Also written in the fall of 2008, here is a review of Writer/Director Kevin Smith's previous film as his current release "Cop Out" is currently in theaters.
"ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO" Written and Directed by Kevin Smith
*** (three stars--but barely)
Writer/Director Kevin Smith's "Zack And Miri Make A Porno" felt surprisingly hemmed in by not one but TWO film genres: the romantic comedy and the Kevin Smith film. While it didn't entirely succeed at either, the end result is a charming, sweetly romantic and often quite funny film about two lifelong platonic friends who end up making a porn film to attempt to cure their cash flow issues as well as their respective sense of humiliation after experiencing their 10th high school reunion. And of course, it would not be a spoiler to say that during the making of their erotic opus, they realize they're in love.
Smith has covered much of this thematic territory before and better. The tension of growing into your 30s and where you go after the haze of your 20s has dissipated and the pain of high school remains was handled with a knowing perspective and dramatic urgency in Smith's previous effort, the outstanding "Clerks II." All manner of sexual frustrations, complications, and insecurities have been a staple of Smith's work since his landmark first film, "Clerks" and his occasional love stories were never more true and emotionally messier than in "Chasing Amy" and to an extent, the platonic love between Dante and Randall in the aforementioned "Clerks II."
Essentially, for much of his career, Kevin Smith has handled adult issues as an equal to his contemporaries and audience. Whether comedically or acutely and uncomfortably serious, Smith never pandered or really seemed to be trying too hard to shock viewers. He has typically held strong control over his stories and characters, allowing them to talk and behave in the way real people would possibly behave, even when situations grow outlandish. "The Donkey Show" in "Clerks II" for instance would've been a painful, tasteless and endless ode to bestiality if the film hadn't already been firmly grounded with the relationships previously set in motion and the audience had invested themselves in. Even the fantastical elements of "Dogma" were weighted down by a real world level of thoughtfulness concerning religion as a whole and Catholicism in particular.
With "Porno," Kevin Smith dealt with adult issues childishly and it felt false. For the first time, the profanity seemed excessive and forced as if just saying the words would be funny in and of itself. Sexual issues also seemed to be a tad trite. And what was the on-going fascination with feces and defecation? All of those instances (especially a particularly harsh gross-out sequence I laughed at despite myself) seemed to be no more enlightened than a three-year-old madly uttering the word "Poop!!!" constantly. It seemed for the first time, and possibly because Smith is about to make a dramatic stylistic change with his next film, a politically themed horror film entitled "Red State" which he has admitted will have no comedy whatsoever, he felt he owed it to his legion of fans to give them just one more "Kevin Smith vulgar laughfest" before he moves onwards.
Even the romantic comedy aspect of this film felt contrived and cliched and with Smith, surprise is always the key. He is too skilled of a writer and too knowing of movies themselves to have his characters follow the "fall-in-love-break-up-reunite" sequence in the same fashion of any Kate Hudson feature.
So why the three stars, you ask? Well, it is a comedy and believe me, I did laugh from start to finish. Seth Rogen is a fine addition to Kevin Smith's stable of actors and it was a pleasure seeing Jeff Anderson and Jason Mewes again and out of the Viewaskewniverse. Elizabeth Banks was simply a lovely, sunny presence who had perfect chemistry with Rogen and lifted every scene she was in. And yes, the love scene between Rogen and Banks was just truly, truly lovely. It worked visually and emotionally -and it was the one "adult" moment in an otherwise juvenile film.
I was also touched by the camaraderie between Rogen, Banks and the makeshift cast and crew of their porn film and it reminded me of the very best elements of the criminally underseen "Be Kind Rewind" from earlier this year. I also have to say that the MVP of "Porno" is definitely Craig Robinson, Rogen's coffeehouse co-worker and porn film producer. His masterfully deadpanned line readings often delivered the film into sheer hilarity for me and at times, his steady presence grounded the outrageousness around him. Give this man a leading role!
When all was said and done, I enjoyed myself but I know that Smith can do better, he's definitely got more up his sleeve and I am anxious to see the results.
Friday, March 5, 2010
FROM THE ARCHIVES 3: a review of "War, Inc."
Here is a review I wrote sometime in 2008. The film played in my city for one solitary week and I was glad that I was able to catch it.
"WAR, INC." Directed by Joshua Seftel
**** (4 stars)
In recent years, I have had this disturbing feeling that I am living in a surreal cartoon as I look at this country, most notably during events surrounding the war and the current election season. It has been one "through the looking glass" moment to another and once I have my bearings, it's time to fall through another magic mirror. Co-writer and Producer John Cusack's passion project, "War, Inc." taps into that very emotional terrain with a self- described "incendiary political cartoon" that gleefully lays waste to our current political landscape using all of the tools necessary for a pitch black satire.
The time is an undetermined near future where everything is owned, controlled and outsourced to and by Tamerlane (a Haliburton stand-in). Currently occupying the fictional world of Turaqistan, Tamerlane assigns a corporate assassin (Cusack) to murder an oil minister named Omar Sharif (funny names are abound in this one) while using a corporate trade show as a cover. Further complicating events is the marriage of over sexualized and emotionally empty pop star Yonica Babyyeah (a game Hilary Duff) to her Middle Eastern version of Kevin Federline plus the presence of a liberal journalist (Marisa Tomei) waiting to blow the lid off the entire operation. From the "Python-esque" high-stepping march to meet Tamerlane's secret Viceroy (always seen through a collage of endlessly morphing faces from John Wayne to Pamela Anderson to Ronald Reagan to a dolphin and so on) to the vulgarity depicted in pop songs to the Implanted Journalistic Experience (meant to suggest the death of modern journalism in the media) and scenes of graphic violence, "War, Inc" hurtles us through a series of kaleidoscopic imagery and ideas with no time to truly linger. This is not a flaw of the film but a representation of what it is like to live through these dark and strange times.
Marisa Tomei (who grows more luminous as she ages) is the audience's moral center as she tries to make sense out of a senseless world, all the while holding onto her uncompromising integrity and humanity. And that is what I took away from this film the most and I applaud Cusack for having the strength to place his moral outrage at our cultural and spiritual decay. To show his rage at a world where nothing is ever enough and everything is bought and sold, including our own souls.
John Cusack is an actor who always seems to be the one who is desperately trying to remain calm and in control even in the most outrageous circumstances and events. Through his natural charm and peerless ability to level the absurdity of characters and situations through his endless razor sharp quips, he always projects a sometimes ironic coolness that helps his characters survive. Yet in this film, as he reprises a variation of his hit man character from 1997's classic "Grosse Point Blank," we see the effects of burying one's humanity as his character numbs his suffering, guilt and nightmares by downing shot glass after shot glass of hot sauce. But, we still see his hollow eyes and shaking hands and possibly, his romantic comedy banter with the morally grounded Tomei suggests a wish for redemption he may or may not receive in the bankrupt world of "War, Inc."
While the film ends on a particularly bleak note, the film is not a downer as it still has to make you laugh--even if nearly all of it is bitter. Much has been said of how this film is this generation's "Dr. Strangelove," and while it does contain several Kubrickian elements (most notably, violence set to classical music), this film reminded me most of the anarchistic films of Alex Cox and the pioneering music videos of former Monkee Michael Nesmith. Like Cox's "Repo Man" and Cusack's own "Tapeheads" (which was Executive Produced by Nesmith) "War, Inc." has an "anything goes" spirit that will not work for everyone but definitely appealed to me within this context. Again, I must applaud John Cusack, one of my favorite actors, for making this film.
Along with his other Iraq-themed film, the beautifully mournful "Grace Is Gone," Cusack has effectively weighed in on the pain and insanity of our times with skill, humor and an enormous sense of heart and humanity. Let us all never lose ours.
"WAR, INC." Directed by Joshua Seftel
**** (4 stars)
In recent years, I have had this disturbing feeling that I am living in a surreal cartoon as I look at this country, most notably during events surrounding the war and the current election season. It has been one "through the looking glass" moment to another and once I have my bearings, it's time to fall through another magic mirror. Co-writer and Producer John Cusack's passion project, "War, Inc." taps into that very emotional terrain with a self- described "incendiary political cartoon" that gleefully lays waste to our current political landscape using all of the tools necessary for a pitch black satire.
