Movie #194 Carlos *2010*

Originally released as a TV mini series for the BBC, Carlos is the story of a Venezuelan revolutionary Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, who founded a worldwide terrorist organization and raided the 1975 OPEC meeting.

I am counting this as a film mostly because it was on every critics best of 2010 list and it's running time of 6 hours as well as it's cursing, violence and nudity. You would not be able to show Carlos on network TV and not even on cable.

The first installment is a origin story for both the terrorist that would later go on to be called Carlos and the situation of South America and the Middle East and Central Europe.  Carlos was born into meager beginnings.  He was a communist and felt a need to help the underprivileged fight against their oppressors.  His dislike for capitalism drove his actions.  Working his way up to a middle man in the Middle Eastern terrorist circles he and a few crew members were awarded a job.  Raiding the 1975 OPEC meeting.  This way an act that had serious ramifications for everyone involved it was a bit of a disaster for Carlos and would be held over his head for the rest of his life.

The raid it's self launches the second portion of the story.  This is where Carols separates from other alliances and forms his own organization.  A group that would bounce around Europe bombing and murdering all in an attempt to achieve global equivalency.

The third chapter in his story is the inevitable demise of Carlos and his organization.  He had burned a lot of bridges in his career and made a lot of enemies.  His health began to fail him as his wife was leaving him.  The one thing about being on the run is that you always have to run faster than those chasing you.  Once your health gives out, it provides those after you a leg up.

I loved this story.  I knew very little of Carlos and his actions before this film.  I feel like the six hours wasn't even close enough to really delve into the life of such a man.  First off, Carlos was a playboy.  Even when married he never slowed down with the ladies.  A fact that may have weighted heavily on his health in his later years while he was suffering from what seemed to be testicle cancer.

In a scary way my political opinions often times ran close to Carlos's.  I wouldn't call myself a communist, but Marxism is a profound philosophy.  And I believe heavily in the equality of man for the betterment of society.  However Carlos's methods is where we began to differ.    Another thing I like about this film is that it is not afraid to show the unglamorous.  Not all of the terrorist attacks were successes and the film portrays it that way.  Sometimes Carols looks like a king or an unstoppable czar.  Other times he is fat and buffoonish.  He lets his emotions and ego get in the way of rational thought and he and his organization pays the ultimate price for that.  

I'll speak for a moment about the performances. Edgar Ramirez was perfect in the role.  If I had seen this in time I would have placed it as the best performance of 2010.  The woman who plays his wife is amazing also.  There are a lot of really great performances worked in the story as well.  Over the course of 6 hours (representing the better part of a lifetime) everyone's characters change and grow so much.  It must have been a daunting task to keep everything straight.

This movie reminds me of a lot of other feature films.  Of course there is Che from 2009, it has a Scarface like story outline without the ridiculous over-the-top ending, and I could go on and on.  That is about all I care to blog about such a sweeping docu-drama.  I give Carlos ★★★★.

Movie #178 Four Lions *2010*

Kayvan Novack - Waj
Nigel Lindsay - Barry
Riz Ahmed - Omar
Adeel Akhtar - Faisal
Christopher Morris (Director)

Four Lions is film about a group of British jihadists and their plans to maytar themselves by blowing them and anyone in their path up all in an attempt to make a statement about their Muslim faith and receive the greatest after life they can.  This doesn't sound like the breeding ground for comedy, but this was one of the funniest movies I have seen in a while.

Shot in a documentary style that adds an almost uncomfortable realism, them film follows a bunch of screw ups with dreams larger then their collective skill level or intelligence will allow them to pursue.  The script is a razor sharp commentary on extremists of all faiths and the balance of ideology vs practicality.

I find it difficult to critique this movie without just listing all my favorite scenes.  The film is high brow comedy with dumb jokes.  If Monty Python were making Islamic mockumentarys, Four Lions would be a great fit for them.  The absurdity of the situations make for great humor, but the plausibility of the same scenario is a little frightening.

I give Four Lions ★★★1/2.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.

Movie #174 Day of the Dolphin *1973*

What if I told you I watched a film directed by Mike Nichols?  Would that interest you?  What if I added that it was written by Buck Henry?  I bet you would think I was talking about the 1968 classic The Graduate.  What if I added it starred George C. Scott and Paul Sorvino?  Stumped?  What if I told you that George C. Scott played a marine biologist that had taught dolphins to understand and actually speak English?  What if I went on to say that these English speaking dolphins were kidnapped by terrorists in an attempt to blow up the presidential boat in an assassination attempt?  You's probably think I was high, or that this was a delayed April Fools joke.  This is no joke I'm afraid.  This is The Day of the Dolphin.

