A country and a family on the road to ruin in Syllas Tzoumerkas' Greek drama, A BLAST

What was it like to have been a citizen of Greece back in 2014, when the film under consideration here -- A BLAST -- was first released? In it, we watch, semi-hypnotized by the behavior -- crazy, highly sexual, and not very loving -- of the family members we encounter. Even when they appear to be trying to approximate kindness, most of their actions comes out as either passive-aggressive or full out angry. And why not, since their country is headed for, if not already completely mired in financial ruin. As the whipping boy for the IMF and World Bank, Greece's employment rate was running at around 28 per cent, with the youth unemployment rate nearly double that. The family's personal lives and financial situation, we soon discover, are even worse.

As written and directed by Syllas Tzoumerkas (shown at left, and more recently the co-writer of that self-destructive doctor movie, Suntan), A Blast begins in media res, as we see a car racing through a forest near the sea, even as we hear a news report of a fire seemingly caused by arson. Tzoumerkas then flashes back to (sort of) happier days, and we see a pair of adults siblings playing/fighting at the beach, as exposition is dropped fairly speedily and well, prior to our meeting these young ladies' parents: mom, confined to a wheelchair but still apparently ruling the roost, along with a rather weak-willed dad.

Our star and heroine, Maria, is played by the oft-seen Greek actress Angeliki Papoulia (above and below, from Dogtooth, Alps and The Lobster), a beautiful woman who possesses a good body, expressive face and a fine array of acting chops. In this particular film however, Ms Papoulia proves mostly sex-crazed.

In one bizarre scene (above), she goes into a computer room full of men at work, turns on her computer to a porn site and proceeds to watch and listen, even as the poor guys around her find it, well, hard to concentrate on their own screen.

Her need for sex would seem to stem, at least in part, from the unavailability of her extremely handsome and hunky husband, Yannis (newcomer Vassilis Doganis, above and below), a Greek marine who's off at sea for much of the time. Yannis himself seems to be getting plenty of sex, even if his wife is not: We see him with a pretty black woman at one point (perhaps a prostitute), and then, having a very hot encounter with a male shipmate. Filmmaker Tzoumerkas makes certain we get, early on, a full-frame, full-frontal of his actor in the nude, and then intercuts often pieces of a soft-core sex scene (below) into his film's flashbacks. Thus we get plenty of the physicality of this rather amazing performer, whose first film this was, and who, according to the IMDB, has not been heard of since. Not to worry, what we see of him in A Blast should make Mr. Doganis a rather permanent fixture in some of our sexual memory banks.

As the family's fortunes wane further, and mom's misdeeds (that's Themis Bazaka in the role, below) become apparent, daughter Maria grows crazier and crazier. While Ms Papoulia does a bang-up job of creating this woman's disintegration, Mr. Tzoumerkas has not given us quite enough depth in his screenplay to make the movie into the tragedy that this kind of story probably deserves.

The family seems simply too crazy too soon, and so, even as more weird incidents pile up, our sympathy fails to be engaged past a certain surface point. The situation -- Greece's and the family's -- is certainly fraught and vitally important. Yet the handling of it all, while perhaps enough for the Greek audience that has by now lived through so much pain, austerity and other major crap, may not prove quite enough for those of us internationally who have yet to feel the ever-tightening vise of globalization and wealth inequality as wielded by the world's most powerful at their most damaging.

Perhaps a little less sex and a little more specificity regarding Greek life, family and otherwise, might have made this movie -- if less marketable internationally -- more meaningful and important.

From IndiePix Films and running a just-about-right 80 minutes, A Blast makes its U.S. DVD debut this coming Tuesday, August 22 -- for purchase and/or rental.

The Greece situation comes to partial life in Theopi Skarlatos & Paul Mason's hour-long documentary, ThisIsACoup

For those of us who followed, news-wise over the past years, the horrific "austerity" situation in Greece and (to a lesser extent) Spain, along with the behavior of the European Union in the case of Greece, which has appeared profoundly anti-Democratic and unnecessarily, even torturously punishing. The election in both countries of leftist, popular governments seemed to indicate a rise of the kind of Democracy that might put the people in power, rather than, as ever, the banking interests, the wealthy and the already powerful. Instead, the flame-out of Greece's radical left party, Syriza, seems to have left the country and its populace with one less alternative to even more ridiculous and harmful (to anyone except the wealthy) belt-tightening austerity.

