Movies You May Have Missed: Rewind

It’s another dismal week for the smaller scale DVD releases and the big releases aren’t much to write home about either (the best of the lot is Hancock). Rather than skip the column altogether, I thought I’d go back and pick through the MYMHM columns since they started last June and reprint some of the better prospects.

You can call it recycling if you want, but I call it one more attempt to steer you towards some smaller movies that need all the attention they can get. With awards season upon us, the ongoing buzz will get narrowed down to a couple of handfuls of movies from 2008, but here are a bunch that deserve to be remembered even though most of them won’t be getting any Oscar love.

Some of these are good and some of them are great, but they’re all worth a look on DVD.

Caramel (2008) *** 1/2
From conservative and conflict torn Lebanon comes Nadine Labaki’s light slice-of-life charmer about the lives and loves of a group of women working in a Beirut beauty shop. It’s kind of a trifle, but a nice one and proof that a movie can be by, for and about women without resorting to the usual flaccid romantic comedy bag of tricks. I could probably make a glib Sex and the Middle Eastern City reference here, but it would cheapen a lovely film.

In Bruges (2008) *** 1/2
If you ask me (and even if you don’t), the trailer for this film misrepresented it as some kind of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels knock-off which isn’t really fair. For better or for worse, it’s less snotty and has much more soul.

Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson play a pair of British hit men who are sent to the sleepy Belgian tourist mecca Bruges to cool off after a job gone bad. They’re a kind of Laurel and Hardy duo with Farrell as the antsy troublemaker and Gleeson working damage control. Upon the introduction of a beautiful girl, a dwarf and a pile of drugs however, control soon ceases to be an option.

Filled with funny banter, a couple of teaspoons of existentialist dilemma and a fun late-inning performance by Ralph Fiennes, In Bruges is a good low-maintenance kick that doesn’t ask too much of its audience in exchange for some solid entertainment. The LiC review.

My Blueberry Nights (2008) ****
one of the most underrated movies in recent memory and one of my favorites of the year so far. I practically begged people to see this movie. Some of you did and some of you hated it anyway. That’s fine, but now’s the time for the rest of you to give it a shot. It’s on DVD now. What do you have to lose?

Shotgun Stories (2008) ****
I knew nothing about this one going in other than it had a good critical reputation (it’s got a healthy 76 Metacritic rating even now). What I got was a quietly devastating little number about two families in Little Rock, Arkansas sharing the same father but torn apart by bitterness and rivalry.

The first family is essentially a train wreck made up of three brothers. They were abandoned and left to poverty by their alcoholic father who then found God, cleaned up his act and started a new family with a new wife and four new sons.

On the occasion of their father’s funeral, simmering resentments flare up, a slow-burning fuse is lit and the movie threatens to explode into tragedy.

It all sounds very melodramatic, heavy handed and depressing, but it’s really none of those things. The drama is fairly subtle and there’s a very dry, laconic humor that keeps the movie from getting bogged down.

Stoic Michael Shannon (Bug and a memorable part in Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead: “Do you mind if I call you Chico?”) is terrific as the older brother.

Chop Shop (2008) ****
Ramin Bahrani’s follow up to his critically popular Man Push Cart is a little gem of a film buoyed by surprising performances from non-actors Alejandro Polanco and Isamar Gonzales as a pair of orphaned siblings. The two eke out an existence in a 20 block area of Queens near Shea Stadium made up entirely of wrecking yards and auto body repair shops.

Alejandro is a firecracker of a kid; hard working, motivated, crafty and quick learning. He and his sister have been given no advantages in life, but their dreams of moving up in the world have not been snuffed out. The two love each other and rely on one another, but the pressures of surviving and the things they have to do to get by threaten to pull them apart.

Every step of the way, writer/director Bahrani avoids obvious melodrama and is content instead to simply paint a neorealist portrait of life on the fringes of civilization. Those who like their movies thick of plot and heavy of action won’t find much to appreciate with Chop Shop, but those with attention spans greater than a retarded monkey on LSD will be rewarded.

