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September 2008
TCM announces Paul Newman tribute
As it has always done, Turner Classic Movies has acted quickly to pay tribute to a film legend. A Paul Newman day is set for Sunday, Oct. 12, with the following lineup:
6:00 AM - The Rack
8:00 AM - Until They Sail
10:00 AM - Torn Curtain
12:15 PM - Exodus
3:45 PM - Sweet Bird of Youth
6:00 PM - Hud
8:00 PM - Somebody Up There Likes Me
10:00 PM - Cool Hand Luke
12:15 AM - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
2:15 AM - Rachel, Rachel
4:00 AM - The Outrage
Darn. The Hustler isn’t on the list. Guess I’ll have to head for Netflix for that one. But I’ll be very glad to catch up to Hud, Somebody Up There Likes Me, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Rachel, Rachel - that one was directed by Newman.
Any thoughts on this roster?
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Cue the Black Sabbath: Iron Man on DVD
It’s a good week for DVDs, with two very solid hits hitting shelves today.
Iron Man: Somehow, I get the strange idea that I don’t need to say much to convince people to pick this one up. Me, I the film was a touch overrated. The last third, revolving around the weak and uninteresting villain, weighs the movie down. On the whole, however, it’s still a lot of fun, with an Oscar quality performance by Robert Downey Jr. and smart direction by Jon Favreau. Full review. GRADE: B+
Forgetting Sarah Marshall: For my money, this is the best of the Judd Apatow-produced movies not directed by Apatow himself. Jason Segel, who wrote the screenplay, stars as a man devastated when his girlfriend (Kristen Bell) breaks up with him. He goes to Hawaii to forget his troubles when it turns out his girlfriend and her new beau (a hilariously smug Russell Brand) are staying at the same hotel. Sharply observed and very funny, the script makes a lot of smart moves, including not making the ex a one-dimensional witch. My only major reservation is, like a lot of Apatow movies, this one runs a little too long. GRADE: A- (Funny note: Why does the Amazon entry say it stars William Baldwin and Jason Bateman?)
And elsewhere on the shelves:
Can’t Hardly Wait (10th Annivesary Edition): Ummmm - you mean that’s something worth commemorating?
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The movie colorizers respond - and so do I
Last week I blogged about the upcoming DVD reissue of Holiday Inn, lamenting the fact that a colorized version is on the set, coming out Oct. 14.
The company that performed the colorization got word of my post and responded to it. A Barry B. Sandrew, Ph.D., the founder of Legend Films, wrote:
“Eric, I appreciate the review though rather bias. I suggest we let the consumers decide. They can view the color trailer on the Legend Films web site.
“Our designers purposely did not go for a Technicolor look. There are many people who think that the goal of colorization is to duplicate a specific film style. Actually colorization is a creative process intent on producing a separate color interpretation of the film while being sensitive to the original element.
“We assess the underlying black and white element and, after extensive research, create a color interpretation of the film that is appropriate for the available luminance. If we went for a highly saturated Technicolor look we’d find many people who would decry the effort as bad colorization with unrealistic colors. Of course those same people would never criticize an actual Technicolor film with the same glasses.
“Our intent was to create a color storyboard that makes the film look as if it was shot in color back then with what would be considered contemporary film stock. To recreate a brilliant saturated 3 strip look would truly be intrusive, making the color the primary focus of the film. Indeed the most successful colorization is when the viewer forgets the film was colorized. I believe we succeeded in both It’s A Wonderful Life and Holiday Inn.
“The actual DVDs are not at all muted but appropriate for the available gray scale. In fact most people who have watched Holiday Inn and It’s A Wonderful Life religiously every year for decades are amazed at the detail they see in the color release that they never noticed before. It’s a different experience than watching the orginal black and white version and should stand on its own without comparison.”
My response:
I understand and appreciate that Legend Films took care with the colorization process, rather than just slopping color on the movie willy-nilly like the colorizers of old did. One could argue that this is similar to engineers making stereo mixes out of mono recordings like the Beach Boys Pet Sounds. That experience was meant to be different if not necessarily better, and it was done with Brian Wilson’s consent and participation. It’s important to note that the mono version of Pet Sounds is still available, just like the black and white Holiday Inn is still available.
However …
I remain against colorization in principle, for reasons I have already explained. I consider it vandalism, particularly when it is done against the wishes of the original artists, as was the case with It’s a Wonderful Life. There is nothing anyone can say to convince me that colorization is a worthwhile enterprise, unless the original filmmakers perform the process themselves. And that’s not exactly likely.
The reason I brought up the Technicolor technique is because that’s what most color films of the period were made in. When I think of Fred Astaire in color, I think of the vibrant three-strip look in movies like The Band Wagon and Easter Parade. I do not think of the more modern palettes of Finian’s Rainbow or The Towering Inferno. For that reason, among others, the colorized Holiday Inn simply looks wrong to me, no matter how much care was taken with it.
Sandrew said it would not do to replicate the three-strip look and I actually agree. Therefore, no one should try - at all.
Sandrew says to let the consumer decide, so I will open the floor to you. You can watch a trailer for the color Holiday Inn on the Legend films Web site. Watch it and tell me what you think.
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Another thought on Paul Newman - with thanks
First and foremost, my profound thanks to all the commenters who did such a great job offering their thoughts on the late, great Paul Newman. If you’d still like to contribute there, you are more than welcome to do so.
I wrote my tribute with such haste on Saturday (I literally woke up to the news and typed out my thoughts) that I focused very heavily on his movie career, and didn’t mention his charitable works. Many of the commenters filled that gap very nicely.
I would like to add one more thought, however. Speaking about Newman, George Clooney said, “He set the bar too high for the rest of us. Not just actors, but all of us.”
Well said. However, that doesn’t man that we can’t meet that bar, and shouldn’t try. If we at least attempt to follow Newman’s example, we can do a lot of good.
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Paul Newman, 1925-2008
Wow. Even though I knew I would be writing this tribute before long, it is still a very rude shock to wake up on a Saturday morning and find that Paul Newman is no longer with us.
Paul Newman is one of those actors whose presence is so great, whose force is so undeniable - and I just noticed I’m writing in the present tense, but you know what? That’s still appropriate. Because as long as his performances are still playing on a screen somewhere, Paul Newman is still with us.
