REVIEWS

Giovannie Pico

Welcome back, Giovannie!
www.giovannie.com
Giovannie Pico earned her Hollywood merits via her role as medical student Ludlow in NBC's long-running hospital drama "E.R." She has appeared in four "ER" episodes.She has also appeared as Rose Alipio on Fox's Bones and "Karen" in the Gilmore Girls.
This Tondo, Manila born actor has also been cast in various internationally-produced independent films. Giovannie played the female lead in the local movie "American Yearbook" where she marched away with the role despite the fact that the producers originally wanted a Caucasian actress for the part. She is a domestic violence awareness and prevention activist, donating her time by directing benefit productions of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco.

ANGEL-A
A Film by Luc Besson
Opens in Bay Area Theatres June 1

Reviewed by Giovannie Pico

A is for Absolutely brilliant. For the record, I am also absolutely biased.
I have always loved Luc Besson’s work since I saw his film, “Leon,” when he paired the the young coquettish Natalie Portman with the rough wisdom of Jean Reno. I was only 15 at the time, but he shaped my view of women. I loved the strength that he gave to women in his movies - that women could be the sweet, innocent creatures that can be brutally lethal when needed and not lose any of their sensuality...that they could be the heroines of the story as well, strong yet vulnerable.

When most people think of Besson’s work, whether it is something he has directed himself (Nikita, The Fifth Element), written (Kiss of the Dragon, Unleashed), or produced (Transporter, District B13) - they think of high octane action scenes with lots of car chases and, of course, ethereal beautiful women. Angel-A seems to reveal a softer, more pensive side of Besson. Cinematically, the movie is breathtaking...every scene is picture postcard perfect in black and white - a considerable feat since according to the press packet, the film was shot almost guerilla style at times with a small crew driving around Paris and stopping to film only when Besson, with the camera on his shoulder, found a spot that he liked.

The story follows an unlikely friendship that develops between Angela, the mysterious femme fatale (Rie Rasmussen) and petty criminal Andre (Jamel Debboze) after a botched dual suicide attempt at a bridge overlooking the Seine river. Even though this is more of an “acting” movie, as opposed to an “action” flick as Besson’s fans might expect - I think Besson translated his expertise in pacing action scenes into pacing the unfolding of events in the story well. There weren’t any slow moments or any unnecessary “love me” (which are a personal pet peeve of mine...shots where the camera does a slow close up of an actor to “intensify” emotion). I was so involved with the movie that by the time it was over, I felt like I had been taken on a ride...I never once thought, “Wait...how many minutes is this supposed to last?”

This movie is on my top twenty list of all time favorite movies. It has something for everyone and teaches a message about self love in a way that will resonate for years to come. It’s an instant classic worthy of being Luc Besson’s last directing project (rumored).

Go see it. And then see it again and bring a friend. And when it comes out on DVD - go buy it, and buy one for a friend. Angela-A opens June 1st. Go see it. And yes, I just said it again.

Abderrahmane Sissako's BAMAKO

Produced by Danny Glover

Abderrahmane Sissako's BAMAKO
(115 mins. Opens June 1)

Review
by Giovannie Pico

I am a sucker for films that raise global awareness and actually have the intention of uplifting humanity by shedding light on situations that may be far removed from our everyday life. Being able to raise social consciousness and compassion by enabling the viewer to step in someone else’s shoes for a few moments is in my opinion the true power of film and television. This is the whole reason why I got into acting in the first place.
I was initially excited to see this film for two reasons: firstly, the synopsis states that “BAMAKO is brilliantly rises to the challenge of presenting a serious discussion of globalization, African debt and the World bank in a lively, entertaining feature film.” And, I have a weak spot for films that bring global issues to the forefront, and secondly, it was executive produced by Bay Area resident and celebrity, Danny Glover.

The film is mainly parable in nature, a trial between African civil society against international financial institutions like the World Bank and the IMF that is set in the courtyard of a home in Bamako, the capital city in Mali. Director Sissako used actual lawyers and local activists to participate in the trial / documentary portion of the story and actors during the fictional secondary stories of the neighborhood townsfolk. While the concept of having the trial between Africa as a nation and the global institutions like the World Bank set among the everyday life of the Mali people was surreal and brought home the point that decisions made by officials at a higher level literally translate to the life and death of family and community members, I never cared enough about the fictional characters in the film like Mele and Chaka to care about the points that Sissako is trying to make about how the local economy could be strengthened and the lechery of the World Bank. For this film to be more powerful and affect the consciousness of the Western world enough to make social changes, I think more of an effort could have been made in character and story development for the audience to become invested in the lives of the people whose story they are watching.

Overall, it was an informative documentary with about 20 minutes of unnecessary family home video. It opens June 1st at the Lumiere in San Francisco, the Shattuck in Berkeley, and the San Rafael Film Center in San Rafael. Go see it if you want another angle for your World Bank conspiracy theory, learn more about everyday life in Mali, or you just want to see Danny Glover make a cameo as a spaghetti western cowboy.

