alan_ryder

I thought 'Inland Empire' has a basic story, about a curse. 'Axxon n' was a Polish story of a prostitute that evolved into murder, allegedly cursed and sympathetically passed on. At the start there is a scene from the play, with the actors faces obscured enigmatically.

A film was attempted of it, '4/7' , clips of which are shown periodically, and the curse was passed along. Finally 'On High in Blue Tomorrows' was made based on the other stories and the star, Nikki Grace (Laura Dern), comes to realize how the curse is working and actually ends it. I am guessing that David Lynch added some dream imagery, mostly Nikki's.

It seemed to me that one of the victims of the 4/7 movie, a young girl, apparently a prostitute, is trapped in some sort of limbo, in a room and has a metaphorical view of how the curse is working. She also had contact with some sort of hypnotist wizard who seems to be the protagonist in all the stories. Nikki Grace seems to come into psychic contact with this ghost girl, who tells her if she folds a slip over, burns a hole in it and looks through the hole she will see visions that explain some of the mysteries. Nikki does this. While filming 'On High in Blue Tomorrows' her costar Devon (Justin Theroux) also gets the feeling about the curse as Nikki tries to explain it to him. She is having constant visions of the original story 'Axxon n', and tries to explain it to Devon who really wants to understand but doesn't quite, although their lives seem to be somewhat of a parallel to their movie script. I thought Nikki was also having dreams about her situation, symbolized by some rabbit people in a Room 47 who say symbolic things about the stories. Devon and Nikki are also having an affair and their spouses suspect and both plan on doing something about it.

Clever, eerie story I thought.

I liked 'The Best Offer', with Geoffrey Rush, by Giuseppe Tornatore. Rush plays an art auctioneer in Rome, Virgil, a good one for the better art. So he's hired by an agoraphobic, Claire, to appraise the art and furniture in her large, old villa after her parents pass. She's holed up there in a locked section and refuses to come out, but communicates through a knot hole in a door. He has a friend, Robert (Jim Sturgess), an electronics repairman who he asks to help him identify some gears he finds in the house. Virgil also becomes enamored with the young lady, Claire, and he schemes to view her. She also becomes fond of Virgil. Another friend is Billy (Donald Sutherland), and apparently they have a scheme to manipulate the bids on some of the art pieces. Billy and Robert are both Virgil's confidantes. These elements add up to a quite suspenseful tale well told, with the proverbial twist ending, Hitchcock worthy. Quite beautiful to look at also, with some great classic art and beautiful scenery in Rome and elsewhere. Ennio Morricone does the soundtrack music. I understand that Tornatore also made the film 'Cinema Paradiso', a classic I've never seen.

In MASKED AND ANONYMOUS, the 2003 movie by Larry Charles. Bob Dylan plays Jack Fate, a singer who is bailed out of jail (for an unspecified crime) by a couple of promoters, Sweetheart and Nina (John Goodman and Jessica Lange), to play a benefit concert (again unspecified) in an unnamed country. I felt that it was Central American country. Maybe like Nicaragua or Honduras. A dictatorship where the President is on his deathbed and parties are lurking for a takeover. Fate seems to know them all. Fate is hounded by a reporter, Tom Friend (Jeff Bridges) and aided by one of his close friends Bobby Cupid (Luke Wilson). There are various cameos by some rather famous actors, probably friends of Dylan and Charles who just wanted to be a part of the movie. Most of the action takes place in a large convention hall with a stage and a trailer for the 'promoters' , managers and band. Dylan and his band play tunes from his album 'Time Out of Mind' and various others from over the years.

I imagined that Larry Charles left it to Bob Dylan to provide dialogue. Well, I felt like this was a memoir, travelogue. Bob Dylan has been around the world a few times, had the ear of and listened to many people, including more than a few politicians. I felt like the characters were composites of these people. Sweetheart and Nina, the business people, Tom Friend the press. The President and and his successor Edmund seemed be the politicians. I bet more than a few asked Dylan's advice. And of course he got to address you and me. And such music! Above all Bob Dylan is a master musician.