Not Coming to a Theater Near You

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Juno / USA/Canada/Hungary / 2007

If anyone were to dispute the notion that first impressions are important to the reception and evaluation of a movie, I think I would have to refer to Juno, which is one of the few movies I’ve watched twice within a couple of months just so I could be confident that my initial reaction was genuine and not a consequence of promotion. Basically, if you can make it through the first 10-20 minutes of Juno, during which the viewer is unremorsefully bombarded with what has to be a serious contender for the title of “most painfully contrived and strained dialogue ever written,” you might actually be able enjoy a rather engaging film that has regrettably become a victim of its own hype.

Maybe it was the hangover suffered from having Little Miss Sunshine’s publicity forcibly poured down everyone’s throats last year, but I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a collective effort to resist Indiewood’s hype quite like the hostility exhibited within the numerous negative reviews I’ve read over the past few months that vehemently chastise Jason Reitman’s teen-pregnancy comedy, and more specifically take aim at the quirk manufactured by the film’s much-publicized writer, Diablo Cody. Part of me is relieved that critics are finally resisting the promotion of studio-sponsored “independent” films, which usually feel assembled from focus-group findings in order to target a specific niche audience. Another part of me is concerned that critics have predetermined perceptions of the films they watch (of course, this is unavoidable to a certain extent), which makes the actual experience of watching the films almost useless.

Unfortunately, Reitman’s film and Cody’s script basically throw down an ultimatum to their audience right away, almost demanding that the viewer decide immediately whether to get on board or not. The sheer volume of relentlessly “clever” dialogue that inundates the viewer within those first few minutes, replete with incessantly hip, excruciatingly random, and (I’m assuming) supposedly impressive pop-culture references, might become too overwhelming for many viewers to maintain any type of impartial viewpoint upon the rest of the filmmakers’ efforts. I know I found it incredibly difficult to avoid becoming overly resistant and biased towards the central characters and the story that soon followed, especially after having to suffer through Rainn Wilson’s atrocious cameo.

Though clumsy and desperate, the adolescent wit of the opening dialogue might be a shrewd method to hold the attention of younger audiences, but it actually made me (and a friend) wonder how severely the rest of Cody’s script had been adjusted over time as more drafts were made and more advisors brought in to the project. If the last 2 acts continued to use the blueprint of the 1st act, I might have had to hunt down and burn the original film negative. Honestly, if anyone can provide me with a thoughtful justification for why Cody’s surrogate character, Juno, says “silencio” other than to astonish us with the fact that Cody enjoys Mulholland Drive I would genuinely love to hear it.

However, Reitman’s latest film is mildly successful despite the preliminary dialogue crafted by the film’s recently f√™ted screenwriter. By the time Juno yells “Thundercats are go!” I seriously considered throwing (someone else’s) food at the screen and I was ticked off with myself for not bring rotten produce with me to the theatre, but I was also actually sincerely interested in the story. As annoying as the characters might be when they’re spewing their needlessly hip dialogue, I was actually engaged enough to worry about their fate. Strangely, when the characters aren’t anxiously attempting to demonstrate their sophisticated sense of cool to one another, they’re actually quite sweet and charming in their honesty and vulnerability.

In my mind, most of the credit should probably go to the cast of actors that Reitman has astutely cast. Reitman’s actors are able to nimbly navigate through dialogue that veers into irritating far too often, mostly because they deliver their lines while subtly conveying the flaws of their characters. The most notable of these performers has to be Ellen Page, who seems quite capable of carrying the entire production on her petite shoulders. In fact, I’m certain my entire perception of the film altered drastically from aggravation to unadulterated delight after watching Page insouciantly bound up the stairs of the Loring’s McMansion, effortlessly conveying all of Juno’s youthful energy and adolescent naïveté within one simple creative choice.

While the rest of the cast members turn in solid, if somewhat undemanding, performances, some sort of credit also has to go to Jason Bateman, who has to have one of the most thankless roles ever created. As Mark Loring, Bateman’s character is essentially the only character who is not allowed to redeem himself from his disgraceful actions, basically ostracized to his big city loft in order to continue life as an immature adult who chases adolescent fantasies while everyone else grows up to accept some form of responsibility in their lives. I’ve heard some critics attempt to characterize Mark as a big brother figure to Juno, but even if Mark sees youthful potential in Juno or a soul-mate from a different generation, these descriptions seem like a wishful and disingenuous interpretation of an adult who is bordering upon an inappropriate territory. In fact, while watching Mark and Juno bond over movies and music, a teenage girl sitting behind me was weirded out enough by the dynamics of their relationship to actually exclaim “gross!” Yet, Bateman somehow makes Mark sympathetic instead of just plain creepy, and that takes some seriously subtle skill for such a mildly disturbing role.

Of course, there are plenty of problems with Juno as well, including its cavalier inclusion of ethnic characters. Someone seriously needs to tell Reitman (and maybe Cody) that simply including characters from various ethnic backgrounds isn’t enough to be viewed as progressive, since it also depends on how these characters are depicted. In this sense, Juno seems ridiculously misguided, with Asian characters constantly popping up as either comic fodder because of their lack of self-awareness or simple as rude characters that are included only to develop other characters. It’s not a heinous crime by the filmmakers, but it’s certainly offensive from where I’m standing.

