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Capone's Art-House Round-Up with Jarmusch's THE LIMITS OF CONTROL!!! Plus the urban myth NEXT DAY AIR!!!
Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here, with two films that could not be more different. One is the living, breathing definition of subtlety…to a fault. The other wouldn't know subtle if someone pulled it out of a duffle bag filled with cash and drugs and aimed it right in the filmmakers' collective faces. On any given weekend where the world almost seems to conspire to push the world's population toward one particular release, I'm always on the lookout for something smaller having the guts to open against such a juggernaut. Unfortunately, neither of these films quite fit the bill. But you be the judge…
THE LIMITS OF CONTROL
No one will every accuse filmmaker Jim Jarmusch of being one of the world's most accessible directors, but even so some of his more recent work (including the remarkable BROKEN FLOWERS, the exceedingly funny COFFEE AND CIGARETTES, and GHOST DOG) have been fairly easy to move along with and slip into their introspective groove. If you've never experienced a Jarmusch film, THE LIMITS OF CONTROL would be a terrible jumping-in point. Although there's no mistaking some of the hallmark Jarmusch touches, the film for even the most devoted enthusiast might be a bit of an endurance test. The wonderful Isaach De Bankole (who has been in several other Jarmusch works) stars as what we suspect is some sort of assassin, or at least some dude who is up to some super-secret bad shit. He travels throughout every corner of Spain, meeting with a new contact in each city (each beginning their conversation with "Do you speak Spanish?"; the joke gets old after about the third person). De Bankole often sits stone faced through each encounter, answering only direct questions while exchanging matchboxes containing messages inside with each new person.
Not surprisingly, the point of THE LIMITS OF CONTROL has nothing to do with this man's exact mission; it's about the journey and each new person that drifts in and out of his life in each city or town. Both familiar faces (John Hurt, Tilda Swinton, Gael Garcia Bernal, Hiam Abbass, Bill Murray) and unfamiliar ones (including the lovely and often naked Paz de la Huerta) come and go, each offering up the smallest bits of information and philosophy into this drifter's life. What became increasingly fascinating to me was that as his journey continues, we begin to notice small visual cues that relate back to previous meetings. In many ways, it reminded me of the small moments in our everyday lives that somehow manage to creep into our dreams as major events.
There's also something comforting in the way De Bankole approaches his job and each meeting. He's habitual and cold in his methods, but there's a professional calm to his manner and means of interaction that took the edge off what could have been played as a series of for more tense or awkward moments. I believe that much of the dialogue is improvised here, which is probably something I should have mentioned earlier, but the fact is, even if Jarmusch had written everything out and made his actor follow his script to the letter, I don't think the resulting film would have been much different. Even Jarmusch's greatest failures are more interesting than 75 percent of everything I see in a given year, although I'm pretty sure I'm not recommending THE LIMITS OF CONTROL to anyone outside paid-up executive members of his official fan club. The movie is just a bit too meandering and unfocused, even for Jarmusch. But as a statement on "the journey" of life, and the power we have and don't have in our own lives... well, there might be something in here about that too...if you feel like digging around a bit. Oh, hell. I don't know. Jarmusch officially stumped me with this one. Good luck.
NEXT DAY AIR
I'm not sure what to tell you about NEXT DAY AIR, something of a cross between an unapologetic modern blaxploitation film and a Guy Ritchie Joint with a black and Latino cast. And much like some of Ritchie's more recent work, it focuses on the things that aren't nearly as interesting and sacrifices some potentially far more engaging elements. The story is simple: overnight deliveryman Leo (Donald Faison from "Scrubs") accidentally delivers a package filled with 10 bricks of cocaine to the wrong address. The guys in the apartment (Wood Harris and Mike Epps) he delivers the package to happen to be low-life hustlers who immediately begin to plan to sell the drugs for some much-needed cash. The guy who the package was meant for (Cisco Reyes) needs to find out what happened to his drugs before his very scary boss (Emilio Rivera) gets involved. The entire film builds to the inevitable merging of multiple storylines in a blaze of glory, with bullets, blood, cash and powder scattered and splattered in every direction.
