Film

FRANK (2014)

December 14, 2020

(hoopla/Kanopy/VOD) A ‘stranger in a strange land’ band story that focuses on the enigma of frontman Frank (Michael Fassbender), who never removes his gigantic, pie-eyed papier-mâché head, and the folks drawn into his orbit including Domhnall Gleeson on keyboard, Maggie Gyllenhaal on theremin, Carla Azar on drums, and Scoot McNairy as the band’s manager/producer. (Really, that’s a tremendous cast.)

While it’s directed by Lenny Abrahamson (ROOM), it’s really the vision of renaissance man Jon Gleeson who, before being the gonzo journalist who wrote THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS and making documentaries, he played keyboard in Chris Sievey’s band, known as THE FRANK SIDEBOTTOM BAND.

Chris Sievey was an aspiring singer/songwriter but one day he fashioned himself a gigantic, pie-eyed papier-mâché head and adopted a rather juvenile comedic man-child persona and thus Frank Sidebottom was born. Frank Sidebottom would perform both in his band and as a comedian, ultimately becoming a minor British TV personality. Sadly, the character would ultimately feel like a boondoggle for Chris Sievey’s artistically-minded aspirations, and Sievey had a hard time coping with Frank’s limitations. (You can learn more about Chris Sievey and Frank through the documentary BEING FRANK: THE CHRIS SIEVEY STORY (2019, Prime/Rental).) Allegedly, Gleeson asked for — and received — Cievey’s blessing for the film before he died, but who knows what Gleeson actually pitched to Sievey.

The Frank portrayed in FRANK is a cracked take on Sievey’s Frank: Gleeson’s Frank is the frontman of a band, and he’s child-like, and a few other similarities, but his Frank is also quieter and more thoughtful — perhaps what Gleeson suspected Sievey wanted to be in the first place. The end result is a a film that meanders some times while wearing its heart on its sleeve, while occasionally pulling the rug out from under the audience. It helps that the film ends on an emotional high note. (I rewatch the closing scene on a monthly basis.)

It’s worth noting that all of the songs were performed by the actors — no miming here — and by Gleeson’s admission it worked out because of Carla Azar (who you may know as the drummer for Autolux, and is now Jack Black’s drummer) was a firm backbone for every scene, and while watching, you can see her intensity and professionalism bleed through.

Secure the Galactic Perimeter:

Final scene (obviously, spoilers):

Trailer:

THE CATERED AFFAIR (1956)

December 13, 2020

(VOD) Gore Vidal adapts Paddy Chayefsky’s (best known for NETWORK and MARTY) play about a young couple (Debbie Reynolds and Rod Taylor) that wants a no-muss, no-fuss wedding get pressured into a huge wedding by Reynold’s mother (a delightfully antagonistic Bettie Davis) that Reynold’s father (Ernest Borgnine) can’t afford. (It also features Barry Fitzgerald as the idiosyncratic uncle, one of my favorite character actors.)

Like all Chayefsky works, it’s the words, culture, and class issues that matter, but when I think about this film, I think about the set design and decoration: it’s grimy, it’s old, it’s cramped, it’s -lived in-, but it’s home. It’s a fantastic little film that gets lost in Chayefsky’s catalog, simply because it a rather small melodrama, but that doesn’t make it any less effective.

DOGTOOTH (2009)

December 12, 2020

(hoopla/kanopy/Shudder/tubi/VOD) One of the other ‘uncool’ Chicago film fests is the European Union Film Fest, which takes place at the Siskel Film Center. Even I often forget about this one, but back in 2010 I caught wind of this weird Greek film from unknown-to-us director Yorgos Lanthimos (who would go on to direct THE LOBSTER and THE FAVOURITE) that sounded like a batshitcrazy modern New Wave-ish film, and my wife — being Greek — was also intrigued, so we immediately pre-ordered two tickets..

We arrived at the Siskel and were happy to already have tickets, because it was completely sold out — the line wound completely around the upper second floor — and the audience consisted of 80% older Greek couples, clearly there to support Greek film. I whispered to my wife: “Do they know what they’re getting into?”

I say that because most Greek films I’ve attended with my wife have been in-offensive crowd-pleasers, whereas DOGTOOTH actively, -aggressively- is not. It’s a film about shelter, about not letting go, about manufactured culture, about language, about emotional, psychological, physical, and sexual abuse, and even heavier subjects. I was surprised to see that Shudder (a streaming service solely geared towards horror) picked it up and I realized, why yes: it is a Haneke-esque horror film, and not just an incredibly dense, fucked up family drama.

