Amelia (2009)

Director Mira Nair (Indian born, Harvard educated, New York resident) is known for her colorful, emotional work, including one of my personal favorites, The Namesake (2006), based on the page-turner by Jhumpa Lahiri, as well as Monsoon Wedding (2001) and others. And we were flooded with beauty and color on the screen: photography by Stuart Dryburgh (Oscar nominated for The Piano (1993), should have been nominated for The Painted Veil (2006)), and magnificent wardrobe by Kasia Walicka-Maimone, who was nominated by her peers for the costumes of Capote (2005). Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank (I think I'll be arrested if I don't call her that) (won for Boys Don't Cry (1999) and Million Dollar Baby (2004); I can't say any of her other work has knocked me out, so to speak) is a great canvas for Walicka-Maimone's creations. Swank also clearly worked hard on the voice, with a bit of a Katherine Hepburn influence, and she shows her character's enthusiasm for everything she loved. But I am not alone in opining that this movie is, like Swank's frame, a little thin. The Rotten Tomatoes site has a list of reviews here (some spoilers inevitable if you delve) with a score of 16 out of 100 at this writing. It saddens me that the talented Nair couldn't bring it more to life. It is based on two biographies of aviatrix Amelia Earhart: East to the Dawn by Susan Butler and The Sound of Wings by Mary S. Lovell, with the screenplay by Ron Bass (arguable chick flicks such as The Joy Luck Club (1993), When a Man Loves a Woman (1994), Waiting to Exhale (1995), and My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), all of which I liked, followed his deserved Oscar for Rain Man (1988)) and Anna Hamilton Phelan (Mask (1985) and Girl, Interrupted (1999)). The music, by composer Gabriel Yared (Oscar winner for The English Patient (1996), nominated for The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) and Cold Mountain (2003)) seems tailored for the Academy, and didn't particularly move me. You will have to listen carefully to hear the name of the little boy Earhart befriends: future author Gore Vidal (spoiler alert for this link to an interview with him). More interesting, a lesbian friend of mine tells me that Earhart is regularly listed as one of many accomplished lesbians of history. Not in this movie, she's not, though, of course, Swank has already done that. Note: the scene in the preview where Earhart is standing on top of a flying plane is not in the movie.

If we hadn't had such high expectations, I might have been more generous in this posting. I still say, however, that it was not a waste of time, with the costumes, photography, and sets worth the price of admission.

Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

As a fan of director Spike Jonze and all the voice actors in the big foam suits (later enhanced with computer generation by, among others, Jim Henson's Creature Shop), I can recommend this blockbuster to adults and older teens. But as a protective parent I have misgivings about showing it to children. Not having read the book I watched videos (one simple and another slightly more complex) to see if it was scary. It was not. But in the movie, the main Wild Thing, Carol (voice of James Gandolfini, his mouth-breathing audible, just as when he played Tony Soprano), is moody and slightly dangerous. I think that would have upset my daughter when she was under ten, so I worry about others' kids. Also, not having had sons nor younger brothers, I don't know if it would be a good thing to show, say, my little great-nephews that Max could run full speed through the forest, or worse yet, his house, without anyone getting hurt (maybe I'm more concerned for their mothers, my nieces!). But I'm not an expert on little boys.

THIS JUST IN: Anne has just told me that Maurice Sendak has a rejoinder for parents who are loath to take their kids to the movie. He said they/we should "Go to hell." Maybe I should lighten up.

Jack and I had eagerly anticipated this movie because of Jonze (Being John Malkovich (1999) and Adaptation (2002)) and the fabulous trailer, especially Arcade Fire's song, Wake Up, re-recorded for just this purpose. Apparently Jonze was inspired by Arcade Fire's CD Funeral (from whence Wake Up originated). Yet Arcade Fire doesn't appear anywhere on the soundtrack, available here for your listening pleasure.

