DJG / October 2009 Week 1

The Tenant * * * * ½
Directed by: Roman Polanski / 1976

Uh, You Might Want to Think About Moving…

Roman Polanski stars and directs in another fantastic apartment based thriller, pretty much the baby of his “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Compulsion”. Come to think of it, there are a ton of great movies centering apartments. Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” and of course Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” and “Rope” come to immediate mind. I know, I know, Billy Wilder’s “The Apartment”. It is still on my list. Back to “The Tenant” and Polanski who seems to be making headlines again of late. I’ll keep all opinions to Polanski the director. What a great director he is as “The Tenant” admiringly creeps along, suggesting that when the end finally comes, it’s not going to be pretty. Or is it? -djg


Bad Taste * * *
Directed by: Peter Jackson / 1988

Truly Living Up to Its Name, but Awesome...

Peter Jackson, you are sick, twisted and mega-talented. Late ‘80s horror comedy “Bad Taste” showcases a young Jackson on a young budget. Honestly, this is one of those movies that you don’t need to bother jumping in on until the third act. I’ll just say it’s pretty ridiculously-awesome all the way, but the last part of it is a grand opera of bloated WOW before “Dead-Alive”. Along the way you catch glimpses of the blockbuster master Jackson that has been making fantastic films since the early ‘90s (I still need to see “Meet the Feebles”) and I am ready for his latest, “The Lovely Bones”, later this year. -djg


Hostel * ½
Directed by: Eli Roth / 2006

I Won’t Be Seeing Part II…

“Hi! We’re your new American roommates and sure, we’ll go to the sauna with you!” 10 beers and 10 missing limbs later…Is it just me, or does “Hostel” feel 6 years older than it actually is? Or, maybe it’s just the massive wave of “horror porn” features shoved and oozed in our face the past half decade. I feel that “Hostel” helped usher in a lot of what we’re seeing now and I don’t even really see any of ‘em. No wait, I think I’m thinking of “Cabin Fever”. Anyway, I partially knew what I was getting into with this one, yet my curiosity was still on high with a reliance of a name. Quentin Tarantino: Executive Producer, Presenting. And what in the heck does it take to be a presenter anyway? A big and cool name, naturally. QT, what is your take on this movie? Eli Roth, you were fantastic acting as “The Bear Jew” in QT’s “Inglourious Basterds”, maybe he will rub off on your own films. Also, if I just escape a murder-for-hire compound and find out my friends were murdered there, why wouldn’t I run straight to train security instead of seeking revenge in the train station bathroom and then hopping on the train out of town? -djg


The Fury * * * * ½
Directed by: Brian De Palma / 1978

Cops: “What happened to his arm, Peter?”
Peter: “I killed it…with a machine gun!”

The Middle East, Beaches, terrorists, undercover agents, machine guns, Chicago, chases, explosions, death, mansions, hot fudge sundaes, pole vaulting, out of control indoor amusement park, rather ripped mid-age Kirk Douglas, best dressed bad guy John Cassavetes…and did I mention over-acting psychic teenagers who can bleed people and manipulate their mechanics? And just wait until act three as you’ll be jumping up and down! Wowie. At times Brian De Palma’s expert direction seems to say, “OK, I have this totally ridiculously-awesome script so let’s amp it up a ton and have some fun!” I know I had fun with “The Fury”, a ton of it. In fact, I was laughing a lot and wanted even more than 2 hrs and 5 mins. There is very little actual down time for De Palma’s gas pedal as he slices and dices great film trickery, teasing to the most amazing ending I’ve seen in a thriller for a while. I want to rush out and buy this one. And why in the heck didn’t De Palma direct the “Twilight” saga? -djg

DJG on Herzog / Part 2

Ballad of the Little Soldier * * * *
Directed by: Werner Herzog / 1984

The Young Bare the Burden and the Arms…

“Ballad of the Little Soldier” finds Werner Herzog and Co. in Nicaragua following children soldiers. This is a documentary that I feel should be viewed in schools. I won't go into detail on this one. I would be interested in a follow-up by Herzog and his cameras some day.



