The San Feancisco International Film Festival kicks off tomorrow night, so this week’s video pick is from the 2016 SFFILMFestival. NUTS! is the persistently hilarious (and finally poignant) documentary about the rise and fall of a medical and radio empire – all built on goat testicle “implantation” surgery in gullible humans. Yes, a huckster named J.R. Brinkley really did surgically place goat testicles inside human scrota – and, more astonishingly, this actually became a craze in the 1920s. Now that’s enough of a forehead slapper, but there’s more, much more and that’s what makes NUTS! so fun.
Brinkley’s story is one that leads to celebrity mega wealth and a colossal miscalculation. Improbably, Brinkley’s wild ride touched Huey Long,William Jennings Bryan, Rudolph Valentino, Buster Keaton, June Carter Cash and Wolfman Jack. There’s a radio empire, a Gubernatorial election and a dramatic, climactic trial.
“Dr.” Brinkley at work in NUTS!
Director Penny Lane tells the story with animation (different animators for each chapter, but you can’t tell) seamlessly braided together with historical still photos, movies and a final heartbreaking recording. NUTS! tells a story that is too bizarre to be true – but really happened. It makes for a most entertaining movie.
NUTS! is available to stream from Amazon (free with Prime), iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
The romance I Origins explores the conflict between science and spirituality. Our scientist protagonist (Michael Pitt) is completely empirical and militantly anti-spiritual. He is obsessed with the study of iris scans and patterns of the eye (the “I” in the title is a pun). He is hoping to prove that eyes can be evolved, which he believes will debunk the Creationist pseudo-science of Intelligent Design. He meets a model (Astrid Berges-Frisbey) – and they don’t meet CUTE, they meet HOT. Through a string of scientifically improbable coincidences, he is able to track her down for a second encounter that is sharply romantic. They fall in love – an attraction of opposites because she is mercurial and vaguely New Agey.
Along the way, he gains a new lab assistant (Brit Marling), who is just as smart and more driven than is he. Together they find the lab breakthrough to prove his theory. The main three characters are affected by a life-altering tragedy. Seven years later, the story resumes with the public release of the discovery. As our hero takes his victory lap over religion, he is faced with new evidence that cannot be explained by science…
Writer-director Mike Cahill (Another Earth, also starring Marling) has constructed a story that sets up a discussion on the limits of empiricism. I give Cahill extra points for raising the issue without ponderosity or pretension. Some critics have harshly judged the movie, but they see it wrongly as a corny religion-beats-science movie instead of a contemplation on the possibilities. And they altogether miss the fact that the film is basically a romance, which Cahill himself sees as one of the two central aspects of I Origins. Cahill explores and compares the intense lust-at-first-sight, opposites-attract type of love with the love relationship based on common values and aspirations.
There are, however, two shots involving pivotal moments in the story (and both involving billboards) that are such self-consciously ostentatious filmmaking that they distracted me, rather than bringing emphasis to each moment.
Pitt, an actor of sometimes unsettling affect, is very good here, as he was in The Dreamers and Last Days. Berges-Frisbey and Marling deliver fine performances, too. If Marling is in a movie, it aspires to being good – I loved The East, which she co-write and starred in. Archie Panjabi, without the boots and the upfront sexiness she wears on The Good Wife, is solid in a minor part.
I Origins works both as a scientific detective story and as a meditation on romance. I found it to be smart and entertaining. I Origins is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming on Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
On March 17, Turner Classic Movies will air the 1984 film that was Oscar winner Frances McDormand’s first screen credit, Blood Simple. That was also the storied Coen Brothers’s first feature film (and sparked McDormands’ 34-year marriage to Joel Cohen). Since their debut, the Coens have gone on to win Oscars for Fargo and No Country for Old Men, and their True Grit and the very, very underrated A Serious Man are just as good. Along the way, they also gave us the unforgettable The Big Lebowski.
It all started with their highly original neo-noir Blood Simple. It’s dark, it’s funny and damned entertaining. The highlight is the singular performance by veteran character actor M. Emmet Walsh as a Stetson-topped gunsel. The suspenseful finale, when Walsh is methodically hunting down the 27-year-old McDormand, is brilliant.