That being said, we were glad we saw it. The Henson creatures were appropriately cuddly, until they weren't. Max Records was totally believable as Max, with a full range of emotion. It's always nice to see Catherine Keener (among my faves: Living in Oblivion, Lovely & Amazing (2001), The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005), Being John Malkovich), albeit in the small role of Max's mother. In case you would like to know ahead of time which excellent actor's voice is behind which Wild Thing, besides Gandolfini: Catherine O'Hara (faves: After Hours (1985), Beetle Juice (1988), Waiting for Guffman (1996), Capote (2005), For Your Consideration (2006) and Away We Go) is Judith with a horn on her nose, Forest Whitaker (excellent in everything, but some notable performances were The Crying Game (1992), Charlie "Bird" Parker in Bird (1988), Ghost Dog in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), and Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland (2006)) is big round Ira--they are a couple and are pictured here. Lauren Ambrose (sister Claire in HBO's Six Feet Under, and co-star of Starting Out in the Evening (2007) with Frank Langella) is KW, Paul Dano (he was in 2 episodes of The Sopranos, won much acclaim for Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and There Will Be Blood (2007), and was also great in The King (2005)) is Alexander, and I wracked my brain during the movie trying to identify the voice of Chris Cooper (won an Oscar for Adaptation, first came to my attention in John Sayles' Lone Star (1996), was intense and perfect in American Beauty (1999), and I must also mention Seabiscuit (2003) and Capote), who is the voice of Douglas (a parrot). I listened ahead of time to a couple of interviews (one, two) to fix some of the voices in my memory. After you see the movie this trivia will be interesting. It was fun making this a double feature with Zombieland, especially since both were dark and cartoonish.

Zombieland (2009)

If you have an aversion to seeing bile-spewing zombies chase, catch, and eat people alive, maybe you should skip this one. But if you can handle it, you will laugh long and hard at its cartoonish computer-enhanced violence, and the personality quirks of its heroes. Jack & I have dubbed it a road-trip-coming-of-age-buddy-horror movie: a whole new genre! Jesse Eisenberg (Roger Dodger (2002), The Squid and the Whale (2005), Adventureland) is still doing the neurotic, awkward virginal thing, but smart. So smart in this one that he becomes a survivor instead of a victim. His character, who doesn't get a name until late in the first half hour of this short (1:21) movie, narrates, and lists his rules for survival in a post-apocalyptic world where almost everyone has become a zombie due to a virus, and very few uninfected humans have avoided becoming lunch. Said rules materialize on various parts of the screen in metal letters, and then clank as they fall down, among the many clever visuals in this hack-fest.

Eisenberg teams up with Woody Harrelson (some of his best post-Cheers work: Natural Born Killers (1994), The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), Edtv (1999), North County (2005), No Country for Old Men (2007), and Battle in Seattle), whose character supplies everyone's names, and later they meet Emma Stone (I found a still of her in Superbad, but didn't remember her) and the now-teenaged child actress Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and Definitely, Maybe (2008)); and travel across the country. There is a hilarious celebrity cameo that I will not spoil for you (and I don't mean Mike White, who is uncredited as "Victim in the Bathroom"). TV writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (The Joe Schmo Show) apparently pitched Zombieland as a series. When it failed they got to write and produce it for the big screen with some veteran producers, including Curb Your Enthusiasm's Gavin Polone, hiring first-time movie director Ruben Fleischer, and the results are first rate. The "Zombie Kill of the Week" is clearly a residual of the TV idea. The soundtrack listing (I was pleased that imdb put them all in for a change) belies the fact that kick-ass (can I say that?) rock and roll seems to dominate: Metallica, Van Halen, etc. (you can listen to clips on this site). On a personal note, although I laughed at the sport-killing, the high body count, and the wanton destruction of property, I was unhappy about musical instruments used as weapons--couldn't quite let go of that one. Here are two links you might like after you see it: this interview with Reese and Wernick, and imdb's trivia (both contain spoilers).

Believe it or not, Jack and I saw a double feature Wednesday. The testosterone-fueled Zombieland ended at 6:15 and we walked across the cineplex (with valid tickets, of course!) into a 6:20 show of Where the Wild Things Are, where the hormones were younger, but still pumping.

I FORGOT THESE BITS:
1. There is a bonus at the end. Don't be like the people from the flyover states and leave before the credits are finished. You will be rewarded.
2. I saw an ad today that said Zombieland is "As funny as The Hangover." Way funnier, in my humble opinion.
3. I plan to write that we liked Where the Wild Things Are. But we liked this one better.

Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)

Michael Moore's new documentary about the economy is a tad long at 2:07, but the last half hour, for the most part, is the best and picks up the pace. That's when he gets back to some of his signature comic stuff. No need to rush out for a big-screen viewing of this, unless you want to see it before it goes out of date--some of it already was by the time we saw it last week (you may have seen in the trailer his trying to serve the management of AIG with a citizens' arrest for their spending their bailout money on bonuses, aircraft, vacations, etc.). As usual, Moore talks to suffering citizens with sad stories, politicians (both with him and against him), and confronts "the man" (i.e. anyone in authority). On the twentieth anniversary of his documentary about General Motors, Roger & Me (1989), Moore returns to GM, which is oh, so pertinent to this story as well. Sicko (2007), about health care, was Moore's funniest and least combative (some people deplored his going after Charleston Heston, then National Rifle Association President, in Bowling for Columbine (2002), as Heston was 79 and frail at the time). This one won two prizes at the Venice (Italy) Film Festival in September of this year, with one other nomination. Love him or hate him, Moore always has something to say (rumor has it he's working on fiction these days), and I don't mind being in the choir to whom he preaches.

