Fifty years after its release, Albert Lamorisse’s “The Red Balloon” (“Le Ballon Rouge”) remains one of the most beloved of all short films. The key to its enduring longevity is in its simplicity – it’s a fantastical story told in the most minimal of terms, with very not many lines of duologue, from a child’s viewpoint. The be without of frill live coals leaves it as something endless. And but behind its artlessness lies a mountain of metaphor that has kept critics, film majors, and fans talking for five decades.

Numberless of you have already seen “The Red Balloon” and understand its eminence as a ageless. For you, no review is compulsory – it remains as delightful an experience as the first ease you watched it.

For the uninitiated, in all events, a primer: “The Red Balloon” is the anecdote of a minor boy (played by the writer/director’s son, Pascal Lamorisse) who frees a balloon that he finds tied to a lamppost; the balloon shows its gratitude by following the rogue wherever he goes, which gets the boy into unwed at times. Later, other schoolboys seek to grab the balloon as a remedy for themselves.

And that’s fetching much it. But what magic Lamorisse weaves with such a story. As the balloon, a vibrant sphere of red set against the miserable grays of the Ménilmontant department of Paris, floats along, it genuinely seems alive, bobbing and weaving in a playful style, like a puppy. Lamorisse’s crew tempered to a multiplicity of puppeteering techniques, most of which inert remain invisible. (The clarity of DVD finally reveals the thin run in a handful shots, but even then you have to be looking in compensation it – an act which defies the precise whimsical nature of the film.) The balloon’s behavior, created through a combine of marionette and mime, leads us to opening our hearts to this spirited creature.

It’s such a gentle experience, a soothing children’s essence book come to compulsion. The boy and his new friend engage in a series of nearly non-adventures: a trip to the bakery, a pack in at a circle Stock Exchange, a unlooked-for to flirt with a girl’s blue balloon. Reflecting the boy’s anterior experiences with the town, some grown-ups are grumpy hegemony types (the balloon prankishly torments a schoolma’m in joined scene), but most are benevolent helpers, fervid to adaptable to a hand, watching the balloon when the lad goes places his moll cannot. These are all lovely scenarios (the shot of the balloon in any event itself in the reflection while the kid studies a painting carries an unexpected emotional weight), and anecdote can imagine a soft, soothing narrator calmly reading along with accompanying text. (Indeed, Lamorisse later released a book based on the film, which itself has become a favorite.)

The gentleness is then punctuated with Lamorisse’s expertise with the camera. The filmmaker finds a visual sweetness in the location shots – even the scenes that forth no contrast between colorful balloon and colorless cityscape are pleasant to watch. Lamorisse then toys with camera movement; watch as the camera glides down the street, following the boy as he runs free owing to the city, dangerous to make it to high school on time. This is beautiful filmmaking.

Then the boys begin to attack the balloon with slingshots and rocks, and the gentleness disappears – the boys removed it with their rough, uncaring ways. (The director’s camera amplifies this by offering tighter shots and faster cuts, a claustrophobic touch.) The analogies in this section of the film can go as deep as you like: the slave is ostracized by a public that does not understand him, a catholic that does not at worst want to nab the charming, but destroy it. Is this a scrupulous allegory? A philosophical one? A warning to boy non-member-types that the uncleaned masses will never tolerate them? A statement on the crudity of confine, brutes unable to appreciate witless wonders?

The end scene, as wondrous a finale as ever has been put to film, suggests solemn word of honour, although Lamorisse gives it a pinch of the general. Is this a prominence of hope and redemption? Cynical, adult eyes could introduce that it is instead a importance of continual away, or that the two seconds resolves nothing, and the brutes remain in power. (I prefer the uplifting perspective. Those chumps back in the alley will never get to experience the glories the boy will action, thanks to his open heart and mind.)

