Smalltime

Smalltime - 1996

In this installment in the incompetent crook genre, Glenn Plummer plays Ben, a small time, but up and coming crook in the employ of The Dutchman. He is entrusted with a half million dollars worth of cocaine and instructed to hold on to it for a couple days in the desert until the buyer comes. Ben sees this as his opportunity to move up the ladder in the organization and be a big player.

What should be routine soon turns into a nightmare. Ben brings along his two partners, Jesus and Marty, who are constantly bickering. The next couple days in the desert prove to be Ben's unraveling.

The movie has tones of Tarentino in the witty dialog and violent narrative - drugs, amateur dealers, prostitutes... all intertwined into a fast moving and explosive ending. That being said we see overtones of Oliver Stone in the mysticism of an Indian shaman. And over top all of this is the desert. The desert is a pivotal character in the film. You can see it, smell it, and taste it. Several characters become lost in it for a time and try to extract something to drink from a drying stick plant. This movie works in the desert location. If the city was the setting it would have been a lame imitation of a hundred similar movies.

It was interesting to see Rae Dawn Chong , daughter of Tommy Chong, show up as the money collector. She has a great film presence. Look for her in the more well known Color Purple. Here she shows range with a role that puts her as an assertive and ruthless gangster.

Smalltime is currently out of print - with no plans to reprint. Keep a watch out for additional pressings as this is a must have for your dumb crook in the desert movie collection.

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Land of the Blind

Land of the Blind - 2006

Cinematographer Emmanuel Kadosh creates an over exposed world where stark faces are bleached out and white rooms are washed into a single visual that is fascinating to see. Attention is given to costume & set design and they come together to bring us a world that is part fantasy, part period piece.

The movie is narrated by Joe (Ralph Fiennes) from his jail cell. We are given periods of his life throughout the pervious couple decades that tell the story of how he got there. As a security guard for the country's most dangerous political prisoner, Thorne (Donald Sutherland) he begins to sympathize with the prisoner and questions whether the current dictator Maximilian II (Tom Hollander) is really good for the country. He comes to the conclusion that he isn't and the ensuing series of events puts him at odds with his country, no matter who is in charge.

The different repressive governments represented here are fascinating. We see shades of fascist dictatorship, socialist revolution, Islamofascism, military authoritarianism, demented child king and media manipulation. There is no left or right lean, no current political comment to make. This is political satire at its best. It says, "Absolute power corrupts, absolutely." This is about the fragility of the human condition, not about any particular belief system.

Tom Hollander looks like he is having great fun with this script. Obviously there are veiled references to North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il in his character. Fiennes is always intense and riveting in his work. I first saw him in Schindler's List as the German camp officer Amon Goeth. His roles always seem to require such intensity.

Land of the Blind disappeared from the theatres almost as soon as it was released. I'm bucking the trend here giving it 4 stars. Most critics panned it. Perhaps they missed the satire. The acting is top notch and if you are looking for a political message to support your personal theories, you will be disappointed. I didn't and I wasn't.

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Lucky Number Slevin

Lucky Number Slevin - 2006

For the first - oh - three quarters of this movie you are baffled with multiple story flashbacks, convergent plot lines and oddball characters galore. In an effort to be an American version of Lock, Stock, and two Smoking Barrels, Lucky Number Slevin succeeds on the merits of its all-star cast. Director Paul McGuigan uses a slick and style to deliver a film that is part gangster flick, part mystery and part suspense.

Slevin Kelivra (Josh Hartnett) has got to be the unluckiest guy in New York. In town to visit a friend after losing his apartment and girlfriend, he gets mugged and is relieved of his wallet. His fiend is nowhere to be found at the apartment and soon Slevin is pulled into the battle between two rival underworld chiefs. With wacky neighbor Lindsey (Lucy Liu), they set out to solve the mystery of the missing friend, get Slevin out of trouble, and stay one step ahead of the cops.

Lucky Number Slevin has some witty fun dialog in the tone of a Tarantino film (pre Kill Bill). And it is delivered by some of the best deliverers in the business, Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, Ben Kingsley, Stanley Tucci, Danny Aiello. If these names don't get you in the door, then how about this: this movie looks awesome. Production design is by François Séguin, recently from The Greatest Game Ever Played and Shattered Glass. Check out the wallpaper throughout the movie (yea, I know, wallpaper). The movie oozes with style and visual appeal.

