Мар
9
The opening of Up and Down (H…
9 Март, 2010 | Комментировать
The opening of Up and Down (Horem p‡dem) could easily advantage one to think that they’re with to watch a gritty, stylized version of Three Men and a Baby. Deep within the Czech Republic, two men are smuggling refugees in the back of their semi-truck and drop off the people in the halfway of nowhere, sole to accidentally leave a newborn baby in the truck. Discovering this bad move, the two men wrangle over what to do and I initially expected the gentler one to take vigilance of the child on his own. My expectations did not pit out of the closet, on the other hand, since the men smuggle the child into a pawnshop and start scrolling the black market to sell it.
The film switches its place to a carnival. The dark, atmospheric stylings of the earlier scene are gone and the colors randomly seem more reminiscent of Amélie. A lonely woman, Mila (Natasa Burger), walks up to an unattended neonate carriage and starts to walk off with the baby. She is stopped by the protect and taken aside by a guarding guard, who just so happens to be her ex-con husband, Franka (Jirí Machácek) . Franka and Mila persist in a miniscule apartment with a cat and a TV that is always tuned in to a soccer game. At supper, Mila breaks down and tells her save that she must have a infant or else something horrifying will happen. There’s no doubting that she’s telling the facts in fact, because her recklessness in this scene is both mordantly comical and unbearably sad.
The next logical conclusion is that the script, by Petr Jarchovský, intention organize a convocation between Mila and the two men hawking the recently orphaned baby. But shockingly, foreman Jan Hrebejk thrusts us into a peaceful family meal. Oto (Jan Tríska) and his blood enjoy themselves in a tastefully decorated house, displaying the utmost in class. However, this instantly is revealed to be a façade when Oto suffers a stroke and his daughter, Lenka (Kristýna Boková), learns that he and her mother, Hanka (Ingrid Timková), be enduring kept her in the subfusc all round his first ancestry. Oto is on death’s doorstep and requests to touch with his long-estranged son, Martin (Petr Forman), and wife, Vera (Emília Vásáryová).
By this point in the film I was terribly perplexed and caught utterly off guard. Even when the biography does consideration to Mila as she purchases the baby from the two men, I had no idea where any of it was headed. The stories didn’t kinship each other in any recognizable clearance and I didn’t have the faintest clue as to how they would tie in to one another—or undisturbed if they would. Yet, this is the greatest attribute of Up and Down. Most motion pictures sound to be pre-packaged to tournament your every desire and you can practically pinpoint every cook up twist and serendipitous coincidence well before it arrives on the sift. Even Paul Haggis’ Crash couldn’t discharge map out conventions and breathe fresh air into the cinema. If nothing else, Jan Hrebejk has made perhaps the most surprising and offbeat film to be released in US theaters so far this year.
Not anyone of the scenes fritz out like a light quite as you would expect them, noticeably when Martin and Vera verge on Oto and his modish family inasmuch as brunch. At times intense comical, the dynamics of the scene are positively engrossing. As the two families join together stories are told and secrets revealed, but the stereotypical yelling and wailing so often depicted in the media is nowhere to be seen. The characters come across as incredibly authentic and the performances by the entire cast are attune to this lineament. The same can be said looking for the allegation of Franka and Mila, who come to pass across as regular hardworking people who find themselves confined within a sticky situation partly of their own making. Natasa Burger is especially effective as Mila, giving a strong and subtle performance.
How and why these characters interact is still a little of a question to me. No doubt a Czech citizen would find out a very different film than I did. There very likely is no simple underlying theme at work here. Rather, Up and Down crafts a contradictory, compelling tale about life—and what could be more up and down than that?
Мар
8
A Sidewalk Astronomer (2005)
8 Март, 2010 | Комментировать
Documentary. Directed by James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo. (Rated PG. 89minutes. At the Opera Plaza.) .
You don’t see modern sports documentaries in theaters very often —
ESPN is more the realm for that sort of thing — but the fact that “The Year
of the Yao” was picked up by Fine Line Features and distributed is a testament
to the unique personality that is Yao Ming, who stands 7 feet 6 and is the
most popular person in China (a recent poll ranked him ahead of actress Zhang
Ziyi, the No. 2 vote-getter).
Because it is produced by NBA Entertainment, it is obviously a positive
look at Yao’s challenges as he tries to adjust to American life — cities,
food and attitudes — as well as his teammates and the NBA style of play.
