Where Movie Critics Get A Taste Of Their Own Medicine
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GOLDEN AGE OF SILENT COMEDY
Presented by the Silent Movie Theatre Co.
by Herb Kane
April 26th, 2003
(Out
of 4 Stars)
The free family matinee this year featured "The Golden Age of Silent Comedy" presented by Charlie Lustman's Los Angeles-based Silent Movie Theatre Company. Dean Mora used the Virginia's old-fashioned organ for most of the score and Lustman himself entertained onstage before and in between movies - even engaging the audience with interactive silent film trivia. His passion for this genre is literally contagious and the films presented were as magical as ever.
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"Kid's Auto Races at Venice" (1914) show Charlie Chaplin constantly stepping in front of the motion picture camera as a production crew tries to film the races. A black & white cartoon called "Felix Finds 'Em Fickle" (1924) shows Felix the Cat's unending pursuit to get a flower. "Mighty Like a Moose" (1926) features Charlie Chase (director of several Laurel & Hardy films) who has buck teeth while his wife has a huge nose. They both fix their imperfections and no longer recognize each other and end up dating. Hilarious! An intermission followed and then we later find ourselves with Buster Keaton in "The Scarecrow" (1920). Two farmers are shown eating in a kitchen packed full of mechanical devices, making chores a cinch. It was absolutely brilliant! Harold Lloyd walks on a skyscraper that's under construction in "Never Weaken" (1921) and he almost falls at every turn. "Saturdays Lesson" (1929) concluded the films with the Little Rascals. Kids are confronted by the devil man and he gives them a lesson in obeying parents.
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Roger and Chaz Ebert brought several small children on stage to act out silent film stars and Charlie gave each one a free hat. It was a fun time for the family. I hope Ebert brings Charlie Lustman back again with his silent picture show. It was a highlight of this festival.
-- CRITIC DOCTOR
CREDITS: Movies: Harold Lloyd in "Never
Weaken," The Little Rascals in "Saturday's Lesson,"
Buster Keaton in "The Scarecrow," Chaplin's first appearance
as the tramp in "Kid Auto Races," Felix The Cat cartoon
- "Felix Finds 'Em Fickle" (1924), "Charlie Chase
in "Mighty Like a Moose." (1926). Piano & Organ
music provided by: Dean Mora Presented by: Silent Movie Company.
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SHALL WE DANCE?
by Herb Kane
April 24th, 2003
(Out
of 4 Stars)
When Roger Ebert brings a foreign film to the Virginia Theater, you can expect we're in for a treat. "Shall We Dance?" is one of those films. Imagine riding home each day on a train, after a long boring day at work, and each time you see a beautiful woman gazing out of a second story window from a nearby building. She looks lonely and lost and with each glimpse of her you become intrigued. You see a sign on the window advertising ballroom dancing lessons and so one day you decide to get off the train to investigate. This is what happens to Shohei Sugiyama (Koji Yakusyo), a married worker in Japan who is bored with his marriage and life.
You might think Shohei is going to try and have an affair with a beautiful woman, but the beauty of this movie is that it takes us in another direction, which ends up far more interesting than some love affair flick. Roger Ebert said it best in his review, "A man seeking not so much a woman as an answer to his question: Why is she sad? What is she thinking?"
The story answers those questions by showing us how one man and one woman ignite their passions for life through the art of dancing. The dance students provide just the right amount of comic relief to appreciate the more poignant moments in the film.
If you're thinking about cheating on your wife, forget it. Take dance lessons!
-- CRITIC DOCTOR
CREDITS: Shohei Sugiyama: Koji Yakusyo Mai
Kishikawa: Tamiyo Kusakari Tomio Aoki: Naoto Takenaka Toyoko Takahashi:
Eriko Watanabe Toru Miwa: Akira Emoto. Written and directed by
Masayuki Suo. Running time: 118 minutes. Rated PG (for mild language)
Distributor: Miramax.
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CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES
by Herb Kane
April 26th, 2003
(Out of 4 Stars)
I watched Eric Byler's "Charlotte Sometimes," his first feature length Asian-American movie, and I was taken in by the story's realism. Michael (Michael Idemoto) is an auto mechanic and we see him do real things like sit around his house and read books. Then he constantly hears loud sounds of a girl engaged in love-making in the apartment next door. Michael is good friends with that "girl next door" and her name is Lori (Eugenia Yuan), a really cute Asian girl. She visits him often (usually after she has sex with her boyfriend) and it's obvious Michael wants more than a simple friendship. She, however, does not. Ok, guys. Can you relate?
Michael can't stand the sounds anymore and finds himself in a local bar. He makes eye contact with a beautiful Asian girl. Hesitant at first, he later introduces himself to the girl we all come to know as Darcy (Jacqueline Kim). What I like about this story right away is that Michael rejects Darcy's offer to have sex (she made it known she won't be around long) and he replies, "What I want is more time with you. No shortcuts." The story becomes very interesting at this point.
Roger Ebert wrote in his festival program, "Going into the film, I expected some kind of conventional boy-girl story, in which the problem is that the boy and girl are not in love and that's fixed by the happy ending. This movie is not about those moronic movie romances. It is about very particular people with needs and fears, and the lies that separate them."
This film's unconventional characters create a mellow mood that amplifies the mysterious plot about to unfold. If you're looking for something different, now is the time to see "Charlotte Sometimes."
-- CRITIC DOCTOR
CREDITS: CAST: Jacqueline: Kim Darcy/Charlotte,
Eugenia Yuan: Lori, Michael Idemoto: Michael, Matt Westmore: Justin,
Shizuko Hoshi: Aunt, Kimberly-Rose Wolter: Annie. Written &
Directed by Eric Byler. Running Time: 85 minutes
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13 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING
by Peter Sobczynski
April 26th, 2003
(Out of 4 Stars)
The "thing" referred to in the title "13 Conversations About One Thing" appears to be happiness and in her new film, director Jill Sprecher (whose previous effort was the wonderful, little-seen "Clockwatchers") takes a group of wildly different, though overlapping, characters, and shows both how they personally define happiness and how they react when their expectations are subverted. A hot-shot lawyer (Matthew McConaughey) seems to have it all until an accident sends him on a newer, darker path. An idealistic maid (Clea DuVall) discovers that the world is a harsher place than she had imagined. A pair of married academics (John Turturro and Amy Irving) find their lives changing when he decides to leave her. An unhappy office manager (Alan Arkin) is driven to distraction by the overly cheerful attitude of a co-worker and does anything he can to wipe the smile off of the man’s face.
Structurally similar to multi-character mosaics like "Magnolia," "13 Conversations" has a lot of good things to offer to it. Most of the performances are quite strong (especially Arkin and McConaughey, who seems to be shedding his cocky movie-star persona in order to be regarded as a straightforward character actor) and the construction of the screenplay (co-written by Sprecher and her sister Karen) provides some interesting moments. However, the film feels curiously half-formed; it seems as if some grand, unifying idea that would pull all the various plot threads together is missing. Still, there are a lot of nice performances and individual moments and those in the mood for more than mere eye candy might want to check it out.
-- PETER SOBCZYNSKI
CREDITS: Troy: Matthew McConaughey Gene: Alan Arkin Walker: John Turturro Beatrice: Clea DuVall Patricia: Amy Irving Helen: Barbara Sukowa Dorrie: Tia Texada. Sony Pictures Classics presents a film directed by Jill Sprecher. Written by Jill Sprecher and Karen Sprecher. Running time: 102 minutes. Rated R (for language and brief drug use).
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