Category: Tribeca Film Festival

LFM Reviews Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me @ The 2013 Tribeca Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Elaine Stritch won the Tony and Emmy Awards along with legions of fans for her incomparable Broadway and cabaret work. 30 Rock’s twenty or thirty regular viewers were probably also grateful to her for classing up the joint with her regular guest appearances. Even if more critics than viewers followed the show, at least Chiemi Karasawa could enlist Alec Baldwin as a co-executive producer for her documentary profile, Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me, which screens as a Spotlight selection of the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.

Elaine Stritch appeared in a Broadway production of Dracula with Bela Lugosi and introduced the world to “The Ladies Who Lunch.” Stritch’s brassy, acerbic performing style has made her the preeminent interpreter of the Sondheim songbook. Without question, they are one of the truly great vocalist-lyricist tandems. Anyone who tackles the “Ladies” stands in her long shadow.(Cassandra Wilson’s rendition was perhaps the shrewdest, cranking the tune down on Don Byron’s Fine Line album.) However, as Stritch begins rehearsals with her supportive music director, Rob Bowman, she starts having trouble.

A documentary like Shoot Me necessarily involves a delicate balance. Fans will want to see the wise-cracking, cosmo-swilling, “Ladies”-belting Stritch they adore from her shows. Yet, cinema patrons have an expectation of on-screen drama and a desire to peak underneath the public persona. Karasawa finds a nice balance, including plenty of Stritch’s zingers, but not ignoring the challenges she faced over the course of a difficult year. As a result, viewers will be awed by Stritch’s sheer grit as she guts out one show after another.

As presented by Karasawa, Stritch might be one of the coolest show business figures ever. There is absolutely no pretense with her. She will tell people exactly what she thinks and make them laugh even when the truth hurts. It also seems like she treats her musicians well, which is always telling.

Karasawa takes a pretty traditional observational-talking head approach, but she gives the audience what it wants, letting Stritch have her full say. Wickedly tart but at times also surprisingly touching, Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me is highly recommended for Stritch, Broadway, and cabaret fans when it screens again today (4/22) and Tuesday (4/23) during this year’s Tribeca Film festival.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on April 22nd, 2013 at 11:36am.

LFM Reviews Mr. Jones @ The 2013 Tribeca Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. They might be weird, but they are also rare—hence collector interest in the work of a mysterious recluse. During a short period of production, he sent unsolicited totem sculptures to people apparently selected at random, but nothing has been heard from him in recent years. However, one couple getting away from it all suspects they have stumbled across his cabin (or maybe lair) in Karl Mueller’s Mr. Jones, which screens as a Midnight selection of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

Hoping to save their fraying relationship, Scott and Penny quit their rat race gigs and bought the old cabin in the woods. Supposedly, he will make his poorly conceived nature documentary here, but do not hold your breath. As Scott’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic, Penny pursues her photography. Eventually, a mysterious incident leads them to a ramshackle cottage they never noticed before. Against the audience’s better judgment, they skulk into the basement, which is fully stocked with grotesque scarecrows that Penny identifies as the work of Mr. Jones, the legendary outsider artist of all outsider artists.

Realizing they have a scoop on their hands, the couple immediately starts work on a Mr. Jones doc. He briefly returns to New York for a few days, filming expert interviews, thereby establishing Mr. Jones’ backstory. Meanwhile, weird things are afoot at the cabin and Mr. Jones’ role in it all is not exactly clear. Before long, Scott and Penny are up to their necks in malevolent supernatural chaos.

The basic premise of Mr. Jones is intriguing and the gallery world details are quite intelligently written. As Scott and Penny, Jon Foster and Sarah Jones come across like a believable couple and sell the eventual bedlam reasonably well. Yet, perhaps the most important contribution comes from scarecrow artist Pumpkinrot, whose creations totally set the right mood. Unfortunately, the nightmarish third act is too murky and rather repetitive. Still, Mueller helms the subtler, early did-you-just-see-that scenes with a deft hand.

Like most horror movies, Mr. Jones kind of loses it down the stretch, but it boasts an above average set-up and a consistently eerie atmosphere. It should at least be a break-out film for Pumkinrot and also help Mueller atone for co-writing the wildly unpleasant The Divide. Recommended with confidence for genre fans, Mr. Jones screens again this Wednesday (4/24) during the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on April 22nd, 2013 at 11:34am.

LFM Reviews Just a Sigh @ The 2013 Tribeca Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Given the rainy climate and the subject matter, performing a regional production of Ibsen in Calais must be depressing. It is a gig, but Alix has yet to be paid for it. Her career is not going so well and her personal life is rather rocky too, so when she meets a handsome stranger she cannot help wondering “what if” in Jérôme Bonnel’s Just a Sigh (trailer here), which screens during this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

Alix and a quiet, sensitive looking man are both taking the train from Calais to Paris. She hopes to re-establish some order in her finances and have a long talk with her partner. Maddeningly, he just does not seem to be around. Yet, as fate would have it, she again crosses paths with the man with the sad eyes. Douglas has come from Britain for the funeral of a Parisian college friend. Despite his very real grief, he is undeniably attracted to Alix. Things do indeed run their course, but both are reluctant to let go of the moment.

