Lake Tahoe (2008)

If you saw Fernando Eimbcke’s dryly amusing “Duck Season”, then you know what to expect: leisurely pacing, naturalism on steroids and performances so understated they border on the comatose. Set in a seedy beach town on the Yucatan peninsula, this outing again features young Diego Cantano as Juan, who has just rammed his mom’s car into a telephone pole, and his meandering efforts to have it repaired early one Saturday morning.


As Juan ambles the town’s crumbling streets, his quest takes on Arthurian overtones, as he encounters a variety of oddballs who may, or may not, be able to help him. An aging mechanic with one foot in the grave (Hector Herrera) dispatches Juan to an auto parts store run by a young woman (Daniela Valentine), complete with a perpetually crying baby, who wouldn’t know a spark plug from a tire.


She suggests Juan enlist the aid of her friend David (Juan Carlos Lara), a young man much more interested in Bruce Lee movies and NunChuk flinging than auto repair. As Juan begins to despair for his situation, he makes a quick trip home – actually nothing in this film is quick- where it is apparent something is seriously amiss, and our first hint that there is a hidden, underlying story to this seemingly random, and rambling, journey.


But, through the course of this long and frustrating day, we are able to piece together the life altering events that led to Juan’s accident, and we are filled with a surprising sense of poignancy for this young man and his family. Yet “Lake Tahoe” is primarily a comedy, in the sense that Jim Jarmusch’s films are comedies, and it’s clear that Eimbcke and Jarmusch are kindred spirits behind the camera.


There is something in virtually every scene that will produce a chuckle, or at least a grin, and the entire film is infused with a uniquely subtle comedic sensibility. It will be fun to see where Eimbcke’s next goofy misadventure takes us.

More Info

Lake Tahoe (2008)

If you saw Fernando Eimbcke’s dryly amusing “Duck Season”, then you know what to expect: leisurely pacing, naturalism on steroids and performances so understated they border on the comatose. Set in a seedy beach town on the Yucatan peninsula, this outing again features young Diego Cantano as Juan, who has just rammed his mom’s car into a telephone pole, and his meandering efforts to have it repaired early one Saturday morning.


As Juan ambles the town’s crumbling streets, his quest takes on Arthurian overtones, as he encounters a variety of oddballs who may, or may not, be able to help him. An aging mechanic with one foot in the grave (Hector Herrera) dispatches Juan to an auto parts store run by a young woman (Daniela Valentine), complete with a perpetually crying baby, who wouldn’t know a spark plug from a tire.


She suggests Juan enlist the aid of her friend David (Juan Carlos Lara), a young man much more interested in Bruce Lee movies and NunChuk flinging than auto repair. As Juan begins to despair for his situation, he makes a quick trip home – actually nothing in this film is quick- where it is apparent something is seriously amiss, and our first hint that there is a hidden, underlying story to this seemingly random, and rambling, journey.


But, through the course of this long and frustrating day, we are able to piece together the life altering events that led to Juan’s accident, and we are filled with a surprising sense of poignancy for this young man and his family. Yet “Lake Tahoe” is primarily a comedy, in the sense that Jim Jarmusch’s films are comedies, and it’s clear that Eimbcke and Jarmusch are kindred spirits behind the camera.


There is something in virtually every scene that will produce a chuckle, or at least a grin, and the entire film is infused with a uniquely subtle comedic sensibility. It will be fun to see where Eimbcke’s next goofy misadventure takes us.

More Info

Silent Light (2007)

Just when you fear all of cinema has succumbed to ADHD violent excess, a new generation of directors comes along who revel in quiet slowness. Filmmakers such as Weerasathakul, Ceylan and Eimbcke paint memorable portraits of everyday life from the most restricted of narrative palettes. These films literally force us to slow down, to contemplate, and most of all, to feel. To this list we can add Carlos Reygadas and this extraordinary and unsettling film. Silent Light examines the effects of infidelity on a Mennonite community in rural Chihuahua, Mexico.


Cornelio Wall – like the rest of the cast, a non-professional actor – is featured as Johan, a humble, middle-aged farmer who suddenly finds himself deeply in love with Marianne (Maria Pankratz) and completely disinterested in his long time wife Esther (Miriam Toews) and their outsized family of adorable tow-headed youngsters. To his credit, Johan is not sneaking about; in fact he openly discusses the affair with his wife and practically everyone else, including the local mechanic and, in a heartbreaking and beautifully filmed scene, his father.


