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Not So Simple Simon

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Simon Killer

By George Wolf

If you’re in the market for a creepy guy, I suggest Brady Corbet.

Corbet, while probably a perfectly nice young man, is proving to be skilled at acting creepy, most notably in Melancholia, Martha Marcy May Marlene, and the American version of Funny Games.

He gets his meatiest role to date in Simon Killer, a film he also co-wrote. Corbet shines as the title character, a recent college graduate who takes off for Paris after a mysteriously nasty break-up.

Struggling to fit in, he strikes an uneasy relationship with a local prostitute, and soon hatches a plan to make them both big money by blackmailing her clients.

Director Antonio Campos sets the film up as a possible thriller, then slowly draws you into what becomes a character study of a manipulative sociopath. While some may  wonder what the point is, there is a hypnotic nature to the film that keeps you interested in Simon, and what he is capable of.

Corbet skillfully creates a character that’s easy to hate, yet impossible to ignore, while Campos, obviously influenced by director Gaspar Noe, utilizes pulsing rhythms and disorienting visuals to craft his dark world.

Pretentious in spots but ultimately fascinating, Simon Killer is a creepy keeper.

Verdict-3-5-Stars

Outtakes

Gateway’s Indie Film Showcase Cures the Blockbuster Blahs

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By Hope Madden

Already tired of blockbuster season? The Gateway Film Center has just the remedy. Their Independent Film Showcase launches this week, running May 9 to May 16. This edition of the semiannual event screens seventeen flicks you’d be hard pressed to find onscreen anywhere else.

Anchored by Brit filmmaker Ken Loach’s charming The Angels’ Share – the only film in the series to boast a full slate of showings – the program offers dramas, comedies, documentaries and thrillers, each one rotating through a handful of screenings across the week.

According to Gateway president Chris Hamel, programming a series like this takes quite a while.

“The May program contains 17 films, and I watched around 50 to decide on those,” he says. “We originally planned this as a quarterly series, but to be honest, I can’t program IFS at that speed. Too many films to consider. It’s fair to say about 100 – 150 hours of watching and planning went into this festival before the marketing team started working on it.”

Why make the effort? Gateway’s goal, according to an official press release, is to “bring a diverse, compelling selection of indie films to central Ohio while also giving patrons an opportunity to see tomorrow’s Hollywood stars and A-list directors.”

Hamel believes Gateway is an ideal fit for such a showcase. According to him, “Our audience is so diverse that IFS makes great sense here. While all of these films are very good, they have a hard time finding an audience. I believe that our central location, downtown sensibilities, technology and product mix make use a great place to see a film, and IFS is just one more opportunity for our patrons to be part of the independent film world.”

Highlights include film festival favorites such as Rebecca Thomas’s fanciful religious conundrum Electrick Children, Keith Miller’s gritty redemption drama Welcome to Pine Hill, and the dark drama Rubberneck – one of two featured films (alongside Red Flag) by prolific newcomer Alex Karpovsky.

Hamel has a couple of other favorites, though.

“I absolutely loved Ain’t In It For My Health: A Film about Levon Helm, The Silence, and Welcome to the Punch,” he says.

You’ll get the chance to see these and more beginning at 7pm Thursday with the screening of Michael Gondry’s The We and the I. From there, films rotate throughout the day until it all winds up with newcomer Marialy Rivas’s controversial Young and Wild at 11:45 pm on the 16th.

Says Hamel, “I hope audiences give these films the chance the deserve.”

 

The full schedule of events:

 

Thursday May 9

The We and the I                                              7:00 PM

Electrick Children                                             9:15 PM

Welcome to the Punch                                      11:15 PM

 

Friday May 10

Welcome to Pine Hill                                         12:00 PM

Rubberneck                                                      2:00 PM

Red Flag                                                          4:00 PM

Somebody Up There Likes Me                           6:00 PM

Aint In It for My Health:                                     7:45 PM

A Film about Levon Helm

Welcome to the Punch                                     9:45 PM

Young and Wild                                                12:00 AM

 

Saturday May 11

Patang                                                             12:00 PM

Bert Stern: Original Madman                             2:15 PM

Supporting Characters                                     4:15 PM

The Silence                                                      6:15 PM

The Happy House                                             8:45 PM

Tied                                                                 10:30 PM

 

