It's almost too easy to rattle off a list of the things wrong with Michel Gondry's let's-remake-all-the-movies-in-the-video-store comedy "Be Kind, Rewind." The central dramatic plot feels more derivative than the remakes the characters create. The dialogue is often so wooden the actors seem as though they're reading from cue cards. Several scenes seem shake-your-head-in-disbelief out of place. And, perhaps worst of all, the film is never quite as funny as you have the feeling it should be.
None of these things, however, is what stands out the most about "Be Kind, Rewind." That would be the fact that, despite all of these factors, Gondry's created a film that's compulsively watchable and frequently moving.
Mos Def's Mike is, in many ways, living life in the past. He spends his days behind the counter at an old mom and pop video store that's never gotten around to getting DVDs, working for his surrogate father figure Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover).
The store is as much a relic as the tapes that it stocks. Its primary promotional gimmick is that depression-era jazz legend Fats Waller was born in the room upstairs. The building itself seems to have been neglected for nearly that long with a roof in dire need of repair and a structure that seems shaky at best.
Other than the rare customer, Mike's only distractions come from the antics of his paranoid friend Jerry (Jack Black), a mechanic whose vision of what his clients' vehicles need differs somewhat from theirs. When Mr. Fletcher leaves and puts him in charge, however, he takes it seriously, seeing it as a chance to prove his worth. That plan, however, goes awry when an accident at a power plant leaves Jerry magnetized, causing him to erase every one of the store's tapes. When one of the store's only regular customers (Mia Farrow) comes in, what are they to do? They try to remake the movie in a couple of hours and hope she doesn't notice. Before they know it, their remakes have developed a massive following, leaving the pair and their leading lady Alma (Melonie Diaz) running ragged trying to get all of them made.
Although the remakes might never be quite as funny as you'd imagine they'd be, particularly with Black involved, there is a certain creative joy in seeing how they remake these classic (and often fairly special-effects laden) films with no time or budget. One scene in which Alma seemlessly shifts between directing about four or five different films is particularly mesmerizing.
More than even these scenes, however, "Be Kind, Rewind" draws its strength from its devotion to the idea of community, of people coming together with a shared purpose to better their shared future. When, in the movie's climactic scenes, the entire neighborhood conspires to rewrite their town's past, they are really telling their own stories, their experiences and dreams, and making a stand that they won't let someone else determine their future either.
There is also a thread running through the film that new and shiny doesn't always mean better, that it is more than simple nostalgia to in some ways mourn the loss of the crumbling neighborhood store, to the death of the "be kind, rewind"-stickered VHS format. New doesn't mean better when the world becomes more impersonal because of it. In the end it's heart that matters.
And such is the case with this film. It might not be as brilliant as Gondry's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" or as brilliantly inventive as his "The Science of Sleep," but it has a giant heart that is firmly in the right place. You get the feeling that if there were more movies like "Be Kind, Rewind" instead of ones focused only on blood, brutality and body counts, maybe the world would be, in some small way, a better place. For now, I'm just happy I saw it.
B
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Movie No. 24: Miracle at St. Anna
Expectations are an interesting thing. Have them too high for a film and even a good movie may feel like a disappointment. When a movie gets blasted by critics the way Spike Lee's war film "Miracle at St. Anna" was, well, expectations tend to fall.
And perhaps that's a good thing. "Miracle at St. Anna" is by no means the masterpiece I was hoping for when I first heard about it, but it isn't the disaster some have proclaimed it to be either. It's a film with both powerful scenes and all-too-apparent flaws. In the end, however, the positives outweigh the negatives, even if not by much.
The film begins in the early '80s with an apparently random act of violence. A postal clerk pulls out a German lugar and shoots a customer buying stamps and an ancient Roman artifact is found stored at the bottom of his closet.
We then flashback to a group of black soldiers on patrol in Italy. A combination of German fire and a mistake by their racist commander leave four of the soldiers (played by Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso and Omar Benson Miller) stranded behind enemy lines in an Italian town along with an Italian boy that the hulking Pvt. Train (Miller) saved from a collapsed barn.