There is a hilarious scene where two tuffs from the Morgan Freeman gang come to collect Slevin for the boss. The two heavys (Sloe & Elvis) share this dialog with Slevin:

Elvis: [Grabs Slevin by the throat and moves him into the living room] The Boss wants to see you.
Slevin: Who?
Sloe: The Boss.
Slevin: Who's the Boss?
Sloe: The guy we work for. Sit
Slevin: [He attempts getting up but is kept down by Sloe] Look. I'm not the guy you're looking for. I don't live here.
Sloe: Yeah well you look like the guy who lives here.
Slevin: Man, you don't know what the guy who lives here looks like.
Elvis: What he means to say is that you look like you live here.
Sloe: Yeah, that's what I mean to say.

Many critics have given this movie a low rating because they knew they were being taken for a ride and didn't like it (here, here and here). I knew I was being taken for a ride, and I liked the ride.

 

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Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace - 2006

Amazing Grace is the story of William Wilberforce's 20 year British political fight to end the business of slavery. The slave trade was a very lucrative money maker and intrenched in the British economy. During the early 1800's, slavery was integrated into the economies of Britain, France, the West Indies, America, Austria and Portugal - primarily to fuel the sugar industry.

Wilberforce has a promising career ahead of him in the British Parliament when he has a Christian conversion. Convinced by his friend William Pitt to remain in government service instead of church service, he takes on the formidable challenge of taking on the slave trade. To William, the moral imperative of stopping the horror of slavery surpasses any economic concerns that may ensue. Surely many will see economic ruin, jobs will be lost and businesses will crumble. None of these concerns stop William for even a pause.

William's wife Barbara, played by Romola Garai, illustrates the wonderful adage that behind every good man is a good woman. She encourages him, supports him and loves him throughout hid life. At one point when William feels as if his work is going nowhere she tells him: "It seems to me, that if there is a bad taste in your mouth, you spit it out. You don't constantly swallow it back."

It was interesting to see Rufus Sewell in the role of Thomas Clarkson, Willberforce's colleague in the war on slavery. I last saw him 1998's Dark City. He does a powerful job here and is mesmerizing to watch.

The movie shows an interesting molding of history and faith working together. There is an appearance from John Newton, a slave trader turned monk, and writer of the song and movie title, Amazing Grace. He plays a pivotal role in William's life by persuading him to serve God where he was instead of entering the ministry.

History is never boring when told well and this story is never boring. Having watched the movie has prompted me to research the era further. Explaining my new interest in abolition history to my coworkers has caused a few quizzical looks.

But above all this is a movie with strong messages about struggle in life, about staying the course, fighting the good fight and about being salt and light in the world.

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Fellini's Juliet of the Spirits

Juliet of the Spirits - 1965

"For 8 1/2, I wanted to do a polydimensional portrait of a man. For Juliet of the Spirits, I am getting closer to what interests me. The cinema is the unique and perfect tool to explore with precision the inner landscapes of the human being. I've always wanted to do an extrasensorial tale, born entirely of the imagination. This should be it."

---Federico Fellini

Fellini's 1963 masterpiece, 8 1/2, was (arguably) an autobiographically inspired work. When Juliet of the Spirits arrived it aroused much of the same controversy. "Is this based on the Fellini marriage?" critics asked. In fact, the films star, Giuletta Masina, is Fellini's actual wife. Autobiographical or not, Juliet of the Spirits showcases many of Fellini's recurring cinematic themes; complex viewpoints, subjective shots turning into objective shots, dream sequences that reveal character and the fixation on long parades of characters. The dream sequences show a representation of what Juliet is thinking and feeling.

This is Fellini's first film in color, and he uses it to paint the film on the screen. Color is a character in this film. Consider how some characters are presented at various times with a completely unreal color to their face. This is intentional, taking the viewer in and out of reality and waking fantasy.

Juliet, the main character, is a shy, chain smoking, romantically naive housewife. The movie utilizes quick cutting scenes and a nervous tempo to show Juliet's disordered state of mind. Her neighbor is the flamboyant Suzy (Sandra Milo), who is Juliet's personality opposite. As Juliet is drawn to Suzy's company, she is tormented by it as well.

At one point, Fellini doesn't show us Juliet's face until her husband, Giorgio, steps into her presence. Symbolically, she doesn't exist outside of her husband. Juliet knows he is a philanderer but emotionally she cannot become Juliet.

