Melancholia It’s What’s For Dinner

"Melancholia," 2011, Zentropa, Nordisk Film Distribution, Magnolia Pictures

If you’re on the fence as to whether you’ll have a big lavish wedding—don’t, otherwise you could have an entire planet crash the party and ruin the festivities.

Such seems to be the message of Lars Von Trier’s latest offering, “Melancholia” starring Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling and John Hurt.

The film is presented in two parts entitled “Justine” and “Claire” which at first glance would seem to suggest some sort of meaningful dichotomy but  in reality is just a single unified treatise on how depression runs in families.

At first, “Melancholia” stylistically resembles Zack Snyder’s “300” in its visual richness combined with the psychological tension of a Bergman film.

In one of the first few shots, Justine (Dunst) is seen in close up looking like she scraped herself off the sidewalk after an all-night rave party.

Next, Melancholia itself appears out of the abyss as a stunningly beautiful, benign orb while Justine floats down an idyllic stream in her wedding dress almost right out of a Tennyson poem.

As the film’s title would suggest, Justine inexplicably falls into a severe depression on her wedding night.

The reception is at a gorgeous Victorian-era mansion owned by Justine’s sister Claire (Gainsbourg) and her husband John (Sutherland).

But perhaps in a sign of things to come, Justine and Michael’s (Alexander Skarsgård) stretch limo almost doesn’t make up the narrow unpaved road leading to the mansion.

Then things go from bad to worse as Justine’s shrewish mother Gaby (Rampling) and bumbling father Dexter (Hurt) almost single-handedly derail the nuptials.

Justine and Michael share a moment

“Enjoy it while it lasts,” Gaby toasts the happy couple. “I myself hate marriages especially when they involve some of my closest family members.”

With parents like that, it’s no wonder Justine goes off the deep end.

She refuses to consummate her marriage to Michael and eventually gets dumped that same night but not before she boffs her co-worker,Tim (Brady Corbet) outside on the lawn.

Meanwhile John, despite channeling Jack Bauer, goes from self-assured lord of the realm to basket case.

At first he appears to be the only level-headed character in the film but when he discovers that Melancholia won’t just graze Earth but actually slingshot back and collide, he decides to check off the planet by committing suicide.

With all the depression running amuck, it’s no wonder John forgot that his primary responsibility to his family was to provide for them and protect them from harm.

Not that he could do anything about a rogue planet impacting Earth, but he could’ve saved face by at least pretending.

“Melancholia” was beautifully lensed in champagne golds, rich earth tones and brooding blues by Manuel Alberto Claro (“Reconstruction,” “Dark Horse,” “Allegro”).

Hey, if the world’s going to end, at least everything looks pretty.

Von Trier’s choice to score “Melancholia” almost exclusively from Richard Wagner’s “Tristan & Isolde” catalog definitely sheds light on why everyone’s in a bad mood.

“Melancholia” premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival where the verbally unedited von Trier made controversial statements that some perceived anti-Semitic.

Still, Dunst (who battled her own melancholy back in 2008) won the award for Best Actress and really put in a performance not seen since her role as Claudia in
“Interview with the Vampire.”

Stellan Skarsgård sans pirate makeup puts in a fine effort as Justine’s priggish boss Jack.

“Melancholia”is a well-crafted movie that’s worth seeing on the big screen, just remember to have a big bottle of Prozac on hand afterwards.—Steve Santiago

5 Reasons Why The Rocky Horror Picture Show Still Rocks

L-R: Patricia Quinn, Tim Curry, Nell Campbell, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, 20th Century Fox Film Corp.

For more than three decades, one film has enjoyed the longest run of any theatrical film release in U.S. history.

The home version of the video game Pong was released the same year as its initial debut and the U.S. National Film Registry recently gave it a nod as being historically significant enough to warrant preservation.

Yet simply showing up at a midnight screening makes it highly likely you’ll be pelted with rice and leave soaking wet— making this film the first (and possibly only) interactive movie.

But just how Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show went from British stage musical to cinematic sideshow to

international cultural icon is an unlikely mystery to many, but it did.

Here are a few theories as to why the RHPS is still cool today:

Fearless depiction of alternative lifestyles

The Rocky Horror Picture Show above anything else is cheeky expression of sexual freedom mixed into a cocktail of horror, sci-fi and B-movie comedy.

Riding the wave of the already in-progress sexual revolution, RHPS challenged the notion of monogamy and the institution of marriage notably when the newly engaged Brad Majors and Janet Weiss both end up being seduced by Dr. Frank-N-Furter.

It also celebrates rebellion against societal mores with an in-your-face verve that was new and that Americans, having always been a rebellious lot, naturally gravitate toward.

Nowadays, the “Sweet Transvestite” from Transsexual, Transylvania, as Dr. Frank-N-Furter is known, barely elicits a yawn but back in 1975 when RHPS was released, LGBT lifestyles were still largely unacceptable both on and off screen despite activism throughout large cities across the U.S.

The connection to pop music, art and theater

It’s often a matter of timing when art clicks on a large scale and RHPS is no exception.

