Solaris

Hmmm. Ponderous. But let’s ponder some previews first. THE HOURS-Ok, now that we’ve slogged through a lot of crap this year due to the strikes that didn’t really happen, it’s time to get to the good stuff.

This is the story of three women in three different times: a completely unrecognizable Nicole Kidman (playing writer Virginia Woolf), Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore. Each is living their life for someone else (doctors, Ed Harris, and John C. Reilly respectively) and decide, because of Woolf’s work, that she doesn’t need to do that anymore.

It looks like a VERY good movie and, with that cast, it’s hard to believe that it could be anything less. And it’s already been called one of the best films of the year. But better casts and reviews have failed us before. Just have to wait and see.

CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND-Charlie Kaufman’s been busy lately. This is his second movie (after Adaptation) to come out this year. I’ve talked about this one before, but every preview makes it look better. Can’t wait for it. Hope Clooney can direct.

ANTWONE FISHER-Denzel Washington directs his first feature! And it’s a “psychologist heals a fucked up patient” flick. Yeah, it looks really good, but very ordinary. We’ve all seen this movie a million times in a million different locations (this time it’s a military base). But it’s a true story written by Antwone himself. And the acting looks very good. I’ll see it, but maybe on video.

Ok, now it’s time to remember this story’s second chance.

Back in 1972, Andrei Tarkovsky directed a long and EXTREMELY ponderous version of Stanislaw Lem’s sci-fi novel about a psychologist who was sent to a space station to figure out why the hell they were going insane. It ended up being a three hour Russian sci-fi epic. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It was a very good film if you can stand 5 minute scenes of traffic. In this case I could. I must have because I’ve seen it twice.

When I heard that James Cameron was thinking about remaking it, I was worried. How is Mr. Special Effects going to make a sci-fi movie that, by it’s very nature, is understated and has NO SFX?

Easy. Get Steven Soderbergh to direct instead. It seems like an odd choice, but he’s jumped all over the genre map, so it’s time for him to take on sci-fi.

And he does a great job, too. Not quite so long as the Tarkovsky film (over an hour shorter, actually), it still keeps its original intent of being a thinking man’s sci-fi film.

Chris Kelvin (George Clooney) is the psychologist sent to the space station just outside of some sort of space anomaly. The crew was supposed to study it as a possible source of energy. Instead it has become a source of insanity in the crew.

Kelvin meets a spacey cadet scientist named Snow (a slightly annoying Jeremy Davies) and a frightened but tough doctor named Helen Gordon (Viola Davis from Traffic). They both tell him that they can’t really explain what’s happened until he’s experienced it for himself. But all of the other crew (including a friend of his) is dead. What happened?

That night Kelvin, of course, experiences it for himself. His wife, Rheya (Natascha McElhone from The Truman Show and Ronin) visits him that night. Thing is, she killed herself a few months before.

And things only go downhill from there.

There are no answers in this movie. Only questions. That’s why I think it won’t last more than two weeks in the theatre. The American public isn’t ready for that kind of sci-fi film anymore. They want action and special effects. This one has more SFX than the original, but it’s only the anomaly itself. No laser blasts. No explosions. Only thoughtful dialogue and memorable scenes. This story isn’t about the deaths of those people. There’s no mystery in that. What it’s really about is memory and our need for second chances.

Clooney was great as the flustered and guilt driven hero. He didn’t show the usual charm and fun that his persona tends to exude. This time he kept that under control and showed us that he can really act without charming us. And Natascha has a strange sort of sexuality. She’s great as the dead wife who doesn’t really realize that she’s dead. Although Natascha isn’t your normal run-of-the-mill beautiful, she’s sexy as hell and I can see why Kelvin would fall for her as fast as he did.

It’s a great movie that ordinary fucking people just won’t quite get. If you’re up for a 2001 type film, check it out and try to keep it in the theatres for a little while. It’s worth it.

One quick thing that I noticed that I’m not sure a lot of the ten people in the theatre noticed: in one of the flashback scenes, one of the people that Kelvin is talking to, when they are out of frame, says, “The pope is a very nice woman.” Interesting. I’m surprised that no Catholics have screamed about it. Then again, they probably didn’t go see the movie anyway. Nice little throwaway line.