Not Coming to a Theater Near You

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Mamma Roma / Italy / 1962

RT did a write up of this some time ago. It’s Pasolini’s second film featuring life among Italian peasantry, specifically, Anna Magnani as the archetypal Mediterranean mother. It’s a full circle performance from Magnani, who’s turn in Rosellini’s Open City featured and symbolized a post-WWII matriarchal force. Here, she’s a former street walker attempting to make a new life with her teenage son. Pasolini emphasizes the tragedy inherent in Magnani’s situation, particularly, the self-perpetuating cycle of poverty and despair, to full effect here. He fuses the political and the artistic with iconic imagery, but was probably more successful (overall) with his next film, The Gospel Acoording To Saint Matthew.

by Marlin Tyree | Source: Criterion Collection
31 May 2007 7:08 PM | Submit Comment

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Mutual Appreciation / USA / 2005

Mutual Appreciation has no formulaic narrative to speak of, and it is populated with characters who are bratty and fatalistically naïve. And yet I found this film compulsively watchable; even though none of its characters are engendered with my sympathy, the film has a tangible, exciting reality to it. The comparisons between Andrew Bujalski and John Cassavetes are, by this measure, earned.

related: Hannah Takes the Stairs

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: The Sundance Channel
31 May 2007 12:32 PM | Submit Comment

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8 ½ Women / UK / Netherlands / 1999

Peter Greenway’s work has a particular – and, to my mind, inimitable – quality that is simultaneously surreal and literal. The opening credits to this film, which exhibit the filmmaker’s continued obsession with numerology, display 8 ½ views of Tokyo Pachinco palaces. This occurs on top of the screenplay’s text, which describes the same. My description of this scene is precise, but the scene persists in an indescribable abstraction.

It is this, I guess, oddness that attracts me to Greenaway’s work—its emblazoned aestheticism captured in dull camera staging, or how an obsession with symmetry (or numerology) regularly overwhelms his films’ fundamental structures, narratives, and characterizations. And in all, it is contestable that Greenaway is less interested in cinema as a componential art than he is in its individual components, taking them and manipulating them into a ribald mixture both totally innovative and conventionally uncinematic.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: IFC
31 May 2007 12:23 PM | Submit Comment

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Wings of Hope / Julianes Sturz in den Dschungel / Germany / 2000

Although her story is no less daunting than Dieter’s, Herzog’s documentary on plane crash survivor Juliane Koepcke failed to garner as much of my interest. A far more quiet and introverted subject, Koepcke retains an emotional distance, inadvertently creating a barrier between herself and the viewer (perhaps Herzog as well).

by Jenny Jediny | Source: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion video
31 May 2007 12:08 PM | Submit Comment

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Little Dieter Needs to Fly / USA / 1997

Can someone please explain the need for Rescue Dawn? I have yet to see it, but I loved Dieter, and I’m baffled as to why Herzog chose to pursue a fictional retelling in the first place.

Leo’s full review
Jit’s review of Rescue Dawn
Adam’s thoughts

by Jenny Jediny | Source: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion 35mm theatrical print
31 May 2007 11:45 AM | Submit Comment

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The Long Goodbye / USA / 1973

Maybe it’s the mellow mood I’ve had lately, but Altman’s take on Mr. Phillip Marlowe easily won me over, as did Elliot Gould’s performance. I’m still pleasantly mulling over the hazy, faded Zsigmond palette, Marlowe’s oddly endearing mumbles, and Sterling Hayden’s bitter, stumbling walk into the sea (echoes of my favorite scene of death by drowning, James Mason in A Star is Born), all encompassed by a pitch perfect, magic brownie scented 70’s tone. I think I officially have a new Altman fav.

Rumsey’s thoughts
Leo’s thoughts

by Jenny Jediny | Source: United Artists 35mm theatrical print
31 May 2007 11:30 AM | Submit Comment

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Elizabeth R / England / 1971

This outstanding BBC mini-series, which originally aired on television in 1971, remains the most powerful and historically accurate dramatization of the rise and reign of Elizabeth I on film. Told in six seperate, consecutive segments, each with a different writer (though the use of language, superb throughout, has a consistent style), the character of the unusually intelligent, tempetuous and politically savvy monarch is given an uncanny portrayal by (the now retired) Glenda Jackson. Jackson seems to have channeled the spirit of Old Queen Bess for she is never less than utterly convincing in the role. The supporting players are equally up to the task of presenting a convincing portrait of court intrigue and drama. While the production values pale at times, most notably in the outdoor scenes, the set designs are generally top notch and the costuming is especially impressive.

