Tim is joined by Twin Peaks Fanatic blogger/Blue Rose Magazine contributor and all around TP superfan Mya McBriar to discuss episodes 3 and 4 of David Lynch’s outstanding new work.
Category: Film Review
LUC BESSON’S THE MESSENGER — A REVIEW BY FILMMAKER & GUEST CRITIC DAMIAN K. LAHEY
‘The Messenger: The Story Of Joan Of Arc’ (1999) dir. Luc Besson
I’m a big cheerleader for this film. I think this is a remarkable achievement. I find Besson’s direction and intentions pure and Jovovich is incredible in the title role. The post modern way in which screenwriter Andrew Birkin and Luc Besson tackle the story gives the film a real timeless quality and a sharp contemporary message. And the cinematography by Thierry Arbogast? Get out of town! Absolutely gorgeous!
Now, there are a couple of awkward moments in the film. Things that seem out of place for one reason or another. They are small and inconsequential save for one that I feel should be addressed. I do not believe this film does itself any favors by treating the murder/rape of Joan’s sister as a black comedy sketch. I think this damages the film at the very start and it takes a minute to recover from it. It is also entirely made up. Joan Of Arc did not have a sister brutally raped and murdered by the English. I’m sure Besson had his reasons but…
The Church is presented as an unwieldy political monster here – draconian and far reaching as well as hypocritical and rigid in its discipline. Its intentions anything but noble. The French Government learns of a peasant girl gaining notoriety for her religious visions and decides to use her in a shrewd attempt to reignite a flagging nationalism. Joan was a natural when it came to myth making and the French monarch saw in her a great opportunity. While Joan Of Arc’s devotion to the cause was intense and blinding, the character she created for herself was one to be manipulated by far more calculating minds. To the people, the Maid of Orleans was a symbol of many things – hope, a resurgent France, proof of God’s existence…but to the French Government and the Church – she was a tool. And a tool they used wisely.
The cast that appears in this film is glorious. Jovovich is assisted on all sides by the likes of Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, Vincent Cassel and John Malkovich and they all give incredible performances.
At the end, she burns. We know Joan doesn’t make it out alive. There’s a mock trial and political shenanigans. But Joan’s victory in this film isn’t the military campaigns, her legend building or ability to inspire religious simpletons. In a clever, revisionist move the filmmakers paint Joan Of Arc’s greatest triumph as her ability to finally forgive herself. She finally comes to understand that the voice she’s been answering to is not God’s but her own. She does not need God’s forgiveness for her sins. She simply needs her own forgiveness to find peace.
Let’s face it. People look themselves in the mirror and tell themselves vital lies every day to keep them going. And some of these lies are larger than others. Joan’s vital lie was her unwavering belief that everything that occurred to her had a religious explanation and thus justified her extreme behavior. This prevented her from seeing the larger picture and it is that narrative that ultimately brought her down. She failed to understand her role in a world of boundaries, governments and alliances.
The filmmakers ask us to accept that Joan Of Arc is neither saint, opportunist, lunatic, do-gooder, or glory seeker but instead a highly passionate and confused teenager made up of all these things that happened to come together at the right time and place to create an enduring piece of history. In her final hours she finds absolution from within, freeing herself at last. She does not burn as the ambitious and over zealous Joan Of Arc. She burns as the simple peasant girl from Orleans who wanted to confess and having finally done so, could embrace her fate.
THE COEN BROTHERS’ MILLERS CROSSING — A MINI-REVIEW BY NICK CLEMENT
The 1990 crime film Miller’s Crossing is one of my favorite films from the Coen brothers, a neo-noir gangster movie that gets better and better with each viewing, fully showcasing the Coen’s estimable gifts as storytellers and stylists, with bracing and dark wit balanced by stark violence, creating a rich, dense cinematic world that unfolds with sinister calm. Starring Gabriel Byrne, John Turturro, Marcia Gay Harden, Steve Buscemi, Mike Starr, Albert Finney, Jon Polito, and J.E. Freeman, the plot hinges on rival gangs and how one man navigates the tricky and duplicitous waters of engaging with both sides. Shot with formal precision by Barry Sonnenfeld (he also shot Raising Arizona and Blood Simple for the Coens) and judiciously edited by Michael R. Miller (Raising Arizona, Orgazmo), the film boasts a superb musical score from Coen-mainstay Carter Burwell (Fargo, Being John Malkovich), with everyone in the ensemble delivering pitch-perfect performances. Despite not finding a supporting theatrical audience, Miller’s Crossing has become a cult favorite in the years since its big-screen release, and one of the better offerings this genre has provided in decades. Look out for Sam Raimi and Frances McDormand in small roles, while the nods to Dashiell Hammett ground the film with a literary quality that kicks it up another notch.
