Public Enemies

Dir. Michael Mann, 2009



As I was watching this film, I found myself momentarily confused. I was unable to remember who the director was, what it was that had made me want to see this film so much, or if it was only the cast that drew me in. As tantalizing as Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard may be, I'd like to think that I am more sophisticated a moviegoer than that. (I admit that sometimes, a pretty face or acting chops are enough to get me into a seat, but none of these actors satisfy that yen for me.) Only when the credits started rolling and the giant "Michael Mann" splashed across the screen was I fully aware of the extent of my disappointment.

With a subject matter as rich, exciting, and myth-riddled as the lives of bank robbers during the Great Depression, let alone that of the most notorious of them all, John Dillinger himself, you would think that a film in the hands of as capable a director as Mann would be amazing. If not extraordinary, at least fascinating, thought-provoking, or even challenging. Public Enemies is, of course, none of these. It is merely a telling of what happened. These guys. Did stuff. And then they did other stuff and more people came along. This is how the film presents itself, a detail-less narrative of events and occurrences, peppered with machine gun fire, pretty faces, and arch smiles delivered from one polished face to another.

The opening scene appears to be Dillinger being admitted to a prison in the midwest somewhere, when all of a sudden you realize that it's an elaborate bust. Back in the days where security could not contain the likes of Dillinger and his gang, they just beat up a few cops and run away, leaning out of the windows and shooting guards with Tommy guns as they go. A close friend of Dillinger's goes down in the bust, and they periodically hearken to him, fondly, remembering his words on how to be most successful in their "business." After holing up for a little bit and then taking down a bank in Chicago, Dillinger sees Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) at a nightclub and determines that she is great and they are going to be together forever. She is part French and part Menominee Indian, and this allegedly lends her some appeal beyond her physical beauty, but we're just going to have to take their word on that one.

Meanwhile, Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) is such a great FBI agent that he is promoted by J. Edgar Hoover (played by a fairly comical Billy Crudup) to helm the investigation to apprehend and kill Dillinger and any others in his gang. Purvis has a bunch of meatheads working for him, so he asks for a special task force to help out. So then a couple of grizzled old experts waltz in and suddenly know everything and how to really take 'em down. But John Dillinger is a tricky sumbitch, and he manages to flit around a little more before the final climactic showdown(s) where there are lots of special effects and bullets flying and we all grip our armrests in wide-eyed anticipation. Pardon the possible spoilers, but this is theoretically based on a true story so, I mean, obviously something happened.

Michael Mann has had a long-ish, illustrious-ish career of making films with short titles: The Insider, Collateral, Ali, Miami Vice. His films are usually powerful and intense, with some probing into the seamier side of human nature. However, his films are a bit like melba toast with cottage cheese and marmalade: good quality, full of things that are good for you, and wonderful if that's exactly what you're in the mood for. But they can also be dry, overwhelming, and unsatisfying if you really just want something sugary or to really fill you up. A film like Collateral was just right for what it needed to get across, which wasn't much, and The Insider did a really excellent job of laying out the facts as they were while Russell Crowe and Al Pacino took care of the rest. Those films were satisfying, filling. Public Enemies should have been a meal, not a snack.

It must take a unique personality to rob banks, kill police officers, escape prison, and keep a network of friends, associates and safehouses across the country. Someone like John Dillinger would have to be incredibly intelligent, ruthless and unbelievably charming. He would be in excellent physical shape and yet look unassuming enough to not draw excessive attention to himself. The Dillinger in Public Enemies only vaguely resembles the person he must have been. He doesn't appear to have much of a sense of humor or a particularly magnetic personality. His intelligence translates more as quickness and strategic skill, and his athleticism best used for hitting people really hard. Johnny Depp has taken on many roles where a strong personality shines through, so I know it is possible for him to execute such a task. The fault really must lie in the screenplay, and with three writers, it's a wonder that such a critical detail slipped them all.

I haven't read the book, and this movie didn't really instill in me any desire to do so. I never really found Dillinger that fascinating, but he probably could have been. He and all of his notorious brothers in arms: Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, Pete Pierpont, etc. Only Nelson was played with any obvious idiosyncrasy, but he was probably the easiest to reduce to a caricature. It is so frustrating to think about how, how, GREAT this film could have been! I am not a screenwriter, so I don't really know what I would do to enhance the personalities, but I would start with some research.

These gangsters seem like they're just anybody. Any maybe that's the point, but what is really so irresistible in films about gangsters and criminals is to see just how off-kilter they are amid the regular human characteristics. Maybe these gangsters aren't sociopaths or psychotic, and maybe they are just opportunists who happen to be really good at something, but come on. This is a film. Give me something to watch.

