Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)

Cliched, over sentimental war romance 

I saw this last night on TV. The fact that I had never seen it earlier and that John Madden who did Shakespeare in Love directed it, piqued my interest! Anyway, here's the review.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001) is a 5 star casted romantic war drama set in an unspecified island in Greece, with lots of blood and guts and mortar shells blowing up ten yards to the left of the target. The Greeks are fighting the Italians to defend their territory, which obviously has no strategic importance whatsoever to anyone. 

Penelope Cruz plays the female lead Pelagia for two hours without ever smiling although she first falls in love and gets betrothed to a local Greek Mandras, played by Christian Bale. He immediately leaves to fight for his homeland. She writes him 100 love letters without getting an answer. Later when he does show up he confesses he never learned to read and so couldn’t respond. Even a Greek peasant might have gotten someone else to read the letters to him, and take down a reply by dictation. 

After Pelagia is thoroughly upset at having been loved and left, she falls in love with an Italian soldier Captain Corelli played by Nicolas Cage. The love story is apparently adapted by someone who had read a review of Louis de Berniers' novel. Then the Germans come in on the side of the Italians. Obviously the director doesn’t like anything German and makes the characters into cartoons of stupidity. The German troops treacherously machine gun down a band of Greeks. Mandras, the original fiancee rescues the dying second fiancee Corelli, because he loves Pelagia and wants her to love him back. 

Most of the humor came from the older generation, especially Pelagia's doctor father played by John Hunt with enough mustachios to hide the whole cast. The love scenes were boring and the battle scenes weak, so I spent most of the two hours trying to visualize what the script looked like, with tiny bits of dialog separated by long involved descriptions of camera angles. I also looked at the elaborate sets which were used for perhaps 10 second each, thinking how they were different from a good Shakespeare production by a modern company that uses a bare stage and only those props they can carry with them. Unless you are die-hard Penelope fan, skip this.

Broken City (2013)

JohnnyTwoToes loves this multilayered crime thriller

The "love of money" is indeed the root of all evil and as they say "absolute corruption, corrupts absolutely". Never were these two correct and timely phrases more prevalent as they are in Allen Hughes first solo directorial effort Broken City (2013), a crackling good crime thriller with Mark Wahlberg donning the lead role of a battered ex-cop.

Wahlberg is Billy Taggart, a former cop who has now become a private investigator because of a shooting which we see in the movie's beginning. Whether he is right or not, I will not go into because it resurfaces later. Since Taggart is a better PI than he is at collecting money for his services, he is more than eager to jump at a job offered to him by NYC Mayor Hostetler (Russell Crowe). The job is to see who the mayor's wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is having an affair with. The job starts out easy enough but when things spiral out of control, loyalties are tested, friendships are strained, and the powerful are challenged.

Broken City is a busy film with a number of subplots but how they are tied together is pretty craftily constructed by Hughes and first time screenwriter Brian Tucker. The casting of Broken City is first rate and the acting is superb. Mark Wahlberg shines as Taggart, a rough around the edges soul who has battled his own demons but still knows what is right and just and will not be bought. Russell Crowe is devilishly good as the Mayor who comes across as genial but is everything but that. The supporting cast with Jeffrey Wright, Griffin Dunne, Kyle Chandler, Barry Pepper, Natalie Martinez and Michael Beach are equally excellent. I was particularly impressed with Alona Tal who plays Taggart's secretary, Katy. She is sweet, attractive and yet, still maintains a tough exterior. There is are humorous scenes where Taggart and Katy are trying to get paid from clients and it is well scripted and cut together. 

Broken City also features a great score by Atticus Ross who also scored the Hughes Brothers' earlier film Book Of Eli. It is a slightly ambient styled score with a mixture of soft electronics and percussion that puts the viewer into an almost surreal world of New York. It is good to see that Ross is getting more work as a film score composer after his work with industrial rock guru Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails creator) on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Social Network for which the duo won the Academy Award. 

Though a tad convoluted, Broken City is a good, solid film that has interesting characters, an impressive first script from Brian Tucker, and is well acted. Hughes' direction is well paced and he never lets the story get bogged down by details, keeping the viewer intrigued to the very end when justice is served. The chips fall were they may in Broken City and no one is immune. Go watch!

