Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 7

David Mandel, Larry Charles, Robert Weide, 2009 (9.0*)

Excellent season of Curb is their best ever. Not wild about the early seasons, in fact, I quit watching them as the non-stop self-degradation of creator-writer Larry David, who did the same for the Seinfeld series (the character of George was based on Larry himself), became a little predictable, tiresome, and unrewarding. Larry plays 'himself' and is perhaps too little talented a comedic actor to pull it off regularly. He seems to generally lack energy or commitment; he only has a self-centered arrogance delivered in the style of a permanent curmedgeon. Not even his younger (and hotter) wife seemed to make him happy.

However, this time Larry took a year off and wrote 10 brilliant episodes, which revolve around the fact that his wife, Cheryl Hines, has left him (small wonder! she's a gorgeous and younger blond), and he envisions putting together a Seinfeld reunion so he can write in a part for her and win her back by spending time with her on the set.

The series begins where season 6 left off, with a family of African-Americans still living at Larry's house, who were displace victims of hurricana Katrina in New Orleans. Ironically, it was his wife Cheryl who brought them there to begin with, now Larry is involved with the single mother. In fact, Leon steals several scenes he has with Larry, especially when heavily laying on the slang, even using Mitvah as a verb: "I totally Mitvahed his ass", when he impersonates a sick Jewish friend of Larry's to fool Michael Richards (Kramer).

Some of these episodes are the funniest in the entire series: Larry gets into a physical knock-down fight with Rosie O'Donnell in public at a restaurant; at Larry's golf club, he is attacked by the club's symbol, a large black male swan; he dates two women in wheelchairs to appear unprejudiced. The major bonus: we see the entire Seinfeld cast, including 'Newman', playing their actor selves going through a script read and rehearsals; we also see the 'reunion' episode being put together, but as a Curb story, not as a real reunion show. We even get to see Larry doing Jason Alexander (who's hitting on his ex) doing George, who is doing Larry! Is that complex enough Jungian comedy for you?

The actors, in interviews on the 2nd dvd, said this was the only way this could occur, as part of the Curb series, and they only did it because of the way Larry put it together, as a story within a fictional series, but one based on real lives. By the way, much of the original Seinfeld set was pulled out of the archives of the Warner-Brothers tv 'museum', and restored but also updated a little, as if ten years later Jerry is in the same apartment.

This season has some excellent guest stars: Rosie, Christian Slater, Meg Ryan, Elizabeth Shue, and others, along with the continuing stars Richard Lewis, Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen playing themselves as Larry's Hollywood friends.

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The Book of Eli

The Hughes Brothers, 2010 (8.1*)
In a bleak, post-apocalyptic world not much different from the world of Mad Max, Denzel Washington plays a lone drifter named Eli, determined to follow his path of faith and deliver a secret book he's carrying to a place he's never been. Along the way, he comes across a town controlled by evil Gary Oldman, in one of his best performances, who's sending out patrols searching for all books in hopes of finding the one he desires, one that will give him control over the masses.

Oldman's slave, the blind Jennifer Beals (better than usual) is dependent on him while trying to protect her daughter, Mila Kunis, as much as possible, while Oldman uses her as a sex-slave to gain favors. There are some great small roles here filled by Tom Waits as the local pawn shop and engineer; Michael Gambon, who has survived with his wife and a minor arsenal; and the uncredited Malcolm McDowell as a curator of mankind's past.

Though maybe too violent for some, there are enough surprises in this story, good performances (from all except Kunis, whose talent and beauty totally escape me, I just don't see either), and a terrific electronic and futuristic music score, to make it better than the average apocalyptic dreariness, such as the dreadful The Road, from last year. In fact, add it to the imaginary list of top 10 post-apocalytic stories, as the pickings are lean after The Road Warrior.

