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SAW II / Darren Lynn Bousman (2005)

October 25th, 2005 by Scott Marks

Darren Lynn Bousman’s SAW II (2005)

Saw II (2005)

Directed by: Darren Lynn Bousman

Written by: Leigh Whannell, Darren Lynn Bousman

Cast: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Donnie Wahlberg, Erik Knudsen, Franky G, Glenn Plummer, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Leigh Whannell, Mpho Koaho, Beverley Mitchell, Tim Burd, Barry Flatman, Lyriq Bent, Dina Meyer, Noam Jenkins

Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1

Genres: Crime, Horror, Thriller

Running Time: 91 min.

Rating: ★★½☆☆

Jigsaw (Tobin Bell ) is a psycho who makes good on his promise: “There will be blood.”

If inventive sadism is your idea of a fun night at the movies, Saw II delivers ninety minutes of relentless screw-tightening shocks.

In spite of its nonsensical conclusion James Wan’s Saw was a engagingly grisly, brutally graphic thrill ride that delivered box office gold. With a twenty-five day shooting schedule forcing inventiveness and a tad more logic thrown into the mix, Saw II is a rarity among sequels: it’s as good as the original. Instead of two characters and a corpse, we now have eight tortured victims united by one common bond.

Bad cop Donnie Wahlberg can’t seem to reign in his teenage son (Frankie Munoz substitute Erik Knudsen) who seems well on his way to a guest spot on America’s Most Wanted. That’s all the impetus Jigsaw, a scientist when it comes to preying upon the weakness of his victims, needs to set the sequel’s mechanics in motion.

Saw II plays a clever twist on the original by placing the hero and villain, instead of the two victims, in one room. With a handful of TV monitors broadcasting closed-circuit coverage of the action, Jigsaw delights in watching the detective squirm.

The gut-churning parade kicks off with a pre-credit sequence in which the key to freedom is surgically implanted in the eye of its victim. Two choices: either pull a Bunuel and slice wide your retina or suffer the fate of a Mario Bava-inspired spiked black mask timed to turn its victim’s head into a colander. A pit of hypodermic needles, gallons of coughed-up blood and thoughts on one serial killer’s quest for immortality suggest a game of “Clue” gone terribly wrong.

Casting Saw’s Shawnee Smith, the only survivor of Jigsaw’s game, in a key role proves that a sequel was never far from the mind of the franchise’s creator. Instead of limiting the gore to one room, Saw II ‘gives us an entire tenement in which to splatter about. Nerve gas, the film references the terrorist attacks on the Tokyo subway, is being pumped into the vents and Jigsaw agrees to unlock the door one hour after the poison takes full effect.

With the exception of Tobin Bell, the rest of the actors were cast according to type. As the soft-spoken ringleader of carnage, Bell provides the prerequisite of every good horror yarn: a truly despicable antagonist. Quiet revelations of his gut-shot illness will have you cheering on the cancer.

It should come as no surprise that only a few characters live to see the final fade out and credit the filmmakers with devising several new sado-masochistic kinks. Not content to simply rearrange the narrative order of its predecessor, Saw II will not disappoint fans of the original.

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ARTISTS AND ROLE MODELS: AN INTERVIEW WITH ATOM EGOYAN

October 12th, 2005 by Scott Marks

Atom Egoyan directs Kevin Bacon in WHERE THE TRUTH LIES (2005)

Where the Truth Lies (2005)

Directed by: Atom Egoyan
Written by: Rupert Holmes, Atom Egoyan
Cast: Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, Alison Lohman, David Hayman, Rachel Blanchard, Maury Chaykin, Sonja Bennett, Kristin Adams, Deborah Grover, Beau Starr, Arsinée Khanjian, Gabrielle Rose, Don McKellar, David Hemblen, John Moraitis
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1

Rating: ★★★½☆

It was your typical milky-white nine a. m. in San Diego, but Atom Egoyan, on the phone from his office in Toronto, was far from gloomy.

The director spoke passionately (and rapidly) about his latest feature Where the Truth Lies, a fictionalized account of a murder that may or may not involve showbiz royalty.

Egoyan is a brilliant independent writer/director whose cold, clinical and frequently nasty films (Calendar, Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter) reflect a similar sensibility to that of fellow countryman David Cronenberg. While Cronenberg is a master of psychological horror, Egoyan excels at dysfunctional relationships best viewed from a distance. What better subjects than Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, comedy’s most publicly divorced duo?