Sunday May 12

Bert Stern: Original Madman                             11:00 AM

You Don’t Need Feet to Dance                           1:00 PM

Somebody Up There Likes Me                           3:00 PM

The We and the I                                              4:45 PM

He’s Way More Famous than You                      7:00 PM

Ain’t In It for My Health:                                    9:15 PM

A Film about Levon Helm

 

Monday May 13

The Happy House                                             1:00 PM

The We and the I                                              2:45 PM

The Silence                                                      5:00 PM

Electrick Children                                             7:30 PM

Welcome to the Punch                                      9:45 PM

 

Tuesday May 14

He’s Way More Famous than You                      1:00 PM

You Don’t Need Feet to Dance                           3:10 PM

Patang                                                             5:20 PM

Bert Stern: Original Madman                             7:30 PM

Rubberneck                                                      9:40 PM

 

Wednesday May 15

Rubberneck                                                      1:00 PM

Red Flag                                                          3:10 PM

Supporting Characters                                      5:20 PM

Welcome to Pine Hill                                         7:30 PM

Tied                                                                 9:40 PM

 

Thursday May 16

The We and the I                                              12:45 PM

Electrick Children                                             2:45 PM

The Silence                                                      5:00 PM

Welcome to the Punch                                      7:30 PM

Ain’t In It for My Health:                                                9:45 PM

A Film about Levon Helm

Young and Wild                                                11:45 PM

 

Regular ticket prices apply. For tickets and information, visit www.gatewayfilmcenter.com

 

This piece ran originally on Columbus Underground.

 

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Gatsby? What Gatsby?

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The Great Gatsby

By Hope Madden

A Moulin Rouge spin on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tale of decadence, longing, and the brutal carelessness of the wealthy could have been awesome. Isn’t that what we kind of expected when Rouge helmsman Baz Luhrmann signed on to direct The Great Gatsby, especially when he unveiled his hip hop and jazz soundtrack? What better way to bridge the gap between eras, to help today’s audience fathom the indulgent lifestyle of the filthy rich in the roaring Twenties?

Somehow, though, Luhrmann can’t quite pull it off.

It isn’t his cast. A more perfect actor-to-character match is hard to imagine. Though some may miss Robert Redford’s stiff, humorless Gatsby, Leo DiCaprio fills the screen with the vulnerability, flash and charm that made the character leap off Fitzgerald’s page. Likewise, the ever wide-eyed Tobey Maguire wanders amiably through Gatsby’s world as though he was born into Nick Carraway’s life.

Not surprisingly, it’s the great Carey Mulligan who almost effortlessly steals the film. Her voice full of money, her languid flirtations both lovely and sad, Mulligan’s marvelous Daisy Buchanan becomes so human, she’s probably more sympathetic than the character deserves to be.

Even with a strong concept, brilliant source material and a perfect cast, Luhrmann stumbles. He just tries too hard. One of the most efficiently written, perfectly crafted novels ever penned, clocking in at barely 300 pages, morphs in to a 143 minute film? Why? Needless complications.

For instance, co-writing the adaptation with frequent collaborator Craig Pearce (Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge), Lurhmann opens the film on a depressed, alcoholic, insomniac Nick Carraway telling the sad tale of his neighbor Jay Gatsby to his shrink at the sanitarium.

What?

Lame.

But the film’s greatest misstep is probably the overwrought, surprisingly lifeless style. Luhrmann aims to mirror the gaudy, hopelessly shallow glamour of the era. He succeeds in spurts, but his approach is so heavy handed it overwhelms the film. Gimmicky and uninspired, the directorial vision serves mostly to draw your attention away from all that’s right about his picture.

It doesn’t kill the effort so much as undermine it. Luhrmann had something really remarkable to start with. He just needed to be a little more trusting of his cast and source material and a little less self-indulgent.

So, The Great Gatsby remains a lesson in the evils of self indulgence. Too bad, because it could have been a good movie instead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuQhprtLJ3k

 

Verdict-2-5-Stars

 

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I Predict Drunken Angels

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The Angels’ Share

by Hope Madden

How does a young Scottish thug turn his life around to become the father his infant son needs? He relies on national resources: a kilt, some good Scotch, and the music of the Proclaimers. Done.

