Dogs Bark

Dreams of Electric Sheep - - Sleep Dealer (2008) - - 24 September 2008

Recommended - - I first heard the term ‘virtual reality’ in 1990, used by an Army researcher to describe warfare much like first-time feature director Alex Rivera’s intriguing Sleep Dealer. Riffing on a theme he developed in an earlier work, Why Cybraceros?, Rivera translates elements of Blade Runner and The Matrix into a futuristic and totalitarian Mexico, where labor and memories are sold across the border by desperate peasants.  While the plot does not conclude as inventively, the style and Lisa Rinzler’s photography of this Sundance winner are first-rate, despite its indy budget. Luis Fernando Peña (Sin Nombre), Leonor Varela, and Jacob Vargas (Traffic, Bobby), as the young trio attempting to subvert the system, supply journeyman acting. It’s wonderful to see science fiction, special effects, and irony used for something more socially conscious than bat guano.  Over-ambition should be applauded in a first film and Sleep Dealer signals Rivera’s arrival.

Mastering Her Art - - Julie & Julia (2009) - - 7 September 2009

Recommended. As I said in a recent e-mail - - paraphrased - - we are what we do. And Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia nicely elucidates that.  “I need something to doooo,” moans Julia Child before she realizes her calling. Child, recreated by Meryl Streep in her best performances since The Hours, never worries about who she ‘is’ after realizing her calling, plunging headlong into the workshop of Le Cordon Bleu.  Stanley Tucci (Big Night) as Mr. Child again serves a banquet of adept acting. Another great performance by Jane Lynch (Best In Show), as Julia’s sister, seasons the ragout. Sorrowfully, the talented Amy Adams (Doubt) is once again dwarfed in the presence of Ms. Streep. In fact, the entire Julie Powell sequence seems underdone. Similarly, adding some pop songs to Alexandre Desplat’s (The Pained Veil) nice score left a bad taste. But, despite its flaws, Julie & Julia did remedy my mistake today of not drying the meat before brazing it!    

A Royale With Cheese - - Inglourious Basterds (2009) - - 1 September 2009

Recommended. It’s testimony to his talent and moxie that director/writer Quentin Tarentino, in a far shorter time, has attained the idiosyncratic creativity of his idols, Budd Boettcher and Sam Fuller. He is, as they were, a fully developed, fully American, lunatic. Inglourious Basterds demonstrates this, despite being not his best work. Too long, too slow in places, and messy, it nevertheless presents Q’s unique combination of send up and homage in a gorgeously professional way. The layers of in-jokes and cameos are neck deep. Brad Pitt (True Romance, Burn After Reading) proves what a great comic actor he is when working for a sympathetic boss. As called out at Cannes, Christoph Waltz steals the show as Pitt’s suave, sadistic, ‘Nazzi’ nemesis. Also terrifying is German actor/director Til Schweiger as the most bastardly Basterd. Cameraman Bob Richardson (Kill Bill, The Aviator) shoots some spot-on footage that just might grab another Oscar.