And yet all of this remains by reason of the viewer to decide for him- or herself. Lamorisse refuses to stimulate any subtext, delighting preferably in the possibly to simply safeguard this story unfold. He captures the events with an innocent’s eyes, in no way questioning, never doubting, not in any degree nudging a item of view. He uses a visual language that appeals to younger viewers; even its darkest moments are shown in a accede that kids leave comprehend with aplomb. And he does all of this without ever talking down to the audience, which is why it remains appreciated by fans as they age – not out of mere nostalgia, but exposed of dependable politeness for a marvelous work of art.

“The Red Balloon” went on to together a fair numeral of awards, including the Palme D’Or at the 1956 Cannes and the Academy Award for Paramount Screenplay, making it the only short film to win an Oscar outside of the short smokescreen categories. It has since gone on to become a staple of classrooms of elementary schools and film schools in like manner – children can enjoy the wonders of its day-dream storyline, while scholars can study how such a storyline is able to unfold with so little words.

Returning to “The Red Balloon” is like returning to an previous friend. It is lull delight, it is still wonderful, it is still a excellent.

The DVD

Long unavailable on home video, Janus Films (you know, the Criterion Amassment people) has infatuated advantage of a current restoration of Lamorisse’s works and is releasing “The Red Balloon” as a budget tag, with a lowered price tag reflecting the short running yet. The packaging claims this is the movie’s to begin appearance on DVD, although that’s a slight misnomer; Netflix has offered an exclusive replica-note disc containing “The Red Balloon” and Lamorisse’s “The White Mane” for a while now. Janus’ unshackle of these films (“The White Mane” will be available personally in stores the exact same day) marks their retail debut.

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Three men — that’s how a lot of jokes start, as in, “Three men strut into a lock up and . . .” But jokes, as we recall, receive punchlines. “Three Men and A Newborn,” Hollywood’s latest, er, cribbing of a French hit has none.

The three stars, in case you don’t watch television or notice newspaper ads, are Tom “Magnum” Selleck, Steve “Police Academies Ad Infinitum” Guttenberg and Ted “I Am Not Gary Hart” Danson. They are three oh-so-cute, oh-so-Manhattan, oh-so-wild and crazy bachelors. They live in a multiroom apartment with a view of Central Park, which has got to cost them half-a-million bucks a month. And if you like these people, you really should read Donald Trump’s book.

While Ted Danson (you won’t remember their characters’ names) is in Istanbul for a brief acting job, a baby shows up outside the men’s door with an angry note attached. Seems Danson did some damage in Connecticut and the mother wants him to take over. Selleck and Guttenberg are obliged to fill in for Danson until he returns — which means changing, feeding, placating. The predictable chain of events that you already laughed at once in the French version (by Coline Serreau) ensues. It wasn’t that funny in “Baby Boom,” either. The only one who comes away with some kind of dignity is Selleck who becomes a sort of endearing den mother.

Director Leonard Nimoy does not use his ears for comedy — nor his eyes, even. His three leads recite their lines as though they wanted to take their jumbo-sized salaries and run — which, given this movie, maybe isn’t such a dumb idea.

In keeping with Serreau’s 1986 original, there is a side plot — well, let’s try this on: A director of commercials who goes from New York to the West Coast from time to time asks you for a favor. It involves someone delivering a “package” to your apartment. Someone else will pick it up the following day. Then, he says, he’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention this to anyone.

Yeah, right. As you can guess, the thing’s stuffed with heroin. And Danson, who agreed to do this very favor, appears to have no suspicions at all. The police are on to the drug deal and stake out the apartment. Selleck and Guttenberg have their hands full — with a crying baby and various shady characters. Mother finally returns and they work out a group house arrangement and you just hope the baby girl, when she grows up, gets out of the apartment and meets some real people.

Charlie and Lola Three: My Little Town and More Stories! is the third volume released in the U.S. of the delightful, sweet cartoon from England’s BBC, based on the marvelous children’s books by Lauren Child. This brightly hued cartoon, featuring what looks like pencil drawn figures, colored, then cut out like paper dolls, is computer generated, using a 2D cell animation collage approach, with photomontage, paper and fabric cutouts, and real photos. The jerky movements and “crude” articulation perfectly captured the look and feel of children’s art. As Charlie will tell you at the beginning of each episode, “I have this little sister Lola. She’s small and very funny.” In Charlie’s conversational way, he talks about what he has to go through every day, in trying to help his parents by watching over Lola, a delightfully real little girl whose funny flights of fancy make up a large portion of each episode.

