Podcasting Them Softly

The Siege of Jadotville, a new Netflix original film, is one of those square-jawed military actioners that used to get released in the 60’s and 70’s, unpretentious and ass-kicking, centering on a true story, and adding appropriate dashes of Hollywood flash while never sacrificing any of the gritty integrity that the material promises. Impressively directed by Richie Smyth, who shows a terrific sense of action choreography with his well-produced battle scenes, Jadotville tells the story of a group of 150 Irish UN troops who went into battle against nearly 3,000 Congolese fighters led by Prime Minister Moise Tshombe in Central Africa. The year was 1961, and the cold war was raging on, with French and Belgian mercenaries becoming contracted by the various mining companies in Africa to help lead the fighting and protect valuable resource interests. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Irish forces had to rely on some unpredictable strokes of great luck, as well as steely-eyed determination in an effort to never give up. Kevin Brodbin’s extremely solid and action-packed screenplay has a good sense of history to match the archetypal character work that one might expect for the genre, while it’s clear that he must’ve done his research, as the narrative rarely leaves the field of battle or the interiors of discussion rooms. This is the sort of lesser-known war story that might not have gotten the big-screen treatment if it weren’t for Netflix stepping up to the plate with a diverse and interesting set of in-house projects, and I have a feeling that the combat angle that Jadotville showcases will be very compelling for many viewers.

For over an hour, after establishing who’s who and the various sides to the story, Smyth, in his assured directorial debut, brings the explosive action with hardly any interruptions, as Brodbin’s efficient screenplay, which was based on Declan Power’s non-fiction account of the incident, stayed focused on the bloody combat and the militaristic maneuverings of both sides, both on and off the battlefield, while allowing for the appropriate amount of character development and interplay to smooth out the edges. Shot with clarity by director of photography Nikolaus Summerer, all of the fighting takes place on a hot, sunny day, and the way that both director and cinematographer were able to portray the unrelenting madness brought back some shades of films such as Hamburger Hill and We Were Soldiers. All of the various set-pieces were seemingly done for real, with some tremendous explosions and vicious fire-fights, and when CGI is employed, it’s kept to a mostly seamless minimum, including some very cool aerial shots of warplanes with heavy artillery. Everyone in the thoroughly macho cast feels right at home with the material, with Jamie Dornan providing a very commanding sense of purpose as the leader of the Irish troops, and Jason O’Mara and Sam Keeley doing strong supporting work. Other standouts include a gruff Guillaume Canet as one of the French soldiers of fortune, and the ever-reliable Mark Strong as an ineffectual politician without the knowledge or resources to help his men out. I had never heard of this particular incident before seeing this film, and I gather it went oddly unreported for many years. The Siege of Jadotville is available on Netflix Streaming, and currently is screening at iPic theaters.

Wearing its influences like a badge of honor while setting the stage for future endeavors, Ben Younger’s smashing directorial debut Boiler Room generated some serious heat for its all-star cast and incendiary storytelling. Released to excellent reviews in 2000 and announcing a dynamic new storytelling voice from its debuting director, this propulsive drama races through the shady inner-workings of a questionable NYC brokerage firm, operating outside of the lines of all the big players in the crowded market. Starring Giovanni Ribisi, in one of his best performances, as an underachiever running an unlicensed gambling operation out of his apartment who gets sucked into this particular brand of high-stakes, high-reward con-artistry, the film has a ridiculous supporting cast which includes Tom Everett Scott, Vin Diesel, Nicky Kat, Jamie Kennedy, Nia Long, Scott Caan, Ben Affleck, and Ron Rifkin. Younger’s sharp script balanced solid drama with raucous humor in good measure, while the exceedingly masculine cast clearly forged a major on-screen bond as everyone feels perfectly in synch.

Affleck was fantastic in only a few scenes, taking on a role that was clearly molded after Alec Baldwin’s fiery turn as a corporate motivator in James Foley’s adaptation of David Mamet’s play, Glengarry Glenn Ross. And Rifkin, one of the great and unsung character actors of the 90’s, was extremely memorable as Ribisi’s disapproving father, a man working as a high ranking Federal judge who catches wind of what his son is up too, with explosively dramatic results. The scenes between Ribisi and Rifkin are absolutely fantastic, and ground the film with a serious sense of morality, while there’s a definite thrill to being privy to all of the ways that these sharks in business suits cut their way through ethically questionable waters. Enrique Chediak’s lively cinematography gave the film a terrific vibe; he’d go on to shoot such films as 28 Weeks Later, 127 Hours, and Deepwater Horizon. The tight editing by Chris Peppe kept the pace brisk while never moving too fast, as lots of information is hurled at the viewer. After Boiler Room, Younger released the very underrated dramedy Prime, with Meryl Steep and Uma Thurman, and has the hotly anticipated Bleed for This, with Miles Teller, set for release this fall.

