Cool News
Moriarty’s Seen THE BAND’S VISIT, FOOL’S GOLD, And IN BRUGES! One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others...
Hey, everyone. “Moriarty” here.
It’s been an interesting year so far. It’s not often that January inspires any real passion in filmgoers... I mean, sure, you’ve got a lot of platformed releases of the Decemeber limited release titles, the Oscar fare... but as far as new movies that are being released wide, January normally stinks. 2008 had both RAMBO and CLOVERFIELD, and the audiences that enjoyed those movies reeeeeeeeeally enjoyed them, while the audiences that hated them felt just as strongly. It’s been fun to have something actually worth discussing. And now, February’s off to what I think is a really strong start with at least two intriguing films available for audiences today.
THE BAND’S VISIT
There was some controversy surrounding this film when it was disqualified from the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars this year, but in all the discussion of the movie at that point, none of it seemed to be about whether or not the film is any good. Writer/director Eran Kolirin has done some work on Israeli television, but makes a fantastic, memorable feature debut with this gentle look at Egyptian/Israeli relations over the course of a long, strange night.
The film opens with a single title card:
“Once – not long ago – a small Egyptian police band arrived in Israel. Not many remember this... it wasn’t that important.”
Simple. Funny in a quiet, wry way. Devastatingly self-deprecating. It’s absolutely the set-up for the film, but from that little simple description, Kolirin wrings something so rich, so nuanced, and so human.
The peace agreement between Israel and Egypt is just under thirty years old at this point, so in the grand scheme of things, tolerance between these people is a relatively new idea. The Alexandria Police orchestra is actually eight men, traveling together to Israel to perform at the opening of an Arab Cultural Center. The man in charge of the band, both onstage and on the road, is Lt. Col. Tawfiq Zacharya, played by Sasson Gabai in one of the absolute best performances of 2007, a year that was overstuffed with them. His work is so good that I had to watch the film twice. He’s a yappy little clenched fist at the start of the film, constantly annoyed by the presence of Khaled (Saleh Bakri), who seems to be everything that Tawfiq is not. He’s young, tall, good-looking, confident, at ease with everyone he meets. And most of all... he’s good with women. His very existence seems to offend Tawfiq, who threatens to throw him out of the orchestra for every minor transgression. When the men land in Israel, they get completely lost leaving the airport. Their trip to Petah Tikva gets diverted somehow to Bet Hatikva, a tiny, desolate backwater corner of the desert that’s absolutely not where they’re supposed to be. In an attempt to sort things out, Tawfiq approaches a tiny restaurant to talk to its owner, a striking curvy woman named Dina (Ronit Elkabetz), who seems bemused by Tawfiq from the moment she first regards him from below the heavy lids of those remarkable almond eyes of hers. I'm a big fan of hers from LATE MARRIAGE, and as soon as she showed up, I sat forward, hoping she was going to be a big part of the film.
Sure enough, Dina decides to help these men, and she sets them all up with places to stay for the night so they can be ready to catch the right bus in the morning, once the buses are running again. Her decision is impulsive, arbitrary, and she hands off responsibility for the men to friends and neighbors, taking in Tawfiq and Khaled herself. The way the evening unfolds is full of so many wonderful small pleasures and winning revelations that I don’t want to reveal much. Suffice it to say that the stars of the film emerge as Elkabetz and Gabai, and the relationship that develops between Dina and Tawfiq over the course of the night is beautifully written, smart, adult, and it says as much about the gulf between men and women as it does the difference between Israeli and Arab. The fact that it aims for a sort of heartwarming uplift might be a bad thing if this were a Hollywood movie, but Kolirin proves himself to be a writer of real substance. He never lets these characters off the hook. He never aims for easy sitcom laughs.
