Movie #135 Holy Rollers *2010*

Jesse Eisenberg - Sam Gold
Justin Bartha - Yosef
Ari Graynor - Rachel
Kevin Asch (Director)

My girlfriend and I have a bit of an inside joke.  While trying to explain if we enjoyed a movie or not we will start by saying "It's a well made movie".  That basicly means that there wasn't anything wrong with the film, but it wasn't entertaining in any way.  It is a polite way to say "I have had more interesting blackouts".

Holy Rollers is a well made movie.  It is the story (based on actual events) of a small gorup of Hasidic Jews in New York that got involved in a drig smuggling ring.  This unlawful organization had them running fack and forth from Europe to NY trafficing Extasy.  Why Hasid's?  Airport security never stopped them.

This film is the first feature of Kevin Asch.  I joke that it is a well made movie, but it really is.  It is not great ever, and it is pretty bland throughout (espicially considering all the potential for excitement, exotic locations and danger) but his techincal skills are there.  You could see that the nothing was done sloppy, it just wasn't interesting.  I mean you have the Hasidic cluture, a branch of Jewism that not many people (including myself) know much about and I feel like I didn't learn anything about their ways or beliefs.  You have a Central Europe drig scene, but the shots in the clubs and with the "gangsters" were sterile and polished.  I wanted gritty and dangerous.

The brightest light in the movie for me was Ari Graynor.  She is a beauty to behold and she did a fine job in the role of the Jewish temptrest.  You might have seen her in Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist or Youth in Revolt. I think she has a bright future in front of her.  I would love to see her oppsite Emma Stone in a female Sherlock Holmes type.  Who am I kidding?  I would watch the two of them in anything!

Jesse Eisenberg (of Social Network fame) is the lead role in this.  He does a fair job with a weak, watered down script.  The other performances aren't really worth mentioning.  They aren't bad, they just aren't very good.  I give Holy Rollers **1/2.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.

Movie #116 Easy Rider *1969*

Peter Fonda - Captain America
Dennis Hopper - Billy (also Director)
Jack Nicholson - George Hanson

There are some movies that live within the shadow they cast.  That is to say that certain films have been become so integrated into the popular culture that their legacy has become near mythical.  Films like Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind and Rebel Without a Cause are all examples of movies where the legend of the movies is larger than the films its self.  The legend is also not directly reflective of the film it's self.  I believe that Easy Riders is one of these movies.

This is the first time I watched this movie.  I thought I knew what to expect.  I have listen to people talk about this movie for years, I have read articles and listened to more than one podcast rap poetically about the movie.  I have even read the Peter Biskind books "Raging Bulls and Easy Riders" and "Pictures at a Revolution" where multiple chapters are dedicated to the movie.  Watching this movie totally shattered the aura that surrounded this film for me.  It felt like a grittier Days of Heaven.

I was expecting a trippy, psychedelic road movie where two stoners set off on the open road giving the finger to the establishment and everything it stood for.  What I got was a reflective, meditation on Americana and all its beauty and bruises.

First off I was not expecting such a coherent and well filmed movie.  The camera work and cinematography is excellent.  While on the road Hopper (or his assistants) capture magnificent landscapes and use natural lighting to set the mood for each scene.  This film reminded me a lot of both The French New Wave and the films of Frederic Fellini, mainly the acid trip scene in the cemetery.  Another wonderful and often praised element is the movie is the soundtrack.  Jimi Hendricks, The Band, Steppenwolf and a slew of others contributed.  I enjoyed the music, but I enjoyed the way in which it was used in the film even more.  When the song "The Pusher" begins and we see Fonda and Hopper on their bikes I knew I was in for a treat.

Then I was surprised that the movie wasn't just a "screw you to the man" film.  There is a lot of heart on display during the movie.  These guys are hardcore bikers or thugs or even mean spirited.  They just want to be left alone to do their thing.  When the meet up with Nicholson he provides some prophetic exposition.  He says something to the effect of "Everyone thinks they want freedom, but when they see a truly free man it frightens them" and "Don't doubt a mans freedom because he won't hesitate to kill some people to show you just how free he is".  This is some of the most intelligent and meaningful rambling from a person I have ever heard.  It should be noted that this film was made at the height of the Vietnam war. 

