The film world suffers another loss

It's eerie how celebrity deaths tend to come in threes. Yesterday it was Ingmar Bergman and Tom Snyder. Now there's word that the great Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni has passed away at age 94.

Best known by American audiences for the 1966 arthouse hit Blowup (the most enduring of all cinematic artifacts of the swinging 60s), Antonioni specialized in cerebral, difficult films that relied on visuals and open-ended narratives to contemplate existential alienation.

His three most revered movies - L'Avventura, La Notte and L'Eclisse - were all meditations on a similar theme: Profound loneliness and estrangement in the presence of other people.

With the exception of Blowup, Antonioni's movies were far too slow and esoteric for mainstream audiences. But their influence can be seen in the work of contemporary filmmakers as disparate as Steven Soderbergh, Richard Linklater and Wong Kar-Wai. Much like Bergman, Antonioni's impact on movies far transcends box office receipts and audience popularity.

Viewing log (catch-up edition)

Monday July 30

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

Sunday July 29

Hot Fuzz (2007)

* Shaun of the Dead (2005)

Army of Shadows (1969)

Saturday July 28

If... (1968)

* Streets of Fire (1984)

Thursday July 26

* Oldboy (2003): Fourth viewing; still gets better every time I watch it.

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Tuesday July 24

The Simpsons Movie (2007) Review here.

Monday July 23

Rescue Dawn (2007)

Wednesday July 18

Sunshine (2007): Review here.

So bad they're awesome

A film buff named Schulte Fiaja with exceedingly refined taste in crappy movies has put together a hilarious reel of some of the worst scenes ever committed to film, including "Worst Death Scene," "Most Random Line Ever" and "Worst CGI." If that last one doesn't make you laugh out loud, then you are impossible to amuse.

Viewing log

Friday July 13

The Tin Drum (1979): I can see why it is so acclaimed, won the Oscar and Palme D'Or, etc. But man, is this movie irritating - and not in a good way, either. Every time that kid started banging on that drum, I wanted to smash it over his little gnomish head. Also, in terms of gross-out factor, the eel-eating scene tops the live-octopus munching in Oldboy.

Thursday July 12

Hairspray (2007)

Tuesday July 10

Joshua (2007): Review here.

You Kill Me (2007): Review here.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The plot finally thickens in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, or at least builds up enough momentum to pull off the most amazing magic yet for the wildly popular franchise: It is genuinely engrossing.

Devoted readers of the J.K. Rowling novels may disagree, but this is the first installment in the soon-to-be series-of-seven that doesn't seem like just another spinoff capitalizing on the money-minting Harry Potter brand name. Instead, Phoenix feels like a real movie, albeit a chapter in a larger narrative that is only now starting to develop into something interesting and substantial.

That's not to say a lot actually happens. Yes, a major character dies, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) gets his first kiss and wise old Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) pulls a Yoda and finally picks up his lightsaber wand. But Phoenix is still light on major incident, a recurring problem with the four previous films, which have seemed much too long for their bite-sized plots.

The hardcover version of the novel ran 896 pages, but judging from the movie (at 138 minutes, the shortest Potter yet), either the publisher used a giant font or Rowling has made like Stephen King and done away with the editing process altogether.

Or maybe screenwriter Michael Goldenberg and director David Yates (previously best known for his work in British TV), both newcomers to the series, knew what to cut, condensing what must have been a horribly padded tale into its trimmest, tightest form possible.

As it stands, Phoenix now centers on Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton), the new professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at the Hogwarts school. She is an officious busybody with a sing-song voice and fascist style who imposes her will on students and faculty, and she quickly takes charge of the school and everyone in it.

Meanwhile, Harry suffers from nightmares involving the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) -- dreams implying that the link between the two enemies, who are destined to square off by series' end, may be stronger than anyone had imagined.

The roster of characters in the Potter universe has grown with each installment, and Phoenix introduces a couple new ones, including an intriguing new student, Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch), who forms an immediate bond with Harry over their mutual dark pasts, and a new witch in Voldemort's camp, played with wonderfully unhinged glee by Helena Bonham Carter.

But it's the familiar faces that help make Phoenix the best Potter movie yet. Director Yates, who is expected to return for the next installment, continues the shift away from set design and toward performance that Alfonso Cuarón started in the third film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Radcliffe, originally cast for his striking similarity to the character as illustrated in the books, has proven himself more than worthy of the role, giving Harry's growing angst and unease a surprisingly painful, vivid edge that typifies the picture's general mood. This is the darkest Potter film to date, and not just because so much of it takes place in shadows.

