smiley_b81 Reviews

Camille Claudel 1915 (2013)

Best Foreign film of 2013

[9/10 · 8 April 2014]

Bruno Dumont's "Camille Claudel 1915" is 2013's undiscovered masterpiece. The film is a perfect marriage of a director's austere vision and actress showcase with Juliette Binoche's raw, poetic portrayal of the great French sculptress, middle-aged and institutionalized in an asylum ran by nuns.

Paranoid over her once illicit relationship with famed sculpture Auguste Rodin (she insists she cook her own food out of fear of being poisoned), its painfully obvious that Claudel's shifty, manic (but still very conscious) mind has perhaps stymied her gift for good. In one remarkable scene, Camille picks up a patch of dirt with the thickness of clay, and hearing the birds chirp in a tree, she tries to sculpt a sparrow and the earth just slips through the cracks of her fingers. Binoche makes it heartbreaking.

Dumont has made his art-house rep blending the rigid formal constraints of his grand forefather Robert Bresson with elements of the French Extreme cinema that emerged in the late 90's. In his films like "29 Palms" and "Flanders", behavior, often savage, is there to be observed not explained, and psychology is to be revoked. In the end we have actions, not characters. Not true in "Camille Claudel 1915". Bresson is very much there, but there is a bit of a Bergman and a Dreyer influence as well in its seeming religious objectivity (Dumont proves an expert of the pained close-up). We become familiar with Camille's day to day existence on the inside and out, and sensitive toward those 'truly' mentally ill that surround her.

The compassion and care of the nuns in the asylum toward the inhabitants is contrary to the fundamentalist extremism of Camille's brother Paul, the man responsible for her imprisonment. The film's only shocking moment comes when he explains to the asylum's priest that he became a Christian after being inspired by the poetry of Rimbaud, as we know Rimbaud's life and art was far more blasphemous than Claudel's.

Although more accessible than his previous work, Dumont's film will bore many viewers. Nowhere is it entertaining in any traditional Americanized sense. But anyone whose already familiar with Dumont, anyone that's felt levitated by Dreyer, Bresson or Bergman, anyone whose been a fan of Binoche and her acting, will be moved by this film as I was.

The Immigrant (2013)

Should have gotten Oscar contention..and Jeremy Renner just kills it!

[8/10 · 23 March 2014]

"The Immigrant", James Gray's newest film, while retaining some of the gritty dark-crime dramatics of his previous work, feels like a radical departure. Mainly because its an Ellis Island-era period movie set 100 years ago, and because its observed through the eyes of a female protagonist and her struggle against permanent blight and the inherent depression of the situational times.

Fleeing the brutalities of Trotsky's Red Army, Polish Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and her sickly sister arrive in New York cira 1920. When her sister is quarantined and both are threatened with deportation, Ewa is taken notice and saved by the faux-sensitive brothell pimp Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix) and blackmailed into prostitution. Just when Ewa may succumb to the sort of drab, bleak life that she was trying to allude, Bruno's cousin Orlando the Magician (Jeremy Renner) shows up and both men via their own quirky methods try to light a fire in the heart of the pretty foreigner.

In her best part since "Rust and Bone", Cotillard is Oscar worthy in a showy albeit poetic performance (made all the more impressive that she speaks Polish throughout most of it). Phoenix is superb as usual, as the repressed and impotent man who wants to think he's in charge. But Renner steals the show. Right when you think the movie is going to slide under the weight of the misery of its subject, his Orlando appears like a glowing gaslight of fun amongst the dim rooms and crowded corridors. Like his work in "American Hustle", its criminal that his spritely performance here will go unrewarded and under the radar.

Although the universal tale of Gray's film isn't exactly something we haven't seen before (from Kazan's bold "America, America" to Ron Howard's putrid "Far and Away") "The Immigrant" presents a rare and thoughtful experience, one in which we can learn something about the lives of long ago as well as our own.

Red Hook Summer (2012)

Its got serious flaws but....

[16 September 2012]

...Clarke Peters (Freemon from HBO's "The Wire") should get an Oscar nomination for this. His performance is at once over-the-top and understated as a Brooklyn pastor who seemingly is a righteous pillar of a community that continues to wane under material violence and generational malaise. However this 'man-of-black-jesus' is hiding a terrifying secret that lifts what is at first another half-cliché movie about coming-of-age into unexpected darker and deeper territory. It makes "Red Hook Summer" into a risky, uncomfortable film and a film quite necessary in this day and age when institutions will blanket even the sickest of monsters to save their own public rep (I won't get more specific, but the contemporary story I'm alluding to concerns a man who's last name rhymes with 'Sam Clusky'). Aside from Peters, the film is worth watching for the loving touches Spike Lee brings to the setting. The music (by Bruce Hornsby), design and photography perfectly capture Brooklyn in the summertime in the same way "Crooklyn" did. Although Lee's approach, which here resembles Cassavettes at times, will upset some due to the obvious shot-on-the-fly-digital look and the after-mentioned below-par performances of the child actors.

