Father Geek here in Austin posting another edition of our regular Euro-AICN Column... looks like is the weeks ahead we will be getting some Euro news from some different sources... Cooooool!!! Well, here's Bernocchi in Rome with this weeks report...
Hi folks. It seems that the request about new contributors for the Euro Aicn column I did last week was very well received. I got propositions by two people in London, one person from Scotland and a girl from Norway. Considering that we have already great contributors in France (Grozilla) and in Serbia (Ethan) and a lot of other folks everywhere in Europe, it seems that we'll have a very interesting stuff in the next months. I would be completely satisfied if only we can get:
- A regular contributor from Spain and Portugal. A lot of great movies are arriving from these countries (not only Almodovar and Amenabar!) and I'd really enjoy to discover new talents.
- Someone from the Eastern Europe. It's not only a professional interest, but also a personal one. In fact, my mother is Polish and my grandmother is Russian, so I was always interested in these cultures.
I hope to announce to you next week that we found these contributors. For now (I'm waiting for the newcomers' stuff to come in), let's start with the usual column, with news about Howard Hughes project with Jim Carrey and reviews of One Hour Photo, The Order and Undisputed. Enjoy!
Ellroy Tevis has some information about the Howard Hughes project that Christopher Nolan and Jim Carrey are trying to make...
On UK tv show Movie Nights this week, Christopher Nolan was talking about Insomnia, and spilt a little about his upcoming movie on Howard Hughes....
VH: Tell me a bit about what is coming next for you. I read that you were working on a Howard Hughes project. Is that still the case?
CN: Yeah, I'm right now writing a script about the life of Howard Hughes, and Jim Carey is going to play Howard Hughes. But it's a big project with a lot to try to get into one screen play, so I don't know how long it's going to take me.
VH: I read of a lot of different Howard Hughes projects coming along?
CN: There have been many Howard Hughes projects over the years, it's one of the great unmade movies, we are hoping to crack that.
VH: Is there a race then to get it out before another competing project?
CN: Not for me, there's no sense of any kind of race simply because it's too difficult a subject. And I think that's why these projects have tended not to happen in the past, so I think we need to take our time and really try to crack the subject. So I don't think there's any point in worrying about what other people are doing and any time you go into making a film there are always other factors around and you just have to believe in the project you are doing, that it will find it's way to get made.
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One Hour Photo review by James Chappell
Meet Sy the photo guy. He works in the mini mall. He develops your photos and does it with pride. You see him once, maybe twice a week, exchanging pleasantries then going your separate ways. He’s a pleasant, sweet natured guy – but that is all. You don’t want to know him any more than you already do simply because you’ve got plenty of friends already – and probably so does Sy. A familiar face but nothing more, he’s out of your mind as soon as he passes out of view.
Imagine though that in Sy’s eyes your relationship goes to a far deeper level. Imagine that in developing these snapshots of your path in life – that Sy feels an affinity with your life and that of your family. He feels and longs to be part of your life for the plain and simply reason that he has nobody – not a soul in the world that notices him or even cares about his existence. Because of this the life of Sy is one long routine – and every day within is a routine in itself. He gets up, has breakfast and goes to work. His day passes by with nary a hiccup and when all is done, he goes home, has his evening meal, watches TV and goes to bed. His only break from the routine comes in the form of regular customers – the Yorkin family. They become the object of his aforementioned affinity – a fixation that develops to an unhealthy level.
To say One Hour Photo is slow is an understatement - it’s pace, for some will be almost unbearable. But complex characterisation is almost impossible when moving at breakneck pace, and so restraint is necessary. Given the time to develop his character, Robin Williams gives what is quite possibly a career best performance. He well and truly inhabits his character in such a way that you almost forget you’re watching him act. Every action, every nervous twitch speaks a thousand words – and every spoken word conveys the deepest emotion. At any given time the viewer knows exactly what Sy is thinking or feeling, something only the best actor and script can convey. As the objects of Sy’s fixations Connie Nielsen, Michael Vartan and Dylan Smith also impress, even if their characters are given little more to do that respond. The always-excellent Nielsen (bar her performance in Mission to Mars) has the hung-up mother down to a ‘T’, and it nice to see Michael Vartan branching away from chick flick roles into something with a little more meat. However, of the co-stars it’s child actor Smith who deserves the plaudits. Whilst not quite of Haley Joel Osment standard he gives a sensitive and touching performance. When his character declares his sorrow for Sy to his mother, all but the most hardened cynics will find a lump in their throat.
As a director Mark Romanek can certainly handle actors, but what of his visual style? To the untrained eye it could be criticised as being drab and uninspired – but that very criticism is the movies very visual point. The “drab” and “uninspired” visuals are meant to convey the routine boredom of Sy’s everyday life. Almost everything comes in white and grey – hardly ever stretching itself beyond that particular palette. From the isles of the mini-mall to the flickering lights in Sy’s work booth, every colour conveys the very feelings that drive Sy to do what he (eventually) does. The only breaks from the palette are the photos themselves and the stark red of Sy’s photo lab. It works extremely well – but might be a tad too much for some, simply because of the strain it gives the eye.
