Valkyrie

Valkyrie (2008) dir. Bryan Singer
Starring: Tom Cruise, Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Eddie Izzard

***

On DVD and Blu-Ray now is "Valkyrie", arguably a film a lot of people expected to fail. From the outset of this production there appeared to be an effort as dedicated as the rebellion in this film to knock down this latest Cruise venture. First it was a German protest against allowing the couch-surfing Scientologist to film a German story in their country, then it was an over-the-top slag campaign after a test screening last summer.

The reteaming of Bryan Singer, Christopher McQuarrie and John Ottman, the three key collaborators behind “the Usual Suspects” back in a thriller genre they tore apart and re-invented 13 years ago should be receiving top billing in the headlines. The finished film, outside of any hype, is a decent film in the genre of Hollywood wartime thrillers.

Tom Cruise plays Col Claus von Stauffenberg a German officer recently blown half to bits in Rommel’s desert campaign who desires to overthrow the Hitler regime to reclaim Germany’s honour. There happens to be a whole group of similar dissidents within the Nazi high ranks who feel the same. After a botched attempt by Kenneth Branagh’s Nazi character to blow up de Fuhrer he recruits Stauffenberg to command the team with a new plan of attack.

Stauffenberg’s bold single-minded leadership is just the energy the group needs to get the job done. For Stauffenberg killing the man is only half the battle, overthrowing the government is the hardest part. The solution finds Stauffenberg when he hears his child play Wagner’s Valkyrie during an air-raid. Using sharp politicking and crafty progaganda techniques Stauffenberg plans to use an obscure Martial Law action plan called Operation Valkyrie to cease allow his secret SS group to cease control of the government.

It’s a slow set-up. McQuarrie skips over the hardest bit of writing by making no explanation as to how Stauffenberg gets recruited into the SS group. I always thought the most difficult aspect of a revolution is finding the like-minded individuals willing to stick their necks out for the cause. For good and bad McQuarrie quickly jumps this hurdle and directly into the scheming and plotting. The hallmarks of Bryan Singer’s talent as director lay dormant in this set-up. But once Stauffenberg is on board the second act is kicked off with the executed plan of action. Singer’s razor sharp pace, impeccable composition and shot selection suddenly jumps off the screen.

As with “Usual Suspects” John Ottman’s unique skills as both editor and composer compliment Singer’s direction. Having an editor the same person as composer, though extremely rare in filmmaking, is in practice natural to combine. Especially in the thriller genre where montage scenes rule. Singer and Ottman are careful to show the detailed machinations of the plotting, which make up for the fact that there are no traditional action scenes, gunfights, or stunts.

On the Blu-Ray it's great to see McQuarrie take a lead role in the production of the film. For the first time he serves as a producer, a role more than just a mere courtesy credit. He makes a great interview with his passion for his film and the art of cinema apparent. Enjoy.

"Valkyrie" is available on Blu-Ray from MGM Home Entertainment

Drag Me to Hell

Drag Me to Hell (2009) dir. Sam Raimi
Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao

****

The best film I’ve seen so far this year undoubtedly is Sam Raimi’s magnificent return to the horror genre. It’s been 14 years since the third Evil Dead movie, “Army of Darkness”, which doesn’t really count as a horror film anyway, so really it’s been 22 years since “Evil Dead 2”. With “Drag Me to Hell”, Raimi exercises these latent muscles and hasn’t missed a beat, trumping our high expectations.

We know we’re in for a return of something magical when we see the old 1980’s Universal logo at the head of the picture. Much like the first two Evil Dead pictures, Raimi films essentially a series of precisely crafted set pieces loosely strung together by a plot. Alison Lohman plays Christine Brown, an underachieving loan officer who desperately wants the vacant assistant manager’s job at the bank. When Mrs. Ganish (Lorna Raver), a ghoulish old spinster with a false eye and rotten dentures requests an extension on her missed mortgage payments, to impress her cutthroat boss Christine breaks her personal ethics and rejects the poor lady. Ganish goes bonkers and puts a curse on Christine.

Gradually Christine starts to go crazy seeing Ganish’s haunting image everywhere she goes. Desperate to break the spell she goes to see a fortune teller, much to objections of her doubting Thomas boyfriend Clay (Justin Long). We learn of an ancient demon which looks to claim her body to hell. Christine tries exorcisms, animal sacrifices, but the secret lies in a simple cursed button which must be given away in order to break the curse.

Raimi is on fire with his trademark mixture of physical low brow comedy and spine-chilling suspense. Raimi and his screenwriter brother Ted execute what seems like 22 years of cool ideas saved up for this specific movie. The first major confrontation with the raving mad woman in the underground parking lot is inspired stuff. Raimi wrings out every drop of suspense leading up to Ganish’s frightening reveal in the car, which leads to a riotous slapstick fight scene.

Many other scenes exist solely to stand alone. The clever fight between Christine and Ganish’s animated veil which invades her car, the dinner table conversation with Clay’s parents when the curse invades Christine’s homemade harvest cake, and a number of dream sequences exists unabashedly as technical exercises satisfying Raimi’s urges to please us.

