Consenting Adults: David Gordon Green's Snow Angels

David Gordon Green's first two pictures, George Washington and All the Real Girls, were so good it was only a matter of time before the magic would begin to wear off. Those movies were uncommonly realistic slice-of-life portraits, the reason for their success due to the painfully authentic characters and the way Green (and cinematographer Tim Orr) captured the way a small town atmosphere can effect the people who reside there. His third movie, Undertow, still maintained the visual beauty but lost the rest due to a plot that was too heavy handed for its own good. You can sense Green really trying to get back to where he was in the beginning with his fourth effort, Snow Angels, but while his other movies dealt mostly with adolescents, this one also focuses on adult relationships.

The idea I found most appealing here involves how the teenage characters respond to the dysfunctional interaction between the adults. This is mostly observed through the eyes of Arthur (Michael Angarano, excellent), a young man awkwardly experiencing love for the first time in his life. We see skepticism in his actions when Lila (Olivia Thirlby, also excellent) first comes on to him, which makes sense given that his parents have just separated and then shortly after, Arthur sees his father (Griffin Dunne) with another woman. Naturally, he is angry and confused. But that doesn't stop him from trying to find a connection with Lila in hopes he won't mimic his father's behavior. There's an incredibly sweet scene where Lila sleeps over and Arthur brings her breakfast in bed.

Arthur and Lila's scenes are the highlight of Snow Angels, without question. Each moment between them has a tenderness that's missing from most movies about young love. If there's a problem here, it's that we know from Green's earlier pictures that he is capable of pulling off this material well. It's when he gets into the territory of the adults that he really falters. Look, for instance, at the scene where Arthur's father tells his wife (Jeanetta Arnette) he's leaving her. The actors give it all they've got, but the dialogue sounds like the stuff you'd expect to hear on a soap opera. Same goes for Arthur's conversations with his father after the separation. Instead of really trying to show the emotional wounds these two have, we're forced to settle for the same old harsh realizations. At least he fares better with his mother, who is genuinly enthused when she finds out her son had overnight female company (she's equally proud and jealous that her son "got some").

If the troubles between his parents weren't enough, Arthur also has to deal with a marital battle between his former babysitter, Annie (Kate Beckinsale), and her nutjob of a husband, Glenn (Sam Rockwell). She is trying to make it as a single mom by waitressing, while he gets drunk a lot, makes threats, and prays to God. Glenn is aggressively trying to win Annie back, but she won't have it. Besides, she's too busy screwing her friend Barb's (Amy Sedaris, solid) husband (a cartoonish Nicky Katt), not realizing of course that she's destroying someone else's marriage. Thanks (or no thanks, really) to Glenn, most every scene between he and Annie is a piece of overcooked melodrama, whether it involves Glenn trying to give Annie pictures of their daughter or him taking her to dinner. If the dialogue has a stale ring to it, the phony tension is elevated a few levels too high due to Rockwell's rickety performance.

I'm not sure what Sam Rockwell was going for here. I know he can play unstable well (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind being the greatest example), so it's rather disheartening to see a such a genuine talent try so hard to earn sympathy and fail. On the flipside, Kate Beckinsale is terrific as Annie. Since she basically upstages Rockwell in every scene they share, it only makes the flaws of his performance stand out even more. It's strangely fascinating to watch them onscreen together since they are never able to strike a comfortable balance. What I mean is, it's crucial for the audience to believe these two people have a real past together, and yet I never got that impression. I honestly felt like their relationship did not exist until their introduction in this movie, an issue that could only have been resolved had a different actor been cast as Glenn.

Annie and Glenn are sadly supposed to act as the movie's anchor. Because of this, I had a difficult time being optimistic about whether or not it was going to get any better. The picture's not boring; there's just very little human interest when you take out the teenage love story. Annie and Glenn's problems build first to a tragic climax, which is meant to pave the way to the shocking conclusion. Both stages are handled as if they're afterthoughts, particularly when referring to the final scenes. Snow Angels strains too hard to earn the ending it chooses; sure, we can see it pushing in that direction, but there's hardly any reason to care once it finally arrives at the intended destination. The events function as plot devices, conveniently plugged in just so the movie can jump at the chance to pull the audience's strings before the lights go up.

