Blu-ray Review | "A Star is Born"

At this point, Hollywood has remade A Star is Born so many times that its plot may seem a bit trite and overly familiar. Even Michel Hazavicius' much balleyhooed (and current Oscar) The Artist borrows heavily from its classic rags to riches story. Remade by George Cukor in 1954 with Judy Garland and James Mason, and again in 1976 by Frank Pierson with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, with another remake on the way directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Beyonce, A Star is Born remains one of our most popular and enduring stories.

Why? Because it taps into that innate appeal of Hollywood, that anyone, even a farmer's daughter like Esther Blodgett (Janet Gaynor) can make it big in Tinseltown. It is in many ways the quintessential Hollywood fantasy, the ultimate representation of what Hollywood represents (or once represented, or thought it represented).

Janet Gaynor as Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester and Fredric March as Norman Maine in A STAR IS BORN.

Everyone has told Esther to give up on her dream. Her Aunt Mattie (The Wizard of Oz's own Auntie Em, Clara Blandick) thinks she spends too much time at the movies, a frivolous pursuit she has no use for. She wants Esther to get her head out of the clouds and pursue something outside of the glow of the silver screen. But Esther's grandmother, Lettie, encourages her to pursue her dreams, and loans her the money to get to Hollywood. So Esther strikes out on her own, staying at a hotel for $6 a week while trying to pick up extra work at a nearby studio. After being informed that her chances of making it in the movies is 1 in 100,000, she nearly gives up hope. But a struggling director staying in the same hotel gets her a job as a waitress at a swanky Hollywood soiree.

It is there where she meets Norman Maine (Frederic March), one of the biggest movie stars in the world. He is instantly taken with Esther, and talks his producer into giving her a screen test. When the lead of Maine's latest film suddenly drops out, the studio turns to Esther to take her place, resulting in an instant hit. Esther is suddenly the talk of the town, but Norman's dependence on alcohol and a very public scandal have hurt his image. As Esther, newly renamed Vicki Lester, is on the way up, Norman is on his way down. And even after they get married, Vicki's newfound success may lead Norman down a very dark path of self destruction.

Janet Gaynor as Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester in A STAR IS BORN.

What makes A Star is Born so remarkable is that inasmuch as it is a celebration of Hollywood and the starry eyed dreams that it represents, it's also an extraordinarily honest look at the fickle nature of fame.  William Wellman's direction is serviceable but hardly groundbreaking, but the is nevertheless top shelf Hollywood studio product from producer David O. Selznick. Much like Sunset Boulevard, A Star is Born is a rare piece of Hollywood self reflexivity that portrays the industry warts and all. Wellman pulls no punches in his depiction of self-destruction in the face of declining fame, even in light of the birth of a new star, who could very well follow in his footsteps when her own fame begins to wane.

Presentation-wise, it's hard to ask for more than what Kino has given us with this new blu-ray. The Oscar winning Technicolor cinematography is probably not as vibrant as it once was, and there are still imperfections on the source print, but given the film's age and the condition of the original negative it actually looks pretty good, especially with all the substandard copies floating around out there. The extras are scant, but a sole wardrobe test may have some value to film historians. A Star is Born is a classic Hollywood tale whose influence and timeless themes continue to resonate today. For those only familiar with the Judy Garland version, this 1937 version will be something of a revelation. This is Golden Age studio filmmaking at its best.

GRADE - ★★★★ (out of four)

A STAR IS BORN | Directed by William Wellman | Stars Janet Gaynor, Frederic March, Adolpe Menju, May Robson, Andy Devine | Not rated | Now available on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber.

Blu-ray Review | "La Jetée"/"Sans Soleil"

There are few achievements more unique in the history of cinema than the works of French director Chris Marker. While his name may be unfamiliar to most (even among cinephiles), the influence of his work is undeniable.

The Criterion Collection released his two most famous works, La Jetée (1963) and Sans Soleil (1983) on DVD in 2007, and have followed up with an excellent blu-ray edition. While neither film particularly benefits from an HD upgrade (they are intentionally grainy and their age often benefits their thematic content), but the presentation is stellar nonetheless.

Watching La Jetée now, nearly 50 years after its release, is a revelatory experience, because there really isn't anything else quite like it. At only 27 minutes long, the film is a brief experiment in film form, a bold challenge to the conventional wisdom of what constitutes cinema.

A scene from Chris Marker's LE JETÉE. Courtesy of the Criterion Collection.

La Jetée is a science fiction film told through still photographs. The static images come to life through narration, music, and Marker's skillful use of montage that would have made the Soviets proud. Rarely has a a film so clearly demonstrated the importance of editing the language of cinema as La Jetée, creating kinetic energy and narrative drive out of complete stillness. Its plot seems to foreshadow the likes of Avatar and Source Code, the latter of which is especially interesting, since its director, Duncan Jones, is the son of David Bowie, who payed homage to La Jetée in his music video for "Jump They Say." Like the most radical "Twilight Zone" episode ever made, La Jetée is a post-apocalyptic tale of science and society gone horribly horribly wrong. In the aftermath of World War III, scientists are looking for a way to save humanity, and are experimenting with time travel, sending subjects back in time through the use of avatars (although that word is never used) in order to prevent the apocalypse.

