The Town, Bran Nue Dae, You Again, Catfish

Best for the last week would be the new film by director/actor Ben Afleck, based on true stories from Boston's Charlestown region, known as a breeding ground for armed robberies. The film is called THE TOWN and concerns itself with a gang that robs banks and armoured cars. During one bank robbery, a gang member kidnaps a young woman, later lets her go, then has second doubts about whether or not she knows anything concrete that could incriminate the gang. The gang leader Ben Afleck determines to contact and befriend her-- of course, he falls for her and there is some tension whether or not she can or will implicate him. In the meantime a police detective has determined that this is the gang doing all the recent robberies and assaults, but needs more solid evidence to move in for the arrest. The film moves along in spite of some holes in the plot, and is entertaining and compelling with the tension developing between the two story lines. A very worth while effort, with special notice to Jeremy Renner from THE HURT LOCKER as the unpredictably violent gang member who is getting out of control, and Rebecca Hall as the young woman, innocently falling in love with the wrong guy. GRADE------B

There is finally a musical version of a big Australian stage play hit from 1990 that is one of the top films from Down Under, and it is called BRAN NUE DAE (BRAND NEW DAY). I saw it screened at the last edition of SIFF, and it was a complete and utter delightful surprise. Here is a pop musical singing/dancing film where nearly all the characters are Aboriginal ("There ain't nothing I'd rather be, Than an Aborigine....") with some big laughs, smart lovable characters and memorable pop tunes---and some sharp political jabs at the white man taking over all the Aboriginal land, and other injustices. But the tone is definitely light weight and you can be assured that a happy ending will see every one's dreams come true. GRADE------B

CATFISH is an odd name for what is basically a reality documentary exposing how easy it is to commit fraud on the social Internet networks like Face book. Over several months, a young man falls in love with what he thinks is his soul mate half way across the country, and learns about her younger artist sister, her beautiful mother, and the charmed life they lead. Then he (and his film making friends) decide to pay the family a surprise visit. There are enough red herrings (he says early at one point--"For all I know she could be a man" at the other end of the computer...) that when the truth starts to come out, we the audience are not terribly surprised, but more horrifyingly saddened at the lengths to which both the filmmakers and the 'family' have behaved. It is a sad film for all parties, and yet with exposure comes some liberating truths. Things are unexpectedly righted by the end. It's a sharp commentary on our e-world obsessions. GRADE-------B

I wish that the new comedy this week had been edgier, nastier, sharper, wittier and more fun, but YOU AGAIN is just a little lazy in all categories. Still, there is some fun with Sigourney Weaver oozing her way through the "heartless rich bitch" role, and Kristin Chenoweth has some odd amusing moments as a perky wedding-planner. Newcomer Kyle Bornheimer is over-the-top brilliant as a jilted lover who is not over it at all, and of course, the amazing Betty White delivers her lines with wicked aplomb. Kristen Bell does what she can as the geeky girl whose beloved brother is about to marry the meanest girl from her high school past, but the other characters, especially the men, barely register. It's an easy to watch, "popcorn" comedy, however, and I admit I enjoyed much of this guilty pleasure. GRADE---------B-

Girl Who Played w/Fire, Little Dorrit, Late Marriage Top Week

The only new movie for me this week, which I've wanted to see for a month, but has only been playing at the inconvenient (for me) Egyptian Theatre on Capital Hill in the evenings only, just opened at the local Majestic Bay in Ballard. It is the second film in a trilogy and is called THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE. It is not quite as effectively shocking as the original THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (see earlier blog), because mainly we've adjusted to the sights of sexual abuse and violence, and now understand the motivation of the lead character. That is not to say that horrible things do not occur in this exciting part two; indeed, there are many shocking revelations and plot twists, but I managed to predict a couple of them this time. The film is made with great energy and cleverness, and has the depth of a great novel behind it. The actors have great conviction, and the technical aspects are first rate. There is already Oscar buzz for GIRL/TATTOO and based on the first two films, Noomi Rapace could be a leading contender for the Best Actress race. GRADE-----B+

The library produced a wonderful surprise--a DVD rental of a BBC movie/mini-series LITTLE DORRIT (2008) which is nearly 8 hours long, and appeared on Masterpiece Theatre in the US, winning 7 Emmys including Best Mini-Series, Direction and Writing out of 12 nominations. It is a stunning and immensely sprawling entertainment that is well written, produced and acted--quite possibly the BEST (and most complete) version of a Dickens novel ever made, David Lean's version of GREAT EXPECTATIONS(1946) notwithstanding. LITTLE DORRIT is not well known, and is considered to be one of his most difficult and lesser known novels--it is certainly one of his longest, so that the 14 episodes on this DVD become an ideal way to experience this ambitious story. Set partly in a debtor's prison, partly concerned with government bureaucracy, and partly set in Venice and other Italian settings, the film expertly juggles several subplots and more than a dozen major characters as it tells the tale of a poor girl who is born in prison, but in typical Dickens manner, becomes socially exalted, with a lot of sarcastic and amusing scenes showing the hypocrisies of poor and rich alike. There is a lot of mystery, deep dark family secrets, several reversals of fortune, some broad humor, horrifying drama, several romances and a dozen unforgettable characters (played with great aplomb by great British stalwarts including Matthew Macfadyen, Tom Courtenay, Bill Paterson, Andy Serkis and others) that deserve to be remembered along with the likes of Scrooge, Tiny Tim, David Copperfield, Pip, Miss Haversham, and dozens of others. If you've never read LITTLE DORRIT as a novel before, this film is the perfect way to experience it. (My only minor complaints--why does Mr. Dorrit's room at debtors prison seem so--too?--large?---and the final hour seems rather rushed, with some plot revelations given short emotional shift. Still......) GRADE------A !!!

