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MAY... Le
Cercle Rouge 5.8 Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Cercle Rouge played at the Castro from May 2-15. http://www.filmforum.com/cercle.html#links This is from an email to my sister, sent May 6: "Thought about seeing Jean-Pierre (Le Samouraï- Bob le flambeur - Le Doulos) Melville's penultimate film Le Cercle Rouge Saturday, didn't, and then on Sunday, but didn't again. Will go though, as it is playing for 2 weeks at the Castro. Possibly tonight or Thursday night. Am getting up for Matrix 2. You?" This is from an email sent to my friend Pete on May 8: "Tonight I'm going to pick her (Jane) up from work, we're going to check out this desserts/pastries place she knows about and then we are seeing Jean-Pierre Melville's 1970 French gangster classic, now in rerelease, at the Castro, with Alain Delon... Le Cercle Rouge -- The Red Circle. Melville's penultimate film. My fav of his is... Le Samouraï (1967)!" I did see Le Cercle Rouge with Jane on Thurs May 8. This is from an email sent to Pete on May 9: "Jane and I saw Le Cercle Rouge last night. She's now a big fan of the attractive leading man Alain Delon." The dessert place we went to was Citizen Cake. On Grove at Gough.
This is from the Castro website, about Le Cercle Rouge: 8:00pm. Jean-Pierre Melville was the master of French noir. From Le Doulos and Bob Le Flambeur to Le Samouraï and his penultimate film Le Cercle Rouge, Melville plumbed the depths of the French underworld and found simple betrayals, double-crosses, triple-crosses, but also loyalty and honor. His biggest hit in France, Le Cercle Rouge was released in this country only in a drastically cut (40 minutes gone!!) and poorly dubbed version. This new release restores the film to it's glory. The NY Times' A.O. Scott says, "It is a long, at times mind-twistingly intricate movie, but there is never a rushed shot, a perfunctory cut or a wasted movement. There are, instead, moments of breathtaking strangeness and blunt emotional force: cold-blooded shootings, creepy-crawly alcoholic hallucinations, spangly dancers and nighttime streets. These things could exist-could look like this, or seem to mean anything-only in the movies. Le Cercle Rouge offers the kind of experience that makes you glad movies exist." 1970, 140m. Fully Restored Color and Sound! Sharp New Laser Subtitles! www.rialtopictures.com/cercle.html. I saw The Shape of Things at the Presidio at 12:00pm on Monday 5.12.3. I bought the $6.25 ticket from Gregory at 12:05pm. Rated R. Drama, 1:37 minutes. "Writer-director Neil LaBute's latest neo-Restoration comedy of modern manners, about the cruelty and immorality of love, is clever and tricky but doesn't quite pay off as a moral investigation. Still, the cast (including Paul Rudd, Gretchen Mol and Rachel Weisz) is game and the film holds interest." -- M. LaSalle, SF Chronicle. Here's some email dialogue my friend P.C. Rooks and I had about The Shape of Things: Rooks: I saw Shape of Things, which I liked. sort of stagy, but well done. I like LaBute. Ted: Yes. I agree. Although, knowing LaBute and In the Company of there was no surprise or shock in what Rachel Weisz's character was doing. ... aren't all the characters (excluding Weisz) better off now than before? Rooks: But is that was LaBute is trying to show... that if you get thin and a cool haircut, you're better off? Or if you just have confidence in who you are... I knd of felt like he was scorning Rudd a little once he got thin, like he became a less humane person... Anyway, I give the movie points for being thoughtful and provocative. It wasn't nearly as outrageous as I had heard it was. Ted: I hadn't heard that it was outrageous. I think LaBute was just throwing it all out there for debate. But, while it's cool if someone likes you if you are 20 lbs overweight and out of shape, you're still better off if you're not those things. I don't think I felt like he was scorning Rudd too much. It's not just that Rudd is better off in re looks, style, confidence, he's also had an experience, learned something about people, etc. The guy was such a loser he never dated anyone. He was chubby, dorky, timid, weak, pathetic, wimpy with no self confidence. From an email to Jane: "This morning I did some quality work on that website project thing, then I just saw The Shape of Things (Paul Rudd, Rachel Weisz, Gretchen Mol) at the Presidio -- it was okay/good. I started riding down there on motorcycle and gear