The tests continually fail, until they find a subject with a strong connection to a childhood memory - in this case, an image of a woman on a pier right before witnessing a murder. This memory allows him to slip more easily into the past, the era of his childhood, but instead of working to save the future, he instead falls in love with a woman, and his trips back in time become romantic rendezvous. When the time come for the experiment to end, however, he isn't ready to give up his newfound love, but his attachment to her may have dangerous consequences, and lead him to shocking revelations about his own past.

A scene from Chris Marker's SANS SOLEIL. Courtesy of the Criterion Collection.

Twenty years separates La Jetée from Sans Soleil, but despite their fundamental differences in both form and content, it's striking just how much the two films have in common, thematically. More of a cinematic essay than a film, Sans Soleil is part documentary, part travelogue, and part meditation. Presented as cinematic interpretations of letters sent from an unknown writer, the film takes on a sort of stream of consciousness journey from Japan to Africa, musing about cultural oddities and philosophies. "I've been around the world several times," we are told, "and now only banality still interests me. Sans Soleil takes that banality and turns it into something mesmerizing. Like La Jetée, it is very much enamored with the concept of time and memory. "We do not remember," the narrators says, "we rewrite memory much as history is rewritten." It is a succinct reckoning of a theme that courses through both films about the fading of time and the value of nostalgia. Sans Soleil filters its ruminations through the prism of memory, both hazily distant and fiercely modern.

It is for that very reason that a sharp, pristine blu-ray image would have been completely inappropriate, and probably impossible given the nature of the films. Instead, the folks at Criterion focused on enhancing the colors, making for a more vibrant image that really bring Marker's images to life. Both are wholly unique and original experiences, but taken together they are a staggering, boundary shattering redefinition of cinema itself.

LA JETÉE - ★★★★ (out of four)
SANS SOLEIL - ★★★½ (out of four)

Special features include:

• Restored high-definition digital transfers, approved by director Chris Marker, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks 
• Two interviews with filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin 
• Chris on Chris, a video piece on Marker by filmmaker and critic Chris Darke 
• Two excerpts from the French television series Court-circuit (le magazine): a look at David Bowie’s music video for the song “Jump They Say,” inspired by La Jetée, and an analysis of Hitchcock’s Vertigo and its influence on Marker 
• Junkopia, a six-minute film by Marker, Frank Simone, and John Chapman about the Emeryville Mudflats 
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by Marker scholar Catherine Lupton, an interview with Marker, notes on the films and filmmaking by Marker, and more

On blu-ray today from The Criterion Collection.

Review | "Perfect Sense"

If the movies (and street preachers) are to be believed, the end is clearly nigh.

It may be the one thing Hollywood and the religious right have in common. But religious conviction has little to do with filmmakers' fascination with the end times - disasters sell tickets. On a more personal level, however, they're a perfect vessel for exploring the deepest recesses of human emotions.

Recent films like Lars von Trier's Melancholia have used the end of the world to explore the roots of depression, while movies like Steven Soderbergh's Contagion takes a more real world approach to the all-too-plausible scenario of a global pandemic.

David Mackenzie's Perfect Sense combines those two approaches, the plausible and the poetic, and turns it into something at once beautiful and frightening, deeply romantic and daringly bleak.

Eva Green as “Susan”and Ewan McGregor as “Michael” in PERFECT SENSE, directed by David Mackenzie. 
Photo by Neil Davidson. An IFC Films Release.

The world is slowly beginning to fall apart. A mysterious disease is causing people to lose their sense of taste. It seems minor at first, but the sudden loss of smell causes people to panic. Amid this growing chaos, a scientist named Susan (Eva Green) meets a young chef named Michael (Ewan McGregor), and the two quickly become  each other's shelter in the storm. Susan is one of the first scientists to study the mysterious disease, which has no known cause or mode of transmission. Unable to stop its spread or explain its origins, governments offer empty platitudes in order to calm panicking citizens.

But then the disease begins to change. Soon people have not only lost their sense of smell, but their sense of taste as well. And then their hearing. And then finally their eyesight. As the world crumbles around them, Susan and Michael are all each other has. With their senses slowly fading, the only feeling that holds any meaning is love.

Ewan McGregor and Ewen Bremner in PERFECT SENSE, directed by David Mackenzie. 
Photo by Neil Davidson. An IFC Films Release.

Less obtuse than Melancholia and more emotionally astute than Contagion, Perfect Sense is a poetic examination of love in the face of great trauma. It taps into our deepest fears as well as our deepest desires. Deeper than that, however, it's look at the strength of emotions when all other senses fail. Deprived of the senses that they take for granted on a daily basis, the only thing left is love. It may sound a bit cheesy, but Mackenzie (who also directed McGregor in Young Adam with Tilda Swinton) deftly avoids any kind of cheap sentiment. He walks a fine line between lyricism and realism, real world drama and metaphorical emotionalism, never skirting too far into either territory.

