Captive State: Revolt Against the “Legislators”

It is sort of like V for a new generation. We will meet (briefly) the alien “Visitors,” now called “Legislators,” who will be taking care of things on Earth for us now and the humans who chose to collaborate to maintain their own sliver of power. Our world is in thrall to an alien occupation, but the opening exposition rather hilariously tells us the gap between rich and poor is now wider than ever. Surely, mansplaining is also on the rise. Fortunately, there is still the remnant of a resistance that favors freedom over safety in Rupert Wyatt’s Captive State, which releases today on DVD.

Alas, the governments of Earth were forced to surrender unconditionally. There was a rag-tag resistance, but they were essentially wiped out in Chicagoland, during an infamous battle. Now everyone pretends having the “Legislators” in charge is all for the best, especially the mayor and the police chief. The city is even gearing up for a big peace rally in Soldier Field.

However, senior Chicago cop William Mulligan is not so sure the resistance has really scattered to the wind. He suspects there is an underground network communicating through the old-fashioned newspaper classified ads. His hunches also lead him to keep tabs on Gabriel Drummond, the son of his late partner and the brother of fallen resistance leader Rafe Drummond. His intuition is pretty sharp, because it turns out Rafe is still alive and planning a significant attack on the Legislators’ peace rally.

Frankly, Wyatt and co-screenwriter Erica Beeney offer up a pretty worthy message regarding the dangers of opting for security over freedom. It would be nice if they still mean that when it comes to cradle-to-grave socialism too. Heck, maybe they do, considering the evil aliens are called “Legislators.” Regardless, the tension between these two human values is very real and believable throughout the film. The problem is the big twist at the end is glaringly obvious, thanks to a conspicuous classical reference that makes little sense when it is first dropped.

Regardless, John Goodman is terrific as the dogged Mulligan, especially in light of where the film takes him. Ashton Sanders is rather blandly angry as the angsty Gabriel Drummond, but Jonathan Majors seethes with righteous rebellious intensity as the older Drummond brother. Veteran character actors James Ransone, Alan Ruck, Kevin O’Connor, and Ben Daniels all add color and grit as members of the resistance, while Kevin Dunn does his sleazy thing as the police commissioner.

There are relatively few scenes of the aliens—and when they do appear, their powers and properties are not clearly defined. However, Wyatt and the special effects team create some string images of the aliens’ enormous space crafts and the extent to which they have altered the skyline of Chicago. Without question, Captive State is far more impressive visually than it is as a work of storytelling. It is strange it didn’t make more noise in theaters (maybe because it really doesn’t land as a Trump allegory), but sf fans will find it is worth checking out when Captive State goes on-sale today (6/11) on DVD.

Once Upon a Time in Venice: It’s a Real Bummer, Dude

There were active oil wells on Venice Beach up through the 1970s. Granted, there is a mini-tech boomlet underway now, but the hipster colony’s primary industry has been scenesterism since the last wells were decommissioned in the early 1990s. Skateboarding private detective Steve Ford definitely considers himself a part of that funky scene. Yes, we will have to spend time with an annoying self-styled Bohemian in Mark Cullen’s alleged action-comedy Once Upon a Time in Venice (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Mark & Robb Cullen’s screenplay is so episodic, it could use a prescription for Ritalin, but eventually it decides its driving Macguffin will be Ford’s niece’s beloved terrier, who gets dognapped by junkies and bartered to Venice’s drug lord, Spyder, with whom Ford has some awkward history. Spyder offers him a deal. If he recovers the money and the drugs his girlfriend Lupe absconded with, he can exchange them for Fido. Of course, there are numerous intertwining cases and subplots, such as the spectacularly pornographic graffiti plaguing a real estate developer charmingly referred to as “Lou the Jew.”

This film is almost unwatchable. None of the jokes land, but some of them face-plant so hard we have to feel embarrassed for the big-name case, who have all appeared in vastly superior films, including Bruce Willis (Unbreakable) as Ford, John Goodman (Argo) as his surf shop buddie, Jason Momoa (Road to Paloma) as Spyder, Stephanie Sigman (Miss Bala) as Lupe, and Famke Janssen (Rounders) as Ford’s personality-less sister-in-law. They all find themselves in the unenviable position of trying to pull off gags involving sex addicts-anonymous support groups and transvestite hookers doing straight characters’ make-up at gun point.