It’s America in the fifties and Lanny Morris (Kevin Bacon) and Vince Collins (Colin Firth) are the country’s comedic pulse. A classic duo — Lanny is the crazy schtick comic, while British Vince is his cool and collected straight man—the boys seem equally at home wetting the eyes of adoring nightclub patrons as they do Telethon viewers hooked on their pity pitch. They are at the top of their game, wealthy, powerful, and popular beyond compare until one day when a young hotel maid inexplicably turns up dead in the boys’ suite.

The project presented Egoyan with several new hurdles to conquer. Budgeted at $25 million, it’s his biggest, most commercial film to date. It is also his first film to be shot on American soil. Perhaps the leading challenge was in the production design. This is the director’s first period, make that periods, piece; half of the film takes place at the scene of the crime, a flashback to the 1959 Annual Veteran’s Day Polio Telethon. Intercut is a distanced seventies perspective where we look back on the events through the eyes of a young journalist (Alison Lohman) wanting to clear their names.

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CAPOTE / Bennett Miller (2005)

October 7th, 2005 by Scott Marks

Clifton Collins, Jr. & Philip Seymour Hoffman in Bennett Miller’s CAPOTE (2005)

Capote (2005)

Directed by: Bennett Miller

Written by: Dan Futterman, Gerald Clarke

Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Clifton Collins, Jr., Catherine Keener, Chris Cooper, Allie Mickelson, Kelci Stephenson, Craig Archibald, Bronwen Coleman, Kate Shindle, David Wilson Barnes, Michael J. Burg, Kwesi Ameyaw, Andrew Farago, Ken Krotowich, Chris Cooper, R.D. Reid, Rob McLaughlin

Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1

Genres: Biography, Crime, Drama

Running Time: 110 min.

Rating: ★★★★☆

There was something about that back page New York Times article detailing four grisly murders that commanded Truman Capote’s attention. More than just a follow-up to Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the author envisioned a new way of telling a story: a “non-fiction novel” that attempted to elevate Dick and Perry, two nomadic killers, to the realm of humanity.

Without an acquittal or a hanging, his book had no ending and Capote follows the author’s quest to put an “Amen” on In Cold Blood. Confident that we know how this one ends, the filmmakers steer us in the direction of the truth as the proud and haughty Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) saw it. Tagging future To Kill a Mockingbird author Nelle Harper Lee (the indispensable Catherine Keener) as his research assistant/bodyguard, the two embark on a five-year journey that commences in a decidedly Oz-less Kansas.

The pair arrive in hostile Holcomb, a backward town that refuses to stock Tiffany’s in their public library. As if Bergdorf scarves and camel hair topcoats weren’t enough to warrant dirty looks from the locals, there was Capote’s peculiar voice to contend with.

Those of you old enough to remember his witty, acerbic appearances on late night talk shows will never forget his lazy-tongued lisp. Hoffman perfectly captures its childlike essence and both he and director Miller make it a point never to cross the camp barrier. A few well-positioned sideway glances from the men folk tell all we need to know of their barely concealed contempt. The only ones in town familiar with his writing are women, and once they inform their hubbies of the author’s prominence it is just a matter of time before he charms his way into their confidence.

While Dick (Mark Pelligrino) is content to whack off to skin magazines, Perry (Clifton Collins, Jr.), with Capote’s backing, mounts his jailhouse defense. Time spent with Perry threatens Capote’s relationship with his lover/fellow novelist Jack Dunphy (Bruce Greenwood). The fey author definitely craved the muscular, heavily tattooed Perry, but his obsession transcended mere lust. Through Perry, Truman was able to tap into his dark side. “It was as though we both lived in the same house, only one day he left through the back door and I left through the front.”

Just beneath Capote’s frivolous surface beat the heart of a well-oiled (mostly by J&B Scotch) self-promotion machine. Whether he’s tipping a Pullman porter to impress Lee (she calls him on it), playing jet-setting raconteur to countless party guests, or revealing just enough of himself to win over a witness, Capote’s main fascination is Capote.

Initially, he lets it slip that bringing the killers to justice was of no concern to him and later confesses that their ultimate fate beyond his novel was equally unimportant. Capote wanted them kept alive for anything but humanistic reasons. If Perry died without detailing the motivations behind the slaughter, In Cold Blood might have died with him, and Tru had a publisher and several bartenders to answer to.

Much will be written and said (deservedly so) about Hoffman, but I hope the buzz doesn’t eclipse the brilliance of Clifton Collins, Jr’s performance. Collins first caught my eye in Dead Presidents and he became a permanent fixture in my character actor Rolodex as the ruthless drug dealer in Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic. He’s a less annoying John Leguizamo with a broader range and much more talent.

You should be quick to note my aversion to Oscar buzz. F the Academy! Personally, I hope Miller and Hoffman don’t win thus placing them among the ranks of “losers” Hitchcock, Cary Grant and Martin Scorsese instead of unworthy doorstop owners Red Buttons, spielberg and the projectile diarrhea that is Forrest Gump.

