An happily married and tenured professor (Gena Rowlands) eventually elects to eavesdrop on the psychiatric sessions which can be heard through the vents of her new office and which serve as a reflection of her own impending mid-life crisis. With Another Woman, Woody Allen ventures into Bergman territory once more and even borrows his longtime cinematographer Sven Nykvist for an intellectual ride that opens and closes brilliantly (who could ask for anything more from a film really?) but is just too dry and stagy in the middle passages.
After breaking up an international terror conference comprised of America's greatest foes, bumbling, incompetent Police Squad Lieutenant Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) attempts to foil an assassination plot against Queen Elizabeth II to take place at the Angels game. From the short lived though very funny Police Squad! series that still wore thin during 25 minute episodes, the first movie installment of The Naked Gun series is done about as well as can be expected for slapstick so stupid, with Nielsen and a supporting cast perfect suited to their roles.
A couple (Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti) once involved in the bombing of a government weapon's facility remain political fugitives from justice with their two sons in tow. As the elder of the boys (River Phoenix) approaches adulthood, he seeks to break free from their nomadic, surreptitious lifestyle and strike out a normal life of his own. Sidney Lumet's Running on Empty is an assuredly made and somewhat fantastical film with Hirsch and Martha Plimpton incredibly irritating in key roles, Lahti offering a few glimmering moments, and Phoenix phenomenal in a standout performance, with the film working best when the story focuses on him.
In Kobe, Japan near the close of World War II a teenage boy dodges the constant fire bombings ravaging the city while contending with desperate neighbors and relatives and combatting the pitiless starvation that plagues him, his sister and the rest of the countryside. From Hayao Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli and director Isao Takahata, Grave of the Fireflies is dark, beautifully poetic, and all around masterful animated storytelling.
Three droll, alternately funny and melancholic films from Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki detailing lives of quiet desperation on the bottom rungs of the social order. Each center on excellent lead performances with the best of the lot (and the most devastating) being the concluding film. Shadows in Paradise tells the story of a lonely garbage worker (Matti Pellonpaa) whose business ventures are crushed when his partner dies unexpectedly and he renews his life with a homely grocery store check-out girl (Kati Outinen). Ariel tells of a coal miner (Turo Pajala), forced to start over following his termination and his father's suicide, who soon finds himself in hot water with the law. Lastly, The Match Factory Girl details the life of a victim of unremitting cruelty and desolation (Outinen again, heart achingly good), whose existence is as mundane and repetitive as the matchbox making machines she mans.
After half a lifetime of neglecting his friends and family and forsaking the love of his life for power, money, and just plain old self-serving meanness, Frank Cross (Bill Murray), the youngest top executive in television history, spends his latest Christmas Eve cutting Christmas bonuses, firing employees, and basking in self-generated misery while he reaps the benefits of his latest despicable promotional campaign. While preparing for a live version of A Christmas Carol, he will undergo his own transformative experience of Dickensian proportions before the night is through. Richard Donner's Scrooged is a generally welcomed retreat from the usual holiday fodder and an eccentric and often wickedly funny comedy until the fun starts to peter out around the halfway mark. Bill Murray is mostly amusing and receives swell support from an unexpected cast which includes Robert Mitchum, Karen Allen, and Alfre Woodard, although this lends to considerable disappointment later on when the lackluster ghosts are introduced. The opening spoof holiday trailers are a highlight and include titles like The Night the Reindeer Died, Father Loves Beaver, and Bob Goulet's Old Fashioned Cajun Christmas.
A rage and incertitude plague a very mortal Jesus (Willem Dafoe, ideally cast) as he is challenged by a browbeating Judas (Harvey Keitel) and wrestles with the dilemma of His father's calling, especially during His final hours on the cross, when He is tempted with visions of a life of domestic bliss with Mary Magdalene (Barbara Hershey). Adapted from the inflammatory Nikos Kazantzakis novel by the director's oft-collaborator Paul Schrader, The Last Temptation of Christ was a longtime passion project for Martin Scorsese and one met with no less of a swell of controversy. Seen now, twenty five years after its release, it is difficult to understand these contentions in a film made with the utmost respect and reverence which asks difficult questions and presents a savior who resists when confronted with the ultimate temptation and also offers a highly accessible portrait of Jesus' human side.
