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Martin Paule's Micro Movie Reviews: A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z-

Y Tu Mama Tambien

This film, along with the estimable Amores Perros, marks Mexico’s emergence in the new millennium as a world-class center of cinema. This is the story of two high school chums, one the privileged son of a government minister, the other from a struggling middle class home, who embark on a road trip along with the young wife of a philandering writer. The film delves into the lies and secrets that each of the trio harbors and tells their stories with compassion and wisdom. Juxtaposing raunch with tenderness, this is a spot-on an examination of the process of sexual maturation that puts similar U.S.-made efforts to shame.  Highly atmospheric, it captures the sense of modern-day Mexico brilliantly with many scenes in which disquieting police actions occur peripherally as our apolitical trio attempts to work out some happiness in their lives.  

Year of the Horse

The indie director Jim Jarmusch is a big Neil Young fan which led to his making this part hagiography, part concert film, documenting Young’s 1996 road tour with his band of 30-plus years, Crazy Horse. Using Super 8 film and Hi-8 video technology, the film, like its subject, is grungy and technically unimpressive. As with Young, Jarmusch is concerned with getting at the heart of matters rather than obsessing over technical details. Especially telling is the counterpointing of a ’96 performance of the eerie song Tonight’s The Night (Young’s reaction to the heroin-induced deaths of his roadie Bruce Berry and rhythm guitarist Danny Whitten) with a performance from 20 years earlier. The earlier rendition is clearly better. Indeed, home-grown clips interspersed with the modern footage, reveal an artist who is past his prime though, on any given night, he is capable of distortion-drenched rock ‘n’ roll mayhem. For those drawn to Young by his acoustic/folkie persona typified in songs such as Heart of Gold, this film will be a disappointment given its focus on heavy, sludgy rock.

Young Adam

Reminiscent of Jean Vigo's 1934 film La Atalante that also dealt with a triangle aboard a barge, this work has a more somber and deadly air. Joe (Ewan McGregor) is a cocksure would-be writer who takes a job working on a barge that plies the canals between Glasgow and Edinburgh. The boat is owned by Ella (Tilda Swindon) who is trapped in a sterile marriage with Les (PeterMullan). Before long, Joe is boffing the boss creating tension aboard the barge. A subplot dealing with a dead young woman found floating semi-nude in the harbor keeps resurfacing as the film reveals in a fractured timeline how she came to be there. Though this element moves the story along, this film is far more about its oppressive atmosphere and characterizations that are only slowly revealed. 

A sardonic meditation about three 30-something men who are ostensibly
buddies and whose ongoing interest in one another centers around their
respective sexual exploits and prowess. Two of them are in relationships
with women, the third seems to go through women like Kleenex. And all three
are up to their ears in self-love. Not that their women are much better.
They too base every encounter and relationship on what is in it for them.
In one telling scene, when the men discuss their greatest sexual
experiences, one admits that he provides himself with the best sex. These
are venal, selfish people whose dialogue leaves us cringing-at least when
we're not laughing. LaBute's brand of go-for-the-throat comedy will not
please everyone. But people who've enjoyed work by Edward Albee and David
Mamet should find this to their liking.

The Year of Living Dangerously 

A chronicle of politically tumultuous times in Indonesia in the mid 60s
when the communists attempted to unseat the Sukarno regime, told from the
perspective of an Australian journalist played cynically by a young Mel
Gibson with Sigourney Weaver as the love interest and Linda Hunt in an
Academy Award-winning role as a Eurasian (male) dwarf who is Gibson's
photographer. It's highly exciting and atmospheric-you can feel the
dripping humidity. Following the recent upheavals in Indonesia, this
story, which marked the beginning of Suharto's 30-year reign which just came to an end,
is given current relevance.
 

The Yazuka

An intricately plotted detective story set in Japan with Robert Mitchum as
an American trying to find his friend's abducted daughter and becoming
involved with the Japanese mob. Although there's plenty of graphic violence
and slam-bang action, the movie's really about loyalty and brotherhood.
Lots of arresting glimpses into Japanese culture help differentiate this
from run-of-the-mill actioners.
 
 

The Young Poisoner's Handbook