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10Sep

Reviews in Short: September 2012

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Headhunters Roger (Aksel Hennie, Norway’s answer to Steve Buscemi) is a little guy whose gorgeous wife Diana (Synnove Macody Lund, Norway’s answer to Sweden) has expensive tastes. So Roger, a corporate headhunter, supplements his income with a side business in stolen art. And then … things begin to go wrong for Roger. The twists in this clever thriller are unpredictable, and the action is relentless; in fact, things move so fast that I’m not sure whether the plot holds up. But hey, you could say the same thing about some Hitchcock classics. Release: 2011 Grade: B+

*****

The Silent House Young Laura and her father are hired to repair an abandoned cottage — but this is an old-dark-house movie (sort of), so we know that trouble’s afoot. There’s a fine line between “artistic license” and a storyline that cheats, so how you feel about the twist at the end of this low-budget chiller from Uruguay — shot in one well-choreographed, 78-minute take — will likely depend on what you feel is fair. But until its iffy denouement, this House harbors solid suspense and delivers a few genuine jolts. Release: 2010 Grade: B

*****

Heavenly Creatures The attractions here are Peter Jackson’s direction, the performances by Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey, and New Zealand doing what New Zealand does best — looking like New Zealand. But the dark story, based on an actual murder carried out by two teens in 1954, is less compelling than off-putting. Release: 1994 Grade: B

01Aug

Reviews in Short: August 2012

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Hachi: A Dog’s Tale If you’re not an animal lover, the first hour of this little-seen tearjerker about a man and his dog might seem an interminable bore because, other than scenes of Richard Gere playing with a furry little critter (stop it; I know what you’re thinking), not much happens. But if you do have a soft spot for pets, the last 30 minutes of this film … sorry, I have to go find some tissues now. Release: 2009 Grade: B+

*****

M The opening half of Austrian director Fritz Lang’s first talkie hasn’t aged particularly well — too much police procedural and a lack of interesting characters — but stay tuned for part two, in which bug-eyed Peter Lorre gives a performance that is absolutely riveting. Lorre plays Beckert, an androgynous pedophile who terrorizes Berlin with a series of child murders. The hunting of Beckert, Lorre’s deer-in-the-headlights flight, and his “trial” by the city’s underworld are the stuff of cinema legend. Release: 1931 Grade: A-

*****

The Divide Tenants take refuge in the basement of an apartment building when a nuclear bomb levels their city — and that’s just the beginning of their ordeal. Stretches of the film are like a nightmare: surreal and unsettling, but also absorbing. The Divide’s downfall is a screenplay with characters who are all unpleasant or bland, and a plot that degenerates into one disturbing scene of human depravity after another. Release: 2012 Grade: C

*****

My Life as a Dog Life is tough for 12-year-old Ingemar in 1959 Sweden, but the kid’s pain is our gain in this charming comedy-drama. Director Lasse Hallstrom finds the perfect emotional balance as he depicts the early adolescence of Ingemar, who is shuffled from one home to another when his terminally ill mother can no longer care for him and his brother. If that sounds maudlin, not to worry. The oddball characters Ingemar meets — and some marvelous acting — lift this movie out of the doldrums and into the realm of coming-of-age classics. Release: 1985 Grade: A-

26Jul

The Ides of March

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My name is Grouchy, and I am a politics junkie. My pusher is the media, and my enabler is cable news. If you tell me that you’ve got a political movie starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei and Paul Giamatti … I am there. I mean, I was a big fan of The West Wing — weren’t you?

Alas, watching The Ides of March is more like watching an energy debate on C-SPAN. It feeds the junkie’s habit, but that’s about it.

Gosling stars as Stephen, a hotshot campaign manager who, during a crucial Democratic primary in Ohio, uncovers political dirt that threatens his ideals and career. And therein lies the problem with The Ides of March. Gosling, attractive and talented as he may be, is not very convincing as some babe in the political woods; he’s too old and too savvy to be shocked or disillusioned by the antics of men in power.

