236. American Gigolo

236. (05 Oct) American Gigolo (1980, Paul Schrader) 59



A strange prototypical erotic thriller, the eroticism here is rather forced while the murder plot is totally undercooked. But it's what's under the surface here that makes American Gigolo substantial. There's some excellent gay subtext throughout. While Richard Gere is always proudly proclaiming he won't have sex with men, it's clear he has before and there's some underlying reason for his homophobia. It's Paul Schaefer's shortcoming that he shows a gay bar as a hotbed of sexual deviance while heterosexual encounters are mostly glorified to the point of being lame softcore. Nevertheless, he objectifies Gere, albeit overstating his sex appeal in the process. The bold choices, like Gere's unnecessary frontal, almost all pay off. Any pornographic film older than twenty years might have this Giorgio Moroder score.

178. Final Analysis

178. (29 Aug) Final Analysis (1992, Phil Joanou) 31



Here's an erotic thriller with no concept of what sexiness is. Talking about your father raping your sister and going completely nuts when you take the slightest sip of alcohol are, for the record, unsexy. While Kim Basinger makes an effort to compensate for hideous material, she's not quite talented enough to do anything to fix this overcomplicated neo-noir. A sleazy and underutilized Eric Roberts actually gives the best performance here. Richard Gere and Uma Thurman are ineffective, at best. It's most astonishing a film this mediocre willfully places itself in the shadow of works like Vertigo. This straddles genres, occasionally a stupid mystery or dull courtroom drama, but it's always a mess.

Chicago

Chicago, 2002
Directed by Rob Marshall
Nominated for 13 Oscars, Won 6

Synopsis: It's 1920's Chicago. And Velma Kelly (a famous star, tease, cabaret singer and sister act), and Roxie Hart (a wanna-be star, wanting to be the next Velma) are both throw into death row for committing murder. Velma, for killing her sister and husband who she found going behind her back together, and Roxie, for killing the man she was cheating with who lied about making her a star. The two are competing for fame and publicity, and also sympathy, that will keep them from being hanged for their crimes, through the use of lawyer to many a female murderer, Billy Flynn. But the road to innocence is littered with lies, betrayal and deceit.

Once again, I didn't know much about this film. I went into it thinking it was the rise of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger to fame, through Richard Gere. While I was wrong, I certainly wasn't too far off the mark. I was shocked when I saw Roxie Hart (Zellweger) shoot her lover. I was confused to where it was going, but was completely interested.

The film uses, in my opinion, I unique use of it's music. All the musical numbers are set on a stage, cabaret-lounge style, and is intermingled with reality. The numbers are almost the inner feelings and voices of the characters, and take place in their heads, showing us what is almost literally going on. The story itself wasn't a musical. There was no singing in the actual jail, or in the courts, etc, but all was taken place as a metaphorical telling of the current circumstances, sweeping back and forth between the two, which I found quite clever!

Additionally, I was very impressed with Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Both are very talented women, and blew me away. I was a little nervous when I saw Renee on the cover because I've seen her in very few movies, and the ones I've seen she's a very serene, sensible character. It was interesting to see her in something so completely different and to completely own it. She was so believable in her innocent yet not-so innocent role. She's also a very talented dancer and singer, and having read she had no formal training in either before the film, I'm quite impressed. Similar to Ms. Zeta-Jones, she is a very talented singer and dancer.

While seeing women dance around sexy in underwear, essentially, is not really my thing, I still think it was done quite well. It was a true satire of putting on a show for the media, and no matter what the truth is, as long as it's entertaining the media will swallow it whole and ask few questions. One particular number that really enticed me was the Ventriloquism number. It was cleverly done, and was very telling, but also very satirical in the way that Billy Flynn and other "entertainers", per se, control the media.

I really liked this film, and I give it a lot of credit since none of the three leads are professional singers or dances. The costumes were great, and the music and dancing was simply fantastic. I have very little negative to say about this film. It was really well done!

8/10

DAYS OF HEAVEN

Written and Directed by Terrence Malick

Starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Linda Manz and Sam Shepard

Linda: I'm telling you; the rich got it figured out.

The effect is instantaneous. The moment DAYS OF HEAVEN begins, you are fully taken into what can only be described as the cinematic incarnation of heaven itself. Striking yet sumptuous still images of America and the suffering Americans of yore, fill the screen in a montage set to a classic Ennio Morricone score. It isn’t the content that constitutes heaven but rather the bold and commanding manner in which writer/director, Terrence Malick, presents it to his audience, that transcends the filmmaking abilities of any mere mortal. In that sense, Malick is the cinematic equivalent of God, and like God, Malick is omniscient. He is aware of all the tiny moments that make up the lives of his characters and how each of them can go on to change the world around them without even realizing what is happening. Sometimes, watching through Malick’s eyes feels like you might actually be watching from the clouds.

The world we are privy to in DAYS OF HEAVEN is farm country, Texas, 1916 (actually shot in Whiskey Gap, Alberta). Bill and Abby (Richard Gere and Brooke Adams) are a couple, riding the rails with Bill’s little sister, Linda (Linda Manz). They take up work in the wheat fields just in time for harvest season, after Bill got into a fight and accidentally killed his foreman at his previous manual labour job in Chicago. Everyone they encounter knows them as brother and sister, a decision made to avoid talk amongst the other prying workers. Believing her to be unattached, Abby catches the eye of the farm owner, played by Sam Shepard and known only as The Farmer. He is unmarried and ill, with only a short time left to live and no one to share his time with. When the harvest is complete, he asks Abby to stay on with her “brother and sister” and marry him and she decides to do just that. The trouble for The Farmer is he doesn’t know that she and her lover are just waiting until he passes away so that they can inherit his fortune. The trouble for Bill and Abby is that they don’t know how long their love can survive the charade, nor when The Farmer will die.

