Infamous Shottas

112 ; THE SLATE > REVIEWS stylistic overkill, while Walter lacks the verve and exhilarat Salles and Daniela Thomas' ing milieu of the Brazilian story of a young immigrant film and the humanity of the mother who cares for two beautifully photographed bahies leaves one scratching Tsotsi, about a ig-year-old one's head. South African petty crook from Johannes- director Olvier Schmitz's tale burg who finds redemption. of a brief encounter between The title is the term for a a street musician and young young gangster in Jamaican medic in Place de Fetes is a patois, and introducing view- beauty. Alexander Payne's ers to this unique speech pat- mordantly funny postcard of tern and vocabulary, which a tourist discovering her love necessitates subtitles, is the of Paris in the i4th arrondisse- movie's strength. The mode ment is pure perfection. If of verbal expression might be you've ever been to Paris, the FOOD NATION This documentary shows how a revelation, but the action is picture's varied takes on the Our Daily Bread gets to the dinner table awfully familiar. It begins in City of Lights is steeped in 1978 when two Kingston kids reverie. If you haven't, Paris try a life of crime by robbing ja t'aime serves as an enticing York society's nebbish delight. much more intimate here, to a soda truck driver. Later invitation. -Kevin Courrier The casting of the Englishman a point that's not been proven Wayne (Ky-Mani Marley) and is a coup for this production, but only speculated upon. The Biggs (Spragga Benz) emigrate as he possesses an uncanny effect is a sensationalization separately to America and Infamous physical similarity to Capote. of the material that trivializes score big in the Miami drug Capote biopic overshadowed The performance is amusing, it. —Annlee Ellingson world. Compared to Butch by its predecessor particularly as he holds court Cassidy and the Sundance Kid among the citizens of Hoi- in the press notes, the duo are Distributor: Warner Independent comb, but Capote's shtick was Shottas arrested and deported back Cast: Toby Jones, Sandra Bullock, Keep it on the shelf to the island. They quickly Daniel Craig, Peter Bogdanovich, Jeff carefully calibrated, an image Daniels and Hope Davis presented to the world that run afoul of both the law and Director/Screenwriter: Douglas perhaps belied his diligent Distributor: Sony lawbreakers before managing McGrath Cast: Ky-Mani Marley, Spragga Benz, work ethic and considerable Paul Campbell, Louie Rankin and to hightail it back to South Producers: Christine Vachon, Jocelyn talent. Jones' performance Florida. There, using the crud- Hayes and Anne Walker-McBay Wyclef Jean Director/Screenwriter: Cess Silvera Genre: Drama never exposes the soul est possible methods, they Rating: R for language, violence and capable of such poetry. Even Producers: Cess Silvera, Jennifer take over a scene littered with some sexuality when he lays bare his painful Farrell and Fabien Pruvot other Jamaican hoods but, Genre: Crime drama Running time: 119 min. past, it seems a ruse. conveniently, no cops. Release date: November 3 (current ltd) Rating: R for strong violence, sexuality/ Unfortunately for Infamous, nudity, language and drug content Making his feature film de- comparisons to last year's Running time: 94 min. but as a rival, Wyclef Jean also On November 16,1959, an Capote are inevitable. Philip Release date: November 3 ltd composes some of the music. innocuously small item in the Seymour Hoffman's take Crime flicks featuring nihil- New York Times catches the on the role was subtler, but Shottas has been cooling its istic thugs engaged in futile, eye of writer Truman Capote. mostly this incarnation of heels in a vault since its world sometimes humorously soul- Entitled "Wealthy Farmer, 3 of the true-life story pushes the premiere at the 2002 Toronto less violence accompanied Family Slain," the piece seems envelope further. A central film festival. What has hap- by a hip soundtrack aren't a a perfect fit for the new genre theme in the film is the pened in four years to trigger commodity. And nothing in of writing he'll author: the method and manner by which its theatrical release? Maybe this energetic, hollow movie "nonfiction novel." But what Truman conducts his research it was the positive reception boosts its marketability or begins as a portrait of a small and solicits interviews, ulti- the pulsing crime epic City of appeal, not even Bob Marley's Kansas town reeling in the mately calling into question God, set in the slums of Rio de son portraying the more wake of a vicious crime the veracity of his story. But, Janeiro, received in 2003 or sensible and sympathetic evolves into a six-year saga in in the second major departure the South African film Tsotsi Wayne, the only one with any which he grows close to the from its predecessor, the film winning the Best Foreign Lan- qualms about their extended