Faster

Here is an enjoyable and dark ride, one of slew I've seen lately, that stands above the crop. The crop? "Edge of Darkness", "Law Abiding Citizen", and "Harry Brown" come to mind, each have their merits and strengths and I sat through them entertained. "Faster" offers similar themes, stripped to their essence, monologue redacted.
Dwayne and BB Thornton live in their roles. I know, the car repair dude in "U-Turn", but man, both of these guys hit this Grindhouse Joint with nary a wink to the audience. Tom Berenger does a quick, perfect turn as the flic opens, as effective as his role in "Inception" but even more fleeting.
The score is by Clint Mansell, and does not assault, but informs. The camera is, on the other hand, flash and spectacle. This is not the Crank Camera kids incredible acro-cam, (they actually shot in daylight) but dark, grimy hi def angles and zooms. This dark palette meshed seamlessly with Mansell's throbbing bottom.
No one wanders into a movie like this expecting high art. It is certainly a treat to see fine craft and charisma together without the Luc Besson slapstick(which I love) or the gore fest that has gained so much ground since the wars started.
Make no mistake, the violence is quick and harsh and big, but I saw no identifiable organs and the camera chose to linger on the list rather than bodies. Let me wrap this  with the title of a Minutemen Doc as a summation, "We Jam Econo" and a nice quote from Faster, "Where's the exit?"
Recommended.

The Black Swan

The Black Swan. Where to begin?

Aronofsky makes some damn compelling, difficult, films. I am still rubbing my Requiem scar in phantom pain. The only deeper cut was seeing the Fountain by myself in Topeka because there was a game on, or some such nonsense preventing the normal movie people from joining me.

Black Swan is a psychological horror film in the Joseph Conrad mold, a tale of self destruction and recovery a la “The Secretary” and an exploration of a modern day child star mother-daughter relationship with a bit of titillation thrown in to get the guys to come to the show.

Black Swan might be a dissection of celebrity culture, perhaps an examination of ballet, at the very least a bird's eye view of a mind driven too hard to perform and cracking under the pressure. Aronofsky does this with his characteristic great camera, style adapted to match the story, and a cast that is willing to pull out all the stops to make us believe.

Darren(not Aronofsky) and I had this discussion: what if Portman's transformation hadn't been done with effects? Well, the answer is, of course, we would have been watching either a dance or a play, not a movie. The transformation is as perfect and breathtaking as it is startling. I can feel the shivers I got watching it just thinking about it.

Black Swan is a dark Christmas film, one that gives me hope for the genre, and adds another notch to Aranofsky's belt. Bring on the Terrance Malick!

Recommended

TV 3Fer - Virtuality, Global Frequency, Rubicon!

One of these shows never got to pilot, one was never picked up, and the other is rockin' my world every Sunday night...

"Global Frequency" began as a comic written by Warren Ellis. He is the comic writer/personality responsible for Planetary, The Authority, Gravel, FreakAngels, Red and a very entertaining novel, "Crooked Little Vein". According to Wikipedia, the Global Frequency pilot was leaked in 2005. The leak irritated the producer who said, "No more." Most torrents die quick, this one is still live, and kicking. 


Global Frequency is a crowdsourced agency defending the world from itself across national borders and continents. My favorite Bajoran Ensign Ro, aka Commander Cain of the Pegasus aka Michelle Forbes is the head of this far reaching organization, linked by a dedicated cell phone network.

I am pretty sure that within a few episodes the bumps and quirks in the non-pilot would have been ironed out and this show would have been another excuse to keep the cable...seek it out!

"Virtuality" is a 2 hour pilot that never got picked up, packaged as a movie. It is very much Philip K Dick meets "Reality TV" via an episode of the Outer Limits and a brief dash of JG Ballard. The pilot, of course, does not resolve at all, but nonetheless stands on its own. It is TV, and the commercial break rhythms are in place, but are upstaged by the Solipsism and Holo-Deck sims.

