cinemart Reviews

Exam (2006)

Good direction, Story Flawed

[5/10 · 28 April 2007]

Cheating knows no bounds. It breaks through the English-language barrier with Omer Faruk Sorak's entry into the fray, SINAV. The tale of five friends who conspire to beat "the big exam," the film opens with an intense nightmare montage and doesn't slow down from there. Even in the movie's most heartfelt moments there are few shots that last longer than five seconds. Otherwise the camera jumps around, the image goes from color to black & white and back again, and the film moves with at a pace that could trigger epileptic seizures. Despite this wild montage, at close to two hours SINAV becomes a rather tiresome venture.

Too much of the film is a build-up to any kind of educational larceny. The moral chasm of cheating appears to be more of a crack in the sidewalk to these youths who defiantly charge that they'll "steal questions from the ones who steal my youth." It doesn't help that the school has brought in a motivational speaker who now makes money selling exam tutorial classes but is best known for being "Armless Levo," a student who used an arm cast to sneak study sheets into examinations. And this successful businessman is their role model? The emotional center of the film is Mert (Ismail Hacioglu), a troubled teen who seems to have left school to get a job but has no trouble returning when he wants to fulfill his dying mother's dream of getting a proper education. While Mert deals with his mother's cancer and his inability to study, his compatriots all have their own home problems to face from the ever-bickering parents of Gazme (Rüya Önal) to the parents who want to get their son, Sinan (Yagmur Atacan) an exorcism since he doesn't test well.

SINAV plays like a Turkish version of THE PERFECT SCORE until it jettisons all heretofore structure of the film's own logic at the ninety-minute mark. Rather than performing some smaller heists for test keys and being general nuisances to the totalitarian teachers and principal, the kids decide to call in a world class thief, Charlie, who one of their own, Uluc (Volkan Demirok), met as a child. Only having the name, Uluk actually manages to find this thief after sending out 17,000 emails. When he arrives, everyone can't help but notice how much Charlie (Jean-Claude Van Damme) looks like Jean-Claude Van Damme.

In another brain-crushing twist, it turns out that Jean-Claude Van Damme is friends with Armless Levo and the two of them have cooked up a scheme to give the kids the wrong exam in order to teach them a valuable moral lesson. Ouch! Had the film stuck with the reality of the situation and kept up the potboiler pressure of parents, professors, and peers, SINAV may have worked. As it was, the Van Damme es Machina became a fatal flaw from which the film could not recover.

Grindhouse (2007)

10 Stars for Rodriguez, Roth, Winter, and Zombie.

[5/10 · 8 April 2007]

Two feature films plus a handful of trailers for a three-hour extravaganza of entertainment sounds like a great idea, and it is. I loved the overall experience; the bad splices, the damaged prints, the old school ratings animations. That all worked. So did Robert Rodriguez's film, PLANET TERROR. This gore-infested zombie film is a real hoot. It stars "Six Feet Under" undertaker Freddy Rodríguez as "El Wray," a man with a wrecker and a past. He encounters a luscious figure from his past at the local BBQ joint when he meets up with Cherry Darling (Rose McGowan), a Go-Go Dancer who once had a dream of being a doctor.

PLANET TERROR is brimming with interesting characters who are certainly archetypes but fun archetypes. Two of my favorites include a craggy Michael Biehn as the crusty small town sheriff who's been on the outs with this brother, Jeff Fahey, for years over his secret bar-b-que recipe. Along with this familial conflict, there's political intrigue, medical drama, crazy babysitters, and blazing gunfights. The whole thing is set to an all-too-familiar score reminiscent of John Carpenter. In fact, quite a bit of the film plays like a Carpenter/Romero lovechild. Think ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 meets DAY OF THE DEAD.

On the other end of the spectrum from this rip-roaring blast of action is the second feature of GRINDHOUSE, Quentin Tarantino's DEATH PROOF. Essentially, this film is comprised of dialog. It's one scene after another of two groups of girlfriends talking about a whole lot of nothing. It's basically a movie version "The View" with more pot, drinking, and swearing. Kurt Russell is also there as Stuntman Mike. He hangs out in the background for most of the film, only really having two scenes that count in this tedious and talky exercise that would make MY DINNER WITH ANDRE look like an actionfest.

The script to DEATH PROOF explains far more than ended up on screen but neither version gives a whole lot of motivation for why Stuntman Mike terrorizes women with his tricked-out car. The movie of DEATH PROOF holds confusion here and even in its timeline. Knowing that director Tarantino likes to muck about with time (DEATH PROOF is set after PLANET TERROR), some have proposed that the second half of DEATH PROOF comes before the first half chronologically. This is done in an attempt to explain Stuntman Mike's scar, cool attitude, plastic car cage, and bloodlust. Otherwise, audiences are denied any of these and can't identify with anyone in the film, even its psychotic killer main character.

Every film fan knows what they can expect from a Quentin Tarantino film: pop culture-laden dialog, backgrounds festooned with movie posters, other films' soundtracks on the soundtrack, and bare (women's) feet. DEATH PROOF has these in spades. However, this time Tarantino just doesn't seem to have either the formula right or perhaps the spark that typically brings it all to life. One would think that having this ample opportunity to pilfer and emulate classic exploitation films would have provided Tarantino with inspiration to make his grindhouse tale an unstoppable homage. Instead, he seems to have been shackled to ceaseless scenes of girls chatting.

Sure, the girls chat about movies, too. They refer to VANISHING POINT, CANNONBALL RUN, DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY, GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS, and others (for more on these films see "The Chase Is On from Cashiers du Cinemart #11) but DEATH PROOF comes nowhere near the excitement of any of these films. With no offense meant to David Lynch's film but THE STRAIGHT STORY moves faster than DEATH PROOF.

Another odd thing about DEATH PROOF is the lack of "print damage" when compared to PLANET TERROR and the four fake previews. There's some minor mangling of the print near the beginning of the film but it quickly disappears, not to appear even around reel changes. There's one moment where the film utilizes a conceit that there's a reel missing from DEATH PROOF. This is done, apparently, only to avoid the awkward scene of Butterfly (Vanessa Ferlito) giving Stuntman Mike a lapdance. This same "Reels Missing" trick was used in PLANET TERROR as well, but used entirely differently. In Rodriguez's film the missing reel contains a wealth of action sequences that other characters elude to, effectively winking at the audience and counting on them to be smart enough to get the joke.

In short, if you haven't seen GRINDHOUSE yet do yourself a favor and leave after the preview for Eli Roth's THANKSGIVING. By that point you've gotten all of the entertainment you're going to get our of GRINDHOUSE.

A Sound of Thunder (2005)

Simpsons Did It Better

[6/10 · 18 February 2007]

One of those "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" theatrical releases, this little 2005 sci-fi film is only one step higher on the evolutionary ladder than those cheesy creature features being produced on a weekly basis for the Sci-Fi Channel. Based on the 1952 short story by Ray Bradbury, I couldn't help but continuously think of "The Simpsons" Treehouse of Horrors parody, "Time and Punishment" (see below) while watching Peter Hyams's film.

"If you ever go back in time, don't touch anything. Even the slightest change can alter things in ways you can't possibly imagine." Truer words were never spoken. While Travis Ryer (Ed Burns, the poor man's Ben Affleck) and his crew of Temporalnauts respect this prime directive, the clients of Time Safari's boss man Charles Hatton (Sir Ben Kingsley) do not. The inadvertent death of a butterfly proves out Grandma Simpson's admonition, causing literal ripples in time that really ruin Ryer's day. His present day timeline changes with "time waves" that bring about a surge in plant life, bugs, and some odd hybrid creatures like the vicious baboonosaurus. It's up to Ryer, his team, and the grouchy Dr. Sonia Rand (Catherine McCormack) to put things right again. Will they make it? Of course they will. The real questions are "What order do they die in?" and "What is Sir Ben Kingsley doing in this film?" Another puzzling aspect to the film is the budget. Was everything spent on catering? Certainly, very little was donated to special effect work. Street scenes feature actors walking against backgrounds of looping "futuristic" cars that look like they were accomplished with chroma-key effects done at the local Public Access Cable studio. A SOUND OF THUNDER was doomed not only by its horrible effects but by the cinematic saturation of the Novikov self-consistency principle. The film was the fourth of four films. While two others, John Woo's PAYBACK (2003) and Eric Bress & J. Mackye Gruber's THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT (2004), shared the same core idea they boasted far better marketing. A SOUND OF THUNDER was all fury and no thunder when it came to marketing, coming out with a whimper only equal to Richard Donner's forgettable TIMELINE (2003).

It would be a few years until another such timeline film would get that amount of funding; Tony Scott's DEJA VU. Even then, the time travel aspect was minimized and only visible in previews that ran before fantasy or sci-fi films.

The Host (2006)

Fun creature feature

[7/10 · 18 February 2007]

A fun little creature feature that examines familial relationships and media manipulation along the way, THE HOST tells the tale of the Park family, a group of misfits whose patriarch runs a food stand on the banks of Seoul's Han River. His eldest son, Kang-du (Kang-ho Song), is a little slow and spends most of his time sleeping when he's not hanging out with his daughter, Hyun-seo (Ah-sung Ko), watching his sister blow the national archery championships. Meanwhile, Kang-du's brother is a layabout lout who can't get over his days as a young revolutionary. Things come to a crisis for the Parks when a creature rises from the depths of the Han, causing death, destruction, and dismay as it drags Hyun-seo back into the brine with it.