Green and Orr have made a visually stunning movie that works overtime to cover the weaknesses in the script. The snowy landscape is shot as a place of constant mystery and fear, and while there are moments where the audience can almost feel the chill, it only resonates to the fullest extent during a scene where Arthur makes a discovery at a frozen pond. Despite the movie's visual appeal, Green often distracts from it with a number of puzzling shots where the camera simply wanders off into nothingness. More than anything, it feels like a cheap attempt to do something artistic. These moments truly frightened me, because they made me worried that the once promising Green is running out of profound and insightful things to say (his next movie, Pineapple Express, did not improve matters). The fact he's been chosen to direct the remake of Suspiria holds a bit of anticipation that maybe, just maybe, he'll be able to find his way again.


Thank you for visiting Hell and Beyond!


Copyright, Hell and Beyond, 2008

No Flesh Shall Be Spared: Richard Stanley's M.A.R.K. 13 (aka Hardware)

I saw Hardware for the first time right when it debuted on home video. I was probably fourteen years old and needless to say, it scared the shit out of me. Since VHS movies were not available for purchase until they had been out a while, I was forced to make a copy of the one I had rented, which I proceeded to wear out. At the point of its release, I had never seen anything quite like Hardware before; the look of it fascinated me, as did the bizarre characters, and the climatic suspense continued to unnerve me with each viewing. The picture was ignored when it came out in the fall of 1990; sadly, most folks labeled it as a rip off of The Terminator. I heard for years that there was an uncut version floating around, different mostly because it restored the gore removed from the U.S. cut. Thanks to Ebay, I acquired a copy; in other words, I paid $15 for a cheap bootleg.

To this day I still haven't seen the movie, called M.A.R.K. 13 overseas, in its original widescreen format (one can only hope Anchor Bay will eventually rescue it). I guess it hasn't bothered me too much because watching it on DVD with a crappy full screen transfer is the way I grew up with it (don't get me wrong...I'd still love to see it restored and reformatted). Re-visiting M.A.R.K. 13 for the first time in a number of years was a rewarding and odd experience. It's not scary anymore, but it does still manage to provide a number of solid jolts, due mainly to writer/director Richard Stanley's effective camera setups. Interesting he's able to get so much mileage out of the action considering the camera hardly moves at all. There are a good number of current directors who could benefit from studying Stanley's work.

Richard Stanley is definitely a better director than he is a writer. The dialogue and basic story of M.A.R.K. 13 (apparently based on a comic book called "Shok") are quite routine and empty of surprises, but Stanley is so gifted with his visual storytelling it's sometimes hard to notice. There are some apparent themes flowing throughout the piece, some of them well handled while others are a bit confusing. The movie sets up its obsession with eyes at the opening when it shows a closeup of the heroine's face, eyes closed. In a sense, this is an early indicator she's going to survive, given that the characters' need to see things is what ultimately leads to their deaths. Even more crucial though, is the fact that many of the movie's victims all have a desire to look at bare flesh, an idea that can tie in with the Bible verse that shares the picture's title.

Flesh is a dangerous thing in M.A.R.K. 13, not just in a voyeuristic context, but also in regards to how much of it gets pierced and destroyed. A key image in the picture shows Moses (Dylan McDermott, in a role originally intended for Bill Paxton!) in the shower with his girlfriend, Jill (Stacey Travis). One of his hands is made of metal, and when it starts to explore her body, the camera moves in to capture how rough the texture of the hand is on her skin. Equally as thorny is the fact the first thing the movie's killer, a robot, sees when its eyes open is two people having sex. It's at this moment that we realize how strong the eyes/flesh/metal dynamic is going to be. Virtually every metal object in the movie is given a phallic shape, especially when pertaining to the robot's weapons (in one scene, the robot stalks the heroine and it literally looks like it's going to rape her to death with a drill).

The picture features several shots of characters staring into the eyes of the robot, each one shown from the latter's POV. It's as if the robot is as uncomfortable at being stared at as the humans are, a theory that develops relevance when Jill's neighbor (William Hootkins), a disgusting and slimy pervert who spies on her through a long, phallic telescope, comes over to her apartment and notices her blinds are closed. He naturally re-opens them, the resulting punishment occurring when the robot gouges his eyes out. In the end, the only character to not suffer is Shades (John Lynch), Moses's friend. First off, he wears sunglasses, and when the light does make his eyes visible, they're closed. Also worth noting is the scene where Moses and Jill reunite. They begin to get intimate, but instead of sticking around to see what happens, Shades wisely leaves and locks the door behind him.

