because you can't have too much entertainment... Summer 2001

Shirking My Self Appointed Job
Reviewed: Curse of the Jade Scorpion * O * The Princess and The Warrior * Sexy Beast

A few thoughts on films I haven't yet reviewed properly because I didn't feel like talking about them. I'll flesh this out at some point...or maybe not.

Curse of the Jade Scorpion
I hate to say it as I'm a huge fan of Woody's but this is just horrible. It's dull. Half of the jokes fall with a thud. That's in no small part due to an entirely unfunny performance by Helen Hunt (the worst lead in a Woody since Branagh dragged Celebrity down). This is, as you may have guessed, a huge disadvantage when you're making a comedy. The sole bright spot is Charlize Theron's unnecessarily witty spin on Allen's ubiquitous nympho-sexpot character. But, strangely enough, Woody Allen himself manages to deliver one of this better performances despite his writing and directing being below par. I wanted to like it -but couldn't even come close to doing so. Not recommended.

"O"
I have long been a chief proponent of the loud but tiny subculture of theater and film lovers who wishes for a ban on the entire works of Shakespeare for the period of at least 10 years. This proposed ban would give the entire artistic community a chance to find more creative ways of being unoriginal and predictable. For those of them who can't create new works, they would be forced to adapt lesser known material deserving of a wide audience, like say, anything by any other writer who ever lived. ENOUGH with the Shakespeare. Two new film versions of Othello and one restored film version all in the last 10 years. Four new film versions of Hamlet in that same time period. ENOUGH! There are other playwrights. There is other source material.

Oh, you want to know what I think of "O" itself and not the entire modern Shakespearean movement. OK. "O" is not bad but it is rather pedestrian. The leads are appealing but they don't have the depth needed to really bring this home. The film is further marred by some weak supporting performances that call attention to themselves (Phoenix and Sheen -You know who you are!) All in all, you might like it if you love modernized Shakespeare. But if so, I have to ask you this ---Even if you think my desired ban on Shakespearean films is ridiculous, don't you kind of wish filmmakers who had this particular fetish would at least try one of Will's lesser known works? Give it some thought. Really. And then get back to me... Not Recommended.

Pandaemonium
An interesting film about Coleridge and Woodsworth, Romantic poets in England. It was refreshingly less stuffy than typical period pieces but some of the modernization could have worked better. There are fine touches here and there. Best of all it stars the always terrific Linus Roache (who excels at looking haunted) and the always terrific Samantha Morton (who excels at...well, everything). If you like either of them -it should qualify as a must see. Recommended with mild reservations.

The Princess and the Warrior
I had a decidedly mixed reaction on this one from Tom Twykver, the director of Run Lola Run.
Pros: I love Franka Potente. The girl has riveting screen presence and I enjoyed her somnabulistic performance in this, especially as it was so diametrically opposed to her work in Lola Rentt. I also thought Benno whats-his-name was good. Tom Twykver kept me gripping my seat... but the film itself. I don't know. All the technical aspects: Cinematography, Editing, Score, etc... were top notch. Special props must go to the sound work -some really fascinating stuff there. It reminded me of The Insider, considering the aural layers and how much the sound heightened the tension of the rest of the film.
Cons: I think the most significant problem was in the script. I enjoy Twykver's sensibility and find the chance/destiny stuff interesting or at least amusing, but in this case it proved a bit much to swallow. His Lola breakthrough was a fun pop culture narrative exercize / experiment (and much better than Memento in transcending its gimmick) but The Princess and the Warrior unravels as it goes along. It layered on the coincidences, flukes, and mysterious moments, until I just became disinterested. I didn't feel anything was at stake. It all felt so random. And the film's brave denouement (I won't go into details here for those who haven't seen it yet) well... I loved it in concept but not in execution.

But here's the catch: I would still recommend it. I would never want to deprive anyone of seeing the "under-the-truck" sequence or a few others. And as I've said before many times... I'll take lesser work from a great talent anyday over a typical movie. Recommended with mild...oh never, mind just see it.

Sexy Beast
A fine film. The script is just tight tight tight and the movie whizzes along. I love short movies that get right to the point and don't meander. It shows the director's control of the material and his own ego. All the talk is centering around Ben Kingsley's character, Don Logan. What was frightening about him was not that he was this ultimately scary mastermind baddie (like say the equally feared Keyser Soze in The Usual Suspects) but that he had that whole desperate, unhinged "middle management" quality. He was not really in control of the situation. You could sense his weakness and play for more power in every moment when he was intimidating the other characters. Very strong stuff....and probably difficult to pull off. He's an original character knocked out of the park by an excellent actor. That's just one example of the wit of the film meeting the strength of its cast. The rest of the ensemble rises to the occassion as well. Highly recommended.

-Nathaniel

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