The Angels’ Share follows Robbie (Paul Brannigan), a wayward youth facing charges of beating and disfiguring several other young Scots. The judge chooses leniency because of the positive influence of Robbie’s girlfriend and his impending fatherhood, so he’s facing community service rather than prison time. Too bad the judge’s good nature won’t help him with his girlfriend’s dad or those same disfigured toughs.

Working again with longtime collaborator, screenwriter Paul Laverty, filmmaker Ken Loach’s eye for social commentary twinkles a bit. Like many of the duo’s films, The Angels’ Share situates us within the generations-deep custom of poverty and criminality in the UK’s lower classes. Loach’s trademark spontaneous realism is on display, but this film offers more cheek and charm, possibly less social relevance than his more famous works.

Loach’s efforts are aided by generous, naturalistic performances from a cast heavy with newcomers. (How novice and natural? Expect accents so thick you’ll be grateful for the subtitles.) But it’s veteran character actor John Henshaw who provides the spark that turns the film from grim street crime tragedy to buoyant tale of resilience. His role could easily have fallen into the realm of cliché, but the seasoned performer keeps the characterization honest. Anything else would have felt wildly out of place.

In his film debut, Paul Brannigan anchors the adventure with an understated turn that realizes the burden of self loathing and the fire of a man’s determination to change his destiny. His performance is tender and charming, not to mention terribly impressive for a novice.

He’s flanked on all sides by fresh and endearing comic foils. The supporting characters are edgy enough to broaden the image of not-quite-working-class Scotland, but Loach, Laverty and a talented supporting cast give each an individual struggle and a clear personality.

What the film lacks, finally, in social relevance it makes up for with unexpectedly joyous adventure.

 

Verdict-3-5-Stars

 

 

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Spooky Kids for Your Queue

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Slim pickins in new release this week, but if you’re looking for something spooky, Jessica Chastain’s spectral thriller Mama is your best bet.  Thanks to the impressive performances of its youngest cast members, this supernatural tale of feral orphans generates true dread. Heartbreaking, pensive and convincingly creepy, the wee ones steal the film in a disturbing way. Their stellar work is nearly undone by a lackluster title character, but for about 2/3 of its run time, Mama is a keeper.
For a much stronger voyage into spectral horror and creepy children, try the 2007 Spanish gem The Orphanage. Elegantly filmed, atmospheric and deeply creepy, The Orphanage recalls such genre greats as The Devil’s Backbone, The Others, and The Innocents. Is a mother so distraught over the vanishing of her son that she’s seeing ghosts, or is there something more sinister afoot in the old orphanage she bought? It’s a haunted house tale that manages to be familiar, surprising and, most importantly, spooky.
And, of course, for the real Slim Pickens, cue up Dr. Strangelove or Blazing Saddles!

Outtakes

These Heroes Need a Chance to be Super!

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Iron Man 3 officially opens summer blockbuster season this weekend, and let’s be honest, until Robert Downey Jr. put on that flat, noseless mask, no one gave a two poops about Iron Man. But now, he’ll probably rake in more dough than Superman. That’s what the Hollywood treatment can do for a fledgling superhero, which is why we are campaigning for a few other second-tier heroes that could use a little limelight. All they want is what they have coming to them. All they want is their fair share.

5. The Coon

Why no movie for Eric Cartman’s masked, tailed vigilante from South Park? It’s a perfect set up: a super hero, a rival (Kenny’s mysterious Mysterion), and an arch nemesis (Butters’s alter ego,Professor Chaos and his little buddy General Disarray).  Plus, between Coonacon and the product placement opportunity for Chipotlaway, it pays for itself. What more does Hollywood need?

4. Ace & Gary

What is everyone looking at? Nothing, but it’s time that changed! Superheroes like Ace and Gary have been ignored and forced into hiding for too long. Who cares that they’re late night TV superheroes? They deserve the same opportunity to fight crime as all the other tightly-panted hero buddies. It’s time they left the shadows and headed for the spotlight. Come on out, Ace and Gary!

3. Jem

Why Eighties cartoon rocker Jem? Because she’s truly outrageous. Truly, truly, truly outrageous. And, her music’s contagious (outrageous). Jem is her name. No one else is the same. Jem is her name. (Jem!)

