Crisp Criticism - "A Cat in Paris", "Chico and Rita", "Lawless", "On the Road", "Killer Joe"

A Cat in Paris (2012/France)   **

In Paris, a cat who lives a secret life as a cat burglar's aide must come to the rescue of the little girl he lives with, after she falls into a gangster's clutches.

A trifle: a congenial animated comedy/thriller with a quaint charm to its simplistic animation. But one forgets it once it’s over.

wd – Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup Felicioli

pd – Jean-Loup Felicioli

m – Serge Besset

ed – Herve Guichard

p – Jacques-Remy Girerd

Cast: Dominique Blanc, Bernadette Lafont, Bruno Salomone, Jean Benguigui, Oriane Zani, Bernard Bouillon

Chico and Rita (2012/)   *

A young Cuban piano player falls for a beautiful nightclub singer.

A somewhat disappointing endeavour, marrying astute animation and a ripe style with dull characters and a duller story. Even the music seems deficient.

d – Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal, Fernando Trueba

w – Ignacio Martinez de Pison, Fernando Trueba

m – Bebo Valdes

ed – Arnau Quiles

p – Santi Errando, Cristina Huete, Martin Pope, Michael Rose

Cast: Limara Meneses, Eman Xor Oña, Mario Guerra

Lawless (2012/US)   **

A bootlegging gang in Franklin County, Virginia is threatened by a new deputy who wants a cut of their profits.

Although the narrative doesn’t flow as a whole, with missing beats, needless longueurs and unnecessary asides, this is an effective and gripping gangster picture that pleasantly goes for purity rather than irony.

d – John Hillcoat

w – Nick Cave   (Based on the Novel by Matt Bondurant)

ph – Denoit Delhomme

pd – Chris Kennedy

m – Nick Cave, Warren Ellis

ed – Dylan Tichenor

cos – Margot Wilson

p – Douglas Wick, Michael Benaroya, Megan Ellison, Lucy Fisher

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, Dane DeHaan

On the Road (2012/US/UK/Brazil/France)

A young writer, his free-spirited friend and the friend’s girl travel across America and encounter a mix of people who each impact them.

Fake, empty, dreary adaptation of Kerouac’s novel that never adheres to the desired charisma of its apparent time, setting and inhabitants because it’s too caught up with the imbecilic fashions of modern cinema, which include constant jump-cutting, celebrity cameos, naked flesh, murky photography and a nostalgic score. A complete failure.

d – Walter Salles

w – Jose Rivera   (Based on the Novel by Jack Kerouac)

ph – Eric Gautier

pd – Carlos Conti

m – Gustavo Santaolalla

ed – Francois Gédigier

cos – Danny Glicker

p – Charles Gillibert, Nathanaël Karmitz, Rebecca Yeldham

Cast: Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, Tom Sturridge, Danny Morgan, Alice Braga, Elisabeth Moss, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, Steve Buscemi, Terrence Howard, Marie-Ginette Guay

Killer Joe (2012/US)   **

When a debt puts a young man's life in danger, he turns to putting a hit out on his evil mother in order to collect the insurance.

A film that blatantly makes one question one’s own reaction to it, even on the simplest level of whether it is enjoyable or not. It contains savage repugnance, a fearless cast and some awkward lurches, with its stage origins intrusively obvious. More than anything, it is an example of the mastery of its director who, in his mid-seventies, is still finding new areas of the ocean to swim in.

d – William Friedkin

w – Tracy Letts   (Based on the Play by Tracy Letts)

ph – Caleb Deschanel

pd – Franco-Giacomo Carbone

m – Tyler Bates

ed – Darrin Navarro

cos – Peggy A. Schnitzer

p – Nicolas Chartier, Scott Einbinder

Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Gina Gershon, Thomas Haden Church, Marc Macaulay

Crisp Criticism - "Looper", "Taken 2", "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted"

Looper (2012/US)   ***

In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a hired gun awaits.

Violent, engrossing, highly impressive time-travel picture that finds ways to go in unexpected directions and surprises right up to the final scene. It is dynamically filmed.

wd – Rian Johnson

ph – Steve Yedlin

pd – Ed Verreaux

m – Nathan Johnson

ed – Bob Ducsay

cos – Sharen Davis

p – Ram Bergman, Jams D. Stern

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels, Paul Dano, Noah Segan, Piper Perabo, Pierce Gagnon, Garret Dillahunt, Qing Xu

Taken 2 (2012/US)

In Istanbul, a retired CIA operative and his wife are taken hostage by the father of a kidnapper he killed while rescuing his daughter.

