Sometimes I say that a movie isn't meant for our demographic (old white people) but we liked it anyway--this isn't one of those. The story about a man-child whose teddy-bear is alive and rules his life would have made a cute short or SNL skit but at 106 minutes, it's too long by an hour and a half. Jack and I have no objections to crudeness nor foul language--this is just dumb. Mark Wahlberg (last mentioned in The Fighter, for which he earned an Oscar producing nomination) and Mila Kunis (Black Swan), with help from Joel McHale (one of the stars of Community, he was also good in The Informant! and The Big Year) and Giovanni Ribisi (The Rum Diary), try very hard but they can't redeem this.
Seth MacFarlane (creator, writer, and voice of the male Griffins and more on all 188 episodes of Family Guy, started as a storyboard artist on a few series, then did some acting and worked on some other series, including American Dad! and The Cleveland Show) makes his live-action directing debut here, taking credit for the story, sharing screenwriting credit with Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild, who worked on Family Guy, and providing the voice of Ted. Ryan Reynolds had the right idea--he appears onscreen twice, doesn't have a line, and his name isn't in the end credits (though the fine folks at imdb put him in anyway). MacFarlane does have fun putting down iconic actors (one of whom has a supporting part as himself), other movies, and "white trash girls."
For the record, Jack is a Family Guy fan, but he didn't much like it either, and commented that a too-long fight scene is a Family Guy staple. Rottentomatoes clocks it at 68% critics and 82% audiences, and, as of last weekend, when we saw it, it was third at the box office in its fourth week out. So millions of Americans have voted with their tickets, but we felt differently. To quote men on film, hated it.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
The Do-Deca-Pentathalon (2012)
This story about a pair of 30-something out-of-shape brothers competing in 25 events of their own choosing had us laughing through most of it. Directed and written by siblings Jay and Mark Duplass (last mentioned in Jeff, Who Lives at Home), it's funny and raw. Jack said, "Maybe soon we'll see a movie that didn't involve Mark Duplass," since this makes five in two months.
Starring Steve Zissis (small roles in Jeff, Who Lives at Home and the Duplass brothers' feature before that, Cyrus) as Mark and Mark Kelly (some things I haven't seen and four episodes in four seasons of Mad Men, but you wouldn't recognize him--compare this photo to the next two in the slideshow) as Jeremy, they are a most unlikely pair of jocks sprinting, swimming, shooting baskets, playing pool, and more. But their determined grimaces are priceless. We also liked newcomer Reid Williams, who plays Mark's 10-year-old son (with hair down to the middle of his back), Jennifer Lafleur (small parts in the Duplass brothers Baghead (2008) and Jeff, Who Lives at Home) as Mark's wife, and Julie Vorus (a lot of community theatre, no other movies) as Mark's and Jeremy's mother. The women's characters aren't fully developed but I never said it was a masterpiece--critics average 75% although audiences 85% on rottentomatoes. An article written when the movie played at the South by Southwest festival says that this was shot before Cyrus (released in 2010) and edited after Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011). Another article tells us that this one was released as video on demand (VOD), including iTunes and amazon, ten days before it hit big screens.
If you do see it on a big screen, it's a mild MPMS inducer (though not nearly as much so as Beasts of the Southern Wild) with some jerky camera movements, so take a seat in the back. I can think of a lot of people who will enjoy this lightweight competition. Maybe you're one of them.
Starring Steve Zissis (small roles in Jeff, Who Lives at Home and the Duplass brothers' feature before that, Cyrus) as Mark and Mark Kelly (some things I haven't seen and four episodes in four seasons of Mad Men, but you wouldn't recognize him--compare this photo to the next two in the slideshow) as Jeremy, they are a most unlikely pair of jocks sprinting, swimming, shooting baskets, playing pool, and more. But their determined grimaces are priceless. We also liked newcomer Reid Williams, who plays Mark's 10-year-old son (with hair down to the middle of his back), Jennifer Lafleur (small parts in the Duplass brothers Baghead (2008) and Jeff, Who Lives at Home) as Mark's wife, and Julie Vorus (a lot of community theatre, no other movies) as Mark's and Jeremy's mother. The women's characters aren't fully developed but I never said it was a masterpiece--critics average 75% although audiences 85% on rottentomatoes. An article written when the movie played at the South by Southwest festival says that this was shot before Cyrus (released in 2010) and edited after Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011). Another article tells us that this one was released as video on demand (VOD), including iTunes and amazon, ten days before it hit big screens.
If you do see it on a big screen, it's a mild MPMS inducer (though not nearly as much so as Beasts of the Southern Wild) with some jerky camera movements, so take a seat in the back. I can think of a lot of people who will enjoy this lightweight competition. Maybe you're one of them.
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Fantastic, both literally and figuratively, this story of a 6 year old girl who lives in squalid poverty in a Louisiana flood plain with her sick father (mother is out of the picture) is unexpectedly beautiful, though Jack and I were grateful not to have smell-o-vision. Winner of four awards at Cannes and two at Sundance, including cinematography, among others so far, this is definitely one to see.
Quvenzhané (pronounced kwa-VEN-zhen-ay in one ad, her nickname is Nazie but I don't know how to say that) Wallis was five when she auditioned, even though the filmmakers requested six and older (she's eight now, in the fourth grade in Houma, Louisiana, southwest of New Orleans) and she blew everyone away with her strength and resolve, just like her character Hushpuppy (see this clip of her with Jay Leno). More than half the cast is from the bayou country--see the imdb trivia for other fascinating nuggets with no spoilers. "Katrina" is never uttered, but "the storm" comes. The prehistoric beasts of the title are called aurochs (OR-uks) but the ones in the movie, which required a big special effects team, look more like super-sized boars.
The only bad news is that this movie was shot mostly with handheld cameras and it gave me motion-picture-motion-sickness (MPMS--my running list is here). If you, too, are sensitive to this, sit in the very last row and look down or at the wall from time to time. I don't want to advise anyone to wait for video, though, because it's so good and likely to earn a bunch more nominations and awards.
Quvenzhané (pronounced kwa-VEN-zhen-ay in one ad, her nickname is Nazie but I don't know how to say that) Wallis was five when she auditioned, even though the filmmakers requested six and older (she's eight now, in the fourth grade in Houma, Louisiana, southwest of New Orleans) and she blew everyone away with her strength and resolve, just like her character Hushpuppy (see this clip of her with Jay Leno). More than half the cast is from the bayou country--see the imdb trivia for other fascinating nuggets with no spoilers. "Katrina" is never uttered, but "the storm" comes. The prehistoric beasts of the title are called aurochs (OR-uks) but the ones in the movie, which required a big special effects team, look more like super-sized boars.
Director/co-writer/co-composer Benh Zeitlin makes his feature debut with this picture and, wow, is it strong. Co-writer Lucy Alibar wrote the play on which the movie is based and she has a cameo.
Dan Romer is the other composer of the outstanding music, and you can listen to clips on the amazon page (it's also available in iTunes) and two whole tracks (one, two) are on youtube so far. I expect more will be posted shortly.
Dan Romer is the other composer of the outstanding music, and you can listen to clips on the amazon page (it's also available in iTunes) and two whole tracks (one, two) are on youtube so far. I expect more will be posted shortly.
