Review: Love

Image courtesy of Alchemy. 

Those interested in the world of film will not be shocked to hear that French l'enfant terrible Gaspar Noe's latest provocation "Love" aims to take his particular brand of graphic cinema to the next level. On the other hand, you might be surprised to learn that the film is narratively more sedate than his notorious "Irreversible" or trippy "Enter the Void" and, unfortunately, almost to the point of being stultifying.

So, for every money shot - and in the case of this film, I'm not using this as a euphemism - there are endless scenes of the film's lead, Karl Glusman, walking about his Paris apartment talking to himself in voice-over on topics, such as why his previous relationship fell apart and why his current one doesn't satisfy him. It's the type of material that Woody Allen or Noah Baumbach could mine successfully in film after film, but for Noe it never catches.

"Love" is beautifully lit and very well shot, although it's musical cues are, well, unique to say the least. I don't know which one was more disorienting - the sequence during which Glusman and one of his lovers profess their undying love to one another in the shower to the tune of Erik Saties' "Gymnopedie No. 1" or the other during which Glusman and said lover take part in a graphically executed orgy while John Carpenter's score for "Assault on Precinct 13" blares over the speakers.

In terms of set up and plot, "Love" is fairly simple - in fact, too simple to justify the picture's near two-hour-and-20-minute running time - boy meets girl, girl suggests bringing in other girl, boy makes mistake of impregnating other girl, original girl gets mad and leaves, boy regrets staying with second girl, mother of original girl calls a few years later worried that her daughter might be suicidal and, well, you know the story.

When the actors - Glusman, Aomi Muyock and Klara Kristin - are not engaged in actual coitus - yes, nothing is left to the imagination here - we mostly follow flashback sequences during which Glusman and Muyock's character meet in a park, fall in love and, eventually, fall apart due to his jealousy, her drug habit and the aforementioned third girl played by Kristin. The abundant scenes of Glusman's voice-over monologues are all fairly standard stuff about the disintegration of relationships. In other words, no "Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handy here.

The numerous sex scenes are not - at least, I don't believe - meant to necessarily be considered sensuous, but rather matter-of-fact. The most interesting facet of Noe's film is, not surprisingly, its visual style.

The filmmaker's works always tend to be triumphs of style. His "Irreversible" is extremely disturbing and powerful, although its story is very simple. What makes gives it such a gut punch are its visuals and editing, which make the story seem all the more tragic. And while "Enter the Void" - which, like "Love" is a bit too long - lagged in some departments (character, story), it was filled with mesmerizing images.

So, "Love" is a good looking film, but it's missing something. And Noe asks his actors to not only bare all, but to engage in some very intimate activities here and the story and screenplay don't provide much in the way of meat (the need to crack wise here is nearly killing me, but I'll resist).

During one sequence, Glusman's movie director - which I italicize because during the course of the film we hardly see the guy shoot one frame of film - talks about how he wants to watch cinema about sex and love portrayed realistically. This is obviously what Noe wants to do as well and while he may have managed to do the first, he didn't quite succeed at the latter.

The Best And Scariest Movies To Watch On Halloween

'A Nightmare On Elm Street.' Image courtesy of New Line Cinema.

Every year, I post a list of some of the best and most frightening horror movies to watch on Halloween. This year, I've compiled a list for AAA that includes everything from classics ("Psycho") and blockbuster additions to the genre ("The Exorcist" and "Jaws") to foreign entries ("Eyes Without a Face," for example) and pictures that deserve to have a bigger following ("Who Can Kill a Child?").

Take a look at my list and let me know in the comment section if there are any horror movies that you believe should have made the list. And Happy Halloween!

Review: Rock the Kasbah

Image courtesy of Open Road Films.

It's always an added bonus to have Bill Murray onboard your film, even when the picture itself doesn't quite make the best of his presence. That's certainly the case with "Rock the Kasbah," the latest film from Barry Levinson that stars Murray as a washed up rock 'n' roll talent manager who claims to have once hung with the greats, but now lives out of a motel with his secretary/talent (Zooey Deschanel), a singer of modest ability who sings cover songs during gigs at dive bars.