In November 1976, itinerant Randall Adams was passing through the Dallas area seeking out employment when he came in contact with a 16-year old delinquent named David Ray Harris. Soon, he found himself accused, interrogated, tried, convicted, and sitting on death row for the murder of a Dallas police officer. Errol Morris' The Thin Blue Line is an in-depth investigatory documentary made with Adams and Harris' behind bars participation (Harris was locked up for another crime) and which ultimately earned an appeals case that exonerated the former and conferred the death charge upon the latter. Morris' film, whose frightening implications are made all the more eerie through Philip Glass' ominous score, uses one case to explore the cracks in our legal system and how reasonable doubt can become distorted, and also demonstrates the importance of art as an impetus of change. *** 1/2 out of ****
Thomas Hart Benton was an American painter whose personality was as large and robust as the many murals he created throughout his lifetime. Born in Missouri and studying at the Art Institute of Chicago, Hart went on to study in Paris and mentor Jackson Pollock before crafting many lifescape murals which depicted the American story. "Thomas Hart Benton" is Ken Burns' excellent presentation of the artist's life, offering his biography, work, family interviews, and also the viewpoints of proponents and detractors in this cumulative documentary.
Ken Burns presents the history of our federal representative body, lauding its successes and exposes its weaknesses. Covering 200 years of history (the film was released in 1988) and over 12,000 representatives, the surface is barely scraped in a running time of 90 minutes. Focusing on lions such as Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, covering key eras such as Civil Rights and the Women's Suffrage movement, told by then members of Congress, and presented in the Burn's usual, exemplary style (with David McCullough's stalwart narration), "The Congress" is still an excellent though abbreviated history.
"Histoire(s) du cinéma" is an ambitious art house project by legendary French director Jean-Luc Godard, made over a period of over ten years, and generally considered to be his greatest work outside of his New Wave period. In a series of eight, 25-50 minute long episodes, Godard offers essentially what the title says, except not only just history of the cinema, but an attempt to explain the 20th century through the history and with images from the cinema...I think. The movie is deliberately vague and extremely obtuse, with Godard meshing images from films as diverse as "Rear Window", "Notorious", "Scarface", "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", with pornography and other bizarre imagery while spouting outlandish and sometimes mad declarations, to what end I'm not sure even its esteemed director could explain. The work is intriguing and even hypnotic, to a point but I would only recommend this to the most adventurous viewer of loyal Godard devotee.
"Storytelling Giant" is a compilation of Talking Heads music videos which are interspersed with a series of mock interviews with seemingly real people. Bandleader David Byrne's surrealist videos often come off as excellent while others, like many of the interviews are just playing strange. The music is great all around.
A sullen film director receives word that the projectionist in the small Sicilian town from which he hails has died. While arranging to return for the first time in thirty years, the man recalls his childhood in the post-WWII villa and the deep bond he held with the deceased. Giuseppe Tornatore's semi-autobiographical "Cinema Paradiso" is about the fondness with which most of us regard are childhoods, even in times of turbulence, as well as the nostalgic power of the movies. The film is incredibly well staged and Philippe Noiret gives an indelible performance as the cynical yet warmhearted projectionist. However, the film is hampered by its incessant sentimentality and mawkish, stereotypical manifestations of its characters, including Salvatore Cascio who plays the director as a young boy. Also, in the second half, the key relationship between the boy and the projectionist is shifted to the boy's relationship with a beautiful Neapolitan, which doesn't hold nearly as much resonance. I think there is a masterpiece buried under the saccharin layers of this film (many find it to be one as is). As it stands, it is still an entertaining reminiscence, and the end of the film is particularly moving as well.