Putrid piece of action cinema aimed at the lowest common denominator. No denominator could be this low.

d – Olivier Megaton

w – Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen

ph – Romain Lacourbas

pd – Sébastien Inizan

m – Nathaniel Mechaly

ed – Camille Delamarre, Vincent Tabaillon

cos – Pamela Lee Incardona

p – Luc Besson

Cast: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Leland Orser, Jon Gries, D.B. Sweeney, Luke Grimes, Rade Serbedzija

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012/US)  **

The four animals from the New York Zoo continue their journey trying to get back by disguising themselves as a travelling circus.

d – Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, Conrad Vernon

w – Eric Darnell, Noah Baumbach

pd – Kendal Cronkhite

m – Hans Zimmer

ed – Nick Fletcher

p – Mireille Soria, Mark Swift

Cast: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Tom McGrath, Frances McDormand, Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston, Martin Short, Chris Miller

Crisp Criticism - "Arbitrage", "Ruby Sparks", "Resident Evil: Retribution", "Hit and Run", "Bachelorette"

Arbitrage (2012/US)   *

A troubled hedge fund magnate desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire makes a calamitous error.

An interesting but customarily tame wall-street picture. It is a credit to Gere’s charisma that he makes a totally iniquitous character likeable.

wd – Nicholas Jarecki                                                                                             

ph – Yorick Le Saux

pd – Beth Mickle

m – Cliff Martinez

ed – Douglas Crise

cos – Joseph G. Aulisi

p – Laura Bickford, Justin Nappi, Robert Salerno, Kevin Turen

Cast: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Brit Marling, Laetitia Casta, Nate Parker, Stuart Margolin

Ruby Sparks (2012/US)

A novelist struggling with writer's block becomes infatuated with his new female character, whom he wills into existence.

A film with a script that thinks it originality incarnate; in reality, it merely steals the most original aspects of a mountain of other, better films.

d – Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris

w – Zoe Kazan

ph – Matthew Libatique

pd – Judy Becker

m – Nick Urata

ed – Pamela Martin

cos – Nancy Steiner

p – Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa

Cast: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Chris Messina, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Aasif Mandvi, Steve Coogan, Toni Trucks, Deborah Ann Woll, Elliott Gould, Alia Shawkat, Jane Anne Thomas

Resident Evil: Retribution (2012/US)

A resistance movement battles against a corporation of the undead.

Another in a puzzlingly successful series of action-horror films that are undoubtedly stylish yet never particularly interesting or intelligible.

wd – Paul W.S. Anderson

ph – Glen MacPherson

pd – Kevin Phipps

m – tomandandy

ed – Niven Howie

cos – Wendy Partridge

p – Paul W.S. Anderson, Jeremy Bolt, Don Carmody

Cast: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Michelle Rodriquez, Aryana Engineer, Bingbing Li, Doris Kodjoe, Johann Urb, Robin Kasyanov, Kevin Durand

Hit and Run (2012/US)

A former getaway driver jeopardizes his Witness Protection Plan identity in order to help his girlfriend get to Los Angeles.

A senseless, loud little movie told in ugly images and crass dialogue. Any evidential point is absent from the screen.

d – David Palmer, Dax Shepard

w – Dax Shepard

ph – Bradley Stonesifer

pd – Emily Bloom

m – Robert Mervak, Julian Wass

ed – Keith Croket

cos – Brooke Dulien

p – Andrew Panay, Nate Tuck, Kim Waltrip                         

Cast: Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Kristin Chenoweth, Tom Arnold, Bradley Cooper, Ryan Hansen, Beau Bridges, Michael Rosenbaum

Bachelorette (2012/US) *

Three friends are asked to be bridesmaids at a wedding of a woman they used to ridicule back in high school.

An extremely peculiar film, with a harsh, abnormal tone that is difficult to describe. Many of the characters motives are unclear, and their behaviour, ludicrously beastly. Despite this, the film remains funny throughout.

wd – Leslye Headland

ph – Doug Emmett

pd – Richard Hoover

m – Andrew Feltenstein, John Nau

ed – Jeffrey Wolf

cos – Anna Bingermann

p – Brice Dal Farra, Claude Dal Farra, Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Lauren Munsch

Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, James Marsden, Kyle Bornheimer, Rebel Wilson, Adam Scott, Ann Dowd

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012/US)

by Julien Faddoul

* 1 star

d – Benh Zeitlin

w – Benh Zeitlin, Lucy Alibar   (Based on the Play by Lucy Alibar)

ph – Ben Richardson

pd – Alex DiGerlando

m – Dan Romer, Benh Zeitlin

ed – Crockett Doob, Affonso Goncalves

cos – Stephani Lewis

p – Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn

Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry, Jonshel Alexander, Marilyn Barbarin, Kaliana Brower, Nicholas Clark, Henry D. Coleman

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a con-job. The con in question, however, is so exquisitely implemented and so deeply layered in cinematic philosophy that I can’t help but bow in respect to the con-artist in question for pulling the sting off. I am certain of this because of its reception. When the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, many felt they had witnessed a unique, magical and truly original piece of work. I see a cinematic achievement equal to that of a perfume commercial. I see an emperor without any clothes.

