Wild [2014]

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

IMDb listing
ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (S. Wloszczyna) review
AVClub (M. D'Angelo) review  

Wild [2014] (directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, screenplay by Nick Hornby based on the memoir by Cheryl Strayed [IMDb]) tells the a compelling story of a young 20-something woman Cheryl Strayed (played in the film by Reese Witherspoon) whose life disintegrated into a chaotic mess after her mother Bobbi (played by Laura Dern), 45, first was suddenly diagnosed of having cancer and then rapidly died of it (within a month).

In the chaotic aftermath, Cheryl had perhaps married the right guy, Paul (played by Paul Sadoski), but certainly at a terrible time.  The result was that she just spiraled down, having sex repeatedly with random men, acquiring a heroin habit along the way, smashing a marriage that could have perhaps worked in other, better circumstances, but certainly NOT in the circumstances that she found herself in.

Couldn't she get help?  Honestly, for many people WHERE???  Bobbi/Cheryl's family WAS NOT WEALTHY.  There's a great scene in the film, a flashback when she did have a session with a counselor.  She asks: "Shouldn't there be a couch and some kleenex somewhere."  Instead, she's meeting the counselor in what seems to be a community college classroom.  He tells her calmly but directly: "That would be $50/hr therapy.  What you're getting here is $10/hr therapy..."

FOR ALL THOSE WHO'VE MADE IT A VIRTUAL DOGMA OF "FAITH" TO OPPOSE "OBAMA CARE" ... THIS IS OUR NATION'S HEALTH CARE SYSTEM.  OBAMA CARE WAS GOING TO MAKE THINGS MARGINALLY BETTER ... BUT STILL UNBEARABLY HOPELESS TO BASIC MENTAL HEALTH CARE.  We are NOT EVEN CLOSE when it comes to being "The Greatest Country in the World" when it comes to providing affordable health care to either people like Bobbi (people DON'T DIE IN A MONTH of Cancer unless they come to the doctor REALLY, REALLY LATE, or their affordable treatment options are NIL) or Cheryl (even TODAY there is NOTHING SERIOUS THAT THIS COUNTRY WOULD HAVE AVAILABLE TO HER IN HER NEED).

So, a smashed marriage, and an apparent abortion after conceiving by anyone of a random number of men later and LUCKY SHE DIDN'T GET HIV OR HEP ... she did what a lot of people over the ages have done in times of otherwise unbearable personal crisis: She decided to walk ... The Pacific Crest Trail.

By her own admission, this was something of a random decision.  However, she decided that she was going to "Walk her way back into being the woman that her mother thought she was."

So then, what this story is about, is this woman's "walk" back to sanity.

Look, I'm a Catholic priest, so for me the Religious theme here is obvious.  Indeed, I've reviewed two recent films on my Blog about the increasing popularity of walking the "Camino de Santiago de Compostela" (The Way [2010] directed by Emilio Estevez and starring Martin Sheen, and then the documentary Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago [2013]).

Journey, Pilgrimage is an obvious metaphor for LIFE - which itself, like it or not, is "a journey."  NONE OF US STAY "IN THE SAME PLACE."  OUR LIFE even HISTORY is always moving, even if we wish they were not.

-- In Buddhism, "Change" is seen as the fundamental source of "Sadness" (Samsara -- the title of ANOTHER recent film that I reviewed here on my blog).

-- The foundational experience of Biblical Israel was its 40 year "Journey in the Desert" from "Slavery in Egypt" to "The Promised Land" recounted in the Torah / Pentateuch (the first five books in the Bible). 

-- To this day, the Israelites' 40 year "Journey in the Desert to the Promised Land" becomes the metaphorical backdrop to the Catholic Church's annual 40 day observance of Lent in preparation for Easter (Jesus' Resurrection seen as "the first fruits" / a "prefigurement" of OUR ENTRY into A FINAL "PROMISED LAND" (Heaven) after "The Journey of Earthly Life")

-- In Islam, the making of the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca, _at least once_ in one's life is a fundamental duty of all Muslims.

All this is to say that the idea of finding Truth, Wellness, Healing, Insight, Purpose, HOPE while "on a/the Journey" is a concept appreciated by many, many sages / religions across the ages.

But here it must be said, that certainly in the film Cheryl Strayed did not embark on this journey for ANY religious motivation.  Should that matter?