Star Trek

Dir. J.J. Abrams, 2009



Here is the obligatory disclaimer about how I am not an avid fan of "Star Trek" the television series, in any of its versions and generations, and I don't think I've seen any of the films prior to this one. I've probably watched two whole episodes since entering my teens, and before that, I was probably only half paying attention. When I was in junior high, I came upon a bumper sticker that said, "Klingons, Ferengis and Borgs, Oh My!" and so I did a little scouting to find out what on earth that meant. I have seen countless spoofs (countless), so I feel that I am pretty well aware of the major catchphrases, characters and events that have entered into science fiction lore. That being said, I am not sure at all whether that puts me at an objective advantage or disadvantage when it comes to appreciating this particular slice of cinema.

I won't keep you in suspense. I liked it! At first I was profoundly disturbed by how pretty the characters of James Tiberius Kirk and Mr. Spock were, and what a departure that was from the dated looks of William Shatner and the immortal scowl of Leonard Nimoy. I found it highly unlikely that a guy as attractive as Chris Pine could end up as the captain of an intergalactic spaceship with a crew of thousands. I suppose this is the point, as the golden boy, Jim, not only succeeds in part from the legacy of his heroic father, who sacrificed himself to save hundreds of people, including his own son, but also from his dizzying intellect. However, he is continuously breaking the rules, getting in the way, destroying things, and somehow defying all odds, yet turning up time and time again with hardly a hair out of place, and a new great idea for how to save the universe. He couldn't be less of an underdog.

Spock, played bizarrely by the giant-featured Zachary Quinto, deals with the typical inner turmoil associated with being torn between the Vulcan code of emotional detachment, and his half-human heritage which is the exact opposite. His character exists as only slightly more than a foil, then a cheerleader for the mindbending efforts of Kirk as he expresses his disdain for order and no-win situations. Perhaps it is only my perception, but it seems like the character of Spock is the more difficult one to take on, because of Nimoy's legacy, and the constraints of playing a character that cannot be reinterpreted too liberally without losing the entire essence of his purpose on the Enterprise.

Guys, the plot is exciting and convoluted, and deals with black holes and alternate realities, and, to be quite frank, I'm still sort of wrapping my brain around that one. Suffice it to say, it's not the same old song and dance action movie premise. In the first scene of the film, Kirk's father takes over the helm of the Enterprise when the previous captain is summoned into a giant Romulan spacecraft emerging from a black hole. The Romulan leader, Nero, interrogates the erstwhile captain about taking responsibility for something that apparently hasn't happened yet. When this captain professes confusion, and names the star date as 2233-04 (or something, as if I could actually remember that), Nero becomes so incensed that he rams his giant pointy staff into the captain's chest, and opens fire on the Enterprise with great vengeance and furious anger.

Fast forward 25 years, and the new class of the Starfleet Academy is getting ready to start their training. Enter: Jim Kirk, destroyer of cars and initiator of barroom brawls, who cheats his way out of an unwinnable qualifying exam programmed by the one and only Spock, colludes with the one Dr. McCoy to shanghai himself onto the Enterprise when responding to a Vulcan distress signal. Spock has chosen the Enterprise over the Vulcan Academy because he is tired of being Vulcanly discriminated against for being half-human. They assemble the usual cast of characters, played refreshingly by charming young actors, and the lot of them get together and hyperspace here and there to seek out worlds unknown and stuff like that.

Star Trek is entertaining and exciting and, though this may seem like a backhanded compliment, not at all phoned in. I mean, think about it. With such iconic lines as "Set phasers to stun!" "Dammit man, I'm a doctor, not a physicist!" and "Live long and prosper," this could easily fall into tongue-in-cheek parody. However, the actors embrace both the dramatic and campy, but most of all, they completely own their roles. It took a while to get used to seeing some of the actors in the styling of 24th century astronavigators, like Karl Urban and John Cho, and it took me a while to figure out where I saw this adorable elf before:


(Answer: Charlie Bartlett)

It is a heavy burden to reinvent a classic. J.J. Abrams was up against a lot of naysayers, though he is not one to be discouraged by what some may tell him is not a good idea. He takes risks, chooses interesting projects, and even if something seems gimmicky, like Cloverfield or baffling, like any episode of "Lost," it's always a fun and entertaining ride. For the start of a reboot, it's promising. I do look forward to the second installment in the series, not as a sequel but as a second chapter. It officially joins the ranks of "Serial Movies I Look Forward To," alongside the James Bond flicks, the Batman series and the Iron Man franchise.

