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Bu san (2003)
The curtain falls
If you've read the other reviews, you know what you're in for. Don't worry about spoilers (none here, but don't worry about others'), because not much happens in the movie. Tsai paints his movies at the speed of Michelangelo painting a ceiling--no, he unreels them at the speed of the epic that's played this old movie house a thousand times. As in other Tsai movies, the colors are rich, and even the starkest images are carefully composed, allowing the film to convey the full depth of feelings.
That's what this movie does. It doesn't tell a story, really, but conveys what it's like to walk along empty city streets on a rainy night, alone. And what it's like to be in a dying old movie palace. The community that has outgrown the old Fu Ho cinema seems to tell its patrons, its employees, and even the building itself that all of them really ought to be somewhere else. But there they are, where they need to be, for the last show.
The movie's point of view is variously that of the young limping woman, the Japanese kid, and the old actors, but ultimately, Tsai tells the story from the theater's point of view, as if he interviewed it Tsai-style, pointing the camera at it and letting the theater speak at its edificial pace. You feel all that it's seen and sees, every day. It's as if the theater knows it's done for, resigned to its fate, not yet ready to die, too tired to fight.
It doesn't matter that the theater is in Taipei. Anyone who had a special place for movies, especially if it's gone, will be able to see that theater in the Fu Ho. I thought of my last visits to Seattle's Coliseum, King and United Artists theaters, and how they clung to life in their final days. All of them could seat hundreds of patrons, maybe a thousand even, and I never once saw them close to filled. The King is now a megachurch, the Coliseum is a Banana Republic, and the UA is dust, with the marquee sign marking its grave. The movies that played there live on in DVDs and shoebox megaplexes, but their days of playing in grand auditoria to great audiences are largely gone. How can "Lawrence of Arabia" be "Lawrence" in a shoebox, or on any CRT or LCD screen?
Norma Desmond told us about the pictures getting smaller. Tsai warns us that the last days of the big screen are here, and that the credits are rolling. Many loved the old moviehouses in their grand glory days, but in "Goodbye Dragon Inn," Tsai shows the beauty of the big theaters as their curtains slowly fall.
Sommer vorm Balkon (2005)
"Summer in Berlin" and so it is
Saw this one when it played at the Chicago festival in October. Two gals share a friendship over a summer. And over a summer they change and the friendship changes. Things occasionally stray into melodramatic territory, but fine performances all around, especially by the two female leads, make for a pleasantly watchable movie. The day to day struggles of the leads provide not-so-subtle political subtext about tough times in post-unification Germany.
Andreas Schmidt's subdued portrayal of an underemployed trucker provides a contrast to his more exuberant performance in a similarly blue-collar role in "Guys and Balls."
The Dead Boys' Club (1992)
a sweet glance at a bygone era
Many of us, not just gay folks, have tried to imagine what things were like before AIDS. When we do so, playing the classic disco anthems on our turntables or in our minds, it's hard not to look back thru the dark glasses of AIDS-era morality: All those bad things that happened with AIDS means they must have been horribly evil, promiscuous and bad way back then, which is why so many other AIDS movies have this sense of foreboding--sure, there's a party, but we all know it's going to end soon, and we all know how.
Toby, the hero of "Dead Boys' Club," finds a way to revisit the pre-AIDS era without any of that gloom on the horizon. Unsurprisingly, he finds all the fun of being young and discovering the excitement of sexual attraction--just what many a young man before him had found on his first visit to the big city. Sure, there are complications and consequences--some serious, some hilarious--and the threat of HIV isn't taken lightly. But director Mark Christopher perfectly juxtaposes past exuberance and modern realities, letting viewers feel what it's like to recall a world without HIV, while refusing to dismiss or ignore the disease.
This mix of past and present could feel forced or artsy, but it doesn't. "Dead Boys Club" shows the balance of present and past almost the way we feel it, seeing the present in front of us as our minds flash to the past, and then back to the present.
Even though the movie was a student film, I've never seen anything like it. In his next movie, "Alkali, Iowa," Christopher would expand on the idea of looking back at past events that shaped the present. Both films clearly represent a new, exciting, unconventional way of storytelling in movies, which made the choice of Christopher as director of "54" all the more surprising. Someday I hope to see what Christopher had wanted for that film; meanwhile, I'm happy to hear that he's working on other projects.
Oh, yeah: Sure, "Dead Boys Club," is sweet and wistful. It's also uproariously funny. Just recalling this movie brings a smile to my face, on so many levels.