Through irrepressible Lola, we see how a child can’t quite comprehend why the world doesn’t see things exactly the way she or he does. And importantly, we see how Lola, through her strength of character, continues to insist on seeing the world her way. It’s a good message for little girls to see. Charlie and Lola, with its shifting perspectives within the story lines, perfectly captures the way children can have fantasy and reality exist side by side in their daily lives, in the perfectly reasonable and logical way that little children have, through the power of their imaginations.

Besides the sweet little stories that gently teach a lesson (if the child wants to hear it — the messages aren’t in any way “preachy” or intrusive), it’s quite a funny show, and that’s mostly due to the charming vocal talents of Jethro Lundie-Brown as Charlie and Maisie Cowell as Lola. While her British accent is adorable, it’s also a real, believably young voice. She speaks with all the slightly daffy, eccentric logic that any highly intelligent four or five year old girl possesses. Cheeky, darling Lola is a little willful, a little annoying at times (what little child isn’t?) but she’s always good hearted and kind, and just as important, she’s her own person. Independently minded, many of the stories involve Lola’s determination to see the outside world in her own special way, and often, she doesn’t stray from this vision at the end of the story. I would imagine most parents of little girls would love Charlie and Lola precisely because it shows a strong role model for their girls. She’s obstinate and stubborn sometimes, and utterly beguiling.

Charlie is also a good role model for younger boys. He’s the kind of big brother we all probably wish we had. Indulgent of Lola’s willful ways, he’s always patient and kind in his guiding of Lola’s actions. He also readily admits that Lola makes him laugh, regardless of how grating she is; just when he should be getting mad at her for pushing him beyond his patience, he starts to laugh at one of quirky little doings, and he’s giggling right along with her. So don’t hesitate to have some of your older children sit down and watch as well.

Here are the six, 11-minute episodes of Charlie and Lola Three: My Young Town and More Stories!:

I Can Do Anything That’s Everything All On My Own
Lola decides that she will do everything for herself now own, including getting her own pink milk, buttoning her coat — and using a seesaw.

There is Only One Sun And That is Me!

Lola desperately wants to be the sun in the school play — but she’s saddened to find out she’s only to be a small, brown autumn leaf.

I’ve Won…No I’ve Won…No I’ve Won

Lola always has to win — even when Charlie really does.

It Wasn’t Me!

Lola breaks one of Charlie’s prized possessions — and then lies about it.

Say “Cheese”
Lola must stay neat and clean until it’s time to take her first school picture.

My Little Town
Charlie and Lola’s new activity box contains hours of fun — until Lola feels left out of Charlie’s playtime.

The DVD:

The Video:
The enhanced for 16×9 TVs, 1.85:1 widescreen video image for Charlie and Lola Three: My Little Town and More Stories! is pristine.

The Audio:
The English 2.0 stereo audio mix is strong and clear, perfectly picking up the jauntiest, coolest cartoon theme song out there.

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The Extras:
There are a couple of cute extras on the Charlie and Lola Three: My Little Town and More Stories!. First up is a Snap Game, which should be fun for the kids. When they win, there’s a code to a CD-ROM feature that will allow your child to make and print up playing cards on your computer. There’s also a Dancing Clip and a Sporty Clip: two 30 second clips from several episodes. There’s also a short Funny Outtakes bonus which has two brief audio clips of the child actors voice Charlie and Lola, set to animation.

Final Thoughts:
Charlie and Lola Three: My Little Town and More Stories! is the perfect cartoon to watch with your young children during that precious time when they’re still innocent, and not jaded. Charlie and Lola Three: My Little Town and More Stories! is a delightful way to spend some time in front of the TV with your child, who may learn a lesson or two, while you giggle along with Lola’s infectious mischief. I highly recommend Charlie and Lola Three: My Little Town and More Stories!.

