Tag: Landmark

Review: 44 INCH CHEST

One of the first things to pop into my mind when I first heard about 44 INCH CHEST was �What an interesting title? I wonder where it came from?� Maybe it refers to a measurement, or maybe it�s something entirely abstract. To be honest, after seeing the movie I still couldn�t tell you the meaning for sure, if there even is a meaning. However, what I can tell you is that 44 INCH CHEST is a film that drew me in, wrapped its sharply written dialogue and it�s enigmatic story around my brain for 95 minutes of cinematic excellence.

Written by Louis Mellis and David Scinto, who previously gave us the British gangster film SEXY BEAST, and directed by Malcolm Venville in his feature film debut, 44 INCH CHEST hits audience heads with a hammer of hardcore dialogue. The fast-paced, sharp-tongued conversations that dominate this film are reminiscent of David Mamet, if he had written RESERVOIR DOGS.

Ray Winstone (SEXY BEAST, THE PROPOSITION) plays Colin Diamond, a rough-handed gangster struggling to cope with the revelation that his long-time wife has not only cheated on him, but is leaving him for another man. Perplexed and driven in and out of psychotic states of remorse, anger and confusion, Colin holds up in an old abandoned row house with four friends and fellow gangsters as they determine what they plan to do about this grave insult against Colin.

This rag-tag group of aging gangster relics is a sight for sore eyes. That is, if you enjoy fine acting. Stephen Dillane (NINE LIVES, THE HOURS) plays the youngest-looking of the bunch named Mal, who also happens to be the least personally affected by the disgrace. Tom Wilkinson (ROCKNROLLA, MICHAEL CLAYTON) plays Archie, who appears to be the man in charge. With that said, Ian McShane (DEATH RACE, DEADWOOD) plays the well-dressed and very well spoken homosexual gangster Meredith, who happens to be the one most in control when necessary. Finally, John Hurt (V FOR VENDETTA, HELLBOY) plays Old Man Peanut, the eldest and most foul-mouthed of the criminal lot.

44 INCH CHEST is not your typical gangster flick. This is a dialogue driven film, with a plot more closely resembling SUICIDE KINGS meet THE SOPRANOS than GOODFELLAS or THE GODFATHER. There are two primary elements to the progression of the story, all of which revolves around the ultimate decision of whether to engage in seeking vengeance and if so, how best to deliver that vengeance. The heart of what makes the story interesting however, is the journey in getting to that decision.

Winstone�s performance as the muscle-headed gangster Colin, most likely best known for his ability to �convince� a man to spill his beans, reveals a complex and dizzying display of human emotions as Colin�s mind does figure-eights and loopty-loops around itself in an attempt to make sense of his wife�s transgression. Manic-depressive, loaded on acid or roid-raging, Colin resembles the very worst of all three conditions before finally coming to an epiphany.

Meanwhile, Colin�s posse of partners engages in conversations, debates and philosophical ramblings that range from hilarious to reflective. The chemistry present between these four fine actors is worth its weight in gold. The banter that develops between Meredith and Old Man Peanut is priceless, while Archie and Mal provide the straight-man side of this four-way comedic coin.

The humor of 44 INCH CHEST isn�t overdrawn or wasted on petty jokes, but ingeniously evolves along with the story progresses. This is enhanced by the marvelous editing from Rick Russell, also making his feature film debut, which is particularly evident in a lengthy scene in which the four gangsters embark on a verbal lambasting of their captive adulterer. Each of the men�s dialogue is restricted to the most blunt, offensive and unenlightened of remarks but the scene is cut in such a way as to make this one of the most intriguing and artistically humorous portions of the film.

Rounding out the plethora of reasons 44 INCH CHEST is among the earliest of must-see indie films for 2010 is the score by Angelo Badalamenti. Having worked extensively with David Lynch, and effectively evoking a fantastically visual score for Jeunet and Caro on THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN, Badalamenti again creates a wonderfully moody and appropriate layer of musical texture within which the suspense of the story can gestate.

