Movie Reviews
Issue 239 / November 2008 More from this Issue
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924 Gilman St: Let’s Talk
about Tact and Timing…
Scarred Films
Street: 07.29
The Gilman Street Project is a one-of-a-kind"free space" venue in Berkley, Ca.The music is mostly punk and its varioussubtypes, but anything goes as long asit’s not racist, sexist, homophobic, orsigned to a major record label. All ofthe above are sins and deal breakersin the eyes of Gilman’s 100% volunteerstaff. This cement palace has been afestering petri dish of fresh talent for wellover twenty years. From AFI to Rancidto GWAR, Gilman’s history of showsis huge and sprawling. To think it allstarted with a bunch of punks gettingtogether and – in a very un-punk movefor the times – realizing what they werereally all about. They wanted musicfor everyone, a safe place for it to takeplace, and an assurance that, whatevermight happen, the project would bedone for its own sake, never for money.The ideology, I must say, demandsrespect. But how’s the movie? At anhour twenty, the interviews, thoughgenerally lucid, drag on a bit. There aretwenty live performances interspersedbut I, for one, can’t really watch a tapedpunk show with the same enthusiasmI might’ve felt if I’d been there. Thestory’s great, but ultimately the movie’spretty boring. ––Jesse Hawlish
Black Metal Satanica
MVD Visual
Street: 09.30
Well I knew I was in for a pretty one-sideddocumentary about Black Metalwhen the tagline on the cover of theDVD says "The Most Haunting andEvil Documentary ever Made." I canunderstand having the certain point ofview and wanting to purvey that. Mybiggest complaint is the fact that theDVD isn’t really much of a documentary– the actual facts are few and farbetween and when stated by the horriblemonotone narrator, come off as moreas assumptions rather than fact. Accordingto the documentary, black metalis rooted in Scandinavian Viking lore,particularly the conversion and killingof Vikings by Christians. These origins,however, aren’t explained well. There isa wealth of interviews with new-wave erablack metal bands like Watain and thedisturbing Shinning that go nowhere.The footage is useless and completelyunrelated to anything other than tryingto create a dark and scary atmosphere.By the end, the "documentary," comesacross as contradictory and dry.–Bryer Wharton
Body of Lies
Warner Bros.
In Theaters 10.10
Director Ridley Scott takes a doseof his brother Tony’s filmmaking stylewith this Big Brother watchdog thrillerset smack dab in the middle of theWar on Terror. Roger Ferris (LeonardoDiCaprio) is a CIA operative working covertassignments throughout the MiddleEast in order to track an Islamic terroristwith the aid of the not-so-helpful andexaggeratedly conservative Ed Hoffman(Russell Crowe). While the multipletwists and turns may have worked in DavidIgnatius’ novel, someone should’veasked Mr. Owl how many twists it takesto annoy an audience. The answer isfive. DiCaprio, while good in his ownright, flies through the film on auto-pilot,never effectively taking control of thecharacter or the film (when we all knowhe’s perfectly capable of doing so). Onthe other hand, an overweight Crowe, ascartoonish and outlandish as his characteris, proves he doesn’t need the leadrole to stand out amongst the crowd.Is it entertaining? Yes. Does it look likesomeone gave Leo a gorilla mask? Yes.Will you remember it a month later?Probably not. –Jimmy Martin
The Incredible Hulk
Universal
Street: 10.21
Edward Norton revives the sufferingfranchise that was harshly abused byAng Lee’s 2003 artsy-fartsy disaster.Rather than wasting 45-minutes toonce again explain the Hulk’s origins– an excellent choice – the foundationis swiftly summarized in the openingcredits and it is soon revealed that BruceBanner (Norton) has been hiding inBrazil to search for a cure to his mutation.Following a freak accident, GeneralThaddeus Ross (William Hurt) andthe U.S. Military, including Major EmilBlonsky (Tim Roth) locate Banner andthe hunt is on! Director Louis Leterrierprovides an accurate ratio of realisticcharacterization vs. comic book adaptationcheese to string the audience alongon a variation of multiple Hulk universesthat will please both general audiencesand comic-nerds alike. Granted, a fewscenes will make the majority groan indisbelief – did he really just say "Hulksmash"? But, let’s get real, it’s a comic,not Shakespeare…get over it. The3-disc Special Edition DVD comes withan impressive array of special featuresincluding multiple making-of featurettes,an alternate opening sequence, and adigital copy of the film for iTunes users.–Jimmy Martin
