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-

A GOOD WEEK: Animal Kingdom, Scott Pilgrim VS the World, Despicable Me

A growing sense of menace and dread keeps the new Australian crime thriller ANIMAL KINGDOM fascinating. A teen age boy's mother has committed suicide as the film begins, and he has no one to turn to except his estranged grandmother, who has several sons involved in various criminal activities. His uncles naturally start to involve him in their activities, until the death of two police men puts an intense focus on the shrinking crime family. (The police seem to have no qualms blowing off the occasional family member, probably due to their frustration at not being able to pin anything definite on them.) The police begin to close in on the young, newest member of the family, hoping his naivety will give them info they can use against the uncles. There is a lot of tension as the teen realizes that he doesn't have a friend in his family or with the police and the grandmother turns out to be full of horrifying contradictions. It's a very well made film with an especially chilling ending.
GRADE-----B+

Micheal Cera has the perfect role as a young 20 something wanna be rock musician who gets mixed up with a wild girl with seven evil ex-boyfriends in the comedy/fantasy film SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD. The film moves fast, has a lot of rock music, much witty dialogue, clever editing and special effects and a lot of sight gags, most of which work very well. To win over the girl, he must defeat her seven evil ex boyfriends. My only complaint to what is an original and clever film, is that it seems like about 3 boyfriends too many--and the confrontation/fight scenes seemed a bit too repetitious by the end. Still, any film that includes hilarious scenes of three gay men and one straight man sharing a bed, and mixes violent video games with "real" time fighting for great slapstick gags, deserves a lot of credit. GRADE----B+

Finally caught up with DESPICABLE ME in a totally unnecessary 3-D format, and despite the extra $4 paid for the 3-D glasses, I found the film to be quite delightful and witty, and like the best animation, the film has a lot of heart amid the mayhem. Steve Carell voices Gru, a self proclaimed evil mastermind who wants of shrink and steal the moon, and adopts three orphan girls to help him in his plan. Of course he hates children, but that changes everything. There are a lot of complicated sight gags that work very well. GRADE-----B+

From the John Wayne TCM collection, watched REAP THE WILD WIND (1942) directed by Cecil B. DeMille and featuring Ray Milland, Raymond Massey, Paulette Goddard, Robert Preston, Susan Hayward and Charles Bickford. Wayne and Milland fight for the affections of Southern Belle Goddard in this period piece set in 1840's and involving pirate ships affecting seafaring trade. It is enjoyable hokum with a strong plot and interesting characters, and the underwater scenes won a special effects Oscar--quite advanced for their time.
GRADE-----B

Saw two Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton films this week, and both had their strengths and weaknesses. First up was THE SANDPIPER (1965) with Taylor as a free-spirited painter (who paints in high fashion pant suits and sweaters, then throws her brushes aside across the table when a guest enters her home--shouldn't she store them in water or oil????) who falls in love with the president of a private religious school (Burton) who is married to Eva Marie Saint....You get the picture, but the affair is carefully introduced without much flamboyance, and the music is lovely if overdone--The Shadow of Your Smile won the Oscar for best song that year. Charles Bronson and Robert Webber have small but important roles when both were very young, and the film is filmed and set on the California Big Sur coast, which is beautifully filmed. I must admit I really got into this soapy drama--it's easy to see why Taylor and Burton created so much publicity--they both have charisma to burn. The second film was THE COMEDIANS from 1967 with an excellent cast including Alec Guiness, Peter Ustinov, Paul Ford, Lillian Gish, James Earl Jones (recognized his voice before his young face), Roscoe Lee Brown and Cicely Tyson. The film is set in Haiti during the reign of cruel dictator Duvalier, and there's a feeling of dread that covers the film. In fact, in retrospect, this feels very real and sad--even the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti seemed telegraphed as the only way this country can be jolted out of corruption into the mainstream of world wide awareness. Burton and Taylor are OK as adulterous lovers amid the political corruption, and Alec Guiness has great moments as a slightly daffy retired World War II commander in over his head, and the rest of the cast has their moments, but the Graham Greene novel this is based on seems uninspired compared to other filmizations of his work (OUR MAN IN HAVANA, THE THIRD MAN, etc). Still, if you are patient, this film is admirable, curious and watchable. GRADE for THE SANDPIPER------B-and GRADE for THE COMEDIANS------B-

