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| Palm Springs Entertainment would not be complete without the seasoned insight and wit of Norman Mark, the host of a hilarious, controversial talk show on KNWZ-AM (970 & 1140) Saturdays from 9 am to noon. Tune in for his weekly outrage, the celebrity report, as well as interviews with a variety of very interesting people. Palm Springs Entertainer is proud to present Norman Mark, the movie reviewer with a national reputation. |
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The Constant Gardener
Best film of the year (so far) at local theaters
By Norman Mark
Norman's Mark: Four Stars ****
The Constant Gardener is a rare end-of summer film: a terrific thriller with some intelligence behind the story, a tense movie that is about something important without lecturing or educating the ticket buyer. In short, this is my favorite film of the year - so far.
 Based on a novel by John LeCarre, that expert explorer of the mind of the tired spy, Constant Gardener is set in Africa, where a minor official played to maddeningly calm perfection by Ralph Fiennes goes with his passionate, politically involved, outspoken wife, played by the always fascinating Rachel Weisz.
The wife dies at the beginning of the movie. Never-confusing flashbacks tell the story of how the couple met and those scenes add to the movie because they provide an emotional love story.
Weisz as Tessa, is helping bring medical care to impoverished Africans and this leads her to discover that international companies have been illegally testing their dangerous drugs on local people.
Fiennes, as Justin, tries to solve the mystery of her death and the initial conclusion that she was having an affair with an African. This takes him to stubborn British officials, tough drug company executives, and tougher government spies who do the drug company's bidding.
From the stunning, tragic start to the satisfying, tragic ending, The Constant Gardener is a constant delight. It is a drama with perfect acting, writing that is as good as the source material and sure-handed direction. It is a tense spy drama, a tender love story and a brilliant angry look at the techniques of pharmaceutical company that is allegedly fictional .
Happy Endings
Many delightful stories
By Norman Mark
Norman's Mark: Three & 1/2 Stars ***
A young, scheming woman beds both the son and the father. Another young woman becomes pregnant by her step brother and later is an abortion counselor. A lesbian couple and two gay men are friends until there is a baby. A sleazy guy wants to make a documentary about a birth mother finding her son.
 These stories weave back and forth, sometimes overstaying their potential delightfulness (especially when the documentary filmmaker is on the screen). By the conclusion of Happy Endings I was happy to have spent time with these quirky, always alive people. I enjoyed seeing how the stories worked out, found enough humor and heartbreak to keep me interested and was amazed at the plot juggling act conducted by the writer-director Don Roos.
Because Lisa Kudrow's character is an abortion counselor, this film features two amazingly frank discussions about the possibility of abortion, something rarely seen in movies released during these politically highly charged times.
Kudrow alternates between offering annoying cliched Kudrow blinks and stammers and offering nuanced insights into her character.
Maggie Gyllenhaal, as the tramp who tries to sleep her way into a wealthy father-son household, is mesmerizing. Her character is despicable, but she is always fascinating.
Tom Arnold, who can appear on screen to be a caricature of himself, plays the widowed father who is seduced by his son's one-night girlfriend. Arnold brings soft yearning to his character.
Some critics have complained that the movie is two hours with people you don't particularly like. For me, Happy Endings offered two hours of clever construction, interesting flawed characters and the dangerous fascination somewhat like watching a mongoose playing with a cobra.
Up for Grabs
Hits a home run at the Cinemas Palme d'Or, Palm Desert.
By Norman Mark
Norman's Mark: Four Stars ****
An excellent baseball decumentary that is about so much more than sports.
This is the story of the actual and legal wrestling match over who owned (or, rather, had possession) of the record-breaking 73nd home run ball hit in a single season by the surly, difficult, steroidal Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants.
In October, 2001, the ball sails into the stands, there is a scrum with lots of piling on, shoving, punching and grabbing. Then, in front of a TV camera, a small, smiling man is seen peacefully holding the ball that might be worth millions (or a lot less).
Thus begins the saga of The Ball. Since this is America, probably the most litigious nation on Earth, Patrick Hayashi, the guy left holding the ball, and Alex Popov, who claimed it really was his, end up in court. The often-funny documentary illustrates the disgusting lengths of human greed, the ability of an egotist (I'd prefer the seven-letter word that rhymes with "brass bowl") to delude himself, and the eventual triumph of the good guys.