And even if the script doesn't provide Radcliffe much time to play off co-stars Rupert Grint and Emma Watson (as Harry's best pals Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger), the actors have grown comfortable enough with the roles -- and each other -- that their interplay carries the likable aura of warm banter among old friends.

That's important, because if the tone of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is any indication, there are dark days ahead for Harry and his gang. It's too bad Rowling is releasing the seventh and final book July 21, since knowing how the saga ends will rob the remaining two films of a lot of their magic. But at least for now, Phoenix does the trick.

Viewing log

Monday July 9

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

Sunday July 8

* John Grisham's The Rainmaker (1997)

Dead Silence (2007)

Making trouble

The New York Times ran a story yesterday about critics printing their film reviews before the movie's opening day, which always drives studios crazy. I am quoted in the story talking about my blog item on The Departed I published last fall when I saw the movie at the Toronto Film Festival. Yes, I am a rebel.

In other news, Variety reports that HBO is going to adapt Vincent Bugliosi's epic-length book Reclaiming History into a 10-part miniseries to be produced by Tom Hanks and Bill Paxton. This is great news, since I am in the process of wading through the massive (1,600 pages!) but fascinating tome, which aims to definitively rebuke all the conspiracy theories about the JFK assassination. I should be done reading just as the show starts to air sometime next year. I'm kidding - kinda.

Viewing log

Monday July 2

Harsh Times (2006): Starts out like a dramatic, R-rated version of Dude, Where's My Car? but builds up genuine power by the end, due mostly to strong performances by Christian Bale and Freddy Rodriguez as the two ne'er-do-well buddies. Helpful, too, was the wise decision by writer-director David Ayer to gradually reduce the number of times the actors say "Dude!" to each other. In a small role as Rodriguez' girlfriend, Eva Longoria is surprisingly good, or at least much better than her work on the first season of Desperate Housewives. By the way, in case anyone is still wondering, HD-DVDs are awesome.

More than meets the eye

The biggest surprise about Michael Bay's Transformers is how consistently funny the movie is. I don't mean funny in an unintentional, Pearl Harbor kind of way, either: For more than two-thirds of its 144-minute running time, this much-anticipated, blockbuster-bound movie is a bonafide comedy, something neither the film's trailers, nor Bay's track record, promised.

The emphasis on humor was a smart move, since for uninitiated viewers (like me) who never played with the Hasbro toys or watched the TV cartoons, there's a truckload of guff to wade through before you get to the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em robot action you came to see.

But considering we're talking about a movie  in which talking robots named Devastator, Bumblebee, Megatron and Optimus Prime are fighting over a giant cube that contains some kind of all-powerful energy, there wasn't a single moment in Transformers where I felt my eyes starting to roll, which says a lot.

Even Bay is on his best behavior, actually holding shots for - prepare yourself - longer than 30 seconds at a time. In its climactic half-hour, Transformers finally becomes an all-out Michael Bay movie, although by then the picture had won me over, and the end credits rolled just as exhaustion was starting to creep in. Maybe he really isn't the devil after all.

A side note: Whoever the executive at General Motors who secured the deal to exclusively feature GM cars in the movie was is going to get a huge year-end bonus, because I suspect the movie is going to make Camaros insanely popular again. For example, I suddenly want one.

Viewing log

Thursday June 28

Transformers (2007)

Wednesday June 27

* The Third Man (1949): Has any actor ever had a bigger impact on a movie with just one scene than Orson Welles does here?

Live Free or Die Hard (2007): Review here.

Tuesday June 26

Flatliners (1990): Is it just me, or does everyone in this movie (Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon) come off as really, really unlikable?

Monday June 25

Ratatouille (2007): Review here.

The best political ad ever - courtesy of The Sopranos

Some TV critics I know think all the obsessiveness over the Sopranos finale has crossed the line into geekiness, which may or may not be true. But this is easily the coolest, most of-the-moment political ad I've ever seen. Who knew Hillary Clinton had it in her?

Viewing log

Sunday June 17

Ghost Rider (2007): In which Nicolas Cage once again proves that his overacting can make any movie entertaining, no matter how bad.

Thumbs up from Castro

The Cuban government has blessed Michael Moore's documentary Sicko with its official stamp of approval, stating that the film "helps promote the profoundly human principles of Cuban society."

