Trance

Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson, Vincent Cassel, Danny Sapani, Wahab Sheikh, Matt Cross, Tuppence Middleton
Running Time: 101 min.
Rating: R

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

Blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, dreams and nightmares, and the conscious and unconscious, Danny Boyle's Trance plays as if Memento,Vanilla Sky, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Inception were mixed in a blender to create a concoction Alfred Hitchcock would have appreciated. The few ads there were when it was released try to sell it as a heist movie, and while there is a heist, this is more. Going into details beyond a very basic description is impossible considering if I told you even half of what went on in this movie, you wouldn't believe it. There's twist on top of twist for nearly all its running time and when it ended it occurred to me that I hardly even remember anyone talking about the film when it was released.

Despite relatively strong reviews and an Oscar-winning director behind the lens, this came and went without so much as a peep. As challenging and ambitious as anything released in the first half of the year, it's only drawback might be that the screenplay is almost too intelligent and original, threatening at points to overtake the character-driven element, which is also incredibly strong. And yet that risk is also part of the fun. It also takes the usually tired plot point of hypnosis and does something surprisingly deep with it, turning over on itself so many times I nearly lost count. With mind blowing visuals, one career high performance, kinetic energy and a hypnotic pull of its own, the movie is fittingly hard to shake from memory.

When art auctioneer and gambling addict Simon Newton (James McAvoy) finds himself owing a massive debt, he works out a plan with the dangerous Franck (Vincent Cassel) and his henchmen to rob his own auction house and steal the multi-million dollar painting, "Witches in the Air," by Francisco Goya. But the meticulously planned heist goes awry as Simon is knocked unconscious and in critical condition, greeted as a hero by the media when he eventually comes to. Suffering from amnesia and with no recollection of what he did with the painting, a furious Franck and Simon agree he see a hypnotist in hopes of jogging the repressed memory and locating the painting. That hypnotist is Elizabeth Lamb (Rosario Dawson), who ends up getting way too personally and professionally involved, to the point that we really start to question what's wrong with this woman and what her exact motivations could be. And everyone's motivations are constantly changing and allegiances shifting as they inch closer to retrieving Simon's memory of what happened that day. But what starts as an attempt to glean a single piece of information becomes more complicated, shaking the very foundation of what's real and what's imagined. 

With a fascinating fast-paced, narrated prologue that takes us inside the auction house detailing the  security plans and procedures in place to prevent a theft, it would be easy to think from the onset that we really were going to be watching a standard (if exceptionally well-made) heist film in the Scorsese mold. Then things start to become a blur, but not because the plot is necessarily complicated per se. What might be the most thrilling, impressive aspect to Joe Ahearne and Jon Hodge's script (adapted from Ahearne's own 2001 British TV movie) is just how straightforward and grounded it is. When the hypnosis comes into play, there's nothing too crazy like the characters entering each others minds or anything like that. Despite being under hypnosis at various points, it never feels as if anyone is acting without their own free will and memories are not accessed unless the subject is psychologically open and avialable to doing so. Of course, Simon isn't for a variety of reasons, which is where most of the drama lies.

All three of these characters have secrets and as they come out we find ourselves shifting our allegiances and support as much they do. In a gutsy move, there really are no heroes or villains here. Just complex characters using each other to get what they want, even when what we think they want is constantly in flux. And it's about much more than the painting. Dawson's role at first glance almost looks like it will strictly be a supporting one, as Elizabeth is cleverly introduced as what looks like a plot device, or at best a vehicle to further the feud over the painting. But with each passing scene the part seems to just grow in importance to the point that it overtakes the entire film in unanticipated ways. Strangely, it's really the first time Dawson's been dramatically tested in a major high profile role, and she responds by delivering the best performance of her career. Not only is she completely believable as a hypnotherapist, but as the mind-bending plot unravels with all its twists and turns, she subtly reveals facets to the character we couldn't have guessed at.

Elizabeth makes for a polarizing character because Dawson holds just enough back as to not give away her confusing motivations, pushing and not pushing certain buttons at just the right times. And prepare to be shocked and awed at just how much of  the actress you see in this, as it's surprising the notoriously prudish MPAA didn't give the film an NC-17 on the basis of her full frontal nude scenes alone. But much like everything else in the picture, it serves its purpose, making it easy to see why she took on the challenge. The always reliable Cassel is at most devious and charismatic here as Franck, playing a seasoned, sophisticated crook who isn't exactly unlikable and also has goals that are questionable from the start. He basically steals (no pun intended) the movie out from under McAvoy, who's supposed to be lead despite the very nature of the role making him a blank slate as Simon. Still, he does a commendable job as the hero who really isn't and few performers can top the actor at playing the scrambling, sensitive underdog.