It is a thoroughly delightful documentary, completely satisfying even though it doesn't examine the possibility that sports records might be broken with the help drugs.
The film includes a memorable montage showing Barry Bonds stroking more than 60 home runs in a few seconds. Watching this wonderful collection of Bonds' homers is memorable movie making and it confirms that, Barry Bonds has one of the sweetest, most consistent bat strokes in baseball.
Up for Grabs proves that there is beauty in movie making, home-run hitting and our system of justice.
War of the Worlds
Earth 1, Aliens 0 at local theaters
By Norman Mark
Norman's Mark: Three Stars ***
War of the Worlds proved that I participate in a mixed marriage. My wife did not want to see the film because she thought the star, Tom Cruise, was recently behaving like a jerk. I wanted to see it because I enjoy his acting and his off-screen jerkiness probably wouldn't make much difference to me
It didn't.
 Cruise, who plays a divorced father who is a jerk for about 2/3 of the film, once again offers a winning mixture of winning smiles, looks of stark terror, reluctant heroism and fatherly caring. I can guarantee all disillusioned Cruise fans that, during the film, he did not once leap on a couch to declare his love for Katie Holmes, argue about therapy with Matt Lauer or promote Scientology, except for fighting dratted aliens.
Steven Spielberg directed this special effects extravaganza, guaranteeing quality for the project. I particularly enjoyed the fact that Cruise spent a lot of time hiding out in cellars, which for a long time prevented the audience from seeing what was going bump in the night and heightening the tension.
The movie was based on an H. G. Wells book, which became a 1938 radio broadcast and a 1953 movie in which Earth is invaded by relentless, almost unstoppable aliens. This $135 million edition is gritty, interesting with echoes of reactions to 9/11 in New York. It was occasionally derivative of Jurassic Park, but that's not an awful sin in a summer film
Although not quite as thrilling as Independence Day (it is hard to top the destruction of the White House in special effects), War of the Worlds is solid, usually exciting, but less-than-perfectly satisfying summer filmmaking.
Wedding Crashers
Not worth a rehearsal dinner at local theaters
By Norman Mark
Norman's Mark: Two Stars **
Call them the "Tepid Bumpers into Weddings."
The Wedding Crashers is part of a Hollywood trend of movies that aren't very funny about people we don't much like doing things that are more cruel than hilarious.
 Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn play the world's most immature marriage negotiators (at least they do in one scene, after which, that's forgotten) who go to weddings for food, booze and to find women.
That's not a bad premise for a movie.
The early going is bright, cheerful and somewhat funny. Then, inevitably, one of them actually falls in love and the film becomes a pathetic effort to amuse by putting the two men in increasingly painful or embarrassing experiences.
Eventually the two buddies have a disagreement and then all pretense of being funny is abandoned.
The film did not pick up until near the end when Will Ferrell enters as Chaz, the ultimate wedding crasher who has now gone on to funeral crashing to pick up women. He knows how to be over the top and hilariously offensive while being entertaining.
I suppose if the special effects of War of the Worlds seems like a predictable summer excess then Wedding Crashers can provide some amusing relief from the heat.
For me, the writing and directing mainly succeeded in bringing a small smile to my face and that's not enough for a summer comedy.
McLibel
A wonderful Big Muck(raking)
By Norman Mark
Norman's Mark: Four Stars ****
McLibel is the perfect documentary for anyone who has ever rooted for the underdog. It could be subtitled "Revenge of the Determined Dweebs."
 The story began as something that should have been an obscure footnote in a little-read history of contemporary protests: in London in 1988 two people began passing out anti-McDonald's pamphlets. McDonald's got upset and, under British libel laws which are tougher than ours, this huge, multinational corporation decided to sue Dave Morris, a single father and postman, and Helen Steel, his female friend who worked as a gardener and bartender.
Because there was no legal aid for people who were the subjects of a libel suit, Helen and Dave defended themselves against a phalanx of expensive and confident Mclawyers, who got a McWhipping from the exhausted amateurs.
