Movie/TV Reviews

Jeepers Creepers 2

Susan Granger’s review of “Jeepers Creepers 2” (MGM/UA)

Jeepers, he’s back! Every 23 years, an ancient, pointy-toothed, winged monster called the Creeper comes out of hibernation and spends the next 23 days feasting on human flesh. The sequel picks up where the original left off. This time, on a lonely highway, the Creeper (Jonathan Breck) blows out the tires on a school bus filled with high-school basketball players, cheerleaders and a few adults, who are returning from a state championships. Predictably, the grown-ups and girls are the first to go. Then it’s the stranded boys, many of whom strip down to their underwear to sun themselves on the roof of a bus. But as menacing shadows appear in the moonlight, their only hope of rescue is an obsessed, enraged farmer (Ray Wise) whose 12 year-old son was one of the Creeper’s first victims. The suspense revolves around who dies next. But there’s an even more disturbing subtext to writer/director Victor Salva’s plot. Back in 1988, Salva pleaded guilty to molesting a 12 year-old actor. He was convicted as a child molester and served 15 months. Salva has issued statements regretting his past behavior but, since then, he has routinely featured endangered boys in his off-beat films, beginning with “Powder” (1995) about a rural teen whose skin is ghostly white. While this vulnerability context may serve as Salva’s post-prison therapy, an uncomfortable amount of screen time is devoted to buff, shirtless youths. More than the scare scenes, that gave me the creeps, along with remembering that actor Ray Wise previously played the child-molesting father in David Lynch’s TV series “Twin Peaks.” On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Jeepers Creepers 2” is a malignant 3. And you know there’s going to be another Creeper horror thriller, if only to complete the trilogy.

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MATCHSTICK MEN

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “MATCHSTICK MEN” (Warner Bros.)

Roy (Nicolas Cage) is a gifted grifter or – as he puts it – “a con artist” because he doesn’t take money – people give it to him. His philosophy is that his victims are greedy, looking for a too-good-to-be-true deal. Working with an ambitious protŽgŽ, Frank (Sam Rockwell), he’s a flim-flam master. But when he’s not scamming, his life’s a mess. He’s a lonely, chain-smoking, obsessive-compulsive agoraphobe. Looking for a quick medicinal fix, he goes to a psychoanalyst (Bruce Altman) and, as part of his therapy, realizes he has a teenage daughter he’s never seen. While his ex-wife wants nothing to do with him, 14 year-old Angela (Alison Lohman) is eager to meet the father she never knew. “You don’t seem like a bad guy,” she ventures shyly. “That’s what makes me good at it,” he replies. And since she’s at that rebellious age, she – literally – moves into his life and his ultra-tidy apartment. At first, he’s appalled by her invasion. Then his paternal nature takes over as he takes a quiet, loving delight in her antics, particularly when she begs him to teach her the tricks of the trade and she’s good at it. But when they become involved in a shady foreign currency exchange scam that backfires, things get twisted and complicated. Building on Nicholas Griffin & Ted Griffin’s screenplay, based on Eric Garcia’s book, director Ridley Scott (“Gladiator”) wisely concentrates on establishing the emotional depth of the characters – Nicholas Cage’s multi-layered neurotic, Sam Rockwell’s quirky unpredictability and Alison Lohman’s eager-for-approval vulnerability – before launching into the fast-paced thriller action, set to Hans Zimmer’s cool, jazzy ’50s score. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Matchstick Men” is a clever, dryly comic 8. It’s fun to watch the quintessential con man’s con.v

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Thirteen

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Thirteen” (Fox Searchlight Films)