This is the director’s second film and once again he chooses for his subject another self-absorbed, real-life spellbinder. Remember Timothy ‘Speed’ Levitch, the annoyingly endearing Gray Line tour guide who commandeered The Cruise? Shifting with the greatest of ease from urban documentary to period biography, Miller shows an assured sense of space and pace. His serene landscapes, both concrete and wooded, quietly set a stage for the flamboyant Capote to overpower. Help this film find an audience, and when you finish watching this terrific biopic, do yourself the ultimate favor by checking out the book that started it all.

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THREE DANCING SLAVES / Gaël Morel (2004)

October 5th, 2005 by Scott Marks

Gaël Morel’s THREE DANCING SLAVES (2004)

Le Clan (2004)

Directed by: Gaël Morel

Written by: Christophe Honoré, Gaël Morel

Cast: Nicolas Cazalé, Stéphane Rideau, Thomas Dumerchez, Salim Kechiouche, Bruno Lochet, Vincent Martinez, Jackie Berroyer, Aure Atika, Nicolas Paz, Mathias Olivier, Gary Mary, Geordie Piseri-Diaz, Clément Dettli, Pierre Vallin, Janine Ribollet

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Genres: Drama

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

What sounds like the revival of a 1950’s Yvonne DeCarlo programmer is actually a contemporary story of three brothers each facing a crucial turning point in their lives. How the original title “Le Clan” translates into Three Dancing Slaves is easily the film’s most thought-provoking question.

Welcome to a bleak and thoroughly unredeemed universe. Not unlike the racially-mixed adoptees that comprise John Singleton’s Four Brothers, here is a family torn apart by the recent death of their mother. The film is broken up into three segments, one per sibling. Marc (Nicolas Cazale) is a brutal skinhead who, when not working out, smokes, does drugs and dines under the Golden Arches. Marc’s group of friends seems to be straight, yet they engage in circle-jerks and use vibrating cell phones as sexual aids.

Fresh out of jail, older brother Christophe (Stephane Rideau) finds employment at a local ham factory that will hopefully keep him on the straight-and-narrow and away from the hellbent Marc. Olivier (Thomas Dumerchez), the openly gay brother, and the only one who seems to be in a healthy relationship, is given the shortest amount of screen time.

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INTO THE BLUE / John Stockwell (2005)

October 5th, 2005 by Scott Marks

Jessica Alba in John Stockwell’s INTO THE BLUE (2005)

Into the Blue (2005)

Directed by: John Stockwell

Written by: Matt Johnson

Cast: Paul Walker, Jessica Alba, Scott Caan, Ashley Scott, Josh Brolin, James Frain, Tyson Beckford, Dwayne Adway, Javon Frazer, Chris Taloa, Peter R.V. Bowleg Jr., Clifford McIntosh, Adam Collins, Gill Montie, Dan Ballard

Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1

Running Time: 110 min.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Into the Blue gives straight teenagers a chance to ogle Jessica Alba’s ass and pokies and gay boys a shot at surveying Brad Pitt clone Paul Walker’s constant shirtless physique.

Were you expecting dialectical montage?

Somewhere between the crotch and pex shots lurks a story concerning two couples’ discovery of sunken treasures: the multi-million dollar bounty of a legendary shipwreck and a drug trafficker’s submerged airplane loaded with kilos of cocaine.

The Coppertoned leads are certainly easy on the eyes during the opening travelogue passages, but when it comes to the business of acting Alba and Walker can’t stay afloat. Walker is best grinning and baring it while Alba’s method appears to be an uncanny ability to nod along with each syllable she pronounces.

Couple #2 consists of a taller, blonder version of Ms. Alba (Ashley Scott) who, unlike the sexless sex goddess doesn’t mind appearing topless in long shot. Not since Young Guns has a film assembled such an enviable cast of second-generation talent. Scott Caan seems to have been cast in the role of hotheaded party boy Bryce cause his old man played Sonny Corleone. Following in the dynastic footprints of Danny Baldwin and Chris Penn, Caan is another thick-necked ape who, when given a chance, provokes little more than unintentional laughs.

The villain in the piece is played by Josh Brolin, son of James Streisand. If only Josh put as much force into acting as he did into (allegedly) smacking around real-life spouse Diane Lane.

Rounding out the family affair behind the lens is director John Stockwell, son of Blue Velvet’s Dean Stockwell. Following the success of Blue Crush, Stockwell seems to be the go-to man for updating the Beach Party cycle. As a director, Stockwell is best remembered for his acting in John Carpenter’s killer-car film, Christine.

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