Roger Ebert and others consider this movie to be the beginning of the decline of Fellini's mastery of filmmaking. I'm a big Ebert fan but I disagree. This is the first Fellini film I saw and remains my personal favorite.

It is hard to imagine anyone who has seen Juliet of the Spirits will ever forget the images and the sets, costumes and color. The sheer beauty of this movie is the movie.

 

Related posts:

Fellini's 8 1/2

 

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Fellini's 8 1/2

Fellini's 8 1/2 - 1963

"8 1/2 is meant to be an attempt to reach an agreement with life... an
attempt and not a completed result."

---Federico Fellini

Fellini's 1963 masterpiece, 8 1/2, is suggestive of an autobiographical work. Consider these:

1. Fellini made 8 films prior to this one and one half unit for Variety Lights.
2. The movie is about a film director.
3. The film director is creating a follow up to a successful film.

In 8 1/2, the focus is on Guido, a well known director, who is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He is attempting to complete the script for his picture about the escape to outer space for the survivors of WW III. Guido fears of making a meaningless picture and he cannot explain his thinking to an endless parade of producers, critics, actors, intellectuals and writers. He eventually realizes that it is impossible for him to turn out a simple picture with a message for mankind but must instead produce a complicated story about his own confusions, uncertainties, and compromises.

What we end up seeing - as the movie viewer - is the movie that Guido intends to make, or more precisely, did make.

In 8 1/2, Fellini brilliantly manages complex shifts in viewpoint. Sometimes we are seeing the world through Guido's eyes. At other times we are watching him. Alternating subjective and objective perspectives leaves us seeing a stream of Fellini memories and associations. He uses flashbacks, daydreams, nightmares and fantasy to project the world that Guido is traveling in. The ride is exhilarating!

Guido's dream ideal woman is played by the beautiful Claudia Cardinale. She appears in dream sequences as his muse, offering reassurance. But she is fleeting and elusive. He must come to terms with his intellectual wife Luisa (Anouk Aimee). Luisa is as mad at him at one point in the film - after an affair - as much as for who he chose as for the infidelity itself.

8 1/2 followed Fellini's successful La Dolce Vita. [see point 3 above] His next film was Juliet of the Spirits, his best film and included in my Top 100 Movie List. But 8 1/2 won over 60 international awards, including an Academy Award for best foreign film and seven Silver Ribbons (Italy's equivalent of the Oscar).

In the end of the film, Guido's rebirth as an artist is complete and he comes into terms with his emotional past. Guido has an artistic triumph with his film - as does Fellini with his.

 

Related Posts:

Juliet of the Spirits

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Apocalypto

Apocalypto - 2006

I had to send my teenage daughter out of the room and up to bed. This movie is dripping with violence, death and destruction. If you got the squeemies about that kind of thing then you will be turned off... way off.

Mel Gibson's portrayal of the Mayan culture and civilization is considered by some to be over the top and unnecessarily cruel. While undoubtedly there is director creative license going on here, it is a historical vision worthy of consideration. We read about American Indian culture and savagery in works like Allen Eckert's Winning America series and understand that the early world was not always a pleasant place. And indeed the white men that came over were just as cruel and savage.

Apocalypto is at its heart a prolonged jungle chase vehicle. Jaguar Paw's village is decimated by the Mayans. He is pursued by his captors after his escape through the jungle - in a effort to get back to his pregnant wife and son who are hiding in a cave. As Jaguar Paw and several other village men are led up the long climb to the Mayan sacrificial alter, we see the heads of his predecessors tumbling down the steps in the distance.

The set detail and costumes are so rich and realistic that we are driven to watch and experience this spectacle, even when we are driven to turn away. Gibson is as masterful behind the camera as in front of it. Much like his Passion of the Christ a couple years ago, he takes the viewer to the edge of what they can take, then pulls back and gives us a rest. Then dives in for more, then gives a rest. His camera angles and methods are so engaging, we know we are in the hands of a master.

The performances of the actors are spot on as well. Gibson used only ethnic actors so you won't see a big name white actor in the bunch. The acting MUST be good enough to inspire hatred of the Mayan mercenaries in the viewer - so that we accept all the violence and carnage.

