It's the Mayans, of all things! That's what I thought, anyway, going into "Apocalypto," Gibson's much-anticipated (by me, Diane Sawyer, and ABC/Disney) follow-up to The Passion. Turns out, Mel's latest passion is the same as his old passion: the unflinching depiction of extreme scenes of torture and death, for indeterminate entertainment value.
My high hopes for Apocalypto stemmed from the fine job he did bringing to vivid life, in every flesh-ripping detail, the final hours of Jesus that every Catholic altar boy has imprinted on his brain from his first "Stations of the Cross" duty. My hopes came tumbling down faster than the severed heads of those unfortunate human sacrifices the Mayan high priests tossed off those authentically steep steps of their temple an hour into this gorefest. (Why did the Mayans sacrifice young and healthy male captives, anyway? Who built their temples and produced their food? No wonder their agriculture-based civilization died out. It was either that or gingivitis, judging from the close-ups).
Truth is, Gibson does no favors to the almost-forgotten, thousand-year civilization of the Maya, who in their heyday had a highly-developed society that excelled in art, architecture, mathematics, and had a complex writing system. Judging from their behavior in this movie, you wonder how this bloodthirsty rabble stopped their human sacrifice rituals long enough to build, write, or create anything. They should have just stayed in the jungle, Gibson seems to be saying, like the 'noble savages' who are the heroes of the movie, in spite of his depiction of them as a bunch of crude practical jokesters. Frankly, I wouldn't want to spend any time in either side's company, let alone 139 minutes.
Of course, one of the reasons The Passion worked and this film doesn't is that Mel had better writers the first time. (Four guys -- non-Guild members -- as I recall). Here, left to his own limited screenwriting abilities, Gibson relies on every hackneyed, overwrought, and ridiculously-improbable plot device to tell the story of one young father's struggle to overcome unspeakable torture and certain death to rescue his ... oh, why bother!
Friday, December 29, 2006
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Babbling About 'Babel'
/////SPOILER ALERT!! Do not read this if you haven't seen the movie! /////
In case anyone is wondering why I didn't exit the screening of "Babel" weeping and hugging my fellow man (as other critics apparently have done), the reason is that I simply didn't buy into the conceit: first, the Japanese connection to the the other two stories was tenuous at best (her father gave his shotgun to the Moroccan villager who sold it to the father of the boys...). I concede this as a minor point, and it doesn't diminish the power of the deaf teenager's plight to the movie's compelling premise of global miscommunication.
But a movie of intersecting storylines is only as good as its weakest link. This film's fatal flaw is its least-engaging storyline: the one that takes place in Mexico. And it does diminish the impact of the movie's premise. Not only do these Mexican scenes run-on too long (leaving the impatient viewer to think "I wonder what is going on in Morocco and Japan?") but the actions of the principals run the gamut from indefensible to unbelievably stupid. True to Gonzalez-Inarritu's nonlinear style, the enormity of his characters' stupidity is not revealed until the end of the movie, leaving the audience felling like fools for investing the last two hours sympathizing with characters who behave so foolishly.
Specifically, the phone call Brad Pitt's character makes from the hospital to his Mexican nanny essentially tells her 'the mother of the two children in your care is fighting for her life in a Moroccan hospital after spending an entire day bleeding on a dirt floor' and this nanny thinks: "NOW would be a good time for a family road trip"?? Ridiculous!
And she compounds her questionable judgment by entrusting these kids to her irresponsible, authority-hating nephew? Who then, in the apex of bad judgment that must be a family trait, drops them off in the middle of the desert -- at night -- in order to more easily outrun the border partrol? Unbelievable!
But he promises to come back for them! Yeah, right: pick them up by the third cactus on the right, Einstein!
Thus, the larger issues of man's inability to communicate with his fellow global villagers, not to mention the issues surrounding the tense, mutually-distrustful relationships between Americans and Mexican nationals, are left in the Southwestern dust. That is my definition of an 'ambitious failure.'
But don't take my word for it. Here is what playwright/director Neil LaBute had to say about it in a recent Hollywood Reporter interview: "The script [for Babel] is interesting to talk about with that one. The script was there, obviously. It has to be, but I didn't feel it so strongly. The timeline, the break in the timelines, the pacing -- they were very tenuous. And I thought the connection to the Japanese story was very slight."