They must take refuge with an Italian family, including a Fascist father who believes Mussolini's only mistake was joining with Hitler and his lovely daughter Valentina Cervi, who attracts the attention of Luke and Ealy's characters and is friends with the local resistance fighters.
From films such as "25th Hour" and "Inside Man," it is obvious that Lee is a talented storyteller. The usual question with his films is his activism. When that activism works in conjunction with his storytelling skills you get classic films such as "Do the Right Thing" and "Malcolm X." When they end up in competition, you get the second half of "Bamboozled," where Lee's hatred of his characters overwhelmed everything else. When the negative reviews started pouring in, especially given that Lee had been so outspoken about showing the contribution of black soldiers too often hidden in war films, I was afraid that this was the case again. Strangely, it was the other half of the equation that was weak here. When the movie failed, it failed solely because of its storytelling.
Part of the problem lies in the frame story. It should enrich the main narrative, add to our interest. Unfortunately it was so awkward in tone and ineffective at connecting emotionally that the film would have been better off if the entire thing had been axed. The battle scenes also seem to have been shot in such a way that they convey only death, and too often even minimize that. There is little power there, with the initial battle seeming to act as little more than a convenient way to have the four men separated in this town. It doesn't help that, especially during the battle scenes, the score by the usually wonderful Terence Blanchard seems to compete with the images more than complement them.
Between the duel bookends of the battle scenes and the framing story, however, we follow the soldiers, watch them interact, see their hopes and fears. It is here that the film, with an able assist from the four talented actors, feels most at home. It is the characters that hold our interest, give the film its meaning, and while even these scenes might never reach masterpiece-level, they are compelling enough to outweigh the film's problems, moving enough where I'm glad I watched.
C+
And perhaps that's a good thing. "Miracle at St. Anna" is by no means the masterpiece I was hoping for when I first heard about it, but it isn't the disaster some have proclaimed it to be either. It's a film with both powerful scenes and all-too-apparent flaws. In the end, however, the positives outweigh the negatives, even if not by much.
The film begins in the early '80s with an apparently random act of violence. A postal clerk pulls out a German lugar and shoots a customer buying stamps and an ancient Roman artifact is found stored at the bottom of his closet.
We then flashback to a group of black soldiers on patrol in Italy. A combination of German fire and a mistake by their racist commander leave four of the soldiers (played by Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso and Omar Benson Miller) stranded behind enemy lines in an Italian town along with an Italian boy that the hulking Pvt. Train (Miller) saved from a collapsed barn.
They must take refuge with an Italian family, including a Fascist father who believes Mussolini's only mistake was joining with Hitler and his lovely daughter Valentina Cervi, who attracts the attention of Luke and Ealy's characters and is friends with the local resistance fighters.
From films such as "25th Hour" and "Inside Man," it is obvious that Lee is a talented storyteller. The usual question with his films is his activism. When that activism works in conjunction with his storytelling skills you get classic films such as "Do the Right Thing" and "Malcolm X." When they end up in competition, you get the second half of "Bamboozled," where Lee's hatred of his characters overwhelmed everything else. When the negative reviews started pouring in, especially given that Lee had been so outspoken about showing the contribution of black soldiers too often hidden in war films, I was afraid that this was the case again. Strangely, it was the other half of the equation that was weak here. When the movie failed, it failed solely because of its storytelling.
Part of the problem lies in the frame story. It should enrich the main narrative, add to our interest. Unfortunately it was so awkward in tone and ineffective at connecting emotionally that the film would have been better off if the entire thing had been axed. The battle scenes also seem to have been shot in such a way that they convey only death, and too often even minimize that. There is little power there, with the initial battle seeming to act as little more than a convenient way to have the four men separated in this town. It doesn't help that, especially during the battle scenes, the score by the usually wonderful Terence Blanchard seems to compete with the images more than complement them.
Between the duel bookends of the battle scenes and the framing story, however, we follow the soldiers, watch them interact, see their hopes and fears. It is here that the film, with an able assist from the four talented actors, feels most at home. It is the characters that hold our interest, give the film its meaning, and while even these scenes might never reach masterpiece-level, they are compelling enough to outweigh the film's problems, moving enough where I'm glad I watched.
