wryter64 Reviews

Population: 1 (1986)

Very 80s...

[9/10 · 28 October 2008]

The 1980s have been sanitized in "histories" of what the decade meant and produced. POPULATION 1 captures the delusional narcissism and palpitating nihilism that were everywhere in the 1980s.

This film is a great vehicle for the late Tomata DuPlenty a man with talent galore who is more legend than producer of tangible record (his short oeuvre with THE SCREAMERS a smidgen of his over-the-top personality).

Tomata is trapped in a bomb shelter and reliving his warped version of history after the human race has been wiped out. This allows the film to liberally interweave new wave videos to illustrate concepts (the fact that some of these pieces had been shot way before the movie made of course for a cheaper production - again, a totally 80s tradition).

In addition to noticing that Tomata looks a LOT like Kevin Bacon, the heretofore unheralded Sheela Edwards almost steals the show with sexy performances, JAZZ VAMPIRE being the most intense and passionate.

Terribly unresolved and choppy, the movie nonetheless artfully delivers the mindset of the post-punk boomers at their most creative and fearlessly unpolished. If you recall being at parties in the 80s where art-damaged scenesters were coked up and talking all night about a deep concept for a movie that was actually nonsensical and self-indulgent... well this is the one that actually GOT MADE!

Cayman Went (2009)

Personal Transformation on the Beach

[9/10 · 20 October 2008]

I just saw this at the DGA in Hollywood and was impressed on how well the mellow spirit of the islands flows thru the picture. The pacing is easy, the story moves steady, mon, and it is a lovely tale of an actor who's terrible television show is loved by the populace of the beach shack culture in the Cayman Islands - and the transformation he undergoes when forced to sit and stay a while in the ecological paradise that big business wants to develop into another faceless resort.

This pro-environment chick flick is sweeter than sugar cane and more intoxicating than island rum. Mike Lombardi carries the picture and is not off camera for more than two minutes throughout. His chiseled good looks - a brunette Dennis Leary crossed with Bob Denver's Gilligan - are easy to believe as the narcissistic actor. The transformation he undergoes to save the way of life in one small part of the unspoiled Caymans is believable and uplifting.

But Lombardi's character needs prodding to transform and it comes from a local landowner (Jeffrey DeMunn) and an environmentally conscious love interest (Susan Misner). In the long- lost style of mid-century love stories, a strong woman shows a man how to be vulnerable. Yes, you may think you have seen it a hundred times before, but the real star of this love story is the Cayman Islands themselves, lush tropical paradise where just enough does not happen that you discover yourself amidst the beauty.

Garden Party (2008)

Perfectly Captures the "Move to L.A." Experience

[10/10 · 8 July 2008]

Los Angeles is a city of transplants, every person arriving with a dream that is eventually shown to be an illusion in the harsh light of city's reality. GARDEN PARTY weaves this theme beautifully with an ensemble cast of up-and-comers.

The film introduces each character as a classic archetype - the runaway teen, the frustrated artist, the demanding successful boss, the aspiring musician, the dead-end job dreamer - but the film then spends its time delving deep into the personalities behind these stereotypes, revealing them all as individuals as it entangles them in various plots that flirt with destruction but offer redemption. Along the way there is porn, pot, homelessness, backstabbing, tools from the entertainment industry, superficiality, revenge ... and love!

As a native Angeleno, what struck me most was how this film captures the mundane, day-to- day existence of Los Angeles with every hint of glamor and Utopian paradise removed from the stark cityscape. What GARDEN PARTY delivers is an accurate and memorable vision of the city of Angels being a landscape of personalities, each with a dream, some with a dark side and most with a sympathetic humanity underneath it all.

Adaptation. (2002)

Groundbreaking Screenplay

[10/10 · 10 December 2005]

What i have come to appreciate about ADAPTATION is that the many levels on which it works are all so deeply investigated. there is very little experimentation that does not go through the full exhaustion of its possibilities. Charlie Kaufman, genius, has one great attribute in addition to his mental facility: he is not lazy. many screenwriters give us a taste, a hint and want the applause without pushing their ideas, their characters and their narratives through to fruition. Charlie does. He presents so many new possibilities - dual screenwriters, identical twins, characters who shift from sympathetic to villainous - and arrives at entertaining conclusions that are as provocative as they are satisfying.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

it will warp you in a good way

[10/10 · 10 August 2001]

Saw this flick when I was 11 when it first arrived in Theaters. Very educational about the relationship of the individual to society.

If you want a kid to understand nonconformity, get them to watch this before t is too late. The tide of conformity runs high these days, help a kid out and show them that one person can stand up, if only for a great glorious moment.

Also very educational on how bureaucracy works.