5 Movies From the Underground, 6/11/09

Our objective at TV Casualties is actually pretty simple – it’s our duty to uncover the gems, what the British would call the “best bits.”  This becomes especially crucial when dealing with TV series or movies that have been overlooked.  The following movies will throttle you.  Hard.  (We actually suggest you sit as you watch them.)  And not one of them has more than 2000 votes on IMDB. So give these films the love they deserve – buy them, sign up for a free trial at Blockbuster and rent them, etc. Find a way.

1. “Shotgun Stories” (2008) 1,284 votes on IMDB – Michael Shannon earned an Oscar nom last year for his role in “Revolutionary Road.”  He also starred in the much lesser known “Shotgun Stories,” which was my favorite movie of 2008.  A blood feud erupts between two families in a rural Arkansas town, and it’s not long before both sides go too far.  The movie has funny parts but is dark and very subtle, with a needlessly tragic streak that doesn’t feel at all manipulative or contrived.  It’s the best I’ve watched in a long time.

2. “Chop Shop” (2008)  1,240 votes on IMDB – Ramin Bahrani wrote and directed “Chop Shop,” a movie about a street kid scavenging in the slums of New York.  Alejandro works in a chop shop and the owner lets him live in a cluttered room above it.  Eventually he takes in his sister, whom looks headed toward prostitution, and the two of them save up to try to buy an ice cream truck to start a food truck business.  The story somehow balances the naivete of a child with the grit and grim of urban life in an honest, believable way.  Roger Ebert declared Bahrani the “new great American director” a few months ago.

3. “Diggers” (2007) 1,090 votes on IMDB – Written by our Emmy pick for Outstanding Performance in a Comeday, Ken Marino, “Diggers” tells the story of clam diggers in a depressed New England town in the 70′s. Hunt (Paul Rudd) deals with the loss of his father while a corporation threatens to put him, and all other local diggers, out of business. Rudd plays the reserved main character well, but Marino steals the laughs as a frantic father of many. While subtle, this is probably the funniest movie on the list. You can own it for under $10.

4. “Look Both Ways” (2005) 1,865 votes on IMDB – “Look Both Ways” is the first full length feature from writer/director/animator Sarah Watt. Set in New Zealand, the movie follows Meryl, an artist who illustrates sympathy cards for a living, and whose father recently died. After witnessing a deadly train crash, Meryl meets Nick, a photojournalist who is sent to cover the crash and has recently been diagnosed with cancer. Sounds uplifting, no? It actually works out to be subtly optomistic by the end, I promise. Animated scenes of Meryl’s obsessively morbid thoughts mix with the live action, which is where the movie really shines.

5. “Ten Tiny Love Stories” (2001) 232 votes on IMDB – If I were a teacher, Rodrigo García would be teacher’s pet. On top of having written and directed three movies we like a lot (“Nine Lives” and “Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her” are the other two), he’s directed a number of the best episodes of our favorite shows (“Carnivale” and “Six Feet Under“). That led to him landing his own HBO series, “In Treatment,” which is also excellent.  As a cherry on top of all of that, he’s also the spawn of author Gabriel García Márquez (another personal fave). “Ten Tiny Love Stories” is ten women sharing one intimate story from their past in almost-mockumentary fashion. Some of the stories are sad, some are funny, and almost all of them are so well crafted that you’ll feel a slight voyeuristic discomfort, as if you’ve come across someone’s secret video diary and can’t help but keep watching.

The Burrowers: Digging Up Another Straight to DVD Gem

Add yet another movie to the long list of recent feature films inexplicably reduced to straight to DVD affairs.  J.T. Petty’s “The Burrowers” really saw no theatrical release outside of playing at a handful of film festivals last fall.

The movie combines an old West adventure with horror, drawing pretty equally from both genres.  The opening scene features a family being attacked by some unseen entity.  When Fergus Coffey (Karl Geary) arrives on the scene to find his fiancée among those missing, he quickly launches a search party.  Just like that, the movie takes to the road on horseback – cowboys riding through the prairie in search of missing folks and mysterious monsters.

