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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Thursday 18 april 2019
Garfield’s the bright spot in a murky ‘Silver Lake’

By JOCELYN NOVECK er in this rule, perhaps even
Associated Press more so — because only a
We’ll call it the “Garfield legendarily committed ac-
Rule” — not the comic, the tor like Garfield could make
actor. It holds that any per- such an ambitiously murky
formance by Andrew Gar- (or murkily ambitious?)
field, on screen or stage, endeavor watchable, let
will be worth seeing, no alone for two hours and 19
matter the content. minutes.
After watching “Under Yes, almost two and a half
the Silver Lake,” a self-de- hours. And here, length
scribed “neo-noir thriller” DOES matter, because up
by writer-director David to a point, one can ac-
Robert Mitchell (“It Fol- cept the feeling of being
lows”), I’m still a firm believ- helplessly lost in Mitch-
This image released by A24 shows Andrew Garfield in a scene from “Under the Silver Lake.”
Associated Press
ell’s stylish and beautifully takes place, is the story of friend comes by periodi-
crafted but maddeningly Sam (Garfield), a 33-year- cally in different costumes
mind-bending Los Angeles old ... well, we’re searching for quick dalliances), he
dreamscape. At a certain for a noun here, but it’s not becomes enchanted with
juncture, though, you need clear what Sam does, or is. Sarah, a blonde who favors
to feel tethered — to some- We do know he’s current- ruby-red lipstick and seems
thing. ly unemployed, and lives to be channeling Marilyn
And by that we mean alone in a cluttered apart- Monroe.
anything. It doesn’t have ment with a balcony from And then, suddenly, in the
to be a linear narrative to which he can spy, with middle of the night, Sarah
string these often seduc- low-tech binocs (a la “Rear disappears — and her little
tive scenes together. And Window,” one of countless dog, too.
the constant rabbit holes old Hollywood references) The dog detail is important,
we’re led down are fine, on women nearby. This in- because a dog killer seems
to a point. But a sustain- cludes the wacky, topless to be on the loose in Silver
able core to the character “bird lady” on a nearby Lake, terrifying the neigh-
would be nice. Not a moral terrace, and a new neigh- borhood.
core, just maybe an emo- bor, lovely Sarah (Riley Ke- At the same time, a bil-
tional guidepost to bet- ough), who shows up one lionaire has gone missing.
ter understand where he’s day in the swimming pool. Then, a gruesome discov-
coming from. But that, too, Although Sam, despite ery emerges that seems to
is elusive. the lack of a discernible link Sarah, who may have
“Under the Silver Lake,” direction in life, still has no left a coded message be-
so named for the hipster problem getting female hind, with the billionaire.
LA neighborhood where it companionship (an actress But how, and why?q

Monkey Punch, creator of megahit

Japan comic Lupin III, dies

By MARI YAMAGUCHI including Hayao Miyazaki who directed a 1971 Lupin
Associated Press and Isao Takahata. animation for TV, made his
TOKYO (AP) — Cartoon- Kato himself directed the feature-length film debut
ist Monkey Punch, best 1996 animated film “Lupin with “Lupin III: The Castle of
known as the creator of the III: Dead or Alive.” Miyazaki, Cagliostro” in 1997. q
Japanese megahit comic
series Lupin III, has died at
age of 81. His office, MP
Pictures, said Wednesday
that Monkey Punch, whose
real name is Kazuhiko Kato,
died of pneumonia on April
11. The story of master thief
Lupin’s adventures with his
gang — gunman Daisuke
Jigen, sword master Go-
emon Ishikawa and sexy
beauty Fujiko Mine, as well
as a detective, Zenigata —
started in 1967.
The cartoon also was
adapted for TV animation
and movies, some direct- This undated photo shows Monkey Punch’s megahit comic
series of master thief Lupin The Third.
ed by renowned animators Associated Press