Indie Gems: 13 Moons
It’s anybody’s guess how ones like 13 Moons slip through the cracks, but in this case it was probably a case of nonexistent marketing and no effort put into a proper release. Despite having a cast that’s speckled with all kinds of big names, character actors and cameos, it has the appearance of barest of bones indie digs, and looks suspiciously like it was filmed bootleg/guerrilla style. I’ve not a clue what the story behind it’s conception is, but it’s a brilliant little flick that you won’t find anywhere these days, but deserves a look. It’s one of those moody, nocturnal L.A. set ensemble pieces in which a group of eclectic characters wander about, intersecting in various subplots until it finally comes together in the third act. This motif is overdone these days, and I just have to throw a jab at Paul Haggis’s Crash, which has aged like Kraft Dinner left for a week in the Florida sun, but my point is that they either work or topple over like a jenga tower buckling under the weight of each character and scenario. This one is so low budget it looks like it was shot on an etch a sketch, but thankfully the story is powerful, emotional, hilarious and strange enough to make a lasting impression. Steve Buscemi and Peter Dinklage are two sad-sack clowns who wander the nightscape, and in fact the image of absurdly out of place clowns roaming the lonely streets of NYC, getting caught up in a raucous night out involving a man (David Proval, an underused talent in the industry) and his young son who is dying of cancer and desperately seeks an organ doner, while his mom (Jennifer Beals) looks for them. Meanwhile there’s an insane clown played by Peter Stormare who’s running about, and when I say insane I do mean it. Stormare is always a little zany and flamboyant, but his work here takes the cake and whips it at the wall. It’s easy for actors to be uninhibited in indie fare like this, free from the prudence of studio chaperones, and he knows this, his character eventually playing a key role but most of the time careening around like a bat out of hell set loose in New York. The cameos are fleeting and fascinating, and one wonders who was buddies with who and pulled what favours to swing their appearances, but it’s nice to see them irregardless. Sam Rockwell and Michael Parks are fun as two bartenders, real life ex-hoodlums Danny Trejo and Edward Bunker show up briefly as.. hoodlums, and watch for quick turns from Pruitt Taylor Vince, Michael Badalucco and others. The film is thoroughly indie that no one has, or probably will ever see it, and my review probably adds to the scant half dozen or so write ups that are out there. Sadly many little treasures like this exist, unbeknownst to most. 13 Moons is a sweet, scrappy, somewhat star studded little piece that is well worth anyone’s time, if they love a good story in an oddball of a package.
-Nate Hill
MEL BROOKS’ SPACEBALLS — A MINI-REVIEW BY NICK CLEMENT
Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs is one of the funniest movies ever made. Of course, comedy is easily the most subjective genre out there, but for me, this film just nails its target so often that it’s impossible not to smile at all of the loving fun it pokes at Star Wars and countless other space operas that inspired this piece of cinematic idiocy. Brooks, of course, is a comedy legend, having made such brilliant works as Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and High Anxiety, but this is the effort from him that I’ve seen the most, and because he was so warm with his sense of humor and never overly cruel, you’re able to see how his satirical targets are born out of a place of love for the source material he’s riffing on. Everyone in the having-a-blast cast was riotous, with special mention needing to be given to Bill Pullman, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Joan Rivers, Daphne Zuniga, Michael Winslow and Dick Van Patten. Cinematographer Nick McLean has a very cool resume; ditto the film’s editor Conrad Buff. Spaceballs is one of a handful of comedies, including all three The Naked Gun entries, Airplane, Caddyshack, and Animal House, that I could watch at any point of the day and pee my diaper from laughing. Now if only they had made Spaceballs 3: The Search for Spaceballs 2…!
Batman
Batman
1989. Directed by Tim Burton.
Paving the way for the cinematic age of the superhero, Tim Burton’s noir drenched take on the caped crusader is an intriguing film. Batman was one of the darker entries into the comic book genre at the time, using Art Deco architecture and a Stygian color palette to present Gotham as a city of another time. Jack Nicholson’s over the top embodiment of the clown prince of crime combines with Danny Elfman’s memorable score and Academy Award winning art direction to create a Gothic dreamscape where the terrors of the mind walk the streets and identity is the last battleground between good and evil.
