The Kingdom

The Kingdom is a politically-minded action film set in the heat of Saudi Arabia. Its mission is to address the situation in the Middle East while pleasing those who watched the trailer and came to see guns fired and cars blown up. It succeeds at both, though when the smoke clears I left the theater unsatisfied and disappointed.

The Kingdom follows a team of F.B.I. agents (Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, and Jason Bateman) who finagle their way onto Saudi Arabian soil to investigate a terrorist attack on Americans living within an oil industry community.

Upon arriving, the agents are told by their Saudi military liaison played by Ashraf Barhom that they will be playing by his rules. The agents do not like that. They want to go to work immediately. It is apparent that they do not understand the danger their lives are in just for being there. That, or they do not care. Their need for revenge is clear.

We learn that the police investigating the attack are incompetent navel-gazers who do not know how to find and process evidence. It is up to the Americans to set them straight and bring the culprits to justice.

This sets the tone for the film. The Americans are here to "help". That means leading, planning, and shooting a helluva lot of Saudi extremists in a bloodbath in the film's burst of energy approaching the end of the film. The Saudis are seen as
a people who need direction. The F.B.I. team are just the ones to provide it.

The presentation of the Saudi people could be accused of being too one-sided if not for the presence of the liaison. It is hard to praise the characters in this film because there isn't a lot offered in way of development or background. However, deliberate strides were made to make the liaison a more complicated man than any of the other Saudis we meet in the film. While I appreciated this attempt, it made me wonder why this wasn't the case with more of the Saudis we meet. We have the liaison and one more policeman who is brutally interrogated about the attack that present the other side of the conflict in Saudi Arabia. Everyone else is an extremist or a narrow-minded, incompetent, brutal, or oblivious officer, prince, or policeman.

The film also attempts to present a strongly political message about America's foreign involvement, but still stays loyal to the confines of the expectations of its audience. The film has been marketed primarily as an action film of sorts. The filmmakers don't really stray from some of the genre's conventions.

The agents and their liaison are in a terrible crash, the kind that flips a car over numerous times, slams it against the ground and slides it for what seems like forever. It is a mere matter of seconds between the time the car stops sliding and the team and the liaison are out firing at their enemy and hopping into a car to pursue them as they flee. There're cuts, scrapes, and blood, but no one seems to have any broken limbs, concussions, or be in need of medical attention.

The team becomes involved in a firefight in a corner of a village. They are only four of them surrounded by dozens of extremists with rocket launchers, machetes, assault rifles, and grenades. Still the team blasts their way through.

There is an air of authenticity that the film tries to create, but moments and flaws like the ones I mention detract from any maintenance of that air. It cannot survive under the weight of its own illogical entertainment. Some of these complaints are nitpicking, but much of this will be apparent to any discerning audience member who sits down in a theater seat and watches.

There is a scene where someone asks what was whispered to someone to stop them from crying. I was expecting something profound like "this too shall pass," but I heard a more honest answer. He whispered that they were gonna kill them all. There is some quality to the film because there is a look of disgust as the one who said that earlier in the film recounts his prior mindset to his team. The film presents the idea that that state of mind will not end the conflict in the Middle East.

**1/2

Magnolia Poem

LINDA PARTRIDGE by A. Gates

"Have you seen death in your bed?
In your house?"
I regret my transgressions,
Dirty secrets I only now begin to tell.
I fear I was a giver of my body to other men,
Those who were not dying in bed.
And when he coughed and his brain turned,
I was doing things wrong.
I don't want to see the son come home.
I don't want him to know
I am broken, too.
So the pills are good -
All I deserve
Because I love him -
Him whom I hurt.
So tears come naturally.
A start for rain.
As the song fades,
So do I.
A hazy mess.

2 Days in the Valley

This film was a pleasant surprise. I didn't quite know what to expect, but I picked up the film because it stars Eric Stoltz and Jeff Daniels. I'm sure there was more to the thought process when I was walking the aisles at The Exchange and saw the VHS for a buck, but the meat and potatoes of the winning argument was: 1 dollar, Daniels, Stoltz.

And it was worth it. Normally, that isn't a compliment, but it is this time. What I got for the buck was a zany, dark comedy/thriller (?). I laughed a lot during this movie. Not hearty guffaws, but well-earned chuckles. I found the film to be clever, but not in a showy way some dark comedies are.

The film connects strangers in a way that some people might find overly-coinicdental, but in a movie this free and light (though dark, know what I mean?) I didn't mind it at all. I kept hoping everybody would meet up and hijinks would ensue. And they did. Boy, oh boy, did they ever.