The only bad news is that this movie was shot mostly with handheld cameras and it gave me motion-picture-motion-sickness (MPMS--my running list is here). If you, too, are sensitive to this, sit in the very last row and look down or at the wall from time to time. I don't want to advise anyone to wait for video, though, because it's so good and likely to earn a bunch more nominations and awards.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Don't Change the Subject (2012)
This is an upbeat documentary about suicide--believe it or not--and it's really good. Mike Stutz's mother killed herself in 1979 when she was 45 and he was 12. He not only directs and produces but also talks on camera about his experience and interviews other people whose loved ones took their own lives, as well as a couple of folks who survived their own suicide attempts and a bunch of comedians. There is also animation and footage of a multi-generational dance troupe who developed a dance number on the subject.
I got to see a preview of it in early June when Amy was home and had a deadline to write a feature about it for the free weekly for which she interns. She had a password to watch it online. Both of us wrote down versions of the following while watching it: in the Day of the Dead they say you die three times--first when your heart stops, then when you're put in the ground, and third when the last person who can tell a story about you is gone from the earth. If you want to read her coverage, write me and I'll send you the link.
I suspect it might cause MPMS (motion picture motion sickness) but I'm not sure because we watched it on a laptop.
When it gets a distributor and/or gets to this neck of the woods I'll put up a fresh link to this post. If you happen upon it screening near you, definitely check it out.
I got to see a preview of it in early June when Amy was home and had a deadline to write a feature about it for the free weekly for which she interns. She had a password to watch it online. Both of us wrote down versions of the following while watching it: in the Day of the Dead they say you die three times--first when your heart stops, then when you're put in the ground, and third when the last person who can tell a story about you is gone from the earth. If you want to read her coverage, write me and I'll send you the link.
I suspect it might cause MPMS (motion picture motion sickness) but I'm not sure because we watched it on a laptop.
When it gets a distributor and/or gets to this neck of the woods I'll put up a fresh link to this post. If you happen upon it screening near you, definitely check it out.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
The Intouchables (2011)
Magnifique! This movie about the bond between a quadriplegic French aristocrat and his caretaker from the ghetto had the packed preview house laughing hysterically and occasionally sniffling, but way more the former than the latter. Omar Sy (pronounced see, has 37 titles on his resumé, but the only one I know is Micmacs, which we loved), playing Driss the exuberant Senegalese caretaker, beat Jean Dujardin (The Artist) for the Best Actor award at the Césars (the French Oscars), for which this movie earned eight other nominations, losing to The Artist for many of them. Sy was the first black actor to win that award. Oh, and the man can dance, as he cuts loose in one scene. As Philippe, François Cluzet (profiled in Paris), beautifully displays the man's boredom and anger changing to acceptance and finally regaining his sense of humor and adventure. Philippe's apparent bottomless pockets also make it fun, with the castle he inhabits, the cars he used to drive, and the excursions he can provide. Props (ha!) to the production design and the location departments. Oh, and like Micmacs, it breaks Rule #2. No Eiffel Tower.
As a directing/screenwriting team, Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano have worked together on three other features but I didn't see them. This will certainement put them on the map. Speaking of mixing French and English, I'm baffled as to why the distributors tacked the English word the in front of the French intouchables, which naturellement means untouchables. I leave the English preposition in place only because of my practice of using what's on imdb. It makes about as much sense as trusting wikipedia, but that's how I roll (and sometimes I make changes to imdb using the handle babetteflix). Nakache and Toledano take sole writing credit, but this is actually based on a memoir Tu as changé ma vie... (You Changed My Life) by a similar caretaker, Abdel Sellou, a white Algerian.
As a directing/screenwriting team, Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano have worked together on three other features but I didn't see them. This will certainement put them on the map. Speaking of mixing French and English, I'm baffled as to why the distributors tacked the English word the in front of the French intouchables, which naturellement means untouchables. I leave the English preposition in place only because of my practice of using what's on imdb. It makes about as much sense as trusting wikipedia, but that's how I roll (and sometimes I make changes to imdb using the handle babetteflix). Nakache and Toledano take sole writing credit, but this is actually based on a memoir Tu as changé ma vie... (You Changed My Life) by a similar caretaker, Abdel Sellou, a white Algerian.
When we saw it last week rottentomatoes was weighing in at 77% critics/92% audiences. It's now slipped to 76% from critics. But as it moves into wider release (now in 83 theatres in this country) I expect that percentage to creep up. After nine weeks in its native France, it became the second highest grossing movie in that country, behind Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis (Welcome to the Sticks - 2008). Time will tell if it surpasses it.
The soundtrack, by an Italian, Ludovico Einaudi, is lovely, and you can listen to most of it beginning from this link, which also has some of the songs, including those by Earth Wind & Fire and Nina Simone.
The soundtrack, by an Italian, Ludovico Einaudi, is lovely, and you can listen to most of it beginning from this link, which also has some of the songs, including those by Earth Wind & Fire and Nina Simone.
Now Harvey Weinstein has optioned the story to remake it in English. I'm sure it'll be great. But you MUST SEE the original when it gets to a theatre near you! Yeah, it has subtitles. You can read. Just go.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
The Perfect Family (2011)
Here's another good one, a comedy with Kathleen Turner as a suburban matron who fears that her unconventional family--recovering alcoholic husband, philandering son, and lesbian daughter--will keep her from winning Catholic Woman of the Year. We liked it a lot. This is one of those roles where people will say Turner (my favorites are Body Heat (1981), Romancing the Stone (1984), Prizzi's Honor (1985), The Jewel of the Nile (1985), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) for which she was Oscar-nominated, The War of the Roses (1989), Serial Mom (1994), The Virgin Suicides (1999), and a series arc as a vulgar agent in Californication in 2009) is "brave," for being unglamorous when she used to be such a babe (she turned 58 last month and looks it in this movie). Whatever--she's very funny. Jason Ritter (I enjoyed him in Mumford (1999), Happy Endings (2005), the series The Class (2006-07), The Education of Charlie Banks (2007), Good Dick, and the series Parenthood) and Emily Deschanel (with similar blue eyes to her younger sister Zooey, her filmography is shorter, but she plays "Bones" on the series of that name and it's had 7 seasons so far) are very appealing as the son and daughter and I liked Michael McGrady (a long resumé but I don't recognize him) as the husband. Sharon Lawrence (mostly TV, from NYPD Blue through Monk and beyond) plays the competition for Catholic Woman of the Year and Richard Chamberlain (faves are 191 episodes of Dr. Kildare (1961-66), The Last Wave (1977), Shogun (1980), and a series arc on Brothers & Sisters) a smarmy priest.
This is the feature debut of director Anne Renton and co-writer Claire V. Riley, and not of co-writer Paula Goldberg, though she's new to me. There are plenty of laughs and the ending isn't a surprise, although, as I recall, it seems unlikely that the last sequence could have all happened in the time it's supposed to happen. Whatever. Still cute.
I think I liked the music but saw this almost four weeks ago and there aren't any clips of the score by Andrew Kaiser. The movie's website does list all the songs in the "ABOUT" section of the official website.
This is doing poorly on rottentomatoes, with 48% from critics and only 40% from audiences. It came out on netflix 4 days after we saw it, so you can put it at the end of your queue if this sounds like something you'd like. Competition is fierce nowadays!
I think I liked the music but saw this almost four weeks ago and there aren't any clips of the score by Andrew Kaiser. The movie's website does list all the songs in the "ABOUT" section of the official website.
This is doing poorly on rottentomatoes, with 48% from critics and only 40% from audiences. It came out on netflix 4 days after we saw it, so you can put it at the end of your queue if this sounds like something you'd like. Competition is fierce nowadays!
