Reviewer: Jeffrey M. Anderson
Rating (out of 5): **½

With Ballast, writer/director Lance Hammer tells a story about a broken African-American family in Mississippi's Delta: a man commits suicide and his surviving twin brother Lawrence (Micheal J. Smith Sr.) finds himself alone, in charge of their little convenience store and dealing with his angry sister-in-law Marlee (Tarra Riggs), who understandably has mixed emotions about seeing him. Lawrence's nephew James (JimMyron Ross) is possibly even more alone, having become involved with local drug dealers while his mother is away working all the time. Hammer lets us in on these details a little at a time, rather than spelling it all out. The setting is relentlessly gray, with leafless, spindly trees, ground so cold and muddy you can practically feel it with your toes, and a slightly foggy emptiness. This film has received glowing reviews from nearly every quarter; and with its non-white characters and barren landscapes, it does feel like an escape from fluffy Hollywood.

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Moreover, without his chilly gray landscapes, Hammer can't figure out how to place or move the characters within the frame. He apparently wishes to show the inaction of grief, but the best he can do is jiggle his camera around while Lawrence sits on his bed and stares out the window. The impatient cutting and pacing lurches directly to the point of the story: the bereaved family members, practically strangers to each other, will eventually help each other learn to "loosen up" and live again. It's a favorite theme of nearly every Hollywood film, except that occasionally Hollywood has fun with it; there's no fun to be had here. Hammer has clearly been inspired by the masterpieces Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep (1977) and David Gordon Green's George Washington (2000), but has failed to grasp the tone or artistry, the willingness to pause, look around and occasionally ignore the rudimentary plot.

Kino's DVD comes with several little making-of featurettes (totaling 37 minutes), and a theatrical trailer. There are optional English, Spanish and French subtitles. Critic Amy Taubin provides a liner notes essay.

Reviewer: Jeffrey M. Anderson
Rating (out of 5): **½

With Ballast, writer/director Lance Hammer tells a story about a broken African-American family in Mississippi's Delta: a man commits suicide and his surviving twin brother Lawrence (Micheal J. Smith Sr.) finds himself alone, in charge of their little convenience store and dealing with his angry sister-in-law Marlee (Tarra Riggs), who understandably has mixed emotions about seeing him. Lawrence's nephew James (JimMyron Ross) is possibly even more alone, having become involved with local drug dealers while his mother is away working all the time. Hammer lets us in on these details a little at a time, rather than spelling it all out. The setting is relentlessly gray, with leafless, spindly trees, ground so cold and muddy you can practically feel it with your toes, and a slightly foggy emptiness. This film has received glowing reviews from nearly every quarter; and with its non-white characters and barren landscapes, it does feel like an escape from fluffy Hollywood.

Continued reading Ballast...

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

What a little gem is Proteus, which brings together a profusion of seeming opposites -- science and art, history and fantasy, Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner and the 1872 voyage of HMS Challenger-- that in reality work in tandem toward the betterment of our globe.

Writer/director David Lebrun's model documentary from 2004 (but only released to DVD in the past year) leaps off from the story of one of the world's more unsung heroes: the 19th Century German
scientist/artist Ernst Haeckel, who discovered, described, named and sometimes even painted thousands of new
species, particularly those called radiolarian, which this film captures in image and art in a staggeringly beautiful way. Here, as with the discovery of DNA decades later, the beauty of biology and nature's forms leads to scientific discovery and evolutionary theory.

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The uses of alchemy are mentioned here, and truly, during this jam-packed hour, Lebrun seems some kind of alchemist himself, spinning facts and photos into documentary gold. You may also wonder, given the film's short running time, why quite a few of its minutes are spent coming back and back again to display the many forms of the radiolarian -- set to some thrilling music by Yuval Ron. Yet so beautiful are those forms, I suspect you won't mind a bit.

Proteus is an education in miniature.

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

What a little gem is Proteus, which brings together a profusion of seeming opposites -- science and art, history and fantasy, Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner and the 1872 voyage of HMS Challenger-- that in reality work in tandem toward the betterment of our globe.

Writer/director David Lebrun's model documentary from 2004 (but only released to DVD in the past year) leaps off from the story of one of the world's more unsung heroes: the 19th Century German
scientist/artist Ernst Haeckel, who discovered, described, named and sometimes even painted thousands of new
species, particularly those called radiolarian, which this film captures in image and art in a staggeringly beautiful way. Here, as with the discovery of DNA decades later, the beauty of biology and nature's forms leads to scientific discovery and evolutionary theory.

Continued reading Proteus...

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Reviewer: Walt Opie
Rating (out of 5): ****

You don't necessarily have to believe in reincarnation to practice Buddhism, nor to appreciate Unmistaken Child (2008), an engaging documentary on this subject by Israeli director Nati Baratz. Now out on DVD after a very brief outing in theaters, this film was shot beautifully by a small crew (often just Baratz himself) who serve as our proverbial "fly on the wall," allowing us incredible access into the inner workings of the Tibetan Buddhist system of picking reincarnated lamas. Call it Kundun meets Hoop Dreams and you might start to get the idea.