Precautions Against Fanatics * * *
Directed by: Werner Herzog / 1969

Way Before “Best in Show”…

Boasting a peculiar title, “Precautions Against Fanatics” might be Werner Herzog’s most peculiar movie, all 12 minutes of it. It feels like a blue print to the types of movie motives that Christopher Guest & Co. have lampooned time and time again, for some time now. It also seems the type of short film to inspire any of the millions of YouTube videos shot on the fly today with a pack of goofballs. Set at a horseracing facility, Herzog’s camera goes around interviewing eccentric horse trainers, track employees or racing enthusiasts. Every time, an absurd cranky old man intervenes yelling obnoxious remarks and telling them to get out. With everything said, “Precautions Against Fanatics”, from my knowledge of pop-culture, was years ahead of the comedy punches of the mockmentary, staged reality or practical blooper joke shows (uh, Ashton Kutcher-produced programming and MTV’s “Jack Ass”, among others) that we now take for granted and/or get too much of. But, I actually wanted more of it!



Encounters at the End of the World * * * * *
Directed by: Werner Herzog / 2007

Let's take a field trip to McMurdo Station…American Scientific Settlement…Antarctica…Earth.

As God’s children we should behave accordingly instead of exhausting our Mother Earth’s resources, like a mother whose fuse is shortened by a child’s heightened sense of not having any sense. But, what is “behave accordingly”? The word “behave” has two words in it, “be” and “have”. I sometimes just yearn to “be” and with peace of mind, like a child, but at the same time I have to play adult and sometimes that means I “have” to “have” my share and piece of mind, instead of peace of mind. As humans it’s in our driving initiative to put everything under the microscope, to poke and to prod, to exploit, to show-off, to gain founders rights and an objective of intellectual gain. Rarely do we sit back and soak in the given. And will we truly be forgiven? Time will tell, at least in our relation to Earth’s perspective.

Werner Herzog approaches his film subjects like a carver of curiosities, Antarctica being one of his latest escapades, more appropriately ice capades, and it’s a wonder why it has taken Herzog this long to wander his wonders to the belly button of the world's belly. Well, because it's pregnant with life. It’s a thinker’s tank down there and on a surface of "moon-like" conditions as described by some of the inhabitants of America’s McMurdo Station, a scientific settlement nearly four times the size, and more Americanized, than even that of my actual Americanized home town. It wasn’t what I was expecting and neither was Herzog, as he wanted to get out of town and into iceberg exploration the minute he stepped off the plane. I don’t blame him. But, he stumbles on a story behind every door and behind every travel-worn face of these people. There is a line from the ‘90s comedy, “Tommy Boy”, that has always stuck with me and that is, “Your Dad could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves!”, and I think that if there was such a salesman, Herzog would be on the other end of the camera with white gloves on. He just has a knack for finding something in everything and everyone.

The residents of McMurdo all share a similar interest in what seems to be out of the box experiences, even when they’re in the box, so to speak, cut off from the rest of the world. Not to mention when they’re practicing survivor classes with bucket blinders over their heads to simulate a whiteout (one of my favorite scenes). The end of the world has pulled them in like a magnet. The end is their beginning, the bottom is their top. OK, you get it. Some have come to escape a dark past. Others have come due to their constant search of eccentric adventure or wonderment. Many are there for their love of the work (and ice cream, guitar concerts and science fiction films) and to simply be in remote isolation. There are even some who have bags packed at all times, ready to move on if need be, even if they are surrounded by ice and water. But, all have truly lived more than I have and I’m oddly engaged to their inspiring tales and trials through travel. In fact, I found the filmed portions of the people of McMurdo just as captivating as its strange frozen surroundings, ice bergs, actively spitting volcanoes, underwater creatures that give off Pink Floyd-like recordings, two-story naturally made ice sculptures that house toxic gases and water cathedrals with alien-like creatures under the Herzog coined “frozen sky” of the iced-over sea. Though, there is an odd juxtaposition of McMurdo’s curious, childlike-play people and their drive to want to scientifically figure out Mother Earth. But, in the end these are still God’s children and even still, serve as a unique parallel to a lone, adamantly wandering penguin taking his own path to certain doom instead of following the other penguins. It’s a path we’d all want to aid motherly care package advice to, but he’s free to make that choice to poke and prod on his own path of choice and his own journey and calling.

