Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
These are capsule-sized, but cover a pretty broad range of stuff. I have never heard of this first one, and couldn’t even find a listing for it on the IMDb. I’m not sure what the WB reference in the review is. Maybe they’ve picked it up for a stateside release? At any rate, check this out...
Man of the Year
What the hell is Warner Bros. doing attached to such an absurd, pointless film like THE MAN OF THE YEAR? Deadbeat gets a blonde dye job on account of a soccer bet he lost, and then kills a guy for insulting the new 'do. He becomes an overnight sensation -- even the cops thank him personally -- and the movie becomes a repetitive series of vignettes where said deadbeat stalks and kills the criminal element in his neighborhood. I think there is supposed to be satire in the way this man is not only able to get away with murder, but everyone praises him for it. Satire, or no, the guy's still an amoral loser, whose actions become increasingly more deplorable. How and what he names his pig is kinda funny, though.
I had a couple of chances to see this next one, and it never timed out right. Sounds good, though, and everyone I’ve talked to who saw it really, really liked it, especially if they’ve ever worked in the world of theater. Bet it’d make a cool double-bill with VANYA ON 42nd STREET...
Frankie and Johnny... Are Married
A thoroughly entertaining movie that chronicles an equity-waiver production of "Frankie and Johnny in the Clare de Lune". Lisa Chess and Michael Pressman, who also directs, are wonderful in the leads.
The film is breezy, smart and compulsively watchable, with an authentic insider feel to the process involved with putting on a stage play. It's all here: how difficult some actors can be to work with, the constant threat of going overbudget, the anxiety of making a deadline. And, just how art, in general, can be become a bit of an obsession. Chess' line that begins, "Stay focused on me" hits you with unexpected poignancy. One of the best movies of the year.
Last up is a new film from a filmmaker I just plain don’t like, a shock artist who rarely seems to have anything to say amidst the nastiness and borderline porn she packs her films with. If you thought ROMANCE was profound, then maybe this one’s for you. I doubt I’ll ever subject myself to it after the following description...
Anatomy of Hell
I don't even know where to begin. Catherine Breillat delivers her most superficial and empty film to date, about a suicidal French woman who pays a gay man to examine her body for four nights. She gets naked; they talk. And talk. And talk. Occasionally, Breillat tosses in imagery of dead birds and pre-teen vagina. Not to mention dildos being pushed from adult-sized vaginas. But, of all the indecent moments, I think man and woman sharing a glass of period blood really takes it home. This is maybe the most unerotic movie about sex I've seen. But then, where else will you get the chance to hear porn star Rocco Siffreddi use the word pestilential in a sentence, ever?
J-Man
Thanks, man. Good work, and let us know if you see anything else during the festival.
"Moriarty" out.
