Let the Right One In

This is one of the best vampire films I've seen a while. It focuses on a twelve year old boy who meets a mysterious young girl at his apartment building. They quickly become friends. He is tormented by a group of boys from school. The film is set in a small village outside of Stockholm, Sweden.

You Kill Me

A local film review made me not want to see this film originally. But then I decided to rent the DVD. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this film.

Ben Kingsley stars as an alcoholic hit man. He botches a hit by falling asleep and is sent by "the family" to San Francisco. Bill Pullman (working for "the family") is a real estate agent who sets him up with a job at a funeral parlor. Because of a funeral he meets Tea Leone. She falls for him and has no problem with his profession. He starts attending AA meetings and meets Luke Wilson where who ends up as his sponsor. Dennis Farina was the target he was supposed to kill. The characters are just a bit off, but endearing.

Fay Grim

In the first film “Henry Fool,” Henry talked about his journals. People just rolled their eyes and dismissed Henry’s ramblings. But then Henry left on a plane in the final moments. This film begins with a CIA agent showing up to ask about the journals. His wife, he left behind, Fay Grim (Parker Posey), finds herself pulled into the world of “cloaks and daggers” as she tries to locate him.

Their teenage son was sent a movie picture viewer that turns out to be a major clue. Fay manages to get her brother Simon Grim out of jail in an agreement with the government. Simon’s earlier mentoring, by Henry, lead to Simon’s literary success. However, Simon’s fame is what leads to the government’s curiosity.

In the special features “making of featurette,” the director discusses the parallels with Star Wars, episodes 4 and 5. He considers this one his “Empire Strikes Back.” Eventually he will have future films that continue this saga, but for right now he is non-committal.

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

This film is based on Dito Montiel's autobiography, a coming of age drama set in a tough, blue-collared Queens, neighborhood. The writer also directed. The story follows the events that lead up to Dito leaving his father and mother to escape the hostile environment of the neighborhood. The movie concludes with his return to see about his father's ill health and old friends. The cast includes Melonie Diaz, Rosario Dawson, Robert Downey Jr., Shia LaBeouf, Chazz Palminteri, Eric Roberts, Channing Tatum and Dianne Wiest. From having watched the special features, I appreciate the fact that the writer was able to maintain control of this project and not let it become something unrecognizable like some other films.

Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?

Truckdriver Teri Horton buys a painting at the second store for only five bucks. A friend tells her it might be painting by artist Jackson Pollock. Thus is the premise of this fifteen year odyssey to prove the painting is authentic. The story is told in this documentary. At first Horton approaches the art world and is rebuffed because of the lack of documentation. So she then pursues the forensic science route which leads her to a matching thumb print. In spite of that, she finds that information doesn't help either. At any rate, the interviews are entertaining and educational.

Look Both Ways

An artist and photographer by chance meet at the spot where a man has been run over by a train. The death is a focal point for many of the stories in this movie. During the course of the film the artist has freak accident thoughts which are rendered humorously in cartoon form. However, some thoughts do make it into her artwork. What stands out in this film are the moments that have no dialogue yet are filled with emotion and non-verbal communication.

Idiocracy

So often in science fiction films mankind is portrayed as being more evolved and the future is filled with spectacular innovations. Well, this is not that movie. Instead Mike Judge (“Beavis and Butthead” “Office Space”) takes a warped look at where society might be headed. Being articulate and showing intelligence both are ridiculed. Crudeness and crassness prevail.

Luke Wilson (an army private) and Maya Rudolph (a prostitute) are subjects of a military cryogenic experiment gone wrong. Well, the experiment is forgotten about actually. Five hundred years later a garbage avalanche awakens them. They are now the smartest people in America. Most norms have been turned upside down and arrogant stupidity reigns supreme.

This is not a laugh out loud kind of film. Instead it is more a satirical criticism of what is happening now with an eye toward where civilization might go. There are plenty of visual gags that may bring a smirk. More importantly it is a thought provoking film in spite of the absurdities.

When this was released it did not play in many cities. The movie poster was only up briefly at my local AMC. This may not be a great film, but a lot more thought went into this than some other films I’ve wasted my time on. I’m glad to have seen it.

Haven

This past fall “Haven” played at the local film festival. I had a conflict that night and did not get to go. On Monday I rented it. Although, I had seen the preview a couple of times, I did not know what to expect.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised. The film, set in the Cayman Islands, follows several intertwined storylines from multiple points of view using a diverse ensemble cast. Although the scene sequence is juggled around and looped back on itself (a la Quentin Tarantino), I like the fact that the connected stories are more interlinked than some other films of this type. The featurette on the DVD mentions that the director, who is also the author of the screenplay, is a native of the islands. He made sure that the story and characters were authentic.

I don’t want give details away. I’ll just say that the drama of the film centers around the male characters and how they want to define their self images. Race, culture and class differences only add to the tension between the characters. Interestingly enough, this film was produced by “Crash”-producer Bob Yari. Not quite as shrill as “Crash”, this movie does take time for lighter moments on the island. I appreciated that balance.

Sorry I’ve been sidetracked with other projects. I have a DVD I haven’t even finished. When I see something I want to recommend, I will post again.

Fateless

Imre Kertesz’s novel Fateless has been made into a film of the same name. This a drama concerning a 14-year-old Hungarian Jew, Gyuri Koves, who ends up in a Nazi concentration camp. I had seen a preview that had touted all the honors the film had earned. So, I decided to rent it.

My main concern was that it would be just another concentration camp story. I found this film very moving. It maintained a slow pace, but was artfully photographed. As time passed there were brief glimpses of daily routines and small events.

The boy eventually develops a leg infection and ends up in a different place. Most dramatic is a scene with him on a cart with dead and near dead bodies being moved. The film depicts his gradual weakening state and his will to carry on. I was very impressed by the actor who portrayed this boy.

The featurette was interesting too. It explained the director’s drive to be accurate with sets, costumes and make-up. There was even mention that the film almost fell apart during production. New backers had to be found. The writer of novel was also interviewed about the book and its translation to screen.