Alison Lohman makes a delightful and warm lead character. She gallantly gives herself up to Raimi’s torture, as he embellishes every opportunity to drench Christine with blood, drool, embalming fluid, mud and any nasty liquid substance he can think of. She’s the receptacle for Raimi’s underlying message about what happens when you sell yourself out to God.

“Drag Me to Hell” is a perfect genre picture which is why I confidently grant it four stars. Raimi never goes easy on his characters nor the audience. Even up until the last scene Raimi is in absolute control of the genre and though it might take a few more viewings to make this determination, I’m might be bold enough to say “Hell” trumps “Evil Dead”.

Jonas Brothers: 3D Concert Experience

Jonas Brothers 3-D Concert Experience (2009) dir. Bruce Hendricks
Documentary

**1/2

What the hell am I doing watching the Jonas Bros movie, let alone review it?. Sometimes it important to watch these films if only to know what kids are watching these days and stay in the loop. Here's my review originally written for Exclaim back in April.

Just why did these moderately talented, averaging-looking dudes get the golden ticket to tweener stardom? Because of that venerable Disney star factory that birthed other moneymaker stars and new matinee idols, Zac Efron and Miley Cirus.

Having established themselves with the Disney Channel TV movie Camp Rock and sold themselves on the teen-rag circuit over the past two years, the Jonas Brothers make their big screen debut with this glossy 3-D slice of Disney propaganda.

For Jonas newbies, the brothers are Joe, the straight-haired lead singer dressed like Tom Cruise from Cocktail, and Kevin and Nick, the two curly hair guitarists whom I couldn't tell apart. They are a straight-ahead pop rock band that, instead of synchronized dancing, play their instruments and channel stage antics like advanced players of Rock Band. To heighten the attention of the girls they can also spin, jump and do tumbles and somersaults around the stage like seasoned acrobats.

Like the Miley Cirus 3-D concert film, the Jonas Brothers are trotted out with maximum exploitation. In addition to a well-produced stadium concert with the big hits belted out, manufactured, "candid" behind-the-scenes footage show the trio revelling in the insane fandom that Disney has created for them.

The theatrical experience of this film is made even more interactive than the kitschy 3-D process. Sitting in an audience of die-hard tweeners who know the words to every song and scream their lungs out whenever Joe Jonas points to the camera is strangely exhilarating. While it's just the latest boy band fad, for this audience it's a seminal event in their young lives. How can you not be fascinated with that?

The first few songs are a struggle to get through — barely hummable pop songs sung with the Brothers' newly broken, squeaky voices. But as the girls screamed their way through these songs, I realized this film is critic-proof, and with ego in check, I let myself go along for the ride.

As the show progresses, the catchiness of the tunes eventually sets in. Well-timed guest performers such as Demi Lavato break the monotony and add a refreshing female perspective. The film reaches its creative high when pop star Taylor Swift (apparently a former girlfriend of Joe Jonas) joins the trio for a song. Far and away a better singer than all the brothers combined, Swift's country pop rock crossover is a fine foot-tapping cap to the show.

No one who is not a fan has any business seeing this film alone but treating that young niece of yours to this is guaranteed to crown you as the favourite uncle. And if you take your cynical cap off you might actually find the Jonas Brothers 3-D Experience an enjoyable one.

"Jonas Brothers: 3-D Concert Experience" drops on DVD on June 30

Movie Mob Jonas Brothers 3-D Concert Experience | Movie Trailers

Eagle Eye

Eagle Eye (2008 dir. DJ Caruso
Starring: Shia Lebeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Billy Bob Thornton

***

A modest surprise from last year was the latest in a string of hit films for budding star Shia Lebeouf. His rat-a-tat manner of speech rubs some people the wrong way, but there’s no doubting he’s a genuine movie-star. LeBeouf commands the screen as the underachieving lay-about turned reluctant CIA spy, and director DJ Caruso turns in a solid actioner refashioning trusted old genre elements of technological fears and big brother paranoia.

“Eagle Eye” plays like a “War Games”, "The Conversation", "Enemy of the State" updated to the war on terror. Like a 70’s surveillance paranoia flick made by Jerry Bruckheimer. Bruckheimer’s name is not on the film, but Caruso’s slick mondo action could easily be a calling card for one of his future films.

Lebeouf plays Jerry Shaw, a typical underachieving 20-something who chose to forgo Stanford in favour of seeing the world. Now he worksat a copyshop, pushing paper, retail. One day Shaw gets news that his twin brother has died in Iraq. A sad time for Jerry, a day which is coincidentally turned upside down when he checks his bank account and discovers $750,000 in his account. Jerry’s being set up for something, and his only way out is to follow the instructions of an unknown voice on his cell phone which guides him out of all kinds of contrived danger.

Meanwhile, poor Rachel Holloman's (Michelle Monaghan) son has been kidnapped and, like Jerry, is given instructions by the same mysterious female omniscient voice. Rachel and Jerry's paths eventually cross and find themselves partners in their mutual escape with the CIA in pursuit. Who is this mysterious voice guiding our heroes out of trouble? As things gets revealed we learn it's not international terrorists at bay but America's own over-indulged Homeland Security which is now backfiring against it's citizens.