The script, performances, Trainspotting composer Rick Smith's hypnotic score and Anthony Dodd Mantle's mind blowing cinematography all combine to create to what amounts to a seriously trippy movie experience in which the hypnosis sequences seem almost indistinguishable from reality-based scenes. There are many memorable shots, but there's a single reflective image (you'll definitely know it when you see it) in Franck's ultra cool apartment that's probably the most impressive of the year and London is given a visual makeover that makes it unrecognizably dreamlike. To say happenings get a bit convoluted in the third act is an understatement and it's hard escaping the nagging feeling that maybe it doesn't all tightly hold together as the characters become almost machinations of the plot. But there's an extended flashback sequence toward the end that attempts to fill that in and mostly succeeds. Those usually never work, but somehow this one's really compelling, adding rather than detracting from the narrative. 

It's hard to fault Boyle for over-ambition when he successfully follows through on so many of the ideas presented. Any criticisms that the Oscar-winning director is somehow "slumming it" by directing a psychological thriller should probably see it first. It represents what's becoming an  increasingly rare case of a first-rate filmmaker elevating what could have easily been standard, pulpy material. And if we want to really go there, it's time to admit that Slumdog Millionaire is one of the less painful Best Picture winners in recent memory. This is at least as strong as that or 127 Hours and definitely his most purely entertaining and satisfying effort since Trainspotting.

When characters are just watching themselves on an ipad and it's breathtakingly exciting, that's a sign you're in the hands of a master craftsman. Knowing how versatile he is, it's still tough to imagine Boyle had something like this in him, and yet easy to envision anyone else screwing it up. It could have been an all-out mess, or even turned out to be an almost equally well-made cheesy thriller like this year's Side Effects. What we get instead is a full throttle sensory experience that not only dares you to guess what happens next, but demands multiple viewings to fully absorb.

Seven Pounds

Director: Gabriele Muccino
Starring: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, Barry Pepper, Michael Ealy
Running Time: 123 min.
Rating: PG-13

*** (out of ****)

As much as I can’t stand it when movie trailers give too much away, it pales in comparison to my annoyance with people determined to spoil a film for me. I say this because in the case of the humanitarian mystery-drama Seven Pounds everyone I encountered seemed almost determined to ruin the “big secret” at its center, almost as if it was their civic duty. Worse yet, after reading a review in my local paper that shared even more info without so much as a spoiler warning, I unwittingly told others, unaware of what I was giving away.

Would my opinion of this film be any different had I not known the secret? I don’t think so. I’d like to believe I would have figured everything out about halfway through (if not sooner) anyway and any film that dependent on one piece of information probably wasn’t much of a film to begin with. In a way, knowing freed me up to step back and view the picture more objectively without the element of surprise. But I’ll be extending you a courtesy that was not extended to me in revealing only what’s absolutely necessary, which isn’t much.

The film is kind of a one-trick pony but it executes its one trick well. It’s one of those movies that the second it ends you think you liked it a lot then upon further reflection you realize there were definitely some issues, but surprisingly, not nearly as many as you’d think. It’s shameless and makes no apologies for what it’s trying to do, at least gaining points for brave earnestness. The end result is an uneasy mixture of inspiration and creepiness, with that latter rearing its head probably a little more than was intended. Almost like a Hallmark card… wrapped in a body bag.

The film doesn't necessarily break Will Smith’s streak of wearing screenwriters’ sins on his sleeve as he’s once again he’s called upon to elevate very difficult material, this time burdened with maybe his heaviest lifting. The "Seven Pounds" in question may as well refer to the weight of this script. It’ll be to no one’s surprise that he delivers once again, but it’s his leading lady who really impresses and shows us something we never knew she had. I kept hoping the film would catch up to them. It doesn’t quite get there, but there’s still enough to admire.
Smith is mild-mannered I.R.S. agent Ben Thomas, a man who sets in motion a mysterious master plan involving seven strangers, the details of which at first make sense only to him, but come into full view for us (and them) later. He behaves bizarrely and for unclear reasons cruelly harasses a blind telemarketer (a cleverly cast Woody Harrelson) as the first step. He then insinuates himself into the life of Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson), who’s dying of congestive heart failure, doing so in a way that goes well beyond the parameters of your typical audit. She’s trying to figure out why he’s being so nice to her. So are we. His excuse: He has this feeling that she really deserves it. He’s right. She does.

In the midst of his emerging relationship with Emily he consults his longtime friend Dan (Barry Pepper), who apparently owes him a favor, and along with Ben’s brother (Michael Ealy), he seems to be the only other person privy to his special situation. As the story progresses and flashbacks reveal new information, the pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place and head toward a conclusion you sense (and practically fear) is coming. When it does though, it packs an emotional wallop. No matter what you think of the central conceit, you can’t deny it inspires debate and introspection after the final credits have rolled.

