The General

February 3, 1999

There have been a few fine flicks coming out of Ireland lately. You recoiled in horror at The Butcher Boy, you had some great laughs in Waking Ned Devine, and you might have shed a tear or two after Dancing at Lughnasa. There have been countless films about the IRA and The Troubles, but now there is a new film by John Boorman about an unusual subject -- an Irish gangster -- called The General.

Based on the real-life exploits of a modern day criminal mastermind, The General stars little-known actor Brendan Gleeson as the late Martin Cahill, a man who spent his life living outside the law while in full view of same. Reared in poverty as a child, Cahill was an enigma to most people in Ireland as well as being downright infuriating to the police, who are led by a vexed Inspector named Ned Kennedy, played by Jon Voight. Even though the police watched him around the clock he was still able to evade and embarrass them by pulling off some of the most spectacular heists in modern times.  A pudgy, balding fellow whose face was rarely photographed, Cahill lived a most unusual life for an Irishman -- he cohabited and sired children with both his wife and sister-in-law, he did not drink or smoke, and he also did not use drugs. With his army of hapless henchman the General defied the powers that be of the police and the church as well as the IRA and the Loyalists to the Crown. And all the while riding around Dublin on his trademark Harley-Davidson motorcycle! Eventually the police stepped back and let the IRA "take care" of Cahill in 1994 -- which does not give away any surprise ending, since this happens in the opening moments of the film.

The General is a fascinating film written, directed, and produced by filmmaker John Boorman, who won the Best Director Prize at last year's Cannes Film Festival. His credits include the films Deliverance, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest, and Hope and Glory. Boorman knew of Cahill more than most people -- his own home was robbed by the guy and you see Cahill smashing Boorman's gold record that he received for the "Dueling Banjos" song. Brendan Gleeson, whose face may be familiar from the films Braveheart, The Butcher Boy and Michael Collins, has been described as "the Irish Depardieu," and he is marvelous as the cunning and conniving Cahill. Eamonn Owens, who starred as The Butcher Boy, plays the delinquent Cahill. And Jon Voight -- together again with director Boorman for the first time since Deliverance -- delivers as the irritated Inspector.

Filmed in color but printed in black and white, this is neither a happy film nor a glorification of a Gaelic gangster. More a character study of a true Irish character than an homage to a renegade, The General is worth saluting as one of the better films to come from the Emerald Isle.

The Butcher Boy

April 15, 1998

Art, as the saying goes, sometimes has a way of imitating life. In 1979, the film The China Syndrome came out at the same time that the Three Mile Island near-nuclear disaster took place in Pennsylvania. A few short months back the film Wag the Dog played in movie houses just before the President's supposed sexual forays became front-page news, and recently Primary Colors was released. And now, in a case of eerie timing after the shootings in Arkansas three weeks back, comes the tale from Ireland of a violent lad who commits a heinous crime without so much as a dash of remorse in the new Neil Jordan film called The Butcher Boy.

The setting is a small town in Ireland in the early 1960s. Young Francie Brady reads comic books and plays cowboys and Indians with his only friend Joe while his frail mother is on the verge of insanity and his useless father drinks himself into oblivion. An encounter with Mrs. Nugent, a snooty neighbor woman – who calls the Bradys "pigs" – sets Francie off in a downward spiral that he never recovers from. His mother is taken off to the "garage" (a euphemism for a mental hospital), his father drinks himself to death, his friend Joe tries to distance himself from the feckless Francie, he gets sexually abused by priests, and Francie blames all his bad luck on his neighbor Nugent, eventually exacting revenge in this darkly tragi-comic film that will both leave you laughing at, and loathing, the wee lad.

Director Neil Jordan of The Crying Game fame co-wrote the screenplay along with Patrick McCabe, who wrote the book called The Butcher Boy. Eamonn Owens, in his stunning acting debut, plays the menacing Francie, the 12-year-old with the out-of-control imagination, who is every parent's worst nightmare. Stephen Rea, who has made six films now with director Jordan, plays Francie's drunken dad and he also provides the voice of the adult Francie who tells the story in flashback. And in a stroke of sarcastic casting, Sinead O'Connor plays the Virgin Mary apparition who Francie turns to for advice throughout the film. The Butcher Boy is a well-written, well-acted tour de force that also won Jordan the 1998 Berlin Film Festival's Silver Bear Award for Best Director.

For those of you looking for the usual paddywackery found in far too many Irish films of yore – leprechauns, shillelaghs, and all-knowing clergy – you will not be amused with the antics of cute little Francie Brady. But for those of you who ask, "How could those boys in Arkansas shoot their fellow classmates?" The Butcher Boy may give you clue.