Describing the story of this film almost takes away from it, as the real pleasures are to be enjoyed in the simple moments along the way. But the gist of it is this: Unmistaken Child tells the true account of the search by an extremely devoted and quietly charming young Tibetan monk, Tenzin Zopa, for the reincarnation of his recently deceased 84-year-old master, Geshe Lama Konchog. The master was deeply revered for having spent 26 years practicing alone in a mountain cave (Tibetans apparently referred to him as "the modern-day Milarepa" which is high praise indeed). In the film, we go from the back corridors of the Tibetan government-in-exile's Dharamsala, India offices to the actual cave, or what's left of it, where Lama Konchog once lived. We tag along as Tenzin Zopa sets off on his rather overwhelming mission to find a young child who can be "unmistakenly" identified as the reincarnation of his beloved teacher. We watch him interview young children and their families in hope of discovering the correct signs that point back to his master. And we see what happens once a young boy has finally been selected, even watching as the boy gets his head shaved for the first time, which doesn't seem to go as smoothly as Tenzin Zopa expected.

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I am grateful to Baratz for sticking it out, because his film shows us in stunning detail what it means to search for, and perhaps find, a reincarnated master from the viewpoint of the Tibetans themselves. It's a rare gift, whether you choose to accept its core assumption of reincarnation or not. Unmistaken Child is a truly fascinating peek behind the scenes into Tibetan Buddhist culture as it is being carried out even today.

Walt Opie is a Bay Area writer and a practicing Buddhist in the Theravada tradition. He also currently serves as Communications Coordinator at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.

Reviewer: Walt Opie
Rating (out of 5): ****

You don't necessarily have to believe in reincarnation to practice Buddhism, nor to appreciate Unmistaken Child (2008), an engaging documentary on this subject by Israeli director Nati Baratz. Now out on DVD after a very brief outing in theaters, this film was shot beautifully by a small crew (often just Baratz himself) who serve as our proverbial "fly on the wall," allowing us incredible access into the inner workings of the Tibetan Buddhist system of picking reincarnated lamas. Call it Kundun meets Hoop Dreams and you might start to get the idea.

Describing the story of this film almost takes away from it, as the real pleasures are to be enjoyed in the simple moments along the way. But the gist of it is this: Unmistaken Child tells the true account of the search by an extremely devoted and quietly charming young Tibetan monk, Tenzin Zopa, for the reincarnation of his recently deceased 84-year-old master, Geshe Lama Konchog. The master was deeply revered for having spent 26 years practicing alone in a mountain cave (Tibetans apparently referred to him as "the modern-day Milarepa" which is high praise indeed). In the film, we go from the back corridors of the Tibetan government-in-exile's Dharamsala, India offices to the actual cave, or what's left of it, where Lama Konchog once lived. We tag along as Tenzin Zopa sets off on his rather overwhelming mission to find a young child who can be "unmistakenly" identified as the reincarnation of his beloved teacher. We watch him interview young children and their families in hope of discovering the correct signs that point back to his master. And we see what happens once a young boy has finally been selected, even watching as the boy gets his head shaved for the first time, which doesn't seem to go as smoothly as Tenzin Zopa expected.

Continued reading Unmistaken Child...

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(Jonathan Poritsky on Nov 11, 2009 1:50 PM) Very nice review. I caught this in theaters in NYC and was luck enough to interview Mr. Baratz shortly thereafter. It really is an amazing bit of documentary filmmaking. The filmmaker managed to gain unprecedented access yet keep the story down to earth (or whatever plane you prefer) instead of making it a lofty western exploitation. Great review. Want some interview linkage? I got you. http://www.candlerblog.com/2009/06/08/activist-cinema-through-compassion-an-interview-with-nati-baratz/

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

On the basis of his first two full-length features -- Duck Season and now Lake Tahoe -- I'm ready to declare Mexican filmmaker Fernando Eimbcke (pronounced I'm-Kay, with the accent on the first syllable) a real original. Eimbcke's got his own tone and “take” on things, and his movies remind me of little else in the canon. Sure, you could bring up Jarmusch (as some have), but Eimbcke's work is sweeter, looser, with a distinctive sense of hopeful surprise in the world and its people -- Mexican variety. As co-writer (with Paola Markovitch) and director, Eimbcke offers kindness, hope and an open, guileless quality that proves enormously welcoming -- plus a hefty enough dose of content in an unusually quiet and subtle style. Dogs may bark in his new film, but nobody seems to shout.

