COMPLIANCE, by Howard Casner
Posted: September 6, 2012 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Ann Dowd, Compliance, Craig Zobel, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy | 50 Comments »What would you do for a Klondike Bar? What would you do if a police officer called you in the middle of a busy night as manager of a fast food restaurant and claimed they had a witness who saw one of the employees steal and the officer needs you to help him carry out the investigation, even to the extent of performing a strip search? This is basically what happens (well, worse, actually) in Compliance, the controversial new film written (extremely well) and directed (in standard poverty row, digital chic) by Craig Zobel.
Inspired by true events, in which a sociopath would call unsuspecting locations and claim to be with local law enforcement, Compliance begins as a very effective character study as to how gullible people are and how easy it is for us to obey authority, even if the authority is spurious. It’s not an easy premise for Zobel to pull off. No one in the audience is going to admit that if put in the same situation they would do the same thing (no matter that the epilog mentions that something similar happened 70 times in the U.S.).
In fact, the audience is immediately going to go for the holier than thou attitude, looking down on the poor wretches who fell for the ruse saying to themselves that “of course they fell for it, they work in fast food”. And there’s one very effective scene at the end in which the restaurant manager is interviewed by a TV reporter with the best attitude that a Pharisee can buy that perhaps earns the character more empathy than even Zobel might have intended.
But Zobel does sell his premise and he does it very effectively. First through a very solid and believable screenplay with dialog that is well thought out, all delivered in a very realistic and natural vernacular and cadence. But second, and perhaps more importantly, through a series of strong performances by all involved. No matter how much you might question that such a thing could happen, the actors make you believe it. The triumvirate that holds the film together, Dreama Walker as Becky, the victim; Ann Dowd as Sandra, the manager; and Pat Healy as “Officer Daniels”, the villain, are first rate. Healy especially excels in his role as a salesman who can sell ice to the Eskimos with a delivery so oily and decadent he puts Hannibal Lector to shame.
Zobel also does one very interesting thing with the role of Becky by making her somewhat unsympathetic when she first appears on the screen, giving her the personality of a princess who thinks she’s too good for the job and superior to her manager. At first one actually enjoys her discomfort, until what happens really starts to sink in.
But Zobel only sells it for about half way until something so awful happens that one slowly begins to have second thoughts about whether this could really happen. At this point, it no longer becomes a study as to how far some stranger can con people, but becomes a study as to how far some screenwriter and director can con a theater audience, which isn’t the same thing. I’m not saying that this awful thing didn’t happen in real life; maybe it did (it’s never stated one way or the other). And I don’t want to dismiss so cavalierly something so awful happening to someone. But even if it did happen, all I can think of is Mark Twain’s comment: The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to be credible. Because of this, the movie fails somewhat as a study of human nature, but still remains as a very effective horror movie.
SIDE BY SIDE
Posted: August 31, 2012 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Christopher Kenneally, Keanu Reeves, Side by Side | 3 Comments »Side by Side is the riveting new documentary written and directed by Christopher Kenneally about the advent of digital filmmaking and its growing popularity over celluloid. It’s a must see for anyone interested in filmmaking; who is making films; or who just likes film period.
It’s narrated by Keanu Reeves in a bit more of an energetic voice that one usually hears from him (there’s nary a “whoa, dude” in sight). I’m not sure why he made the film, but I’m glad he did and it’s one of his best performances. Reeves takes us on a journey of the history of digital, from its early days of development in the 1960’s to the present day where digital’s presence is felt in almost every nook and cranny of filmmaking and in almost every movie, whether made on celluloid or not.
The movie’s basic thesis is that we are on the precipice of a new era of filmmaking, and the movie is very convincing in sharing the palpable excitement people have in using this new technology. One of the key historical moments is the movie Festen (The Celebration) made in 1998 under the Dogma 95 doctrine of taking a more immediate and realistic approach to a film’s subject matter. It was one of the first films made using a digital approach and when Danny Boyle saw it, it was like Ingrid Bergman’s response to seeing a movie by Roberto Rossellini—he had never seen anything like it before, but he just had to be involved in some way and thus he made 28 Days Later. Soon more and more people jumped on the bandwagon, especially as the technology just kept improving and growing, like that scene in the Buster Keaton movie Seven Chances where a rock rolling down a hill becomes two rocks, then three, then an avalanche. Festen was my favorite movie of 1998, but I had no idea it had the potential of being the Citizen Kane of its generation.
