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Several exceptional films hit the big screen
By: Keith Cohen, The Movie Guy
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
3 stars Rated PG-13
The marquee title of this romantic comedy sets up the light and breezy fun in the latest outing from brilliant 72-year-old writer/director Woody Allen.
The film is about two American girlfriends, Vicky (gorgeous brunette Rebecca Hall from “The Prestige”) and Cristina (blonde bombshell Scarlett Johansson last seen in “The Other Boleyn Girl”), who spend the months of July and August in Barcelona. They meet a hot, sexy and aggressive painter (Oscar winner Javier Bardem from “No Country for Old Men”) who wants to make love with both of them.
Vicky is engaged and skeptical about a fling with a total stranger. Cristina is free-spirited, impulsive and ready to be swept off her feet for a seductive roll in the hay. The wild card in this romantic triangle is the painter’s fiery and delusional ex-wife, Maria Elena (Penélope Cruz), who whips up a whirlwind of chaos and disorder.
Allen flirts with the audience in this moral fable of fantasy wish fulfillment. Nobody creates more interesting characters or writes wittier dialogue infused with as much neurotic anxiety. Allen is back in top form with an eye and ear for the complexities inherent in adult relationships.
The mature themes make for a great date movie. The movie shows that women have similar erotic dreams and desires as men with regard to sex, romance and love. The European view of life is contrasted with a puritanical American upbringing.
Allen sticks to facial close-ups during the sex scenes and wisely leaves the more intimate details to your imagination.
An unseen narrator adds immensely to the enjoyment and moves the story along with both knowing exposition and the inner thoughts of the main players. Cruz is outstanding and deserves award recognition for her supporting role. She changes the dynamics whenever she appears in a scene. Her interaction with Bardem adds a delicious combustible ingredient.
The humor is escalated every time Bardem tells her to speak English in front of the Americans rather than her native tongue.
British thespian Hall distinguishes herself as the sensible and responsible individual. She is Woody incarnate in her brutally frank remarks dripping with sarcasm and the way she conveys jealousy.
The Spanish scenery and guitar-driven musical score add to the touristy mood of this adventurous summer vacation. The movie is skillfully edited and flies by with a 96-minute running time. Your pleasure is guaranteed from this sweet gem from a revered master filmmaker.
Partially in Spanish with English subtitles.
MAN ON WIRE
3 and a half stars Rated PG-13
A much different attack on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center occurred on Aug. 7, 1974. Philippe Petit, a self-taught tightrope walker, juggler and magician, committed the “artistic crime of the century.”
This daring and determined young Frenchman flirted with death by crossing a wire that spanned the chasm between the two 110-story buildings eight times over a 45-minute period. He assembled a team and planned the coup with the meticulous precision of a bank robbery.
The virtually insurmountable obstacles that had to be overcome included avoiding security, devising an ingenious method to send the initial wiring across the expanse and making allowances for high winds.
This riveting account will have you glued to your seat. You experience the almost unbearable tension felt by the perpetrators in this exhilarating movie.
This crowd-pleasing film adaptation directed by James Marsh is based on Petit’s autobiography, “To Reach the Clouds.” It contains a mixture of jaw-dropping archival footage, eye-catching still photographs, cleverly conceived dramatic re-enactments and candid interviews with Petit and his band of co-conspirators.
The title comes directly from the detail section of the New York Port Authority criminal complaint form that charged Petit with trespassing and disorderly conduct.
Petit believes in living on the edge and to view every day as a new challenge.
This extraordinary film is full of profoundly magical moments. The ability to accomplish the impossible results in an inspirational adrenaline rush for the viewer. This definitely ranks as one of the best documentaries of the year. You must see it to believe it actually took place.
The musical score includes the familiar theme song from “Peter and the Wolf” composed by Sergei Prokofiev.
Partially in French with English subtitles. Opening exclusively at the Leawood and Tivoli.
THE EDGE OF HEAVEN
4 stars Not Rated
Writer-director Fatih Akin (“Head-On”) was born in Hamburg of Turkish parentage. He utilizes his background in creating this compelling story that is divided into three parts.
The first two segments involve accidental deaths. The third portion bears the title of the movie where a cleansing form of redemption and reconciliation occurs.
The movie, filmed in Germany and Turkey, brilliantly interweaves six main characters in a border-trotting, gender-bending, culture-clashing drama of surreptitious power and uncommon grace.
There are two sets of mothers and daughters, one of German descent and the other Turkish. There is also a Turkish father and son pairing.
The movie opens in Hamburg with Ali, an elderly, widowed father inviting a middle-aged Turkish prostitute, Yeter, to become his live-in girlfriend much to the dismay of his professorial son Nejat. After bonding with Yeter, Nejat travels to Istanbul and searches for the prostitute’s daughter Ayten in the second segment. The daughter is a political revolutionary who is befriended by Lotte, a German college girl living with a conservative mother. The two women become lovers in a passionate lesbian relationship.
