Last year, the film I was most looking forward to was Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock". Two reasons: It was Ang Lee and it was Woodstock. The movie opened....and was gone. What, huh? Where did.....? I mean gone. Since I was getting movies in the mail at a clip, I sort of forgot about it. There was no awards buzz. The one review I saw was noncommittal. Oh well, I'll catch it later. This is later.
My original excitement it seems was only half right. This WAS master director Ang Lee at work here but this movie is really not about Woodstock. It lurks on the periphery of Woodstock. It's steeped in the event, but it never takes you to the concert. Near the concert, yes. Now this is probably the experience that most of the 500,000 people had there. The young people who descended on the up state New York Farm of Max Yasgur were lucky to just get in the vicinity. My own sister Ellen has talked about trying to go and only getting as far as the jammed NY thruway (I think..., I don't really know the details of that story. I'll have to ask her). But this film, like so many concert-goers, never actually gets there. Not even the great music from the concert is showcased. Occasionally you can hear it in the distance like a far off flame that provides no heat. It's frustrating at times. Wait! That's Country Joe! Turn the camera. Turn the camera! Eventually, this film's dogged determination not to focus on the concert is it's undoing. But it doesn't come undone completely because what it does focus on is pretty terrific stuff. OK, that's what the film isn't, now let's take a look at what it is.
Based on a novel by Elliot Tiber, Demetri Martin plays Elliot Teichberg, a young interior designer and painter from New York City who has left the rat race to help his off kilter Jewish parents run a dilapidated motel in upstate New York. The place is a pit and foreclosure looms when Elliot contacts the producers of a music festival searching for a home. Walkill, New York has pulled the promoter's permit to avoid an influx of hippies.
Elliot hooks them up with local dairy farmer Max Yasgur and history's die is cast. Three weeks later the counter culture floodgates open and 500,000 young people show up with lots of brown acid and hormones and the greatest love fest of the 20th Century begins.
Ang Lee has made a choice here. This film is not about Woodstock, but is rather a coming of age story set against the backdrop of a generational coming of age story. The concert is irrelevant, or perhaps better stated, it is the window dressing. Elliot is bound to his parents by both love and tradition and these are not easy parents to be bound to. He's also gay and still having trouble with making that leap of faith out of the closet. Through his eyes we see a historic event unfold, I mean the edges of that event. In fact, Elliot is at least partly responsible for that event. He issued the permit. No permit, no party. Lee weaves a character tapestry that takes you inside the spirit of the concert but remains at a distance from the both the music and the details that made history. It's like telling the innkeeper's story in Bethlehem when all the real action is happening in the manger. There are parts of this movie that weren't worth watching when contrasted with Hendrix playing the national anthem or Joplin belting the blues or CSN playing for the very first time as a group. AHHHHH SHOW ME RICHIE HAVENS!
Ok I'm done. That's the movie that wasn't. The movie that is, is at times wonderful. Elliot's story is sweet and funny and swept up in history. The characters that inhabit "Taking Woodstock" are just wild enough to be believable. Stand outs are Imelda Stauton as the fear-driven Jewish mom who is just too mean to be described as quirky. Liev Schriber is an ex-marine transvestite with serious masculinity that can't be hidden beneath a dress, and a young actor I don't know much about named Jonathan Groff, who hits just the right notes as hippie promoter Michael Lang. He gives the character a shrewd gentleness that seems to represent the best of the counter culture generation (Groff is a Tony nominee for Spring Awakening). Eugene Levy as Max Yasgur is perfectly cast. It's the best performance I've seen him give. But at the center of this film is a terrific performance by Demetri Martin. Of course it doesn't hurt to have Ang Lee guiding your way, but Martin shows a depth of character that bodes well for his acting future if he so chooses (he's a pretty popular cult comedian).
Lee captures the absolute pinnacle of the generation that believed in peace and love without cynicism, who believed they could change the world. They did change the world and that's to their credit. It just couldn't last. There is a great shot as Elliot walks toward the stage after the concert ends. Yasgur's farm is ravaged, almost apocalyptic. The place that just hours before had been the "center of the universe" looks like a war zone. The moment is gone, never to be seen again. But for three days, it was beautiful, man.
