Review: Twilight

Twilight (2008)

starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Nikki Reed, Peter Facinelli, Cam Gigandet

dir. Catherine Hardwicke

Yeah, I get it, I'm not the target audience. If I was a thirteen year old girl I'd be going nuts over this movie or shaking my head wondering why it couldn't be as good as the book. So for what it's trying to be it's fine. But I have problems with it none the less.

I won't discuss the performances. I can't say they were good or bad. They were forgettable, which it the worst you can do in any film. If you're gonna go over the top, go for it. Make it something that Timothy Carey would applaud, or go the other direction if you've got the chops. I have a gut feeling there are very few chops in this. 

The love story itself has logic issues. At one point Edward our dreamy vampire goes off on how he is a creature designed to be desired. His scent, looks, voice all work to draw people to him (I have the same problem). If that is the case and there is no key scene where we can see why she finds him attractive for reasons other than those stated above. Therefore it may not really be love, right? That's what I took from it. I never saw a clear moment where she said, "I like this guy, he's funny." Every reason had to do with what he was, not who he was. At least they explain why he loves her, he is unable to read her thoughts. This either means he finds comfort in her, or she's dumb as a stump. 

My big issues are all technical. I thought it was visually uninteresting and there were goofy flourishes where none were needed. The exception being a shot of Edward and Bella on the top of a giant pine tree. If it was real, I'd like to know how they got them up there. If it was CG, someone deserves a bonus. But over all, there was very little tension built through framing or cutting and the entire piece felt plain and derivative. It's that kind of thing that really makes me dismiss the film. It gives the impression that the producers felt success would come from the brand, not the filmmaking. It's just lazy and uncinematic. That is the biggest crime. You have a love story and vampires, two things that have visual storytelling written all over it and they couldn't care less.

The other technical issue I've got is not just with this film, but any movie where they have people climbing walls or trees or running up hills at fast speeds. Limbs never match the speed of movement and there is always the feeling or being pulled by wires. It just seems tacky to me. A cheapness that they live in denial about.

In case you're concerned, yeah, I got the whole abstinence theme but who cares. Most horror films tend to lean to the right, especially vampire movies. I'm not going to get into any political diatribe about teenage sexuality and when someone should or shouldn't have sex. Too each his or her own, just don't be a lousy lay.

So for me, the movie is a big failure. For the audience it is intended for, good job. Keep up your quest for more money and eternal virginity.

5.0 out of 10

Review: Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionare (2008)

starring: Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Freida Pinto

dir. Danny Boyle

co-dir. Loveleen Tandan

Danny Boyle is one of those filmmakers that I forget about constantly and then as soon as I am reminded of him, I remember how great of a filmmaker he is. The guy can tell a story and has a visual style that he adapts to each project, but still remains cohesive across all his films. Slumdog Millionaire is no exception to this rule.

The basic gist is Jamal (Dev Patel) is one question away from winning 20 million rupee on India's version of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. He is accused of cheating and questioned/beaten by the police. During his interrogation we flash back through his life to discover where he gained the pieces of knowledge that supplied his answers as well as showing his relation ship with his brother Salim and love of his life Latika. It is a well drawn story that earns every emotional moment and never delves into sentimentality or nostalgia to earn our heart.

This may also be Boyle's most visually stunning film to date. Anthony Dod Mantle has shot two other films for Boyle as well as several films for the Dogme 95' movement, but here he seems to be channeling Christopher Doyle through Bollywood. Incredible colors and framing create an atmosphere out of a Wong Kar-Wai film. There isn't a shot wasted and Mantle captures beauty in a world that is knee deep in squalor and suffering. If this doesn't get a nomination for best cinematography at this years Oscars I might as well toss my hands up in defeat, which makes typing very difficult.

Everyone is good in this. There are three actors each for Jamal, Salim and Latika through different periods in time and they work seamlessly. Patel walks away with the show of course as he portrays Jamal with a level of honor and dignity that never leans into cartoon heroism. Anil Kapoor, a veteran Bollywood star plays the game show host with a hidden agenda brilliantly. This is a roll that easily could have become a mustache twirling scenery chewer, but Kapoor keeps it tight and puts Regis Philbin to shame.

In a recent interview, I was listening to Boyle talk about his casting director Loveleen Tandan, who had ended up helping so much and being such a benefit to Boyle, she received a co-director's credit from Boyle. The guy is cool, admit it.

An all around great movie, Slumdog Millionaire deserves all of the praise it is getting and reminds people that Danny Boyle is a filmmaker not to be taken lightly.

8.25 out of 10

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.