Jan 26
The talents of Tupac Shakur are on full display in Juice, a 1992 crime drama directed by Ernest R. Dickerson. The film is a gritty and energetic one, brimming with violence and a focus on the transformative power of the streets. It explores the nature of violence and the reality of living in an environment in which violence is inevitable.
Oct 5
Based on the play of the same name by David Mamet, Glengarry Glen Ross is a profanity-laced showcase of some of the finest acting talent ever assembled in one place. The movie plays like a concert involving powerful tenors, with each performer stepping up as required to belt out the big notes. With staccato-like cursing and brilliant flourishes of emotion and passion, Glengarry Glen Ross is a spectacular piece of work.
Mamet’s play won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 and made its way into the hands of B-movie producer Stanley R. Zupnik and producer Jerry Tokofsky. Mamet wanted $1 million for the script and for his writing services. The producers came up with the dough, but the rest of the budget was limited and casting was probably going to be tough. Luckily the strength of the material drew many huge names and, with a few pay cuts, Glengarry Glen Ross was born as a cinematic vision.
Based on Laura Esquivel’s novel of the same name, the 1992 film Like Water for Chocolate cleaned up at the Mexican Academy of Motion Picture awards and was the highest grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the United States at the time of its release. The novel, released in 1989, was noted for using magical realism to tell its story of romance, passion and food in early 20th century Mexico.
The movie runs a lot like a cheesy Telemundo-style period piece, with plenty of twists and turns and passionate glances. It isn’t an overly compelling picture and it feels somewhat forced at times. Directed by Alfonso Arau, Like Water for Chocolate looks about as good as the food photographed in it, but it’s largely comprised of empty calories and missed opportunities. The performances are surprisingly bland and the meandering, episodic nature of the project makes it feel less like a solid narrative and more like a soap opera.
Husbands and Wives is one of Woody Allen’s most fascinating pieces of work. A deeply engrossing documentary-style motion picture that examines marriage via two couples, this is a film as much about the process of keeping a marriage going as it is about the process of finding love in the first place. Allen dissects marriage brutally at times, offering a very cynical point of view that later floats on wings of hope.
Allen’s personal life hit the rocks as soon as Husbands and Wives was released in 1992, so there’s a lot of interesting subtext to look for here. Allen seems to make some discoveries along the way that might have helped him out, but part of the tragic lining of the movie is reflected in the director’s own choices. It doesn’t help matters that Allen also stars.
Nov 12
Porco Rosso is a unique film in the canon of genius animator Hayao Miyazaki. The historical and geographical context of the movie is specific; there is no fantasy world or alternate universe in which the characters operate. Indeed, most of the story could have occurred in reality and within the context. The only element to the story that stretches our perceptions of reality, ever so slightly, is the titular character.
The story takes place during the 1920s between the two World Wars. The setting is Italy and fascism is rising. Blackshirts are everywhere and the “firm answer” of the fascist regime to the political turmoil in post-war Italy lays the backdrop to the picture. In many respects, Porco Rosso is Miyazaki’s most “adult” picture. It is entrenched with politics and world affairs, generating many of its more obvious plot points from the rejection of fascism.
