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If the recent proclamations and TV stunts by Joaquin Phoenix are
to be believed, "Two Lovers" is his last film as an actor. I don't know that I
buy it, but if it's true, it would be a real shame. James Gray's discomfortingly
honest drama is as authentic a portrait of the frustrations of love and desire
as I've seen, and Phoenix's performance as the once and potentially still
suicidal Leonard, an inarticulate would-be artist who has moved back in with his
parents and grudgingly gone to work in the family dry-cleaning store, is one of
the finest and most vulnerable of his career. Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw
are the two lovers of the title, Shaw the emotionally fragile daughter of her
father's business partner who sets her sights on Leonard, and Paltrow the
gorgeous and bright new neighbor who is hopelessly involved with a married man
and just as messed up as Leonard. It all plays out in the cold light of Brighton
Beach in the winter, where the howling, hollow wind has as way of making even
the most intimate moments feel desperate. I've not been a fan of Gray's earlier
work, but his observations of the messy and unkempt emotions and intimate
awkwardness of these relationships carries the sting of authenticity and the
bittersweet pain of disappointment. Isabella Rossellini and Moni Moshonov
co-star as his parents.
It's available on DVD and Blu-ray. Both editions
feature James Gray's thoughtful commentary, where he engages the practical
aspects of making a film and working with actors to create characters and a
story with real zeal. The two featurettes are far less informative, more
promotional than documentary, and there are three deleted scenes.
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| Dark Streets |
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Part film-noir fantasy, part musical mystery, all old Hollywood
pastiche, this dreamy period film blends '40s fashion and modern style into a
dreamy pastiche that wants to be "Chinatown," with power company shenanigans
standing in for water. Gabriel Mann is the high-living rich kid who treats his
nightclub like a hobby until his father dies and he's left out of the will and
deeply in debt, and Izabella Miko is the blond chanteuse brought in by a shady
cop. Bijou Phillips almost steals the film as the forgotten woman. It's got a
great score of original songs (performed by the likes of Solomon Burke, Natalie
Cole, Etta James, Dr. John, Aaron Neville and others) that sound like they could
have come right out of the era. But it wears its cynicism like a new suit rather
than a haunting way of life. Features commentary by director Rachel Samuels and
actors Gabriel Mann and Toledo Diamond, and 11 deleted and/or alternate scenes,
including a dream sequence.
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| Tokyo! |
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This anthology of short films isn't so much a collection of
visions of Tokyo as an excuse for three directors -- two from France and
one from South Korea -- to drop short stories into the Asian metropolis.
Michel Gondry's "Interior Design" is the most effective and interesting, a deft
little tale of a young woman literally losing her sense of identity and ambition
when she moves to the city. Gondry's creative visual sensibility effectively
sneaks up on otherwise realistic story. Leos Carax's "Merde" is a surreal vision
starring Denis Lavant as a gnomish creature in the sewers who rampages above
ground (to the iconic "Godzilla" theme) causing chaos and death. Bong Joon-ho
explores the phenomenon of hikikomori (people who withdraw from society and shut
themselves in their homes) in "Shaking Tokyo." There are separate featurettes on
the making of the short films, each half an hour long, as well as director
interviews, all of them subtitled.
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| The Education of Charlie Banks |
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Jesse Eisenberg (of "Adventureland") is Charlie Banks, an Ivy
League kid who gets an education from a charismatic working kid (Jason Ritter)
from the old neighborhood, a conflicted soul with violent tendencies who arrives
for a visit and insinuates himself into Charlie's life. This is the first
feature from Fred Durst, the front man for Limp Bizkit, but the indie drama was
beaten to theaters and DVD by his second film, "The Longshots." Critics
overwhelming prefer this more introspective take on the coming-of-age drama. The
DVD features commentary by director Fred Durst and actor Jason Ritter and the
featurette "Conversation behind The Education of Charlie Banks."
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| The Human Contact |
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Actress and sometime producer Jada Pinkett Smith makes her
writing and directing debut with this thriller about an ambitious businessman
(Jason Clarke) whose upwardly mobile trajectory is complicated by his increasing
obsession with a sexy, seductive woman (Paz Vega). Idris Elba, Ted Danson,
Joanna Cassidy and Pinkett Smith herself co-star in the erotic drama. Features
commentary by Jada Pinkett Smith and cinematographer Darren Genet and two
featurettes.
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Sean Axmaker is a film critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a DVD
columnist for MSN Entertainment and a contributing writer for GreenCine.com,
Turner Classic Movies Online, Parallax View and Asian Cult Cinema, among other
publications. Find links to all of this and more on his shamelessly
self-promoting blog.
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life for you Start Your Engines With 'Fast
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housing market in grave shape, here are some cinematic haunted houses you could
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