Hey folks, a certain snaggletoothed spy decided to swing in the snow of Sundance and partake in the sinema to ruffle the mousy wenches feathers and play dangerous game of Russian Roulette with films. Will it lick your ear or blow your head clean off? Well he got his hands on some damn fine films and manhandles em pretty well... Enjoy...
Hey Harry:
Everyone's favorite swingin' secret agent here. I slipped away from the young Ms. Kensington to enjoy the Sundance film fest for a spell. Some of these films have been reviewed by others, but I thought I'd throw my two cents into the ring, if I might mix a metaphor.
-A.D.Powers
THE MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS
This is the story of a struggling writer (Andy Garcia) who feels badly about not contributing to the support of his family (wife played by Julianna Margulies) and becomes lured into the service of a very high brow male escort service (run by Mick Jagger). While the premise may sound a little corny, the performances and direction make this film really work. Garcia and Jagger give wonderful performances. Olivia Williams (who just makes my goodies tingle, ever since she had the permanently flushed cheeks in Rushmore) and James Coburn are also quite good.
In the Q&A with the director (George Hickenlooper) and writer (Phillip Jayson Lasker) after the screening, they disclosed that they had looked at Dustin Hoffman (who couldn't commit) and Malcom McDowell for the Jagger role and they had Jason Robards signed for the Coburn role, until he pulled out two weeks into principal photography (and of course sadly died later).
PERSONAL VELOCITY
I just heard this got the Dramatic Film and Cinematography award. I must admit to being a little puzzled. Perhaps I am not in the target demographic, and I did appreciate this film on many levels, but did not consider it the top dramatic film. It did, however, make a powerful impression. It was filmed on digital video, which was made to look quite good for DV so I can see the cinematography award.
The film is like three short films, each centered around a main female character: Kyra Segwick, Parker Posey, and Fairuza Balk. The Sedgwick story opens the film and is the most powerful. The Parker Posey story is about the effect of success. Finally the Fairuza Balk story is about coming to terms with life and taking care of one's self. One event shows that the three stories take place concurrently but the characters and their stories do not interact. All the stories show their main charcter making some sort of evolution in their lives. I hate to say that this is a "women's" movie, but the female audience members really seemed to personalize and identify with the main characters on a deeper level.
BLOODY SUNDAY
This film deservedly won the World Cinema award. It is a "docudrama" about the Blood Sunday massacre in Northern Ireland. Like the Mutiny on the Bounty story, there are always two sides to be told, but this film seems to portray a believable view of the circumstances that fateful day.
The film takes its time; only really personalizing a few characters (one is the local MP, played wonderfully by James Nesbitt)out of its large cast while also giving a good overall picture of the mindset and motives of the persons and elements of that day. The camera work is mostly, if not all, handheld and in the Q&A session, the producer (Paul Greengrass) said they used a super sensitive 500 ASA Kodak film stock. It gave the film a wonderful gritty quality and loads of shadow detail. The lighting in all the shots was 100% natural, further contributing to a documentary look.
When asked about how they could justify their portrayal of the film's events, the producer replied that they have has 30 years of ongoing research in N. Ireland and, in fact, the official government inquiry was reopened after the initial inquiry was closed.
PUMPKIN
Is Christina Ricci going after the Reece Witherspoon Legally Blond personal in this film? Well, not quite, but it is certainly not the dark Indie Queen characters from Opposite of Sex or Buffalo 66. Ricci plays a sorority girl who can't cope with having to participate in the sorority's charity for the year: helping the retarded athletes for the "Challenged Games." The film is charmingly un-PC and tongue in cheek, but I can't help thinking that it could have been funnier if the audience was let in on the joke a little earlier in the film. Once it is obvious where the film is coming from, you can sit back and enjoy the often campy humor.
(SPOILER?)
Best shot of the film: The recently dumped tennis star boyfriend, teary eyed, drives a long a twisty road at night at high speed in a black 50's type Rat-Pack kinda car (suicide doors, etc.) and of course, misses a turn and drives off a cliff, whereupon we switch to stock footage of a car coming over the cliff, bursting into flames in the air and crashing into earth. The boyfriend, of course, survives, but is now the cripple to match the boy Ricci's character falls for.
DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTER BOYS
This film portrays four boys in catholic school, who get themselves into trouble in various ways. The character the pic most closely follows has a passion for doodling comic book illustrations, and each of the boys has a comic book superhero incarnation of their own development. The movie is punctuated by several Todd McFarlane animated sequences using these characters that were just plain cool. In the Q&A with the director (Peter Care), this film was supposed to be shown at last year's fest, but the Korean animation files somehow got corrupted. Care said the extra time really helped them make the animation sequences work that much better. Oh yeah, Jodie Foster's in this as a peg legged nun, but is subtle and doesn't force the story to center around her. Jena Malone is awfully cute as the love interest.
CRUSH
Here is a film that will do some good box office as a romantic drama, although certain events in the film may be too dark and unexpected for its 40-something and female target audience. The main reason for this film is Andie MacDowell's presence as on of three self-made, 40-year-old girlfriends in a small hamlet in England. The dialog betweend the girlfriends is the usual sex and relationship talk, but was well received by the audience.
FUBAR
Picture Wayne and Garth, only in real life and you've got FUBAR. FUBAR is filmed in a "mocumentary" style that works well for its subject matter. The audience is told from the beginning about the "mock" part, but many of the people in the film were not told. The film is the story of two Canadian Pilsner-drinking headbangers and the young documentary filmmaker who decides to document their lives. In the Spinal Tap tradition, this film may become a cult favorite.
HUMAN NATURE
Charlie Kauffman shows his screenwriting prowess once again (after Being John Malcovich) with a witty and off-the-wall story of a man raised by a father who thought himself an ape. The man is played wonderfully by Rhys Ifans, with Patricia Arquette as a woman who has hair all over her body, and Tim Robbins as the scientist who teaches Ifans' charcter the social graces (think Young Frankenstein take to the next level). Perhaps it was the many shots of Arquette's near naked body, but I found this film to be laugh out loud funny.
HYSTERICAL BLINDNESS
With a totally 80's soundtrack, big 80's hair, ripped t-shirts, tight jeans, and New Jersey accents, Uma Thurman and Juliette Lewis cannot help but elicit chuckles in Hysterical Blindness. Lewis is a single mom in a rowhouse and Thurman lives at home with her mom. Both are looking for Mr. Right almost every night at the local hang out and watering hole, Ollie's. Thurman's character deludes herself into thinking she has found Mr. Right. Gena Rolands is understated, yet wonderful as Thurman's mom who has worked as a waitress for the past 30 years and also may have found a new companion. She is a pleasant calm, juxtaposed with the loud, almost frantic, younger characters.
At the film's core is a somewhat humorous story about people searching for love and how they alter their perception of reality to fit what they want to be true. The film is never too heavy and the 80's soundtrack helps to lift the atmosphere even in some of the slightly sensitive moments.
LUCKY BREAK
James Nesbit returns (see BLOODY SUNDAY review) in a comedy about a career (but none too good) bank robber who lands in prison, which he resolves to break out of. The warden's (a typical turn by Christopher Plummer) fondness for show tunes provides an opening for an escape as the inmates put on a play, and of course hilarity ensues.
As a date movie, this pic will provide a good time, as Olivia Williams (also in THE MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS) provides the only female role and love interest to Nesbitt in the film. Can a career (but witty) criminal and a prison rehab specialist make beautiful music together? Ooooh, stay tuned!
Powers out!