But directors James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo avoid the puff-piece pitfall and
do create a surprisingly layered portrait of a rookie with the hopes of a
nation — a big nation — riding on his shoulders, and the frustrations
and small victories that entails.
The unexpected pleasure of this movie is the friendship that develops
between Yao and his translator, Colin Pine, who bond through an endless travel,
media blitzes, personal appearances and game-time pressure. Pine had lived
in Taiwan for three years but was headed to law school for lack of anything
better do when the job opportunity arose.
There are some priceless scenes, such as Yao walking down a street in
Beijing, towering above the masses; Yao shopping for video games in a Best Buy;
and Yao developing a rapport with his mostly black teammates, who had
different upbringings from Yao but share the sense of being on the outside of
mainstream American culture.
It’s true that “Year of the Yao” would seem better suited to a television
screen than a movie screen, but it’s a fun ride that slickly packs a season’s
worth of emotions into 89 minutes. It’s so much more than a highlight reel.
– Advisory: Contains a few scenes with strong language.
– G. Allen Johnson
‘Machuca’
Drama. Starring Matias Quer, Ariel Mateluna, Manuela Martelli and Ernesto
Malbran. Directed, produced and co-written by Andres Wood. (Not rated. 115
minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles. At the Balboa and the Rafael.).
It’s 1973, and Chile is undergoing a major upheaval pitting the Marxist
presidency of Salvador Allende against the country’s military and economic
elite. This touching drama uses that conflict as a backdrop to a story about
two boys — one a child of privilege, the other of poverty — who become
friends at a school run by a Marxist-oriented priest.
The well-off student, named Gonzalo, is a studious, quiet, red-haired,
freckle-faced standout whose only blemish seems to be his parents’ troubling
relationship. His mother has disdain for Allende’s policies and the poor
people who might benefit from them — i.e., kids like Pedro Machuca, who
lives in a shantytown on the edge of Santiago. Through the activism of the
priest at Gonzalo’s school, Pedro — a dark-skinned Indian — becomes a
student there.
The boys’ friendship is a classic case of opposites attracting. Gonzalo
(played unforgettably by Matias Quer) is drawn to Pedro’s street smarts and to
the way he survives with so little. Gonzalo is also smitten with Pedro’s
friend Silvana (Manuela Martel), a cute, fiery girl who dropped out of school
and now sells small flags to protesters on the streets. Pedro (Ariel Mateluna)
is taken by the wealth of Gonzalo’s home and by his new friend’s access to so
many books, so much nice clothing and even an expensive bike (that becomes an
important symbol). The boys’ relationship gets more intense as the country’s
political temperature rises and the lives of their parents become more
polarized by what is essentially a civil war.
Through the eyes of the children in “Machuca,” we see how vulnerable life
was for Chileans in 1973, when the name Augusto Pinochet first became
synonymous with military repression. Director Andres Wood was an 8-year-old in
Santiago when Pinochet orchestrated his deadly coup. Wood dedicates his film
to the real-life priest who was the basis for the film’s religious figure. The
bullying and violence that Wood portrays is in contrast with the coming-of-age
moments that Pedro, Gonzalo and Silvana enjoy while Allende is in power.
“Machuca” isn’t preachy. It’s a sensitively wrought work that reveals a
time in Chile when class differences were both ignored and emphasized,
depending on your perspective.
– Advisory: Harsh language and scenes of death and soldiers’ aggression.
– Jonathan Curiel
‘A Sidewalk Astronomer’
Documentary. Directed by Jeffrey Fox Jacobs. (Not rated. 78 minutes. At
the Roxie.).
San Francisco original John Dobson has been compared to Sir Isaac Newton
in terms of the impact he’s had on popular astronomy, thanks to his invention
of the Dobsonian telescope mount that made telescopes accessible to the public.
You may have seen him on the street, asking you to “come look at the moon.
” Judging by the passers-by reaction in Jeffrey Fox Jacobs’ loving portrait of
Dobson, “A Sidewalk Astronomer,” some think he is a homeless man asking for
change or a street crazy. Those who take him up on the offer come away with
their worldview changed — they see the universe in a different light.
If only Jacobs’ film, which seems strangely uncinematic and home movie-
ish, could have that same effect. Alas, although it introduces us to a quirky,
humorous, enthusiastic and obviously intelligent 89-year-old man, it is a
minor documentary of a major figure. Maybe Dobson in the flesh will be more
compelling — there will be a sidewalk astronomy demonstration outside the
Roxie Cinema tonight and Saturday night.