In the end, I’m slightly ambivalent towards Juno, since part of me is impressed while part of me is repulsed and I still can’t shake the feeling that the movie is more product than personal statement, especially considering it side-steps the more thorny aspects of its subject-matter. However, one thing is for certain: if I ever meet someone who actually drops the phrase “honest to blog” within a normal conversation, I don’t think I would hesitate to punch them in the kidneys.

by Chiranjit Goswami | Source: Fox Searchlight Pictures 35mm Print
29 Feb 2008 7:18 PM | Comments (8)

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Electroma / Daft Punk’s Electroma / France / 2006

Two rather fashionably-dressed robots enter a Ferrari and drive around a Nevada desert. And for about fifteen minutes they continue to drive. They pass a man on a tractor; he is also a robot. Eventually, they drive into a small town. All of its inhabitants – children and adults alike – are robots.

From the start Electroma would seem to be a film about insularity. I interpret it as positing a future in which the technological singularity has occurred, and Daft Punk has propagated their likeness around the globe. (And in this future, incidentally, no one listens to Daft Punk.) There is no room for prejudice, no conflict of any sort, just a contentedness so consistent and muted that a word is never spoken, which I find odd considering the film has four screenwriters. Despite this, the desire for change is manifest, and the two robots in the Ferrari (referred to as Hero Robots #s 1 and 2) enter a pristine lab at which their helmet-like heads are covered in gloop and sculpted into human faces. And as “humans” they’re frightful: their heads abnormally large, and their countenances (which I imagine are modeled after Daft Punk’s alter-egos, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo) disturbingly cheery. Plus, they don’t look like robots, so naturally their fabricated form introduces, if not encourages, persecution, persecution being a human flaw.

This robot/human conflict is manifested in much of Daft Punk’s music (this is not to mention the fact that the act consists of two guys dressed up like robots), and Electroma is a natural extension of such. This, I think, is most fascinating because this film has none of the anthemic melodies or rhythm that otherwise distinguish them. I’d even venture to say that the film is determinedly boring—had Gerry contained an extended close-up of a vagina this would be pretty much the same movie with robots.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: 35mm print
28 Feb 2008 6:35 PM | Comments (1)

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The Room / USA / 2003

I’m in wholehearted agreement with Tom on this one, and I’ll add that this is undoubtedly one of the most incompetently made films I’ve ever seen, and brilliantly so. Manos: The Hands of Fate, in contrast, at least has distinctive locations, props, and costumes; this has none of that. Most of The Room is set in what I construe to be the titular room: a homey but otherwise indistinctive living room, save for a framed photograph of a spoon. The film is about impromptu sexual encounters, impromptu visits from neighbors, dishonesty, impromptu visits from future mothers-in-law, and impromptu games of football. This is all told without any stock in narrative relevancy whatsoever.

NPR: A Cult Hit So Bad, It’s Good

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Wiseau Films DVD
28 Feb 2008 6:06 PM | Submit Comment

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Grave Robbers / Ladrones de Tumbas / Mexico / 1990

For all intents and purposes, Grave Robbers is a technically sophisticated reworking of director Rubén Galindo Jr.’s earlier Cemetery of Terror. Once again we have two groups of youngsters (one on the prowl for kicks, the other passing time in a cemetery), a mystical book containing vital info on defeating evil, and a Satan-possessed corpse roaming the countryside in search of teenage blood. However, instead of Cemetery’s hazily defined killer, paucity of production values, and haphazard narrative, Grave Robbers features a well-articulated nemesis, creative make-up and effects, and a straightforward plot featuring an ageless demon vessel seeking to sire the antichrist.

Unfortunately, for Galindo, with better effects and greater narrative coherence comes less lighthearted horror fun. Unlike Cemetery, which offers ample opportunity to get to know the characters—and watch them act like fools—before they’re running for their lives, here a tedious prologue detailing both how this monster came to be, and what his plans are, dominates the early portion of the story. The film’s lighter, pre-slaughter moments are limited to a few scenes of the titular grave robbers at their seditious hobby, and a glimpse of some campout hijinks. In addition, by placing such emphasis on the evildoer’s history and agenda, Galindo undermines much of the tension in the horror that follows. When we know what a monster wants, and how he plans to get it, nothing that follows can really come as a surprise.

by Thomas Scalzo | Source: BCI Eclipse DVD
28 Feb 2008 4:03 PM | Submit Comment

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The Roost / USA / 2004

The desolate locale, the inexplicable avian terror, the brooding dread around every corner—save for the lack of psychological complexity, and a paucity of exterior lighting equipment, this wonderfully grainy, impressively bootstrap effort can be seen as a low-budget take on The Birds. Except instead of birds there are bats, and if they bite you, you turn into a zombie.

by Thomas Scalzo | Source: Showtime Entertainment DVD
26 Feb 2008 8:56 PM | Submit Comment

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The Power of Nightmares / The Rise of the Politics of Fear / UK / 2004

In my year-end screed for 2007, I cited Adam Curtis’s three major BBC documentary series for their intellectual rigor, rhetorical force, and sheer televisual watchability. And recently, with the voices of Clinton, Obama, and some other guy ringing in my ears, I thought it high time to revisit this, probably his most vociferous about American politics and foreign policy. Originally aired just before the election of 2004, The Power of Nightmares is indeed one-sided, focusing on the vicissitudes of the Republican Party from the 1950s to the present, with only sparing mention of their political counterparts. But this emphasis is forgivable, especially given the film’s timing, and it gives Curtis room to take a long look at the changes in the Grand Old Party’s ethos over the decades.

If one bears the political urgency of 2004 in mind, watching the film today makes for a gripping and deeply upending experience. Not only does Curtis connect an army of angry little dots between Leo Strauss’ neo-conservative movement and Sayyid Qutb’s militant Islamism, he also provides an alternate history to the recent post-9/11 past with great emphasis on trumped-up doomsday scenarios and media-fueled nightmares of terrorism and disorder. Even if you’re unprepared to accept Curtis’ claim that al Qaeda as we know it is a conveniently fictional bogeyman created by the U.S. government (indeed, that the very name of al Qaeda was only adopted by bin Laden after 9/11), it’s nonetheless fascinating to rethink the widespread assumptions (and seductive fantasies) of the War on Terror, from the apparently unviable dirty bomb to bin Laden’s awesome, Blofeldesque lair in the mountains of Tora Bora.

