SITTING IN THE DARK - THIS WEEK'S MOVIES

All movies this week were rented from Redbox...and yes beware of some plot give-aways below.

RAMPART ***

Woody wasn't bad at all. Decent acting throughout. Not nearly as good as the trailers looked but not horrid if you like crooked cop stories. I liked the portrayals of the characters for the most part but the story sort of jumped around with out a lot of flow. Great casting though and I liked the look of the film. Love movies made in L.A. It’s fun to see how they really capture the vibe of the area.

HAYWIRE **1/2
A starring vehicle for the young pioneering fighter in Women's MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), Gina Carano from director Steven Soderbergh. Many big name actors are also involved including Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender and Antonio Banderas. All but Douglas get there asses kicked by Carano. Other than the fight scenes there is not much of interest here. Carano is not yet an actor and the script was less compelling than Soderbergh's usual fare. Imdb's synopsis of the plot is short, sweet and about all you need: "A black ops super soldier seeks payback after she is betrayed and set up during a mission."

TRUST ***

Fourteen-year-old Annie (Liana Liberato) is contacted by another teen online and they become friends in spite of the fact that she keep catching him lying about things, including his age. When tehy finally arrange to meet in person her "boyfriend" (Chris Henry Coffey) is in his mid-30s not a 20-year-old college student as he had claimed. Her parents (Clive Owen and Catherine Keener) are torn apart by Annie's continued devotion to this man. Well-acted and disturbing. Unfotunately, Keener didn't have a lot to do in the film. Too bad for she is alwas wonderful in anything she does. Directed by David Schwimmer.

THE WHISTLEBLOWER ***1/2

Rachel Weisz plays a true life American police officer who works as a observer and peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia. She becomes involved in exposing a multi-national cover-up campaign of corruption, violence, and human trafficking. Weisz was pregnant when first approached about this film and passed, but later when the project was offered again she accepted and did a great job in the part. See her in theaters now in the BOURNE LEGACY. 



BAD ASS **1/2

Danny Trejo is just great as always and truly IS a Bad Ass. What I found out in the bonus footage that I didn’t know is that he was a champion boxer in the California Penal System before he was an actor. A-ha. The script was horrible though the fight scenes were very well-done. This low budget film even used old bus chase footage from RED HEAT to end in the story in the same way as that old Schwarzeneggar film did. Even most of the director/writer Craig Moss’s bonus commentary was boring, weak and shed very little light on what the film was trying to achieve. There were some fun moments and homage’s to other films which were nice distractions from the stilted script. The kid actor who played “Frank Vega”’s foul-mouthed young next door neighbor was fun. Now the thing I liked most other than the action and Danny’s decent job was the use of downtown L.A. and the hood. A very L.A. looking movie. The opening credits montage is pure barrio. Having the Mayor (Ron Perlman in a very small role) and Panther (Charles S. Dutton is wonderfully strong as the heavy) taking a meeting from Elysian Park up by the Police Academy overlooking Dodger Stadium is a great shot.

MACHINE GUN PREACHER ***1/2 Gerard Butler in this story of a violent, low-rent Pennsylvania hood who gets out of jail, sees his ex-junkie/stripper wide has found God, gets in trouble again and changes his ways and finds Jesus. Which leads him to have a vision of starting a church and then building an orphanage in war torn Sudan. This is based on a true story of Sam Childers who goes to the Sudan and takes justice into his own hand doing what ever he can to help the orphans including shooting up the bad guys. Well-done but a flop in the theaters. Cost an estimated $30 MILLION and only did $1.1 million internationally in it’s first 11 months on screens. I almost passed this by because of the title. When I mentioned it to friends, every one of them said unprompted, "Horrible title. Not something that appeals to me." Actions fans don't want preachy and religious types don't want shoot-'em-ups, it seems. Of course, when it comes down to it action movies are full of moralistic pontificating and religions are at war all the time. I thought it might be too preachy but they painted this guy as someone who would do anything for justice. Butler was good. Very intense. Footage over the end credits with the real-life Childers is interesting.

