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'THE PINK PANTHER 2'
IL TORNADO STRIKES AGAIN
By Sean Chavel
The Pink Panther 2 fills out a larger cast than its predecessor but that only leaves more room for more actors to fumble their way through shopworn shtick. Steve Martin once again reprises his role as the accident-prone Inspector Jacques Clouseau - a role made famous by iron man Peter Sellers - this time joining an international crack team of detectives on the trail of a master thief known only as Il Tornado who manages to make victim of the Pope in Vatican City among other crimes in this installment. Clouseau offending the Pope's decorum? How madcap!
The crack team, televised as the Dream Team, is led by such shrewd actors as Alfred Molina, Yiki Matsuzaki, Aishwarya Rai and Andy Garcia - all of whom are reluctant of Clouseau's contribution. Molina is so chagrined by Clouseau's ineptness that he promises if Clouseau solves the case he will prance around in a tutu. He makes the promise twice, so you hope the script will at least follow through (yes!), but the script does have its lapses - one being the introduction of suspect Jeremy Irons, who despite being essential to the entire plot, disappears after two appearances. The Dream Team interrogates the British actor Irons at his Roman mansion, and thanks to Clouseau, Irons disrobes his top twice. Naturally The Dream Team wants Clouseau removed.
As an additional sage of reason is disgruntled Inspector Dreyfus (John Cleese replacing Kevin Kline) continues to preserve dignity in the face of Clouseau's ubiquitous destructiveness, and proudly has assigned his inferior to the tedious task as parking cop which lends way to a painfully unfunny intro sequence of an angry driver taking off with Clouseau's arm lodged in the window (hardee har har). Clouseau is never a stranger to pain, but audiences might get familiar with the painfully unfunny in a franchise ever-willing to recycle old gags by force. With best lenience, you can give "Panther 2" the credit of being a mixed bag of gags that work and gags that fail miserably. When Clouseau's partner Ponton (Jean Reno) moves in after separating from his wife, his two kids rowdily tear up Clouseau's residence and beat down Clouseau with newly adopted karate chops, this is such a sequence that fails miserably… and mirthlessly.
If there are a couple of madcap scenes that work well in the department of hilarity, I'll have to say the Clouseau's trademark mayhem of selecting a wine only to chaotically juggle dozens of bottles at a time and ultimately burn down the entire restaurant is a highlight - although I could have done without him burning it down a second time. And while slapstick destructive mania can be typically too in-your-face blatant, the use of surveillance cameras with Clouseau bumbling and crashing around is funnier than if the cameras had objectively traced every pratfall - doubly funny that the Dream Team tries to sway their suspect's attention away from his surveillance monitors during the course of their Q&A.
Yet for every scene that works, there are three or so scenes that don't work. It doesn't help that verbal-driven scenes are derivative of the predecessor movie with Clouseau once again mangling the word ham-buërger on multiple occasions, a gag that fell flat the first time around. In a movie of unfunny embarrassments, a critic's POV is steered to observing the co-stars as to see how bored they look but the upshot is that everyone from Molina to Garcia is game to give their cardboard characters the best life that can possibly be served. Molina, while perturbed, is giggly in-between reaction shots. Garcia is a cold as steel detective but relishes his character's womanizer traits. Matsuzaki looks constantly peppy. Rai is graceful if zestfully off-guard by the shenanigans. Cleese is apparently paranoid during his most granted relaxed scenes seemingly always worried that Clouseau is going to enter any moment and wreck things. And I almost forgot to mention Lily Tomlin is in the movie as the Justice Bureau's flustered social advisor.
If I'm a sucker for anything however, it is movies about geeks in love and this movie once again has a geeky bashful romance between Clouseau and his secretary Nicole (Emily Mortimer) whose librarian glasses and blushing smile is an everlasting constant. Their exchanges contain that kind of classic dialogue where the two of them try to talk bureaucracy, but catch awareness of their double entendres, and then overcompensate with language to cover up their faux pas and their subconscious loving intentions. And unable to capitalize on their affection for each other, both of them manage to get jealous rivals vying to keep them apart, with Clouseau distracted by the gorgeous Aishwarya Rai (Indian's most famous model and actress) and Nicole by the oily charms of Andy Garcia. This is the best part of the movie, really, Clouseau's affectionate eye gazing for his perfect mate circumstantially out of reach.