As a documentarian you can say that Herzog too pokes and prods. Though, it rarely comes with the gusto for scientific documentation of film studies advance (well, maybe a bit of that and just some intellectual studying), rather that simple yearning of child awe, spirit and artistry. Herzog has a wonder about him, at times eccentric, but always with a keen eye and brain even to squeeze something extra out of the ordinary and is careful not to draw a fine line between “normal” and “insane”. His camera is constantly looking for something mind-boggling, impressive, inspiring, worshipping, poignant and at times humorous. He even finds these things in the things that seem the complete polar opposite. When someone speaks of their love for Antarctica and its “similar to the moon” likability, the camera tells what could be the rest of the story. As it captures the earth worked over by human dirt machines and “progress” taking place, one can’t help but visualize how the moon will look once we conquer and colonize it and beyond, leaving our inevitable travel tattoos (most likely after we come close to fully exhausting our Mother). And at the same time you can’t help but want to be a part of that in some strange way.

Just like the mysterious come and go of the dinosaurs, humans will too. We’re up to the plate and all signs appear that we’re down in the count. The doctor playing on Earth has good, bad and ugly to its game and maybe just maybe it can boost us to having better odds if we pay attention? Though, perhaps when future civilizations, maybe aliens, come to see who we were and what we were about, they’ll happen to find a complete box set of Werner Herzog curiosities and documentations on Earth (of course they’d have to have a device to make them work, but please humor for a little longer) sitting in a shrine right next to the detailed cast of a sturgeon also mysteriously found frozen in time at the end of the world.

While Mother Earth is busy speaking, are our busy bodies truly listening instead of putting stethoscopes, microscopes and tattoos to the tune of discovering, documenting, detailing…detaching and weaning off from the mystery and childlike wonderment? But, children are nothing more than little adults, naively wandering into a foreign playground to be the first to slide down the slide with a bucket over their heads. And you can bet your bucket that Werner Herzog will be at the bottom with a camera and curiosity.



Fata Morgana * * * *
Directed by: Werner Herzog / 1971

Drive-by Sci-Fi…

Like “Burden of Dreams” is to Werner Herzog’s “Fitzcarraldo”, the making of “Fata Morgana” could have made for a great movie by itself. It seems like the stuff of myth or legend: shooting for 13 months without any story idea or structure (though, nothing too unusual for this director); surrendering to border police; the contraction of a rare liver disease that nearly caused Herzog’s death; tortured mentally and physically in prison. Watching the deserted desert images of “Fata Morgana” fly by to narration of ancient poetry and the appropriately applied tunes of Leonard Cohen, classic compositions and instrumentals, was a visual feast that kept getting better and better and more unusual in the hour and eighteen minutes it clocks in. At times the people, wrecked landscape, living conditions and creatures reminded me of production art plucked out of movies like “Mad Max”, “Dune” or “Star Wars.” As it turns out, Herzog’s stick-to vision of the film (one that is explained in the DVD extras) is that it IS intended to be viewed as sci-fi, as in an alien film crew has come to Earth after humans have nearly exhausted it. I went into “Fata Morgana” without any research or knowledge other than friends referring it to me as “it’s about mirages and desert life…a little slow…kind of boring…nonsensical…but, unique and fascinating.” Actually, this film did start slow and at times I wasn’t sure how to piece it all together, and not even sure if I should try, but “Fata Morgana” turned out to be nothing short of what I’ve come to call a uniquely tailored Herzogian experience. And it’s certainly not just about mirages in the desert. It’s another in a long line of the man’s astounding abilities to translate life to the screen that I’d like to put on repeat. Like me watching Herzog over and over, HE too fixates on the repetition of the images he finds in movies like “Fata Morgana”. Whether its sea turtles in the desert (yeah?!), an elderly couple playing weird musical compositions in confidence, a cutely-odd-looking albino desert fox or an abandoned truck doing donuts in a distant mirage (looking nothing short of an alien crab creature scuttling around)…this film is nothing short of fascinating and set the stamp for all Herzogian experiences to follow.



Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe * * * * *
Directed by: Les Blanks / 1980

I Smell a Sequel…

Academy Award winning filmmaker Errol Morris released his debut, “Gates of Heaven”, in 1980. Upon doing so, he had fulfilled a bet with friend and fellow filmmaker Werner Herzog. This bet, proposed by Herzog, promised he would eat his shoe if Morris ever completed a film. Herzog is a man of his word, right down to the exact shoe(s) he was wearing when he made the bet. However, he didn’t envision the moment would be made famous (or infamous) in front of a packed auditorium, not to mention the plot of a short film captured by documentarian Les Blanks (who would later document Herzog’s plagued filmmaking vision of “Fitzcarraldo” in “Burden of Dreams”). Boiled for 5 hours in a wash of Herzog’s own recipe of flavored water, the entire shoe was consumed by Herzog. Well, everything but the sole, as in great Herzogian vision it was explained that you don’t eat chicken bones. Makes sense to me. But, what about the other shoe!