I exited the theater feeling dazzled and bruised, and fully expected the crowd we entered with to have turned against it, especially since they were very quiet during the screening — even the funny parts (of which there are many) — but no! They were ebullient about it! To this day I don’t know whether they liked it (much less enjoyed it — this isn’t a film you ‘enjoy’) but it was a singularly memorable screening for a brilliant film.

METAL GEAR SOLID 3: EXISTENCE (2006)

December 11, 2020

(YouTube) You may be thinking: wait, METAL GEAR SOLID 3 (MGS3 from here on out)? That’s a video game! I’ve played it! It’s not a film!

Surprise! METAL GEAR auteur Hideo Kojima released a three-and-a-half-hour non-interactive version of MSG3 as part of the METAL GEAR SOLID 3: EXISTENCE (MGS:E) limited edition version of MGS3. While Kojima insists that it isn’t a film — partially because I suppose folks have assumed he’s always wanted his games to be films instead of games, due to the extraordinarily lengthy cut-scenes he utilizes — but let’s call a spade a spade: it’s a film. Nowadays, folks don’t hesitate to discuss the influence of video game camera and storytelling techniques on films — I had the gall to do so when I wrote about ENTER THE VOID a few months back — but MGS3:E was one of the first non-full-motion video games that I can think of where the creator tried to take their game, repurpose it, and sell it as non-interactive entertainment.

You probably won’t be surprised to hear that the end result is extremely clumsy[ 12/9/20, 5:16 AM Almost verbatim what I said ~14 years ago.]. A lot of that boils down to the fact that Kojima has historically been an aspirational-but-graceless storyteller (see: MGS1 & MGS2) often riffing off of works he likes instead of weaving something new. For what it’s worth, it feels like with MGS3, Kojima finally started figuring out how to write proper character arcs, and even managed to pen a heartfelt ending, but if you rob the view of the interactive efforts it took to get from point A to point B, well, you end up with a lot of dull flailing.

That said, it’s still a noteworthy attempt, and has helped mold his current storytelling sensibilities into something more subtle and interesting via DEATH STRANDING. (Well, subtle for Kojima.) While it’s a narrative best experienced with the interactive core it was built for, this effort is still a fascinating curio.

If you’d like to read more about METAL GEAR SOLID 3: EXISTENCE, check out my initial write-up from waaaay too years ago.

http://thenewgamer.com/content/archives/metal_gear_solid_3_snake_eater_film

The full ‘film’ can be viewed at:

TUFF TURF (1985)

December 10, 2020

(Prime/hoopla/tubi/VOD) A quintessential mid-80s high school film where the teachers fear the students, but a new pupil has come to town to set them straight. TUFF TURF features a pre-PRETTY IN PINK James Spader as the new stranger at school, Kim Richards as the gang leader’s girlfriend who Spader has designs on, and a pre-LESS THAN ZERO Robert Downey Jr. as Spader’s over-eager new friend.

TUFF TURF is directed by Fritz Kiersch, best known for helming the first CHILDREN OF THE CORN, which may explain why the film is surprisingly violent, especially the elaborate final confrontation. While the combination of wooing, dance scenes, and vicious beatdowns does feel a bit jarring, it results in a rather winsome little film. It helps that the soundtrack features a healthy dose of The Jim Carroll Band.

DOGVILLE (2003)

December 9, 2020

(VOD) DOGVILLE is the first in Lars von Trier’s unfinished ‘USA – Land of Opportunities’ trilogy, comprised of this and MANDERLAY. (The third film, WASHINGTON, never materialized, and probably never will.) DOGVILLE and MANDERLAY are staged like black box theater productions: shot on a sparse, flat set that barely sketches out the town via a handful of open-standing walls and props, painted lines delineating the properties and prominent objects.

Despite having the trappings of black box theater, the camerawork is smartly considered and tightly covers the action while still allowing you to see the ‘private’ activities occurring in the background. Additionally, the wall-to-wall synced sound and editing heightens the tension, especially in the last few chapters.

