FILM REVIEW: CHANGE OF PLANS

Sarah (Emmanuelle Seigner) in Change of Plans.

Entrée Nous

By John Esther

An unoriginal story about some sexual and amorous frustrations of the French bourgeoisie, writer-director Danièle Thompson's film essentially spans between an upcoming dinner party and what happens during that party and afterward up until the next dinner party, scheduled next year.

ML (Karin Viard) is an ambitious, successful lawyer married to Piotr (Dany Boon), who seems to be a good enough husband yet she is having an affair. She and the others, especially the females, but the men will catch up in the infidelity department, just cannot be happy, despite not having to deal with any shortage of money or opportunities. ML's predicament is barely any different from any of the other unhappy married couples or those who are seeking a relationship -- without the slight cognisance of irony.

Supported by mild jokes and concluding with a trough of trivial narrative closures, Change of Plans not only fails to offer anything original (Oh, Voltaire), the direction is noticeable for its incompetence, especially the driving scenes. At first I thought they were a joke. 

With so many good films currently running at theaters, there is no need to make a change of plans to make time for this one. 

FILM REVIEW: THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST

Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) in The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

Swedish beats

By Ed Rampell

If you love crime thrillers and/or strong female lead characters, simply don’t miss The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, the third and final installment of Swedish journalist-turned-novelist Stieg Larsson.

Noomi Rapace returns as Lisbeth Salander, one of the silver screen’s most offbeat heroines since the 1914 silent serial, The Perils of Pauline. Lisbeth has escaped more trauma than being tied to the railroad tracks as an onrushing locomotive bears down on her. This abuse, torture, and rape survivor and highly skilled computer hacker is joined again by crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), an objective reporter who objects to injustice and cruelty. Although he puts himself and his Millennium publication in harm’s way, Mikael has a reckless regard for the truth. Together, Mikael and Lisbeth struggle to clear her of homicide charges, and confront the Swedish state and assorted Blue Meanies while doing so.

The hacker and investigative reporter also strive to have Lisbeth declared mentally competent in what becomes a tense courtroom drama. A unique character, Lisbeth is indeed extremely troubled, a singular androgynous individual who has sex with members of both genders at her whims, who looks like a cross between a dominatrix and a Mohawk-ed, body pierced Alex from A Clockwork Orange. But although the state had ruled that she isn’t in her right mind, Lisbeth is not insane. Rather, in the topsy-turvy paranoid world of Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, it is the corrupt men of power and authority figures – neo-Nazis, Soviet defectors, shrinks, etc. – who are suspect. In laying bear the Swedish state’s larceny, Larsson gives the lie to Sweden’s much-vaunted social democracy.

Larsson was a leftwing journalist who fought for the underdog, and both Lisbeth and Mikael appear to be his alter egos. Alas, the hard-hitting reporter who led such hard-scrabble life died before he could enjoy the phenomenal success of his award winning fictional series (file that one under the “life-ain’t-fair” dossier), that also include The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire. Ulf Rydberg, who wrote the screen adaptation for the latter movie, has crafted another suspenseful, sitting-on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller, tautly directed by Daniel Alfredson and ideal for Halloween (and beyond).

This summation of the series continues the previous films and wraps things up – or at least as wrapped up as they can be with such a unique one-of-a-kind kick ass character as Lisbeth Salander, brilliantly portrayed by Rapace. And as the networks’ Sunday news shows somehow manage to avoid reporting on the WikiLeaks exposes, like Julian Assange, Nyqvist’s Blomkvist reminds us what real reporters are supposed to do: Afflict the comfortable, comfort the afflicted.

THEATER REVIEW: THE TRAIN DRIVER

On track with history

By Miranda Inganni

Inpired by a newspaper story, The Train Driver, the latest play by South Africa's preeminent playwriter, Athol Fugard, is a wonderfully non-sentimental ride through one man's harrowing trip through loss, post-traumatic stress disorder, recovery, violence and, finally, peace.

Starring Adolphus Ward and Morlan Higgins as Simon and Roelf, respectively, the play tracks itself in a desolate graveyard in a South African shantytown where the black Simon is in charge of burrying the "unnamed ones." Amongst the rabble, rather than roses, Afrikaner Roelf insists Simon assist him in the search of the black dead woman (and her baby), who has haunted him ever since the train he was conducting ran them over in her suicidal act.

Roelf is, understandably, traumatized by the event, having witnessed this dark brown-eyed woman throw herself and her young baby in front of the train that he was driving, and through the duration of the play experiences and expresses anger, frustration and finally acceptance of his participation in this horrific event. However, the guilt felt by the conducter not only works on the personal experience felt during this suicidal act of a black woman and child, but, on a far grander scale, The Train Driver is about every Afrikaner's participation, regardless of degree and intent, in South Africa's Apartheid.

Directed by Stephen Sachs, The Train Driver is an intimate portrait of grief and understanding told in the intimate setting of The Fountain Theatre. Both Ward and Higgins do a very fine job (the audience -- consisting of many high school students -- probably should have clapped a bit longer for the actors then they did) of conveying their characters' situational emotions -- and emotional situations -- with understatement and breadth of character.

The only drawback is the play was the sound effects: the carrion-eating bush dogs, gang attacks, flashbacks to the train accident and memories of childhood songs, to name a few. They were annoying and intrusive. The production did not need them.

Otherwise, The Train Driver is a moving play that touches on subjects from grief and loss to social status and the ultimate human connection of one man's, two men, story within the context of a larger South African history.

(The Train Driver runs through December 12 at The Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Avel, Los Angeles, Ca. 90029. For more information: 323/663-1525; http://www.fountaintheatre.com/)

AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL 2010: S&M LAWN CARE

Mel (Mark Potts )and Sal (Cole Selix) in S&M Lawn Care.

Mowing down the competition

By Don Simpson

Sal (Cole Selix) and Mel (Mark Potts) run S&M Lawn Care. Mel mows lawns because lawn care is in his blood (his deceased father was once a great lawn care specialist). Sal mows lawns in order to save money to travel to the Amazon.

Everything is going as planned until one day someone starts stealing S&M’s hard-earned lawns in complete disregard of the Lawn Care Treaty of 1995. That certain someone, a sleazy jerk with long hair and goatee named Drake (William Brand Rackley), is armed with a slickly produced commercial and seductively clad female assistants. Sex sells and everyone around town is buying. Drake even donates his used lawn mowers to the “Darfurinians.” How can S&M possibly compete with that?

