MEN WITH GUNS
MEN WITH GUNS – Brilliant, slow and delicious. Just when you thought that John Sayles resume couldn’t get any more eclectic, he offers MEN WITH GUNS. You might think that after the success of LONE STAR, he might try to appeal more to the masses. Instead, GUNS is set in a fictitious Latin American country, features Argentinian acting great Federico Luppi and is (gulp) filmed in Spanish and Mayan dialects. Great cinematography from Kieslowski staple Slawomir Idziak. Great international cast. Luppi plays a doctor who trains young doctors to take modern medicine into the surrounding jungles and introduce it to the remote villages. When he sees a promising former student selling stolen stereo equipment, he decides to take some time off and investigate. His journey takes him through remote areas where we can only assume this well to do doctor has never dreamed of. The people he meets and the deserted villages he sees lead him deeper into this mystery in which either guerilla or government troops make the rules. RATING – 10 (out of 10)
THE BIG ONE
THE BIG ONE – A film crew follows Michael Moore on a three-month book tour. Trouble ensues. Trouble when he doesn’t tell Random House about the film crew. Trouble when he confronts big business for closing local plants and moving to Mexico. Trouble when he helps bookstore employees form a union. Mostly just a lot of trouble. And a whole lot of laughs at the expense of beleaguered figureheads of big business. One high point was in the middle of the film, when it would show the name of the city and a quick shot of Moore signing books or hiding from his Random House babysitter or whatever. Then, they show the words “Toronto, Canada” and the Canadian crowd started cheering. That is until they saw a flock of penguins sliding around on some ice (mocking the allegedly frigid climate). Moore himself handed out buttons and real checks for $0.80 to people waiting in line for the film. Very cool and very funny. RATING – 10.
THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS
THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS – sort of HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS except not as funny and a bit more dysfunctional. The relationships are pretty predictable: one daughter is cold and distant, but one is cheerful and outgoing. Blah blah blah. The only interesting things are the relationship between Noah Wyle and Roy Scheider, and the boy who has had a crush on Julianne Moore since kindergarten. Not bad, but not great. Note: Julianne Moore is VERY pregnant. RATING – 7
LIFE DURING WARTIME
LIFE DURING WARTIME – brilliant debut from Evan Dunsky, who adapted the story from a Keith Reddin play. David Arquette plays a new recruit at a burglar alarm sales company. He is a great pitchman and not only makes a sale on his first call, he beds the first call (Kate Capshaw).He finds out that his boss (Stanley Tucci) and co-worker (Mary McCormack) are staging break-ins to increase sales. Stand out scene – Arquette trying to explain sex to Capshaw’s teenage son after he walks in on a vigorous round of cunniligus. Very, very funny. RATING – 9
TSUI HARK'S A CHINESE GHOST STORY (ANIME)
TSUI HARK’S A CHINESE GHOST STORY – OK, when I signed up for this one, I thought it was A CHINESE SHOST STORY. This was Japanamation. I am not a big fan of Japanamation. Plus, this was my seventh film of the day. Not a good combination.
GATTACA
GATTACA – I really liked this. It was one of the better futuristic sci-fi type movies I have seen. The story is pretty believable, but Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman are not my favorite actors. Hawke was OK in this film, but I think that Thurman sucks the life out of every movie that she’s in (save PULP FICTION). She reminds me a lot of Darryl Hannah…why even bother putting them in your movie? Anyway, it was still a pretty intriguing flick and very good for a directorial debut. RATING – 8
SUICIDE KINGS
SUICIDE KINGS – I really loved this dark, dark comedy. Christopher Walken plays a crime boss who is kidnapped by rich college kids for $2 million. They need the money to pay ransom for Henry Thomas’s sister, who has also been kidnapped. Great laughs, great sick humor and a great cast (Denis Leary, Sean Patrick Flannery, Jay Mohr, Laura san Giacomo, Johnny Galecki). I think this director did some PARTY OF FIVE episodes, but this is his directorial debut. And it is one brilliantly sharp black comedy. RATING – 10
THE APOSTLE
THE APOSTLE – seesh! 2 ½ hours? I think Mr. Duvall needs to spend a bit more time in the editing room. And what is October thinking paying that much for it? It wasn’t a bad movie and Duvall was actually very good as the Apostle, but he could have easily hacked about 40 minutes of off this bad boy. I think Duvall was trying to make his own BRAVEHEART. I could be wrong and I usually am. RATING – 5
GUMMO
GUMMO – I have seen the antichrist and his name is Harmony Korine. I love violence and gore and guts and stuff, but this movie actually made me turn my head away on more than one occaison. Lots of walkout for my screening. The film features a black dwarf, two cat hunting metalheads, a father pimping his retarded daughter, two slutty white haired sisters, a guy wrestling a kitchen chair (and losing) and bunny boy. This is the biggest collection of freaks since…well, FREAKS. This thing is so visual I can’t even begin to explain it. Plus the guy said “fuck” about a dozen times during the Q&A after the screening. RATING –10
I MARRIED A STRANGE PERSON
I MARRIED A STRANGE PERSON – I have always loved Bill Plympton’s animation. In small doses. It is very overwhelming to see 90 minutes of it. I’m not saying that it’s bad, but I saw it at 1:00 AM. It was done very well and it was super funny. I would like to see it again after a good night of sleep. RATING – 8
REGENERATION
REGENERATION – I sort of felt the same way about this as I felt after seeing Giles MacKinnon’s last film, TROJAN EDDIE. Some movies I like a lot and skip out of the theater. Some movies I hate and curse myself for throwing away valuable time. After this, I felt like I had been abducted by aliens for 2 hours. The acting is solid. The story is OK. I don’t know if it was good because I just talked to our local reviewer (Jack Garner, he’s actually the national reviewer for Gannett, I think) and he seemed to like it. RATING – 6
THE SPANISH PRISONER
THE SPANISH PRISONER – My pick for “Best Picture of the Festival”. Awesome story from Mamet and great acting from everybody. This is the first movie that I’ve actually been able to compare to THE USUAL SUSPECTS. Steve Martin is great as the “bad” guy and Campbell Scott is fantastic as the protagonist. I wanted to go down on Mamet after I saw it, and I ain’t no queer. He is an American treasure.
CUBE
CUBE – fantastic sci-fi type thriller about five people who find themselves trapped in a deadly maze. Dazzling effects which, I was told, were done for free by some place called C.O.R.E. and shot for an incredibly small budget, this was one of the best sci-fi movies I have ever seen. The director, Vincenzo Natali, has a bright future.