about Tact and Timing…
Scarred Films
Street: 07.29
The Gilman Street Project is a one-of-a-kind"free space" venue in Berkley, Ca.The music is mostly punk and its varioussubtypes, but anything goes as long asit’s not racist, sexist, homophobic, orsigned to a major record label. All ofthe above are sins and deal breakersin the eyes of Gilman’s 100% volunteerstaff. This cement palace has been afestering petri dish of fresh talent for wellover twenty years. From AFI to Rancidto GWAR, Gilman’s history of showsis huge and sprawling. To think it allstarted with a bunch of punks gettingtogether and – in a very un-punk movefor the times – realizing what they werereally all about. They wanted musicfor everyone, a safe place for it to takeplace, and an assurance that, whatevermight happen, the project would bedone for its own sake, never for money.The ideology, I must say, demandsrespect. But how’s the movie? At anhour twenty, the interviews, thoughgenerally lucid, drag on a bit. There aretwenty live performances interspersedbut I, for one, can’t really watch a tapedpunk show with the same enthusiasmI might’ve felt if I’d been there. Thestory’s great, but ultimately the movie’spretty boring. ––Jesse Hawlish
Black Metal Satanica
MVD Visual
Street: 09.30
Well I knew I was in for a pretty one-sideddocumentary about Black Metalwhen the tagline on the cover of theDVD says "The Most Haunting andEvil Documentary ever Made." I canunderstand having the certain point ofview and wanting to purvey that. Mybiggest complaint is the fact that theDVD isn’t really much of a documentary– the actual facts are few and farbetween and when stated by the horriblemonotone narrator, come off as moreas assumptions rather than fact. Accordingto the documentary, black metalis rooted in Scandinavian Viking lore,particularly the conversion and killingof Vikings by Christians. These origins,however, aren’t explained well. There isa wealth of interviews with new-wave erablack metal bands like Watain and thedisturbing Shinning that go nowhere.The footage is useless and completelyunrelated to anything other than tryingto create a dark and scary atmosphere.By the end, the "documentary," comesacross as contradictory and dry.–Bryer Wharton
Body of Lies
Warner Bros.
In Theaters 10.10
Director Ridley Scott takes a doseof his brother Tony’s filmmaking stylewith this Big Brother watchdog thrillerset smack dab in the middle of theWar on Terror. Roger Ferris (LeonardoDiCaprio) is a CIA operative working covertassignments throughout the MiddleEast in order to track an Islamic terroristwith the aid of the not-so-helpful andexaggeratedly conservative Ed Hoffman(Russell Crowe). While the multipletwists and turns may have worked in DavidIgnatius’ novel, someone should’veasked Mr. Owl how many twists it takesto annoy an audience. The answer isfive. DiCaprio, while good in his ownright, flies through the film on auto-pilot,never effectively taking control of thecharacter or the film (when we all knowhe’s perfectly capable of doing so). Onthe other hand, an overweight Crowe, ascartoonish and outlandish as his characteris, proves he doesn’t need the leadrole to stand out amongst the crowd.Is it entertaining? Yes. Does it look likesomeone gave Leo a gorilla mask? Yes.Will you remember it a month later?Probably not. –Jimmy Martin
The Incredible Hulk
Universal
Street: 10.21
Edward Norton revives the sufferingfranchise that was harshly abused byAng Lee’s 2003 artsy-fartsy disaster.Rather than wasting 45-minutes toonce again explain the Hulk’s origins– an excellent choice – the foundationis swiftly summarized in the openingcredits and it is soon revealed that BruceBanner (Norton) has been hiding inBrazil to search for a cure to his mutation.Following a freak accident, GeneralThaddeus Ross (William Hurt) andthe U.S. Military, including Major EmilBlonsky (Tim Roth) locate Banner andthe hunt is on! Director Louis Leterrierprovides an accurate ratio of realisticcharacterization vs. comic book adaptationcheese to string the audience alongon a variation of multiple Hulk universesthat will please both general audiencesand comic-nerds alike. Granted, a fewscenes will make the majority groan indisbelief – did he really just say "Hulksmash"? But, let’s get real, it’s a comic,not Shakespeare…get over it. The3-disc Special Edition DVD comes withan impressive array of special featuresincluding multiple making-of featurettes,an alternate opening sequence, and adigital copy of the film for iTunes users.–Jimmy Martin
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