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As the movie progresses, we learn the back-story, too, and of the loss our hero (well-played by Diego Cataño, who bears some resemblance to a younger Eimbcke) has suffered. It turns out that this story is quite similar to one that happened to the director, and I find it interesting that Eimbcke chose to make this his second film -- rather than his first, as I suspect many new filmmakers would have done. Perhaps holding off on telling it until he had gained more filmmaking savvy has enabled this wise and talented director to avoid that curse of the disappointing follow-up to a well-received first film.

Whatever the case, Lake Tahoe is a tiny diamond in the rough. Like the interesting poster/DVD box art designed for its US release, the title, with its see-through lettering, makes the lake itself seem more a memory, a dream of better times, than anything remotely concrete.

The DVD comes with the usual Film Movement additions: A smart little short subject, plus information on the filmmaker himself.

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

On the basis of his first two full-length features -- Duck Season and now Lake Tahoe -- I'm ready to declare Mexican filmmaker Fernando Eimbcke (pronounced I'm-Kay, with the accent on the first syllable) a real original. Eimbcke's got his own tone and “take” on things, and his movies remind me of little else in the canon. Sure, you could bring up Jarmusch (as some have), but Eimbcke's work is sweeter, looser, with a distinctive sense of hopeful surprise in the world and its people -- Mexican variety. As co-writer (with Paola Markovitch) and director, Eimbcke offers kindness, hope and an open, guileless quality that proves enormously welcoming -- plus a hefty enough dose of content in an unusually quiet and subtle style. Dogs may bark in his new film, but nobody seems to shout.

Continued reading Lake Tahoe...

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Reviewer: Amy Monaghan
Rating (out of 5): ****½

It is, a title archly informs us, “the very early '80s” - “September,” to be exact - but the strobelight flicker of the opening credits and the thumping beat make it clear that we are in The Last Days of Disco (1998). In the final film of director Whit Stillman's informal trilogy (after Metropolitan and Barcelona), recent Hampshire grads Charlotte (Kate Beckinsale) and Alice (Chloe Sevigny, escaping from Harmony Korine films) spend their days trying to discover the best seller that will elevate them from editorial assistants to associate editors at a midtown Manhattan publishing house.

History, however, is made at night. That's when they go to the club (never named) - if, that is, they can make past imperious doorman Von (director Burr Steers, years before Igby Goes Down). This disco is not meant to be Studio 54 exactly - Bianca Jagger never shows up on horseback, although two-time Spy magazine Ironman Nightlife Triathalon winner and social gadfly Anthony Haden Guest lurks in some shots, while Drew Barrymore's mother Jaid, as nightlife fixture the "Tiger Lady," slinks across others. But the film provides a backdrop for after-dark commingling of the sort that saw Fab Five Freddy heading downtown to collaborate with Blondie.

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Stillman has so much affection for these striving, evolving characters that it's hard not to fall a little in love with each of them, at least as long as the music's playing. In fact, affection informs all three of his films, as evidenced by appearances here by Audrey Rouget from Metropolitan (Carolyn Farina), now a successful editor, and Ted Boynton from Barcelona (Taylor Nichols), just in town on business.

And what music. For reasons of thrift as much as taste, the soundtrack digs deep. Classics by Vicki Sue Robinson, Alicia Bridges, and Evelyn “Champagne King” segue effortlessly into Chic, Diana Ross, and Blondie as Alice and Charlotte dance the night away. Outside the club, scenes like that at Rex's (actually the Old Town Bar) are undergirded by Jamaican tracks by the Techniques.

Criterion showers extras on its viewers like confetti falling from the ceiling as day breaks outside, in this long-overdue hi-def digital transfer. Each one serves to expand Whit Stillman's finely drawn universe. In addition to a behind-the-scenes featurette, a stills gallery, and the original theatrical theatrical trailer, the commentary track, featuring director Stillman and actors Chris Eigeman and (a frequently cackling) Chloe Sevigny, is illuminating and dishy. Four deleted scenes reveal elements of a dropped subplot, while an audio recording of Stillman reading a chapter from his novel "The Last Days of Disco, with Cocktails at Petrossian Afterwards" has one character, Jimmy, letting us know what happened after the closing credits. If only Stillman would give us “More, more, more,” too, but until he makes another film, we'll always have Disco.

Reviewer: Amy Monaghan
Rating (out of 5): ****½

It is, a title archly informs us, “the very early '80s” - “September,” to be exact - but the strobelight flicker of the opening credits and the thumping beat make it clear that we are in The Last Days of Disco (1998). In the final film of director Whit Stillman's informal trilogy (after Metropolitan and Barcelona), recent Hampshire grads Charlotte (Kate Beckinsale) and Alice (Chloe Sevigny, escaping from Harmony Korine films) spend their days trying to discover the best seller that will elevate them from editorial assistants to associate editors at a midtown Manhattan publishing house.