Granted, Sigh revisits the familiar terrain of Brief Encounter and other short but sweet cinematic trysts. However, Bonnel’s mostly French language film is unusually mature, sophisticated, and frankly kind of hot, in a middle aged way. The on-screen chemistry between co-leads Emmanuelle Devos and Gabriel Byrne is quite powerful. Devos shows considerable flexibility, segueing from Alix’s scatter-brained rushing about to her massively smoldering scenes with Byrne. For his part, the Irish actor radiates tragic dignity as her temporary lover.

Sigh is a deceptively simple story, implying years of frustration and regret with a glance. Gorgeously lensed by Pascal Lagriffoul, it is a seamlessly elegant package. Paris never looked better on film and every love scene should be so tastefully staged as those found here. Bonnel only errs in giving too much screen time to Alix’s condescending family, because they break his intoxicating spell.

Deeply romantic but never sentimental, Just a Sigh is exactly the sort of French film French cinema connoisseurs love to love, harkening back to the cross-over appeal of A Man and a Woman. Featuring Byrne, arguably a bigger star today as result of his TV work on In Treatment and Vikings, it should be a no-brainer acquisition candidate. Enthusiastically recommended, Just a Sigh screens again this Sunday (4/21), Thursday (4/25), and next Sunday (4/28) during the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on April 20th, 2013 at 2:45pm.

LFM Reviews Frankenstein’s Army @ The 2013 Tribeca Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Okay, it’s a little creepy, but animating dead bodies has obvious military advantages. The National Socialists would be just the sort to develop such technology. In fact, the grandson of a certain controversial scientist has apparently cobbled together quite a monstrous division of soldiers in Richard Raaphorst’s Frankenstein’s Army, a midnight selection of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

Dimitri is a graduate of Soviet film school filming a small recon squad in the field. Less than thrilled to be shepherding the would-be documentarian and his nebbish assistant, the commanding officer busts their chops every chance he gets. Everyone is on edge since radio contact with headquarters was cut-off. Suddenly, a mysterious distress call lures them to a remote monastery, whose occupants were gruesomely murdered by a mysterious force. You can probably guess where things are headed from here, even if the Commies can’t.

The potential midnight movie appeal of Nazis vs. re-animated freaks needs no explanation, but Frankenstein’s Army is poorly served by its found footage structure. That it is in color frankly makes no sense. Hardcore cineastes will also be disappointed that Dimitri, the Soviet Tarantino, never nods towards the work of Eisenstein or Vertov that should supposedly have inspired him, not that this will be foremost in the minds of late night patrons. However, they will notice when he “cheats” with the conceit.

On the other hand, Raaphorst is on pretty solid ground in the manner he depicts the Red Army. Hardly liberators, they are more like marauders, committing war crimes against the local peasantry that the commander not so discretely censors. Likewise, it becomes clear that their Soviet masters do not care about the soldiers’ safety. In fact, they have a secret agenda in the whole horrific affair.

The Frankenstein monsters are also quite inventive in a ghoulish way, looking like a rogue’s gallery of Silent Hill creatures decked out in Nazi regalia. While Karel Roden has plenty of genre cred, his mad doctor’s character is sadly underdeveloped. There is an intriguing hint of a backstory involving the Frankenstein family’s complicated relationship with the German state, but Raaphorst never fully capitalizes on the Frankenstein legacy (after all, if he is the grandson, then Basil Rathbone’s Baron Wolf von Frankenstein must be his father, right?).

Army’s gory effects and make-up are definitely first-rate.  Cult movies fans looking for a few grisly thrills should find it adequate, but those hoping for more given its historical context will probably be disappointed. Earning points for its realistic portrayal of the Soviet war machine, Frankenstein’s Army is recommended for Silent Hill franchise fans (which it so resembles) when it screens again tonight (4/20) during the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: C+

Posted on April 20th, 2013 at 2:44pm.

LFM Reviews Deep Powder @ The 2013 Tribeca Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Prepare to go back to the 1980’s to get your Bret Easton Ellis on again. The privileged kids of a New England prep school consume conspicuously and do mountains of blow. They even do a spot of smuggling, which predictably leads to trouble in Mo Ogrodnik’s Deep Powder, a Viewpoints selection of the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.

Eight years ago the Deep Powder secret society was formed on campus by the elite of the elite. Ostensibly a ski club, every Christmas vacation a member is chosen to score a load of cocaine in Paraguay for the group to distribute over the coming year. Reckless senior Natasha Tabor conspires to take the place of her risk-averse middle class roommate because she just doesn’t care. Or at least she didn’t until she met the dirt-poor brooding ski-lift operator Danny.