One thing RHPS had going for it is that during the mid 1970s, Glam rock, Punk rock and Disco were all vying for the attention of countless fabulous nobodies packing American nightclubs and concert halls.

Whether RHPS was the vanguard or merely emulated pop culture is not as relevant as its success at tapping into the of-the-moment vibe notably in the areas of costume design, soundtrack and graphic arts.

At the time, the gender-bending S&M outfit worn by Dr. Frank-N-Furter and the striptease ensemble gracing Columbia and Magenta were considered risqué and daring.

Today, recording artists like Britney Spears and Rihanna borrow heavily from Rocky’s closet while companies like Party City routinely sell Rocky-inspired costumes on the Web.

Likewise, Riff-Raff’s austere butler uniform became the costume de rigueur for countless ghouls in movies like Phantasm (1979) and others that followed.

The garish art direction seen in RHPSshares an uncanny similarity with graphic art designs employed by groups like the Rolling Stones.

     “Some Girls,” EMI,Virgin, Rolling Stones Records

The Stones’ red lips graphic, the Warholesque packaging seen the in the Stones “Some Girls” album and the jacket of The Rocky Horror Picture Show LP bear a striking resemblance to one another.

The stage version of RHPS (which preceded the movie) was one of several rock-inspired musicals that dominated the Broadway stage back in the 1970s.

Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell along with The Rocky Horror Show would enjoy great box office success along with later productions like the hugely successful A Chorus Line, Raisin, Dreamgirls and The Wiz.

Original soundtrack,Rhino Records

It was well cast

More than anything else, Rocky springboarded the acting careers of cast members Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick and Meatloaf.

After his breakthrough role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Curry went on to play Pennywise the Dancing Clown (seemingly using the same makeup artist) in Stephen King’s It and later the less believable Dr. Petrov in The Hunt for Red October.

Sarandon’s performance as the milquetoast Janet Weiss would later seem like a practice run compared to her Oscar-winning performance in Dead Man Walking which was in stark contrast to her vamp-like roles in The Hunger, The Witches of Eastwick and Thelma & Louise.

Barry Bostwick parlayed his role as the wuss-like Brad Majors into a part in Weekend at Bernie’s II and a glut of TV roles most recently as Tim Stanwick on Fox TV’s Glee.

And before finding success from “Bat Out of Hell” (and threatening to beat the
crap out of Gary Busey on season 11 of  The Apprentice), Meatloaf  portrayed the forgettable delivery boy Eddie who (like the actor’s moniker suggests) gets served up as the main course of a dinner party hosted by Dr. Frank-N-Furter.

“Don’t be upset,” Frank-N-Furter quips. “It was a mercy killing. He had a
certain naive charm but no muscles.”

That’s what Gary Busey said.

But more importantly, she would go on to open the highly successful New York City nightclub Nell’s which was a huge hit with the model crowd during the 1990s.

It’s got a huge recyclable fan base

No other film encourages fans to bring their own props to showings like RHPS does.

Fans typically show up at the theater (whether it’s allowed or not) with rice, squirt guns, rubber gloves and confetti among other things.

Without this huge, ravenous fan base that seemingly transcends generations, RHPS would no doubt be unable to continue the long-distance run it’s enjoyed for decades.

Said supply of ravenous fans is largely supported by the innumerable fan sites found on the Web.

One such site, http://www.rockyhorror.com, recently listed some 84 venues worldwide where RHPS is screened.

With that volume of free advertising, it’s no wonder why RHPS keeps breathing long after its presumed shelf life.

It’s got memorable songs

Audiences love musicals mainly for the memorable songs that with the right luck often become American classics.

“The Sound of Music” and “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music immediately come to mind.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is no different.

Songs like “The Time Warp,” “Fanfare/Don’t Dream It” and “Sweet Transvestite” put RHPS on the map and kept it there but like many musicals, it has its share of bombs that make you want to go outside for a cigarette break.

“Dammit Janet,” “Over at the Frankenstein Place” and “Planet,Schmanet, Janet” easily come to mind as songs that would like find a better reception on Sesame Street than on the silver screen.

Likewise, songs like “Eddie” have a cool 1950s rock sensibility but still don’t
seem to fit into the rest RHPS glam 1970s soundtrack.

“Time Warp” though cracked the top 50 of Billboard 200 back in 1978.

But above all the other cultural references, Rocky Horror really delivers an
accurate snapshot of what was “happening” in America back then—at
least in the big cities.

Punk, Glam, Disco and the fashion trends that come with them are all represented in RHPS.

Still, what really makes The Rocky Horror Picture Show cool is that it’s a unique experiment of sorts which encourages audience participation in a way that has never been duplicated since and probably never will.—Steve Santiago

A Kubrick-helmed “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” could have paid off better

A.I. Artificial Intelligence

When A. I. Artificial Intelligence was released in 2001, it seemed destined to become an instant classic with its profound themes that touched upon global warming, human
reliance on technology and dealing with child loss.

Ten years later, A. I.still resonates but for different reasons. This is a film that is more science than it is science fiction, especially now that 10 years have passed since it was first released and many of dire human conundrums that we are being warned about now appear to have taken place in the film.