History, however, is made at night. That's when they go to the club (never named) - if, that is, they can make past imperious doorman Von (director Burr Steers, years before Igby Goes Down). This disco is not meant to be Studio 54 exactly - Bianca Jagger never shows up on horseback, although two-time Spy magazine Ironman Nightlife Triathalon winner and social gadfly Anthony Haden Guest lurks in some shots, while Drew Barrymore's mother Jaid, as nightlife fixture the "Tiger Lady," slinks across others. But the film provides a backdrop for after-dark commingling of the sort that saw Fab Five Freddy heading downtown to collaborate with Blondie.

Continued reading The Last Days of Disco...

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Reviewer: Jonathan Poritsky
Rating (out of 5): **

I don't really know what to make of a film whose strongest moment is its closing credits (although lifted conceptually from Kyle Cooper's Se7en opening, they really do pack a wallop). Orphan, directed by helmer Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax), spends seventy minutes poking around for a purpose, only to pick up the pace just before the third act shows up out of nowhere. It's a real shame because the film's ultimate revelation is conceptually strong.

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All I ask of a film like Orphan is that it be one of three things: 1) thought-provoking; 2) entertaining; or 3) gut-wrenchingly horrific. Unfortunately, Collet-Serra's film fails on all three fronts. The gore is second rate, the visuals are of the "been there, done that" variety, and the theoretically tense editing falls flat after about the fifth reveal/non-reveal parlor trick. I will admit that the film's big reveal is quite good and clever, but it comes at the wrong time and is trumped by a few other moments that have no bearing on the plot whatsoever. (Non spoiler question: the black light art from the opening credits is great; why is it not capitalized upon?)

The disc has your standard fare deleted scenes and alternate ending. Hilariously, before you get to the menu there is a PSA about adoption, giving the disclaimer that the film is mere fiction and you should not be afraid to snatch a kid up from your local orphanage. I could understand this logic only if it were actually easy to adopt a grown child in this country. But it in reality there is a great deal of red tape, which begs the question why a couple of pushovers like the Colemans would choose that route. Had they adopted a baby then we either don't have a movie at all, or we have a psycho-baby-on-the-lam movie (See It's Alive to quench that thirst). Win-win if you ask me.

Reviewer: Jonathan Poritsky
Rating (out of 5): **

I don't really know what to make of a film whose strongest moment is its closing credits (although lifted conceptually from Kyle Cooper's Se7en opening, they really do pack a wallop). Orphan, directed by helmer Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax), spends seventy minutes poking around for a purpose, only to pick up the pace just before the third act shows up out of nowhere. It's a real shame because the film's ultimate revelation is conceptually strong.

Continued reading Orphan...

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(Erin Donovan on Nov 4, 2009 1:15 PM) Great review, Jonathan. I had a totally different experience with this film, thought it was beautifully shot and a great splice and dice on buji paranoia. In fact I think it's probably the best horror film of 2009 in terms of coming up with an ending that fulfills the potential in the set up.

(Jonathan Poritsky on Nov 6, 2009 5:28 AM) Thanks, Erin! Well, I can agree with you that it may be best horror twist of '09 in that I really didn't see the ending coming. However, I think I didn't see it coming because the setup is long, boring, and unrelated to the reveal. My last GC review used the word MacGuffin, so I didn't want to bring it up again, BUT, there are two hugely wasted MacGuffins in this film that really let me down: [semi-spoiler] Esther's ribbons and her paintings. There was a lot of weight put on these, especially her mysterious neck and wrist flair. Even though her backstory turns out to be a surprise, these setups turn out to be status quo. In other words, she's just another nut job. As for buji (if we're talking about the same word, I usually spell it bougy) paranoia, I guess I'm just over sad yuppies. If there was a stronger focus on physical redemption for Kate, who lives in a world of intangibility, then maybe I could have been swayed. But what we get is too little too late. And the visuals, well, we won't see eye to eye on that. Thanks for the input Erin. Sorry to write a supplemental review in the comments!

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

For anyone who suffers from the occasional bad back, a new to DVD film The Answer Man -- the first from writer/director John Hindman -- should be a must-see, if only to revel in the facial expressions of its star (a sublimely funny, nasty and so-real-it-hurts Jeff Daniels), as he suffers the moment-by-moment degradations of a spine askew. But there's a lot more going on in this light, bright--if also sometimes quite sad --romantic comedy, too.

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The writer/director is on record as a fan of Frank Capra, and while his movie reflects this, it is certainly no slavish imitation: There's enough originality -- and specificity -- to the characters, situations and themes to separate it. From the "answers" Daniels offers Pucci during their sessions on the brownstone stoop, it's easy to understand why the former's book is such a success. And, as much as we come to care for our three protagonists, Hindman also makes it clear how they consistently manage to undercut their own very real possibilities.

