Taser Face?

 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 (2017)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Comic-book movies should be fun and somewhat upbeat with occasional lightheartedness. Not so with Batman and its far too many incarnations, some intentionally darker than others. The original "Guardians of the Galaxy" was fun and some of it infectious, with enough pop-culture 1970's songs to make one feel good about once owning a Sony Walkman. Its hero, Star-lord, came ready to fight but he needed his walkman to get in the right mood. "Vol 2." ups the ante on spectacular special-effects that resemble an electronic fireworks display at the Epcot Center, except you know a trillion times brighter with more lasers than one can count. As a matter of fact, the ending of this delirious if occasionally overcooked movie has a scene on a planet conjured by Star-lord's father that looks like Genesis from "Star Trek III." The difference is, you know, far more explosions with monoliths also protruding from the ground.

The plot is simple in this sequel with Star-Lord, known as the relatively immature Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), and his Guardians protecting massive batteries that power some alien race known as the Sovereign with spooky-looking golden skin ("Goldfinger," watch out) from a massive creature that seems that have emerged from Star Wars. The creature is killed, with one Guardian taking credit over the other, and Mr. Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), a sarcastic, feisty racoon, decides to steal some batteries! Musclebound Drax (Dave Bautista) laughs very heartily at this revelation, leaving everyone else in the crew a little nonplussed. The Guardians take a hostage named Nebula who is our green-skinned Gamora's sister (Gamora is of course played by Zoe Saldana, a fierce and honest Guardian) in exchange for protecting the Sovereign. One thing leads to another as the Golden-Skinned race chase down the Guardians after the discovery of Rocket's theft and all hell breaks loose - this alien race uses remote stations to fight them in space. Nifty. Also nifty is the return of cobalt blue-skinned Yondu (Michael Rooker), Peter's adoptive father, who once lead the Ravagers and is hired to capture the Guardians yet Peter is not someone he wishes to capture. Meanwhile, Peter finds his actual father, Ego (Kurt Russell), who has created his own planet - just like Star Trek's Genesis. Indeed. Only Ego may have some grander design besides a seemingly peaceful habitat.

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" is easy to review - it is humorous, scatalogical and has enough solid action scenes to satisfy any fans of the Marvel universe. Chris Pratt is far more lively than usual and a rousing hero. I cannot pretend to understand all the gobbledygook towards the end with regards to this planet but it is all infectious in its own way, and director James Gunn never pretends to take any of this too seriously. Overcooked? Yes. A fun group of Guardians. You bet. It is also a sequel that manages to upstage its predecessor. Oh, and Sylvester Stallone and Howard the Duck also appear fleetingly. When was the last time you heard that happening?

Enchanting road movie

 ALICE IN THE CITIES (1974)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

The idea of searching and discovering the real America by traveling through the whole country by car is a romantic notion. Books, documentaries and films have always tried to capture such an idea ("On the Road" by Jack Kerouac is one of my favorite books on the subject). "Alice in the Cities" begins with a journalist who can't commit to write a single word of his travels for a publisher, yet he takes a bunch of Polaroids and none seem to capture what he actually sees. This journalist is lost and captures moments that he feels embody something about him, and then he runs to tell his fed-up girlfriend all about it. The truth is that there is nothing there and he yields little to no discovery of the United States. His Polaroids look like Polaroids that could've been taken by anybody. 

Wim Wenders' "Alice in the Cities" begins as a curiously remote odyssey, the story of a German writer named Philip (Rüdiger Vogler) who scribbles in his notepad yet has presumably nothing interesting to say. He hates television because of the commercials and that somehow the programs are commercials themselves - all interrupting each other and probably not having much to say either. His publisher is miffed that Philip did not write a single word, which was his assignment. Feeling lost once again, Philip decides to go back to Germany and never return. He runs into a German woman (Lisa Kreuzer) who is leaving for Germany after just having a bad relationship, but only tickets to Amsterdam are available. She has a precocious daughter (Yella Rottländer) and they befriend Philip who serves as their English translator and helps them. Eventually, the mother disappears and Philip is forced to help Alice, hoping the mother will return to Amsterdam. Instead Philip helps Alice find her grandmother though she can't remember what German city she lives in.

