Day: November 8, 2010

Harry Knowles on Four Lions: “The Most Biting Satire That I’ve Seen Since Dr. Strangelove“

By Jason Apuzzo. I am going to keep hounding Libertas’ readers until you go see Four Lions! (See my recent review of the film here.) Aint It Cool News’ Harry Knowles even raved about the film over the weekend. Here are the money quotes from his review:

I’m not real sure what I thought I was seeing with FOUR LIONS. I think in some ways I was expecting something more cartoonish, perhaps even bloody. What I wasn’t expecting was the most biting satire that I’ve seen since DR STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB …

I seriously have no idea why this film didn’t get picked up domestically before Tim League of the ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE had to create a distribution company just to distribute it, but man. Here in Austin, they’re gonna make some serious money with this thing.

The audience was laughing throughout and enjoyed the hell of it. It is incredibly smartly written.

Four Lions opened in select theaters nationwide on Friday. Check here to check when the film will be coming to your area.

***SPOILER ALERT***

The scene above is the one in which Omar and Waj, trying to destroy an American drone, accidentally blow up Osama bin Laden’s tent.

Posted on November 8th, 2010 at 4:12pm.

LA Times: Mao’s Last Dancer an Art House Hit with Heartland Audiences

By Jason Apuzzo. Regular Libertas readers know that we’ve been raving about Mao’s Last Dancer for months (read the LFM review of the film here). This past weekend the LA Times did a nice new feature on the break-out success of the film at the indie box office – which has come particularly outside the big cities, and (predictably) without the help of the American critical establishment.

Here is the crucial excerpt from the LA Times article:

Despite a tough climate for specialty films, the largely English-language movie is nearing the $5 million mark in U.S. box office ($4.5 million coming into this weekend) — an impressive run that’s lasted nearly three months. More people have gone to see “Mao’s Last Dancer” than they have some much higher-profile, star-studded specialty films this year, including the Carey Mulligan-Keira Knightley dystopian drama “Never Let Me Go” and the Ben Stiller dramedy “Greenberg.”(The biggest stars in “Mao’s” are the the workaday actors Bruce Greenwood and Kyle MacLachlan; Li is played by the Chinese ballet dancer Chi Cao.)

The movie’s returns have also surpassed far more publicized films such as the social-media thriller “Catfish.”

“Mao’s” has done all this despite fading quickly in independent-film strongholds such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Instead, it has garnered the lion’s share of its audience in cities such as San Diego and St. Louis, where it continues to play, according to its distributor Samuel Goldwyn/ATO Pictures.

“It’s more of an audience film than a critic’s film,” said Michael Silberman, the president of distribution and marketing at IDP, the company that releases Goldwyn and ATO films. “Critics respond with their heads, but audiences respond with their hearts.”

Older audiences in particular have embraced the movie, Silberman and theater executives said, sparking to its redemptive story of a man who, through talent and determination, was able to defy and defeat a powerful government.

I’d just like to mention that the film works quite effectively if you have a head, as well, and not just a heart. (I’m a little uncomfortable granting film critics such a vital part of our anatomy.) In any case, do yourself a favor and go see this film! You’ll be glad you did.

Posted on November 8th, 2010 at 2:58pm.

On-Tour in Iraq: Striking a Chord

By Joe Bendel. With the success of The Surge, the nature of military service in the Iraqi theater is much safer and more predictable. Of course, that is a blessing – but it also means American military personnel have more time to get bored and dwell on their separation from loved ones. However, nothing works like music to console the weary soul. Even though they might not be household names, the military brings in a number of entertainers to play for the troops like singer-songwriter Nell Bryden, whose second tour military tour of Iraq and Kuwait provides the structure of Susan Cohn Rockefeller’s Striking a Chord, a documentary short (see the trailer above) now playing the festival circuit.

The USO books the big name stars. The Multinational Corps handles the professional gigging artists without the fame or the egos. One such musician is Brooklyn-born Nell Bryden, the first entertainer recruited by Lt. Col. Scott Rainey, the chief of programming for the Corps. A blues-and-roots influenced pop vocalist, Bryden is a charismatic performer and a good sport. She does not simply chopper in and out for her gigs. Rockefeller shows her visiting hospitals and touring bases, talking to anyone looking for a sympathetic ear. Indeed, the rapport she quickly establishes with soldiers appears deep and genuine.

It helps when you check your politics at the airport. Several of her band members agree, noting the deep personal connections they have been able to make once they jettisoned their own political baggage. Likewise, Rockefeller tries to play it straight and avoid partisanship, largely succeeding. While bookending the film with grim expert commentary on post-traumatic stress syndrome arguably has certain implications, she also gives voice to soldiers’ frustrations that none of the good news they see unfolding in Iraq is ever reported in the western media. Continue reading On-Tour in Iraq: Striking a Chord