What happened and why is the subject of a new four-part -- each part lasting around 15 minutes -- documentary titled #THISISACOUP, being released by Field of Vision, the new "film unit" created by Laura Poitras and others, in collaboration with The Intercept/First Look Media. Directed by Theopi Skarlatos and produced by Paul Mason, the series may prove somewhat eye-opening for anyone who did not follow the story as it was breaking and continuing. But for those of us who read the coverage in, say, The Nation, or The New York Times, the hour proves a distinct disappointment.

The idea that one could cover the whole thing in four fifteen minute episodes seems odd to begin with. Add to this the fact that the series seems to skirt along the surface, interviewing the same few people, including an actress/protester and a dock worker, over and over again. What? Among the protesters, nobody else had anything interesting to say? We also never get underneath the situation to discover what plan -- if any -- Alexis Tsipras (above), leader of the supposedly "radical left" party, Syriza, and the country's eventual Prime Minister, and his head of finance, Yanis Varoufakis (below, left), had ready (or even imagined in their minds) to put into place. No hard questions are asked of either man.

Instead, over the four segments, it seems that just about everyone (everyone we see here, at least) imagined that simply having the people vote against austerity would be enough to change the behavior of the European Union. Yeah, right. For whatever reason, the doc doesn't go into the possibility of dropping out of the European Union, leaving the Euro to return to the Drachma. (Sure there would be a huge "run" on the banks. But, hell, Syriza achieved that "run" anyway by doing little to nothing.)

In Part One, we are promised the Greek story from the inside, and indeed the filmmakers seem to have gotten great access to and support from Tsipras and Varoufakis. We see that, yes, we're all connected. But some, as usual, are connected a bit better than others.

Part Two tells us that most of the bailout money went to the banks, who were in large part responsible for the country's melt-down (does this sound familiar, Americans?), with only eleven per cent of the money going to the people themselves. (I don't think our country even managed that much for the American people, but then we were not nearly in the dire straits of the Greeks.) Syriza then passes a law to give food and electricity to the poor, and Europe responds by trying to stop this. The country's money is running out, and the populace has taken to the streets, demonstrating with placards the likes of "Jesus: Please Save Greece."

That populace becomes bitterly divided by Part Three, during which Tsipras, receiving no help from the EU, calls for a plebiscite. It happens, and the anti-austerity forces win (again). But in Part Four we see that this vote has no effect at all, except bringing the EU to force the Greek PM into even further concessions to austerity, after which Syriza's MPs resign and Tsipras, though still PM, is finished so far as any effective governing and positive change are concerned.

The documentary's most perspicacious sections deal with Zoe Konstantopoulou, a human rights lawyer and Syriza's most senior female MP, who has plenty to say. One wonders how she might have handled things differently from Tsipras. The point of the film seems to be that Greece tried Democracy, but that this did not matter to those in power at the EU. (Jesus seems not to have come through, either.) The IMF, by the way, has since halted its austerity stance, but the EU is still bent on policies that punish. So, now, as the doc points out, who knows to whom the Greek people will turn next? (The threat of the populace voting into power an ever-nasty, right-wing government is here implied.)

What the film accomplishes best is to ask that old question, once again: What kind of real change is possible without a definite plan and at least some power to back up that plan? Cuba, and to a lesser extent Venezuela, are accused of being dictatorships, and indeed they are/were. But they were also successful in many ways: They had a plan and the power to back it up. Evidently, Greece had only the chance to vote against something -- with nothing at all ready or able to replace that something.

We here in America (including me) voted for Obama, who despite his promises, proved to be thoroughly in bed with Wall Street and the banks, offering an administration about as transparent as a brick wall. (Let's not even try to go after the criminals in the Bush administration or on Wall Street. No, let's prosecute whistle-blowers instead!) In far too many so-called Western democracies, voting gets you a change of sleazy politicians, not a change of policies. Revolution, for all its attendant problems, brings real change -- for the better and the worse.