The Israeli film LATE MARRIAGE (2001) turns out to be a provocative, astute and sexy story of a 31 year old bachelor who becomes involved with a 34 year old divorced woman with a child, and when his family finds out, they try to intervene, despite having had no success in arranging marriage to more "more appropriate" women. The film is playful and at times quite graphic in depicting his sexual attraction to the older woman, and it carries some surprising scenes as well as a stinging finale. GRADE------A-

SISTER MARY IGNATIUS EXPLAINS IT ALL (TO YOU) (2001) was shown on Showtime and is available on DVD with an excellent cast that includes Diane Keaton, Laura San Giancarlo, Meg Tilly, Martin Mull and others. It is "opened up" a bit from the long one act play written by Christopher Durang. Keaton plays Sister Mary, who is a bossy and very strict nun who has taught children for many years by terrifying them with her amusing and fanatical theories of faith and God and Heaven and Hell. She meets her match when several older students return 20 years later during her annual Christmas lecture to seek revenge on her hysterical ways. There's a lot of funny gags and lines, mostly criticizing Catholicism and religion in general, and the film turns surreal and horrifying by the end. Keaton seems a bit young for the part but she is game and stays in character quite well. Interesting. GRADE-----B-

I spent eight hours this last week watching the first season of the HBO hit OZ (1997)--set in a maximum security prison and featuring back stories of the inmates, guards and faculty that help to humanize them all in this grim locale. Watching the first episode made me very nervous, and it took me two episodes to realize that this alternate reality is just a gritty, gripping reflection of everyday life, but with in your face violence, sex and melodrama. It is quite addicting after the fourth hour, and I look forward to season 2. It is shocking viewing until one gets use to the characters, who are played by some fine actors including Ernie Hudson, Harold Perrineau, Edie Falco (before THE SOPRANOS), B.D.Wong, J.K. Simmons, and Rita Moreno. GRADE----B-

After OZ I thought it might be interesting to see another prison inspired film---PINERO (2001) is a non-linear biographical story of ex-con and award winning playwright Miguel Pinero, who became famous for turning his prison stint into a powerful play and movie called SHORT EYES (1977). Benjamin Bratt is especially effective as Pinero, who despite his fame and successes couldn't shake his self destructive drug habit and criminal ways, and the cast is very good, including Giancarlo Esposito, Michael Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Robert Klein and Rita Moreno (again--see OZ). Too bad the chaotic style and busy camera work lose sight of the humanity. GRADE-----C+

Get Low and Soul Kitchen

The film that closed this year's SIFF is a minor classic in tall tale telling. Robert Duval is amazing, as usual, as the old hermit in the late 1920's around whom swirls stories of his evil/mysterious/cantankerous ways. When he decides to clear the air, he tries to arrange a funeral party for himself (before he dies--that is, before he will GET LOW), with everyone who ever had a story, true or false, to come tell it--that is if he can get anyone to come at all. It's a juicy set up and the cast couldn't be better--especially Sissy Spacek as an old flame, and the incomparable Bill Murray who can, with the twinkle in his eye and the turn of a phrase, set the audience off in fits of giggles. He plays the funeral director who tries to help set up the "party." It's a pleasure to watch the leisurely but fascinating story unfold. My only complaint is somewhat minor---the sum of the parts is much more satisfying than the mystery's resolution. GRADE------B+

Also opening this week from SIFF----a "comedy" by the director of EDGE OF HEAVEN from several years ago, which I really loved. This new film SOUL KITCHEN is quite different, which is, of course, very good for directors to do, but unfortunately, the comedy is very silly, and consists of each major character doing the most unlikely and bizarre things---well you have to wonder if anyone in this movie has any common sense, and it annoyed me from beginning to end. GRADE-------C- (and I think that's a generous grade.)