Actually, a little politically incorrect humor would be fine, even healthy, but it has to be funny. Alas, that is not the case here. Ironically, the ending would be massively unsatisfying in nearly any other film, but in this case, it is largely what these characters deserve. Not recommended at all, Once Upon a Time in Venice opens tomorrow (6/16) in New York, at the Cinema Village and in LA at the Monica Film Center.

The Gambler: Goodman Trumps Wahlberg’s Chump

They say gambling is a victimless crime, but not in Jim Bennett’s case. Anyone too closely linked to the degenerate literature professor could find themselves in a world of collateral hurt. The same goes without saying for Bennett, but that seems to be part of his wildly self-destructive plans. Several very large debts will inevitably come due in Rupert Wyatt’s Christmas Day release, The Gambler (trailer here), a loose remake of the moody 1970s James Caan vehicle considered to be partially inspired by the Dostoyevsky novel of the same name.

Bennett’s beloved grandfather has just passed away, leaving him nothing, because he is a total mess. He shouldn’t an inheritance, as a gainfully employed academic with one reasonably well received novel under his belt. Unfortunately, Bennett can rack up debt quicker than a president with no private sector experience. We will see him do it during the first of many trips to an underground casino.

Bennett has amassed $240,000 in gambling debts to the Korean mob, led by the severe Mr. Lee. You really do not want to owe him money. To keep playing and keep losing, Bennett borrows fifty K from loanshark Neville Baraka. You really, really do not want to owe him money. He is up briefly, but eventually he blows through that as well. After being rebuffed by his wealthy mother, Bennett explores the possibility of yet another loan from Russian mobster “Frank,” who is a real character. You really, really, really do not want to owe him money. In fact, Frank is so hardcore, he even gives Bennett pause. Nevertheless, it is only a matter of time before they do business together.

Wyatt’s Gambler is way better than you would expect, but it is almost entirely due to the villains. John Goodman’s Frank gets a good number of laughs throughout the film, but he is still scary as all get-out. Given his record of memorable supporting turns in award-contending films (Argo, The Artist, Inside Llewyn Davis), Goodman arguably deserves an honorary Oscar by now. As usual, he makes the film. Likewise, Michael Kenneth Williams regularly upstages his more famous co-star as the flamboyantly ruthless Baraka, while Alvin Ing also makes quite an impression as the icily intense Mr. Lee. Even Anthony Kelley earns some notice as Lamar Allen, Bennett’s star basketball player student, who may or may not shave some points for his prof.

To an extent, Mark Wahlberg convincingly falls apart as Bennett. However, he conspicuously overplays screenwriter William Monahan’s vastly overwritten bombastic, self-loathing classroom lectures. You’d think he was trying to be Meryl Streep in Osage County, but at least he is not half as embarrassing. On the other hand, the role of Amy Phillips, Bennett’s student-slash-potential love interest-slash-witness to his implosion is not exactly what you would might similarly describe as overwritten. Frankly, Brie Larsen, last year’s indie sensation in Short Term 12, looks like she regrets every minute playing her.

Regardless, Wyatt keeps the pace brisk and cinematographer Greig Fraser gives it all a hazy City of Angels noir sheen. It is often quite visually dynamic and whenever he needs help, Wyatt can count on Goodman for an injection of adrenaline through the film’s breastplate. Recommended for those who enjoy distinctive heavies, The Gambler opens nationwide today (12/25), including the Regal Union Square in New York.

Argo: In Iran, There Are No Second Takes

It was a time of malaise.  In 1979, the iconic Hollywood sign had fallen into a state of disrepair, but there was still a patriotic old guard willing to invest their time and reputations in a film that would never be made, for the sake of their country.  Recruited by CIA “exfiltration” specialist Tony Mendez, two movie industry veterans provided the cover for a long classified rescue operation.  During the Iranian hostage crisis, the Canadian ambassador furtively sheltered six U.S. embassy employees, at considerable personal risk.  Mendez devised a plan to fly them out in broad daylight, posing as crew members of a Star Wars knock-off.  Their stranger-than-fiction mission has become Ben Affleck’s Oscar contending Argo (trailer here), which opens today in New York.

In its opening voiceover narration, Argo makes it clear everything that happened in Iran was the fault of America and Great Britain, because we supported the Shah.  After we are properly chastised, Argo then admits the early days of the Islamic Revolutionary regime were little more than a reign of terror, culminating with the seizure of the American embassy, in gross violation of international law.  Carefully modeled on actual news footage, these occupation sequences are a harrowing depiction of mass fanaticism at its most savage, but also highly cinematic.

