Original Pin-Up Girl

THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE (2005)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

You've seen the countless photographs, posters and T-shirts. There are also those famous color films, particularly "Teaserama." We are talking about the original pin-up girl, the one and only Bettie Page, the God-fearing Nashville girl who became a tigress in a time when sex was too controversial (and still is). Mary Harron's newest film, "The Notorious Bettie Page" is an attempt to understand the era that represented Bettie Page and it largely succeeds, but it lacks a dramatic focus on the central character.

Bettie Page (Gretchen Mol) is the black-haired girl with the famous bangs who has dreams of becoming a Hollywood movie star. She does try her damnedest, including going to acting school, but men mostly see a desire to photograph her. First, she is photographed in dresses, then slowly in bondage situations, sometimes wearing black leather and black boots, and sometimes nothing at all. Through the 1950's, Bettie treats all these sexual photographic situations with a wink, as if she knows she is in on the joke. Consider a couple of scenes where the photographers shoot some film of her mimicking a spanking on another scantily-clad female. In other words, all the photos, pin-ups and color films she made are not hardcore at all (though they were considered smut and illegal back then).

Bettie does suffer a few traumatic incidents. In one intense scene, she is gang-raped. What makes it intense isn't so much that director Harron pans away from the trauma of it - it is Bettie's face that shows her acceptance of what men want. And through the scant scenes shown of her failed marriage and boyfriends, Bettie never seems to be truly affected by what she does for a living - she is too innocent and naive and goes on with the show. She remembers her father sexually abusing her but she never lets it intrude on her job of looking sexy with a black leather outfit and a whip.

Director Harron shows a nostalgic reminder of the era in terms of the atmosphere and look of the 50's - the exquisite black-and-white and Technicolor photography is about as good as it gets. The clothes, the costumes and the graininess of the era is wisely paid attention to in great detail. In the end, perhaps, I wish there was just as much attention paid to the character of Bettie Page. Page is portrayed as winsome, sexy, innocent and Mol shows all those layers with aplomb. But there isn't much more to the character, and no real focus on some measure of pain she might be feeling because of her past sexual abuse. Perhaps the real Page didn't feel it because she refused to exhibit it or talk about it - this is the repressive 50's after all. She seems agreeable to any man asking her for a date, and even asks a man out during her days in Miami. But Harron is not interested in a character study - this is merely a character we are asked mainly to look at and see her as the icon she later became.

And as for Bettie Page's notoriety, there is only a wisp of it in the story. Page was never asked to testify in the Senate hearings on her pin-ups or her films - they didn't need her since the case against such perversions were categorically seen as an anathema to the culture. It was a crackdown on pornography by Congress, which continues to this day.

"The Notorious Bettie Page" is an alluring, visually dazzling film to watch but it doesn't involve us in Page's life. The film doesn't vibrate with energy about such a tantalizing rare subject - it assumes a conservative pose on such matters. At times, it feels like it is a film made by Congress rather than a tantalizing filmmaker like Mary Harron, who showed explosive fireworks with fiery character dynamos in "American Psycho" and "I Shot Andy Warhol." I enjoyed the film for its rare glimpse of a forgotten subject and for Gretchen Mol's credible performance. In many ways, the film can stand as the iconic portrait it is, along side the merchandise of Bettie Page. That in itself is more ironic than notorious.

Hey Bud-dy, not bad for a Weasel

PAULY SHORE STANDS ALONE (2014) 

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

I could never stand Pauly Shore comedies. His weaselly, laid-back shtick, his basic stand-up act that transferred to films, always had me grating my teeth and sighing. I found him to be insufferable and unwatchable, though I never once watched any of his stand-up. "Pauly Shore Stands Alone" is directed by the comedian, now in his mid-40's, and it shows him on a Wisconsin/Minnesota comedy tour dealing with enlarged prostate issues and seeking sex with alleged groupies and a club booker named Patience.

