Biking in Montana: Eat Pray Love (Mao's) Dance(r), Centurion and Patrick 1.5

I spent last week pedaling my bicycle about 420 miles around western Montana, eating lots of fried food, sleeping in (mostly) funky and marginal motels in small one street towns and frying under a hot burning sun, while enjoying the vast blue sky and seemingly endless vistas of a sparsely populated "hunting and fishing "state. In one small town, Wisdom Montana, Toni and I had two choices for dinner. The first was a tavern with buck antlers mounted above the wood sided building, and the outside lettering painted on the wall promised great pizzas and salad bar. When we walked into the dark interior, the dozen locals (all in cowboy hats and jeans and boots) ponied up to the bar suddenly stopped talking and turned our way. I felt like I was in the middle of a dangerous movie scene. We made our way toward the dozen empty tables, and finally a woman from a bar stool shuffled over. "Do you have a salad bar here?" I asked, not seeing one at all. "We don't have a salad bar anymore, and we don't serve salads at all. Only pizza and hoagies and beer." I happily grabbed Toni's elbow and steered her out of there with a relieved "Thanks, we will try somewhere else." The somewhere else was directly across the street, a little place with a couple of trucks pulled up in front of it. As we approached one truck, I looked inside the back end and noticed a deer antler sticking up. As I got closer I realized that the deer was partially gutted, with a large swath of red flesh exposed to the hot setting sun and flies. There was a dog in the back with the dead deer. A twenty something man came rushing out of the restaurant with a friend, and I asked him "Roadkill????" He just grunted and said "Nope" and then started hollering at the dog. I found out later that that was not his dog, but a hungry roaming animal who smelled his dinner in the back of the pickup.
The pedestrian burger, fries and (frozen) fish and chips were adequate but hardly worth the $10 each and the 90 minute wait for the order. (To be fair, the waitress and cook were alone and overwhelmed by the 20 or so bicyclists that had come in over the course of the evening.) As Toni will affirm, rural Montana is not the place for picky vegetarians to find a decent meal.

From May's SIFF, the new film from Bruce (DRIVING MISS DAISY) Beresford is a pleasing concoction of dance, music and melodrama called MAO'S LAST DANCER about a talented young dancer in Communist China in the 1980's who is enticed to the USA for training and to be a shining example of what China can do in the arts. Of course, he becomes Americanized (for better or worse) and tries to defect. There's not a lot of surprises here plot-wise, but the eye candy and music and dancing are easy on the eye. There is a powerful emotional scene towards the end which goes a long way towards solidifying the film's likability. It worked for me. If you like music, ballet and exotic locales, then you will love this film. GRADE-------- B

From the 2009 SIFF comes a Swedish film called PATRICK 1.5, a pleasing comedy drama about an upwardly mobile gay couple who are trying to fit into suburbia by living in a rather sterile neighbor hood, complete with the hypocrisies and stereotypes such places inspire. They are on a waiting list to adopt a baby. When their baby comes, the age 1.5 turns out to be a type-o--the misplaced decimal age is really a homophobic teenager age 15 who has issues and a troubled past. The teen has no where to go, so until the problem is solved, he lives with this couple and complicates their lives. The bonding that occurs is rather unpredictable, and the strain on the couple threatens their relationship. It was refreshing to see the warts and all complications that happen in this situation, and the film is not a fairy tale (no pun) per se, but a satisfying comment on relationships, love, commitment, and the family unit, not unlike the currently playing THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT. GRADE------- B

There's a startling sense of action and energy in the new action epic from Great Britain called CENTURION, with some brutal and bloody encounters, as it tells of a Roman soldier caught behind the enemy lines in the 2nd century as Rome is trying to conquer Britain. The plot consists of straight forward chasing and pursuing scenarios, and technically, the film will keep you awake and enthralled. However, this was filmed (as screened at SIFF) in a cheap looking video digital manner, with the action scenes looking grainy, grey, dark and herky-jerky--a technique that I really dislike watching. (Other similar movies filmed like this include QUANTUM OF SOLICE and a quarter of the recent SIFF films--a disappointing and annoying trend. I realize it's a cheaper way of filming, but it looks like shit.). GRADE--------- C+