Both films deal with class issues and human exploitation in a way that I think feels organic to the story, but as commentary about the US it falls a bit flat, although I don’t feel it detracts from the film itself. (It’s worth noting that Lars von Trier wrote DOGVILLE and MANDERLAY having never visited the United States, which is glaringly obvious even without watching the wildly insensitive MANDERLAY.)

Obviously, as this is a Lars von Trier film, it’s an extremely difficult watch and, as is par for the filmmaker, focuses on beating a woman down (literally and figuratively), but it ends in a very different place as most of his films (albeit, while still retaining his standard nihilism).

The cast is loaded with talent: Nicole Kidman is the lead, a woman running from gangsters who takes sanctuary in a small town for safety, and the town sucks her dry. The townsfolk consist of Stellan Skarsgård, Lauren Bacall (who also appears in MANDERLAY), Philip Baker Hall, Jeremey Davies, Chloë Sevigny, Patricia Clarkson, and more. Udo Kier, Ben Gazarra, and James Caan also appear, and everyone turns in amazing performances, especially Kidman.

Even for Lars von Trier, it’s a severely avant-garde film, and one that seems to get lost in the rest of his oeuvre. It’s worth seeking out if you can stomach it.

DOGVILLE’s prologue:

A hilariously terrible official trailer that tries to disguise what the film really is:

THE BIG CIRCUS (1959)

December 8, 2020

(VOD) I’ll be straight: THE BIG CIRCUS isn’t a great film. Yes, it’s exactly what the title promises: a deeply fictional take on a post-break-up Ringling circus with Vincent Price as the ringleader, Peter Lorre as a clown., and Victor Mature as the defiant owner. Sounds thrilling, right?

Sadly, the film lacks in narrative sizzle — it’s basically an array of calamities that Mature overcomes to thwart the bank supervisor overseeing the circus’ use of its significant loan — but it makes up for with the circus acts, especially the acrobatics. Unfortunately, all of the circus spectacles are mostly one-setup shots, mimicking an audience member’s view, so even the performances feel a bit cheap. If it were shot in Cinerama, like it feels like it should be, perhaps it’d achieve the grand spectacle Irwin Allen intended.

Yes, this film was the vision of Irwin Allen, the ‘Master of Disaster’. Before THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE and THE TOWERING INFERNO, Allen wrote and produced this, and intended to direct it. (Instead Joseph M. Newman ended up as the director.) Consequently, his penchent for catastrophes fits this film well, especially since most of the disasters portrayed in this film are somewhat based on actual events during the Ringling history.*

About the cast: Victor Mature portrays Hank Whirling like GYPSY-era Rosalind Russel but as a circus owner, and just think about what that might have been. Price is fine as a straight-laced ringleader, and a very squat Lorre ambles along as a drunk clown, which is also fine. Kathryn Grant’s mis-matched solids/plaid outfits often steal every non-circus scene.

Again, it’s not a great film, but it’s heart-warming fun with some entertaining numbers, and why would you give up the chance to see Price and Lorre on-screen together?

“Where are you going?” “All the way.” “I thought you’d never ask.”

ORLANDO (1992)

December 7, 2020

(Prime/VOD) Somehow, I knew next-to-nothing about ORLANDO when I cracked open Virginia Woolf’s book roughly two years ago. Since then, it’s become a book I’ve extolled as brilliance I wish I’d encountered far earlier in my life.

Similarly, I came to Sally Potter’s adaptation only recently and, it too, is fantastic. However, it’s very difficult to discuss the particulars of its plot without divulging certain facets that make the book truly special, but here’s my attempt:

First and foremost: Swinton is absolutely perfect in this, and I love the audacity of how sparsely she’s adorned (except, of course, when she’s not). Obviously, it’s a role that rightly put Swinton in the limelight.

Second: Potter’s adaptation is more succinct, almost obscenely so as she could have given the scenes a bit more room to breathe, but instead she often races through the plot to the point where it feels more like a fever dream, as opposed to the lackadaisical pacing of the novel. The impact of which is felt nowhere harder than in Potter’s final act, which also bestows its own ending which, fair, it’s her film and all, but it’s -a lot-, and left a unique taste in my mouth.

Third: The gazes! They’re all amazing and all so wound with meaning, especially those that break the fourth wall.

Lastly: The cinematography and score. It has the formalistic trappings, portraiture stylings and sturdy tracking shots of a Greenaway film, but still engages with the action, as opposed to mannerly setting a tableau. Potter herself composed the music, which has a Nyman-esque minimalist flair that, yet again, engages more with the material than you’d expect.