I like that the film displays both the positive, good natured side of small towns then it juxtaposed that with the predigests and fear that is prevalent in any small community.  People are scared of what they don't know and don't understand. People are scared of people not like them.  It doesn't make them bad people per say, just frightened people.

The movie is basically a road trip / buddy movie about two young men trying to ride their choppers to Mardi Gras then off to Florida to retire after making a bundle on a drug score.  But that synopsis is like saying that Taxi Driver is about a guy driving a cab.  There is so much more to it than that.  I mentioned earlier the scene in New Orleans graveyard.  What a fantastically edited sequence.  I can't think of a better cinematic expression of what it is like to be high.  And it is so different than anything else in the movie.  Then in the penultimate, once they have made it to Florida Captain America famously says "We blew it man".  Perfect.  That was the perfect expression.  I don't think that I have the communication skills to sum up what he means by that, but it came close to moving me to tears.

The final act is another famous one.  I won't spoil anything, but it to is the perfect way to end this movie.  It is so "not Hollywood" yet so captivating.  I don't know how you could watch this movie and not be inspired. 

This movie is widely considered the film that helped launch the New American Cinema, or New Hollywood.  This movie changed everything. 

I have a saying when it comes to Punk Rock:

• The Sex Pistols invented it.
• The Ramones perfected it.
• And The Clash popularized it.

I think with The New Hollywood I can say:

• Bonnie and Clyde invented it.
• Easy Rider perfected it.
• And Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid popularized it.

I highly recommend checking out the books I mentioned to hear about all the complications and drama that went on behind the camera.  This is a must see film and an instant "add to my DVD collection" I know that it is part of a new Criterion Collection set of films by the production company BBS.  I give Easy Riders ★★★★★.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.

Movie #107 Enter the Void *2010*

I am apparently more of a masochist than I thought.

First Dogtooth then this.

Enter the Void is the third film from director Gaspar Noe.  I reviewed Irreversible (Movie #88) his second film and declared it a masterpiece.  I stick to that comment.  Noe has again returned to the visual well that made that film so successful.

Unfortunately it didn't quite work me me as much this time around.  I thought at first that he was just recycling the same camera techniques in a new surrounding.  But that was not the case by the end of the movie.  Enter the Void is about a young American man living in Tokyo making a living as a drug dealer.  He gets enough money together to move his sister in with him.  She arrives and gets a job as a stripper working for a sleaze bag to her brothers chagrin.

The two of them were being driven around by their parents when they were children when the car was hit head on by a semi truck and they witnessed first hand their parents brutal death.  After that they were taken to separate foster homes. 

During a drug deal gone wrong the protagonist get shot by the police and killed.  The last 90 minutes of this movie is being told through his "souls" perspective as it floats over Tokyo watching all of the filth and repulsive behavior.

The entire movie is shown through the first person technique.  Complete with blinking and acid trips.  Once Oscar dies, his soul has flashbacks where the camera is placed behind him and her relives the events of his youth.  Mostly the negative ones.

During the early part of the film Oscars friend gives him a copy of "The Tibetan Book of the Dead" which deals largely with the existence of the soul and reincarnation.

The last hour of this movie is a meandering mess.  I was bored out of my mind.  I kept checking the clock to see when it was going to end.  There is A LOT to look at.  Noe's Tokyo is a neon psychedelic wonderland.  But that was not enough for me to over look the total lack of a plot.  I usually like a film that dissects the traditional narrative structure (Irreversible is a great example) but this film became rambling and incoherent.

The acting was really weak as well. The good friend of Oscar is decent, but that is about all I had to hold on and he doesn't demand a lot of screen time.  There was a lot of pestilence for pestilence sake too.  There is a graphic abortion scene and segments of explict and taboo sex acts that didn't do anything to move the film along.  Shock should not be a substitute for sustenance.

***SPOILER ALERT***  At the end of the film, Oscar's soul decided to be reincarnated as his sisters and best friends baby.  This point is driven home by the camera moving into the woman's vagina.  At this point we can see the head of the friends penis being shoved in and out until ejaculation is reached.  We then follow the stream of fluid through her anatomy until we reach an egg where it is penetrated and we are whooshed out of the womb as a baby ready to suckle at the tit of Oscars sister.