I am a big fan of long space voyage novels and films, check out my "Pandorum" review (or just rent it), and Virtuality did a nice job honing Ronald Moore's vision of "Caprica". When are you back on the air, "Caprica?" Until then, rent the Dvd "Virtuality" for some good TV.

Rubicon is an AMC show, currently on its eighth episode, who's title, "Caught in the Suck" is so good why even give you a snapshot? Remember "3 Days of the Condor" which had Robert Redford reading for the CIA? Well, Rubicon is about a group of analysts reading and analyzing data in real time for the US Government caught in an apparent conspiracy, revealed in codes.

The Wire, one of my favorite shows, was on fire, plot development wise, compared to Rubicon. You will remember this reviewer loved "Crank" and "Gamer", so I am no cerebral "War and Peace" reader, but I do love a great cast mixed with current events and espionage, and I prefer a slow build to a dozen red herrings and filler episodes.

Sunday Nights are crowded, but I'm pretty sure that is why they make Tivo, right? Since Rubicon is the only one of the three shows mentioned actually airing, I politely request you set the Dvr to "Record".
Recommended

SnapIt Screen Capture Utility

I have been blogging for a number of years, and considered monetizing once, during the ValisCafe days. I went so far as to sign up for Adsense and check the layout, but ultimately I couldn't bring myself to do it. Blogging is a creative outlet, not a revenue inlet.
My slim readership and odd topic choices have insulated me from click frenzy lures and the weird ads that fill the right side of my gmail folder. Then I reviewed "9" and was offered embed code for the trailer. Well, everyone wins then, instead of a movie poster image I had the trailer.."click".

SnapIt wrote me asking for a review of their software. (wow), in exchange for the software, which is shareware that will cost you $17.99 to purchase. I went ahead and downloaded it. Longtime readers know I don't do negative reviews, there are too many good things happening that I attend/buy to waste time hurting someone else, so, on with the review!

What is wrong with right click save image you ask? Why not just hit print screen and paste? Well, those have worked for me for years, but in these days of flash and Chrome things are not so easy. Snapit allows me to crop a full print screen to whatever rectangle I desire, very handy.

The install was very straightforward, starting with a clean website download page and instructions that are clear and concise. It took me about five minutes of trial and error to get the hang of how the software works. I am nearly over my fear of cluttered taskbars, and with the little SnapIt camera sitting there I know it is one click and a drag to size to save whatever I want from the screen.

(image captured with SnapIt)

There is customization available as far as "hotkey" and naming conventions, as well as file format for the capture. Part of me believes a browser writer should buy up this functionality and build it in to right click options, but until that happens SnapIt "works for me".

Here is a link for you to try it for yourself!
Once you have tried it Digeus software is giving it away in exchange for a review in a blog, Facebook or Twitter. Once you have written the review simply contact julia.taylor@digeus.com for a reg code!
Recommended

Air Doll

As I approach the second anniversary of my 3rd marriage I posit this: I have learned nothing!
I take this position as axiomatic, but what is an axiom without proof you say? Well, herein lies my proof:
"Hey honey, I picked out a great drama for us tonight, it is about a Japanese love doll,  whadd'ya think?"
Nothing. I have learned nothing. Read on...

The spouse was skeptical from the start, as we watched the lonely Japanese guy riding home on public transportation. "Wow, a seat on Japanese public transportation."

This wasn't going to go well.

By the end of this movie we were both in tears...

This is a well shot film. The costuming is spot on, the story supposedly Japanese but apparently universal. There are a lot of people that are empty inside. Ride the metaphor into modern urban life. Take it to the movies, or at least the movie store.

The soundtrack was so perfect I sought out, and found, a few discs by "World's End Girlfriend" and find it strangely moving, like this film. The spouse has seen "Lars and the Real Girl" and said that "Lars" was about Lars, and that "Air Doll" was about the doll..

