Foxcatcher [2014]

MPAA (R)  ChicagoTribune (3 Stars)  RogerEbert.com (2 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (C+)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (M. Zoller Seitz) review
AVClub (A.A. Dowd) review  

Foxcatcher [2014] (directed by Bennett Miller, screenplay by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman) based on the actual 1996 murder [NYTimes] of former Olympic gold-medal winning wrestler turned wrestling coach David Schultz by John Eleuthère du Pont (yes, of the billionaire Du Pont family) tells one sad, sad triangle of a story (there's also Mark Schultz, also a gold-medal winning wrestler, but never quite as good, nor as charismatic as his older brother) about limitations:

 John Eleuthère du Pont (played in the film to IMHO Oscar nomination worthy heights by Steve Carrell) is SUPER-RICH but ... off, and off to an extent that no matter how much money he had, he was destined to have a difficult and disappointing / frustrating life, somehow serving as living, walking, breathing proof that MONEY ITSELF can't buy EITHER LOVE or HAPPINESS.

Mark Schultz (played in the film again to Oscar nomination worthy or at least consideration worthy levels by Channing Tatum) is AN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST and yet, not particularly bright, and DAMNED to be THE YOUNGER BROTHER of a BOTH EVEN MORE SUCCESSFUL AND THEN FAR MORE CHARISMATIC OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST ... IN THE SAME SPORT.  Oh, TO BE a GOLD MEDALIST and STILL NOT BE ABLE TO ESCAPE FROM FEELING LIKE A LOSER.

And then David Schultz (played in the film, to ... eh, okay, BUT THAT'S ALL THAT WAS NECESSARY levels by Mark Ruffalo) who was the most "together" of trio, NOT RICH but MARRIED WITH KIDS, NOT FEELING THE NEED TO PROVE ANYTHING TO ANYONE ... BUT ... ENDING UP DEAD ... all the same.

Yes, what a (if the shoe fits) "Greek Tragedy" built around a sport invented by ... Greeks.


The film begins with a representative of said Billionaire John with "more money than God" but "with issues" searching out Mark Schultz to make him an offer that the poor post-Olympics sap, a Gold Medalist but in debt, couldn't possibly refuse: "My employer will fly you out on his helicopter to his (or more accurately his 80 year old mother's...) 800 acre horse farm, where you will have your own home, food / all other expenses paid, and you'll be able to do NOTHING but train for the next Games... three years hence."  Poor Mark, what's he supposed to do?  He was worried that his gas was going to be cut off in his appt.

What Mark does do, IS TALK TO HIS OLDER BROTHER DAVE, WHO TELLS HIM that a rep from the SAME "odd rich guy" CAME TO HIM with THE SAME OFFER a couple of weeks before AND HE TOLD HIM NO. ;-). 

Seeing Mark's crest falling before his eyes, Dave, "jumps back" and tells his younger, more struggling brother: "But, I think that this COULD BE a GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU."  Poor Mark, holding his heart in his hands after Dave had it going up and down and all over the place over the last 15 seconds, comes to the final conclusion that Dave's being a "good older brother" and, now, with his blessing, goes back to accept the eccentric weirdo's offer.

Thus begins a long, awkward, story that, yes, IMHO inevitably had to end badly.  Mark was just trying to get by in life.  Billionaire John was trying to grasp for that which his billions could not get him ... and certainly Mark was not what/who he wanted.  Indeed, John wanted Dave, but Mark was what/who he got.  So INEVITABLY Billionaire John starts "pining for" Dave even as Mark who's living on Billionaire John's (er Billionaire John's mother's) 800-acre horse farm, increasingly feels like fundamentally INADEQUATE ... again. 

Eventually (mild spoiler alert) finds a way to buy Dave after all.  BUT (1) how does that make Mark feel? and (2) does he _really_ succeed in "buying Dave."

If nothing else, the story leads to ... where the actual story came to ... with Billionaire John shooting Dave.

This is one heck of a sad, sad story, most filmed mostly in grey skied, slushy, Pennsylvania ... in winter.  But IMHO it's also, one heck of a film, reminding us once more that none of us is a God.


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I Can Quit Whenever I Want (orig. Smetto Quando Voglio) [2014]

MPAA (UR would be R)  CineBlog.it (6.5/10)  FilmTV.it (3 Stars)  MyMovies.it (3 Stars)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
FilmTV.it listing*

CineBlog.it (A.M. Abate) review*
Film.it (P. Feast) review*
MyMovies.it (D. Zonta) review*
 
I Can Quit Whenever I Want (orig. Smetto Quando Voglio) [2014]  [IMDb] [FT.it]* (directed and screenplay cowritten by Sidney Sabilla [IMDb] [FT.it]* along with Valerio Attanasio [IMDb] [FT.it]* and Andrea Garello [IMDb] [FT.it]*) is a fun Italian Ocean's 11 [2001] [IMDb] /  Breaking Bad [2008-2013] [IMDb] even Revenge of the Nerds [1984] [IMDb] / Horrible Bosses [2011]-like comedy that played recently as part of the 1st Chicago Italian Film Festival organized by the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago and held at the Music Box Theater here on the North Side.  The film won the 2014 Italian Golden Globe for Best Comedy and was nominated for twelve 2014 David di Donatello Awards (the closest Italian equivalent to the Oscars) [IMDb] [Official Site] [en.wikip] [it.wikip]*

And the film is about something that a lot of American young people of the current "occupy" (?) generation could understand: Just because one gets a college degree does not necessarily mean that one will get a good / high-paying job.