In closing, this movie has moments of genius.  From a visual and special effects standpoint Noe can not be touched.  However, he needs an editor.  This movie is almost 2.5 hours long.  at least an hour longer than it needed to be.  I have mad respect for Noe's bravery and vision, but I also have ZERO intentions of every watching this movie again.  I give Enter the Void a 2.5/5 stars.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.

And a total side note:  The opening credit sequence is an assault on the eyes and ears of the viewer.  I highly recommend checking them out on YouTube!

Movie #91 The Fighter *2010*

This is a great movie!  This is the 2010 David O. Russell boxing movie about "Irish" Mickey Ward.  The film stars Mark Walhberg as Micky and Christian Bale as Dicky his crack addicted brother.  Dicky was at one time "The Pride of Lowell", a small Boston suburb where the film is set.  Now Dicky is Mickey's trainer.  Or at least he is when he can remember to get out of the crack house and show up the gym.  All this is based on a true story.

Micky is in the mist of a downturn.  His mother, played by Melissa Leo is his manager and she doesn't seem to always have Mickey's best interest in mind.  Micky also has 6-8 sisters all of whom seem to be living in the house with the mother and father.  The women are all one unit and the sisters are never seen individually.  They are a mob with the mother being the boss.

Micky meets and falls for a bartender named Charlene (of course) played extremely well by Amy Adams.  Charlene most of the time seems to want what is best for Micky, but can come off as a little selfish at times.  These are all very real characters with plot lines and stories of their own.  With the exception of the sisters.  My biggest problem with the movie is that I thought the sisters were too comical and exaggerated. 

Walhberg does a great job, but Christian Bale is a force of nature in this film.  True, he had the meatier role but he dug his teeth into like I haven't seen him do since The Illusionist.  True to his method acting ways, Bale lost around 100 pounds so that he could look totally cracked out.  Not quite as dramatic as his weight loss in The Machinist, but still pretty impressive.  Mark Walhberg also had to modify his body.  When he is at the height of his game he is bulky and ripped.  When he is pondering retiring he looks a little puddgy (I hope he doesn't read this).  And let's hear it for the ladies.  Amy Adams must have added a little weight for her role.  It worked too!  She is wicked hot (I'm trying to say that in Boston accent).

I don't want to get into spoilers but HBO is filming Dicky for a documentary that isn't what we are lead to believe it is at first.  When that reveal happened, my mouth fell open.  Another visceral moment for me was when Micky had to stand up to his mother and the nasty haired coven of sisters.  He had Charlene by his side but I felt every bit of his anxiety.   There are many other moments that hit you in your gut.  But the film is not all drama. There is a good bot of fun and humor in the film.

One nice little touch that I liked was that when the fights took place O. Russell used TV camera's from that 80's era to mimic the look of the fights as if we were watching them live.  I think they even spliced in clips from the actual fights. 

This is one of my favorite films of 2010.  As I look at my list and relive this film, I might have to bump it up a little.  I give The Fighter 4.5/5 stars.

Movie #27 Gimme Shelter

Maybe having the Hell's Angels work security for you isn't such a good idea.  That is sort of the message in the 1970 documentary Gimme Shelter directed by Albert and David Maysles.  The films chronicles the escapades and events that lead to the free music festival at the Altamont Speedway in 1969.  This concert production was put on mainly by the management of the band The Rolling Stones and Jefferson Airplane.

In the autumn of 1969 the country was still feeling the contact high left over from Woodstock earlier that summer.  Then along comes the worlds largest and most famous hard blues band The Rolling Stones.  They pictured a west coast Woodstock.  In some aspects they succeed.  Unfortunately they were all the wrong aspects.  First off there was a gross misunderstanding of how many people would be attending both festivals.  The venue was expected to hold 50-100 thousand fans.  Estimates are over 300 thousand attended.  Traffic was backed up for miles.  It is reported that it took almost a week to get the traffic flow back to normal after the show.  Another more serious screw up was concerning security.  Woodstock was a free-for-all.  The local police, state, and federal agents tried at first to contain the madness, but ultimately succumbed to it.  At Altamont the Hells Angels were brought in to police the crowd.  The film shows the brutal beating they inflicted on those in attendance.  Altamont recorded two births, 1 homicide (documented in the movie) and three accidental deaths.  One of which drowned in a storm drain overfilled with human waste.