If you know little about Greece's current situation, then by all means, watch #ThisIsACoup. Just don't expect depth or even much common sense or political acuity from the people-in-charge, in front of or behind the camera. The program makes its debut on the Field of Vision site, this coming Tuesday, December 15, with a new episode added each day for the following three days. And, so far as I can determine, the viewing is free of charge. Click here for more information, and here to see the trailer for the first episode.

MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE, Marc Bauder's classy doc about a German sleaze, opens at AFA

What a guy! There will be times during the course of MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE -- the Austrian/German documentary in which ex-banker Rainer Voss tells a-lot-if-not-all about the current economic crisis as experienced from the European side -- when you'll feel like sticking your fingers into the eye sockets of Mr. Voss and simply pushing as hard as you can. Unless, of course, you yourself are a banker or European-equivalent Wall-Street sleaze. Then, depending on your particular level in the hierarchy, you'll do everything from snicker in fond reminiscence (if you were anywhere near Voss' level) or simply wave all this away as "old news" and utterly unimportant now (if you're closer to the top of your respective organization, à la  Lloyd Blankfein, CVS -- Chief Vampire Squid -- of Goldman-Sachs).

One of the more interesting scenes in this new film, released in Europe in the fall of last year, and now opening for a week's run here in New York City at Anthology Film Archives, is that involving Jérôme Kerviel and Société Générale, the French multinational banking and financial services company for whom Kerviel worked and was eventually convicted of fraudulent trading, even though he claimed his practices were widespread within the company, and that making a profit resulted in the hierarchy's turning a blind eye. Under a little pressure from the film's director and co-producer Marc Bauder (shown above), Voss explains why traders get punished while the higher-ups never do.

Voss (shown above and below) also explains that in the old days, not that many years ago, when a share in a particular company was purchased, it was held on to for an average of four years. In our current times, that average is 22 seconds. What's the point -- other than to make a quick buck -- and where does this leave the company and whatever work it is supposed to be accomplishing? The film takes place in an empty building, not that long ago abandoned, in which one of those huge international bank/financial services companies used to be housed. The cinematography (by Börres Weiffenbach) is aces down the line. This movie at times looks better even than Cosmopolis. And the accompanying music (by Bernhard Fleischmann) works very well, too. But the center, the dead heart of the film, is Herr Voss' narration.

This guy tells us all about how to gyp your client, then excuses himself, contradicts himself, makes more excuses, and finally goes silent. This happens periodically. "You're always trying to get more out of me!" he exclaims at one moment to someone we assume is the filmmaker. Well, yes: That's the point, dear. Herr Voss began his career at around the time computers first came upon the scene, and so he smartly acquainted himself with this new machine, which helped his rise in the industry. The film's first half takes us up to the crash, the second half covers post-crash.

We learn a lot of interesting stuff along the way about our new "banking and investment services" industry. Lesson one would be this: Just because a transaction is highly complicated doesn't mean that it makes any sense. Regarding whether or not we're remotely "out of the woods" just yet: "It's going to blow up in our face; there's no way this is going to have a happy end."  We see our own American Congressional hearing, as congressmen try to pin Goldman-Sachs employees to the wall, and later we watch one of those "We want to help YOU!" commercials for a new German bank.

"The bigger the shit, the thicker the Corporate Responsibility Brochure," remarks Voss. In that case, this guy's CRB should be thickest of all, for he comes across as one cynical, self-satisfied son-of-a-bitch. But a smart one, it must be said, and one who has helped further lift the cloak of secrecy from the worthless (except to itself, of course) industry that has wrecked -- and continues to keep wrecking -- the world economy.

Master of the Universe -- in some English but mostly in German with English subtitles and running 88 minutes -- opens this Friday, June 6 (D-Day!) in New York City at Anthology Film Archives. You can check for performances times, tickets and directions by clicking the appropriate link.

If Don McKellar's THE GRAND SEDUCTION seems, sounds and looks awfully familiar...