A promising high school hockey player, his college career was derailed by an accident. However, a Division I coach has promised him a three year scholarship if he can cover the first year. Has anyone ever heard of a college making this kind of an offer, because it smells like a clumsy plot contrivance from here, but maybe that’s how NCAA Hockey rolls. Regardless, he needs money and his girlfriend just so happens to be making a drug run.

The good news is that Deep Powder is possibly the funniest movie screening at Tribeca this year. The bad news is that it probably isn’t supposed to be. The word “comedy” never appears in the film’s description, but if it was intended as a parody of overwrought indies, Ogrodnik nails it.

Unfortunately, the design team is rather wide of the mark in recreating the 1980’s. Aside from a nostalgic appearance of a handheld video game, everything feels wrong here, including the wardrobe and figures of speech. In one scene, Danny Ski Lift woos Tabor with a vintage soul 45 that sounds very cool, but is totally era inappropriate. Still, Deep Powder captures the vibe of cheesy 1980’s melodramas. Throughout the film, audiences will constantly expect a John Parr video to erupt. Perhaps “hope” is a more accurate term than “expect.”

In truth, St. Elmo’s Fire seems to be the standard on which the cast based their performances, getting about the same tepid results. Still, Haley Bennett brings an interesting presence to the film. It might not be a great star turn, but we certainly believe she is a messed up kid.

One can imagine the pitch for this film as Donna Tartt with a pinch of Miami Vice. If only that were on the screen. Instead, Deep Powder offers a surfeit of unintentional comedy. It is hard to recommend a film on that basis, but sometimes we have to take our entertainment where we find it. For those who are strangely intrigued, it screens again tomorrow (4/21), Monday (4/22), and Friday (4/26) as part of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: C-

Posted on April 20th, 2013 at 2:43pm.

LFM Reviews Red Obsession @ The 2013 Tribeca Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Evidently, “red” now has happier connotations in today’s go-go China. As home to the most billionaires in the world, it is hardly surprising that China has become an important market for the elite wines of the Bordeaux region. However, the voraciousness of Chinese demand is drastically reshaping the international market. The business of the world’s most expensive wines is analyzed with a special emphasis on the Chinese market in Warwick Ross & David Roach’s highly entertaining documentary, Red Obsession, which screens during the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.

The “First Growth” vineyards of Bordeaux have a formal status dating back to the era of the Second French Empire. Roughly once in a lifetime, natural conditions produce a perfect harvest, resulting in an exceptional vintage, even by the First Growths’ lofty standards. As Obsession opens, it appears lightning might just strike twice in back-to-back years. Yet, some wine critics have mixed feelings about this good fortune. They worry that the anticipated premium prices might further destabilize the market, essentially excluding many traditional customers. Of course, there will always be those willing to buy.

After giving viewers a lucid thumbnail sketch of the Bordeaux micro-economy and soaking up the ambiance of the picturesque region, Obsession makes a dramatic pivot. The scene changes to Shanghai, where viewers meet the nouveau riche entrepreneurs buying up Bordeaux at an unprecedented pace. For many, it is a mark of status. For them, nothing beats Latour.

Although its ostensive topic is wine, Obsession offers more insight into the contemporary Chinese capitalist class than any recent documentary. As several commentators explain, many of China’s boldest venture capitalists were once on the business end of the Cultural Revolution. They are now absolutely fearless in their business dealings because the prospect of financial ruin means nothing to them compared to what they have already endured.

Ross & Warwick introduce viewers to many of the billionaires (with a “b”) who have priced America and Britain out of the market, giving them a human face. We meet collectors like Peter Tseng, who made his fortune manufacturing items we cannot discuss on a family website. Some of them, like cosmetic mogul and TV presenter Yue Sai Kan are quite charismatic. What emerges is a portrait of conspicuous consumption and a near complete lack of risk aversion that provides tremendous context on China’s economic surge.

Of course, Obsession is still all about adult beverages. The co-directors display good ears for soundbites, including several slyly amusing comments from their interview subjects on the pleasures of partaking. They even scored an on-camera with vintner Francis Ford Coppola.

It all looks great thanks to cinematographers Lee Pulbrook and Steven Arnold, who fully capitalize on the sweeping splendor of the Bordeaux vineyards and Shanghai’s brightly lit skyline. Russell Crowe is also in fine voice providing the film’s narration (I don’t care what people say, he wasn’t that bad in Les Mis). Smart, stylish, and sometimes rather witty, Red Obsession is a completely engaging documentary. Highly recommended, it screens tomorrow (4/20), Monday (4/22), Thursday (4/25), and next Saturday (4/27) as part of the World Documentary Competition at this year’s Tribeca.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on April 19th, 2013 at 11:29am.