Dogs Bark

The Crossing Over - - Cadillac Records - - 28 June 2006

Strongly recommended. I don’t know if Muddy Waters dressed Little Walter for his funeral. I don’t know if Etta James shot pool or wept for Leonard Chess. I don’t know if Howlin’ Wolf drove an old pick-up. I don’t give a mother fuck. What I do know is that history took a proper turn when a bunch of dirt poor Black people headed North and mixed a broke-off bottle neck and a suitcase amp. Cadillac Records, directed by Darnell Martin, is a celebration of the transcendent pain and artistry emergent from that craving for a better life. And when the president of the United States and his good-looking lady danced across Washington to ‘At  Last,’ the pain was redeemed. This movie is sentimental, loose as new shoes, and extremely well-acted (Jeffrey Wright, Beyonce Knowles, Eamonn Walker, Columbus Short), including a brilliant score. Willie Dixon tells the story. Don’t need no other answer.

Buried Child - - Il Y A Longtemps Que Je T'aime [I've Loved You So Long] (2008) - - 19 June 2009

Recommended. The movie begins with the camera on Kristen Scott Thomas, waiting in an airport. She’s a burnt-out building, her face emotionally battered into coma. Something terrible has happened to this person, immediately quoting Harry Dean Stanton in Paris, Texas. What could have so reduced this beautiful woman? This becomes clearer as she is retrieved by her younger sister (Elsa Zylberstein) and we learn Thomas has completed 15 years in prison.   As the plot unfolds, her story becomes horrific; she has murdered her 6-year old son.  Over time, Thomas returns to life, still tortured, but intelligently warming in a uniquely French way. The other characters, mostly aware of her crime, attempt to comprehend her.  At that point the movie seems to brilliantly signify the inner - - but less dramatic - - pain everyone conceals.  The ending is a mistake, a contrivance that redeems the character but degrades the mystery. However, a great performance survives.   

The Wilder Wood - - Defiance (2008) - - 14 June 2008

Recommended. Two things about Defiance appealed to me. First, I am weary of the simplistic depiction of The Holocaust as that . . . an inconceivable firestorm engulfing a hapless people. While this implausibility was clearly part of its success, some Jews knew what was happening and did what was required to survive. This is the story director Edward Zwick successfully tells. The other thing I liked was the way Defiance bookends Zwick’s earlier masterpiece, Glory - - also a story about a beleaguered group of fighters, pulled into a community and transformed into, well, glory.  Zwick is profoundly skilled at tugging heartstrings and occasionally in both movies, he’s overwrought, but c’mon . . . these people are inspirational. He is helped by Daniel Craig’s powerful performance as the lead Bielski brother but the entire cast is excellent, with specific applauds to George MacKay, Iben Hjejle and the Lithuanian Forest . The exterior photography is breathtaking.    

Forget It, Jake - - The Yakuza (1975) - - 11 June 2009

Not recommended. The Yakuza is one of those movies that theoretically should be much better than the result.  The script was an opium dream of Leonard and Paul Schrader in their pre-Taxi Driver obscurity, eventually rewritten by Robert Towne (Chinatown) and directed by Sydney Pollack (Tootsie). Robert Mitchum was developing his late 70’s, neo-noir persona.  Martial arts and Yakuza films were gathering their cult. It’s a lock, right? Nope, even New Hollywood screwed the pooch on occasion. I already have problems with Mitchum as an aging PI and this part required more action than he could fake at 58.  His reflective, wry affect just drags on the plot without elucidating any depth. The production values are lousy, even for 1975 - - like a bad episode of The Rockford Files (although I dig Brian Keith’s plaid pants). Veteran Japanese martial arts actor Takakura Ken adds some credibility to the fight scenes but can’t carry the picture.