...that's because a mere decade separates this new English-language film from its French-language predecessor, of which it is a remake: La grande séduction (released here in the USA in 2004 as Seducing Dr. Lewis). Having now seen and enjoyed both films, they really don't seem that different -- except for the language spoken, the casts and the film-making crew. The only prominent name I recognize from both is that of Ken Scott, who wrote the original and is credited as co-writer, with Michael Dowse, on the new version. The director is one of my favorite Canadian filmmakers, Don McKellar (whose Last Night remains the best film ever made about the end of the world).

TrustMovies was initially surprised that Mr. McKellar, shown at right, would choose a project like THE GRAND SEDUCTION, which is about as mainstream/
independent as storytelling gets: utterly old-fashioned and feel-good as all heck. After all, this actor/writer/
director is more often involved with edgier, satirical stuff (like Childstar or his legendary performance in the Canadian TV classic Slings and Arrows). Still, the fellow recently reached the half-century mark so maybe the onset of age and maturity has given him an appreciation of things a tad more traditional and conventional. Whatever: McKellar proves a fine helmer of this sweet, funny tale of a harbor island town and its tiny populace who lie, cheat, and bribe their way to success.

Success for this little town, by the way, means finding a doctor (played by Taylor Kitsch, above) willing to set up shop permanently, so that a large corporation that has chosen the town as one of its "finalists" will then build a promised factory there that can employ its long out-of-work men and women. The biggest difference between the earlier film and the current one has almost nothing to do with the film-making process (both are handled professionally: well written, directed and acted) and everything to do with the current economy of most of the world.

With unemployment on the rise and money scarce, so much has changed since 2003 when the first of the two films was made. Our current state of affairs gives the new film an extra charge of anger and sadness because, as it clearly pointed out in the course of the film, the new factory that supposedly recycles waste material will simply be a sop to environmen-talists by showing that the corporate world -- yes, the same one that already controls everything -- actually "cares" about the environment.

Still, the new mayor of the village (the always fine Brendan Gleeson, above and below) knows that the factory will at least employ him and his mates, and so he sets about corralling the populace to do anything and everything to convince the doctor of what a fine little village this is and how much he will want to be a part of it.

All this leads to lies large and small, of every sort, from sports to love to even proving to the factory hotshots that the village has double its actual population. (The morality here would definitely fall under "the ends justify the means" philosophy.) This is silly but generally endearing and because McKellar uses a deft hand at not overdoing things -- this is especially true of the relationship between the doctor and what seems to be the town's only attractive woman (Liane Balaban) -- we follow along and buy into this very large wad of tasty taffy.

The Grand Seduction -- from EntertainmentOne, running 112 minutes, and featuring particularly lovely opening and closing segments -- hits theaters this Friday, May 30. In Los Angeles it opens at The Landmark in West L.A. and in New York City, at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema.

Here's a new male sex symbol: John Turturro & Woody Allen star in Turturro's FADING GIGOLO

Who'd have thought it? John Turturro as the sexiest guy currently on theater screens (well, starting this Friday, at least). It's true. In the new movie FADING GIGOLO, the actor/director plays a part-time florist named Fioravante, whose friend and mentor, Murray (Woody Allen), begins pimping him out as a by-the-hour lover to wealthy women in need. If this sounds a little skeevy and untoward, it turns out not to be -- for a couple of good reasons. Number one is Mr. Turturro himself, who brings such warmth, kindness, honesty and -- yes -- quiet, non-pushy sex appeal to the table (and bed) that he wins you over rather spectacularly. Number two: the prostitute here is an adult male, strong but never threatening, which removes from the equation the usual fear for the welfare of the female hooker, should she encounter a dangerous john.

Oh, and did I mention that the movie is a comedy? It's often a pretty funny one, too, what with Mr. Allen playing himself (while simultaneously giving you the opportunity to see him as the little sleaze you may imagine him to be) and delivering a number of his usual funny one-liners. As writer/director, Turturro (shown above) outdoes much of Allen's work hands down. He's more interested in visuals and composition than Woody ever was (though his cameramen sometimes were).

As a writer -- are all those lines out of Allen's mouth Turturro's creations? -- the filmmaker offers up a story that explores current and important themes: the continuing disappearance of jobs and how regular folk might earn a living off something besides health care, part-time labor and those mostly non-existent corporate profits and other investments that seem to accrue only to the 99 per cent.

