Jauja

      In Lisandro Alonso's Jauja a viewer is  brought into a dreamscape immediately.  The first images of  peat moss covered rocks in tide pools are a microcosm of the world the film represents.  A surreal dreamscape where a tattered army is helpless and lost in the frontier of Argentina.  A land where a colonel offers a horse as a trade for the only woman in a 100 mile radius.  A place where men are swallowed by a merciless desert.  An area where a renegade former colonel dresses in women's clothes and hunts humans in the hinterland.

Oh how refreshing that ambiguity is served up in all it's forms, but here the film never goes over the line.  The film Jauja is not El Topo or Inland Empire.  However, the picture is a traditional Western in many respects.  The storyline is basic in structure.  A ruthless frontier, a missing daughter, and a father that wishes to track her down.  A man looking for his daughter in the desert is the rudimentary story.  However along this journey many strange things start happening.

The film looks staggeringly beautiful and the landscapes are breathtaking.   Viggo Mortensen is perfect as the lead.  He portrays a Danish father with poise and grace.  His quest for his daughter is quite an adventure.  The score of the film is Spanish guitar done by Viggo himself and it has a haunting and relaxing quality.  The locations of Patagonia in Argentina are unlike anything I have seen before.  They are remote and extraordinary.  The film is the kind of film that lingers on a viewer long after the red credits.

Many thanks to the hits from Italy, Argentina, France, Russia, Turkey, and Indonesia!  Long live global cinema!

Body Horror in Hollywood Babylon

      One of the first images we see in "Map to the Stars" is Mia Wasikowska sleeping in a bus headed to Tinseltown.  In this moment Cronenberg let's you know that evil is coming to Hollywood.  The girl then gets a ride from limo driver Robert Pattinson who say's his most famous fare was Al Gore and he thinks of changing to scientology for a career move.  The dialogue of this film is a delight to witness.  Not since "Only God Forgives"  where such cute vulgarities created for the English language.  I would like to make this a capsule review as to not give to much away.  However I was completely freaked out by John Cusack's character Dr. Weiss.  Cronenberg has one scene shot of him with a million different tones of white as he preps to heal his clients by washing his hands.  The horror is so unnerving and almost believable.  Julianne Moore goes for the jugular without restraint.  Her range is limitless and shows no signs of slowing down.  David Cronenberg has decided to destroy Hollywood by burning it to the ground.  In a time when on-demand and garbage at theaters is snuffing out the candles of greats like himself, Spike Lee, Michael Mann, and Herzog he decides to stoke the fire and throw kerosene on the descent of Hollywood and the sad state of cinema.  Keep the fires burning dear ones and know that your creativity is appreciated.  At least Cannes gave Julianne Moore best actress.

Shout outs to the hits from Italy, France, Russia, Canada, Mozambique, China, Australia, and Chile!