RIO, RANGO, Dickens and Cousin Bette

It is a slow month for compelling new movies--the weather is turning sunnier (but strangely cold, with lots of hail storms) and the income taxes are finally sent in. I am slowly trying to rest up for the onslaught of film that is the Seattle International Film Festival. Screenings start for me on May 2nd and the festival ends on June 12. During that time I will be seeing at LEAST three films a day, and on some days as many as 6! So I guess you'd say that I was resting up this month. Still, I did manage to see a few films.
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The new animated film by the creators of ICE AGE is a real treat, filled with wild, vivid color, a salsa musical beat, and set in the exotic RIO de Janeiro. The plot has a rare blue macaw--supposedly the last of his kind, sent to RIO to mate with a recently discovered female, and of course, the birds are kidnapped and there is much chasing around trying to reconnect the owners with the love birds, but it is all rather innocent and charming and there are a lot of humorous situations with the talking birds and other animals. And since this is all set during the Carnivale period, there are lots of exotic floats and costume and dance music to enjoy as well. GRADE------------B


Another animated feature that has turned into the year's biggest hit so far is RANGO, which features the amusing voice of Johnny Depp and others. It is the weirdest, most eccentric, existential animation feature I've ever seen a big U.S. studio release (not counting Japanese anime.)
There's lots of naturalistic (cartoon) violence (including an aardvark crushed in two by truck tires spouting on and on about the meaning of life...), hoary western plot devices (like the town rushing to give a stranger-Rango- the top job of sheriff because the last one was killed off quickly), predictable twists of corruption (like "who is stealing the town's water supply"--a la CHINATOWN) and many many movie homages to other (better) films (including an extended sequence featuring a look-alike Clint Eastwood, spouting about the meaning of life, as well as the typical HIGH NOON climax scene,etc). I'm not sure who this movie would appeal to. Surly the horrifying evil snake (with a machine gun for a rattler) would give any child nightmares, as would scenes involving the burning of the face of a fellow bar attendee, the skin scalding that many of the animated lizards and rodents encounter, the arrows through the head, the epileptic freezing of the "love" interest during which time Rango manages to take some liberties....and the general gloominess of the lives of these creatures. Unlike the the exaggerated violence of Elmer Fudd and that crazy rabbit, these scenes are played more for realism, not laughs, although some are so bizarre and surprising that I did laugh a few times. STILL--I was not bored, and it takes some balls to create such a dismal vision of the Old West (although the time is present day desert!--talk about incongruity!) GRADE (for creativity)-----------B-





DVD choices include-----


The BBC Masterpiece Theatre version of Charles Dickens's BLEAK HOUSE (2007) is a solidly acted and engrossing 8 hour experience. If this is ever remade in the US, there is a great part for the demented personality of Gary Busey--indeed, the British actor who plays the part of Smallweed (Phil Davis) looks and acts a lot like Busey. The entire cast is excellent, including Gillian Anderson, Carey Mulligan, Ian Richardson and Charles Dance. My big complaint is that the director (or cinematographer) made the unfortunate decision to start nearly every scene with loud ominous music and a very pretentious jump-cut and zoom--totally distracting and annoying. GRADE-----------B+


ALSO---
In a similar vein, COUSIN BETTE (1998) has Jessica Lange as the single cousin who tries to take revenge on her rich family who have ignored her for years, but things do not always go her way, in this venomous, witty black comedy set in 1840's Paris, and which features a funny and smart cast including Bob Hoskins, Elizabeth Shue, Hugh Laurie, and Kelly MacDonald. Based on the Balzac novel. GRADE-------B


Nearly unremarkable but watchable nonetheless, CASS TIMBERLANE (1947) based on the Sinclair Lewis novel features the reliable Spencer Tracy and the fascinating Lana Turner, yet somehow I didn't really care much about these people. He's a small town judge, and she is the simple girl (!) who longs for more adventurous notoriety in the big town of New York. She tries to find it in the arms of Tracy's best friend (Zachary Scott). GRADE---------C+