HENRY POOLE WAS HERE

Now, I could forgive a lot of people for saying they do not understand what exactly I see in this film. On the surface, it seems rather ordinary, not boring per se, but not that attractive either. I didn’t have very high hopes for it when I started watching but well, it was work and it had to be watched so there we were, as it were… I was pleasantly surprised by it in the end; I would by no means claim it was “life changing” but it is a genuinely good movie, perfect for a certain kind of mood…

Meet Henry Poole (Luke Wilson who you will probably remember from Legally Blonde). We don’t know very much about him actually and it doesn’t really matter anyway because he is going to die. The test results are back, yes it’s inoperable and no, there is no way back. What is the sickness? Does that matter? His life has basically come to an end… Everyone copes with this kind of shock differently; Henry decides to fold in on himself. He rents a house in the suburbs, cuts off all communication with everyone in his former existence and starts to live out his last couple of months, completely isolated from the world and “dead” to all intents and purposes… But life has a funny way of forcing itself on you when and where you least expect it. And in Henry’s case, it comes in the form of Jesus Christ. In a stain on his wall. “This is a miracle” claims Esperanza (Adriana Baraza who was nominated for an Oscar in her performance as a supporting actress in Babel) his rather nosey next door neighbor. The annoying thing is, try as Henry might, he cannot get rid of the stain. And the stain starts, or so claim the believers, to perform miracles. There is the added complication of Dawn (Radha Mitchell whom I especially admired in her leading part in Surrogates) the beautiful and sassy single mother next door, to whom Henry feels hopelessly attracted to despite telling himself their relationship has literally no future… Yes, this “preparing to die” malarkey is going to be A LOT tougher than Henry expected…

Now, don’t let the initial blurb of the film get you down. It is not a “sadness and death” film. Quite the contrary, it is a film that celebrates life. But it does this in a rather perverse way, the way it chooses to celebrate, a bit like life itself… I thought at first glance that Henry Poole’s reaction to death was a bit unbelievable, but it is actually a mindset I can comprehend. Hit by the sudden news that none of his hopes, dreams and plans for the future will ever happen, Henry makes a stab at taking control. He extracts himself from his life, with his own will and on his own terms, fortifies himself with vodka and pizza and waits for Death who will make the next move… It’s just that life itself is predictable, and in fact it goes on even when you try and stop it or become completely passive. It is interesting to compare it with “The Guitar” that I have also reviewed on this site (click here for review) There, the main character Melody takes a completely different stance, throwing all caution to the wind and running after her dreams and desires… She decides to pursue true happiness before she dies, Henry, unlike Melody, craves control above anything; he wants to be the one in charge even in death…

Happiness has a funny way of coming in strange disguises though… Watch it, I feel you will like it =)

HOOK

Are you one of those people who will “never grow up”? I most definitely am. Animations are one thing – they attract a different kind of crowd all together, but there are some children’s films that absolutely HAVE to be watched – and not necessarily when one is young either. Especially the great classics like Cinderella (I mean they even did a grown-up version of that with Drew Barrymore – remember “Ever After?”) or, in this instance Peter Pan. Now, Hook (THE FILM!) is NOT a “grown-up version of” Peter Pan. It’s a children’s film in all its glory but Dear God, what a children’s film… If you are like me determined to “never grow up” chances are you have already watched Hook numerous times. But then again maybe you missed it somehow. Maybe you were too old or too young… You definitely MUST catch up with it…

Well, Hook is not so much the classic story of Peter Pan, more the story of what happened after the story ends. As you recall, Wendy returns home, and Peter continues his life in Never Land, visiting her every year. But then, one year, there is a stranger lying in Wendy’s bed. It’s her daughter; she is just Peter’s age and really beautiful. Peter loves her at first sight and decides never to return to Never Land again… But now settled in the real world, reality takes a hold of him – he marries Wendy’s daughter Moira, gets a job, has two lovely children – a boy and a girl and… Completely forgets about Never Land… As far as he’s concerned he is an orphan found and raised by Grandma Wendy (the delightful Maggie Smith). He is a complete adult and he neither believes in magic or fairies… (he is superbly acted, incidentally by Robin Williams, an actor I greatly enjoyed “in his prime” but has now in my view almost completely slid off the radar…). Well, he may have forgotten about Never Land, but Never Land most definitely has NOT forgotten about him. Not least his dastardly rival Captain Hook. (And after watching Dustin Hoffmann’s stellar representation of Captain Hook, I have been unable to envision the pirate captain in any other way. I’m talking true pirates here people – I’m as big a fan of Johnny Depp as the next person (possibly bigger in fact) but Mr. Hoffmann says it all. Yes, ALL.) Seeing that Peter will not be back any time soon, the Captain ventures into the Real World, and sees what has happened. Being the most dastardly pirate that sailed the seven seas, he hatches a cunning plan to either force Peter to return to Never Land or hurt him beyond belief. He abducts his two children, aiming to turn them into pirates and turn them against there father, thus making him, Hook, invincible. Luckily Peter’s oldest ally and friend Tinkerbell (wait for it… Julia Roberts. Can you believe this cast??) is on hand to take Peter back (by force) to Never Land, much to the joy of the Lost Boys. Now all they must do is somehow remind Peter how to fight, fly, crow, use his imagination and live by the rules of Never Land, for this is the only way to defeat Hook. However, is Peter too far gone to be saved?...

