Let me make one thing clear: this is a two-star film with a four-star premise, particularly for the time. Plotwise it is a typical film noir: g-men infiltrate an illegal operation and one of them gets put in mortal danger in the process. The difference is that this time the illegal operation is the smuggling of immigrants across the US-Mexico border. A plot that addressed this issue at all would have been quite progressive for the time. Yes, there are stereotypes of Mexicans, including sombreros and banditry, but the main characters are fleshed out and the plot does not shrink from showing the human toll of the operation.
Anthony Mann apparently directed this film in his sleep, save for a few striking nighttime sequences such as a harrowing scene where a man is chased relentlessly by an approaching combine. Ricardo Montalban is excellent in an early role that gives him little to do; he makes the most of it. The other performances are undistinguished, but this is definitely a B-movie with an edge that elevates it above other stock entertainments of the time.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Crazy Stone, 3 stars
This is a film I watched because it apparently typifies the films actually seen by Chinese people, in contrast to the serious art-house films we Americans are fed. It was sold as a Chinese "Ocean's Eleven", and while it doesn't quite live up to the slick coolness of that film's veneer, it was a perfectly entertaining example of popular cinema. Of course, China's cinema is so varied that no one film can encompass the tastes of the country, but it was nice to have something to contrast with widely praised, stiff films like "Yi Yi".
The plot, which is as straightforward and uninvolved as caper plots usually are, concerns a valuable piece of jade which several groups of men are attempting to steal. Many reversals occur, a replacement piece wounds up stolen, then it turns out not to have been, and all the while flashy editing and over-the-top performances are keeping our interest in the proceedings high. Many of the cuts and zooms reference classical Hong Kong action films, and the characters are recognizable as stereotypes even to Western eyes. I probably missed some economic commentary (the jade is being displayed in a factory by a social-climbing factory owner). However, none of the film was a waste of time and I appreciated its insights into what draws bodies into Chinese theaters. I'll take this over "Farewell My Concubine" or an American blockbuster like "Transformers" any day.
The plot, which is as straightforward and uninvolved as caper plots usually are, concerns a valuable piece of jade which several groups of men are attempting to steal. Many reversals occur, a replacement piece wounds up stolen, then it turns out not to have been, and all the while flashy editing and over-the-top performances are keeping our interest in the proceedings high. Many of the cuts and zooms reference classical Hong Kong action films, and the characters are recognizable as stereotypes even to Western eyes. I probably missed some economic commentary (the jade is being displayed in a factory by a social-climbing factory owner). However, none of the film was a waste of time and I appreciated its insights into what draws bodies into Chinese theaters. I'll take this over "Farewell My Concubine" or an American blockbuster like "Transformers" any day.
Surviving Desire, 4 stars
Perhaps the McCarran airport after a week in Vegas was not the ideal setting for watching a literate, heartfelt exploration of love and lust. However, I think my opinion of Hal Hartley's sweet, lightly humorous romantic drama was actually improved by the louche hedonism all around me. Martin Donovan portrays a literature professor who enters an affair with one of his students, a Jean Seberg type who insists on discussing her feelings in eloquent, insistent monologues.
In a parallel storyline, Donovan's best friend enters a strange and impulsive romance with a street woman who proposes to any man who walks by. These opposite and complementary relationships provide a charming, featherweight commentary on the extremes of attraction and love. Hartley can be a filmmaker of very big hits and wide misses, and with this short film he pushes no boundaries but simply gives us characters who say the things we wish we could say to those we desire. The title is misleading; this is not a film to be survived but enjoyed minute by precious minute.
In a parallel storyline, Donovan's best friend enters a strange and impulsive romance with a street woman who proposes to any man who walks by. These opposite and complementary relationships provide a charming, featherweight commentary on the extremes of attraction and love. Hartley can be a filmmaker of very big hits and wide misses, and with this short film he pushes no boundaries but simply gives us characters who say the things we wish we could say to those we desire. The title is misleading; this is not a film to be survived but enjoyed minute by precious minute.
9, 3 stars
Here is an example of why one should never mix new age psychobabble with steampunk aesthetics. (Yes, I'm sure the world was clamoring for more proof that this should not be attempted.) Here is a film that has the look of Little Big Planet and the half-baked plot and ideas of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The plot concerns a group of sentient sack-people who awaken self-aware in a postapocalyptic wasteland. They struggle to understand how they got to this world and why they have been awakened.
I will not give away the ending here, since to do so would be to invite a long diatribe on its new age treacle, but suffice to say it requires a belief in a higher power and an afterlife that I just couldn't summon, particularly not after a buildup so visually interesting as the one that "9" establishes. For about the first 20 minutes of this movie I was entranced by its visual style, which borrowed from "The Triplets of Belleville" and certain Marilyn Manson music videos as well as from the classic steampunk look. However, as I realized there was another hour of the film left and not much substance to fill it, the look of the film suddenly became repetitive and hollow, as I longed for the characters to do something besides engage in another chase sequence or go through labored plot mechanics. Steampunk should not mean that we can hear the gears of the plot creaking.
