archive -- Pitch Black

Directed by David Twohy. 2000
Starring Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser.
Anticipation and expectation once again collided with reality.
An hour long special on SCI FI, Into Pitch Black, created an intricate picture of
the Vin Diesel character, Riddick. Glimpses of the planet, hints of plot: I was
hooked.

Movie opened in space, camera tracks inside ship. Best image of the whole movie:
Riddick in chains and horsebit, blindfolded but awake during cryosleep.

Crash land into "Alien in the Desert".
The good:
Vin Diesel
Zeke (character)
Landscape Camera
Bang for buck special effects
Pace
Bad:
Coincidence
Stupidity
Lack of character development

Verdict:
Try to ignore the real obvious plot problems, get your head spun around for a couple
of hours. This is bad science fiction, not horror. Bad science fiction beats Teen Comedy
in my book EVERY day.

archive -- End of the Affair

Directed by Neil Jordan 2000
Starring Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore, and Stephen Rea.

A portrait of jealousy in brown,black and rain.

40 years later, even through the camera lens, Graham Greene's self-loathing is palpable.

It is hard to feel sympathy for the man, he wants us to stare at jealousy and understand it's
power to destroy love, and life. Neil Jordan paints it black.

The cuckold, his wife and her lover.

Painful to watch; civilization straining it's layered linen and wool in a time when to "let it all hang out"
was simply out of the question.
Recommended.

archive -- Magnolia

Directed by PT Anderson
Starring William Macy, Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall.

"How come there's no 10 o'clock show?"
"The movie is 3 1/2 hours long sir."
So I sat in the front row so I could stretch my legs.

The movie opens "Bond style", a few minutes of action, then credits, then into the film proper.
The few minutes of action were 3 short "films", all shot in wildly different styles.

After the credits the camera began throwing images at us as the narrator continued. He stopped. The camera
did not. After about twenty minutes of the camera pouring information straight into my hind brain I leaned to my partner and said,
"if he can keep up this pace for 3 hours I'm going to pop." It was like a moving "Run Lola Run" jag.

Of course it is not all that fast, and we soon settle into solid story(ies)telling. Multiple characters, same general location, same day.
Variable weather titles break the action up into chapters, or movements. We've seen similar technique, "Go", "Pulp Fiction", "Happiness".

Well, this is the film "Happiness" should have been, and is just as ambitious. Sure, we all have the scenes we'd like to trim out, but who are we?
I had written some painters a while back about the size of their canvas. Cristo is the only one who responded, with the point that if I was orbiting the planet his scale would seem just right.

Our themes here? Guilt, regret, forgiveness, aging. Why would a young, charismatic guy develop a mysogynistic self help system called Seduce and Destroy? What sends a man into that kind of rage?

"It's in my bones, I'm fucked. "

"It is dangerous to confuse children with angels."

These people careen through the day mindless of the connections, watching a quiz show developed by a dying old man, hosted by a dying man, turning parents into monsters and kids into freaks and in the end we slip the shoes on and pull the strings taut and who would have guessed how well they fit?

Great cast, worked well together. Some of the "notes" of this symphony seemed more phony than symphonic, which hurt the film, like Spike Lee's hammy acting in Summer of Sam. Sure, they pulled you out of the frame, but there was way too much greatness there, and in this film, to make it fatal.

Have an early supper, catch this film. Spend a few days looking inward at the heart of darkness, stare the beast down.
Oh yeah, buy the soundtrack!

archive -- Supernova

Directed by Tommy Lee (aka Walter Hill)
Starring James Spader, Angela Bassett.

One quick question: What kind of dimension-jumping ambulance can't bring the wounded to a hospital?
I'll back up:
In order to travel multiple light years in minutes instead of decades all living crew must be in protective chambers.
This ship has exactly enough chambers for the crew, and no one else! They jump multiple light years and have to leave the patient(s) where they find 'em.

But enough about plot!

How about zero gee sex!

But we cut the movie into a short pg13 version!

Ok, what about cool spaceships!

Babylon 5?

Star power! Angela Bassett, usually hotter than Georgia asphalt, the best part of Strange Days, limps through this role on ice. Spader is decent as the new guy freshly off some future drug addiction and also second in command. Oh wait, we talked about plot already!

What happened? Making movies takes a lot of time and money. The SFX guys worked hard, the actors did there best but nothing gelled. I wanted to like this movie, like I wanted to like Event Horizon.

I enjoyed the time in space, on the ship and off, and I guess I still don't value my time and money enough.

This is a solid "B" movie, I think the new term is straight to video. If you're a sci-fi nut go ahead. You've seen worse.