The time is an undetermined near future where everything is owned, controlled and outsourced to and by Tamerlane (a Haliburton stand-in). Currently occupying the fictional world of Turaqistan, Tamerlane assigns a corporate assassin (Cusack) to murder an oil minister named Omar Sharif (funny names are abound in this one) while using a corporate trade show as a cover. Further complicating events is the marriage of over sexualized and emotionally empty pop star Yonica Babyyeah (a game Hilary Duff) to her Middle Eastern version of Kevin Federline plus the presence of a liberal journalist (Marisa Tomei) waiting to blow the lid off the entire operation. From the "Python-esque" high-stepping march to meet Tamerlane's secret Viceroy (always seen through a collage of endlessly morphing faces from John Wayne to Pamela Anderson to Ronald Reagan to a dolphin and so on) to the vulgarity depicted in pop songs to the Implanted Journalistic Experience (meant to suggest the death of modern journalism in the media) and scenes of graphic violence, "War, Inc" hurtles us through a series of kaleidoscopic imagery and ideas with no time to truly linger. This is not a flaw of the film but a representation of what it is like to live through these dark and strange times.
Marisa Tomei (who grows more luminous as she ages) is the audience's moral center as she tries to make sense out of a senseless world, all the while holding onto her uncompromising integrity and humanity. And that is what I took away from this film the most and I applaud Cusack for having the strength to place his moral outrage at our cultural and spiritual decay. To show his rage at a world where nothing is ever enough and everything is bought and sold, including our own souls.
John Cusack is an actor who always seems to be the one who is desperately trying to remain calm and in control even in the most outrageous circumstances and events. Through his natural charm and peerless ability to level the absurdity of characters and situations through his endless razor sharp quips, he always projects a sometimes ironic coolness that helps his characters survive. Yet in this film, as he reprises a variation of his hit man character from 1997's classic "Grosse Point Blank," we see the effects of burying one's humanity as his character numbs his suffering, guilt and nightmares by downing shot glass after shot glass of hot sauce. But, we still see his hollow eyes and shaking hands and possibly, his romantic comedy banter with the morally grounded Tomei suggests a wish for redemption he may or may not receive in the bankrupt world of "War, Inc."
While the film ends on a particularly bleak note, the film is not a downer as it still has to make you laugh--even if nearly all of it is bitter. Much has been said of how this film is this generation's "Dr. Strangelove," and while it does contain several Kubrickian elements (most notably, violence set to classical music), this film reminded me most of the anarchistic films of Alex Cox and the pioneering music videos of former Monkee Michael Nesmith. Like Cox's "Repo Man" and Cusack's own "Tapeheads" (which was Executive Produced by Nesmith) "War, Inc." has an "anything goes" spirit that will not work for everyone but definitely appealed to me within this context. Again, I must applaud John Cusack, one of my favorite actors, for making this film.
Along with his other Iraq-themed film, the beautifully mournful "Grace Is Gone," Cusack has effectively weighed in on the pain and insanity of our times with skill, humor and an enormous sense of heart and humanity. Let us all never lose ours.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
2009 IN REVIEW PART TWO: My TOP TEN Favorite Films Of The Year
I have to tease you a little bit more folks as I will begin this section with what I call "NUMBER 11." These are the few short films that I awarded four stars to yet ultimately did not make it to the final ten. If I could have a slot for 11, then these films would all be there.
NUMBER 11
"THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS" Directed by Terry Gilliam
Gilliam's long overdue return to great filmmaking form also served as a loving tribute to Heath Ledger who died midway through this film shooting schedule. This is a fantastical ode to time, mortality and the endless power and art of storytelling filled with Gilliam's trademark visual skill and featuring terrific performances from Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Verne Troyer and the trio of Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law who graciously came to Gilliam's aid in friendship and tribute.
"WATCHMEN" Directed by Zack Snyder
This adaptation of the classic and still heavily influential graphic novel had long thought to be unfilmable. While many of those who saw this grim three hour film probably still think it is unfilmable, I was very surprised with how faithful and visionary it turned out to be. Unlike many superhero themed movies, "Watchmen" was not an immediate experience. It is a dark film for dark times and meant to be re-visited and savored. I must give special mention to Billy Crudup and Jackie Earle Haley who provided the film's best performances as Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach, respectively.
"MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT" Directed by Kenny Ortega
What an honorable tribute this film is! Beyond that, it was a great window into Jackson's creative spirit as we caught a two hour glimpse of the artist at work, and an artist he definitely was. While watching this film, I became reacquainted with someone who has been a part of my life since birth even when I spent years not listening to a single note of music he recorded. It made me re-evaluate his vast musical legacy as he has inspired ore people than any of us could possibly realize. I think the richness and quality of his talent and art are things we just may really be beginning to take notice of as he was so much more than a pop star and this excellent film vibrantly leads the way to a newfound perception and understanding of this extremely complicated figure.
"STAR TREK" Directed by J.J. Abrams
Now, this one hurt to leave off of the Top Ten as it was a top-of-the-line summer movie going experience. Abrams and his excellent team of writers, cast and crew schooled all of Hollywood with how to make a big budget science fiction film work beautifully. It also somehow accomplished something nearly impossible: it made a film that could appeal to the life long fans and complete novices equally while simultaneously making the entire...ahem...enterprise feel revitalized and fresh again. I could not have asked for anything more...except for the sequel to begin immediately after the end credits scrolled!
I think I am the only one who loved this movie and I still stand by it! Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. gave terrific performances in a film that offered no easy or trite answers to the current societal tragedy of our homeless population and the mental health care of the forgotten. It also focused strongly on the death of the newspaper, the healing power of music and the precarious steps of friendship between two men--a friendship that provides the truest solace and tether to the world. This film's humanity spoke volumes to me and again, it probably contained the single best visual representation i have ever seen in any film of how one connects spiritually to music.
9. "A SERIOUS MAN" Written, Produced and Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Inscrutable, uncompromising, witty, unnerving and that ending! I applaud the Coen Brothers greatly for not resting on their creative laurels by refusing to pander to mass audiences and in this case, forcing us to explore the meaning of our own existence...if there's any meaning to it at all. This is one nihilistic ride that contains uncomfortably huge laughs. It is written as a screwball comedy and directed like a psychological thriller. I am still wondering about it months after having seen it.
8. "INVICTUS" Directed by Clint Eastwood
This is an inspirational sports movie that inspires profoundly and the masterful Eastwood again shows why he is one of our greatest cinematic storytellers working today. I was excited that the story of Nelson Mandela's attempts to unify South Africa after apartheid through the 1995 Rugby World Cup focused on Mandela, the politics and the people rather than Matt Damon's rugby player and his team. It took what would have been a standard cliched sports movie and turned it into a stirring experience of how, during a country's most divisive state, unity can still be discovered and achieved.
7. "INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS" Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Revisionist history, revenge fantasy and a treatise on the power of cinematic propaganda are all set into brilliant play in this hugely entertaining World War II epic. Tarantino again shows why when he makes a film, people pay strict attention as his peerless writing depicted five staggeringly well written short stories banded together into an incredible whole while his direction should be a lesson to all new filmmakers in our "Transformers" world when discovering how to create real tension. The first sequence, 25 minutes of crackling dialogue, set in a farmhouse and beautifully delivered in part by the amazing multi-lingual Christoph Waltz as the insidious Col. Hans Landa was supreme.
6. "ADVENTURELAND" Written and Directed by Greg Mottola
The spirit of "American Graffiti," "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" and "Dazed and Confused" lives on in this melancholy ensemble comedy set in a dilapidated theme park at the dawn of the early '90s recession. The plight of overly educated college students grappling with graduating into a dead-end job world and numbing their pain of compromised and sometimes lost dreams with drink and pot was deeply empathetic and highly perceptive, insightful, funny and heartbreaking. Having lived through this exact experience myself as I spent four years toiling away at a bookstore after college, it got everything just right!
