Hey there, Harry here with our friend Pappy and his look at several upcoming films. My favorite title here is REPLICANT, just because I'm drawn to Van Damme disasters like a fly to shit... It's strangely hypnotic. And watching his THE QUEST was one of the sheerest most amazingly surreal terrible film experiences of my life. I should tell y'all about it some time.... later... but I have to say I'm getting jazzed to see Ridley Scott's SPY GAME with Redford and Pitt... and BROTHER.... well duh! Beat rules Earth several times a day.
Hey Harry and readers.
I am Pappy.
I saw Spy Game recently (as a lot of you will know) and I found it very encouraging...if they released it as is, I would pay full price. It is a good suspense thriller that has very few flaws. My only major qualm about it was that Redford's character goes from just serious allworknoplay to a man with a sense of humor...it becomes apparent within the CIA conference room at Langley that he has a problem with authority, and doesn't mind showing it off, whereas in the field he is totally serious, unflinching in his resolve to complete a mission no matter the means or costs, often letting conflict arise between him and Brad Pitt's recruit.
They first meet in Vietnam, Pitt being used as a sniper, and Redford then arranges for him to be sent to West Berlin during 1980...the height of the Cold War in Eastern Europe. Here Redford officially makes him a fellow spook, and starts his training in montages reminiscent of many movies, such as Morpheus laying down the lay of the land in the Matrix. As his training increases, he also begins carrying out an assignment in East Berlin. The two argue over the outcome, one happy, one not, and we go to....
Beirut, the once called "Paris of the Middle East" in the middle of one of the bloodiest turf wars ever. Once again called in for an assassination (although now with more inventive ways of assassination), Brad Pitt falls for a English relief worker, and they have a romance that Redford objects to as being personal in a career setting that handles everything as impersonal and noncommittal. Plans go awry, Pitt is enfuriated, and that is the last time they see each other...and as Pitt lays in a Chinese prison in 1990, Redford tries desperately to find a way to rescue his protege.
Harry was right...anything that involves snooping/spying and Redford is good...this is not exception. There is enough violence to keep the restless interested, enough romance to take a date, and enough suspense and complexity in the script to keep everyone entertained.
Next: Captain Corelli's Mandolin
A friend of mine read the book and said it was hilarious at times, and didn't believe me when I told him that a movie was being made of it. While I was in Europe for a small tour of Vienna, Berlin, Paris, and London (where I saw the Prince Charles theater and was infuriated not to be there for the Horror Festival!!!). In London I saw Mandolin, with Nicolas Cage, Christian Bale, and Penelope Cruz in a John Madden film. The only other film I saw of his was Shakespear in Love, and as its predecessor has some excess nudity. Not to say I'm complaining.
The story revolves around a Greek doctor's daughter (Cruz) who gets engaged to a fisherman (Bale) as WWII starts on the Greek/Albanian border. They live on an island, and the fisher goes out to fight the Italians. After routing the Italians from Greece, they run to their German allies and with their help overrun Greece, and their Island. Captain Corelli (Cage) is an Italian, and as all Italians are at first hated by the Greeks. In fact, the island will not officially surrender to an Italian (telling them to "Fuck Off.") Only when the highest ranking German officer on the island arrives will they surrender.
But this is just the beginning. Corelli's in charge of an artillery brigade that is required to sing opera when drilling. This leads to icebreakers between them and the locals and warm the Greeks to the Italians.
When the Italian government surrenders to the Allies, the Germans take over, and the Italians revolt. Oh yeah...did I mention that Cage and Cruz fall for each other?
Overall, it is a very heartwarming film...it will have a wider appeal than Shakespeare because not only of the War setting, but personally I think the story is just more entertaining...in the Village you have the bickering philosophers, the eccentric patients, and the other townsfolk that add an atmosphere to this film rare. I applaud John Madden for his latest work.
As for the Mandolin, it is a musical instrument that Corelli plays, and one of the ways he wins Cruz's heart, showing he is a man and not and "Italian beast". Possible oscar contention.
Brother
I saw Brother 4 weeks ago in Vienna...I just...forgot to write in about it (sorry!) because I thought it was already in wide release here. It was the first movie of Beat Takeshi's I've seen, and left me wanting to see his earlier lighter fare for comparison's sake.
The violence is brutal. But the plot is straightforward. An exile reunites with his younger brother, a small streetside dope pusher, and helps him climb/kill his way up the cartel ladder until THEY run everything, and gang wars insue. Some of the photography is very memorable, and even though Takeshi speaks very little, his presence as a cold-blooded killer and warm-hearted friend are more than amply demonstrated. A good gang-land flick, although a bit slow at times. Stay with it, and you won't be sorry.
Replicant
This is a Jean Claude Van Damme movie. I saw it in a theater in Paris, and it will premiere ON VIDEO in the US. Must I say that this movie is MERDE? It's the worst Van Damme EVER...and he's had a bad past. Michael Rooker, once respectable in Mallrats, plays babysitter to a telepathic clone of a serial killer to locate and stop the menace. The script reeks of maybe not amateur (because it actually got made) but just of STUPIDITY. There isn't even enough action. They have scenes where the clone is learning about human emotions and feelings and how to stand, sit, and walk. THIS IS NOT AI. It tries to be, and fails...in fact, it's so dismal, that I'm stopping writing RIGHT NOW. Well...almost...
Harry, readers, I gotta go, but hopefully this information was useful.
Until Later PPY
Pappy OUT