Gotham Independent Film Awards nominees

Here's an article from the L.A. Times. I haven't seen very many yet, due to my not living in NY, LA, or Chicago. The ones I have seen have links to the postings.

Best Feature: “Amreeka”; “Big Fan”; “The Hurt Locker"; “The Maid” and “A Serious Man”

Best Documentary: “Food, Inc.”; “Good Hair”; “My Neighbor My Killer”; “Paradise”; “Tyson”

Breakthrough Director: Cruz Angeles, “Don’t Let Me Down”; Frazer Bradshaw, “Everything Strange and New”; Noah Buschel, “The Missing Person”; Derick Martini, “Lymelife”; and Robert Siegel, “Big Fan”

Breakthrough Actor: Ben Foster, “The Messenger”; Patton Oswalt, “Big Fan”; Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”; Catalina Saavedra, “The Maid” and Soulémane Sy Savané, “Goodbye Solo”

Best Ensemble Performance: “Adventureland”; “Cold Souls”; “The Hurt Locker”; “A Serious Man” and “Sugar”

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You: “Everything Strange and New”; “Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench”; “October Country”; “You Won’t Miss Me”; and “Zero Bridge”

Whip It (2009)

Amy, Jack, and I enjoyed this entertaining piece about a girl becoming her "own hero." Based on the first novel by roller derby athlete Shauna Cross (who also wrote the screen adaptation), it is also the feature film directing debut of actress Drew Barrymore (I liked her in E.T. (1982), Boys on the Side (1995), and The Wedding Singer (1998), and want to see her Emmy-nominated performance in HBO's Grey Gardens (2009)), and she plays a small part in this one, as Smashley Simpson.

The roller derby names are priceless: Babe Ruthless, Maggie Mayhem (this was Cross' roller derby name), Iron Maven, Rosa Sparks, Bloody Holly, Eva Destruction, and, my personal favorite, Jaba the Slut (it's not a spoiler to tell you the names, in fact, better to see them in print because they are not revealed neatly). I liked Kristen Wiig's performance as Maggie better than anything else of hers I've seen. In Extract, Adventureland, and one episode of Flight of the Conchords (as "Brahbrah"), she did her deadpan thing to such an extreme that I longed for more spark. In this she has a fully developed character, acting as mentor to Babe AKA Bliss Cavender. Ellen Page (Bliss) at 22 can still play 17, as she did at 20 in Juno (2008) and 21 in Smart People (2009). Bliss knows she doesn't like her mother's (Marcia Gay Harden) beauty pageant scene in sleepy Bodeen, Texas, though she goes along with it, but doesn't know what she does want, until she has a chance encounter with some roller derby girls acting up in nearby Austin.

What ensues is fairly predictable, but, as Jack said, that doesn't make it any less fun. Harden gives a lot to the role of the mail-delivering mom who wants a life of elegance. The surfer-haired derby coach, Razor, is played by Andrew Wilson, Owen and Luke's older brother, who acted with Barrymore in both Charlie's Angels movies (2000 and 2003) and Fever Pitch (2005), among others. Also featured are Alia Shawkat, best known as Maeby Fünke on the Arrested Development series, as Bliss' friend Pash; Daniel Stern (Stardust Memories (1980), Diner (1982), the City Slickers movies (1991 and 94)) as Bliss' sweet dad (a character not unlike Juno's sweet dad); Eulala Scheel (Harden's real-life daughter) as the little sister; and musician Landon Pigg in his first recorded acting role as the love interest (in my opinion, he should stick with his day job, but it didn't detract too much from the movie).

Barrymore did a good job with compelling material that included coming of age, sports, first love, family relationships, outsiders, and plenty of humor and heart. Oh, and don't worry if you don't know the first thing about roller derbies; the rules are explained fully. The movie's title comes from a roller derby play, not the 1980 song by Devo.

