Holy Motors (Brockway)

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway

Holy Motors

Watching "Holy Motors" is to cheer (or jeer) that the cinema of Dada circa 1920 thru 2012 is alive again. Duchamp, Man Ray, or Rene Clair had never seen such things, or maybe they did.

This is Leos Carax's fourth main feature (The Lovers on The Bridge) who is fond of eccentric plots with imagery that recalls the psychedelic director Alejandro Jodorowski (El Topo). "Holy Motors" has a sweep and a slickness to it. With its detached urban flavor, it recalls Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis," if  Eric Packer's limo had been waxed with hallucinogens.

At the start of "Holy Motors, we have Oscar (Denis Lavant) who is sleeping, I assume, in a dingy motel with a dog. After several minutes, the forest-patterned wallpaper dissolves to reveal Oscar with a screwdriver for a finger entering a crowded cinema. There is a baby, followed by a scary growling dog. 

Instantly we are in Paris, with Oscar in a stretched white limo. He is on the phone with a file in front of him. Quickly the limo turns into a makeup room and Oscar sets to work, applying makeup and masks. He dons a black skin suit and enters a warehouse which is equipped with lasers. He has an Uzi type gun. Is Oscar a video game actor or an assassin?

What follows is one of the more poetic passages of the film, with Oscar writhing in video ecstasy as he turns into a reptilian sex creature who becomes fused to a red-leathered female counterpart. Another file is placed in Oscar's seat and he turns into a gluttonous and violent, grimy leprechaun. He strips naked and gorily upsets a photo shoot with the beautiful Eva Mendes. Oscar savagely gobbles flowers  and bites a secretary's finger clean off. He ransacks a cemetery. In one fine touch, the gravestones read "Visit My Website".

The imagery is stirring and although I'm not quite sure what the point is, it's never boring. In tone and spirit much of the sequences  echo the art films of Matthew Barney.

Oscar drives on, barely communicating to the chauffeur, the Hitchcockian blonde Celine. (Edith Schob) and getting increasingly ill, the more he impersonates others. With every new character, Oscar takes nothing with him. Like the wallpaper in the cinema, he is flat. For the moment, people know him, but then he vanishes becoming little more than tinsel in a Parisian sky.

There are many vivid touches in keeping with its iconoclastic tone, not least of which is a jubilant accordion disco number which runs throughout a gothic cathedral.

At one point, we think that Oscar is returning home to his wife in a futurist apartment ala "2001". Our man Oscar is apparently married to a chimpanzee and they have two chimp offspring. Juxtaposed against a modernist and spacey environment, this is both haunting and silly,  as is the last scene with the limos  actually talking to each other which feels as goofy as Disney.

What does it mean? Perhaps it doesn't matter. It is  enough to go ahead and enjoy or just absorb "Holy Motors" for its mania. I don't think the ghost of Antonin Artaud will utter a peep.

Write Ian at redtv_2005@yahoo.com

Week of Dec. 28 to Jan. 3 (Rhoades)

Tropic Holds Its Lincoln Lineup

For Holidays, Adds Surreal Flick

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

Sticking with a good thing, the Tropic Cinema holds its movie lineup for Christmas week, adding only a French surreal head-scratcher.

Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” continues to impress audiences with Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance as the 16^th President of the United States. Based in part on historian Doris Keene Goodwin’s book, the film examines the political machinations that Lincoln initiated in order to pass the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, abolishing slavery.

Aside from great turns by Sally Field, David Strathairm, and Tommy Lee Jones, moviegoers have been impressed by the historical detail of the film. Count on Oscar nods for Day-Lewis and Field.

Also holding over is “The Guilt Trip,” a very funny mother-son road trip starring Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen. When a young inventor invites his mother to spend eight days on a business trip with him, the results are predictable – bickering, confusion, a generation gap, and (as the title implies) Jewish guilt. But in the end both learn valuable lessons about themselves. The kvetching chemistry between the iconic Oscar-winning diva and the young upstart comic is worth the ride.

Movie buffs will definitely want to see “Hitchcock,” the biopic about the director behind such classics as “Rear Window” and “Vertigo.” Here, the story focuses on the making of “Psycho,” a horror film that changed the genre, and was a shocking entry from the roly-poly British director known for his breezy mysteries. Oscar-winners Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren portray the Master of Suspense and his brains-behind-the-scenes wife Alma Reville. Hopkins in a fat suit and Mirren with a short bob capture the familial tension between the couple as Hitch bets his career on a movie ears recording receding glaciers and ice floes around the world. The imagery we see is amazing – and frightening – as we watch the changes taking place to our planet.

