MST3K #405: BEING FROM ANOTHER PLANET (1992/1982) on DVD for the first time. A blender of early-80′s pop culture references can be found in this low-budget flick: archeology/Egyptian motiffs from “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” fantastic otherwordly beings from "E.T.," gory deaths of young people from slasher flicks (a lot of them for being naughty), etc. The filmmakers’ biggest sin though is how boring the flick is when it has so many things it could do or show differently based on the movies it rips off rather than the same old things (peeping POV around lovers and naked women in showers, lonely woman in empty building running for her life, etc.). Whether because it had no budget or because Film Ventures/Best Brains edited it for TV, “BFAP” is just dull. Since I’ve seen “Riding with Death” many more times than “BFAP” I couldn’t help but throw in some ‘I’m Ben Murphy’ and ‘at my Murphiest’ riffs of my own during Ben Murphy’s handful of scenes. Joel and the bots never get into a rhythm with their riffs except for the ‘scary’ green-tinted steadycam shots (i.e. filler). A handful of golden riffs (‘there’s a steadycam loose in the boiler room!’) prop-up an otherwise unremarkable movie. Crow’s ‘ARRRRGHHHHH’ after Joel and Servo walk away talking about Butch Patrick (so sue me, I love “Lidsville”) just kills me though. The ‘Tragic Moments’ figurines invention exchange and haunted house host segment (with a twist!) achieve the perfect balance of hilarious cute and dark. It's an OK but forgettable experiment but but... hey, ‘looks like ABBA in college.’
Alexander Payne’s THE DESCENDANTS (2011) in theaters for the first time. Except for Nick Krause's Sid being shoe-horned into a narrative/scenes where he didn't belong (see Chris Klein's similar character in "Election" for the same routine done right) and Clooney's annoying voice-over at the start (which thankfully goes away) "The Descendants" is my second-favorite Alexander Payne movie after "Election.” Love the way Payne and DP Phedon Papamichael shoot Hawaii as the unglamorous everyday dump it would looks like if you lived there (with a Hawaii-only music score to match). The older Clooney gets the more I like his work; there's a maturity, simplicity and everyday Joe (handsomer than most but accessible) appeal to his Matt King character that works nicely when contrasted with his other cousins, family members and friends. Beau Bridges and Robert Forster's brief scenes are highlights and the kid actors are mostly OK (Shailene Woodley particularly). Other than the sale of the land handled in a predictable manner (though the way we arrive there is anything but conventional) "The Descendants" is the type of Payne comedic melodrama that zigs when you expect it to zag, which makes arriving at predictable and expected story points all the more enjoyable and unpredictable.
Martin Scorsese’s HUGO in 3D (2011) at NYC’s Ziegfeld Theater for the first time. When "Hugo" opens with sweeping views of Paris and the train station I was worried for a moment that we had lost Martin Scorsese to the technologically-advanced evil of the 3D trade: the show-off 3D effect. But Scorsese invests the movie's set-pieces and overriding sense of discovery with a warmth that won me over despite the fact the lead character is a cipher in his own self-titled movie. Sacha Baron Cohen's Station Inspector routine would be fine in small doses (most of "Hugo's" bloated running time comes from his endless chases through the station) but Scorsese's desire to play with what used to be silent cinema's clownish cat-and-mouse chase routines gets the better of him. For the first hour Hugo's quests (get his book back, get automaton to work, discover who Ben Kingsley's character really is, etc.) set-up the 2nd half transition to the story of Georges Méliès, with whom many here are familiar with but will be unknown to 90% of people that see "Hugo" for the first time (like me). Rather than resent that "Hugo" basically switches leads (and let's face it, Kingsley and Chloë Grace Moretz are more fun to watch than Asa Butterfield and S.B. Cohen) I enjoyed the overall arc of the story, the flashbacks to Méliès' filmmaking days, the film preservation message and, last but not least, the use of 3D to enhance rather than substitute for an absent movie world. The storytelling and acting isn't as tight, memorable or gripping as in your better Scorsese movies. The technical and emotional levers that "Hugo" manipulates though can't help but bring a tear and a smile to this cinephile's still-expanding knowledge of modern and classic cinema. This is the first 3D movie that's made me seriously wonder if I should invest on a 3D set at home for the future.
Steven Spielberg's WAR HORSE (2011) at NYC's Ziegfeld Theater for the first time. Said everything I needed to say about "War Horse" in its own separate thread. Bottom line: it's old-fashioned, it's family-friendly, it has great individual set-pieces, gorgeous photography (particularly the final shots), etc. "Amistad" and "Black Beauty" meet "Empire of the Sun," now with 100% more CGI and animatronic horses with expressive eyes.
