30

Sep

“Mr. Nice” is about how a nice young Welshman became a drug lord

“Mr Nice” is a great autobiographical story about Howard Marks (Rhys Ifans), a shy young Welsh boy who finds himself going to Oxford, and on his accidental way to being a British hash king pin.  It’s based on his book of the same name, or title.

It starts in a surprising way: before he gives a speech, he asks “are there any plain clothes officers here?”

The poster (from images.google.com)

The story’s era and Mr. Marks’ temperament reminds me of “In the Name of the Father,” although it has not a thing to do with this film.  Mr. Nice/Marks is a smart, funny slacker as king pin, upturning many stereotypes.  This backwoods Welshman tests well, and ends up at Oxford, discovering the pleasure of drugs, and more, that his innocent look serves his need for stealth.

If that core of the story wasn’t enough, it turns out that the British secret service turn to him to turn up information that eludes them.  Both of these twists on the typical are welcome and refreshing!

This smart, amusing and atypical true-crime yarn opens at the Lagoon Cinema on September 30th.

This story feels a lot like 2001′s “Blow,” but without that one’s morose ending or dramatic peaks and valleys in the plot.  He’s no Scarface or Daniel Craig’s no-name character in 2004′s “Layer Cake.”  (In fact the actor, Rhys Ifans, is the “masterbating Irishman” from Notting Hill.)  This is less of a paint-by-numbers film than other drug lord ones.  Some drug dramas emphasize trauma and upturned lives.  This one, without any hard-boiled East Coast-style shows Mr. Marks’ slippery slope of involvement.

“Mr. Nice” is a crazy, funny story that’s very smart, but doesn’t take itself too seriously.

600 days ago Short URL Comments

Film/foreign

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23

Sep

“Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame” is a story-moot blast

“Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame” is a fun yarn, where the digital and martial arts spectacle are the priorities.  This story, centering on China’s lone empress, Wu Zetian, is great to look at, especially for children, and the young at heart – except for the scenes where vital characters combust spontaneously.

Stunning image (Courtesy: Indomina Releasing)

The first time you see it is a shock.  But after a few more, it’s merely strange and creepy.

This opens at the Uptown Theater on Sept. 23.

It indulges in vast digital imagery and special effects with casts of 1000s.   The story has a lot of twists, which, in the end, are moot.  Ditch your thinking cap, and enjoy the ride.  (If the empress’ legacy interests you, and if you can find it, maybe you should watch a“Wu Ze Tian,” from 1963?)

607 days ago Short URL Comments

Asia/criticism/Film/foreign

22

Sep

“El Bulli: Cooking in Progress” highlights a movement, but leaves all but foodies in the cold

When one restaurant, El Bulli, stands above all others with its adventurous and experimental food, and becomes world renowned, why not document its story?

“El Bulli: Cooking in Progress” is a pure documentary in a sense; that’s no praise.  While most documentaries are edited to create a story structure and reveal memorable characters, this film avoids that.

The opening shot seizes our attention: the chief chef, Ferran Adrià, is in the dark sucking on a piece of glow-in-the-dark fish on a stick.  That’s cool.  Sadly, it’s also the just about the best part of this documentary.  The film-maker, Gereon Wetzel, omits any sense of artistic direction, or style or purpose.  Maybe you should call it observational movie-making?  He seems to have left the cameras on-location and merely edited the project for time and comprehensibility.  Maybe this is one of those films where a critic outside of the film’s target audience, oughtn’t write about it?

Yep. Cooking in progress (Courtesy: creative commons/flickr)

In a conversation with a different documentary film-maker, Morgan Spurlock, he mentioned someone that Werner Herzog said, “every cut is a lie.”  Well, none of the cuts used here are made in the interests of a story.  It ignores elementary rules of storytelling, which every working film-maker knows and uses to win an audience.

This opens at the Film Society of Mpls/St. Paul on Sept. 23.  The film-making should not be the focus.  It should be Spanish molecular gastronomy, which can transform a diner’s experience, and lift their dining standards.

After Mr. Adrià, the trio of co-executive chefs, Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casanas, are emphasized, but we only get shallow gists of any of them, who they are or why they do their work.

