Well looking at the fall features was quite enjoyable. Starting at the Gala of the Summit Cinema Film Festival let's briefly look at Machete by Mr. Robert Rodriguez. Well if the intention of Machete was to make a political statement about harsh illegal immigration laws instituted in Texas it failed miserably. On the other hand if Machete was intended for limitiless popcorn entertainment it succeeded with flying colors! Getting the opportunity to view Danny Trejo as a no nonsense lead character was an overdue thrillride. Hearing Seagal's hilarious accent as the arch-nemesis Mexican Mafia kingpin was a guilty pleasure. And seeing the gorgeous Ms. Lindsey Lohan awaken from a heroin overdose in a flop house by being shaken by her father was pure comedy. Seeing Lohan later in a nun's habit spraying an oozie at a crowd of warehouse thugs was also a personal favorite. Machete however was a difficult film to classify. It was not an action movie, or political drama, it felt like a mix of hardcore exploitation and slapstick comedy.
The second film of the film festival was The Cave of Forgotten Dreams by aueter Mr. Werner Herzog. A little background on Herzog. When I went to see him speak at the Aero Theatre for
Lessons of Darkness and I waited in the lobby for him to autograph my copy of the dvd Aguirre the Wrath of God, a kid was standing in front of me and handed Herzog a popcorn box to sign. Herzog handed the box back to the kid and said "I am not going to sign a popcorn box!" He gladly signed my dvd. So knowing that Herzog is a slightly driven artist The Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a documentary that let's his imagination run wild. Getting security clearance from the French Ministry of Culture Herzog get's film access to arguably the oldest cave in human history.
The cave painting were done by neanderthals and are 50,000 years old. The paintings were created with charcoal flints from torches and words cannot due them justice. The paintings are unbelievably haunting and amazing. Herzog's keen artistic eye makes the film somewhat science fiction even though he got the majority of his funding from the History Channel. At one point in the film he has a French woman whom is a historian of culture give a guided tour of the caves in which she makes the ancient location come alive. The film is supposed to be in 3-D, but for the Summit Cinema Film Festival only a two dimensional print was available. Even in 2-D I can honestly say it is one of the best documentaries of all time. Classic Herzog.
The third film screened was The Town and yes for those of you who are keeping score it won the coveted Daquiri award. Mr. Ben Affleck the same man whom has hit rock bottom with acting moments like Dare Devil and the atrocious Gigli has rebounded behind the camera and in the lead role to hit an artistic peak. The Town is about a group of highschool friends who become bank robbers. The group are born and bred Bostonians and come from a neighborhood called Charlestown, which is the gene pool for the bank robber capital of America. Jeremy Renner is a tour de force as the loose cannon in the crew. Ben Affleck gets extremely strong for the role and being from Boston is totally believable. Rebecca Hall plays a bank employee who is taken hostage and suffers from the Stockholm syndrome. The biggest bone critics will have with the film is the romance between Hall and Affleck in the film and many will argue that it is not credible. I argue it is seamless and completely pure and beautiful. He has a past that is haunted by his high school friends, cheap girls, and oxycotin. She is coming off of a traumatic event and is intrigued by his darkness. She has a sense of wonder in her eyes that none of his peers has and she did not grow up in his town. The Town ripped the lid off of the Summit Cinema Film Festival and everyone is on point. Even John Hamm as a Special Agent Adam Frowley was perfect!
The fourth film to be screened at the film festival was Woody Allen's You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger. The film is set in London and has a combination of talented actors. The film belongs to Gemma Jones who for me was a total surprise and newcomer. She is an older British woman whom has recently been divorced by her husband Alfie played brilliantly by Sir Anthony Hopkins. Jones then drinks scotch and sees a psychic named Kristel for advice. The scenes of her and the psychic steal the movie. She hit a cord in me for all people who suffer from heartache. The film is strange because it is simultaneously extermely sad and hilariously funny.