Again, the language (and the excellent use of it) keeps me compelled each time I view the series. I must admit that while I’m no fan of Masterpiece Theater productions, in general , this is clearly one of the best they’ve ever produced.

by Marlin Tyree | Source: Warner Home DVD
30 May 2007 6:14 PM | Submit Comment

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Utamaro and His Five Women / Japan / 1946

I’ve seldom been as inspired by a film depicting the simple dignity of an artist’s life (in spite of, but most especially, due to the tumultuous events and often, hostile enviornment surrounding them) as I have been by Kenji Mizoguchi’s Utamaro and His Five Women. Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev (1966) and Paul Leduc’s Frida, Naturaleza Viva (1986) come to mind. Similar to the approach in these two films Mizoguchi looks at a series of events in the life of the famous wood-block painter, Kitagawa Utamaro, through the lens of the artist’s eye – as though the artist, himself, is interpreting the events. As in the other two films mentioned, the enviornment dictates the tone of the film, which in this case is the red-light district of seventeenth century Tokyo. It gives the film a levity and sense of humor while maintaining a passion and delicacy exemplified (among other things) by Utamaro’s punctiliousness and admirable devotion to his life’s work. Here is Mizoguchi in great form.

by Marlin Tyree | Source: New Yorker Video VHS
29 May 2007 5:45 PM | Submit Comment

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Knocked Up / USA / 2007

The nuclear scene in Knocked Up – the one in the trailer designed to encourage the most uproarious responses – is when the soon-to-be-father is informed by the soon-to-be-mother that the two have, wanted or not, a young one on the way. “Fuck off!” is his default response, and it is funny; this is the same casual disbelief with which he’ll approach any unexpected conflict to his interest in absolute, self-serving leisure. Of course, the gravity of the circumstances will weigh on him, and the film is very generally a depiction of his escalating comprehension of his responsibility.

Because its central character (Apatow regular Seth Rogen, whose stoner wit is exploited opportunistically herein) is a meticulously architected dude, Knocked Up is a contrived male fantasy. It’s about how the perfect woman can conjure the most stalwart dude’s latent charms. It will end happily for all because there’s no real dilemma to consider precisely because the girl who’s knocked up is young, successful, and beautiful. There is a rather sweet scene in which she comes to empathize with his entrepreneurial dude-ery by alerting him to the “Tits and cooch!” during the opening credits of some night-owl film (he and his buds maintain a website that indexes such scenes). Such compromise in character is only superficially imparted upon the pregnant girl, however, in the boy’s reluctant participation in shopping for nursery paraphernalia or reading baby books. It is, in all, a forgivably and often hilarious enterprise; had it an inebriated Steve Carell or even a choreographed sing-a-long dance sequence, it might have been Judd Apatow’s best work.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Universal Studios 35mm print
28 May 2007 12:40 PM | Submit Comment

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Undeclared / The Complete Series / USA / 2001

Freaks and Geeks was something of an epochal television series, but this aspect is routinely overwhelmed by the humor, pathos, or superb characterization. The latter qualities are in such abundance that the series’ jabs at Reagan-era politics and the transitory fashion (the residue of disco, the ill-conceived appropriation of punk) are often unnoticed.

Undeclared’s epoch, by contrast, is entirely nonspecific. Its state university could be anywhere with warm weather, and its students a cross-section (of race, gender, and, of course, major) of most any other school. It is calculatedly anonymous, but it is also funny—the pathos that distinguishes Freaks and Geeks is largely absent here, but there’s the same type of humor, contrived from circumstances that would be humiliating if you were directly involved.

Finally, there’s a conceptual and literal chronology to Judd Apatow’s career that I find fascinating—how each of his projects (now films) precedes the next in terms of maturation: high school / college / sexual maturation / parental maturation. And more significantly, how each of them incorporates the same actors, who, as they grow older, are given larger responsibilities to consider.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Shout Factory DVD
28 May 2007 12:35 PM | Submit Comment

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Hot Fuzz / UK / 2007

It’s been a few years since I last saw Edward Woodward in early-morning reruns of “The Equalizer,” so I spent much of this film trying to find him. No luck—a minor disappointment, in retrospect. Still, Hot Fuzz manages to avoid the very same mistake that almost drove super-brilliant Shaun of the Dead into the ground—that is, smart and consistent humor interrupted by a final half-hour of incongruous gut-eating seriousness. The laughs herein are frequent and unfailing, and they never overpower a storyline that is itself a comment on banal action films. (A vast, ego-driven conspiracy concerning supermarkets and real estate? Not quite.)

As has already been noted on this site, this is an expertly cast film, topped off by Timothy Dalton’s Simon Skinner. The character, a suave small-town store-owner, seems tailor-made for the actor—who, in turn, is pitch-perfect—perhaps marking a revival for cinema’s second-most forgettable James Bond. The multitude of allusions to other films—Straw Dogs, Point Break, Leon—are great, and the final shoot-out made me absolutely giddy.

Beth’s Thoughts
Tom’s Thoughts
Leo’s Thoughts

by Adam Balz | Source: Rogue Pictures 35MM Theatrical Print
25 May 2007 10:48 PM | Comments (4)

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Windhorse / Tibet/Nepal / 1997

This film follows the daily life of three young contemporary Tibetans, cousins, who as children, witnessed the murder of their grandfather by Chinese authorities. One has assimilated the Chinese culture and seeks to profit from it, despite being blatanly exploited. Another; angry, disgusted and personally frustrated with his lot under the Chinese dominated Tibet, resorts to alcohol and a listless lifestyle. The third, a nun, becomes politically active and risks her life protesting the Chinese occupation. Paul Wagner has directed a striking portrait of the tragic plight of ordinary Tibetans. Apparently, his neice, who was arrested and detained by Chinese custom officials in Tibet, provided Wagner with the genesis for the project.

Before I saw this film I had been under the impression that most Tibetan monks/nuns suffered without a word of condemnation of the Chinese government which has slaughtered them by the thousands. This film certainly proves that notion to be false. It utterly dispels the romantic vision in films like Kundun and Seven Years In Tibet, which for all their beauty, fail to illustrate the passion of the Tibetan people found here. Highly recommended.

by Marlin Tyree | Source: NewYorker Video
22 May 2007 5:40 PM | Submit Comment

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The Portrait Of A Lady / UK/USA / 1996

This stunning piece of filmwork is a fairly unforgettable story about an independent-minded, but naive, young, American socialite who gets caught in a European intrigue. Nicole Kidman is pitch perfect as the provocative youth, Isabel Archer, and John Malkovich is appropriately cast as her serpentine foil and husband, Gilbert Osmond. The two standouts, however, are Barbara Hershey as the duplicitous family friend who traps Kidman (for which she recieved an Academy award nomination) and the marvelous production headed by a triumphant Jane Campion. She’s triumphant because she manages to turn this potentially melodramtic material into something of a spiritual struggle for all the characters concerned. It can’t be easy to do though it certainly is fascinating to watch.

by Marlin Tyree | Source: Polygram DVD
21 May 2007 5:40 PM | Submit Comment

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300 / USA / 2006

The real deal, a genuine 300 lb monster turkey. I mean, I was expecting this film to be bad, but… Jesus. An army of greased, semi naked male models take on the gruesome might of all Persia, armed only with a pounding nu-metal soundtrack and some of the most cringeworthy dialogue this side of a computer game cut scene. The fact that Zack Snyder has been handed the reins on the forthcoming Watchmen adaptation chills me to the bone.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
20 May 2007 6:41 AM | Submit Comment

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Cache / Hidden / France / 2005

I’m sorry to say, I just don’t get it. This film has been revered across the world, notably on this very site. I guess it comes down to the old struggle between art and entertainment; there are still those who believe you can’t have both. There’s a worrying theme running throughout the waves of criticism on this film which contends that it’s not a film made to be ‘enjoyed’, but intellectualized, revisited and picked apart. Why on earth would I want to revisit something that gave me absolutely no pleasure the first time round? The characters are underdeveloped, the plot intriguing but frustratingly inconclusive, which I’m sure was the whole point, but for God’s sake why? What would have been lost by the provision of a satisfying climax? Okay, so it’s not real life, but what in this film is?

And is it just me that feels like the premise is old hat now, falling somewhere between Lost Highway and Cape Fear. I understand a lot of the points Haneke is making, about cosy middle class intellectualism, racial tension, disassociation from real societal problems, and I suppose that the disinterested, vague tone of the film is intended to reflect the emotional disconnection of his central character. I just find it frustrating, arrogant and desperately underwhelming.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
20 May 2007 6:37 AM | Comments (4)

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The Wild Blue Yonder / UK/USA/France/Germany / 2005

A new genre, the absurdist science fiction nature documentary. Werner Herzog’s film was originally shown on BBC4’s Storyville strand back in 2005, but is now receiving a belated and rather unnecessary cinema release. There’s some interesting ideas here, and some beautiful underwater photography. But you never get the feeling Herzog takes any of this particularly seriously, it’s a lightweight curio. Brad Dourif hams it up in time honoured fashion, and the endless throat singing gets really annoying after a while.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
20 May 2007 6:27 AM | Submit Comment

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London To Brighton / UK / 2006

Yet another tedious cockernee crime thriller, and one of those films that makes you despair for the British film industry. There’s nothing explicitly wrong with it, but you just get the feeling no one (with the exception of the two excellent female leads) is really trying. The storyline is predictable and achingly familiar, the villains likewise. It’s all very nicely photographed and there are a few tense moments, but the climactic twist can be seen coming a mile off, and any attempts at character development are little short of laughable.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
20 May 2007 6:26 AM | Submit Comment

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Letters From Iwo Jima / USA / 2006

Clint’s best since Unforgiven without a doubt, and a very worthy Best Picture nominee, easily the strongest in a very weak field. The grainy, digitised, almost B&W cinematography renders the film a little dark and muddy, but that was doubtless the intention- this is a bleak and relentless film, a rare cinematic study of defeat.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
20 May 2007 6:25 AM | Comments (1)

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Baby Doll / USA / 1956

From its opening shot (Caroll Baker nestled in a crib, sucking her thumb, while Karl Malden lasciviously looks on) to its end frame (an alcohol-fueled showdown outside a rickety Southern mansion), Baby Doll manages the impressive feat of seeming like an overwrought parody of a Tennessee Williams play, when it was in fact written by Williams himself. Highly controversial upon its release for its frank sexual content, the movie seems tame by today’s standards, and is more likely to be regarded for its camp value than anything else.

by Beth Gilligan | Source: Warner Bros DVD
17 May 2007 4:00 PM | Submit Comment

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The History Boys / UK / 2006

Perhaps the stage play was a quite different beast, but this seems so much less incisive and interesting than Bennett’s TV work from the seventies and eighties. (And here I abandon my usual default auteurism, focusing on the author and ignoring the director.) It’s a fine enough way to pass a couple of hours, but’s in the end it’s both too contrived and too bland to really satisfy.

by Ian Johnston | Source: 35mm print
16 May 2007 1:35 PM | Submit Comment

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28 Weeks Later / UK / 2007

Knowing 28 Days Later, you pretty much know what do expect: pockets of character development quickly interrupted by flesh-chomping blood-spraying zombies, but with a bigger budget than before. The fast-paced/shaky camera/choppy editing/strobe lighting is all pretty effective, but it seems a pity that the attempts at some kind of characterisation (above all with Robert Carlyle) are so quickly abandoned, and in the end it doesn’t really go anywhere. Except, no doubt, on to 28 Months Later.

by Ian Johnston | Source: 35mm print
16 May 2007 1:29 PM | Submit Comment

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Spider-Man 3 / USA / 2007

In all three Spider-Man films, Sam Raimi exhibits a flair for rendering the comic scenes – in this case, when Peter Parker gets in touch with his inner sleaze-bag. These moments aside, the film feels overstuffed and overlong, with at least two major characters that could have easily been cut.

by Beth Gilligan | Source: Sony Digital Projection
16 May 2007 10:46 AM | Submit Comment

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Brand Upon the Brain! / USA/Canada / 2006

While the film itself didn’t strike me anything groundbreaking (at least in terms of Maddin’s oeuvre), I wholeheartedly agree with Jit that seeing it in a theater with a live orchestra, foley artists, and – in this case – Isabella Rossellini is a thrilling experience.

by Beth Gilligan | Source: Celluloid Dreams 35mm print
16 May 2007 10:40 AM | Submit Comment

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Wagon Master / USA / 1950

This portrait of a group of Mormons heading west to San Juan River country, assisted by a couple of savvy horse traders, is a winning tale about social outcasts cloaked as a Western. I suppose its John Ford’s ode to the Mormons who, apparently, impressed and assisted him in previous film productions. The picture as a whole is a bit romantic but there’s enough grit to make the journey seem plausible; good screenwriting and cinematography to make the experience generally pleasurable. I suppose the highlight is the great acting by nearly everyone inolved. The film has such a benignly good story that to pick with it seems futile.