So this is a film about A LOT of quite talented, well-educated, late 20-something to mid-30-something Italians who despite said education and perhaps even some brilliance are not exactly "living the dream," and then the temptation to use that talent / education "to get" what one may feel one "deserves" through more nefarious means.

To those who may be (initially) "disoriented" by seeing the frustrations of SO MANY WELL EDUCATED ITALIANS being portrayed in this film, remember that Italy would not have possibly become the birthplace of the European Renaissance if it was inhabited exclusively (or even largely) by the "Luca Brasi" types of the Godfather [1972].   Instead, Italy has been (also) the land of Dante, DaVinci, Michelangelo, Verdi and Puccini, and in more recent times of everyone from Fermi to Marconi to Fellini to Versace and about as "cultured" a land as they come.  The "dangerous" and certainly _frustrating_ question that the film asks is: Why does it seem that "being educated" / "being cultured" or even "being _buona gente_ (good people)" is "not enough"?

And so ... this film has Pietro Zinni (played wonderfully by Edoardo Leo [IMDb] [FT.it]*) a fictionalized, talented, even possibly "brilliant" and certainly well-liked neurobiology professor at a random (Catholic) university somewhere in Italy telling us "his story" of his slide into addiction / crime.  What went wrong?

Well, brilliant or not, well-liked by his students as a lecturer or not, he finds himself reduced to "1/2 time" due to budget cuts at his University.   His Department Head is heard mostly yelling over the phone at unseen penny pinching bureaucrats bent on apparently driving the University into the ground or at least selling its soul.  (Apparently, the draconian cuts resulting in Dr. Zinni's tenure being reduced to "half time" could have been avoided if the Department Head had consented to accepting a grant do some (unspecified) kind of research.   But we hear him yelling into the phone: "We are a Catholic University.  We have Values (!) and we are simply NOT going to do that kind of (unspecified) research."  Va bene ... call finished, and apparently feeling good about himself that he "saved" his department from being "prostituted" (in some unspecified way), he heads off to Pietro's office to tell him ... that he has to cut his (and the other Professors') time / salar(ies) in half.  Ah the joys of integrity and "sticking to one's guns ..." even in the face of monstrous costs (to be suffered BY OTHERS ;-) 

So ... it's left to Pietro to go home to tell his wife, Giulia (played by Valeria Solarino [IMDb] [FT.it]*), who actually is the only one of the late-20-somethings / 30-somethings in this film with a job to be proud of (as a drug rehab counselor...), that what they've expected / feared for years was finally happening, that his job at the University, mind you as a researcher with a team of grad students, beloved as a teacher, was finally becoming not worth holding-onto.   "Great.  So what now?  And when are we _ever_ going to be secure enough to start a family?" is his wife's response.

Depressed, Pietro puts on his goofy-looking red cyclist helmet and reflector jacket to take a ride on his bike.  He stops at a gas station where he talks to two of his former classmates, Mattia (played by Valerio Aprea [IMDb] [FT.it]*) and Giorgio (played by Lorenzo Lavia [IMDb] [FT.it]*), "Latinists" they once were (now pumping gas for a living) to share with them his news.  They're sympathetic and even a bit surprised.  They knew that their field was kinda hopeless when it comes to getting a job (to be a "Latinist" in Italy would seem to be like being a "PolySci major" in my time in the States), but EVEN NEUROBIOLOGY (!)

Well, while at the gas station, goofy red cyclist helmet on, bike leaned against his hip, talking to his long-out-of-luck former classmates, Pietro spots ONE OF HIS CURRENT STUDENTS Maurizio (played with magnificent happy cluelessness by Guglielmo Poggi [IMDb] [FT.it]*), drive-up in a bright SHINY AND NEW S.U.V. ..

Wasn't Maurizio ON SCHOLARSHIP?  What the heck was he doing, all dressed-up in trendy threads driving a bright, shiny and new S.U.V.?  So ... after Maurizio fills-up (the GIANT S.U.V. that he was driving) and drives away, Pietro decides to follow him, goofy red helmet and reflector jacket on, with his bike.

Maurizio arrives at some trendy discotheque, Pietro, still with his goofy red helmet and reflector jacket on, enters to find him.  He does.  "Ciao Professore!" Maurizio calls out, "What are you doing here?"  "I could ask you the same?"  "I'm here with my people."  "How CAN they be 'your people'?  You're supposed to be an orphan, on scholarship."  "But I am, professore!"  "So how the heck can you afford to be here?"  And here the story really begins ...

Maurizio has found that he could pay his "non-scholarship" expenses (and have a WHOLE LOT MORE MONEY BESIDES) by ...selling ... "smart drugs."  That is, drugs that are _technically not illegal_ (not on a list of OFFICIALLY ILLEGAL DRUGS in Italy, but ever so similar, both in chemical structure, and, more to the point, in effect).  "But Professore, I'm NOT DOING ANYTHING ILLEGAL ..." Maurizio assures Pietro.

And that then gets Pietro thinking.  If this underachieving, always-sleeping-in-his-class (now he knows why) Maurizio can do this, why can't he and PERHAPS THE WHOLE GROUP OF HIS UNEMPLOYED / UNDEREMPLOYED 30-40-something FRIENDS do the same?  And mind you, he's NOT going to do this to do something "illegal" but to simply give him and his friends a chance to "finally" live the dignified life that he/they all "deserve."  (This is where the title of the film, "I can quit when I want..." first comes into play ;-)

So Pietro goes home, spends the night googling the legal ins-and-outs of making "smart drugs," and then uses the computer simulation equipment of his department (his own field after all) to design "a perfect smart drug molecule."  And then ... he sets out to pick-out among his vast legion of underemployed and certainly UNDER-UTILIZED but well educated friends to put together "A BANDA" (a "gang") to manufacture this smart molecule and put it on the market.  Specifically he recruits:

Alberto (played by Stefano Fresi [IMDb] [FT.it]*) a organic chemist, synthetics wiz, who's taken a job as a chef at a local "Benihana" style restaurant where he spends most of his time arguing with his Asian sous chefs who don't speak a word of Italian.  He'll be the one to synthesize the drug.

Andrea (played by Pietro Sermonti [IMDb] [FT.it]*) a brilliant PhD cultural anthropologist, speaking 30 languages, but helping out at his dad's junk yard unable to find a job in his field, would be responsible for "Marketing."

Bartolomeo (played magnificently by Libero De Rienzo [IMDb] [FT.it]*) an unemployed mathematician, introduced to us arguing with a group of poker players in tent somewhere in the back of a carvival telling them "Look guys, I'm a statistician and I can tell you that the odds that you'd come up with this hand THREE times in a row is astronomically low, SO YOU MUST BE CHEATING..." (to which the card-dealer answers "AND ..." ;-) is signed-on by Pietro to be the group's "finance man."

Arturo (played by Paolo Calabresi [IMDb] [FT.it]*) an archeologist with actually a job in his field (but that means that he goes around the city following a construction crew begging them to "please, please, please not BREAK anything valuable" that they might run-into during their excavations) is initially "hired" apparently because Pietro "feels sorry for him."  Later, however, he comes to the assistance of the group, when things start to "get hot."  He brings them a crate of NAPOLEONIC ERA MUSKETS AND SIDEARMS ;-) that he pilfered "from storage" at a local museum telling them: "Look guys, they may be old (ya think? ;-), BUT THEY ARE PERFECTLY FUNCTIONAL" :-) Besides where would a group, still-thinking-of-themselves as, "good" people going to QUICKLY get access to LEGALLY ACQUIRABLE FIREARMS in A PLACE LIKE ITALY (or Europe in general)? ;-)

Together, they form "A Gang" ... manufacture Pietro's "designer drug" and then going back to the club where Pietro found his student Maurizio, and start selling said drug, hand-over-fist.  It's a HUGE, HUGE SUCCESS.

Now INITIALLY THEY ALL SAY TO THEMSELVES, "We're JUST DOING THIS to: (1) pay off old debts, (2) finally buy the house/car/whatever that we've always wanted, (3) finally, stand with head high, knowing that we accomplished something ..." BUT ... as the TECHNICALLY NOT ILLEGALLY MADE MONEY KEEPS ROLLING IN ... how do you say no to "continuing on"?

BESIDES, they're meeting ALL KINDS OF "INTERESTING PEOPLE."  The "Latinists", soon living like CALIGULA-LIKE BOND VILLAINS with a VILLA ON A HILL with a POOL overlooking, is it Rome? is it Naples? is it Salerno? whatever ... find that their lifestyle is now attracting all kinds of BEAUTIFUL "ESCORTS" who TO THEIR SURPRISE SEEM TO _ALL_ BE FORMER "LIT. MAJORS" FROM RUSSIA, the UKRAINE and other former Eastern Bloc countries ;-).  They HONESTLY have some of the most "intellectually stimulating" ;-) discussions that they've ever had with these BEAUTIFUL BIKINI CLAD former PhDs ;-) ;-)

And Alberto, who was frustrated previously with working with a bunch of Asian chefs that he didn't understand, now has a drop-dead gorgeous former humanities major from Russia as a girlfriend, who he doesn't understand either, but now does not seem to mind ...

YET ... as "business" gets ever BETTER and BETTER problems set in: Pietro's wife Giulia (remember the drug counselor) starts getting people at her clinic talking about this "wonder drug" that "makes you so happy that you just want to sit, smiling, forever, not wanting to do anything anymore." And more to the point, "The Mob" gets "interested."

The coup de grace comes when Pietro, forced to deal with a notorious drug trafficker going by the name Er Murena (played by Neri Marcorè [IMDb] [FT.it]*), finds to his horror that Er Murena had "his story" too, and indeed considered Pietro to be a "kindred spirit."

And so ... how does a film like this end?  Guess ;-)

Still, I have to say that this is a very fun, yet intelligent story that does a number of things very very well: (1) It presents WITH A SMILE a real problem, that there are all kinds of bright, well educated people out there who are not able to use their educations in a useful / dignified way, (2) it also shows, AGAIN WITH A SMILE, the "danger of falling into cynicism/despair" ... It shows very clearly that even drug dealers and high-priced prostitutes could justify their choices with "good hard luck stories" ... Yet, no matter how "bad" things are, that still doesn't justify "turning to the Dark Side."

Anyway, this film was a blast ... and yet I do think that nobody who sees the film all the way through would say "this is the way to go."  Good job!


ADDENDA (how to find / play this film in the U.S.A.):

This film albeit in European PAL format is available with English subtitles for a reasonable price through Amazon.com.

Further, DVD players capable of playing DVDs from various regions (North America, Europe, etc) are no longer particularly expensive (costing perhaps $10 more than a one region DVD player).

Finally, a simple program called DVDFab Passkey Lite (downloadable FOR FREE from Softpedia.com) allows one to play DVDs from all regions on one's computer's DVD-Rom drive. 


* Reasonably good (sense) translations of non-English webpages can be found by viewing them through Google's Chrome browser. 

