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Director Jacob Estes's feature film debut is a remarkably accomplished coming of age drama about death and consequences. When overweight, emotionally troubled George (Josh Peck) beats up a smaller kid named Sam (Rory Culkin) one time too many, his older brother Rocky (Trevor Morgan) and Rocky's wrong-side-of-the-tracks pal (Scott Mechlowicz) decide to teach George a lesson. Along with their friend Clyde (Ryan Kelley)--who was once the brunt of George's violence himself--they bring George on a boat trip with a cruel prank in mind. Sam brings his love interest, Milly (Carly Schroeder), who tries to stop the plan when she decides George is a nice guy after all. Tragic things happen nonetheless with the slow, languid rhythm of life in a small Oregon town. Along the way, Estes manages to capture many fine moments of poetic realism like the stillness of the forest around the river, the swirling eddies along the shore, a snail crawling along a leaf, and a drowning video camera. Cinematographer Sharone Meir uses color filters and washed-out film stock to make everything glow with faded colors like old family photographs. The dialogue feels natural and the acting is precise; Estes obviously loves his cast and allows plenty of time and space for their characters to breathe, think, and be the confused kids they're meant to be.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseWidescreen - 16.9Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround - English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround - FrenchAdditional Release Material: Audio Commentary - 1. Jacob Aaron Estes - Director, CastInteractive Features:
Scene AccessText/Image Galleries: Storyboards
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Veteran actor Campbel Scott (ROGER DODGER, DYING YOUNG) directs this startling, quietly sparkling film, set in the achingly beautiful desert of New Mexico. There, a family lives a life withdrawn from contact with society, completely independent and self-sufficient. Patriarch Charley (Sam Elliott) lives with his strong, beautiful wife Arlene (Joan Allen) and their daughter Bo (Valentina de Angelis), and together they live off the land and Charley's veteran's check. They are surprised one day by a visit from a bumbling IRS agent, William Gibbs, who has been sent to conduct an audit. His experience of the family's ranch takes an unconventional turn, however, as he suffers a bee sting to which he is highly allergic. Forced to recuperate in the home from which he came to extract money, the agent is soon enamored by all that he discovers there. Not overly romanticized, however, life on the farm has its own problems, as existential ennui finds it fullest expression in the extreme depression that has put Charley into a near-catatonic state. Gorgeously shot and unfolding at a leisurely pace, Scott's subtle drama benefits from remarkable performances from all the characters, including charming newcomer de Angelis, a shamanistic turn from Allen, and quintessential stoic cowboy Elliott. Recalling Terrence Malick in its dreamy sense of place and reliance on voice-over (an adult Bo played by Amy Brenneman (FEAR, THINGS YOU CAN TELL JUST BY LOOKING AT HER), OFF THE MAP is a delicate tale that offers a hidden treasure of emotion.
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Twin Husbands (DVD)
Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005.
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With IT`S ALL ABOUT LOVE, Danish director Thomas Vinterberg eschews the ultra-realistic techniques of his groundbreaking THE CELEBRATION to deliver a stylish, epic romance set in the not-too-distant future. Joaquin Phoenix is John, a Polish businessman who has a brief layover in New York City before venturing on to Canada. In New York, John`s only goal is to make sure his wife, Elena (Claire Danes), signs the divorce papers in his hand. Elena is a beautiful, world-renowned ice skater whose high-pressure lifestyle caused her marriage to collapse. But when John arrives at Elena`s hotel, he senses that something is wrong. It appears that Elena`s handlers have cloned her with the intention of killing her as soon as her talent finally runs dry. Soon, with the help of Elena`s brother Michael (Douglas Henshall), the couple is on the run across the haunted futuristic landscape, a husband and wife who finally embrace their love for each other.Vinterberg`s stylish sci-fi romance comes to thrilling life with the help of his accomplished supporting technicians (production designer Ben Van Os, cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, and composer Zbigniew Preisner). Vinterberg creates a starkly beautiful futuristic world in which it snows in July, people are dying from loneliness, and Kenya has no gravity.
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ESTHER was Amos Gitai's first narrative feature, and it sets the agenda for many of the thematic concerns he would continue to address throughout his career. The film starts inauspiciously, as a low budget biblical drama. It tells the Old Testament tale of Esther, who saved the Jewish people from the manipulations of Haman, one of the King Xerxes' most trusted advisors. When Haman persuades Xerxes to have all the Jews of Persia slaughtered, Esther risks her own life to intervene, and the king reverses his pronouncement, allowing the Jews to slaughter all their enemies in the realm. Gitai's subtle, dark wit, a staple of his work, is on display here. And documentary elements continually creep into the frame. Jackhammers and sirens can be heard in the background. A pivotal scene takes place at a modern junk yard. This is an intentionally anachronistic work, and Gitai's true concerns are made clear by the tragic tone the film takes at the conclusion of the story, which, in traditional Judaism, would conversely have a celebratory tone. Then, during the powerful finale, the actors break character to describe their own varied backgrounds, and their personal connections to the bigotry and conflict dramatized in the film.This film was screened as part of an Amos Gitai retrospective organized by New York City's Anthology Film Archives.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseFull Frame - 1.33
Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005.
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