Maybe the Dvd version will be put back together.

archive -- The Hurricane

A picture only review from www.valiscafe.com. Movie bred a little controversy, and an older guy at the T-Star through me this tidbit:
The shells from the crime were in the Hurricane's car. This is not in the film, which I enjoyed!

Archive -- Stuart Little

Wow! A review with a review from the ol' Valiscafe.com site!
Directed by Rob Minkoff.
Starring Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie and the voice of Michael J. Fox.

"Please pass the gravy."

With that line George Little dodges his parents gentle pressure and underlines the basic problem of having a mouse as an adopted brother.

Colorize a Tim Burton film, add SOTA (state of the art) animation, and squeeze a "Little" house into Manhattan.
Fabulous sets and locations; a Surreal skew on the Big Apple

Ignore natural and physical laws.
Mouse adoption, cat co-operation, crossing the street in New York.

Put Duracell batteries into the toys.
To run the radio and lights of the Roadster across the city and back.

Give George a basement bedroom, complete with train set straight out of Track 29--and a model building table!
To build the boat and a wooden RC controller overnight!

Did I mention two loving parents?

Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Iron Giant, Toy Story 2, Stuart Little. I'm not sure what is driving the current bonanza in animation but please continue.

Getting a single ticket for Stuart Little @ 9:20 pm is like buying a condom in a drugstore--b4 Aids made it ok!
So get your friends to go with you.

Archive -- Anna And the King

Another www.valiscafe.com picture "review".
I brought Ray and Hazel to this film as I was blown away by my first viewing and thought everyone should see this beautiful place. Then there were the beheadings..

archive project -- Eye of the Beholder

My old site was valiscafe.com, hosted by a good friend TR who has since moved to more siliconized pastures. He leaves the site up for historical value I suppose. It was a much more ambitious undertaking than this blog, and consumed a lot more time.
Pauline Kael's "5000 Nights at the Movies" is a staggering work for sheer breadth. My reviews have thus far been scattered across 3 blogs, 2 sites and one long out of print magazine. I will be slowly transferring early reviews to this site...which is not to say I plan on publishing the pile, but nothing wrong with consolidation. Those posts will be marked as archival, and let me apologize in advance for rough edges of the older posts, this opening post is a case in point.
My review of "Eye of the Beholder" had links to other reviews, and the following pics!





Yes, I enjoyed the film thoroughly!

Chocolate <--M &Ms in Thai!

Some kick ass martial arts Thai style. Let's take a look under the hood:
Homages to: Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Tony Jaa, David Bell, check.
cool tattooed women with scars, check.
ladyboy assassin squad, check.
guns, swords, blocks of ice, parkour, check.
What is not to love?
Rush out and find this please. Yes I liked Iron Man. Sure, Forbidden Kingdom had Li and Chan, but this is Muai Thai!
No budget, all heart and knees and elbows and one riveting flic!
Recommended!

Round Black Ghosts

This is a cool Dubstep collection. I have owned it for awhile, but it took several at volume listenings to really feel the disc. First impression was oh..the tempo is too fast...as it was late at night and I was looking for dark journey inside my skull, not a spine based trip. The next spin was at brunch while I multitasked in the kitchen. Much better.
The record is not "drum n' bass" tempo stuff, just not dubbed out honey...which, of course, is my "easy listening." To enjoy this record you will need a system with some bottom, and a time when you have not been beaten up all day by the stresses of "real life." Given those two conditions this will prove to be a hot disc for your edge electronics ears.
Recommended

The In-Kraut Vol 3

What a fun series -- though I only have this one! Swinging music made whole and fresh..
A bunch of covers including "Whole Lotta Love" -- all recorded by German Artists in the late sixties and early seventies. Some engineer has made magic happen, these tracks sound fresh and clear as if they weren't 35 or more years old!
We will be wearing this one out at brunch...

Last Hero In China

Jet Li as Wong Fei Hung, reprising a role from "Once Upon a Time in China". This is the same character Jackie Chan plays in "Drunken Master 2", and yes, Jet Li does a version of "Drunken Boxing".
The action is fast and furious and wire enhanced..
The humor is misogynist and slapstick and nearly unwatchable because of it...
However, the biggest criticism other reviewers have talked about is Jet Li in a chicken suit. I have to wholeheartedly disagree. Not only did it fit the film, it was a fantastic way to show how various Kung Fu styles were adapted.
This is a younger Jet Li than the guy in Fearless, and it is great to see the action!
Recommended

MUTO

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.
Found this on DVD Savant. Check it out!