<< NOTE - Do you like what you've been reading here?  If you do then consider giving a small donation to this Blog (sugg. $6 _non-recurring_) _every so often_ to continue/further its operation.  To donate just CLICK HERE.  Thank you! :-) >>

The Referee (orig. L'Arbitro) [2013]

MPAA (UR would be PG-13)  FilmTv.it (3 Stars)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
FilmTV.it listing*

 L'Espresso.it (R. Escobar) review*
 Storiadeifilm.it (A. Pascale) review*

The Referee (orig. L'Arbitro) [2013] [IMDb] [FT.it]* (directed and cowritten by Paolo Zucca [IMDb] [FT.it]* along with Barbara Alberti [IMDb] [FT.it]*) is a comedy about the only sport, indeed "for many," the only thing that really matters in Italy -- calcio (soccer ;-).  The film played recently as part of the 1st Chicago Italian Film Festival organized by the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago and held at the Music Box Theater here on the North Side.

As the film is about "the only thing that really matters" in Italy, though thoroughly contemporary, made only a year ago, the film was made in solemn / crisp "black and white" -- the "colors of truth" ;-).

The film actually tells two stories:

The first of a young, fit, indeed "cut like a God" Italian "Premier League" Referee (L'Arbitro) named Cruciani (played with magnificent bordering on beatific sublimity by Stafano Accursi  [IMDb] [FT.it]*).  When we meet him in the opening sequence of the film, pregame, in the locker room ROSARY IN HAND, gracefully tying his shoelaces and then along with the other refs, solemnly combing every last hair on his head into perfect place, before trotting out, together, with dispassionate yet determined focus onto the field before AN ARENA FILLED WITH _SUPREMELY_ PASSIONATE FANS, one immediately knows THAT HE KNOWS that the Destinies of teams, the destinies of cities and, DARE ONE DREAM ... the destinies of ENTIRE NATIONS NATIONS, HANG IN THE BALANCE of HIS AND HIS COLLEAGUES' EVERY CALL ;-)

THE OTHER STORY is, then, about the small town of Parabile somewhere in the hinterlands of SARDINIA ... with a horrible curse: IT has a TERRIBLE soccer team.  It's been TERRIBLE for years, bringing shame and ridicule upon its residents, especially at the hands of the arrogant a-holes from the town of Montecrastu up the road.

'Course it doesn't help that the coach (played magnificently in his hopelessness by Benito Urgu [IMDb] [FT.it]*) IS BLIND.  But he's been Coach for years, and besides, ... HE'S BLIND ... So how can one POSSIBLY BE SO CRUEL AS TO TAKE THAT ROLE AWAY FROM HIM? ;-).  So the town feels CONDEMNED BY CRUEL, CRUEL FATE to suffer the indignity of having the worst team in the region (mind you, the worst team in the Sardinian "THIRD" League), perhaps the worst team on the Island ... UNTIL ...

...One morning a YOUNG, LONG FRIZZY HAIRED, STYLISHLY BEARDED (in a "confident" even mildly "Bad Boy" sort of way) MAN, perhaps 25 or so years in age ... walks into town.  Yes, the film does feel like a Western at times ;-) ...

Who is he?  Nicknamed Matzutzi (played by Jacopo Cullin [IMDb] [FT.it]*) apparently a former "son of this (God-forsaken) town," his family, dirt poor, had emigrated to Argentina fifteen years earlier in hopes of finding a better life.

Why was he back?  To look for "his girl" who he left in Parabile as a ten year old (!) ;-).  Does he find her?  Yes!  She's Miranda, the still single, somewhat frustrated, Miranda (played by Geppi Cucciari [IMDb] [FT.it]*) DAUGHTER OF THE BLIND COACH, working as a cashier of the grocery store that her parents own (and since her father's blind, she probably runs...).  Does she recognize him or even remember him?  Of course not!  He tries to jog her memory.  He tells her his family's story, how they were dirt poor when they left Sardinia, that they emigrated to Argentina and how he had vowed to his 10 year old ragazina (little girl friend) that he'd come back for her.  (How can she NOT remember? ;-)

"Well did you make it?  Did you come back with a "sacco di soldi" (lit. a sack full of money)?" she asks, kinda hoping.  Of course not ... ;-)  BUT ... as the news spreads of his return to this small town, and the various townspeople scratch their heads trying to remember his family, and what precise word among something like 10-15 specific regional words for "loser" that they used to call his dad ... ONE THING BECOMES CLEAR: Matzutzi may have left Sardinia dirt poor and may have come back to Sardinia ... still dirt poor... BUT ... he was one damned good soccer player ;-) ;-)

And so Parabile's Atletico's fortunes begin to improve:  In a series of matches against various other tiny and ancient towns in the area, played on pitches that honestly COULD HAVE BEEN "fields of battle" WAY WAY "BACK IN THE DAY" ... during Neolithic / Bronze Age times ;-) ... Parabile bests one team after another to the point that arch-rival, a-holes up the road, Montecrustu becomes worried.  Much, much ensues ...

... Among that which ensues, of course, is the tying-in of the two stories.  After all, they seem SOOO FAR APART.  And yet, L'ARTITRO Cruciani, introduced to us as "A little less than a God" has to somehow make an Icarus-like plunge to fall-back the level of Sardinian campagna.  And ... of course, he does.  How exactly?  I'm not gonna tell you ;-)  But it's very, very current ...

... especially since I have Mexican parishioners here at my parish in Chicago who are still angry (and mostly sad) over how at this year's World Cup, Mexico WAS AHEAD OF The Netherlands 1:0 in a crucial elimination game, when time had unofficially run-out.  Then during the extra 3-4 minutes that ONLY THE REFEREES KEEP TRACK OF, the Netherlands SCORED A GOAL and 15 SECONDS LATER a VERY QUESTIONABLE "PENALTY" was called _against Mexico_ giving the Netherlands A PENALTY KICK that they used to SCORE AGAIN TO "WIN" THE GAME 2:1. 