Murray often plays louts who come to respect and be more considerate of those around him - think "Groundhog Day" as the gold standard as well as last year's "St. Vincent" - through shared experiences.

In "Kasbah," his Richie Lanz is offered to take Deschanel on a tour in Afghanistan, where she will be performing for the troops. But once they've arrived and are greeted with a few IEDs, she flees with the help of a paramilitary character played by Bruce Willis, one of several underwritten characters in the film, and Lanz is forced to find a replacement.

Through sheer luck, he overhears an Afghani girl named Salima (Leem Lubany) as she sings in a cave near her village, is impressed by her voice and attempts to convince her father to allow her to compete in "Afghan Star," which is an equivalent to "American Idol," with the exception of its having a "no girls allowed" policy. In other words, if Salima attempts to sing on the show - or pretty much anywhere else - she's putting her life in danger.

This is the type of film in which the lead character collects an assortment of oddballs - a random Afghani cab driver who is willing to risk his life during the number of incidents in which Richie puts it in danger, Willis's inexplicable gun-for-hire and Kate Hudson as a prostitute who runs her business out of a mobile home in Kabul, that is, until the screenwriters decided that she'd be the "hooker with a heart of gold" character, so she allows Salima to stay with her - for the hell of it, without much purpose for them to serve.

So, the deal is this: while it's still great to watch Murray be, well, Bill Murray, the rest of the film goes back and forth between creating actual tension and running off the rails. Much of what takes place forces the viewer to extend disbelief to great lengths - for example, would Murray's character really have made it out alive during the numerous times when he is stopped by various characters with assault weapons in the desert? And the entire final section of the film - no matter how good natured and well meaning it may be - in which Salima performs on "Afghan Star," not to mention the reaction to it, stretches credibility by magnitudes.

"Rock the Kasbah" is not a bad movie. It has its funny moments, which is a given when you've got Murray as your lead (gotta love his "I'm not a loser, I'm a quitter" quip), and it has its heart in the right place. But, unfortunately, it often has its head in the wrong place. This seems like the type of story that might take place in an alternate universe, but maybe not in Afghanistan, despite that it's allegedly based on a true story. Then again, so was "The Haunting in Connecticut."

Review: Suffragette

Image courtesy of Focus Features.

Sarah Gavron's "Suffragette" takes the fairly typical approach that movies about historic moments often do - placing a fictional character (played by Carey Mulligan) at the center of actual events and focusing on her story - and the picture occasionally gives the impression of one out to earn Academy Awards. That being said, it's a fairly rousing film with a story that will provoke righteous anger from anyone who believes in justice for all.

In the film, Mulligan's Maud Watts works in a factory in 1912 England sewing shirts in fairly lousy conditions and lives with her husband (Ben Whishaw) and young son. One day, she spots a fellow worker named Violet (Anne-Marie Duff) among a crowd of women throwing stones through department store windows and calling for women's right to vote and is intrigued.

Slowly but surely, Maud finds herself participating in actions with the women's suffragette movement, doing everything from taking part in marches to planting explosives in mailboxes. Just as the movement is represented by Maud's character, the opposition is depicted in the personage of Inspector Steed (Brendan Gleeson), a steely policeman who insists on the rule of law at all times and tells Maud and her fellow suffragettes that the world does not care about women's rights. He stands by as policeman punch women in the stomachs and approves when husbands beat up their wives for participating in marches and the like.

Most of the other male characters aren't much better, including the legislators who listen to testimony from women on their working conditions and still reject their right to vote and Whishaw's husband, who not only kicks Maud out of their home, but then - in a scene that might be pushing the boundaries of melodrama a little much - puts their son up for adoption after he determines he doesn't want to take care of him.

On Maud's side, there is some great acting talent. Helena Bonham Carter plays Edith Ellyn, a doctor who allows her apothecary to be the meeting place for suffragette meetings. Her supportive husband (Finbar Lynch) is the only likable character within several miles. And, of course, Meryl Streep pops up in one scene as Emmeline Pankhurst, the leader of the suffragette movement, who gives a rousing speech from a balcony.

