NYFF51 Review: Only Lovers Left Alive (2014)

by Tony Dayoub

A black velvet sky full of stars fills the screen. As the credits appear, the distinctive opening chords of rockabilly standard "Funnel of Love" start playing and the stars begin to streak in a clockwise direction. The image dissolves into an overhead shot of the song's 45 spinning clockwise on a turntable. Then a succession of dissolves and each time the camera spins and spirals ("...down, down, down..." as Wanda Jackson sings) closer into Eve (Tilda Swinton), a pale, white-tressed woman dressed in Eastern attire laying on a large bed, and Adam (Tom Hiddleston), a ghostly, raven-haired man splayed across a couch in more recognizable Western clothes, a guitar in hand. This alluring introduction sets the tone for Jim Jarmusch's most mesmerizing film in quite some time, Only Lovers Left Alive.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a Worthy Remake Filled With Lonely Characters

by Tony Dayoub

The tall, athletic man introduced earlier in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as British Intelligence officer Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong) walks into a class room and begins to write his name on the chalkboard. Only he does not write the name we’ve come to know him by. The typically garrulous young males attending the tony prep school remain blissfully unaware of their new teacher’s identity as he starts handing out the class assignment. But the viewer is all too keenly aware of who Prideaux is if only for the fact that we saw him shot in the back at the start of Tomas Alfredson’s film adaptation of the John le Carré novel. Is this a flashback? Or did Prideaux somehow survive the shooting? Prideaux’s mild demeanor belies his efficiency, a fact his students become aware of when a bird trapped in the chimney suddenly flies into the classroom in confusion. Prideaux rapidly pulls out a club from his desk drawer and swats the bird down to the ground where it continues to squeal in pain. As Alfredson directs the camera to capture the students’ horrified reaction, the sound of Prideaux beating the bird to death comes from off-screen...

CONTINUE READING AT PRESS PLAY

NYFF11 Movie Review: Melancholia

by Tony Dayoub

As the end of the world approaches, sensible Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) sits with her sister Justine (Kirsten Dunst) fretting about the way they should meet their doom. "You want us to all be together on the terrace, singing a song, surrounded by candles?" Justine asks. "You want to know what I think of your idea? It's shit. We should all meet at the toilet."

"Sometimes I really hate you," says Claire.

I'm not being glib when I say that Lars von Trier's apocalyptic Melancholia essentially boils down to this scene. It's suspenseful, laced with acrid black humor, and it explores the way each of us might face our own mortality — albeit in rather extreme circumstances — through one of the most realistic depictions of a relationship between two sisters I've yet to see onscreen. Von Trier being who he is — half-genius, half-overgrown prankster — Melancholia is reflective of both his propensity for staging gorgeous cinematic tableaux (like the ones depicted in a couple of these stills) and his tendency for capturing realism through improvisation and inappropriate humor.

TV Review: Recount - Satire Takes Aim at Florida's 2000 Voter Recount Fiasco

by Tony Dayoub

The new HBO movie, Recount, is a sadly funny primer on all the behind-the-scenes shenanigans that occurred during the infamous 2000 Florida voter recount. Seen primarily through the eyes of Ron Klain (Kevin Spacey), General Counsel to Al Gore's recount committee, it is more affectionate to the Democrats. But in retrospect, it is hard not to be, eight years later, as George W. Bush has the dubious distinction of having the lowest domestic approval ratings of any sitting American President in history. And that's including Nixon.

Jay Roach, of Austin Powers and Meet the Parents fame, directs the ensemble cast to what are some highly accurate caricatures of some of the major players in the unfolding comedy of errors taking place. I say caricatures because tongue is firmly planted in cheek as he surveys some of the notable incidents throughout the aftermath of the election. John Hurt (The Elephant Man) portrays former Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, as a dignified individual whose sense of decorum unfortunately delays Gore's recount team from fighting dirty earlier in the game. Ed Begley, Jr. (St. Elsewhere) plays David Boies, counsel to Gore in the Supreme Court case, Bush v. Gore, as a cavalry general coming to the rescue. If he is unable to stop Bush's recount committee from getting their way, it is simply because their leadership was simply more motivated to win. Their leader, James Baker, former Secretary of State and part of the Bush Family inner circle, is given ferocious life by virtual lookalike Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton). Wilkinson's Baker shows up to his first meeting with Gore's recount committee ready for a street fight, to the chagrin of Hurt's more gentlemanly Christopher. This sets the tone for the long battle that follows.

Of particular note is the performance of Laura Dern (Jurassic Park) as Katherine Harris, then-Secretary of State of Florida. Her delineation of Harris fits in with the image we remember, a preening and opportunistic evangelical Christian eager for her chance in the spotlight. With no concern over charges of conflict-of-interest, she was only to happy to take center stage in certifying Bush's victory, despite her post as Bush's Florida campaign co-chair. Dern's excessive makeup, gaudy attire, and padded form (Dern's slender body is far different than the shapely Harris') remind us of how ubiquitous Harris' face was on TV, at the time.

With loads of incidents to poke fun at (or cry over depending which side of the political aisle you're on), from Gore's retraction of his concession to Bush (which may have been the impetus for the Bush committee's tenacious fight), to the U.S. Supreme Court's unprecedented admonition that their decision on Bush v. Gore was unique to this specific case, Recount makes for entertaining, but biased, viewing.