Old shtick dominates however whether it be non-sequitur lines of questioning or forced crashing through windows or upsetting the Pope's people. "Panther 2" is encumbered with wincing moments, but the bad scenes at least don't overstay their welcome and the adroit pacing lets the movie be over thankfully fast. Steve Martin is unbarred and unmonitored this outing but of course the character of Inspector Clouseau has no boundaries, but it's the script that needed monitored for damage control. By attempting to please the audience's hunger for slapstick in every scene, the comedy becomes exasperatingly overloaded. It's a strained compliment when to say that at least the film's editing cuts well.
'HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU'
SEX AND THE CITY OF BALTIMORE
By Sean Chavel
By casting nearly a dozen appealing actors He's Just Not That Into You is striving to become the ultimate relationship movie. Look at the list of names: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Ginnifer Goodwin, Scarlett Johansson, Kris Kristofferson and Justin Long. I liked all of these actors going in, and for the most part, I liked them all even more after I walked out of this comedy of women choosing the wrong mates
The movie is based on the nonfiction bestseller by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, former writers on the "Sex and the City" HBO series. Their no-nonsense book touches a chord on how women manage to attach to emotionally unavailable men who use them and dump them abruptly. The movie's duty is to dramatize select scenarios from the book.
Such as why would someone like Beth (Aniston) remain in a relationship with Neil (Affleck) for seven years when he has no intention of marrying her? It feels more like a knife piercing the heart when Beth's way younger sister is going to tie the knot before she does, making Beth the butt of her family's jokes. Gigi (Goodwin) goes out on dates with men who don't call her a week later but still obsesses about them. Janine (Jen Connelly) remains in a strained marriage with a closed book named Ben (Cooper), who contemplates an affair with bombshell Anna (Johansson), with Conor (Kev Connolly) as the sincere hard-working professional also in love with Anna whom only calls him when she's got troubles
The astute dating expert in the movie is Alex (Long), a manager/bartender who begins mentoring Gigi in translating the signs and moving on. Gigi and Alex begin platonically, and then Gigi gets the sign that Alex might actually like her and that she should make the first move. But Alex has already taught her that if a guy hasn't asked a girl out the reason is He's Just Not That Into You.
The movie is competently directed by Ken . Despite his cookie cutter sitcom staging, the actors nevertheless do everything to transform and enlighten the material. Kwapis is such a negligent director that he barely establishes the city of Baltimore where his movie is set. Yet I counted three great scenes in the movie, which has more to do with the actors and screenwriters Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein's contribution than with anyone else.
All three of these qualifying great scenes had to do with the Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Connelly and Scarlett Johansson triangle. The ever-fetching Johansson makes a light night dip in the pool sound erotically tempting. Following is a blatant confession as an indirect cry to end a relationship that unwittingly deepens and intensifies that same relationship. And ultimately, an unwanted visit at work becomes a hair-raising juggling act.
The actors pull off all their scenes engagingly with the right note of desperation when called for without straining for effect. The actors make us care, and we in turn care to laugh at their foibles. And I wouldn't mind seeing an extended DVD cut of this flick with more scenes featuring the under-utilized Drew Barrymore and also Scarlett Johansson just because I can never get enough of her. Justin Long, too, he's a real card.
'GOMORRAH'
ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL MULTI-WINNER
By Sean Chavel
There's this impractical hype surrounding Gomorrah, that the new Italian mafia saga import which has captured the Grand Prix at last year's Cannes Film Festival as well as a multi-winner at other film festivals, is a hot new sensation worthy of vintage Coppola. There's nothing Coppola-esque grand about Matteo Garrone's film, instead it's a raw and objective docudrama of Mob racketeering: operations in construction, tourism, textiles, fuel, and food. These aren't the kind of guys you'd mistake for Corleones - they're beefy Mafioso adorn in gaudy silk shirts and tacky gold watches.
This real-life organized crime family in Naples (they're still getting away with murder) is responsible for 30 years of corruption and 10,000 deaths in that timeline, according to Garrone and non-fiction author/ screenwriter Robert Saviano. These two collaborators are obviously filled with concern to delineate this problem and spread their wealth of knowledge to moviegoers worldwide is noteworthy. Their interest is spread socio-political outrage, not to make a grand "Godfather" parable about broken family ties and shattered loyalty.
At the head of this street-reality empire is Don Circo (Gianfelice Imparato) whose daily operations are to pay off people for making his hits, and paying off others for their silence. Toto (Salvatore Abruzzese) is a 13-year old mob runner looking for permanent affiliation into the cartel. Roberto (Carmine Paternoster) is a university graduate who takes unethical work in toxic waste management. Pasquale (Salvatore Cantalupo) is a small businessman and tailor who is given a tempting offer by Chinese clothing manufacturers, which sets off bloody fireworks with mob competitors. Finally two middle-teens (Marco Macor and Ciro Petrone), in love with the movie "Scarface," get in over their heads with the fantasy they can augment their own mob operation.
