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Joshua
Marston's
Maria Full of Grace
Reviewed
by John Pelham
I ate too much popcorn, plus I had to pee really badly. I thought I had problems. Try swallowing 62 pellets packed with heroin-pellets roughly the size of "Super-Absorbant O. B. Tampons"-and flying from Columbia to New York. Needless to say, Maria was full of more than just Grace.
Writer and director Joshua Marston's touching film, "based on 1,000 true stories," gives the audience a unique inside perspective on drug trafficking, as it follows Maria (Catalina Sandino Moreno), a 17 year-old drug "mule" on her journey to the United States. A little bit of chance, quite a bit of money, and whole lot of desperation compels Maria to put her life at risk and accept this dangerous task. Sixty-two pellets and one extremely full stomach later, Maria is on the plane with a well-known colleague and a couple of others that she just met…all of them in the same situation. Marston does a fine job of keeping us in suspense as we watch the girls having to deal with a stomach full of drugs. It was made quite clear that if a pellet burst, it would result in a fatal overdose. Not to mention that if a pellet was missing after they were, um…passed over, the girls' families would pay the price. On the plane, one of the girls even had to re-swallow a pellet or two because she couldn't hold them in any longer. The plane lands, Maria and a couple others are randomly asked into questioning, some are luckier than others, and (one might declare) by the grace of God, Maria is sent on her way. But don't worry, more trouble ensues.
I hadn't realized this was a thriller, but I was on the edge of my seat throughout all of these scenes. Even when it's hard to imagine why someone would choose to do something like this, we feel sympathy for Maria. We want her to successfully smuggle into this country-not for the drugs, but for her safety.
But
Maria's journey extends far beyond the point of her plane landing.
There's an entirely different journey going on in Maria's mind throughout
this movie, and by the end, we realize that the complete itinerary
is all planned out. She has finally figured things out for herself.
It leaves us feeling full of inspiration and hope for Maria…and
alright, I guess you can also say, Grace.
Fahrenheit 9/11
Written and Directed by Michael Moore
Release Date: June 25th, 2004
Reviewed by Liberation Iannillo
In Michael Moore's follow up to 'Bowling For Columbine', Moore offers a
frightening, though mostly one sided, view of President Bush's bungling
of 9/11 and the war in Iraq.
The film opens with the botched 2001 Gore / Bush Presidential election
which, because of the events of September 11th, most people seemed to
have forgotten about. It details Bush's connection with the media as
well as Florida, the state who's votes were in question. In a joint
congressional session, black representatives demanded an investigation
but failed to get one because they lacked a single senator's signature.
It's a slap in the face of minority voters at a crucial time in history.
From there Moore shows how Bush spent 42% of his first 8 months in
office on vacation and his approval rating at this point was rapidly
declining. Then came September 11th. Moore tastefully approached the
horrible attacks by playing the audio of that mornings events to a black
screen. While America was under attack from hijacked planes, President
Bush sat in a Florida classroom reading "My Pet Goat" to a group of
first graders. Though Bush was informed of the first plane hitting the
World Trade Center, he continued to sit with the children. He was then
informed of the second plane hitting the World Trade Center and for the
next 7 and a half minutes he sat starring blankly holding his goat book.
As one can imagine, Moore didn't hold back when he shared his thoughts
on what the President was possibly thinking.
Within months troops are sent to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban,
giving Osama Bin Laden plenty of time to escape. Moore points out that
11,000 troops were sent in, a tiny figure when compared to New York City
which has some 50,000 police officers on duty.
The film then moves on to the war with Iraq. Included is news conference
footage of both Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice dating to 2000 and 2001
in which they both state clearly that Saddam Hussein does not have the
capability of producing weapons of mass destruction and poses no threat
to the United States. The picture painted is that Bush went to war
because there was money to be made from oil.
Moore makes many valid points in the documentary but sometimes his
approach discredits him. In one example he tries to demonstrate how
America blindly followed the the President's war plans for Iraq. He then
cuts to a gum chewing Brittney Spears. Asked to give her opinion on the
war, she gives an answer one would expect from a 19 year old pop star.
