Category: Movie Reviews

American Master — Cachao: Uno Mas Airs Tonight

By Joe Bendel. He played for Presidents FDR and W. In between, he revolutionized Latin dance music, endured the pain of exile from his Cuban homeland, and enjoyed a late-career renaissance thanks in large measure to the efforts of musician-actor Andy Garcia. His name was Israel López, but most knew him simply as Cachao. His life and insistently danceable music are lovingly remembered in Dikayl Rimmasch’s Cachao: Uno Mas, co-produced by Garcia, which airs today as part of the current season of PBS’s American Masters.

A classically trained bassist, Cachao co-wrote Mambo #1 with his brother Orestes. Simply titled “Mambo,” it was the first of his signature danzóns (Cuban ballroom dances), featuring jazz like syncopation and an infectious rhythmic drive. Needless to say, the mambo was a hit—everywhere—spawning the global mambo craze. Yet, Cachao usually was not the one in the spotlight. Hip musicians certainly knew who he was though.

According to Cachao, he and his brother wrote 1,500 danzóns each. He also recorded his classic Descargas: Cuban Jam Sessions in Miniature, thoroughly blurring the distinctions between jazz and traditional Cuban musical forms. He even penned “Chanchullo,” the original melody that would become first Tito Puente’s and then Carlos Santana’s “Oye Como Va.” That Cachao never received proper credit or compensation for those monster hits still visibly rankles Garcia, but the zen-like master bassist was apparently unconcerned with such worldly matters.

Unfortunately, worldly events would intrude into Cachao’s musical life. Though he initially supported the revolution against Battista, Cachao (like Garcia’s parents) chose the pain of exile as the oppressive nature of the Castro regime became painfully apparent. As the American Master himself explains: “Over there they say, ‘No, because of Fidel . . .’ and that’s it. Everyone is listening to you to hear what you say. If they don’t like it, you’re asking for trouble.”

Though Cachao passed away in early 2008, he was playing strong up until his final bar. Wisely, Uno Mas showcases his musical fire, fitting its profile segments around a scorching hot 2005 concert in San Francisco. Cachao swings like mad with an all-star ensemble including Garcia on bongos, John Santos on congas, Justo Almario on saxophone, and Federico Britos on violin (at one point engaging in some tasty call-and-response with the leader).

Utilizing nine cameras, Rimmasch shot some of the best live concert footage you are ever likely to see on television. He beautifully captures the unspoken back-and-forth between musicians, which probably gives a better sense of Cachao the man than any of the interview segments. Indeed, the music is so good, Uno Mas is probably destined to become a staple of PBS pledge break programming for years to come. While he does not perform in the film, trumpeter and Cuban defector Arturo Sandoval (played by Garcia in the under-appreciated HBO film For Love or Country) also adds some entertainingly animated musical commentary.

Cachao led a dramatic life and left behind an impressive body of absolutely joyous music. Like many Cuban exiles, he became a loyal patriot of two countries, making him a perfect subject for American Masters. Sometimes touching, but ultimately a blast of invigorating music, Uno Mas airs today (9/20) on PBS outlets nationwide.

Posted on September 20th, 2010 at 9:11am.

Never Let Me Go: ‘Devastating, Dystopian’

By Jason Apuzzo. I’m not sure we’re going to have time today to review director Mark Romanek’s new adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s dystopian novel Never Let Me Go – which recently debuted in Toronto and opens in limited release nationwide today, starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield (the new Spider-Man) – so I thought I’d post an excerpt from Andrew O’Hehir’s interesting review over at Salon.

From Salon:

You could describe “Never Let Me Go” as set in an alternate-history version of postwar Britain, but as with all really good alternate histories, the changed universe really isn’t the point. Director Mark Romanek captures the slightly seedy and rundown reality of ’70s and ’80s British life in astonishing and even tragic detail; this is more like a period piece than a science-fiction movie. In fact, it resembles a Merchant-Ivory tragedy about doomed love in a war zone, except that the doomed love involves human guinea pigs and the war zone is not some tropic zone but the alleged good intentions of medical science.

Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley in "Never Let Me Go."

There’s no way to write about “Never Let Me Go” without at least dropping hints about the ultimate destiny of Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Keira Knightley), the romantic triangle who meet as children in a dreary, peculiar boarding school called Hailsham House. If you don’t want to know any more about that, stop reading now. This is really never a secret in the film, although it’s concealed at first under a mask of horrifying euphemism — as an adult, Kathy becomes a “carer,” who works with “donors” until they reach “completion” — and I had read Ishiguro’s unforgettable novel and knew what was coming. Still, there’s a scene about 20 minutes into the movie when a sympathetic teacher named Miss Lucy (Sally Hawkins) finally spells out what the Hailsham children need to know about their future if they’re to have “decent lives,” as she puts it, and Romanek dramatizes this hammer-blow, life-changing moment with such power that I don’t want to undermine it.