It’s difficult to know where to begin in eulogizing Paul Newman. Perhaps the best compliment I can pay the Ohio native is that he never let me down. Even if a movie he appeared in was less than great, Newman never was.
When Entertainment Weekly in 1997 put together a book of the greatest stars of all time, the stars were listed by category. Newman was one of the “Leading Men,” and he was the first one listed. Coincidence? I highly doubt it.
For each performer, EW listed their essential films: Newman’s were The Hustler, Hud, Cool Hand Luke Slap Shot and The Verdict. I can’t speak to The Hustler (shame on me), Hud or Slap Shot, but the others belong there for sure.
Here are a few of my other favorite Newman performances. The list is by NO means comprehensive; it’s only meant as a highlights reel.
Cool Hand Luke: I saw this for the first time just this past summer, at the Victoria Theatre’s Cool Films series, and now I’m even more grateful for that opportunity. What a complex, magnetic performance.
The Hudsucker Proxy: Betcha no one else lists this one. It may not be one of his great performances, but it’s fun to see his gruffness amid the Coen brothers’ zaniness.
Road to Perdition: I jumped about a foot in my seat at the scene when he slapped his hand down on the table and said “You would like to apologize? Try again.”
Cars: He plays a race car. I don’t care what anyone says about the film - Newman, who absolutely adored racing, couldn’t possibly have gone out on a better note.
What are your favorite films/memories of Paul Newman? Here’s his filmography.
Permalink | Comments (25) | Post your comment | Categories: Tributes
‘Eagle Eye’ starts sharply, then loses focus
If I could review only the first half of Eagle Eye, I would call it a suspenseful, crackling techno-thriller.
Alas, I have to review the entirely of Eagle Eye, so I must call it a barely entertaining, sputtering techno-thriller that becomes increasingly stupid and implausible as it goes along.
Director DJ Caruso seems to be making a career out of filming passable thrillers starring Shia LaBeouf that rip off older and much better movies. Last year, Caruso’s Disturbia thrilled many young audience members who had probably never heard of, much less seen, Hitchcock’s Rear Window. This year, Caruso and his crew have made their inferior version of a much more recent film: Tony Scott’s Enemy of the State.
Enemy of the State, which came out 10 years ago, starred Will Smith as a man on the run from an agency that used hi-tech Big Brother tools to track his every movement. It wasn’t exactly great art, but it made the world seem threatening in a new way. Eagle Eye doesn’t so much improve on Enemy of the State as it updates it, with even higher-tech Big Brother tools, but a less compelling story.
The movie stars LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan as unwilling participants in a sinister plot. LaBeouf is a slacker who’s getting over the death of his much more accomplished identical twin brother. When he comes home one day, a calm female voice calls him on the phone, ordering him to follow instructions. That same voice appears on Monaghan’s phone, ordering her to comply, lest her young son be killed.
Eagle Eye starts very strongly when it seems like the organization commanding LaBeouf and Monaghan can control every electronic gadget in sight. When the two have to elude the FBI in a car chase, the controller changes the traffic light patterns to speed our heroes through while the FBI agents crash and burn. (That’s a rip-off too, from The Italian Job remake, but the scene sill works.)
For roughly the first hour, Caruso does a decent job of ratcheting up the thrills, even if some of his action scenes suffer from overediting, as so many do these days. Then, we find out who the nemesis is, and that’s when Eagle Eye starts to blink. The villain is completely derivative (Hint: Red eye), and the movie’s climax is absurd, even for a “turn your brain off” movie. I kept saying incredulous phrases to myself, like “Oh, come on,” “Yeah, sure” and “Riiiiiight.”
As ridiculous as the movie gets, I still enjoyed it while I watched it. The actors help to redeem it. LaBeouf and Monaghan seem more like mother and son than a potential couple, since LaBeouf never looks any older than 17, no matter how much facial hair he grows, but the two still have solid chemistry together. And just as he did in Armageddon, Billy Bob Thornton alleviates an extremely silly story with a few memorable zingers as the lead FBI man after LaBeouf and Monaghan.
Eagle Eye aims to deliver dumb fun, and it does - but it would have been a better movie if it were less dumb and more fun.
GRADE: B-
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There’s something funny going on at the bank …
For some reason, one of my colleagues asked me to come up with a list of financial movies - Wall Street, Boiler Room, etc. Can’t imagine why stuff like that is on anyone’s mind …
The clip I can’t get out of my mind is the bank run from It’s a Wonderful Life.
Suddenly this scene looks scary, doesn’t it? If only we could get by on $20 these days. But let’s have a little fun. Who in the read world is The Mr. Potter in all this mess? The forgetful Uncle Billy?
And most importantly, who’s our George Bailey?
The floor is yours …
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What’s opening Friday, Sept. 26?
Provided anyone can afford to go to movie theaters now (sarcasm), the offerings this week are solid prospects.
Eagle Eye: A young man (Shia LaBeouf) and a single mom (Michelle Monaghan) become unwitting members of a terrorist cell in this techno-thriller from the crew that brought you Disturbia. My review will post tomorrow.
Miracle at St. Anna: A murder sets in motion an investigation that leads back to the experiences of a battalion of black American soldiers who became trapped in a Tuscan village during WWII. I’m always curious to see any film directed by Spike Lee, but the general consensus seems to be that he’s missed with this one.
Nights in Rodanthe: A doctor (Richard Gere) sparks romance with an unhappily married woman (Diane Lane) at a North Carolina inn. It looks terribly treacly to me, but then I thought the same thing about The Notebook until I actually saw it. We’ll see.
At the arthouses
The Neon in Dayton opens Baghead and starts the annual LGBT film festival (see their MySpace for details.) The Little Art in Yellow Springs plays The Women, Hamlet 2 and Dalia Lama Renaissance
The Celluloid Society
Middletown’s Celluloid Society, a group of local film buffs, kicks off its second film series this year, screening DVDs at the Middletown Public Library at 125 S. Broad St. on one Sunday every month. This Sunday at 2 p.m.: Valley of the Dolls, billed by the society as “the best bad movie ever made!” Coming next month, on Oct. 12: Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams.
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I’m dreaming of a black and white Christmas
So I got a new DVD edition of the yuletide classic Holiday Inn in the mail from Universal, and I groaned immediately.
No, it has nothing to do with the movie itself, which is one of my Christmas favorites, and it doesn’t even have anything to do with the fact that I’m already seeing Christmas stuff when fall is only just starting.
No, it has to do with what I saw on the set, due in stores October 14.
Disc Two: New Color Version.
Talk about a lump of coal. I thought it was generally agreed that colorization of black and white movies was grotesque after Ted Turner and his vandals slapped color onto Casablanca to a chorus of boos.
As much as I hate colorization, I can understand from a marketing perspective why studios would want to provide a colorized version of something with heavy kid appeal, like the original Miracle on 34th St. It is sadly true that to get some kids to watch a black and white movie is to pull teeth. But I will tell you right now, no kid of mine is ever going to be raised believing that a movie is broken or not worth watching because it’s in black and white.
But Holiday Inn appeals to adults more than kids, and I would have hoped that adults wouldn’t feel a need for a colorized Holiday Inn. My hopes were dashed when I looked on Amazon and saw testimonials, apparently from grown people, asking for a color version.
“When are they going to come out with a colorized version of Holiday Inn? I have never seen a film call out for it more than this one,” one customer wrote. Another said: “I am in wholehearted agreement with the gentleman who asked for a colorized version of Holiday Inn!! I was sure that this movie would be offered in color on DVD by this time!!”
I don’t get it. I just don’t get it.
Now, to Universal’s great credit, the black and white version is still on the set. And for the colorized version, there is a documentary on the process, which was performed with the help of Jan Mucklestone, the personal sketch artist of the legendary costume designer Edith Head. If colorization has to be done, I’m glad to see it being done with a sense of historical perspective. (The CD soundtrack in the new set is a welcome bonus too.)
Still. I took a look at the colorized Holiday Inn and watched the scene that gave the song “White Christmas” to the world, and I remain staunchly opposed to colorization. It does look a little better than earlier colorization jobs, but the colors still look pasty, and well - fake. No artificial process I have seen has a prayer of matching the real Technicolor of films from the 40s like Meet Me In St. Louis. The only way I’ll be using the colorized disc is as a tree ornament.
I sorely wish people would stop believing that black and white films would be better if only they were in color. Artificially adding color obliterates all the artistic decisions so carefully made on costumes, set design, cinematography, and even, I will argue, the performances - decisions that came about specifically because the movie was to be in black and white.
There is nothing “wrong” with a film that’s in black and white. And I’ll have a blue Christmas knowing that some people out there don’t appreciate that.
What do you think of colorization? I will never understand why it is necessary, but if anyone wants to try to enlighten me, they can.
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Have you ever gotten a refund at the movies?
Got a real quick, and I hope, easy question for you guys today. This one appeared on IMDB’s daily poll recently, so I thought I’d ask:
Have you ever had such a bad movie-going experience (annoying crowds, sound/picture issues, etc.) that you have asked for a refund? And better yet, have you actually gotten it?
Whether you’ve gotten a refund or not, tell us this: What movies have been SO poisonous that you wanted your money back? I shall put forth my favorite object of scorn, the vile and putrid Bad Boys II. Thankfully, I didn’t pay for it, but by the end of that movie, I wanted to pocket the $130 million it took to make it, burn the negative AND douse Michael Bay in raw sewage so he could feel the way I felt watching that POS.
Y tu?
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Today’s DVDs: Leatherheads, SATC and more
So a football movie comes out on DVD the same day as the chick flick of the year. Either that’s a cosmic coincidence, or whoever schedules the DVD calendar has a real sense of humor.
Leatherheads: George Clooney’s football romantic comedy was pleasant enough while I watched it, with terrific period detail, but I started to forget it almost immediately afterward, and I expect better than that from this team. Renee Zellweger and John Krasinski co-star. Full review. GRADE: B-
Sex and the City: I was pleasantly surprised to find I rather liked Sarah Jessica Parker and Co. writ large on the big screen, despite my possessing a Y chromosome. The DVD features the extended version of the film, which lasts as long as the entirety of season three. (Kidding!) Full review. GRADE: B
Also Out Today
The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration: This is the DVD that most makes me wish I had a decent hi-def setup, because the restoration was made by Robert Harris, who also worked on Vertigo and Lawrence of Arabia, among others. Since I don’t have a big screen, I think I’ll stick with my original set, but what I would really love it if someone in this area would screen the restored print. Anyone listening?
LA Confidential: One of the best movies of the 90s comes to DVD in a new special edition, with lots of nice new features.
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Kate and Leo are back: Revolutionary Road trailer
The trailer for Revolutionary Road, popularly known as the film that brings Kate n’ Leo back together, has hit the net, and I like it quite a lot.
Here tis:
Here’s the plot synopsis: “April and Frank Wheeler are a young, thriving couple living with their two children in a Connecticut suburb in the mid-1950s. Their self-assured exterior masks a creeping frustration at their inability to feel fulfilled in their relationships or careers. Frank is mired in a well-paying but boring office job, and April is a housewife still mourning the demise of her hoped-for acting career. Determined to identify themselves as superior to the mediocre sprawl of suburbanites who surround them, they decide to move to France.”
The look and feel of the trailer hits the feeling of 50s ennui right on the head - a bit like Todd Haynes’ Far From Heaven, although this new film is certainly not as stylized as Haynes’ was. The director is Sam Mendes, who hasn’t missed yet, having directed American Beauty, Road to Perdition and Jarhead. (He also happens to be Mr. Winslet.)
Most importantly of all, it looks like Winslet and DiCaprio still have their great chemistry. The film is out Dec. 26; I’m in. Are you?
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Coming Attractions
Covering the Coen brothers: Grading their films
Apologies all around for the slowness of the blog last week, folks. I hope you found some fun movie-related things to distract you from the aftermath of the ill winds. I’m back full steam, with lots of ideas in the pipeline, including reviews of Eagle Eye and maybe some other films forthcoming this week.
With Burn After Reading continuing to do well at the box office, much to my delight, I thought it would be fun to offer my thoughts on the work of the Coen brothers thus far, and let you do the same. Looking over their output, I find them to be just about the most consistently fascinating filmmakers around.