I had heard about this film by it's movie poster alone.  It read "UNWITTINGLY HE TRAINED A DOLPHIN TO KILL THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES".  How could you not want to see this movie.  That tag line alone asks so many questions.  How did he train them? How did he do so "unwittingly"? How does a dolphin commit murder / assassination? At what point, and how often do American Presidents and dolphins really interact?  Good news.  All these question and more are answered during the film.

I watched this late Sunday night.  I was very tired when I fired up my Netflix.  After about 10 minutes I sort of had to question if I had fallen asleep or if what I was seeing on screen was really happening.  The film opens with G.C. Scott breaking the 4th wall with a narration.  Explaining the nature of dolphin, their extreme intelligence and their similarities to man kind.  This was cross cut with an example of what I will refer to as dolphin porn.  This is not to say dolphins getting it on (although there are mentions made of a male dolphin wanting to get a little randy with its female, human trainer), it is more like gratuitous shots of dolphins frolicking.  This imaginary is used frequently throughout this film.  While the closest human get to titilation is G.C. Scott in short shorts.

Paul Sorvino plays a dirty investigative reporter working for an anonymous boss.  He seems to be wise to the very secret training and experiments that G.C. Scott and his interns are working on.  In one of my favorite moments, Sorvino has fallen asleep on a picnic table on the beach.  When he wakes up, without any knowledge of why the dolphins have been kidnapped, he deduces that these trained mammals are going to be used to blow up the president.

Did I mention that the dolphins speak English?  Not clicks or squeaks or normal dolphin speak.  They say things like "Fa loves Ma", "Fa play ball" and "Bad man hurt Fa" in ridiculous helium infused voices .  There is an unintentionally funny scene where G.C. Scott is showing the foundation leader (the institution that funds the dolphin research) how the dolphins language has evolved.  It involves a series of at least 10 reel-to-reel machines being played, one at a time, with Scott announcing the month and date of each recording.  The scene goes on and on like a clip from a Family Guy episode.

There is a point in the film where the dolphins are forced to make a decision.  We break from the dolphin porn and cue the sentimental music.  The cutting stops are we are given long takes of what I think is supposed to be the dolphins "contemplating".  I believe the movie is genuinely asking its viewers to wonder what is going on inside the dolphins mind.  This film takes anthropomorphism to its most extreme.

Day of the Dolphin, or should I say Oscar nominated Day of the Dolphin (1973 Best Score & Best Sound), reminded me a lot of Sam Fullers White Dog (Movie #123).  In that film a dog had been trained to hate white people.  This film is just as exploitative.  This movie was made during a time in America when people didn't trust their government and loved aquatic mammals.  Fortunately there was never much of a risk of the dolphin blowing up Boat1.  The terrorists plans seem to be going well until one of the dolphins escape.  He makes it back to camp and informs the other what is going on (like an aquatic Lassie).  They send this dolphin off to stop the attack.  *SPOILER ALERT* the dolphin with the bomb strapped to his back was stopped not in the nick of time, but more like half a mile from the Presidents boat.  He never even got near it, removing any drama from the scene that might have existed.  It is the equivalent of discovering a bomb with the timer set to go off in 6 minutes.  Then defusing it with 4 and a half minutes left.

I don't want this review to turn into an episode of The Chris Farley show in which I say things like "you remember that one scene?  That was cool".  But their are a few other noteworthy moments I'd like to mention.  Picture a group of rich, old, white men in 1970's business attire, sitting on a dock in the tropics questioning two dolphins.  Then picture a dolphin calling one of the men a liar.  Then picture this man putting down his pipe and putting up his dukes to apparently go fisticuffs with the dolphin.  The other notable scene is once the dolphins have been kidnapped Sorvino mentions that the terrorists will probably kill them.  The female trainer asks why and G.C. Scott replies something to the effect that if the terrorists are caught, the dolphins could testify against them in a court of law.   The movies wants us to believe that a dolphin could be considered a creditable witness in a court of law.

This movie is the pinnacle of "so bad it's good" films for me.  I would grow a dorsal fin to see some of the out takes or behind the scenes action.  I have this image of Nichols saying "cut" and someone handing G.C. Scott a cigar and him kicking one of the dolphins for upstaging him.  I can just hear him cursing the dolphins between every take.  This may have something to do with the less than convincing endearing monologue he delivers to the dolphins, and he udder uncomfortableness while in the water with them.   

So how does the creators of one of the greatest films of the 60's make a talking dolphin movie not 5 years later?  My best guess is that they must have had coke habits to support and they took the first treatment that shoved in front of them.  Still I found enough silliness to enjoy myself in the movie.  I give Day of the Dolphin ★★1/2.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.