Some Mother’s Son

December 25, 1996

Judging by the numbers of people in this country who don’t vote in elections most Americans seem not to care too much about politics. Sure, there are those who get involved when something is about to affect them personally, but for the most part people opt out of the political process. So try imagining what it would be like to be so involved in a cause that you’d be willing to starve yourself to death for it, and you’ll begin to get an idea what the new film Some Mother’s Son is all about.

The year is 1980, and IRA prisoners in the infamous Maze Prison in Northern Ireland are trying to gain recognition as political prisoners by the Thatcher government in England. In order to bring world attention to their cause, some of the lads begin a deadly hunger strike, led by the late Bobby Sands. Against this backdrop two mothers from different backgrounds come together to face a situation that most parents hope they will never have to endure. Helen Mirren stars as pacifist school teacher Kathleen Quigley, and Fionnula Flanagan is the hardworking farmer and IRA supporter Annie Higgins, whose sons are captured by the British after blowing up a truck, and during their arrest a soldier is killed. They are sentenced to long terms in the Maze Prison, and shortly thereafter they become involved in the famous hunger strike that began with Bobby Sands and led to the deaths by starvation of Sands and nine of his comrades in 1981. The only way a hunger striker, after losing consciousness, can be saved, is if a parent steps in and decides to have him fed. Both Kathleen and Annie are faced, literally, with a life or death decision as to whether to save their sons lives or to let them die for the cause they are willing to die for.

Some Mother’s Son is brought to you by the makers of In The Name Of The Father, another powerful political film from Ireland from a few years back. Terry George and Jim Sheridan wrote Father, and Sheridan directed it. This time around George makes his directorial feature film debut. The main characters in this film are fictional yet there are nameless mothers all over the world, in Bosnia, Jerusalem, Lima and still in Northern Ireland today, who grieve over the losses of sons who died for some cause or another. The British have been railing against this film for being pro-IRA, though the deaths of ten hunger strikers seems as senseless now as it did 15 years ago.

Not a fluffy, lightweight holiday movie that will be forgotten by the New Year, Some Mother’s Son is a heavyweight film that may still be around come Oscar time. And coming on the heels of the other factually-based Irish political epic Michael Collins, it’s plain to see that in some parts of the Old Sod that little has changed in the ensuing 60 years between the two eras of the films.

Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision

November 1, 1995

The Vietnam War was a devastating and divisive issue here in the U.S. in the late 60s and early 70s. For some, the war has never ended, and for others, another major battle was waged in Washington, DC, in 1980 when the first steps were taken to create a Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The new film, Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision is a documentary describing the drama behind the design of the controversial memorial.

Maya Lin was just a 21 year-old architectural student at Yale when she entered the competition for the design of the structure. She beat out over 1400 contestants, and from the getgo there was opposition to her work from right-wing elements who hated her proposal, and hated her for the fact that she wasn't a veteran, that she was a woman, and, worst of all, that she was Asian-American. Hearings were held, and such notables as former Secretary of the Interior James Watt and columnist-now-Presidential-gasbag Patrick Buchanan fought for changes. Eventually some minor compromises were made, and Maya Lin's work honoring those who served in Vietnam finally opened in 1982, and continues to this day to be a powerful reminder of the futility of war.

However, all of this takes place in the first third of the film. The rest of the time is spent watching Maya Lin design other works of lesser renown, and therein lies the problem with this documentary. It bogs down rapidly as we follow Lin for the next 10 years drawing at her desk, walking in her hometown, and directing construction workers on her subsequent projects. She speaks in a monotone, and unless you're an architectural student, you may find the second two-thirds of this film rather tedious.

And, amazingly so, this won an Oscar for Best Documentary in 1995! It must have been a slow year for that category, and the filmmakers have to be glad that Hoop Dreams was not chosen as one of the finalists.

For those of you who've seen the previews for Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision and think that the film is going to be all about the making of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, it's not. And that's too bad, because it would have made for a more compelling documentary. While Maya Lin may have a strong, clear vision about her architectural work, it may not be of much interest to you.

War of the Buttons

November 1, 1995

As war rages on in the Balkans most Americans scratch their heads and wonder what the fuss is all about. Without a scorecard it's hard to determine who are the good guys, who are the bad guys, and just what the heck are they fighting over. Unfortunately, kids sometimes learn bad habits from adults, and such is the case in the War of the Buttons.

