Terribly Happy to Exit Through the Gift Shop

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP is another example of "life is stranger than fiction." This film documentary starts out as the story of an eccentric obsessed video-taker who decides he needs to film street (graffiti) "artists" but he does nothing with his film except store it in giant bins. By the end the film becomes turned around to become a film about the value of art itself, and the fickleness of the value of "modern-art." There's a lot of funny lines and humorous sight gags as various street artists including the amusing initial videographer discuss the legitimacy of their efforts. The surprising turn of events are truly astounding. What starts as a jittery, hand held, amateurish film becomes quite slick and engrossing and funny as it progresses, and in spite of some pathetic and flabbergasting developments, it is entertainingly optimistic. GRADE---B+


Screened last spring at SIFF is the odd-ball Danish film called TERRIBLY HAPPY, which plays like a mild version of TWIN PEAKS by way of Stephen King and plotted with film noir cliches, with enough tension to keep you on your toes. When the new cop comes to the small town, he seems to be baited by characters who want to seduce him, deceive him and keep him as one of their pets. He soon becomes involved with the wife of an apparent wife and child abuser, but no one else in town seems to want to verify this information. There's obviously something weird about this town. The film is watchable and doesn't bore, but by the end I found myself in a shoulder shrug about the cop's future. GRADE----B-

A Kick-Ass Date Night

It's always a pleasure to watch a well written movie, and especially so when that film is a comedy. So it is with great pleasure that I recommend to you the new film starring Tina Fey (from SNL and 30 Rock) and Steve Carell (from 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and The Office) called DATE NIGHT. They make a great and loving comedy movie couple, and the adventure they have on their one big night in Manhattan is very clever and very funny, and the film has a big heart as well as some frightening moments. My only complaint is that the jokes and sight gags keep softening the dangerous edge that the plot keeps building on--sometimes it's hard to have it both ways. Also, I think the PG-13 rating keeps the humor in the "safe" column. Still, very entertaining. GRADE----B+

Just the title alone could keep some people from seeing an outrageous and amusing "super" hero movie--KICK ASS. But that is the perfect title for an energetic, clever, violent story of a high school boy who wonders "How come nobody's ever tried to become a super-hero (in real life) before?" and then he set out to try to become one, complete with a skin-diving suit and mask. He's not too successful at first, but later fame of his vigilante efforts spreads throughout the Internet and he meets up with some other super-hero wanna bees. The main disturbing part of this film is the introduction of an 11 year old girl who along with her father become part of that super hero network. She curses and kills and maims like any hardcore adult superhero would, and it's bothersome to think of the type of childhood she's had, and the kind of adult she'll become--probably very screwed up. Still, she's fun to watch as she bloodily slices and dices her way through a bevy of bad guys. The film is fascinating in building up the urban myths and psychosis that each character will have to deal with. In many ways it is the precursor to the flawed but fascinating human super-hero film from last year WATCHMEN, and it's a better, more rounded film, too. If you like super-hero movies, this semi-satire will be your cup of spiked tea. GRADE----B+

THE SQUARE is a nasty little film-noir from Australia with some kicker plot twists that thrilled audiences last June during the Seattle International Film Festival screenings. It's one of those movies where the main character/s make a bad move (often because of a woman), and things keep getting worse and worse, out of control until the inevitable tragedy/ies--in other words, a typical film-noir. You don't want to think too hard--just sit back and enjoy. GRADE----B