2. Fallout Boy

Sure, he has his own band, but Milhouse Van Houton’s overshadowed super sidekick needs to step out from behind Radioactive Man’s cape and save the day on the big screen. Yes, his mask stinks of acne medicine and desperation, but c’mon, can’t Hollywood borrow a feeling and give him a chance!
http://www.hulu.com/watch/40715

1. ThunderCats

Those flowing locks, those bulging, furry biceps. Oh mighty Lion-o, how can it be that you have not yet graced the silver screen? Can we blame evil Mum-ra, ThunderCat foe? Or just the small minded Hollywood big wigs who can’t see how hard it is to lead fellow Thundarians and still maintain that coiffure?

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Does this Suit Make Me Look Super?

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IRON MAN 3

by George Wolf

After making some really super friends last year, Tony Stark is flying solo again, reaching some pretty impressive heights.

With an infusion of hip from a slick new filmmaker and the continued excellence of its star, Iron Man 3 re-establishes the high-tech suited one as the anchor of The Avengers franchise.

Of course, Robert Downey, Jr. can go a long way toward making even weak films entertaining, but even he seems to have more pep in his step this time thanks to director/co-writer Shane Black.

Black, given the keys to this valuable engine from executive producer Jon Favreau, does not disappoint, filling IM3 with snappy dialogue, clever plot twists and intelligent subtexts addressing self-doubt and terrorism. Oh yeah, and plenty of the impressive 3D visual wizardry that’s required of a superhero blockbuster.

The story catches up with Stark enjoying his fame as usual, but also suffering bouts of insomnia and anxiety while trying to come down from the Avengers battle royale.  He stays up all night crafting more toys for his alter ego, only to be plagued by nightmares when he does manage some sleep.

It doesn’t help when an old acquaintance (Guy Pearce) shows up with a business offer and an eye for Stark’s love Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow), or when one of Stark’s old conquests (Rebecca Hall) joins the soap opera with some mysterious warnings of her own.

And then, as if Stark didn’t have enough on his mind, international terrorist “the Mandarin” (Ben Kingsley) starts blowing everything up!

Black and Downey Jr., re-teaming after the underrated Kiss Kiss Bang Bang from 2005, know that the best comic book- inspired stories turn darker as they age, and they both show good instincts toward how to best apply that formula to their story. They break Stark/Iron Man down mentally, physically and mechanically, while managing to keep the film smart, funny, and often spectacular.

There’s plenty to keep you engaged, and keep you guessing, with the impressive cast of actors providing downright gleeful performances.

Ironically, IM3’s biggest weakness comes from sometimes having too much of a good thing. With Patriot (Don Cheadle) by Stark’s side in the explosive finale, there might be one too many suits, near deaths and breathless escapes.

That’s nit-picking I know, and not enough to derail Iron Man 3 as a thrilling start to the blockbuster season.

Verdict-3-5-Stars

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For Your Queue: Everybody loves J-Law

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At long last, Silver Lining’s Playbook – David O. Russell’s story of love in a hyper-diagnosed, over-medicated, label-dependent society – is available on DVD. Bradley Cooper plays a damaged man returning home to Philly from an institutionalized stint. He returns to a football obsessed father with undiagnosed OCD (Robert DeNiro – and he’s actually acting, everybody!), and his own unrelenting determination to win back his estranged wife. And then he meets an unbalanced, brooding, unquestionably hot neighbor (Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence). Both leads are fantastic, buoyed by an excellent supporting cast and a screenplay that bends to enough Hollywood tropes to be a crowd pleaser but subverts enough to be a real surprise.

We’re not going to pretend we championed Lawrence since her TV days on the Bill Envall show, but with Winter’s Bone, she impressed us and everyone else who saw her gritty, Oscar-nominated performance. As a young woman in the Ozarks wading through family secrets while searching for her father, Lawrence is never less than frighteningly real. She is surrounded by an outstanding supporting cast, most notably John Hawkes and Dale Dickie. Director/co-writer Debra Granick crafts a latter day Deliverance that grabs you early, not letting go until you feel that you’ve survived an experience, not merely seen a movie.