Bright Star (2009)

Australian writer/director Jane Campion (The Piano (1993), which won her the screenwriting Oscar and numerous other wins and nominations, and the wonderful Holy Smoke (1999)) has come back to the screen after 6 years with this story of Fanny Brawne, a young lady who enjoys designing and constructing her elaborate wardrobe and falls for her neighbor, the as-yet-unknown poet John Keats. Most synopses/reviews I've read put Keats first, but this is Brawne's story, and Abbie Cornish (a small part in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)) does a great job, better than Ben Whishaw (Brideshead Revisited, one of Bob Dylan's avatars in I'm Not There (2007), and the creepy lead in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)) as Keats, though perhaps his wispiness was intentional, this being a film by one of the foremost feminist directors of our time. Paul Schneider (Lars and the Real Girl (2007)), who hails from North Carolina, uses a thick Scottish-ish accent to play Keats' best friend and patron, Charles Brown. Judy and I had some difficulty figuring out what their relationship was supposed to be, though I haven't read of anyone else who had that problem. It would've been much more interesting (and not at all unexpected in the movie) if Brown and Keats were lovers, but apparently they were not and the big obstacle to Brawne's and Keats' love was money: she had little and he had none. The real stars of this movie are Cinematographer Greig Fraser and Production and Costume Designer Janet Patterson (Oscar-nominated for Costume Design for Oscar and Lucinda (1997--definitely worth seeing anyway), and Campion's The Portrait of a Lady (1996) and The Piano). The photography is stunning and the costumes are brilliant, especially the hats! Look for another nomination for Patterson next year. If a romantic costume drama is your cup of tea, see this on a big screen.

Cold Souls (2009)

I saw two today, one Monday (and another tomorrow) so I'd better get crackin' here. The comparison to Charlie Kaufman's work is inevitable: as in Being John Malkovich (1999), an actor plays himself and people's brains are inhabited by outsiders; as in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), memories are manipulated; and as in Synechdoche, New York, Emily Watson has a supporting role, and a classic play inspires the main character to action. Writer/director Sophie Barthes makes her feature debut, and was nominated for a Sundance Award, with this nutty (don't forget I said that) tale of Paul Giamatti (excellent in The Illusionist (2006), Cinderella Man (2005), Sideways (2004), and, especially, American Splendor (2003), though he's been working a long time), playing himself, who undergoes a "soul extraction" procedure about which he reads in The New Yorker magazine (it's a real cover, but she made up the article). Why he has to play himself becomes clear about halfway through. Dina Korzun (Forty Shades of Blue (2005)), who plays the first Russian woman, also does a great job, but it's Giamatti's movie and his angst is palpable. With the always entertaining David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck (2005), Limbo (1999), and my personal favorite, the TV series The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (1988-90), which he told me in 1998 was his favorite, too) as the soothing "doctor." This is wacky and good fun for people who like Kaufman and that ilk (that includes Jack and me!). I'll be interested to see what Barthes does next.

the trailer for A Serious Man (2009)

...is one of the best edited Jack & I have ever seen. Cannot wait for the movie. Here it is.

O' Horten (2007) released in 2009

Sweet. We liked this little Norwegian movie very much. I'm not sure about punctuation in that language, but I think the apostrophe here is standing in for a period, since Mr. Horten's first name is Odd (sounds like awed). It is also not an Irish name (though in the United Kingdom it was released without the space between O' and Horten). Odd (Bård Owe) is a train engineer/driver, and retires in the first scene. He is alone and, one would presume, lonely. There's a pretty big cast, as he interacts with a variety of people, some he knows, some strangers, but it all centers on old Odd (67, but the actor is about 73). The trailers for this were fun and we were also attracted because of writer/director Bent Hamer, whose previous work includes Factotum (2005-in English-based on a Charles Bukowski novel, with a great cast including Matt Dillon, Lili Taylor, Fisher Stevens, Marisa Tomei, and the late actress/director Adrienne Shelly) which was very good; and Kitchen Stories (Salmer fra kjøkkenet (2003)-in Norwegian-with a bunch of Norwegian actors; the only overlap is the one who played Flo) which was similar to O' Horten in its quiet humor. After the movie Jack told me that when the 1994 Winter Olympics were to be held in Lilliehammer, Norway, the Norwegians had to be taught to smile readily so that the foreigners would feel at ease. That explained a lot. Odd seldom smiles, but when he does, it means something. The cinematography is beautiful, with lots of snow and ice (the ice storm has some funny bits), train cars passing through great fields of white, blue houses, and more, and the music is, too. After you see it, you might want to read some of the postings on imdb (with spoilers) about various people's opinions of what really happened at the end. Did I mention we liked it?