Amidst the absorbing subtext is a story not worth caring about. The movie takes place in a post apocalyptic wasteland where all the buildings are either factories or power plants and metal is the greatest commodity. Of course, the city is surrounded by endless miles of desert, known here as "the zone," and the few people who make a living do it by selling scraps or sculpting metal parts together. Moses buys a bag full of robot parts from a creepy drifter as gift for Jill, not knowing of course that his newly acquired prize is a failed government experiment capable of reassembling itself and causing total chaos. Aside from being armed with a number of weapons, the robot also carries deadly substances in its fingertips. If that's not enough, there's also a good bit of talk about a new population control plan that's supposed to keep people from having children (the robot, as expected, is the answer to this problem).

The movie attempts to cover up the familiarity of its setup with critiques on America and religious imagery. Moses plays himself up as a military hotshot, complete with big guns and a menacing knife. In his eyes, this makes him superior to Jill, and he treats her as if she is incapable of taking care of herself. At one point, he makes it known that he is "divinely protected" due to his military involvement, a statement that is seen as naive given his fate. The American flag is referenced when Jill decides to spray paint it on the robot's head. It's a disturbing image, especially since the movie is saying this non-discriminatory killing machine is a representation of the flag plastered across its face.

The religious undertones are hard to pin, as they never seem to have any real context. Sure you could say the state of the world hints at the absence of God's presence, but that's as deep as it gets. The robot is named M.A.R.K. 13 after a Bible verse, which Moses reads out loud at one point, but it's simply used as a mirror for a man made creation. Inexplicably, Jill and the robot as both shown in Christ poses, Moses has an injury in the center of his hand before he dies, and, in the same scene, the robot takes on a God like stature complete with rays of light coming from behind it (which I'll make another point about in a moment). All these scenes are visually arresting, although it's hard to connect with them if they're in the movie simply for show.

The action is remarkably tense thanks in part of Steven Chivers's cinematography. The whole picture is shot in a dark red tone that is so bland it feels like color is a luxury the world can no longer afford. Given that most of the movie takes place in Jill's sparse apartment, it's a wise decision, more than anything because it makes it difficult to see where the robot is hiding. There are a number of standout sequences between Jill and the robot, but nothing tops the surreal sequence where Moses is dying. In addition to a series of trippy hallucinations (which could help explain why the robot looks Christ like), there's a surprisingly effective moment in which Moses comes to terms with the consequences for his decisions.

There's hardly a moment of M.A.R.K. 13 that doesn't hold some kind of appeal (it helps that almost every scene is accompanied by a terrific music score courtesy of Simon Boswell). For a movie that doesn't really unleash it's threat until an hour in, it does a credible job holding our attention. It's a unique experience to say the least, a movie that wasn't given a fair shot because of its subject matter and, I would guess, its micro budget ($1.5 million). It's no wonder given the treatment of this picture and his follow up, the also underestimated Dust Devil, that director Richard Stanley has stuck to documentary filmmaking ever since. The latter was butchered by it's American distributor, Miramax (need I say more?), and with that in mind, it's also worth throwing in that two of the producers of M.A.R.K. 13 were Bob and Harvey Weinstein! As we've seen with newcomer Greg McLean (Wolf Creek, Rogue), they are good at screwing over real talent. Even if Richard Stanley never makes another piece of fiction, at least we have this to remind us what could have been.


Thank you for visiting Hell and Beyond!


Copyright, Hell and Beyond, 2008

A Splendidly Dark Summer

After a lousy winter and spring at the movies, the summer slate kicked things into high gear and provided a season at least on par with the crop from last year. I was awestruck by how many movies I was enjoying, many of which were receiving chilly reception from major critics (I still can't believe so few of them embraced Get Smart). Reading reviews this summer helped me realize just how lame film criticism is getting; instead of focusing on the smart, daring pictures, most of the praise went to easy, safe ones. Not that those aren't fun; it's just sad to see how lazy the critical taste is becoming.