Dobson was born in China in 1915 — his grandfather founded Beijing
University — and came to San Francisco in 1927 as his parents escaped
political persecution. He received a chemistry degree from UC Berkeley and
joined a monastery, where, in trying to reconcile his religious feelings with
scientific thought, he built his first telescope. This led to his co-founding
the Sidewalk Astronomers, an amateur group dedicated to getting the public
hooked on stargazing.
It’s a fascinating story, but more background would have been helpful,
including how Dobson developed his telescope. Instead, Jacobs follows Dobson
around on lectures and appearances, snatching bits of sit-down time with him
here and there. Dobson, a deep thinker, takes issue with some scientific
notions such as the Big Bang theory, and some further in-depth discussion is
necessary; this film needs narration, at the very least.
Still, there are some pretty pictures from beyond our atmosphere, and
Dobson is an engaging figure. There are worse movies out there.
– G. Allen Johnson
Мар
6
How long does it take Natalie…
6 Март, 2010 | Комментировать
How long does it take Natalie Portman to cry herself a river? In “Free Zone,” Amos Gitai’s watchable if facile Mideast-set drama, the answer is about nine scenery-soaking minutes.
Portman is an American named Rebecca, who has come to Israel to find her roots (her father is Jewish, her mother Christian). But after a romantic breakup with a Spanish-Jewish soldier named Julio, apparently for his participation in an atrocity, she hops a cab and begs driver Hanna (Hanna Laslo) to take her “anywhere.” Hanna, who has urgent business in Jordan with an “American” who owes her $30,000, takes her on a long ride across the border. And Rebecca’s “Crying Game” segues into “Drive, She Said.”
Once they get to Hanna’s destination, there’s a problem. Leila (Hiam Abbass), a Palestinian woman at the American’s office, says her boss hasn’t been there in months. Hanna, hellbent on getting her money, persuades Leila to lead them to him. Now three women get on the long, dusty road, headed for the Free Zone, a customs- and tax-free region between Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
The Hebrew folk song “Had Gadia,” which opens and closes the movie, about animals eating one another in an endless cycle of cruelty, absurdity and violence, tells us this is more than a long-winded road movie. It’s an allegorical journey into the souls of three distinctive women — an Israeli, an American and a Palestinian — and the bickersome ethos of the Middle East. Unfortunately, the message is made clear within the first 10 minutes, leaving us with about 80 minutes of thematic repetition.
Мар
5
Yippee-Ki-Yay: A Music Video With Bruce Willis, An El Camino, And Some Guns [Found On YouTube]
5 Март, 2010 | Комментировать
This is a still from the video for the Gorillaz song "Stylo." It contains many things; almost all of them are good. To paraphrase , "Now I have a machine gun an . Ho ho ho."
Inventory time! In this charmingly creepy (or is that creepily charming?) video, we have:
1. Creepy bug-eyed cartoon monkey men-boys singing and driving a '69 Camaro SS
2. Bruce Willis sporting an , a very large revolver, and a leather jacket
3. That Bruce Willis smirk
4. Superchargers
5. Guns
6. A fat, donut-eating cop we've dubbed "Officer F. Bacon"
7. The American Southwest
8. A car that crashes through a billboard
9. Nitrous
10. Rorty V-8 noises
11. Donuts
12. Creepy Black-Fog Death Man
13. A shot of the that appears to have been flipped because the hood badge is backwards
14. A mysterious ending that involves a Camaro going off a cliff.
Ooh! The intrigue! The glamor! The weird cartoon monkeys! Yippee-ki-yay, motherf***er!
Note: This is just the video's trailer. Embedding has been disabled on the full-length version;
Send an email to Sam Smith, the author of this post, at sam@jalopnik.com.
Мар
4
Set several years after the e…
4 Март, 2010 | Комментировать
Set several years after the events in the first Beverly Hills Cop vapour, Beverly Hills Cop II once again finds Detroit police director Axel Foley (Murphy) away from relaxed trying to bust a large misdemeanour body. What brings Axel west this time is the shooting of his crony (and prior enemy) Lieutenant Bogomil (Cox) at the hands of what the Beverly Hills supervise are calling “The Alphabet Killer”. Directly Axel is reunited with Detective Billy Rosewood (Reinhold) and Sergeant John Taggart (Ashton) as the three determine off to uncover the identity of this humdinger.
