June 27-29, 2008

Road to Rio -

You know, it's funny. If this movie were made today the critics would rip it to shreds. I know I would. It's Hollywood capitalism at it's finest. Absolutely no plot to speak of, just two big names and a bunch of jokes. In modern day parlance, this would be like George Clooney and Ray Romano making a buddy picture. People of taste would rise and lambaste the film like it was White Chicks. But I love the Road movies. Somehow, because it's Hope and Crosby, it makes it all ok. I have no explanation for this. It is a complete and total double standard, I admit it. And I don't care.

This film is Bob Hope and Bing Crosby fooling around, this time supposedly in Rio Di Janeiro, though I'd bet dollars to donuts there wasn't a second of location shooting. But who cares. This film is funny. I laughed. The bit with the hats had me cracking up. It's amazing how these old movies were able to do such simple things to make you laugh. I suspect that these films work because they are largely derived from vaudeville. The plot is just a thin veneer to string together a bunch of set pieces, be they song and dance numbers, comic routines, daredevil routines, whatever. And just as with vaudeville, the main purpose of each bit is to entertain, and I think if there is a distinction between these movies and modern day silly comedies it's that the aims are slightly different. The old movies (ala vaudeville) want to entertain. They want people to have a good time. Modern silly movies are almost insulting. It's like the failed writers and directors that make them take out their bitterness in the "comedy". Like they are saying "you yokels actually think this shit is funny? Well fine, I'll heap on this crap until you choke, you bastards." And I give Hope and Crosby credit, you can tell that everything they are doing is to entertain you. They are willing to do anything to get a laugh. Turn to the camera and mug? No problem. Dress in drag? Make sure it shows my chest hair.

Another interesting facet of this film and Road films in general is how carefully it treads breaking the fourth wall, both literally and metaphorically. It's not like a Zucker brothers comedy, where it completely violates the fourth wall and plot-driven filmmaking, but it's not a straight comedy either. There are plenty of times where the characters turn to the camera and say something to the audience, or they refer to the fact it's a film or to their real life personas. So it treads the middle ground between straight comedy and Zucker comedy. It's a difficult area to make work, but they do it well.

Grade: B

Calender -

This is the Netflix summary of the plot:

Atom Egoyan directs and stars in this painfully honest account of an Armenian photographer's search for love in spite of himself. His marriage in tatters, he starts dating again, but can't quite jump in with both feet, and his heart, first. With every date, he puts the women through the paces, asking them to make sexually charged phone calls to others. When he finally meets his match, his ex suddenly comes back into the already murky picture.

Yes, this is the plot of the film. But then again, it's not. The events described in this summary are about seven layers underneath the actual happenings in the film. It is helpful to know this summary going in so you can abstract the meaning from the very slow-paced action of the film. And the film is incredibly slow. While it does serve some purpose, it allows the viewer time to digest what is going on and abstract the actual meaning from the events, it does not make for an entertaining time.

The cinematography oscillates between stark visuals and luscious textures, though I would've preferred the switch between the different styles to have slightly more meaning in the context of the story, but it is used to a fairly well effect. The main problem I have with the film, outside of it's pacing, is the fact that I found the protagonist to be a fairly unlikeable character. He's a schmuck. And an asshole. Yet we are supposed to identify with this person, identify with his pain and struggles. While that is certainly possible, we do identify with his struggles to a certain extent, it's hard to care when he is a jerk.

On the whole, I liked the film. It does a good job relating the emotions of a heartbreak, something we can all relate to, in a very convincing and artistic fashion, but the film does have flaws, which detract from the overall experience.

Grade: C+

Zorba the Greek -

The iconic role for revered ethnic actor Anthony Quinn, one for which he was nominated for an Oscar and should've won (he lost to Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, though that was a pretty damn good year for best actor category). The story of a young Englishman (Alan Bates) who travels to a bit of land in Crete owned by his family, with plans for resuscitating the lignite mine on the premises. Along the way he meets an old Greek man named Zorba (Quinn) who becomes his right-hand man and life mentor. Bates reason for traveling to Crete are murky and subtly told. He is a writer, but hasn't written anything for months, and views the mine as a test to his ability. All of this is related in one conversation with Zorba in the underneath subtext of two or three lines of spoken dialog. This is just one small facet of this amazing film.

To put it bluntly, this is the best film I have seen in some time. It blew me away. What is this film about? It is about life. From the dizzying highs to the stygian lows and all points in between. White, black and every shade of gray imaginable. Or as Zorba himself would put it, "the whole catastrophe". Every human being should see this film. If life were a college course with a required reading/viewing list, this film would be on it. This film examines life from every angle. Not just the positive life-affirming stuff that you'd expect in a film, but also the senseless, tragedies that come along for the ride. It's LIFE, in all its mysterious ways. Just when you think you get a handle on how the film is going to go, it moves in a completely different direction. A couple times, those directions were dark. Not just dark, but black. Bleak. Disturbing even. But it doesn't stay there. It hits a point, then comes back around to something else. This isn't a one-message film, just as life doesn't have one message. It is a mirror. It shows what life is. The messages are your own.

For all you guys out there that cry at the ending of Big Fish, I dare you...I DEFY you...to watch the ending of this film and not weep like a babe. It is now one of my favorite endings of all time. I rewound and watched the ending four times, then the next day popped the DVD back in to watch the ending a couple more times. I haven't done that since I saw Secretary. This is a brilliant film. Go watch it. NOW.

Grade: A+