Hindman chose his actors carefully and wisely, and sure enough, everyone here, stars to supporting players, including a terrific Nora Dunn and an underused Kat Dennings and Olivia Thirlby, comes through in top shape. Daniels has a gift for physical comedy (Dumb & Dumber), including its rubber-faced mode, of which he makes fine use; when called upon, he's just as impressive as a dramatic actor. Graham brings reams of her usual warmth and ability to be sexily maternal (be sure to catch her work in the under-rated and under-seen Flash of Genius). There's a scene in Daniels' living room during which she cradles the Pucci character that is as moving as anything we've seen all year. Regarding Mr. Pucci, who continues to mature and grow with each new role, he would steal the whole movie, were not everyone else so on-target.

The Answer Man's not perfect. As it winds along to the finish line, the love story begins to play second fiddle to the bookshop, and Hindman appears to have used more of his originality toward the beginning than the end. Yet, the movie builds up such a bushel of good will, and so engaging are its characters, that I think you'll have little problem embracing the Capra-corn of its conclusion. The Answer Man is a lovely beginning to what I hope will prove a lengthy, if late-blooming, career for Mr. Hindman.

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

For anyone who suffers from the occasional bad back, a new to DVD film The Answer Man -- the first from writer/director John Hindman -- should be a must-see, if only to revel in the facial expressions of its star (a sublimely funny, nasty and so-real-it-hurts Jeff Daniels), as he suffers the moment-by-moment degradations of a spine askew. But there's a lot more going on in this light, bright--if also sometimes quite sad --romantic comedy, too.

Continued reading The Answer Man...

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(Erin Donovan on Nov 3, 2009 11:03 PM) hey James, I just watched this one too and really adored it. More comedies should be this sad!

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Reviewer: Jeffrey M. Anderson
Rating (out of 5): *****

In his autobiography, filmmaker Samuel Fuller wrote that he did not speak a word for the first several years of his life, and then suddenly, at age 4 or 5, he blurted out the word "hammer!" The abruptness of this word, and its punchy imagery, practically defines Fuller's work.

He was a hard crime reporter as a teenager, and then a dogface soldier in World War II. He wrote books and stories and screenplays -- he called them all "yarns" -- filled with hammer-like dialogue and phrases and ideas. Due to the lurid subject matter and low budgets of his films, he rarely earned the respect and admiration he deserved (he never received a single Oscar nomination). Many of his films are still AWOL on DVD, but Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has taken a major step toward righting that wrong with The Samuel Fuller Collection, their extraordinary new seven-disc DVD box set.

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The first major film is The Crimson Kimono (1959), which is mostly a hard-boiled cop thriller, but also manages to make a defiant anti-racist statement without ever getting on a soapbox. Detectives Joe Kojaku (James Shigeta) and Charlie Bancroft (Glenn Corbett) are old war buddies and partners; their friendship runs deep and is seemingly invulnerable to racial tensions. (They share an apartment, and Charlie even carries a pint of Joe's blood around in his veins.) When they begin investigating the murder of a stripper, they meet Christine Downs (Victoria Shaw), who painted the stripper's portrait. Both men fall in love with her, but she only has eyes for Joe. Tensions rise between the trio, and Joe can't help seeing race as part of the issue. Aside from playing out these powerful emotions, Fuller keeps up equally with the tricky murder case, never faltering or failing to provide a gut-punch of a scene. (Martin Scorsese, in an extra feature on this disc, describes each of Fuller's scenes as big headlines.)

The next Fuller-helmed feature is Underworld U.S.A. (1961), which Fuller crafted as a kind of anti-gangster film; his logic was that if the hero was a loner, then by definition, he could not be a gangster. As a kid, Tolly Devlin sees his father murdered by four thugs and identifies one of them. But before he can get his revenge, he learns that the murderer has gone to jail for life. Tolly gets himself thrown in jail and spends years trying to get to him and finally does; he also gets the names of the other three men. Released decades later (and played by Cliff Robertson), he learns that his three remaining targets have become powerful crime lords and will not be easy to get to. He begins working for one of them, and teams up with the District Attorney on the side, making plans to take down the others by playing them against one another. The character names in this film are priceless: Tolly meets a girl called Cuddles (Dolores Dorn), and the three crime lords are named Gela (Paul Dubov), Gunther (Gerald Milton) and Smith (Allan Gruener) -- no first names. Even more so than its plot, the film is notable for its very stark, sharp black-and-white look; each shot almost feels like a paper cut. It's closer in spirit to the films of the French New Wave than anything that was going on in Hollywood at the time.

Another notable film is Shockproof (1949), on which Fuller gets a full "screenplay" credit (alongside Helen Deutsch). Oddly, the director was Douglas Sirk, who would go on to a renowned career as a masterful maker of full-color "women's pictures" or "weepies" (pretty much the exact opposite of Fuller's career). In the black-and-white Shockproof, a beautiful murderess, Jenny Marsh (Patricia Knight) is released on parole. Her parole officer Griff Marat (Cornel Wilde) tries his best to turn her life around, which includes getting her to stop seeing her no-good boyfriend and benefactor Harry (John Baragrey). To keep her safe, he brings her to his own home and hires her to look after his blind mother (Esther Minciotti, Marty's mother). Of course, they fall in love and begin a downward spiral that threatens them both. In his own way, Sirk emphasizes the complex, intense emotions of the lead characters, which helps guide the film over some of its plot hurdles.

Fuller had very little good to say about Scandal SheetPhil Karlson, Scandal Sheet is actually quite good. Broderick Crawford stars as Mark Chapman, a crusty newspaper editor who has turned a New York newspaper into a vulgar, popular tabloid rag. His star reporter, Steve McCleary (John Derek) worships him; together they hope to buy out the paper and get rid of the namby-pamby board members who complain about the paper's new direction. Steve's gal pal Julie Allison (Donna Reed) more or less agrees with the board and doesn't like writing exploitation stories just to sell papers. Things take a turn when an unwanted piece of Chapman's past turns up and he becomes a murderer; then McCleary starts investigating the case! Karlson's work isn't as hard or as explosive as Fuller's, but it's still pretty tense and entertaining. Fuller actually directed his own newspaper movie the same year, the superior Park Row, which is still not available on video in the U.S.A.

The other three films are fairly inconsequential, though they may provide some low-key distraction. Fuller is credited as a "story" writer or a co-writer on all three of these low-budget items, each running around 60 minutes. It Happened in Hollywood (1937) is perhaps the most notable for the casting of King Kong star Fay Wray, and for tackling a story that Billy Wilder would take on years later in Sunset Boulevard. In it, a cowboy movie star (Richard Dix) of the silent era faces a difficult change when the talkies come in and he has trouble making the transition; he must decide between keeping his career going and staying true to his legion of good-hearted fans. Adventure in Sahara (1938) tells the story of a mutiny in a French Legion outpost, and Power of the Press (1943) is about another corrupt newspaper editor. Sony could probably have squeezed these three onto one or two discs, but it says something about their dedication to quality that they awarded each little film its own disc.

As for DVD extras, several Hollywood filmmakers and Samuel Fuller fans -- Scorsese, Curtis Hanson, Tim Robbins and Wim Wenders -- as well as Fuller's widow Christa turn up on a short documentary as well as other short featurettes to discuss Fuller's work. Even if this were only a two-disc set that included The Crimson Kimono and Underworld U.S.A., I'd say it was one of the year's most essential video releases, but the five other discs and films put it right over the top.

Reviewer: Jeffrey M. Anderson
Rating (out of 5): *****

In his autobiography, filmmaker Samuel Fuller wrote that he did not speak a word for the first several years of his life, and then suddenly, at age 4 or 5, he blurted out the word "hammer!" The abruptness of this word, and its punchy imagery, practically defines Fuller's work.

He was a hard crime reporter as a teenager, and then a dogface soldier in World War II. He wrote books and stories and screenplays -- he called them all "yarns" -- filled with hammer-like dialogue and phrases and ideas. Due to the lurid subject matter and low budgets of his films, he rarely earned the respect and admiration he deserved (he never received a single Oscar nomination). Many of his films are still AWOL on DVD, but Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has taken a major step toward righting that wrong with The Samuel Fuller Collection, their extraordinary new seven-disc DVD box set.

Continued reading Samuel Fuller Collection...

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Reviewer: Jeffrey M. Anderson
Rating (out of 5): ****½

Fados shouldn't have worked; veteran Spanish director Carlos Saura (Cría cuervos, Tango) assembles a collection of fado singers and films them singing in front of colored backdrops. Sometimes the backdrops become more elaborate (such as a nightclub) and sometimes dancers accompany the music. These famous Portuguese ballads (currently undergoing a revival) have a long history, and are specifically related to poor and urban artists who expressed their yearnings in the most bittersweet ways. There is a certain structure to the songs and certain rules that must, more or less, be followed. Any lesser filmmaker would have traced the history of the music, dissecting it and trying to burrow inside all the songs.

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Among the most notable singers present, there is veteran Carlos do Carmo, the heartbreaking Lila Downs and sexy newcomer Mariza. There are also homages to fado legends Alfredo Marceneiro and Amália Rodrigues. The performers' ages and styles range drastically, but Saura ties it all together and captures a coherent mood.

Newcomers to fado may be put off by such a daunting primer, but the opportunity to get to the heart of the genre, rather than inside the head, is too gorgeous to pass up.

Zeitgeist released the new DVD, after a brief 2009 theatrical release. It comes with a 25-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, a photo gallery and trailers. Saura provides some personal liner notes as well. Best of all, it comes with a more comprehensive performer and song title guide; it's still possible to get lost in the music, but now viewers can reference the names of their favorite performers. One quibble: the DVD might have included some more factual and historical information for more literal-minded viewers.

