was more believable, and that features an underwater boxing match between a rock singer and a Nazi sympathizer.Black Book is the latest film from director Paul Verhoeven. If the name sounds familiar, he's the guy who brought us such subtle, insightful classics as Basic Instinct
, Hollow Man
, and the trash-tastic Showgirls
. Nuance ain't his strong suit. So it's with some wide eyed interest that I took in Black Book, a film about a gorgeous Jewish woman(played marvelously by Carice Van Houten), who infiltrates the Nazi inner circle hoping to gain information for a ragtag resistance group. The tragedies that befall her along the way aren't just ridiculous, they border on high comedy. Expect that whenever a group of people are alone in a room somewhere, a flood of machine gun wielding Nazis will be booting the door down at any moment. It's like clockwork. I can see what Verhoeven was going for, attempting to blend American thriller and action films with the more cerebral European style, but he's simply not the writer or director for the task. The only thing that saves this movie from being an absolute dud is the sexy Van Houten, who carries every absurd scene with conviction. Worth a look if you absolutely love WWII film, even the bad ones. 5/10
What will the American dream look like in the future? When immigrants from other countries turn to us for a better life, what will be in store for them? Sleep Dealer asks that question as well as dozens more in this nifty, low budget flick straight from Mexico. It posits a world where everything and everybody is jacked in. The borders to Mexico have been completely sealed off. The rivers dammed up so that locals are forced to buy water from the government. An poor but ambitious young man named Memo breaks into the government system, his family home is instantly targeted buy the military and blown away, killing everyone.
Memo takes off for America where he begins working in a futuristic sweatshop as a sleep dealer, a tireless virtual employee working construction at any number of random locations across the country. A bit slow and plodding, Sleep Dealer makes up for it's lack of flash with a rare thoughtfulness sci-fi has been sorely lacking. It's unfortunate that this wasn't a better financed film, because it looks downright awful at times, with special effects reminiscent of the "make your own music video" parlors at amusement parks. Despite that, first-time director Alex Rivera effectively analyzes and skewers our own society of social networking, as well as the global economy, crafting a view of the American dream that isn't so appealing. Definitely worth a rental, if you can get past the terrible effects. 6/10
Next on The Queue: Ted Dibiase Jr. starring in The Marine 2
