Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
By STEVE PERSALL
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 24, 2001
NEW RELEASES
Requiem for a Dream
(Not rated, probably NC-17) Elderly widow (Oscar nominee Ellen Burstyn) becomes addicted to prescription diet pills while her son (Jared Leto), his lover (Jennifer Connelly) and accomplice (Marlon Wayans) are hooked on heroin. Director Darren Aronofsky pulls out all the stops to show the despair and danger of these lives in a breakneck nightmare.
First impressions: ". . . one of the most harrowing screen experiences ever, a sensory hemorrhage of chemical psychosis and sexual degradation . . . Viewers with strong hearts and stomachs who can appreciate a filmmaker effecting a new style of schizoid storytelling should rush to see Aronofsky's developing genius at work.
"Burstyn's performance, her bravery in allowing herself to be filmed in such unflattering ways, is astounding. This is one of the great movie performances of recent years . . . (she) practically deteriorates on-screen, a little old lady on a slippery slide to hell.
"Requiem for a Dream is masterfully repellent, making shocked viewers recoil while simultaneously daring us not to look. Turn your head for a split second and you'll miss something that secures Aronofsky's place alongside Paul Thomas Anderson and Spike Jonze in the new vanguard of directors. Keep watching, and you may throw up."
Second thoughts: One of the 10 best films of 2000, but not for all tastes.
Rental audience: People who like their cinema provocative, original and unsettling.
Rent it if you enjoy: Trainspotting, The Panic in Needle Park, Pi.
(PG-13) Chris O'Donnell plays a retired mountain climber strapping on his safety harness again to save his sister (Robin Tunney), who is trapped in a crevasse near K-2, the toughest peak in the Himalayas. Bill Paxton co-stars as a Richard Branson-style billionaire arranging the ill-fated trip; Scott Glenn glares a lot as a crusty mountain guide.
First impressions: "Don't let the snowy settings and ski caps fool you. Vertical Limit is a summertime kind of movie, dynamic and dumb, with enough "how'd-they-do-that" cliffhangers to satisfy action fans. As a complete movie package, it's nothing to yodel about . . .
"Vertical Limit exists only for those scenes boiling down to a rope, a precipice and gravity. The opening sequence is a gem, topped only by a scene in which a climber slides down the ice, hooking his pick into the very edge of oblivion, with David Tattersall's camera showing where he could have ended up.
"The real stars are New Zealand peaks subbing for Pakistan, whoever operates the harness wires on a sound stage and digital magicians making it all look real. Only the flesh-and-blood props feel phony."
Second thoughts: Not bad for a popcorn flick. Turn the lights and the A/C down low.
Rental audience: Action-movie fans, extreme sports nuts.
Rent it if you enjoy: Cliffhanger, The Eiger Sanction.
New and noteworthy for digital players
Catching up on 'Catch-22'
Catch-22
Mike Nichols was probably the best director working 30 years ago, with triumphs including The Graduate and Carnal Knowledge. Steven Soderbergh's double Academy Award nominations this year -- winning for Traffic -- make him the best filmmaker working today.
Pairing these auteurs for commentary is a stroke of genius on the DVD of Catch-22, a film that never achieved the audience affection it deserved. Maybe it was bad timing. Catch-22 was released in 1970 after Patton and M*A*S*H had satisfied Vietnam War hawks and doves. Joseph Heller's novel and Nichols' film were somewhere in between.
Alan Arkin is perfect as Capt. Yossarian, stationed on a Mediterranean bomber base during World War II, hating every minute of it. Doc Daneeka (Jack Gilford) could give Yossarian a psychiatric discharge, but there's a catch: If Yossarian wants out of combat, he can't be crazy and Doc can't ground him. Meanwhile, an assortment of oddball flyboys continually kill, bribe, lust and scheme; it's authorized insanity Heller devised after Korea and Nichols advanced to Vietnam-era sensibilities.
Soderbergh loves this movie. You can tell by his eager curiosity as he grills Nichols on devising shots that simply wouldn't be allowed these days. Soderbergh, who acts as his own director of photography, is particularly impressed that Catch-22 cinematographer David Watkin insisted on filming only at around 2 p.m. each day, to achieve the desired back-lighting effects. Nichols' use of authentic World War II bombers -- "the sixth-largest air force in the world" -- leaves Soderbergh in awe.
Soderbergh did extensive research preparing for the DVD conversation. Still, Nichols occasionally floors him with a surprise, such as portraits on the office wall of Major Major (Bob Newhart) that change from FDR to Churchill to Stalin in the same scene ("Just to amuse ourselves"). Or that a Rome traffic cop stopping Yossarian from following a hooker is screenwriter and co-star Buck Henry in disguise.
The cast is staggering: Arkin at his peak, plus co-stars including Martin Sheen, Jon Voight, Anthony Perkins, Martin Balsam, Paula Prentiss, Art Garfunkel, Richard Benjamin, Charles Grodin, Bob Balaban and, with some revealing anecdotes from Nichols, Orson Welles. Catch-22 is an overlooked masterpiece worthy of viewing again, and "hearing" for the first time.
Videos worth another look
This time, look for Canutt
Yakima Canutt isn't a household name, but it's fun to say. Canutt was also fun to watch during his 235-film career, although moviegoers wouldn't recognize him.
Canutt was unquestionably the greatest stunt man in Hollywood history, the man who helped make the movie world safe for free falls, horse draggings and sailing through windows. Bruises were his business, from rodeos to silent films and finally to an assistant director's chair for some fine 1960s movies. Canutt was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1967 for his contributions to safety and the practice of his overlooked art.
The fact that he lived to age 99 proves how well Canutt did his job. Canutt died of natural causes on this date in 1986, six months shy of living a century. Check out some of his greatest hits, trips and brawls in these video selections:
Stagecoach -- Canutt frequently served as John Wayne's stunt double in the 1930s and '40s. That's him doing the stagecoach leaps in John Ford's seminal Western.
Spartacus -- Even Stanley Kubrick needs a second-unit director. Canutt orchestrated much of the gladiator action and battlefield scenes.
Gone With the Wind -- You don't think Clark Gable would risk that profile, do you? Canutt was his stunt double in the 1939 classic.
Ben-Hur -- Canutt choreographed and directed the famous chariot race sequence in William Wyler's 1959 Academy Award winner.
Cat Ballou -- Another second-unit director's gig for Canutt. Always fun to watch for Lee Marvin's Oscar-winning dual role.
Young Mr. Lincoln -- John Ford hired Canutt again to reduce Henry Fonda's stunt load.
They Died With Their Boots On -- Lots of stunt chances when director Raoul Walsh sends Gen. Custer (Errol Flynn) into Little Big Horn.
Breakheart Pass -- Canutt's last assignment coordinating stunts and second-unit directing. Charles Bronson leads a train filled with medical supplies and deceit in an underrated 1975 Western.