Drama
2/17/09

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Discuss:

Whether it's the combined impact of the two filmmakers'
most recent work on gangster thrillers, or a case of just
plain bad moviemaking, Body Of Lies and its CIA setting
in the midst of Middle Eastern terror circles plays out
as less political intrigue than cops busting heads in the
hood. Director Ridley Scott (An American Gangster) and screenwriter
William Monahan (The Departed), who seem intent on displaying
the how of multiple assorted methods of butchering one's
political adversaries than why, that it's nearly impossible
to ever get into rooting for the designated CIA good guys,
and as nothing more than avid serial killers.***

Though spreading out across continents on an epic scale,
Body Of Lies is essentially a more hermetic duet, as Russell
Crowe's pudgy CIA honcho Hoffman phones in a series of clandestine
execution instructions to Middle Eastern operative Ferris
(Leonardo DiCaprio) between handfuls of junk food at his
suburban Virginia digs. This pair of odd couple, government
ordained off-the-books murder incorporated thuggish protagonists
alternates between butting heads over covert murder methods,
and moments of intended comic relief banter which is just
not funny, under the circumstances.***

After pulling off an incineration of an entire insurgent
hideaway in the desert, during which these unbelievably
dumb and dumber seasoned fighters have no idea that Leonardo's
friendly white infiltrator isn't an Arab, Ferris heads off
to Amman, Jordan for further instructions from his eating
disorder text messenger mate. This, while engaging on the
side in a little Geneva Conventions dodging, free lance
maneuvers of his own, shooting suspicious pedestrians in
the back of the head in broad daylight.***

Ferris' new assignment is to lure an apparently shy
mystery terrorist out into the cold, with a little help
from the local intelligence chief (Mark Strong), a dandy
in designer suits who has his nails done between pulling
out with pliers those of his disappeared torture victims.
When captured for a bit himself, Ferris takes some applied
finger crushing in relative stride, while remaining lucid
enough to deliver a speech scolding his captors for being
sucker dupes as fleeting tools of the oil companies. Huh?***

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Body of Lies and its unfortunately all too revealing
title about this movie, demands of the audience that its
global cowboy politics are an acceptable given, and don't
have to be earned or even convincing. And while the macho
swagger and bullying tactics of these US infiltrators around
the planet with their extra-legal methods have all the finesse
of a wrestling ring, imperialism comes off as really sexy.

None

However DiCaprio plugs into his
performance with dedicated enthusiasm, the motion picture is finally excessively
ear-splitting, convoluted and distasteful, when not consummately laughable.
Fuselage Of Lies: An Amman Gangster

The film stars Robert Downey Jr. as Robert Merivel, a randy young
physician, and Sam Neill as his royal plushness King Charles II, the “Merry
Monarch” whose desire for the lavish set the tone for the age, where
extremes of frivolity clashed with reason.

Downey is superb throughout, and the distracting curiosity of seeing
him in brocade and feigning Englishness fades quickly.

Equally appealing is Neill as the lascivious yet curiously edgy
King Charles, who drafts Merivel into his court and has him marry the king’s
mistress (a cool, bratty beauty played by Polly Walker) to give her
respectability and hide his dallying with her. Merivel is ordered never to
touch his wife, but it’s too much for him. He pleads and wheedles for her
affections like a kid in a candy store with all the confections under lock
and key.

Deft character shadings are
brought by others in the exceptional cast — David Thewlis (“Naked”) as
Merivel’s Quaker friend, Pearce; Hugh Grant as a velvet-
dandy court artist named Finn; Ian McKellen as a trusted head butler at the
estate. And there’s Meg Ryan’s surprisingly affecting portrayal of an Irish
woman so battered and forsaken that she’s retreated into madness.

While a valiant effort, “Restoration” runs into trouble in
adapting Rose Tremain’s 1989 novel of the same title with its 20th century
take on things. Suddenly, the movie
takes on a somber, fitful atmosphere. It strays into an episodic bog that
leaves it gasping for dramatic life.

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“Restoration” never restores itself — the ribald and the robust vanish
and, with them, the film’s character and fun.