To be fair, Curtis’ style is TV-savvy to an occasionally maddening degree, and he is in no way above the occasional glib edit, mocking music cue, or unflattering archival fossil to make his subjects (neo-cons and Islamo-fascists alike) appear ridiculous. But beyond his calculated provocation — which I would argue is itself valuable in raising, however bluntly, some very tough questions — Curtis’ history of ideas is meticulous and often revelatory. Mapped onto the current campaign, it throws into sharp relief the foreign policy standards of the Republicans and Democrats, and more specifically, Clinton and Obama: the former, a consistent adherent of the politics of fear; the latter, a skeptic with an eye to replace this fear with a more constructive frame of mind. As superficial and ungrounded as this latter position seems to some, Curtis’ documentaries repeatedly demonstrate the importance of psychology, emotion, and narrative coherence in shaping a nation’s politics and therefore guiding that nation’s effects on the world.

Available for free streaming and downloading here:

1 | 2 | 3

by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Internet Download
25 Feb 2008 4:49 PM | Submit Comment

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Axe / California Axe Massacre / Lisa, Lisa / The Virgin Slaughter / USA / 1977

Unencumbered by superfluous dialogue, confusing side plots, or an unnecessarily extended run time, Axe introduces us to a trio of ruthless criminals, dumps them at a desolate farmhouse, and lets the simple story unfold.

Lisa, the young lady of the farm, spends her days killing livestock and caring for her paralyzed grandfather. She doesn’t say much, but goes about her tasks with a creepy lifelessness, as if spoon-feeding her grandfather tomato soup and beheading a chicken were one and the same. When the criminals get the idea of taking advantage both of Lisa’s hospitality and her body, she doesn’t panic, but calmly views the situation as just something else she must deal with to get through the day.

The uncomplicated quality of this tale, coupled with the austere farm backdrop and the meager amount of spoken words, create an captivating, dreamlike atmosphere of unease. Even the well-chosen moments of graphic violence—though shocking and gruesome—are oddly restrained, incapable of substantively disrupting the omnipresent languor of Lisa’s world.

Generally, a 68-minute film leaves me wanting more, as if something vital to my understanding had been omitted. Here, the story arc feels just right, nearly every moment a welcome addition to this quiet, disturbing, and engrossing film.

by Thomas Scalzo | Source: Something Weird DVD
23 Feb 2008 2:58 PM | Submit Comment

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The Room / USA / 2003

To quote a friend who introduced me to this awkward soft-core soap opera meets lying-and-drugs-are-bad after-school special: “I’m not sure if you’ve heard of this movie, but I suggest watching it. Don’t do any research—not even IMDB. Just watch it.”

I should leave it at that, as too much knowledge can only take away from the magic of writer, director, producer, and leading man Tommy Wiseau’s creation. But I must add: Trapped in the Closet has nothing on The Room.

by Thomas Scalzo | Source: Wiseau-Films DVD
23 Feb 2008 1:25 PM | Submit Comment

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How She Move / Canada / 2008

With Step Up 2 the Streets, this was my double-feature crash-course in modern dance movies. Of the two, this is the superior film, boasting a tad more originality than the Step Up sequel and (crucially) infinitely better music.

Abstractly claiming some sort of New York setting (but in fact shot in Canada … by Canadians), How She Move seems to follow the pattern of other films in the genre: a dead relative, a period of training/re-training, high economic and social stakes, a formidable dance competition, and a nerd character that makes good.

But plot, life-lessons, and social commentary are not the reason to see How She Move. What are the reasons? Elaborate set-pieces, implausibly agile high school kids, a Caribbean-infused hip-hop soundtrack with contributions from Montell Jordan, and big, no-nonsense women.

Also of interest: Class warfare (seemingly a genre staple), Keyshia Cole cameo, and well-filmed dance performances that don’t seem like they’ve been cobbled together in post-production.

by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Paramount Vantage 35mm Print
21 Feb 2008 2:16 PM | Comments (2)

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Step Up 2 the Streets / USA / 2008

Apparently a gender reversal of the first Step Up film (which, criminally, I haven’t seen), Step Up 2 the Streets is a more or less paint-by-numbers film, with a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who tries to make good at Maryland School of the Arts after her mother dies (or is it her sister, brother or best friend?). Of course, she does, eventually, but it’s the getting there that counts, and there is a stable and predictable arc of hard work, self-doubt, and peer-support to save the day and get some dancing done.

And they dance a lot! Step Up 2 the Streets may not reach for any more rarefied strata than those of any other well-coordinated, youth-targeted marketing blast, but if you’re interested in seeing hott twentysomethings pretend to be high school students, get into trouble, empathize across class, racial and gender boundaries, and dance rebelliously, this is your movie.

It’s only a shame that the music isn’t any better and that the editing, as my friend Cynthia noted, makes the whole thing look like a Doritos commercial. In this way, How She Move was a lot better.

by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Touchstone Pictures 35mm Print
21 Feb 2008 2:15 PM | Submit Comment

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The Phynx / USA / 1970

The US Government is having no luck stomping out Communism in Albania, whose dictator is behind the kidnappings of B-level celebrities like Col. Sanders and the Bowery Boys. Their supercomputer M.O.T.H.A. has the answer: just form a popular rock group and get invited to Albania. That seems easy enough so they kidnap four dissidents, get Richard Pryor to teach them soul, Trini Lopez to teach them music, and turn them into The Phynx. Then about seventy minutes later the Almighty Rock and Roll saves the day.