This slice-of-life look at contemporary 13 year-olds is far more shocking than any horror film in recent years. While you may cringe at the girls’ angst and anger, along with their sex, drugs and shoplifting, co-writer/director Catherine Hardwicke and her teen collaborator Nikki Reed score in tackling dangerous issues that need to be discussed openly within each family. It all revolves around peer acceptance and what a desperately geeky adolescent will do to achieve it. The story begins as two drug-dazed seventh-graders play a brutal game of “Hit Me.” Tracy (Evan Rachel Ward) is the vulnerable, insecure, self-mutilating daughter of a hard-working, recovering-alcoholic single mom (Holly Hunter), and Evie (Nikki Reed) is her sassy, seductive, socially sought-after and, therefore, cool best-friend. That they both come from dysfunctional families is a given but the ease with which one corrupts the other is appalling. Neither has a moral base on which to build any resistance to debauchery, and Elliot Davis’s hand-held, digital camerawork with its quick cuts reflects their wild, rebellious lifestyle and unpredictable hysteria. Equally horrifying is their deft manipulation of adults, including parents, guardians and teachers, who see them spiraling out of control but are unable, or unwilling, to stop it. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Thirteen” is an uncompromising, harrowing 9. It’s what Catherine Hardwicke calls “cinematherapy,” based on psychiatrist Karl Menninger’s idea of bibliotherapy, or sharing experiential activities. Problem is: the parents and teens who will see this bleak film together are probably not the families who need it the most. Nevertheless, theaters should pass out brochures from DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) with every ticket.

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The Order

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “The Order” (20th Century-Fox)

While “The Order” purports to be a religious thriller, it’s neither religious nor a thriller. It’s an occult tale based on the intriguing medieval concept of the Sin Eater. That’s someone who can offer absolution by swallowing a confessor’s sins and taking them upon himself. This relic ritual involves placing salt and bread on the deceased, reciting an incantation and then consuming the salt and bread, representing the sins. As reinterpreted by writer/director Brian Helgeland, that act of absolution brings with it a kind of immortality, so that if the Sin Eater ever wants to pass on to the afterlife, he must find another priest to eat all the sins he’s accumulated over the years. Heath Ledger plays Alex, a conflicted Carolingen priest who still says Mass in Latin. He is dispatched by Cardinal Driscoll of New York (Peter Weller) to Rome to investigate the death of his mentor, Father Dominic. Accompanying him is Mara, (Shannyn Sossamon), a suicidal psychic with whom Alex shares a troubled past. They team up with Alex’s buddy, a burly Irish priest, Father Thomas (Mark Addy). These renegades operate in the shadowy underground of the Eternal City, fearing nothing, not even Church hierarchy, in their perilous determination to locate William Eden (German actor Benno Furmann): a.k.a.: The Other. Once found, this weary 600 year-old Sin Eater intones pithy mumbo-jumbo like, “Knowledge is the enemy of faith.” There’s nothing suspenseful, shocking or scary about what happens, particularly since Nicola Pecorini’s cinematography is cloaked in shadows. And if the trio of protagonists looks familiar, Brian Helgeland previously teamed Ledger, Sossamon and Addy in “A Knight’s Tale.” On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Order” is a dark, tedious 2. It’s a murky cinematic mess.v

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Taking Sides

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Taking Sides” (New Yorker Films)

Can art ever be separated from politics? That’s the pivotal question in Istvan Szabo’s controversial drama about Wilhelm Furtwangler, the world-renowned conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra under the Third Reich. When Adolf Hitler took power in 1933, many Jewish artists fled from Germany. Others were forced out. Some barely escaped and, among them, were musicians aided by Furtwangler, who enjoyed the privilege of being Adolf Hitler’s favorite. Immediately after the war, Furtwangler was suspected of being a Nazi collaborator. Major Steve Arnold (Harvey Keitel) of the American Denazification Committee is dispatched to gather war crimes evidence against Furtwangler. Assigned to help the brash, self-righteous American are a German Jewish assistant (Moritz Bleibtreu), whose parents died in the camps, and a secretary (Birgit Minichmayr), whose father was executed for plotting against Hitler. During his interrogation, the weary, soft-spoken Furtwangler (Stellan Skarsgard) insists he’s a principled patriot who refused to leave his country, preferring, instead, to subtly protest from within while, at the same time, accepting honorary titles from Goebbels and Goering. Raising a series of moral and ethical questions, screenwriter Ronald Harwood (“The Pianist”) has adapted the real-life Furtwangler story from his stage play, which is reflected in the inherent claustrophobia of its theatrical confinement. Despite horrific film clips of Nazi atrocities, along with Keitel’s ranting and raving, the end result is surprisingly bland and ambiguous. All in all, Szabo’s “Sunshine” (1999) was more effective. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Taking Sides” is a flawed but fascinating 7. The problem with “Taking Sides” is that it never does.