C+
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Movie No. 23: "The Counterfeiters"
When we meet Sally Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics) at the beginning of Stefan Ruzowitzky's "The Counterfeiters," he is something of a broken man, blowing through the stacks of money as if having them was torturing his soul.
It is a wonderful, perfectly pitched opening, so assured in its tone and character work. It is unfortunate that the rest of the film doesn't quite manage to live up to its greatness.
After the introduction, we flash back to during the war, when Sally was a hard-living master at his craft: counterfeiting. When the Nazis finally catch up with him, though, he is not put into the general population at a concentration camp, however. Instead, he is placed in charge of a group of printers and artists who have been given a not-so-simple task: counterfeit the British pound and the U.S. dollar to help fund the Nazi war effort. Thus they are given a choice: aid a government that is killing their people or get killed themselves.
The moral tug of war between those looking to survive and those looking to fight is given a good-enough portrayal. For some reason, however, it just can't seem to break through, to become more than good-enough. Perhaps it is because most of the other prisoners are only given one note to play: the saboteur, out to hurt the Nazis at all costs; the survivor, willing to do almost anything to make it through the war; the sickly, child-like artist who Sally takes under his wing.
The only other character who really offers much in the way of complexity and dimension is Devid Strieshow's Sturmbannführer Friedrich Herzog, the overseer of the group. A Nazi for convenience's sake, he makes an excellent mirror for Sally and a counterpoint as Sally deepens through his experiences in the camp.
On a whole, the film might not be at the same level of power as concentration camps dramas such as "Schindler's List" or "Fateless," but it is a compelling story, and Markovics' wonderful performance is enough to carry it past whatever flaws it might have.
B+
It is a wonderful, perfectly pitched opening, so assured in its tone and character work. It is unfortunate that the rest of the film doesn't quite manage to live up to its greatness.
After the introduction, we flash back to during the war, when Sally was a hard-living master at his craft: counterfeiting. When the Nazis finally catch up with him, though, he is not put into the general population at a concentration camp, however. Instead, he is placed in charge of a group of printers and artists who have been given a not-so-simple task: counterfeit the British pound and the U.S. dollar to help fund the Nazi war effort. Thus they are given a choice: aid a government that is killing their people or get killed themselves.
The moral tug of war between those looking to survive and those looking to fight is given a good-enough portrayal. For some reason, however, it just can't seem to break through, to become more than good-enough. Perhaps it is because most of the other prisoners are only given one note to play: the saboteur, out to hurt the Nazis at all costs; the survivor, willing to do almost anything to make it through the war; the sickly, child-like artist who Sally takes under his wing.
The only other character who really offers much in the way of complexity and dimension is Devid Strieshow's Sturmbannführer Friedrich Herzog, the overseer of the group. A Nazi for convenience's sake, he makes an excellent mirror for Sally and a counterpoint as Sally deepens through his experiences in the camp.
On a whole, the film might not be at the same level of power as concentration camps dramas such as "Schindler's List" or "Fateless," but it is a compelling story, and Markovics' wonderful performance is enough to carry it past whatever flaws it might have.
B+
Movie No. 22: "Drillbit Taylor"
In the best of the Judd Apatow and friends films, the humor, however outrageous, feels connected to something real. It's what has made them, especially "Knocked Up," more than just the kind of disposable, unfunny comedies that litter theaters. Unfortunately, in "Drillbit Taylor" they have made exactly that: a comedy in which neither the characters nor the jokes really connect.
Nate Hartley and Troy Gentile play a pair of freshmen, who are targeted by the school bully for some rather over-the-top punishment. In order to protect themselves, they put out an ad for a bodyguard. Unfortunately, the only one willing to do it for their asking price is a homeless conman named Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson), who plans to rob them.
What follows shouldn't surprise anyone. The boys learn to defend themselves, and through them, Drillbit learns how to be a better person. The problem is, despite Wilson's best efforts, none of it is really all that funny. Very little is really all that aggressively bad. It's just that none of it is really all that good. Unless you're stuck on a plane like I was, there's very little to recommend spending the nearly two-hour running time watching it.