The movie is essentially the romantic relationship that develops between Ben and Emily and if this didn’t work the entire film would have collapsed under the weight of its own ambitions, which are arguably too lofty as it is. Smith and Dawson must sell two strangers completely falling for one another in an unreasonably short amount of time and absolutely nail it. Every second they share on screen together and the sparks they ignite are a joy to experience, almost as if they born to play opposite one another. It’s the perfect match. Muccino’s film moves at a snail’s pace but I hardly cared because it just meant I would get to spend more time with these two likeable people as the mystery slowly unfolds. While it could have been exhausting watching a tireless do-gooder for 2 hours, their connection makes it more than bearable.
I really believed this woman was on borrowed time both physically and emotionally, which is no small feat for an actress to pull off. There will be those complaining its impossible for anyone to “look that good” if they’re dying, but I’d argue it’s statistically impossible for only bad looking people to get sick. They try their best to make her look as sick as possible (and do a passable job) but Dawson’s performance is completely independent of that irrelevant detail. She captures the soul of someone who’s at the end of her rope just looking for someone to cling to, but too strong and proud to actually ask for help. The “dying woman” is the most thankless clichéd role an actress can possibly be saddled with in cinema, yet she finds a way to make it resonate deeply. How great is she? Smith, giving his best screen performance here since Ali, can’t even compete with her. It’s a career best.

Smith may be coasting lately with his questionable film choices, but at least he never phones his work in after he makes them. Of all his performances this one reminds me most of his breakthrough dramatic role in Six Degrees of Separation in that he’s playing a seemingly normal individual hiding a life-altering secret. He’s so good at hinting at the awkwardness and trepidation Ben feels as he gets closer to Emily, knowing the closer he gets, the closer he is to losing her. You can debate whether Ben’s master plan can be viewed as selfless or selfish, but those in the latter camp should consider that the film isn’t endorsing his actions but instead asking you to consider why he feels the need to do this.

It’s also questionable whether what he does is even legally feasible, which Grant Nieporte’s script acknowledges but wisely doesn’t dwell on. When stacked against Smith’s recent safe choices like The Pursuit of Happyness, I Am Legend and Hancock this would finish at the high end of the curve. Compared to that mainstream fluff it could almost be considered downright ballsy in what it’s asking the audience to contemplate. At least the film boasts an original premise we haven’t seen before and leaves you thinking about its consequences. When was the last time you left a Will Smith movie thinking about anything?
Muccino, who directed him previously in Happyness came to these shores after helming the original Italian version of The Last Kiss. To the disappointment of some, he’s embraced the type of mainstream entertainment I’ve complained Smith gravitates too much toward. But this works effectively drenching what could have been a pedestrian story in a fog of mystery. Even if you can’t get past the far-reaching, ambitious premise in the script you have to admit that it’s tight and all the cards fall right into place. Is it manipulative? Yes, but no more manipulative than, say, Milk. At least this dramatizes its manipulation in an interesting way and isn’t masquerading as an inspirational Oscar masterpiece of a film that will change the world. It isn't shoving an agenda down our throats.

There’s a growing cynicism I’ve noticed among critics these days in that they resist embracing anything scripted to provoke an emotional response, even if it inspires thought. Maybe some are embarrassed to admit they were moved by the ending of the film. I’m not. Much of that had to do with Smith and Dawson’s performances. The philosophically polarizing nature of the film reminded me of a book a friend once lent me outlining a bunch of different moral scenarios that asked what you’d do in each. I couldn’t put it down. This story feels as if were ripped from its pages.

It’s funny how most casual moviegoers I’ve spoken with liked the film a great deal but critics ripped it to shreds. That makes sense because it wasn’t made for them, but the failure of movies like this is bad news for the film industry as a whole. It suggests that sometimes we tend to overanalyze and as a result potentially lose out on a fulfilling experience. Movies should have me leaving the theater thinking and feeling. Seven Pounds accomplished both.

Grindhouse

Directors: Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Rose McGowen, Freddy Rodriguez, Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Josh Brolin, Marley Shelton, Naveen Andrews, Jeff Fahey, Michael Biehn, Stacy Ferguson, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Vanessa Ferlito, Traci Thoms, Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
Running Time: 191 min.
Rating: R

**** (out of ****)

Grindhouse isn't just a movie, or even two movies. It's an experience. It isn't something you just watch. It's something you survive. For the past few weeks I've had everyone telling me how this is the kind of film you have to see in a theater (preferably a really grungy one) to truly appreciate and watching it in the comfort of your own home couldn't possibly do it justice. Now I know exactly what they were talking about. I was fortunate enough to see it with an audience who understood that. In the course of the over 3 hour double feature I found myself immersed in laughter, screams, applause and in some cases, walk outs. This is a trip where you're either on board or you're not. Those who appreciate it will have the time of their lives and a movie experience they won't soon forget.