I honestly cannot remember how many times I have watched Hook. It is such an absolutely wonderful story, acted out by absolutely superb actors. And the stars don’t finish there – Bob Hoskins is Smee, Captain Hook’s right hand man (no pun intended hehe) only I couldn’t insert him into the synopsis =). Don’t expect any Avatar type action – this was filmed in 1991 but go by Peter’s rules – use your imagination and you will begin to “see” the whole thing. And since it is not a “remake” of the story it will not spoil it for the little ones either, on the contrary, it’s what happens next, how the story really ends and that might be a life saver for some parents out there (I was very much a “what happened next” type child). This is a WONDERFULL story, an absolute classic and EVERYONE needs a bit of escapism from time to time… Come on, don’t be shy…

CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI

Children of Huang Shi is a true story of unexpected kindness and heroism in the face of incredibly adverse circumstances… We all know that life being what it is, we often find ourselves under the strangest circumstances forced to do the most unexpected things… Such was the case for one young reporter who was sent to China to cover the Japanese invasion in 1938. He was out to get the “story of his career”. He ended up the surrogate father of 60…

George Hogg (a role supremely executed by the talented Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) was the name of this reporter. Young and more daring than a lot of his colleagues, he ventures behind Japanese lines in the guise of a Red Cross worker. There he witnesses the atrocities being committed and is almost caught and executed by the Japanese when he is rescued, badly wounded but alive, by Chen Hansheng a Chinese communist (Chow – Yun Fat who you will no doubt remember from many films among which we can state Pirates Of The Caribbean : At The World’s End). As Hogg is in no state to brave the crossing back over the border, his new friend takes him to an orphanage run by Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell who you will remember for her leading role in films like Surrogates and Henry Poole Is There) to recuperate. The 60 very bedraggled orphans have a love-hate relationship with Hogg at first, but he gains their respect and love by tending to them and repairing the run-down orphanage… But dark days are not far. The nationalists are soon at the door of the orphanage, demanding to enlist the children into the army. George and Lee can only do one thing: Bundle the children up as best they can and set off on a long trek across China to find a safer place for their small charges…

Ok disclaimer. I defy you not to cry BUCKETS as you watch this one. It’s a fascinating account of human compassion and heroism (braving the steppes of China in mid-winter is no mean feat). It’s just one of those stories that remind one that there is hope yet for the human race. And it is also interesting to watch simply because well, generally speaking unless you are a historian (or live in a country in that area of course) chances are you don’t know that much about the occupation of China by Japan. (And I quite agree that for a Westerner it’s a strange thought, considering the proportions and the populations of the two countries but actually it was no laughing matter, quite heinous atrocities were committed during the occupation as the film will elaborate). The edition I watched (I think most editions in fact) ended with photographs of Hogg (the real one) and interviews with the surviving orphans who came to dote on him as a father and this added a nice touch up to the realism of the film…

99 FRANCS

OK, time to own up. I don’t always watch films the week I put them on the blog – occasionally I do “retrospectives” of ones I have watched. Come on, have hearts, I have a pretty good memory and don’t always watch three good films a week! Well, I was trawling through my archive at work today – I had a couple of hours free and decided to dedicate it to a few retrospectives – when I came across this film. Dear Lord, this film is so good I am kicking myself for not starting with it… I watched it three times AND volunteered to watch it at work. I don’t care if it’s French. I don’t care if it’s “experimental” – whatever that may mean – People, this is life-changing stuff, my sincerest apologies for forgetting it in the first place…

OK, so meet Octave Parango. Creative director and advertiser extraordinaire. He lives an INCREDIBLY fast life, fast women, the latest drugs A LOT of money. He is, in short, happy. Or does a VERY good impression of pretending he is. Then, quite unexpectedly he falls in love. For real. And as if that was not enough of a shock, the relationship fails, big time. Octave is still reeling from the pain, but life goes on and so do meetings with major clients… In one such meeting, Octave decides he has had enough. Enough of the consumerist, sham world of advertising, enough of the system that harbors it and people like him… This is war in all its horror. Octave style.