I will not give away the ending here, since to do so would be to invite a long diatribe on its new age treacle, but suffice to say it requires a belief in a higher power and an afterlife that I just couldn't summon, particularly not after a buildup so visually interesting as the one that "9" establishes. For about the first 20 minutes of this movie I was entranced by its visual style, which borrowed from "The Triplets of Belleville" and certain Marilyn Manson music videos as well as from the classic steampunk look. However, as I realized there was another hour of the film left and not much substance to fill it, the look of the film suddenly became repetitive and hollow, as I longed for the characters to do something besides engage in another chase sequence or go through labored plot mechanics. Steampunk should not mean that we can hear the gears of the plot creaking.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The Holy Mountain, 2.5 stars
I think I have come to Alejandro Jodorowsky backwards. I started with his short "La Cravate" and moved on to "Fando & Lis", which I found perfectly maddening in that art-film way that I love. Now I come to one of his most praised works and find it simply dull.
It tells an allegorical story of a priest gathering people to symbolize the nine planets and then taking them to the top of a holy mountain for mystical knowledge. However, Jodorowsky insists on telling this story through amateurish camerawork and a script that focuses on long monologues full of new age psychobabble. I checked my watch multiple times and broke the movie up over two nights to relieve the boredom. I can't see much to recommend this film unless you have an ample supply of pot or other intoxicants available. That might make this film feel something like its 2 hours, instead of the 4 it felt like to me.
It tells an allegorical story of a priest gathering people to symbolize the nine planets and then taking them to the top of a holy mountain for mystical knowledge. However, Jodorowsky insists on telling this story through amateurish camerawork and a script that focuses on long monologues full of new age psychobabble. I checked my watch multiple times and broke the movie up over two nights to relieve the boredom. I can't see much to recommend this film unless you have an ample supply of pot or other intoxicants available. That might make this film feel something like its 2 hours, instead of the 4 it felt like to me.
Sorority Row, 2.5 stars
Well, well. Here is a typical slasher film, full of bad acting, undeveloped subplots, and the world's nosiest cats. I had a special relationship to this film, in that the lead role was played by Leah Pipes, a former client of a talent scouting agency I worked for in Los Angeles. This was probably the largest role I had ever seen anyone I know play on the big screen, and I had trouble properly evaluating the movie for that reason.
However, from what I could discern, the film was shot and edited in workmanlike, indistinguished fashion. It concerns a sorority prank gone wrong when a group of friends tricks a boy into thinking one of their group is dead. When they go to hide the "body", the boy takes things too seriously and actually kills the sorority sister. The rest of the movie is taken up with plot mechanics so rusty we hear the gears grinding. Is the killer now stalking campus the sorority sister resurrected from the dead? Do we care?
As a paint-by-numbers thriller this is perfectly serviceable, but I have trouble finding anything to recommend it over many better options in the genre.
However, from what I could discern, the film was shot and edited in workmanlike, indistinguished fashion. It concerns a sorority prank gone wrong when a group of friends tricks a boy into thinking one of their group is dead. When they go to hide the "body", the boy takes things too seriously and actually kills the sorority sister. The rest of the movie is taken up with plot mechanics so rusty we hear the gears grinding. Is the killer now stalking campus the sorority sister resurrected from the dead? Do we care?
As a paint-by-numbers thriller this is perfectly serviceable, but I have trouble finding anything to recommend it over many better options in the genre.
Gamer, 3 stars
After the pyrotechnic pastiche of the Crank films, I had such high expectations for the next stop on the Neveldine/Taylor thrill ride. Their sly humor and offbeat palette were sadly missing for most of this serviceable but strangely heartless action film. Shot mostly in a gray color scheme that shows all the flaws of digital video, it concerns a future where people control real-life avatars in video games that end in real death. Gerard Butler, whose emotional affect often implies that he is being controlled by outside forces even when the plot suggests otherwise, is our hero, who must win only one more battle to be released from the prison where he has landed after being framed.
There are moments of genuine wit and near-brilliance in the film. There is a choreographed dance fight set to "I've Got You Under My Skin" near the end of the film that is largely carried by Michael C. Hall's calmly villainous performance, and there are a few easter eggs for the eagle-eyed, such as the screen behind an obese gamer that displays nothing but an endless loop of bacon frying. Overall, however, the film is shrill without the self-referential humor and bright, thoughtful production design of the Crank films. Let's hope this is Neveldine/Taylor's sophomore slump, and that they soon come back with another fantastic postmodern mishmash that doesn't waste most of its time in a grayscale, oh-so-predictable gaming set.
There are moments of genuine wit and near-brilliance in the film. There is a choreographed dance fight set to "I've Got You Under My Skin" near the end of the film that is largely carried by Michael C. Hall's calmly villainous performance, and there are a few easter eggs for the eagle-eyed, such as the screen behind an obese gamer that displays nothing but an endless loop of bacon frying. Overall, however, the film is shrill without the self-referential humor and bright, thoughtful production design of the Crank films. Let's hope this is Neveldine/Taylor's sophomore slump, and that they soon come back with another fantastic postmodern mishmash that doesn't waste most of its time in a grayscale, oh-so-predictable gaming set.
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