I loved this movie, maybe as much for its flaws as it strengths. Lee stuck to his guns. He didn't make a concert movie. If he had, this might have been a great film.
As it is, I'll have to settle for the sweet, far out, coming of age tale that it is.
OK, man. Groovy.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Date Night
The title of this film would normally keep me at arms length. "Date Night" sounds like a bad rom-com staring one of those horrid thirty-something ingenues named Aniston-Lopes-Heigel etc. Yep, the title is a bad start. TINA FEY AND STEVE CARELL. Alright we're getting warmer. There are so few genuinely funny people in film today that it saddens me, but here, here we have two of them....together. Two! OK, ya got me. I packed myself up at midnight and went to the cineplex. No pressure Tina and Steve, but this better be good.
Ding, ding, ding! They come through with flying colors. Both of them are hilarious. Neither one overshadows the other. And here's the best part. They both play honest, reality-based characters who connect with each other and explore real issues about marriage in a no-shtick zone. Well, minimal shtick zone. This is a funny, sweet and even insightful comedy that keeps moving forward at a fast clip. The plot is a little heavy handed and if this movie is flawed it's in the implausibility of a few of the plot driven scenes. Doesn't matter. It's all about them. Tina Fey and Steve Carell deliver the goods in a big way. If you like your comedy with a dose of sincerity, a thimbleful of intelligence, and maybe even a little something to say, you'll love this. Think "The Out-of-Towners" for the new millennium. If bathroom humor and gross-out gags are more your style, skip it and grow up a little. Read a book maybe.
Oh, and as a side note, we finally found something Mark Wahlberg does really well---stand there and look pretty without a shirt.
Ding, ding, ding! They come through with flying colors. Both of them are hilarious. Neither one overshadows the other. And here's the best part. They both play honest, reality-based characters who connect with each other and explore real issues about marriage in a no-shtick zone. Well, minimal shtick zone. This is a funny, sweet and even insightful comedy that keeps moving forward at a fast clip. The plot is a little heavy handed and if this movie is flawed it's in the implausibility of a few of the plot driven scenes. Doesn't matter. It's all about them. Tina Fey and Steve Carell deliver the goods in a big way. If you like your comedy with a dose of sincerity, a thimbleful of intelligence, and maybe even a little something to say, you'll love this. Think "The Out-of-Towners" for the new millennium. If bathroom humor and gross-out gags are more your style, skip it and grow up a little. Read a book maybe.
Oh, and as a side note, we finally found something Mark Wahlberg does really well---stand there and look pretty without a shirt.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Politics and Paranoia-The Ghost Writer
"The Ghost Writer" is reminiscent of those stark '70s political thrillers that were spawned by the corruption and mistrust of the Nixon administration, films like "The Parallax View", "Three Days of the Condor" or Coppola's "The Conversation". Roman Polanski's "The Ghost Writer", a taut, bleak thriller, finds it's paranoid inspiration from the evil-doings of the latest Bush administration. Fictionalized, of course, sort of. Just like in the seventies, you have to buy in to the premise that the government (in this case the American government) is capable of anything to protect it's own interests. Nixon and W. made this premise plausible. Of course Polanski might also have drawn his inspiration from the fact that he was a fugitive from justice for decades and was constantly chased by some form of American government that was out to get him (not so much paranoia as fact). Let's go with the first one just because it makes me happier to think of George Bush as a bad guy.
The ex Prime Minister of England is writing his memoirs and needs a new ghost writer. The last one turned up dead. There's something fishy about this particular death (literally, since he washed up on a New England beach like a halibut). Now the Prime Minister is being accused of war crimes and of being a stooge of the U.S. Government. Did I mention that the politics of this film is somewhat left of the ACLU? Pierce Brosnan, playing Tony Blair, oh, I mean a darkly handsome liberal ex Prime Minister, plays a mysterious cat and mouse game with the new ghost writer (Ewan MacGregor) who just wants his money and a release from the monastic seaside sanctuary where the Prime Minister, his wife and various aides are holed up while protesters scream for his head outside the gate. Paranoia ensues and intrigue abounds.
