Credit, then, is due to Richard Linklater for his attempt to portray Welles at the apex of his theatrical fame, during the legendary 1936 staging of ‘Julius Caesar’ for the Mercury Theater. lt was Welles’s idea to present ‘Caesar’ as a harbinger of the fascist movements gaining hold in Europe, as a warning to those who still may have dismissed Hitler as a nuisance, that what was happening in Germany, and elsewhere, was utterly real, and utterly frightening. The beginnings of this production are the backdrop to this charming, if very slight, film, which concerns a young novice, Richard Samuels (Zac Efron, doing his best) who, through sheer luck, is hired by Welles (Christian McKay, in an effective portrayal) to play a small part in the production. Once inside the Mercury, where he is soon smitten by another member, Sonja Jones (Claire Danes), we watch as Richard watches many of the names who would soon become famous either through their own talents (Joseph Cotten), or to their connection to Welles via the Mercury (John Houseman, Norman Lloyd). He swoons a bit at the indifferent Jones, and tags along with Welles when he can.

Much of the action backstage entails the sort of theatrical extravagance that has gotten many a high school drama student beaten up; people trying to outwit, out charm and out seduce the other members of the company. Samuels is a bit of a cipher, which Linklater seems to get very early. While Efron is ostensibly the ‘star’ of the film (likely because it was his name that got this film green lit in the first place), the film is at its best when the camera focuses on Welles, as he bullies his cast, eyes the ladies, and performs in a radio play. A great credit goes to McKay for never allowing his portrayal of Welles to become a caricature; in Tim Robbins’ dreadful Cradle Will Rock, it showed Welles as a lout, and a blowhard, and nothing more.

This film was barely released to theaters last year, then quickly thrown in the garbage by the good people at Warner Brothers, who undoubtedly had a talking dog movie to promote. While it is hardly a lost masterpiece, Me & Orson Welles is a very smart film, similar in look and feel to a mid-period Woody Allen film, small in stature but heartfelt in both its presentation of a time when the American theater presented major works instead of hopeless trivialities, and in its reminder of when artistic ambition was used for the sake of the audience, instead of the investors. – [DVD]

Drama

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 8/31/10

This, in a nutshell, is the philosophy of novelist David Peace, a native of Yorkshire in England, whose series of books about crime and corruption are the base for this excellent trilogy, originally broadcast on the BBC. Peace is a progenitor of pulp, and obvious student of American crime writers Jim Thompson and James Ellroy. He has made a study of historical fiction, much like Ellroy, in taking true events from the past and making them his own. Fortunately, like those two, he also understands that the true nature of noir is, in fact, a nasty business mandating that, once the story is established, the downward spiral must commence soon after. His series of books, which make up the skeleton of Red Riding, are quick and to the point, consumed with sex and violence and written almost entirely as internal dialogues in an amphetamine rap. The challenge for writer Tony Grisoni in adapting these books into a plausible narrative was immense; as impressive as Peace’s novels are, it could be argued that Grisoni’s efforts are even more so, as he has effectively torn apart and reassembled the books into a compelling whole, crafting a haunting and brutal three part series about police corruption, murder, and the secrets a city will keep to maintain order.

I’m loath to give away much in the way of detail, as the trilogy needs to be experienced from the very beginning, in 1974, through to 1980, and finally finishing with 1983. Let it be known that the fulcrum of the story is a murdered child, a ten-year-old girl, who is found in a dump with swan’s wings crudely sewn into her back, which is the latest in a series of abductions which have plagued the city. The series begins as Eddie Dunford (Andrew Garfield), a son of York, returns to Leeds from London to work as a crime reporter on the local paper. He gets himself involved with the case, despite the efforts of both his editor and the police to keep him in the dark. A fellow reporter on the paper soon clues him in on the facts about life in Leeds; the local constabulary are utterly corrupt, using members of the force as thugs, and are in the pocket of one of the cities leading businessmen, John Dawson (Sean Bean), whose money speaks quite loudly.

The 1980 story drops us into the true story of the Yorkshire Ripper, a serial killer who the Leeds police have been unable to find after thirteen murders. A Manchester cop, Peter Hunter (Paddy Considine), is sent to Yorkshire to aid in the investigation, bringing with him two other officers, and also to quietly try to learn why it has taken the police so long to catch the killer. A particular murder, long attributed to the Ripper, catches Hunter’s eye, which leads him to suspect there is something afoot in the Leeds police department. Violence, arson and blackmail are all the tools of the trade of the Yorkshire force, which is united under the maxim “This is the North. We do what we want!”

Finally, 1983 shows the snake eating its tail, as another child abduction leads to intertwining investigations, one by Leeds detective Maurice Jobson (David Morrissey) who was on the original case, and one by local lawyer John Piggott (Mark Addy), who finds himself representing both the long-convicted Michael Myshkin and the now-suspected Leonard Cole. Guilt drives them both to discover the truth behind these child murders, and to finally bring the killers to justice.

There are a number of plot threads, characters and flashbacks which tie together each of the films, but I can’t possibly detail them all, nor should I. Suffice it to say that there are slags, corrupt cops, pornography, a medium, hard-drinking reporters, adulterers, murderers, grieving mothers and a young rent boy who seems to know everyone’s secrets. The acting is terrific throughout, from a number of faces familiar to viewers of British cinema and television. The leads in each film are all top-notch, with Garfield showing an impressive charisma akin to Ewan McGregor’s early days that would hopefully lead to better things, although the fact that he is playing Spider-Man next is very disappointing. Considine, Morrissey and Addy are all superb, and aided by Rebecca Hall, Sean Harris, Warren Clarke, Jim Carter, Daniel Mays and many others in providing small but indelibly portrayed characters. The three directors (Julian Jarrold, Anand Tucker and Man on Wire Oscar winner James Marsh) all present a dark, grimy menace to the proceedings, which offer impressive period pieces without relying on stylistic clichés. A word of warning, however. The dialogue is true to its surroundings of northern England, and at times it can be difficult to make out the dialect. As odd as it may sound, even for a series of films in English, the subtitles option may be a way to go.

Noir is a nasty business. Each of these films is dark, often cruel, violent and despairing. Which is how these things are supposed to go, you know. Much like the recent The Square, an Australian film which lays bare the bones of aberrant human behavior in exquisite detail, Red Riding offers little hope in the caverns of human nature, and remembers that it is the horror of man which should frighten us the most. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Crime/Drama/Mystery/Thriller

Unrated

DVD Release Date: 8/31/10

Temple Grandin

HBO’s Temple Grandin, starring Claire Danes in the title role, offers us a glimpse of this life. It introduces its protagonist standing in the midst of a room that she reveals to be an optical illusion, giving us a taste of the visual trickery and humor the film uses, to great effect, in explaining how she perceives the world. It begins its story in the 1960’s, when Grandin first moved to Arizona to go to college and stay with her aunt and uncle at their cattle ranch. While at the ranch, she began to contemplate the world of livestock herds and how they were a reflection of cows’ evolution and perception of the world, which she carried into her later education and career. Her horror at the clumsy, inhumane design of cattle handling facilities inspired her to design her own devices and pens, taking advantage of her insight into animal psychology.

The film tells this story in a remarkably compelling and intelligent way. HBO has earned a reputation as a producer of some of the best biopics in years, including the two recent Winston Churchill films, The Gathering Storm and Into the Storm, and the epic John Adams miniseries. The director, Mick Jackson (L.A. Story), has a light but expressive touch here, finding a perfect balance between the intellectual fascination inherent in the story and the emotion and humor that grounds it in everyday reality. Danes is fantastic–she stands a fine chance of winning an Emmy and/or Golden Globe for her prickly, eccentric performance–and she is joined by a superb supporting cast. Catherine O’Hara is perfect as her smirking but indulgent aunt. Julia Ormond, always a welcome sight, expresses the hardships and fears faced by parents of autistic children without becoming a caricature herself. Best of all, perhaps, are the scenes with David Straithairn, who plays Grandin’s high school science teacher and mentor.