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Era Notte a Roma

Roberto Rossellini, Italy, 1960, bw (8.0*)aka Escape By Night
An important wartime film from Italian director Rossellini, who is perhaps not in the same league as Fellini and De Sica, but still a worthy entry into both WW2 and Italian realism genres. Rossellini is better known for his affair with Ingrid Bergman and producing offspring Isabella with her, but he also belongs on that short list of important Italian directors to emerge after the war.

In this story, three Allied prisoners, one English, one American, one Russian (how appropriate!), all escape and flee into the Italian countryside. There they are protected by locals out of a sense of Christian charity, and are smuggled into Rome, where they are hidden in an attic by black marketeer Esperia, wonderfully and credibly played by the beautiful Giovanni Ralli, who won best actress at the San Francisco Film Festival, and who dominates this film. The soldiers promise to leave as soon as possible rather than endanger Esperia, who risks a Nazi firing squad, but get trapped as they are surrounded by Nazis and collaborators, while being helped by Allied partisans fighting as anti-fascists.

Beautifully shot in black and white, with many dark but clear night shots very expertly lit. This has the feel of the ominous paintings of Italian De Chirico. The film bears the innacurate and misleading western title of "Escape by Night", while the accurate translation is "It Was Night in Rome", a more fitting description of the film's action. Don't be fooled by the misleading marketing that implies romantic interest in Esperia by the Allies, that's just bogus PR as the film is thankfully not that trite or soapy.

Quote: "Before the war, everyone was a fascist; once the Allies invaded Italy, no one was a fascist"

Note: the Russian soldier is played by Sergei Bondarchuk, who went on to become a director, who helmed the incredible 7-hour version of War and Peace in the late 60's

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Tea With Mussolini

Franco Zeffirelli, 1999 (7.8*)
A nostalgic comedy with a bizarre twist as a group of ex-patriate, aristocratic British women live in Florence, Italy, in the 30s, and who love all things Italian, especially the Renaissance art, but also Mussolini and the fascists ("they brought law and order").

Maggie Smith, perfect as usual, leads the troupe as the widow, Lady Hestor, of a former British ambassador to Italy. She is actually invited to tea with Il Duce himself in one memorable scene, as Mussolini is pretending to befriend England well before the actual war begins and promises the ladies his protection no matter what happens. Even though this seems a bit farfetched and lighthearted, it's actually based on true events, centered around an Italian orphan named Luca (Baird Wallace when grown up), befriended by the ladies and instructed in the arts, and whose coming-of-age tale this becomes. The real life Luca was actually a technical advisor on this movie.

The cast is terrific, as it also stars Cher as an American entertainer beloved in Italy, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, probably the best of the actors here, and Lily Tomlin, as a tough, masculine archeologist. The cast also has a great dog, a little Jack Russell that is actually the director's dog Nikki. Excellent on detail like costumes, and a bit preposterous enough to be both a unique and a memorable tale, but also a bit lighthearted in light of the setting in history. It's not often that you find a comedy featuring a character like Mussolini.

Quote: "Il Duce has a right to his empire - we live in a time of great dictators"

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A Prophet

Jacques Audiard, France, 2009 (9.0*)
Palm D'Or, Cannes
This is an excellent prison drama, the best since Shawshank Redemption, and it won the Palm D'or at Cannes likely because it sticks with you long after you've seen it. The pace takes awhile to become engrossing but once it does it has the viewer in a hypnotic spell.

Blurbs compare it to The Godfather but it's not about a family clan, nor multi-generations - it's a coming of age story for a shrewd survivor, wonderfully performed by Tahir Rahim as an 18-yr old suddenly thrown into prison for striking a policeman in a brawl. The prison is primarily controlled through bribery by the head of the Corsicans, Cesar, brilliantly acted by Niels Arestrup - after just one scene you forget he's acting; he even looks like a criminal, with greasy white-blond hair and a menacing glare.

Rahim is an Arab outsider, a non-Muslim, unwanted by both sides so he's recruited by Cesar to betray another Arab, and thus begins his education within prison, which is also mirrored by his own desire to take language classes while there. He also learns a bit of Corsican by observation, and quite a few more things about people, as this film is about culturally divided classes and complex inteactions among Arabs, Muslims, French, Corsicans, southern Italians. Everyone mistrusts all other groups yet are forced to interact for self-preservation.

This is superb piece of filmmaking all around, and an engrossing story. There's a little violence, hardly any compared to American films, and a couple of R rated sex scenes which some have compained about, and is perhaps a bit long at 2:30, so it's more like a diamond in the rough. I'll have to see the film that beat this out for the foreign language Oscar®, it's hard to believe this lost.

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Transsiberian

Brad Anderson, 2008 (8.3*)
This is a nice surprise, a thriller in the Hitchcockian tradition, as two innocent and naive Americans encounter a mysterious young couple traveling from China to Russia on the Transsiberian railway. Emily Mortimer shines as the wife, husband Woody Harrelson is a bit puzzling and out of normal character as a young, optimistic Christian volunteer worker. The couple they encounter gives the audience a creepy feeling from the beginning. Eduardo Noriega is a bit too friendly as Carlos, a seemingly free spirited Spaniard, while Kate Mara is a nervous, shifty-eyed American girl along for the adventure, but who seems a little suspicious.

Ben Kingsley is perfect as usual, this time he's a Russian detective investigating a drug theft and murder, which is the film's opening. Kingsley ends up on the train along with the other travelers, scary enough to give a chill to viewers as well.

This plot has some small twists and turns, keeping it from becoming too clichéd; some events are surprising enough as to be emotionally disturbing, both to the characters and the viewers. Though a small indie film that was generally overlooked, it did received 11 international award nominations and two awards, most nods going to the cinematography, editing, and Emily Mortimer and Woody Harralson's performances.

All in all, a pleasing and surprising thriller that reminds us of the good old days, when Hitchcock would plunge innocent travelers into situations beyond their experience and control (often using trains), and also involve the viewer in the nightmare along with the characters, .

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Leave Her To Heaven

John M. Stahl, 1945 (8.6*)
Exotic locations, the impeccable beauty of Gene Tierney, and the Oscar®-winning cinematography of Leon Shamroy (one of his four Oscars®) make this one of the most beautiful films to view in color. The film begins on a train in New Mexico, where an author, played by Cornel Wilde in an understated performance, meets a gorgeous young woman, Tierney, who's reading his latest novel.

The two fall in love amid the beautiful scenery of Rancho Jacinto in the mountains near Taos, New Mexico, with Tierney dropping her present fiance, a rising young lawyer well-played by Vincent Price, and proposing to Wilde after just a couple of days of dazzling him with her beauty. In one unforgettable scene, he witnesses her scattering her fathers ashes on horseback high up on a mountain plateau at dawn with her mother and cousin.

The marriage shifts to Warm Springs, Ga (where I work, about a mile from the location in the film!) to Wildes' polio stricken young brother David, played by Darryl Hickman of Dobie Gillis on tv fame. They then all move to Deer Lake, Maine, to Wilde's hidden fishing lodge, so the newlyweds really get little intimacy. Tierney's character grows increasingly possessive of her husband, even becoming jealous of her cousin, and half-sister, on her infrequent visits, played by Jeanne Crain, who holds her own vs. Tierney's onscreen beauty - the two actually resemble relatives.

This is really basic film noir, even if wrapped in a colorfully trimmed package. We watch major characters deteriorate as they turn lemonade into lemons, and are eventually shocked by unexpected events of mental cruelty. This was one of Shamroy's four Oscars®, and the impeccable art direction also received an Oscar® nomination, as did Tierney, who received the only Oscar® nomination of her career, losing to Joan Crawford. A must-see for fans of 40's glamour and film noir classics, from a novel by Ben Ames Williams.

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Happy Feet

George Miller, 2006 (7.6*)
From the same George Miller that directed The Road Warrior and produced Babe, this animated feature won an Oscar®, a BAFTA, and a Golden Globe. A penguin couple, played by Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, have a newborn called Mumble. While these Emperor penguins all have a song in their heart and attract mates with it, Mumble can't carry a tune but instead has Fred Astaire toe-tapping feet, which baffles the others and makes him an outcast.

The elders, led by Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, V for Vendetta), represent those who worship the "Great Wind" and leave it all up to the whims of nature, the invisible 'deity'. Mumble thinks the humanoids (called "aliens") have messed up their fisheries due to stories about them, so he sets off to find them and let them know they need to stop.

The first part of the film is almost non-stop pop and R-and-B songs, which get old fast. What saves the film is some amazing animation: the ocean, penguins underwater, long shots of thousands of them on glaciers. The story is really pro-environmental propaganda, which is ok but will likely be lost on kids, who are obviously the primary target audience for a film that is 75% pop music.

Robin Williams provides some comedy at least, as Ramon, leader of a gang of Hispanic sounding Adelie penguins, and as Lovelace (named for Linda, star of Deep Throat? now that's just bizarre..), a self-promoting guru who charges pebbles for advice and answers to questions, as these penguins use pebbles to build nests to attract females. Brittany Murphy is Gloria, who is Mumbles love interest. This would be a lot better with more dancing and less singing, but should still be quite engrossing to kids, who seem amazed that animated characters can sing and dance like people.

Happy Feet actually won 14 awards (awards page at IMDB), most for animated feature, and a sequel is due out this year.

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Molière

Laurent Tirard, 2007, France (8.5*)
This is not the story of the French playright Molière, but rather a fiction to explain his possible disappearance for two years just after being released from debtor's prison. The story surmises that Molière, played by Romain Duris, had his debt paid by a wealthy merchant, Monsieur Jordain (Fabrice Luchini), in exchange for the playright becoming his private acting tutor in order that he may woo a young widow and courtesan, Célimène (played by vivacious Ludivine Sagnier), by performing a one-act play of his own.

As Jourdain is married, with a marriable daughter he's trying to find a title for, Molière's true identity must be kept a secret, so he is brought to Jourdain's estate as an austere young priest named Tartuffe. He is immediately attracted to Jourdain's neglected wife Elmire, wonderfully played with passion by the beautiful Italian actress Laura Morante.

The entire story is told as a flashback by Molière upon his arrival in Paris some 13 years later, after touring the provinces performing comedies, finally being given a playhouse in the city by the king himself. It's mostly a comedy, yet is also a touching romance with the perfect look of a period costume drama, this one taking place in the mid 1600's. The French aristocracy is shown to be largely materialistic idlers, con artists who'd rather marry or borrow money rather than do anything productive; this is pre-revolution of course, and even though it's been done before, this is one of the better productions and stories in this genre.

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Bloody Sunday

Paul Greengrass, 2002 (8.8*)

The events of the day now known as Bloody Sunday in 1972 in No. Ireland are shown in documentary style as they unfolded for each of the participants. Director Greengrass (United 93) excels at this type of recreated documentary, using well-researched facts to recreate historical events as accurately as possible. His films have the look that journalists just happened to be there, up close, and were able to film events from an eyewitness perspective.

Here Greengrass shifts between the politicians planning a civil rights march in Derry, Northern Ireland, which has been prohibited by the British occupying forces, to the command of the local British army unit, to local teens planning on participating in the march. This style maintains the tension throughout even if you know the march's outcome already, even though it begins more slowly then builds momentum. The resulting tragedy is almost too much to witness again; I imagine that many in the U.K. can't find the strength to view this film.

Bloody Sunday won 19 awards worldwide, and garnered another 21 nominations. The awards page at IMDB

This intimate style of Greengrass's also worked very well in his riveting story of the events of 9/11 as they unfolded in the film United 93, in almost real time.

Greengrass (photo rt) was ranked #56 on the list of "most influential 100 in British culture" in 2008

The Wikipedia article on the events leading up to and Bloody Sunday itself

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