The writers cleverly steal from Hitchcock’s everyman-turned spy-hero themes of "North-By-Northwest" and even direct theft of Hitch’s rowsing orchestra – assassination finale of “The Man Who Knew Too Much.” Unfortunately Caruso’s climax which has Jerry trying to stop a bomb rigged to explode on a certain key in the Star-Spangled Banner doesn’t have near the suspenseful impact of Hitch’s film. Even "2001: A Space Odyssey" gets a nod as the evil 'Eagle-Eye' computer which runs amuck, a key character which plays like a female version of HAL.

The final moments hit some squirmy jingoistic notes. The place of America as the world’s police is only slightly chastised when Caruso tells us America needs to exercise more diplomacy instead of first strike, knee-jerk tactics. The prevalence of American flags waving in slow motion against Brian Tyler’s faux-rousing score seems to both skewer and support the government's accountability. If this film were made in the 1970’s we’d see much more cyncism.

The film was also arguably the coming out party for DJ Caruso, after a number of mediocre thrillers, which under lesser hands would have gone straight to video (“Distrubia”, “Two For the Money”), Caruso delivers 'Eagle Eye' with as much the loud cinematic muscle of any tier 1 blockbuster director. Enjoy.

El Dorado

El Dorado (1967) dir. Howard Hawks
Starring: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, James Caan, Ed Asner

**1/2

With hindsight, by 1967, with the onset of new liberal Hollywood a studio Western with John Wayne, directed by Hollywood legend Howard Hawks, seemed a little obsolete and out of date. Hawks was known in Hollywood as an adaptive director, a populist auteur with an invisible style who could work in any genre and lauded by many great directors: Martin Scorsese, Peter Bogdanovich, John Carpenter and even Quentin Tarantino.

"El Dorado" was Hawks' second last film, and to no surprise it's a by-the-numbers Western featuring the swaggering John Wayne as a hired gun who enters into a war between local drunk sheriff (Robert Mitchum) and a band of bullies, headed by Ed Asner. Tagging along is a young James Caan, as Wayne's affable young protégé.

For 1967, it probably provided enough adequate genre entertainment for audiences. There's a distinct over familiarity to the picture though. After a meandering first hour I figured it out, the second half has the same rhythm and focus as Hawks' "Rio Bravo" (for reasons I could never understand, one of the most revered pictures by those mentioned above).  Hawks handles half-a-dozen key characters, confidently moving from comic relief to taut action and suspense. Although at 126 minutes it's 20 to 30 minutes too long.

In the annals of cinema history though, it's an average entry in the genre. For Western newbies or even casual fans, without the stylistic stamp of authorship, like the mythological majesty of John Ford, the minimalist humanism of Budd Boetticher or the revisionist hyper-styling of Sergio Leone, it's a picture for old Hollywood cinephiles only.

Paramount has packaged the film as a two-disc Centennial Collection, containing a wealth of extra material. Peter Bogdanovich, a marvellous anecdotal storyteller when it comes to film history, once again muses eloquently on one of the commentary tracks. Renowned critics Richard Schickel (Time) and Todd McCarthy (Variety) along with Ed Asner combine on the other running commentary. The seven-part "making of" on disc two is well produced and is more than just a recycling of older material.

This article was first published on Exclaim.ca

Terminator Salvation

Terminator Salvation (2009) dir. McG
Starring: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Moon Goodblood, Bryce Dallas Howard

***

In the Blockbuster Summer season when a week goes by most of everything before it seems like ancient history. Terminator is like ancient history right now, after an underperformance on its opening weekend and lacklustre rotten tomato standing this film will likely be labelled failure. Doesn’t mean I can’t still like the picture, which I did.

“Terminator Salvation” plays like a rusted metal version of the last couple of T-pictures. Taking place in 2018, post Judgement Day, if you have the T-timeline in your brain, in a George Miller-esque post apocalyptic world. Los Angeles is destroyed, everything burned to smithereens, with only the metal carcasses of the machinery we created and ultimately destroyed littering the landscape.

John Connor (Christian Bale) the prophesized hero is the leader of the resistance against the machines. After an underground mission to a Skynet laboratory, a new hero emerges from the ashes of the opening action sequence – Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a death row man we saw in a flashback donating his body to Cyberdine Systems. Of course we suspect he’s a terminator, but he doesn’t know that. Marcus wanders the landscape fighting machinery going about his own journey of self-discovery. He meets up with none other than Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), formerly Michael Biehn from the original film, and vows to protect him.

When Reese is taken prisoner by the machines he has to convince John Connor that his motivations are malevolent, not benevolent. Connor, who only sees the machines as his enemies, is forced to go against his instincts and trust someone who could be his enemy.

Unlike the story-bloat of “Star Trek” Michael Ferris and John Brancato’s script is a focused and uncomplicated affair, which carves its own path in the franchise while linking up and respecting the lore created by its predecessors.