TV Casualties Rating: out of 5

Run Time: 96 minutes

Directed by: J.T. Petty

Written by: J.T. Petty

Starring: Clancy Brown, Karl Geary, William Mapother

Theatrical Release: N/A

DVD Release: 04/21/09

Production Budget: $7 million

Domestic Gross: $0

Metacritic Score: N/A

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 67%

The lush green atmosphere and Western sensibility really separate this from your average teen horror fare straight away.  Your run-of-the-mall horror movie rarely even pretends to care about its characters, and horror teens, in particular, are always disposable.  Often annoying already, their deaths are so meaningless that they may as well be bags of meat for a maniac to hack away at with an ax.  In this semi-proper Western universe populated more by adults than teens, though, the characters are treated with a little more reverence.  Consequently, the deaths still pack some surprise, still carry some weight with the audience.  Like “The Descent,” (though not quite as good) this is horror made for adults.

Fans of ABC’s “Lost” will recognize several faces here:  actors William Mapother, Doug Hutchison and Clancy Brown (our famously despised pick for Sandor Clegane) all play major roles in “The Burrowers” and had significant parts on the island as well.  (Fun fact:  Hutchison, AKA Horace the Dharma leader on “Lost,” got one of his big acting breaks as the super creepy Eugene Victor Tooms on “The X-Files.”)  The entire cast does a nice job pulling off the critical juxtaposition of the old West -  stuffy, formal, almost Victorian aspects of speech and mannerisms mixing with the rough and grimey demeanor of hardened men that work ranches all day.  As always, this combo is good for several laughs.

The movie does have its flaws, though – from the opening scene on, the audience stays one step (or more) ahead of the characters.  That certainly doesn’t help build suspense or an aura of mystery.  I also thought a fight scene toward the end went on way too long.  Even if we do sort of feel like we know what’s ultimately coming, though, some of the particulars of the details still make the end satisfying, and there are a few twists along the way as well.

Perhaps its biggest strength – “The Burrowers” shows some restraint in not letting us see the actual creatures too much, which I think usually works better than the alternative.  (This isn’t Freddy or Chuckie making wise cracks as they kill.  What might lurk in the shadows is always scariest.)  All told, it’s an effective and entertaining movie, especially considering its modest budget.  Just 900 and some odd votes on IMDB? Horror fans should seek this out on DVD.

The Education of Charlie Banks: Fred Durst directs?

At one point, Fred Durst did it all for the nookie. Those were simpler times. Now he, apparently, directs. In the quest to discover bodacious movies, it’s best to leave no stone unturned.  It was with a smirk and a heavy heart that I turned the Durst stone, but there was a pleasant, perhaps even bodacious, surprise underneath.

“The Education of Charlie Banks” introduces friends Charlie (Jesse Eisenberg,) Danny (Chris Marquette) and Mick (Jason Ritter) through a few scenes as kids in New York City in the 1970′s.  Charlie and Danny are fairly well off and headed for Ivy League schools.  Mick?  Not so much. He serves as the baddest guy in the neighborhood.  Nailing college girls is as close as he’ll get to a degree.  Here comes the central dramatic conflict:  Mick beats a couple of kids nearly to death, and Charlie rats him out before quickly recanting his statement.  The movie picks up in the 80′s at Brown University where Danny and Charlie are roommates.  Mick arrives unexpectedly to stay for a while, and, with his blue collar background, there’s a bit of “culture shock.” Perhaps more importantly – does Mick know that Charlie was the one that ratted him out?