Mudskipper Looking like a giant mudskipper, the creature makes its appearance early and not in any kind of spooky "hidden in the shadows" way. When it comes on the scene, everyone knows it. Luckily, the effects (at least on the small screen) are top notch which really adds to the excitement.

After the attack, everyone present (and still breathing) is taken to a government-run shelter. An American present at the attack is diagnosed with a virus and the word is spread that the creature is its host (thus the title). The only other person exposed as much to the dreaded fish is Kang-du. Already distraught enough about the loss of his daughter, he's soon taken aside for some surely painful tests. Little does he know that Hyun-seo is still alive; a prisoner of the creature in its sewer lair. When she places a brief call to Kang-du he tries to get his captors to believe him. Alas, no one in authority in THE HOST gives any credence to anyone other than other authority figures. Kang-du and the rest of the Parks easily escape the lame excuse for a quarantine center and begin their futile search for Hyun-seo through the sewers of Seoul.

I won't go on any more lest I give something away. Suffice to say that this is another fine play on a genre film by Joon-ho Bong. The last work I saw from him was MEMORIES OF MURDER (see Cashiers du Cinemart #14), a fine play on the serial killer film. This time out he presents a rather fully-realized work that could have simply been a fish tale. Recommended.

Renaissance (2006)

Might be called a "One Trick Pony".

[6/10 · 15 September 2006]

Looking like a hybrid of computer animation and rotoscoping, Christian Volckman's 2006 animated feature recalls the stark look of Frank Miller's Sin City graphic novels with its primarily monochromatic color palette. Black dominates the screen with swaths and points of white enough to create minimalist images. Add to this a sci-fi noir plot reminiscent of Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep or Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon, RENAISSANCE is awash in dark secrets held by downtrodden degenerates.

Our protagonist, Karas (Daniel Craig) must cherchez la femme, Ilona (Ramola Garai), a key researcher for the ever-present corporate behemoth, Avalon. Some may consider the bio-degradable neo-noir plot too thin to care about or contend that this is a gimmick movie. I enjoyed the tone, even if I felt that it was a little long at 105 minutes.

Of course, being distributed by Miramaxe, it is unsure how long the version that hits theaters will be or even if what I saw was Volckman's original cut. The studio known for re-cutting, dubbing, and adding of superfluous soundtrack tunes to make films more "marketable" can never be trusted to respect an artist's vision.

Trapped Ashes (2006)

A rocky road

[4/10 · 15 September 2006]

Anthology films rarely work for me. Most of them are as uneven as twenty miles of bad road. TRAPPED ASHES was yet another bumpy ride.

Six people are trapped in a room and must relate terrible things that they've had happen to them to their host (Henry Gibson). What follows are four segments directed by auteurs not necessarily known for their horror chops (with the possible exception of Sean S. Cunningham). Each segment prominently features the ties between sex and death so prevalent in horror films. One features a woman with vampiric breasts whose lamprey mouthed nipples sucks the blood of her lovers. Another woman falls for a corpse who whisks her away to hell while on Japanese holiday. A succubus falls for Stanley Kubrick. And the last, poor woman shares the insatiable hunger of her fraternal twin, a tapeworm.

The first segment sets up expectations that TRAPPED ASHES will be a much more lighthearted film. Surprisingly, this segment was directed by Ken Russell though it felt like something from Joe Dante or Paul Bartel (it was especially reminiscent of Irvin Kershner's "Hell Toupee" episode of "Amazing Stories"). The Sean S. Cunningham sequence felt like a pail gaijin aping of Hideo Nakata (THE RING) and John Gaeta's just didn't work at all. I enjoyed the Kubrick bit, courtesy of Monte Hellman - a perennial Cashiers du Cinemart fave - except that the horror element seemed like an afterthought.

Surprised that this wasn't called TALES FROM THE CRYPT: TRAPPED ASHES, this is one that can be missed by all except die hard John Saxon fans.

The Fountain (2006)

Will Divide Audiences

[7/10 · 15 September 2006]

When I read the script for THE FOUNTAIN in late 2005, I found it to be a fairly low calorie film. There's the central conceit of two characters named Thomas and Isabel who share a love that stretches across time and space but, otherwise, it was something of a one trick pony. Three tales of Thomas (Hugh Jackman) and Isabel (Rachel Weisz) are branches of the same (literal) tree.