Thematically, "Salvation" continues Cameron’s examination of the relationship of man and machine. McG and the writers find a rather simple but intriguing way to challenge Connor’s assumptions of the future. The central concept of a robot not knowing he’s a robot is the stuff of classic science-fiction. Though an opportunity is missed to explore John’s memories of his relationship with the Arnold Schwarzenegger terminator in T2 in “Salvation” the relationship serves to test humanity’s capacity for complex emotional thought, out of which some genuine heroism and male bonding emerges.

Christian Bale as John Connor, reminds us of Bale as Batman, a muscular but cold hero with a raspy voice, without any of the warmth of previous T-protagonists. Hollywood newbie Aussie Sam Worthington is a good match for Bale. The robo-human conflict within Marcus emerges as the heart of the picture, trumping Bale’s star-casting. And I can’t go without mentioning Bryce Dallas Howard’s lovely pregnant glow as John’s wife with child.

“Terminator Salvation” succeeds solely as a stone cold action picture. There’s not an ounce of humour in the picture, which, curiously, works to its advantage (box office notwithstanding). Shane Harlbut’s subdued colour palette makes it feel like a tougher and darker “Transformers”. The robot enemies are impressive, including a huge ‘Transformers-like’ metal monster which launches superfast motorcycle-bots. This sequence forms the main second act set piece, contributing to an intense and impressive thrill ride which, overall, clocks in at under 2 hours - a miracle for summer blockbuster entertainment these days. Enjoy.

Russell Brand in New York City

Russell Brand in New York City (2009)
Documentary

**

Ok, it’s not quite a documentary and definitely not a movie, so forgive me for defying my own blog guidelines.... "Russell Brand in New York City" is exactly what the title is, an hour of Russell Brand’s stand up comedy, on stage in NYC, and sadly not up the standard which has quickly made him a budding comic star in Hollywood.

Brand burst out into North America last year with a one-two publicity punch of the scene stealing role in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and before that the hosting gig on the 2007 Brit Awards and then after the 2008 MTV Music Video Awards hosting gig. So his stand up routine was worth the shot to watch and review.

Brand's persona takes precedent over the material, or perhaps I should say his persona is his material. His extravagant glam haircut and Freddie Mercury spandex identifies him more as a rockstar than a comedian. His confident stage swagger has the same self-confident superiority as a Liam Gallagher. So how he could possibly get away telling jokes without referencing himself.

The first 15mins understandably includes bit on his new fame from his role on “Sarah Marshall” and his MTV bit. So it’s a mix of self-referential mockery and false British overconfidence.

Despite his reputation as a bad boy, his material is surprisingly tame and uninspired – much of it out of comic stand up 101. British people get knocked around a bit, same with the same old Brit-American cultural differences. Apparently he got fired from an early MTV gig when he dressed up as Osama Bin Laden the day after 9/11. That’s not particularly funny, but certainly risky. There’s little risk taken in this New York gig.

"Russell Brand In New York City" is available on DVD from Paramount Home Entertainment

Man Hunt

Man Hunt (1941) dir. Fritz Lang
Starring: Walter Pidgeon, Joan Bennett, John Carradine, George Sanders, Roddy McDowell

**

During WWII Hollywood produced a number of great propaganda films under the guise of traditional cinema entertainment. Unfortunately Fritz Lang’s Hollywood production of "Man Hunt", recently dug up and cleaned up by Fox, is not one of them.

Fritz Lang, the German ex-pat who made some of the greatest German films ever, is the ideal person to fight back against the Nazis with cinema propaganda. Unfortunately it’s a slapdash affair, an unfocused, poorly acted and sometimes completely illogical spy story. Taking place just before the war, in the opening we see a British sharpshooter, Capt. Alan Thorndike, (Walter Pidgeon) perched on the crest of a hill in the Bavarian mountains taking aim at none other than Adolf Hitler. Before he gets to take his shot he’s captured. His captor, a monocled Gestapo man Quive-Smith (George Sanders) – Note: Lang himself, was famous for wearing a monocle - desperately tries to beat out a signed confession that he was acting on behalf of the British government, but to no avail. Thondike escapes, thus beginning the ‘man hunt’.

The hunt takes him from the Bavarian hills eventually finding a British freighter ship bound for England. In pursuit is Quive-Smith and his tough assassin, Mr. Jones, played by John Carradine. Though he makes it to England, he’s still not safe. When he runs into a kindly cockney street gal, Jerry (Joan Bennett) he’s forced to bring her along in the chase. Jerry and Alan form a platonic bond, which might just be Thorndike’s Achilles Heel for the Gestapo.

Even beyond the presence of Mr. Lang, all the ingredients would suggest a cool little studio production. Fox vet Arthur Miller’s cinematography is top notch, most of the exteriors shot with a wonderfully moody layer of thick London fog, dramatically lit like Lang’s expressionistic days. Alfred Newman, one of cinema’s all-time great composers delivers a decent suspenseful score, some of the cues sounding eerily similar to John Williams' work in Star Wars.