Reviewer: Jeffrey M. Anderson
Rating (out of 5): ****½

Fados shouldn't have worked; veteran Spanish director Carlos Saura (Cría cuervos, Tango) assembles a collection of fado singers and films them singing in front of colored backdrops. Sometimes the backdrops become more elaborate (such as a nightclub) and sometimes dancers accompany the music. These famous Portuguese ballads (currently undergoing a revival) have a long history, and are specifically related to poor and urban artists who expressed their yearnings in the most bittersweet ways. There is a certain structure to the songs and certain rules that must, more or less, be followed. Any lesser filmmaker would have traced the history of the music, dissecting it and trying to burrow inside all the songs.

Continued reading Fados...

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

Goodness exists! You'll find it in a documentary recently released to DVD entitled Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox, directed by first-timer Sara Lamm, which not only made me a fan of the film but of the product itself -- a line of castile soaps -- that originally put the titular Dr. Bronner on the map. I would not be surprised to find other viewers, if they finish the film and watch some of the equally fascinating DVD extras, becoming fans of the docs (the documentary and the doctor), and of the soap.

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The film tells the history of the maybe-not-so-good doctor, one very weird duck, and his early "organic" cleaning product. We also meet his children and grandchildren, who are continuing their progenitor's legacy (the doc himself has gone to his reward). This group is a fascinating bunch, as was Dr. Bronner, with his German accent and tendency toward screaming while speaking. (He brings to mind Adolph Hitler: another irony, given his Jewish heritage, but perhaps it goes with the territory). His sons, daughter and grandchildren are interesting, too, as is their commitment to keeping his soap (and religion) alive. The opportunity to witness one son's encounter with a musician/skateboarder in an economy-level, New York City hotel and how this initial meeting evolves into a relationship that is surprisingly moving, the movie is quite rewarding. Later we see this same son (one who, sadly, never found favor with his father) trying his hand at performance-art theater.

For me, the documentary proved once again that practically any subject can become an interesting one -- provided the filmmaker knows how to explore it properly. Lamm is all-over-the-place in her approach, yet there's hardly a moment in her movie that does not capture our attention and add to our understanding. Watch the DVD extras for updates on the family and firm -- particularly what they are doing in the Israel/Palestine area.

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

Goodness exists! You'll find it in a documentary recently released to DVD entitled Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox, directed by first-timer Sara Lamm, which not only made me a fan of the film but of the product itself -- a line of castile soaps -- that originally put the titular Dr. Bronner on the map. I would not be surprised to find other viewers, if they finish the film and watch some of the equally fascinating DVD extras, becoming fans of the docs (the documentary and the doctor), and of the soap.

Continued reading Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap Box...

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

Rich, inventive, black-and-white animation (of the sort that puts to shame the neither-fish-nor-fowl, million-dollar color stuff that makes Robert Zemeckis's Beowulf such a bore) gets a go-round in Fears[s] of the Dark (Peur(s) du noir). This most interesting compilation of stories - some are self-contained while others wrap around the movie in strange and witty ways - is artful, often gorgeous to look at, and clever in the manner in which it makes its points and ties things together.

What it is not is scary. At all. Which is fine by me. I'll take my scares in live-action movies, thank you. Perhaps I am no longer able to be frightened by animated films. I recall being so by Disney's Fantasia when I saw it as a very young boy, but the flat, two-dimensional artwork on view in this movie will appeal more to animation connoisseurs than to folks looking for a fright. Yet there is plenty to enjoy for ancillary reasons.

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Marie Caillou and Romain Slocombe offer their take on needles, imprisonment and Japanese samurai, among other fears. The animation here is airier and more bizarre. Fears are tapped but more glancingly, I think, than in Mr Burns's installment.

In their rich and all-over-the-place contribution, Italian artist Lorenzo Mattotti and Jerry Kramsky (who works closely with Mattotti and lives in Italy) deal with fears of monsters, dreams, magic and... oneself. I must admit to drifting off somewhat during this installment, which had a kind of hypnotic effect on me. I'd like to see it again after downing a large cup of coffee.

The section that comes closest to the title moniker belongs to Richard McGuire and Michel Pirus. This duo track a poor fellow who wanders from a snowbound landscape into a dark house, occupied by a perhaps not so friendly female and from which there appears to be no escape. The use of black and white is in some ways the most stunning - witty, bizarre, clever and creepy - of all the segments.

The two other installments come and go throughout the movie, wrapping around it and offering, in the case of Blutch (a pseudonym for artist Christian Hincker), fear of canines - particularly those of the killer kind. You might call this section "gory," except, as animation, it comes off much less so than any number of "slasher" movies many of us have seen. The animation is quite interesting, however, with a nearly-complete gray-scale spectrum that only the Mattotti/Kramsky section approaches elsewhere in the film.

Wittiest of all are the wrap-around/on-and-off bits provided by Pierre di Sciullo, who mixes very funny text/narration (dealing with the everyday fears of our modern times: social, political, environmental) with equally witty black-and-white geometric visuals. One can, it seems, be just as afraid of what lies ahead in broad daylight, once we've gotten out of bed in the morning, as of those other, more obvious and clichéd fears.

