Review: "Taxi Driver" Can Still Astound (Happy B'day, Martin Scorcese)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 42 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Taxi Driver (1976)
Running time: 113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR: Martin Scorcese
WRITER: Paul Schrader
PRODUCERS: Julia Phillips and Michael Phillips
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Chapman
EDITORS: Tom Rolf and Melvin Shapiro
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA

Starring: Robert De Niro, Cybill Shepherd, Peter Boyle, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks

Some consider Taxi Driver to Martin Scorcese’s signature film and more than enough reason why this famed director should have been awarded an Oscar as Best Director a long time ago. One of the best-remembered film’s of the 1970’s, Taxi Driver is also one of the most influential American films ever made. It lives up to the hype.

Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) is a mentally unstable former Marine and Vietnam veteran who takes a job as a nighttime taxi cab driver to pass the time because of his insomnia. He perceives New York City as decadent, sleazy, and filled with phony people, and this perception feeds an urge growing in him to lash out at something or anything.

He first fixates on Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), a worker in a senator’s presidential campaign. He convinces her to accompany him on a date, but later he frightens and angers her when he takes her to a bizarre foreign pornographic film. After Betsy dumps him, Travis becomes obsessed with killing the presidential candidate Charles Palantine (Leonard Harris), who hires Travis’s taxi one evening. He also becomes fixated on a second female, Iris Steensma (Jodie Foster), a 12 year-old runaway and current prostitute. They become friends, and he urges her to leave her pimp, Sport (Harvey Keitel). These fixations and obsessions move Travis quickly down a path of shocking violence that leads to an equally shocking ending.

Bickle is one of De Niro’s most famous performances, and it earned him an Academy Award nomination. It’s a tricky role and character. Bickle could be likable, but he’s mostly pathetic, the very definition of a loser. Much of what Bickle has to say is done as voiceovers that give clues to the character’s plans, if not necessarily his motivations. What De Niro does is reveal the depths of the character almost entirely through exquisite body language and facial expressions. When it comes right down to it, Bickle doesn’t have a whole lot to say that would interest anyone outside of the police and head doctors. We learn the character by carefully watching De Niro. In gestures, both subtle and gregarious, in a face both serene and incensed, De Niro’s builds Bickle layer by layer, brick by brick. In fleeting moments, he makes Bickle pitiable and sympathetic, in others, dull and selfish. Sometimes Bickle’s rage is quietly focused; other times, it’s mad twister leaving feelings and bodies on the floor. Although a star and recognizable face at the time of this film’s release, De Niro transforms himself into Bickle, but leaves enough of himself in view to make Bickle fleetingly attractive, to use his matinee idol status to attract our attention to his disturbed character.

Scorcese deserves a lot of credit for allowing De Niro to roam, but it is Scorcese the director who channels the spirit of Bickle into an engaging movie. He has a deft touch at building the other characters and the story as a framework around De Niro’s painting. He knows who his subject is, but he also knows how to keep De Niro from banishing Paul Schrader’s excellent script to the background. Scorcese apparently realized that every element of the film worked: script, music, editing, actors, but he realized that De Niro was going to sell the total package to the audience.

You can’t like movies and have never seen Taxi Drive unless you’re very squeamish about dark subject matter and dislike stark realism. Still, that’s not enough reason to miss one of the great films.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
1977 Academy Awards: 4 nominations: “Best Actor in a Leading Role” (Robert De Niro), “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Jodie Foster), “Best Music, Original Score’ (Bernard Herrmann), and “Best Picture” (Michael Phillips and Julia Phillips)

1977 BAFTA Awards: 3 wins: “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (Bernard Herrmann), “Best Supporting Actress” (Jodie Foster), and “Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles” (Jodie Foster); 4 nominations: “Best Actor” (Robert De Niro), “Best Direction” (Martin Scorsese), “Best Film,” and “Best Film Editing” (Marcia Lucas, Tom Rolf, and Melvin Shapiro)

1977 Golden Globes: 2 nominations: “Best Motion Picture Actor – Drama” (Robert De Niro) and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Paul Schrader)

1994 National Film Preservation Board: National Film Registry

1976 Cannes Film Festival: 1 win: “Palme d'Or” (Martin Scorsese)

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Review: Cast Makes Little Indie, "SherryBaby," Seem Really Big (Happy B'day, Maggie Gyllenhaal)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 21 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

SherryBaby (2006)
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong sexuality, nudity, language, and drug content
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Laurie Collyer
PRODUCERS: Melissa Marr, Lemore Syvan, and Marc Turtletaub
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Russell Lee Fine (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Curtiss Clayton and Joe Landauer
Golden Globe nominee

DRAMA

Starring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Brad William Henke, Sam Bottoms, Giancarlo Esposito, Ryan Simpkins, Danny Trejo, and Bridget Barkan

After serving three years of a five-year prison stint, Sherry Swanson (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is out on parole and dealing with the realities of both her old life and her new life. She has to face her hard-nosed parole officer, Hernandez (Giancarlo Esposito), find a job, and deal with the heroin addiction that led her to prison. She has also has to renew her relationship as mother to her five-year old daughter, Alexis Parks (Ryan Simpkins). In her absence, however, Sherry’s brother Bobby Swanson (Brad William Henke) and his wife Lynette (Bridget Barkan) have become surrogate parents to Alexis, and they aren’t anxious to give her back to Sherry, whom they consider to still be troubled. Another complication is her questionable relationship with her father, Bob Swanson, Sr. (Sam Bottoms), but she does find some companionship in a fellow addict, Dean Walker (Danny Trejo).

Writer/director Laurie Collyer’s small, sharp indie drama, SherryBaby showcases the best performance Maggie Gyllenhaal has given to date. Gyllenhaal builds her performances on nuance, and she creates a genuine young woman struggling with addiction, regret, and the longing to recover the one thing she considers to really be hers – the daughter she had to abandon to her brother. For her performance as a young woman who is an emotional wreck, Gyllenhaal received a 2007 Golden Globe nomination for “Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.”

Gyllenhaal is not alone in her excellent work. Collyer brings out fine work in everyone, including a moving and authentic performance from Brad William Henke as Sherry’s brother Bobby, who is struggling to balance the needs of the trio of women in his life: Sherry, his wife Lynette, and Alexis. Henke shines in two scenes – one in which Bobby surreptitiously watches his father Bob, Sr. (played by Sam Bottoms, pitch perfect in a small, but crucial role) and Sherry, and the second in which Bobby has lunch with Sherry as he tries to convince her of how much he cares about her. Henke quietly, but intensely reveals the depth of Bobby’s love for his sister, and also the difficult situations he must navigate in his extended family as a result of his unqualified love and support of Sherry.

The trio of Collyer, Gyllenhaal, and Henke and the rest of the cast and crew have created one of those indie films that looks small, but also looks like a large flashy gem when viewed in the best light.

7 of 10
A-

Sunday, January 28, 2007

NOTES:
2007 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Maggie Gyllenhaal)

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"AKB48" Music Documentary on DVD December 1st

NEW PEOPLE ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES DOCUMENTARY OF AKB48 – TO BE CONTINUED ON DVD AND DIGITAL ON DECEMBER 1st

New Music Biopic Traces The Rise To International Fame Of Japan’s Most Popular Pop Idol Group; Special DVD Online Promotion Offers A Second NEW PEOPLE Film Title With Any Pre-Order Purchase

NEW PEOPLE Entertainment, a film division of NEW PEOPLE, Inc. that focuses on the licensing and distribution of Japanese films and media, has announced the release of DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 to be continued on DVD on Thursday. December 1st. The new music biopic follows the unstoppable all-female Japanese pop idol group, AKB48, on their incredible rise to fame, and will be sold exclusively online for $19.99 through the NEW PEOPLE store at: store.newpeopleworld.com.

DVD pre-orders will begin today. For a limited time, NEW PEOPLE is offering a FREE bonus DVD title from its catalog to all pre-order purchasers. Select from a list of available titles. DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 to be continued will also be available to stream online at newpeoplechannel.com for $4.99 (for a 48 hour rental) beginning December 1st. The DVD will be available from Amazon by mid-December. Follow NEW PEOPLE Entertainment on Facebook and Twitter for updates.

AKB48 was conceived in 2005 by Yasushi Akimoto, one of Japan’s most respected music producers. Beginning as a small all-girl singing group based in the Akihabara district of Tokyo – the city’s bustling electronics and anime/pop culture shopping Mecca – AKB48 has grown to 60 members and topped Japan’s Oricon music charts with the two best-selling pop singles in 2010 as well as another two singles ranking in the Top 10.

