DVD Alert: 'Ugetsu'

It's been a Criterion Christmas. With gifts & giftcards I acquired several Criterion Collection DVDs of classic films. As I wrote before, these editions are expensive but worth every penny because of their restored prints and the scholarly bonus features. This one is considered one of the world's greatest films and for those of you unfamiliar with it and its director Kenji Mizoguchi, you can read about it here: http://www.amazon.com/Ugetsu-Criterion-Collection-Masayuki-Mori/dp/B000BB14I0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1230738754&sr=1-1

Ugetsu is an elegant (startling but not scary) ghost story set in wartorn medieval Japan about two familes. Both husbands want to better themselves against the wishes of their more practical wives. One wants to be a successful potter while the other want to be a samurai. The movie's theme could be, be careful what you wish, for as the men's quests leads to tragic results. I couldn't find a good trailer that gives plot details instead of those with disjointed scenes that make no sense to the unfamiliar. The audio commentary is enlightening in understanding the production history and certain scenes. This is a movie that gets better with repeated viewings bringing out the richness of its deceptive simplicity. Mizoguchi was a perfectionist who demanded a lot from his cast & crew as a documentary here states, but the end result is a legacy of great films. I wrote about his Sansho the Bailiff on an earlier entry and I'm planning to acquire more of his films.

'Doubt' Review

Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/doubt/29875/main

Today we took Mom to see Doubt, a movie based on an acclaimed Broadway play and written & directed by its playwright, John Patrick Shanley. I never saw the play so I only know what I've read about it and from the movie previews. The reviews have been rapturous but you can wait until it comes out on DVD. The big screen does nothing to illuminate the scope and you might think it's a TV Movie of the Week. The story and acting are fine but I was slightly disappointed by the ending but to tell you it would be a spoiler.
Meryl Streep has a grand time chewing up the scenery as a stern nun and parochial school principal who suspects their priest, Philip Seymour Hoffman, of having an improper relationship with a student. She reminded me of some of the nuns who taught us religious education after school. Talk about Holy Terrors... If you ever went to one of these schools, you will be sorely reminded.
Hoffman is steamrolled by Streep's combativeness while young nun Amy Adams is torn between the two opponents and blames herself for bringing up the matter. They offer good performances but Streep has the showy part. There's lots of talk since Doubt is based on a play but it's good talk and enough camera movement and location work to make it cinematic.
Reflecting on the ending makes me think it was the only way possible to end the movie. See for yourself to learn the meaning of doubt.

'Valkyrie' Review

Tom Cruise as Col. Claus von Stauffenberg in Valkyrie. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/valkyrie/30574/main

This movie is based on a true event, the 15th and final known attempt to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944. The History Channel is running a documentary about this plot as a tie-in for the movie. Valkyrie is done quite well and suspenseful even if you already know the details and the tragic outcome. Some reviews have downgraded Tom Cruise's performance and the mix of English and German actors' accents as jarring but we didn't consider him or the others a distraction. All the performances are good including Cruise as a wounded officer intent on overthrowing Hitler and his SS henchmen. The story uncoils as the plotters hammer out details and demand other officers to join their cause, as almost like in one of Cruise's Mission Impossible movies. But as General Beck, well played by Terence Stamp warns him, "Expect things to go wrong."
Cruise has taken a lot of knocks in the media, some he deserved, but he does a fine job as the doomed coup's leader. One reviewer thought he was "too American" for his role but go see for yourself. Maybe the character's nobility is misinterpreted as a vanity project for Cruise but he's surrounded by many better actors who contribute to the scope of the film. Everyone involved on and off screen deserves credit.