Blood Simple: Right from the very first, the brothers established themselves as major talents with this noir film, very well shot by Barry Sonnenfeld, who would go on to direct Get Shorty and Men in Black, among others. GRADE: A
Raising Arizona: This was my introduction to the Coens, and I found them hysterical. Everybody quotes “Son, you get a panty on yore head,” but my favorite lines come from the late Trey Wilson as Nathan Arizona: “Are you boys gonna chase down your leads or are you gonna sit drinkin’ coffee in the one house in the state where I know my boy ain’t at?!” GRADE: A
Miller’s Crossing: Goodfellas came out the same year, and became the gangster film du jour, but this one has developed a following over the years, and deservedly so. This gangster movie is like no other. That hat … GRADE: A-
Barton Fink: A brilliantly strange and terrifying take on old Hollywood, with a brilliant performance by John Turturro. It was also the beginning of a long and dazzling collaboration with cinematographer Roger Deakins, one of the best in the biz. GRADE: A+
The Hudsucker Proxy: Criminally underseen and underrated, this may be the greatest looking goof of a movie ever made. I always crack up at the hula hoop bits. “You know - for kids!” Fun trivia: In Raising Arizona, you can see that Nicolas Cage briefly works for Hudsucker industries. GRADE: A-
Fargo: I didn’t quite love this movie as much as many seemed to, but that only meant I didn’t think it was their best. Up to this point, their best was Barton Fink. Still, all hail Frances McDormand. GRADE: A
The Big Lebowski: As much as I enjoyed this comedy, you might say I haven’t been quite as high on it as some of their other films, perhaps because the pot smoke I’ve inhaled has all been secondhand. GRADE: B
O Brother Where Art Thou?: Now, this is more like it! Wild gags, a great sepia toned look from Deakins, and a fun soundtrack. And I’m not even a bluegrass kinda guy. GRADE: A
The Man Who Wasn’t There: The Coens take on noir again, and as far as I know, it’s the only one to mix that genre with UFOs. This is the only DVD the Coens recorded a commentary track for, and as you might expect, it’s no help at all. GRADE: B
Intolerable Cruelty: The Coens tried to graft their work onto a pre-existing script, and the mixture didn’t take. It has some solid laughs, but it remains their one misfire to date. GRADE: C+
The Ladykillers: I thought people came down far too hard on the Coens for this comedy, and I have to wonder if people would have done that if the lead wasn’t Tom Hanks. I laughed out loud frequently at it and thought the Coens were back on track. GRADE: B+
No Country for Old Men: Yeah, it deserved its Oscar wins. GRADE: A+
Burn After Reading: Lots of fun, although I’d like to take back my statement in my original review that it doesn’t mean anything. It’s still a goofy lark more than anything else, but it makes some sly points about espionage, paranoia, deception and all around stupidity. GRADE: A-
How about you? What are your favorite/least favorite Coen films? Did you see Burn After Reading yet? What did you think?
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Filmmakers
What relief will the movies offer this weekend?
Since I had to work on storm coverage this week, I was not able to attend any screenings, so there will be no review on Friday. My aim is to help you find a way to unwind after all the storm strife, be it a new movie or a new DVD release.
IN THEATERS
Frozen River: The Neon in Dayton and the Little Art in Yellow Springs open this drama starring Melissa Leo as a woman desperate to provide for her family after husband disappears with their life savings - so she falls in with a group of smugglers. Leo has been attracting considerable Oscar buzz.
Ghost Town: Ricky Gervais dies for a seven-minute period during his colonoscopy, then awakens to realize he has gained the ability to see and communicate with ghosts, including one (Greg Kinnear) who wants to break up the marriage of his widow (Tea Leoni). This has attracted fairly strong reviews, but its likely to get overlooked at the box office this weekend.
Igor: In this animated feature, a certain laboratory assistant looks to win the Annual Evil Science Fair with his own creation. The premise sounds fun, but reviews have been unkind so far, which is disappointing.
Lakeview Terrace A police officer (Samuel L. Jackson) goes to extremes to force out the interracial couple (Kerry Washington and Patrick Wilson) who just moved in next door. The trailer made it look promising, but early word says it starts well, then drowns in standard Hollywood cliches.
My Best Friend’s Girl: Dane Cook works as a womanizer hired by guys who want their girlfriends or wives to reconsider leaving them. Things get complicated when Kate Hudson enters the mix. Whenever I see the ads for this movie, many adjectives enter my mind: Bland. Middling. Mediocre. Humdrum. Then you add Dane Cook to the mix and the adjectives get nastier. Pass.
DVDs after the jump
DVDs
An American in Paris/Gigi: Vincente Minelli’s two Best Picture Oscar-winners get a long overdue deluxe treatment on DVD. Paris hasn’t worn all that well over the years, but it still has that great ballet at the end, plus my favorite scene, the elegant “Our Love is Here to Stay.” And there’s no denying that Gershwin score. However, I will deny Gigi, one of the very few major MGM musicals I don’t like, largely because of the score by Lerner and Lowe, who, Brigadoon aside, just don’t do anything for me. Paris: B+, Gigi: C
The Busby Berkeley Collection, Vol. 2: Here comes another collection of movies featuring numbers by the visually insane but dazzling genius. Titles include Gold Diggers of 1937, Gold Diggers in Paris, Hollywood Hotel, and Varsity Show.
88 Minutes: Anyone who rents this thinking “Hey, it’s an Al Pacino cop movie, it must be good” deserves whatever they get.
The Love Guru: Anyone who rents this for any reason deserves whatever they get too. From what I understand, most people who saw this movie had a look on their face that resembled the expression Myers had when he stood next to Kanye West during his “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” rant. You know, that “Get me outta here” look?
Made of Honor: Patrick Dempsey realizes he’s in love with his bests friend, Michelle Monaghan, decides to marry someone else. Basically My Best Friend’s Wedding in reverse, the movie didn’t make much of a splash.
