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Reviews
One Night with the King (2006)
Mishmash Polemic
It was difficult to determine what ax was being ground at any particular moment of this film.
At times it seemed to prophecise the current state of affairs in the Middle East, at others it was a teeny whimsy which foretold the origin of the stereotype "Jewish Princess". There is much invective directed towards the "Greeks" and their alleged attempts at imperialistic democratization, there is no attempt to correlate Greek history with Biblical narrative. If this is am attempt to provoke thought, it can only lead one to wonder how the Hellenes escaped the Holocaust.
In all, the film smacked of the type of inference from scripture which is promulgated on "Christian" network tele-travesties.
Peter O'Toole was wasted in a farcical cameo as Samuel in the opening retrospective. I was saddened to see this monumental actor reduced to a couple of lines and a shake of a saber. It only added insult to the historic lack of recognition this great man of stage and screen has received from the film industry.
Omar Sharif, at least had a role with scenes throughout this boring spectacle. But, he and O'Toole were not utilized to elevate the film above the over-funded sophomoric babble of the script.
Throughout the 124-minutes of this feature I kept wishing that Sarah Silverman had been cast in the lead. An outright O.T. farce, on the order of "The Life of Brian"(I know, a N.T. farce) would have been extremely entertaining. As it is, "One Night..." seemed to drag on like an Arctic Winter. Nothing was illuminated.
Breakfast on Pluto (2005)
Irish Tragicomedy for the 21st Century
A distinctive film. The powerful ethnic Irish tone is reminiscent of films from the 1930's-40's with Barry Fitzgerald. Humor and troubled times. "Serious, serious, serious", as Kitten says. John Ford would have lauded this film.
In Ford's day topics like transexuality, cross-dressers and the sex trade would never have been addressed. But, with these modern inclusions, the script has the freshness of "The Quiet Man", with Irish "Sprong". I kept expecting a "Breakfast" reference to "Lucky Charms".
I strongly recommend ALL viewers to play the DVD with English subtitles "ON". Americans, like myself need help with comprehension of the rapid-fire Irish accents and vernacular. Also, without subtitles one misses the darlin' lines scripted for the robins.
The Devil's Keep (1995)
Adventure leads to interesting features on DVD
While the actual film was unsubtle, it was entertaining. Good editing keeps the story moving and the tension of the treasure hunters being hunted works in spite of the mediocre acting.
My interest really elevated when I watched two of the extra features on the DVD from Indiedvd. An interactive map traces and catalogs some of the loot the Nazis were trying to squirrel away at the end of WW II in Austria and other Central European caches. This list is probably as incomplete as the list of documented loot which has been recovered to date.
A very interesting and brief extra feature, titled "Nazi Conspiracies" focuses on the capitalization of Hitler's rise to power in Germany between the wars.
I.G. Farben, a consortium of German chemical industries, is identified as the economic engine which pulled the Nazi train onto the main line. The German industrialists did not do it alone. This was an international effort by German and sympathetic foreign industrialists and capitalists.
Significantly named, for the U.S. viewer are: Standard Oil of America, George Herbert Walker and Prescott Bush. They are cited as investors/partners in the rise of the Nazi Party who profited throughout the war from their investments and were forced to surrender portions of their wartime earnings after the war.
It is interesting that German corporations survived the war and several are doing quite nicely today. A slide within the feature portrayed labels and logos of several current chemical and pharmaceutical companies with their names partially censored, but still identifiable.
The names of the U.S. partners of the Nazis are clarified for modern viewers by naming prominent descendants: Presidents George Herbert Walker Bush and George Walker Bush.
Another American name is Dulles, counsel to the Bush/Walker dynasties, rescuer of Nazi scientists and first Director of the C.I.A.
Ike must have known about all of this, and more, and been unable to directly expose it even as President. Hence his veiled warning of the "Military Industrial Complex."
Ladies in Lavender (2004)
Unexplained Symbolism?