Rachel Getting Married (2008)

Demme marries himself

[13 November 2008]

An illuminating sadness punctuates the pauses of a festive worldly gathering in Jonathan Demme's "Rachel Getting Married", a cinematic tour-De-force that throws itself into the Oscar game from far left field. It's the best and most fulfilling film I've seen at the movies this year so far.

The plot is simple. Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt), the oldest, most idolesque of the children in her family, is getting married. For the occasion her troubled younger sister Kym (Anne Hathaway) is given a weekend pass from rehab to attend the ceremony. Rachel and Kym, a former model and certified drama queen, tackle and tumble for the spotlight, only to reopen deep wounds and a tragic family history.

I know, your probably going "I've seen it before. It was only last year. But it was called "Margot At the Wedding", and it really wasn't all that good!" And you might be right about obvious plot similarities, but you'd be neglecting one fact that excludes every like minded movie done before it: this is unmistakably a Demme picture.

After a decade spent swimming around mostly in music documentaries ("Heart of Gold", "Storefront Hitchcock"), Demme marries his on-the-fly live-concert approach with the sharp focus on human character that's been the bold definition of his work since "Melvin and Howard". Scenes grab for melancholy and laughs in the same breath. Music is a counterpoint to Kym's downward spiral, and Oscar nominated legends like Debra Winger share the screen with old Demme buddies Robyn Hitchcock, Sister Carol East, and Tunde Adebimpe from TV on The Radio.

Like "Beloved", "Silence of The Lambs", and "Philadelphia", this film is a veritable acting powerhouse. Everything you've heard about Anne Hathaway's performance as Kym is true. Her well-crafted train wreck is heading straight for an Oscar nomination. Although Winger's screen time is short, her performance as Kym's mother, a woman grown frozen with rage and denial, deserves a supporting nom, just for a baity cat-fight scene with Hathaway alone. She brings an epic fiery resentment to the picture at just the right moment, and her aged-sexiness make her totally believable as this girl's mother.

But the film's biggest surprises are the unknowns: TV actress DeWitt and stage actor Bill Irwin, as Kym's sensitive father Paul. Both deliver subtle work, steady ballasts to the volatility of mother and black-sheep daughter. DeWitt is superb as the sibling who is willing to overlook the past if her sister might be simply willing to concede for a day (in more ways than one). Irwin is the man who's seemingly recovered, with a beautiful new wife and a home that seems to bristle with unrelenting life, but who still keeps artifacts of the dead unconsciously in full view. A scene between Irwin and Tunde, in which they have a competition to load a dishwasher (!)could be the film's most exciting and devastating moment.

Visually, "Rachel Getting Married" is unlike any Demme film seen before. Working with Jim Sheridan's verite'-trained cinematographer Declann Quinn, Demme constructs an intimately beautiful home video tapestry akin to the Dogme staples "Breaking The Waves" and "The Celebration", as much to the films of Robert Altman. Conversations bob and weave into one another in a sort of gritty poetic-realism where sunlight dances with unwanted shadow. And it's the most vibrant film of the year....the music never stops, as Rachel's wedding practically becomes the Jonathan Demme curated Summer Music Fest. (and we're all invited!).

Lastly, we must not forget the film's most sly, important and (seemingly) invisible element, Jenny Lumet's original screenplay. A vital new talent has been born folks, as the woman is blessed with the ear of everyday dialogue and the intrigue and nuance that underlays it. The acting is spectacular, but this script is so strong that I could envision say Natalie Portman and Elizabeth Reaser in the Kym and Rachel roles, and this film might still have equal power. It's just that good.

For my best picture of 2008, this one will be very, very hard to beat. See it while you can!

10/10

Quid Pro Quo (I) (2008)

Fierce, Fearless, Farmiga

[8 September 2008]

I'm not gonna summarize what this film's about (cuz if you got this far you probably know---B.I.I.D.)

What I will say is that the other posters are right, if you like the work of Cronenberg (especially "Crash" and "Dead Ringers"), but are disappointed with the Canadian filmmaker's more recent mainstream forays, you def. need to check this out.

The other reason to see it is Vera Farmiga, an actress who has been working in the shadow of Cate Blanchett for years now, and who here takes on a role that Blanchett wouldn't dare touch.

Underrated.

Postal (2007)

A Bollistic Masterpiece!!!

[1/10 · 23 August 2008]

As a big Uwe fan ("In The Name of the King" is the film the "LOTR" trilogy always wanted to be(!)), I was pleased to see that this auteur can write satire with the best of them, surpassing everyone from Swift to Kubrick with this brilliant skewering of the post-911 world.

You haven't see anything yet until you see the amazingly tender love story Uwe has written for George W. Bush and Osama Bin Laden. Clap as he welcomes back the great Dave Foley (who has been given his finest role here by Uwe (and Lo&Behold, Uwe brings out the artist that always resided within Foley, by encouraging Foley to flop out his tiny penis (!!!). And Mini-Me was as always, simply amazing...he is showstopping as always....(!!!)

Zach Ward is the find of the year (!!!!), a much better actor then Ryan Gosling. In fact (!!!), when I saw this gifted young man appear in frame I said WAAlaaa!!, we have our next Heath Ledger!