M. Emmet Walsh in BLOOD SIMPLEFrances McDormand in BLOOD SIMPLEDan Hedaya and M. Emmet Walsh in BLOOD SIMPLE
Here’s an entirely fresh take on the revenge thriller. Blue Ruin, an audience favorite on the festival circuit in 2013, didn’t get a theatrical release, and I would have missed it entirely but for a suggestion from my friend Jose.
As the film opens, we are following a homeless man and observing his survival tactics; once we’re hooked, we learn that a traumatic incident led to his homelessness. Then we watch him methodically prepare for an entirely different mission. There is very little dialogue in the first 30 minutes. And then we have 60 minutes of lethal cat-and-mouse, with intense suspense about which of the characters will survive and how. As a thriller, this is first class.
What makes Blue Ruin so fresh is the lead character, who has been shattered by a tragedy in his life – and who isn’t at all confident about his ability to redress it. This ain’t a Charles Bronson or Liam Neeson type hunter-of-bad-guys. Instead, our hero is as scared and fragile as most of us would be if we were being hunted for our lives – and so we relate to him.
Macon Blair is superb as the protagonist. He’s entirely believable both as a damaged down-and-outer and as a man-on-a-mission. Man, I hope Blair gets cast in more movies – he’s just great here.
Devin Ratray, one of the execrable, buffoonish cousins in Nebraska, is very good in an entirely different role here – a slacker scarred by his war experiences who nevertheless remains very skilled.
Blue Ruin was written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier. He is responsible for the wholly original lead character and the intense pace of the film, along with the meticulously economical storytelling; the exposition never relies on even one extra word of dialogue.
Blue Ruin is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Netflix Instant, Amazon Instant, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play, YouTube and Xbox Video.
Brothers in Arms is a documentary on the making of Platoon, directed by Paul Sanchez, who played Doc. Platoon, of course, won the Best Picture Oscar and launched the careers of many actors in its young cast. Except for Tom Berenger, this was the first movie job for most of them. including Charlie Sheen, Johnny Depp and Willem Dafoe.
Director Oliver Stone, a Vietnam vet himself, assembled the cast two weeks before filming and put them through basic military training in the Philippine jungle under real military trainers. The cast developed an usual bond during that process, as well as in coping with the mercurial Stone.
In Brothers in Arms, we get to hear from the actors (except for Dafoe, who was making a movie in South Africa) and the military advisers (but not from Oliver Stone). There plenty of entertaining anecdotes and some insights into the filmmaking.
WHAT THEY HAD Blythe Danner and Hilary Swank star as Ruth and Bridget Keller in WHAT THEY HAD, a Bleecker Street release. Photo courtesy of Bleecker Street
In the family drama What They Had, two siblings (Hilary Swank and Michael Shannon) face their mom (Blythe Danner) sinking into Alzheimer’s, and their father (Robert Forster) refusing to take action. To heighten the pressure, the out-of-town daughter wants to give the old folks more slack than does the local son. He’s been dealing with this situation up close, and he’s fed up. The dad is used to always being in charge, and he doesn’t cope well with needing help.
Despite the subject, What They Had is not a depressing movie, mostly because of the sunniness of Danner’s character. This is a character-driven story that benefits from this stellar cast. This is the first feature for writer/director Elizabeth Chomko, and she delivers an authentic and well-crafted story.
I saw What They Had at Cinequest. An October 18, 2018 release is planned. Here’s a clip.
The excellent Czech historical drama Barefoot is from director Jan Sverák, who won an Oscar for Kolya. It’s the coming of age story of a small boy named Eda and is set during World War II. The local puppets collaborating with the Nazis make it impossible for Eda’s father to stay in the city, so he moves his family to his rural home village.
In the countryside, Eda develops a gang of buddies and meets his mysterious uncle Wolf. In the city, Eda’s father had been courageous – even risking his life – to undermine the Nazis; but, in the village, the father is completely submissive to his own father and the rural extended family.
The war is in the background, occasionally protruding into the forefront. The Germans are on their heels and a Russian victory is inevitable, but the Germans are still in control and dangerous.
We follow the story through the boy’s lens, and there’s an effective balance of humor and drama. Whether in wartime or peacetime, a boy must grow and learn life lessons and form his character.
I saw Barefoot at Cinequest, where Director of Programming Mike Rabehl secured the rare black-and-white director’s cut. The black-and-white is splendid, and there’s a sleigh ride scene that is magical.
Barefoot, which is way better than the Oscar winner Kolya, is another gem from Cinequest’s international film scout Charlie Cockey. It doesn’t yet have distribution in the US, but I’ll let you know when it’s available to US audiences.
