Dogs Bark

Disquieted Man - - The Banshees Of Inisherin (2022, Ireland/UK/USA, Color, 114 min) - - 17 December 2022

Not recommended. It's worth noting that there’s no Inisherin. The name was invented by Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) for his eponymous new movie, filmed on spectacular Achill Island. And following that fanciful theme, the characters that populate his Irish village seem the unpleasant variety of Celts - - stubborn, brutish, and stupid - - stereotyped in numerous other films. The point of it hinges on two former friends, Pádraic (Colin Ferrill, In Bruges) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson, In Bruges) who have fallen out because one thinks the other too boring to endure. The spat escalates to the point of gross, and possibly allegorical, self-mayhem . . . off camera, the 1923 Irish Civil War rages; however, the characters are so under-written that the motivation is unclear and the story, uninteresting. The only sane person on the island is Pádraic’s sister (Kerry Condon, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), but she, inexplicably, departs. Nice landscapes, though.

Dutch Angling - - Amsterdam (2022, USA, Color, 134 minutes) - - 10 December 2022)

Recommended. Although the reviewers are of mixed opinion, Amsterdam is a very entertaining film for those willing to travel there in director/writer David O. Russell’s (Silver Linings Playbook) madcap murder mystery. The complicated story is much like Russell’s American Hustle, a screenplay loosely ripped from history, fast action, and a stellar cast . . . in this case led again by a goofy Christian Bale (Ford v Ferrari). Actually, it’s more of a troika, with lovers John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman) and Margot Robbie (I, Tonya) pulling alongside. The trio are hired by Taylor Swift (Cats) - - yes, that Taylor Swift - - to find her father’s murderer, assisted by a retired WWI general, played by Russell pal Robert Di Niro, (The Irishman). If you weren’t bothered by the absurd plot of The Big Sleep, you’ll do just fine in Amsterdam. The ending is rather unappealing as the repetitious nature of history is driven home . . . repeatedly.    

Pinched Toes - - Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams (2020, Italy, Color, 120 minutes) - - 2 December 2022

Not recommended. I approached Luca Guadagnino’s (Call Me by Your Name) documentary whimsically, being one who never questioned a wife’s need for rooms of stylish shoes . . . this enthusiasm primarily aesthetic, rather than carnal. I just appreciate good taste in shoes. Sadly, there is little whimsy in Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams. The film seems an unremarkable visualization of a Wikipedia article. We get little insight into the man or his creative soul, although his tenacity is well represented. Although the film stolidly depicts his opening of his silent-era, Hollywood store, the “Shoemaker to the Stars” behind the counter is never revealed. Understand,this guy created Gloria Swanson’s Sadie Thompson pumps, Marilyn Monroe’s gold stilettos, and Audrey Hepburn’s little black ballet flats. He sold riding boots to Rudolph Valentino. Interviews with most of the Ferragamo progeny, manic Martin Scorsese and - - always delightful - - Deborah Nadoolman-Landis are helpful but they can’t polish this clodhopper.