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
Every 4th of July, Jack and I go to a big, splashy action movie before the big, splashy fireworks display. This year we went to Spider-Man with Michael and Nick and enjoyed it immensely, even without springing for 3D nor IMAX. Andrew Garfield is adorable as smart-ass, intelligent Peter Parker, and the chemistry with his real-life girlfriend Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy is evident onscreen. Garfield (last in these pages using his natural English accent in Never Let Me Go--though born in Los Angeles, he moved to London as a toddler with his English mother) at 28 seems younger than Tobey Maguire (who was 27 when the first one was released), maybe because of the smart-ass thing, and the humor goes a long way in making this altogether entertaining. We didn't miss the 3D, although I could guess what it would have been like when Spider-Man is swinging successfully around New York. We could have done with maybe a tad less unsuccessful swinging--we get it, he's learning how to do it. Also, why would the Midtown Science High School have dumb jocks, including one named Flash? That makes no sense at all. I know, I know; it's not a documentary. I'm just sayin'. Garfield and Stone (see The Help) met on this movie, and they're cute together, believable as awkward teenagers. Martin Sheen (most recently in The Way) and Sally Field (we like her, not only in her Oscar-winning performances in Norma Rae (1979) and Places in the Heart (1984), but also in The Flying Nun (1967-1970), Sybil (1976), Absence of Malice (1981), Punchline (1988), Steel Magnolias (1989), Soapdish (1991), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Forrest Gump (1994), and, of course, 110 episodes of Brothers & Sisters (2006-2011)) are lovable as Peter's Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Then the very talented Rhys Ifans (profiled in Greenberg) gets to play the megalomaniac Curtis Connors with a computer-generated missing right arm. He apparently did a lot of his own stunts. Jack and I have long been Denis Leary (my favorites are The Ref (1994), Operation Dumbo Drop (1995), Suicide Kings (1997), Wag the Dog (1997), and the TV shows The Job (2001-02) and Rescue Me (2004-11)) fans, so were happy to see him as Gwen's dad, hard-boiled police Captain Stacy. There are dozens more credited and uncredited actors here, but the one that really matters is the mandatory Stan Lee (co-creator of the comic book, which was originally called The Amazing Spider-Man, with Steve Ditko) cameo as a clueless school librarian, which is hilarious, as always.
Director Marc Webb had only one other feature under his belt ((500) Days of Summer) but the pacing and blend of melodrama and action are pretty good. In addition to Lee and Ditko getting credit for the Marvel comic book, the story is credited to James Vanderbilt (yes, that family; he adapted the script to Zodiac (2007) and a few others), and the script to Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent (won Oscars for Julia (1977) and Ordinary People (1980), nominated for Paper Moon (1973), worked on a lot of TV in the 60s, then wrote or co-wrote scripts for, among others, The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972), Nuts (1987), White Palace (1990), the story for What About Bob?, scripts for Hero (1992), Unfaithful (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), and Spider-Man 3 (2007)), and Steve Kloves (Racing with the Moon (1984), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), Flesh and Bone (1993), Wonder Boys (2000) for which he was Oscar-nominated, and all eight Harry Potter movies). That's some Hollywood royalty going on.
While writing I've been listening on youtube to tracks from the score by James Horner (among his 335 music credits on imdb, he won two Oscars for Titanic (1997): the score and My Heart Will Go On; was nominated for eight: Somewhere Out There in An American Tail (1986), Aliens (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Braveheart (1995), Apollo 13 (1985), A Beautiful Mind (2001), House of Sand and Fog (2003), and Avatar; and composed for 48 Hrs. (1982), Testament (1983), The Dresser (1983), Cocoon (1985), Volunteers (1985), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), The Spitfire Grill (1996), Iris (2001), The Chumscrubber (2005), and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, to name some that I liked). Perhaps not royalty, but this guy works and they really, really like him, too.
Audiences weigh in at 84% vs. critics at 74% on rottentomatoes. I expect this has a built-in audience and you don't need me to tell you to see it. It's been out only two weeks and is still second at the box office on the most screens in America: 4318 (the next is the Ice Age sequel at 3881). There are so many good movies out now that you may have trouble choosing. If you don't care about 3D this will be playing for a long while and you can go see some of the artier ones first. You should, however, see it on a big screen for the effects.
Director Marc Webb had only one other feature under his belt ((500) Days of Summer) but the pacing and blend of melodrama and action are pretty good. In addition to Lee and Ditko getting credit for the Marvel comic book, the story is credited to James Vanderbilt (yes, that family; he adapted the script to Zodiac (2007) and a few others), and the script to Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent (won Oscars for Julia (1977) and Ordinary People (1980), nominated for Paper Moon (1973), worked on a lot of TV in the 60s, then wrote or co-wrote scripts for, among others, The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972), Nuts (1987), White Palace (1990), the story for What About Bob?, scripts for Hero (1992), Unfaithful (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), and Spider-Man 3 (2007)), and Steve Kloves (Racing with the Moon (1984), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), Flesh and Bone (1993), Wonder Boys (2000) for which he was Oscar-nominated, and all eight Harry Potter movies). That's some Hollywood royalty going on.
While writing I've been listening on youtube to tracks from the score by James Horner (among his 335 music credits on imdb, he won two Oscars for Titanic (1997): the score and My Heart Will Go On; was nominated for eight: Somewhere Out There in An American Tail (1986), Aliens (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Braveheart (1995), Apollo 13 (1985), A Beautiful Mind (2001), House of Sand and Fog (2003), and Avatar; and composed for 48 Hrs. (1982), Testament (1983), The Dresser (1983), Cocoon (1985), Volunteers (1985), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), The Spitfire Grill (1996), Iris (2001), The Chumscrubber (2005), and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, to name some that I liked). Perhaps not royalty, but this guy works and they really, really like him, too.
Audiences weigh in at 84% vs. critics at 74% on rottentomatoes. I expect this has a built-in audience and you don't need me to tell you to see it. It's been out only two weeks and is still second at the box office on the most screens in America: 4318 (the next is the Ice Age sequel at 3881). There are so many good movies out now that you may have trouble choosing. If you don't care about 3D this will be playing for a long while and you can go see some of the artier ones first. You should, however, see it on a big screen for the effects.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Take This Waltz (2011)
Jack and I enjoyed this sexy story named after a Leonard Cohen song about a childlike wife whose passion is ignited by a chance encounter with a handsome stranger, even though she loves her husband. Michelle Williams' (last mentioned in My Week with Marilyn) career continues to bloom with her role of Margot and funny people Seth Rogen (most recently in 50/50) and especially Sarah Silverman (known for her envelope-pushing on The Sarah Silverman Program, and other TV shows, she's had plenty of movie roles, including her stand-up/sketch feature Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic (2005), I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, and The Muppets) are breaking through into drama (with humor and irony) in their roles of Margot's big cuddly husband Lou and his prickly sister Geraldine, respectively.
Although composer Jonathan Goldsmith (Away From Her, Casino Jack, 71 more) wrote a good score, there is no CD nor link to tracks apparent online. The songs are covered in some depth with videos on squidoo.
Former child actress Sarah Polley (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) (here's a photo), she was good in Go (1999) and plenty of others) was Oscar-nominated for adapting the screenplay to Away From Her (2006), which was the second movie she directed, winning two Directors Guild of Canada awards and earning a Best Actress nomination for Julie Christie. This is her third, packed with CanCon--Canadian content--as Polley, Rogen, and many of the songwriters featured in the soundtrack are from north of the border and it was shot in Toronto and Nova Scotia. The script was in the Black List, the ironically named list of most liked yet unproduced screenplays for each year. Go to 2009 and you'll see The Social Network and Cedar Rapids, among others, before this one.
