LIFE 2 :0

For the people who just do not like the life that they have ended up with, there is now another way out.  They can join the 20 million people who have become  ‘Second Lifer’s’ and create their own avatar in a cyber make-believe world where they can be anything/body they want.  Jason Spingarn-Koff's morbidly curious documentary follows an add assortment of people like a vastly over weight African-American pajama clad 30+ year old woman who chain smokes in front of computer in the basement of her parents home up to 20 hours a day sometimes earning a six figure amount by somehow selling the clothing mansions she creates on line. (I’m thinking it’s sort of like the Emperors New Clothes). Then there is a very (suspect) 30 year- old man who is masquerading as an 11 year old girl, something his fiancé (and we the viewers) fail to understand and appreciate. And that’s not to mention the middle-aged couple who's avatars fall in love in cyber space and so they try the impossible task of replicating that in the real world.

I guess the concept of being able to have a momentary escape from one’s daily humdrum existence is an attractive thing but when it obviously becomes the compulsive obsession like all the characters portrayed here, its actually very scary.  After my initial curiosity wore off, I sat staring fixated at the screen in total disbelief.  Whatever one may think of the concept of ‘Second Life’ if this is the reality, it can only all end in tears.  Be a voyeur though and watch the movie even though it may creep you out.


★★★★★★

THE DEBT

A fascinating thriller that in its plot pitches good (Israel’s Mossed Secret Service) against evil (a notorious Nazi War Criminal) and in its telling, which flashes back between the past and the future, and pitches 3 excellent older actors against young ‘un’s playing the younger versions of their characters.

The Debt is a great story with really neat twists and turns and full of suspense that focuses on a daring raid back in 1965 where the young Agents captured the notorious Surgeon of Birkenau who had conducted unspeakable procedures on prisoners.  They return to Israel as national heroes and are feted by all until 1991 when it is suddenly discovered they may have been living a lie after all, and they are faced with either being exposed or dealing with the situation.

The acting plays a great part in its success. Young Rachel, one of the Agents, is stunningly played by Jessica Chastain, who with equally powerful performances in ‘The Help’ and in Terrence Malik’s ‘Tree of Life’  both out right now is in serious danger of being THE actress of the year, and deservedly so in my book.  Sam Worthington on the other hand as another of the ‘young’ Agents is just as wooden as he was recently in ‘Late Night’, and frankly I think he’d be better off keep playing disabled soldiers chasing tall Blue People (Avatar).   And the wonderful Dame Helen Mirren as Old Rachel teaches Ms Chasten a thing or two about wearing a rather dramatic face scar whilst doing her usual gold-standard turn as a devious spy, albeit she occasionally forgets her heavy Israeli accent (Meryl Streep she aint).

What intrigued me too was that this was directed by Brit filmmaker John Madden who’s magnificent ‘Shakespeare in Love’  netted  7 Oscars, and who also steered the equally wonderful 'Her Majesty Mrs Brown’. but likewise also was responsible the appalling mess that was ‘Captain Corelli's Mandolin’.  This latest film of his is neither that good, and but it also certainly not that bad.  A respectable and eminently enjoyable movie, and the Debt gets paid. Sort of.


★★★★★★★★
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CIRCUMSTANCE

This coming-of-age story tells of two teenage girls, who are best friends, dealing with all the restrictions of growing up in Iran today.  The girls are exploring their emerging sexuality as they become part of Tehran’s underground party scene. When an older brother straight out of drug rehab becomes a religious zealot and even joins the infamous Morality Police, the once liberal outlook of their wealthy families starts to dramatically change, and the girls very existence is in danger.

This incredible movie from first time director Maryam Keshavarz is a superb, if not scary, look at the conflicts and struggles in contemporary youth culture in Iran.  Extremely moving … and brave  … and helped by an excellent cast, beautifully photographed, great soundtrack. It won the Audience Favorite Award when i saw it at Sundance . A definite must-see. 

★★★★★★★★★

A SUMMER IN GENOA

The movie opens with disaster obviously about to strike, and it does very soon when a mother driving her two daughters gets distracted and crashes and kills herself.  Dad uproots the family from Chicago home to spend a summer teaching in Genoa hoping that there they can collectively try to overcome their loss.

Beautifully shot in the alleyways of the old part of the city director Michael Winterbottom seems to infuse an awful lot of misleading suspense in a story that actually turns out to have very little plot in the end.  Dad (Colin Firth, as his steady reliable self) is grumpy with his ex girlfriend Barbara (Catherine Keener doing her usual best with a very scant role) who seems to still carry a torch for him, and he dabbles with a female student who has a crush on him, but as with the rest of the story, nothing much happens there too.  Kelly, the teenage daughter seems to wired up discovering her sexuality with the local boys on their Vespa’s, and Mary the youngest kid, holds her self responsible for her mother’s death and has nightmares and hallucinations (which also come to naught).

I was drawn to the movie because Mr. Winterbottom who never sticks to the same genre twice usually always delivers such fascinating cinematic delights.  Not this time, and that’s probably why the movie only surfaced at a couple of Film Festivals in the US before going straight to DVD after languishing on some distributor’s shelf for a couple of years.

R.T.V. It's a great travelogue of Genova and some of the surrounding beaches

★★★★★
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