Here are short reviews of new movies opening Friday.
Independent New York filmmaker Tim McCann initially attracted notice with “Desolation Angels,” and his follow-up “Revolution #9” is even stronger, a visually assured portrait of breakdown and dementia in a young New York writer, Jackson (Michael Risley).
Using off-center framing, shifting film stocks and a discordant soundtrack, McCann creates a throbbing, nightmarish atmosphere grounded in images of collapse and disintegration. The title refers to a perfume commercial, one that Jackson believes is a subliminal plot to infect his brain. Kim (the superb Adrienne Shelley), Jackson’s fiance, is trapped in the middle–conflicted by her sympathetic urge to understand him and frustrated by the institutional neglect of the mental health care system. This is expressive filmmaking, aided by electric, emotionally attuned performances (including a great turn by Spalding Gray as a self-absorbed commercial director). McCann also edited and photographed the film, and it is a shock to the system: precise, moving and gripping.
“Revolution #9” (star)(star)(star) opens at Facets Multimedia,1517 W. Fullerton Ave. No MPAA rating (language, adult situations). Running time: 1:31.