The super-saturated colorful cinematography is by Luc Montpellier, who shot Away From Her and many more, and I must mention the equally colorful homes, for which I'm sure credit is split between the art department (Matthew Davies, Aleksandra Marinkovich, and Steve Shewchuk) and the location department. I loved those bright turquoise pillowcases and may just get a couple.
Although composer Jonathan Goldsmith (Away From Her, Casino Jack, 71 more) wrote a good score, there is no CD nor link to tracks apparent online. The songs are covered in some depth with videos on squidoo.
This, too, is playing on only one screen here (out of 46 nationwide), for four showings each day. I have no idea if it will go wider or just quit on Thursday night. Of the last eight movies I've written about, this is fifth best, but the competition is stiff, so it's still worthwhile if you can make time. Or save it to watch on video later. It will be important come awards time next winter.
Ladies and gentleman, it's milestone time. This is the 500th movie summarized on babetteflix (and the 480th I've watched in full since I began writing September 3, 2008--I keep a running total on my index page). Happy birthday to me! UPDATE: It's really 501/481, as I discovered the next day that one was missing from the list.
Your Sister's Sister (2011)
We loved this story of the awkward triangle between a man, Jack (no relation), his late brother's girlfriend (now his best friend) Iris, and her half-sister Hannah. Plenty of cringing, and honest, raw emotions, plus beautiful scenery from the Seattle area. We hadn't seen the trailer before watching the movie, and I'm glad, because it really gives away too much, as do a number of reviewers, as usual. Mark Duplass (in three of the last six movies I've blogged about below, and another to come) with his deepest role we've seen so far, stars as Jack, a slacker trying to carry on a year after his brother's death. Emily Blunt's (last in these pages in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen) Iris, whose English accent is explained in the beginning of the second act, is sweet as the beautiful friend concerned about Jack's welfare. Rosemarie DeWitt (covered in The Company Men), who stepped in during her hiatus from United States of Tara to play Hannah when Rachel Weisz dropped out, has just the right blend of toughness and vulnerability. There are some other actors, including comedian/This American Life contributor Mike Birbiglia, who is credited as a Consultant, in the opening party scene, but most of the movie is just the first three actors in a gorgeous island property on Puget Sound.
Directed and written by Lynn Shelton (new to me but she won two Sundance awards and an Independent Spirit Award for Humpday (2009) which starred Duplass as one of two straight men who make some gay porn), it was originally going to be about a triangle involving the friend's mother, not sister, but she decided that would be "too Oedipal." Shot in 12 days, with a lot of improvisation, there's no doubt this is an independent feature, especially with the bad, echoing sound. We noticed that the composer, Vince Smith, acted as sound mixer and supervising sound editor, and figure that's all the production could afford. Closing doors, raised voices, and music cues were mixed way too loud. The good news is that we could make out 98% of the dialogue, including the whispers.
More good news is that the music is good, but I can't find any clips. In fact, there are so many musicians named Vince, Vincent, and Vinny Smith on google that I don't even know who the guy is.
As I keep obsessing, I'm far behind on the blog, and getting farther because this is the fifth movie Jack and I have seen in five days. But I'm making a point to write now about this one, which we saw this morning, because it played on only two screens for one show each day over the weekend, and only one screen for one show per day the rest of the week, so it may be gone next week. If so, do put in in your netflix queue. Maybe the exhibitors will get wise and it will go wide instead, because the rottentomatoes critics' average is 86% and audiences 80%. In fact, its per-screen income was 26th out of the top 50 last weekend on only 95 screens in its 5th week of limited release, earning only $300 less per screen than Men in Black III, which is still on 879 screens.
It's really good, so make a point of seeing it if possible.
Directed and written by Lynn Shelton (new to me but she won two Sundance awards and an Independent Spirit Award for Humpday (2009) which starred Duplass as one of two straight men who make some gay porn), it was originally going to be about a triangle involving the friend's mother, not sister, but she decided that would be "too Oedipal." Shot in 12 days, with a lot of improvisation, there's no doubt this is an independent feature, especially with the bad, echoing sound. We noticed that the composer, Vince Smith, acted as sound mixer and supervising sound editor, and figure that's all the production could afford. Closing doors, raised voices, and music cues were mixed way too loud. The good news is that we could make out 98% of the dialogue, including the whispers.
More good news is that the music is good, but I can't find any clips. In fact, there are so many musicians named Vince, Vincent, and Vinny Smith on google that I don't even know who the guy is.
As I keep obsessing, I'm far behind on the blog, and getting farther because this is the fifth movie Jack and I have seen in five days. But I'm making a point to write now about this one, which we saw this morning, because it played on only two screens for one show each day over the weekend, and only one screen for one show per day the rest of the week, so it may be gone next week. If so, do put in in your netflix queue. Maybe the exhibitors will get wise and it will go wide instead, because the rottentomatoes critics' average is 86% and audiences 80%. In fact, its per-screen income was 26th out of the top 50 last weekend on only 95 screens in its 5th week of limited release, earning only $300 less per screen than Men in Black III, which is still on 879 screens.
It's really good, so make a point of seeing it if possible.
People Like Us (2012)
Jack and I really liked this story of Sam, who learns he has a half-sister Frankie after their father Jerry dies, and realizes that whatever complaints he had about his dad's non-parenting don't compare to Frankie's not knowing him at all. The directing debut of co-writer Alex Kurtzman is based on his own similar story, although Kurtzman knew about his father's other family and met his own half-sister quite by accident, which is slightly different from way it works in this movie. Kurtzman and his writing partner Roberto Orci co-wrote, among others, Mission: Impossible III (2006), two Transformers movies which we didn't see, Cowboys & Aliens, and were nominated for a Writers Guild Award for Star Trek. This time around they share credit with first-time screenwriter Jody Lambert, Kurtzman's college friend and son of songwriter Dennis Lambert (We Built This City), who was the inspiration for Jerry.
Chris Pine (last in these pages in Unstoppable) adds to his good resumé with the role of Sam, a guy on the brink who manages to salvage his humanity despite his rage over his father's abandonment. Michelle Pfeiffer's (after I covered her in Chéri she was in Dark Shadows) performance as Sam's mother Lillian is terrific--I was extremely moved by her first scene and every one after that. Elizabeth Banks (most recently in Our Idiot Brother) is also showing some muscle with her portrayal of single mother Frankie. One to watch is Michael Hall D'Addario, whom we loved as Frankie's troubled son Josh (when you see the way he drums on the crab shell you won't be surprised to know he is a drummer offscreen). Olivia Wilde (took a hiatus from House M.D. to shoot Cowboys & Aliens last year) is fine as Sam's girlfriend and Mark Duplass (last in Darling Companion and more to come) makes an appearance as Frankie's shy neighbor as does Jon Favreau (covered in Iron Man 2) as Sam's hard-ass boss. Jack wondered if the colorful character's at Jerry's funeral are real musicians--we don't know.
Production designer Ida Random deserves another Oscar nomination (after Rain Man (1988); she also designed The Big Chill (1983), Irreconcilable Differences (1984), Silverado (1985), About Last Night... (1986), The War of the Roses (1989), Defending Your Life (1991), Spanglish (2004), and No Strings Attached, to name my favorites) for, at the very least, Jerry's fabulous man-cave-in-an-attic, filled with music memorabilia and eclectic articles. I've looked in vain for stills but haven't turned up any. I also enjoyed the classic Hollywood, West Hollywood, and Laurel Canyon locations.