killers in order to put their stretches plausibility. The guage Film Oscar last March. spree. Their rallying cry story in print. relationship between Truman The bad news: Although "MOB" stands for "money over Here Toby Jones assumes and his subject is portrayed as equally violent, Shottas com- bitches." If they came to the the high nasal pitch of New pares unfavorably to both. It 114 ; THE SLATE > REVIEWS NOVEMBER 2006 terms with the fact that you (Although based on a man two years in three different should be filmed. The imagery can't enjoy either when you're living during the turn of the regions of the country. Besides is poetic and beautiful at dead, Shottas would be over a century, in this story the char- addressing the problems of times. Meanwhile, the film's lot sooner. -John P. McCarthy acter is fictional.) Diane's new the postwar struggle, he also haunting legacy is that people friend introduces her to circus embraces the landscapes, still are being pulled apart performers, transvestites and sounds and beauty of the by religious differences and Fur others far removed from her place which makes his film ethnicity. -Richard Mowe Kidman, Downey Jr. wrap upper-class upbringing. visually arresting. themselves in juicy roles With his face is covered for In the heart of Baghdad, most of the film, Downey Jr. ir-year-old Mohammed The Fountain Distributor: Sony expresses emotions through Haithem works as a mechanic Long-gestating Fountain Cast: Nicole Kidman, Robert Downey to support his family. He drowned by own intent Jr., Ty Burrell, Harris Yulin and Jane his eyes, giving Lionel sophis- Alexander tication and sensitivity. In dodges burning buildings and Distributor: Warner Bros. Director: Steven Shainberg one of her best performances, roadside rubble while becom- Cast: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Screenwriter: Erin Cressida Wilson Kidman impressively depicts ing swept up in rising anti- Ellen Burstyn, Sean Gullette, Sean Producers: William Pohlad, Laura the intensely emotional American sentiment and the Patrick Thomas, Donna Murphy and Bickford, Bonnie Timmermann and Mark Margolis Andrew Fierberg journey of Diane's self-discov- Shia/Sunni conflicts. Moham- Director/Screenwriter: Darren Aronofsky Genre: Drama ery. Restless and constricted, med's Baghdad is a city caught Producers: Eric Watson, Arnon Rating: R for graphic nudity, some Diane is drawn to Lionel and between an idealized past, an Milchan and lain Smith sexuality and language his friends, developing a deep uneasy and volatile present Genre: Sci-fi fantasy Running time: 122 min. empathy with her future and a truly uncertain future. Rating: R for some violence Release date: November 10 photographic subjects. No Further south, in the Running time: 96 min. Release date: November 22 Described as "An Imaginary matter how strange Diane's Shiite-controlled area near experiences become, director Najaf, a young commander of Portrait of Diane Arbus," Fur Darren Aronofsky's Steven Shainberg (Secretary) the Moqtada al-Sadr brigades uses fictional characters and troubled and long-anticipated grounds Fur in the deepening (now one of the most power- events to show her early de- metaphysical project center- bond between Diane and Lio- ful and infamous forces in velopment as a photographer ing on the theme of man's nel. Ultimately, though, Fur the country) leads a religious of unconventional subjects. In quest for immortality finally is fascinating but incomplete. sweep of the area, imposing 1958 Diane (Nicole Kidman, emerges as too fevered and The film concludes when religious law with as much in another risk-taking role) convoluted, marking a double Diane begins taking photo- force as necessary. Assuming assists her husband Allan (Ty disappointment coming from graphs and so lacks a sense of control over the region, the Burrell) in his photography the director of Pi and Requiem the reaction to her work and armed Islamicists take over studio. In their apartment for a Dream. Aronofsky sets his her importance to modern open markets and imprison Diane, Allan and their two sprawling tale in three differ- photography. -EdScheid suspected merchants of daughters prepare for a fash- ent epochs and preaches the alcohol. Detainees and their ion show of the newest furs ultimate lesson that "death, as impoverished families are from the department store part of the process of rebirth, Iraq in Fragments witnessed begging for mercy owned by her parents (Harris is to be embraced, not feared." Three-part opus portrays from this new faction. Yulin and Jane Alexander, The eternal search at the postwar Iraq And, for a father-and-son who is particularly effective film's over-pulsating heart pair in the Kurdish north, life as Diane's disapproving moth- Distributor: Typecast comes via a "tree of life." It passes by a bit more simply, er).

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