Shutter Island

Nobody will ever accuse Martin Scorsese of making bad films. That's because even his bad films are well crafted movies that you admire but only watch once. Shutter Island is too immersed in the seclusion of its own world to be the kind of Scorsese film you will watch over and over again (Goodfellas, Casino, even Departed or Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore). Shutter Island exists along side other Scorsese films that are beautifully crafted yet instantly forgettable, a list that includes Bringing Out the Dead and The Age of Innocence.
I'm not in the camp that would call the film Shitter Island but it's obvious how the surprise twist turns out. This is a big reveal with no reveal, a fact compounded by the fact the give-away trailer, in various forms, has been running for months. In some strange time warp way this well paced and bountiful production set in the early 1950s could've been made in the 50s save for the gorgeous color saturation of Robert Richardson or maybe a brief freeze frame and the slick modern editing of Thelma Schoonmaker. An atmospheric hurricane takes place outside barred windows but has enough production value to be a film it and of itself.
Shutter Island starts out with federal marshalls Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo investigating a disappearance at an asylum located on a small island. The institution is run with a gloved iron hand by psychiatrist Ben Kingsley, whose colleague Max Von Sydow may be a ex-Nazi scientist. There are insinuations and suspicions greeting every investigative query advanced by DiCaprio. At some point Scorsese even confuses the audience by using similar but different looking actresses, Emily Mortimer and Patricia Clarkson, to play the same role. Ditto as another scar faced inmate resembles De Niro, who used to be as ubiquitous in Scorsese films as DiCaprio is now, only it isn't Robert Deniro but rather Elias Koteas. Then in brief almost cameo roles we have actors with instantly recognizable voices or manners, like Ted Levine or Jackie Earle Haley, walking on to advance the plot.
It's easy enough to give Scorsese a pass due to the professionalism from all involved but as far as an enjoyable couple of hours a the ciinema I had more pleasure from the mindless kid-friendly Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

The Last Station

The Last Station alternates between pathos and comedy as it illustrates the last days of Leo Tolstoy. This eye opening account of a kind of commune that also practices pacifist and socialist ideals merely reminds a modern audience that free love didn't begin in the 1960s.
Director Michael Hoffman, whose previous films include the romantic period meller Restoration, establishes Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer) at odds with his wife Sofya (Helen Mirren, nominated for Best Actress for her performance here) over his decision to sign over his royalties to the people. "Your family is starving," Sofya begrudges Leo. He retorts "Nobody is starving in this household," to which she replies "And you're always the first at the trough." The back and forth between this pair resembles an absurdist sitcom bickering couple who like to argue until they're in the bedroom where their sarcastic asides become love coos.
Prodding Toystoy to sign away his wealth, for the people of course, is his slick advisor played by Paul Giamatti (a reptile without a heart in some scenes). Caught between the factions in the various Tolstoy camps is newcomer Valentin Bulgakov (James McAvoy, always good in bumbling lad roles). McAvoy is seduced both by the new age compound Tolstoy lords over as well as by Kerry Condon as Masha, a spry nymph who takes McAvoy straight to bed, much to his surprise and delight. The movie's as much about this young couple as the older Tolstoys.
As terrible as some of the quarrels seem to be The Last Station never poisons the story or atmosphere with animosity. The film has a light airy mood that's accentuated by a rather haunting and brilliant solo piano theme (original music by Sergei Yevtushenko) that lifts The Last Station whenever it's heard. The Last Station will appeal beyond heavy literary types who may've actually read more than one of Tolstoy's books; it offers solid production values to go with its compelling relations and wide vision of a community that seems to exist outside time.
The Last Station opens exclusively this weekend at the River Oaks Three before widening to the suburbs next week.

Ang Lee at the RMC

Acclaimed director Ang Lee will appear at the Rice Media Center Friday night. The reception with Lee and subsequent weekend of films are free to the public. The films show Lee at the beginning of his career before such powerhouse movies as Brokeback Mountain or Lust Caution.

Friday, February 19th at 6:30 pm - Reception honoring Ang Lee
Friday, February 19th at 7:30 pm - Pushing Hands
Saturday, February 20th at 7:00 pm - The Wedding Banquet
Sunday, February 21st at 7:00 pm - Eat Drink Man Woman

