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inlareviewer

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 4:52 am

Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS

Tina Fey has made me since SNL, and Steve Carrell has had me ever since Daily Show, so will certainly see Date Night, but most likely on DVD -- am disinclined to spend precious dinar on it.

Now, Tetro, which I finally saw at a private party big-screening, well, that's another story. Am so regretful that I missed it last year in time for the Blanches -- it did not disappoint in the least. Precicious, artful, idiosyncratic, raw, insouciant, unpredictable, calculated, raucous and assured, all at once. Have never been more mad for Vincent Gallo, whose titular performance plumbed new depths of inscrutably acute vitality; found deep early-period Di Caprio shadings in Alden Ehrenreich's deliberately unacculturated turn as "brother" Bennie; would watch Klaus Maria Brandauer if he only appeared in long shot, so his participation as Tetro's conductor father was its own reward; was hugely impressed by Maribel Verdu as Tetro's girlfriend; predictably ate up Carmen Maura's agent with a post-Stardust Memories spoon; and was overall left effusively Franciscan, Fordacious and Coppolatic. Spectacularly well managed and uncliched use of B&W against color, some effectively blatant Powell/Pressberger allusions and Fellini inferences (which came off in spades), and a peculiarly stylized yet intriguingly self-conscripted narrative that was wholly true to its own cinematic vocabulary, off-handed symbology and interior logic. Undoubtedly way personal, Argentina-centric and more than a little twee, and the second it ended I wanted to see it all over again.

_________________
"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim

marantzo

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:11 am

Guest

So, inla, you liked it?

gromit

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:56 am

Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9010 Location: Shanghai

I thought Tetro's plot mechanics were awful.
I liked some of the slow build up, but it and Gallo intentionally went nowhere. Brandauer was barely in it.
A decent effort without much reward, imo.

_________________
Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number.

gromit

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:14 am

Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9010 Location: Shanghai

Traspatio aka Backyard is based on the true story of a rash of sex crimes in mid-90's Ciudad Juarez. It makes the useful point that once the police are perceived as useless at finding murder-rapists, it pretty much sends the message that all such crimes against women will go unpunished, opening the way for more bodies to turn up for various reasons.

The film has a powerful message and its heart is in the right place. But it seemed like a Tv movie with a large budget, so they swiped techniques and scenes from many recent films and patched them all together in service of their message. There's a scene that seems straight out of Silence of the Lambs, another from Zodiac, structure borrowed from the Crash/Syriana type multiple story lines that will intersect movies, a visual or two that seem awfully familiar.

I hate to sound so picky, but as I was watching the film, it didn't seem to have a consistent style and seemed too obviously influenced by other films. It still has some powerful scenes, and pretty good pacing, though a bit overlong. The casting was quite good, or at least I believed all of the various class levels of society. A decent socially-conscious thriller, but not a standout.

_________________
Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number.

Befade

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 2:37 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 3784 Location: AZ

Gromit.........your silence on Tetro would have been golden.

Inla.......agreed a REALLY MARVELOUS film.......what film making could/should be and usually won't be in this new age of Avatar.

_________________
Lost in my own private I dunno.

billyweeds

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 2:47 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City

Befade wrote:

Gromit.........your silence on Tetro would have been golden.

Are you really suggesting that we should not say anything if our opinion disagrees with yours? Or was that a joke? It didn't seem like a joke.

inlareviewer

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 3:15 pm

Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS

marantzo wrote:

So, inla, you liked it?

Yes, quite, without failing to notice its idiosyncrasies, flaws and quirks, and those just added to its fascination. The thing worked for me as a stylistic exercise as much as anything I actually saw in 2009 (2010 catch-ups). Though, come to think of it, it's hardly a Current Film, but I didn't see it on screener or tape, so Couch With A View wouldn't do, and there you have it.

_________________
"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim

Befade

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 3:50 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 3784 Location: AZ

Quote:

It didn't seem like a joke.

Humor is a way of diffusing hostile feelings. I would like to pound Gromit because he's one of the few people here who have seen Tetro......and he was too dismissive of it. Lorne and I and now Inla loved it.

I do not harbour any long-standing vitreol against Gromit. He can say what he wants, do what he wants, be what he wants, watch what he wants, blah, blah, blah.

As people go.......he sees alot of interesting films. I have only the slightest disaffection for him because he did not respond to any of my responses regarding outsider art. Gary always responds to me. I just love Gary......except when Woody Allen is discussed.

_________________
Lost in my own private I dunno.

marantzo

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 4:10 pm

Guest

Well, to continue in your appreciation of me, Betsy, I saw the preview for Mama Mia a number of times and from the first viewing I decided, "Now this is a movie I am never going to see."

But if it were directed by Woody..............

