Dogs Bark

Gravity And The Grave - - Interstellar (2014, USA) - - 23 November 2014

Recommended. There are two places in the universe that return absolutely no signals . . . black holes and death. Beyond their respective horizons, landscapes unroll that are arguably unknowable. For Interstellar, director Christopher Nolan (The Prestige) boldly goes right past them. While Interstellar isn’t as good a yarn as Memento or Inception; it’s pretty damn good.  Nolan’s movies rely primarily on the story and mood and traditional acting isn’t required. Nevertheless, Matthew McConaughey (The Dallas Buyer’s Club), Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables) and Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) are solid and John Lithgow (Love Is Strange) is even more than solid.  The film is well-shot by Hoyte Van Hoytema (Let The Right One In) and is spectacular in both intimate and action scenes.  Unfortunately, the overbearing Hans Zimmer (The Dark Knight) score is all noise, obscuring both message and medium. The ending wanders a bit into its own black hole.

That Thing With Feathers - - Birdman (2014, USA) - - 16 November 2014

Strongly recommended. So what is it about Birdman that makes it the consensus 'most innovative movie' since Her? I honestly don’t know . . . although I agree with that opinion.  It probably starts with the amazingly honest, crinkly face of Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice) mining his own career to get at the battle between fame and art - - the distinction between performance and acting. It could also be the amazingly long camera takes helmed by Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel) and his cameraman, Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity). Maybe it’s the wild score (Antonio Sanchez), resplendent with tense ambient sound (random bangs and ticking clocks, sudden drum solos). The combination of these elements with a loony supporting cast Ed Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis and Naomi Watts turns a rather well-worn (Bob Fosse’s, All That Jazz, for example) tale into a hopeful fable that soars . . . literally.

Monkeys Wrenching - - Night Moves (2013, USA) - - 14 November 2014

Recommended. I think I know what director Kelly Reichardt (Meek’s Cutoff) is up to and I like it. Reichardt’s world is a place that defies plans; her characters wander through a haze, attempting - - and often failing - - to make the best of chaos. In Night Moves, Reichardt’s theme envelopes three young people who conspire to commit eco-terrorism.  The act is the destruction of the very real, Green Peter Dam on the Santiam River in central Oregon. Dakota Fanning (War Of The Worlds) plays an rich poseur and Peter Sarsgaard (An Education), a smarmy, craven demolitions expert. Jesse Eisenburg (The Social Network) brilliantly dissolves into his most mature role to date as the driven, but ultimately most depraved, member of the trio. Their stab at direct action seems absurd until the true horror is revealed, destroying everyone. Reichardt masterfully paces the tension and the viewer is pulled directly into the resulting deluge.

Adopted By Wolves - - Flirting With Disaster (1996, USA) - - 31 October 2014

Recommended. Receiving last year the crown for the modern master of screwball - - but unfortunately not the Oscar - - I thought it worthwhile to explore how David O. Russell (American Hustle) got that hat. Flirting With Disaster came out after the indie beloved Spanking The Monkey, before the highly applauded Three Kings and it was Russell’s first chance to work with a Hollywood budget; he spent the money on acting talent. His talent is the ability to stretch actors like Silly Putty and here, old pros like Mary Tyler Moore, Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin go toe-to-toe with journey-people Téa Leoni, Josh Brolin and Patricia Arquette in scripter Russell’s non-stop banter acrobatics. My only complaint with this is that everyone sounds like the writer . . . overcome somewhat by the unique performers. Rumor has it that the lead was first offered John Cusack (High Fidelity), probably a better choice than Ben Stiller (Zoolander).