Pauly describes right at the start of the film that he has some money problems, and is thinking of selling his home on the Hollywood Hills (he currently rents out his massive mansion). His mother (Mitzi Shore, who owned the Comedy Store) is sick with Parkinson's, thus also complicating his relationship with his siblings. Pauly goes on a comedy tour at strip clubs and other venues where comics often get their feet wet, not when they are in their 40's. Of course, I could be wrong since Pauly's reasoning is that comics should venture out to places where the real people live (and presumably at strip malls, too). We see only brief clips of his stand-up act; instead more time is spent watching him urinate than tell jokes (to be fair, the jokes are juvenile at best yet they made me smile more than any of his substandard movies did).

Still, despite a melancholic air of desperation about this documentary, the very feeling that Pauly is still known around the country and he has major fans (including one girl who wears a "I Love Pauly" T-shirt and bites his ass on stage) brings him much needed cheer from the family difficulties back home. I felt a little sympathy for the Weasel, but do not ask me to revisit his crappy movies again. 

Violent extremes saves the day

THE PURGE (2013)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

It is hard to fathom if Americans today feel their free will is restricted. If a 12-hour period existed where they could engage in any crime and not get arrested, would they? I dunno but I highly suspect that murdering people for fun is on anyone's agenda, unless you already have a propensity for murder. "The Purge" is set in the year 2022 where murder is allowed during the so-called 12-hour "Purge" night - you can kill, rob, cheat, steal at your heart's content and no police or hospitals are on hand to provide help. The bigger question is would just anyone do this, or is everyone willing to commit heinous acts because they can?

Ethan Hawke is James Sandin, a home security specialist living in a nice home with his family (he has built an addition with the help of selling security systems in the neighborhood). Tension is already in the air because, on this given night, the Purge begins and that means having those steel shutters clamped down all around the Sandin residence. Lena Headey is James's wife, who is very concerned but holds her emotions in check. There are two kids in tow: Charlie Sandin (Max Burkholder) is the technological wizard who crafts a night vision camera inside of a mutated baby doll (the film's creepiest image), and Zoey (Adelaide Kane) is the teen girl who allows her boyfriend to sneak in to her bedroom. All is well until the Purge occurs and one suspects that in this luxurious suburbia, nothing much happens. That is until a homeless guy screams for help with a posse poised to kill, comprised of neighboring yuppies wearing masks. Guess who allows the poor homeless man inside?

"The Purge" is strong stuff for a while, extremely well-acted and tightly paced with a promising premise. This story could have gone in any direction - what if the Sandin family turn against each other? What if Zoey's boyfriend (who sneaks in before the Purge) tries to kill his girlfriend's father? What if the homeless guy is not what he seems? There are many what if scenarios but the one that the filmmakers chose is not the best. Instead of evoking the moral implications of murder as free will when allowed by the state, "The Purge" becomes a blood-drenched and occasionally bloodless thriller. Executions are aplenty and though there is major suspense in the very notion of a home invasion thriller, there is not much surprise. This is the kind of movie that Sam Peckinpah could have made in his sleep, yet Peckinpah would have relished the very premise itself. The movie avoids it and avoids asking tough questions. It is all about the murders and one after another occur in unison, thereby eliminating the very tension it began with.

I am not completely dismissing "The Purge" (and Ethan Hawke has made some fascinating films of late) but it is disappointingly thin. It could have been the "Clockwork Orange" of the 2010 era, evoking America's need for a bloodthirsty country to cut down on population once a year and bring unemployment down to 1% (boy, President Obama would have loved that percentage). By the time we get through the high mortality rate, "The Purge" is nothing more than an average home invasion movie. 

God's Hand did the killing

FRAILTY (2001)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Originally reviewed in April, 2002)

Serial killers have come and gone in the last few years, in everything from "The Silence of the Lambs" to "American Psycho." "Frailty" has a different spin - it places an ambiguous supernatural twist that may sound absurd but proves as chilling as any film on the same subject matter.

Bill Paxton is the hard-working, Texan father of two young boys, Fenton and Adam Meiks (both played by Matthew O' Leary and Jeremy Sumpter), living in a house near a rose garden. All is well with them until one night, the elder Meiks is confronted by an angel. The angel tells Meiks that demons are running around on Earth, preparing to fight for the end of the world which is coming their way sooner than expected. Meiks has been assigned to destroy these demons who are all in human form. He is told to acquire magical weapons to destroy these demons, namely a good old-fashioned ax. The boys are perplexed to hear about their dad's visions, and Fenton gets nervous when his father gets a list of names of demons they must destroy. The demons are normal neighbors, people who do not seem to be demonic in any shape or form. Nevertheless, a mission must be adhered to. But is the elder Meiks only think he is seeing these visions, or are they a call from God to do His bidding? Fenton refuses to believe it, calling his father a murderer, and trying to convince a police sheriff at one point to check out his dad's grisly business.