Tom Donald's background in advertising started at an early age, growing up in a household where his father spent 35 years in New York at one of the world's largest ad agencies, Young & Rubicam. Upon reaching adulthood, Tom decided to follow his star in the music business and began writing and producing jingles and background music for radio and TV commercials. After a couple of years, he found himself looking for a larger role in the creative process, and this led to a new career as writer

and creative director at several San Francisco-based ad agencies.

After a stint as creative director at Anderson Rothstein, a small San Francisco agency that specialized in food and beverage accounts, Tom joined Foote Cone & Belding as vp/group creative director. Following this stint, Tom took a position as creative director at Sun Microsystems for two years. A final agency stop was at Saatchi & Saatchi, where he was an associate creative director.
After years of writing commercials and videos, he decided to become a director. Since that time in 1995, he has directed (and in many cases, written) projects for diverse clients such as Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Adelphia Cable, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the San Francisco Giants, Wal-Mart, Pacific Bell, Partnership for a Drug-Free America, Plantronics, 1-800-Dentist, StatusFactory.com, Avaya, Crystal Geyser, Alzheimer's Association and San Francisco AIDS Foundation. His work has won many industry awards, including a number of ADDYs, Cindys and several mentions in CA Magazine. www.tomdonaldfilms.com

WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?
Director: Chris Paine

Reviewed by Tom Donald
7/1/06

This is a well-meaning, and well-crafted film. Though a casual observer of the American automotive scene might not have noticed, there was a groundswell of enthusiasm for an electric car, the EV-1, introduced by General Motors in the mid-90s. And when GM decided to stop producing it a few years later, apparently a number of people were quite unhappy. Many of them appear in “Who Killed the Electric Car?”

Perhaps this reviewer was the wrong person to evaluate this film, since polemics are not particularly our preference. We lean more toward stories well-told. However, precisely because of that predilection, we found ourselves enjoying “Who Killed the Electric Car?” Director Chris Paine does a good job in assembling the characters necessary to tell his story. We hear from EV-1 owners, folks that worked with GM to help promote the car and various industry and governmental heavyweights. There are even some lesser Hollywood celebs (Ed Begley, Jr., Peter Horton, Alexandra Paul) on hand.

Of course, the usual suspects are lined up to receive our scorn. Mr. Paine employs fancy, TV-style graphics to prosecute and convict the most obvious offenders, which include top execs at GM, various governmental toadies and other auto industry types. Misplaced and unproven innuendoes fly around the audience and if the screening we attended was any indication, nervous laughter soon follows. It’s all very Michael Moore and au courant, as though everyone present shares a common, deep-seated love for these funny-looking cars, coupled with a hatred for large US automobile companies.

It occurs to no one that the car itself, with its limited range and lack of speed, not to mention its odd, beetle-like styling, might not have been the best candidate for mainstream success. Or that after years of losing money on the project, GM tired of the red ink and decided to turn its attention to more profitable endeavors. But that’s not the stuff of movies, especially movies such as this. And so the crusade continues.

This is the sort of insensate cinematic silliness that would normally drive us from the theater muttering about the ninety minutes we could never recover. But for some reason, we stayed and enjoyed ourselves. The movie manages to entertain us even as it casts its ham-handed aspersions. We know the story, or think we do. Big bad corporation kills the little guy, and that’s that. As a former teacher of ours once intoned, “You don’t have to be Superman to see that coming around the corner.” And so we did, with its high beams flashing and horns blowing. Yet the movie stays the course, never lingers too long, makes us laugh, and perhaps most importantly, provides a human element to the story of this sad little car. It may be just another tale of lost love, but somehow Mr. Paine turns it into a pretty good ride.

San Francisco International Film Festival

ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL
A film by Terry Zwigoff
Reviewed by Tom Donald
4/26/06, SFIFF
Opening in Bay Area Theatres: May, 2006

This is the kind of mediocre film that gives the indie world a bad name. It's got everything the brand-name critics decry whenever they go on their periodic rants against self-indulgent, look-at-me filmmakers.

"Art School Confidential" has no idea what it wants to be. Is it a comedy, a love story, a thriller or some well-meaning but yawning comment on contemporary attitudes about art? With no discernible throughline to the story, the movie fails.

Beyond that, it's poorly made, with atrociously shoddy mechanics for an established Hollywood filmmaker. We've not seen lighting this unflattering since "Chasing Amy," and that was as bad as it gets. There are some randomly good performances here and there, but they're so occasional and off-kilter it's as though the director stayed in his trailer taking phone calls during most of the shoot. Yes, John Malkovich is very good as the failed painter/professor, but Mr. Malkovich could read the proverbial phone book in sotto voce and the craft service person at the far end of the set would get it. Same for Steve Buscemi as a café owner, in what looks to be a largely tossed-off, improvised role. The editing doesn't work, either, with an odd, jumpy style that doesn't match the tone of the story. There's a self-consciously funny scene, in which a student filmmaker sits at a Final Cut Pro system (bless Apple's heart, they even manage to get product placement in truly awful movies), speechless after watching the cut of an especially bad scene in his especially bad student film. A few forced laughs echoed through the theatre, but speechless would be a good encapsulation for the reaction of most people asked to give up two hours of their lives to witness this film.

