Monthly Archives: January 2002

Othello

Posted on January 28, 2002

As a longtime Oz fan, I noticed that PBS was showing a modern take on Shakespeare’s Othello starring Eamonn Walker and thought I might watch it. Very interesting, Walker plays John Othello, a police commissioner in present day London who has the misfortune to be jumped up over his friend and mentor Ben Jago (Iago). Jago, played here by Christopher Eccleston, goes a little mad and plots his revenge. The dialogue–script is by Andrew Davies (Bridget Jones’ Diary, Emma, personal fave House of Cards)–is modern but echoes the original nicely. Walker and Eccleston, along with Keeley Hawes playing Othello’s wife, are all strong. Check out the PBS website linked to the title if you want some background and good reference material on this production and the original.

Recommended

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Brother

Posted on January 27, 2002

Some films just have a very distinctive sensibility and Brother is one of them. This movie is somewhat of a kind with The Last Seduction in that the lead character has no problem with hardass murder. Written, edited and directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano, Brother is the story of a Yakuza gang leader who is defeated in a gang war and forced to flee to America, where his younger brother already lives as a small time drug dealer. Kitano’s Aniki (Big Brother) takes over his brother’s gang and drives them to become a force in the LA underworld until they become too big and run into a force they can’t defeat by ruthless violence, the Mafia.

Perhaps the culture gap between me and Japan is just too wide, or that this is Kitano’s first attempt at a film largely in English, but overall the movie didn’t work for me. Plot gaps and inexplicable to me behavior occur throughout. The acting was good, especially Omar Epps as the gang member Big Brother bonds with, Susumu Terajima as Kitano’s faithful follower, and Masaya Kato as the rival LA Japanese ganglord Kitano teams up with. This is the kind of movie where characters commit hara-kiri onscreen over public insults and others just shoot their guns without warning and massacre the opposition. Your mileage may vary.

recommended

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Godfather: Part III

Posted on January 26, 2002

16 years have passed since we saw Michael Corleone foiled in his attempt to protect his family and get out of “this thing of ours.” The years have been harsh to him, yet he is more powerful and feared than ever at the start of Godfather: Part III. The stakes have escalated as well; Michael’s push for legitimacy has him donating hundreds of millions of dollars to a corrupt Catholic Church in exchange for their golden share in one of the world’s largest real estate companies. But in this morality lesson, evil, no matter how well intentioned, cannot win in the end.

Critics have panned this last episode of the saga mercilessly since it was released in 1990 and I can’t say I disagree with them. Director Coppola, on his DVD commentary track, even seems to disown responsibility and claims studio interference. His casting of daughter Sofia as Corleone daughter Mary was surely his own mistake, even if it was made out of love. I noticed on IMDB that this was essentially her only substantial acting role, although she did write and direct the acclaimed Virgin Suicides in 1999.

Pacino is his usual brilliant self. Keaton is a non-entity onscreen although a recent Pacino biography claimed that the two were near marriage at the time in real life after being off and on lovers for decades. Andy Garcia is just a little too comic book-like as the bastard son of Sonny Corleone.

Not recommended

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The Last Seduction

Posted on January 25, 2002

I can’t find the webpage but yesterday I read a complaint by someone that there aren’t any great female villainous roles. Then I saw 1994′s Last Seduction on the schedule for HBO tonight and said to myself, “Self, don’t you remember that Linda Fiorentino plays an incredibly bad, amoral woman in that flick?” So I watched just to make sure. And sure enough, Self was right. Fiorentino plays a woman who just wants to live the good life in Manhattan and has a sexy enough body and devious enough mind to get Bill Pullman and Peter Berg to do what’s needed for her to get there. Drug deals, welshing on loan sharks, murder, nothing is going to stand in her way.

Excellent script by Steve Barancik, whose only other credited script is for the upcoming Samuel Jackson thriller No Good Deed also features a manipulative female lead (the also slender, small breasted, sexy Milla Jovovich). Good pacing and direction from John Dahl, he really gets performances from the leads as well as Bill Nunn and J.T. Walsh. Much better than anything Dahl’s done since, unfortunately.

highly recommended

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Gone in 60 Seconds

Posted on January 22, 2002

Vroom vroom! Fast cars, a sexy woman, and some inexplicable explosions generate the heat in Gone in 60 Seconds. Nicholas Cage plays a reformed auto thief who gets pulled back in against his will (how else can we be sympathetic?) when his younger brother (slimy Giovanni Ribisi) gets in a mess with a psychopathic Englishman (Christopher Eccleston). Robert Duvall plays his also-retired mentor, Angelina Jolie is his pissed off but still, under it all, in love girlfriend, and Ving Rhames is a cop who can never catch Cage even when he has him under a gun. This moronic movie can be enjoyed if you ignore the script and just drool over all the classic sports cars that get ripped off.

recommended

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Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

Posted on January 14, 2002

Awesome. Amazing. Great movie. Should not be missed by anyone, young or old. One might quibble over things left out or changed from the book but I think Peter Jackson deserves some freedom for the translation. The gorgeous New Zealand countryside makes a superb Middle Earth. Elijah Wood makes the transition from child actor (Radio Flyer, North, The Ice Storm) to adult in playing intrepid hero Frodo Baggins. Ian McKellen is craggy and strong as Gandalf, love the fight scene with Saruman (Christopher Lee is still going strong at 80). Viggo Mortensen breaks out as Aragorn and what can I say about Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett? I love that the film is tops at the box office too. Can’t wait for The Two Towers next December, will it be the best film of 2002?

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In the Bedroom

Posted on January 5, 2002

This film has been getting tons of great publicity and awards already, so we decided to give it a shot. Besides, not much else left to see just now (Ali, The Majestic, Beautiful Mind all leave me a little wanting) so we went to the very nice Camera One in downtown San Jose and saw In the Bedroom. Much has been made about Sissy Spacek’s portrayal of the mother and she is touted as the frontrunner for Best Actress at the Oscars. But to me, this was Tom Wilkinson’s film far more than Spacek; he does a marvel as a man who must control his emotions in the face of tragedy.

This is the first time directing for Todd Fields, who is somewhat better known as an actor (Twister, Eyes Wide Shut, and a bunch of indie pictures), and even though the National Board of Review named him best director, I have a few bones to pick with his work. The pacing is too loose, the film runs 130 minutes and could have been cut to 110-115 easily. There is far too much use of foreshadowing, starting with the title and not leaving out the quaint wait at the bridge. And what’s with the girl’s chorus Spacek directs? That never gets tied in to the plot and seems to be included only to make her role meatier. Fields does a good job and in a year with somewhat meager pickings maybe he does get nominated for some of these awards but best director? I don’t think he gets the Oscar and he wasn’t nominated for a Golden Globe.

Marisa Tomei really has a chance to act here and does well; she got a Golden Globe supporting actress nomination. William Mapother plays the bad guy as if he was born to it; Mapother is Tom Cruise’s cousin and his credits show it (Mapother is Cruise’s real last name, Cruise is his middle name). A lot of juicy smaler roles here for Celia Weston, William Wise, Karen Allen, and a few more.

This film is all about faces, the dialog is minimalist (there’s a reason this is playing at an art film house). No explosions, much blood, and a lot of sadness. This is not a Hollywood movie but I enjoyed it.

recommended

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