Sweet and Lowdown

Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown is sort of different from the director's other work. I say sort of because this shares a few elements with Allen's earlier film Zelig but it's still a different film entirely.

The star of Sweet and Lowdown is Sean Penn, perhaps an unusual casting choice for a Woody Allen film. Surprisingly, it works. Perhaps it's because Penn is a loose cannon at times in real life that makes his character's impulsive behavior more believable. But that's just my perspective.

Samantha Morton in my eyes is a terribly underrated actress working today. Her work here is just one of several reasons for why she should be on everyone's radar. Allen told her to use Harpo Marx as an influence for her character and boy, does she follow through. (Best scene as proof? The moment she's listening to Penn play his guitar.)

It's sort of a known fact that almost all of the non-Quentin Tarantino films Uma Thurman is in are bad. I say almost because this was pretty good. (So was Dangerous Liaisons.) In her first scene, she gives off a sort of Dietrich vibe. (Probably because she's wearing a tuxedo.) Still, she also gives an amusing performance.

Sweet and Lowdown is very amusing. Not as great as some of Allen's other work but it's still very entertaining. Penn, Morton and Thurman are great, but Morton is my personal favorite. All in all, it's very much worth a look.

My Rating: ****1/2

The Innocents

Just the opening moments of Jack Clayton's The Innocents prove that this film means business. (Well, what else do you expect for a film co-scripted by Truman Capote?) And yet, it's perhaps one of the most unjustly overlooked films out there.

Starring Deborah Kerr, The Innocents looks like the kind of film Alfred Hitchcock would take pleasure in making. (Can you imagine Kerr in a Hitchcock film?) Yeah, it's one of those films in all the right ways.

To me, a great horror film doesn't rely on blood and gore. It relies on suspense and a hell of a lot of it. You don't know if what Kerr is seeing is real or not. (I sure as hell don't know.) That's the genius of suspense.

You know what else makes a horror film great? The way it looks. Freddie Francis' cinematography is practically a textbook example of what horror films should look like. You literally can't see what's going to happen and it works.

Hell, everything in The Innocents just works. Clayton, who made the fantastic Room at the Top a few years earlier, clearly knows what he's doing. Kerr as per usual is at the top of her game here. Seriously, what are you waiting for? Go and watch this.

My Rating: *****

Leaving Las Vegas

Addiction is a very ugly thing. It's painful to watch someone dig themselves into a hole they can't get out of.

You can only imagine the emotional pain Sera (Elisabeth Shue) endures as she watches Ben's (Nicolas Cage) rapid downward spiral in Mike Figgis' Leaving Las Vegas. She has encountered a number of different people thanks to her career choice. But she had never met someone as self-destructive as Ben.

Yet both are sort of one in the same. They both know life isn't perfect and try to make the most of it anyway. (Well, Sera is at least.) It's all the more hard to watch when they get thrown out of places and get banned from them for minor infractions.

Cage and Shue are just fantastic. Cage is mostly lambasted nowadays for his some of his projects. His work in Leaving Las Vegas will definitely shut the haters up. Shue is in the role of the hooker with a heart of gold, which by now is a cliche. But she gives the role a hardened edge yet still keeps a gentle nature. No surprise on why AMPAS bestowed Cage an Oscar and Shue a nomination.

Leaving Las Vegas is a fantastic film but it will leave you numb to the core. Figgis doesn't make this strictly a film about addiction. He also makes it about a romance doomed from the very beginning. And boy, this would make for a very depressing triple feature with Requiem for a Dream and Shame. (I'm a sadist, I know.)

My Rating: *****

Open Thread

(There'll be a slight hiatus from reviews and such for a few days. I have writing and reading to do. Oh, the plights of being a writer.)

What's on your mind?

Hot Fuzz

I'm fairly certain that Edgar Wright is slowly becoming a favorite. After all, just this summer I saw Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Shaun of the Dead, and pretty much loved them both.

Was the third time also the charm when I saw Hot Fuzz? You bet it was. Featuring Shaun of the Dead duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, it's perhaps even better than their previous work with Wright.

Pegg and Frost are basically the British modern day equivalents of Lemmon and Matthau. (You know it's true.) Every scene of theirs just radiates comedy gold. Pegg tries to keep the peace while Frost has all hell break loose. They ain't kidding when they say opposites attract.

It's the small details that make Hot Fuzz all the worthwhile. There are those small references to Shaun of the Dead. There's the fact there's a superbly sly Timothy Dalton among the cast. (He ain't James Bond here.) But I think my favorite aspect is that the guy who did the music for this also does the music for Sherlock.

It takes a while to warm up but when it does, Hot Fuzz is damn funny. (The final half hour is all sorts of ridiculous perfection.) Oh, I need to venture into the comedic minds of Wright, Pegg and Frost more often. They're good at what they do.

My Rating: ****1/2

Premium Rush

Ah, New York City. One of the most filmed cities in the world. It's hard to say precisely how many titles were filmed or set in the Big Apple, but it's definitely among the hundreds.

David Koepp's Premium Rush is a new movie set in this city. It's an interesting concept to be honest, but you might be wondering if it delivers. (No pun intended.) To answer your question, yes, it does.