Speed Racer: I thought the film was a misfire when I saw it, but I think the critical community came down far too hard on it. Its technical brilliance, including some wildly inventive editing, at least makes it worth a look. Too bad the story isn’t as compelling. Full review GRADE: C
Young@Heart: This well-liked documentary about senior choirs that sing rock songs by the likes of the Clash and Coldplay played for quite awhile in theaters and I still managed to miss it. It’s moving to the top of my Netflix queue.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Coming Attractions
What movies require repeat viewings to click?
So will it be a while before anyone around here watches Twister, The Perfect Storm, Key Largo or Gone with the Wind again?
Things are still hopping around the newsroom with storm coverage, but we need a little fun around here, so I thought I’d take a moment to ask what I hope is a fun question:
What movies do you need to see more than once to “get?”
There’s more than a few films out there that, on first viewing prompt a reaction of “Huh?” Then on repeat viewings it becomes “Oh, NOW I get it!”
Two answers spring to mind for me. First, Blue Velvet. I wasn’t prepared for that when I first saw it, thinking it was sick and depraved. Then I saw it again and still thought it was sick and depraved, but then I realized that was the whole idea.
And the second answer: Anything directed by Stanley Kubrick (2001, Clockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Shut …)
What movies did you need to see more than once before the light came on over your head?
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It was a dark and stormy night - uh, I mean …
Well, I guess we could say we SORTA know what it feels like to be in a hurricane …
Since so many of us are waylaid in one way or another. and I have a LOT of work to do (both at the newsroom and cleaning up my own storm damage). So until things settle down, I’m just going to open this blog up to discussion about whatever you like. Tell me what you’ve seen, on the big screen or the small one. Or discuss whatever movie-related topic tickles your fancy.
I just recently watched Francois Truffaut’s Day for Night. If that’s not the best film about filmmaking, it’s certainly the most joyous. It’s an eye-opening look at just how intricate moviemaking is, even for a piece of schlock like the film depicted in Day for Night. Any film fan of any stripe owes it to themselves to see this one.
Next on my list Carousel, which I’m seeing because my dear friend Angela Allen, who co-wrote the Kit Kittredge: An American Girl review with me, will soon be playing the female lead, Julie Jordan, on stage in Florida. (Couldn’t resist, dear!)
And you?
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Laugh while watching ‘Burn After Reading’
A number of writers have called Burn After Reading a “minor” work by the Coen brothers, but I have a real problem with that word when a film makes me laugh as much as this one did.
Sure, anything that follows the Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men is going to pale in comparison, but the Coens know this. Anyone who’s followed them over the years can see that just as they sometimes knock a movie out of the park with a stunner like No Country or Fargo, they often make a terminally weird lark. And this is one of their best larks.
And out of all of their flat-out comedies, Burn After Reading might be the most surprising. Just when I thought I knew where the movie was going, the Coens pulled the rug out from under me. Then, when my head stopped spinning, they pulled the rug out again. I would normally say that the less you know about this movie going in, the better off you’ll be coming out, but I could tell you the entire plot right now, and I wouldn’t spoil it because you wouldn’t believe me. It’s that off the wall.
Burn After Reading opens at CIA headquarters. A longtime agent, Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) gets drop-kicked from the agency. He writes his memoirs, part of which fall into the hands of two people who work at a gym (Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt). They cook up a scheme so harebrained it makes the baby theft in Raising Arizona look like the work of master criminals: They try to blackmail Osborne into paying them for the memoirs, lest they spill his secrets to the Russian embassy.
And it only gets stranger from there.
I haven’t even mentioned what McDormand needs the money for, nor should I try to explain George Clooney’s character, an ex Secret Service agent who’s trying to sire both McDormand and Osborne’s wife, played by Tilda Swinton. I can only declare that I hadn’t seen a screwball comedy crossed with a paranoid thriller before, but I have now.
As is typical for a Coens movie, one of its best assets is its cast. It’s fun to see Swinton take her “ice queen” routine and use it for comic effect. Malkovich gives a hilariously profane performance that’s even better than his self-deprecating turn in Being John Malkovich. Clooney has a ball undermining his suave image with his “I’m willing to look like a doofus” performance, but Pitt pulls out all the stops with his “I’m willing to look like an even bigger doofus” performance. Meanwhile McDormand just chugs along, as if to blithely say, “I can be just as funny as these guys, if not even funnier.”
Burn After Reading starts a little slow perhaps, and the Coens delight maybe a bit too much in leaving certain story threads hanging, but I still got the sense that was all part of the joke. And it’s one of the best Coen jokes this side of Raising Arizona or O Brother Where Art Thou.
Burn After Reading doesn’t mean a thing, and maybe in that sense it’s “minor.” But as a good time at the movies, it’s major.
GRADE: A-
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UPDATE: What’s opening Friday, Sept. 12?
After a couple of really, really, really, really, really, dull weeks, the new movie release slate springs back to life tomorrow.
Burn After Reading: Those wacky Coen brothers are back, this time with a wacky film about gym employees who discover a CD-Rom with the memoirs of a CIA agent on it - and then attempt to sell the disc. Only the Coens. Review slated for Friday.
Righteous Kill: Robert De Niro and Al Pacino have made another movie together! Yay! Not screened for critics! Uh-oh…
Well, not until the last minute, it seems. Christy Lemire of the Associated Press says “It’s not that the crime thriller Righteous Kill is spectacularly awful. It’s just thoroughly mediocre.” Other reviews so far are no more encouraging.
I’m thinking Al Pacino should just stay away from director Jon Avnet, after this and the debacle of the horridly received 88 Minutes. Come to think of it, maybe every actor should.
Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys: Don’t be surprised when the ever-popular Mr. Perry’s movie arrives in first or second place this week. This time, friends Charlotte (Kathy Bates) and Alice (Alfre Woodard) go on a cross-country road trip to ease some family problems.
The Women: Diane English, the writer and director (and creator of Murphy Brown), has been trying to get her remake of the George Cukor film off the ground for about 15 years. Now it’s finally here, and what’s the verdict? A zero percent score on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of this writing. Zero. Owtch.
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How does a good book turn into a good movie?
Tuesday’s popular post about the reported changes made to the film of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sparked a lot of comments, with some people lamenting the various cuts the films have made over the years.
And that makes me wonder - just what, exactly, makes a good movie adaptation?
