For the past few years I’ve been eyeing the out-of-print DVD of Whit Stillman’s “The Last Days of Disco” on Amazon.com, where it was offered by a few sellers for between $100-$300 due to its scarcity. The situation was untenable. Now Criterion plans to reissue it through their catalogue, as they did with Stillman’s “Metropolitan,” and hopefully “Barcelona” next. Aug. 25 is the date. Good news. Even for Fourierists and people in advertising.
Crime Movie Doesn’t Pay
“Public Enemies” takes a somber look at the American gangster.
by Wayne Melton
The mythical time and figures of the public-enemies era are by now difficult to deglamorize, although Michael Mann’s film about John Dillinger tries to shear them as close as the hair on the backs of its male characters’ tightly cropped necks.
Though filled with jailbreaks and bank robberies — Dillinger wasn’t known for his needlework — only a few images qualify as memorable: Johnny Depp as the infamous stick-up man leaps a bank-teller desk with his Thompson submachine gun; “Baby Face” Nelson (Stephen Graham), crazed with the thrill of crime, stands on top of one; Nelson, again, blasts at FBI agents closing in, and later gets blasted, puffs of vermillion wafting where he once stood.
Interestingly, it’s Dillinger at the movies, which he reputedly loved, that has the most lasting impact, when we see him revel in Clark Gable’s image on the screen and cringe at his own. Read the rest of this entry »
Meshugamorphosis
Woody Allen and Larry David meld into one superneurotic in “Whatever Works.”
by Wayne Melton
Larry David seems so perfect for a lead role in a Woody Allen movie, mostly because the character for which he’s best known, himself, seems like a character Woody Allen could have created. The curious thing is that the Larry David version and the Woody Allen version are easier to tell apart now that the two have fused into one ranting psychotic for Allen’s new comedy, “Whatever Works.” Read the rest of this entry »
Interchangeable Parts
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is a pile of summer junk.
by Wayne Melton
The action-movie sequel “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” cost $200 million, and it seems like a bargain. You couldn’t get more gaudy junk if you bought the entire city of Miami.
Is it enough to point out that, despite the title, no revenge is ever had during the course of the movie’s two and a half hours?
In the run-up to its release, the director, Michael Bay (“Bad Boys”), endlessly repeated his worry as to whether the colossal picture would be completed in time. Gosh! Sounds like marketing hooey, but just imagine this modern-day Michelangelo, working late into the night on his Sistine Chapel, a movie in which a lime-green robot with a gold tooth cap and a Mike Tyson lisp beat-boxes. Read the rest of this entry »
Abomination Unto the Lord
“Year One” invokes wrath with cheap, lame comedy.
by Wayne Melton
And lo, it came to pass in “Year One” that there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. And that was only during the first few jokes.
Bear witness to Oh (Michael Cera), one of two Biblical-era heroes, making the moves on fellow hunter-gatherer Eema (Juno Temple), who tells him she can’t go out because she needs to wash her hair. “But you just washed your hair last year,” he responds. Oh, brother. Read the rest of this entry »
Mind the Gaps
“The Taking of Pelham 123” slathers big action on a cult classic.
by Wayne Melton
Why does Tony Scott make movies? I like to imagine that the director of “Déjà Vu” and “Domino” was raised by staunchly ascetic parents, who wore all black and spent much of his childhood vacationing in the white expanses of Antarctica, which could explain the director’s need to fill movie screens with incessant motion, big violence and kaleidoscopic color saturation. Or maybe they just beat him a lot.
As employed in “The Taking of Pelham 123,” another thriller in which a large city falls under the hand of mastermind criminals demanding ransom, the Tony Scott style might be described as a scale model of New York blown out of Michael Bay’s nose. Even if the script calls for two characters to simply talk on a street corner, Scott must circle the camera around them, again and again, a fairly extreme end to looking at terrorist negotiations from all angles. So distracting is Scott’s preening, empty direction, the best one can say is that it’s noticeable, to the point that it tries to strangle an otherwise decent action flick. Read the rest of this entry »
The Big Nil
“Away We Go” bears the charm of that last pregnancy movie you liked.
by Wayne Melton
There’s no need for alarm just yet, but I’m keeping my eye on the disturbing trend for comic indie dramas bearing agendas on prenatal care.
I’m not the first to point out the similarities between “Away We Go,” making its way to local box offices through limited release, and 2007’s runaway hit “Juno.” Pregnant leading lady? Check. Coming-of-age subject matter? Check. Quirky peeps including character actor Allison Janney? Yep. Hip soundtrack? Oh yes. Both even come with cutesy promotional materials that look like they could have been drawn by the same graphic artist. The difference between them? In “Juno” we got the nail-biting story of who should raise a baby. This time we learn where a baby should be raised. I’m writing a screenplay about trading babies on the black market, if anyone is interested. Read the rest of this entry »
You Flapper, You Bought Her
“Easy Virtue” has beautiful cloche hats and Jessica Biel, but little else.
by Wayne Melton
Raise your hand if you were dying to see Noel Coward’s “Easy Virtue” made into a movie. Maybe they were clamoring for it in 1927 when Alfred Hitchcock directed a silent version, but to watch director Stephan Elliott’s remake, it would seem that Jessica Biel, made up in platinum hair, fancy hats and stunning gowns, was all the justification necessary for a flapper-era period piece. But why “Easy Virtue” and not some other 1920s story? Unfortunately the movie doesn’t provide much of an answer besides the visual appeal of nicely done costumes and the contour of satin against Biel’s gym body. Read the rest of this entry »
Mind Bomb
“Adoration” debates terrorism for no discernible reason.
by Wayne Melton
I wanted to touch my head to the floor several times toward the movie screen at the end of Atom Egoyan’s “Adoration,” but not in reverence to it. I was just glad it was over.
The movie is about a New York kid, Simon (Devon Bostick), who tells his high-school class the story of his parents’ blowing up a passenger plane for Allah, but that’s like saying going to the airport is about taking your shoes off. I eventually lost track of all the plot points, but there’s also a sullen, tow-truck-driving uncle (Scott Speedman) taking care of the boy, a creepy drama teacher (Arsinee Khanjian) encouraging him to explore his past, an angry granddad (Kenneth Welsh) reminiscing about the kid’s mother and a few chat rooms’ worth of kooks who weigh in on this story about … what, exactly? Revenge? Fantasy? Guilt? Betrayal? The injustice of paying a tow-release fee on top of a parking ticket? Read the rest of this entry »
To Bite or Not to Bite
“Tyson” answers questions, but not all the right ones.
by Wayne Melton
The latest view of Mike Tyson, in “Tyson,” a documentary by filmmaker James Toback (“Black and White”) is not so new. It’s his own. “Mike on Mike” would have been on a good title, too, as Tyson, long since retired after becoming the youngest heavyweight champ at 20, reflects on his life and career, mostly hitting the highlights (and lowlights) that have come to define him in the public eye. He also talks about what was going on behind the scenes, and often the conflict between the two points of view is more revealing than what Tyson and Toback might have intended. Read the rest of this entry »