McGregor and Green make for an attractive couple, and their chemistry drives the film (along with some surprisingly non-gimmicky narration by Green). Their relationship may seem to come about a little too suddenly, but once it's established it provides the film with a powerful, beating heart. It's a romance at the end of the world without the hoary cliches that so often accompany such stories. It's not so much a story of how love conquers all, but how they relate to the world around them, and how it relates to them. When everything fades away, be it through a mysterious disease or through age, all that matters are the people we have left. Perfect Sense conveys this theme with quiet grace, giving us a refreshingly original vision of a theme movies have been playing on for ages. Now, here at the "real" end of the world, they've finally gotten it right.

GRADE - ★★★ (out of four)

PERFECT SENSE | Directed by David Mackenzie | Stars Ewan McGregor, Eva Green , Ewen Bremner, Connie Nielsen, Stephen Dillane | Not rated | Now playing in NYC and IFC On Demand.

Review | "Kill List"

Good horror films are hard to find. It is perhaps the most critically unappreciated genre while simultaneously being one of the most widely popular. The problem for critics is tha horror films are so rarely great art anymore, and often rely on cheap jump scares and gore. But the bottom line is that while critics may not care for them, audiences love a good scare.

Ben Wheatley's Kill List attempts to bridge that gap somewhat, with mixed results.

There are a lot of elements at work in Kill List - it's part road movie, part mumblecore, and part horror; the film plays out a bit like Michael Winterbottom's The Trip coupled with A Serbian Film.

A strange mix, to be sure, but Kill List is a strange film. Not particularly original, necessarily, but with a strong vision and sense of assuredness in its own madness.

A scene from Ben Wheatley’s KILL LIST.
© 2011Warp X/Rook Films (Kill List) Ltd.  An IFC MIDNIGHT release.

It seems a bit aimless at first - a slow burning, mostly improvised introduction to two hit men, Jay (Neil Maskell) and Gal (Michael Smiley), and their families that doesn't really seem to go anywhere for a while. They fight, they eat dinner, they discuss guns, but the movie seems stuck in first gear. By the time they finally set out on their mission (which they don't even know the nature of), the film finally picks up steam as it becomes clear something isn't quite right with Jay. Killing does something to him, inspires a strange bloodlust in him, and he flies into ever increasing fits of berserker rage with each new kill.

At first the victims seem like typical, even understandable, targets. Child molesters, drug dealers, people that won't be missed, and it almost makes them feel like they're doing some sort of public service. Their final target, however, is a different animal altogether. And they soon begin to realize that they have gotten themselves in way over their heads. Jay's descent into madness has lead them into a startling trap, where even their carefully honed skills may not be able to save them.

Jay (Neil Maskell) & Gal (Michael Smiley) in Ben Wheatley’s KILL LIST. 
© 2011Warp X/Rook Films (Kill List) Ltd. An IFC MIDNIGHT release.

The final stretch of Kill List is by far its strongest asset, but its also its most problematic. Jay's transformation is certainly harrowing, and it sets the tone for the final third of the film. But the film's final act almost seems like a different film. The sudden appearance of a mysterious cult (whose origins are never revealed) seems so out of left field that it's a bit jarring. That doesn't take away from the fact that the film's final act is genuinely frightening. Wheatley creates an atmosphere of palpable dread, and delivers a brutal payoff for those with the patience to wade through the occasionally plodding first half. The scene in the tunnels underground is shockingly intense, and is almost all the more effective for its drastic tonal shift. The film becomes a horror movie almost in an instant, and Wheatley delivers the promised scares with an almost sadistic glee.

The ending, while somewhat controversial, is chillingly ambiguous. It isn't quite earned, perhaps, as the film tends to rely on the audience's acceptance of sudden plot twists without much question. But Wheatley manages to overcome some of these narrative gaps through sheer force. Kill List shocks and awes, creating a highly effective atmosphere with some real scares, I'm just not convinced there's as much going on beneath the surface as it seems to think there is. Wheatley is clearly a clever craftsman, but by delving into Wicker Man territory for the film's terrifying denouement, he ends up sacrificing narrative depth for atmosphere. It works on a purely visceral level, but there are still a few kinks that need to be worked out. Kill List has balls, certainly, it just doesn't quite have the brains to back them up.

GRADE - ★★½ (out of four)

KILL LIST | Directed by Ben Wheatley | Stars Neil Maskell, Michael Smiley, MyAnna Buring, Emma Fryer | Not Rated | Now playing in select theaters.

Review | "Carol Channing: Larger Than Life"

There are few figures in the world of film, television, or theatre more inherently likable than Carol Channing.

Perhaps best known for originating the role of the plucky Dolly Levi from Hello, Dolly!, Channing, now nearly 90, still commands the screen with the same effortless charm as she did when she first took Broadway by storm decades ago.