"Alice in the Cities" is extraordinarily moving yet never sentimental. As you watch Philip and Alice, who appear like surrogate father and daughter, you sense that this journey could be never-ending and perhaps Alice might never see her mother again. What is especially touching about the film is that it approaches Alice's own journey not as a mission but as a need for human contact - the girl is smartly aware that nothing is at it seems. Philip has his own journey and it feels just and with a singular purpose. When the two decide to take pictures in a photo booth, we see Philip smiling and finding some inner joy about life that moves him - perhaps forming his own family. When Alice takes a Polaroid of Philip, she finds his soul and he is touched. The movie along at a glacial though entrancing pace, like life. "Alice in the Cities" is enchanting.        

Munching on recycled 1984 parts

 GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (2021)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Smart tykes as ghostbusters is not a bad idea as long as their personalities are colorful tinged with comic bravado. The tykes in this movie seemed to have emerged from "Stranger Things" (one of them, Finn Wolfhard, is from that show) and yet, except for one pre-teen kid, the rest are bland. "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" might have benefitted from having the tykes needing help with those slimy ghosts if they called the real ghostbusters thirty minutes after their story starts. Instead, the real guys don't emerge until the movie is practically over. 

The one tyke here that has color in her personality is McKenna Grace as Phoebe Spengler, the very smart girl who is Egon Spengler's granddaughter. For non-"Ghostbusters" devotees, a little backstory here. Egon Spengler was the mild-mannered scientist who fought ghosts with his other ghostbusters in the first two "Ghostbusters" movies. He was the truly clever scientist who ratted out statistics and percentages like no one's business and he was played by the late Harold Ramis. Apparently Egon bought a farm in Oklahoma, nicknamed "Dirt Farm," and has had a feeling, an apocalyptic feeling, that some entity has escaped from an occultist's mine and may rule the world. He has several ghost traps in his front yard and then dies after being attacked in his chair. Meanwhile, Phoebe and her brother (Finn Wolfhard, great actor name) move with their mother (Carrie Coon) to this farm they inherited. Annie Potts as Janine, Egon's girlfriend, shows up at the beginning at this rustic, decrepit farm and then disappears from the movie! Phoebe eventually finds the proton pack and the famous P.K.E. meter that serves as an alert for ghost activity. And her brother doesn't know much about anything, hardly the nerd his sister is and develops an interest in a girl working at a 50's-type diner! This brief subplot is simply dull and unnecessary, bringing the movie to a major halt. And with all this setup for a story, the movie is close to the hour mark before its mojo really gets going.  

Grace is terrific as Phoebe, who maintains her cool when chess pieces move by themselves or when a lamp moves with Egon's spirit intact. Some of this works for a little while but then we get Paul Rudd as a science teacher who is also a seismologist and shows movies like "Cujo" and "Child's Play" to the kids - I can't figure that one out. Rudd has a romantic interest in Phoebe's mother and all this simply marks time. None of it is exactly bad, just uninvolving. We get a few sparks of interest with a Ghostbusters fan named Podcast yet Phoebe is not used enough as an anchor for this movie. Special-effects dominate soon enough and we get one ghost called "Muncher" who spits out metal projectiles like bullets (a fun pudgy ghost) but then we get repeats of what the original 1984 film had - the return of the monstrous Zuul, the androgynous Gozer (now played by Olivia Wilde) and a few mini-Stay Puft marshmallow kids. Aside from the Stay-Puft kids, the rest is just recycling from the original without much of the pizazz or humor.

The end of this overlong, plodding movie has the return of the real Ghostbusters that we loved from the original but one wishes they formed more of the backbone of this skeletal redux. Flavorless, frequently humorless and lacking kinetic and comical anarchy, "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" feels more like a dim "Goosebumps" movie than "Ghostbusters." 

Freedom at whatever cost

 TRISTANA (1970)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Sadness pervades throughout Luis Bunuel's ultimately poetic and brazenly acted masterpiece, "Tristana." The name Tristana is derived from French and Welsh origin and it means sad (in Spanish, we just say "triste" which sounds more exclamatory). It also stars one of the most glamorous women of French cinema ever, Catherine Deneuve, exuding sadness in every movement of her body language, even her graceful walk or when she becomes ill. Whether she is indoors or outdoors (and mostly indoors), her sadness and her mournful state over the loss of her mother in the opening scenes lend much gravitas and humanity to her plight. 

