An Inconvenient Truth - A DVD Review

As a child of the early 1970s the issue of Global Warming, in fact the term itself, feels relatively new. If I thought about it I'd estimate that I didn't really become aware of such a thing as Global Warming until perhaps the very late 90's. (Okay, I wasn't a news-hound.) But I think I'm not alone in stating that Global Warming is something that only recently has become an important issue to me and society at large. Or so it would seem from my limited point of view.
Al Gore -or as he cheekily introduces himself in this film; The Former Next President of the United States- has been studying and lecturing on what he calls the Global Crisis since the 1970s! This isn't a case of some washed-up ex politician trying to leach some attention, this is a man committed to a cause which as we learn is very personal. Not only to him but to each and every single one of us.
In selling this film I couldn't possibly wow you the way Al can. I don't have all the facts and figures on a teleprompter or on the tip of my tongue. I haven't been studying the issue of climate change in the field alongside the leading scientists. All I did was spend 93 minutes watching a documentary, and I feel more inspired and empowered than I ever have on this issue. This is not a preachy plea for followers of some movement as I thought it might be when I first saw An Inconvenient Truth in the theatres earlier this year.
It's also not a painful session of 'I was right and you were wrong and look how you've fucked yourselves' either. And it's definitely not a boring lecture on abstract ideas that are meaningless to all but academics.
This is an intelligent, down to earth, straightforward look at the facts, numbers and studies that aren't widely reported due to their seeming opposition to big business.
You'll learn exactly what Global Warming is. You'll learn how it affects you, your place in the world, and the whole world itself (and all the other people in it). You'll learn how much damage has been done and more importantly -and eerily- exactly how much damage is yet to come if we don't address the problem now.
In one sobering sequence Gore compares the damage of 9/11 to the effects of a slight melting of the polar ice caps (which is already underway). 'Devestating' doesn't begin to characterize the effects on the New York landscape alone.
Infrequent digressions into his personal history with the issue serve to give the film a heart, helping viewers to recognize the sometimes seemingly small ways we are all affected by the choices we make with regards to the environment. The term Global Warming becomes a personal rather abstract term.

Moments in the film take on an emotional tone, something you wouldn't expect from a subject so grand as the entire world.

The possibility that I could live another fifty years and see the withering of our world as predicted by all the leading scientists of our time is frightening. That I might have to explain to a young person in 2056 what we as a society were thinking by not addressing the problem is unimaginable.
You owe it to yourself to see An Inconvenient Truth.
Nuff said.

Kids -yet another Retro-Review

Tonight I saw the movie Kids. You may know Larry Clark directed it but what I didn't know was Harmony Korine (Gummo, Julien Donkey Boy) also wrote it.
I saw Gummo, which Korine also wrote and directed, and I was mesmerized. It was a whole different way of filmmaking as far as I was concerned. It intrigued me. Enough so that I saw a film by his contemparary Larry Clark, whom I didn't realize was also a collaborator. That film was tonight's Kids.
It was good. I can see a lot of people disagreeing with me, and thats for the best, but it was a good film. Why?
Well edited. There was a lot going on with these kids and somehow it all came through. I never felt overwhelmed. I did feel sick a few times. Some of those moments when I wondered if kids could be... like that... so... ruthless? No... so uncaring? No, thats not it either. They're kids! Nothing matters to them. Nothing breaks the surface. When you're a kid you're immortal! All the parties begin and end with a "woo-hoo"! And when you wake up you gather your clothes around you and snake out. Right?
Fortunately like the kids we don't really deal with the hangovers. It's all about what happens at the parties. Remember those parties from high school? There was always one cool guy who tried to make everyone drink? And there was the guy who tried to make out with anything that could still walk? And the cool girl who could handle anything? And then you didn't see her till Monday.
Anyone who sees Kids and says "they were never like that in my day" won't get it. But if you were born after 1970; you'll get it. And then you'll wonder where the hell Larry Clark is?!