Dori Berinstein's new documentary, Carol Channing: Larger Than Life, is both a celebration of her talent and a tribute to her enormous spirit. It's also a deeply touching love story between Carol and her beloved husband, Harry Kullijian, who sadly passed away in December, preventing Channing from doing any publicity for this film

It's a romance straight out of the movies, fitting for the irrepressible Channing who often seems more like a character from a Broadway play than an actual person.

But real she is, and gloriously so. There are few people that could make an hour and a half in their company so thoroughly enchanting that it flies by as if no time has passed at all. Berinstein takes us through her career, from her humble beginnings as a child on her school's stage for the first time, to her most recent appearance at a benefit concert featuring Angela Lansbury and Chita Rivera long after her retirement from the stage. It's as heartwarming as it is thrilling to see Channing still performing. She's a born entertainer, and even at 90 years old her energy hasn't faded.

Berinstein wisely steps back and allows Carol to be Carol. There's no pretense about her, no arrogance or cynicism. The woman truly loves what she does, and her enthusiasm is simply irresistible. And it's clear from the cavalcade of stars who have come out to pay tribute to her in this film that she is truly beloved by all who know her. From Phyllis Diller to Barbara Walters, from Lily Tomlin to Tyne Daly, entertainers of all stripes sit down to honor a true living legend. But the real thrill here is Channing herself, whose iconic voice can't help but put a smile on your face as she shares her tales of life in the theatre, and offers her insights into the Broadway of today.

It's more than just an effusive series of breathless praises for Channing, however. The heart and soul of the film is Channing's relationship with her husband, Harry. Once close childhood friends, Carol and Harry were separated for decades. As Channing rose to fame, she was caught in an unhealthy, poisonous marriage to a controlling, overbearing man on whom Carol's purity of spirit was lost. It wasn't until she published her book, "Just Lucky I Guess," in 2002, that Harry saw his name mentioned and decided to call her up. The two were reunited and married within weeks, and they stayed madly in love until his death in December 2011. It's a love story straight out of a fairy tale, somehow befitting Channing's almost otherworldly vivacity.

It may be mostly thanks to the woman herself, but Carol Channing: Larger Than Life is something truly remarkable. It's an endlessly enthralling and enchanting experience, a ravishing, toe tapping tribute to a life well lived. Films like this so often feel perfunctory and self congratulatory, but every moment is pitch perfect, unassuming, and jubilantly rendered. It's a film, and a life, worth cheering for, that will send audiences out of the theater on a cloud, whistling her iconic tunes, grinning from ear to ear. Welcome back, Carol. It's so nice to have you back where you belong.

GRADE - ★★★½ (out of four)

CAROL CHANNING: LARGER THAN LIFE | Directed by Dori Berinstein | Featuring Carol Channing, Harry Kullijian, Jerry Herman, Lily Tomlin, Chita Rivera, Barbra Walters, Tippi Hendren, Phyllis Diller, Bruce Villanch, Debbie Reynolds, Tommy Tune | PG - mild thematic elements, including brief smoking images | Now playing in LA and Palm Springs. Opens Friday, February 3, in NY and San Francisco.

On "The Grey"

From The Dispatch:

There's something intensely primal about this conflict between man and animal, and director Carnahan ("Narc," "The A-Team") maximizes the sense of isolation to great effect. It's a surprisingly character driven piece, relying more on atmosphere and character drama rather than cheap thrills, although it has thrills a plenty. Part horror, part drama, part thriller, "The Grey" is something of an anomaly — it's a genre piece that has great emotional resonance.

Click here to read my full review.

Blu-ray Review | "Annie Hall/Manhattan"

It may come as a shock to people of my generation and younger who grew up in a time where Woody Allen has released a string of substandard product, from Melinda & Melinda to Scoop to The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, to encounter the greatness of his early work for the first time. His most recent film, Midnight in Paris may have brought back a glimmer of his former glory, but nothing really comes close to those early works for sheer wit and intellectual comedy.

Annie Hall may be known by legions of Star Wars fans as "that movie that beat Star Wars for Best Picture" in 1977, but as great as the original, pre-Lucas rejiggering Star Wars is, Annie Hall absolutely deserved its win. It's not only Allen's finest film, it's one of the finest films of the 1970s. Allen made lots of very good films, but he never quite surpassed Annie Hall, which would go on to be regarded as his seminal masterpiece, the most pitch perfect evocation of his own particular brand of self-deprecating neurosis.

Allen plays one of his endless variations on himself, but of all his roles this one seems to strike the closest to home. That's one of Annie Hall's most enduring qualities. It's clearly a deeply personal work for Allen, almost autobiographical in its evocation of his worldview. His love affair with the titular Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) remains one of the most piercing studies in romantic dissolution ever committed to celluloid. Allen had a keen insight into what makes relationships work (or in this case, not work), and the clear incompatibility of these two people is both poignant and hilarious. Allen carefully deconstructs their tentative courtship into strikingly perceptive observations on love through wry, self-reflexive comments and fourth wall breaking that almost seemed to acknowledge the sheer movie-ness of what we're watching. Subtitles tell us what the characters are actually thinking even as they say something else. Allen has shockingly honest conversations with strangers that reflect underlying reality more than natural conversation. Annie Hall is a film about everything that goes on underneath the surface, about everything that goes unsaid in a relationship where more open communication could prevent conflict (or perhaps create all new ones).