I would say emphatically NO.  This was a woman who desperately needed help, to bring her life back together, and she tells us that she found new hope, new purpose, a new future as she "walked her way back to being the woman her mother thought her to be."   And honestly, good for you!  And good for the others that her experience may help.

But if you do find God along the Way ... I'm not going to object either ;-)

In any case, a good job!  And a great and hopeful story!


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A Small Southern Enterprise (orig. Una Piccola Impresa Meridionale) [2013]

MPAA (UR would be R)  MM.it (2 Stars)  OC.it (6.5/10)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars w. Expl.)

IMDb listing
FilmTV.it listing*

Panorama.it (S. Santoni) review*
CineBlog.it (A.M. Abate) review*
MyMovies.it (D. Zonta) review*
OndaCinema.it (C. Cerofolini) review*

A Small Southern Enterprise (orig. Una Piccola Impresa Meridionale) [2013] [IMDb] [FT.it]* (directed, starring and cowritten by Rocco Papaleo [IMDb] [FT.it]* along with Walter Lupo [IMDb]) is at times an exaggerated / silly but at other times quite poignant and intelligent recent Italian "dramedy" about a Catholic priest, leaving the priesthood, that in this time of Pope (St) Francis-the-first could offer some interesting / thought provoking viewing -- if, of course, one can get past some of the film's silliness (obviously, since I gave the film 3 1/2 Stars, I did).  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.

At the center of the story is a 50-year-old (ex)priest Constantino (played by Rocco Papaleo [IMDb] [FT.it]) who explains in the initial voice over that 3 months past he filed for laicization.  Why?  Over a woman, who he's since discovered was far more attracted to him as a Priest than as a Person.  So, we find him in the beginning sequence of the film, literally with his one suitcase in hand, leaving his old rectory, no longer a priest nor a "significant other" of another, heading, with some dread, to the home of his 70+ year-old mother Stella (played quite well by Giuliana Lojodice [IMDb] [FT.it]*) to break her the news.  

When he gets over to his mother's house, he discovers her in full-panic-mode regarding another family crisis that's suddenly surfaced:  Her daughter, Constantino's sister, Rosa Maria (played by Claudia Potenza [IMDb] [FT.it]*) had just left her husband Arturo (played by Riccardo Scamarcio [IMDb] [FT.it]*) for apparently "someone else" (who?) and ... vanished.  Constantino had married the two, Rosa Maria and Arturo, some years back in what seemed to have been the "happiest of days" for all of them.  What happened?  Obviously it would take some time to sort it all out.  Seeing mom devastated by news about Rosa Maria, Constantino did not feel it particularly opportune to tell her then that he's left the priesthood.  SOO ... he tells her that he's taking "some time off" (perhaps simply "a short vacation") and that he was wondering if he could spend the time at a property (an old lighthouse) at the edge of town that the family apparently owned.

The "old light house" (talk about a symbol...) amidst all kinds of "rocks and cliffs at the edge of the sea" (talk about another symbol...) "at the edge of town" (yet another symbol...) seemed like a good place to set oneself down, when one's trying to figure-out what the heck to do now/hence with one's life.  And so it is, he walks down a lonely path (another symbol...) to the light-house, opens up the living quarters, finds himself a bed, plops down and ... begins to ponder WHAT THE HECK TO DO NOW.

But ... soon ... the cell phone rings (a new symbol :-).  It's Arturo, Rosa Maria's (soon to be ex?) husband.  He wants to Confess.  Constantino's no longer a priest.  BUT HE HASN'T TOLD ANYBODY YET in the family.   AND here's Arturo, CLEARLY IN CRISIS.   What can he do?  What should he do?  What would YOU do? ... In any case, Constantino ... hears Arturo's "Confession." 

Arturo's Confession is not particularly revelatory (Honestly, most Confessions generally aren't.  Rather they're generally a list of sins that one's ALWAYS / LONG-TERM struggling with) but MOST WOULD UNDERSTAND that in the situation like the one that Arturo's found himself in (his wife's left him for ... still no one knows who) one would like TO GET A LOT OF THINGS "OFF ONE'S CHEST." 

By the end of the Confession (or "Confession") it's clear that Arturo does feel better ... and both Constantino (and probably a good part of the audience) are reminded THAT a (Catholic) PRIEST DOES HAVE A USEFUL EVEN FUNDAMENTAL / ARCHETYPICAL ROLE IN THE WORLD.  Among the Priest's "gifts" / "usefulness" to the world is the priest's ability to raise people out of the depths of despair and even sin when they find themselves crushed down by them.  (And where do they get that "Power" / Power? ... Honestly ... from "God" / God).