A hotshot yuppie embezzles $95,000 from his employer and wakes up to find the girl he picked up dead from a cocaine overdose. Needing a place to hide out, he takes refuge in a detox clinic, where he doesn't even remotely begin to remotely face his own addictions. Soon with the help of a hard nosed counselor and an ardent AA sponsor, he takes the leap and begins the arduous trek towards recovery. "Clean and Sober" is essentially divided into three stages, Addiction, Rehab, and Recovery, and for the first to it is an unrelenting look at dependency. The third segment pulls back slightly, though still tenacious, and introduces a romance angle which isn't entirely successful. The film is centered on an extraordinary, unsung performance from Michael Keaton, who manages to be simultaneously repugnant and sympathetic, takes major risks, and pulls them off wonderfully. There are also two great supporting performances in the film from Morgan Freeman (was that guy ever young?) as the counselor and M. Emmet Walsh as the sponsor. Many films about addiction and recovery are soft served fairy tales where the addict returns to his supporting family and friends and patched up work environment. "Clean and Sober" is a harsh and realistic viewpoints not only of addiction but the road to recovery as well.
A young couple movie into an idyllic country house and are killed in a freak accident. In death, they find themselves confined to the home even as a family of insufferable yuppies movie in. Unable to scare them off they employ the services of a crude, perverted bio-exorcist in order to clear the house for themselves. "Beetlejuice" is one of the early films of Tim Burton and is a prime example of the director getting carried away from himself. We get some really good work from Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis as the couple, Winona Ryder as the gothic daughter of the yuppie family, and Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones, and Glenn Shadix are a hoot as the portentous yuppies. However when we get to the death scenes, we get the cartoonish oddities that have dominated Burton's work and Michael Keaton's work in the title role as a manic obscene Bugs Bunny like character is simply off putting and not as fun as most would lead on. I really liked the scenes amongst the living (particularly a possessed rendition of Harry Belafonte's Day-O) and I think there would have been a good film here in the hands of a more restrained director.
Tess is a ditsy but ambitious and free thinking woman who starts a new job as an assistant for a high profiled female partner. While on vacation, the boss breaks her leg skiing and Tess realizes that she had stolen her idea that she had rejected days earlier. With the boss incapacitated a few thousand miles away, Tess begins to present herself as a powered player for the firm, and push the deal through with an attractive executive she begins to fall for."Working Girl" is a bright and funny film by Mike Nichols and a wonderful showcase for Melanie Griffith, who is delightful in the lead role. The movie serves as both a send up of the yuppie lifestyle of the time as well as a picture postcard of New York City, and manages to entertain as well. The film also features several fine supporting roles: Harrison Ford is fun in what is probably his first comedic as well as romantic role. Sigourney Weaver is in top form as the iniquitous yuppie boss and Joan Cusack has a good part as Griffith's big haired friend. Alec Baldwin has some very funny scenes as well as Griffith's scummy boyfriend and Kevin Spacey is hilarious in a small role early on. The film sags slightly in the middle, is rife with wild 80s styles, and you can see the big twist coming but nonetheless this is still an intelligent, funny, and well acted movie that wraps up especially well in the end.
In 1980 Lindy and Michael Chamberlain are vacationing in Queensland, Australia with their two boys and infant girl. One night, Lindy puts the baby to sleep in the tent and heads back to the group when she sees a dingo exiting the tent. She runs back and sees her baby is missing and a hunt begins to find the remains. What follows is a nightmare involving not only the morning of the couple’s dead baby but also a police inquest, trial, media frenzy, gossip, circumstantial evidence, and religious prejudice. Fred Schepisi’s A Cry in the Dark in an intricate recreation of events of Australia’s most known court case. From the search for the baby, to the media’s editing of the Chamberlain’s interviews, to the police investigation, to the court details, we are given what seems like a firsthand account of a strange and tragic case. Meryl Streep and Sam Neill are outstanding in the lead roles, Streep portraying a strong and slightly cold individual and Neill a devout man at first who finds himself falling apart at the seems under the weight of the circumstances. A Cry in the Dark is a wonderful example of translating a real life incident into film.
