Lucrecia Martel
2004
Martel's sophmore effort proves her to be as exciting a visualist as the Dardenne brothers and Almodovar (who snags an executive producer credit on the pic). 'The Holy Girl' is technically brilliant in almost every respect, the film is generally comprised of static, densely layered, close ups that provide an engaging intimacy with the actors. The use of purely diagetic music is blatantly self conscious, yet it works wonders for the picture.
Parochial student Amalia lives in a family owned hotel with divorcee mother Helena. A medical conference fills the hotel up with doctors, including the bizarrely enigmatic Dr. Jano. Both Amalia and Helena wind up inappropriately vying for the married man's affections for very different reasons.
The film's beginning is cold and confusing, and the characters aren't really accessible until about a half our in. The film's mysterious and difficult elements are consistent and become a nice asset later on. Is. Jano's indiscretion with Amalia limited to the crotch-push at the Theremin performance or was there something more?
While 'The Holy Girl' has semi-interesting characters, and a semi-interesting story, it could certainly have been more so. The superb cinematography can only carry the film so far. At some points the film is simply boring. Martel certainly has the vision and talent to be on par Lynne Ramsay, but she's not quite there yet.
Review by Brett A. Scieszka
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Cocksucker Blues
Robert Frank
1972
I used to think that 'Gimme Shelter' was the end all, be all of Rolling Stones documentaries. The Maysles' film is undeniably heroic, but its shine and polish, its squeaky clean view of the Stones as consummate professionals utterly belies the fact that road life with the skinny brits did involve a good deal of sex, drugs, and a bit of rock and roll too. Filmed during a tour to promote my personal favorite Stones record, 'Exile on Main St,' 'Cocksucker Blues' is a grimy, sordid foray in the behind the scenes workings of the Rolling Stones machine.
Gloriously filmed in both color and black and white super 8, and artfully presented with a strong focus on non-diagetic audio tracks, 'Cocksucker Blues' is no simple document of events, but a solid work of art in its own right. The haphazard filming style during performances is more kinetic and subjective than the Maysles' lens and suits the jarring, hell-bent nature of the music.
The craziness of tour life is captured in some particularly amazing and unforgettable scenes. The kook, nearly suicidal fan, whose baby's been taken away due to mom's acid habit, the primitive and forceful disrobing of women on the plane while the band cooks up a beat to go with it, and the junky sound man all create a subterrainian truthful texture to the Stones experience that was most likely not available to the Maysles brothers.
Review by Brett A. Scieszka
1972
I used to think that 'Gimme Shelter' was the end all, be all of Rolling Stones documentaries. The Maysles' film is undeniably heroic, but its shine and polish, its squeaky clean view of the Stones as consummate professionals utterly belies the fact that road life with the skinny brits did involve a good deal of sex, drugs, and a bit of rock and roll too. Filmed during a tour to promote my personal favorite Stones record, 'Exile on Main St,' 'Cocksucker Blues' is a grimy, sordid foray in the behind the scenes workings of the Rolling Stones machine.
Gloriously filmed in both color and black and white super 8, and artfully presented with a strong focus on non-diagetic audio tracks, 'Cocksucker Blues' is no simple document of events, but a solid work of art in its own right. The haphazard filming style during performances is more kinetic and subjective than the Maysles' lens and suits the jarring, hell-bent nature of the music.
The craziness of tour life is captured in some particularly amazing and unforgettable scenes. The kook, nearly suicidal fan, whose baby's been taken away due to mom's acid habit, the primitive and forceful disrobing of women on the plane while the band cooks up a beat to go with it, and the junky sound man all create a subterrainian truthful texture to the Stones experience that was most likely not available to the Maysles brothers.
Review by Brett A. Scieszka
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Them!
Gordon Douglas
1954
Man may mastered the atom but can he handle the consequences? This momentous and irrevocable change in world history can only lead to one thing: giant carnivorous ants! This freak of the nuclear age becomes a worldwide crises that can only be overcome by the cooperation of the scientific community and the army....maybe.
'Them!' is one of those great cold war anxiety sci-fi films of the fifties that goes to great lengths to glorify the military while not so subtly denouncing the A-bomb. Talk about your noble white guys! The studios put their hunkiest actors in uniform and create a blonde, gleaming grinned G. I. joe archetype. Almost everything about this picture seems like it was made specifically for adolescent boys. The fetishistic use of flamethrowers and bazookas is so awesome that it makes you want to go into the backyard and torch your toys with a can of hairspray and a bic like you used to.
