MINI REVIEW: THE BEAR (****)

Have you ever re-watched a beloved film from your childhood through an adult set of eyes? It can sometimes be a maddening experience. Case in point: THE MONSTER SQUAD. I loved that film when I was a kid. Looking back on it now, as I did a few months ago when the 20th anniversary dvd was released, I saw it for what it was -- total crap. Granted, I still enjoyed it on a purely sentimental level, but I was astonished by how cheesy it was. Well, last night was a different story. I threw on Jean-Jacques Annaud's 1988 film THE BEAR (****) and was completely and utterly floored; the film is a masterpiece, one that I have an entirely new respect for, and one that I look forward to re-watching again and again as the years progress. I saw the film in the theater with my parents when I was eight years old and I remember it making an immediate impact. Naturally, I was too young to appreciate the stunning quality of the filmmaking or the boldness on the part of Annaud to be as subversive as possible within the kids film genre. Back then, all that resonated was the sight of a cute bear cub running around and playing in the mountains. I got scared at some of the more intense moments, but what eight year old wouldn't? Now, looking at the film at the age of 27, I was just not prepared for the experience. This film is fucking INCREDIBLE. I can't think of another film quite like it. Devoid of dialogue almost exclusively and told mostly through the point-of-view of a bear cub, Annaud weaves an emotional and visceral story of love, survival, and friendship that is undeniably effective. The simple set up is this: a cub's mother dies and he is left on his own in the wild until an older male bear befriends him and protects him from a pair of hunters and the dangers of the wilderness. Working from Gerard Brach's script (which is based on a novel by James Oliver Curwood), Annaud and his phenomenal cinematographer Philippe Rousselot (DANGEROUS LIASONS, BIG FISH, THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT) tell the story in an almost wordless fashion, resulting in some of the best visual storytelling that I've ever seen. The sweeping vistas of the Italian Dolomite mountain ranges and the Canadian Rockies (the film is set in the Rocky Mountains) are breathtaking to behold and ponder. And one shot, that of a bunch of bullets standing up right with the moon perfectly in the middle of the hollow points, is beyond description; it's one of the best single shots ever put on film. THE BEAR was shot old-school; 35 mm film (I presume) and with zero computer generated imagery (this much is clear). They made it the old fashioned way. Go out to a real location and shoot; damn the weather, damn the inconvenience. And then there are the surreal leaps of fancy that Annaud and Brach take. For instance, they imply that bears dream while they sleep, and we're treated to various dream sequences that the little cub has. Startling and fascinating, these sequences went over my head when I was a cub myself. But the film's real kicker has got to be when the cub accidentally eats some poisonous mushrooms which takes him on a psychadelic trip similar to what you might expect if you ate some "magic mushrooms." A bear tripping out. Now I have seen it all! But beyond these wacky bits, the film is about friendship, courage, and ultimately, love. At the risk of spoiling the end, here's your fair warning -- I am about to discuss the ending. After the hunters have tracked the adult bear and the cub across the forrest, and after one of the hunters survives a near-fatal run in with the adult (the scene was fucking terrifying when I saw it in the theater and is still chilling to watch now), the hunters and the bears make a quiet pact with each other to let life prevail over death. Now, fine, you could argue that Annaud and Brach have contrived their narrative to fit their own ideas about nature and man and the difficult balance that the two have always fought for. But I don't care. The mere idea that the film ends in the way it does and tells it's story in the fashion it does pleases me to no end. Upon its initial release, THE BEAR grossed roughly $32 million (per imdb.com); that'd be something like $65 million now, right? The sad fact is that if a film like THE BEAR could actually get made in today's movie climate (I don't think it could...), it'd never gross $65 million in this country. Today's kids movies are hyperactive to within an inch of their life and are pitched at the highest decibel level possible. THE BEAR is that rare children's film that works for adults in equal measure. This is a glorious film, a film I look forward to showing to my kids when that day arrives. I cried when I was eight years old and I cried last night while re-discovering this majestic work of art. If you've never seen THE BEAR, I urge you to put it at the top of your netflix queue or run down to your local dvd rental outlet and pick it up. It's a ravishing accomplishment.

SOME SWEET JAPANESE ONE-SHEETS

Joel and Ethan Coen's NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (****)

Wes Anderson's THE DARJEELING LIMITED (***1/2)

Billy Ray's BREACH (****)

MINI REVIEW: SEMI PRO (***)