Things get "curiouser" for Constantino when a short time after Arturo leaves "the old lighthouse" for "home" another even stranger set of visitors come by:  There's a young-early 30 something woman Valbona (played by Sarah Felberbaum [IMDb] [FT.it]*) who, surprised to find "the old lighthouse" not empty, introduces herself to Constantino as his sister Rosa Maria's "friend." "You know Rosa Maria?  WHERE IS SHE?  Valbona does not say.  However, she's there to dump her older sister A "RETIRING" FORMER PROSTITUTE (and proud of it, "I worked my way up from 'lap dancer' all the way up to 'top escort') going by the name Magnolia (played by Barbora Bubolova [IMDb] [FT.it]*) at the old lighthouse because goos ole Magnolia "just dropped back into her life" suddenly and "with so much else going-on" at the moment, she didn't know where to put her.  So Rosa Maria had suggested "old lighthouse" where "no one ever goes." 

So Rosa Maria's friend Valbona drops her older sister / "retiring" prostitute over there at the "old lighthouse" where Constantino, who just dropped-out of the priesthood, was trying to get some rest and get some new direction in his life.  (Honestly, I found _this subplot_ somewhat needlessly distracting).  MILD (though rather obvious) SPOILER ALERT (because "inquiring minds" would "want to know"): No, the two never come even close to sleeping together.  HOWEVER, they do have some rather interesting discussions.

Then a construction crew comes to the old lighthouse, sent there by Constantino's mother to, since her son would be there to look after / supervise them, do some much needed reconstruction / renovation (still more symbols ...) of the place.  Among the first things that they are there to "repair" is the roof, of one of buildings, where they of course, find Magnolia "sunbathing" in "all her glory" ...  She doesn't mind.  BUT they, it turns out, have other worries on their minds ... mostly to simply get their jobs done and to get paid: One of the construction workers is divorced and simply needs the money to be able to keep custody of his daughter who's there with them as well.  (Interestingly enough, the former prostitute is told _at least twice_ in the story and by different men that "You know, you're beautiful and all, but I honestly have other concerns on my mind than simply sex ...")

Then as the story goes on ... Rosa Maria is "found."  Previously, there were all sorts of rumors in the family (and of the soon-to-be ex-inlaws) that she fled all the way to Beijing with some lover.  It turned-out that she was staying with, HIDING WITH ... the thirty-something Valbona IN A RAMSHACKLE SHACK (another symbol ...) AT THE VERY EDGE OF THE SEA (symbol again ...) UNDER THE LIGHT HOUSE (yes, we already know that's a symbol). 

Why is she / WHY ARE THEY THERE?  Well .. of course they are "in love."

It's (ex)-priest Constantino who convinces them to "come out of the shack" to "safer ground" EVEN IF IT WOULD (INITIALLY) BREAK THE HEART OF THEIR MOTHER (yet another symbol actually ...).  And yes, he himself has to "come clean" at one rather poignant point to tell Mother as well that he's no longer (at least canonically) a Priest.

The film ends (SPOILER ALERT ... BUT MOST READERS HERE WILL NOT FIND A WAY TO SEE THIS MOVIE ANYWAY) with Constantino, PRESIDING, no longer as a Catholic priest (but in some larger / even more basic perhaps archetypical capacity) AT HIS SISTER'S (necessarily LESBIAN WEDDING) on the Grounds of the Lighthouse, now renovated into something of a RETREAT HOTEL ... AND MOM, with BOTH TEARS AND A SMILE, IS THERE (THEY ARE HER KIDS AFTER ALL).

And in the last line of the film, ex-Father Constantino asks his sister for a dance at the wedding.

HONESTLY, ONE HECK OF A CHALLENGING / THOUGHT PROVOKING FILM ... and all said with a ton of (at times nervous) smiles.