Then, too, the screenplay itself (co-written by Clooney) seems about 20 years behind the times. In this age of Internet blogs and cable-news gossip, it takes a lot to shock an audience. So why are so many of the characters in this movie knocked off their feet by the plot’s “scandals”? And I’m not referring solely to an unsavory sex revelation.

Clooney could have used West Wing’s Aaron Sorkin to punch up his dialogue. Consider this line from Evan Rachel Wood to Gosling, which is supposed to represent flirtation:

Wood: “You’re the big man on campus. I’m just a lowly intern.”

Or this exchange between Gosling and Tomei, the latter playing a print journalist:

Tomei: “You met with Duffy.”

Gosling: “Who told you that?”

Tomei: “A little bird.”

And this bon mot tossed off by Hoffman, rising from his chair after a confab with colleagues: “And on that note, I’m gonna take a shit.”

Somewhere, Sorkin is rolling over in his HBO money.

The movie is watchable because Clooney gets some real juice out of the other actors, especially Giamatti. And, speaking as a politics junkie, it’s amusing to see the liberal Clooney make a film about Democrats who project the exact opposite of “hope and change.” And on that note, I’m gonna– Grade: B

Director: George Clooney Cast: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Max Minghella, Jennifer Ehle Release: 2011

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13Jul

Extraterrestrial

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Half the battle of making a good romantic comedy comes with the casting. If your main characters are personable, the audience will forgive a host of ancillary sins: a silly story, clunky dialogue, dime-store special effects. Too many American rom-coms ask us to empathize with young people who are very pretty — and self-absorbed, and snarky, and spoiled. Self-awareness replaces charisma; insults pass for wit.

Extraterrestrial, a Spanish romantic comedy, features people behaving badly, absurd plot turns, and not much in the way of special effects, but none of that really matters because the protagonists are so darned appealing.

Julio (Julian Villagran) wakes up in bed after a night of heavy partying. But it’s not his own bed. And it’s not his wife who is in the kitchen making coffee. Those are the least of Julio’s morning surprises. When he and new bedmate Julia (Michelle Jenner) detect an eerie calm in her neighborhood and take a gander out the window, they spot a flying saucer hovering in the sky.

That UFO is a plot device, so don’t go into Extraterrestrial expecting to see any, well, extraterrestrials. Instead, expect to see Julia’s boyfriend (Raul Cimas), a good-natured oaf who is clueless about space invaders and girlfriend invaders alike, and expect to meet a comical endomorph named Angel (Carlos Areces), a bachelor who lives next door and who turns a budding love triangle into an even messier love quadrangle.

All four Madrilenians hole up in the apartment building. Paranoia, slapstick, and secret trysts ensue. The script, wobbly from the get-go, continues to fall apart as these dimwits do dimwitted things, but the whole thing is so good-hearted and unpredictable that it doesn’t really matter. Well, maybe just a bit. Grade: B

Director: Nacho Vigalondo Cast: Michelle Jenner, Julian Villagran, Carlos Areces, Raul Cimas, Miguel Noguera Release: 2012

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01Jul

Reviews in Short: July 2012

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Shallow Grave Three Edinburgh roommates (excuse me, “flatmates”) advertise for a fourth — and wind up with a suitcase full of money and a dead man in the house. Director Danny Boyle’s film is clever and unpredictable, but not particularly suspenseful. That’s because the leads are all so unsympathetic that, really, it’s hard to much care what happens to them. Release: 1994 Grade: B

*****

The Artist A valentine to old Hollywood — and not just silent movies, but that whole era comprising “the way they used to make ’em.” If you’ve seen A Star Is Born or Sunset Boulevard, then the basic storyline will be familiar, but who cares when it’s this well done? And kudos to a Jack Russell terrier named Uggie. Says a (subtitled) cop: “I’ll say one thing, he [the film’s hero] owes his life to that dog!” The filmmakers might owe a Best Picture Oscar to that dog. Release: 2011 Grade: A