Ewan MacGregor (whose choice of material isn't always the sharpest) Pierce Brosnan and Kim Cattrall are all excellent as is the supporting cast. Even Jim Belushi, who is an awful actor, is decent here. Polanski returns to the taut, suspenseful story telling that made "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby" such masterworks. "The Ghost Writer" isn't up to that level, but it is a good political thriller, perfect for watching on a rainy night with a bottle of wine, right around election time.
The ex Prime Minister of England is writing his memoirs and needs a new ghost writer. The last one turned up dead. There's something fishy about this particular death (literally, since he washed up on a New England beach like a halibut). Now the Prime Minister is being accused of war crimes and of being a stooge of the U.S. Government. Did I mention that the politics of this film is somewhat left of the ACLU? Pierce Brosnan, playing Tony Blair, oh, I mean a darkly handsome liberal ex Prime Minister, plays a mysterious cat and mouse game with the new ghost writer (Ewan MacGregor) who just wants his money and a release from the monastic seaside sanctuary where the Prime Minister, his wife and various aides are holed up while protesters scream for his head outside the gate. Paranoia ensues and intrigue abounds.
Ewan MacGregor (whose choice of material isn't always the sharpest) Pierce Brosnan and Kim Cattrall are all excellent as is the supporting cast. Even Jim Belushi, who is an awful actor, is decent here. Polanski returns to the taut, suspenseful story telling that made "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby" such masterworks. "The Ghost Writer" isn't up to that level, but it is a good political thriller, perfect for watching on a rainy night with a bottle of wine, right around election time.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Of Flying Dragons
I am a sucker for dragons. Have been since Smaug blocked Bilbo's way to a vast treasure in "The Hobbit". My obsession was cemented by Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" series. This is a good time for us Dragon lovers. Dragons soared to new heights amongst the floating mountains of Pandora in "Avatar". So I waited with excitement and a bit of trepidation for Dreamworks animated contribution to Dragon lore,"How to Train Your Dragon". Good news. Dragons still rule.
A teenage boy lives in a seaside Scandinavian village that gets snow nine months a year and hail the other three. It's also terrorized by flying, fire-breathing dragons.
Now this is a Viking village with bulky bearded nordic types all over the place, that is except for young Hiccup. He looks like an average American teenage boy. As voiced by Jay Baruchel he's smart, funny, clumsy and misunderstood. He's just not very Viking-like. And he desperately wants the approval of his father. He wounds, then finds then befriends a shadowy dragon and realizes that the village is going about this Dragon thing all wrong. Don't fight 'em, fly 'em. Okay, that's the a plot, blah, blah, blah.
Here's the good stuff. This movie is in 3-D and the flying sequences (and there are many) are fantastic. Good story, nice characters and FANTASTIC 3-D flying equals a great time at the movies. Don't send the kids to this one, take them. Just make sure you see it in 3-D. Don't make the same mistake I did with "Avatar". 3-D may be the current fad but it's a lot of fun.
Okay, a couple of quibbles. Turns out that Vikings speak with thick Scottish brogues. There are probably a lot of Swedes who are up in arms about this. Not only that but apparently Swedish/Scottish/Viking teenagers all talk like they're from a Midwestern American suburb. No brogue for the kids. Weird. The other quibble is that again, we have an animated film with a barely-mentioned dead Mom. Man, animators really must have mother issues.
3-D may be just a fad or a diabolical excuse to raise ticket prices (3-D ticket price, $17.00) But it's a darn fun way to watch a movie. I should have seen "Avatar" that way. I'm mad at myself for not doing it. Don't make the same mistake with "How to Train Your Dragon".
A teenage boy lives in a seaside Scandinavian village that gets snow nine months a year and hail the other three. It's also terrorized by flying, fire-breathing dragons.
Now this is a Viking village with bulky bearded nordic types all over the place, that is except for young Hiccup. He looks like an average American teenage boy. As voiced by Jay Baruchel he's smart, funny, clumsy and misunderstood. He's just not very Viking-like. And he desperately wants the approval of his father. He wounds, then finds then befriends a shadowy dragon and realizes that the village is going about this Dragon thing all wrong. Don't fight 'em, fly 'em. Okay, that's the a plot, blah, blah, blah.
