La Belle et la Bete (rewatch)

The first time I saw this film, it absolutely charmed me.  The second time, I was slightly less charmed but still extremely fond of it.  And then I waited six and a half years to watch it again, and then only because of the Blu-Ray release.  I had a feeling it wouldn’t hold up quite as well over multiple viewings, and never felt a strong urge to revisit it.  Its enchantments are still endearing… the use of simple, primitive special effects, the rich imagination.  But for some reason there are diminishing returns.  For one thing, the pace is a bit sluggish.  For another, the Beast is kind of passive-aggressive, isn’t he?  He tends to whine a lot and feel sorry for himself.  I mean, it’s not a big deal or anything, but it’s the kind of thing you notice after a few viewings.  I still maintain this is a fantastic film and everyone should experience its unique delights… but perhaps one time is enough.  Rating: Great

IMDb

Harry Brown

It’s possible that Michael Caine has been forever ruined for me by The Trip.  I can’t watch him without thinking of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon dueling with their Caine impressions.  It doesn’t matter, though, because Caine or not (and his performance here is nothing special in the slightest), this is a spectacularly awful movie.  It demonizes its villains to the extreme (they GROW MARIJUANA AND TAPE THEMSELVES HAVING SEX!!!) in order to justify its ultra-conservative fear-mongering endorsement of vigilante violence.  Loaded with terrible clichés, absurd characterizations, predictable plot developments, and some incredibly shoddy policework.  But of course the government is inept at everything, and that’s why we need to take up arms and waste all those filthy chavs ourselves, am I right?  And speaking of police, Emily Mortimer is rather blubbery and humorless for a homicide detective.  Maybe I’m reading too much David Simon lately, but if you’re offended by a would-be witticism as innocuous as “death-o-gram,” you’re in the wrong line of work.  An utter waste of time.  Rating: Crap

IMDb

Satyajit Ray

Lengthy documentary featuring clips by and interviews with the great filmmaker.  It covers a lot of ground and all aspects of his work, with generous clips from many of his films (newcomers might take note that there are a few minor spoilers, but nothing to get too upset about).  Perhaps not as in-depth as it could be, but a good overview to his career with some interesting insights.  It renewed and confirmed my excitement for his films.  The long sequence at the beginning, featuring Ray working on the set of Ghare Baire, is not as compelling you would hope for, though.  Rating: Very Good

IMDb

Jalsaghar (rewatch)

I’ve putting off watching my recent purchases so that I can get through all the stuff I’ve never seen before first, but this one wasn’t going to wait.  After what seems like an eternity, Criterion has finally released their first Satyajit Ray film, and on Blu-Ray with generous extras, no less.  Let’s hope this is just the beginning.  I’ve seen everything Ray ever directed, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen one of his films in a pristine (or close to it… there’s still some visible damage, but it’s far far better than what I’ve dealt with before) presentation, and it is glorious.  Elegant cinematograpy, a perfect location and an elaborate set, and three amazing musical performances, each more electrifying than the last.  I could watch that final dance over and over again.  And of course, there’s Chhabi Biswas dominating in the lead (although the other actors are excellent as well), portraying a man caught between his pride and the changing times, and suffering the consequences.  The film isn’t perfect — for one thing, I’d like to see more time devoted to Khoka to help establish the emotional connection, not to mention Roy’s wife – but it is quite magnificent and captivating.  Rating: Great

IMDb

Zardoz

Oh, 1970′s.  I don’t give you enough credit, but you certainly are responsible for some wonderfully weird cinema.  A dystopian future populated with immortals, magic crystals, giant floating stone heads, scads of bare-breasted ladies, and Sean Connery running around in little red shorts and a bandolier, they simply don’t make them like this any more.  Often silly in the extreme, and the allegorical hodgepodge is messy to say the least, but there’s something charming about the sincerity of the vision, and its goofy, dated “THE FUTURE!” production design.  No matter how ridiculous it gets (and it does get laughably ridiculous), it never gets dull.  How can you hate a film with lines like “The gun is good, the penis is evil”?  Rating: Very Good