Now, for the older generation, the style of this film may jar… The editing is mind numbingly quick in places – a style the younger generation is used to from video clips. The style is very VERY hard hitting and has major shock value; think on a parr with Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick. But this style is SO well suited to the film because it matches the fast paced consumer society we live in, and we are after all so immune to EVERYTHING attached to this society that any criticism that is to be taken seriously MUST be shocking. And it is not just a dry criticism or elegy to the death of originality and times gone by. It gives a clear mind-numbing picture of the world of Advertising, the way they operate and the way we the consumers let ourselves get “had”. It’s one Hell of an angry film…

The film is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Frederic Beigbeder – and quite honestly, I am quite curious to read the book as well. And don’t let anything I’ve said put you off in any way, it’s a very honest and open account of things we all think, feel and would like to do in our heads. You will never watch advertisements in the same way again…

DERSU UZALA

Now, as I mentioned before, my film – education is largely self-made. It depends largely (not uniquely but largely) on two things : what appears on my desk at work and what turns up in the bargain baskets of large DVD stores. Now, before you say anything DO NOT diss bargain baskets. I found the entire works of Jim Jarmusch in a bargain basket once – it was a while back but the price was VERY reasonable. Anyway, because of the randomness of the incoming films there are gaping holes in certain bits of my afore-mentioned education. Akira Kurosawa is one of the greats who actually tumbled into one of those holes. I’m not proud of it however a fact is still a fact… Anyway, Mom had been (almost literally) eating me alive trying to get me to watch Dersu Uzala – her all time favorite movie. She actually went as far as buying me the DVD (not from the bargain baskets). She finally got me to watch it too, although in the end she almost had to sit me down Clockwork Orange style (see here if you don't know what I mean - disclaimer : still does not belong to me in any way, see www.cswap.com for more)and force me to do it (Not out of any open aversion to Akira Kurosawa more due to a decided lack of planning). As you can see it made it to the blog. Cheers Mom.

Now, Dersu Uzala is set in Siberia at the beginning of the 20th century. Our hero is an army cartographer and captain in the Russian army who has been sent to survey and make detailed maps of the Siberian steppes and forests. He has a battalion of soldiers with him for aid and protection but it soon becomes apparent soldiers will not be sufficient to survive in this land that is in fact completely foreign to them. By chance the little group cross paths with Dersu Uzala, an old Goldi (Mongolian) hunter and trapper who lives in the forest. His lifestyle has varied very little from those of his ancestors; he worships the forest spirits and speaks pidgin Russian. The group find him “quaint” and “old fashioned” but it soon transpires that Dersu Uzala is a force to be reckoned with as far as survival is concerned. The Captain will have his life saved, learn many lessons from and find a true friend in Dersu Uzala…

You may imagine that a film directed by a Japanese director telling the tale of an exhibition in Siberia may not contain that much nail-biting tension. But make no mistake there are true nail-biters in this film alongside truly touching moments. Mr Kurosawa has prepared for us a true roller-coaster of emotion and the excitement is so great that even the fact that the film goes on for two and a half hours (it’s a film from a different generation don’t forget) does not bother the modern viewer. In a funny kind of way – and you may not guess it from the beginning – it is a perfect example of Asian cinema. It is not fast-paced, infact you do not feel the pace at all, which is a remarkable achievement. The perspective is not what we are used to and we are introduced (in my case anyway) to the true spirit of Siberia, feel the power of the tigers and fear the deadly blizzards with Dersu. In fact we are introduced – almost experience – a lifestyle lost in the 19th century… It is a poetic yet strong yet very emotional film… It obviously didn’t win an Oscar® for nothing. And Mr Kurosawa did not become a legend for nothing. If like me you somehow missed it, MAKE time for it…

UP FOR SOME REAL TIME TRAVEL ? TRY "TAKING WOODSTOCK"

