Creation (2009)

I loved this bio-pic of Charles Darwin (Jack liked it, too) about the time before he published The Origin of Species, with Paul Bettany as Darwin and his real-life wife Jennifer Connelly as his wife Emma. As I've said before, Bettany was so appealing in Wimbedon (2004) that I'm glad to see him playing a good guy again (after The Da Vinci Code (2006) and The Secret Life of Bees, among others). Good makeup and wigs helped transform him into an ill, balding Darwin, the dedicated scientist and family man. Like in Kinsey (2004), the scientist is easily fascinated by the natural world, and we particularly liked the adorable orangutan Jenny. Connelly (about whom I wrote in He's Just Not That Into You, but didn't mention that Bettany had a supporting role in A Beautiful Mind (2001), for which she won her Oscar) was good, Toby Jones (I left out The Painted Veil (2006) when I wrote about him in Frost/Nixon) has an important cameo as Thomas Huxley (grandfather of Aldous), and little Martha West (daughter of Dominic West (28 Days (2000), HBO's The Wire)) is wonderful as Annie. The movie does jump around a bit in time, but you can figure out when each scene is by the color or lack of it in Bettany's face. In light of recent controversies between "creationists" and scientists, Darwin's own conflicts between the church, his wife, and his studies are practically modern. Recommended.

Whew! I'm finally up to date after a week away at the beach. Time to go back to the movies!

The White Ribbon (Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte - 2009)

The cinematography is the reason to see this long (2:25) and somewhat confusing German movie set in a small town in the months before World War I. Though Christian Berger shot it in color before it was converted to black and white, each frame is stunning, especially the exteriors. Because it has several very dark scenes, it would be best to see it on a big screen in a dark room if at all possible. Writer/director Michael Haneke (Caché (2005), which was also confusing) brings us creepy children and adults with no names ("The Doctor," "The Pastor," "The Baron," etc.). "The Teacher" narrates the story, telling of a growing series of misfortunes befalling the residents of the village. Only a few characters seem blameless and most of the mysteries are not cleared up by the end. The subtitle of the movie means a German child history, and most reviewers refer to these children as future Nazis or Nazi enablers. Haneke apparently interviewed over 7,000 children for the 40 or so young actors. Nominated for Oscars for both cinematography and foreign film, this movie won the American Society of Cinematographer's top award, the top prize at Cannes (the Palme d'Or), the Golden Globe for best foreign film, and others. These awards caused us to rush to see it when it opened in our neck of the woods a week ago but I didn't rush to blog it because of my/our mixed feelings.

The White Ribbon is not for dilettantes. To follow along you will need to pay attention and concentrate. And, despite the presence of so many child actors, the movie is rated R for sex, violence, and frightening/disturbing scenes (plus most kids and some adults are unwilling to read subtitles). You know how much I like movie soundtracks? This doesn't have one. There's no need to write more because so much has been printed already (beware of spoilers aplenty in the following reviews, but perhaps they will help you comprehend).

Home (2008)

This delightful and ultimately surprising Swiss movie opens with a night game of roller hockey played by a close-knit family of five on the abandoned highway in front of their house in rural France. Later they're all in the bathroom while the 20 year old daughter Judith (Adélaïde Leroux, Minouche in Séraphine) and 8 year old son Julien share the tub (yup, they're both naked). Still kind of sweet. They've lived there 10 years and consider the highway an important component of their home, spending as much time outside as they can. Julien and the middle sister Marion (about 15) cross by the broken guard rail to their school bus, the dad (Olivier Gourmet, with dozens of credits, including the excellent The Child (L'enfant - 2001) and Read My Lips (Sur mes lèvres - 2001)) drives off to work, leaving Judith to sunbathe by the broken swimming pool and the mom (the magnifique Isabelle Huppert; at 57 she is ten years older than Gourmet, but easily passes for his age with her beautiful skin so lightly made up her freckles show through. Here she is in the poster. Some of my favorites of her work are Entre Nous (Coup de foudre - 1983), The Bedroom Window (1987), 8 Women (8 femmes - 2002), and I Heart Huckabees (2004)) happily keeps house. Then they hear on the radio that the highway will be completed and things take one unexpected turn after another.

This is a confident feature-length debut for director/co-writer Ursula Meier. Watch for it to be released on netflix, but because there are about 50 movies with the same title, search for Huppert and then pick it, or you'll be wading through a lot of choices.

Night and Day (Bam gua nat - 2008)

With apologies to Cole Porter:
Night and Day, is very long,
And to stay awake all the way through, you'll have to be strong.