The best movies of the summer for me were the ones that succeeded at being more than just an average blockbuster. They were all marketed that way, but I'll be damned if they each didn't aim to do more than simply provide the audience with visceral thrills. I have chosen five movies to single out, although I could have picked ten. When it comes to a list representing a season, the shorter list feels more appropriate. So here's to a terrific summer, one that hopefully has paved the way to an even better fall lineup.

5) Hellboy II: The Golden Army dir. Guillermo Del Toro

An experience of endless imagination, Hellboy II takes the ground laid by the first movie and shoots it to the heavens. Ron Perlman is even better than he was the last time, but the real pleasures of the picture are all the little touches. Del Toro fills the movie with jaw dropping visuals, memorable supporting characters, and at least three inspired moments of comedy. He's a classic storyteller, and Hellboy II is proof that he was the ideal choice to bring on board for The Hobbit. I'm almost disappointed he's been distracted, since Del Toro has already announced plans to do a third chapter. Patience can be a bitch.

4) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull dir. Steven Spielberg

Critics and fans complained and complained about how it wasn't what they were hoping for after all these years, which leaves me with one question: what were they expecting? The picture has Harrison Ford, who at sixty-six can still kick ass like he's thirty-three. There's plenty of action, staged as breathlessly as anything Spielberg has done. And then there's the screenplay, which is sprinkled with a startling amount of memorable dialogue about aging and the theories behind god and higher beings. While I can agree some of the CGI stands out, I appreciate the movie's intentions enough that it barely made an impression. My second favourite entry in the series behind Raiders.

3) Hancock dir. Peter Berg

It made a shitload of money, but nobody was talking about it and I don't understand why. Hancock is a movie full of ambitious ideas, with most of them executed in a way that's not only entertaining, but also profound. Will Smith is the best he's ever been in a role that couldn't have been played by anyone else, and if some of the special effects are lacking, director Peter Berg's effortless dedication to the material makes it a worthless argument. The picture is, aside from being a sly take on the superhero genre, a bold look at romance and race in modern day America. Like Berg's other movies, it'll only be a matter of time before audiences finally realize how genius his work truly is.

2) Tropic Thunder dir. Ben Stiller

It's been many years since a movie made me laugh as loud as Tropic Thunder, Ben Stiller's merciless Hollywood satire. The casting is half the genius, from Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise's brilliant disguises to Matthew McConaughey and Nick Nolte's subtle nuances. Aside from the inspired gags, there's plenty of exciting action, too. None of it holds any weight, but it's all staged with relentless gusto. No one is safe in Tropic Thunder, and yet the movie is not mean spirited. Instead, it goes to great lengths to show the ridiculous pressure actors will put themselves under in order to become a "star," a theme that's brilliantly set up by three mock trailers. Equally as great is the way the picture spits on actors attempting to develop their craft. Stiller seems to be saying it's a bunch of bologna, that trying that hard to become a character will leave you not only alone but also doubting who you really are.

1) The Dark Knight dir. Christopher Nolan

I wanted so badly to avoid jumping on the bandwagon here, but after four viewings and plenty of pondering, I cannot deny the greatness of The Dark Knight. It's problems are minor enough they are barely worth mentioning (although I still can't stand Batman's voice; and why does he talk that way around people who know his true identity?), leaving us to instead focus on the movie's many themes and characters. The familiar story arcs are given an incredible boost thanks to Nolan's knack for serious storytelling, but what really elevates the picture are its central performances: Christian Bale's tortured Bruce Wayne, Heath Ledger's unpredictably insane Joker and Aaron Eckhart's overly ambitious Harvey Dent. The picture is impossible to shake off; what first amazed me about it was how disturbed and afraid it made me. Usually those types of feelings would keep me away from revisiting a movie frequently, but not this one. It's a movie full of so many rewards that it demands to be seen more than once. If that's not the sign of an unforgettable movie experience, I don't know what is. The Dark Knight has redefined what it means to be a summer movie. The question is will the next movie, hopefully helmed by Nolan, be able to up the stakes on what he's accomplished here?


Thank you for visiting Hell and Beyond!


Copyright, Hell and Beyond, 2008