The Unforseen

Not a horror title, but like a horror film this ecological documentary shows an insidious battle over the environment that slowly strips resources until it's as if a cancer has made the landscape poison. To the filmmaker's credit The Unforseen takes in nearly 30 years of history and gives screen time to opposing sides in the battle over Barton Springs, a natural springs swimming pool and community gathering spot in Austin.
Especially topical are parts where Austin is touted as the opposite of the out-of-control real estate development hell of Houston (and Dallas). You'll reel as if in a timewarp while watching footage of a former Austin mayor talk about expanding the interstate highway that flows north to south in the capital town. They expect to have the renovations completed by 1990. Other speakers from previous era - shots of Willie Nelson singing from the 70s, interviews with then governor Ann Richards, the defeat of Richards in the 1992 Texas gubernatorial race - give the doc a rounded, well-researched sheen.
But The Unforeseen doesn't rest easy with a few clips to set the tone, as director Laura Dunn also constantly uses long takes to gaze at the environment. This includes a seemingly endless ariel shot that shows a highway under construction only to give way to partially paved progress and then tree studded hill country. The opening credits merge graphics with a slow pull back of the landscape that turns into a glorious Google Earth continent picture.
Footage includes underwater shots that illustrate the delicate nature of the underground reservoir, the Edwards Aquifer, that feeds the springs. A cross section of talking heads include author Wendell Berry, film's executive producer Robert Redford, real estate mogul Gary Bradley and lobbyist Dick Brown. Terence Malick is The Unforeseen's other executive producer.
It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't proposition. Without progress civilization doesn't flourish and it's unlikely Austin could ever exist in the present world without sacrificing some elements of its idyllic past. As The Unforeseen demonstrates, those changes didn't occur without a great deal of public debate or political chicanery. Despite the lofty goals of wonderful malls and nifty retail establishments this film is a vivid reminder of the very human desire to compete and conquer. Only in the end we conquer ourselves by depeting our resources.

You Don't Mess With the Zohan

There are Adam Sandler films and there are Sandler films. His serious, for want of a better phrase, films would include Punch Drunk Love, Spanglish, and most recently Reign Over Me. Sandler wouldn't attract directors like PT Anderson without some talent. He obviously understands comedy, and his films make a guaranteed $125-150 million.
That stated his brand of comedy rarely amuses me: Anger Management was good for a couple of grins, but that played outside the Sandler usual circle of Mr. Deeds and Longest Yard antics. You Don't Mess With the Zohan is Sandler's funniest film since The Wedding Singer. That's how much I liked it.
There's plenty of the Sandler brand of guffaws, that include physical humor involving cats and plenty of hummus gags. Oddly I was amazed that the film's rated PG-13 due to the raucous nature of sexual humor. Even odder, Zohan though doesn't stoop to the gross out "shit in my pants" joke of the R-rated SatC. There's a muted political lesson, natch about Palestinians and Israelis, that seems more effective than some polemic beating you over the head with the age old message about the futility of endless fighting. Caricatures of rednecks and Sandler-brand gay humor (George Takei and Bruce Vilanch have cameos) also provide laughs. The part where the Zohan and his buds are talking about banging FLOTUS exceeds the quota of righteous humor usually reserved for comedies like this.
The plot is simple and despite repeated mock action scenes nobody, even the kitties, really gets hurt. The Zohan decides to quit being Israel's top secret agent and become a hairdresser in NYC. Once he hooks up with a local beauty shop he becomes the main attraction with his combination of hair wizardry and stooping elderly ladies in the back room. In a sight for sore eyes to behold Sandler drops trou at least three times, but so does Lannie Kazan. You Don't Mess With the Zohan knows how to work equal opportunity laughs. There a showdown with a terrorist played by John Turturro that once again (Iron Man) has a Middle Eastern bad guy without a beard. You know we're in Hollywood.

The Strangers

The Strangers is a full on movie going experience. Twice at the screening I attended this weekend the audience gasped at a scary moment in unison. That's the kind of thrills you cannot transfer to a DVD setting. One person getting the shit scared out of them does not create any kind of theatrical ripple.
Although The Strangers could fairly be called Funny Games Lite it tends to not provoke and thus piss its audience off. Funny Games, in my view a superior film, played havoc with Brechtian technique that, for some, took them out of the movie. The Strangers runs its course in a straight arrow fashion, this is thriller territory with a horror genre topping. A couple, Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman, arrive at a country house to party. In bits and pieces we deduce that what started as a romantic evening has turned into a final breakup. As the night progresses the house comes under siege from three crazed individuals all wearing masks. The beginning shots of the film show us the aftermath and a tragic series of shots it is.
The film has economy and style: there are only eight actors and one location. When Liv is hiding in a closet the psychos put on a record like "Mama Tried" and its scratchy warbling only adds to the terror. The creepiness doesn't rely on shock cuts or rapid imagery but rather moments like slow brooding silence broken by loud banging on the front door. This may be the first wide release ever to feature Blue Bell Ice Cream in the position of product placement.
Before all is said and done you will find yourself saying things to the screen like "Call 911" or "Get the fuck out of the house." And that's a good thing.

Fairy God Camel

May the fairy god camel leave a hump under your pillow. Sex and the City shows that making a movie from a television series demands a big first weekend. Look for similar brief moments in the spotlight for Get Smart (which originally premiered on NBC but its last year was picked up by CBS) and X Files: I Want to Believe. Dallas the movie is in production, and we already saw Speed Racer round the track last month. I was underwhelmed by SATC but I'm not the target audience, the same reaction I had to Prince Caspian (kid's stuff). You have to wonder though, the scene where Charlotte literally shits in her pants just seemed out of character with the show. And the fart sound effects were like something out of gross out teen flick. Even the new Adam Sandler starrer Zohan, despite being raucous, doesn't bend over in such a manner. Expect the sequel SATC2 to go into production soon. Ironically this film performed beyond expectation because that's what New Line Cinema was all about, defying expectations. Only NL was shitcanned a couple months ago by parent Warner Brothers who will now reap the benefits. Expect another breakout opening later this year with The Women, a remake of the 40s classic, from Picturehouse another division of Warner Brothers that will soon cease to be an entity.