Avanti Populo!

The Billy Wilder sex comedy Avanti! actually has nothing to do Avanti Populo, the red anthem. I just like the song, that's all.

I like the movie, too. Jack Lemmon plays a rich American who travels to Ischia, Italy to retrieve the body of his father, who died there on vacation. But he didn't die alone - he died with his mistress. This upsets Lemmon, but not as much as the annoying Englishwoman (Juliet Mills) who seems to have been following him around. Because she is in Ischia to pick up the body of her mother, the mistress.

I've noticed that I don't tell much about the plots of movies in this blog. Partly to avoid spoiling them, partly because it's not always interesting to tell, but usually because I don't need to. You can fill in the blanks, right? The only question is how much they will fight and how soon they will fall in love.

I won't give that away, but I will say the Lemmon's role is nicely written. I've never liked Jack Lemmon much - maybe he is too much a man of his time (the 1960's executive in the grey flannel suit). But Billy Wilder seems to understand him, and makes him a stuck-up stuffed shirt, but just human enough. He is quite tender to Juliet Mills when he finds out why she is in Ischia. It makes him more human than pure comedic foil, and that, for me, makes the movie.

Escape from Banlieue B13

Although it is marketed in America as District B13, (translated in the opening narration as "Barrio B13"), I prefer it's French title, Banlieue 13. I think enough Americans heard about the riots in the Paris "suburbs" last year to know what a banlieue is.

In this film, like in Escape from New York, the banlieues are being walled off, so that the scum inside can kill itself off. Like in Escape from New York, there is a MacGuffin lost in the banlieue. The man assigned to get it back is Cyril Raffaelli, with help from local David Belle.

If you watch a lot of YouTube, you may recognize these names. They are a founder (Belle) and a early proponent of parkour, a sport that involves running, jumping and climbing through urban obstacle courses. If you haven't heard of this, take a few minutes - just look for "parkour" in YouTube. Now imagine this style produced by action master Luc Besson.

So you can imagine this movie - fantastic gymnastic feats at breakneck pace, against all manner of urban gangster. Belle and Raffaelli are handsome, fit and often shirtless, if that appeals. They are fine actors but GREAT stuntmen. You will see things you won't believe. The chases go on and on, giving the film a Run Lola Run feel (Belle's characters sister is named Lola). I'm also reminded of Tony Jaa, the Thai kickboxer, for seemingly impossible stunts done without wires or tricks. (In one of Tony Jaa's movies, we see the graffiti: "Luc Besson, call me". I hope he does.)

The plot wasn't bad, although the banlieue residents could have been given more real identities, instead of all generic gang-bangers. The bad guy was North African, but that's about it. You won't have much time to ponder politics though.

In summary, Leave Banlieue 13!

Artful Dodgeball

Here's what I expected when I rented Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story: Mindless entertainment featuring talented comic actors Vince Vaughan and Ben Stiller. That's pretty much what I got, but not as mindless as I'd expected.

The story has the lovable losers at Average Joe's Gym (Vince Vaughan's establishment) competing against evil Globo Gym (Stiller's joint) in world-class American Dodgeball Association of America rules Dodgeball. The prize is $50k, possession of Average Joe's Gym, and the love of Christine Taylor. The ending may surprise you!

But probably not.

Vaughan gets to play a nice guy with no ambition. It's a pretty straight role. Ben Stiller gets to go WAY over the top, with a pornstar mustache and an evil attitude - he fires Christine Taylor so that he can date her. Taylor plays an accountant, more or less the straight man of the group. Of course, she falls in love with Vaughan's character, which struck me as a little far-fetched.

Far-fetched romance, in a Ben Stiller comedy? What else is new? But, you see, if this were a complete farce, none of the character's motivations would matter, as long as they met the needs of the gags. But Vince Vaughan and his band of misfit gym regulars manage to transcend the comedy and show some real human soul. It wasn't necessary - the comedy was enough. That made it extra nice.

There are some serious affronts to realism as well, especially around Rip Torn's character, Patches O'Houlihan, a washd up dodgeball coach. But he's a great character, and I don't mind. There are a bunch of great cameos at the end, including Chuck Norris and William Shatner. But Lance Armstrong gets the last word on quitting. It is both funny and touching and that is the effect of the whole movie.

Mirror, Mirror

I'm not a Neil Gaiman fan, just an admirer. I've read some of his books but none of the Sandman comics. So I guess I'm not qualified to say, but MirrorMask looked like a Neil Gaiman comic.

It is a story about a young woman, Helena, whose parents have a circus - something of a low-budget Cirque du Soleil, with performers in quaint and grotesque masks. She juggles in the show, but only after fighting with her mother about it - Her mother who collapses during the performance. With her mother close to death and going for an operation the next day, Helena goes to bed.

And wakes up in a dreamland, where everyone but Helena wears a mask. She is mistaken for the daughter of the evil Queen of Night. Her real daughter has escaped to the real world, where she impersonates Helena. Helena spies her through windows to the real world and sees her smoking, fighting with Helena's dad and snogging boys. Worse, she is upsetting the Balance, which will cause the universe to end.

So there is a quest, with curious allies, monstrous enemies, and grand weapons, such as a small paperback accurately called A Really Useful Book. This much is fine, grand in fact if you like fantasy kingdoms and quests. What makes it amazing is the film's look, which is pure comic book - not Superman or Marvel, but a graphic novel in the Sandman series.

It's almost uncanny, how comic-like this film looks. Since the director, David McKean, was an artist for Sandman, this makes sense. But it can't have been easy.

A magical movie.