The film worked for me on more than a cinematic level, it commented on modern life in so many small ways, the meeting with Gepetto, played by the Japanese son in "Plastic City", seemed like an "of course" moment.
That meeting is one of many moments in this film, each of them bathed in history and pathos and not without humor, though occasionally grim, to truly dark.

The Air Doll Nozomi is asked once, point blank, if having a heart had turned out positive...

Where is your plug?
Recommended

Avatar Special Edition

This is the tale of my 10 hour journey to see Avatar in Imax 3D...
Before we begin, let me cut to the chase: seeing this film, with that technology, was worth everything you are about to read. Trying to get my mind around the thousands of details involved, from the initial starship scene to the updated mech-suit control surface, makes me wince when I read the reviews deriding the minute count of added content. There are no home theaters available that can present this anywhere close to what I saw in Escazu. To not see it when possible, would be a darn shame.

We bought tickets online 3 days early, lured by a red herring 25% discount for using our Visa card. Without having seen the inside of the theater we were allowed to pick seats. Yep, assigned seats for a movie! Matinee price, $10.00 a ticket included the glasses.(no, there was no discount, as we do not have a Visa Infinity card)

"Avatar Eve" the rain started in earnest here in Panica. We set both phones to wake us at 4:00am. We needed the rain to stop so the bridge wouldn't wash out again. We use our phones for alarm clocks as no one would take the odds on us not losing power that night.

Spencer picked us up promptly at 5am, and we headed to the ferry, all 3 of us silently hoping the bridge was not under too much water. The TLC is good for about 2.5 feet...We made it to the Ferry 5 minutes before the boat left, the rain had stopped and it was a steamy-dreamy jungle dawn in the harbor.

One cafe and one Campari doble later we got out of the boat in Puntarenas, and onto the bus. Stopped in town, bought 3 Jamon Queso pastries and walked 3 blocks to the "Direct Bus" to San Jose. We arrived in San Jose 2 hours later, hopped on the wrong bus and headed vaguely towards the hotel.

The bus ride ended abruptly not much closer than we would have ended up had we taken the direct bus the whole distance. Our bags were light so we walked to the hotel. Our plan was simple: connect the computers to the internet, take a hot shower, change into nicer clothes, head to the theater for the 2:40 show. Piece of cake!

The room wasn't ready, wouldn't be until 2pm. It was only 11am. 3 hours is too long for me to sit and drink in the hotel bar...so we went out for a light lunch and a beverage. We went looking for a non-gringo place to relax, but not quite the seedy Cacique and beer joints filled with old men that San Jose seemed full of, at least at this end of town. Then the rain started.

Umbrellas keep the top of your head dry, only. We decided to bus to Escazu and eat there. We took the wrong bus. We did not want to drink at TGIF or Tony Roma's. We decided that we would treat ourselves to a good scotch at the French place near the theater. We were told: walk straight down this street for a long way and you will come to the fence at the back of the theater. Just walk the fence until you find the front.

We were already soaked. We walked, and walked, letting the new neighborhoods help us forget the kilometers involved. When we got to the fence our target was in sight. No entrance. To get to the entrance we  ascended and then descended a muddy slope, in the rain. Mud oozed into my sandals. I helped the spouse down with muddy hands, leaving inappropriate prints on her white top.

After 20 minutes drying her socks in the restroom we made our way to the restaurant, tickets in hand, just an hour left to kill. Glenfiddich all around and a gorgeous cheese plate...

The Nova Repretel Theater is brand new. "Product C", who was to be the HowlerCafe Seafood vendor, has a new restaurant going in off of the food court. Brand spanking new Imax! Apparently I did not explode waiting, probably being soaked helped.

Our seats were perfect. The audio was spot on, deep loud bass, crystal clear. I was confident they would shut off the stair lights when the movie started (they lit the bottom 1/3rd of the screen) and was only off by about 15 minutes in that estimation.

By the time the cryosleep pod thrust out of the wall into my lap the fact that we had stumbled into the Spanish Dubbed showing of Avatar was apparent...Thankfully this was my  3rd viewing, and I am thinking I preferred dubbing into a foreign language better than 3D subtitles anyway...