by Marlin Tyree | Source: Turner Home Entertainment VHS
14 May 2007 7:49 PM | Submit Comment

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Spider-Man 3 / USA / 2007

A maddeningly tedious movie, the best part of which — believe it or not — is James Franco.

by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Sony Digital Projection
14 May 2007 4:17 PM | Submit Comment

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Year of the Dog / USA / 2007

Peggy, having lost her dog Pencil in a terrible accident, becomes an increasingly militant animal-rights activist—baking vegan cupcakes, writing fraudulent checks, driving her niece and nephew to a slaughterhouse—cresting with her decision to take vengeance on a neighbor she deems responsible. A perfect film for Molly Shannon, who mixes sarcastic innocence and dark brooding anger with such apparent ease, Year of the Dog is a welcomed relief for an actress whose last few films were undeniably awful. The overextended opening smiles, the half-hearted sympathies expressed in conversation, the delirious “joy” she feels after an eventful visit to the local pound—this character belongs to her. And while my thoughts on the film as a whole are a bit muddled—I’ll need a second or third viewing to sort out my feelings on director Mike White’s intentions—Year of the Dog contains great performances, some rather intelligent writing, and one of the best posters in years.

Beth’s Thoughts

by Adam Balz | Source: Paramount 35MM Theatrical Print
13 May 2007 3:44 PM | Submit Comment

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After the Wedding / Efter brylluppet / Denmark/Sweden / 2006

One part Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen, another part unashamed rollercoaster-of-emotion, Susanne Bier’s After the Wedding is unavoidable indebted to Ingmar Bergman in its Saraband-like style of conversation: Each character does, at one point, spend a few minutes alone—yelling, crying, laughing—with another character, until they’ve all revealed to one another their innermost feelings. And while After the Wedding is incredibly well-acted—Sidse Babett Knudsen’s performance alone is astounding—the film becomes tiresome near the end.

by Adam Balz | Source: IFC 35MM Theatrical Print
13 May 2007 3:27 PM | Submit Comment

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Zodiac / USA / 2007

While I’m an unabashed fan of almost anything David Fincher does (“almost” being the obligatory denotement of Alien 3 and/or Panic Room), I saw this film for its supporting cast, which includes three of my all-time favorite actors: Brian Cox, Philip Baker Hall, and John Carroll Lynch. And while the first two are impressive—Cox’s early, fleeting scenes are absolutely brilliant—it’s the latter of these men who ultimately makes Zodiac such a dark, lurid, and absorbing film. As Zodiac suspect Arthur Leigh Allen, Lynch is a deliciously wild and altogether perfectly executed risk in casting. Throw in Charles Fleischer as an ominous theatre organist—a man who throws off almost every inclination towards Allen in only five minutes—and you have a pitch-perfect film that not only complements Fincher’s style but, at 158 minutes, brings us to the very brink of frustration alongside its characters without ever offering to let go.

Beth’s Thoughts
Rumsey’s Thoughts
Chiranjit’s Thoughts

by Adam Balz | Source: Warner Brothers 35MM Theatrical Print
11 May 2007 3:27 PM | Submit Comment

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Disturbing Behavior / USA / 1998

More studio interference: this feels like a half decent little teen horror flick cut to shreds by an unsympathetic exec. The version I saw was less than 75 minutes long, and seemed like the shattered and not quite complementary pieces of a much longer, more interesting movie. Though I can’t imagine it was ever going to be any kind of masterpiece; how does a guy go from writing Beautiful Girls to this, in under two years?

by Tom Huddleston | Source: BBC1
10 May 2007 12:14 PM | Submit Comment

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Spider-Man 3 / USA / 2007

Or, Attack Of The Plotlines. A lot’s been made of the ridiculous busy-ness of this, the first blockbuster of the summer. It’s not something you expect from Raimi, a director famed for his, well, directness. The whole thing smacks of studio interference, which is unsurprising considering it’s the most expensive film ever made. Where did the money go? On the blurry, confusing action sequences? On the solid but frankly b-list cast? On Tobey Maguire’s geek-chic wardrobe? The fingersnapping street sequence is just bizarre, and faintly nauseating. The sheer level of coincidence involved means that, even for a comic book movie, this feels daft and unreal. And what’s with all the crying? How is a guy made entirely from sand supposed to cry, anyway?