*****

The Robber An ex-con finds that life on the outside is better when he runs marathon races, bangs a social worker … and robs banks. The robberies and chases, when they come, are exciting, but for a movie about bank heists and running, too much of The Robber moves at a snail’s pace. Compounding the funereal tone of the film is a romance between our bad-guy hero (Andreas Lust) and his girlfriend (Franziska Weisz), both of whom exude all the heat and passion of an Austrian winter. Release: 2010 Grade: C+

*****

The Illusionist Proving that animated films aren’t just for kids, this whimsical ode to fatherhood is gorgeous and, yes, sentimental, but not overly so. Based on an unproduced script by legendary French comic Jacques Tati, the story concerns a down-on-his-luck magician whose travels through Europe in 1959 land him an unexpected ward: a doe-eyed Scottish lass named Alice. It’s a quiet movie, nearly silent, but its striking images and simple story might leave you believing that magic exists, after all. Release: 2010 Grade: B+

*****

Cronos On the plus side, Guillermo del Toro’s debut feature is visually arresting and boasts a few memorable scenes. But the movie’s story, in which an antiques dealer and his young granddaughter share a secret about a magical artifact, is paper-thin. The result is fantasy that’s moderately absorbing, but never scary and not nearly as touching as it wants to be. Release: 1993 Grade: B-

*****

Evil Dead II OK, so maybe you have to be “in the mood” for it, but if you are, Sam Raimi’s sequel to The Evil Dead is about as close as Hollywood ever got to a live-action Looney Tune, melding horror and slapstick with an emphasis on laughs. And if they gave out Oscars for performances in low-budget splatter flicks, lantern-jawed Bruce Campbell would be a shoo-in. Campbell’s priceless mugging, Raimi’s frenetic camerawork, and some hilariously hokey special effects ensure that this is still the best “cabin in the woods” movie ever made. Release: 1987 Grade: B+

26Jun

Arabesque (1966)

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Arabesque is one of those entertaining blasts from the past that gets little respect. Riding the ’60s wave of James Bond-inspired romps, it seems to fit the definition of “second best”: It was director Stanley Donen’s second spy thriller, after Charade, and how could Donen be expected to top that? Its male star, Gregory Peck, was a bit long in the tooth to be darting through dark alleys and wooing sexy femme fatales (in 1966, Peck was 50; by contrast, James Bond portrayer Sean Connery was just 35). And its female lead, Sophia Loren, was … OK, I take it back, because there was nothing “second best” about Loren.

Here’s what I like about Arabesque:

1) The teaming of Peck and Loren. Peck was probably miscast as a flip Oxford professor — his drug-addled bicycle ride on a busy London highway is more bizarre than thrilling — and Loren seems more interested in her Dior wardrobe than in the movie itself, but they both exude star power, and their sense of fun is contagious.

2) The score by Henry Mancini. Was there a better film composer working in the 1960s? Think of the Pink Panther films, or any Blake Edwards drama, and it’s impossible not to also think of Mancini’s catchy theme music.

3) Arabesque’s plot is complicated: Professor Peck gets ensnarled with warring Arabs who are desperately trying to decode some hieroglyphics. But the plot is just there to service more important elements, like the Peck-Loren pairing, ’60s-cool London locations, and a string of madcap chase scenes.

And finally, if 55-year-old Cary Grant could scamper over Mount Rushmore in North by Northwest, why shouldn’t 50-year-old Gregory Peck ride a bicycle? Grade: B+

Director: Stanley Donen Cast: Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren, Alan Badel, Kieron Moore, Carl Duering, John Merivale, Duncan Lamont Release: 1966

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20Jun

Tamara Drewe

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Is it just me, or did bedroom farces — a Hollywood fixture for as long as there’s been a Hollywood — lose some of their appeal when the characters began actually using their bedrooms? If Doris Day had hopped into the sack with Tony Randall or, more likely, if Rock Hudson had hopped into the sack with Tony Randall, wouldn’t that have put a damper on their pillow talk?