In the movie, which opens June 29, Moore takes three 9/11 volunteer rescue workers to the U.S military base in Guantanamo Bay to get them medical treatment for a variety of respiratory problems - "the same kind of [medical treatment] Al Qaeda is getting!" Moore yells into a bullhorn.

When the military proves unreceptive, Moore and his subjects end up at Havana Hospital, where a team of physicians treat their new patients with great sensitivity and care - all at no cost.

As a bonus, Moore interviews Aleida Guevara, daughter of the Cuban Revolution icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who brags about the Cuban health care system and asks American viewers "Why are we able and you are not?"

Meanwhile, a pirated copy of Sicko has made its way onto the Internet and is available to download gratis - you know, just like that awesome Cuban health care.

Viewing log

Friday June 15

Sicko (2007)

Straight Time (1978)

Selling their souls

The irreverent folks at Radar magazine periodically round up a group of movie critics and ask them to review commercials made by or featuring famous people. This month, they invited me to play along. First up is Dennis Hopper hawking Ameriprise retirement planning. Yes, he's that old.

Viewing log

Thursday June 14

A Mighty Heart (2007)

Wednesday June 13

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007): What have they done to Galactus?

* Children of Men (2006): I can't stop watching this movie. Afterwards, I took a look at one of the DVD extras which reveals how Alfonso Cuaron got that amazing long take that begins with Clive Owen and Julianne Moore playing with a ping-pong ball - and now I wish I hadn't. Some mysteries are best left unexplained.

Tuesday June 12

Once (2007)

Tony Soprano, R.I.P.?

The theory that Tony Soprano was whacked at the end of the Sopranos series finale is starting to take hold. David Chase gave the Star-Ledger a post-game interview yesterday, but he declined to go on the record with what, if anything, the abrupt ending was supposed to mean. Even the guy who might have pulled the trigger on T can't say for sure.

Meanwhile, some fans are still pissed. And Journey's Don't Stop Believin' is currently the 30th most downloaded song on iTunes.

Viewing log

Monday, June 11

Black Snake Moan (2007): How and when did Christina Ricci turn into Brigitte Bardot?

Idiocy

Who was the mental giant at Lionsgate Films who decided Hostel Part II would not be screened in advance for critics? Whoever it was, I hope they're basking in the paltry $8.2 million the movie grossed last weekend - less than half of what the first film made when it opened in theaters last January.

I don't know if reviews would have made all that much difference in the film's boxoffice take (and judging by its current score at rottentomatoes.com, the movie was never going to be a critical darling).

But even lukewarm reviews would have let readers know there's a lot more to Hostel: Part II than its disgusting poster implies. Compared to the original, writer-director Eli Roth has toned down the blood-and-guts content considerably: There's nothing in the movie, for example, that even begins to compare with the dangling-eyeball bit from the first picture.

What's more, Roth fares infinitely better in the sequel with characterizations and dialogue than he did in the original. As far as horror flicks go, Hostel: Part II is surprisingly effective at making you care about its three heroines (played by Lauren German, Heather Matarazzo and Bijou Phillips), who are nowhere near as annoyingly thin and cliched as the guys from Hostel were. Thus, when bad things start to happen to them - really, really bad things - there's an emotional component to the horror the viewer feels. You're not just grossed out by the awesome display of make-up effects being paraded across the screen.

Hostel: Part II isn't nearly as lazy as you might expect, either: It's not just more of the same. Roth (who continues to get better behind the camera) devotes half of the screenplay to asking how (or why) otherwise normal, sane people would pay thousands of dollars for the privilege of belonging to an ultra-secret club that allows its members to torture and kill for the sheer, sick thrill of it (it's like The Most Dangerous Game taken to ludicrous extremes).

The psychology of Hostel: Part II may be of the dime-store variety, but it's the effort Roth forth that makes a difference, distinguishing the picture from a Saw-style exercise in sadism for sadism's sake. There's a good reason why a lot of the horror movies coming out of Hollywood today aren't screened in advance for reviewers - most of them are boring, completely uninteresting junk. Hostel: Part II is junk, too, but it's certainly not boring, and it is not uninteresting, either. For some baffling reason, Lionsgate did everything it could to make sure no one found out about that. Mission accomplished, guys.