The film was only released into 3 theaters in the United States and it earned about $120,000 for its trouble. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s 1/1000th the total haul so far of The Incredible Hulk. For those of you with no head for figures, that sucks cinematic balls.

The Tracey Fragments (2008) *** 1/2
This is Canadian filmmaker Bruce McDonald’s experimental film based upon Maureen Medved’s novel of the same name. Ellen Page plays a disaffected 15-year-old searching the barren winter streets of Winnipeg for the little brother she feels responsible for losing. She’s abused at home and mocked at school and quite possibly a little out of her mind. She’s what you might describe as a Holden Caulfield type and a classic unreliable narrator.

In order to capture the stream-of-consciousness style of the book, the story is revealed out of chronological order. What’s more, the screen is frequently divided into multiple images, anywhere from two to more than ten. In some cases the images are different angles on the same scene, sometimes they’re the same scene at different moments, sometimes they’re different scenes altogether and sometimes they’re combinations of all three.

It requires a lot of attention and effort by the audience, but the editing trickery has a galvanizing effect and somehow a story manages to emerge from the chaos. For the right tastes, it’s definitely an interesting watch and recommended to people who wonder if the girl who played Juno is the real deal. I think she is. Even as a teen she had a maturity and screen presence not unlike a similarly aged Jody Foster. Having said all that, a fair number of people who see this are going to find it fruity and pretentious.

The Band’s Visit (2007) ****
Eight Egyptian men representing the Alexandria Police Ceremonial Orchestra find themselves stranded in a small town in Israel. Though the townspeople and band mates are wary of one another, political and cultural differences are eventually set aside. They’re not washed over, just put away for an evening as a group of strangers relate to one another has human beings.

There is plenty of room for dramatic fireworks, but The Band’s Visit is about the little moments in between life’s big dramas; the kind that don’t make history books but lend themselves to a perfectly lovely film.

It’s exactly the kind of understated, unassuming, character driven slice of life drama that is almost never made in the United States and it’s one of the best movies of the year.

Read the original LiC review here

Quid Pro Quo (2008) *** 1/2
This one slipped onto LiC radar during the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and Daniel Getahun gave it a positive review over at Getafilm. Nick Stahl (In the Bedroom) plays a wheelchair bound NPR host investigating the underground phenomenon of people who are obsessed with being disabled, some of them going so far as to have limbs surgically removed. Vera Farmiga (The Departed) plays his tour guide and potential love interest. Interesting film with a distinct Cronenberg Light vibe, though not as cold or dark. Mainly it’s worth seeing for a creepy performance by the lovely Farmiga.

Son of Rambow (2008) *** 1/2
As I said in my original review, “Son of Rambow is a charming, funny look at friendship and imagination through the eyes of two kids who’re at an age when anything seems possible and everything seems amazing.” From Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), it’s the story of two boys in a small town in England in the 1980s who decide to film their own sequel to Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo. It’s a little rough around the edges and undisciplined, but it’s hard not to succumb to its charms.

Reprise (2008) ****
Here’s a great movie that I never got around to reviewing, but this is what I said about it in a Watercooler from May: Contemplative, philosophical and dryly funny, Joachim Trier’s Reprise tells the story of two boyhood friends, aspiring writers who worship the same authors and even submit their first manuscripts for publication on the same day. One of them is accepted, the other is rejected and the balance of their relationship is tipped, though never in ways that you expect. At times very serious and others almost Swingers-like in its bantering humor, Reprise is hard to categorize, but it features great performances all around and it’s highly recommended. In Norwegian with subtitles.

Married Life (2008) *** 1/2
I think I might like this one even a bit better than when I first reviewed it back in March. It’s an odd mixture of romantic melodrama, black comedy and film noir with Chris Cooper as a man plotting to kill his wife Patricia Clarkson. Rachel McAdams plays the true object of his desire and Pierce Brosnan plays the best friend with an agenda of his own. Good acting all around and a terrific ’40s production design help make a slight but all around entertaining couple of hours.