Here's the good stuff. This movie is in 3-D and the flying sequences (and there are many) are fantastic. Good story, nice characters and FANTASTIC 3-D flying equals a great time at the movies. Don't send the kids to this one, take them. Just make sure you see it in 3-D. Don't make the same mistake I did with "Avatar". 3-D may be the current fad but it's a lot of fun.
Okay, a couple of quibbles. Turns out that Vikings speak with thick Scottish brogues. There are probably a lot of Swedes who are up in arms about this. Not only that but apparently Swedish/Scottish/Viking teenagers all talk like they're from a Midwestern American suburb. No brogue for the kids. Weird. The other quibble is that again, we have an animated film with a barely-mentioned dead Mom. Man, animators really must have mother issues.
3-D may be just a fad or a diabolical excuse to raise ticket prices (3-D ticket price, $17.00) But it's a darn fun way to watch a movie. I should have seen "Avatar" that way. I'm mad at myself for not doing it. Don't make the same mistake with "How to Train Your Dragon".
Greenberg
It's been a very green spring in the multi-plex this year. Paul Greengrass brought you "Green Zone" and now Ben Stiller plays a displaced misanthrope in the hills of Los Angeles named "Greenberg". We also have "The Green Hornet" and everyones favorite green ogre Shrek due in theaters this year. The world is going green.
Writer/director Noah Baumbach is well versed in the eccentricities of people who are too smart for their own good. In "The Squid and the Whale" he took on the stuffed shirts of academia to both poignant and hilarious effect (and lots of Oscar nominations). In "Greenberg", Baumbach comes to Los Angeles to explore a city that's a boneyard of broken dreams. Chief amongst the interred is Roger Greenberg the angry and angst-ridden musician-turned-carpenter who comes to L.A. to house-sit for his well-off brother. It'll be good for him, since he's just out of mental institution and in a fragile state.
Ben Stiller plays Greenberg with a take no prisoners resolve. He hates being with people. He hates being alone. He constantly, purposely, sabotages his own happiness. He is self absorbed in a way that only really smart people can be self absorbed.
To their credit, Stiller and Baumbach illuminate Greenberg without the shtick that Stiller might have naturally gravitated toward. It's a really good performance but the character is a jackass, no getting around it. It bothers me when a protagonist is such an asshole that you just can't sympathize. It keeps me from engaging with the story. But that's me.
Now there is a character in this film that you can engage with. She's the brother's personal assistant, currently meandering through life and love in a way that would be slutty if it wasn't so sweet. She becomes Greenberg's love interest. As played by Greta Gerwig (another terrific performance) Florence is a lost soul with just enough talent to be a second rate singer and enough smarts to know how much talent she has. But holding onto the dream is everything. Her character is honestly written and beautifully played. Florence I have no trouble rooting for.
In the end, I think Baumbach wants us to believe that redemption is possible for Greenberg, through a real relationship with Florence. I doubt the premise. I know guys like that. Run, Florence, run!
Greenberg is a frank, insightful and often brutal character study, almost as flawed as it's title character.
A quick note for Los Angelenos, it's a great tour of the city. Ahhh, I remember my days drinking bad margaritas at Lucy's El Adobe.
Writer/director Noah Baumbach is well versed in the eccentricities of people who are too smart for their own good. In "The Squid and the Whale" he took on the stuffed shirts of academia to both poignant and hilarious effect (and lots of Oscar nominations). In "Greenberg", Baumbach comes to Los Angeles to explore a city that's a boneyard of broken dreams. Chief amongst the interred is Roger Greenberg the angry and angst-ridden musician-turned-carpenter who comes to L.A. to house-sit for his well-off brother. It'll be good for him, since he's just out of mental institution and in a fragile state.
Ben Stiller plays Greenberg with a take no prisoners resolve. He hates being with people. He hates being alone. He constantly, purposely, sabotages his own happiness. He is self absorbed in a way that only really smart people can be self absorbed.