DVD Alert: 'The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl'

Here's a requested Xmas gift. Film buffs will know about this controversial German actress, director, dancer, and photographer who died at 101 in 2003. Others unfamiliar with her can read her entry on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riefenstahl,_Leni Because she directed two of the greatest documentaries of all time while living in Nazi Germany, she was praised for one (the 1936 Olympics filmed in Berlin and considered by many the best sports film ever) and later vilified for The Triumph of the Will about the 1934 Nuremberg Nazi rally.
Because of her Nazi connections that she always downplayed, Leni's career was ruined after the war although she was officially classified as a sympathizer and not a collaborator. She defended her innocence due to political naivety but many didn't believe her protests as seen here in this fascinating documentary filmed in 1994 as she approached her 90th birthday. Feisty as ever, she defies her critics and gives her director a workout through a verbal warzone. She never understood or did not accept that propaganda was not separate from art as in her defense of making Triumph of the Will. Her filmmaking skills empowered that documentary to become a warning to the world about the rising might of Nazi power and fostering the cult worship of its beloved godlike leader.
This absorbing three hour documentary is full of generous restored clips from her films. I own several books about her, including her controversial autobiography. A good introduction is the recent Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl by Stephen Bach whose Final Cut about the making of the disastrous Heaven's Gate is a classic study of a film that went wrong.
Leni did have a wonderful and horrible life. I first saw this documentary years ago on cable and rewatching it was a treat. How this woman kept her beliefs to the very end is remarkable in itself. I think she used the Nazis to advance her career as much as they used her skills to advance their cause.

There's subtitles but don't let that scare you away.

'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' Review

Brad Pitt & Tilda Swinton in Button. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-curious-case-of-benjamin-button/23060/main

The Xmas season has been good so far. Besides feasting with family & friends, I've been surrounding myself with movies. I was gifted with several DVDs of choice and will try to see some new ones playing in theaters. Yesterday we caught a matinee of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button starring Brad Pitt & Cate Blanchett. It's as good as you read about it. For those who like long episodic sagas with lots of period details, this one is a feast for the eyes. Its running time of almost three hours never drags as you slowly savor the fine acting, dialogue, and production values. It's longish but never long and aided with a haunting waltz like score musical score that transports you to the correct moods. I read this was an expensive film co-produced by Paramount and Warner Brothers and all the money is up there on the screen.
The plot unfolds around a sickly boy (Pitt) born into a wealthy family in New Orleans circa 1918. He looks like an old man who looks frighten his father to abandon him. A kindly black woman finds him on her doorsteps and raises him as her own against all odds in the nursing home where she works. The gimmick is as he grows up, he ages backwards into a handsome young man while those he knows and loves age forward, all this accomplished by marvelous special effects and makeup. Button's life is the journey of an innocent whose reverse aging keeps him out of synch with the world as never finds permanent happiness because he knows he can't age along with the ones he loves.
The cast is well chosen down to the tiniest roles. Pitt proves again he is a good actor even when he's buried under makeup and digital effects. His narration's Southern drawl has the right convincing whimsy to carry along the strangeness of the story as Button's story is re-enacted from his diary left to a dying woman who wants to relive her memories of him as her daughter reads from it during the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina. Blanchett is too good for words to describe as the long love of Button's lifeas well as newcomer Taraji P. Henson as Queenie, Button's adoptive mother who teaches him simple values to handle his complex life. It's good to see Tilda Swinton in a more sympathetic role as an unhappily married woman who more than befriends Button and Jared Harris as a blustery but kindly tattooed tugboat captain who gives Button his first job.
The movie is ultimately sad and heartbreaking as it gives you insight into the aging process but is not to be missed.

'The 39 Steps' on Broadway NYC

A scene from Broadway's The 39 Steps, billed as 'Hitchcock Meets Hilarious' and rightly so!