Anoushka and her Dad

Since this blog is technically about my Netflix queue (with some cocktail recipes), the concert byRavi Shankar and his daughter Anoushka I saw the other night doesn't really qualify. But I first came across Anoushka from a DVD: Concert for George. So I'll blog it.

Actually, I've only seen Ravi Shankar on film - Monterey Pop Festival and The Concert for Bangladesh. Concert for Bangladesh has an amazing sitar v. sarod cutting contest with Shankar an Ali Akbar Khan trading lightning licks and Alla Rakah on tablas just looking amazed. Even if you don't care for Indian classical music, you've got to love this.

In Concert for George, a memorial concert filmed one year after George Harrison's death, Shankar presents an offering that he composed for Harrison. But he doesn't play in it. Instead, his daughter directs an Indian orchestra and English choir and she solos on sitar. She has a lovely presence and handles the sitar with great authority.

When I heard that she and her father would be playing near by in Santa Cruz, I was willing to skip a movie night to go listen. I thought this might be my last chance to see him, but I was really more interested in hearing her. A lot of the audience agreed, cheering her like she was a rockstar.

For the first half of the show, she played a long raga, accompanied by a 2 tampuras, a flautist and Tammoy Bose on tabla. Unfortunately, the sound system was terrible, putting a harsh edge on the ringing strings and squealing with feedback whenever she really got going. The flute was a nice touch, mostly just accents, but taking a rather jazzy solo.

Then, after an intermission, Ravi came out. He is fairly frail, around 90, but smiling. His sitar seemed to be modified, smaller, with a lighter tuning head. His playing was sure in the slower passages, but he seemed to have trouble playing the fast runs in tempo. There was also a clunking sound, as if he were misfretting - or maybe this was another sound system issue.

Anoushka's playing was definitely stronger, and her tone was more mellow. It was easy to tell the players apart, eyes closed. She would often take her fathers theme and restate it more surely. Sometimes, he would only sketch an idea, or even flub it, and she would present it cleanly. So this is looking like Anoushka's show.

But.

At the end of the first raga, Ravi seemed to be limping through some very fast sections. Then he let Bose take a tabla solo, and followed it by kicking the tempo up even faster and ripping out some mercury-fast runs. He is clearly far from incapacitated.

And Anoushka's playing clearly has something else when she is playing with her father. While her playing may be superior to his now, his musical thinking is still superior.

Finally, kudos to Bose, a great tabla player. I love Alla Rakah, Ravi's old tabla player (and Zakir Hussein's father) for his calm, accepting flow. Bose had a different feel - more assertive and solid. He can also let out a bass note from the left hand that is truly startling.

So in conclusion, Anoushka is beautiful and talented, Ravi is aging but still vital, the sound man should be shot.

Roots Rockers

The classic reggae movie is, of course, The Harder They Come. But suppose you want more - more Rasta, more music, more performers. Introducing Rockers.

It stars reggae drummer Horsemouth Brown, played by reggae drummer Horsemouth Brown. He is always broke, always hustling to feed his 3 kids. He buys a bike (175, mon) to peddle records. It gets stolen and he gets it back, with the help of some friends.

The kick is the friends. They, and pretty much everyone with a speaking part in this movie, are top reggae artists, playing themselves. We see Gregory Isaacs crack a safe, and Robbie Shakespeare pull a knife when someone tries to move in on his dinner. We see the Mighty Diamonds in their machine shop and hear Burning Spear chant a med-I-tation - the I-teous "Jah No Dead". Big Youth, Dirty Harry, Kiddus I are all on hand.

The film starts with a dreadlocked bush healer speaking about Rastafari behind some heavy drums - he is played by a bush healer named Higher. Outside of the stunt casting, this is the finest thing in the movie: It's deep and steady love and praise of Jah.

Horsemouth could be just a bragging hustler, buying a bike to show off, blustering and fighting. But he truly, steadfastly loves Jah, and speaks his praise constantly. As he tells his Christian grandmother, "There is only Rastafari and war, and I choose Rastafari". It makes all the difference.

Everyone speaks in heavy Rasta patois, so that subtitles are needed. In the rasta tradition, even the pronouns praise him - "I" and "me" are both "I&I" (I and Jah) and "you" becomes "the-I".

OK, this isn't just a religious movie with some music and a gangster subplot. It is a movie about reggae and life in Jamaica, with a lot of humor and great music. It is the heights, seen?

The Adventure Begins

Watching Escape from New York convinced me that I needed to watch more cheesy adventure flicks. So, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins.

Fred Ward plays "Remo Williams", the name he is given when a shadowy government agency fakes his death and recruits him as a secret assassin. He is trained by elderly Korean martial artist Chiun, played by Joel Grey. Now that piece of stunt-casting probably got your attention.

The plot concerns Remo's training and an evil military industrialist. The training is fun - Fred Ward isn't a great martial artist, but has physical presence and a willingness to make a fool of himself. The evil industrialist is opposed by Kate Mulgrew as an Army CPA who uncovers the plot, which gives her a chance to act spunky. But she doesn't get a romantic subplot.

The adventure that is Remo Williams famously did not continue. And there are many reasons why this movie bombed: nonsensical plot, poor action, weak villain. But it has a secret weapon: Joel Grey. His Master Chiun is extraordinary. His fighting style involves dodging bullets, an explosive finger poke, and the ability to walk on water. His personal style is arrogant, insulting and chauvinistic (pro-Korea, anti-woman). But he has a softer side - he loves to curl up and watch American soap operas, and his outfits start to include silky marabou-trimmed wraps. Combine these with the woman-hating, and you start to get the idea that Chiun may be a little gay.

To sum up: middling action film plus crypto-gay Korean martial arts master played by Joel Grey equals good times!