None of these technical elements can distract us from the ridiculous adventure plotting. The opening act sets up a clever nod to “The Most Dangerous Game” – a world famous hunter trying to score the world’s most dangerous prey, Da Fuhrer himself. When Alan moves to the British freighter, young Roddy McDowell’s appearance in the film as a deckhand changes the gears toward relationships and comedy, but with the close quarters, an even greater threat against Alan. For the second and third acts, Thorndike is in London, his home turf, a place one would think he would be safe. Somehow he feels as endangered as he was in Germany. In the real world the chase could have ended in a split second if he just ran into a police station and pointed his finger at his pursors.

Walter Pidgeon makes an uncharismatic hero, though a Canadian, not a Briton, his accent wavers constantly. And Joan Bennett, a New Jerseyian playing cockney? Yikes. Only John Carradine’s menacing and imposing figure is on the mark. The propaganda is laid on thick from the opening song La Marseillese, to the theme of xenophobic distrust at home. Lang constantly shows us cutaways to random people on the streets of London, watching Thorndike with shifty eyes, warning us of the subversive enemies who may lurk among us.

The final scene which has Thorndike hiding out in a cave (in Britain??) under siege by Quive-Smith is plain old head-scratching. And his finishing move against him, a makeshift bow and arrow made from Jerry’s hatpit, is simply pathetic.

There’s nothing wrong with Hollywood war propaganda – “Casablanca” smelled badly of it too – but in “Man Hunt” without real characters and legitimate suspense it smells even worse than a regular studio bomb.

“Man Hunt” is available on DVD from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Serbis

Serbis (2009) dir. Brillante Mendoza
Starring: Gina Pareño, Coco Martin, Roxanne Jordan, Dan Alvaro, Kristofer King

***

A Filipino porno house is the setting of this late arrival from last year's Cannes Film Festival. In the style of trendy social realism we get to see the slice of life of the family that run the theatre. The hardcore nudity (an erect cock or two) has given this film a bit of notoriety but it's all very brief and doesn't overwhelm. It's still niche material though, which, for the open-minded, provides an artful break from the blockbuster escapism inundating our multiplexes right now.

Mama Flor is the matriarch of the Pineda family, anxiously waiting for the court decision against her adulterous husband. Nephew Alan and his girlfriend are a pair of young lovers who've just realized they have an unwanted pregnancy, and another mouth to feed in the family. That's about all we get from Director Brillante Mendoza (newly crowned Best Director winner at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival), who follows his characters without traditional narratives or arcs, a loose backbone for this very loose but satisfying film.

Mendoza, also an art director, paints the film with the same palette as some of the great Wong Kar Wai films. The wide-angle camera shows us everything, moving fluidly through dingy corridors and freely up and down staircases. The walls have the worn texture of cracking plaster, graffiti and all its rough edges. He takes great care to show us his characters walking through these spaces and all the mundane details of their lives. Threading a film into a projector, mopping up a flooded bathroom and the home remedy removal of a boil on a guy's ass might sound dull but it's an environment we've never seen before, and it's surprisingly refreshing.

Mundane, perhaps, but Mendoza's imagery is not without meaning; his characters desire love or romance, and everything around them, from the posters of the skin flicks to the gay prostitutes and their seedy clientele, is a continual reminder of the dispassion in their lives. Interspersed are a few graphic scenes of matter-of-fact sex; they're not played for kicks though. The sex is quick and the skin, while uncensored, is not beautified. The title, meaning "service," plays into the tone of the sex as well and the rhythm of the entire film — a day in the life of working people, observed without judgment.

To escape from the blockbuster fare, Serbis might just be that naughty little Philippine art house flick you need to see. And the final shot is a stunner too.

This review first appeared on Exclaim.ca

Announcement: Canadian Cinema in Revue

I’m pleased to announced an exciting new venture from Daily Film Dose and Canadian Film Dose – CANADIAN CINEMA IN REVUE – a screening series devoted to putting some cool Canadian films where they deserve to be – back on the big screen.

Starting Monday, June 8, the Revue Cinema theatre at 400 Roncesvalles Ave in Toronto. launches Canadian Cinema in Revue, a program showcasing innovative and entertaining features, related short films and the people who made them.

Curated by yours truly, the series begins with Cube, part sci-fi horror film, part creative art film, directed by Vincenzo Natali.

Made for under $500,000 through the Canadian Film Centre's Feature Film Project, Cube is an impressive achievement that has allowed Natali to move on to bigger-budget genre films, including the Hollywood production of Cypher, and the upcoming genetics-themed thriller Splice with Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley.

Natali’s short film Elevated, in which he honed many of Cube’s themes, will also be screened.

In Los Angeles during June, Natali will link up electronically with the Revue, while co-writer Andre Bijelic will attend the screening for a Q&A.

Future Canadian Cinema in Revue screenings, scheduled for once a month, will include the awesome zombie film Fido, coupled with The Big Charade; Michael Dowse’s It’s All Gone Pete Tong, paired with If I See Randy Again… and the thriller Six Figures screened with Still Life; and many others.

The program is presented with the support of The First Weekend Club, the Toronto After Dark Film Festival and Daily Film Dose.com.

Tickets for the screening will be $8 for members of the Revue and sponsoring groups; $10 non-members.