Some people apparently believe a movie needs to follow the book to the letter. These are the kind of people that would be fine sitting through a five-hour movie. Problem is, they aren’t most people.
I remain surprised at how little some people seem to understand that what works well on the page doesn’t necessarily translate to film. People who groan and cry about every little moment that’s missing from the movie are missing the point. Movies are movies and books are books, and rarely do those two trains meet.
Take the Potter films, for instance. I really liked the first two when I first saw them, but when I read the books and went back to those films later, they actually seemed less magical. They followed the books SO closely that they developed hardly any life of their own. Consequently, they’re the movies I revisit least often now.
So when screenwriter Steve Kloves loosened up a bit and started getting more liberal with cuts when he scripted Prisoner of Azkaban, that’s when the film series truly took off. Azkaban is my favorite of the Potter films by a comfortable margin, largely because it forged its own identity and was more unique and intriguing that way.
A lot of fans complained about this cut or that, particularly the deletion of the background of the Marauder’s Map. But that wasn’t essential to the story the movie was trying to tell. Had they included all of Rowling’s details, the movie would have spent half an hour or more in the Shrieking Shack. Fine for the die-hards, maybe, strained rear ends for the rest of us.
As Rowling herself says on her official site, when asked about that particular cut: “I was fine with it. It is simply impossible to incorporate every one of my storylines into a film that has to be kept under four hours long. Obviously films have restrictions novels do not have, constraints of time and budget; I can create dazzling effects relying on nothing but the interaction of my own and my readers’ imaginations - hence my preference for the page over the screen.”
For me, a movie shouldn’t be an audiobook with pictures added. That’s boring and predictable. If that was all that was required, WB would be fine filming Jim Dale doing his readings and then supplying a clip here and there. No, a movie has to be true to the SPIRIT of the story. Radical changes can work as long as the main thrust isn’t lost. If the final scenes of Half-Blood Prince really are cut, that would be a loss.
So I ask you: What makes a good film adaptation? Or a bad one? Give me examples of movie adaptations that did justice to the books, and some that desecrated them. I’ll start.
Good adaptations; Misery, The Lord of the Rings, The Grapes of Wrath, The Polar Express, A Clockwork Orange
Bad adaptations: Bonfire of the Vanities, The Cat in the Hat, Bonfire of the Vanities, The Cat in the Hat, Bonfire of the Vanities, The Cat in the Hat
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Trouble with Harry Potter 6? - UPDATE
Many Harry Potter fans are still reeling from the news that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince got pushed back from this fall to next summer. I sympathized with their having to wait a lot longer, although I scoffed at their boycott threats that essentially said, “We want to see the movie NOW, but if we have to see it later, we’ll boycott so we won’t see it at all!”
Uh huh. That makes a lot of sense. Here’s an interesting story about some of that vitriol. Expeliarmus, say WB execs!
That little rumble may be nothing compared to what’s brewing right now. According to Ain’t It Cool News, a test screening of the movie has been held in Chicago, and early reactions aren’t just negative - they reek of dismay. If the reports from the people who have seen it are to be believed, major changes have been made to the ending of the book.
I’ve read the book, and if - IF these reports are true, then the filmmakers are making a major mistake that can only be amended with significant additional shooting. While I’m not one for conspiracy theories, I can’t help but wonder a little how legit the given reason for the move (“we needed a summer movie”) really was. Then again, this IS AICN, so take it with a chunk of salt.
I can’t discuss this story further without getting into spoiler territory. So if you don’t know about the ultra major life altering event of Half Blood Prince, DON’T click on the jump.
Just to make sure ….
SPOILERS AHEAD
WRONG WAY
FALLING ROCKS
BLASTING AREA
BRIDGE OUT AHEAD
Alohamora, eh? OK. First, here’s the AICN story.
Some of the changes these folks are complaining about sound like they might be feasible to me. But there is one in particular that sounds downright foolish. Here’s what the viewers had to say:
“I had the most problems with the film’s final third … there is no funeral for Dumbledore. It’s been cut … A woman in our post-screening discussion of about 20-25 people said she usually cries at movies, but didn’t react at all when Dumbledore died.”
A second viewer says:
“And the ending. Good God, the ending. Not only is the fight between the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix completely removed, but so is Dumbledore’s funeral. The last third of this movie is so incredibly mishandled that Dumbledore’s death feels more like an unfortunate accident than genuine tragedy. No one in the film seems even remotely upset that he’s gone and the Death Eaters who murdered him … walk out of Hogwarts unmolested.”
I usually roll my eyes at fanboy/girl griping, but I must admit - if these reports are accurate, I have to agree with the complaints. I haven’t read the last book yet, but Dumbledore’s demise and its aftermath make for the most powerful emotional wallop of the series before Deathly Hallows, and it sets the stage for the final turn of events. That climax can’t be underplayed or saved for later. If the movie botches that, there won’t be half-blood.
Again, I don’t know how much of this to believe - part of me is skeptical that the normally savvy filmmakers would make such a blunder, and I have to reserve some judgment because I can’t see for myself how the film plays out. But I confess … I’m concerned.
Are you?
UPDATE: Commenter “Brewboy” below pointed us to the fansite MuggleNet, which has its own review of that test screening - and it’s very positive. Here’s what it has to say about the climax:
“Finally, the climax. It, too, is adapted very well. There is such emotion behind it and, when the score is completed, I’m sure it will be one of the defining moments of the series. I liked watching it much, much better than Sirius’ death scene. There was a funny moment for me at the Burrow with Lupin and Tonks and Mr. Weasley in the room when I thought, “Hey wait a minute, where’s Gary Oldman?” Dumbledore’s death will stick.”
Hmm. So are we just dealing with sticklers who go up in arms anytime even the most minute detail of the book is changed? Only time will tell.
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DVD catch up: Baby Mama, Cinerama and more
Betcha never thought Baby Mama and Cinerama would be mentioned in the same sentence, did ya? Such are the fruits of the current DVD slate.
I haven’t done one of these posts in awhile, because the selection has been mostly, well - yuck. But here are a few titles I can opine on:
Out today
Baby Mama: Middling comedy that gets some laughs out of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, but I wish Fey had written it and made it a lot smarter. Full review. GRADE: B-
The Forbidden Kingdom: Unseen by me, but I’ve heard that unlike this year’s Mummy sequel, this movie gives its two martial arts masters, Jackie Chan and Jet Li, a decently filmed fight. That’s gotta be worth something.