Seeing Hopkins have a mid-life crisis and just watching him running to stay in shape was a cinematic treat. Also watching him reinvent himself with escort and also newcomer Lucy Punch made me almost fall out of chair with laughter in the theater several times. I think Mr. Allen is on top of his game and traveling the world and shooting his dreams. Cheers to this movie.
The fifth film of the festival hit an economic downturn and nosedive. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps was aguably Mr. Oliver Stone's worst movie. I am Stone's biggest fan and even loved South of the Border, but it became apparent during Wall Street 2 that he was simply going for the money. Shia is horrible and Mulligan nearly cried in every scene! Gekko played by Dougalas was poorly written. Is he a bad guy or a good guy? Oliver you have to be kidding me. The man is a mixed bag. The character who in the original was quoted for saying "if you need a friend get a dog" and went down in the pantheon of film quotes with the line from his speech "Greed is Good!" has now in 2008 suddenly got in touch with his feelings and wants to connect with his daughter and donate money. Gekko can only succeed as an evil financial wizard! Josh Brolin was evil the entire movie of Wall Street 2 as Bretton James and he stole the movie. Well the good news for Stone is he finally has a economic hit because greed is good and it grossed 19 million over the weekend. Oddly judging the audiences reaction after the screening of the film from young to old they loved the movie. Well I enjoyed Alexander, World Trade Center, W., and South of the Border much more than this lemon! But like I said it was very apparent that Oliver sold his soul for a financial hot dog with onions. Hopefully he will return to serious cinema next time!
The closing night of the Summit Cinema Film Festival was quite unique. The film by Mr. Jaspar Noe entitled Enter The Void was screened and it was not a film, but an experience. Let's start with the crowd there was a Japanese techno rave girl in rainbow stockings who had a chain around her neck and was gently pulled around by her buff Caucasian boyfriend who was wearing a black mesh shirt. The funniest thing was watching her come down the aisle with her popcorn and seeing him follow. The rest of the crowd was a combination of techno, nerd core. The film starts with a huge amount of strobe lights and loud techno music. The credits for the entire feature flash for 10 seconds in fast motion in combination with the loud techno music. The film is shot from the POV of a junkie drug dealer in Tokyo both alive and dead. His spirit hovers over Tokyo when he dies then zooms into the keyhole of situations that his stripper sister faces. The visuals of this film are a variety of neon black light colors and are some of the best I have ever seen. The script is one of the worst that was ever penned and this caused half of the crowd to leave the Nuart theatre at the end of the Summit Cinema Film Festival. At the end of the film the strobes came up and the same techno music accompanied the screen as the black letters Enter the Void came up and the curtain closed. I shouted the words "let's see it again!" To which the majority of the crowd laughed. The visuals are worth seeing it for because it is an amazing perspective of Tokyo. However, be forewarned the film could ruin almost any date night.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Ladies and Gentleman the Summit Cinema Film Festival!
Ladies and Gentleman I would like to welcome you to the Summit Cinema Film Festival. After the steady diet of desert thorns at the summer cinematic salad bar. The month of September brings a fusion of refreshing blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries cooled with ice, milk, and vodka forming a delicious and refreshing fall Daquiri.
That's right distinguinshed cinefiles the month of September is here and school is in session. The Summit Cinema Film Festival lasted one week. Six movies were screened at six different locations. The Rave in Westcher, the Sunset 5 in Hollywood, the Archlight in Hollywood, the Landmark at the Westside Pavillion, The AMC in Marina Del Rey, and the Nuart in Santa Monica. The fall entries into the Summit Cinema Film Festival were in chronological order to the locations in which they were screened. Machete, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, The Town, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and Enter the Void. The Jury results were handed to me this morning, in a gold Fed Ex overnighted envelope and the Daquiri goes to oh my god I think the jury made a mistake do those bold letters actually say NAME: BEN AFFLECK FOR DIRECTING: THE TOWN. Congragulations Mr. Affleck on behalf of the Jury of the Summit Film Festival you win the coveted fall Daquiri!
Now for a complete review of the Summit Cinema Film Festival stay tuned cinefiles stay tuned!!!
