danpink-1 Reviews

ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway (2007)

entertaining and informative

[8/10 · 28 February 2009]

This documentary is perfect for both theater people and non-theater people --- really, anybody who's ever gone to a musical and had a good time. It gives a pretty good account of the long, sometimes arduous process of writing, rehearsing, and staging a musical. It's informative, it's entertaining, it's funny. It's very inspiring to see a group of people doing what they love to do (it's like Man on Wire in that sense), but it's very honest about the fact that shows close early, people can be out on the streets pretty quickly, and there is a sense of sadness as well as joy to the film.

The only reason I don't give it ten stars is that its issues are not as important as, say, "When the Levee Broke" or "Sicko." But it does what it sets out to do, is well worth watching, and I know I'll be watching it more than once.

WALL·E (2008)

Great beginning, but disappointing

[6/10 · 5 July 2008]

The first 30 minutes of this movie are brilliant: grim, funny, touching, wonderful visual style, and the wordless creation of a truly lovable character.

Unfortunately, it's not only downhill from there, the last ten minutes completely undermine all that was brilliant in a desperate attempt to tack on a "Hollywood ending." The director, artists, and screenwriters hauntingly create a believable planet full of garbage, toxic dust storms so devastating that even the indestructible WALL•E has to take shelter when they come up. WALL•E's loneliness, his breaking heart, his consolation in an old artifact of a dead civilization, and his love for EVE are all heartbreaking, endearing, and carry their message lightly. I was swept away, and until WALL•E left earth, I was ready to call this the second greatest animated film ever (after SPIRITED AWAY).

But then it turns into a pretty standard quest film (see WIZARD OF OZ, FINDING NEMO, etc.). Worse yet, when AUTO very sensibly tries to stop the humans from returning to an uninhabitable planet, AUTO is suddenly the bad guy and the authors steal SHAMELESSLY from 2001.

In the end, the humans win out, because if they do in Kubrick, they sure as hell HAVE TO in Disney. Our descendants go back to Earth, and GUESS WHAT! The brilliant opening of the film? Gosh, the filmmakers were just kidding, folks! The earth was habitable after all. All the pathetic roly-poly humans have to do is plant a few geraniums and the sun comes out! The earth turns green! The toxic storms disappear!

I don't insist on popular entertainment being relentlessly down. But my message to the filmmakers: if you want the upbeat ending, then tone down the opening. If you want the grim opening, then the ending is a patent lie. Make up your minds.

Sweet Land (2005)

outstanding and soulful

[9/10 · 5 January 2007]

I expected something slow, understated, glorifying the period, and more admirable than moving. Was I happily surprised! The film is well-paced, extraordinarily funny, and a moving love story. The framing device (it begins and ends in the present day) gives it an immediacy period stories sometimes lack. But perhaps more importantly, there is no sentimentalizing the harsh life of prairie farmers in the early decades of the 20th century. The work was unbelievably hard, and in many cases, a farmer's only reward was financial ruin.

The script and direction are first-rate. The performances, by a mixture of veteran character actors and the best of Minnesota's stage & screen talent, are full of both nuance and vigor. A beautiful pair of performances by Elisabeth Reaser and Tim Guinee bring the film's soul to life. I wish they'd be rewarded with Oscar nominations (the script ought to be, too), but I fear the movie is just not on Hollywood's radar.

Films like this don't come along often. I urge you not only to go see this, but to bring everyone over the age of 6 that you know.

Darkness in Tallinn (1993)

One nerve-racking film!

[9/10 · 2 February 2005]

I first saw this at a foreign film festival. It's a beautifully paced nail-biter about a plot to relieve the Estonian treasury of a billion or so in gold. It's all shot in a gritty, grainy style that Hollywood rarely uses --- but it captures the atmosphere of the newly emancipated Baltic states beautifully (note: Tallin was actually looking a lot less grim in 2003 when I was there).

There's a lot of humor and some romance, too. I don't want to spoil a number of startling yet logical surprises, so I'll just say this heist film starts from a great script, and the directing and performances are top notch. DARKNESS IN TALLIN is simply the fastest and most nerve-racking example of its genre --- I'd put it up against RAFIFI, TOPKAPI, and it's miles ahead of the new OCEAN'S 11, though (deliberately) not as glossy. RENT OR BUY IT NOW.