When Murray's dermatologist (Sharon Stone, above) remarks casually that one of her friends (Sophia Vergara, shown at bottom) and she would like a threesome, if only they knew a willing guy, Murray goes into action and up comes Fioravante, eventually servicing these gals like a pro -- only better. Ms Stone is back to looking like the glamour gal we remember, rather than the very interesting character roles she's been doing of late (Lovelace, Alpha Dog), while Ms Vergara does her usual vah-vah-voom with expected relish.

The real female surprise of the movie is Vanessa Paradis, at right, who seems to consistently surprise with each new role (compare her work in this film with that of Café de Flore and Heartbreaker). Here she plays Avigal -- a Hasidic widow, depressed and ripe for release -- and she brings to the movie its strongest performance and a character worth knowing. The role also allows us to meet her unasked-for protector, a local cop in the Brooklyn Hasidic neighborhood, played well, as always, by Liev Schreiber (below, right, manhandling Mr. Allen), who brings his own brand of pushy strength to the proceedings, nicely counteracting Turturro's quieter model.

Sure, the movie's not great (it's somehow too thin for that) and yet, scene for scene, there's not a ringer in the bunch. Performances are too on-target not to keep us glued, while the writing is generally clever enough to have our ears alert and the direction visually interesting so that our eyes don't tire.

It is particularly good to see Mr. Allen in someone else's movie once again (this doesn't happen often), and it's always good to see Turturro in just about anything (he's appearing again soon in a supporting role in the dark comedy/drama, God's Pocket -- more of which in the days to come). The accompanying music is well-chosen and delivered, and technically everything is up to snuff.

Fading Gigolo, from Millennium Entertainment, opens this Friday, April 18, in New York City at the City Cinema 1,2,3; at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema and the Angelika Film Center.  In the Los Angeles area, the film will show at The Landmark and Pacific's ArcLight Hollywood.

Streaming tip: Jacob Kornbluth and Robert Reich's important doc, INEQUALITY FOR ALL

Former U.S. Secretary of Labor (for the Clinton administration) Robert Reich is a man on a mission: to raise the consciousness of the American people as to the ever-widening and grossly unhealthy economic gap between the uber-rich and everyone else. Anyone who follows the news these days can hardly be unaware of all the talk about this gap. Yet what is actually consists of, how it happened and why it is so damned important seems to elude far too many of our populace, including many voters, who might -- if they understood things properly -- "throw the bums out."

With the help of filmmaker Jacob Kornbluth (shown at left), Mr. Reich, whose generally fine and important writing and ideas appear regularly as part of the Reader Supported News service, has now given us a very good documentary, INEQUALITY FOR ALL, which first appeared last year at various film festivals and also had a limited theatrical release via TWC/Radius last fall. Because the film is now available via Netflix streaming, there's no reason to miss it -- even if you think you already know everything the movie is going to say.

You may indeed know much of what you'll hear, but I think you'll find the presentation bracing enough to keep you interested, angry and eager to do something about this increasing and unhealthy inequality.

Mr Reich -- a short little man (see his photo with his director, at right) who is happy to explain what his small stature is called in medical circles -- is also a teacher and has been for years. From what we see and hear here, he's a very good one and a popular one, too.

The movie is made up of some of his in-class teaching, interviews with various Americans, charts (below), animation, statistics and archival materials (further below) -- all wrapped around the idea of what the increasing inequality is doing to the middle class and the poor.

America was not always like this, and Reich takes us back to the relatively golden, post WWII years up into the 1970s, when Ronald Reagan and the Republicans put a stop to middle class gains, unions and other things that helped make America a working democracy. Stagnant wages for the employed are every bit as important as obscene earnings, and Reich shows how all this came about, too.

The movie is important and although it's now two years old, it's unfortunately all too current, still. So, take a look, get on board and see what you can do about bringing things back to some kind of fairness, when owners made -- sure -- ten, even twenty, times what their employees earned. But not one hundred times -- or more.

