Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
It’s been interesting watching the entirety of the media, both online and off, complete its transformation into The National Enquirer this week. Interesting and, yes, repulsive. I hate gossip. I hate people who report gossip. I hate people who dwell on gossip. I think it cheapens everyone involved. It amazes me how much time and energy people who claim that they are reporting on “entertainment” actually spend on talking about everything but. When this kind of bullshit reaches the same deafening roar that it did this week, there’s only one solution: tune it all out and focus once again on the movies.
It’s a mixed bag of new releases this week, but there’s always at least one title that really jumps out, so as always, I’ll start with...
This Week’s Featured Title (8/08)
BRICK
Rian Johnson’s debut feature is one of those pitch-perfect announcements that tells you that this is a director worth paying attention to. This is someone who’s got something to say. He took what sounds like a style exercise and turned it into an affecting portrait of absolute heartbreak. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of the best young actors working right now, and I sincerely hope we’re looking at the start of a long career. I think of him like I think of Topher Grace. Naturally talented guys who bring a gravity and a reality to everything they do. The film’s beautifully shot, but it’s more than just a surface. Like MILLER’S CROSSING, this is a film that reveals some exposed underbelly, some vulnerable stuff, and when you get down to the darkest moments, they lay bare something true about our weaknesses. The point of noir was never just about style... it was about the darkness of our hearts, and BRICK honors the genre beautifully.
CAVITE
A micro-budget wonder, this film, shot primarily on location in the Phillipines, is the story of a young man forced to do something terrible by unseen kidnappers who have taken his mother and his sister. Shot for $7000, this is a film that makes the most out of having almost nothing, and for that reason alone, I’d recommend it to all struggling filmmakers. One of the biggest problems I see in the films that people send me that are self-produced is overambition. I don’t mean it’s bad to be ambitious... just that sometimes you have to recognize that you have a certain amount of money to spend, and you shouldn’t try and make a giant action movie with stunts and special effects if you really can’t afford to do it.
C.S.A.: THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA
I just watched this one tonight while putting this column together, and overall, I thought it was a decent satirical piece, but it suffers because it starts so strong and so real, and by the end of the film, it’s lapsed into a jokey tone that sells out the great work at the film’s beginning. This is a “what if,” taking the position that the North lost the Civil War, leading to slavery as the norm in the US and changing the face of our race relations in America. Of course, the point is that things aren’t that different at all, and one of the film’s most disturbing moments features a commercial for a show about tracking down runaway slaves that looks exactly like an episode of COPS right now. Director Kevin Willmott is at his best when he’s playing things completely straight, and there are moments when his PBS/Ken Burns-style documentary about the alternate history of the country really works. When it gets too broadly funny, though, the reality of it falls apart, and it undermines the good work. It’s worth a rental more than a purchase, but it’s definitely worth seeing.
DON’T COME KNOCKING
Why am I buying this film sight unseen?
Because it was directed by Wim Wenders, and co-written with Sam Shepard, their first collaboration since the great PARIS TEXAS, and because it’s got an interesting eclectic cast, and because some critics said it played like a sort of spiritual sequel to PARIS TEXAS, all of which is pretty exciting if you like that film. And if that’s true, then why haven’t I seen this film in the theater? Probably for the same reason... because it’s a Wim Wenders film and it stars Sam Shepard... which probably got it released on a handful of screens at best. Shame on me for not seeking it out during its limited release based on what I’ve heard about it.
READ CAPONE’S MOSTLY POSITIVE REVIEW OF THE FILM FROM APRIL OF THIS YEAR!!
THE HIDDEN BLADE
Our own Harry J. Knowles liked it so much he named it his number eight film for the year last year. Our buddy Cbabbitt also wrote about it for us in a pretty good piece last year. And Capone liked it enough to include it in his top 23 films of the year last year. I, uh... personally... thought that, um...
... well, I meant to watch it. Seriously. I just didn’t get around to it yet. Now that it’s coming out domestic in a release by the fine folks at Tartan Video, I’ve got no excuse. I have it here again... a region one release now... and I’ll watch it this week. I’d say it comes highly recommended indeed.
INSIDE MAN
I’m not really sure where Spike Lee is in his career right now, and I’m not sure he is, either. Lee is an obviously talented director with as much of a signature as anyone working, a distinct voice no matter who his collaborators are on a film. When he puts it all together, he ends up making 25th HOUR. When he completely miscalculates, he makes SHE HATE ME. INSIDE MAN seems to me to be an attempt to prove he can make a certain kind of polished entertainment, a certain kind of Hollywood film, much like Oliver Stone’s just done with WORLD TRADE CENTER. I’ll have a full review of this one later this week.
THE JAYNE MANSFIELD COLLECTION
Even though Fox Home Entertainment has made it their mission to completely freeze me out, and even though they resolutely refuse to send me a single screener at this point for any title of theirs, I’m still willing to send a li’l love their way. Especially when they finally release a title I’ve been dying to see in widescreen for as long as I’ve been aware of it.