The giant ants themselves get a good amount of screentime after an appropriate build-up and work pretty spectacularly as visuals. The ultra-apocalyptic fuddy duddy scientist cryptically references the Bible constantly, and there's a great scene where the nation's top brass are assembled to sit in for a lecture on ant behavior.
This is a great picture and any classic science-fiction fan should definitely check it out.
Review by Brett A. Scieszka
1954
Man may mastered the atom but can he handle the consequences? This momentous and irrevocable change in world history can only lead to one thing: giant carnivorous ants! This freak of the nuclear age becomes a worldwide crises that can only be overcome by the cooperation of the scientific community and the army....maybe.
'Them!' is one of those great cold war anxiety sci-fi films of the fifties that goes to great lengths to glorify the military while not so subtly denouncing the A-bomb. Talk about your noble white guys! The studios put their hunkiest actors in uniform and create a blonde, gleaming grinned G. I. joe archetype. Almost everything about this picture seems like it was made specifically for adolescent boys. The fetishistic use of flamethrowers and bazookas is so awesome that it makes you want to go into the backyard and torch your toys with a can of hairspray and a bic like you used to.
The giant ants themselves get a good amount of screentime after an appropriate build-up and work pretty spectacularly as visuals. The ultra-apocalyptic fuddy duddy scientist cryptically references the Bible constantly, and there's a great scene where the nation's top brass are assembled to sit in for a lecture on ant behavior.
This is a great picture and any classic science-fiction fan should definitely check it out.
Review by Brett A. Scieszka
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Save the Green Planet
Jeong Jun-Hwan
2003
While 'Save the Green Planet' does a nice job of combining humor, horror and science fiction elements it is, in its heart, a frustrated lashing out against society and extreme revenge fantasy against every shitty boss you've ever had.
Is Lee Byeong-Goo a homicidal maniac who's kidnapped chemical magnate Chairman Kang due to meth fueled psychosis, or is Kang actually an extraterrestrial with designs to end earthlife as we know it? Lee and his homely tight rope walking girlfriend, Sooni, seem to think so. Lee's meticulous "research" scribbled in notebooks is Henry Darger enough to be convincing, yet his love of UFO films seems to undermine his sincere ambitions. Lee's actual plan to save Earth seems to involve little more than brutally torturing the hapless Kang in a series of grossly sadistic sessions. Meanwhile a college boy rookie detective and a grizzled ex cop butt heads in an attempt to rescue Kang.
The twist-turney ending and perpetual question of whether Kang is actually a malign alien or not is enjoyable but somewhat predictable. The systematic torture of Kang takes center stage and is the most meaningful part of the film. This is Jeong's pop-punk MTV inspired "screw you" to the establishment. As Kang's trials become progressively more brutal it does not matter if he actually is an alien; there is nothing alien about his pain. And just as MTV, pop-punk, and alterna-Hot Topic culture are run by Kang-centric business outfits, Lee Byeong-Goo's unhinged fury is driven by a counter culture that ultimately let him down. His efforts are not an altruistic attempt to save the earth, but a misguided jaunt in bully comeuppance.
'Save the Green Planet' is a film where genres cross but never successfully mix. The detective angle, science fiction intrigue, comic falderal, and gory horror are all handled excellently, yet are isolated in specific microcosms within the film. The film is certainly satisfying when broken down to its individual elements and influences but fails to coalesce into the brilliant genre crossing stew it could have been.
Review by Brett A. Scieszka
2003
While 'Save the Green Planet' does a nice job of combining humor, horror and science fiction elements it is, in its heart, a frustrated lashing out against society and extreme revenge fantasy against every shitty boss you've ever had.
Is Lee Byeong-Goo a homicidal maniac who's kidnapped chemical magnate Chairman Kang due to meth fueled psychosis, or is Kang actually an extraterrestrial with designs to end earthlife as we know it? Lee and his homely tight rope walking girlfriend, Sooni, seem to think so. Lee's meticulous "research" scribbled in notebooks is Henry Darger enough to be convincing, yet his love of UFO films seems to undermine his sincere ambitions. Lee's actual plan to save Earth seems to involve little more than brutally torturing the hapless Kang in a series of grossly sadistic sessions. Meanwhile a college boy rookie detective and a grizzled ex cop butt heads in an attempt to rescue Kang.