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American Splendor

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “c” (HBO Films/Fine Line Features)

Awarded the top prize at Sundance this year, this is the dramatized true-life story of Harvey Pekar, a Veterans Administration Hospital file clerk in Cleveland who, inspired by the example of his pal Robert Crumb, documented the mundane, day-to-day details of his life in comic-books. Paul Giamatti plays the irascible, obsessive-compulsive Pekar, who realizes “Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.” Hope Davis is Joyce, his depressive wife, while Madylin Sweeten is their adopted daughter. Pekar’s co-workers are a motley collection of misfits, the funniest being the slow-speaking, simple-minded Toby (Judah Friedlander), discussing “Revenge of the Nerds.” And, of course, there’s Robert Crumb (James Urbaniak), whom Pekar meets at a garage sale. With Crumb’s encouragement and illustrations, Pekar’s career as a cult cartoonist is launched. The narrative veers toward the dramatic when the dour Pekar copes with cancer for a year. Directed by the documentarians Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, the film utilizes an interesting mixed-media approach. The movie screen morphs into a comic book panel with images of the real, gravel-voiced Harvey Pekar, who narrates the film, intercut with his fictional self and his fictionalized family. There’s archival footage from Pekar’s pugnacious appearances on “Late Night With David Letterman” and a staged version of “American Splendor.” Amid the fact and fiction, Paul Giamatti delivers a tour-de-force performance, finding humor and humanity in one of life’s real losers, as does Hope Davis. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “American Splendor” is a clever, imaginative 7 – getting points for originality and the soundtrack with Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things” and Chocolate Genius’ “Ain’t That Peculiar.”

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Step Into Liquid

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Step Into Liquid” (Artisan Entertainment)

With summer quickly turning into a memory, wouldn’t it be fun to dive back into the surf? Writer/director/editor Dana Brown extends that invitation, following in the footsteps of his father, Bruce Brown, who made “The Endless Summer” (1966), followed by “The Endless Summer II” (1994). According to the Browns: “It’s not a lifestyle, it’s a life.” In this film, you’re transported into the spectacular sport of surfing. From a 21st century viewpoint, there are not only more women involved but surfing’s gone mainstream. “You can actually make a living being a surfer these days because of the sponsorship,” Brown says. “The abilities of surfers have changed, the equipment has changed – but the spirit hasn’t changed.” While you expect to find sensational surfing in Hawaii, Australia and along the California coast, freewheeling breaker-chasers get “stoked” even in the most unlikely places. There are Texans who get their thrills following in the three-mile wakes of supertankers in the Gulf of Mexico and a rowdy group who relish riding the modest swells of Lake Michigan. There’s a devotee who hasn’t missed a day in the ocean in 27 years and a paralyzed fellow who broke his back in a wipeout but is still able to return to the water with the help of his loyal surfing buddies. In Ireland, the Malloy brothers bring Catholic and Protestant youngsters together on surf boards. Plus there’s the new twist of tow-in surfing, which allows surfers catch monster waves. Using multiple cameras, helicopters and hot-shot surf-cam operators, John-Paul Beeghly’s cinematography is so spectacular that you can’t help feeling exhilarated. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Step Into Liquid” is a glorious, rapturous, celebratory 9. It’s a must-sea.

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Lost in Translation

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Lost in Translation” (Focus Features)