On paper, NEXT DAY AIR has the makings of a supercharged, sex-and-violence orgy. But the film has other ideas; it thinks it works best as a comedy, and the filmmakers are so terribly wrong on this point. With his debut feature, director Benny Boom (maker of dozens of memorable hip-hop videos) has a great visual flare and a true gift at cutting action to exactly the right music. The trouble starts when people start talking. Every line of dialogue is delivered as if the Caps Lock key was jammed on screenwriter Blair Cobbs' keyboard. Screaming is the only language this multicultural cast speaks, and they speak it fluently. Also, the film's greatest asset is only in the film for about three minutes. Mos Def pops in near the beginning of the film as Leo's coworker to perfectly complement Faison's broad-stroke comic talents. Every word out of Def's mouth is funny, and even when it's not, he makes it funny. And as quickly as he appears to give the film some desperately needed weight, he vanishes. You can almost hear the "Poof!" as he delivers his final words on screen. His character doesn't die or become otherwise disposed of. He just isn't in the movie anymore. What a gargantuan disappointment.
What kept me from simply dismissing NEXT DAY AIR is its absolute commitment to being as brash and narcissistic as it possibly could. It practically celebrates its Neanderthalic views on women and life in general. Sometimes it's funny, because it's clear we're supposed to think most of these characters are idiots, but after awhile it just gets depressing because we realize these people are less the exception and more the norm. I'm absolutely not recommending this film, but Boom's skilled directing and a mindset that the 25-year-old Quentin Tarantino would embrace make sitting through NEXT DAY AIR less painful. But some bizarre pacing choices, including an abrupt ending that will make most audience members throw up their hands in frustration, and the disappearance of Mos Def (he may have been kidnapped during production for all I know) make the film a massive letdown.
-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com
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+ Expand All
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Zomg!
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Next Day Air sounds pretty interesting from this review. Any review of anything that makes comparisons to Guy Ritchie and Quentin Terrentino is a review that makes me want to go to the thing that is being reviewed.
Don't hate me because I'm eloquent. -
Thanks Capone!
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beat it with coke, the other white powder...
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Seriously, I wanted to hear anything about it since I saw the trailer. I will definitely check it out on DVD.
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I get a half-chub just thinking about that film.
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Or Fireball the Thai basketball movie would be nice rveiews.
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would be so much better.
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...but it sure smells good!
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I for one am believing that this Interview of a movie by the great, brilliant, exceedingly hilarious, and quite intelligent not to mention Jim Jarmusch is an atrocity. The man is essentially a modern-day philosophyer ala Jean-Paul Sartre or Albert Camus. If one does not understand a given movie at hand, especially when created by such a wonderful director, it's likely because you didn't understand it. Bashing a Jarmusch film would be the same as taking a bite of nice sushi grade tuna and then spitting it out because it tasted bad. Sure, the flavor is most certainly complex, but it's an acquired taste. No matter what Jarmusch does, I will like, i don't know about the members of this board though.
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Jim Jaramusch is an atrocity!
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Rockets vs Lakers baby!!! I'm pretty sure that reference is targeting right right people on this board!!!
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Everything else sucks that's coming out.
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What part of that movie? It was boring and pedantic.
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does NEXT DAY AIR qualify as "art-house?"
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is a complete douche.
That is all. -
75% say "who?", 20% say "GAY!", 2% attempt to derail, 3% undecided. (+/- 1%)
I'm mostly a fan, I think Dead Man is probably his best and most accessible film but I also enjoy the directionless style typified by Coffee and Cigarettes, however, Broken Flowers didn't do much for me and I confess ambivalence toward seeing The Limits...
RE: Next Day Air, my first thought while watching a recent TV spot was 'DJ Pooh flick VS. Guy Ritchie British gangster flick', and honestly, it sounds like shit but I'm amazed nobody attempted it sooner. -
Oops.
New CSS needed, actual text-input boxes with functional controls FTW.
Amirite? -
only every was interested in Down By Law, everything else is pretentious and dull. This sounds no different.
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Yeah the movie sucked as well.
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SIGH.Anyway, extremely disappointed in "Next Day Air." Unfortunately, with a script that was "inspired by" the current darlings of off–kilter heist pictures (Tarantino, Ritchie) and lacking any other frame of reference like Jean-Paul Melville, or Jules Dassin (RIP Maestro), it has nowhere else to go but straight into the derivative pile.
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in the pretentious douche file
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are the pretentious ones- imposing their own identity on everyone else. What's wrong with expecting filmmakers to look a little further afield than Guy Ritchie? And Melville and Dassin's movies weren't "pretentious," they were and are just plain cool. I'd hate to see what you'd have thought of A Killing of a Chinese Bookie!