The film is definitely funny, but it’s the recognition of the real humanity of these characters that makes us laugh, not silly forced gags. And just when you settle into the groove of the film, it plays rough enough to unsettle. It keeps reaching for the real, even in moments that might otherwise seem cloying. There’s a singalong to “Summertime” after a meal that I found haunting, and there’s an extended set piece at a roller disco that is hilarious, but also quite moving in its way. And the final concert, the reason these men are in town in the first place, is handled so perfectly here that the film finally earned tears from me. Beautifully photographed, with a truly gorgeous soundtrack, THE BAND’S VISIT probably would have changed the landscape of my top ten list had I seen it in 2007. As it is, I can’t recommend it strongly enough. It surprised me, and now I find myself eager to see what this filmmaker will do next.
FOOL’S GOLD
Andy Tennant, on the other hand, is welcome to stop annnnnnny time he likes.
I’ll be honest. I think people are being overly cruel to this film. It’s not a good movie, certainly, but it’s certainly not some hostile affront to the very notion of fun. It’s obvious that someone has a hard-on for ROMANCING THE STONE, and if you’re going to rip off an ‘80s adventure movie, that’s a pretty smart one to rip off. That movie had a phenomenal screenplay by Diane Thomas that perfectly balanced the treasure hunt, the romantic banter, and the sleazy comic supporting cast. FOOL’S GOLD never quite strikes that balance, but I’ll give them points for even getting it in the ballpark. The film’s a more persuasive treasure hunt movie than either THE DA VINCI CODE or NATIONAL TREASURE, both of which seemed so overblown and impossible that they weren’t fun at all. Here, the screenplay by John Clafin & Daniel Zelman & Andy Tennant tries to keep things light, and it tries to generate a big supporting cast to keep things moving forward with some energy and style. Ewen Bremner and Alexis Dziena (the nude Lolita in Jim Jarmusch’s BROKEN FLOWERS, playing a cartoon cutie-pie heiress here) do the best they can with their roles, and Donald Sutherland stands around and smiles gamely.
But if you want to know where the film ultimately fails, it’s on the shoulders of the leads. I find it frankly amazing that there are people out there demanding new films with Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey together. They’re not terrible as a screen couple, but they’re also not compelling in any way. They amiably shamble their way through the film, and neither one offends, but I’m baffled what it is that people might actually like about them. And let’s be honest... McConaughey’s had a lot of chances at this point. He plays a spirited goofball here, and I get the feeling this is his comfort zone. If he could be shirtless and charming and disheveled every second of every film, I’ll bet he would. Kate Hudson looks good in a bikini, and she channels some of the same hippie-dippie energy that made her mom’s early work so much fun, but I don’t ever really buy her. Maybe that’s the biggest problem with these two... they get through each scene with their charms (such as they are) intact; it’s just that I never believe I’m watching anything but two actors having a gas. It’s all so Teflon, so patently insincere. The reason ROMANCING THE STONE is so great is because you believe Michael Douglas would (A) fuck the shit out of Kathleen Turner given half a chance and (B) fuck her over as soon as he does because he loves the treasure more. There’s no danger of Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey fucking here, no friction between them. Their sex scene is a typically toothless THREE’S COMPANY-level affair with them banging into furniture and breaking things instead of actually having sex. It sums up the “heat” between them. As in... there is none.
And without heat, does it really matter if they do a decent job of laying out the various steps of the treasure hunt and even build to a solid action ending? If you don’t believe that McConaughey’s crazy about something... anything... then FOOL’S GOLD becomes aptly named; it looks like a movie and it’s structured like a movie but there’s nothing real about it. In the end, there’s nothing there.
IN BRUGES
I’m not sure I’d call this one a complete success, but it’s got enormous personality, and this is a real win for writer/director Martin McDonagh in terms of putting him on the map with his first feature film.
