Gommorah Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Land of the Lost
This comedic remake of the classic Saturday Morning show takes some license with the material, but it's got Will Ferrell and it's got Sleestak. Where can I buy my ticket? Ferrell plays scientist Rick Marshall, who's written a book on time warps (which is particularly odd since IMDB says his character is a Forest Ranger). Despite a Today Show interview that goes hilariously wrong, Marshall apparently proves his theories by traveling across time and space with two colleagues to a world of dinosaurs, ape people and lizard men. Check out the trailer below.





The Damned United
Michael Sheen of Frost/Nixon plays Brian Clough, who for forty-four days coached the Leeds United soccer team (or football team as they call it on that side of the pond). Based on true events, Clough was apparently a controversial figure. I got the impression the trailer was assuming I already knew who he was, so perhaps a different approach would be appropriate for the non U.K. markets.

Deadline
Brittany Murphy stars as a writer who moves into an old house so she can work in peace, but the ghost of a young woman murdered in the house (Thora Birch) is getting in the way of her deadline. This looks like generic ghost plot number 4 and there's something about Murphy here I find off-putting. Not sure if it's her "I don't want to be bothered by the outside world" attitude or her out of control hair. Despite the premise this looks like a less than spirited effort.

"Oh, good grief, it's Oscar."
--Lucille Bluth, "Arrested Development"

(The following post is written to the tune of Bruce Springsteen's "The Wrestler," which was not among those nominated for Best Original Song when the 81st Academy Award nominations were announced earlier today.)

Have you ever seen a one trick pony in the field so happy and free?
We'd call 'em by another name, the Academy
Have you ever seen a piece of pap that they all wouldn't eat?
If you've ever seen that Crash, then you'd agree.

Then you'd agree, The Dark Knight should've had more of a shot
Then you'd agree, Gran Torino deserved to go home with naught
Then you'd agree, I'm struggling to come up with just one more bon mot
Tell me, friend, can you ask for anything more?
We sure as hell would've asked for a whole lot more

Couldn't Let the Right One In have been recognized outside of Foreign?
If they'd even seen that movie, then they'd agree
Didn't The Reader leave most of these guys snorin'?
If they'd stayed up for this movie, then they'd agree

Then you'd agree, Dear Zachary... shouldn't have been snubbed from the start
Then you'd agree, The Fall was a tremendous work of art (direction)
Then you'd agree, they left off Gommorah too, old fart after old fart
Tell me, friend, can you ask for anything more?
We really would've asked for a whole lot more

Those nods that have comforted me, I drive away
For all of Milk's attention, I just cannot feel gay
The snubs here and there have caused far too much dismay

Have you ever seen a year where AMPAS actually got it right?
I'll plan to watch something else that February night...

Normally, comparing a film to a television program's intended as a slight, a knock against a film that didn't have the sweep and scope you'd expect to witness on the big screen, but when I compare director Matteo Garrone's Gomorra to The Wire, I hope you'll recognize I mean it as a compliment. Set in the provinces around Naples, where the crime organization known as the Camorra is not parallel to the everyday workings of society but instead is the everyday workings of society, Gomorra's a sweeping, stirring film that has the shoot-and-loot tension of the best crime cinema but also has the scope and serious intent of great drama.

Based on the novel by Roberto Saviano, Gomorra follows five separate stories through the slums and streets in the provinces near Naples. Don Ciro is the local clan bagman, dispensing payouts to families affiliated with the clan. He's a civilized criminal, and the uncivilized times are beginning to wear on him. Marco and Ciro are young, dumb and eager to be independent criminals, heads full of dreams of glory and quotes from Scarface. Roberto finds a patronage position assisting Franco in toxic waste disposal, a lucrative business for the Camorra, especially as it involves poisoning the province's wide-open spaces and passing the savings on to their customers. Totò is 13, and eager to take part in the community and opportunities offered by low-level drug dealing work. Pasquale works as a tailor, helping Camorra-linked businesses make couture knockoffs, and he's offered an opportunity that may leave him set for life or marked for death.