In today’s romantic comedies, there’s no Annette turning green when Frankie shares his surfboard with a blonde, and no Frankie freaking out when Annette smiles at a lifeguard. Movies don’t ask, “Will she, or won’t she?” Now they ask, “Did she do it with the whole team, or just with the starting lineup?”

In Tamara Drewe, the title character shares her bed with nearly all of her male co-stars … but gosh darn it, I like the movie, anyway. That’s because, at heart, the film resembles those old Doris-and-Rock romances — but with a British spin and a bit more wit.

Besides, how can anyone dislike a movie that takes place at a hotbed of glamour, vanity, and repressed lust: a “writer’s retreat”?

Into this nest of constipated curmudgeons and academic boors bursts Tamara (Gemma Arterton), a local girl drawn back to rural Ewedown after the death of her mother. Tamara, a one-time ugly duckling nicknamed “Beakie” in her school days, recently underwent rhinoplasty and is quite happy with her new nose. The local men — all of them — notice much more than Tamara’s nose. So does a visiting rock star. And so do two troublemaking teen girls (young Jessica Barden and Charlotte Christie, stealing every scene they appear in).

Loosely based on a graphic novel, which in turn was inspired by Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd, Tamara Drewe also apes the formula of those ’60s Hollywood comedies: Romance wants to bloom, but misunderstandings and comical obstacles (including those bratty teenage girls) conspire to keep lovers apart. Everyone behaves badly or stupidly, but we don’t care because they are all so bloody likeable. Well, most of them are. Grade: B+

Director: Stephen Frears Cast: Gemma Arterton, Roger Allam, Bill Camp, Dominic Cooper, Luke Evans, Tamsin Greig, Jessica Barden, Charlotte Christie, James Naughtie, John Bett Release: 2010

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14Jun

Count Yorga, Vampire (1970)

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Last week, I watched a ghost story called The Woman in Black. It’s a $15 million studio production, designed as a post-Harry Potter vehicle for superstar Daniel Radcliffe. It was pretty and polished, but I doubt if I’ll remember a thing about it in three months.

Forty-two years ago, I sat in a small, dingy cinema in rural Minnesota and watched a monster movie called Count Yorga, Vampire. Its budget was $64,000 and it was originally conceived as a soft-core horror film. It was el cheapo, to be sure, but Yorga made an impression on me that’s lasted four decades.

Thanks for the memories (or nightmares), Robert Quarry and Bob Kelljan. Thank who, you ask? Good question. Quarry, the actor who played the title character, and Kelljan, the film’s writer-director, don’t have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They weren’t exactly hot properties back in 1970, either.

“We had just four crew members — that was it,” said Quarry in a 2004 interview. “There was one makeup man and a few guys with little arc lights. You say the film was ‘dark and mysterious.’ The film was dark and mysterious because we didn’t have enough lights!”

Kelljan didn’t have much money, but he had something better, something that the makers of Woman in Black apparently lacked: creativity and a passion for his movie. If you can overlook Yorga’s cheesy production values — admittedly, no easy feat — the film has some genuinely scary moments. I’m thinking of three scenes in particular: one involving a couple stranded in a van on an isolated road; a second featuring a woman and her … well, what used to be her cat; and a third in which the suave, menacing count has a final showdown with his nemesis, a doctor played by veteran TV actor Roger Perry.

Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee be damned, Quarry’s mocking, triumphant bloodsucker in that climactic scene is as good as it gets. Said a reviewer in the New York Times: “Robert Quarry [is] the best chief vampire I have seen in years.”

The acting is all-around respectable — something not common in B-movies of the period — and Kelljan’s script was even seminal in one respect: In having Yorga take up residence in modern-day Los Angeles, the cinematic vampire was at last removed from his previous haunts in 19th-century Europe. Fans of Twilight and True Blood can thank Kelljan for the immigration.

