ROUND UP OF NEW AND RECENT FILMS PART NINE

ROUND UP OF NEW AND RECENT FILMS PART NINE.

Hipsters (Stilyagi/2008) is a Russian musical set in Moscow in 1955. Mels (Anton Shagin) belongs to the Communist Youth League, which tracks down young people -- or "hipsters" -- who love the traitorous Western ideology, including American fashion and music. Mels falls for a hipster named Polina or Polly (Oksana Akinshina) and becomes a hipster himself (although his hairstyle looks more modern-day rockabilly -- almost like Eraserhead -- than 1950's greaser). The colorful settings and cinematography, enthusiastic cast. snappy songs (most original, although we also hear "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess), and lively dancing don't quite disguise the fact that this love story is cliched and superficial. However, the picture is good to look at and at times quite entertaining, if definitely overlong. **1/2.  

Big Eyes (2014) is Tim Burton's true story about the painter Margaret Keane (Amy Adams) whose husband Walter (Christoph Waltz) took credit for her work, culminating in a court trial. Whatever you may think of Keane's paintings of her big-eyed subjects, Big Eyes is absorbing and well-acted, one of Burton's better movies in recent years (if not exactly spectacular). Terence Stamp is also in the cast. Waltz is a good actor who almost always adds a layer of slime to his portrayals. ***. 

Dark Crimes (2016) stars Jim Carrey (pictured) as a Polish police officer (!) trying to get out of desk detail before retiring. Carrey gives a good dramatic performance and has some very strong moments, and the supporting cast is generally on target as well, but even if you accept that Carrey's character is a fuck-up, some of his actions are inexplicable. Moody photography helps a lot but this script has a whole lot of problems. Marton Csokas certainly scores as the sinister author that Carrey is certain is responsible for a brutal murder, and Charlotte Gainsbourg is fine as his girlfriend. Some of the action centers on a shuttered, sleazy sex club called the Cage. Supposedly based on a true story, this is initially compelling but ultimately a misfire. **3/4. 

Sam Claflin and Rachel Weisz

My Cousin Rachel (2017) is a creditable remake of the earlier version of Daphne Du Maurier's novel starring Olivia De Havilland and Richard Burton. This version stars Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin and is written and directed by Roger Michell. The film is very well photographed by Mike Eley. The story retains its ambiguity.  ***. 

Who's Killing the Cheerleaders? (aka Who is Killing the Cheerleaders?) is a 2020 telefilm in which a young lady who was a high school student when some of her friends were murdered comes back to town as a teacher -- and now more cheerleaders are being killed. This is a bloodless, non-slasher slasher film that may hold the attention for a time but which flies from your memory practically before it's even over. Ella Cannon is acceptable as the heroine, as is Austin Freeman as her old wannabee boyfriend. It all seems to take place in some alternate universe, the cable land of crappy movies. From Lifetime, naturally. **.  

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN (2016). Director: David Yates.

John Clayton (Alexander Skarsgard), also known as Tarzan, leaves his lush life in London with his wife, Jane (Margot Robbie), to take a hand in a situation in the Congo in 1890. Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz), envoy to King Leopold, wants the area's diamonds, and to that end is enslaving many tribespeople, and he kidnaps Jane (as frequently happens in Tarzan books and movies) in order to control the ape man. Naturally things don't go well for Rom ... This attempt to update Edgar Rice Burroughs' durable creation is not quite a complete misfire, but it's not an especially good movie, either. In general Skarsgaard plays the role like a seedy male model with attitude instead of the King of the Jungle -- his long hair does not flatter the actor -- and Robbie, although not inadequate, looks more like she stepped off the cover of Vogue than anything else. Samuel L. Jackson (unlike the old Tarzan films, at least there's a black actor in a major role) plays a mercenary pretty much like Jackson [Oldboy] plays every role, and he just seems much too contemporary. Waltz, also the villain in Spectre, is as weird as ever. Some of the film resembles a video game, and the CGI effects -- mostly of animals -- are hit or miss, although there's a not bad protracted buffalo (?) stampede through a town. There are some beautiful scenic views but the movie mostly seems lifeless. Tarzan's origin is shown in several flashbacks, which only prevent the main story from gaining much momentum until the very end, and if anything, the characters, Tarzan included, are even less dimensional than in the Johnny Weissmuller era. Unlike the books and previous films, Legend of Tarzan has no fantasy or sense of wonder and strips our hero of his mythic stature. One stupid line from Jane seems to refer to pedophile priests in a very 21st century manner and might even be suggesting that Rom is gay. There are some good scenes in the movie, and two of them stand out: the shot of those soulful, sad and wise-weary elephant's eyes; and the confrontation between Tarzan and Chief Mbonga (an effective Djimon Hounsou). Tarzan killed the chief's young son after the boy unknowingly murdered Tarzan's mother, or more accurately the ape who raised him as her own. Frankly, any of the Weissmuller Tarzan films are much more entertaining than this.

