Double Vision: Tony Scott's Spirit Possesses Ridley Scott's The Counselor (2013)

by Tony Dayoub

The rumblings of a critical debate (or is it grumblings?) have already surrounded Ridley Scott's The Counselor. A script by Cormac McCarthy (The Road) helmed by the director of Thelma and Louise should have been a sufficient enough marketing opportunity for 20th Century Fox to capitalize on as they rolled it out during awards season. And yet the studio held a press-only screening Tuesday night before its opening, a move which signals they're likely as mystified about how to handle the film as critics are in trying to build a consensus around it. Given how peculiar it is, this is not surprising. The Counselor is in many ways an anomaly for Ridley Scott.

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Illuminating Bond in Skyfall

by Tony Dayoub


We've come to expect a certain formula from the 007 movies, now numbering 23 with the release of Skyfall: opening stunt scene, sexy title sequence playing over a torch song, 007 on a mission where he first meets the bad girl, then the evil villain that keeps her and finally, the good girl before he fights the baddie to the death. Any freshness injected into the traditional outline has usually come through the recasting of James Bond himself (Daniel Craig is the sixth actor to play him in the official series) or by stripping the character down to his gadget-less essence so that the only thing he can depend on are his wits. In only one instance have we ever strayed close to knowing the man behind the facade. That was in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, my personal favorite and most underrated of all the Bonds, in which he gets married not because of any ulterior mission but because he has truly fallen in love. Things don't end well for Mrs. Bond needless to say. More grist for the cold, callous mill.

The Year 2000: Counting Down The Zeroes - Before Night Falls (Julian Schnabel)

Seeing Before Night Falls (2000) again for the first time in 8 years, I am struck by how timely it still is. With a new administration in the White House far more open in its foreign policy, Cuba is one country that is benefiting from the America's reengagement in the world of diplomacy. The Congressional Black Caucus even sent a few representatives this past week to sniff out its new leader, Raul Castro, and investigate if there is enough cause to consider building bridges between the U.S. and Cuba. As the son of Cuban immigrants myself, I've always had a somewhat more complicated view of the internal realities in Cuba. Director Julian Schnabel captures my own feelings on the subject and presents a story that is somehow both realistic and surreal, political and poetic; a story of a small, beautiful island on the decline under the weight of corruption, yet fiercely surviving because of the powerful will of its creatively spirited people. Writer Reinaldo Arenas (Javier Bardem) is a homosexual who comes of age at the same time as Fidel Castro's revolution comes to fruition. While Arenas at first supports the revolution because of the change it seems to bring, he quickly comes to realize that the new regime is far more oppressive than he first thought. Dissent is not welcome. And the creative community is targeted for its position in society, ideally suited in fomenting dissent among Cuba's free-spirited population. Homosexuals are also targeted for "rehabilitation", placing Arenas in the sights of the island's oppressors. We follow Arenas through his travails in Cuba's prison system, and his eventual exile from the island, ending up in New York where he lives in poverty until his death of AIDS. But Arena's will is never diminished by his troubles, and his story's arc serves as a metaphor for that of Cuba itself. Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), a renowned painter himself, has always specialized in telling the story of artists facing personal adversity, whether real (Basquiat) or imagined (Lou Reed's Berlin). This frees him to use creative license in depicting the story of Before Night Falls. For instance, Arenas isn't always the most reliable narrator. His romantic childhood as told to an interviewer late in the film flies in the face of the impoverished childhood we observed earlier in the movie. We begin to realize that Arenas' art - and in fact, Cuba's - thrives as a result of its existence under oppression. For whether its the poverty that ruled the island before the revolution, or the regime that ruled after, Arenas and his fellow Cubans used the resulting climate as an incentive to create transcendent paintings, literature, music and dance. There are details I relate to, having family that experienced the 1959 Revolution firsthand. In an early scene on the island, Arenas seems to be eating hard-boiled eggs and broccoli because that is all he can afford. We later see him eating the same in New York, where he has freedom of choice, but has perhaps become institutionalized into eating this after his years under Castro. Arenas is often being observed by shadowy government informants, a fact of life in Cuba. Once in New York, he extols the virtues of baby food by pointing out how simple it is to eat for a writer since it can be eaten right out of the jar, a tall tale used to cover up his embarrassment that it is also a cheap source of nutrition for the penniless author. Schnabel shows us how the Cuban people have survived through times of great political repression by continuing to indulge their creative spirit. And though there are many opposed to lifting America's economic embargo against Cuba, I believe that once it is lifted it will allow a subtle shift to occur. No longer will the United States be seen as aiding in the punishment of Cuba's economically depressed people. It will be seen as contributing to the dialogue among its artistic community, as democracy begins its slow invasion into the island and pushes new sources of ideas to the forefront of the Cuban consciousness. Only then will the Cuban people have a chance to escape the oppression of their daily lives that they have grown accustomed to. This post was first published at Film for the Soul for its continuing series on the best movies of the 2000s, Counting Down the Zeroes, on 4/14/09.

