Dogs Bark

Touches Nose, Points To Stanley - - Charade (1963) - - 18 May 2013

An essential. In the delightfully chatty, 1999 commentary to Charade, director/producer Stanley Donen and writer Peter Stone are struck dumb with delight almost every time Audrey Hepburn enters a scene. At one point, Donen wistfully reveals, sotto voce, “I wish I had known what Audrey looked like first thing in the morning.” Oh yeah. The mystery part of Charade is a massive McGuffin, in that the rather silly plot isn’t that important. Unimportant, next to the leading lady, her clothes (Givenchy, of course), her leading man (Archie Somethingorother), the brilliant cast (Walter Matthaeu, George Kennedy, James Coburn, 1960’s Paris), a cameraman (Charles Lang, The Magnificent Seven, Some Like It Hot) to literally die for and that great Henry Mancini score.  Everything just holds together, indicating Donen’s genius.  As of today, he’s still wonderfully alive. If there is a merciful god . . . the Angel of Death looks, and speaks, like Audrey Hepburn.

I Have Vermin To Kill - - Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (2003) - - 16 May 2013

An essential. My one and only communication with the late, and very missed, critic, Theresa Duncan, concerned this film, which she thought so superior to Kill Bill, Vol. 2 that she tagged Vol.2 as ‘leftovers of the cold dish.’ I disagreed; however, reviewing them as separate meals seems completely valid. As the all-time-greatest martial arts movie, Kill Bill, Vol. 1, arguably, kicks some ass. It is not only relentlessly belligerent but adoringly represents the style of each Asian exploitive sub-genre. The soundtrack and sounds, editing and photography are near perfect. And the arc of the story, into the inevitable sequels of revenge, echoes Tarentino’s love and respect for film tradition. The final duel - - Lucy Liu’s Lady Snowblood handing off her katana to the ‘silly Caucasian’ Bride as Meiko Kaji sings The Flowers of Carnage - - is as astonishingly beautiful an 8.3333 minutes of film as I’ve seen. R.I.P., O-ren and Theresa.

Street Boy - - Searching For Sugar Man (2012) - - 13 May 2013

Strongly recommended. There are a zillion motives for an artist but the most poignant of them might be to preserve one’s inner voice, either in a physical artifact or in the sound resonating in the consciousness of a million strangers. Nice. But what of he whose resonance is too late? Searching For Sugar Man is the tale of Sixto Rodriguez, a Mexican-American, folk-rocker of the 70’s. His strange and wonderful records were a dud in the States but - - unknown to him - - a huge hit overseas. The story is dramatically told by Swedish TV producer, Malik Bendjelloul. It won 2012’s documentary Oscar, casting cinematographer Camilla Skagerström’s sketches of decaying Detroit as a metaphor for Rodriquez’s early neglect. Regardless, there’s a happy ending. At 70, Rodriguez winds up a centered, happy man, with three loving daughters, no obvious bitterness and a full measure of his talent. So it also goes . . . on occasion.

Balletomania - - The Red Shoes (1948) - - 2 May 2013

An essential. Although this is the ultimate chick flick, it’s also a favorite of both Martin Scorsese and Brian de Palma, not exactly powder puffs. This speaks to the extraordinary level of movie-craft put into The Red Shoes. The title comes from a Hans Christian Anderson tale about demonic footwear that compels the owner to non-stop - - and eventually lethal - - dance. It is also a ballet put on by the Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook, La Ronde) company, starring Moira Shearer’s character, who is herself a mad terpsichore. In its own metaphor of a metaphor, The Red Shoes is simply a paean to artistic obsession. The movie was both an instant critical success and icon, spawning countless ‘gotta dance,’ stories, including Black Swan. Deserved Oscars went to the music and art direction but, remarkably, not even a nod to Jack Cardiff’s (The African Queen) amazing camerawork or Michael Powell’s (Black Narcissus) direction.

Man In His Time - - Holy Motors (2012) - - 26 April 2012

Recommended.  I‘m not really one for surreal cinema; however, if a story emerges from the madness, I can be won over. So it is with Holy Motors, a wholly unique, Cannes-lauded, montage of stories, assembled by French writer/director, Leos Carax (Boy Meets Girl). Holy Motors - - the company - - is a fleet of long, white limos, one of which transports M. Oscar (Denis Lavant) about Paris for 24 hours. His job is a series of performance-art “appointments,” assuming outrageous costumes, make-up and deportment for an unrevealed profession, although veteran actor Michel Piccoli (Belle de Jour) suggests a syndicate boss. In one remarkable sequence M. Oscar becomes a psychotic leprechaun, terrorizing Père Lachaise Cemetery and kidnapping a supermodel (Eva Mendes!) In another, he reunites with a lost love (Kylie Minogue!) There’s a suggestion that M. Oscar’s day symbolizes our lifelong pantomime, conveyed by Fate’s limousine . . . but that may be a stretch.

