Fish Tank

England d/ Andrea Arnold

This was my second time with this film and, if anything, it was even more powerful. Rich, incisive look at the life of a 15 yo girl, living in a council flat with a sister and an unloving mother who is desperate for love/affection and finds it in a place that is not OK.

Astonishing lead performance, hand-held camera work that actually served the story well...agonizing tension throughout as the director plays with our fears for this out-of-control girl.

This was as fine a first film as I've ever seen.

8

How to Draw a Bunny

documentary

Routine piece on an original, avant-garde artist who did some pretty neat stuff in the last half of the 20th century. He had a playful, original attitude...was wildly prolific...much of the work that was shown here tickled me. I loved the idea of him distributing his work through the mail and encouraging people to add to it and forward it on.

Later in his career he moved toward "performance" art which, as always, seemed snide and self-indulgent to me. But it was somewhat amusing watching him bash a cardboard box in front of some art patrons. For ten seconds or so.

Interesting guy...solid doc.

5

The Last Bolshevik

France Chris Marker

Stylized doc on the Russian filmmaker Alexandr Medvedkin, who produced an innovative work - Happiness - in the 20's and then seems to have succumbed to the pressures of the state "security" apparatus and generated pro-communist propaganda for the rest of his life.

That one film was a revelation to the French where he is considered one of the great pioneers of cinema in the same league as Eisenstein and Vertov. He is virtually unknown in the US.

Marker's voiceover was more grounded in this film than in his others and actually helped me understand the subject...instead of spiraling into metaphysics and scrambling my brain.

5

Predators

Adrian Brody

Slick, violent, up-to-date variant of The Most Dangerous Game...with aliens. We start with eight folks transported to an alien game preserve (they're the game) and get to watch which ones will survive.

Escapist entertainment for teenaged boys...and anyone else in that mindset.

5

Tomorrow

Robert Duvall, Olga Bellin

Adapted by Horton Foote from a story by William Faulkner, this was a simple, very moving film about the unsuspected depths of love present in an unlettered cotton farmer. The project was put together by the two leads and Foote as a labor of love and is the finest treatment of a Faulkner ever done. It is also one of the best performances ever by Duvall...who affects a voice and body language he never used again.

From 1972 this is one of cinema's forgotten gems...a great film with a timeless message that deserves a much larger audience.

9

The Tree

Australia Charlotte Gainsbourg

Family melodrama. Dad dies at the beginning leaving mom with four kids. Eight yo daughter is convinced dad's spirit lives in the huge tree on their property. The film centers on their collective coping and moving on.

This theme has been done many times (Men Don't Leave). The only thing exceptional about this one is the beautiful Aussie locations. Nice role for and performance by CG.

6

The Sicilian Girl

Italy

The true-life story of a willful girl who, after watching her father and brother murdered by the mafia, turns states evidence and fights back against the deeply entrenched system.

Strong film. Helped by casting an actress who actually looks like the real-life girl even though she was ordinary looking. Structured as a thriller and, since I didn't know how it resolved, it worked as one. Solid in all respects.

6

Hour of the Wolf

Sweden I bergman, Max von Sydow, Liv Ullman

This played like a self-parody...suffering, torment, angst, horrible memories, mean hateful richies, all leading to humiliation and death.

It was so grim it made me laugh.

3

Queen To Play

France Sandrine Bonnaire, Kevin Kline

A hotel maid living and working on a resort island watches a vacationing couple playing chess on the patio and becomes obsessed with the game. It becomes her way to escape the grinding humdrum of her existence. Through pluck and practice she increases her skill, risking gossip and family pressure, and eventually plays in a local tournament.

Sweet little story well told. Nice mise-en-scene and supporting cast.

5

Source Code

Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga

Techno whiz-bang flick that gave new meaning to the notion of plot contrivance. This sought to slip into the same niche as last year's Inception but the premise was too weak to be sci-fi or futuristic...it just seemed dumb. The Groundhog Day scenario was fun at first but when it wore off the underlying human drama was idiotic...to me at least.