"We must act decisively…and we be required to act now to snub our defenses in order. If we do not, history will actors its verdict with those abominable, chilling words, 'too behindhand.'"
Winston Churchill (Albert Finney)

Jeff Rosado

March 23, 2003
Albert Finney, Vanessa Redgrave
Jim Broadbent, Linus Roache, Lena Headley, Derek Jacobi, Tom Wilkinson
Richard Loncraine
WAMO
Not Rated for grown-up content, matured vernacular, brief nudity
01h:35m:41s
February 04, 2003

historical

As the curtain rises on

The Gathering Storm

, the year is 1934. Once a giant civic force in the British Parliament, Winston Churchill's (Albert Finney) trade has come to a standstill. Considered a has-been by all but close allies, he's enhance a parody of himself to most observers. On the homefront, matters aren't much brighter. As his family teeters on the lean of bankruptcy plenty of to stock market woes and Winston's tremendous-spending ways, even loving and supporting wife Clemmie (Vanessa Redgrave) has reached the limits of patience, to such a point that she takes off on a getaway with a manly reference book.

Thus far in the face of professional and insulting adversities, the elder statesman remains focused as troubling rumblings come forth from Germany. As Adolph Hitler and his Nazi party's stock continues to rise, Winston is increasingly involved as a potential threat to the safety of his homeland looms in the distance. But thanks to courageous league Ralph Wigram (Linus Roache), an brains officer with access to pinnacle-secret documents contribution repulsive proof of what the mustachioed madman is plotting, Churchill for all time silences most of his critics.
Amongst the drawing lots not subscribing to Winston's comeback club is an individual uncontrollable foe: Sir Robert Vansittart (Tom Wilkinson). Sceptical and peradventure a tad tittle jealous of Churchill's re-emergence, his contacts eventually include d arrive wind of Wigram's doings via spying of their own. This puts enormous pressure on the litter bracelets already filled with a very individual challenge at home in helping his wife devote special woe to their young son afflicted with cerebal palsy. Putting his agitated problems in check into professionally, his valuable aid to Winston continues.

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Its fascinating and detailed white aside, the electric cable why and wherefore to see

The Gathering Besiege

is the brilliant performance by Albert Finney. Unequal to some actors who force to grow into portrayals of historical figures, the English actor nails Churchill instantly. From the moment he emerges from a sybaritic carrier with cigar in mouth, imposing stance and all, you assume trust to it's the old bugger himself. Also admirable is the going the film takes us beyond the halls of Parliament to clarify us the surreptitiously side of the man via his hobby of painting, the enormous love he had for his family and how Clemmie's temporary absence made him realize just how portentous she was to his emotional positively-being (a details brought home in a heart-tugging location highest their estate, when Clemmie returns from her vacation).
Surrounded by one of the finest casts to grace a small screen feature in scads years (Finney, Redgrave, Wilkinson, Roache, Jim Broadbent, Derek Jacoby and Lena Headley) and well-written conversation formality of Emmy® winners Larry Ramin and Hugh Whitemore, the HBO/BBC Films collaboration is a attainment conducive to Finney and all affected.

Rating in the direction of Style:
A

Rating for Theme:

A
Glowingly photographed to start with, this is a least pear-shaped, warm and integument-like transfer. In the light of the project's made-since-cable origins, the results are very much imposing. Although there is slight pattern and tractable sensitive enhancement, it's not distracting in the least.
B+
Other than musical flourishes and background ambience, this is a laid back though efficient Dolby Encompass effort appropriate to its subject material. Although an undermixed center canal strained me to oddity up that part of my hardware, no other negatives. Spanish and French stereo tracks are also included.