ADDENDA (how to find / play this film):

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

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 Mafia Only Kills In The Summer (orig. La Mafia Solo Uccide d'Estate) [2013]

MPAA (UR would be PG-13)  CineBlog.it (7/10)  OndaCinema.it (7/10)  Fr. Dennis (4 Stars)

IMDb listing
FilmTV.it listing*

CineBlog.it (G. Capolino) review*
MyMovies.it (M. Gandolfi) review*
OndaCinema.it (A. Pettiere) review*

Hollywood Reporter (S. Dalton) review 
I Love Italian Movies (Cheri) review

The Mafia Only Kills In The Summer (orig. La Mafia Solo Uccide d'Estate) [2013] [IMDb] [FT.it]* (starring, directed and screenplay cowritten by Palermo native Pierfrancesco Diliberto (Pif) [en.wikip] [it.wikip]* [IMDb] [FT.it]* along with Michele Astori [IMDb]) is a critically acclaimed / award winning and really quite brave Forrest Gump [1994]-like, dramedy about growing-up in Palermo, Sicily during the various Mafia Wars of the 1970s-90s. 

The film won two Donatello di David (Italy's closest equivalent to the Oscars) awards (for best new Director and best "Young David") [Official Site] [en.wikip] [it.wikip]* and a host of nominations as well as several Italian Golden Globe nominations and wins.  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.

The film tells the story of Arturo (played by Alex Bisconti [IMDb] [FT.it]* as a child and the director Pif [IMDb] [FT.it]* himself as a 20-something young adult).  In voice-overs throughout the film, Arturo explains that his entire life FROM CONCEPTION TO THE PRESENT has been tied-up with the Mob:

He explains that he conceivably owes his very existence to the Mob, as while his parents (played in the film by Barbara Tabita [IMDb] [FT.it]* and Rosario Lisma [IMDb] [FT.it]*) were making love on their wedding night, Toto Reiina (played in the film by Antonio Alveario [IMDb]), a local Mob boss, engineered his first Hit, eliminating a rival, in a room on the floor below, scaring the daylights-out of his parents and "almost certainly effecting" which of the millions of his father's sperm would that night inseminate his mother's egg, thereby creating him ("Any sperm of any sense would have 'cowered and hid.'  Only the bravest or most clueless one would have continued with his mission" ;-). 

He then explains that his baptism was "probably the shortest one in the history of Polermo."  Arturo's parents' entire families' presence notwithstanding, apparently mobbed-up Friar Giacinto (played by Antonino Bruschetta [IMDb] [FT.it]*) had to rush through his Baptism to "make it on time" to another Baptism, that of the child of the (presumably quite well) "connected" mayor of Palermo ;-).

Later, when Arturo was 2-3 years old and Fra Giacinto was by Arturo's parents' new apartment to bless it and Arturo's parents expressed their concern that little Arturo still wasn't talking, Fra Giacinto assured them that "NOT talking too much" is "not necessarily a bad thing" ;-).  As he left their apartment (again in a rush ...) little Arturo said his first word.  Pointing at the back of the priest on his way out, with his thumb up and index finger out, he said ... "MA ... FIA ..." (to the shock / surprise of his parents, now rendered speechless themselves ;-).

When Arturo was little growing-up in Palermo, he explains to viewers that the various mafia hits in the city were routinely explained away as "involving women."  That didn't bother him until ... a new girl, Flora (played in the film as a child by Ginevra Antona [IMDb] [FT.it]* and as a 20-something young-adult by Cristiana Capotondi [IMDb] [FT.it]*), came to his school.  Then he became concerned.  But the parish priest (again good ole Fra Giacinto) assured him, "Oh don't worry my son, NOBODY in this town gets killed 'because of women.'  They get shot (Fra Giacinto starts getting upset) BECAUSE THEY DO SOMETHING STUPID, BECAUSE THEY TALK TOO MUCH, BECAUSE THEY MAKE SOME SORT OF MISTAKE.  THAT's why they get shot, but CERTAINY NOT 'because of a woman.'" ;-).  Thus Arturo gets permission from the parish priest to fall in love ;-). 

Arturo comes home, and still pondering these feelings that as a ten year old he now has for this new student Flora and asks his father: "Dad, how did you first tell mom that you've fallen in love with her."  "Beh ... I don't know, I think I just kind of told her.  These things come kind of naturally you know.  Now be quiet and watch TV.  Our favorite show is coming on ..."