D
Nate Hartley and Troy Gentile play a pair of freshmen, who are targeted by the school bully for some rather over-the-top punishment. In order to protect themselves, they put out an ad for a bodyguard. Unfortunately, the only one willing to do it for their asking price is a homeless conman named Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson), who plans to rob them.
What follows shouldn't surprise anyone. The boys learn to defend themselves, and through them, Drillbit learns how to be a better person. The problem is, despite Wilson's best efforts, none of it is really all that funny. Very little is really all that aggressively bad. It's just that none of it is really all that good. Unless you're stuck on a plane like I was, there's very little to recommend spending the nearly two-hour running time watching it.
D
Movie No. 21: "Sex and the City"
As a caveat to this review let me note from the beginning, I've seen a total of maybe five or six episodes of the TV show "Sex and the City." Maybe you need to have watched the show religiously for the movie to really work. But from the perspective of someone who didn't, to see such a drab film made from HBO's second most famous series is something of a disappointment.
As the film begins, Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie is apartment hunting with longtime on-again-off-again flame Mr. Big (an incredibly bored-looking Chris Noth), and the process of moving in together leads them toward walking down the aisle together. And of course, that draws together her girlfriends Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Samantha (Kim Cattrall). Loves are lost and found. Friendships are hurt and rehabilitated. The problem is, with the exception of the one storyline that really works, it all simply feels lukewarm or extraneous.
Part of the problem is the film's central relationship. I'm assuming, given the rather iconic nature of their on-screen pairing, that at one point Parker and Noth had actual chemistry. The professions of love sound half-hearted. Even before events conspire to rip apart the dream wedding, the pair seem ill-at-ease together. Being told by the script they were meant to be, but not really feeling it themselves.
This might not have been fatal, except that two of the other three friends are given little to do. For most of the film Davis simply drags her adopted daughter around and chirps indignities. Cattrall, whose storyline about trying not to cheat on her boyfriend with a new neighbor takes place mostly in California, seems so extraneous here that her character could have pretty much been excised completely without doing anything except making the movie shorter.
When two of your film's only memorable scenes are music montages, something is wrong.
The lone light comes from Nixon's Miranda. Her storyline about a marriage on the rocks through infidelity and neglect is moving, and her performance is so powerful that it seems as though it would be more at home in one of Nicole Holofcener's wonderful female-driven films than one otherwise struggling to find either its comedic or dramatic way. Unfortunately Nixon, and, to a lesser degree, Jennifer Hudson as Carrie's assistant, can only do so much for a film that never seems able to build any momentum.
C
As the film begins, Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie is apartment hunting with longtime on-again-off-again flame Mr. Big (an incredibly bored-looking Chris Noth), and the process of moving in together leads them toward walking down the aisle together. And of course, that draws together her girlfriends Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Samantha (Kim Cattrall). Loves are lost and found. Friendships are hurt and rehabilitated. The problem is, with the exception of the one storyline that really works, it all simply feels lukewarm or extraneous.
Part of the problem is the film's central relationship. I'm assuming, given the rather iconic nature of their on-screen pairing, that at one point Parker and Noth had actual chemistry. The professions of love sound half-hearted. Even before events conspire to rip apart the dream wedding, the pair seem ill-at-ease together. Being told by the script they were meant to be, but not really feeling it themselves.
This might not have been fatal, except that two of the other three friends are given little to do. For most of the film Davis simply drags her adopted daughter around and chirps indignities. Cattrall, whose storyline about trying not to cheat on her boyfriend with a new neighbor takes place mostly in California, seems so extraneous here that her character could have pretty much been excised completely without doing anything except making the movie shorter.
When two of your film's only memorable scenes are music montages, something is wrong.
The lone light comes from Nixon's Miranda. Her storyline about a marriage on the rocks through infidelity and neglect is moving, and her performance is so powerful that it seems as though it would be more at home in one of Nicole Holofcener's wonderful female-driven films than one otherwise struggling to find either its comedic or dramatic way. Unfortunately Nixon, and, to a lesser degree, Jennifer Hudson as Carrie's assistant, can only do so much for a film that never seems able to build any momentum.
C
Monday, October 6, 2008
Movie No. 20: "Shotgun Stories"
With attention spans supposedly getting shorter, it seems like most of our entertainment media, from movies to TV to music are looking for that hook, something to grasp our attention early, an attempt to demand we take notice.
