Bewitched? Bothered.

The Eggers film The Witch is so ridiculous and unpleasant as to deserve little comment, but as some have praised it I'll weigh in for a moment. The film seems, at first, to be about a man banished from a 17th-century New England "plantation" (unnamed, looks like it may have been filmed at the Plymouth replica?) for his extreme religious views. He sets off with his wife and 5 children to build his own remote farm, but we soon learn that he's not a very competent settler (although that seems to be a plot point in the film, I'm pretty impressed that he could build a farm house, barn, etc. basically on his own). Gradually, we begin to see that the children are tormented or possessed by evil witches - who kill the youngest child, later lure the oldest son into captivity and take over his mind - and the parents suspect that the oldest child is the perpetrator of the witchery. I kept thinking the movie was about the religious fanaticism and how that leads the family into strange and self-destructive delusions, but in fact everything about the movie suggests that the witches are real forces lurking in the forest, possessing the spirit of various animals, taking over the minds of everyone in the family, whether by actual possession or by driving them to insanity through torment, who knows? And who cares? The premise of the movie is to off kilter I was never caught up in it for a moment - though I might have been had it been a psychological drama rather than a horror film. What’s worse, whether because of poor prodoction or the incompetence of the actors, especially thie children, or the archaic langauge (closing credits say much of the dialogue came from documents of the time) the strange British-Colonia acccents and the whispered dialog I think I could understand maybe half of what was spoken. Half was too much.

A tribute to Michael Jackson and his influence - but nothing about his sad demise

Spike Lee's Showtime documentary, Michael Jackson's Journal from Motown to Off the Wall (whew), is really a hagiography - an examination of Jackson's extraordinary skills, not only as a dancer but also as a lead singer with a pretty wide range and as a composer and arranger, and on his influence on a generation of pop starts and composers. What we get is some good archival footage of the early MJ as leader and star persona of the Jackson 5, short clips from interviews with MJ as a preteen and a teenage star, concert clips showing the evolution of his style from bubble-gum pop to more advanced and complex lyrics and beat of the disco and post-disco eras, and many, many interviews w/ not only rock/pop music singers, composers, choreographers, journalists but also two of MJ's brothers, his parents, and even some devotees from other fields - notably, Kobe Bryant - Spike Lee calling in many chits on this one. I felt that too many of these interviews covered the same ground, and some were cut so short they were headlines more than analysis - could have used more of and stayed more with the few who really had insight into what made his style unique and how he pushed the evolution of pop/rock to become more rhythmically and melodically complex (this firm makes a good comparison with the feature biopic about Brian Wilson, Love & Mercy, on the same musical themes though w/ different treatment). If you're looking to learn anything at all about MJ's personality or his relationships with family and friends and spouse, about his medical condition, about his sad demise - this film has nothing to offer you, and though the influence of MJ may be a bit overstated - was he really that great as a singer? did others really follow his overly dramatic live presentations, or was he unique? - but it's a fine tribute and a reminder of where he came from, how far he came.

Disturbing Turkish film that indicts a chauvinist, repressive culture

Recent Turkish film Mustang, though a little heavy-handed and obvious, is an extremely powerful and disturbing indictment of the sexist, chauvinist, repression culture still prevalent and dominant in many world cultures, including, to a degree, our own in the U.S. Story involves a family with five girls, orphaned (we're never told why or how) and being raised by conservative, traditional though sometimes empathic grandmother and autocratic, domineering uncle. These adults, with the approval of all in their small community on the Mediterranean coast about 600 miles from Istanbul essentially hold the 5 sisters captive over the course of a summer - literally barring the doors and windows - as the women-folk prepare them to be "good wives" (they are all "schoolgirls," with the youngest looking to be about 12 or 13) - cooking, sewing, modest dress and demeanor - and arranging marriages for each, with no thought whatsoever about the girls' desires or aspirations - all of which leads to various outcomes, from compliance to resistance to rebellion to tragedy, differing for each daughter. It's horrifying to see the crude men of the community eating and drinking lavishly, completely served by the women, and making decisions that affect their lives and happiness for their own selfish reasons; there are hints that the uncle is an abuser - I wish they didn't include this element at all, totally not necessary, the story is not about abuse but about a whole cultural order, or disorder. The movie would be unbearable were it not for the charm and spirit of the girls, esp the youngest (Layla?), and somehow we know or think that they are living in a cultural backwater and a few at least will escape to a better life - but what about the thousands, millions who won't?

Till Love and Fame to Nothingness: Sorrentino's new great film, Youth

Paolo Sorrentino's newest film, Youth, is a challenge to get into at first, as for a while it's very hard to get our bearings - what is this story about, where is it heading, who's important and who's peripheral, why are these people together? - but patience and attention will pay off as the film begins to cohere and take shape and becomes a powerful, beautiful, troubling examination of love and fame - much like Sorrentino's previous film, The Great Beauty. Youth is darker, older than Great Beauty but they both center on a male protagonist of late years. In GB it's a writer who never lived up to expectations and hopes, mostly his own, as he edges toward retirement and later life (while living among celebrities in Rome - he's a journalist, and an obvious echo of La Dolce Vita). In Youth, the central character, the always excellent Michael Caine, is a little different - older, a retired conductor and composer, obviously very famous and successful, and now living w/ his aging body and thoughts of death. The movie is set at an extremely posh Swiss resort/spa, and yes it will remind you of the Magic Mountain (though w/out the philosophy), where Caine's closest, lifelong friend, Harvey Keitel in some interesting casting as an American director working w/ a team of young actors and writers on his final film, which is obviously going nowhere. Sorrentino thoughtfully and with great wit explores their friendship, as well as Caine's difficult relationship w/ daughter (Rachel Weisz) and various other family trauma. Of course the film is visually beautiful - can't really miss in this setting - but it's also visually imaginative with some striking and surprising scenes throughout (Miss Universe in the hot tub!, an aged former soccer star showing his technique, various nightclub scenes - again, as in Great Beauty - which the characters find boring (but we don't, necessarily), and final very moving concert performance. Throughout, David Lang's music is fantastic - a rare movie score with range and variety and that actually enhances the film, in fact, plays a role in the film - most scores these days emphasize the obvious and smother the subtle. Yes, Sorrentino oversteps the mark several times - not every scene works, some of the effects are surreal and magical and in that sense out of keeping w/ the rest of the film, there's some pretentious dialog (Keitel's mostly), some over-acting (Jane Fonda, mostly), a few moments of melodrama and sentimentality that seem out of key - but all that's because he's constantly exploring the edges, pushing his film as far as it can go, surprising us all the time and making us think. Imagine that.