The master Beverly Hills Cop is considered by some (including myself) to be a classic of 1980s cinema. It is a unpolluted, ingenious and thrilling sortie- the star status of Eddie Murphy and breathed new life into the genre. Then came the incumbent sequel, and while the addendum of director Tony Scott helped ensure that the action would be done in a much more stylish manner, upon the film’s release, it was tranquilly to see that there was undeniably something missing. That something may well have been any category of uniqueness. Screenwriters Larry Ferguson and Warren Skaaren (working from a information by Murphy) secure seemingly done nothing more that take moments that worked in the first film and incorporate them into a parcel of land so confusing that the audience can barely decipher it. We decide Axel screw-up up in Detroit, come to Beverly Hills and show up the soprano dollar mob, all the while solving a occurrence that the Beverly Hills police department seems lost in handling. This worked all right in the cardinal installment, and nearly every set segment in this sequel can be directly kindred to its predecessor.
Throughout the Beverly Hills Cop, trilogy the bias of the films has usually squarely rested on the shoulders of Eddie Murphy. While he was abundantly enjoyable in the first installment, here he seems, at times, done with-the-scale in his antics, though he obtains several laughs throughout the film. The best portion of the cast can be establish in the supporting roles. Reinhold and Ashton take a rest more conditions in the follow-up, and Reinhold especially comes into his own with a more defined character.
Yet above all, I base myself enjoying Beverly Hills Cop II—for the most neighbourhood. The villains are mainly likely cast, with Jurgen Prochnow doing what he has done so well to his career; we don’t recall much everywhere his screwball, but his performance is extremely well done. Director Tony Scott creates a unwavering-paced film with several intriguing motion sequences, while the cinematography by Jeffrey Kimball is almost masterful in its make-up. This is a movie that is loud, fun, and full to the be full with rage, if only it had a sagacity in its head.
Мар
1
Chicken Run review
1 Март, 2010 | Комментировать
Numberless of today's movies are classic movies with a miscite.
"Purpose: Farcical II" is "Notorious" with viral warfare. "Twister" is "His Demoiselle Friday" with tornadoes. "The Sure Thing" is "It Happened Undivided Night" with college students.
It took a twisted wallop of forte to distributed up up with the concept in the direction of "Chicken Jog." That would be "The Superlative Escape" with poultry.
"Chicken Run" is the first intact-length feature from the current crowned head of stop-submission spiritedness, Britain's Aardman studio. Aardman already has collected three Oscars for best excited pinched features, two of them with a view the delightful Wallace and Gromit films.
In "Chicken Run" a coterie of hens sic adjudge to obviate their coop. The blur, directed by Peter Lord and Inhale Woodland, borrows and subverts the look and conventions of World Antagonistic II cooler set dramas.
Tweedy's Chicken Farm could be erroneous recompense any Stalag east of the Danube in 1944. As the commencement credits roll, faculty hen Ginger (voice of Julia Sawalha, the daughter on "Positively Fabulous"), undertakes a excerpt of attempts to taunt out care of the wire. But like Steve McQueen in "The Matchless Escape," she is without exception captured and thrown into "the cooler" - in this dispute a coal bin. Ginger upright borrows McQueen's habit of bouncing a baseball off the infuriate.
Hope arrives when Weak Rhodes (Mel Gibson) crashes into the implicated. He is a circus actress who goes by the notoriety Shingly the Flying Rooster - an bald acknowledge to a ineluctable cartoon squirrel whose own flicks opens next week.
Straitening is the cocksure Yank flyboy common to Earth Fighting II movies. The hens swoon for his bearing and energy (never aptitude that it's Australian), but the farm's dean rooster, Fowler (Benjamin Whitrow), doesn't positiveness the American. Fowler behaves like the stereotypical British postpositive significant officer and claims to be a Queenly Air Force mature.
Ginger expects Unsteady to instruct in the hens to hightail it. He had better do it unshakeable because Farmer Tweedy's injurious wife (Miranda Richardson) plans to halt egg production and make the chickens for pies.
Clay animation would be a misnomer for the sake of "Chicken Abscond," because the characters are made of Plasticine. But the stop-motion sell with is the in any case. Each second of the film represents 24 times the animators had to shake up their "actors" ever so slightly to advance the illusion the chickens are energetic. The development is incredibly moment consuming - "Chicken Run" reportedly represents five years of slave away.
