Movie tickets #2

I Heart Keith Carradine

Talk about an under appreciated and underused actor--it's Keith Carradine. Keith, a member of the acting clan that includes dad (John), brothers (David and Robert) and daughter (Martha Plimpton), has had some fine movie moments in the 1970s and early 1980s but never became a "star" star. After a series of terrific films as leads or as a member of strong ensemble casts, his career saw him slipping into the netherworld of bad movies and forgettable TV roles.

It's actually two recent TV roles that has brought Carradine back to my attention and made me realize just how much I like him as an actor. The first was when he sauntered into the first season of HBO's Deadwood (a show I loved and dearly miss!) as Wild Bill Hickock (photo #2). Sporting a huge 'stache and a deadly intensity--Carradine's performance blew me away and he stole every single scene he was in which is really saying something as Deadwood was heavy on the testosterone and stellar performances. Only in four episodes, Carradine should have gotten an Emmy nomination for his stunning performance--it is that good.

TV show number two was a role on season two of Showtime's Dexter. Carradine plays a much different character than Hickock as an FBI agent attempting to capture the cop/serial killer Dexter. Carradine's Agent Lundy is a smart, confident, wry, no-nonsense yet warm character that Carradine makes believable, like able and sort of quirky. It's a terrific, subdued performance with a lot of depth and charm. Carradine is an ace in the hole for shows like these that rely on ensemble casts who need an unselfish, generous addition to the cast.

In 1980 Carradine was in one of my favorite westerns of all time--The Long Riders. I saw this on a Sunday afternoon in some defunct theatre in Tulsa. I was already into the legend of the James/Younger Gang, this Walter Hill film full of real life brothers is about as entertaining as a modern western can be (complete with some great exploding bullets-Carradine actually takes a slug to the jaw while playing Jim Younger!).

Carradine has been in lots of other things worth seeing. He starred in some of Robert Altman's best films in the 1970s--McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Thieves Like Us and Nashville (a film role where he nabbed an Oscar for best song-photo #3). Also worthy films from the '70s were Emperor of the North (reviewed July '06 CineRobot archives), The Duellists (directed by Ridley Scott) and Pretty Baby (directed by Louis Malle). Hill's previously mentioned The Long Riders and a re-teaming with Carradine for 1981's Southern Comfort would be the last hurrah for Carradine before he became mostly lost in a void of bad movies and poor TV--although he did have some success on Broadway and won a Tony nomination in 1991 for playing Will Rogers.

What a shame. After being embraced by such directors as Altman, Scott, Malle and Hill in the 1970s/80s, the string of lacking roles must have been difficult. It looks as though there are a few interesting film roles coming in 2009 (I just found out he's in the lead of a Broadway drama called Mindgame that I'm going to check out when in NY in December) so I'm hopeful Carradine can be "rediscovered" and get some good character roles.

In Search of a Midnight Kiss

The new lo-fi romantic comedy In Search of a Midnight Kiss has its moments among the missteps. It's a two steps forward and one step back kind of film. I wanted to really like this thanks to my romantic leanings but a few of its flaws hold it back--it's just okay and kind of a pale imitation of another talky, romantic film released a few years ago.

A couple of lonely, slightly broken people hook up via Craig's List so they don't have to be alone on New Year's Eve. I know people use Craig's List or Myspace for this kind of thing but it has always baffled me. I don't see the appeal meeting people through wires of technology and the use of texting and e-mails for communication. I also don't get the idea of having to have someone near to kiss at the strike of midnight. If I'm alone that night, I'd rather just be alone. Maybe I'm the oddball in this day and age?

But not these two people. They arrange a meeting and it's awkward but since these two are desperate they might actually like one another. Being desperate doesn't mean you can't find a connection or love while lost in that haze of recklessness (even if it is via Craig's List!). Slowly the pair start to let down the walls and start to like each other--thanks in part to a wonderful sequence in an old, empty movie theatre. It isn't surprising as the film is more formula than it thinks it is.

The frustrating thing about In Search of a Midnight Kiss are the odd character leaps that come out of nowhere a few times. Left turns are one thing but they have to make sense as the film unfolds. They come off as over scripted with a screenwriter trying to hard in this movie. The film is compared to Before Sunrise/Before Sunset (same producers) and it does have some characters walking around talking about their lives. That's true. It isn't as intelligent or as romantic as the dialogue in those two films and the acting is nowhere near as polished from the leads so that kind of comparison only makes me long for those two films from director Richard Linklater.