Half of the documentary is a series of talking head interviews of various generations, the old timers and the up and coming bucks. For some, digital is like the Blob, just growing bigger and bigger as it engulfs every movie along its way. For others, it’s like the pods from Invasion of the Body Snatchers, taking over while no one was looking and resulting in a less human and emotional product. The other half of the film is a narrated history of digital, not just in cinematography, but also in editing and special effects, and how it all works. This part may feel a bit dry a times (a friend of mine called it just a tad too industrial), and I can’t disagree with that.
But if there is anything really wrong with the structure, it’s that the movie is divided into sections and as one section would end, the talking heads became more and more (to paraphrase Shakespeare) “O brave new world that has such filmmaking possibilities in it” backed up by inspirational music. Every time this happened, one swore the movie was over; but no, it just kept on going and going and going like the Energizer Bunny.
But I didn’t care. It’s a thrilling and challenging film making one excited about what may be waiting on the cinematic horizon. It will not all be good, of course. If anyone can make a movie (as one talking head said, the advent of digital is the democratization of making films), then the number of bad movies will probably increase, at least for awhile (since as yet another talking head told us, there is no real tastemaker right now). But if anyone can make a movie, then talented people (as Lena Dunham, writer/ director of Tiny Furniture and Girls, countered) who would never have been able to break into the industry before, now have almost no barriers to creating their art.
There were some filmmaker holdouts. For many, mainly those who were previously entrenched in the earlier method of making films, it’s a march or die situation, and most seemed to have not only joined the ranks of the new, they are also discovering the advantages of the new technology. But others come across as Luddites, feeling that digital can never equal the greatness of celluloid and that by using digital, filmmakers and technicians are lowering the standard of an art form. One would like to sympathize with people like David Fincher and Christopher Nolan. The only problem is that they both came across as middle aged counterparts of those curmudgeons Clint Eastwood now plays all the time. And in the end, this is where films are going. One can man the barricades all one wants, but it’s only a matter of time before the barbarians break down the gates.
COSMOPOLIS
Posted: August 31, 2012 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Cosmopolis, David Cronenberg, Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti, Robert Pattinson, Samantha Morton | 3 Comments »Cosmopolis is a “where to begin” film…where to begin…yes, where to begin. Well, I suppose that in the end all one can do is be as honest as possible and say, as much as it saddens me since it was written and directed by idiosyncratic and ambitious filmmaker David Cronenberg, that Cosmopolis is…terrible, just terrible, a misfire from beginning to end, with almost no redeeming value whatsoever. At the same time, I could never take my eyes off the screen. Was it because I was hoping that it would all turn into something, anything? Was it because I was watching a train wreck in slow motion? Was it because I was in shock over the idea that so much talent had been put to use for a movie that was so obviously not working and no one seems to know it? I don’t know. But I just couldn’t look away.
The story revolves around twenty-eight year old billionaire Eric Packer who decides to take his state of the art limo (if state of the art means a vehicle normally used in futuristic sci-fi films) to get a haircut, an Odyssey like journey made more difficult by the city being confronted by Occupy Wall Street demonstrations and a visit from the president. The movie probably gets off to a weak start by leaving out a key event, an opening scene where the audience is informed that Packer is hemorrhaging all his money, a scene which would give context to almost all of his actions, especially his primary one of wanting to get a short back and sides (rather, we have to read between the lines to get this, rarely the best choice in a screenplay). Instead, we are told there may be a threat on Packer’s life, something that gives the story no context at all.
At the same time, it’s doubtful that such a scene would have ultimately helped much since the movie is mostly a series of pax de deuxs in which people have intellectual conversations in highly stylized language that makes anything anyone says sounds like they’re speaking Klingon. The rest of it revolves around Packer having sex (with an art dealer fuck buddy; one of his body guards; and his doctor who gives him a prostrate exam that nearly gives him an orgasm). Oh, yes, he also occasionally runs into his wife where he spends time asking her when they are going to have sex again. And the majority of it happens in the back of his four wheeled penteconter which crawls at such a snail’s pace, it looks like it’s going backwards at times (Ulysses got home in less time than it takes Packer to get to his barbershop).
My hats are off to all of the actors—well, most of them. Filled with such stellar performers as Juliette Binoche, Samantha Morton and Paul Giamatti, they’re so devoted to their characters, they actually had me convinced at times they new what their lines meant, though I still question whether they did.
