Skills Like This loosely blends mumblecore aesthetics with hints of the plot of Godard's Breathless to varying degrees of success. Specifically we follow the adventures of a young man with a gun hooking up with a foxy chick after he robs a bank. All of the actors are spot on in their characterizations and the look and soundtrack scream hip in this indie feature made in Denver by filmmaker Monty Miranda. The situations are heightened and slightly unreal not unlike a television sitcom but with more of a sense of the absurd. White guy with a tremendous fro Max (Spencer Berger, also the writer) feels like a reject after his play about an onion dance (you have to see it to believe it) suffers a disastrous opening. Hanging out at his favorite burrito lunch pad Max seeks solace from his friends Tommy (Brian Phelan as a softie who acts tough and who bears a sharp resemblance to Hal Hartley leading man Martin Donovan) and Dave (a nebbish wimp who has a beast residing within, lovingly etched by Gabriel Tigerman). On a whim, literally acting on the spur of the moment Max robs the bank across the street. It's here he first meets Lucy (a seductive role played with allure by Kerry Knuppe) who later bumps into him at a bar. Romance ensues but not before some witty dialogue and navel gazing. All things not being equal Skills Like This works best as a short term diversion. It's never as fun as In Search of A Midnight Kiss although it's as delirious, and it's not as ambiguous as Alexander the Last but it offers its share of insight regarding rejection and scruples. Skills Like This certainly has charisma and while it lacks media clout and notable stars it smells fresh and casts a spell over the viewers in the way that only a small unassuming film can. Skills Like This is playing in a brief and exclusive run at the downtown Angelika.
Ambivalence. formerly defined as watching your enemy drive off a cliff in your brand new car. now has a new description - watching the documentary Tyson. I've always liked the films of James Toback and Tyson is engaging to watch. But Mike Tyson lacks the kind of charm to make the film compelling, even as an antihero. When Toback put Tyson in his features Black and White and When Will I Be Loved he was perfectly cast even playing himself, but in his own life story he comes across as arrogant and when he's asked about certain events he's downright evasive. In all fairness regarding his time in prison for rape Tyson did his time and paid his dues so he shouldn't hesitate to come clean about what happened regarding that incident. He certainly speaks frankly about other moments in his life, hard luck realities that forced him to fight, steal and plunder. Then again denial is part of human nature and Tyson is a study in human nature. The film covers his early life as a street thug from a rough neighborhood to a turn of events that led him into the world of boxing. Taken in by boxing trainer Cus D'Amato was a godsend of sorts as Tyson remembers getting out of the trap of his Brooklyn surroundings to a training camp and solid home where he honed his fighting skills. If Cuz was an light angel then, according to Tyson, Don King was a dark angel. After Tyson became world heavyweight champion he reigned as a king even while losing his fortune. Archival footage adds a needed dimension to the story giving the viewers a sense of Tyson's development as well as spotlighting precious moments of athletic acumen that just aren't available on demand on youtube. Toback splits the screen in artistic patterns throughout the docu making the viewer focus up close and personal to Tyson. In many ways the film Tyson seems like a spiritual cousin to When We Were Kings (1996), the docu about the Ali-Forman fight in Zaire in the mid-70s. Whereas that film is about the big picture of world heavyweight bouts Tyson paints a personal picture that provides the ups and downs of the profession without condescending to its audience. Boxing fans will want to experience Tyson for its wealth of information while documentary fans will admire its construction, even while distancing themselves from the subject.
Star Trek moves with warp speed between being ludicrously dumb and genuinely exciting. Another cultural stepping stone from the 60s has been rebooted for the new millennium. Under the helm of J. J. Abrams Star Trek succeeds at bringing familiar characters to new life and staging sci-fi action with verve, all while ignoring basic philosophical themes that made the 60s show a cult fave. The original series was hardly known for its realism what with its palette of primary colors and fakey aliens. In the same way that music lovers can be Beatles people or Elvis people likewise sci-fi fans can be divided into Star Trek fans and Star Wars fans. The new Star Trek aims to skew all audiences regardless of their previous allegiance. The true movie space opera trilogy would be Star Trek II through IV. Wrath of Khan ends with Spock dead and in Search for Spock the story picks up that thread, and then at the conclusion of III we end on a note that segues right into Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (my personal favorite of the ST films). It would be foolish to think that Paramount (who also owns the rights to that perennial spy franchise Mission: Impossible) hasn't already greenlit the next Trek film with plans to continue the series until teleportation is a scientific reality. Star Trek is an origin story and as such gives us views of child Kirk and Spock. An opening scene where a prepubescent Kirk steals a race car and literally drives it off a cliff feels contrived yet a later scene where Kirk and Sulu skydive from outer space to a platform above the planet Vulcan grabs you by your oxygen mask and doesn't let go. As another film review asks, why didn't they just beam down? Remember the movie Galaxy Quest (best Star Trek parody ever) where Sam Rockwell laments that crew members without last names are the first to die? Well that unwritten code of the universe finds an apt corollary here. The Trek's best moment arrives when Leonard Nimoy appears and becomes an integral part of the story as Spock Prime. Abrams throws in plenty of Trek references from the show and previous movies. For instance there's an earwig (Wrath of Khan) used to torture Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) only it's shoved in his mouth, not his ear. Also from Khan a character shouts out a name loudly, only it's the villain (Eric Bana, truly playing a second banana) shouting Spock's name. Similarly, quotable lines from the original series are given new meaning here. ("I'm a doctor not a physicist.") The various actors playing the familiar roles have enough moments to make them earn their stripes. In particular Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) have their characterizations nailed down and are the most enjoyable to watch. Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) captures the arrogant swagger that makes him so heroic while Uhura (Zoe Saldana) has the hots for a crew member that will surprise devoted Trekkies. Simon Pegg enters the film in the middle and gives chief engineer Scotty a weird but vital kind of scientific humor. Sulu has serious martial skills and makes you forget John Cho was the stoner partner in the Harold and Kumar movies. Chekov (Anton Yelchin) speaks with such a thick accent you will not be able to understand everything he says. Among the supporting characters Winona Ryder playing Spock's mother reminds you that stars never fade, they just take smaller roles. The plot concerns time traveling Romulan Nero (Bana) as he attempts to destroy planets with a device that creates a black hole at their core. The set design gives a depth to the interior of the Enterprise that has previously not been seen. Abrams shows a penchant for bright white light flares that almost become a signature look. A sojourn to an ice planet with ferocious monsters conjures images of the snowscape from Empire Strikes Back. Considering that Star Wars has essentially run its course Star Trek now has an open field to plow the galaxy.