When I consider the emerging revolution in our understanding of neuroscience and human cognition, looking back to the 19th and 20th Centuries–when supposedly scientific crazes like phrenology and eugenics held sway–I can’t help but be relieved that such ideas have been debunked. As we are learning today, human genius can take many forms, even in ways that might once have been considered insurmountable disabilities. It’s valuable to have people like Temple Grandin to build a bridge from the minds of those with autism or Aspberger’s syndrome into the larger world. This film, apart from being entertaining as heck, does a remarkable job of building a bridge into her mind. After you watch it, you may catch yourself stopping to look at the local feedlots and their inhabitants with a renewed interest. Not many movies can manage that. – [DVD]

Biography/Drama

Rated PG

DVD Release Date: 8/17/10

The City of Your Final Destination

Merchant-Ivory films have always taken a critical shellacking and, admittedly, even their best ones, like A Room With a View and Howards End, are really only good dramas dressed up in period finery. But come on, how many films in 100+ years of film history are considered great art – a few hundred or perhaps a thousand? Isn’t there also room for good drama, acted to the hilt, with great attention paid to production design? I think the answer is an obvious yes, and Merchant-Ivory have provided such warm cocoons more than just a few times; they (or at least James Ivory and his other usual collaborator, writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala) do once again with City.

A professor of literature at C.U. is attempting to write an authorized biography of the South American writer Julius Gund. He must first obtain permission from Gund’s surviving family, and so he travels to Gund’s South American estate to meet them and get the signatures. This process makes for the bulk of the movie, and much beautifully shot (by Javier Aguirresarobe, who also shot Vicki Cristina Barcelona, with similar blacks and dark earth tones predominating) acting ensues. Anthony Hopkins as Gund’s brother, Laura Linney as his widow, and Charlotte Gainsbourg as his mistress, are all excellent, and obviously really enjoy acting in this small but involving drama.

Gainsbourg, especially, is terrific, in what is a departure for her. Directors have always seemed to equate her epicene looks with a brittle and scornful type of character (brought to full fruition in the not-yet-on-dvd Antichrist). In City, she is anything but this, playing a completely passive woman, who is made more interesting by this characteristic’s duality with the young writer’s passivity, especially when he is being dominated by his harridan of a girlfriend (played to the chilling hilt by Alexandra Maria Lara, of Downfall and Youth Without Youth). Gainsbourg’s character and the young writer are drawn to each other, as often happens when mirrored people meet.

Recommended as superior drama, as per usual from Merchant-Ivory productions, even without Merchant. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Drama

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 8/17/10

But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

There have been any number of political thrillers released in the last few years, the culmination of the ‘lost years’ of America, where the Bush administration, and its allies in England, have come in for a right kicking over any number of right-wing policies. Most of the results have been fairly lukewarm, either due to an institutional timidity, or a teeth-grinding stridency which has led to any number of well-meaning films left to die, unwanted and unloved, in the bargain bins of history.

Fortunately, last year, the British film In the Loop, used the microscope of satire to finally put a cinematic stamp on much of the shenanigans of the last decade. Now, as a sort of sidekick, we have The Ghost Writer, an extremely expert and engaging political mystery based on a pulpy book entitled “The Ghost”, which was written entirely as a sort of kidney punch to the legacy of former England Prime Minister Blair, fictionalized on the page and on the screen as Adam Lang, portrayed with keen gusto by Pierce Brosnan as a mixed drink of Blair and his blueprint, Bill Clinton.

