Wall Street (1987)
dir. Oliver Stone
124 min

“We make the rules – the news, war, peace, famine, upheaval, the cost of a paper clip… you’re not naive enough to think we’re living in a democracy are you? It’s the free market.” – Gordon Gekko

Its recession time again (aka the cyclical crisis of capitalism). Market tumbling, banks crumbling, dollar sinking, unemployment rising and, now – the big debate over a US$700,000,000,000 taxpayer-paid corporate bailout. So Oliver Stone made a relevant, timely film shedding a critical light on this current economic shitstorm – which he wrote and directed more than 20 years ago. (more…)

Awaiting the start of freshman year at UW in summer 1998, if I wasn’t visiting Seattle or getting lifted at the Silverdale waterfront, I was watching 1-3 movies a night (2 “old” movies for $1 at Total Video in Bremerton). Among the first few flicks I watched in this marathon were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Slap Shot and The Hustler. I wasn’t intentionally seeking Paul Newman flicks – I had just heard good things about the movies. That same face I would see on grocery packaging I bagged at the Commissary by day, I’d see on the screen at night. Paul (and Humphrey Bogart and Al Pacino) was my dude that summer.

Ne le dis à personne (Tell No One, 2006)
dir. Guillame Canet
125 min
France

Alexandre (François Cluzet) and Margot Beck (Marie-Josée Croze) go skinny-dipping in the lake where they fell in love as children. While he rests, she’s abducted and murdered. Eight years later, Alex still hasn’t moved on, misses her dearly, looks like Dustin Hoffman, and (cue suspenseful music) receives an e-mail from her, instructing him to “tell no one.” 

Thus, the title. But Ne le dis à personne/Tell No One (2008) also doubles as instructions for us viewers to not spoil this labyrinthian plot. So I won’t. (more…)

It’s hard to believe that more than ten years have passed since Biggie was murdered. Until recently, I would’ve dismissed any attempt to bring his story to the big screen. I’m still iffy about it, but with folks rapidly forgetting what the 90s was (the 80s seem to have no problem right now though), now would be a good time.

So, George Tillman, Jr. (Soul Food, Men of Honor) is directing a biopic on Christopher Wallace aka Biggie Smalls aka The Notorious B.I.G. The film, titled Notorious, is slated to drop January ’09. The trailer seems to capture Big’s persona and public lifestyle well, looking almost like an extended version of one of his music videos instead of a movie. Looks like it could be a cinematic trainwreck, but I’ll still watch it. Why? Because in an age of high capitalism where the output of new culture has stagnated, there’s nothing more marketable than nostalgia. And if that wasn’t enough, Angela Bassett, the hottest 50-year-old to ever walk the planet, stars as Biggie’s mom.

Please don’t tell me that’s supposed to be 2Pac (at the 0:48 mark), though.

H/T Val

Man on Wire (2008)
dir. James Marsh
90 min
UK

Few documentaries are so fortunate as to be narrated by Philippe Petit, the eccentric Frenchman who pulled the stunt of the century: walking a tightrope connecting the New York World Trade Center twin towers for 45 minutes in August 1974. Even fewer docs have a supporting cast of talking heads so engaging and caricatured (in a good way). That, mixed with adeptly shot dramatizations, suspenseful editing and sequencing, subtle humor and live archival footage comprise the superb Man on Wire, a documentary that even documentary-haters can’t hate on. (more…)

Manoj (2007)
dir. Zia Mohajerjasbi
wr. Hari Kondabolu 
11 min

An 11-minute mockumentary written by and starring comedian Hari Kondabolu and directed by Zia Mohajerjasbi, Manoj (2007) is a raw, funny first-time collaboration. I’d still dig it even if I didn’t know the dudes personally, since its one of the smarter attempts at racial/political satire (the opposite of, say, a Carlos Mencia). It’s not so much political humor as it is humor made politically, and Hari shines in this role.

After making the festival rounds in the US and Canada, Manoj is now available for viewing in its entirety online (via YouTube). Zia’s latest video – for Common Market’s “Trouble Is” also premieres today at mtvU.

Death Race 2000 (1975)
dir. Paul Bartel
84 min

Death Race 2000 (1974, not 2008) isn’t a completely bad movie, in fact, there are many good reasons for its cult status. One reason being David Carradine – yes, he of yellowface fame and Kung Fu. As Frankenstein, Carradine’s robotic villain swag combines Belmondo’s contemptible facial expressions from A Bout De Souffle (Breathless, 1960) and Keanu Reeves’ body language in every movie he’s in. (more…)

Traitor (2008)
dir. Jeffrey Nachmanoff
113 min

Don Cheadle always looks like he’s about to cry, and usually does. Perfect for the soft-spoken stern moral compass role he’s frequented since Crash (2004). He eases into character (or is this really just him?) – the least sweaty dude in hottest locale, as in Traffic (2000) or Hotel Rwanda (2006). His heart is always in the right place and usually in the right scripts. Traitor (2008), isn’t one of those scripts. Written and directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff (The Day After Tomorrow co-writer), Traitor is like the Infernal Affairs trilogy meets the Jason Bourne trilogy, with a little bit of Syriana, but lacking any of their urgency and mystique. (more…)