HICK **** starred Chloe Grace Moretz who played Isabelle in HUGO as a young girl brought up by white trash in Nebraska (Juliette Lewis is her oblivious mom) who runs off with a slimy white guy (Eddie Redmayne) then is picked up by his ex, a hot slutty wild one (Blake Lively who was even better here than in SAVAGES). In her travels the 13 year old is shown first hand the violent, sleazy, abusive side of life. Quite a traumatic misadventure. Done with light humor amidst the sleaze and violence. Moretz is superb as is the whole cast in this actor’s film. Redbox reviews HATED this movie but it seems people are complaining about things like subject matter when if they had read the description of the film they might have steered clear. It was a very well cast and written film and a cautionary tale. I see a lot of irresponsibly parented kids in the town where I live and parents should watch this with their young teens. There is indeed a very tough world out there and this film addresses these issues directly, with taste and humor and a sense of realism that rings true if you have ever been around situations like the ones shown. The use of select music by Bob Dylan is wonderfully done. SOONER OR LATER’s line “I didn’t really know how young you were…” is perfectly placed and the wonderful theme music is Dylan’s instrumental “Suze” which appeared as “Suze (The Cough Song)” on bootleg recordings for years before being officially release on Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3: Rare & Unreleased, 1961-1991

WRECKED ***

Like The Edge and 127 Hours, this is a survival story. Man against nature and his own human nature comes to task. Adrien Brody is trapped in his wrecked car in the middle of nowhere. He has no idea who he is or how he got there. His hallucinations distract him but his survival instinct takes over but this film is more about Brody’s emotional state, his guilt and desires manifested as his confusion and fear overwhelm him and his scattered memories begin to flow over him. What is real and what is not seem to be the real questions here. Oddly, this film seems to have played in only one theater for one week. A physically and emotionally riveting performance by Brody based on a very simple premise. Interesting that the movie was filmed ins chronological order and that writer Christopher Dodd wrote it very spontaneously and sees it as a metaphor for getting a movie finished. Again, it seems as if so many of the people bitching about this film didn’t really seem to watch it very carefully. People seem to a) have very little imagination or b) ability to take anything as something other than literally. Why they’d bother even taking the time to comment on it online or even watch it is beyond me.  

SITTING IN THE DARK - THIS WEEK'S MOVIES

But I absolutely am addicted to going to the movies. As you have read in my introduction to this blog and elsewhere or if you have tried to reach me on bargain nights at the various theaters wherever I am, you know I am sitting in the dark, shutting up (for once) and diving into some popcorn deeply involved in whatever alternate universe I am exploring from my aisle seat.

I like stories. Sure songs, novels, poetry, paintings, conversation, a smattering of television are okay. But when at all possible, that walk into big dark room where the illusion of being drawn into the bigger-than-life story being laid out on that huge screen is just about as good as it gets for me.

Yes, I have been accused of "liking everything." WRONG! Did you see BATTLESHIP? Oy. But, I DO like the movie-going process. I enjoy checking out how a movie was made, what I would've changed to make it better. I had to see INCEPTION three times in the theater to have any idea of what was really going on. But each time I was stunned by the artistic achievement of the visual and sonic aspects of the film. I bought the DVD and get some new insight every time I see it. I have seen ERASERHEAD two dozen times at least and 1/3 of those on the big screen. No idea what the hell is going on but I can't stop watching and I haven't MISS a David Lynch film since.

Direct focused interaction with the transportational artistic devices in film present demonstrative elements that allow one's own imagination, interpretive skills, emotional moods and perspectives to contextualize life in ways the overwhelming speed and roar of the real world blur in our daily lives. Leaving a theater with new perspectives on human relations, individual achievements, empathetic experiences as well as the distinct possibility of just leaving life's pressures and intrusions behind for a couple of hours is well-needed in these stress-filled times.

It is not an accident or even a product of marketing that has long made movies popular in times of economic, emotional and societal depression. Escapism is not just for hiding out from reality's travails. It fosters perspective, needed distance or at times the neglected focus about our place in this universe that helps us to deal with our everyday issues.

But, really, in spite of all the high fallutin' rationale, I primarily just like stories. Stories about people, places, things. Stories with laughs, suspense, thrills, horrors, sexiness. Stories I don't have to live through in real life. Other people's stories but stories that in some way foster some glimmers of being part of something bigger than my own little worries, my own ego-centric world view. They let me get a sense of some kind of shared humanity, some kind of hopefulness, of poignant pain, unrealistic or improbable futures, or different, distant pasts that allows us a better chance of living a more considered, thoughtful and observant life. Movies help me see that my world is just a small fragment of a much larger existence out there where the chances that anything can and does happen, a world of limitless possibility, untapped imagination and breathless humanity. Bring it on.

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1999 photo from the Will Viner collection

I mourn the passing of the Village Theater in Big Bear Lake. It closed on August 14. Rumors that another theater company is interested in opening up with second run films, i.e. films you may have missed in the theaters in the recent past, (generally movies are about 4 months old). The hard part these days is that 35mm movie grade prints are rarely produced other than for first run films.  I do see films at the Academy in Pasadena which was a beautiful old theater when I was young and now is a multi-plex of 5-6 screens (?). Their prints are generally pretty good so it can be done. Hopefully, that will come to fruition here. But for now, these are only rumors and the "FOR SALE OR LEASE" sign is still out front.