This Warner Brothers feature was never released to theaters, is unavailable on home video, and has only ever been presented as weekend matinees on local television. Rumor has it that the studio and everyone involved collectively decided The Phynx was too horrible to release, which might explain why it’s also one of the worst reviewed movies that I’ve ever come across. I happen to like the film’s odd mix of The Manchurian Candidate and The Monkees and while it’s not great, I don’t understand the level of dislike the film is given. Sure, practically every element is sub par, but it’s entertaining and that’s good enough for me.

The underlying message of the film (if indeed there is one) is twofold. First and foremost, the government uses people and manipulates public opinion for its own benefit. The second and more heartwarming of the two is that the entertainment industry provides a useful and perhaps even noble service to society. “Beatles don’t need passports.” — a throwaway line in the film, but I see this as a deeply resonant truth. Making people happy is an endeavor that is respected universally without regard to nationality, ideology, or religion, and The Phynx and I agree there should be more of it.

by David Carter | Source: Bootleg VHS
20 Feb 2008 8:26 PM | Submit Comment

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The Oh in Ohio / USA / 2006

Ever get the feeling that sometimes, a group of actors have signed up for a vaguely provocative festival project just to inject a little ‘indie’ into their CVs? That it’s not really because they’re in love with the script, and it’s not that the story just, I dunno, just spoke to them?

Maybe it’s because I liked Paul Rudd’s hopeless husband better in Knocked Up, or because I’ve already watched a scene featuring hand-held mirrors and women tackling their sexuality within the last two weeks (see Fried Green Tomatoes), or maybe even because, thanks to Sex and the City’s famous ‘Rabbit’ episode, vibrators seem like old news. Whatever the reason, this movie left me cold. Frigid, even.

by Eva Holland | Source: HBO DVD
18 Feb 2008 10:45 PM | Submit Comment

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Chicago 10 / USA / 2007

Chicago 10 parses 16mm newsreel footage, court transcripts, and I imagine some amount of hearsay. This is all filmatized by way of animation, with the infamous Chicago Seven (defense attorneys and Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panthers, round out the 10) rendered in cell-shaded 3d animation. The haircuts are all frenzied, the gestures often a little too roboticized, as is the virtual camerawork which sweeps with great elaborateness across and around the courtroom. Conceptually, this lack of source material is made an asset; the film is supposed to look like a cartoon. And, in turn, my complaints are with Chicago 10 being too cartoonish at times. An air of hostility is to permeate the film—you’re to get a sense of what the cause is enough to identify with the accused. But this is deflated mostly by the voice acting, namely a crabby (and late) Roy Schieder as the crabby judge—it’s easy dislike this guy. There’s no dilemma in morality or ethics whatsoever. The good guys and bad guys are so clearly defined that there’s no ambiguity—everything is unfair and the authorities are all bigots.

To some extent this is all fine and well, I suppose, but Chicago 10 possesses an unforgiveable sin in its soundtrack, comprised mostly of new songs that echo hostility. In lieu of MC5, we have Rage Against the Machine—and most unforgiveably, the latter covers the former’s epochal “Kick Out the Jams.” It identifies with a source that’s 38 years old, and sweetens it, I suppose, to make it more digestable to contemporary audiences. This compromsies the films ethics, disabling the foundation of its thought: that political activism is a timeless struggle, when, in effect, the proceedings herein just end up looking cartoonish.

Full review

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: 35mm print
18 Feb 2008 1:40 PM | Submit Comment

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Billy the Kid / USA / 2007

The Billy of the title is a 15-year-old in Maine. The film follows him loosely, through his daily activities at school, at home, or to a local diner that employs the latest receiver of his affections (he shows up one evening dressed strategically in a gi). Billy exudes an odd sort of charisma; he’s at once naïve, frustrated, and peculiarly intelligent—in one scene he demonstrates his highly unorthodox proficiency at the electric guitar (he manipulates the strings from the top of the neck). The film is best described as a portrait, and as such it is slight but nonetheless earnest.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: projected DVD (I think)
18 Feb 2008 1:36 PM | Submit Comment

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The Visitor / USA / 2008

Tom McCarthy follows The Station Agent with this very low-key film about a lonely Connecticut College econ professor who gets embroiled in the INS woes of an illegal Syrian immigrant who befriends him (and teaches him to play the djembe). The film constantly treads a fine line between understatement and utter banality — bone-dry dialogue, facile multiculturalism, a date to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway — but there is absolutely nothing about the film to dislike and plenty to admire. For one, McCarthy doesn’t attempt to substitute quirkiness for heart, and his characters and situations come off as totally believable (even when they are somewhat predictable). As an issue film, The Visitor might come off as slightly forced, but the issue itself is far from obvious or overblown and it’s served well by McCarthy’s style.

Best of all, however, is Richard Jenkins, who delivers invisibly brilliant supporting performances in nearly everything he’s in (usually playing some kind of loathsome or pitiable bureaucrat or stuffed shirt). At centerstage, Jenkins holds up well, and the long-suffering, ennui-scarred life of his character is succinctly rendered in Jenkins near-affectless performance. It’s unlikely to win any awards, but it’s a performance utterly suited to the character and to the overall tenor of the film, and it sustains the interest and sympathy of the audience throughout.

