The Weather Underground (2002) ***

A good, straightforward documentary about America's homegrown extreme-left domestic terror organization, the Weathermen. A good watch if you like history

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

Good movie - great story for the most part. I haven't read the novel or seen the recent version, so this was my first exposure to it with the availability on Netflix instant. The 2.5 hours went by fast, interesting characters. Kind of a nice change to see a movie where none of the major characters are particularly attractive and out of place. Still want to see the new one. 8/10.

Amen to that. I've been singing the praises of this film since I saw it two years ago at the Munich Fantasy Filmfest. I can't believe it took so long for the movie to finally find a distributor.

Street of Shame (1956) Kenji Mizoguchi's last film is the story of five prostitutes in Dreamland, a brothel in Yoshiwara, Tokyo's red-light district. Despite the title and the tagline, "Men were their prey! Beauty was their lure!" it's really not that lurid, and, until the plot mechanics of a prostitution movie come in towards the end (you know somebody's going to get killed or beaten, another rejected by her family), it's more of a slice-of-life movie where the life happens to be prostitution. The Japanese title translates as "Red Light District" and fits the movie better. There is the woman who's ready to leave for marriage, the aging prostitute supporting her son, the housewife who is selling her body to pay for her husband's medicine, the happy-go-lucky runaway with a taste for fine things, and the beautiful successful mercenary who's always willing to lend the other women money with interest. The last three, played respectively by Michiyo Kogure, Machiko Kyô and Ayako Wakao, are the three most worth watching. I particularly like Machiko Kyô, who you may remember as Lady Wakasa in Ugetsu. And the first four are growing another day older and deeper in debt.

Beautifully and often strikingly filmed and not as heavy-handed as I feared, but it still has an impact. The last scene involves a sixth girl, a young virgin timidly calling out for her first customer and cowering halfway hidden in a doorway; it's a powerful image comparable with the last image in City Lights.

One of the background stories in the film is that this way of life may be imminently doomed: there is a bill going through the Diet that will make prostitution illegal. It has been vetoed three times already but just perhaps.

A year after this film came out, the bill became law and brothels became illegal in Japan, although, of course, they still exist. This film supposedly influenced the passage of the bill, so this may be one of those films that changed history.

7 of 10; it would have been 7.5 or higher but for some obvious plot mechanics. Not a bad final film to be remembered by.

Oh man, it barely found one! I had to go to Santa Cruz to watch it theatrically.

Ghost Dog: Way of The Samurai (1999) 7/10

A blend between gangster and samurai movies. I get the feeling that this film is referencing that Melville film often throughout the film, but don't really have the background to know. In any case, a thoughtful little film where Forrest Whitaker plays a hitman with samurai leanings and codes.

It's a marginal technical improvement but not much else.

Hangover Part II

Okay, not a great film by any means. Weaker than the first and with an unusually slow start for this kind of thing. But it broadly works for what it is. 7/10

About a Boy

A great coming of age film. Hugh Grant's best ever role. Nick Hornby rules! 8.5/10


Drive

One for my style over substance thread. An entertaining hour and a half that I will probably revisit sometime, but not rush to. I liked the presumably ironic use of an 80s style soundtrack. 8/10

There, fixed that for you.

From what I understand, the music was part of the characterization--the idea being that this guy doesn't really have genuine emotional interactions with other people until he meets up with the family down the hall, and gets his emotional fix by listening to pop songs in his car.

I'm not sure I'd read that into it, but I will say that it works wonders for the mood of the film, and the tunes are pretty cool in their own right.


That took me a second.

Memento* (2000)

*Watched in chronological sequence, not in edited order.

Has it been 12 years already? Wow, time flies. Watching Memento in chronological order is a neat exercise and helps to clear up a lot of things in the story, but it also brings out some of the shortcomings in the story itself and the intentional pacing issues that serve the "backwards" telling. (The movie starts with all of the black and white scenes and the Sammy Jankis stuff first and then proceeds to Leonard's color footage in order.)

While some little hints and throwaway pieces of dialogue are lost on the casual viewer from scene to scene in the "original", they take on deeper significance in the "alternative". (Things like references to Leonard's clothes and his car.) Still, watching in the alternate order, Natalie and Leonard's relationship develops too quickly and Teddy appears out of nowhere way too frequently. And both of them pingpong between being allies and adversaries of Leonard's very abruptly. These deficiencies are less glaring when watched in the theatrical order as the viewer is too busy trying to keep all of the other details of the story straight in their mind.

The original edit is superior, but the alternate is still a pretty good curiosity. (Not going to give a "star" rating.)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) - **** out of ****

I have one of these idiosyncrasies wherein I cannot watch a film if the book is easily available and offers greater depth than its visual counterpart. Therefore, I did read the book before watching the film. But, apart from a few minor non-important quibbles, I thought the film was just about a perfect adaptation of a really dense novel from a writer known for the depth of his writing. For those of you who have seen the film but not read the book, I would suggest you do it since the kind of detail Le Carre provides cannot be captured within two hours.

First things first, Gary Oldman kills the part. To make a really strange and unfair comparison but one that serves my point, I would say this is as difficult a role as Vito Corleone. Before someone eats my head, I am talking in terms of idiosyncrasies, mannerisms, and physically portraying the character. From having read the book, Smiley is one of those unique characters that can really be appreciated for who he is. Smiley's uniqueness has to be captured by Oldman in terms of his laconic conversing style and his mental capacity (Oldman has shown himself to be a really great on-screen thinker), and Oldman nails it brilliantly. A terrific singular performance worthy of an Academy Award that looks to be slipping his grasp as for now. As for the rest of the cast, given its pedigree, need I say more. Noteworthy performances came from a perfectly cast Tom Hardy as the volcanic Ricki Tarr, Svetlana Khodchenkova's who leaves a mark on us despite a few paltry moments on-screen, and King George VI from last year.