Divided roughly in two, the film shows the testing and experimentation process and then how the chef foursome, and the restaurant team make the successful experiments work for diners.  Their serving process must abide by military precision; their diners consume 30 courses within three hours.

Another obstacle for you: their work is not just technical, but highly technical.  Too much so for those who aren’t either intensely curious, or foodies, or cooks themselves.

The chefs’ challenges might lose most other viewers.  It’s a shame because in a “60-Minutes” segment, from April 2010, one of Adrià’s protégés, José Andrés, who, according to renowned food critics, Ruth Reichl, is the pioneer in America of Molecular gastronomy, shows how exciting molecular gastronomy is!

If food excites you, but on a more common level, I urge you to watch a different, equally esoteric, but amusing story: PBS’ documentary, “Kings of Pastry,” about ambitious, competitive French pastry chefs.  It’s a superior example of a culinary documentary.  It’s exciting: it delivers drama, suspense and personal stories.

608 days ago Short URL Comments

criticism/documentary/Film/foreign/independent/Spanish

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15

Sep

“Amigo,” John Sayles latest, is among the least of his works

“Amigo” is a historical drama from John Sayles, who made the fantastic “Honey Dripper” and “Lone Star.”  It’s too bad this take on a 1900s episode in U.S. war and foreign policy is one of Sayles’ weaker pieces, falling well short of those prior titles.
Around 1900, and during the Philippine-American war, a Philippino baryo (or barrio, as spelled in the U.S.) chief Rafael Dacanay (Joel Torre), faces a dilemma after U.S. Army troops come and occupy his community: either support his community, and family and quash that armed presence or support those troops, while his people doubt his allegiance, in order to survive?

(courtesy: images.google.com)

“Amigo” is boring for the most part, and slow.  This film lacks that intangible and inexplicable “oomph,” which a potent, memorable movie needs. It comes off as a well-financed, but earnest high school or college production.  Some of the actors, while skilled and well known to indie movie houses, merely walk through this.
This movie opens at the Film Society of Mpls./St. Paul on Friday Sept. 16th.  They’ve booked better movies.  But John Sayles has also made ‘em.
You remember how often you say, “hey, I always love so-an-so’s movies?”  Just like your friend adore “everything” that Martin Scorsese, Michael Mann, or Spike Lee does, or which Oliver Stone used to do.  When you look closely, as extraordinary as their talent is, each of them has also put out a few clunkers.  Have you considered that, while you love three or four of their works, you only really love 1/3 or 1/2 of what they’ve put out?  This one shouldn’t make that list.

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615 days ago Short URL Comments

Asia/criticism/Film/independent

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06

Sep

“Higher Ground,” from Vera Farmiga, shows us a different, personal struggle toward Christ

Each of us searches for personal meaning in life, a purpose.  Some use a holy book in that search.  “Higher Ground” tells a story of a woman, Corinne’s, walk with her faith, from elementary age into middle age.  Hers is a stuck in coming-of-faith story.  When you finally feel a firm grip on how life works, your place in the world and how you’ll work that, that’s one definition of coming-of-age.  Coming-of-faith is when you feel that with your faith.  To be stuck in coming-of-faith is when you’ve not yet found a firm ground or steady conviction when it comes to your faith or god.

A young, critically thoughtful Corinne (Courtesy: Sony Classics)

This interesting, profound drama, adapted from the memoir, “This Dark World,” by Carolyn S. Briggs,  opens at the Edina Cinema on September 9th.

“Higher Ground” is a feature-length film, directed by and starring Vera Farmiga, about how a girl, raised in a verbally abusive household, sticks with a choice after having committed herself to a conviction, Christ, without being convicted. She’s hungry for a church to guide her; maybe jumping the gun will be the catalyst?

Corinne wants to write fiction and live immersed in a world of art and critical thought.  A man and a moment of sexual hunger overtake that: she clicks with Ethan (Joshua Leonard), a like-minded, sensitive musician, concedes her virginity, clings to and finally marries him, in time for her pregnancy to show.  He’s provincial, with a level of curiosity that leaves him content with family and without questions that challenge or test him.