Blood Done Sign My Name

The road to good intentions is littered with ineffectual movies. Based on a book that recounts a racist murder in 1970 in Oxford, North Carolina the film deals strongly in fact and proves that the truth can be stronger than fiction. Even a few years after the Civil RIghts Act of 1964 blatant segregation ruled the South in places like Oxford and BDSMN revels in the disparity between the races.
Director Jeb Stuart, who adapted the book, also wrote and directed Switchback several years, a tasty B-movie that featured a black serial killer. But BDSMN never takes the path of exploitation or other genre origins. This is a straight movie of the week treatment, albeit a cable movie that would fit on TNT better than the Hallmark Channel. A couple of familiar faces pop up with Michael Rooker and Rick Schroder, if they're even familiar to today's audience, but it's mostly cast with television actors.
The action is bracketed with clips of modern day residence of the same town looking back on the past like it was some bad dream. The crux of the drama revolves over the brutal beating and shooting murder of a black youth who spoke to a white woman. Much of the rising action concerns the town's new minister (Schroder) and his attempt to bring his fellow townspeople into the modern day. A ritual cross burning at a Klan rally provides some intense moments early in the film.
The murder and eventual trial are grandiose but lacking in real drama or any sense of tension. But even the 1988 Mississippi Burning looks long in the tooth in retrospect. Reading the personal history of Timothy Tyson, the character in the movie depicted as Schroder's son, makes for a more enlightening experience than its bland recreation on film. Despite its flaws Blood Done Sign My Name boasts top notch production values, particularly sets, clothing and cars.

The White Ribbon: interview with cinematographer Christian Berger

Cinematographer Christian Berger asks me with true inquisitiveness whether it's a good thing to be nominated by the American Society of Cinematographers as one of the five best photographed films of the last year. He's speaking to Free Press Houston by phone from New York City where the night before he won a best cinematography award from the New York Film Critics Circle for The White Ribbon (Das weisse Band).
As directed by Michael Haneke and like many of his films The White Ribbon immerses the viewer in a world of mysterious goings-on and ambiguity. The action takes place in a small village in the North of Germany ("Two hours north of Berlin.") just before the outbreak of WWI. The images captured by Berger in black and white are as sumptuous as anything you've seen in a movie. It's little surprise when a few weeks after the interview Berger is also nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography.
"Shooting in black and white lends itself to the remember voice of the narrator," explains Berger. "You get this rich scale of gray, great contrast. Color is pastel but black and white is gray. You have more latitude, more shadows."
Haneke provides a series of uncanny incidents: the town doctor is injured when his horse topples due to a trip wire; secret love affairs come to light; the town's richest citizen has his male child kidnapped and later found alive but bound, hanging upside down where he was brutally whipped; a field of cabbage has been vandalized. It's almost like an Agatha Christie mystery in the sense that you feel that by the end everyone in the village is responsible. If you're familiar with other Haneke films, like The Piano Teacher or Cache, both of which Berger also shot, you know the mood. Perhaps not curiously Berger doesn't like Funny Games another film that Haneke made in both French and English versions ten years apart.
To prepare for production Berger watched some recent films that were released n black and white, but like The White Ribbon shot on color stock. Black and white stock in 35 mm just isn't as available nowadays as it was in the past. Berger notes that he lit the film for black and white then tweaked the image in post-production. Some of those films he referenced were Good Night and Good Luck, and The Man Who Wasn't There. Another film was Unforgiven due to its use of candles and oil lamps as a natural source of light. "Look at a black and white Bergman film," advises Berger. "He never kept the shot wide because then the screen shows too many shadows."
The White Ribbon opens in Houston this Friday at the Angelika.

The Wolfman

The Wolfman gives good horror and make no mistake this umpteenth take on lycanthropy mixes horror and period design with abandon. Universal made its name with classic horror films in the 30s and 40s like Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Wolfman. At least director Joe Johnston has a bit of taste compared to similar high octane CGI special effects directors like Stephen Sommers (The Mummy one and two) or Rob Coen (Mummy 3 or Stealth).
Benicio Del Toro is the titular werewolf although by the film's midpoint we learn that there's a second werewolf on the prowl. The action takes place in the late 19th century in and around London. How late in the 19th century? Well the London Bridge seen in the distance in one shot is complete and intact, which would put it several years past the same London Bridge as seen in the recent Sherlock Holmes (presumably taking place in the late 1880s) still under construction. Del Toro brings his persona to the film and it's big. There's not an American actor today - not even Penn or Downey, Jr. - who conveys the kind of gravitas Del Toro can bring to a glance. Whether it's a paycheck role like The Wolfman or a small film hardly seen like Che or Things We Lost in the Fire Del Toro delivers the goods. Emily Blunt, Anthony Hopkins and Hugo Weaving add spice to the recipe.
The sets range from crowded taverns to spacious manors and the costumes are top notch like you would see in something like Bright Star. The cinematography is much better that it has to be for such a gore filled endeavor. I particularly liked a moment when the werewolf rips an arm from an assailant who's holding a gun. When the bloodied limb hits the ground the gun goes off. This film mixes high production values with bloody gore (at least two severed heads). One can only hope that it's the start of a new trend. A kind of return to sinewy horror but without the preoccupation of torture porn technique.