With Grindhouse Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez have made all their crazy fanboy dreams come true and have let us share it with them. In paying tribute to the exploitation films of the 70's that they grew up on, we're taken back to an age of cinema we thought was long gone. We see their love for those movies in every frame of both features. What's most impressive though is not how accurately they managed to capture look and feel of those B-movies, but how they also managed to recreate the experience of seeing movies in the 1970's. They've even thrown in some fake old school slasher trailers that will likely have you rolling on the floor with laughter. More importantly though they've also made two movies that would be considered fun in any decade, especially this one.

I can't beat around the bush with this one. Of the two features, Rodriguez's Planet Terror may provide more fun but Tarantino's Death Proof is the superior film and the one that will linger in the mind long after it's over. Rodriguez set out to make bad (good?) zombie flick and succeeded. He effectively and hilariously pays tribute to the films he loved, while sprinkling his own touches along the way. It's a blast, but Tarantino goes one step further. Actually, he goes a few steps further. He's not content on just paying tribute to or sending up 70's car chase, slasher or revenge films, he wants to make a great one of his own, and succeeds. Death Proof also contains some of the most beautiful actresses working in movies today, yet Tarantino never once makes it about that. He's always been an "actor's director" but it's never been displayed as broadly as it is here, as the performances he gets from them are unusually strong considering the material. While Planet Terror may be a great cult trash movie, Death Proof is something more.

Within the first second of Planet Terror you know you're in for something special. We're treated to go-go dancer Cherry Darling (Rose McGowen) pole dancing in a scene not unlike the Jessica Alba cowboy hat and chaps strip dance in Sin City. I'm not a fan of Rose McGowen. I don't think she's a particularly good actress and looks kind of trashy. However, those qualifications work to her advantage here and make her absolutely perfect for this part. She gets to give a bad performance in a film that actually calls for it. The funny thing is that she doesn't. She's gives a good performance in a role that couldn't possibly fit her better.

Cherry is joined by her ex-boyfriend Wray (a bad ass Freddie Rodriguez), an outsider with a violent past, in a battle to rescue a Texas town besieged by zombies. Rounding out the fun is the town sheriff (Terminator's Michael Biehn), a barbecue cook (Jeff Fahey in a hilarious turn), a biochemist (Lost's Naveen Andrews) and best of all the sadistic, abusive Dr. William Block (Josh Brolin) and his lesbian anesthesiologist wife, Dr. Dakota Block (Marley Shelton), who has a very close relationship with her needles. I found this sub-plot the most fun and Brolin and Shelton look like they're having the time of their lives playing the feuding spouses.
We also get some interesting cameos from the great B-movie legend Tom Savini, the not so great singer Stacy Ferguson, Bruce Willis (as a corrupt military official who has the thankless task of actually trying to explain the plot of the film) and Quentin Tarantino as a sadistic rapist. I should divulge that the second Tarantino appeared onscreen the whole audience literally erupted with laughter. Let's just say he's never going to win an Academy Award for his acting but something unintentionally hilarious about his onscreen presence. He's so distracting as he screams all of his lines while making these ridiculously contorted facial expressions. In any other movie it wouldn't work, but of course here it's perfect. He shouldn't quit his day job though.

All of the performances and generally everything about this picture are hilarious and firmly rooted in the B-movie tradition with Rodriguez getting all the details right of the films he's honoring. The missing reels, the dirty prints, the muffled sound, the campy one-liners, the John Carpenter influenced early 80's synth score and the cheesy special effects. Despite this style though, Rodriguez manages to keep the gore level pretty high, as the film is actually incredibly graphic and disgusting. When Cherry is finally fitted with her infamous machine gun prosthesis by El Wray after losing her leg to the flesh eating zombies, it's an unbelievable moment because we were made to care about her. That's something you wouldn't find in any the zombie movies he's spoofing. McGowen will probably never in her life have a part as great as this again, but she's made me a believer that she deserves one. I thought the film kind of ran out of steam toward the end and the finale was anticlimactic, but is that really important in a movie like this? It's just supposed to be crazy mindless fun and no one can say Rodriguez underperformed there. Planet Terror is a wild ride.

Before and in between the double feature we see some fake slasher and revenge movie trailers, the first of which is the "re-imagining of a horror classic" with Rob Zombie's Halloween. Oh wait, that one's real. Well I guess if they HAVE to remake this (which they don't) Zombie's just about the only guy who can be trusted to do it. Seriously though, the trailer did look menacing and at least we know the remake is being tackled by someone who appreciates and respects the genre. Zombie also directs a hilarious fake trailer for Werewolf Women of the S.S. the title of which probably says it all. It's a Nazi exploitation spoof that features a hysterically memorable cameo from Nicholas Cage.