TV Casualties Rating: out of 5

Run Time: 100 minutes

Directed by: Fred Durst

Written by: Peter Elkoff

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Ritter, Eva Amurri, Chris Marquette

Theatrical Release: 03/27/09

DVD Release: 06/30/09

Production Budget: N/A

Domestic Gross: $15,078

Metacritic Score: 50/100

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 52%

Part coming of age story, part fish out of water story, the plot keeps it pretty simple.  The focus here is on characters, fully formed ones that grow and change.  A movie can get a long way by actually caring about its cast of players, by making them more than plot devices, and this one does. The core group of 6 or so actors often look like they’re having a lot of fun together, and the roles they play are fairly colorful without going completely over the top.  Conflicts arise and there are a few twists, some more predictable than others, but the script shines by being consistently generous with each and every character without seeming cheesy.   The movie remains thoroughly entertaining from start to finish.

The story, however, falls apart somewhat toward the end.  Thematically, there are many direct mentions of the class disparities and rich and poor, and the characters reference “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald quite a bit.  That considered, I felt like the writer lost his focus in terms of what he was really saying about Mick, being that he was the only poor character.  As a myth, or a hero’s journey, this was slightly less than satisfying, though I can respect that it doesn’t give easy answers, at least, or wrap things up with a neat, happy ending.  The pacing seems to sense this weakness in the final section, as the film wraps up really quickly.

Despite that flaw, “The Education of Charlie Banks” was well worth watching and deserves to find a bigger audience on DVD.  Durst seems like a natural behind the camera, as odd as that may seem.  Everything about the movie gives off a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and there are many playful, amusing shots and details throughout.  Most importantly, he gets great performances, cohesion and chemistry from the young cast.

One Week: Joshua Jackson’s Best Work Since D2

Regardless of the content of the movie itself, “One Week” may always be best known as the movie that used youtube comment quotes in its advertising campaign rather than quotes of legitimate critics. The blogosphere went apeshit, calling it, “A new low for the movie industry.” Now, as for the movie:

What would you do if you had one week to live? That’s the launching point of the Canadian movie “One Week.” The rhetorical question becomes a literal one in the opening scene when Ben Tyler (Joshua Jackson) is informed that he has stage four cancer. He’s young, but the disease is particularly aggressive – they’ve found cancerous cells in his bloodstream and spreading. Essentially, he could go at any time.

Cue the identity crisis punctuated with quirk. Ben’s first thought? This will be a good excuse to call off his upcoming wedding, an affair he seems lukewarm about. He’s also relieved that he basically won’t need to go to work anymore. On the way home he purchases a motorcycle on a whim, and it’s not long before he sets out on an open-ended journey with the vague destination of “West.”

TV Casualties Rating: out of 5

Run Time: 93 minutes

Directed by: Michael McGowan

Written by: Michael McGowan

Starring: Joshua Jackson, Liane Balaban

Theatrical Release: 03/06/09

DVD Release: 06/16/09

Production Budget: N/A

Domestic Gross: N/A

Metacritic Score: N/A

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: N/A

From that point, this becomes a roadtrip movie. Ben meets a series of characters on his criss-crossing path toward the Pacific. He gets more involved with some than others, but they each help him shape his thoughts on what’s left of his life. As episodic and formulaic as that may sound, most of it works well enough. Ben’s impending death gives him a crystal clear perspective, and the internal conflict that emerges pits passion vs. responsibility. The movie went places with this element of the story that I didn’t expect, and I’m not sure I agree with, personally, but it was messy and complicated and honest. It gave me something to think about.

The subdued voice of the narrator (Campbell Scott) tells much of the story here, which helps give a clear delivery to the deadpan humor throughout the movie. Jackson is fine as the lead, but Liane Balaban sort of steals the show as his fiance, Samantha, by being funnier than him in her handful or so of scenes. Her character won me over to the point that it really changed my interpretation of the end of the movie.