An immature 40-something guy, Kim Sung-nam, goes to Paris, telling everyone he's studying painting at the Beaux-Arts school, but we never see him hold a brush (though the reviewers, all with spoilers, knew more than we did: the New York Times and Variety refer to him as a "celebrated painter," and the Village Voice calls him an artist). The format is that of a diary, with the day and month up on the screen frequently (I tried to keep track of how many days but I have forgotten since I saw four movies in four days starting almost a week ago; this was the first). Sung-nam lives in a Korean boarding house and spends his time walking around the city and meeting ex-pat Korean girls. It baffled us that such a lout would score so often but then the girls are all crazy anyway (is that a spoiler? Sorry). Instead of a brush, he invariably has in his hand a plastic shopping bag, perhaps his free version of a backpack. Apparently the Musée D'Orsay in Paris commissioned this movie from director Hong Sang-soo, as well as Summer Hours from Olivier Assayas (France) and Flight of the Red Balloon from Hsiao-hsien Hou (I loved the 1956 classic short; the Chinese director's version is a remake and I haven't seen it), and all three included scenes in that museum (I wondered how permission was granted to shoot in there). Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, which we enjoyed, runs throughout. On the one hand, it's your typical fish-out-of-water story. On the other hand, Sung-nam seldom runs into anyone who doesn't speak his native language (when he does, he speaks English because he has learned no French).

There are things to like about this Korean movie but it is so slow that the 2:24 running time was rough. If a third of it had been edited out, Jack and I would have been happier. It's validating that the Variety review states repeatedly that this should be edited more. Before we left for the theatre, Jack read on flixter that someone found this movie "hilarious." We can't figure out why. Maybe it's a cultural thing. Oh, and the movie breaks my Rule # 2, the exception that proves it.

# 5 Rule for movies

In a movie, the wait staff seldom clears the glasses or bottles from the table, leaving them lined up so that the audience can count them (to see how drunk the characters are by any given time). See all rules.

The Ghost Writer (2010)

From the Hitchcock-inspired music at the opening to the big finish, this is a powerful and entertaining thriller from co-writer/director Roman Polanski, composer Alexandre Desplat, and stars Ewan MacGregor, Pierce Brosnan, and Olivia Wilde. Polanski is both hated for his 1977 criminal record and revered for his filmmaking brilliance (won an Oscar for The Pianist (2002), nominated for Rosemary's Baby (1969), Chinatown (1974), and Tess (1979), I also liked Frantic (1988)), and then there are those of us who feel both emotions (as I do for Woody Allen). The inability of Brosnan's character, former Prime Minister Adam Lang, to return home due to his legal problems is an obvious reference to Polanski's plight, but it is taken directly from the novel, The Ghost (which is a thinly veiled stab at ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair), by co-screenwriter Robert Harris. MacGregor (about whom I wrote a bit in The Men Who Stare at Goats) as "The Ghost," turns in one of his best performances, and Pierce Brosnan, who, I'm sure, would like to forget Mamma Mia just as much as I would, gives us a thoroughly nuanced Lang (I really liked him in The Matador (2005) and Married Life (2007), both twisted tales, as well as his 007 (1995, 97, 99, 2002) and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) roles). Olivia Williams (the virginal Miss Stubbs in An Education) is terrific as the cranky Mrs. Lang. I was surprised to read that Kim Cattrall (not just Sex and the City (TV 1998-2004 and film 2008 and later this year) but also I liked The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) and Mannequin (1987), though her resume is quite long) had studied in England, because her English accent seemed to fade in and out, as did Tom Wilkinson's (see what I wrote in Duplicity, and remember he worked with MacGregor on Cassandra's Dream in 2007) American one. The cameos by Jim Belushi, with a shaved head, and Eli Wallach (he's 94 and has 161 acting credits on imdb) were great, too.

Desplat's music never lets up and I'm listening to the soundtrack as I write. You should listen to the clip from the link in my first sentence. I have enjoyed all of his work and also own the scores to The Painted Veil (2006), Fantastic Mr. Fox, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The bunker, er, house, supposedly on Martha's Vineyard, in which the characters were holed up, was outstanding, but the exteriors were shot on the German island of Sylt, as Polanski would be arrested were he to set foot on American soil at this time, and the interiors were all sets.

Jack and I highly recommend this movie.

The Jazz Baroness (2009)

Anything featuring the music of Thelonious Monk, one of my all-time favorite musicians, is going to be good, and this documentary about his long friendship with the Jewish Baroness Pannonnica Rothschild de Keonigswarter is fascinating. Written, produced, and directed by Hannah Rothschild, de Koenigswarter's great-niece, it has the personal touch only a family member could deliver. There is archival film footage of the immortal jazz pianist and composer Monk (not literally immortal: 1917-1982), lots of photos of Pannonica (Nica) (1913-1988) as well as interviews with jazz greats Quincy Jones, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk Jr., and more, as well as several historians. Helen Mirren supplies Nica's voice-over.