Based on a French novel and produced by acclaimed filmmaker David Puttnam, War of the Buttons is a comedy/drama about the intense rivalry between kids from adjoining villages in the southwest of Ireland. Just why the kids hate each other so much is unclear. The good guys, and the poorer of the two, the Ballys, are led by the streetsmart Fergus, and the bad guys, the Carricks, are led by a sharp lad named Geronimo. Almost daily the kids do battle with one another, with the goal being the capture and humiliation of hostages. The harshest form of punishment inflicted by the victors is the cutting off of all of the hostage's buttons before he is set free. Ah! if only war was so simple in real life! Eventually the rivalry that develops between the opposing sides gets so heated that adults are drawn into it, and before the button war is sewn up young leaders Fergus and Geronimo learn some very adult life lessons along the way.

The War of the Buttons features a pack of new young Irish actors who, quite refreshingly, are not the usual cute/young/smart-aleck brats normally found in Hollywood movies. The only name actor in the film is Colm Meaney, and he has but a bit part. The screenplay was written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Collin Welland, who collaborated with producer Puttnam on Chariots of Fire, and director John Roberts marks his feature-film debut.

War of the Buttons, while not a great film, is reminiscent of John Avnet's film from last winter The War. And while this "war" film is a child's view of adulthood, there are more than a few adults -- whether it be Crips versus Bloods in L.A. or those Bosnian, Serb and Croation leaders meeting for peace talks in Dayton, Ohio, this week -- who could learn some serious lessons about the stupidity and futility of war by seeing the War of the Buttons.

The Bridges of Madison County

May 31, 1995

Most of you know the story by now. Or I should say that most of you women know it, as the book by Robert James Waller has been on the best-seller list for over three years. This summer the guys have Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Gene Hackman to fulfill their fantasies, while you gals have Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep to swoon over in the film version of the book The Bridges of Madison County.

For the uninitiated, here is a brief recap: brother and sister, now in their 40's, are rummaging through dearly departed Mom's papers and they find some revealing journals from 20 years back. Turns out that Ma had an affair while they were out of town with Pa. Flashback to 1965. Lost National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid, played by Eastwood, stops by an Iowa farmhouse to ask directions. Lovelorn housewife Francesca, played by Streep, falls for the photostud almost immediately. Sparks fly in the humid Iowa heat. Possible life-changing decisions need to be made. And hearts break, as things will never be the same again for our two star-crossed heroes.

Eastwood directed this schmaltzy saga about two unfulfilled lovers whose brief four-day fling will have you sappy sentimentalists sniffling silently while us cynics will be "unforgiven" by fans of the book for not being moved by this light-weight tale that contains more corn than the fields of Iowa. Eastwood is flat and wooden in this 1960's sensitive guy role. In the restaurant scene I was hoping he'd pull out a .45 Magnum and blow away the close-minded local yokels. Streep looks dowdy and her Italian accent sounds more Slavic than Mediterranean. And the actors who play Streep's adult children are incredibly awful.

The so-called Christian Coalition will rail against Bridges because it glorifies adultery. But you fans of the book won't care, although you may be upset with the changes the screenwriter made in the story. And the Iowa Tourist Board will make tons of money this summer off the faithful who want to see the real bridges featured in the film.

This bridge has been crossed a zillion times already in Hollywood, but if predictable cornball soap operas are your thing, then go see The Bridges of Madison County.

Crimson Tide

May 17, 1995

The summer season is almost upon us, and to moviegoers that means a blockbuster bonanza of big budget films will soon be playing at your neighborhood octoplex. I have no doubt that fans of this show can hardly control themselves knowing that Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, and the film Waterworld will soon be here. In the meantime, the first action/adventure thriller of the summer has risen from the depths of Hollywood, and it's called Crimson Tide.

Unless you've been out of the country you've no doubt heard of this film already. Crimson Tide is yet another in a series of submarine movies, and this one stars Gene Hackman as the captain and Denzel Washington as the executive officer. A wacky Russian Nationalist -- not unlike real-life politico Vladimir Zhirinovsky -- and a rebel Red Army faction have seized control of a nuclear missile base, and they threaten the U.S. The sub, dubbed the Crimson Tide, is sent to the coast of Russia as a deterrent. A message comes that the rebels have decided to launch an attack, so Hackman gets the ship ready to strike first. But guess what? In a battle with a Red sub the Tide's radio goes down just as a second message is being received. Denzel says they can't attack because the interrupted message may be an order to disregard. Gene says he's going to nuke the Russkies anyway. And for the next hour, as the clock ticks away and tension supposedly builds, it's old-school vs. new-school, hawk vs. dove, seasoned-yet-unstable vet vs. rookie upstart. There's a coup. There's a counter-coup. Everyone's cooped up in the sub, and tempers flare while time winds down. If you haven't figured out the rest, you can pay seven bucks to find out who wins this "voyage to the bottom of the sea."