Screenwriter Alex Garland, who is himself a novelist, sticks close to both the letter and spirit of Ishiguro’s novel; this movie is a veritable clinic in precise literary adaptation. He incorporates snatches of dialogue and even voiceover (read by Mulligan) straight from the book, without swamping the human drama or overwhelming Romanek’s astonishing visual evocation of a bygone Britain. His innovations are limited, but they help set the stage in important ways: The big medical breakthrough came in 1952, we are told in an opening title, and by 1967 life expectancy exceeded 100 years. This came at a price, of course, and “Never Let Me Go” asks us to consider that price in all its dimensions. Continue reading Never Let Me Go: ‘Devastating, Dystopian’

ATTN: Mr. Democrat Challenges the Iranian Regime

By Jason Apuzzo. I wanted Libertas readers to have a chance today to see an extraordinary short film by Iranian filmmaker Farbod “Fred” Khoshtinat called, ATTN: Mr. Democrat. The ‘Mr. Democrat’ of the title is an ironic reference to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who actually claims to preside over a democratic republic in Iran.

Fred Khoshtinat with Hillary Clinton.

Khoshtinat is a multi-talented filmmaker who edited the music video sequences in a poignant movie I really admired this past summer called No One Knows About Persian Cats (see my review of that here).

ATTN: Mr. Democrat is a short film that created a big splash recently by winning the State Department’s ‘Democracy Video Challenge,’ in the Near East and North Africa category. Khoshtinat was given the ‘Democracy Video Challenge’ award for this short this past week by Hillary Clinton.

Dissident filmmakers like Khoshtinat will always have a ‘virtual home’ here at Libertas. We wish him the best in his future endeavors, and hope the success of his film opens up another tiny crack in the Iranian regime.

Posted on September 17th, 2010 at 12:43pm.

Model Turned Filmmaker: LFM Reviews Picture Me

By Joe Bendel. Prepare to be shocked: not only is there considerable drug use in the modeling business, some unscrupulous photographers sexually take advantage of the girls — and yes, in many cases they really are girls. Such are some of the revelations in super-ish model Sara Ziff’s video diary that she and her filmmaker boyfriend Ole Schell cut and shaped into the feature length documentary Picture Me, which opens in New York and Los Angeles this Friday immediately following the conclusion of the 2010 NY Fashion Week.

Though Ziff first started modeling at age fourteen, she really began pursuing it in earnest after graduating from high school – relatively late by modeling standards. Certainly beautiful, she seems quite successful, judging by the five and six figure checks she shows the camera. The close proximity of her supportive family is also an advantage, keeping her more or less grounded. Still, as we watch her over the course of a chaotic season, the exploitative nature of the business (even at Ziff’s rarified level) takes a toll on her.

Model, filmmaker Sara Ziff.

Ziff is probably rather bright and down-to-earth by industry standards, but that does not make her a fascinating personality on the big screen. She is, after all, a young woman in her early twenties with only a high school education.  (To her credit, she does enroll in college late in the film.) Frankly, her much less successful former roommate is a far more compelling figure. She can definitely tell a bad gig story, disturbing as it might be.

The real question is just what her freeloading b.f. did to earn his co-director, co-editor, and d.p. credits. In addition to being the subject, Ziff clearly shot much of the footage of her friends and fellow models herself. Hopefully Schell was very active in the editing bay. He certainly was not picking up any checks. In fact, some of the scenes he did indeed shoot feel almost as intrusive as the creepy lechers backstage snapping photos of the models as they change (a practice designers and agencies inexplicably tolerate, though it must violate American labor laws).

There are probably better modeling exposés available, but Picture should be sufficient to make parents think twice about allowing their daughters to pursue such a career. Even though one might expect it to have a glitzy E! sheen, Picture is a fairly dark and dingy looking affair, shot in backstage dressing rooms and crash pads on handheld consumers video cameras. Hardly glamorizing the model’s lifestyle, it shows the behind-the-scenes reality, zits and all.

It is hard to make a truly boring movie about beautiful women who are often skimpily clad. However, aside from a few insightful interviews with Ziff’s less successful colleagues, Picture is largely dependent on the sex appeal of its participants to hold audience interest. As a result, it is unlikely to make much of a lasting impression with viewers, unless they are fascinated by the modeling world to an unhealthy degree or have been stalking Ziff.  The film opens in New York and Los Angeles this Friday (9/17).

Posted on September 15th, 2010 at 1:24pm.

