Review – Page 5 – Ted Mills

These Pirates, Not So Jolly – Danish film ‘A Hijacking’ a Taut anti-thriller

July 26, 2013October 14, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Fren Mailing in "A Hijacking" Magnolia Pictures photos — Fren Mailing in “A Hijacking”
Magnolia Pictures photos

Tobias Lindholm’s “A Hijacking” takes a procedural approach to a story that is usually handled as a backdrop to action-film hijinks. But instead of a Bruce Willis or a Steven Seagal rappelling down from a helicopter, both guns blazing, we have a series of negotiations. I would suggest that “A Hijacking,” by doing so, becomes a much tenser experience for it.

This is Mr. Lindholm’s second film after his prison drama “R” and he’s also an accomplished scriptwriter — his most recent being the Mads Mikkelson-led “The Hunt.” So he’s used to writing about men trapped in small spaces, either physically or mentally.

The Grey Suit Chronicles – Why North by Northwest is still so much fun today

July 19, 2013October 15, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Cary Grant in a scene from "North by Northwest" Margaret Herrick Library photo — Cary Grant in a scene from “North by Northwest”
Margaret Herrick Library photo

North by Northwest” screens tonight in the Sunken Gardens as part of UCSB Arts & Lectures free Hitchcock screenings, and even if you have seen this classic before, it’s always worth the revisit.

Just think: after Alfred Hitchcock delivered his finest, most psychologically dense film, “Vertigo,” he decided to return to the chase, the travelogue in essence, to go back to “The 39 Steps” with this film. “North by Northwest” features a lot of familiar themes from Hitchcock: the innocent man accused, a blonde femme fatale, and familiar landmarks like the United Nations building and Mount Rushmore. This is why video essayist Thom Anderson called Hitchcock a “high tourist” director, for his love of such.

Name Changer is a Game Changer – CAF turns into MCA — what does it mean for art in SB?

July 19, 2013October 15, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

'Seen (Detail),'Sanford Biggers Museum of Contemporary Art SB — ‘Seen (Detail),’Sanford Biggers
Museum of Contemporary Art SB

Miki Garcia knew something was working when Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum (aka CAF, as most locals call it) changed its name to MCA, the Museum of Contemporary Art. She was standing outside and heard a couple walk past, on the way from the carpark to the steps leading to the ground floor of Paseo Nuevo. “Oh, there’s a museum here!” said one to the other. Maybe they had passed the Forum many times, maybe this was their first time here, but the point was taken: it’s a museum and everybody knows what that does.

For regular visitors to CAF, the switch may have seemed cosmetic and unheralded. But it’s that couple that Ms. Garcia keeps in mind.

Things are the Thing – GROUP EXHIBITION ‘SPECIMEN’ FILLS THE ARTS FUND GALLERY WITH ‘CABINETS OF CURIOS,’ FOUND OBJECT ART, AND OTHER STRANGE, HERMETIC SIDESHOW DELIGHTS

July 12, 2013October 21, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

'Homage to Innocents (detail),' Sue Van Horsen David J. Diamont photo — ‘Homage to Innocents (detail),’ Sue Van Horsen
David J. Diamont photo

Greeting visitors to the current exhibition at Arts Fund Gallery, “Specimen,” is a kindly, smiley skeleton placed strategically and without explanation. It seems a combination greeter, sentry and memento mori, all at once, befitting a deliciously bizarre and strangely comforting show about pseudo-science, dead things, decontextualized memories, found objects redirected into the direction of art, and other cultural specimens.

Curator Ted Mills, himself an artist, filmmaker, and also journalist-critic (whose writing is oft-found in the pages of the News-Press) had the notion of collecting left-of-center collectors and assemblage artists. The end result, imposing a bit more weird atmosphere than the Arts Fund Gallery has yet known, is a gathering of radiant junk, artfully constructed “cabinets of curios” and general obsessive oddity, all under one roof.

Common Ground – Fourth Annual Fest explores Asian-American Experience in Film

July 12, 2013October 21, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Artist Jimmy Mirikitani is the subject of "The Cats of Mirikatani," being presented as part of "Sharing Our Common Ground:The Fourth Annual Asian-American Film Series Mongrel Media photo — Artist Jimmy Mirikitani is the subject of “The Cats of Mirikatani,” being presented as part of “Sharing Our Common Ground:The Fourth Annual Asian-American Film Series
Mongrel Media photo

Back in the early years of Santa Barbara, the Chinese community and Japanese community lived across the street from each other, a Chinatown and a Japantown, living in perfect harmony on the site where Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens looks out over the Presidio. Those days are long gone, with only a few remnants remaining, but the Asian-American experience continues. That’s the subject of “Sharing Our Common Ground: The Fourth Annual Asian-American Film Series” put on by the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation. The three-film series starts tonight and continues until July 26, with screenings at the Alhecama Theatre.

The three films are all documentaries on the Asian-American experience and take in adopted Chinese children, Bruce Lee (born in San Francisco), and a Japanese-American homeless man who has a painful history of the internment camps in sunny California.