I'm heading to New York for a week at the end of the year. I will be there on New Year's Eve. Alone. Should I get my Craig's List profile up and running? Should I take some new photos of myself in front of a mirror and add it to my Myspace profile? The clock is going to strike a new year and it looks like I'll be going it alone--now feeling either lonely or desperate thanks to In Search of a Midnight Kiss. Not really.

Czech Dream

There's very little I enjoy more in this world than a well orchestrated hoax. The larger the scale, the more I admire it. Original hoaxes that make it into the mass public are even rarer and and harder to pull off in this day of saturated and wide reaching media (although maybe it's easier because there are so many outlets?). Czech Dream is a funny and interesting documentary based around such a thing: a hoax directed at the general public.

Vit Klusak and Filip Remunda are two young filmmakers about to finish their studies at a Prague film school. For their last project they get a grant from the Ministry of Czech Culture and plot to pull off a hoax that ties in the subjects of consumerism, greed and the seductive power of advertising. Everything is filmed, from the planning of the hoax to the aftermath.

The pair, with the help of a sympathetic ad agency, create logos, commercials for TV and radio, splatter print ads and fliers all over Prague for a fictitious store called "Czech Dream." It's a supermarket (although they call it a "hypermarket" in the Czech Republic) on the outskirts of Prague. The main problem for those who show up at the grand opening ready to buy stuff (some come with order to buy everything from pickles to bread to electronic equipment)--there is NO store!

Ads blanket the city telling people to not come, to not spend money and to just stay away. The public just think it's a clever form of anti-advertising and it just draws them to the opening with more curiosity. They show up by the thousands. After they've walked (some people actually run toward the "building") to the front door they get a shock--there is no front door but a fake storefront in an empty field. Most of the Czechs shown are pretty irate at being duped as are the media when they get wind of the hoax.

Some of the victims look through their cloud of confusion to realize this stunt is an anti- consumerist statement against the Czech obsession for stores such as these. In 2008, advertising is so effective and sly that it can persuade the populace to show up despite clear directives to stay away. The frightening thing is this isn't just a Czech thing as this kind of hoax could have happened all over the world. People are gullible and hungry for the latest gadget at a cheap price and they are willing to show up at the crack of dawn and run through a field to get at that deal. Unfortunately for those people in Czech Dream, the store they are looking for is not real and they will instead be in a social commentary documentary that's very entertaining.

October movies

I watched Halloween last night--the first half of the Circle's Halloween + Halloween II double feature--and how I love that film. The last twenty minutes are amazing! The terror of pursuit, the John Carpenter soundtrack, the screams, wonderful, wonderful.

Religulous---2008---usa ***1/2
Miracle of St. Anna---2008---usa **
The Foot Fist Way---2007---usa ****
Love Crazy---1941---usa ***1/2
Appaloosa---2008---usa ****
Swindled---2004---spain ***1/2
Fools For Scandal---1938---usa ***
Czech Dream---2003---czech republic ***1/2
Dans Paris---2007---france ***
Flickering Lights---2000---denmark ***
The Horse's Mouth---1958---england ***
In Search of a Midnight Kiss--2008---usa ***
Halloween---1978---usa *****!

Title change or marketing over sensitivity?

Has anyone else noticed that the title of the soon to be released film Zack and Miri Make A Porno has been slashed in half for the ads? When I saw this trailer a few weeks ago the entire title was in the ad but I bet you can guess what three words have been cut out of the ads I've seen in the past week. If you said "make a porno" as the missing words then you are correct.

I'm confused. In this day and age is the phrase "make a porno" after two people's names really all that offensive? The plain and dull title of the ads now (just Zack and Miri) is not a good second choice and I'm sure it wouldn't be the title if "make a porno" wasn't the intended title. The original title is not only better, it pretty much sums up the premise is only six words--something that few film titles rarely do.

Based on the trailer the film seems to be about Zack (Seth Rogan) and friend Miri (Elizabeth Banks) who are down on economic luck. To reverse these hard times they decide to make a porno. That story is VERY clear in the TV ads I've seen. If the trailer on TV talks about making a porno and shows actual comic scenes from the said porno--why in the world can you not market the movie Zack and Miri Make A Porno?! Ridiculous.