Lang, we learn, has been ridden out of England on a rail, after his support for the War on Terror proves to be untenable in a country long tired of being America’s pet beagle. He has landed in a compound off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard with his wife, Ruth (an icy, and excellent, Olivia Williams), his assistant Amelia Bly (Kim Cattrall, somehow cast as an Englishwoman, and somehow pulling it off just fine), and his auld acquaintance, and ghostwriter, Mike McAra. As the story begins, we learn that McAra is now, in fact, dead. He has apparently drowned, and his body washed up on the beach. This, naturally, means that another ghostwriter is needed, and he soon appears in the form of Ewan McGregor, a failed novelist who makes a living knocking off the sort of quick buck projects that support much of the publishing world. McGregor’s character is a man seemingly without an island of his own. We never learn his name, he has no family to speak of, and he is assigned the task of fixing another man’s work, as McAra’s manuscript is finished but needs to be re-written to the more exacting demands of Lang’s publisher.

Soon after McGregor arrives, Lang learns that he is to be accused of war crimes by his former Foreign Secretary, Robert Rycart, with calls for him to be tried in the International Court. Lang’s attorney then informs him that he will have to remain in America, since, as Henry Kissinger gratefully appreciates, the U.S. doesn’t acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Hague. The pressure is now on not only Lang, but McGregor as well, as his publisher wants the book in a month to take advantage of the media attention, which daily surrounds the house along with political protesters.

Initially a disinterested party, the ghostwriter sets to work on fixing up the manuscript, when he begins to discover clues relating to his predecessor’s investigations, which may or may not have led to his untimely demise. It is our protagonist’s wont to attempt to untangle the many tendrils of not only Lang’s political origins, but of McAra’s demise. This leads him up and down the Vineyard on a snipe hunt that may, or may not, reveal the truth as he meets an assortment of characters with a story to tell. But, as the ghostwriter learns more and more, we are left to ask ‘What does it mean?”

Roman Polanski, who knows a thing or two about international persecution, masterfully culls all of this together into a taut and delightful thriller, something else that he knows a bit about, having directed some of the darkest mysteries of the last 50 years, starting in 1962 with Knife in the Water. Polanski is able to use a cast of waiver wire pickups (Cattrall, Jim Belushi, Eli Wallach), veteran pros (Brosnan, Williams, Tom Wilkinson), and a once-prized prospect who never quite made it big (McGregor), combined with a best-selling novel, and enough barely-disguised winks towards the recent past (picking out the villains of the decade can be done as a parlor game, if you so choose) to earn comparisons to brilliant echoes of the genre like Parallax View and The Manchurian Candidate. Polanski’s long-standing refusal to find silver linings for his characters blissfully remains intact, which leads to my favorite ending to a movie in a long time, and makes The Ghost Writer, much to my surprise, my favorite movie of the year so far.

How Tony Blair feels about it, we can only guess. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Drama/Mystery/Thriller

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 8/3/10

Why hasn’t anybody dressed up like a superhero to fight crime? When Dave Lizewski, a high school dreamer, decides to dress up in the hopes of being the first real superhero, he gets stabbed, beaten up, and hit by a car. This is the first taste of action in this movie but certainly not the last. Samurai swords dismember multiple limbs, a number of people are shot in the midst of spontaneous battles, and the creativity of torture and execution is enough to make any fan of fast-paced action cinema’s jaw drop. This movie has it all.