Caught flat-footed, the Carter Administration (which had pressured the Shah to abdicate, assuming the Ayatollah would mellow once entrusted with power) is at a total loss.  The Canadian Ambassador simply cannot shelter his “house guests” indefinitely and it is only a matter of time before the hostage takers realize they are short six Foreign Service Officers.  Most of the proposed action plans bear little or no relation to the on-the-ground realities.  Of course, Mendez does not have any better ideas, until he thinks of make-up artist John Chambers, the man who created Spock’s ears, who secretly volunteers his “transformative” services to the CIA.

The plan is daring in its conception.  Mendez will enter Iran via Canada on the pretext that he is scouting locations for a sci-fi epic set on a rather Persian looking alien world.  A few days later, he simply flies out again with six of his crew members.  Of course, it is rather more complicated than that.  To be credible, Argo, as the non-film within the film is titled, must have legit names attached to it and generate some trade press.  Old school producer Lester Siegel can take care of that.

Argo really packs a punch when conveying the overwhelming oppressiveness and paranoia of Revolutionary Iran.  The atmosphere is truly overpowering and profoundly scary.  Yet, Affleck effectively breaks up the mood with the Sorkinesque absurdities of the Carter Administration and the outright comic relief provided by Siegel and Chambers.  However, their “kvetching for freedom” never feels overly silly or forced.  Instead, viewers clearly understand these old cats are used to dealing with serious situations through humor.

As Mendez, Ben Affleck broods and bluffs convincingly enough, but his work on the other side of the camera far more distinctive.  John Goodman and Alan Arkin are absolutely perfect as the real life Chambers and the composite-figure Siegel.  They both deliver zingers like the old pros they are, while still projecting an unabashed love of country that is quite endearing.  Yet, Bryan Cranston gets some of the film’s sharpest lines as Jack O’Donnell, Mendez’s superior at the Agency.

Aside from the audio from a ridiculously self-serving interview with Jimmy Carter heard during the closing credits, the sure-footed Affleck avoids politicizing his tight narrative.  He keeps the tension cranked up, but has the good sense to unleash his colorful supporting cast.  Given the presumed field of Oscar candidates, it probably deserves to be in the mix.  Recommended for those fascinated with the history of espionage, Argo opens today (10/12) in theaters throughout the City, including the AMC Loews Lincoln Square.

Pope Joan the Apocryphal

She was a figure of anti-Catholic lore largely but not decisively debunked by Protestant scholars. For centuries millions truly believed in the existence of a legendary female Pope. Indeed, enough references could be found in various sources (before you ask, this definitely includes Martin of Troppau’s Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum) to provide Donna Woolfolk Cross the hooks on which to hang a speculative novel about Johanna Anglicus, the woman who would be Pope (allegedly). The most likely apocryphal and very definitely controversial story comes to television when director-co-adapter Sönke Wortmann’s two part Pope Joan (trailer here), debuts this Sunday on ReelzChannel.

Like the other Joan, the life of Johanna (not yet known as Anglicus) will be short but epic. Her father is a priest from Britain who came to convert the godless Saxons. Unfortunately, most of his zeal is reserved for terrorizing his family. Despite her natural aptitude and general thirst for knowledge, he refuses to allow her any formal education. However, through the intercession of an unusually progressive Bishopric, Johanna eventually begins her studies at the Cathedral school, while staying as a guest of Count Gerold. She quickly forms a deep emotional bond with the Count, but not so much with the Countess.

War will soon disrupt their lives, but it offers Johanna the opportunity to assume her younger brother’s identity and take his place in a monastic order. There she will begin her ecclesiastic career, living in constant fear her secret will be revealed.

Pope Joan is not exactly a love letter to the Church (there was only one at the time), but not all of the clergy depicted are intolerant Savonarolas. In fact, at critical junctures of her life, Johanna is championed or protected by many men of the cloth, usually of the older and wiser variety. Frankly, one of the most sympathetic characters is Pope Sergius II, whom Anglicus (as he/she is then known) loyally serves. Still, her dogmatic father is so unremittingly abusive, it makes several of the early scenes punishingly difficult to watch.

Despite the gender-bending element of Anglicus’s supposedly suppressed story, Pope Joan is not really preoccupied with psycho-sexual issues. Instead, it is a more traditional feminist critique of an old world social order that afforded little or no opportunities to women. It does so with healthy doses of war, pestilence, and intrigue.

Having previously played an acting president on The West Wing, an unlikely British monarch in King Ralph, and the mother of all governors, Huey P. Long, John Goodman rounds out his resume with the portrayal of a Pope. While he somewhat stands out amid the European cast, his larger than life presence fits Sergius nicely.