But the perfect beyond A-list cast that the great Uwe Boll has assembled doesn't even come close to the man's own genius, which is on full display. I agree that compared to this talented, talented man, people like Micheal Bay and Eli Roth really are F$*k*ng morons who could learn from this man, who has made a work of art much better and sustainable then any of the social-critic, George Clooney bulls#*t that comes out every weekend.

Moulin Rouge! (2001)

A Pepsi Commercial Sandwiched between Unimaginative Music.

[13 February 2002]

The fact that this materialistic, fabricated formulation is on the greatest movies of all time list is simply absurd. Baz Luhrmann has proven himself to be one of the greatest cinematic hack-manipulators in recent Hollywood History. Riding on the banner that Moulin Rouge is a "brave and highly orginal love story that revamps the Musical genre at the same time" pushed even critics to abandon their heads, and ignore the unfeeling and senseless music video direction, and unorginal songs that clashed with the film's setting, timeframe and design. By all means, I'm not trying to sound conservative here, but the fact that is this film is "groundbreaking" on any level is just insipid. IT WAS NOT EVEN THE BEST MUSICAL of the year (and Critics are right, they don't make many). Don't believe me, watch John Cameron Mitchell's "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" which adds real depth, feeling, and patient, calculated and real Direction. Everything that Luhrmann's 130 Minute Music Video lacks (which was also done on a budget 12 times larger than "Hedwig's"). Every song in Mitchell's film is orginal too. Nuff' Said.

Menace II Society (1993)

I'm not a thug, but I Love This Movie

[4 December 2001]

As a white, middle class kid who's never set one foot in California, and as an aspiring film critic who perfers Godard over Spielberg, I thought I'd hate this movie just as much as I loathed the pretentious and self-righteous "Boyz in da Hood". Yet after viewing "From Hell" and being exposed to the Hughes Brothers for the first time, I popped this movie in my DVD playa, and Wham! It pulled me in as soon as the New Line Logo shot up. The movie tells the story of a young Hood-rat named Kaine. Although he's the main character of the story, he's certainly not the movies hero. Kaine might be intelligent (he's a HS graduate), have more moral than some of his friends, and display a degree of loyalty and dignity, but he is also a killer, a thief, a liar and a straight up thug. In short the Hughes paint him as a pure human being and try to avoid the audience from feeling outright empathy toward him. In fact, unlike "Dead Presidents" and "From Hell" every character in "Menace II Society" is so well fleshed out by the acting and the writing that we don't fell any hatred toward anyone (which is rare for a Hood movie). I think O-Dogg is hilarious ("Nigga, you act'in lika little Bitch right now!", "You all up on his Nutsac" etc), and he's clearly a senseless killer who even Kaine distinguishes as "America's Nightmare". And that goes the same for my dawg MC Eiht (A-Wax). All I can say is, if your one of those types who hates Hood movies, hates rap music, and thinks that they are above all cinematic cliches' watch this movie, and you may just fall flat on your ass and change your mind.

In the Bedroom (2001)

One of the best films of the year.

[20 November 2001]

In a Fall film season when the public seems to be ignoring the movies of any importance (The Man Who Wasn't There, Waking Life, Mulholland Drive) and instead opting for Hollywood crack (Harry Potter, Life as a House) it is my hope that Todd Field's sublime first feature will break the cycle. It is a haunting, slow-paced melodrama that draws back to the work of Terrence Malick and Robert Redford (his good directorial work anyway), concerning a older couple, their collegiate son, and the town which consumes their lives (and like the great photography showcases, the area which consumes the town--the Maine sea and woods). Freddy, the couples' son played by Nick Stahl, is seeing an older woman who is going through a difficult divorce settlment with an abusive ex-husband. This situation leads to drastic consequences that stun Fred's parents just as much as it stuns the audience. And that's all I'll reveal. All I can say is what happens next is a revelation in delicate acting by Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacey, keenly observed through a looking glass by Field. The film has much going for it. It triumphed at Sundance this year (believe me..it was the best thing I saw there aside from Linklater's "Life"). It is being released at a time when it is finally safe for distributers like Good Machine (Ang Lee and James Schamus) to release good, uncompromising, complex, and cynical films again, now that the Sept. 11 dust has settled. And at a time when Oscar almost needs to be wakened again. Let "In the Bedroom" be the cold sudden chilly water that pours over his sleeping head.

Blow (2001)

Good but whew, What a rip

[27 September 2001]

This movie is interesting solely on the basis of the acting alone. Depp is intriguing as usual, and Franka Potente is remarkable in her English speaking debut. Yet that alone couldn't stop Ted Demme's highly unoriginal, hack-eyed directing job. Does he have to rip off Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anerson in every scene? Aside from relief aid from the great cinematographer Ellen Kuras (Summer of Sam) the way this movie was made is more stale than a soggy bag of 3 year old kettle chips. My suggestion, Demme gain his own imagination (like his great uncle Jonathan) or go back to making useless comedies starring South Compton gangsta rappers.