All of these stories squeeze into a mosaic with the camera almost casually peering in with one story, stepping back, and then checking out another story until everything mashes together. Matter-of-fact sleaze and corruption is manifest in Garrone's objective point-of-view camera which is avoidant of any stylishness tricks - authentic location shooting lets us absorb real Italian inner-city grub - and we feel anguish in the crime activity before our eyes that is so common practice to these Mafioso's. But while the filmmaker remains impartial to any script outline component, most audiences will be drawn to the two young "Scarface" teens whom rip off the mob when they find an arsenal of weapons that aren't theirs, go to seaside to test out machine guns and rocket launchers on an empty fishing boat, and ride around town arrogantly until they've thoroughly pissed off the Don.
Morbid fascination aside, the film holds us at arm's length because lack of character magnetism. While Garrone's mosaic patching invites us to see the Italian corruption pyramid, the film regrettably has no gravitating trajectory - there's nobody to make us care. In "City of God," for instance, we root for the boy to rise above the slums to become a photojournalist. If there's nobody in particular to admire, there is also nobody to loathe intensely. There have been cinematic anti-heroes played by the likes of Robert DeNiro or Al Pacino whom sensationally knock us out with colorful menace, but none of these "Gomorrah" wiseguys have a shred of shimmering charisma. Without a standout villain, the film at least works as an economics-laden docudrama of Italian gang operations. What is also of interest is the midrange businessman with mob association, the bring-home-the-bacon family man becoming permanently indebted to the Mob.
Without such magnetism of anybody on-screen, the dramatization - however noble - doesn't enthrall our imaginations. This is a good film but it's not worth obsessing over or showering with awards (and sure, it's racked up plenty). A great film makes one obsess about it - in your dreams, in your wake, in your recreational mental doodlings. The vivid visuals and strapping power of the Corleones is probably what has made Coppola's "The Godfather" a great and everlasting film over the decades, not the least the tempting desire a moviegoer would have to be ingratiated into the Corleone's backyard as a base fantasy. The guys in "Gomorrah" don't have that kind of appeal, but they are threatening enough to make you want to run for the hills.
OSCAR NOMINATIONS 2009 REACTION
By Sean Chavel
All of the 2009 Best Picture nominees are good movies: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Frost/Nixon," "Milk," "The Reader," and Slumdog Millionaire." Best Director nominations coincided with the film nominees. My selection of whom should win? Danny Boyle and his film "Slumdog Millionaire."
Yet these nominations do not feel complete without "The Dark Knight" among them. The fact that it is the second-highest grossing film of all time behind "Titanic" might be considered its own reward. But its absence undermines Christopher Nolan's film. The new Batman movie went beyond the usual comic book expectations and became a grand operatic film noir. Nolan is setting a new standard just like Orson Welles and Sir Carol Reed were setting new standards in the '40's and Billy Wilder in the '50's.
By breaking the formula barriers, "The Dark Knight" set new monumental territory. It has paved the way of promise that the new blockbuster can be multi-layered and complex and psychologically multi-faceted. The film is loud (thrilling to the best sense of that word) but it is also embedded with compromises and priorities, in-depth with shedding personal ideals for public digest. Also, when was the last time a movie this entertaining had so many great characters in it? Some detractors complained about Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Two-Face being one character too many, as if there aren't enough villains to go around for the next Batman sequel. Besides, he's needed as Bruce Wayne's romantic adversary and as a precursor Batman's ultimate dilemma: Will it be Rachel Dawes or the Public's Interests? I'm also enthralled by not only Heath Ledger's Joker, but by all the other baddies' and henchmen sociopathic rot which haunts the entire film.
Of the Best Picture nominees, I rated "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" with the lowest rating of three stars. I liked the film as much as I was baffled by its few misguided notions and misplaced decrees ("Nothing really lasts" is not a profound statement really, it's the same for peoples forward lives, too). But it is a marvelously filmed movie and I understand peoples' enthusiasm for the film with its romantic spell.
In an odd way, I think "The Reader" is a better film but will not have as much memorable endurance ten years from now. Even with mixed feelings, I think I'll still remember "Benjamin Button" more, equally for its goodness and for its flaws, a testament that even a film's imperfections can spur thinking and contemplation. I've dreamt better scenarios and outcomes for "Benjamin Button" that I think are better than the film itself, but the fact that a movie has me dreaming is a positive response that has kept me absorbed.