On the surface, Batman hits all of the expected narrative points of a caped crusader epic. The Bat battles the Joker, grapples with trauma from the loss of his parents, experiences emotional discordance with intimacy, and is initially rebuked by the people he is attempting to save. However, Burton build’s on Sam Hamm and Warren Skaaren’s script by placing the story in an alternate Gotham, cut off from traditional reality. Where later films, such as Nolan’s trilogy, would seek to weave the concepts of costumed vigilantes into plausible reality, Burton created not only an original take on the character, but an entirely unique world. There are similarities to reality, but Gotham is very much its own universe. The buildings emulate the sharp angles of Lang’s Metropolis, captured by Roger Pratt’s insightful cinematography, perfectly emulating the comic book experience. Looming shots of the doomed metropolis are interwoven with bold compositions of Welles-like chemical factories and avant-garde gatherings of the elite.
The thugs and police use antiquated weapons such as tommy guns while enshrouded in classic outfits designed Bob Ringwood. Paul Engelen’s makeup design is another outstanding touch, particularly with respect to everything outside of the already astonishing Joker prosthetics. While Nicholson’s demonic trickster is the centerpiece, Engelen’s devious designs align with Burton’s farcical realm of dread. From grinning victims of Joker’s chemical poisons to beleaguered, unwashed News Anchors, physical appearance, not just costumes, is an important part of Batman’s dangerous hysterics.
The overarching divide between wealth and poverty is bridged by the criminal element, symbolized through Jack Nicholson’s unforgettable portrayal of The Joker. The seminal character has had several incarnations over the years, with Nicholson’s being the most madcap of the bunch, harmonizing the gleeful insanity of Caesar Romero with the dangerous edge that Ledger would bring to the role years later. Nicholson’s embodiment is so over the top that it outshines Keaton’s Bruce Wayne/Batman in every interaction and while this initially appears as a flaw, it is also a testament to Keaton’s quiet restraint that showcases his immense supporting talent. Batman is a film about larger than life personas doing battle in a city of excessive dreams, a place directly responsible for their existence. Where Nicholson is the criminal turned maniacal aristocrat, Keaton is the fallen noble, a man with expansive wealth who drifts from scene to scene in a calculating haze of aloofness, waiting for the call to action. While both characters share certain qualities, each actors’ approach to the material beautifully conflict, carving out layers of subtext within their relationship and in their distinct views on the world around them.
Kim Basinger delivers an interesting turn as Wayne’s love interest, Vicki Vale. Initially, her scream laden performance may repulse, however, after repeated viewings, there’s an edge to her character that reveals itself, particularly during her scenes with Nicholson. Despite the facade of fear, Basinger’s physical cues are representative of someone who has looked death in the face and it is one of Batman’s few flaws that this concept wasn’t explored more fully, particularly her character’s experiences during a South American civil war. Her scenes with Keaton are placid, perhaps due to reasons outlined above, but an understanding of Vale’s history puts some of the soapy pleadings in the final act into a more forgivable light.
Prince performed the soundtrack, lacing the golden age throwback with funky rock tunes that were in high rotation during the summer of 1989. Party Man, the most memorable track is featured during the slapstick museum sequence, a scene that is the perfect summation of Batman’s theme. What appears playful and eccentric from a distance masks murderous intent and it is here that the Bat and the Joker first lay eyes upon another. Danny Elfman’s triumphant score outpaces the riotous soundtrack with an eclectic blend of inspiring anthems and shadowy undertones, simulating both Batman’s plight and the fallen metropolis of Gotham, a city living in the shadow of itself.
Available now for digital streaming, Batman is one of the most important American films of the ’80s. It created a blueprint that has been improved upon since its release and was the key to opening the floodgates of superhero related entertainment that continue to dominate the box office to this day. Nicholson’s epic performance is the brightest gem; however it is the world of Burton’s design that is Batman’s hidden power, a corrupted place of elegance and predation that has inspired nightmares and dreams since the film’s debut. If you’re looking to see where it all began, Batman is the caped patriarch, and it delivers on virtually every level.
Highly. Highly Recommend.
