SMASHED (B+) - A thinly sliced but winning indie drama about a drunken young couple whose marriage is challenged when she decides to sober up and go to AA. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (the purple-haired girl from "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World") is perfect as an elementary school teacher who does inappropriate things in front of her students to cover up her hangovers and lies. Nick Offerman (avoiding that annoying comedy thing he likes to do) is effective as her co-worker and AA sponsor. Aaron Paul (Jesse from "Breaking Bad") holds his own as her trust-fund slacker husband. But it's Winstead, with her soulful eyes and Plain Jane charm, who propels this neat 81-minute workout forward with energy and sincerity. Newcomers Susan Burke and James Ponsoldt (he also directs) crafted a smart, low-key script that refuses to get melodramatic or maudlin but never lacks for emotion. They artfully avoid the tropes of the Tragic Alcoholic and instead convey the minor day-to-day embarrassments of being a drunk and the struggles to stay sober. The solid supporting cast includes Octavia Spencer ("The Help) and -- in a fascinating rip in the fabric of the universe -- both Mary Kay Place and Megan Mullaley. This is a spare, compelling indie gem and a breakout role for Winstead.
SOLARIS (1972) (A-minus) - I won't reinvent the wheel here, and will instead recommend other discussions of Andrei Tarkovsky's film, such as this one, from Roger Ebert, who captures a key theme perfectly: "When we love someone, who do we love? That person, or our idea of that person? Some years before virtual reality became a byword, Tarkovsky was exploring its implications. Although other persons no doubt exist in independent physical space, our entire relationship with them exists in our minds." This is the third Tarkovsky film I've seen (the others are "Stalker" (playing this weekend at the Southwest Film Center at UNM) and "The Mirror"), and I could watch them all multiple times, luxuriating in their elliptical stories and playful philosophical word games. "Solaris" has the same melancholy tone of a good Kieslowski film, while matching Kubrick's "2001" slug for slug, including a lovely, powerful ending. I'll give you three lines from "Solaris":
- "The Earth has somehow become adjusted to people like you . . . although at what sacrifice?
- "Please don't interrupt me. I'm a woman, after all."
- "Don't turn a science problem into a common love story."
BORN LOSERS (1967) (C) - This cult oddity, the first movie to feature Tom Laughlin's character Billy Jack, is groovy kitsch and was appropriately screened on the retro channel THIS TV, with commercials and PG editing, just like we watched movies on television in the '70s. Laughlin wrote the story, about hippie bikers terrorizing a square town, in the '50s and finally directed it (under the name T.C. Frank) for a release just in time for the peak of the Summer of Love. This is pure caffeinated counter-culture clap-trap, but you have to admire Laughlin, totally believing in his character and proudly carrying that permanent chip on his shoulder forever like an epaulet. The bad guys come off as actors auditioning for an episode of "Batman" and the Sixties Chicks smolder as vixens and victims. It's a gas.
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