That's right distinguinshed cinefiles the month of September is here and school is in session. The Summit Cinema Film Festival lasted one week. Six movies were screened at six different locations. The Rave in Westcher, the Sunset 5 in Hollywood, the Archlight in Hollywood, the Landmark at the Westside Pavillion, The AMC in Marina Del Rey, and the Nuart in Santa Monica. The fall entries into the Summit Cinema Film Festival were in chronological order to the locations in which they were screened. Machete, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, The Town, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and Enter the Void. The Jury results were handed to me this morning, in a gold Fed Ex overnighted envelope and the Daquiri goes to oh my god I think the jury made a mistake do those bold letters actually say NAME: BEN AFFLECK FOR DIRECTING: THE TOWN. Congragulations Mr. Affleck on behalf of the Jury of the Summit Film Festival you win the coveted fall Daquiri!
Now for a complete review of the Summit Cinema Film Festival stay tuned cinefiles stay tuned!!!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Soul Kitchen: Review
Yah man. "Soul Kitchen" Yah man "Soul Kitchen." When Birol Unel say's these words to Zinos in his kitchen it is priceless. Birol Unel made a Turkish sprint to stardom in Fatih Akin's "Head-On" where he jumped in to the same arena as the legendary fiend Mr. Klaus Kinski, but from "Head -On" he became one of my personal favorite actors ever. He is a wild bull of an artist and the neck muscles lunge out and his spit flying everywhere is always a personal favorite.
Well in Fatih Akin's newest motion picture Birol Unel portrays a Chef named Shane West. As Shane he is a background character, but becomes one of my favorite elements of the film "Soul Kitchen". Introduced in a Shi Shi Hamburg restaraunt that overlooks the Danube and has a round cedar bar. He is a Chef expert. When an angry German customer complains that his gespacho soup is cold. Birol as the Chef is asked by the waiter to heat up the soup. To which Birol comes out behind the background and explains to the angry German man that gespacho is a traditional Spanish soup and it is supposed to be served cold. This angers the customer and causes Birol to put his knife in the middle of the table and say to the customer in a priceless scream that he "will piss in his soup to warm it up." He is fired instantly and soon meets Zinos outside having a smoke. So "Soul Kitchen" begins. A restaurant owner and a fired Chef hit it off.
Fatih Akin is one of the most exciting directors to come to cinema in decades. "Head-On" is a masterpiece and "Edge of Heaven" is amazing. Similar to Lars Von Trier's "The Boss of it All" the film "Soul Kitchen" requires a certain kind of viewer. I found it hilarious, but it takes an appreciation of a certain combination of slapstick, deranged, humor. Akin might have had to shoot himself in the head after the last two features so "Soul Kitchen" seems fresh. Going that deep and intense can be detrimental to almost any artist. Fatih Akin is a Turkish-German filmaker who deals with the topic of race in fascinating ways. Zinos is a Greek restaurant owner operating in German, Hamburg. When Zinos is dancing with his brother it is my favorite crane shot in the whole film. It parallells Birol dancing onstage covered in blood in "Head On". The thing that is best about "Soul Kitchen" is that being a comedy it seemed that anything was truly possible in the movie. The apartment burns down, they steal the deed, Zinos has a slipped disc in his bakc the whole film. After the second viewing a positive thing happened in watching the spraying painted graffitti artist style credits it struck me that Mr. Akin is a virtuoso and has complete artistic control of everything he creates.
Well in Fatih Akin's newest motion picture Birol Unel portrays a Chef named Shane West. As Shane he is a background character, but becomes one of my favorite elements of the film "Soul Kitchen". Introduced in a Shi Shi Hamburg restaraunt that overlooks the Danube and has a round cedar bar. He is a Chef expert. When an angry German customer complains that his gespacho soup is cold. Birol as the Chef is asked by the waiter to heat up the soup. To which Birol comes out behind the background and explains to the angry German man that gespacho is a traditional Spanish soup and it is supposed to be served cold. This angers the customer and causes Birol to put his knife in the middle of the table and say to the customer in a priceless scream that he "will piss in his soup to warm it up." He is fired instantly and soon meets Zinos outside having a smoke. So "Soul Kitchen" begins. A restaurant owner and a fired Chef hit it off.