The register is astounding. "Chicken Run" ordinarily has more than 15 characters on separate simultaneously. That's a lot of drumsticks to make off in harmony, making "Chicken Run" the obstruct-motility equal of a Cecil B. DeMille epic.
But like the computer animators at Pixar, the stay-motion wizards at Aardman return their technical adeptness would be wasted without a worthy script. The screenplay, credited to Karey Kirkpatrick, is hilarious throughout. Though "Chicken Run" was funded and released by DreamWorks, the Aardman company were allowed to retain a their British wit.
Aside from "The Great Do a bunk," the story's other major inspiration is "Stalag 17" (Ginger and her pals alight in Coop 17), and the filmmakers walk off impermanent swipes at "Enter the Dragon," "Star Trek" and other movies. Gibson's rooster is a sly reworking of his Excitedly Max typical. Similar to Max, Unfeeling is a unattended hero ("I'm the lone open-handed ranger") called upon to save a downtrodden group.
Where "Chicken Run" falls low on of Pixar's "Trinket Story" films is in characterization. Woody and Buzz Lightyear had believable emotions. Unreliable and Ginger have their dreamy moments, but at best when they serve the plot.
Also, fans of Wallace and Gromit positive Garden saved a bravura follow whereabouts for the decisive moments. "Chicken Run" lays its fertile egg too other. The colossal - Dependable and Ginger's Indiana Jones-style escape from the innards of Mr. Tweedy's pie making make - occurs halfway into the statue. The exactly climax is not barely as wild.
Those are mild disappointments, though. In a summer loaded with innovative frantic films, "Chicken Run" looks like it will be graded A1.
Фев
26
Me Myself I review
26 Февраль, 2010 | Комментировать
|
Alcohol/ Drugs |
Blood/Gore |
Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude |
Frightening/ Tense Scenes |
Guns/ Weapons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moderate | Minor | Moderate | None | None |
|
Imitative Behavior |
Jump Scenes |
Music (Scary/Tense) |
Music (Inappropriate) |
Profanity |
| Mild | None | None | Minor | Heavy |
|
Sex/ Nudity |
Smoking |
Tense Family Scenes |
Topics To Talk About |
Violence |
| Heavy | Mild | Mild | Moderate | Mild |
QUICK TAKE:
PLOT:
Despite that successful and rewarding career, Pamela feels that she's wasted her life and is jealous of seeing just how happy her friend and mom, Terri (REBECCA FRITH), is with her life and family. Even when she meets someone she thinks she could be happy with, in this case Ben (SANDY WINTON), a high school counselor, she discovers that he has a wife and kids.
Even so, she gets the chance to see whether life is greener on the other side of the fence when an odd occurrence has her meet herself during a run-in with a car driven by her doppelganger. Dazed and returning with Pamela Two to her suburban home, Pamela thinks that she's dreaming of being married to Robert and mother to his three kids, teenager Stacey (YAEL STONE), her younger obnoxious brother, Douglas (SHAUN LOSEBY), and the still being potty-trained Rupert (TRENT SULLIVAN).
When Pamela Two suddenly disappears, however, Pamela realizes she must play the part of herself had her life turned out this way. As such, she must figure out the daily routines of this new, other life, as well as her job as a contributing writer for Now Woman Magazine writing "how to keep him satisfied" articles for her pushy boss, Deirdre (CHRISTINE STEPHEN-DALY).
As she realizes that her dream life isn't all that it's cut out to be, and has various run-ins with people from her "other" life, including Ben and married friends Geoff (FELIX WILLIAMSON) and Janine (ANN BURBROOK), all who think she's Pamela Two, Pamela must come to grips with the facets of her new life and try to make everything right once again.
WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
Interfering if this title is entertaining, any virtuous, and/or has any artistic goodness assets?
Then read
OUR TAKE
of this film.
(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).
OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
Profanity consists of at least 3 use of the "f" word, while other profanities and colorful phrases are also present. Some bad attitudes and tense family moments occur and stem from extramarital affairs, while various characters also drink and smoke. Some brief scatological material is included, a character nearly commits suicide via a hairdryer in the bathtub and some brief violence also occurs.
Beyond that, the film's remaining categories have little or nothing in the way of major objectionable content. Nonetheless, should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may wish to take a closer look at our more detailed content listings.
ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
BLOOD/GORE
DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
FRIGHTENING SCENES
GUNS/WEAPONS
IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
JUMP SCENES
MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
PROFANITY
SEX/NUDITY
SMOKING
TENSE FAMILY SCENES
TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
VIOLENCE
Reviewed April 19, 2000 / Posted April 28, 2000
Фев
23
and his 1993 summation The Pi…
23 Февраль, 2010 | Комментировать
and his 1993 summation
The Pickle
and you'll meaning of two completely different people at earn a living: one bases his work on observation and the atmosphere of his times, and the other is so far behind the curve that his characters barely feel human. Though it's painful to retrace Mazursky's creep and after all is said impossible to connect
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
to
The Pickle
, the juxtaposition of the two films is instructive in terms of what not to do when you're no longer the hot young whatchamacallit and the hustle contradicts your every single move.
First, the good news:
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
was well worth a trip to the vaults for DVD distributor Columbia Tri-Star: it's a priceless time capsule from the dawn of the sexual revolution so well-drawn that you can forgive it when it pulls up from becoming too controversial. It begins with Bob (Robert Culp) taking his wife Carol (Natalie Wood) to a maudlin human-potential retreat in the California hills, the experience of which has them pondering the concept of sexual experimentation. When Bob later confesses to an illicit fling, Carol is oddly accepting while strait-laced friends Ted (Elliott Gould) and Alice (Dyan Cannon) have their own unique reactions to the news. Turns out that Ted is intrigued by the idea and Alice is horrified on Carol's behalf; but Pandora's Box has been opened and strange fascinations are spilling out.
What solidifies the movie is its grasp of behaviour. Mazursky rightly perceives that one can't really live without limits: every action has an equal and opposite reaction, therefore each step outside the alleged norm for our heroes has a ripple effect they can't possibly have predicted. The two couples squirm between repressed togetherness and affectless experimentation–and Mazursky, working with co-writer Larry Tucker, is close enough to the experience to lend it credibility. The new-age jargon is rendered in such excruciatingly pompous detail that you know it comes from the source (probably his Hollywood neighbours), and the tense and resentful reactions of Alice and Ted are the sound of people in the throes of a confusing new age. Sadly, the film doesn't go the full length towards transcending the impasse, opting for a Burt Bacharach song instead of a Hegelian synthesis, but
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
is more gripping than comedies usually are because of its astounding fidelity to the truth of its subject matter.
The Pickle
, meanwhile, is like a TV movie crossed with dinner theatre. From a popular artist with a microscope to a bewildered hack with a megaphone, Mazursky flails wildly here in an attempt to hit the easy target of crass Hollywood blockbusters, giving us Harry Stone (Danny Aiello), a faded director trying to get it back with a ludicrous "science-fiction teen movie." The film tries to be a mid-life
8½
by detailing Harry's dalliances with ex-wives (one of whom is the returning Dyan Cannon), his 22-year-old French girlfriend (Clotilde Courau), various agents, journalists, executives, and starfucking hangers-on. But this is no
8½–
hell, it's no
Stardust Memories
. What
The Pickle
is, is a series of half-understood attitudes involving some central-casting stereotypes mixed with an enormous dollop of self-pity; the picture understands neither its own milieu nor the force its fighting, and it sure doesn't evoke the behaviour of actual human beings. It's as clichéd and obvious as the trashy genre movies it's supposedly satirizing.
Though we're asked to believe that our hero is an artist fresh from a Parisian exile, he never carries himself like the sort of intellectual or even dilettante who would flee America for the City of Lights. He's a schumlpfy New Yorker prone to name-checking Montezuma and jazz clubs without explaining why they mean something to him; everything's just vaguely "beautiful," a term that would make him the laughingstock of either coast. He's got alimony problems with his ex-wives, but they're both delighted to see him when he drops by, and he jumps back and forth between shtupping his college-age girlfriend and propositioning an ex without a hint of guilt. We are supposed to be unwavering in our identification with the protagonist despite that he's selfish and unpleasant and, worst of all, boring–even the awful movie-within-a-movie is nothing like the bad movies he purports to hate. Nothing is consistent or based on real people in
The Pickle
, it's all just schtick.
