Guru

Reviewer: Erin Donovan
Rating (out of 5): ****

The American food industry spends billions of dollars each year in advertising, lobbying and creating counter-agencies to release half-baked, obfusicating "research" convincing the public they're addressing health concerns. Another consortium of doom and loathing, the diet industry, makes possibly just as many billions in profits plying us with their programs, pills and elective surgeries. Meanwhile models are dropping dead on the runway while an indifferent fashion industry bickers over who will get the television rights. It's almost a wonder that anyone in this country has a healthy relationship with food or their body.

Enter Lauren Greenfield, a photojournalist and chronicler of girls and girl culture. With Thin she brings her fly-on-the-wall perspective to renfrew, an in-patient eating disorder treatment facility. The film premiered at last year's Sundance film festival and follows four patients through their recovery. They're an atypical assortment: a 15-year-old red-headed goth girl; a bawdy Southern woman; a nurse who had been stealing anti-depressants; and a mother of two who fought in the first Gulf War.

Back in the 1930s and 40s, so we are told, audiences flocked to films whose ads touted the name of the producer: David O. Selznick and Cecil B. De Mille were two prime examples. By the time the 60s and 70s rolled around, the director's name had eclipsed that of the producer. Now, in our DVD age, I have another suggestion. Pay attention to the distributor--and in particular, a company called Film Movement. This rather unusual group came to my notice some years back, after I had rented several of its movies and began to realize that, if the Film Movement (FM) logo/sales pitch was the first thing I saw on screen, I would probably enjoy the film that followed very much. Over time, film after film after film, I surely did. Some more than others, of course, but looking back, there wasn't a single one that I actively disliked.

While I am the sort of movie buff who will take a chance on (nearly) any kind of film, my companion of 17 years is a lot more exacting. Perhaps the highest praise I can give this quirky company is that, when my partner asks me what entertainment is in store for the evening, if I tell him it's from Film Movement, he's willing to take a chance.

The company began releasing films in January 2003. According to Adley Gartenstein, president and a big time movie buff, FM is first and foremost a distributor but also a film club and a source of especially good films for the sophisticated moviegoer. "We want our films to be seen in as many formats possible," he explains. "Obviously via our subscription club, but also theatrically in art houses; for rent on DVD via online companies as well as walk-in video stores; through download; even in libraries." (Gartenstein notes that FM's films are available in over 1,000 public libraries across the country, where screenings are often held. Interestingly, although these are free, FM still picks up a surprising number of new paid memberships after each.)

Agata and The Storm (2004) *** 1/2
The Italian character defined, via the writer/director of Bread and Tulips (same lead actress, too). Funny, quirky, sexy, spiritual and extraordinarily non-judgmental, this one's all over the place but-finally--quite worthwhile.

Alexandra's Project (2003) ****
Thought-provoking and probably argument-provoking, this video-revenge tale explores man/woman marriage roles in an original, scary manner. From Dutch-Australian writer/director Rolf de Heer and anchored by masterful performances from Gary Sweet and Helen Buday.

Reviewer: Craig Phillips
Rating (out of 5): ***

Red Doors, Georgia Lee's undeservedly obscure independent film about an Asian American family looks even better after seeing the coming attraction for another Asian family-themed drama previewed on the DVD, Close Call, which looks entirely overwrought and muddled.

The story, such as it is, centers on three sisters in a Chinese American family, the parents being first generation immigrants, with the oldest daughter (Jacqueline Kim) in an emotionally distant relationship with a white man but soon to be married to him, and the youngest, teenage Katie, a completely American-cultured riot girl (Kathy Shao-lin Lee, wearing homemade tshirts and multicolored hair) participates in a flirty battle of pranks with a boy in her class (an amusing running story though it begins to overstay its welcome). Believably, the middle daughter, a winning Elaine Kao, is caught in between everyone's needs and neuroses. She attempts to please her parents - getting a medical degree and going out on blah dates with Asian men, while secretly discovering she may lean another way sexually. The father (Tzi Ma, a familiar face to American TV-watchers, and The General in The Ladykillers remake), depressed middle aged Ed, only finds happiness in the culture and place he misses dearly, in nostalgia for the past. He contemplates suicide, only to be interrupted each time by the nonchalant Katie. Ed's attempts to find some meaning in his life, rooted in his culture's traditions, form the main spine of the story, though part of the problem with the film - or charm, depending on your attention span - is its episodic structure, with all the family members' stories getting nearly equal weight.