The proceedings bloated into the longest trial in English history costing Mickey D an estimated $20 million. It resulted in the worst imaginable public relations debacle for McDonald's, which lost most of its libel case, and was soundly defeated in a European court and the all-important court of public opinion
Franny Armstrong, the director, offered recreations of courtroom scenes and interviews with an ailing cattleman and an angry author to bolster her story.
But it is Helen and Dave, two quite ordinary folks, who are the beating heart of this modern-day David and Goliath story. They prove that the shyest, seemingly weakest and often mildest of humans can win against a super-sized corporation, providing they are able to fight long enough and have little to lose.
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Losing it at local theaters
By Norman Mark
Norman's Mark: Four Stars ****
Steve Carell is likable as The 40-Year-Old Virgin. And that is about all that is needed to explain its popularity and deserved success.
The title explains it all: Carell, who also co-wrote the script based on a skit he performed at Second City, plays a man who has yet to have a sexual experience.
 In anyone else's hands, this concept about a horny dorky guy would have been too crude and too lewd.
In a film that establishes Carell as a major comedy actor of the future, this former Daily Show veteran gives his character just enough charm, almost wordless yearning and touching reality. This allows the over-the-top material (watching porn films, awakening with evidenht sexual excitement) to be touchingly real rather than merely disgusting.
Andy, Carell's character, works for an electronics store. When he reveals that he is a virgin, his co-workers attempt to "cure" him.
Catherine Keener, as the eventual love interest, is perfect with the right age and temperament. She is specific and never becomes a cliche. Jane Lynch, as Andy's boss who offers to solve the "problem," has a show stopping scene as she remembers the loss of her virginity.
The film also features an unexpected and delightful ending involving the cast singing The Age of Aquarius.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin is Carell's triumph: a movie that announces that this time and perhaps in the future he can be trusted to become a character we like. Without ever descending into screwball or frat house humor, The 40-Year-Old Virgin is funny and real enough to be a thorough delight. How long has it been since that could be said of an American summer film?
The Aristocrats
Disgusting, hilarious, repetitive
By Norman Mark
Norman's Mark: Three Stars ***
When I originally heard the joke, it also involved the obscene use of a carrot, something sadly never mentioned in this often-hilarious movie.
 The Aristocrats, directed by Paul Provenza, is a collection of some of the funniest people telling, re-telling, commenting and breaking up over the same joke.
That story, mainly told late at night when all censors are asleep, involves a family auditioning for a theatrical agent. Descriptions of the family's act, which involves many perversions, allow the teller to do a endless riffs on truly nauseous human behavior. The agent then asks what is the name of the act and the answer, of course, is The Aristocrats.
The joy (and the boredom) of this film is seeing dozens of comics putting their own spin on the story. The funniest is Gilbert Godfrey, who tells the story during a New York Friar's Club roast given shortly after 9/11. By this time, we've heard the story a couple of dozen times, but Gilbert's telling also involves seeing other comedians reacting and enjoying his version.
Probably in an effort to really go over the top, one jokester tells the story in a men's bathroom, a setting which does not enhance the telling.
Sarah Silverman is hilarious when she reveals that she once was an Aristocrat. Eric Idle is funny because he doesn't tell the story. Robin Williams is an almost subdued presence. One guy mimes the joke and he even gets giggles.
The movie, which certainly tries and succeeds in being offensive, seems stretched at times because the joke is endlessly retold. But I frequently laughed and enjoyed the film, even without the carrot.
Asylum
Clinically confused
By Norman Mark
Norman's Mark: Two Stars **
To get most of the puns out of the way, Asylum is strait-jacketed by an unbelievable plot, shows symptoms of split personality in execution and could have used medications to calm the writing.
 The star and co-executive producer is Natasha Richardson. From that I can deduce that she enjoyed being seen topless in the tub, bottomless in bed, and romping in a garter belt in scenes which only barely (pun intended) enhanced the story.
A bumbling, boring husband, his gorgeous wife (Richardson) and adorable child begin living on the grounds of one of those dreary English asylums which should have the warning sign: beware, no patients cured here.