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His Name is Mud…Really

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By Hope Madden

Jeff Nichols’s criminally underseen Take Shelter was the best film of 2011. Poetic and understated, steeped in the mores of small town Ohio, this story of a man haunted by visions of the apocalypse benefitted from a treatment fully at home in its setting. (It was also buoyed by faultless performances from Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain.)

Nichols relocates to riverbeds in Arkansas for his follow up, Mud, a soulful, Huck Finn-style tale about modernization and the romantic notions that struggle against it.

Ellis (a powerful Tye Sheridan) lives with his parents on a ramshackle houseboat, where they eke out a living selling the fish they catch. His buddy Neckbone (newcomer Jacob Lofland) lives with his Uncle Galen (Shannon), who survives on whatever bounty he can dredge from the river bottom.

To shake off the summer blues, the boys go seeking adventure on a little nearby island. There they find more than they bargained for in Matthew McConaughey as the fugitive Mud.

Last year, McConaughey turned around an increasingly craptacular career with a steady stream of magnificent turns in edgy, unique, independent films like Killer Joe. Mud shows the lanky Texan is still interested in being an actor as opposed to a star, and his charming rogue-in-need commands attention. More than that, his generous performance allows the younger actors to really shine.

Sheridan proved himself in 2011’s The Tree of Life, but here he shoulders the bulk of the film and does so with aplomb. Through his eyes we see the bittersweet beauty, confusion and longing required in any good coming of age tale. His thoughtful performance draws attention to the unhappy truth that the more someone means to you, the more likely they are to inadvertently disappoint you.

With only three films under his belt, Nichols is proving himself a powerful storyteller. Beautiful compositions, lyrical pacing and imagery, a profound sense of place, all animated with raw and engaging performances – his approach simply hasn’t yet misfired.

Mud lacks the disturbing punch of Take Shelter, but replaces it with thematic beauty. It becomes a richly textured image of the punishment and resilience of youth. At the same time, Mud uses that familiar adolescent struggle to mirror the quickly disappearing freedom of those beleaguered souls looking to make a life on the river.

 

Verdict-4-0-Stars

 

Originally published on ColumbusUnderground.com

Outtakes

Weekend Countdown: Let’s Go Jackets!

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Is it hyperbole to say this is the most exciting weekend in the history of the Columbus Blue Jackets? Is it?!

They’ve been playing out of their minds, and if they keep that going Saturday night in NWA, they could land a #8 seed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And let’s be honest, unlike last time, this year it really feels like they could do some damage (especially after a #8 seed just won the cup!)

And so, in honor of this weekend’s hockey fever, let’s lace ‘em up and count down the top 5 hockey films!

 5. Rocket: The Legend of Rocket Richard (2005)

No, we did not throw this in just to avoid including Mighty Ducks or Youngblood, but man, were we happy to find just one more decent hockey movie. The film echoes the life of Montreal Canadiens great Maurice Richard in an elegantly filmed biopic on overcoming adversity to become an iconic sports figure and national hero. Sure, that sounds familiar, but this time it happens in Canada.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkcFx1p4-Cg

 

4. Mystery, Alaska (1999)

Here’s a perfectly enjoyable, needlessly cluttered underdog tale where decent writing and generous performances outweigh trite themes. The alum of a tiny Alaskan town brings an NHL match home when the NY Rangers agree to play Mystery, Alaska’s hard-nosed local boys. Good-natured fun follows.

 

3. Goon (2011)

We can’t get enough of this Canadian minor league hockey gem, written by Jay Baruchel and starring Sean William Scott, who plays against type as a sweet natured, dunderheaded hockey goon who can’t skate but sure can beat the crap out of people.

 

2. Miracle (2004)

This great looking, family-friendly biopic boasts an excellent Kurt Russell, some fantastic hockey footage, and swelling emotions. Authentic, understated and weirdly compelling given the fact that we all know how it turns out. (Dude, we totally beat the Russians! Those douches.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZBb_8WQKUA

 

1. Slap Shot (1977)

What Caddyshack is to caddying, what The Bad News Bears is to little league – Slap Shot is best hockey movie ever. Paul Newman is hilariously salty in a story about a failing town soon to lose its minor league hockey team, and the player whose career is over if he can’t figure out how to save it. Does salvation wear thick glasses, travel in threes, and pack toy trains?