Now poor Cruciani didn't necessarily do something _that_ stupid / flagrant ... After all, he's introduced to us as a decent and serious guy.  BUT ... does it necessarily matter? ;-)

A great film!  About, again, "the only thing that (often) really matters" in Italy ;-)



ADDENDA (how to find / play this film in the U.S.A.):

This film albeit in European PAL format is available with English subtitles for a reasonable price through Amazon.com. 

Further, DVD players capable of playing DVDs from various regions (North America, Europe, etc) are no longer particularly expensive (costing perhaps $10 more than a one region DVD player).

Finally, a simple program called DVDFab Passkey Lite (downloadable FOR FREE from Softpedia.com) allows one to play DVDs from all regions on one's computer's DVD-Rom drive. 



* Reasonably good (sense) translations of non-English webpages can be found by viewing them through Google's Chrome browser. 

<< NOTE - Do you like what you've been reading here?  If you do then consider giving a small donation to this Blog (sugg. $6 _non-recurring_) _every so often_ to continue/further its operation.  To donate just CLICK HERE.  Thank you! :-) >>

Penguins of Madagascar [2014]

MPAA (PG)  CNS/USCCB (A-I)  ChicagoTribune (2 Stars)  RogerEbert.com (3 Stars)  AVClub (B)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
ChicagoTribune (G. Cheshire) review
RogerEbert.com (C. Lemire) review
AVClub (I. Vishnevetsky) review  

Penguins of Madagascar [2014] (directed by Eric Darnell and Simon J. Smith, screenplay by John Aboud, Michael Colton and Brandon Sawyer, characters by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath) gives the scene stealing penguins of the DreamWorks Animations' Madagascar franchise a goofy, dare one say "Looney" feature film of their own, And ... well, if you grew-up loving Warner Bros' old Looney Tunes cartoons (Bugs Bunny / Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, Wile E. Cayote / Roadrunner, etc) in this film, IMHO you'll have something to share with your little ones (kids, grandkids or beyond).

The film offers basically the "origin story" for the Madagascar franchise's penguins, who we come to discover are both (hopefully a bit) "smarter than the average penguin" and at least as "cursed" by their "cuteness" as they are blessed. 

The story begins out in Antarctica where a human film crew is shown enthusiastically filming a seemingly endless -- horizon-to-horizon -- procession of unbelievably cute, single-file arrayed, waddling penguins (documentary film-maker Werner Herzog providing the solemn March of the Penguins [2005]-like human voice-over) waddling to ... where exactly?  Not even the penguins know.

And that BOTHERS at least a group of three penguins -- Skipper (voiced by Tom McGrath), Rico (voiced by Conrad Vernon) and Kowalski (voiced by Chris Miller) -- who'd prefer to think of themselves as being "far cooler" (and somewhat "smarter") than the others.

So when they see a penguin egg rolling down a slope past them (and none of the other penguins seem to be particularly concerned about the probable impending death of a baby penguin, because they were all "busy" waddling to ... "Somewhere" ...), the three use the rolling egg down the hill as an excuse to "break ranks" and set themselves free from this tyranny of mindless if perhaps impossibly cute conformity.

They find and save the egg, it hatches, and Private (voiced by Christopher Knights), the "D'Artagnan" of this "Three-Musketeer-ing" group (of Penguins...) is born.   Fancying themselves as a "Band of Brothers [2001]-ish" / "Trio-plus-One" of "ninja super spies" much then ensues.

And much of what ensues is GLEEFULLY "looney" ... In an early exploit, the four break into Fort Knox, NOT to steal gold (what would gold be to a Penguin?) but instead to gain access to a "rare vending machine" that still sells really unhealthy (but to a Penguin, apparently irresistible, gold colored) "cheese puffs" ;-)

But the story really begins when the four come across villainous shape-shifting Octopus, his zoo-name being "Dave" (voiced by John Malkovich), who had a real grudge against Penguins.  Why?  At zoo after zoo, aquarium after aquarium Penguins' simple, even stupid "cuteness" ALWAYS trumped the INTELLIGENCE and ACROBATICS of "his kind" (honestly Octopi are very intelligent creatures, and actually often quite cute as well ... just NOT as cute as Penguins ;-).   Well, "Dave" a very intelligent Octupus with a "chip on his shoulder" (do octopi have have shoulders?) comes up with a plan to spray all the Penguins that he can get his tentacles on with a serum that would render them into ugly mutant-like "zombie penguins"... And it's up to these three-plus-one "super-spy" / "ninja" penguins to stop him!

And it would actually go easier, if not for the not-exactly asked-for intervention of an "elite squad" of "far smarter / stronger" animals (than the "cute but not particularly bright" Penguins) getting in the way.  The squad, calling itself "The North Wind" is led by a solemn British-accented Wolf (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) who's sooo undercover that he goes by the name "Classified" ;-) and it includes a Baby Seal (if not a NAVY SEAL) nicknamed "Short Fuse" (voiced by Ken Jeong), a Russian accented White Owl called Eva (voiced by Annet Mahendru) and a brawnish Polar Bear nicknamed Corporal (voiced by Peter Stormare).  They, of course, dismiss the Penguins as "amateurs" (which they are ... ;-).   But who will "save the day" ...?