The script is simple enough from the original graphic novel that it was hard for this film to leave anything out. It almost doesn’t remove anything. It’s a film that stays true to its roots. The soundtrack is excellent and fits both the editing of action and mood of the film. Nick Cage as “Big Daddy” works better than imagined and his daughter “Hit-Girl” plays along well. The pacing is pleasant and the “shorter” length helps to keep the film engaging, even if you’re grasping for more at the end. Looking for action, comedy, and a great cast all in one film? There’s nothing better than Kick-Ass. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Action/Crime/Thriller

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 8/3/10

Tahar Rahim gives a tremendous performance as Malik El Djebena, a French Arab who, as an orphaned young man, has been in and out of juvenile detention centers. Not a bad kid, but one without direction, Malik is eventually sentenced to six years in prison. Frightened, he tries to keep out of trouble, but is soon picked by César Luciani (Niels Arestrup), the leader of the Corsican gang that essentially runs the prison, to kill a fellow Arab prisoner, Reyeb, who is also a police informant. Malik is terrified by the proposition, and tries to get out of it, but after Luciani’s thugs beat him up, he eventually goes through with the assassination. He is then granted protection, and slowly ingratiates himself in with the Corsicans.

Here, as often happens in crime films, a layer of societal subtext begins to appear. In France, a century of colonialism has inevitably led to an influx of immigrants into the country. Inevitably, it has also led to an upsurge in xenophobia, which has been used politically by both the right wing and left wing, while the Arabs, Algerians and Africans have begun to claim segments of France as their own. There are few more apt metaphors for a society than inside a prison’s walls, and Audiard deftly allows aspects of these cultural cracks to appear within his film, while never overtly drawing attention to it. Malik, as an Arab, is hated by the Corsicans. The Arabs hate Malik because he is not a practicing Muslim, and they see him as a pet of the Corsicans.

Malik does befriend an Arab named Ryad, who helps to teach the illiterate Malik how to read. Eventually, however, Ryad is released from prison when it’s discovered that he has cancer. Alone, Malik continues to work for Luciani, quietly gaining his trust while also learning more about the criminal activities that Luciani is still involved with beyond the prison walls. Malik, still tortured over his killing a fellow Arab, begins having visions of the man in his sleep, and their conversations also give us an indication of how Malik is beginning to adapt to his surroundings.

After many of Luciani’s cohorts are furloughed, he is forced to take Malik on as a conduit to his work outside the prison walls. It is here where Malik sees how easily he adapts to the world of crime. Much like Michael Corleone, Malik began as an innocent, and through necessity, proves himself a most adept student of the game. Rahim’s performance, while not equal to Pacino’s, which has no equal in the history of film, is revelatory; we can watch as Malik quietly takes in all of what he learns and uses it to his own means. It’s much like seeing a young student with a keen mind for mathematics. While crime is something most of us can’t comprehend, Malik is able to systematically work out all of the angles for himself and, much like that student, eventually proves smarter than his own teacher. Not only is he a ‘prophet’, but a savant.

Audiard’s script, based on Abdel Raouf Dafri’s novel, is a marvel of consistency; while the film is over 150 minutes, and set mostly behind prison walls, the story advances at a steady clip. No words are wasted, and Malik’s chrysalis from wallflower to kingpin is a brilliant study of the sociology of the prison system. After all, what better place is there to learn how to be a criminal when you have a classroom full of them? [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Crime/Drama

Rated R

France

DVD Release Date: 8/3/10

The movie is the story of a kid named Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon) who is just beginning middle school, and is having a hard time of it. His main goal is to be popular and be accepted at school, but Greg is kind of a wimpy kid and small for his age. His best friend Rowley (Robert Capron) is kind of a nerd, so that doesn’t help any. During the course of the movie, Greg has conflicts with Rowley, and their friendship is challenged. Greg also faces the “tortures” of his older brother, and the revenge of a girl he had teased in kindergarten. Plus there is also the eventual revenge of some teenagers whose car Greg and Rowley had scraped on Halloween night. The film chronicles the dangerous territory that is middle school and Greg is an excellent narrator for this journey. He is kind of an “everyman” of middle school, and learns many valuable lessons and is wiser at the end of the movie. This is mostly a comedy, although there are also some sad and poignant scenes as well. The screenplay is smart and funny, and the actors, especially Zachary Gordon, do a great job.

