Film Reviewing - The Luminous Way

The massive amounts of publicity are seeking to lure you into over-priced theaters to watch a LIE made into a "major motion picture" - one that simply MUST be overlooked for every honor Hollywood has to offer (except, maybe, the Razzies!)
Specialty cable channels have been debunking it - at least - these past few weeks, with special documentaries making it very clear that all of the outrageous claims made in Dan Brown's book and central to the movie's plot are completely fabricated and absolute utter lies. The Priory of Sion is a 1956 invention, weaved by another fake (Pierre Plantard) - Leonardo Da Vinci was never a member. DNA testing has proven, without a shadow of a doubt, that there is no trace of a genetic link between "Jesus' people" and the Merovingian royalty... (The DNA expert, ironically, used the expression "it would take a miracle" to bridge that sort of gap and find a genetic link there!)
I could go on...
But I won't (not here anyway).
Instead, I will encourage people to ignore the Da Vinci Crap and look towards unpraised gems of the cinematic past - and today, I call to your attention one particular gem, from 1993 (that year, again...) and I point out to you that a PREQUEL was made and released straight to video in 2005...
Because this film did need -and was so very worthy of- some kind of continuation... any kind. (Yes, it is - it is one of those movies where you wish you could rewrite the ending - where you wish something could be done for the main character so he could that elusive paradise - Paraiso - he so often refers to all throughout the flick... Ah, well - atypical unhappy endings reflect reality in many, many ways...)
So, don't head to the over-priced theaters; head to the video clubs instead!
Again, as before, this post serves as a preview of an IMDB review by yours truly - and while you check it out, check out also some of the lines from the movie - such dialogue is rarely as acceptable as when it is exchanged between quality actors in a quality film based upon a quality book too! AND directed by a quality director as well - second only, in my book, to the great Scorsese! Ron Howard can only DREAM of being up there with these guys... Audrey Tautou may be perkier but she has not the substance of a Penelope Ann Miller. And Tom Hanks, my man - he's still no Pacino in his prime. I dare even suggest that Benny Blanco is a better villain than that awful albino in the Code crapfest! See now; if you follow my advice, you will win out on every level! A better film - with none of the crap attached to it! Those are extras no moviegoer or film buff should be looking for... ever.

What an underrated yet truly great film! The Brian De Palma-Martin Bregman-Al Pacino association sparks obvious comparisons to 1983's Scarface, their first collaboration - however 1993's CARLITO'S WAY is
the richer film in so many important ways. It has so much subtext, emotion, delves far deeper into the mind and even the soul of its main character with the result that Carlito Brigante becomes someone you root for and care about - which was not necessarily true about Tony Montana, despite his gory end in "Scarface"...

The name "Brigante" makes one who speaks French immediately think of "brigand" - a bandit from the gutter right there. The irony here is that it is the name of the reformed criminal and very much worthy human being that we wind up 100% behind in his hopeless quest for a brand new life... a future... and el paraiso.

The romantic scenes were an oasis of bliss amidst the grisly world and
tangled web that was weaving itself around Carlito as the movie
unfolded (thanks to Carlito's crooked counselor but also, quite
ironically too, thanks to Carlito's own willingness to reform and "be
good"...) Verily, the romance with Gail (what a luminous -what else-
performance by Penelope Ann Miller) is what humanizes this film.
Whereas Scarface was soulless almost, cold and all about the
underworld, this film has a soul and this romance is it. She is the angel who can lead the way to the dream of El Paraiso for Carlito - the sharpest contrast there could be; he dresses in black and she is blonde, with a porcelain complexion and ethereal almost! The problem is that she is not the only ethereal presence in the film, and the other one is a ghastly one that haunts him and will never go away until it destroys him. That ghost finds an eerie embodiment in "Benny Blanco" (another -of many reasons- to hate John Leguizamo; this role right here!) and Carlito will pay the price for sparing someone that could come back to haunt and hurt him... This unfortunate bit is my lone gripe against this masterpiece; but a happy ending would have cheapened this ode to the human frailty, probably...

For, indeed, Carlito's Way has a message - and that message is that, no
matter what we do, we cannot escape what we are - "our way"- and we are
destined to follow the course of that until the end. No matter what our
intentions are.

The supporting cast is phenomenal here, Penelope Ann Miller and Sean
Penn especially. Special mentions go to Luis Guzman and even one Viggo
Mortensen, who is far from his Aragorn form here - which only proves
that he has some range... He is no Pacino, but then again few are... or
ever will be.