Ghulam

Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 1:24 am

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 4742 Location: Upstate NY

Superb performances by Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer in The Last Station, a brilliant dramatization of Leo Tolstoy's last days roiled by domestic strife.

lshap

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 9:25 am

Site Admin Joined: 12 May 2004 Posts: 4248 Location: Montreal

Ghulam wrote:

Superb performances by Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer in The Last Station, a brilliant dramatization of Leo Tolstoy's last days roiled by domestic strife.

Agreed. Knowing a bit about Tolstoy will help you better appreciate the film and recognize what an amazing performance Plummer gave. I didn't know much about Mrs. Tolstoy, other than she edited Leo's work, but Mirren's character jumped off the screen in one of most passionate performances I've seen in ages.

Had more people seen this film I think both leads would have won awards.

lshap

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 9:32 am

Site Admin Joined: 12 May 2004 Posts: 4248 Location: Montreal

And as Befade said, I was one of the small number who saw Tetro, and loved it.

Don't quite understand how or why Gromit would say the plot mechanics were "awful". I thought the story was clear, rich and powerful, moving from present to past and from black-and-white to colour with operatic beauty. Not surprising considering it was directed by the king of cinematic opera, Francis Ford Coppola.

And yeah, as Inla noticed, Alden Ehrenreich is DiCaprio-esque to an uncanny degree.

lshap

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 9:47 am

Site Admin Joined: 12 May 2004 Posts: 4248 Location: Montreal

Speaking of Coppola, here's an echoing rave for Un Prophete, which got raves from people in here and pretty well everyone who saw it. The Coppola thing comes from the film's comparison with The Godfather which, honestly, I don't see. Other than the obvious theme of organized crime the two films have nothing in common. The family theme, the style of direction, the setting, the characters interplay - all apples and oranges.

Forget the comparisons. Enjoy Un Prophete as a sad, scary and intense film in its own right.

Marc

Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 2:22 pm

Joined: 19 May 2004 Posts: 8424

Kick-Ass kicks ass! It's a fresh, hugely politically incorrect, and very funny riff on the superhero genre. The action sequences are clearly an homage to John Woo (his name is mentioned in the film) and Sergio Leone, among others. The soundtrack uses rock songs in witty ways, particularly The Dickies’ version of the Banana Splits theme. Other bands include Primal Scream, Prodigy and The NY Dolls. Tarantino and Scorsese would be pleased.

Chloe Grace Moretz as the foul-mouthed and extremely lethal Hit Girl is a post modern superhero, a blend of Joan Jett, Japanese ninja girl and Juno. She has a line in the film that reminded me of my travails on Third Eye: "Okay you cunts... Let's see what you can do now!" This coming out of the mouth of an 11 year old girl is gonna push all kinds of buttons...and has. Kick-Ass has Roger Ebert up-in-arms over it's use of children and violence. I say it's all done in good fun, ain't geared to kids (it's got an R rating) and is so over-the-top who, other than a cranky old critic, could possibly take it seriously.

Nic Cage is on board in wacky mode. He's channeling Adam West's Batman.
He's both goofy and endearing. His last scene in the flick is absurdly melodramatic and intentionally so.
Aaron Johnson who plays Kick-Ass is low key and charming. A fine comic actor who combines teenage dorkiness with a sweet sexuality.
Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLouvin in Superbad) is superhero Red Mist. He's funny as hell with his crazy-colored hair and a suit that looks like he stole it from one of the members of Sigue Sigue Sputnik or Grace Jones.

Kick-Ass is a mashup of superhero cliches turned inside out, Asian action flicks, uber violent gangster comedies, bullet ballets and 80s John Hugh's-style teenage angst.
It was written and directed by Matthew Vaughn who wrote Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and wrote and directed Layer Cake. Kick-Ass was originally a comic book created by Mark Miller. Vaughn has stayed true to the candy-colored, tilt-a-whirl dynamics of Miller's graphic creation. The movie "pops" from the screen like a Lichtenstein fist.

Roger Ebert writes: 'Will I seem hopelessly square if I find “Kick-Ass” morally reprehensible and will I appear to have missed the point?'

To which I reply: " Yes and yes.

Marc

Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 2:40 pm

Joined: 19 May 2004 Posts: 8424

Mother, the new film from one of South Korea's new wave of tremendously talented film makers Joon ho-Bong (Memories Of Murder, The Host), is a slow burn thriller that owes much to Hitchcock while maintaining it's own unique style. A film about the extremes of maternal love billed as a horror/thriller, Mother is lite on action and scares, but rich with moodiness and dread. Hye-ja Kim as the mother gives a powerful, subtle and ever deepening performance as a woman who will do virtually anything to save her child. Full of unexpected twists, Mother is a satisfying film for the viewer willing to let the film unfold in it's deliberate and hypnotic pace. The surprises do not come as jolts, but as little nightmares hidden in the folds of a mother's apron.

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