The one new entry for the holidays is “Holy Motors,” a film that will leave you puzzling with your friends exactly what you just saw – a Master of Disguises riding about Paris in a white stretch limousine, going from assignment to assignment where he takes on different roles as if moving through parallel universes. Beggar woman, mob hitman, a shuffling madman who kidnaps a beautiful model, a dying man, a character in a musical, a stern father, a thwarted lover,  we’re left wondering who Mr. Oscar really is. This surreal masterpiece by Leos Carax is a commentary on “the increasing digitalization of society” – maybe.

Give yourself a holiday treat and catch one of these interesting films at the Tropic.

srhoades@aol.com

Holy Motors (Rhoades)

“Holy Motors”

A Puzzlement

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

Yes, I’ve seen “Holy Motors,” but I’m hard-pressed to tell you what it’s about. This fascinating French film is a surreal puzzlement. The hardcore film buffs who watched it with me were left shaking their heads.

Director Leos Carax wants you to scratch your head, I think.

In it, a man known as Mr. Oscar rides to work in a big white limousine driven by his associate Céline. Mr. Oscar seems to be a master of disguises, at one location posing as an old beggar woman, at another as a gibberish-speaking madman who kidnaps a fashion model and drags her into the city’s sewers, at another is a dying man visited by a young woman … among many others.

We voyeuristically travel along with him and his livery driver, watching him change costumes in the back of the limo, then be dropped off at his next appointment. From musical numbers to gangster shootouts to simulated sex on a stop-motion soundstage to picking up his daughter after a party, we’re never sure what’s real and what’s not.

But mostly not, you can assume.

The one thing we do know is that we’re watching a masterful kaleidoscopic performance by French actor Denis Lavant (“Boy Meets Girl,” “Beau Travail”). The pug-faced chameleon is a favorite of Leos Carax, who has collaborated with him on several films (“Lovers on the Bridge,” “Tokyo!”).

For “Holy Motors,” the director wanted a Lon Chaney or Charlie Chaplin. Or Lavant …who played a Chaplin impersonator in Harmony Korine’s “Mr. Lonely.”

Édith Scob joins Lavant as Céline, sort of a Charon ferrying him about a Parisian Styx in the white limo. Punctuating the cast is Eva Mendes, Kylie Minogue, and Michel Piccoli. And Carax himself appears in the opening scene as an enigmatic character called Le Dormeur (“The Sleeper”).

Leos Carax sees his film as “a science fiction scenario where organisms and visible machines share a common superfluity.” Yep, a vast underground garage of limos serves as part of the cast.

As for these limos, Carax says, “They’re outdated, like the old futurist toys of the past. I think they mark the end of an era, the era of large, visible machines.” These so-called Holy Motors seem to link Mr. Oscar to some sort of parallel universes in the film.

Moviegoers seem to like “Holy Motors” even if they don’t understand it. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 91% rating. Critics describe the film as “captivating and compelling,” “weird and wonderful,” and “the stuff of cinema itself.”

Even if you’re not familiar with Leos Carax’s films, I think this is one time it’s okay to take a ride from a stranger.

srhoades@aol.com

Chasing Ice (Brockway)

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway

Chasing Ice

Jeff Orlowski's excellent documentary "Chasing Ice" portrays National Geographic photographer James Balog as a glacial astronaut and a hero. Indeed, he is both. Balog's lifetime work up to this point, has been to analyze man's interaction with Nature, including how we are interconnected and our supposed desire to be separate from Nature, in pursuit of material concerns.

Most recently, starting at year 2001, Balog has been concerned with the melting of the ice shelf, specifically the glaciers in Iceland and Greenland.

Balog sees glaciers as eccentric and colorful as diverse as a Richard Avedon photograph and his work shows this sensibility. Under Balog's lens these magnificent ice castles are frozen leviathans, dripping with life. They are also numinous curves into infinity, resembling spectral nautilus shells or giraffes in crystal. These photographs also have a unique human quality possessing ridges, wrinkles and rings that are as storied as Nico, Editta Sherman or Andy Warhol.

Balog has been up against the wall of Ignorance, and those who protest that global warming is an elaborate hoax ignoring the hard science that our CO2 levels have reached 391 parts per million, while scientists universally agree that acceptable levels would be 350 parts per million for those of us that recall the intriguing documentary "The Island President" centering on The Maldives.