Crimson Tide set a box office record for 1995 and it will make a lot of money. While many of my movie critic cohorts are raving about this film, I'm going against the flow by saying the only tension I felt was from being cooped up in a crowded movie theatre. Directed by Tony Scott, who has given us gems such as The Last Boy Scout and Days of Thunder, Crimson Tide is formulaic and predictable. And do state-of-the-art nuclear subs still have one giant propeller for power? A more appropriate subtitle would be The Hunt For Red Fail Safe Aboard The Caine Mutiny. If you're really into "sub" stories, go rent Das Boot.

The Two-Minute Drill: A Film Reviewer’s Essay

May 23, 1993

Football great Joe Montana is known, among other things, as the master of the two-minute finish. When your team is down a few points at the two-minute warning mark, he is the guy you want out there to help you win. Similarly, when a radio show is only a half-hour in length and you've got lots of film reviews to cram into it, it takes some fancy footwork to say what you want to say before time runs out. Such is the challenge to a film reviewer for Movie Magazine.

"Doing movie reviews for a radio show sounds like a lot of fun," my friends say. Indeed, there is lots of enjoyment, but it is not as easy as they think it is. What follows is a typical blow-by-blow account of the work that goes into the two-minute reviews you hear on the show.

First, there is the going to the theatre. Most of the time critics get to see a film a few days before it opens. Openings are usually on Fridays, screenings are usually on Tuesday mornings (that's right folks – before lunch). Movie Magazine airs on Wednesday nights, so unlike print or TV critics, we've got one day to get our act together.

Second, there is the screening itself. During the film, one has to scribble illegible notes in the dark in order to be able to write about what they saw. Unless, of course, a reviewer has total recall or, worse yet, he relies on press release info, which some are known to do.

Third, there is the actual writing of the review. For me it means sitting at my desk, pen in hand, with notes and press info scattered about, and dictionary and thesaurus close by.  Sometimes it is easy to get started, sometimes it is very hard. If you really like or hate a film, the words flow quickly. But if you have mixed feelings, getting motivated can be difficult. And what do you say? For me, I like to start off with perhaps a tie-in to a topical event or begin whimsically, and then I give a short synopsis of the film without revealing too much. Actors are usually mentioned; maybe the director, then whether the film is worth seeing, and where it will be showing.

Fourth comes the editing. My toughest task is trying to take all that I've written and condense it into a crisp, concise piece that says all I want to say in a short amount of time. Self-editing is difficult, especially when you think you've written a masterpiece. Now I know why the job of editor exists and also why they are not the most beloved colleagues on a newspaper or radio show.

Fifth, there is the music selection. Regular listeners to Movie Magazine know that a musical background accompanies each review, and such is entirely up to the reviewer. Even this can present a dilemma, as finding the right theme to go with a review can take longer than the actual writing of it. Also, you may have the perfect idea of what to use, but then finding a copy of same can be hard, as the music library at KUSF is limited.

Last comes the biggest test of all – reading your review with the music playing and getting everything done without mistakes in less than two minutes. Problems arise when you go over. You can either try to spit the words our faster or get out the scalpel and start chopping away, hoping that by the time you're done your review still sounds intelligible.

All of this for a two-minute review on the radio! And you thought it sounded simple.

Actually, it's not as bad as it sounds. Like anything else, after doing it for a while it gets easier and easier. Still, every time I get the call for a screening, a clock starts ticking inside of me. And like Joe Montana in a close-scoring football game, I enjoy the thrill and always feel better after the final two-minute drill is over and, hopefully, I've come out on top.

 Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media

April 7, 1993

Are you one of those "informed" individuals who sets their radio alarm to KGO, peruses the Chronicle over cappuccino, reads Time and Newsweek on the bus ride to work, eats dinner with Dan Rather and then dozes off at night to Night Line? If so, and if you feel like you've got a good grasp as to what is going on in the world, then you're going to have to see the new documentary called Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media.

I know, I know. "Noam who?" you're asking. That is Noam Chomsky, the renowned linguist, intellectual and political activist who is also a professor at MIT. Chomsky is easily the foremost critic of the media coming from the left, and he is practically a lone beacon of reason in a TV world that force-feeds us so-called "balanced" shows like Crossfire, Firing Line and The McLaughlin Report. With the likes of Morton Kondrake and Sam Donaldson representing the counterpoint to reactionaries like Pat Buchanan and Henry Kissinger, it is surprising that Chomsky doesn't get more airtime. However, after watching this film and hearing what he has to say, it really isn't a surprise after all.

