2 Paws
Seen recently at the Dundee Theatre (still musty, still open)
This is what happens when mean girls grow up.
Kristin Scott Thomas (Christine) and Ludivine Sagnier (Isabelle Guerin) are quite a pair - not exactly BFF material. We're not given any idea why Christine is the way she is, although judging by her clothes, her car and her crib, she's used it to her economic advantage. In contrast to Christine, we get some sense that Isabelle's behavior stems from her upbringing or an undiagnosed mental illness - most people don't gather up and rinse out their breakfast dishes in precisely the same pattern of movement day after day.
This is an odd little film - the absence of a soundtrack for most of the 104-minute running time is unnerving, and the corporate world that writer/director Alain Corneau has created is just plain strange - what the hell do these people do for a living?
It kept my attention, though, and now I've got some great tips on how to deal with an evil boss.
Bonus Bones: 0
Not a chien to be seen.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
The Ides of March
1.5 Paws
Seen recently at Aksarben Cinema
An A-list cast does not an A-list movie make.
History is filled with good political drama (Munich, Three Days of the Condor, name your favorite here), and although The Ides of March looks and sounds like a good one (they got the cinematography right), it's just not. The problem? The script. Maybe it's just me, but I'm tired of Hollywood's portrayal of women on screen. In Ides, you're either a doting sap (Jennifer Ehle's Connie Morris), a hooker with a heart of gold (Evan Rachel Wood's Molly Stearns) or a harpie shrew (Marisa Tomei's Ida Horowicz).
We all know power corrupts the well meaning as well as the weak. You don't have to be a Washington insider to experience it - just watch politics at the local level. So, writer/director George Clooney, if you're not going to reveal some new truths, at least give us a plot line that's worth our ticket investment, plus popcorn.
Bonus Bones: 0
The campaign trail is no place for the furry and four-legged.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Moneyball
2 Paws
Seen recently at Aksarben Cinema
When did Brad Pitt turn into Robert Redford?
I'm not obsessed with Mr. Jolie and his brood (although it seems many are), so I don't track his every move. Thinking back, the last film I really liked him in was 1992's A River Runs Through It, which was directed by - hmmmm - Robert Redford.
As baseball gm Billy Beane, Pitt's contemplative moments on screen - especially when he looks to the side - are quintessential Redford (think Three Days of the Condor or Jeremiah Johnson). I was so distracted by the similarity that it interfered with my enjoyment of the film, which tells a great story and features a sweet performance by Kerris Dorsey (Casey Beane).
If I were calling it from behind the plate: the lame performances by the veteran scouting squad, strike one; the flashback overkill (we get it, already), strike two; and that damn visor, strike three.
Bonus Bones: 0
We're in the midst of a dog drought re: recent releases. I may have to settle for a tailless dolphin if things don't change soon.
Seen recently at Aksarben Cinema
When did Brad Pitt turn into Robert Redford?
I'm not obsessed with Mr. Jolie and his brood (although it seems many are), so I don't track his every move. Thinking back, the last film I really liked him in was 1992's A River Runs Through It, which was directed by - hmmmm - Robert Redford.
As baseball gm Billy Beane, Pitt's contemplative moments on screen - especially when he looks to the side - are quintessential Redford (think Three Days of the Condor or Jeremiah Johnson). I was so distracted by the similarity that it interfered with my enjoyment of the film, which tells a great story and features a sweet performance by Kerris Dorsey (Casey Beane).
If I were calling it from behind the plate: the lame performances by the veteran scouting squad, strike one; the flashback overkill (we get it, already), strike two; and that damn visor, strike three.
Bonus Bones: 0
We're in the midst of a dog drought re: recent releases. I may have to settle for a tailless dolphin if things don't change soon.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Drive
2.5 Paws
Seen recently at Aksarben Cinema
I loved the Eighties. I had big hair (my bangs barely cleared the interior roof of any car), I cut the crap out of my sweatshirts, and I saw Flashdance multiple times during its 1983 run.
Judging from the Risky Business-like feel of the opening sequence, the hot pink type font of the credits and the quilted satin jacket worn by Ryan Gosling's nameless character, director Nicolas Winding Refn is also a fan. He also likes spare dialogue, gruesome violence (beware the elevator scene) and casting actors against type.
I loved seeing the always cuddly Albert Brooks (spoiler alert) stab some street garbage in a particularly sensitive body part - in a pizza joint, no less. I also loved the duality of Gosling's driver. He was both touching and creepy - a rather unsettling mix of emotions, which makes watching what he does all the more compelling.
I hope he decides to keep acting a bit longer, despite his comments to the contrary.
Bonus Bones: 0
No dogs - not even a single mutt with a brief cameo - in this Hollywood tale of woe.
Seen recently at Aksarben Cinema
I loved the Eighties. I had big hair (my bangs barely cleared the interior roof of any car), I cut the crap out of my sweatshirts, and I saw Flashdance multiple times during its 1983 run.
Judging from the Risky Business-like feel of the opening sequence, the hot pink type font of the credits and the quilted satin jacket worn by Ryan Gosling's nameless character, director Nicolas Winding Refn is also a fan. He also likes spare dialogue, gruesome violence (beware the elevator scene) and casting actors against type.
I loved seeing the always cuddly Albert Brooks (spoiler alert) stab some street garbage in a particularly sensitive body part - in a pizza joint, no less. I also loved the duality of Gosling's driver. He was both touching and creepy - a rather unsettling mix of emotions, which makes watching what he does all the more compelling.
I hope he decides to keep acting a bit longer, despite his comments to the contrary.