R.I.P. Sydney Pollack

Dammit.
Actor/Director
Spot on in Michael Clayton, Eyes Wide Shut and damn near everything else...
Directed a movie that actual changed the course of my life: "Absence of Malice".
That wasn't hyperbole -- that film ended my budding journalism career. Track that one down, it is still relevant today!
We lost a powerful talent today. Reflect for a moment.

Revolver

Two stylized blue pics in a row...must be birthday weekend! Actually I wanted Liotta's mouth open, and the hot chick lounging next to him in the frame..but oddly enough, I didn't get the press kit!
"Revolver" is a couple years old, just now hitting DVD. It was directed by Guy Ritchie, and Luc Besson appears in the credits. This movie was maligned by the press -- Ebert wanted the film burned as for him it was insultingly bad. Wow. Marrying Madonna does have its perks!
I enjoyed the film immensely, but it should be clear that saturated colors, bass driven soundtracks and Chess as a motif are headshots for this reviewer. Toss in a slice of anime in tribute to Tarantino's tribute and all you would need to completely satisfy me would be a gorgeous female assassin. Oh wait, there is one of those too!
I mention Besson, because this film, billed as "thinking man's action", dovetails very nicely with "Angel A", Besson's psych piece, (also maligned, by the hipper than thou, fwiw). Both of these films take different routes to understanding and undoing the self-destructive tendencies of their protagonist. The commentary track pulls the curtain back entirely, stating that the movie is all about "transcending the conceptual self."
Their is plenty of action, not too much torture(for these desensitized and pro-torture times[what, you thing being human gets you something if you are not a citizen? Damn liberal!]) a smattering of gratuitous nudity, and some superfine silk robes. What's not to like?
Recommended.

Sonny Rollins Saxophone Colossus

A jazz classic. With Rollins blowin', Max Roach on the drums, Tommy Flanagan playing piano and Doug Watkins on bass, it is absolutely magic listening. I have owned this disc before, but lost it long before moving out here to Kansas. A good friend sent me this, as my "real soon" migration to Costa Rica brought the opening track, "St Thomas," to mind for her.
She was right, it fits.More Rollins!

Bullet and Brain

How different would my life be if I had not stumbled across Anthony Wong's soulful performance in "Beast Cops" so many years ago? I most certainly would still have had Chow Yun Fat, Tony Leung, Maggie Chung and Michelle Yeoh, but Anthony Wong can make nearly anything watchable. Thankfully "Bullet and Brain" has plenty of other redeeming qualities.
Bullet and Brain are the trade names of a legendary pair of hit men. They have retired, but also left some "get out of jail free" cards -- and the hot granddaughter of the dead Triad boss is calling them in for protection.
Throw in the stiff rookie cop with kung fu chops, the 3 days to retirement police chief and the blonde, ambitious, disrespectful lieutenant in the Triad and there you have it: HK Action! Make no mistake all of those elements are there -- like horses and cowboys in westerns I suppose -- and this is an enjoyable 1.5 hours of genre action, with a side of Anthony Wong.
Recommended

Speed Racer

At brunch just prior to viewing I was reminiscing about "Speed Racer", one of the cartoons I watched as a sprout, and mentioned the ultrafast race around hairpin turns up a mountain in the rain. It was in there. The jump sound was in there. Racer X -- who used to make your heart stop every time he hit the screen -- is finally unmasked!
The one doubt I had was the kid and the monkey and they were fine.
This movie is 2+ hours of head spinnin' color and sound, like the end of 2001 except in color. Bright color.
I like serious movies, I do. This one wasn't, it was just the most fun I've had a live action animated film for kids since "Spy Kids". You adult types? Stay home.
Please compare and contrast Christina Ricci's roles in "Speed Racer" and "Black Snake Moan", 5 page minimum, single-spaced.
Recommended

Dynamite Warrior

Thai action comedy. "Tears of a Black Tiger" Anyone? This is one each kick ass crazy mystical rocket riding martial arts film. It is a slice of another culture. Watched this on DVD and, like "Ong Bak" before it, I was blown away.
Slapstick humor pervades the film, black slapstick humor. Great action sequences, rockets and virgin menstrual blood mix together to right wrong, defeat evil and unleash the buffalo.
This movie has food I want to eat, clothes I want to wear and a whole host of peeps that can stand on one foot, solid as Sears, for as long as they have to. Camera movement is good, editing good, but the budget --enormous for Thailand no doubt-- is thin far as film stock and processing go. Those of us watching these films over the years can see through this, but "Fearless" and "SPL" have spoiled us with bright clear pictures and dynamic sound. The humor is not as postmod as "Tears", but the fighting is absolutely authentic, and the guns are few and far between.
This is fast paced fun.
Recommended

"Is that enough human justice for you?"