Two years after Annie Hall, Allen made Manhattan, which could justifiably be called the quintessential New York movie. While New York acted as Allen's muse for decades before he discovered London in Match Point, Barcelona in Vicki Cristina Barcelona, and Paris in Midnight in Paris, never did it feel so exalted, so vibrant, so alive as it did in Manhattan, which is a big glowing valentine to the city Allen loves the most.

While the film still centers around a neurotic nebbish with love problems much like Annie Hall, Manhattan is less about the relationships as it is the city itself. This time Allen stars as Isaac, a writer who's in love with two women - a sweet but naive 17 year old girl (Mariel Hemingway), and a much more worldly fellow writer his own age (Diane Keaton). Having just emerged from a messy divorce, his ex-wife (Meryl Streep) is now writing a tell-all book about their relationship and her subsequent turn to homosexuality.

Manhattan doesn't quite have the same kind of comedic inventiveness of Annie Hall, but it isn't really meant to. There's something more romantic about it, and in some ways more naive. It's an Allen fantasy, less cynical perhaps than his other films, because it allows Allen to focus on something he loves even more than himself - New York City. The gorgeous black and white photography (and that swinging Gershwin score) recalls the smoky images of  a New York that existed perhaps only in portraits on a wall, but it also evokes the way its lead character, and by proxy Allen himself, views the city. Every nuance, every rhythm, is perfectly in tune with the hum and verve of the city, at least as it exists in Allen's mind. Manhattan is the film that benefits the most from the blu-ray upgrade, and Fox wisely chose to preserve is wonderfully grainy quality. They've enhanced the lovely use of light and contrast while maintaining its film like fuzziness creating something gorgeous and evocative. This is Manhattan as it was always meant to look, and it's simply stunning.

Annie Hall has also received a much needed clean-up. And while it was never a particularly visual striking film, the HD makeover has cleared away some of its more obvious age. The only issue here is the complete lack of extras on both discs, a shame considered both films' place in film history. With Allen back in the spotlight again, one would think now would be the perfect time for some new making of documentaries and retrospectives on Allen's prolific career. Alas, we are left with these bare-bones blu-rays that, while making the films look better than ever, have missed an opportunity to deepen our understanding and appreciation of these seminal works.

The films themselves, however, remain masterpieces; and with Annie Hall in bad need of a clean up and Manhattan never looking more beautiful, it's hard not to recommend these two discs to both longtime Allen fans and newcomers to his work, who I think will be pleasantly surprised by singular wit and sophistication of the director's more accomplished early work.

ANNIE HALL - ★★★★ (out of four)
MANHATTAN - ★★★★ (out of four)

Now available on blu-ray and DVD from 20th Century Fox and MGM.

The Top Ten Scores of 2011

1

W.E.
(Abel Korzeniowski)

The man behind the best score of 2009, A Single Man, returns with another lushly melodic work that simultaneously recalls Yann Tierson's Amelie, Philip Glass' Mishima, and Korzeniowski's own work from A Single Man. At once mesmerizing and thrilling, W.E. stands strong as the year's most accomplished piece of film music.

2

EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE
(Alexandre Desplat)

Desplat topped off an exceptional year with this gorgeous, wonderfully understated score that walks a delicate balanace between restraint and lyrical emotionalism, often better than the film itself. One of the composer's strongest works.

3

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
(Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross)

Controversial though it may be, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' brilliant follow up to The Social Network is actually an improvement on that Oscar winning score - an eerie and atmospheric work that perfectly captures the dark and twisted world of the film.

4

THE FLOWERS OF WAR
(Qigang Chen)

The film itself may be weak, but Zhang Yimou knows how to use music in his films, and this one is no different. Qigang Chen's score, featuring gorgeous vocals and violin solos by Joshua Bell, is one of the year's great hidden gems.

5

THE ARTIST
(Ludovic Bource)

Perhaps the year's most acclaimed score, and with good reason. Faced with scoring a silent film, Bource's score had to nearly carry the entire film, and he does so with grace and wit, evoking the work of Chaplin and other Golden Age composers with great skill.

6

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
(John Williams)

John Williams reminds us why he's the greatest living composer with this sophisticated and fun action/adventure score that hearkens back to his glory days with Steven Spielberg and the Indiana Jones series.

7

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PT. 2
(Alexandre Desplat)

Alexandre Desplat finally delivers the grand, epic score we always knew he had in him, unleashing his strongest melodic tendencies into a powerful finale to the venerable Harry Potter franchise that sends the series out on a high note.

8

WAR HORSE
(John Williams)

Despite my problems with its use in the film, John Williams' War Horse is still a masterful composition on its own. From its pastoral early tracks, to the hellish war passages, to the wrenching final moments, War Horse is a classic Williams score that's actually better by itself than the film it accompanies.