Viewing log

Sunday June 11

Hostel: Part II (2007)

The Sopranos: Made in America (2007): Enough with the whining. Any longtime Sopranos fan should know by now the most eventful episode in every season is always the penultimate one, never the last one. Besides, it's the open-ended, enigmatic finales - not the concrete ones - that keep you thinking about a story long after the end credits have rolled (e.g. The Godfather Part II vs. The Godfather Part III). Have you ever seen anything as unbearably suspenseful on a TV show as that final scene? A bonus: Journey's Don't Stop Believin' suddenly feels like a really good song again.

Friday June 9

Black Christmas (1974): Doesn't live up to its legendary cult status, although it does definitively answer the question of which movie can be considered the first true slasher flick.

Thursday June 8

Revenge: Director's Cut: (1990/2007): Half-hour shorter than the version released to theaters, although it still feels pompous and bloated. Just a little less so. Quentin Tarantino is a passionate fan, which only proves Quentin Tarantino adores some pretty bad movies.

Speed

I'm part of a generation of Miamians who grew up watching Speed Racer cartoons every school morning over breakfast on the old WCIX Channel 6 (followed, of course, by Star Blazers, the greatest cartoon series of all time).

A live-action film adaptation of Speed Racer has been kicking around Hollywood since 2001 - at one point, Johnny Depp was supposedly all set to star - but it took the Matrix brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski to finally push through and get the thing made.

The movie - which stars Emile Hirsch as Speed, Christina Ricci as Trixie, Matthew Fox as Racer X and John Goodman as Pops (how perfect is that?) - won't be out until next summer, but here's a sneak peek of what the toy spin-off of the Mach 5 will look like (it remains to be seen whether the Wachowskis use any real cars in the movie or create them all on their fancy computers).

Viewing log

Tuesday June 5

Ocean's 13 (2007)

Monday June 4

1408 (2007): Why is it that all the good Stephen King movies are (almost) always about writers?

Sunday June 3

El Topo (1970): Still trippy and hypnotic, all these years later. Not my thing, exactly, but I finally understand why it made such a fuss back then. The transfer on the new DVD is so clean, it looks like the movie was shot yesterday.

Saturday June 2

The Verdict (1982)

Thursday May 31

Evening (2007): Or, The Hours For Dummies.

Joker's wild

Here's a first glimpse of what Heath Ledger will look like as The Joker in next summer's The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan's follow-up to his excellent Batman Begins. Judging by the creep-out factor of the photo, it's safe to assume Nolan is preserving the mature, camp-free tone of the first movie.

Viewing log

Tuesday May 29

Knocked Up (2007): In which writer-director Judd Apatow proves The 40 Year-Old Virgin was no fluke.

Paris, Je T'aime (2006)

Monday May 28

Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981): Reminds you what a vibrant and engaging actor Richard Dreyfuss was in his prime. Didactic and manipulative but still thoroughly engaging, marred only by what could be the most pretentious dream sequence ever put on film.

Friday May 25

Crazy Love (2007): Truth really is stranger than fiction.

Thursday May 24

The Fallen Idol (1948): Further proof, as if any more were needed, that Carol Reed deserves a spot alongside Hitchcock, Ford and Wilder as one of the all-time great directors.

X marks the spot in The Departed - the prequel

Universal Pictures has finally released Howard Hawks' 1932 masterful Scarface as a stand-alone DVD (it was previously available only as a bonus on a deluxe gift set of the Brian De Palma/Al Pacino remake).

To go along with my previous post on how Martin Scorsese stole paid homage to Hawks' use of the letter X as a symbol for impending doom in The Departed, here are a few screen grabs from the movie in which X makes a cameo appearance.

 

 

Technically, any scene Paul Muni appears in contains an X, if you count his scar.

Finally, the momentous episode of The Sopranos that aired two weeks ago contained a blatant reference to The Departed and the appearance of not one but two Xs moments before the death of a major character. Coincidence or not? You decide. Click on images to make them bigger.

Check out the rearview mirror!

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. . A plus sign is just an X turned sideways.

Viewing log

Monday May 22

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

* Scarface (1932)

Saving the best for last

The Miami Beach Cinematheque is bringing David Lynch's Inland Empire to town for a one-night only screening on June 24 at the Colony Theater on South Beach. This will be the last time the movie, which Lynch distributed himself, will be projected in a theater before it hits DVD on August 14.