Indecent Proposal

Indecent Proposal (1993) dir. Adrian Lyne
Starring: Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson, Robert Redford

***

"Indecent Proposal" is the third Adrian Lyne film to be get the Blu-Ray treatment from Paramount Pictures. Lyne’s career output has been sparse, but remarkably focused, only making 8 films in 30 years. His elegent visual style and intense and naturalistic performances manage to transcend his often salacious melodramatic material.

“Indecent Proposal” fits in well with “Fatal Attraction”, “9 ½ Weeks” and Unfaithful”, four films unfortunately defined by the dreaded ‘erotic thriller’ genre. Each of these films are better than this restrictive definition, and "Indecent Proposal" is no exception.

Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore play Diana and David Moore, a loving couple who, like their middle class peers,  went to school, got good jobs, and worked hard to advanced their careers. But often, like in this current recession, and to quote Robbie Burns, 'the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry'. When David loses his job, the couple spiral down into debt finding themselves with no money except for the $5000 David reluctantly borrowed from his father. And so their last option is to go to Vegas and roll the dice on their future.

There they ride the ups and downs of luck, finding themselves once again in the hole. Until billionaire John Gage (Robert Redford) catches site of Diana in the casino. Whether its love (or lust) at first sight, Gage goes after Diana, and when she shoots down his advances he resorts to his money to buy a night with her. David finds himself at his version of the crossroads, faced with the ultimate decision and test of his love for his wife. When he goes for the money, he finds himself in the reverse situation as before, a comfortable life but an empty untrustworthy relationship with Diana which is ready to fall.

Lyne's great storytelling abilities are on display here. The opening half is told with a not-unsubtle, predictable path toward the fateful 'deal with the devil' Diana and David make with Gage. Once in Vegas we see the step-by-step, almost real time decisions which lead to the consummation of Gage’s offer. The pacing of the second half is completely different, playing out over many more years. Lyne exercises expert skills in compressing time yet making sense of the new lives David and Diana find themselves in.

From a storytelling point of view it’s a difficult task to make Diana's new relationship with John believable. With smart and real-world performances from Moore and Redford their blossoming relationship emerges slowly and naturally without artificiality.

Robert Redford, as the suave wealthy businessman, is great casting. Redford’s immediately likeable celeb/activist persona is a contradiction to the cutthroat big business attitude of John Gage. So even when Gage is at his most despicable something tells us that he’s not a bad man. In fact, he’s like the devil with a charming congenial exterior, testing and teasing the moral fortitude of Diana and David. But fFor Lyne, Gage is testing us, the audience, forcing ourselves into their shoes to provide our answers to their dilemma.

"Indecent Proposal" is much better than the fleshy love scenes the film unfortunately has become famous for. Enjoy.

“Indecent Proposal” is available on Blu-Ray from Paramount Picture Home Entertainment

Baghead

Baghead (2008) dir. The Duplass Brothers
Starring:

***

The old standard horror movie set-up of a group of horny youngsters holed up in a cabin for a weekend of sex and blood gets a peculiarly subversive treatment by the masters of mumblecore, The Duplass Brothers. On paper, and even in the trailer, it would seem like an oil and water concoction, but somehow the filmmakers manage to create a horror film with a heart, at times a traditional genre picture with all the chills we expect, but also a naturalistic intimate character study of a friendship put to the test by extreme events.

The film opens at the premiere of a pretentious indie art film at an underground film festival. Matt (Ross Partridge), a struggling actor, is jealous of the adulation the director receives from the film and announces to his friends the idea of secluding themselves in a cabin for a weekend to write their own brilliant feature which will help jumpstart their fledging acting careers.

So Mark along with his best pals, Chad (Steve Zissis), Catherine (Elise Muller) and Michelle (Greta Gerwig) make the road trip into the country to their 'cabin in the woods'. It’s all fun and games until a mysterious man with a bag on his head innocuously appears to several of the friends. While they concede it’s an obvious joke to inspire some creative thought for their script, no one takes blame. The group becomes subject to the old genre clichés, telephone wires are cut, car battery stolen, thus imprisoning them in the woods, with nowhere to turn except to confront the slasher - a confrontation which will lead to more dramatic revelations among themselves.

On film, it’s not hard to make a man with a bag over his head scary (coincidentally, there's an uncanny resemblance to Bryan Bertino’s bagheads in “the Strangers” also released last year). The Duplass Brothers do everything right to scare us, the bagman looking on ominously from the trees, or a quick walkpast a window creates some genuinely chilling moments. But in between these cabin-movie genre-tactics is an endearing story of these friends. Chad, the pudgy n’er do well, pines after the flirtatious but unattainable Michelle. According to Chad his best friend Mark  ‘has got game’, which makes Michelle easy-pickings to sleep with him. So Mark's dedication to Chad becomes tested when Michelle's libido heats up.

The Duplass Brothers shoot the film in what seems like classic grainy 16mm, bringing us back to the tone of other cabin horror classics, “The Evil Dead”, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. Unfortunately the Brothers go overboard with their indie-cred shooting style. Every shot seems to be a close-up, constantly whipping and panning and randomly zooming in and out, often distracting us from what’s happening on screen. The overtooled style is visible in the opening scenes, but as we become involved with the characters and their conflict the style virtually disappears.