In this reviewer's opinion, "Art School Confidential" represents nothing so much as a wasted opportunity, especially since Mr. Zwigoff is capable of so much more. "Ghost World" was one of the best films of 2001, but unfortunately, this is no "Ghost World." Even "Bad Santa" had its fans. On the other hand, two of three ain't bad.

San Francisco International Film Festival
PLAY
A film by Alicia Scherson
Reviewed by Tom Donald
4/28/06, SFIFF
Opening in Bay Area Theatres: TBD

The plodding and ultimately flat new film from writer/director Alicia Scherson of Chile is inexplicably entitled “Play.” (The movie is neither playful nor does it involve any discernible form of athletics.) Set in Santiago, it’s the story of a heartsick husband (Tristan) who cannot bear separation from his gorgeous social butterfly of a wife, Ilene. In the brief exposition of their life together Ilene exhibits no particular love or indeed, profound feelings for Tristan and it’s therefore difficult to understand why dissolution of the marriage would send this man quite so over the edge as is seen here.

Following Ilene’s histrionic exit, Tristan spends his time in various pursuits, including crawling back into bed at 9 am, drinking to inebriation and bespeaking sorrowful thoughts, such as “So many things have to be sad.” It’s all rather annoying and at this stage of the film, this reviewer found himself looking at his watch several times. Finally, something happens when we are introduced to an indigenous young Mapuche woman, Cristina, whose beautiful visage comprises the most interesting element in the movie. She works as a caretaker for the elderly, bedridden Don Milos, who is dying yet appears to have come to terms with his life and fate. In direct contrast, our much younger protagonist continues to wallow in his largely self-imposed world of suffering. In a series of random and not completely plausible events, Cristina meets Tristan and acts as a sort of witness to his incessant bouts of self-absorption and self pity. Finally, the nonstop self mortification takes its toll on Cristina, and the nascent couple parts. Or was it that Tristan simply decided he had not the strength to take on yet another burden? This reviewer can’t remember and chooses not to consult his notes any further.

One imagines that Ms. Scherson envisioned “Play” as a heartrending, contemporary urban drama about lost loves and missed connections, with one big, important “moment” after another. Unfortunately, although the moments are there aplenty, they’re neither big nor important, merely interminable.

San Francisco International Film Festival

PERHAPS LOVE
A film by Peter Ho-Sun Chan
Reviewed by Tom Donald
4/20/06, SFIFF
Opening in Bay Area Theatres: TBD

“Perhaps Love” is producer and sometime director Peter Chan’s latest effort. What a handsome, well-shot movie. What stirring musical numbers. What beautiful locations and nice-looking actors. And with compliments like that preceding it, it’s easy to write these words: What a unique and fulfilling movie.

Chan is a filmmaker with good credentials, to be sure. Fans might recall his US-based offering, “The Love Letter,” from 1999, or looking back to 1996, “Comrades, Almost a Love Story.” This film takes its place among those earlier releases and in the opinion of this reviewer, surpasses them.

Utilizing the time-honored “film with a film” creative device, Chan takes things one step further by making this a musical within a musical. Instead of hearing the actors take voice whenever they feel a song coming on, in “Perhaps Love” they do so only as required by the musical they’re shooting. While this offers a more profound sense of “reality” than watching Robert Preston march down Main Street on front of his trombones, the overall result might have been a certain distance between the actors, the story and the viewer. Fortunately, that’s not the case.

The story itself concerns a straightforward rendition of a threesome, though with some interesting differences. A director, Nie-wen, is shooting a musical in Shanghai about a young woman that loses her memory and ends up joining the circus as an acrobat, eventually falling in love with a gangster. However, her old lover comes back and tries to make her remember so they can begin their relationship anew. Nie-wen casts his girlfriend Sun-na as the young woman and in a twist, Lin Jiandong as her lover from years before. Nie-wen himself is the gangster. The twist is that Jiandong really was her lover. And off we go.

The story is told scene by scene, as one might expect, but with a variety of musical numbers intended to move the story along. Ultimately, what makes the film truly compelling are the subtle connections between the movie plot and the “real” plot. And this is where Chan shines, in elevating his actors’ performances and in weaving the twin narratives into a single story. In so doing, he transcends the musical category and turns “Perhaps Love” into a much deeper statement about love and the human condition.

Judged as a musical alone, this might not rank in the pantheon of the genre. But as a story, as a level of emotion rarely captured on film and as an overall cinematic accomplishment, “Perhaps Love” amply demonstrates that eager anticipation that preceded its release was well warranted.