Bonjour---my poor abandoned readers, alas, I have been off having various octomom adventures with the BF and family and have thus been unable to rant and rave about recent cinematic uprisings, but I am happy to report that I have not been a stranger to the cinema.
Theatrical Releases:
Shuttle (2008) -- The feature directorial debut of Edward Anderson (the screenwriter of that decent Demi Moore/Michael Caine diamond heist thriller, Flawless - 2007) proves to be a decent, if not entirely polished little tale that slowly and effectively reveals itself as the plot evolves. However, I found most of the tension develops because one is forced to watch four able bodied men and women consistently miss out on more than enough chances to escape from a sadistic situation making them all seem, well, like they deserve what they get. The plot revolves around two young women returning to the US from Mexico on a late flight, and the ominous metro shuttle they board with two young men flirtatiously following. The situation quickly becomes intense when all characters realize that the driver of the shuttle (the effectively creepy
Tony Curran, from Red Road - 2006) is going to rob them, and possibly more. While the plot starts off smart and sassy (the driver sneakily convinces the larger of the two young men to help change a tire only to subsequently lose all his fingers on one hand) it's not long before the shoddily written female characterizations float to the top like a bilious, gassy corpse. Our heroine even gets hold of the gun and neglects to shoot her assailant---keep in mind this is after the driver and his partner (a sneakily placed passenger) have already killed the two men---gets a chance to run around in a grocery store and makes the most laughable effort to alert the authorities, and it goes on from there. I don't even have the energy to write out my frustration with the passive females of Shuttle. The cityscape is effectively creepy, (turns out it was Boston) and like a good film noir, even the uncaring city seems determined to swallow the girls alive. However, too many unrealistic elements (there's no cell phone reception in the hood?) weighs heavily on the film, despite an excellent disturbing ending (which I would have cheered at had this ending been tacked on the end of Taken -- 2009). Additionally, as the BF pointed out after the film, there are way too many easier methods of abducting young women for the sex trade (I'm not ruining anything a smart person wouldn't already derive from the film's poster). I realize that this may be to mislead a jaded audience, however, the shit just doesn't add up. To pick up two young women from the airport on a late flight (that suspiciously don't have prearranged transportation) seems like the most difficult way to lure someone into a trap---too many misnomers. Also, you might giggle at a portrait that looks like it was lifted out of W magazine shoot in Pago Pago, but I don't want to ruin the best part of the film. And kitty litter. Gross.
Gomorra (2008) --- I have heard so many raves about this gritty mafia movie that has swept the film festival circuit that I was certain it would flatten under it's own reputation. Which is not to say Gomorra is a bad film. Based on a book by Roberto Saviano that details the exploits of the modern Italian crime scene (apparently the author is still in hiding) the film is, as critics have already pointed out, a stripped down and unromanticized look at the Italian mafia. I do have a fascination with lifting up colossal cobblestones in the gloom and shining a flashlight at the insects and creatures that thrive in the dark recesses of nature---however, my arm would get tired holding the rock up for two hours. This is a bit how I felt about Gomorra---it's so unromanticized that you realize you are indeed watching greasy, awful men do multiple awful things for two hours. That's it. Kaput. I know that we love to cherish Tony Soprano and Coppola's Godfather trilogy--but in reality, that's what these characters are--they foster anarchy, machismo,
prostitution, and degradation from an undeserved parapet of power revolving around an exorbitant amount of money. Doesn't that seem rather irritating when phrased that way? I spent most of Gomorra asking myself why people put up with such bullshit. And the two young numbskulls featured on the film's poster shooting heavy artillery in their underwear? Well, the film does take some time in getting around to the inevitable, to which characters in the film comment on the trouble taken to dispose of two young miscreants the law obviously doesn't concern itself with protecting. A film that may make you thankful to live in a country without the mafia, in the end, is just a little lengthy and a bit random (as it focuses on several different story lines in connection with the mob) for me to completely get into. You can only watch assholes get away with doing bad things for so long before you go to that special place in your head. Like when George Bush was in office for eight years. You feel me?