Moore also takes advantage of the often inarticulate, off the cuff sound
bites Bush has to offer.
There are times though when Moore is at his mischievous best. When he is
told by Rep. John Conyers that the Patriot Act was passed by legislature
because "we don't read most of the bills we pass", Moore hops in an ice
cream truck and begins to read the document over the loud speaker while
circling the White House.
Other areas Moore details include the billions of dollars the Bush
family has made from the Saudi's, White House visits by a Taliban leader
and how the Bin Laden family was flown out of America by the government
on September 13th, 2001. Moore illustrates the insanity of this last
point by asking if Clinton would have been impeached if he had flown
Timothy McVeigh's family out of the country after the Oklahoma bombing.
It's unfortunate the documentary didn't get the PG-13 rating Moore hoped
for as it would have only taken some minor editing to have achieved the
rating. Though, if teens are finding their way into 'Kill Bill' they'll
find their way into Fahrenheit 9/11.
Related Links:
www.michaelmoore.com
Spiderman 2
Directed By: Sam Raimi
Release Date: June 30th, 2004
Reviewed By: John Pelham
Movie sequels based on comic books can actually be better than the
original. Following in the footsteps of X-Men 2, the latest installment
of the hugely successful Spiderman franchise is 10 times better than its
predecessor.
With a solid plot,(as solid as save-the-world plots can be), emotional
depth to the hero, and visual effects that make it all convincing in the
first place, Spiderman 2 is an adorably entertaining film. Tobey Maguire
and director Sam Raimi provide layers to Peter Parker·s character that
penetrate deeper than just the bright red and blue disguise ·a disguise
which should never be washed with whites! Should a hero follow his heart
or stick to his responsibilities of crime-fighter? Maguire does a great
job of revealing his emotional struggle, even if it is expressed in
voice-overs. Also coming through with strong performances are Rosemary
Harris and current Broadway stars, Alfred Molina and Donna Murphy.
If nothing else, it·s thrilling to watch Spidey swing through the
streets of New York City like a hyperactive ape in its own little heaven
on the monkey bars. The visual effects surpass those in the first movie,
and your suspension of disbelief doesn·t have to be stretched to such
extremes. There·s already talk that may be this year Spidey will take
home the Oscar in this category.
If you·re looking for a fun, entertaining, and often comical
blockbuster, Spiderman 2 is a great option. This movie just reinforced
our faith for superior sequels, now let·s just keep our fingers crossed
until 2005 and hope for Batman to continue the trend.
Related Links: http://spiderman.sonypictures.com
Jim Jarmusch's
Coffee and Cigarettes
Nationwide at Selected Theaters
Starring: Roberto Benigni (Roberto), Steven Wright (Steven), Joie Lee (Good Twin), Cinqué Lee (Evil Twin/Kitchen Guy), Steve Buscemi (Waiter), Iggy Pop (Iggy), Tom Waits (Tom), Joe Rigano (Joe), Vinny Vella (Vinny), Vinny Vella Jr. (Vinny Jr.), Renée French (Renée), E. J. Rodriguez (Waiter), Alex Descas (Alex), Isaach de Bankolé (Isaach), Cate Blanchett (Cate/Shelly), Mike Hogan (Waiter), Jack White (Jack), Meg White (Meg), Alfred Molina (Alfred), Steve Coogan (Steve), Katy Hansz (Katy), GZA (GZA), RZA (RZA), Bill Murray (Bill Murray), Bill Rice (Bill) and Taylor Mead (Taylor).
Reviewed by Wendy R. Williams
I have been a huge fan of Jim Jarmusch ever since I first saw his movie
Night on Earth; five stories about people riding in taxi
cabs on the same night, but set all over the earth. So I was really
looking forward to Coffee and Cigarettes. Just the concept seemed
terminally cool: conversations, mostly among famous people, who play
themselves while drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes.
And it was just that, cool. Coffee and Cigarettes is made up
of a series of eleven vignettes, all centered on the before mentioned theme
of drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. (The actors were actually
drinking tea in the Coogan/Molina piece, but I don't mean to complain.
That kind of thing can happen in real life too.)