I also have to confess that I am a sucker for films that deal with New York and its environs as a real, lived-in place and not as a fantastic nexus of cultural mythologies about The Big City. The Visitor is precisely this kind of film, and under McCarthy’s eye even a shot of the Statue of Liberty seems like a real thing and not simply a symbol of something abstract and unattainable. This vision of the New York area — as a real place with real inhabitants and problems — is central to the object of McCarthy’s film, and it makes one particular sequence, a montage set to Fela Kuti, that much wittier and more pointed.

by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Overture Films 35mm Print
13 Feb 2008 5:00 PM | Submit Comment

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Kisses For My President / USA / 1964

A completely coincidental¹ viewing of a film in which Thad McCloud, the nation’s first First Husband, threatens to collapse under the weight of his—ahem—responsibilities: Speaking at women’s groups, hosting garden parties, christening ships, and brunching with the Secretaries’ wives.

In case you haven’t figured it out, Robert Kane’s screenplay is astoundingly sexist, as the First Lady “role” is depicted as one of subservient unimportance. Never mind that, forty-five years before, Lucy Wilson had essentially run the country while her husband recovered from a stroke; or that, twenty years before, Eleanor Roosevelt had become FDR’s second conscience, his eyes and ears, and could easily have run for higher office herself; or that Lady Bird Johnson, in the very year Kisses for My President was released, was already re-redefining expectations. This is not an instance of comedy for the sake of fun, or comedy in place of rationality or reality; the suggestion buried beneath this film is not “What if ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’ met American politics,” but rather “Wouldn’t if be funny if a man was First Lady,” and it’s embarrassing.

¹A lie. This wasn’t coincidental at all.

by Adam Balz | Source: VHS
06 Feb 2008 9:20 AM | Submit Comment

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Re-Animator / USA / 1985

Stuart Gordon’s horror classic is made even more unsettling by David Gale’s uncanny resemblance to John Kerry. Which makes the plot of Gordon’s upcoming House of Re-Animator even more ironic. I can’t wait.

Leo’s Review

by Adam Balz | Source: DVD
06 Feb 2008 9:15 AM | Submit Comment

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There Will Be Blood / USA / 2007

After a few weeks of letting this sit like a lump of hard crude in the back of my mind, I’ve finally—slowly—come to realize why I’m so inexplicably drawn to this film, other than its near and complete brilliance: H.W. Plainview is Charles Foster Kane. That’s not to say Paul Thomas Anderson drew his inspiration for this film from more than Upton Sinclair’s 1927 novel and his own imagination; but the closing images of Day-Lewis’ self-immolated oil tycoon holed up in his own Xanadu, boiling and alone save for a lowly manservant, more than allow for comparisons to be made. If only I had the critical insight to flesh out this argument, I’m sure a pretty solid case can be made (though mainstream critics have already laid the foundation).

That said, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Johnny Greenwood’s amazing score, which at times builds to a buzzing groan that threatens to shake the screen apart; paired with Robert Elswit’s cinematography and the all-around transcendent acting, it helps mold a film that is, with no better word to describe it, a modern masterpiece.

Jenny’s Review, Rumsey’s Thoughts (with comments from Beth, Leo, Chiranjit, Tom, and Thomas)

by Adam Balz | Source: 35MM Theatrical Print
06 Feb 2008 9:13 AM | Comments (3)

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The Ten / USA / 2007

U.S. cinema needs more David Wain. The Ten, Wain’s first film since 2001, contains a level of comedic genius rarely seen in contemporary cinema, and I say this with Over Hear Dead Body and Witless Protection on the horizon, not to mention another Paris Hilton vehicle. And yes, I realize that “genius” is the penultimate of overused cliché in modern film criticism, thrown around like a piece of laundry whenever the cool wind changes. But you can’t deny the utter ingenuity of having two suburban fathers, each with a wife and child, and each living in near identical houses, using CAT-Scan machines to one-up each other, only to be gone when those machines are needed. Or Winona Ryder, in the chapter on Though Shalt Not Steal, falling in love with a ventriloquist’s dummy, leading to an extremely perverse yet undeniably hilarious montage of intense woman-on-puppet sex. Prison inmates living a life more accustomed to “Desperate Housewives,” in which love between cellmates is lost over newfound emotions, or a group of men skipping church with school-boy excuses to dance around a home, naked, to Roberta Flack music.

But more importantly, these small yet interconnected vignettes act like lucid, ironic reflections on our society as a whole. It can’t be coincidence that those two fathers, competing with large and expensive medical devices, live cookie-cutter existences, or that they buy so many machines while living in a dangerously health-conscious culture. (They could easily have bought sofas or cars; though lacking any form of sly comedy, it would have been more believable.) You could argue that the final commandment, in which those husbands bare all, is funny because it illuminates the dominance of “masculinity” over Emersonian will and expression, or how Winona Ryder’s overpowering love of a lifeless doll is our constant struggle to attain the idealistic perfection we so constantly yearn to find our spouses and significant others. Or, I suppose, you could lie back and take it all as mindless fun, which it also is.

Rumsey’s Review

by Adam Balz | Source: DVD
06 Feb 2008 9:13 AM | Comments (3)

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Atonement / UK / France / 2007

Joe Wright’s manifesto for spoiled, unsympathetic people. With the exception of one secondary character—a mother who violently attacks the police car carrying away her son—I never felt anything other than loathing for these characters; they are complacent in their ways, unmoved by cold and callous manner in which they treat those around them, all while boosting themselves up on pedestals of self-pity. Even Robbie Turner, arrested and imprisoned for a crime he never committed, doesn’t elicits the sympathy he should—unimaginable, considering how easy it is and how sympathetic he should be. Complementing this is a very pompous soundtrack: The clacking of a typewriter, which creeps into dripping rain and a flickering subway light to remind us, over and over again, of the damages inflicted on each main character by the simple use of words.