Water Lilies (Naissance des pieuvres) (2007) *** 1/2
This one from Céline Sciamma is another one I should’ve reviewed. I didn’t think a film about girls growing up would have much I could identify with, but it was surprisingly effective. Here’s what I said about it in the Watercooler: Water Lilies tells the story of three very different 15-year-old girls: Floriane, the pretty one who is disliked by the other girls but loved by all the boys; Anne, the chubby one who yearns for a little male attention, and, in the middle, Marie the awkward tomboy who is friends with Anne, but drawn to the beauty, grace and seeming confidence of Floriane. It does a nice job of capturing the awkwardness, uncertainty and insecurity of an age where a person’s physical and emotional maturity don’t usually match and where each person’s development is different from the next. In French with subtitles.

Snow Angels (2008) *** 1/2
David Gordon Green’s look at a small town tragedy and the rippling effects it has on many different characters is powered by the director’s knack for observing little human moments and by a terrific cast including Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell, Michael Angarano and the delightful Olivia Thirlby. I think I like this one even better than when I first reviewed it.

Young@Heart (2008) ****
Stephen Walker’s documentary about an elderly chorus singing modern pop songs sounds unbearable on paper - either too maudlin or simply played for laughs - but it turns out to be a surprisingly moving and human story that embraces life in the face of aging. Read the LiC review here.

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2008) ****
First up is one that deserved a full LiC review but never got one. The monkey responsible for finalizing the rough draft has been sacked.

OSS 117 is a fictional French super spy named Hubert Bonniseur de la Bath who beat James Bond to print by 3 years and was the subject of a movie a full 5 years before Ian Fleming’s hero. This current incarnation turns the genre on its head and spoofs it with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

The story is set in 1955 and every effort has been made to make it appear as if it was actually filmed 50 years ago. From the old-style Gaumont Film Company logo, to the Saul Bass style opening credits, to the old stock footage of Rome, Paris and Cairo, to the clothing styles, to the process shots used in the driving scenes, this could easily have been filmed in the 1950s. In fact, one couple leaving the theater where I saw it wondered aloud if it had been.

The jokes come from the offensively insensitive and hopelessly inept OSS 117 (Jean Dujardin) as he stumbles through foreign countries inciting revolution even as he seeks to stop them. What separates this from something like the Austin Powers franchise is that the filmmakers never let on that they’re kidding and the film lacks Mike Meyer’s knowing smugness. As a result, it works better as a satire.

Ultimately, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies is more of a funny movie in the “continual rolling chuckle” variety rather than the “spleen busting” variety, but funny is funny damnit.

Bigger, Stronger, Faster (2008) ****
If not for Daniel Getahun, I probably would’ve missed this one all together. The topic of steroid pumped bodybuilders doesn’t do a thing to interest me, but this documentary is about something bigger and it’s pretty great. Here’s a quote about filmmaker Christopher Bell from the LiC review: “For a first time documentarian, Bell is surprisingly effective. He has a folksy, amateur interview style similar to Michael Moore, but he never grandstands, pulls snarky stunts or seeks to embarrass his subjects. He asks probing questions, but he’s gentle and non-judgmental. Also unlike Moore, he seems genuinely interested in finding answers rather than establishing an agenda and he’s careful to approach his subject from as many angles as he can find.”

Paranoid Park (2008) *** 1/2
Though I haven’t seen it again since I first reviewed it, I think I might like Paranoid Park even better than I did six months ago. With his story of a troubled teen teetering on the edge of oblivion, Gus Van Sant has put some of the formal experimentation of his most recent small-scale pictures to its most satisfying use. It’s still arty and some will find it pretentious, but if you give it a chance you might find it sticks with you.