The final piece of the mysterious puzzle involves the German mom Susanne (recognizable art house favorite Hanna Schygulla, who appeared in 23 films directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder) and her daughter’s lover, who is deported and imprisoned in Turkey after her plea for asylum in Germany is denied.
The movie ably captures a world in transition and shows both closeness and the gap between generations. It has an acute understanding of 21st century European politics and sexual identity.
This was the German entry for Best Foreign Language Film at last year’s Academy Awards. It would have been my choice for the golden statuette rather than the eventual winner, “The Counterfeiters” from Austria.
This film won the Best Screenplay award at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and won the top four German Film Awards (equivalent of our Oscars) for outstanding feature film, best direction, best screenplay and best editing.
This exceptional movie benefits from great storytelling, superb acting, breathtakingly luscious cinematography and realistic coincidences.
This satisfying cinematic jewel will linger forever in your memory bank.
Partially in German and Turkish with English subtitles. Opening exclusively at the Tivoli.
THE LAST MISTRESS
2 and a half stars Not Rated
This smoldering romantic adaptation of a scandalous 19th century novel was written and directed by Catherine Breillat, who has had a career-long interest in the ramifications of female desire.
The lead role belongs to Asia Argento, whose unusual face and distinctive features are hard to resist. She is not afraid to bare all and let everything hang out.
She plays La Vellini, an independent woman of Spanish descent. She has carried on a 10-year love affair with Ryno, a younger man who is now engaged to be married to Hermangarde, a young, beautiful and virginal aristocrat.
This costume drama is the equivalent of a soft porn soap opera. It is sexually explicit with extended scenes of copulation. The movie has a feminine point of view and the male lead has androgynous features, especially his eyes and lips.
The movie scores high praise for the elegant costumes, ornate interiors and furnishings, unique hairstyles and the rich texture provided by a musical score of classical and operatic selections.
The movie’s main themes are the thrill of the chase, sexual conquest and the age-old battle of the sexes.
This diverting piece of extravagant escapism should put couples in the mood for pleasure behind closed doors. The dialogue is in French with English subtitles. Opening exclusively at the Leawood.
Top 5 Flick Picks
The Dark Knight
The Edge of Heaven
Man on Wire
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
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3 stars Rated PG-13
The marquee title of this romantic comedy sets up the light and breezy fun in the latest outing from brilliant 72-year-old writer/director Woody Allen.
The film is about two American girlfriends, Vicky (gorgeous brunette Rebecca Hall from “The Prestige”) and Cristina (blonde bombshell Scarlett Johansson last seen in “The Other Boleyn Girl”), who spend the months of July and August in Barcelona. They meet a hot, sexy and aggressive painter (Oscar winner Javier Bardem from “No Country for Old Men”) who wants to make love with both of them.
Vicky is engaged and skeptical about a fling with a total stranger. Cristina is free-spirited, impulsive and ready to be swept off her feet for a seductive roll in the hay. The wild card in this romantic triangle is the painter’s fiery and delusional ex-wife, Maria Elena (Penélope Cruz), who whips up a whirlwind of chaos and disorder.
Allen flirts with the audience in this moral fable of fantasy wish fulfillment. Nobody creates more interesting characters or writes wittier dialogue infused with as much neurotic anxiety. Allen is back in top form with an eye and ear for the complexities inherent in adult relationships.
The mature themes make for a great date movie. The movie shows that women have similar erotic dreams and desires as men with regard to sex, romance and love. The European view of life is contrasted with a puritanical American upbringing.
Allen sticks to facial close-ups during the sex scenes and wisely leaves the more intimate details to your imagination.
An unseen narrator adds immensely to the enjoyment and moves the story along with both knowing exposition and the inner thoughts of the main players. Cruz is outstanding and deserves award recognition for her supporting role. She changes the dynamics whenever she appears in a scene. Her interaction with Bardem adds a delicious combustible ingredient.
The humor is escalated every time Bardem tells her to speak English in front of the Americans rather than her native tongue.
British thespian Hall distinguishes herself as the sensible and responsible individual. She is Woody incarnate in her brutally frank remarks dripping with sarcasm and the way she conveys jealousy.
The Spanish scenery and guitar-driven musical score add to the touristy mood of this adventurous summer vacation. The movie is skillfully edited and flies by with a 96-minute running time. Your pleasure is guaranteed from this sweet gem from a revered master filmmaker.
Partially in Spanish with English subtitles.