A chance for redemption comes in the final five minutes, when Vanessa Redgrave appears as an older Briony Tallis. Now a famous writer, she has penned her twenty-first—and last—novel, which she has entitled Atonement. This was her chance, she tells the interviewer, to give some closure to a tragedy she began by uniting two souls she forever tore apart. And while the use of the number 21 is clever—a subtle showing of maturity for someone derided in her younger days as having none, especially when you consider the purpose of her book—it belies something much more infuriating: Briony’s Atonement was written as a means of correcting the past; yet she is correcting one lie with another, albeit a well-intentioned one. Briony leaves the screen just as she appeared: A “fanciful” little girl with funny hair, a storyteller.

Rumsey’s Thoughts, Tom’s Thoughts

by Adam Balz | Source: 35MM Theatrical Print
06 Feb 2008 9:09 AM | Submit Comment

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Shoot ‘Em UP / USA / 2007

“Also, I found the humor to be generally galling in Shoot Em Up. Rule number one in Hollywood: If you’re gonna ram a carrot into someone’s eye-socket, as Clive Owen does in this film, you have to have better jokes than these.” —Michael Phillips

Michael Davis’ Shoot ‘Em Up opens with Clive Owen killing a man with a carrot. If this moment doesn’t cue a notion about the film’s intended seriousness, then I really can’t offer much. This is a spoof, a send-up, meaning the overwrought and implausible violence, the one-dimensional characters, the ridiculous one-liners, and the bland storyline are all purposeful. Yes, purposeful. In reading the reviews, one critic after another extols their love of spoofs while simultaneously condemning Davis for making just that—an embellished, nothing-but-fun spoof. The fact that Clive Owen can annihilate armies of men while never getting shot himself, in one instance even while having sex, is purposeful. The fact that Paul Giamatti’s villain has a home-life, which he continually ignores, is purposeful. The fact that one bad guy meets his demise while falling from a senator’s airplane into the blades of a helicopter, all while shooting up at Owen, is purposeful.

I realize I’m only restating the obvious here, and I apologize, but aren’t mainstream critics supposed to enjoy movies? I popped this DVD in, knowing exactly what was about to happen, and loved every minute of it.

by Adam Balz | Source: DVD
06 Feb 2008 9:04 AM | Submit Comment

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Beach Girls / USA / 1982

I, like most film fans, have a guilty pleasure genre. Mine is eighties trash cinema; the kind that HBO, Cinemax, and Showtime ran in infinite loops during my childhood. I never saw Beach Girls the first time around but through the magic of DVD I finally get the pleasure. Everything I love about eighties trash is here: big hair, loose morals, juvenile humor, racial stereotyping, and horrid music. The ultimate message of Beach Girls is that life is a whole lot more enjoyable if you’re stoned and you only care about partying.

Maybe it isn’t a profound or even a very good message but in our age of sanitized cinema and lawsuit-happy parents it feels liberating to watch a film that encourages you to misbehave and reminds you how much fun you’ll have if you do.

by David Carter | Source: BCI Eclipse DVD
05 Feb 2008 11:33 PM | Submit Comment

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The Satanic Rites of Dracula / Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride / UK / 1973

Lee and Cushing have one last go round as Dracula and Van Helsing. This time out, Dracula steals a trick from Fu Manchu (another of Lee’s roles) and plots to destroy the Earth’s population with a plague. The backstory to the film was that Lee’s unhappiness with Hammer’s liberties with the Dracula mythos lead to a falling out between the two, hence this film’s reliance on motorcycle chases and Satanic cults rather than the Count himself. It’s all great fun though, and worth a viewing for historical reasons alone.

It also contains one of the earliest examples (as far as I’m aware at least) of the portrayal of the vampire as a sympathetic anti-hero. Van Helsing surmises that since Dracula’s plot to decimate civilization would result in his death as well it must be a suicide attempt on his part. The majority of the film is standard good versus evil plotting, but Van Helsing and Dracula share a look in which they obviously express a bit of sympathy for each other and look weary of their endless game. You can almost see Lee and Cushing peek out from behind their roles to acknowledge that they too are getting too old to be chasing each other around London in fancy dress—a disconcertingly poignant moment for a horror film.

by David Carter | Source: Mill Creek DVD
05 Feb 2008 11:31 PM | Submit Comment

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Fried Green Tomatoes / Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe / USA / 1991

It’s been 15 years since I last saw this one (which, incidentally, probably means I was a little young for it the first time around) and I’d forgotten how great it is. Idgie, Ruth, Linny and Evelyn are all so vividly fleshed-out, and even the minor characters, like Grady or Smokey Lonesome, have layers to their personalities. Beautifully filmed, funny and tear-jerking by turns, with attention paid to every detail right down to Linny’s socks, this is maybe the best evidence I can come up with to prove that “chick flick” doesn’t have to be a slur.

by Eva Holland | Source: Universal DVD
05 Feb 2008 10:42 PM | Submit Comment

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How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days / USA / 2003

Here’s what separates this movie from other cheesy rom-coms: that moment near the end when Ben catches up to Andie on the bridge, to stop her from leaving town. (Oh come on, you already knew he goes after her — they always do.) In almost any other run-of-the-mill Hollywood romantic comedy, the man would at this point throw out a stinker like “I’d rather fight with you than make love to anybody else” (and bonus points if you can name that movie moment), but instead Ben opts for a restrained, “Where are you going?” It’s that restraint that makes this particular cheesy rom-com a cut above the rest.

