Thursday, December 31, 2009
Up in the Air flies high
Finally caught up with UP IN THE AIR, and with this film and THE FANTASTIC MR FOX George Clooney has been having quite a good year. This is his best yet, as his smooth, sarcastic, likable delivery really hits the mark. He plays a big time frequent flyer executive who travels around the country firing employees in corporations that are afraid to do it themselves. He tries to distance himself from the sadness and anger these fired people have toward their company, their job, and him by becoming non-caring and zombie-like in his relations to other people, until he meets someone nearly as unsensitized as he, and at the same time has to train a young executive who has a hard time becoming distanced from her job. The film, directed by Jason Reitman who also directed Thank You for Smoking, and Juno, is easy to watch, low-key in it's comedy and hits a lot of societal buttons ie. unemployment, air travel issues, loneliness, etc. My only criticism--the big twist near the end seemed pretty obvious to me--I'd been waiting for that moment an hour earlier. Still, it's a quality film with fine actors including over two dozen actual laid-off/fired workers being interviewed that adds a sense of poignancy and pathos to the story. There's something quite satisfying about a glib, high powered exec getting his comeuppance even if he's the likable George Clooney.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Cinematic Holiday Treats
IT'S COMPLICATED is the perfect holiday bubble of a film--delightful to watch, providing many laughs, but when it's over it nearly evaporates. It is not a perfect film, in fact rather predictable, except that Meryl Streep (see also The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Julie and Julia) is on hand to distract us from the sketchy and illogical plot. I couldn't take my eyes off her. She has no obvious accent this time, but just jitters and flutters and giggles in a cloying manner, and as she proved in Momma Mia, she knows how to have a good time on screen and has chemistry to spare with her co-stars. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are very likable, and John Krasinski manages to steal his few scenes as well. Like a chocolate covered cherry, it's lovely to look at, sweet and gooey to eat, then you feel slightly guilty for enjoying it, and realize there's not much nutritional value afterwards.
A big noisy likable film, the new SHERLOCK HOLMES is very entertaining, in spite of some lapses. The film makers want to have it both ways, trying to be faithful to the original text, and yet including state-of-the-arts technology with big special effects and chases and explosions. By the end they do come back to earth to explain everything in logical and time-appropriate measures. It's a bit messy and bombastic at times, but I enjoyed the chemistry of Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes, and Jude Law as Dr. Watson, and the music by Hans Zimmer is very unusual and distinctive, and the sets and costumes are a knock-out. My nearly 80 year old parents seemed to really enjoy the cleverness of the script and direction, but were complaining of being rather exhausted by the end. I know how they felt.
The Masterpiece Theatre-like production of YOUNG VICTORIA is a pleasant blend of good actors (Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Miranda Richardson et.al), strong production values, sumptuous costumes and sets, lush music and cinematography. What it doesn't have is a punch of an ending. It really just sort of stops, which is a disappointing way to end a perfectly acceptable version of Queen Victoria's early years.
A dvd choice this week was ELF (2003) with Will Farrell, because it was a Christmas themed film, and we were desperate, although ELF does have many fans. I want to like it more than I do. It's heart is in the right place, and there are many enjoyable and amusing scenes (it's your basic fish out of water story, where Santa's overgrown -and very human- elf spends a week before Christmas in New York City disrupting the lives of his long lost father and the Santa room at Gimbals department store). The film seems rather lame and lazy to me at other times--but go ahead and see it with low expectations.
The TCM (Turner Classic Movies) choices this week included back to back screenings of two Humphrey Bogart / Lauren Bacall movies, THE BIG SLEEP and DARK PASSAGE. (TCM has NO commercial breaks.) I've seen THE BIG SLEEP(1946) several times, and always enjoy the complicated maneuverings of a detective being deceived on nearly all sides while the body count climbs and the bullets fly. Every time I see it I think I'm going to follow it so closely that I will be able to make sense of the complex plot, but always to no avail. It's all clever lines and moody,smoking chemistry. A pleasant surprise is DARK PASSAGE(1947) where Bogart hides out in Bacall's apartment during recovery of a face change operation--he's an escaped con trying to prove his innocence and she's an old friend who always believed he was innocent. The plot is a bit awkward in the set-up--you don't see Bogart's face for the first half until the bandages come off--and some of the action is arbitrary, but there is that tension that is developed by the personal interactions of the stars (and a delicious bit by Agnes Moorehead), and that, along with the ubiquitous Meryl Streep, accounts for a lot these days.
A big noisy likable film, the new SHERLOCK HOLMES is very entertaining, in spite of some lapses. The film makers want to have it both ways, trying to be faithful to the original text, and yet including state-of-the-arts technology with big special effects and chases and explosions. By the end they do come back to earth to explain everything in logical and time-appropriate measures. It's a bit messy and bombastic at times, but I enjoyed the chemistry of Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes, and Jude Law as Dr. Watson, and the music by Hans Zimmer is very unusual and distinctive, and the sets and costumes are a knock-out. My nearly 80 year old parents seemed to really enjoy the cleverness of the script and direction, but were complaining of being rather exhausted by the end. I know how they felt.
The Masterpiece Theatre-like production of YOUNG VICTORIA is a pleasant blend of good actors (Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Miranda Richardson et.al), strong production values, sumptuous costumes and sets, lush music and cinematography. What it doesn't have is a punch of an ending. It really just sort of stops, which is a disappointing way to end a perfectly acceptable version of Queen Victoria's early years.
A dvd choice this week was ELF (2003) with Will Farrell, because it was a Christmas themed film, and we were desperate, although ELF does have many fans. I want to like it more than I do. It's heart is in the right place, and there are many enjoyable and amusing scenes (it's your basic fish out of water story, where Santa's overgrown -and very human- elf spends a week before Christmas in New York City disrupting the lives of his long lost father and the Santa room at Gimbals department store). The film seems rather lame and lazy to me at other times--but go ahead and see it with low expectations.
The TCM (Turner Classic Movies) choices this week included back to back screenings of two Humphrey Bogart / Lauren Bacall movies, THE BIG SLEEP and DARK PASSAGE. (TCM has NO commercial breaks.) I've seen THE BIG SLEEP(1946) several times, and always enjoy the complicated maneuverings of a detective being deceived on nearly all sides while the body count climbs and the bullets fly. Every time I see it I think I'm going to follow it so closely that I will be able to make sense of the complex plot, but always to no avail. It's all clever lines and moody,smoking chemistry. A pleasant surprise is DARK PASSAGE(1947) where Bogart hides out in Bacall's apartment during recovery of a face change operation--he's an escaped con trying to prove his innocence and she's an old friend who always believed he was innocent. The plot is a bit awkward in the set-up--you don't see Bogart's face for the first half until the bandages come off--and some of the action is arbitrary, but there is that tension that is developed by the personal interactions of the stars (and a delicious bit by Agnes Moorehead), and that, along with the ubiquitous Meryl Streep, accounts for a lot these days.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Avatar a Heavenly Vision in 3D
AVATAR in 3D is worth the $15.50 per ticket that Seattle theatres are charging, and the 3D process is very smooth and advanced. During the screening I caught, when the credits first appear it looks like the name is suspended in the center of the theatre, and the audience oohed and aahhhhed and many held up their hands as if to touch the suspended title, like a heavenly vision. Plot wise, AVATAR borrows heavily from Dances With Wolves and others where a stranger is immersed in another culture to learn about it and then change or destroy it, but ends up going "native" and stays to help that culture survive the advances of the "white man." This time the setting is in outer space, and the creatures of this beautiful and mysterious planet are in tune with nature, friendly and intelligent, and as usual it's the United States military machine that is the stubborn, willful aggressor that wants to mine a valuable mineral out of the soil that the creatures live on top of. Director James Cameron knows how to tell an effective and exciting story (Terminator 1 and 2, Titanic), the music is smooth and subtle, the actors are appropriate and the action is edited tightly. The special effects are seamless. So when you figure that this is the best 3D film technique ever, and it places you in a completely unique world, and it is totally engrossing, then that $15.50 can be justified. I'd rather pay a lot to see something of quality than $10.50 to see a POS (piece of s***).