This underscores the depth of Johan’s emotions, and he makes it clear that he considers his life thus far to have been a dreadful mistake. Johan is squarely in a spiritual dilemma, as he tries to sort out whether his new passion is a satanic temptation, or a chance for happiness sent by God.


And the biblical allusions do not end there, as the story ultimately takes on surprising elements of the Jesus story. But underneath it all is an oddly absorbing dirge-like rhythm, as Reygadas and his editor, Natalia Lopez, never quite end a scene where they teach you in Film School; rather they sit on every scene well beyond its logical cut point.


This creates a discomfort at first, and then a total immersion as we are seduced by a magical sort of verite. The film may flow like January molasses, but its best moments are equally sweet.

More Info

Silent Light (2007)

Just when you fear all of cinema has succumbed to ADHD violent excess, a new generation of directors comes along who revel in quiet slowness. Filmmakers such as Weerasathakul, Ceylan and Eimbcke paint memorable portraits of everyday life from the most restricted of narrative palettes. These films literally force us to slow down, to contemplate, and most of all, to feel. To this list we can add Carlos Reygadas and this extraordinary and unsettling film. Silent Light examines the effects of infidelity on a Mennonite community in rural Chihuahua, Mexico.


Cornelio Wall – like the rest of the cast, a non-professional actor – is featured as Johan, a humble, middle-aged farmer who suddenly finds himself deeply in love with Marianne (Maria Pankratz) and completely disinterested in his long time wife Esther (Miriam Toews) and their outsized family of adorable tow-headed youngsters. To his credit, Johan is not sneaking about; in fact he openly discusses the affair with his wife and practically everyone else, including the local mechanic and, in a heartbreaking and beautifully filmed scene, his father.


This underscores the depth of Johan’s emotions, and he makes it clear that he considers his life thus far to have been a dreadful mistake. Johan is squarely in a spiritual dilemma, as he tries to sort out whether his new passion is a satanic temptation, or a chance for happiness sent by God.


And the biblical allusions do not end there, as the story ultimately takes on surprising elements of the Jesus story. But underneath it all is an oddly absorbing dirge-like rhythm, as Reygadas and his editor, Natalia Lopez, never quite end a scene where they teach you in Film School; rather they sit on every scene well beyond its logical cut point.


This creates a discomfort at first, and then a total immersion as we are seduced by a magical sort of verite. The film may flow like January molasses, but its best moments are equally sweet.

More Info

Luche Libre Starring Blue Demon (1970)

I've been a fan of flamboyant Mexican wrestlers ever since my Dad and I saw Mil Mascaras beat the snot out of the villainous Greg Valentine at the fairgrounds 30 years ago. Yeah, yeah I know wrasslin' is fake, but I would think a 250 lb man jumping on you from the top rope would have to smart at least a little bit. Mexico holds its heroic grapplers in high esteem, featuring them in magazines, advertisements and, naturally, action films.


In this silly diversion, a group of luchadors enmascarado attempts to protect some beauty pageant contestants from the evil designs of a mad scientist and his seemingly inexhaustible supply of midget wrestler henchmen.


Our barrel-chested heros get themselves in a variety of pickles, but are saved by teamwork, agility and the fact that the mad scientist's various contraptions always seem to go haywire at critical moments.


The action is accompanied by a twinkly cocktail party jazz score that makes no sense whatsoever. The filmmaking is sloppy, amateurish, riddled with continuity errors and I adored every minute of it. Alain Resnais did not direct this film.

More Info

Luche Libre Starring Blue Demon (1970)

I've been a fan of flamboyant Mexican wrestlers ever since my Dad and I saw Mil Mascaras beat the snot out of the villainous Greg Valentine at the fairgrounds 30 years ago. Yeah, yeah I know wrasslin' is fake, but I would think a 250 lb man jumping on you from the top rope would have to smart at least a little bit. Mexico holds its heroic grapplers in high esteem, featuring them in magazines, advertisements and, naturally, action films.


In this silly diversion, a group of luchadors enmascarado attempts to protect some beauty pageant contestants from the evil designs of a mad scientist and his seemingly inexhaustible supply of midget wrestler henchmen.


Our barrel-chested heros get themselves in a variety of pickles, but are saved by teamwork, agility and the fact that the mad scientist's various contraptions always seem to go haywire at critical moments.


The action is accompanied by a twinkly cocktail party jazz score that makes no sense whatsoever. The filmmaking is sloppy, amateurish, riddled with continuity errors and I adored every minute of it. Alain Resnais did not direct this film.

More Info