Where Movie Critics Get A Taste Of Their Own Medicine
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MEDIUM COOL
by Herb Kane
April 25th, 2003
(Out
of 4 Stars)
Haskell Wexler's "Medium Cool" may be a mediocre movie in my opinion, but I must admit - it did have an interesting approach in the way it was filmed. The movie blends real-life events surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention with a fictional story and characters. That was a very creative undertaking.
Roger Ebert said in is review, ""Wexler, for most of his career, has been a very good cinematographer, and so he's trained to see a movie in terms of images, not it's dialog and story."
The images, however, only reminded me of all the anti-war protesting I've seen in the past several months and frankly - I'm tired of watching protesters. While Ebert may think this film was timely to present, I say it's overkill - even if Robert Forster does appear in this movie. I enjoyed him immensely in the film from last year's fest called "Diamond Men."
Nevertheless, many will find this movie interesting - and it is certainly nostalgic. I was distracted just trying to get a closer look at all the images from that time period - especially the automobiles! You might find yourself distracted trying to sort out fact from fiction, but that's what makes this movie worth renting - to experience Wexler's one-of-a-kind approach to filmmaking.
-- CRITIC DOCTOR
CREDITS: Cast: John Cassellis: Robert Forster
Harold: Harold Blankenship Eileen: Verna Bloom Gus: Peter Bonerz
Ruth: Marianna Hill. Director: Haskell Wexler Producer: Tully
Friedman, Haskell Wexler, Jerrold Wexler Screenwriter: Haskell
Wexler MPAA Rating: R
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Haskell Wexler (director) |
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WHAT'S COOKING?
by Herb Kane
April 25th, 2003
(Out
of 4 Stars)
If you liked "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," you might like "What's Cooking?" even better. If anything, it will make you more hungry.
The movie is about four Los Angeles-based families who deal with family tension during Thanksgiving celebrations. We meet the Seeligs, a Jewish couple who try to understand their lesbian daughter. Then we have the Nguyens, a Vietnamese family who care deeply for their children only to discover the young adults may be in big trouble involving sex and guns. And guess who's coming to dinner at the Avilas'? This Latino Thanksgiving becomes highly charged when dad (separated from mom) is invited to the feast without mom's knowledge - and she invited an unexpected gentleman guest. The Williamson's, an African American family, try to keep secrets from dad's mother and fail. One thing every family has in common is tension and turkey-related problems. The story boils with rich characters and comedic moments with which we can all relate.
Roger Ebert said in his review, "There are so many characters, so vividly drawn, with such humor and life, that a synopsis is impossible."
This movie is a joy to watch and the film's ending is perfect. "What's Cooking?" gives new meaning to the phrase "dinner and a movie." If you have an appetite for family stories sprinkled with a pinch of comedy - "What's Cooking?" will certainly satisfy your craving.
-- CRITIC DOCTOR
CREDITS: Audrey Williams: Alfre Woodard Ronald
Williams: Dennis Haysbert Elizabeth Avila: Mercedes Ruehl Javier
Avila: Victor Rivers Ruth Seeling: Lainie Kazan Herb Seeling:
Maury Chaykin Trinh Nguyen: Joan Chen. Trimark presents a film
directed by Gurinder Chadha. Written by Paul Mayeda Berges and
Chadha. Running time: 106 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for some sexuality,
brief language and a perilous situation)
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THE BLACK PIRATE
by Herb Kane
April 25th, 2003
(Out
of 4 Stars)
The moment the lights dim inside the Virginia Theatre, through the darkness there is a hint of light from the orchestra pit - and you begin to sense the magic all around. You feel like H.G. Wells traveling on a time machine back to the year 1926. Suddenly, the darkness is broken and the screen comes to life with Albert Parker's silent movie "The Black Pirate." Grand images of a ship and pirates appear - and the Alloy Orchestra's live musical score exploads with the larger than life imagery projecting on screen. It whisks you away to set sail for a non-stop, swashbuckling adventure of a lifetime!
We watch actor Douglas Fairbanks (the Black Pirate himself) fight with all his might to take control of the ship. His sword fighting is swift and sure - fighting off two, three, six or more evildoers at a time! Then he is trapped, but eludes death walking-the-plank. The Black Pirate recruits an army of swordsman and they swim secretly under water toward the ship. They climb aboard like Spider Man mutants and once again - there's an all-out attack! The Black Pirate climbs up the ship's rigs and stabs his knife into a sail and falls ever so gracefully - the long cut guiding him directly to the deck. The end finally comes and the audience applause is deafening! The theatre lights reveal we've arrived back in the year 2003.
Wanna go back in time? There's no better way than this. The Alloy Orchestra transforms silent films into pure magic!
-- CRITIC DOCTOR
CREDITS: Billie Dove .... Princess Isobel Tempe Pigott .... Duenna Donald Crisp .... MacTavish Sam De Grasse .... Pirate Lieutenant Anders Randolf .... Pirate Captain Charles Stevens .... Powder man Charles Belcher .... Chief passenger (Nobleman) Douglas Fairbanks .... The Black Pirate Directed by Albert Parker Writing credits Douglas Fairbanks (story) Jack Cunningham (adaptation).
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L.627
by Jeff Westhoff
April 25th, 2003
1/2
(Out of 4 Stars)
For a long, meandering story about the futility of fighting a drug war, Bertrand Tavernier's 1992 drama "L.627" is supremely engrossing. During his post-screening discussion with Roger, Tavernier said he didn't want the film to be ruled by "the tyranny of the plot." Many other directors set out with the same objective and produced obtuse, incoherent and agonizingly pretentious pictures. In "L.627," the lack of forward movement adds to both the theme and our involvement. Tavernier collaborated on the script with Michel Alexandre, a retired drug squad detective who filled the story with bizarre or harrowing incidents from his career. The result is a soulful police procedural heavy on the procedure, an unlikely combination of "The French Connection" and "Barney Miller."
Didier Bezace plays the protagonist, Lulu, a mildly corrupt but dedicated detective whose frustration with lazy, self-serving superiors often gets him reassigned. Lulu's latest contretemps lands him with a drug squad forced to work from a trailer in one of Paris' seamier arrondissments. This assemblage of detectives with their various tics and neuroses is what reminded me of "Barney Miller." I kept waiting for Lulu and his partners to mobilize against a major drug lord, a case that would provide the film with its major through-line. It doesn't happen. Instead, Tavernier stays true to life as he tracks their day to day work. Some days bring small triumphs. Most bring a feeling of uselessness. The title refers to an obscure provision in the French Code of Health, Tavernier's joke that the police battle bureaucracy more often than drug dealers. Because it laid out France's ineffectual tactics to combat drugs, "L.627" was reviled by many upon its original release, Tavernier revealed after the screening. But he felt a sense of triumph when Steven Soderburgh called to he used "L.627" as a model for his critique of America's war on drugs, "Traffic."
After "The Stone Reader," "L.627" was my most exhilariting experience at the Overlooked Film Festival.
-- JEFF WESTHOFF
CREDITS: Cast: Didier Bezace, Jean-Paul Comart, Charlotte Kady, Jean-Roger Milo, Nils Tavernier. Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. Written by Tavernier and Michel Alexandre. In French with subtitles - Running Time:145 minutes
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