Strong Foundations – Tearjerking ‘Still Mine’ rests on James Cromwell

July 12, 2013October 21, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

James Cromwell, left, and Genevieve Bujold play aging farmers Craig and Irene Morrison in thefilm "Still Mine." Samuel Goldwyn Films photo — James Cromwell, left, and Genevieve Bujold play aging farmers Craig and Irene Morrison in thefilm “Still Mine.”
Samuel Goldwyn Films photo

Here’s a movie about building code violations ruining the golden years of a farming couple, which will make this a go-to date for anyone who’s had to go through the Planning Commission. But even for those who haven’t, it’s a sweet drama about an aging couple still very much in love.

Even though the story and its execution are pretty corny, “Still Mine” has at its disposal James Cromwell and Genevieve Bujold as the octogenarians having decide which is worse: old age or bureaucracy. Mr. Cromwell has always been a comforting presence in film. He’s many people’s idea of a farmer based on his role in “Babe” and his kindly face is one of the main reasons he makes such a good villain in films like “L.A. Confidential.”

Master of Suspense – Films at the Courthouse return with a summer of Hitchcock

June 28, 2013October 22, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Alfred Hitchcock Margaret Herrick Library photos — Alfred Hitchcock
Margaret Herrick Library photos

Roman Baratiak’s longtime dream of screening summer movies in the Sunken Garden came true some four years ago, and he’s been watching the crowds come every year since. For the first three years, this Arts & Lectures summer series has stuck with genre films: One year it was musicals, another it was science fiction, and another was classic monster movies. But this year is the first time Mr. Baratiak & Co. have settled on the works of one director: Alfred Hitchcock. Starting this Wednesday with arguably Mr. Hitchcock’s best film, “Vertigo,” the summer series will screen eight of the director’s best suspenseful works, ending with “Strangers on a Train” on Friday, Aug. 23.

Most of the films — except for “Shadow of a Doubt” — screen on a Wednesday at UCSB’s Campbell Hall, for those who want to have a more traditional moviegoing experience, but on the Friday following, bring your blankets and chairs and get ready for some classic films.

A Secret Life – ‘The Attack’ muses on both suicide bombing and marriage

June 28, 2013October 22, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Siham (Reymond Amsalem) and Amin (Ali Suliman) embrace Cohen Media photo — Siham (Reymond Amsalem) and Amin (Ali Suliman) embrace
Cohen Media photo

Yasmina Khadra is the pen name of Algerian writer Mohammed Moulessehoul, who lived a sort of double life — one as an officer in the Algerian military, and the other as a writer of short stories and novels. When the incompatibility became too strong, he left the military. “The Attack” from 2005 was a major seller, especially in France, and now director Ziad Doueiri has brought this tale to the screen in a slightly airbrushed version. Before Mr. Doueiri made his own films, he worked in the camera department on the majority of Quentin Tarantino’s pre-“Kill Bill” output.

From this experience, Mr. Doueri learned a lot about pacing, but has left behind Mr. Tarantino’s post-modernism and obsession with revenge. Instead, Mr. Doueri — who first impressed with his film “West Beirut” — has more real-life experience in revenge and endless cycles of recrimination.

Ensemble ends an era with McNally romantic comedy

June 12, 2013October 22, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Dee Ann Newkirk as Frankie and Rick Gifford as Johnny. PHOTOS COURTESY DAVID BAZEMORE — Dee Ann Newkirk as Frankie and Rick Gifford as Johnny.
PHOTOS COURTESY DAVID BAZEMORE

Nearly a quarter-century old, Terrence McNally’s play “Frankie & Johnny in the Claire de Lune” has several difficulties for any director that don’t seem so prevalent now in modern theater. Two people in a room, with action that happens in real time, going from a one-night stand to something that looks like full-time commitment. And though it joshes with the ideas of pre-1940s romance, it’s unabashedly romantic, just unglamorous. It presents us with earnestness and asks us to take it seriously.

Fortunately Saundra McClain is up for this task and has delivered a fitting curtain call for the Ensemble’s most recent season and for the Alhecama Theater. The next production will open in the Victoria, so regardless of this review, realize this is your final chance to experience the cozy ambience of the Alhecama.

Checkered past : Cheap Trick and Pat Benatar deliver capable sets at the Bowl

June 12, 2013October 28, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen strikes one of his non-chalant poses while lead singer Robin Zander serenades Sunday night's audience at the Santa Barbara County Bowl. MIKE MORIATIS/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS — Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen strikes one of his non-chalant poses while lead singer Robin Zander serenades Sunday night’s audience at the Santa Barbara County Bowl.
MIKE MORIATIS/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS

On an overcast, June-gloomy Sunday night, the Santa Barbara Bowl played host to two acts that defined rock radio in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Cheap Trick, masters of pop-rock, who have always zigged when other groups zagged, headlined a solid show of hits from their nearly 40 years of rock. And Pat Benatar, the electric and exciting rock singer who became one of the most popular acts on MTV in its early days with a string of hits, opened for the band, delivering a two-fer of classic fist-pumping good times. For the Santa Barbara audience, it was a no-brainer of summer fun.

First, it must be good to be Ms. Benatar. At 60 she looks pretty much the same as she did when she released her first single in 1979. Her voice, just a bit raspier than usual, can still hit all the notes. She’s still with her collaborator and husband of 31 years, Neil Giraldo. She must laugh in the face of AARP newsletters.