Fatih Akin is one of the most exciting directors to come to cinema in decades. "Head-On" is a masterpiece and "Edge of Heaven" is amazing. Similar to Lars Von Trier's "The Boss of it All" the film "Soul Kitchen" requires a certain kind of viewer. I found it hilarious, but it takes an appreciation of a certain combination of slapstick, deranged, humor. Akin might have had to shoot himself in the head after the last two features so "Soul Kitchen" seems fresh. Going that deep and intense can be detrimental to almost any artist. Fatih Akin is a Turkish-German filmaker who deals with the topic of race in fascinating ways. Zinos is a Greek restaurant owner operating in German, Hamburg. When Zinos is dancing with his brother it is my favorite crane shot in the whole film. It parallells Birol dancing onstage covered in blood in "Head On". The thing that is best about "Soul Kitchen" is that being a comedy it seemed that anything was truly possible in the movie. The apartment burns down, they steal the deed, Zinos has a slipped disc in his bakc the whole film. After the second viewing a positive thing happened in watching the spraying painted graffitti artist style credits it struck me that Mr. Akin is a virtuoso and has complete artistic control of everything he creates.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Dersu Uzala: revisited
Akira Kurosawa' s "Dersu Uzala" is a cinematic treasure chest. Last night I had the good fortune of viewing a rare print at the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum. As a historian I have profound respect for Archives. The UCLA film & television archive has an extensive catalogue of rare films. The Archive was having a centennial celebration of Kurosawa. Getting a clear print of Dersu Uzala on dvd is almost impossible. King Video, Mosfilm, the former Soviet Union, and Japan have all been tangled in bueracratic red tape to work with Criterion to distribute the movie to dvd and honor, arguably the best motion picture Kurosawa ever shot. In revisiting the picture last night some things became apparent.
The background history on the film is quite intense. Akira Kurosawa had just tried to commit suicide a few months before the cameras started rolling. The Japanese studios would no longer fund the aueter because his condition was a security risk. So he looked for funding elsewhere and the Soviet Union welcomed the master with open arms and financed the picture. The shoot took place for two years and when I saw the shots last night it still looked impossible.
"Dersu Uzala" is my personal favorite Kurosawa picture. I realize this is a bold statement, but allow me to state my case. There is no film in the history of cinema that is similar to "Dersu Uzala" and the story is quite unique. The narrative structure reminds me of a western, but mainly is about friendship. Captain Vladimir Arseniev is a Russian surveyor for the army. His duty is to chart all of the remote and unexplored regions of Russia. The regions represent the frontier. The unknown, the daunitng, and the bitter cold. In looking at Soviet history the Transibberean Railroad wasn't completed until Stalin utilized slave labor from the gulag. Without the railroad traveling the entire distance across the Soviet Union was almost impossible.
So Captain Vladimir Arseniev is given one hell of an assignment. Survey Siberia and chart the regions no one has ever seen from Moscow. The film is set in 1900. One night out in the frontier with his troops around the campfire, Arseniev is visited by a man who is one tough son of a bitch.
He comes up to the campfire where he gets a lit twig and starts smoking his pipe. He does not say how are you doing? He yells at the fire and speaks to it as a living being. Then he asks Arseniev for food. The man, the myth, the legend, is none other than Mr. Dersu Uzala. Arseniev complies and an amazing friendship ensues. Through the elements comrades for life are developed.