Any criticism I make of this film is no diversion from my appreciation of Judy Dench's visceral portrayal of a spinster. Maggie Smith's supporting performance was flawless.
The film itself was not satisfying. Clearly, it grew from a short story where a vignette forms the body and details are unnecessary. The characters are clear, the circumstances of the story are not. My companion in viewing wanted to know where Andreas came from to be found on a beach.
I was quite amused by the bed Andreas recuperates in, it keeps being reassembled: At first sight the second spindle from the left (in the headboard) is missing. The next scene shows the spindle,upside-down. Thereafter the same spindle has been reversed to match the others. Is this a prop master's joke? Or is it a symbolic statement?
Ika resuraa (2004)
"Baseketball" meets "Tampopo" and asks "Shall We Dance?"
I never thought that a film set in the professional wrestling arena could be so entertaining on so many comic levels. From slapstick to irony, the artful deadpan acting and the multi-faceted script filled my livingroom with laughter.
Every time the reliance on the costumes began to irritate my sensibilities the intentional ambiguities and incongruities of the characterizations fractured my funny-bone.
Love is a many-tentacled thing for the lovely girlfriend who can't make up her mind and the comedy comes at the viewer from all directions: Love and loyalty, character and competition,fathers and sons, winners and losers, biology, gastronomy and sport-tainment are all satirized.
I think that this film should appeal to fans of wrestling, "The Iron Chef", "Finding Nemo", "Rocky", sci-fi and anyone who appreciates that humor knows no international boundaries.
The film is suitable for all audiences. Anyone who gets a fraction of the gags will be entertained. It would be a great Saturday night comedy for the whole family. An English language dub would eliminate the only barrier to the film's mass-appeal.
Teknolust (2002)
Tilda is beautiful, Humor shines
This sleeper entertains with Tilda Swinton's beauty, hyperbolic web-tech, and subtle-smart humor.
The "R"-rating is inexpilcable. Does a film get rated "R" for showing condoms? The "sexual" situations are all implied, there is no nudity and I cannot recall any harsh language or violence in the film.
The special-effects portraying souped-up computor interfaces are all part of the thin-guise of sci-fi genre and the film's humor. A microwave window doubles as a networked PC, "hard-drive crashes" pun erectile dysfunction.
Tilda is cast in the most lighthearted and cute role(s) that I have ever seen her play and her deadpan-pretty portrayal(s) delight the eye. Her three-way dance routine is very entertaining.
I felt that the theme of this film was the "joy of Life" intruding into and dominating technology.
The Ninth Gate (1999)
Screenplay not "in the spirit" of or true to book.
Having recently read all of Arturo Perez-Reverte's novels in English I was of the opinion that they would all make great movies...until I saw "The Ninth Gate".
While Polansky masterfully sets a the appropriate mood at the beginning, the plot is so gutted that it leaves only an absurd ending.
Depp's Corso is actually quite good and effectively filmed.
The poor choice of Lena Olin(Liana Taillefer) is only balanced be the omission of much of her character's action in the book.
The other cast members, including the director's wife, are well suited to their roles.
The screenplay, however, reverts to flames and pentangles a la Vincent price rather than attempt to deal with the intermingling of plots in the novel. The book has Corso running down copies of "The Ninth Gate" and unraveling a web of intrigue involving members of the "Club Dumas" while accompanied by "the Girl"(non other than the Devil) who loves Corso.
I mean no slur on Mr. Price. His films on Poe stories were wonderful in their day and few of them have been remade with any improvement. In most Price/Poe films an effort was made to honestly use the Poe titles. The makers of "The Ninth Gate" clearly did not feel they wanted an audience which might have read the book. References to Dumas and "The Three Musketeers" were eliminated in the screenplay.
I really would like to see Polansky and the cast have a script that included more of the magic of the novel. Clearly, the directing and acting talent were available, in abundance and mis-used.
I can only hope that a better effort is made with Perez-Reverte's other works.
I'd love to see Salma Hayek play the female lead in "The Fencing Master".