Shot on digital video over a span of two years and running three hours, the movie has been a love-hate proposition for critics, described as everything from "an interminable bore" to "an amazing and unshakeable experience."  In other words, it sounds like almost every movie Lynch has directed, which automatically makes it a must-see.

Making the evening even more special is that Lynch will introduce the movie from the Colony stage via live webcam from his own living room. Lynch himself will be introduced via a musical interlude by stream-of-consciousness guitarist Sasha Weisfeld, whose improvisational performances are based on what just took place in the room he happens to be in at the moment.

The Inland Empire screening is part of the Cinematheque's month-long "Let's Experiment!", which will be showcasing experimental and avant-garde films throughout June. Tickets go on sale today via Ticketmaster for the general public and are available here for Miami Beach Film Society members.

For a quick Lynch fix to tide you over until Inland Empire arrives, check out this short he unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival last week.

Viewing log

Saturday May 19

* Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992): I enjoy this one a tiny bit more every time I watch it, which means by 2015, I may actually like it. But I still think it was a mistake to go the prequel route.

Speaking of Twin Peaks, anyone who's been watching the DVD set of the show's second season and wants to feed their obsession will find a welcome home here.

Friday May 18

Coming to America (1988): Had never caught up with this Eddie Murphy blockbuster. Why do John Landis' movies age so badly (with only a couple of exceptions)?

 

Thursday May 17

The Hitcher (2007): Just as pointless as I expected, although it's still kind of a must-see if you're a fan of the original, which I am. Baffled as to why the alternate ending included on the DVD wasn't used. Also contains one of the best examples I've ever seen of when not to use a pop/rock song as wallpaper: The extended police car chase/pileup sequence would have been 100 times better without Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" on the sountrack.

Gone fishing

Taking a few days off this week to rest up for the oncoming summer movie onslaught. If you're looking for something to see this weekend and Shrek 3 just doesn't do it for you, go check out Away From Her, Sarah Polley's terrific directorial debut, which is not to be missed. Trust me on this.

Viewing log

* The Matrix (1999): It's been several years since I watched this one again, and the superb new HD-DVD set is so good, it almost made me want to sit through Matrix Revolutions again. Almost.

Coppola and I

Here's a shot of Francis Ford Coppola and myself on the stage of the Colony Theater during last night's Q&A session following a screening of the documentary CODA: 30 Years Later. I was a little nervous at the beginning (OK, more than a little) but I grew more comfortable as the hour went on.

In case you didn't manage attend for some baffling reason, here's a rundown of what you missed. Thanks again to Dana Keith and the Miami Beach Cinematheque for organizing the event and bringing major-league film culture to Miami.

Watch this space in the coming days for news about the Cinematheque's next major screening, this one coming in June. Here's a not-so-subtle two-word clue for you: Inland Empire.

Viewing log

Sunday May 13

CODA: 30 Years Later (2007)

Shrek, shmek

I never read reviews of movies before a) I've seen the film myself and b) have finished writing my own review. But since I have no plans to ever see Shrek the Third if I can help it, I read The Hollywood Reporter's pan of the film.

This line from the review pretty much describes how I've felt about the Shrek series: "The rude send-up of beloved fairy tale conventions remains - somewhat - but these playful jabs no longer come as pleasing surprises. You expect them. And you expect better."

With the exception of the Gingerbread Cookie dude and Antonio Banderas' Puss in Boots, there is practically zero wit or cleverness in these movies. I've never understood why they've been such huge hits the world over. But then some things will always be a mystery to me.

Viewing log

Wednesday May 9

The Sopranos - Episode 82: Walk Like a Man (2007): Caught up late with this week's episode, which I realize is not technically a movie. But wow. So many fantastic scenes packed into that one hour that it felt like a full-length movie. One of the best in the show's entire history, I think. And only four episodes to go before the end, which is increasingly looking to be a feel-good, happily-ever-after finale for everyone - not.

Glass houses

The man who gave the world Jar Jar Binks apparently thinks Spider-Man 3 is "silly".

Wonder why he would think that?

Viewing log

Tuesday May 8

Away From Her (2006): Is it too early to start clamoring for Julie Christie to get an Oscar?

Foiled again

My feature on Vivien Lesnik Weisman's documentary The Man of Two Havanas was going to run on 1A last week, and I like nothing better than getting film stories on the front page. Unfortunately, breaking news from Cuba kept bumping my story, until it finally ended up running inside Monday's Tropical Life section.