What I would love to see is a resurgence of what used to be called "repertory cinema" houses. This town may not be the place, but who knows. College towns are good for this. The great Ken Cinema in the North Park section of San Diego was a treasure. Programming ws eclectic and exhilarating and I spent many nights a week there while in college when I should have been studying but how could I resist? They changed the programming 3-4 times a week and always featured double bills. Mon-Tues might be two Woody Allen films of fairly recent vintage. I recall a double bill of Bananas and Take The Money & Run while Sleeper was in the first run theaters across town. I first dug the films of the great director Stanley Kubrick when on a Wed-Thurs they showed a dbl. feature of Dr. Strangelove and Paths of Glory. There might be a Bogart night or a couple of days of films by the legendary surrealist Luis Bunuel. More popular fare hit on the weekends and every Friday at midnight was, of course, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Always double bills and always good prices and always lots of butts in seats.

Whatever goes into the building, Bear Valley movie fans will miss the familiar faces of the long-time staff (most of them will move down the street to the Village Theater on Pine Knot) and young Big Bear students who often held their first jobs behind the candy counter in this classic old theater will have to count on their memories from now on to conjure up their own nostalgic moments. For movie buffs, losing two screens in town would be a real shame. While my mom was a movie buff and Dad had a cheap drive-in movie pass when were were growing up, we also drove to Hollywood for big name releases once and awhile, did the Universal tour, met a few movie stars and have only missed one Oscars broadcast since I was 10. While I have my favorite stars (Depp, DeNiro, Cruz, Johansson...), directors (Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar, Christopher Nolan...) and genres (foreign, epics, psychological thrillers...)

Village Theaters business owner Will Viner posted the following thank you to long-time patrons here: www.villagetheaters.com

I personally will miss the old theater. In spite of the roller coaster rise and fall of the sloping rows of seats which sometimes puts your line of vision below the shoulders of the people directly in front of you (I have learned which rows NOT to sit in), the projectors and sound in the old theater were the best on the mountain and as with all of the theaters in the E&W theater chain, the prices are unbeatable and I'm told will continue at the Pine Knot Avenue location. Having a neighborhood theater where you see folks you know every week and you can share the movie-going experience helps create a sense of community that you can never get in the big suburban or inner city multi-plexes and in this day and age where every mall and street in the country features the same cookie-cutter chain stores and marquees, it is nice to have a place that feels your own. Like a good neighborhood bar, a favorite local band or a breakfast joint that knows your order before you walk in the door. Memories are built like this. I wish nothing but the best of luck to Will and Bruce and my good friend Koley who I met when she was just a teenager behind the glass in the ticket booth so many years ago. They and their staff have created a friendly and smiling environment where, in this small mountain burg, the locals and tourists alike can enjoy a quality night out on the town.

Regarding my personal tastes, in addition to the 2-3 movies a week at the Village Theaters, I still head down the hill driving two hours each way a couple of times a month for a day or two and camp out in the Laemmele Theaters in Pasadena or the Landmark Theaters in Hollywood to see that latest independent, foreign and art-house flicks. And Lord knows the bargain bins at K-Mart and Big Bear's indie owned Blockbuster have provided a recent plethora of B-pictures, old classics and the odd essential addition to my DVD collection for next to nothing. Nothing like batch of "sale" priced movies to cheer me up. I won't even get into my NetFlix habit which has blown up exponentially since I gave up my exhaustively expensive cable bill two years ago. Too many films, not enough time.

The profusion of Hollywood blockbusters is generally what we get on our 5 screens in the little town, lots of kids movies, horror and teen-aged fare which is needed to keep the theaters afloat. Once and awhile the wonderful folks who run the theaters respond to the requests of their more discerning crowd and bring a spectacular, more critically favored film (i.e. indie or less of a box-office smash) to town and we love them for it. Recently, THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL (not the greatest title for a film) played for a week and I heard not one bad thing from anyone lucky enough to catch it. It was delightfully written, compellingly acted and a visual feast. Coming soon to town will be the surprise romantic all-star hit of the summer, MOONRISE KINGDOM and the Lee Hirsch documentary BULLY. Both sound like must-see films for those looking outside the general car chase and animated summer fare.

Well, all of this by way of introduction to this new more regular movie review column. I will try to keep the reviews weekly and brief from now on and my mix up some DVD and NetFlix fare along with theatrical releases in the future but primarily I'll be giving my own, highly opinionated capsule reviews of recently viewed films.