DAYS OF HEAVEN triumphs for a number of reasons, not the least of which is Malick’s incredibly focused direction. His screenplay is as lean as the times in the film. Dialogue is sparse and the plot is forwarded instead by the activity taking place on screen, allowing literally for the action to speak much louder than the words. All the while the harvest is happening, words are barely spoken, safe for some minor exchanges about being hungry or where someone is from. This leaves the viewer to piece together what is happening through looks and body language and fractions of larger conversations that reveal just enough to connect the dots. And who wants to listen to a lot of false dialogue anyway when you can allow your ears to take in the brilliantly designed soundscape, as mixed by Barry Thomas. Whether the wind is whipping through the wheat in the fields or locusts are descending in biblical proportions upon them, the sound is always impeccable and dynamic. It had better be too to keep up with Nestor Almendros’s Oscar-winning cinematography. Together, the viewer is drawn into the drawl one would expect when staring out into the fields on a hot day in the south and watching the buffalo roam. With every element coming together so brilliantly, it’s hard to believe this is only Malick’s second feature.

Another trait Malick shares with his maker is that he does not judge, at least not from behind the camera in DAYS OF HEAVEN. As the story unfolds in front of us, Malick is not concerned with taking sides or playing sympathy, he only seems interested in how best to present it to his audience. This great respect for the audience’s capacity to appreciate the depth of his artistry grows stronger as his scope goes wider. To pull away from the central story is to see the grander setting surrounding it. In it, Malick gives us the America of the time and the great divide between rich and poor. But even as Bill, Abby and Linda go from having nothing to having so much that they feel the need to throw food around as though it were nothing, Malick does not condemn them. That said, some fairly intense punishment does befall the whole lot of them eventually but even then, Malick is just there to observe, and beautifully so, as their fates are carried out. For better or for worse, this was just the America of the time and DAYS OF HEAVEN proves Malick is just one of the greatest American filmmakers of his time.

In Honor of the LSAT

Yesterday, I took what is hopefully the first step in becoming a law student.  The formidable LSAT wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but still pretty rough.  But, in honor of my taking the LSAT, I thought I'd compile a few of my favorite lawyer performances.  Mostly from movies, but a few from TV.  Enjoy and comment.

10. Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird

This would be higher, I think, but it's such an obvious choice.  Peck is remarkable as the stoic father in the adaptation of Harper Lee's novel.  But, as much as I loved his performance in the courtroom scene, his scenes at home with Scout are the highlight of the movie.  So his performance is less lawyer, and more awesome father.

09. Susan Sarandon in The Client

I love lawyer performances that are totally against the law.  That is to say, I'm not quite sure anything Sarandon's character does in The Client is legal nor am I sure she'd have survived the situation without being disbarred.  But in the end, it's not a portrayal of legalities, but rather of love.  And she knocks it out of the park.

08. Maximillian Schell in Judgement at Nuremberg

Schell won an Oscar for his passionate and utterly brilliant performance in Stanley Kramer, as a lawyer who brings up some sticky moral arguments regarding the Nazis and how they were condemned.  The performance is so powerful you begin to question your own opinions.

07. Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde

How fabulous was Reese in this?  Sure she's not really a lawyer at all in the movie, but the point is is that she does lawyerly things, like solve the case at the end of the movie, thereby proving to everyone she's smart enough!  I jump every time she connects the perm to the shower to the murder!  

06. Jim Carrey in Liar Liar

This is still a very surprising performance from Carrey.  Even with his more famous dramatic turns, this was the turning point for him I think.  Yes he did his typical funny thing, but in the middle of that he's dealing with being a total tool and in the process loosing his child.  It's a really sad reality, and the movie forces him to go from scumbag lawyer to good father.

05. Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny

Can anyone tell me anything that's not amazing about this performance?  Pesci is a great actor, but this was really the first time I saw him do comedy.  Sure he did it in Home Alone, but this was a different breed entirely.  His perfect ability to seemingly make up things on the spot is hilarious, and his chemistry with the entire cast specifically Marissa Tomei and Lane Smith is something other actors must covet.  "Two yoots."  Love it.

04. Al Pacino in ...And Justice for All.

What's not to love about Al Pacino?  I've always thought this was the best performance of his career.  His balance of comedy and drama masterful, and his legal mentality is nothing short of spitfire.  His performance demands him to both care about his clients, juggle them with his life, and find a light at the end of the tunnel.  Great performance.  Also gave us the end-all courtroom drama quote, "YOU'RE OUT OF ORDER! THIS WHOLE COURT IS OUT OF ORDER!"

03. James Spader in "Boston Legal" and "The Practice"

Has there ever been a better closing argument delivered than James Spader...in every episode of "Boston Legal"? I don't think so.  Spader's delishious ability to relish the best words and covey the desperation in defense of his client was most likely the causation of his 3 well-deserved Emmy awards for this character.  Whenever "Boston Legal" tackled major public issues, I dare any audience member watching not to change their stance into whatever Spader was arguing for.  He was brilliant.

02. Richard Gere in Chicago

The definition of a shark.  He's sheer perfection.

01. John Houseman in The Paper Chase

As the law teacher from hell, Houseman won an Oscar for his cold portrayal in the terrifyingly accurate law school movie The Paper Chase.  He's a jerk, he's frigid, and you know he cares about you in the smallest of smallest ways.  I hope I don't have anyone like him.