English titles: The Secret of the Grain; Couscous.
English translation of the French title: The Grain and the Mullet.
An elderly worker of Arab ethnicity living in France is laid off from his job and decides to start a restaurant on an abandoned ship.
A collection of clichés, for the most part, albeit reasonable ones. That gives the film a deja vu quality, no doubt, but does not make it unwatchable. It is not well filmed, relying heavily on close-ups to no particular advantage (among other noticeable stylistic flaws).
Rating: 42
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Combat!: The Chapel at Able-Five (1966) (TV)
Saunders goes blind due to a grenade explosion, and is approached by a German chaplain who passes off as an ally one.
Interesting, albeit not very plausible at times.
Interesting, albeit not very plausible at times.
Tune In Tomorrow... (1990)
Based on the novel "La tía Julia y el escribidor", by Mario Vargas Llosa (1st ed. 1977).
A young aspiring writer has an affair with an older woman; he works in a radio station and befriends the author of its radio melodramas.
The comicity of the Carmichael subplot relieves the dullness of the romantic plot, but in the process renders either subplot superficial. That being said, no film, especially when it is this elegantly written and put together, may be readily dismissed. What one calls entertainment is actually something of some consequence.
Rating: 55
A young aspiring writer has an affair with an older woman; he works in a radio station and befriends the author of its radio melodramas.
The comicity of the Carmichael subplot relieves the dullness of the romantic plot, but in the process renders either subplot superficial. That being said, no film, especially when it is this elegantly written and put together, may be readily dismissed. What one calls entertainment is actually something of some consequence.
Rating: 55
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Edmond (2005)
Based on a 1982 play by David Mamet.
A man's life spirals down to catastrophe after he goes to a fortune teller. He leaves his wife and wanders in the underworld of New York City during one night, becoming increasingly disconnected with his former moral and philosophical frames of reference.
The clearly teleological structure reduces the film to the category of a joke which operates under the directing line of the sentence "one's fears are actually one's desires". The film has parallels of varying closeness in works such as Camus's L'étranger, Falling Down (1993), episode 1 of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), After Hours (1985), and Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Macy's acting style reminds me (here and elsewhere) of Lemmon's, although Macy strikes me as the better actor of the two.
Rating: 55
A man's life spirals down to catastrophe after he goes to a fortune teller. He leaves his wife and wanders in the underworld of New York City during one night, becoming increasingly disconnected with his former moral and philosophical frames of reference.
The clearly teleological structure reduces the film to the category of a joke which operates under the directing line of the sentence "one's fears are actually one's desires". The film has parallels of varying closeness in works such as Camus's L'étranger, Falling Down (1993), episode 1 of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), After Hours (1985), and Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Macy's acting style reminds me (here and elsewhere) of Lemmon's, although Macy strikes me as the better actor of the two.
Rating: 55
Combat!: The Brothers (1966) (TV)
*SPOILERS*
Two brothers: one is the leader of the maquis, the other is a coward. The brave one insists on taking the coward one along on a recon mission led by Lt. Hanley. They are captured; the French brothers are tortured. The brave one doesn't talk. The coward one resists torture but gives in when he is put before a firing squad. His brother won't allow his treason, he stabs him before he can reveal the details of their mission. Meanwhile Hanley and friends have dug a hole in the wall and escaped.
Classic, like practically any episode of this show.
Two brothers: one is the leader of the maquis, the other is a coward. The brave one insists on taking the coward one along on a recon mission led by Lt. Hanley. They are captured; the French brothers are tortured. The brave one doesn't talk. The coward one resists torture but gives in when he is put before a firing squad. His brother won't allow his treason, he stabs him before he can reveal the details of their mission. Meanwhile Hanley and friends have dug a hole in the wall and escaped.
Classic, like practically any episode of this show.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Bug (2006)
Lonely woman meets a strange man and lodges him at her motel room.
Paranoia meets hysteria: l'amour fou, American style. The film operates in a crescendo which culminates in a sort of epiphany, the ecstasy of madness. I am not sure this is very mature. It's fun though. And the acting is magnificent.
Rating: 65
Paranoia meets hysteria: l'amour fou, American style. The film operates in a crescendo which culminates in a sort of epiphany, the ecstasy of madness. I am not sure this is very mature. It's fun though. And the acting is magnificent.
Rating: 65
Lan feng zheng (1993)
English title: The Blue Kite.
A woman raises a son through the upheavals in Chinese society.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
The Rectification of 1953, the Great Leap Forward of 1958, the Cultural Revolution of 1968. Her first husband went to the bathroom at the wrong moment; the report which sent him to a labor camp was written by the second husband. Widowed again, remarried again, her third one was lynched by the Red Guard for being a counter-revolutionary. She tried to stop them, they sent her to a camp. The child was left orphaned. Side stories: the army entertainer who didn't want to fuck her superiors (she went to prison); the brother who suffered from progressive blindness (avoid stress, the doctor said); the mother who eventually complains the revolution has been going on for 20 years, is there anything left to change? Her daughter chides her for being outspoken, she replies that she has one foot in the grave anyway.
The style is dry. Well written, well directed, well acted. But it does feel cursory.