The overall effect is that Sy becomes a sympathetic yet ultimately unsettling character. It’s quite impossible to know how one would act if one were in a similar position – with a never changing and ultimately depressing life shorn of social interaction. Even so, we never really know the reason Sy is like this in the first place. We know his love of photographs substitutes social interaction – but not whether this results from a distrust of himself or others. Perhaps such questions are better left unanswered, because this serves the movie better and makes Sy a more unsettling character.
Now here’s the crunch – as much as I admired every single aspect of the movie, I most certainly did not enjoy it. The subject matter is simply not my cup of tea, with my interest waning before the final reel. It’s not a boring movie – it’s just that by analogy it’s like asking a fan of dance music (like myself) to listen to two hours of classical rock. Despite this, my admiration and objectivity will reward it with a high mark.
Four stars out of five (or an opinionated two)
The Order and Undisputed reviews by Ethan
THE ORDER
Jean Claude Van Damme`s latest effort THE ORDER is a step back after his masterful return in Ringo Lam directed REPLICANT. As we wait for the Lam-Van Damme reteaming in MONK, let`s see what `Muscles from Brussels` has to offer this term.
THE ORDER is made by the ayatollah of Van Dammeness, Sheldon Lettich. Vic Armstrong, the famed second-unit maestro of 007 and Paul verhoeven fame claimed that Lettich hired him to DIRECT Van Damme vehicle DOUBLE IMPACT and then leave him the credit. This time around, Columbia ain`t backing this project so it feels as if Lettich either directed himself or hired some less talented ghost director. Before you start drooling about Christophe Gans, remember that Lettich made Dacascos` major debut ONLY THE STRONG.
Poor action and low budget is why THE ORDER hardly tops even Van Damme`s subpar theatrical efforts. But since the plot is taken from such gems like CONAN THE BARBARIAN and INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, proceedings remain mildly amusing.
The story follows Rudy (Van Damme), semi-European adventurer who steals antiques. Rudy visits his father, archeology professor, who informs him about the existence of Order, special sect consisted of Christians, Jews and Muslims who got disappointed in religion that causes violence. Soon after that, father departures to israel and goes missing. Rudy tries to find him and gets involved in occult intrigue.
Action scenes are nothing to write home about. But Van Damme is in full swing. He is flying around, not ready for the last payday. Lettich made a great mistake by going for the funny and not for the visceral because his budget cannot match the lightweight-fu of Jackie Chan`s potent times or the wire-fu extravaganzas. With a deadpan approach and lots of gore we could have been geting somewhere.
The star of the whole picture isn`t Van Damme, and sure ain`t Chuck Heston who does a pointless cameo. The star is Brian Thompson, definite bigtime villain potential. He outshines Moses in this one! The guy who represented the only cool thing about George Pan Cosmatos` COBRA. He is major villain material, I`d like to see him more often instead of these thick accent types who can work only against underdog heroes e.g. not in every damn movie. Thompson is spooky. He brings a towering performance and it`s such a waste not seeing some cool gory showdown with him around.
THE ORDER is a kinky video choice, not for every taste, but not only for Van Damme completists either. Actually, it`s the right movie for people who liked the Sommers` MUMMY series. The proof how old serials formula stopped working a couple of decades ago. Go figure.
God bless, Ethan
UNDISPUTED
When I started my computer to type this review, there was some trouble with the desktop. It resized from 800 x 400 to 640 x 480. It reminded me of my old computer. And I desided to keep this resolution while typing this review because it`s the kind of the movie that doesn`t appear in high resolution.
Walter Hill is the father of pretty much everything we regard as majestic remains of powerful Hollywood. He took Peter Hunt`s (R.I.P.) editing achievements ahead while preserving the hardboiled edge of the B-movies. His share of flops is low and I am the kind of guy who threats LAST MAN STANDING as eye candy. And EXTREME PREJUDICE is a masterpiece in my book. But many of his great films were completely avoided by audience lately. Look at TRESPASS, written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It had great reviews, especially abroad, but not many people went to see it.
Industry has kept Hill silent recently. Esopecially after the whole SUPERNOVA caper. He had to face the control freaks who appear to spoil everything in modern Hollywood. By taking credit as Thomas Lee, he avoided being worked with a set of pliers and a blow torch like McTiernan on ROLLERBALL. MGM screwed too many graet guys lately. There is some bizarre curse of the roaring lion. Look at Woo`s WINDTALKERS. It is a great paradox that filmmakers claim how MGM is still the only Hollywood studio focused on films and not tie-ins which is not much of a consolation when their quality drops.
But still, they couldn`t shut Hill off for too long. I still believe that some great scripts and properties ought to go Hill`s way. Imagine his direction of THE WAY OF THE GUN or PREACHER: THE MOVIE. Now, let`s leave my wet dreams be, shall we?