shift busted loose. Parked it, took car. Bought some epoxy stuff at a Kragen "Otto" Parts place, will try to affix later today. Also I have to go to the market, or "supermarket." Back to work now. What are you doing? Wanna get together this evening?" Matrix Reloaded. At the Coronet; with Jane; 10:45pm; Sun 5.18; $9.25 tickets bought at 8:31pm. From email conversations (Subject: Matrix Cream) with my friend P.C. Rooks: Rooks: "I thought most of the action in Matrix was well executed, and not nearly as loud as most action movies feel they need to be. The 100 plus Hugo Weaving scene felt a little too video gamey, especially because the animation seams were pretty obvious." Ted: "I felt like the animation seams were pretty invisible." Rooks: "Ebert and Roeper both thought that this Matrix was much better than the first! I give this one 3 out of 4. Some wooden dialogue/ character stuff bogged, and the Zion rave was just silly, but the last half really worked. It ended on a high note. Pretty good for a summer blockbuster..." Ted: "Pretty good, yes. I liked Monica Bellucci and her French husband. And Carrie-Anne Moss. And Hugo Weaving. And the Ducati. And the 'keymaker.'" A Woman Is a Woman (1961) at the Castro on Thu 5.22 at 9:15pm for $8.00. Cast: Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean-Claude Brialy, Marie Dubois and Nicole Paquin. Directed by: Jean-Luc Godard. Screenplay by: Jean-Luc Godard. Distributor: PathÈ Contemporary Films. Run time: 84 min. Rating: NR. Year: 1961. I had my mind on other things, as I recall and got to this movie a few minutes late. Bought a couple Hot Cookies, went in to the theatre, ate the cookies, couldn't get in to the film, left after about a half an hour. The film was very colorful, and not bad, my leaving early was not a reflection on the film, per se. So here's what Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine thought: "Jean-Luc Godard's A Woman is A Woman, along with his great My Life to Live, remains one of the director's more accessible works. Never heavy-handed, the film defies genre-placement. This subversive musical celebrates female empowerment and takes sly jabs at Hollywood film conventions. Godard's use of music is at its best here, not to be rivaled until the impeccable, metallic soundscape of Alphaville. Godard pokes fun at film tropes such as the inconsequential supporting players when two detectives inexplicably invade the home of Angela (Anna Karina) and her boyfriend Emile (Jan-Clause Brialy). The film's absurd underpinnings are heightened by Emile's need to ride around his apartment on a bicycle. When he refuses to impregnate her, Anna turns to Alfred (Jean-Paul Belmondo) to do the job. Godard is a man who loves women but has never really understood them though you'd never know it from watching A Woman is A Woman. Angela's emotional turmoil is flatteringly complimented by Godard's formal yet airy compositions. Angela may be stubborn and irrational but she's completely hell-bent on self-actualization. Godard's pastiche is self-consciously tongue- in- cheek, riddled with constant references to other films: Truffaut's Shoot the Piano Player is mentioned during a game of charades and one character asks "how Jules and Jim is progressing." Godard's especially potent reference to Breathless is an act of self-love. A Woman is a Woman, in the end, is less a film about the perils of romantic love as it is an act of love for the creation of film." (2001). The Dancer Upstairs at the Empire 3 at 3:30pm on Thu 5.22; ticket sold to me by Erik at 3:25pm. Price? $6.00. Drama, 2 hours and 4 minutes, Rated R. "An ambitious political thriller set in an unamed South American country under the grip of terrorist. John Malkovich goes behind the camera for the first time and comes up with an intelligent piece of work. Yet the overly drawn-out narrative eventually hampers our enjoyment. Spanish actor Javier Bardem stars as an honest cop trying ot track down the terrorist mastermind; the lovely Italian actress Laura Morante is the title character. Their romance enlivens the film." -- M. LaSalle, SF Chronicle. "As his country collapses around him, Agustin Rejas (Javier Bardem) is an idealistic lawman set on capturing a illusive guerrilla leader. He falls in love with his daughter's teacher (Laura Morante), who may be more than a simple ballet dancer." -- CinemaSource. Bruce Almighty at the Presidio at 2:20pm on Fri 5.23. Ticket sold to me by Gregory at 2:24pm for the price of $6.25. Ugh. For