_4:44 Last Day on Earth_ is Abel Ferrera's entree in the
"end days" derby. The world is coming to a sudden and
abrupt and accurately-predicted end due to climate change.
Hysteria, kindness, despair ensue. Willem Dafoe rages
incoherently at those who have caused this to come to pass.
The film is as undisciplined as Dafoe's character, who is
the same Ferrera surrogate coming to a sad end in _New
Rose Hotel_, although he is with his girlfriend (played
by Ferrara's real life companion I believe) so at least
this is a bit of an improvement in his old age.

Ferrara wheels in footages from the Dalai Lama and scientists
decrying the selfish climate change deniers. If the film
were made this year the pope (bless him) would have been
heavily featured. But I am really disappointed with Ferrara,
who traffics in the usual cliche unlikely to convince the
Deniers. First of all, the world is not equally affected
by climate change (nor does it end at once for everyone);
the wealthy will always weather the carnage best. We are
*not* in it together, at least if you ask the Deniers.
Do you really believe that those who divide Americans
into Givers and Takers (47% of them?!) are interested in
the common good, and are wiling to sacrifice for all? The
coastal cities and urban centers will be hardest hit,
but the red-staters who believe in "self-reliance" (i.e.,
government-subsidized living off the land) never like
the big cities anyway (I've met many who would never
set foot in Manhattan, which does not stop them from
using 9/11 as an excuse to invade Iraq). To win over the
Deniers, we need to stop preaching to the choir and
rehash the same "we are the world" arguments. Appeal
to their selfishness or something, please.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Most Hal Hartley fans love _Trust_, and I have always
liked it least among his films (not counting _No Such
Thing_, which is best consigned to oblivion). Seeing it
again for the first time in 25 years does not improve
the experience. The Martin Donovan character is
a Beethoven-loving, football-player punching misfit
and genius who is always right. He must be like one
of these insufferable J.D. Salinger heroes who appeal
to the vanity of the misunderstood youth. The script
has the horrible precious, self-righteous quality of
a first screenplay (in the DVD extras, it is revealed
that indeed the screenplay came before _The Unbelievable
Truth_). At least the late Adrienne Shelly is wonderful
as the highschool slut turned self-conscious young woman.
And the relationships between father, son, daughter,
mother, and sisters, are interesting. Actually it
isn't *that* bad. It is sincere. It lacks the distance
and literary brilliance _the Unbelievable Truth_, _Flirt_,
_Amateur_, _Henry Fool_, and _The Book of Lifes_.

-----------------------------------------------------------

_In Secret_, an adaptation of Emile Zola's _Therese
Racquin_, is quite a gem. The cinematography has
an Old Master feel, Oscar Isaac is much better than
he is in _A Most Violent Year_, Jessica Lange is
very good, and Elizabeth Olsen is quite a revelation.
It is about the eponymous adulterer and husband-murderer
who ultimately repents her sins. It is ultimately
a deeply humanistic story about love, hate, crime,
punishment, and redemption. It is much better
than Claude Miller's last film _Therese_, starring
Audrey Tautou as another would-be husband-killer
in an adaptation of Francois Mauriac's novel. One
main difference is between Olsen and the overrated
Tautou. The sister of the "Olsen Twins" is someone
to keep an eye on. Maybe Miller should have adapted
the other _Therese_.

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