Richardson, as the wife of the new assistant something or other, plays her role as if she had an upset tummy. After a well-paced start to the movie, Richardson falls into passionate lust with a brooding, outrageously handsome inmate who happens to be an artist who hacked his first wife's face and body.
There's a lot of skulking around, but then the movie goes completely crazy, with an unlikely person asking Richardson to marry him, a death by drowning that would be more suited to a badly plotted dream and about four unsatisfactory endings.
Throughout the acting is superb, but Asylum needed an intervention by experts who might have advised Ms. Richardson to take her clothes off for a more worthy project.
Batman Begins
The best bat at the IMAX and local theaters
By Norman Mark
Norman's Mark: Four Stars ****
Better even than the first Batman with Jack Nicholson's over-the-top Joker. Far easier to take than the kinky second Batman, the Penguin variations. Less brooding than the third Batman when Jim Carrey's Riddler stole the show. Far more believable than the fourth Batman, despite George Clooney's charm.
Batman Begins is simply a good, solid, entertaining, huge movie that is the delight of this summer. Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman is perfect as the conflicted proto-super hero, who encourages us to understand the classic comic book story of how the Batman, the Batmobile and even the Bat Cave came to be.
The film is involving throughout, which can't be said of most overblown, expensive Hollywood special effects films.
The only time the plot gets a little creaky is near the beginning when Bruce Wayne is learning to become a ninja (it is not necessary to understand why). Liam Neeson plays his guru, who helps Bruce (who will shortly become Batman) overcome his fears of bats and resolves his relationship to his murdered father. The guru's method of providing psychological insight involves frequently beating Bruce with sticks, stabbing him with swords and cuffing him about the head and ears. Please, Mr. Neeson, never be my shrink.
There is an additional frisson provided by Katie Holmes, as the chaste love interest and assistant prosecutor. I almost expected her to look in Batman's eyes and ask for Tom Cruise, her apparent real-life love interest, to stand in
I'd strongly suggest seeing this very good film at the IMAX in Cathedral City, as I did. The huge screen and overwhelming sound make the picture an enveloping, memorable experience, despite some all-too-tight close ups which can get a bit too much on the largest screen in the valley.
Directed by Christopher Nolan, who gave us "Memento," "Batman Begins" is a summer film to see because it combines character insight with believable action. I loved it.
"The Talent Given Us"
Surprisingly unique family road film
By Norman Mark
Norman’s Mark: Four Stars • • • •
Totally original, unexpectedly delightful, fascinating fiction that seems more real than reality, The Talent Given Us is a must-see movie, a hilarious and touching family odyssey that takes the casting of relatives to new heights.
 This film is the epitome of independent film-making on a low budget. Director/writer Andrew Wagner cast his entire family and sent them out on the road.
The mom is played by his real-life mom Judy Wagner, age 70. She is dissatisfied with her non-responsive husband and yearns for sex, romance and maybe a little niceness. She nags, laughs, cries, yells and sets the family off on a road trip to find their estranged movie script-writer son, Andrew, played by the director.
Dad is Allen Wagner, age 70, a retired stock broker who hides his drooling by constantly chewing on a straw. His shaky, waddling gait tells us how much age has affected him. We also see him lust after female friends of his daughter and hear his past infidelities.
Two daughters, played by the Wagners real-life children, come along for most of the cross-country drive. One is depressed, the other brings her California New Age goofiness. All four argue, discover, love and hate in a film that is amazingly clear-eyed look at family life.
Small, niggling criticisms: I’m not sure what happened to one daughter late in the movie. Also, the mother seems to threaten divorce more out of a need for a third act crisis than anything else.
The Talent Given Us is enormously entertaining possibly because it is fun seeing a family that is more strange and wounded than your own.
"Mad, Hot Ballroom"
Irresistible at the Camelot & Cinemas Palme d’Or theaters
By Norman Mark
Norman’s Mark: Four Stars • • • •
This odd, little, wonderful documentary about teaching ballroom dancing to New York’s sixth graders is actually a very patriotic movie. Seeing all those black, white, Hispanic, Asian and Muslim kids from so many dissimilar backgrounds working together to win the prize as the best dancers gave me renewed hope for America’s future.