Sunset in the Andaman Sea

Mid-sea Twilight from aboard the Costa Atlantica

View Master 3D Memories

Third dimensional nostalgia

While poking around an old carton from the past, I discovered a long lost friend; No, not some art book from grade school, but a cherished toy. A View Master and a dusty bag full of old but great sceneries - from the Atlantic ocean to the mysterious Egyptian Pyramids, from the Inca caves to some volcano in Fiji, from the moon to the Amazon forests and a lot more to activate and flood my nostalgia buttons.

Many of us remember the View-Master from childhood, but few remember its extra dimension of depth. For those curious or have never heard or seen a view master, it a photographic reel in a cardboard disc containing 7 pairs of miniature slide film images - 14 total film chips per reel. When placed in a View-Master viewer, each image in each pair gets presented separately to each eye. Somewhere inside the brain, these images combine to produce one 3-D image. The images on View-Master reels are taken with a special dual-lensed camera whose lenses are spaced 2.5 inches apart; roughly the distance between two eyes. 

While View-Master cameras are no longer made today, they can be found on Ebay and other used markets for various prices depending on the model. Although they take regular 35MM slide film, you’d still need to shell out roughly some top dollars for a View-Master film cutter if you wanted to pursue View-Master photography as a hobby. 

Luckily, there are cheaper 3-D cameras out there on the used market - mostly cameras from the 50’s, when 3-D had a more enthusiastic audience.. While it’s far from being interactive, one could still say that the View-Master, and stereoscopic photography generally, was a good first stab at Virtual Reality. The realism of stereo photography is striking; especially when (a) it’s in color - most of us have only viewed black and white "anaglyphic" images with those red and blue glasses, (b) it’s done with slide film where you peer into a viewer in front of a light source - this pulls you dramatically into a picture, and (c) the subject matter of the images is itself striking. From the 1940’s to the 1970’s, View-Master photographers set out to conquer the world - stereoscopically that is. 

A variety of foreign and domestic travel reels were produced, but many can only be found today at garage sales and antique shops. Luckily for us, however, some of these reels are still being reprinted. Those who really dig the View-Master experience may want to hunt down older viewers with glass lenses, the ability to set the focus, and internal illumination with a battery powered light bulb. While viewers can sometimes be found in toy stores, I’ve yet to see any of the "scenic" reels in stores.Until then, I'll hook on to my new found collection.

The Impossible (2012)

JohnnyTwoToes tells you why watching this true-life survival drama is uplifiting.

The Impossible tells the remarkable true story of  one unfortunate family's hellish "vacation" to Thailand in 2004 when it was double hit by a catastrophic earthquake and a devastating tsunami to ever hit land. The 2004 tsunami if you remember, covered over 7 continents and killed upwards of almost 250,000 people, destroyed entire towns, villages, homes, businesses and anything that stood in its path. The earthquake that hit was bad enough (9.2 on the Richter Scale) but however bad the quake was, the tsunami was even worse, if you can grasp that. How ANYBODY could have survived this is beyond me.

The Impossible has been compared to Clint Eastwood's Hereafter, about people's encounter with death, one of them from a tsunami. Although, Hereafter is mostly fiction, The Impossible is a true story and that alone makes it special. One of the survivors, Maria Belon (on whose life this is based) was a technical supervisor in this movie to make sure this film about her and her family's ordeal was told as accurately as possible.

Only the nationality of the family in the movie has been changed. The Belons are from Spain and the family in the film are from England. Maria in the film is played by Naomi Watts, whom the real Maria wanted Ms. Watts to play her because she was awestruck with her performance in 21 Grams. Ewan McGregor plays Maria's husband, Henry and their three children, are Lucas, the oldest is ten and Thomas and Simon are the two youngest. It is a close knit family that flies into Thailand for their Christmas holiday. On December 26, 2004 the tsunami hits, carrying Maria and Lucas in one direction and Henry, Thomas and Simon in an other. I wont spoil it further as I really want you all to see it.

The Impossible is a powerful film. It is raw and brutal in its depiction of the disaster but it maintains a PG-13 rating so everyone can watch it. Juan Antonio Bayona (director of the fantastic horror flick The Orphanage) directs The Impossible with grace and tenderness. However, The Impossible came and went pretty quickly in theaters. It deserves a second viewing and the acting is superb. I want to acknowledge the performance by Tom Holland who plays Lucas. It is the best performance from a young actor I have ever seen. He shows remarkable maturity and depth and will have you glued to the screen. How Tom Holland was NOT nominated for best supporting actor is so criminal?