9

DRIVE
(Cliff Martinez)

Nicholas Winding Refn's smashing film wouldn't have been the same without Cliff Martinez' pulsing and evocative score, putting the film square in the middle of its 1980s aesthetic. The songs aren't half bad either. It's the soundtrack album of the year.

10

HUGO
(Howard Shore)

Martin Scorsese's magical ode to silent film features an equally magical score by Howard Shore, evoking the joy and innocence of Paris in the 1930s. If film is the stuff that dreams are made of, so too is Shore's wonderful music.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Skin I Live In (Alberto Iglesias), Jane Eyre (Dario Marianelli), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Alberto Iglesias), Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Rachel Portman), My Week With Marilyn (Conrad Pope), The Greatest Miracle (Mark McKenzie), Captain America (Alan Silvestri), The Tree of Life (Alexandre Desplat), Source Code (Chris Bacon).

SAG Award Winners

The Help had a big night at the Screen Actors Guild awards tonight, taking home awards for Best Cast, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress. While Plummer and Spencer remain sure bets for Oscar wins, their choices for Actor and Actress have made races out of both categories, with Dujardin now George Clooney's chief competition and Davis giving Streep a run for her money.

Here are the film category winners:

Best Cast in a Motion Picture
The Help

Best Male Actor in a Leading Role 
Jean Dujardin, The Artist 

Best Female Actor in a Leading Role
Viola Davis, The Help

Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Octavia Spencer, The Help 

Best Stunt Ensemble
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2


For the full list, included TV awards, click here.

"Watch your words, for they become actions..."

Michel Hazanavicius Wins DGA

History repeats itself in an interesting bit of irony as Tom Hooper (The King's Speech), last year's DGA winner, presented Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) the Directors Guild of America award for director of the year.

This is the second year in a row that a solid but unremarkable film has beat out a crop of much stronger directorial voices on an unstoppable march to the Oscars. I honestly don't think I've ever felt such a strong disconnect with the industry as they continue to heap accolade upon accolade on a nice, unoffensive little film that has nothing new, original, or particularly soulful to say.

I like The Artist. I do. But I don't get this at all. What makes The Artist a stronger directorial achievement than something spiritually transcendant like Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life (which wasn't even nominated), or Martin Scorsese's vastly superior ode to silent film, Hugo, or even David Fincher's remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a lesser film than The Artist but nevertheless a much fiercer, assured directorial voice. And don't even get me started comparing it to Asghar Farhadi's work on A Separation or Nicholas Winding Refn for Drive, or any other number of films from 2011.

Here is the  list of film winners:

Feature Film - Michel Hazanvicius, The Artist
Documentary Feature - James Marsh, Project Nim

For the complete list of winners, click here.

Blu-ray Review | "The Cinema of Jean Rollin"

Jean Rollin is not exactly a household name, even among cinephiles. His unique brand of vampire erotica has long been unavailable in the United States outside of VHS bootlegs, which garnered Rollin the cult following he enjoys today. In fact, Rollin himself encouraged the bootlegs, contributing short introductions to each film that are included in Kino Lorber's new blu-ray releases of five of his titles. Having bought the rights to the Redemption Films catalogue, which includes much of Rollin's work.

The earliest of these films is 1970's The Nude Vampire. Rollin's second feature film, after his much maligned debut, The Rape of the Vampire (1968).

Rollin's unique directorial voice is less apparent in these early films, which were often subject to studio imposed sex scenes to increase marketability, which are often stilted, awkward, and out of place.

This is especially true in The Nude Vampire, in which a young vampire woman is held captive by group of scientists hoping to discover the secret of immortality. When one of the scientist's sons discovers the young lady, who has never before seen a human face, he falls in love with her and sets out to free her from her captors, even if it means betraying his own father. But a mysterious suicide cult is also interested in her, leading to a bizarre showdown that becomes less a horror film and more a wild sci-fi thriller.

Rollin's work always tends more toward the surreal, but more so than his later films, The Nude Vampire is just plain odd. Made on a miniscule budget with non-professional actors, the film appears to be just another B-movie exploitation film. But watching it in conjunction with his other films, the seeds of Rollin's talent become clear, even if it is not fully manifested until later. The opening scene, for instance, in which the young woman runs from hooded figures dressed as deer, chickens, and other various animals is a terrific set piece, hinting at some of the more evocative work in Rollin's later films.

He spread his wings a bit in 1971's The Shiver of the Vampires, an equally strange but more visually arresting film about a newlywed couple named Isla and Antoine who make a stop at a forbidding castle while on their honeymoon to visit the woman's beloved cousins. Upon their arrival, however, they are informed that the cousins have died the night before, but they choose to spend the night in the castle anyway.

It turns out that her cousins are not dead, at least not quite. Once successful vampire hunters, they have been turned into vampires themselves by a beautiful lesbian vampire who takes an immediate liking to Isla.

The film that follows features perhaps Rollin's most convoluted plotline, even more so than The Nude Vampire, but it does feature an interesting history of a war between paganism and Christianity that explains much of the modern vampire myth.

