Saturday, February 27, 2010

Crazy Heart, 2009

Director: Scott Cooper
Awards --Bridges is nominated for best actor--time will tell if he wins 
Starring:  Jeff Bridges; Maggie Gyllenhaal; Robert Duvall; Colin Farrell

sez says--well this is about the 100th remake of this story... poor old talented fella is a boozer--his talent stays in tack but his life is a wreck. Then a pretty young woman falls in love with him and he has incentive to turn his life around--but only after a serious betrayal of her trust...etc .. ect .. Why would any beautiful young woman be interested in a falling apart old drunk man, even if he writes great songs? Ya just gotta wonder about the fantasy life if some old men.  And, certainly Bridges has taken this old horse and gotten it up on its feet with a fine acting job--and he is surrounded with other strong actors..and the landscape is very pretty..and the photography is well done --esp all the close ups  But I've seen this story too many times  GRADE C+

ADIEU MÈRES / GOODBYE MOTHERS, 2007

Director: Mohamed Ismail
Starring:
From MORROCCO

sez says: what an important story to tell. The Jews of Morocco, some of whom had lived in that country for generations, left in mass, for Israel, after WW2.   The sadness, and the loss of this exodus is well presented.  It is not suggested that Morocco was a perfect place to live, the economy was not strong, there was some tension between the Jews and Arabs--the flames of which were fanned by both sides.  But there were other close relations between Jews and Arabs--there was the growing hope of an upcoming generation that could put divisions aside, and it was true home to the Jewish community and people had strong ties to each other. Their leaving caused a separation that ripped into the fabric of this society and cause billows of hurt and sorrow. This is a film to see and one that is likely to make you want to know more about this piece of history, esp given the problems the world has seen following the establishment of Israel. GRADE B

SEX, OKRA AND SALTED BUTTER, 2008

Director: Mahamat-Saleh HarounStarring:  to fill is
From: France / Chad

sez says: this was a delightful story about an immigrant family. Malik, the traditional family patriarch and now expatriate living in France is lost when his younger wife, Hortense, leaves him --and their two young children--to go off with a man she has fallen in love with, and with whom she has a fabulous sex life.  Back home Malik hasn't a clue how to run the house, and he seems not to realize the woman down the hall, Mrs M..., has an active fantasy life about him.  He turns for help to his older son -- whom he discovers is gay.  Meanwhile his gay son brings a lost, homeless waif of a woman home for dad to shelter then discovers she is pregnant and the baby's father is AWOL.   This sweet comedy slips and slides along with plenty of giggles and smiles.  What I loved best is that there was not a single bad person in the story.  There were plenty of tangles and misunderstandings and  silly behaviors --but everyone was just trying to make their way in the world. Good solid acting too.  While it does not qualify as a fabulous film it is a well done pleasure and certainly worth seeing.   GRADE B-

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Russian Ark, 2002

Aleksandr Sokurov
RUSSIAN FILM
Awards? none that I know of -- but there is an interesting article about the Director in a recent (early 2010) "NY Review of Books" that is worth reading
Starring: -- a cast of 2000 --or so the  publicity says

sez says -- yawn --other than the fact that he did it in one-shot, with a hand held camera, it held my interest for about 10 minutes--then I watched it only to see if the camera would blink. It didn't. It really is all in one shot--which gives it a dream like quality.  But a walking tour of the Hermitage, with a not so creative script for a  ghostly narrator (where am I, what year is this, don't you recognize the Czar, why am I speaking Russian, I don't know Russian, why is there so much European Art in Russia..etc)  just doesn't get me to sit forward in my chair.  The costumes were elaborate -- the architecture is impressive, the idea is sort of interesting--but the product just didn't fly. GRADE D

Friday, February 19, 2010

Divizionz, 2007

Directors: Yes! That’s Us.
Written And Produced By Donald Mugisha And James Tayler
Starring: Kapo - Kyagulanyi “Bobi Wine” Ssentamu; Bana - Bugembe “Buchaman” Mark; Kanyankole - Catherine “Scarlet” Nakyanzi; Mulokole - Olem ‘Lot’ Bonny; The Boda Boda Man - Katsigire Patrick
 From Uganda

sez says:  If you want a tour of Kampala, Uganda -- from the slums to the nightclubs--with some busy lively streets along the way, this is your opportunity. While the actors are talented the city is a shinning star in this tale.  You never get tired of the landscape, the architecture, the goings-on around the action.  Hand held camera's provide intimacy and a sense of being in the moment with our troop of would be music stars. The imagery is stylish and enough alone to hold your interest.

