The Nolan remake is set in Alaska and stars Al Pacino (in the
Skarsgård
role), Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank. I'm tempted to look
forward
to it, if only because it's Nolan's next film, but the dismal record of
American remakes of foreign films that are only a few years old and
that
have nothing wrong with them aside from having subtitles (Vanilla Sky,
Point of No Return, Sommersby, The Vanishing)
dissuades
me. Not only do all of them fall short compared to the original,
they've all been empirically wretched. But hope springs eternal:
at some point, there's got to be an exception that proves the rule, and
Nolan might be the guy to deliver it.
Psycho Beach Party is a
parody of
the kind of non-monster
movies MST3K used to do: overly
serious '50s
movies about delinquent
youth combined with '60s
movies about surfers.
As has been proven time and time again, though, it's kind of hard to
parody
something that's already ridiculous. Psycho Beach Party
tries pushing the envelope with cuss words and occasional bathroom
humor,
but you'll still get more laughs out of The
Horror of Party Beach. The cast is pleasant enough,
though,
especially Lauren Ambrose as the heroine, a perky, squeaky-clean virgin
who has multiple personalities (one of which is apparently Mamie
Van Doren), and Buffy the
Vampire
Slayer's Nicholas Brendon as her romantic foil, a surfer who's
able to cure her of her split personality because he's had 3 semesters
of psych at Northwestern. There are a couple of very funny bits
(I
enjoyed the clearly transgendered cop, mostly because no one ever
remarks
on his/her masculinity), and lots of hot men with their shirts off,
which
is always a good thing, but it doesn't add up to much.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch: I
guess my expectations had
been raised too high for Hedwig, because I was kind of
underwhelmed.
It's funny and original, but I didn't care much for the generic
classic-rock
songs -- the only one I really liked is the one the band performs in
Hedwig's
mobile home (also the best stage set). And the ending drags on
forever
in the hallucinogenic way that only rock operas can (Tommy comes
to mind). I tried watching it with the commentary track as well,
expecting some humor from the minds that came up with this, but it was
deathly dull (between Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Spinal Tap, I've
been
spoiled for all other commentaries). Still, John Cameron Mitchell
is great as Hedwig, and the costumes and so forth are fun. I
think
the movie tried too hard for the pathos; I think that would have come
through
on its own, but it gets rammed through, particularly toward the end.
Girl, Interrupted: Rather
aimless,
but not unwatchable,
version of Susanna Kaysen's book about being committed to a mental
institution.
Angelina Jolie won an Oscar for her supporting role as the wild Lisa,
and
she's about the only reason to watch this movie. Winona Ryder is
just not up to a role like this one, and the film makes being
institutionalized
seem almost like being at summer camp. Still, there are enough
unpleasant
scenes that you have to ask yourself why you would sit through a movie
dealing with suicide and mental illness if it wasn't excellent -- and
this
one isn't.
Foxfire: Angelina again,
this
time as an enigmatic
drifter who prompts four high school girls to take revenge on a teacher
who's been harassing two of them. They get expelled and spend
most
of the movie just hanging out with Angelina in a deserted house.
It's a decent movie; all the actresses are quite good, and the message
of female empowerment is certainly welcome. But the climax is a
little
histrionic, and it's not terribly memorable.
Series 7: The Contenders:
A
parody of the increasingly
outrageous reality series, this is ostensibly the 7th series of a
reality
show called "The Contenders," where "contestants" are chosen at random,
handed a gun, and forced to hunt down and kill their opponents -- or be
killed themselves. The reigning champion, Dawn, needs only to win
this series, and she'll be allowed to "retire." She's also in a
race
against time, because she could give birth at any moment. The
movie
is well done, although it feels a little too precious sometimes.
It's meant to look like the TV show, so there are even cheesy
"re-enactments,"
which are fun. The DVD extra that I watched, about the workshop this
film
went through at the Sundance Institute, was unfortunately quite dull --
rather than explaining the process of how the film was workshopped, it
mostly just showed clips of what the original version of the film had
looked
like.
Cronos: I wanted to see this
Guillermo del Toro movie
so much -- because I was so impressed by The
Devil's Backbone -- that I ended up buying it (albeit for only
$6) because I couldn't find a subtitled version to rent. It's a
well-made,
creative horror film about Jesus Gris, an elderly antiques-shop owner
(Federico
Luppi again) who discovers the Cronos device, a strange little gold box
that unexpectedly clamps onto his flesh. He soon notices that he
feels younger and stronger, although he has an unquenchable thirst, and
furtively keeps applying it to his chest. Meanwhile, wealthy
industrialist
De la Guardia -- who knows that the Cronos device, used correctly,
confers
eternal life -- dispatches his thick-headed nephew, Angel (Ron Perlman,
who mostly speaks English), to retrieve it. The symbolism is a
bit
over the top (Angel de la Guardia?), and there are a few gory
scenes.
But it's clever, and Luppi, Perlman, and the young actress who plays
Jesus'
granddaughter are all very good. There are some lovely shots,
like
when Jesus -- who finds himself turning into a vampire thanks to the
Cronos
device -- folds himself into his granddaughter's toy chest-cum-coffin
to
avoid the rays of sunlight criss-crossing her rooftop room.
Definitely
worth seeing -- and you can borrow my copy!
The Girl on the Bridge (La
Fille sur le Pont):
Directed by Patrice Leconte, director of Ridicule,
this sort-of-fable opens with Adele (Vanessa Paradis) preparing to jump
off a bridge because she's never had anything but bad luck.
Knife-thrower
Gabor [Daniel Auteil, whose name always makes me laugh now ever since
the
trailers for The Widow of Saint-Pierre mispronounced it as
"Ah-too-ey"
(gesundheit!)] who specializes in rescuing women at the end of their
rope
and recruiting them as targets for his act, happens along and convinces
her to come along with him (but not before she tries to drown herself
anyway).
They have a magical connection -- telepathy and everything! -- and find
great success with their act, where Adele is tied to a board concealed
behind a curtain, and Gabor hurls his knives to outline her body
(always
nicking her but never hurting her). The movie is funny and
engaging;
Paradis is a little too gaminey for my taste and goes too quickly from
suicidal to coquettish, but Auteil is terrific: magnetic, charming,
sad.
The one major flaw is the soundtrack -- the songs are good, but they
seem
wildly out of place in this movie. More specifically, there are
two
dreadful, asinine montage scenes, both set to Benny Goodman, one in
which
Paradis tries on different outfits, the other in which she
gambles.
They just seem too much like the idiotic montages in crappy American
movies,
usually chick flicks, where the coquettish lead gaily tries on
different
hats or dresses to the tune of some terrible pop song (well, at least
the
music is better here).
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