Watching Star Wars with an 8 and 6 year old

Recently I wrote a piece on the Boman Twin in Tulsa and mentioned seeing Star Wars there in 1977 when I was a fairly young kid. Like the experiences of millions of others and this film--it was a magical moment in my childhood. I was completely enraptured by the film's story and the adventure and "otherworld" qualities as I sat near the front row (the closer to the front the better when I was a kid).

While I enjoyed the two sequels (I still have not seen the three recent prequels and don't plan to mostly because I can't stand George Lucas) they did not have the same power over me. I developed a fondness for other sci-fi instead--the world of Star Trek offered me more substance and ideas so I ran with the Federation. Later on I took to more adult sci-fi such as Blade Runner and the Alien franchise or sci-fi literature. Star Wars just seemed about toys to me the older I got.

I hadn't seen Star Wars since the early 1980s when I re-watched it with a friend's 8 and 6 year old (see photo of "MattVader" and "Jacob Fett"). These two boys are both obsessed with the entire universe that is Star Wars. It is a remarkable film that taps into so many things boys like--adventure, villains, heroes, good v. evil, space ships, alien creatures both lovable and strange, talking robots, hot princesses, laser shootouts, danger, suspense and narrow escapes. Star Wars concocts a spell on young kids and its hard for them to resist as Lucas just goes direct into their DNA with this movie.

Sure, Star Wars is still about merchandiseing with all the toys, video games and endless barrage of product tie-ins. The worst evidence of this is when the R2D2 post office boxes were in cities to promote the anniversary of the film. Ugh. Lucas can not say no when it comes to whoring out the Star Wars world as this is one money making franchise and he needs as much money as he can get evidently. But, the first installment, Star Wars, found my DNA in 1977 and it found it again in 2008. It also found the coded wiring of the 8 and 6 year olds who watched it with me. Any film that can do that deserves its reputation as "magical" no matter how much Lucas and co. have ruined it since it came out.

Appaloosa

I love westerns! I wish I could see four or five new westerns every year. I'd even accept a good TV western instead of in a theatre. Westerns are such a classic "American" genre and the good new ones seem to be popular so I'm not sure why there can't be more. They are too old fashioned I suppose but that's one of the things I like best about them. These days, if it didn't come from a comic book or graphic novel or is some franchise of sequels--Hollywood wants nothing to do with it. I'd take an "old fashioned" western such as Appaloosa over Batman and that ilk any day of the week.

Appaloosa, set in New Mexico territory in 1882, is an amiable little film that offers up subtle delights from start to finish. Directed by Ed Harris, who also stars alongside Viggo Mortensen, Appaloosa takes a lot of the traditional elements from westerns but uses them with a deft touch so the film feels comfortable in the formula.

The story is familiar--a rogue rancher (Jeremy Irons) kills a town's lawmen. New guns are needed. Enter Virgil (Harris) and Everett (Mortensen). Bloodletting occurs. There's a woman of course (Renee Zellweger in all her sour faced, sucking on a lemon glory). There's gunfights, stare downs, Indians, lovable whores, quick draws, smoke belching trains, horses, winchesters, James Gammon and his wonderful gravel voice, jail cells, more shootouts--it's a western after all.

One of the best things about Appaloosa is the dialogue and level of performances of the lead actors (aside from "sourface" as she drives me crazy). There's lots of little moments between characters and in these moments there is a sly level of humor that doesn't exist in the few westerns that come out now. New westerns take themselves very seriously but the characters in Appaloosa have a wry sense of humor and it makes them warmer and more well rounded as characters.

Appaloosa won't break any new molds for the western genre but I don't think that was the goal for Harris and co. It's a satisfying film I enjoyed many levels. Mostly, I'm just happy to see a quality western in a theatre. Hopefully I'll get to see an increase to two of them in 2009.

Movie tickets #1

Love Crazy

Physical comedy, romantic hijinks, quick dialogue, silly antics, William Powell, Myrna Loy, large doses of screwball. Any film that has those elements will be no surprise that I'll be fond of it and those are all present in the 1941 film Love Crazy. It's a sweet and funny picture and one of those films from the studio era that just makes you feel good as you watch it.