My dvd library rental this week was a curious telling of H.Rider Haggard's novel, KING SOLOMON'S MINES (1936) with Roland Young, Cedric Hardwicke, and the great Paul Robeson, who in spite of his subservient role, actually gets to belt out about 4 spiritual-like hymns, and ends up king of a lost tribe. He has a great, rich baritone/bass voice and manages to steal the movie from his co stars. It's your basic adventure story of the quest for the lost and forbidden treasures of King Solomon's mine---a story that has been used again and again, notably in most of the INDIANA JONES movies, with obviously better special effects. Apparently the filming was on South African locales, and there's a cast of thousands of actual Zulu warriors. It's not bad and very watchable for an older film.
My dvd library rental this week was a curious telling of H.Rider Haggard's novel, KING SOLOMON'S MINES (1936) with Roland Young, Cedric Hardwicke, and the great Paul Robeson, who in spite of his subservient role, actually gets to belt out about 4 spiritual-like hymns, and ends up king of a lost tribe. He has a great, rich baritone/bass voice and manages to steal the movie from his co stars. It's your basic adventure story of the quest for the lost and forbidden treasures of King Solomon's mine---a story that has been used again and again, notably in most of the INDIANA JONES movies, with obviously better special effects. Apparently the filming was on South African locales, and there's a cast of thousands of actual Zulu warriors. It's not bad and very watchable for an older film.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Bad Billy Wilder, Good Disney Frog, and Watch out for Meryl
I've often thought to myself, "there's not a single Billy Wilder movie that I dislike." Even the lessor known films I've really loved, like THE SECRET LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, BUDDY BUDDY, LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON, AVANTI, and ONE TWO THREE. This director has created some of my favorite films---SOME LIKE IT HOT, STALAG 17, SUNSET BOULEVARD, THE APARTMENT, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, SEVEN YEAR ITCH, WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, etc.... So it is with some dismay that I have to declare that I really disliked a Billy Wilder movie called KISS ME STUPID(1964), even though it was written w/ I.A.L Diamond, has songs by George and Ira Gershwin, and features the normally talented Kim Novak, Ray Walston and Dean Martin (!) The movie made me wince, again, and again. It was smarmy, silly without much wit, and nearly unbelievable. Somewhere down there was a clever idea, but it was played so broadly that it made me want to turn it off.....
Fortunately, the good film of the week is Disney's newest THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, which was delightful in many ways, especially because the lead character is BLACK! although you might not know it from looking at the ads in the paper. And unfortunately, she is turned into a green frog for more than half the movie. Still, small steps are better than no steps (leaps?).
This week I also saw some clunkers that will open in January (the worst being WHEN IN ROME, and also EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES--better, but...) so will write more (or less) about them when they open. Fortunately, they were offset with the funny but flawed new Meryl Streep film IT'S COMPLICATED which opens on Christmas Day! Can Meryl do no wrong? Thankfully not.
Fortunately, the good film of the week is Disney's newest THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, which was delightful in many ways, especially because the lead character is BLACK! although you might not know it from looking at the ads in the paper. And unfortunately, she is turned into a green frog for more than half the movie. Still, small steps are better than no steps (leaps?).
This week I also saw some clunkers that will open in January (the worst being WHEN IN ROME, and also EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES--better, but...) so will write more (or less) about them when they open. Fortunately, they were offset with the funny but flawed new Meryl Streep film IT'S COMPLICATED which opens on Christmas Day! Can Meryl do no wrong? Thankfully not.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
It's a Wonderful Movie, still
This week the dvd selections were all good and diverse and all in glorious black and white. First up I watched SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING(1960) with Albert Finney and Rachel Roberts. It was Finney's first big role and what a blast off for his career (see also Tom Jones, Two for the Road and Scrooge from 1970). He plays an angry young man who works hard all week long in the factory, then blows it all off on the weekend with his two girlfriends (one an older married woman) and lots of booze. At times it was a bit grim, but the actors keep it real, and even though some of the plot seemed predictable, it was very watchable.
Every year I watch at least two or three Hitchcock films, and this week was YOUNG AND INNOCENT(1937) which I hadn't seen for over 20 years. It has the typical Hitchcock theme where a young man is accused of a murder he didn't commit, then must elude police while trying to figure out who really did do the murder. He is assisted by the pretty young daughter of the police chief, who falls in love with him. The mood is light and humorous and the film is entertaining (if forgettable), but there are a couple of very interesting scenes. One works like an action film when a car is falling down a crevasse in an abandoned mine and the three people in it are trying to save themselves and each other. The other is a long dolly crane shot that lasts nearly 2 minutes, as the camera starts high, then swoops down through the crowd of dancers in a hotel ballroom to finally move into a closeup of the killer's face and eyes--a remarkable shot for its time. YOUNG AND INNOCENT has been reconstructed and cleaned up in a beautiful, newly struck print that looks pristine in the new (last year) collection called "Alfred Hitchcock--Premiere Collection" which features newly struck prints of The Lodger, Sabotage, The Paradine Case, Rebecca, Lifeboat, Spellbound and Notorious--all looking like they just came out of the can the year they were first shown in theatres. Well worth looking at.
To kick off the holiday season, movie wise, I watched IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE(1946) with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, which I hadn't seen for at least six years when I made my then 14 year old niece watch it when I was baby-sitting her siblings one night before Christmas. She was a bit annoyed with the first scenes, but ended up really liking it. This film, I think, gets better with age. It still has that annoying first five minutes of corn where it looks like two twinkling stars (representing angels) talk to each other--enough to put off anyone--but once the story kicks in, there's enough cynical, sarcastic realism to combat the sentimentality of the piece. And Jimmy Stewart is incredible. In no other film does he scream, cry, swoon, woo, and despair so effectively. The rest of the cast is equally memorable. If you haven't seen it in a while, you'll be amazed at how dense the plot and characterizations are, and if you've never seen it, what a treat you have in store for you. One of my favorite scenes ever--Stewart and Reed are both cheek to cheek on the same phone call from a mutual obnoxious friend, and in spite of their anger and annoyance with each other, the attraction is there. Stewart drops the phone and screams that he is never getting married, he's not staying in Bedford Falls, he's quitting the Savings and Loan, you can't make him, and all the while he's shaking Reed violently, and then they tussle and kiss and hug---- violently..... It's still the BEST CHRISTMAS themed film, ever.
Every year I watch at least two or three Hitchcock films, and this week was YOUNG AND INNOCENT(1937) which I hadn't seen for over 20 years. It has the typical Hitchcock theme where a young man is accused of a murder he didn't commit, then must elude police while trying to figure out who really did do the murder. He is assisted by the pretty young daughter of the police chief, who falls in love with him. The mood is light and humorous and the film is entertaining (if forgettable), but there are a couple of very interesting scenes. One works like an action film when a car is falling down a crevasse in an abandoned mine and the three people in it are trying to save themselves and each other. The other is a long dolly crane shot that lasts nearly 2 minutes, as the camera starts high, then swoops down through the crowd of dancers in a hotel ballroom to finally move into a closeup of the killer's face and eyes--a remarkable shot for its time. YOUNG AND INNOCENT has been reconstructed and cleaned up in a beautiful, newly struck print that looks pristine in the new (last year) collection called "Alfred Hitchcock--Premiere Collection" which features newly struck prints of The Lodger, Sabotage, The Paradine Case, Rebecca, Lifeboat, Spellbound and Notorious--all looking like they just came out of the can the year they were first shown in theatres. Well worth looking at.