5. "HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE" Directed by David Yates
This soulful and sorrowful penultimate chapter in the saga of teen aged wizard Harry Potter was the finest cinematic entry to date as it showed the heavy, aching steps towards childhood's end.
4. "PRECIOUS" Directed by Lee Daniels
This was a steamroller of a movie yet it never descended into histrionic melodrama. The story of an overweight, illiterate, abused teenage girl discovering a newfound sense of self worth in a world that does not want her to have it was an excruciating experience. Yet the powerful performance of Gabourney Sidibe and the volcanic performance of Mo'Nique gave this film an ocean's worth of humanity
3. "CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY" Written, Produced and Directed by Michael Moore
Arriving 20 years after his debut feature "Roger And Me," Moore presents what seems to be a cumulative statement of everything he has protested so far. Delivered with satirical passion and fury, Moore delves beyond partisanship to rally against a world that has already sailed over the cliff into one of economic, humane and spiritual decay. While the effect was often overwhelming and sometimes left me feeling hopeless, Moore then gave us two stories meant to inspire and ignite a flame within us all as people definitely do have the power.
2. "WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE" Co-Written and Directed by Spike Jonze
This film has already earned a spot on my favorite films of the decade as it is a watershed experience in films designed for children. This is a sad, gorgeous, and stunningly poetic movie that truly understands what it means to be a child and never for a moment treats its intended audience like commodities. If any filmmakers are wondering just how to take a ten minute book and turn it into a two-hour movie, start here.
1. "UP IN THE AIR" Co-Written and Directed by Jason Reitman
The one that reached me the deepest. This film, about a traveling corporate hatchet man, purposely adrift from all human connection, had the surest of Directorial control as the tone remained light yet contained the proper gravity and tragedy of this exact point in our country's history. It is completely in tune with the current pulse of economic anxiety, devastating layoffs and mass firings and how our communal spirit is slowly being eaten away in our increasingly disconnecting electronic age. George Clooney gives his finest performance to date while Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick should be applauded for each giving excellent performances and true depictions of 21 century career women. Yet, the bulk of the credit falls on the shoulders of Reitman, who brilliantly adapted the screenplay from the novel, performed his finest direction to date and created a film that speaks to its time yet remains timeless. The highest achievement of the year.
There you have it, dear readers! My favorites of the year and after a short break, I will begin to chart my new cinematic escapades of 2010.
Thank you all for reading, as always!!
NUMBER 11
"THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS" Directed by Terry Gilliam
Gilliam's long overdue return to great filmmaking form also served as a loving tribute to Heath Ledger who died midway through this film shooting schedule. This is a fantastical ode to time, mortality and the endless power and art of storytelling filled with Gilliam's trademark visual skill and featuring terrific performances from Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Verne Troyer and the trio of Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law who graciously came to Gilliam's aid in friendship and tribute.
"WATCHMEN" Directed by Zack Snyder
This adaptation of the classic and still heavily influential graphic novel had long thought to be unfilmable. While many of those who saw this grim three hour film probably still think it is unfilmable, I was very surprised with how faithful and visionary it turned out to be. Unlike many superhero themed movies, "Watchmen" was not an immediate experience. It is a dark film for dark times and meant to be re-visited and savored. I must give special mention to Billy Crudup and Jackie Earle Haley who provided the film's best performances as Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach, respectively.
"MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT" Directed by Kenny Ortega
What an honorable tribute this film is! Beyond that, it was a great window into Jackson's creative spirit as we caught a two hour glimpse of the artist at work, and an artist he definitely was. While watching this film, I became reacquainted with someone who has been a part of my life since birth even when I spent years not listening to a single note of music he recorded. It made me re-evaluate his vast musical legacy as he has inspired ore people than any of us could possibly realize. I think the richness and quality of his talent and art are things we just may really be beginning to take notice of as he was so much more than a pop star and this excellent film vibrantly leads the way to a newfound perception and understanding of this extremely complicated figure.
"STAR TREK" Directed by J.J. Abrams
Now, this one hurt to leave off of the Top Ten as it was a top-of-the-line summer movie going experience. Abrams and his excellent team of writers, cast and crew schooled all of Hollywood with how to make a big budget science fiction film work beautifully. It also somehow accomplished something nearly impossible: it made a film that could appeal to the life long fans and complete novices equally while simultaneously making the entire...ahem...enterprise feel revitalized and fresh again. I could not have asked for anything more...except for the sequel to begin immediately after the end credits scrolled!
...and now...
MY TOP TEN FILMS OF 2009
10. "THE SOLOIST" Directed by Joe WrightI think I am the only one who loved this movie and I still stand by it! Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. gave terrific performances in a film that offered no easy or trite answers to the current societal tragedy of our homeless population and the mental health care of the forgotten. It also focused strongly on the death of the newspaper, the healing power of music and the precarious steps of friendship between two men--a friendship that provides the truest solace and tether to the world. This film's humanity spoke volumes to me and again, it probably contained the single best visual representation i have ever seen in any film of how one connects spiritually to music.
9. "A SERIOUS MAN" Written, Produced and Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Inscrutable, uncompromising, witty, unnerving and that ending! I applaud the Coen Brothers greatly for not resting on their creative laurels by refusing to pander to mass audiences and in this case, forcing us to explore the meaning of our own existence...if there's any meaning to it at all. This is one nihilistic ride that contains uncomfortably huge laughs. It is written as a screwball comedy and directed like a psychological thriller. I am still wondering about it months after having seen it.
8. "INVICTUS" Directed by Clint Eastwood
This is an inspirational sports movie that inspires profoundly and the masterful Eastwood again shows why he is one of our greatest cinematic storytellers working today. I was excited that the story of Nelson Mandela's attempts to unify South Africa after apartheid through the 1995 Rugby World Cup focused on Mandela, the politics and the people rather than Matt Damon's rugby player and his team. It took what would have been a standard cliched sports movie and turned it into a stirring experience of how, during a country's most divisive state, unity can still be discovered and achieved.
7. "INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS" Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Revisionist history, revenge fantasy and a treatise on the power of cinematic propaganda are all set into brilliant play in this hugely entertaining World War II epic. Tarantino again shows why when he makes a film, people pay strict attention as his peerless writing depicted five staggeringly well written short stories banded together into an incredible whole while his direction should be a lesson to all new filmmakers in our "Transformers" world when discovering how to create real tension. The first sequence, 25 minutes of crackling dialogue, set in a farmhouse and beautifully delivered in part by the amazing multi-lingual Christoph Waltz as the insidious Col. Hans Landa was supreme.
6. "ADVENTURELAND" Written and Directed by Greg Mottola
The spirit of "American Graffiti," "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" and "Dazed and Confused" lives on in this melancholy ensemble comedy set in a dilapidated theme park at the dawn of the early '90s recession. The plight of overly educated college students grappling with graduating into a dead-end job world and numbing their pain of compromised and sometimes lost dreams with drink and pot was deeply empathetic and highly perceptive, insightful, funny and heartbreaking. Having lived through this exact experience myself as I spent four years toiling away at a bookstore after college, it got everything just right!
5. "HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE" Directed by David Yates
This soulful and sorrowful penultimate chapter in the saga of teen aged wizard Harry Potter was the finest cinematic entry to date as it showed the heavy, aching steps towards childhood's end.
4. "PRECIOUS" Directed by Lee Daniels
This was a steamroller of a movie yet it never descended into histrionic melodrama. The story of an overweight, illiterate, abused teenage girl discovering a newfound sense of self worth in a world that does not want her to have it was an excruciating experience. Yet the powerful performance of Gabourney Sidibe and the volcanic performance of Mo'Nique gave this film an ocean's worth of humanity
3. "CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY" Written, Produced and Directed by Michael Moore
Arriving 20 years after his debut feature "Roger And Me," Moore presents what seems to be a cumulative statement of everything he has protested so far. Delivered with satirical passion and fury, Moore delves beyond partisanship to rally against a world that has already sailed over the cliff into one of economic, humane and spiritual decay. While the effect was often overwhelming and sometimes left me feeling hopeless, Moore then gave us two stories meant to inspire and ignite a flame within us all as people definitely do have the power.
2. "WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE" Co-Written and Directed by Spike Jonze
This film has already earned a spot on my favorite films of the decade as it is a watershed experience in films designed for children. This is a sad, gorgeous, and stunningly poetic movie that truly understands what it means to be a child and never for a moment treats its intended audience like commodities. If any filmmakers are wondering just how to take a ten minute book and turn it into a two-hour movie, start here.
1. "UP IN THE AIR" Co-Written and Directed by Jason Reitman
The one that reached me the deepest. This film, about a traveling corporate hatchet man, purposely adrift from all human connection, had the surest of Directorial control as the tone remained light yet contained the proper gravity and tragedy of this exact point in our country's history. It is completely in tune with the current pulse of economic anxiety, devastating layoffs and mass firings and how our communal spirit is slowly being eaten away in our increasingly disconnecting electronic age. George Clooney gives his finest performance to date while Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick should be applauded for each giving excellent performances and true depictions of 21 century career women. Yet, the bulk of the credit falls on the shoulders of Reitman, who brilliantly adapted the screenplay from the novel, performed his finest direction to date and created a film that speaks to its time yet remains timeless. The highest achievement of the year.
There you have it, dear readers! My favorites of the year and after a short break, I will begin to chart my new cinematic escapades of 2010.
Thank you all for reading, as always!!
Monday, March 1, 2010
2009 IN REVIEW PART ONE: The Films I Loved and Loathed
Another year in cinema has come and gone and as I look over my lists of what I have seen, enjoyed and more often than not, loved, I have to declare that 2009 was an exceptional film year. Yes, I still complain that studios tend to save too much of the stellar material for the very, very end of the year in the pursuit of Oscar gold, but that said, I am so happy to regard films from as far back as March and April 2009, and know that they have remained firm in my memory with their excellence. As always, just take my ravings and rantings for what they truly are: opinions and nothing more than that as I have not seen every single film that was released in the year of 2009 (or any other year for that matter). Please sit back and enjoy…
2009 HONOR ROLL
As with my listing from the previous year, I will first place my attention upon the films of 2009 that I feel warrant one more round of applause. And even though they did not make my personal final Top Ten listings, please do not let that speak to any levels of quality. All of the following titles have much to their merit and they all made me happy to purchase my tickets for a seat in the darkened theater.
“(500) DAYS OF SUMMER” Directed by Marc Webb
Now despite some problems I did have with this film, this highly original, honest and at times painfully resonant romance was light years ahead of all other romantic comedies released this year. Consistently inventive while perceptive about memory as well as the ways we fall in love and fool ourselves while in its clutches, the doomed unrequited dance between Tom Hansen (an excellent Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and the elusive and almost ethereal Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) hit a bit too close to home in the best possible way.
“CRAZY HEART” Written, Produced and Directed by Scott Cooper
Jeff Bridges completely embodied his role of fading country singer Bad Blake in Cooper's highly effective, savvy and emotionally resonant debut feature. The screenplay, controlled direction and that great performance (along with Maggie Gyllenhaal's equally great performance) make this overly familiar material sing and feel completely fresh.
“DISTRICT 9” Directed by Neill Blomkamp
When I exited this brutal science-fiction, South African apartheid allegory, I thought to myself, “James Cameron has a lot to live up to with ‘Avatar’.” And for my money, this film has “Avatar” beat on all counts. "District 9" is far and away the better film. It is a deeply profound experience with its depiction of a complete nightmare of inhumanity. Not only does it feature some of the very best photo-realistic CGI special effects I have seen to date, it contains a flat-out sensational leading performance by first-time actor Sharlto Copley who compellingly shifts from officious, to snivelling, to cowardly, to duplicitous, to heroically tragic effortlessly.
”AN EDUCATION” Directed by Lone Scherfig
Carey Mulligan gives an exquisite performance as a 16-year-old in a sleepy London suburb having an affair with a shady, attractive middle aged Peter Sarsgaard. It was a quiet yet strongly perceptive and knowing film that mirrored Mulligan’s youthful restlessness and yearning with the cultural revolution Britain was just about to undergo. Alfred Molina gets a great special honor for his terrific performance as Mulligan’s class conscious and status obsessed Father. It reminded me and even rivals Paul Dooley’s classic performance in the eternal “Breaking Away.”
“FANTASTIC MR. FOX” Co-Written and Directed by Wes Anderson
For his first foray into animation, Anderson made his most playful film to date, while not dumbing down his material for children or sacrificing the detail, empathy, sly and sardonic humor of his previous films. If only most children's films were pitched at this level.
”FUNNY PEOPLE” Written and Directed by Judd Apatow
This sprawling comedy drama, which begins as a character study of world famous comedian who becomes terminally ill and stretches itself into a cautionary tale about Hollywood itself, was a artistic leap for both Apatow and star Adam Sandler. Unfortunately, the film died a quick death at the box office this past summer and it is not difficult to see why as it is not an easy film to classify and sell to a mass audience. While darkly funny, it is a melancholy affair that may have been better served during the 1970s, but regardless, I found it to be a deeply rewarding experience and greatly appreciate Apatow and Sandler for not resting on their creative laurels.
“THE HURT LOCKER” Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
While its fragmented nature did not swell into a resonant whole for me, Bigelow has achieved a dynamic experience with blistering direction and a pitch-perfect leading performance by Jeremy Renner. It accomplishes three challenging feats simultaneously: it is a war film, action thriller and psychological drama all in one and many sequences, especially the first two are excruciating in their tension.
“I LOVE YOU, MAN" Co-Written and Directed by John Hamburg
Like "(500) Days Of Summer," this slight, yet very enjoyable comedy hit a bit too close to home as it depicted the budding male friendship between female friendly Paul Rudd and man's man Jason Segal. Their charm carries this film while also providing a strong window into the inner world of male relationships.
2009 HONOR ROLL
As with my listing from the previous year, I will first place my attention upon the films of 2009 that I feel warrant one more round of applause. And even though they did not make my personal final Top Ten listings, please do not let that speak to any levels of quality. All of the following titles have much to their merit and they all made me happy to purchase my tickets for a seat in the darkened theater.
“(500) DAYS OF SUMMER” Directed by Marc Webb
Now despite some problems I did have with this film, this highly original, honest and at times painfully resonant romance was light years ahead of all other romantic comedies released this year. Consistently inventive while perceptive about memory as well as the ways we fall in love and fool ourselves while in its clutches, the doomed unrequited dance between Tom Hansen (an excellent Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and the elusive and almost ethereal Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) hit a bit too close to home in the best possible way.
“CRAZY HEART” Written, Produced and Directed by Scott Cooper
Jeff Bridges completely embodied his role of fading country singer Bad Blake in Cooper's highly effective, savvy and emotionally resonant debut feature. The screenplay, controlled direction and that great performance (along with Maggie Gyllenhaal's equally great performance) make this overly familiar material sing and feel completely fresh.
“DISTRICT 9” Directed by Neill Blomkamp
When I exited this brutal science-fiction, South African apartheid allegory, I thought to myself, “James Cameron has a lot to live up to with ‘Avatar’.” And for my money, this film has “Avatar” beat on all counts. "District 9" is far and away the better film. It is a deeply profound experience with its depiction of a complete nightmare of inhumanity. Not only does it feature some of the very best photo-realistic CGI special effects I have seen to date, it contains a flat-out sensational leading performance by first-time actor Sharlto Copley who compellingly shifts from officious, to snivelling, to cowardly, to duplicitous, to heroically tragic effortlessly.
”AN EDUCATION” Directed by Lone Scherfig
Carey Mulligan gives an exquisite performance as a 16-year-old in a sleepy London suburb having an affair with a shady, attractive middle aged Peter Sarsgaard. It was a quiet yet strongly perceptive and knowing film that mirrored Mulligan’s youthful restlessness and yearning with the cultural revolution Britain was just about to undergo. Alfred Molina gets a great special honor for his terrific performance as Mulligan’s class conscious and status obsessed Father. It reminded me and even rivals Paul Dooley’s classic performance in the eternal “Breaking Away.”