The Irelands are about to celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary. All is lovey-dovey at the start of the night. Trouble comes when you add a mother-in-law and a flirtatious old flame. By the end of the night four years might be the limit of their time together.

One thing that makes Love Crazy such a charmer is the leads--William Powell and Myrna Loy. The pair obviously have a screen chemistry together as they co-starred in the great Thin Man series and other films together. That ease and comfort is evident on screen. The duo have a natural rapport that money can't buy when it comes to on screen partnering--you either have it or you don't. Powell and Loy have it.

Loy is classy as usual but Powell gets most of the juicy material. Sporting his trademark pencil 'stache, Powell gets to unleash all his comedy moves (he's got a lot of them including some bits of business including pretending to be insane and going in drag) while also getting to do some suave, leading man scenes. Powell is hard to top.

Love Crazy is a formula picture but like a lot of formula from this time--that's not really a bad thing. When the formula is this light, energetic and fun I'll take another dose of studio system by the numbers any day of the week.

I Heart Woody Harrelson

Who would have thought the actor playing the bumpkin from Indiana on the legendary TV sitcom Cheers would have have such a lengthy and diverse career? That actor was Woody Harrelson and no one would have guessed his mostly one-note character of Woody Boyd would lead to an Oscar nomination (The People Vs. Larry Flynt), comedies, dramas and even environmentally friendly documentaries. But that's precisely what has happened with Harrelson.

One skill that Harrelson possesses that was evident on Cheers is his gift of comic timing. The use of pauses, line delivery, double takes and so on is something some actors can do and others can not. These little things are most visible in comedies where timing is important to mining laughs. Harrelson draws upon his earnestness and honesty when in dramas to give quality performances in those as well.

Harrelson's most obvious trait is his likability. Most of the people he plays have a plain spoken directness that make the characters likable (aside from Mickey Knox in Natural Born Killers--although even that was a pretty likable guy who just liked to kill people). Even though he's had a long career with roles in comedy, drama, support or leading, he's still kind of under appreciated or underrated as an actor.

Harrelson is also a bit of an activist for the environment and other subjects that have led to his arrest a few times for his beliefs. He's embraced a raw food diet as well and some of these interests feature in the 2003 documentary Go Further which follows Harrelson and friends on a bio-fueled bus, riding bikes, dissing meat and their journey to spread the message. While I don't agree with Harrelson in all his convictions (especially that crazy raw food thing!) I admire the passion he has for non-acting pursuits that might take him away from his "career."

Here are some Harrelson films I like that show the wide range of comedy and drama that he's done over the years. In some of the them he's the lead and in others he is a supporting character. White Men Can't Jump, The People Vs. Larry Flynt, Doc Hollywood, No Country for Old Men, Natural Born Killers, Prairy Home Companion, Kingpin, The Hi-Lo Country and Welcome to Sarajevo. If you haven't seen some of these or paid attention to the performances of Harrelson over the years--I think you might be pleasantly surprised by him as an actor and a screen presence.

The Boman Twin

As a kid, nothing was more fun for me than driving to Tulsa to watch a movie. It was almost an hour's drive to make it to Tulsa from our house in rural Mayes County and of all the movie theatres we came to regularly, the Boman Twin was my favorite and the one where I saw a lot of classic, memorable films.

Built in 1966, as the name says, this was a two screen theatre. The thing that I loved most about the Boman Twin was its layout (see my crude drawing!). You entered to face a long concession area that served the two houses. What was really cool about the Boman's houses is they were both mammoth and built into the ground. You'd enter on ground level and make your descent down into your assigned room. As I kid I just loved walking down into the ground to see a movie.

I saw some incredible films at the Boman Twin. Trust me, any theatre where you watch Star Wars in 1977 leaves a deep mark carved into your childhood film geek memory. Five years later I saw E.T. with my friend Jeff and sat near the front row crying my eyes out (and trying to disguise that fact from Jeff!). My dad took me to see Friday the 13th part 3 in 3-D and I wore the red and blue glasses as Jason Vorhees killed a bunch of people almost "literally" in front of my eyes. Dad also took me to see Raging Bull at the Boman (my dad and I would have serious issues through the years but I'll always be indebted to him for things like that) and I got my first taste of Marty and De Niro. The next day during recess at Roosevelt Elementary I tried to tell my buddies about this crazy and violent movie I got to see that none of them were allowed to watch. Thanks dad. It wasn't all mindblowing films at the Boman though as one of the last things I saw there was Spaceballs.