At a recent DVD sale, I bought a copy of the slapstick comedy western from 1969--SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF! for $2.50! and while it doesn't hold up to the way I enjoyed it when I was 17, it is still a jolly, amusing effort, helped in no small part to the great timing of the wonderful cast--James Garner, Joan Hackett and Walter Brennan. Especially amusing is the running gag of how to keep a cold blooded killer (a young Bruce Dern) in a new prison without any bars on the windows and doors! GRADE-------B

HELL AND HIGH WATER (1954) was directed by the cult favorite director Samuel Fuller, and features Richard Widmark at his peak as the captain of a submarine sent to investigate a possible communist nuclear base on an island in the Arctic. There's a lot of drama, tension, action, and intrigue, and it was entertaining, if hardly electrifying. Widmark's co-star was a newcomer named Bella Darvi, and it may have been her first and last film. She could speak the half dozen foreign languages required for the part, but her English was not very coherent.
GRADE------ B

I've never been a big Frank Sinatra fan, although he's a very decent actor and singer, and my feelings are not changed by seeing the film based on the racy Broadway play called PAL JOEY (1957). Part of my problem was the illogical progression of the plot. In the first scene Joey (Sinatra) is being kicked out of town by being forced on a train by the police. What, no luggage or suitcase? Then he gets off the train, and takes a ferry (!?) to San Francisco--we're told he has NO money---and then of course gets a great job being MC at a nightclub that very night, and then manages to rent a room at a boarding house at 3:00am in the middle of the same night!!!!!!!! The room is next to Kim Novak with whom he lusts after, and must share a bathroom with...... It keeps on like this, so you have to keep swallowing a lot of contrivances. But the interesting part is how you can see that this story was really racy at the time. He meets a rich older woman (Rita Hayworth), and moves in with her as a "kept" man while she bankrolls his dream of owning his own nightclub. All I can think of is, he must be GRRREEEAAATTT in bed. Apparently his character in the play is a lot more abrasive and unlikeable, and there is a lot more sexual innuendo that was trimmed. The best part, however, is the musical score, which features some knock out tunes sung and acted with a lot of flair. They include "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," and "The Lady is a Tramp," and "My Funny Valentine." Thank god for Rogers and Hart. GRADE------B

Part of the JOHN WAYNE Collection I recently purchased was a film called HELLFIGHTERS (1968) which includes a strong cast including Vera Miles, Jim Hutton, Katherine Ross, and Bruce Cabot. The film is timely, in that it is based on a true character who traveled the world putting out oil/drilling fires and spills. I wish he (John Wayne) was around for the recent Gulf
spill. The film is watchable for that reason, but the plot gets repetitious and predictable. GRADE----- C+

The Tillman Story, Cairo Time, The Spoilers, War Wagon

THE TILLMAN STORY is the perfect Labor Day Weekend film--something patriotic and thoughtful and surprising and sad--like the end of summer. This is a documentary about football hero Pat Tillman who gave up a great career in the National Football League in 2002 to join the armed forces going to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he did two tours of duty. He thought this was the right thing to do, but once there he realized that the war was misguided, and became rather critical about the political aspects. In 2004 he was killed by "friendly fire," and declared a hero by the Army, but slowly many aspects of his death became known to his family and there were many revealing instances where the facts were covered up by the Army and the Bush administration. If you think you know the story, you will be surprised, because so much was distorted and covered up and lied about. GRADE------ B+

Another film that played at the recent edition of SIFF is a very gentle mild "love story" of sorts, called CAIRO TIME and featuring Patricia Clarkson, who usually ends up in supporting roles. See her in great form in THE DYING GAUL, PIECES OF APRIL, and THE STATION AGENT, just to name 3 of my favorites. Her co-star is the city of Cairo, and she spends most of her time while waiting to be reunited with her husband, just strolling around the streets and viewing sights of this great city, discovering customs, traditions, moods and cultural importance. Occasionally she is accompanied by a friend of her husband who works in Cairo, and they develop a lovely though platonic relationship. Not much happens, and the feeling of time passing slowly for her is well presented. Cairo looks beautiful and exotic and mysterious. By the end, you will feel you have also been immersed in CAIRO TIME. GRADE-------B-

There is a long and impressive fight scene that ends THE SPOILERS (1942), and I guess that also ends the four other versions of the same story filmed in 1914, 1923, 1930 and 1955. The film is set in Nome Alaska where the gold rush has produced a lawless land where claim jumpers try to take over land worked by others for many months through the efforts of crooked lawyers and judges and violence. This one stars John Wayne and Harry Carey as the original owners of the land, and Randolph Scott as the evil lawyer, and Marlene Dietrich, wearing wildly stunning glitter gowns, is the saloon owner who is attracted to both of them. (And SURPRISE!!! She does NOT sing!) The story was engrossing, and there are a lot of funny lines with double entendres, some of the best from the actress playing the black maid of Dietrich, who is "tired of being mistaken for an Eskimo from Virginia." Fun. GRADE------- B

I realized fairly soon that we'd seen THE WAR WAGON less than a year ago, but it is just lively enough that we didn't bother turning it off. John Wayne plays a man just out of jail on good behaviour who is trying to get back land stolen from him during his jail time, and Kirk Douglas, at times dressed in a tight black leather pant suit (!) is the gunslinger who is hired to kill him, but instead goes to work with him to steal back the gold that has been mined on Wayne's property. There is a lot of tongue in cheek dialogue and fight scenes, and even though there is nothing here that you haven't seen before, it is an easy movie to watch. GRADE----B-