Burden of Dreams * * * * ½
Directed by: Les Blanks / 1981

River Rapids, River Wild…

There aren’t too many films in the over 100 year history of the medium where the director’s vision nearly exhausts the film and the final product. However, the 1970s was a big turning point in movie making. Not only so in the art and exploration of film, but also for eccentric rights to film production and directors as a whole exercising their angels and demons. Names like Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Cimino always come to mind with stories surrounding their wonderful visions that nearly collapsed themselves and others with “Apocalypse Now” and “Heaven’s Gate”, respectively. These are films that carry as much talk about the behind the scenes as the actual product. The stories and products are equaled masterpieces in my book. Though, I think that Werner Herzog takes the prize, as he was in complete artistic control-out-of-control, with the grandest of grand visions in “Fitzcarraldo.” From conception to end, enduring great set-backs in cast, production and location he succeeded in leading to near ruin. Most notabl: scrapping 40% of a movie after lead actor Jason Robarbs’ near life-threatening illness forced him to bail, thus resulting in Mick Jagger (Yes, THE Mick Jagger!) leaving for tour as he couldn’t wait any longer; replacement actor Klaus Kinski’s raging tantrums which resulted in murderous plots on his life; the drowning of two native Indians; the Peruvian jungle in general; and last but not least, Herzog’s vision for an actual 320-ton steamship hauled over a mountain by man power. Les Blanks’ “Burden of Dreams” captures true history and true movie making in the making. Though, I still think the best scenes are ones withheld of Kinski’s most outrageous expressions, ones that can be seen in Herzog’s 1999 documentary on his relationship with Kinski called “My Best Fiend.” In the end, Herzog is still testing not only the film medium but also his visions and getting a much heralded late-career boost and still complete control, something that guys like Coppola and Cimino have either stepped back from or are completely in hibernation.



Signs of Life * * *
Directed by: Werner Herzog / 1968

Windmills of the Mind…

I didn’t realize it until I read Netflix’s synopsis on the “Signs of Life” mailer, but Werner Herzog’s film and screenplay inspired Stephen King’s idea behind “The Shining.” Cool. I can see why with its closed-wall-isolation-turn-madness, though I prefer Stanley Kubrick’s movie “The Shining” to “Signs of Life.” Herzog’s first feature film isn’t a bad film at all. It does move slow and feels drawn-out for a film that isn’t really that long. Which, isn’t a bad thing. Though, at times it shows a hard time of knowing what to do as a film. At least these things were present to me and in a Herzogian way I’ve come to admire that. Especially so, because it shows how Herzog cut his teeth and mind with putting images together, images like a field of thousands of windmills that the seemingly normal lead character stumbles upon and becomes almost disillusioned and disturbed by. It’s a crucial point and great metaphor for the power on display, and/or the switch of power, that takes place as he begins to go mad after many days of isolation with a few others stationed at a military base. Werner Herzog is a true original and in a lot of ways I find his first feature film to show many signs of a creative life waiting to kick the door wide open on the medium. I recommend “Signs of Life” to see a master filmmaker making his baby kicks and starting to canvas the windmills of his own mind.


-djg

DJG on Herzog / 7 New Ones - Part 1

Land of Silence & Darkness * * * 1/2
Directed by: Werner Herzog / 1971

To Be Without is to Be With…

It’s fascinating to me how we’re advanced enough to recreate sight and sound to document life, yet we can’t create and/or correct sight and sound for individuals born without it. Or, am I behind in today’s medicine? But, what we might think as a curse could be a true blessing. I think of people lacking the primary senses, even those with developmental challenges, as having a closer connection with God. They also seem to have an ability to see and detail life better than those of us who actually can and take for granted. There is also an uncanny ability to capture the attention of those around them. And this is what director Werner Herzog does as he simply is there to pay his attention and respect in this intriguing documentary on those born without the primary senses. Sitting near the start of an impressive resume, “Land of Silence & Darkness” isn’t necessarily Herzog’s most commanding film by any means, but it doesn’t have to be. Like many of his movies, some of the most ordinary images caught by the camera are the most interesting and impacting. Whether it’s a birthday gathering, a young boy enjoying water, a teen enjoying the big vibrations of songs on a tiny radio, or the unique method of elderly women finger tapping messages on hands, this movie translates. That translation is whole different world, and way to see the world, that many of us can’t even imagine. The most powerful image came right before the credits rolled when the camera caught a man walking confidently out of a group to enthusiastically touch a tree and its leaves as a light wind blew. He somehow sensed it was there with his wonderment, without sight or sound. Leading up to the end I was wanting more out of the film in terms of in-depth stories and subjects. But, the ending shared with me the need for what moving pictures I was given and the need in general for those with eye sight and sound to experience, inside and out. It also revealed to me how much closer to the true understandings of things others without senses truly are than I who tends to overlook what’s right in front of me. Point being, this wonderful film I just encountered.