So, even if "Suffragette" follows a standard approach to historical storytelling, the power of its story works all the same. And Mulligan, who I've long admired, brings the necessary gravitas to her character, whose suffering falls just shy of a heroine in a Lars Von Trier movie. And Gavron and cinematographer Eduard Grau bring the mucky, gloomy look of early 20th century England to life.

Gavron previously directed "Brick Lane," the adaptation of Monica Ali's novel, which also portrayed a strong woman attempting to make a life in England during a distant time period (in that case, the 1980s). There have been calls from many quarters during the past year or so for more female representation in Hollywood, especially behind the camera. So far, only one woman (Kathryn Bigelow) has won Best Director and very few others have even been nominated.

The film culminates with a scroll of the years when women were given the right to vote in countries around the world, including some triumphs (England, 1918) and some late to the game (Saudi Arabia has promised that women will be able to vote in 2015 - yes, 2015!). The film suggests there's much more to be done - and that includes more movies about women that are made by women.

Review: Beasts of No Nation

Image courtesy of Netflix.

Based on the brief but intense and disturbing novel by Uzodinma Iweala, Cary Joji Fukunaga's "Beasts of No Nation" is a powerful war drama that often dares you to keep your eyes on the screen, its horrors are so unnerving.

Set in an unnamed African country on the brink of war, "Beasts" starts off as a family story in which Agu (newcomer Abraham Attah) and his family enjoy a happy life in a relatively comfortable home in their small village. His father is a teacher and his older brother attempts to perfect his dance moves in order to score with the young village women. War has broken out in their country, but it seems far away.

But then one day, soldiers arrive and Agu's mother and baby sibling are forced to flee to the capital, while Agu, his brother, father and incapacitated grandfather stay behind. Shortly thereafter, Agu is the only living member of his family left in his hometown and he flees into the woods, where he stumbles upon a group of rebels led by the ferocious father figure known as The Commandant (Idris Elba in top form).

With an army of mostly teenagers and pre-teens, The Commandant leads his troops into a heart of darkness that gives "Beasts" a slight "Apocalypse Now" vibe, the exception being that, in this case, Kurtz is leading the mission rather than being its destination.

Agu and his fellow new recruits undergo training on how to kill. During one particularly harrowing scene, he and other newcomers must run through a maze of rebels, who strike them with sticks. Agu notices one of the new soldiers failing to make it through the maze and getting his throat cut as a result.

It's difficult to pin down the film's most unsettling sequence, whether it's the one in which Agu is forced by The Commandant to take his first life, in this case an engineer whom Agu is ordered to strike in the head with a machete, or a later scene during which the rebels raid a house, kill a woman inside and stomp her child to death.

Fukunaga is no stranger to deeply unsettling material. His 2009 film "Sin Nombre" was an extremely violent story about Mexican gangs, while his amazing work on season one of "True Detective" proved he can be a master of the macabre. "Beasts of No Nation" takes it to a whole other level. It's a powerful film in which it's difficult to root for any of its characters, but even more difficult not to root for their survival. Francois Truffaut once famously said that "there's no such thing as an anti-war film." Had he seen this one, he might rethink that statement.

This weekend, I've seen two of the best child performances of recent years - Jacob Tremblay's work in "Room" and Attah's portrayal of the child soldier in "Beasts." I was amazed by the range of emotions and understanding of character these two very young actors showed. And I've been a fan of Elba since his iconic portrayal of Stringer Bell on "The Wire" and here he again shows how his supporting work can elevate whatever show or film of which he is a part. He's hypnotizing and horrifying as The Commandant, a figure with virtually no redeeming qualities, but whom Elba manages to humanize rather than turn into a cartoonish monster.

"Beasts" is the first film to be produced and released by Netflix, which already provides stellar shows, such as "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black," which is acclaimed and unseen by me. This picture and those shows should be an indication that the DVD service's executives have an eye for great material.

Review: Room

Image courtesy of A24.

Based on the popular and acclaimed novel by Emma Donoghue, "Room" is a compelling story that works well, despite my early fears that its story would be too, well, confining. The picture, directed by Lenny Abrahamson (who was responsible for the deliriously funny and strange "Frank"), tells the story of a young mother and her 5-year-old son who, for reasons I probably shouldn't divulge, spend their every waking moment in a small, claustrophobic room.