That being said, the Hudson-McConaughey duet on “You’re so vain” could rival Katherine Heigl and James Marsden’s “Benny and the Jets”, in the oh-so-forgettable 27 Dresses, for worst couple karaoke ever.

by Eva Holland | Source: Paramount DVD
05 Feb 2008 10:41 PM | Submit Comment

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The King Of Kong / A Fistful Of Quarters / USA / 2007

If I’d seen this last year, there’s no way Billy Mitchell wouldn’t have made my list of 2007’s cinematic villains. The ultimate manipulator, he seems to rule the world of classic gaming with an iron fist- it doesn’t help that he looks like Satan’s financial advisor and talks like a self help guru with serious esteem issues. But, to Billy’s credit, he does help to make Seth Gordon’s documentary one of the most purely entertaining in recent years: our hero, the hapless and loveable Steve Weibe, would be nowhere without his dark nemesis and his gaggle of fawning, devious followers.

In the press, Gordon has been accused of bias, and it’s possible he veers a little heavily in Weibe’s favour throughout the extraordinary battle of wills which unfolds onscreen. But he also gives his characters the rope necessary to hang themselves, and it’s their own fault that they’re all such expert noosemen.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
04 Feb 2008 12:39 PM | Comments (1)

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Duck Soup / USA / 1933

It’s astonishing to think that, just a few years after the advent of sound, the Marx Brothers were already churning out genuine masterpieces like this one, still quite possibly the finest comedy film ever made. The level of invention is staggering, from the raw slapstick of Harpo’s vendetta with the lemonade vendor to the ludicrously complex ‘Going To War’ song ‘n’ dance sequence, bringing in elements of just about every form of popular American song available at the time, from Sousa to hillbilly ballads to (slightly off-key) spirituals. And Groucho’s mirror routine- particularly the classic spin and wave- might just be the finest sight gag ever committed to celluloid.

But what sets Duck Soup above, say, Airplane (gag-for-gag, probably the funnier movie) is it’s unerring sense of character, from Groucho’s pompous but weirdly self aware politician, to Margaret Dumont’s hapless foil, these are expertly drawn figures of fun, running rampage through an otherwise quite straightforward narrative.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
04 Feb 2008 12:35 PM | Submit Comment

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The Golden Compass / USA / 2007

‘Perfunctory’ doesn’t even begin to cover it- without the credits this is basically a 90 minute film, attempting in that time to set up one of the most complex universes in modern fantasy literature, and tell an entertaining story. Obviously it’s the latter aim that suffers- there’s barely a scene here that lasts more than a minute, even the big action setpieces feel half hearted. It’s a sprint to the finish (which, ironically, they don’t even reach), throwing in as many of Pullman’s ideas as possible, but giving none of them the screentime or consideration they need or deserve. I wasn’t a huge fan of the books- great concepts, flawed storytelling- but there’s no reason the film adaptation should be as weak, characterless and singularly unimpressive as this undoubtedly is.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: 35mm print
04 Feb 2008 12:34 PM | Submit Comment

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Cloverfield / USA / 2007

The Cloverfield backlash seems largely to have been kickstarted by nerdy online fanboys lured by the film’s astonishing first trailer, and hoping beyond reason for a genuinely mindblowing and original cinematic experience. Such hopes were, obviously, naïve in the extreme: this is mainstream Hollywood product, and as such is extremely entertaining and well produced. Like JJ Abrams’ other surprise hit, ‘Lost’, this riffs expertly on familiar themes- in this case monster movies and reality TV. The cast and characters are forgettable, but what makes the film (like the TV series) work is it’s sense of genuine unpredictability- you don’t know who’ll live or die, or how they’ll meet their end. It could probably have ended about five minutes sooner, but as a streamlined, Friday night rollercoaster this works like a charm.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: 35mm print
04 Feb 2008 12:33 PM | Submit Comment

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The Cremator / Spalovac mrtvol / Czechoslovakia / 1968

Proclaimed on the DVD case as a classic European gothic horror, this is something far stranger- an avant garde character study and critique of fascism, and a bleaker, weirder take on many of the same themes Bertolucci explored in The Conformist the following year. The dauntingly dough-faced Rudolf Hrusinsky plays Kopfrkingl, the eponymous Cremator, a man in love with his job and his perfect family. But when the spectre of Nazism looms over Czechoslovakia, Kopfrkingl begins to fragment, allying himself with the invader in increasingly morbid, and eventually murderous ways.

This is a hard film to enjoy, keeping the viewer at arm’s length with intrusive, self advertising photographic techniques and lengthy, philosophical diatribes from the central character- Hrusinsky is barely offscreen, and for most of the runtime he literally doesn’t stop talking. For a time this is intriguing, particularly as the plot’s darker elements begin to reveal themselves, but as reality slips and Kopfrkingl begins to hallucinate, it becomes harder to care about the characters or their plight. Perhaps repeat viewings would reveal more and deeper facets to the story, but on first attempt this is a dark, difficult experience.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
04 Feb 2008 12:32 PM | Submit Comment

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Great World Of Sound / USA / 2007

This one seems to have slipped between the cracks, enjoying a brief festival run last year then disappearing. Which is a shame, because this is a nicely written, wonderfully acted comic morality play, exploring the exploitation of art by business, and the pitfalls and potential rewards that follow. Produced by David Gordon Green, it bears many similarities to his work as a director- naturalistic lighting and scripting, a well chosen soundtrack and a nice line in improvisational acting.