To kick off the holiday season, movie wise, I watched IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE(1946) with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, which I hadn't seen for at least six years when I made my then 14 year old niece watch it when I was baby-sitting her siblings one night before Christmas. She was a bit annoyed with the first scenes, but ended up really liking it. This film, I think, gets better with age. It still has that annoying first five minutes of corn where it looks like two twinkling stars (representing angels) talk to each other--enough to put off anyone--but once the story kicks in, there's enough cynical, sarcastic realism to combat the sentimentality of the piece. And Jimmy Stewart is incredible. In no other film does he scream, cry, swoon, woo, and despair so effectively. The rest of the cast is equally memorable. If you haven't seen it in a while, you'll be amazed at how dense the plot and characterizations are, and if you've never seen it, what a treat you have in store for you. One of my favorite scenes ever--Stewart and Reed are both cheek to cheek on the same phone call from a mutual obnoxious friend, and in spite of their anger and annoyance with each other, the attraction is there. Stewart drops the phone and screams that he is never getting married, he's not staying in Bedford Falls, he's quitting the Savings and Loan, you can't make him, and all the while he's shaking Reed violently, and then they tussle and kiss and hug---- violently..... It's still the BEST CHRISTMAS themed film, ever.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Brothers and Fantastic Mr Fox top films this week
Chronologically, I started the week (Sunday 29 November) with a repeat viewing of what I think will be one the the year's best films, PRECIOUS, and I'm happy to say it lived up to a second view....it's still strong, startling and very well made and acted. After a late lunch at The Deluxe on Broadway, the three of us went to see THE FANTASTIC MR FOX with voices by George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Bill Murray, and it is one of the damnedest "kids" movie ever--in fact, I don't think that kids would really get it or appreciate it, but the adults sure were laughing. Roald Dahl wrote the book and Wes Anderson directed it (along with his previous winners RUSHMORE, THE LIFE AQUATIC with STEVE ZISSOU, and THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS)in a sardonic and ironic style, which adds to it's charm. If you like your 2D cartoons with creatures who act like animals, smoke and drink and thieve, and say witty things, then you'll enjoy FMF.
THE MAID played at SIFF last May and even though I was not bored, I found the film rather pedantic. Fortunately, the lead actress is gung-ho as a domestic who is beloved by her employer family, yet due to some physical (or mental) illness, becomes increasingly paranoid about her position, and when a succession of new help is hired to assist her, she drives them off with petty and exasperating hi jinks. Fun to watch, but not very cinematically adventurous.
EVERYBODY'S FINE is a remake of an Italian Marcello Mastroianni film from several years ago, remade to fit Robert De Niro, as a father who feels neglected when his four adult kids all cancel for a family reunion dinner, so he sets out around the country to visit them all one by one. There are obviously some big secrets that are uncovered, and some fences that need mending, and to its credit, the film has a lovely finale that is quite emotional, but getting to that point, it's bland and slow. It's also predictable. If his kids weren't such liars in the first place there'd be no film. I wish that were true. If you are desperate for a teary eyed film that ends at a Christmas reunion, then you might enjoy it. Otherwise, forget it.
The best new film this week turned out to be BROTHERS, another remake of a Danish film from a few years ago that has one brother (the "good" one) played by Tobey (Spiderman) Mcguire, going off to war in Afghanistan and leaving behind his loving wife Natalie (V for Vendetta)Portman, and his "bad" brother just back from prison, played by Jake (Brokeback Mountain) Gyllenhaal. The good and the bad get mighty blurred by the end. The TV spots for this film would have you believe this is a tale of infidelity, sexual jealousy and revenge. In reality it is a very intense and honest portrayal of the horrors of war, the pain of separation, the loss of loved ones during war-time, and the difficulty of readjustment to civilian life for returning soldiers. It is a fine and important film, possibly one the year's top films.
My library dvd find of the week is NINELIVES (2004)--basically 9 short films, all about women in transitional or climactic dramatic peaks in their lives, and each story shot in one 10-14 minute take (no cutting or editing). There is a large and dynamic cast which includes Aidan Quinn, Sissy Spacek, Amanda Seyfried, Amy Brenneman, Kathy Baker, Holly Hunter, and others. Sometimes it is hard to invest emotionally in so many different characters and stories, but each is quite different and unique and each strikes a different dramatic punch. I especially liked the first one with Elpidia Carrillo as an inmate who has a breakdown when a technicality denies her a visit from her child, a middle one where two ex-lovers (Jason Isaacs and Robin Wright Penn) meet in a grocery store and try or not to pick up where they left off several years earlier, and the last one with Glenn Close and Dakota Fanning as a mother and daughter who spend an afternoon picnic at the grave site of --well, let's save that shock for the viewer to discover.
THE MAID played at SIFF last May and even though I was not bored, I found the film rather pedantic. Fortunately, the lead actress is gung-ho as a domestic who is beloved by her employer family, yet due to some physical (or mental) illness, becomes increasingly paranoid about her position, and when a succession of new help is hired to assist her, she drives them off with petty and exasperating hi jinks. Fun to watch, but not very cinematically adventurous.
EVERYBODY'S FINE is a remake of an Italian Marcello Mastroianni film from several years ago, remade to fit Robert De Niro, as a father who feels neglected when his four adult kids all cancel for a family reunion dinner, so he sets out around the country to visit them all one by one. There are obviously some big secrets that are uncovered, and some fences that need mending, and to its credit, the film has a lovely finale that is quite emotional, but getting to that point, it's bland and slow. It's also predictable. If his kids weren't such liars in the first place there'd be no film. I wish that were true. If you are desperate for a teary eyed film that ends at a Christmas reunion, then you might enjoy it. Otherwise, forget it.
The best new film this week turned out to be BROTHERS, another remake of a Danish film from a few years ago that has one brother (the "good" one) played by Tobey (Spiderman) Mcguire, going off to war in Afghanistan and leaving behind his loving wife Natalie (V for Vendetta)Portman, and his "bad" brother just back from prison, played by Jake (Brokeback Mountain) Gyllenhaal. The good and the bad get mighty blurred by the end. The TV spots for this film would have you believe this is a tale of infidelity, sexual jealousy and revenge. In reality it is a very intense and honest portrayal of the horrors of war, the pain of separation, the loss of loved ones during war-time, and the difficulty of readjustment to civilian life for returning soldiers. It is a fine and important film, possibly one the year's top films.
My library dvd find of the week is NINELIVES (2004)--basically 9 short films, all about women in transitional or climactic dramatic peaks in their lives, and each story shot in one 10-14 minute take (no cutting or editing). There is a large and dynamic cast which includes Aidan Quinn, Sissy Spacek, Amanda Seyfried, Amy Brenneman, Kathy Baker, Holly Hunter, and others. Sometimes it is hard to invest emotionally in so many different characters and stories, but each is quite different and unique and each strikes a different dramatic punch. I especially liked the first one with Elpidia Carrillo as an inmate who has a breakdown when a technicality denies her a visit from her child, a middle one where two ex-lovers (Jason Isaacs and Robin Wright Penn) meet in a grocery store and try or not to pick up where they left off several years earlier, and the last one with Glenn Close and Dakota Fanning as a mother and daughter who spend an afternoon picnic at the grave site of --well, let's save that shock for the viewer to discover.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Top 5 Thanksgiving themed movies
Wishing you all a lovely long holiday weekend. With all this time off work, what better way than to catch up on some films featuring Thanksgiving family action, and I'm not talking about the dismal comedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles, which I've never really enjoyed--too broad, exasperating, silly and didn't make a lot of logical sense. There are some very choice movies to watch On Demand or to check out at your local dvd rental store.
Because Woody Allen is so cerebral at times, one tends to forget that the lovely comedy drama Hannah and Her Sisters(1986) is set at not one but two Thanksgiving dinners a year apart, during which time characters meet, mate, and some divorce or split, and they all have to reconcile their actions and their tangled relationships. The cast includes Michael Caine and Dianne Weist who both won Oscars for best supporting actor/actress for this intelligent comedy.
Director Ang Lee (Oscar winner for Brokeback Mountain) created the superior drama The Ice Storm (1997)which culminates at Thanksgiving time. The children are struggling with puberty and the adults are struggling with the new found sexual freedoms (this is set in 1973) and no one seems very happy, but the actors (Signourney Weaver, Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Elijah Wood, Christina Ricci, Tobey Maguire) are well defined and the direction is intense and assured, especially during the beautifully tragic ice storm sequence.
Pieces Of April (2003) is my favorite feel good Thanksgiving film, starring Tom Cruise's (soon to be ex-?) wife Katie Holmes, who tries to pull her family together in her cramped New York City apartment, spending the day frantically trying to prepare a big dinner with many challenges and disasters in her way. It's funny, charming and endearing in spite of some big issues raised (inter-racial love, cancer, dementia, broken appliances, mean neighbors etc).