Jack thinks that Diary of a Wimpy Kid is appropriate for viewers ages 6 to infinity. The middle school experience is so universal and so perfectly portrayed that most adults will generally have no trouble whatsoever enjoying the film. It’s great to get a bunch of laughs about a transitional time that is often awkward for a lot of us. No reservations at all about highly recommending this movie. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Comedy/Family

Rated PG

DVD Release Date: 8/3/10

Vincere tells the story of Ida Dalser (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), lover and alleged first wife to Benito Mussolini (Filippo Timi). This couple, as presented in the film in the years before World War I, is a cockeyed pair, to say the least. He is a man in need of victory and conquest. She is extremely eager to have him conquer her. She bears him a son, Benito Albino Mussolini (played in his later years, again by Timi, as a bit of a nut himself). She even sells all of her possessions to raise money for his Socialist newspaper.

This relationship eventually comes to be swept under the rug by Mussolini and his Fascist regime, and Dalser and her son are separated and sent to a mental institution and Catholic orphanage, respectively. Il Duce only acknowledges his second marriage, with Rachele Guidi. No one, including Dalser herself, seem able to produce any proof of her marriage. Throughout all of this, Mezzogiorno sustains a glint of serene madness in her eyes, her worship for the eventual dictator apparently unflagging.

Stylistically, Vincere has a madness all its own, making ingenious use of stock and newsreel footage in an almost German Expressionist style, accompanied by an aggressive, martial score by Carlo Crivelli, with its percussive string motifs and plummeting glissandos. The overall effect is unsettling but entertaining in an over-the-top, pulpy way. In the end, Vincere doesn’t really try very hard to champion Dalser’s case, but rather examines the highest and lowest paths insanity can follow in a larger society, and how those paths are too often determined by violence and gender. – [DVD]

Biography/Drama/History

Rated R

Stephen Fry

Two recent 6-part BBC documentary programs hosted by Fry have just been released on DVD, Last Chance to See and Stephen Fry in America, and they’re both well worth watching. Last Chance to See pairs Fry with Mark Carwardine, a zoologist who, with late author Douglas Adams, traveled around the world in 1989 seeking out endangered species. Fry and Carwardine re-trace that trip to discover how some of those same species are faring in the 21st Century. Fry is endearingly out of his element much of the time in this series, as the duo hike through sometimes rough and inhospitable locations, but he generally seems happy to be along for the trip. As they hop around the globe from episode to episode, the passion and exhilaration of their journey becomes quite infectious. Even when they are confronted with environmental devastation and extinction, the program doesn’t try to be preachy and provocative, but rather philosophical and informative.

Stephen Fry in America is, as you might guess from its title, fairly straightforward. Fry makes a road trip through each and every one of the 50 States in an iconic black London cab. He explains at the outset that had his father accepted a position at Princeton in the 1950’s, he himself would have been born an American, and that he has long been fascinated by his alter-ego, “Steve.” This 6-part series documents his exploration of all things Yankee, often eschewing easy landmarks and cities and finding locales a little off the beaten path. This is our country seen from a moderately sympathetic and extremely thoughtful outsider’s perspective, and Fry is an exceptionally entertaining tour guide. Along the way, he rubs elbows with Morgan Freeman, Jimmy Wales (founder of Wikipedia), and Jonathan Ive, who designed the keyboard on which I’m currently typing this review. He offers a series of candid first impressions, and it’s fascinating to hear what he admires and dislikes about the United States.

The two series also dovetail nicely with each other. The filming of each clearly overlapped with the other. As he strolls through the French Quarter of New Orleans, Fry sports the broken arm he got while stepping off a boat in the Amazon searching for elusive manatees. Whilst he is cruising the Sea of Cortez in pursuit of blue whales, we see him wearing a tee-shirt he got from a resident of the north shore of Oahu. This, I suppose, dispels the illusion of an unbroken road trip or naturalist excursion, but it’s really rather fun to watch them back to back and just revel in Fry’s self-deprecating charm for a few hours. – [DVD]