It is hard to stay pissed at a show this good.

Slippery Slope

More politics, rather than reviews. I am well aware that I have very limited access to the truth with regard to "official" anything. The overt manipulation of the media by this administration is poo-pooed and dismissed by my conservative friends with a "you think it started with Bush?" offhand response.
The NYT column I am linking to here discusses things that will never come fully into the light, just like much of our history. Bob Herbert's OP-ED "Seeds of Destruction" deserves a few minutes of contemplation before you rush out to see "Iron Man" again.
The United States cannot lead the planet to a more civilized place without first getting itself in order. That starts with a sense of decency and fairness that belies "survival of the fittest" and "winner takes all". I think that teaching the pitfalls and fallacy of applying Darwin to everyday decisions might go along way towards reaching the goal of a compassionate sustainable existence.

Iron Man

Bravo!
Okay, need to go a little deeper than that.
Robert Downey Jr and Director John Favreau get it right. Soundtrack, in spite of Carmike Cinema's best efforts to destroy the viewing experience, was pop good. If Spiderman ushered Superheroes back in, the restart of Batman sealed the deal. Comic book movies are here to stay.
There are enough "geeks" in the mainstream to sustain this kind of entertainment. The times are so fantastically scary a good vs evil show with tech at the center becomes a triumphant feel good for a country just waiting for a regime change.
By the way, in case that is interpreted by a hyperpower as a cry for regime change? Please let me state now that I have no gold tub for your soldiers to bath in after their mission is accomplished.
I might use this space to talk about the cinema schizophrenia that demands absolute realism from it's historical fantasies (10,000BC) but lets the most improbable Iron Man stunts (and these bastards) off scot-free..
There is a "perhaps" involved I think.
Next viewing: 5 hours. Please assume that I will be once again asking management why AC-DC sounds louder from inside my car on the streets of St George than it did at the all digital, 1/2hr of TV commercials, second ticket price hike in six monthes -- oh wait! Hard Drives are made of corn.
I'm not saying the gun sounds were as weak as Halo 3's, I'm saying the sound was sculpted nearly as carefully as ILM made the suit, and deserves to be heard.
Recommended (in spite of this insanity) and even this.

An Empress and the Warriors

Epic in scope, this is a simple tale of unrequited love, palace intrigue and several large scale battles..and yes, Donnie Yen does take on an entire army with a sword. Ok, so there is all the synopsis you are going to get..
Swords, arrows and cool armor bathe this cross and double cross in blood rather than speeches. There is one speech, given by a "pharmacist" that decides the course of a nation. Apparently back in the day people actually listened to their pharmacist.
It helped a little that this pharmacist was the sole survivor of a fierce warrior tribe...
Not sure I need to say more, but this is a love story, and a heartbreaker to boot. You could watch it for Donnie Yen alone and not be disappointed, but there is nothing wrong with the double treat of being able to bring the other half to a kung-fu movie and having her like it..
Recommended

Like a Dragon

The picture above is for the video-game that this movie is based on..but do not let that deter you, the director is Takeshi Miike! His movies are nearly comic books in the best sense of the word -- picture driven, graphic, lightning fast. I'm prettty sure the whole "storyboarding" business has more than passing commonalities..
I'm not sure Japanese Schoolgirls without socks would be labeled an innovation, but certainly the young foil in this film begs the question! "Like a Dragon" no doubt references Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon," and, as such has a lot of kung-fu on display, sans Yuen Woo Ping. How many other choreographers can I name? Have you not read my review of "City of Violence?!"
One of my favorite recent Yakuza Characters was "Big D" from Johnnie To's outstanding "Election". Big D tore up the screen with his flamboyance, boasting, and a sadistic streak on full display via brutal acts of ultraviolence. He didn't have Majima's bat! Majima is the pirate patch wearing over the top crazy bastard..and Miike spells over the top with 2 eyes!
Kazuma is the good guy here, and quite a fighter. These sequences fall under the new term, mixed martial arts..though I can't seem to recall the Japanese Character for "shotgun".
All this being said, this is a gentler Miike film than even "Blue's Harp", and might be a good intro film, perhaps better than "City of Lost Souls".
Recommended

Southland Tales

What do you do after "Donnie Darko?" You have managed to capture the minds of smart girls like no other movie this side of "Edward Scissorhands" and had one of the coolest songs ever, "Mad World", on the soundtrack, so what's next? I suppose you might hire the Rock and make a sci-fi satire of today..
I was sold when the backup for the cop named Taverner said "Flow My Tears..."
Yes, this is that kind of movie. Be prepared to connect the dots, and, like "Bladerunner" I suppose, be prepared to ignore the narrator.
This is a tale of an alternate near future, soaked in Hollywood, and served cold. Hippies and Republicans are skewered equally, as are the rest of us in this diamond hard, teeth clenched during the laughter film.
Recommended

I Read the News Today..

