Review: Nothing Is Private

I chose Nothing Is Private based purely on the director, Alan Ball. He was one of the primary people responsible for Six Feet Under, a wonderful series from the fine people at HBO. He also wrote and co-produced American Beauty. He wrote the screenplay for Nothing Is Private based on the novel Towelhead by Alicia Erian, a semi-autobiographical account of her experience living with her Middle Eastern yet Christian father in Houston. It was his feature debut in the director's chair.

If my review sounds a little distracted, I'm dealing with secondhand smoke and some guy singing along to Corey Hart's "Sunglasses at Night". Just thought I'd let you know.

Anyway, Nothing Is Private is about 13-year old Jasira, played by much-more-than-13-years-old Summer Bishil, who has nothing but a spattering of TV credits to her name. She does a decent job, though I don't know if she pulls off age 13 completely. Jasira encounters a myriad of mal treatment, from her physically and emotionally abusive father, sexually abusive neighbor, and psychologically abusive classmates.

Peter Macdissi plays the aforementioned father, a NASA employee and Saddam-hating proud American citizen originally from Lebanon. It took me about two-thirds of the movie, but I finally recognized him as Claire's art teacher in Six Feet. Aaron Eckhart plays Jasira's neighbor, an Army reservist waiting to get called to Iraq during the Gulf War.

By the way, the Corey Hart impressionist just threatened someone, maybe me though I have no idea why, with punching them in the f***ing face -- nice.

Jasira's saviors are an anti-Texan neighbor couple played by Toni Collette and Matt Letscher. They serve up enough goodness to offset everyone else in the film. Okay, when things end, Ball shows us that not everyone is 100% bad, which is somewhat refreshing. During the Q&A, however, one questioner seemed a little taken aback that Jasira doesn't end up "destroyed", and that perhaps Alan was "sending the wrong message". Alan Ball argued credibly that to assume that all under aged people who experience "inappropriate sexual contact with an adult" end up whacked is to assume that a good portion of today's population is destroyed.

The movie was admittedly a little less than I was hoping for. Some moments seemed a little less than real, dialog a little weak. Some moments, though, played out very well, with good comedic relief when you needed it ("It doesn't matter what color your friend is if she's a girl. Don't paint me out to be a racist."). Maybe Alan just needed a little more time with the script. I didn't regret seeing this film, but I wouldn't beg you to see it. My imdb rating: 6/10.

Review: No Country For Old Men

No Country for Old Men, the latest from brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, spends most of its time following a two characters: Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a hunter in Texas and only somewhat bad man, and Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), 150% bad man and one of the more humorously creepy killers you'll encounter in your day-to-day life. He's ruthless, unkillable, brilliant and, as luck would have it, entertaining. Tommy Lee Jones joins the fray as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (was he a sheriff? Better remember to ask my fact checker), an experienced (and aging, perhaps) career lawman. Woody Harrelson, as private investigator Carson Wells, and Kelly Macdonald, as Llewelyn's wife Carla Jean, round out the cast.

Early in the film, Llewelyn stumbles across a drug buy gone bad and, with a little detective work, he stumbles across something valuable. He suspects people are going to be coming after it, but perhaps underestimates the quantity and quality of those very people. Ed Tom Ball (classic Tommy Lee Jones with a splash of melancholy) seems to know what's coming Llewelyn's way and tries to save Llewelyn the trouble.

Brolin is wonderful in his would-in-any-other-situation-overcome-all role as the not completely good Llewelyn. MacDonald is convincing as his justifiably worrisome wife. Bardem, however, is delightfully sinister as a bad man who will kill someone merely for the sake of keeping his word, even if it was a threat to a man who is already dead. He even pulls off a good Two Face impression, for you Batman fans.

The Coens put their unmistakable stamp on this movie, with scenes that are odd, memorable, well-designed, perfectly framed, graphic novel-ish in appearance, zany, and did I mention odd? Yes, I think I did, but it's worth mentioning twice. I've read about how well the Coens plan out their movies (a product of having tiny budgets early in their career, a problem I'm sure no longer haunts them today), and you get the feeling that they wasted no effort in making this film. It is much better, imho, than more recent efforts such as Intolerable Cruelty and The Man Who Wasn't There. It will appeal more so to fans of Fargo and Blood Simple than Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski.

There is comic relief in this movie to offset the tension, even more so if you're a bit sick in the head, as I am. All I'm saying is, if you laughed at the wood-chipper, you'll certainly find yourself giggling here and there. For more traditional movie goers, there's some comedy between Ed Tom Ball and his deputy, and though it's well done, it's not recognizably Coen-ish.

I feel I've said too much, but I don't think it matters. If you've enjoyed previous Coen hits such as Blood Simple, Fargo, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, then I'm betting you'll enjoy this one. If you haven't seen many Coen Brothers' movies, but like a good suspense flick, then this will be up your alley, too. I wouldn't mind seeing it again, so feel free to give me a call when it comes this November to a theatre near you. My imdb rating: 8/10.

The Decision

Faced with the prospect of (a) Waiting indefinitely for my B&B hostess and missing one or both movies; or (b) Leaving my luggage in their front yard, I chose...

Okay, I only left one bag, and it was partially concealed, and the neighborhood is fairly safe. Anyway, I enjoyed both movies. Reviews tomorrow, though. I need some sleep.

I knew it!

Flights, no problem. Customs, no problem. Luggage, no problem. ATM (need Canadian cash), no problem. Limo (nicer cars, costs same or less than taxi), no problem. Traffic, no problem. Arrive at the B&B, the owner's left the key in the mailbox for me (this happens now and then, for those of you who don't stay at B&B's).

Wrong key.

It was a perfect setup, really. I really thought this was going to go off without a hitch, but here I am sitting on the front stoop of my B&B with not a clue in the world when my hostess will return. Damn, damn, damn. Do I just leave my luggage in front of the door? Yikes. What to do, what to do...

Complain, that's first priority, and fortunately there's wi-fi I can use to do so to a world wide audience. I bet you can't wait to find out how this one turns out...

Detroit

I made it to Detroit without a hitch. I chatted with Chris Wolfgram's cube neighbor for most of the trip. I know he knows Chris, because he mentioned that "determined" look Chris gets when things aren't going well. Only those of you who know him will know what I mean.

Anyway, it looks like the Toronto flight is departing on time. I fell for this once before, though. I will not let down my guard quite that easily...

Too Easy

No line at the check-in counter. No line at security. It's obviously a trick. They're setting me up for a fall, I can smell it.

Well, there no power outlets in the gate area. Maybe that's the worst I'll see today. If that's it, I'll consider myself lucky.

To the tune of...

'Twas the night before the film fest
and all through the condo
not a creature was stirring
except for the idiot cleaning his bathroom
and the cat playing chicken with the broom.

Okay, I don't have the energy to finish that one. Time to finish packing and get to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day. The getting up, the getting ready, the going to the airport, the waiting for the flight to leave, the arriving in Detroit, the boarding of the second flight, the getting off the plane that now has mechanical problems, the going to a different gate, the waiting for the next flight to leave, the finally leaving, the arriving in Toronto, the trying to seem harmless at the Customs & Immigration booth (success!), the gathering of the bags, the hiring of a cab, the arriving at the B&B, the checking in, the promising to pay for the room just as soon as my bank allows me to withdraw that much Canadian cash (these exchange rates suck!), the rushing to subway, the arriving at the box office, the waiting in line, I mean "queueing" (those crazy Canadians), the getting the tickets, the rushing to the first show... you get the picture. I just hope I get to my first picture.