In case you needed more coaxing: it’s Toby Jones’ first role and, despite that, if you’ve seen Toby Jones in anything, you know immediately that yes: that’s Toby Jones.

Trailer (a perfect three-act teaser):

RIDE THE PINK HORSE (1947)

December 6, 2020

(Criterion) Filmed directly after Robert Montgomery’s extraordinarily gimmicky first-person POV adaptation of Chandler’s THE LADY OF THE LAKE, Montgomery jumped back in the noir saddle again with an adept take on the lesser-known Dorothy B. Hughes (IN A LONELY PLACE, THE EXPENDABLE MAN) novel RIDE THE PINK HORSE. This adaptation doesn’t try anything fancy — no first-person perspectives here, just quality lighting and framing. While it alters Hughes’ gritty noir in a handful of places, it mostly follows a similar path for the same purpose until, well, it doesn’t.

The story is simple: a stranger known as Gagin (Robert Montgomery, directing himself) arrives in San Pablo, New Mexico, looking for a mobster named Frank Hugo.

Unfortunately, Gagin arrives in San Pablo during its annual weekend-long fiesta. The streets are packed with people partying and every single hotel is booked, turning what Gagin thought would be a simple overnight act of catharsis into a sleepless game of endless pursuit, which only grows more surreal when he encounters an FBI agent from his past.

One can’t discuss RIDE THE PINK HORSE without noting that, given it’s a late-1940s production depicting indigenous festivities, they didn’t really take the time to get it right which, sadly, contrasts with Hughes’ novel, explicitly drawn from her time spent in Santa Fe. The brownfacing of Wanda Hendrix of is especially egregious, not to mention she’s also far too old for the role. (She’s a pre-teen in the novel and the film’s script tries to abide by that, but Montgomery’s gaze says otherwise.) Regardless, she still manages to steal just about every scene she appears in, as does Thomas Gomez who plays Gagin’s guide.

While the performances are top-notch, it’s the overstuffed frames from cinematographer Russell Metty (who at this point had shot many classics, but would also go on to shoot TOUCH OF EVIL and SPARTACUS) that really bring RIDE THE PINK HORSE to another level. Cramped and sweaty, Metty is able to deftly handle shooting a noir that often takes place in broad daylight.

One last qualm about the adaptation: my favorite part of the novel is that the protagonist is essentially homeless and constantly fretting about his appearance, wondering how he’ll clean himself up, trying to hustle his way into bathrooms or temporarily empty hotel rooms. Sadly, this facet is mostly lost in the film.

“That’s the kind of man I like — the man with no place!”

If you’d like a bit more background, Eddie Muller’s TCM Noir Alley introduction is well worth five minutes of your time:

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY (2019)

December 5, 2020

(VOD) For far too many years, I’ve habitually trawled through the entirety of the Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) yearly schedule and shot off a list to a few friends to map out what we wanted to see together. The list would include not just a list of film titles and descriptions, but also trailers not linked in the CIFF schedule, additional context, interest level, and a list of potential screening times/conflicts.

It’s never been a fun job, but it’s a necessary one because CIFF is surprisingly daunting for reasons best left for another time, and most folks I know don’t bother with CIFF unless someone else puts in a bit of effort. Every year, I’m rewarded by finding a gem I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise, and had I not put in the effort, I probably would have missed out on THE TWENTIETH CENTURY last year. Thankfully, unlike many films that screen once at CIFF and are never heard from again, THE TWENTIETH CENTURY was picked up by Oscilloscope and can be purchased today!

The description I sent off in the yearly missive was: “It may be puerile, but I keep hearing that it’s like Maddin meets John Waters, and I’m down for that.”

Upon watching it, yes, Guy Maddin is an obvious inspiration, with its extreme Soviet-inspired camerawork, choppy editing/frame-gaps, kink, and scrutiny of Canada. However, director Matthew Rankin’s use of color, tempo, and symmetry makes it very much the work of a new auteur instead of something simply derivative. Yes, it’s weird but, despite its eccentricities, it’s rarely off-putting, and it’s supremely entertaining. The trailer will immediately inform you as to whether it’s something in or out of your wheelhouse. If it tickles you, please, pick up a copy.