The White Diamond * * * * *
Directed by: Werner Herzog / 2004

Waterfall Inside of a Rain Drop…

I love how the obsessions of Werner Herzog’s subjects become his own obsessions. I love how well they work together, even in life-threatening situations or shear madness of man’s quest to do the thing that is either haunting him to do or ends up haunting him during or even after it’s done. And in the middle of the process it is poetic purity like a white diamond in rock. It’s easy to stand outside and think that another man’s dream is either a death wish or pure stupid-stupid. Instead we need to get off the couch and journey for ourselves, or get a simple lesson by riding along with Herzog on screen. “The White Diamond” is a documentary about aeronautical engineer Graham Dorrington’s unusual zest-quest for flight in a small balloon over the canopy jungle of Guyana. Dorrington’s struggling want with flight and with anxious haunts of an accidental death of a close friend ten years prior are only a part of this story as Herzog finds many more individual obsessions and stories within to document. In the thick of everything is the vast jungle landscape alive to its simple-yet-colorful cast of inhabitants, traditions and superstitions. These are people who moonwalk on the edge of a cliff, best-befriend chickens and have a yearning to reconnect with long-lost European relatives. And then there is diamond country. The search for diamond in rock is a great metaphor for what Dorrington is trying to accomplish with his tiny air balloon craft shining bright above the jungle which dwarfs it immensely. Does he succeed in flight? I won’t give that one away as the accumulative results of this movie are mesmerizing and become my third favorite documentary by the legendary Herzog. I’ve seen many of his great movies, but “The White Diamond” makes me really want to follow him personally to any region or wilderness of Earth or man’s mind. Herzog recognizes a great story and finds a way to capture it and many more. One such way is a waterfall shot through a single rain drop that a native suggested. It’s an image that Herzog has come to bash by calling “Disney.” However, the image (which, I personally find to be powerful) was recommended to him by a simple, pure mind of a man who makes it to the spot regularly to soak in the simple act of reflection. I can’t think of a better image to sum up this movie and life itself.



Where the Green Ants Dream * * *
Directed by: Werner Herzog / 1984

Although art may be subjective and up to the viewer, some of it does seem to carry all the ingredients for greatness, yet comes up short. It can also have something to do with who is putting the pieces together. Maybe the person is me when it comes to the art of the film watcher!? Werner Herzog is certainly an artist up to the task for a movie like “Where the Green Ants Dream”, but I couldn’t help but think for an hour and forty five minutes that Peter Weir could have handled it better. Or, maybe it’s premature of me to only think that because Australia’s master maestro has dealt marvelously and handled mysteriously well movies in similar territory as this one? It has an Australian setting, half of the cast is Aboriginal…it even has actors that have appeared in some of Weir’s work. Upon entering “Where the Green Ants Dream”, I for some reason thought I was set to watch a documentary, but found myself struggling and stumbling through a drama about a mining company wanting to expand digging into sacred Aboriginal grounds. Interesting, yes, but it moved like molasses at times and at other times didn’t quite stick together for me. “Where the Green Ants Dream” isn’t a bad movie, but I left wanting more punch from it. I think I’ll have to come back to this one a second time, using what I’ve learned from Herzog, and that is, sometimes greatness is found in the smallest of details. I will pay more attention next time and cancel out how insanely great Weir’s “The Last Wave” is and how I wanted “Where the Green Ants Dream” to be its sequel.