Rodriguez's own faux trailer for Machete starring Danny Trejo as a Mexican day laborer out for revenge against those who betrayed him, was hilarious and is the only trailer so far confirmed to be turned into an actual feature. Supposedly Rodriguez has nearly enough scenes already filmed for it. But that's not the one I really want to see made into a feature. That honor goes to Hostel director Eli Roth's Thanksgiving, which features a demented pilgrim carving hapless victims up as a creepy, muffled voice promises, "you're going home for the holidays…in a body bag." Classic. If I didn't know I would honestly think it was actually made in 1980. Roth's definitely going places as a filmmaker. Where? I'm not sure, but he's going somewhere. You also see a pretty neat trick involving a topless cheerleader, a trampoline and a knife. That's probably all I should say.

As pure comedy, no trailer worked better than Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright's for Don't, which is so simplistically stupid it's genius. The audience I saw it with agreed, as they would scream the word "Don't" at the screen along with the narrator. Now that's a good time. I'm not sure how this would sustain itself as a feature film but supposedly Wright's going to try.
There's a lot of talking in Death Proof. This isn't a surprise. It's a Quentin Tarantino movie. It's unfortunate in a way that it had to follow Planet Terror on the bill only because the films are so fundamentally different in style and execution that it almost forces the viewer to take sides. That's not really fair as Rodriguez and Tarantino are each making a film that reflect their own unique vision and style. After the adrenaline fueled ass kicking that is Planet Terror we slow down to enter the colorfully verbose world of Tarantino where characters talk, keep talking and then talk some more. Some would argue he just likes to hear his own dialogue. I can't argue with that and nobody ever claimed he wasn't self-indulgent. But if you wrote dialogue like that, you'd be self-indulgent too. Tarantino has a gift that few screenwriters can claim to possess: the ability to write the way people actually talk. Not only how they talk, but what they talk about. In Death Proof he does something that's becoming a lost art in slasher films: builds charcaters.

While Death Proof does have a throwback feel and look, Tarantino's print isn't nearly as scratched as Rodriguez's and he tells a slower paced story which of course includes Quentin trademarks like a great soundtrack filled with songs and bands only he's heard of. At least he has good taste. They only thing Planet Terror and Death Proof have in common is that they're both B-movies that would play as part of a grindhouse double feature. The similarities end there.

Kurt Russell is Stuntman Mike, a scarred former Hollywood stunt driver who's black 1971 Chevy Nova is one hundred percent death proof with the only catch being, as he gleefully boasts, that you have to sit in his seat to get the full benefit of it. You see his car is a weapon of mass destruction and homicide he unleashes on the unsuspecting young women of Austin, Texas. At first glance Mike seems like a charming guy who just came into the bar for a couple of drinks and then it's back on the road. Lurking beneath that calm exterior is a crazed psychopath and Tarantino shows the foresight not pull the trigger on that too early. We can wait. It'll be worth it.

It's a thrill to see Kurt Russell in a role like this again. He's one of those underrated actors who's always good in everything (even lightweight family fare like Miracle and Sky High), but this is the bad ass Russell we've wanted to see return and has been suppressed for too long. Finally a role that harkens back to his glory days as Snake Plissken in Escape From New York.

The first group of girls to feel the wrath of Mike and his deadly muscle car are led by Sydney Tamiia Poitier as local D.J. Jungle Julia. Her entourage includes Arlene (Vanessa Ferlito), Shanna (Jordan Ladd) and pot dealer Lanna (Monica Staggs). Rose McGowen also returns as his very first victim, but in a role far different and more subdued than her work in Planet Terror. We also get more distracting and funny director cameos from Tarantino (this time as the owner of the bar) and Eli Roth as…some guy. I'm not completely sure what his purpose was but it was funny seeing him.
All the actresses are great, but one of them really stands out. Every once in a while when you're watching a film you have the privilege of witnessing the birth of a star. That moment comes the second Poitier appears on screen. She just commands your attention. She has it right way obviously by how she looks, but the girl can act and deliver Tarantino's rapid-fire dialogue like it's nobody's business. The first half of Death Proof literally belongs to her. When the moment of homicidal destruction does finally come it's just brutal, especially when Tarantino takes the camera inside the car and you feel what it's like to be sitting, quite literally, in the death seat.