Balog spent countless months rappelling along icy monoliths to set up timed cameras in the hopes of getting time lapse photographs of glaciers calving. He risks life and limb in his quest which is for art as well as survival. He has blown both knees and has been operated on three times. Like The Dark Knight of a Polar planet, Balog trudges on, climb after climb. He has gathered a great abundance of evidence that points humankind to a watery fate but those at Foxnews seem like Lex Luther offering shared Orwellian denial delivered with sarcasm.

Balog is almost a double agent. His wife cringes when he goes out to gather photographic evidence. He invariably travels far and is known to break down and cry if his cameras crack under pressure, no matter if it is by chance or predetermined.

Balog is driven. If the preternatural imagery of "Chasing Ice" doesn't get you, in its depictions of glaciers as sentient beings who rival the crystal skulls of Indiana Jones, James  Balog  the man will. When he looks into the camera with frost in his eyes, he is counting on us to be rational, adapt and move forward.

Write Ian at redtv_2005@yahoo.com

Hitchcock (Brockway)

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway

Hitchcock

"Good Evening, ladies and gentlemen." So begins the familiar first bit of dialogue from "Hitchcock" Sacha Gervasi's (This is Anvil: The Story of Anvil)  handsome biopic of the beloved film director.

The film focuses on Alfred, his wife Alma, and the production of the classic "Psycho". Anthony Hopkins does wonderfully as the famous Hitchcock as does Helen Mirren as the arguably greater or at least equal force  (in both art and life) being his wife, technical troubleshooter and creative guardian, Alma Reville.

Stylistically, "Hitchcock" takes a cue from AMC's tv series Madmen. Hitchcock drinks like a fish and Alma drinks too. There is much emphasis on money and luxury dinners. The cars are cream-colored and the dresses are creamier. At first glance, this might seem another example of style over substance.

The director stands rigid like a pale root in the garden. Even the Los Angeles sun is swallowed up in the dark suit. He is without an idea and he wants something iconoclastic, no usual  suspense stories where morality has the upper hand. Then by chance, he happens to see a clipping in his office about the serial killer Ed Gein mentioning the  horror novel Psycho by Robert Bloch.

Hitchcock is hooked.

Paramount won't finance "Psycho" thinking the film will be a box office turkey, given its emphasis on incest, flesh-skinning and grave-robbery. After all, Hitchcock has been the standard for sophisticated suspense.

The director and his wife agree to put up the money personally and to mortgage the house. What follows is an analysis regarding the  domestic life of  Alma and Hitchcock in the style of an "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" episode. This is an interesting idea. We see a fussy confining Alma who keeps a tight sable hold on the nearly impassive director who is inwardly perverse and amoral in his imaginations. Hitchcock has a very real lust for his  "icy blonde" leading ladies, specifically Grace Kelly and Kim Novak which is a perpetual source of great vexation.

It comes as no surprise then when asked  about Psycho's Marion (played by Leigh) that Alma suggests to Hitch "Why don't you kill her off in the first half hour?"

This was previously unthinkable for a film, let alone a Hitchcock one, as was the inclusion of a toilet accompanied by a flush.

The film moves quickly. It is smartly  shot and seldom misses a beat. Hopkins delivers a smooth respect to the great director, while still keeping his own  personality intact, the mixture of coldness and frivolity that is a frequent ingredient in many of Hopkins' roles. There is a scene in which Hopkins as  Hitchcock conducts the audience like an orchestra and dances manically about behind closed doors, which is in perfect rhythm and worth the price of admission, as is his near perfect Robert Benchley/ Hitchcock humor. Helen Mirren is surprising and bold as Alma, a person who is shadowy on the outside but very outspoken without.

Scarlett Johansson is authentic as Janet Leigh who has the twin traits of sensuality and a professional cool which are essential qualities for a 'Hitchcock Blonde'.

The only top heavy wobble in the film  is the flashback inclusion  of Ed Gein himself (Michael Wincott) as he putters around with the corpse of his mother, gets in bed with her and talks to Alfred in the manner of psychiatrist. These flashbacks are too much of a contrast to the stylish tone of the film and come off as overdone kitsch. Wincott doesn't offer anything intriguing and slows down the domestic tension between Alfred and Alma. Instead of  the exchanges with Ed Gein, why not Norman? There is one terrific  meeting  with Hitchcock and Anthony Perkins (James D'Arcy), then mysteriously, the character of Perkins is all but dropped. "Hitchcock", the film would have benefited with more scenes pairing Hitchcock and Perkins, given the groundbreaking history of the film.

