Heartbreak Ridge Review

Heartbreak Ridge (1986) *

James Carabatsos wrote a handful of mostly forgotten 1980s war films, the most pretentious of which was 1987's Hamburger Hill, one of a long line of Hollywood revisionist films about Vietnam. Carabatsos teamed up with actor/ director Clint Eastwood in what has to be Eastwood's worst film.

Heartbreak Ridge is the story of Gunnery Sgt. Highway (Eastwood), a tough as nails relic of the Vietnam era. Highway is a regular Audie Murphy, a Congressional Medal of Honor winner, and has row after row of combat decorations. He's also a hard ass- and in the 1980s Marine Corps this trait is apparently not in fashion.

What the film really is, is a polemical treatise against the perceived weakness of the Carter (read liberal) Administration. In the age of Reagan, everybody, including Hollywood seemed eager to drink the mighty American military resurgence Kool-Aid without giving it much thought.

What truly makes the film awful isn't the political message- even though it borders on propaganda. No, the film truly dates itself with the uppity black guy character of "Stitch" Jones agonizingly "acted" by Mario Van Peebles.

"Stitch" is always one misstep away from being lynched in the film. In fact, every time "Stitch" appears on screen, be it playing rock 'n roll at a biker bar, talking "jive" to roughnecks, or even wearing an earring in uniform (not allowed), the film seems to suggest that this type of person doesn't understand his place. It's off putting to say the least. Hispanics suffer the same level of derision, as Eastwood derides them for not Habla-ing English.

As an indictment on how ignorant mainstream America was in the 1980s when it came to depiction of race, Heartbreak Ridge serves its purpose. It's about as offensive as Birth of a Nation in that regard. Unfortunately, BoaN is an important film. Heartbreak Ridge? Not so much.

The Social Network

The Social Network: ***1/2

When I was eight, nine, or ten years old I went fishing with my grandfather and my great uncle. We took position on a bridge that had been closed and turned into a fishing pier. This is somewhere in the Tidewater region, I don't know where- I didn't fish much before or after this trip, so forgive me if I'm scarce with the details. What's important is that my great uncle caught a fantastic flounder right before we were to pack it up and head home. I had spent most of the day reluctantly catching croaker and not wanting to touch the damn things to throw them back. Fish always seem gross to me- like spiked fin cousins of serpents. But something changed when I caught sight of that flat bodied flounder. At no time during the day had I seen one of them come up. There was a general excitement about it. I thought that a school of them had just swam through the area and that I had no time to waste- so I cast my rod into the water below... well, that was the intention. In reality, I threw the rod, reel, everything into the water. I watched it slowly descend into the waves and vanish.

Social Network reminds me of that moment. Of seeing something great and wanting so bad to be part of it. I got home and checked facebook and looked at the about us page- typically the last place on the world wide web anybody would go. It seemed cool. As if every word was hand crafted for coolness. It made me feel invigorated. I clicked on the career opportunities section. That too was cool. And then I began to deflate. Just as I did when I launched that rod and reel into the sea.

It's a great adventure, seeing something fantastic happen in front of your eyes. It's amazing what people can do. I'm tired and I'm going to go to bed. I had a good time with The Social Network.

Close to definitive Metropolis coming to DVD/ BD

From Kino Lorber Press Release:

Metropolis takes place in 2026, when the populace is divided between workers who must live in the dark underground and the rich who enjoy a futuristic city of splendor. The tense balance of these two societies is realized through images that are among the most famous of the 20th century, many of which presage such sci-fi landmarks as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner. Lavish and spectacular, with elaborate sets and modern science fiction style, Metropolis stands today as the crowning achievement of the German silent cinema.

Kino International is proud to announce the DVD and long awaited first time ever Blu-ray release of the new restoration of Fritz Lang's 1927 science fiction masterpiece METROPOLIS, now with 25 minutes of lost footage and the original Gottfried Huppertz score. This new 147-minute version (being released as THE COMPLETE METROPOLIS), opened theatrically in April 2010 earning over $350,000 at the box office, and since it’s original restoration, has gone on to earn $1,000,000 in theatrical ticket sales!

When it was first screened in Berlin on January 10, 1927, the sci-fi epic ran an estimated 153 minutes. After its premiere engagement, in an effort to maximize the film's commercial potential, the film's distributors (UFA in Germany, Paramount in the U.S.) drastically shortened METROPOLIS, which had been a major disappointment at the German box office. By the time it debuted in the United States later that year, the film ran approximately 90 minutes (exact running times are difficult to determine because silent films were not always projected at a standardized speed).

