Mooi opZuid

Woody Allen’s London trilogy comes to an end with this social drama / thriller starring Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell as two brothers. Both troubled by financial problems they turn to crime. I didn’t like the way the story was rushed; this nervousness (a Woody Allen trademark) didn’t suit neither the story nor the actors. Also, Allen takes a long time sketching the social context, only to rush the heart of the movie; the moral degradation of the brothers, to an early end.

Yeah, I know; another coming of age / teenage pregnancy flick. But this isn’t of the PBS variety. This one is quirky and fun and has a definite kinship to ‘Ghost World’, a movie I really liked. Excellent performance by Ellen Page, Michael Cera from ‘Superbad’ is there, overall a super cast. Diablo Cody wrote the excellent screenplay / dialogues. Who knew that the suburbs aren’t as bleak a place after all?!

After seeing Cronenbergs last movie ‘A History of Violence’ my hopes for this one weren’t too high. ‘A History of Violence’ was a terrible movie, especially plot-wise and I’m afraid this movie suffers from the same symptoms; the storyline is just so flat, there are no (real) surprises. To me, this kind of crime story has already been told many times in movies and often a lot better. The setting this time is the Russian mafia in London, which forces the cast to brush up on their best Russian accent, I’m sorry; it just doesn’t work (for me). The movie isn’t bad, but I don’t care for it or its characters and that is a shame because Viggo Mortensen actually is rather good. Cronenberg wants to teach too much about the context; the honor code of the mafia, the victims of human trafficking and prostitution, the movie’s own story ends up getting lost. And the images presented are so cliché; the Russians have black suits and sunglasses and the Chechen all wear those black leather coats. Surely this isn’t the way it is in real life?!

Re-watched ‘Network’. A wild ride from true drama to sheer lunacy and straight back to drama again. A brilliant satirical commentary on the degeneration of television that turned out to be pretty close to the mark 30 years on. Main character is Howard Beale (Peter Finch), a soon to be axed news anchor, who’s mental breakdown is exploited by the network for the ratings. Faye Dunaway is the power-crazy ice queen Diana Christensen (from ‘programming’) and William Holden is the old news exec Max Schumacher, who just in time comes to his senses.

‘I am mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!’

George Benson: Guitar.
Ronnie Cuber: Sax (Baritone).
Joe Dukes: Drums.
Dave Hubbard: Sax (Tenor).
Gary Jones: Conga.
Clifford Mack: Tambourine.
Dr. Lonnie Smith: Organ, Vocals.

First off; this is a great set. Unbelievable that Blue Note left this on the shelf for some 25 years. This group plays super tight and of course Lonnie Smith’s B3 is smokin’. Only minor drawback is that I found the recording a bit flat, but that could be just my copy and it is a live set after all. This is the top of early ‘70’s soul / jazz / funk. Highlights for me ‘Expressions’ and ‘Play It Back’.

I didn’t plan to like this period adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel, and true, at times the movie gets overwhelmed by the opulent production, some visual powerplay and it’s own beauty, but in heart it is a beautiful and tragic love story. Roll out the Oscars (they are well deserved).

Solid robbery / family drama by Lumet with good performances by Albert Finney and especially Philip Seymour Hoffman, of course, who plays a serious out of control real estate guy. Marisa Tomei is good too, as the girlfriend playing both sides. They thought it could make everything go away; instead all comes tumbling down after two brothers decide to rob their parents’ jewelry store.

This movie, by then first time director Luchino Visconti, is considered to be the start-off of Italian neo-realism in film. Although many of the elements are there; the naked portrayal of rural life, the attention for social context, Visconti doesn’t place them in the foreground. This is a straight story, based on James M. Cain’s novel ‘The Postman Always Rings Twice’, now set in the Italian countryside, where bum Gino Costa (Massimo Girotti) wanders into the dysfunctional marriage of Giovanna Bragana (Clara Calamai) and Giuseppe Bragana (Juan de Landa). The film is extremely structured, there are a lot of mirrored scenes, also some time jumps, very brave, some are a bit hard. Visconti plays a lot with the pace of the story; speeding up and slowing down as a means to intensify certain scenes. Part two, after the killing, was a bit too long for me, compared to the more compact tension in the beginning, but this is a stunning movie from Luchino Visconti. Ossessione @ imdb