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“WINTER IN WARTIME” : Chilly scenes of occupation

May 23, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

"Winter in Wartime"

“WINTER IN WARTIME”    My rating: B

103 minutes | Rated R | Dutch with subtitles.  

A child’s simplified view of right and wrong is shattered in “Winter in Wartime,” a snowbound drama from the Netherlands.

Elsewhere in Europe WWII is still raging, but in the town where young Michiel (Martijn Lakemeier) lives the horrors are far away.

Still, Michiel hates the occupying Germans and is contemptuous of his father Johan (Raymond Thiry), the local mayor who spends much time trying to smooth over prickly relations between the Nazis and resentful residents. Johan wants only to ensure the survival of his people, but Michiel views him as a cowardly collaborator.

Far more worthy of emulation, he believes, is his Uncle Ben Continue Reading »

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“MEEK’S CUTOFF” : Finding their way…or just lost?

May 23, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

“MEEK’S CUTOFF”  My rating: B-

1:44 | Rated PG     

In her minimalist features “Old Joy” and “Wendy and Lucy,” filmmaker Kelly Reichardt quietly explored relationships among unremarkable individuals in contemporary America.

In “Meek’s Cutoff” she takes the same lightly-plotted approach with the members of a small wagon train slogging along the Oregon Trail in the 1840s.

“Meek’s,” which might be described as a proto-Western, is a daring change of pace, one that has a big payoff intellectually but less of one emotionally and narratively.

The three married couples that make up the tiny caravan are being led by Meek Continue Reading »

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Blu-ray discs for Dad’s day

May 22, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

Richard Harris gives his all for love in "A Man Called Horse"

The Duke, Josey Wales, Sean Connery, a dude called Horse and Henry Fonda at his most bad-assedness…screw neckties, now you can get Dad something he’ll really like for Father’s Day.

That’s because the home entertainment industry has unleashed a slew of classic manly movies for the first time on Blu-ray…and some of them are killer.

Let’s start with the least impressive and work our way up.

CBS Home Video has just come out with Blu-rays of the John Wayne’s “Rio Lobo” and the Richard Harris hit “A Man Called Horse,” both from 1970. Continue Reading »

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Gibson agonistes

May 21, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

Mel Gibson: good guy beloved of coworkers...or raging sphincter?

There’s a scene in Martin Scorsese’s “Mean Streets” (1973) in which the Italian American protagonist, Charlie (Harvey Keitel), holds his hand over a candle flame, testing whether he’ll be able to endure the fires of damnation that he is sure await him.

Mel Gibson has been doing the same thing — metaphorically speaking — throughout his career.

The actor is a curious case, a man who for years was widely regarded as a swell fellow, bon vivant, clever cutup and God’s gift to women. And yet there’s a darkness beneath his capering that comes through loud and clear in his movies.

Has any other actor so frequently used his films to probe his terror of  hell, an eternity of both physical and emotional anguish?

Continue Reading »

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“COST OF A SOUL”: Angst in Philly

May 20, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

 “COST OF A SOUL”   My rating: B-

Rated R

In “Cost of a Soul” first-timer pretentiousness battles with terrific performances and a fantastic sense of atmosphere. In the end the good stuff outweighs the sketchy stuff.

Sean Kirkpatrick’s Philly-lensed crime drama (opening May 20 in KC at the Independence 20) is the winner of the first Big Break movie contest sponsored by Rogue Pictures and AMC theaters. It suggests a real talent at work.

Chris Kerson in "Cost of a Soul"

At heart it’s a coming-home story about two Iraq veterans, one black, one white.

DD (Will Blagrove) returns to his inner city home determined to live a straight life. Easier said than done, since his older brother is a biggie on the local drug scene. The best DD can hope for is to keep his impressionable younger brother out of the life.

The more interesting story follows Tommy Continue Reading »

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“PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES”: Yo Ho Ho…zzzzzzzzzz

May 19, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

“PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES”  My rating: C

137 minutes | PG-13

“On Stranger Tides,” the fourth entry in Disney’s phenomenally profitable “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, is at least an improvement over the last two sequels.

It’s still not a particularly good movie (though it remains hugely impressive from a technical standpoint) but at least it didn’t make me want to pound a handspike into my forehead.

“Pirates” 2 and 3 were runaround movies in which the principal players would first run over here, then run over there without a whole lot of reason. Basically director Gore Verbinski was mounting special effects extravaganzas in which plot and characters were a distant afterthought.

Now helmed by Rob Marshall (who followed up on his smash “Chicago” with the dismal “Memoirs of a Giesha” and “Nine” and badly needs a commercial hit), the franchise has jettisoned Continue Reading »

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Ward, I’m worried about the Beaver

May 19, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

“THE BEAVER”  My rating: B- 

91 minutes | PG-13

Adore him or abhor him, Mel Gibson is the reason to see Jody Foster’s “The Beaver.”

As Walter Black, a toy company executive sliding into a paralyzing world of depression, Gibson registers a degree of mental anguish that is shocking.

In his eyes there is so much hurt, fear and weary resignation that your first impression is that his recent public humiliations (drunken driving, anti-Semitic remarks, crazy violent telephone rants to the mother of his youngest child) have done a devastating number on the formerly cocky movie heartthrob.

Here’s another explanation: Maybe Gibson is just a really good actor.

Continue Reading »

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“THOR”: Bard-ism for Boobs

May 17, 2011 by butlerscinemascene

There’s absolutely no reason why any of us must see “Thor,” the latest Marvel Comics big-screen adaptation.

The good news is that if you do see it, there’s no harm done.

This is a surprisingly effective (I’m tempted to call it smart) addition to the superhero canon, a moderate success for a most unlikely filmmaker:  Kenneth Branagh.

The Irish-born Branagh, of course, is the theatrical wiz kid who burst upon the cinema scene with his terrific “Henry V” back in 1989 and who has periodically created and/or appeared in other Shakespearean films, among them “Othello,” “Hamlet” and “Much Ado About Nothing.”

His non-Bard movies, on the other hand, have been flops. While Branagh has proven himself a valuable supporting player in a variety of worthwhile films (“Rabbit Proof Fence,” the Harry Potter franchise), his credibility as a filmmaker for years has been on the skids. Continue Reading »

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