oldman), "Criminal" wastes everyone involved.
I'm leaving off the bad punctuation of the title, which like the rest of the film, is fairly extraneous. It pains me to call this one of Linklater's worst, but there it is. Rekindling the plotless, amiable, time capsule reverie of "Dazed and Confused", this one places his lost and delirious youth at the birth of the 80's and also at ground zero of their college experience. Following a bevy of newcomers (some better, some who fare much worse) during the weekend before school starts, "Everybody Wants Some" is a uniquely masculine experiment, placing focus on the testosterone fueled group of baseball players at fictional Southeastern Texas College. Binge drinking, girl-chasing, swearing and pranks are the rigor, and not much depth beyond that. Linklater strains a few decently human strings together towards the end as young Jake (Blake Jenner, the closest thing the film has to a male lead and our central attachment) forms a relationship with Beverly (Zoey Deutsch) and their awkward, searching friendship takes hold in Brady Bunch-style split screen phone calls and a very intellectually stimulating party. No wonder these jocks feel like they're in outer space when they show up. The final 20 minutes of "Everybody Wants Some" feel like the closest thing to Linklater's previous films of growth, verbal intimacy and endearment. Perhaps it's this historical wealth built up by the filmmaker that would allow him to have some vacuous fun here. Regardless, its still a film of odious personalities who live, breathe and react in an artificial construction of 80's films.... one whose song choices are just as obvious and obligatory as the endless carousing of its dull-headed young men and women.
Tumbledown
Allow my Jason Sudeikis moratorium to expire with "Tumbledown". Sean Mewshaw's romantic drama not only provides him with his best and most affable performance to date, but its also a film of surprising warmth, humility and carefully crafted emotional manipulations. Oh, and Rebecca Hall is pretty damn amazing also. Taking the narrative of cult-songwriter worship to varying heights, "Tumbledown" initially wallows in grief as Hannah (Hall) struggles to come out from under the shadow of her late husband's death. Added to her grief is the fact he released one personal album that (as mentioned in the same vein as Kurt Cobain) still resonates around the world as a lost musical genius. Obsessed with writing a biography of the man, Sudeikis enters Hannah's world as the two try to manage their expectations and accolades for the man from drastically different sides of his persona. Packing a huge emotional wallop, "Tumbledown" is a film that builds slowly. Part romantic comedy and part backwoods New York cultural war, I wasn't expecting the ultimate wallop it delivers. There are no big dramatic shifts or surprise secrets, just a cautious and searching tale about the lives we lead after unforeseen devastation. Just watch the scene where Hall listens to a previously unrealized song and watch the shadows of memory, love and loss sway across her face. In that single moment, "Tumbledown" hooked its claws into me and never let go.
Mr. Right
Anna Kendrick and Sam Rockwell maintain sharp chemistry. It's just too bad one has to squint to see it amongst the bad Tarantino-violence. Full review Dallas Film Now.
Criminal
I lost track how many times during Ariel Vroman's insipid thriller I rolled my eyes. This is the type of lazy action film that has every single person's movements tracked by cell phone GPS or facial recognition data, and yet the person everyone's looking for shows up at the home of the female whose central to the plot. Despite being stacked with great talent (Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Oldman), "Criminal" wastes everyone involved.
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