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Ondine – Review
The story seems silly enough if read on paper: Local fisherman (Colin Farrell), out fishing looking for seafood to sell at the local market, finds a woman in his net (Alicja Bachleda) who doesn’t remember who she is or how she ended up caught in a man’s fishing line. He allows the woman to live in a small house located in a sleepy wharf where she can get her bearings all the while telling his young daughter who suffers from kidney failure a story that involves an Irish version of mermaids, silkies, thus bringing us to the beginning of the story. The brevity with which writer and director Neil Jordan sets up almost all of the plot points is almost fantastical in its execution. Without realizing it as someone watching the film Jordan lays out all the pertinent stories that need telling at breakneck speed.
Not only do we learn that Farrell, whose real name in the film is Syracuse but who town folk still call Circus for his legendary alcoholic antics before he gave up the sauce, is divorced from his wife, trying to put his wild days behind him, and is sharing custody of his daughter but we also learn of his troubled past as it relates to his present in a manner that seems better suited to the stage than it does the screen.
And this isn’t a knock on Jordan, mind you. I think this performance from Farrell is just as compelling as seeing him in In Bruges. The man simply melts into this man who is not a Hollywood version of a fisherman who’s lived, and still is living, a hardscrabble life he is that fisherman who only has his work and his daughter. There isn’t anything to grab onto beyond this and it’s refreshing insofar that Farrell has to lean on his ability to inhabit someone who feels more real than he does a caricature.
What Jordan does best in this movie is to put Farrell in a position to navigate the world of a man who has scooped up a gorgeous woman, and make no mistake Bachleda is a quintessential mermaid, a true flower of the ocean with her pale skin and radiant features, and understands his position as a man who could help someone not be found. Farrell buys into the mythos of the mermaid, however, when he thinks that this woman has helped changed his fortunes at sea with the amount of fish and lobster he catches with her aboard his ship but the movie is so much more than a man who thinks he’s on to something with this woman.
This is a movie about intimacy. Jordan captures an Ireland that is removed from the usual features of the Emerald Isle which are usually accentuated in a film that could have been set anywhere there was a boat and some fishing to be had. This film lives and breathes. From the small details like keeping in moments of people walking down a dirt path and the flourishes that show him to be an expert at capturing a moment, for example, when Farrell and his daughter Annie (Alison Barry) are talking during one of her dialysis treatments, the closeness of the camera and lighting creating a tender moment between a father and daughter that doesn’t feel manipulative, it feels heartfelt and sweet.
At the heart of it, of course, the mermaid has a secret and it might be one of the more typical elements of a movie that defies most every other convention when it comes to movies about two people falling in love. The brilliance of the film is that from the music to the cinematography by Christopher Doyle which just fits in with Jordan’s aesthetic here the movie has a quiet passion about it; the notes that play underneath the conversations, the shared moments between the players, this is a movie that is dependant on its acting and its pacing.
Without the ruggedness and everyman charm of Farrell, the mystery which surrounds Bachleda and how she navigates a character that has something to hide but covers it up with a thin veil of sweetness, and the precociousness of Annie who seems more like a real child her age rather than one cut from a script the movie would not be what it is. The idea of mythology and how Farrell believes this strange woman is indeed from the sea is interwoven into the film with a muted amusement while never being distracting to the actual plot of the picture.
True, Jordan’s script wavers slightly in its final act, the penultimate moment all but telegraphed leading up to the final moment when it all goes exactly to plan, but that shouldn’t take away from a movie that brims with character and is a romantic drama that just radiates talent and sweetness. There’s something to be said about living life in a small town, everyone knowing everyone else’s business, but that’s never been captured so personally and as precisely as Neil Jordan has done here.
The Wolfman – DVD Giveaway
I know some people ragged on this film for its silliness but I loved this picture in a real affectionate B-movie way.
The action was solid, the gore was viscous, the set design was spectacular and the acting was sub-par. All elements needed for a good horror film. I realize that’s not really what they were hoping to achieve on this picture but seeing how plagued the production was with shifting talent behind the camera I am amazed that this wasn’t a bigger disaster than it was because it’s still a really good film.
I am hoping this movie finds a new life on DVD and to that end I am offering copies of this movie to anyone who wants to get entered in a contest to get one. I have a few copies so your chances are fairly solid if you send me a note to Christopher_Stipp@yahoo.com and simply state your all-time favorite, classic Universal movie monster.
It’s just that easy, folks.