This doesn't show up on netflix yet but let's hope HBO makes it available eventually. I wouldn't mind seeing it again because of the egregious visual problems at Sunday's screening. It's showing in Washington DC on April 1, for anyone who's going to be nearby. Here's the trailer as well as a youtube video of Monk in 1966. Search for Thelonious Monk (not, as Jack likes to say, "The Loneliest Monk") on the youtube site and you'll find many options for your listening and viewing pleasure.

#4 Rule for movies

In a movie, if a woman faints, she is probably pregnant. If she throws up, and didn't drink to excess just before, she is definitely pregnant. See all rules.

Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies) WINNERS

Almost forgot about this until I heard today on the NPR show "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me" that Sandra Bullock made history by being the first person to win a Razzie (two!) and an Oscar in the same year (in addition to Kathryn Bigelow's being the first woman to win Best Director). We're so proud! Here are the Razzie nominees (again) and *winners.

Worst Picture:

*Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen (AKA Trannies, Too)

-All About Steve
-G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

-Land of the Lost
-Old Dogs



Worst Actor:

*All three Jonas Brothers, Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience

-Will Ferrell, Land Of The Lost

-Steve Martin, Pink Panther 2

-Eddie Murphy, Imagine That

-John Travolta, Old Dogs 



Worst Actress:

*Sandra Bullock, All About Steve

-Beyonce, Obsessed

-Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana: The Movie

-Megan Fox, Jennifer’s Body and Trannies, Too

-Sarah Jessica Parker, Did You Hear About the Morgans? 



Worst Supporting Actor:

*Billy Ray Cyrus, Hannah Montana: The Movie
-Hugh Hefner (as himself), Miss March

-Robert Pattinson, Twilight Saga: New Moon

-Jorma Taccone (As Cha-Ka), Land Of The Lost

-Marlon Wayans, G.I. Joe 



Worst Supporting Actress:

*Sienna Miller, G.I. Joe

-Candice Bergen, Bride Wars

-Ali Larter, Obsessed

-Kelly Preston, Old Dogs

-Julie White (as Mom), Trannies, Too



Worst Screen Couple:

*Sandra Bullock & Bradley Cooper, All About Steve

-Any two (or more) Jonas Brothers, The Jonas Brothers 3-D Concert Experience

-Will Ferrell & any co-star, creature or “comic riff,” Land of the Lost

-Shia LaBeouf & either Megan Fox or any transformer, Trannies, Too

-Kristen Stewart & either Robert Pattinson or Taylor Whatz-His-Fang, Twilight Saga: New Moon 


Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel (Combined Category for 2009):

*Land of the Lost
-G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra


-Pink Panther 2 (A rip-off of a sequel to a remake)

-Trannies, Too

-Twilight Saga: New Moon



Worst Director:

*Michael Bay, Trannies, Too

-Walt Becker, Old Dogs

-Brad Silberling, Land of the Lost

-Stephen Sommers, G.I. Joe

-Phil Traill, All About Steve 



Worst Screenplay:

*Trannies, Too, Written by Ehren Kruger & Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman, Based on Hasbro’s Transformers action figures
-All About Steve, Screenplay by Kim Barker

-G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Screenplay by Stuart Beattie and David Elliot & Paul Lovett, based on Hasbro’s G.I. Joe® Characters

-Land of the Lost, Written by Chris Henchy & Dennis McNicholas, based on Sid & Marty Krofft’s TV Series


-Twilight Saga: New Moon, Screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, Based on the Novel by Stephenie Meyer 



Worst Picture of the Decade (Three Special 30th Razzie-Versary Awardz) (Special Category!):

*Battlefield Earth (2000), Nominated for 10 Razzies® / “Winner” of 8, (including Worst Drama of our first 25 Yrs)

-Freddy Got Fingered (2001), Nominated for 9 Razzies® / “Winner” of 5

-Gigli (2003), Nominated for 10 Razzies® / “Winner” of 7, (including Worst Comedy of our first 25 Yrs)

-I Know Who Killed Me (2007), Nominated for 9 Razzies® / “Winner” of 8 

-Swept Away (2002), Nominated for 9 Razzies® / “Winner” of 5 



Worst Actor of the Decade:

*Eddie Murphy, Nominated for 12 “Achievements,” “Winner” of 3 Razzies®, Adventures of Pluto Nash, I Spy, Imagine That, Meet Dave, Norbit, Showtime

-Ben Affleck, Nominated for 9 “Achievements,” “Winner” of 2 Razzies®, Daredevil, Gigli, Jersey Girl, Paycheck, Pearl Harbor, Surviving Christmas

