Dogs Bark

Right Again, Catalina - - Ask The Dust (2006) - - 29 May 2010

Not recommended. So what’s chemistry anyway? For actors, it’s two talented pros, working instinctually at the top of their game. Kevin Kline and Meryl Streep, not Colin Ferrall and Salma Hayek, who draft about an inch of water between them. And so goes Ask The Dust, a script passed from the legendary pen of Robert Towne past the eyes of Johnny Depp and Val Kilmer before its ultimate and fatal miscasting. Sadly, there’s bunches of anonymous Mexican actresses more talented than Hayek. Whatever . . . I’ve also got silly-plot issues with this movie, astonishing for a talent of Towne’s stature (Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown, Shampoo).  The story of a TB-struck waitress named Camille quickly engenders unintended giggles. Much is made elsewhere of Caleb Deschanel’s cinematography (The Natural) and Dennis Gassner’s art direction (The Road To Perdition). But like Salma, just more pretty - - but inert - - pictures.

I Hear You Knockin’ - - The Messenger (2009) - - 25 May 2010

Recommended. The message of The Messenger is a familiar one. War causes pain. Yet like Anna’s family, each warrior suffers uniquely. So focusing on the characters in this movie, the job that Sergeant Montgomery (Ben Foster) and Captain Stone (Woody Harrelson) and the people they visit, is both admirable and potentially enlightening. In part, this movie is successful. Where it goes astray is its attempt to build a story around these characters. Writers Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, who also directed the picture, seem to have lost the signal as the plot weaves through a drunken spree by the two soldiers. It just seems unworthy in the company of all the pain and the chemistry between Johnson and Samantha Morton (Synecdoche, New York), who should have gotten an Oscar nom. Despite this, Harrelson and Foster are also quite good, as is Nathan Larson's (Dirty Pretty Things) witty, and Apocalypse Now referencing, score.

Let The Good Times Roll - - Schultze Gets The Blues (2003) - - 17 May 2010

Recommended. In his debut helming, Michael Schorr has orchestrated a completely charming movie. Many compare him to Jim Jarmusch in the minimalist style and quirky pace of this movie. But I was thinking more a pre-Milk, Gus Van Zant. The entire movie hinges on the wonderful acting of Horst Krause, a Curly Howard look alike, as Schultze. Moe and Larry are channeled by Schultze’s buddies (Harald Warmbrunn and Karl-Fred Müller). There’s not much dialogue, as Schultze plods through a retirement of beer and accordion music. But suddenly life veers as Schultze discovers Zydeco music and lights out for the Territory. Most of the remaining movie concerns Schultze’s wanderings through SW Louisiana and East Texas, following his bliss. This is a very dry comedy but the real message only comes in the ending, which could disturb you. But just remember that even for the tedious . . . life is too short.

We had Such Big Plans, Speer - - Der Untergang [Downfall] (2004) - - 8 May 2010

Recommended. If for no other reason, director Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Oscar-nominated Downfall is important as the first German-language attempt to fictionally interpret the Nazi inner world.  It is also a rare glimpse into the battle for Berlin and its impact on average German non-combatants. There’s a horrible carnival mirror between these folk and the average German Jew in the early years of National Socialism. At what point do you realize that the old life is extinguished? At what point do you escape? Downfall is told through the performance of Alexandra Maria Lara (The Reader, Miracle at St. Anna) as Traudl Junge, the real-life last secretary to Adolf Hitler (Bruno Ganz).  Members of the High Command are also presented realistically; many, like Goebbels (Ulrich Matthes), are deranged, most are weak, and a few actually try to save some civilian lives. The movie is overlong . . . but so has been the wait for this unique insight.

Wack Job - - Shutter Island (2010) - - 7 May 2010

Not recommended. Coming from a street punk, Shutter Island would definitely be worth a dollar at the RedBox. It’s a mildly interesting, visually explosive take on madness and violence; however, we’re talking about the guy who made those bones on Taxi Driver. The opening promises crafty homage and genre. But between the subsequent overuse of flashbacks and self-indulgent surrealism, Shutter Island rapidly descends into cinematic psychosis. By the time poor Teddy (Leo DiCaprio) is told what we’re suppose to think, most wise guys have already solved the Big Mystery, thereafter becoming a Big Pile of Wet Clothes. Some of the acting is top-notch mad dog, principally Ted Levine (Silence of the Lambs), Patricia Clarkson (The Green Mile) and Jackie Earle Haley (Breaking Away) but Ben Kingsley and Max Von Sydow are committing petty larceny here. Marty, you’re a friend of ours and this hurts me but, hey . . . it’s business, not personal.

I Fucking Hope So - - Away We Go (2009) - - 3 May 2010

Recommended. It’s a shame if Sam Mendes and Kate Winslet are really finito.  You’d hope that someone who’s spent as much time reflecting on marriage as he has would learn something useful. In American Beauty and Revolutionary Road, Mendes looked at the dark side of domesticity but Away We Go takes a loopier look, fueled by the screenwriting of real-life couple Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. Burt and Verona, wait for that first baby and visit friends and relatives in Phoenix, Tucson, Madison, Montreal, and Miami, looking for a new home and some wisdom. I found the dialogue rather cheesy - - way overboard on the gyno-chuckles - - and characters were a bit silly but no fault of John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph or their supporting cast, in particular, the always reliable Alison Janney. I liked the way Ms. Rudolph Dixie’d up her accent when they get to her childhood home. Just like real people.