Speaking of music, I jotted down the list of bands Sam gives to Josh to educate him: Joy Division, Buzzcocks, Clash, Television, and Gang of Four, just because I'm not all that familiar with that genre. I don't remember how many songs were actually listed at the end of the credits when we saw it Wednesday, but the lovely score is by A.R. Rahman (127 Hours, and two Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire) and features an original song he wrote and performed with Liz Phair. You can listen to a 5 minute soundtrack compilation on youtube or clips from each track on the soundtrack CD on amazon.
Reviewers haven't been kind--on rottentomatoes the average is only 55% (certified rotten), but audiences rate it 70% and last weekend it was 11th at the box office in its third week of release. Still in first run theatres, though it seems to be sharing screens with bigger blockbusters, it's worth your time and we recommend it.
Chris Pine (last in these pages in Unstoppable) adds to his good resumé with the role of Sam, a guy on the brink who manages to salvage his humanity despite his rage over his father's abandonment. Michelle Pfeiffer's (after I covered her in Chéri she was in Dark Shadows) performance as Sam's mother Lillian is terrific--I was extremely moved by her first scene and every one after that. Elizabeth Banks (most recently in Our Idiot Brother) is also showing some muscle with her portrayal of single mother Frankie. One to watch is Michael Hall D'Addario, whom we loved as Frankie's troubled son Josh (when you see the way he drums on the crab shell you won't be surprised to know he is a drummer offscreen). Olivia Wilde (took a hiatus from House M.D. to shoot Cowboys & Aliens last year) is fine as Sam's girlfriend and Mark Duplass (last in Darling Companion and more to come) makes an appearance as Frankie's shy neighbor as does Jon Favreau (covered in Iron Man 2) as Sam's hard-ass boss. Jack wondered if the colorful character's at Jerry's funeral are real musicians--we don't know.
Production designer Ida Random deserves another Oscar nomination (after Rain Man (1988); she also designed The Big Chill (1983), Irreconcilable Differences (1984), Silverado (1985), About Last Night... (1986), The War of the Roses (1989), Defending Your Life (1991), Spanglish (2004), and No Strings Attached, to name my favorites) for, at the very least, Jerry's fabulous man-cave-in-an-attic, filled with music memorabilia and eclectic articles. I've looked in vain for stills but haven't turned up any. I also enjoyed the classic Hollywood, West Hollywood, and Laurel Canyon locations.
Speaking of music, I jotted down the list of bands Sam gives to Josh to educate him: Joy Division, Buzzcocks, Clash, Television, and Gang of Four, just because I'm not all that familiar with that genre. I don't remember how many songs were actually listed at the end of the credits when we saw it Wednesday, but the lovely score is by A.R. Rahman (127 Hours, and two Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire) and features an original song he wrote and performed with Liz Phair. You can listen to a 5 minute soundtrack compilation on youtube or clips from each track on the soundtrack CD on amazon.
Reviewers haven't been kind--on rottentomatoes the average is only 55% (certified rotten), but audiences rate it 70% and last weekend it was 11th at the box office in its third week of release. Still in first run theatres, though it seems to be sharing screens with bigger blockbusters, it's worth your time and we recommend it.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Prometheus (2012)
This science fiction/action/horror movie about a team of scientists in 2093 traveling deep into space looking for the origins of mankind is almost totally without humor, other than a joke about Stephen Stills. The effects are spectacular but we wouldn't call it a masterpiece. Noomi Rapace (last in these pages in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) is lovely and warm as the brave lead scientist Elizabeth. Michael Fassbender (most recently in Haywire) is childlike as the curious humanoid robot David and Charlize Theron's (profiled in Young Adult) character of mission director Meredith is, as my father said about one of his aunts, so cold that the creek would freeze if she fell in it. One characteristic shared by David and Meredith is their ramrod-straight posture. Idris Elba (last in Thor) is the very human spaceship captain Janek and he's the one who makes the joke about the Stills song (sorry about the commercial on that link). One thing that made us smile, though it isn't supposed to be funny, is a scene in which Elizabeth defends herself with an axe, despite the proliferation of high tech gadgets. Guy Pearce (covered in Animal Kingdom) also has a small part as the financier who funds the mission. There's a huge amount of trivia on imdb, including that Pearce made a fake TED video to promote this movie, some of the cave paintings are taken from the very wonderful Cave of Forgotten Dreams, and that director Ridley Scott doesn't see this as a prequel to Alien (1979), though most reviewers have called it such.
I wrote about Scott, now 75, in Body of Lies, and here he reprises some of the effects from Alien, e.g. slimy heads emerging from people's midsections. He does like his slime and this is chock-full of gore. The script is co-written by Jon Spaihts (co-wrote another sci-fi feature about aliens which we didn't see) and Damon Lindelof (one of eight writers on Cowboys & Aliens, but better known as the series creator and occasional writer of Lost).
Last weekend in its sixth week of release it was #14 at the box office and holds a solid 73% critics/72% audiences on rottentomatoes. Jack and I saw this in 3D IMAX on June 21--three weeks ago--and I frankly can't remember if the 3D helped. I see it still is playing in that format here, for at least another week, so, if you like this sort of thing, do treat yourself to the full experience.
I wrote about Scott, now 75, in Body of Lies, and here he reprises some of the effects from Alien, e.g. slimy heads emerging from people's midsections. He does like his slime and this is chock-full of gore. The script is co-written by Jon Spaihts (co-wrote another sci-fi feature about aliens which we didn't see) and Damon Lindelof (one of eight writers on Cowboys & Aliens, but better known as the series creator and occasional writer of Lost).
Last weekend in its sixth week of release it was #14 at the box office and holds a solid 73% critics/72% audiences on rottentomatoes. Jack and I saw this in 3D IMAX on June 21--three weeks ago--and I frankly can't remember if the 3D helped. I see it still is playing in that format here, for at least another week, so, if you like this sort of thing, do treat yourself to the full experience.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Rock of Ages (2012)
Sarah said this musical about rock & roll on the Sunset Strip in the 80s was "terrible" (Phil just smiled, as usual). Jack and I didn't disagree with her, though we didn't hate it. Jack chose it for Fathers' Day because he wanted something "normal" after Sound of My Voice and We Need to Talk About Kevin. When the Broadway Across America touring company of Rock of Ages came through town, we sold our tickets, but thought that the stars in the movie version would redeem it. They didn't.
Sarah thought the only one who really committed to his role was Tom Cruise (last in these pages in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) who certainly gives his all as rock star Stacee Jaxx, having taken singing lessons for his first musical and done lots of ab work in preparation for almost never wearing a shirt in this movie. But the soon-to-be-thrice-divorced Cruise isn't enough to save a movie, especially with a trite, predictable story and the bland stylings of Julianne Hough (one of the dancers in Burlesque and the female lead in the Footloose remake (2011), which we didn't see) and Diego Boneta (new to me) in the lead roles. Catherine Zeta-Jones tries but fails, even though she was terrific doing her own singing and dancing in Chicago (2002), as well as my other favorites of hers: High Fidelity (2000), Traffic (2000), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), The Terminal (2004), Oceans Twelve (2004), and No Reservations (2007) (the latter shares #3 on my list of food movies). Alec Baldwin (most recently in To Rome With Love) and Russell Brand (Get Him to the Greek) don't even try, even though it's fun to look at them all decked out in their wigs and all.
