DVD/Stream of the Week: Time Out

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Aurelien Recoing in TIME OUT

In Time Out (L’emploi du Temps)(2001), a middle-aged guy (Aurelien Recoing) loses his job with an international consulting firm in France and can’t bring himself to tell his family.  Instead, he pretends to still have that job, and then invents a new, better job in Switzerland.  He doesn’t spend his days at the local bar – he actually goes on faux business trips from which he calls his family.  He even dresses in a suit and visits the Swiss corporate HQ where he claims to be working, prowling the cubicles and lounging in the lobby while talking on his cell phone like a big shot.  The lengths to which he goes in convincing his family (and embracing denial for himself) are pathetic, then creepy and finally chilling.

Ironically, he has a smart and supportive wife (Karin Viard); we can tell that, had he told her the truth immediately, she would help him out.  He also has very successful father with the bucks to keep the family afloat until he finds something else.  But so much of his self-identity is wrapped up in his career, that he just can’t bear the thought of disappointing them.

Of course, he can’t keep up this charade forever.  There’s the matter of income, for example, which drives him to join a scam.  And then there is the web of lies that must eventually unravel.  His wife intuits that something is amiss and starts sniffing around….

Recoing is outstanding as the man inside a pressure cooker of his own making.  The great French actress Karin Viard (Polisse, Potishe, Paris) is, as always, perfect.

Time Out is a superb film because of the acting and the writing.  Director Laurent Cantet (2008’s popular The Class) co-wrote the screenplay with Robin Campillo.

Time Out is available on DVD and on Netflix streaming.  (I have not embedded the Miramax trailer because it, replete with swelling music from another film, makes the movie look heart-warming and  melodramatic, and it is neither.)

The Dreaded Mid-August at the Movies

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Usually mid-August is not very promising at the movies.  Distributors have already released the big summer movies and are holding their Oscar bait until autumn.  But I’m intrigued by a few upcoming films.

The French Beloved traces the lives of women over several decades and several cities.  It stars Catherine Deneuve, her daughter Chiara Mastroianni and, in a rare acting role, the great director Milos Forman.

2 Days in New York is Julie Delpy’s sequel to her 2 Days in Paris (in the vein of the superb Before Sunrise and Before Sunset), this time paired with Chris Rock.

In Premium Rush Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in a bike messenger thriller with Michael Shannon as the scary villain.

Red Hook Summer is Spike Lee’s contemporary film about Brooklyn, which he insists is NOT a sequel to his masterful Do the Right Thing.

Lawless is a violent crime movie set among Depression Era moonshiners.

The indie Compliance has been controversial at festivals, evoking both love and hate.  Inspired by true events, the employees of a fast food restaurant follow the over-the-phone instructions of someone who claims to be a cop – and enter dangerous territory.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.  Here’s the trailer for Compliance:

Movies to See Right Now

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Matthew McConaughey in KILLER JOE

Killer Joe is NC-17 for a reason and will either thrill or disgust you; that notwithstanding, it pops and crackles with excellent performances by Mathew McConaughey and Juno Temple.  Ruby Sparks is an hilariously inventive romance that probes whether realizing a fantasy can bring happiness.  The Intouchables is a crowd pleasing odd couple comedy – an attendance record breaker in France.

It’s worth seeking out the compelling documentary Searching for Sugar Man, about the hunt to uncover the secret fate of an artist that didn’t know that he was a rock star.  The same holds for Bill W., the story of the reluctant leader of a movement, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous.

The brilliantly made Louisiana swamp fable Beasts of the Southern Wild enters the life and imagination of a child and celebrates her indomitability. It’s on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

Farewell, My Queen is a lavishly staged and absorbing French drama of Marie Antoinette’s Versailles at the onset of the French Revolution; it features excellent performances and was shot at Versailles itself.

The wistfully sweet and visually singular Moonrise Kingdom is another must see, and it’s hanging around some theaters.  Adults will enjoy Brave, Pixar’s much anticipated fable of a Scottish princess, and it’s a must see for kids.

The Dark Night Rises is too corny and too long, but Anne Hathaway sparkles. Magic Mike has male stripping, but no magic.  The relationship drama 360, which opens this week, is a snoozer.

I haven’t yet seen the franchise thriller The Bourne Legacy with Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker).  You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is the American spy documentary, The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby.

Searching for Sugar Man: he didn’t know he was a rock star

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What a story!  A Detroit construction laborer named Sixto Rodriguez was also a singer-songwriter who cut two albums in 1970 and 1971.  The albums didn’t sell in the US, and he faded back into obscurity.  Yet in South Africa – completely isolated by the sanctions of the apartheid era – the artist known as Rodriguez became huge, and his songs fueled a protest movement.  Rodriguez never knew of his success, and South Africans believed that he had suffered a dramatic rock star death.  The powerful documentary Searching for Sugar Man is the story of some stubborn South African music geeks trying to find out what really happened to Rodriguez, and the startling truths that they uncovered.  (The title comes from Rodriguez’ most iconic anthem, the song Sugar Man.)