Verdict: No charm and not much real adventure or whimsy. **1/2.

SPECTRE

SPECTRE (2015). Director: Sam Mendes.

James Bond (Daniel Craig) seems to have two adversaries in this outing. One is Ernst Stavros Blofield (Christoph Waltz of Inglorious Basterds [sic]), who is running the organization, SPECTRE, a group that links together previous villains and deaths in 007's sphere. The other is Max Denbigh or "C" (Andrew Scott), the head of the Center of National Security, who thinks M (Ralph Fiennes of Wrath of the Titans) and his methods are hopelessly out of date. M sends Bond out on an assignment that has him infiltrating a SPECTRE meeting, one of the best and most suspenseful scenes in the movie. Other characters include Marco Sciarra (Allesandro Cremona), who engages Bond in Mexico City, and the Bond women include Lucia (Monica Bellucci), the widow of an infamous criminal, and Dr. Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux), the daughter of another criminal named White (Jesper Christensen), who may have secret knowledge of SPECTRE. Craig is terrific as Bond, Waltz makes an effective Blofeld, and the other actors are good, including nice turns by Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, and Ben Whishaw as "Q." The cinematography by Hoyte Van Hoytema is excellent, and there's a good score by Thomas Newman, although the title tune is all but ruined by the dreadful "singing" of Sam Smith. A train fight doesn't compare to the one in From Russia with Love.

Verdict: Sinister, but not as thrilling as it ought to be, although it's not a bad 007 entry. ***.

INGLORIOUS BASTERDS

Christoph Waltz, the real star of Basterds

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (2009). Writer/director: Quentin Tarantino. "Nation's Pride" segment directed by Eli Roth.

Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent) is the sole survivor when her Jewish family -- hiding under the floorboards in a farm in Nazi-occupied France -- are wiped out under the orders of SS Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Years later she and Landa meet when she (under an assumed name) is the owner of a movie theater in Paris and the boyish German war hero Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Bruhl) takes a liking to her. Like a German Audie Murphy, Zoller has starred in a film about his exploits entitled "Nation's Pride" and wants it to be premiered at Shosanna's theater with top Nazi leaders, including Hitler, in attendance. Shosanna and her lover Marcel  (Jacky Ido) love the idea of wiping out all of the Germans in one fell swoop but have no idea that others have the same notion, such as a group of Nazi-scalpers known as the "Inglourious Basterds" headed by a good ole Southern boy named Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt). I've never been a fan of Quentin Tarantino's -- and even this film hasn't quite convinced me of his alleged genius -- but at least he's come up with a genuinely intriguing storyline instead of childish drek like Kill Bill. The trouble is that some of Tarantino's "touches" get in the way and the film is at least thirty minutes too long. For instance the taut opening scene at the farmhouse is so lengthy that the tension almost dissipates. Robert Richardson's photography is top of the line, and there are a lot of fine actors in the movie -- and Brad Pitt. Pitt is given top billing but the real star, if it's anyone, is the superb Christoph Waltz as the slimiest Nazi to come down the pike in a long time. [The scene when he ingests and thoroughly enjoys a French pastry with whipped cream on it had my mouth-watering, but I digress.] When he and Pitt appear in the same scene it's like they're not in the same movie. Laurent is also excellent, as is Bruhl, Michael Fassbender as a British Lieutenant, Diane Kruger as a German actress who's secretly fighting against the Nazi's, Alexander Fehling as Sgt. Wilhelm who figures in an important scene in a cafe, and Denis Menochet as the farmer in the opening scene and others. Mike Myers has a cameo as a British general and an unrecognizable Rod Taylor plays Winston Churchill! With some audacious, unpredictable developments at the end, the movie sort of goes off into fantasy land but remains entertaining. You get the feeling it would have been a lot better had someone else written and helmed besides Tarantino, who seems more interested in effect than human emotion.

Verdict: No Judgment at Nuremberg [if you're talking about films dealing with the evils of Nazi Germany] but absorbing, beautifully acted by most of the cast, and with several striking and tense sequences. ***.