Meanwhile: The friction between members of the group is over done. The point is ground into the story and fills every scene like the dust in the streets along which we  follow this troop.  But the point is clear--old hostilities between peoples are alive and kickin --and they are doing great harm.

There are major problem however. First it needs more editing. There are too many shots that do no add to the story.  The footage is strong -- but some of it needs to go, to keep the story moving.  Next, the subtitles flash by so fast that it is nearly impossible to read them. Mix that problem with the fact that the story is not presented early on in the film, so the audience has to struggle to understand from what these people are up to: What are they trying to accomplished; what are the barriers to accomplishing their goals; and what finally happened to the woman who was in the group? (some closure is needed on that question.)

Possibly for those who do not have to rely on the subtitles all of this is explained. But none of it is apparent if you do have to rely on the subtitles. You are left trying to fill-in the story line on your own--which can be done--but it shouldn't be necessary.  So a stronger story board, better subtitles and--a lot more editing and you've got the possibility of having a hip intro to a part of the world that is invisible to most of us..and which many of us would like to know about. But as is GRADE C-

A Dios Momo, 2006

Directed by Leonardo Ricagni
Starring: Mathias Acuña, Jorge Esmoris, Washington Luna
 From Uruguay

sez says:  Please, someone edit this into a watchable version.    It has lovely visuals, and I can understand that it could be hard to decide which parts to cut--but cuts need to be made.  It is too long for the subject matter: Toward the end there were at least a half dozen (maybe more) perfectly good places to stop--but it just kept going on. At our screening a whole group got up and left about 10 minutes before the film ended.  The story was done, but the movie wouldn't stop. 

Te story is slight, yet one we all applaud. The child does not want to go to school.  All the adults in his life keep telling him he must. And seeing a community of people surround and offer love to this child is an encouraging example of how if each person in a community does their little bit to help each other, all of us will benefit esp the most vulnerable.   This does not create any dramatic tension but the story is done with much creative abandon and beauty so it is not unpleasant to watch....until it doesn't stop.  Then you start feeling like it isn't worth the time.

And, buy the way, the acting is also great. Mathias Acuna in particular is a delightful young actor full of grace and personality. GRADE C- (with proper editing the grade could go way up).

Saturday, February 13, 2010

No Time For the Truth, 2008

Director: John Kani
From South Africa
Starring: John Kani; Rosie Motene; Motshabi Tyelele

sez says: what an insightful and well told story.  It tells about the need to expand the realm of  the process set in motion by South Africa's  'truth commission' / that is, the reconciliation process that South Africa has given the world as an example of  how we can and we must act if we are to find solutions to the world's problems.   White South Africans who had participated in the apartheid government and who has committed atrocities had to come forward and tell what they had done under the oppressive white regime.  It was only after telling the truth, so that the truth could be known, and could always be remembered, that they could receive amnesty for their acts.  Well, according to this story, there were truths that need  to be told by some of the struggle's heroes. ANC members also committed acts that harmed the people: sleeping with people's wives; accepting $ to live on that they did not earn and that others worked hard for and who then got no credit for their efforts; engaging in corrupt actions after taking the reins of leadership in the country;  or not returning to South Africa to help with the hard work of rebuilding the country but staying in their new homes where life was easier.  These, and other action too are things in need of truth telling and reconciliation.  Not a masterpiece but a good strong story well told and well worth seeing.  GRADE B-

WRESTLING GROUNDS, 2006

Directed by Cheikh A. Ndiaye From Senegal
Starring: / don't know their names

sez says: What a mixed bag we have here!  This film was running parallel srories 1) about a street kid who had made many bad mistakes but who looked like he was trying to get his life together and 2) a wealthy young man who discovers Wrestling and embraces it as a way to find his manhood and to engage the traditional culture of his people.  The structure seemed to suggest that some events or another would bring these two young men together ... but that isn't what happened.  Indeed, it is not clear what happened. The two stores went along for awhile --but then a lot of extraneous events started happening --the connection of some event to the story as a whole was not at all clear...and finally..after the 'big event'  the loser seems happier than the winner and you can only guess why that is the case (maybe it is that participation -- not the winning or losing -- is what matters. That is my guess as to what the point is suppose to be - but it is only a guess)  And at the end the street kid is chased down the street for having won a bet .. but it seemed that is an earlier scene that he had promised his girlfriend that he would change his bet.  Regardless, it certainly didn't wrap up his part of the story.   Confusion was the end result of watching this movie --and yet, as off-putting as that sounds, I am still delighted to have seen the film-- it is full of beautiful, really really beautiful young men (it is nothing if it is not homoerotic) and it provides a look at Senegal which is not something you gt to see very often. And the acting was quite good. But not to be too cheerful about those aspects it should also be mentioned that the film is sometimes too dark to make out individuals and the depiction of women is abysmal. GRADE D+