Set in 2104, Henry Swinton (Sam Robards), and his wife Monica (Frances O’Connor) are grieving parents living in a society that depends on a genre of highly evolved robots called “mechas.”

The Swinton’s son, Martin (Jake Thomas) was placed in suspended animation for some unspecified disease until a cure can be found.

Enter David (Haley Joel Osment), a child mecha programmed to love.

At first Monica is apprehensive but later—thinking Martin will never regain consciousness—gives in and activates David’s imprinting protocol.

Monica must speak a series of words in a certain order for
David to “imprint.”

Everything is hunky dory until Martin mysteriously awakens
from his coma and a sibling rivalry ensues between him and David who at this
point has fully imprinted on Monica.

After learning that returning David to the company that made
him will result in his destruction, Monica decides to leave David by the side of a New Jersey road that somehow
has no traffic on it and resembles the wet forests of the Pacific Northwest.

It’s at this point that this film either runs out of steam or gets better as it transforms into “The Adventures of Pinocchio.” It all depends on who you ask.

David, on a quest to find the Blue Fairy who he believes will turn him into a real boy, meets up with Gigolo Joe (Jude Law).

After a series of depressing misadventures, David eventually
attempts suicide but is rescued by Joe.

Fast forward 2,000 years when the human race is extinct and
an even more highly-evolved mecha race rules the world.

David is thawed out from deep freeze by the mechas who allow him to enjoy a
brief period of bliss with a recreated Monica.

The happiness lasts only one day and in the end they both
drift off into sleep never to awake again.

If you think this is a good time to open a new box of Kleenex, you’re right.

A. I. was originally developed from Brian W. Aldiss’ short story, “Super-Toys Last
All Summer” and originally began development with director Stanley Kubrick
back in the 1970s.

It was later handed off to Steven Spielberg in the mid-1990s.

Ironically, Kubrick let the project languish because he believed that special effects technology wasn’t advanced enough to portray David the way he wanted.

This is the same Stanley Kubrick who didn’t have an arsenal of special effects on hand when he made 2001:A Space Odyssey yet he pulled that film off with such mind-blowing verve that it is now preserved in the National Film Registry.

Had Kubrick known how adept Law and Osment were at portraying robots—neither actor had a memorable performance afterward with the exception of Law in Cold Mountain—he might have reconsidered making the film himself and with it, movie history.–Steve Santiago

 

 

 

With “Ghosts of Mars”, more giggles than gasps

Scene from "Ghosts of Mars" (2001) Columbia Pictures

That John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars is one of his least known and least appreciated films is beside the point.

Unlike Halloween, The Fog, and The Thing–all of which turned around tidy profits–Ghosts lost over $19 million after its 2001 release and was widely panned by critics despite a strong cult-like following among Carpenter fans.

And that was despite Carpenter stacking the casting deck with veterans like Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, Pam Grier, Jason Statham, Clea Duvall and Joanna Cassidy.

For me though, the real issue is whether or not this Carpenter flop is really a horror or a black comedy.

For one, it’s not really that scary owing mostly due to hokey makeup, a lack of decent special effects and the fact that Carpenter splattered a patch of New Mexico desert with red food dye to act as a stand in for Mars.

Two, in many places it’s downright very funny which is why I think it warrants another look.

Set in the 22nd century on a “terra-formed” Mars, Lieutenant Melanie Ballard (Henstridge) is part of a team of police officers assigned to transport a jailed Desolation Williams (Cube) and his gang back to the city to stand trial for robbery–so even in the 22nd century and on another planet, minorities are still on the run from the po-po?

To pass time on the train ride to the mining town, a bored Ballard pops a hit of a hallucinogenic drug called “clear” while also deflecting come-ons from her boss Helena Braddock (Grier).

When Braddock suggests that a quick tryst with a straight (sober) Ballard could ensure her promotion to captain, she responds, “Don’t worry Helena, I’m as straight as they come.”

Once they arrive in the deserted town, things go from bad to worse as the
possessed miners one-by-one turn Ballard’s team into sushi but not before Ballard astutely remarks,

“It’s Friday night. The whole place should be packed. A whole twelve hours before sun up and there’s money to burn, whores to ($%*#) and drugs to take.”

When the ghosts overwhelm the town, it soon becomes clear to the surviving cops that they must work with Williams (and his gang) if they are ever to get out of town alive.

While the group preps weapons to face the imminent onslaught of ghosts/miners, a member of Williams’ gang named Dos (Lobo Sebastian) demonstrates to a prostitute (Wanda De Jesus) how to open a can with a machete.

The only problem is Dos has been getting high all day on a “laugher-breather” and winds up chopping off his thumb to which Williams’ only response is to laugh and call him a “dumb ass.”

The team eventually decides that the only way to kill off the zombiesque miners is to nuke the town which, of course, results in ghostly fallout that infests the entire planet.

With Ghosts, you either love it or hate it but one thing Carpenter has going for him is that he knows how to cast a horror film. Or is it a comedy?—Steve Santiago