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“PROJECT NIM”: Monkey business

July 29, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

“PROJECT NIM” My rating: B+ (Opening July 29 at the Glenwood Arts)

93 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

We humans are an arrogant lot. Exhibit A is James Marsh’s “Project Nim,” a devastating documentary about a monkey.

Not just any monkey, but a chimp named Nim who in the mid-70’s was the celebrated subject of an experiment  in primate intelligence and the eternal question of nature vs. nurture.

Shortly after his birth in an Oklahoma primate research facility, Nim was taken from his sedated mother and given to a wealthy New York family to raise as their own child.

The creator of this experiment, Columbia University psychologist Herbert Terrace, wanted to see if a chimpanzee reared as a human could learn to speak in sign language. How great would it be if an animal could tell us what it’s thinking and feeling?

Continue Reading »

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“THE DOUBLE HOUR”: Brain teaser in Turin

July 28, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

“THE DOUBLE HOUR”  My rating: B (Opening July 29 at the Tivoli)

95 minutes | No MPAA rating

Brain teasers don’t get much more gnarly than “The Double Hour,” an Italian thriller that will leave you not knowing if you’re coming or going.

It begins with a speed dating session in which Guido (Filippo Timi), a hunky ex-cop, meets Sonia (Ksenia Rapport), a red-headed hotel maid. He has a history of seducing women he meets at these events, but the shy Sonia, who seems to be nursing a quiet hurt, appeals to his romantic side.

After a couple of dates he decides to show her his job as the lone security guard at a sprawling estate whose millionaire owner is rarely at home. He turns off the high-tech security equipment so that he and Sonia can have the grounds to themselves.

Their romantic tryst is interrupted by masked thugs who hold the lovers captive while they strip the place of its priceless art. One of the crooks tries to molest Sonia, Guido springs to the rescue and…. Continue Reading »

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“A LITTLE HELP”: Widowhood and womanhood

July 26, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

Daniel Yelsky and Jenna Fischer in "A Little Help"

“A LITTLE HELP”  My rating: C+ (Now playing at area theaters)

115 minutes | MPAA rating: R

I’ve a soft spot for Jenna Fischer, whose girl-next-door blend of beauty and non-threatening sexuality has helped keep TV’s “The Office” percolating nicely for several seasons.

Fischer gets a rare leading role in “A Little Help,” a dour comedy about a recent widow trying without much success to get her life back on track. This low-keyed affair from writer/director Michael J. Weithorn, alternately sad and a bit absurd, is perfectly watchable without really making a big impression.

Laura (Fischer) is a wife, mother and dental hygienist who suspects her husband Bob (Chris O’Donnell) is having a fling with his secretary. All she really knows for sure is that she and Bob haven’t had sex in months and she’s feeling a bit frantic. Continue Reading »

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Commentary: Art? Commerce? Indifference?

July 26, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

Every now and then one of the big exhibition chains decides it wants to get into the art film business.

The truth is that they really don’t want to — it’s way too much work for too little money — but they insist on doing so, anyway.

And usually botch the job.

In Kansas City it’s typical for an artsy title to debut at one of our long-established indy theaters — the Tivoli or one of the Fine Arts or Screenland outlets — and if it draws a huge crowd on opening weekend, then the big chains will take notice and demand a run on one of their screens for the second or third week.

Otherwise the exhibition gorillas really don’t have much use for cinema esoterica. They’re selling Big Macs, not handcrafted chocolates.

Still, they continue to make halfhearted stabs. Maybe they’re afraid of being thought of as mercenary cinema philistines and want to be able to say, “Look, we’re showing a classy movie here.”

Naaaaaaah. Continue Reading »

Posted in Deep thoughts...maybe, KC Film Scene | Tagged , , | 11 Comments »

“CAPTAIN AMERICA”: Corny in all the right ways

July 22, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

“CAPTAIN AMERICA” My rating: B  (Opening wide on July 22)

125 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

Just when it seemed the whole comic book/superhero thing had burnt itself out in a conflagration of too much money and not enough inspiration, along comes “Captain America: The First Avenger” to make us remember why these movies can be so much fun.