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
pushy, manipulative, annoying, offensive
I'll give the director this much: few films have ever gotten me thinking so much about why I dislike them. Actually, I would have just walked out on the thing and be done with it, but the movie's undeserved reputation caused me to wonder if I'd missed something in my rush to judgement (and, not coincidentally, to the exit).
I suspect I didn't miss much. There's a lot to dislike about "Reservoir Dogs". The film's violence is legendary, as is its potty-mouthed dialog, but neither of those are necessarily bad things in a movie.
No, what's unforgivable in this movie is the way the director revels in his ability to offend the viewer. The stage is set in the diner scene, as the cast takes turns mouthing cleverly-scripted yet coldly unfunny trash talk, and by all accounts reaches its climax in the bloody scene that finally got me to walk out of the theater, 20 minutes after I first felt the urge.
But never mind the blood and guts--though one suspects that if Tarantino had directed "Fargo," it would consist of little more than shots of the woodchipper in use. The diner scene pretty much spells out that the director's not interested in making the viewer laugh or think, but only to make him recoil. Tarantino is undoubtedly skilled at this, but it's not the sort of reaction I'm willing to pay to experience, as one gets enough of that for free these days.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
A good adaptation of Cameron Crowe's book
The movie doesn't quite capture all the wit of Cameron Crowe's book about going back to high school undercover, but it doesn't seriously muck anything up, either. Still, if you like the movie, and you'll like the book even more.
Hayan chonjaeng (1992)
compelling, dark, masterful
I almost didn't see this one...I was on a film festival pass, and was trying to bounce back from a weekend of three movies a day. But it was Monday and I went, and I was treated to a gripping psychological drama. Not a dull second in this one, and a darker, grimmer war movie is hard to imagine.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
If you've never been to you, "Priscilla" just might get you there.
Sure, the costumes are great, the scenery is gorgeous (why didn't Thelma and Louise think of wearing fancier outfits in front of all that nice American landscape?) and the dialog's funny, but all you really need to know about this movie is that it features the hit song "I've Never Been to Me" in the soundtrack. If that don't scare you away, nothing will, and you just might leave humming "I've Never Been to Me." Such is the power of Priscilla--get on the bus, you'll be glad you did!
Dazed and Confused (1993)
Yep, it really was like that
The details are all dead-on--the costumes are perfect, the hair is great, and all in all, the 90s kids in the cast give excellent portrayals of 70s kids.
The best thing about the movie, though, is its stream-of-consciousness pacing. The ostensible plot about a hazing ritual provides enough of an undercurrent to keep things moving, but on the surface, it's slow enough to feel almost like real time. It doesn't wallow enough to be genuine nostalgia--unlike the narrator in "Stand By Me," director Linklater doesn't need to tell us that this was the best time in his life or ours or that nothing like it will ever happen again, and maybe it's because Linklater knows that any time in life has its own problems. All he does is take you back and let you feel what it was like.
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987)
More tastefully done than you might guess
All of Todd Haynes' heroes are outsiders, even Karen Carpenter. As portrayed in "Superstar," she's too square to hang with anyone hipper than Dionne Warwick, but too grown-up to cope with the strict confines of her suburban upbringing, and ceaselessly stalked by the insecurity manifested in her anorexia. Some of the details are probably over-sensationalized, and Richard probably deserved a fairer shake than the movie gave him, but the essentials of Karen's battle with herself are all there in chilling detail. Oh yeah, and the songs, featuring Karen's lead vocals and drumming, and Richard's underrated arrangements, are pretty good too. If you can't see this one, at least get hold of the songs and update your ears.
Brother (2000)
Kitano's violent (but never gratuitous) genre bending
Kitano can do so many things at once--besides making a movie that's even violent by his own exceptional standards, I mean.
There's a few levels of movie-within-a-movie here: Takeshi the director crosses the Pacific, as does his usual character (by now, Takeshi, like John Wayne, can only play one character, but who'd want either to play anything else?) and first we get the Rumble-in-the-Bronx trappings of an Asian superstar comes to America movie--only this time it's in L.A., a city that never looked so Japanese until Takeshi turned his eye toward it. And then we get the trappings of an American buddy movie, though unlike in "48 Hours", Kitano realizes that it's more interesting when the buddies are the crooks.
And underneath it all is an exceptionally violent Beat Takeshi movie. This one's a little long, the violence is over the top, and the whole movie is much more interesting in the beginning when it's genre-bending--when it settles down into being just another Beat Takeshi movie is when things almost start to get dull. But at least it's a *good* violent Beat Takeshi movie--just turn your head when you thing things might get squeamy, and you'll be fine.
