La Notte (1961) ***

Like a less dramatic, more boring “Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?,” Antonioni's “La Notte” explores the resentments and discontent of a dysfunctional marriage. Marcello Mastroianni plays Giovanni, a successful author, and Jeanne Moreau plays his wife Lidia. “La Notte” (Italian for “The Night”) begins with the couple visiting another author, a long-time friend who is dying in the hospital. At the hospital, Giovanni is accosted by a beautiful but crazy young woman who draws him into her room and seduces him, although the nurses burst in before consummation. He later confesses the experience to Lidia, who seems coldly unconcerned about the near-infidelity. Giovanni is worried by her reaction, as are we, because everyone knows that it's a bad sign if your lover doesn't care enough to get jealous.

Later, Giovanni glad-hands the public at a book reading, and Lidia slips away to wander around Rome, visiting old haunts. Later still, on Lidia's request, the two go out to a nightclub, where a couple put on an interesting, gymnastic strip show. This show is the coolest thing in the movie, but Giovanni and Lidia are bored and restless, and Lidia finally suggests they attend the party of an acquaintance, a wealthy industrialist. They party the night away, each pursuing a possible infidelity, before finally hashing out their deteriorating marriage in the light of the new dawn.

“La Notte” is considered an important film by critics, part of the great period of Italian film roughly corresponding to the French New Wave. Then, as now, the film was lauded for the subtlety of its storytelling. There is a lot of talking, but “La Notte” could probably work as a silent film, as so much of the movie consists of silent, beautifully photographed scenes of the characters walking or leaning up against walls. These scenes focus on the inner life of these characters, and we are often left to speculate on the content of their thoughts and emotions, with subtle clues from these two excellent actors.

All of this subtlety comes at a price, however. Without mincing words, I have to say that I was bored for much of the 2-hour run-time. The scenes are long and slow, and one wonders if Antonioni couldn't have edited it to a more watchable length while preserving the tone. You wait and wait for something big to happen, then finally realize that nothing will. It's a slog, a movie that feels like work.  Towards the end of the film, a character tells Giovanni and Lidia, "You two have worn me out tonight."  I understood how she felt at that point.

Plenty of film fans disagree with me, and I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from seeing “La Notte.” It is quite thought-provoking, and Antonioni puts together some amazing-looking camera shots. I would not, however, suggest that someone watch this as their first experience of classic foreign cinema. For a film of the same period that explores similar emotional content, but in a more dynamic, entertaining way, I would recommend de Sicca's “Marriage Italian Style.”  For a movie with Marcello Mastroianni staying out all night exploring his existential angst, “La Dolce Vida” is an essential film, and much easier to watch than “La Notte.” For those who are as enthralled by Jeanne Moreau as I am, she is riveting in “La Notte,” but “The Lovers” or “Jules and Jim” are much more watchable introductions to her work.

3 stars out of 5

Three Kings (1999) ***

Somehow I had gotten it in my head that Spike Jonze directed this film. Maybe it's because the actor/director is so hilarious as the idiot, redneck character Conrad. “Three Kings” is, in fact, directed and partly written by David O. Russell (“Silver Linings Playbook,” “American Hustle”), and it is better than it has any right to be. On the one hand, Russell has written a highly implausible heist movie combined with a rather preachy morality tale, all set in the first Iraq War. On the other hand, the combined performances are so compelling that the movie somehow works.

Troy (Mark Wahlberg), Conrad (Jonze), and Chief Elgin (Ice Cube) are army reservists finishing up an almost action-free stint in Operation Desert Storm. While processing Iraqi POWs, they find a map that appears to lead to one of Saddam's secret bunkers full of stolen Kuwaiti gold. Before the guys can even process the possibilities, Special Forces Captain Archie Gates (George Clooney) has sniffed out the situation and muscled his way into it. This is just as well, as none of the other guys would have a chance of putting together a way to steal that loot. Under Archie's guidance, they find and steal the gold, relying on the reluctance of the defeated Iraqis to instigate hostilities with American soldiers.

During the heist, the men discover that with the fighting officially over, Iraqi forces are concentrating on suppressing those Iraqis who tried to rise up against Saddam during the brief war. They are rounding up and torturing rebels and starving out entire villages. Faced directly with this reality, the men have to chose between completing their heist as planned or intervening.

While Wahlberg and Clooney get top billing in this film, they are far from the most memorable characters. The interaction between Spike Jonze's moronic, racist Conrad and Ice Cube's Chief easily steals the show. Nora Dunn provides some excellent comic relief as a war reporter hustling for a story. Best of all, however, are the actors who portray the Iraqis. Cliff Curtis, who is actually of New Zealand Maori descent rather than Arab, is a magnetic presence as the rebel leader. Said Taghmaoui is unforgettable as an Iraqi officer who tortures Troy while calling him “my main man.” His “What's the problem with Michael Jackson” speech may be the best part of the movie.

Ultimately, “Three Kings” is about individuals making hard choices in the face of a hypocritical U.S. foreign policy and an uncaring military machine. The movie addresses a little-discussed aspect of America's Iraq wars. America encouraged Iraqi dissidents to rebel against Saddam, and they did so thinking we would be invading to back them up. When we stopped the war instead, they were left exposed to torture, disappearances, and execution. Is it any wonder that America has trouble finding reliable friends in Iraq now?

3 stars out of 5

My Summer of Love (2004) ***1/2

Life in small-town England is no idyll for teenaged Mona (Natalie Press.) With her single Mom dead, she has only her brother, an ex-con turned born-again Christian. He is too busy speaking in tongues with his prayer group to provide any meaningful guidance to her in her adolescence, including when her older, married boyfriend dumps her. Life takes a turn for the better when she meets the rich, alluring Tamsin (Emily Blunt.) Tamsin is home from boarding school, where she was expelled for “being a bad influence on people.” Despite their differing backgrounds, they are quite simpatico. Over the summer, the girls become close friends, then lovers.

“My Summer of Love” reminds me a bit of a more recent movie, “Blue is the Warmest Color,” although the sex scenes in “My Summer of Love” are not nearly as graphic. It's still quite sexy, and an excellent coming-of-age movie. The viewer gets swept along in the intensity of these teenaged girls' emotions. The camera work is mostly hand-held, and some viewers may find the film too talky. Honestly, I barely noticed the occasionally shaky camera; I was too busy enjoying the story and the two beautiful actresses.

3.5 stars out of 5

Tron: Legacy (2010) *

This is one that I can't truly review, because I could only stomach 15 minutes of it. I had mentioned wanting to see it in my review of “Oblivion” , because the movies share a director, Joseph Kosinski. I enjoyed “Oblivion,” so I had high hopes for “Tron: Legacy,” despite its dubious, belated-sequel status. Hopes = dashed!

The movie starts out with computer programmer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges, reprising his role from the original “Tron”) telling his son, Sam, the story of how he entered the virtual world back in “Tron.” It's the lamest piece of movie exposition ever. Kevin goes on to disappear, leaving his software company in the control of money-grubbers who care nothing about his noble goal of making digital information free for the masses.

Skip ahead a decade, and we meet Flynn's rebellious son, Sam (Garrett Hedlund), who likes to speed around on his motorcycle and create mischief for the greedy board that runs his missing dad's company.

This is where I gave up. The movie is just one stock scene after another, a total turd. I'll give Kosinski credit for good cinematography, but a lame script is going to turn into a lame movie, no matter how well it is shot. I can't really remember whether the original “Tron” was any good, but I definitely wouldn't waste any time on the sequel.

1 star out of 5

Wild (2014) ****

At first glance, “Wild” sounds like another of those literary stunts that have become so common: Girl heals psychological wounds by hiking the Pacific Coast Trail, then cashes in with a book about the event. That characterization is not just, however. Cheryl Strayed, the subject of the film and author of the book on which it is based, is not a serial puller of stunts. She already had a career as a writer when, many years after the event, she decided to tell the story of her PCT hike.

Reese Witherspoon plays Cheryl in the film. We meet Cheryl as she embarks on her long-distance trek, with an overloaded pack and ill-fitting boots. As she makes her painful start, we learn through flashbacks that since her mom (Laura Dern) died of cancer, Cheryl has been spiraling out of control, drinking and drugging with a series of random men. The hike started as an impulse purchase of a PCT trail guide, and it blossomed into a backbreaking, blister-inducing reality, an opportunity to start over and clean up her act.