Drake’s company, Lawns By Drake, functions cleverly as a allegory for big budget Hollywood films (filmmakers who put style and sex over substance) while S&M Lawn Care represents the hard-working and big-hearted independent filmmakers of the world. Along those lines, S&M Lawn Care is a million times funnier than The Other Guys, Get Him to the Greek or Funny People, but it is extremely rare that an independent comedy is able to beat a Hollywood comedy in the box office. Heck it is nearly impossible for independent comedies to even have an opportunity to compete at the box office.

Besides playing the lead roles, Potts functions as director, co-writer, cinematographer and editor; Selix functions as co-writer. S&M Lawn Care is the third feature from Singletree Productions (The Stanton Family Grave Robbery and Simmons on Vinyl) which was formed in 2006 by Potts and Selix.

AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL 2010: ADIYS MUNDO CRUEL

Angel (Carlos Alberto Orozco) in Adiys Mundo Cruel.

Comedy nabs AFF 2010 Best Narrative Feature award

By Don Simpson

Angel (Carlos Alberto Orozco) is a mousy yet hardworking accountant and family man whose comfortable middle-class existence is turned upside down when he is unexpectedly laid off (supposedly at the fault of the Chinese).

Unable to communicate his lack of employment to his wife, Claudia (Ariana Louvier), who is constantly distracted by her favorite telenovela, Angel scurries around the city fruitlessly searching for a new job, experiencing one ridiculous job interview after another. Fate eventually delivers Angel to the hideout of a merry band of buffoonish thieves with whom he discovers camaraderie and confidence...but still no income. Quickly revealed as the smartest of the lot, Angel conceives of the perfect crime: steal a lion from the city's zoo and collect a hefty ransom.

Written and directed by University of Texas at Austin alumni Jack Zagha Kababie, Adiуs Mundo Cruel plays as satirical slapstick comedy about the foibles of capitalism. Orozco effortlessly carries the film on his shoulders or, more appropriately, his mug. Like a silent film star, Orozco’s comedic talents stem from his face -- skillfully able to switch his cartoonish expressions, which run the gambit from ecstasy to depression, on a dime.

Taking into consideration it’s hefty competition (namely Hello Lonesome and Dog Sweat), I am very surprised that Adiуs Mundo Cruel nabbed the Best Narrative Feature award at the 2010 Austin Film Festival. Although Adiуs Mundo Cruel is funny and entertaining, it relies a bit too heavily on toilet jokes for my liking.

AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL 2010: MEEK'S CUTOFF



Emily Tetherow (Michelle Williams) in Meek's Cutoff.

Trails and trials

By Don Simpson

The opening title -- which, hand-stitched in embroidery, establishes the intricately crafted nature of Meek’s Cutoff -- informs us that the characters of this tale are on the Oregon Trail in 1845. A small caravan of three families with covered wagons tediously crosses a river, first by walking the contents of their wagons across, then returning for the wagons and animals.

Outfitted in the shabby worn-out clothing of 19th-century emigrants, the characters concentrate intensely on the difficult task at hand and do not utter a single word. In fact no one speaks for the first several minutes of Meek’s Cutoff, that is until we hear the voice of a young boy (Tommy Nelson) reciting a Biblical passage about Eden from the Book of Genesis.

The incredibly harsh and barren landscape of Oregon Country is far from Eden; for these characters it must seem like a living hell. They are apparently lost, somewhere in the Great Basin, and water has become increasingly scarce. Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood), the guide who was hired to lead the caravan across the Cascade Mountains, is a grizzly (and not very meek) old man and, despite his unyielding sense of self-confidence, he appears to be a clueless leader who shepherds his clients towards an increasingly hopeless future. Apparently acting without thought or consideration of the possible consequences of his actions, Meek arrogantly trusts his initial assumptions and expects the caravan to follow him faithfully into oblivion with no questions asked.

This is a world where the men cast every deciding vote (the women -- all with opinions of their own -- are available for consultation). While their wives cook, clean, sew and take care of the sick. As with the embroidered title card at the onset of the film, director Kelly Reichardt obsesses on the menial and tedious handiwork of the characters -- from the scrubbing of bowls to the stitching of moccasins to the kneading of dough to the repairing of wagon wheels.

As with Reichardt’s Old Joy and Wendy and Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff is an artfully poetic representation of the most minute laborious details of the working-class fight for survival. They are not on this journey to become rich. These are not lazy or greedy characters. They obviously do not have a problem with getting their hands dirty. They probably just desire to no longer face the day-to-day struggle for survival.

Co-starring Michelle Williams as Emily Tetherow.  

FILM REVIEW: MY DOG TULIP

A scene from My Dog Tulip.

Ruff times

By Don Simpson

J.R. Ackerley (voice by Christopher Plummer) is not a dog lover at the moment when -- nearing 50 -- he adopts Tulip, an 18-month-old Alsatian. Ackerley lives in a small Putney flat overlooking the Thames (where he lived the final 25 years of his life) and Tulip plows into his life and home with reckless abandon, a wild and uncontrollable ball of energy. Tulip grows quite fond of Ackerley and slowly but surely begins to settle down. Ackerley -- a gay man beyond his days of cruising for dates -- finds Tulip to be his ideal companion. In fact, during their 14 years together, Tulip turns out to be the one true love of Ackerley’s life.

My Dog Tulip reveals an author who is not the least bit timid or embarrassed to ruminate quite lengthily about his dog’s bowel movements or his grand desire to locate a suitable mate for Tulip. These strange quirks and obsessions add a unique level of realism to the story -- adapted from Ackerley’s 1956 book, an account of Ackerley’s relationship with his real-life Alsatian Queenie.

At times, My Dog Tulip feels like Plummer is merely narrating a book on tape with The New Yorker cartoon style images moving around onscreen, but little flashes of absurdity (such as Plummer’s musical number in which he croons "You smell my ass, I smell yours" and strange anthropomorphic sequences in which Tulip walks on her hind legs and wears clothes) push the film into a much more visually interesting realm.

Written, directed and animated by Paul and Sandra Fierlinger, My Dog Tulip is the first animated feature ever to be entirely hand drawn and painted utilizing paperless computer technology.

AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL 2010: DOG SWEAT

A scene from Dog Sweat.

Give us a break

By Don Simpson

Utilizing a guerrilla-cum-cinema vйritй aesthetic -- probably out of necessity and for style -- producer-director-editor Hossein Keshavarz documents the lives of several young people who are attempting to discover personal freedom within the confines of contemporary Iran. Misunderstood by their parents and family elders and feeling oppressed by conservative Islamic society, these young Iranians find ways to rebel against oppression while, at least for the most part, staying under the radar and making enough compromises to safely survive.