Tomas and Isabel are a conquistador and Queen of Spain. The loyal Tomas journeys to Central America on the quest to locate the Tree of Life; cutting his way through as many Mayans as it takes to get there. The central Thomas, a doctor, appears to have access to part of the Tree which he uses on terminally ill monkeys in hopes of curing his terminally ill writer wife, Izzy. The third Thomas may or may not be a later version of the second. This one floats in a bubble through space with his "giving tree" of a wife. He's headed to Xibalba (not to be confused with Three Dog Night's "Shambala"), the Mayan underworld - a place of redemption and rebirth. The stories wind and wander around each other like wild vines. Dialogue and images echo one another throughout the ages. The past and future may simply be the different writings of Isabel and Thomas who begin and end a story called "The Fountain." My expectations were incredibly low for this film between the script and the last experience I had watching a film starring a tree (Kiyoshi Kurosawa's CHARISMA). Luckily, the performances and direction made THE FOUNTAIN palatable. I wouldn't go so far as to recommend the film to anyone and I'm fine never seeing it again but it was an unobjectionable way to spend two hours.

Tales of the Rat Fink (2006)

Comprehensive Doc

[8/10 · 15 September 2006]

'm a shameful Detroiter. I grew up on the outskirts of the Motor City sheltered from the automotive world by my mechanic stepfather. He was determined to keep me out of the garage and following in his greasy footsteps. Through luck (and hard work), I managed to find employment at a string of jobs that had little-to-nothing to do with the auto industry (a feat in Motown). And, even after several years of attending the Woodward Cruise, I couldn't tell a kit car from a custom. I'm an automotive idiot.

I confess to these sins in order to give my complete "outsider perspective" when it came to seeing this Canadian documentary on artistic motorhead Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. I might have more knowledge of Rene Descartes than the Rat Fink.

I can say without hesitation after seeing Ron Mann's film that I now possess a good understanding not only of Roth and his accomplishments but also his impact on popular culture. Little did I know that my beloved "wacky packages" stemmed from such auspicious beginnings. Roth managed to warp the minds of millions via his custom cars, t-shirts, artwork, and glue used to piece together his series of model cars.

Narrated by John Goodman as Roth (who passed during production) and sporting some nifty animation/photo manipulation, there are some weak moments in the film (the anthropomorphic talking cars) but overall TALES OF THE RAT FINK does a terrific job of avoiding staid talking head interviews while providing a comprehensive, organized portrait of a wonderfully multifaceted media pioneer.

Severance (2006)

Silly Fun

[7/10 · 15 September 2006]

When seven employees of Palisades Defense to on a team-building retreat in Hungary, the sins of their company's questionable corporate investments come back to haunt them. The group is besieged by former soldiers bend on revenge and anyone associated with Palisades is a target (whether or not their even a competent employee). Fortunately, this isn't a "corporate drones versus mad mountain men" film as most of the Palisades employees are generally an affable and diverse lot. Moreover, the film has several moments of well-placed levity.

While I was surprised that there wasn't more pithy corporate speak ("I can't spell success without you"), several valid workplace archetypes are present (the kiss ass, the overeducated snob, the stoner, et cetera). With moments familiar to TIFF's Midnight Madness fans, this cross between OFFICE SPACE and SOUTHERN COMFORT still feels fresh and very fun.

Time (2006)

Quite a mind f*ck

[8/10 · 15 September 2006]

Always a sucker for plastic surgery films, I came to Kim Ki-Duk's TIME with trepidation as I suffered through his BAD GUY / NABBEUN NAMJA in Toronto a few years ago.

Seh-Hee is the insanely jealous girlfriend of Ji-Woo ("I want to pluck out the girls eyes whenever they look at you," she says in all seriousness). After going out for two years, Seh-Hee becomes convinced that she must get a new look to keep Ji-Woo interested. Despite her psychotic behavior, Ji-Woo is truly in love with her and is devastated by her sudden disappearance.

Six months later, he meets a woman at his favorite sculpture park. She toys with him mercilessly, driving a wedge between him and his loyalty to Seh-Hee. When it looks like he might be falling in love with this new girl, See-Heh, a note from Seh-Hee threatens to topple their relationship. Of course, Seh-Hee and See-Heh are the same person but it's not as easy as that. Ki-Duk won't allow this to be a "rose by any other name" love story or a THE GIRL MOST LIKELY TO tale of revenge. This artsy fartsy flick (heavier on the artsy than the fartsy) explores the nature of love and identity. Not for people that can't stand embarrassing public arguments or oddly circular narratives, TIME is a compelling viewing experience.

American Hardcore (2006)

Muddled Albeit Heartfelt

[6/10 · 15 September 2006]

Too young for hardcore and too young for grunge, I had to learn about most of the bands in Paul Rachman's documentary American HARDCORE after their demise or during their declining years. The emptiest screening I attended at the festival, Rachman covers the oft-overlooked hardcore music scene of the early 1980s via a montage of maps, concert footage, and talking head interviews. Feeling like it was edited with a food processor, American HARDCORE does a fair job of cracking the lid on the hardcore scene but doesn't come close to presenting the material in any kind of cohesive way.