UNDISPUTED was produced by many people. Among others, Avi Lerner from Millennium films. This is the guy who produced Ringo Lam`s brilliant REPLICANT with Van Damme that noone saw. I don`t want to get boring ion this one, but please see REPLICANT. Now this guy has great taste in movies and we should be glad that Miramax picked UNDISPUTED since his Artisan distribution deal never worked.
UNDISPUTED differs from standard Walter Hill fare. He is the guy who found the basis of our standard storytelling. But in this movie he worked on a low budget. And I mean low budget which made him quicken things. This is why the story doesn`t unravel before us. We get information in an eliptical way. Now, you may have a problem with this. But if you dug typical summer films, you`ll have no problems catching up with Hill on a low budget.
See, guys like Tarantino built a style out of this concept. The conecetpt of quickening things. The concept of short character-defining scenes that rely on bits and pieces not on whole sequences. Hill was not trained in this camp. This is why he tends to get a bit awkward with this principle. What guys like tarantino cannot get, and I mean Ever, is Hill`s framing. Slow establishing shots that let you consider angles. Not the contem,porary tight ones that look even tighter because they are too short due to quick-cutting. They can`t take the shooting from Hill.
UNDISPUTED is made like a decent B-movie. And that`s great. But it also manages to push some issues at us. It makes you wonder. The movie is deliberately cliched when it comes to plot outline. But inside of it you miss the most important boxing and/or prison cliche of them all. You don`t hate any of the contenders. To the contrary. You like both of the guys. They are not easy to like. But it`s an everyday thing for guys like me who think that Mike Tyson ain`t guilty. See, I think the issue about Tyson is not whether he raped her or not. It`s the question of culture that makes such cases such arbitrary. It`s the question of people who can go to jail but also buy innocence with money. In such circumstances you can`t blame Tyson for being crude. Blame the society. I mean, he didn`t take Ms. Washington to the kindergarten.
The chemistry between characters is great and the actors are perfect with the exception of HOMICIDE`s Jon Seda who feels a bit hollow. But he may be a fine lightwieght actor stuck amiong the heavywights. Rhames and Snipes are a match for each other but they manage to preserve the identity of their caracters. Because Rhames is the performer in the ring while Snipes is an inarticulate survivalist. This is why we have all the tension during their match.
Peter Falk as the old Jewish mobster is perfect. You can sniff the dust off his speech, many scams he made and all the money he counted. In the twistless B-plot he is the kind of a guy whose contemplation makes the standard plot feel unique. He is the kind of guy whose speech echoes in your mind and makes you wish you smoked.
As I said, this film was made on a low budget. Hill couldn`t make enough shots to create the knocking boxing match. In terms of film history. But the whole thing is well-done. By the younger Lloyd Ahern, one of the last guys who saw the greats of the past alive. Even though he was a kid then.
Since boxing scenes couldn`t be too elaborate as a set-piece, Hill goes for angst-ridden realism, the fighters have presence in front of camera, punches are fast but they rise out of slow-moving, very realistic pacing. Ving Rhames and Wesley Snipes fit this frame because they are a bit rude for the typical stylized hero boxing. They look real. It`s especially strange for Snipes who usually plays the stylish muscular hero. But here he has some wiriness that reminds of real boxers. Rhames is a big fucker, tough hitter, not a pretty sight. Like Tyson. Hill could have enen gone to a minimalist approach when it comes to boxing, like fistfights in Don Siegel movies. I guess modern audience couldn`t swallow such piquant solution.
SPOILER AHEAD:
When Snipes wins, it`s Hill`s triumph. Actually, I shouted for Rhames, but with Snipes winning we see the big picture. See, Hill is Socialist. Not in the radical Marxist way. He is more of a moderate leftist. But he goes for it balls to the wall. Snipes winning is a big respect thing for all the inmates, all these guys whose fate we, pretty much deservingly, never know. But this ending is great because inmates end up doing something relevant (knocking out the undisputed champ is international news) but nobody finds out about it. It`s a tribute to the growing community of convicts and the tribute to boxing which is more than a sport. As Rhames` character puts it `People play baseball. Nobody plays boxing`.
END OF SPOILERS:
UNDISPUTED is a great victory for Hill. It would be great if someone actually goes and see this. Because we are talking about the filmmaker who may at the top of his game but cannot direct shit in major production since they are too busy casting and recasting fuckin` Darren Aronofsky movies. And he delivered just a movie. A film reminiscent of forties gangster dramas. With a bit of a Socialist undertone to qualify him with big ideological cinematic smugglers (Scorsese`s words) like Samuel Fuller.
Walter Hill is the conscience of modern Holywood, the guy who created the whole style and his film is something that should be regarded as EYES WIDE SHUT od 2002 not as some serious flick being pushed out of the cineplex by AMERICAN PIE 16.
And remember, Walter Hill is sadly the auteur who has to be announced by his filmography. In the right world, his name would be pronounced alone, like Kubrick`s. people are supposed to know everything about someone whoes work defined the majority of what we love about Hollywood.
Now, go see UNDISPUTED. Give something back to the true cinema!!!
God bless, Ethan