Struck by short captions from the NYT, here they are, and why:
1. "European countries plan to use coal, generally the dirtiest fuel on earth, in new power plants." Well, I live in Kansas, not a particular hotbed of environmental action, where 2 new coal plants were shot down by a courageous politician: she was overridden, naturally. Anyone remember the Clamshell Alliance?
2. "The U.S. has less than 5 percent of the world’s population but almost a quarter of its prisoners." Land of the Free. Land of the Wiretap. Land where we came up with "Enemy Combatants" and began deciding that we don't really hold any truths to be self-evident if there is a no-bid contract involved.
3. " It is past time for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the campaign’s negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election." To say nothing of the country that has been mired in a foreign occupation its populace doesn't understand but finally gets the picture that we truly messed up looking for revenge. For the 3 misguided conservatives that thought Saddam had to go, I suggest you look at our history, namely the Shah of Iran and General Pinochet.
and finally:
"The Supreme Court has repeatedly ignored the barbaric history of the death penalty."
Barbarians. A civilization is measured by its compassion -- where is the clause in Intelligent Design that allows us to stop moving towards it?

Forbidden Kingdom

"Forbidden Kingdom" is a great movie for 8-13 year old kids. I mean that in the same sense that the late 60's early 70's Tarzan films helped cultivate a sense of wonder in yours truly...
The things we know:
This is a Hollywood Film
Jackie Chan and Jet Li are the pull
The adolescent American boy is the viewer connection
Every die hard Fan Boy will be disappointed, as they haven't been 8-13 for at least a decade, and take this stuff way too seriously -- stick to your Tarantino filters guys!
This movie also has the guy who guarded the Oracle in Matrix 2, Collin Chou as the "sinister immortal tyrant".
There is terrific wire action throughout courtesy of Woo Ping Yuen, and even an explicit homage to the "Bride with White Hair".
My belated review of this does see the film as being accepted by the mainstream if not the critics, which I can only hope translates to more Kung Fu films making it in alongside the deluge of "Male Chick Flick" comedy-romances. It appears that acceptance is all about the subtitles, or lack thereof.
On a side note, it is great to see the foreign stars, in addition to being in top physical shape, learn English. It is a darn shame to read mean reviews by critics here in the United States making fun of Jackie Chan and Jet Li's accents. Nationalism is ugly wherever it rears its head, and the ugliness of English Only needs to go away.
During my time in the military I had a Dutch friend who translated German for me, which means he spoke Dutch, German and English, at least. The closest we get seems to be JFK calling himself a Berliner.

Recommended

Black Book

"Black Book" is Verhoeven's "Lust, Caution", but this review is not going to be a side by side comparison! Suffice to say you must see them both, if only for the differences in geography..
"Black Book" is on the surface an espionage thriller set in WWII. Underneath that is a desire to see people as they can be under duress, and the ugliness of human shortsightedness. Somehow I can see Nicole Kidman's character in that Lars Von Trier meta-movie in the tenacity of the female lead in this film. Both actresses throw their all into the roll and I am not talking just about the bodice shedding without body-doubles.
"Schindler's List" shared some of this movies narrative, in a darker more bleak style..so here we are, talking about Spielberg, Ang Lee and Paul "Robocop" Verhoeven in the same review. All three directors took chances with their respective films, all three succeeded artistically if not commercially for their efforts. We win too.
Recommended.

Appleseed Ex Machina

Appleseed Ex Machina is apparently part 3 of the Appleseed Saga...but I don't think it is necessary to start at the beginning on this one. John Woo was one of the producers on this, so you can bet it is a slow, languid float down a river of sadness...
Or you can watch cyborg on cyborg gun ballet with some cool matrixized camera not because they have to, but because they can!
The story is another post apocalypse that hasn't decayed infrastructure-wise but is suffering the moral rot that seems to grip even the cyborg and genetically enhanced citizens of this computer controlled city.
Akufen is on the soundtrack again, who would have guessed glitch was the music of action?
Recommended!

RIP Arthur C Clarke

Childhood's End
Islands In the Sky
2001
Rendezvous with Rama

These are some of his novels that brought joy to my mind way back in the days before things got hectic. More than that they shaped my worldview into something a little more hopeful. Special 2001 showing on movie night this week.
He will be missed.