The Landlord

From Hal Ashby who brought us one of my favorite movies, Harold and Maude, (which has in it the only car that I would ever call "sexy" -- the Jaguar E-type hearse custom made for the film and destroyed, I think, in the filming), comes this offbeat look at race, class and the politics of the 70s. There is some great hair in this film. And dancing. People really knew how to dance in the 70s. And pants. Wow. Great pants. The story is a bit dated as you might expect, however the characters are 3-dimensional and I did find myself very sympathetic with Elgar who strives to break out of his upper-class mold. He buys a run-down tenement building in Park Slope (!) in Brooklyn and goes about trying to evict everyone and fix it up. He gets completely caught up in the lives of his tenants, much to his family's horror, and winds up with a new life. I wanted to see The Landlord because I haven't seen any other Ashby films and this one was his first. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, except for the handful of very funny and surreal moments that make it unique and worthwhile. Nowhere near Harold and Maude in terms of humor or craft, but you can see the director's style come through after having watched just the two films.

I'm Not There

I am, by no means, a Dylan expert. I am a fan, but a very casual fan, who feels like I should be more of a serious fan, but, in all honesty, I am not. I only own one Bob Dylan album, which I bought after seeing this movie. I haven't read his autobiography, seen the documentaries about him or paid him much attention at all. However, his name (first name only, usually) has always been spoken with reverence, of a sort, in my circles. Even the goth ones. "You gonna play some Bob?" "Yeah." "Right on." His name alone strikes a chord of respect from pretty much everyone I know. He was the namesake of all three of the dogs we owned in the commune. Thanks to my folks, he was part of the soundtrack of my youth and from that I know his songs like I know Bob Denver and James Taylor, Cat Stevens and Simon and Garfunkel - inside and out. All lyrics, all melodies familiar and nostalgic. These are all reasons why I wanted to see this movie.
Because I had no information about him to base any notions on, I was pulled into Haynes kaleidescope of truth and perception (though I had no idea which was which) and awed by the cinematic risks he took. Using six vastly different actors to play Dylan was brave. Using (the mind-blowingly talented) Cate Blanchett to play one of them was genius. She said she put a sock in her pants to help her walk like a man, but her voice was what blew me away. And her mannerisms and her gestures...not that I have anything based in reality to compare them to, but I was completely convinced, enthralled and impressed.

I don't know how to wrap this up. I simply loved this film. I guess I'll just close with one of my favorite lyrics.

Still I wish there was somethin' you would do or say
To try and make me change my mind and stay
We never did too much talkin' anyway
So don't think twice, it's all right

Southland Tales

Richard Kelly, who directed Donnie Darko, one of my favorite films of all time, had some of the tools he needed to get it right with this one, but he didn't. Almost, but not quite.

He certainly had an immense depth and breadth of acting talent(?), but just because you throw Justin Timberlake, The Rock, Buffy, Curtis Armstrong (Booger from Revenge of the Nerds), the freaky, tiny old lady from Poltergeist, the "inconceivable!" guy from The Princess Bride, and tons of SNL people (new and old-school) into a pot, doesn't make it a delicious soup. In fact, it makes it a crazy soup. And one with some amazing scenes and an absurdity factor to rival, say, Bunuel, but it still missed the mark. It's too complicated, too silly and way too long.

Some other folks have panned this film and they do it better than I ever could:

"A Schwarzeneggerian actor, related to a political dynasty, has been kidnapped, replaced with a double, and -- I give up. A plot synopsis would require that the movie have a plot." -- Ebert

" You can't help but feel that the only journey Kelly is taking you on is one deep inside his own bong." -- Mudede

"Somewhere beneath all the layers of idiocy are some good ideas -- if only Kelly knew how to express them." -- Snider

Add to this that I heard it was booed at Cannes and as a result Kelly cut 20 minutes off the film to try to make it less oblique. Lets just say I went in expecting to sleep through it or walk out. I understand that my low expectations were a key to my enjoyment here. I think when you say, "Well that was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be..." it's not really a compliment.

Love in the Time of Cholera

Lots of emphasis on the Love and not much on the Cholera. I haven't read the book, which I am happy about at this point because I think this movie didn't do it justice. I'll read the book now and will have a better experience than the other way around.

Javier Bardeem has become on of my favorite actors and his character is certainly a great one. We watch over the years as his love for Fermina never wavers. My biggest complaint would be that the dialog was a weird mix of serious drama and silly comedy, which I think Marquez does in his writing, but it didn't translate to film very well. Also, because we watch two characters for over 60 years, there needed to be some intense physical transformations and the makeup was badly done and really distracting. I can't help but feel that the story loses some of what I can only assume the book has: grandiosity.

This is an epic love story, but this movie takes it down to a dramatic romance. I am looking forward to reading the book, I know it will be better than this.

L'Advocat de la terreur (Terror's Advocate)

This was a long and (kind of) interesting documentary about Jacques Vergès who has been mixed up with some pretty unsavory characters for his whole life. He has been the defense attorney for both left and right wing terrorists (or freedom fighters, depending on your view) such as Slobodan Milošević, Djamila Bouhired, and Klaus Barbie. This film shows his point of view, which on some levels I can appreciate (that even the worst criminals are human deserve justice) but his sympathies lie with people like Pol Pot, and it's hard to like someone who likes someone like that. One great quote from the movie: "People ask me if I would defend Hitler, and I answer, I would even defend Bush...if he would plead guilty."

Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

Great documentary about Strummer, frontman of The Clash and a very influential and uniting individual. I really knew nothing about The Clash aside from a handful of songs and a basic understanding of their politics. But I really enjoyed the broad sweep of history, the punk scene and the politics of the 70s and 80s that director Julian Temple uses to place Strummer firmly in his element and give him context.


We are treated to a detailed arc of Joe's life with great archival footage and lots of recent campfire-lit interviews with stars and musicians who knew him, worked with him or admired him (including very weird Johnny Depp with two beard ponytails footage!) (And while I am being parenthetical, what the fuck is Bono doing in every movie about a musician more influential than him?) And we get to really see how he came, in his later years, to accept himself and his past and to celebrate it. My favorite line, that actually sums up his philosophy quite well: "When you get down to it, we're all the same. Punks are just hippies with zips."

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Sidney Lumet is still alive?? Yes, apparently, and making movies at the ripe old age of 83. Don't know who he is? Think 1988 -- Running on Empty. Think 1978 -- The Wiz. Think 1957 -- 12 Angry Men. These are great films.

This is not a great film, though. Philip Seymour Hoffman is really good, and I totally have a soft spot in my heart for Marisa Tomei, but Ethan Hawke is his usual over-acting self (is this the only character he does?) and the story is just not tight enough to pull off the complexity it needs in direction and dialog. It's entertaining.

The best thing I gleaned from it was the Irish blessing that opens (and names) the film: "May you be in heaven half an hour... before the devil knows you're dead."

Milarepa: Magician, Murderer, Saint

Milarepa was one wacked-out cat! This film follows his early years as he grows up and watches his family's fortune pissed away by a drunken uncle. His path takes him to a teacher of black magic and back to his village to avenge his mother's fate. With his mad yogi skillz, he can run faster the wind and he can cause avalanches. In a word, he's a badass. But with badassness comes heavy responsibility and he finds that out. The grit of this film is not the story, though. The grit is that it's awkward and rough, produced and cast entirely by monks, set in the early 11th century. It's a very matter-of-fact telling of some cuh-razy Buddhist shenanigans. The sequel is due out in 2009 and will tell of Milarepa's attempt to be reincarnated as a higher life form in one try! Wow!