After the Boman closed it was vacant for awhile and later turned into one of those laser tag places. I never went. I drive by it every so often and its now a furniture store and a used record shop. Each time I pass I think of walking down that aisle and how large the room was and some of the great films I got to see at one of my favorite Tulsa theatres.

***Photo courtesy of Beryl Ford Collection + Rotary Club of Tulsa + Tulsa Historical Society***

Every third day/film + memory

If you've noticed dear readers, there's been a lot of posts recently on CineRobot. My trip to Seattle has unlocked a myriad of ideas to write regarding film. Also helping--I bought some amazing NAVA notebooks and some incredible Japanese pens (Copic Multiliner SP .3 for the paper + pen geeks out there!) and it's very pleasurable filling pages with ink letter stains. Expect a frequency of posts in the range of every third day for the rest of the year. Seriously.

One topic I'm planning on embracing in the future are memories regarding film. After my post on the Allred Theatre I started thinking about all the little (or big) memories I have concerning films, theatres and things that happened to me while watching movies. Certain films and the experience of watching that film are often burned into my mind. I plan on sharing those memories with you dear readers, along with reviews of new/old films and the occasional rant (likely about the behavior of my fellow theatregoers).

Check back every three days and hold me to these vows!

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

I've always had a deep fascination with Communist countries under the umbrella of the Soviet Union. Romania. Poland. Hungary. Bulgaria. Etc. From reading books or watching films from that part of Europe I imagine lots of shades of gray. I imagine a lot of concrete architecture as well. And of course, there's the layers of gloom and paranoia that looms over the populace. Doesn't sound all that thrilling but I've never stopped being drawn to that part of the world no matter how depressing the subject might appear.

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is my kind of film. Romania. 1980s. A desperate woman seeks to procure an extremely illegal underground abortion with the help of her friend. The pair begin a gripping quest that not only puts them at risk for harsh Romanian prison time but it could cost them their lives as well.

I loved this relentlessly powerful movie. Directed by Christian Mungiu, the level of claustrophobia is so tense it's hard to watch at times. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is compelling and emotionally exhausting and one of the most harrowing films I've seen recently. Those are good things. Combine those things with the Eastern European setting and I'm completely riveted.

The film works on multiple levels--as social commentary as well as a heart stopping thriller. I felt such an empathy for these women and their plight that I became lost in their disastrous situation. The fact that abuse, prison, bodily harm or death was close at hand at every turn only ratcheted up the anxiousness to a higher level.

I guess a lot of folks would be bothered by the abortion element in the film. Mungiu does not shy away from that aspect as the film has some frank discussion and graphic moments that are pretty sharp and hard to watch. That being said, I didn't find this an "abortion" film (one of those incendiary topics often best not talked about with people who disagree with you) as much as it is a film about freedom. The abortion is just the napalm catalyst to show what it's like to live in a police state like Romania was during this period in its history.

Call me crazy, but even after watching a film like this where there are no freedoms in the face of an all controlling government and living is extremely difficult, I still kind find these places from this era romantic and captivating. I wish I could have visited (by the time I made it to Hungary/ Poland etc. in 1995, the Westernization was already flooding their borders in waves) or even lived among its people. I'll just have to make do with bleak, powerful films like 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days to transfer me to places like this I can only imagine.

Paul Newman: 1925-2008

What can I write about the recently gone Paul Newman that someone more elequent than me hasn't already said? Newman was special. He was one of the most talented actors of his era whose on screen charisma swarmed over audiences like humidity in the Deep South. He was the rarest of Hollywood stars--he aged gracefully, naturally and seemed like a gentleman and a decent human being with his Newman's Own products and the fact he was married to Joanne Woodward for over fifty years. A decade in a "Hollywood" marriage is an eternity so to be married for five decades is a stunning achievement.

And oh yeah, the man was in a few films that I love you may recall. Think about Newman's performances in films such as The Hustler, Hud, Hombre, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, Slap Shot, Absence of Malice, The Verdict, The Color of Money, The Hudsucker Proxy, Twilight and Road to Perdition. Those films span over FOUR decades of legendary films. The loss of Paul Newman means we've lost one of the great icons of film history.

