ONE-TWELFTH OF THE YEAR AT A GLANCE: MARCH |
MOVIES: Is this the tale for our times? Hugo Weaving—famously an agent of the system in The Matrix—does a 180 to star as a terrorist antihero battling a totalitarian system in V for Vendetta (March 17). Cultural critic James Wolcott calls this latest from Matrix creators the Wachowski brothers (this time as writers and producers) "the most subversive cinematic deed of the Bush-Blair era." We'll take that as a thumbs up. Adapted from Alan Moore's graphic novel about a near-future Britain, V for Vendetta was directed by James McTeigue and costars a shaved-headed Natalie Portman. Spike Lee's Inside Man (March 24) is a slick heist thriller with a top-notch cast—Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster (head unshaven, alas)—that marks the director's return to the mainstream after 2004's ill-received She Hate Me. There's no telling what was shaved in the making of Basic Instinct 2 (March 31). Now 48, Sharon Stone returns for more sex and (literal) back-stabbing as ice queen Catherine Trammell. For some reason, Michael Douglas stayed home.
MUSIC: Maybe you've got one of Neko Case's racy pool-hall pix as the background on your PC. Or maybe you just dig the alt-country goddess' Virginia twang. Either way, you're sure to want Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (March 7), Case's first studio effort in four years. If, like most folks, you stopped caring about Prince's albums about 10 years ago, 2004's Musicology was an unexpected bolt from the heavens. Steamy leadoff single "Black Sweat" suggests follow-up 3121 (March 21) could be even better. Remember when New York's Liars were spastic dance-punks, earning fringe airplay with the catchy "Mr. You're on Fire Mr."? The German transplants forge on with the challenging sonic strangeness of sophomore effort They Were Wrong, So We Drowned on third full-length Drum's Not Dead (March 21).
THE 1-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW |
There & Then: The Travel Writing of James Salter ($15): One of the falsities of travel literature is that we lurch into strange lands, eyes turned outward. Truth is, travel turns us inward. So, in There & Then, Salter attends mostly to shades of light and mood. Here are a visit to the Hamptons and a biking trip in Japan as experienced by a literary impressionist. As a result of Salter's light touch, some of these pieces read like prose poems. His essays on France are the only sour note, their snobbery curdling to something slightly acidic.
DVDs |
Pride & Prejudice (PG) (4 stars)
$29.98
Domino (R) (3 stars)
$27.98
Watching Pride & Prejudice and Domino back-to-back defines what it means to go from the sublime to the ridiculous. If it weren't for the sterling presence of Keira Knightley, the only thing the two movies would have in common is the country of birth of their directors, England. Knightley's precise portrayals of two very different young women prove just how much she's grown in the years since she played the decoy to Natalie Portman's Queen Padme Amidala in Star Wars: Episode One. Knightley isn't the whole show in Joe Wright's splendid adaptation of the Jane Austen classic, but her Oscar-nominated performance alone is easily worth the cost of a rental. Flash forward a century or two, from Georgian England to post-Tarantino LA, and you have Domino. The film expands on the legend of Domino Harvey, the privileged daughter of an iconic actor (Lawrence Harvey) who turned her back on Hollywood to pursue a career as a bounty hunter. In action-maestro Tony Scott's hands, Domino rather quickly discards the trappings of the biopic genre, and leaps headlong into the realm of gonzo mythology. The movie's definitely nutso, but action freaks and meth heads will find it great fun. Indeed, Domino probably makes far more sense now, on DVD, than it did in its theatrical release. Both DVDs arrive with excellent making-of featurettes and interesting background pieces. They include an interview with Domino Harvey, shortly before her death.