For the counter-culture in you all, don't forget Alice's Restaurant (1969), based on the classic 20 minute Arlo Gutherie song of the same name. Hippie Arlo gets into big trouble with the law by trying to clean up after a BIG turkey dinner by dumping the kitchen garbage over an embankment because the city dump was closed for the holiday. Arthur (Bonnie and Clyde) Penn directed this hilarious and insightful comedy.
Finally, even though most of us consider the classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947) a Christmas film, the movie features a big segment at a Thanksgiving meal where young Natalie Wood can watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade from the window, and that of course, ends with Santa Claus at the parade's end, which triggers her skeptical and cynical attitude towards Christmas.
Because Woody Allen is so cerebral at times, one tends to forget that the lovely comedy drama Hannah and Her Sisters(1986) is set at not one but two Thanksgiving dinners a year apart, during which time characters meet, mate, and some divorce or split, and they all have to reconcile their actions and their tangled relationships. The cast includes Michael Caine and Dianne Weist who both won Oscars for best supporting actor/actress for this intelligent comedy.
Director Ang Lee (Oscar winner for Brokeback Mountain) created the superior drama The Ice Storm (1997)which culminates at Thanksgiving time. The children are struggling with puberty and the adults are struggling with the new found sexual freedoms (this is set in 1973) and no one seems very happy, but the actors (Signourney Weaver, Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Elijah Wood, Christina Ricci, Tobey Maguire) are well defined and the direction is intense and assured, especially during the beautifully tragic ice storm sequence.
Pieces Of April (2003) is my favorite feel good Thanksgiving film, starring Tom Cruise's (soon to be ex-?) wife Katie Holmes, who tries to pull her family together in her cramped New York City apartment, spending the day frantically trying to prepare a big dinner with many challenges and disasters in her way. It's funny, charming and endearing in spite of some big issues raised (inter-racial love, cancer, dementia, broken appliances, mean neighbors etc).
For the counter-culture in you all, don't forget Alice's Restaurant (1969), based on the classic 20 minute Arlo Gutherie song of the same name. Hippie Arlo gets into big trouble with the law by trying to clean up after a BIG turkey dinner by dumping the kitchen garbage over an embankment because the city dump was closed for the holiday. Arthur (Bonnie and Clyde) Penn directed this hilarious and insightful comedy.
Finally, even though most of us consider the classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947) a Christmas film, the movie features a big segment at a Thanksgiving meal where young Natalie Wood can watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade from the window, and that of course, ends with Santa Claus at the parade's end, which triggers her skeptical and cynical attitude towards Christmas.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Ironically titled PRECIOUS tops 3 best film contenders.
Over a year ago, I came home from an early screening of a new, little known (at the time) film, and announced to my wife Toni that I think I had just seen the movie to beat for Best Picture. I had some reservations about this new title, which was to open in several weeks. That film went on to open to good reviews and a growing audience. It was called SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, and it did indeed go on to win the best picture Oscar in February of this year. The plot seemed a little too coincidental, too precious and too fantastical for me. But as I thought about it, it grew on me--it's exotica, music, energy, and humanity. I began to think of it like a Charles Dicken's novel where the hero starts his life a poor unfortunate orphan, living with evil or indifferent adults, and who by luck or good fortune or skill dug their way into an adulthood that was happy, adjusted and well deserved. Think Oliver Twist, Great Expectations or David Cooperfield.
Well, several weeks ago I came home from an advance screening and told Toni that I had just seen the film to beat at next February's Oscars. That film is PRECIOUS and everything you're going to hear about this film from others will probably be true. It is a stunning film. The audience I saw it with was absolutely transfixed, and when it reaches its excruciating climax, you don't want to see or hear anymore, but you know you've got to see this to the end, because this character has no where to go but up in life, and your heart aches for her to succeed.
This young Harlem teen in the early 80's has nothing to live for. Her mother abuses and beats her, her mostly absent father rapes her, and she is now pregnant with his second child. She lives in poverty and filth and neglect. The story is how she amazingly manages to survive and tries to break out of this terrible cycle, and it's based on a true story. Another Charles Dickens-type story, but without the feelgood ending or the train station dancing. The actors are remarkable. I was shocked to realise after the screening that the cast includes a comedian (not funny here) and two pop-singers (no music here) and an unknown, first-time actress who plays PRECIOUS with such honesty and directness that it made me cringe. As much as I enjoyed A SERIOUS MAN's deadpan, intelligent humor, the film PRECIOUS stands out for the unique and uncharted world that it explores.
Saturday night I saw another fine new British film, written by Nick Hornsby (High Fidelity) and featuring an assured cast including Alfred Molina, Peter Sarsgaard and Emma Thompson. A young 17 year old girl receives AN EDUCATION at the hands of a man nearly 20 years her senior as he introduces her to art, music, film and love. Unusual for me, I failed to predict the obvious twist towards the end that really had me rethinking my feelings for these characters. Very, very well done and thought provoking.
Slipping briefly into town this last weekend is a minor but enjoyably quirky, edgy comedy called "UNTITLED." It skewers the art gallery world and finds some big laughs in dresses that make noises, bucket kicking and chain rattling music, and "elevator" art (think musack). It is a low budget wonder.
Well, several weeks ago I came home from an advance screening and told Toni that I had just seen the film to beat at next February's Oscars. That film is PRECIOUS and everything you're going to hear about this film from others will probably be true. It is a stunning film. The audience I saw it with was absolutely transfixed, and when it reaches its excruciating climax, you don't want to see or hear anymore, but you know you've got to see this to the end, because this character has no where to go but up in life, and your heart aches for her to succeed.
This young Harlem teen in the early 80's has nothing to live for. Her mother abuses and beats her, her mostly absent father rapes her, and she is now pregnant with his second child. She lives in poverty and filth and neglect. The story is how she amazingly manages to survive and tries to break out of this terrible cycle, and it's based on a true story. Another Charles Dickens-type story, but without the feelgood ending or the train station dancing. The actors are remarkable. I was shocked to realise after the screening that the cast includes a comedian (not funny here) and two pop-singers (no music here) and an unknown, first-time actress who plays PRECIOUS with such honesty and directness that it made me cringe. As much as I enjoyed A SERIOUS MAN's deadpan, intelligent humor, the film PRECIOUS stands out for the unique and uncharted world that it explores.
Saturday night I saw another fine new British film, written by Nick Hornsby (High Fidelity) and featuring an assured cast including Alfred Molina, Peter Sarsgaard and Emma Thompson. A young 17 year old girl receives AN EDUCATION at the hands of a man nearly 20 years her senior as he introduces her to art, music, film and love. Unusual for me, I failed to predict the obvious twist towards the end that really had me rethinking my feelings for these characters. Very, very well done and thought provoking.
Slipping briefly into town this last weekend is a minor but enjoyably quirky, edgy comedy called "UNTITLED." It skewers the art gallery world and finds some big laughs in dresses that make noises, bucket kicking and chain rattling music, and "elevator" art (think musack). It is a low budget wonder.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
No Jews were harmed during the filming of A Serious Man
On a bike trip to Oregon last September I bought a copy of the Elizabeth Taylor bio by Kitty Kelly, and it happened that same day that in a thrift shop I bought a $2 dvd of The Taming of the Shrew (1967) which she made in her hey-day with then husband Richard Burton. I remember seeing TTOTS in '67 with a friend at the beautiful Chinese-styled downtown theatre the Fifth Ave before it became the spectacular live theatre house that it is today, and the film was fascinating, bawdy, colorful, funny, and the film broke four times during it's 2hour running time, with the lights coming on each time for several minutes. That was maddening, but I still forgave the technical gaffs because the film was so engaging. Franco Zeffirelli was the director, still best known for his version of Romeo and Juliet a year later. The film holds up extremely well (this is Shakespeare, after all) and the cast is superb. At first Taylor made me wince--she seemed rather obvious and over the top with her shouting and eye rolling, but when finally Burton is introduced, his blowzy drunkenness seemed more over the top than her, and the film really takes off. I've read all sorts of interesting political takes on the story (mostly about the sexism of the play) since then, but the way it is played out makes me wonder if anyone saw this version, which is a delight to watch.