The mother (Brie Larson) once lived in the outside world, but her son, Jack (Jacob Tremblay), has not only never seen it, but doesn't even know it exists. His mother has told him all his life that everything outside of the room is outer space and convinces him that the shows he watches on TV are solely there for their entertainment. Occasionally, a man shows up to have sex with the young woman and Jack is forced to stay in his closet, where he sleeps on a mattress.

Had the entirety of "Room" be spent in this tight space, I fear the story might have suffered for it. But just as the room-centered story begins to hint at being tedious, Jack's mother devises an attempt for him to flee the space and he eventually assists his mother in leaving as well.

The duo winds up at the childhood home of Larson's parents (Joan Allen and William H. Macy), who have since divorced in the seven years of their daughter's absence. Allen's Nancy has since remarried and her genial husband has a dog with whom Jack can play.

What ultimately makes "Room" such a compelling movie - other than Larson's solid work and the Tremblay, who gives one of the best child performances in years - is that it's not so much about the strange situation involved in the two characters' being kept in the room, but rather their becoming accustomed once again to the real world.

Larson's character goes through various stages of grief and there's a particularly grueling sequence during which a news reporter poses some unsettling questions to the distraught woman. And, even more powerful, is the concept of a 5-year-old discovering the world anew and having to catch up on everything he has missed thus far. And Tremblay simply nails it. It's an especially tricky role for a young child, considering that most boys Tremblay's age are far from being fully formed human beings. So, for him to be able to portray such wonder and such knowingness at the same time at such a young age leads me to believe it's either through luck or sheer talent - or maybe both.

Abrahamson's adaptation of Donoghue's novel works because it allows us to discover the world through a pair of eyes seeing it for the first time. It goes from being a disturbing story about a woman and young boy trapped in a confined space to those same characters being trapped, of sorts, in the most wide open spaces imaginable by their fears to adapt to the world. It's a film that sneaks up on you and ends up being much effective than you might originally think it would.

Review: The Assassin

Image courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment.

Hou Hsiao Hsien's "The Assassin" was rapturously received at this year's Cannes Film Festival by a majority of film critics and the picture ended up nabbing the Best Director prize. While I liked the film, which is often visually stunning, I'm not exactly sure why it's being hailed as one of the highly lauded filmmaker's best - which I don't think it is - or how it is different than your average wu xia film, other than in purely structural terms.

For those unfamiliar with wu xia, it's a genre that tells martial arts stories and could be seen as China's version of the western. Films that could described as having wu xia elements include Ang Lee's groundbreaking "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" or Zhang Yimou's "House of Flying Daggers." What differentiates Hsien's film is that the director applies his highly recognizable visual style and cinematic rhythms, which typically involve long shots in which characters are merely dots in the landscape and laconic sequences in which characters' faces do more of the talking than their mouths.

In "The Assassin," a mostly speechless warrior named Yinniang (Qi Shu), who lives during the Tang Dynasty years, is sent by her master to assassinate a political rival who, as it turns out, was a childhood friend. Yinniang had been separated from her family as a young girl and trained to be a martial arts expert and her skill is seen early in the film during a black and white sequence when she attacks a man on horseback and promptly slits his throat.

While Hsien's slow pace often befits his dramas, such as the highly praised "The Puppetmaster" and the lovely "Three Times," which is still my favorite of his works, it occasionally causes "The Assassin" to drag a little. It's a good film, but more the type that I can appreciate for its style and technique than feel engaged by.

That being said, there are sequences of breathtaking beauty in the film, including one in which Yinniang speaks to her master on a misty mountain, another during which the mist threatens to engulf a lake and others of brightly colored fields and majestic mountaintops.

The story is a little difficult to follow and I'm glad to see that a majority of the notices on the film say the exact same thing. But as is often the case with one of Hsien's films, the mood and rhythm of the visuals frequently eclipse the story. That is certainly the case here and, for this type of film, such a style yields mixed results. I can objectively say that "The Assassin" is a good film and one that I'd recommend to fans of world cinema, but it didn't quite grab me the way that Hsien's best films - "Three Times" or "City of Sadness," for example - did.