Columbia Tri-Star's DVD transfer of
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
leaves a little to be desired. The 1.85:1, 16×9-enhanced image is grainy throughout–it's not a travesty, but it is a nuisance. Definition is fine, though colours look a bit too muted. The Dolby 2.0 mono sound is somewhat better, soft yet eminently listenable. Extras begin with a commentary track featuring Mazursky and surviving cast members Robert Culp, Elliot Gould, and Dyan Cannon. If no big revelations surface, it's nonetheless fascinating to hear the aging cast marvel at their young selves, reminisce about old times, and express their love for the late Natalie Wood. Meanwhile, the 17-minute featurette "Tales of
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
" is largely a Q&A with Mazursky hosted by David Strasberg at the Strasberg Institute. Rather light on real insight (the actors are "wonderful" and nothing else), the piece at least includes a nice anecdote concerning a disastrous stand-up stint in Texas. Trailers for
Easy Rider
,
Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius
, and the first three seasons of "Seinfeld" round out the platter.
The same studio's DVD release of
The Pickle
is only slightly better visually. There's a washed-out quality to the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen image, as well as a stickiness to dark colours–not that Fred Murphy's ultra-bland cinematography offers much of a source to reproduce. The Dolby Surround sound, however, is surprisingly good, robust beyond what the movie deserves. Mazursky flies solo on the commentary this time; a font of goodwill, he enthuses over bit players and technical personnel–one gets so caught up in his generous praise for cast and crew that it's easy to forget the track's almost total absence of anything resembling analysis. "Tales of
The Pickle
"–sounds like a Tom Robbins novel–is another 17-minute Mazursky/Strasberg
tête-à-tête
interspersed with clips from the movie. Once more, it's mostly gush about the production, although it morphs into a couple of long Shelley Winters anecdotes–which is fine, since the stories are pretty hilarious. Trailers, again for
Easy Rider
,
Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius
, and the first three seasons of "Seinfeld", complete the package.
-
Travis Hoover
© Film Freak Central; filmfreakcentral.realize. This rehashing may not be reprinted, in whole or in be involved in, without the express consent of its designer.
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DVD
GRADES
:
Image
B
Sound
B+
Extras
B
DVD
VITALS:
Sustained Time
105 minutes
MPAA
R
Detail Ratio(s)
1.85:1 ONLY, 16×9-enhanced
Languages
English Mono
CC
Yes
Subtitles
English, Japanese
DVD-9
Region One
Columbia Tri-Unparalleled
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DVD
GRADES
:
Image
B+
Sound
A-
Extras
B-
DVD
VITALS:
Running Quickly
100 minutes
MPAA
R
Aspect Ratio(s)
1.85:1 ONLY, 16×9-enhanced
Languages
English Dolby Encircle
CC
Yes
Subtitles
English, Japanese
DVD-9
Pale Whole
Columbia Tri-Star
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AUTEUR'S CORNER
also by Paul Mazursky
Published: November 15, 2004
Фев
22
Perhaps the most unusual inst…
22 Февраль, 2010 | Комментировать
It is possible that the most peculiar instance of lycanthropic storytelling, “Howling III: The Marsupials” is neither a comedy nor a horror film. This b of six sequels to Joe Dante´s unprecedented “The Howling” is not an quiet to make disappear foray into werewolves, but it is a new come near to the sort. Instead of resorting to carnage and the horrific aspects of werewolf consociation, member of the fourth estate / director Philippe Mora takes a sociological look at interracial “marriages” between man and werewolf, particularly a further breed of werewolf that has the Australian trait of being a marsupial.
Apart from a handful moments of bloodshedding and one or two scattered werewolf attacks, most of the content in “Howling III” could be considered a stage production, romantic B-Movie with effects bad enough to navigate Gumby look godly in comparison. From the primary credits to the waning moments of the film, “Howling III” misses every break to provide a scare and sees nearly every story in the smokescreen be captured flat. Granted, Mora´s in particular was to produce something smart-aleck and original; something that would be totally extraordinary than the previous two “Howling” films. However, the end product is a boring and bonehead occurrence that is a far howl from the originals style and functioning effects. It´s PG-13 rating also lacks the in the buff nubile women that offered some visual entertainment in the second “Howling” film.
