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Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Capsule summary: ‘Rejoice and Shout’
“Rejoice and Shout”
“There’s a movie!?” The ghost of Sam Malone, the “Cheers” bartender who spent weeks reading “War and Peace,” then found out he could’ve watched the film, resurfaced after watching “Rejoice and Shout,” the best history of gospel music to yet hit the screen.
One could spend weeks researching the topic (I did) and not get too much more essential information than provided by this film, made by noted music documentarian Don McGlynn (“The Howlin’ Wolf Story”) and made special by the vintage performance footage lent by collector Joe Lauro.
Although the film is a bit scholarly at times, relying heavily on info by gospel historians Anthony Heilbut and Bill Carpenter, they know their stuff. And they set up the vamp and pure talent of such acts as Swan Silvertones, Dixie Hummingbirds, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, the Staple Singers and many more that make “Rejoice and Shout” a must-see for black gospel enthusiasts.
The innovative Soul Stirrers of Trinity, Texas, who receive their own chapter in Heilbut’s great book “The Gospel Sound,” get snubbed by “R&S,” with only a token mention. But the filmmakers can otherwise be commended for covering so much ground in this labor of love that should be required viewing for high school students.
Screenings: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Alamo South; 1 p.m. Saturday March 20, the Carver.
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Capsule summary: ‘Dogtooth’
“Dogtooth”
The Cannes Film Festival is known for showing daring, dark movies. But when “Dogtooth” premiered there in 2009, even the most jaded veterans were taken aback.
Directed by Giorgos Lanthimos of Greece, “Dogtooth” deals with a husband and wife who have decided to raise their children with no contact with the outside world. They live down a street far from other homes, and a towering fence surrounds them.
The stern parents make up incredible lies to help explain the occasional glimpses of planes flying overhead and other ordinary sights.
The father, played by Christos Stergioglou, has a job in town. And when he begins to notice that his teen-age son is having sexual urges, he arranges to have one of his female co-workers come to the home regularly for intercourse.
She’s the only one from the outside world to be allowed on the grounds, and it doesn’t take long for her to decide to play sexual mischief. One scene is vaguely reminiscent of the fascist sex encounter in Lena Wertmuller’s “Seven Beauties,” although no whips are involved.
There’s a point to all of this, of course, and it will probably become clear if you’re inclined to stay till the ending. Some will inevitably choose not to do so, but that would be a shame.
It won the top award in the Cannes sidebar known as Un Certain Regard.
Screenings: 6:45 p.m. Friday, Alamo South; 5 p.m. March 19, Alamo Ritz.
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Capsule summary: ‘No One Knows About Persian Cats’
“No One Knows About Persian Cats”
If you think Iranian films are all about kids losing stuff, “No One Knows About Persian Cats” will rock your world-view. Literally because the guerrilla-made docudrama dives into Tehran’s underground to showcase its rebel musicians.
For the past 30 years, Western music and solo female singers have been virtually banned in Iran. The odd title likens Tehran’s covert young performers to cats, which, like dogs, can’t be taken outside the home.
With fiancée Roxana Saberi as co-writer and executive producer, famed Kurdish filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi trails a singer and her indie-rocker boyfriend through the labyrinthine netherworld where secret groups perform. (Saberi, you’ll recall, is the journalist accused by Iran of spying for the U.S. and sentenced to eight years in prison. An appeals court released her after an international outcry.)
In the fast-paced feature, shot on the run in 17 days with a SI2K camera (all 35mm equipment belongs to the State), two musicians, just out of jail, go looking for a band and passports so they can play a London gig. A garrulous bootlegger (Hamed Behdad, the film’s only professional actor) agrees to help.
But what powers “Persian Cats,” chaotic and sometimes confusing, is its stirring, emotive music — rock, rap, metal and jazz — with lyrics in Farsi and English. Played against flash cuttings of Tehran’s frenetic city life, it’s the marrow of a noteworthy film. In Farsi with English subtitles.
6:30 p.m. Friday, Alamo South; 11:30 a.m., March 18, Alamo Ritz.
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Capsule summary: ‘The Good Heart’
“The Good Heart”
British thesp Brian Cox, who played Lear to lauds in the Bard’s hometown, now calls himself “an actor who does really interesting work in independent movies.” And as the churlish barkeep in Icelandic filmmaker Dagur Kari’s “The Good Heart,” the mighty Celt lets it rip.
His character Jacques is so nasty a nurse greets his fifth heart attack with: “Not again! Why don’t you just die?” But rude Jacques survives to share a hospital room with failed suicide Lucas, delicately played by Paul Dano.
“When it comes to the survival of the fittest,” Lucas says, “I have to throw in the towel.” Instead he lets Jacques take him home to carry on his “legacy” — the rundown bar he owns. It’s a far cry from Cheers, but Lucas soon learns the house rules, no walk-ins, no women and no getting chummy with regular patrons.
Enter wan stewardess April (French actress Isild LeBesco), and gruff Jacques, waiting for a new heart, and gentle Lucas, newly wed, start to change.
The bar is so murky and grim, it’s Dickensian, so dark Clint Eastwood would approve.
This is the Kari’s third feature, his first in the U.S. and English. His script has fjord-sized holes with dialogue that both clinks and zings.
The gloomy comedy, shot in New York and Iceland, may not crease your face with grins. But you will have seen some superior perfs.
Dano, last teamed with Cox in “L.I.E.” (2001), holds his own against the veteran’s bombast, and the supporting cast, down to Estragon the duck, is perfection.
8:45 p.m., Friday, Alamo Ritz
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A taste of the new ‘Twilight’
OMG alert …
While folks will have to wait until tomorrow morning to see the full 90-second trailer for the upcoming “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” Summit Entertainment today released a 10-second teaser. In the latest film that will surely have teens streaming and screaming in droves, the emo Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner all reprise their roles, as a town is ravaged by vampires and Bella must choose between Team Edward and Team Jacob.
