Kenny

(2006, 103 min) Speaking with a mealy working-class accent so thick that it requires subtitles, Kenny invites us into his world of port-a-loos and septic systems with the razor-sharp, self-effacing wit it takes to survive one of the dirtiest jobs in the world. You may find yourself gasping for air between his constant barrage of quotable observations ranging in topic from marriage ("I once heard a wise man say, Find someone you hate, cut out the middleman and give 'em a house.") to his daily routine ("There is a smell in here that is gonna outlast religion."). But the job, coveted by a precious few, does take its toll. "When you spend more time with other people's poo than your own missus, then I guess you gotta pay the penalty." It's so truthful, so genuine, that it's easy to forget that it's all made up. Shane Jacobson, under the direction of his brother Clayton, is so convincing and likable as Kenny that it's a shock when the closing credits remind you that this is in fact a sophisticated mockumentary. Underneath the explosively funny potty humor (who knew there was still such originality to be found in bodily functions?) lie the daily struggles of the proletariat: the need to work constantly, the limiting of one's dreams and the disappointment of elders. As his dad says, "I didn't put you through school to become a glorified turd burglar." But it's men like Kenny who make the world tick, and you'll have a splendidly profane time with him. He's the shit!

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

The Philadelphia Film Festival website is now online

The festival begins in early April, so if you're thinking of buying tickets, act quickly. Two of the films I recommended from Palm Springs have carried over into this fest: Kenny, a very vulgar mix of toilet humor and blue-collar observational comedy that inevitably draws comparisons to Borat, and In the Arms of My Enemy, a breathless and thoughtful action film with plenty of eye candy. One look at last year's schedule will impress you with how many of those movies were later released nationwide to great acclaim, so you may well be among the first to see the films that your colleagues are buzzing about in the summer and fall.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

Funny Games (2008)

(2008, 108 min) Michael Haneke has basically remade his original Austrian movie shot-for-shot (unlike Gus Van Sant's Psycho, however, this one is made with the same precision and energy), hoping to torture a brand new American audience. It's expertly crafted and supremely manipulative, following two polite boys (Brady Corbett and Michael Pitt) as they seemingly randomly torture, maim and kill the three members of an upper-class family (Naomi Watts, Tim Roth and Devon Gearhart)... and their little dog too. But Haneke is more interested in the reaction of the audience, as he plays with our expectations, even going so far as to address us directly. After creating the deeply complex Caché, such a face-value experiment seems like a major step back. It's the type of film that resists criticism. If you enjoy the movie, then it obviously didn't work for you; if you hated it, then Haneke is a genius and accomplished exactly what he wanted. So I'll stay out of the fray, give it the same rating as we gave the original, and leave it to every audience member to write his/her own review. Engaging Haneke on this film is truly a losing game.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

10,000 B.C.

(2008, 109 min) There's no doubt that Roland Emmerich knows how to deliver a spectacle. Independence Day brings massive destruction, neat aliens and snappy wisecracking together so skillfully that, over a decade later, we take its craftsmanship for granted. Maybe Emmerich takes it for granted too, as he now seems to be running on fumes, cribbing liberally from past epics and slapping it together in a most perfunctory way. It's enough to remind you that Emmerich also brought us the remake of Godzilla.

Our reluctant hero is D'Leh (Steven Strait), an orphaned mountain tribesman who falls for a blue-eyed girl (Camilla Belle). She tells of four-legged demons who ransacked her town, and are eventually coming to get them as well. Unfortunately for us, these demons are merely Mongol-shaded despots, enslaving people to create a prototypical Mayan empire. For an ad campaign that focuses on wooly mammoths, saber-toothed tigers and vicious giant emus, it's distressing that not only are these the only creatures who appear in the movie, but their total screen time is somewhere under 10 minutes. That leaves a lot of time to think about other films that did this stuff better, from Mayan adventure (Apocalypto) to slave rebellions (Ben-Hur) to tribal war (Braveheart). Emmerich may think he's being clever by including specific visual references to these films (as well as Alien), but he's only making 10,000 B.C. look even more like a B-movie in comparison.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

The Rebel

Reviewed at the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival

(2008, 103 min) Unusually ambitious for a Hollywood-style action flick, unusually violent for a historical epic, The Rebel is hard to classify (and market) but is a real treat for fans of high-kicking, bullet-spraying Asian cinema.

For starters, the "rebel" of this 1922-set story is a woman: Thuy (Ngo Thanh Van) is a gorgeous, impeccably-trained revolutionary who is dead-set against the French occupation of her country. There are plenty of Vietnamese who are working with the government, including Cuong (Johnny Ngueyn), but when an assassination goes bad and Thuy is captured, Cuong decides to help her out. They go on the run together and fall in love as the story becomes more conventional, following a blueprint somewhere between John Woo and '80s Bruckheimer. The cartoonishly invincible bad guy who chases them, Sy (Dustin Nguyen of "21 Jump Street") adds to the fun even as he detracts from any believability.

Movies today are definitely choosing sides regarding CGI, and to these eyes, this film has gone for pure, old-school choreography and squibs. Though hard to describe, the martial arts sequences are inventive and energetic, and largely refrain from the overcutting which has plagued many American productions. Director Charlie Nguyen doesn't shy away from the gore either, from the bloody gunplay to the ultimate showdown, which is literally an eyeful. As if that weren't enough eye candy, Ngo Thanh Van is one of the most beautiful heroines you'll ever see, making it little wonder that this movie broke box office records in Vietnam.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

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