Outlander has nothing to do with the outer space western Outland (Sean Connery from 1981) or the immortality tale inherent in Highlander. A pure genre piece Outlander mixes 8th century Vikings in battle with a monster (the Moorwen) from beyond our galaxy that has crash landed, along with other worldy astronaut Jim Cavieziel in their neck of the woods. There's bits and nibbles of other films, maybe a dash of Planet of the Apes, a touch of Beowulf, but for the most part Outlander is its own animal. There would be an urge to shrug off the whole cheeseball affair but the filmmakers go the extra mile regarding sets, effects, costumes, and supporting actors, to give Outlander the kind of science fiction coolness that's hinted at on the covers of Ace double sci-fi paperbacks from the 50s or the fantasy writings of Robert E. Howard. Part of Outlander's unlikely charm exudes from Sophia Myles playing the fair Viking lass Freya, and John Hurt's authoritative turn as the Viking king Rothgar. Not surprisingly Ron Peralman pops up and an actor I've never heard of, Jack Huston a kind of non-fey Russell Brand, plays an alpha Viking named Wulfric. The monster effects, while not ground breaking, are handled with the good sense to keep the beast in the dark.
Waltz With Bashir (opening January 23 at the Angelika) is such a combination of agitprop, documentary and animation that I didn’t even know where to start with my admiration. Yes this cartoon (rotoscoping and animation) docudrama that tells the tragedy of the massacre in the Sabra and Shatila camps during the 1982 Lebanon War is the first feature length animated film from Israel. The story’s told from the point of view of director Ari Folman, who was a teen soldier in the Israeli army at the time. Waltz With Bashir recreates Folman’s memories through present day conversations with other soldiers who were also there and surreal scenes that illustrate their memories. The movie starts with angry dobermans following Ari through a fever dream. Interestingly a pack of dogs also highlights the omnibus French cartoon Fear(s) of the Dark, but the meaning in Waltz aligns correctly with its dogs of war spine. Ari's flashbacks of the war unwind like surreal recollections shaped by time and morality. The soldiers are seemingly following brutal orders, yet they show compassion in their post-war conversations. This is the dialogue of people who care about humanity, not those who want to obliterate same. One particularly bizarre sequence has the troops walking naked in the water on the shore in Beirut, an image that repeats throughout like a reoccurring dream you cannot wake up from. Waltz's message is concise and obvious. All leaders wage war with willing help from their sons who are compelled through a false sense of patriotism that God is on their side. The film ends with actual video footage shot in the camps (dead children) and you realize the horror was quite real.
If you’re planning on hiding in the woods for the winter solstice on December 21, 2012 forget it, you’ll still be paying bills come January 2013. That’s the consensus of one interviewee from the documentary 2012: Science or Superstition (DVD street date January 27, 2009). This release from the Disinformation Company also contains extras that take the viewer on a tour of the Mayan pyramid at Palenque as well as expound on the theories of Terence McKenna regarding fractal mathematics and mystical mind expansion. As another talking head explains there’s a difference between opening the doors of perception and walking through said doors. I found 2012: Science or Superstition fascinating on multiple levels. The concepts of Mithraism and the Vedic periapsis sent me scrambling to Wikipedia. The Mayan long count calendar that ends in 2012 merely predicts periods of time that are repeated like peaks and valleys throughout the ages. The shifting of the Earth’s magnetic poles may occur over hundreds of years. The CMEs (coronal mass ejections) of our Sun could fry satellites. The Hopi Indians believe that the changes mark the progression from what they term the Fourth World into the Fifth World. The path of the moon, Earth and Sun are lining up at the center of the Milky Way in 2012. All of these ideas are tossed at the viewer like fastballs in a pennant game. It’s not important to accept each theory as fact so much as the information gleamed grounds you in a mindset that accepts our tiny place in a greater universe of change. Meanwhile Sony Pictures is shooting 2012 with Roland Emmerich directing (set for release July of this year) while Warner Brothers is developing a Whitley Strieber novel on the phenomenon called 2012: The War for Souls. 2012: Science or Superstition won’t sway you one way or another. Rather this doc reveals facets for further sturdy from some of the more legitimate sources on the subject. There’s so much information coming at you, from the participatory cosmology of the Mayans to Islamic astrology and the doctrine of lunar modes, that you’ll have to watch more than once, if only for your own peace of mind.