Think of it: Al Pacino has played it all; here, he is the fallen one
seeking redemption. And achieving it, though not in the happy ending
formulaic way. This same splendid thespian has played the same type of
role before - and none were quite alike! Each role has his unique feel
and proper substance. Pacino even played the fallen angel who will
never seek redemption and he was MORE than believable in that role as
well! Truly, he is one of the GREAT ONES. And Penelope Ann Miller holds
her own opposite this great thespian. Unlike what many have said, she
was NOT miscast here. AT ALL. She hits every note she has to hit, in a
truly luminous performance. I would say that she has the same
attributes too; every role she undertakes, she gives it a new twist,
even if only through some small, almost imperceptible nuances and nothing else, making it all, in the end, new and fresh. One has only to compare all of her previous roles - Gail is unique. And beautiful - not just to Carlito either. That old Joe Cocker song never found a better subject to "give it life" than this character right here.

This film does leave us with a sad ending though - a lyrical one but
one we were hoping not to see. Gail's fears and words come true in the
end - and it is bitter irony to realize that we could have had the
"happy ending" here only if Carlito had kept his "way" like it used to
be - ruthless all the while through.

  Now, sometimes, Luminous (\ô/) Luciano uses a penname... don't you know? Here is an example, but an example, of what that produced... 

It looked better on the site of origin, I can tell you that! Copying and pasting is a no-no, but this is MINE, I assure thee; and the website is gone now, anyways...

So is the use and usefulness of using this penname, too.

The Corvini Inheritance (1986)
by luc poirier (my penname for Gather.com and from yesteryear as well)
January 24, 2007 03:07 AM EST (Updated: January 24, 2007 03:13 AM EST) to group: Movies & Film Corpstags: reviews, movies - digg it del.icio.us

Directed by G. Beaumont

And starring David McCallum, Jane Francis and Terence Alexander.

This one may be a trifle hard to find, as it dates back 21 years and was made for British television to boot. It is part of a series of films that paired up numerous fine talents (other films had starred David Carradine and Stephanie Beacham; Mary Crosby and Nicholas Clay; Jenny Seagrove and Dirk Benedict; Hannah Gordon and Peter Graves) in well-crafted mini-thrillers each 90 minutes in length. The series was "Hammer House" - a sort of Masterpiece Theater for the Hammer Films tradition! Yes, you read right - Hammer Films! Ironically enough though, none of these films would feature vampire horror, as Hammer had pretty much run the genre to its grave, no pun intended... (It was a temporary demise anyways - for we all know that everything old is eventually new again and trends return, one day...)

Still, no one can deny that the Hammer style was perfection in itself. It still stands on its own as a masterful way to package the supernatural mystery suspense thriller and many of the currently successful projects in this genre owe a lot to it. The Christopher Lee Draculas and Ingrid Pitt Carmillas may have been past their time of glory, but the distinguished Hammer style will always be in fashion and au goût du jour - whatever the current trends may be!

Recognizing this, Hammer attempted a comeback in the mid-1980s on the small screen this time, with these 90-minute films rich in style and suspense, if not hemoglobin or special effects. Hammer Horror was never about gore anyways - it was always stylish, intelligent and refined fare that was, truly, well-suited for television and its censors. And so this series of films met with a certain success indeed. The Corvini Inheritance is a personal favorite of mine for it starred two under-appreciated stars, the true man from U.N.C.L.E. and the mesmerizing Jane Francis, who got a chance here to be the center of a piece and not merely supporting characters once more.

Without giving away the mystery, this is a twist on the curse of the Hope diamond as well as a haunting story in all the possible senses of the expression! The ending is a shocker and one feels for the main hero and heroine - for, aye, it is not a happy ending that we get! When one deals with curses and ghosts, it isn't so simple as the vampire getting the stake through the heart and crumbling to dust! Maybe it is the problem here as well - despite being a "refreshing" change of pace, the lack of happy endings here must have hurt the popularity of these films, hence, the demand for them. Whether vampire films or other things, Hammer films had always ended in a satisfactory fashion for the moviegoer. Maybe expecting the film viewer to be less demanding in that regard -or more of a realist- only because he is watching this for free at home, was not so logical after all. Still, just for the well-structured suspense, Jane Francis' acting and gorgeous eyes and that perennial good guy who never gets the breaks that David McCallum always embodied so well, I highly recommend this one. The directing is nearly flawless and that can only come from veteran directors, true artists and masters of their medium - all of which were always to be found in "Hammer House" - the house that Peter Cushing built!

"Child's Play" and "Mark of the Devil" are two other finely-honed suspenses in the series - the latter also featuring Burt Kwouk, famous for his Pink Panther role, in a decisively very different role...

If these are ever on some specialty channel (such as Sci-Fi) I suggest recording them - these are for keeps!

  And why not a sample of what my IMDB presence has been like...

This being one the stingiest, most virulent reviews of mine ever there... 

Once again copied and pasted straight onto here - with woeful results!

FROM MY PORTION OF "IMDB"...
My luminous and vindictive review of 2002's "MUSIC-HALL"...
The true star of this one is Michèle-Barbara Pelletier, one shining
beacon of hope from a new generation of Quebec actresses (along with
Isabel Richer and Céline Bonnier, most notably) who could have
international careers... But they probably won't because of their knack
to speak French the way they do (joual québécois, which is Quebec
slang) and their inability to speak English without a thick accent too.
Nonetheless, they have that star-quality to be huge - if only in
Quebec!