“FANTASTIC MR. FOX” Co-Written and Directed by Wes Anderson
For his first foray into animation, Anderson made his most playful film to date, while not dumbing down his material for children or sacrificing the detail, empathy, sly and sardonic humor of his previous films. If only most children's films were pitched at this level.
”FUNNY PEOPLE” Written and Directed by Judd Apatow
This sprawling comedy drama, which begins as a character study of world famous comedian who becomes terminally ill and stretches itself into a cautionary tale about Hollywood itself, was a artistic leap for both Apatow and star Adam Sandler. Unfortunately, the film died a quick death at the box office this past summer and it is not difficult to see why as it is not an easy film to classify and sell to a mass audience. While darkly funny, it is a melancholy affair that may have been better served during the 1970s, but regardless, I found it to be a deeply rewarding experience and greatly appreciate Apatow and Sandler for not resting on their creative laurels.
“THE HURT LOCKER” Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
While its fragmented nature did not swell into a resonant whole for me, Bigelow has achieved a dynamic experience with blistering direction and a pitch-perfect leading performance by Jeremy Renner. It accomplishes three challenging feats simultaneously: it is a war film, action thriller and psychological drama all in one and many sequences, especially the first two are excruciating in their tension.
“I LOVE YOU, MAN" Co-Written and Directed by John Hamburg
Like "(500) Days Of Summer," this slight, yet very enjoyable comedy hit a bit too close to home as it depicted the budding male friendship between female friendly Paul Rudd and man's man Jason Segal. Their charm carries this film while also providing a strong window into the inner world of male relationships.
“JULIE AND JULIA” Written and Directed by Nora Ephron
The film that gave me one of the biggest pushes to even begin “Savage Cinema” was initially a film I was not interested in seeing. But, what a pleasant surprise it was and I still think that Amy Adams' performance received a raw deal from critics as I even enjoyed her sections even more than Meryl Streep’s terrific sections. Again I must heap praise upon Stanley Tucci’s completely subtle and loving performance.
“The LOVELY BONES” Co–Written and Directed by Peter Jackson
I have now seen this film twice. I have now read the novel from which this film was based. And I proudly stand by my original review which praised this strange, dark film for its restraint as well as it's enormous empathy. While a completely different film could have been made from the same material--something less visually dazzling and much grittier like "House Of Sand And Fog" -Jackson's interpretation was more than faithful. It was inventive, mournful, creepy, soulful, and completely original and as heartfelt as any love one can have for the protected purity of a child's innocence.
“MOON” Directed by Duncan Jones
This debut science fiction feature, which contains an especially effective and tricky performance by Sam Rockwell as the lone human occupant on a lunar base, represents the kind of science-fiction film they used to make: one with ideas at the forefront, not explosions and destruction.
“SHERLOCK HOLMES” Directed by Guy Ritchie
An adrenalized and brawny update of the classic characters and adventures from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novels was highly entertaining and exciting. The pairing of Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Holmes and sidekick Dr. Watson was beyond perfect!
“UP” Directed by Pete Doctor
The folks at Pixar have done it once again with this absolutely wonderful and beautiful to the point of tears fantasy. Whimsical enough to feature a pack of hilarious talking dogs and heartbreaking enough to honestly depict loss, aging, and mortality, "Up" continues Pixar's golden reputation as the best of American animation.
“WHIP IT” Directed by Drew Barrymore
It still stuns me to think of how much I enjoyed this film and especially coming from an actress I just cannot stand! But, I will always give credit when it is due and Drew Barrymore in her debut feature as a Director, takes the extremely familiar material of the "coming-of-age" formula and finds nearly all of the right notes--from performances, writing, editing, to even the wall-to-wall soundtrack, with this warm and energetic presentation. Ellen Page's rich performance proves that "Juno" was no fluke.
THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS OF 2009
Like the title of this section states, these are the films that disappointed me the most, the ones that let me down in one way or several but these are not the ones I just hated. That will be saved for the next section...
"THE HANGOVER" Directed by Todd Phillips
Yes, this was one of 2009's biggest box office hits and yet, I was sadly underwhelmed. While I did enjoy the comic mystery within the story of three men attempting to piece together the events from their drunken bachelor party the night before, as well as locate the missing groom, I just didn't find it funny. It felt like a bad throwback to a 1980's styled raunchy comedy in its tone as well as its characterizations, from the three completely unlikeable members of the leading trio to its awful depiction of every woman in the cast as either passive, bitchy or worst of all, the hooker with a heart of gold.
"PUBLIC ENEMIES" Directed by Michael Mann
Michael Mann remains one of my favorite filmmakers of all time and this film, featuring the crime story and pursuit of John Dillinger, set in Mann's native Midwest and starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, should have been a slam dunk. Unfortunately, it was a sluggish, muddled, unfocused, unmotivated and poorly paced mess.
"AVATAR" Written and Directed by James Cameron
If "Public Enemies" should have been a slam dunk, then Cameron's science fiction epic and return to film after 12 years should have been a Michael Jordan slam dunk. But, I am so sorry to say that it just wasn't. It wasn't. It wasn't!! I know that I have been really hard on Cameron and this film which has earned more than 2 BILLION dollars at the box office worldwide. I will say again that I did not hate this movie and I do not think it is necessarily a bad film. But James Cameron, a MASTER filmmaker of his status and caliber has done better time and again. Because of his filmmaking history, I know that he can do better than present to us a visually dazzling film set to a derivative, predictable and poorly executed story set to the worst dialogue of the year. All of the forward thinking special effects cannot rescue a weak story and revolutionary 3D technology cannot make your dialogue sound better. His actors were just stranded and the characters contained sub-standard and questionable motivations (For instance, in a sequence featuring the Na'Vi, a tree and and an ailing Sigourney Weaver, why would the Na'Vi even care?). There was no film this past year that disappointed me more as it really could have been one for the ages.
THE FILMS I HATED IN 2009
Here's my chance to take one last swipe at the time-wasters of the year...
"THE PROPOSAL" Directed by Anne Fletcher
A film that has already earned a spot on my least favorite films of the past decade, this alleged and awful entry is the latest nail in the romantic comedy coffin due to extremely lazy writing, tepid direction, and possessing no sense of romance or comedy whatsoever. And Sandra Bullock, who was this film's Executive Producer, should be ashamed of herself for being behind yet another film that depicts a horribly sexist view of a 21st century career-woman. I'm not trying to make this film more serious than it is but really, dear readers, this film was a failure at its most basic level. I just didn't buy even one minute of this badly conceived cotton candy fantasy and if you re-watch the climactic sequence where Ryan Reynolds struggles and arrives at his inevitable feelings towards his sociopathic boss, you can easily see that he didn't buy it either. Terrible!
"THE INFORMANT!" Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Arriving 20 years after his groundbreaking debut feature, "sex, lies and videotape" and seven years after the conclusion of his unbelievably brilliant Directorial streak which featured no less than "Out Of Sight" (1998), "The Limey" (1999), "Erin Brockovich" (2000), "Traffic" (2000), "Ocean's Eleven" (2001) and "Solaris" (2002), Soderbergh's latest effort was a smug, self-congratulatory exercise in arrogant irony--displayed cloyingly in the film's title with that stupid exclamation point. While this film, about a corporate whistle blower who just may be a pathological liar, contained a great performance by Matt Damon, Soderbergh operated above this material and not inside of it, as if he was just condescending to making a studio picture. If he didn't believe in his own material, then why should we? As a mater of fact, I felt that the people responsible for creating the film's coming attractions trailer made a better film than Soderbergh.
"DUPLICITY" Written and Directed by Tony Gilroy & "THE INTERNATIONAL" Directed by Tom Tykwer
This is a plea for Clive Owen to speak with his agent and quickly as he starred in two putrid so-called thrillers this year that both lacked any thrills, charm, energy or excitement. Very surprising and extremely disappointing as both directors are ones who have made extremely compelling material in the past; Gilroy wrote and directed the excellent corporate thriller "Michael Clayton" (2007) while Tykwer directed the astonishing "Run Lola Run" (1998). Unfortunately, none of their consummate skill was present whatsoever in these two films which wasted Owen's considerable talent.