Sin Nombre

Dir. Cary Fukunaga, 2009



I have been trying to think about why this movie isn't amazing to me. Is it possible that my time-honored history of enjoying relatively depressing movies is at an end? A formula that used to fulfill me on a basic emotional level now disappoints me. But it's more than just the fact that the film is relatively solemn that put me off somewhat; the other reason is, unfortunately, something I can't quite put my finger on. I'm inclined to say that it's because of the somewhat recycled subject matter, but when I actually stop and think about it, I have not actually seen that many films about Mexican gangs and illegal immigration. Perhaps it's my proximity to the subject, having grown up in Southern California? Whatever it is, it's unfortunate, because I suspect that this was probably pretty good.

The film starts by following two characters that appear to have very little in common besides general geographical proximity. The first is a teenage Honduran girl, Sayra, who is reunited with her father after some years, and is persuaded to ride the trains to the United States through Mexico. She appears somewhat conflicted about this, in part due to her conflicted feelings about her estranged father and his new family in New Jersey, and most likely also due to the dangerous nature of the voyage. She, her father, and uncle trek through some jungle before catching the train and stowing aboard on the roof with other immigrants hoping to find a better life in Los Estados Unidos.

The second story line follows a gang member named El Casper, or Willy, depending on your emotional proximity. He is a little bit distracted from his duties, which involve gang member initiations and keeping an eye out for rival gangs, because of a relationship that he tries to keep a secret from the rest of the gang. Eventually, the gang leader, Lil Mago, finds out about his girlfriend, and due to some kind of code, attempts to rape her but kills her instead. Lil Mago's coldness disturbs El Casper, and in an attempt to rob the immigrants on a train going north to the US, and starting to rape Sayra, El Casper kills Lil Mago.

From that point on, El Casper and Sayra are linked by destiny, or something like that. He is her guardian, and she gives him a way to redeem himself for the life of violence. Classic tale of redemption and discovery, love and loss, angels and demons, etc. Perhaps it's that kind of thing that feels slightly stale to me. Even though it's a fairly unique setup, as far as typical film plots go, it's such a commonly used theme that the details seem incidental.

The argument that sticks with me is that of my filmgoing companion, who agreed that while it was not exactly an entirely original setup, it was well done. And for that, Sin Nombre a "good movie." I agree with this, I believe it is well done. The performances are on target, the script is good enough, and there is nothing about it that bothers me on any level. It is produced by Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, which has given this film the opportunity to use good quality equipment, better actors, and to film in good locations.

However, all of these things aside, I still can't get past the fact that it didn't wow me. I was not disturbed by anything: the violence was almost rote for such a subject matter, and I am much less squeamish these days anyway. It was entirely bleak and depressing: who knows if that might have bothered me as well, but the fact that it didn't just completely crush my soul OR leave me feeling hopeful and uplifted was a bit of an emotional letdown. This second point is kind of weird, considering I put off watching the film for several weeks because I was worried that I was in too delicate a state to be seeing something that was really going to depress the hell out of me. For instance, The Constant Gardener upset me for days, and I was not nearly as stressed when I saw that as I have been lately.

This may all be a result of my desensitization to terrible events from sensationalism in the media. Maybe I'm getting older and jaded, and I really need to be blown away, or moved to tears, or to just somehow be impressed by something entirely new. I wish I had a better reason for only feeling lukewarm about this film, but the fact is that it must just be on some metaphysical level that this doesn't work for me.

Oldboy

Dir. Chan-wook Park, 2003



Has everyone seen this movie yet? Am I the last person to finally see what the big deal is? If you haven't seen it yet, then don't read on any further, because I am going to talk about this frankly. I wouldn't want to ruin the ending for anyone, like multiple people have done for me.

All right. I wonder what this movie is like to watch without having any idea what it's about, the bumps along the way, or how it turns out. When this film came out a few years ago, it was such a sensation among such a cross-denominational body that on a regular basis, I would encounter people talking about it and, inevitably, revealing something. I can tell that there is something appealing for almost anyone, so long as they have a tolerance for the other aspects of it. For instance, a hopeless romantic might even like Oldboy, so long as he or she doesn't mind gore. The buzz about this film was so fevered that, unfortunately, it's almost impossible to look at this in a vacuum, and to judge it on its standalone merit.

