Best Documentary Feature nominees

I have now seen all five of the films nominated for Best Documentary Feature at last year’s Academy Awards. My reviews of An Inconvenient Truth and Jesus Camp are already available. A few months ago I saw My Country My Country, and didn’t get a chance to write about it, and then this week I viewed Iraq in Fragments and Deliver Us From Evil.

When Jerry Seinfeld presented the Oscar (to An Inconvenient Truth, it turned out), he joked about all the films being depressing. He probably didn’t even know what they were about–documentaries seem to have a rap of being bleak films about desperate people or situations. And this year’s crop was pretty close. Two films are about the mess that is American-occupied Iraq, two are about religion run amok, and the fifth is about a looming global climate crisis. When judging a non-fiction film, I think that often it is the cause espoused that is judged as much as the filmmaking technique (and a good box office doesn’t hurt, at least not anymore, since the committee was revamped). An Inconvenient Truth had a hot button political issue that Hollywood lefties could get behind, as well as the star-power of Vice President Al Gore. But was it the best film of the five?

Before I choose the winner, I am confronted with my attitudes about non-fiction films. I’m certainly not an expert on the subject, but I’ve noticed that there is a distinct difference between the documentaries that are celebrated and the kind I’m used to, the sort that were shown to us in school or are still made today for outlets like the History Channel or PBS. These typically have a narrator (keeping people like Edward Hermann and David Ogden Stiers working), a slew of academics or other experts used as talking heads, and slow-panning over photos and documents, a style best exemplified by Ken Burns. None of the five films in this crop fall into that category. An Inconvenient Truth is a filmed lecture/slide-show, with some biographical material about Gore (narrated by Gore himself). Both My Country My Country and Iraq in Fragments are free of narration, and have the camera simply observing behavior, the same with Jesus Camp. Deliver Us From Evil is the closest to a conventional documentary, in that it has the participants of the events depicted giving testimony, as well as experts, though there is no narrator.

Of the two Iraq films, Iraq in Fragments is more dynamic. My Country My Country follows a Dr. Riyadh and his family. He is a Sunni physician who runs for office in the first Iraq elections following the ouster of Saddam Hussein. He is both hopeful and cynical about the process, The film is very dry, the kind of thing you might see on an Iraqi version of C-SPAN. Only one sequence really kicks into high gear: a cousin of Riyadh’s is kidnapped by insurgents. There is a tense moment when the boy’s father negotiates with the kidnappers on the phone, and makes a mistake by making an aside without covering the receiver of the phone. It’s like something out of Hitchcock, but it’s really happening.

Iraq in Fragments tells three stories. The first is from the viewpoint of an eleven-year-old Sunni boy in Baghdad, who is raised by an uncle who is alternately kind and cruel to him. He goes to school, but doesn’t learn much. All around him men complain about the occupation. “They came as liberators, but now they are occupiers,” we hear. They are happy Saddam is gone, but are not thrilled with being occupied. It’s reminiscent of the line from the Who song: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” The second third deals with the Shia radicals in the south, who follow Mohammed Al-Sadr. They are into self-flagellation and rounding up anyone suspected of being blasphemous. Finally, the Kurds are represented in the third segment. The Kurds, who were long mistreated by those in power, are the most hopeful about the U.S. involvement, and hope to have their own country. A certain amount of knowledge about the situation is needed to appreciate this film fully. I try to keep up with the news, but even I was lost in some scenes, and was filled in by the interview with the director, James Longley, in the supplemental material. However, Iraq in Fragments is the most interesting visually of the five films. Longley, who was a one-man camera crew, captures some beautiful images.