But then there’s Robert Pattinson, who plays the callow Packer. Where to begin. Yes, where to begin. First, in full disclosure, I have never been able to get through a Twilight film. I even consider it one of those movies whose damage is far greater than anyone suspects. Because of the franchise’s success, we are going to be burdened with film after film in which the leads are given to Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, who just don’t have the heft or ability to carry them off (I call it the Love Story curse). Pattinson mumbles through most of his lines (it worked for Marlon Brando, but not so much here), never once convincing in his role. Though it’s easy to understand why he was cast as a vampire in those other films (every time you look at his mouth, you swear he has fangs for teeth), his casting here may be a bit more puzzling.
In the end, the best performance is given by the limo Packer rides in. It’s a sleek black number (at least on the inside—so slimming, you know), with a leather throne, couch, computers, television, fully stocked and fully lit bars, and a urinal. It slowly gets covered by graffiti and dented up along the way, which means it also has the most fully developed character arc as well.
MOVIE REVIEW: CODEPENDENT LESBIAN SPACE ALIEN SEEKS SAME
Posted: August 22, 2012 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | 5 Comments »By Howard Casner
Why is it that when I watch a rom com with Jennifer Aniston, Katherine Heigel, and Sandra Bullock, nine times out of ten, I could care less who is in love with who or even if anybody ever falls in love with anyone else, yet when I watched the delightful and surprising Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same, I was very much caught up in whether the two heroines, Jane (a somewhat full figured, lonely lesbian) and Zoinx (a bald headed other worldly creature out of a bad 1950’s sci-fi b-movie), would manage to get together by the time the movie was over?
Codependent Lesbian… begins on another planet that is having global warming problems caused not by greenhouse emissions, but by the release of positive emotions (stay with me on this one). These positive emotions leave the body and poke holes in the ozone layer (negative emotions have no effect whatsoever). The planetary counsel has decided that all citizens who fall in love need to be sent to earth so that they can fall in love there and have their heart broken (as always happens to anybody who falls in love on our planet), so that when they return, they will never fall in love again and will not release positive emotions. But problems arise when Jane does not break Zoinx’s heart and true love refuses to go away.
Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Well, maybe I don’t, but it’s probably something along the line of, “you’ve got to be kidding me.” But no, I’m not. That is the basic plot. The screenplay is based on a play and one can detect the wild, campy, off the rails movement that took place off- and off- off- Broadway starting in the 1960’s and was made famous by the two Charles, Ludlam and Busch, with such plays as The Mystery of Irma Vep, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom and other outgrowths of the Theater of the Ridiculous.
The movie itself, written and directed by Madeleine Olnek, is amateurish and obviously a first film, but like such films that formed the rise of indies in the late 1980’s and 90’s (like Sex, Lies and Videotape, Clerks and The Living End), what it lacks in professionalism, it makes up for with wit, cleverness, a need to make lemon out of lemonades and a passion to do something that the filmmaker believes in. The performances by Lisa Haas (as the lonely “plain” Jane) and Susan Ziegler (as Zoinx) are fun and the two actors are quite captivating. It was often filmed guerilla style on the streets and in the restaurants of New York and since it was the Big Apple, none of the passerbys ever thought twice at the odd looking aliens and their even odder going ons. And it’s backed by some of the worse special effects since the films of Ed Wood.
The result is a romantic comedy that puts studio formulaic movies to shame and is the sort of thing one wishes more indie filmmakers would do.
Reviewing THE HYPERNATURALS #1
Posted: June 28, 2012 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | 794 Comments »
It is the far future; the human race has finally colonized the galaxy, preserving an era of prosperity that’s only possible because of The Hypernaturals. They’re a celebrated, galaxy-wide superhero task force that keeps the peace. That is, until they all mysteriously vanish. Now, as the galaxy teeters on the brink of chaos, it’s up to a group of retired and long forgotten Hypernaturals — and their novice recruits — to save the galaxy from complete destruction.
Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, The Hypernaturals feels like unfinished business. “Marvel cancels our books…let’s take our stories elsewhere!” Be glad they did! The Hypernaturals is an exciting book, with the feel of grandiose space-adventure, all wrapped into a mystery!! It’s a bit steep at $3.99, but it’s more exciting cosmic adventure than what Marvel or DC has on the shelves these days!
Really, guys?!
Your Comics Pal,
Donnie Drama
6 Comic Books You Should Check Out!
Posted: June 26, 2012 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Retired assassin Alan Fisher and his ballerina companion must escape a ruthless sniper who stalks them through the streets of Milan. To survive and protect the love of his life, Alan will unravel the tapestry of the past he’s kept hidden and discover the killer’s impossible identity.