In terms of the screenplay, I would say the BAFTA for Adapted Screenplay has gone to the most deserving candidate. This is a novel that cannot be captured within such a short span of time but Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan have achieved the impossible. They've stripped the story clean and taken in only the essential elements while leaving out the parts which are better left for reading. The result is a lean and mean screenplay that has enough exposition in order to not leave newcomers confused while being faithful to the source material. Those uninitiated in the proceedings will still have to concentrate and focus their entire attention on the screen because a solitary missed dialogue can really leave you scratching your heads, but that goes without saying.

Overall, I would definitely put it in the top 3 or 4 English language films I've seen from last year and one that I would really enjoy seeing again. It deserves to be nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography apart from the noms it already has for Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Music.

Ken -



I figured it was a sort of nior-ish tribute to........I dunno......Grand Theft Auto maybe, and 70s/80s films and TV series that it clearly borrowed from?!!

(These observations aren't insults as I felt the film did in fact work)

I have a bias because I've been involved in similar adventures myself. And the whole Ladyboy thing ain't so far fetched (not me by the way!)

Ladyboy's are very common in Thailand, they're a big part of the red light district(rumor has it David Carradine was strangled to death by ladyboys).

Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) - ***1/2 out of ****

First of all, to quote Pedro, "I'm rattled." Secondly, I cannot tell you how close this came to getting the full score. But it just missed out in my book and I cannot seem to figure out why. Obviously, we will all point out to the ending which stands out like a sore thumb. I was reading through RV forums where someone pointed out that, unlike something like A Separation, an ambiguous ending doesn't really seem like the best option. However, as James pointed out in his year-end summary, the other option is dissatisfying or anti-climactic. And I don't really know what to make of it. For my money,
I can't really say that's better but that's what came to my mind when pondering about the ending, or maybe that's just my soft spot for Martha talking. Either ways, the option chosen by the director doesn't seem like the best one.

Perhaps the highest praise I can offer the film is that Martha will stick in my mind. I will keep thinking about whether she made it to safety and what happens to her after the screen fades to black. The film's purpose was to get us into the minds of this central character and it is an unmitigated success in that respect. Another key aspect in which the film is successful is in the characterization everybody else in the film as well. Take John Hawkes' Patrick for instance, this is a character I would want to be miles away from, or Lucy's husband Ted who I've seen taken over-the-top in similar films. Lucy herself is perfectly characterized.

Now comes the shock and horror, Elizabeth Olsen isn't nominated for an Oscar, did I get that correct? This I find surprising, especially when Jennifer Lawrence was nominated for a similar role (I haven't yet seen Winter's Bone BTW) in an indie film. What surprised me the most about her performance was the depth of emotions she was able to convey with her eyes, and as I've stated on this very forum before, that is the most difficult thing to do for any actor. She's able to convey the sadness, confusion, paranoia and whatever emotions that are gripping Martha with just her eyes alone and the film reiterates this aspect a lot by having quite a lot of closeups of her face. Given that I genuinely despise her sisters, I really hope she pips them for fame and goes places pretty soon. If she can keep this up, it will be fully deserved. John Hawkes deserves an Oscar Nom for Best Supporting Actor. What a chilling performance. As I said, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near this man. For that matter, I felt Julia Garner as the fully indoctrinated Sarah was also chilling in her devotion to Patrick. Sarah Paulson and Hugh Dancy were great as the couple who show enough patience with Martha.

Overall, a really brilliant character study with a head-turning centerpiece performance from someone who's sure to go places in the coming years. This is one I wouldn't mind watching again at a later time.

Intouchables (Untouchable)

Predictable, yet extremely enjoyable. The (based on a) true story of a Senegalese hoodlum from the Paris projects who becomes the caretaker of a wealthy Paris quadriplegic and the relationship they develop. The movie is carried by the very strong performances of the two lead characters, played by Omar Sy and François Cluzet, and their interaction is completely believable. This feel-good dramatic comedy has become one of the most successful films in French history, and deservedly so. Definitely worth a watch.

Bellflower

Saw it last night. Can't get it out of my head. I'm short on time right now, so I'll repost our boy JJ's write-up he did back at the end of October. I'll add more later. I'm hoping a lot of you guys get the chance to watch it. Really good ya'll.

It may surprise you, Vex, but I'm not as wet behind the ears as you think.

50/50 - Largely mediocre fare that isn't cut from disease-of-the-week cloth and isn't special in any other way. The script hits its bullet points but the drama is entirely of the audience's making: Joseph Gordon-Levitt's flat performance is way below the call of duty, leaving what it must feel like to suffer from a life-threatening illness in the hands of Anna Kendrick's accidental narration ("You're going through denial now,") and the audience's experience of this story told far better so many, many more times. Anjelica Huston adds a nice touch of humanity as Gordon-Levitt's mother, Seth Rogen does his typical thing to nice effect (his similar characters all benefit from some kind of internal life even if his readings feel a bit the same) and Anna Kendrick was obviously directed to act like Michael Cera's Nervous and Stuttering Loveable Schmo. If it's slightly above average it has everything to do with the movie's refusal to turn maudlin in the face of material that almost begs for it. That isn't something to praise, of course. **1/2 all the same.