During the Prague Spring of 1968 with the communist Russians invading and the Czechoslovakian people asserting their independence, a Czech doctor (Daniel Day-Lewis) seems only concerned with sex. Of all his women, he claims that only one (Lena Olin) truly understands him. While on business he meets a young waitress (Juliette Binoche) and the two marry while he keeps up his affairs although she desires monogomy. Soon however, the two are thrust into political turmoil and forced to flee the country, which is when their love is truly allowed to blossom. Directed by Philip Kaufman from a major novel by Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a leisurely paced and extremely erotic movie which Kauffman allows to take its time and flesh out, while getting to the heart of the story which may not appear to be what it is at first. In one of Day-Lewis's first starring roles, he shines as a callow man who soon comes to terms with the woman he loves. Olin and Binoche are wonderful as well in challenging roles. The Unbearable Lightness of Being is not for all film goers, but for those who give it a shot, they will find a beautifully realized love story where they weren't expecting one.
In 1964 Mississippi, three young Civil Rights workers nervously travel down an empty strectch of road, when three cars begin to closely follow them. Relieved when the sirens begin to flash, the boys pullover and are quickly executed by the members of the sheriff's department as well as the KKK. Afterwards, two FBI agents are sent south to investigate their disappearance. The two men couldn't be anymore different, one older and a southerner who prefers good old boy methods, while the other is a young idealistic Yankee who likes to play things by the book. Soon, both of their methods fail before eventually working and cause a stir in the small town as well as even danger. Soon a small army of federal agents is sent down to aid in the investigation, and the older agent sees a Klan member/sheriff deputy's wife as the key to blowing the lid off the case. Alan Parker's Mississippi Burning vividly and completely captures 1964 small southern town completely in every aspect. The town is alive on the screen and the screen oozes with atmosphere and details. As the older FBI agent, who was previously a sherrif in similar small southern town, delivers the performance of his well rounded career. Willem Dafoe, as his junior agent, and Frances McDormand as the deputy's wife are solid as well. There are problems with the screenplay, which is surprisingly weak and poorly written considering the rest of the talent involved with the film. There have also been complaints about historical inaccuracies and the compressing of events, but the film is such a great realization of time and place, and Hackman is so wonderful in the lead that the film's merits overcome its flaws.
These words are spoken to Chan (soon-to-be) Parker by a club manager in reference to a hot new headliner about to play the club by the name of Charlie Parker. They reflect Chan's feelings towards the man she married as well as his music, and if I may make a stretch, they also reflect the film's sentiments towards Parker, in a film that loves him warts and all. Bird is a loving biopic brought to the screen and directed by Clint Eastwood, a lifelong jazz lover and musician himself, and this can be seen as a postcard to the music he loves so much. Through jumps in time from the past to the present, the film follows Charles "Yardbird" Parker from his struggles growing up in Kansas City to his coming of age, moving to New York and achieving greatness as a jazz saxophonist with a gift for improvisation, during the 40s and 50s. During his triumphs, he also meets his wife, struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, and battles depression and mental illness. By the time of his death in 1955 at the age of 34, the coroner assumed his age to be 65 from the appearance of his worn out face. Forest Whitaker gives a virtuoso performance as the jazzman, portraying him as a sad figure who speaks intelligently and doesn't seem to enjoy any of the vices in which he partakes. Diane Venora is spotty as his long suffering wife and seems to have trouble hitting notes sometimes while hitting them so well at other times. Bird is a loving portrait of a great musician that tends to get sidetracked. Replete with great music and complete songs, something rare in pictures, Bird is an ambitious and engrossing, if overlong, biopic.
Here are two song clips, one from the film, the other from a live session with Parker in 1953:
