Thursday, August 05, 2004

Little Black Book meets Zatoichi! Film Reviews from the pen of Joe Viglione

LITTLE BLACK BOOK

is a cool little movie that gets a good grade A as a quirky and intriguing comedy disguised as a chick flick. There's lots of psychology poured into the character development, which gives all involved their own identity efficiently enough to let the movie go through its various moments of reinvention without getting confusing. Brittany Murphy - I was trying to figure out who Brittany Murphy was sounding and acting like. God knows the always wonderful Kathy Bates keeps flashing a Bette Midler-style smile throughout her role as "Kippie Kann" - sort of reprising her part as Helen Kushnick from 1996's The Late Shift [TV] only this time Helen is in front of the camera!

Well, Murphy goes up to a poster of the Mike Nichols 1988 flick Working Girl and voila, it hits me - she's the reincarnation of Melanie Griffith. And she's not alone, at first Bates seems like she's just making a cameo, sort of like Sigourney Weaver as the audience therapist Debra Moorhouse in 1995s JEFFREY - and then you hear Carly Simon all over the soundtrack, just like in Working Girl --- only it is lots of Carly Simon, everywhere, everpresent. And the theme of the flick, as Working Girl had Sigourney Weaver exploiting her employees...well, if Science Fiction films can absorb camera work, costumes, plot and special effects of other Sci Fi flicks, why not chick movies too? But don't let the shallow idea of a guy with a slew of ex-girlfriends put you off - you have known women who peek into private places they shouldn't, so Stacy Holt's (Murphy's) lack of respect for other people's privacy sends a shiver to anyone who has ever been invaded by prying eyes and ears. Stevie Wonder's "All Is Fair In Love" would've been a great tune to put into this mess, and could have saved Stacy Holt's soul. After all, it was self-preservation - and her co-dependence on Holly Hunter, who thinks she's back in the days of BROADCAST NEWS. There's some real soul in this movie, and some very clever lines. Ron Livingston as Derek seems to be just a conversation piece, though one can't underestimate director Nick Hurran's ingenuity.

We were supposed to see Intimate Strangers (The U.S. title of Confidences Trop Intimes ) at Loew's Copley Place, but the theater was allegedly packed? It cost 6.00 to park for 7 minutes! Ridiculous - so we zipped over the the Copley to see Little Black Book instead.

As for Zatoichi (The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi [2004] , U.S. title ) - directed by and starring Beat Takeshi Kitano, well, it has a bit too much violence and too little plot. The Harvard Square theater was packed and there were security guards making sure that no on in the audience was taping --- you gotta be kidding me -
is this "Zatoichi" series THAT collectible??? The close-to-full house was appreciative of the movie, but
the humor doesn't translate well to the chic Harvard Square that I once knew - one from three decades ago when David Crosby dubbed it "the hippest place" in the world. Nice to see another culture's decadence being screened in this part of the world, but at the end of the day "Little Black Book" and "Alien Vs. Predator" (see above) have more intrigue. We can blame the dubbing, but the dubbing wasn't at fault. It's better than Blair Witch Project...

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