METROPOLIS went on to become one of the cornerstones of science fiction cinema foreshadowing BLADE RUNNER and THE MATRIX to name just a few recent examples. Testament to its enduring popularity, the film has undergone restorations in 1984 and again in 1987. The 2001 restoration combined footage from four archives and ran at a triumphant 124 minutes. And at the time was widely believed that this would be the most complete version of Lang's film that contemporary audiences could ever hope to see. But, in the summer of 2008, the curator of the Buenos Aires Museo del Cine discovered a 16mm dupe negative that was considerably longer than any existing print. It included not merely a few additional snippets, but 25 minutes of "lost" footage (about a fifth of the film) that had not been seen since its 1927 debut in Berlin. The discovery of such a significant amount of material called for yet another restoration, carefully executed by Anke Wilkening of the Murnau Stiftung (Foundation) (the German institution that is the caretaker of virtually all pre 1945 German films), Martin Koerber, Film Department Curator of the Deutche Kinemateque and on the music side, by Frank Stoebel. Regarding the quality of the added footage Ms. Wilkening has said: "The work on the restoration teaches us once more that no restoration is ever definitive... Even if we are allowed for the first time to come as close to the first release as ever before, the new version will still remain an approach. The rediscovered sections which change the film's composition, and at the same time always be recognizable through their damages as those parts that had been lost for 80 years."

DVD ITEM#K690
UPC# 7 38329 06902 5
SRP: $29.95

DVD Features:

- Original 1927 score by Gottfried Huppertz, performed by the Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, Berlin, conducted by Frank Strobel presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround
- Limited Edition Collectible "O-Card" Packaging
- Voyage to Metropolis, a 50-minute documentary on the making and restoration of the film
- Interview with Paula Felix-Didier, curator of the Museo del Cine, Buenos Aires, where the missing footage was discovered
- 2010 re-release trailer

BLU-RAY ITEM#K713
UPC# 7 38329 07132 5
SRP: $39.95

Blu-ray Features:

- Original 1927 score by Gottfried Huppertz, performed by the Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, Berlin, conducted by Frank Strobel presented in DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
- Limited Edition Collectible 3-D Lenticuar Box Packaging
- HD Video: 1920 x 1080p
- Voyage to Metropolis, a 50-minute documentary on the making and restoration of the film (presented in HD)
- Interview with Paula Felix-Didier, curator of the Museo del Cine, Buenos Aires, where the missing footage was discovered
- 2010 re-release trailer

Drive-In Theaters: Past and Present

 A lot has changed in the way we watch movies. The concept of a Drive-In theater was invented by New Jersey businessman R. M. Hollingshead, whose Hollingshead theater stayed in business for just three years. This was long enough, however, for the concept to catch on and spread throughout the country- especially in rural America.

In the segregated south of 1947 "colored" patrons couldn't park next to the whites.

 The Drive-In phenomena hit its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, with over 4,000 screens across the United States. No doubt, this "date-friendly" venue helped spur America's love for 50s and 60s automobiles, and I'm sure those darkly lit social spaces played a keen role in causing the baby boom as well.
 I can remember seeing but a handful of movies (Annie, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Romancing the Stone, and Gremlins) at Richmond's Bellwood Drive-In, which was converted into a flea market in 1986. This 1,000+ car lot situated on 23 acres was a staple of the Richmond cultural scene since its construction immediately following the end of World War II.

Aerial photo of The Goochland Drive-In, Sandy Hook, VA

 The reason I bring this up, is I'm considering giving a the newly opened Goochland Drive-In a try. Opened in 2009, The Goochland Drive-In is advertised as being a family-run, family friendly Drive-In experience with tickets at $7.00 for adults and concessions for $3.50 and under. Sounds like a great bargain for the family. Who's up for a "night out"?

Chungking Express (1994) *** 1/2

Coming soon to an arthouse theater near you... in the year 1994.

 I've watched Chungking Express three times since it was released on Blu Ray by the Criterion Collection. It's a movie that is clearly better in its first segment, as Brigitte Lin steals the show as the woman in a blonde wig, a mysterious drug smuggling femme fatale who comes to the attention of love forlorn cop, He Zhiwu, played by Takeshi Kaneshiro.

 What really makes the film stand out, however, is Kar Wai's vision of Hong Kong. Immediately recognizable to the western viewer- with its city populated by bars, convenience stores, fast food chains and kiosks. The characters themselves really come to life in this setting, making their longing that much more immediate and believable.

In Chungking Express, even the women have a western look to them.

  My favorite scene in the film is the non-love scene between the Woman in a Blonde Wig and He Zhiwu. On the eve of He's 25th birthday, he meets the Blonde Wigged Woman at a bar. He approaches her with one of film's great pickup lines, "Do you like pineapple?"

 In the world Kar Wai creates here, time is both finite and limitless. While He's love for May has an expiration date, he romanticizes about a love that lasts forever. The Blonde Wigged Woman is walking a tightrope, trying to find runaway drug mules. For her time is ticking down, and she must negotiate the labyrinthine corridors of Hong Kong in a cat and mouse game pulled straight out of high-noir.

 The second half of the film features another cop, a nameless character known only by his badge number #663. played by the handsome, Tony Leung, and a quirky free-spirited girl, played by Faye Wong, who is saving her money to fly to California. This section of the film is punctuated by the Mamas and the Papas' song "California Dreaming". 

 Chungking Express is a Generation X love story, that is, specifically, a non-love story.  Kar Wai offers no assurances as to the outcomes for any of these characters, but does offer, for a brief moment, a sense of belonging and honest to goodness living life out loud. This is the best kind of feeling to get from a movie and I can't wait to go back.

Inception (2010) ****

Director: Christopher Nolan

You are looking at the poster of the best Sci-Fi film in 40 years.

 I'm not going to put forth a tired tract treatise on what makes for good sci-fi. Suffice it to say, Christopher Nolan's Inception is without a doubt the most human, terrifying, realistic, and improbable science fiction film to come out since Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. And whereas, from my point of view, Kubrick's vision of future exploration and rebirth in the Cosmos had a particularly human component, Nolan's Inception is an even more striking exposition into the human construct of the entire world in which we live.

 It's possible that this is the closest mainstream film has come to trying to explain string theory. Don't get me wrong, the film does not try to fill your head with new age techno-religious mumbo-jumbo. The Matrix this isn't, instead, this is a brilliantly conceived Reutersvärd staircase of a film has no beginning and no end. As the dream worlds reveal themselves one by one (and yes, it is my opinion that the entire film takes place in the midst of dreaming) you discover increasingly larger puzzles as the details disappear into whisper. By the time the film arrives at its great crescendo- in the midst of a crumbling, faceless water world of a city known as Limbo, we've had our M.C. Escher moments, our great moments of weightlessness, freightening glimpses into our darker selves, and haunting visits of our ghostly past. Think of it as the most awesome dream you ever had projected onto a 300 foot screen with booming surround sound.

 Casually, one may consider this film to be a heist movie. I leaned over to my wife and said at one point that the film reminded me of the mindfuck version of Ocean's Eleven. This aside- aside, I do not think of Inception as a heist movie at all. I do not believe that Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) ever leaves his dream state- the premise of his adventures are all technicolor chemical creations of his multi-layered dream world.

Everything's going to be alright. It's only a dream.

  Inception is such a multi-layered and multi-dimensional film, that I think it will be impossible to sort out every detail. Christopher Nolan, it is said, worked on the script for ten years. I can say that the pay off was worth the effort. In fact, Inception is so good, that it made me immediately wonder about another recent Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle, Shutter Island, where DiCaprio delves into the realm of surrealism and questionable narative trustworthyness. Compared side by side, Shutter Island comes across as amateur hour, which is big praise for Nolan.

 Inception's special effects are a marvel, but the true star is the culmination of well conceived story, believable acting, and a director that dreams big.

Barnes and Nobles 50% Off Criterion Collection Sale Starts July 14th.

Normally, I wouldn't shop at Barnes and Nobles for movies because they use retail+ pricing. Even their sales aren't sales when you factor in prices that are sometimes $20 higher than their competitors. But, Barnes and Nobles 50% Sale is another matter entirely. Even their over priced Wings of Desires ($49.99 in store - $33.99 online) will be a bargain at $25.00. 

I'm a recovering Criterion junkie that's parted ways with about half of my "collection" and even I'll be tempted to pick up a few Blu Rays (I have my eyes on Wages of Fear, Monsoon Wedding, Close Up, and Mystery Train).