A Fever Dream Revisited

Beyond the horizon: Andrew Dominik's The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

When New Zealand director Andrew Dominik's lyrical western parable The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford was released in 2007, it was, for the most part, completely ignored by the majority of the moviegoing public. Warner Brothers, which distributed the film, faithlessly announced its arrival with little fanfare and shoveled a few prints to a smattering of arthouse cinemas. The film quickly disappeared before the thundering drums of the 2007 Oscar season announced a crop of more visible fare, such as No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood, as art cinema's annointed representatives for that year. But time has been kind to Dominik's elegiac meditation on western mythology, and its reputation has only grown stronger since its release. Aided by Roger Deakins' striking cinematography, a glacially-paced but absorbing narrative, and a handful of eclectic performances (including what may be topliner Brad Pitt's finest), The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford is one of the most exquisitely crafted westerns ever made.

Return To The Wasteland

In an era of by-the-numbers remakes and CGI overkill, it’s refreshing to see a charged, inspired blast of color, sound and visual panache. As rendered by legendary Australian director George Miller, Mad Max Fury Road hits those marks and then obliterates them entirely. Buckle up. 

Where Have All The The Raining Frogs Gone?

Midnight Rambler: Joaquin Phoenix as Doc Sportello

Though cinematographer Robert Elswit lends a little sun-dappled magic to the proceedings, and Josh Brolin’s flat-top Franken-cop with a curious predilection for chocolate-covered bananas steals the show, Inherent Vice arrives as a bit of an anomaly in director Paul Thomas Anderson’s revered oeuvre.  Based on Thomas Pynchon’s patchouli-soaked end-of-an-era elegy for 60’s SoCal burnouts and deadbeats, the film adaptation is surprisingly flat-footed. Maybe that’s the point. Or maybe not. Who knows. Bottom line: It doesn’t vibrate with the moody currents that ripple through Pynchon’s book, and it even pales to Anderson mentor Robert Altman’s stab at the genre, The Long Goodbye. A legion of defenders will no doubt crane their necks to find some of that patented PTA residue from yesteryear, but unfortunately, there’s precious little to be found in this go 'round.

Wake In Fright

In a time when the horror genre has been wrung dry and turned stale with everything from trendy zombie apocalypse retreads to "torture porn" endurance tests, first-time Australian director Jennifer Kent's debut feature The Babadook is a refreshing creeper that masterfully encompasses that old – and sadly seldom-used – cinematic truism, "What's most terrifying is that which is not seen." Eerie-thick atmosphere, otherworldly aural soundscapes. Mr. Hitchcock, somewhere in the ether, is wearing a wide smile of approval.   

Full Metal Racket

Boom-ska-boom.

Director Damien Chazelle’s 2014 Sundance hit Whiplash follows the trials and tribulations of a talented drumming prodigy, Andrew, played with patented low-key charm by Miles Teller. Of course, any cinematic success story about overcoming the odds must have a charismatic antagonist, in this instance evil incarnate is manifested in the flared nostrils, fiery-eyes and foul mouth of J.K. Simmons, who filets and berates Andrew’s efforts with a colorful and pitiless litany of expletives, put-downs and esteem-crippling diatribes. The film, though slight – and slightly by-the-numbers – hosts a big-bopper of a climax that’s both exhilarating and surprisingly cathartic.

Till Death Do Us Part?

Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck in David Fincher's Gone Girl.

Corpse-cool and brimming with director David Fincher’s patented visual prowess – all Kubrick-ian symmetry and icy remove – Gone Girl, an adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s 2012 bestseller (adapted by the author herself), is a Hitchcock whodunit for a modern age squinting in the gaudy glare of tabloid media’s unceasing searchlight. Topliner Rosamund Pike is a particular standout, her eyes alone able to alternate between ferocity and tenderness with unsettling ease. 

"These Go To Eleven"

Legends in their own minds. Left to Right: Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls.

A sure sign of a bona fide classic? When, 30 years after its release, a film can lure patrons to a darkened theater and keep them laughing for an hour and a half straight. That happened recently in Durham, North Carolina. The film: Director Rob Reiner's 1984 classic, This Is Spinal Tap. The event: The Carolina Theatre's annual Escapist Film Festival, a silver screen ode to cinematic gems of yesteryear. Visit carolinatheatre.org.

Bleaker Street

The Rover, Australian director David Micheod's follow-up to his fantastic 2010 crime caper, Animal Kingdom, is more thoughtful and meditative than most of its summer box office brethren, and the subject matter – involving two down-and-out drifters (Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson) forced to survive a harsh, unforgiving physical and cultural landscape in the aftermath of a global financial collapse – doesn't exactly scream box office gold. But Micheod is a skilled craftsman, and Pearce showcases a bravura performance of fierce restraint. Well worth a look.

Stanley Kubrick Animated

Designed and animated by Martin Woutisseth: www.martinwoutisseth.com twitter: @mwoutisseth www.facebook.com/mwoutisseth -- Music, Romain Trouillet : www.romain-trouillet.com www.myspace.com/romaintrouillet -- Behind 'Stanley Kubrick - a filmography', more informations, explanations and bonus: http://mwoutisseth.prosite.com/41280/340746/home/stanley-kubrick-a-filmography

Graphic artist Martin Woutisseth's stylized tribute to the films of Stanley Kubrick. Visit martinwoutisseth.com.

Hal Ashby Appreciation Society

From Harold and Maude and Coming Home to The Last Detail and Being There, director Hal Ashby was an astute, compassionate observer of human behavior, and a master of capturing humor and pathos in the small strokes. I've grown to really love his work and his extraordinary ability to bring the best out in his actors.

Could have been a contender

Filed away in the annals of unrealized, ambitious cinematic epics, director Alexandro Jodorowsky's interpretation of Frank Herbert's science fantasy epic, DUNE, almost predated Star Wars as the 1970s' first big-budget space fantasy. But, of course, it was not to be. Blockaded by a combination of the director's imagination-run-amok instincts and throngs of fiscally conservative studio executives, Jordo's DUNE now lives only in the beautiful conceptual imagery of its brilliant designers (artist Moebius and HR Giger) and in the still-ebullient mind of director Jodorowsky, whose vivid, energetic recollections of the creative process continue to inspire, even if his visionary film never made it to the silver screen.