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

Inception, The Extra Man, Five Easy Pieces

Director Christopher Nolan (THE DARK KNIGHT, MEMENTO) should be a happy man, for he has realized his dream 10 years in the making, and made a fascinatingly intricate dream film which while much like a labyrinth, has clear and lucid flow and intensely dramatic plotting. Even though we might not understand the why or the how, we understand the action and the danger and the wonder. INCEPTION is basically a heist film, where a team of dream specialists enter the dream of a newly appointed (due to his father's demise) corporate executive to plant some ideas which will hopefully in turn benefit their client's company. Leonardo Di Caprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy and Ellen Page are the main dream specialists, and Ken Watanabe their client. Things get complicated when Di Caprio becomes distracted (in his dreams) with the appearance of his dead wife. To make matters more involved, the team must infiltrate to a second and third dream state (a dream within a dream within a dream...!!!...) Oddly, much of the drama in each dream level plays out like a scene from a James Bond spy thriller or some other action-type film, though I didn't really mind. The cross cutting between all the simultaneous dreams really gets the blood boiling, even when the action becomes a bit preposterous. Still you have to admire the shear complexity and vision of the world Nolan has created, where a dream architect can create a Paris folding over into (onto?) itself, or where decaying high rise buildings crumble into an encroaching ocean just a few yards from stylish glass skyscrapers intermixed with country homes and stately mansions. I didn't find the film cold or soulless, either, as some critics and viewers have suggested, for DiCaprio's relationship with his winsome wife, played by the fascinating Marion Cotillard (LA VIE EN ROSE) is passionate and full of emotional yearning. (Is it a coincidence that the key musical "mark" for the dream team is from her Oscar winning film? I think not.) And even though Cillian Murphy plays the sting, he is so distraught over the unresolved feelings from the death of his father that his performance alone triggers great sympathy. The fantasy film is peppered with other great players including Tom Berenger, Michael Caine and Pete Postlethwaite, all to subtle and emotional effect. The special effects are thoughtfully and intelligently interspersed--and not too gratuitous. It really is a mind bender to watch a fight in a revolving hallway, which in turn is inspired from several other similar fantastic dream level actions. This is science fiction/fantasy of the highest order, created with meticulous care in plotting, music, photography, acting and editing, and with an eye for tickling the intellectual as well as the popcorn movie goer. I found it to be smart, stimulating, fascinating fun.
GRADE----- A

The opening night film at the recent SIFF was THE EXTRA MAN, and it has one very fine ace in the hole--and that would be the remarkable Kevin Kline, who plays a man who escorts (usually) older women to dinners, parties, opera, and such, and not for pay (per say) and not as a gigolo (or so he says) but for the experience. He lives very cheaply in Manhattan (!) and ends up taking in a young room mate who wants to learn the ropes. Kline has a way with the dialogue, making the silliest line nearly priceless, but alas, the film slowly meanders where it should be roaring, and some subplots (the young room mates penchant for wearing women's underwear, and a neighbor in the same building who is strange and hairy and talks like --- Dame Edna???--) especially drag the film to it's somewhat unsavory (says me) conclusion. GRADE------ C+

The classic film FIVE EASY PIECES (1970) is mostly remembered for the great restaurant scene where an angry and exasperated (and young) Jack Nicholson tells off an inflexible waitress to "hold the chicken between your knees"---but there are a number of impressive scenes before and after that really capture the frustration of a character who is very intelligent and musically talented, but has let his life slip down the social-economic ladder pretending to be an "everyman." Unfortunately, this has not made his life any easier or happier, and he finds himself in a loveless relationship with the annoying and superficial Karen Black. Black found great fame in the late '60s and early 70's playing similar characters, and was nominated for a couple of Oscars, but later became the butt of many jokes with her hysterical mannerisms and slightly crossed eyes. Still, she is a great revelation here, pathetic, yes, but vulnerable and amusing, too. The excellent cast includes Susan Anspach, Ralph Waite (The Waltons), a young Sally Struthers (All in the Family) and Lois Smith. Some of the movie takes place in the San Juan Islands. It holds up very well. GRADE----- A