The show coming on was some kind of a 1970s Italian news magazine show, and the guest that week was the somewhat shifty-looking and certainly NOT particularly charismatic Italian Prime Minister of the time, Giulio Andreotti [en.wikip] [it.wikip]* of the "catch all" (by reputation "eyes rolling" corrupt and possibly /probably even "mobbed up") Italian Christian Democratic Party [en.wikip] [it.wikip]* of the time (Heck, the "alternative" of the time, remember it was the Cold War ..., was the Italian Communist Party [en.wikip] [it.wikip]*...). 

So though all kinds of people were dropping dead because of the Mob back in Sicily, the FIRST QUESTION that he's asked on this television news magazine was the UNBELIEVABLY SOFT-BALL QUESTION: "So Prime Minister, how'd you first propose to your wife?" which he, relieved, proceeded to answer ;-)

Now while almost everybody in Italy was "rolling their eyes" accepting of "the way things were," BUT CERTAINLY NOT looking at Italy's political leadership of the time as even remotely "inspiring," this "swarmy," NOT particularly charismatic Giulio Andreotti [en.wikip] [it.wikip]* becomes something of a HERO to Arturo (for giving him an answer to Arturo's then _very pressing_ 'romantic question' that Arturo's father didn't have the courage to answer).

Well, much then ensues in the film:  And almost every significant moment in Arturo's life gets SOMEHOW interrupted by mafia inspired stragi (hits):  A kindly police officer who recommends to Arturo a pastry to buy his 10 year-old beloved Flora gets knocked-off some months later in the same pastry shop where he made his recommendation to Arturo.  A similarly kindly judge who spots 10-year-old Arturo spying on Flora by her parents' apartment, gets blown-up by a car bomb later at the same spot where he first runs into Arturo.  Even a random "pol" of the quite boring (and often enough, quite corrupt, but again, look at the alternative...) Christian Democratic Party of the time on whose campaign a 20-something Flora becomes a staffer, a pol that NO ONE WOULD ARGUE WAS EVEN REMOTELY INSPIRING (His slogan, that even he didn't seem to say particularly convincingly, was simply: "Europe needs Sicily and Sicily need Europe") eventually gets knocked-off by the Mob, for ... no one honestly had a clue anymore.

But eventually the people of Palermo are shown as having had enough.  And at the end of the film, when (mild spoiler alert...) Arturo and Flora do finally definitively get together and start a family, Arturo tells the audience in a voice over: "Parenthood quickly teaches you two things: First you want to protect your children from the Evil in the world.  But then second, you want to teach your children TO IDENTIFY IT."  And so the close of the film is a several minute homage to the various GOOD HONEST PUBLIC SERVANTS (that police officer, that judge (both ACTUAL PEOPLE) as well as various others) WHO WERE KILLED OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS TRYING TO STAND UP TO THE MOB.
 
It all makes for one heck of a film, both funny at times and HEART RENDING AT OTHERS.

Good job!  Very good job!



ADDENDA (how to find / play this film):

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

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! :-) >>

Horrible Bosses 2 [2014]

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

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
ChicagoTribune/Variety (J. Chang) review
RogerEbert.com (B. Tallerico) review
AVClub (J. Hassenger) review 

Horrible Bosses 2 [2014] (directed and screenplay cowritten by Sean Anders along with John Morris) is an inevitable sequel to Horrible Bosses [2011] a comedy that, let's face it, was never intended to be Academy Award material.   However, with a pedigreed ensemble cast, allowing many in that cast to "let down their hair" and either "play against type" (Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Aniston) or play it to the hilt (Kevin Spacey and joining this film Christoph Waltz) both the original and "the inevitable sequel" were more or less guaranteed to succeed. 

So what we have here is an (appropriately R-rated) "popcorn movie" that's perhaps even an adult "revenge fantasy" of put-upon "good people" against the people (mostly "Bosses") above them.

In the original film, conscientious "company man" Nick Hendricks (played by Jason Bateman) is strung along by his scheming Machiavellian "a-hole of a boss" Dave Harken (played by an ever-snarling Kevin Spacey).  His friend, accountant, Kurt Buckman (played by Jason Sudeikis) finds himself working for the spoiled/entitled son of his company's original owner.  If Kurt ever believed in the company for which he worked, said spoiled son, seeking to hire and fire secretaries (some working there for decades) simply on the basis of who'd most likely grant him sexual favors, ripped that loyalty out of him.  Finally, there was Dale Arbus (played by Charlie Day), poor Dale, who after being put on "a sex offender" list after being arrested for urinating by a tree next to a bar after said bar's closing time found his job prospects severely restricted.  Who'd hire "a registered
offender"?  Well, we find out: An employer like Dr. Julia Harris, D.D.S. (played hilariously, over-the-top and against type by Jennifer Aniston) who finds his "convicted sex offender" status a "turn on."

