Dogs Bark

Declasse Harry - - J. Edgar (2011) - - 19 November 2011

Not recommended.  There is something very wrong with J. Edgar and it’s not the costuming. As a culture, we have a perfectly understandable respect for people, like cops, who put themselves in danger to protect us.  Even cops who are boring or despicable deserve our thanks if they take on this burden. But if they are boring and despicable, like J. Edgar Hoover, they may deserve thanks but not two hours of attention. Director Clint Eastwood tries to create interest by rooting about in Hoover’s closet, appearing to claim that homosexual repression was his downfall. But not even Hollywood’s favorite gay scribbler (Dustin Lance Black) can brighten this pile of rags. Many of the scenes between Hoover and his long-time companion, Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer), are thoroughly unconvincing. Add Hammer’s atrocious old man make-up, unintentionally laughable impressions of Robert Kennedy and Richard Nixon and you have a very rumpled petticoat.

The King's Peach - - The Prince And The Showgirl (1957) - - 18 November 2011

Not recommended. The Prince And The Showgirl is the subject of the upcoming My Week With Marilyn and is getting renewed attention. The prior movie was produced by Marilyn Monroe Productions, the company Monroe formed with Milton Greene while still under contract to Fox.  The idea - - unique then - - was to take advantage of her success to develop better vehicles for her talent but they only wound up making two pictures, this and Bus Stop. Both were very interesting roles that were critical successes . . . for her; however, The Prince And The Showgirl is just way too unsupported in both plot and characterization to stand on its own satin pumps. MM’s co-star and director, Lawrence Olivier, is at his priggish heights in both roles. He hated Monroe and Sybil Thorndike, playing his mother-in-law, adored her.  Of course, Dame Sybil wasn’t the prima donna getting upstaged.

Lucifer’s Lonely Man - - Seul Contre Tous [I Stand Alone] (1998) - - 12 November 2011

Recommended. I strongly recommend this film only to those who would get it and having got it . . . can handle it. Gabriel Noe’s I Stand Alone is a totally uncompromised trip through Hell. The principal character, known only as 'the butcher,' paddles down his Stix of consciousness, much as Travis Bickle carried the damned in his Manhattan taxi. The butcher, also like Bickle, was disappointed by life early on but has nurtured that rage much longer. Listening to his homophobic, misogynistic bile for ninety minutes is excruciating. Philippe Nahon’s bland, Everyman face makes this even more unpleasant, suggesting the secret ubiquity of alienation. His class hatred, along with the Godardian red-black letter boards, scream leftism but this guy could just as easily be an Arizona Tea Bagger. Remembering this at the Walmart the next day raised the question, what's going through their heads? And what's in mine?

Roma On The Chao Phraya - - Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010) - - 2 November 2011

Recommended. Writer/director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's amazing movie is not for everyone; it’s awful slow. But if you like the Thai-noir mysteries of John Burkett, Uncle Boonmie may be your glass of cha yen. Theravadan Buddhism, the major religion of Thailand and most of Southeast Asia, is probably the most inscrutable of the major schools. The Thai culture is deeply mysterious, reflected in this film. Uncle Boonmie is dying and gathered around him are the spirits and memories of his life. Thai people are affectionate towards their ghosts. But the magic realism of the story is leavened by another important ingredient. This is yet another movie that evokes Blow Up in the dreamy, atmospheric sound track and self-consciously (very!) long takes. More Antonioni is referenced in the fluid mix of characters wandering in and out of the action, long group hikes through remarkable scenery and languid, philosophical dialogue. It works, quite simply.