“Wild” does a nice job portraying the hardships of backpacking, including the blistered feet and the bruised hips (from the pack straps.) The film is also beautifully shot, stunningly depicting the various landscapes through which Strayed hiked. Witherspoon gamely allows herself to appear as grubby and sweaty as one does after several days on the trail without a shower. She also displays the very realistic wariness with which a woman, alone and unarmed, would approach any men she encountered in the wilderness. Overall, Witherspoon does a nice job with Strayed's ups and downs, and I think she probably deserved her Oscar nomination for the role.

It goes without saying that Cheryl's Odyssey proves to be a life-changing experience, one that helps get her life back on track. “Wild” is perhaps guilty of wrapping this narrative a bit too neatly, but overall I think the film (and presumably the book) deserves credit for not overplaying Cheryl's salvation. Men are a bad habit for Cheryl, and at the beginning of her hike, we see her considering picking up yet another guy. Later, however, towards the end of her trek, Cheryl hooks up with a guy she meets in town. In a lesser film, this scene would have led to a scene depicting shame and a resolution to never have another one-night-stand. In “Wild,” Cheryl doesn't have to be punished for her sexuality. Similarly, we see that Cheryl has a history of drug use, including heroin, but the movie doesn't indulge in a withdrawal scene. Ultimately, Cheryl's problems are not drug addiction or promiscuity, but her underlying grief and loneliness, and her journey is really about coming to terms with those.

4 stars out of 5

Zombieland (2009) ** (Revised to ***1/2)

I think I speak for all of us when I say that a certain amount of zombie-fatigue has set in. The ubiquity of zombies in movies, TV shows, t-shirts, archery targets, and so on has long passed the saturation point. I think we are all ready for the next big, supernatural thing. (Leprechauns, maybe?) Back in 2009, however, zombies were still de rigeur, which I suppose is why someone thought this zombie-apocolypse comedy was necessary.

Jesse Eisenberg plays a wimpy agoraphobe whose reclusive, obsessive-compulsive traits help him survive a zombocalypse. He is making his way from Texas to Columbus, OH to search for his parents when he meets an unbalanced wild-man (Woody Harrelson) headed for Tallahassee,FL. Rather than exchange names, they just call each other by their hometowns, and Columbus and Tallahassee agree to ride east together for a little while. On a search for Twinkies (Tallahassee's weakness), the pair meet sisters Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), and after some hijinks, the four form an unlikely team. Inspired by Wichita's hotness, Columbus gives up on heading east, and they all travel west in search of Pacific Playland (a thinly-disguised Disneyland), which is reputed to be zombie-free.

There's no reason you couldn't hang a perfectly decent movie around this framework. With the right screenwriter, this could have been four wacky characters on a gonzo adventure. “Zombieland” just never comes together, though. The stupid plot makes the characters do too many senseless things for the story to be taken seriously at all, and so what we are left with is a pure comedy that isn't really very funny. Woody Harrelson is wasted on this; Abigail Breslin hardly does anything at all; Emma Stone spends the movie wearing a ridiculous amount of eye makeup; and Jesse Eisenberg just isn't a compelling lead. Bill Murray makes a brief appearance, but his scenes manage to be some of the least funny parts of the movie. Also, we have to listen to Eisenberg's annoying voice way too much.

If you want a comedic take on zombies, watch”Shaun of the Dead.” “Zombieland” isn't worth your time.

2 stars out of 5

 

Addendum 2/10/21 - I'm not sure why I was so hostile to this movie 6 years ago.  I re-watched it recently and thought it was a hilarious good time.  The chemistry between the crusty Tallahassee, the neurotic Columbus, and the salty girls is excellent, and the Bill Murray cameo is a hoot!  Whatever the reason for my original, bad review, the movie aged well for me, and I would now give it 3.5 stars.

We Are the Best (Vi ar Bast, 2013) ***1/2

Almost all movies about kids create kid characters who rarely or never existed. They are precocious, hyper-verbal, and self-aware. The coolest thing about the Swedish film “We Are the Best” is how real the kids are. These are genuine 13-year-old girls, silly, sensitive, and confused.

