The Zero Theorem

Movies to See Right Now

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PEEPING TOM, coming up on Turner Classic Movies and better than PSYCHO
PEEPING TOM, coming up on Turner Classic Movies and better than PSYCHO

Opening today, the startling documentary Art and Craft is about an art fraud. Of prolific scale.  Apparently not illegal.  By a diagnosed schizophrenic.

Also in theaters:

    • The exceptionally well-acted dramedy The Skeleton Twins contains several inspired moments.
    • The smart and hilarious The Trip to Italy showcases the improvisational wit of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, along with some serious tourism/foodie porn.
    • Feedback from my readers is almost unanimous – Richard Linklater’s family drama Boyhood is a special movie experience – and possibly the best film of the decade.
    • I really liked The One I Love – a relationship romance, a dark comedy and a modern day episode of The Twilight Zone rolled into one successful movie. Although it’s leaving theaters this weekend, it remains available streaming from Amazon Instant, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and Xbox Video.

Terry Gilliam’s sci-fi fable The Zero Theorem is visually arresting, but the story becomes tedious. Poor writing and directing sabotage the delightful performances of Alfred Molina and John Lithgow in the romantic drama Love Is Strange. I was also disappointed by the tiresome Frank Miller’s Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

Here’s my preview of the upcoming Mill Valley Film Festival.

This week’s DVD/Stream of the Week is this year’s outstanding coming of age movie Very Good Girls starring the fine young actresses Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen. Very Good Girls is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon Instant, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and Xbox Video.

On October 4, Turner Classic Movies brings us what may be the best-ever psycho serial killer movie, Peeping Tom from 1960, the same year as Psycho.  The British film critics didn’t know what to make of a thriller where the protagonist was so disturbing, and they trashed Peeping Tom so badly that its great director Michael Powell (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Stairway to Heaven, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes) wasn’t able to work again in the UK.  But I think Peeping Tom is an overlooked masterpiece and even better than its iconic counterpart.

And on October 5, TCM broadcasts Cool Hand Luke, with Paul Newman as an iconic 1960s anti-hero, a charismatic supporting performance by George Kennedy, the unforgettable boiled egg-eating contest and the great movie line” What we have here is a failure to communicate”.

Movies to See Right Now

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Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader in THE SKELETON TWINS
Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader in THE SKELETON TWINS

The exceptionally well-acted dramedy The Skeleton Twins contains several inspired moments.

Also in theaters:

  • The smart and hilarious The Trip to Italy showcases the improvisational wit of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, along with some serious tourism/foodie porn.
  • Feedback from my readers is almost unanimous – Richard Linklater’s family drama Boyhood is a special movie experience – and possibly the best film of the decade.
  • I really liked The One I Love – a relationship romance, a dark comedy and a modern day episode of The Twilight Zone rolled into one successful movie. Although it’s leaving theaters this weekend, it remains available streaming from Amazon Instant, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and Xbox Video.

Terry Gilliam’s sci-fi fable The Zero Theorem is visually arresting, but the story becomes tedious. Poor writing and directing sabotage the delightful performances of Alfred Molina and John Lithgow in the romantic drama Love Is Strange. I was also disappointed by the tiresome Frank Miller’s Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

Here’s my preview of the upcoming Mill Valley Film Festival.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is an underrated 2014 romance that most of us didn’t get to see in theaters, The Face of Love with Annette Bening and Ed Harris.  The Face of Love is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, iTunes, YouTube, Google Play and Xbox Video.

Movies to See Right Now

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Gene Tierney startles Dana Andrews in LAURA
Gene Tierney startles Dana Andrews in LAURA

In theaters:

  • The smart and hilarious The Trip to Italy showcases the improvisational wit of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, along with some serious tourism/foodie porn.
  • Feedback from my readers is almost unanimous – Richard Linklater’s family drama Boyhood is a special movie experience – and possibly the best film of the decade.
  • I really liked The One I Love – a relationship romance, a dark comedy and a modern day episode of The Twilight Zone rolled into one successful movie. Although it’s leaving theaters this weekend, it remains available streaming from Amazon Instant, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and Xbox Video.

Terry Gilliam’s sci-fi fable The Zero Theorem opens today; it’s visually arresting, but the story becomes tedious.  Poor writing and directing sabotage the delightful performances of Alfred Molina and John Lithgow in the romantic drama Love Is Strange. I was also disappointed by the tiresome Frank Miller’s Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

Here’s my preview of the upcoming Mill Valley Film Festival.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is the absorbing French period drama Augustine, about obsession, passion and the birth of a science. Augustine is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Netflix Instant, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, and Xbox Video.

On September 24, Turner Classic Movies plays the underrated anti-war masterpiece The Americanization of Emily, the favorite film of both of its stars – James Garner and Julie Andrews. On September 27, TCM offers the classic noir thriller Laura, with an unforgettable performance by Clifton Webb as a megalomaniac with one vulnerability – the dazzling beauty of Gene Tierney. The musical theme is unforgettable, too.

THE ZERO THEOREM: visually arresting sci-fi meh

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THE ZERO THEOREM
THE ZERO THEOREM

Zero Theorem2
Terry Gilliam directed The Zero Theorem, which tells you that it’s going to be visually arresting and Way Out There.  Former Monty Python member Gilliam wrote and directed Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus – all much better movies than The Zero Theorem (which he did not write).

The Zero Theorem takes place in a dystopian future world where the powers that be completely control everything that they need for the economy (what you do, how continually you work and how little you get paid), but allow individual freedom to consume crappy consumer goods and follow phony religions. Those that are too troubled to be productive are left to fend for themselves on the filthy streets, free of public services.   It’s the realization of Antonin Scalia’s world view.

Christoph Waltz plays a poor workaday Everyman who just wants some time off to look after his deteriorating health.  He’s literally a wage slave to a malevolent character named Management.  A professional numbers cruncher, Waltz is attacking a very fundamental mathematical discovery.  And that’s the whole movie –  as he hacks away on his keyboard, he is battered and abused by The System, cajoled by an obnoxious middle manager (David Thewlis – very funny) and distracted by a sexually available temptress.

For what it’s worth, Waltz is pretty good as the protagonist, a perpetual victim.  Matt Damon and Tilda Swinton show up in brief parts.  Melanie Thierry, a very beautiful actress of limited range (see The Princess of Montpensier), plays the hottie.

All in all, it’s just not Far Out enough and the story – stretched to feature length – is tedious.  You’re better off watching one of Gilliam’s good films, or Lost in La Mancha, the documentary on his snake-bitten attempt to make a movie out of Don Quixote.

The Zero Theorem releases tomorrow in theaters, but is already streaming on Amazon, iTunes, YouTube, Google Play and Xbox Video, among others, including your cable/satellite On Demand.