Review forthcoming.
4 STARS 
Revanche (2008, Götz Spielmann)
June 19th, 2010Incident at Loch Ness (2004, Zak Penn)
June 12th, 2010
Film buffs know that celebrated German director Werner Herzog is as much fun in front of the camera as behind it. Thank goodness for that, as Herzog alone makes this mockumentary worth watching. The film charts the filming of an imaginary documentary about the Loch Ness Monster, with Herzog struggling against inept and underhanded producers, cryptozoologists, and crew members.
Most of the acting in the film is pretty bad, no doubt because Incident involves non-actors who are trying to “act” natural. Only Herzog seems able to pull it off, and after a while I felt embarrassed for him. The acting of director Zak Penn is especially bad, it must be said, although I give him kudos for bringing Kitana Baker on board (literally).
Unfortunately, some of the gags might have worked well with a better cast. Think of how good This is Spinal Tap is, then think of how bad it would be if that same movie featured your brother instead of Christopher Guest.
2 STARS 
Bonus observation: Herzog is “threatened” with a gun at one point during this film (see photo above). In real life, he truly was shot during a 2006 BBC interview, the victim of an unknown man wielding an air rifle. In typical Herzog fashion, he insisted that the interview continue despite his bleeding abdomen. “It is not significant,” he laughed, noting that it was not surprising to him that he would be shot at.
The Road (2009, John Hillcoat)
June 11th, 2010
I have not yet read Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road, although it’s sitting on my bookshelf just an arm’s reach away. Having just watched the film, I’m excited to see how McCarthy’s spare prose inspired the moods and images found in this post-apocalyptic movie.
The plot of this picture is fairly simple: following an environmental disaster that kills virtually all life on the planet, a father and his son struggle for survival while following a road south toward the coast. Every living person is a threat to one’s peers, not only because of the competition for food but also because cannibalism has become the most obvious means of staying alive.
Viggo Mortensen plays the father, and does so with a blend of sensitivity and brutality; as the son, Kodi Smit-McPhee is believably frightened, naive, and compassionate. The relationship between the two is deeply moving, and this factor is what makes the film worth watching. The ending is especially heartbreaking, but also rewarding for those viewers who have slogged through 90 minutes of filth, fog, blood, and rain with this tiny family.
I can recommend The Road, but beware: the film is so bleak that it might give one a bad case of seasonal affective disorder.
3 STARS 
Bonus observation: That’s Robert Duvall as the Old Man on the road. I like that Duvall keeps popping up in minor roles these days; as one might expect, he usually steals the show.