September movies

As promised, I saw more movies than I did in August. It wasn't difficult as that was such a low amount. The month started off with the mostly terrible I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry but later had four ***** films, which is a lot for me in one month. I happen to be a fan of Sandler's goofy film persona (maybe its because he's a bulldog lover too?) but when he does a bad film, it's truly wretched. Twelve foreign movies too (some of that was the influence of going to Seattle + Scarecrow Video) which for some reason makes me really satisfied.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry---2007---usa *
Goin' Back to T-Town---1993---usa ***1/2
Step Brothers---2008---usa ***
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days---2007---romania *****!
Transsiberian---2008---spain or usa? ***
Eye In the Sky---2005---hong kong ****
I Served the King of England---2007---czech republic ***1/2
Nada+---2001---cuba ***
Takeshis---2005---japan ***
Hamlet 2---2008---usa ***1/2
Burn After Reading---2008---usa ***1/2
This Is Spinal Tap---1983---usa *****!
Closely Watched Trains---1967---czech republic *****!
End of August at the Hotel Ozone---1966---czech republic ***1/2
Transylvania---2006---france ***
Producing Adults---2005---finland ***
The Machine Girl---2007---japan ***1/2
Django---1966---italy ***1/2
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan---1982---usa *****!
Adam's Apples---2006---denmark ***1/2

Once--revisited live on stage

Last year one of my favorite movies was the Irish romantic drama with songs Once. I think it ended up at number two on my year end list. Well, a batch songs performed in the film were done by the stars (Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova) and came out before the film was made. The pair then recorded a few more that were used only in Once. You may recall that the duo won an Oscar for best song and have been touring as The Swell Season based on the popularity of the music and the film. Luckily for me and my friend LW, they made a stop at the historic Brady Theatre in Tulsa and we got to see them from row three.

They played for nearly two hours and covered lots of movie moments--Falling Slowly, Lies, The Hill--and unveiled four or five very strong new songs which makes me hope that they will have a new album out soon. Their music is just honest song craft, no gimmicks or phony hipsterisms. It's music with lots of heart and full of beautiful harmonies that never feels inauthentic. In this day and age that's a high compliment. Plus, Glen is a funny, witty Irishman and I've even got more of a "crush" on Marketa after getting to see this show.

Walking back to my car in downtown Tulsa after seeing them perform, my own heart just felt content and happy thanks to a movie I love (Once) and the duo who made the film so special with their music .

I Heart Sean Young

Let's get it right out in the open and be done with it--Sean Young is loony. At least that's her reputation now after all kinds of highly publicized events that have helped to derail her career. If it wasn't dust ups with directors it was volatile affairs with co-stars or showing up dressed in a homemade catsuit thinking you are auditioning when no audition was scheduled and then getting forcibly removed from the studio. Her most infamous embarrassment was the James Woods fiasco that involved all kinds of bizarre claims and counterclaims (and lawsuits). Even earlier in 2008 Young was ejected from the Directors Guild of America awards for a bit of drunken heckling (she entered rehab soon after). Young is a wild one!

Okay, that's done. Let's talk about Sean Young the actress in some films of hers I like. In May I re watched Blade Runner while in Lisbon and one of the things that struck me was just how much I adored Sean Young in her films from the 1980s. She was perfectly cast as the android love interest in Ridley Scott's landmark sci-fi noir. I can't think of a better suited actress in the early 1980s who could combine the needed qualities of sexiness and coldness that she does in Blade Runner as Young just seems like an android to me.

When I got back to Tulsa I watched another Young film from the end of the '80s in Cousins. I'm fond of this romantic comedy despite its flaws and probably Young's last hurrah before she went the way of crazy behavior, b-films straight to video and one off TV appearances. Young's role in Cousins is as warm and friendly as performance in Blade Runner was cold and distant.

1987 was Young's most visible year as she appeared in two popular, well received films: Wall Street and No Way Out. Her role in Wall Street was rife with turmoil as she battled director Oliver Stone repeatedly over whether or not she should be playing the Daryl Hannah role (Stone later admitted that Young was right). In No Way Out she was the dangerous femme fatale and was in one of the steamier love scenes of the era as she and Kevin Costner got after it in the back of a limo.