IMDb

Last Train Home

Superb documentary about a Chinese family driven apart because the parents spend most of their lives working at a city factory hundreds and hundreds of miles away from their rural village.  Every Chinese New Year they, along with millions of others, jostle and scramble to get on the train to see their loved ones for a few days.  When their daughter quits school to work in the city as well, tensions flare until an explosive confrontation erupts.  This is riveting stuff.  By keeping focused on a few individuals, director Lixin Fan maintains personal dramatic intrigue throughout the film, while keeping the problems of migrant workers as a whole in mind.  The cinematography is also exceptionally good for a documentary, as good or even better than most scripted films.  At times I forgot I was watching real people dealing with very real issues that have no easy answers.  Powerful and gripping.  Rating: Great

IMDb

Bye Bye Monkey

In an oddly desolate New York overrun by rats, Gerard Depardieu works at a Roman history wax museum, gets “raped” by a feminist performance art troupe, pals around with a sexually frustrated Marcello Mastroianni (“I have some kind of monster between my legs!”), seduces the elderly hostess of a dinner party in front of the guests, and discovers the corpse of King Kong on the beach, who is clutching an infant monkey that he then adopts.  A stencil on Depardieu’s wall asks “Why?!” and that’s a good question.  Although composed of several interesting elements (some of which recall Ferreri’s earlier The Seed of Man) it doesn’t gel into any cohesive whole.  The best I can do at putting it together is to say it’s an absurdist treatise on the decline of civilization, but not all the pieces seem to fit.  It’s an exercise in non-sequitur, and that’s not a form I enjoy very much unless it’s done very light-heartedly.  There are amusing moments but the overall tempo is too sluggish.  Also, the performances aren’t very good except for Depardieu and Mastroianni, and even they don’t appear to understand what they’re doing.  Sometimes Ferreri’s idiosyncrasies add up to something really exciting, but here it’s a near miss.  Rating: Fair

IMDb

The Beales of Grey Gardens

Certainly the easiest way to put this is if you liked Grey Gardens, you’ll like this, and if you didn’t, it’s not going to change your mind.  A pastiche of outtakes for those who love Edith and Edie, it’s a mellower selection of clips which are all pretty captivating, thanks mostly to Edie’s larger-than-life personality.  I think I could listen to her talk and ramble on all day long.  This is a less revealing and focused film than its predecessor, however… the scenes are shorter on average, focusing less on the odd family dynamic and history, and more on the amusing.  Still, it’s a treat for fans of the Beales.  Rating: Good

IMDb

35 Shots of Rum

I liked everything about this movie.  I liked spending time with these characters, and the performances were spot on.  I liked the moody aesthetic of the film, the music (I haven’t heard “Nightshift” in YEARS!) and the cinematography fit beautifully.  I liked how the relationships between the personalities gradually unfolded and revealed themselves.  But the operative word here is “like.”  Although I can’t find anything to criticize, I can’t find anything that deserves exceptional praise either.  It’s a thoughtful movie, it’s a nice movie… it’s a good, solid understated drama.  It just wasn’t anything more than that.  I often wondered if there was some subtext I wasn’t picking up on, which is highly possible.  For whatever reason, although I enjoyed it, it didn’t leave much of an impression.  Rating: Good

IMDb

Which Way Home

This documentary follows several children trying to get to America from Central American or southern Mexico, entirely on their own.  These are naturally sad stories, but I have to say they’re hardly surprising.  In fact, the most surprising thing is that the homes they’re fleeing really don’t seem that bad.  But I suppose the siren call of the mythical American Dream is too much for some to resist.  Director Rebecca Cammisa wisely stays away from politicizing the situation, and the film is done without narration and only brief informational titles.  However, this means there is also a lack of any proposed remedies to the problem.  It seems to me these kids are better off sticking it out at home, at least until they’re old enough to better fend for themselves.  Whatever the case, the material is very engaging as we get wrapped up in the plight of these young vagabonds.  Rating: Good

IMDb