Packing Up and Moving.

After using Blogger for quite a while, the Desuko Movie Spot is finally moving on up. We've got a new look, some new features and even some new reviews, all at a new address: desukomoviespot.com. (But don't worry. Even though I've exported everything to the new site, this one will still be around for a while, just in case. But all future updates will take place over at the new place.) Be sure to reset your links accordingly and join us over there!

Nine (2009).

The Scoop:
Rob Marshall tries to recapture some of the magic of "Chicago" with "Nine," the film version of Arthur Kopit and Maury Yeston's 1982 Broadway musical, but is ultimately sabotaged by the thin source material.

At the center of the story is Daniel Day-Lewis playing Guido Contini, a world famous Italian film director who deals with personal and professional crises by turning to the many women in his life. If that plot sounds familiar, that's because it is swiped wholesale from Federico Fellini's much better "8 1/2."

The women who parade through Contini's life and fantasies -- each offering their brutally honest advice while belting out big musical numbers -- are his wife (Marion Cotillard), mistress (Penélope Cruz), mother (Sophia Loren), leading lady (Nicole Kidman), costume designer/confidant (Judi Dench), fondly remembered first sex partner (Fergie) and a novice American reporter (Kate Hudson). Cotillard and Cruz really steal the show here (which isn't hard to do against Day-Lewis' mopey screen presence) and Dench has some nice moments as well. Kidman is bland, Hudson is out of her league, Fergie doesn't do much but sing and dance (thankfully), and frankly I'm not sure how the glorious Loren got through this with a straight face.

The songs are fun but insubstantial, except for Cotillard's great "Take It All," which was written specifically for the film. However, Marshall, cinematographer Dion Beebe and choreographer John Deluca redeem even the weakest numbers with some energetic stagings.

But besides Cotillard and Cruz, the real stars of the show are art directors Simon Lamont, Peter Findley and Phil Harvey, and costume designer Colleen Atwood who create a vibrant, detailed and glamorous simulation of mod 1960s Rome. "Nine" may not have much going on under the surface, but thanks to them it's wonderful to look at.

Best Bit:
Cotillard laying it all out for the Oscar-nominated "Take It All."

Side Note:
Oddly enough, the play's title song "Nine" was one of several musical numbers cut from the film.

Companion Viewing:
"8 1/2" (1963), if you want to see this sort of thing done right the first time.

Links:
IMDb.
Official site.

Take a Look:
The trailer:


"Take It All":


The music video for Kate Hudson's "Cinema Italiano":

Catalina Caper (1967).

The Scoop:
Get your flippy-floppies, people, because we're going on a boat!

The 1960s was awash in "Beach Party" knockoffs, and "Catalina Caper" was one of the worst of the bunch. While on a sunny summer vacation to Catalina Island, a group of groovy teens stop an inept group of upper crust thieves who are trying to smuggle some sort of valuable scroll out of the local museum, while rocking out to the occasional musical guest star. The intentions here are good and the acting and filmmaking are technically competent, but the story is a sorry mishmash.

If you're a B-movie fan, you find a lot of familiar faces here, including Tommy Kirk ("Mars Needs Women"), Del Moore ("Bachelor Father"), Jim Begg ("Village of the Giants"), Sue Casey ("Beach Girls and the Monster"), Michael Blodgett ("Beyond the Valley of the Dolls") and even Wonder Woman's" Lyle Wagonner. The musical numbers come courtesy of the Cascades, Carol Connors and the wildly out of place Little Richard.

These '60s teens-in-the-sun movies are always a fun diversion and worth your time -- even the ones with as many shortcomings as this one. It's worth checking out, even for the unintentional laughs.

Best Line:
"Look! The water fuzz!"

Side Note:
The Cascades' song "There's a New World Just Opening For Me" was written by Ray Davies of the Kinks.

Companion Viewing:
"Beach Party" (1963).

Links:
IMDb.
Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt.

Take a Look:
Little Richard! On a boat! Singing about scuba diving! I know, right?

Grace of My Heart (1996).

The Scoop:
This film got dismissed by a lot of critics, but it probably is writer/director Allison Anders' best work.

The story follows the emotional journey of a Carole King-ish songwriter (Ileana Douglas) who goes through years of turmoil throughout the 1960s and 1970s before finally finding her own voice, both personally and professionally. The men in her life are played by Matt Dillon, Eric Stoltz and John Turturro, but it's Douglas, who isn't nearly as big of a star as she should be, who steals the show. She gives a wonderful performance, to compliment Anders' fine script. And the original songs, written by Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello, capture the sounds of the times wonderfully and will have you humming them long after the movie is over.

There is also more fun to be had by trying to figure out which characters are based on which real-life music industry figures from the '60s and '70s. An all-around winner.

Best Line:
"He smokes some grass. He uses some psychedelics. He uses peyote, but he is down on hard drugs."

Side Note:
The list of cameos in this film seems to go on forever, including Bridget and Peter Fonda, and a host of rock/folk musicians -- Chris Isaak, J Mascis (from Dinosaur Jr.), Jill Sobule, Shawn Colvin, China Kantner and members of Redd Kross.

Companion Viewing:
"Gas Food Lodging" (1992).

Links:
IMDb.
Watch it on Hulu.

Take a Look:
A fan-made trailer:


"God Give Me Strength," which should've won an Oscar but didn't. (Vocals by Kristen Vigard):


"My Secret Love":

Gilda (1946).

The Scoop:
After knocking around Hollywood in bit parts for years, Rita Hayworth's career finally exploded after playing the title role in "Gilda."