Strangely, I am somewhat repulsed by my own reaction to the film. I think this is because I sincerely believe that everyone concerned with the film made it with the best intentions. But one of the nasty sides of the miracle that is creation is the fact that one person’s innocence can snowball into a group's malevolence. Movies take such a long time to make that along the away self-interest and arrant egotism replace absorbed inspiration and artistic intent. This is a modern artistic attribute, at least in cinema. It is also characteristic of first-time filmmakers, as is the case with Benh Zeitlin, who directed, co-wrote and co-composed (at age 29). I understand and I sympathise. Making one’s first feature film is an incredibly daunting and fearsome undertaking and the manifestations of that can be dire. Artistic opportunism is a deadly, deadly sin that most of us have committed at one time or another. So, truly, I sympathise. Nevertheless, I was the one who got stuck with having to watch the movie, and my reaction is my reaction.

Set in the fictional section of New Orleans called "The Bathtub", the picture focuses on 6-year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhane Wallis). She is a striking figure, with her big head of hair and her little gumboots. She narrates the tale using her imagination for aggrandizement, such as conjuring up conversations with her mother, who is dead (or whatever). Hushpuppy's father Wink (Dwight Henry) is constantly preparing her for the end of the world. At one point, he simply disappears. It is later revealed that he is incredibly sick. (He has what I like to call "movie sickness", in which the only symptom is lethal coughing for no apparent reason). Then the rains come and the entire town floods. Wink and a few stubborn residents come together to help each other survive. The film is based on the play Juicy and Delicious by Lucy Alibar, who co-wrote the screenplay.

This con is an intensely elaborate one with many different sections. The first section is plagiarism. Not inspiration, not homage, but mere theft. To call this film original, which many have done, is profoundly shocking and quite disturbing to me. The list of films that Zeitlin borrows from include Days of Heaven, Whale Rider, The Color Purple, George Washington, Where the Wild Things Are, The Tree of Life, Aguirre, Wrath of God, The Shining, The Piano and, most importantly, every single film that Hayao Miyazaki has ever made. This section is Mr Zeitlin’s one piece of foolishness as a con-artist. The phrase “reminiscent of the works of” is a tired one, but nonetheless, apt.

The second section is the film’s political agenda, which for me, is contradictory to the emotions the film is attempting to convey. When Pauline Kael first saw American Beauty, she accused it of “sucking up to educated liberals at every plot turn”. I feel Mr Zeitlin’s film makes a point only when it is suitable emotionally. Only when it “feels” right. The rest of the time, it hides behind the unconscious bravado of ambiance and sub-stratospheric imageries. Any movie set in New Orleans nowadays must have a Hurricane Katrina element to it, and all the politics that are associated. Mr Zeitlin is careful not to mention anything specifically but we do see white city people trying to forcibly evacuate the residents of The Bathtub that wish to stay. The movie takes a side on this issue, whether it wants to admit it or not.

The third section is the emotion itself, which I found barely lucid and never earned. Mr Zeitlin seems adamant in displaying The Bathtub populaces as brave, life-loving survivors. Why? The film is not really interested in their culture, or in their heritage (whatever that would be). We instead get countless scenes of heavy drinking and hedonism incarnate. But, again, what for? Their reluctance to do anything rational is never really explored. If Mr Zeitlin wants us to see everything through Hushpuppy’s eyes then the drama embodied would contain less inertia and more ambivalence. Both are bad, but the latter less so.

The fourth section are the characters. Early in the film, Wink is shown treating his daughter with alternating cruelty and disregard. Later on, he seems almost over-protective of her, treating her with pure parental devotion. Nothing whatsoever occurs between these two states that would explain this. And when I say nothing, I mean not enough. The cast itself is entirely non-professional. Mr Henry is quite good in the role, as is Miss Wallis, who is forceful and assured, but their characters and their relationship seems half-baked. They behave and emote only when the theological passageway of the film dictates it. They lurch from one emotional high-point to the next, in an attempt to keep the audience on a bellowing verge, so you cry without really knowing why you're crying. This is also aided by the film’s score composed by the director and Dan Romer, much of which is quite lovely and extremely serpentine, as well as Hushpuppy’s narration, in which it is impossible to not be reminded of Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven. Well, maybe it’s not that impossible.

The fifth and final section is the mysticism, a requirement for any artistic con. Without revealing too much, the film contains a motif of a heard of beastly aurochs (hence the title) that are echoes of Hushpuppy’s imagination, and will later on be the guiding force of a blurring of fantasy-reality that occurs for Hushpuppy. This motif is about nothing. It is aimless mysticism that thrusts the film from experimental failure to arty rot. Of the entire con, this is Mr Zeitlin’s most egregious and unforgivable sin.

Beasts of the Southern Wild doesn’t tell its story, it sells it. It is just as much a product as Twilight or Transformers, and it sells its product as good as any commercial would. The only difference is the market that it is being sold to, which in this case is highbrow film lovers, most of whom are apparently as senseless as anyone else. Mr Zeitlin is an extremely, extremely smart young man who has left me in a state of frozen admiration. He has pulled-off this con superbly and will go on to receive accolades from critics and audiences alike.