When Edward Zwick's name appears as the director credit it indicates an important issue themed movie, with big stars and a maximum of cliche events from beginning to end. In Defiance a renegade band of Jews finds refuge from the Nazis in the big thicket that borders Eastern Europe and Russia (western Belorussia). Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell are brothers who variously lead the group. The entire sequence of event is based on real history and in particular the book of the same name by Nechama Tec. I didn't have a problem with the whole depiction of partisans by handsome leading men, nor the calvary coming over the hill at the prescribed moment. What got me was the constant digital snow. Of course the movie catch 22 about shooting in cold weather dictates that if it's really snowing so hard it's swirling around like confetti at a victory parade then it's also so cold that cameras freeze. But the CGI snowflakes are so obvious especially when they don't melt on the coats they are falling upon. After the Bielski brothers are forced to flee to the woods they hit back with reprisal murders for informers. Eventually Nazis raid their hiding place and they again flee and build a bigger better hiding place. Craig wavers between killing, justifiably so, in cold blood and being a just leader to his people. Meanwhile Schreiber wants to lead in a manner altogether different and splits to join Russian guerillas who also live in the woods and fight Nazis. Defiance maintains your interest with constant war action. The drama does little to move the parts in between. One thing is certain, mock Eastern Euro accent beside the point, Craig is the consummate alpha male.
Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson meet not quite so cute in a London airport. He's a recently unemployed ad agency song writer and she conducts surveys at Heathrow. He's in the UK to attend his daughter's wedding but she wants her step father to give her away. Thompson takes care of her mum and doesn't want complications in her life, especially with some American twit who was rude to her at her job. What a pair to hook up, yet they form a platonic duo and walk and talk across London. In this sense Last Chance Harvey resembles Before Sunset for the older generation. The big difference was that the Linklater formula (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset) was all about the conversation. Last Chance Harvey is all about the plot twist and not so much about the luxury of the word. Hoffman and Thompson are good enough to overcome the plot factor but a quiet bit of verbiage would've made this film an art house special rather than a conventional also ran. Other actors like Richard Schiff, Eileen Atkins, Kathy Baker and James Brolin are good in supporting roles.
Back in the old days, like two-hundred years ago, when big prestige movies had engagements they literally played for a year at the same theater (that had just one screen). And these movies had a sense of the show - they featured music by which to enter the film. Che, directed and shot by Steven Soderbergh, harkens back to this mode of celluloid unwinding, a leisurely but engrossing experience. At four hours plus change it's meant to be a cinematic moment to remember, a feat Che easily accomplishes. Please allow me an aside on the time element. I heard more than one person on mentioning Benjamin Button first saying "I hear it's three hours." Okay maybe this is not the era of watching long films but I never hear anybody lamenting, before attending mind you, an extra innings or sudden death ball game, or a super long concert with multiple encores. That's as political as I'm getting. Che doesn't get too political either, at least not in the sense that viewers are going to be converted to Marxism. Che unwinds as the psychological mindset of a commander, with the physical reality of existing in the jungle. That one side is propelled by one type of ideology in conflict with the forces of another way of thought is just the background for the conflict itself, which unfolds at times as gripping action with spectacular set pieces. Soderbergh seems to be making an intelligent film about the revolution as opposed to the coup and it doesn't matter if you don't know who Batista or Castro or Simon Bolivar are (although it couldn't hurt). At times Benicio Del Toro (also the producer, it's not a paycheck flick) spends as much time speechifying at the UN or operating on peasants (Ernesto Guevara was also a medical doctor) as he does firing bazookas (with great accuracy). Che runs with an intermission. The visual for each half's intro consists of Cuba and then Bolivia being graphically divided into states and cities, or in the case of Bolivia showing the outlines and then identifying the other countries in South America. Soderbergh constantly cuts directly after an important look or explosive moment. For instance in a party scene with Senators and high society types Che attends in New York there is a moment where, while waiting for the elevator in the high rise, an associate mutters it was "quite a party." Che just gives him a death ray stare and Soderbergh instantly cuts back to the jungle. Likewise during action sequences involving a railroad train or guerilla gunfights at a farmhouse there is a rapid ending edit. Even though it's obviously a lengthy sit, Che keeps the momentum fast paced. The first part is more war action while the second half emphasizes the man in his environment. The first part has a different aspect ration (2.35:1) than the second part (1.85 : 1) and the whole thing was shot using the Red camera and lenses. Che boosts top of the line effects, gunfights and production values and several recognizable actors appear throughout. I didn't even snap when Julia Ormond as a blonde interviews Che in a black and white sequence. This film will give you food for thought hearty enough to last the rest of the winter. Even better, once you see it you won't think like a colonized person. The videos below show the real Che in an interview followed by Soderbergh at a Q&A from an advance screening of the film.