The second group of girls consist of Hollywood makeup artist Abernathy (Rosario Dawson), stuntwomen Kim (Traci Thoms) and Zoe (New Zealander Zoe Bell, Uma Thurman's stuntwoman in Kill Bill, playing herself) and sweet, air headed actress Lee (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Tarantino lets us spend what seems like a week and a day getting to know these women in long uninterrupted takes, which means there's some really impressive acting here. Some people will dig this, others won't. I was hanging on every word. Stuntman Mike has them on his radar, but this time he picked the wrong girls. They're not taking shit from anybody and are going to put up the fight of their lives. What unfolds next will go down as one the great car chase scenes in motion picture history.

Tarantino proudly wears his cinema influences on his sleeve as he directly references killer road films like Two-Lane Blacktop, Gone in 60 Seconds (the original "not that Angelina Jolie shit") and best of all, Vanishing Point. It's the 1970 Dodge Challenger from that film that the girls decide to take on the test drive that leads to the film's thrilling final 20-minute thrill ride that uses no CGI. It becomes pretty clear soon why a professional stuntwoman had to play herself. I could lie to you and say this was one of the few times I found myself worried for the safety of an actor or actress in a film, but I was so caught up in the thrilling scene that it was actually the last thing on my mind. It didn't hit me how dangerous it really was until after it ended. It's a reminder of just how much CGI have destroyed movies.

Ironically the whole purpose of computer generated effects in movies was to create a sense of wonder, but it's actually done just the opposite because they always look so ridiculously fake. Here, a woman is really hanging on for her life on the hood of a car going 90 mph. No computer image can replicate that thrill. This sequence was a reminder of how we need to get back to that.

It helps that we're personally invested in the fates of these extremely likable women because we were given the time to get to know them. I don't think I ever cared more about what happens to anyone in an action movie than I did here. They're not characters, but real people with feelings, thoughts, ideas, beliefs and problems. You can accuse Tarantino of a lot of things but no one can say he objectifies or denigrates women. These women are strong, empowered and out to kick ass. Tarantino made a chick flick. In any other film all these roles would probably be played by men.
These four actresses are given the ball and run all the way with it, especially Traci Thoms as Kim. I'm pretty familiar with Thoms, from her co-starring role on tv's Cold Case to some of her supporting film work (Rent among others), but nothing could have prepared me for the spunk she brings to this role. If Poitier owned the first half of Death Proof, the second half is all hers. Zoe Bell isn't an actress, but she definitely will be after this. She exudes a natural charm and likablity in her very first acting role. I don't care if she's "just playing herself" because she's doing it extremely well.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead gives a really adorable performance as Lee. So much so that you can actually understand Rosario Dawson's position in her supposed on-set argument with Tarantino about leaving Winstead's character behind with that sleazy redneck. However, we never do see what happens and it is an absolute necessity of the story, so Tarantino wins. But what a testament it is to Winstead and the film that we really do care what happens to her. I have a feeling this controversy is something we'll hear more about on the DVD.

Lately everyone's been trying to figure out why this movie flopped at the box office. Was it the over 3 hour running time? The hard R rating? Did the grindhouse idea fly over current moviegoers' heads? I'm both disappointed and relieved that the movie didn't make any money. Obviously disappointed because it's an incredible experience that deserves to be seen and appreciated by a wide audience, but relieved because it will now exist exactly where it should be: on the fringe.

The second it was over I already had a burning desire to watch it again. It's that kind of movie. It's box office failure could be considered the ultimate tribute to trashy grindhouse cinema. Really, how many of those 70's movies even made a cent? Tarantino and Rodriguez will continue to do what they do best no matter how much this rakes in, and as much as he hates it, Harvey Weinstein knows there's nothing he can do about it. It's only April but I'd be shocked if there are many better films this year than Grindhouse. If there is, or even if there isn't, 2007 will go down as one hell of a year for movies.

Clerks II

Director: Kevin Smith
Starring: Brian O' Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Rosario Dawson, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Trevor Fehrman, Jennifer Schwalbach
Running Time: 97 min.
Rating: R**** (out of ****)

Clerks II is easily one of the best comedies of the year, if not the past few. If anything, it proves beyond any doubt that Kevin Smith is a filmmaker who's operating a few levels above what's been expected of him. He managed to make a movie that's not only brutally hilarious, but also buries beneath it a touching coming-of-age story packed with ideas and characters to care about. More impressively, he did it all under the enormous pressure of having to sequel one of the most beloved cult films of the 90's twelve years later.

According to naysayers the movie wasn't supposed to be this good, much less the best film of Smith's career. It's hasn't been a strong year for movies and it's been an even worse one for comedies so I can't tell you what a relief it was to watch one that had me smiling throughout, knowing I was witnessing something special. From start to finish the film is pitch perfect and does everything right that most comedies always get wrong. Smith has always had a great ear for dialogue and how real people talk and act and it's never been put on better display than in Clerks II. When the credits rolled, I didn't want the movie, or my time with these characters, to end.