Also this week watched Never So Few, a WWII film featuring Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen (in his first major role), Richard Johnson and Paul Henreid. It's a serious story about a few Kachin allies who along with a small troop of Americans hold off 40 thousand Japanese in Burma. Unfortunately there's a lot of talk and some rather simplistic action scenes that mute the film's effect.
On TMC last night watched Here Comes the Groom, a modest Frank Capra film with Jane Wyman and Bing Crosby, who sings three songs too many in that bland forgettable sort of manner that people like to call laid back. The corn is spread thickly and even though I liked the pace and some of the shtick, it was rather annoying at times, too. Not one of Capra's best, considering It's a Wonderful Life, It Happened One Night, Meet John Doe, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Mr Deeds Goes to Town, Arsenic and Old Lace, etc....
But fortunately, I've saved the best for last. Today I caught up with the Coen brothers newest film, A Serious Man, and it jumps to the top of my Top Films of the Year list. It is very dry, and very funny, and goes deep into the Jewish psyche of the 1960's. Some criticism has said that it is anti-Semitic, that it makes fun of Judaism, but I loved the characters so much that it's hard to make that stick. The leading man is having a very bad year--his wife is leaving him for one of his best friends, a student is trying to black mail him for a better grade, his son is ready for bar mitzvah but barely avoids getting beaten up by a classmate everyday, his brother is sleeping on the couch and hogging the bathroom to drain a neck abscess for hours every day, and he is lusting after a sexy neighbor. This is all handled with an eye for the absurd and humorous, and for once I wasn't the only one laughing at the screening--at least four or five other members of the audience (of 14) were guffawing loudly (this was an 1130am Thursday matinee, after all.) I suspect A Serious Man to be solidly in the top 5 of the year, since tomorrow Precious opens and will move Man to number 2.
Also this week watched Never So Few, a WWII film featuring Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen (in his first major role), Richard Johnson and Paul Henreid. It's a serious story about a few Kachin allies who along with a small troop of Americans hold off 40 thousand Japanese in Burma. Unfortunately there's a lot of talk and some rather simplistic action scenes that mute the film's effect.
On TMC last night watched Here Comes the Groom, a modest Frank Capra film with Jane Wyman and Bing Crosby, who sings three songs too many in that bland forgettable sort of manner that people like to call laid back. The corn is spread thickly and even though I liked the pace and some of the shtick, it was rather annoying at times, too. Not one of Capra's best, considering It's a Wonderful Life, It Happened One Night, Meet John Doe, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Mr Deeds Goes to Town, Arsenic and Old Lace, etc....
But fortunately, I've saved the best for last. Today I caught up with the Coen brothers newest film, A Serious Man, and it jumps to the top of my Top Films of the Year list. It is very dry, and very funny, and goes deep into the Jewish psyche of the 1960's. Some criticism has said that it is anti-Semitic, that it makes fun of Judaism, but I loved the characters so much that it's hard to make that stick. The leading man is having a very bad year--his wife is leaving him for one of his best friends, a student is trying to black mail him for a better grade, his son is ready for bar mitzvah but barely avoids getting beaten up by a classmate everyday, his brother is sleeping on the couch and hogging the bathroom to drain a neck abscess for hours every day, and he is lusting after a sexy neighbor. This is all handled with an eye for the absurd and humorous, and for once I wasn't the only one laughing at the screening--at least four or five other members of the audience (of 14) were guffawing loudly (this was an 1130am Thursday matinee, after all.) I suspect A Serious Man to be solidly in the top 5 of the year, since tomorrow Precious opens and will move Man to number 2.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Liam Neeson saves his daughter--James Bond style
Going to the ocean (Ocean Shores) on a rainy, windy weekend is always a good time to catch up on some movies that you meant to see but never did earlier in the year, so that's how I watched TAKEN (2009), which has Liam Neeson in full 007 mode--he out maneuvers James Bond in some scenes. The film is quite unbelievable and full of holes and coincidences, yet moves along with such breakneck speed that it's easy to forgive. When his daughter is kidnapped in Paris by some nasty eastern Europeans who force girls into the sex trade "industry," Neeson (who conveniently worked for the "government" in "security" and has a LOT of connections even though he's now retired) jumps a plane and with-in 36 hours has left a LOT of dead bodies around Paris, all without detection or injury/death to himself, SINGLE HANDEDLY mind you. Hey, it's a mindless film for rainy days.
In a lighter vein, GHOST TOWN (2009) slipped through theatres last spring and I had labeled it a dvd movie at the time, so, perfect time to catch up on this Greg Kinnear/ Ricky Gervais vehicle, which proved to be rather delightful and touching. Something about dentist Gervais who has a near death experience during a colonoscopy (!) who can suddenly see the ghosts walking among us when no one else can. He's a jerk and doesn't want to help these ghosts resolve their problems, and Kinnear is a ghost (and also a jerk) who has unresolved issues with his wife (Tea Leoni) and arranges Gervais to woo her. Some of it is quite funny in a gentle sort of way and even thought one might forget about the film in a week, it's still amusing to watch.
The western RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY(1962) was one of director Sam Peckinpah's early triumphs, with the classics STRAW DOGS, WILD BUNCH, THE GETAWAY, etc, all created withing the next 10 years. It's almost more of a character study as two old-time gunslinger buddies sign up to help safeguard a shipment of gold from mining camp back to town--but one has an ulterior motive which causes problems and a lot of tension. Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott are both excellent as greed and danger pull their friendship apart. Three fine films for that rainy day anywhere, anytime.
In a lighter vein, GHOST TOWN (2009) slipped through theatres last spring and I had labeled it a dvd movie at the time, so, perfect time to catch up on this Greg Kinnear/ Ricky Gervais vehicle, which proved to be rather delightful and touching. Something about dentist Gervais who has a near death experience during a colonoscopy (!) who can suddenly see the ghosts walking among us when no one else can. He's a jerk and doesn't want to help these ghosts resolve their problems, and Kinnear is a ghost (and also a jerk) who has unresolved issues with his wife (Tea Leoni) and arranges Gervais to woo her. Some of it is quite funny in a gentle sort of way and even thought one might forget about the film in a week, it's still amusing to watch.
The western RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY(1962) was one of director Sam Peckinpah's early triumphs, with the classics STRAW DOGS, WILD BUNCH, THE GETAWAY, etc, all created withing the next 10 years. It's almost more of a character study as two old-time gunslinger buddies sign up to help safeguard a shipment of gold from mining camp back to town--but one has an ulterior motive which causes problems and a lot of tension. Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott are both excellent as greed and danger pull their friendship apart. Three fine films for that rainy day anywhere, anytime.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
John Cusack Saves the World in 2012
I'm happy to report that the new apocalyptic film 2012 by producer director Roland Emmerich,
who also directed Independence Day, Godzilla, and The Day After Tomorrow, is a hoot and a half. I've never laughed so much in an end of the world epic as this one, and that's a good thing, because there have been a lot of such films and how many times can you enjoy seeing iconic landmarks topple over, crushing the foolish throngs who have gathered in the shadows.
The earth is in chaos due to shifting of the magnetic polar zones, and due to the crust movement that this causes, all because the sun is sending something towards earth---you know--hocus pocus and so California starts slipping into the Pacific, but not before divorced dad John Cusack can drive his kids on a "weekend trip" all the way from L.A. to Yellowstone National Park, meet wacko radio DJ Woody "the end is coming" Harrelson, take his kids on a hike through restricted, fenced off danger zones, get picked up by the military and meets scientist Chiwetel Ejiofor, and then drive all the way back to Los Angeles in time to pick up his ex and her new husband and then drive through a city that's degenerating faster than snow on an 98 degree day to the airport where he has conveniently booked and paid for (he's between jobs as a writer by working as a limo driver) a private jet-----whew----yeah, totally unbelievable. But I have to admit, earthquake destruction has never looked so scary and amazing before. The rest of the scenario--everyone on earth will probably die, except of course, John Cusack and his family, so one wonders just how will he get out of another impossible catastrophe, and then another, and then another. This film features his limo, RV, private plane and a giant Russian cargo jet drive over ramp-like crevasses like some demolition derby, and amazingly missing falling buildings, towers, flying cars, and volcanic boulders to reach safety. Shots of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and the Vatican being destroyed are grim reminders that we are helpless against the ravages of nature, and just to be extra cynical, the St. Peters Basilica manages to not collapse, but flip over on it's side and role over the praying masses in Italy. In a protracted ending, Cusack saves the future of mankind with an impossible act of --what---bravery, stupidity, heroism, self-sacrifice...?
