FilmRadar

A Visit to Hollywood’s CineCon 44

2008-09-03T19:16:00-08:00

By Silas Lesnick

This past weekend marked the 44th Annual CineCon Classic Film Festival, stretching five days and spanning decades of cinema. Held in the center of Hollywood at the Renaissance Hotel, CineCon’s international crowd comes together for a showcase of rare and unusual works, many featuring special guests and audience interaction.

Screenings are held at the historic Grauman’s Egyptian Theater, originally opened in 1922 and fully restored in late 1998. Appropriately for the theater (which hosted the very first Hollywood premiere with Douglas Fairbank’s “Robin Hood") CineCon 44’s second night featured the King of silent Hollywood himself in 1920’s “The Mollycoddle”.

Though the festival slogan jokes, “Spend five days in the dark this Labor Day weekend,” the event itself is far from a solitary experience. Stretching from the five dealer rooms (which boast a fantastic collection of movie memorabilia; everything from posters and lobby cards to DVDs and rare soundtracks) to the theater, it’s not at all uncommon to pass two old friends, reuniting over the right film or, in some cases, the stars themselves. Elena Verdugo was met with a packed house and thunderous applause as she took the stage for a Q and A following a 35mm print of Universal’s “House of Frankenstein” (1944).

Other celebrity guests included Walter Mirisch (whose career was celebrated in a special showcase opening night), Warren Stevens (following a screening of “The Case Against Brooklyn) and Celeste Holm (After “Champagne for Caesar").

But the screen itself was host to many other stars; some gone, but clearly not forgotten. Charley Chase was uncommonly vocal in 1937’s sound short “The Awful Goof” and the half-silent/half-talkie “Modern Love” (1929). Harold Lloyd, Bette Davis, Cary Grant and Gary Cooper were among the many faces of old Hollywood to dazzle CineCon goers with their celluloid immortality.

Though CineCon may seem to cater primarily to an older demographic, everyone I talked with seemed delighted at the prospect of getting classic works across to younger audiences. When told it was my first CineCon experience, there was not a single festival goer not eager to tell me about his or her picks for the weekend and recommend some must-see selections. Because the event is held right in the middle of Hollywood, there’s a fine blend of devoted fans and those who have turned their love into industry professions.

One decades-long CineCon goer told me that, even more important than getting to see the films, is seeing the people he only gets to see once a year.

“After you do it for ten years,” he said, “everyone just stops aging. It’s great.”

For more information about CineCon, including how to participate in next year’s event, visit www.cinecon.org.

Trouble the Water

2008-08-31T04:56:00-08:00

Living at Los Angeles, I missed an opportunity of see Danny Glover, probably most famous as being the co-star of the Lethal Weapon series and one of the leads of Steven Speilberg’s THE COLOR PURPLE, I stayed to see what I thought to be a most intriguing documentary of eye witness accounts of Hurricane Katrina.

The day of this writing, August 29, 2008, another hurricane called Gustav threatens New Orleans again. This documentary won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance earlier this year. Interspersed with news programs, cars leaving the city and President Bush promising not to worry, help is on the way for all those in need, this shows a family being stranded right before, during and after Hurricane Katrina. For this family, there was not only not any help being on the way, photographic evidence that the government imposed obstacles to survivors who were too poor to evacuate.

However, the general tone of this movie is that of a personal will of survival. That tone is set by Katherine Roberts, then aspiring rap artist, who shot the footage of being trapped, the danger being very well. Images shot just prior to the storm include an alcoholic uncle who will perish. The streets become rivers and the house just below them submerged. It shows a strong neighbor Frank swimming in the water helping the women and children. It should be noted that most of the documentary subjects are African American.

Two weeks later, Katherine and her husband run into documentarians Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. With their help, the Roberts visually retell how they found a boat, loaded up grandma and the kids and were able to escape the very much underwater neighborhood. They recount how hundreds, actually thousands, were turned away from a near empty naval base. Turned away with the use of M-16 rifles.

It must be noted Lessin and Deal initially planned to shoot a documentary of the Louisiana Brigade going to Iraq. After the hurricane happened, instead of helping in their own state, the brigade were shipped off to Iraq.