How the West Was Won: No home format can capture the Cinerama glory of this fun epic, but Blu-Ray gives it a good try with what WB calls the “smilebox” format, replicating the deeply curved Cinerama screen - as shown on film critic Glenn Kenny’s blog. It’s out on regular DVD too, and I have to wonder: do the extras make any mention of Cinerama’s glorious run in Dayton in the 90s? If you get the discs, let me know either way. GRADE: A-
Out already
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day: Screwball comedy+ Frances McDormand + Amy Adams = Very happy critic. GRADE: A-
Street Kings: Keanu Reeves+ Tired script + Relentlessly downbeat tone = Bored critic. Full review. GRADE: C-
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New Spideys on the way: How to fix the series?
Last week news broke that not only has Sony locked in both Tobey Maguire and director Sam Raimi for Spider-Man 4, but that the the studio hopes to shoot parts 4 and 5 concurrently.
I greet the news with ambivalence. On the one hand, I would like to see another Spider-Man movie, so that the series can right itself after stumbling a bit with part three. On the other hand, I worry that Sony might be aiming too high by trying to do 4 and 5 at the same time. It was just that sort of excess that hurt the franchise last time.
That said, I still believe people came down a bit too hard on Spider-Man 3. It wasn’t a BAD movie, but it was clearly the weakest entry of the series, largely because it bit off more than it could chew. Too many villains, too many subplots, and an overdose of angst weighed the whole thing down.
To right itself, the series needs to get back to the basics. There shouldn’t be more than two villains - and if they have to have a second villain, that should only be setup for part 5. I really hope the villain is The Lizard; otherwise they’ve absolutely wasted casting Dylan Baker as Dr. Curt Conners, one of Peter Parker’s professors.
I’m a little uncertain about Raimi being at the helm. I have absolutely nothing against him, but Spider-Man 3 showed he was burned out. I would have preferred to see new blood for Spidey so Raimi can move on.
And speaking of uncertainty, there’s been no word yet as to whether Kirsten Dunst will be back as Mary Jane. So that begs the question: Does the series need her? Should she be recast? I like Dunst, so I would like to see her back, although I’m not sure she needs to be in both 4 and 5.
What do you all think of the news? What would you like to see happen with the series?
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Back to reviews: Bunny, Man on Wire and Woody
It’s been about three weeks since I’ve reviewed a movie here, which seems like an awfully long time for this blog. But that’s what happens when you go on vacation for a week and then come back in the midst of the Labor Day dead period, when we get not-screened-for-critics junk like Babylon AD, College and today’s Bangkok Dangerous.
That doesn’t mean I haven’t been going to the movies, however. More importantly, it doesn’t mean I haven’t seen a few good ones. Here are some quick-ish takes on what I’ve watched lately.
The House Bunny
I wish I liked this movie as much as I liked its cast. Some very talented actresses do some very good work in this Legally Blonde by way of Revenge of the Nerds comedy. Anna Faris, who up to now has been an undervalued talent, deserves all the praise she’s been getting for her delectably daffy performance as a Playboy bunny who tries her hand at being a sorority mother of a house full of misfits.
Also delightful are Emma Stone (Superbad) as the head female geek and Kat Dennings as the uber feminist. It’s a little hard to buy American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee as an outcast, but she has a lot of fun with what little she’s given to do.
Frustratingly, the screenplay keeps undermining the film. Case in point: the girls are asked to sing karaoke. Good showcase for McPhee, right? Well, it would have been had the movie not ruined the scene with crude jokes that seem to have been written by a first-grader. This being a production by Happy Madison, Adam Sandler’s company, I guess they had to obey the edict “Thou shalt have stupid bathroom humor.”
I still laughed at House Bunny because of the actors - even while I wished they were in a movie that really deserved them.
GRADE: B-
Man on Wire and Vicky Cristina Barcelona after the jump.
Man on Wire
It’s almost too bad there is already a documentary called Touching the Void. That would have also made a great title for this enthralling documentary about a man that waked a tightrope between the World Trade Center towers in 1974.
As it happens, this film smartly employs similar techniques to Void, a movie about mountain climbers who improbably survived a perilous journey. Mixing archival footage with dramatic recreations, Man on Wire often plays like a thriller as it recounts how wire walker Philippe Petit and his team pulled off their incredible (and illegal) feat. The indomitable Petit is especially fun to watch in his interviews; he is truly a one-of-a-kind character.
Cannily, the movie relies almost entirely on interviews with the team, putting us squarely inside their frame of mind as they tell their spellbinding story. It’s so effective that even though there’s no actual film footage of Petit’s walk, the movie made me feel like I was on the wire myself. One of my favorite moments was learning why the film is called Man on Wire as opposed to Man on A Wire.
Many reviewers have made note of the fact that 9-11 is never mentioned in the film, and that was the right move. It will do many hearts good to see the Twin Towers evoke joy and excitement again.
GRADE: A
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
The title may be a bit ungainly, but Woody Allen’s latest film is one of his more graceful efforts in awhile, as it deftly tells the story of a love quadrangle with one man (Javier Bardem) amidst three women (Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johannson and Penelope Cruz).
Cruz in particular impresses with her fiery and alluring performance, but all four leads are outstanding. They help smooth over an ungainly voice-over which sometimes helpfully fills in some blanks but too often underlines what we can clearly see.
The movie does not quite rise to the level of Match Point, Allen’s best film of this decade, but it’s a marked improvement over the underwritten Scoop and the pallid Cassandra’s Dream. Let’s hope Allen stays on the upswing when he returns to New York next year with Whatever Works, starring Evan Rachel Wood and Larry David.
GRADE: B+
Tell me what you’ve seen lately, on the big or small screen, for good or ill.
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What I miss when going to the movies
Earlier this week I went inside the Dayton Mall for the first time in a long time, and man, I hardly recognized the place. Even the old Spencer Gifts was gone. Now what are people going to do to play with stupid electronic junk?
Oh that’s right - they carry stupid electronic junk around with them now.
