New DVD review: "Closer"
Film: ?
DVD: D
Yes, that's a "?" in the rating box. Cheating? Absolutely. But it's my column and I'll do whatever the hell I want. Don't like it? Then screw you!
That's actually fairly descriptive of "Closer."
Set in London, the movie features Jude Law as a writer who becomes involved with a spunky young American (Natalie Portman) after she gets hit by a cab. Julia Roberts is a depressed photographer who ends up with a sex-obsessed dermatologist (Clive Owen). These characters are woven together in a depressing tale of infidelity and manipulation.
I loathe it.
Take the ultra-violence and sadism of Quentin Tarantino or Mel Gibson and translate it into emotional violence and torture. Hack off a cop's ear, scourge Christ, slice up a lover's heart: That's "Closer."
This is one of those films that polarized critics into love-it and hate-it camps.
Being a paradoxical individual, somehow I'm roasting marshmallows around both camp fires simultaneously.
There's much to appreciate -- incredible directing, great dialogue, entertaining sequences and performances deserving their nominations and awards.
However, I passionately hate all four characters and cannot stand being in their presence. That should not happen. When a work of art presents a character for which one can feel nothing but contempt, then it's a caricature that has actually been created.
No matter how wretched people are, if they're human, there has to be a shred of humanity within them, so the words and actions of the creations in "Closer" did not ring true.
I was not buying it.
And the mantra "I HATE THIS!" was echoing inside my cerebrum.
Still, having been tortured through two viewings of this evil film, for some reason I'm still attracted.
"Closer" is that sexy, emotionally-damaged, cruel woman who is hell to be with, but of whom you cannot let go.
And the DVD is worthless, by the way. Damien Rice music video, a few trailers -- nothing to explain this cinematic enigma.
Headline: Leftist doc not a leftist rant
New DVD review: "The Corporation"
Film: A-
DVD: A
A distinct urge came to me several times throughout "The Corporation": the need to walk calmly to the bathroom and puke out my guts.
This epic documentary from one of the co-directors of the classic doc "Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media" puts the modern-day corporation under the microscope and dissects it from several angles. Based on a book by Joel Bakan, the film depicts corporations' effects on employees, the environment and developing countries, among other subjects.
The basic thesis of the film is that given the corporation's legal status equivalent to a human being -- which it gained, ironically, in the amendment that ended slavery -- what kind of person is it? Citing numerous case studies, the film presents the conclusion that the corporation is a psychopath.
The filmmakers present a wide range of interviews with activists, business advocates, professors, economists, CEOs, authors, a corporate spy and a broker. This is one of the film's strengths. Left-wingers Chomsky, Howard Zinn and Naomi Klein appear, yet so do economist Milton Friedman, numerous CEOs and heads of free-market think tanks. So, the good accomplishments of corporations are presented as well.
The film is broad in its scope and tells many stories -- definitely reminiscent of "Manufacturing Consent." Thus, there's a mild, but tolerable, inconsistency with different segments being more interesting (read: jaw-dropping) than others.
It's a double-disc with a treasure chest of extras. The first disc has a Q & A with the filmmakers, deleted scenes and an interview with Bakan. The second features extended interviews, searchable by subject or person.
What emerges is a chilling, thought-provoking, entertaining and ultimately optimistic film saying the corporate beast can be rehabilitated from its lunacy into a truly productive member of society.
Visit the column's blog at http://swimmingincelluloid.blogspot.com and
e-mail the writer at swimminginbrokenglass@gmail.com
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