Did I mention the AC was blasting the place down into the 60s and we were soaked to the bone? It only mattered when the Spouse had leg cramps...The guy behind mine was only on the phone for about 3 minutes, and as mentioned, they killed the lights within 15 minutes of the movie starting.

Avatar 3D Imax is one hell of a technical marvel, the extra minutes add depth and nuance, and I would go every day it was showing if I had the time, just to remind myself of what can be done, in spite of all the roadblocks, the war, and all other manners of lunacy that keep the good stuff from us!
Recommended

Nefes

2404 has not turned into the War Channel, Discovery has already claimed that prize!
I was tempted to drop in the review of 9th Company and change the names and nationality, but that would do a disservice to both films. "Nefes" is another terrific variation on the "from training to combat" story.

I am not sure whether this is based on an actual battle like the 9th Company was, but that is neither here nor there to appreciate the film. The film is Turkish, and follows a small group of soldiers to a remote outpost in the mountains.

A standout performance by the commander is highlighted early in the film during a passionate 5 minute speech to his men standing in formation in the snow. I don't speak a lick of Turkish, but his delivery was so powerful I was glued to the screen. As this type of film goes, the entire ensemble of men we meet grab and hold us, making us care about their fate (which, of course, we already know).

The camera is excellent, to contrast with 9th Company again, where that camera felt organic this camera felt sharp and technical, a dispassionate eye that captured sniper fire and reaction. The music, poetry and song that infect this film and our team are as moving as the deadly combat.

This is the third film about war from another culture's perspective that has gained my attention and held it for days. The first was a Korean film, the second the Russian, and now this Turkish movie. I have, of course, seen the "home" versions, and one thing rings true: war is a plague that has little to do with civilian everyday life and yet infects entire nations with bitter and ugly pain.

That being said, if someone rolled a tank down my street to liberate me I would take up arms too.
Recommended

9th Company

"Charlie Wilson's War", from the opposing side. CIA armed terrorists stop a superpower cold in Afghanistan (which begs the question, who is stopping the hyperpower today?). One cannot take the eye off of the machines, or the machinations of war.

Comparisons to "Full Metal Jacket" are apt, if misguided. 9th Company is a based on a true story, and this film apparently captivated the Russian -- no longer Soviet -- public when it hit the screens there, 5 years ago. Who loves US Film Distribution more than me? Everyone! Can I get an Ong Bak in da house? /digression

The Hind gunship is very photogenic, particularly when flying in formation. The Soviet troops, in their striped tanks n' tees, chanting "pull the pin, throw the grenade" as they jog even more so, it is just a matter of scale. 9th Company  has a lot of hardware on display, and even more bared souls.

Our war films are so close to us now. The bitter taste and high cost of Iraq and now Afghanistan(as if Afghanistan was a new front for us) have borne several small, tight and great films that have failed to keep people in the theaters, precisely because of their concision, and the lack of distance.

Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, Platoon, and the 9th Company are all exploding history, not current events. 9th Company is now current events for the United States. All of these films have one thing at their center, and Conrad said it best, "the horror, the horror."

9th Company is filmed organic. The vistas and machines and men glow with warmth. Heart and soul and the can-do make it work ethic in the face of adversity rule the day. Vodka, pot, dreams of Olya and home inked tatts fill the spaces in between. The score is as dead on as the action and actors are riveting.

Tears will flow before you pull the Blu-Ray disc from your PS3, subtitles or not.

Somewhere in the film it is stated, "no one has ever beaten Afghanistan in all of history." God forbid we learn a lesson from that.
Recommended

Plastic City

Anthony Wong in Brazil!
USS Iwo Jima docks in Costa Rica!
"24 City" director Yu Lik-wai rips some pages out of the Latin-American Surrealists playbook!

Buckle up, this will be a long one.