Iran is one of the most youthful societies on earth; over two thirds of its population is under the age of 30. This generation was raised to revere the ayatollahs and forced to abide by their parents’ fanatical religious ideologies; all the while they were exposed to American television and discovering ways to have fun while circumventing the moral police (President Ahmadinejad has reinstated the moral police to harass youth who hang out in mixed groups of boys and girls). Dog Sweat intelligently discusses the various clashes occurring in Iran: traditional versus modern cultures; the youth versus its elders; fundamentalists versus revolutionaries. Young people want and -- despite the corruption of the recent Presidential elections -- still demand change. As the youth of today see it, almost everything in Iran is screwed up. The youth want the freedom to follow their career goals and maintain the relationships that they desire. They also want to have fun. Guys want to drink alcohol and girls want wear make-up, dance and talk about guys; together they want to date and display their affections in public spaces.

Most importantly, via Dog Sweat western cultures are able to see that not all Iranians are like President Ahmadinejad. All of them do not want their country to develop nuclear weapons All of them do not all want to destroy Israel. Dog Sweat puts a human face on the youth of Iran, revealing the issues that they deal with every day of their lives.

A film like Dog Sweat could not come at a more opportune time -- as Israel and the United States continue to plot the best way to deal with a nuclear Iran. We may be told that Iran is our number one enemy, but we need to remember -- especially when the war hawks start singing “Bomb Iran” again -- that a country’s leaders do not always represent the opinion of the majority of its population.

AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL 2010: PARADISE RECOVERED

Gabe (Dane Seth Hurlburt) and Esther (Heather del Rio) in Paradise Recovered.

The good and god
 
By Don Simpson

Esther (Heather del Rio), a young Jesus-loving God-fearing Christian woman donning an over-sized frumpy and shapeless dress, takes a job at a health food store owned by Gabriel (Dane Seth Hurlburt), who is for all intents and purposes a left-wing Godless bohemian. As they say, desperation makes strange bed-fellows. (“The point on the ideological spectrum where far-left bohemians and right-wing fundamentalists meet is a health food store.”) 

Esther also works as an assistant for David Sawyer (Andrew Sensenig) -- the local preacher for Warren F. Vanderbilt's Prophetic Watchman Ministries, a very prohibitive Christian sect -- and his family.

Esther soon finds herself homeless, churchless and friendless. Faced with no other option, she moves in with Gabriel and Mark (Oliver Luke) and the grand discourse and debate regarding philosophy versus theology commences. Gabriel, a son of a preacher man and devout skeptic, is writing a thesis on belief -- people who believe something that all evidence points to the contrary (read: Creationism). Esther, however, believes that the Bible represents the absolute truth and cannot comprehend how someone can be a good person if they do not abide by the rules of the Bible. (Vanderbilt's interpretation of the Bible says no to birthdays, holidays, doctors, movies, music, “unclean” foods, questions, personal rights and freedom. According to Gabriel: “They tell you where to go, what to think, who to marry and they threaten your soul if you don’t do what they say.”)

Producer-director Storme Wood and producer-writer Andie Redwine’s Paradise Recovered is essentially a modern-day retelling of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Wood and Redwine intelligently discuss faith and religious tolerance (and intolerance) -- as well as critically analyzing abusive and prohibitive religious sects -- all without a tinge of condescension or judgment. Gabriel and Esther’s characterizations are handled brilliantly -- in terms of acting, writing and directing. Above all, Paradise Recovered turns out to prove that religious and spiritual people can peacefully co-exist with atheists, agnostics and everyone else as long as there is an open and intelligent discourse.

AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL 2010: AN ORDINARY COUPLE

Bernardo Puccio and Orin Kennedy in An Ordinary Couple.

Thirty years and counting
 

By Don Simpson

Orin Kennedy and Bernardo Puccio commemorate their 30-plus year relationship by erecting a marble monument by the lake at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Gay marriage being impossible at the time, the monument is Kennedy and Puccio’s way to historically document that they have loved each other for over 30 years. As part of the package deal at Hollywood Forever, a Life Story Documentary is produced as a way to fill in the gap between the date of birth and date of death. Orin and Bernardo hire filmmaker Jay Gianukos to make their Life Story Documentary. Typically the documentary is saved to be shown during the funeral, but Kennedy and Puccio decide to add a twist, screening their Life Story Documentary at the unveiling of their monument for their friends and family to view.

It turns out that the most historical moment of their lives was yet to come. On May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court overturned the ban on same sex marriages. So on October 12, 2008, Kennedy, a retired Chairman of the Board of the Location Managers Guild of America, and Puccio, a very popular interior designer in Beverly Hills, were officially married. That was a moment in time that not even Proposition 8 could ever take away from them.

Gianukos and Susan Barnes create a personal life story/documentary of Kennedy and Puccio’s fairy tale life that ends up making the perfect argument against Proposition 8. Other than their gender, Kennedy and Puccio are not unlike most other couples of their generation. They are opposites who came together from two completely different worlds and they always bicker (my favorite moment is when Puccio snaps “Don’t step on the flowers!” then rolls his eyes) -- and somehow this proves (at least to me) that gay couples can really be just like other more “ordinary” (read: hetero) couples.

GERMAN CURRENTS 2010: THE SILENCE

David (Sebastian Blomberg) in The Silence.

                         David (Sebastian Blomberg) in The Silence.

Violence begets violence
 
By Don Simpson

Peer (Ulrich Thomsen) and Timo (Wotan Wilke Möhring) formed a unique kinship in the 1980s for their mutual love for young girls. One day, after watching their daily dose of child pornography, Peer decides to capture a real live young girl for Timo as a special treat. Peer, however, loses control of himself and murders the girl instead -- as Timo stands by and observes. Riddled with guilt, Timo disappears.

Jump forward 23 years, a child's bicycle is discovered in the exact location of the murder committed 23 years earlier by Peer. It is discovered that a young local girl, Sinikka (Anna Lena Klenke), is missing and the townspeople and local police, particularly the ones who were around 23 years ago, scramble for explanations. Was this a sick copycat murder? Otherwise, what would have prompted the murderer from 1986 to kill again? 

Making its U.S. Premiere at German Currents: New Films from Germany, writer-director Baran bo Odar's The Silence (Das Letzte Schweigen) is a very unique police procedural which dutifully contemplates the aftershocks that untimely death -- whether caused at the hands of a fellow human or due to natural causes -- has on surviving family members as well as the ramifications that violence has on a community.

(The Silence screens Oct. 23, 9:30 p.m., Aero Theatre. For more information: http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/los/prj/ger/flm/sil/enindex.htm)
 
 

GERMAN CURRENTS 2010: ROCK HUDSON - DARK AND HANDSOME STRANGER

The Golden Boy's blade cut up

By John Esther

Born Roy Fitzgerald in 1925, Rock Hudson became a "World Film Favorite." Caressed and cared for by Universal Studios and others, Hudson could never do wrong in the eyes of the American people. That is because the overwhelmingly homophobic American public of the time never knew that Hudson preferred sex with men. If they did, the ladies' man's man career would be kaput. A layered contradiction, for millions of ordinary Americans Hudson was the epitome of cinematic iconography, a terribly handsome exterior with a frightfully good heart underneath. And for millions of Americans, Hudson was the first person they knew, by name, whom died of AIDS.