"ANGELS AND DEMONS" Directed by Ron Howard
Talk about waste of talent, time and energy as this film managed to be even worse than "The DaVinci Code." The lack of thrills and excitement in this picture was so mountainous that it made "Duplicity" and "The International" look like "Raiders Of the Lost Ark." Speaking of our favorite archaeologist to which the character of Prof. Robert Langdon has been compared, let's face it, Langdon is an insufferable egghead bore and not even the mastery of Tom Hanks can breathe effective life into him. I beg Howard and Hanks to please not inject another ridiculous adventure like this into our cinemas.
THE WORST FILM OF 2009
"BRUNO" Directed by Larry Charles
The talent, dedication, commitment and skill of provocateur Sasha Baron Cohen cannot be denied and I strongly feel that it should be applauded. That said, I was not a fan of "Borat" (2006) and this new faux documentary/social comedy experience was simply awful. Aside from its self-congratulatory odes to "shocking" material, of which none was actually funny, the film seemed to be overloaded with sequences that were obviously staged, which then depleted the film of any comedic energy or opportunities. If everyone is in on the joke, then where is the comedy? It was a looooooooong 82 minutes and I don't believe I laughed even once.
Coming up next...my TOP TEN FAVORITES OF 2009!!!
ANIMAL ACTION: a review of "Fantastic Mr. Fox"
Originally written December 1, 2009
“FANTASTIC MR. FOX” Directed by Wes Anderson
Written for the screen by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach
Based upon the book by Roald Dahl
***1/2 (three and a half stars)
What a treat this film is! If only most entertainment directed towards children were created on this level!! “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” Writer/Director Wes Anderson’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s novel, fits snugly with the filmmaker’s previous efforts (“Rushmore,” The Royal Tenenbaums,” “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” and “The Darjeeling Limited”) while also carving out an audaciously staged animated experience that is as meticulously designed and emotionally resonant as his live-action films.
George Clooney expertly lends his voice and unmistakable cool to the titular Mr. Fox, a charming, rascally patriarch married to Felicity Fox (Meryl Streep), parent to the diminutive, grumpy and awkward Ash (a terrific Jason Schwartzman) and Uncle to the visiting Kristofferson (Eric Anderson) who is more naturally gifted in all things fox and a source of jealousy for Ash. Mr. Fox has big dreams of uprooting his family to classier digs above ground yet quenching his natural animalistic urges as a chicken and cider thief and outfoxing the dangerous human triumvirate of Boggis, Bunce and Bean (voiced by Michael Gambon) for a life as a newspaper columnist has not been an easy transition in the least. Defying the promises made to his wife 12 fox years ago, Mr. Fox (along with his sweetly dim Opossum sidekick) returns to his sneaky life for that last big score thus endangering his family and friends, including his attorney (and demolitions expert) Badger (the great Bill Murray). The escalating war between the bloodthirsty humans and the tenacious and crafty animal kingdom is by turns hysterical, clever, oddly thrilling and presented in high style and charm.
Wes Anderson has always depicted a certain throwback style within his films as they all seem to be a tad out of step with other commercial features at the multiplex. Then tend to evoke a certain fabricated visage yet the emotions contained are heartfelt and true. Take the storybook tone of “The Royal Tenenbaums” or the dream-like India of”The Darjeeling Limited,” for instance, and underneath you will find two highly melancholic tales of troubled family dynamics alongside crushing feelings of failure, defeat and in some cases, mourning. For his debut foray into animated features, Anderson has made a seamless transition. The visual style is as intricate as the landscapes shown in “The Royal Tenenbaums” and especially in oceanic odysseys of “The Life Aquatic.” In addition, the choice to utilize the classic stop-motion animation instead of the now commonplace and somewhat over-used CGI and computer animation is a fitting and brilliant one. The herky-jerky movements of the characters bring to mind the classic Rankin-Bass productions of old and what results is Anderson’s most playful, joyful and quite possibly, his funniest film to date.
In making his first film directed to an audience of children, Anderson has surprisingly and wisely not altered much of his writing style—except for expletives which have been hilariously replaced with an all-purpose “cuss”(i.e. “What the cuss?!”). His dialogue remains dry, wry, at times existential and…ahem…foxy and the effect is simply perfect. While some adults in the viewing audience may scoff and scratch their heads at the array of laconic non-sequiturs and verbal wordplay, wondering if their children are “getting it,” I heartily scoff back at them and tell them to get over it. All children’s entertainment does not have to be spoon fed to them. Give them something to grow with and to reach for sometimes. Besides, did you understand all of the eccentricities, anxieties and existential quandaries of Charlie Brown, Linus Van Pelt and Snoopy at the age of three? Of course not and it never hindered any enjoyment in the least. Anderson and his writing partner, Writer/Director Noah Baumbach (who made the outstanding “The Squid and the Whale”), have constructed an adaptation that is extremely accessible to children, smartly funny to adults and not even one pop-culture joke is found anywhere.
I really have no idea of what led Anderson to adapt this particular Roald Dahl book above others but the story and characters fit him like a hand in glove. Mr. Fox can easily and proudly sit next to Anderson’s archive of faulty, passionate dreamers like the endlessly creative prep school teenager Max Fischer (“Rushmore”), scoundrel patriarch Royal Tenenbaum and embittered oceanographer Steve Zissou (“The Life Aquatic”). Much like those characters, Mr. Fox’s actions tend to have dire emotional consequences for those around him and he is forced to ask of himself tough questions about his natural tendencies to thieve. In regards to his son Ash and visiting nephew Kristofferson, the latter cub’s natural athletic ability leads to a dangerous rivalry which then forces Mr. Fox to also ask of himself what kind of a father is he if he prefers a nephew to his own flesh and blood. When Mrs. Fox tells him late in the film, “I love you…but I should never have married you,” it cuts to the bone of difficult marital partnerships, how we are loved despite our faults and how the family as a whole, at times, needs to be upheld for the greater good—in this case, the ultimate survival of the animals.
The voice casting throughout is sublime!! Clooney exudes cool of course, yet he always has this ability to laugh at himself and find folly in his foibles. Streep (who reportedly had a bad cold during the voice sessions) has a stern, husky quality that firmly establishes her role as the matriarch as well as the long-suffering spouse. Gambon (an Anderson regular as well as a certain Prof. Dumbledore in the “Harry Potter” series) makes an excellent villain with his deep, grim sounding voice—which also deftly handles the tricky feat of always remaining humorous. Yet, I have to say that I latched onto Jason Schwartzman’s empathetic performance as Ash the most. How I rooted for the family to take notice of this frustrated, eccentric, cape-adorned little fox with desires no larger than to be accepted for exactly who he is by his father.
Most of all, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” proves again that movies designed for children need not appeal to the basest of instincts, garishly loud and crudely populated with all manner of neon day-glow colors and hellzapopin’ sights and sounds. It need not be a pop culture joke junkyard, flatulent or stupid. It need not be a crass and callow pitch to take money from parents while their children lose IQ points along the way.
This year, we have all been blessed with the worlds presented in Pixar’s “Up” and the spell cast by Spike Jonze’s adaptation of “Where The Wild Things Are” easily made one of this year’s very best films. Wes Anderson has given children and the rest of us a film so smart in its presentation and one that demands and deserves to be revisited repeatedly.
“FANTASTIC MR. FOX” Directed by Wes Anderson
Written for the screen by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach
Based upon the book by Roald Dahl
***1/2 (three and a half stars)
What a treat this film is! If only most entertainment directed towards children were created on this level!! “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” Writer/Director Wes Anderson’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s novel, fits snugly with the filmmaker’s previous efforts (“Rushmore,” The Royal Tenenbaums,” “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” and “The Darjeeling Limited”) while also carving out an audaciously staged animated experience that is as meticulously designed and emotionally resonant as his live-action films.