And Stoltz and Daniels? Great. My only real complaint is that the movie has these great directions it could have taken their two characters. Instead, it pushes them into minor roles. In a movie like this, all the roles might be seen as minor, but Stoltz and Daniels kind of get forgotten. Stoltz's character is a cop who might have to bust a prostitution business running out of a massage parlor. His partner, played by Daniels, is gunning for the place. Problem is Stoltz's character kind of likes one of the prostitutes. Sure, it's not Bible humor, but I thought that would have made for a really interesting movie all on its own. Even though I really enjoyed the whole movie, I kind of wish it had followed those two guys more. Perhaps the greatest flaw a movie can have (besides a title like Dude, Where's my Car?) is to present something amazing and go in another direction. I'm sure there's something worse, but I'm kind of enjoying the ranting.

***1/2

Eastern Promises

Eastern Promises is a grisly account of violence in London involving an orphaned infant, a doctor, and the russian mafia.

Director David Cronenberg doesn't seem one to shy away from violence. In fact, his last film was titled A History of Violence. I thought that film started out well, but lost its way in its third act. I think Eastern Promises is solid throughout. Still, I had an overall lukewarm reaction to it.

After an eye-opener of a beginning, the film finds a young, pregnant girl dying in a hospital where Naomi Watt's (King Kong, 21 Grams) character, a doctor named Anna, saves the baby and loses the mother. She finds the girl's diary from which she hopes she can find a relative to take care of the baby. Trouble is, the diary is in Russian. Her search for a translator leads her to shady men at a shady restaurant. Whether she likes it or not, she soon becomes a part of the Russian mafia's dealings.

She meets a driver for the mob named Nikolai, played by Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings franchise). Though he seems dangerous, he stands out among the men he works for. When Anna gets closer to the truth, she gets closer to danger. And Nikolai may be the only one who gives a damn and can do something about it.

First off, this film is violent. Often, there is merely a threat of danger. However, there are parts drenched in violence. Cronenberg does not shy away from it. It is presented smack dab in the middle of the screen where it stares back at you. It is jarring. I admit, I was grossed out a little. But it is fake. It is a movie. I remembered.

Also, the violence fits with the story. There are bad men who do bad things. Sometimes good guys have to do bad things to stop bad men. Either way, blood is spilled.

Particularly memorable (for better or for worse) is a naked knife fight scene. Nikolai is cornered in a Russian bath house. During the struggle, his towel is lost and soon he is naked and wrestling, stabbing, and being stabbed. It is brutal.

I do not think I have to make excuses for the filmmakers, but one reason I thought this was justified (albeit disturbing for the audience) is that a person is never really as vulnerable as when he or she is naked. Nikolai is attacked when he does not have a weapon. That raises the stakes of what could have been a panic-inducing action scene in the movie. What raises the stakes even higher is that he is naked. There is nothing between Nikolai and the threats before him. He is utterly defenseless.

While it is difficult to empathise with a naked, forty-year old, Russian mobster in a bath house, I think back to some scary dreams when I waltzed into school naked. Scary, right? What if all the other students at my school were Russian mobsters out to get me? Scarier. So, instead of merely being panic-inducing, the scene is nail-biting, heart-exploding, and one-hand-over-your-eyes-looking-between-your-fingers intense. Necessary? I do not know. I do think that the scene accomplished exactly what the filmmakers wanted it to do.

Needless to say, Eastern Promises is not for those movie-goers trying to avoid blood or nudity when going out for a Friday night flick.

Like A History of Violence, Eastern Promises takes a major turn in its third act. Unlike A History of Violence, it does go down for the count because of a horrible performance from Oscar nominee William Hurt. It does, however, rely on some story elements that made what had been an unpredictable film predictable. While these story elements make the film more satisfying to the audience who expects such turns, their inclusion bothered me.

I was impressed both by Naomi Watts and Viggo Mortensen. Mortensen in particular has a difficult task of playing tough while pulling off a thick, Russian accent. I do not know any Russians, but I think I would be bothered if I did not believe his accent when I heard it. What helped is that his accent is as thick and as indecipherable at times as everyone else's in the film. It also helps that he fully commits to the role. Nikolai is a mystery man. His motives and loyalties are questionable thoughout the film, though it is primarily so because I could not tell why he was with the low-lifes he surrounded himself with when he seemed to have have a better head on his shoulders.

Naomi Watts, despite what turns into a supporting role midway through the film, delivers the best performance in the film. She is utterly believable even when constantly sticking her neck out into danger. She also plays her emotions well. Her character can be alternately vulnerable, courageous, angry, sad - basically a complicated woman.

If you can cringe repeatedly and still stick with a movie, Eastern Promises is worth a watch. I cannot, however, promise you will walk out of the movie theater thanking me I suggested you do so.

For those reading this on my blog: ask me what else I didn't like after you see the movie.

***

Ernest Goes to Jail

There is no subtle Ernest movie. You can look, but there are none. But there is a funny one. Ernest Goes to Jail is funny. Laugh-out-loud-funny even. It's not a well-scripted movie.

There is no explanation why bad actors acting badly can be hilarious sometimes.

Say what you want (and you will) - but Jim Varney can be funny. His Ernest shtick got old (or maybe always was to some of you), but somehow he's really funny in Ernest Goes to Jail.

A lot of the laughs recieved are easy laughs. There's no complexity to the humor. What you see is what you get. And I liked what I got.

***

The Last Days of Disco

The pleasure of watching a Whit Stillman film is not reliving my past or seeing my future. The youth he portrays in his films is very different from mine. I am not bourgeoisie. I am not in love with disco. I am not from a rich family. I have not read many facinating books. I am not like the characters depicted in these films (Barcelona, Metropolitan, The Last Days of Disco), well, not really. But I recognize these types. I know people, you know? And the realities of the people in Stillman films are not all that different from the realities of people I know, and, well, me too. I admit. I'm like these Disco lovers. There is wonderful pleasure in watching Whit Stillman's work.

Like the group of revolving friends and lovers in The Last Days of Disco, I too have experienced the need to fit in, or in the case of these characters, getting in. They're too self-absorbed to realize that the place they want to get and stay in - the place where they have fun, dance, drink, fall in and out of love, be good friends, and be bad friends - is dying. Disco and this club that they frequent symbolizes the folly and seriousness of youth. And not adolescence. Not being in college. Like few filmmakers, Stillman has a keen sense of the way post-college feels (or what I imagine it feels like). Along with other film's depictions of youth, The Last Days of Disco portrays the urge to fill others expectations of you, or maybe to change how others see you, or maybe even to change the way you see yourself. All of the above. None of the above.

The truth is, these characters only flirt with change. They approach it, but like one character says about the Tramp of Lady and the Tramp, no one really changes. Their context can change, but people never really do. It's a cynical view of society, but the film backs it up.

A Stillman staple is a witty, sophisticated banter/dialogue between characters. What's intriguing is that I've never really heard people in real life talk this way. Even the most mundane, accidental conversation seems planned. But it's never forced. And somehow I believe it. Somehow the reality and truth always shines during even the most artifical scenes.

Sample witty dialogue: Des McGrath: "Yuppie stands for 'young upwardly mobile professional'. Nightclub flunkie is not a professional category. I wish we were yuppies. Young, upwardly mobile, professional. Those are good things, not bad things."

The Last Days of Disco is Whit Stillman's best film. Not only does he guide his best cast to date, but his organization and handling of the distinctive personalities of the film's multiple characters is amazing. Each is complex. Each is real (you know, in that sort of artifical way I semi-explained earlier). And though his other films showed a insight into the life of the privileged, he has never before so accurately displayed an atmosphere. Apparently, Disco was contagious. I never got it before. "Disco?" I asked. "Ugh! Yuck!" I shouted. But it looks like fun. There, I said it. "Disco looks like fun."

****1/2

Sunshine Poems

SUNSHINE (PINBACKER AND I) by A. Gates

I see the red and the black
Loose skin and bulging eyes
Menace and intent forcing fear
I am sad.
I am breathing hard and fast.
I am scared I can't do this right.
If he comes, but Capa goes,
Will I die alone?
I see his face,
And I fear
Not for my own sake
But for my loves'.
So dive.
So plunge.
Let the sum of life accept my sacrifice.




SUNSHINE (THE ABSENCE OF NOTHING) by A. Gates

I think I owe this sun my life.
I want to give all I have.
I will stare into the light
And let the blindness burn me clean.
Enveloped like a wildfire.
Sheer force of nature,
But greater than all I have ever known.
To feel the warmth,
To see the light,
To engage everything in the pit of space,
Emptiness filling,
I will take it in, and I swear
I will give up.




SUNSHINE (TREY IN THE CORNER) by A. Gates

I did this.
I am the one to blame.
I can see it in their eyes
When I shake and spit,
Tremors and tension rubbing my bones.
The drugs are swift,
They swallow me whole.
I feel nothing but shame,
And it burns.
It turns my stomach over.
Guilt is sobering.
And this blade will free me.
This blood will end this sensation.
My own action a motion I owe.




SUNSHINE (IN ITS SHADOW) by A. Gates

I am bitter.
It is cold.
I am beginning to regret -
I regret my time away from home.
I can feel myself stopping,
Struggling but slowing down,
Panic a cold wash,
Crisp sounds as I squirm to go in.
My mouth is open and sticking to it.
My skin is blue, but I can't see it.
The color it goes when you go.
I feel it as I go numb.
Odd how that can be.
The irony does not escape me.
The last thing I see is the frost on my eyes.




SUNSHINE (GREEN AS GIVEN AND TAKEN AWAY) by A. Gates

I gasped.
This one small life in all this black, burned soot and soil.
Too much to take in,
But I tried.
I knelt down and reached out a hand.
Felt my back split and blood peak.
I heard his voice preach to me.
I gasped again.
This death admist all this black, burned soot and soil.
I wanted to cry,
My mouth stretched to curse his name,
But a hollow sound was the only thing that escaped me.
A shallow breath.
I died with my eyes wide open,
Calm over my face,
Grasping that life as I so longed to alive.

Sunshine Poem

SUNSHINE (COOLS MY BLOOD) by A. Gates

My shirt sticks to my stomach.
I don't feel the pain.
My eyes light up
As the sparks begn to flame.
One into two,
Two into four,
Many, many more.
Flashing and surounding me.
Too great to begin.
The heat is close,
A force growing in front of me.
I'd say it's the sun,
But no one would believe me.
I reach to touch.
Can you touch the sun?
I see my maker.
Does it see me?
And then it glows.
It builds.
It breathes.
It bleaches out my vision
Until I see all I can see is light.

The Cell

The Cell often gets criticized by reviewers for utilizing the style over substance method. There is certainly style. The film is visually stunning. It never fixes to a look that it can't change whenever it feels like it. It is also terrifying, chiefly because I have never before seen things like I saw in this movie.

But there is substance too. Do I like that substance? That is the question reviewers should be asking themselves. I'm not sure I do, but I think I don't. There are good things about the movie. It explores the mind of a serial killer and offers ideas of what makes men do terrible things.

I didn't like what I saw. It was well constructed visually and well acted by the crazy D'Onofrio and sweet Lopez. But it's horrible stuff that passes before the eyes during the trip inside D'Onofrio's killer's mind.

The film's action climazes when the killer's mind is placed inside Lopez's mind. To comfort him, she chooses to be dressed and presented as the Virgin Mary. Now, I'm all for religious imagery in film, but it must work in the context of the film. Presenting herself as Mary to the killer is a terrible idea. Sure, it's interesting visually, but it doesn't fit with what we've learned about the killer prior to the reveal. He had suffered a very traumatic baptism at a young age, and it seems that he hasn't carried positive feelings about Christianity into adulthood. So, why oh why is it a good idea to comfort him as the Virgin Mary?

Then there's the crucifixion that takes place. No cross, just bolt arrows shot from a crossbow through the killers feet and hands leaving laying out in a Jesus pose. I'm not sure what the filmmakers are trying to say here, and I'm left only to guess. My guess is that the killer must be sacrificed to save the young version he sometimes presents in his mind. But this is a stretch and the film certainly didn't have to include that kind of imagery to convey this to the audience. And I don't think I've ever been more uncomfortable with religious imagery before. Likening the killer to Jesus, even abstractly, is too much for me.

While this is the second-best performance I have seen from Lopez (Out of Sight soaring above and beyond anything else), I am confused why she was paired up (albeit non-romantically) with co-star Vince Vaughn. He is utterly out of place in this movie. Vaughn is talented. I believe he could work in a drama, but not this thriller. Every line he utters (that may be a bit harsh - maybe it's every other line) rings false when it falls from his mouth. That may be because of some awkwardness in the script, but Vaughn certainly doesn't help matters.

I remember really being impressed by this movie when I saw it as a Senior in high school, but it doesn't hold up well to time. It's a decent one-watcher, but revisitng the film will only reveal new flaws to viewers. It is consistently shocking however. That much has not changed.

**1/2

Sunshine poems

SUNSHINE (COLDER THAN HELL) by A. Gates

Colder than winter on the moon.
Liquid cracking my bones.
I tense muscles long forgotten.
Vomit on the cusp of emergence.
I lean on the cool metal above and beside.
A joke next to the frigid pool around my middle and end.
It hurts to breathe this pale cloud.
Heaving chest, chattering teeth, aching head.
Still I speak in harsh tones to myself,
"I have to make things right."
Muttering audibly,
"Capa, you better damn well save us all."




SUNSHINE (KANEDA IS LEAVING US) by A. Gates

So bright, so beautiful.
Complete absence of nothing
Sweeps over me like a warmth as vast as anything.
And I cry out that fear I hold
Perhaps as great as the light on my face.
It burns. It tears.
Moisture evaporates on my skin.
Dry sweat can't bead against the grain.
So hot, so cold.
The vague sensation is the last thing I feel.