Like THE BAND’S VISIT, this begins with a very simple fish-out-of-water premise: two hitmen from the UK are told to hide out in Bruges after there are complications during a job. Just what those complications are, we don’t learn up front, but it’s obvious that they’re taking a toll on Ray (Colin Farrell). His partner Ken (the superb Brendan Gleeson) is determined to enjoy himself while in town, playing the dutiful sightseer and following the instructions of Harry, their unseen boss, as closely as possible. For the first part of the film, the shaggy charm of the thing is just watching them mark time, and watching how Ray can barely hold his shit together.
The movie’s deeply silly in places, like Ray’s infatuation with the filming of midgets, and at other times, it’s so dark that it’s startling, like when we finally learn what happened that forced Ray and Ken on the road in the first place. McDonagh knows how to shock, and he does it a few times in the film, and he knows how to use it right. If he didn’t push a few extreme images, the film wouldn’t hit you with the same degree of power. There’s a possibility for something like this to turn cute, to play too broad. The longer Ken and Ray stay in Bruges, the darker they get, and the more complicated they are. Ken’s given an unthinkable order, Ray turns suicidal, and Harry finally shows up in the form of Ralph Fiennes, who has never looked stranger than he does here. He’s like a polished Doberman’s skull in an expensive suit, incredibly high-strung and psychotic. Harry Potter fans will be pleased to see Clemence Poesy play a major role here, as will pretty much most heterosexual men. She’s adorable and genuinely affecting as Chloe, a local drug-dealer-to-film-crews who crosses paths with Ray. She’s got great chemistry with Farrell, who does some of the best work of his career in this film. He’s a hard guy for a lot of directors to figure out, but McDonagh gets him. He gives Farrell the room he needs to carve out this edgy, hollow-eyed portrayal, and Farrell manages to play every bit of vulnerability inherent to the role. If Farrell is the broken heart of the film, then Gleeson is the soul, decent even when making terrible decisions, willing to make those decisions because he knows someone has to. His scenes opposite Fiennes toward the end of the film are crazy, dark and funny and then wrenchingly sad. Like with most good road movies, this one comes down to chemistry, and it’s got plenty of it.
If I have a complaint here, it’s that the film tries to play with some big ideas, but I don’t think it really has much to say. The performances are great, the film is entertaining, and there are some great laughs, but there are also places where it feels like it’s trying way too hard, like most of the material that has to do with Jordan Prentice, playing Jimmy, the dwarf who Ray sees filming a movie and who ends up delivering a racist diatribe in one of the most forced sequences in the film. Still, as a first film, it’s enormously promising, and between this and THE BAND’S VISIT, I’d say there’s plenty to see right now if you go looking. Both films are playing limited release, with IN BRUGES opening wider this Friday. Keep your eyes open... they’re worth the effort.
Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
-
+ Expand All
-
Dedicated to Roy!
-
good lord, ain't going anywhere near it.
-
How did the guy that made Romancing the Stone and Back to the Future end up directing wack like Polar Express and Beowulf?
-
It really does feel like a lot of filmmakers have been firing on all cylinders for the past year or so. As an audience member, I can't even keep up with all the apparently great stuff hitting theaters. That's a great problem to have.
-
erm, no. 2007= catalogue of disappointments.
-
expecting to see a biopic of the Stone Roses and being surprised at some Rom Com dreck. i have to stop doing this. Also, I agree with Kwis what the fuck happened to Zemeckis? Beowulf was shite.
-
Love em or hate em there's been a load of interesting stuff out lately like Cloverfied, Atonement, No Country, There will be blood, looking forward to Rambo and loads more. what a year already!
-
But plenty of great stuff sprinkled across the months. Anytime I saw a new clunker, there were usually at least 1-2 other worthwhile films that came out around the same time.
That's how it seemed, at least. Maybe the long string of goodness from this Fall and Winter is just so fresh that it has wiped away any bad vibes. -
*shrug*
i went into National Treasure with minimal expectations and enjoyed the hell out of it.
Certainly a lot more fun than reading the Da Vince Code - that's several hours of my life i won't get back. -
This was a fun movie. I agree about the dwarf's diatribe being forced and out of place. For reasons ultimately apparent to those who've seen it, I guess they didn't want us feeling too sorry for him...