DVD Roundup: Two New Releases

One of the Oscar nominated performances now available to watch at home is the one from Best Supporting Actress nominee, Penelope Cruz, in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Cruz (Volver) has never really demonstrated the full range of her talent in English-speaking roles like she has when acting in her native tongue. But Woody Allen's latest comedy finally allows her to steal the show. Here, Cruz plays Maria Elena, the volatile ex-wife to Javier Bardem's Juan Antonio. Juan Antonio has approached two young Americans, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), to join him in a threesome while the women summer in Barcelona. Strait-laced Vicky is taken aback while the flighty Cristina jumps at the chance for a summer romance. While things get dicey when Maria Elena returns into her ex's life, eventually a threesome is formed between Cristina and the two Spaniards, leaving Vicky full of regret at the lost opportunity for adventurous romance. Maybe because much of the film allows Cruz to speak in her native tongue often, she is at her least self-conscious. Though her character's manic depression enlivens the film's story, Allen (Match Point) wisely restrains her from overpowering the film. Her presence is always felt, though, as Juan Antonio constantly compares the titular American women to his ex-wife, or more precisely, the spectre of her that still haunts him. In a handful of scenes, we realize the destructive cycle that she and Juan Antonio are locked in, and sympathize with her for putting up with the irresponsible Lothario. Cristina, who's been living with Juan Antonio, is now forced to be gracious to their new houseguest, Maria Elena, who is recovering from a suicide attempt. In an exchange that best sums up Maria Elena, the three of them discuss Cristina's hobby, photography, while on a picnic:

Maria Elena: You take beautiful photographs. Juan Antonio: That's true. She always takes pictures that she hides from me. Cristina: That's... no... that's... that's because they're nothing. How do you know I take pictures? Maria Elena: I found them in your luggage. Cristina: You went through my luggage? Maria Elena: Of course I went through your luggage. The first night I was in the house I didn't trust you. I didn't believe you were who you said you were. I wanted to know who was really sharing the bed of my ex-husband. Cristina: What? Maria Elena: Who knew what I would find there? How could I be sure you were not going to hurt me? After all, I have thoughts of killing you.

Allen guides the rest of his cast to some charming and realistic performances, especially Bardem (No Country for Old Men) as the masochistic artist at the center of all the jealous fireworks, and Hall (Frost/Nixon) playing the typical Woody Allen stand-in (usually reserved for male actors), making Vicky one of the most enjoyable works from the director in years. If Woody Allen is a little too high-brow for your taste, then consider this next one for the geek in you. Hulk vs. is a direct-to-video trifle from Marvel Studios. The surprise is how fun and entertaining it actually is. While DC Comics has had more success capturing the feel of their comic books in their home video offerings [Justice League: The New Frontier (2008) and Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)], Marvel's attempts at the same have been hampered by their obvious goal of cashing in on upcoming live-action tie-ins. Hulk vs. is actually two movies in one. One is Hulk vs. Wolverine, and the other is Hulk vs. Thor. And while both may still be trying to lay the foundation for upcoming movies, they are both true to the Marvel books each is based on. Both movies capture the pure child-like excitement young and old fanboys look forward to when their favorite superheros are pitted in hand-to-hand combat against each other. And with little character development to slow things down, this pair of films has room to be creative in the visual arena. While neither will ever be mistaken for theatrical quality animation, the short movies are a cut above the typical Saturday morning fare. Hulk vs. and Vicky Cristina Barcelona are available today on standard DVD and Blu-ray.

DVD Review: No Country for Old Men - Appreciating the Unsung Heroes

by Tony Dayoub

So you've all heard about No Country for Old Men winning Best Picture at the Oscars this year. You've heard about the crafty Coen Brothers finally getting the praise they're long overdue. Javier Bardem has been all over the place campaigning for his Oscar... blah, blah, blah. But I thought that with the film being released on DVD last week, we'd sing the praises of some of its relatively unsung heroes.

Musings on the Academy Awards or How I Learned to Stop Worrying about Predictions and Love the Oscars

by Tony Dayoub

First Entry - 3:51pm: I've got my Filet Mignon ready to grill, Champagne chilling in the fridge, and will be checking in from time to time today. I will update the blog on random thoughts regarding the countdown to the Oscars. I'll also strive to keep a tally on how wrong I was on my Oscar predictions from my last entry. So keep checking in, and feel free to respond with your own thoughts.

Second Entry - 9:10pm: First upset of the night would have to be Golden Compass winning Best Special Effects over Transformers. Could it have been a case that Transformers' effects were too good to even be recognized as effects?

Oscar Picks 2008

by Tony Dayoub

The writer's strike is over, probably due in no small part to Gil Cates. Cates, producer of The 80th Academy Awards, was the only man in Hollywood sure that the Oscars would go on this year. Makes you wonder if he had some kind of back-channel access to the parties involved.

Whatever the case was, I am glad he made it possible to enjoy my favorite day of the year. There is a case to be made that it diminishes the art by rewarding those who spend money on Oscar campaigns. However, for a movie-lover like myself, there is no more glamorous or celebratory day for American cinema.

And though I may disagree on who should win the awards, here are my picks on who will win the awards.