A film description:
Inspired by the classic Universal film that launched a legacy of horror, The Wolfman brings the myth of a cursed man back to its iconic origins. Oscar® winner Benicio Del Toro stars as Lawrence Talbot, a haunted nobleman lured back to his family estate after his brother vanishes. Reunited with his estranged father (Oscar® winner Anthony Hopkins), Talbot sets out to find his brother…and discovers a horrifying destiny for himself. Lawrence Talbot’s childhood ended the night his mother died.
After he left the sleepy Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor, he spent decades recovering and trying to forget. But when his brother’s fiancée, Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt), tracks him down to help find her missing love, Talbot returns home to join the search. He learns that something with brute strength and insatiable bloodlust has been killing the villagers, and that a suspicious Scotland Yard inspector named Aberline (Hugo Weaving) has come to investigate.
As he pieces together the gory puzzle, he hears of an ancient curse that turns the afflicted into werewolves when the moon is full. Now, if he has any chance at ending the slaughter and protecting the woman he has grown to love, Talbot must destroy the vicious creature in the woods surrounding Blackmoor. But as he hunts for the nightmarish beast, a simple man with a tortured past will uncover a primal side to himself…one he never imagined existed.
A Dead End, a Resurrection and a Disturbed After.Life by Ray Schillaci
Pardon my tardiness for posting this article. I have discovered that hell is moving and movers are its minions. I’m finally able to get my work space in semi-order and hammer out my thoughts (or what’s left of them) on some other highlights of the Phoenix Film Festival. The last time I checked, only 1 out of the 3 following films had distribution deals. Each filmmaker has infused their film with their own unique vision and artistic passion which sets it far apart from the standard studio drech and they deserve an audience (film festival, small art house run and/or cable deal).
“NoNames” was the big winner and obviously struck a chord with anyone from the mid-west. This is the simple story of people growing up in small town Wisconsin with very few choices and those who pick the wrong ones. The ones that tread the wrong path have little joy to look forward to but the local bar and partying in the back of their cramped trailers. For them, success would be staying out of trouble, getting their own home (that was not a trailer), maintaining a decent job, finding love and keeping it to the best of their ability. These are obviously not priorities in the lead character’s life, Kevin, played by James Badge Dale and that’s the frustrating part of watching his life spiral out of control.
At this viewer’s first glance it was easy to dismiss many of the characters in this cautionary tale as Jerry Springer candidates and hard to connect with when the choices seemed so simple. I’ve known people like this and try not to be around them since their narrow mindedness and stubborn ways always end up creating more drama in their lives which seems to suck so many unsuspecting others in. But rather than just dismissing this as a backwoods Shakespearean drama, I had to take myself out of the critic’s seat for a moment after seeing the reaction of the audience that stayed for the Q&A. Those people were actually from small towns and their heartfelt feelings were vindicated by the director, cast and crew capturing exactly what goes on in this lifestyle that Hollywood has no clue of or interest in.
All the more heart wrenching was the discovery that it’s based on a true story. The director and co-producers were very close to the people and their account. That may explain the straightforward style of the picture. The director, Kathy Lindboe, does not accentuate the palette of the narrative with canvases, editing techniques or music. Instead she relies on her actors, the lives of their characters and the town itself. This is captured in a very blunt way that some will embrace while others may feel put off. Lindboe and her talented cast and crew have put together a hard look at small town living and dismantled any romantic conceptions that usually has Hollywood scoop up and serve the inane pabulum to an unsuspecting public. No, director Kathy Lindboe has a purpose and intends to display it without heartstrings and pretty pictures.
This film is made for small town Middle America and those who have been fortunate enough to escape it. Let me back step for a moment that is not to say that being a small town is instant doom for those who reside in it. The choices have become extremely minimal thanks to America and its politics joining in on the good ol’ global bandwagon. Small towns use to be considered the heart and soul of America and now have been under sold as a worthless commodity. This leaves many in disarray constantly searching for some kind of balance in a purposely unbalanced world. Dysfunction has become the norm and we’re told to live with it rather than address it. “NoNames” displays these symptoms with pathos and guilt, capturing a very sad side of the nation we live in.
The film is by no means perfect with some editing issues (a little long) and some much needed dialogue to be punched up. But the film struck a primal chord with the Phoenix audiences and has continued to do so with various other showings, hence the accolades. Both James Badge Dale and Gillian Jacobs turn in notable deep felt performances while the rest of the cast blend well with the tale itself. “NoNames” is not the kind of film that opens in L.A. or New York. And, it may find a struggle pulling itself out of obscurity like the characters that are portrayed, but it already has a built-in audience that could definitely give a smart distributor a reason to pick it up and make a profit on an entire heartland audience that can speak volumes.