Oh Dae-su is just some asshole who happens to stumble upon the worst luck possible: he is suddenly imprisoned by an unknown captor for 15 years for a crime he cannot immediately recall. While locked up, he pontificates on his past life and learns to fight. He goes from soggy loser to hardened badass. The minute he is let out of his prison, he embarks on a journey to understand what led to his incarceration, starting by answering anonymous cell phone calls and eating something alive. [Spoiler number one: I tell anyone that my favorite animal is the octopus, and they say, "Oh! Have you seen Oldboy? He eats a live one!" I knew it was going to happen, that some poor octopus would die for the sake of art, but that doesn't make it any less disturbing. Octopi are some of the smartest creatures on the planet. I'll bet he didn't even enjoy it.]

Ahem. So that happens, and in the process of choking down Earth's most intelligent cephalopod, he catches the flu and wins the sympathy and sanctuary of the cute little sushi chef, Mi-Do. You all know this. While avenging his own misery and tracking down the guy who made it all happen, he also develops a kind of relationship with Mi-Do based on mutual desperation and fear of losing the other. Eventually, he makes the 5-day deadline and figures out what all happened, and it all spirals out of control into the mutual revenge-fest that is befitting of one of the installments of the Revenge Trilogy. (The other two of which are Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Lady Vengeance.)

Okay, so if you're still reading along with me, you know, blah blah, Oh Dae-su caught the jerk who orchestrated this whole thing having inappropriate relations with his sister and blabbed it all over the school, leading to the sister's suicide. This, I actually didn't know. I did not know that this was the driving force of Captorman's (forgot his name) evil plan, and so that reveal was actually a surprise, though I found it very thematic with the whole incest undertone of the film. Because we also all know that Captorman's evil plan involved hypnotizing Dae-su and Mi-Do into meeting and falling in love. But she's his daughter! Man, that must have been such an amazing twist for the people who don't have annoying friends!

But I do have annoying friends. And live in an annoying city full of annoying people who don't understand that some people like to see movies with a blank slate. So I can only tell you what this movie is like for someone who knows what's going to happen. And, you know, it's a little anticlimactic, when all is said and done. After the major reveal, the film really does not need to go on for another 15 minutes. We were all there for the twist, now we don't need to see a guy cut out his own tongue, another guy shoot himself in the head, and a ridiculous return to hypnosis. It's kind of like watching The Usual Suspects after you know that SPOILERSPOILER Verbal Kint is Keyser Soze. I mean, it's an interesting movie with interesting details, but it really exists for the ending.

I do know that there are people who bought this movie and watched it multiple times, and perhaps there is a reason for it. It was definitely entertaining, and the moment when Dae-su first resurfaces in the world and encounters the first human being in 15 years; that is a really touching moment that was very well done. It's a thrilling ride, and the gritty fight scenes with the flying blood and body parts are undeniably fascinating. But it doesn't really stand up as an entirely satisfying film without the twist or the anticipation of the moments that make the film so infamous.

Tokyo Sonata

Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2008



In my years as a film-viewer, which is the only kind of credential I really have to present, I have seen quite an assortment of unbelievably strange films, and other incredibly slow films. Being categorically slow or strange doesn't automatically turn a film from my good opinion, and sometimes it actually makes it better, or more interesting, or that it just suits the topic so well that there is no other way to present the idea. However strangeness or slowness is a kind of subtlety that requires great skill to handle correctly. Just like a film on any kind of controversial topic, there will certainly be an audience that will be uninterested, so it's best to cater to those who will accept the strangeness or slowness, and tell the story that needs to be told.

I'm not sure that Tokyo Sonata succeeds in this regard. It's both slow and strange, which, right now, to me, seems like a rare combination. I am also a fan of Japanese cinema, new and old, and I appreciate the fresh look at metropolitan culture through a different lens. This film is just odd. Something just doesn't work. Halfway through the film, I shot my filmgoing companion a quizzical look, and he confided, "I don't quite get the...thesis here." Whether or not this is the film that Kiyoshi Kurosawa had envisioned, it's misdirected and has too many disparate parts.

The Sasaki family, a fairly nuclear family living in Tokyo, falls prey to the laws of chaos theory once Ryuhei, the father, loses his job due to downsizing. Too ashamed and prideful to tell his family or to immediately take a new, lesser job, he goes around pretending to still be a high-ranking administrator, while taking advantage of the soup line and haunting the unemployment office. His dutiful wife, maybe bored, maybe disenchanted, sees him one day eating his free meal, and she suddenly understands everything. Ryuhei, meanwhile, tries to control the only thing left in his life, the activities of his children. He forbids his younger prodigious son from taking piano lessons, and his older son from joining the American army. We all know what happens, though, with this kind of desperation, and the appropriate rebellion ensues.