by Tom Huddleston | Source: 35mm print
10 May 2007 12:12 PM | Submit Comment

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The Hidden / USA / 1987

A prime slice of mid 80’s B-schlock, with all that entails: great casting, daft action sequences, a few good one liners, some gooey effects and a plot that makes almost no sense. The whole thing feels like a weird precursor to Twin Peaks- Kyle McLachlan basically plays Cooper from space, and his grudgeful cop sidekick looks like a more chiseled Michael Ontkean. You’ve even got Hank Jennings shooting up the place in the opening scenes. The character work is actually pretty strong, and there’s a shootout in a police station that nearly rivals The Terminator.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
10 May 2007 12:11 PM | Comments (1)

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Zodiac / USA / 2007

By avoiding the elaborate filmmaking that he has recently become renowned for executing and instead concentrating on creating the sinister mood and atmosphere that he has always expertly crafted, David Fincher delivers a different kind of serial killer film, where the most frightening moment comes from a revelation revolving around hand writing. Fincher’s latest film feels like a crime-procedural epic, yet somehow also becomes intimate enough to convey the toll that the Zodiac investigation extracts from its participants.

In detailing the damaging effects of these murders and the resulting obsession that permeates throughout the effected region (admittedly, I have a weakness for films that revolve around the notion of obsession), Zodiac may be one of the strongest contemporary films in capturing the subtle but seemingly continuous consequences of terror, or at least fear, and essentially expresses everything that Summer of Sam hoped to convey while aggressively addressing similar subject matter.

Interestingly, Fincher revisits a few familiar cinematic sequences, including an endless cascade of words seemingly signaling the unsettling unraveling of a psyche, though in this case it’s the subtle damage inflicted upon our protagonist rather than obvious evidence left behind by a mysterious murderer. Though many reports have circulated regarding the creative conflicts between Fincher and Jake Gyllenhaal during production, this may be the first film in which I’ve found Gyllenhaal to be near perfect in his performance and I hope he collaborates with Fincher in the future.

Of course, my praise of the film might also be influenced by the fact that I apparently get my hair cut by the same barber that did Mark Ruffalo’s hair.

Rumsey’s Thoughts

by Chiranjit Goswami | Source: Warner Brothers 35mm Theatrical Print
07 May 2007 5:22 PM | Submit Comment

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Spider-Man 3 / USA / 2007

Spider-man with extra cheese. Some of Raimi’s more shamelessly brazen moments result in a genuine goofy charm, specifically Peter Parker channelling Bart Simpson (“There’s only one thing to do at a moment like this: strut!”) and blatantly hitting on Ms. Brant, as he discovers the fun of fearlessly embracing his ego. Such moments provide comedy by serving as a direct contrast to the “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head”-sequence in Raimi’s previous Spider-man film, and captivate because they are so extremely absurd. Unfortunately, as with everything in this sequel, Raimi extends his concept past its natural breaking point, forcing us to suffer through a weak jazz-club dance sequence.

Raimi’s film suffers through the typical burdens of a Hollywood comic book super-hero sequel, with too many characters, antagonists, and plot-lines to squeeze and sustain within its attention span. Realistically, this film could have been split up into two different films, centered around two different villains and different personal struggles for Peter Parker (which I’m sure would have resulted in more money for Sony). In fact, I thought one of the strengths of the previous film was the filmmakers’ decision to avoid the natural tendency of these blockbusters and only concentrate on one antagonist. Instead, Raimi’s latest blockbuster boasts an unnecessarily bloated running time and concludes its story in a chaotic yet convenient manner.

Also, was anyone else distracted by the obviously artificial extras, in terms of both overacting and casting? A few years ago I worked at a casting agency for a couple of weeks and was asked by my supervisors to cast attractive women for nothing-parts so that the director would have young women to hit on during down-time (you wouldn’t be surprised if you knew which director). Somehow I think that same instructions and methodology were used to fill out the casting of this film.

by Chiranjit Goswami | Source: Sony Pictures 35mm Theatrical Print
07 May 2007 3:55 PM | Comments (3)

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Sexy Beast / UK / Spain / 2000

To observe Ben Kingsley channeling an inordinately bratty six-year-old in his fifty-something London gangster is to observe him with the same intense relief that he’s not your child, and an entertainment of the highest order for precisely the same reason.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Fox DVD
07 May 2007 12:53 PM | Submit Comment