 The word “documentary” makes this emotional movie sound far too dull and preachy. Instead, it is a film of emotional impact and of smile-inducing humor as it looks at the dedicated teachers (one always cries when talking about her students) and those as-yet innocent 10-year-olds.
I laughed, I cried, I even find it difficult to write this review without choking up with emotion – the film was that good.
First-time director Marilyn Agrelo follows a lower class school that “loses” (gets a bronze medal) in an early competition. We see their tears as the news hits them and their strength the next day when they talk about the event.
In the end, the competition comes down to two schools – the winner from last year with tough teachers and a school much farther down on the economic ladder.
The contestants become involving individuals. There is the tubby kid who is paired with a thin girl who towers over him, the serious girl who practices in her bedroom, the problem boy who is a natural dancer and so on.
In the end, Mad, Hot Ballroom left me with impressions of the children, insights and the knowledge that even in the worst of neighborhoods there are terrific stories to tell.
"March of the Penguins"
Love in a very cold climate at select area theaters
By Norman Mark
Norman's Mark: Four Stars • • • •
Thanks to the Palm Springs Film Society screening, I have seen one of the best movies ever made about love. It is also one of the best about parental responsibility, male and female bonding, perseverance, finding happiness and success under impossible conditions, the triumph of the spirit and one of the most beautiful love stories on Earth.
And it is about a bunch of penguins!
"March of the Penguins," a wonderful, emotional documentary, is about the emperor penguin and their remarkable, dangerous year on the ice of Antarctica.
The director, Luc Jacquet and his indomitable crew, brought back an incredible film record, taking us to places we cannot go. Believe me, it is a chilling experience to watch this movie and then return to our desert!
I am glad that this is a theatrical film rather than a television documentary because this film deserves a bigger screen and better sound.
Every year these penguins leave the chilly waters where food (and danger) is plentiful and trek 70 miles across the snow and ice to the place where they were born.
This, in itself, is an amazing sequence as the determined penguins belly flop and waddle for mile after mile.
Here they mate for the season with each pair resulting in one egg. Male and female switch roles, one protecting the egg while the other feeds and then returns. Through the brutal winter, the males tend the eggs while huddled together against the cold.
The hatchlings are adorable, the inevitable deaths are tragic and the caring of the parents for each other and their offspring is wonderful to see.
"March of the Penguins" is a purely wonderful film and the perfect date movie.
"Fantastic Four"
Better than its bad buzz, at local theaters
By Norman Mark
Norman’s Mark: Three Stars • • •
I love the Fantastic Four comic books, especially the classic issue with the marriage of Sue Storm, who can surround herself with an impenetrable force field, and Reed Richards, who can stretch any part of his body to any length. The mind boggles to imagine their honeymoon!
 And I liked this movie, which tells us how they got their super powers. It involves some wonderfully stupid gibberish about a radiation storm in space with no explanation as to why each got different powers.
Jessica Alba, as Sue Storm, looks pert and pretty and does a fine job of filling out her costumes. Ioan Gruffudd, as Reed Richards, is too good at being wooden.
The other team members are Johnny Storm (Chris Evans, who has an impish Tom Cruise smile), Sue’s impulsive brother who can fly and become a mass of flames. Johnny Storm is the first film costumed hero since Billy Zane’s underappreciated “The Phantom” to think that being a superhero is super cool, especially when pretty girls ask him for autographs.
Michael Chiklis as Ben Grim steals the film. He is able to act angry, sad, depressed and put upon when he becomes The Thing, a huge pile of rocks. I do not know how he could communicate that much emotion with his face obscured by wads of clay that looked like red Mars Bars.
The film recaptures the dysfunctional family aspect of the Fantastic Four comic books, with Johnny teasing Ben, Ben berating Reed, Sue pouting and so on. Just like home, except everyone wears tight costumes.
Yes, it is cheesy and sometimes just dumb. But “Fantastic Four” is also a lot of fun, often hugely entertaining, an easy-going summer entertainment.
By the way, as far as I can see the only reason it carries a PG-13 rating is one scene in which Sue Storm becomes invisible while wearing her bra and panties, which float around in space.
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