Jayne Mansfield was discovered on Broadway when she appeared in WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?, a satire about the advertising industry. 20th Century Fox was desperate to find someone they could use as a threat to Marilyn Monroe, their biggest star at the time, because she was starting to get hard to handle at that point. They hired Mansfield because she was even more of a cartoon of idealized ‘50s sexuality than Monroe was, and they made the remarkably astute decision to hook her up with director Frank Tashlin, a comedy genius who was a former Warner Bros. animator. The first film he made with her was THE GIRL CAN’T HELP IT, and it’s a wild little ride about the early days of rock’n’roll featuring some great performances by folks like Little Richard, The Platters, Fats Domino, and Gene Vincent. Tashlin took full advanatage of the canvas afforded him by Cinemascope, and his film plays like a live-action cartoon with Mansfield as his own personal Jessica Rabbit. As great as that film is, WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER? is the real classic in this box set. I have no idea how it played on Broadway, but as a film, ROCK HUNTER is spectacular, packed with visual gags and hilarious character humor. Tony Randall plays an advertising man who wants to sign movie star Rita Marlowe (Mansfield) to an endorsement deal, but in order to get her to sign, she forces him to pretend to be her lover in public, unwittingly turning him into a sex symbol. Yes, it’s just as silly as it sounds, but there’s a genuine wit to the silliness, and Tashlin doesn’t miss a single opportunity to drop some amazing visual punchline on the audience. It’s unlike any other pop comedy you’ve ever seen, I’ll wager. Finally, there’s a western-comedy called THE SHERIFF OF FRACTURED JAW. Never seen it. Honestly, never heard of it. I’ve seen some of Mansfield’s other work, but for me, she was defined by the first two films in this box, and they’re well worth the $30 or so that you’ll find the film selling for.
THE LOST CITY
Capone really loved this movie, evidently. I think that when I reviewed it, I liked it but didn’t go crazy for it. It’s a passion project by Andy Garcia as director and lead actor, and it’s got a great cast. Garcia’s constructed a love letter to a Cuba that may not have ever really existed. It’s more like the Cuba he dreams of when he hears people speak about it with nostalgia, and there’s something beautiful and romantic about that, making this film to honor this dream of his home that doesn’t exist now.
MANDERLAY
Lars von Trier is one of those guys who demands the attention of any serious film fan. Love him or hate him, he makes provocative films that demand your attention. Once again, our own Capone opined on the film in February of this year, and he seemed to be of mixed opinion about the film. Still, I found DOGVILLE fascinating, and he’s got me interested enough that this is already in the player, next up for me to watch.
PRISON BREAK: SEASON ONE
I take the opinion of Hercules The Strong very seriously. I don’t always agree with it, but the man takes his television seriously, and when he dismissed PRISON BREAK last fall, I sort of wrote it off, too. I don’t tune in to much TV, so I have to pick and choose based on the early buzz. Still, by the time the season closed, I know that many people had become quite fond of the show, and that people were really digging it.
If you’re like me, there are many shows you don’t sample until you can do it like this... one big gulp, where you have a chance to see how a whole season plays out. That’s what hooked me on series like RESCUE ME and NIP/TUCK, and what’s currently getting me more and more addicted to ROME. I’m hoping this show turns out to be one of those discoveries, compulsive fun.
SEALAB 2021: SEASON FOUR
One of the most overtly silly of the Adult Swim shows, SEALAB 2021 has always made me laugh because of just how bizarre they’ve made the cast of characters. They started off as people who were slightly off-center, but by the time this fourth season rolled around, it was obvious that this entire crew is deeply, completely insane. This may not be the best season of the show, but it’s got plenty of high points that make it a worthwhile addition to the collection of any fan.
TOSHIRO MIFUNE: THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Hmmmm... why might I be recommending this collection? Oh, that’s right, because Toshiro Mifune is one of the greatest performers in the history of cinema, and because even his lesser films are worth seeing just to watch the way this guy breathed life into every role. He’s one of those movie stars who transcends the films he did. It’s just him that you tune in to see in each movie. These aren’t the five best films of his career, but taken as a whole, they offer a pretty nice snapshot of what he was capable of as an actor. SAMURAI, THE AMBUSH: INCIDENT AT BLOOD PASS, ZATOICHI MEETS YOJIMBO, AKAGE, and UNDER THE BANNER OF SAMURAI, three of which were directed by Kihachi Okamoto and two of which were directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, are all interesting offerings from the mid to late ‘60s.
ULTIMATE AVENGERS 2
I thought this was an interesting attempt at translating THE ULTIMATES to the screen, but it wasn’t totally successful. Still, as I observed at that point, the preview for the second film looked like it was going to be an improvement, so I’m still very curious and excited to get a look at this one, where we’ll see Black Panther brought to life for the very first time.
THE WIRE: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON
I love THE WIRE. I think it’s the most underrated show on television. Season by season, the show’s been getting denser and richer and better, and this third season featured one of the boldest storylines I’ve seen on television or in film in recent memory. Faced with encroaching urban decay, a watch captain in Baltimore decides to legalize drugs in one particular part of the city, just to see what it does to crime statistics. It’s a master stroke, but of course, it’s not remotely sanctioned by the city. Watching what unfolds is just one of of the pleasures of this season, but it’s the sort of speculative notion that impresses me because of just how carefully it explores all the potential of the idea. Great stuff, and revisiting these episodes just makes me eager to see what the show’s got in store for the upcoming season four.
And that’s it for this week. Pretty eclectic group of stuff. I’ve got some more articles on the way in the next few days, so for now, I’ll just say...
|