EAT PRAY LOVE was not awful, but it isn't very good, either. The main character is a self-centered, annoying, insecure woman, who walks out on her marriage at the start of the story for what seemed to me a trivial, potentially workable problem, and then seeks to "find" herself by eating (and gaining weight) in Italy, "praying" in an ashram in India, and then relaxing and finally finding love in Bali--all over the course of one year. Julia Roberts was easy to watch--she has an infectious laugh and as she ages (in real life) her horsey face and annoying mannerisms have mellowed into something more thoughtful and introspective. Of course, it was beautifully photographed--it's a good sign when even poorest India looks worth visiting, and some of the supporting players (Billy Crudup, Viola Davis, Richard Jenkins, James Franco and especially Javier Bardem) add some much appreciated gravitas. Unfortunately, the character's progression seemed unconvincing, and the three sections of the story don't tie into anything more that a lovely, dreamy travelogue. GRADE--------C

A very clever idea gets derailed by lazy execution and a lack luster story line in the comedy MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND (2006), which is a surprising disappointment from director Ivan Rietman and players Luke Wilson, Uma Thurman, Rainn Wilson and Eddie Izzard. After the thrill has warn off from dating and bedding a neurotic female superhero, an architect must live with the consequences when he breaks it off with her--she feels scorned and seeks revenge. I wanted to enjoy this more than I did. After all, who hasn't fantasized about sex with a super-hero type partner, and there are some amusing moments of a bed that pounds the wall, or mile-high sex, or the one-up-manship of bragging. And there's a funny, outrageous scene which includes a shark in a high rise apartment (!) which ends way too soon. Unfortunately, the film doesn't deliver all it promises. Hope someone else tries again soon with a lighter, funnier touch. GRADE-------- C

SIFF REPORT 3

Week three is better than average.

GRADE---A

WINTER'S BONE--(USA)--A poor Ozark girl trying to keep her family together must find her drug making dad who is on the run from the law before her house will be seized by the courts, but she stirs up dangerous family secrets. A remarkably succinct story and honest acting keep this harrowing tale gripping.

THE TOP TWINS: UNTOUCHABLE GIRLS--(New Zealand)--A brilliant documentary about a singing comedic set of twins, who for 30 years have entertained audiences with country music, yodeling, political protest and social commentary. They are unapologetically gay and out, and are one of New Zealand's most popular acts.


GRADE---B+

WHEN WE LEAVE--(Germany/Turkey)--Sad and harrowing tragedy of a young woman and child seeking independence from an abusive husband against societal restrictions.


GRADE--B

MAO'S LAST DANCER---(Australia)--Lush looking (music and dancing) true story of young Chinese dancer who tries to defect to USA. A very moving finale.


GRADE---B-

ONDINE --(Ireland/USA)--Fairy tale story of girl captured in a fisherman's net (his daughter thinks she is a "selkie"--half human and half seal) turns gritty by the end. The print screened was so dark and grainy that is was hard to see (apparently a light bulb needed replacing), and the film needed subtitles due to mumbled Irish (and other) accents.

THE DRY LAND--(USA)--Moving story of Iraq veteran have trouble adjusting to civilian life.

SON OF BABYLON--(Iraq)--A young Kurdish boy and his grandmother search for his father who was arrested 10 years earlier in the aftermath of Saddam Hussein's regime. They visit prisons and several mass graveyards. The two leads are remarkable and the mood is melancholic, but the lack of narrative strains your interest.

GRADE--C+

SKATELAND---(USA)--Better than you'd expect (from the title and description) teen angst drama set in the 80's. It's well acted, but we've seen this story before.

EVERY DAY---(USA)--A modern family struggles to juggle stress and change (father's roving eye, mother is sudden caregiver to cranky ailing granddad, teen son explores his sexuality, etc) but too many subplots dilute the effect. Despite strong cast (Helen Hunt, Brian Dennehy, Liev Schreiber, Eddie Izzard etc) this plays like an earnest made-for-TV film. Another HD film that is grainy and too dark to watch (see ONDINE above.)

COUNTDOWN TO ZERO--(USA)--Documentary on atomic fears and struggle for international disarmament is well make and makes strong point, but for me I felt like I'd seen and heard this argument before, and if you've been around awhile this will seem like it is preaching to the converted.