At times, the bare-bones production values even work in the film’s favor, because we aren’t distracted by Hollywood gloss. Yorga’s retro scenery, jerky edits, and scratchy soundtrack are more realistic than many of today’s “found footage” productions. Grade: B

Director: Bob Kelljan Cast: Robert Quarry, Roger Perry, Michael Murphy, Michael Macready, Donna Anders, Judy Lang, Edward Walsh, Julie Conners, Sybil Scotford, Marsha Jordan Release: 1970

Watch the Trailer (click here)

09Jun

Prometheus

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Well, at least he gave it the old college try. Ridley Scott, the man who gifted us with the sci-fi classics Alien and Blade Runner, is back at age 74 to see if he can’t make it a triple treat.

Prometheus has most of the requisite ingredients: top-notch actors, state-of-the-art special effects and, from Scott himself, energetic pacing and some memorable set pieces. But his movie suffers from that old bugaboo, a lackluster script.

The film contains a surprising amount of recycled, stale material, both from the Alien franchise and from myriad other science-fiction films. Scott, rather than capitalize on what made his own Alien so good — creepiness, claustrophobia, and characters — instead borrows from its sequel, James Cameron’s Aliens, with its emphasis on action and special effects. Instead of great Scott, we get so-so Cameron.

When I think back to the original Alien, I think of Sigourney Weaver’s “Ripley” battling both male chauvinism and interstellar horrors. When I think back to Blade Runner, I think of Rutger Hauer’s replicant, feeling the rain stream down his cheek, smiling wistfully, and saying, “Time … to die.” There are no such memorable characters or moments in Prometheus.

There are, however, dazzling sets and kick-ass effects. The $120 million budget and spectacular European scenery are put to good use.

As in the original Alien, this film begins with a small crew on a mission to deep space. Ancient rock drawings, discovered in a cave on Earth, appear to depict a star map, and so a hybrid crew of scientists and at least one evil corporate-type is dispatched to discover the map’s message. Or, at least some of them are. If that sounds familiar, that’s because it is.

The movie does raise intriguing questions. Did life originate on Earth, or was it brought here? Do we share DNA with life elsewhere in the universe? Is “God” benevolent, hostile, or even godlike?

Films like Contact dealt with these issues intelligently. Expecting Ridley Scott, or anyone, to come up with answers to those questions is, of course, expecting too much. But I don’t think it’s asking too much to expect a bit more originality from this movie. Or some characters worth remembering. Grade: B

Director: Ridley Scott Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Logan Marshall-Green, Sean Harris, Rafe Spall, Emun Elliott, Benedict Wong, Kate Dickie Release: 2012

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07Jun

Revanche (2008)

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In recent years, just about every Hollywood thriller is expected to have “the twist.” At some point near the climax of the film, we discover that nothing is as it seemed, or no one is as we thought.

Problem is, very few of these twists hold up to scrutiny. Most of them are ridiculous or, at the very least, implausible. I walked out of The Sixth Sense in 1999 and thought to myself, “Wow — they really got me!” Today, I generally soak in the obligatory twist and think, “What a load of bunk!”

There are twists in the Austrian thriller Revanche, but they are so subtle, so realistic and organic, flowing naturally from events and characters, that they really shouldn’t be called “twists.” They are unexpected dramatic turns.

The plot: An ex-con brings his girlfriend along as he robs a bank. Tragedy ensues. The action shifts to the countryside, where the robber takes refuge with his elderly grandfather, who happens to be neighbor to a cop and the cop’s unhappy wife.

What follows is slow-paced by Hollywood standards, yet it’s always absorbing — and often unexpected. Grade: B+

Director: Gotz Spielmann Cast: Johannes Krisch, Irina Potapenko, Andreas Lust, Ursula Strauss, Johannes Thanheiser, Hanno Poschl Release: 2008

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