In case anyone is wondering why I didn't exit the screening of "Babel" weeping and hugging my fellow man (as other critics apparently have done), the reason is that I simply didn't buy into the conceit: first, the Japanese connection to the the other two stories was tenuous at best (her father gave his shotgun to the Moroccan villager who sold it to the father of the boys...). I concede this as a minor point, and it doesn't diminish the power of the deaf teenager's plight to the movie's compelling premise of global miscommunication.
But a movie of intersecting storylines is only as good as its weakest link. This film's fatal flaw is its least-engaging storyline: the one that takes place in Mexico. And it does diminish the impact of the movie's premise. Not only do these Mexican scenes run-on too long (leaving the impatient viewer to think "I wonder what is going on in Morocco and Japan?") but the actions of the principals run the gamut from indefensible to unbelievably stupid. True to Gonzalez-Inarritu's nonlinear style, the enormity of his characters' stupidity is not revealed until the end of the movie, leaving the audience felling like fools for investing the last two hours sympathizing with characters who behave so foolishly.
Specifically, the phone call Brad Pitt's character makes from the hospital to his Mexican nanny essentially tells her 'the mother of the two children in your care is fighting for her life in a Moroccan hospital after spending an entire day bleeding on a dirt floor' and this nanny thinks: "NOW would be a good time for a family road trip"?? Ridiculous!
And she compounds her questionable judgment by entrusting these kids to her irresponsible, authority-hating nephew? Who then, in the apex of bad judgment that must be a family trait, drops them off in the middle of the desert -- at night -- in order to more easily outrun the border partrol? Unbelievable!
But he promises to come back for them! Yeah, right: pick them up by the third cactus on the right, Einstein!
Thus, the larger issues of man's inability to communicate with his fellow global villagers, not to mention the issues surrounding the tense, mutually-distrustful relationships between Americans and Mexican nationals, are left in the Southwestern dust. That is my definition of an 'ambitious failure.'
But don't take my word for it. Here is what playwright/director Neil LaBute had to say about it in a recent Hollywood Reporter interview: "The script [for Babel] is interesting to talk about with that one. The script was there, obviously. It has to be, but I didn't feel it so strongly. The timeline, the break in the timelines, the pacing -- they were very tenuous. And I thought the connection to the Japanese story was very slight."
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Foreign Film Recap
It is too soon to unveil my Top Ten List (I am still looking forward to seeing Almodovar's Volver for one), but here is a quick rundown of my year in foreign films . . .
It started early -- in 2005, in fact -- at the AFI's beautifully-restored Silver Theater (in not-so-beautiful Silver Spring, MD) during the annual European Union Showcase. That's where I saw Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, the earnest German retelling of the true story of the tragic end of the anti-Nazi student organization The White Rose. An intense lead performance by the cute German actress Julia ('yool-ya') Jentsch (The Edukators) carries this movie beyond its rather conventional storytelling.
After my big move to Houston, I revisited all my old haunts: movie theatres! First, at the venerable River Oaks (a Landmark theater), I saw a beautiful-to-look at, but emotionally detached, and (again) conventional true tale from the WWI trenches: Joyeux Noel. It was co-produced by so many countries, I don't have a clue where it is from, but it stars Daniel Bruhl (from last year's trifle Ladies in Lavender and the superior German flick The Edukators) and the lovely Diane Kruger (she was Helen of "Troy" after all! ... before slumming with Nic Cage in "National Archives"). And she lip-syncs an opera aria, so it has its moments. Later at the River Oaks I saw the disappointing L'Enfant by the always compelling Dardennes brothers from Belgium, and the Indian film Water, where a compelling story sank into melodrama. (At least I didn't say "Water was all wet.")
But the high point of the year came soon after, at the Houston outpost of New York's own Angelika Cinema & Cafe: that's where I saw the 2005 Oscar-winner Tsotsi from South Africa. "Emotionally brutal." For the second year in a row I didn't see the best foreign film of the year until the following year! (2004's Born Into Brothels was named my #1 movie in 2005). In a rare twist, the Oscar cabal that runs the foreign film category (with an iron fist) got it right -- two years in a row!
Another great venue for movies is the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, which schedules many of the same film programs (usually abbreviated) that appear at the respected National Gallery of Art in Washington. Where else can you follow-up an Isabelle Huppert film festival -- where I saw the classic Coup de Torchon (for the first time), and the gritty but beautiful La vie promise from 2002 -- with a film festival devoted to the Hollywood legend Janet Gaynor?? ("This is Mrs. Norman Maine!!") Call it my definition of heaven. That's where I saw two Jewish-themed films of merit from France: La Petit Jerusalem and Live & Become.