“AKB48 created an entirely new format for pop groups and their fame has spread internationally,” says Seiji Horibuchi, President and CEO of NEW PEOPLE, Inc. “This insightful documentary captures AKB48 on-stage and behind the scenes and offers a candid look into the member’s lives and the phenomenal notoriety that surrounds the group. We invite J-Pop and music fans to visit the NEW PEOPLE store online to get the new DVD and to take advantage of a special offer to receive a second DVD title from the NEW PEOPLE film catalog!”

With a complicated balance of competition and friendship among its members, the group’s bond is extremely strong. DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 to be continued traces AKB48’s history with scenes from concerts and rehearsals, member general elections, and fan activities both in Japan and abroad. The film also includes personal interviews with select members that reveal each of the girls’ personal struggles, joys, path to growth, and dreams.

One unique aspect of AKB48 is that the group is divided into “Teams.” When AKB48 debuted in 2005, originally there were only 24 girls. Now there are 16 girls each on Team A, Team K, and Team B, who are the core members of the group. In addition, there are trainees who are aspiring members. Members total to around 60 girls as some graduate and some new members come in. In the recent years AKB48 has begun holding elections to determine the members who will participate in the recording of upcoming singles. Fans vote for their favorites and the girl ranked Number 1 performs at the center of the group.


About NEW PEOPLE, Inc.
Based in San Francisco, California, NEW PEOPLE, Inc. (http://www.newpeopleworld.com/) offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan through its unique entertainment destination as well as through licensing and distribution of selective Japanese films. NEW PEOPLE Entertainment (http://www.newpeopleent.com/), a film division of NEW PEOPLE, Inc. strives to offer the most entertaining motion pictures straight from the "Kingdom of Pop" for audiences of all ages, especially the manga and anime generation, in North America. Some titles include DEATH NOTE, GANTZ, KAMIKAZE GIRLS, and THE TASTE OF TEA.

Review: "Days of Glory" Chronicles the Forgotten WWII Fighters, the "Indigenes"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 118 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Indigènes (2006)
Days of Glory (2006) – International English title
Running time: 124 minutes (2 hours, 4 minutes)
MPAA – R for war violence and brief language
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: FRANCE with Algeria, Morocco, and Belgium; Languages: French and Arabic
DIRECTOR: Rachid Bouchareb
WRITERS: Olivier Lorelle and Rachid Bouchareb
PRODUCER: Jean Bréhat
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Patrick Blossier
EDITOR: Yannick Kergoat
2007 Academy Award nominee

WAR/DRAMA/HISTORICAL

Starring: Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Roschdy Zem, Bernard Blancan, and Matthieu Simonet

Indigènes or Days of Glory (as the film is known by its English title) earned a 2007 Oscar nomination for “Best Foreign Language Film” as a representative of Algeria. Indigènes recreates a chapter largely erased from the pages of history and pays overdue tribute to the heroism of a particular group of forgotten soldiers who fought and died during World War II. Days of Glory chronicles the journey of four North African soldiers who join the French army to help liberate France from Nazi occupation during World War II.

Saïd Otmari (Jamel Debbouze), Yassir (Samy Naceri), Messaoud Souni (Roschdy Zem), and Abdelkader (Roschdy Zem) leave their country, Algeria, a French colony, to fight for France, which they call the “Motherland.” They chafe under the command of the Sergeant Roger Martinez (Bernard Blancan), a French Algerian. The men fight passionately for France, although they’ve never been to the country. Still, despite the North Africans’ bravery and loyalty as they travel fight from Italy to France, they face daily humiliation, inequality, and naked bigotry from the French. The four men eventually find themselves alone in a small French village defending it from a German battalion. This pedagogical or educational film is also a reminder that the controversies of French World War II history remain today, especially as the French government has denied the surviving North African soldiers their pensions.

Days of Glory is a good, but not great, historical film. Its strength is in the chronicling of the prejudice and bigotry these non-white or non-European soldiers faced while sacrificing their lives, limbs, and peace of mind for France, a country that many still believe largely did not fight for itself against the Nazis. For war movie buffs, the best combat sequence takes place in the movie’s closing act.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
2007 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film” (Algeria)

2006 Cannes Film Festival: 2 wins – “Best Actor” (Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila, Bernard Blancan – To the male ensemble cast) and “François Chalais Award (Rachid Bouchareb); 1 nomination: “Golden Palm” (Rachid Bouchareb)

2007 Image Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding Foreign or Independent Film”

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Steven Spielberg's "War House" Presented to Veterans

DreamWorks Pictures Invites Veterans to Advance Screenings of Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse”

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In honor of Veterans Day, DreamWorks Pictures has contacted select veterans organizations in 50 cities across the U.S. to extend a special invitation for veterans to attend one of the advance screenings of Steven Spielberg’s epic adventure "War Horse." The feature film, which opens in theatres in the U.S. on December 25th, is a tale of loyalty, hope and tenacity set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War. Based on the best-selling book by Michael Morpurgo and the Tony Award®–winning stage play by Nick Stafford, “War Horse” is one of the great stories of bravery and friendship, brought to the screen by one of the greatest directors in film history.