The film is shot in black and white, and, with the exception of the Cate
Blanchett piece and the Coogan/Molina piece, all the sets look seedy
and all the participants have a rode-hard-put-up-wet look about them.
This is the kind coffee drinking and smoking you do at the truck stops
of life. You can get a stale taste in you mouth just watching the actors
grind their cigarettes into the old ashtrays on the black-and-white-check-table-tops.
And the smoking; smoking has never looked as cool as it does when it
filters the air in a black-and-white film. Addiction has never looked
more fun or relaxed. These characters definitely have the time to sit
around and shoot the shit.
All the vignettes are interesting but the one between Iggy Pop and Tom
Waits was wonderfully seedy. The butt-sniffing story played by Steve
Coogan and Alfred Molina was extremely well written and beautifully
played; a perfect little short story.
Cate Blanchett was incredible playing both a beautiful blond star and
her down-at the-mouth slutty cousin. Everyone should go see this movie
just to see Bill Murray drink coffee out of a glass coffee carafe while
talking to RZA and GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan. And then there is Jack and
Meg White of the White Stripes and Steven Wright and Roberto Benigni,
all hanging, drinking coffee and smoking those fags. How much more could
you want?
According to press releases,
Coffee started as a Saturday
Night Live skit and then Jim Jarmusch filmed it over seventeen years, using
mostly his friends as the actors, the two exceptions being Cate Blanchett
and Steve Coogan, two actors he wanted to work with. The friendship
shows. I saw the movie before I read the press releases and I left the
movie saying to myself, "I bet the actors are all his friends and how
neat it is that he knows knows those people and how
much fun it was to get a glimpse of them." And if you live in New
York and are missing the days when you could smoke in restaurants, you
can go see Coffee for the nostalgia value alone.
P. S. The movie has a very cool sound track which is now on sale.
Lar Von Trier’s
Dogville
Reviewed by Wendy R. Williams
Once upon a time (in March of 1995), Danish
filmmaker Lars Von Trier signed a vow of Chastity called Dogma 95. The
promise of Dogma 95 was naturalistic film making – no artificial
lighting, no music that is not indigenous to the scene,
no superficial action, no
murders, no weapons, etc. - and on and on. Obviously he must
have been in a bad mood and has since recovered. Mr. Von Trier’s new
movie, Dogville, breaks all of the tenets of Dogma 95 with one exception
- some of it is filmed with a hand held camera.
Dogville is a brilliant,
deeply cynical movie about the effect of purity and beauty, a story about
how an “angel” can walk into a town and have absolutely no redeeming
effect. Similar in theme to stories about how a sudden windfall of money
can destroy the group of people who share it, the movie tells the story of
the total corruption that ensues when a Depression era Colorado town,
named Dogville, is given the angelic presence of Grace (beautifully played by
Nicole Kidman). Since Mr. Von Trier is Danish, many have thought of
Dogville as an anti-American movie. But Dogville has such a bleak view of humanity
in general, I doubt Mr. Von Trier thinks much more of the Danish people -
although interestingly enough,
most of the incredible cast (Paul Bettany, Lauren Bacall, Blair Brown,
James Caan, Patricia Clarkson Chloe Sivigny, Ben Gazzara and Stellan
Skarsgaard) are Americans. And since Mr. Von Tier (according to
new reports) will not fly and has actually never been to
America, they all flew to Denmark to work with him.
Dogville is basically a play, shot as a film in a huge sound stage in Denmark. The town is
delineated only by chalk drawings flanked by darkness - a world that seemingly drops off at the edges. The
lighting and cinematography are gorgeous and there is a wonderfully eerie
sound track
(http://www.tvropa.com/Dogville) that plays throughout the movie. There is also a narrator,
John Hurt, a completely inorganic and artificial choice, which totally
works in the context of the film. Like I said, he got over the Vow
of Chastity.
The movie is very long (three hours) and at times I felt that if I had to watch Nicole Kidman be
“tied to the railroad tracks” one more time I would walk out. But I am
very thankful that I did not. The movie totally redeems itself in the
last ten minutes and my view of what I saw totally changed. I have not
been able to quit thinking about it ever since.
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