 An old man set in his ways, Don Lope (Fernando Rey), becomes ward to the young, lovely though steadfastly in mourning Tristana (Deneuve) - she wears black and never leaves the house unless under express permission from Don. Don has antiquated thoughts on everything, including women who he believes should stay home and serve him. Tristana abides by him, removing his shoes when he comes home and putting on his slippers though she finds it odd that he keeps them on when his colleagues come over. Tristana is seen as the mistress of the house whereas the maid of the house, Saturna (Dolores Gaos González-Pola), prepares the meals and makes the beds. Of course, the old man still wants to be the playboy of his youth and decides that Tristana is not just a daughter to him, she will become his lover. She doesn't budge yet over time, she leaves the house and hooks up with a male painter, Horacio (Franco Nero) who is more progressive in his attitudes towards women and life. He sees a future with her, and she does...for a while. Tristana also feels disgust over Don for deflowering her.

"Tristana" unveils a portrait of people living under a Catholic umbrella yet still act on their own romantic and sexual instincts. Saturna has a deaf-mute son, Saturno (Jesus Fernandez), who can't hold a job and is attracted to Tristana (in a famous scene, Tristana opens the windows and reveals her body to the young shocked kid). Saturna is the only one that presumably holds on to her faith. Don Lope is simply a sinner, treating a young woman as a sexual object whom he is supposed to treat like a daughter. Tristana eventually frees herself from Don's clutches and lives with Horacio until illness enters both of their lives. Tristana slowly changes, becoming meaner after having a tumor-infected leg amputated and is more inclined to help herself than anyone else. Circumstances also develop where she has fewer choices and you can feel how it chokes her to return to Don Lope. Deneuve shows her nuanced range of emotions in sequences towards the end of the film that are truly spellbinding. She feels free yet compartmentalized by her choosing to marry Don and leave Horacio - it is still her choice and that is what makes her feel free.

Luis Bunuel's "Tristana" is a masterful, morally complex view of a woman seeking to be free by the strictures of religion, faith and antediluvian attitudes towards women. She succeeds at any cost.

Wasted lives

 CLOCKERS (1995)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

The grisly, graphic photos shown in succession of young black men shot in the head, a litany of corpses, opens Spike Lee's compelling "Clockers." It is based on a gritty Richard Price novel and it is far removed from the world of "Boyz N' The Hood" or "Menace II Society" - this time, Spike Lee focuses on the projects ("The Nelson Mandela Homes") and the drug dealers running the streets with little impressionable kids watching them. It is a business with the police always around the corner, strip searching them much to the embarrassment of families looking on. 

The clockers are the drug dealers and many of them do not partake - they just sell and usually to wealthy white kids coming in to their Brooklyn neighborhood. Strike (Mekhi Phifer) is our focus, the main clocker working for Rodney Little (Delroy Lindo), the drug lord who has a grocery store that is a front for selling drugs. Rodney means business, intimidating but quiet and caring for Strike whom he sees as his "son." Yet most fathers never ask their sons to commit murder and yet Rodney asks Strike to kill a rival cocaine dealer working at Ahab's Restaurant. This is meant as a promotion, to get away from the "bleachers" and move up in the organization (one wonders how far up the food chain Strike can go). Meanwhile, Errol Barnes (Thomas Jefferson Byrd), a murderous enforcer for Rodney, walks the streets like some sort of ghost with haunting eyes and has no problem scaring anyone in his path (his past with Rodney is shown in one of the most harrowing passages in the entire film). The cocaine dealer at Ahab's is shot dead and it is Strike's older brother (Isaiah Washington) who confesses to the murder but did he do it or is he protecting his troubled brother? We never quite get the impression that Strike is a violent 19-year-old despite owning a gun.

"Clockers" also deals with the racist police detectives (Harvey Keitel, John Turturro) who visit every crime scene and crack jokes, sort of gallows humor. Rocco (Keitel) and his partner (Turturro) have a shot of alcohol while driving to the usual violent crime scene - it is their duty and you feel that the police never catch a break anyway. Their view of the projects and drug dealers is that the residents, namely the clockers, are only killing themselves with no end in sight - self-imposed genocide. This is a slightly different view than the other inner city tales of L.A. and you also get the feeling that the drug dealers share that view yet they can't help themselves. Only Strike may see some sort of future if he's willing to pursue it and part of it is his fascination with trains.

"Clockers" gets a little too entangled with the murder investigation that plays like a police procedural. Nothing wrong with that since it practically replicates the novel's same plot but it is something that infringes the narrative, especially Strike's story that could've used more oomph. I was more absorbed by the depiction of a wasted way of life, both from the cops' and the clockers' point of view, and how it is an endless recycling of violence and lack of justice and that should have stayed on track. Strike tries to help one kid from facing the same wasted life, to deter him from the "adults" and their illegal business. He might have succeeded, or we can only hope.