If I had a vote, I would have probably cast it for Deliver Us From Evil, which was directed by Amy Berg. I think it’s the most gripping of the five and has the best structure. It tells the harrowing story of a priest who molested hundreds of children, but was moved around from parish to parish by a diocese that knew what he was doing, but did nothing to stop it, and still resists any efforts to confront the huge problem the church has right now. Berg interviews a few of the victims, who are emotionally scarred by the events, as well as their families. It’s heartbreaking to watch as a father relates how he confronted his daughter and learned she was raped by the priest when she was five years old. These parents feel a horrible guilt over letting this monster into their lives. As one mother puts it, “He was the wolf, and I was the gate-keeper, and I let him right in.” The priest, Oliver O’Grady, was finally arrested, convicted and deported to Ireland, where he now roams free, without anyone in Ireland knowing his past. He participates in the film, but he’s not the real villain, and as he admitted to his crimes thirty years ago. The film has bigger fish to fry–the bishop who turned a blind eye (he is now the Cardinal of Los Angeles) and even the current Pope, who was the head of the Vatican office that deals with this sort of thing (President Bush, at the request of the Vatican, made Pope Benedict immune from any prosecution, a news item I somehow missed).

The film is not anti-Catholic, it is anti the hierarchy that has made for this kind of institutional nightmare. There are theological experts who comment on the causes that has led to this. Certainly the medieval insistence on having celibate priests will always lead to those who are sexually aberrant toward the calling. And this insistence is not found in the Bible, in fact, the opposite is true: in the Book of Timothy, the ideal qualities of a bishop include being married. It was not until the fourth century that the new rule was invoked. One expert speculates that it’s because priests with children bequeathed their property to their sons, but if priests were unmarried, the church could get all the property back. So it’s once again all about money.

The film suggests sexual molestation by priests is a huge problem. Over 100,000 cases have been reported in the U.S. alone. I think this image has forever stained the priesthood. I can’t look at a priest without wondering if he’s a pedophile. Who in their right mind would trust their children in the care of a priest? But the church hierarchy continues to do nothing.

Away From Her

Away From Her is not the type of movie I usually go out to see, as on its face it appears to be a disease-of-the-week movie, of which there are countless on TV. But two things drew me: one, the performance of Julie Christie was getting raves, and even at this early stage of the year she was being touted for an Oscar nomination, and two, I was interested in seeing the directorial debut of Sarah Polley, who is an interesting actress and was bound to give this well-worn genre an interesting spin.

The disease in question here is Alzheimer’s. Christie is a woman, still glamorous in her sixties, who is starting down the slope. At first she does small things, like putting the frying pan into the freezer. But when she wanders off while cross-country skiing, she and her husband both realize she needs institutional care. She is admitted to a fancy care center with an officious staff, but their policy is that after admission, the patient is to receive no visitors for thirty days. The husband, Gordon Pinsent, is dismayed that after the thirty days is up, Christie seems to have forgotten who he is, and has instead formed an attachment to a male patient.

Polley has adapted a short story by Alice Munro, which I have not read. Munro is Canadian, as is Polley, and this film is distinctly Canadian, with its wintry silences. The subject matter is quite grim, but Polley doesn’t allow sloppy sentimentality do enter her script. She doesn’t let her actors chew the scenery, which is common in a film about a debilitating illness.

Though Christie is getting a lot of attention, I was particularly impressed with Gordon Pinsent. He plays the doting husband with an interesting combination of hope and world-weariness. As one of the nurses correctly guesses, he wasn’t always the doting husband, and he and Christie had their difficulties in the past (in one of the few laugh-out-loud moments, Pinsent remarks that Christie’s long-term memory is quite good when she recalls one of is indiscretions). The burdens he carries can be seen in his craggy face, his eyes like pinpricks in snow.

I also admired the performance of Olympia Dukakis as the wife of the patient that forms an attachment to Christie. Dukakis and Polley team to make the character avoid falling into the pit of cliche.

Away From Her is a bit slow-going, but is a clear-eyed look at aging, disease and the devotion formed during a long marriage.

Don’t Know Who I Should Feel Sorry For

Opening in Dallas, 05/25

Red Road (trailer): Been looking forward to this for awhile. Reviewed recently by Nick, who will hopefully reappear again soon.