I am not going to spend a ton of time "reviewing" the latest bit of Will Ferrell idiocy SEMI-PRO (***). You either want to watch Ferrell dressed in 70's garb and outfitted with an oversized afro running around a basketball court in shorts that are too tight and small for 90 minutes...or you don't. The film doesn't even come close to the greatness of ANCHORMAN or ELF (but how could it?) but it's in the mold of BLADES OF GLORY and TALLADEGA NIGHTS, except that it's rated R and takes advantage of the ability to be frequently potty-mouthed. Ferrell is Jackie Moon, player/coach/owner of an ABA basketball team situated in Flint, Michigan. They are terrible. Awful. The ABA is folding and the NBA is absorbing the four best teams, with the rest of the teams set to dissolve. Dissolve? Jackie Moon doesn't know the meaning of the word. Taking a page from SLAPSHOT (though SEMI-PRO isn't close to the same league as that sports comedy masterpiece), Jackie tries to pump some life into his team and the city in an effort to keep the franchise alive in some capacity. One of his bright ideas: fight a full-grown brown bear in a steel cage at center court during half time. Or rollerskate (for the first time ever) down an giant ramp and jump over spread-eagled cheerleaders. Yeah, this is one of those kind of movies. The filmmaking is sloppy, fine, but who really cares when you're there simply to laugh? I got exactly what I was expecting -- Ferrell being an ass-clown and me happily lapping it up. Woody Harrellson, Andre Benjamin, and a bevy of familiar comedic faces make appearances (Will Arnett has some great one-liners) and they all deliver some funny moments. But it's Ferrell who never stops; he's in almost every scene of the film, from the ridiculous opening with him singing his smash single "Lick My Sexy" to the predictable last game, final minute heroics. If you're a fan of Ferrell then SEMI-PRO will register as a solid three pointer. It's no slam-dunk (think ANCHORMAN, ELF, OLD SCHOOL) but it's better than any of Ferrell's personal fouls (BEWITCHED, KICKING & SCREAMING). But I will end with these two notes: I want Ferrell to try some more serious fare in between all the goofing off. He was very effective in STRANGER THAN FICTION and MELINDA & MELINDA; let's see him act a little bit. Last note: the funniest scene that Ferrell has ever appeared in is during OLD SCHOOL where he takes the tranquilizer dart to the jugular and then passes out in the pool. I watched this scene repeatedly over last weekend and laughed my ass off on each occassion.

MINI REVIEW: THE INVASION (*)

THE INVASION (*) is a complete disaster, the rancid by-product of studio-tampering, a miscast lead actress, horrendous dialogue, and a silly rather than thrilling tone. What supposedly began as a dark, cerebral sci-fi flick from credited director Oliver Hirschbiegel (DOWNFALL, DAS EXPERIMENT; both excellent films) and writer David Kajganich ended up morphing into a hackneyed wannabe actioner under the supervision of replacement filmmakers The Wachowski Brothers (they did some rewrites) and James McTiegue (he directed some new material). The film, which was produced by Joel Silver (THE MATRIX, hence the Wachowski connection) and cobbled together with footage from both sets of filmmakers, never convinced on any level, yet it remained watchable in a "let's all look at the flaming car wreck" sort of way. This being the fifth version (at least) of Jack Finney's classic sci-fi novel "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers," it's not all that surprising that one of the versions had to end up in the toilet; it's just surprising that a group of talented filmmakers and a terrific cast (Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Geoffrey Wright, Jeremy Northam) could botch the job as bad as they did here. The actors, particularly Craig and Wright, shouldn't be blamed, rather, the more-or-less incoherent scripting wastes them at every turn. Kidman just isn't right in the role of a Washington DC based shrink who learns of an alien invasion after a space shuttle disintegrates over the country upon re-entry. The shuttle debris is covered in an alien goo which is basically an advanced life-form that can change people into emotionless shells of their former self. It just so happens that Kidman's son is immune to the virus and she needs to protect him from the alien/human hybrids who are trying to switch over every last healthy human being possible. What follows is a series of boring chase scenes that never fully come to life and some cheap expositional scenes meant to try and bridge the story together. Over-edited (why all the jump cuts and flash-edits?), underwritten (nothing gels), and with a slack directorial pacing, THE INVASION races to it's typical, sentimental conclusion that sacrifices any attitude and edge the filmmakers had attempted at achieving. Something must also be said for how attractive Kidman remains throughout this film. In almost every scene, she's running or jumping or sweating, wearing tight form-fitting tops and mini-skirts. Her hair is never out of place and her face looks as smooth as porcelain, even when fighting off the alien virus and getting brusied, battered, and bloodied. It's pretty hysterical to be honest. And what's with all of the vomiting aliens? If there has been a more inadvertently funny movie-image than the actors portraying the infected aliens vomiting into the faces of the ones they want to contaminate with the virus, then please tell me where to look. THE INVASION wastes a solid set-up and the goodwill that comes with one of the most timeless sci-fi stories ever imagined. THE INVASION sits right next to PATHFINDER as the worst film from 2007.

TOMORROW ON DVD...

http://actionman-nickspix.blogspot.com/2007/10/review-things-we-lost-in-fire.html

http://actionman-nickspix.blogspot.com/2007/09/review-into-wild.html

Both of these excellent dramas made my top 10 from last year. Below the poster images are links to my original reviews.

REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO...

Roger Donaldson's THE BANK JOB opens this Friday.

It's getting great early buzz with an 80% at Rottentomatoes thus far: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1189844-the_bank_job/

Richard Roeper, David Denby, and Jeff Wells have all run rave reviews; sounds like a slick heist thriller with class and style. Can't wait. I love these types of films.

SOME MOVIES

I checked out SEMI-PRO and as usual I laughed with and at Will Ferrell. It's not ANCHORMAN or ELF but it was pretty funny.

On dvd I watched THE INVASION; fucking horrendous. Easily one of the sloppiest films in recent memory.

Anyone out there seen David Mamet's SPARTAN? Awesome film, very underrated. Love it. The writing is so much fun to de-code.

I threw on MINORITY REPORT a few nights ago and watched some scenes; terrific film right there. Fantastic cinematography.

Full reviews for IN BRUGES, SEMI-PRO, and THE INVASION should appear this week.