Yes, The Impossible tugs hard on the heart stings of the viewer, and I didn't mind. Screenwriter Sergio G. Sanchez based his script on Maria Belon's story and he has captured the essence of what she discovered from her ordeal - Hold on to what you love, appreciate life and if you should get a second chance, make it worthwhile. This is a terrific film; uplifting and life affirming in people's darkest hours. The Impossible-**** out of 4

Whither May Day

The Morning Birds

Pastoral spectacular-sounding harmonies

Mix one part classic pop; one part emotive rock n’ roll swagger and you'll get THE MORNING BIRDS - a cool Indie Pop Band from Idyllwild, CA featuring the awesome twosome - Jennifer Thorington and Samuel Markus who play sublime pop and experimental (and super luscious) rock'n' roll. 

The Morning Birds are a pleasant hybrid of sonic and spiritual understandings expressed through music, art, and moving images. The Morning Birds cinematic tones make you feel as if you’re floating on a cumulous cloud at daybreak being transported to another time and place. Enuff said, Hearing is Believing!! Hear why they are different & shop one of their 6 great Morning Birds albums now @ www.themorningbirds.bandcamp.com. Alternatively, check out their website  and like their fanpage on Facebook.

Killing Them Softly (2012)

JohnnyTwoToes finds this neo-crime noir interesting but disjointed!

Killing Them Softly is a strange crime film that is most notable for the presence of Brad Pitt, a vastly under rated actor whose seems to be dismissed for his acting because of his good looks. I will wager Brad Pitt (good looks aside) can do just about any genre of film including horror. Even as good as Robert DeNiro is at enveloping himself into a character, DeNiro cannot do horror as he poorly showed in Hide and Seek (2005). It was perhaps the one time I saw Robert DeNiro out of place. 

In Killing Them Softly, Pitt plays Jackie Cogan, an elite mob enforcer who is called to a run  after the local mob groups have all been robbed at their card games. Cogan arrives and begins to piece together the goings on in this little po-dunk town. Since we know who does the robbing, there is not much mystery as to what Cogan will find out. As expected, it does not take Cogan long to figure out what justice to dispense and to whom. Cogan is briefed by the local mob lawyer (a nonchalant Richard Jenkins) and their conversations are the best things in this film. They seem to know what needs to be done but, even in mob land there is method to their madness and so rules and protocol must be followed. 

Enter Mickey (James Gandolfini). Mickey is a hard living, brutal, has-been enforcer who still works when he needs to; in between getting popped by the local authorities and doing jail time. He arrives in town to take care of one of the bozos but immediately becomes intoxicated and exhausted by the local ladies of the night. He is apparently going through a nasty divorce, is violating his parole and is close to a nervous breakdown. Put a gun in his hand, and you will have anarchy. Why they call him is anybodies guess. 

Killing Them Softly is a nice attempt at neo-crime noir and Pitt does extremely well as Cogan; a quiet observer of people. "These guys can't do nothin' quietly. They can't keep their big mouths shut. That's where I come in. I like killing them softly. It gets the job done," Cogan laments to lawyer Driver (Jenkins). The problem I had with Killing Them Softly is that nothing seems left to the imagination. Everything is explained, and I did not need this to be explained. 

There is a running gag throughout this film as former President Bush and President Obama are heard in audio clips talking about the US banking crisis. These are played as we see shots of the dumpy town on skid row. Apparently things are tough all over, even for the crooks. 

Killing The Softly was written and directed by Andrew Dominik who worked with Pitt on The Assassination Of The Outlaw Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford ("The Outlaw" was later dropped by the studio because the damn title was long enough at it was). It was a better film and again featured an Oscar caliber performance by Pitt. Dominik wrote the screenplay for Killing Them Softly from the George V. Higgins novel "Cogan's Trade") and either the book or the screenplay could have used some more detail on characters and less on the daily machinations of the mob. I mean, really, what was the point of Mickey's character. It's a distraction that could have been written differently or just done away with all together. 

Still, Killing Them Softly is not a total waste of time. It has a cool vibe to it and the acting is first rate including those of Ray Liotta and Scoot McNairy. This is a so-so film that I was really hoping would have been great. It's short so at a run time of about 96 minutes you won't have to sit too long to get to the predictable end of a film that you see coming.