“Captain America” is corny in all the right ways. It’s tongue-in-cheek funny, touching when it needs to be, warmly nostalgic and it perfectly captures its WW2 setting. Continue Reading »

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“TROLLHUNTER” : Trolling for drollery

July 22, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

“TROLLHUNTER” My rating: B- (Opening July 22 at the Screenland Crossroads)

90 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

The Norwegian “TrollHunter” purports to be footage left behind by members of a college film crew who have mysterious vanished.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

Actually, André Øvredal’s film, an amusing mashup of elements from “The Blair Witch Project” seasoned with a bit of “Men in Black,” is a lot more entertaining than you’d expect given its by-now-cliched premise.

Maybe it’s the way the film wields its uber-dry sense of humor, presenting with a straight face thoroughly fanciful, nay, absurd notions.

Our student filmmakers are on-camera interviewer Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen), sound girl Johanna (Johanna Morck) and cameraman Thoms (Glenn Erland Tosterud…who is heard but rarely seen for obvious reasons).

As the movie starts they are trying to do an expose about wildlife deaths in rugged fiord country. There are rumors of rapacious poachers, and the three fledgling moviemakers  think they have a suspect in a bearded, middle-aged guy who drives a beat-up all-terrain vehicle and tows a mobile home that gives off an unidentifiable reek. Continue Reading »

Posted in Art house fare, Popcorn movies | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment »

“PAGE ONE”: The Old Gray Lady ain’t what she used to be…

July 22, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

David Carr...defending the honor of the New York Times in "Page One"

“PAGE ONE”  My rating: B  (Opens July 22 at the Glenwood Arts)

88 minutes: MPAA rating: R

The recent woes of print journalism are front and center in “Page One,” a documentary for which director Alex Rossi  spent a year observing the inner workings of our greatest newspaper, The New York Times.

Although it remains America’s most successful daily, the old gray lady nevertheless is struggling to stay economically viable in an era when the internet and other free sources of news have cut badly into both her advertising revenue and her once-exclusive position as the ultimate source of information on current events.

And if things are bad for the unassailable Times, imagine what it’s like for other papers.

(I personally could tell you a few tales of woe…but, no, that’s for another day.) Continue Reading »

Posted in Art house fare, Documentaries | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Newspaper Days: Ken Paik — Bigger than life. And cruder, too.

July 19, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

For a Korean, Ken Paik was a very big guy…about six feet tall, I think.

I’m not sure about that. It’s possible that he was only, say, 5-9 and just seemed taller because of the way he filled the space around him.

Ken, who died a few years back after a long career in journalism, was one of the most outrageous personalities I’ve encountered in an industry that thrived on the outlandish.

Robert Butler and Ken Paik in Valdez, Alaska, 1974

He was already a staff photographer for the Kansas City Star when I started working there and over the years we were often teamed for big assignments. I always found these pairings…er, educational.

In those days newspaper photographers had a reputation for over-the-top behavior (it’s no coincidence that the photographer on the “Lou Grant” TV show was called “Animal”) and Ken lived up to the best traditions of his trade.

Continue Reading »

Posted in Reveries | Tagged , , , | 22 Comments »

Our indie film avatar: John Shipp

July 18, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

John Shipp: film peddler

“THE FILM PEDDLER”  (Playing at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 22, at the Screenland Crown Center.)

I’ve known John Shipp for more than 30 years, but it took this lighthearted, utterly charming documentary for me to truly appreciate the guy.

In recent years Shipp has been known as a film booker and as a moving force in Kansas City FilmFest, the Film Society of Greater Kansas City and CinemaKC.

But this film, made by his nephews, Devin and Shannon Kelley (their first effort, and it’s a keeper), opened my eyes to Shipp’s wildly colorful backstory.

More than four decades ago, we’re informed, Shipp became the youngest MGM branch manager ever. But working for a big company wasn’t precisely what this ambitious guy was looking for.

Shipp wanted to be his own boss. And he more or less created Continue Reading »

Posted in Documentaries, KC Film Scene | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments »

DVD reviews: A kick in the zonads, no walk in the park

July 16, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

"Zonad"...it's not another "Once"

“Zonad” (Now available)

Everybody who follows pop music has heard of the one-hit wonder.

Same thing can happen in movies.

A couple of years back Irish filmmaker John Carney had an international hit with “Once,” a modest mini-musical about a Dublin street busker who falls for an immigrant girl.

They end up making beautiful music together…so beautiful that “Once” won the Oscar for best original song.

I loved “Once”; thought it may have been the year’s most satisfying film.

But Carney’s followup, just out on DVD, suggests that “Once” was indeed a one-time-only deal.

Continue Reading »

Posted in New on DVD | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment »

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