The journey continues with the Roberts. They’re able to get a truck and go up for refuge in South Memphis. They are amazed how a black community can be kept up and actually be in good neighborhoods partly due to the tourist trade Memphis gets. Speaking of the tourist trade, the French Quarter and Downtown where most of the tourists go are fixed right away. Almost comically to see a tourist commercial with of the eighty per cent of New Orleans still in ruins.

The Roberts have trouble getting FEMA relief. By the way, a great version of John Lee Hooker’s “Money” is played to a series of unsmiling faces.

Katherine shows her chops as well. One of her hip hop songs is called “Amazing”. The refrain roughly goes like this: “I don’t need anyone else to tell me I’m amazing.” Able to smile while endearing personal and financial loss was quite inspiring to see.

Maybe I’m a black man trapped by a white man’s body. Actually, I believe what affects one group affects us all. And I didn’t need Danny Glover to enjoy this film. I do admit that it would have been more fun.

CHICAGO 10 on DVD

2008-08-24T22:24:00-08:00

Written by Fantasma el Rey

Chicago 10’s tagline, “The Convention Was The Drama. The Trial Was The Comedy,” is perfectly illustrated in the films’ hour and forty-three minutes. Blending actual footage and animation makes this documentary something different and unique, as were the participants in those events of 1968. Chicago was not only host to the Democratic Party convention that year but also to youthful subculture figures who would rise out of the chaos of those days as legends. Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, and Bobby Seale would become inspiration for many, many people for years to come. Not only in the world of politics but in music as well, fueling the fire for bands such as Rage Against The Machine and System Of A Down.

The 1968 Democratic convention was to be the stage for one of the largest gatherings of youth in peaceful protest. There were to be bands playing and hippies dancing toward peace in nearby Lincoln Park but that was not to be the case. As the crowd grew and the march began, police presence became more visible and active to prevent anyone from getting too close to the steps of the International Amphitheatre. Alternate routes were taken, yet things still got bad. Violence erupted everywhere, much of it caught on film.

The key figures were rounded up and accused of conspiracy, inciting to riot, and other charges related to the protests and so on and so forth. There is more to the story but that is what Chicago 10 goes over and covers in graphic detail. I’m not going to recreate those days here in type; I’ll let you watch the film or seek out more detailed accounts of those days than I could ever give.

The film does do a wonderful job in bringing back to life those days of color and horror, though. Existing archive film is used when and where available while animation based on court transcripts is used for the courtroom and other places where cameras were not present, as in that key moment when the “Yippie” (Youth International Party) name was born. During those latter scenes, the actors used as voice talent for our main characters do good work in capturing the personalities of the people they are voicing. Hank Azaria (Abbie Hoffman), Mark Ruffalo (Rubin), Jeffery Wright (Seale), and Roy Scheider (Judge Julius Hoffman) lend their skills to help paint the picture.

Also lending talent and punctuation to the film is the music of the Beastie Boys and Rage Against The Machine. The music is put to good use by writer/director Brett Morgen and highlights scenes perfectly, providing an energy level that must have matched the electricity that was in the air in those uncertain times.

From start to finish my eyes were fixed on the screen as the images of the courtroom and around Chicago played out in front of me. Morgen has arranged the scenes so the movie flows back and forth between the events, pulling moments from during and prior to both the convention and the trial. This method not only keeps the film fresh but gives it a pace that pushes it forward, holding your interest while upping your anticipation of what will happen next.

Some of the unbelievable events that came out of the trial are played out for us. Even though it’s animated, it makes one think how close to a police state the nation was, or is. To see Seale bound and gagged to his chair in the courtroom (the precedent was actually set in a case years prior) and to see how certain rights were denied today we think these things can never happen in our country but they did and not that long ago.

On the other hand Chicago 10 illustrates how the older generation could see these youths as loud-mouthed troublemakers. Morgen took nothing away from Abbie’s or Jerry’s personalities and a more conservative viewpoint can point out that they were acting up and being juvenile merry pranksters. They did wear judicial robes to court and Abbie was fond of blowing kisses to the jury, but that, my friends, is for you to decide. I suggest reading more on the lives of the Chicago 10 or 8 or 7, depending on how you look at the case (if you count the lawyers as Jerry did, it’s 10 along with Seale, who’s was eventually tried separately). So go steal this DVD and draw your own conclusions.

The DVD has one special feature that is a remix video by a contest winner that uses scenes from the movie to sum it up in a few minutes. The rumor mill has it that two sequels are in the works as well as a live-action film. Should be interesting to see how those pan out. Don’t forget to vote.

TWENTY-FOUR EYES (The Criterion Collection)

2008-08-20T06:57:01-08:00

Written by Caballero Oscuro

Twenty-Four Eyes uses the story of a rural schoolteacher and her first class of students as a microcosm of the dramatic changes impacting Japan during the tumultuous decades between the late 1920s to the late 1940s. While little known in the US, the film is reportedly and deservedly a beloved classic in its native Japan. Thanks to this sparkling new Criterion DVD release, US audiences finally have the opportunity to discover this hidden gem.

Hisako Oishi (Hideko Takamine) is a young schoolteacher assigned to a class of 12 young students (or “twenty-four eyes”) on a small, remote Japanese island. She quickly gains the affectionate nickname Miss Pebble from her students, and they form a bond that transcends her unfortunate early separation from them. As the years pass, the students and Miss Pebble stay in touch and even have another class together later in their lives. Miss Pebble is clearly a positive influence in their lives, inspiring them to stay in school and pursue their dreams. However, the changes impacting Japan inevitably reach the students and teacher as well.

As the nation gears up and eventually goes to war, each of the boys longs to become a soldier, while the girls are faced with choosing between continuing their studies or helping their families at home or at work. Miss Pebble has her own personal changes, as she settles down with a husband and raises children of her own. The war wreaks havoc on all of them, and as they begin to emerge from its aftermath Miss Pebble finds herself returning to the site of her first class to teach a new generation, in some cases the offspring of her favorite class of students.

At two-and-a-half-hours long, this masterful film actually feels short. Its rich evocation of a time long gone, of a rural pre-war Japan with its requisite architecture, vehicles, and largely unpopulated landscapes, makes for an eye-opening time capsule waiting to envelop viewers in its luxurious black and white photography. As written and directed by Keisuke Kinoshita (based on the original novel by Sakae Tsuboi), the film takes the time to methodically present seemingly insignificant events, such as the students’ foolish decision to walk to Miss Pebble’s house, or the incorporation of performances of traditional songs, but barely skims the surface of each of the characters. In spite of this lack of focus on character development, Kinoshita nails the primary theme of the monumental changes to Japan as reflected through the lives of these individuals by showing the impact on their day-to-day lives. Just seeing the kids and teacher interacting in their early days as compared to their relationship in later years drives home the pain and upheaval suffered by the Japanese people during this era. We don’t need a close affiliation to the characters to capture the full impact of scenes such as a simple visit to the local cemetery late in the film.

As expected from a Criterion release, the DVD transfer is crisp, clean, and well-subtitled, clearly making this the definitive film experience for all Western viewers. The DVD sports a new, restored high-def digital transfer and new and improved English subs, as well as a new video interview with a Japanese cinema historian about the film and its director. The DVD booklet includes an essay by film scholar Audie Bock as well as an excerpt from a 1955 interview with Kinoshita. These features and upgrades, as well as the exceptional source material, make this a DVD that should be bought and treasured rather than rented.

La Boheme (1926) Lillian Gish & John Gilbert in a King Vidor film

2008-08-14T20:08:00-08:00

Once upon a time, in fact, 1924, Marcus Loew teamed up with Louis B. Mayer to by the Goldwyn studios in Culver City. The entity became MGM. In 1925, a blockbuster would help MGM to the forefront where it would stay for many years. That blockbuster was THE BIG PARADE, brilliantly directed by King Vidor and elegantly played by John Gilbert and Renee Adoree. It was so successful that it still was in the theatres in 1931, when it almost disappeared. But that’s another story and only included here to set the stage for this silent movie opera.

Reportedly wooed by Irving Thalberg whose letters addressed her as Mimi, the tragic heroine of La Boheme, Lillian Gish was a big box office draw in the early twenties. In fact, she was already quite the veteran, had script approval, choice of director of leading man and director. She was a star and was associated which most of D.W.Griffith’s biggest hits. In fact, she had top billing in that very controversial film THE BIRTH OF A NATION and though shown only rocking the cradle in INTOLERANCE, was present for most of the shooting of that masterpiece. After ORPHANS OF THE STORM, her last movie with Griffith, she was very much sought and can be said, one of MGM’s first stars.