We also expected more from director Adam Shankman, who helmed The Wedding Planner (2001) and Hairspray (2007), among others, and choreographed all three and more. The screenplay is credited to Chris D'Arienzo (nominated for a Tony for the book of the Broadway Rock of Ages--who knew?!), actor/writer Justin Theroux (co-writer Tropic Thunder and sole screenwriter on Iron Man 2), and Allan Loeb (I listed others I didn't like in The Dilemma and then panned Just Go With It--the guy is a bad luck charm and it must be all his fault).
There are plenty of cameos and in jokes, and the song list is published here (Mary J. Blige appears sometime around the second act and performs on many of them).
We can't like everything, and this proves it.
Sarah thought the only one who really committed to his role was Tom Cruise (last in these pages in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) who certainly gives his all as rock star Stacee Jaxx, having taken singing lessons for his first musical and done lots of ab work in preparation for almost never wearing a shirt in this movie. But the soon-to-be-thrice-divorced Cruise isn't enough to save a movie, especially with a trite, predictable story and the bland stylings of Julianne Hough (one of the dancers in Burlesque and the female lead in the Footloose remake (2011), which we didn't see) and Diego Boneta (new to me) in the lead roles. Catherine Zeta-Jones tries but fails, even though she was terrific doing her own singing and dancing in Chicago (2002), as well as my other favorites of hers: High Fidelity (2000), Traffic (2000), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), The Terminal (2004), Oceans Twelve (2004), and No Reservations (2007) (the latter shares #3 on my list of food movies). Alec Baldwin (most recently in To Rome With Love) and Russell Brand (Get Him to the Greek) don't even try, even though it's fun to look at them all decked out in their wigs and all.
We also expected more from director Adam Shankman, who helmed The Wedding Planner (2001) and Hairspray (2007), among others, and choreographed all three and more. The screenplay is credited to Chris D'Arienzo (nominated for a Tony for the book of the Broadway Rock of Ages--who knew?!), actor/writer Justin Theroux (co-writer Tropic Thunder and sole screenwriter on Iron Man 2), and Allan Loeb (I listed others I didn't like in The Dilemma and then panned Just Go With It--the guy is a bad luck charm and it must be all his fault).
There are plenty of cameos and in jokes, and the song list is published here (Mary J. Blige appears sometime around the second act and performs on many of them).
We can't like everything, and this proves it.
Darling Companion (2012)
Despite the vitriolic reviews, I enjoyed myself watching this lightweight story of 60-somethings and a few of their kids working out relationships with each other and their canine counterparts. With big star power it looked like a slam dunk, but after being reviled by critics it left town after two weeks on two screens. I saw it on its last day, June 7, by myself because Jack was busy, and have been pushing it back down the pipeline because it's hard to defend. I suppose it's a bit sappy, but it doesn't deserve the hate. It's Lawrence Kasdan, after all. This is the eleventh movie he has directed. I loved six (Body Heat (1981) the script of which one of my film school teachers analyzed for at least a month, French Kiss (1995), Mumford (1999), The Big Chill (1983), Grand Canyon (1991), and The Accidental Tourist (1988), the last three earning him screenwriting Oscar nominations and the last was nominated for Best Picture). All ten (the other four are Silverado (1985), I Love You to Death (1990), Wyatt Earp (1994) and this one--I missed Dreamcatcher (2003)) have outstanding production values: beautiful pictures, glossy sets, and pretty people. Noteworthy that he also wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Continental Divide (1981), and The Bodyguard (1992) for other directors. His wife Meg Kasdan co-wrote The Big Chill, Grand Canyon, and this, and the couple says they make a trilogy, as all are about ensembles of baby boomers led by Kevin Kline, in their thirties, forties, and now sixties.
Diane Keaton (profiled in Morning Glory) stars as Beth, an emotional wife and mother, who deals with her empty nest and workaholic husband with her devotion to a rescue dog she names Freeway for the location she found him. Keaton is totally unglamorous here and I liked her Beth. Kline (after I wrote about him in Queen to Play, he had a funny bit as Ashton Kutcher's dad in No Strings Attached) plays her husband Joseph who, you know if you saw the trailer, loses the dog. And, for the record, I didn't hate his character. Joseph's sister Penny is Dianne Wiest (covered in Rabbit Hole), adorable with new boyfriend Russell, played by Richard Jenkins (last in these pages in The Rum Diary) and Sam Shepard (profiled in Brothers) is the sheriff. The next generation is represented by Elisabeth Moss (briefly profiled in Get Him to the Greek) as Joseph and Beth's daughter, Mark Duplass (I saw this before Safety Not Guaranteed, but wrote about him in that post) as their nephew, and Ayelet Zurer (who is Israeli and played an Italian in Angels & Demons) as the Gypsy caretaker of their mountain house. The Kasdans have a rescue dog that they lost, searched for, and found on vacation in the Rockies.
Speaking of mountains, the locations and sets are magnificent, as to be expected from Kasdan. Shot in Park City, Sundance, and American Fork, Utah and Telluride, Colorado by Michael McDonough (Winter's Bone, Albert Nobbs, others), the images are spectacular, as are the interiors.
All the actors worked for scale (here's an idea of what that meant in 2003--I can't readily find a later pay schedule), which is too bad because the residuals will probably be bad. When I began this draft last month, rottentomatoes was giving it 21% from critics and 46% from audiences. It has since slipped to 21/44.
Clearly it's not a must-see, but if you happen on it on free cable, let me know what you think.
Diane Keaton (profiled in Morning Glory) stars as Beth, an emotional wife and mother, who deals with her empty nest and workaholic husband with her devotion to a rescue dog she names Freeway for the location she found him. Keaton is totally unglamorous here and I liked her Beth. Kline (after I wrote about him in Queen to Play, he had a funny bit as Ashton Kutcher's dad in No Strings Attached) plays her husband Joseph who, you know if you saw the trailer, loses the dog. And, for the record, I didn't hate his character. Joseph's sister Penny is Dianne Wiest (covered in Rabbit Hole), adorable with new boyfriend Russell, played by Richard Jenkins (last in these pages in The Rum Diary) and Sam Shepard (profiled in Brothers) is the sheriff. The next generation is represented by Elisabeth Moss (briefly profiled in Get Him to the Greek) as Joseph and Beth's daughter, Mark Duplass (I saw this before Safety Not Guaranteed, but wrote about him in that post) as their nephew, and Ayelet Zurer (who is Israeli and played an Italian in Angels & Demons) as the Gypsy caretaker of their mountain house. The Kasdans have a rescue dog that they lost, searched for, and found on vacation in the Rockies.
Speaking of mountains, the locations and sets are magnificent, as to be expected from Kasdan. Shot in Park City, Sundance, and American Fork, Utah and Telluride, Colorado by Michael McDonough (Winter's Bone, Albert Nobbs, others), the images are spectacular, as are the interiors.
All the actors worked for scale (here's an idea of what that meant in 2003--I can't readily find a later pay schedule), which is too bad because the residuals will probably be bad. When I began this draft last month, rottentomatoes was giving it 21% from critics and 46% from audiences. It has since slipped to 21/44.