Beautiful Thing (1996)
Plain ol' teenage romance, with, um, a twist
"Beautiful Thing" takes place in a weird universe--but it's a place I wouldn't mind checking out. The world of "Beautiful Thing" is in the housing projects somewhere in England, where one cute kid gets the hots for another cute kid. There's some evidence of homophobia, and maybe a hint of parental disapproval, but mostly we're spared these tired issues of coming-out dramas. They've been deliberately turned down (and the Mama Cass soundtrack turned up, thanks to the next-door neighbor, a black gal classmate who loves Mama Cass and who to my thinking would be the ideal next-door neighbor) so we can pay attention to the real important issue: Will he get the boy???
Not political to speak of, not really relevant to anyone's real-life coming out story that I know of (unless maybe you came out at West Hollywood High) but there's nothing wrong with finally having a gay teenage romance, especially one that isn't overly conscious of being the first of its type. *That* truly is a beautiful thing.
Pastime (1990)
Attention to detail makes a movie for baseball lovers
"Pastime" is a baseball movie, pure and simple, and if you don't like baseball, you'll probably find it dull, cliche, or both. Made with a low budget, no big names (though the list of cameos will impress any baseball fan) and an avowed distaste for Hollywood baseball movies of the day, it's emphatically a movie for fans, and nonfans will find it as dreary as a pitching duel that slops into extra innings. But baseball lovers will appreciate the attention to detail and love of the game that's evident in every scene.
The detail is rich but abstract, and comes through not in recognizable pieces, but in familiar warm feelings. The main plot sets the movie in baseball's postwar era, and bits like an ancient team bus and vaguely recognizable songs seem to plant the movie in the 1950s, the places are deliberately generic all-American--it's hard to tell if this is California or the Midwest or Anytown, USA, but it doesn't matter. This abstraction keeps "Pastime" focused on its story, but never makes it seem fake--we *think* we recognize these places, because they're so familar, but they're never quite placeable.
The characters are similarly familiar, almost to the point of cliche (well, ok, naming a black player Tyrone *is* cliche) but thanks to a strong, heartfelt performances by the lead actor William Russ, they become archetypes, rather than cliches. You'll instantly recognize Russ's Roy Dean, but won't confuse him with any player you've ever seen on any field.
None of this matters if you don't like baseball, though. If the baseball that's woven through the movie doesn't grab you, you'll be left with a story that's predictable and a little dull. But if the baseball does grab you, it will be like watching a dream matchup in the World Series with someone who loves the game as much as you do.
Thelma & Louise (1991)
Next Time, Watch With Your Ear
There's much to love about this movie, and few flaws other than the flashbacks over the closing credits that seem to downplay the ending.
Perhaps not yet fully appreciated is the placement of songs in the soundtrack. Consider the breakfast diner scene where Susan Sarandon is telling Michael Madsen what she expects to do next, as Tammy Wynette sings "I Don't Want to Play House."
Guling jie shaonian sharen shijian (1991)
Dark days and bright nights
The English title is "A Brighter Summer Day," but there are few daylight scenes--daylight in this movie is uncomfortable. The movie mostly takes place in the busy darkness of the street at night, where the kids take refuge from the stuffy dimness of their homes and the harsh fluorescence of bureaucracy. The few daylight scenes feel dim and oppressive to the characters--only in the electric nighttime scenes are to they truly come alive.
Yang's long shots and night-lit scenes make this a movie to be seen on film--there's no way video will reveal the visual detail that makes it such a feast for the eyes. Not yet released in the U.S., the only way to catch this is to keep an eye peeled to see if it pops up on the festival circuit. When it does, don't miss it.
City of Hope (1991)
Sayles Portrays Inner City as Poster Child
In "City of Hope," John Sayles appears on screen as one of his urban cliche characters, but off screen he's Jerry Lewis, wheeling out his crippled city and his crippled movie and trying to manipulate the viewer into phoning in a pledge or something.
Unfortunately for him and his poster-child city, the kid is thoroughly unlovable. Sayles' fictitious Hudson City tries to be a composite of real-life New Jersey industrial towns, but it ends up being just a laundry list of big-city problems--poverty, racism, bad government-- slapped up on the big screen with Sayles saying nothing more than Isn't This Awful? and Don't You Want to Do Something About It? This might work if we were given more reason to care, but the characters never get a chance to become more than cartoon characters in a one dimensional place.
I live in a big city, but if someone tried to get me to see "City of Hope" again, I'd split for the suburbs.