I'm not giving this movie 4 stars because it is a fine documentary of the late Mayan culture. It is getting 4 stars because it is a memorable ripping good action adventure. It lost a point because of the contrived ending but this is a worthy addition to the Mayan jungle chase scene genre.

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Dan in Real Life

Dan in Real Life - 2007

*** Spoilers ahead - this is a POST movie watching review ***

Steve Carell's job in this movie is to underplay his character. From what I've seen of him, this isn't an easy task. As Dan Burns, though, Steve creates a character that is subdued from what we expect and shows some real acting craft.

In this romantic comedy, Dan Burns, a newspaper advice columnist, is raising three girls as a widower. Apparently, giving advice is far more easier than living the advice. The girls - at various stages of maturity - see their dad as a bit of a loser. After breaking up a budding romance happening in the life of the middle daughter ("You're a murderer of love.."), the family is off for a weekend with the extended family at a summer cabin in New England.

The movie is refreshingly different in its portrayal of this large family. It is not dysfunctional. It is not broken. It is not mean spirited. In fact it is overflowing with affection and love. I'm always ready to recognize the film that breaks the stereotypical mold and this is that. When Dan realizes that he is in love with his brother's girlfriend, it troubles him greatly and he sincerely tries to get beyond it.

Going back to Steve Carell's performance here, we get a character played with humility and restraint. We don't get Michael Scott from The Office (OK, maybe just bit out on the dance floor...). We feel Dan's heartache and frustration. You go into this movie thinking Michael Scott, you come out thinking Dan Burns. Obviously, Steve Carell won't have any trouble being typecast as Michael Scott when The Office comes to and end.

Juliette Binoche plays the love interest, Marie. Although we can see very early on that she is right for Dan and not the brother Mitch, she is much to conventional to switch sides overtly. Binoche is known for shying away from the big Hollywood blockbusters. And that is appropriate here. Although the movie has a big budget and a big cast, it steadfastly refuses to look like a big Hollywood movie. It feels like that small gem of a movie that only a few have discovered.

This is a movie about family and for family. There is no irony or hidden agenda. The family wins in the end.

Research the movie at Amazon here.

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Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia - 1974

Sam Peckinpah is well known for big, blockbuster movies like Pat Garret & Billy the Kid, The Wild Bunch, and Straw Dogs. And he certainly didn't shy away from some bloodshed in his projects. As William Holden says at the beginning of The Wild Bunch, "If it moves, kill it". Peckinpah lived life to its fullest, abusing drink and drugs, and that plays out in his scripts.

During a period in the early to mid 1970's, Peckinpah went through a severe period of alcoholic fear and loathing. From this mindset we get this film. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia was immediately panned by many film critics. But understand the context in which this movie was born of, and you will feel Peckinpah's life coursing through this movie. The movie's hero, Bennie, has a haunting demon, an exhaustion, and a sense of utter desperation that is certainly a picture of where Peckinpah was at the time.

The film stars Warren Oates, a grizzled character actor of the 60s and 70s. I grew up on a staple of this era's TV shows and probably have seen him in the likes of Gunsmoke, Bat Masterson, The Rifleman and Rawhide. Here he plays Bennie, a seedy American expatriate, playing piano in cheap bars and Mexican brothels. When a rich and powerful industrialist offers a large reward for the head of Alfredo Garcia for impregnating his daughter, Bennie sees a way out of the bottom of life. He teams up with a prostitute (and former lover of Garcia) to find Garcia and collect the reward, along with other enterprising bounty hunters. The odyssey to get the body part, and get it back to collect the reward is riddled with violence and desperation.

For most of the film, Bennie carries around the burlap sack with the severed head of Garcia in it. Much like Bogart's Fred C. Dobbs in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, the personal mission provides the emotional unraveling of the character. There is no joy in this life and this quest is undoubtedly not the best path towards happiness.

Under a scorching Mexican sun, a bagged head doesn't preserve well. Bennie however protects it over all else that might be of value in his life. Oates masterfully shows the desperate emotion required of the part. After a period he calls the head Al and chats about the woman they both loved.

This movie is what it is because of Peckinpah's emotional state. It seeps into the film at its core and the actors are part and parcel of it.

There is a scene where Bennie and Elita stop on the road for a rest under a tree. Elita talks of marriage and commitment after all this is over. Bennie is initially taken aback with the thought. A happy marriage is as foreign to him as any life joy. But they both run with the thought and pay proper respect to it. Although they agree to the commitment, and tears are shed, we all know that it is not in the cards.

This has become a cult classic - but it represents so much more. It is a slice of wild life of one of America's best film directors.

Research the movie at Amazon here.

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Mystery Train

Mystery Train - 1989
 
Mystery Train opens with two young Japanese tourists pulling into Memphis on an Amtrak train. The girl adores Elvis and her boyfriend adores Carl Perkins. They are experiencing Memphis as a great American city - ignoring its obvious run down flaws that we viewers see - and as a shrine to the music they love. As Jun says during their night in Memphis, "Its cool to be here in America, right now, with you".

The movie plays the same evening time period over in 3 different vignettes. We see the same events happen from different perspectives. There is a gunshot in the distance and an all night blues station that link the three stories. All three find themselves staying at the same tacky Arcade hotel.

Jim Jarmush only puts out a movie every couple years but they are absolute gems. In Mystery Train, the New York filmmaker, a member of the late '70s/early '80s art-punk band Del-Byzanteens, knew his musical history. He chose Memphis, home of Sun Records, the storefront sound studio at which Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison rockabillied their way to stardom. Memphis, where bluesmen Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters played for change in the parks along Beale Street. Memphis, home of Elvis - and home of Elvis' home, Graceland.

In fact you'll find music personality presence throughout the film: John Lurie, Tom Waits, Joe Strummer, Rufus Thomas and Screamin' Jay Hawkins.

These themes - especially the ghost of Elvis permeate through the three stories. As Elvis's Blue Moon is played on that all night blues station, we feel as if we are experiencing a bit of after hours Memphis that is uniquely American.

Mystery Train is not a conventional story. It is not about how the story ends but how the lives go on. It is populated with dozens of small, meaningful moments - slices of life.

This exchange between the Japanese couple and Hawkins as the hotel night clerk gives us a glimpse into the lives of both...

Mitzuko: Hi! Good night!
Night Clerk: Good night. How may I help you?
Mitzuko: Umm... We would like most cheap room please do you have?
Night Clerk: All our rooms for two people are the same rate.
Mitzuko: Oh.
Jun: (speaking in Japanese) What'd he say?
Mitzuko: (speaking in Japanese) I'm not exactly sure. (In English) I'm sorry, that is too expensive.

This is a movie that is more enjoyable with each viewing. You will love it as much on viewing 50 as number 1.

Put this movie on your to do list. Again. And again. And again.

Research Mystery Train on Amazon here.

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Deja Vu

Deja Vu - 2006

Spoilers ahead... this is a post - movie review...

There was a time, during the first, say... 25 minutes of this movie that I thought I hated this movie. Or perhaps more accurately... really disliked this movie. They were actually trying to tell me that they had all this sophisticated technology to show a detailed combined video montage of four days ago - they could rotate around objects - but we can't yet save it to disk and rewind it. Of course we find out a bit later that it is indeed sophisticated technology and is much more complicated than originally thought.

OK - I'm not saying that I bought everything I saw here, the movie was not without its flaws. But my wife kept saying to me, "Let it go Glenn, just enjoy the movie." Well I took her advice and went with it and went along for the ride. And by the end of the movie you realize what a fun ride it was.

I'm a fan of time travel movies (Back to the Future, Time Bandits, The Terminator). Its interesting how the writers and directors juggle the conflicting logic of turning time back on itself. In this movie, they bend time backwards, forwards, upwards... I'm thinking I have to rewatch it to get my head around it fully.

My wife TIVO'ed this movie solely on the strength of Denzel Washington. He doesn't disappoint here. He grounds the movie in everyday reality with his honest portrayal of Agent Doug Carlin. Paula Patton plays Claire Kuchever so well that she had me speculating that she was not exactly who she was (not an accidental outcome). And Jim Caviezel as the Satan character was brilliant. Just the opposite of his Jesus character a couple years back in the Passion of the Christ. Hows that for range?

I'm not sure how to classify this movie... science fiction thriller... procedural crime drama... love story... I think I'll classify it: "Damn fun movie to watch on a Saturday night"

Research the movie at Amazon here.

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Station Agent

Station Agent - 2003

I'm a big fan of IFC - the Independent Film Channel. Sometimes you'll find a quiet little gem out there that got absolutely no commercial fanfare, yet just absolutely blew you away. An independent film can touch a smaller segment of the population - not needing to hit that mass appeal. When you are one of those touched people, you feel like the movie was made for you.

The Station Agent is about Finbar McBride, played by Peter Drinkledge. Finbar is a dwarf. He is really only interesting to other people as a curiosity. He has gone through life with an isolationist altitude. When his one friend, who shares his passion for trains dies and leaves him an abandoned train station, Finbar sees an opportunity for escape and moves in. The people he meets in the small town form the basis of the movie and change his life.

One of the people that come into his life is Joe (played by Bobby Cannavale). Joe is a relentless extrovert and so forces his way into Finbar's life. There is the lonely Olivia (Patricia Clarkson), who needs friendship yet turns from it. Together these three form an unlikely bond of friendship. As Finbar initially rejects Joe's overt attempts of friendship, we see his inner turmoil of wanting that friendship. Later when the friendships are broken, he can think of nothing else.

There is scene when the drunk Finbar, disgusted with the play of events, climbs up on the bar and shouts to the world, "Look at me. Look at the little man...". This is a brave bit of acting here. But the movie is alternately funny, sad, good-natured. It examines friendships among different people without being heavy handed.

Joe's likability and Olivia's neediness pull Finbar out of isolation and into the real world. Its a frequently funny movie and I'm trying to find a place for it in my 100 Greatest Movie List.

[update] Added to 100 greatest Movie List 11/21/2007. Removed Rainman.

Research this movie at Amazon.

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The Prestige

The Prestige - 2006

In my review of The Illusionist, I made reference to the fact that as a fan of magic, I tend to set the bar rather high for movies about magic. The Illusionist didn't deliver. The Prestige did. It was dripping with intrigue and jaw dropping surprises. At times I thought I was lost or had missed something, only to find out that a full explanation was coming.

The movie was told predominately in flashback form - but often tripped in and out of time sequences. Some have expressed issue with this cinematic technique, but here it served to keep us involved in the story line, wondering what an event meant in the future; only to go back and have it explained. Its a movie that comes together bit by bit to the crystal clear conclusion.

The two magicians; Robert Angier (played by Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (played by Christian Bale) start out as magician apprentices but become bitter rivals after a tragic incident one night during the Chinese Water Torture trick. This rivalry becomes obsession for the two men that runs through their lives and takes everyone down with them. Borden develops a trick called "The Transported Man" that drives his competitor mad with knowing how its done.

The movie twists and turns and drives us mad at times as well. The prestige is the finality of the magic trick; the showing of the bird that disappeared, the assistant that went in the water tank. The film's prestige is revealed in the end and was not contrived or anti climatic.

There is a visit to America to contact Nikola Tesla, who may have the secret to The Transported Man. Tesla is played by David Bowie, although with a bit of overacting. How interesting to tell of the rivalry of the time of Tesla and Einstein over AC and DC electricity.

Again I see Piper Perabo showing us remarkable versatility. I liked her in 10th & Wolf - really liked her here.

Spoiler Ahead...

This movie shows us obsessive love - and obsessive hatred - played by the same person. Imagine Bale's performance here. The script requires him to alternately love & hate his wife. He must say "I love you." to her and at times really love her and at times not. I bought it, hook, line and sinker. I think I'll Tivo it again just to go over the thread again...

See these blog reviews as well.

• Nehring The Edge
• Oggs' Movie Thoughts

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Downfall

Downfall - 2004

Downfall takes place almost entirely in Hitler's underground bunker, during the final days of World War II. Hitler is played brilliantly by Bruno Gantz. Hitler is ill, mad, compassionate, racist, paranoid.... human. The controversy that surrounded this film centered around this fact - Hitler did evil things, Hitler was directly responsible for millions of innocent deaths... and Hitler was human. Throughout American cinema we are used to seeing Hitler as monster, Hitler as Satan, Hitler as supernatural evil. Does this movie, in humanizing Hitler provoke sympathy? I'm thinking that by showing Hitler as a delusional paranoid, hanging on to what little he has left - the answer is no.

We see him ordering troops and units into position that do not exist, looking for deliverance from brigades that have long fallen away. As the Russian troops slowly move in on Berlin, Hitler alternately displays emotional outbursts of anger, tender compassion for his wife and for his secretary, Traudl Junge, and long moments of isolation and desertion. The movie is told largely through the eyes of Traudl. We hear comments from the real life Junge before and after the movie. Her book Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretaryis the basis for the movie's script.

As Hitler becomes more and more out of touch with reality, we see those loyal to him confronted with the ultimate decision - stay with Hitler, face certain death; but remain loyal to the vision of National Socialism - or face reality and get out now. Some are so loyal they do the unspeakable. In fact the most unsettling and shocking scene I can remember in any film [seriously!] involves Joseph and Magda Goebbels. Magda cannot envision a world without National Socialism. And she does not want her six children to live without it either. In the sad and shocking scene, she gives her children a sleeping potion, then proceeds to give them one by one a cyanide capsule. We hear the soft crunch of the capsule as she presses their jaws closed.

I had to turn away.

Rodger Ebert said that he felt sympathy for the Hitler character as he would feel sympathy for a rabid dog that had to be put down.

The director, Oliver Hirschbiegel, shows us the horror of the war outside the bunker, which keeps us rooted in the reality of the situation. As the Hitler loyalists, one by one, succumb to suicide or murder; by the end of the film we are relieved and thank God that we were born post 1945.

Research the film on Amazon here.

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Bandwagon

Bandwagon - 1996

We've seen and enjoyed Kevin Corrigan in a number of supporting roles (Buffalo 66, Slums of Beverly Hills, Trees Lounge) through the years. In Bandwagon he plays Wynn, a cynical hippie guitar player. This witty, rambunctious band road trip movie becomes my favorite Corrigan performance.

The four band members are embarking on the transition from garage band to big business band. This movie formula was done respectably by Tom Hanks in 1996's That Thing You Do. That movie had more recognizable actors in it - but don't let that stop you from enjoying this superior film. When these four completely different personalities get together it is simply for the love of music. They all come off as real and honest. The themes are loneliness, friendship, commercialism.

The music in the movie is simply brilliant. If you listen to XM Cafe or XMU on your satellite radio you'll feel at home. The lead singer, Tony (played by Lee Holmes) is so shy and self conscious he can't face the audience when he sings. But what he writes is from the heart and very catchy. You just know that the girl he's writing about just can't share the same infatuation that he does.

Writer and director John Schultz has given us a fascinating look into the challenges of keeping a band together when so many different personalities are trying to rip it apart. The movie is funny, smart, bright and damn enjoyable to watch.

When you're watching this movie, imagine that most of the big name artists you like today started out very much like this band. The Circus Monkeys are a band that I would listen to - were they real.

This movie made my Top 100 Movie List.

Research the movie on Amazon here.

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Children of Men

Children of Men - 2006

I'm a Clive Owen fan and a Sci Fi fan so this film was right up my alley. It portrays a nightmarish future where the youngest person on the planet has just died. Since his birth, no woman has been able to conceive. Facing extinction, mankind begins to close in on itself and chaos ensues. Britain alone stands as a last bastion of civilization.

Things are looking pretty grim when we find that one woman who is pregnant. Her protector is Theodore Faron (Owen), an unlikely hero, being an ex-revolutionary turned bureaucrat. He reluctantly teams up with some old terrorist buddies and so we have our adventure. Faron must deliver her to a sanctuary ship for her protection and run a gauntlet of terrorists, thugs, government toadies and miscellaneous malcontents.

The picture that this movie paints of the future is shocking. Britain is ruled by a fascist government that rounds up illegal immigrants and puts them in concentration camps. Stormtroopers beat suspects up indiscriminately. The rebels that are fighting back aren't much better.

One particularly frightening scene puts us in a van running through a rebel dominated territory. The ensuing confrontation is realized by the viewer in the first person and the shocking scene is shot without cut-aways. This filming technique is used again later when we witness a battle scene in a concentration camp. It is very riveting and the style is very effective.

This movie made my Top 100 Movie List.

Research it on Amazon.

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Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

Three Burials of Melquides Estrada - 2005

This is a movie about loyalty and honor. About honoring a single life and avenging a single death.

It stars Tommy Lee Jones as the grizzled owner of a small time cattle operation, Pete Perkins. He hires an illegal Mexican immigrant as a hand and a deeper friendship develops. Barry Pepper is the hot head border patrol agent that has no problem with socking a Mexican woman in the face if she crosses him (and the border).

