No Country for Old Men

(2007, 122 min) Despite having four other 4-star reviews on this site, this review has never before been moved to bestow that lofty designation on a Coen Brothers movie. They always seemed a little too pleased with their dialogue, a little too amused at their own cleverness, and a little too condescending toward their characters. Well, they've finally grown up, and with the help of Cormac McCarthy's indelible voice, they've created their masterpiece.

On its surface, No Country for Old Men is a relentless thriller concerning the pursuit of $2 million dollars in cold hard drug money. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is an old-school Texan who stumbles across the carnage of a deal gone bad; after tracking down the (former) last man standing, he stashes the dough and prepares his beloved (Kelly MacDonald) for a new life. But that kind of dough doesn't disappear quietly, as a bevy of bounty hunters is after him, most menacingly Anton Chigurh (rhymes with "sugar"). As chillingly portrayed by Oscar® shoo-in Javier Bardem, he recalls Michael Meyers crossed with Bobby Fischer, a methodically merciless and unfortunately principled killer armed with a cattle stungun.

While their chase involves some of the most exciting action sequences you'll ever see, the movie's heart (including the movie's title) belongs to sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones). Trying to solve this mess with a minimum of mayhem, he's instead always a step behind, leading to a poetic ending that is so perfect, I'm shocked that anyone found it controversial. Additional kudos to the amazing Marfa, TX, the most cinematic American location since Monument Valley.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

In the Arms of My Enemy

Reviewed at the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival

(2007, 85 min) A ruthlessly efficient, thinking person's action film that sometimes goes over the top but has a great time going there. It's the story of two sets of brothers (Cossacks and Gypsies) in the early 1800s who cross paths in bloody conflict and, like Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, tells the tale from both sides, eliciting empathy for each. How it all happens in under 90 minutes is a wonder to behold.

The first part of the story (titled "Us") is from the Cossacks' perspective. The identification as "Us" makes sense as these brothers are ostensibly the civilized ones, but the original title of the movie (Voleurs de Chevaux aka Horse Thieves) suggests that the true protagonists are on the other side. In any case, the two brothers Jakub and Vladi decide to sign up with the vicious Cossacks as they're sick of being hungry, and at least get a square meal from the marauders. But their initiation is brutal, as are their battles with the "enemy," resulting in a tragic loss.

A mere half hour into the proceedings, perspective shifts to "Them," Gypsy brothers Roman and Elias, who live by stealing horses and hiding underground. Parallels are drawn between the sets of brothers, with the youngest learning trades from the elders, the elders protecting the young, and much topless frolicking in the river. Events eventually coincide, leading to the climax ("The Chase"), where exposition is cast aside, the convoluted chronology is cleared up, and several tense set pieces follow in rapid succession. There's no shying away from the brutality of battle, nor the many complications (mostly negative) of war and vengeance. It even ends with a glimmer of hope for the brotherhood of man.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

As Seen Through These Eyes

Reviewed at the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival

(2008, 70 min) So poorly put-together that it actually serves to trivialize the holocaust, this weak documentary is a real waste of its noble and intriguing subjects.

During the Holocaust, the Nazis did their damndest to keep their prisoners (whether in concentration camps or ghettos) in line, including the suppression of all art that wasn't directly related to German propaganda. But as with all oppressive societies, a noble few rebelled, and some of this art survived, with or without the lives of their creators.

The focus is supposed to be on the artwork created by prisoners of the Holocaust, but director Hilary Helstein never shows us a complete image, only fragments, Ken Burns style. Her attempt to break up the static talking heads serves to deny us the full scale of the art; to me, it felt disrespectful to the people who risked (and sacrificed) their lives creating, hiding and preserving the work. Some pieces seemed breathtaking, and others amateurish yet powerful expressions of subversion, but it's hard to tell when all we're offered is fragments. The heavily pixellated digital projection doesn't help; its quality could improve when shown on the Sundance Channel or on DVD.

Maya Angelou narrates with the most purple of prose, as if anything Holocaust related needed to be overstated: "Now instead of capturing beautiful landscapes, Hitler captured people." "The musicians were cruelly forced to play upbeat marches in order to drown out the screams of the prisoners." Did the legendary poet even know what she was reading? The score is likewise overbearing, obvious and intrusive. The real tragedy is that the remaining survivors are so old, this might have been their last chance to tell their stories. What a shame.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

Man's Job

Reviewed at the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival

(2007, 85 min) Apparently "man's job" is to fuck everything up. Juha (Tommi Korpela) is a recently laid-off father who stumbles into a male escort job, despite being quite plain-looking. As he does his tricks, he hides it from his family, until the lies come tumbling down in heavy-handed fashion. His best friend Olli (Jani Volanen) is a taxi driver with a drinking problem, and Olli reluctantly becomes Juha's pimp. Olli is also the father of Juha's son, and still has feelings for the chronically depressed Katja (Maria Heiskanen).