Klara and Bobo are a couple of junior-high punk-rockers, resisting the New Wave movement that says punk is dead. With their spiky hair and disinterest in team sports, they strive to stand out from the flaxen-haired girls at their school. The obvious thing for punk rockers to do, of course, is to form a band. With no musical training, the girls start jamming on the bass and drums at the local youth center, and they make music that is, well, awful! They do manage to capture the essence of punk, however, shouting their lyrics about the idiocy of organized sports. When they add an actual musician; quiet, religious guitarist Hedvig; to the group, they improve their sound slightly and change the dynamic of their little clique.

It could be said that not much of consequence happens in “We Are the Best.” The girls all have acceptable, if imperfect, home lives. Their band doesn't turn into a sensation or anything. The biggest conflict in the film involves two of them liking the same boy. The film succeeds, however, because it recognizes that these seemingly minor events are very big to the girls themselves. When you have never had a boyfriend before, fighting over a boy with your best friend is intense stuff. The actresses do a nice job portraying the emotional swings and fluctuating maturity levels of their 13-year-old characters. It turns out this is not a coming-of-age film. In the end, “We Are the Best” is fun because it shows its protagonists as still being kids, playful, and not quite ready to come of age.

3.5 stars out of 5

Oblivion (2013) ****

There are a lot of 3-star movies out there, movies that are decent and entertaining, but easily forgettable. It's a relief to see something that is truly amazing, that I won't have forgotten by this time next year. I didn't really have any expectations of “Oblivion,” but within ten minutes I had the feeling I was in for something special, and I wasn't disappointed.

Sixty years after an alien invasion, earth lies devastated by a war that the humans won, but which left most of the planet radioactive and uninhabitable. Humankind now lives on Titan (a moon of Saturn), and all that's left on earth are massive generators that suck up the water and turn it into the energy needed to sustain life on Titan. Jack (Tom Cruise) remains on earth as part of a small, skeleton crew of humans who maintain the generators and protect them from the remnants of the alien army, called Scavengers (Scavs). This is all Jack knows, as his memory and that of his wife Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) have been wiped, in case they are captured and questioned by the Scavs. Jack and Victoria live in a beautiful house, and their life doesn't look too bad. Jack actually likes what remains of earth, and he has troubling dreams of earth before the war and of a mysterious woman (Olga Kurylenko.)

Their world is shaken up when a mysterious beacon from the Scavs brings down a space capsule filled with human survivors. Then Jack is captured by the Scavs, and things get really crazy.

There is so much more I could say about “Oblivion,” but I don't want to spoil it. This is definitely one to watch. It's a tight, sci-fi thriller that starts out strong and doesn't let up. I like action movies, but let's face it, most of them are designed to capture an audience of 13-year-olds. You usually have to turn your brain off to avoid groaning at the lame dialogue and plot points. A 13-year-old could enjoy “Oblivion,” but it doesn't feel like it was written by one. The performances are nuanced (especially Andrea Riseborough's), the visuals are beautiful, and the director maintains a potent sense of menace. Tom Cruise doesn't generate the greatest emotional depth in this one, but he displays a consistent intensity that reminds us why he is an action star.

The director, Joseph Kosinski, is also the author of the graphic novel on which “Oblivion” is based. His only other film credit is “Tron: Legacy,” which I just added to my Netflix queue despite mixed reviews. For that matter, “Oblivion” only scored 53% on rottentomatoes.com. Some reviewers found it slow or thought there were holes in the story. I guess there's no point arguing over questions of taste. I found “Oblivion” to be entertaining and tightly-wound from beginning to end.

4 stars out of 5

22 Jump Street (2014) ***

Did you ever know someone who is a jerk, but who is actually fun to be around because he acknowledges being a jerk and makes that a part of his persona? “22 Jump Street” is the movie version of that, a completely unnecessary sequel that manages to be fun by making fun of its sequel status.

Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are still cops and hetero-life-partners. After busting up a high school drug ring in “21 Jump Street,” they are assigned to go to college to “Do exactly what you did last time.” With a bigger budget (carte blanche, or as Jenko malaprops it, “Cate Blanchett”), they set out to find the supplier of the latest designer drug. At college, Jenko fits in great with the football-playing frat-boys, making a new friendship that jeopardizes his relationship with Schmidt. Schmidt, meanwhile hangs with the art-majors and scores a tasty girlfriend (Amber Stevens).