Static menu

Scene Access with 16 cues and alien access

Subtitles/Captions in English, Spanish, French with remote access

Cast and Company Biographies

Name and Band Filmographies

1 Feature/Episode commentary by Leader Richard Lonecraine and Financial manager Direct Doelger

Packaging: Snapper

1 Disc

Layers: single
Most TV movies that graduate to DVD status are featureless, but not this complete. Overseer Richard Loncraine and producer Frank Doelger contribute a dry, but very informative commentary hearing. Starting idle hesitantly, the twosome soon resolve into a relaxed groove discussing many aspects of the production. Among the topics covered are the challenges and joys of working in authentic locations, the talent and generosity of their actors (especially those willing to take smaller parts because of the quality of the material) and their thoughts on the real Churchill. Another rare extra are bios/filmographies of assign and crew that are longer, more wide-ranging and informative than the one to two paragraph blurbs mainly presented.

Extras Position:

B+

Final Comments

Telling, Finney and Churchill buffs commitment naturally want to arc it up, but

The Gathering Storm

is a brilliantly written and acted slice of cosmos chronicle that will captivate anyone within its sight.

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This feature appear from Australian director Cate Shortland reminded me afterwards of two veritably recent British films, both also made by female litterateur-directors: Carine Adler’s ‘Under the Skin’ and Lynne Ramsay’s ‘Morvern Callar’. Indeed it’s easy to imagine a younger Sam Morton (who starred in both those films) stepping into this bracing and tender coming-of-time eon curriculum vitae if single because she is such an adept and extraordinary actress when exploring unspoken desire and curiosity.
Here, 23-year-prehistoric Australian Abbie Cornish plays Heidi, a disaffected, sexually explorative youth who leaves shelter abruptly after being discovered in bed with her mother’s boyfriend. Heidi heads for Lake Jindabyne, an unglamourous ski resort, where she immediately calls an stale contact – a former one-sunset-stand we assume – who in the wink of an eye gives her the brush-off. She spends the dusk with a spiritedness day-tripper (cue a second brush-off) and then installs herself in a local motel, takes a subcontract at a petrol station and strikes up a relationship with Joe (Sam Worthington), the son of a in clover local farmer.
Heidi is looking for security – love even – and her body is one of the occasional assets she possesses. It’s an ugly dilemma that director Cate Shortland makes her main regard. And Cornish brilliantly indulges the ambiguity of Heidi. Is she naive? Is she manipulative? Is she smart? Is she stupid? She’s all of these, a girl unsure of herself and struggling to make sense of her life.
Shortland successfully transfers Heidi’s instability and inquisitiveness to the cold vista around her, and so we enjoy brilliant standard washes followed by stark handheld scenes. Small moments count during a collection: the camera lingers as Heidi runs her hand as surplus tiles or fiddles with a bay window of marmalade. It’s hard to explore the internal, but here we both observe Heidi and feel something of her adventure too. On all this, Shortland likely deserves the awards already lavished on her bankrupt stamping-ground in Australia.

Inquirer Movie Columnist and Critic

'By the hammer of Thor!" Tina Fey's Liz Lemon liked to cry out in mould season's

30 Stone

. They could've used the family in

Outlander

, too.

Maybe they did and I just missed it - in one of those mead-hall scenes, perhaps, where wenches serve Vikings their grog, just before a giant monster from outer space goes on the attack.

That's when the hardy Norsemen shout "Bring me my blade, woman!" and trot off to get sliced and diced by this mysterious "dragon" that's descended like a curse.

An enjoyably goofy hybrid of extraterrestrial sci-fi and Iron Age action,

Outlander

boasts a super-serious Jim Caviezel in the title role.

The Passion of the Christ

star is a stranger who's crash-landed his UFO in the realm of King Rothgar (John Hurt), having unwittingly taken a humongous, carnivorous predator - a Moorwen - along for the ride.

Passing himself off as a visitor from "the North," the Outlander - Kainan - is greeted with mistrust. But slowly the Vikes take a liking to the taciturn fella in the sleeveless suit made of funny fabric, especially Freya (Sophia Myles), the sword-wielding daughter of the king. Myles, who has a bit of a Kate Winslet air about her and was very good in last spring's Scottish indie,

Mister Foe

, walks around in animal skins and gets off ridiculously campy dialogue without losing her grip. It's an acting feat!

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The special effects are passable, Ron Perlman is virtually unrecognizable as a rival Viking, and Newfoundland and Nova Scotia double for Norway without much trouble - thanks to some

Lord of the Rings-

style computer graphics work.