My personal favorite scene is when the winds start whipping across the Siberian landscape and the arctic tundra goes on as far as the eye can see. Dersu and Captain Arseniev are all alone. They have lost there way and everything looks the same. In frontier American history this happened many times to the Frontier Army and buffalo hunters in the Great Plains region during a snow storm. In "Dersu Uzala" the music Kurosawa provides starts building the tension as the sun starts to set on the Siberian landscape. Last night at the Billy Wilder theater many people in the audience started to put there coats on during this scene. The wind howls and the snow flurries start swirling. Dersu and Captain Arseniev start cutting down grass, cat tails, and reeds, to form a hut for warmth. Watching this scene when Siberia looks overwhelmed with nature and two men work frantically for survival is amazing. It's one of my favorite scenes of all time in cinema. On the same level as the steamboat being dragged over the mountain in "Fitzcaraldo." There is no CGI and Kurosawa captures the shots of an endless ocean of ice and tundra during a snowstorm at sunset. The colors are some of the most unique in film history and the way the wind swirls against the landscape is magical. The tundra looks similar to sand at the ocean. Cheers Kurosawa and happy centennial! You just reached the Summit of Cinema!
The background history on the film is quite intense. Akira Kurosawa had just tried to commit suicide a few months before the cameras started rolling. The Japanese studios would no longer fund the aueter because his condition was a security risk. So he looked for funding elsewhere and the Soviet Union welcomed the master with open arms and financed the picture. The shoot took place for two years and when I saw the shots last night it still looked impossible.
"Dersu Uzala" is my personal favorite Kurosawa picture. I realize this is a bold statement, but allow me to state my case. There is no film in the history of cinema that is similar to "Dersu Uzala" and the story is quite unique. The narrative structure reminds me of a western, but mainly is about friendship. Captain Vladimir Arseniev is a Russian surveyor for the army. His duty is to chart all of the remote and unexplored regions of Russia. The regions represent the frontier. The unknown, the daunitng, and the bitter cold. In looking at Soviet history the Transibberean Railroad wasn't completed until Stalin utilized slave labor from the gulag. Without the railroad traveling the entire distance across the Soviet Union was almost impossible.
So Captain Vladimir Arseniev is given one hell of an assignment. Survey Siberia and chart the regions no one has ever seen from Moscow. The film is set in 1900. One night out in the frontier with his troops around the campfire, Arseniev is visited by a man who is one tough son of a bitch.
He comes up to the campfire where he gets a lit twig and starts smoking his pipe. He does not say how are you doing? He yells at the fire and speaks to it as a living being. Then he asks Arseniev for food. The man, the myth, the legend, is none other than Mr. Dersu Uzala. Arseniev complies and an amazing friendship ensues. Through the elements comrades for life are developed.
My personal favorite scene is when the winds start whipping across the Siberian landscape and the arctic tundra goes on as far as the eye can see. Dersu and Captain Arseniev are all alone. They have lost there way and everything looks the same. In frontier American history this happened many times to the Frontier Army and buffalo hunters in the Great Plains region during a snow storm. In "Dersu Uzala" the music Kurosawa provides starts building the tension as the sun starts to set on the Siberian landscape. Last night at the Billy Wilder theater many people in the audience started to put there coats on during this scene. The wind howls and the snow flurries start swirling. Dersu and Captain Arseniev start cutting down grass, cat tails, and reeds, to form a hut for warmth. Watching this scene when Siberia looks overwhelmed with nature and two men work frantically for survival is amazing. It's one of my favorite scenes of all time in cinema. On the same level as the steamboat being dragged over the mountain in "Fitzcaraldo." There is no CGI and Kurosawa captures the shots of an endless ocean of ice and tundra during a snowstorm at sunset. The colors are some of the most unique in film history and the way the wind swirls against the landscape is magical. The tundra looks similar to sand at the ocean. Cheers Kurosawa and happy centennial! You just reached the Summit of Cinema!
Friday, August 13, 2010
As Slayer say's "were all Expendable Youth!"
Jump in Marty Mcfly's Delorean and travel back to 1980. The Berlin Wall is still up and David Lee Roth keeps rocking the vocals for Van Halen. Wait what is that it's a bird, it's a plane, it's Stallone and Dolph Lundgren and it's not Rocky X? That's right ladies and gentlemen let's get ready rumble! The time for the 1980s action hero is now!!!