Using some blatantly flawed faux historical footage (i.e. shots of ArcLight Theaters; 24 Hour Fitness), inane scenes of the beach (surfing?), a ridiculous segment dedicated to Hudson's 1954 film, Magnificent Obsession, starring Jane Wyman (what a piece of mawkish claptrap) and a few interviewees whose observations are, at best, contestable -- gossip columnist Rona Barrett comes off as a fool, again -- for the most part of the documentary, it is very difficult to watch such a haphazard, pretentious work. 

Fortunately, there are some bright, shining moments courtesy of Hudson's intelligence; an inside look at the wonderful film, Giant; a few notes on what the notorious Hollywood agent Henry "The man who invented Rock Hudson" Wilson did for stars and wannabes and what he could do to those who dared threaten his clients; Hudson's fake two-year marriage with secretary and semi-closeted lesbian Phyllis Gates; plus interviews by author Armistead Maupin (Tales of the City) who was "unable to perform" with Hudson because he "couldn't get past the matinee idol" and film historian Richard Dyer.

Half-baked for consumption documentarians André Schäfer and Andrew Davies' Rock Hudson - Dark and Handsome will screen at the Egyptian Theatre, a place which once held such Hudson premieres as Pillow Talk -- also featured in the film.

(Rock Hudson - Dark and Handsome Stranger screens Sept. 23, 7:30 p.m., Egyptian Theatre. For more information: http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/los/prj/ger/flm/roc/enindex.htm)

ARAB FILM FESTIVAL LA 2010: THE WEDDING SONG

Myriam (Lizzie Brocheré) and Nour (Olympe Borval) in Wedding Song.

Tragedy in Tunisia

By John Esther

Nour (Olympe Borval) and Myriam (Lizzie Brocheré) have been lifelong friends although Nour is a sheltered, uneducated Muslim and Myriam is a rebellious, freethinking Jew.

Their cultural identities are hardly an issue until Nazis occupy Tunisia and start spreading their anti-Jew propaganda. It sure helps to blame someone else when you are doing bad things.

Thanks to great encouragement and assistance from Myriam, Nour, joyfully, is about to marry her cousin, Khaled (Najib Oudghin), a loafer. Meanwhile, Myriam’s mother, Tita (writer-director Karin Albou), is arranging Myriam to marry Raoul (Simon Abkarian), a rich Jewish doctor who can well afford the Jewish tax imposed on the occupiers. What is a young girl bordering on womanhood to do under such circumstances?

Told almost exclusively from the point of view of the female characters, this politically/emotionally/sexually-charged film illustrates Albou (La Petite Jerusalem) one of the most original cinematic voices of the past five years.
 

A rare chance to see it again, The Wedding Song made my list of Top Ten Films of 2009.

Highly Recommended.

(The Wedding Song screens Oct. 23, 3:30 p.m. at Writers Guild of America Theater, Los Angeles. For more information: http://www.arabfilmfestival.org/film_detail.php?id=960)

GERMAN CURRENTS 2010: AUTUMN GOLD

Alfred Proksch in Autumn Gold.

The golden and the gold

By Don Simpson

Making its U.S. premiere at this year's German Currents: New Films from Germany showcase, Jan Tenhaven’s heartwarming documentary Autumn Gold (Herbstgold) tells the life-affirming story of five athletes -- all over the age of 80 -- in their preparation for the 2009 World Masters Athletics Championships in Lahti, Finland.

Alfred Proksch (age 100) is an Austrian discus thrower; Jiří Soukup (age 82) is a Czech high jumper; Ilse Pleuger (age 82) is a German shot putter; Herbert Liedtke (age 93) is a Swedish track runner; and Gabre Gabric (age is none of your damn business) is an Italian discus thrower.

Despite their advanced ages, they all possess a relentless drive to keep going -- they all feel way too young to be confined to a rocking chair (or worse yet, a bed). To these athletes, their golden years constitutes a greater goal, an unyielding quest for gold medals. 

A story of winning and losing, triumphs and setbacks, Autumn Gold is a beautiful testament to never giving up on life no matter what your age. Tenhaven proves that age is not a number, it is how you feel.

(Autumn Gold screens Oct. 23, 5 p.m., Aero Theatre. For more information: http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/los/prj/ger/flm/aut/enindex.htm)

THEATER REVIEW: WHEN GARBO TALKS!

 

Silver screen history sizzles onstage

By Ed Rampell

What is stardom? The charismatic, larger than life distilled essence of attributes, often sensuous, that dazzles audiences basking in the imagery’s refracted light. And few stars knew stardom like Greta Garbo, the female lead in classics such as Flesh and the Devil, Camille and Ninotchka.

The new musical with book and lyrics by Buddy Kaye and music by Mort Garson, When Garbo Talks!, is a highly entertaining, insightful depiction of the Swedish actress’ rise from Stockholm shop girl (with big feet!) to sultry La-La-Land superstar.

Jessica Burrows pulls off the near impossible, convincingly rendering the title character -- well known for being so unattainable -- in flesh and blood, with Garbo-esque glimpses flashing across her visage. In the play we first encounter Greta Lovisa Gustafsson auditioning for one of Sweden’s top directors, Mauritz Stiller (a dapper Michael Stone Forrest). The Helsinki-born Jew proceeds to mold the Nordic adolescent aspiring actress into his notion and image of feminine beauty, including renaming her “Garbo.” Stiller gives Greta her first lead role while she’s still just a teenager, the 1924 silent film, The Atonement of Gosta Berling, which impresses MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer (a delightfully zesty, conniving, backstabbing Matthew Henerson).

Mayer tricks Stiller and his discovery into going Hollywood, and they soon decamp for that SoCal silly hooey valley where publicity is the currency of the land. The studio chieftain proceeds to ace the Finnish helmer out of the picture and then tries to out-Svengali Stiller by molding Garbo’s motion picture persona not so much in his own image, but in that of what the audience will buy tickets to go see at the flicker shows.

The relationship between Greta and Stiller is intriguing. According to the play, Greta lusted after the director who was old enough to be her father (her own dad died when she was about 14). Although they even lived two-gether, their relationship remained chaste, as both Garbo was bisexual and Stiller was gay. Ironically, the creator of the ideal of female sex appeal was a homosexual. (When Garbo Talks! drastically downplays Garbo's lesbianism.)