Virtually all of these talents have, in fact, been seen in
international productions - only, in very smallish roles. Even
Véronique Cloutier, who gets top billing here despite this being her
first and nearly only time acting really (unless one counts her
apologetic speeches during the scandalous revelations about her
pedophilic father, talent agent Guy Cloutier, as "performances" as
well...) - even "Vero" had previously been seen in a very small role in
"Frankenstein And Me", a forgettable piece of children's fare that was
nothing more than a cheap American production shot on Canadian soil to
save on production costs... Vero played a vampire in that one. Here, in
Music-Hall, she is just as believable as a full-of-herself little witch
as she can be in real life, I'm sure...

Patrick Huard really lets loose here - in one of his "carte blanche"
roles, he sets out to prove that he can play "something else". One can
only be mildly convinced since he usually is "nutso" in his numerous
talk-show appearances - so what is really new here? The extreme edgy
side? The violence? Not enough...

Serge Postigo seems to be playing the same role over and over again -
as he's done on countless "téléromans" on Quebec television (mostly for
the SRC - the French equivalent of the CBC) - and here, once again,
there is no exception to that sad career pattern...

Claude Blanchard is actually likable here - as a sort of gruffy big
bear with some heart somewhere in there would be... R.I.P. Claude - you
were great.

Annie Dufresne is some sort of a performer too - and some sort of an
actress as well. One cannot readily tell... She comes off as the bimbo
of service here, nothing more though...

Julien Poulin, most famous for portraying the buffoonesque "Elvis
Gratton" in two films (or wastes of celluloid - depends on one's
tastes, really) AND a TV series that served as a prelude to the films,
mercifully DOES NOT sing in this one (oops - does this count as a
"spoiler", tell me?!?)

Notable also is the appearance of the ravishing Bet E, in this thing -
Bet E. is a real-life singer and was singing fado as a part of a very
successful duo soon thereafter (Bet E. & Stef) She eclipsed my very own
cousin São as such - shooting a few video-clips for her music (while my
cuz never did - blame it on her agent) and touring the province of
Quebec (the alleged "Belle Province") far more extensively than São
ever did too. Inexplicably though, Bet E. and Stef have since split up
as a performing act...

Music-Hall is full of clichés about show business and about the
pitfalls of RUNNING a business... Add to that clichés about artists'
vanity, attitudes and tendencies for self-destruction - AND the bad
acting - and one gets fed up real quick. It was NOT just because the
last few episodes had been pre-empted on their original scheduled
air-dates that viewer-ship was actually DOWN for the climactic episodes
(something totally unheard of in mini-series lore!) It really was
because NOBODY CARED ABOUT ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS!
Least of all the supposed heroine portrayed so uninterestingly
by Veronique Cloutier (she is also the sister-in-law of hockey player
José Théodore - for how much longer, that we do not know!
For he was seen hanging out with Paris Hilton, see... Better that than
doing what Guy did, but still...
The link to a goalie is omitted on her IMDb page here, so I thought I'd
add this too in my review here... sorry, "comment"!)

I can't believe they didn't have a role for Élise Guilbeault or Sylvie
Drapeau in this one... One can only be glad they did not find a part
for Sarah-Jeanne Salvy though - enough nepotism as it is going on
around here! Not just Guy Cloutier (still as white as snow in 2002)
pulling strings for his daughter, but really Fabienne Larouche giving
out roles to her "favorites" - or pulling those strings so they'd get
them. Fabienne Larouche is like a mixture of Anne Rice and Judith
Krantz - but with much less at her disposal to really flesh it all out.
Michèle-Barbara Pelletier may have given the character written for her
some "life", somehow - but usually, Larouche does not get so lucky and
her characters' lack of depth shows badly, for no thespian on Earth
could do much with so little...

One final note, about the presence of Murray Head here. It brings to
mind that horrid film that the late Richard Harris came to Canada to do
one time. The great Oliver Reed did that as well. These Englishmen who,
just for the MONEY, will associate themselves with Canadian "arts" fund
programs - lending these productions the credibility they lack and
desperately require if the end product can be "exportable" in any shape
or form (despite, again, the horrible Quebec slang!) At least no one
got to LISTEN to DR. MARSOLAIS speak said slang, since he had a
non-speaking bit part here - for, to know that this guy is really a
doctor and that he speaks that way is quite the dishonor for the whole
"Belle Province" and Canadian Winter Wonderland overall - not to
mention the whole blamed medical profession there! Audiences were lucky
in THAT small way, at least - unlike me, who had to listen to the
not-so good doctor's arguments at length, during the most stressful of
times...   (Editor's note: back in 2006...)

Hmm... I think Dr Marsolais voted on this one...

For *much more* of my luminous way 
of reviewing film...
check here!