This genre, which relies on CGI and BIG SOUND stopped satisfying years ago. This one also irritated by using the "terrorist" theme and ticking bomb meme.

A waste of time, money and attention.

3

The Elephant in the Living Room

documentary

Straightforward piece on the burgeoning phenomenon of Americans keeping "exotic" pets...lions, poisonous snakes, bears, etc. The film attributes this to so-called reality TV but it also seems to stem from the culture of extreme individualism into which we have devolved plus a misguided desire to seem cool. These folks don't care about the effect these animals have on their community...they are only interested in their own desires and passionately resent any imposed limitations.

We are presented with various escapes which injure and/or traumatize neighbors...as if the story needed such.

Mostly we follow an animal control officer in Ohio who has to deal with these problems when they arise and his lengthy interactions with some trailer trash who keep two full-grown lions in a horse trailer. These people, ignorant and repulsive, are treated somewhat sympathetically which makes the film a very effective work of agitprop.

5

The Killer Inside Me

Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba d/ Michael Winterbottom

Hard-to-watch noir taken from a 50's novel by Jim Thompson. In this film we had to watch two women being beaten to death by a cold-blooded, deeply troubled killer. Not my idea of a swell time.

CA excelled here following his dynamite performance in the Jesse James film. His high-pitched, whiny voice is perfect for masking demons swirling inside. The look of the film was spot on...golden yellow glows evoked a West Texas that never was. The supporting cast was solid except Elias Koteas who overplayed his scenes.

Compelling dramatic momentum led to an explosive climax. Strong stuff.

6

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

Woody Allen

London-based drama that seemed particularly nasty minded compared to his recent output. Humor, even of the mocking sort, has gone completely now. Instead we are presented with selfish, duplicitous characters who make bad decisions that hurt themselves and those in their lives. Even though people are connected they ignore each other's needs, do what they want the consequences be damned.

The title comes from one of the characters...a moronically credulous dumped wife...seeing a fortune teller...an obvious fraud...and taking her as a believable seer. None of this is funny or clever.

Allen seems to have contempt for his characters in this film who, while being hyper articulate, nevertheless do very stupid things. He's become quite dyspeptic with age...maybe cynical is the better term. Too bad. Without the leavening of wit life is just ugly.

4

The Kids Are All Right

Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo

Teen children of a pair of lesbian mothers seek out their biological father and complications ensue. The emotional interplay among these five people is extremely complex and the director/writer...Lisa Cholodenko...provides us with an intelligent script and performances that do the premise justice.

No one here is reduced to anything less than a multi-dimensional person...all have good traits and bad. They navigate their way through this unusual trial following instincts and needs that ring true to me. Some of their decisions are foolish but she shows how most mistakes can be redeemed among people who genuinely care for each other.

Nice, intelligent, well-written, well-acted film.

7

Avenue Montaigne

France Cecile de France

Charming film set in a world we all wish we could live in...the center of Paris where all the denizens are artists, musicians or rich, everyone is friendly and all turns out right in the end. Where a poor girl from the provinces can push her way in with no effort and within a week be beloved by all.

This one created the magic so many filmmakers strive for but fail. It joins the Paris of Amelie, Celestial Clockwork, When the Cat's Away...

Pure pleasure.

6

Her Name is Sabine

documentary

Vanity project by the French actress Sandrine Bonnaire who followed her retarded/autistic sister around and recorded her life.

3

Freedom Riders

documentary

Excellent film on one of the signature events of the civil rights movement in the 60's. It took real courage to face the hatred and violent bigotry in the American south...these people had it and prevailed.

With the murder of the leaders who helped inspire these changes the nation lost that spirit...of the best of us working together to make life better for all of us...and we've never gotten it back. So the bad guys eventually did win...by a determined and deliberate campaign to take away the sense of "we." Now fragmentation, selfishness reign.

Moving, inspiring...ultimately sad...

7

Lola Montes

Max Ophuls

Extremely elaborate, expensive, lavish attempt to tell the story of a famous 19th century courtesan through the device of circus. This was my second attempt at watching this supposed classic (Andrew Sarris) and again I failed. Or it did.

I found it annoying, loud, asinine, disjointed...basically wrongly conceived. There are many ways to tell the story of a life...even creative ones...that don't rely on Peter Ustinov screaming out the chapters every five minutes in front of a non-existent audience. It didn't help that a woman pushing 40 was asked to play an ingenue in the early sequences...but that's a minor quibble. Mostly I just couldn't stand this film and lasted an hour before running screaming across the room to make it stop.

3...for costumes and set design

The Invisible Man

Claude Rains d/ James Whale

Horror done as gothic melodrama from 1933. Effects were state-of-the-art at the time but look silly today. Invisible guy was reduced to voice acting and, unfortunately, used the exaggerated villain tone familiar to us now from saturday morning cartoons.

Several scenes/lighting were as striking as those in Frankenstein which served to remind us that Whale was primarily an outstanding visual artist. As a dramatist...not so much...

historical interest only...

5

Peeping Tom

Michael Powell

This was the film that ruined a great career. Shocking then, tame now...over-acted by the lead which made it seem stilted and artificial by today's standards. Some creative camera work and lighting (nice colors!) raised it above the heap but when compared to Psycho which was released the same year (1960) it seems almost quaint.

An obvious influence on John Carpenter, Toby Hooper, Wes Craven and all the never-weres who followed trying to scare the pants off audiences sitting there in the dark...voyeurs all.

5

The Italian Job

England Michael Caine, Noel Coward

Farcical caper film that was so well done it ended up being exciting and enjoyable. The staging of the heist and subsequent chase sequences were as good as anyone has ever done. Love those Minis.

NC got a wonderful star turn as England's premier crime boss who orchestrated the whole thing from prison.

The film was pure fun...great entertainment. And no one got hurt.

6

Devil Doll

Lionel Barrymore d/Tod Browning

A bit of a creaky relic from 1936 but the scenes when the little people are sneaking through bedrooms at night with murderous intent probably caused many a lingering nightmare in audiences of the time. I never forgot it and watching those scenes again confirmed my memory...they're very creepy and effective.

LB shone here...he played half the film as a woman and showed why he was considered one of the finest actors of his day.

5

La Grande Bouffe

France Philippe Noiret, Michel Piccoli, Marcello Mastrianni

Four friends-gourmands all-retire to an aging mansion one weekend and proceed to eat themselves to death. This was as painful to watch as Leaving Las Vegas. There wasn't a scene when they weren't stuffing food into their mouths. But that's not all.

They also hired prostitutes, enticed a local schoolteacher to take part so sex was on the menu too. Also flatulence, drink, even an exploding shit storm.

A bitter allegory for the decadence of bourgeois values...the emptiness of hedonism which only leads to to a lonely death. More isn't necessarily more.

A difficult film to watch but I suppose if it had been shorter the point wouldn't have been bludgeoned home quite so forcefully.

Unforgettable.

6

Kabei: Our Mother

Japan

Soapy melodrama which follows the misfortunes of the family of a humanist who is arrested in 1940 for treason (read:decency). Lovely production with fine acting by the three leads...a woman and her two daughters, nice locations and camera work throughout. Marred by hammy overacting by several supporting characters...enough to seriously detract from the overall quality of the production.

Film ended with a sobbing scene when the lead character died...a bizarre choice from a hollywood standpoint but consistent with its tone.

Worth it but I wish it had been better.

5

The Lady and the Duke

France d/Eric Rohmer

Unusual sort of docudrama taken from the diary of a Scottish aristocrat living in Paris during the time of the revolution.

All exterior scenes were done with CGI which gave the film an unreal quality but because the tableaux were so beautiful...the way we wished Paris looked in 1790...it worked to put us back in a time and place which is unreal to us anyway.

The melodrama centered on the approaching danger the aristos refuse to acknowledge. They continue to believe their traditional privileges will eventually prevail and feel betrayed when the people(les citoyens) see it differently. The love interest between the two principals seemed forced/artificial to me which took away any emotional involvement I might have had.

As it was presented I still say...off with their heads.

5