-Mike Myers, Nominated for 4 “Achievements,” “Winner” of 2 Razzies®, Cat in the Hat, The Love Guru

-Rob Schneider, Nominated For 6 “Achievements,” “Winner” of 1 Razzie®, The Animal, Benchwarmers, Deuce Bigalo: European Gigolo, Grandma’s Boy, The Hot Chick, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, Little Man, Little Nicky

-John Travolta, Nominated For 6 “Achievements,” “Winner” of 3 Razzies®, Battlefield Earth, Domestic Disturbance, Lucky Numbers, Old Dogs, Swordfish 



Worst Actress of the Decade

*Paris Hilton, Nominated for 5 “Achievements,” “Winner” of 4 Razzies®, The Hottie & The Nottie, House of Whacks, Repo: The Genetic Opera

-Mariah Carey, The Single Biggest Individual Vote Getter of the Decade:, 70+% of All Votes for Worst Actress of 2001, Glitter

-Lindsay Lohan, Nominated for 5 “Achievements,” “Winner” of 3 Razzies®, Herbie Fully Loaded, I Know Who Killed Me, Just My Luck

-Jennifer Lopez, Nominated for 9 “Achievements,” “Winner” of 2 Razzies®, Angel Eyes, Enough, Gigli, Jersey Girl, Maid In Manhattan, Monster-In-Law, The Wedding Planner

-Madonna, Nominated for 6 “Achievements,” “Winner” of 4 Razzies®, Die Another Day, The Next Best Thing, Swept Away

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (2009)

Daniel Ellsberg narrates this documentary about his challenge to the Nixon administration's escalation of the Vietnam War. In an anecdote, he asks why a man does anything. "Because of a girl." It was "because of a girl," his future wife Patricia, that Ellsberg attended his first anti-war rally in 1969 while working at the RAND Corporation on top secret documents stating in black and white that the administration knew the war could not be won and that saving face for America was a higher priority than the loss of lives on both sides. Ellsberg, a handsome Vietnam vet, decided to release these papers to the public, at the risk of a long jail sentence. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is the one who called Ellsberg the title of the movie. Nixon swears in a lot of the recordings, which made me giggle, as we are old enough to remember his presidency.

The full-length feature, produced by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith and based in part on Ellsberg's 2002 memoir Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers, leaves out the fact that he was married to someone else for a while after Patricia broke up with him, and that the kids in the movie are the first wife's. We do learn that Patricia took him back and married him when she believed that Ellsberg had become as truly anti-war as she was. One other bit of trivia: Jack noticed that the illustrations of the Karmann Ghia (car) showed the trunk in the back. The trunk was in the front of that model, just like the VW bug.

Despite that, the documentary, nominated for an Oscar, is entertaining and fast moving, with lots of archival film, re-creations, the subject's narration (he will be 79 in April), some animated sequences, and good music by Blake Leyh.

César Awards (French Oscars)

I've entered all the data into my extensive list of awards and nominations sorted by movie, but the French ones might need some explanation, as I did the jingoistic thing and sorted them there by their English titles.

So here's the list (winners have a * and English titles follow in parentheses if different):

Best Film
*Un Prophète, Jacques Audiard (A Prophet)
À l’Origine, Xavier Giannoli (In the Beginning)
Le Concert, Radu Mihăileanu (The Concert)
Les Herbes Folles, Alain Resnais (Wild Grass)
La Journée de la Jupe, Jean-Paul Lilienfeld (Skirt Day)
Rapt, Lucas Belvaux
Welcome, Philippe Lioret

Best Director
*Jacques Audiard, Un Prophète (A Prophet)
Lucas Belvaux, Rapt
Xavier Giannoli, À l’Origine (In the Beginning)
Philippe Lioret, Welcome
Radu Mihăileanu, Le Concert (The Concert)

Best First Film
*Les Beaux Gosses, Riad Sattouf (The French Kissers)
Le Dernier pour la Route, Philippe Godeau (One for the Road)
Espion(s), Nicolas Saada (Spy(ies))
La Première Étiole, Lucien Jean-Baptiste (Meet the Elizabethz)
Qu’un Seul Tienne et les Autres Suivront, Lea Fehner (Silent Voice)

Best Actress
*Isabelle Adjani, La Journée de la Jupe (Skirt Day)
Domique Blanc, L’Autre (The Other One)
Sandrine Kiberlain, Mademoiselle Chambon
Kristin Scott Thomas, Partir (Leaving)
Audrey Tautou, Coco Avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel)

Best Supporting Actress
*Emmanuelle Devos, À l’Origine (In the Beginning)
Aure Atika, Mademoiselle Chambon
Anne Consigny, Rapt
Audrey Dana, Welcome
Noémie Lvosvsky, Les Beaux Gosses (The French Kissers)