Boy A (2008) *** 1/2
Buoyed by a terrific lead performance from Andrew Garfield (Lions for Lambs), the UK drama Boy A is a haunting look at whether you can ever really escape from your past. In this case, Garfield plays a young man who spent his childhood in jail for his part in a brutal crime. Upon his release he’s given a new start with a new identity, but he lives in constant fear that his history will catch up to him.

The Visitor (2008) *** 1/2
I liked The Visitor, but not nearly as much as some of the people who helped make it the closest thing we’ve had this year to an indie crossover hit. Richard Jenkins is terrific as the emotionally wounded college professor who learns to live life when his staid existence is shaken up by two illegal immigrants. Unfortunately, filmmaker Tom McCarthy doesn’t have enough faith in the intelligence of his audience. He tends towards heavy-handed obviousness and he has to underline moments of emotional drama when the film begs for subtlety and restraint. In the end, The Visitor plays to the cheap seats and the result is a good film instead of a great one. I’m giving it the same rating as the other two films, but it’s an odd case where the glass feels half empty instead of half full. On the other hand, I’m pretty much in the minority of opinion on this one so see it yourself and then come back and tell me I’m full of it.

4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (2008) **** 1/2
Unfairly pigeonholed as “the Romanian abortion drama,” the 2007 Cannes Palme d’Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is more of an illustration of the corruption and decay of an authoritarian society. Abortion is used as an extreme example to show life in Eastern Europe before the fall of Communism, but an overt judgment about the controversial subject is never made. People on both sides of the abortion issue will find things to admire and to hate about this film depending on how hard they try. Either way, they’re missing the point.

At its core, 4 Months is a gripping drama, brilliantly executed. It begins incidentally, following Otilia (the amazing Anamaria Marinca) as she carries on about her business dealing with the black market for the necessities of her day-to-day existence as a student living in a dreary school dormitory. For the first 40 minutes or so it’s clear she’s making some kind of preparations for her fuzzy headed roommate Gabita, but the fact she’s arranging for an illegal black market abortion is only slowly revealed.

The film is extremely suspenseful, not in a Hitchcock way but almost in a horror movie way. Using extremely long takes with a hand held (but never annoying) camera or an Easyrig setup, filmmaker Christian Mungiu follows Otilia around, frequently in close-up, with information about her surroundings coming in at the edges of the widescreen frame. There’s a claustrophobia right from the start and a tension that slowly builds into almost unbearable suspense. Before you realize he’s doing it, you’re in it.

Mungiu wisely uses Otilia as the protagonist because Gabita is highly unsympathetic. Ultimately you can’t help but feel for Gabita, and Mungiu is careful to never pass judgment upon her, but she’s selfish, stupid and frustrating. By focusing on the more heroic Otilia, the audience is easily drawn into Mungiu’s world.

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is a terrific, harrowing and moving film that, despite its controversial subject matter, is surprisingly subtle and engaging. Because of the unpleasantness of the potentially depressing subject matter, some people will steer clear of this film even on DVD, but they’re denying themselves one of the best films of the last couple of years.

Stuck (2008) ****
I don’t think I know a single person who agreed with my enthusiastic review of Stuart Gordon’s macabre, claustrophobic thriller starring Stephen Rea and Mena Suvari, but I stand by it. It’s not a horror film per se, but it uses many of the same elements to subvert the genre in telling its story largely from the point of view of the monster rather than the victim. At turns creepy, suspenseful, gross and entertaining, Stuck is a lot of fun. What else do you want from a DVD?

Red (2008) *** 1/2
This little low-budget number snuck in and out of theaters at the tail end of an exhausting summer season. It’s a simple, pulpy tale about a man exacting revenge for the murder of his dog. It’s mainly worth noting because it gives the terrific Brian Cox the chance to carry a film and he doesn’t disappoint. It’s a modest film and imperfect, but Cox is good. Read the whole LiC review here.

Filed under: DVD

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