A small-time American hood (Glenn Ford) finds work in a South American casino only to come between the crooked owner (George Macready) and his singer girlfriend (Hayworth). Then the fireworks begin. There are a lot of plot shenanigans going on, but the real meat of the film is the explosive love triangle centered on Gilda.

Director Charles Vidor and a small handful of screenwriters put together a sultry, vaguely noirish cocktail with this one. Ford and Macready hit all the right notes as the lusty men brawling over Gilda, but Hayworth is the one who steals the show. She didn't have much range, but she definitely had a lot of presence. Her performance is still one of the sexiest of all time, making this much more erotically charged than most films of the period. It's a little slow in stretches, but still a good watch.

Best Bit:
Hayworth's hair toss while performing "Put the Blame on Mame."

Side Note:
Hayworth and Ford had so much quickie sex between takes that the Columbia Pictures executive in charge of the production not only had to keep them apart when not doing scenes, but also had to bug her dressing room in order to enforce the punishment.

Companion Viewing:
"Casablanca" (1942).

Links:
IMDb.
Fan site.

Take a Look:
The trailer:


Gilda sure knows how to make an entrance:


"Put the Blame on Mame" (Hayworth's vocals were dubbed by Anita Ellis):


"Amado Mio":

The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999).

The Scoop:
This sequel to the great Stephen King flick "Carrie" is a bit of a stretch -- Amy Irving is back, and so is the troubled, telekinetic teen girl, but this doesn't quite measure up to the original.

Irving reprises her role as Sue, the sole survivor of Carrie's prom night rampage, who is now a high school counselor. She spends a lot of time working with troubled student Rachel (Emily Bergl), whose best friend just committed suicide. And, oh yeah, she is also Carrie's long-lost half-sister, who inherited the same telekinetic abilities. As if that wasn't bad enough, she's a loner misfit who the "in" crowd wants to publicly humiliate at a big party. If you can't guess where things go from here, then you need to be hit with a big stick.

Bergl is pretty good as Rachel, but the script by Rafael Moreu is boring, cliched and abysmal in portraying the pressures of high school. Plus, the doggie ER scene is silly, and a mental institution called Arkham? Puh-leeeze. And let's not forget the hereditary explanation of the telekinesis.

But at least music supervisor Richard Winn gets bonus points for the terrific Billie Holiday soundtrack.

Stephen King, of course, had nothing to do with this completely unnecessary sequel, which should be your first warning sign. Stay away!

Best Bit:
The black veins popping up across Rachel's body.

Side Note:
This is Bergl's first film. She had previously only had a small part on the television series "Wasteland." She has since returned to the small screen as a regular in "Men in Trees" and "Southland."

Companion Viewing:
"Carrie" (1976).

Links:
IMDb.
Carrie... A Fan's Site.

Take a Look:
The trailer:

Cannibal! The Musical (1996).

The Scoop:
This ultra-low budget parody of 1950s movie musicals, released by Troma, is an early effort by "South Park" creator Trey Parker. It plays very fast and loose with the real-life story of frontiersman Alferd Packer, who killed and ate the rest of his traveling party while snowbound in the Rocky Mountains in the winter of 1882-83. And, true to the title, there are musical numbers (including a love song to a horse), though not nearly enough to sustain the somewhat amateurish storytelling. While there are some pretty funny parts (the Japanese Indian tribe, for instance), the quality of humor is nowhere near the brilliant levels Parker and co-conspirator Matt Stone later reached in "South Park." It's worth a look for hardcore fans, but otherwise a bit tedious. For great non-"South Park" work from Parker and Stone, check out "Orgazmo" instead.

Best Line:
"Fudge, Packer?"

Side Note:
Parker and Matt Stone were students together at the University of Colorado at Boulder while filming this movie in 1993. The short order grill at the university student union is named after Packer.

Companion Viewing:
"Orgazmo" (1997) and "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut" (1999).

Links:
IMDb.
Official site.
Badmovies.org.
The Independent.

Take a Look:
"That's All I'm Asking For":


"Shpadoinkle":


"When I Was On Top of You":

American Movie (1999).

The Scoop:
We Americans sure like to dream big, don't we? This is the nation that gave birth to the notion of social mobility. We like to think that we, too, can be rich, famous or powerful, no matter what our humble beginnings. Of course, we Americans also don't think that we could possibly have any shortcomings that could possibly get in our way. So, while we may be a nation of Bill Gateses, we are also a nation of Mark Borchardts.

"American Movie" is a terrific documentary from Chris Smith that follows demented Wisconsin hoser Borchardt and his best buddy Mike Schank as they try to make Borchardt's "great American movie," titled "Northwestern," and a short film, "Coven" (pronounced "Coh-vin"). The result is a hilarious (often unintentionally) look at a typical American schmuck with big dreams.

If Borchardt can ever get his shit together long enough to finish a film, he could well make his mark as the Ed Wood or Coleman Francis of his generation. Unfortunately, shit keeps getting misplaced.

"American Movie" offers a rare first-hand glimpse an outsider cinema artist of the Wood/Francis type at work. And in the process, it shows us a little bit about our own dreams as well.

Best Line:
"There's some corny dialogue that would make the Pope weep."

Side Note:
The soundtrack, performed Schank, features covers of music by Bach, Metallica and "Mr. Bojangles."

Companion Viewing:
"Coven" (1997) and "Ed Wood: Look Back in Angora" (1994).

Links:
IMDb.
Official site.
Salon.

Take a Look:
The trailer:


Mike proves why he's the best second banana in the film business:


In this deleted scene, Mark shares his love of Burger King: