Eclectic Choice: The New Centurions

The New Centurions (1972)

dir. Richard Fleischer

Based on the novel by Joseph Wambaugh, this is a character driven film that looks at the routines and effects of the Los Angeles Police in the 1970's. If you're looking for any semblance of a plot, this is not the movie for you, but for those wanting to see interesting characters and some excellent acting, it's worth a look.

George C. Scott delivers another solid performance as Kilvinski, the veteran cop who is partnered with idealistic rookie Fehler, played by Stacey Keach. We watch these mens lives unravel as the job becomes more important to them then the rest of their lives. 

Yes, it may seem a bit slow since they aren't out to solve a murder, or deal with corruption, but it's also a breath of fresh air as we see a profile of cops that doesn't rely on the tropes of every other film in the genre. This movie doesn't praise cops or punish their decisions, rather it takes an objective look at the life and consequences, emotional and physical, from the decisions they make. 

Review: JCVD

JCVD (2008)

starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Francois Damiens, Zinedine Soualem, Karim Belkhadra, Jean-Francois Wolff, Anne Paulicevich

dir. Mabrouk El Mechri

Jean-Claude Van Damme has feelings. Lots of them. Now, he's decided it lay them out there for everyone to see. I've watched him travel through time, do the splits on chairs and countertops, even fight a giant penguin, but  in his latest film he makes his gustiest move yet. He becomes a human being. This is not a satire as you might expect, but a "what if" scenario. What if a fading action star is thrust into a real life hostage situation? The answer is, "JCVD, dumbass!"

In JCVD (his initials for the slow folks out there), he plays himself. Not just himself, but a warts and all self. He's broke, stuck making bad movies to pay bills, fighting for the custody of his child and has a sketchy track record with drugs and women. This is not the invincible high kicking hero that we've seen in the past.

To shake off his woes, he's decided to go home to Brussels to get his act together. Almost instantly, he accidentally gets involved in a post office/bank robbery, taken hostage and mistaken by police as the criminal . It hasn't been a good day for Van Damme.

This is where it becomes a fascinating character study of the Muscles from Brussels. By using a tried and true formula, we are given an opportunity to witness a human being whose screen persona would solve this type of problem with a few high kicks. JCVD rips away the layers of the action hero to expose a man who has worked hard, been successful, made mistakes and been ridiculed by the same people who built him up in the first place. 

What really makes me appreciate this film is how gutsy Van Damme is. JCVD is a project that could have easily been laughably bad. At times it almost treads into territory of Van Damme asking to be taken seriously as an actor, but saved by the fact that he is so good. It is tough to portray emotional truth on screen. It's tougher to play an emotional truth that exposes yourself and not a character. Van Damme not only shows us who he is, but brings it back into the framework of the plot so we understand why he is confessing these feelings to us.

The films structure is solid as well, using non linear storytelling helps build tension as well as fill in all the missing pieces and points of view to create a cohesive narrative and helps us to understand the trials and tribulations that Van Damme deals with on a daily basis. Sure it does have some visual flaws that creates confusion at times, but in the end it is about looking at a man that we have already washed our hands of.

This is an art house film with an action star. Odds are, people who are not fans of his previous work will enjoy this much more than folks walking in hoping to see Bloodsport Redux. But everyone should give it a chance and let Jean-Claude Van Damme state his case.

7.75 out of 10

R.I.P. Ken Ogata

Ken Ogata (1937-2008)

I missed this, so it's a week late.

Ken Ogata a great Japanese actor passed away last week from cancer.

He was in some great films and even portrayed author Yukio Mishima in the biopic Mishima. Go figure. It is one of those biopics that goes outside the box and examines the man's life through recreations of his work as well as his last days before committing public suicide. It's a really interesting film and a great performance by Ogata.

He also starred in two films by Shohei Imamura who I'd written about when he passed away about a year or so ago. Vengeance is Mine and The Ballad of Narayama. I've only seen Vengence, which is a must. Both are available on DVD and now I have even more reason to sit down and watch Ballad.

All in all he had been in about seventy movies and he is one of those actors who was great to watch and every time you'd see his name in the credits, you knew there would be something solid going on.

My condolences to his family and his work has not gone unnoticed.

POV: Oh, Mann

I remember when Steven Soderbergh mentioned that it was tough to grow and try new things as a filmmaker. He felt the system wants directors to spring fully formed from the head of celluloid. This sucks of course. What fun is it to watch a fully formed filmmaker, or someone who will never change? It’s boring.

History of Violence is a really impressive movie, but becomes even better if you have witnessed the progression of David Cronenberg’s films. The guy who made Shivers, The Fly, and Dead Ringers seems like such an odd choice to make History of Violence, but at the same time it fits together like a perfect puzzle. All of these carry themes of identity and sexuality. You may scratch your head a bit but trust me, I’m much smarter than you. Yes there are major differences, but that’s the point of evolution. The ability to grow and work the craft, to become a better filmmaker, and explore themes through different constructs.

Which brings me to Anthony Mann. I just finished watching The Furies on DVD. This is another one of those Criterion releases that made me wonder why they would release it. Then I witnessed its grandeur, its scope of story and human psychology. Just glancing at his resume, it looks like Mann’s breakout from Noir into the Western genre and he said, “Fuck you, the western can be as good as Shakespeare!”(My quote, not his.) He set out to prove it and did.

The Furies was his Tempest with a little bit of King Lear thrown in for good measure. An exquisite piece that demands the viewer to invest in characters that wallow in the emotional grays of life. By the end, these don’t seem like people on a screen, but Greek gods clashing over who rules the heavens. If you decide to sit down and give this a watch, you'll think I’m crazy at first. But don’t fight it, let the film take over. Roll with it and by the time all of the betrayal, revenge, and scheming is set up, you’ll be glued to the screen. Walter Huston is mesmerizing and Barbara Stanwyk has one of her best roles and one of the best lines of dialog that she’d ever get outside of Double Indemnity. To witness these two spar on screen is like standing in the eye of a tornado. You are perfectly safe and secure as the world around you is torn up from the roots.

Mann would never have achieved this if he didn’t have the time to grow and practice his craft. By working among the poverty row film companies, pumping out quickie noirs, Mann honed his storytelling style and personal voice. He came into his own with films like T-Men, Raw Deal, He Walked by Night, forming a visual style that feels like images carved in rock. Hard edges, high contrast, meaning within the composed frame itself. He’d transfer all he learned into the western and drive the genre in his own direction.

I wasn’t just waxing Mann’s car when I said his work was comparable to Shakespeare. Winchester '73 and The Naked Spur strike chords of Hamlet and Macbeth. The Man From Laramie drips the King plays from every pore. I hate to say that I have no idea what to compare The Tin Star to, but by that point, I feel Mann had stepped into his own. Exploring the myth of these characters and letting them ride off into the sunset where we’d never hear from their chorus again.


Here is what I find ironic. When Mann moves into the period epic, all of the emotions I carry from his other films disappear. All of those things that seem classic and epic in his noir and westerns, which are smaller and more intimate, go away when he gives us Fall of the Roman Empire or El Cid. It’s like the epic scale of the visual, displaced the epic quality of the characters. His visuals in these epics are amazing and just as solid as anything seen in Ben Hur or Cleopatra, they just lack in soul when compared to his other films.

If you have never taken the time to follow the evolution of a filmmaker, give Mann a shot. From small no budget noirs where he honed his skills, to the physical and psychological vistas of the old west, to the biggest budget mega-epics of the 50’s. Mann put up on screen a mosaic of humanity that very few have or will. There is reason why it is important to allow filmmakers to grow through their art and Mann is a legendary example.

POV: Return Of Rat Kid

I'm slowly watching the films of Busby Berekely and for those of you keeping track I had posted a piece about Rat Kid. I'm not sure if this little guy is a kid or a midget(dwarf?) but he is a little creepy and a total perv.

In the second film I've seen, Gold Diggers of 1933, Rat Kid shows up in a baby carriage! He runs around, gawks up a couple dresses, looks lasciviously at the camera and pulls up curtains on a bunch of women changing clothes. This is all done during a routine called "Pettin' in the Park." A revised song after the original title, "Blowjob on the Bench" was considered to vague.

Now these movies are pre Hays Code, so they are racy and that's a lot of fun. The dance routines are what make the films worth while, but I'm starting to notice a trend. The last routine is always this patriotic support our troops, America is great, raw-raw thing. It seems almost like a different film because this is how it ends. You have this frothy love story with wacky comedy giant dance numbers then a bunch of soldiers march through in the rain and it you're left feeling a little let down.

But if Rat Kid keeps making cameos, I'm keeping them in the queue.

POV: What's the Busby

For those of you out there who don't know Busby Berkeley, he choreographed and directed all sorts of dance numbers in movies back in the 30's maybe into the 40's.

For those of you who know me, I wouldn't be the target audience for a Busby Berkeley movie. And for those of you who know me, I'll check out anything once. I decided to watch Footlight Parade, it stars Jimmy Cagney as a guy whose stage shows are being pushed out by talking pictures.

The film has some questionable logic when it comes to economics and they introduce several plot points that are resolved a little too quickly and conveniently at times, but it's a fun ride and I'd recommend checking it out.

The second most fascinating thing is some of the racism of the time. Cagney's character suggests a show done in black face and there are several female dancers with eye makeup that make them resemble asian hookers, but what do you expect in 1933.

Now here is the number one fascination for me. The rat kid! Or maybe rat adult of miniature proportions, I'm not entirely sure. In a sequence where all of the dancers are done up as cats for this routine, there's a bit with this dude...

It's totally surreal. There is a second routine later on that is basically about fucking at the "Honeymoon Hotel" and this kid/man shows up again and it really makes you wonder how old he is.

So rat guy was just an eye rubbing experience for me. There was also the half naked white women in an opium den, but by that point I was willing to expect and accept anything.

So if you've never seen Footlight Parade, it's well worth the time and now I've got to go see what else Mr. Berkeley has in store for me.

Film Geek Primer: Episode #5

Film Geek Primer:
Episode #5
Russ Meyer






This week, the geeks discuss the winner of their first viewer poll, director Russ Meyer.