Pappy Boyington Field on DVD

By Jason Apuzzo. This is a melancholy weekend. The ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is upon us – and it is natural, I think, to reflect not only on the victims of that day, but on the people whose lives are continually put in the line of fire in order to prevent those sorts of attacks from happening again. So for this reason I want to tell you about a little documentary that recently came to my attention, called Pappy Boyington Field. You can see the trailer for the film above.

Who was Pappy Boyington? Pappy Boyington is what America was – and I dearly hope still is – made of. He is the sort of man who made this country the most powerful force for democracy and freedom this world has ever seen. If Homer walked our streets today, he is the kind of man the poet would likely write epic poems about. As it turns out, John Wayne more or less did play Pappy in the classic film Flying Tigers, and Robert Conrad certainly played Pappy in the famous TV series Baa Baa Black Sheep.

'Pappy' Boyington.

So in his lifetime, Pappy certainly got his due. And in our lifetime? Let’s just say that remains to be seen. Boyington’s present-day legacy is the subject of Kevin Gonzalez’s fine new documentary Pappy Boyington Field, and certainly Gonzalez’s film takes us great strides forward in understanding and appreciating this extraordinary American.

Gregory ‘Pappy’ Boyington was a Marine Corps fighter ace during World War II, who had the distinction of being awarded both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. With between 22 and 28 kills (depending on the source) Pappy was not quite America’s top scoring ace – that distinction belongs to Air Force Maj. Richard Bong (with over 40) – but Pappy was likely the most brash and daring. Boyington initially flew with Claire Chennault’s Flying Tigers in China (often clashing with Chennault), and later commanded the famous Marine Corps Black Sheep Squadron. Boyington would later become a prisoner of war – a ‘guest of the Emperor’ – before returning home in triumph, after he’d more or less been given up for dead.

He was called ‘Pappy’ because during the War he commanded men who were, for the most part, about a decade younger than he was.

Part of the Boyington legend is that Pappy would actually goad the enemy into coming up to fight him and his men. Over the Kahili airdrome, for example, Pappy and two dozen of his fighters circled a Japanese airfield where 60 aircraft were based. The Japanese took the bait, and sent up a large squadron. In the battle that followed, 20 Japanese aircraft were shot down. Among the Black Sheep? None.

At one point during the war, Boyington’s Black Sheep squadron offered to shoot down a Japanese Zero for every baseball cap sent to them by baseball players playing in the World Series. They received 20 caps – and shot down 20 Zeros … and just kept going. At one point during the squadron’s first tour of combat duty, Pappy actually shot down 14 enemy fighter planes in 32 days. Boyington’s war record is studded with such colorful tales of bravado and triumph.

One of America's greatest heroes.

Flash forward to today. A group of Marine veterans in Boyington’s birthplace of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, wanted to rename that small town’s airport “Coeur d’Alene Airport–Pappy Boyington Field” in his honor. You would think this sort of thing would be a lock, a no-brainer. When you accomplish the sort of things Pappy accomplished, you would think that naming a small airfield in his name would sort of be the minimum his country might do for him. For all I’m concerned, they could’ve renamed Idaho ‘Pappy’ and I personally would’ve been fine with it.

But we don’t live in the World War II era any more, of course, and so the city fathers of Coeur d’Alene stalled and made excuses. They asserted that it might be ‘dangerous’ to pilots to change the airport’s name, because it might confuse them(!). They hid behind amorphous accusations of Boyington’s drinking and philandering. Essentially they stalled and evaded … for three years. They did so until a variety of media people got involved and took up Pappy’s cause. One key figure in this fight was Fox News’ Oliver North. I won’t tell you how the story panned out.

Pappy Boyington Field is a documentary that tells the story behind the effort to rename the Coeur d’Alene Airport in Pappy’s honor. In so doing, the film subtley tells the story of two Americas: the World War II America in which Boyington was a hero who received a hero’s welcome after his return from the Pacific theater (including a massive downtown parade in San Francisco, and receiving the Medal of Honor from President Harry Truman); and, of course, the America of today … when faceless, politically correct bureaucrats do everything imaginable to erase the memory of this genuine hero. So there’s a melancholy quality to Pappy Boyington Field that is unmistakable. How in hell has our country changed so much, in such a relatively brief period of time?

Receiving the Medal of Honor, from Pres. Truman

Kudos to filmmaker (and fellow USC Trojan) Kevin Gonzalez for putting together this compelling documentary about the fight on Pappy’s behalf. Pappy Boyington Field is a film about the type of old-fashioned, small town activism – precisely the sort of the fueling the current Tea Party movement – that is trying to halt the wholesale erasing of America’s freedom-loving heritage. Except in this case, the activism is coming from Marines, who were simply trying to honor a man whose valor in combat on behalf of his country is already the stuff of legend.