Inequality for All, running 89 minutes, is available now via Netflix streaming, Amazon Instant Video, or on DVD.

In BLUE JASMINE, Allen and Blanchett channel Blanche DuBois via Mrs. Madoff

Woody Allen just keeps rolling 'em out. And while he doesn't really repeat himself (I don't think any alert viewer would mistake one of his films for another), it may be that he cranks these out a little too quickly, relying as ever on happenstance and coincidence to make the connections that real life can seldom provide. This works best in the comedy and rom-com genres, where we expect -- hell, we want -- our happy endings. When too-easy coincidence occurs in drama (whether it tilts toward the happy or unhappy makes little difference), the whole thing begins to look too much like a set-up.

So it is with BLUE JASMINE, which is saved, as Allen's films often are, by first-class casting and acting. As a writer, the guy seems to grow sloppier, while directing-wise he's even less fussy than in the old days and so more on-the-mark. Notice how he handles the repeated back-and-forth of time frames to present and past. These are sharp, clear and focused so that we quickly know where we are and whether it's now or then. It's as though he's telling us, "Look I don't have time to erect all the signposts; just follow along!" And we do.

What we follow here is the tale of an entitled, sleazy and basically nasty woman named "Jasmine" (she's changed to that name from something more prosaic), played by Cate Blanchett, above, whose marriage and fancy, moneyed life have recently collapsed. She's left New York City and the Hamptons for the much simpler and more affordable(!) world of San Francisco. This location shows how out-of-touch Mr Allen is with where working people can afford to live, but I guess the midwest would not have been as much fun for him to film. San Francisco is the home of her lower-class sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins, below, left, with Andrew Dice Clay, who plays -- and very well -- her former husband).

Fully one-third to one-half of the film is set in the past, so we really get to see who Jasmine was, as well as who she remains -- even though her circumstances have turned upside down. Allen is crafting here a morality tale for our time -- the financial crisis and the economic downturn -- in which the great wealth of Jasmine's husband (Alec Baldwin, below, center, and fine, as usual) was evidently derived from fakery (think Bernie Madoff).

Yet the filmmaker's grasp of how the hoi polloi live is awfully limited. Even the manner in which Jasmine earns her living as a "worker" -- a short spell with an odd dentist (the amusing Michael Stuhlbarg) and then, nothing -- indicates that Allen has little understanding of or interest in how most of us pay our bills.

Ditto his creation of "working men" like Ginger's new boyfriend (the wonderful Bobby Cannavale, above, left) and his best friend (Max Casella, above, right) who remain walking, talking clichés. That Cannavale and Casella walk and talk damn well, goes some distance toward camouflaging this. But there are times when, watching Cannavale act, you think, God, he must have been dying for a bit of decent dialog! But none of the characters here, save Jasmine, are given any depth by their author.

Around the time Peter Sarsgaard (above) appears (then rather quickly disappears), the coincidences really hit home. Through it all, Ms Blanchett delivers a spot-on performance, with every moment real (and often grating). Cate's too smart an actress to try to sugar-coat her character, who is, let's face it, a horror who just keep growing more horrible. That the actress has played -- and quite well, I am told -- Blanche DuBois could only have helped her performance -- which is some kind of wonderfully strange concoction of Blanche and a character somewhat like Mr. Madoff's wife (but younger), who could not have helped but know what her husband was up to on some level but ignored it all to bask in the wealth. At this point in our film year, Blanchett would seem a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination.

Blue Jasmine is a lot of fun, though it is not particularly funny, as in ha-ha. (That's Louis C.K. with Ms Hawkins, above.) It is light on its feet, as shallow movies with weighty themes sometimes are. I think Allen may not have intentionally gone after a character study, but that's what, thanks mostly to Blanchett, he has achieved. It's a good one, too -- even memorable -- though everything else here pales beside it.

The movie, from Sony Pictures Classics and running 98 minutes, opens this Friday, July 26, in New York City (at the Angelika Film Center, City Cinemas 123, Lincoln Plaza Cinema), in Brooklyn (at the BAM Harvey Theater) and in Los Angeles (at The Landmark and perhaps elsewhere). From there, a national rollout will follows in cities across the U.S.