I have never seen a biographical documentary of a contemporary figure with less comment from the subject himself.  There is a brief filmed interview with the eccentric Rodriguez, who reveals very little of his perspective on his own story.  His songs can only be written by a reflective person, but Rodriguez is the farthest thing from self-absorbed.  Still, the interviews with his family, friends and fans and his songs help us feel like we know him.

It’s a flabbergasting and unpredictable story and well told.  It’s worth searching out Searching for Sugar Man.

Ruby Sparks: be careful what you ask for

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The inventive Ruby Sparks is about romance and it’s very, very funny, but it transcends the genre of romantic comedy.  A shy writer who has produced a great novel at an early age is now drifting,  his writing is blocked and he has isolated himself into a lonely existence.  He imagines his perfect love object, and he can suddenly write in torrents about her until…she becomes real.  Yes, suddenly he has a real life girlfriend of his own design.

This is everyone’s fantasy of a perfect partner – but what are the limits of a partner that you have designed yourself?  Because he can tweak her behavior by rewriting it, this brings up the adage “Be careful what you ask for”.  When he is threatened by her independence, he changes her personality on the page and she becomes unattractively clinging and needy.  Can his realized fantasy make him happy?

Paul Dano is outstanding as the writer and screenwriter Zoe Kazan (granddaughter of Elia Kazan) dazzles as his creation.   (Off screen, Kazan and Dano are a couple.)  Chris Messina is dead on perfect as the writer’s brother, and the film benefits from an especially strong cast:  Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Steve Coogan, Aasif Mandvi and Elliot Gould.  Ruby Sparks is ably directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the co-directors of another exceptional indie comedy, Little Miss Sunshine.

The biggest star in Ruby Sparks is Zoe Kazan’s ingenious screenplay.  It’s funny without being silly, profound without being pretentious, bright without being precious.  Every moment is authentic.  It’s clear that Kazan is a major talent as a screenwriter.

Bill W.: the reluctant founder of a movement

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The excellent documentary Bill W. tells the story of Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, and it’s quite a story.  We see Wilson’s own battle with the bottle, including a pivotal moment when he is about to enter a hotel bar in Akron, but instead decides “to call another drunk”.  The story follows his cobbling together what became the 12 step model and his keeping alive the AA movement in its early days.  But the most compelling story – and the heart of the film – is Bill Wilson.

Wilson was a reluctant movement leader.  His primary passion was for business, in which his drinking killed his potential success.  Instead, he achieved fame and historical importance in a field not of his choosing.  As the founder, he could have easily formed AA into a hierarchy with himself at the top – and AA as his personal power base.  But, once AA could stand on its own, he chose to walk away from its leadership.  His decision not to commercialize AA deprived himself of a millionaire’s lifestyle.

Producer and co-director Dan Carracino reminded the audience at my screening that the movie aims to tell the story of Bill Wilson, not to be an exhaustive history of AA.

Because Bill W. primarily uses historical film footage and photos for visuals, and the recorded voice of Wilson himself, along with talking heads who knew him, the audience gets a solid sense of his personality.  There are some visual re-enactments (of Wilson’s drinking days  and early AA meetings) that are successful because they are narrated by the real Bill W. himself.

I was fortunate to see the film in an audience that contained over 200 AA members, and they responded especially favorably to the film.  At its core, Bill W. tells a fascinating story, and I would recommend it for anyone.  Bill W. is being self-distributed with both special screenings and theater runs in various cities.

360: 11 characters plus 11 life choices equal 1 snoozer

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Eleven (count ’em, eleven) main characters traipse through Paris, London, Bratislava and Denver and each faces choice that can change the direction of a life.  Unfortunately, we don’t care that much about any of the characters and their stories aren’t that compelling or even original.  It’s not a bad movie, but the story (stories) make it a snoozer.

360 is otherwise well-made by acclaimed director Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardener) and well-acted by an international ensemble cast that includes Jude Law and Rachel Weisz (completely unrecognizable behind a full set of bangs).  The two most interesting characters are the father of a missing crime victim (Anthony Hopkins) and a convicted sex offender in a very fragile recovery (Ben Foster).  Foster (The Messenger, Rampart, 11:14) is one of my favorite actors, as is also Jemel Debbouze (Let It Rain, Angel-A, Amelie).  But even these actors can’t really punch up a story that isn’t there.

DVD/Stream of the Week: The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby

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William Colby was a daring saboteur in World War II, an effective espionage agent in the Cold War, an architect of an especially brutal aspect of the Vietnam War and, in the post-Watergate 70s, the nation’s top spy and the Director of Intelligence who made public the CIA’s historic misdeeds.  His son, Carl Colby, explores the man who lived that life in The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby (2011).

Carl Colby makes use of family photos and filmed interviews with Colby’s colleagues, rivals and observers beginning with his secret missions in WW II.  Chief of these is Barbara Colby, William’s wife of 39 years and Carl’s mother.  The talking heads also include the likes of James Schlesinger, Robert McFarland, Brent Scowcroft, Bob Woodward, Seymour Hersh and even Oleg Kalugin (the KGB’s chief spy in the US).  We also hear the White House audio of Colby, along with JFK, RFK and Averell Harriman, discussing the upcoming overthrow of Vietnam’s Diem government.