The visual effects are sensational, the actors are quite effective, especially Oliver Platt as the heartless brains behind the "saving of civilization"---the ultra-rich survive, the poor all die. There are many amusing, obvious lines, like "I think we are all going to die"--oh really, you think. I laughed a lot. It is a great, fast paced "popcorn" movie because if you think about it too long, you either get depressed or your brain short circuits. Emmerich knows how to shoot action sequences (he's now destroyed Washington DC and the White House in 2 films now), and the film is long on tension. Occasionally you get a calm, tender, human scene, but don't worry, the ironic or sarcastic destruction will begin again shortly. The film may be a joke, but at 158 minutes, you get your money's worth.
who also directed Independence Day, Godzilla, and The Day After Tomorrow, is a hoot and a half. I've never laughed so much in an end of the world epic as this one, and that's a good thing, because there have been a lot of such films and how many times can you enjoy seeing iconic landmarks topple over, crushing the foolish throngs who have gathered in the shadows.
The earth is in chaos due to shifting of the magnetic polar zones, and due to the crust movement that this causes, all because the sun is sending something towards earth---you know--hocus pocus and so California starts slipping into the Pacific, but not before divorced dad John Cusack can drive his kids on a "weekend trip" all the way from L.A. to Yellowstone National Park, meet wacko radio DJ Woody "the end is coming" Harrelson, take his kids on a hike through restricted, fenced off danger zones, get picked up by the military and meets scientist Chiwetel Ejiofor, and then drive all the way back to Los Angeles in time to pick up his ex and her new husband and then drive through a city that's degenerating faster than snow on an 98 degree day to the airport where he has conveniently booked and paid for (he's between jobs as a writer by working as a limo driver) a private jet-----whew----yeah, totally unbelievable. But I have to admit, earthquake destruction has never looked so scary and amazing before. The rest of the scenario--everyone on earth will probably die, except of course, John Cusack and his family, so one wonders just how will he get out of another impossible catastrophe, and then another, and then another. This film features his limo, RV, private plane and a giant Russian cargo jet drive over ramp-like crevasses like some demolition derby, and amazingly missing falling buildings, towers, flying cars, and volcanic boulders to reach safety. Shots of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and the Vatican being destroyed are grim reminders that we are helpless against the ravages of nature, and just to be extra cynical, the St. Peters Basilica manages to not collapse, but flip over on it's side and role over the praying masses in Italy. In a protracted ending, Cusack saves the future of mankind with an impossible act of --what---bravery, stupidity, heroism, self-sacrifice...?
The visual effects are sensational, the actors are quite effective, especially Oliver Platt as the heartless brains behind the "saving of civilization"---the ultra-rich survive, the poor all die. There are many amusing, obvious lines, like "I think we are all going to die"--oh really, you think. I laughed a lot. It is a great, fast paced "popcorn" movie because if you think about it too long, you either get depressed or your brain short circuits. Emmerich knows how to shoot action sequences (he's now destroyed Washington DC and the White House in 2 films now), and the film is long on tension. Occasionally you get a calm, tender, human scene, but don't worry, the ironic or sarcastic destruction will begin again shortly. The film may be a joke, but at 158 minutes, you get your money's worth.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Great Depression in the Movies
Are these times the Great Depression all over again? Food banks have longer lines than before, and so many homes are in foreclosure. Crime seems to be rising--a sign of unemployment and desperation? More people are sharing their homes out of necessity, as out of work folks seek less expensive rents. These ideas kept popping into my mind as I watched a little film from last year called Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008). Based on a series of (children's) books by Valerie Tripp which I have not read, this film was a happy surprise, and why not? The director Patricia Rozema made a big splash in the mid 80's with the magical I've Heard the Mermaids Singing and the suspenser The White Room, and recent films have included Mansfield Park and the highly acclaimed HBO film Grey Gardens. The cast includes the exuberant Abigail (Little Miss Sunshine) Breslin, Oscar nominee Joan Cusack, Chris (Batman and Robin) O'Connell, Jane (30 Rock) Krakowski, Stanley Tucci and Wallace Shawn. And it is set in the mid 1930's, when the Great Depression was forcing families out of their foreclosed homes and increasing the homeless (hobo) populations. Not the stuff of children's films. Yet because it deals so bluntly with these and other issues, it is a film that children should see, if only to realize that there are at least two sides to every bad situation, and you can't judge a book (or movie) by its (dvd) cover. Other films I've recently seen about the Great Depression--Bound for Glory and Grapes of Wrath--and now Kit Kittredge, are highly recommended.
--Next blog--something brand new.
--Next blog--something brand new.
I discovered Rufus at the Movies
Sunday night we went to see Rufus Wainwright at Benaroya Hall, where last week we had watched Psycho (see below) accompanied by the Seattle Symphony. Benaroya Hall may be the best Hall for listening to music in all of Seattle, with crystalline acoustics, no echo and perfect sight lines. We have been big fans of Rufus for about 4 years....actually I first remembered hearing him on movie soundtracks The Last Kiss (NSH but featured the Scrubs lead Zach Braff), The History Boys and most memorably Brokeback Mountain. (He also performed on Meet the Robinsons and Aviator.) Then my wife bought a new Christmas CD which we splurge on every year called The McGarrigle Christmas Hour which features Kate and Anna McGarrigle, a Canadian sister duo popular in the 1970's for their combination of folk, country, pop and ethereal sound. A young man's thin baritone voice kept intriguing me. I felt like he was going to have an emotional break at any moment, yet he was perfectly in key, and captured the spiritual content of each song he was featured in very nicely. I learned that Rufus was the son of Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright, since divorced, and along with sister Martha, the CD was a musical family affair.
We loved Want One and quickly purchased Want Two, and two earlier CD's. His most recent CD of original work is the splendid Release the Stars. He's got a wonderful sense of the twisted harmonic hook--the more you listen the more you discover, and it seems I never get tired of listening. We've seen him live at the Triple Door, The Moore and now Benaroya Hall, which was his best sounding yet, for he appeared only with a guitar and a piano, which he rotated on through out the 90 minute set. He sang some familiar stuff, but what really excited me were some new songs from a new forthcoming CD with just him and piano, and an aria from his recently performed opera (in German!), and some Shakespearean sonnets(!) that he has set to music. He seems to me to be a pop genius of some sort, whether he's channeling Judy Garland with her dramatic style, singing ethnic folk songs, belting out pop tunes with full band/orchestra or just singing a simple, tuneful Christmas melody. I'd love to see him write a score for a Broadway or movie musical.
We loved Want One and quickly purchased Want Two, and two earlier CD's. His most recent CD of original work is the splendid Release the Stars. He's got a wonderful sense of the twisted harmonic hook--the more you listen the more you discover, and it seems I never get tired of listening. We've seen him live at the Triple Door, The Moore and now Benaroya Hall, which was his best sounding yet, for he appeared only with a guitar and a piano, which he rotated on through out the 90 minute set. He sang some familiar stuff, but what really excited me were some new songs from a new forthcoming CD with just him and piano, and an aria from his recently performed opera (in German!), and some Shakespearean sonnets(!) that he has set to music. He seems to me to be a pop genius of some sort, whether he's channeling Judy Garland with her dramatic style, singing ethnic folk songs, belting out pop tunes with full band/orchestra or just singing a simple, tuneful Christmas melody. I'd love to see him write a score for a Broadway or movie musical.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Bette Davis--so bad she's good
When she was bad, she was very very good. That's the take on many Bette Davis films, especially later in her career. Well Wednesday night I watched In This Our Life (1942) and Bette was very very bad. In fact, there is one line early on after she's run off with her sister's doctor husband where she coyly turns to him and blinks her big olive eyes and says, "You'd like to spank me right now, wouldn't you?" and Toni and I looked at each other and we both nodded. She then proceedes to ruin her new husband's life, then comes back to the family and tries to ruin her sister and her old boyfriend's life as well, before turning her sights on a family friend. She's just rich enough, spoiled enough and thoughtless enough to come out on top, but this being the 1940's, someone will stop her. It's not the best melodrama I've ever seen, but with Bette Davis in full bad girl mode, Olivia de Haviland in good girl mode and a cast of stalwarts including Dennis Morgan, George Brent, Charles Coburn, Hattie McDaniel and Billie Burke in support, it is readily watchable. This was one of director John Huston' s earlier films. Within a few years he directed African Queen (why isn't this out on DVD yet?), Asphalt Jungle, Key Largo and many other classic films.