The Black Balloon (2008) -- A strange and albeit heartwarming film from the Outback starring the eternally beautiful Toni Collette (also pregnant here, as in Towelhead - 2007), The Black Balloon tells the quiet story of the Mollison family. Collette and husband have two grown boys, one of whom happens to be autistic. The film is basically about the trials and travails of family and also accepting and loving those that are mentally challenged around us. The film does have some surprisingly uncomfortable moments that caused some verbal reactions from me, which is getting rare these days. A birthday fight scene is exceptionally well played. I found the weak point of the film to be supermodel Gemma Ward---who is not such a bad actress, just distractingly strange looking. The way Gemma's eyes are positioned on her head make her look like a lamprey, or one of those deep sea creatures who have their own personal light making appendages as they live too deep in the sea to ever see anything remotely known as light. Or in Gemma's case, remotely known as pretty. Yes, I'm being harsh. But sometimes the world makes me shake my head. She's a supermodel. Wow. All in all, a pretty good film. See it for Toni. Directed by Elissa Down.
The Last House on the Left (2009) -- Now, I have always thought Wes Craven was an awful filmmaker whether or not he had the command of a decent budget, so I was not saddened to see this particular remake. As I recently blogged about the original film, I'll cut to the chase. LHOTL is an effective and engaging revenge thriller with some pretty decent acting, a good soundtrack, and excellent cinematography. The rape sequence is particularly graphic and disturbing and the murderous family dynamics were changed to be a bit more realistic. The weakest point, I found, was Monica Potter. Poor, poor Miss Potter--- I want to like her, but she always does something stupid. She was useless in Saw (2004), contemptible in Along Came a Spider (2001), and that leaves her best performance (that I've been witness to) as Patch Adams (1998)---Now that's sad. It might be the point of the director or producers to show that women (or wealthy white women) are unable to inflict, horrible, violent pain on deserving individuals (you know, like the men that raped and brutally beat your only daughter), as Potter's character continually drops the ball in exacting worthy vengeance (I'm not going to lie, I was hoping for a revamp of that famous fellatio torture scene) but thankfully, Tony Goldwyn (the bad guy from Ghost - 1990) makes up for her lack. I'm still curious to see Dennis Iliadis' first film, Hardcore (2004), in which it sounds like the females aren't so afraid to fuck some shit up.
I Love You, Man (2009) -- I'm not sure I have a whole lot to say for this venture. It's neither astounding, nor horrible (if you haven't seen it, go rent Role Models - 2008 if you need a Paul Rudd fix). I kept thinking throughout this film that I felt bad for nice straight guys---it doesn't seem easy trying to find a friend. I will say this, of all the comparable comedies to come out in this same vein (Role Models, The 40 Year Old Virgin, etc), this film was the most gay positive, with Adam Samberg playing Rudd's younger gay brother. And though it's nice to see Jane Curtin looking good, she's in a wasted role here as Rudd's mom. In the end, Rashida Jones didn't seem like a great match for Rudd and their forced chemistry is hurt by the lack of screen time promoting friendship chemistry between the leading men. Nice try for the bromance. Men are so awkward when you try to portray them as having emotions that have nothing to do with sex, or other activities they don't have to be emotional about. Anything else, and they seem, well, gay. Muahhhh!!
Amarcord (1973) -- I am so thankful I had the chance to see this Fellini masterpiece for the first time in the theater. Fellini's last commercially successful film (that also won him Best Foreign Film) Amarcord (or "I Remember") is a bustling picture full of action and energy that stands as a loving homage to Fellini's life growing up in an Italian coastal town in the 1930's. Typical grandiose Fellini at times, the film is hilarious and heartfelt. As a fellow cinema lover, I appreciated the repeated Gary Cooper references, and touches of Norma Shearer and Jean Harlowe. If you like film you can't help but love Fellini, especially when he's in top form. But don't be too tired--there's a lot to take in, especially if you don't speak Italian. The BF said I remind him of Volpina, the mad nymphomaniac, who looks like Amy Poehler in a fright wig. I'm giggling thinking about that wench as I write this.
Now, I know I have been neglecting writing about the DVDs I have been watching. Stay tuned for an open letter meant to humiliate a director I hope you've never heard of named Jorge Ameer and his sad tripe of celluloid, House of Adam (2006). Please, please don't rent it or anything else from this pompous ass of a director/writer/producer/actor/speaker/cinematographer/pretentious/asshole/moron. Just stay tuned for the word.
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