Clearly it's not a must-see, but if you happen on it on free cable, let me know what you think.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
To Rome With Love (2012)
Jack and I will happily see any Woody Allen movie and had a good time at this all-star ensemble piece about Americans and Italians in Italy's capital. Perhaps not his best work, but not just for fans either, with plenty of jokes, beautiful locations and sets, nice wardrobe on the skinny girls (and voluptuous Penelope Cruz' hooker dress), and Allen trademarks liberally sprinkled about, e.g. stammering, a father suspicious of his daughter's man, a narcissistic heart-breaking beauty, folks obsessed with celebrity, someone pontificating about a movie he has just seen, total whimsey, and Allen's character being married to someone younger (he's 76, Judy Davis is 57), just to name a few.
First, the bad news: Allen (last covered as director/writer of last year's wonderful Midnight in Paris) himself is perhaps the weakest link here--his delivery as retired opera director Jerry is slightly stilted and deliberate, even though he has many of the best jokes (as an actor his performances have been very good in everything except maybe Hollywood Ending (2002) which was still funny to me and Scoop (2006) which wasn't so much as I remember it).
Everyone else shines. Davis' (one of her two Oscar nominations was for Allen's Husbands and Wives (1992) and the other for A Passage to India (1984). I also liked her a lot in other Woody joints: Alice (1990), Deconstructing Harry (1998), and Celebrity (1998), as well as Gillian Armstrong's feminist groundbreaker My Brilliant Career (1979), the Coen brothers' Barton Fink (1991), the hilarious must-see The Ref (1994), Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006), and two TV versions of The Starter Wife, among many) dry delivery is well-suited to the part of Phyllis. The talented Alison Pill (last in these pages in Midnight in Paris, now in Newsroom on HBO) is a bit under-used as their daughter Hayley but the cast is so big I understand. Flavio Parenti, who plays Michelangelo (that's MEE-kel), the object of Hayley's affections, was in I Am Love, but all I said about him was how gorgeous he is and that hasn't changed (that may say more about me than his acting). Roberto Benigni (profiled in Life is Beautiful) is reliably funny as the baffled Leopoldo thrust in stardom. Alec Baldwin (last mentioned in It's Complicated) starts out as a regular man, John, an architect revisiting the Rome of his youth, but somehow morphs into a ghost who has conversations with Jesse Eisenberg's Jack that no one else can hear. He plays it straight to good effect. After I profiled Eisenberg for his Oscar-nominated performance in The Social Network he was in 30 Minutes or Less, and he puts his own stamp on Jack--not as Woody-like as one might expect. Also under-used is the wonderful Greta Gerwig (most recently in Damsels in Distress) as Jack's trusting girlfriend Sally. Ellen Page (covered in Whip It) goes against type as the aforementioned narcissistic actress, finally getting to play someone her own age (25) and Penelope Cruz (last in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) gets a lot of laughs as Anna. The Italian actors who are new to me are no slouches either.
This is one movie I may have been better served to read reviews beforehand, because I didn't get all the Fellini references while we were in the theatre. Now you know and can do your homework. The term paparazzi comes from Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960), and the subject of celebrity is much explored here.
Apparently Allen is responsible for inspiring tourism now that he's left New York for (funding in) European capitals. All of his movies have glossy, expensive locations and sets, and the foreign ones are enticing. I omitted mention of Iranian cinematographer Darius Khondji in Midnight in Paris and Chéri, but will give him his due here for the lovely images (he also shot David Fincher's Se7en (1995) and Panic Room (2002), Bernardo Bertolucci's Stealing Beauty (1996), Sidney Pollack's The Interpreter (2005), Kar Wai Wong's moody My Blueberry Nights (2007), among others, and was Oscar-nominated for the Madonna-starring Evita (1996)).
First, the bad news: Allen (last covered as director/writer of last year's wonderful Midnight in Paris) himself is perhaps the weakest link here--his delivery as retired opera director Jerry is slightly stilted and deliberate, even though he has many of the best jokes (as an actor his performances have been very good in everything except maybe Hollywood Ending (2002) which was still funny to me and Scoop (2006) which wasn't so much as I remember it).
Everyone else shines. Davis' (one of her two Oscar nominations was for Allen's Husbands and Wives (1992) and the other for A Passage to India (1984). I also liked her a lot in other Woody joints: Alice (1990), Deconstructing Harry (1998), and Celebrity (1998), as well as Gillian Armstrong's feminist groundbreaker My Brilliant Career (1979), the Coen brothers' Barton Fink (1991), the hilarious must-see The Ref (1994), Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006), and two TV versions of The Starter Wife, among many) dry delivery is well-suited to the part of Phyllis. The talented Alison Pill (last in these pages in Midnight in Paris, now in Newsroom on HBO) is a bit under-used as their daughter Hayley but the cast is so big I understand. Flavio Parenti, who plays Michelangelo (that's MEE-kel), the object of Hayley's affections, was in I Am Love, but all I said about him was how gorgeous he is and that hasn't changed (that may say more about me than his acting). Roberto Benigni (profiled in Life is Beautiful) is reliably funny as the baffled Leopoldo thrust in stardom. Alec Baldwin (last mentioned in It's Complicated) starts out as a regular man, John, an architect revisiting the Rome of his youth, but somehow morphs into a ghost who has conversations with Jesse Eisenberg's Jack that no one else can hear. He plays it straight to good effect. After I profiled Eisenberg for his Oscar-nominated performance in The Social Network he was in 30 Minutes or Less, and he puts his own stamp on Jack--not as Woody-like as one might expect. Also under-used is the wonderful Greta Gerwig (most recently in Damsels in Distress) as Jack's trusting girlfriend Sally. Ellen Page (covered in Whip It) goes against type as the aforementioned narcissistic actress, finally getting to play someone her own age (25) and Penelope Cruz (last in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) gets a lot of laughs as Anna. The Italian actors who are new to me are no slouches either.
This is one movie I may have been better served to read reviews beforehand, because I didn't get all the Fellini references while we were in the theatre. Now you know and can do your homework. The term paparazzi comes from Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960), and the subject of celebrity is much explored here.
Apparently Allen is responsible for inspiring tourism now that he's left New York for (funding in) European capitals. All of his movies have glossy, expensive locations and sets, and the foreign ones are enticing. I omitted mention of Iranian cinematographer Darius Khondji in Midnight in Paris and Chéri, but will give him his due here for the lovely images (he also shot David Fincher's Se7en (1995) and Panic Room (2002), Bernardo Bertolucci's Stealing Beauty (1996), Sidney Pollack's The Interpreter (2005), Kar Wai Wong's moody My Blueberry Nights (2007), among others, and was Oscar-nominated for the Madonna-starring Evita (1996)).
The songs, listed on imdb, include quite a bit of opera, as to be expected, and two incidences of Volare, not including Dean Martin.
Because it's there, I'll share with you the expected cast for next year's Woody Allen project. You really don't want to skip one of his movies, so go ahead and see this year's now. You'll be chuckling for a long time.
Because it's there, I'll share with you the expected cast for next year's Woody Allen project. You really don't want to skip one of his movies, so go ahead and see this year's now. You'll be chuckling for a long time.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
Utterly charming yet extremely quirky, this story about 3 cynical reporters following up on a classified ad promising time travel is great fun. Aubrey Plaza is worthy of her first starring role after 68 episodes as April in Parks & Recreation, and small parts in Funny People, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Damsels in Distress. Her character's name is Darius, which I was never sure I had heard correctly and finally I read it on imdb. Jake Johnson, who plays Nick on New Girl and has been in some movies, is pretty funny as the narcissistic reporter Jeff who has personal reasons for taking intern Darius and another intern on the story, and Mark Duplass (better known for directing with his brother Jay, last mentioned in these pages in Jeff, Who Lives at Home, has a number of acting credits, including winning the Bend Film Festival award for Best Lead Actor in The Puffy Chair (2005) and a few other roles) is good as the intense, paranoid would-be time traveler, Kenneth. This is the dramatic feature debut for both director Colin Trevorrow and writer Derek Connolly and they have crafted some entertaining weirdos for our enjoyment.