For her first MGM movie, she was responsible for bringing Victor Seastrom, an outstanding director from Sweden, and Lars Hanson, also from Sweden as her leading man for THE SCARLET LETTER. Willing to remain silent about the identity of the father of her child, Gish was pretty much peerless as the tragic heroine of the silent era.

With Gish in the picture, a picture that Thalberg effectively cast Lillian first, Adoree had to settle for third billing and very much a supporting role when she reunited with Vidor and Gilbert for LA BOHEME. In fact, most of this movie seems intent of making Gilbert a major star with many scenes the iconic tragic Gish. What they may have lacked in physical chemistry, they make up with classic silent movie acting that neither could get away it just a few years later.

The movie starts out with Gilbert a frustrated writer with three room mates, one being a young Everett Horton. They can’t pay the rent and neither can the waif down the hall, played by Gish. She makes hers by selling her belonging while the four men get their after getting a monkey, that they curiously want to get rid of once they made the rent. Adoree lives downstairs and invites her boyfriend who invites his two friends. Meanwhile, Gilbert is able to see Gish their each other’s windows and acting very much like Douglas Fairbanks, defies death to talk to her at her window sill.

The most charming scene happens when Gish and Gilbert go on a picnic and do a dance together. She runs away, he catches up to her and she declares her undying love. Gish rarely showed such playfulness here. However, what lessens this movie are major plot holes. He forgets to write articles to focus on his play and she has a rich suitor who’s unsuccessful bedding her. Instead, she stays up nights to make clothes and gives money to Gilbert who thinks he’s getting money from the publisher. When he discovers he’s actually been fired for over five weeks, he goes to Lillian’s place and actually stops the rape that the wastrel suitor almost gave her.

He jumps to the wrong conclusions and as over the top as silent acting gets, especially on her part, they have a violent break up. He becomes a successful playwright while she works in some horrid manufacturing plant and succumbs to tuberculosis, ironically the disease that Adoree would die of just a few years later. Even more ironic, it is Adoree who is with Gish when she dies. As Gish remarked, though she would roll up her eyes and die many times on screen, in fact, she was the last major silent star to die and lived to be ninety-nine years old.

There is evidence of Vidor’s talent in this one and if the script is bit nonsensical, it’s really the opera’s fault. Not given much to do here was Karl Dane, whose comic relief spitting routine helped make THE BIG PARADE a success. The director and leads all made better films but I did find this very watchable and should be better known than it is.

BRAND UPON THE BRAIN!

2008-08-14T08:35:00-08:00

Written by Musgo Del Jefe

Watching a Guy Maddin film is hard work. But it’s rewarding work. As you peel away each layer of the film, you are rewarded with a sweeter layer deeper within the film. “Brand Upon The Brain!” is the middle of Maddin’s “Me Trilogy” - Cowards Bend The Knee and My Winnipeg being the bookends.

With each film, Maddin creates a unique atmosphere. I’ve always felt like his films are discoveries. They weren’t really made (and certainly not in current times) but just found. This film is reminiscent of early Russian and German silent films of the Twenties. At least in its style - the B&W photography, the cue cards, the foley, and the narration. But the thematic elements of the plot are purely modern. Guy’s blending of older styles with unique, disturbing stories is what so often draws comparison to the early films of David Lynch - particularly The Grandmother, Eraserhead and The Elephant Man.

The plot is almost just another part of the atmosphere of the film. It is simple enough that it probably couldn’t exist on its own as a more mainstream film. But when interwoven with such a challenging film style, there becomes layer after layer of secrets to unlock. The story is told in twelve chapters. The older Guy Maddin is called home to his island by his dying mother to repaint the lighthouse. The lighthouse was his childhood home and it served as an orphanage run by his overbearing mother and mad scientist/inventor father. What a beautiful set up in that first chapter. The Super-8, grainy black-and-white shots of the lighthouse and the barren island tell more about the story than twenty minutes of exposition ever could. Painting over the childhood home to cover up the cracks, the lone beacon on the island that served to always watch over Guy wherever he went, and growing up among orphans even though his parents were still alive. It’s powerful and the character does not speak a word.

The painting brings back powerful memories that lead us to the adventures of young Guy Maddin. Like any memory, as a viewer we never know how trustworthy our guide is and we can always forgive the exaggerated scenes as part of the older man’s embellished storytelling. Young Guy spends his days with his sister (known only as Sis), slightly older. Their mother watches their every move from the top of the lighthouse, the brilliant white light cutting across the darkness of the island, her voice screeching, unrecognizable except for the subtitle of the title card. Their father toils away in the basement inventing mysterious objects. I’m reminded of a combination of Thomas Dolby in “She Blinded Me With Science” and Kate Bush’s “Cloudbusting” with Donald Sutherland.