This alleged review is a tale of the end game of Capitalism, the shattering of Libertarian Idealism at the hands of reality, all in the service of a movie steeped and delivered in plasma blasted super saturated imagery...

Yes, I'm an ex-libertarian. Yes, I do believe the end result of one world not nation-states or transnats, where we all get the stakes of our actions, and work to help each other is a worthy goal. My time in the 3rd world, brief as it has been, has shown me just how far off we are, and how difficult the transition is going to be.

San Jose, Costa Rica on foot is a terrific experience. The spouse and I walked up and down busy crowded streets passed dozens of shops selling the latest in Chinese....everything. Granada had a multi block open air market selling used books from the United States, used Clothing from the United States, cheap electronics, counterfeit fashion and footware as well as local fruits and vegetables.

Managua Nicaragua has 2 large markets, miles of tin and plastic covered stalls, selling everything from dried herbs to cologne, and toys from a decade ago. These markets are jammed with buyers and sellers, and, in these economic times, mostly sellers.

Sao Paolo, Brazil is apparently much like the Central American cities I mention. The spouse informs me that Sao Paolo has the largest Japanese diaspora in the world. Yu Lik-wai films a fantastic and diverse multi-ethnic street scene, bustling with races, colors and languages.

This relates to the movie very directly: Anthony Wong traveled to Paraguay via Brazil from China to set up a counterfeit goods distribution center. 20 years into it he has an adopted Japanese son, a small empire centered in Sao Paolo, and political connections aplenty. Along comes FTAA.

With that as the bare thread of a plot, one can extrapolate where the tale goes, but one might not anticipate some truly startling parkour along the way and the first "rooftop" fight scene to approach what Wimmer did in Ultraviolet with Milla against the Blood-Chinois.

The soundtrack is minimal glitch ambient, mutated sound field recordings with snatches of 70's Funk, J-pop and Arabica grating up against digital feedback and distortion. Heavy, appropriated and appropriate. The mix of Portuguese, Cantonese and English as the spoken languages was a terrific stab at authenticity, regardless of the speaker's actual skill-level.

I've mentioned the surreal sequences already, but the camera is not to be missed. Surreal doesn't mean hectic, doesn't mean hyperactive, but does mean colorful. These seem to be mostly film and camera rather than digital manipulation, which lends an organic quality to every frame.

This film is so much more than a gangster movie, so much more than a political film. One only has to have seen a single Anthony Wong film to know that a film like this has to brim with soul.

A friend once dated a Korean woman who told him Korea's relationship with the United States was like having a Tiger in the kitchen, one felt safe but hoped the Tiger never got angry.

I wonder what the White Tiger that appears in Plastic City symbolizes...

Recommended

Blindness

Move over Danny Boyle, Fernando Meirelles has joined you in the winners circle of modern "Lord of the Flies" movies with this fantastic piece of work, "Blindness". Mr Meirelles caught our attention several years ago with "City of God", and cemented his reputation as a director with vision with his outstanding adaptation of Le Carre's "Constant Gardener".
"Blindness" is the hat-trick (omg, a sports reference) film, starring some heavyweights like the new Hulk, Mark Ruffalo (as Mike Dukakis) [yes, arcane ref, but after the film{you do rush out and watch my recs!}check back and nod to yo'self in understanding], Julianne Moore and (since we are working in 3s) Danny Glover, that elevates Meirelles work into must see territory. Both Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo reach deep and pull off fantastic, daring performances.
The camera is sure, the editing and pacing spot on, and the music just right. We knew all that from the "Constant Gardener", of course, but, since this film is only his 3rd to hit these shores I feel compelled to mention. Like Danny Boyle and Robert Rodriguez and heck, even Ang Lee, Fernando Meirelles trusts his audience to keep up with his innovative storytelling shorthand, trusts us to connect the dots.
This is not a happy film, and apparently on theatrical release, made a few groups -- notably some of the blind -- downright angry. Well, the Catholic Church protested the Exorcist too. I am guessing this is why I just found this film, or maybe it was living in a country with the closest movie theater 4 hours away by bus and boat, but who knows? This film no more slurs the blind than the Exorcist, a very pro-faith film imho, did Catholicism.
This one is not to be missed, and you can bring the SO, but not on a first date!
Please note, the lack of synoptic detail is deliberate, I am 100% glad I did not read the reviews I read - post viewing - prior. This movie-goer grows frustrated with spoilers on the back of boxes, in trailers and most especially in reviews that treat us as if we have never seen a film before.
Recommended

Blood and Bone

Blood and Bone is an English language street fighting Martial Arts movie.