---

Paul Mavis is an internationally published film and telly historian, a fellow of the Online Film Critics Society, and the author of The Espionage Filmography.

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I'm not sure how the filmakers pulled it off, but a trio of good performances by both Bridges and Pfeiffer (who make a fine trio), and a funny, occasionally street-smart screenplay by writer-director Steve Kloves make this old-fashioned story seem completely new. One of the best scenes involves Pfeiffer's rendition of

Makin' Whoopee

on top of a piano. The movie is already considered a classic, though perhaps for that one scene alone. Still, I'd like to think it would be remembered for its likable story, and characters, who start out unlikable, but begin to grow on you. By film's end, you'll be pleased to find a smile on your face.

Why is it that when someone makes a comedy film, they think that it's logical to comprise your humor of mostly dumb slapstick and not humorous dialogue? That's the problem with this film. The most clever thing about this picture involves the in-joke gag of the family name,

McTeague

(which is taking a shot at Erich Von Stroheim's silent classic,

Greed

). The performances are woefully unfunny and talk-heavy. The story also seems to have a dreadfully serious air around it, for a film that claims to be a comedy. Douglas is the only one who'll get any laughs whatsoever. When he's on screen, it's a real joy. When he's not, it's the other performers who try to hold the limp story together. It's not a pretty sight.

A hilarious film, with great songs by acclaimed songwriting team Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, offbeat performances by Moranis, Greene, Martin and Bill Murray (who's a riot in a role originated by Jack Nicholson in the 1960 film version), some delicious black humor and ingenious special effects that bring Audrey II to life. Stubbs lovely baritone voice, used in such songs as "Feed Me" and "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space", is a welcome addition to an amazing creature such as Audrey II. A couple of complaints however. Some of the special effects tend to overshadow the scenes that are good without such effects. Also, the film tends to get a little out of control near the end. Still, this is one of those films that remains an exciting experience, no matter how many times you see it.

Blond Ambition

delighted tour. The bulk of the film is devoted to uncovering the underside phenomenon of Madonna's famous at bottom. In turn, Madonna allows the filmakers to scion some strikingly dynamical backstage sequences and private moments in Madonna's life, which involve her relationship with her family; her discussions with then-beau Warren Beatty (which take measures some particular funny moments); shtuck with the Canadian the heat at one of her stage shows in Canada; Kevin Costner coming backstage to tell her that her corroborate was "neat" (what she does after Costner leaves is priceless); and an interesting globe of

Really or Be so bold as

with her dancers-comrades.

The film is important in the way that it shows celebrities, not as superhumans or subhumans, but people who eat, shit and breath just like the rest of us. It's true, Madonna is not what you'd call a typical person and she is at times very shallow, but this film at least shows that she is a hardworking human being, compared to the way much of the press portrays her (which appears to be a vision of a sex gargoyle from the outer limits). Some touching moments involve a visit to Madonna's mother's grave, and when an old friend goes backstage to ask Madonna if she'd be the Godmother of her child. This is an entertaining and irresistible documentary, in the mold of such "rockumentaries" as


Gimme Shelter


,


Woodstock


and

Stop Making Sense

.

Despite the incredibly gross effects and sight gags, this remains a strangely enjoyable experience. It features some funny pot-shots at exploitation features of the past, the health craze of the 1980's and even such highly praised features as


The Elephant Man


. Nothing is left unscathed. That helps make this the best film ever produced by the low-budget production company, Troma.

Romeo and Juliet


, Shakespeare's classic real play is updated to 20th-century settings. It appears to be the age of WWII, as tanks, machine guns and bombers wreak havoc on the battlefield. The hunchbacked Richard (Ian McKellen) is as desirous for power as ever, difficult his brother Clarence (Nigel Hawthorne), his in-law Rivers (Robert Downey Jr.), his nephews and a moment ago about every other character in the story. Markedly the ones in line for the throne!