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Channel 4 webteam ]]> http://blogs.swgtcgdb.com/angelsinsectsblog/2010/06/19/the-page-you-tried-was-not-fo/feed/ http://blogs.swgtcgdb.com/angelsinsectsblog/2010/06/18/martin-lawrence-you-so-crazy-1994/ http://blogs.swgtcgdb.com/angelsinsectsblog/2010/06/18/martin-lawrence-you-so-crazy-1994/#comments Fri, 18 Jun 2010 09:09:13 +0000 angelsinsectsblog http://blogs.swgtcgdb.com/angelsinsectsblog/2010/06/18/martin-lawrence-you-so-crazy-1994/ The language in Martin Lawrence’s “You So Crazy” will be considered offensive by most mainstream audiences. Unleashing every taboo subject imaginable — sex, masturbation, homosexuality, racism, marijuana and crack smoking — Lawrence romps around the contrive along the same lines as a Pied Piper of Vulgar.

But while the 28-year-old comedian leads the audience through a shock corridor full of four-letter words, there’s method to his badness. Lawrence wants to make his generation laugh — and will do or say just about anything to achieve that. But, with acidic social commentary and anecdotes of surprising sensitivity, he’s also nudging anyone who’ll listen toward his version of sanity.

“Racism bothers me, it (expletive) with me,” he says at the beginning of this concert, recorded at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Majestic Theatre last year. “You brought us to this (expletive),” he tells white people in general. “We was in Africa chillin’.”

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Lawrence, who got his start in Landover and had a string of supporting roles in movies (including “Do the Right Thing” and “House Party”), stars in the TV sitcom “Martin” and hosts the weekly HBO “Def Comedy Jam” series, is more than mere sensation. Here, in an eerily sardonic imitation of a stoned woman trying futilely to maintain her dignity, he inveighs against taking crack. He also weighs in satirically on Rodney King, the L.A. riots and white filmgoers silently uncomfortable with blacks who talk their way through movies.

In sexual matters (the greater part of his attention), Lawrence revels boyishly in talking about male and female genitalia. But his crudeness always reveals an issue — of loneliness, sadness, frustration, whatever. There’s an intriguing vein of quasi-feminism in there too. His act, a seamless, high-energy mixture of monologues and in-character shticks, contains an extraordinarily large number of fictional women who — in relationship clashes — come out ahead or vindicated.

He reveres his mother (”My Moms”), a poverty-struck woman who raised him and five other fatherless children. And he presses his male audience to pursue rewarding relationships with women (”Your girl better be your best friend”), use condoms and take care of the kids they do make.

Lawrence is constantly on the move, his body a dynamic, hilarious instrument. When he talks about being a poor kid, he convincingly transforms himself into a 7-year-old, tearing around the yard in crazy circles, head turned sideways to express naivete and corner-turning glee. Playing a woman trying to preserve her hairdo as she sleeps, Lawrence’s head jerks back elegantly every time it comes close to contact with an imaginary pillow.

“You So Crazy” originally received an NC-17 rating, causing Miramax Pictures (now a hamstrung leg of Walt Disney) to hastily dump it. But the Samuel Goldwyn Co. picked up the movie and distributed it without a rating. For viewers familiar with — or open to — Lawrence’s verbal and cultural assaults, the picture’s new lease on life is great news. Lawrence is as provocatively and insightfully funny as ever.

Comedian Richard Pryor — one of Lawrence’s heroes — still remains the best raconteur of black pain and reality. But Lawrence often comes close to Pryor’s adults-only poetry. “You So Crazy,” directed unobtrusively by Thomas Schlamme, shows a comic talent sometimes at its worst but more frequently at its best. What’s most appealing is the humanity under the bravado. If he keeps that up, Lawrence has even better things ahead.

“You So Crazy” contains constant profanity.

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After the jump, the wonder of an

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, just wait 'til you deck out to the scene that has him in blue, elastic-waist sweatpants. This must-see hits theaters on July 30th.

In the meantime, what's your favorite Kline role?