While the footage and photos of these myriad classic bands are fun to see (and the music is a blast), the film's narrative thrust is a muddled mess and some bands are conspicuously missing (old cliques die hard?). Hopefully a soundtrack will come from this.

Starter for 10 (2006)

Not as good as the Young Ones University Challenge episode

[15 September 2006]

When I read about this coming-of-age dramedy about a young Essex bloke coming to University and joining the "University Challenge" team (Americans might be familiar with their "Quiz Bowl" version), I was hoping to see a "lovable losers rise to the top and win the championship" film. That is not STARTER FOR TEN. While there a few scenes of preparations for matches, we only are witness to one round of University Challenge play.

STARTER FOR TEN is more of a John Hughes tale of Brian (James McAvoy sporting a terrible haircut) pining for the wrong girl (Alice Eve), while the "right" one (Rebecca Hall looking very Molly Ringwald) is right under his nose. Luckily, our Miss Wrong doesn't turn out to be a Miss Bitch. All of her cards are on the table and it's just Brian's skewed values that keep him focusing that keep him from focusing where he needs to. A shake up at the University Challenge game gets Brian's mind right.

A quaint little film with a killer soundtrack (though some of the songs are from years after the 1985/1986 timeframe, particularly The Cure's "Pictures of You" which came out in 1989) STARTER FOR TEN provides a few laughs and smiles on a lazy afternoon.

Death of a President (2006)

Peter Watkins would have done better.

[6/10 · 15 September 2006]

One of the hot ticket screenings at this year's fest, DEATH OF A PRESIDENT (commonly abbreviated as D.O.A.P. as if to be politically correct) is a recollection of the assassination of George W. Bush on October 19, 2007 and the subsequent manhunt for his killer. Constructed from archive footage of Bush's fateful trip to Chicago and countless talking head interviews, this tale of Bush's demise (and the wrongful conviction of Syrian-American Jamal Abu Zikri) doesn't shed any light on Zikri's kangaroo trial and the real guilt of Al Claybon. This material was handled better in Michael Moore's UNDISCLOSED PRESIDENT about President Cheney's rise to power and the passing of "Patriot 3." Thankfully, filmmaker Gabriel Range leaves out Jeane Dixon's daughter who seems to be making a living recalling her dubious prediction of President Bush's death.

In all seriousness, Gabriel Range's mockumentary was produced for the BBC but feels much more like an A&E special. All of the conventions of a television documentary are followed to the letter. Range does a skillful job using pre-existing footage as "archive." The line between fact and fiction are blurred rather well though some flaws risk jettisoning viewers from the conceit. These include some poor computer-generated additions of Bush's faux speech writer into background shots and a horrible audio/visual edit of Dick Cheney eulogizing George W. Bush rather than Ronald Reagan. If there was ever a moment perfect for a cutaway to hide an awkward mouth match, that was it.

Utilizing a cast that could very well have been on any one of tonight's ten repeats of the various "Law & Order" franchise shows, Range does a fair job using "generic" actors though forensic expert James Pearn did too good of a job as I recognized him immediately. Missing from the proceedings (along with the aforementioned requisite psychic scene) are the shots celebrating Bush's death in whatever axis of evil country needs demonizing the most at the moment. Even more than convicting Zikri, we also should have had an immediate response that the shooter was a suspected Al Quaeda terrorist even before anyone was in custody (recalling the Oklahoma City bomber reported to be an Arab well before Timothy McVeigh was apprehended). There are other shadings that could have boosted the film's verisimilitude to make DEATH OF A PRESIDENT a more polished film. As it is, the film works as a cinematic experiment and an act of wish fulfillment, though is a President Cheney and better than a President Bush?

For Your Consideration (2006)

not a Guest film that I'll be watching again soon

[6/10 · 11 September 2006]

A return to THE BIG PICTURE by way of WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, Christopher Guest's FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION is more of a pure narrative than adlibbed mockumentary. A film within a film a la AND GOD SPOKE or LIVING IN OBLIVION, it's obvious that some of the scenes rely on actors adlibbing (Jennifer Coolidge's scenes feel the most so) but others have been completely "locked down" and shot as a traditional (albeit flatly lit) film.

The inner narrative, HOME FOR PURIM, sounds as if it were penned by Ed Begley Junior's character from A MIGHTY WIND as it's peppered with out of place Yiddish. HOME FOR PURIM exacerbates the "sore thumb" phrases by putting them in the mouths of a 1940s Southern family. Think Blanche Dubois going meshuge or KATS ON A HOT TIN DAKH. We follow the production of HOME FOR PURIM, joining it already in progress. Here we see the cast's dynamics and how they change when the film gets an early Oscar buzz.