After Mayer’s Machiavellian machinations and manipulations tears their moviemaking asunder, Stiller observes “his” creation making love to John Gilbert (the dashing and surprisingly tender Christopher Carothers) in a steamy scene in Flesh and the Devil as it is being shot at the studio. This further crushes Stiller, who -- unlike the heterosexual, handsome Gilbert -- is unable (or unwilling?) to sexually fulfill Garbo. Creatively crushed and romantically thwarted, the director, an utter flop on that boulevard of broken dreams, returns to Sweden, where he dies within a year or so. The musical does not say what Stiller died from, and given the current spate of gay suicides, it’s all the more poignant. Pleurisy was reportedly the actual cause of death, but I wouldn’t rule out a broken heart.

Garbo also broke the heart of her leading man on and off the silver screen, John Gilbert, who was known as “the Great Lover.” Tales of their lovemaking were legendary -- the stuff that Hollywood Babylon movie myths are made of. Supposedly, they practically had to be pried apart by heavy machinery during orgiastic sessions in their studio bungalow in between scenes in order to get them back into costume and onto the set. Their 1927 film, Love, was cleverly promoted as “Garbo and Gilbert in Love.”

If Garbo’s relationship with Stiller was about art, and her affair with Gilbert was about sex, Greta’s dealings with Mayer are about commerce, as the movie mogul seeks to make the European actress into as valuable a commodity as possible. 

Garbo’s conflicts with Mayer as she resists being exploited as a mere moneymaking machine for MGM reminded me of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon, which set the Depression era proletarian drama in the motion picture milieu of the studio system. Whether an assembly line worker in an auto plant or a superstar in Hollywood’s dream factory, they’re all just peons, hired hands. And the former shopkeeper knew a salesman and shuckster when she saw one. 

This may all be pretty serious stuff, but When Garbo Talks! balances it out with a light touch and lots of singing, dancing and humor. Nick Rogers as Mayer’s alleged hood, Eddie Mannix, may be manic and menacing, but he’s also comic. Along with the audience and MGM secretary Ida Koverman (Teya Patt), Rogers and Henerson as L.B. have heaps of fun hoofing about the stage, singing and doing that old soft shoe in numbers reminiscent of the vaudeville some of the moguls emerged out of. The trio performs some dizzyingly daffy, goofy foot stomping pieces with great panache, while Burrows shows off her lovely pipes in some show stopping Garbo-esque solos. Overall, When Garbo Talks! is a rollicking romp through film history, from the end of the silent era to the beginning of talkies. Like La Jolla Playhouse’s Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin, this is another musical ideal for movie buffs, as well as for avid theatergoers who like to tap their tootsies to lively tunes and ivory tinkling.
  
I thoroughly enjoyed this musical, but to me, its ending was too upbeat. Well, what could you expect from a play co-created by Buddy Kaye, whose claim to fame is that he wrote the theme for I Dream of Jeannie, one of the boob tube’s more insipid series? (According to press notes, after Buddy died, his son, Richard D. Kaye, worked on the book with director Jules Aaron.) Throughout the musical the onetime Stockholm hat saleslady yearns for “my winter dream” -- the land of her birth. But Garbo never moved back to live in Sweden. Nor did she remain in Tinseltown

While this film historian would have preferred a more downbeat denouement; in that Mayer tradition, this world premiere musical that’s closing the International City Theatre’s Silver Anniversary Season, certainly gives the people what they want.

When Garbo Talks! runs through Nov. 7 at the International City Theatre, Long Beach Performing Arts Center, 300 East Ocean Blvd.. Long Beach, CA., 90802. For more info: 562/436-4610; www.InternationalCityTheatre.com)

GERMAN CURRENTS 2010: WHEN WE LEAVE

Umay (Sibel Kekilli) in When We Leave.

Opening Night a success

By Don Simpson

When Umay (Sibel Kekilli) flees Istanbul with her five-year-old son (Nizam Schiller) in order to escape her abusive husband (Ufuk Bayraktar), she never truly contemplates just how unwelcome her family reception in Berlin will be. Never mind that her husband beat her regularly and cruelly punishes their son, the worst evil committed is the loss of honor to her conservative Turkish immigrant family name. Umay is dubbed the “deutschwhore” sister and shunned as the family outcast. Exiled from her family home Umay soldiers on, lugging her son between safe houses and friends’ homes all the while attempting to rebuild her life in Berlin.

The Opening Night Night Film at this year's German Currents: New Films from Germany showcase, Austrian director Feo Aladag’s When We Leave (Die Fremde) brutally -- yet quite effectively -- examines Umay’s struggle for personal freedom. A heart-wrenching saga of a woman who attempts to dodge extreme cultural prejudices and judgments in order to escape domestic abuse. But it is through the brutality, that we discover that When We Leave is also a story about the struggle for compassion and the inescapable pull of family love. When We Leave was submitted by Germany as their official selection for the 2011 Oscars.

The Opening Night film was followed by a party in the Egyptian Theatre courtyard where filmmakers such as Jan Tenhaven -- whose reportedly heartwarming documentary about five senior athletes between 82 and 100 years old, Autumn Gold (Herbstgold), screens Saturday -- filmgoers and local Germans mingled, talked film, drank Becks (the festival ran out of wine very quickly) and noshed on Mediterranean as well as German cuisine. On many accounts, When We Leave was well received at its West Coast premiere.

Writer John Esther contributed to this article.

THEATER REVIEW: LA VICTIMA

Another staged revolution

By Ed Rampell
 
Don’t be a victim of circumstances, get thee to LATC ASAP to see La Victima before it closes. The Latino Theater Company’s 25th anniversary production is a generational saga that follows the Villas and Mendozas, two families originally from South of the border, and their trials and travails in El Norte. These Mexicans-cum-Mexican-Americans are subjected to the vicissitudes of revolution, war, immigration policies and the twists and turns of the labor market in a capricious, opportunistic U.S. economy that exploits then expediently deports immigrant workers, depending on fluctuations of the market.

In an early deportation scene the young Amparo (the versatile Alexis de la Rocha) is tearfully separated from her son Sammy (Oliver Rayon), who remains behind in Los Angeles. This tearing asunder of the family sets the trajectory of La Victima’s plot, as the adult Sammy (powerfully played by Geoffrey Rivas) grows up to become a Korean War soldier and then a conflicted migre.