The four actors are about an non-descript and unmoviestar-like as they come. Surprisingly Mark Duplass, who played such a fine affable lead in “The Puffy Chair” stays behind the camera here. But perhaps the character of 'Mark' is Duplass's alterego, a character of similar headstrong qualities.

“Baghead” received a distribution deal from Sony Picture Classics, though only a minimal theatrical release. A film like this made to thrive on DVD though and hopefully the film finds it’s audience. The Duplass Brothers are unique filmmakers and deserve some hype. Enjoy.

Three Days of the Condor

Three Days of the Condor (1975) dir. Sydney Pollack
Starring: Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Max Von Sydow, Cliff Robertson

***

It would seem the reputation of “Three Days of the Condor” precedes it as one of the essential paranoia films of 1970’s. It’s certainly not a timeless classic of the genre, but as a time capsule of the cynical attitude of filmmaking in the 70’s it makes for a fun time warp to when government and big business were looked upon with distrust and contempt.

There’s a cinematic sparseness to this CIA spy-games flick, which both enhances and frustrates the viewing experience. Robert Redford plays Joey Turner, who, as it would appear in the opening moments, works for the American Literary Historical Society, located in a New York City brownstone with a curiously exaggerated amount of security. One day when Joey’s on lunch, armed gunmen storm the building systematically killing everyone inside. When Joey returns he quickly realizes he should have been dead too. His first phone call is to the CIA, where we learn Joey is a research agent codenamed Condor.

Joey’s a smart, well-read guy, and his intuition tells him to be cautious of everyone, even his superiors. At random, he kidnaps an unsuspecting bystander Kathy Hale (Faye Dunaway) using her apartment as a safe haven. There he plots his strategy to unravel the mystery behind the plot against him. It becomes a cat and mouse chase between the bigwigged corporate agents pulling the strings from the offices to the groundwork of hitmen whom Condor evades and fights off with skill and intelligence.

The sparseness I reference is a style of storytelling in the 70's reactive to the formulaic predictability of old studio Hollywood. The film strips out much of the extraneous chaff which would diluted the visceral impact of the action. In terms of character we don’t know anything of Joey’s backstory, he has no character flaws to overcome, or even a traditional arc to complete. Joey has a singular goal, to escape from his assailant unscathed, and the plot purifies these mechanics.

There’s inspiration in Pollack’s ability to tell a story with this kind of efficiency, though at the expense of some fundamental comprehension. There are two points of view in the picture -  intercutting between Joey’s actions and the CIA reactions. While Joey’s movements are clear and logical with quiet time even devoted to his thought-processes, the CIA scenes are played with a concerted incomprehensibility which, in 1975 may have seemed progressive, but now only feels self-consciously evasive. There’s Cliff Robertson as Higgins’ the man in charge of bringing Joey in, there’s some greyhaired heavyweights watching over him, including the great John Houseman lending some fine thespian gravitas. There appears to be a subversive faction within the CIA, but the details of which are limited to a series puzzling statements and confusing dialogue.

With ease Joey deduces an oil conspiracy cover-up as the motivation, a rushed explanation which feels forced on the filmmakers who probably would have preferred not provide any explanation at all. It doesn’t make for a dramatic reveal, because it evolves not out of action but Redford telling what his thoughts are. Using oil as the arbitrary hot button issue-du-jour it only reveals a missed opportunity make a more profound statement. 

There are some great individual scenes though including the Condor’s clever manipulation of the Bell telephone system to garner information and confuse the enemy as well as the silent but suspenseful elevator confrontation between Joey and Von Sydow’s hitman character. Von Sydow and Redford make great adversaries.

Under Pollack’s direction it’s marvelous film to look at, his anamorphic frames are gorgeous, enhanced greatly by the crisp Blu-Ray transfer. His use of the New York City exteriors add real-world realism, where 10 years prior, we would have seen studio shooting with painted backdrops.

Forgiving it’s failings we can see the influence of “Condor” on some of the corporate thrillers of today like “Syriana”, “Michael Clayton” and even the Bourne films and all their moral and political ambiguities.

"Three Days of the Condor" is available on Blu-Ray from Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment

Getting Straight

Getting Straight (1970) dir. Richard Rush
Starring: Elliot Gould, Candice Bergen, Robert F. Lyons, Martin Corey, Harrison Ford, Brenda Sykes,

**1/2

Guest Review By Greg Klymkiw

With the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, the protests, the draft and the various political assassinations of beloved leaders such as JFK and Martin Luther King during the general mayhem of the 60s and 70s, it still feels like one event stands apart from the rest of the general mayhem of America in the 60s and 70s. Still sending shudders through many people was the Kent State University massacre in Ohio of 1970 where American National Guardsmen shot live rounds of ammunition into the throngs of a student protest. As horrific as anything imaginable, this was a case where a government turned its guns against its own people, its hope for the future, its youth. Dissent would NOT be tolerated and Big Daddy Establishment was steadfastly unable to spare the rod against its seemingly spoiled progeny.

