Change Your Image
Larry_C_Ellis
Reviews
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (2006)
Strange Feeling...
Watching this movie created a strange feeling in me.
For quite a few minutes into this film, I though it to be a mockumentary in the style of "This is Spinal Tap". A teenager (in a band) in the late sixties, I thought I new quite a bit about the music of the time.
Yet, in spite of the film's obsessing of Walker's work and its impact, I had no recollection of him whatsoever. I thought the film was a joke.
Only when the story began to weave in interviews from people I knew did I begin to think this might be a factual story. Then, when I heard "The Sun Aing't Gonna Shine Anymore", I recognized a hit I had heard (my after-the-fact research shows that the Walker Brothers had only two top 40 hits: this one, which reached #13, and an earlier one "Make It Easy On Yourself" which reached #16 in 1965 and 1966).
So I became convinced Walker was real--for a while. As I listened to some of Walker's stranger efforts I again thought the film might be a put-on. The two hits I mentioned? I began to think they were done by another group (or even Engelbert Humperdinck, whose voice is similar to Walker's).
In the end, though, Walker is very real. As to rather the film is a put-on, you'll have to see it and make up your own mind. Some of Walker's music is very interesting (the spacey, avant garde stuff is unusual and unlike anything I've heard). Some is just nice, soothing pop (the two hits). Most of it does not stand the test of time well.
So there's the rub, the reason I rate this film only 4 stars, and the reason the film is not as enjoyable as it might have been. The producers' intentions are vague and the true spirit of the film is impossible to discern for certain.
At the outset, had they mentioned the subject of the film was very real (even though we might not have heard of Scott Walker) and put the film in context, things might have been different. Instead, they seemed to assume we'd all know him, admire his work and think of him as an icon. We don't know whether they're making fun of Walker, of us, or both.
Perhaps things are different in the UK, but in America, Mr. Walker is not an icon, even though perhaps it could have turned out otherwise.
An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson (2001)
Great Show
BEGIN SPOILER Ricky Martin stunk. END SPOILER
Oops, was that a really a spoiler? I'm not sure. Some people may want to judge bad performances for themselves, and, yet...
The rest of the performances were good to great. I especially liked Darius Rucker's contribution to "Sail On Sailer", Vince Gill (terrific on "Warmth of the Sun"), and the Carly Simon/David Crosby/Jimmy Webb trio's rendition of "In My Room".
Apologies to Ricky Martin fans (if there are any left), but his voice just isn't suited to the material. Fortunately, his performance was first so the pain was over early.
Memento (2000)
A fascinating puzzle
This film is a sequence of vignettes, shown in reverse chronological order, through which a murder mystery begins to unfold. The end of each newly witnessed scene takes us to where the prior one ends. Since the edges of the scenes overlap by a few seconds, we are able to piece them together to form a continuum.
Brilliant in concept, well executed and well acted, this film is a spellbinding puzzle that is engrossing from beginning to end.
Some critics of the film complain that the film's story would be simple-minded and uninteresting if viewed in normal time. I don't agree. In any case, the film's `backwards' format poses certain limits on story complexity because of the extra mental effort we must go through to piece the puzzle together. I think the film achieves a perfectly reasonable balance, considering these constraints.
Others say that there are flaws in the plotline; however I believe that a second viewing will convince most observers that there are explanations for most, if not all, perceived anomalies.
As Leonard Shelby, Guy Pierce delivers a fine, low-key performance: that of a man whose emotions are sometimes grayed by the trauma of a life that has come unraveled. Shelby is a man who is not completely innocent, but his life has become such a nightmare that he we feel sympathy for him nonetheless.
However the finest performance of the film is by Carrie-Anne Moss. In the character of Natalie, Leonard's flawed and tragic soul mate, she embodies anger, hatred, vindictiveness, sadness, compassion, and desperation. And all are portrayed without a single false note.
The movie is not perfect, and not for everyone, but I found it well worth the viewing.