Thursday, February 11, 2010

The Day the Earth Stood Still, 2008

Director: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, John Cleese

sez says: this movie deserved all of the bad review it got.  It is really dumb.  The original 1951 version is worthy of being called a classic--for reasons I won't go into here. But this 'new ' version is a sorry mess.  Here come the 'men from outer space' to save the earth from the bad humans. The pseudo-human-space-man-agent and his minions do things like: raise people from the dead; bring on a storm of tiny metal locust; walks on water, sends ships to earth to remove two of every species so they can be saved  and transplanted back on earth when the bad humans are gone; ....does this sound familiar.  Arks, miracles, even a virgin birth--and YES this humanoid (JC) even gives his life to save the people (at least they didn't put him on a cross.)  What a bizarre distortion of Bible Stories and what a pathetic script "But we CAN change" pleads Connlley, over and over--till at last Keanu believes her becasue he can see she really and truly loves her step-son.  Call that drama if you want, but I don't. It's just waste material. GRADE D-

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Up in the Air, 2009

Director: Jason Reitman
Awards: lots of nominations--not yet determined
Starring: George Clooney; Vera Farmiga; Anna Kendrick
IMDB Link:  Up in the Air

sez says: I just love watching George Clooney (me along with all the women I know) so can I be critical of his movies...probably not.  But he chooses good stories -- uplifting questions about human behavior, and values, and he does not insist on being the hero of the story (like John Wayne and his ilk are reported to have done).  This is a case in point.  He plays a man who believes--and who promotes--that all belongings and all relationships are nothing but a drag on an individual-- and that you should relieve yourself of anything that weighs you down. All you have to do is see his apartment--a sterile empty place--to get an idea of what his philosophy leads to. So, you can guess that the story is about his coming to face the consequences of his philosophy. Not profound, but entertaining. The photography of cities and countryside taken from the air are really wonderful --you'll want to see these in a real movie theater.  GRADE B-

mjc says:  what's not to like about this one; I guess I just like to sit and enjoy a well told story with smooth acting paving the way.  It is hard to surprise me in a movie, not because I am so intuitive, but because I've seen so many, so the plot stuff went as expected, but Clooney is so good at letting you into the scene and making you comfortable in your suspension of disbelief that it is pure pleasure.   GRADE B-

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The Secret Life of Bees, 2008

Director: Gina Prince-Blythewood
Starring:  Dakota Fanning; Queen Latifha; Jennifer Hudson; Tristan Wilds; Alicia Keys
IMDB Link: The Secret Life of Bees

sez says: I read the book, so I wanted to see the movie. The story stayed close to the book. Some of the sets were a little over the top pretty; having too much sunshine shining through the trees, etc, and looking like a Kincaid painting. Enough already, we can stand nature in the buff--it doesn't have to be decorated.  But I did enjoy the costumes (real 1964 fashion).  This is a romantic tale with a serious personal drama set inside it.  It is weepy / feel good story and it turns the tables on the old tale of the liberal white folks who stand up for some down trodden 'negro'.  Here the black community, and in particular black women, hold up the universe--having humanity and wisdom by the bushel and being willing to share it. Add to that strong all around acting.  And you have an easy to watch movie.  No, it is not profound. It is not a masterpiece. It is just a good story --and, I am sorry to say, one a lot of people really ought to see--esp the ones stuck back there wrapped in white liberal pride for 'helping' the black folks.   It is way over due for there to be some stories that there are plenty of black folks who do just fine, thank you, and who in fact can, as often as not, do what needs to be done better than whites.  GRADE C

mjc says:   I didn't read the book, so I don't know its connections to the movie.  I thought it was a way into the racial history of the time for those who don't know much about what was happening at the time of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  So that is a good thing, though I'm not sure who will watch it except the "choir" to whom it preaches.  Nevertheless, a worthwhile project by all means.  GRADE B+