Movie #182 Teeth *2007*

Jess Weixler - Dawn
John Hensley - Brad
Hale Appleman - Tobey
Mitchell Lichtenstein (Director)

I have been waiting to see this little gem of a movie for quite a while now.  Let's see...how do I describe the plot...hummmm..oh yeah, it's about a woman that has teeth in her vagina.

That's right, teeth in her vagina.  To expand it is about a teenage woman that is a proponent of abstinence.  She leads speeches at schools to encourage other kids to wait for sex.  She then fall for one of the guys that attends these speeches and decides to break their vow.  It is a precautionary tale of epic portions.

The problem with this movie is that it too removed from reality and it utter and complete lack of subtly.  For example:  Dawn lives in a home that is 2 blocks from a Simpson-esque nuclear power plant.  Gee, do you think that her mutataion has something to do with an exposure to some type of nuclear radio activity?  I do, because the film makes it a point to show the twin stacks about 20 times.  Also she has a step brother who is a total prick.  But he is so over the top that it isn't realist and therefore (as a viewer) I don't care about what happens to him or happens to the people he does things too.

I am not saying that I need a more realistic portrait of a woman with a toothed va jay jay, but I need to become emotionally invested in her story and struggles.  When I am purposed with ridiculous scene after , ridiculous scene I see behind the curtain and loose my connection to the plot.  This film is constantly winking at its audience.  So you just have to go with it.  It has to be a laughable endeavor.  And that is how I took it.

This movie and its director showed a lot of promise.  As did its lead actor Jess Weixler.  I hope she get more and larger roles.  I thought she was playing it straight most of the movie and it worked for her.  Both the brother and the pair of boyfriends were just characters.  The script here is tight and trying to do more than the final product shows.  The director was also the writer, but it is as if he just decided to scrap a solid horror / sci-fi script and make a screwball sex comedy.  Too bad

All in all I had a good time watching this film.  It isn't often that I take the time to watch a stupid comedy.  But I am glad that I did and I am glad that I got to see it with the company that I did.  I give Teeth ★★1/2.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.

Movie #181 HANNA *2011*

So, I wanted to see how HANNA held up to a second viewing.  Not too bad.


First off let me state that this was the most rude crowd that I have ever had the displeasure of watching a film with.  That's not true really, that would imply that they were watching the film.  The jerk wad down the isle from me talked to his mother for the entire run time of the show.  They took turns telling the other to shhhh.  I thought at first that his edlerly, oxygen dependent mother was trying to be funny or cute.  Then I later changed my outlook to one of them being mouth breathing philistines. 

The orca-like woman behind me must have been cold and she kept fluffing her jacket in an attempt to cover her huge thighs.  How does someone that fat get so cold?  Every time she would fluff her coat (which small children could use and a makeshift army tent) it would hit me in the back of the head.  Never accompanied by an apology.

The two men sitting in front of me had snuck in several bags of chips and other assorted goodies.  Each time they would finish with them they would maticiously roll the bags up crunching and krinkeling the entire time.  Needless to say theses "gentelmen" and the blob of humanity behind me shared many eating habits as well as waistline measurements.

Someone behind me fell asleep at one point and began snoring.  I will admit to falling asleep at a theater during a movie.  Despicable Me put me to sleep.  But not an action, fantasy film scored by The Chemical Brothers.  Also if I started snoring as loud as this guy I would have wanted to be woken up so as not to bother anyone.

All of this during a largely silent film.  At one point I almost leaned over to the loud mouth beside me and asked "Excuse me, did you hear what HANNA just said"?  He would of course have to answer "no".  Where To I was going to say, "Neither did anyone else in this theater"!

I don't mind occasional talking in a considerate voice, maybe you are trying to get caught up on the plot.  But these people were having conversations that had nothing to do with the film.  I know this because they were talking at a volume that I would find offending OUTSIDE of a theater!

As for the movie its self.  I found that it did loose something upon a second viewing.  All the question I was forced to ask myself during the first viewing I of course knew.  The cinematography was still awe inspiring and the action held up fine.  The performances stood out even more.  I have come to really love Cate Blanchett in this movie.

I listened to /Filmcast and they talked about how this is a fairy tale film.  So I went in looking for fairy tale elements and they are everywhere.  I feel kind of like a fraud for not noticing them during my first go around.

I still love this movie.  But now I feel just fine about waiting until it comes out on Blu to see it again.

Movie #180 Blow Out *1981*

John Travolta - Jack Terry
Nancy Allen - Sally
John Lithgow - Burke
Dennis Franz - Manny Karp
Brian De Palma (Director)

I have always been on the fence about Brian De Palma.  I loved The Untouchables when I was younger, before I knew about directors better yet De Plama.  I love elements of Scarface, but as a whole I think it is too over the top and self aware.  I don't like Snake Eyes or The Black Daliha at all.  I watched Sisters as part of my Year of Film (Movie #92) and was less than enthused.  But I keep hearing that he is a master so I keep on giving him the benefit of the doubt.

So Thursday I watched the new Criterion Release of Blow Out.  I had just finished playing basketball and was physically beat.  I put it in the Blu Ray player kind of expecting to fall asleep to it.  Instead I couldn't take my eyes off it.  The film opens right into a slasher flick.  Soon we find out that this is a film that is being viewed by Travolta and that movie's director.  Travolta is a sound guy and they are trying to find the perfect scream. 