Anyway, the story is here, and you can watch the film's trailer here.

Viewing log

Monday May 7

Georgia Rule (2007): Why, oh why, didn't Connie Ogle review this?

The local film scene

Here's a website worth bookmarking if you live in South Florida. I'm not sure who runs it (the "about us" link brings up a big screen of nothing), but there's a lot of good information available, such as this comprehensive calendar listing of film screenings and events in the area. Good stuff.

Viewing log

Saturday May 5

Marie Antoinette (2006): Wish I had managed to catch up with this one last fall, so I could have included it on my year-end list of the best of 2006. Kirsten Dunst has now officially taken over the title of My Favorite Contemporary Actress Under 40 (previous title holder: Toni Collette).

The people's verdict

Sounds like a lot of the people who attended the midnight screenings of Spider-Man 3 yesterday liked what they saw. I do find it odd, though, how some moviegoers use the word "graphics" to refer to visual special effects. What hath the xBox wrought?

Here is the summer movie preview that ran in today's paper. If I could pick one film that I would get to see right now, I'd go with this one, just because I am extremely curious as to what they came up with for the big-screen version.

Tickets are still available for the screening of Coda: 30 Years Later and the Francis Ford Coppola Q&A engagement at the Colony Theater next Sunday. If you're a student, the tickets are practically free (just $5). If you're a film buff, the opportunity to meet and chat with Coppola is priceless.

Viewing log

Thursday, May 3

28 Weeks Later (2007): Builds and expands on 28 Days Later the way Dawn of the Dead expanded on Night of the Living Dead. Sober, intelligent, intense and gory as hell.

A tale of two cities

Just got back from the world premiere screening of The Man of Two Havanas at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. The movie, which will be shown here several times over the next week, is director Vivien Lesnik Weisman's documentary portrait of her father Max Lesnik, who was raised in Havana, Cuba and later moved to Miami's Little Havana, but wound up fighting against the tide in both cities.

 

The reason for Lesnik's disenfranchisement was his political outspokenness. In Cuba, after befriending Fidel Castro while a teenager in college and playing a key role in the Cuban Revolution of 1958, Lesnik became disillusioned over the Castro's government marriage of ideologies with the Soviet Union.

In Miami, where he moved with his wife and two daughters, Lesnik was alienated by his refusal to toe the right-wing Cuban exile political line - and paid dearly for it. A sharp, charismatic and eloquent man, Lesnik is a fascinating subject for a film, and his daughter turns The Man of Two Havanas into a love letter to her father and a blistering critique of enduring political attitudes towards Cuba - including the U.S. embargo of the island.

At the screening, I ran into former Miami Film Festival director Nicole Guillemet (who is now apartment-hunting in New York) and asked her why the movie didn't premiere in Miami, where it would have been a natural. Guillemet says she loved the film and would have absolutely programmed it, political controversy or not, but it simply wasn't ready in time.

I am interviewing Lesnik and her father tomorrow for a story to run in the paper sometime next week. 

Viewing log

Saturday Apr. 28

The Man of Two Havanas (2007)

Getting it right

Warner Bros. and Ridley Scott are working on a definitive DVD release of Blade Runner that will gather all the different cuts of the movie that have sprouted up over the years: The original theatrical version with the voiceover narration ("I had had a bellyful of killing"); the slightly more violent European edition (previously available on home video in the U.S. exclusively on the long out-of-print Criterion laserdisc); and the 1992 director's cut that does away with the narration and the pasted-on "happy ending" (in which Harrison Ford and Sean Young run away together, using footage originally shot by Stanley Kubrick for The Shining).

Now comes word, though, that the DVD may contain one more, never-before-seen version of Blade Runner. Actress Joanna Cassidy, who played the replicant Zhora in the film, has posted an item on her personal website stating she has just finished "re-shooting her scenes" from the movie for the upcoming DVD.

Sounds like Scott, a notorious re-tinkerer, may be doing more to Blade Runner than giving it a spit-and-polish. The DVD has no firm release date yet, but the finished product will be yet more motivation to pony up for one of those newfangled HD-DVD players.

Viewing log

Friday Apr. 27

Smokin' Aces (2007): Probably felt loud and endless in the theater, but at home, not so much.

 

"Payback" redux

The essential difference between the Mel Gibson vehicle Payback released to theaters in 1999 and the version found on the Payback: Straight Up - The Director's Cut DVD (Paramount, $20, HD-DVD and Blu-ray $30) can be summed up thusly: In the new version, they shoot the dog.