the first 3/4 this movie was mediocre at best, but the last half hour or so minutes really hit home how bad a film this is. Bruce Almighty is an awful movie. For a while I was watching it and just thinking it was dull, not very funny, not very inventive, original or interesting. But after about an hour I realized it really sucked. First off, it's a comedy -- and I laughed maybe 5 times. Second off, it's preachy, and it's preachy from a Christian point of view. And all I can say to that is: Jesus Christ. Jennifer Aniston is given nothing to do but cry and try to comfort Carrey by suggesting stupid things like, "it's okay to make people laugh." Here's what Andrew O'Hehir from salon.com said, which I pretty much agree with 100%: "Bruce learns lessons, of course. Randomly answering people's prayers leads to chaos. Having a meteor hit Buffalo (so he can get an exclusive and get his job back) probably isn't a good idea. And even God can kiss the wrong girl and generally act like an unlovable jerk. But Bruce Almighty has no spine and no bite. Given America's religious climate, Shadyac and his team of screenwriters undoubtedly didn't want to risk offending anybody, and the result is a movie that just wanders from one preachy, sentimental moment to the next. Everything it tries to say is trite beyond belief and it isn't all that funny. "On one of Bruce's encounters with God, the Deity lectures him on his uses of divine power (which have included giving himself a Ferrari and making the hapless Buffalo Sabres win the Stanley Cup). 'Those aren't miracles,' Freeman's Yahweh intones somberly. 'A miracle is when a kid says no to drugs and yes to getting an education.'" This film, like all Christian stuff preaches the stupid, dangerous ideals of that faith, like that you have to accept being miserable, because it doesn't really matter what happens here, everything is about Christ and the afterlife, etc, etc. Here's a creepy Christian news magazine interview with the director, Tom Shadyac: Highlights: "One of a handful of openly Christian artists working in Hollywood, Shadyac sat down with Christian Spotlight last week to talk about his latest film, Bruce Almighty, and to share out how he reconciles his spiritual walk with his high-profile profession." "First off Tom, I'd like to know, who made the decision to have the couple unmarried?... Well, it just seemed to me like it actually would have been more poignant had they been married. I guess my question is, why make that decision? I mean, though the characters do end up married, it's not like they ever say, 'Okay, what we were doing before was wrong.'" "Well, I have to be honest, I laughed so hard at this movie, and I was so touched by it emotionally that while I was watching it, I didn't think about the curse words and things like that. But I do have to think about what I'm going to go back and say to the people who are waiting to hear whether or not they can take their kids to see this movie. And I'm frustrated with that because I do want everyone to see it, so I'm wondering why those things had to happen." "Well, okay, it didn't have to happen, but it does happen because we're storytellers, and as storytellers we're dealing with humans, and humans, as you know, tend to make mistakes. I don't know whether everyone realizes it, but people curse. And obviously it's up to parents when they want to introduce that reality to their children..." "Getting back to Bruce's journey, it seems like God goes to an awful lot of trouble to teach this one man to pray. How did God teach you to pray?" Click here for the rest: http://www.christiananswers.net/spotlight/movies/2003/brucealmighty-interview.html. Down with Love; 2:15pm; Sun 5.25.03; $7; PG13. P.C. Rooks: "Hey have you seen Down with Love? Julie and I saw it at the Parkway last night. It's so funny! Really surprisingly good, and very cute and cheerful." Me: "Yeah I saw it and thought it wasn't bad. It was maybe too cute, but in the end I felt like it spent so much time being an homage/parody that I didn't really feel much of anything for the characters... nice to see Tony Randall.... his ears are huge!" P.C. Rooks: "I thought it was great. I giggled like crazy all the way through. The Parkway Wednesday is 2 for $5, which helped, as did low expectations because I don't like The Thrill of it All. But the tongue in cheek style worked for me a lot more than Austin Powers movies. My folks might go see it tonight. I think they'll love it. I'm seeing Whale Rider