Anyone left?
Ok, you fans of Bloodsport and Lionheart, gather round for the no hecticam, no flash edits, no wire 7 black belt holding Michael J White battle(s) royale.  He is a pleasure to watch, the embodiment of power and grace in the over the top flash of the LA street-fighting scene. This scene is, apparently, the proving grounds for the "international underground fight scene" run by the nefarious and largely invisible "Consortium".
Besides the fighting and moralizing there is the Genghis Khan center filtered through the screen burning Eammon Walker, who is also a fan of Wang Chung. Mr Walker commands the screen without taking his shirt off, though he does bare his sword.
What sets this film above the usual suspects is the subtle application of restraint in the tropes. The crowd is not filled with society women in finery savoring blood spatters off of their cleavage. The mixed races of LA are authentic, the stakes are in the hundreds not thousands and millions, at least at the beginning.
The slow burn of the plot is punctuated by the ratcheting up of the skill level of Mr White's opponents, the replacement of the rims on his promoter's car, and flashbacks to the prison he just left. What's not to like about a chess playing Tai Chi master?
The climax of the film is all too brief, and betrays the careful pacing of the rest of the film, but is not a dealkiller. Did I notice Zoe Bell in the credits :)
Recommended

Once A Gangster

Starring:
Jordan Chan as Roast Pork.
Alex Fong as Kerosene
Candice Yu as Lady Pearl
1990s translation goofiness or could it be...satire!
Yes, this is in fact the second review in 2 days that is about comedy and restaurants. This one has Kung Fu though, and the spouse loved it. All that chop-socky I've force fed her paid off in spades as this film riffs hard on legendary films, directors and stars.
These are not the soft chuckles of Soul Kitchen, but full throated laughs as the Departed/Infernal Affairs "cast" goes from arm to arm and the arguments of which right arm the cast was on escalate...
I suppose the caveat is if you have never seen a Johnnie To film, The Departed, any of the 11 or so films in the Young and Dangerous series this might not be the film to start with. With that in mind I would be hard pressed to find as sharp a satire on this side of the Pacific that has the original stars lampooning themselves.
Yep. Asian comedy without Stephen Chow. Who'd a thunk it?
Recommended

Soul Kitchen

A few things we need to make clear, for the new peeps: I own a restaurant that has just closed, I don't care for comedies, and I don't mind subtitles.
Soul Kitchen is a subtitled romcom, and I loved it.
Still here? Think I've gone soft?
It is macht nichts if you haven't started the insane journey into the food biz or spent 18 months in the superfine country of Germany, where "Soul Kitchen" takes place, these things just got this film in the narrow door of movies I'll actually watch. Yes, even a comedy. You are right. My wife has seen enough Kung Fu...
The movie starts off quick with a typical improvised solution to an unintended crisis. We meet the crew, the girl, the con brother (don't tell anyone) and the customers. It never slows down. We follow the Greek wheel the Greek lead is riding (you know the one you learned about in comp 101[composition, not computers]) with the usual mix of dread and hope.
Nodded my head to the minimal techno, tapped out of time to the funky soul, laughed and pointed at the prep and kitchen insider stuff. Loved the knife wielding chef with the mystery bark, and smiled the whole movie through to the credits.
This is light life affirming stuff, the plot stress is catch and release, the heartbreaks heartfelt but resolved and at the end of it I didn't have any speeches, just a broken heart for my broken dream.
Recommended.