Obviously, Johanna is the trickiest part to cast, because she must be boyish enough to pass for male, yet feminine enough to attract the attention of the manly Count Gerold. Frankly, that is probably impossible, but Johanna Wokalek has enough of a Tilda Swinton vibe to suspend disbelief in each context. With credits including The Lord of the Rings trilogy and 300, David Wenham brings plenty of hack-and-slash action credibility to the proceedings as Gerold, also developing some relatively convincing chemistry with Wokalek.

Pope Joan follows in the tradition of the epic miniseries so popular in the early 1980’s, but with a Euro sensibility. It recreates the early medieval era quite well, featuring production values at least a notch better than Spartacus. Wortmann has a good handle on the sweeping battle scenes and keeps the skullduggery humming along nicely. Recommended for fans of chewy historicals with a somewhat revisionist bent, parts one and two of Pope Joan premiere this Sunday (12/18) and Monday (12/19), respectively, on ReelzChannel (TimeWarner channel 131 and RCN channel 140 in New York), the network that brought viewers the Emmy winning Kennedys miniseries. It also plays in its entirely New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. (For help finding the network in your area go here.)

About Those Levees: The Big Uneasy

Journalist Michael Grunwald describes the Army Corps of Engineers as a government agency funded almost entirely through pork. That truly speaks volumes. Giving FEMA a break, the Corps emerges as the unambiguous villain of Katrina in The Big Uneasy (trailer here), Harry Shearer’s documentary investigation of the devastating levee breaches precipitated by the hurricane, which opens this Friday in New York.

Despite the bumper crop of Katrina docs, most viewers will be stunned by the meticulous indictment assembled by Shearer, the Simpsons voice-over artist and part-time Crescent City resident. To start with, most of the worst flooding was caused by under-seepage rather than over-topping of the levees. This is obviously implies some rather profound design flaws in the levee system.

Calling on expert testimony from several academics who investigated the levee breaches on behalf of the State of Louisiana and a Corps of Engineers whistleblower, Shearer establishes a pattern of pervasive negligence at the agency. Essentially, the New Orleans levees were built to unrealistically low specifications, on dangerously porous ground, incorporating a network of substandard pumps. To make matters unnecessarily worse, they created a flooding “funnel effect,” with “MR. GO,” an acronym for a little used but highly expensive commercial waterway. That’s hundreds of millions of your tax dollars at work.

Indeed, in many ways Uneasy is a chronicle of wasteful, counterproductive government spending run amok. Frankly, term “incompetence” is too generous for the systemic failures of the Corps. Yet, the agency has been largely spared the public recriminations leveled at FEMA. As Shearer points out, congressional reps love to put big conspicuous waterworks projects in their districts, which, of course, are duly constructed by the Corps.

As narrator, writer, executive producer, and director, Shearer maintains the right tone throughout, keeping the proceedings largely dispassionate and authoritative. He is definitely looking to assign responsibility, but he does not engage in the sort of finger-pointing that so many previous Katrina docs indulged in. Legitimately non-partisan, Shearer even presents a Republican politician in a favorable light, including footage of Sen. David Vitter effectively cutting through the dissembling of a senior Corps officer testifying before the Senate.

To his further credit, Shearer is not interested in creating more victimization narratives. Though he largely focuses on muckraking the Corps, he occasionally interjects a brief “Ask a New Orleanian” vignette. Hosted by actor John Goodman, these segments contradict most of the helpless NOLA victim stereotypes, offering a portrait of a revitalized city, with a unique and ever evolving culture. Wisely, Uneasy also features a legit NOLA style soundtrack by funky jazz pianist David Torkanowsky to remind so many of us how we came to love the city in the first place.

Uneasy’s release is timely for a number of reasons. Shearer repeatedly emphasizes the issue of inadequately constructed levees effects many communities beyond the Crescent City. New Orleans was simply the most vulnerable. It also hits theaters the day after the Jazz Foundation of America’s annual Great Night in Harlem benefit concert. Created to help jazz musicians in need, the Foundation’s caseload exploded when Katrina hit. Working tirelessly, Wendy and her staff provided housing and medical assistance, replaced lost instruments, and even found paying gigs for hundreds of displaced musicians. To support their efforts and buy tickets for a swinging star-studded show go here. Surprisingly informative and persuasive, Uneasy is also recommended when it opens this Friday (5/20) in New York at the Cinema Village.