Rating: 60
A woman raises a son through the upheavals in Chinese society.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
The Rectification of 1953, the Great Leap Forward of 1958, the Cultural Revolution of 1968. Her first husband went to the bathroom at the wrong moment; the report which sent him to a labor camp was written by the second husband. Widowed again, remarried again, her third one was lynched by the Red Guard for being a counter-revolutionary. She tried to stop them, they sent her to a camp. The child was left orphaned. Side stories: the army entertainer who didn't want to fuck her superiors (she went to prison); the brother who suffered from progressive blindness (avoid stress, the doctor said); the mother who eventually complains the revolution has been going on for 20 years, is there anything left to change? Her daughter chides her for being outspoken, she replies that she has one foot in the grave anyway.
The style is dry. Well written, well directed, well acted. But it does feel cursory.
Rating: 60
Combat!: Ollie Joe (1966) (TV)
Saunders and squad pick up two replacements, one of whom is a strange character.
Wow, creepy character.
Wow, creepy character.
An Englishman in New York (2009)
Back in England in the 30s, he was quite an event because of his outrageous attitude toward clothes and sex. His memoirs were inspirational to some individuals on the other side of the Atlantic. In the 80s, a writer and a wit, he is hired to do some one-man shows in New York. He is an instant hit, mixing humor and self-help philosophy. He establishes residence there, but falls in disgrace because of some silly remarks about AIDS. His life has ups and downs; he befriends a painter, and helps to give his work exposure. He writes film criticism. He ages. After a period of relative ostracism, he is invited to do a show with a young avant-garde theaterwoman. He should slow down, his friends say.
Arch-reactionary Quentin Crisp's later life. TV movie, apparently. Nothing much happens; a bit of sexual sociology here, some tepid drama there. The acting is uniformly good.
Rating: 45
Arch-reactionary Quentin Crisp's later life. TV movie, apparently. Nothing much happens; a bit of sexual sociology here, some tepid drama there. The acting is uniformly good.
Rating: 45
No habrá más penas ni olvido (1983)
English title: Funny Dirty Little War.
Based on a novel by Osvaldo Soriano (1st ed. 1978).
In a small city in Argentina, during the seventies, the mayor stands up for one of his employees who is being accused of being a communist. The conflict degenerates into a veritable war, with the mayor and his few allies bunkering inside City Hall.
Dark political satire, concerning which it would be excused to talk of surrealism, since it has firm roots in reality.
The first half is funnier, and could probably be described as the better part of the movie; the second half is darker, degenerating into very brutal violence.
The conflict has no real political meaning: both parties at war call themselves peronists.
The film is remarkably well directed; there isn't one actor who isn't pitch perfect.
Rating: 65
Based on a novel by Osvaldo Soriano (1st ed. 1978).
In a small city in Argentina, during the seventies, the mayor stands up for one of his employees who is being accused of being a communist. The conflict degenerates into a veritable war, with the mayor and his few allies bunkering inside City Hall.
Dark political satire, concerning which it would be excused to talk of surrealism, since it has firm roots in reality.
The first half is funnier, and could probably be described as the better part of the movie; the second half is darker, degenerating into very brutal violence.
The conflict has no real political meaning: both parties at war call themselves peronists.
The film is remarkably well directed; there isn't one actor who isn't pitch perfect.
Rating: 65
Combat!: The Losers (1966) (TV)
Saunders and Littlejohn are supposed to meet some replacements who would help them on a mission. No one shows up, and Saunders decides to use some soldiers who were destined for court-martial. They are: a sergeant who lost his stripes for indiscipline; his buddy who worships him; a thief and black-marketeer; a coward.
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976)
Sherlock Holmes suffers from cocaine addiction; Watson takes him to see Sigmund Freud in Vienna. They will join efforts in a kidnap investigation.
The detective plot is by-the-numbers, the tone is generally humorless; the sight of an addicted Holmes is not exactly a pleasant one. I am not sure this was a good idea. But it is pacy and there is a train chase.
Rating: 45
The detective plot is by-the-numbers, the tone is generally humorless; the sight of an addicted Holmes is not exactly a pleasant one. I am not sure this was a good idea. But it is pacy and there is a train chase.
Rating: 45
Monday, November 09, 2009
Combat!: Ask Me No Questions (1966) (TV)
Saunders and squad are held prisoners in a German compound. They share the facilities with Sgt. Mastin, who isn't really Sgt. Mastin but a German soldier who is after information.
Entertaining episode.
Entertaining episode.
Combat!: The Gun (1966) (TV)
After the squad wipes out a German post, they seize their cannon. Saunders wants to use it to aid Hanley and his men in the destruction of a German bunker. For that purpose, however, the heavy cannon must be transported over a great distance, without any vehicle to carry it.
A Sisyphean episode. Good as drama, good as action.
A Sisyphean episode. Good as drama, good as action.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Die Fälscher (2007)
English title: The Counterfeiters.
In World War II's Germany, the Nazis use the services of an imprisoned counterfeiter in carrying out their plan of flooding ally countries with counterfeit money, thereby destroying their economies.
Some interesting ethical issues are exposed here, such as, how should we guide our actions in times when there aren't really many options and our survival is at stake. Nothing really new here, but it is watchable (despite the zooming-handheld camera which has taken over all small-to-medium productions and isn't probably going away). The leading actor gives an excellent performance.
Rating: 52
In World War II's Germany, the Nazis use the services of an imprisoned counterfeiter in carrying out their plan of flooding ally countries with counterfeit money, thereby destroying their economies.
Some interesting ethical issues are exposed here, such as, how should we guide our actions in times when there aren't really many options and our survival is at stake. Nothing really new here, but it is watchable (despite the zooming-handheld camera which has taken over all small-to-medium productions and isn't probably going away). The leading actor gives an excellent performance.
Rating: 52
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