Once (trailer): Another one I’ve been looking forward to. Big hit at Sundance, a love story between an Irish street musician and a Czech immigrant. An 88 Metacritic score and 8.2 IMDb rating.

Bug (trailer): Latest from William Friedkin, who hasn’t really made what I’d consider a good film going back to at least Jade (I don’t even remember if I saw The Hunted – I must have, but don’t remember anything about it). I’m not sure what to make of this one, and I’m not much of a horror fan, but I’m curious. Also, I read an interview with Friedkin about a year ago where he talked about how much he was influenced by Michael Haneke in the making of this, which may not mean anything. Interesting ratings at Rotten Tomatoes – only 54% overall, but a 73% from the Cream of the Crop.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (trailer): Thought the first was OK, the second was pretty much the same but longer and more tedious, and the third looks to follow that progression precisely.

Chalk (trailer at official site): Genial looking faux-documentary about high school teachers. I know it’s last on the list this week, but I don’t have anything against it. I’ll see it if I get a chance.

Lost, 5/23, “Through the Looking Glass”

Fantastic! How can I possibly wait until February? I’m going to check out some of the message boards and Lostpedia before commenting more.

Season Finales: Ho-Hum

Among the shows that I watch, the season finales have thus far been underwhelming overall with only parts of each showing promise. I can only hope Lost comes through tonight (the previews look fantastic). The rest of this entry goes through only 5 finales I’ve seen but will probably be spoiler heavy so be forewarned. (all puns intended)

Waitress

Waitress is a fine film, funny and tender, with a terrific performance by Keri Russell, but it is also coated with a patina of melancholy. The writer, director and co-star, Adrienne Shelly, was murdered shortly before it premiered at Sundance. As I watched the film in a nearly full house, I wondered how many of my fellow audience members knew that, and I sort of envied them if they didn’t, because I would have liked to have judged this film without that knowledge.

The film is structured as a fairy tale, with Russell as a heroine not too far removed from Cinderella. There’s a villain, a handsome prince, even a fairy godmother. And while it is a comedy of sorts, there is an undercurrent of profound sadness, even without the real-life situation intruding. Russell plays Jenna, a waitress at a pie diner (I must admit I have never come across an establishment of this sort) and something of a genius in inventing pie recipes. She is trapped in a loveless marriage to an ogre played by Jeremy Sisto, who has a strangehold on her financially, making it difficult for her to leave. She hides some of her wages, hoping to save up to leave him in the dust. Things get complicated, though, when she learns she is pregnant. They get even more complicated when she falls for her handsome obstetrician, Nathan Fillion.

As played by Russell, Jenna is seriously depressed, finding comfort only by palling around with her co-workers (Shelly and Cheryl Hines) and making pies, some of which are created for her particular moods, such as I Hate My Husband pie, which is chock full of bittersweet chocolate. She is kind of like a whipped dog around the husband, rotely complying with his pathetic attempts to gain attention and approval. It is only when she begins her affair with the doctor that the character blooms. There is a terrific sequence when Russell carries a look of supreme perplexity on her face, which eventually yields to a thousand-kilowatt smile. Russell, who is probably too pretty for this role, still manages to sell the character’s desperation. I cringed along with everyone on screen everytime Sisto appears.

As with any debut screenplay, Waitress has its problems. Sisto’s character is without any redeeming quality. He does show vulnerability and would be a prime candidate for a therapist’s couch, but things are just too deeply stacked against him. Each of the other waitresses have a sub-plot, but they aren’t well explored. Andy Griffith is the crusty codger who owns the diner and befriends Jenna, and he is close to being a cliche, though Griffith is a gifted enough actor to avoid that pitfall.