There’s a key moment in Joe Dante’s heartfelt children’s adventure film Explorers when an extraterrestrial utters the iconic cinematic phrase: “The stuff that dreams are made of.” That sentiment essentially applies to Explorers as a whole; the film feels as if it were born from my childhood dreams, and I’ll bet that many others share this same emotion. This is an all-time favorite from my formative years, and a film that has held up so well through the decades because of the honest sense of love it conveys in all departments. I have heard and read the stories that Dante wasn’t happy with the final cut due to a rushed schedule and studio interference. And I respect his comments. I’m not a filmmaker, so I can’t imagine what it must be like to see a film you’ve worked so hard on to be sent out in a compromised state. But his sentiments have done nothing to diminish how much this movie means to me on a personal level.

There were a core group of films for me as a child that truly spoke to me, films like D.A.R.Y.L., Flight of the Navigator, The Last Starfighter, The Monster Squad, My Science Project, The Goonies, Cloak & Dagger, Dragonslayer, Legend, The Dark Crystal, Harry and the Hendersons, and so many others. But there was something so unique, so truly special about Explorers that it’s rather hard to sum it up into words. There’s a graceful sense of uncynical, gee-whiz-wonder in Eric Luke’s perceptive and wise screenplay, and because Dante has always known how to blend amazing special effects with stories that have a lot of heart, this is the sort of film that qualifies as total movie magic. If you’re addicted to something like Stranger Things, or really enjoyed this year’s absurdly underrated Midnight Special, do yourself a favor and check out Explorers.

The plot centers on a trio of extremely adventurous young boys, played by Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, and Jason Presson, all of whom are obsessed with computers and inventions and sci-fi movies and video games. They all start to have the same interconnected-dreams, which inspires them to build a homemade spaceship, which they then use to blast off into outer space, where they’re greeted by some pop-culture loving aliens who have some interesting ideas about what’s going down on planet Earth. John Hora’s phenomenal, Amblin-esque cinematography busted out the lens flares and made everything look casually stylish if never ostentatious. Look out for James Cromwell, Dick Miller, Robert Picardo, and Mary Kay Place in supporting roles.

Nothing is forced, the film has an innate understanding of what it’s like to be a 12 year old boy, the sense of discovery is palpable all throughout the narrative, and it absolutely nails those feelings of your first crush (lovely Amanda Peterson was the object of affection for Hawke on-screen, and whose attention was apparently competed for by Hawke and Phoenix off-camera, or so the rumor goes). Released in 1985 and featuring imagination-stirring special effects work by ILM and extremely fun make-up effects for the aliens, which were designed by cinematic legend Rob Bottin, Explorers didn’t catch on at the box office, slipping in and out of theaters before becoming a massive cult favorite due to the explosion of VHS in the 80’s. The masterful score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith.

Breezy, funny, and feeling almost cinematically stoned, Robert Altman’s genial yet somehow distressing gambling comedy California Split is a film that has a deceptive undercurrent of sadness to match its potent study of male bonding while exploring the importance of true camaraderie. Centering on two life-long casino-junkies, one a bit more slightly involved than the other initially, the playful and observant narrative pivots on Charlie Waters (Elliot Gould in one of his loosest performances) and his buddy Bill Denny (George Segal, amazing as always), as we watch them search for the biggest jackpot of their lives in Reno. Ann Prentiss and Gwen Welles were both extremely funny in supporting roles as Charlie’s prostitute roommates, and the film features an early screen appearance from Jeff Goldblum. I loved the naturalistic cinematography by Paul Lohmann, who had just previously shot the iconic Blaxploitation movie Coffy and would become a frequent Altman collaborator, while the editing kept a very quick pace without sacrificing any sense of heft or dramatic importance. The script was written by Joseph Walsh (who also appeared as Bill’s bookie, Sparkie), who reportedly worked on the script with Steven Spielberg for close to a year during the earliest stages of the script’s life.

Steve McQueen, Peter Falk, and Robert De Niro were all attached at various points during the film’s lengthy development process (it changed studios from MGM to Universal), and at one point while the film was at MGM, the studio wanted to position it as a Dean Martin-led project with a mafia flavor. Reviews were extremely positive and the film did solid box office despite not having a long theatrical life; various rights issues, mostly stemming from musical inclusions, have prevented Altman’s original cut to hit the physical media market. Former world champion poker player Amarillo Slim appeared as himself during the climactic match. The film is also famous for its pioneering sound techniques, as it’s the first movie ever to use the eight-track sound system, which allowed for eight separate audio channels to be recorded, which of course fed directly into Altman’s personal obsession with overlapping dialogue and ambient sounds. Last year’s fantastic and vastly underseen Mississippi Grind, with Ben Mendelsohn and Ryan Reynolds, was essentially a very smart updating of this timeless material. Available on DVD from Mill Creek, sans extras/special features, but showcased in 2.35:1 widescreen.