Carl Colby admires his father’s smarts, toughness, principles, physical bravery and compulsion to serve.  He also recognizes the impact that such devotion to duty has on family responsibilities.  “It’s a terrible thing to say, but sometimes I think I would have rather worked for him than be his son,” Carl said. “I would have been closer to him.”

Carl Colby interviewed his father’s second wife but did not use the footage in the film, and he did not interview his siblings.  As discussed in this Washington Post article, those family members disagree with the film’s portrayal of Colby as an absentee parent and a suicide victim.

But those are comparatively minor parts of the story. The most historically significant (and interesting) segments are:

  • Colby’s successful secret support of Italy’s Christian Democratic Party, resulting in election victories over the Italian Communist Party.
  • His inside view of the November 1963 anti-Diem coup in Vietnam (which Colby opposed).
  • His decision to resist the Ford Administration and lay bare the CIA’s “Family Jewels”, the past illegal activities, including assassination attempts and domestic surveillance.  Not surprisingly, the always smirking Don Rumsfeld, Henry Kissinger and Dick Cheney are the bad guys in this episode.

The Man Nobody Knew is available on DVD and on Netflix streaming.  Incidentally, it now #6 on my list of Longest Movie Titles, between Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? (1969) and Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996).

Movies to See Right Now

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Emile Hirsch, Gina Gershon, Thomas Haden Church and Juno Temple in KILLER JOE

Killer Joe, which opens this week, is NC-17 for a reason and will either thrill or disgust you; that notwithstanding, it pops and crackles with excellent performances by Mathew McConaughey and Juno Temple. 

The Intouchables is a crowd pleasing odd couple comedy – an attendance record breaker in France.

The brilliantly made Louisiana swamp fable Beasts of the Southern Wild enters the life and imagination of a child and celebrates her indomitability. It’s on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

Farewell, My Queen is a lavishly staged and absorbing French drama of Marie Antoinette’s Versailles at the onset of the French Revolution; it features excellent performances and was shot at Versailles itself.

Dark Horse is an engaging dramedy from writer-director Todd Solondz (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness); it has his trademark quirkiness, but without the trademark perversion.

The wistfully sweet and visually singular Moonrise Kingdom is another must see. Adults will enjoy Brave, Pixar’s much anticipated fable of a Scottish princess, and it’s a must see for kids. To Rome with Love is an amusing Woody Allen comedy, but not one of Woody’s masterpieces. If you really like Neil Young, then see Neil Young Journeys. The exceptionally popular The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is continuing its long run in second-run houses.

The Dark Night Rises is too corny and too long, but Anne Hathaway sparkles. Magic Mike has male stripping, but no magic.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is from Turkey, the long, enthralling and profound Once Upon a Time in Anatolia.  I must add that The Movie Gourmet is the only place where you can read about Killer Joe and Once Upon a Time in Anatolia in the same week!

Killer Joe: OMG

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Here’s a movie that will either thrill or disgust you. Either way, you sure ain’t gonna be bored.

In Killer Joe, Thomas Haden Church, Gina Gershon and Emile Hirsch play a white trash family with a get rich quick scheme.  They give a hit man (Matthew McConaughey) the teen daughter (Juno Temple) as a deposit.  They’re all as dumb as a bag of hammers, so what could go wrong?

Killer Joe was directed by William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist) and shot by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel (The Right Stuff, The Natural) in just 20 days.  These guys know how to tell a story, and Killer Joe pops and crackles.

Killer Joe is rated NC-17 for good reason and Friedkin accepts the rating without complaint.  Indeed, Killer Joe has its share of Sam Peckinpah style screen violence and an unsettling deflowering scene.  But the piece de resistance is an over-the-top sadistic encounter between McConaughey and Gershon involving a chicken drumstick,  at once disturbing and darkly hilarious.   But Sam Fuller and Quentin Tarantino would have loved it, and so did I.  Nevertheless, some viewers will feel like they need a shower after this movie.

The cast does a good job, but the picture really belongs to McConaughey and Temple.  McConaughey is currently recalibrating his career a la Alec Baldwin – he’s moving from playing pretty boys in the rom coms to taking meatier, more interesting roles.  He is both funny and menacing as Killer Joe (and I liked him in Bernie and Magic Mike, too).  I’m really looking forward to seeing him in Mud and The Paperboy.

The movie slowly makes Juno Temple’s character more and more central, until she takes command of the denouement.  Temple is always sexy (Kaboom and Dirty Girl), and here she is able to ratchet down her intelligence to play a very simple character, always exploited by others, who is finally empowered to take control.

I saw Killer Joe at a screening where Friedkin said that the screenwriter saw Juno Temple’s character as the receptacle for all feminine rage.  Friedkin himself sees it as a Cinderella story – just one where Cinderella’s Prince Charming is a professional killer.  hat’s all pretty deep sledding to me – I see Killer Joe as a very dark and violent comedy – kinda like In Bruges with twisted sex.