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Reviews
City by the Sea (2002)
An classic emotional thriller
This is a great movie! The story is intelligent and effective, offering us two main characters with visible trajectories, masterfully portrayed by DeNiro and Franco. The supporting cast was relevant and also flawlessly played. The casting really is wicked good; there is chemistry bubbling away during every scene. The production design and cinematography are top notch. The modern ruins of the seaside town, a disturbing and forgotten wasteland, perfectly underscores the story's themes of lost innocence and abandoned hope. This movie ultimately makes a brave and romantic statement about second chances and the colossal struggle to love again in spite of the (often) painful consequences.
Limitless (2011)
The antagonist should have been the main character
Given the excellent production values and acting talent on display, this movie was ultimately a disappointment to me. Its story is as empty of substance as the little clear pill, NZT. So what we are really being shown is a quest narrative, as the hero attempts to regain and hold onto a magic object that gives its owner "limitless" power without having to claim any responsibility for that privilege.
Although we are presented with a character developing a serious drug addiction, this story doesn't give the audience any reason to care about what happens to him or the people around him. Unlike the many great screen addicts who have compelled us to watch their struggle, whom we have come to care about, or who have made us uneasy and upset, this movie's protagonist does not captivate the audience despite all his pharmaceutically induced super human powers that are meant to charm and distract us.
By the end of the movie I was more interested in the antagonist, played by Robert DeNiro; the only character with any calculable arc, or any demonstrable depth. The best dialog in the movie comes almost as an aside, when DeNiro's character emotionally reveals himself to the protagonist, whom he describes as a petulant "freak". And at that point, agreeing with him, I was totally adrift, utterly unconcerned about the protagonist's ending despite the literal cliffhanger I was promised a resolution to at the movie's beginning. From that sun-drenched moment of illumination, beautifully shot in front of a Rothko painting, I was left with little else besides special effects, stunts, helicopter shots and life styles of the rich and famous set pieces; not much to contemplate or inspire.
Howl (2010)
Rules were made to be broken.
In cinema the adage, "show don't tell", is inviolable. But if the subject of a film is a great poem and its creator, then "tell mama...tell mama all". Can you dig it?
Can you get down on the rug that has been cut by angel headed hipsters, stained with coffee and seed, dusty from the hobo excursions to grand old hotels, from whose lobbies poured forth an Eldorado of silver plate, out of your seat, out of your mind, onto the mid afternoon asphalt, searching blindly amidst the broken glass, the blood and brown streaks, desperately searching for clearer vision?
If you can, then I think that you will enjoy this brilliant movie.
Howl is possibly the best biography cum literary movie I have ever seen.
For me, part of its genius is in the editing of its three-part structure: a relaxed interview with Allen Ginsberg in his apartment; the obscenity trial of Laurence Ferlinghetti for publishing Ginsberg's poem, Howl; and Ginsberg's premier reading of this controversial poem to a significant and appreciative crowd illustrated with dazzling animated sequences.
Cinematic depictions of poets, real or fictitious, seldom permit them to speak so clearly and insightfully about their creative processes, their motivations, and their innermost feelings as does Howl. In answering the unseen and unheard interviewer James Franco does a startling job of losing himself in the role of Allen Ginsberg.
These casual scenes, beautifully staged and shot, provide not only a fascinating look into the mind of a poet, but into the heart and soul of a complex and genuine genius of American literature. The character arc that so many story-smiths will demand is artfully traced in these confessional and contemplative monologues that show us how Allen Ginsberg conceived not only his poem Howl, but a fuller understanding and acceptance of himself. These anecdotes and wan remembrances are recreated through flashbacks and montages that widen the cinematic range of this movie. Whilst hearing Ginsberg narrate the importance of family and friends to his self growth and self acceptance, we get to actually see him with Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassidy, and Peter Orlofsky. Some people rail against voice over narration, calling it a crutch, but it feels right in this context and never obfuscates what is being shown on the layer below. Perhaps this is helped by the tone that Franco as Ginsberg so evokes? Sensitive, yes; BS, no.
The movie pays scrupulous attention to period detail, allowing the filmmakers to seamlessly insert archival footage that broadens the narrative of each scene. The fly-on- the-wall moments will undoubtedly be too few for fans of Ginsberg the celebrity, and for acolytes in the cult of celebrity. But it is the other two parts of this cinematic triptych that prove why Ginsberg's reputation was sealed by Howl and the controversy surrounding it.
Firstly, the poem is a great work of art. Secondly, it was a crucible for a cultural reawakening and reassessment of values.
The poem captures a moment in time as seen through the distorting lens of overwhelming emotions and flies so close to the sun that it acutely catches fire and falls back to earth in colorful flames, reviving itself like a phoenix of phrases and meaning. Franco's poetry reading scenes are way better than just a bit of slam vamping.
He convincingly performs as the poem's creator, showing in every line the insights of feeling and knowing that this position would offer. As if this weren't enough, the film makers have enlisted the talents of an animator who actually worked with Ginsberg previously. The use of animated sequences during the reading of Howl may rob some people of a sense of agency; of their right to create images and interpretations for themselves. I've heard the same arguments about music videos. To these critics my reply is merely to close your eyes. The animations are successful as visual metaphors, illustrating with varied styles but recurring motifs a poem that deals with the banal as well as the mystical. Audiences become normalized, and these animations would be better received if more people were able to reject their conditioning and let these fantasies play out before their eyes in all their surreal majesty.
In the third section of this movie, the anodyne culture that Ginsberg and his fellow travelers on the road-less-traveled were responding to is treated with equal verisimilitude, forensically displayed in the obscenity trial scenes; some of the best courtroom drama ever. Every character is perfectly inhabited by the stellar cast. The scenes deeply convey the gravity commensurate to those arguing for, or against, freedom of speech. This section shows the folly of trying to define and delimit artistic expression, and validates the importance of protecting expression in order to allow individuals and members of a free society to heal themselves and to better understand themselves.
This movie is challenging on many levels, but if given a chance, it is rewarding on many levels as well.
Chico & Rita (2009)
a beautifully told story that resonates long after the last sweet note has faded.
As Brad Bird of Pixar fame has said, animation is not a genre, but an art form. Chico & Rita is an artfully made romantic drama that captures the hearts and imaginations of its audience through its storytelling as much as its animation. By turns reflective and reactive, this is a cosmopolitan saga of two lovers' struggle to find themselves and each other. The key notes of jealousy, passion and ambition set the story in a minor key, while the action moves with the syncopated beats of a mambo. The dialog is sharp and smart. Adults will appreciate the nuances of this excellent script. Love hurts, and the movie's main characters creatively express their bittersweet experiences with the virtuosity and greatness of the stars that they orbit and shine alongside. More of a character than a soundtrack, the music is evenly folded into the movie, as is the tension between the lovers. I wonder if people who go to see Chico & Rita only for the animation might possibly be disappointed, since it is less squash and stretch and more gouache and sketch. But the animation does convey the moods and emotions of the characters whilst taking us on a thrilling ride through dizzying cinematic vistas. The colours and lighting are somewhat stepped, but have an illustrative verisimilitude, that provides a convincing variety of bold panoramas and atmospheric interiors. Still, if you didn't like Waking Life or Belleville Rendezvous merely because of the flickering and the occasional detached 3D elements, then you may find watching this movie similarly distracting. I think that the story is compelling enough and the musical and visual elements such a treat that anyone willing to look beyond the animation is rewarded with the best that cinema can offer.