The Conscience Of The King - - En Kongelig Affære [A Royal Affair] (2012) - - 18 April 2013

Recommended. Pondering recent political events in the US, a nation born of The Enlightenment, how long before reason truly embodies the age? This kind of question is aroused by Nikolaj Arcel’s excellent Danish film, A Royal Affair.  The movie garnered Oscar and Golden Globe nods, losing twice to Amour. It attends the ascendancy and rapid downfall of King Christian VII of Denmark, his English queen, Caroline Mathilde (George III’s sister), and the King’s German physician, Johann Friedrich Struensee.  In the late 18^th century, this trio attempted to liberalize Danish governance but were undone by Struensse and Mathilde’s titular cuckoldry.  As the not-so-good doctor, Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) proves he’s bigger than a Bond villain but Mikkel Boe Følsgaard is just as impressive as the pathetically unstable king. Remarkable, too is the photography (Rasmus Videbæk). The story flags slightly in the middle but finishes strong over time. Perhaps, America will, too

Picture This - - Trance (2013) - - 13 April 2013

Recommended.  The connection between hypnotism and movie-making seems obvious. Both are about creating a perceived reality based on a suggestion. Suppose you are running through a zombie apocalypse. Suppose you are sawing off your own arm. If we throw sexual attraction into the mix - - suppose Rosario Dawson (Sin City) is sawing off your arm . . . in the nude - - then we have the basis of director Danny Boyle’s Trance. Needless to say, this film is entirely about suspension of disbelief, also a basis of hypnotism. So if you are one of those highly suggestible types, you will love this movie. Ms Dawson plays the hypnotherapist hired by Vincent Cassel (Black Swan) and James McAvoy (The Last King of Scotland) to recapture McAvoy’s memory of a botched crime. All three do great work and the production, particularly Jon Harris’s (127 Hours) editing, is spectacular. Despite the silly plot, I was completely enthralled.

Ten Little Idiots - - Identity (2003) - - 30 March 2013

Not recommended. How’d I got lured off the interstate into this roach motel? Possibly the interesting cast, (John Cuzack, John Hawkes, Alfred Molina) or the clever director, James Mangold (3:10 From Yuma, Walk The Line) but I should have checked the writer, Michael Cooney (Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman) because Identity is one of the more moronic slasher story yet devised. Stress ‘devised,’ because the story hinges on a single plot device that’s telegraphed quickly to the mildly aware viewer. Viewer awareness is challenged because Identity is such a soporific movie. Each wonderful actor is given such a threadbare character to inhabit that zero audience ‘identity’ is established . . . hence, no suspense. Further, the diluvian amount of artificial rain poured onto the set and gloomy lighting makes it hard to tell which character has lost their head and whose has just lolled off from disinterest. Keep driving.

R.I.P., Roger. I miss you already.

Above Average Tragedy - - Wisconsin Death Trip (1999) - - 13 March 2013

Recommended.  Long before Scott Walker showed up, Wisconsin was an odd corner of the Universe. Suffice it to say, the peculiarities of Lake Woebegon aren’t confined to Minnesota. Back in the 1890’s a diphtheria epidemic and economic depression conspired to produce in the residents of Black River Falls, Wisconsin a flurry of outré behavior rivaling the worst of Garrison Keillor’s nightmares. Random thrill kills, suicides and demonic possession stalked the Old Northwest. The story was first told in 1973 by author Michael Lesy and later filmed as a documentary by Oscar-winning director James Marsh (Man On A Wire).  Brit-born Marsh tells the tale with gratuitous irony, robbing the drama and BAFTA-blessed photography (Eigil Bryld, In Bruges). The current residents dispute some of the original book’s claims. A more interesting and compassionate study, ala, Jim White’s  Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus, seems not his objective. Nevertheless, Wisconsin Death Trip is fascinating.

There Will Be Bloodless - - The Master (2012) - - 2 March 2013

Not recommended. It seems like ever since his remarkable debut film, Hard Eight, Paul Thomas Anderson has been struggling with issues of mentorship and religion and in The Master, he attempts to combine these themes. The story involves a very repugnant, very disturbed Navy vet (Joaquin Phoenix, Walk The Line) who inexplicably becomes the protégé of a cult leader (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Capote); however, Anderson’s religious understanding is tainted by a childish overindulgence in ridicule. In the end, The Master offers pointlessness, both as a statement and emotion. Phoenix is good but his tangle of tics and grunts is feckless without a deeper message to convey. Hoffman and Amy Adams (Doubt), similarly bust their thespian moves . . . to no avail. A languid Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead) score drapes everything as two hours and 24 minutes creep by. Be prepared to slap yourself every so often; I found this film difficult to endure.