One other thing that Young has going for her in my book--maybe the greatest eyebrows in film history. I sort of have this thing for eyebrows on women and Sean Young c. 1980s sits near the top of the pedestal. She's got some unbelievable eyebrows and those and no amount of erratic behavior can change that!

I have to admit, I haven't seen a single Young movie since Cousins in 1989 so my fondness for her strictly based on 1980s films such as Stripes (she was the MP that Bill Murray woos with a spatula!), Blade Runner, Dune and her '87 double feature mentioned earlier. I doubt I see anything else too as her reputation (and behavior) has her permanently stamped in the realm of "troublemaker."

Czech film frenzy!

I've gone on a Czech film bender since heading to Seattle as I've watched three of them: I Served the King of England, Closely Watched Trains and End of August at the Hotel Ozone. Shall we get into some Czech film discussion? I think so.

First up was the 2007 film I Served the King of England that was the official Oscar entry for the Czechs last year and was directed by one of the country's more prominent directors in Jiri Menzel. Set in WW2, I Served the King of England is a ribald, energetic, satirical comedy set around one man's misadventures with jobs, women and the ever shifting political climate around him. Sometimes subtle, other times overt in its message, Menzel has crafted a charmer that deftly balances the line between the comic and the somber.

Closely Watched Trains, another film directed by Jiri Menzel, is firmly rooted in the mid to late 1960s Czech New Wave. I'm a huge fan of Milos Forman's films from this era and Closely Watched Trains fits right in with the best of what those Czech filmmakers were creating. Unlike Forman, Menzel never left the country and made more films, some of which were banned by the government from being shown. I'd seen Closely Watched Trains on the shelf a number of times while at Scarecrow Video but had never watched it until now. Boy, was it worth the wait.

There's a similarity between Menzel's earlier mentioned I Served the King of England and Closely Watched Trains. Both are set in or near WW2 and both have a central male character who is lost in the obtuse haze of youth that leads to misunderstandings and confusions. Closely Watched Trains is the superior film (it won the Best Foreign Film Oscar in 1966) and set at a local provincial train station. A young man begins his career as a railwayman while also forming new bonds with workers and attempts to woo a cute brunette with awkward results. Closely Watched Trains is a wonderful, thoughtful and well made film that is highly recommended.

My third Czech film in my frenzy is the ultra bleak End of August at the Hotel Ozone from director Jan Schmidt in 1967. Set years into the future after a nuclear bomb event around the world, a group of hardened women (men have seemed to have died off for some reason) struggle to survive one day to the next. These women, possibly the last humans in civilization, are savages. The only thing that matters to them is the moment of "now" as they move across the landscape hunting for other survivors, items that they need or amusement. Cheery stuff? No, but it is a haunting and powerful film nonetheless.

I've often thought if there is one thing lacking on CineRobot it's the need for more Czech films discussed or reviewed. I can sleep easier tonight knowing I can check that one off my list.

Transylvania

Director Tony Gatlif's latest is chock full of all the elements of his films that make him a long term favorite: rural Transylvanian locations that reek of off the map authenticity, non-professional actors mingling with professional, gypsies, the struggle for life, the grasping for love and lots and lots of music. Add all of those things and Transylvania is a another slice of raw cinema from Gatlif.

Asia Argento plays a Parisian who goes to Transylvania with her sister to hunt down a boyfriend who left her suddenly in France. She's off the deep end in love, he's not. When she finds out his true feelings she loses it. We're talking running through the woods screaming like a wounded banshee kind of losing it. Argento is an actress who likes to emotionally freak out on screen (I covered her acting style a few months ago) so I'm sure she had no problem tapping into that side of her self. At times, this isn't a lot of fun to witness but at least the music that supports her breakdown is amazing.

Like every other Gatlif film, music, specifically gypsy or Rom music, plays a central role in the movie. Transylvania has some incredible songs in it. We get fast, wild, joyous fifteen piece stompers to slow, dirges of soul sick achers. The songs truly convey every emotional mountain or valley the human heart experiences and pulls the film up to another level rather than just being a gloomy downer.

Actually, I would have liked even more music and less of Argento doing her usual "un-acting." Her antics come close to spoiling the film for me. Transylvania is saved by its purity of music, setting and the cast of non-pros. There's something about the music that just gets to me with its exuberance and melancholy. Those are things that can rescue any Gatlif film from the dangerous touch of Asia Argento.