To their credit, Stiller and Baumbach illuminate Greenberg without the shtick that Stiller might have naturally gravitated toward. It's a really good performance but the character is a jackass, no getting around it. It bothers me when a protagonist is such an asshole that you just can't sympathize. It keeps me from engaging with the story. But that's me.
Now there is a character in this film that you can engage with. She's the brother's personal assistant, currently meandering through life and love in a way that would be slutty if it wasn't so sweet. She becomes Greenberg's love interest. As played by Greta Gerwig (another terrific performance) Florence is a lost soul with just enough talent to be a second rate singer and enough smarts to know how much talent she has. But holding onto the dream is everything. Her character is honestly written and beautifully played. Florence I have no trouble rooting for.
In the end, I think Baumbach wants us to believe that redemption is possible for Greenberg, through a real relationship with Florence. I doubt the premise. I know guys like that. Run, Florence, run!
Greenberg is a frank, insightful and often brutal character study, almost as flawed as it's title character.
A quick note for Los Angelenos, it's a great tour of the city. Ahhh, I remember my days drinking bad margaritas at Lucy's El Adobe.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
More Up and Coming Films
Well, that last post was fun. Lots of response about what's in store for the NEXT awards season. So here are a few more appetizers:
THE SOCIAL NETWORK- Directed by David Fincher (Seven, Benjamin Button) from a script by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) This is the story of the founders of Facebook. Maybe I'll find out how my FB page got hacked.
LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS- Edward Zwick (Glory, The Last Samurai) directs a story set in the cutthroat world of pharmaceutical salesman engaged in the pedaling of the little blue pill that makes old men happy. Stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway.
THE RUM DIARY- Based on a novel by Hunter S. Thompson, Johnny Depp is a journalist at a crossroads at a small Caribbean newspaper. Also, Aaron Eckhart and Giovanni Ribisi.
WINTER'S BONE- This was the Jury Prize winner at Sundance this year. Great buzz. Set in the Ozark Mountains, a girl puts herself and her family in danger when she tries to track down her drug-dealing father. No big names in the cast.
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT- I thought THE WHO were involved here but I guess not. Two kids conceived by artificial insemination bring their birth father into their lives. Mia Wasikowska (Alice In Wonderland), Mark Ruffalo and Julianne Moore star.
THE BEAVER- Jodi Foster directs and stars in "The Beaver", (insert your own joke here). Mel Gibson treats a hand puppet of a beaver like it was a living creature. Bet your inserted joke wasn't nearly as weird as the truth.
ALL GOOD THINGS- Based on a real unsolved murder case in New York, with a love interest subplot. Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst and Jeffrey Dean Morgan star.
THE SOCIAL NETWORK- Directed by David Fincher (Seven, Benjamin Button) from a script by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) This is the story of the founders of Facebook. Maybe I'll find out how my FB page got hacked.
LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS- Edward Zwick (Glory, The Last Samurai) directs a story set in the cutthroat world of pharmaceutical salesman engaged in the pedaling of the little blue pill that makes old men happy. Stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway.
THE RUM DIARY- Based on a novel by Hunter S. Thompson, Johnny Depp is a journalist at a crossroads at a small Caribbean newspaper. Also, Aaron Eckhart and Giovanni Ribisi.
WINTER'S BONE- This was the Jury Prize winner at Sundance this year. Great buzz. Set in the Ozark Mountains, a girl puts herself and her family in danger when she tries to track down her drug-dealing father. No big names in the cast.
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT- I thought THE WHO were involved here but I guess not. Two kids conceived by artificial insemination bring their birth father into their lives. Mia Wasikowska (Alice In Wonderland), Mark Ruffalo and Julianne Moore star.
THE BEAVER- Jodi Foster directs and stars in "The Beaver", (insert your own joke here). Mel Gibson treats a hand puppet of a beaver like it was a living creature. Bet your inserted joke wasn't nearly as weird as the truth.
ALL GOOD THINGS- Based on a real unsolved murder case in New York, with a love interest subplot. Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst and Jeffrey Dean Morgan star.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Oscar 2011- A Very Preliminary Look
I thought it might be fun to see what the buzz is for NEXT YEAR'S Oscar race. It really doesn't mean much since these might just as well be the worst of next year as easily as the best, but it's always fun to see just beyond the horizon.