It is also more dreamlike than the often clunky Nude Vampire, and displays a marked growth in terms of visuals and storytelling prowess. What distinguishes Shiver of the Vampires, even from Rollin's other films, is its creative use of imagery and color, which looks especially bright in Kino's new HD transfer. Of course, it is somewhat marred by the almost goofy inclusion of soft-core erotica, and the thumping rock score by French prog band Acanthus puts the film squarely in the realm of campy 1970s exploitation. Once again though, something of Rollin's talent shone through the dated trappings. Rollin was not just another cheap peddler of erotic horror smut, but he wouldn't get his chance to truly prove it until 1973, with the release of The Iron Rose.

The Iron Rose is at once the ultimate Rollin film, and the one that stands out as the least like his other work. It's also his masterpiece, the one film in this collection that can legitimately be called a great film. It's clearly Rollin's most personal work, made without producer mandated erotica or any kind of obstructions, allowing the director to make the film he wanted to make.

And what a film it is. While Rollin's films were never really what one would consider scary, The Iron Rose absolutely is. It's the story of a young couple who go into a graveyard for a late night romantic tryst, but can't find their way out again. Hopelessly lost and increasingly frightened, the two slowly descend into paranoia and eventually madness.

There are no vampires or anything supernatural at all in The Iron Rose.  Instead, Rollin fully unleashes his surrealist tendencies to craft a film that is both beautiful and eerie, a haunting exploration of the human psyche and a superb cinematic study in slowly mounting dread.

The Iron Rose is arguably the best showcase of Rollin's talents. Not as bizarre or campy perhaps as some of his earlier work, but it displayed a poetic, lyrical quality that had skirted around the edges of his previous films before coming to fruition here. Distilling history, romance, and philosophy into a haunting melting pot of feelings, ideas, and fear, The Iron Rose is perhaps one of horror's most overlooked masterpieces, and Kino's blu-ray release is a treasure not just for horror fans but for fans of great cinema as well.  For those looking to see what is so special about Rollin's work, one need look no further than this trip down a macabre rabbit hole from which there is no escape, which represents the pinnacle of the director's unique brand of surreal horror.

1975's Lips of Blood was a bit of a return to form for Rollin after the more experimental Iron Rose (which became his greatest commercial failure). Vampires make a glorious reappearance here, but this time with the experience of The Iron Rose behind him, Rollin clearly exercised more directorial control this time around. Rollin considered this his most developed story, and while it seems a bit aimless at first, it packs a surprising emotional punch.

Lips of Blood introduces us to a young man whose trip to a party triggers repressed childhood memories of a meeting with a beautiful young girl at a Gothic mansion. His domineering mother dismisses the memory as fantasy, but he becomes determined to find this girl, who becomes an object of fascination and desire.

Soon he begins seeing her everywhere and becomes more and more obsessed (he even sees her while attending a screening of The Shiver of the Vampires). Along the way he discovers a dark family secret - the young girl is a vampire who has been held in captivity for years. The film culminates with a surprisingly tender and emotional note that somehow combines the thoughtful lyricism of The Iron Rose with the more lurid qualities of Rollin's earlier work. Rollin weaves themes of memory and repressed sexual desire in with the more erotic elements with much greater skill here than he had before, making Lips of Blood one of his strongest films and yet, sadly, yet another commercial failure.

He rebounded from the failure of Lips of Blood with one of his most popular films, 1975's Fascination. It seems that by the time he reached this point in his career, he was much more comfortable with the sexual elements present in his work, and as such, Fascination  is perhaps his most truly erotic film. At times it even plays like soft-core pornography, but unlike his previous films, the eroticism flows naturally from the story rather than feeling awkwardly shoe-horned in.

Fascination is also a kind of vampire film without vampires. It features blood drinkers, yes, but not the kind one would expect. It's the story of an unlucky thief who takes shelter in a castle while fleeing from an armed gang he tried to rip off, and discovers two beautiful young servants who are home alone, awaiting the arrival of the master and mistress of the house. At first it seems like some sort of dominant male fantasy, and armed man with two nubile young women at his service, but the tables are turned when their friends arrive, and they are nothing like what they seem.


It turns out that they are a "blood cult," a group of women addicted to drinking blood. What started out as drinking ox blood as an old fashioned cure for anemia turned into a desire for something more, and now he is at their mercy in a strange orgy of human depravity. But when one of the women falls in love with him everything changes, leaving her conflicted about whether to obey her heart, her friends, or her own ravenous thirst for blood.

Fascination is perhaps Rollin's most straightforward film. The plot makes sense, there is very little of Rollin's trademark surrealism, and for perhaps the first time, the sex actually feels natural, even essential, to the plot. It may not be as strong an auteurist piece as The Iron Rose or Lips of Blood, but it doesn't have the same lofty goals either. It's just a solid genre piece, and it was clear that by this point in his career, Rollin was completely comfortable with who he was a director.