So in the original movie, the three put-upon employees conspire to kill each others' bosses.  Since none of them had the faintest idea of how to do this, they seek-out "a mentor." They settle an ex-con "so tough" that he was born with an unspeakable name (played again hilariously and against type by Jamie Foxx) who they meet in an appropriately over-the-top seedy dive.  Much then ensued.  One of the bumbling three's bosses does, indeed, die (arguably by accident), another ends up in prison, the third in sex-addiction rehab.  Guess who ends up where...

The current film begins with the three former employees of "Horrible Bosses" having decided to go into business for themselves having come-up with a show gadget that they call "The Shower Buddy."  (Basically the gadget allows liquid soap to mix with water in the shower-head).  We see them showing-off said gadget on a random morning TV news-show, a presentation that they, of course, horribly mess up.

No matter, they do get a call from a potential investor: a twenty-something Rex Henson (played by Chris Pine) the born rich and not particularly competent son of a vaguely German accented immigrant with the strangely British sounding name, Burt Henson (played by Christoph Waltz) -- honestly, there could have been a fun/interesting back-story there.  Burt the father had made a fortune marketing and distributing this kind of junk.  How?  Well, we soon find out: 

Burt has the three business neophytes make him 100,000 units of said "Shower Buddy" then promptly cancels the order, knowing that the three will almost certainly have to go bankrupt whereupon he could purchase the 100,000 units for pennies on the dollar...

That, of course, enrages the three, and they come-up with another half-baked / obviously illegal plan to recoup their losses: they decide to try to kidnap Rex and then demand that Burt pay ransom equal to the amount that they owed their creditors.  Well, when they do kidnap Rex, it turns out he's "on board as well" to try to get back at his dad and he promptly convinces the three to greatly increase the ransom amount (giving himself by far the biggest cut).  Much (mostly in the form of bumbling incompetence) ensues ...

Yes, there's not much particularly edifying in this film (or for that matter in the previous one).  The films have three "ordinary Joes" plotting SERIAL MURDER (of their "Horrible Bosses") in the first film and KIDNAPPING FOR RANSOM (from an "evil Investor that screwed them") in the current one.  Then ever-randy Dr. Julia obviously feels "rather unbounded" (ya think?) by the constraints of anything resembling traditional Catholic/Christian teaching on sexual morality (She shocks / appalls, but like Charlie Sheen's character, Charlie Harper, in Two and Half Men [2003+] or previously Ted Danson's character, Sam Malone, in Cheers [1982-1993] , or Rue McClanahan's character Blanche Devereau, in The Golden Girls [1985-1992], what adult honestly would not immediately see in Jennifer Aniston's character here wildly (and often hilariously) over-the-top exaggeration that's precisely _intended_ to shock/amuse the audience.   In this film, she matter-of-factly asks the three bumbling anti-heroes for "preferences" as to how she "should shave her ..." WHO'D ASK SOMETHING LIKE THAT?  HONESTLY.   It's MEANT TO SHOCK / APPALL and yes, as a result, AMUSE).

SO then, this is NOT (!) a "film for the kids," nor, one hopes, to be an "instruction manual" for "how to lead one's life."  But it is, often, _stupidly_ ... funny ;-) 


<< 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! :-) >>

Lovely Article about "Fr. Dennis at the Movies" at Chicago Archdiocese's "Catholic New World"

A lovely article by local journalist Dolores Madlener that recently appeared in Chicago's Archdiocesan newspaper Catholic New World.  Thank you very, very much!  

From chemical engineer to priest and film aficionado

By Dolores Madlener

STAFF WRITER

Servite Father Dennis Kriz, associate pastor at Annunciata Parish, 11128 S. Avenue G, pictured in the church on Nov. 13. Brian J. Morowczynski/Catholic New World

He is: Servite Father Dennis Kriz, associate pastor of Annunciata Parish on the Southeast Side. Popular movie reviewer with his blog, “Fr. Dennis at the Movies.” Ordained in 1999.