The great language is still here, but the story has been chopped up and drastically shortened. The film itself is hurried along too quick, with some of the best scenes beginning and ending in a matter of seconds. Of the performances, McKellen is towering in the title role and recent Academy-award nominee Kirsten Scott-Thomas as Lady Anne is lovely, but the others are rather dull and miscast. American actors Downey and Annette Bening (as the Queen Elizabeth) give truly awful performances, which stick out like sore thumbs. See the 1956 film version of the play, which is far superior to this one.

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The Dream Machine — Network Services

…the best independent ISP in the Twin Cities

September 29, 2006

by

Alex Billington

US Release Old:

September 29, 2006

Sort:

Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Bloodline

MPAA:

Rated PG (for some rude humor, mild undertaking and coach language)

Running Time:

99 minutes

Directed by:


Jill Culton

   

7.5/10

“Behold the mighty grizzly!”
- Martin Lawrence as Boog

Open Season

, produced by

Sony Pictures Animation

, has as much passion put into it as a Pixar movie. The story is rather brief, moving swiftly through short scenes and ending at about 90 minutes. It's still a heartwarming story about the cute and lovable pet bear figuring out how to live his life in his natural surroundings. For a children's movie,

Open Season

is amazingly captivating. The quickly progressing story will make sure that attention is never lost, and very childish cartoon-like humor is often used.

Open Season

really does deliver a story full of heart and happiness despite a few boring or clichéd moments.

Although I

don't usually like 3D

, I'll admit that

Open Season

in 3D is an enjoyable experience. Maybe I got used to the 3D after the first 20 minutes, or maybe it's that the animation style and look allows for 3D to be easily applied without being as cheesy as in


Superman Returns


.

Open Season's

animation is top notch, another great success for Sony Pictures Animation studios in addition to


Monster House


released earlier this year. The fur on Boog looks so soft and impeccably realistic that everyone will at least once try to reach out and touch it. One of the most distressing aspects was that most of the backgrounds were all entirely unanimated – just flat drawings.

Last Word:



Tack up another success for the young Sony Pictures Animation studio, the second best animation studio next to Pixar. In addition to

Monster House

,

Open Season

is one of the better animated films to be released in a world full of clichéd and unoriginal animated films being announced all too often. It has a lovable and passionate lead character and excellent animation and 3D elements.

Open Season

is another entertaining animated film from this year that children and adults will both enjoy equally.

“A captivating and intimate
study about dying and loving…”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Christopher Münch (“The Hours and Times (1991)”/”Color
of a Brisk and Leaping Day (1996)”) is director, writer, editor,
and producer of this marvelous indie semiautobiographical drama about the
director’s mother that started filming in 1997 and took three years to
complete. Mr. Münch is a major talent and this film is up there in
quality with Paul Cox’s Innocence as far as an intelligent script for a
woman’s pic woven from gloom but never feeling gloomy. His mom’s part is
elegantly played in a sensitive portrayal with great depth by Jacqueline
Bisset as Frances, whose presence holds the film together.

Why this film never caught on with the public is a mystery to me,
as it played only on the Sundance Channel until its recent video release.
This is the kind of film an intelligent viewer is said to be pining for.
Well, here it is.

“Sleepy” seamlessly tells two parallel stories. One is about a free-spirited
mother, Frances, who seeks to put her life in order after she comes down
with a terminal illness. She still questions her decision to give up her
baby daughter for adoption. Her daughter Rebecca (Martha Plimpton), whom
she held in her arms after birth and never saw again, has been adopted
by a success-oriented academic couple residing in Boston and has grown
to be a successful corporate lawyer in a NYC blue chip law firm. But she
is unhappy despite her obvious financial gains and feels lost without knowing
about her past. The second story revolves around her search for her birth
mother. She has been living with another Wall Street lawyer (Theroux) who
works two blocks away, but since they both put in 70 hour work weeks their
relationship is sacrificed. He tells her he wants to breakup while they
both squeeze in a few minutes together on a park bench.

The middle-aged Frances, born under poor circumstances in the Washington
Heights section of Manhattan, used her good looks and wit to make something
of herself, and always supported the underdog. She became a freelance writer,
social activist, and a radio personality known in Florida as “The Sleepy
Time Gal.”

The film begins in 1982 when Frances is relatively happy even though
she is dying from cancer. Frances has been married twice and has two sons,
one from each hubby, and an illegitimate daughter from another. She has
been a negligent mother and knows little about either son–as she was always
too busy with herself and her causes. She does not have the address of
the son who lives somewhere in London and the other son, Morgan (Nick Stahl),
is a polite, intelligent, sensitive young man who is gay and lives in San
Francisco. He’s a starving, budding photographer forced to work at a minimum
wage job in a photo copy shop. Frances also lives in San Francisco, but
knows very little about Morgan’s life–and, she is probably unaware that
he’s gay. She does like him and is not disappointed that he’s as broke
as she is, but can’t resist nagging him. He can’t resist poking some mild
jabs at her failings.

Martha is drawn to a job in Daytona Beach, Florida, where she was
born but never visited. She takes a taxi to look at the hospital where
she was born and then goes to the local radio station the company she represents
has purchased in a merger and is restructuring the station by laying off
all the current staff, as her job is to go over the contract and make sure
everything is in order. This is a job that ordinarily a person with her
senior experience wouldn’t do, but she feels something inside pressing
her to be here.

The radio station serves as a way of connecting daughter and mother,
without the daughter knowing that the photo of the Sleepy Time Gal in the
studio is that of her mother. The station played rhythm and blues and was
known as a “race station,” says its imposing owner and general manager
Jimmy Dupree (Frankie Faison). He’s a black man who lived here through
segregation and had opportunities to go north but chose to stay because
his wife wanted to and because he had other women he loved including the
jazz announcer, the Sleepy Time Gal, who broke his heart. He’s not sad
about the deal, and tells Rebecca he plans to travel with his wife to Malaysia.
Rebecca has a one-night stand with Jimmy, who does not realize that she
is the daughter of the Sleepy Time Gal.

During Frances’ remission period, she visits the beautiful pastoral
setting in the Amish country of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on the farm of
a former lover Bob (Seymour Cassel) and his wife Betty (Peggy Gormley).
He is the father of her daughter and would have married her if she wasn’t
so set in not being tied down. They have been happily married for 30 years.
But Betty has always known that her hubby could have easily married Frances.
He has told her about Frances, though she doesn’t know they had a daughter.
But she senses their feeling for each other is very strong. Frances feels
uncomfortable about what to say, since she doesn’t know how much Betty
knows. But she’s grateful for Betty’s warmth and acceptance of her, as
they are meeting for the first time. It’s also plain that Bob still loves
Frances, but the kiss they have as he drives her from the airport to his
house goes no further. Frances experiences a temporary joy at being there,
but flees the next day just like she has always done when anyone tries
to come close to her. Betty is in the process of writing a book that fictionalizes
a love story she imagines, which turns out to be pretty close to the truth
about Bob and Frances’ affair.

At Frances’ deathbed she is watched over by Morgan and a private
duty nurse, Maggie (Amy Madigan). She’s a difficult patient to deal with,
but Maggie is so tender and caring and the two share secrets she could
never tell anyone else. Frances also wants to keep the seriousness of her
illness away from her mother (Zapata), who is in a nursing home. On a visit
there with Morgan she dolls herself up and in a comical conversation among
the three disconnected relations, it becomes apparent that Frances has
little respect for her mother; though, she still tries to act decent. It
was a very touching scene.

The Münch film touched on many sobering themes. One of the main
themes was related by Martha, who says to Jimmy at an amusement park “So
many things I haven’t done.” Her ambitious yearnings are similar to her
birth mother’s. 

The performances were brilliant, as everyone interacted so perfectly
with one another. They do justice to the characters they are playing, so
much so that they seem to become like family to this viewer by the film’s
end. No problem is suddenly solved by the ending, but more clarity to their
lives is obtained. Nick got to see his mother in a different light under
duress and maybe his feelings of her as some kind of intellectual snob
is softened. Rebecca learned who her real mother is, and though they never
meet her search was not in vain. She also realized who her father was,
as she read Betty’s book and connected the dots.

“Sleepy” is a captivating and intimate study about dying and loving,
and touches base with the confusing times we now live in where it’s not
uncommon to live in many different locations during one’s lifetime and
to have more than one marriage.

The pensive Frances confides to Morgan “The life you lived isn’t
always the life you hoped for.” To Bob she says,  “What’s life but
a shitload of missed chances?” But for Bob, life is “Hope realized. People
loving people. A recognition of shared destiny. A willingness to move with
things.” All the characters are thrown into the game of life even though
they’re not fully prepared, and each tries to figure out what’s the best
way to play it but with mixed results. What results is an unforgettable
story that asks a lot of questions but supplies very few answers. It views
life as an impossible experience made up of many unfulfilled desires. But
what impressed me most is how the film got me to care about the characters,
and that I liked them despite their flaws.

Dark Blue

A Veil Review by James Berardinelli


United States, 2003


U.S. Release Date:

2/21/03 (wide)

Running Period:

1:56

MPAA Classification:

R (Violence, foul, nudity, sexual situations)

Stagy Outlook Correlation:

2.35:1

Cast:

Kurt Russell, Scott Speedman, Ving Rhames, Brendan Gleeson, Michael Michele, Lolita Davidovich


Director:

Ron Shelton


Producers:

David Blocker, Caldecot Chubb, Sean Daniel, James Jacks


Screenplay:

David Ayer, based on a story by James Ellroy


Cinematography:

Barry Peterson


Music:

Terence Blanchard


U.S. Distributor:

MGM

Ron Shelton's

Dark Blue

bears more than a passing resemblance to Antoine Fuqua's


Training Day


, with perhaps a touch of


L.A. Confidential


thrown in for good measure (David Ayer's screenplay is based on a story by

L.A. Confidential

's novelist, James Ellroy). As with

Training Day, Dark Blue

centers on a cop who has strayed into a moral void where, in his opinion, idealism gives way to pragmatism. Denzel Washington won an Oscar for his portrayal of a police officer gone bad; Kurt Russell is no less riveting here, although the character is less clearly rotten. Unfortunately, both movies suffer third-act collapses. In neither case are the flawed endings disastrous, but, for discerning viewers, the end-game melodramatics may leave a slightly bitter taste.

Sgt. Eldon Perry (Russell) is a member of the LAPD's elite Special Investigations Squad (SIS), a group of cops who aren't concerned about the means, just the ends. The hard-drinking Eldon has been given the job of breaking in a new partner, Bobby Keough (Scott Speedman, whose acting prowess is not the equal of his matinee good looks), who is the nephew of the powerful and corrupt head of the SIS, Jack Van Meter (Irish character actor Brendan Gleeson). It's an ill-kept secret that the officers in the SIS play by their own rules, but no one, not even Internal Affairs, is willing to challenge Jack ? until Deputy Chief Arthur Holland (Ving Rhames, gruff but strangely subdued) steps up and makes it known that he intends to have Eldon's badge.

The wrangling between Arthur and Eldon represents only a small fraction of

Dark Blue

's plot, most of which deals with Eldon and Bobby's investigation into a quadruple homicide that occurs in a Korean-owned convenience store. The murders are the byproduct of a robbery that was ordered by Jack. Now, eager to remain clear of any fallout, he directs Eldon to arrest two patsies and make sure they don't live long enough to tell anyone their version of things. Eldon goes along with Jack, but, for the first time in recent memory, he begins to feel the stirrings of his conscience. Exacerbating things is Bobby's inability to cope with the kind of ruthlessness exhibited by both his partner and his boss.

There are things in

Dark Blue

that don't work. The too-neat and over-the-top ending is one, and the improbable connection between Bobby and Arthur's right-hand woman, Sgt. Beth Williamson (Michael Michele), is another. Overall, however, the movie is grim and gritty, and involving from start to finish. The action unfolds against the backdrop of a dark time in Los Angeles' recent history: the jury's deliberations regarding the guilt of the four officers who were tried for beating Rodney King. (The opening credits show footage of the 1991 incident.) The riots that occurred in the aftermath of the "not guilty" verdict represent an effective setting for the film's final sequences. The scenes taking place in the strife-torn streets are eerie and effective.