Now for something really different; when was the last time you were truly taken on a journey that left you breathless? In the 70s there were a multitude of such films that explored the human condition and left one with so many deep conversations at small coffee shops; Michelangelo Antonioni’s “The Passenger” Nicholas Roeg’s “Walkabout” and any one of John Cassavetes’ films of that era. The Phoenix Film Festival was treated to such a personal event with Jason Lehel’s “Gaia,” an amazing journey of self realization for one troubled young woman. It appears that Lehel may be cut from the same creative cloth as those mentioned.
The director has made (what some may say) an insane proposition; to film an emotionally charged concept infused with brilliant ideas without the aid of a script and then cast an unknown in the lead role with everything hinging on her believability. On top of that, he puts her right smack dab in the middle of a real Indian reservation with non-actors. It pays off in spades! This is the art that has been missing from art houses. Lehel conjures images that haunt and have one talking for days while Emily Lape pulls off a performance that is not only Oscar worthy, but should have other actresses taking notes for years. It is a beautifully nuanced and natural piece of acting that almost feels like an intrusion into one’s life thanks to Lehel’s wonderful eye.
To say Gaia is a troubled woman with a dark past is an understatement. This young woman appears hell-bent in partying herself to death till she winds up wandering the Arizona desert in a complete drug and alcohol haze after being brutally raped. She eventually collapses and is taken in by a caring Native American Indian, named Ed. What transpires between Gaia, Ed and the other natives is a revelation. Nothing is taken for granted and Gaia’s journey is not a quick fix. It is an arduous task that is never clear if it will ever come into fruition until the very end. This is not a horrifying cautionary tale, but an ode to hope, survival and self-realization. It is both the frailness of being human and the triumph of the human spirit. The story almost takes on a cosmic sojourn with the time spent with the Native Americans and their culture.
Aside from Miss Lape’s stellar turn, Ed Mendoza as the Native American who helps her along is wonderfully touching with a lightheartedness that lifts Gaia and the viewers from the ashes of her life. He is the grounding rod to Gaia’s lightening and his sensitivity and interaction with so many others makes him even more embracing. There is also a strained, touching and nearly doomed relationship between Gaia and a deaf mute Native American. Their scenes range from the gentle to the abrasive with Gaia’s past haunting both of them.
Warning: this film is not for the simple minded. It makes you think about life and what it has to offer. Director Jason Lehel (a 25+ year veteran cinematographer) has created, for his directorial debut, a complex drama that does not follow the normal narrative. He explores time shifts, uncomfortable sexual dalliances and an exploration into a culture virtually ignored in film today. I recommend this beautiful thought provoking film to those who miss intelligent drama laced with a hint of the metaphysical. It is a rare breed and a breath of fresh air that makes one thankful for the talents of Jason Lehel and Emily Lape.
I have saved a most puzzling for last. There are times that life imitates art and other times when there is a bizarre collision that results in uncomfortable, nails on the chalk board, moments. Case in point; actress, Brittany Murphy’s recent passing in her bathroom colliding with the debut of her new movie on DVD, the cover displaying the actress dead in a bathtub…eerie. Now treading from eerie to damn creepy is Liam Neeson’s turn as a funeral director who claims to have a relationship with his (dead) clientele. For some, “After.Life” will be the equivalent of afterbirth; disgusting and tossed aside. But it’s not that easy for the curious at heart and as aggravating and unsettling it is to watch the film can be considered either a carefully crafted twisted piece of Grand Guignol or the demented work of a sick mind. I may save the last for another gruesome film oddity, “The Human Centipede”. After all, “After.Life” plays more with your mind than serving up stomach churning visuals.
I’m on the fence with this one since I could not help but wonder what possessed the great and respected Liam Neeson to take on such a ghoulish role and then to top it off have the love of his life pass away in an unusual accident just months after finishing the project. It adds tremendous weight to the story as we watch it unfold between Neeson’s funeral director and his new visitor Christina Ricci, who may or may not be dead. It appears that the funeral director has a gift/curse to have conversations with those on the slab who insist they are still alive and it is his job to assist them into the beyond. On the other hand, this guy may be the greatest slight-of-hand trickster since Norman Bates.