The twist-turney ending and perpetual question of whether Kang is actually a malign alien or not is enjoyable but somewhat predictable. The systematic torture of Kang takes center stage and is the most meaningful part of the film. This is Jeong's pop-punk MTV inspired "screw you" to the establishment. As Kang's trials become progressively more brutal it does not matter if he actually is an alien; there is nothing alien about his pain. And just as MTV, pop-punk, and alterna-Hot Topic culture are run by Kang-centric business outfits, Lee Byeong-Goo's unhinged fury is driven by a counter culture that ultimately let him down. His efforts are not an altruistic attempt to save the earth, but a misguided jaunt in bully comeuppance.
'Save the Green Planet' is a film where genres cross but never successfully mix. The detective angle, science fiction intrigue, comic falderal, and gory horror are all handled excellently, yet are isolated in specific microcosms within the film. The film is certainly satisfying when broken down to its individual elements and influences but fails to coalesce into the brilliant genre crossing stew it could have been.
Review by Brett A. Scieszka
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Major Dundee
Sam Peckinpah
1965 (2005 Extended Version: 12 Extra Minutes + New Score)
Sam Peckinpah's 'Major Dundee' is an interesting example of an emerging auteur working within a studio system striving to reinvent itself. Thanks to television, movie ticket sales had dropped drastically in the 60's, but due to a lessening in censorship policies, Hollywood was able to make its product appealing by upping the sex and violence factor. Enter Sam Peckinpah at a time before the loose, freewheeling lensing style of the late 60's and 70's would strike his fancy.
'Dundee' is definitely one of Peckinpah's 'greener' works, less realized and stylized than his later pictures, but still retaining his core Western interests, namely an unromantic view of the American West full of booze, tired cowboys, extreme violence, and loose, accommodating senioritas.
Major Amos Dundee (Chuck Heston), a disgraced Union officer is sent out West on a fool's errand to kill savage indian war chief, Sierra Charriba. The post war garrison is meagre at best so Dundee employs brigands, drunks, and Confederate prisoners to chase down the murderous Apache. The vast majority of the film concerns itself with the unorthodox assemblage of Dundee's ragtag band and the long search for Charriba. This gives Peckinpah the freedom to focus on the tensions among the disparate hunting party.
Heston's performance is difficult if not admirable, stripping away the grandiose swagger of Moses in favor of a beaten down hopelessness, punctuated with belligerent defiance. Whether this was intentional, or the product of miscommunication between actor and director is up in the air. That said, Heston's 'Dundee' is extremely difficult to identify with, this unhinged door of a washed up bully is shown to be neither human nor stoic as he cruelly executes a deserter one minute, and is then blubbering in the arms of a woman the next.
It is the supporting players that give real life to Major Dundee. Brit accented southern gent, Capt. Ben Tyreen (Richard Harris), provides a suave foil to Heston's rough edged drunk, and the racial aggression between the confederate prisoners and buffalo soldiers is depicted with that stomach churning Peckinpah touch. Let's not forget one-armed injun-loving tracker Samuel Potts played subtly but memorably by the great James Coburn.
Review by Brett A. Scieszka
1965 (2005 Extended Version: 12 Extra Minutes + New Score)
Sam Peckinpah's 'Major Dundee' is an interesting example of an emerging auteur working within a studio system striving to reinvent itself. Thanks to television, movie ticket sales had dropped drastically in the 60's, but due to a lessening in censorship policies, Hollywood was able to make its product appealing by upping the sex and violence factor. Enter Sam Peckinpah at a time before the loose, freewheeling lensing style of the late 60's and 70's would strike his fancy.
'Dundee' is definitely one of Peckinpah's 'greener' works, less realized and stylized than his later pictures, but still retaining his core Western interests, namely an unromantic view of the American West full of booze, tired cowboys, extreme violence, and loose, accommodating senioritas.
Major Amos Dundee (Chuck Heston), a disgraced Union officer is sent out West on a fool's errand to kill savage indian war chief, Sierra Charriba. The post war garrison is meagre at best so Dundee employs brigands, drunks, and Confederate prisoners to chase down the murderous Apache. The vast majority of the film concerns itself with the unorthodox assemblage of Dundee's ragtag band and the long search for Charriba. This gives Peckinpah the freedom to focus on the tensions among the disparate hunting party.
Heston's performance is difficult if not admirable, stripping away the grandiose swagger of Moses in favor of a beaten down hopelessness, punctuated with belligerent defiance. Whether this was intentional, or the product of miscommunication between actor and director is up in the air. That said, Heston's 'Dundee' is extremely difficult to identify with, this unhinged door of a washed up bully is shown to be neither human nor stoic as he cruelly executes a deserter one minute, and is then blubbering in the arms of a woman the next.