Speaking of classic films by great directors, last night I watched The Edge of the World(1937), a stark, early flim by Michael Powell, a British director whe later created I Know Where I am Going, The Red Shoes, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Peeping Tom, and The 49th Parallel.
Most of his films really get into location as a theme, a character or as a protagonistic feature. Edge of the World was filmed on a sparsely populated island off of Scotland, where everyone knows everyone but there is little future and commerce, so the young people leave for Scotland as soon as they can to find work. This scenerio splits the young lovers, before he knows that his girlfriend is pregnant. The film depicts life as a grim, cold struggle against the elements, but they live their simple lives in such grand and awesome surroundings (crashing waves against rocky coast land, soaring cliffs that suddenly plunge down to the crashing ocean, rustic stone houses and fences which blend into the landscape) that you watch in amazement---how can they be so lucky as to not appreciate such surroundings. The Edge of the World is fairly short (75min) and in black and white. Also on the dvd is a 23min short Return to the Edge of the World (1978) which has the aging film maker going back to interview some of the locals who appeared in the original film. Very interesting.
Speaking of classic films by great directors, last night I watched The Edge of the World(1937), a stark, early flim by Michael Powell, a British director whe later created I Know Where I am Going, The Red Shoes, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Peeping Tom, and The 49th Parallel.
Most of his films really get into location as a theme, a character or as a protagonistic feature. Edge of the World was filmed on a sparsely populated island off of Scotland, where everyone knows everyone but there is little future and commerce, so the young people leave for Scotland as soon as they can to find work. This scenerio splits the young lovers, before he knows that his girlfriend is pregnant. The film depicts life as a grim, cold struggle against the elements, but they live their simple lives in such grand and awesome surroundings (crashing waves against rocky coast land, soaring cliffs that suddenly plunge down to the crashing ocean, rustic stone houses and fences which blend into the landscape) that you watch in amazement---how can they be so lucky as to not appreciate such surroundings. The Edge of the World is fairly short (75min) and in black and white. Also on the dvd is a 23min short Return to the Edge of the World (1978) which has the aging film maker going back to interview some of the locals who appeared in the original film. Very interesting.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Happy Birthday Judy!
I've been to every Seattle International Film Festival since 1976, and for most of that time I've had the pleasure to know and work with and watch movies with my good friend Judy K. and tonight is a Birthday Celebration as she turns 60! Best Wishes Judy!
DON"T FORGET TO VOTE TODAY.
The Seattle Public Library has a large, randomly rotating dvd collection, and the other day I ran across a dark brown, nondescript case with hard to read lettering, so I grabbed it up to my glasses for closer inspection. The back had chapter headings that made no sense to me...the front was partially obscured by a large SPL sticker and another tracking sticker. The title that I could read said "THE FUR***" and under that read "a film by Anthony (obscured)". Nothing was ringing a bell with me so I opened it up to try to find more info or actor names. Inside was a 36 page booklet! which clued me into the fact that this was a major reissue of some kind, and then on the dvd itself I saw "Criterion Collection" and the title The Furies. Most hardcore film fans know that anything from Criterion means a quality print, sound, restoration, and lots of usually good special features, so I was intrigued. I had to put down the dvd and open the booklet to find that Barbara Stanwyck, Walter Houston, Wendell Corey and Judith Anderson were the main stars, Hal Wallis (of many Western movies) was the producer and Anthony Mann (El Cid, Fall of the Roman Empire, and Man from Laramie et al) was the director. It was definitely time to TAKE A CHANCE ON THIS ONE.
The film turned out to be one of four psychologically tragic/dramatic/complex Westerns that Mann turned out in the early fifties, including Devil's Doorway and Winchester '73 and the afore mentioned Laramie and The Furies. Even thought I was familiar with some of Mann's films, I had not seen any of them. (!)
Walter Huston plays the dynamic, head-strong, aging King (Lear?) of the ranch, whose wife has died years earlier and now he must decide what to do with his empire. His mild mannered son is no good to him, but his strong-willed, smart, stubborn, loving daughter (played, naturally, by Stanwyck in her usual no-nonsense, mannish manner) is going to be the key to the future of his empire/ranch. Of course, she will have to marry the man of his approval. Unfortunately, her Mexican childhood sweetheart's family has been poaching (for a hundred years or more) on "his" property and cannot be run off easily, since Stanwyck won't have it. And just to spite Dad, she takes a fancy to a handsome speculator and gambler (Wendell Corey) whose father was shot by Dad. And if things weren't getting complicated enough, Dad has been paying off expenses and servants with illegal tender that he's printing!, and now intends to wed a lonesome rich widow (Judith Anderson) with an agenda of her own.
Thankfully this melodrama takes on tragic undertones thanks to the absorbingly subtle portrayals of the actors, especially the sly Anderson and the seething Stanwyck, which struck me as interesting since both actresses were outed in later years as lesbians and/or bisexuals. Their scenes together were the most intimate and intense, in spite of their distrust of each other's character. This makes a climactic maiming with "Mother's scissors" all the more effective....
The film includes themes of murder, patricide, interracial sex, revenge, and love--a good comparison to a Shakespearean tragedy. It kept Toni and I in rapt attention, and contains several very curious,surprising scenes. It's not a perfect film. Many scenes were (unnecessarily, in my opinion) set at night and the cinematographer uses the "night filter" which makes every thing look dark and murky but you can clearly see the shadows cast by the sun in all these scenes. Still, give me willful, complicated, overwrought characters any day compared to some of the drivel that passes for drama these days. I look forward to catching up to the next 3 complex psychological westerns that cemented Anthony Mann's reputation. And please Criterion--get some more effective packaging on your dvd's.
The Seattle Public Library has a large, randomly rotating dvd collection, and the other day I ran across a dark brown, nondescript case with hard to read lettering, so I grabbed it up to my glasses for closer inspection. The back had chapter headings that made no sense to me...the front was partially obscured by a large SPL sticker and another tracking sticker. The title that I could read said "THE FUR***" and under that read "a film by Anthony (obscured)". Nothing was ringing a bell with me so I opened it up to try to find more info or actor names. Inside was a 36 page booklet! which clued me into the fact that this was a major reissue of some kind, and then on the dvd itself I saw "Criterion Collection" and the title The Furies. Most hardcore film fans know that anything from Criterion means a quality print, sound, restoration, and lots of usually good special features, so I was intrigued. I had to put down the dvd and open the booklet to find that Barbara Stanwyck, Walter Houston, Wendell Corey and Judith Anderson were the main stars, Hal Wallis (of many Western movies) was the producer and Anthony Mann (El Cid, Fall of the Roman Empire, and Man from Laramie et al) was the director. It was definitely time to TAKE A CHANCE ON THIS ONE.
The film turned out to be one of four psychologically tragic/dramatic/complex Westerns that Mann turned out in the early fifties, including Devil's Doorway and Winchester '73 and the afore mentioned Laramie and The Furies. Even thought I was familiar with some of Mann's films, I had not seen any of them. (!)
Walter Huston plays the dynamic, head-strong, aging King (Lear?) of the ranch, whose wife has died years earlier and now he must decide what to do with his empire. His mild mannered son is no good to him, but his strong-willed, smart, stubborn, loving daughter (played, naturally, by Stanwyck in her usual no-nonsense, mannish manner) is going to be the key to the future of his empire/ranch. Of course, she will have to marry the man of his approval. Unfortunately, her Mexican childhood sweetheart's family has been poaching (for a hundred years or more) on "his" property and cannot be run off easily, since Stanwyck won't have it. And just to spite Dad, she takes a fancy to a handsome speculator and gambler (Wendell Corey) whose father was shot by Dad. And if things weren't getting complicated enough, Dad has been paying off expenses and servants with illegal tender that he's printing!, and now intends to wed a lonesome rich widow (Judith Anderson) with an agenda of her own.
Thankfully this melodrama takes on tragic undertones thanks to the absorbingly subtle portrayals of the actors, especially the sly Anderson and the seething Stanwyck, which struck me as interesting since both actresses were outed in later years as lesbians and/or bisexuals. Their scenes together were the most intimate and intense, in spite of their distrust of each other's character. This makes a climactic maiming with "Mother's scissors" all the more effective....
The film includes themes of murder, patricide, interracial sex, revenge, and love--a good comparison to a Shakespearean tragedy. It kept Toni and I in rapt attention, and contains several very curious,surprising scenes. It's not a perfect film. Many scenes were (unnecessarily, in my opinion) set at night and the cinematographer uses the "night filter" which makes every thing look dark and murky but you can clearly see the shadows cast by the sun in all these scenes. Still, give me willful, complicated, overwrought characters any day compared to some of the drivel that passes for drama these days. I look forward to catching up to the next 3 complex psychological westerns that cemented Anthony Mann's reputation. And please Criterion--get some more effective packaging on your dvd's.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Welcome Movie fans!
Last night on Halloween, I saw Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece PSYCHO on a big screen at Benaroya Hall while the Seattle Symphony played the great Bernard Hermann soundtrack live. The music sounded incredible, and was so in-sync to the movie that many times I forgot the orchestra was there. A taped introduction from TCM's Robert Osborne talking about the movie and music score made specifically for the Seattle Symphony's performance was a classy touch. Amazingly, in spite of the fact that PSYCHO is considered one of Hitchcock's best and most well known films, and is rated in many polls as one of the top 10 of all time (by critics and fans), there were some in the audience who apparently had never experienced PSYCHO before. Appropriate gasps, moans, laughs (yes, some of it is very funny), and starts were observed as the film progressed in it's fascinatingly spellbinding manner. (I do have to RANT about one film goer who felt the need to take a startling and distracting flash photo just as the shower scene was underway. Rude and Boorish.) Many concert/movie goers came in costume, and even the ushers and symphony members dressed for the occasion. One violinist came dressed as Norman Bates Mother, complete with slashing motion knife thrusts and was greeted with warm applause. Highlights among the audience costumes were an older man who appeared to be Count Dracula by way of Liberace, a princess with Marge Simpson-type hair (piled high) and a tall thin near bald headed man wearing high heels, necklace and earrings and a rain coat, who then would "flash" open the coat to reveal that he wore just a leather jock strap underneath!
I do believe a good time was had by all and the genius of PSYCHO will survive another 50 years.
In 1960 my family lived in Spokane, and my father had a job that required him to be on the road occasionally for several nights at a time. During one of his road trips he became bored while overnighting in a small town and decided to go the movies, PSYCHO being the only game in town that night. He knew nothing about the film but did recognize Hitchcock's reputation.
He remembers being quite shocked by the film, as many were in those days of relative innocence. This was the first film to feature such explicit (for the time) violence, implied sexuality and nudity, and lurid plot twists. Even the flushing of the toilet was a scandalous moment. His heart beat fast and by the time he got back to the motel, he found it difficult to sleep--his mind churning over the disturbing images of the film. Suddenly he felt something was wrong--there was something warm and wet under his bed sheets. He turned on the light and threw back the blankets. Under his feet was a small but growing puddle of blood. He struggled to see what was happening, then realized that somehow a varicose vein near his ankle had either burst or been cut. In a panic, he wrapped his foot, packed his bag, and jumped into the car (a small VW Beetle!). In early morning I heard my mother's excited voice saying "What are you doing here? What's happened to you?" We all rushed out to the car to see the blood soaked floor mat--he'd driven 5 hours to get home, and had lost a lot of blood. I'd like to think that PSYCHO played a big part in that little adventure, but my father is not much of a movie fan (especially of PSYCHO) and I'm sure he will be happy to deny it.
This past October I've seen 25 films from the Seattle Public Library, advance screenings, and various Film Festivals, and I will write about them later, but I will mention a few older titles that really impressed me--Jane Eyre (1944) with a dashing and intense Orson Welles and featuring one of the first roles of a young Elizabeth Taylor, beautiful and intense even as a child. (Just read Elizabeth Taylor by Kitty Kelly--what a mess her personal life was...) Also the amazing Joanne Woodward and Estelle Parsons in Rachel, Rachel(1968), directed by Paul Newman. And a newly restored reissue of The Boys in the Band, about a group of 8 gay men and one who says he is not, at a birthday party. The script is especially sharp, witty, funny, sad, tragic and full of classic one-liners (including "Who do I have to **** around here to get a drink," and "Hot stuff coming through!" while maneuvering through a crowd with a steaming casserole.)
Currently playing in theatres and highly recommended--Bright Star, Julie and Julia, Up, The Hangover, The September Issue, Inglorious Basterds
Not recommended--Invention of Lying, Black Dynamite, Act of God
I have seen what I think will be the best film of the year. It opens next week and I'll talk about it then. It is called PRECIOUS.
Cinematically Yours,
Jeff
I do believe a good time was had by all and the genius of PSYCHO will survive another 50 years.
In 1960 my family lived in Spokane, and my father had a job that required him to be on the road occasionally for several nights at a time. During one of his road trips he became bored while overnighting in a small town and decided to go the movies, PSYCHO being the only game in town that night. He knew nothing about the film but did recognize Hitchcock's reputation.
He remembers being quite shocked by the film, as many were in those days of relative innocence. This was the first film to feature such explicit (for the time) violence, implied sexuality and nudity, and lurid plot twists. Even the flushing of the toilet was a scandalous moment. His heart beat fast and by the time he got back to the motel, he found it difficult to sleep--his mind churning over the disturbing images of the film. Suddenly he felt something was wrong--there was something warm and wet under his bed sheets. He turned on the light and threw back the blankets. Under his feet was a small but growing puddle of blood. He struggled to see what was happening, then realized that somehow a varicose vein near his ankle had either burst or been cut. In a panic, he wrapped his foot, packed his bag, and jumped into the car (a small VW Beetle!). In early morning I heard my mother's excited voice saying "What are you doing here? What's happened to you?" We all rushed out to the car to see the blood soaked floor mat--he'd driven 5 hours to get home, and had lost a lot of blood. I'd like to think that PSYCHO played a big part in that little adventure, but my father is not much of a movie fan (especially of PSYCHO) and I'm sure he will be happy to deny it.
This past October I've seen 25 films from the Seattle Public Library, advance screenings, and various Film Festivals, and I will write about them later, but I will mention a few older titles that really impressed me--Jane Eyre (1944) with a dashing and intense Orson Welles and featuring one of the first roles of a young Elizabeth Taylor, beautiful and intense even as a child. (Just read Elizabeth Taylor by Kitty Kelly--what a mess her personal life was...) Also the amazing Joanne Woodward and Estelle Parsons in Rachel, Rachel(1968), directed by Paul Newman. And a newly restored reissue of The Boys in the Band, about a group of 8 gay men and one who says he is not, at a birthday party. The script is especially sharp, witty, funny, sad, tragic and full of classic one-liners (including "Who do I have to **** around here to get a drink," and "Hot stuff coming through!" while maneuvering through a crowd with a steaming casserole.)
Currently playing in theatres and highly recommended--Bright Star, Julie and Julia, Up, The Hangover, The September Issue, Inglorious Basterds
Not recommended--Invention of Lying, Black Dynamite, Act of God
I have seen what I think will be the best film of the year. It opens next week and I'll talk about it then. It is called PRECIOUS.
Cinematically Yours,
Jeff
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