Youth: “My younger sister and I grew up mainly in Mount Prospect. I went to Prospect High. Dad was a chemist for a company that made specialized toners and paints (including some for the Space Program). Mom was an artist who had a degree in dress-designing from the Art Institute. My dad never had to buy her a new dress during their marriage. She even made her wedding dress. And as a good Czechoslovakian immigrant, she loved the resale stores.

“Faith was always important to our family though mostly at home with the immigrant experience as part of it.  We’d all consider ourselves believers, but in terms of Church attendance, we’d have to admit that we were the “three times a year” variety – Christmas, Easter and St. Wenceslas Day -- until my mom came down with cancer.

“I got hooked on movies as a teenager. ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ was perfect: History, Archeology, the Bible and Nazis all mixed in.  How great was that!?”

Vocation: “I went to the U of I and studied chemical engineering. Then I went to grad school at USC in Los Angeles. While at USC, my mom died. That was a life-changing experience for me. I got involved at the USC Catholic Center, staffed by the Servites. I was in my 20s and enthusiastic. I found religion much more meaningful and explainable to others than my chemistry work. How much can you say about microscopic polymer beads? At least if you’re talking about religion — everyone has an opinion. But I finished my doctorate in chemical engineering, because ‘You finish what you start.’

“I was searching for something bigger, and entered the Servite community. I spent my first year at Berkeley at the Franciscan School of Theology, and then did my novitiate. At the end they sent me to our international college in Italy to finish my theology. Our final thesis project was to be based on an aspect of the culture we came from. In the USA our culture is so diverse one has to talk about some form of mass media, and the easiest for me was movies. My thesis title: ‘Marian Imagery in “The Terminator.’”

Parish life: “Since our parish is involved in “To Teach Who Christ Is,” my contribution has been giving up a movie or two a week that I would otherwise see.  We’ve been asking parishioners to give sacrificially.  I believe in the value of my blog, but I wanted my participation in the Parish Campaign to hurt a bit.  So it comes to about $50/month (plus missing 6-8 movies a month).  I’m responsible for our youth group at Annunciata. I’ve been here 10 years and started the blog 4 years ago. I try to alert kids to be aware of messages in films and especially who’s portrayed as a ‘good’ person and who’s a ‘bad’ person.  A lot of times the ‘bad’ people portrayed are darker skinned and foreign (yet as Catholics we believe that we’re all children of God).

“I’ve found the Marvel Comic book movies – Iron Man, Spider Man, Thor – actually quite good.  Even though they’re “superhero” types, the characters are usually complex and even the villains have their story.  Not all comic book films are like that. In Batman/Superman (DC Comics), the heroes are super-good and the villains super-evil, and the rest of us are nothing.  In contrast, the Marvel Comic stories there’s almost always a moral message to them: “With great power comes great responsibility” is the message of the first Spider Man film.  It’s hard to argue with that message and it’s expressed in a manner a teenager can understand.

“I use movies in my homilies, only when it really applies. But everyone in the parish knows I do movie reviews. They know I see the more obscure ones than the average movie-goer. By visiting my blog, they’ll know these other movies are at least out there. I’m drawn to a film by its story – if I see a point to it.”

His Blog:  “I blog several times a week at frdennismoviereviews.blogspot.com.  My ideal audience would be young adults in their 20s-30s.  The culture tends to pander to teens by calling them young adults, but they’re still too young.  However in their 20-30s is when people have options and are most free to learn and grow.” His blog lists reviews for the past four years, with various age group categories – For instance, he gave the 2013 kids’ movie “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” 3-stars and a good review! His blog has nine genres of movies, including documentaries and foreign. He also carries reviews by others, like the USCCB when available.

Film and dialogue: “For the millennium I led Servite parishes with youth groups to Italy for a youth experience. I helped lead a group to the Servites in the Amazon, where we have a mission, and led two groups to a Servite mission in Mexico. Nice projects but very expensive. The Servite Order is using Facebook now to build bridges to share what Servites are doing around the world. Movies fit in with this as well. While the cost of flying to visit the missions in Brazil or South Africa would run thousands of dollars, for 10 bucks you can pick up a movie that’s also about that culture and community. And foreign film festivals exist all over the place.” He speaks English, Czech, Italian and Spanish. There are four Servites who live in community at the Annunciata Priory. They have morning and evening prayer, Mass, and meals in common.

Favorite Scripture verse? “Peter’s words, ‘To whom shall I go? You have the words of eternal life.’” (John 6:68)

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. 

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