Pat Healy plays Martin, an ex- radio tech who takes a job as an A&R man for a small music production company in Charlotte, North Carolina, only to find that his bosses are pocketing the cash and leaving the artists out in the cold. The film centres around a series of lengthy and humorous audition sequences, in which desperate (and often comically bad) singers and songwriters attempt to impress Martin and his curmudgeonly partner Clarence in their wares, but quickly descends into far darker territory as the scale of the company’s deception becomes clear. Perhaps a little slight and winsome for it’s own good, this is nonetheless a sterling first feature, and deserves greater attention.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
04 Feb 2008 12:27 PM | Submit Comment

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Sweeney Todd / USA / 2007

As I noted in my Review of 2007, last year was a banner one for severe critical overreaction, and that was before I’d even seen No Country For Old Men. Even more bizarre is the reception granted to this, Tim Burton’s daft, overwrought adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s stage musical. Which isn’t to say it’s dreadful, there’s a lot to like here, from Johnny Depp’s Bowie-does-Newley singing voice to the twisty, restless camerawork, from Sacha Baron Cohen’s frustratingly brief cameo to the gratifyingly slapped on lashings of stage gore.

But there’s a hell of a lot more that’s wrong. Firstly, the songs, if you can even call them that. Nothing about them is memorable, the lyrics are almost without exception weak and forced, and the orchestration is ludicrously OTT. The romantic subplot offends most grievously, offering up warbling love ballads sung by two hideously bland stage school graduates. The CGI effects are muddy and bland, depicting a hopelessly derivative, pseudo- Dickensian vision of olde London. And the characters within are equally unmemorable, lacking all but the most base motivation, and impossible to sympathise with. Frankly, I don’t think anything decent could have been created from such ghastly beginnings (the thought of seeing this on the stage, without Johnny Depp or Alan Rickman, fills me with abject horror), but this is another pretty firm nail in the coffin of Tim Burton’s once unimpeachable credibility.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: 35mm print
04 Feb 2008 12:25 PM | Comments (2)

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Throne Of Blood / Kumonosu jo / Japan / 1957

Best. Death. Ever.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
04 Feb 2008 12:20 PM | Comments (2)

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Zodiac / Director’s Cut / USA / 2007

Very few noticeable changes in this slightly longer cut, but there was pretty much nothing wrong with Zodiac to begin with: on second viewing, the film cements itself as masterful, surehanded filmmaking, one to rank alongside the very best classic thrillers and journo-pics.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
04 Feb 2008 12:19 PM | Submit Comment

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Away From Her / Canada / 2007

If you’re looking for a tragic story about an elderly couple coping with Alzheimer’s, you can’t go far wrong with Sarah Polley’s directorial debut. It’s beautifully photographed and lovingly detailed, and the performances are, as expected, mesmerizing, particularly Julie Christie as the afflicted wife. But the fact remains that this is a cold, unremitting film, easy to admire but extremely tough to enjoy.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: 35mm print
04 Feb 2008 12:17 PM | Submit Comment

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Reeker / USA / 2005

Five collegians run out of gas on a deserted California highway and decide to hole up in a run-down motel and wait out the night. Unfortunately, an unseen menace with a penchant for dismemberment has other plans. With a persistent aura of evil in the air (and an inescapable stench of death in the nostrils), the film rolls briskly along, with one cast member after another meeting his or her grisly fate, while intriguing reveals hint at a more complex narrative than a simple madman on the loose.

Although the story does not turn out to be anything truly unexpected (the tidy closing scenes helpfully explain any mid-movie confusion), its inclusion of a variety of possibilities makes for enjoyable moments of guesswork. At the same time, its admirable handling of slasher tropes, and its devotion to building, and maintaining, suspense, keeps us appreciably intrigued. The source of evil, for example, is kept carefully hidden for the bulk of the picture, allowing both the audience and the cast to grope about in the darkness of terrifying options. And the characters themselves, while ably handling the expected “who’s there?” moments, and falling in love at the drop of a hat, manage to be more than mindless fodder, and at times morph into respectable protagonists capable of eliciting laughs and sympathy.

The problem I’ve had with so many recent horror films is that unrelenting gore and unpleasant circumstances have largely taken the place of good, old-fashioned tension centered on the fear of the unknown. Torture, no matter how repulsive, simply cannot invoke the same feelings of dread-laced excitement as a half-dressed woman slowly opening an outhouse door with nothing but a flashlight to protect her. Sure, you know something is going to jump out, just as you know the car isn’t going to start, the phone’s not going to work, and the blind guy’s enhanced sense of smell is going to come in handy. But when you settle in for slasher-style entertainment, that’s what you want, what you expect, and with Reeker, that’s what you get.

by Thomas Scalzo | Source: FearNet Ondemand
02 Feb 2008 9:53 PM | Submit Comment

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27 Dresses / USA / 2008

One way to squeeze a few extra laughs out of 27 Dresses is to show up as a group, with a bride-to-be and a few of your fellow bridesmaids-to-be. That way you can savour the awkward silences as the characters rail against Bridezillas and agree that yes, the bride’s goal is always to make her bridesmaids look ugly — and herself, by contrast, better.

If it’s not possible to arrange those exact circumstances, this movie may well not be worth seeing.

And that, coming from someone who fills her bookshelf with crappy romantic comedies the way Katherine Heigl’s character fills her closet with bridesmaid dresses, is saying something.

by Eva Holland | Source: Theatrical print
02 Feb 2008 3:41 PM | Submit Comment

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Subway / France / 1985

Besson’s underground world is stylishly rendered (if quite eighties), and his film is not without its spiky-haired charms. Isabelle Adjani is the bored rich man’s wife – her earrings drip diamonds in her first appearance – who falls for her slick blackmailer, Fred, played by Christopher Lambert. They rebel rather cutely: she wears a punk coif and tells off the guests at a fancy dinner with her husband; he puts together a rock band to perform in place of an orchestra. Even Besson doesn’t seem to take all of this very seriously, which is probably a good thing. There isn’t much heft to this story, but it does seem to sound better in French.

by Victoria Large | Source: Columbia Tri-Star DVD
01 Feb 2008 2:03 PM | Submit Comment

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