Stir this mix up and you have an emotional western (?) in the mold of a John Huston. Melquides Estrada is the Mexican cattle hand and we get to know him primarily through flashback and story telling. We do get to know him well though, which is skillful on the director's part, primarily because he is, well... dead for most of the movie. [I don't think I'm giving away any plot spoilers here. Look at the title of the movie]. Perkins realizes the ineffective sheriff [played by Diwight Yokum] isn't going to get to the bottom of the murder and decides to take matters into his own hands.

What we get is a journey of redemption bought with gruesome physical labor. Both men learn respect that they didn't have at the beginning of the story. Pepper masterfully portrays the contrition that the part demands and is worth the price of admission right there.

The film is the directorial debut for Jones as well. I'm hungry for more.

This movie made my Top 100 Movie List. You can research the movie at Amazon here.

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10th & Wolf

  10th & Wolf - 2006

Straight up mob drama with no surprises. I TIVOed this movie on the strength of Giovanni Ribisi - I always enjoy the passion he puts into a movie. Giovanni doesn't disappoint here.

The movie purports to take place in Philadelphia, but I'm from Pittsburgh and I'm tell'in ya, this was filmed in Pittsburgh. The Steelers, Wholey's Fish Market, the bridges - these are from Pittsburgh. This is, by the way, the only surprise in the movie. Its the same mob story you've seen dozens of times. Tough kid leaves the neighborhood; tough kid returns to the neighborhood; tough kid's old buds are deep in over their heads in mob trouble; tough kid trys to clean up.... just about everybody but the tough kid gets killed by the end.

But even with that said I did have some affection for the flick. Another stand out (beside Ribisi) was "the wise guy we are supposed to hate"; Dash Mihok playing the creepy Junior. At one point he beats a guy to death with his fake leg. His chilling portrayal of Junior made me hit IMDB to research his other work. Find something else he is in and let me know your thoughts.

I certainly didn't leave this movie satisfied. Everything plays out exactly as you would expect - it is very conventional. The performances by Ribisi, Mihok & Piper Perabo (!) pull this movie on to its inevitable conclusion. But I would have expected something a bit more outside the box from Crash co-writer Bobby Moresco.

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The Illusionist

  The Illusionist - 2006

* Spoilers included *

Let me start by saying that Edward Norton is one of my favorite actors. His character Derek Vinyard in American History X is unforgettably intense. He often plays characters that skillfully combine intelligence and cunning inside a quiet exterior.

Paul Giamotti is also an actor that I have grown to respect and enjoy lately.

The Illusionist didn't do it for me. I have to say that I expected the very ending from the point of the show where Eisenhim asks Sophie "Look at me. Do you really want to run away with me?" From that point forward we were meant to be tricked by the movie - lead to believe one thing while the reality was something different. Maybe ever since Sixth Sense and The Crying Game I'm a bit wary - but this just slapped me up side the head with "Watch OUT - they're trying to trick you...." The name of the movie is The Illusionist for crying out loud...

I can respect the individual performances here. Paul Giamotti is great as the nemesis as well as the grudging admirer. Jessica Biel hasn't impressed me tremendously as an actress but was surprisingly effective here in this role - believable in the period of the movie.

Norton made The Painted Veil right after this movie. I recommend that movie for the Ed Norton fan. Also a period piece but a much more engaging film.

I'm a fan of magic, all the actors in the movie, turn of the century periods, Vienna.... you would think this movie would have been made for me. Maybe I expected too much...

Research this movie on Amazon

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Tsotsi

Tsotsi - 2005

* Spoilers included *

Tsotsi won an Oscar in 2006 under the category "Best Foreign Language Film". Its rare to see a film where the bad guy gravitates toward good instead of the other way around. This is a powerful film that shows a killer who learns humanity from a baby.

The film is shot in Soweto, a township near Johannesburg, South Africa. I travelled through Johannesburg last year on a trip to Mozambique. I saw the squalor of the ghetto from the safety of my bus - but I get it. The movie portrays the ghetto as a place where life is cheap... there is a scene where we witness orphans living in huge concrete pipes as if they are condos.

Tsotsi is presented with the challenge of caring for a baby - the by-product of a car jacking. The child evokes in him a reflection of his own brutal childhood. The flashbacks build for us a picture of growing up in this part of the world at this cultural level. As we watch Tsotsi develop his humanity around the baby - we see him essentially fight back against wh