Guess ;-)

Folks, this is a very goofy movie.  But if you liked the antics of the Looney Tunes Characters of old (Elmer Fudd's "Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit...") then honestly you'll probably love this.  Just about every one of the characters in this story is funny, and just about everyone of them could have a story built around them.  And that, of course, bodes very, very well for a "franchise" ;-)


<< NOTE - Do you like what you've been reading here?  If you do then consider giving a small donation to this Blog (sugg. $6 _non-recurring_) _every so often_ to continue/further its operation.  To donate just CLICK HERE.  Thank you! :-) >>

Rosewater [2014]

MPAA (R)  ChicagoTribune (3 Stars)  RogerEbert.com (3 Stars)  AVClub (C)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (G. Cheshire) review
AVClub (I. Vishnevetsky) review  

Rosewater [2014] (screenplay and directed by Jon Stewart [IMDb] based on the book "And then They Came For Me: A Family's Story of Love, Captivity and Survival" by Maziar Bahari [IMDb] and Aimee Molloy [IMDb]) tells the story of Iranian-born, London residing journalist Maziar Bahari [IMDb] (played in the film by Gael García Bernal). 

Bahari was back home in Tehran in 2009 to cover Iran's presidential election in which the state supported President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is widely believed to have won re-election only by resorting to fraud.  There were widespread street protests following the disputed election, Bahari covered some of those protests.  Eventually, the Iranian authorities came "knocking at the door" of his mother's apartment's where he was staying.  And he was taken away "for questioning" for any number of possible charges ranging from "pornography" to "espionage." 

In the authorities' "defense", he did apparently have an FHM magazine in his possession with a scantily clad and quite "acrobatically posed" Megan Fox on the cover ;-), and he did "publicly admit" on this film's director Jon Stewart's Daily Show segment that aired in the run-up to the election that he was in Iran AS A SPY working for any number of (take your pick ... CIA, Mossad, MI6) Western intelligence services ... ;-)

Bahari also came from a "family of troublemakers."  Both his father and sister had been "taken away" (his father by the Shah of Iran's government in the 1950s, his sister by Ayatollah Khomenei's Islamic Government in the late 1970s-80s) for similar "questioning" (and torture ...) for being "Communists."  Both were apparently "eventually released."  By family lore, they came out of their imprisonment (and torture...) perhaps physically damaged, but "with their integrity intact": THEY TOLD THEM NOTHING!

So midway through the film, there's Bahari, in a solitary confinement cell and, the ghost of his dad (played by Haluk Bilginer) comes visiting, telling him to "Tell them nothing (!)"  And Bahari has a pretty good question to ask his dad: "Dad, you and [sister] were jailed and tortured, one by the Shah the other by the Islamic Regime, because you were Communists.  Does it bother you that both regimes and even the one that's torturing me now learned how to do those things from the Gulags?  You were not all that different from what they are."  

Later, when his quite methodical and convinced of the fundamental rightness of his cause interrogator (played by Kim Bodnia), who Bahari comes to think of as "Rosewater" for the cologne that he seemed to use, keeps hammering away at Bahari trying to get him to admit that he was a spy, Bahari asks him: "What kind of 'a spy' would go ON A COMEDY SHOW and PROCLAIM TO THE WHOLE WORLD THAT HE'S A SPY?"  But "Rosewater" doesn't flinch: "You may think we're paranoid, but the Western Intelligence Services have infiltrated all kinds of news organizations.  And so a journalist, a spy (and even a comedian) could be the same thing."

And so Bahari, shaking his head (he was no spy), realizes that good ole, somewhat simplistic, and often brutal "Rosewater" may actually have a point, or AT LEAST "A POINT" THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO DISPROVE ...


What then to do, when faced with an interrogator (and at times torturer) who's convinced that you're "guilty" and your explanations / alibis just "prove" that you're "really good" at what he believes that you're guilty of?

That then is the rest of the film.  And there will certainly be people who will not like Bahari's solution. 

For myself, being a son of political refugees (who fled then Communist Czechoslovakia) as well, and now as a priest (a "functionary"...) in the Catholic Church KNOWING A THING OR TWO about subtle (and at times not particularly subtle coercion) to embrace one or another "Party line" (even if that "Party Line" is that of one or another Pastor... ;-) ... I've come to believe that Andy Warhol may provide a solution: If the "Powers that Be" insist that you put up a picture of "Chairman Mao" in your office ... then put up FOUR, one in each of the primary colors ... and be done with it.

It's not a perfect solution, but it does kinda fit Jesus' saying: "Render onto Caesar what is Caesar's and then to God what is God's" (Mark 12:17).  Telling "THEM" "NOTHING" ... ESPECIALLY IF THERE'S NOTHING TO TELL ... can be, IMHO, a waste of time.

In any case, an interesting and thought provoking film!


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Foreign Body (Obce ciało) [2014]

MPAA (UR would be R)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
Filmweb.pl listing*

Avvenire.it (L. Pellegrini) interview w. director*

film.onet.pl (A. Sterna) review*
film.org.pl (P. Jalowski) review*
wnas.pl (A. Majewski) review*

HollywoodReporter (T. McCarthy) review
Variety (D. Harvey) review

Foreign Body (Obce ciało) [2014] [IMDb] [FW.pl]*(written and directed by Krzysztof Zanussi [IMDb] [FW.pl]* [Culture.pl] [en.wikip] [pl.wikip]*) played at both the 50th Annual (2014) Chicago International Film Festival and more recently the 26th Annual (2014) Polish Film Festival in America held here in Chicago. 

And this is appropriate as this renowned half-Polish, half-Italian film-maker, began his career in his native Poland under the influence of the Polish Film School [en.wikip] [pl.wikip]*(itself heavily influenced by Italian Neo-Realism [en.wikip] [it.wikip]*).  Later, during the Papacy of John Paul II / the Solidarity Era, he spent much of the 1980s in the West.  Even under Communism, the themes of his films had often religious / philosophical themes.  Several of his films were featured in Martin Scorsese's series: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema: [MSP Website] [Culture.pl].  When the series played here in Chicago, I reviewed his film The Constant Factor [1980] here on my blog.  As such, while certainly Polish, Zanussi's career has been marked by a transcendence of his roots to a truly world stage.  And yet, he does bring both Poland and his Catholicism with him in a way that those among the world's intelligencia today "who would have eyes and ears" would find both interesting and challenging.