One more artist is mentioned in the press book for the film: Etienne Robial as artistic director. I don't think Robial is responsible for any individual segment, but more likely, he helped bring the movie together. In any case, if you are an animation aficionado, I don't imagine you'll want to miss this black-and-white feast. Even if you're only so-so on the subject, there's enough in the 78-minute running time to warrant a visit.

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

Rich, inventive, black-and-white animation (of the sort that puts to shame the neither-fish-nor-fowl, million-dollar color stuff that makes Robert Zemeckis's Beowulf such a bore) gets a go-round in Fears[s] of the Dark (Peur(s) du noir). This most interesting compilation of stories - some are self-contained while others wrap around the movie in strange and witty ways - is artful, often gorgeous to look at, and clever in the manner in which it makes its points and ties things together.

What it is not is scary. At all. Which is fine by me. I'll take my scares in live-action movies, thank you. Perhaps I am no longer able to be frightened by animated films. I recall being so by Disney's Fantasia when I saw it as a very young boy, but the flat, two-dimensional artwork on view in this movie will appeal more to animation connoisseurs than to folks looking for a fright. Yet there is plenty to enjoy for ancillary reasons.

Continued reading Fear(s) of the Dark...

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Reviewer: Erin Donovan
Rating (out of 5): ****½

Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding, just out in a new 2-DVD set from Criterion, is the India native's contribution to the unofficial canon of directors' final works from the homeland before emigrating to the United States. Like Milos Forman's Fireman's Ball, Louis Malle's Murmur of the Heart or Susanne Bier's After the Wedding, Monsoon presents the complex story of a multi-faceted, changing nation through a single tight-knit community. The community here being an upper-middle class Punjabi family converging in New Delhi for an elaborate wedding.

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But the most resonant moments in the film belong to the tender moments between bride-to-be's parents Lalit and Pimmi. Nair takes exquisite care to show a relationship, years drained of passion, based on companionship and respect. It's this emphasis that gives a viewer leery of the situation hope for Aditi's future.

Lensed by acclaimed cinematographer Declan Quinn (Rachel Getting Married, Vanya on 42nd Street, Leaving Las Vegas) the film unfolds over the course of the big day. As the ceremony approaches tempers flare, old customs clash with the rapidly changing culture of mid-90s India and the titular rainstorm looms.

Nair delights in presenting us with scenes that make light of opposing forces: an elderly woman sings a traditional wedding song while beepers and cell phones hum in the background; the groom-to-be is a modern man who's made a small fortune branching out his family's company to Texas but has a charming romantic flush about whenever in the room with Aditi; and one of the funniest scenes in the whole film takes place between the harried father of the bride to be and a wedding planner over whether the colors of the outdoor tents are reading "hip" or "funeral." Nair and Quinn use a mostly handheld camera in the way that was the intended effect, to create a wonderful intimacy within the chaos. And there's not enough that can be said about the color palette of the film except to say that it does a Punjabi wedding justice.

Criterion has given the film a typically dazzling treatment with its color transfer. Shot for $150k, Nair's film looks like such an explosion of Technicolor one half expects Judy Garland to leap out of a marigold flower.

The film won numerous prestigious festival awards (including the top prize at the 2001 Venice Film Festival) and was the top-grossing foreign-language film of all time in the States until Alfonso Cuaron's own treatise on geopolitical encroachment, government corruption and illicit sex, Y Tu Mama Tambien, came out a month later.

DVD extras include commentary by the director (wherein over the final credits she cops to hating weddings!), interviews with actress Naseeruddin Shah, Quinn and production designer Stephanie Carroll and theatrical trailer. More on the bonus disc separately.

More like this: Phantom India, Gosford Park, Rachel Getting Married, Sweetie, Bend It Like Beckham.

Reviewer: Erin Donovan
Rating (out of 5): ****½

Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding, just out in a new 2-DVD set from Criterion, is the India native's contribution to the unofficial canon of directors' final works from the homeland before emigrating to the United States. Like Milos Forman's Fireman's Ball, Louis Malle's Murmur of the Heart or Susanne Bier's After the Wedding, Monsoon presents the complex story of a multi-faceted, changing nation through a single tight-knit community. The community here being an upper-middle class Punjabi family converging in New Delhi for an elaborate wedding.

Continued reading Monsoon Wedding (Criterion)...

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(Shubhajit Lahiri on Oct 22, 2009 9:31 AM) That's an absolutely terrific review of a movie worthy of every praise bestowed upon it. In fact, after reading your review I just can't seem to wait to watch the movie a second time.

(Erin Donovan on Oct 22, 2009 10:43 PM) Thank you, Shubhajit! I hadn't watched the film since seeing it as a double feature with Royal Tenenbaums back in 2001. It's a great one to revisit.

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