It's ten years later and the Jersey Quick Stop has burned down sending Dante Hicks (Brian O' Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) to work at Mooby's, a fast food burger joint run by hot manager, Becky (Rosario Dawson). It's Dante's last day as he prepares to marry Emma Bunting (Smith's own wife Jennifer Schwalbach) and move to Florida. Of course, she's completely wrong for him (or anyone for that matter) and he's really in love with commitment-phobic Becky, who's more his best friend than boss. Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Smith) are back and one the interesting touches Smith adds is that they're back from rehab, making reference to Mewes real-life rehab stint from drug abuse.

They also have a new character to pick on in burger flipper Elias (Trevor Fehrman), a devout Christian with a very strange explanation about his virginity and a very unhealthy obsession with Transformers and Lord of The Rings. I dare anyone to watch this movie and say they have not met someone exactly like Elias. Fehrman plays him in such a way that even though we laugh at him constantly, there's something really enduring and likable about him. He could have his own movie in a heartbeat.

In terms of humor, this film nearly mirrors the first, with the characters spending their days dissecting pop culture (an argument about how Lord of The Rings compares to Star Wars provides some of the movie's biggest laughs) and making sick sex jokes, all of which are funny. Nothing, however, is funnier than Randal's plan to throw Dante a surprise party featuring bestiality... or rather, "interspecies erotica." Only Kevin Smith could come up with such a brilliant politically correct term to describe something so vile and disgusting. Let's just say the show Randal pays for isn't exactly what they get, making for a really hysterical scene.

If Clerks II was just incredibly hilarious, I'd be satisfied. But it goes one further and not only does that, but makes an incredibly moving movie about friendship. I've never seen a writer/director balance as many elements as well in one film as Smith does here. It's really interesting what Smith does with Dante and Randal and how they learn something from each other. In their thirties now, these guys are facing a crisis. Randal wants things to stay the way they are and just goof around, but there's a strange force pulling at him and telling him he doesn't. This is evident when he's shaken up by a hilarious encounter with an old classmate (Jason Lee in a great cameo role). Dante has the opposite problem. He wants to change his situation as soon as possible. He's the responsible one, but he makes an irrational knee jerk decision wanting to marry this woman and get the hell out of New Jersey. Yet, there's a force pulling at him telling him he doesn't. That force is Becky.

The casting of Rosario Dawson was a surprise. I just couldn't picture her in Smith's "askewniverse," assuming her presence was mostly due to being a hot, big name of the moment. While that may have initially been true, she absolutely owns this movie. Owns it. From the second she appears on screen it's evident how cool and relaxed she is in the role. I believed she was a manager at a fast food joint, and more shockingly she sold me in believing her character would fall for a guy like Dante, even though on the surface it should seem impossible. The scenes they share together and the dialogue they speak feels real, like how two people would actually talk. It was a harsh reminder of how few movies do this well and how many awful romantic comedies Hollywood has vomited out to us in recent years.

There's a great scene on the roof where Dante's watching her dance and the smile on his face says everything. We get it. I'm sure they'll be those who accuse Smith of "going soft" toward the end of this movie, but he never steps over the line and the sentimentality is earned because we care about what happens to these people. Just when you think it's getting too sappy, he does too and pulls back, like in a memorable montage spoofing musicals set to the Jackson 5 that somehow strangely works in the context of the film.

Smith often gets a lot of credit for his witty dialogue, but some of the best moments of the film come when no one's talking at all and he just lets the music do the job for him. Some of that music includes The Smashing Pumpkins, Alanis and Soul Asylum. Fitting, since the first film came out in 1994. Also, big props to him for using my favorite Talking Heads song over the opening credits.

Kevin Smith has an obsessive cult-like following, which I've never felt a part of, at least until now. They gave him hell about this movie. There's a documentary on this special edition DVD, almost as long as the movie itself, where we learn he was absolutely torn up as to whether or not he should make this picture because he wanted to make sure he had something to say and do justice to the original film. He admits he was really shaken up by the negative feedback to the idea from fans on the internet. We find out in the documentary that he did face pressure from the studio to cast a big name and all the names considered to play Becky. I can't even imagine what a nightmare this movie could have become if either Sarah Silverman, Liv Tyler, Rachel Weisz or Bryce Dallas Howard had played the role. All fine actresses, but they would have been all wrong for this. Smith agreed.

Another revelation I wasn't as surprised to learn was that Smith had the first and last scene in his head for years before it even hit the page. I say I'm not surprised because the movie is bookended perfectly and it looked like both scenes were shot by someone with a very clear idea what they were trying to convey. The opening has an incredible visual and the final scene, in particular, really got to me because it ended exactly where it should have, touchingly paying tribute to the original film.