Kino's presentation here is surprisingly first rate, even by their normally high standards. The films themselves still have occasional scratches and pops, but that is to be expected with films of this type. The extras are all top notch, with each disc containing a 20-page booklet with notes by Tim Lucas (although it's the exact same booklet with each film) and a short introduction by Rollin himself, as well as interviews with cast and crew and, in the case of Fascination, two deleted sex scenes for those so inclined.

The real special feature here, however, is the fact that these films are finally available to a wider audience. More than just exploitation curiosities, Rollin's films are both beautiful and fascinating works that deserve the attention and consideration they can now be afforded by a new generation. Not unlike Val Lewton, Rollin transcended the seemingly sleazy roots of his subject matter and emerged with vibrant, lively works of art.

THE NUDE VAMPIRE - ★★½
THE SHIVER OF THE VAMPIRES - ★★½
THE IRON ROSE - ★★★★
LIPS OF BLOOD - ★★★½
FASCINATION - ★★★

Now available on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber.

Oscar Nominated Shorts Available Online

Out of all the Oscar categories, the short films are usually the most obscure, with very few critics, let alone audience members ever getting to lay eyes on them.

This year, the National Film Board of Canada is making two of the nominated animated shorts, Sunday and Wild Life available for a limited time. It's completely free and legal, and you can check them out below.

On "The Artist"

From The Dispatch:

Ultimately, it's a loving mishmash of styles and eras, and while it never quite fully adheres to its own conceit, it's still a lot of fun. Best picture of the year? Hardly. But few other films of this past year were so effervescent or so joyously entertaining. It's a refreshing step back in time that I wish were not such a rarity. 

Click here to read my full review.

Review | "Coriolanus"

When the average moviegoer thinks about Shakespeare, they probably imagine dry, overly dramatic line readings accompanied by silly costumes and men in tights. The vitality and the urgency of Shakespeare's words have long been buried beneath stodgy interpretations and a fundamental misunderstanding of their bawdy, often violent roots.

Ralph Fiennes' Coriolanus is at once a thrilling repudiation of dusty interpretations and a fiery embrace of the true essence of Shakespeare's words. By setting the film in modern day but retaining Shakespeare's original text (much like Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet), Fiennes, in his directorial debut, gets down to the gritty core of what Shakespeare was all about. Shakespeare's plays were raunchy, dark, violent works that were often considered lower class entertainment in their day. They played straight to the masses, and it is easy in this day and age to forget that. So ingrained in our consciousness is the idea of a lone actor stuffily crooning a Shakespearean soliloquy and so outdated is the language that their true timbre seems lost in the fog of time. In Coriolanus, however, that language has never seemed more powerful, or more modern.

Fiennes himself stars as Caius Marius, also known as Coriolanus, a fierce Roman general who rules his country with an iron fist. It's citizens are cold, starving, and angry as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. In a startling evocation of Occupy Wall Street, the citizens take to the streets in a rebellion that Caius swiftly and viciously crushes. The popular backlash against the government, however, is more than the politicians can handle, so they banish Caius, exiling him from Rome in order to save face in the eyes of the people.

Disgraced and angry, Caius turns to his sworn enemy, Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler), and offers him his life. While his followers are wary, Tullus welcomes him with open arms, and soon Caius is as strong an asset to him as he ever was to Rome. When Tullus turns his sights on taking over Rome, Caius sees his chance to exact his revenge upon the people who betrayed him, even if his own family stands in his way.

Coriolanus may be one of Shakespeare's lesser known works, but it's also one of his darkest, and Fiennes doesn't pull any punches. He also assembled an impressive ensemble cast to bring Shakespeare's words to life as never before. In addition to Fiennes and Butler, Jessica Chastain (in one of her many 2011 roles) appears as Caius' wife, Virgilia, and Brian Cox has a memorable supporting role as the politician Menenius, proving that he is one of the world's foremost Shakespearean actors. Cox has a fundamental understanding of the underlying meanings and timbre of Shakespeare's text, and that mastery is clearly apparent here. However the real star of the show is Vanessa Redgrave as Caius' mother, Volumnia. Redgrave gives a towering performance as a classic Shakespearean manipulative, scheming mother. It's one of the the year's best performances by anyone, male or female, lead or supporting, and it's a shame that she wasn't awarded by her efforts with an Oscar nomination.

While setting Shakespeare in modern times is nothing new, Fiennes' bruising, brutal take is both refreshing in its honesty and true to the Bard's spirit. It's both accessible and faithful - a difficult tightrope to walk in today's world. This is Shakespeare as it was meant to be, the way it should be done - thrilling, epic, ferocious, and strikingly, almost eerily relevant. This is not something to be left on a dusty college library bookshelf to be forgotten. Thanks to Coriolanus, Shakespeare has come crashing forcefully, powerfully, into the present.

GRADE - ★★★½ (out of four)

CORIOLANUS | Directed by Ralph Fiennes | Stars Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Jessica Chastain, Vanessa Redgrave, Brian Cox | Rated R for some bloody violence | Now playing in select cities.