Teen detectives, Wendy and Chance Hale, arrive on the island for an investigation when adoptive parents discover holes in the back of their children’s heads. The detectives, known as “The Lightbulb Kids” have a very literary introduction making them seem even less real. Almost like a figment of Guy’s imagination. From here out, we are introduced to some very rich and slightly uncomfortable sexual subtexts. Guy develops his first crush on Wendy (as she’s the first to visit the island). In the next chapter, Wendy disguises herself as her brother Chance to continue her investigation. As Chance, Guy has a “boy crush” on him but still misses Wendy. Sis falls in love with Chance who falls in love back but is afraid to show that she’s really Wendy.

All this time, the connections are getting tighter. Wendy and Chance are the same person. And both children have unnaturally close relationships with their opposite sex parent. Guy is often drawn into bed with his mother and Sis is summoned alone to her father’s laboratory. Father’s biggest experiment is to make his wife younger. This turns the notches up even more with a mother becoming closer in age to her children and further from her husband.

The film’s final few chapters delve into the deep, dark secrets of the family. They include vampirism, organ harvesting, lesbianism, and loads of repression. Each revelation only hints at a greater storyline. It’s haunting to watch the images and the words on the screen. But they only tell a portion of the story. The narration (by Isabella Rossellini) doesn’t just mimic the words on the cards, it tells the story on another level. Interjecting phrases or repeating a key line. And the score (Jason Staczek) keeps the story marching forward - not letting the viewer dwell on any single frame.

I found the film challenging in a good way. I’ve been disappointed with some of Maddin’s previous films for their style-over-substance issues. But here, the story fits the style. It is hardly contained by the style and threatens to burst out at every seam. But Maddin keeps it under control - each layer hinting at something just beyond our view or under the surface. This world is fully formed and the director is letting us see just enough. That’s exactly how a film that’s ultimately about secrets and repression should be.

Like most Criterion Collection products, the extras on the DVD are superb. This film was performed live in its original run with live orchestra, foley, singer, and narrator. Some of those other narrators are available as bonus tracks. I highly recommend the Crispin Glover version as an interesting comparison to the Rossellini track. The documentary, “97 Percent True” is a 50-minute piece that needs to be digested almost as closely as the film. There are two short films and a deleted scene also included.

If you enter Guy Maddin’s world, embrace it. This fairy tale film will bear out many viewings to decipher. But the construction of the film will make that very pleasurable indeed.

How Technology Has Changed Casting

2008-08-12T17:26:01-08:00

How Technology Has Changed Casting
by Jan Glaser, CSA

Forty movies a year: that was the yearly average amount of films I cast between 1994 and 1999 while working for Roger Corman. We managed to be very productive without all the technology.

And before that, I did television: “In the Heat of the Night”, “Hart to Hart”, “Starsky and Hutch.” And before that, I did soap operas like “Capitol.” All this without e-mail, pdf scripts, internet photos. It’s more efficient now, but I miss the good old days.

When I started out, I became good friends with the agents, the managers and their assistants. We met after work for dinner, the theater or comedy clubs. And I’ve kept those friendships to this day.

My past few assistants do not have those relationships. They never meet the people on the other end of the phone. I blame e-mail. It is way too impersonal. However, I do get answers from the agents on an actor’s availability or interest much faster that I would by phone. Things move faster. More gets done.

In those days, I would view an actor’s scenes in a screening room with a projectionist and mark the best scenes by “paper”. I loved getting out of the office and sitting in the dark screening room. That changed when demo reels were delivered on video cassettes. More efficient but not as much fun. And now we have DVDs which take up less space.

Today, I get my scripts in pdf form, attached to e-mail. No more waiting for the messenger to arrive. As my grandparents told me about the quaint Western Union man who delivered telegrams, and probably their grandparents told them about the delivery of messages by the skillful clicking of Morse Code, now I think back to those sweet days when the messenger delivered a hot script, still warm, and bound beautifully. It was like a gift from Tiffany.