tonight." Me: "I'm taking the negative Austin Powers reference as a dig. I tried not to make my so-so thoughts on Down-Love personal. Meanwhile, I got kind of sick of the Whale Rider previews, it looks pretty simple, but it's at the Bridge. Jane and I are seeing Lawrence of Arabia at the Stanford on Saturday. And going to the diner (Peninsula Fountain and Grill). I don't know if I saw Thrill of It All, but I recall your not liking it. I remember being sort of happily surprised with Pillow Talk, I saw most of Boys Night Out the other day on TCM and was a little like "whatever." A dozen or so years ago I think I liked Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? My mom kind of thought what I thought about Down with Love. My review of that film is not totally negative. Did you see Hulk? Seems to be getting some good reviews, based mainly on the fact that Ang Lee is director? Damn it's hot out. P.C. Rooks: "Don't make it so personal. I just though the wink wink nudge of Down With Love was clever/more appealing than the A Powers films." Me: "I also felt they were different types of comedy, Austin P was more outrageous lampooning and silliness and Down with Love was more an homage with some slight parody. What did you think about Tony Randall's ears?" P.C. Rooks: "Everything I've heard about Whale Rider has been very enthusiastic, including Ebes' 4 star review." Me: "Yeah, I've heard general positivity, mainly from the Whale Rider trailers, but I'm sure it will be getting a lot of good reviews, but it looks like it's preaching to the converted, like I think little girls should be able to do anything they want, screw tradition, cultural prejudices and outmoded attitudes about sex, whether in the US or whale country. It doesn't look like it has much more to offer. I'm sure if I saw it, I'd probably think it was good, but forgettable. But who knows, I haven't seen it... "I do want to see Charlie's Angels 2 at 1000 Van Ness, which is the best place it's at in the city, although it's at the Rheem... Am up for 28 Days Later; and will want to see Jet Lag despite lukewarm reviews. Something coming soon that I definitely will do: "dive into this summer's sexiest mystery"... when a British mystery author visits her publisher's home in the South of France, where her interaction with his unusual daughter sets off some touchy dynamics in FranÁois Ozon's Swimming Pool. Ozon has done 8 Women (2002), Under the Sand (2001), and Water Drops On Burning Rocks (2000). "Swimming Pool stars Charlotte Rampling (The Verdict, The Night Porter, Under the Sand, Aberdeen) as the writer, Ludivine Sagnier (8 Women, Water Drops On Burning Rocks, My Wife Is an Actress) as the daughter, and Charles Dance (Ali G Indahouse, Gosford Park, Hilary and Jackie, Alien3, White Mischief, The Golden Child, For Your Eyes Only) as the publisher. "L'Auberge Espagnole with Audrey Tautou and Judith GodrËche is still at the Embarcadero. The Hulk is helped by being at the Presidio. "Jane and I are seeing Lawrence of Arabia at the Stanford Saturday. She's excited, she's always wanted to see it. I think I am going to definitely try to get her down there for Manchurian Candidate, which I think she might like a lot. You could come with, and we could have a 15th anniversary of our seeing it together in the theatre for the first time... you could take your shirt off and run around the theatre... good times, good times.... The Man on the Train (L'Homme du Train); 05.28.03. My friend P.C. Rooks said: "I went to see Man on the Train with some friends. Sweet but kinda lefta too cute taste in my mouth. I'd give it 2.5 *s as a movie, with 3.5 *s for its lead actors and overall 3*s. Think I was expecting to like it more. I noticed Blue Car is at Empire 3. I want to see that big time. But first on my list is the Wattstax rerelease." I said: "I was thinking, before I saw it, that L'Homme du Train might be too cute, but I didn't feel it was. If it had copped out and given us some kind of happy ending that might have been too much. Loved the two actors. Loved lots of the scenes, like the one with Rochefort and his sister." Drama. Starring Jean Rochefort and Johnny Hallyday. Directed by Patrice Leconte. (R. 90 minutes. In French with English subtitles.). "Taps into the same emotional current that sustains the entire "buddy picture" genre, but does so with feeling and unmistakable insight." -- Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle.
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