Two other films from France will compete with Tsotsi for the top spot this year: Cache and La Moustache. Stay tuned for more on those mind-bending movies from the best movie-making country in the world!!
It started early -- in 2005, in fact -- at the AFI's beautifully-restored Silver Theater (in not-so-beautiful Silver Spring, MD) during the annual European Union Showcase. That's where I saw Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, the earnest German retelling of the true story of the tragic end of the anti-Nazi student organization The White Rose. An intense lead performance by the cute German actress Julia ('yool-ya') Jentsch (The Edukators) carries this movie beyond its rather conventional storytelling.
After my big move to Houston, I revisited all my old haunts: movie theatres! First, at the venerable River Oaks (a Landmark theater), I saw a beautiful-to-look at, but emotionally detached, and (again) conventional true tale from the WWI trenches: Joyeux Noel. It was co-produced by so many countries, I don't have a clue where it is from, but it stars Daniel Bruhl (from last year's trifle Ladies in Lavender and the superior German flick The Edukators) and the lovely Diane Kruger (she was Helen of "Troy" after all! ... before slumming with Nic Cage in "National Archives"). And she lip-syncs an opera aria, so it has its moments. Later at the River Oaks I saw the disappointing L'Enfant by the always compelling Dardennes brothers from Belgium, and the Indian film Water, where a compelling story sank into melodrama. (At least I didn't say "Water was all wet.")
But the high point of the year came soon after, at the Houston outpost of New York's own Angelika Cinema & Cafe: that's where I saw the 2005 Oscar-winner Tsotsi from South Africa. "Emotionally brutal." For the second year in a row I didn't see the best foreign film of the year until the following year! (2004's Born Into Brothels was named my #1 movie in 2005). In a rare twist, the Oscar cabal that runs the foreign film category (with an iron fist) got it right -- two years in a row!
Another great venue for movies is the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, which schedules many of the same film programs (usually abbreviated) that appear at the respected National Gallery of Art in Washington. Where else can you follow-up an Isabelle Huppert film festival -- where I saw the classic Coup de Torchon (for the first time), and the gritty but beautiful La vie promise from 2002 -- with a film festival devoted to the Hollywood legend Janet Gaynor?? ("This is Mrs. Norman Maine!!") Call it my definition of heaven. That's where I saw two Jewish-themed films of merit from France: La Petit Jerusalem and Live & Become.
Two other films from France will compete with Tsotsi for the top spot this year: Cache and La Moustache. Stay tuned for more on those mind-bending movies from the best movie-making country in the world!!
Friday, December 15, 2006
Let the Award Season Begin!
"The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" indeed! With yesterday's announcement of the Golden Globe nominations, the movie awards season kicks into full-gear. First, for those of you making a Top Ten List, here is a handy reminder of all eligible films released in 2006 (from Abominable to You, Me & Dupree -- remember that one?), followed by a rundown of the major critics prizes, then a list of important dates.
But first, a brief comment on the Golden Globes: they have hit a new low. Take a look at the nominees for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy) to see what I mean: with the possible exception of "Dreamgirls," none of the nominees stand a chance of making the cut in the Best Picture Oscar race. Not a chance! They nominate "Borat" (!?!) yet ignore the vastly-superior "Stranger Than Fiction"? What were they thinking?
Critic's picks: New York / LA Film Critics / Nat'l Board of Review
Best Picture: United 93 / Letters from Iwo Jima / Iwo Jima
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker-Last King of Scotland / tie: Whitaker & Sasha Baron Cohen-Borat / Whitaker
Best Actress: Helen Mirren-The Queen / Mirren / Mirren
Best Supp. Actor: Jackie Earle Haley-Little Children/Michael Sheen-The Queen /Djimon Hounsou-Blood Diamond
Best Supp. Actress: Jennifer Hudson-Dreamgirls /Luminita Gheorghiu-The Death of Mr. Lazarescu/Catherine O'Hara-For Your Consideration
Best Director: Martin Scorsese-The Departed /Paul Greengrass-United 93 / Scorsese
Important Dates:
Monday, January 15th - Golden Globe Awards on NBC
Saturday, January 20th - Broadcast Film Critics Awards televised on E!
Tuesday, January 23rd - Academy Award nominations announced (8:35am ET)
Sunday, January 28th - SAG Awards on TNT
Sunday, February 25th - Oscar* Night!