George Clooney expertly lends his voice and unmistakable cool to the titular Mr. Fox, a charming, rascally patriarch married to Felicity Fox (Meryl Streep), parent to the diminutive, grumpy and awkward Ash (a terrific Jason Schwartzman) and Uncle to the visiting Kristofferson (Eric Anderson) who is more naturally gifted in all things fox and a source of jealousy for Ash. Mr. Fox has big dreams of uprooting his family to classier digs above ground yet quenching his natural animalistic urges as a chicken and cider thief and outfoxing the dangerous human triumvirate of Boggis, Bunce and Bean (voiced by Michael Gambon) for a life as a newspaper columnist has not been an easy transition in the least. Defying the promises made to his wife 12 fox years ago, Mr. Fox (along with his sweetly dim Opossum sidekick) returns to his sneaky life for that last big score thus endangering his family and friends, including his attorney (and demolitions expert) Badger (the great Bill Murray). The escalating war between the bloodthirsty humans and the tenacious and crafty animal kingdom is by turns hysterical, clever, oddly thrilling and presented in high style and charm.
Wes Anderson has always depicted a certain throwback style within his films as they all seem to be a tad out of step with other commercial features at the multiplex. Then tend to evoke a certain fabricated visage yet the emotions contained are heartfelt and true. Take the storybook tone of “The Royal Tenenbaums” or the dream-like India of”The Darjeeling Limited,” for instance, and underneath you will find two highly melancholic tales of troubled family dynamics alongside crushing feelings of failure, defeat and in some cases, mourning. For his debut foray into animated features, Anderson has made a seamless transition. The visual style is as intricate as the landscapes shown in “The Royal Tenenbaums” and especially in oceanic odysseys of “The Life Aquatic.” In addition, the choice to utilize the classic stop-motion animation instead of the now commonplace and somewhat over-used CGI and computer animation is a fitting and brilliant one. The herky-jerky movements of the characters bring to mind the classic Rankin-Bass productions of old and what results is Anderson’s most playful, joyful and quite possibly, his funniest film to date.
In making his first film directed to an audience of children, Anderson has surprisingly and wisely not altered much of his writing style—except for expletives which have been hilariously replaced with an all-purpose “cuss”(i.e. “What the cuss?!”). His dialogue remains dry, wry, at times existential and…ahem…foxy and the effect is simply perfect. While some adults in the viewing audience may scoff and scratch their heads at the array of laconic non-sequiturs and verbal wordplay, wondering if their children are “getting it,” I heartily scoff back at them and tell them to get over it. All children’s entertainment does not have to be spoon fed to them. Give them something to grow with and to reach for sometimes. Besides, did you understand all of the eccentricities, anxieties and existential quandaries of Charlie Brown, Linus Van Pelt and Snoopy at the age of three? Of course not and it never hindered any enjoyment in the least. Anderson and his writing partner, Writer/Director Noah Baumbach (who made the outstanding “The Squid and the Whale”), have constructed an adaptation that is extremely accessible to children, smartly funny to adults and not even one pop-culture joke is found anywhere.
I really have no idea of what led Anderson to adapt this particular Roald Dahl book above others but the story and characters fit him like a hand in glove. Mr. Fox can easily and proudly sit next to Anderson’s archive of faulty, passionate dreamers like the endlessly creative prep school teenager Max Fischer (“Rushmore”), scoundrel patriarch Royal Tenenbaum and embittered oceanographer Steve Zissou (“The Life Aquatic”). Much like those characters, Mr. Fox’s actions tend to have dire emotional consequences for those around him and he is forced to ask of himself tough questions about his natural tendencies to thieve. In regards to his son Ash and visiting nephew Kristofferson, the latter cub’s natural athletic ability leads to a dangerous rivalry which then forces Mr. Fox to also ask of himself what kind of a father is he if he prefers a nephew to his own flesh and blood. When Mrs. Fox tells him late in the film, “I love you…but I should never have married you,” it cuts to the bone of difficult marital partnerships, how we are loved despite our faults and how the family as a whole, at times, needs to be upheld for the greater good—in this case, the ultimate survival of the animals.
The voice casting throughout is sublime!! Clooney exudes cool of course, yet he always has this ability to laugh at himself and find folly in his foibles. Streep (who reportedly had a bad cold during the voice sessions) has a stern, husky quality that firmly establishes her role as the matriarch as well as the long-suffering spouse. Gambon (an Anderson regular as well as a certain Prof. Dumbledore in the “Harry Potter” series) makes an excellent villain with his deep, grim sounding voice—which also deftly handles the tricky feat of always remaining humorous. Yet, I have to say that I latched onto Jason Schwartzman’s empathetic performance as Ash the most. How I rooted for the family to take notice of this frustrated, eccentric, cape-adorned little fox with desires no larger than to be accepted for exactly who he is by his father.
Most of all, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” proves again that movies designed for children need not appeal to the basest of instincts, garishly loud and crudely populated with all manner of neon day-glow colors and hellzapopin’ sights and sounds. It need not be a pop culture joke junkyard, flatulent or stupid. It need not be a crass and callow pitch to take money from parents while their children lose IQ points along the way.
This year, we have all been blessed with the worlds presented in Pixar’s “Up” and the spell cast by Spike Jonze’s adaptation of “Where The Wild Things Are” easily made one of this year’s very best films. Wes Anderson has given children and the rest of us a film so smart in its presentation and one that demands and deserves to be revisited repeatedly.
SAVAGE CINEMA COMING ATTRACTIONS FOR MARCH 2010
Dear readers, perhaps I should not have promised so much last month as life has its own way of working. But, I am so happy to give you all a preview of this month's activities...all going well.
1. With the Oscar telecast set to occur on Sunday, March 7th, my goal is to have my completed listings of 2009 favorites and least favorites ready and posted by then.
2. Older reviews will find their new home on this site.
3. Then, there are those reviews for "Shutter Island" and "Passing Strange" that I have not had the opportunity to screen just yet. But, I am hoping to see both of those plus the latest from Tim Burton, "Alice In Wonderland."
See you when the house lights go down...
1. With the Oscar telecast set to occur on Sunday, March 7th, my goal is to have my completed listings of 2009 favorites and least favorites ready and posted by then.
2. Older reviews will find their new home on this site.
3. Then, there are those reviews for "Shutter Island" and "Passing Strange" that I have not had the opportunity to screen just yet. But, I am hoping to see both of those plus the latest from Tim Burton, "Alice In Wonderland."
See you when the house lights go down...
Saturday, February 27, 2010
DUET: a review of "The Soloist"
Originally written April 30, 2009
"The Soloist" Directed by Joe Wright
**** (4 stars)
In "The Soloist," the remarkable new film from director Joe Wright ("Atonement"), there is a short sequence of such glorious power and exactness that effected me so dramatically that I felt compelled to stand upright and cheer the screen. (Never fear, dear readers. I didn't.)
The sequence occurs well into the film as Los Angeles Times journalist Steve Lopez (the inimitable Robert Downey Jr.) has procured two seats at an exclusive orchestral rehearsal performance at the Little Walt Disney Concert Hall. The patrons for this sight include himself and Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Jr. (beautifully portrayed by Jamie Foxx), a supremely talented street musician overcome with mental handicaps who was once a child prodigy and promising student from Julliard some 30 years prior. The music, a composition by Ayers' musical hero Beethoven, begins and we are then transported into Ayers' inner-visions as he reaches a transcendental state of hallucinogenic reverie. It is the purity and solace music holds over him, his reaction and surrender to its awesome power and graceful beauty. It is the moment all of us experience when in contact with something that moves us to a place that is unexplainable. I will not go into how such a sequence has been visualized because I want you to see it for yourselves. But, it is handled with an ingenious, delicate inventiveness that for me, was simply a superior depiction of that moment of connection and quite possibly the best connection to music I have seen in any film.
High praise indeed and yet "The Soloist" is not entirely a film about music. The story, which begins with Lopez writing newspaper articles about Ayers, solely to fulfill deadlines as well as maintain his employment within an institution that is slowly dying away in an Internet age, covers a lot of ground. Topics of mental illness, the homeless population, the death of the newspaper in addition to musical themes about the creative process and our response to that process are filtered through the tenuous relationship between Lopez and Ayers, which segues between genuine concern, impatience, exploitation, lost trust and understanding.