-
since this is supposed to be aint it cool "NEWS"
-
I think you are letting the winter colour your memory- think back to the summer. I will give you: Winter= embarrassment of riches
-
You're officially the best writer on AICN in my book. "It’s all so Teflon, so patently insincere." That's good stuff. Communicates a lot. Nice work.
-
I saw In Bruges this weekend. Coming out from the film I saw the review from Newsweek that said "Undeniably Fun-Refreshingly un-PC". While I did enjoy this film, I have to say that review is incrediably misleading. This is like saying Hieronymus Bosch is perfect for a Mother's Day card. Hieronymus Bosch is the theme for this film, a medieval artist who painted surreal scenes of Hell and madness. This is strongly reflected in Ray's (Colin Farrell's) charater, the sights around Bruges and the film within the film. The most horrific scenes (and there are a few) are distubing to the point you wish they had been cut from the film. However these scenes define the characters they damn. This is not a light comedic film. I would say this is what you might get if Bill Forsyth (Local Hero, Gregory's Girl) had directed The Long Good Friday. The play of light and dark in this film is so tightly interwoven, each time you laugh you will almost immediately be forced to the point of tears.
-
anyone else having issues loading aicn? keep getting just the background with no story, have to refresh several times before the story or the main page appears.
-
Moriarty, I couldn't agree more. I still think about THE BAND'S VISIT even if it has been 5 months since I saw it. I hope it finds a real audience.
-
The clips and trailers for In Bruges are very misleading, and about half of the audience I saw this seemed to be expecting a light comedy and were not happy. The plot is about two hitman who are in purgatory, dwelling on what they've done, awaiting judgment, then the judgment comes. It has a lot of humor and is very funny in places, but, yeah, the marketing for it is very misleading. It's good and enjoyable, as long as you aren't thrown for a loop by the serious and dark tone it takes in places.
-
Stallone was the first to present and he got a standing O. That alone warrants a TB. And Shia LeMadCow received the (Spoiler) Rising Star of the Year Award. Haha very funny! Very funny. But there was a very moving presentation of some lifetime award to Anthony Hopkins by Richard Attenborough.
-
..But my wife had fun with the movie. Best part was when the sword landed between the "cartoon cutie-pie heiress" legs. Nice film shot. And why won't McConaughey do more action or drama roles??? Stop pussing out!
-
Until you have a link to that announcement, STFU.
-
I sent in my review for this film last week from a screening...why no love? Just joshing, good reviews Mori although shorter than usual. Thanks for putting up your thoughts on In Bruges. I had a blast watching it and like you, agree its not a great movie but still was the most impactful experience I've had so far this short year. I will finally expect something from Colin Farrell after this. I absolutely loved watching him in this.
-
WTF is the difference with that cast/story?
-
Really? You pick the name of the taliban leader as your handle? Most of our handles are cheesey somewhat, but that's just tasteless.
-
suck horribly. Heard it here first.
-
Is 'e havin' a laff? But seriously, Drew, speaking of "One of these things is not like the other," I cannot recommend enough the Sesame Street "Old School" DVD series for your wee one. Man, that show was creative, funny and sweet back in the day, especially sans the evil of Elmo.
-
Isn't it a copy of Six Days and Seven Nights basically?
-
Predator amuse me.
-
About your Mortal Kombat script you are supposedly working on ... http://www.moviehole.net/news/20080208_director_talks_mortal_kombat_r.html
It sounds like shit. Care to explain this? -
:( He's dead!
-
...I really couldn't give a fuck about middle eastern romantic dramedys. Avoid them like the plauge. Yet Moriartys review has made sure I've put The Bands Visit on my list of to see's. You fuckin' shill. Tell your Middle Eastern Dramedy Producer overlords that you have succeded. Same goes for In Bruges. Seriously, I had about as much interest in watching that as I did in a new film by Julian Gilbey or Nick Love (which is, only if under threat of torture). But shit, if the massive swell of good reviews hasn't turned me. Anyone get the feeling that all the promotional material for Fools Gold really looks like Bacardi commercials?