BRAD SILBERLING’S MOONLIGHT MILE — A REVIEW BY NICK CLEMENT
Infused with a tragic sense of personal melancholy as his wife was murdered in real life, writer/director Brad Silberling’s unfairly neglected 2002 drama Moonlight Mile is a heartfelt and consistently moving piece of cinema that features sterling work from Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon as grieving parents, baby-faced Jake Gyllenhaal as their emotionally stunted would-be son-in-law who decides to stick around in the immediate aftermath of his fiancée’s death, reluctantly going into business with the man whom he would’ve called dad, and Ellen Pompeo as a local bartender/post-office clerk who catches Gyllenhaal’s sad eye and who is also nursing her own bit of heartbreak. Beautifully captured by cinematographer Phedon Papamichael (The Weather Man, Nebraska, 3:10 To Yuma) in dark tones and a brown-black-orange color palette that is frequently gorgeous in an off-kilter manner thanks to his interesting choice in camera placement, Silberling’s emotionally delicate screenplay fed right into the fragile mindsets of his characters, with the story moving in unexpected directions while still containing its fair-share of overtly audience pleasing moments. I really hope that this film gets the Blu-ray transfer upgrade that it so deserves.
The film’s soundtrack is absolutely stunning (and sadly out of print on compact disc so very expensive via third party sellers on Amazon) and features classic tracks from The Rolling Stones (the film takes its name from their song), Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Sly and the Family Stone, Jefferson Airplane, Robert Plant, and many more. Silberling is an interesting filmmaker with an eclectic set of credits; I rather enjoyed his stylish and bittersweet City of Angels, and his bizarre and trippy sci-fi comedy Land of the Lost is better than most people gave it credit for being. But this is easily his most assured piece of storytelling, and I wonder why he hasn’t become more prolific throughout the years. There’s always been “something” about Moonlight Mile that has grabbed me, and I’m not sure, outside of the obvious and previously stated, what that “something” exactly is. And upon multiple viewings, and as I’ve gotten older, the performances from Hoffman and Sarandon have gotten even richer and more affecting; the narrative looks at life in a very direct fashion, finding awkward humor in certain spots that challenges your pre-existing expectations of films such as this. It’s nice to see that Silberling has a new film coming out later this year…
Tom Clancy’s The Sum Of All Fears
Surprisingly, The Sum Of All Fears is my favourite film version of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan novels. Alec Baldwin did a bang up job in the superb Hunt For Red October,
Harrison Ford held his in two beyond excellent entries, and we won’t speak of the Chris Pine/Keira Knightley snooze-palooza from a few years back. Why then do I gravitate towards this Ben Affleck incarnation? Who knows. Battfleck himself makes an adequate, inquisitive Ryan, on the younger end of the rope and under the guidance of CIA Yoda Morgan Freeman. I think it’s the early 00’s tone of the film itself though, the whip smart editing, Bourne-style escalation of suspense and terrific ensemble cast, a hallmark among Clancy films. Affleck embodies a younger, inexperienced Ryan whose infamous intuition is just breaching the surface of his character, right on time for a deadly plot to set off a nuclear device on American soil. A German radical (Alan Bates, underplaying evil nicely) with vague ties to a Neo Nazi faction is cooking up a false flag attack against Russia, using a long dormant warhead supplied by arch mercenary Colm Feore. Or at least I think that’s the crux of it, these cloak and dagger affairs can get pretty dense on you sometimes. There’s a sense of global danger though, a level of stress that ratchets up until even the stoic US President (an explosive James Cromwell) begins to lose it. The Russian President (Ciaran Hinds) gravely tries to sort out the misunderstanding, whilst Clancy staple character John Clark (Liev Schreiber gives Willem Dafoe a run for his money) covertly smokes out conspirators. Unease and tension nestle into the narrative, and when that impending disaster is minutes away during a hectic NFL game, you can feel the suspense in the air. The supporting cast is rich with talent including Michael Byrne, Bruce McGill, Philip Baker Hall, Josef Sommer, Ron Rifkin, Lisa Gay Hamilton and gorgeous Bridget Moynahan as Ryan’s fiancé. I’ve got nothing but love for Red October, Patriot Hames and Clear & Present Danger, but something about this one hit a frequency and resonated with me a little better, coming out on top as the most re-watchable, enjoyable entry.