I spent Saturday December 13 in NYC. The day was cold & dry but not windy so walking to my favorite stores was tolerable. My company chartered a bus for the day and seats were quickly sold out My buddy Russ went to a museum while I shopped until we met for our matinee. On arrival, I ran into a deli for coffee and a pastry to tide me over until I went to Barnes & Noble on 5TH Ave and eat more in their cafe when I could use my wife's 10% discount card that's good for food and shopping. I bought a Criterion Collection DVD of Mizoguchi's Ugetsu but that's for a future blog entry. He directed Sansho the Bailiff, an earlier entry. I saved 35% with deals on this one.
I passed the giant Xmas tree at Rockefeller Center before entering the French Bookstore to find a book to surprise my wife with something to bring home for her. I found the French translation of Harlan Coben's Tell No One which was made into a good French film that I wrote about earlier. She's reading both versions side by side to see how the novel is rendered in French, especially the street slang. Sadly this famous institution of NYC will be closing next year due to increasing rent although merchandise can be ordered online.
Then it was off to the Virgin Megastore on Times Square. Four floors of DVDs, CDs, books, related gear & clothing, and lots of bargain bins. It's my vision of heaven and for two hours I shopped til I dropped but I didn't go overboard on spending. Again no CDs although I browsed while checking my wish list that the stores didn't have. For DVDs I located an opera of Alice in Wonderland, A doc about Miles Davis, the sword & sandal epic Spartacus, a two disc set of the film version of Broadways' The Phantom of the Opera, and a two disc edition of Batman Begins, a surprise gift for our son. More on these choices for new blogs. Except for the opera, these DVds were priced $10 and under, all good bargains. I couldn't find two DVDs so my wife ordered then for Xmas gifts.
The highlight of the day was seeing a Broadway show called The 39 Steps based on Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 film. This melodrama, which concerns an innocent man framed for a murder and pursued by the police & a spy ring he's trying to infiltrate, was an international success that made Hitchcock's reputation and has been copied forever. The play's gimmick is that three men and one woman play all the parts amid a whirl of low tech special effects that copy the film. It's played for laughs but is also reverential in following the spirit of the film. This version reminds me of Irma Vep where two actors play all the parts. You can get an idea of this foolery by watching a two minute summary of the play and the original movie at the play's website. I enjoyed this show immensely and so did the audience as we had third row seats. This closeness to the stage made us part of the action as when a body fell onto the stage so near to us that we jumped out of our seats with laughter. http://39stepsonbroadway.com/
I made reservations for a small restaurant run by a Greek family where we had a five course swordfish dinner for $20.95 (appetizer, soup or salad, entree with potato & vegs), coffee, and dessert). Their wine list was reasonably priced so we ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio. Very good food and service. Check out the Hourglass Tavern at: http://restaurantrownyc.com/
It was a wonderful day and I actually came home with money put away for the next trip which might be in June. I set aside some money from each paycheck so when it comes time for the trip, it's paid for.

DVD Alert: 'Venus'

Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/venus/24591/main

I saw this movie in the theater on first release and founding it to be funny, touching, sad, and ultimately heartbreaking. This is one of Peter O'Toole's finest performances in recent years and watching him you feel that he's really not acting but living the part. Years of drinking has affected his health & appearance so he seems a natural for the part and it's hard to imagine any other actor in his place. Here he plays an old actor in ill health reduced to taking bit parts while he maintains his sense of humor and his taste for good liquor. As you see from the trailer, his routine life becomes complicated when he meets his friend's unruly grandniece. O'Toole takes her under his wing to find her a job and educate her in the finer things in life. He means well and in a way he's trying to recapture his youth by being with her, but some reviewers attacked his character as a leering dirty old man. I think this is an unfair criticism but you can decide for yourself. It's impossible not to like this old rascal oozing with charm and self-deprecating humor.
The trailer omits the plot's heavier turns so be forewarned. I was weepy when leaving the theater and watching it again on DVD, a two year gap, made me break down in tears. There's a few reasons: I do get teary-eyed when prompted by a good story. I sympathized with O'Toole whose character had prostate problems like me. And seeing how the ageing process changes your life is something I see with my parents and is something that is waiting for me as I turn 60 next year. As if all this wasn't enough to move me, I had a stressful week at work. So piling all this together and washing it down by a glass of pinot noir hit me hard at the film's conclusion.
The rest of the cast is marvelous including newcomer Jodie Whittaker who manages to hold her own against the rest of the seasoned pros like Leslie Phillips, Richard Griffiths, and Vanessa Redgrave who makes the most of her small role as O'Toole's patient & understanding ex-wife. Watching these two together is worth the price of the rental. There's a good 'Making of' featurette on the DVD. Playing the soundtrack in the surround mode diminished the clarity of dialogue so switching over to 2-channel stereo was a big improvement as you don't want to miss the jokes.