Short Takes 2/7/14
There are some tasty cinematic morsels opening this weekend. It’s interesting how all these films have a common element of idiosyncratic directors who do things their own way: an Iranian working in French, a Korean dealing with social issues, an American movie star working on his own agenda, and an independent Austin filmmaker creating wonders on a low budget.
The Attorney released in South Korea last December to big numbers and opening exclusively at the AMC Studio 30, starts out in a comic mode. A scheming get rich lawyer hands out his business cards to anyone who wants to make a deal much to the chagrin of his fellow lawyers. Set in the 1980s, The Attorney abruptly changes gears about halfway through as our formerly greedy hero has a change of conscious and becomes an advocate for a student who’s been tortured by police for his political beliefs. What was light and buffoonish becomes heavy and political. The Attorney contains some strong images of the suspect being beaten, parrot-perched, and waterboarded. The whole story is loosely based on actual characters and incidents and the courtroom scenes volley tense conversations in an expert manner.
The Past (Le passé) reunites the love affair between art house aficionados and Iranian writer/director Asghar Farhadi. The Past unwinds dialogue heavy with each conversion revealing more and more about the various characters. An Iranian who left his French wife (Bérénice Bejo) seeks closure when they reunite to discuss divorce. Tahar Rahim and Ali Mosaffa also star. The Past isn’t about domestic disputes so much as it’s about people talking about and dealing with their feelings. The fairly sophisticated approach will appeal to the more literate mined. The Past opens exclusively at the River Oaks Three.
The Momuments Men (opening wide) depicts a group of Army specialists during the last days of WWII trying to track down valuable art stolen and hidden by the Nazis. Co-writer and director/star George Clooney finds a balance of emotions that zeroes in on the dramatic rather than the comic. An all-star cast includes Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonneville and Bob Balaban. The subject is based on a book by the same name, and was also covered in the documentary The Rape of Europa.
Clooney gives the proceedings a serious slow crawl. The Monuments Men may be set in the 1940s but the dramatic beats are from movie dramas of the ‘50s and ‘60s. As methodical as Clooney’s approach is he nails the feelings of these men (and one woman), and at the same time gives the audience insight into why great art should never die.
Love & Air Sex (formerly titled The Bounceback when it was on the festival circuit) chronicles the lives and loves of a group of people in Austin, most of who are competing in the titular contest. Air sex is like air guitar get it? A normal score can be obtained by miming suggestive actions and positions. But the real winners get downright Marcel Marceau on our ass as they convey climbing into a giant vagina, or attempting to jack off a needle dick.
Austin based writer/director Bryan Poyser moves this sex farce in a slam bang funny-at-times, touching-at-times manner. Music cues propel the story as much as the characters odd sexual peccadillos. Poyser’s previous films include Dear Pillow and Lovers of Hate. Love & Air Sex premieres via VOD on February 7 and rolls out in a ten-city tour that includes Austin (2/14). Since much of the film was lensed in front of and inside various Austin Alamo Drafthouses it’s a good bet Love & Air Sex will eventually make its way to Houston.
— Michael Bergeron