Overall, 44 INCH CHEST is a welcome and satisfying film to chew on; and chew on this film you will as you digest this beef jerky bit of semi-cerebral cinema. It very well may fall within the sleeper-hit category of 2010, but I encourage anyone who enjoyed SEXY BEAST or REVOLVER to seek this film out.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Review: THE MAID

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LA NANA, or THE MAID here in the US, is a Chilean film from writer-director Sebastian Silva that tells the story of a maid named Raquel. Long employed by a wealthy family, Raquel has spent nearly half of her 42 years caring for this family’s house and practically raising the three children. On the surface, Raquel seems to be a normal, albeit tired, working class woman who takes her job seriously. What we quickly discover is that Raquel has some underlying emotions that begin to erupt, creating some havoc in the household she keeps.

Catalina Saavedra, best known prior to this film for her role as a maid in a Chilean soap opera, delivers a performance that is equally disturbing as it is touching. Raquel is a woman tormented by something, but the film never fully reveals what that “something” is in her life that is making her miserable. In fact, there are several elements in the story that are left somewhat unexplained. The tricky and otherwise ingenious thing about this is that it works in creating a mystery around Raquel that the audience will find themselves thinking about throughout the movie.

Raquel loves the children, so much so that she believes herself to be part of the family. Not unlike many families, she does have a favorite in Lucas, the older of two boys, and finds herself in constant quarrel with the daughter Camila, who doesn’t understand why Raquel has something against her. Consequently, the audience is never given any reason to understand wither, but it’s the fact that Raquel is such an odd duck that allows much of this bewildering confusion of hers make sense.

Sensing that Raquel’s two decades of service to the family is beginning to take a physical toll, the matriarch Pilar suggests hiring another maid to assist her with the heavy load of chores. Raquel politely discourages this notion at first, but when Pilar finally follows through, a series of near-psychotic antics are employed by the territorial Raquel to ensure her family remains hers. She fears losing them to a new maid, a key plot device that opens up a can of worms regarding the completely untouched question of who her real family is and what in the world has happened in her past to make her so neurotic.

THE MAID is not a flashy film. Visually, the movie is something of a cross between reality TV and a soap opera, as is the progression of the story. The writing is low key, realistic and contains frequent scenes that feel almost voyeuristic. Given the lack of an MPAA rating for it’s US release, I expected more controversy from the story, but aside from some mild and casual nudity, this film is barely deserving of an R-rating, even for language. With that said, the very lack of anything intentionally controversial is partially what makes THE MAID believable.

One way to describe THE MAID would be to call it “battle of the maids” except that this would give it a comical implication, which couldn’t be further from the truth. This is a straight-up drama, depicting the manic mood swings and troubled emotions of a woman who has devoted much of her life to another family, while her own seems peculiarly distant and mysterious. Saavedra captures these extreme shifts in Raquel’s personality, from being gentle and caring one moment to being cold, harsh and at times even a little cruel, both the Camila and especially the other maids. That is, until she meets Lucy and everything begins to change.

For a film that has received some relatively positive buzz in the festival circuit, THE MAID isn’t quite what one might expect going into the theater. It is very likely that the film will fail to grab many people at first, but over the 95-minute running time, the film begins to grow on the viewer, gradually planting one little seed after another, forcing the audience to ask questions. THE MAID effectively procures that dangerous curiosity that may figuratively, and literally, kill the cat… but, never truly let’s the cat out of the bag.

Review: THE HORSE BOY

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Roughly one out of every ninety children are born with autism. Approximately one percent of children in the United States, between the ages of 3 and 17, have an autism spectrum disorder. Between 1-1.5 million Americans live with an autism spectrum disorder. These are staggering statistics, especially considering such a prevalent disorder receives less that 5% of private research funding of other less common disorders and diseases.

My intention for sharing these statistics is not to condemn anyone, but merely to point out the vastness of the population living with some form of autism. This is a disorder that is still relatively unknown to us in terms of it’s cause and ultimately it’s place within our society and humanity. Many cling to the idea that autism is strictly a bad thing, a disease, but many others remain open to the possibility that autism isn’t a disease so much as a different way of seeing the world that neuro-typical people do not yet fully understand.

THE HORSE BOY is an amazing documentary about that very differentiation. The film follows 4-year old Rowan Isaacson and his parents as they travel from the United States to Mongolia, seeking a cure for Rowan’s autism. Rowan’s father Rupert, a horse trainer by trade, realized one day that Rowan has an uncanny connection and way with animals, especially with horses. Rupert decides he wants to use this connection and take his family to the one place that horse-riding was born, which also happens to be the home of what are considered to be the most powerful Shamans in the world.

The Isaacson’s experience of raising a child with autism, with symptoms varying from tantrums to a complete resistance to potty train, has taken an emotional toll on their lives. Rupert feels that this adventure to Mongolia, undertaken in part by way of lengthy horse-back riding, will reveal some form of healing for Rowan and themselves. Rupert’s wife Kristin is a bit more skeptical of the outcome, but remains open to the possibilities and they both ultimately find themselves amazed at the results.

Without venturing into excessive detail of Rowan’s condition, the simple truth is that at his his rate of development, he would have difficulty living a “normal” life on his own in society. This, above all else, is what frightens Rowan’s parents and pushes them to follow this path of horses and Shamanic healing. The journey has it’s ups and downs. The film, directed, photographed and edited by first-timer Michel O. Scott, vividly captures both the intense joy and exhausting pain that they endure along the way.

THE HORSE BOY harnesses moments of intimacy with Rowan, both with his father and moments by himself that reveal a unique and fascinating human being in the process of discovering himself and the world around him. Rowan overcomes nearly all of the negative, debilitating effects of autism but also maintains and thrives on the positive aspects of seeing the world from a different perspective through autism. Whether this is the direct result of the Shamanic healing, Rupert and Kristin differ slightly in their opinions, but what they agree on is that the experience as a whole has been a blessing and they are grateful, regardless of the causation of his progress.

The film takes this very engaging and emotional story of human triumph and peppers it lightly with interview clips from various experts, including Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen, anthropologist and researcher Roy Richard Gringer and Dr. Temple Grandin, who herself lives with autism. These scenes are minimal, but offer an enlightening educational support to the story as it unfolds. Footage shot by Michel Scott depicts Rowan’s unbelievable connection to animals as well as the immense beauty of the remote regions of Mongolia, which give an epic cinematic feel to the Isaacson’s jounrey.

Original music in THE HORSE BOY was composed by Lili Haydyn and Kim Carroll and, while pleasant enough, felt a tad too New Age. This was a concern because, while the subject matter may seem “New Age” on the surface, is really more about a father’s determined journey to make a better life for his son than it was a testament to any specific form of alternative or spiritual method of healing. Here is a man, a father so in love with his child that, no matter what the cost or outcome, was willing to leave no stone unturned in seeking the best life possible for his son and this in turn is what makes THE HORSE BOY a fantastic must-see documentary!

EVIL DEAD to be Resurrected in Theaters 2010

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Let me just put your mind to ease right now. No, this is not yet another tedious bit of rumor news about an EVIL DEAD remake. Regardless of which side of the debate you are on regarding that hot little number, this is something any self-respecting fan of the EVIL DEAD trilogy will, and should, be very happy about.

Now 28 years after the original release of director Sam Raimi’s breakout film, the little horror film that could is scheduled to make a nostalgic return to big screen’s across the country. The movie that put both Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell on the map, is being re-released in theaters for a limited run in 2010.

Raimi, Campbell and producer Robert Tapert, in collaboration with Grindhouse Pictures, will be unleashing midnight screenings of the cult classic horror film at Landmark Theatre locations   in select U.S. cities and in Mayfair Cinemas in Canada. Exact dates and cities have not yet been released, but more venues are set to be announced after the first of the year.

Source: Paste