Best Female Newcomer
*Mélanie Thierry, Le Dernier pour la Route (One for the Road)
Pauline Etienne, Qu’un seul tiene et les autres suivront (Silent Voice)
Florence Loiret-Caille, Je l’amais (Someone I Loved)
Soko, À l’Origine (In the Beginning)
Christa Théret, LOL

Best Actor
*Tahar Rahim, Un Prophète (A Prophet)
Yvan Attal, Rapt
François Cluzet, À l’Origine (In the Beginning)
François Cluzet, Le Dernier pour la Route (One for the Road)
Vincent Lindon, Welcome

Best Supporting Actor
*Niels Arestrup, Un Prophète (A Prophet)
Jean-Hugues Anglade, Persecution
Joeystarr, Le Bal des Actrices (The Actress' Ball)
Benoit Poelvoorde, Coco Avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel)
Michel Vuillermoz, Le Dernier pour la Route (One for the Road)

Best Male Newcomer
*Tahar Rahim, Un Prophète (A Prophet)
Firat Ayverdi, Welcome
Adel Bencherif, Un Prophète (A Prophet)
Vincent Lacostein, Les Beaux Gosses (The French Kissers)
Vincent Rottiers, Je suis heureux que ma mère soit vivante (I'm Glad That My Mother is Alive)

Best Writing, Adaptation

*Stéphane Brizé, Florence Vignon, Mademoiselle Chambon

Anne Fontaine, Camille Fontaine, Coco avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel)

Philippe Godeau, Agnès De Sacy, Le Dernier pour la Route (One for the Road)

Laurent Tirard, Grégoire Vigneron, Le petit Nicolas (Little Nicholas)

Alex Réval, Laurent Herbiet, Les Herbes Folles (Wild Grass)

Best Writing, Original

*Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, Nicolas Peufaillit, Un Prophète (A Prophet)

Xavier Giannoli, À l’Origine (In the Beginning)

Jean-Paul Lilienfeld, La Journée de la Jupe (Skirt Day)

Philippe Lioret, Emmanuel Courcol, Oliver Adam, Welcome

Radu Mihăileanu, Alain-Michel Blanc, Le Concert (The Concert)

Best Cinematography

*Stéphane Fontaine, Un Prophète (A Prophet)

Christophe Beaucarne, Coco avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel)

Laurent Dailland, Welcome

Éric Gautier, Les herbes folles (Wild Grass)

Glynn Speeckaert, À l’Origine (In the Beginning)

Best Editing

*Juliette Welfling, Un Prophète (A Prophet)

Célia Lafitedupont, À l’Origine (In the Beginning)

Hervé De Luze, Les Herbes Folles (Wild Grass)

Andréa Sedlackova, Welcome

Ludo Troch, Le Concert (The Concert)

Best Sound

*Pierre Excoffier, Bruno Tarrière, Sélim Azzazi, Le Concert (The Concert)

Pierre Mertens, Laurent Quaglio, Éric Tisserand, Welcome

François Musy, Gabriel Hafner, À l’Origine (In the Beginning)

Brigitte Taillandier, Francis Wargnier, Jean-Paul Hurier, Un Prophète (A Prophet)

Jean Umansky, Gérard Hardy, Vincent Arnardi, Micmacs à tire-larigot (Micmacs)

Best Music Written for a Film

*Armans Amar, Le Concert (The Concert)

Alex Beaupain, Non ma fille, tu n’iras pas danser (Making Plans for Lena)

Alexandre Desplat, Un Prophète (A Prophet)

Cliff Martinez, À l’Origine (In the Beginning)

Nicola Piovani, Welcome

Best Costume Design

*Catherine Leterrier, Coco avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel)

Chattoune & Fab, Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky

Charlotte David, OSS 117: Rio ne répond plus (OSS 117 - Lost in Rio)

Madeline Fontaine, Micmacs à tire-larigot (Micmacs)

Virginie Montel, Un Prophète (A Prophet)

Best Production Design

*Michel Barthélemy, Un Prophète (A Prophet)

Aline Bonetto, Micmacs à tire-larigot (Micmacs)

Maamar Ech Cheikh, OSS 117: Rio ne répond plus (OSS 117 - Lost in Rio)

François-Renaud Labarthe, À l’Origine (In the Beginning)

Olivier Radot, Coco avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel)

Best Documentary

*L’Enfer d’Henri-Georges Clouzot, Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea (Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno)

La Danse: Le ballet de l'Opéra de Paris, Frederick Wiseman (The Paris Opera Ballet)

Himalaya, le chemin du ciel, Marianne Chaud

Home, Yann-Arthus Bertrand

Ne me liberez pas je m’en charge, Fabienne Godet (My Greatest Escape)

Best Short Film

*C’est Gratiut Pour Les Filles, Claire Burger and Marie Amachoukeli

¿Dónde Está Kim Basinger?, Edouard Deluc

La Raison De L’Autre, Foued Mansour

Séance Familiale, Cheng-Chui Kuo

Les Williams, Alban Mench

Best Foreign Film

*Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood, USA

Avatar, James Cameron, USA
Milk, Gus Van Sant, USA
J’ai Tué Ma Mere, Xavier Dolan, Canada (I Killed My Mother)
Panique au Village, Stéphane Aubier and Vicent Patar, Belgium, Luxembourg and France (A Town Called Panic)
The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke
Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Director Tim Burton, no stranger to madness on the big screen, has twisted the Lewis Carroll classic into the story of an awkward teenage girl who finds her strength in crazy circumstances. We liked it. Sometimes warped, sometimes faithful to the original, the movie is rated PG but I (and Allison, among others) thought it a bit too violent for kids under 13. Jack (and Amy, who also saw it opening afternoon but in another state) disagree, saying it wasn't that nasty.

I've been wondering why I have procrastinated when we both thought it was good. I suspect it's because there have been a lot of bad reviews, which make me sad and give too much weight to what is merely entertainment, and the completion of a trinity of winter fantasy movies. If you haven't started, I would suggest seeing The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus first, then this one, and finish with Avatar, because Burton's and Terry Gilliam's special effects can't compete with the millions and millions that went into Mr. Cameron's opus.

As we settled into our seats, I suddenly remembered that there was an IMAX option, which was not the showing we had chosen and I wonder if 2D (its original format, unlike Avatar which originated in 3D) might be just as satisfying as long as your theatre has a good print and screen. I also wonder if the colors might be even more vivid in 2D. When it comes out on cable I will surely take a look.

I've been a fan of Burton since Beetle Juice (1988), and also loved Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Batman Returns (1992), and Sleepy Hollow (1999), among others. He chose a wonderful empowered Alice in Mia Wasikowska, whom I don't remember from Amelia nor Defiance (apparently Amanda Seyfried was in the running and Lindsay Lohan wanted the part--that would have been a different movie). Wasikowska has a most expressive face, and speaks volumes with a twitch of her lip. However, most will go to this movie to see Johnny Depp (one of Heath Ledger's alter-egos in Imaginarium; I wrote about him at some length in Public Enemies). Be forewarned: his Mad Hatter speaks some of the time with a lisp, some of the time with a thick Scottish accent, and most of the time is a wee bit difficult to understand (another reason I'll look forward to seeing it on the small screen with closed captions). Helena Bonham Carter (worked with Depp and Burton on Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), and I loved Novocaine (2001), The Wings of the Dove (1997), and Mighty Aphrodite (1995), the latter in which she joined the ranks of fine actresses whom Woody Allen directed to sound just like Mia Farrow, and more) is brilliant as the evil Red Queen and Anne Hathaway (favorites: Brokeback Mountain (2005), Devil Wears Prada (2006), and Rachel Getting Married) terrific as the affected White Queen. It was nice to see Crispin "Hellion" Glover (George McFly in the first Back to the Future (1985), Andy Warhol in The Doors (1991)) playing it pretty straight, although he was stretched with a computer to be very tall, as the tiny Red Queen's scarred Knave of Hearts. I wish I had researched the voices before seeing the movie, so I would have known, for example, that Bayard the dog is voiced by the wonderful Timothy Spall (Secrets & Lies (1996), Topsy-Turvy (1999), and The Damned United, among much fine work), The White Rabbit by Michael Sheen (see Damned United), and the Cheshire Cat by Stephen Fry (Hugh Laurie's former writing and comedy partner, Peter in Peter's Friends (1992), which co-starred and was co-written by Rita Rudner, Oscar Wilde in Wilde (1997), and Sellers' psychic Maurice Woodruff in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)). "Chessie" was my favorite not only for his lines, but also for his sinuous floating and his lack of frenzy. The Caterpillar was voiced by Alan Rickman (ones to see: Truly Madly Deeply (1990), Bob Roberts (1992), Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Winter Guest (1997), Love Actually (2003), and Bottle Shock), whose voice I recognized quickly. Many, many actors did fine jobs onscreen and in voice/CG work. Adapted screenplay writer Linda Woolverton is no stranger to Disney, having written or co-written Beauty and the Beast (1991), The Lion King (1994), and parts of Mulan (1998).

As a child I loved the record of the 1951 animated Disney musical Alice (yes, it was vinyl. I no longer own it but it's available as an MP3 download from amazon) and still remember all the songs. None of them is in this movie, but frequent Burton composer Danny Elfman's (some my non-Burton faves: both Men in Black(s) (1997, 2002), 3 Spider-Man(s) (2002, 4, 7), Hulk (2003), Milk) score is top-notch as usual, and a lot of it is posted on youtube. We hoped for, nay, expected a bonus at the end of the credits, but there was none, despite the ending which suggests further adventures. The movie is a manageable length at 108 minutes. You will have a good time.

2010 Independent Spirit Award winners

Friday night, two nights before the Oscars, winners were announced in this celebration of independent film (many overlaps with the Academy). The awards show, uncensored in its first airing on the IFC channel, featured host Eddie Izzard (funny and made some really strange jokes). Every year I put many of the nominees and winners on my netflix list in case they don't make it to my town. Here are the winners.

Best Feature (Award given to the Producer): "Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire"
Best Director: Lee Daniels - "Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire"
Best First Feature (Award given to the director and producer): "Crazy Heart"
John Cassavetes Award (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer): "Humpday"
Best Screenplay: Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber - "500 Days of Summer"
Best First Screenplay: Geoffrey Fletcher - "Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire"
Best Female Lead: Gabourey Sidibe - "Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire"
Best Male Lead: Jeff Bridges - "Crazy Heart"
Best Supporting Female: Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire"
Best Supporting Male: Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins - "A Serious Man"
Best Documentary (Award given to the director): "Anvil! The Story of Anvil"
Best Foreign Film: Lone Scherfig - "An Education"
Robert Altman Award (Given to one film's director, casting director, and its ensemble cast): "A Serious Man"
Piaget Producers Award: Karen Chien ("The Exploding Girl" & "Santa Mesa")
Someone to Watch Award: Kyle Patrick Alvarez ("Easier with Practice")
Truer Than Fiction Award: Bill Ross & Turner Ross ("45365")

Jack speaks!

Jack and I are in a group of 50 movie lovers chosen by our local daily newspaper (we're lucky to still have one) that comments on 6 Oscar categories. We pick our favorites, not our predictions. Our ballots were submitted 2 weeks ago and the article will be in the Sunday March 7 edition before the ceremony that evening. I've been in it since its inception as a 25 person panel in 2006, and Jack joined two years later. It's a "lifetime commitment." Because there are so many of us, we won't all get our quotes printed, but you, lucky readers, get to read both of our ballots in entirety, slightly enhanced for this blog. For the record, I have not read his until right now (I like it a lot, as usual), and he will see mine online when I post it.

Heeeeeere's Jack:

Actress
Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia): Another pitch-perfect performance by Ms. Streep, complete with platforms. Dan Aykroyd, eat your heart out!

Supporting actor
Woody Harrelson (The Messenger): Woody's second-best performance this year (behind Zombieland) shows he can shed darkness AND light on any character.

Picture
The best movie I saw all year was Zombieland, but since the Academy didn't deign to even nod in Z-land's direction, the following will have to do:
Inglourious Basterds: Baseball fans everywhere extol the virtues of the Louisville Slugger, and, finally, somebody gets to knock off Der Fuhrer. Not quite Zombieland, but still good.

Actor
Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart): Bridges moves right into Bad Blake's skin and peels back several layers until we get to his core.

Supporting actress
Mo’Nique (Precious): Only a bitch-slap of Mariah Carey short of perfect, Mo'Nique's explosive portrayal is chilling.

Director
Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds): Tough to make audiences squirm while depicting the good guys as they wreak revenge havoc on the Nazis, but Tarantino pulls it off.

And mine (yes, I re-used some lines from my blog posts):

Best Picture
A Serious Man: You don't have to be Jewish to love A Serious Man. Its delightful slices of dark humor, adult angst, and teen hi-jinks are baked into a crust of 1960's settings and music.

Best Actor
Morgan Freeman (Invictus): No one but Morgan Freeman could as seamlessly convey the gravitas, humility, and humanity of Nelson Mandela. It's evident that Freeman considers this the role of his lifetime.

Best Actress
Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia): Always an expert at accent and dialect, Streep channeled Julia Child's voice and the body language of a 6'2" woman, making me love the French Chef even more than I did before. When Meryl's in the (movie) house, the rest of the actresses have to give up. Well, maybe not…she has won only twice with 16 nominations.

Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds): One moment oily and flattering, the next driven and evil, smarter than his adversaries, Herr Waltz as the fluently multi-lingual Nazi "Jew Hunter" kept me on the edge of my seat, except for the parts that were too gory to watch.

Best Supporting Actress
Mo’Nique (Precious): Mo'Nique's scenery-chewing as an abusive mother kept me riveted even as I cringed from her character's despicable behavior.