Although it was originally written by El Teatro De La Esperanza in 1976 and was the Latino Theater Company’s very first show, La Victima is, unfortunately, timelier than ever. It is also part of the SoCal stages' current left-tilting trend featuring favorable depictions of communists, leftists and unions, including: Il Postino (with Placido Domingo as Chilean poet Pablo Neruda in L.A. Opera’s Spanish language opera); Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin; Voices, A Legacy To Remember (which depicts singer/actor/activist Paul Robeson); Carry It On! (which depicts Woody Guthrie and Lillian Hellman); and a revival of Clifford Odets’ classic proletarian drama, Waiting for Lefty. To be sure, the red flags fluttering on the LATC stage are emblazoned with the United Farm Workers’ black union eagle, but with its bold portrayal of a huelga (strike) the Latino Theater Company is sort of to the left of and complementing Waiting for Lefty, which ends with laborers (and audience members) merely calling for the strike that actually takes place onstage in La Victima.

Amparo’s daughter Antonia (an impassioned Lucy Rodriguez) is a strike leader, and all hell breaks loose when a concerned Amparo shows up at the UFW rally -- and the empire strikes back. The ultimate plot twist is worthy of O. Henry, and reveals that the real victims are those who collaborate with the powers-that-be, as soldiers, Customs agents, etc.

La Victima is also radical in form, opting for a bold Brechtian style skillfully directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela, artistic director of the Latino Theater Company and LATC. The highly stylized form fully enhances and complements the play’s progressive content. In particular, the music provided by the performing and recording team of Cita and Ricardo Ochoa serves to enliven and heighten the emotions and story of this production, which is more of a play with music, as opposed to being a musical per se. Cita has great verve as La Cantante; clad in a low cut, sexy flamenco type of dress, with her shaved head and brash style, this sexually ambiguous singer-cum-performance artist looks and sounds as if she just jumped off the stage of a Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht musical. Imagine if Lotte Lenya had portrayed Mac the Knife instead of Jenny in Brecht/Weill’s Threepenny Opera, and you’ll get the picture – well, sort of, because Cita kind of has to be seen and heard to be believed. Choreographer Urbanie Lucero and sound designer John Zalewski have done yeomen’s work here bringing this piece of epic theatre alive with ringing, singing music, song and dance.

As has the ensemble cast, with most of the actors artfully performing multiple roles and deftly directed by Valenzuela. Veteran actor Sal Lopez (Zoot Suit; Beverly Hills Chihuahua) plays, among other parts, a wily coyote who smuggles Amparo (the only character depicted by that other stage and big/little screen veteran, Lupe Ontiveros) back across the border, hidden beneath the driver’s seat of his truck. Kudos to Alexis de la Rocha, who, in addition to playing young Amparo and Janie, has a great comic turn as the nerdy, sexually aggressive Rosita, who tries to seduce Antonia’s (Lucy Rodriguez) brother Meno (Luis Aldana), who seems as unsure of his sexuality as he is of participating in the UFW strike. (A good Reichian point, by the way, linking potency and oppression.)

This highly enjoyable, rousing, thought and emotion-provoking production of La Victima is a revival worthy of celebrating the Latino Theater Company’s silver anniversary. It is in both English and Spanish, with supertitles clearly projected on the rear wall of the dialogue and lyrics in the language that is not at that moment being said or sung. But as La Victima reminds us, to paraphrase Eugene Debs, from “stachka” to “huelga,” “strike!” is one of the boldest words in any language. Don’t miss this people’s play. Ole y venceremos!

(La Victima runs through Oct. 31 at the Los Angeles Theatre Centre, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, 90013. For more info: 866/811-4111; www.thelatc.org)

FILM FESTIVALS: ARAB, GERMANY, AND ISRAEL IN LOS ANGELES

A scene from The Matchmaker.

Film festivals across LA starting Wednesday

By John Esther

Call the coincidence what you will, three film festivals open this week featuring with, shall we write, cultures containing components with a sometimes rather uneasy relationship toward each other.

Occasionally addressing that discord while celebrating their respective identities, they are, in alphabetical order: the Arab Film Festival; German Currents: Festival of New German Cinema; and the Israel Film Festival.

On Oct. 20 both the German Currents (GC) and Israel Film Festival (IFF) begin.

In collaboration with the American Cinemateque and German Films, the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles the fourth annual showcase of recent German films is returning this year to the Aero Theatre and other venues around Los Angeles Oct. 20-24.

Germany’s official entry for the 83rd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, When We Leave, opens the festival Oct. 20, 7:30 at the Egyptian Theater. Writer-director Feo Aladag will be present.

Further west on Wednesday night, the 25th Israel Film Festival gets off its 25th year with an award gala recognizing actor Richard Dreyfus, director Avi Lerner, producer Ryan Kavanaugh and producer Jon Landau at The Beverly Hilton.

Winner of the recent Israeli Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress, The Opening night film is Avi Nesher’s The Matchmaker, screening Oct. 21, 7:30 p.m. at the Royal in West Los Angeles. In addition to Opening Night, the festival will show films through Nov. 4 with other screenings at the Royal plus at Laemmle Sunset 5 in West Hollywood and Laemmle Fallbrook 7 in West Hills.

Making its way down from the San Francisco, Berkeley and the San Jose Arab Film Festivals, the Arab Film Festival in Los Angeles will screen Oct. 22-24 at Writers Guild of America Theater in Beverly Hills. The festival will include films from Egypt, France, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and other countries.

A small festival with an impressive beginning, AFF commences with a gala screening of Algeria’s Lyes Salem’s Masquerades. The reception begins at 6 p.m., screening at 8 p.m.

For more information on the Arab Film Festival: http://www.arabfilmfestival.org/

For more information on German Currents: http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/los/prj/ger/sch/enindex.htm

For more information on the Israeli Film Festival: http://www.israelfilmfestival.com/;1-877-966-5566.

ANAHEIM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: INHALE

James Harrison (Sam Shepard) and Paul Stanton (Dermot Mulroney) in Inhale.

Organ-ized crime caper closes AIFF 2010

By John Esther

The inaugural Anaheim International Film Festival concludes today. Offering a mixed bag of very good films (i.e. A Small Act; Skeletons; Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story) and sub-par films (i.e. Circo; Mandrill; One Day Less) for a film festival in its first year and only running four days (Oct. 13-17) I was fairly impressed and look forward to the years to come -- especially when AIFF 2010 concludes with a film like Inhale. 

Paul Stanton (Dermot Mulroney) is a rising Santa Fe District Attorney who has a very sick daughter, Chloe (Mia Stallard). With time running out, Paul decides to close a controversial case -- one which his boss (Sam Shepard) agrees he should do for the sake of political expediency -- take some time off and set off into the dangerous world of Juarez, Mexico, in order to find a doctor who may be able to save Chloe's life.

Known as the "murder capital of the world," in Juarez, Mexico, kids Chloe's age die at a staggering rate from gunshots, stabbings and numerous sorts of diseases linked to poverty. Often they die without a caring father or mother around. And they may be the lucky ones. A slum of staggering portions, the children of Juarez are not living, they are merely surviving. 