Another sign and symbol of their disconnection: shortly after marrying, they commiserate about opportunities lost in having a child: he wants to perform with a band.  She, a resolute, practical dreamer admits that she’d love to write novels, but hasn’t the time.  And kisses her baby with adoration.

Ethan flails in one last gesture of rebellion.  He takes his band, and Corinne and their daughter on a music gig – ill-fated.  His band mates are sophomoric, and want neither Corinne nor a baby sharing the band bus.  Straining to be a diplomat, and good sport, she’s at her wit’s end.  Their daughter needs a play or nap space in this Animal House setting.  Ethan screams for her to use a cooler!  Soon after stowing the baby, Ethan is distracted and crashes their bus.  They all bolt from the bus, Ethan dragging Corinne along with him.  She alone remembers that their daughter’s in the cooler – on the bus!  Once safe, Ethan declares “God saved her.”  A hasty conclusion?

A happy young marriage? (Courtesy: Sony Classics)

Corinne poses questions, which no one around her is ready for, or leave them comfortable.  As her children grow, Corinne becomes increasingly chafed by her husband, Ethan, and the church’s disinterest in her questions and spurning of her obstinacy.  Neither of them considers pursuing an examined life, as Aristotle extolled, and which she wants.  This clashes with who she wants to be, but at the same time, she tries to focus on what God wants from her.  She still wonders: how to submit to God when vital, incisive questions nag her?

“Higher Ground” is a quiet, patient story about a girl-come-young-woman’s spiritual search and yearning.  It resembles a chronic, persistent chafe similar to many of those in Martin Scorsese’s stories.  “The Last Temptation of Christ” is the obvious one. There Jesus is offered the option to simply live a human, mortal life, with a family, instead of living with the sacrifice and selfless service.  Corrine has already sacrificed her idea of a happy life in order to appease her church.  And she’s losing herself.

At the end of a scene Ethan sees, written on the wall, how far she has drifted from him, and how impotent he is in the face of that.  He finally sees a chasm between them.  He just doesn’t get her.  While talking about their children, and a petty complaint about her, she runs to their station wagon and away from him.

A man, different from Ethan, makes her glow? (Courtesy: Sony Classics)

She’s fed up with him, or how far he has drifted from her.  She locks the driver’s side door. He takes the seat behind her, and tries to convince her to stay docile, to be Godly, but doesn’t know how to fight that without hitting her – he seizes her throat from behind, and squeezes, more to vent than to hurt her.  But that’s it!

She needs to try life independent of Ethan, and maybe find God again that way.

Later, after leaving Ethan, she has just testified to her church about not yet having found home within God, after more than 20 years.  The final shot is potent and subtle: Corrine looks back at the congregation with hope and uncertainty.

Religious movies can be difficult when they paint outside of the lines, whether those are bound by belief, outright doubt or vice.  The zealous Christian probably wants a movie that’ll affirm their convictions and submission to God’s will.  Those on the other, secular, side want something that’ll confirm theirs; they’re tired of hearing dramatic, dogma of their imminent damnation.

“Higher Ground” is a good film.  If you demand a fast-paced, metropolitan take on religious life, this might refresh you.  If you sympathize or are comfortable with tough questions left dangling for Corrine or with the way she pursues her faith, then this’ll suit you.  If not, still try it.  Thoughtful, even-handed stories about religious or spiritual life are rare.

624 days ago Short URL Comments

Film/independent

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06

Sep

In “Griff the Invisible” an introverted Superhero has to a face world of “reality”

Griff, a 20-something social misfit, claims a haven from a wider world, where he’s a nerd.  “Griff the Invisible,” an Australian film, directed by Leon Ford, is a story of 20-something and left over teen angst burst to life, on-screen.

When most people don’t get or appreciate you, it makes for a small life.  You might question your sanity or at least stability.  You’re often isolated, and bullied.

The last time you felt like a misfit, how’d you try to fix that?  Did you reach out, strain yourself to become social, more sociable?  In 1986′s “Lucas,” the title character tried, but that fell flat.  In 1953′s “From Here to Eternity” after his girl wonders if he takes her seriously, Pvt. Pruitt tells her, “No.  No one lies about being lonely.”