Such then is the case of this thoroughly "international" or at least "European" film being reviewed here:

The story is about two mid-to-late 20-somethings, both still young, educated and attractive, he Italian, named Angelo (played by Riccardo Leonelli [IMDb] [FW.pl]*), she Polish, named Kasia (played by Agata Buzek [IMDb] [FW.pl]*).   They apparently met at an international gathering of one or another Catholic young-adult oriented movements (one thinks of Opus Dei, Focolare, Sant'Edidio or perhaps even the French-based Taize) quite popular among young people in Europe today. 

Though becoming friends and certainly attracted to one other, she decides to return back to Poland and explore the possibility of entering the Convent.  He, though certainly in love with her, as _a good Catholic_ respects her decision to explore this.

To most of the other characters in the story (as perhaps to many readers here) THESE DECISIONS (she to explore the possibility of entering the Convent, he letting her explore it) SEEM INCOMPREHENSIBLE.

Kasia's well educated (and quite well connected) Polish father (played by Sławomir Orzechowski [IMDb] [FW.pl]*), in fact, looks up Angelo and even finds him a job (with some multinational energy firm) up in Poland in hopes that Angelo would talk Casia out of her decision.  Though honestly hoping that Casia will leave the Convent (she enters the Convent as part of a year of postulancy/discernment), Angelo refuses to do this.

IN THE MEAN TIME, several very attractive / well educated women at his work at the "Energy Company" in Poland, notably Kris (played by Agnieszka Grochowska [IMDb] [FW.pl]*), his boss, and Mira (played by Weronika Rosati [IMDb] [FW.pl]*) his colleague and Kris' best friend at the office, SIMPLY DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY the very intelligent, very good-looking, very eligible Angelo would be "waiting" for Casia to make-up her mind, and, more to the point "not indulging in the other fish in the sea."  Eventually Kris simply tells Angelo: "I know that you're not gay, but ... you're apparently very Catholic, which is almost as unfortunate as being gay." 

Kris and Mira spend much of the rest of the story making Angelo's life "a living Hell" even as Angelo hopes that Casia will decide to leave the Convent but _only_ if Casia decides that this is God's will.

NOW CASIA'S POSTULANCY PERIOD IN THE CONVENT IS ABOUT AS WELL PRESENTED AS I'VE EVER SEEN IN A CONTEMPORARY FILM. 

In my review of Ida [2014], I lamented actually that its portrayals of both Ida herself and life in her Convent remained quite cliched (the young "naive nun-to-be" who didn't even know where she came from is sent-out into the world to "find-out who she really is..."). 

In stark contrast, Casia is presented in this film as a thoroughly intelligent young woman who is, very consciously, eyes open, discerning whether to commit her life IN THIS WAY to God.  AND HER MOTHER SUPERIOR IS PRESENTED AGAIN AS A WISE AND QUITE SECURE / SERENE MENTOR FIGURE TO HER: When Casia asks to leave the Convent for a period of time, "No problem."  When Casia "assures" the Mother Superior that she'll be back, the Mother Superior responds serenely, "Don't worry my Child, the world will not come to an end if you don't."  In this way, Casia was being reminded that her decision whether to stay, go or return was to be free.  (And she would do NO ONE any favors, if she made her decision to stay, go or return without such freedom).

Does Casia stay to become a nun? (Mild spoiler alert) ... YES.  It's a decision that many, many people in this world would not understand.  But she does, and freely.

So then, did Angelo waste a year "waiting" (and often suffering ridicule) in out there in Poland?  The film has an interesting and perhaps surprising answer to that as well.

All in all, an excellent and UNAPOLOGETICALLY CONTEMPORARY CATHOLIC FILM that for those "would have eyes and ears" would be worth-the-while to look-up when it becomes available on DVD or services like Amazon Instant Video to see. 


* Reasonably good (sense) translations of non-English webpages can be found by viewing them through Google's Chrome browser. 

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Beyond the Lights [2014]

MPAA (PG-13)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  ChicagoTribune (2 1/2 Stars)  RogerEbert.com (4 Stars)  AVClub (B+)  Fr. Dennis (2 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
ChicagoTribune (R. Moore) review
RogerEbert.com (O. Henderson) review
AVClub (K. Ulrich) review  

BET coverage
Ebony coverage
Essence.com coverage
TheSource.com articles

Like many films of its type, the teen (teen) / "young adult" (early/mid 20-something) oriented film Beyond the Lights [2014] (screenplay written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood) tries really hard to be "hip", even to the point of resorting to the hyper-sexualized imagery that the film actually seeks to criticize.  In any case, it is absolutely clear that the _intention_ of the filmmaker is to invite the audience to SEE "Beyond the Lights" even as those lights are, well, quite DISTRACTING and OFTEN VERY, VERY BRIGHT.  Still, if one can get "beyond" the "Bright Lights" then there are actually a surprising number of themes in this film that young people could certainly relate to.

The story is about mixed-race, part African-descended singer named Noni (played briefly as a girl by India Jean-Jacques and then, for most of the film, as a 20-something-young-adult by Gugu Mbatha-Raw).  And she has a perhaps loving but certainly insecure "helicopter mother" named Macy Jean (played by Minnie Driver). 

