THE CONVERSATION

In between Coppola's The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974) is when the brilliant director turned out this interesting work. The film stars Gene Hackman (Harry Caul) as a surveillance expert who is hired to record a conversation between two individuals and deliver the recorded conversation to an anonymous source. While the conversation he winds up recording sounds rather mundane and normal, as the film progresses Harry begins to become paranoid that the tape will be used to harm those whom he recorded. The film moves at a slow, though fitting pace that manages to build and keep the intensity of the situation throughout its length. The characters and plot are also both compelling and contain depth that isn't found in your typical modern day espionage thriller which rely more on action then the natural tension which such a situation produces. For all the positives I feel that the films leaves me wanting more. Since it moves at such a slow pace we are allowed to become immersed in the work that Harry is doing, yet still never really crack through the very hard shell of his character. Personally I feel that there is some fat in relations to the convention he goes to that could be trimmed off in exchange for more depth about the woman he is involved with or the curious one night stand he has. While the story the film is trying to tell is interesting, I am personally more compelled by the events in Harry's life that made him the person he is today. I give this film a 7/10, because I will always have a soft spot for a Gene Hackman film.

7/10

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Pierrot Le Fou

Made at the cusp between Jean Luc-Godard's carefree experimental period and his political period, Pierrot le fou (1965) is an important work for both cinema and Godard's career. Like Godard's early experimental films, this work reads as a cluttered collage of moments with varying degrees of narrative glue to hold them together. At times this can be trying since there is certainly less narrative glue in this work then in prior works such as Une femme est une femme (1961) or Bande à part (1964). Even the crisp memorable moments that I identify with early Godard works aren't as potent in this effort. The politics of the film though were carefully intertwined and less in-yer-face then Godard's later works which I appreciated. A carefully line between politics and fun was walked in the film that I always feel is lacking in Godard's later uber-political films. Also as usual, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina gave performances that could be the dictionary definition of cool and helped the film keep moving . Overall, while I wasn't too keen on the film I do think it is an important work since it documents a large transition in Godard's work and therefore can be useful in informing us why and how Godard's work changed. I give this film a 6/10, because each of Godard's early works between 1960-66 is a unique lover. Somedays you are in the mood for rebellion, while other days you just want to lie in bed all day long. Without this film there would be a diminished range of "lovers" that Godard tried to capture and that would just be a tragedy.

6/10

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BOTTLE SHOCK

Don't you love it when it when really interesting and memorable stories are made bland and predictable? Sadly, Bottle Shock (2008) accomplishes this in its telling of the story of the Judgment of Paris or the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. Now, I'm a food/wine/beer junky, so for those of you who don't know the story of the Judgment of Paris, it's a truly fascinating tale. Steven Spurrier, a British wine connoisseur, organized a wine tasting in Paris, France in 1976 in which he asked French wine snobs - I mean, critics - to blindly taste several French and American wines and declare both a best white and red wine. At this time, not only were French wines thought to be untouchable, but American wines were thought to be sub-table wine quality. Therefore you can imagine how earth-shattering it was to the wine world when a panel of French judges declared both an American white and red winners of the tasting. Eventually this would lead to the acceptance of American wines in Europe, as well as a domino effect of wineries opening in South Africa, Australia, and South America. Not only was wine not big in America 35 years ago, but you certainly couldn't go in to your local liquor store and purchase a bottle of Yellowtail. Ok, so now that I've got you hyped up for the amazing story of the film, prepare to be disappointed by what feels like a made for TV film. In typical fashion none of the actors are huge film stars, but you recognize them from something, like Bill Pullman (Independence Day), Chris Pine (Star Trek), Alan Rickman, Freddy Rodriguez, Eliza Dushku and Danny DeVito even has a small cameo. One of the best ways to sum up my feelings about the film is that it has cookie cutter characters and tells the story in cookie cutter format, yet several times the film weirdly veers away from its mold only to jump back into it without explanation. The best example in the film is when the main character's girl interest falls for his best friend instead of for him. Based on how predictable the film had been so far, I was wide-eyed and eager to see what was going to happen next since this turn of events was so unexpected. What happens? The girl falls for the main character 20 minutes later without any mention or conclusion of her affairs with her previous lover. Oh, and the main character and his friend still get along fine. There are several more instances like this throughout the film where plot lines aren't fully explained, and the viewer is left wondering if the filmmaker actually watched a finished cut of his film before declaring it complete. Besides these complaints, the film works its magic to dumb down this particularly interesting story to what should have been a made for TV movie instead of an actual theatrical release. I give this film a 5/10, for the fact that the film has a great quote by Galileo in it.

"Wine is sunlight held together by water."

5/10

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ANTICHRIST

Lars von Trier has never been one to steer clear of controversy, instead deciding to embrace it with a pair of brass knuckles in one hand and a katana blade in the other. Von Trier's films are always raw and unrestrained, which can work beautifully as in his devastating effort Dancer in the Dark (2000), or be too overbearing for my taste like Dogville (2004) and its sequel Manderlay (2005). Two things you can always be sure of in his works is blatant misogyny and a film that will forcefully submerge you into a new world. Antichrist (2009), starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg, holds true to these von Trier staples creating a bleak and horrifying world which comes out of the tragic death of Dafoe and Gainsbourg's child in the opening minutes of the film. The death of their child causes Gainsbourg to fall into deep depression, which leads Dafoe, a psychiatrist, to decide that a trip to their summer cottage in the woods is the escape they both need. Without giving too much of the plot away, their trip into the woods reveals the evil in nature and in their (human) nature. The way von Trier frames and examines the "evil" of nature is particularly well done and incorporates the use of images which, by themselves, are just part of nature (deers giving birth to dead fawns), yet in the context of the film become haunting and foreshadowing. The first 2/3rds of the film creates a world that we are immersed in, even though we know so little about it. We never learn either of the main character's names, only know the location of their summer cottage as Eden, and watch as Dafoe slowly works through psychiatric tests and exercises with Gainsbourg to help cure her of her depression. Sadly, the last 1/3rd of this film reminds me a lot of Sunshine (2007), in that the film descends into pointless, unexplained, and unjustified violence. In the filmmakers' defense, endings are never easy, but I am dumbfounded to see two similar film that spend a majority of their time slowly and articulately discussing philosophical issues descend to nothing short of cannibalism. Well, I guess the next time I have a conversation with Von Trier or Danny Boyle (Sunshine's director) I'll have to give them a copy of Bergman's Persona, which did it right. I give this film a 6 out of 10 because the cinematography and CG was shimmering and beautiful, but in the end... well, the ending killed it.

6/10

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