MAN ON WIRE
3 and a half stars Rated PG-13
A much different attack on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center occurred on Aug. 7, 1974. Philippe Petit, a self-taught tightrope walker, juggler and magician, committed the “artistic crime of the century.”
This daring and determined young Frenchman flirted with death by crossing a wire that spanned the chasm between the two 110-story buildings eight times over a 45-minute period. He assembled a team and planned the coup with the meticulous precision of a bank robbery.
The virtually insurmountable obstacles that had to be overcome included avoiding security, devising an ingenious method to send the initial wiring across the expanse and making allowances for high winds.
This riveting account will have you glued to your seat. You experience the almost unbearable tension felt by the perpetrators in this exhilarating movie.
This crowd-pleasing film adaptation directed by James Marsh is based on Petit’s autobiography, “To Reach the Clouds.” It contains a mixture of jaw-dropping archival footage, eye-catching still photographs, cleverly conceived dramatic re-enactments and candid interviews with Petit and his band of co-conspirators.
The title comes directly from the detail section of the New York Port Authority criminal complaint form that charged Petit with trespassing and disorderly conduct.
Petit believes in living on the edge and to view every day as a new challenge.
This extraordinary film is full of profoundly magical moments. The ability to accomplish the impossible results in an inspirational adrenaline rush for the viewer. This definitely ranks as one of the best documentaries of the year. You must see it to believe it actually took place.
The musical score includes the familiar theme song from “Peter and the Wolf” composed by Sergei Prokofiev.
Partially in French with English subtitles. Opening exclusively at the Leawood and Tivoli.
THE EDGE OF HEAVEN
4 stars Not Rated
Writer-director Fatih Akin (“Head-On”) was born in Hamburg of Turkish parentage. He utilizes his background in creating this compelling story that is divided into three parts.
The first two segments involve accidental deaths. The third portion bears the title of the movie where a cleansing form of redemption and reconciliation occurs.
The movie, filmed in Germany and Turkey, brilliantly interweaves six main characters in a border-trotting, gender-bending, culture-clashing drama of surreptitious power and uncommon grace.
There are two sets of mothers and daughters, one of German descent and the other Turkish. There is also a Turkish father and son pairing.
The movie opens in Hamburg with Ali, an elderly, widowed father inviting a middle-aged Turkish prostitute, Yeter, to become his live-in girlfriend much to the dismay of his professorial son Nejat. After bonding with Yeter, Nejat travels to Istanbul and searches for the prostitute’s daughter Ayten in the second segment. The daughter is a political revolutionary who is befriended by Lotte, a German college girl living with a conservative mother. The two women become lovers in a passionate lesbian relationship.
The final piece of the mysterious puzzle involves the German mom Susanne (recognizable art house favorite Hanna Schygulla, who appeared in 23 films directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder) and her daughter’s lover, who is deported and imprisoned in Turkey after her plea for asylum in Germany is denied.
The movie ably captures a world in transition and shows both closeness and the gap between generations. It has an acute understanding of 21st century European politics and sexual identity.
This was the German entry for Best Foreign Language Film at last year’s Academy Awards. It would have been my choice for the golden statuette rather than the eventual winner, “The Counterfeiters” from Austria.
This film won the Best Screenplay award at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and won the top four German Film Awards (equivalent of our Oscars) for outstanding feature film, best direction, best screenplay and best editing.
This exceptional movie benefits from great storytelling, superb acting, breathtakingly luscious cinematography and realistic coincidences.
This satisfying cinematic jewel will linger forever in your memory bank.
Partially in German and Turkish with English subtitles. Opening exclusively at the Tivoli.
THE LAST MISTRESS
2 and a half stars Not Rated
This smoldering romantic adaptation of a scandalous 19th century novel was written and directed by Catherine Breillat, who has had a career-long interest in the ramifications of female desire.
The lead role belongs to Asia Argento, whose unusual face and distinctive features are hard to resist. She is not afraid to bare all and let everything hang out.
She plays La Vellini, an independent woman of Spanish descent. She has carried on a 10-year love affair with Ryno, a younger man who is now engaged to be married to Hermangarde, a young, beautiful and virginal aristocrat.
This costume drama is the equivalent of a soft porn soap opera. It is sexually explicit with extended scenes of copulation. The movie has a feminine point of view and the male lead has androgynous features, especially his eyes and lips.
The movie scores high praise for the elegant costumes, ornate interiors and furnishings, unique hairstyles and the rich texture provided by a musical score of classical and operatic selections.
The movie’s main themes are the thrill of the chase, sexual conquest and the age-old battle of the sexes.
This diverting piece of extravagant escapism should put couples in the mood for pleasure behind closed doors. The dialogue is in French with English subtitles. Opening exclusively at the Leawood.
Top 5 Flick Picks
The Dark Knight
The Edge of Heaven
Man on Wire
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2