Brief Impressions: Tekkon Kinkreet (Arias, 2006)

Abandons the stream of consciousness visual delirium of Mind Game in favor of a more traditional, controlled style (in the service of a more linear narrative), which results in a more refined, surprisingly strong emotional resonance. Of course, the animation is still stunningly dense and pulsating with life. As visually complex a work of animation as I have seen, wrapped around a beautifully simple and touching mythical tale. IMDb listing.

Black Book (Verhoeven, 2006)

Much praise has been lavished upon Paul Verhoeven’s extraordinarily entertaining WWII thriller, his first film in six years (since the reviled Hollow Man), and his first Dutch language film in twenty-three years, and for the most part this acclaim is well deserved. However, contrary to what Verhoeven’s decision to leave Hollywood might suggest, Black Book is far from a rejection of that high gloss approach to filmmaking. Instead, it represents a return to form for the director in much the same way that The Departed was considered a return to form for Martin Scorsese. To watch Black Book is to experience a director in complete control of his craft.

The film explores moral ambiguity during (and more interestingly after) wartime through the eyes of Rachel Stein (played with sensual vulnerability by Carice van Houten), a Jewish woman who joins the Dutch resistance, and manages to be a finely crafted and intelligent work. For the duration of its nearly 2 ½ hour runtime, it clicks on all cylinders and honestly feels about half as long as it is. This is primarily due to Verhoeven’s expert ability to manipulate audience expectation. The film is a thrilling collection of revelations, and it keeps one guessing until the end.

And yet, despite (or perhaps because of) the sheer entertainment value, a feeling of weightlessness pervades the film. Verhoeven’s ultimate concerns pertain to the films surface, to creating and sustaining a mood of uncertainty, to advancing the plot. As a result, the film lacks a certain depth. Character and subtext are not satisfyingly explored. Rather, Verhoeven seems content to flirt with complex moral issues, leaving them at the surface for us to contemplate abstractly, apart from the film itself.

Nevertheless, the lack of depth, while regrettable, doesn’t hurt the film as much as it should. Perhaps this is because Black Book is a damned entertaining film and about as smart a piece of pure entertainment as one could hope for.

The Trailer Compendium: Vol. 3

Although the American perception of animation is predominantly one-dimensional, it is an art form of staggering possibility, as evidenced by these two ambitious, challenging works. If you can find either of these films in any form, check them out. Ralph Bakshi's subversive Coonskin in particular merits a second look. Enjoy!

Coonskin (1975):


Felidae (1994):

Come Drink With Tarantino?

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Quentin Tarantino's next film could be a remake of The Shaw Brothers production Come Drink With Me, directed by the great King Hu. The news was dropped in an announcement by the Weinstein Co. regarding their plans to invest heavily in producing and acquiring Asian cinema. I haven't yet seen Hu's film, but it is considered an early masterpiece of the martial arts genre. It concerns a young woman who is sent to free an imprisoned official who happens to be her brother. Of course, any news pertaining to Tarantino's upcoming films should be taken with a grain of salt, knowing his penchant for announcing every single idea that comes into his head as a possible project. If this film does come to pass though, it would seem a logical next step for Tarantino, whose past couple of films have been veiled remakes in a sense.

Brief Impressions: The Faces Of "Wanda"

A forgotten masterpiece and a historically significant motion picture. Barbara Loden's lone filmmaking venture (she wrote, directed and starred) is a quietly devastating exploration of female alienation and a watershed moment in Women's Cinema. One of the most impressive debut films I have ever seen. IMDb listing.

The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three (Sargent, 1974)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a tense, muscular thriller concerning four men who hijack a New York City subway train. The emphasis here is on realism, not sensationalism. Director Sargent makes fantastic use of his urban surroundings, creating a world that feels immensely genuine in every respect, and consequently all the more gripping. The dialogue is appropriately (and I might add wonderfully) profane. Peter Stone’s script pulsates with masculine, blue-collar vitality. The performances, especially from Matthau and his MTA cohorts have a lived-in, naturalistic authenticity about them. And Sargent’s appropriation of documentary aesthetics is truly inspired. DP Owen Roizman’s camera never calls attention to itself. Instead, Roizman documents the proceedings with an appropriate lack of stylization. But the film is so wonderfully authentic and immersed in the gritty milieu of the Big Apple that it would fascinate even without the titular hijacking. Beneath Sargent’s superior thriller lies an intriguing study of the inner workings of a metropolitan transit system, very much akin to a police procedural. The attention to detail is meticulous, especially in the film’s opening third. The current trend toward documentary aesthetics in narrative cinema, particularly action cinema (e.g. the cinema of Paul Greengrass), owes much to this film.

The Omega Man (Sagal, 1971)

I enjoyed this film quite a bit, though I must admit a certain inclination towards 70’s science fiction cinema. Nevertheless, The Omega Man must surely be considered one of the decade’s better genre films. This isn’t contemplative sci-fi on the order of Silent Running. Rather, this is a film that seeks above all else to entertain, and succeeds admirably. Of course, there are issues (political, racial, social) contained beneath the narrative, but wisely, that is where they stay.


Director Boris Sagal provides some compelling visuals and never gets in the way of his "last man on earth" story. He keeps the proceedings moving at a brisk, engaging pace, and allows Heston to carry the film. Heston seems to thrive in the sci-fi genre and he turns in a charismatic performance here, infusing the film with a surprising but welcome sardonic humor. There is a thought-provoking, subversive quality to Heston’s hero, which I find immensely intriguing. At times, he seems as pathological as the film’s villains. Ultimately though, The Omega Man doesn’t seem to benefit a great deal from in-depth analysis. Rather it is simply, and refreshingly, a solid piece of intelligent genre entertainment.