Supposedly the movie got an 8 minute standing ovation when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier in the year. If you ask me, it deserved every one of those 8 minutes. The original Clerks was an excellent first feature by a film student that changed the course of independent cinema in the 90's. This is a more mature effort by an accomplished filmmaker at a different place in his life with more things to show and prove. The script is tighter, the acting is better and it has a deeper story. Even if you haven't seen the original it makes no difference. As a stand alone movie, it's still perfect. It's fitting one of the big arguments in the film centers around Star Wars. Like The Empire Strikes Back, Clerks II is the rare sequel that tops the original.

Rent

Director: Chris Columbus
Starring: Rosario Dawson, Idina Menzel, Taye Diggs, Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Jesse L. Martin
Running Time: 128 min.
Rating: PG-13

**1/2 (out of ****)

Ten years ago I saw the musical Rent on broadway and it was easily one of the best live theatre experience I've ever had. It stands to reason then that the film based on Jonathon Larson's pulitzer prize winning play about New York's east villagers struggling with poverty and AIDS in the early 90's should be as equally compelling, since it changes absolutely nothing from the play. Strangely though, it isn't.

This is about as direct an adaptation as you can get with most of the actors from the original cast reprise their roles and amazingly it doesn't look like they've aged a day. Yet the movie is a mixed bag and left me thinking how something that was so powerful live could feel somewhat dead and emotionless on the screen. Next time I'll think twice before criticizing filmmakers who demand to "re-imagine" the source material, be it a novel or a broadway production. This movie has the opposite problem. It stays rigidly faithful to the original. Too faithful. What works onstage doesn't always work on film. It's a different medium and sometimes compromises sometimes have to be made. None were made here and the material suffers a bit as a result.

The movie starts out with all the characters onstage singing the opening number, "Seasons of Love." Why they're onstage I have no clue but it gives us an early hint the direction Chris Columbus is heading. He's not changing a thing. Rent follows eight bohemian type New Yorkers by way of the protagonist, aspiring documentary filmmaker Mark (Anthony Rapp). Mark's still getting over being dumped by Maureen (Idina Menzel) for female attorney Joanne (Tracy Thoms). Everyone's about to be evicted from their appartment if they don't pay Benjamin (Taye Diggs), their landlord. He used to be Mark's roomate, but moved out, married into money and now wants to kick them out.

Mark lives with aspiring HIV positive rocker Roger (Adam Pascal) who's falling in love with exotic dancer Mimi (Rosario Dawson, who despite not being one of the original broadway cast members gives probably the best performance in the film), who's an HIV positive drug addict. We're also introduced to tranvestite Angel (Jermaine Heredia) who finds Tom Collins (Jesse L. Martin) mugged in an alley and takes him in. They both are also, as you could probably guess, HIV positive. There's no doubt AIDS was nothing to laugh about and a major problem in New York City and the country in the 1980's, but I couldn't help thinking this whole story seems really dated now. I suppose I can't punish the movie for that, since it's meant to reflect a certain time and place in our history, but you can't help thinking if this movie came out about ten years earlier it would have packed more of an emotional punch.

Even for a musical this had a lot of musical numbers, with some piled on one after another with no direction in the story and making the movie feel like it actually was 525,600 minutes. I heard a lot of numbers from the play were cut and dialogue was addded, but more dialogue should have been added because at times it seemed like Columbus was trying too hard to cram the music in. The good news is most of that music is fantastic and all the performances are top notch (only Pascal was pretty bland as Roger) with all the actors doing their own singing, and doing it well. Menzel and Dawson fair the best though.

After ten years it was good to know my three favorite songs in the play ("One Song Glory", "Out Tonight" and "Santa Fe") sound just as good as I remembered them. The movie was shot entirely in New York City, but the problem is the movie has absolutely no hint of realism at all. That's okay on broadway, not ion screen. It's as if they literally took the stage production, filmed it as is, and assumed it would have to work as a movie without opening up any of the locations or taking any risks. The ending, which had the audience in tears when I saw it on broadway ten years ago seems almost ridiculously contrived on film even though it's exactly the same.

None of this, of course, is meant to detract from the power of Larson's story, which is as great now as it was then. In fact, the second disc of this two-disc special edition DVD set contains an unbelievable documentary that tells the inspirational story of how Larson literally gave his life to create this musical. We meet his friends and family and learn sadly that basically everyone he knew did really die of AIDS and when he was dirt poor he wrote this for them. It's more emotionally moving than this movie. Those expecting a cinematic adaptation of Rent that's faithful to the original won't be dissappointed, but those hoping it does their play justice, will be.