Veterans groups interested in attending are invited to e-mail warhorseveteransinvite@yahoo.com and include the name of their nearest city for further information on screening dates, times and locations in their vicinity.

DreamWorks Pictures’ “War Horse” begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets—British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter—before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man’s Land. The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse—an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure.

“War Horse” stars Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Peter Mullan, Niels Arestrup, Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irvine, Benedict Cumberbatch and Toby Kebbell. It is produced by Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, and executive producers are Frank Marshall and Revel Guest. The screenplay was written by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis and is based on the book by Michael Morpurgo and the international hit stage play by Nick Stafford, originally produced by the National Theatre of Great Britain and directed by Tom Morris and Marianne Elliot.

Review: Everyone Kills It in "Horrible Bosses"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 93 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Horrible Bosses (2011)
Running time: 98 minutes (1 hour, 38 minutes)
MPAA – R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language and some drug material
DIRECTOR: Seth Gordon
WRITERS: Michael Markowitz and John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein; from a story by Michael Markowitz
PRODUCERS: Brett Ratner and Jay Stern
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Hennings (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Peter Teschner

COMEDY/CRIME

Starring: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Lindsay Sloane, Julie Bowen, P.J. Byrne, Donald Sutherland, and Jamie Foxx, Ioan Gruffud, Isaiah Mustafa, Wendell Pierce, and Ron White

Horrible Bosses is a 2011 crime comedy and is the story of three friends who plot to murder the three horrible bosses that make their lives hell. A black comedy because it deals with dark subject matter in an entirely humorous context, Horrible Bosses is one of the year’s funniest movies. As soon as I finished watching it, I wanted to watch it again.

For months, Nick Hendricks (Jason Bateman) practically worked day and night at his job in order to appease his boss, Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey), for a promotion Harken never intended on giving Nick. Harken is a “total fucking asshole.” Dale Arbus (Charlie Day) is a dental assistant who is constantly being grossly sexually harassed by his boss, dentist Dr. Julia Harris (Jennifer Anniston). Harris is an “evil crazy bitch.” An accountant at Pellitt Chemicals, Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudeikis) loves his boss, Jack Pellitt (Donald Sutherland). Then, Jack is replaced by his son, Bobby Pellitt (Colin Farrell), who wants to drain the company of cash that he can spend of hookers and drugs. Bobby is the “dipshit cokehead son.”

One night, over drinks, the three decide to kill their bosses. In search of a hit man, the trio meets Dean “Motherfucker” Jones (Jamie Foxx), who suggests that Nick, Dale, and Kurt kill each other’s bosses to hide their motives while making the deaths look like accidents. The friends discover, however, that killing is harder than they thought. Then, they get unexpected help.

Six years passed between when Horrible Bosses began development and when it finally became a movie. A lot of actors were considered for the various roles, but the filmmakers should consider themselves lucky that things worked out the way they did. The actors who got the roles came together to form a cast that is magic. This gleefully wicked comedy is the result of heaven sent screen chemistry. Everyone is strong, but if I had to choose a standout, it would be Charlie Day as Dale Arbus. Day is a scene stealer and Dale Arbus is a lovable good guy who is funny when he is flustered. Day’s performance turns every scene in which Dale appears – even the most depraved ones – into a comedy gold. Day gives Dale a madness that sparks this film to the next level, so that Horrible Bosses is not just raunchy or just another slob comedy. It is glorious black comedy that stands with the best of them.

Director Seth Gordon gets credit for keeping the actors’ improvisation from going rogue and ruining the film’s pace. Gordon (Four Christmases) is quickly proving himself to be a master of raucous, cheerfully irreverent, non-politically correct comedies. And Horrible Bosses is a masterpiece of incorrectness.