"Frailty" is told in flashback by an elder Fenton (played by a quietly morose Matthew McConaughey), who explains to an FBI agent (Powers Boothe) that he knows who the perpetrator is of the latest string of murders in town, known as the "God's Hand" killer. The surprised agent is led by Fenton to the rose garden, and gradually we discover the truth of what happened in the Meiks family unit and how they dispatched their intended victims. We also see how the elder Meiks felt a sensation by touching the victims that told him how evil these supposed demons were (an indirect nod to "The Dead Zone," as well as a plot device in "Unbreakable.")

"Frailty" is eerie, scary stuff, and remarkably disturbing when showing the killings which occur offscreen. There is no sense of irony in the film (except for the final twist at the end) . As directed by first-time director Bill Paxton, he refuses to pander to audiences by turning it into a joke or playing it for laughs and cheap scares. The movies takes itself seriously and treats the subject matter with an air of ambiguity that is refreshing in a day and age in which everything is spelled out for the viewer.

Bill Paxton brings sympathy and humanity to Meiks, making it difficult to brand him as a killer who could be going insane. We almost start to believe that what he sees in these victims (and which Fenton is blind to) could be real. It is a frightening performance that ranks with his best work in "A Simple Plan" and "One False Move" - all portraits of men who push themselves to the edge without acknowledging their weaknesses. Matthew O'Leary and Jeremy Sumpter are also powerful as the kids, one who senses that his dad is insane, and the other who does his father's bidding without question. Seeing their reactions to their father's actions is stunning to watch, and makes the ambiguity even more disturbing in retrospect.

I only wish the film tried to tell its story without the McConaughey as the older Fenton - it only serves to distract the audience too much, particularly the FBI agent character. The flashbacks do not need such baggage - the story itself is compelling enough. The final twist at the end is a shock, but it also falls under the postmodernist movement of "The Usual Suspects" where a big secret can be enough to render the whole film as a lie or as a series of lies masking the truth. It does neither but also feels somewhat cheap, reducing the horror that preceded it.

Flaws aside, "Frailty" is chilling to the bone. It has elements of Stephen King crossed with the ominous tone of "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" (though not as realistic). Never overplaying anything for effect, Bill Paxton makes a startling debut as director, and continues to show how talented an actor he is.

I'm My Own GrandPaw

PREDESTINATION (2014)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

If any of you have read Robert Heinlein's short story "-All You Zombies-" then you might know what to expect from "Predestination." If you love time-travel stories and wild paradoxes that will induce head-scratcher conversations, then "Predestination" (naturally based on "All You Zombies") will do. It is a nervously frantic doozy and a half - a time-tripping, paradoxical, emotional tour-de-force that must be seen to be believed. It is an exceptional treat for science-fiction lovers - a reminder that sci-fi and fantasy, dependent on imaginative literary sources, can still produce great movies.

Ethan Hawke is a Temporal Agent, a time-travelling agent from a secret police agency (the Temporal Bureau) sent to prevent specific crimes from the past without intruding or communicating with others, only with the event itself and the criminal. One truly horrific and traumatizing event has to do with a New York City Terrorist, known as the Fizzle Bomber, who leveled a few city blocks and killed 10,000 people. John's mission is to prevent this disaster from happening. It is also his mission to be a bartender in 1970 and expect a customer to walk in, a somewhat androgynous customer named John (Sarah Snook) who has quite a story to tell. John's story deals with growing up as an exceptionally bright orphan, bareknuckle fighting kids in school, proving to excel in all studies and eventually recruited to the Space Corps before being let go due to, nope, can't reveal it. In fact, I can't say much more because ruining a movie's triumphant designs on time-travel logic is the last thing on my mind.