Blow out ends up being about Travolta (a sound guy for B movies) recording a car crash and saving one of the passengers, the female while the male dies.  The man in the car was Governor and presidential hopeful.  The woman was a call girl of sorts.  Once the cops begin trying to cover the whole thing up Travolta thinks there is something going on and plans to use his audio recording to prove it.  The film evolves into a gut wrenching thriller with a psychopathic killer, a slime ball photographer, extreme political ambition and a hooker with a heart of gold story lines all interweaving.  The film ends with a crazy chase that leads into a Liberty Day celebration of fireworks that perfectly lights the penultimate scene. 

Q. Tarantino is all over this film.  I have read that he thinks it is one of the 5 greatest movies ever made.  He blantly stole the lead actor (Travolta) for Pulp Fiction, the titles for several films, the phone booth scene (also for Pulp) and the music for Death Proof.  This music is used in a scene that while I was watching it I knew that it must be referencing something else, I just didn't know what.

I can't wait to see this film again and it will be joining my collection when Barnes and Noble have their 50% off Criterion sale in July.  I give Blow Out ★★★★1/2.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.

Movie #179 Mona Lisa *1986*

Bob Hoskins - George
Cathy Tyson - Simone
Michael Caine - Mortwell
Niel Jordan (Director)

I love when a film takes you in a direction you were not expecting.  I read the synopsis about Mona Lisa and it said that George is a small time criminal fresh out of jail that begins working as a driver for a high price call girl.  I was expecting a gangster story mixed with a hooker with a heart of gold subplot.  Wow was I off base.

First off, I love Bob Hoskins.  He is a big discovery for me with the Year of Film experiment.  I love how he can blow his top in one scene and by the end of the scene be calm and polite without apologizing and we love him for it.  He has a very naturalism about him.  Here he is a grunt for Mortwell.  The lovable looser.  A role perfectly fitted for him that he played to the nines!

Michael Caine plays Mortwell, a role like I have never seen him in before.  I always think of him as the good guy or at least a suave ladies man.  Here he is a low life scumbag leading even lower life, even scummier people.

This film was quirky with the addition of Robbie Coltrain as Thomas.  Geroge's best friend and confident.  They share mystery stories and make odd post modern sculptures.  Then the film goes down the rabbit hole and into the gutter.  Simone (the high class call girl) used to work the streets and had a friend that she shared a pimp with.  She got out of that abusive life but the friend never did.  She asks George if he would help her find the friend. 

There are other surprises that I won't dare to spoil, but several time my jaw fell wide open.  This film deals with a few sides of society (if you can call it that) that are not commonly addressed in film and especially not in "popular movies".

I really enjoyed this movie.  The script and acting was top notch, the camera work had moments of brilliance without being showy.  Music was used in a strange and interesting way.  There is a lot of Nat King Cole songs in the film (Mona Lisa being one), but there is a Genesis song that I thought wasn't going to fit in at all, but it worked great and made the scene 10X better. The movie reminded me a lot of Scorsese's Taxi Driver in a lot of ways. I give Mona Lisa ★★★★.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.

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 #177 Le Doulos *1962*

Jean-Paul Belmondo - Silien
Serge Reggiani - Maurice Faugel
Fabienne Dali - Fabienne
Monique Hennessy - Therese
Jean Pierre Melville (Director)

I know, I know.  Another French / black & white / 1960's  / Gangster movie.  What can I say?  I love this stuff.  And Le Doulos is a great example of why.  I have commented on other Melville reviews about his patience and how he allows a story to unfold.  In Le Doulos he goes beyond patience into with holding information.  He totally changes his narrative structure.  When in his other movies the viewer learns information as the protagonists do, in Le Doulos (The Hat or The Informer) everyone on screen knows bits and pieces that are not known by anyone else.  Melville is not employing "misdirection", that would mean that he is leading you to an assumption.  He is intentionally keeping data from you and therein you make decisions based on what you see.  All this accumulates in a flashback sequence where every persons motives are laid out and you see the movie from a completely different perspective.  This is nothing short of brilliant film making.

On top of the creative narrative structure there is beautiful cinematography on display.  Nicolas Hayer was his cinematographer.  His used tradition American noir lighting and shadows to better display both sides (the pure or naive and the evil or untrustworthy) nature of the characters.

These characters were portrayed very well by Melville (and French New Wave) regulars Belmondo and Reggainni.  Belmondo was exceptionally good here.  Because of the structure we never know who is the good guy, or is there even is one.  It is for sure though that even if Belmondo is the protagonist he is not a "good guy".   Reggainni was on a bit of a career downturn when he was cast in the role.  He brought a lot of desperation and despair to the role.  I thought he sort of looked like Mr. Bean, but there is not a lot of humor in this film.  The other roles that stood out for me were the female ones.  That is mostly because French noir generally doesn't use the archetype Femme Fatale the way that American noir's do.  And in  this film we might see why.  Both women in Le Doulos are not treated with much of any respect.  We later find out why, but at the time it is pretty shocking to see women not only ruffed up, but really degraded and insulted like they are in this film.  Melville took a lot of criticism for his portrayal of females in this film and as a result he rarely used women in his films afterwards, giving him a reputation of being a misogynist.

This film is a little less straight forward than Le Deuxieme Souffle (Movie #176).  By that I mean that I feel Melville was being more experimental with this movie.  Structurally, thematically, and visually.  There is a great 8 minute interrogation scene shot entirely in one take.  And it is so subtle that I didn't even notice it for probably 4 minutes or so.  Also there is a mixture of American and French landscapes that frames each character.  Melville thought of everything.  Like always. 

I give Le Doulos ★★★.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.

Lars Von Trier in Space

Click the link below to see the new Lars Von Trier film Melancholia.

http://youtu.be/FQ2ZwlbtBes?hd=1