This film works on many different levels.  It is absolutly a time capsule.  I would love to sit down with the people being documented today and get their opinions now that over 30 years has past.  The flower child movement was in full swing.  Naked bodies were gyrating around everywhere you looked.  And drugs.  Oh the drugs.  There were no shortages of every mind altering drug one could imagine.  Nor were there a shortage of people willing to consume those drugs.  This film has some of the most surreal moments I can think of.  I laughed out loud at Jerry Garcia (the lead singer of The Great Full Dead) saying "This is weird".  How screwed up is something when members of The Dead think that things are "weird"? 

The film cuts in and out of a recording studio where members of the Rolling Stones are watching footage of the happenings from that night on stage.  With in this, the Maysles present a brilliant documentary.  They seem to have their cameras in just the right place at just the right time.  If you have ever seen a Maysles brother film you know there is no narration or imposed story lines.  They are not interested in getting a point across.  They simply present the material.  It is up to the viewer to construct whatever narrative you want.  They are sorta the anti-Michael Moore.  In this film they succeed in glorious fashion.  This is now my favorite "Rock Doc".  Sorry The Last Waltz. 

The music in Gimme Shelter is good, but there are constant interruptions when fights break out in the crowd.  If you are interested in a film solely for the music I suggest you check out Ladies and Gentlemen.  The Stones Doc I reviewed last month.  The music in that film is more solid and recorded better.  If however you are interested in a full cinematic experience then this is the film for you.  I enjoy documentaries and have tremendous respect for those who make them.  In particular when you can express a personal style and artistic touches within a documentary without taking away from or imposing anything on your subject matter.  The Maysles are masters of this.  The film is shot beautifully.  The camera work is loose but skillful.  There is a constant feeling of chaos and uncertainty, all the while an undercurrent of control exists. 

Gimme Shelter is close to being a perfect film.  I would easily give it 4.5/5 stars.  And I'll cross my fingers for the Criterion Collection DVD of this movie to be under my Christmas tree this year.  For more information check out the link below for the trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPNeh4d9guk

Day #16 Ladies and Gentlemen

I am a big Stones fan.  I have came to the Rolling Stones kind of late in life and I am making up for lost time.  In 2008 Martin Scorsese directed a "Best of" Stones concert doc called "Shine a Light".  The music was there, but I have to say that my boy Marty kind of just let the camera roll.  He didn't really do anything extra like he had for "The Last Waltz".  I suspose that would be ok for new material, but when you are putting up time honored classics like Jumping Jack Flash and Sympathy for the Devil, I expected more.  Particually from a master film maker who has used Stones music in several films and used them perfectly to help express a mood or feeling.

Ladies and Gentlemen was originally shot while the Stones were touring in 1972 for their new album (what would become their most critically successful album) Exile on Main Street.  The movie is a collection of performances from 4 stops on the road, but it plays like one show with multiple costume changes. This was the first time they had toured in the United States after the debacle at Altamont. 

I won't break down the entire set list.  Many favorites were there along with a few B sides that the Stones always pay tribute to.  Unlike Shine a Light, there were no flashy cameos or other artists coming on stage to pay homage to them.  Hell, the Stones didn't even have backup singers on this tour.

The movie was shot on 16mm.  The stages are poorly lit and the whole look is a dark, gritty composition that reflects the music.  It has been digitally remastered and it sounded great.  This movie is everything great and everything terrible about the early 70's.  Keith Richards is sporting a mulletesque hairstyle and is oviously strung out.  Jagger has sequins stuck to the side of his face in a just-prior-to-glam-rock look.  His pants are tight in all the wrong place and it looks like Bowie's wardrobe guy tagged along just for fun.

But make no mistake about it, this doc rocks!  The music is magical.  It is a freight train of blues and rock.  Jagger is as energetic as ever (even if fueled by narcotics).  This doc isn't flashy, but it doesn't need to be.  It reflects the music it is showcasing.

This film played in about 550 theaters on a One Night Only type event showing.  I ordered my tickets a week in advance so I would be sure to get in.  I was the only one in my theater.  I was able to sing out loud and even get up and dance during Sweet Virgina.  Ladies and Gentlemen is slated for a DVD release later this year.  Can you say Christmas present?  I give this movie a 3.5/5 stars.  Check out the link below to see a trailer on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiaIx7IuIYQ