-Nate Hill
BEN YOUNGER’S BLEED FOR THIS — A REVIEW BY NICK CLEMENT
Taking familiar material and spicing it up with some unexpected touches and a strong dose of extreme personal triumph, last year’s thoroughly entertaining and always absorbing true-life boxing movie Bleed for This, from writer/director Ben Younger (Boiler Room, Prime), deserved a lot more than to bomb at the box-office and draw only middling critical responses. What were people expecting? This movie hits all the proper beats, digs in deep to the hardscrabble world that it presents, and features extremely strong acting work from Miles Teller as Vinnie Pazienza, Aaron Eckhart as his alcoholic trainer, and Ciaran Hinds as Pazienza’s father. The ringside bouts are bloody and brutal, the dialogue is appropriately rough and frequently profane (and also very funny in numerous spots), and the car-accident sequence and subsequent rehabilitation that Pazienza went through is as harrowing and squirm inducing as anything I’ve seen in a while, with a large part of that feeling stemming from the fact that this occurred in real life. Pazienza DID have the metal “Halo” device screwed into his skull (not sure which scene was tougher to view, putting it on, or taking it off…), he did go back to training while nursing his broken neck, and he did go on to fight again and become a champion.
All of this is communicated with fleet storytelling by Younger, and a dedication from all of the actors in making everything feel honest and believable, especially Teller, who clearly went all out physically, and really makes you care about a rather stubborn individual who makes some decisions which aren’t easy to understand. And after dropping a great supporting turn in Clint Eastwood’s Sully, Eckhart had another lost-in-the-shuffle performance in Bleed for This, playing a has-been trainer who can’t control his liquor but who still is sharp inside the gym and ring. And Hinds, who has a truly unique sense of screen presence, clearly had a blast playing the tough-love but rational father of Pazienza, a man prone to spouting the “F-word” in tandem with colorful put-downs and vulgarity, but also a man who at his core loves his family and would do anything for them. Larkin Siple’s hand-held cinematography conveys the required uneasiness and grittiness that the story demands, the soundtrack is peppered with some choice cuts, and Zac Stuart-Pontier’s sharp editing allows the film to effortlessly breeze through its 110 minute running time. Also, as it must be noted: Ted Levine POWER. Bleed for This is currently available on Blu-ray/DVD and via various streaming providers.
Review: Disney’s latest “Pirates” entry treads familiar waters
Full of witchery, imagination, humor and a lot of water, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales finds our hero, Captain Jack Sparrow in the throes of a British jail, scheduled to be executed. The British are also holding Henry Turner, one of their own and the sole survivor of an encounter with the cursed, undead Captain Salazar. Salazar left Turner alive to tell Sparrow of his impending reckoning. Turner is on a quest for the Trident of Poseidon. While the British Navy doesn’t believe Turner, the mysterious Carina offers to help him find the Trident. Sparrow’s ally, Captain Barbosa returns, buying him the necessary time to outwit Salazar.
Tales features the directing duo of Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, whose Academy Award – nominated high-seas adventure film Kon-Tiki, made them perfectly suited for this film. Or so we thought.
Johnny Depp returns as the bemused Jack Sparrow. His performance treads the same waters (pardon the pun) as the previous entries only without the same stamina. Kaya Scodelario’s Carina starts out strong and meanders in the middle, doing very little until the third act. Geoffrey Rush’s Barbosa is an absolute hoot in the film, his function as a “middleman” is the most effective role in the film. Javier Bardem was the perfect actor to play the villain, Salazar. The role felt like Ahab-incarnate, but Bardem plays it to the hilt truly anchoring the film.
Terry Rossio co-wrote a revised script with Jeff Nathanson. Rossio had a familiarity with the characters; Nathanson brought the same vigor he shared with George Lucas and their Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull script.
The result here was convoluted. Perhaps this is why Brenton Thwaites seemed to get lost in the background unless he was onscreen with Depp. Much like the Indiana Jones – Mutt Williams relationship in Crystal Skull, Sparrow is the protagonist yet it really felt like Turner’s story.
Tales echoes Crystal Skull and not in a good way. The film was very effects heavy; the characters are strong, but they rely on technology to tell far too much of the story and the payoff got muddled. There is one particular special effects sequence featuring the Black Pearl where I genuinely laughed.
Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg tried their very best, but they were out of their depth. That’s not to say that the film is a complete miss.
Javier Bardem and Geoffrey Rush rose to the challenge, elevating with and above the effects. Johnny Depp is solid, but the character is waning. A protégé of Hans Zimmer, Geoff Zanelli resurrects Zimmer’s famous cues from prior Pirates’ entries reminding us that we’re supposed to be enjoying our adventure on the high seas. A lack of fresh cues pulls us out.
The overly convoluted Dead Men Tell No Tales is full of characters that don’t fully work. In an uncanny irony, Sparrow utters “I have a rendezvous beyond my horizon” at the end of the film. Perhaps Mr. Bruckheimer and Disney will see that horizon for what it is and bring the series to a conclusion, sooner rather than later.
Podcasting Them Softly 