It is the supporting players that give real life to Major Dundee. Brit accented southern gent, Capt. Ben Tyreen (Richard Harris), provides a suave foil to Heston's rough edged drunk, and the racial aggression between the confederate prisoners and buffalo soldiers is depicted with that stomach churning Peckinpah touch. Let's not forget one-armed injun-loving tracker Samuel Potts played subtly but memorably by the great James Coburn.
Review by Brett A. Scieszka
Monday, May 02, 2005
Kung Fu Hustle
Stephen Chow
2004
Leaving the theater, I took secret pleasure in hearing my friends talk about how great 'Ong Bak' was. Given, we'd not gone to see 'Ong Bak' but instead took in Stephen Chow's unfocused foray in live-action cartooning, 'Kung Fu Hustle,' in which all the glory and reverence for the martial arts film is sucked out by an over reliance on callow CGI.
Chow's Sing is a would be hood with a corny backstory and a tubby pal, trying to earn his bad deeds merit badge so he can join local baddies "The Axe Gang." His blundering attempts lead to all out war between the gang and a local ghetto owned by a comic slumlord couple. The concept of tenement dwellers being kung fu experts and defending their meagre homes against a flashy crime syndicate is by far the film's most winning asset, unfortunately Chow abandons it in an effort to further flesh out his own character. In an unsurprising series of events Sing learns that the slumlords are kung fu masters, becomes a kung fu master himself, and has a showdown with the best martial artist in the world.
'Hustle' disappoints frequently but it is primarily because the film could have been better if more care had been lavished on the fight sequences. Its a shame to see Yuen Wo -Ping's choreography slide into computer generated laziness after the triumphant fight sequences of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." This said, the film's comedic touches are wonderfully charming. Chow's sense of slapstick and ability to create synthetic worlds are not to be sneezed at, his talents are more 'Amelie' than Bruce Lee, and he's a dead ringer to be a favorite of the video-gaming set.
Chow isn't off the hook however in his clumsy neglect of character and plot. Sing's transformation into super good guy (as well as the slumlords') seems to happen for no convincing reason. The film's ending is perhaps the most ridiculously cheesy sequence possible (though that's probably a good thing), where nice guy Sing gets the girl from his past whom he'd recently robbed.
There's certainly nothing wrong with combining comedy and martial arts, but a healthy respect for the discipline is required. I question Stephen Chow's principles and treatment of kung fu, and hope 'Kung Fu Hustle' is not a sign of worse things to come.
Review by Brett A. Scieszka
2004
Leaving the theater, I took secret pleasure in hearing my friends talk about how great 'Ong Bak' was. Given, we'd not gone to see 'Ong Bak' but instead took in Stephen Chow's unfocused foray in live-action cartooning, 'Kung Fu Hustle,' in which all the glory and reverence for the martial arts film is sucked out by an over reliance on callow CGI.
Chow's Sing is a would be hood with a corny backstory and a tubby pal, trying to earn his bad deeds merit badge so he can join local baddies "The Axe Gang." His blundering attempts lead to all out war between the gang and a local ghetto owned by a comic slumlord couple. The concept of tenement dwellers being kung fu experts and defending their meagre homes against a flashy crime syndicate is by far the film's most winning asset, unfortunately Chow abandons it in an effort to further flesh out his own character. In an unsurprising series of events Sing learns that the slumlords are kung fu masters, becomes a kung fu master himself, and has a showdown with the best martial artist in the world.
'Hustle' disappoints frequently but it is primarily because the film could have been better if more care had been lavished on the fight sequences. Its a shame to see Yuen Wo -Ping's choreography slide into computer generated laziness after the triumphant fight sequences of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." This said, the film's comedic touches are wonderfully charming. Chow's sense of slapstick and ability to create synthetic worlds are not to be sneezed at, his talents are more 'Amelie' than Bruce Lee, and he's a dead ringer to be a favorite of the video-gaming set.
Chow isn't off the hook however in his clumsy neglect of character and plot. Sing's transformation into super good guy (as well as the slumlords') seems to happen for no convincing reason. The film's ending is perhaps the most ridiculously cheesy sequence possible (though that's probably a good thing), where nice guy Sing gets the girl from his past whom he'd recently robbed.
There's certainly nothing wrong with combining comedy and martial arts, but a healthy respect for the discipline is required. I question Stephen Chow's principles and treatment of kung fu, and hope 'Kung Fu Hustle' is not a sign of worse things to come.
Review by Brett A. Scieszka
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