Touted as being "from the producers of Little Miss Sunshine," the ten producers, including both Duplass brothers, Trevorrow, and Connolly, have an impressive combined body of work, also including Adaptation (2002), Everything is Illuminated (2005), Chop Shop, Sunshine Cleaning, Away We Go, Is Anybody There?, Jack Goes Boating, and more.
The classified ad was really placed, as a spoof in 1997, by this guy. The filmmakers moved the location from California to Washington state, shooting in Seattle and Ocean Shores, and built a great plot out of it. According to imdb, the first person who walks into the post office is the ad writer, Silveira, credited as a "Time Travel Consultant."
We saw it a week ago, but I still remember how much I liked Ryan Miller's music. While writing this I've been listening to clips from the movie's official website (update in 2013: the website is down, but clips are available from amazon).
Highly rated (92% critics, 89% audiences on rottentomatoes) this is well worth your time. It has already made this year's list of nominees and winners. Check it out in an air conditioned theatre before it leaves town.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Jack and I adored this story of young love between a pair of 1965 prepubescent misfits directed by one of moviedom's kings of quirk, Wes Anderson, co-starring Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, with cameos by Bob Balaban, Harvey Keitel, Jason Schwartzman, and Tilda Swinton, as well as newcomers Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman in the romantic lead roles. I profiled Anderson, Murray, and Schwartzman in Anderson's last feature, the animated Fantastic Mr. Fox, and all are in fine form here. The scene from the trailer where a shirtless Murray is going outside with a bottle of booze and an ax, "looking for a tree to cut down," makes us smile every time we think about it.
Anderson co-wrote the script with Roman Coppola (Francis' son, Sofia's brother, he had a small voice part in Fantastic Mr. Fox and also worked on the script for Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited (2007)). My aunt Mary commented that this one is a little strange, but that's one of Anderson's many trademarks (here's a long list)--I think Mary was referring to the deadpan dialogue, which just adds to the comedy. McDormand (three Oscar nominations: for Mississippi Burning (1988), Almost Famous (2000), and North Country (2005); one win: Fargo (1996); still best known for acting in her husband Joel Coen's pictures with his brother Ethan, e.g. Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Fargo, Burn After Reading; but I also loved her in Robert Altman's Short Cuts (1993), Curtis Hanson's Wonder Boys (2000), Lisa Cholodenko's Laurel Canyon (2002), Nancy Meyers' Something's Gotta Give (2003), and Nicole Holofcener's Friends with Money (2006)) is a great foil to Murray, playing his wife. I profiled Norton in Stone, and here he goes against type as a soft-spoken "Khaki" scout leader (I imagine the Boy Scouts didn't want anything to do with this strange little indie involving runaways). The cameos (I spotted Keitel before Jack did) also go against type and the kids are great, too.
The spectacular photography is by Robert D. Yeoman (Anderson's Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), and Darjeeling Limited (2007); as well as Drugstore Cowboy (1989), Permanent Midnight (1998), Dogma (1999), The Squid and the Whale (2005), Martian Child (2007), Whip It, Get Him to the Greek, and Bridesmaids), and he has really topped himself this time. Jack commented that every shot is like a painting, with interesting, often symmetrical, composition.
For a nice change, the songs are listed on imdb, including some by composer Alexandre Desplat (last covered in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close). If you stay for the bonus aimed at music lovers, you will learn what I've been wondering for years, how to pronounce Desplat. Unlike traditional French words, he pronounces the S in his last name (the T is silent, as to be expected)--dayz-PLA. I also enjoyed the trivia.
Nominated for the Palme D'Or at Cannes earlier this year, this is a delight and suitable for most children, as long as you can explain what not to try at home and why. It's rated PG-13 for some mild sexual exploration on the part of the kids.
This post is unusual in two ways. First, I've never been so far behind in posting, with six other movies in the hopper (one hasn't been released yet so I'll wait until it gets a distributor to write about it), and will get farther behind fast, as we're planning to see one tonight and another Tuesday. Second, my area is in a massive, prolonged power blackout since Friday night, so I'm writing from the grocery store (it's a nice one, with tables and chairs, electrical plugs and wi-fi). The last time I had to do that was almost four years ago for In Search of a Midnight Kiss, when Hurricane Ike did it to us. This storm has no name but will surely go down in history. All that is a long way of saying that I definitely won't be prompt in getting the other five, er, seven up on the world wide web. Please be patient.
Anderson co-wrote the script with Roman Coppola (Francis' son, Sofia's brother, he had a small voice part in Fantastic Mr. Fox and also worked on the script for Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited (2007)). My aunt Mary commented that this one is a little strange, but that's one of Anderson's many trademarks (here's a long list)--I think Mary was referring to the deadpan dialogue, which just adds to the comedy. McDormand (three Oscar nominations: for Mississippi Burning (1988), Almost Famous (2000), and North Country (2005); one win: Fargo (1996); still best known for acting in her husband Joel Coen's pictures with his brother Ethan, e.g. Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Fargo, Burn After Reading; but I also loved her in Robert Altman's Short Cuts (1993), Curtis Hanson's Wonder Boys (2000), Lisa Cholodenko's Laurel Canyon (2002), Nancy Meyers' Something's Gotta Give (2003), and Nicole Holofcener's Friends with Money (2006)) is a great foil to Murray, playing his wife. I profiled Norton in Stone, and here he goes against type as a soft-spoken "Khaki" scout leader (I imagine the Boy Scouts didn't want anything to do with this strange little indie involving runaways). The cameos (I spotted Keitel before Jack did) also go against type and the kids are great, too.
The spectacular photography is by Robert D. Yeoman (Anderson's Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), and Darjeeling Limited (2007); as well as Drugstore Cowboy (1989), Permanent Midnight (1998), Dogma (1999), The Squid and the Whale (2005), Martian Child (2007), Whip It, Get Him to the Greek, and Bridesmaids), and he has really topped himself this time. Jack commented that every shot is like a painting, with interesting, often symmetrical, composition.
For a nice change, the songs are listed on imdb, including some by composer Alexandre Desplat (last covered in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close). If you stay for the bonus aimed at music lovers, you will learn what I've been wondering for years, how to pronounce Desplat. Unlike traditional French words, he pronounces the S in his last name (the T is silent, as to be expected)--dayz-PLA. I also enjoyed the trivia.
Nominated for the Palme D'Or at Cannes earlier this year, this is a delight and suitable for most children, as long as you can explain what not to try at home and why. It's rated PG-13 for some mild sexual exploration on the part of the kids.
This post is unusual in two ways. First, I've never been so far behind in posting, with six other movies in the hopper (one hasn't been released yet so I'll wait until it gets a distributor to write about it), and will get farther behind fast, as we're planning to see one tonight and another Tuesday. Second, my area is in a massive, prolonged power blackout since Friday night, so I'm writing from the grocery store (it's a nice one, with tables and chairs, electrical plugs and wi-fi). The last time I had to do that was almost four years ago for In Search of a Midnight Kiss, when Hurricane Ike did it to us. This storm has no name but will surely go down in history. All that is a long way of saying that I definitely won't be prompt in getting the other five, er, seven up on the world wide web. Please be patient.
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