With appearances by Guest's regulars (along with a few notable newcomers such as Ricky Gervais and Rachel Harris), I didn't find myself getting too invested in any of the characters, even leading lady Catherine O'Hara. There are some great moments in FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION but it's not a Guest film that I'll be watching again soon.

Borat (2006)

High Five!

[9/10 · 11 September 2006]

I came into BORAT fairly unfamiliar with the work of Sacha Baron Cohen. I had downloaded a few "Ali G" clips but had never experienced Cohen's other characters. I was delighted to make Borat's acquaintance.

The host of a wildly popular show on Kazakhstan TV, Borat acts as a cultural ambassador when he and his producer, Azamat (Ken Davitian) land on American soil, determined to document this strange country for his government's glorious cultural ministry. All goes well as Borat takes a course in understanding American humor and interviews a group of feminists but when he discovers the beauty that America has to offer in the form of C.J. Parker / Pamela Anderson; he begins an errant quest to make her his wife. High five!

The humor of BORAT is one not of cultural snobbishness where we mock a "fish out of Kazakhstan water" protagonist but where the fish is making fun of the waters he's in. Poking fun at rednecks, fratboys, fundamentalists, and gun nuts (among others), no one is safe from his cockeyed observations and probing questions. Some patrons of the earlier BORAT screenings admitted to feeling guilty for laughing at parts of BORAT. I imagine that the rampant political incorrectness of Borat's "culture" has and will make some viewers squeamish (with some to the point of being incensed) but I always admire comedy that plays against conventions in a smart, funny way. BORAT does this.

Laughing to the point of hyperventilating, I haven't had so much fun at a film since SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER, UNCUT.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Another great del Toro

[9/10 · 11 September 2006]

There are terrifying moments as we witness the fated journey of Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) but the true horrors in Guillermo del Toro's film stem from the sadistic Captain Vidal (Sergi López), her stepfather. Austere, severe, he holds few people dear with the possible exception of his unborn son. Captain Vidal is determined to root out the communist rebel fighters who hide in the ancient forest and hills surrounding his country base of operations. Yet, the Captain's own servant Mercedes (Maribel Verdú) and personal physician (Álex Angulo) are in league with the fighters. In her own way, Ofelia is helping them too as she keeps Mercedes' secret.

Added to this riveting war drama is a good dose of magic and magical realism as Ofelia finds the fairies of the forest and learns that she must make several sojourns to the underworld in order to claim her rightful place as heir to the Underworld. At times, it feels like there should be more of this story but it's more of a longing to see the fantastico.

If the pattern holds, we can expect a few Hollywood films (some good, some bad) from del Toro before he does another smaller Spanish language film set in wartime with overtones of horror/fantasy again. That future film along with THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE and PAN'S LABYRINTH will be dubbed "Guillermo del Toro's Somethingerother Trilogy" and sold as a box set of DVDs. Look for it at your local Target store.

Taxidermia (2006)

three generations of fairly twisted fellows

[8/10 · 11 September 2006]

Beginning in World War II-era Hungary, two soldiers stay at a remote country home. The sexually frustrated soldier Vendel (Csaba Czene) concerns himself with myriad masturbation techniques while watching his commanding officer's wife and daughters. The product of his frequent seed spillage, Kálmán (Gergo Trócsányi), grows to comfort his country as a champion eater. While the International Olympic Committee refuses to recognize his sport, Kalman remains stolid and captures the heart of Gizella (Adél Stanczel), a fellow female champion. Their heir, Lajos (Marc Bischoff), has not inherited an ounce of his parents' impressive girth. This sickly lad lives a life of quiet desperation as a taxidermist. A disappointment to his corpulent father, Lajos finds a few lucky solutions to solve his problems.

Following these three generations of fairly twisted fellows, TAXIDERMIA is light on plot but heavy on visuals. Visceral often to the point of being gross, few bodily fluids and orifices go unseen in Palfi's sophomore feature effort. Recommended.

Lights in the Dusk (2006)

Same Stuff Different Day

[7/10 · 11 September 2006]

When you find a formula that works, you often stick to it even to the point of spinning your wheels until you become something of either an establishment or a cliché. Director Aki Kaurismaki may do well to bare this in mind before embarking on his next languid look at sad-faced Finns moving in somnambulistic circles through the streets of Helsinki.

Perhaps considering JUHA and MAN WITHOUT A PAST too fast-paced, Kaurismaki slows down the action in LIGHTS IN THE DARK to a snail's pace.

Despite making me wonder if Kaurismaki is playing it safe by recycling the same ideas, his films are often like comfort food and it would take a lot to make me sick of macaroni and cheese. Rather than keeping on the safe ground, Kaurismaki could follow in the footsteps of his friend and fellow minimalist auteur Jim Jarmusch and make Finnish equivalents of GHOST DOG or DEAD MAN. On second thought, keep with what you're doing, Aki.