It is a sign of just how misguided Hollywood studio logic can be that despite Payback's ridiculously high body count and cartoonish approach to violence, one of the sticking points that led first-time director Brian Helgeland to walk away from the film - which was extensively altered, and not for the better, after his departure - was the insistence by executives that a scene of a dog being shot (off-camera) simply had to go.

It was that sort of inane decision - along with the inclusion of a new third act and hammy voiceover narration designed to make Gibson's anti-hero more sympathetic - that made Payback seem so generic and forgettable during its original release.

Helgeland's version, which is presented here for the first time, is shorter, tighter and infinitely more memorable, sporting a wickedly cynical sense of humor and a mean, unsparing attitude that are a much better fit for Donald E. Westlake's source novel (the same book, by the way, that inspired John Boorman's cooler-than-cool tough-guy noir Point Blank).

The DVD, which includes extensive interviews with Helgeland and Gibson about the recutting of the film, is a fascinating, uncommonly candid study of how Hollywood studios, in their attempts to make movies more audience-friendly (i.e. commercial), often end up draining what would have made the films memorable in the first place: Their spirit and originality.

Viewing log

Monday Apr. 23

Payback: Straight Up - The Director's Cut (2007)

Wednesday, Apr. 26

Tears of the Black Tiger (2000): Made in Thailand, this visually sumptuous western/romance/revenge drama/parody/splatter flick is, simply put, the darndest thing I ever saw.

* The Godfather (1972): Little-known bit of trivia: The horse's head was real.

The return

OK, it's back.

Viewing log

Tuesday Apr. 24

Spider-Man 3 (2007): You know how sometimes - but not often - in life, you're eagerly anticipating something long before it takes place, and then it finally happens, and it turns out to be even better than you'd dared hope? Spider-Man 3 is one of those times.

On sale now

Miami Film Festival tickets go on sale today for the general public.

Here are a couple of recommendations to get you started. More to come in the days ahead.

Don't overlook the seminars, either. You never know who will be participating.

Viewing log:

Tuesday Feb. 13

Breach (2007): Review here.

Thursday Feb. 15

Brick (2006): Wish I had caught up with this one last year, when it would have probably cracked my top 10 list. A deep fondness for hard-boiled noir is required. Writer-director Rian Johnson is ridiculously talented. Has David Lynch seen this movie?

Open Water 2: Adrift (2006): I know, I know. But guess what? It's better than you think. Not good, mind you. But better.

We're number 8!

In their latest issue, Moviemaker magazine publishes its annual list of the top 10 American cities to live, work and make movies. Miami, which ranked number 7 on last year's list, returns this year only one notch lower. It could have been a lot worse: Los Angeles, for example, didn't even make the cut.

"With over 240 feature films produced in 2006, it is the hard work of the Miami-Dade Mayor's Office of Film and Entertainment (which is comprised of three local film offices) and a large independent moviemaking community that really make South Florida shine."

Speaking of Miami's moviemaking community, the documentary Cocaine Cowboys, which was produced and directed by homeboys Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman, is out on DVD and definitely bears watching, especially if you're a local. You'll never think of the Miami skyline the same way again.

Viewing log:

Monday Feb. 12

The Lives of Others (2006): As much as I love Pan's Labyrinth, I wouldn't be totally upset (or surprised) if this German thriller ran off with the Best Foreign Language Oscar. It's that good. Opens here on Feb. 23.

F--- (2006: Rambling and inconsequential documentary about the origins, uses and social significance of the dreaded F-word is also extremely entertaining and jampacked with useless but fun information. For example: Robert Altman's M*A*S*H was the first movie in which the word was uttered (it was used as an adjective). The first known appearance of the word in print was in the poem Flen Flyys, written in 1475. The average episode of HBO's Deadwood contains 69.3 uses of the word. And Pat Boone never says it, preferring instead to say his last name, as in "Oh, Boone!"

Getting away with it

I spoke to David Fincher via telephone this weekend about his upcoming Zodiac. Calling from New Orleans, where he's currently filming his next movie, Fincher talked about how he managed to get a major studio to finance Zodiac, despite its unconventional nature and unusually long (for a thriller) running time.

Fincher, of course, is already famous for having directed one of the most subversive films to ever come from a Hollywood studio. But he says he never felt like he was getting away with something similar with Zodiac, since everyone involved knew what they were getting into from the moment they read James Vanderbilt's script.