As Paul searches deeper into the criminal web of the community, he and we see the death of far too many children -- often at the hands of each other. Yet thanks to the film's intelligent narrative, we never forget there is an innocent girl hanging by a medical thread back home. 

An action packed film increasingly offering more and larger dilemmas, director Baltasar Kormakur's film sets itself off for one big payoff that may ignite many an argument as its protagonist works toward what is arguably the grandest sacrifice of all for the better of humankind. I imagine parents will be less forgiving or surprised (if not shocked) at Paul than non-parents. That he is a lawyer working for the "law & order" side only complicates the issues.

A film festival full of gritty films, even if I did not necessarily dig a few of the films here, at least Inhale seems to seal the deal that AIFF is serious about providing smarter, more independent films than your average film festival.

Recommended.

(Inhale screens tonight, 8 p.m. For more information: http://anaheimfilm.org)

FILM REVIEW: CONVICTION

A scene from Conviction.

Innocence mission
 

By Don Simpson

Kenny Waters (Sam Rockwell) is the local wise-ass and troublemaker of an otherwise quaint and peaceful rural lower-middle-class Massachusetts town. Therefore, when a local woman is brutally murdered in her trailer-home, Kenny is the very first (and, apparently, the only) suspect to be arrested. Upon making some snarky and sexist comments to the arresting officer, Nancy Taylor (Melissa Leo), Kenny unknowingly condemns himself to a life sentence without parole, although it takes Officer Taylor another two years (during which time Kenny is set free) to pile up enough evidence (Kenny’s blood type matches blood that was found at the crime scene) and wrangle some of Kenny’s ex-girlfriends (Clea DuVall and Juliette Lewis -- both playing white trash caricatures) to testify against him.

At the time of Kenny’s conviction, his sister, Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swank), is an uneducated bar waitress and a married mother of two boys. Once Kenny is shipped off to prison, Betty Anne commences a crusade -- passing her GED, earning a college diploma, graduating from law school and passing the Bar Exam -- to prove he is innocent. Dutifully dedicating her entire life to Kenny’s cause, Betty Anne sacrifices her marriage and loses custody of her two boys (Owen Campbell and Conor Donovan). Now that shows conviction! Too bad most of these years are glossed over into what seems more like a PowerPoint presentation than a fully fleshed-out plot. This is one of the many instances in which director Tony Goldwyn (The Last Kiss) and screenwriter Pamela Gray (Music of the Heart) try to squeeze way too much information into too little time, thus drastically reducing any emotional impact Betty Anne’s sacrifices should have on the audience.

Quite surprisingly, Goldwyn and Gray never allow us the time to contemplate the simple fact that Kenny’s conviction prompts Betty Anne to become a well-educated and empowered woman. Betty Anne evolves from a working-class woman from a tumultuous childhood during which she never even finished high school. Through a slew of tedious flashbacks that are overly simplistic and explanatory, we learn that Little Betty Anne (Bailee Madison) and Little Kenny (Tobias Campbell) had an absentee father and a neglectful mother, shuffling through a never-ending series of foster homes. (The real Betty Anne Waters is still working as a lawyer for wrongfully convicted prisoners.)

This is the type of overtly sentimental Hollywood film that we have come to expect will have a happy ending (thus diluting any and all narrative tension). Thanks to the pro-bono assistance of a celebrity wrongful-conviction expert -- Barry Scheck (Peter Gallagher) from the Innocence Project -- and some helpful DNA evidence, Kenny is eventually exonerated.

Conviction is based on the true story of Betty Anne and Kenneth Waters but what the film does not reveal is that six months after his release, Kenny died. (According to the Associated Press, he “fractured his skull when he fell from a 15-foot wall while taking a shortcut to his brother's house after a dinner with his mother.”) Conviction is obviously meant to be a feel good success story -- the kind that proves that there is always hope despite the apparent odds -- and not a testament that life is all but a cruel joke. Call me morbid, but I think the ending to Kenny’s real life narrative would have made Conviction a much more interesting (and daring) film. Then again, how many Hollywood filmmakers are truly brave enough to end a film like Conviction on such an absurdly dismal note? As far as Hollywood is concerned, Conviction must be an inspirational and uplifting tale. There are no other formulas available for this plot.

All in all, Goldwyn takes a few too many dramatic shortcuts and abides all too closely to preexisting formulas and conventions. There is no narrative depth or subtext. What you see is exactly what you get. The only real chance that Goldwyn takes is in casting Rockwell against type (Swank is cast in an all too predictable and standard role for her). Besides appearing weighed down by heavily-caked old-age makeup and a horrendous hair piece, Rockwell succeeds in his meaty dramatic scenes. Rockwell’s best scenes, however, are when he is granted artistic license to do what he does best: go nuts. Despite a splattering of some slightly inconsistent New England accents, Conviction is well-acted. Rockwell seems to be the only actor having fun, but Swank does play a wonderfully intense and strong-willed lead female -- what she does best.

Nonetheless, I exited the theater with the very same icky feeling I had after watching The Blind Side. Like The Blind Side, Conviction is pure unabashed Oscar fodder. The only difference is that I actually like the actors and their performances in Conviction.

FILM REVIEW: DOWN TERRACE

Bill (Robert Hill) and Karl (Robin Hill) in Down Terrace.

Paranoia will destroy ya
 

By Don Simpson

Karl’s (Robin Hill) mother, Maggie (Julia Deakin), and father, Bill (Robert Hill), run a crime syndicate in Brighton, England. Bill is a middleman of sorts between the big wigs in London and the small time crooks in Brighton. This not-so-average middle-class family has issues on a normal day -- Karl has severe anger management issues and throws tantrums that would make a 2-year-old blush, Bill is overtly patronizing and condescending, and Maggie is the queen of passive-aggressiveness -- so when the additional stresses of a possible snitch and an unplanned baby are added to the mix, their already fiery personalities begin to combust.

Down Terrace commences as Karl and Bill return home after a frustrating court case involving Karl. We are never given any specifics about the trial but Karl and Bill seem certain that one of their cronies must have ratted Karl out. Before any additional information can be leaked, the usual suspects are called to their house in the guise of celebrating Karl’s release. Over the course of two weeks, the parade of visitors partake in mass quantities of booze, marijuana, Alka-Seltzer and tea...lots and lots of tea. Apparently this family cannot do anything without a warm cuppa tea in their hand. (The Kinks’ “Have a Cuppa Tea” kept popping into my mind.) All the while, Karl and his parents’ paranoia festers uncontrollably.