Woodstock. Were you there? Do you wish you were there? I sure do but it was waaay before my time. Now that was a revolution. And as stories go, it doesn’t get much truer than that. Well, did you ever stop to consider how Woodstock came about? Because with an event like Woodstock one tends to put it in the same category as the forces of nature, magically appearing on its own so to speak… However as magical as it may have been the Woodstock music festival had its beginning rooted in very solid reality had VERY real organizational problems and by all accounts one would have trouble believing some of the characters involved were real off the screen…
Such as Elliot Teichberg. In the beginning Mr Teichberg had nothing what so ever to do with Woodstock. He is an interior designer and painter (well, friends and family buy his paintings) and a gay rights activist in New York. His parents run a small motel in The Catskills. Well they try to – their attitudes have scared off all the customers… With foreclosure looming Elliot has no other option but to go back to White Lake to somehow save his parents. But the situation is pretty dire and Elliot is getting pretty desperate until Elliot happens to see a news item in the local newspaper… A three-day music festival was going to be organized in the next town. Something pretty damn big and impressive. However the townspeople had (successfully) run the organizers out of town fearing a “hippie infestation”. Now Elliot has in his possession one permit for a music festival (he organizes the town’s festival every summer), an empty motel (a little run down but ideal for a H.Q for the organizers) and a neighbor, Max Yasgur who owns a dairy farm with HUGE fields (and we can all guess what THEY were used for)… Elliot communicates this fact to Michael Lang, the organizer of the festival and low and before he knows what’s happening, millions (literally) are on the road to the Catskills for three days of music peace and love…
Taking Woodstock is HANDS DOWN the sweetest film I have watched in a long time. But with a master director like Ang Lee at the helm, how can one not expect a show? Mr Lee literally transports us to the heart and soul of the festival. The best thing about it is that on slight inspection, the film is pretty full of what could be called “clichés”: 60’s clichés, hippie clichés, small town clichés, even a few Jewish clichés (I have to put a disclaimer here and add that what starts out as seemingly an amusing oddity takes a rather serious turn at the end of the film – but I’m not giving away anything, watch and see) The thing is, these are so beautifully managed they are not caricatures or clichés but little things that convey the very soul of the festival… That is why the film portrays the “spirit of the 60’s” so well, with complete honesty, openness and simplicity – to the point that it feels like time travel! The characters are naturally taken from real life but they are so well portrayed that you can’t help sympathizing and empathizing with them all almost immediately. I especially enjoyed watching Elliot Teichberg (Demetri Martin) and Jonathan Geoff as Michael Lang.
Some bits in the story made me laugh out loud. Yes, there is some nakedness… Ok, a lot of nakedness… But when I say nakedness I mean just that – naked people. NOT what you were thinking… Ok there are drugs – but come on for God’s sake, it was the 60’s! It was Woodstock!! And don’t dismiss it as something that will fall down the generation gap – you’ll love it. Word of honor.

THE ACCUSED

Ok, now for a bit of time travel. All the way back to 1988. Oscars ®. Ok, anyone know who won Best Actress that year? No cheating mind! Yes? No? Give up? Jodie Foster. One of my favorite actresses by far, so naturally I was curious. A pretty interesting story too – so I decided to take a look at it…
The afore-mentioned story goes as follows: Sarah Tobias (Jodie Foster) is a waitress who lives in a trailer park with her drug-dealer boyfriend. One night, after a particularly unpleasant fight with said boyfriend she goes to a bar to chat to a friend and blow off some steam. At the bar she has a few drinks, smokes some grass and flirts a little. However her antics take a wrong turn and she ends up being gang-raped. She runs to the police determined to drag the men through the courts, however there is a problem. The men in question are “fraternity” guys with “connections”. She is a penniless waitress who was drunk on the night and who is known to usually have a few drinks too many. Thus the D.A.’s office, that is meant to protect her, doesn’t consider her a “strong case” and will not stand by her like they should. Sarah, along with the assistant D.A. assigned to the case must use courage and wits if she wants to stand up and be heard..
Now, the story is your common or garden courtroom drama. It’s interesting as I think it gives an accurate enough picture of the system and a woman’s place in the system in the 80’s. Speaking of the 80’s the film is sooo 80’s you can’t help but notice it. The characters. The way the story progresses. The editing. The rapists and the “spectators”. Dear Lord, the hair and costumes... But what makes this otherwise rather ordinary film extraordinary is Jodie Foster. Her performance as Sarah Tobias, down and out as far as society is concerned but determined to have what is owed to her simply shines through. Sarah is not a character you can necessarily “bond with” that easily... But of course the storyline and Ms Foster’s extraordinary performance make her entirely real...
However, I must hasten to add that one Jodie Foster does not make a masterpiece. The film is good but not brilliant. It’s still pretty damn exciting though – definitely make the time for it...