LET ME IN- I'll start with this one since this is either my most anticipated upcoming release or my most dreaded. "Let Me In" is based on the great Norwegian Vampire movie, "Let the Right One In" discovered on this side of the pond by my buddy Charlie. Well, kinda. This is such a fresh and interesting take on the overdone Vampire genre that it will be almost impossible for an American remake not to screw it up. Ah well, hope springs eternal. Kodi Smit-McPhee from "The Road" stars.
INCEPTION- Here ya go Christopher Nolan fans. The director of "Momento" and "The Dark Knight" teams with Leonardo DiCaprio for a story about technology and dream invasion. It's an Imax thing. Can you hear that? It's the sound of money flowing.
HEREAFTER- Normally I'd be more excited about a Clint Eastwood movie but I saw "Invictus". This is a supernatural thriller about three people, interconnected by their recent association with death. Not the usual Eastwood turf, so maybe. Matt Damon and Bryce Dallas Howard star.
THE FIGHTER- Director David O. Russel hasn't done a film since "I Heart Huckabees". Based on a true story of 1980's boxer "Irish" Mickey Ward and his trainer/brother on the dark road to success. Stars Mark Wahlberg (who can't be worse than he was in The Lovely Bones), Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo.
BLUE VALENTINE- Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams star in a relationship movie that skips around the timeline of their love. Early festival buzz is that they are both terrific.
BLACK SWAN- Darren Aronofsky's last effort was "The Wrestler". His next takes place (where else?) in the world of Ballet. Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis are in their competition leg warmers as rivals on point in "Black Swan".
THE AMERICAN- It was just a matter of time before George Clooney played an assassin. Clooney's a hit man who wants to give up the game and finds himself in Italy on his last assignment in "The American".
GET LOW- Great notices at Toronto film festival for both Robert Duvall and Bill Murray. Duvall is a hermit in Tennessee who plans his own funeral celebration in "Get Low". It did get a delayed release date which usually indicates trouble. Still, Toronto said thumbs up.
TOY STORY III- Pixar. 'Nuff said.
LET ME IN- I'll start with this one since this is either my most anticipated upcoming release or my most dreaded. "Let Me In" is based on the great Norwegian Vampire movie, "Let the Right One In" discovered on this side of the pond by my buddy Charlie. Well, kinda. This is such a fresh and interesting take on the overdone Vampire genre that it will be almost impossible for an American remake not to screw it up. Ah well, hope springs eternal. Kodi Smit-McPhee from "The Road" stars.
INCEPTION- Here ya go Christopher Nolan fans. The director of "Momento" and "The Dark Knight" teams with Leonardo DiCaprio for a story about technology and dream invasion. It's an Imax thing. Can you hear that? It's the sound of money flowing.
HEREAFTER- Normally I'd be more excited about a Clint Eastwood movie but I saw "Invictus". This is a supernatural thriller about three people, interconnected by their recent association with death. Not the usual Eastwood turf, so maybe. Matt Damon and Bryce Dallas Howard star.
THE FIGHTER- Director David O. Russel hasn't done a film since "I Heart Huckabees". Based on a true story of 1980's boxer "Irish" Mickey Ward and his trainer/brother on the dark road to success. Stars Mark Wahlberg (who can't be worse than he was in The Lovely Bones), Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo.
BLUE VALENTINE- Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams star in a relationship movie that skips around the timeline of their love. Early festival buzz is that they are both terrific.
BLACK SWAN- Darren Aronofsky's last effort was "The Wrestler". His next takes place (where else?) in the world of Ballet. Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis are in their competition leg warmers as rivals on point in "Black Swan".
THE AMERICAN- It was just a matter of time before George Clooney played an assassin. Clooney's a hit man who wants to give up the game and finds himself in Italy on his last assignment in "The American".
GET LOW- Great notices at Toronto film festival for both Robert Duvall and Bill Murray. Duvall is a hermit in Tennessee who plans his own funeral celebration in "Get Low". It did get a delayed release date which usually indicates trouble. Still, Toronto said thumbs up.
TOY STORY III- Pixar. 'Nuff said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)