This is as cold and calculating as it sounds. Mr. Neeson gives a performance that harkens back to the good old days of the great Boris Karloff, but it is not over the top. If anything, he underplays beautifully which adds to the gruesomeness of it all. With several naked shots, Ricci is very off-putting to watch. A combination of material, performance and direction make the scenes feel very wrong, almost taboo. There is nothing sexy here, like what was delivered in “Black Snake Moan”. Ricci runs the gamut of emotions trying to figure out if she is actually dead and so do we.
Although there are others in the cast, “After.Life” is basically a two person melodrama/thriller and at times may remind one of a play. Justin Long as Paul appears to be in for the ride, once again as a long suffering boyfriend. I don’t know if it’s a casting curse, but Long’s character looks like it just traversed across the screen from the same thankless character he played in “Drag Me to Hell”. He has the ability to be engaging, but it’s wasted in movies of this sort. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was casted in “Scream 4” as another victim.
“After.Life” has played some festivals, had a limited run in April 2010 and is readying for an August 2010 DVD release. But this film cries out for the midnight show freaks. The director’s ghoulish twists and turns keep the audience on its toes and hammered to their seats while the weak may watch through parted fingers. Agitating, aggravating and like searching for a pulse that may or may not be there, “After.Life” challenges its viewers. Are you up for the challenge? Me, I had to take a good shower afterwards, remind myself it was only celluloid and look forward to a lighter side of a tanned Mr. Neeson as Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith on “The A Team”.
Prince of Pulp and Circumstance by Ray Schillaci
How easy is it to take apart another Jerry Bruckheimer spectacle that hopes to follow in the footsteps of Cecile B. Demille or is that too lofty a goal to suggest? Perhaps it’s the idea of taking another ride, toy or video game and making oodles of money on merchandising via a movie while nearly forgetting the entertainment value. Whatever it may be, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” is as convoluted as its title. Too bad, it didn’t have to be, had somebody taken a little more time with the story and direction. The movie had any number of classic yarns it could have emulated from, Ali Baba, Aladdin and so forth. Instead, gymnastics and CGI cover up plot holes, dead space and time filler.
The story is simple; a street urchin demonstrates his tenacity in a marketplace and the king of Persia not only spares his life for the spirit the young man displays, but adopts him as well. The young man grows up with royalty and like nearly everyone else learns to speak with a British accent even though they’re Persian. The only exception is Ben Kingsley, but that’s because he looks more the part, is suspicious and is far capable of acting rings around everyone else. That’s just one of the many things that irks me in this wrong minded new venture from the man that brought you “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Just to prove that, Alfred Molina is thrown in for good measure to represent the Captain Jack Sparrow character in the guise of Sheik Amar. Molina is the lighthearted rogue that is more bark than bite with a sense of humor that gets crushed in all the slam-bang antics. To be fair to Mr. Molina, he is a redeeming value in this mess and should have been spared and put to better use in the new “Pirates…” movie instead.
Oops, I almost forgot to finish what story there is. Jake Gyllenhall plays Dastan the adopted brother who is raised with two other good looking brothers. Without the king’s knowledge, the three march on a sacred city as a suspected enemy of their land. In doing so, Dastan accidently discovers a mystical dagger that can reverse time. The adventure starts from there and if anybody ever had a chance to see the sorrowful time waster “Next” starring Nicholas Cage, one could only guess where it will all end up. It’s the equivalent of a lot of build up and then discovering…it’s only a dream? That’s right, dress a pig up all you want, but in the end it’s just an overdressed heffer.
Jake Gyllenhall plays cavalier well, unfortunately it’s to Gemma Arterton’s emotionless, cardboard cutout character that makes us appreciate Keira Knightly’s underwritten character from “Pirates…” all the more. The CGI cities are becoming stale wastelands for the eye and are better suited for the small computer screen where they belong. The acrobatics, supposedly achieved by Gyllenhal’s character, soon become redundant after twenty minutes leaving a lot of useless commotion as time filler.
Is it unfair to ask for just a little bit of creative writing or wit from this lackluster piece? The trailers themselves could not muster up enough of a great weekend box office for this tired retread. Mind you, it’s not a bad time waster for the under 15 year-old male set. The sad part was half way through, my 10 year-old son and his year younger cousin were getting antsy. They didn’t even want to stay past the credits to see if anything would happen as some of the Disney films have. They could care less. But they did want to get the Prince of Persia lego set. They thought it was cooler than the movie.
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