Karl’s 27-year-old  girlfriend Valda (Kerry Peacock) shows up at their house pregnant with -- at least according to Valda -- Karl’s baby. Bill and Maggie do not trust Valda, but Karl does. This creates a tremendous rift between the 34-year-old son and his parents.

The relentless domestic bickering during the first half of the film quickly switches gears in the second half; the mood darkens and things turn brutally violent. As the body count skyrockets an absurdest humor takes control -- like when Bill’s trusted hit-man, Pringle (Michael Smiley), brings his toddler (Kitty Blue) along for a job. Things spiral so far out of control that it is very easy to assume that the film will conclude with no survivors.

Down Terrace's heavily improvised script (penned by Ben Wheatley and Robin Hill) is delivered quite naturally -- almost to a fault (the actors’ propensity for mumbling and swallowing their lines may prompt many Americans to cry for subtitles) -- and is chock-full of ultra-dry humor. Laurie Rose's manic pseudo-documentary handheld cinematography, filmed almost entirely in Robin Hill's childhood family home, adds to the brutally hyper-realistic kitchen sink milieu. (Also note that Bill is played by Robin Hill's real-life father and Valda is played by Robin Hill's wife.)

This ultra-low-budget film -- shot in a mere eight days -- is like a Martin Scorsese crime flick injected with the Coen Brothers’ dark humor as directed by Mike Leigh. Cast primarily with non-actors, director Wheatley’s cinematic debut does suffer at times from some inconsistent characterizations; but otherwise Down Terrace is a refreshingly novel take on the British crime movie.

ANAHEIM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: UNDER THE BOARDWALK THE MONOPOLY STORY

Filming Under the Boardwalk. Photo credit: Michael J Maloney.

Getting board not bored

By Miranda Inganni

I must admit that I was underwhelmed at the thought of viewing (much less reviewing) Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story. Eighty eight minutes later, I was refreshingly glad I saw co-writer/director Kevin Tostado's documentary and wished that I had my old Monopoly game to whip out and play.

Delving into the history of Monopoly (created by a woman, sold by a man!), its 75 year international success (used to help American and allied POW's during World War II!) and spotlighting the most recent Monopoly World Championship held in Las Vegas, NV (ESPN actually covered it!), this sweet, geeky, thorough documentary is an homage to the game that has been a family favorite dating back to before the Great Depression.

Highlights include candid interviews with past and present US and international champions and competitors. And boy, what a group it is. From the elementary school teacher in California who uses the game to teach his students math, to the salty and rather sanctimonious guy who thinks he's going to win the championship (if he doesn't he'll be damned if the schoolteacher does!), the movie provides a glimpse into what makes Monopoly lovers tick. (Hank Azaria is a fan of the game, too!)

Honestly, the documentary got me fired up. I wanted to gather around the game board with my family and wheel and deal like we used to growing up. I must buy more hotels! I will bankrupt my older brother and win!

Coincidentally, McDonalds is running its promotional Monopoly game right now, which I have always thought I would eventually win. You can use the real prize money to pay for the liposuction after all those 1/4 pounders with cheese!

(Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story screens Oct. 15, 4 p.m.; Oct. 17, 7 p.m. For more information: http://anaheimfilm.org/films/under-the-boardwalk-the-monopoly-story)

ANAHEIM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: SKELETONS

Bennett (Andrew Buckley) and Davis (Ed Gaughan) in Skeletons.

Bones about it

By Don Simpson

Bennett (Andrew Buckley) and Davis (Ed Gaughan) are two British guys in suits who are trained to exorcise the proverbial skeletons from people’s closets. The duo traverse the lush rolling green hills of the British countryside until they find a home that matches a hand-sketched picture.

Once they find their destination, they interview their clients and acquire the required signatures and waivers. Then, it’s on with the business at hand. They use a device resembling a Geiger counter to detect the closet (or wardrobe) where the skeletons are hiding; then with magic rocks and fire extinguisher in hands and goggles strapped on, they dive into the surreal worlds where only the deepest darkest secrets reside. It is important to note that this is a task that must be done in pairs as going solo into the dark recesses of people’s memories (especially one’s own memories) has been proven to cause mental problems, even turning one’s brain to mush.

Written and directed by Nick Whitfield, Skeletons is a brain teasing comedy with highly intelligent dialog brimming with deadpan humor and a plot that requires some mental gymnastics on the part of the viewer. (I sense a strong affinity for Monty Python and Terry Gilliam…maybe even some David Lynch.) Whitfield’s cinematic eye is as squeaky clean as his knack for dialogue.

(Skeletons screens Oct. 15, 7 p.m., Oct. 16, 10 p.m. at UltraStar Cinemas at Anaheim GardenWalk. For more information: http://anaheimfilm.org/index.html)

FILM REVIEW: LETTERS TO FATHER JACOB

Father Jacob (Heikki Nousiainen) in Letters for Father Jacob.

Faith mail

By Don Simpson

Unexpectedly and undesirably pardoned from serving life in prison for murder, Leila (Kaarina Hazard) finds herself employed by Father Jacob (Heikki Nousiainen). Built like a linebacker and sporting a permanent scowl, Leila yields quite an intimidating and imposing presence but Father Jacob, a blind and frail old priest residing in an isolated and dilapidated old house where he has dedicated his life to answering letters from people seeking prayers and advice, is not the least bit frightened. Leila has been hired to assist Father Jacob by reciting the daily correspondence to him and then transcribing his dictated responses.

The story primarily focuses on Father Jacob and Leila, but there is a third character of this tale -- the postman (Jukka Keinonen) who faithfully rides his bicycle to Father Jacob’s house with a handful of letters each and every day. Whenever Father Jacob hears the postman announce his arrival, it is as if Father Jacob hears the voice of an angel sent from God. The postman apparently worries about Father Jacob’s well-being, so Leila’s foreboding appearance (and murderous past) is quite disconcerting to him. When Leila begins waiting outside for the postman’s arrival, he begins skipping Father Jacob’s house altogether. Suddenly, Father Jacob is not receiving any more letters and his life is without purpose.

Leila’s apparent lack of faith is quite purposefully juxtaposed with Father Jacob’s blind faith (an all too blatant metaphor), but it is Leila’s brutal indifference towards Father Jacob and frustration about what she views as the futile task of reading letters that are the primary sources of tension within the narrative. I am not one to typically fall for overtly Christian morality tales, but Härö’s film transcends Christianity. Clocking in at a mere 74 minutes, writer-director Klaus Härö’s Letters to Father Jacob serves as an intimate character study about solitariness, redemption, and the tremendous powers of faith. Hazard and Nousiainen’s noteworthy performances are intricately framed by Tuomo Hutri’s luscious cinematography.

Letters to Father Jacob was submitted by Finland for consideration for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 82th Academy Awards.