Best Director
Jason Reitman (Up in the Air): Reitman is a good, old-fashioned, linear storyteller, whose fascinating 21st century characters fill the screen with their yearning and make us laugh at how close they are to ourselves. P.S. I voted for Juno two years ago. He probably won't win this year either. [If A Serious Man had been nominated I would have picked the Coens for best director and Up in the Air for best picture, although Jack makes a good case for Zombieland]

Ricky (2009)

You have to see this delightful French movie about a "magic baby." It is perfection. The story is imaginative, the child actors are sublime, and the adults aren't bad either. Director François Ozon (I loved Under the Sand (2000), 8 Women (2002), and Swimming Pool (2003)) "liberally" adapted the screenplay from the short story “Moth” by English author Rose Tremain (though that fact is omitted by imdb). Let's start with the baby. About a year old, Ricky (tiny Arthur Peyret) is the cutest and his every movement and sound is realistic. For his snorts while nursing to his coos and shrieks and offscreen wailing, props go out to the sound editing department, and we can only guess how many camera takes it took to show him kicking in his crib and flailing about in the "magic" sequences. Then there's Ricky's seven-year-old sister Lisa (Mélusine Mayance), who could not be farther from the "staring simpleton" in the 2010 Oscar nominated short Magic Fish. Mademoiselle Mayance portrays a full range of emotions and is also adorable. Lovely Alexandra Lamy plays the mother, a desperate factory worker living in council housing (that's the projects to us Yanks) and Sergi López (scary in With a Friend Like Harry (2000), which I loved, and terrifying in Pan's Labyrinth (2006), which many loved but I hated for his character's sadism) is the Spanish man whom she meets at the factory, who is (for a change) not creepy.

The trailer hints at what is magical about Ricky. I had not seen the trailer and I guessed just before the reveal. But even if you know, the movie isn't spoiled. Closing tonight in our burg, it's not yet out on DVD. I hope you remember why you added it to your list when it's released...the poster might help. The movie is R rated, so don't bring your kids unless you're OK with their seeing how babies are made. At 89 minutes, it's compact, so stay until the end for a bonus credit. I started translating it, but before I finished, the subtitle appeared on the screen. Staying will also give you the opportunity to listen to the rest of the Phillippe Rombi (Under the Sand, Swimming Pool, many more) soundtrack, which also includes a song by Cat Power. If you don't mind spoilers, or are lucky enough to have seen it already, here's a press kit.

The Last Station (2009)

The eagerly awaited Tolstoy bio-pic finally arrived in these parts and it's good fun. Set in 1910, at the end of Leo, or Lev, Tolstoy's life, it's about the conflict between his wife, who wants to keep the family's money for future generations, and his followers in the "Tolstoyan Movement," who don't believe in personal wealth. Helen Mirren (Oscar winner for The Queen (2006), nominated for this, Gosford Park (2001), and the Madness of King George (1994), you should see them all, plus Calendar Girls (2003) and Greenfingers (2000), among others), plays the wife, Countess Sofya Tolstoy, occasionally shrill, but for laughs, and you can't take your eyes off her. Christopher Plummer (I chose a few favorites when writing about The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) plays the greatest Russian writer of his time with warmth, humor, and resolve, and earned the other Oscar nomination for this movie by doing so. But we mustn't ignore the contributions of the great Paul Giamatti (see my post about Cold Souls) as Vladimir Chertkov, bound and determined to secure the rights to his hero's work for The People. James McAvoy (so compelling in The Last King of Scotland (2006), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), and Atonement) plays the timid go-between Valentin Bulgakov, instructed by Chertov and the Countess to take copious notes and report back to each side. Yet it is the doctor's (Scottish comedian John Sessions) constant scribbling, amplified by 10, that provides the background to so many scenes, causing us to giggle after a while. McAvoy's real-life wife Anne-Marie Duff (the mom in Is Anybody There?) plays Sasha, the youngest of the 13 Tolstoy offspring, but his character's love interest, the fictitious (thanks, Clay, for cluing me in) character Masha, is played by the luminous Kerry Condon, and one of her scenes earns the movie's R rating.

This movie, adapted by director Michael Hoffman (Soapdish (1991), One Fine Day (1996), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999), The Emperor's Club (2002)) from the Jay Parini novel, is altogether very entertaining and frequently funny, which surprised Mr. Tolstoy's descendants. I found it amusing that the Tolstoyan commune reminded me of a 1970's hippie commune, and, like Vivian (who commented on my Oscar nominees post), Jack and I also liked the "new" technology of the cameras, victrolas, etc. The music, by Sergei (AKA Sergey) Yevtushenko, beautifully sets the tone, with the help of arias from Mozart and Puccini. I see on iTunes that the Mozart recording, from The Marriage of Figaro, was actually recorded in 1937, after the time of the movie. Oh well. That anachronism detracted from the experience not one bit.