Well, Kids was made in '95. Then in 2006 he made Destricted; an erstwhile porn film clutching for arthouse status. It failed. It was the product of committee direction and failed miserably. "I went to the film expecting nothing and I got nothing." So said one filmgoer. That's his opinion.

Wanna watch Heroes on monday night?!

Match Point DVD Review

**NO SPOILERS**Its all safe here.

Yes, I know I'm a bit late with this one but all things in good time.
If you haven't seen it yet; read on. If you have, weigh in with opinions on the comments page.

First off I'll confirm everything already said by most reviewers; (I think; I don't read reviews for Woody Allen's work) this was a brilliant return to Allen's great talents as a writer of sophisticated grown-up dramas. Think Crimes and Misdemeanors. Think Manhattan. Remember everything you loved about his heyday dramas, like the subtleties of Interiors, or the realness of Husbands and Wives. Now add an english sensibility and some fantastic young actors.

One point I'm going to bring up again so soon is subtlety. After some of his lesser comedies of the past few years Allen should be commended for his restraint in both the writing and direction of this one. He really lets the actors earn their place in the dialogue, which is smart and pithy without being too forceful. Never do the characters feel like stock Woody Allen characters. There are a few inconsistencies but they never seem to draw away from the story.

But first the performances.

Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, Ghost World) seems comfortable in the role of the flawed femme fatale. You're never sure whether to trust her or not and it's this quality which makes her character so surprising. Like any human being you never know exactly what she's gonna do; but she seems to know and that makes you interested in her. FULL DISCLOSURE: I love her anyway, but I'd be the first to admit if she wasn't up to the material, and she really was. Well done.

Jonathon Rhys Myers (Bend it Like Beckham, Alexander) feels shaky at first. Sure he's gorgeous, and a few of the lingering shots on his pretty punum may lead you to believe that he's there for his box-office appeal, but rest assured he is more than the sum of his physical parts. His characters transformation is (here's that watch-word again) subtle and touching. Frightening even in its implications. It's rare that such an amazing looking actor can be so relatable. I rooted for him every step of the way, good or bad. What does that say about me? After all he isn't the most likable character, but then none of them are. So what does that say about Woody?

True, none of these characters is particularly likable, but this isn't about heroes and villains; it's about what happens when you make choices that don't pan out the way you expected and how you deal with the consequences. It plays many similar themes to Allen's previous work, of course; the most obvious being the moral complexities of adultery. The thrill of it, the excitement when it works, and the regret and despair when it goes wrong. In this story you really feel the fear of losing something so big to the threat of something you thought was so small.
What would you do? And more shockingly how would you explain it? Or justify it to yourself?

There were some trademark Allen shots; I remembered the Brooklyn Bridge scene from Manhattan when characters Chris and Chloe gazed along London Bridge near the beginning of Match Point. To compare the shots is to almost overlay the two together. It's nothing short of an homage to his earlier work (a thematic joke he'd already addressed in Stardust Memories back in 1979).
Also, with setting this film in London you see his same use of the city and it's architecture as almost another character the way he did in so many of his trademark New York films. It makes me excited that he's found another muse; not just in Johansson (Match Point, Scoop), who I love in his films, but in London. Perhaps he's found a whole new city with a million stories waiting to be told.

This is a quality flick, whether you're an Allen fan or not. The question is -crap, there has to be a question- can he return to his genius with a comedy? I want to see another good comedy. I think the man has it in him. He's missed the mark of late, but maybe with a new focus and some new partners he'll also find new life after this. Comedy has become a lot more literal since he brought us Annie Hall and Manhatten Murder Mystery, but with the (here's that word again!) subtlety he brings to Match Point, maybe he's learning to evolve with the genre. I hope so.
I look forward to every new Woody Allen release. With the lateness of this review I guess I just hesitate the way everyone else seems to. Not anymore.

*NOTE*
Woody is currently working on an as yet unnamed project for tentative release in 2007. Comedy? Drama? Nothing leaks from those iron-clad sets. I'll keep you updated.