Auditions were a group experience, with laughter, winks, nods and shrugs. The producer and director were there in the room and we all had opinions. Nowadays, the director and producers are there less often. They might be on location so I record the auditions and send them a DVD.

Now actors have a webpage with their photos posted. But I still like the feel of an 8 x 10 glossy. Holding that shiny headshot in my hand gets my focus much better than surfing the net. It’s a tangible feeling. So if any of you actors want to score extra points with me, bring a picture and resume.

I’ve been forced kicking and screaming into this brave new word. But alas, I had to cave in to efficiency. The business will not stand still to please my nostalgia. I wonder where the future of casting will be. What? No actors.

Jan Glaser, CSA

SHINE A LIGHT

2008-08-12T08:16:00-08:00

Longevity in the arts can be a double-edge sword. Artists no doubt appreciate having long careers in the endeavors they love, but it must be aggravating when they inevitably and unfairly have new material judged in comparison to the best works of their careers rather than on its own merits.

This certainly happens to The Rolling Stones and director Martin Scorsese, two legends in their respective fields, who haven’t come close to the consistent creative heights they previously achieved. It’s a tough position for anyone to argue anything they have released since the former’s Some Girls (1978) and the latter’s Goodfellas (1990) have earned similar praise and acclaim. (No doubt some will bring up Scorsese’s Oscar for The Departed, but that was in essence a lifetime achievement award and does more to reinforce the claim above because the film is flawed.)

If there is any aggravation on their parts, you wouldn’t know it since they don’t shy away from their résumés and almost invite comparisons as their collaboration on Shine A Light, a concert IMAX film directed by Scorsese during the Stones’ 2006 A Bigger Bang tour, brings to mind historically significant concert films they have each made.

Gimme Shelter documented the Stones 1969 U.S. tour, which concluded with their headlining the infamous Altamont Speedway Free Festival, an event many point to as the cultural end of the spirit of the 1960s. Scorsese’s The Last Waltz was a star-studded swansong as The Band bid farewell with a little help from their friends at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom on Thanksgiving, November 25, 1976. Unless Shine A Light has recorded the last Stones tour, which they have likely been asked, it will not feature an end of era like those earlier films, yet it still does a great job capturing this particular time in the band’s history.

Over the course of two nights at the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan, The Rolling Stones along with their backing musicians and vocalists delivered a hit-packed, vibrant show that should put to shame any detractors fixated on their age. Mick Jagger was as active and engaged a front man as anyone a third his age. Charlie Watts was as competent and consistent as you would ever want any drummer to be. Ronnie Wood sounded good, especially when he played slide guitar.

Keith Richards was the only unpredictable factor. You never knew if he would recreate the magic or sound sloppier than some kid just learning the tune in his garage. Fantastic when he was given the mike, backed only by Charlie and Ronnie on “You Got The Silver,” but then he screwed up lyrics and laughed about it during “Far Away Eyes,” earning a quick, evil glare from Mick, but there’s something about those unpolished moments. In an odd way, it completes the package that is both the Stones and rock ‘n’ roll.

Besides, it’s not like Mick didn’t have his own gaffes. The absolute worst part of the entire performance was his singing the “woo woo” from “Sympathy for the Devil.” He sounds absolutely horrible delivering it so high pitched. It’s so bad it’s hard to believe he’s never heard it back or that Keith or Charlie hasn’t pulled him aside to stop him.

During the film, the Stones are joined by guests Jack White on “Loving Cup,” Christina Aguilera on “Live With Me,” and show-stealer Buddy Guy on “Champagne and Reefer,” who is so good that not only does he outshine both Keith and Mick, but you want to follow him when he leaves. However, Mick plays great on the harmonica.

The band makes cuts for unexplained reasons so the songs may not be as you remember them. During “Some Girls,” it appears black girls no longer “want to fuck all night,” but the verse’s removal can’t be political correctness, as Mick still listens “to gospel music on the colored radio station” on “Far Away Eyes,” or puritanical, as the female he’s singing to can still “make a dead man cum” on “Start Me Up.” “Sympathy for the Devil” loses its third verse that asks, “Who killed the Kennedys?” which is understandable since at least one of these shows was a benefit for the Bill Clinton Foundation.

Anyone could just turn on the cameras, stand back and let the Stones do their thing, but Scorsese improves on the viewing of the performance as he adds his precision to the Stones chaos. The cameras are in the right places and combined with purposeful editing, they capture the band up close for the viewer to see. Current music video directors and editors could learn a lot from watching this film's structure.