Bonus Bones: 0
No dogs - not even a single mutt with a brief cameo - in this Hollywood tale of woe.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Point Blank
2.5 Paws
Seen recently at Film Streams
If you have asthma, you might want to skip this one.
It's just plain hard to catch your breath from the get-go. We're barely introduced to Samuel Pierret (played with ferocity by Gilles Lellouche) before he's plunged into a bizarre scenario reminiscent of the mess Harrison Ford's Dr. Richard Kimble found himself in in the 1993 version of The Fugitive.
Paris may be the city of light, but director Fred Cavaye purposely turned it off, creating a gray and grimy city that serves as the perfect backdrop for the film's rotten apple storyline. The acting was solid across the board, especially the muted performance turned in by Roschdy Zem, the film's 'good' bad guy. And, just when you think it's over, there's a skosh more to come, which makes for a very satisfying ending.
As my husband says every time we see a good foreign film with mass market potential: "I wonder who'll be cast in the American version."
Bonus Bones: 0
No police dogs, no dogs lounging underneath tables in sidewalk cafes while their owners sip between ciggie puffs - no dogs.
Seen recently at Film Streams
If you have asthma, you might want to skip this one.
It's just plain hard to catch your breath from the get-go. We're barely introduced to Samuel Pierret (played with ferocity by Gilles Lellouche) before he's plunged into a bizarre scenario reminiscent of the mess Harrison Ford's Dr. Richard Kimble found himself in in the 1993 version of The Fugitive.
Paris may be the city of light, but director Fred Cavaye purposely turned it off, creating a gray and grimy city that serves as the perfect backdrop for the film's rotten apple storyline. The acting was solid across the board, especially the muted performance turned in by Roschdy Zem, the film's 'good' bad guy. And, just when you think it's over, there's a skosh more to come, which makes for a very satisfying ending.
As my husband says every time we see a good foreign film with mass market potential: "I wonder who'll be cast in the American version."
Bonus Bones: 0
No police dogs, no dogs lounging underneath tables in sidewalk cafes while their owners sip between ciggie puffs - no dogs.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The Debt
1.5 Paws
Seen recently at Aksarben Cinema
The queen has no clothes.
Don't be lured, as I was, into thinking this film was going to be a top-notch thrill ride based on the acting chops of its two supposed leads (bait and switch, by the way) - Oscar winner Helen Mirren (Rachel Singer) and Oscar nominee Tom Wilkinson (Stephan Gold).
Wilkinson is a no show, and Mirren's accent flickers in and out like your car radio on a drive through western Nebraska. The only nice thing I can say about Mirren's Singer is that she wears her scar well.
There were a few bright spots - the mod squad clothing of 1960s East Berlin during the flashback sequences and the performances of Marton Csokas (young Stephan Gold) and Jesper Christensen (Doktor Bernhardt/Dieter Vogel). Csokas is intense and appealing on screen - I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of him in the future. And you can't get any creepier than Christensen's version of a Nazi war criminal - I hope his grandkids don't watch this one.
Bonus Bones: 0
No dogs, which is just as well - they probably would have been shot or stabbed.
Seen recently at Aksarben Cinema
The queen has no clothes.
Don't be lured, as I was, into thinking this film was going to be a top-notch thrill ride based on the acting chops of its two supposed leads (bait and switch, by the way) - Oscar winner Helen Mirren (Rachel Singer) and Oscar nominee Tom Wilkinson (Stephan Gold).
Wilkinson is a no show, and Mirren's accent flickers in and out like your car radio on a drive through western Nebraska. The only nice thing I can say about Mirren's Singer is that she wears her scar well.
There were a few bright spots - the mod squad clothing of 1960s East Berlin during the flashback sequences and the performances of Marton Csokas (young Stephan Gold) and Jesper Christensen (Doktor Bernhardt/Dieter Vogel). Csokas is intense and appealing on screen - I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of him in the future. And you can't get any creepier than Christensen's version of a Nazi war criminal - I hope his grandkids don't watch this one.
Bonus Bones: 0
No dogs, which is just as well - they probably would have been shot or stabbed.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life
3 Paws
Seen recently at the Film Forum, NYC
I, being the unsophisticate that I am, had no idea who French singer Serge Gainsbourg was before I took my seat in one of the musty theaters at the Film Forum, one of New York City's shrines to independent cinema (they get extra bonus points for selling T-shirts with dogs on them - I bought one, of course).
Turns out it didn't matter. I was captivated (although at times confused) from beginning to end. I normally wouldn't recommend slightly sinister muppet-like creatures as plot devices, but they worked in this case. I was immediately won over by the irrepressible charm of Kacey Mottet Klein, who played a young Lucien Ginsburg before time and circumstance changed his name.
The charm faded as the character aged on screen. By the end of the film, I felt nothing but sadness for the man the little pistol had become. If despair truly fuels the creative process, the artist had more than his fair share of raw material.
Bonus Bones: 20
Aaaaaah the French. There were four - count 'em four - dogs in this one. One of them even had his own death scene.
Turns out it didn't matter. I was captivated (although at times confused) from beginning to end. I normally wouldn't recommend slightly sinister muppet-like creatures as plot devices, but they worked in this case. I was immediately won over by the irrepressible charm of Kacey Mottet Klein, who played a young Lucien Ginsburg before time and circumstance changed his name.
The charm faded as the character aged on screen. By the end of the film, I felt nothing but sadness for the man the little pistol had become. If despair truly fuels the creative process, the artist had more than his fair share of raw material.
Bonus Bones: 20
Aaaaaah the French. There were four - count 'em four - dogs in this one. One of them even had his own death scene.
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