MOVIE ROUNDUP

Here are some films I’ve seen recently:

+MAN ON A TRAIN (2002) Stylish French film with robber Johnny Halladay meeting and staying with college professor Jean Rochefort. Rochefort is fascinated by this rogue and through invstigations learns of his plans to rob a local bank. Both men come to envy the life of the other. The robber wishes he had a normal life and the professor wishes he had a more exciting one. The dual climax is Halladay risking his life to rob a bank as Rochfort risks his life in surgery.

BIRTHDAY GIRL (2002) is like a lot of films that begin with stylish promise become conventional at the first plot point and resolve in ways that are inconsistent with the movie in order to deliver a happy ending.

TAKING LIVES (2004) I saw it on the strength of an interesting trailer (I know, bad idea) and the fact that Ethan Hawke picks his projects more carefully than his contemporaries. Adhere’s to the Agatha Christie rule of mysteries – No matter how baffled the heroes are by the identity of the culprit, the person has already been introduced to the audience. Movies like SE7EV that ignore the device are usually better than the ones that don’t, therefore this movie is more of an academic exercise in deduction than unique entertainment.

+THE SLASHER (2004) Washed up director John Landis (Blues Brothers, Trading Places) moves to documentaries with this look at the car dealership industry. The Slasher is Michael Bennett the man car dealerships hire to fly in and move their dusty inventory. Bennett is the kind of guy that drinks beer for breakfast and gives speeches on how he doesn’t believe in high-pressure sales (Ya Ya). He and his team land in Memphis and help a local dealer in a depressed part of town with their troubles. Often funny and quite illuminating on how the car industry really works from a sales standpoint.

+MAYOR OF SUNSET STRIP (2004) Documentary by George Hickenlooper (Hearts of Darkness) about Rodney Bingenheimer a diminutive guy who was Davy Jones’ stand-in for the Monkees TV Show, owner of the first Hollywood Disco, discoverer of David Bowie, and currently an obscure figure by the general public that works as an LA DJ two hours a week from 12-2am on Sundays Nights. It’s both sad and funny.

RIVERS AND TIDES (2003) Documentary of Andy Goldsworthy, an artist who does his work almost exclusively in the outdoors. Though we meet his family briefly, we learn little of his life. The footage is of the man in action trying to create his vision before nature destroys it. I found portions of his work beautiful and other parts uninspired and pointless. The movie sways back and forth from dull to interesting depending on the current project.

+ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004) (See Dude’s exhaustive review of this film and Charlie Kauffman) Eternal Sunshine is well-written, but directed in that Terry Gilliam style of mayhem that’s hard to sustain through an entire film. Jim Carrey continues to prove he’s a decent dramatic actor, Kate Winslet puts in another plus performance, and the supporting cast of Wilkenson, Wood and Dunst are also good. Once you buy into the science fiction premise, the characters’ actions seem pretty consistent with human behavior in that memory may be erased but attraction puts people back together. It’s unique, thoughtful and though provoking. I enjoyed it, but don’t imagine that I’d ever see it again.

+GHOSTS OF THE ABYSS (2003) James Cameron returns to the Titanic for real with submarine gadgets for filming and Bill Paxton to provide commentary. Cameron spent a ton to build mini-submarines and they often fail. The stuff they discover is educational though and we get to see what many of the intact artifacts looked like when the ship was launched. The film is mostly of interest to those who enjoy the history of the Titanic.

EASY RIDERS, RAGING BULLS (2003) Documentary of 70s films and filmmakers based on the Peter Biskind book I read recently. It explores a few areas not touched upon in the book, but it excludes some of the most damning items. It’s a good way to absorb that film history. A strong filmmaking effort though it seems to borrow a little from THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE. I probably would have liked it better had I not read the book.

George Washington (2000) David Gordon Green’s slice of life debut reminds me of a John Cassavettes film without all the shouting. Rather than a story arch per say, Green takes the characters through a bunch of random episodes to see them react to surprising challenges. The actors all seem like naturals living in real houses and eating real food. Add a narrator and you’d think documentary if you caught it flipping around. Still, if you’re waiting around for a point you’ll have to dig way between the lines. Otherwise you might get the idea that this film is about the randomness of human life and little more.

+All the Real Girls (2003) I saw David Gordon Green’s second film first and like it better. Paul Schneider who had a small part in the first film plays a small town playboy in this one. When the pure little sister (Zooey Deschanel ) of his best friend returns after years in boarding school they soon start an honorable flirtation that ruins his friendship with the brother. In the conventional indie classic TAO OF STEVE, the hero meets his match and falls for the girl. Green doesn’t make it so easy for his characters. Just when things are heading the conventional way here something unexpected happens and our hero has to struggle with himself. All in all it's a better use of Gordon's knack for realism than GW.

+SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER (1960) Francois Truffaut film about one-time big shot concert pianist that’s reduced to playing in a saloon. If that’s not bad enough his criminal brother drags him into the middle of his own drama. Our hero is tasked with fleeing the bad guys and reliving the experience that cost him his career as a virtuoso. Traffault’s influence from American film noir is evident and I liked it better than THE 400 BLOWS that gets so much ink.