In the DVD picks this week were two interesting films that dealt with illegitimate births in very different ways. Part of a quartet of films from the late fifties/early sixties which included A SUMMER PLACE, PARRISH, and ROME ADVENTURE, and written, directed and starring many of the same film-makers, SUSAN SLADE (1961) seemed typical of them all. Naive Connie Stevens finds herself pregnant after her first affair, and the baby's father dies before he even knew about the baby, yet Ms Stevens finds herself pursued by two other healthy male specimens (only in the movies)! How will she cope/hide her baby/find true love/etc.????
Yes, this is a weepy, women's melodrama, written and directed by a melodrama expert Delmer Davies and the attractive cast includes Troy Donahue, Dorothy Mcguire, Lloyd Nolan, Kent Smith and (!) Bert Convoy. But there is something quite watchable about these types of films--not only is the cast great, but most (including this one) are filmed in lush, wide screen Technicolor
with luscious musical scores. And because the milieu is during that puritanical time, some of the lines and situations border, deliciously, on camp (ie. unintentionally funny). We enjoyed this one.
In a similar vein, Bette Davis plays the down to earth character opposite the bitchy concert pianist played by Mary Astor and they both love George Brent. He was illegally ( and apparently, drunkenly) married to Astor for a week, then moves on to his true love Davis. Then, promptly, when he is suddenly missing and presumed dead in South American, it develops that Astor is going to have his baby (but the word "pregnant" was never uttered) and lets Davis know. There is a twist of wills going on for George's love and love child. Davis convinces Astor to let her secretly adopt the baby as her own, since it would interfere with Astor's concert schedule/lifestyle. There's some nasty and campy rivalry of words between the two women in several scenes, and a very intense (and somewhat campy) final scene. Mary Astor won a supporting actress Oscar for this film, called THE GREAT LIE (1941). Strangely compelling to watch. GRADE for both films----B

Filmed in the Seattle and Tacoma area, TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU (1999) is an updated teen age high school comedy version of Shakespeare's TAMING OF THE SHREW and while sometimes it made me wince, there's some good stuff going on, too, especially because it was the first major film for rising star Heath Ledger (THE DARK KNIGHT and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN), and the film also features fun acting moments by Julia Stiles (O and the BOURNE films), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 DAYS OF SUMMER), and Allison Janney (West Wing on TV.) The film has some youthful energy, charming hi jinks, and (lowbrow) humor. Interesting. GRADE----B-

You'd think a film starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward (and Thelma Ritter) would be pretty classy. Unfortunately, A NEW KIND OF LOVE (1963) falls very flat in spite of the eye candy of the leads and the location, Paris. The characters are all buffoons and played without much subtlety. Woodward is a supposed fashion director but she dresses like a man complete with short hair and baggy shirts, and supposedly "hates" men. Newman is a bon vivant sports reporter who falls for her "make-over" which is supposed to make her look sexier. It does, but she looks more like a prostitute, which is want Newman thinks she is, and proceeds to interview her over time and liken her "sexual adventures" to "plays" on a sports field. ????????? Maurice Chevalier shows up in one scene to sing some songs. Dumb and unbelievable. GRADE----C

Finally, what to make of the classic film THE SERVANT (1963) which has cult status and many British awards in it's wake. Directed by Joseph Losey and featuring a strong cast including Dirk Bogarde, James Fox, and Sarah Miles, this odd, moody drama of a man-servant who "takes" over the life of his milquetoast master seemed to me so obvious and strangely ineffective at times (there were scenes that start up that almost seemed out of sequence, or had no logical reason for being) that I wanted to laugh, except it's all played out in deadly seriousness. I wasn't exactly bored, just bewildered by the psycho-sexual manipulations. Perhaps it needs to be remade with a more explicit subtext. The masochistic and homosexual subtext is so subtle that it's easy to shrug it off--then you're left to wonder what the hell you are watching. GRADE----C-

Keeping Up With Mother and The Joneses at a Funeral

If you want a sharp and clever satire on commercialism, you couldn't do much better than watching THE JONESES, the new comedy/drama featuring an excellent cast including Demi Moore, David Duchovny, Gary Cole, and Amber Heard. I felt like I'd wondered into another version of THE STEPFORD WIVES at first, as a seemingly perfect family moves into a definitely upper class neighborhood and starts to flaunt their fine cars, golf clubs, wine, jewelry and clothing, acting more like sales persons than real people. Of course, you realize rather quickly that they really are into SALES, and the pleasure comes in knowing that every sales conquest will sooner or later bring a downside. The script keeps moving, and you feel outraged yet strangely entertained as the lives of the people around them start to change. This felt very much like a story/script that Paddy Chayefsky (NETWORK, HOSPITAL) might have written in the 1970's, although without quite so much outrage and intellectual depth. Still, it's always a pleasure to watch a good story, and good actors having a great time. Grade----B+