Palimpsest (2006)

And you were there and you . And you!

[5/10 · 8 September 2006]

Detective Marek (Andrzej Chyra) is determined to find the killer of his ex-partner. Why ex? The two may or may not have parted ways due to a ménage à trois with Hanna (Magdalena Cielecka) his former partner's dangerously beautiful main squeeze. Marek embarks on a labyrinthine journey through echoing hallways and visual reverberations of repeated phrases and images.

PALIMPSEST began with a lot of promise but it quickly became apparent that somebody has been watching a lot of David Lynch films and that somebody is director Konrad Niewolski. Shocking flashes of flashbacks, backwards dream sequences, and characters who seem to be able to see things that they shouldn't (think Robert Blake's Mystery Man in LOST HIGHWAY) all play into a mystery that isn't all that mysterious especially for link-minded Lynch fans or viewers familiar with fare such as FIGHT CLUB, THE MACHINIST, REVOLVER, 12 MONKEYS, or THE WIZARD OF OZ ("And you were there… and you…. And you!). Don't rush out to see this any time soon.

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

Will Ferrell's best performance (except for maybe Starsky & Hutch)

[8/10 · 8 September 2006]

Definitely cut from that "out there" cloth of Charley Kauffman (ADAPTATION, BEING JOHN MALCOVICH), STRANGER THAN FICTION is a more accessible film. Harold Crick (an understated Will Ferrell) is an IRS agent living a bland life of quiet desperation that's narrated by Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson). Little does he know that he's the main character in Eiffel's latest novel. Luckily, this isn't one of those "writer makes fictional character do dumb things" films a la Rob Reiner's ALEX & EMMA but a fun mix of narrative fiction and schizophrenia.

When a psychologist (Linda Hunt) can't help him, Harold goes to a literature professor (Dustin Hoffman, also thankfully understated) who tries to determine what genre Harold is living. There's also a romance along the way with a baker that Harold is auditing (Maggie Gyllenhaal) that feels a little undercooked. Queen Latifah is also along for the ride in kind of a wasted role and apparently Tom Hulce is somewhere in this film but I just can't remember seeing him in it.

I'm not usually one for Will Ferrell films but was glad to see him playing it relatively straight here. There were very few yelling fits or broad physical comedy. It's actual more of a "serio-comic" performance and, as long as he doesn't go around moping if he doesn't get an Oscar nomination, he could teach Jim Carrey a thing or two about how to easily pass from comedy to dramedy without delving into crap like THE TRUMAN SHOW or MAN IN THE MOON.

Whatever you do, don't watch the preview for this one, though, as it gives away quite a few of the film's finer moments.

The Illusionist (2006)

It's subtle and keeps the story from lurching into something too big for its britches

[7/10 · 8 September 2006]

Based on Steven Millhauser's short story, Eisenheim the Illusionist, this beautifully shot period piece is fairly hokey and completely predictable. That said, I still had a lot of fun watching it come together.

It's a typical boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back story with Edward Norton as Eisenheim, a sleight of hand artist, who falls for the wrong dame, Sophie (Jessica Beal sporting some big choppers and a nice plump heinie in the final shot). She's an aristocrat, way out of his poor boy league. The two are separated by the powers that be, only to be reunited years later when Eisenheim becomes the toast of Vienna and Sophie attends one of his gigs with her almost fiancé Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell doing the darndest Jude-Law-with-ridiculous-mustache impersonation I've ever seen). Also on the scene is Paul Giamatti as Chief Inspector Uhl. He's doing his best to maintain law and order while also favoring the Crown Prince in hopes of political advancement.

There's lots of intrigue with more than enough special effects to go around. Luckily, Eisenheim's illusions are all flash bang wowzer stuff. It's subtle and keeps the story from lurching into something too big for its britches. This is a little film and, rightly, the tricks are small as well. I enjoyed the old time look of the film (the center of the picture is very clear while the edges seem soft and there is a distinct flicker to some flashback scenes) and was able to overlook the odd "we're in a foreign country so let's all have English accents" staple.

Shortbus (2006)

Sophomoric Sophomore Effort

[8 September 2006]

I know that SHORTBUS is John Cameron Mitchell's second film but that's not the kind of "sophomore" I refer to when I call this film "sophomoric." An ensemble piece about love and sex in New York City, SHORTBUS has a good deal of laughs and poignant observations but it's nearly usurped by its "film school senior project" aesthetic.