From the style of humor all the way to the story’s end, “One Week” is a mature film. Despite the focus on cancer and death, it avoids the pitfall of melodrama. In fact, it may be a little too clean considering the grave subject matter – it would be believable, maybe even normal, to see characters behaving irrationally in a scenario like this. Still, it was somewhat refreshing to see a movie show some emotional restraint and basically do the opposite of the “go too big with every scene” soap opera crap. To break this down in youtube comment terms, I wouldn’t say, “Best. Movie. Ever.” But I lol’d a few times.

Powder Blue: The Jessica Biel Stripper Movie

How does a movie starring Oscar winner Forest Whitaker, Jessica Biel, Lisa Kudrow, Patrick Swayze and Ray Liotta go straight to DVD?

That is apparently the case for “Powder Blue,” which hits the DVD shelves May 26th, roughly 20 months after filming wrapped and without ever seeing a legit theatrical release.  So what happened?  All we really have in way of explanation is the film itself.

“Powder Blue” weaves a web of several loosely connected storylines in the same style as “Crash” or “Magnolia.”  The holidays draw near, and four LA residents close in on personal crises as well.  Rose Johnny (Biel) strips to pay the medical bills of her comatose 7 year old son.  She also appears to have a coke problem, though to what extent remains unclear.  Somewhere across town, Charlie (Whitaker) offers strangers $50,000 cash to shoot him “in the heart.”  He’s desperate and in pain but, as the film quickly explains, is a religious man and can’t risk killing himself for fear of eternal hellfire.  Elsewhere, scrawny Qwerty Doolittle (Eddie Redmayne) receives a rejection on his loan as his father ran up some bad debt for their mortuary business.  He’s never had a real girlfriend, and when he attempts to attend a dating function, he passes out from nerves.  Jack Doheny (Liotta) is an ex-con dying of cancer. Allegedly, he’s “just passing through” town, though we know right away that something more is going on.

TV Casualties Rating:

Run Time: 106 minutes

Directed by: Timothy Linh Bui

Written by: Timothy Linh Bui

Starring: Jessica Biel, Forest Whitaker, Ray Liotta, Lisa Kudrow

Theatrical Release: 05/08/09

DVD Release: 05/26/09

Production Budget: N/A

Domestic Gross: N/A

Metacritic Score: N/A

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: N/A

This ambitious setup shows some promise.  Early on, a spark of energy catapults the action as the film jumps back and forth to the different strands of story.  At spots where the movie leans toward quirky rather than intense, it actually works really well.  Lisa Kudrow was especially funny as a neurotic waitress.  As the bigger picture comes into focus, and the direction of each story fully takes shape, unfortunately, that energy seems to drain away in a hurry – the spark extinguished by cold, blue snow.

“Powder Blue” doesn’t have deep enough characters to work as a character study, and it similarly fails to deliver a twisty or surprising enough plot to carry the film. There are unintentionally laughable lines of dialogue at crucial moments, and similar missteps of tone throughout the last half of the movie – some of the love scenes come off awkwardly, and some of the over the top “sad scenes” with swelling music seem to misjudge (by a lot) how connected (or not) the audience feels to certain characters and their predicaments.  There didn’t seem to be a clear storytelling vision behind this.  Despite the openly derivative elements, it doesn’t manipulate as well as “Crash” or give us the cast of rich characters like “Magnolia.”  It failed to rip off either one all that well.

The gravest sin?  The tragic elements here, like Rose’s drug problem and Charlie’s suicidal tendencies, while intriguing at first, stay on a very surface level.  The pain here is flat, superficial – a  mere plot device.  It doesn’t resonate.  I feel like writer/director Timothy Linh Bui couldn’t decide if he wanted the movie to be clever or pack an emotional haymaker, and as a result it does neither, ultimately trying to force each storyline into paying off with a sentimental cheesefest.

Oh well.  Years from now “Powder Blue” will simply be remembered as the “Jessica Biel stripper movie,” if it’s remembered at all.  She does splash hot candle wax all over her boobs… in case you were wondering.  That actually does sound like a lot of straight to DVD movies, now that I think about it.

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