Set in Tokyo, Japan, this drama explores the dilemma of loneliness in a big city. Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is a once-famous actor whose career has declined. He’s getting $2 million for endorsing a whiskey in a Japanese commercial. Stuck in a long-term marriage that’s gone stale, he’s left his wife at home in LA, along with a couple of young kids. Problem is: he’s bored and he can’t sleep. In the hotel bar, he spies twentysomething Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), another insomniac. She’s just graduated from Yale and has accompanied her insensitive photographer husband (Giovanni Ribisi) on an assignment. Since their circadian rhythms won’t adjust to Tokyo time, they’re both aimless night prowlers, strangers discovering exotic city that seemingly never sleeps, as casual camaraderie evolves into quirky understanding and a meaningful relationship. Daughter of the legendary Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia Coppola developed the concept from a sketchy four-page outline into a 65-page script, which left lots of room for improvisation. And that’s what’s brilliant here. Patiently, she trusts her actors and cinematographer Lance Accord. Bill Murray delves deeply into his defensively conflicted character with a wry, underlying humor that is uncharacteristically subtle and superbly effective, while Scarlett Johansson (“The Horse Whisperer”) exudes a textured strength and guileless vulnerability. While she’s determined to “see the sights,” like a Buddhist monastery, glittering neon arcades and Kyoto’s gardens, they can’t fill the hollowness inside of her. Both are sad, lost souls, suffering culture-shock and a gnawing sense of displacement. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Lost in Translation” is an impressive, amazing 8 – from its stunning opening shot of a female derriere to its final credits.

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Secondhand Lions

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Secondhand Lions” (New Line Cinema)

Every once in awhile, you see a movie you don’t know anything about and, when it’s over, you want to tell everyone you know. That’s the way I feel about “Secondhand Lions,” a haunting, heartwarming coming-of-age story, filled with quirky humor, surprises, menace and pathos. Set in rural Texas, the story begins as young Walter (Haley Joel Osment) is dumped by his irresponsible mother (Kyra Sedgwick) on the doorstep of her eccentric, elderly uncles: Hud (Robert Duvall) and Garth (Michael Caine). These cantankerous codgers have amassed a fortune and no one knows how. Some say they were bank robbers, others say ex-Mafia. Walter’s mother wants him to discover where they’ve stashed their loot, but he’s just into survival – and not being sent to an orphanage. In an old trunk, he finds a picture of a lovely, exotic lady – and then there’s the lion who takes up residence in the cornfield. Thus begins an emotional journey of discovery that’s fully realized by great casting and seamless acting. Robert Duvall’s gruff, quirky Hud has depth and poignancy, while Michael Caine’s sly, kindly Garth weaves astounding tales of honor and valor, chivalry and love, recounting their adventures in the French Foreign Legion. Hayley Joel Osment’s Walter transforms from shy insecurity to self-confidence, learning the valuable lesson that sometimes it’s better to believe in something, whether or not it’s actually true. Writer/director Tim McCanlies (“The Iron Giant”) crafts a rarity – a fun family film that’s bright enough for children and their parents. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Secondhand Lions” is a captivating, charming 9. Its sweet sentimentality makes you smile, laugh and cry, as its rousing roar rekindles the youthful spirit in all of us.

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Once Upon a Time in Mexico

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” (Sony Pictures/Columbia)

If you missed “El Mariachi” and “Desperado,” never fear. Robert Rodriguez re-introduces the gun-slinging, guitar-strumming balladeer (Antonio Banderas) who vows revenge for the cold-blooded murder of his beloved wife (Salma Hayek) and their young daughter. Only, this time, a cool, caustic CIA agent named Sands (Johnny Depp) steals the picture right out from under him. The somewhat incoherent plot revolves around a drug-cartel boss (Willem Dafoe), his American henchman (Mickey Rourke) and a fascist General (Gerardo Vigil) who arrange a coup d’etat in Culican province during the festive Day of the Dead celebration. Banderas’s brooding pistolero gets involved because a) General Marquez killed his family, and b) he’s a patriot who objects on general principles to the assassination of Mexico’s president. There are subplots involving his crooning mariachi sidekicks (Enrique Iglesias, Marco Leonardi), a crooked local cop (Eva Mendes), a retired FBI agent (Ruben Blades) and a botched attempt at plastic surgery. Since 1992, when he made “El Mariachi” on a $7,000 budget, Robert Rodriguez has achieved mainstream success through his “Spy Kids” franchise. Nevertheless, he still clings to his Sergio Leone spaghetti Western-inspired roots. Using a high-definition video camera, he writes, directs, scores and chops (his word for “edits”) his films from his Troublemaker studio in Austin, Texas. While this chaotic fable lacks substance, it oozes with shoot-’em-up style and explosive energy. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” is a grotesque, fragmented 5. Sadly, however, despite second billing, sultry Salma Hayek does little more than an extended cameo appearance in memory flashbacks.

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