As much as I want to hate on a sequel, I found myself having a good time. It's true that “22 Jump Street” is completely formulaic, right down to the see-them-from-a-mile-away plot twists. In truth, all the best jokes are the ones where the movie is making fun of itself. They are good jokes, though, including the ending montage of possible sequels, Like “27 Jump Street: Culinary School.” I would say that, just as “21 Jump Street” succeeded in the improbable task of turning the TV show into a decent movie, “22 Jump Street” manages to be an unnecessary sequel that actually works.

3 stars out of 5

Elysium (2013) **

It's impossible to talk about Neill Blomkamp's “Elysium” without talking about politics. It's a shame, because the insistent, one-sided political message ruins the story and what is an otherwise promising action, sci-fi movie.

“Elysium” imagines a future earth which is so overcrowded and polluted that those who can afford it have abandoned the surface to live on a giant, ring-shaped, orbiting space station called Elysium. Conjuring up the biblical image of a “wheel in the sky,” Elysium is visible from the gritty sprawl of Los Angeles and serves as a tantalizing lure for the slum-dwelling millions below. Is there anywhere on Earth that isn't this squalid? The movie doesn't tell us, nor does it reveal to us much about the citizens of Elysium other that they live in nice houses, each equipped with a medical scanner that can diagnose and cure any disease.

Down on the over-populated earth, they don't have these scanners, so that is a strong draw for sick earthlings to try to sneak up to Elysium, break into the houses, and get access to the healing devices. When factory-worker Max (Matt Damon) gets exposed to a lethal radiation dose, he becomes desperate to get up to the station before radiation sickness kills him. He contacts smugglers he knows from his days as a criminal, and they agree to smuggle him to Elysium if he will first hijack a rich executive and steal secrets from his brain.

Meanwhile, Elysium's ruthless security chief Delacourt (Jodie Foster) is engaged in a political tug-of-war with the station's weak-willed president. He doesn't have the stomach for Delacourt's policy of shooting down unauthorized shuttles when they refuse to turn back, but he has no plan for dealing with the “undocumented immigrants” or the inequality that draws them. Delacourt cooks up a rather un-believable plan to depose him with a computer system reboot. Max uncovers this plan when he hijacks the executive, and the computer code he downloads makes him a hunted man.

Science-Fiction has always provided plenty of opportunity to explore political and social issues. Neill Blomkamp did this well in “District 9,” where he explored the complexities of dealing with a refugee population. The initial contact between the humans and the starving aliens in that film is filled with promise, but due to poor communication, the aliens are not able to integrate into earth society. Openness gives way to suspicion and fear, and the aliens become a ghetto-ized underclass. The film recognizes that the situation is not the result of intentional evil on the part of either side, but rather developed as a result of one unfortunate incident after another, as well as basic human (and alien) nature. By acknowledging these complexities, “District 9” is able to serve as a vision and a warning about relations between different groups of people, while at the same time serving up satisfying sci-fi action.

“Elysium” gets the sci-fi action part right, with stunning images of the space station and of guys duking it out in cool exoskeleton suits. The concept is cool as well. As with the movie “Snowpiercer,” however, the movie is ruined by a sloppy story that seems to be written solely to promote a simplistic, one-sided political message. Blomkamp clearly has a very Liberal attitude towards issues of health care, immigration, and economic inequality, and some may agree with him strongly enough to enjoy the movie. I imagine that even most liberals, however, will find the reductionist message heavy-handed, like something a college freshman in a Che Guevara T-shirt would have written.

As it happens, in a recent interview, Blomkamp basically apologized for the film, admitting that the story was half-baked.

“I feel like, ultimately, the story is not the right story. I still think the satirical idea of a ring, filled with rich people, hovering above the impoverished Earth, is an awesome idea. I love it so much, I almost want to go back and do it correctly. But I just think the script wasn’t… I just didn’t make a good enough film is ultimately what it is. I feel like I executed all of the stuff that could be executed, like costume and set design and special effects very well. But, ultimately, it was all resting on a somewhat not totally formed skeletal system, so the script just wasn’t there; the story wasn’t fully there. “

It's rare to hear a director admit so freely to his mistakes, and it gives me hope that Blomkamp still has great work in him. I wasn't very impressed with the trailer for his latest film, “Chappie,” but I liked “District 9” so much that I will probably give the movie a chance. As for “Elysium,” it's a good idea, wasted.

2 stars out of 5