Thursday, December 14, 2006
2006 -- The Year in Movies (so far)
I have hestitated posting any reviews of 2006 movies because, frankly, this has been a horrible year for movies. And I'm not comparing it to a 'typically bad' year -- when I can successfully avoid the duds that Hollywood ships out during the summer -- I'm talking about total duds coming from all sides: mainstream, indie, and foreign.
In a typical year, the standard complaint of "no good movies" applies every February to October. It's the nature of the business. Even then, I could find some indie-or-foreign gems to fill-up my early "Best" lists (before Oscar* Season heats up). This year, even the so-called 'gems' are either disappointing or equally as bad as the summer blockbusters. I've waited an extra two months and I still cannot fill up a top ten list!
In short, expect a comprehensive "Worst" list for 2006 (in February 2007). Until then, here is a rundown of my hits and misses for 2006:
Top Ten material (in the order I saw them):
THE DEPARTED -- even a slumming Scorsese is still worth watching.
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS -- finally, a legitimate Oscar* contender!
RUNNING WITH SCISSORS
THE QUEEN -- simply brilliant.
STRANGER THAN FICTION
Best of the Rest:
CASINO ROYALE -- I could have done without the Madagascar scenes early on in the movie: that elaborate but pointless sequence served only to postpone the introduction of the lovely French actress Eva Green, Bond's one and only true love. The movie takes off when she enters the picture. Enjoy the ride!
INSIDE MAN -- Spike Lee is a master when he exercises discipline. Great soundtrack by Terence Blanchard, too.
HOLLYWOODLAND -- an 'adult' drama about old Hollywood, something I didn't expect to see in a multiplex... in Houston ... in July ... starring Ben Affleck !!
LITTLE CHILDREN -- a very 'affecting' yet disturbing drama from director Todd Field ("In the Bedroom") -- and I had major problems with ITBR (Marisa Tomei was not one of them, I assure you!) -- outstanding performances, too. If I sound surprised that I liked it, I am!
V for VENDETTA -- as a friend said: "I love dystopian universes!"
Good, not great:
All The King's Men -- worth seeing, despite its shortcomings.
Brick -- extra points for originality.
The Illusionist
The Lake House -- Sandra Bullock returns to making *good* movies (yay!)
The Last King of Scotland -- see it for Forest Whitaker's amazing performance.
World Trade Center
And : Factotum - An Inconvenient Truth - Mission Impossible 3 - A Prairie Home Companion - Scoop - Word Play
Ehhh....
Half Nelson -- why all the fuss? You want to see Ryan Gosling act? Rent Marc Forster's overlooked 'Stay' from 2005. And please, spare us the caricatured "hypocritical, self-medicating, ex-hippie sell-outs from the Sixties" who play his parents. Sheesh!
Little Miss Sunshine -- the fact that this was "the indie-hit of the summer" proves my point about it being a BAAD year for everybody in the movie business. (See a later post for why I didn't like this movie).
"Ambitious failures"
[This category covers those movies that aim high, have good intentions, but fall short of success. I created this category last year, in response to 'Crash' -- a most UN-deserving Oscar winner.]
Babel -- I wanted to like it, but the impact of the three individual stories is undercut by the director's (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu) inopportune cutting among the two compelling ones and the third, unbelievable one. He made the same mistake in his last movie, 21 Grams, but that featured the lovely Naomi Watts. (See a later post for more).
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus -- I can't help but admire the earnestness of everyone involved in this misadventure. Robert Downey, Jr. deserves special recognition. Nicole was a quite effective lead (not miscast, as many critics have said). But, really...what a waste of talent! The only thing I learned about the subject of this film was that she pronounced her name 'Dee-onn.'
Marie Antoinette -- Sofia's unique talent for exploring young female fragility is sadly undone by a truly in-over-her-head lead actress, Kirsten Dunst (a miscast Jason Schwartzman, the reliably off-balanced and interesting actor here plays a boring dolt, doesn't help). I guess Sofia can relate to Kirsten's plight (see Godfather 3), but still, she was able to coax a good performance out of Scarlett Johanssen in Lost in Translation (quite a feat, as her subsequent roles attest). Great pastries, but they don't give awards for that -- yet. Great costumes, too (although showing a pair of sneakers to a shot of M.A.'s closet was over the line, S.C.!!)
Terrible!
Where to begin! How about from WORST to just bad:
Art School Confidential; Clerks 2; The Lost City (by Andy Garcia--stick to acting Andy!!); Stolen (art theft documentary); Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (and I loved the first one!); I'm Your Man (L. Cohen doc. that doesn't do justice to its subject); The DaVinci Code; The Black Dahlia; and Thank You For Smoking (not funny...a comedy is supposed to be funny!)