But I digress. What always makes me swallow hardest when I pass by the mall is remembering that the huge old Dayton Mall 1 Cinema, with its huge screen, is long gone. And that brought to mind a number of things I miss about moviegoing when I was a kid. Such as:
BIG screens: Sure, there are large screens at the megaplexes now, but rarely do you see the curved 50-foot monsters that the Dayton Mall had, and that Page Manor cinema had.
BIG auditoriums: This one kind of went out with the BIG screens. Even in a good-sized megaplex auditorium, you get maybe about 500 people in a packed showing. I miss hearing 1,000 or so people roaring at the swordsman getting shot in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Quiet audiences: Seems to me audiences were better behaved in days gone by partly because they appreciated that going to the theater was a special experience, because the movie wasn’t going to be available at home in 4 months.
Movie posters that say “Now in its 53rd smash week!”: What’s the last movie that could boast that? E.T.? Return of the Jedi, maybe?
Seeing Disney animated classics in theaters.
And along those lines, this isn’t something I miss, so much as I missed out on: Cartoons before movies. If only they showed up at more than animated features.
And finally … No ads before the feature presentation: Do I really need to say more?
What do you miss about moviegoing of the past?
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Peanuts animator Bill Melendez, 1916-2008
Bill Melendez, who died Tuesday, was more known for his TV work than his work that appeared in movie theaters, but what TV work it was: He was the director behind some 40 years of Peanuts TV specials and the “voice” of Snoopy. As a longstanding Peanuts fan who watched the shows religiously for years, I had to pay tribute.
Melendez’s animation was simple, and one could even justifiably call it a little crude, especially in the early years, but that simplicity meshed very well with the directness of Charles Schulz’s writing - and it had a charm of its own. How can one look at this and not smile?
I always liked Violet’s moves the most. Check Melendez’s own site too.
Farewell, Bill, and thank you. Give Sparky our regards.
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A new Tarzan? AAA-AAAH-AAAAHHARRRRGGH!
Variety reports that a new Tarzan movie is on the way.
It’s not this news and of itself that upsets me. Yeah, the idea of a modern Tarzan film smacks of a studio suit somewhere saying “We have no new ideas. What franchise haven’t we raided in awhile? Ah ha! Tarzan!” Still, I think given the right director and cast, a new Tarzan movie could be fun.
We don’t know who will star as Tarzan yet, but we do know who’s in line to direct: Stephen Sommers.
Ooooohhhhhh …
… crud.
Sommers is one of my least favorite big blockbuster button pushers. No soul. I did like his 1998 Mummy movie, which was dumb fun, but The Mummy Returns was a textbook example of everything that’s wrong with Hollywood event movies: all noise, no inspiration.
Then he made Van Helsing, which made Mummy Returns look like Gunga Din. That vampire flick was everything that’s wrong with Hollywood event movies, multiplied by 100. Since I can usually find it for less than $10 unopened at video stores, I think most people would agree with me on that one.
Variety makes note of the fact that Guillermo del Toro had been attached to direct the new movie. I understand he’s off Hobbit-ting now, but darn - I would have much rather seen his take.
(Side note: I was disappointed to see that in its rundown of prior Tarzans, Variety completely overlooked the 1999 Disney version, the last great 2D Disney animated film. Oops.)
So I guess the question now is, will this movie be better or worse than Tarzan and the Lost City, starring Casper Van Dien? Place your bets now, folks!
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In a world without the “In a World Voice”
My colleague Laura Dempsey has already written a nice piece on the Celebrity Worship blog about the passing of Don LaFontaine, the man whose deep, sonorous timbres graced many a movie trailer over the years, but I had to add my 2 cents.
LaFontaine had been voicing movie trailers for as long as I can remember. I felt like he would be around forever. It makes me sad to think we’ll never hear him heralding a new movie ever again.
Besides his remarkable voice, one of LaFontaine’s greatest gifts was his ability to laugh at himself. One of his best moments was in the YouTube favorite “FIve Men in a Limo,” in which he appeared with other voice over artists, including Mark Elliott, whose vocals have announced the arrival of Disney animated films for decades.
Note to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: LaFontaine may not have made many movies in and of themselves, but he deserves a spot in your In Memoriam Reel next year - WITH his voice.
He will be missed.
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What are the great movie beginnings?
Now that the summer movie season has ended, I thought it would be fun to flip the coin and look at beginnings - great movie beginnings.
I’ve seen a number of other movie sites list the great movie endings, and that’s easy enough to do, but I haven’t seen a list of great movie beginnings nearly as often. We had two standouts this summer: WALL-E and The Dark Knight.
Pixar is particularly good at knocking the viewer off-balance with the openings of its movies, from the first scene of Monsters, Inc. to the “Is Buzz Lightyear really dead?” moment in Toy Story 2. As for WALL-E, I certainly didn’t expect a sci-fi story to open with Michael Crawford singing “Out there, there’s a world outside of Yonkers,” from Hello Dolly’s “Put on Your Sunday Clothes.”
Then, the opening bank heist scene of The Dark Knight was so effective, it was used as the IMAX trailer for the movie in its entirety, even though Batman is never even mentioned in it.
Here are some of my favorite movie openings. This isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list, but just a few off the top of my head to get you thinking.
Beauty and the Beast: The opening of the best film of the Disney renaissance put a neat spin on it’s “Once Upon a Time” openings, with its beautifully rendered stained glass drawings that set up the story. It made the movie feel new and classical all at once.
The Godfather: A voice breaks through the total darkness of the screen: “I believe in America.” There’s irony for you.
Goodfellas: “As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster.” Cue Tony Bennett.
Rear Window: It’s actually something of a quiet opening, but it’s one of Hitchcock’s best examples of pure cinema, relying only on the camera. By the time the first scene fades out, we know that it’s a hot day, we know the layout of the neighborhood, we find out what Jimmy Stewart does for a living, we see that he’s been in an accident, and we even know how he had his accident - all without a single word being said.
Touch of Evil: Opening shot. ‘Nuff said.
So what, in your opinion are the great movie openings? Mind you, I’m not talking about the title sequences over the opening credits that usually aren’t filmed by the director, but the actual openings that make you think “I’m in for a ride here.”
Go!
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