The film begins with 10 year old Noni winning second place in some neighborhood talent contest in some random city somewhere in England, with mom Macy Jean telling her afterwards to throw away her second place trophy asking her: "Do you want to be a runner-up all your life or do you want to become a winner?"  That's kind of a tough lesson to teach a 10 year old who's probably holding the first trophy that she's won in her life ...

Well, Noni grows-up to be "a winner" !!  Does she ever!   She becomes a hyper-commercialized HIP-HOP SENSATION.  Strategically positioned suspenders or, even more tellingly, GOLD SHACKLES AND CHAINS often serve as her "top."  HER RACE becomes all but UNKNOWABLE, her skin being "kinda tan," her hair a straight, purple-died weave, her voice remaining somewhat "british-y" in accent.  She also has a made-to-order white head-to-toe tattoo-covered bad-boy rap-star (keep 'em talkin' about you...) celebrity "boyfriend."

Well how much "makeup" can one possibly bear?  So ... after _winning_ some random music award at some random glitzy Los Angeles music awards show, Noni takes a few swigs of some kind of champagne, she comes back to her hotel room, asks the guard, an off-duty LAPD cop named Kaz (played by Nate Parker) to "let no one pass" and ... (actually) if not for her pushy mom, not letting officer/security guard Kaz "keep her out of her daughter's room" ... nearly throws herself-off the balcony ... A "cry for help"??   Ya think?

In truth, while ma' forced Kaz to let her in to her daughter's room, allowing both her and Officer Kaz to see Noni there on the balcony, it was actually Kaz who was able to save her.  (Ma' just froze).

Now what the heck to do?  Kaz (looking from the outside) immediately understands Noni to be one troubled young woman.  Ma' who's been super-involved in Noni's life (to the point that she was her "manager") honestly doesn't see.  Perhaps she's just "too close," perhaps like the manager husband of the (falling) "Country superstar" in Country Strong [2010] she's just too invested in her loved one's "success" to see clearly, perhaps she just doesn't have a clue.  In any case, a few hours after Officer Kaz literally pulled Noni, dangling, off the balcony, a preemptive "press conference" is called (in case "anybody saw" what actually happened) where Noni "confesses" to the incident, blames it on "a few too many celebratory drinks," thanks Kaz for pulling her to safety ... and ... well, did you know that we're coming new, super hot album, that'll be in stores in a couple of weeks ... (business as usual)."

But business is, of course, not as usual.

In the midst of a life of so much glitz and nobody, nobody, nobody being honest ... Kaz, becomes the first "normal" person that entered (okay, randomly...) into Noni's life in a long time.  And Noni, virtual demi-Goddess that she is, decides that she's going to look him up and bring him into her life.  That's probably the smartest (early) thing that Noni does in the story.  But, in truth, she's actually pretty lucky.  It turns out that Kaz is available to come into Noni's life (this could have become a far more tragic story if Kaz had been quite married with two kids living "in the valley").

Even so,Kaz has his own story/issues.  It turns out that he has a "helicopter parent" of his own.  His dad, LAPD as well (played by Danny Glover) had some ambitions for his son as well.  He wanted him to eventually become a politician.  As such, Kaz' life has been quite scripted as well -- science degree apparently in college, then instead of going into industry, "deciding" to "go into service" as a police officer "on the beat in LA," then after some years of that "gig" find some political office to run for.  Dad sees "strung out Hip-hop star with issues" Noni as not exactly "First Lady potential..." AND CERTAINLY NOT THE KIND OF GIRLFRIEND THAT WOULD ENGENDER CONFIDENCE FROM THE AFRICAN AMERICAN PASTORS whose support Kaz was going need if he'd ever really enter Politics.  (But does Kaz really want to be a politician? ... Or is this just dad's dream ...?)

What to do?  Well ... eventually THE TWO RUN AWAY (TOGETHER).

This (not altogether surprising) "plot twist" becomes (more or less correctly) the primary criticism of the U.S. Catholic Bishops' office's review of the film: Why show (once again...) a young couple (more or less obviously) sleeping together first before getting married?  This a not-at-all-surprising (and again more-or-less clearly correct) criticism of the film by a major and quite authorative voice of the Faith community.

I would suggest the following, however: Yes, probably the two probably would have slept together, BUT GIVEN their emotional states at the time PROBABLY NOT ALL THAT MUCH.  Noni, in particular, was a total mess.  Is there anything particularly revelatory or beautiful about sex (1) when one's a total mess, or (2) one's having sex with someone who's a total mess?  In the first instance, sex comes akin to desperately getting bombed on alcohol or stoned on some other drug.  In the second, it's akin to knocking-out and date-raping somebody.  In either case, there's not much particularly "beautiful" about it.  Perhaps there's another option, (3) "celebratory sex" after "drying out."  But that's then akin to "going to the tavern to celebrate two weeks of 'sobriety.'" 

So regardless of what the film implies, I just don't believe that there'd actually be a whole lot of sex going on between the two when they run off to Mexico.  Nani simply had too many issues to sort through, and even Kaz had to make some decisions and sort through some issues as well (including how involved would he have wanted to become with a young woman who really did need some time to figure things out). 

So I'm not surprised that they would have run off together.  But I don't think that there'd really be all that much (sexually) going-on until they did "sober up" and when they did ... then the real questions would begin: Do I even like you?  Do I want to have children, spend the rest of my life with you?  The answers could be yes.  But ... it'd be slower than perhaps the film'd imply.

So the film does tell an interesting and current story.  But the Bishops' office here is right.  The imagery is perhaps needlessly sexualized and that makes it hard, even for the viewer, to get "Beyond the Lights."

Still as a 20-something discussion piece, at a distance, the film might not be bad.


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