Written by Nathan Edmondson with art by Nic Klein this book starts out with a BANG! Get it? Sigh, NVM, it’s a good book, pick it up!!!
After Elle Peterssen is mysteriously attacked on a Manhattan subway platform, she is left in a coma, the only clues to her attacker trapped inside her mind. No one knows the identity of the person behind this brutal beating or where they will strike next. In this ALL-NEW ONGOING series, everyone is suspect, and no one is innocent. USAToday calls it an “anxiously anticipated modern thriller…Whodunit? McCann’s done it again.”
Written by Jim McCann with art by Rodin Esquejo and Sonia Oback, the book starts off slow but ends with a punch to the gut! Remember how you first felt after watching “The Usual Suspects”? That’s HOW GOOD IT IS!!! BUY IT NOW!!!
From the creative minds of Image partners Robert Kirkman & Marc Silvestri! Once the hard core is shot into the back of your neck, an assassin’s brain waves can be transmitted into your body–circumventing your brain functions–taking complete control of your body. When assassins use this technology–your killer can be anyone; your barber, your neighbor or your wife. They are the best assassins in the world–but what happens when one of their own turns against them? Who can you trust when your enemy can change his appearance as easy as someone changes a shirt?
This book, much like Thief of Thieves, is pretty darn good from beginning to end. Enthralling, suspenseful, fun, with big helping of sci-fi….BUY IT BEFORE IT SELLS OUT!!!
Written by Darwyn Cooke with Amazing art by Amanda Conner, Silk Spectre is, thus far, my favorite of the new Before Watchmen Titles (Having already read Minute Men and Comedian). Playing out more like a high school drama, this book adds a dynamic to the troubled past of mother and daughter, partners in crime…so to speak. We get a good helping of Laurie’s personality and why the harsh disdain for her mother’s past…..GOOD STUFF!!!
In a post-war, post-crash, post-disaster, post-everything world, the environmental-action trawler Kapital scours the earth’s oceans for its mysteriously missing sistership, The Massive. Captain Callum Israel, a man who has dedicated his life to the ocean, now must ask himself—as our planet dies—what it means to be an environmentalist after the world’s ended. Callum and his crew will come up against pirates, rebels, murderers, and thieves as they struggle to remain noble toward their cause. Can you save a planet that’s already doomed?
Written by Brian Wood with art by Kristian Donaldson and Dave Stewart, The Massive is a book I’d recommend to fans of a “slow burn”. Unfortunately, if the story doesn’t pick up, it make “sink” this story! Still a good read, and worth checking out though…
Silas, an ex-soldier turned space pirate, finds himself stranded on a mysterious planet in alien territory. As he explores the long-abandoned industrial ruins of the planet’s surface he will have to fend off rogue mechanical creatures, roving cyborg militias, and a hostile alien military with a bounty on his head. Silas will have to rely on resourcefulness and bare-bones survival tactics in order to stay alive and ultimately unlock the secrets of a planet where survival is a luxury and escape an impossibility.
With art and story by Ken Garing, this title screams Ripley meets robots! It reads fast and is filled with suspense, action and mystery, set in a great sci-fi environment, akin to the movie Soldier with Kurt Russell. Read it, love it, buy the next few issues!!!
Your comics pal,
Donnie Drama
Comparing THE SHADOW to THE SPIDER.
Posted: May 23, 2012 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | 14,989 Comments »Before we get started, it’s important to know the back story of these characters:
The Spider debuted in 1933 as a hero of pulp magazines, with the secret identity of New York City millionaire Richard Wentworth. The character has also appeared in comic books published by Eclipse and Moonstone.
Now replace the name Richard Wentworth with Lamont Cranston and you pretty much have:
They were pretty original back in the 1930’s!
The shadow is written by Garth Ennis and takes place in the late 1930’s, while The Spider, written by David Liss, is updated and takes place during near present time….
While both takes are filled with action and suspense, it’s difficult to relate to a character that hasn’t even played Nintendo! The Shadow is definitely a bloodier book but does that make for a better story?
I found The Spider to be a bit more urban, a bit more thuggish in his ways, which I kinda dug a little more than The Shadow. While both are “shoot then ask questions” kinda guys, The Shadow, thus far, isn’t telling me something I’ve never known or bringing something new into his element…could be the fault of Garth Ennis, who clearly has an affection for this character.
I know we are only one issue in, and I hate to say it, but so far….THE SPIDER IS THE CLEAR WINNER!