There is something almost refreshing, then, about a film that goes against this grain. Nothing in the beginning of "Shotgun Stories," writer/director Jeff Nichols' debut film about a bitter feud between two sets of brothers in rural Arkansas, will grip you, make you sit up and take notice. But if you give your interest willingly, stick with the film as it slowly peels back its layers, develops its characters, the payoff is well worth it.
The film follows Son Hayes (Michael Shannon, "Bug") and his brothers Boy (Douglas Ligon) and Kid (Barlow Jacobs). The product of a drunken father who abandoned the family before getting sober and starting anew and a hate-filled mother, the trio are scratching out a meager existence, stuck trying to become the type of men that their father couldn't be for them. When their dad dies, however, Son's actions at the funeral touch off a feud with the sons from the father's other family, sending them all down a path toward violence and revenge.
That the film turns the three brothers, who begin the movie almost comically red-neckish, into such interesting, well-rounded characters is something of a minor miracle. It takes its time, slowly revealing the shadows and complexities. Credit also has to be given to the actors, especially Shannon and Ligon. You care about their characters, root for them to break free of the downward spiral the film's events have placed them in.
Once the violence starts, however, the film seems to stop taking its time. Several of the scenes, especially those involving Ligon's Boy, work, the overall impact simply isn't the same. While the film shows a great deal of passion in its anti-violence stand, the care shown toward its characters in the beginning seems to be lacking. The doesn't keep it from being an admirable work, or even a very good one. It simply keeps it just this side of greatness. B+
There is something almost refreshing, then, about a film that goes against this grain. Nothing in the beginning of "Shotgun Stories," writer/director Jeff Nichols' debut film about a bitter feud between two sets of brothers in rural Arkansas, will grip you, make you sit up and take notice. But if you give your interest willingly, stick with the film as it slowly peels back its layers, develops its characters, the payoff is well worth it.
The film follows Son Hayes (Michael Shannon, "Bug") and his brothers Boy (Douglas Ligon) and Kid (Barlow Jacobs). The product of a drunken father who abandoned the family before getting sober and starting anew and a hate-filled mother, the trio are scratching out a meager existence, stuck trying to become the type of men that their father couldn't be for them. When their dad dies, however, Son's actions at the funeral touch off a feud with the sons from the father's other family, sending them all down a path toward violence and revenge.
That the film turns the three brothers, who begin the movie almost comically red-neckish, into such interesting, well-rounded characters is something of a minor miracle. It takes its time, slowly revealing the shadows and complexities. Credit also has to be given to the actors, especially Shannon and Ligon. You care about their characters, root for them to break free of the downward spiral the film's events have placed them in.
Once the violence starts, however, the film seems to stop taking its time. Several of the scenes, especially those involving Ligon's Boy, work, the overall impact simply isn't the same. While the film shows a great deal of passion in its anti-violence stand, the care shown toward its characters in the beginning seems to be lacking. The doesn't keep it from being an admirable work, or even a very good one. It simply keeps it just this side of greatness. B+
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
I'm back ...
OK, I'm back from vacation and will tackle the three I promised before vacation, plus two plane movies (the disappointingly inert "Sex and the City" and the just plain unfunny "Drillbit Taylor") after I recover from the jet lag.
Two other notes for those of you who pay attention to the side lists.
1. The movies to see list is no longer in the order I am excited about seeing them. That simply took too much time given blogger's list editing set up.
2. Yes, I did see "In Bruges" on the plane. No, I won't be reviewing it any time in the immediate future. Thicker British accents and poor plane headsets don't mix well, and I missed too many lines to give as good of an assessment as I would like. What I did see and hear, though, I really liked.
Two other notes for those of you who pay attention to the side lists.
1. The movies to see list is no longer in the order I am excited about seeing them. That simply took too much time given blogger's list editing set up.
2. Yes, I did see "In Bruges" on the plane. No, I won't be reviewing it any time in the immediate future. Thicker British accents and poor plane headsets don't mix well, and I missed too many lines to give as good of an assessment as I would like. What I did see and hear, though, I really liked.
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