David Cronenberg’s A DANGEROUS METHOD (2011) at NYC’s Lincoln Center Plaza for the first time. Can’t believe Michael Fassbender gets third-billing in a movie in which he's in almost every scene and his performance walks such a tightrope between intellectual honesty and the need to fulfill (and repress) the very emotions his character is so invested in studying/analyzing. Vincent Cassell is hilarious in his muse-like couple of scenes that upend Jung's facade of normalcy with Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley). I wasn't initially impressed by Viggo's take on Freud (second billing?) but, sitting on it for a couple of days, I've come to appreciate the seductive persona that Cronenberg and Mortensen craft as a catalyst that drives both Spielrein and Jung professionally and sexually off their rocker without compromising everybody's remarkable academic achievements. Ironically, despite being the top-billed actor, Keira's take on Sabina Spielrein (her arc is a validation of the theories being discussed by both nacent schools of psychotherapy) is interesting but also the least individual portion of "A Dangerous Method" by virtue of the narrative's highlight being the handful of meetings between Jung and Freud. Spielrein ends up becoming the emotional/sexual volleyball being tossed back and forth between the Freud and Jung characters, effectively making Knightley a supporting actress in a movie in which she gets top billing (as she should since Keira manages to exude and verbalize the aspects of Sabina's personality/sexuality that would crack Carl's professional/repressed wall). Basically an intellectually-erotic love tringle between the three leads in which Freud "watches" from afar, “A Dangerous Method” is that rare movie in which conversations about sex are more seductive and erotic than the handful of actual sex scenes we're shown. Despite some dodgy come-and-go accents (particularly Knightley's) Cronenberg scores a ton of dramatic and (dare I say it?) romantic mileage out of material that could have been either neutered and/or uninteresting in the wrong hands. It’s easily his best movie of the past decade. I hope Fassbender does another Cronenberg movie and becomes his next Viggo from now on.
Wim Wenders’ PINA in 3D (2011) at NYC’s IFC Center for the first time. If Herzog can film an ancient French cave in 3D, why can't Wim Wenders do a 3D documentary on German dancer/choreographer Pina Bausch? Not a fan of dancing/musical movies, and definitely not a fan of 3D. But could it be that we're all burned on 3D because it only comes in the shape of animated CG cartoons, action movies and/or Hollywood vehicles? Between the way Herzog shot "Cave of Forgotten Dreams," how Scorsese used 3D in "Hugo" to bring old silent films (and the French station) to animated life and the way Wenders uses 3D here as a tool to advance a different type of biopic narrative I'm warming up to the idea of 3D when it's in the hands of the masters. In "Pina" we basically watch the dancers Pina Bausch mentored through decades (her youngest pupils as well as colleagues and older dancers that can still perform) bring her best-known works to choreographed life, along with heard testimonials and some non-3D archival footage. "Pina" wants you to appreciate the woman not for who she was or where she came from (we get none of that) but because of the legacy of choreography she left behind, which gives credence to Wenders' decision to shoot these dance routines in 3D. Unfortunately a third of the dance routines are shot in a stage with a black background, which reduces the impact of the 3D since we don't have a background for the foreground performers to stand out from. Some, like 'Full Moon,' at least have some background elements (the water-buckets sequence stands out) but the dark portions still render the 3D effect mute. We do get a lot of trips into the real world though, and the 3D effects (especially the monorail suspension railway shots, both inside and outside the train) are just stunning when the setting/dancing are in perfect synch. While a 2D version of "Pina" would still convey the artistry of Bausch's choreography and the passion of her dancers (especially the one's overcome with such emotion they don't say anything) Wenders was wise to film these performances in 3D to isolate the beauty of the dancers, the seductive allure of their movement and the liberating nature of their dance routines. A mini-masterpiece of simplicity for simplicity's sake.
THE IRON LADY (2011) in theaters for the first time. You can all save money betting on this year's Best Actress Oscar office pool. Meryl Streep's Thatcher impersonation is just too neat and tidy an Oscar bait for most Academy members to resist. Problem is, the movie has Streep but little else that's as interesting or fun to watch. Unlike "The Queen" (which had more meat to it than just Helen Mirren’s performance) "The Iron Lady" settles for a vanilla-retelling of the triumphs, setbacks, highlights (the Falkland Islands war) and politics of her era without any depth or more than a surface lip-service mention of who/what she stood for. If you actually know history or have a political ideology other than conservative "The Iron Lady" will drive you mad with what amounts to the beatification of Thatcher. It's clear that director Phyllida Lloyd cared more about speculating/guessing what Thatcher and hubby Dennis (Jim Broadbent, good but just another extra in the Meryl Streep one-woman show) talked about alone than a critique or factual evaluation of Thatcher's triumphs and failures as a leader.
Asghar Farhadi’s A SEPARATION (2011) at NYC’s Film Forum for the first time. Terrific drama in which the separation between the parents of an 11-year old girl starts a chain-reaction of events that's gripping, totally character-driven (even the law clerks/judges are given at least a scene or two to show they're just human cogs in the machine) and, best of all, isn't just "Kramer vs. Kramer" set in Iran (though it bears a passing resemblance to that Robert Benton movie in that we spend more time the father than the mother). The less you know about the plot/story going in the better (I didn't) but even I have to admit that, toward the end, I started to feel the cheating hand of a procedural plot steering the story down one too many sudden reveals about character motivations. Thankfully all the characters (particularly Sareh Bayat's Razieh) don't come from stock characterizations but from understanding the mindset of average people under pressure (financial, emotional, religious, etc.) from the realities of modern life.
); the host segment start very weird (that f***ed-up Holo-Clown Sequencer), drop to OK in the middle but end on the new-to-me high of the ‘Danger to Myself and Others’ song that is both funny and scary (that there are actual people like the one’s made fun of). The Brains always have fun when a fat guy features prominently in the plot, and the early part of “Leeches” when VeSota is in almost every scene if solid non-stop fun. 
). Funny story, I got to meet Nancy Allen a year ago at one of my autograph shows, and I told her I'd been a fan since I was 7. I guess she doesn't hear about too many people having grown up with 
looks like i have another movie for my pile for next year..next to 