At the end of the film, we see the child Russell eventually gives birth to grown to toddler age. She is played by Sophie, Shelly’s child in real life. There is a moment when she waves bye-bye to Shelly’s character, and an otherwise deeply emotional scene is made even more so

Opening in Dallas, 05/18

Really, a horrible week, with a few films that sounded like they might be good but apparently aren’t, and more Shrek.

Fay Grim (trailer): I moved Henry Fool up to the top of my rental queue, hoping to see it before this came out, but I’m so hopelessly slow that I still haven’t gotten it. And apparently, it’s not worth the effort – it’s Roger Ebert’s first bad review in almost a year (welcome back, Roger, you’ve been missed).

The TV Set (trailer): I never saw Jake Kasdan’s first two movies, Zero Effect and Orange County, but I remember hearing that both had their merits. A TV satire doesn’t seem like something I need to run out to see, though.

The Wendell Baker Story (trailer at THINKfilm site): Perhaps one for the Suspiciously Good Cast Hall of Fame, with the Wilson brothers collaborating on a project that’s been kicking around for two years and is now being dumped by THINKfilm.

Shrek the Third (trailer): Not really a Shrek fan, but even still I think this looks flat worn out.

28 Weeks Later Review

In Short
The Aliens of fast-moving Zombie movies.

Plot Outline
Efforts to repopulate London in the aftermath of the events of 28 Days Later are hampered by a new outbreak of the rage virus. We follow a guilt-ridden father (Robert Carlyle), his children (Imogen Poots and Mackintosh Muggleton, credited by their Hobbit names) a military scientist (Rose Byrne), a sniper (Jeremy Renner) and his stock-character friend (Harold Perrineau).

Trivia
28 Days Later director Danny Boyle personally shot some of the second unit/hand-held footage as well as producing the film.

The Good
- With all these end-of-the-world movies, I’m left wondering what happens after the credits roll. How would society begin to rebuild itself? How do you get utilities back up? The food supply? How do you prevent outbreaks of disease? Mental trauma? The utter-destruction of the economy? 28 Weeks Later essentially slides down the surface of things, but it tries to hit most of those topics. It’s a logical approach for the sequel and doesn’t seem forced.

- I’ve never seen any of Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s other work, but he seems to be the real deal. He effortlessly pulls off big action sequences, claustrophobic horror and character driven moments. A frantic scene involving snipers (on multiple rooftops) attempting to weed out the infected from a swarm of fleeing civilians works particularly well. I’d imagine Fresnadillo’s schedule is going to be very busy in the coming months.

- Every time I’m about to write Robert Carlyle off (see Eragon) he reminds me of how good he can be with the right material.  The script ultimately lets him down…but it’s a pretty great performance, regardless.

- Score: Big fan of John Murphy’s work on 28 Days Later. It’s essentially re-used here, which is a positive.

- Side note: the film’s trailer is fairly deceiving in terms of the actual look of the film. Scenes in the trailer that appear to be well-lit and crystal clear are far darker/murkier in the finished product. It’s a good decision by post production team since it helps it to retain the distinctive look of the original.

The Bad
- First and foremost: the classic “idiot plot”. Several characters make stupid decision whose sole purpose is to drive the plot forward. Lazy? Yes. Forgivable given the solid aspects of the film? Also yes.

- Without getting into spoilers, the film starts-off exploring survivor’s guilt/personal cowardice in a really interesting way. Unfortunately, it abandons the storyline mid-film despite it being one of the strongest elements.

- Harold Perrineau (Michael from LOST) takes a giant leap backwards with a zero-substance role he probably would have turned down a few years ago. He’s the black chopper pilot… that’s it. Why he took the job or why Fox paid to have someone recognizable in such a meaningless role is beyond me.

- Score: As said above, it’s also nearly identical to the first film’s despite Murphy having composed new stuff. I would have liked to have heard some sort of distinctive theme for the sequel to differentiate the two.

The Ugly
I’ve got to think the film sets some sort of record in terms of the number of eye gougings.