Yet, despite its television-like bookend conclusion that seems a bit too pre-packaged, "Hitchcock" is a tongue in cheek Pop Art memento of a man driven by his movie. And while it is more  about Alma and Alfred than about a project  in crisis, it still beguiles and satisfies.

Who can argue with Anthony Hopkins as The Director in his trademark suit as he sits by the pool wearing black sunglasses as he wistfully fingers a Wisconsin leaf? Hopkins as Hitchcock or vice versa can make a single stalk of celery both comical and menacing.

Write Ian at redtv_2005@yahoo.com

Week of December 21 to December 27 (Rhoades)

Historical Drama, Biopic, Road Trip Comedy,

And Global Warming Doc Fill Tropic Screens

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

 With all your last-minute gift shopping it may be hard to squeeze in a movie during the countdown to Christmas – but you’ll want to make the time! This is a season of the year when you can expect to see some great films.

For example, still playing at the Tropic Cinema is Steven Spielberg’s masterful historical drama “Lincoln,” the story of the political infighting it took to pass the 13^th Amendment abolishing slavery. History comes alive with Daniel Day-Lewis’s portrayal of Honest Abe … perhaps the most accurate depiction of Lincoln in screen history.

Film buffs (and aren’t we all?) will want to see “Hitchcock,” starring Anthony Hopkins as the famous director and Helen Mirren as his wife Alma Reville. Watching these two Oscar winners is like peeking through the blinds at the Hitchcock house. And Scarlett Johansson makes a very credible Janet Leigh.

Focusing on the making of “Psycho,” we see the influence of his wife’s collaboration on his work. “That was the most terrifying film I'd ever seen,” Anthony Hopkins says of “Psycho.” “I couldn't believe it: Where's Janet Leigh? She's got to come back. She's the star of the movie!” Well, here Hitch and Alma are the stars.

If you want a giggle or two, don’t miss “The Guilt Trip,” an amiable Jewish mother joke with Barbara Streisand and Seth Rogen as a mother and son who go on a cross-country trip together. Oy vey.

Here, Seth Rogen swaps the raunchy humor he is so well known for, for an honest, toned-down comedy about a boy and his mother. And the chemistry between Rogen and Streisand appears genuine, a gentle bickering between generations.

Rogen says, "A lot of people see the movie … and they're like, 'Oh man, she reminds me so much of my mother,' and I think it's probably because your mother is a fan of hers and acts like her. I think there's a whole generation of mothers who kind of model themselves off of Barbra.”

“Mothers develop guilt trips,” she admits. “I know that feeling, a lot.” 

Filling out the Tropic’s slate is “Chasing Ice,” the documentary about National Geographic photographer James Balog’s Extreme Ice Survey, a program that charts climate change. Using time-lapse photography, the haunting images of melting glaciers and receding ice sheets will remove any doubts you ever had about global warming’s affect on this planet.

One way get in your holiday gift shopping is to sign up a friend for a membership to the Tropic when you’re there catching one of these movies.

srhoades@aol.com

Chasing Ice (Rhoades)

“Chasing Ice”

Is Slippery Slope 

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

We don’t get much snow here in Key West … well, none to be exact. But living on an island we should be concerned about water levels being affected by melting glaciers and ice floes. I’m not looking for my house in the middle of Old Town to become waterfront property.

“Chasing Ice” – currently playing at the Tropic Cinema – is the documentary about National Geographic photographer James Balog’s Extreme Ice Survey, a program that charts climate change. Using time-lapse photography, the haunting images of melting glaciers and receding ice sheets will remove any doubts you ever had about global warming’s affect on this planet.

In order to document these changes, the Extreme Ice Survey was born in the mid-2000s. Balog set up 27 cameras in Alaska, Iceland, Greenland and Montana and took pictures every hour of daylight for a few years.

“What we saw right away was ice disappearing. Ice retreating. Ice retreating at a remarkably fast rate – I mean much, much, much more rapid than I had anticipated. What we saw in those first downloads to the cameras in 2007 was kind of staggering,” says Balog. “To be honest with you, six years later when we go and open up those cameras and play back what happened, it’s still shocking. We’re still seeing lots of retreat, and in some cases we’re also seeing rivers form and lakes form where there once was ice.”

He describes glaciers as “the canary in the global coal mine.” When you see these 3-D manifestations disappearing, you start to worry.

“I’ve been knocking around the world’s mountain ranges for 40 years,” says Balog. “It remains shocking to see these large, seemingly immutable features of the landscape disappearing at this rate.”

srhoades@aol.com