Both are a bit steep at $3.99, so if I were you, I’d be picking up my copy of The Spider before it crawls off the shelves…get it? Huh? Spider..crawls?! Ahhh, forget it!
Your comics pal,
Donnie Drama
Donnie Drama’s Short Review: 6 New Comic Books!
Posted: May 9, 2012 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Written and drawn by Raffaele Ienco, Epic Kill should otherwise be known as Epic Kill Bill! Seriously, this series is dangerously close to Uma Thurman’s epic role! As it’s a mini-series, I’ll be curious as to where it ends and how. Worth a look!
Written by Paul Levitz, with art by George Perez and Kevin Maguire, World’s Finest isn’t quite at it’s finest. DC needs innovation and I just don’t feel Paul Levitz and George Perez says that…in ANY book. I’d skip it!
Written by Robert Venditti with wonderful art by Cary Nord, X-O is a great start to what could be summers surprise hit comic! Conan meets Sci-fi, as an epic showdown is in the works…..PICK THIS ONE UP!
I’m going to say it right now…James Robinson did in this one issue what Geoff Johns has tried to do in 9 issues of Justice League…make you care about the characters. It’s a shame this book wasn’t a wave 1 of the new 52…..Def buy this book!
Written by Chuck Dixon, Airbory: Deadeye is a great follow-up to the 1980’s run of Airboy from Eclispse comics. there is a reason he keeps coming back…the character is rich in history, steeped in suspense and drawn into action. This book isn’t for everyone, but if you enjoy anime or great war drama, this is the BOOK FOR YOU!
Lynch does it again! TMNT: Micro-Series is THE best series of TMNT I have read in…FOREVER! Action, characterization, suspense, ninja turtles…what more could you want?! BUY THIS BOOK!
Your comics pal,
Donnie Drama
NEW G.I. JOE: RETALIATION TRAILER
Posted: April 24, 2012 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | 69 Comments »Keeps looking better and better!
80’s Movie Review….THE WIZARD!!!!
Posted: April 20, 2012 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | 1,303 Comments »
Remember the movie Rain Man? The story of smart business man, Charlie, played by Tom Cruise, who has a brother name Raymond, played by Dustin Ho man. The two of them wind up going on a road trip to Las Vegas after Charlie realizes his brother is a wiz at remembering numbers, and counting cards. Well take those ideas, remake it for kids with child actor, Fred Savage as the lead, and throw in California, Nintendo, and The Power Glove. What do you have? You have “The Wizard”, Nintendo’s biggest product placement…EVER
The Wizard is a story about two half-brothers and a girl who all run away from home, trying to get to California. Why? Ehh, it’s not important…what is Important?
THIS IS!
Corey, Jimmy’s half-brother play by Fred “Wonder Years” Savage, grabs his bro at an institution, breaking him out to take him on the road trip of a lifetime…why you ask?
Need I say more?
A bus ticket fiasco, and a game of Double Dragon later, the boys meet Haley a Tough as nails girl that really takes no BS from anyone! And just like that, Nintendo now has the ladies hooked!
Haley, impressed by Jimmy’s gaming skills, convinces Corey that Jimmy should compete in a gaming competition Called Video Game Armageddon in Los Angeles for a 50,000 dollar grand prize!!!!
Perhaps my favorite memory of this movie is the Ninja Gaiden gaming Table Top along with the pop beats of New Kids On The Block telling me I”I HAVE THE RIGHT STUFF” I won’t forget you, NEW KIDS! “pours soda onto floor in tribute”
Heaven help us!
We are eventually treated to Lucas, the greatest Villain EVER created….OK, not really. A kid with shades, and a black jacket, Lucas will forever be remembered as the kid who first wore….THE POWER GLOVE!
BEHOLD!
This was the coolest accessory EVER, and the biggest piece of shit, EVER, as it didn’t work…AT ALL. Oh it worked in the movie, but when you bought it for your home, forget it….it was a cool thing to have for Halloween, but nothing more.
Later in the movie we FINALLY get to California where we are treated to Universal Studios and a tour of their rides (Universal must have been a sponsor?)
Finally we are at the competition, it’s fast and furious, hot and heavy…THEN…we are treated to something that will change the face of gaming…FOREVER……SUPER MARIO 3!!!!!!
BAM!
The Wizard is one of many movies I saw as a kid that I really identified with. It was a happier time. A time of awesome advances in video games, gaming, and Nintendo….and I was there, every step of the way! 🙂
Your blog-lovin buddy,
Louie
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