This week in theaters:

TOTAL RECALL
Colin Farrell, Bookeem Woodbine, Bryan Cranston, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bill Nighy
****1/2
Directed by Len Wiseman
Remake of the 1990 Arnold Schwarzeneggger vehicle of the same name (originally directed by Paul Verhoeven). This one was light year's better, in my humble opinion. Not only was the acting predictably not as stiff and formulaic but the visual sensibility was up there with BLADE RUNNER and A.I. as a stunning glimpse at a futuristic world not so far from our quickly changing, present day timeline. This world is bleaker and grittier than either of the scenario's shown in the above SciFi classics but as compellingly created by the filmmakers. Based on Philip K. Dick's short story, "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale"...this new version stays firmly planted on Earth while the book and original had sub-plot set on Mars. Dick also wrote the books/stories that were the basis for the films "BLADE RUNNER", "MINORITY REPORT", "ADJUSTMENT BUREAU", "SCREAMERS", "IMPOSTER" "PAYCHECK", "KING OF ELVES", "A SCANNER DARKLY", "NEXT", "CONFESSIONS D'UN BARJO"...PKD is my all-time favorite sci-fi writer and was a unique and odd and compelling human being...read him. Some of his most popular work are "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" (aka Blade Runner); "The Cosmic Puppets", "Martian Time-Slip", "A Scanner Darkly" and my own personal fave "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch." Buy them all!!! www.philipkdick.com
  

THE CAMPAIGN

Will Ferrell, Zach Ganifikanis, John Lithgow, Dan Ackroyd, Dylan McDermott
***1/2
Directed by Jay Roach
Not the hilarity fest I had hoped but lots of fun, off-color and ridiculous moments as is to be expected from these guys. Ferrell was much more low-key than usual playing an unlikeable dolt and Zach the big scene-stealer playing a delightful dweeb who challenges the incumbent Ferrell in a last minute bid for a seat in Congress. The ensuing cutthroat campaign nearly destroys them both. And no, I don't limit my reviews to movies staring people named Farrell/Ferrell. I'd review a new movie by the Farrelly Brothers as well, if there was one out now. In the meantime, here are some others...

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Marion Cotillard, Tom Hardy, Michael Caine, Joseph Gordon-Leavitt
****1/2
Directed by Christopher Nolan
I rarely see films twice in a theater (getting to be a habit with Chris Nolan's films), but I wanted to see the final showing at the Village Theater and I was quite taken with this third in Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. While a bit long and convoluted plot wise (takes a LONG time before we ever see the Batman cowled and hittin' it), I loved the look of this film. Nolan is a stunningly visual director and the cast here was A-list good though Anne Hathaway while fine and gorgeous lacked the stylized cattiness of previous Catwomen, Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry. Tom Hardy, another favorite actor in Nolan's films (as is co-star Marion Cotillard) is intense and practically unrecognizable as the villain, Bane. Nolan's trio of films is so much darker and more adult oriented than the Spiderman series.

Last week or two:

THE WATCH

Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughan, Jonah Hill, Richard Ayoade, R. James Ermey
***
Directed by Akiva Shaffer
A fun comedy though not great but some laughs and a nice diversion. Vaughn's dry delivery and Stiller's befuddled but persistent hero save the pic from just silly, nothingness. There are good lines throughout but not a lot of super, great lines as four bumbling wanna be hero's form a Neighborhood Watch when aliens invade the solitude of their suburban town.

SAVAGES
Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, John Travolta, Benecio del Toro, Salma Hayek
****1/2
Directed by Oliver Stone
Well acted by the incredible cast, this is one of my favorite movies of the year. Travolta and Del Toro are sublime. This is the story of two local pot growers servicing the medical marijuana stores who get involved in an ill advised involvement with a Mexican drug cartel owned by Hayek. Del Toro is simply menacing in this role.



on DVD:

FROM DUSK TILL DAWN

George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, John Hawkes, Fred Williamson
****
Directed by Robert Rodriquez
I had forgotten how much fun this movie was. Though the vampire horror make-up looks a bit over the top these post-Twilight days, it was state-of-the-art back in the day. The creepiness factor rules this film with Tarantino's role taking the cake (he also wrote the screenplay). Really a Grindhouse movie stylistically with a bigger FX budget (master Special FX man, Tom Savini even has a starring role) this one is just a hell ride from start to finish. I love Lewis and Keitel's performances and the opening sequence in the liquor store is edgy and twisted in a Peckinpaugh-Meets-Pulp Fiction way. Great color and score add to the garishness of the whole shebang. Not to mention one of my favorite songs, DARK NIGHT by always riveting L.A. band, The Blasters (hear the abbreviated version under the FDTD credits above and a cool more recent live version below.