All of this is conveyed in a relentlessly heavy tone, portending to have deep insight into its characters and humanity and general. But there's nothing universal here; everything is confined to a ridiculous set-up that wouldn't even pass the "Three's Company" believability test. Never mind the idea that someone as plain looking as Juha can make big money servicing female clients exclusively.

There are moments that hint at a better movie, including the outrageous situation of being paid to bathe with an obviously underaged girl with Down's Syndrome. It's enough to make you wish this film had gone farther. Instead we get the typical consequences of lying... confessions, suicide attempts; you know, fun stuff. The movie ends with a series of smug smirks by the protagonist... how apropos.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

Cloverfield

(2008, about 80 min) The highest of high-concept monster movies, Cloverfield purports to be just one video in the Department of Defense's library chronicling an unspecified disaster. The film starts out as a homemade video made by a gang of well-to-do and good looking late-twentysomethings of a friend's going away party. But, anyone who has seen the trailer knows that this video doesn't remain a birthday party for long. The ravaging of New York by an unexplained (and until late in the film unseen) monster is seen entirely through the eyes of a small group of people struggling to save themselves and each other from the sudden onset of total destruction. Credit is due to director Matt Reeves for never straying from this singular concept and, for the most part, maintaining its believability.

Certainly, there are moments when the boundaries of "suspension of disbelief" are stretched, perhaps even crossed. But Reeves overcomes these flaws from Drew Goddard's script by never relenting from the sheer terror and from his central premise. The shaky camera work and the limited information that the audience is given access to only serve to create a sense of panic not only on the screen but throughout the audience as well. Those with weak stomachs might do best to wait for the DVD, not for any excess of gore, but the combination of a nauseating camera with the emotional terror that the film serves up relentlessly would be likely to make one physically ill. Following in the footsteps of last year's The Host, Reeves has created a truly horrifying monster movie, one that cuts right to the core of contemporary political and environmental fears. It just might be the best American monster movie in many, many years.

– Daniel Reed

© TLA Entertainment Group

Baptism of Blood

Reviewed at the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival

(2007, 110 min) What would the opposite of a police procedural be? A prisoner procedural? Well, if you ever wondered what it would be like to be a political prisoner, tortured and persecuted and paranoid, this is the film for you. Based on the writings of a survivor, this compelling drama covers the dark dictatorship of Brazil during the late '60s and early '70s and their rebellious/terroristic opposition in the ALN.

Tito is a padre of a Catholic sect with communistic leanings, focusing on helping the poor. A plan by him and three fellow brothers goes awry, and they find themselves at the brutal hands of the not-so-ironically named "The Pope." The centerpiece here is their methodical torture, portrayed in graphic detail: naked, upside-down, flogged, electrocuted, repeatedly. Unfortunately, nothing that follows can possibly live up to this sequence; if that weren't anticlimatic enough, director Helvecio Ratton utilizes the lazy device of revealing the end of the story in the first scene, making it a chore to get to Tito's ultimate fate. But there's enough vivid detail in the pain of being a political prisoner to make this film a recommended watch.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

The Bodybuilder and I

Reviewed at the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival

(2007, 86 min) Bill Friedman is a 59-year-old professional bodybuilder, and is fiercely itching to dispatch his rivals in the upcoming over-50 competition. But all the training and posing in this documentary is just a Macguffin, since the director is Bill's son Bryan, and it's all about father and son reconnecting after being separated for two decades. Too bad, since the bodybuilders are much more interesting than the cliches of failed parenting, absentee fatherhood, a resentful son, and the inevitable bonding at a late age.

Bryan Friedman is clearly aping Ross McElwee and his introspective, let-it-all-hang-out-in-voiceover style. But he's also an insufferable whiner, can't stop mocking the subjects of his movie, and frankly, many of his lines sound like convenient contrivances to advance the character arcs. In one particularly indulgent scene, he films himself breaking down during an interview, and yet neglects to actually show detail or keep one uninterrupted shot... they feel like crocodile tears. The closing sentiments, of Bryan starting to see his dad "through the eyes of a son and not a cynic" seem like too little too late after a full hour of the bitterness. Now, a documentary about Carl Krazner, or Dave Weinstock (who, by the way, has much more expressive facial expessions when he poses than tightlipped Bill)... that would be interesting.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

Live blogging from the Palm Springs Film Festival begins tomorrow

My plane leaves tomorrow morning for five days in beautiful Palm Springs, where I will shun all of the celebrities and gorgeous weather to sit in dark theaters all week, searching out new and exciting films from around the world. Hopefully, the best of them will reappear at the Philadelphia Film Festival this spring, or even get picked up for DVD distribution. Many of them you'll never hear from again. But no matter what, if any of these films intrigue you, write to your local film festival and see if they can be booked. Check back every day this week for fresh updates!

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group