-
;) http://tinyurl.com/ysqfd8
-
Either they thought they were deserving of more money, or their pissed that since New Line is being folded by Time Warner (today's Wall Street Journal). I suspect there won't be a Hobbit movie. Oh well.
-
Its gonna premiere on Good Morning America...WTF?
-
the same thing Peter Jackson did with them. New Line's argument will again be "the movies didn't make any money".
-
Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey's careers would go somewhere. That moment has long past. I thought Hudson was great in Almost Famous (the only likable Cameron Crow film) and there was a time where McConaughey picked relatively diverse roles that required him to keep his shirt on (remember Amistad). What happened to these two? They have become the drudges of Hollywood actors shoveling garbage at their audience.
-
The Last Mimzy, indeed.
-
Matt McConaughey is like the Derick Zoolander of actors. "Surely there's more to life than my really really really really really ridiculously good-looking pectoral muscles?" My question is, are they real or fake? You decide.
-
I didn't think it was that bad... of course I saw it right after sydney white. I then followed that with another double feature of the mist and there will be blood. They make an interesting pair too... But I don't think I'll be seeing 4 movies at the cinema in one day again any time soon...
-
...based on its advertising. That is all.
-
Thanks for the review, Mori. Great as usual. I'm especially looking forward to seeing "The Band's Visit." Sounds like a film that'll entertain as well as kick my ass emotionally. I can't wait.
-
the same day. The shakey cam made me edgy.
-
And now he's getting called out by Mori for having bombed plenty of chances to make a hit. Sad sad day. The man so needed to nail a John MacClaine or Indian Jones type role early on, and he never got one. I still think he coulda been a great John Carter of Mars (ok, with a lot of luck). And god, do not say Kate Hudson who I loved in Almost Famous is so past saving from these horribly forgettable romcoms that she's been in ever since!!!! She's still my favorite for the Black Cat if they ever use her in a Spider-Man movie (okay ya, that's not exactly a high expectation either). Not sure if anyone will EVER pull off solid romantic chemistry again though. These days, those kinds of roles are all about the gloss and glamor OUTSIDE the movie rather than in it. Studios would rather create buzz in the real world and hope they trick you into seeing the movie starring them--rather than try to make the movie stand on its own. I'm sure this same hype machine thinks Cleopatra was a great movie because of the Burton/Taylor affair behind the scenes--in truth it was the only noteworthy bit of trivia about that lifeless overlong catnap of a flick. Bogey and Bacall sizzled on SCREEN and that's why we still give two shits about what happened with them on screen or off. Obviously I don't watch enough of these types of movies as I can't remember the last time two actors had sizzling chemistry on screen. Clooney and Lopez in Out of Sight maybe? Crap, that's like 10 years old. Trouble is most of the time even when there is chemistry, the movie is crap to watch. Pitt and Jolie had something in Mr and Mrs. Smith--not much, but somthing--yet that movie had no meat to it. And to bring this full circle, Turner in Douglas had done it better then too, only in War of the Roses.
-
SPACE LORD BROTHERFUCKER!!!
-
fucking retard rednecks
-
...Should just quit his acting career while hes ahead and follow his true calling. Late Night Fitness Informecials. I don't think I've ever seen anything on him that involved him talking about acting or film production, just really kick ass exercises to get buff.
-
The 2 main characters in 'In Bruges' are Irish, making them from Ireland which is not part of the UK.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 209 total posts 207 posts
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 160 total posts 97 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 144 total posts 77 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 68 total posts 68 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 67 total posts 67 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 64 total posts 60 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 480 total posts 55 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 53 total posts 50 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 118 total posts 32 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 182 total posts 27 posts