Please pick up a copy of Pappy Boyington Field and watch it. Take some time to learn something about an American hero, who put his life on the line for you. Once you’ve done that, pick up another copy for your local library – and make sure they stock it, so that young people can learn something about their country’s heritage. Demand that it be seen. Make some noise. Little acts like these will prevent our shared history from slipping away.

As a footnote here, I understand that John Woo will soon be doing a large-scale Flying Tigers movie, to be released in IMAX. I think that’s great … but I’m hoping there’s a character named Pappy Boyington in it – and that he gets the props he deserves. Men like Pappy are what made this country what it is – or what it can be, when we continue to live up to his example.

Posted on September 12th, 2010 at 1:02pm.

LFM Mini-Review: Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D

Ali Larter & Milla Jovovich in "Resident Evil: Afterlife."

By Jason Apuzzo. THE PITCH: Post-apocalyptic zombie-fighter Milla Jovovich takes her quest for survivors of an apocalyptic viral outbreak to Tokyo, Alaska and ultimately Los Angeles … as she squares off against zombies, and the occasional henchman of the Umbrella Corporation. Extreme 3D mayhem ensues.

THE SKINNY: Surprisingly satisfying genre entertainment from director Paul W. S. Anderson (hubby of Jovovich, btw), who may be working at his best here.

WHAT WORKS:

• Milla Jovovich’s high cheekbones, full lips, and ability to unleash extreme mayhem while sprinting through slow-motion raindrops in a black catsuit.

Arriving in post-apocalyptic Hollywood.

• Setting the film in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles – and populating the city with thousands of drooling, shambling, flesh-eating zombies. Rarely have I seen a more realistic depiction of what this city is actually like.

• Having one of the film’s primary villains be a former movie executive. Laughed out loud at that one.

• One particular 10-foot tall mega-zombie, who wields a 300 pound axe. The guy comes across a bit like Xerxes from 300. The fight scene involving this dude and Jovovich was easily the best fight scene of any film this summer.

• The 3D in this film looked immersive and natural – because the movie was shot natively in 3D, rather than retrofitted in post-production. My understanding is that this is the first major film since Avatar to be shot 3D-native.

WHAT DOESN’T WORK:

• Having yet another corporation as the villain – although one gets the sense that the film might actually be a big, coded metaphor for the horrors of working at Sony. More on that below.

• The lame, Agent Smith-style villain – who goes by the name ‘Albert Wesker.’ The guy was a total bore, as was his Matrix-style, ‘bullet time’ fight scene at the end of the film. Strictly ho-hum.

• The TV-level casting. Outside of Jovovich, the cast lacks personality.

Milla Jovovich is probably the only serious contender Angelina Jolie has to the title of Queen of the Action Film, with Kate Beckensdale a distant third. Jolie’s appeal in these films is that she always comes across as a bit crazy, a bit insane – which gives her action scenes a cracked sort of credibility. Jovovich, on the other hand, seems to be more of a natural. Originally a Kiev girl, born in the old Soviet Union, Jovovich apparently has a colorful family history of military commanders and Cossacks in her past – and she looks it. You just get the feeling looking at those imperious, high Ukranian cheekbones of hers that her ancestors probably sacked a few Polish villages in their time. That gives her a lot of credibiilty as she’s mowing down zombies, or anybody else in her way. Acting-wise, I don’t think she has Jolie’s depth – but since this is a post-apocalyptic zombie picture, that’s not much of a concern here.

One funny thing about Resident Evil: Afterlife is that the film is constantly taking little pot-shots at Los Angeles and the entertainment industry in general. Although a Big Evil Corporation is the villain here, it’s interesting that its headquarters at the outset of the film is in Tokyo, underneath the Ginza. So one gets the impression that when Jovovich shows up and starts doing her Aeon Flux-routine – absolutely laying waste to the place with guns, ninja stars and samurai swords – that she’s exacting some kind of bizarre, personal vendetta against the Sony Corporation. Plus, one of the film’s main villains is a former movie producer – who is depicted as being the most conniving, sniveling creature imaginable.

Great cheekbones.

My favorite little dig, though, comes when Jovovich initially flies into Los Angeles – right over the Hollywood sign – and looks down on post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. The city is burning, smashed to pieces, and crowded with hordes of shambling, flesh-eating zombies. “Los Angeles,” Milla says, “no signs of life here.” The audience in my theater laughed out loud at that one.

I haven’t really been following the Resident Evil franchise, but this film now has me interested. I know that Paul W.S. Anderson has taken a lot of heat for films like Alien vs. Predator and the Death Race remake, but this film works quite well. The only serious disappointment I had was with the scene in which Milla starts to disrobe, and is about to take a shower … in 3D … when the zombies show up and start another fight, interrupting everything. [Sigh.]

Piranha 3D would not have flinched on that one. 🙂

Posted on September 10th, 2010 3:55pm.