Hey folks, Harry here with a look at a pair of films from Warren Peace... he's one of my all time fave spy names... Check these em reviews out!
Hey Harry,
I saw two more good movies last night. Here are
my reviews:
NOVOCAINE
Wow, this is a really fun movie. Steve Martin plays Frank Sangster, a
dentist who lives a happy life, running a well-ordered practice with the
help of Jean (Laura Dern), his head assistant/fiancé. One day, his world is
turned upside down with the arrival of Susan Ivy (Helena Bonham Carter, in
full Marla Singer mode), a pretty young patient who seduces him, then draws
him into a world of drugs, sex, murder, and betrayal. There are tons of
twists and turns in the plot, but it would be criminal to reveal even the
most preliminary ones. All the performances are very good, although Laura
Dern overacts a bit, and Scott Caan doesn't do much to expand on his 'crazy,
violent young guy' persona. Danny Elfman's score is good, although there
are some offputting heavy metal bits mixed into his usual moody music. What
really made this movie good for me, though, were the hilarious little
details, stuff like a grotesquely smiling bunny, Steve Martin's dental
philosophizing, obese foreplay, and an appearance by Kevin Bacon that
belongs up there with Charlie Sheen's BEING JOHN MALKOVICH appearance in the
canon of great cameos. Lots of fun.
AMERICA SO BEAUTIFUL
As an aspiring filmmaker (although I've done nothing to further myself toward that goal), this is the kind of movie that most encourages me. This is the kind of movie I want to make, stuff that is very personal, about people's lives and relationships. I was blown away by what an amazing job this first-time filmmaker and mostly first-time actors were able to accomplish, creating such fully believable characters and settings, having conversations and doing things that real people would do. The film follows a group of Iranian immigrants living in Los Angeles during the first week of the hostage crisis in 1979. Houshang is trying to get involved in managing a nightclub, but having no money, he must get his friends to invest. A friend of his (I don't remember his name) is a taxi driver who originally came to America to study medicine but now just wants to make enough money to return home to Iran. Habid owns the market where Houshang works, and he just wants to live happily in America. We see them interact with each other and other family and friends, and it is all realistic, a slice of life. There are no overblown performances, no forced confrontations, just stuff that you would expect to happen. They all have their own problems to overcome, but as the week progresses, we see how the hostage situation affects them. People begin looking at them with fear and distrust, as outsiders, a possible threat. This is all downplayed though, kind of like how Spike Lee treated the Son of Sam murders in SUMMER OF SAM. It affects the characters, but not directly, staying almost completely in the background. This story is not about the hostage crisis, it is about these people's lives, which happen to be affected by the crisis. Overall this is such an amazing work, with so much heart and soul poured into it that I'll remember it as a great influence on my own future work (if that ever happens).
I should also mention that I saw a really good short film called FRANK'S BOOK, which starred John C. Reilly as an office drone obsessed with his blank notebook, dreaming of the fame and fortune that writing in it could bring him. It was really funny, and there was a cameo (if you can have such a thing in a short film) by Tenacious D!
Ok, that's it. Tonight I'm seeing THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE, and probably something else too. I'll tell you all about it. Take it easy!
WarrenPeace
