I have some catching up to do in the 'review' department.

Morvern Callar

Transsiberian (director Brad Anderson) didn't quite captivate as a thriller/mystery adventure; I tried to believe what I was seeing but it all seemed a bit superficial in the character department. I expected Anderson at some point to pick whether he wanted the plot to drive the film or allow the distinguishable cast to dictate the action — his indecision, or bullish intentions, left Transsiberian somewhere in between Christopher Nolan's Insomnia (which I liked) and Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (which put me to sleep).

Greenhorn filmmaker Courtney Hunt, on the other hand, spins an engrossing yarn with Frozen River's confluence of single-parent family issues, immigration, human trafficking, isolation (small town life, segregation, borders, personal footing, and more) that although it's meant to give auds something to think on, is more soft-thriller than finger-waving drama. Melissa Leo, in a role not so far removed from her Marianne Jordan character in 2003's 21 Grams, is an outright force. Almost co-star Misty Upham plays a bingo greeter turned human smuggler who smoothly ropes Leo's character into assisting on a "run" across the US/Canadian border. This is definitely Leo's film, yet each and every role is a concrete as the one it succeeds. Could be the freshness of the direction that facilitates this sense, but I couldn't imagine that as a flaw.

Watched Lolita '62 & '97 (Stanley Kubrick and Adrian Lyne respectively) and was bored stupid for nearly 5 hours. Kubrick's Lolita has an air of respectability due to its play-like execution and the fact it doesn't revel in letting auds watch a grown man having a twelve year old for 2+ hours — a world of difference between the two films. Dominique Swain was actually 15, if it matters - Sue Lyon was 16. As an aside, both Lolitas suffered a professional curse of sorts for their troubles. Reading a few chapters into the Nabokov source material some time ago had me thinking this, not Burroughs’ much referenced Naked Lunch, should elicit conversations of unfilmability. I think Lolita's motivations would have made for a superior essay for what it's worth. Anyway, read the book, if you're so inclined.

I revisited What's Eating Gilbert Grape (Lasse Hallström, 1993) a few weeks ago and continue to be blown away by the Becky character. Juliette Lewis manifests one of the most refreshing and prudent, yet wholly empathetic, characters in all of film.

A movie I pulled from Scott Tobias' 'New Cult Canon', Morvern Callar, was a genuine surprise despite its morose first third act. A pre-Precog Samantha Morton is poised to shed the yoke and boredom of small town life upon her boyfriend's Christmas Day suicide with the aid of his recently finished novel and explicit directions to shop the book to a prepared list of publishers. She chooses to hide the suicide from everybody, including her very best friend Lana, while she attempts to rationalize the suicide — from the latter to maintain the friendship. She moves ahead with her boyfriend's wishes, all the while moving on with the next part of her life. This movie has a River's Edge meets The Ice Storm temperament that I like - grounded and sober, almost stark, and unavoidable despite their contents.

Alive (2002)

Alive begins an prisoner Tenshu Yashiro (Hideo Sakaki; Battlefield Baseball, Versus) is led into a vaulted room where 3 men stand watch from an observation window high above a massive electric chair. Tenshu is about to die for murdering a group of men that raped his girlfriend, and also for ultimately murdering her. After he's locked into the chair and the voltage courses through his body, the two guards who led him in unlock the restraints and Tenshu opens his eyes. The director of this "prison facility", Kojima (Jun Kunimura; Vital, Audition, Ichi The Killer) informs him that he's been selected to participate in an experiment of sorts. He agrees and later awakens in an observation room with another "saved" prisoner named Matsuda (Shun Sugata); who's entire life has been a felony. Both are treated like royalty for several days. They're treated to wine & steak dinners, trendy clothing and for Matsuda, gallons of alcohol. All the while, a heard, but yet unseen group have been subtly (and not so subtly) manipulating the room's environment to prepare the inmates to a larger stimuli. After several more days of behavioral testing, with the two nearly killing each other at various points, a large door opens at the far end of the room and an attractive woman stands alone behind a thick, transparent wall. She explains to the men that she's a witch and, to Matsuda in particular, that if one kills the other, he can enter her room. Do the math. What the two prisoners don't know is that the prison is using them as bait to coax a mysterious force called "Isomer" from the woman. The movie progresses into a battle between the group conducting the experiments, the prisoners, the woman, and an outside government agency interested in capturing the "Isomer" for more nefarious purposes.