Directed with whiplash intensity by the Spierig Brothers ("Daybreakers"), "Predestination" flows with great velocity like a coiled snake that unravels slowly, surprising us at every turn with unexpected results. I can state without spoiling anything that Hawke's Temporal Agent carries a briefcase that is actually a time machine itself, and it allows the agent to vanish into thin air and arrive at the destination, albeit slightly discombobulated for a few minutes. There are always safe houses with money and clothes from the period (excellent touch). Beyond that, if you have read Heinlein's short story or not, there are some differences. For one, Heinlein's story doesn't have a Fizzle Bomber and thus it lacks the hero's actual dilemma that takes identity and paradoxes further than intended. This is one of those times where I can say that the movie is an improvement on the already superb and intimate literary source.

Sarah Snook is a revelation as John, communicating empathy, sympathy and a real emotional core. His identity is put to the test with a final twist that can't easily be anticipated, asking the age-old question we all ask sometimes - not so much why I am here but who am I. Ethan Hawke has matured into a hard-edged, charismatic leading man - he is no longer the slacker type of movies like "Reality Bites" or the nervous student of "Dead Poets Society." With this film, "Boyhood" and "Training Day" among others in the last fifteen years, Hawke has crafted a persona of grace, understated humor and rugged good looks - he is an accomplished, unsung actor and a refined movie star.

You might be scratching your head for days after watching "Predestination" but you will not easily forget it. I am not sure I can wholly accept the time-travel scenario with its final twist but maybe that is less important than I realized. "Predestination" is a film about understanding and accepting your place in the world, and realizing there are changes that can be made. Not everything is predestined. 

Death Wish-lite

VIGILANTE (1983)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Before Bernard Goetz, a real vigilante who shot at some black youths in a New York City subway, we had a little film called "Death Wish" and its repugnant sequel, not to mention a variation on the same theme called "Fighting Back" with Tom Skerritt. "Vigilante" is another disposable NYC revenge flick, though the revenge is largely muted until the filmmakers decide to call out all the stops.

Robert Forster, in a largely emotionally mute role, is Eddie Marino, the factory worker whose wife is brutally attacked and his son killed with a shotgun blast to the head. The culprit is a Puerto Rican gang who run rampant in NYC and with brute force. Eddie's pals are also factory workers and sometimes drive around in a van, viciously beating and occasionally killing the deviants of society such as drug pushers and pimps (all staples of 70's and early 80's exploitation pictures). All this leads to confessions about a politician in the mayor's office who is the drug supplier. When Eddie can't seek justice for the killers responsible, he attacks the judge, goes to jail, comes out and does his Charles Bronson imitation.

I always enjoy watching Fred Williamson, with his contractual cigar in his mouth, as one of Eddie's main allies - he is "judge and jury" (of course, how many times have we heard that line before?) It is also nice seeing the late Richard Bright as another ally and part of the vigilante force. Rutanya Alda is Eddie's wife who even slaps the gang leader at one point! The main flaw is that for large chunks of screen time, we do not see Eddie who ends up in jail for contempt for assaulting the judge. Instead there are endless scenes of the vigilante group targeting random people in the street (at least random to the viewer since we are never given any real clue who these deviants are). When we finally get to Eddie's release from jail, all momentum is lost and the man is as indifferent as he was in the beginning.

Often crudely directed by William Lustig, "Vigilante" has a lively car chase, an interminably silly foot chase that involves knocking over a guy in a wheelchair, and some counterproductive banter and cheaply staged violence in most of the jail scenes. I do not mind gritty, low-budget suspense pictures of this kind but a coherent screenplay and a vigilante with some personal rooting interest would've been nice.

Dear Ndugu

ABOUT SCHMIDT (2002)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Originally viewed and written in 2002)

"About Schmidt" is a curious hybrid of the road picture, black comedy and drama. It is all those things and then it ends up being none of them. The film has been advertised as a comedy. Truthfully, it is anything but. This is one of the saddest, bravest films ever made about growing old with age and what life has to offer in what are supposed to be the "golden years."