I like Jarmusch movies. Especially the '80s and early '90s ones. They always have a breezy air that just sucks me in. He's not lost that quality, but there was something more exciting about those earlier pics, like he was part of a movement. Now it seems as if your average independent movie is just as facetious as the flicks they're supposed to be an antidote for. The ones I've seen lately just have too bratty a tone to them for me to get into them. -
Paris, Texas was awesome! I'll agree that Wim Wenders is usually less hit than miss, but most of his movies from Wings of Desire and earlier are worth checking out. I especially dug all of his King of the Road movies, Alice in the Cities in particular. I can see how you'd confuse him with Jarmusch; their movies definitely have a similar vibe.
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For me, Broken Flowers and Coffee and Cigarettes were so so to disappointing (at least of Jarmusch). But he gets a lifetime pass for Dead Man, Stranger than Paradise, and Down by Law, so I'm always up for checking out his new ones. Limits of Control is shot by Christopher Doyle, who did most of Wong Kar Wai's films, so even if it's it's not one of his better movies it's at least going to be interesting to look at.
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i won't try to convince the dipshits hatas here who think, by coming off hard in front of a bunch of fanboys, they are somehow worth paying attention to. those who have demonmstrated their intellectual inferiority by disparaging mr jarmusch on this post must now please walk to a mirror and recite the following: "i am one sad motherfucker with no taste nor aesthetic understanding of anything whatsoever and the day i have a single interesting, worthwhile thing to say about jim jarmusch, much less cinema in general, is the day it turns out i died and was born again as entirely different person, without a trace of the imbecility that contributed my undeniable status as an utter and complete dipshit with nothing of value to say, whatsoever." yes, you're allowed to mouth-breathe twelve times while reciting.
meantime, coma, baby, you are ever so right that chris doyle did wonders here -- it's the most beautiful jarmusch yet, which is truly saying something. abstract, elliptical and out to frustrate every conventional impulse we expect from thrillers, people will sleep on _control_ for a decade, just like _dead man_ and then realize it is one of the great masterpieces of the decade. you read it here first (+ you're welcome) -
Amazing. But cunt stole my idea, I wanted Boris to score a film. Boris destroys all.
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there are so many directors making the same old formulaic movies over and over, why not celebrate someone like Jarmusch? You can always go back and see one of those comfortable cliche movies tomorrow. Yeah, they'll still be there.
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What with them on the soundtrack and duanejones, a talkbacker who knows his shit, giving this his seal of approval, I am THERE in two years time when it finally gets to my local house of art.
Keep this feature a regular thing, Cap! -
stupid false advertising
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...left the cap off the Massengale bottle? Because it leaked out and now call itself duanejones!
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Here's a remark it FUCKING SUCKED.one of the worst movies i've ever seen except sharon stone's naked daughter
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Can't wait to see it. I thank the universe on me knees every day that i live in a time where people like Jim Jarmusch make movies.
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I was gonna see it for the fact Mos def is in it. now Im disspaointed, not even worth the bootleg copy it seems!
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Trailer Night STINKS, of course, and Broken Flowers is good, but not as great as ANY of his other movies. But a good Jarmusch movie is still better than most of the crap they put out. BTW, the "you speak Spanish?" thing is a subtle (ok, sometimes not as subtle) inside joke that has been going on since Permanent Vacation (ok, not so good either) and hasn't really gotten old.
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Dassin and Cassavetes are just plain fucking cool. Melville I don't know, gonna look up. Thanks.
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May 08, 2009 10:54:43 PM CDT
FatherMcGruderKicksAssForTheLord
by guy who got a headache and accidentally
FTW, lol, amirite, did you just learn to use the internet or what? I hope you were trying to hit every internet comment cliche in one post because you deserve a fucking medal for that one.
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Limits Of Control does sound pretentious as hell, but out of the three Jarmusch movies I've seen (Mystery Train, Dead Man and Ghost Dog) I've loved all three, Jarmusch seems to have a talent at making a movie fascinating even if not a whole lot is happening, so I may check it out when it hits dvd
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..but I sure wanna kick wampa 1's ass.
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definitely Down by Law, Night on Earth, Mystery Train, Dead Man, Ghost Dog. Note: Jim Jarmusch films not for the faint of soul.
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