In the neo-noir Slovak thriller The Line (Ciara), Adam’s (Tomas Mastalir) life is about to be changed by history. The Schengen agreement, which opens the borders between the European nations, is about to be implemented. That’s a problem for Adam, who leads a crew of smugglers who sneak Ukrainian cigarettes through Slovakia to Austria and other European markets. First, there’s no longer going to be any market for smuggling anything out of Slovakia. Second, the border between Slovakia and the Ukraine is going to be hardened, so he’s no longer going to be able to source anything from the Ukraine. What was going to be his last big job goes awry, leaving him in hopeless hock to a ruthless Ukrainian gangster. So he’s going to have to take a chance on a very dangerous job.
We see Adam’s crew equipping vehicles with hidden compartments and making bribes at the border. One crew member sends off a load of bootleg cigarettes with “Cancer is headed to Austria”.
Adam is one tough mother, a guy who is exceptionally tough even by the standards of movie crime bosses. But he’s under increasing pressure, and that same pressure is incentivizing people he relies on to go sideways on him. At its heart, The Line is a film about betrayal.
It turns out that Adam runs a business started by his mother (Emília Vásáryová), who is herself the most formidable and lethal granny since Livia Soprano or Lillian Gish in The Night of the Hunter. There’s a great scene near the end where Adam and mom experience a shared memory of what happened to his father.
Adam’s wife (Zuzana Fialová) knows him very well. She also knows when to hold her cards and when to fold them.
The Line keeps getting darker – and then even darker – until a major veer at the end. It’s an effective character-driven thriller.
The Line was directed by Peter Bebjak, who acted in the best foreign film at the 2017 Cinequest, The Teacher. The Line was Slovenia’s submission to this year’s Oscars.
Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren in THE LEISURE SEEKER, Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
In The Leisure Seeker, a strong-willed suburban retiree (Helen Mirren) finds her longtime husband (Donald Sutherland) sinking into Alzheimer’s. Having been a teacher who has found the greatest joy in his recall of literature, the impact of the memory disease will be very specific. Facing a health issue of her own, she decides to take him on a road trip all the way down the Eastern Seaboard to Ernest Hemingway’s house in Key West. Off they go in their trusty Winnebago and adventures ensue.
There’s plenty of humor here, and this is not a particularly heartbreaking Alzheimer’s movie. Mirren and Sutherland are both just so good in their roles. Sutherland’s hubby is good-natured as long as he can pilot his 20-foot RV and get a decent hamburger without having to learn a restaurant server’s first name; he slips into a literary revelry at the slightest provocation. Mirren is the social navigator, now faced with corralling somebody who now dips into another reality.
It’s the first American film for the accomplished Italian director Paolo Virzi (Like Crazy). Unfortunately, there’s just something about the iconic American road trip and, perhaps, America itself that Virzi just doesn’t get, and The Leisure Seeker never quite ascends to greatness.
I was amused more than thrilled or moved by The Leisure Seeker. Yet the performances of Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland can justify catching the movie.
Marguerite Moreau and Hus Miller in YOU CAN’T SAY NO
In the indie romantic comedy You Can’t Say Know, Alex (Marguerite Moreau) and Hank (Hus Miller) are at the end of a 14-year-old marriage. Their relationship has never been communication-rich, things have gotten stale and a Hank affair has brought down the curtain. Just before they sign the divorce papers, they send the kids off to camp and take individual road trips. Coincidentally, they meet up on the road, and they play a game, taking turns to order the other to do something that he/she cannot refuse. Comic situations, raw emotions and redemption ensue.
Moreau is especially good as the wife who needs to express her anger but still believes that she will be happiest choosing an improved marriage over divorce. Alex is trying to find her path, and she’s definitely not a doormat. Moreau brings spunk and likeable charm to the role.
Peter Fonda is wonderful as Hank’s eccentric winemaking dad Buck. Hamish Linklater is sometimes hilarious as Buck’s wacky protegé. Ingrid Vollset brings spirit and sympathy as the free-spirited vagabond Allison.
Hus Miller wrote the screenplay in his feature debut as a writer. Unfortunately, You Can’t Say No doesn’t harvest its comic potential. The scenes are often a few counts too long, and the direction and editing tend to be clunky.
You Can’t Say No had its world premiere at Cinequest.