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ****

Older women who pay for their sex is a tricky topic for film (think the original version of "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" for one not-so-shining example) but French filmmaker Laurent Cantet does it justice by weaving his story as much with sociological, economic and political strands as with the sexual. Charlotte Rampling, Karen Young and Louise Portal are the women, and Methony Cesar is the young man for whom two of them lust in the unusually thoughtful Heading South. The film is set in Haiti in the 1970s, a country that’s been consistently looted by its rulers, decade after decade, and the loot here is both money and flesh, yet among the major characters there are no easy heroes or villains. Cantet (Human Resources, Time Out) appreciates the needs of these women, as well as those of the men who service them. He begins the movie with a scene of such quietly devastating desperation that the feelings engendered--frightening and queasy-making in the extreme because they combine fear, sex, money and love—will guide your understanding throughout the entire film.

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ***½

Made in 2001, shown at the Sundance Festival in 2002, released theatrically (and ever so briefly) in 2006, Victor Nuñez's Coastlines finally makes it to DVD and--no big surprise--it's worth a look, likely followed by some thoughtful post-viewing conversation. Set on Florida's Panhandle, the movie straddles genres--crime, noir, and a three-way love story--in a manner that will put off viewers expecting/demanding that the thriller eclipse the rest. While it does not, the film's revenge crime elements still work with enough believability and force to pull you along. The noir requisites, too, are in place without being unduly pushed (Nuñez is not a "pusher," to his great credit and the enjoyment of those of us who appreciate discovery and subtlety in films). But finally it is the love story--a surprisingly strong one involving two men (without a trace of overt homosexuality) and the woman who loves them both--that deservedly takes precedence.

Reviewer: Craig Phillips
Rating (out of 5): ***

Set in a lakeside campground in the hot, still air of summer, Wild Camp was supposedly based on a true story, for what that's worth, and if the film's plot - an odd mix of creepy horror and romance seems fairly straightforward and predictable, it does a better job of creating the atmosphere of pending doom under the surface while leading up to a fairly shocking resolution.

Denis Lavant (Lovers on the Bridge, Very Long Engagement), who looks like a French Robert Davi, with a face that's been around the block - or smack into it - a few times, or as more than one critic noted, with a little Billy Bob Thornton mixed in, plays an ex-con trying to start a new life as a sailing instructor. He quickly falls under the spell of Isild Le Besco's Camille, a sultry, sulky teen bored by her surroundings and troubled by her family in ways the film never attempts to fully explain.

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ***

A strange and sad love letter to a "disappeared" New York City, Lustre actually has a good deal of that titular quality, even though, cinematically speaking, the budget must have been too low to manage the kind of sharp photography that is needed. What's here is often out of focus, grainy or bleached. But due to the marvelous Victor Argo--who died soon after the film was completed and whose face, voice and spirit are in front of us for almost the entire running time--we are pulled in and held fast. The story--or non-story--concerns the lead character's ruminations on his checkered past and present (he's a loan shark), but it's as much about what no longer exists in New York City as what's gone from his life. There is sweet humor and a lot of sadness here, and occasionally the movie rises to poetry and art. Even in its lesser moments writer/director Art Jones offers plenty to contemplate. That it most likely will not compare to anything else you’ve seen also helps Lustre pass muster, and then some.

Reviewer: Erin Donovan
Rating (out of 5): ****

Paying as much tribute to Douglas Sirk as her previous film But I'm a Cheerleader did to John Waters, Jamie Babbitt uses a sort of magic carpet ride of hyper-stylization to explore grief, sexual abuse, drug addiction, physical disability and sexual repression. What could have easily slid into teenage (read: inane) psychosexual dramagedy nonsense plays instead like an interesting little character piece drenched in syrup.

Recently orphaned deaf-mute Dot (Camilla Belle) goes to live with her godparents (Hal Hartley go-to's Martin Donovan and Edie Falco) and their cheerleader daughter Nina (Elisha Cuthbert). Since everyone believes Dot cannot hear (and thus not judge) under the guise of condescending inclusivity they use her as a constant human confessional to unburden their souls.

Reviewer: Jonathan Marlow
Rating (out of 5): ****½

Czech surrealist, filmmaker, painter and celebrated animator Jan Svankmajer has crafted a number of fantastic films over the decades but arguably none finer than his latest, Lunacy, now finally available on DVD. Adapted loosely from the writings of Edgar Allan Poe and the Marquis de Sade, Svankmajer's "philosophical horror film" explores the ripe territories of the infamous Theatre du Grand Guignol where inmates don't merely take over the asylum but surround us everywhere. Although seemingly set in the eighteenth century, the film accurately embodies our contemporary culture of collapse.

Actors Pavel Liska and Jan Triska, unfortunately little-known in this country, are used to great effect as the proverbial cat and mouse of the tale. But who is the cat and who is the mouse? Lunacy is Svankmajer's masterpiece, surpassing even his exceptional Faust in pure inventiveness.

(See also Michael Guillen's concise review.)

GreenCine is giving away copies of the new-to-DVD film Apartment Zero to five lucky winners of our new trivia contest. The 1988 black comedy/erotic thriller, directed by Argentinian Martin Donovan (no, not that one), is set in Buenos Aires and centers around two disturbed roommates (played by Brit Colin Firth and Canadian Hart Bochner). "Creepy and original," wrote Christopher Null on Filmcritic.com. "Donovan's direction recalls Polanski and his and [David] Koepp's script exudes Hitchcock. A better combo I couldn't give you."

To be eligible for the prize, send an email with the correct answer to contest@greencine.com, including your name, email address and, if you're a GreenCine member, your username in the email, and "Apartment Zero" in the subject header. Winners will be selected at random from all correct entries. The deadline is Friday, February 23, at 12PM PST. Winners will be notified by e-mail and announced in future editions of the GreenCine Dispatch newsletter, and right here on this space.

The Question: What epic 80s mini-series did Hart Bochner star in?

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ****

Few small foreign-language films get the top-notch send-off from critics (an absolute necessity for international success) accorded 13 Tzameti. From festivals in Venice, Sundance and (yes!) Transylvania to the European Film Awards, the little black-and-white thriller--moody, noirish and grim--has bowled 'em over. It sure did me, despite a beginning that relies on coincidence (overheard conversation and a deity-blown breeze that rather too perfectly lifts, guides and deposits a particular object from here to there). Allow the movie that bit of whimsy and, once set in motion, the story, direction and performances are all of such a piece that there is simply no turning back--for us or for the main character.

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): *½

While the reviews for the abysmal School For Scoundrels upon the film's theatrical release generally disapproved, us movie hounds could not help but notice certain names: Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite, Just Like Heaven), Jacinda Barrett (who's almost always better than the bad movies she graces) and Sarah Silverman. Sure enough, the film actually begins rather promisingly, with low-key charm and the wit to try for a grin rather than a belly laugh. But then stupidity creeps in, gloms on and does not let go--right up to and including the atrocious climax, at which point there is not one iota of reality or belief left. It's as though the filmmakers suddenly said to themselves, about half way along, "Oh, now we need this character to change and do this." And so they just do it, with little or no further thought about consistency or veracity, again and again, until nothing and no one makes sense. This is perhaps THE film against which you can rightly measure all other bad comedies with big names and (relatively) big budgets, starting now and continuing through judgment day.

Reviewer: Craig Phillips
Rating (out of 5): *** ½

Directed with verve by Jean-Marc Vallée, the French-Canadian dramedy C.R.A.Z.Y. is a fairly engaging coming of age story that mines some familiar territory but does it with a freshness and an inspired cast to raise it to a higher level. It may remind a bit of another French Canadian coming of age film, Leolo - though that one pushed the surrealism much, much further and trode in darker territory. Oddly enough, after winning 10(!) Genie Awards in Canada, C.R.A.Z.Y. never received a theatrical release here in the States. It's possible the lack of a central plot was its undoing for American distributors; the story is essentially that of father and son. The son, Zac, despite feeling like an oddball in a family with three often cruel older brothers and a put-upon mother, wants desperately to be loved by his religiously traditionally father - though the latter, played compassionately by Michael Cote, is thankfully depicted with shades of complexity that keep his character from becoming a standard patriarch.

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ****

If Sidney Gilliatt's Green for Danger at first reminds you of a (very) early hospital "soap," do hang on. This "veddy" British mystery is done with the kind of understatement and sophistication those of us old enough to remember such out-of-date terms still appreciate. The time is WWII and the location a small-town hospital at which the staff is perhaps a tad too well-acquainted. The mystery element, though handled nicely, will hardly ruffle a feather in these days of Hostel and Wolf Creek. After a bit you'll easily figure out who's what. It's with the entrance of the inspector (who’s been narrating since the start) that the movie picks up and becomes the classic you're expecting. Played by Alastair Sim (Stage Fright, A Christmas Carol's Scrooge), this guy--even after all the detectives we've seen in the 60 years since--is an original.

Reviewer: Erin Donovan
Rating (out of 5): ***

In a recent op-ed piece Cintra Wilson wrote of Republican 2008 Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani (seen at right in drag, with Donald Trump, in still from the film):

On 9/11, all Americans were frightened children, and in a moment of mythic personal heroism, Mayor Giuliani filled the gaping leadership void. The president looked like a petrified chimp; Cheney was spirited to an underground bunker. Only Giuliani could pull himself together sufficiently to get on TV in the midst of the wreckage and show America that a grown-up was still breathing. On that terrible day our reptile brains looked at Rudy Giuliani and said, "We're OK now. Daddy's home."

And we forgot, some for a moment, some permanently, that Daddy was psycho.

Giuliani Time focuses on his more "psycho" period in politics, specifically his eight year tenure as mayor of New York City (with a quick overview of his role in Reagan's Department of Justice). The film delves (and at a hefty 2 hour running time that delve is deep) into the civil rights violations and general absurdities wrought by his neo-conservative policies, egotism and political ambitions.