But the thing is, "The Dark Knight" belongs in a pantheon of cinematic milestones and will be a film remembered past ten years and probably fifty years. I don't think "The Reader" has the legs for it. As for the remaining two, "Frost/Nixon" is a remarkable and thought-provoking film and "Milk" is an accomplished film with revolutionary content. I am not surprised by their inclusion, I endorse them. But "The Dark Knight" absence shouldn't be a surprise either: "Citizen Kane," "2001: A Space Odyssey," and "Raging Bull" were ahead of their time, too, and as a punishment, overlooked at Oscar time.
Besides the major ten nominations showing for "Slumdog Millionaire," the nomination I'm happiest about is Robert Downey Jr. as Best Supporting Actor for "Tropic Thunder." I am amazed viewing after viewing the way he immerses comically into his satiric racial stereotype and summons nobility out of it, the way he slides between Australian and African-American personas in the later key scenes. The late but emblematic Heath Ledger erases any memory of Jack Nicholson's Joker in "The Dark Knight," creating a legendary performance within, say, his first three scenes. The other nominees are Josh Brolin in "Milk," Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt," and Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road."
I am also very happy about Josh Brolin's nomination, an actor who has been overdue. I've been watching him ever since he knocked my socks off in "No Country for Old Men," and he also did stand-out work in small roles in "American Gangster" and "In the Valley of Elah." But I would have liked Brolin to get a Best Actor nomination for playing our recent president in "W." where he played a brave range between reckless George Jr. youth and (quasi) mature president.
The Best Actor nominees were Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor," Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon," Sean Penn in "Milk," Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," and Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler." I am surprised of the reach-out for Jenkins, a good low-key character actor really, but shocked that he probably got the nom over Clint Eastwood's career summation performance in "Gran Torino." And while Langella is noteworthy as our disgraced president Nixon, I have to say I would have preferred Michael Sheen as a nominee, whose David Frost was one of my favorite characters of the year.
My choice for Best Actor is selected in a heartbeat. Rourke's performance as a down-and-out brawler in "The Wrestler" is probably the best performance I've seen this decade and is worthy in comparison to the best of Brando or DeNiro in their heyday. The entire conclusion of the film, by the way, has embedded into memory and locked itself in their permanently - one of the most powerful endings in recent years.
The Best Actress nominees are Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married," Angelina Jolie in "Changeling," Melissa Leo in "Frozen River," Meryl Streep in "Doubt," and Kate Winslet in "The Reader." What a year for Winslet considering she could have just been likely nominated for "Revolutionary Road," it's tough to choose Winslet over one of the other. Yet I'm torn. I think Hathaway is just as worthy in "Rachel Getting Married," and I guess my preference edges towards her as Best Actress. But I could almost equally surrender my choice to Winslet who gave two fantastic career-apex performances.
The Best Supporting Actress nominees are Amy Adams in "Doubt," Penelope Cruz in "Vicky Christina Barcelona," Viola Davis in "Doubt," Taraji P. Hensen in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and Marisa Tomei in "The Wrestler." My choice is Tomei as a fazed stripper who would prefer not to be a salvation idol to Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a frequent strip club customer who beckons her more than he should.
I would like to see "Wall-E" win not only Best Animated Film but Best Original Screenplay. I would like to see "Frost/Nixon" win for Best Adapted Screenplay. As you look down the list on secondary categories you see "The Dark Knight" and "Slumdog Millionaire" listed often.
Which leads me to Best Cinem-atography. I can't decide whether I want "The Dark Knight," for its noirish blue-grays and rippling-electric motion, or "Slumdog Millionaire," for its splendid crowd shots and rippling-electric motion to win more. I find it nearly impossible to decide. Let's just say that both films, feverish and spellbinding in their visual styles, belong in a hallmark of all-time great cinematography jobs.
I look down the list and see that "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Dark Knight," and "Iron Man" are the three nominees for Best Visual Effects. Which I'm reminded of Robert Downey Jr. in "Iron Man" who should have been nominated for giving a human pulse to a special effects blockbuster, also one of last year's best pictures.
And finally, in one of the least popular categories, I am thrilled to see "Man on Wire" and "Encounters at the End of the World" as two of the Best Documentary nominations, two visually astonishing films that are more beguiling than anything you'd find on the nature channel. And even more curious, I'm glad to see "Slumdog Millionaire" nominated twice for Best Original Song (along with song for "Wall-E") and although I can't tell the difference between nominee "Jai Ho" or nominee "O Saya" my vote would be for whichever one played in the closing credits. I am bewildered by my lack of knowledge in this category and am still waiting to be informed as to which song is the one I liked.