What worked extremely well for me was that the film didn't provide any easy, trite answers to issues that continue to plague our country. Early in the film, one of Lopez's articles has inspired an elderly reader to donate her beloved cello (an instrument she can no longer play due to her arthritis) to Ayers as his violin has been reported to only possess two strings. Lopez, concerned for Ayers' safety on the Los Angeles streets, presents the cello to Ayers on the condition that he can only play it at LAMP, a facility for the homeless. Ayers is distrustful, tentative, fearful and paranoid but his desire to maintain his connection to the thing he loves most is stronger. Wright stages the many sequences set at LAMP more as a "fly on the wall" and not as a cinematic freak-show. Scenes are allowed to play longer and build naturally as we, with Lopez, get a front row seat to Skid Row and its denizens. As Lopez spends extended time with the displaced and mentally unstable, as he waits and wonders if Ayers will ever arrive to LAMP, we are able to see the humanity that still exists in the very individuals society has forgotten. I couldn't help but to think about a person's sense of resolve and what is it inside of us that allows us to continue marching, if not forward, but just in place because sometimes that is all a person is able to do.
The film also presents a quiet anger at a country, with albeit depleting resources and finances, that has allowed so many to slip through the cracks. Exactly what led these people to this station in life and who will join them? In fact, the movie may be arguing that it doesn't even matter what each person's back story happens to be, or even if they are able to be "saved" or "cured" because in many cases, they cannot. Lopez wrestles with these very issues throughout the entirety of the film and by the conclusion, he is not transformed in that cliched Hollywood fashion, but simply more informed. Food for thought that never felt like a lesson or condescended to an audience of people sitting in plush movie theater seats munching on overly expensive concession treats.
With the two lead performances, "The Soloist" often reminded me of Barry Levinson's "Rain Man." Jamie Foxx, with the flashier role, completely disappears into the character of Ayers and erases his clownish and sometimes obnoxious off-screen persona. It is easy to forget just how skilled of a dramatic actor he is and he never seems to be clamoring for an additional Oscar. In his far-off gazes, frenetically paced soliloquies and complete devotion to his art, Foxx portrays a man who is nearly unreachable (his sequences of his mental breakdowns are genuinely disturbing) but he is defiantly nobody's fool as his inability to be "saved" continuously challenges the purity of Lopez's intentions. Downey Jr. is compulsively watchable as always and like "Rain Man," he serves the same purpose as the Tom Cruise character by being a stand-in for the audience and even somehow making us question our own intentions if we were placed into the same situation. Is Lopez wanting to help Ayers because of human empathy or is Ayers simply another story to sell and greater insurance for job security in a fading industry? Downey Jr. makes every moment feel so effortless, as if he arrived on the set and just began speaking naturally. He is truly a gift to every film he appears in.
By not allowing the film to descend into melodrama and "Movie-Of-The Week" emotional falseness, Joe Wright has created a deeply moving and thoughtful work. As I keep turning the film over in my mind, I think that "The Soloist" is ultimately about all of us. We are all soloists as we speed through our lives, all seeking and desiring that moment where we connect to something or someone, expanding our collective humanity into something sublime and soulful. This is another highly effective film in the early part of this year's film-going.
"The Soloist" Directed by Joe Wright
**** (4 stars)
In "The Soloist," the remarkable new film from director Joe Wright ("Atonement"), there is a short sequence of such glorious power and exactness that effected me so dramatically that I felt compelled to stand upright and cheer the screen. (Never fear, dear readers. I didn't.)
The sequence occurs well into the film as Los Angeles Times journalist Steve Lopez (the inimitable Robert Downey Jr.) has procured two seats at an exclusive orchestral rehearsal performance at the Little Walt Disney Concert Hall. The patrons for this sight include himself and Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Jr. (beautifully portrayed by Jamie Foxx), a supremely talented street musician overcome with mental handicaps who was once a child prodigy and promising student from Julliard some 30 years prior. The music, a composition by Ayers' musical hero Beethoven, begins and we are then transported into Ayers' inner-visions as he reaches a transcendental state of hallucinogenic reverie. It is the purity and solace music holds over him, his reaction and surrender to its awesome power and graceful beauty. It is the moment all of us experience when in contact with something that moves us to a place that is unexplainable. I will not go into how such a sequence has been visualized because I want you to see it for yourselves. But, it is handled with an ingenious, delicate inventiveness that for me, was simply a superior depiction of that moment of connection and quite possibly the best connection to music I have seen in any film.
High praise indeed and yet "The Soloist" is not entirely a film about music. The story, which begins with Lopez writing newspaper articles about Ayers, solely to fulfill deadlines as well as maintain his employment within an institution that is slowly dying away in an Internet age, covers a lot of ground. Topics of mental illness, the homeless population, the death of the newspaper in addition to musical themes about the creative process and our response to that process are filtered through the tenuous relationship between Lopez and Ayers, which segues between genuine concern, impatience, exploitation, lost trust and understanding.
What worked extremely well for me was that the film didn't provide any easy, trite answers to issues that continue to plague our country. Early in the film, one of Lopez's articles has inspired an elderly reader to donate her beloved cello (an instrument she can no longer play due to her arthritis) to Ayers as his violin has been reported to only possess two strings. Lopez, concerned for Ayers' safety on the Los Angeles streets, presents the cello to Ayers on the condition that he can only play it at LAMP, a facility for the homeless. Ayers is distrustful, tentative, fearful and paranoid but his desire to maintain his connection to the thing he loves most is stronger. Wright stages the many sequences set at LAMP more as a "fly on the wall" and not as a cinematic freak-show. Scenes are allowed to play longer and build naturally as we, with Lopez, get a front row seat to Skid Row and its denizens. As Lopez spends extended time with the displaced and mentally unstable, as he waits and wonders if Ayers will ever arrive to LAMP, we are able to see the humanity that still exists in the very individuals society has forgotten. I couldn't help but to think about a person's sense of resolve and what is it inside of us that allows us to continue marching, if not forward, but just in place because sometimes that is all a person is able to do.
The film also presents a quiet anger at a country, with albeit depleting resources and finances, that has allowed so many to slip through the cracks. Exactly what led these people to this station in life and who will join them? In fact, the movie may be arguing that it doesn't even matter what each person's back story happens to be, or even if they are able to be "saved" or "cured" because in many cases, they cannot. Lopez wrestles with these very issues throughout the entirety of the film and by the conclusion, he is not transformed in that cliched Hollywood fashion, but simply more informed. Food for thought that never felt like a lesson or condescended to an audience of people sitting in plush movie theater seats munching on overly expensive concession treats.
With the two lead performances, "The Soloist" often reminded me of Barry Levinson's "Rain Man." Jamie Foxx, with the flashier role, completely disappears into the character of Ayers and erases his clownish and sometimes obnoxious off-screen persona. It is easy to forget just how skilled of a dramatic actor he is and he never seems to be clamoring for an additional Oscar. In his far-off gazes, frenetically paced soliloquies and complete devotion to his art, Foxx portrays a man who is nearly unreachable (his sequences of his mental breakdowns are genuinely disturbing) but he is defiantly nobody's fool as his inability to be "saved" continuously challenges the purity of Lopez's intentions. Downey Jr. is compulsively watchable as always and like "Rain Man," he serves the same purpose as the Tom Cruise character by being a stand-in for the audience and even somehow making us question our own intentions if we were placed into the same situation. Is Lopez wanting to help Ayers because of human empathy or is Ayers simply another story to sell and greater insurance for job security in a fading industry? Downey Jr. makes every moment feel so effortless, as if he arrived on the set and just began speaking naturally. He is truly a gift to every film he appears in.
By not allowing the film to descend into melodrama and "Movie-Of-The Week" emotional falseness, Joe Wright has created a deeply moving and thoughtful work. As I keep turning the film over in my mind, I think that "The Soloist" is ultimately about all of us. We are all soloists as we speed through our lives, all seeking and desiring that moment where we connect to something or someone, expanding our collective humanity into something sublime and soulful. This is another highly effective film in the early part of this year's film-going.
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