Griff the "Invisible?" (Courtesy: Indomina)

But you try to fix the misfitness, quash it.  Did you reach into your imagination, into a comic book-like mental tool kit?

The movies’ opening title: Oscar Wilde  “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth,” lays out how we’re to take reality.

Griff (Ryan Kwanten) takes this to heart.  What if you were a hero with super powers, which made you special, interesting to others (if they knew) and provided a sense of self and power that you don’t have in real life?  Would you take that?  Griff did at least according to his imagination’s eye.  As real as the John Nash’s delusions in 2001′s “A Beautiful Mind.”

This highly stylized film opens at the Lagoon Cinema on September 9th.

Griff has a banal job with a banal company, where he’s bullied and misunderstood, as he was throughout school.  He finds an outlet in acting out like a small town Batman, after work, wearing a costume.  Small ones; he wants to help vulnerable women.  He sees himself as a hero, but only neighborhood-bound – within a few bus stops from his apartment!

Soon we’re introduced to Griff’s brother, Tim (Patrick Brammall),  who feels responsible to Griff as his one sympathetic anchor to “normalcy.”  Tim visits Griff with his introverted girlfriend, Melody (Maeve Dermody), in tow.  Soon it’s clear that she clicks with Griff, while not with his brother.  They exchange glances while big brother is oblivious.

Can nerds find love? (Courtesy: Indomina)

What!  The introvert might just get the girl?  Each starts to bump into the other, and trying to avoid Tim, and inevitably awkward questions.  After a while Melody tells Griff: “I live in a bubble that no one gets in!  Griff.  You get into my bubble.”

Then we have a dramatic wrinkle: we see that Griff’s powers, his alternative world, is closed to the known world; it’s solely a figment of his imagination.  The super suit we see is seen through his mind’s eyes only.  And then doubly powered by his and Melody’s. That’s an interesting crack in the fourth wall of movie “reality” and imagination!  Comic book movies, such as “Spiderman” or any of the “Batman” or “X-Men” franchises and others omit the possibility of those questions.

Griff contrasts a reality of social isolation with one of a comic book reality and Griff’s need for release.

Late in the movie harsh reality seems to intrude.  Melody joins Griff as his back up on a mission to save the mayor, with Tim in tow.  Here Tim insists on talking reality with her.  Breaking down the pieces of their “mission” and “special equipment.”  She tells Tim: “He’s a freak.  He’d never fit in at dinner with my family.  But so am I!”  A crisis: Griff overhears this, but only until the signal was dropped.

He wants her.  He’ll change!  But then there’s a grand, tragic irony: after he has decided to grow-up, has thrown away all his hero crap and tried normalcy, Melody turns cold.  I would have loved you forever.”  Separated by his apartment door, they both cry over an opportunity gone.

“Griff the Invisible” is brief, fun, smart and semi-innovative.

624 days ago Short URL Comments

Australian/Film/foreign/romance/Uncategorized

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02

Sep

What would happen if you recorded your “Life in A Day?”

“Life in A Day” is a documentary directed by Kevin MacDonald.  Video cameras were given to more than 80,000 people and families from more than 190 countries.  Each recorded their lives for a single day, July 24, 2010.  Doing a chronicle like this is a production gauntlet.  A thankless one.

The film begins slowly.  How many people are patient enough to watch the waking moments of a dozen people from across the planet?  It’s not bad, but best bits follow the waking opening.

A teenager shaves for his first time with his dad on-hand

This opens at the Film Society of Mpls./St. Paul on September 2nd.

As happens with the occasional film, this has no plot, nor story, but has characters.  The storytelling method reveals character and characters in ways no other films do. There are people, whose points of view or sections stand out.  The randomness might remind you of the “Visions of Light,” the American Film Institute’s documentary, from 1992, about movie lighting.

A great moment: something is giving birth, but you can’t tell if she’s a mammal or not.  And then the point of view starts to teeter and slumps to the floor.  A man has fainted.  He’s now a father!

The magic comes when the subjects answer any one of four questions like “who do you love?,” “what do you love?” “what do you fear?”  On the part of fear, one woman flaunts her fat boy.  Another mentions loneliness.

“Life in A Day” is worth watching.

628 days ago Short URL Comments

documentary/Film

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