Warren Schmidt is the 66-year-old actuary of the Woodman of the World Insurance Company in Omaha, Nebraska. The first shot of Schmidt establishes everything we need to know about him. He sits in his office with packed file boxes, waiting for the clock to get to the minutes leading to his dismissal. This is not just another day at work for Schmidt - he is finally retiring. He lives with his wife, Helen (June Squibb), a woman he has been married to for 42 years. He is still unsure of who she is, questioning her minor eccentricities with car keys and that she forbids him to urinate standing up in their beloved bathroom toilet. Schmidt also questions her private collection of figurines and trinkets, and he also hates to be interrupted by her when they have company. When Helen suddenly dies of a blood clot, Schmidt is left fending for himself. His daughter (Hope Davis) is about to get married and can't take care of him (nor does she want to). The real question is: what kind of life is there to look forward to now? He knows he may die in twenty years or less - what has he done in his life that is remotely valuable? Will anyone remember him? When Schmidt visits the office and sees the new hotshot who replaced him, he is surprised that this new worker (who graduated from Drake) has no questions for him. Schmidt is also deeply disturbed to see his file boxes are being discarded.

Since he has no one to take care of him, Schmidt takes a trip in his Winnebago Adventurer to see his daughter. He meets her soon-to-be-wed son-in-law, Randall (Dermot Mulroney), a balding, goateed waterbed salesman with pyramid schemes in mind. There is also Randall's mother, the feisty, vibrant Roberta (Kathy Bates), who is as blunt as a whistle. Schmidt is not pleased that her daughter is marrying a buffoon and unsuccessfully tries to talk her out of it. Roberta is pleased as punch that they are getting married, and is extremely proud of her son (no doubt it has something to do with perfect school attendance records that proudly hang on his wall). Roberta comes on to Schmidt in a jacuzzi scene that is the biggest highlight of the film, and possibly of Schmidt's life. He also has to wrestle with his son-in-law's waterbed in a truly funny scene - waterbeds are tough to sleep in based on my own experience with them. What appears to be sitcom variations on "Meet the Parents" is nothing less than window dressing - the movie has bigger issues to fry.

"About Schmidt" is based on a novel by Louis Begley and adapted to the screen by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor III. Payne and Taylor have previously collaborated on "Citizen Ruth" and the marvelous "Election." Payne is also the director of those earlier films, and his genius is in articulating nuances and subtleties in the most minute of expressions in his characters. He has a field day with Warren Schmidt who shows degrees of sadness in every scene, not to mention shock and regret. Payne and Taylor sometimes get sidetracked a little, particularly with the inclusion of a trailer park scene involving a married couple that seems a little heavy-handed (though the wife does illustrate how sad Schmidt appears to be). I would have preferred a little more time with Schmidt's best friend, Ray (Len Cariou), whom he discovers had a thing for Helen twenty years earlier. There is a moment when we think there will be a payoff where they can at least discuss their problems, but it is never followed through. It might have led to some illumination about Schmidt and how others feel about him. The only big scene Ray has is when he makes a speech at the retirement party about how superficial it all is, or when he is pelted with letters by Schmidt. Nicholson is the perfect actor for the role, and has given similarly laid-back performances before. Here, though, he avoids his usual arched eyebrows and arrogance in his demeanor (not to mention his typical sunglasses) and gives a measured performance of quiet charisma and the absolute boredom the character feels with his life. At times Nicholson disappears into the character so well that we forget it is good old Jack.

The supporting cast is excellent as well. Hope Davis, a usually bland actress, brings some reality and pathos to Schmidt's daughter. I also liked Dermot Mulroney (one of my least favorite actors) for his mullet-shaped hair and for his deft delivery of dialogue. Kathy Bates is the greatest of all scene-stealers and even shows up in her birthday suit - her Roberta character is as full of life on screen as anyone in the movie. Also worth noting is Howard Hesseman (best know for TV shows like "WKRP in Cincinnati" and "Head of the Class") as Robert's ex-husband who shares his own sadness, though it doesn't run as deep as Schmidt's. Watching and hearing Roberta fling insults at her ex is one of the few strange delights of this movie.

"About Schmidt" is not on the same scale of elevating social satire and delectable wit as Payne's previous "Election," but it is a memorably enlightening story of one man's loneliness and detachment in a life carefully arranged from the beginning. When he discovers his life might have some meaning after all (involving a certain Mr. Ndugu), we realize it is never too late, even at the age 66.