For Ron Shelton, who is best known for his sports-themed movies (like

Bull Durham,

Cobb


, and


Tin Cup


, to name a few), this represents an opportunity to break new ground. Nevertheless, the film would not have been as successful without the performance of Kurt Russell. Russell's approach to the role combines combustible rage, calculated cynicism, and a deeply buried core of humanity striving for redemption. As depicted by Russell, Eldon is never an out-and-out villain. There are nuances of warped, wounded nobility buried under the brittle exterior. This represents one of the young year's most memorable acting turns. Russell is the reason to go to the theater. He will continue to hold your attention when things around him ? like the storyline ? lose steam and credibility.

© 2003 James Berardinelli

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“The military use smoke and
chemical bombs (maybe they contained Raid) to kill it, as the film mercifully
ends.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

What could you say about a bad flick like this one, except it was
somehow watchable despite wooden acting, trite dialogue, an obligatory
half-hearted romance, unconvincing special effects, and a weak story. For
those who enjoy bad movies, this is a good one to catch. It’s a B-horror
flick from the 1950s, which compares the monster to what threatened America’s
security at the time–the Atomic bomb and the Red Menace. The film makes
it clear that we have nothing to fear, as our military and civilian brains
could handle any problem. In this case it’s an oversized praying mantis
becoming unfrozen as a volcano erupts in the Arctic and after millions
of years is now making humans vanish because it is devouring them, as it
heads south to where it feels more comfortable. The film was produced by
William Alland, and he also wrote the story. He was a member of Orson Welles’
Mercury Theater.

After the deadly flesh eating mantis has attacked several people
in a remote Arctic region, Col. Joe Parkman (Craig Stevens) calls for help.
A weather shack has been crushed and two occupants have vanished, as General
Ford (Randolph) in Washington DC is perplexed by all the explanations he
has heard about the mystery and takes Prof. Gunther’s advice to contact
a paleontologist at the Museum of Natural History, Dr. Ned Jackson (Hopper).
He discovers that we are dealing with a creature we didn’t know existed,
an oversized praying mantis.

The general sends Ned to the Arctic for further tests, and the museum’s
attractive journalist-photographer, Marge Blaine (Alix Talton), manages
to convince the general that she’s also needed there. When they meet Colonel
Parkman’s Air Force unit, the men living in isolation gulp so hard at the
sight of Marge that they can’t speak and Parkman falls in love with her
right on the spot. It must be okay with Ned, because the handsome guy is
as happy as a bug in a rug just looking for the giant bug and is unconcerned
by the romance developing.

The bug is finally trapped in the Manhattan Tunnel, somewhere between
New Jersey and NYC. The military use smoke and chemical bombs (maybe they
contained Raid!) to kill it, as the film mercifully ends.

Miscasting and klutzy conceive development take the shine out of Mad at the Moon, a Wild West amour fou big that sprouts hairs half-way and turns into a werewolf pic. The espouse display by Argentinian-born Martin Donovan, who staked a cult membrane assertion with the quirky Apartment Zero, shows the same glee in blending genres and going someone is concerned ruined. The main problems here are accepting topliner Mary Stuart Masterson as a 25-year-outdated virgin and figuring out a storyline that takes a left turn 50 minutes in.

Pretty but repressed Jenny (Masterson) has a backstreets rendezvous with charismatic bum Miller Brown (Hart Bochner), whom she’s had the hots for since childhood. Despite her secret desires, she bows to the wishes of her mom (Fionnula Flanagan) and marries local milquetoast James Miller (Stephen Blake), the bum’s half-brother.

Things begin to go awry (with the pic, too) as soon as the couple settle in James’ remote farmhouse. The marriage is unconsummated, Miller haunts the plains outside and Jenny experiences hubby’s ‘moonsickness’, during which he starts howling and turns partly vulpine.

Still, Donovan shows he has talent to spare as a pure technician. Pic works best when no one’s talking and Donovan can stoke up the atmosphere via sound, music and images alone.