Scorsese also brings along a historical perspective. With access to the archives, he presents clips of the band members and shows how they have grown over the years while most of the unimaginative journalists stayed the same. We see Mick after two years in the band to a current Keith and the common thread is that there is no plan. They’ll stop when The Rolling Stones stop being what they want it to be.

Scorsese almost becomes his worst enemy, as all this old footage combined with the 15-minute behind-the-scenes featurette that shows the band rehearsing reveals a much more interesting film was possible. Everyone knows the Stones on stage, but the scenes of the band at rest as regular people are much more fascinating. They seemed much happier plunking out obscure blues tunes together on a bare stage rather than cranking out one of their classic songs to adoring fans. For everyone’s sake, I hope a film of the Stones at rest will be made.

The extras also include material from the concerts not shown in theaters: “Undercover Of The Night,” “I’m Free,” Keith singing “Little T&A,” and a performance of “Paint It Black” that is so good it’s surprising that it got cut.

Fans of the Stones should get satisfaction watching and listening to this DVD.

Samarai Rebillion - One of Mifune’s Best

2008-08-10T06:02:00-08:00

SAMURAI REBELLION is a great showcase for both Masaki Kobayashi, the director, and Toshiro Mifune, two years after his last Kurosawa film. Here, in this 1967 film set in 1745 feudal Japan, this actually is quite heavy with dialogue. Mifune plays the patrioch whose has had Yoko Tsukawa as Ichi forced into his family. She gets married to his son Takeshi Kato and Mifune is pleased with the relationship.

This being feudal Japan, the top lord of Edo, which later became Tokyo, can take women back, trade them off to other subjects. There is a lot of cross cutting between the two families. The lord has most of the men and all movements quite calculated as usually seen in Japanese period films.

Kobayashi is less known than Kurosawa but he is very amazing. This shows feudal society where the weak just obey. However, once Mifune disagrees, there’s no changing his mind. In fact, he wants to expose how unfair feudal society was.

There is quite a build up to the sword fight where Mifune takes on many. Every conceivable option is discussed and when Yoko responds, the action is quick and furious. But the best is yet to come. Mifune fighting of the army hiding in bushes after vanquishing future star Nakadai is quite a cinematic sight to see.

Frozen River (2008)

2008-08-10T04:43:00-08:00

I had just seen Karie Bible perform an excellent Super Panel for Holly Shorts. One of the panelists was Mark Fergus, who recently made Iron Man a cinematic super hero to contend with. But he has done independent and goes back and forth. All panelists gave intriguing answers.

I was going to go back and see some more shorts but as I walked back I passed FROZEN RIVER. This got a lot of attention and good word of mouth when I was in Sundance and knew there were native Americans in the cast. Being a fan of diversity, and have rarely seen people smuggling from Canada, Quebec to be more specific, to New York, United States, it got my curiosity.

Writer-director Courtney Hunt gave not quite an anti-Christmas movie but it’s not the kind of Christmas movie that makes one feel warm and fuzzy inside. In fact, the weather outside is downright hostile. Driving is extra dangerous and even the river that crosses into Mohawk country is frozen enough to drive on. Melissa Leo portrays a middle aged store clerk whose saddled with two sons. The husband, never seen, has left them for gambling debts. She’s forced to work part time for an unsympathetic boss who’s half her age. She is desperate as she’s facing foreclosure and needs money fast.

While looking for her no good husband. an overweight Mohawk woman played by Misty Upham steals Leo’s car, actually the extra one the husband had left with the keys inside. Leo tracks Upham and threatens to shoot her if she doesn’t return the keys. However, the car is stuck and once Leo finds out how Upham makes money by human smuggling she’s in.

Now the main thrust of the adventure is for these unlikely women to team up with Leo as the driver and Upham doing the setups. It is revealed early on that Upham is badly nearsighted and has a son of her own that she can’t get to. Mark Boone Jr. plays Leo’s older son and gets involved in some money making schemes on his own. Some of those schemes almost backfires on him but he does get the toy for his younger brother.

I won’t give much more of this away because I do recommend it. There is suspense, poignancy, the implied hostility that natives and whites have for each other without being preachy, and strong characterizations that occur when the script is well written.

And actually, one does feel good at the end.