Reminiscent of countless films I've endured at various "underground" film festivals; SHORTBUS sports uneven acting and relies to heavily on its "frank treatment of human sexuality." That is to say, there are a lot of boobs, butts, and penises on screen in various states of arousal. While I appreciate that this isn't done purely for titillation (and audience tittering), too much of it felt like a "transgressive cinema" reworking of "Sex in the City." Sure to cause a flurry of media attention, SHORTBUS won't live up to the hype. Go try to find a copy of Sarah Jacobson's MARY JANE'S NOT A VIRGIN ANY MORE instead.

Confetti (2006)

If you like Christopher Guest...

[8/10 · 8 September 2006]

There are few things so stressful in life as planning and executing a wedding. When that morass of charged emotions runs headlong into a contest held by Confetti Magazine for the "most original wedding," things are bound to get messy.

Three couples are chosen for their unique wedding ideas: Matt (Martin Freeman) and Sam (Jessica Stevenson) want a Hollywood musical style, Josef (Stephen Mangan) and Isabelle (Meredith MacNeill) vie for a tennis theme, while Michael (Robert Webb) and Joanna (Olivia Colman) are "naturalists" and want their nuptials to be done in the nude. Trying to wrangle these three disparate couples into some kind of order are wedding planners Archie Heron (Vincent Franklin) and Gregory Hough (Jason Watkins) who seem to be channeling Corky St. Clair...

In fact, shot as a documentary, this British ensemble piece is sure to be (justly) compared to Christopher Guest's mockumentaries (WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, A MIGHTY WIND, et cetera). Director Debbie Isitt does a fair job of aping Guest though she doesn't know when to go from documentary hand-held to a smoother choreographed camera and relies too much on non-diegetic music.

Clearly, too, Isitt is aware of the weaknesses to the storyline. Two of the three couples are off screen for long stretches and our "villainous" couple (think Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock from BEST IN SHOW) is mishandled in the finale. Even when they're not working with the best material (how many jokes about a nudist wedding can there be?) the cast does a terrific job keeping the film afloat. Besotted with faces familiar to anglophile TV/film viewers, CONFETTI is an amusing farce.

Days of Glory (2006)

Good performances for a rehash movie

[7/10 · 8 September 2006]

Take one part GLORY (Edward Zwick, USA, 1989), two parts SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (Steven Spielberg, USA, 1998), a pinch of A SOLDIER'S STORY (Norman Jewison, USA, 1984), stir in a dash of French bitters and pour into a Colonial carafe. Say a prayer to Allah and take a sip. You're enjoying a drunk Rachid Buchareb calls INDIGENES.

Exploring the exploitation of French colonials in Algeria and Morocco during World War II, INDIGENES takes its title from the politically correct term for Africa's indigenous peoples. To the less enlightened, these men--though they be brave of heart--are dark of skin and know more commonly by the derisive term "wog." Denied promotion, leave, honor, and tomatoes, these men still strive to defend their wicked step-Motherland against the Germans.

We follow a group of four "wogs" during campaigns in Italy and France. Abdelkader (Sami Bouajila) is an idealist Corporal who gained his rank through study rather than battle. Yassir (Samy Naceri) hopes to earn money to help his beloved brother get married. Messaoud (Roschdy Zem), the sharpshooter, falls for one of the women in a town he helps to liberate. And, Said (Jamel Debbouze) is a bumpkin with a heart of gold who learns the harsh realities of life.

These men are lead by Sgt. Martinez (Bernard Blancan) who bumps his head on the glass ceiling that his white colonial masters have put in place. However, he's in a much better spot than his men as he's a Christian and a Moroccan while his men are Algerian Muslims. These men are the first to die in battles and the last to be shown appreciation. Meanwhile, the French stand offsides during battles and force their rancid culture on their African "children" otherwise.

The performances are top notch and our main characters are some of the most dynamic and multifaceted that I've seen on screen in a while. A lack of screen direction during the battle scenes is disconcerting but, to the dismay of some war film aficionados, these scenes are infrequent. The blatant SAVING PRIVATE RYAN ending is a bit much but it does help bring closure to the film.

Moog (2004)

mumbling, muttering mess

[3/10 · 27 August 2006]

A documentary about Robert Moog, one of the most important figures in electronic music? Yes, please, sign me up. Alas, this premise goes awry from the outset. This mishmash of a documentary feels like a collection of outtakes from a better work. I don't need to see Robert Moog talking about pepper plants and Money Mark diddling around on a synthesizer.

MOOG demonstrates that sometimes it's best to not rely on the subject of the documentary as the subject matter expert of the film. Robert Moog is not the most well-spoken advocate and historian of his life's work. Likewise, showing the electronic guts of his machines doesn't do much to explain how they work or why Moog's work is important to the music world.

When utilizing archive footage, MOOG works. Unfortunately, these moments are few and far between leaving MOOG a mumbling, muttering mess for its interminable seventy-two minutes. Moog and electronica deserve better.