Chomsky can speak at length and very intelligently on any number of topics but the main thrust here is the media. He says the media elite – such as the New York Times and the TV networks – are the agenda setters, and that advertisers and big corporations influence what is and is not presented as news. He adds that there are dangerous diversions like the supermarket tabloids, TV Guide, and sports publications that distract people from things that really matter. In short, folks, Chomsky is here to inform you that you are misinformed.

Chomsky is not without his detractors, however, and fortunately the filmmakers go into such. There is excellent editing in this entertaining and enlightening documentary, as the directors use a myriad mix of early footage and visual images to make this just shy-of-three-hour film hold your interest and, with any luck, have you, like the bumper sticker says, questioning authority.

If you're one of those Rush Limbaugh loonies who says, "I don't agree with him but I find him fascinating," if you think big changes lie ahead just because a Democrat is in the White House, or if you'd like to see an extremely brilliant, articulate individual who has a lot to say but seldom has a chance to say it on national TV, then you must see Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, which plays April 9-15 at the Castro Theatre, with opening night this Friday being a benefit showing that you should call the theatre for information about.

Two-Lane Blacktop

February 24, 1993

Twenty years back when I was just 18 years old, I saw what as I recall was one of the worst films ever made. My friends and I still joke about Two-Lane Blacktop – how terrible it was, a classic case of bad film making if there ever was one. So it was with trepidation that I went to screen it recently at the Red Victorian as part of their Road Series of films. And so it was with jubilation that I exited the theatre as my 20-year hindsight has been subject to an overhaul.

Two-Lane Blacktop is the ultimate road film. It stars folk singer James Taylor and Beach Boy Dennis Wilson as two restless, directionless drag racers in a souped up '55 Chevy who head east across the southwest with little money and no definite destination in mind. Along the way they pick up hippie hitchhiker Laurie Bird as they also befriend another driver headed nowhere fast in his new GTO, the square yet likeable Warren Oates. Taylor and Wilson stop in small towns to race local yokel motorheads for money, while Oates picks up hitchhikers as often as he can – even a young Harry Dean Stanton in a hilarious cameo performance – boring each one with different tall tales about who he is and where he is headed. Oates challenges Taylor and Wilson to a long-distance race, to Washington, D.C., for pink slips, yet neither

side has any real intention on actually going there.

In short, Two-Lane Blacktop, directed by Monte Hellman, is a great cult classic. The handsome Taylor is brooding and laconic as the Driver, and Wilson is wooden and emotionless as the Mechanic. They deliver what few lines they have so flatly that they are perfectly cast as two outsiders in this film about loneliness and alienation. Oates, as GTO, is masterful, a real pleasure to watch. The actors have no names, and there is no real plot. The movie, like the characters, meanders down that long, lonesome highway at high speeds searching for a purpose. It is a wonderful metaphor for the end of the flower-power era.

Two-Lane Blacktop played last week at the Red Victorian, and I'm told it will be out on video sometime this year.

The Last Boy Scout

December 11, 1991

Like a good Boy Scout, I was prepared to see lots of car chases, explosions, and dead bodies in the new Bruce Willis movie called The Last Boy Scout. And, I was not disappointed

Willis, in a real stretch, plays a foul-mouthed, chain-smoking, unshaven private investigator named Joe Hallenbeck who, in his own words says, “I’m a real bastard...and then some." He is a former Secret Service agent who lost his job when he was young after offending a powerful politician. Willis just can't get no respect from anyone, including his partner, the police, the bad guys, his wife, and even his 13-year-old daughter, who obviously learned her vocabulary from Willis himself.

Willis takes on a case that gets him involved with Jimmy Dix, a former star quarterback, played by Damon Wayans from the TV show In Living Color. They begrudgingly become partners, and along with a little help from Willis's daughter Darien they go up against a corrupt senator and a smarmy good-o1d-boy professional football team owner, and before you can count 30 bodies, numerous explosions, and endless car chases, our two fallen heroes save the day in a ludicrous finale before 90,000 cheering fans at a football game at the L.A Coliseum.

This film is just another trite, predictable good-guys-versus-bad-guys story that, if it weren’t for the profanity and excessive violence, would be a TV movie of the week. But then, what do you expect from two TV actors?

If you’re a die-hard Bruce Willis fan, you'll love this movie. If you’re looking for action, go stand in line. Just leave your mind at the door. But then, if you're a fan of these kinds of films, you won't have to.

If you're thinking that this film is going to be about Boy Scouts camping in the woods and helping little old ladies cross the street, all I can say is, to quote Willis's closing line in the film, "Be prepared.”