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Grindhouse / Grind House / Planet Terror / Death Proof / USA / 2007

The genius artificial trailers notwithstanding, Grindhouse is a flawed film for its sheer smorgasbord of material. It’s more a celebration (and admirably so) of a type of exhibition, one that contemporary audiences (as Adam notes) have been largely disinterested in, than it is of a specific genre. It begins with Robert Rodriguez’s depthless Planet Terror. The film is all artifice, what with its digitally aged filmstock, the carefully considered missing reel, and even the glimpse of the camera crew in the opening credits. All of these elements are particularly ironic because they are staged and not the accidents, blemishes, or compromises that enhance films of this vintage. Rodriguez is admirably enamored by his inspirations – his appropriation of John Carpenter is faithful; the score, for one, is fantastic – but ultimately Planet Terror is absent of any terror.

Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, by contrast, is a total thrill, elongated passages of dialogue and all.

Jit’s thoughts

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: The Weinstein Company 35mm print
07 May 2007 12:47 PM | Submit Comment

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Paradise Lost 2 / Revelations / USA / 2000

Far less objective than Paradise Lost, Revelations documents the six years following the “West Memphis Three’s” conviction. Whereas the first film is comparably steadfast in its objectivity, this sequel is propagandistic in its effort to exploit the lapses in procedural practice and logic that characterized the West Memphis Three’s trial. It is a satisfactorily entertaining film for those fond of its predecessor, but its acutely noble intentions may be overlooked by its omissions, both factually (there is little mention of the Three’s previous criminal records) and logically (why is that Damien Echols is featured at length but not his compatriots?).

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Docurama DVD
07 May 2007 12:24 PM | Submit Comment

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Paradise Lost / The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills / USA / 1996

An inclusive, riveting documentary on the controversial trial of three teenagers for the murder of three boys in 1993, Paradise Lost is a procedural crime drama of the highest order, but it also retains a particular aesthetic unbecoming of films of its ilk: old Metallica songs score everything—helicopter shots that leer over crime scene in West Memphis, or the close-ups of one of the three boys in custody for the murders. The tactic is ironic as it sensationalizes the events, pronouncing the aspect of tragedy (“Sanitarium” is reprised most often) that has enamored made the film with something of a cult following.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: New Video Group DVD
07 May 2007 12:22 PM | Submit Comment

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The Crusades / From The CECIL B. DEMILLE COLLECTION / USA / 1935

This film (of the five in the DeMille Collection) is a retelling of the third of European Crusades led by Richard The Lionhearted. A “sweeping” historical epic told in the DeMille grand manner, it flopped at the box office but holds up remarkably well as an interesting historical melodrama. In an attempt to get out of a political arrangement through an arranged marriage to Alice of France, Richard joins the Crusades. His true conversion, however, comes through his reluctant marriage to Berengaria, Princess of Navarre, played by a very young Loretta Young. Her physical beauty and devotion to the cause (but mostly beauty) spurs Richard and his followers on to take Jerusalem. The narrative is rousing and curiously touching at the end, though hardly credible. Great for a single viewing.

by Marlin Tyree | Source: Universal Studios Video
02 May 2007 6:19 PM | Submit Comment

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Medea / France/Italy/Germany / 1969

Yep, it’s the Euripides classic play given a film treatment by the notorious Pier Paolo Pasolini. His treatment is vastly different from Lars Von Trier’s approach. Paolini reaches for archetypal patterns pointing to energies dormant in most of us, but horrifyingly present once he begins to unleash his succession of images.

This is not mystification on Pasolini’s (or my) part. In re-dramatizing the ancient rituals and sacrifices of ancient Greece, Paolini illuminates specific images which point back to old patterns of human behavior. Because these potentials of behavior are not under conscious control contemporary man tends to fear them and deny their existence through repression. It’s why the early scenes are as compelling as they are disturbing. The initial sequences attack any jaded or dulled disposition toward the classic story and transports you to a world of passionate and choice-less action.

Pasolini shows how Medea has always made decisions based on her passions, something we rarely see in women of contemporary culture. You don’t merely sympathize with the powerfully striking Maria Callas as Medea, but become a part of her vengence. If you can manage to remain present until the Euripides story begins in earnest, you’ll become utterly involved (unlike the Von Trier film, where the artifice keeps you slightly removed). Unforgettable.

by Marlin Tyree | Source: Vanguard Cinema DVD
02 May 2007 5:54 PM | Submit Comment

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