Enjoying a solid run for a foreign film, the new film by Korean director Bong Joon-ho is a lot different than his last--the entertaining monster film THE HOST (2006) which put a new spin on the monster from the depths theme. This new film, MOTHER, has been described as more Hitchcockian, but that's a tall order for any film-maker, and not quite accurate. Still, there is a lot of suspense and tension as an overbearing mother tries to clear her naive, mentally handicapped son from a murder charge--any way she can. The film is a pleasure to watch, and there are a couple of twists that surprise the audience. Grade----B+

If you saw and liked the British version of DEATH AT A FUNERAL that came out in 2007, you might be interested in the new version of DEATH AT A FUNERAL that has been urbanized and recast with an all American, mostly black cast including Martin Lawrence, Chris Rock, Loretta Devine, Danny Glover, Tracy Morgan, and repeating his role from the British version, Peter Dinklage. There are some clever, funny things going on at this funeral, including the wrong body showing up, some cranky characters including the minister and the old uncle, a guest who accidentally takes LSD and ends up naked on the roof, and lots of family sniping that comes to light. But the film is rather manic, like a farce that goes into double time, and the use of the handheld camera is overkill, tipping the film-makers hand that they are not secure enough in the story line to play it straight. I felt exactly the same way about the earlier version, yet both have their moments. To be fair, the full house that I saw this screening with seemed to really enjoy the pratfalls and comedic predicaments. It's too bad that the main thrust of the plot seems to hinge on the homophobia of the main characters. Grade----C+

I watched for the FIRST time (!), in German and on DVD, Josef von Sternberg's classic film THE BLUE ANGEL (1930) with stars Emil Jannings and Marlene Dietrich. I brought a lot of baggage with me to this screening, so I was quite surprised to see that the scope of THE BLUE ANGEL is rather modest and straight-forward. Jannings stars as the Professor, a sexually repressed teacher at a boy's school. When he discovers that some of his older students are frequenting the morally questionable nightclub nearby, he ventures forth and finds himself smitten by an uninhibited performer Lola-Lola (Dietrich) who returns his affections. This leads to the slippery path of his moral degradation. The film is rather odd, in that it starts out like GOODBYE MR. CHIPS with light hearted pranks and ends up with a tragic tone--I found it hard to believe that as a man of learning, the Professor could be so totally naive and foolish in many of his actions. Indeed, he continues to decline by saying and doing things (he seems almost demented) that most people would know better of. Also, Dietrich's singing of what would become her signature song, Falling in Love Again, seems preformed so casually and informally that I was underwhelmed. The film is directed in a leisurely fashion, and felt about half a beat too slow. Still, in the week since I saw it I have been haunted by the overall tragedy of his situation.
Grade----B+

A curious "B" movie which is advertised (at least on the poster art) like a horror film, THE GHOST SHIP (1943) is actually a sharp (and low budget) little suspenser about a newly commissioned Lieutenant who comes aboard a cargo ship where the sinister captain appears to be normal to his crew, but his actions are insane to the new hire. (The producer is Val Lewton who created a number of suspense films in the 1940's like LEOPARD MAN and CAT PEOPLE, etc.) The film is very much like the latter THE CAINE MUTINY (1954) with Humphrey Bogart's sanity in question by his crew, and CM is definitely the better film. But THE GHOST SHIP keeps you guessing, and we feel very anxious for the new Lieutenant's safety, and even though the ending wraps up way to fast, its a very entertaining 69 minutes! Grade----B

Brighton Rock/Red Cliff--Grade A

Spent part of last week in Palms Springs in the sun and wind, then helped my parents drive back to Seattle, so not much to report for new films, BUT I've seen some dandy older films.