Kudos to director Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus, Azumi) for his tight, controlled portrayal of part of Tsutomu Takahashi manga series Sky High. I haven't read or seen said manga, but it's apparent that Kitamura had the original work in mind at all times. Highly stylized costumes, action that's purposely and abruptly stopped in careful poses, perfect symmetry in nearly every frame, and deliberate lighting. Hallmarks of the craft. For me, I still prefer the anime cyberpunk to the live-action kind, if any. Alive's themes will be familiar to those who have seen greater works on the arrogance of man or man's folly or attempts to manipulate nature such as Akira and Ghost In The Shell. In the end, Alive neither reaches the same level of intensity nor employs the same kind of vision the others do. It's just too obtuse, to be honest.

Alive is (needlessly?) broken up by chapter markers, such as "Day 3", "Day 9", "The Confrontation", "The Edge", and "Isomer", (to name a few) and takes place almost entirely in a bleak, industrial facility. Watching did became a bit tiresome. Dull and dark, blues, grays and blacks dominate the scenery. Bolster that backdrop with an almost constant techno-ish soundtrack pulsing in the background (at varying volumes) and the ambiance began to wear on me, if not border on annoying. But again, fans of the style with completely get off on those qualities. That's just my take. The final third, as Tenshu nears his fate, is filled with decent special effects, but falls flat with mediocre fight scenes and long-winded explanations of the plot. In fact, Kitamura utilizes these diatribes (almost exclusively) to further a story that would otherwise be too ridiculous or confusing to perpetuate itself. Alive's attraction will ultimately be it's Matrix-esque effects and posturing, outmoded kung-fu action but certainly not it's supposed take on a nihilistic future. For a true dystopian fix, try Blade Runner, Chiaki Konaka's Serial Experiments: Lain, or page thru a book of H. R. Giger's artwork while Godflesh's "Streetcleaner" fills your ears.

Another thing that really bugged me about the entire production was the lack of effort (besides the special effects) that seemed to go into Alive. For the level of quality, there was an endless supply of bonus material on the DVD (2-disc) and the subtitles appeared to have been tacked on as an afterthought. The subtitle thing bothered me the most, as the pacing was way off. Sloppy work indeed. Now that I think about it, I wouldn't be surprised to find that a third party handled them. A brief scene or two on relationships and the power of forgiveness also seem out of place, and carries all the conviction of a cheesy telenovela.

Alice (Neco z Alenky, 1988)

Needless to say, Guillermo del Toro's El Laberinto del Fauno doesn't quite corner the market when it comes to adolescent escapism; it's simply the latest of such films which portray (usually little girls, for some reason) retreating into their own mind to escape some unpleasantness in reality. One might think of this as a sort of daydream? In any event, a tale which predates Pan's Labyrinth by some 140 years sparked the creative genius of surrealist Czech filmmaker Jan Svankmajer in the form of 1988's Alice, a retelling of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Svankmajer utilizes, bear with me, a mixture of live action and stop-motion animation to spin the sometimes bizarre interpretation. Alice's adventure begins in an innocently enough scene where Alice (played by one-and-done dough-eyed actress Kristýna Kohoutová) is throwing stones into a pond while sitting beside her mother, who reads from a large, untitled book. The tone turns suspicious when Alice is slapped for fondling the pages of said book and she (and we) are transported to Alice's room where she sits beside two dolls while tossing pebbles into a cup & saucer of tea; a taxidermy white rabbit in the corner of her room is brought to life. The chase begins.

Interpretations of Svankmajer's visionary redux span the gamut; from a child's response to severe discipline (scenes of continuously locked doors culminate in Alice being shut in her home's pantry and the King & Queen of Hearts demanding an confectionery confession at Alice's trial), to the phantasmagorical decor Alice resides in predisposing her to fantastic fantasies. A product of her environment, per se. All of this can be put aside, of course, and it can be enjoyed a skillfully organic vision. Be relieved that most of the iconic characters are included in one form or another. Most note-worthy, a symbiosis between character-puppets Mad Hatter and Doormouse, who shift from chair to chair in order to make use of a "clean cup", of which is eventually licked clean again by a fox pelt. And that's a hundredth of Alice's treats! Camilla Power provides the minimal English voice-over work. A must see.