8 of 10
A

Friday, November 11, 2011

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Review: "Blood Diamond" Has Strong Leads in DiCaprio and Hounsou (Happy B'day, Leonardo DiCaprio)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 67 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux


Blood Diamond (2006)
Running time: 143 minutes (2 hours, 23 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence and language
DIRECTOR: Edward Zwick
WRITERS: Charles Leavitt; from a story by C. Gaby Mitchell and Charles Leavitt
PRODUCERS: Edward Zwick, Marshall, Herskovitz, Paula Weinstein, Graham King, and Gillian Gorfil
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Eduardo Serra (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Steven Rosenblum
2007 Academy Award nominee

ACTION/DRAMA/WAR

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Sheen, Arnold Vosloo, David Harewood, Basil Wallace, Ntare Mwine, Jimi Mistry, and Kagiso Kuypers

Set during Sierra Leone’s bloody civil war in 1999, director Edward Zwick’s Blood Diamond blends challenging themes, social awareness, and riveting entertainment into a rip-roaring story about two different African men on a common quest. Along the way, Zwick creates a lovely thriller out of the devastating chaos of civil war in a Third World country.

While imprisoned, Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), an ex-mercenary from Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) turned diamond smuggler, discovers that fellow inmate Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) may have found a large, rare pink diamond. Rebels had taken Solomon from his family and forced him to work in their diamond fields where he found the extraordinary gem. Solomon hid the diamond in hopes of retrieving it and using it to help his family escape their war torn country. Now, Solomon will also have to find the diamond to save his son, Dia (Kagiso Kuypers), who was taken by rebels and brainwashed into becoming a murderous child soldier.

Enter idealistic American journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), in Sierra Leone to uncover the truth about conflict diamonds – diamonds used to finance war. Archer and Solomon have formed a reluctant partnership, with the former guiding the latter back to the buried diamond. Maddy uses her journalistic credentials to help the duo embark on a dangerous track through rebel held territory, although each member of this intrepid trio has his or her own agenda. Maddy wants the journalistic expose. Danny wants the diamond that will help him to finally leave Africa. Solomon is seeking something far more precious – his son.

Zwick turns in one of the top directorial efforts of 2006. He dresses his powerful polemic into a breathtakingly handsome travelogue through Africa, whose striking beauty is marred by horrific and mind-numbing violence. He creates a drama as engaging as any other about civil war, but Zwick makes it into an international social cause – to close the market for conflict diamonds. Zwick grabs the viewer by the heart with his gut-wrenching action and explosive violence. Then, he squeezes your heart to wring out the tears at the sight of such misery and despair and also at the sight of such devotion and kindness amidst the cruelty.

It helps that Zwick has a fine screenplay and story that is of the same epic proportions at just under two-and-a-half hours as a movie over three hours long. And the characters are so rich and well formed that even the script’s preachy dialogue that tends to show up sounds so much better coming out of the mouths of highly skilled actors. The cast brings a stunning sense of authenticity to the roles. For some of them, I could almost believe that they are the characters in the film.

Right now, I’m having a hard time believing that Leonardo DiCaprio has ever been better. He takes the whole cloth of the screenplay and creates in Danny Archer a real, living and breathing person. To hell with those who say that his white African dialect was weird. It sounds so real coming from him. He is Danny Archer; it’s in every word he says, every move he makes, and even in his eyes.

Djimon Hounsou isn’t very far behind. He is rapidly revealing that he is a great dramatic actor with the kind of power and stage presence for which we’ve usually only credit British actors of the Shakespearean stage of having. Hounsou is magnificent. I could make a movie just with him… on a stage empty of props and sets. Jennifer Connelly starts off rough, but her performance grows into the film just as Maddy Bowen starts to really feel Africa.

It’s great that Blood Diamond will make people aware of conflict diamonds, but the drama is so good that the film’s social conscious gets lost behind the beautiful fiction and sweeping storytelling. Blood Diamond is that thing for which movie lovers hope when they go to the theatre – a film with winning characters, a magnificent setting, and a great story. What more is there to say? It’s all on screen.

10 of 10

NOTES:
2007 Academy Awards: 5 nominations: “Best performance by an actor in a leading role” (Leonardo DiCaprio), “Best performance by an actor in a supporting role” (Djimon Hounsou), “Best achievement in editing” (Steven Rosenblum), “Best achievement in sound editing” (Lon Bender), and “Best achievement in sound mixing” (Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, and Ivan Sharrock)

2007 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Leonardo DiCaprio)

2007 Black Reel Awards: 1 win: “Best Supporting Actor” (Djimon Hounsou)

2007 Image Awards: 1 win: “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Djimon Hounsou); 1 nomination: “Outstanding Motion Picture”

Monday, April 23, 2007