In Review
Surprisingly enjoyable and worthy follow-up.

New Transformers Trailer

Looks pretty good. I love the original transformation sound when Optimus transforms. Nice throwback.

http://movies.yahoo.com/summer-movies/Transformers/1808716430/trailers/31

Films That Defined a Decade

Here’s an article from The Onion’s AV Club that could provide discussion.

Lost, 5/16–”Greatest Hits”

“Here we go again.”

“Yeah, here we go again.”

Lucky You

Directed by Curtis Hanson. Screenplay by Eric Roth & Curtis Hanson. Released by Warner Bros. Pictures

Obligatory Plot Synopsis: A Vegas poker player wins some, loses some, and has issues with his father. And Drew Barrymore is there.

Important to Know: Directed by Curtis Hanson, one of the better and more versatile directors of the last decade, and written by Hanson and Eric Roth (of Forrest Gump and The Insider fame, among others), so there’s all kinds of pedigree at play here. Starring Eric Bana, Barrymore, Robert Duvall, Debra Messing, Horatio Sanz, a weird, completely unnecessary cameo by Robert Downey Jr., and a million real-life poker players.

The Bad: Well, where to begin. I think it’s fair to say that if you do not particularly enjoy watching people play poker, this is probably not the movie for you. That handicap aside, though, I was surprised by how dull the movie is; Hanson typically works in a fairly low key but it’s hard to imagine a lower key than this. The movie constantly feels like 5:00AM in a casino, when even the hardcore gamblers are just going through the motions. I suppose that’s a thematically accurate feeling for the movie to have, but it’s not at all interesting. The filmmakers try to make up with this by peppering the movie with off-the-wall characters, but they’re uniformly unfunny and too self-consciously quirky for their own good.

The Not Bad: I suppose the best thing about it is that, even still, it’s not particularly bad. There are a few moments here and there that go against established movie clichés, especially sports movie clichés. Duvall gives a pretty good performance, easily the standout of the film. And while I don’t know much about poker, the poker scenes feel fairly authentic and closely observed.

To Sum Up: Definitely a step down for Hanson, but far from the bottom of the barrel. Mostly, it’s just OK.

Opening in Dallas, 05/11

Have to get this in early this week, as I’ll be gone over the weekend. I really don’t have much to say about a lot of these.

Mafioso (trailer): The newest Rialto re-issue to hit town, of Alberto Lattuada’s 1962 crime-comedy about a would-be Sicilian hitman. I’m not looking forward to it as much as some in the past, but I find these re-issues invaluable, so I’m in.

Away from Her (trailer): Great reviews so far for Sarah Polley’s directorial debut. Very effective trailer.

Jindabyne (trailer)

Waitress (trailer)

28 Weeks Later… (trailer): Haven’t actually seen 28 Days Later… yet, but I moved it to the top of rental queue, so I should have a chance to watch it within a week or two (I don’t go through rentals very quickly).

The Hip Hop Project (trailer)

Home of the Brave (trailer): Not sure I understand the release strategy by MGM on this one: release it for an Academy-qualifying run in December, then hold it until May, and dump it. Lately, I’m starting to think that MGM’s release dates are determined by when MGM can scrounge up the money to actually make prints to release.

Blind Dating (trailer)

Georgia Rule (trailer): Anyone see Fonda on Colbert last night? I really wanted to think it was funny but it ended up just seeming somewhat, I don’t know … creepy. Like, “last public appearance before melting down and entering rehab” creepy. But given the forum, it may just have all been a joke that Fonda (or Colbert) couldn’t pull off quite right. In other news, this movie seems really awful, and it’d be nice if Fonda had returned to films for some other reason than to make crap.

The Salon (trailer at official site)

Delta Farce (trailer)

Lost, 5/9 Episode, “The Man Behind the Curtain”

But real quick: Jeff Jensen at Entertainment Weekly was way ahead of the game…(see #5)