Just saw BRIGHTON ROCK (1947) which played a week at SIFF Cinema and it's a sparkling diamond in the big,black and white film noir crown. Made in England by the Boulting brothers (they are sort of like the Coen brothers of the 1940's--writing and directing and producing a large and varied body of British cinema)--this film based on a Graham Greene novel introduced a very young, mean nasty Richard Attenborough to film audiences. "Pinkie" is the leader of a mob in Brighton (by the sea) and even though he's only 17 in the film, he bosses around and intimidates much old criminals, mobsters and even police. When he thinks he could be nailed for the murder of a small time crook, he's faced with a dilemma--should he kill the young innocent girl (she's also just 17 but very naive) who could incriminate him, or Marry her!?! Even though he doesn't seem to like women at all, he marries her! ( I kept wondering what type of childhood this young thug must have had for him to be so assuredly nasty.) But an older woman who suspects her new male friend was murdered (and not a suicide) is the only person who seems unafraid of this young hooligan and marches loudly and defiantly around town seeking the truth. She's played with marvelous bravado by Hermione Baddeley(see her in ROOM AT THE TOP, CHRISTMAS CAROL and MARY POPPINS) and she's his worst nightmare--she who will not be intimidated. The film is filled with misogynistic characters--there are many (sick) jokes by men of the hatred they have for their wives (but tempered with humor), and there is the constant fear that "Pinkie" will kill off his milquetoast wife. And there is a corker of an ending--ironic, pathetic, and perfect. GRADE---A-

Chinese director John Woo has had a hit-or-miss career directing Hollywood blockbusters (MISSION IMPOSSIBLE II, FACE-OFF, PAYCHECK, BULLET IN THE HEAD etc) but last year he released his most impressive film RED CLIFF (2009) in China to massive critical acclaim and tremendous box office appeal. Unfortunately, when the 5 1/2 hour film opened in America last September, it was trimmed down to just over 2 hours. That version has recently been released on DVD, and I must admit that I haven't much interest in seeing it, since I was loaned a copy of RED CLIFF--the full 5 1/2 hours by my movie buddy John R. and it is a beautifully epic action film with a lot of humor, emotion, thrills and intelligence. I can't imagine what could possibly be cut without losing a lot of sense. Based on a true, possibly mythical story and set during the final days of the Han dynasty, the action pits two determined leaders against each other--Cao Cao wants to smash and destroy all tribal leaders to unite the nation under one ruler, while the greatly out numbered rebels Liu Bei and Sun Quan join forces to try to stop him. It's a David vs Goliath story that comes to a bloody and explosive conclusion beneath the Red Cliffs, but the amazing thing is how detailed and intimate the plotting and action sequences are. Great care is taken to illuminate the policies and predicaments of each side, with ceremony and respect and honor. The film has a very spiritual core, and humor and even romance motivate the characters actions. As exciting as some of the battle scenes are, I found myself deeply moved by the sacrifice and friendship and love that are exhibited. There hasn't been an epic film like this since LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, and I urge you to seek out the two disc, 5 1/2 hour version for your DVD viewing. It's great. GRADE---- A

Clint Eastwood was already a big star when he starred in the 5 DIRTY HARRY films--having made FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, THE GOOD, BAD AND UGLY, and PLAY MISTY FOR ME, etc., and they were big hits for him again--the urban western. The film that started it all, DIRTY HARRY (1971) still plays like gang busters, with Eastwood as a "renegade" cop who doesn't believe in the rights of scum criminals. Andy Robinson plays the deranged roof top sniper quite over the top, but I definitely was not bored, and the story and lines hold up well. This one has the famous line, " I know what you're thinking. Did he shoot off 6 bullets or only 5. To tell you the truth, in all this excitement I've forgotten myself. So you've got to ask yourself--Do you feel lucky? Well....do you PUNK?!?" GRADE---B+

You know, sometimes you just feel like a mindless action film, and one night two weeks ago it was time to catch up to FANTASTIC 4: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER(2007). It is not as much fun as the original film FANTASTIC 4, but it was serviceable, and the Silver Surfer character was fascinating to look at--sort of a spray-silvered naked man without genitalia--sort of like a PG-rated version of the hard R-rated blue (and very naked) Dr. Manhattan in WATCHMEN but not as intelligent or memorable. The plot has also nearly evaporated from my mind. GRADE---C

Last but surely not least is a limited run of a fine documentary that I saw at SIFF last May, which just opened today in Seattle--DANCING ACROSS BORDERS. When a dance enthusiast visited Cambodia a decade ago, she was struck by an older boy's flexibility and dance movements, and brought him to the U.S. for training, which he started in his mid-teens--rather late for a ballet dancer, yet he has gone on to great fame, dancing with Pacific Northwest Ballet and training at the School of American Ballet in New York. The film shows the culture shock, frustrated training experiences and joys of learning that the young dancer has experienced. For dance enthusiasts, it is a must. For others, it is an eye-opener. GRADE---B