In an era where Jason Bourne and Vin Diesel have tried to steal there thunder "The Expendables" retakes the championship belt. Enter Stallone, Staham, Li, Lundgren, Couture, Willis, Schwazanegger, Rourke, Crews, Austin, and especially the one and only Eric Roberts. Eric Roberts must have gotten the slot because of Mickey Rourke's acceptance speech at the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards in which he won the award for "The Wrestler" and then proceeded for 10 minutes straight to ask any director in the audience to hire Eric Roberts. Stallone must have been watching or in the audience because Eric is the perfect villain in the Expendables. He is a throw back to the type of character played by Jack Palance in "Tango and Cash" a man whom wears the same suit the entire movie and holds a woman hostage with a gun to her head and asks Stallone to put his gun down!
Oh "The Expendables" is a wild ride. From the opening in taking down Somalian pirates it became apparent to me that I haven't seen laser scopes since Jean Claude Van Damme and Seagal made them famous in the 80's. Hyper color hasn't been used since the first "Predator". And a body hasn't exploded into that many pieces since the "Dawn of the Dead" by George A. Romero. The simple pleasures of life as a moviegoer.
I do not want to give away any details about "The Expendables" because with Stallone in the director chair he delivers the classic goods. An evil South American dictator, Mickey Rourke on a chopper with a blonde stripper, Dolph Lundgren with a knife the size of a surfboard, and hundreds of steel barrels of gasoline filled for 1980s "Terminator" style explosions. What more can a summer movie fan ask for? Stallone duking it out with WWF sensation Stone Cold Steve Austin. And last, but not least a meeting in a church between Willis, Stallone, and the one and only Governator. Where Stallone actually say's to Willis about Schwarzie "don't worry about him he wants to be President!" Rocky meets Rambo and bites off Evan Holyfield's ear like Mike Tyson. Don't Miss This One!!!! (it could change your life and the way CGI has taken away real muscles!!!) (or are the Australian Airport Police still holding on to Sly's steriods from his gym bag???) [too bad Van Damme and Norris thought the Expendables would have been a poor career choice: eat your hearts out fellas, because you missed the boat!!!]
In an era where Jason Bourne and Vin Diesel have tried to steal there thunder "The Expendables" retakes the championship belt. Enter Stallone, Staham, Li, Lundgren, Couture, Willis, Schwazanegger, Rourke, Crews, Austin, and especially the one and only Eric Roberts. Eric Roberts must have gotten the slot because of Mickey Rourke's acceptance speech at the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards in which he won the award for "The Wrestler" and then proceeded for 10 minutes straight to ask any director in the audience to hire Eric Roberts. Stallone must have been watching or in the audience because Eric is the perfect villain in the Expendables. He is a throw back to the type of character played by Jack Palance in "Tango and Cash" a man whom wears the same suit the entire movie and holds a woman hostage with a gun to her head and asks Stallone to put his gun down!
Oh "The Expendables" is a wild ride. From the opening in taking down Somalian pirates it became apparent to me that I haven't seen laser scopes since Jean Claude Van Damme and Seagal made them famous in the 80's. Hyper color hasn't been used since the first "Predator". And a body hasn't exploded into that many pieces since the "Dawn of the Dead" by George A. Romero. The simple pleasures of life as a moviegoer.
I do not want to give away any details about "The Expendables" because with Stallone in the director chair he delivers the classic goods. An evil South American dictator, Mickey Rourke on a chopper with a blonde stripper, Dolph Lundgren with a knife the size of a surfboard, and hundreds of steel barrels of gasoline filled for 1980s "Terminator" style explosions. What more can a summer movie fan ask for? Stallone duking it out with WWF sensation Stone Cold Steve Austin. And last, but not least a meeting in a church between Willis, Stallone, and the one and only Governator. Where Stallone actually say's to Willis about Schwarzie "don't worry about him he wants to be President!" Rocky meets Rambo and bites off Evan Holyfield's ear like Mike Tyson. Don't Miss This One!!!! (it could change your life and the way CGI has taken away real muscles!!!) (or are the Australian Airport Police still holding on to Sly's steriods from his gym bag???) [too bad Van Damme and Norris thought the Expendables would have been a poor career choice: eat your hearts out fellas, because you missed the boat!!!]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)