"Let the Oscar* Season Begin!"
In a typical year, the standard complaint of "no good movies" applies every February to October. It's the nature of the business. Even then, I could find some indie-or-foreign gems to fill-up my early "Best" lists (before Oscar* Season heats up). This year, even the so-called 'gems' are either disappointing or equally as bad as the summer blockbusters. I've waited an extra two months and I still cannot fill up a top ten list!
In short, expect a comprehensive "Worst" list for 2006 (in February 2007). Until then, here is a rundown of my hits and misses for 2006:
Top Ten material (in the order I saw them):
THE DEPARTED -- even a slumming Scorsese is still worth watching.
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS -- finally, a legitimate Oscar* contender!
RUNNING WITH SCISSORS
THE QUEEN -- simply brilliant.
STRANGER THAN FICTION
Best of the Rest:
CASINO ROYALE -- I could have done without the Madagascar scenes early on in the movie: that elaborate but pointless sequence served only to postpone the introduction of the lovely French actress Eva Green, Bond's one and only true love. The movie takes off when she enters the picture. Enjoy the ride!
INSIDE MAN -- Spike Lee is a master when he exercises discipline. Great soundtrack by Terence Blanchard, too.
HOLLYWOODLAND -- an 'adult' drama about old Hollywood, something I didn't expect to see in a multiplex... in Houston ... in July ... starring Ben Affleck !!
LITTLE CHILDREN -- a very 'affecting' yet disturbing drama from director Todd Field ("In the Bedroom") -- and I had major problems with ITBR (Marisa Tomei was not one of them, I assure you!) -- outstanding performances, too. If I sound surprised that I liked it, I am!
V for VENDETTA -- as a friend said: "I love dystopian universes!"
Good, not great:
All The King's Men -- worth seeing, despite its shortcomings.
Brick -- extra points for originality.
The Illusionist
The Lake House -- Sandra Bullock returns to making *good* movies (yay!)
The Last King of Scotland -- see it for Forest Whitaker's amazing performance.
World Trade Center
And : Factotum - An Inconvenient Truth - Mission Impossible 3 - A Prairie Home Companion - Scoop - Word Play
Ehhh....
Half Nelson -- why all the fuss? You want to see Ryan Gosling act? Rent Marc Forster's overlooked 'Stay' from 2005. And please, spare us the caricatured "hypocritical, self-medicating, ex-hippie sell-outs from the Sixties" who play his parents. Sheesh!
Little Miss Sunshine -- the fact that this was "the indie-hit of the summer" proves my point about it being a BAAD year for everybody in the movie business. (See a later post for why I didn't like this movie).
"Ambitious failures"
[This category covers those movies that aim high, have good intentions, but fall short of success. I created this category last year, in response to 'Crash' -- a most UN-deserving Oscar winner.]
Babel -- I wanted to like it, but the impact of the three individual stories is undercut by the director's (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu) inopportune cutting among the two compelling ones and the third, unbelievable one. He made the same mistake in his last movie, 21 Grams, but that featured the lovely Naomi Watts. (See a later post for more).
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus -- I can't help but admire the earnestness of everyone involved in this misadventure. Robert Downey, Jr. deserves special recognition. Nicole was a quite effective lead (not miscast, as many critics have said). But, really...what a waste of talent! The only thing I learned about the subject of this film was that she pronounced her name 'Dee-onn.'
Marie Antoinette -- Sofia's unique talent for exploring young female fragility is sadly undone by a truly in-over-her-head lead actress, Kirsten Dunst (a miscast Jason Schwartzman, the reliably off-balanced and interesting actor here plays a boring dolt, doesn't help). I guess Sofia can relate to Kirsten's plight (see Godfather 3), but still, she was able to coax a good performance out of Scarlett Johanssen in Lost in Translation (quite a feat, as her subsequent roles attest). Great pastries, but they don't give awards for that -- yet. Great costumes, too (although showing a pair of sneakers to a shot of M.A.'s closet was over the line, S.C.!!)
Terrible!
Where to begin! How about from WORST to just bad:
Art School Confidential; Clerks 2; The Lost City (by Andy Garcia--stick to acting Andy!!); Stolen (art theft documentary); Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (and I loved the first one!); I'm Your Man (L. Cohen doc. that doesn't do justice to its subject); The DaVinci Code; The Black Dahlia; and Thank You For Smoking (not funny...a comedy is supposed to be funny!)
"Let the Oscar* Season Begin!"
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