Dogs Bark

Fantasmas De La Malinche - - El Espinazo Del Diablo [The Devil’s Backbone] (2001) - - 24 October 2009

Recommended. Poet Octavio Paz wrote a fascinating book on the nexus of Spanish and Aztec fatalism engendering the soul, and the tortured history, of México. Paz must be much on the mind of Mexican film maker, Guillermo Del Toro. The Devil’s Backbone, like his 2006, Pan’s Labyrinth, is also set in a boarding school during the Spanish Civil War; both present a mythic struggle between light and dark. The earlier movie is a less Jungian, but just as wonderful, vengeful-ghost story. The Devil’s Backbone is also less visually disturbing but the yarn is just as scary.  Both present a brave child (Fernando Tielve) beset by adult conflicts. Federico Luppi (Men With Guns) plays the scholarly headmaster, opposed by desperado Eduardo Noriega (Transsiberian, Abra Los Ojos). Does Noriega ever get to play wholesome? Regardless, the many satisfying performances make for a thoughtful and moody film.

Master Of The House - - Dillinger (1945) - - 17 October 2009

Recommended. This is the first of the Dillinger movies and is the one most loose with the facts. However, it's likely that Lawrence Tierney’s version is closer to the real guy than either Warren Oates or Johnny Depp. This is Tierney long before the conception of Nice Guy Eddie or Elaine Benes - -twenty-six years old in his first starring role. He plays Dillinger as cold as a wind off the lake, with not the whiff of redemption. Tierney was a looker in his day, a hint of Ben Affleck in his jaw. Also present is Elisha Cook, Jr, halfway between The Maltese Falcon and Don’t Bother To Knock.  He plays a Homer Van Meter type - - ironic since he later played Homer in Pretty Boy Floyd. Also there’s an appearance of Dimitri Tiomkin’s music, before his 22 Oscar nominations. German director Max Nosseck brings his noir game to this classic film.

Skank Power - - Whip It! (2009) - - 14 October 2009

Not Recommended. Ooooo, Duke! That must break your heart an' junk! ‘Cause I know you always wanted your own roller derby team and all. And like, y’know, Kristen Wiig, Zoe Bell, Juliette Lewis? And, oh m’god, Ellen Page as Babe Ruthless? You love those girls! Whew, that's harsh! But really . . . Drew Barrymore? She’s no director. She’s a pot hole!  Yes, there’s a wonderful movie buried in the bowels of this stinker. It emerged only when it was on track. Then it got pushed over the rail by the broken-wheeled plot, pummeled into a coma by some hideously emo music and frequent momentum busts. But the worst is the elbow to the gut on Ms. Page’s charming talent, so artfully used in both Hard Candy and Juno. It might to be hard for her to make the transition to adult roles. God help her if she follows Ms Barrymore!

Walking A Camel For A Mile - - Tulpan (2008) - - 13 October 2009

Recommended.  It’s hard to know what to make of this unique movie. On the one hand, Tuplan is just a boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy loses girl, boy loses girl, and so on, sort of story. Nothing much happens on the desolate, wind-rattled steppe of Kazakhstan. But the characters are so completely charming and realistic that one excuses the lack of any real plot. Established docudramatist, now director, Sergei Dvortsevoy, uses his roots splendidly to portray the barren landscape of Central Asia and the lead character, Asa’s (Tolepbergen Baisakalov) peculiar love of his homeland. Sounds (Williams Schmit ) are also unique in this film, the human voices merging with the animals to signify the symbiosis between nomads and their flocks. In a key scene, the plaintive bleats of a mother ewe in labor create a dialogue with Asa. All of these Kazakh amateurs do a skillful acting job.

Bastard Sons of Johnny Hallyday - - Masculin Feminin (1965) - - 30 September 2009

Recommended.  Most people seem happy to describe Jean-Luc Godard’s movie as a portrait of mid-60’s youth of miniskirts, discotheque, and politics. Well, sure. We have the boy of The 400 Blows, Jean-Pierre Leaud, and a real, live pop star, Chantal Goya, exchanging kisses and philosophy. And that’s pretty much the movie. What sticks in the mind is Godard’s relentless trips into the surreal. The elliptical chapter titles and sound effects. The abrupt violence, unremarked upon by the characters. And most of all is the crushing abstraction of everyone into clueless, self-absorbed ‘girls’ and pedantic, clueless ‘boys.’ This suggests that Masculin Feminin is not a send-up of the Pepsi generation but, instead, a deeper satire. The kids are OK, just the progeny of an increasingly trivial intelligentsia, athanasia swapped for celebrity.  Everyone recalls Godard’s label, ‘The Children of Marx and Coca Cola,’ but it begs the question . . . who would mate them?