"I don’t think anybody made this movie in spite of their instincts," Fincher said. "I think they made it because of their instincts. People spent [money] to make this movie because they believed in the story, because it's a gripping yarn and because they believed there was something at the end of it. Although I’m sure there’s a lot of people who would have rather seen it at two hours and seven minutes."

Fincher says Zodiac's two-hour-and-45-minute running time was the result of the extensive research that went into the project, which was made with the cooperation of many of the surviving victims and investigators of the Zodiac killer.

"We tried to make the movie as short as we could," Fincher said. "But we also made promises to people that we were going to tell their story and they would not be turned into plot devices - Nameless Victim Number One. And whenever possible, we tried to make good on those promises.

"My goal from the beginning was to make a scary movie that would have the same effect on the audience [the real-life case] had on me. But I didn't want to pander and I didn't want the movie to be salacious. It's not just a Friday night at a scary movie."

The rest of my interview with Fincher will run closer to Zodiac's March 2 release. You can check out some clips from the movie here.

Viewing log

Saturday Feb. 10

Stranger Than Fiction (2006): Will Ferrell is surprisingly good in what is essentially a dramatic performance trapped inside a comedy, although I liked Dustin Hoffman's supporting turn as an eccentric literature professor even more. Doesn't quite overcome the aura of a Charlie Kaufman rip-off, but its transparently schematic nature is never annoying. Too bad the script loses its nerve in the last five minutes, though.

Sunday Feb. 11

* Reservoir Dogs (1992): Hadn't watched this one all the way through in seven or eight years. Still arguably Tarantino's best movie overall (although Jackie Brown gets better every time I watch it). The DVD contains some deleted scenes that include alternate takes of the infamous ear scene that are much bloodier and graphic, yet not nearly as disturbing as the one Tarantino ended up using.

Who is "The Zodiac?"

Anyone expecting David Fincher's Zodiac to be another serial-killer thriller a la Seven is in for a big surprise. Running nearly three hours, this long (some will say too long), complex, dialogue-heavy movie is more of a police procedural than anything else - a densely detailed, scrupulously researched recreation of the decade-long hunt for the killer who preyed on San Francisco during the 1960s and 70s.

A dramatic departure for Fincher in both style and content (for one thing, a lot of the film takes place in broad daylight), Zodiac boasts superb work from an ensemble cast that includes Jake Gyllenhaal as political cartoonist turned sleuth Robert Graysmith; Robert Downey Jr. as San Francisco Chronicle reporter Paul Avery; and Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards as a pair of police detectives investigating the crimes. 

They're all terrific, each embodying the theme of obsession that forms the heart of James Vanderbilt's screenplay. And the movie itself, too, is a work of obsession, devoted almost entirely to chronicling the minutiae of the investigation. Channeling a distinct 1970s filmmaking vibe (think All the President's Men), Zodiac has absolutely nothing in common with what passes for Hollywood thrillers nowadays. It'll be interesting to see how mainstream audiences respond when it opens on March 2.

Viewing log:

Wednesday Feb. 7

Zodiac (2007)

Question of the day

   Well, yes. Another 48 HRS., Best Defense, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, The Golden Child, The Distinguished Gentleman, Beverly Hills Cop II and III, A Vampire in Brooklyn, Metro, Life, Holy Man, Showtime, Dr. Dolittle I and II, I Spy, Daddy Day Care, The Haunted Mansion, Boomerang, recording Party All the Time, and picking up hitchhikers on Santa Monica Boulevard. But nobody's perfect.

Viewing log:

Tuesday Feb. 6

Norbit (2007): AKA The Nutty Professor III.

Queasy Rider

The flaming skull-head superhero Ghost Rider was never a first-string character in the Marvel Comics universe, but I was still looking forward to the film adaptation coming out on Feb. 16.

Now Sony Pictures has informed critics it will not be screening the film in advance for opening-day reviews. And you know what that means.

Viewing log:

Thursday Feb. 1

When the Levees Broke (2006) Acts III and IV: Extraordinary on a number of levels, including its ability to incorporate a voluminous amount of journalistic information without losing the feel of a personal, intimate work. Ranks amongst director Spike Lee's best films.

Friday Feb. 2

Sheitan (2006): Another entry in the rapidly growing genre of French horror films that favor lunatic situations and at