Premium Rush stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who has really come a long way since his days on 3rd Rock from the Sun. In these last few years, he has displayed his abilities as both a movie star and an actor. He mainly fits into the former category here, but he still displays the quiet charisma that's evident in any role he does.

Another name in Premium Rush is Michael Shannon. Here, he displays James Cagney's snarl mixed with a bad impression of Edward G. Robinson's voice. It's not among his best work but as he always does, Shannon makes his role one that leaves a small impact in the movie.

Premium Rush most likely won't get ranked among the best of this year, but it's still entertaining. It starts off slow, but the pace picks up gradually as the movie wears on. Gordon-Levitt and Shannon are clearly the highlights, but there might be something else for other people that see it. It's good, but it's more suitable for rental.

My Rating: ****

True Romance

You gotta love it when certain names in Hollywood have a very distinctive style. It makes them recognizable.

Now Quentin Tarantino has possibly the most distinct style in Hollywood in the last twenty years. Even during the opening credits of Tony Scott's True Romance (which he scripted), his style is just oozing out. Though because Tarantino wasn't the director of the film, his manic filmmaking is visibly absent. Thankfully Scott keeps the script's insanity intact.

The way Christian Slater (who, let's be honest, is playing Tarantino) and Patricia Arquette play Clarence and Alabama isn't exactly like Romeo and Juliet or Bonnie and Clyde. To be honest, their relationship is more Sid and Nancy than anything else. Not in the sense that they're self destructive, but rather they're an unlikely couple who happened to cross paths one day.

And like most films whose origins come from the depths of Tarantino's possibly disturbed mind, the supporting cast is fantastic. Among the names are Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini. Each provide an interesting light to their characters, Oldman and Pitt especially.

True Romance has to be the most insane film in existence. (Or at least at the moment.) Scott's slick directing keeps it from getting too insane, even though said insanity seeps out pretty easily. Still, I personally look forward to future re-watches.

My Rating: ****1/2

The Hunger

With Tony Scott's sudden and shocking death this past Sunday, we lost  a true visionary. I'll admit I haven't seen any of his films prior to his demise (I'm more versed with his brother Ridley), but I knew I had to see some of his work sooner or later.

For starters, I opted for his debut The Hunger. Perhaps not the strongest of Scott's overall work, but it does provide amusement for the most part. (Some might interested in an infamous sequence between the two leading ladies.)

Who else but Scott would cast French beauty Catherine Deneuve and British music star David Bowie as chic vampires? (No one, that's who.) It seems fitting since both of them have ethereal looks. I mean, who could portray something so sinister and seductive as well as them?

Storywise, the film crumples pretty quickly. From a visual standpoint, it's a masterpiece. It may look like footage from a fashion shoot in some scenes, but I think that was intended by Scott. (At least that's what I read.) Boy, if most films could look this slick, that'd be super.

The Hunger in toll is amusing in some scenes but not particularly memorable in the long run. Deneuve and Bowie just radiate pure cool. So do certain scenes, especially that killer opener. But all in all, it's all right.

My Rating: ****

Puncture

There are a number of films out there focusing on the justice system. It's either from the viewpoint of the client or the lawyer, usually in a positive light despite their vices.

Now Mike Weiss (Chris Evans), the protagonist of Adam and Mark Kassen's Puncture, isn't exactly Atticus Finch in the way of morals. He's covered in various tattoos, fortunately all hidden by his suits. But Mike's main flaw is that he's an addict. He pops pills, snorts coke and shoots up. Yet his mind remains sharp.

I think that's what makes Mike an interesting person. He's fully aware of his demons and he doesn't let them control his life. However, he doesn't think about controlling them. In a nutshell, he's the definition of an anti-hero.

And the way Evans plays him is truly fascinating. Bear in mind this is someone who's more recognized for his work in comic book movies, so seeing him actually being an actor instead of a movie star is hypnotizing. Here's hoping to more solid roles for him because he's pretty damn good at his job.

The film itself is very transfixing, especially in the knowledge that it's a true story. The script has a few flaws, but those can be easily overlooked thanks to Evans' stellar performance. In fact, this would make for a great double feature with The Insider.

My Rating: ****1/2

A River Runs Through It

It seems throughout the 1990s there were films that didn't earn the recognition they deserved. (Some of my favorites include Gods and Monsters, Shallow Grave and Topsy-Turvy.)

Another film is Robert Redford's A River Runs Through It. Released a few years before his second Oscar darling Quiz Show, the film is a quiet observation of rural life. It's a lovely little film.

Brad Pitt may be the main draw for the film with Tom Skerritt and Brenda Blethyn providing solid supporting work, but the star of A River Runs Through It is Craig Sheffer. He watches the many changes of his life go by, solely as a witness and so rarely as a participant. (He does chronicle his memories of those days.)

Another main focus of A River Runs Through It is the Oscar-winning cinematography by Philippe Rousselot. (It's very clear as to how it won.) Gorgeously capturing the Montana wilderness, it's as much of a character in the film as the Maclean family.

A River Runs Through It is quite good, though not as great as Ordinary People or Quiz Show. The four main stars are also quite good. It's worthy of a look.

My Rating: ****