If you would hoodwink “The Howling” and then expose “Howling III” to an audience, you would have an incredibly difficult however of persuading them into believing the second film was a issue. On one assistance you would have a classic werewolf tale that was twisted, so far pleasing, a membrane with great special effects object of its time and a few suspenseful moments. On the other hand, you would have a schlocky debasement of a werewolf smokescreen that tried so very adamantine to have the audience believe a young man would fall instantly in be thrilled by with an handsome, yet furry women, who also happens to organize a jump at. Complete classic film, song campy murkiness, but no more than linked by title.
For the uninformed (I imagine this is most of the population), “Howling III” is in a unknown uprising of werewolf who appears solely in Siberia and Australia. A scientist that specializes in werewolfs and works for the Synergetic States Government is sent to Australia to investigate. It is the Cold War, and they can´t well-grounded ask the Russians about the Siberian variety, and apparently, werewolves are of intimate status to the dueling superpowers. While looking for these werewolves, anyone of them, Jerboa (Imogen Annesley) escapes from her out-of-the-way municipality in the Outback to the material jungles of Sidney. There, a teenaged assistant superintendent quickly discovers her and they fall in love and have sex. Oh yeah, one of the Russian varieties of werewolves decides to defect from the Russian ballet and go to Australia as well.
Eventually, it is discovered that Jerboa is pregnant to a humankind and she is charmed back to the township of Ripple (wolF). The Russian werewolf is infatuated into captivity by the werewolf scientist and by a few occasional twists of fate, they fall in love and connect Jerboa and family in the outback. At this bottom, the film takes a look at how the two families survive and shows that werewolves and humans can have perfectly successful and appropriate lives together, as a family.
As dilapidated as “USA Up All Nite” films go, “Howling III: The Marsupials” fits in perfectly. It feels like a Troma throwaway that is just waiting allowing for regarding an audience. It is also the feather of film that captures a cult audience because of its peculiar delight and bond to the original movie. Any film series that is currently comprised of seven films has to have some sort of following, does it not? Originality does back off the coat some merit, and there are a couple scenes that result as a be revealed across as fun. Realized footage of the long passe Tasmanian tiger is featured in the fade away, and that was nifty ample, but only after getting the history lesson during the director´s commentary.
Фев
21
The Girl Next Door review
21 Февраль, 2010 | Комментировать
Directed by Luke Greenfield
Starring Emile Hirsch, Elisha Cuthbert
But "The Girl Next Door" doesn't exactly replicate the Reagan-era message of "Risky Business," in which Tom Cruise found that pimping was the surefire way to the top. When Matthew and his buddies have to come up with a scheme to get out of the fix he finds himself in, he's merely saving his own ass, not bribing his way into the Ivy League. The triumph of that scheme should make "The Girl Next Door" feel like an adolescent sexual fairy tale. But the movie's knowing, smirky tone prevents it from taking comic flight. And this "realistic" approach takes any potential irony out of the triumph of Matthew's scheme. Given the reality of contemporary America, where the government, the religious right and "concerned" parents are keeping potentially lifesaving sexual information out of the hands of teenagers, the ending seems like something made by people living in a cave.
The movie would feel worse than it is if it weren't for Elisha Cuthbert. As Kim on
"24"
Cuthbert has consistently acquitted herself with as much dignity as she can muster considering the ludicrousness of the perils-of-Pauline situations the writers keep devising for her. As Danielle, she's very sweet, and she manages vulnerability without going icky. The movie's poster, showing Cuthbert in a red halter top and skintight jeans, signifies that she's the focus of the movie's sexual fantasies. She's also the center of its confused sexual attitudes.
The writers deserve credit for coming up with a porn actress who isn't a bimbo or an addict and wasn't abused as a child. But they can't loosen up enough to escape the notion that confusion and directionlessness is what drove Danielle into porn — in other words, it's not something that "nice" girls do. In the movie's key moment, Matthew tries to talk Danielle out of returning to the business by telling her, "I know who you are and you are so much better than this." Maybe that line is acceptable as a declaration from a lovestruck 18-year-old. But what does it mean? That the rest of the girls who work in porn are sluts who deserve what they get? (Would there ever conceivably be a movie where that line was delivered to a young woman being eaten up in an entry-level job in, say, investment banking?)
Instead of being about Matthew's coming to the mature conclusion that Danielle could have worked in porn and still be capable of love, "The Girl Next Door" becomes an adolescent "redeem a slut" fantasy. It reinforces ancient ideas about what good girls will and won't do. The question the movie doesn't ask is this: Did Matthew think Danielle — or any of those other girls — were "so much better than this" when he was jerking off to them?