Boogie Nights (1997)

Drugs, Disco and lotsa Sex 70's Style

Its told, Paul Thomas Anderson, the writer, director, and co-producer of the Oscar nominated Boogie Nights (1997), was obsessed with porn from an early age. This started with his childhood belief that a neighborhood house had been the site of at least one porno shoot, and, this obsession continued through his adolescence. The mid to late 70s, the period of Anderson's studious attention here, was porn's golden age – before AIDS, before Just Say No, before the advent of video and the decline in production values it wrought, seemingly before irony – and he has fashioned a loving, sincere elegy for the embarrassing excesses of the era. 

It's worth noting that the title of the film does indeed represent the first popular unironic use of the word "Boogie", and Anderson skillfully checks his cynicism at the door in telling the tale of young Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg) from Reseda, who dreams of making himself into something better and harbors a thirteen-inch co-star in his Wranglers. 

Boogie Nights is essentially the universal story of one man's rise and fall (if you'll excuse a pun), his struggle to keep on truckin'. But what a universe the film takes place in. The club where Eddie washes dishes is a gathering place for porn-industry luminaries like director Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds), earthy legend Amber Waves (Julianne Moore), insecure stud du jour Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly), and high-school ingenue Rollergirl (Heather Graham). 

When Jack is tipped off to Eddie's potential (already displaying the self-promotional savvy that will mark his future career, Eddie has been selling peeks), he quickly recruits the young stallion for his stable of actors, luring him not so much with promises of money or fame as with fatherly concern, interested conversation, stiff drinks by the pool, and naked chicks on the sofa. It's a pitch tailor made for an impressionable boy, and one of the strengths of Anderson's direction – and, yes, Wahlberg's fine acting – is that they never let you forget that deep down, the film's hero is just a big dumb kid. 

You can tell that the film was a labor of love for Anderson; not just care but joy is lavished on his direction and compositions. The opening scene, a dizzy long tracking shot that snakes into and around the club where Jack holds court, contains a contagious excitement for the vitality of the actors – the camera just wants to get next to them, and you do too. It feels like a hybrid of Alan Rudolph and early Spielberg, wit without angst. 

Burt Reynolds, turns in a restrained, unobtrusive performance, conveying sadness transfigured into the best possible course of action. William H. Macy, in a smallish part, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Scotty, the boom mike guy, are very good and touching. Anderson's handling of the diverse ensemble cast is indeed so deftly handled. 

The music too lifts up the movie to grander heights, although the songs aren't original here. Assembled by Karyn Rachtman, who was the brains and ears behind the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, it's pitch-perfect for the film and nearly constant, like a groovy tapestry backdrop. To the strains of "You Sexy Thing," Anderson's camera plunges underwater, even, to film Eddie cavorting with starlets in the rippling chlorinated blue, and you're almost underwater too with the perfection of it all, not wanting to have to come up for air. 

The ending though is sort of a cop-out. Maybe Anderson, as a first-time writer/director, either lacked the confidence to see his vision through or was afraid to risk his future career with the reputation as the guy who loosed on the public the idea that such giddy hedonism could go unpunished. As a result Boogie Nights lets go of its claim to subversiveness and bogs down in the same emotional populism that ruined The People vs. Larry Flynt. Yet, even after so many years, this is a great watch. 

Home - Staind

A post-grunge fav from the archives

Staind is part of the post-grunge, nu-metal generation coming out into the light in 1995. Having released over 7 albums to date, this track is from their 1999 second album - Dysfunction. Staind displays an obvious Alice in Chains connection: vocal harmonies, melody lines, guitar lines but to dismiss Staind as purely an Alice in Chains clone is not to give justice to the work presented in Dysfunction.

Dysfunction is a alternative grunge blend - a swirl of Alice in Chains meets Coal Chamber, it flirts with Tool and Soundgarden, it's best friends with Korn and Deftones, it's Creed and Stone Temple Pilots. Original? Yes and no - Given that last sentence, a little stretch on the imagination but they're good at it. The music is driving, punchy, heavy and might make you exceed the speed limit while listening on the way to work. "Home" as expected was a slow rising  radio hit. Bottom line: if you're a fan of any of above mentioned bands, check out Staind and this killer track.