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Films seen in February
Note – I’ve tried time and time again to offer up brief reviews of every film I watch, which by now I have to confess is an impossible chore for me stay on top of. To keep myself somewhat dedicated to this site, I’m going to at least try to offer reviews of all the recent films I see. So anything I see made within the last 3 years, plan on finding a review in this log.
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On the DVD’s commentary track, director Ben Coccio aptly describes his film as a front-loaded magic trick. He shows you scene after scene of very real, documentary style footage, so that when he finally starts faking things (i.e. the school shooting) you have been lulled into accepting it as real. He is exactly right, and although his magic trick disturbed me to all hell, I can’t bring myself to praise it as much of a film. He has made exactly half the film that Van Sant made -- a poignant and deeply relevant psychological study of a frighteningly real phenomenon in our country -- but one that does not benefit from being scrutinized under a microscope. This is truly one subject that demands a bit of Brechtian distancing.

What does Jonathan Rosenbaum see in this guys work? Aside from the worthwhile cinematography and some solid performances, there is a completely underwhelming auteurist sensibility behind both this film, and Mackenzie’s previous feature Young Adam. His film are grey, gloomy affairs, populated with lonely people willing to do anything to fulfill their lustful needs. I find these works utterly devoid of emotion, and more than a bit narrow minded in their focus on all things adulterous.

09. Kwik Stop (2001, USA) Michael Gilio -

worth seeing

11. The Matador (2005, USA) Richard Shepard -

worth seeing

13. Tony Takitani (2004, Japan) Jun Ichikawa -

worth seeing

16. The Flesh Eaters (1964, USA) Jack Curtis -

a must see - DVD reviewed HERE

17. Sex: The Annabel Chong Story (1999, USA) Gough Lewis -

has redeeming facet

22. The Crawling Eye (1958, UK) Quentin Lawrence -

worth seeing

23. Casque d'or (1952, France) Jacques Becker -

Masterpiece

25. The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971, Italy) Sergio Martino -

worth seeing

26. Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody? (2005, USA) Miguel Arteta [short]

27. Something New (2006, USA) Sanaa Hamri -

has redeeming facet

A perfectly harmless date movie that mixes in race issues to appear ‘deeper’ and more meaningful than it actually is. The direction borders on incompetent at times and much of the supporting cast (such as Donald Faison as the womanizing brother) are flat-out annoying. It would seem that Sanaa Lathan is the only recognizable life form, as her leading man (Simon Baker) appears to still think he is in a Romero film. I am awarding this one-star of criticism based solely on the fact that it appears to be well intentioned, and anything that doesn’t star Queen Latifah and/or feature a prominent rap artist in the leading role has to be a positive step in the right direction for Black Cinema in our country.

Larry Fessenden, who is responsible for some of the sharpest, most unique horror films I’ve come across, acted as Executive Producer on this tongue-in-cheek story about a young couple who, while honeymooning at the Jersey Shore, run into a zombie surfer who bites the groom and transforms him into a brain hungry undead. The set-up is a promising one, but unfortunately writer/director David Gebroe completely fails to deliver the goods. What could have been a scathing satire on the woes of a young married couple, turns out to be a half-funny romantic comedy, light on the gore and heavy on the cheap romanticism. The acting is surprisingly good, and even the hi-def DV cinematography shows signs of promise, but there is nothing in the script! I would like to have seen Fessenden try his hand at this, or better yet, someone like Larry Cohen.

34. The Raven (1935, USA) Lew Landers -

worth seeing

38. La Cicatrice intérieure (1972, France) Philippe Garrel -

Masterpiece

39. Keep Your Right Up! (1987, France) Jean-Luc Godard -

worth seeing

42. The Vanishing (1988, Netherlands) George Sluizer -

worth seeing

A marvelous bit of acting from Felicity Huffman as a well-adjusted transsexual woman who must confront the son she never knew she had so that her psychologist will green-light her sex change operation, and that she may finally become a ‘real’ woman. There is a nuanced sense of character to director Duncan Tucker’s script, something that is greatly diminished when he turns the film into a light-hearted road movie. The film trudges along for two-thirds of its running time as textbook film school fodder -- an ugly string of establishing shots, conversation, and music for emphasis -- that left me thoroughly uninspired. But when the inevitable family reunion came around, and the characters were finally being themselves rather than responding to silly road movie scenarios, the film does manage to hammer home some powerful emotion.

A gorgeous film to look at, with Jim Henson Studios fronting the bills and artist Dave McKean providing direction and the ‘visionary’ production design, it’s a shame they couldn’t get a better story, or better yet a more defined ‘artistic vision.’ A young girl wanders through the looking glass and into an alternate reality as she tries to cope with the strain of her desperately ill mother. The beginning is a promising array of Felliniesque flourishes (the family runs a strange circus) and Burton inspired exaggerations in character and set, but once our young heroine wanders into the dream world, things begin to feel less inspired and more than a bit derivative. McKean offers a smorgasbord of styles in what is an otherwise tired story (cf. Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, etc.). There are touches of Cubism, Expressionism, Dali oil-on-canvas Surrealism, Quay Brothers animation, and Miyazaki fantasy. If the ‘name dropping’ feels heavy on my part, just wait until you see the film, as McKean has whipped up an endless supply of imitated art for your viewing pleasure.

51. The Plague of Zombies (1966, UK) John Gillin -

worth seeing

52. Solution (1978, Iran) Abbas Kiarostami [short]

53. Recess (1972, Iran) Abbas Kiarostami [short] - Both are very good and show his craft was in place long before the widespread critical acclaim.

56. Or (My Treasure) (2004, Israel) Karen Yedaya -

Excellent - Comments to come

57. Michelangelo Eye to Eye (2004, Italy) Michelangelo Antonioni [short] - Obviously amazing...

58. Case of the Scorpion's Tail (1971, Italy) Sergio Martino -

a must see

59. The Lighthouse (2000, UK) Simon Hunter -

worthless

January Screening Log