Wheel of Time * * * *
Directed by: Werner Herzog / 2003

This is Not Your Typical Corner of the Sandbox…

Many Americans idea of a spiritual walk is the quick span of paved luxury between last call at Sunday morning service and the all-you-can-eat buffet. Their idea of spiritual art is dealt in cranked out kitscher-than-kitsch crafts with "God Bless Texas" (insert Bible chapter/verse here) carved into a plank of rustic wood and a barbed wire hanger. Please pardon my cynical tongue. I don't think you need to make great things or do impressive things to get to where you want to go internally and externally into the beyond. However, to paraphrase the Dalai Lama in “Wheel of Time”, in order to find understanding and peace in our world we need to try to understand and respect all spiritual journeys. I agree, and especially think this method of understanding would benefit Americans and their knowledge with other cultures and realize that we are not the center of the universe. Even though, Mr. D.L. adds the words of wisdom (again, to paraphrase) that as soul bearers, we ain some ways are centers of the universe. It’s more than a spiritual walk for Buddhist monks depicted in “Wheel of Time” as some travel thousands of miles, stopping every few steps to bow down in push-up like movements to get to a tree. The tree is called the Bodhi and represents the place where spiritual instructor and founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, achieved true enlightenment. After reaching the tree, some monks spend even more time doing their push-up like movements. Buddhist belief also takes some individuals on a pilgrimage gathering at Mount Kailash. A peak considered one of the most significant for its world spiritual center and simply known for its towering presence in nature. Werner Herzog also captures something equally fascinating as he focuses on an elaborate wheel of time painstakingly created out of colored sand. I’m still not completely researched in its purpose, other than it takes hours and hours of devoted cramped craftsmanship for monks to create, display curiously under glass protection and then destroy in seconds. They then take the remains to scatter in the river and wind.



Cobra Verde * * * *
Directed by: Werner Herzog / 1988

One Foot in the Ocean…

I was equally mesmerized and terrified the first time I witnessed the ocean. I’m the same way with late-great actor Klaus Kinski. I’m kind of glad I never met him as he would have either killed me, spit in my cereal or made me cry. Yeah, no matter what, he would have definitely found a way to make me cry. I can’t think of an actor and very few individuals over all that can be matched to that of his mad genius and talent. But, can it be called “mad genius”? His life and work seems fittingly representative of that place where water meets land: mesmerizing and terrifying/mysterious and powerful. And not to mention: at many times out of control. Werner Herzog directs Kinski for the fifth and last time in “Cobra Verde”, as Kinski would pass away just four years later. Though, not Kinski’s finest role for Herzog, his Francisco Manoel da SilvaRoom (aka: Cobra Verde) is without a doubt a fascinating performance to watch and the film as a whole is quite an achievement, and one of Herzog’s biggest concoctions. Once again Herzog employs rich imagery in roomfuls of crabs, bats and a Kinski-taught army of half-naked African tribal women learning to fight. Though, my favorites are a coastal outline of flag signalers and a final bow by Kinski as he flops and flails on the place where water meets land as a crippled child who looks nothing short of an obscure, death-like creature hunches his way. In Herzog’s documentary on his relationship with Kinski in “My Best Fiend”, he recalls the scene on the beach as the place where his friend-fiend’s spirit may have started to show signs of leaving soon. I would agree.



Invincible * * * ½
Directed by: Werner Herzog / 2005

Modest Muscles…

“Invincible” finds Werner Herzog making fact and fiction from a German folktale partially based on a real-life person and actual events. World’s Strongest Man participant Jouko Ahola plays the lead in Zishe Breitbart, a Jewish man of strength who leaves his small village to achieve great things with his abilities. Upon arriving in 1932 Berlin, he is swiftly employed and tricked as a sort of side show act in a showcasing of the Nazi belief in the power of the “Aryan” strength. Here he begins to realize the dangers surrounding the powerful stirrings of the Nazi party and reveals his true identity and heritage pride. Zishe soon goes back home to see it as his prophetic duty to warn every one of the dangers of the forthcoming rise of Nazi power. Though untrained in acting, I appreciated Ahola’s naively-honest and sweet approach to the art as he came across a little like Bruno S., another Herzog actor that I appreciate. For the most part the film moves quite slow, but is also quite captivating and a little bizarre in the same way that “Heart of Glass” is for me. Herzog also employs some unique choices in dream-like sequences that I wish he would have used even more of. But, “Invincible” is an all-around lovely movie that I could easily experience again down the road.



The Dark Glow of the Mountains * * * *
Directed by: Werner Herzog / 1984

Like a Teacher Writing on a Blackboard…

I don’t believe I’ll ever climb a mountain, though a part of me feels like I’m missing out on something special. I don’t know how he does it, but every Werner Herzog movie has a moment (if not many moments) that brings every subject, no matter how surreal or near-insane, down to a level of uniquely gripping philosophical understanding across the board. Across the board meaning, anyone can at least understand it, even if they don’t prescribe to it. The board in “The Dark Glow of the Mountains” is a climber’s mountain in comparison to a teacher’s blackboard. It makes perfect beautiful sense when free style climber Reinhold Messner explains it. If you’re able to reach back into your Ben Fold Five trivia, the band has an album title with his name in it and from what I recall I don’t think it was intentional. Interesting, but not as interesting as the real Reinhold Messner explaining why he has to climb. It’s also not as interesting as how Herzog always finds as close to the answers he went searching for with a camera and with equaled passion.

-djg

DJG's CINEMADHESIVE

Inglourious Basterds * * * * *
Directed by: Quentin Tarantino / 2009

Rewriting History, Taking Names and Inventing New Ones…

WWII-KAWOW!! My mouth is still fixated in a wide devilish grin ala Jack Nicholson’s unforgettable Joker in Tim Burton’s “Batman.” It has been this way since the last hour of the best picture of 2009, so far. In fact, I’ve been grinning since an hour and half before that, when the spaghetti western sights and sounds of Quentin Tarantino’s flashy-fresh joy ride take on WWII kick-started his “Inglourious Basterds.” They never backed down right into one of the greatest, and already iconic, most satisfying film endings ever. Not to mention a new ending for World War II and the fall of the Nazi regime, again. Tarantino never intended to alter history, but his characters sure lead and he followed with all his guns amped-up to sophistication. He has officially raised his own game.

Not for everyone and he has his naysayers, Tarantino for me has always been able to wallop genres out of the park, turning film on its side and robbing from the greats yet turning it into his own gold. But, it’s not fool’s gold, more like cool’s gold. The best art borrows and Tarantino does it better and with his own thumb prints left behind on the prize. And I find self-indulgence is best when shared with an audience. He is the coolest and freshest pop-culture churner we have today. Money aside, I assume all directors love movies or they wouldn’t be in the business. But, Tarantino loves-LOVES movies and he makes me love movies even more after I see him wave his wand each time. For those that don’t “get” him and/or knock him, then I kind of feel bad for you as you’re really missing out. But, more for me!

So, what is so great about Tarantino’s take on WWII?! EVERYTHING and it is worn with the high-stepping confidence of the Nazi high command. Like a great novel its chapters slice up to show enough yet leaving just enough to the imagination, pulling together a creation of richer-than-rich characters and plots that live and breathe beyond what’s in front of you. You’ll have a love-hate affair with the notorious “Jew Hunter”, Nazi Col. Hans Landa (in a soon-to-be Oscar nominated role from Christoph Waltz), whose cunning charm and manipulation is just as big and intimidating as his smoking pipe. He loves milk and pie as well so how could you not like the man? Another big item is the Nazi scalping knife of Lt. Aldo Raine, which finds Brad Pitt wielding and talking like President George W. Bush, not to mention sporting the best Italian accent ever on screen. Is it just me, or has Brad Pitt really been churning out the satisfying characters of late, even more than ever!? The movie’s promotion makes it seem that the Lt. Raine’s band of Nazi destroying Basterds is what the movie is all about, but it’s only a fraction to the story. Much of the story is owed to a Jewish gal named Shosanna Dreyfus who escaped from Col. Landa and is now disguised as a French theater owner. As the lights go out to show a film of Nazi hero Fredrick Zoller sniping from his bird’s nest, Shosanna (& Basterd Co.) does some bird nesting as well and in a blaze of gory-glory. Trust me, you’ll never find carnage so much fun.

2 and a half hours doesn’t do the basterd justice and it could have easily been another Tarantino two-parter, maybe even three. But, I left QT-quenched, almost like leaving Quik Trip with a conveniently tasty beverage and hot dog (chips and candy on the side, of course). Yes, I’m relating the work of Quentin Tarantino to junk food, but this is high-caliber junk food folks, with all the condiments and fix-ins like chipotle sauce and vanilla flavoring that we love. I can’t get enough and have been ready for seconds since the last of the credit logos left the screen. “Inglourious Basterds” is a daringly ambitious, wickedly entertaining, remarkable and satisfying work of original art that I cannot praise enough. I will be dining again in the theater as Hitler and Co. all fall down the way we always wanted them to…and then we will all bow down to the film art of Quentin Tarantino. Thank you. -djg

DJG / Most Overrated Sci-Fi Ever

DJG / Eagle Eye

Eagle Eye * * * *
Directed by: D.J. Caruso / 2008

To Be Taken With a Can of Red Bull…

A couple days ago I was telling my wife how it’s almost refreshing now to watch an older television series or movie that comes sans cell phones and technology. Rarely today do you even see regular home phones or public telephones in the movies, let alone in real life. I’m thankful for my cell phone and so-on, but I’m extremely thankful to have experienced life without them and the internet. Today’s Red Bull movies, ya know, the non-stop-high-octane-super-slick-spastic-cool flicks like “The Bourne Identity” trilogy, “Taken”, even 2006’s Oscar Best Picture winner “The Departed”, wouldn’t work the same without their lead characters’ interactive moving and shaking with off-the-cuff-or-hip technology to communicate, track down the bad guys, win the race, etc. “Eagle Eye” isn’t nearly as great as the aforementioned films, yet it gets the job done and kept me at full-speed attention, even with a pinch of “Minority Report” and many exclamations of “Yeah, right!” Of course it’s ridiculous to the core and sometimes makes the head spin, but I loved it and movies like it. And just when I say to my wife ¾ through the movie, “Ya know, movies like this wouldn’t work without cell phones and technology!” the good guys answer the bad guys’ ring on a regular ol’ public telephone. Those sneaky bad guys! Pass the Red Bull while you're at it! -djg

DJG / Billy the Kid

Billy the Kid * * * * ½
Directed by: Jennifer Venditti / 2007

Billy is like a lot of small town fifteen-year-olds. Billy likes to listen to KISS and AC/DC. Billy likes to imagine himself in a Harry Potter potion class as opposed to hum-drum high school chemistry. Billy loves girls but respects them. Billy loves horror movies and talks about them a lot. Billy jumps subject ship so fast and onto the next and sometimes with unease and twitchy intervals. We all had Billy, or a handful, in our schools and hometowns growing up, especially in rural America. Billy lives in small town Maine where the winters are harsh and the high school kids are just as harsh to the weird and eccentric kids as they are anywhere else. Billy may be different to most standards, but Billy is the best.

Apparently, director Jennifer Venditti was working as a fashion modeling scout when she stumbled upon Billy and decided right then the subject of her first film. If I’d met Billy before watching his shining star in “Billy the Kid”, I’d have wanted to make a film on him too. Billy is the type of friend that you’d want to have, even if he would kill you with kindness (and too much talk) on a daily basis. But, you’d never have a boring moment or run out of things to talk about with a friend like Billy. Billy is a wonderful person who may not understand social situations, but he can see what your soul is like by sharing with you so much of his own, and the first time you meet him. Billy isn’t a Barnum & Bailey sideshow, tabloid fodder or a movie of the week. Why a movie on Billy? Billy is original, complex, unique, inspiring, inquisitive and reflective. And there is a lot more than that going on inside and radiating from Billy. Billy is more alive than everyone else in his town put together, especially his peers. Billy articulates himself like a long, lost philosopher like, “Sometimes life’s a pain in the butt. But, sometimes it’s worth it because you’ll find great things in the life that’s a pain.”

Billy’s father left the family years ago after a run with the law, spousal abuse and alcoholism. Billy has a lot of pain, rage and inner demons due to his biological father. Billy’s mother is one of the strongest, nicest, supporting, connecting and most loving mother’s I’ve seen depicted in any form of movies or real life. Billy has a step-father he likes at home, but I didn’t get to meet him. I did meet Billy’s first love, Heather. Billy poured his love out for Heather in two days, like all boys tend to do but with triple the amount with Billy. He had his heart broken in return. Billy can be too much at times, but I like that about Billy. Billy is very becoming, bold, brave and not bashful. One can learn a lot from a boy like Billy.

Fifteen-year-old Billy will forever be on display in movie form and I wonder about his future. Venditti captured Billy very simply, purely and sometimes awkwardly, yet never in a way to exploit Billy, rather just to share with the world his charm and unique way of handling himself. Though, what will become of Billy after high school? Will Billy go on to do great things? Billy says he doesn’t want to be a free-loader all his life. Billy mentioned something about either dying a young death or lead his people in a revolution. No matter what, I think Billy will always make an impact on those around him, in some form or another. I’m thankful I got to meet Billy. I can relate to Billy. At times, I even am Billy. We all have a little bit of Billy in us, we just need somebody like Billy to remind us that it’s OK to be who you are. I like the way Billy is and I hope others do too. -djg