During this period, the unrest was mirrored and examined in the popular culture – especially the movies, where filmmakers like Robert Altman, Arthur Penn, Sam Peckinpah and many others sought to expose the violence and hypocrisy of American life. Many of these films were not only boxoffice hits in their day, but continue to be revered and recognized to this day. And then, there’s all the rest.

While there are several worthy forgotten pictures from this era, one in particular stands out – Richard Rush’s fascinating and entertaining “Getting Straight”, a counter culture drama based on Ken Kolb’s novel about post-secondary academic hypocrisy. Rush is a great, but hardly prolific filmmaker. His biggest claim to fame is “The Stunt Man”, a wonky, obsessive and utterly anarchic look at the blurry lines between fantasy and reality in the movie business starring a completely and deliciously over-the-top Peter O’Toole whose thespian excess in the picture is rivaled only by Rush’s manic directorial style.

Looking at “Getting Straight” almost 40 years since its release (during the very year of the aforementioned Kent State Massacre) and in the context of “The Stunt Man”, one is immediately taken with Rush’s fascination with the blurring of borders. In “Getting Straight”, the divides are between old and new.

Harry Bailey (Elliot Gould) is the mustachioed, side-burned and amiably rumpled protagonist of “Getting Straight” – a Vietnam veteran returned from the war and in the last year of his English Literature Masters degree. Harry is a man without (so to speak) a country. He wants to teach – desperately, but is, alas, faced with the dilemma of being too world wise to be a true part of the youth movement he so desperately craves to reach and too hip to embrace the staid complacency of the established order of academia. He wanders through the picture, not so much torn between both worlds, but observing them and wondering how he can be a part of both. This noble effort, on the part of the character makes for fascinating viewing as we take on his perspective, but it’s also probably the main reason why “Getting Straight” has disappeared into the ether. While his conflict is real, Rush chooses to use a perspective of confusion to lead us through the narrative – a worthwhile goal and not even especially flawed, but it does make it ultimately difficult for an audience to grab onto the coattails of a character to root for him. And so, like Gould’s Harry Bailey, we wander through a world where students protest the outmoded academic ideals of the institution and Gould himself tries to utilize new methods to reach his students, but also craves to play the game of an establishment he wants to change.

Harry Bailey’s namesake is, of course, a character from Frank Capra’s stunning post-WWII classic “It’s A Wonderful Life”. The difference between the two characters is especially intriguing since Capra’s Harry is anything but indecisive. As Harry’s big brother George (in the form of James Stewart) declares, “Harry Bailey went to war, he won the Congressional Medal of Honor, he saved the lives of every man” under his command. And when Capra’s Harry returns from the war, he knows EXACTLY what he wants. Rush’s Harry is probably closer to Capra’s big brother figure, George. He wants to join the establishment in order to change it. In Capra’s post-war fantasy, George Bailey gets to do exactly that, but in Rush’s world, with roles clearly reversed, Harry learns that straddling the fencepost can never yield true change – it instead equals stasis.

“Getting Straight” is by no means a great picture, but in many ways, it comes closest to capturing the complexity of the period in which it’s set. In this sense, it has NOT dated. It is genuinely a project of its time – perfectly reflective of the complexities of the blurred lines on both sides of the old and new world orders. The two main things that work against the picture’s bid for the kind of immortality it probably craved are as follows: the aforementioned passivity of Gould’s character – it’s right for the movie and right for the world of the movie, but at the same time, fights against what the best movie drama is made of – a clear goal, clear stakes and a satisfyingly wrought conclusion. Rush does not achieve this, though in all fairness, it’s clearly not his intent to do so. The second flaw, and it is, frankly insurmountable, is the utterly dreadful performance of its leading lady Candice Bergen as the Ice Goddess grad student who is in love with Harry. Bergen is just awful. Her lines are delivered with the kind of soullessness, which goes well beyond that of the character’s shiksa-like station. Bergen’s deliveries are flat and so is her face. Though this movie was made well before the Botox revolution, Bergen wanders through the picture like a poster-child for the toxic protein of choice to render the flesh immovable and wrinkle-free.

That said, there’s much to admire. Gould, in spite of the character’s passivity, is always a fun screen presence and when he is called upon to be active, especially during a brilliant thesis-defense sequence, one can see why Gould was such a big star during this period and why he hit such a responsive chord with audiences. The supporting cast is marvelous, especially a very young Harrison Ford as a wide-eyed preppie-druggie. And Rush’s direction is suitably obsessive and detailed. There is a protest scene that is as breathtaking and chilling as anything you’re likely to see and the numerous party scenes are all infused with the kind of immediacy that allows you to observe AND participate.

At the end of the day, “Getting Straight” accomplishes much of what it set out to achieve and is, finally, an evocative window into a time and place that seems so distant, and at the same time, so current. Things never really change that much, do they?

“Getting Straight” is currently available on the Sony Pictures’ inexplicably titled and oddly programmed DVD label entitled “Martini Movies”.