All of the events leading up to the Moment when the film comes together (you know there's going to be one) take about an hour and a half. It's slow, but the anticipation keeps you around, keeps you alert. (Except for one man in the audience who had only come, clearly, to kick off his shoes and snore his way through the second act.) All of a sudden, the film takes a drastic turn for the dramatic, but because it is so unexpected and unprecedented, it is difficult to look at the action with a serious eye. It all just seems so comical when the three main characters - mother, father and younger son - supposedly hit rock bottom with the kind of gasping, bumbling imperfection of a minor Shakespeare character. It reminded me a bit of The Host, which was decidedly a black comedy interspersed with dramatic and tragic moments. The emotional push-pull in that film was disconcerting, but it remained consistent throughout.

In case you already bought advanced, non-refundable tickets and you are cursing yourself for the lack of foresight, it isn't all bad. If I had seen the two parts separately, I'd have possibly enjoyed them for different reasons, and could say positive things about them as two different films. The characters of Ryuhei and his wife are a bit sad, but also familiar. The secretive husband and the quiet, sacrificing wife are common enough to engage an emotional response, though they don't entirely avoid being a cliche. There are some sweet and interesting scenes that are relevant to the film as a whole, and others that are maybe just vignettes to set the place and time. In the moment, there is enough to enjoy that I didn't feel uncomfortable or bored. Unfortunately, I never managed to shake the feeling that there was something slightly off.

The director, Kurosawa, perhaps intended for Tokyo Sonata to be a statement about the social pressures of Japanese society and the need for a patriarch to save face in front of his peers and family. I am not Japanese, nor have I visited the country, so I can't make any blanket statement about the importance of honor, but I know what I've heard from other sources. It is a popular theme in modern Japanese cinema, and I've seen it executed more successfully. Even with strangeness and slowness thrown in. Perhaps I'm incorrect in pinpointing that as the failure for this film, and after I finish this, I'll probably think of another slow, strange film that worked for me. (Yep. The Taste of Tea and Last Life in the Universe.) But I can say that the disconnect between the tone of the first three-quarters of the movie and the last quarter caused me, and at least one other person that I know of, to furrow our brows in confusion.

Sorry guys. (To my two readers.) I obviously dropped the ball on this, and now it's sort of late to be doing this. I'm taking a break from this project (clearly) until a time that I can look myself in the face and really believe that I am not saying the same thing every single time. Thanks for sticking around. I enjoyed doing this, for a time.

Everything I Saw In Theaters In 2008 And Up To This Week

Atonement- 1/6/08
The Golden Compass- 1/12/08
Cloverfield- 1/19/08
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly- 1/20/08
The Savages- 1/25/08
Persepolis- 2/8/08
Be Kind Rewind- 2/22/08
In Bruges- 3/19/08
Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day- 3/29/08
Young @ Heart- 4/19/08
Smart People- 4/20/08
The Band's Visit- 4/27/08
Iron Man- 5/10/08
Topsy-Turvy- 4/30/08
The Visitor- 6/6/06
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull- 6/8/08
The Fall- 6/22/08
Get Smart- 6/25/08
Wall-E- 6/27/08
Wanted- 6/29/08
The Incredible Hulk- 7/4/08
Hellboy II: The Golden Army- 7/12/08
Hancock- 7/13/08
The Dark Knight- 7/18/08
Wall-E- 7/19/08
Pineapple Express- 8/10/8
The Dark Knight: Imax Experience- 8/10/08
Vicky Cristina Barcelona- 8/23/08
The Little Mermaid Sing Along- 8/24/08
Hamlet 2- 8/31/08
Tropic Thunder- 9/7/08
Girl Cut In Two- 9/12/08
Burn After Reading- 9/13/08
Miracle at St. Anna- 10/3/2008
Choke- 10/5/2008
Cool Hand Luke- 10/7/2008
W.- 10/17/08
Rachel Getting Married- 10/18/08
Ashes of Time: Redux- 10/24/08
Happy Go Lucky- 11/01/08
Rock n Rolla- 11/06/08
Synecdoche, NY- 11/13/08
Quantum of Solace- 11/14/08
Passion of Joan of Arc- 11/23/08
Milk- 11/27/08
Slumdog Millionaire- 11/23/08
Ciao- 12/14/08
The Wrestler- 12/22/08
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button- 12/25/08
Revolutionary Road- 12/26/08
Let The Right One In- 1/9/2009
Taken- 2/01/09
Gran Torino- 2/16/09
Frozen River- 2/17/09